Five settlers board a bus and terrorize driver in Jerusalem

Violence

Settlers assault Palestinian bus driver in Jerusalem

IMEMC/Agencies 9 Dec — A number of extremist Israeli settlers attacked, on Saturday at night, a Palestinian bus driver working for the Egged Bus Company, after boarding his bus in occupied Jerusalem. The man is from Beit Jala city, in the Bethlehem district. The driver, Nicola Awad Ghneim, told the Radio Bethlehem 2000 that approximately at 9:10 on Saturday at night he was driving from Ramat Shlomo, near Shu‘fat north of occupied Jerusalem, and when he stopped at a junction, five young Israelis boarded the bus. “Just before I reached the Strauss Junction, two of them approached me, and one asked where I was from, I answered in Hebrew as I didn’t want trouble,” Nicola said, “The settler then accused me of being a terrorist, from what he called Sur Baher terrorist area, in Jerusalem.” Nicola added that the settler then shouted, calling the four other settlers who were sitting in the back seat of the bus, and they started beating him while he was still driving. “When we reached the last junction, they dragged me out of the bus, and started kicking and punching me, causing a slight fracture in my ribcage and various bruises,” he said, “They were shouting at me, telling me they are going to stab me to death.” He also said that a Police car happened to be driving in the area, and that he shouted and asked the police to stop; the officers captured only one, and allowed the rest to run away.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69945

PA official dies after being assaulted by Israeli soldier
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 Dec — The head of the Palestinian Authority committee against the separation wall and settlements died Wednesday after Israeli soldiers assaulted him in a village near Ramallah, committee sources said. Ziad Abu Ein died after an Israeli soldier beat him on the chest with his helmet in the village of Turmsayya [or Turmus ‘Ayya] in the Ramallah district, the director of the committee’s information center, Jamil al-Barghouthi, told Ma‘an. Abu Ein also suffered severe tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers fired canisters in the area. A Palestinian security source told AFP that Israeli forces beat Abu Ein with the butts of their rifles and their helmets during a protest march.He lost consciousness and was taken to Ramallah Public Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746195

Israelis assault 2 Palestinian workers west of Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — Two Israelis assaulted Palestinian workers at a gas station in the Jerusalem village of Ein Karem late Sunday, the victims’ relatives said. Mutasem Issam Shweiki, 24, and Shadi al-Mashni were hospitalized following the attack and treated for bleeding from the mouth, nausea, and bruising. Shweiki’s father said Israeli police arrested the suspects and confiscated surveillance cameras at the gas station. Ein Karem, believed to be the birthplace of John the Baptist, was a vibrant mixed community of Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews before the majority were forced to flee amid an attack by Jewish militias in 1948.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745609

Palestinian injured after being stabbed by a settler in Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 9 Dec — Medical sources have reported that an extremist Israeli settler attacked and stabbed a Palestinian teen, late on Monday evening, near Bani Na‘im town, east of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The sources said Moath Noah ar-Rajabi, 18 years of age, was stabbed in his shoulder and thigh, and was moved to the Hebron Governmental Hospital suffering moderate wounds. The attacker fled the scene; Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene but did not attempt to locate the assailant, eyewitnesses said.
In related news, soldiers attacked and beat Ahmad Yousef Masharqa, in Doura town, south of Hebron, causing several fractures and bruises.  The soldiers also invaded various neighborhoods in Hebron city, and installed roadblocks at the entrance of Doura town.
In related news, hundreds of soldiers conducted live fire training in Khallet al-Katla area, south of Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron. Armed guards of Karmie Tzur illegal settlement accompanied the soldiers.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69950

Locals: Palestinians thwart possible settler attack near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 Dec — Palestinian villagers thwarted a possible attempt by Israeli settlers to break into their village in the Ramallah district late Tuesday, locals said. Locals told Ma‘an that residents of al-Mughayyir noticed dozens of settlers gathered at one of the entrances to the village in a suspicious manner. Groups of Palestinians from the village chased the settlers in different directions, forcing them to run away. Israeli forces then arrived to protect the settlers, locals said. Settlers have carried out attacks in the area twice this year, torching two mosques.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746128

WATCH: Israeli police let stone-throwing settlers walk away
972 mag 9 Dec by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man — Israeli soldiers don’t arrest settlers. We know that. But what about Israeli police? A couple of Jewish Israeli settlers were driving in the Israeli-controlled section of Hebron last week — where Palestinians live but only Israelis can drive — when some Palestinian youths threw stones at them, according to human rights organization B’Tselem. The two settlers got out of their car, presumably to try and catch the stone throwers. But when they couldn’t catch them, they went after the easiest target they could find: the pair smashed a local market’s egg delivery and threw stones at parked Palestinian-owned cars, smashing their windshields, as can be seen in video provided by B’Tselem. They were still throwing stones when Israeli police arrived. The police, army and settlement security officer, however, just let the two settlers walk to their car and drive off. The following is video shot by B’Tselem volunteers.
http://972mag.com/watch-israeli-police-let-stone-throwing-settlers-walk-away/99740/

