Human rights groups, architects, and planners study implementation of the right of return

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land theft / Ethnic cleansing / Exile

Owner: Israel to confiscate Beit Jala land for wall
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Oct  — Israeli forces issued a military order on Sunday to confiscate 37,000 square meters of private land from near the Cremisan Monastery in Beit Jala. One of the landowners told Ma‘an that Israeli forces handed confiscation warrants to him and other farmers on Sunday evening. The land slated for confiscation is used for agricultural cultivation, he said, adding that Israel is annexing the area to construct the separation wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431839

New Jerusalem neighborhood beyond Green Line set for approval
Ynet 24 Oct — Netanyahu’s government expected to push forward plans to build 1,400 housing units in the area of Givat Hamatos in southern Jerusalem, Ynet has learned. Peace Now: It will expand the borders of Jerusalem towards Bethlehem … Part A of the plan includes the construction of 2,610 housing units was put up for objections before the Sukkot holiday …  “The fact that they waited with the plans for 18 months is no coincidence,” Peace Now said. “The Israeli government clearly intends to promote this plan at this time.”  The movement further claimed that half of the lands where the new neighborhood is slated to be built are owned by Palestinians and could have been used to expand the neighborhood of Beit Tzafafa.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4138408,00.html

Israeli Supreme Court rebuffs Interior Minister, says Palestinian councilors can live in Jerusalem
PNN 24 Oct — On Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court gave Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai 90 days to give “convincing justification” of his cancellation of Palestinian Legislative Council members’ residency rights in Jerusalem. Each of the four councilor’s rights were revoked over the last year for “lack of loyalty to Israel,” but the Supreme Court said Israeli law does not authorize a minister to make that decision.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10792&Itemid=64

Lawmakers welcome Israeli court decision to revoke expulsion
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 24 Oct – Palestinian lawmakers in Jerusalem Monday welcomed the Israeli high court rule on Sunday to cancel the decision by Israeli Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, to withdraw Palestinian lawmakers’ residency in Jerusalem on the pretext of disloyalty to Israel. Palestinian lawmaker Mohammad Totah and Jerusalem former minister Khaled Abu Arafa expressed their relief for the court’s decision and considered it as “a step in the right direction.”  They said,”Palestinian residents of Jerusalem have an [in]alienable right to live in their city without cleansing policies targeting them.” … The Israeli High Court rule to cancel Yishai’s decision to withdraw lawmakers’ residency in Jerusalem was expected to end the 481 day protest, held since the decision was first issued by the interior minister to withdraw their residency and legal documents.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17849

Exhibition explores implementing right of return / Jillian Kestler-D-Amours
TEL AVIV (IPS) 24 Oct — In a new project that has tackled one of the most divisive issues plaguing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a diverse group of academics, architects, urban planners and Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups are examining how the right of return of Palestinian refugees can be implemented on the ground.  “Based on the right of return, we developed since 2008 a project of thinking practically about return. It’s not so much about the right itself, but more about the possibilities, once there will be the right, of how it could be implemented,” Eitan Bronstein, founder and spokesperson of Israeli organization Zochrot said.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/exhibition-explores-implementing-right-return/10507

Attempts to erase Palestinian culture and history

Israeli authorities impose censured Palestinian textbooks in East Jerusalem / Jalal Abukhater
972mag 22 Oct — Israeli authorities are attempting to impose new censored textbooks in Palestinian schools in East Jerusalem. Jalal Abukhater provides a sample of the changes and argues that censorship of Palestinian heritage and history is illegal, ineffective and dangerous. Students and parents are mounting protests … 2. In the censored textbooks, every mention and picture of a Palestinian flag has been removed, even in the coloring books for six-year-olds … 4. All mention of the terms Nakba (meaning ‘catastrophe’, referring to Palestinian dispersion/exodus in 1948) and Palestinian right of return have been removed, including poems by exiled Palestinian poets expressing their longing for their beautiful homeland. Poems and songs about the beauty of Palestinian landscapes or poems that mention Israeli checkpoints have also been deleted. 5. Earlier history — from hundreds of years ago — is being equally censored. In the fourth-grade textbook, a story about Saladin and the Battle of Hattin was deleted from existence for no apparent reason. Similarly a story about the Siege of Acre during the Napoleonic invasion has been deleted … Also in all geography textbooks, facts about the Palestinian water crisis — such as in the Jordan Valley where roughly 8,000 settlers receive 20 times more water than almost 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank — are entirely deleted,
http://972mag.com/israeli-authorities-impose-censored-palestinian-textbooks-in-east-jerusalem/26137/

