Israeli settlers set West Bank mosque aflame in ‘price tag’ arson attack

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Palestinian mosque in West Bank torched in suspected arson
‘AQRABA. West Bank (Reuters) 14 Oct — A mosque [Abu Baker al-Saddiq] was set alight in a suspected arson attack in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday and the name of an Israeli vigilante group called “price tag” was found scribbled on an outside wall, Palestinian officials and witnesses said. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned the incident in ‘Aqraba, a village east of Nablus, and urged Israel’s police chief to head an investigation adding that the case “should be treated as terrorism”. The “price tag” group has carried out scores of attacks on Palestinian, Israeli Arab, and church property in the West Bank and inside Israel since 2008. The group says it aims to exact a price for any opposition to settlement building. Residents told Reuters they noticed smoke coming from the building before dawn and rushed to douse the flames, which damaged a carpet and blackened one of the walls. “If we hadn’t rushed to put out the fire the entire building could have gone up in flames,” said Maher Fares, a villager. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official from the Nablus area, said he suspected Jewish settlers in the area had carried out the attack. The settlement of Itamar is about 4 km (2 miles) north of ‘Aqraba. “They broke a window and threw a firebomb into the mosque which burned the carpet,” Daghlas said. Hebrew script reading “price tag” had been scrawled on the outside of the mosque, a Reuters cameraman said. Rivlin demanded a wider crackdown against the vandals. Many suspects arrested in the past have been minors who are released without   . “We cannot continue to regard incidents like these as marginal. Rather, we must uproot them,” a statement from his office said. “If we do not act decisively, we will all pay the ‘price tag’,” Rivlin also said.
[See also:  Palestine photo of the day: The graffiti read ‘Price tag. Tapuah is Kahane’]
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-mosque-west-bank-torched-suspected-arson-064832798.html

Clashes, injuries as Israeli bulldozers demolish houses in Beersheba
BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Israeli police detained six Palestinians while another six were injured during clashes that erupted as Israeli bulldozers demolished a house in the Wadi al-Niam village in Beersheba on Tuesday. Residents in the Wadi al-Niam village told Ma‘an that clashes erupted in the village as Israeli bulldozers demolished a house of an elderly woman, Amnah Abu Sweilem, 70. The Israeli police detained six Palestinian youths and another six, including three women, were injured during the clashes; ambulances took them to the Beersheba Suroka Hospital. Ismail Abu Sweilem, a resident of the village, said that some locals headed to an Israeli court to stop the demolition order and that they did not expect demolitions to take place during the Sukkot holiday. “Israeli forces, vehicles, the land authority and bulldozers arrived at 9 a.m. and demolished the house,” Abu Sweilem said. He added that the Israeli authorities were attempting to displace them from the village to the Shqeib al-Salam town.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733313

Israeli forces detain Palestinian, sons in Negev
BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 15 Oct — Israeli police detained a Palestinian and his two sons during clashes in the unrecognized [Bedouin] ‘Araqib village in Negev during clashes in the area Tuesday, residents said. Residents in the ‘Araqib village told Ma‘an that clashes erupted when members of the Israeli land authority attempted to enter the cemetery of the village. The Israeli police detained Sheikh Sayyah al-Turi and his two sons Mitib and Aziz. Residents added that two cars and a water hose were confiscated from the village. Awwad Abu Freih told Ma‘an that “hundreds of Israeli demolition forces arrived to the area to demolish and destroy and detain residents.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733214

Settlers steal olive harvest near Tulkarm
TULKARM (WAFA) 14 Oct – Israeli settlers Tuesday plundered a Palestinian privately owned harvest of olives near Tulkarm, in the northern West Bank, according to WAFA correspondent. AbdulRahman Rajab, owner of the crop, told WAFA he was surprised when he arrived in his land to find 10 large sacks of his own stuffed with olives missing. He said that he left the crop about two days ago when he was assaulted by illegal Israeli settlers. In addition to the stolen crop, Rajab’s donkey and tools used for agricultural purposes were looted by the settlers, who arrived from the nearby illegal settlement of ‘Avnei Hefets’.  Rajab said that he was in his land along with his three sons and his wife harvesting olive trees when three settlers attacked them with stones, injuring the wife in her shoulder and his 8-year-old son in the legs. They were then forced to leave to avoid further physical injuries.
Meanwhile, Israeli army assaulted farmers in the village of al-‘Araqa, west of Jenin, and fired tear gas canisters at them while they were harvesting olive trees, causing cases of suffocation by tear gas inhalation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=26784

Settlers damage Palestinian wells in Jordan Valley
JERICHO (Ma‘an) 15 Oct — Dozens of Israeli settlers damaged wells belonging to Palestinians in the Khirbet Samra area of the Jordan Valley, a local official said Wednesday. Aref Daraghma, the head of a local village council, told Ma‘an that dozens of Israeli settlers who gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot damaged more than seven wells in the al-Malah area of Khirbet Samra. The covers of the wells were damaged, and parts of some of the wells were “destroyed,” Daraghma said. He said the settlers’ actions were meant to pressure Palestinian residents to leave the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733373

Europe examining ways to press Israel over settlements: diplomats
(Reuters)14 Oct — European officials are looking at new ways to press Israel to halt its building of settlements on land the Palestinians want for a state, as frustration over the construction program reaches a new high, European diplomats say. The discussions are at an early stage, but officials say the European Union may look at stopping Jewish settlers convicted of crimes from visiting the EU and could examine the fine print of a free-trade agreement, although there is no talk of sanctions. A series of steps by Israel in recent weeks, including the seizure of 1,000 acres of land near the Palestinian town of Bethlehem and plans to build 2,600 settler homes near Jerusalem, has angered the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, fuelling calls for a response … The EU has already imposed restrictions on loans to Israeli scientific institutions that operate in the occupied West Bank and is moving ahead with plans to label products made in Jewish settlements. But further steps are now being considered.  “No one is talking about imposing trade sanctions on Israel,” said one EU country’s ambassador to Israel. “But there is a very high level of frustration and there are many instruments at our disposal to make that frustration clear.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/14/us-israel-eu-settlements-idUSKCN0I31CF20141014