Hebron school forced to close as Israeli forces fire tear gas
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 Dec — Several children suffered excessive tear gas inhalation early Wednesday after Israeli troops fired tear gas near their school in the city of Hebron, a school administrator said. Haytham al-Karaki, administrative secretary of the al-Ibrahimiyya school, told Ma‘an that the school was forced to shut down for the day after several tear gas canisters landed near the school. “After the pupils arrived at campus, we were surprised that Israeli soldiers were performing a military drill near the school,” al-Karaki said. “They fired an unprecedentedly large number of tear gas canisters at the schoolyard, which caused many students and faculty members to choke, including the school principal.” Ambulances of the Palestinian Red Crescent rushed to the school and offered medical treatment, paramedic Eid Abu Munshar told Ma‘an. One student was taken to Hebron’s public hospital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746154

Mayor of Hebron sent toxic substance and death threats
IMEMC/Agencies 10 Dec — Hebron Mayor Dr. Daoud Al Zatari stated, Tuesday, that he had recently received an envelope at the Municipality, containing death threats and a toxic substance. According to the PNN, security and medical sources reported that the substance, which was later sent to the medical laboratory for examination, caused the Mayor’s secretary and two other employees to fall into a state of unconsciousness, upon opening the envelope.  The employees were sent to the hospital for treatment. “As citizens and officials, we are entitled to protect the rights of our people and land and reject these threats,” Mayor Zatari said, and revealed that an extremist zionist organization called “Pulsa DiNura Committee” is behind the attack.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69954

Mother of suspect in arson at bilingual school: I would have done the same
Ynet 9 Dec by Noam (Dabul) Dvir — The mother of one of the suspects in an arson attack on a Jewish-Arab school  in Jerusalem last week declared Monday that she would have set the school alight as well, were it not for the law, and that Jews and Arabs should not be studying in mixed classes. While she shook off accusations of harassment of Arabs, the suspect’s mother expressed revulsion at the fact that Jews and Arabs were studying together in the same school. The school was vandalized with graffiti reading “Death to Arabs”, “No coexistence with cancer” and “Kahane was right”; books were also piled into the middle of a classroom and set on fire … “Afterwards people are surprised that Israeli girls go out with Arabs and that there’s assimilation. The parents opposed Arabs going to the school, but no one listened,” she added … Regarding the education the suspects had received, she said that “they received a haredi education. The fact that they lapsed a bit and turned their back on Judaism is their problem. It’s no one else’s problem. They’re usually good kids.” Were they taught to hate Arabs? “Of course not. Not to hate. My father also taught me not to hate Arabs, but to keep your distance. We have no contact with them. Everyone told them (the suspects), ‘stop it’, but they wouldn’t listen. It’s a shame that there are people who incite them.”
http://occpalgaza.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/mother-of-israeli-arson-suspect-its-disgusting-that-jews-and-arabs-learn-side-by-side/

Videos show casual brutality of Israeli army in Hebron
Electronic Intifada 8 Dec by Ali Abunimah — Two videos published by Christian Peacemaker Teams show the casual brutality faced by the people of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The first video, above, shows what happened when a group of Palestinians waving flags attempted to stage a peaceful protest against the closure of “Checkpoint 56” on 29 November. As Christian Peacemaker Teams explains in a 4 December release, the protesters were immediately met by “a torrent of tear gas and sound grenades rained down from Israeli forces, who were occupying rooftops” above the Bab al-Zawiya neighborhood … A second video clip published by Christian Peacemaker Teams on 7 December shows what the group calls “typical abuse” of Palestinian children by Israeli Border Police: This kind of daily abuse rarely makes headlines. But the occupation remains lethal to Palestinians.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/videos-show-casual-brutality-israeli-army-hebron

Army kidnaps 16 Palestinians in the West Bank
IMEMC/Agencies 8 Dec — Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday at dawn, at least sixteen Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank, including a woman who was kidnapped in the yards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem. Local sources in the Hebron district, in the southern part of the West Bank, have reported that the soldiers kidnapped seven Palestinians; six in Hebron city, one in Halhoul town. The sources said the soldiers broke into and ransacked several homes in Hebron city, and kidnapped Raed Salah Mohtaseb, 26, Mohammad Mousa Abu Hussein, Tareq Mohammad Abu Hussein, 26, Bilal Abdul-Rahman Abu Hussein, 25, and his brother Hamza, 24. Soldiers also invaded a religious court in the Old City of Hebron, and kidnapped resident Ibrahim Ishaq al-Khatib, 23, while holding his wedding ceremony. In addition, soldiers invaded Halhoul town, north of Hebron, and kidnapped a Palestinian identified as Anas Khaled Abu Rayyan, 24. Army also invaded the towns of Ethna and Yatta, installed roadblocks at the northern entrance of Hebron city, and the entrances of Sa‘ir and Halhoul towns, before stopping dozens of cars, and searched them while inspecting the ID cards of the passengers. Furthermore, soldiers invaded Beiteen village, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped two Palestinians. The two have been identified as, the local mosque’s Imam Sheikh Yousef Jaber, and Sa’ad Darwish, the brother of Saje Darwish, who was shot and killed by the Israeli army on March 10, 2014. In Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, soldiers kidnapped ‘As’ad Khaled Abu al-Hasan, 20, from his home in ‘Askar refugee camp, Yazan Khaled Eshtayya, 21, Mojahed Ghazi Khalil, 22, from the Balata refugee camp, and Asadallah Qett, 23, from his home in Madama village, south of Nablus. Several military jeeps also invaded Qabatia town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, broke into and searched a number of homes, and kidnapped two Palestinians identified as ‘Odai Ahmad Abu ar-Rob, 21, and Shadi Talal Zakarna, 27. In related news, several soldiers and Israeli extremists invaded the yards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem, and kidnapped a woman identified as Om Radwan ‘Amro, near Bab Hatta, one of the gates leading to the mosque. The woman was kidnapped after several Israeli fanatics stormed the yards of the Mosque, and conducted provocative acts targeting Muslim worshipers. [Ma’an and Israeli army spokesman: 19 detained, including two in East Jerusalem, 2 in al-Jalazun refugee camp.  Note that the lists of those arrestesd is often not complete.]
http://www.imemc.org/article/69940

