Amid Gaza attacks, a moment of peace, as internet cables are laid across border

Land theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Attacks on non-Jewish religious sites / Restriction of movement

Video: The Naqab series 1: a conversation with the head of Al Araqib
Palestine Monitor 8 Oct 2:39 minutes– Since 1948, Israel has followed a policy of concentrating the Bedouin, who have lived there long before the establishment of the state of Israel, in Israeli-built townships and relocating them from their villages to these urban areas. The reason of this policy is to free the land for other purposes like reforestation or Jewish development. Homes in the villages have been subject to systematic demolition by the Israeli authorities and the unrecognized villages are not precisely marked on any commercial maps. The Palestine Monitor went to visit one village, which represents a clear example of how the Israeli government violates human rights and minorities’ rights in those communities. [If you have trouble viewing the video see it here on YouTube]
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=7707

Extremists hurl Molotov cocktails, stones at Jerusalem church
IMEMC 9 Oct — The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported reported Monday evening that Israeli extremists hurled stones, Molotov cocktails and trash at a Christian Church in occupied Jerusalem. This is the third attack targeting against a Christian holy site in recent weeks. Several Molotov cocktails and stones were thrown at the church, located near an illegal Jewish ultra-orthodox settlement. The attack did not lead to injuries but damage was reported to the main gate of the church.
The Israeli Police said it is investigat[ing] the assault.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64361

The enemy within: Price tagging targets Christians, too
Palestine Monitor 8 Oct by James Knoop — A recurring phenomenon, settler violence known as “price tagging” has increased significantly during last year’s run up to the PA’s UN bid for statehood in September, and has predominately targeted Palestinians. Most of the vandalism has been targeted at defacing and burning mosques in various Palestinian villages. However, in a recent spat of vandalism and graffiti, these Jewish extremist gangs have spread to include Christian places of worship too. The most recent attack, on October 2, targeted a Franciscan convent that lies next to the famous Dormition Abbey Church, a popular tourist attraction which lies just outside the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. Dormition Abbey is recognized as both the place where Jesus had his last supper with his disciples and where the Blessed Virgin Mary died. Now, it is the site known around the world where vandals spray painted, ““Jesus is a son of a bitch” and the words “price tag.”
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=7693

Awqaf Ministry condemns the bombing of two mosques in Khan Younis
GAZA (PIC) 8 Oct — Dr. Ismail Radwan, Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, strongly condemned, the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of two mosques east of Khan Yunis, causing serious damage. The Minister of Awqaf considered, in a statement issued on Monday, that the targeting of mosques as a serious indicator and a flagrant violation to the sanctity of mosques and places of worship stipulated by all laws and international norms and conventions.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2fT52l4o%2bJM3FsSk76ickyKXska9KFRsU6oNvnqMriLD32Ha8k7bMKqVhTJeE74lwBaVnA6aFzTOwhF4DuWzVNfRI4bJ2gpD5SKlSdlUt8WQ%3d

Israelis violate court verdict, establish military base in evacuated settlement
RAMALLAH (PIC) 8 Oct — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) established a military base in the evacuated settlement of Migron near Ramallah city in violation of a court verdict that affirmed the land belongs to Palestinian owners.
“Following a legal and political battle for six years that has ended with the evacuation of 50 families of settlers from Migron outpost in accordance with a decision by the higher court, it has become clear that the dream of Migron settlers came true with the establishment of a military base for border guards in place of their settlement instead of giving the land back to its Palestinian owners,” Maariv newspaper stated on Sunday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7n5vgLpeFcY%2bT3%2fcNWU%2fBC3B3xzvbNTHX97veqTJMh59eXVi%2bFvUKMcFr5KP4S9W3imAAf3L%2bol4hvu9qZmZYcASCv0alG4FHaR%2fNSlBtA%2bs%3d

