and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
West Bank home demolitions up ‘alarmingly’: UN
AFP 2 Aug — Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank rose “alarmingly” in the first half of 2011, in some cases threatening entire communities, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday. The UN Relief and Works Agency, which looks after Palestinian refugees, said 356 structures had been demolished in the first six months of this year, compared with 431 for the whole of 2010. And the agency said 700 people had been displaced by the demolitions in the first six months of 2011, compared with 594 in the whole of 2010 … The demolitions are taking place in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank that is designated as under full Israeli control, in which Israel has designated just one percent of land for Palestinian development, UNRWA said.
http://news.yahoo.com/west-bank-home-demolitions-alarmingly-un-155214603.html
Young man released from prison, sentenced to house arrest outside home
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Aug — A young Palestinian man was sentenced to house arrest outside of his home in Anata camp yesterday by a Jerusalem court. Ammar Zeytoon was arrested on charges of participation in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Anata refugee camp in north Jerusalem, and served two months in prison. He was ordered to be transferred to house arrest yesterday and banned from entering the camp.
http://silwanic.net/?p=18885
Video: Al Araqib marks anniversary of first demolition / Silvia Boarini
Palestine Monitor 3 Aug — The unrecognized village of al Araqib in the Negev desert marked the anniversary of its first demolition by Israeli authorities in July 2010. Since then, al Araqib has been rebuilt by villagers — and demolished again by officials — 25 times. This month, the state of Israel announced they were suing the village NIS 1.8 million for expenses incurred during the demolitions. The annual commemoration lasted a week and featured a series of protests, events, talks and activities involving Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, internationals and Palestinians from the West Bank … Since July 2010, the Jewish National Fund has been working on the village’s land, paving the way for the proposed Ambassador Forest, which aims to displace the village entirely. Hundreds of small earthen mounds, ready to house young trees, now dot the landscape where the al-Turis’ homes used to be. A few hundreds meters away the planting has already begun.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=1304
Settlers
Settlers attempt to seize more land in Saffa
[photos] PSP 3 Aug — Settlers from Bat Ayin settlement have attempted to seize more land belonging to the village of Saffa. This week, it was discovered that settlers had begun construction of a building foundation on the land of local farmer Thelgy Addy. Stones have been piled on top of one another forming what appears to be the bases of walls, and one of the stones was marked with a green symbol. Around the stones, the settlers had posted stakes at a distance of 500 meters. When this construction was discovered, the stakes were pulled up in order to combat the theft of more land. Settlers will often begin taking over more land by constructing buildings as an outpost, then moving people in. Bat Ayin is a particularly aggressive settlement which has a history of violence towards Palestinians in the area….
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/08/03/settlers-try-to-claim-more-land-in-saffa/
Dozens of hilltop youth set up camp in Israel’s biggest tent city
Haaretz 3 Aug — The activists, who belong to the extreme right, claim solution to housing crisis is construction in the West Bank; plan to set up dozens of more tents in coming days — A few dozen hilltop youth joined the tent city on Rothschild Boulevard Wednesday, erecting 15 tents on the corner of Allenby Street in central Tel Aviv. The hilltop youth, a group of young people who were born in the settlements and who belong to the extreme right, appeared on Rothschild Boulevard wearing shirts with slogans such as “Tel Aviv is Jewish” and “Jews, let us be victorious.” The activists planned to set up dozens of additional tents in the coming days. Meir Butler, one of the hilltop youth leaders, told Haaretz, “We can came here to say ‘yes’ to the social protests, but to also say that there is a solution.” The solution, he said, “is to build in Judea and Samaria.” Earlier on Wednesday, approximately 200 right-wing activists marched from Habima Square, shouting, “No to bringing down the government, yes to solving the crisis.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/dozens-of-hilltop-youth-set-up-camp-in-israel-s-biggest-tent-city-1.376815
Protesters blast marching rightists
Ynet 3 Aug — Baruch Marzel visits Tel Aviv ‘tent city’, says: When it comes to social issues I’m more Left than Left; but protesters appear annoyed at rightists’ presence. They are not part of us, says organizer as Marzel’s followers chant: Tel Aviv Jewish, Sudanese go to Sudan
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4104143,00.html
Officer who threatened settler to stand trial