Israeli forces detain student, ban teacher from entering Aqsa
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Israeli police detained a student as she was leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, witnesses said. Fatima Hussein was taken to the al-Qishla police station as she left the holy site. Police also detained teacher Zeina Omar at a gate leading to the mosque and banned her from entering the Al-Aqsa compound for three months.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746024

Army kidnaps two Palestinians east of Bethlehem
IMEMC/Agencies 10 Dec — Bethlehem – Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday morning, two young Palestinian men [Ma‘an: 34-year-old Muatazz Muhammad Idris Abu Eisha and 17-year-old Hani Imad Muhammad Ubeido], near Teqoua’ illegal Israeli settlement, allegedly after the army found out one of them carried a knife. The two were taken prisoner close to the settlement, illegally built on Palestinian lands belonging to Teqoua‘ Palestinian town, east of Bethlehem. The Israeli military claimed the two “confessed” during interrogation that they intended to stab Israeli settlers. The two Palestinians, who remained unidentified, have been moved to an Israeli Internal Security center for further interrogation.
In related news, an Israeli settlement bus driver claimed, Tuesday, his vehicle came under fired near Sinjel Palestinian village, close to the illegal settlements of Ofra and Shilo, built on Palestinian lands in the central West Bank district of Ramallah. Israeli soldiers said the shooting led to minor damages in the bus, but no injuries, and that the army is still trying to decide whether it was gunfire that struck the bus or stones. In addition, the army said that two windows of a settlement bus were damaged, when Palestinian youths hurled stones at it in the at-Tour area, in occupied Jerusalem. Medical sources said a settler was mildly injured; the army conducted a search campaign in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69953

Israeli forces detain Jerusalem Fatah leader overnight
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 10 Dec — Israeli forces arrested 11 Palestinians, including a Fatah leader, in East Jerusalem overnight [Tues-Wed], a lawyer told Ma‘an Wednesday. Muhammad Mahmoud, a lawyer for the prisoner rights group Addameer, told Ma‘an Israeli forces detained Abeer Ziad from her home in Jerusalem. Ziad is a Fatah leader in the Jerusalem district, Mahmoud said … An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma‘an soldiers detained 19 Palestinians elsewhere in the West Bank overnight. She said one was detained near Ramallah, five near Bethlehem, and 13 near Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746133

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Judaization / Racism and discrimination

Israel resumes building museum on Muslim cemetery
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Israeli authorities have resumed excavations in Mamilla graveyard in West Jerusalem as part of the “Museum of Tolerance” project, a local committee said Tuesday. The head of the Islamic cemeteries preservation committee, Mustafa Abu Zahra, said large machinery was placed in the cemetery. It poured reinforced concrete in preparation for the building of the structure of the museum.  Abu Zahra added that the structure is scheduled to be built over the “remains of icons, martyrs, grandparents and parents,” and he said that the project is being implemented by a California-based center in cooperation with the Jerusalem municipality and other Israeli departments. The project was started by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in 2001, and 12 dunams of the cemetery ground were seized including 70 percent which was transformed into “Independence Park,” he explained. Abu Zahra said that the construction was a grave assault on Muslim heritage and history.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746072

IDF earmarking West Bank firing zones for settler expansion, figures show
Haaretz 9 Dec by Chaim Levinson — Settlement analyst says the areas marked are in the Jordan Valley or near settlements; Civil Administration calls claims baseless — The Civil Administration has in recent years earmarked 35,000 dunams (8,650 acres) of land currently defined as military firing zones to expand settlements and outposts, according to a settlement-tracking researcher’s analysis of its figures. Dror Etkes has analyzed the extensive geographical information in the hands of the Civil Administration and says it shows that the administration has been surveying and mapping the old state lands recently, although these are firing zones. Since 1999, a Civil Administration team – known as the “blue line team” – has been using advanced digital methods to reaffirm the boundaries of the state lands. So far, 260,000 dunams have been mapped throughout the West Bank – 35,000 dunams of which are in firing zones. In the 1970s, approximately 1 million dunams of land in the West Bank were declared firing zones for the exclusive use of the Israel Defense Forces. Until the 1990s, these areas were used extensively for training. However, after the IDF moved training bases to southern Israel following the Oslo Accords, the use of firing zones in the West Bank declined and most are now abandoned or used only sporadically for training. Nevertheless, the IDF is still keeping Palestinians out of these areas and demolishing buildings that are sometimes erected there. According to Ottoman law, which is applicable in the territories, land that is cultivated for more than 10 years can come under the ownership of the individual working it. However, land that is not worked – for example, whose owners do not have access to it because it has been expropriated for use by the IDF – can be declared state land. So far, a reported 99 percent of this land in the territories has been allocated to settlers. The state’s official position is that the firing zones are used for operational purposes only, in keeping with international law. However, many believe the firing zones are actually being used to keep the Palestinians out….
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.630680