Israelis blocks entry of Jerusalemite activist into Aqsa for one month
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 8 Oct — The Israeli occupation authority has ordered Jerusalemite activist Ala’s Al-Hadad not to enter the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem for 30 days. The Israeli police released Haddad on Monday on condition that he would not approach the holy site for a month. He was arrested inside the mosque on Sunday and underwent interrogation in a detention center. Hadad, a member of the committee of relatives of Jerusalemite prisoners and detainees, was among 12 citizens nabbed by the Israeli police in the Aqsa mosque on Sunday after a group of Jewish settlers barged into the holy compound to perform Talmudic rituals.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7An5BO2GD3WssZprfVyT4APezm3hNW1OY4GmEdLkC%2b5dIYxOolOAO2Ek1BR7xKVW5q5R%2bn7jogVChbmyp58En5wXCMd2lrUWrtvkK2LWsR9c%3d

State of Denial
Jews sans frontières 4 Oct — Have a look at this [5-minute] clip by Lia Tarachansky (working title: Seven Deadly Myths) through to the end. Did you see it to the end? See the bit where she says she needs money for the post-production and all that? You can donate here. [once again we see how Israelis, like other people, can erase unbearable memories from their minds without knowing it]
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2012/10/state-of-denial.html

Violence / Raids / Illegal arrests / Provocations

Man hit by Israeli airstrike dies from injuries
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — Abdullah Hasan Makkawi, 25, died on Monday from injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip a day earlier, the Ministry of Health said … Makkawi was hit while riding his motorcycle in the Brazil neighborhood in Rafah. Israel said Makkawi was a member of the Ashora Council of the Martyrs of Jerusalem. The raid also targeted Talaat Halil Muhammad Jarbi, a Global Jihad operative involved in firing rockets and manufacturing weapons, the Israeli military said in a statement. Al-Qidra said 11 people were injuring in the strike on the busy Rafah neighborhood, including five children. [Al-Akhbar: Mohammed Jarbi lost both legs in yesterday’s attack.]
Hamas’ military wing Izz Addin Al-Qassam Brigades and the Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades said they fired rockets at Israeli military bases in response to the airstrike. Israeli forces fired a barrage of artillery shells on the southern Gaza Strip early Monday injuring another five Palestinians, al-Qidra said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527178

at least for once this example of the MSM acknowledged that Israel started this round
Israel strikes Gaza targets after rocket salvo
GAZA (Reuters) 8 Oct — Israel said it struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday after Palestinian militants fired rockets at southern Israel, in what they said was a response to an Israeli air strike that killed one militant and wounded a second a day earlier … The armed wing of Hamas, the Islamists who control the Gaza Strip, said it had joined in Monday’s rocket attack along with the smaller Islamic Jihad group … The Israeli army says over 470 rockets have been fired from Gaza this year, but it was the first time since June that Hamas had acknowledged launching rockets at Israel. A Hamas spokesman said the movement would not remain passive in the face of what it called “one-sided” Israeli violence … Gaza hospital officials said one Islamic Jihad militant thought to have been involved in the rocket attack had been wounded by Israeli tank fire east of the town of Rafah. Residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza said an Israeli tank fired at the suspected launch area, slightly wounding four children and damaging a minaret and a water tower.
http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-militants-fire-rockets-israel-air-strike-072423142.html

Children evicted from five Gaza schools due to Israeli bombardment
IMEMC 9 Oct — The Palestinian Ministry of Education in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, evicted [evacuated] Monday dozens of schoolchildren from five schools, east of Khan Younis, due to heavy Israeli bombardments targeting the area. The Ministry issued a press release stating that dozens of Israeli shells landed near the schools since early morning hours, an issue that forced the ministry to send the children home in fear of further Israeli military escalation … The Ministry of Interior said that the eviction of the schools was successfully conducted due to previous trainings that were conducted by the ministry in different schools due to ongoing Israel assaults against the coastal region.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64362

Hamas launches rockets at Israel in order to save face in Gaza
Haaretz East Side Story blog 8 Oct by Amos Harel — The Gaza rulers decided to retaliate out of fear that any failure to respond to IDF aggression would harm their status, and due to the assumption that it would not lead to a full-scale escalation with Israel.
The most worrying aspect of the massive rocket fire into Israeli territory on Monday morning is the identity of the organizations responsible for the launches. This time, it wasn’t radical Palestinian organizations known to identify with al-Qaida’s ideology that claimed responsibility for the attacks, but rather Gaza’s mainstream organizations: Hamas – Gaza’s ruling party, and Islamic Jihad. No Israelis were wounded or killed in the attacks on Monday morning, which were a response to an Israeli Air Force strike which severely wounded two members of a squad of radical militants, as well as several civilian bystanders in Rafah. The Hamas leadership’s dilemma is that many of these radical militant groups are “jointly owned and operated” – they identify with al-Qaida, but also take orders from Hamas from time to time.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/east-side-story/hamas-launches-rockets-at-israel-in-order-to-save-face-in-gaza.premium-1.468747