Ynet 3 Aug — Disciplinary action taken against Border Guard officer who pulled weapon on Yithar spokesman … The incident took place in January. A Border Guard force came to the West Bank settlement in order to search the homes of students at the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva after a military jeep had its tires slashed at Yitzhar. A heated argument ensued, and the spokesman alerted one of the officers to the fact that his rifle was loaded. In response, the officer said, “This bullet is for your forehead.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4104250,00.html
Israeli forces
IDF soldiers launch attack on photojournalists / Mati Milstein
+972blog 2 Aug — If you seek to obtain a truly comprehensive picture of the state of press freedom and freedom of expression in territories under Israeli control, come watch Israeli soldiers shoot at journalists in the West Bank. On Friday, 29 July, at the start of the weekly Palestinian demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, Israeli army infantry reservists opened fire with riot-control weapons on a group of some 10 press photographers. This attack crossed a red line … The use of firearms in a direct attack on members of the media was preceded slightly earlier in the day by the harassment, arrest and reported beating by Alexandroni Brigade reservists of Muheeb Barghouthi, a Palestinian photographer working for Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper. I did not witness this incident, but I saw the harassment and arrest later on video
http://972mag.com/idf-soldiers-attack-on-photojournalists/
Easing restrictions in the West Bank and Gaza during Ramadan
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs — Press Release 1 August — (Communicated by the IDF and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) In honor of the Ramadan period that began on August 1, the IDF and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT) will ease restrictions, as recommended by IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. These policies are intended to improve the welfare of Palestinians in the West Bank and were approved by Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Throughout the Ramadan month, Palestinians will receive permits to visit family members in Israel. Gate 107 leading to Qalqilya will be open every day for the departure Israeli Arabs accommodating these visits. Palestinians will also be able to travel abroad via Ben Gurion Airport. Other Ramadan accommodations include the free travel of supply trucks between the Jordan Valley and the West Bank. Crossings in the northern Jordan Valley will allow passage of Israeli Arabs…. [Aside from the fact that one needs to take this press release with a whole shaker of salt, the question arises: Why are there these restrictions on the lives of Palestinians in the first place?]
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2011/Easing_restrictions_West_Bank_Ramadan_1-Aug-2011.htm
Six Palestinians wounded in IOF incursion
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 3 Aug — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided the village of Beit Ummar, north of Al-Khalil, wounding six citizens in the process including five of one family and arresting a youth. The anti-settlement committee in the village said that the IOF soldiers broke into several homes during the raid and fired live bullets and teargas canisters in the process. It said that the incursion, which occurred on Tuesday, also witnessed clashes with youngsters in the village but no casualties were reported in those confrontations.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Gaza
Israeli minister calls for major Gaza assault
GAZA CITY/ OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Daily Star) 3 Aug — An Israeli Cabinet minister reportedly called for a major military push into Gaza Tuesday. The call came after Israeli warplanes raided the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, one day after Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel, wounding a woman. Israeli public radio and state-run Channel One TV reported Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aaronovitch, of the hawkish Yisrael Beitenu party, as saying: “The steady shower of missiles” from Gaza could not be tolerated and Israel must respond with a “broad military action.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Aug-03/Israeli-minister-calls-for-major-Gaza-assault.ashx#axzz1U0Is8GIR
Gaza ministry: Rafah crossing open for July applicants after delays
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — The Ministry of Interior in Gaza said Wednesday that passengers who had registered to travel to Egypt via the Rafah crossing on July 24 and 25 could now undertake their journey after lengthy delays … priority will be given to medical patients, students and those holding residency visas to other countries.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410512
Rights group urges inquiry after Gaza death
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — A Palestinian human rights group expressed concern Wednesday following the shooting death of a police officer in the Gaza Strip while enforcing a court ruling. Majed Karam, 23, a policeman from Gaza City, died Sunday after gunmen opened fire on a police unit that was enforcing a court ruling in the Juhor Ad-Dik village, authorities in Gaza said. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights called the incident the latest in an ongoing “state of security chaos and misuse of weapons” that has plagued the Gaza Strip in recent years … Three families lived in the houses which were bulldozed following a court ruling that determined the structures were built on land owned by the religious affairs ministry in Gaza. As the force started bulldozing the three houses, members of the Abu Thaher family and members of the Abu Hein family intervened to stop the demolition, according to the rights group.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410695