MKs outraged at last minute funding to settlements
Ynet 8 Dec by Moran Azulay — What was most likely to be the last Knesset Finance Committee meeting Monday before the upcoming elections ended in shouting and MKs being ushered out of the room after the committee approved a last minute change in funding which would transfer hundreds of millions of shekels to West Bank settlements instead of to communities in southern Israel and social welfare programs. Opposition members from Yesh Atid and Labor called the last minute change a grab schemed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to funnel funds into an electoral community that would likely support him and his right-wing allies in the upcoming election.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4601003,00.html

Official: Settlers expand illegal outpost near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — Israeli settlers have been expanding an illegal settlement outpost in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian official said Monday. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an this was the second day in a row that settlers had leveled land to expand the outpost of Ahiya near the Palestinian village of Jalud. The excavation work is being carried out on private Palestinian lands owned by Abdullah al-Hajj Muhammad and Rashid al-Hajj Muhammad from Jalud.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745593

Israel issues demolition orders for Jerusalem homes, stores
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Israeli authorities in Jerusalem on Tuesday delivered demolition orders for residential homes and commercial stores in Silwan, al-Tur, al-‘Isawiya, and Jabal al-Mukabbir, locals said. The Eweisat, Abu al-Jamal, and Elayyan families were issued demolition orders for their homes in Jabal al-Mukabbir. The Elayyan family home was built 10 years ago while the other two properties were built in the 1970s. A total of 25 people live in the three homes. In Silwan, Israeli municipality officers issued demolition orders to the Abbasi and Abu Diab families, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said. The Abu Diab home was built in 1998 and houses nine people. A bakery, restaurant, and parking lot were also issued demolition orders. Bassem Zeidani said that his father was issued a demolition order for his two-story house, home to 13 people. In al-Isawiya, Israeli authorities attempted to demolish a store belonging to Nader al-Rashq, but the demolition did not take place as the owner had obtained a court order.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745915

Israel to confiscate over 300 dunams of land near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Israeli forces on Tuesday distributed orders to confiscate 321.3 dunams of land from the villages of Beit Ur At-Tahta, Ein Arek, and Beituniya west of Ramallah. The confiscation order threatens to close a vital street that connects the villages west of Ramallah to the city instead of road 433. The head of the local council of Beit Ur al-Fouqa, Rami Alawi, said Israeli generals justified the decision by its importance to security. He said this was untrue and “a theft of land that is planted with tens of thousands of olive trees.” Alawi added that the decision was ambiguous and unclear, and it extends the siege of the villages which are surrounded by a settlement, a military camp, and road 433. Road 433 was built over thousands of dunams of Ramallah lands, and Palestinians were banned from using it after the Second Intifada started. An alternative route was established to connect them to Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746078

Israeli forces demolish unrecognized village for 79th time
BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — Israeli bulldozers demolished on Monday houses in the [Bedouin] al-Araqib unrecognized village in the Negev area for the 79th time. Inspectors of the Israeli Land Authority raided the village escorted by the Israeli police’s Yoav unit. They raided an Islamic cemetery and demolished houses of villagers. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli forces also turned over and plowed lands of the area to prevent residents from finding appropriate pieces of land on which to rebuild their homes. Sheikh Sayyad al-Turi, a villager, said: “Let them keep demolishing and we will keep rebuilding; we are the rightful owners of the land and we will stay here.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745596

Israeli plan to build houses for Bedouin gains traction
Haaretz 9 Dec by Shirly Seidler — The state would also legalize existing homes in a Negev village as part of efforts to bolster recognized Bedouin communities — A plan to build 2,035 new houses in the Negev Bedouin village of Umm Batin and to legalize existing houses there was approved in principle Monday by an Interior Ministry planning committee. Though Umm Batin, unlike many Bedouin villages, is legally recognized by the state, this would be the first authorized plan to build new housing there. Until now, permits were granted only for infrastructure projects and public buildings. The plan would also legalize numerous houses that were built without permits, preventing their demolition and sparing residents the need to move to new houses. Final approval of the plan will depend on compliance with conditions set by the planning committee – formally known as the Southern District National Housing Committee – and other government agencies …  The planning committee also approved a plan to build 170 new houses, plus public buildings, in the Negev Bedouin town of Lakiya.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.630673