Man ‘shot by undercover Israeli soldiers’ near Bethlehem
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — Undercover Israeli soldiers shot and injured a 26-year-old Palestinian man in Beit Jala on Monday, a local official said.  Plain-clothes soldiers shot Sakhr Husain al-Alami, from Beit Ummar, as he traveled to work in Gilo settlement, said Muhammad Awad, the spokesman for the Beit Ummar popular committee. Al-Alami is in a stable condition at Beit Jala governmental hospital, Awad told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527203

Israeli soldiers arrest two Palestinians [and settlers injure a Palestinian with rocks]
NABLUS (PIC) 8 Oct — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested two Palestinian young men from Nablus at Hawara military roadblock to the south of the city on Monday. Eyewitnesses said that soldiers manning the barrier stopped a car and took away two youths who were inside it after claiming that they had an explosive device in their possession.
In another incident, a 48-year-old Palestinian was injured at a late hour on Sunday night after Jewish settlers from Hagai settlement, south of Al-Khalil, threw rocks at him. Local sources said that the citizen was hospitalized after the incident. Groups of settlers from the same settlement gathered near Beersheba street, south of Al-Khalil, on Monday as IOF soldiers installed roadblocks nearby.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XR14WfBkzzMKzvmzYxdXjRwwQ0hlqGcMIJSBbXSESJNfkMzuJFFZQHIhx8lLr9a5syXJb6yUdYTrymdGkqIbnnfLRYpucJWVlIyA2DElgRQ%3d

Hundreds of Jewish settlers roam streets of Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 8 Oct — Hundreds of Jewish settlers roamed the streets of the Old City of occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa mosque in provocative marches to celebrate “Jewish feasts”. Local sources said that the settlers walked in the streets of occupied Jerusalem on Monday under heavy Israeli military and police escort. They said that the settlers were chanting slogans against the Jerusalemites while the soldiers were restricting movement of the Arab inhabitants.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s73309ylP0eauV23QsNqziNI8ItYIU4ZPL%2bp%2fvgp%2bxlhnNU1oGZZ9%2bz4WodcdHddaoyqyT4Q%2fcwA3QgnG4lNt3CW3Bzq6%2bVAi5um%2bgWXM9isc%3d

PA security arrests 2 Hamas activists, summons others
OCCUPIED WB (PIC) 8 Oct — PA security apparatuses continued its political arrest and summonses campaigns against Hamas supporters and cadres in the occupied West Bank, arresting two of them in al-Khalil, summoning two others in Nablus and Ramallah, and sentencing a number of political prisoners in military courts in Nablus. In al-Khalil, PA preventive security arrested Sheikh Ahmed Robii Yatim, 48, from Yatta town south of the city, the manager of Yatim company for Building Materials, and took him to the PA Preventive security headquarter in al-Khalil city for interrogation, the detainee’s family confirmed, noting that Yatim is a former political prisoner in PA prisons.The PA intelligence had seized 380 thousand shekels, despite the judicial decision and the government decision that obliged the PA departments to return to him the seized amount.
PA Security Service also arrested the young man Abdul Karim Saadi Qawasmi after storming his workplace in al-Khalil. PA preventive security summoned the Master’s degree student at An-Najah National University Abdullah Awad, 24, from Nablus, for the third time.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7iNF7vg6gHqABC92aN8yMABFZ9TcHC%2fpfjypinpxPpuA5qtmKrFnHRAbgqx0avGjoI2hNl%2bN9TpFBSCR1LmXtXZV%2fQb1FruOxsserPQAIKO0%3d

Gaza Blockade

Photoblog: Egypt chokes off Gaza
Al-Akhbar 8 Oct by Shuaib Abu Jahal — The Tunnels of Life are used by Gazans to get essential supplies into their besieged strip. Individual tunnels run for a few hundred meters from one side of the Egyptian-Palestinian border to the other. Egypt’s authorities have used an attack on the Egyptian military in Sinai last August as a pretext to start a campaign to destroy these Lifelines into Gaza. So far over 120 tunnels have been blown up or filled in.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/photoblogs/egypt-chokes-gaza