Army: Projectile report ‘false alarm’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — The Israeli army said reports that a projectile had landed in southern Israel on Wednesday morning were a ‘false alarm’. The Israeli news site Ynet reported Wednesday that a rocket fired from Gaza landed in the southern Ashkelon district causing no damage or injuries but an Israeli military spokeswoman later said the reported explosion was a false alarm.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410577
2 rockets fired from Gaza
Ynet 3 Aug — Two Grad rockets were fired from Gaza late Wednesday evening after a period of relative calm in the south. The first exploded at around 10:30 pm in open spaces between Sderot and Kiryat Gat, near a town in the Lakhish region. No injuries or damage were reported. The second exploded some two hours later at the entrance to the southern city of Ashkelon, near a gas station. No injuries or damage were reported in this case, either.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4104256,00.html
Gazan thalassemic children plead for life
Gaza Strip (Bernama) 3 Aug — Palestinian children infected with thalassemia have called on the international community and human rights organisations to exert pressure on Israel to end its blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007. The Gaza-based ministry of health reported that 75 children are facing a death risk due to shortage of 25 items of drugs needed for thalassemic patients …Some of the thalassemic children held a press conference with the ministry officials to highlight their deteriorating health. See article on thalassemia, a disease affecting mainly Mediterranean ethnic groups
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=605869
Miles of Smiles 5 to land in Strip marking Eid al-Fitr
GAZA (PIC) 3 Aug – A humanitarian aid convoy, dubbed Miles of Smiles 5, is set to land in the Gaza Strip on Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
In addition, organizers say participants are preparing a ‘’sea demonstration’’ in international waters protesting Israel’s five-year siege on the Gaza Strip … With regards to the protest at sea, Yusuf said the convoy is not planning on delivering the much needed aid directly to Gaza’s port but wants only to demonstrate against Israel’s siege and ‘pirating’ of siege-breaking ships, such as the French Dignité (Al-Karama).
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Smuggling drives Gaza’s building boom
BBC 3 Aug — …Parts of Rafah, the southern Gazan town right on the border with Egypt, have the feel of a major industrial zone or port. It is dusty, hot and noisy with the smell of diesel in the air. Hundreds of white tents line the border with Egypt. Under each tent is a tunnel. They are barely hidden. This is not a secret smuggling operation. It is big business, out in the open … Mr Shaban says the tunnels are creating a mafia-style economy, from which a few people in Gaza are getting very rich. He also says Hamas are making money too because they regulate the tunnel trade. “They benefit in two ways – from imposing taxes and tariffs on everything that comes through, and also through trading directly themselves.” For Mr Shaban, this shows the stupidity of Israel’s blockade Listen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14370534
Detention
PPS: Bethlehem saw 13 arrests in July
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 3 Aug — The Palestinian Prisoner Society in the West Bank governorate of Bethlehem has said that the Israeli occupation forces apprehended 13 Palestinians in the governorate in July 2011, with most of the arrests taking place in the Doheisheh and Husan refugee camps … The PPS said IOF search and arrest operations, which continue despite a calm that has prevailed in the area, are designed to provoke locals and create a state of fear, instability, and insecurity among them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
PA: Israel refused extra food in jails for Ramadan
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — …The Ramallah-based ministry requested upping the food allocation from 300 shekels ($86) to 400 shekels ($115) per prisoner to purchase special foods consumed by Muslims to break the daily fast, Qaraqe said in a statement. Israeli authorities declined, telling the ministry that they had offered their own special food package for Ramadan to detainees, who turned down the offer, the minister added. Prisoners consider the Israeli offer “humiliation and disrespect” … Qaraqe added that the Israeli prison administration had recently decreased quantities of food per prisoner. In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the prison service to toughen conditions for Palestinian detainees in an effort to pressure Hamas to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410534
74 Palestinian detainees to be released [late]
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — The Head of the Prisoners Society in Hebron Amjad An-Najjar told Ma’an that 74 detainees are to be released from Israeli jail on Thursday morning. The Negev prison administration in southern Israel informed the prisoners of their decision on Wednesday, An-Najjar said.