Settler and soldier attacks on Palestinians

IDF soldier suspected of leaking military actions to West Bank settlers
Haaretz 24 Oct — Arrest of member of the Samaria Brigade’s rabbinate comes as tensions between extremist settlers, military rises following the September demolition of illegal structures in the Migron outpost.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-soldier-suspected-of-leaking-military-actions-to-west-bank-settlers-1.391759

OCHA weekly report: Settlers’ attacks remain high in West Bank in mid-October
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 23 Oct — Settler violence against Palestinians and their property remains high, with 11 settler-related incidents documented during the week between October 12 and 18, resulting in six Palestinian injuries and damage to around 900 olive trees, according to a report published on Sunday. The weekly report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA) said that in three separate incidents in East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured three Palestinians, including two children, ages 10 and 15 years, in the neighborhood of Al Thouri (Abu Tour), in Silwan and near the Old City….
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17841

Video: Israeli tanks patrol olive farmers in Gaza
ISM Gaza 23 Oct (27 seconds) — Olive farmers and volunteers were picking olives on 23 October 2011 when they were circled by 2 Apache helicopters and were faced by 4 tanks at certain points in the day. This video shows one of the tanks.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/10/israeli-tanks-patrol-olive-farmers-in-gaza/

Israeli troops enter Tulkarem, youth hurl stones
JENIN (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Sunday evening, sparking clashes with local youth. Eyewitnesses told Ma‘an that four Israeli military vehicles stormed the city before youth pelted them with stones and Israeli soldiers responded by firing tear gas. No injuries were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431800

Jerusalem village under siege for second day
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 23 Oct — Israeli occupation forces continued on Sunday to cordon off the village of Beit Egza [or Iksa] in occupied Jerusalem for the second day running in search of a Palestinian youth who allegedly stabbed a Jewish settler in the holy city on Saturday. Local sources said that the IOF troops blocked entrances to the village and banned traffic in and out of it since Saturday evening and started searching homes looking for the alleged attacker, arresting two citizens in the process. They said that the soldiers beat up and wounded three citizens who tried to enter the city n Saturday night.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

As settlers disrupt olive harvest, Israeli officer declares “I am the law, I am God”.
[with slideshow] ISM 22 Oct — Intimidation of Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled H2 section of Hebron continued today as the Israeli military and settlers harassed Palestinians and international observers as they attempted to pick olives on their land in Tel Rumeida … At 12:30 PM the Israeli police confiscated identity passes for 20 Palestinians and, whilst checking their details, forced the group to stand together and individually filmed their faces … In addition to intimidation by the military, Israeli settlers arrived on the Palestinian land within minutes of the olive harvest beginning and began to harass people picking olives.  A group of around 10 settlers gathered in the lower olive groves in Tel Rumeida at 11:55am where Palestinians were busy picking olives.  Baruch Marzel, a prominent extremist settler, stood on a Palestinian flag in an obvious attempt to provoke olive harvesters. .
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/10/as-settlers-disrupt-olive-harvest-israeli-officer-declares-i-am-the-law-i-am-god/

Settler guard hits a cat with car and says ‘Cats bother me like you’
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 24 Oct  —  One of the settler’s guards hit a cat in Silwan. A passerby had asked him to stop but the guard only smiled and preceded driving. After hitting the cat he said “You have many in your neighborhood so you won’t miss it.” A local onlooker replied, “Don’t you have mercy? You don’t care for what you’ve already done,” to which the guard replied, “Cats bother me like you.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=21469

Israeli military and settlers interrupt olive harvest celebration in Hebron
Mondo 24 Oct — Saturday was the gathering of many students from Al-Quds Open University, local families and Youth Against Settlements for the annual olive harvesting in Tel Al-Rumeda, Hebron. The event was held in the land surrounding the Al- Sumood Centre on the beautiful hill overlooking the city. The coordinator of the youth movement and member of the council of students Murad Amro, invited the collection of students, who arrived in their droves, donning Palestinian state scarves and optimistic excitement.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/10/israeli-military-and-settlers-interupt-olive-harvest-celebration-in-hebron.html

