Settler ‘price tag’ vandals attack Franciscan convent in Jerusalem

Franciscan convent on Mount Zion desecrated, ACOHL dismayed
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem 2 Oct – The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land is distressed at the discovery of graffiti in Hebrew on the gate of the Franciscan Convent (Ad Caenaculum) on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.  The convent is adjacent to the Cenacle complex. The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land posted on its website (custodia.org) the painful discovery this morning, October 2, 2012, with a one-line announcement prefaced by “ONCE AGAIN….” This is reminiscent of the graffiti sprayed in the Abbey of Latroun one month ago.  Jesus is once again profaned and signed “price tag,” a characteristic mark of Israeli extremists. The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL) expresses consternation at such acts.
http://en.lpj.org/2012/10/02/franciscan-convent-on-mount-zion-desecrated-acohl-dismayed/

Israel’s Vatican envoy: Offending Christianity hurts Israel
Ynet 3 Oct — After submitting his letter of credence to Pope Benedict XVI, Israel’s ambassador to Holy See says recent ‘price tag’ attacks on holy Christian sites ‘showcase Israel in negative light’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4288206,00.html

Special team to crack down on ‘price tag’ vandals
Ynet 3 Oct –  Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein supports establishing a special team dedicated to dealing with intelligence, investigations and legal aspects of the “price tag” phenomenon, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. The team will include lawyers, defense officials and Shin Bet personnel who will be asked to address various aspects pertaining to the the “price tag” phenomenon. Main obstacles are underage perpetrators, difficulty gathering intelligence and converting it to legal evidence.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4288023,00.html

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Settlers build new illegal outpost near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — Jewish settlers on Wednesday started building a new illegal settlement outpost on privately-owned Palestinian land in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that settlers installed mobile homes, water tanks, tents and agricultural sheds on a hill in Yanun, near Nablus.  In late September, settlers used bulldozers to flatten 200 dunams of land in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525747

Israel implements project to name East Jerusalem streets
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem started to implement a project to name streets and number homes in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli media reported Wednesday. Israel will name all streets and alleys and number homes by computer using satellite maps, the Hebrew-language Maariv reported. The plan is part of a wider project proposed by Jerusalem mayor Nir Barakat. Residents and local associations in East Jerusalem have been consulted to suggest road names.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525834

Hebrew University lecturer calls for expelling Palestinian as alien hostages in war against Muslims
Mondoweiss 3 Oct by Philip Weiss — Mordecai Nisan, a lecturer at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has a crazy/scary piece up on the rightwing site, Arutz Sheva, calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel and the West Bank. Arabs in Israel and Palestine are “a hostage population,” and in the coming war between Israel and the Muslim world, they must be sacrificed as a fifth column. The piece is significant not just for its hateful prescription, but for its paranoid and alarmist perspective.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/hebrew-university-lecturer-calls-for-expelling-palestinians-as-alien-hostages-in-war-against-muslims.html

The lies about the settlements / Shaul Arieli
Haaretz 3 Oct — Settlements have driven a network of wedges between the clusters of Palestinian villages in the West Bank over the years, but these wedges have not created a Jewish dominance that would make unilateral annexation possible.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-lies-about-the-settlements.premium-1.467947

Violence / Raids / Illegal arrests / Closures

PLO Palestine Monitoring Group Monthly Report – September 2012
The following summary tables and overview of events survey hostile Israeli activities during the period 01 September 2012 to 30 September 2012. The report includes a summary table of events, classified by type, throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  [includes events too ‘usual’ to be reported elsewhere — example: RAIDS: 12 in Jerusalem; 41 in Ramallah; 32 in Jenin; 10 in Tubas; 34 in Tulkarem; 56 in Qalqiliya; 52 in Nablus; 13 in Salfit; 27 in Jericho; 14 in Bethlehem; 84 in Hebron; 4 in Northern Gaza; 5 in Central Gaza; 2 in Gaza; 2 in Khan Yunis.]
http://www.nad-plo.org/userfiles/file/pmg-reports/monthlyr/PMG.Monthly.Sitrep.09.2012.pdf