The mysterious decision to destroy the tunnels
MEMO 9 Oct by Fahmi Howeidi — Neither I nor anyone I know understands why Egypt has decided to demolish the tunnels connecting Gaza and Northern Sinai; not even the Mubarak regime resorted to this. I know that the spokesman for the armed forces told a press conference that the step was taken for security reasons; they’re important, but they’re not convincing as we were not told how the tunnels threaten Egypt’s national security … Now, though, after 104 tunnels have to-date been either closed or destroyed altogether, prices in the Gaza Strip have risen sharply. The cost of a ton of gravel used for the reconstruction of buildings destroyed by the Israeli invasion has almost doubled, from 80 to 150 NIS (New Israeli Shekels); the same goes for the price of petrol, quite apart from the fact that the Israelis were already supplying it at exorbitant prices.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/4426-the-mysterious-decision-to-destroy-the-tunnels

PCHR condemns continued Israeli violations against Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip
IMEMC 9 Oct — … In his testimony to a PCHR field worker Majed Fadel Baker (51), from northern Rimal neighborhood in Gaza city, states: “At 5:00 on Sunday, 07 October 2012, I sailed with my three sons in my boat towards Al-Sodaniya area where we reached 2.5 nautical miles off Al-Waha shore, northern Gaza Strip. At 8:00, two Israeli gunboats approached us at a distance of nearly 50 meters, with 10 soldiers on board. One of the soldiers ordered us to stop, take our clothes off, jump in the water, and swim towards them. We did as we were told, and swam towards an Israeli gunboat. The soldiers handcuffed us with metal chains, blindfolded us and strapped us to one of the gunboat’s steel pillars. We reached Ashdod seaport and were questioned until 15:30. We were then handcuffed, blindfolded again, and transported by an Israeli vehicle to Beit Hanoun (Erez) Crossing, where we were released at 16:00. IOF confiscated my boat and my fishing equipment.”
http://www.imemc.org/article/64359

Rights group: Egypt’s Brotherhood must help stop Hamas rights abuses in Gaza
Haaretz 9 Oct by Amira Hass — The Human Rights Watch organization is calling on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to pressure Hamas to put an end to violations of human rights and international law in the judicial system and prisons in the Gaza Strip, a territory under Hamas’ control. The appeal is contained in a report that the U.S.-based human rights group released last week. “Hamas grew out of the Palestinian wing of the Muslim Brotherhood,” the organization noted. “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, whose political arm holds the country’s presidency, should pressure Hamas leaders to end the kinds of abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture, that they themselves suffered under former president Hosni Mubarak.” http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/rights-group-egypt-s-brotherhood-must-help-stop-hamas-human-rights-abuses-in-gaza.premium-1.468774

Peace at Israel/Gaza fence as internet cables laid
Jewish Chron. 5 Oct — For a brief period there was peace along a half kilometre stretch of the security fence between Israel and Gaza on Wednesday and Thursday, as Palestinian and Israeli companies worked together to lay high speed internet cables for Gaza. Palestinian telecoms company and Israeli company HOT jointly organised the operation with the help of the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Co-ordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip, the Jersusalem Post reported
http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/84946/peace-israelgaza-fence-internet-cables-laid

Prisoners

Lawyers: Hunger-striking prisoners in critical condition
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — Hunger striking prisoners Samir Issawi and Ayman Sharawna are both in a critical condition, their lawyers told the Palestinian Authority prisoners ministry on Sunday. Sharawna has been on hunger strike since July 1, and Issawi joined a month later. They were both released under the 2011 prisoner swap deal but rearrested shortly after, and held without charge.
Issawi suffers from dizziness, headache and severe kidney pains, and the Israeli prison service has refused to take him from Nafha prison to a clinic in Ramla prison, ministry lawyers Fadi Ubeidat and Rami al-Alami said. He takes only water and salt, with no vitamins, the lawyers said. Issawi refuses to be deported and told his lawyer that he would continue his hunger strike until he “is set free or dies a martyr.”
Meanwhile, Sharawna has lost sight in his right eye and is suffering pains all over his body, Ubeidat said. He is being treated at Ramla prison clinic where his hands and feet are cuffed, the lawyer said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527007