The detainees were due for release at an earlier date, he added, but a change in prison policy by the Israeli government delayed their discharge. In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the prison service to toughen conditions for Palestinian detainees in an effort to pressure Hamas to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410639
Knesset approves new restrictions on Palestinian prisoners
NAZARETH (PIC) 3 Aug — The Israeli Knesset has approved in its first reading a law empowering all prison administrations with the right to prevent Palestinian prisoners from meeting with their lawyers for three days. Right group sources say the move comes to pressure prisoner bodies into meeting the demands of the Israeli prison authority.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Negev prison infested with snakes, wild cats
NABLUS (PIC) 3 Aug — Prisoners say they live in fear as the Negev prison has become infested with snakes and wild cats. This was learnt through Palestinian Prison Society attorney Lu’a Akka who visited the prison recently. Prisoners have been taking turns holding watch at night as snakes have been sighted spread across the prison’s walls. Prisoners also say that wild cats that spend the daytime picking through garbage intermingle with prisoners at night, raising fears of disease spreading. [in the south of the country, there are not only poisonous vipers, but also adders, ringed snakes, black cobras, and several other poisonous snakes, according to this Ynet article]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Hamas media: Shalit ‘fasting’ during holy month
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — The Hamas-affiliated Ar-Risala website reported Wednesday that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has decided to fast during Ramadan … “A popular proverb goes that if one lives in a community for more 40 days, he becomes one of them. This saying seems to have come true in the Gaza Strip, namely with captured Israeli soldier in Gaza Gilad Shalit who has been living with Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades for more than five years. As a result, it seems he was embarrassed to ask for food during Ramadan despite the fact that his captors do not deny him that right,” the report, in Arabic, read.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410714
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Palestinian Americans know their heritage
Bethlehem – PNN/Exclusive – 3 Aug — Yesterday morning a group of young Palestinian Americans returned home to the United States after taking part in the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation’s ‘Know Your Heritage’ program. It was an emotional moment. But everyone felt determined, more determined than ever, that they honour their Palestinian identity, no matter how much the Israeli government might try to keep them away. Karima Moussa was one of those young people. A student of Photojournalism at an American university, she holds an American passport – but she’s sure that her true loyalty, her deeper identity, is Palestinian … She felt pride about what she and the program had achieved. In fact, so profound was her experience, so much had she come to love Palestine and its people, she was even considering moving to live there in the near future. For her, she explained, Palestine is the land of her fathers and her grandfathers, it is the soul which moves her and which guides her.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10557&Itemid=72
Palestinian Gandhis Part VII – Young filmmakers
In the final post of our “Palestinian Gandhis” series, we come across two young artists, “Arab” and “Tarzan,” whose peaceful resistance mainly takes the form of film, though their voices are also heard throughout Gaza in murals and street art. In this installment, they discuss their influences, their intentions, and their work. Filmmaker Pam Bailey had this to say about them: The power of art as a tool of resistance, cutting right to the heart of oppression and betrayal, is unleashed in the work of Mohamed (“Arab”) and Ahmed (“Tarzan”) Abu Nasser. The identical twin brothers are true “renaissance men” – they play the guitar, paint, sketch, write screenplays, direct and act. However, filmmaking is their favorite form of expression, despite the fact that Gaza has no film school, and no cinemas.
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/08/palestinian-gandhis-part-vii-young.html
BDS organization writes Total Produce to not buy Agrexco
IMEMC 3 Aug — The Palestinian Boycott Divest Sanction organization has written a letter to the Irish company, Total Produce, to not purchase the Israeli produce company, Agrexco. The letter charged that Agrexco has been involved with ‘Israeli war crimes’. Sixty to seventy percent of the produce sold by Agrexco comes from confiscated Palestinian land in the West Bank. The BDS warned Total Produce that if they purchase Agrexco, Total Produce would be boycotted as well.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61786
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Al-Malki: UN bid is the right path
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — Palestinian Authority Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Malki said Thursday that Palestine’s bid for membership in the United Nations was the right path to take even if the leadership was presented with a reformulated framework for negotiations. In an interview, Al-Malki warned of the consequences of not going to the UN. He said that without the UN campaign, Palestinians would be left with no land on which to establish a state … In response to fears of violence in September, the minister said there would not be a third intifada, or uprising. “There is no fear of launching a third intifada … We will not return to the era of intifadas. We will depend on peaceful demonstrations in all forms.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410630
Intel officials don’t foresee Sept. violence
AP 3 Aug — Report drafted for Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee says Palestinians believe violence will be counterproductive, will stage only peaceful demonstrations, but recommends calling up reserves for safety