Children and youth from Beit Ommar arrested in a night raid
PSP 3 Oct — In the last nine days two sons of Ahmed Abu Hashem, a Popular Committee member in Beit Ommar, have been arrested by Israeli occupation forces. Both arrests happened during night raids. Mohammed Abu Hashem (16) was arrested last week and he is still awaiting his court meeting in Ofer prison outside Ramallah, which has already been postponed two times. Last night Mohammed’s younger brother, Hamza Ahmed Khalil Abu Hashem (14), was arrested by the occupation forces. On Wednesday 3th of October at 02.30 a.m. a big number of occupation soldiers approached the house of Ahmed Abu Hashem. The soldiers surrounded the family home by dividing into three groups. They had brought a hammer, so they didn’t even care to knock the door. The occupation force broke the door open and entered the house.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2012/10/03/child-from-beit-ommar-arrested-in-a-night-raid/

Soldiers terrorize schoolchildren in Hebron
HEBRON Oct 3 (WAFA) – A dozen Israeli soldiers broke into the Ibrahimi school in Hebron Wednesday terrorizing the children who were on their break, according to international activists. The activists from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who monitor Israeli acts in the occupied Hebron area said the soldiers claimed they were looking for a “fat” child from the school who allegedly had thrown an empty bottle at them. “The children were on their break and the soldiers harassed some of the children and said that if they had to they would detain all of the fat children until the child who had thrown the bottle confessed,” the school’s English teacher told the activists from CPT.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20795

Settlers attack a young Palestinian man in Jerusalem
IMEMC 4 Oct — A number of extremist Israeli settlers attacked, Wednesday, a young Palestinian man from Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, while he was working at his bakery in Ash-Sharaf neighborhood, in the Old City. As-Salayma told the Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) that the settlers broke into his store and violently attacked him leading to several cuts and bruises to his back and head; he was moved to nearby Israeli medical center.  He added that a significant number of his friends were previously attacked by Israeli extremists, but the Israeli police did not act on apprehending the assailants.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64340

Army kidnaps 10 Palestinians in the West Bank
IMEMC 3 Oct — Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday morning, ten Palestinians, including children, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and the northern West Bank districts of Qalqilia and Jenin. The army broke into and searched several homes after forcing the residents out … in Beit Ummar, the army invaded the home of Ibrahim Sabri, and violently searched the property before kidnapping his son Sabri, 17. Sabri, a former political prisoner; he was moved to the Gush Etzion military base. The army also invaded the home of Jamil Masharqa, and informed him that his son, Khaldoun, 21, is required to head to Etzion for interrogation.  Dozens of youths hurled stones and empty bottles at the invading soldiers, and the army fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs, concussion grenades, and rubber-coated metal bullets. Eyewitnesses reported that the army also used a new type of grenades that explode and disperse a dark-colored liquid that has a very bad smell that also affects the skin and the eyes.
Also on Wednesday, the army invaded Beit Awwa town, west of Hebron, broke into and searched several homes and kidnapped three residents.  WAFA said that the three kidnapped residents were identified as Moath As-Sweity, 21, Mohammad Mallouh, 18, and Yisri Motawe’, 23. Furthermore, soldiers kidnapped one resident, identified as Mohammad Jaradat, from Sielet Al-Harithiyya village, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
Two more residents were also kidnapped in Azzoun village near Qalqilia, also in the northern part of the West Bank.
In related news, soldiers invaded Um Rokba village, in the Bethlehem district, and took photographs of all homes that are close to an illegal settlement outpost built on privately-owned Palestinian lands.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64337

IOF arrests two citizens in Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 3– Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) arrested early Tuesday two citizens from the occupied city of Bethlehem, the Israeli army claimed that they “are wanted.” …
Furthermore, IOF have failed to arrest at dawn Tuesday two citizens after raiding their homes in the town of Qabatiya, east of Jenin, and threatened their parents in case they did not surrender themselves to the Salem military camp north of Jenin…
The occupation forces also stormed the villages of Jalama and Arrana east of Jenin, and launched extensive combing operations in agricultural land without arrests.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s72mu%2bKHbiNwHXE8mS7IOEqUcRfz4qPSvo2YmUWk1SKVmZC9NU%2bDGtumNR4J1AVBiDdM5JnvORsfegwZS%2ffkhJvu9xTD%2f2jyvsFM%2faf%2bvJdtA%3d