Abu Sisi demands his release from solitary confinement
GAZA (PIC) 8 Oct — Isolated captive Dirar Abu Sisi, deputy head of Gaza Power Plant, appealed to all officials to work on releasing him from solitary confinement, especially after the deterioration of his health. This came in a message from Abu Sisi delivered by ex-prisoner Naseem Muslim, who was released one week ago from Israeli jails, during a protest in solidarity with isolated and hunger striking prisoners in occupation jails.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s79mCQhYsnJadQCDjwPgiyFHoksUf304wT%2fvWgVwzhqpiikY2cy%2fJD1EIuo8XAyX0exi%2fZNfNiR2WhbxQJRp8gM9hYYa1JsSnCYYilYVblMew%3d

Occupation releases prisoner after two years in administrative detention
RAMALLAH (PIC) 8 Oct — The Israeli occupation authorities released, on Sunday evening, the leader Riad Nasser from the town of Deir Qadis near Ramallah, after two years of administrative detention without charge or trial, al-Ahrar Center for Prisoners studies and Human Rights said … The human rights center pointed out that Riad Nasser, a father of a child, was deprived during his detention from his wife’s visits. Nearly one hundred and fifty administrative detainees are held in Megiddo and Ofer and the Negev occupation prisons, without charge or trial
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7VEvx%2f25Z09X3EERDc0UINIZERfIfP4AgzxFm4VjrK9hpcdWMavO0%2fvX3AYUmWBMC1w9nxe3IxfOHVkXBFEAW%2bocpVTR4a%2b%2bo2ZclePF8klM%3d

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

Weekly demonstration in front of Karmei Tsur
PSP 7 Oct — The activists marched to the illegal fence separating Palestinians from their own land and from the illegal colony Karmei Tsur, condemned by 14 of 15 countries in the UN security council, excluding the US. As the activists walked towards the fence, a large group of soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces tried to chase them. However, despite pushing and pulling the soldiers did not succeed their attempts to provoke the activists. Provocations remained unanswered as the activists carried on in a peaceful manner and sat down refusing to leave until they had presented their message.
The last couple of weeks the house of the committee member Ahmed Abu Hashem has been raided at night twice, resulting in the arrest of his two sons Mohammed (16) and Hamza (14) for their third and second time respectively. Hamza was later released, but Mohammed’s trial has been postponed by the military court three times already.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2012/10/07/weekly-demonstration-in-front-of-karmei-tsur/

WATCH: Direct action on a ‘JNF’ (KKL) fundraiser in Berlin, October 2012
Direct Action Berlin’s statement regarding the action: On the 4th of October a fundraising event in favor of the JNF (KKL) took place in Berlin. The JNF is one of the oldest and most effective instruments of zionist apartheid and oppression in Palestine. Through the founding and funding of illegal settlements, the removal and displacement of non-Jewish population and exploitative buying or taking away of land from its habitants, the JNF is implementing the zionistic ideals of discrimination and segregation “on the ground”. The JNF is not “just” an official israeli organization, it is one of the main executors of the racist policies of israel against non-Jewish people living in its territory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZk8ozpxzs&feature=player_embedded
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-activists-disrupt-jnf-fundraiser-berlin-protest-israels-ethnic-cleansing

Ireland has a moral duty to ban goods from Israeli settlements
EI 8 Oct by Stephen McCloskey — Momentum is building among Irish human rights activists and within the political system for a unilateral ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. Trócaire, the development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, launched in September a campaign for an end to trade with illegal Israeli settlements stating in a report that “The Irish and UK governments should push within the EU for the introduction of an EU-wide trade ban on settlement produce” (“Sustaining Injustice: EU trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Trócaire, September [PDF]). This followed hot on the heels of a presentation on settlements by the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel to an Irish parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and trade. The committee has since unanimously agreed to write to Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore “calling for a national ban on imports from illegal Israeli settlements” (“Call for ban on Israeli settlement imports,” The Irish Times, 19 September).
http://electronicintifada.net/content/ireland-has-moral-duty-ban-goods-israeli-settlements/11730