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4104239,00.html
Palestinian envoy urges US not to veto UN bid
AFP 3 Aug — A top Palestinian envoy said she has tried in vain to persuade the Obama administration not to veto a Palestinian bid next month for UN membership of a state on the 1967 lines. Hanan Ashrawi, who was sent to Washington by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told AFP on Tuesday she had urged US officials here this week to support, or at least not block, such a bid at the UN General Assembly in September.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=450710&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Beilin: Abbas is a man of peace
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — President Mahmoud Abbas is a man who believes in peace but Israel disappointed him by leaving him without a peace partner, said Yossi Beilin, former Israeli minister of justice and co-architect of the Geneva Initiative. In an interview on Ma‘an TV, Beilin urged both the Palestinians and the Israelis to commit to peace because it was the only vision that would remain “despite the fact that the right wing won elections both in Palestine and Israel.” … Asked about settlements, Beilin said most settlers were extremists living in the West Bank for ideological reasons. The settlers who were attracted by economic incentives and cheap housing were in the minority, Beilin added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410675
Netanyahu aide denies Israel offered Egypt’s Mubarak asylum
AP 3 Aug — Roni Sofer responds to claim by Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer that he and the PM made the offer to Mubarak while he was still president.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-aide-denies-israel-offered-egypt-s-mubarak-asylum-1.376804
Other news
In Pictures: The start of Ramadan
Al Jazeera 2 Aug — Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar when millions of Muslims worldwide fast from dawn to sunset. Ramadan, which changes each year depending on the moon, began this year on August 1. The breaking of the fast each day is called the Iftar, when families and communities gather to feast together. The meal starts with the eating of a single date, a tradition that originated with the Prophet Muhammad. [three of the photos are from Palestine]
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/inpictures/2011/08/2011826551885298.html
Israel prevents call for prayer 52 times in Hebron in July
HEBRON (WAFA) 3 Aug — The Israeli authorities prevented Muslim calls for prayer 52 times during July in the Ibrahimi mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a Palestinian official. Zaid Al-Jabari, director of the Muslim Waqf in Hebron, told WAFA that the Israeli occupation authorities did not allow the call for prayers, which is done five times a day, from the Ibrahimi mosque minaret on claims that it annoys the Israeli settlers who live in the area. Jabari denounced what he described as “arbitrary measures that affect houses of worship,” considering them “an encroachment on religion and freedom of worship guaranteed by international law.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16880
Israel ‘uprising’ activists enraged by housing bill
JERUSALEM (AFP) 3 Aug — Activists from Israel’s social protest movement reacted furiously on Wednesday after parliament passed a housing bill that they say will favor the rich and endanger the environment. Israeli news site Ynet said that hundreds of demonstrators blocked intersections in cities across the country, ranging from the southern desert city of Beersheba to Kiryat Shmona in the far north. Others stopped traffic in downtown Tel Aviv.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410646
There must be 50 WAZE to erase the Green Line / Ami Kaufman
+972mag 31 July — After a long day walking in the hot sun with the kids in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Malcha, our next destination was Bet Shemesh. Him: Hun, can you find on WAZE (Israeli-made “social-GPS” system) the quickest way to Bet Shemesh? Her: Sure Hun. Let’s see… OK, it says to go through route 375. Him: OK. Let’s go… Driving… suddenly we’re on our way to the Tunnels Road, which leads to Gush Etzion. HIM: Hun, doesn’t this go past the Green Line? Shouldn’t WAZE tell you that? Her: You’re right. Let me check. Hmmm.. this is what it says in the settings. I’ve ticked the box ‘Avoid areas under Palestinian Authority supervision’. So, I guess technically, the program is working. We’re not in the PA. Him: Hmmm… does the Orange GPS have the same wording? Or warning? Her: Lemme check. Hmmm, nope. The Orange one let’s you avoid passing the Green Line totally.‘ [Setting: ‘Stay in Green Line area’] Him: Hmmmm Her: Yup.
http://972mag.com/there-must-be-50-waze-to-erase-the-green-line/
Analysis / Opinion
West Bank murder smashed the lie of ‘honor killings’
HEBRON (AFP) 2 Aug — Aya’s remains were found bound, decomposed at the bottom of a well more than a year after she vanished without a trace, leaving her family beside themselves with worry. The university student’s disappearance in April 2010 left her relatives increasingly ostracized in their southern West Bank village, an area known for its deeply conservative traditions and morals. Neighbors assumed the worst — that their daughter had run away with a lover. But the mystery was solved in May when police found her bones several miles from the family home in Surif, northwest of the city of Hebron — and triggered an unprecedented public outcry … The motive behind the crime is still unclear. Some reports suggested Aya was killed because she refused a proposal from her uncle’s son, while security sources said the uncle held ultra-conservative views and was dead set against her quest for education. As details of Aya’s murder became public, it sparked a wave of outrage that spread across the southern West Bank, with people taking to the streets to demand changes to the law.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=410509
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