Violence / Raids / Clashes / Illegal arrests

Injuries after ‘raid’ on Nablus refugee camp
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Several Palestinians were injured during a search raid by Israeli forces in the al-Faraa refugee camp in northern Nablus early Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said. The security sources told Ma‘an that Israeli forces raided and searched dozens of homes in al-Faraa refugee camp at 1 a.m. on Tuesday. Soldiers opened live fire, tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians in the camp who threw rocks and empty bottles back. They added that several Palestinians were injured during clashes and many of them were taken to hospitals; Anas Abd al-Karim Naaja, 23, was hit with a live steel bullet in his face and was taken to Rafidiya Hospital for a broken nose. Irsal Muhammad Subhi abd al-Jawad, 27, was injured with shrapnel in her chest and was taken to Tubas Turkish Hospital for treatment. Hanan Mahmoud Mansour Subh, 50, and 3-year-old Layan Muhammad al-Ghurani suffered from severe tear-gas inhalation and were taken to Tubas Hospital for treatment. Soldiers’ live fire broke the windows of Ayid Rashad Jaaysa’s home and damaged some possessions inside the house. Soldiers also raided the houses of Ashraf and Omar Farid Biladi, bombed the front door of a house belonging to Khalid Mansour Subh Abu Sari, raided the house with police dogs, and held men and women in separate rooms for hours. The sources added that the soldiers used residents of Abu Sari’s house as “human shields” in the streets of the camp, took them to another house which was turned into an interrogation center for youths who were detained in the house.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733094

Children injured by Israeli soldiers in ‘Aida camp
IMEMC/Agencies 16 Oct — On Sunday, October 12, Israeli forces stormed ‘Aida refugee camp without any provocation and began shooting tear gas, sound bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets at children in the streets. According to eye witness and photographer Mohammad AL-Azza, “They were searching houses, occupying rooftops and invading the whole camp,” further adding: “Yesterday, they were training soldiers by using families, children and homes as military practice. Tamer Abu Salem, 13 years old, was in Lajee Center moments before he was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet. Tamer underwent emergency surgery after arriving at the hospital and he is still in the ICU. Before the soldiers left the camp, they shot two bullets through Lajee Center’s windows as punishment. The occupation is on-going, and our struggle continues.”
http://www.imemc.org/article/69381

Unexploded Israeli ordnance blows up in Hebron, injuring 3 boys
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 15 Oct — Three Palestinian children were injured late Tuesday when unexploded Israeli ordnance blew up in Beit Ummar in the Hebron district, a local official said. Muhammad Awad, coordinator of the local popular committee, said in a statement that the ordnance exploded near a house on Jerusalem-Hebron road, injuring 9-year-old Hasan Mahmoud Masyif Sabarneh, 10-year-old Yamen Muhammad Nassim Sabarneh, and 6-year-old Muhammad Jamal Mustafa Sabarneh. Hasan was moderately injured by burns on his face, chest, and hands, Awad said. Yamen and Muhammad sustained burns on their hands, he added. The three were treated at Alia governmental hospital in Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733346

Jerusalem Arab beaten by three brothers, say police
Times of Israel 14 Oct — Three Jerusalem brothers were arrested on suspicion that they had beaten a Palestinian construction worker with an iron rod, lightly injuring him. According to police, a verbal fight broke out between two of the brothers and Palestinian workers at a building site in the capital on Sunday, Channel 2 News reported Tuesday night. The two brothers left the scene, investigators said, only to return with another sibling a short while later. After noticing the three brothers, aged 21, 28 and 31, the construction workers fled the site. The brothers, who are Jewish, are accused of following one of the Arab workers who ran to hide in a convenience store and violently assaulting him. A security camera at the store recorded footage of the brothers beating the man with an iron rod and a pole, then fleeing the area.  The man suffered light injuries and later called the police, who after a short investigation were able to locate the brothers and apprehend them.  After their arrest, the three suspects claimed they had acted in self defense. On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court extended the remand of the brothers for four more days. The motive for the incident is unclear, but inter-ethnic tensions are high in the capital in the wake of the summer’s Gaza war.  On Tuesday, the words “don’t hire Arabs” were found graffitied at a construction site in central Jerusalem. Most construction projects in the capital rely on Palestinian workers.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-arab-beaten-by-three-brothers-say-police/

Palestinians, Israeli soldiers clash near Nablus tomb
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — Several Palestinians were injured early Monday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in Nablus, security officials and witnesses said. Israeli military forces escorted over 300 Israelis, traveling in seven buses, to Joseph’s Tomb for religious prayers, Palestinian officials said. At least 35 military vehicles accompanied the buses. Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at Israeli soldiers during the incident, with soldiers firing tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. Clashes broke out in several areas near the tomb and Balata refugee camp, with Muhammad Abu Halima, Salah Abu Rweis and Nabil al-Sirfi identified as those injured. Imran al-Masmi, 16, was detained during the clashes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732873

VIDEO: Extremist settlers caught on camera attacking Israeli peace activists
IMEMC 16 Oct by Saed Bannoura — The incident caught on camera in this video took place on Saturday, October 11, 2014, near Mitspe Yair illegal Israeli settlement outpost, in the South Hebron hills, in the Hebron district in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. A number of right-wing Israeli settlers were attacking Israeli peace activists, and pushing them away. The peace activists are with Ta’ayush (Coexistence), an organization of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists nonviolently opposing the occupation of Palestine, and working for full civil equality.  The Ta’ayush activists were accompanying Palestinians from Awad and Jabareen families to their lands, close to the illegal Israeli outpost, where right-wing settlers frequently assault them. The attack took place in front of Israeli soldiers who were at the scene, watching the settlers attack the Israeli peace activists. The soldiers did not do anything to prevent the attack, and Israeli police officers were also deployed nearby – but they, too, did nothing to stop the attack.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69370

Stories from Burin during the olive harvest
International Solidarity Movement 15 Oct — On Monday, three Palestinians were picking olives in Burin. Their field was in a very exposed area, right between an illegal settlement, a military checkpoint, and a security detention centre. A group of ISM volunteers accompanied them as protective presence. These are some of their stories [with photos] : Ali, 10 years old: ”The army keeps coming to our school and throws tear gas at us. One time a boy choked and was taken to hospital. Some children cry and scream.” … Tarek, 24 years old: “The army stops us young men at the checkpoint by the entrance of the village of Burin. They take us out of the cars. If one of us doesn’t follow their orders they beat us. Sometimes they make us take our clothes off. Even when other people are present.” Tarek also told the story of losing both his brothers. One of them was killed by a shot in the head from an Israeli soldier, at the age of 16. The close by security detention centre is notorious for their use of violence, and both Tarek and Abu Ali have been detained here … Tarek spoke of a story during his own detention, he an another prisoner were woken up in the middle of the night, by two aggressive dogs being locked into their room. Tarek was badly bitten by the dogs and had to go through surgery afterwards.
http://palsolidarity.org/2014/10/stories-from-burin-during-the-olive-harvest/