Who are East Jerusalem’s ‘permanent residents’?
Haaretz 9 Dec by Ariel David — It is called permanent residency status, but like many other things in the Middle East, it can be anything but permanent. With the recent flare-up in violence centering around Jerusalem, the Israeli government has been threatening to revoke the residency, or citizenship, of East Jerusalem Arabs who are involved in terrorism – even if only by association through a relative. Interior Minister Gilad Erdan made good on this threat recently by ordering the deportation to the Palestinian territories of the widow of one of the two terrorists who attacked a Jerusalem synagogue on November 18, killing four worshippers and a policeman … But who are these permanent residents who are among those at the center of the storm? What exactly is their status and in what way can they be considered akin to immigrants in their own home? When Israel annexed East Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, it granted the inhabitants of the newly captured neighborhoods permanent residency status and offered them citizenship. At present, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, out of a total population of 815,000, there are now some 300,000 Arabs in Jerusalem. Only 12 percent of them have Israeli citizenship, the Interior Ministry reports. Obtaining citizenship demands various procedures like swearing allegiance to the Jewish state and showing some knowledge of Hebrew, but rights groups say the main problem is the social taboo surrounding such a move: Palestinians feel that the process implies recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over East Jerusalem, which they claim as capital of their future state. That is why most East Jerusalemites continue to live in the city as permanent residents, the same status afforded to non-Jewish foreigners who move to Israel … Unlike full citizens of the country, they cannot vote in national elections, have no passport and, as Palestinians, they remain stateless. “They live in a legal no-man’s land,” says Steven Beck, director of international relations at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. The status of these individuals is similar to that of the Druze living in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights: The latter have permanent residency and largely refuse to take Israeli citizenship but, unlike Jerusalem’s Palestinians, they are officially considered Syrian nationals …  The difference in rights between East Jerusalem Arabs and their West Bank neighbors has created rifts between the two Palestinian communities and can greatly influence the daily lives of their members, Beck explained in a telephone interview with Haaretz …  Figures compiled by the B’Tselem human rights group show that since 1967 Israel has revoked the residency of more than 14,000 Palestinians, often without warning.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.630605

Erekat condemns Israeli threat to deport Palestinian Jerusalemites
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday denounced threats by the Israeli Ministry of Interior to deport Palestinian Jerusalemites from their home city. “Israel’s policy of coercive deportation, which has affected five citizens, is illegal in the first place, and is nothing but a consolidation of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, especially in Jerusalem,” Erekat said in a statement. He said the policy was “part of a chain of daily Israeli criminal acts against Palestinians, which includes murder, torture, and terrorism.” The policy has so far affected Salih Dirbas and Majd Darwish from al-‘Isawiya, Faris Abu Ghannam and Akram al-Shurafa from the al-Tur neighborhood, and Dawood al-Ghoul from Silwan, Erekat said. Erekat’s statement came as the Israeli Supreme Court was preparing to issue a ruling on whether to deport four members of the Palestinian Legislative Council on Tuesday, but the hearing was postponed to a later date. In a joint statement, Palestinian lawyers Hassan Jabarin, Usama al-Saadi, and Fadi al-Qawasmi condemned the Israeli decision to postpone the hearing. The lawyers said that case did not depend on Israeli laws, but that it contradicted international law. They feared that if the court chose to deport the MPs, the case might be used to deport any Jerusalemite without consideration of legal grounds. Muhammad Abu Teir, Ahmad Attun, Muhammad Tutah, and Khalid Abu Arafeh, all members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that they face deportation from Jerusalem and the withdrawal of their residency rights.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745686

Israel tightens economic stranglehold on 1948 Palestinians
OCCUPIED HAIFA (Al-Akhbar) 8 Dec by Zouheir Andraos — As the economic persecution against Palestinians continues, the Israeli Agriculture Ministry recently decided to prevent 1948 Palestinians from raising chickens and thus producing eggs, claiming this department as an exclusive right for Jews in cooperative villages (moshav). Eggs produced by Palestinian establishments disappeared from the market in a matter of days and were replaced by Israeli eggs produced at moshavs (Israeli agricultural settlements) built on the ruins of Palestinian villages destroyed in the Nakba, or the Catastrophe. Authorities in Tel Aviv also issued a decree banning “Arabs” from growing potatoes, succumbing to the pressure of Israeli potato farmers. The authorities had discovered that growing potatoes is cheap and was an important source of income for Palestinians. These two steps are further proof of the extent of the occupation’s institutional racism. Palestine is famous for having fertile land, rich in all sorts of plants used by Palestinians as food (such as thyme and mallow), but which are not known or eaten by Jews. This led the Israeli government to instruct its so-called environmental protection authority to prosecute “plant thieves.” It officially announced those plants as “protected species and those who pick them shall be sent to court.”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israel-tightens-economic-stranglehold-1948-palestinians

Detainees / Court actions

70 Palestinian prisoners launch hunger strike action
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Seventy prisoners held in Israeli jails on Tuesday launched hunger strike action in protest against Israel’s policy of solitary confinement, a prisoners’ group said. The protest action was launched in solidarity with detainees being held in solitary confinement, some of whom had already gone on hunger strike to protest the policy. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a statement that Nahar al-Saadi has been on hunger strike since Nov. 20 to protest being held in solitary confinement. His demands include ending his solitary confinement, allowing family visits, and ending the solitary confinement of other prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=746028