Harvesting olives as a statement of resistance / Ben Lorber
EI 24 Oct — While the Palestinian olive harvest is a tradition that stretches back countless generations, the phenomenon of settler violence during the olive harvest is only as old as the illegal Israeli settlements themselves. Every year around October, grandparents, parents and children saddle up the donkey and, tree by tree, day by day, methodically comb, scrape and pick sack-fulls of olives from their family’s allotted portion of the 10 million olive trees that dot the hills and mountains of the West Bank and Gaza. According to an Oxfam report, “more than 80 percent of olive farmers are small-medium scale farmers, owning olive orchards equal to or less than 25 dunams (a dunam is the equivalent of 1,000 square meters [1/4 acre]) in size … olive cultivation provides employment and income for around 100,000 farming families who are olive oil producers … in a good year, the olive oil sector contributes over $100 million income annually to some of the poorest communities”
http://electronicintifada.net/content/harvesting-olives-statement-resistance/10514

Police arrest third suspect in Galilee mosque arson
JPost 23 Oct — Suspect also believed to be involved in torching of West Bank mosque; attorney says client denies all charges against him … The suspect, a minor, was arrested on Friday and brought before the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on Sunday morning, where his remand was extended by five days … Days after the torching of the Tuba Zanghariya mosque, police arrested the first of two additional suspects, both of whom are minors who study at a yeshiva in the West Bank. Both suspects were released a week ago.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=242872

Detention / Military trials

IOF soldiers round up ten Palestinians in West Bank
AL-KHALIL [Hebron] (PIC) 24 Oct — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up ten Palestinian citizens in the West Bank at dawn Monday including six in Al-Khalil, local sources reported. They said that among the arrested in Al-Khalil was a doctor who was taken from his home after wreaking havoc on it [the army, not the doctor]. The sources noted that two others were detained near Qalqilia and two near Bethlehem.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Israeli court jails 2 Nablus men for DFLP membership, aggressive acts
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — An Israeli military court sentenced two men from a Nablus village to multi-year jail terms on Sunday after they were convicted of membership of DFLP and “conducting aggressive acts against Israel.” Rashid Othman Dweikat, a student at al-Najah university in Nablus, was sentenced to 33 months and Abed Zeidan Dweikat to 28 months, a Ma‘an correspondent said. Both men, from Nablus district village Beita, were charged with being activists in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing political group. They were detained approximately one year ago at a so-called “flying checkpoint” — temporarily erected by Israeli forces — and Israeli interrogators quizzed them about planned attacks against Israel, the correspondent said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431818

Abd al Kareem Shukhi arrest extended for the second time
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 24 Oct —  The magistrate’s court has extended the arrest of Abd Al Kareem Shukhi from the Al Hara Al Wasta district in Silwan. Shukhi was arrested under the pretext of throwing stones against Israeli forces and settlers.  During court he denied such charges and said, “I was playing around but I have never thrown stones at you.” The Israeli general prosecution will present the charges against Shukhi on October [November?] 21st at 10 a.m.
http://silwanic.net/?p=21467

Israeli court extends Palestinian student’s detention
JENIN (WAFA)23 Oct — Salem Israeli military court Sunday extended detention for a university student from Jenin, north of the west bank, for another month, according to witnesses. Twenty three-year-old Yazan Jarrar’s family said that the decision to extend their son’s detention came after he has spent two months in interrogation cells. They said that Israeli authorities denied his family visit rights, and didn’t allow his family to talk to him during the trial.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17843

Report: Israeli army demotes soldier in Qusra killing
TEL AVIV (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — The Israeli army fired the commander of forces who shot dead a 33-year-old man in the northern West Bank in September, Israeli media reported Sunday.
The officer will stay in the army but is taken off combat duties after a string of  misdemeanors, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. Israel’s army said the Sept. 23 shooting by forces in Qusra village which killed Issam Kamal Odeh, 33, was an “operational failure.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431708

Main witness to testify tomorrow in trial of West Bank protest organizer Bassem Tamimi
PSCC 23 Oct — Islam Dar Ayyoub, the 14 year-old who incriminated Tamimi after being unlawfully interrogated, will take the stand tomorrow at the Ofer Military Court. Tamimi has been incarcerated for seven months, in which only one witness testified … During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his police interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:
http://www.popularstruggle.org/content/main-witness-testify-tomorrow-trial-west-bank-protest-organizer-bassem-tamimi