Israel arrests leading BDS activist in Hebron
IMEMC 13 Oct by Chris Carlson — The Israeli army arrested Hebron city council member Faruk A’shur on October 8th, later placing him in administrative detention for three months. He is a major proponent of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) of Israel. An optician, A’shur is a leading activist in local committees promoting the boycott of Israeli products by Palestinians in Hebron and the West Bank more generally. A’shur is also renowned for his selfless efforts to provide the best possible services to residents of the poor and marginalised neighbourhoods of Hebron, particularly those exposed to ongoing settler violence and Israeli military attacks.  These efforts are particularly crucial in assisting families in these areas to remain steadfast in their homes despite the enormous difficulties of daily life there. The Hebron Defense Committee, a coalition of social movements and political parties acting to defend Hebron and its residents against Israeli colonial policies and practices, has called for A’shur’s immediate release, as well as the release of all 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners. In addition to issuing an administrative detention order against A’shur, in the last few days Israeli authorities have issued an additional 41 administrative detention orders for periods between two to six months.  These orders are both news, as in the case of A’shur, and extensions of previously existing orders. Over 480 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention, imprisonment without charges or trial
http://www.imemc.org/article/69373

Israeli police detain 5 Palestinians in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Israeli police on Tuesday detained five Palestinians from the al-Tur neighborhood and the Old City in Jerusalem. A Ma‘an reporter said teenager Kamal al-Imam from al-Tur was detained and taken to Salah al-Din street police station for allegedly throwing rocks. His detention was extended until Wednesday. Abd al-Karim Haddad and Tariq al-Kurd from the Old City were detained and their detention was extended until Wednesday, prisoner’s society lawyer Mufid al-Haj said.  Mohammad al-Hashlamon was assaulted and beaten over the head with a baton when he was detained from the al-Aqsa compound, witnesses said. Hamid Abd al-Karim Abu Sneineh was also beaten and detained. Also, an Israeli court extended the detention of Mutasim al-Rajabi from Shu‘fat until Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733295

Israeli forces detain 3 Palestinians in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Israeli forces detained three Palestinians in Hebron overnight Monday, locals said. Muhammad Ayad Awad, spokesperson of a local popular committee, said Sufian Azhar Abd al-Hamid Ikhleil, 25, and Sami Amer Ahmad Abu Judeh, 19, were arrested in Beit Ummar after raids on their homes. Ihsan al-Dababseh, 28, was also detained near the city of Hebron. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said that al-Dababseh was arrested after she refused to comply with Israeli demands to report for interrogation at Gush Etzion settlement. Soldiers raided her home last Friday, confiscated her computer and issued a summons order. She had previously spent two years in Israeli jails.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733103

Israeli forces detain 8 Palestinians in arrest raids
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Hebron and four youths in East Jerusalem overnight Sunday, witnesses said. Hasan Nidal al-Sharif, 18, Muhammad Hasan al-Sharif, 17, and Wajdi Hussein al-Sharif, 21, were detained in el-‘Arrub refugee camp, while Hamada Ibrahim al-Qawasmi was arrested in Hebron’s Old City. Hakim Abu Khdeir, 16, Mutasem al-Jaabari, 16, Ahmad Saleh Abu Khdeir, 19, and Qusai Abu Khdeir, 18, were detained in Shu‘fat, East Jerusalem. Witnesses said the four teenagers were arrested by undercover Israeli forces.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732865

Al-Aqsa / Jerusalem

Israeli forces detain 17 in Jerusalem clashes
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) — Israeli forces detained 17 Palestinians in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening during renewed clashes following a day of unrest. Earlier, Israeli police used stun grenades as a crowd of about 400 people gathered near the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to an AFP photographer. For the second time in a week, Israel restricted access to the compound for Palestinians while 100 Israelis were given access. Late Wednesday, clashes continued in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Issawiya, Jabal al-Mukaber, and alleyways of the Old City. Seven Palestinians were injured in al-Issawiya as Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. Four children were detained for allegedly throwing stones. In Jabal al-Mukaber, Israeli forces detained Islam Ayman Salim Ewisat, 12, and another unidentified youth. In the Old City, police detained five teenagers. Earlier, police detained seven Palestinians during a sit-in protest in Wadi al-Joz.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733475

IMAGES: Siege on Al-Aqsa tightens
Middle East Monitor 15 Oct — IMAGES — The Israeli army is continuing to tighten the siege around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. During the week-long Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which ends Wednesday evening, hundreds of right-wing Jews have visited the Compound resulting in numerous clashes with Palestinian worshipers. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Information attacks started six months ago following the removal of 300 young Palestinians from the mosque by Israeli police in order for Jewish settlers to enter. [The second and sixth images, going across, are particularly arresting, but many are interesting]
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14692-siege-on-al-aqsa-tightens

PHOTOS: Protests in Jerusalem over Aqsa Mosque closure
Activestills 15 Oct Text and photos by Oren Ziv — Several members of Knesset join protests against heightened restrictions on Muslim access to the holy site while Jewish visits by right-wing activists increase due to Jewish holy days … The protest was against right-wing Jewish activists entering the Aqsa Compound/Temple Mount at the same time that Israeli police are preventing Muslim men from entering the compound to pray.
http://972mag.com/photos-protests-in-jerusalem-over-aqsa-mosque-closures/97693/

Hundreds of Israelis enter al-Aqsa under armed guard
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Hundreds of Israelis toured the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday under armed guard for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, as clashes erupted due to restrictions on Palestinian worshipers. Palestinian men under 50 and all women were prevented from entering the compound for morning prayers and Israeli forces fired stun grenades at worshipers who tried to enter. Israeli forces assaulted Aqsa mosque guard Muhannad Idris, 30, and detained him, witnesses said. Director of the Aqsa compound, Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, said 254 Israeli visited the compound to pray. Clashes broke out at the Chain Gate leading to the mosque as worshipers were prevented from entering. Locals said a group of settlers assaulted a Palestinian woman in the area. Israeli forces formed a human chain to separate Palestinians and Israeli near the gate.
Meanwhile, Israeli police arrested two teenagers in Silwan. Mahmoud Saada, 14, fell from a height while being chased and fractured both legs. Ali Daana, 14, was also detained, locals said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733151