Political / Economic news

UN bid is only way to face settlements, says official
JERICHO Oct 8 (WAFA) – PLO Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat Monday said the Palestinian bid to the United Nations General Assembly for a nonmember state is the only way to face Israeli settlement activities and its attempts to create facts on the ground in the occupied territories. Erekat said during separate meetings with foreign diplomats that the Palestinian bid to UN does not contradict with the peace process or international resolutions. He called on world countries to participate in the drafting of the resolution to upgrade Palestine’s status to nonmember state, pointing out that the voting on the resolution will most likely take place in November.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20823

Dmeiri: Security forces to protect local elections success
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — Palestinian security forces are ready to protect the electoral process in the West Bank to ensure that it is successful, spokesman Adnan Dmeiri said Monday … The security spokesman urged Palestinians to cast their vote in upcoming local elections in the West Bank. The Oct. 20 elections will be contested in only 94 of the West Bank’s 353 electoral districts, according to information released by the Central Elections Commission.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527173

Two candidates, but no real choice in the West Bank
Scotsman 9 Oct — With Israeli occupation on all sides, a history of assassinations, and a crippled economy, the job of mayor of Nablus, the northern West Bank’s largest city, might at first seem unattractive. But Ghassan Shakaa, a leader of the West Bank’s ruling Fatah movement and a former mayor, is vowing to reclaim the post during elections this month after seven years of control of city hall by the Islamic Hamas movement
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/two-candidates-but-no-real-choice-in-the-west-bank-1-2565797

Judicial council calls for PA minister to be dismissed
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — President Mahmoud Abbas assured senior judges that legal amendments will not be made without consultation with the Supreme Judicial Council, the council said Sunday. The council representatives asked Abbas to dismiss the Minister of Justice, who has championed a judicial reform proposal that outraged the Judicial Council, arguing they should have been consulted. The proposal includes giving minister Ali Muhanna the duties of the Attorney-General, after the last office-holder stood down in August.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=526843

PPP leader: Factions yet to receive monthly PA allowance
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — The Palestinian National Fund has not yet transferred September’s monthly allowances to PLO factions, secretary-general of the Palestinian People’s Party said Monday. Bassam al-Salihi told Ma’an that the delay in allowances may be related to the participation of some factions in recent protests over the Palestinian Authority’s financial policies.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527104

PA: No date set for payment of September salaries
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Oct — The Palestinian Authority has not set a date for the payment of government employees’ September salaries, PA spokeswoman Nour Odeh said Monday. The Ministry of Finance will release a statement when the salaries are available to employees, Odeh told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=527201

Israeli racism

Israeli children deported to South Sudan succumb to malaria
972mag 8 Oct by Dimi Reider — Three months ago, Interior Minister Eli Yishai deported several hundred families from Israel to South Sudan, despite unequivocal statements by human rights group that mere fact of the established state is far from the offering the safety that would allow for these families’ return … The deportees’ baggage, all 14 tons of it, was delayed for two months and kept at a warehouse in Israel, simply because the state felt that it could not be bothered to bear the expenses of sending it along. In the baggage was medicine collected for the families by Israeli volunteers from Israeli donors; it was only finally sent to South Sudan a week or so ago … Dwell with me on that image for a second: Families herded into a transport which will take them to the very danger they were running from, leaving a silent pile of suitcases and clothes behind. Within a week, the deportee children — Israeli children, either born or raised in Israel, speaking better Hebrew than most of this government’s apologists in the United States — began to die. So far, at least seven of them have succumbed to disease. http://972mag.com/israeli-children-deported-to-south-sudan-succumb-to-malaria/57287/

Other news

British journal warns of ‘urgent’ Palestinian health crisis
LONDON (VOA) 8 Oct — Palestinian refugees and those living in the West Bank and Gaza are a facing an urgent health emergency, according to to the British public health journal, the Lancet. The Lancet has published 32 reports highlighting a range of health concerns for Palestinian refugees living across the Middle East and Palestinian territories. The journal says Palestinian refugees are dealing with a “hidden crisis” of high levels of chronic and acute illnesses.
http://www.voanews.com/content/palestinian-health-israel/1522671.html