Kufr Qaddoum — apartheid injustice for Palestinian men kidnapped from home
ISM 3 Oct — In advance of their hearing in military court tomorrow, Majd and Abdelateef Obeid’s mother Sahra Fayez Obeid has recounted to ISM the events of their arrest on the 21st September in the village of Kufr Qaddoum. Neither Majd or Abdelateef attended the demonstration – they were both in their family home, which happens to be on the route of the demonstration. Abdelateef was eating lunch with his family, while Majd was asleep in the bedroom, when three Israeli Occupation Force soldiers attempted to enter the house with force. They pushed Sahra to the ground, forcing their way into the house. There were also a number of soldiers surrounding the property. Ignoring the pleas of the family to leave, they stated “we want the young men, not you”.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/kufr-qaddoum-apartheid-injustice-for-palestinian-men-kidnapped-from-home/

Occupation hinders tour of MEPs in al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL/HEBRON (PIC) 3 Oct — Israeli soldiers hindered tour of members of European Parliament in Old city of al-Khalil, in the southern West Bank, and detained a number of Palestinian activists who accompanied the MPs during their tour. A statement by “Youth Against Settlements” group reported that Israeli soldiers impeded on Monday the MEPs’ tour in al-Khalil through detaining their two companions; Issa Amro, coordinator of the “Youth Against settlements”, and activist Mohammed Zughayar, at the entrance to Shuhada Street downtown. Both of them were released later on, and were prevented from entering Shuhada Street, closed since 18 years.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7lGPeQzLDsEQ10afD2u0PRW3WhZUsDftFjdGDN3d6elJhia%2bCW5QLRiv3qD6wNa71K8SMV%2bU%2fH2%2fSKlx1Hl%2b%2b4zEvj2MycFC9QMdCttVEwAY%3d

PA security close a street in al-Khalil to protect settlers
AL-KHALIL/HEBRON (PIC) 3 Oct — PA security apparatus evacuated on Tuesday Beersheba Street in the center of al-Khalil in the southern West Bank to protect the settlers, who stormed the region under the pretext of performing “religious rituals” … The witnesses added that the PA procedure of closing the street, coinciding with the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s grounds in Jerusalem by settlers, outraged the residents of al-Khalil.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7fu7mmU%2fR%2f7gEqtJ4vYqe4qD45y46eyFaA%2bx697t%2bAW%2fK1WQdhuvJvWR%2fyOZCCVwHcdMMhVBFmE%2f6wypEC6HN0nLmioKuZ149vl0FMqNzSIo%3d

Israel closes down two roads in Hebron
AT-TUWANI, Oct 2 (WAFA) – An Israeli Army bulldozer escorted by two military jeeps closed two roads connecting the Palestinian cities of Yatta, Al Birkhe and Marah el Bati to Palestinian villages beside Bypass-road 317, said Operation Dove press release on Monday.  As a result to the roadblocks, the residents face trouble getting home with a motorized vehicle, carrying out economic and commercial activities, and accessing emergency vehicles. The roadblocks aim to isolate Palestinian villages from each other, while allowing the connection between the various Israeli settlements of Suseya, Mezadot Yehuda, Ma’on and Karmel (connected by the bypass road 317, used by only a small number of Palestinians). According to the release, the soldiers said that their work was necessary for security reason and they were not allowed to talk about it.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20786

Palestinian taxi injures 4 IDF soldiers
Ynet 2 Oct — One soldier moderately hurt; three others sustain lightly injuries when Palestinian cab crashes into parked military vehicle — …Large forces are searching the region for the perpetrator. A preliminary probe found that the soldiers were standing near a military vehicle when it was hit from behind by the taxi — an apparent hit-and-run accident, the police said. However, the possibility that the troops were hit intentionally has not been ruled out.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4287790,00.html

Israeli forces raid Hebron area village
HEBRON Oct 3 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday raided the village of Beit Aynoon, northeast of Hebron, raiding several homes and taking up position on rooftops, according to local sources. They told WAFA that Israeli forces raided the village early in the morning causing panic among residents, particularly children, who were getting ready to go to their schools. Soldiers also set up several military checkpoints on the entrances to several towns and villages in the Hebron area, searching vehicles and checking identity cards. The army activity in the region is believed related to Tuesday’s hit-and-run incident when a Palestinian taxi ran over four Israeli soldiers injuring them.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20790