Videos: Ashraf Abu Rahmah, brother of two Bil‘in casualties, arrested during protest
PSCC 22 Oct — Ashraf Abu Rahma, brother of Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahma who were killed by the Israeli army in Bil‘in, is falsely accused of stone-throwing and was sent to Ofer Prison [Ashraf himself was shot in the foot by soldiers while bound and blindfolded in the neighboring village of Ni‘lin in 2008 — see 2nd video]…. The weekly demonstration in Bil‘in this week started as usual, as some several dozen residents were joined by Israeli and international activists for a march against the Wall. The protesters, led by the new Libyan flag [? no], marched to the new route of the wall, where the soldiers met them with tear-gas. Since the spot was hard to hit, the soldiers retaliated by shooting canisters into the oak grove downwind behind the protesters, setting fire to some rare and ancient oaks. The demonstrators moved upwind, eastward along the wall, where clashes between local youth and the army persisted for about an hour. When the demonstrators were heading back, the soldiers decided to cross the gate into the village and attacked the unarmed demonstrators.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/10/ashraf-abu-rahmah-brother-of-two-bilin-casualties-arrested-during-protest/

IOF troops raid Silwan, arrest Jerusalem man
Occupied Jerusalem (PIC) 24 Oct — IOF troops raided on Sunday afternoon the Ras neighbourhood of the suburb of Silwan in occupied Jerusalem and searched a number of homes and the offices of a number of local organisations. They raided the Islamic Club in Silwan and ransacked it and broke furniture and equipment. Fakhri Abu Diab, member of the committee for the defence of the land of Silwan, said that the occupation troops also raided the home of Kefah Sarhan, ransacked it and confiscated his personal computer as well as CD’s and DVD’s of his children. They also confiscated a large sum of money that Sarhan got from his employer at the end of his employment with the YMCA. The occupation troops had raided the Jerusalem Institute for Development in Beit Hanina where Sarhan worked and arrested him.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

PA Security arrest 7 Hamas supporters
RAMALLAH (PIC) 24 Oct — PA security forces arrested 7 Hamas supporters in Nablus and al-Khalil, five of them after being freed from Junaid jail in Nablus.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Muslim youth society calls for refusing summonses from PA security services
RAMALLAH (PIC) 23 Oct — The association of Muslim youth in the West Bank urged the Palestinian ex-detainees recently released from Israeli jails to refrain from answering the summonses issued against them by the Palestinian authority’s security apparatuses. In a press release, the association called for responding to the call made earlier in this regard by Palestinian lawmaker in Tulkarem city Fathi Al-Qaraawi and stand strongly in the face of the PA security services’ practices.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Prisoner swap

Hamas: Israel will not release top figures or criminals
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Israel will not release top security prisoners or common criminals in the second phase of the prisoner swap deal with Hamas, senior movement official Mahmoud Zahhar said Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431781

Hamas leader: Israel threatens to kill freed prisoners to boost public
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — Israeli government threats to assassinate prisoners freed under an exchange deal with Hamas are an attempt to satisfy their public, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar told reporters on Sunday. The senior Hamas figure downplayed Israel’s intention to extend its tactic of targeted killings to the prisoners released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431747

Al-Aqsa spokesman responds to MK ‘terrorism’ comments
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — The spokesman for Fatah’s military wing on Sunday responded to comments from Knesset member Aryeh Eldad, who said the prisoner release had encouraged a new wave of terrorism. Abu Uday of the Al-Aqsa Brigades told Ma‘an that no faction would ask prisoners to return to the resistance struggle, adding that the priority for released detainees would be to raise their families.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431545

Bahr warns Israel of intended violence against ex-prisoners
GAZA (PIC) 24 Oct — First deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council Ahmed Bahr warned the Israeli government and its settlers that they would pay dearly if any hostile acts were carried out against the Palestinian ex-detainees who were released following a swap deal with Hamas Movement. In a press release on Sunday, Bahr noted that Jewish groups and societies declared financial rewards  for anyone who murders some of the ex-prisoners freed as part of the recent exchange deal, but he warned that any kind of violence against them would not go unpunished.
Link to Palestinian Information Center