Israel PM blames Palestinian ‘extremists’ for Jerusalem clashes
JERUSALEM (AFP) 13 Oct — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday blamed “Palestinian extremists” for clashes at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, denying Israel was behind mounting tensions at the site.”Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo exactly as it’s been for many decades. What we’re seeing is Palestinian extremists who are instigating violence through incitement,” he said in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Earlier in the day Ban said he was “deeply concerned by repeated provocations at the holy sites in Jerusalem,” which “inflame tensions and must stop.” The UN chief’s remarks came hours after clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters demonstrating against Orthodox Jews going to the esplanade, which is holy to both Islam and Judaism.
Netanyahu also urged Ban to prevent the Palestinians from taking unilateral diplomatic measures at the United Nations. “A real peace can only be achieved through bilateral negotiations,” Netanyahu told Ban ahead of a meeting with him…
Ban took Netanyahu to task for Israel’s own unilateral settlement construction announcements, saying they were “in clear violation of international law” and do “not send the right signals”. “I urge the government of Israel to reverse these activities,” he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pm-blames-palestinian-extremists-jerusalem-clashes-154439877.html

Gaza

Israel returns Gazan produce en route to West Bank
Middle East Monitor 15 Oct — Israeli authorities yesterday returned trucks loaded with 14 tonnes of agricultural produce that were on their way from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank hours after its decision to allow them to be exported. The Director of Marketing and Crossings in the Gaza Ministry of Agriculture Tahseen Al-Sakka said the Israeli authorities prevented the export of agricultural produce, estimated at 14 tonnes, hours after it had agreed to let them into the West Bank. He told the Anadolu news agency: “We were told that trucks loaded with agricultural produce were returned by the Israeli authorities without providing any reason for that.” Seven tonnes of potatoes and seven tonnes of red dates were due to be delivered to the West Bank. The official added that the goods being exported do not account for more than two per cent of the overall produce of the Strip, stressing that “the renaissance of Gaza’s economy depends returning exports to the level they had reached in previous years”.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14674-israel-returns-gazan-products-en-route-to-west-bank

This is how, at the last minute, the first shipment of commercial goods from Gaza to the West Bank was canceled
ReliefWeb (from Gisha) 14 Oct — Two truckloads of agricultural products were expected to exit the Gaza Strip today for sale in the West Bank. The short drive to Hebron would have symbolized the first time that commercial access would have been permitted between Gaza and the West Bank since July 2007- but it didn’t happen. The trucks, one carrying sweet potatoes and the other dates, were sent back to the Strip, at a cost of tens of thousands of shekels to their respective sellers. Despite meetings which took place between the Israeli and Palestinian agricultural coordinators, the procedures that are to regulate the marketing of products from Gaza to the West Bank were not published. This led to misunderstandings between the relevant parties, specifically as concerned demands regarding packaging and labeling. The goods cannot be re-refrigerated and so the farmers will be compelled to sell what they can on the local market and destroy the rest. Next Wednesday, October 22, a meeting is planned for the Israeli and Palestinian agricultural coordinators along with 18 representatives of the private sector from Gaza in order to hammer out the details related to the potential marketing of goods from Gaza to the West Bank. The Palestinian side is asking that Israel publish its guidelines in an organized way on the matter and that it make the most of the scanner at Kerem Shalom to allow goods to cross in a cost-effective way.
http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/how-last-minute-first-shipment-commercial-goods-gaza-west-bank

Israeli naval vessels fire on Palestinian fishermen
IMEMC/Agencies 16 Oct — Israeli gunboats have again opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off Gaza city shores, on Tuesday, at dawn. According to Walla Hebrew news site, Israelis opened live fire on the fishermen and their boats, claiming that the men didn’t respond to their calls to move back … No injuries were reported, following Tuesday’s coastal attack.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69383

Gaza employees to strike, hold sit-in over unpaid wages
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — The Gaza Strip employees union announced Tuesday a strike in governmental institutions and a sit-in on Wednesday and Thursday for all ministries, committees and schools. They are protesting the government’s failure to pay them for months. The syndicate announced that the strike for ministries and committees will be from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and in schools after the 3rd period. A comprehensive strike was announced for next Wednesday in all ministries, committees and authorities. Muhammad Siyam, head of the employees union, said in a statement that “we have already prepared the national unity government and we called upon it to hold to its responsibilities and solve the employees’ wages problem.” Siyam added that the syndicate has only received “mysterious statements” from the government. He called upon all employees to take part and participate in the union’s efforts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733110

Gaza: Damaged water and sewage systems pose health danger
ICRS 13 Oct — Large segments of the population of the Gaza Strip are still deprived of safe drinking water. Repairs to sewage systems and the restoration of basic electricity services remain urgent. Water and power facilities in Gaza were already at breaking point before the recent conflict, which further damaged the sewage network as well as the territory’s only power plant. Destroyed sewage systems not only sent wastewater flooding into the clean-water networks but also into the environment, worsening the risks to public health. This aggravated an already serious situation resulting from the fact that the Strip had previously been discharging nearly 100,000 cubic metres of wastewater into the sea every day. Emergency efforts carried out by the ICRC have so far provided water for over 600,000 people – at least one third of the population – and helped restore over 80 per cent of the limited electricity service for inhabitants. More sustainable improvements in vital infrastructure are needed, however. The vital water-electricity equation “The equation is simple,” said Guillaume Pierrehumbert, the ICRC’s water and habitat coordinator for the Gaza Strip. “The shortage of electricity prevents water from being cleaned, evacuated, treated, desalinated and restored to homes, hospitals and businesses. There is an overall lack of water, and the water that is available is salty, dirty or dangerous to drink.” Generators are therefore needed as a back-up to perform simple daily activities. These require extra fuel – a scarce commodity in Gaza, where financial resources are limited. “Just imagine how the water system in this densely populated urban area has been maimed,” said Mr Pierrehumbert. “The effects are seen, smelled and felt everywhere, but are most worrying in hospitals where the safety of people who are in greatest need is jeopardized.”
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/gaza-damaged-water-and-sewage-systems-pose-health-danger#

Egyptian authorities open Rafah for special cases
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Oct — The Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah crossing on Wednesday for special cases, the director of Gaza’s border crossings said Wednesday. Maher Abu Sabha told Ma‘an that the Rafah crossing was open for medical cases, those with residency in foreign countries, and students. The authorities will also allow pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia to cross.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733378