IOF raids house of MP Abu Juhaisha in Idna town, detains his sons
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 9 Dec — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Tuesday raided the house of Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Mohamed Abu Juhaisha in Idna town, west of al-Khalil city, and kidnapped two of his sons. MP Abu Juhaisha told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the IOF detained his sons Muaad and Mutawakil after they had kidnapped their brothers Muataz and Mujahid following a similar raid on his house at dawn Sunday. He added that his nephew Mahmoud Abu Juhaisha was also taken prisoner during today’s raid, while the Palestinian Authority preventive security forces kidnapped his nephew Ra‘fat Abu Juhaisha on Monday morning from al-Khalil university.
In another incident, astrophysicist Imad al-Barghouthi, from Beit Rima town in Ramallah, is still in Israeli detention, according to the Palestinian prisoner society. The prisoner society said that the Israeli side did not state the reasons for its detention of the scientist or if he would stand trial. The IOF had kidnapped Barghouthi two days ago at the Karama crossing as he was leaving for Jordan to fly from there to the UAE to participate in a scientific conference.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=69057

Israel reinstates sentence against Hamas leader’s daughter
Middle East Monitor 8 Dec — Israel has reinstated the previous sentence against the prisoner Bushra Al-Tawil, the Ahrar Centre of Prisoners’ Studies and Human Rights revealed. She was one of the prisoners released in the Wafa Al-Ahrar swap deal in 2011 but was re-arrested a few months ago along with dozens of others released as part of the same deal. Director of the Ahrar Centre of Prisoners’ Studies, Fouad Al-Khafsh, said that Al-Tawil had been released in 2011 as part of the swap deal after serving five months of her 16-month sentence. However, she was re-arrested by the occupation following the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli soldiers in Hebron last June. Al-Tawil is the daughter of a Hamas leader in Ramallah, Sheikh Jamal Al-Tawil, who is currently held in an Israeli prison. She is a journalism student at Modern University College in Ramallah as well as an activist specialising in prisoner affairs.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15717-israel-reinstates-sentence-hamas-leaders-daughter

Palestinians from Gaza visit relatives jailed in Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — A number of Palestinians were allowed to enter Israel on Monday to visit their jailed relatives, a Red Cross spokeswoman said. Suhair Zaqqut, a spokeswoman of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Ma‘an that 21 Palestinians including two children left Gaza through the Erez crossing. They visited a total of 16 Palestinians jailed in the Israeli prison of Eshel, Zaqqut said. She said Israel issued permits for a limited number of Palestinians from Gaza to visit their jailed relatives every Monday. There are around 450 Palestinian men from the Gaza Strip in Israeli jails. Israel denied Gaza prisoners family visits when Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007, but in July 2012, family visits resumed. Only close relatives are allowed to visit Gazan prisoners in Israeli custody.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745601

Israeli military drops charges against Palestinian youths
Haaretz 10 Dec by Chaim Levinson — Interrogation documents show that a police officer threatened the three and failed to read them their rights — Military prosecutors have repealed charges filed against three Palestinian youths accused of throwing oil-filled bottles at buses on the highway, after it turned out they had been threatened by a police officer. The three, ages 15 and 17, are from the village of Beit Ummar. They were arrested on November 17 by army trackers after soldiers at an observation post supposedly spotted them throwing oil-filled bottles at Israeli buses traveling on Highway 60 in the West Bank. The three were taken to the Hebron police station, where they were interrogated in the middle of the night by investigator Asher Ben Lulu. Documentation of the interrogation shows that Ben Lulu did not follow procedures to first warn one of the youths, and inform him of the charges against him and of his right to an attorney. Instead, he instructed him to start talking at once. He told the youth to stop playing around and that he had spoken to the youth’s father, who was very angry. “He’ll come and break your bones if you don’t tell us what happened.” Another youth requested a lawyer, but Ben Lulu told him he was a minor and that he would first talk to the boy’s father. “If he wants to, he’ll get you one.” During the questioning he abused the youths verbally, taunting them by telling them that in contrast to their condition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rich children who drive Mercedes Benzes. At the end of the interrogation Ben Lulu asked one of the youths to sign a statement, but the boy refused, saying that it was in Hebrew, which he didn’t understand. The investigator yelled at him, calling him “a donkey” and forcing him to sign.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.630869

Israel indicts American over plot to bomb Muslim holy sites
Ynet/AP 9 Dec by Eli Senyor & Itay Blumental — An American Christian was indicted Monday for plotting to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday, after the court cleared the case for publication at the request of the state. The man, Adam Everett Livix, 30, a Texas native, is wanted in the United States for drugs-related offenses. In Israel, he was indicted for three offenses. According to the indictment, Livix passed himself on as a member of the elite American unit the Navy SEALS. He told friends he had strong anti-Arab sentiments and wished to target Muslim sites. In October, Livix asked his roommate, a serving soldier in the IDF, to help him obtain weaponry, including 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds) of explosive material, to use to blow up the unidentified Jerusalem holy sites. Livix went as far as paying a part of the sum agreed upon for the explosives. Livix was also indicted for negotiating, with the help of his acquaintance the soldier, the purchase of two IDF demolition blocks stolen by a friend of that acquaintance. When Livix asked for time to come up with the money for the deal, the acquaintance’s friend sold them to a military police agent … According to the Shin Bet, Livix arrived to the Middle East in 2013 and lived in the Palestinian Authority – in Hebron and in Bethlehem. According to the allegations, while he was there, he was approached by a Palestinian operative who offered him to assassinate US President Barack Obama, who was visiting Israel in March of that year, using a sniper rifle. Livix refused. After his time in the Palestinian Authority, he entered Israel and has been staying in the country illegally for a year and a half … In 1969, an Australian Christian started a fire [in the al-Aqsa mosque, destroying the minbar given by Saladin] at the complex in hopes that it would hasten the second coming of Jesus Christ. The man, Denis Michael Rohan, was subsequently committed to a mental institution. [See ‘Jerusalem Syndrome’]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4601620,00.html