266,000 Palestinian detainees in Gaza since 1967
Gaza, October 3 (Petra) – Director of the Department of Statistics at the Ministry of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Abdel Nasser Farawana said Wednesday that the Israeli occupation authorities arrested more than 266.000 Palestinians since Israel tightened its grip on the Gaza Strip in 1967. He added that these represented about 35 percent of the total arrests in Palestine, which amounted to 760.000 arrests since 1967.
http://www.petra.gov.jo/Public_News/Nws_NewsDetails.aspx?Site_Id=1&lang=2&NewsID=86350&CatID=13&Type=Home&GType=1

Palestinian journalist released, banned entry to al-Aqsa mosque
[great photo of the Noble Sanctuary/Temple Mount] PNN — On Wednesday 3rd October, Israeli occupation authorities released the journalist Wissam Hamouda, a reporter at Bab al-Arab website in Jerusalem after an interrogation lasted for hours in al-Qashla police station in Bab el-Khalil (Jaffa gate) in Jerusalem. The Israeli police have accused him of “Inciting and provoking chaos in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and leading Palestinians to protest against settlers breaking into the mosque,” as they claimed. Israeli police released Hamouda on Bail and handed him a decision that ban him entry to the mosque for 15 days.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2806-palestinian-journalist-released-banned-entry-to-al-aqsa-mosque

Gaza

Occupied lives: They terrorize us in our homes
PCHR 3 Oct — …Haniya Abdul Hadi Kabaja (60) is one of the women who sustained minor injuries on the night of the attack. She recounts that: “At around 2.00am in the night, we woke up to the sound of shelling. We were all very scared but we went back to sleep. 15 or so minutes later, we heard more shelling and shrapnel hitting surfaces outside. Something hit my face and, when I
touched it, I felt myself bleeding. My son, Anas, saw this and he started screaming for his brothers to come and help me. After they offered me first aid, we heard my ten-year-old granddaughter, Reema, crying, and that is when we noticed that she had also been wounded, in her leg.”
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?view=article&catid=65%3Anarratives-under-siege&id=8859

Navy prepares to intercept Gaza activist ship
JPost 3 Oct — The Navy is preparing to intercept the latest Gaza-bound ship carrying European pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break the security naval blockade around the Strip. An IDF source confirmed that the Navy has carried out general preparations for future ships filled with activists. Israel will not allow the vessel to reach Gaza, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday after the organizers of the “flotilla” issued a communiqué saying they received clearance in La Spezia, Italy, to set sail and will reach Gaza in some two weeks time.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=286423

Qatar invites bids to reconstruct Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Oct  — The Qatari government on Tuesday invited tenders for four construction projects, in the first stage of a $254 million project to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip. Qatar’s ambassador to Gaza Muhammad al-Imadi is heading a committee overseeing the work. Consultants have been invited to submit designs for a city to be named after Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani. The $30-million development will include 1,000 residential units in five-story apartment blocks, schools, stores, clinics, parks and entertainment facilities, the ambassador said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525462

Price of gas reduced again in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The petroleum authority in Gaza has decided to further reduce the price of domestic-use gas, a board member of the oil companies association said Wednesday. Samir Hamadah said a 12-kilogram bottle of gas would sell for 60 shekels ($15.46) as of Thursday, in the second price cut this week.  Hamadah told Ma‘an the authority reduced prices in response to the dire economic conditions resulting from Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which excludes most exports from the enclave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525789

Gaza: 5 hurt as officers remove illegal structures
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Oct – Five people including two police officers and a land authority officer were injured Tuesday in the northern Gaza Strip during clashes between police and locals. Security sources in the Hamas-run government in Gaza told Ma‘an that police officers escorted a land authority officer to remove illegal structures erected on public lands. Suddenly, added the sources, locals started to pelt stones at the officers injuring two and a land authority officer moderately. Spokesman of the Hamas-run ministry of interior Islam Shahwan said police officers were taken by surprise, and they tried their best to convince the stone-throwers to stop. As stones continued, he added, officers fired warning shots into the air and as a result two people were moderately injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525435

HRW: Hamas should urgently reform justice system
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Oct  — Hamas should urgently reform Gaza’s criminal justice system to end arbitrary arrests and ensure detainees have prompt access to lawyers, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday. Hamas’ Internal Security agency, the drugs unit of the civil police force, and police detectives all torture detainees, according to the Independent Commission for Human Rights, which says it received 147 complaints of torture from these three units in 2011 … A day earlier the European Union condemned the use of capital punishment in the Gaza Strip and urged the Hamas government to refrain from executing prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525656