Gaza blockade / siege

Despite swap, Gaza remains imprisoned
AJ 24 Oct — While 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released, 1.8 million people living in Gaza are still not free … The release of prisoners is something to be welcomed, but it is one-off measure. As many as 1.8 million Gazans remain locked inside the world’s largest open-air prison. The international community cannot allow this crime to continue. Palestinians must be treated as equals and their human rights respected and protected. The pretext of Shalit’s detention no longer exists as (an abhorrent) motivation for the closure. The illegality of this collective punishment has been confirmed by all human rights organisations and the ICRC. This is not a political issue; it strikes at the core of our shared humanity and demands immediate action. There is no alternative to justice. —- Raji Sourani is Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, based in Gaza. Eyad Sarraj is a Palestinian psychiatrist, and founder and medical director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP).
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/20111021103340280648.html

Gaza crossing reopened after prisoner exchange
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — Israeli authorities reopened Gaza’s sole goods crossing on Sunday following a week-long closure as Israel used the Kerem Shalom terminal for a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. Palestinian Authority crossings official Raed Fattouh said Israeli officials cleared between 260 and 270 trucks to cross into Gaza from Israel through the southern crossing on Sunday
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431594

Egyptian authorities prevent journalist from leaving Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Egyptian authorities prevented Gazan journalist and author Mustafa al-Sawwaf from leaving the Strip on Monday to participate in a media meeting in Iran. The Hamas-affiliated journalist was on route to Tehran to participate in a meeting about the formation of a union for Islamic media, a Ma‘an correspondent said, but was prevented from leaving Gaza at the Rafah crossing. No reason was given by Egyptian authorities for refusing al-Sawwaf permission to enter via Rafah. [from PIC: Sawaf expressed his dismay at the Egyptian authorities’ persistence in preventing some Palestinian citizens from leaving Gaza for alleged security reasons, stating that he had never committed any wrongdoing or showed hostility against Egypt and its security.]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431903

Fishing in Gaza: no day at the beach / Radhika Sainath
24 Oct — I saw an Israeli naval warship for the first time yesterday, a concrete monster the color of ash, guzzling up the Mediterranean and spurting it out in its wake. I rose early to go out with the Oliva, a small white boat used by Civil Peace Service (CPS) Gaza to monitor the Israeli navy’s conduct vis-à-vis Palestinian fishermen … “So this may sound obvious, but if the Israelis water cannon you, don’t just stand there,” Joe informed me. “Duck,” he said in a matter of fact tone. “Oh, and go to the front of the boat, they generally target the engine.”
http://notesfrombehindtheblockade.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/fishing-in-gaza-no-day-at-the-beach/

Israeli artillery shells hit Arafat International Airport in Rafah Monday
RAFAH (WAFA) 24 Oct — Witnesses said that a cloud of smoke rose from the site after the Israeli artillery fired two shells that hit the airport. No injuries were reported. Yasser Arafat International Airport is considered the honor of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip. The airport opened in 1998, and closed in 2001 after being severely damaged by Israeli military forces.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17853

Political / Diplomatic / International news

Al-Malki: Gabon to vote in favor of UN bid
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 23 Oct — The Gabonese Republic is set to endorse the Palestinian bid for statehood in the UN Security Council, a Palestinian Authority official said Sunday … “We have recently held several meetings with Gabonese officials including the country’s president Ali Bongo Ondimba who asserted that his country would continue to support the Palestinian right to statehood,” al-Malki said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431740

Israel to UN Security Council: Support for Palestinian statehood will only lead to Mideast violence
Haaretz 24 Oct — Speaking before the UNSC, Israeli envoy Ron Prosor calls PA bid for recognition ‘march of folly,’ adding that peace must be achieved through direct negotiations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-to-un-security-council-support-for-palestinian-statehood-will-only-lead-to-mideast-violence-1.391753

Palestinian delegation prepares for UNESCO vote
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Palestinian officials are preparing for an intense diplomatic battle as UNESCO opens its General Conference on Tuesday. UNESCO’s board decided on Oct. 5 to let 193 member states vote on a Palestinian application to upgrade from observer status to full membership of the cultural body … US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged the governing body of UNESCO “to think again before proceeding with that vote” and said the US might cut off funding to the agency if it admitted Palestine. The US pays 22 percent of UNESCO’s dues. Palestinian sources involved in the bid told Ma‘an that UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova flew to Washington shortly after the board issued its decision to allow a vote and returned convinced that the US would see through its threats to withdraw funding.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=432034

FM: Anyone would be better than Abbas
Ynet 24 Oct — Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that if there was one immediate and removable obstacle in the path to negotiations with the Palestinians it would be Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Lieberman said he was also sure that Abbas was the worst leader that Israel could ever find itself dealing with.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4138609,00.html