Gaza

Official: Egypt has destroyed 60 tunnels since Oct 28
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — A military source in the Sinai said Monday that Egyptian border guards have destroyed over 60 smuggling tunnels along the Gaza borders since Oct. 28. The source added that a tunnel with the length of 1,500 meters was uncovered in Rafah, and was placed under guard to be destroyed soon. The official added that seven tunnels were uncovered outside of the buffer zone, five of which are 2,000 meters long. The other two are 1,500 and 1,750 meters long.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745769

Trapped Palestinian students demand Gaza crossings reopen
GAZA CITY (Al-Monitor) 9 Dec by Rasha Aou Jalal — Approximately 1,500 Palestinian students enrolled in foreign universities are stuck in Gaza, and are protesting for the reopening of the Rafah or Erez crossings —  The continuing closure of the Rafah crossing threatens the ability of Palestinian students to travel abroad to complete their studies. This has led to a student movement in Gaza calling for the need to open the Rafah crossing, or an alternative such as allowing them to cross the Israeli-controlled Erez crossing. Mohib Izz al-Din, a 22-year-old student, is one of the trapped students. He managed to obtain a scholarship to study medicine in Ukraine, but the closure of the Rafah crossing has prevented him from moving forward with his studies. “We understand that the security situation in the Sinai is difficult, but the Egyptian authorities need to understand our right to education and to have access to our universities. We do not pose any threat to Egyptian sovereignty and security,” Izz al-Din told Al-Monitor. “I only have seven days left before my visa to Ukraine expires. After that, the cost of the ticket, which I collected from my relatives, will go up in smoke.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/palestinian-students-trapped-gaza-protest-crossings.html

IOF soldiers raid southern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS (PIC) 9 Dec — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided the southern Gaza Strip region on Tuesday morning amidst intensive firing. A field observer said that Israeli army vehicles and tanks advanced 150 meters into southern Gaza, to the north east of Khan Younis. He said that the incursion was coupled with intensive shooting at residential neighborhoods and farmlands, adding that no casualties were reported. He pointed out that IOF shooting was reported at Khuza‘a town to the east of Khan Younis before the incursion, which posed as a fresh violation of the truce signed in Cairo last August.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=69058

Gaza civil servants to go on strike
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — The union of civil servants in the Gaza Strip announced Tuesday that all government employees would go on strike Thursday, union officials said. In a statement, the civil servants union said that schools would go on strike next Sunday after the first break, and teachers would picket outside offices of the Ministry of Education. The statement urged President Mahmoud Abbas to make his position clear after he was accused of prohibiting the payment of salaries to Gaza civil servants who were hired by the former Hamas-run government. The European Union and other donor countries, the statement said, have repeatedly declared that they have no objection to payment of salaries to all governmental employees in the Gaza Strip including police officers who keep law and order.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745914

Tax dispute leads to gas shortage in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — A dispute between Gaza’s Ministry of Finance and the Palestinian Authority’s General Directorate of Petroleum has led to a gas shortage in the coastal territory, local unions said Tuesday. The petroleum directorate has allegedly refused to provide gas stations with fuel to protest a four-shekel ($1) tax imposed by the finance ministry on every 12-kilogram gas container, head of the union of gas station owners Mahmoud al-Shawwa said. “Palestinians suffer enough from the Israeli blockade and the summer offensive on Gaza and they should not also suffer the results of such disagreements,” he added. Gaza requires 450-500 tons of gas daily to meet its needs. Israel currently provides around 200 tons per day, although that number can drop as low as 80 tons. Gaza has not received domestic-use gas for two days due to the dispute. Energy committee member Abu Muhammad al-Masharawi called on the national consensus government to solve the crisis before it affects livestock farms and homes. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called for the additional tax to be canceled, saying it is “irrational” to make Gazans pay illegal taxes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745904

No exit in Gaza: Broken homes and broken lives
Common Dreams 8 Dec by Jen Marlowe — Rubble. That’s been the one constant for the Awajah family for as long as I’ve known them. Four months ago, their home was demolished by the Israeli military — and it wasn’t the first time that Kamal, Wafaa, and their children had been through this. For the last six years, the family has found itself trapped in a cycle of destruction and reconstruction; their home either a tangle of shattered concrete and twisted rebar or about to become one. I first met the Awajah family in August 2009, in the tent where they were living. I filmed them as they told me what had happened to them eight months earlier during the military invasion that Israel called Operation Cast Lead and said was a response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. I had no intention of making a film when I went to Gaza, but after hearing the family’s story, I knew I had to.  I returned again in 2012 and have continued to stay in touch in the years since, realizing that the plight of the Awajahs opened a window onto what an entire society was facing, onto what it’s like to live with an interminable war and constant fear.  The Awajahs’ story shines a spotlight on what Palestinians in Gaza have endured for years on end. What stuck with me most, however, was the demand of the Awajah children regarding the reconstruction of their new home in 2012: they insisted that the house have two doors … “The children say to make two doors to the house,” Wafaa told me.  “One [regular] door and the other door so when the Israelis demolish the house, we can use it to escape…”
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/12/08/no-exit-gaza-broken-homes-and-broken-lives