Month in Pictures: September 2012
Electronic Intifada 5 Oct — Three months ago, Interior Minister Eli Yishai deported several hundred families from Israel to South Sudan, despite unequivocal statements by human rights group that the newly-established state is far from the kind of safety that would negate these families asylum claim … Within a week, the deportee children — Israeli children, either born or raised in Israel, speaking better Hebrew than most of this government’s apologists in the United States — began to die. So far, at least seven of them have succumbed to disease … On a systemic level, the deaths of these children is the product of Israel’s immigration policy — one of the narrowest, most rigid policies of its kind in any loosely democratic country.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/month-pictures-september-2012/11734

Photos: Taybeh Oktoberfest: ‘The flame of peace’
Palestine Monitor 8 Oct — …The story behind the Taybeh beer — Taybeh means ‘delicious’ in Arabic. In 1994 when Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Accords, the Khoury family finally got the chance to move back to Palestine from USA where they had fled to two decades ago. They gave up their comfortable lives in USA in exchange for helping to rebuild their country … This year’s Oktoberfest was held from October 6th to 7th. The program was packed with a mixture of local and international performances, ranging from Palestinian pop music, hip-hop, and the traditional folklore dance of Dabke to folk music from Bavaria in Germany and Brazil. The atmosphere was already buzzing around noon and was only improving as more beers were consumed.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=7746

Photos: The Freedom Bus Rides ends in style
Palestine Monitor 8 Oct — On Monday, 1 October 2012, the Freedom Bus made its final stop in the old city of Beit Sahour, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. An initiative of the Jenin Freedom Theater  the Freedom Bus spent the last week traveling throughout the West Bank, stopping in 11 different communities to preform their self-styled Playback Theater, a mechanism through which the theater members transform and bring to life personal accounts and autobiographical stories from various members of the audience in each community. The enactments illustrate vivid accounts of the day-to-day realities of life under Israeli occupation. The culmination of the Freedom Bus’ week long series of events came in the form of an outdoor nighttime concert.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=7702

From Palestine to Chile and back
NYTimes soccer blog 8 Oct — Most soccer fans would associate given names such as Edgardo and Roberto as Latino. But if you follow soccer in the Middle East, specifically in the Palestinian territories, you might want to reassess that association. The names are part of a trend that is having an impact on Palestine’s national team … So where does Palestine’s national team fit in? First, a little history … For some reason, between 350,000 and 500,000 settled in Chile in South America, comprising the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East.
http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/from-palestine-to-chile-and-back/

Video: Dennis Banks: Palestinian suffering under US-backed occupation recalls plight of Native Americans
Democracy Now 8 Oct — Dennis Banks, the legendary Native American activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement, was in New York City this weekend to serve as a jurist at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, an international people’s tribunal created in 2009 to bring attention to the responsibility other states bear for Israel’s violations of international law. Banks says, “What is happening to [Palestinians] is what we went through during the last century. Unfortunately, it is the same, same people [backing it]: it is the U.S. government, which funnels money to Israel, and then it goes to hurt the Palestinian people.” [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/8/dennis_banks_palestinian_suffering_under_us

Masked youths attack Kibbutz Movement leader in West Bank settlement
Haaretz 9 Oct by Amira Hass — Stones were thrown at Yoel Marshak as he was being hosted in a sukkah in Yitzhar — After sitting in the synagogue’s sukkah with the rabbi, a Yitzhar resident showed him his tires had been slashed. Another resident warned Marshak to leave the settlement before something happened to him. An IDF patrol summoned backup. But before they arrived, around a dozen masked young men approached. The soldiers tried to distance them, but Marshak and his colleagues came under a hail of stones. Marshak and his colleagues left the settlement in a different car, under heavy escort. That vehicle was also stoned.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/masked-youths-attack-kibbutz-movement-leader-in-west-bank-settlement.premium-1.468777

Patriot missile battery deployed in Carmel region
Ynet 8 Oct — Defense forces deploy Patriot anti-missile battery near Haifa just two days after unidentified drone penetrated Israel’s airspace; IDF did not confirm two incidents are connected
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289609,00.html

UNIFIL: No drone detected crossing from Lebanon into Israel
Ynet 8 Oct — UN force says it hasn’t spotted any breach of Israeli airspace from Lebanon; responsibility for UAV mission yet to be claimed
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4289729,00.html

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