Israeli war destroyed Gaza antiquities
KHAN YUNIS (Al-Monitor) 3 Oct by Mohammed Othman — Owners of private museums that housed thousands of antiquities continue to survey the damage and looting committed by Israeli forces in the latest conflict — Gaza resident Jamal Abu Alian, 50, spent most of his life exploring and buying antiquities, filling a large part of his home with precious and rare pieces. The small museum in al-Zanna village, bordering Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, represented the fruits of Abu Alian’s antiquity collection for over 32 years. He collected around 5,000 antiquities dating back to the Bronze, Stone, Roman, Byzantine and Modern ages. Abu Alian told Al-Monitor that after the Israeli occupation declared al-Zanna a closed military region and forced its residents to evacuate the area, Israeli soldiers invaded his home and private museum, destroying and stealing antiquities. “They completely destroyed around 70% of the collection, partially destroyed 20% and stole 10% — the rarest and most valuable pieces in my museum, including three statues,” he said … The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Gaza Strip is waiting to finish listing the antiquities destroyed by the 51-day war on Gaza, before presenting its complaints to the Arab and international institutions such as UNESCO, the Organization of Arab Culture and other human rights associations. Mohammad Khalleh, the ministry’s representative in Gaza, told Al-Monitor that 41 historical sites have been registered so far, including a mosque, a church, a house and an ancient bath, damaged or destroyed, in addition to thousands of antiquities owned by residents.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/gaza-museums-antiquities-destroyed-israel.html

Official: No dispute over Gaza crossings administration
GAZA (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — The general director of the department of crossings and borders in Gaza Strip Maher Abu Sabha said Monday that there are no disputes over the administration of the Gaza crossings. Abu Sabha said employees in both government are working hand-in-hand on Kerem Shalom and Beit Hanoun crossings. Abu Sabha added that they await a “political decision” over Rafah crossing, confirming that no crossing employees will be dismissed. There is still no set dates to import construction materials into Gaza, he explained.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733015

60,000+signatories call for military embargo ahead of Gaza donors conference
New York, NY (Palestinian Grassroots Anti-apartheid Wall Campaign) 13 Oct — More Than 60,000 Signatories, Including Nobel Prize Laureates, Celebrities and Religious Organizations, Call For Military Embargo on Israel Ahead of Gaza Donors Conference – Signatories Include Desmond Tutu, Roger Waters, Alice Walker, Michael Ondaatje, Brian Eno, Mira Nair and Mike Leigh — As international donors prepare to gather in Cairo on October 12 for a conference to rebuild Gaza after the devastation inflicted by Israel in its 51-day assault last summer, the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) delivered a petition signed by over 60,000 people including Nobel Laureates, artists and public intellectuals, to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling on the UN and governments around the world to take immediate steps to implement a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during the apartheid era.
http://stopthewall.org/2014/10/13/60000-signatories-call-military-embargo-ahead-gaza-donors-conference

In the last days of ‘Operation Protective Edge’, Israel focused on its final goal — the destruction of Gaza’s professional class / Dan Cohen
Mondoweiss 13 Oct — I spent the final night of Israel’s 51-day-long assault on the Gaza Strip on the ninth floor of the al Shorouq building, a media building in central Gaza City which had previously been bombed multiple times by Israel. After word spread that the 13-story residential tower known as the Italian Compound was marked for destruction, a series of explosions began to rock the building, sending sparks and plumes of ash pouring into the darkened sky … At just after 4 am, drones and F16s flying at low altitude over Gaza attacked the Basha Tower, a 15-story building only an estimated 100 meters away from the al Shorouq tower. The stately tower was the oldest in Gaza City, as much a symbol of the urban landscape as the World Trade Center was to New York City. Its offices housed medical and dental clinics, non-governmental and media organizations including many of Gaza’s most popular radio stations. Basil Tanani works for Sha’ab radio, which served as a primary outlet of information to Gazans throughout the assault. “The media shows the real face of Israel to the world,” Tanani said. “That’s why they’re targeting the media organizations. They thought that they would silence our voices by destroying these towers, but we are the people and the voice. We’re not going to stop working and making our voices heard.” … The previous night Israeli warplanes and drones brought down the Zafer 4 resident tower, a 14-story residential tower that housed at least 44 mostly middle class families, including that of the director of Fatah’s security apparatus in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, it destroyed the 7-story Zourab building, a commercial center in Rafah. Other nearby buildings were threatened with destruction but spared without explanation. The bombing of these buildings was the finale of Israel’s mass destruction of the Gaza Strip, flattening landmark towers that provided essential social and economic functions, and which stood as symbols of the besieged coastal strip’s beleaguered professional class
https://mondoweiss.net/2014/10/protective-destruction-professional

UN’s Ban urges probe into Gaza school shelling
GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) 14 Oct by John Davison — UN chief Ban Ki-moon demanded Tuesday an independent probe into Israel’s deadly shelling of a school during the Gaza conflict, expressing shock at the devastation during a visit to the Palestinian enclave. Two days after donor states pledged $5.4 billion (€4.3 billion) to rebuild Gaza, Ban toured some of the areas worst hit during the July-August war between Israel and the territory’s Hamas rulers. “No amount of (UN) Security Council sessions, reports or briefings could have prepared me for what I witnessed today,” he said after being driven through the ruins of Gaza City’s Shejaiya district and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp. The secretary general was speaking at a UN school in Jabaliya, where tank shells slammed into two classrooms on June 30, killing at least 14 people sheltering there. “The shelling of the United Nations school is absolutely unacceptable. These actions must be fully and independently investigated,” he said. Relatives of the dead held up posters showing their loved ones and disabled casualties waited to see Ban. The UN chief also called on Palestinian militant groups to cease firing rockets at Israel from the territory … At Sunday’s conference in Cairo, Ban said “the root causes of the recent hostilities” were “a restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations.” On Tuesday, he urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to revive peace talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/un-chief-ban-visits-war-scarred-gaza-strip-102955996.html

Construction materials to enter Gaza Tuesday
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — Building materials to be used for the reconstruction of war-torn Gaza will enter the besieged enclave on Tuesday, a Palestinian official said. Hussein al-Sheikh, minister of civil affairs, said cement, steel and gravel would enter Gaza as the first shipment in the process of reconstruction. The materials will be distributed among the private sector according to previous agreements. A crossings official said 15 trucks of cement, 10 trucks of steel, and 50 trucks of gravel will enter Gaza. Israeli authorities will also open the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow food and fuel to enter, together with 430 trucks of commercial and agricultural goods.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733088