UN official: Lieberman remarks ‘deeply troubling’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s remarks Monday calling for President Mahmoud Abbas’ resignation were “deeply troubling,” said UN spokesman Richard Miron. Miron, spokesman for UN special envoy for the peace process Robert Serry, told Ma‘an that Lieberman’s statement “appears to be an attempt to delegitimize President Abbas.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=432097

Palestinian Authority to demand Israel release prisoners ahead of peace talks
Haaretz 25 Oct — The Palestinian Authority is set to demand that the Quartet pressure Israel to release prisoners in fulfillment of a pledge made by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, senior Palestinian sources told Haaretz yesterday. Abbas told Time Magazine a few days ago that, in 2008, Olmert promised him that Israel would release prisoners to the PA if a deal went through for the release of Gilad Shalit. Olmert confirmed to Time that he had made the pledge. Now the PA wants to present the demand ahead of a possible renewal of negotiations with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestine-authority-to-demand-israel-release-prisoners-ahead-of-peace-talks-1.391806

IDF recommends freeing Fatah prisoners as gesture to Abbas
Haaretz 24 Oct — Israel should make a series of gestures to the Palestinian Authority to reduce the damage caused the PA by last week’s deal for the return of Gilad Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces’ General Staff believes. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisers vehemently oppose the idea, as do several members of his forum of eight senior ministers, arguing that PA President Mahmoud Abbas “should be punished” for his unilateral bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state. ”We don’t want the Palestinian Authority to collapse,” one adviser said, “but if it happens, it won’t be the end of the world.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-recommends-freeing-fatah-prisoners-as-gesture-to-abbas-1.391617

Erekat: Quartet must say which side harms peace process
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — PLO official Saeb Erekat said on Monday that Israel is impeding the peace process and the Middle East Quartet should publicly recognize Israeli intransigence.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431975

Gaza interior minister attends Fatah celebration for prisoners
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Interior Minister of the Gaza government Fathi Hammad on Sunday evening attended a Fatah-organized celebration in the Gaza Strip to honor a prisoner released in the recent exchange deal between Hamas and Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431861

Ireland grants €1.5 million to PA
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 24 Oct — Ireland agreed to donate 1.5 million euros ($2 million) to the Palestinian Authority through a European fund, a statement from PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s office said Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=431992

Israel concerned about new offices for Hamas in Jordan, Egypt
IMEMC 24 Oct — Senior Israeli security sources said that Tel Aviv is concerned about Egyptian and Jordanian intentions to allow Hamas to open offices in Amman and Cairo, and considered the move as “granting legitimacy to terror” … Also, a security source in Tel Aviv said that the fact the Turkey hosting a number of former Hamas detainees, who were released under the Shalit swap-deal, “is also a negative indicator showing that Turkey is interested in freezing its relations with Israel and maintaining strong ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Arab regimes”, according to the source.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62348

Thousands of Palestinians seek work in post-Gadhafi Libya
Reuters 24 Oct — Some 5,000 unemployed Palestinians have registered over the past week at a Gaza trade union office for jobs they hope will materialize in post-Gadhafi Libya, local labor officials said on Monday. U.N. figures put unemployment in the Gaza Strip, a sliver of territory run by the Islamist group Hamas and blockaded by Israel, at 45 percent.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/thousands-of-palestinians-seek-work-in-post-gadhafi-libya-1.3917
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Electricity prices still set to rise: Egyptian gas supplied resume after 100 days
Haaretz 24 Oct — After 100 days, the supply of Egyptian natural gas resumed to Israel over the weekend. As of yesterday, the volume of gas was only 30% of the contractually agreed-to amount. After a trial period, however, the supply is supposed to increase gradually. The gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel was bombed five times so far this year, the latest attack coming on September 27 – only a few days after the repairs of the damage from a blast in July were completed.
http://english.themarker.com/electricity-prices-still-set-to-rise-egyptian-gas-supplies-resume-after-100-days-1.391663

Egypt to release Ilan Grapel Thursday
Haaretz 25 Oct — Israel and Egypt have reached a deal to exchange 25 Egyptians imprisoned in Israel for the American-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel. A senior Israeli official said talks with Egypt would continue in the coming days toward the release of an Israeli citizen imprisoned in Egypt for the past 11 years, Ouda Tarabin. The security cabinet is set to meet today to approve the deal, and the exchange is expected to go forward on Thursday if the High Court of Justice rejects any petitions against the release of individuals on the list.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/egypt-to-release-ilan-grapel-thursday-1.391807