Hamas ministry rejects torture allegations
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Ministry of Interior in Gaza on Wednesday said it was reviewing a Human Rights Watch report that accused the Hamas security forces of torturing detainees … The ministry said the report by Human Rights Watch was politically biased as it failed to address the violations of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank … The ministry said issues raised in the report were inaccurate and dated, questioning “Why are they bringing up these issues now?” … The Hamas ministry said the Gaza government took all complaints seriously and had departments dedicated to addressing grievances. “Many members of the security services were punished for violating the law, some were fired, some had their salaries reduced.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525732

Gaza ministry to investigate journalist complaints
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Gaza Ministry of Interior will launch an inquiry into complaints by journalists against reporting restrictions in the coastal enclave, a spokesman said Wednesday. Interior minister Fathi Hammad issued the decision to form the committee, ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan said. He called on the media to cooperate with the committee. Hammad has given clear instructions that the work of journalists and media organizations must not be hindered in Gaza, Shahwan added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525619

Activism

Photo essay: Freedom Bus tour teaches cultural forms of resistance
Activestills 2 Oct — The Freedom Bus, an initiative of Jenin’s Freedom Theatre, uses interactive theatre and cultural activism to bear witness, raise awareness and build alliances throughout occupied Palestine and beyond.
http://972mag.com/photo-essay-freedom-bus-tour-teaches-cultural-forms-of-resistance/56865/

Palestinian youth: Why we’re speaking out against political arrests
Stop the Wall 3 Oct — We will go out today to say in one VOICE “NO TO POLITICAL ARRESTS” at 5:00 pm at Manara Square in Ramallah — 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 … Although political arrests is a phenomenon that accompanied the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, over the recent 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.
http://stopthewall.org/2012/10/03/palestinian-youth-why-were-speaking-out-against-political-arrests

Political / Economic Developments

Palestinian UN status likely to be debated in November
Reuters 4 Oct — The United Nations is likely to hold a debate on whether to upgrade the Palestinians’ UN status to a sovereign country in mid-November – after the US election, the president of the 193-member UN General Assembly said on Wednesday. Having failed last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last week he would seek a less-ambitious status upgrade at the world body to make it a “non-member state” like the Vatican.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4288347,00.html

To Hamas’ ‘deep regret’. Syria hits out at Meshaal
GAZA CITY (Middle East Online) 3 Oct — The Hamas movement in Gaza expressed “deep regret” on Wednesday over a commentary aired by Syrian state television that criticised the group’s leader Khaled Meshaal. The remarks, broadcast on Syrian state television on Tuesday night, came after Meshaal attended a conference on Sunday of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party, which has been a staunch of the Syrian opposition.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=54698

PA budget crisis expected to worsen
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Palestinian Authority does not expect a significant boost in foreign budget assistance to follow a meeting of donor countries in New York last month. A report presented by Nabil Qassis, the Palestinian Authority finance minister, has received no significant response, a senior government official told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525533

PA distributes August salaries
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Palestinian Authority finance ministry said Wednesday that it was distributing late salaries to employees who have been waiting since early September to be paid. Ministry spokesman Rami Mahdawi said the salaries would be paid out on Thursday to employees making over 4,500 shekels per month. Their full salaries had been put on hold to pay lower wage earners. Mahdawi said that the Ministry of Finance was making its best effort to pay salaries for September
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525635

Fatah discharges 18 members for breaking consensus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — The Fatah movement’s executive committee has decided to discharge 18 senior Fatah officials for failure to comply with the movement’s decisions related to the upcoming local elections. Secretary general of Fatah Revolutionary Council Amin Maqboul said Wednesday that Fatah decided earlier that any member of the movement who runs local elections outside Fatah lists would be discharged.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525742

Refugees

Displaced Palestinian refugees vent frustration
Al-Akhbar 3 Oct — Tensions in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp are mounting as camp residents and newly displaced Palestinians from Syria accuse the United Nations and Relief Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of neglecting the new arrivals. Palestinians from the camp and arrived from Syria joined forces last week to storm the local UNRWA director’s office. Residents say the agency has refused to take responsibility for the newcomers and they are skeptical of UNRWA’s claims that it lacks sufficient funds. The displaced refugees apparently decided to resort to force against UNRWA’s centers, specifically targeting its new director Fadi al-Saleh.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/displaced-palestinian-refugees-vent-frustration