Islamic Jihad calls for committee to supervise Gaza reconstruction
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — A leader in the Islamic Jihad movement on Monday called on the Palestinian Authority to form an independent committee to supervise the reconstruction of Gaza. Yousef al-Hasayneh said in a statement that the committee should be made up of both members of the government and Palestinian experts. “It is not enough for the international community to merely announce support for Palestinians; we need them to condemn and convict Israel for its crimes against our people,” al-Hasayneh said in the statement. He said the US and other western countries were attempting to tie their donations to a return to negotiations with Israel, “exploiting the Palestinians’ need to rebuild what was destroyed” during the Israeli offensive on Gaza. The priority should be “far from these political bargains,” al-Hasayneh added, saying the top priorities were to see to the entry of construction material and easing the pain of those whose homes were destroyed during the assault.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732979

Veteran AP reporter in Gaza says enough after war, moved to Malaysia
WASHINGTON (JTA) 15 Oct by Ron Kampeas — Ibrahim Barzak spent his childhood counting the days to weekends, when he would travel with his father to see friends in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ashdod and Jerusalem. For Barzak’s young sons, by contrast, the names of those cities conjure malevolent exotica. Barzak, 38, has worked for the past 22 years as a journalist in his native Gaza City, most recently as the Gaza correspondent for The Associated Press. The ethos that has guided him throughout his reporting career: a commitment to facts and reality that knows no borders. But last month, Barzak and his family — his wife, Ghadeer al Omari, and two sons, Hikmet, 8, and Ahmed, 6 — picked up and moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Their house in Gaza’s Rimal neighborhood, which has a number of government buildings, had been flattened over the summer during Israel’s most recent war with Hamas. It was the third Barzak family home destroyed, by direct or indirect airstrikes, in eight years … Barzak misses Gaza, the coastal strip where he was born and his family lived for centuries. “It’s very hard to leave,” he said. The Gaza of his youth, of weekend trips to Israeli cities, is gone. For one thing, travel between Gaza and Israel no longer is so freely permitted. “My sons know nothing about who we are sharing the border with, who is across the border,” Barzak said. His wife, also a Gaza native, recorded her helplessness at the hatred growing in her sons. “This morning, Hikmet and Ahmed woke up to the sound of a huge explosion,” she wrote on the website Voices of Gaza, a resource for journalists. “I hugged their shaking bodies, asking them not to be afraid. Hikmet, who is 8, said, ‘I hate Israel. I hate all the Israeli people.’ I asked him, ‘Why, sweetheart?’ He answered, ‘Don’t you know why, Mum? Don’t you see what they are trying to do? They want to kill us.’ ” It was time to move. “I can’t convince [my sons] of my beliefs,” Barzak said. “I can’t tell them that we can live in peace and tolerance, I can’t say I have a Jewish friend who helped me get out of Gaza and I am proud of my friendship. I am one of the few left who believe in it.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/veteran-ap-reporter-in-gaza-says-enough-after-war-moves-to-malaysia/

Video: The embodiment of Palestinian history
Middle East Monitor 15 Oct — Gaza’s oldest resident, Um Saleh Hamood passed away and was buried on Monday in a grave which was dug out for her more than 20 years ago. The 128-year-old was born in 1886, according to her family, and had five sons and four daughters. Her grandson Mohammed Hamood, 30, told the Anadolu Agency that Um Saleh’s father was a soldier in the Ottoman Army. He added: “Hamood’s father joined the Turkish Ottoman army, and spent more than 35 years in it.” Until her death, Um Saleh kept earrings which were more than 100 years old, made of pure Turkish gold, which her father had brought over and gifted her at her wedding. A number of Turkish organisations working in the Gaza Strip had approached Um Saleh to purchase her earrings, which are considered ancient, to exhibit them in an “archaeological” museum in Turkey. She also kept a flour mill which, her grandson explains, the family used to grind wheat kernels and coffee. “My great grandfather brought this mill from Turkey, 95 years ago, during one of his visits to see the family in Palestine, his breaks from the army,” Mohammed explained. He said that his grandmother continued to use the mill in recent periods. Mohammed said his grandmother had completed the pilgrimage (hajj) four times in her life, saying she worked for more than 30 years as a midwife. Below is the transcript of an interview conducted by the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Mayadeen TV Um Saleh Hamood.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/14682-the-embodiment-of-palestinian-history

A siege of inertia: Israel’s non-policy on Gaza / Itamar Sha’altiel
972blog 13 Oct — One government inherits the siege from another, the prime minister admits it’s more harmful than helpful, the cabinet never formulates or even discusses a policy, and one minister goes as far as admitting that the only driving force behind Israel’s Gaza policy is inertia — There is something tempting about trying to connect all the dots, which show that every decision made by successive Israeli governments have just been part of one giant, logical process. It doesn’t matter whether the final outcome is cold and cruel — at least we can find solace knowing that all the pain and injustice is part of a rational calculus. A few days ago it was Haggai Matar who tried to connect the dots. His conclusion: Operation Protective Edge was intended to cause unbelievable destruction in Gaza, which will cause the Palestinians to deal with reconstruction for years, thus prolonging the occupation. I think Matar is wrong, and that the truth is worse and more complex than he wants to believe. If we connect all the dots of Israeli policy, we do not get a secret plan, but rather a picture of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon attempting to think; there is no rational calculus behind all the injustice and pain, only coincidence and covering one’s ass.
http://972mag.com/a-siege-of-inertia-israels-non-policy-on-gaza/97639/

World’s delayed reaction to Gaza war kicks in / Larry Derfner
972mag 14 Oct — A week of encouraging signs augurs revival of anti-occupation cause —  My view of the chances that the occupation will end someday fluctuates between pessimistic and despairing. Since the war in Gaza, I’ve felt the cause was effectively lost; I figured that if the monstrous devastation that Israel visited on the Strip and its people did not light a fire under the world’s ass, then the anti-occupation movement was on a slow boat to nowhere. But just in the last week there have been a number of delayed international reactions (and even one from Israel) to the Gaza war, and they add up to what I see as a critical mass of encouraging signs that is weighty enough, at least, to argue against despair
http://972mag.com/worlds-delayed-reaction-to-gaza-war-kicks-in/97678/

Migration attempts

Egypt deports 68 Palestinian migrants to Gaza
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — Egyptian authorities deported 68 Palestinians back to Gaza on Monday after they attempted to reach Europe from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. The Palestinian migrants were found in Alexandria by security forces and had hoped to reach Italy, Egyptian officials said. An Egyptian court declared that all 68 be deported to Gaza after it emerged they had used smuggling tunnels in Gaza to enter Egyptian territory. In early September, 43 Palestinians were detained near Alexandria while attempting to reach Europe. A large ship carrying around 500 migrants, including Palestinians, capsized off the coast of Malta on Sept. 14, leaving the vast majority dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732870