Israeli military covers up evidence showing Eilat attack was not carried out by Palestinians
IMEMC  25 Oct — After a shooting attack on an Israeli bus and truck two months ago which killed five civilians and three soldiers, Israeli military officials immediately claimed that a Palestinian resistance group was responsible. But an Israeli military investigation revealing that the attack was carried out by Egyptians, not Palestinians, has been ‘embargoed’ by the military. Although the results of the investigation were quietly released by the military last month, they have published no details, and have refused reporters’ requests for more information.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62351

IDF officer arrested over NIS 2.5 million drug-trafficking scandal
Haaretz 23 Oct — Undercover investigation ties high-ranking IDF major, along with eight others, to drug trafficking ring along Egypt border.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/idf-officer-arrested-over-nis-2-5-million-drug-trafficking-scandal-1.391513

Netanyahu offers condolences, earthquake relief in phone call with Erdogan
Haaretz 24 Oct — Conversation represents the first time two leaders have talked in 10 months; Turkish PM thanks Netanyahu for offering aid to the quake-stricken country … On Sunday, despite the frantic search and rescue efforts, Turkey turned down Israel’s offer, as well as similar offers from several other countries.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-offers-condolences-earthquake-relief-in-phone-call-with-erdogan-1.391784

Israeli official: Cyprus military drills not meant to send message to Turkey
Haaretz 22 Oct — An Israeli official said on Saturday that there was no political agenda behind its decision to hold a military drill in Cyprus airspace, denying allegations it way trying to “send a message” to Turkey, Cyprus’s longtime enemy, the Cyprus Mail reported.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-official-cyprus-military-drills-not-meant-to-send-message-to-turkey-1.391380

Shipping lane between Turkey and Egypt to open in December
MEMO 24 Oct — Turkey has announced that shipping services between Turkey’s Mersin port and Egypt’s Alexandria port will begin on December 1st. The initiative will form part of efforts to increase the volume of trade between the two countries. Turkish media reported that Turkish-Egyptian political and economic relations have markedly developed of late as trade relations between the two countries have been enhanced
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2982-shipping-lane-between-turkey-and-egypt-to-open-in-december

Leading US columnist: Slash US aid to Israel
Haaretz 24 Oct — Walter Pincus of Washington Post asks if Israel can reduce its defense spending because of its domestic economic problems, shouldn’t the U.S. consider reducing its aid to Israel?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/leading-u-s-columnist-slash-defense-aid-to-israel-1.391623

Analysis / Opinion

Shalit deal should change Israel’s stance toward Hamas / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 23 Oct –…Israel can be counted on not to change a thing in its way of thinking, because even in the midst of the prisoner deal, efforts at brainwashing and sowing fear along with demonization and dehumanization continued in all their strength and ugliness. All 1,027 of the prisoners are to be seen as human monsters and the release of every one of them, including 82-year-old Sami Younis, constitutes a walking danger. Any effort to understand the joy of the families of the released Palestinian prisoners, some after decades in jail, is encountered with derision and flashes of nationalistic hatred. Only Shalit has a family and the only joy is in Israel. Every television anchor ran off at the mouth with obscenities at the sight of the celebrations in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/shalit-deal-should-change-israel-s-stance-toward-hamas-1.391451

Netanyahu is holding Israel hostage / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 24 Oct — A huge swathe of the public backed Netanyahu’s decision to free Gilad Shalit from his prison; Israelis will similarly support the prime minister in a courageous decision to finally free them from the prison of the occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-is-holding-israel-hostage-1.391646

The new US Zionist: Israel-bashing, made kosher / Bradley Burston
Haaretz blog 23 Oct — Israel-bashing is not what it used to be. In fact, Israel-bashing is not what it was a week ago. The difference is Gilad Shalit. The difference is that it now turns out to be just fine for U.S. Jews to denounce the actions and policies of the government of Israel — so long as it’s being done by hard-line rightists … American Jews are now free to fire at will. The only proviso is that the critic take Israel and Israelis to task for being too soft, too sentimental — in short, not muscular enough, not warrior enough, too wimpy, too Ghetto Nebbish – for the likes of the American Jew, bayonet between the teeth, fearsome at the keyboard, heroic in the home office.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/the-new-u-s-zionist-israel-bashing-made-kosher-1.391562

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