Five Palestinian refugees killed in Syria
IMEMC 2 Oct — Five Palestinians were killed, Tuesday, as the Syrian army bombarded the Dir’a refugee camp, in Syria, during clashes between the army and members of the opposition in the country. Several refugees were injured, some seriously … Hundreds of Palestinian casualties have been reported since the revolution started in Syria in March of 2011.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64331

Israeli racism / discrimination

Petition: Yishai’s plan to detain migrants ‘barbaric’
Ynet 3 Oct – … Yishai: Infiltrators threaten our identity as Jewish, Zionist state –  Six human rights groups filed a petition with the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday against Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s plan to detain 15,000 Sudanese asylum seekers beginning October 15. The petition included the opinion of the UN Refugee Agency which said Yishai’s claim that the Sudanese are not refugees is baseless. The agency said the asylum seekers’ lives would be in danger if they are forced to return to their home country.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4288292,00.html

Jerusalem: Haredim hurl stones at activists, journalists
Ynet 2 Oct — Four Be Free Israel activists arrive in Mea Shearim to document women’s exclusion. Yedioth Ahronoth photographer lightly injured by stones
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4287450,00.html

Other news

Taybeh Oktoberfest
PNN 2 Oct by Dr. Maria Khoury — Taybeh Municipality and all local civic organizations in conjunction with the Taybeh Brewing Company, Nadim Khoury, master brewer will host the Taybeh Oktoberfest, 8th annual village festival, Sat & Sun, Oct 6 & 7, 2012 in Taybeh, Palestine, 11 am to 10pm with the opening celebration on Sat, 11am at Taybeh Municipality under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Khaled Fahed Alqawasmi, Minister of Local Government. Promoting support for local products with cultural exchange and heritage, the Oktoberfest will open with members from the Musikkapelle Leobendorf from Bavaria and the Trio Dona Zefa from Brazil, THE SUN, a band from Italy, and the local Taybeh Folklore Group.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/culture/2782-taybeh-oktoberfest

Mashaal to speak at festival marking Saladin capture of Jerusalem
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Oct — Hamas chief-in-exile Khaled Mashaal arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to take part in commemorations to mark Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem in 1187, Ma‘an’s correspondent said. Mashaal is due to speak at the festival, which marks the capture of the holy city from crusaders. The event is sponsored by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=525534

Analysis / Opinion

Abbas’s impossible choices / Saleh Al-Naami
Al-Ahram — In a rage about protests against his rule, Mahmoud Abbas threatens to resign while questions remain over his efficacy if he continues — The scene was very clear: angry Palestinian youth in downtown Ramallah beating effigies of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad with their shoes, amid demonstrations protesting against unbearable economic conditions, price hikes and higher taxes. Similar protests took place across the West Bank and greatly upset Abbas who was not only surprised by the scale of rage, but enraged when he found out that most of the protesters belonged to the faction he is leading, Fatah …  One question remains: Is President Abbas willing to pay the price for relying on popular resistance and to stop gambling on relations with the US and negotiating with Israel? Abbas is facing very tough and complicated choices, but it is doubtful he will chose popular resistance. He would likely resign rather than take that route.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1116/re2.htm

Danny Ayalon and the Jewish refugee fallacy / Daniel Haboucha
Times of Israel 1 Oct — The Israeli government has recently launched a campaign to win international recognition for the plight of the approximately 700,000 Arab Jews, or Mizrahim, who fled their homes during the 20-odd-year period following Israel’s establishment in 1948 … Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon stated that there will be no peace (between Israel and the Palestinian Authority) until the Arab League compensates these Jewish refugees. He has indicated that abandoned Palestinian holdings in Israel might be somehow balanced against abandoned Jewish holdings in Arab countries. The Israel lobby in the US and Canada — including all of the usual suspects — has enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon … My father and his entire family were forced to leave Egypt in the early 1960s, abandoning their community, their country of birth, and much of their property … Yet, efforts to equate my “plight” today with the plight of a Palestinian of my age who grew up in a refugee camp (mere kilometers from my beautiful Jerusalem apartment) are manifestly absurd.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/danny-ayalon-and-the-jewish-refugee-fallacy/

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