From Syria to Gaza: The search for a better life
Middle East Monitor 11 Oct by Linah Alsaafin — Mohammad Farid Yousef’s family has been detained at Cairo airport for almost a month. They left the Gaza strip in the aftermath of Israel’s recent 51-day invasion this past summer… Mohammad and his family fled the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus in 2013. They arrived in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing in April of the same year after a brief stop in Egypt, deciding that they could at the very least lead a dignified life in the coastal enclave. “We had nowhere to go,” Mohammad, 29, told the Middle East Monitor. “I came to Egypt during Morsi’s reign with relative ease, but the negative attitude of the Egyptian people towards us and their exploitation made my family rethink our options. We found we had nowhere to go except Gaza, especially since travelling by boats from Egypt to seek asylum in Europe had not started then… ” The Palestinian refugee population in Syria had numbered around 600,000. Now, almost half have escaped the fighting in search of security and stability, but face heavy restrictions by various Arab governments, such as Lebanon, which has announced it will not grant entry to Palestinian Syrians. According to Atef Alamawi, the Director of the Monitoring Committee for Refugees from Syria to Gaza, more than 350 Palestinian Syrian families have fled to Gaza. They are made up of Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Syria, including those who are originally from Gaza but have spent the last few decades in Syria. “What ties us together is that we are all refugees of war who left behind all of our possessions,” Alamawi said. He moved to Gaza with his family from Yarmouk camp two years ago. “We came to Gaza in search of security, stability and a decent life among our Palestinian brethren despite the siege imposed. The majority of us did not have a substitute for Gaza – in addition to not having enough to start our lives over, the other neighbouring countries did not accept us.”… 80 per cent of Gaza’s population is made up of refugees, and the irony of Mohammad becoming a refugee within Palestine after spending his entire life as a Palestinian refugee in Syria is not lost on him. “It’s a scummy feeling being a refugee inside your own country,” he said. “In Syria we’re Palestinians and in Gaza we’re called Syrians. Friends here record my name on their cell phones as Mohammad Al-Soori (the Syrian). But Gaza remains better than the rest of the countries in the region for a simple reason: no one understands your pain except those who have experienced it.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/14608-from-syria-to-gaza-the-search-for-a-better-life

Other news

PM: Only half of Cairo pledges to be spent on Gaza reconstruction
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Oct – Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah says only half of the money pledged during the donor conference in Cairo will be dedicated to Gaza reconstruction, while the other half will be spent on other Palestinian needs in the coming three years. Speaking at a joint news conference with UN secretary-general Ban Ki Mooon in Ramallah, Hamdallah said the Palestinians’ main goal was to end the Israeli occupation. He said officials at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo had asserted that Israel and the Palestinian factions should adhere to the ceasefire agreement and seek to reach a permanent ceasefire in order to help with the reconstruction efforts. Ban Ki-moon, for his part, said he brought a message of hope to rebuild the Gaza Strip in order to try and create a better future for the people of Gaza, where thousands of innocent people have died and hundreds of thousands have been suffering. While he insisted that rebuilding Gaza was a priority, Ban said that it was more important to avoid a repetition of the same situation. The Gaza Strip, he said, was destroyed three times before and it’s time to make sure this destruction comes to an end. He also denounced the settlement activities the Israeli government has been carrying out along with incitement in Jerusalem which would only lead to more tension. The occupation, added Ban, has gone on for decades and “now it’s time for a two-state solution, and the UN will continue to exert efforts for that end.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732989

Official: Donors pledge to ‘quickly contribute’ to reconstruction
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Oct — The Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing said Monday that the donors at the Cairo conference have pledged to “quickly contribute” to the reconstruction of Gaza by pressuring Israel. Mufid al-Hasayneh, who took part in the conference, said that the pledges exceeded what was reported in the media and that therefore he expects the reconstruction process to be quick. Egypt will cooperate by allowing construction material into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, and Israel will also allow material in through its border crossings with the besieged coastal enclave, al-Hasayneh said. Various countries had pledged to support the Palestinian cause and to recognize the Palestinian State following the Swedish decision to do so, he said, without providing further details.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732893

British Parliament sends a message to Obama: the people see Israel as a ‘bully’ / Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss 14 Oct — Yesterday the British Parliament voted overwhelmingly (274-12) to recognize a Palestinian state, and if you listened to the debate, one theme above all else explains the crushing victory: The British public has been horrified by Gaza and its opinion of Israel has shifted. Even Conservative members of Parliament cited pressure from the public. As Labour’s Andy Slaughter said, Britain has witnessed a new “barbarism”: “I think that the British people have been on the same sort of the journey as the right hon. Member for Croydon South [Conservative Sir Richard Ottaway] described—it is certainly true of the Labour movement—from being very sympathetic to Israel as a country that was trying to achieve democracy and was embattled, to seeing it now as a bully and a regional superpower. That is not something I say with any pleasure, but since the triumph of military Zionism and the Likud-run Governments we have seen a new barbarism in that country.” Slaughter and a fellow Labour member, Kate Green, said that just as the British Parliament sent a message to Obama a year ago in voting to oppose the Conservative Prime Minister on attacking Syria, a vote Obama heeded in reversing course on a Syria attack, today the British Parliament aims to influence U.S. policy on Palestine.
https://mondoweiss.net/2014/10/british-parliament-message

France: Palestinian recognition shouldn’t be merely symbolic
PARIS (Reuters) 14 Oct — France’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris should recognize a Palestinian state only if doing so would help achieve peace, not as a symbolic gesture. However, if negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel fail, Paris “would not shirk its responsibilities” but would recognize the Palestinian state, the minister, Laurent Fabius, said in answer to a question in parliament. His remarks came a day after British lawmakers voted to recognize Palestine. Their vote will not alter government policy, but it does carry symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition.
http://news.yahoo.com/france-palestinian-recognition-shouldnt-merely-symbolic-160949019.html

Official: Israel, Hamas to discuss prisoner exchange
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Oct — A prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas is expected to take place soon, a Hamas official said, without providing further details. Muhammad Attoun, originally from Jerusalem but currently banned from the city, told Ma‘an that “we hereby confirm there will be good omens very soon and the occupation will yield, whether they like it or not, just as they did before.” “I can confirm that there will be a deal soon to free our prisoners,” Attoun added, without providing specific details. Prisoners freed in the Shalit deal who were rearrested must be released before any serious exchange discussions can take place, the Hamas official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733197

Palestinian Christian village cancels Oktoberfest
Al-Monitor 10 Oct by Daoud Kuttab — The West Bank Christian village of Taybeh has canceled its annual Oktoberfest this year out of respect for the victims of the Gaza war — Sometimes the product becomes better known than the town or country of origin. This happened to the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh, whose brew was described by Time Magazine as “the beer that made Taybeh famous.” The name of the beer and the town, which means “good” in Arabic, was given to this Palestinian village by the 12th century Muslim leader Salah ad-Din al-Ayyoubi. The folk tale states that Salah ad-Din found the local Christians hospitable and generous and called them “taybeen,” the plural of what the town ultimately became known as. The brewery that made the village famous was set up by David Khoury, who, following the Oslo Accord, decided to make the move from running a liquor store in the United States to actually brewing beer in his hometown in Palestine. The brewery grew to make the village famous, and an annual cultural event — a Palestinian version of the German Oktoberfest — began in 2005 to bring local and international talent to the Palestinian village. The tradition, however, will not be upheld this year on what was expected to be the festival’s tenth anniversary.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/10/palestine-oktoberfest-canceled-solidarity-gaza-war-victims.html

New site catalogs documentary films about Palestine
Mondoweiss 7 Oct by Henry Norr — Movies are a great way to learn about Palestine – and, more important, to educate family, friends, and neighbors. Fortunately, there are scores of great films about the plight of the Palestinians and its historical roots – if the quality and quantity of documentaries on the situation determined the outcome, the Palestinians would have won a substantial measure of justice long ago. And in the Internet age most of these films are available at the click of a mouse, for free or at nominal cost. The bad news is that it hasn’t been particularly easy to locate such movies. But now two European professors of film studies are taking on that challenge with PalestineDocs, a new website designed to serve as “a web resource on films chronicling the life of Palestinians in and outside the Middle East.” The site’s ever-growing database currently includes more than 100 documentaries, grouped in a dozen or so categories (“Gaza,” “Camps,” “Exile,” etc.); for each listing, there’s a one- or two-paragraph synopsis and links to sites from which the movie can be streamed free, rented, or purchased. PalestineDocs’ existence is a by-product of this summer’s Israeli onslaught on Gaza, according to its creators
https://mondoweiss.net/2014/10/catalogs-documentary-palestine

PA security forces kill man during Hebron raid
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 16 Oct — Palestinian Authority security forces killed a 25-year-old man in Hebron early Thursday during a raid in the southern West Bank city. Security officials told Ma‘an that clashes broke out as PA forces attempted to arrest several known outlaws who had been hiding south of Hebron in Area C. It is unclear what the men are accused of. The men opened fire at security forces during the raid, injuring seven security personnel, including one who is in critical condition. PA forces responded with live fire and critically injured Bilal al-Rajabi, who later died in hospital. Security spokesperson Adnan al-Damiri told Ma‘an that security forces arrested 21 wanted criminals in the Jabal Jawhar area and recovered several stolen vehicles. The PA is investigating the death of al-Rajabi, he said, adding that security forces will deal forcefully with outlaws “even inside areas they think are a safe place to hide.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=733533

Thousands of Christians voice support for Israel in Jerusalem
15 Oct by Renee Ghert-Zand — We must rise to action in the defense of Israel! We must vote, demonstrate and lift our voices in the press!” American preacher Dr. Robert Stearns urged 5,000 Christian pilgrims from 80 different countries filling the seats of Jerusalem’s new Pais Arena on Tuesday evening for a spectacular show celebrating their declaredly unshakable bond with Israel. They were at the arena for “Israeli Night,” an event of The Feast of Tabernacles to which Israeli citizens and residents, including 300 Jewish, Christian and Druze IDF paratroopers who served in Operation Protective Edge, were invited as special guests …The Feast of Tabernacles has been presented annually on Sukkot for the past 35 years by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, an organization established in 1980 to represent millions of Christians, churches and denominations to Israel and its people. It reaches Christians in 140 countries and has branches in 80. ICEJ raises millions of dollars to assist with the aliyah to Israel of Jews from around the world, most recently from India and Ukraine. During this summer’s conflict with Hamas, the organization provided portable bomb shelters and other assistance to Israeli communities on the Gaza border. ICEJ also runs a full-care residence for 70 Holocaust survivors in Haifa … Judy Russell, the personal assistant to Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile, the leader of Australia’s Christian Democratic Party, came with a group of 22 pilgrims touring Israel for two and a half weeks. “We’re here because of our love of the God of Israel as he brings his people home,” she said before the singing and shouts of Hallelujah reached a deafening pitch. “It is our mission to bless Israel. In Australia, people are being manipulated by the Palestinian message. It is the job of people like us to educate others about Israel’s side,” Russell said.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-of-christians-voice-support-for-israel-in-jerusalem/

Exodus campaign to Berlin sparks outrage in Israel
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) 16 Oct by Aron Heller & Kirsten Grieshaber — A group of young Israeli expats have unleashed controversy back home by encouraging others to join them in Berlin, touching on two of the most sensitive issues in Israel: the country’s high cost of living and Jews’ tortured history with Germany. While Israelis have been angered after learning that food prices are much lower in Germany, they are also outraged that the youngsters’ form of protest has been to give up on the Zionist dream by leaving the Jewish state, and relocate to the birthplace of the Nazi Party to boot. It rankles many in a society that once considered emigration shamefully akin to treason, at a time when many Israelis want to stick together after a brutal summer war in Gaza underscored greater political and security woes in Israel. The uproar began several weeks ago when a 25-year-old former Israeli army officer flaunted photos of his grocery receipts — including those of a popular chocolate pudding that sells in Germany for one-third the price in Israel — and boasted about the good life in the German capital … The campaign marks a new channel for economic discontent, three years after a massive protest movement by hundreds of thousands of Israelis demanding lower prices, more affordable housing and a narrower gap between rich and poor, largely failed in its goals. But the political backlash has been even stronger, with the idealization of Berlin viewed as a hurtful provocation. Less than 70 years after the end of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed, memories are still fresh — especially among Israel’s large community of survivors —  and there are those who still refuse to visit Germany or buy its products.
http://news.yahoo.com/exodus-campaign-berlin-sparks-outrage-israel-053429915–finance.html

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