Israeli summer airstrikes on Gaza WERE war crimes: Military accused of carrying out bombings with “no justification’
Mail Online 8 Dec by Chris Pleasance —  The Israeli military committed war crimes during the final days of its war against Gaza this summer, according to Amnesty International.  The destruction of four multi-storey buildings during the last four days of the 50-day conflict was carried out ‘deliberately and with no justification’, officials said. The human rights organisation said the bombings amounted to ‘a collective punishment against the people of Gaza’ designed to destroy livelihoods, rather than take out military targets.Scroll down for video. Amnesty is now calling for a team to be allowed into the country to investigate the alleged crimes, and says the perpetrators should be brought before a court … One of the buildings destroyed was the Municipal Commercial Centre in Rafah, which contained a shopping mall, a medical clinic and offices. All told, the businesses inside provided livelihoods for hundreds of Palestinian people.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2866404/Amnesty-International-accuses-Israel-war-crimes.html

Swedish prosecutor drops probe into IDF seizure of Gaza flotillas
DPA 9 Dec by Lennart Simonsson — A Swedish prosecutor on Tuesday dropped an investigation into whether laws were broken in 2010 and 2012, when Israeli forces boarded pro-Palestinian vessels aiming to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, saying it was not possible to identify the perpetrators. The investigation into the raids covered only the situation affecting 22 Swedish nationals on board the vessels, including author Henning Mankell, known for his best-selling crime novels …  The complaint over the Israeli military’s actions – which occurred in international waters – was filed in November 2013 by the activist group Ship to Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.630746

Other news

Palestine becomes ICC observer
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 9 Dec — Palestine became an observer at the International Criminal Court at the Hague on Monday, UN envoy Riyad Mansour said. The Palestinian official said the move would strengthen possibilities for Palestinian statehood. Mansour said Palestine’s new status at the ICC was “another victory for Palestinians at the international level, bringing them closer to restoring their rights, and opening the door wide to drag leaders of the Israeli occupation to the dock of this court, so the souls of the victims can finally rest in peace.” He said Palestine was now moving in the direction of becoming full members of the ICC. The official recognition of Palestine as an ICC observer came as a procedural move at the opening session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, AP reported. The PLO had in 2009 asked the ICC’s prosecutor’s office to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli military in Gaza. There has so far been no probe as Palestine is not an ICC member state and its status as a state is uncertain in some international institutions. However, the PLO in late November 2012 obtained the status of observer state at the United Nations, opening the door for an ICC investigation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745863

Palestinians seek UN resolution on Israeli withdrawal
AFP 9 Dec — The Palestinians are seeking a UN resolution by year-end that would set a timetable for Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory, chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said Tuesday. Erakat’s remarks came after several European parliaments pressed their governments to recognise full Palestinian statehood, and as prospects for a resumption of peace talks with Israel looked bleak. “We are at the (UN) Security Council now, today. We are continuing our consultation. We want a Security Council resolution that will preserve the two-state solution,” Erakat told foreign journalists gathered near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. “We want a specific time frame to end the occupation. We’re being helped a great deal in the Security Council by many nations,” he added, referring to recent votes of British, French and Spanish MPs in favour of recognising Palestine as a state. We are hoping to achieve this resolution before the end of the month, before Christmas as a matter of fact.” The Palestinians have been pressing Security Council members to adopt a resolution giving a timeframe — two years — for the withdrawal of Israel from occupied Palestinian territory. The United States has reiterated its opposition to what it sees as unilateral Palestinian measures that bypass peace talks with Israel.
https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/palestinians-seek-un-resolution-israeli-withdrawal-205251435.html

Palestinian union of civil servants to appeal dissolution
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Dec — Head of the former union of civil servants, Bassam Zakarneh, said Monday that the union will appeal to the Palestinian High Court of Justice to overturn a decision to close its’ offices and dissolve the movement. The union has delivered all necessary documents to a lawyer who will submit them to the high court next week. The court will investigate the decision by the Palestinian unity government to dissolve the union of civil servants and label it an illegal organization. The court will also look into allegations that the PA arbitrarily moved employees in the union to different positions and deducted one days’ wages from civil servants. Zakarneh said he would accept the ruling of the high court and is ready for public dialogue with the PA. The secretary of the civil servants union Mohamed al-Araj and union chief Bassam Zakarneh were detained in early November after handing themselves in to PA authorities after receiving arrest warrants. President Mahmoud Abbas’ bureau said in a statement at the time of their detention that the union of civil servants was an illegal body established without legal basis.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745589

Israel official opposes withholding PA tax revenues
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Dec – The national security adviser to the Israeli prime minister said Sunday that Israel wouldn’t withhold or deduct debts from the tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Yossi Cohen said that such an action could eventually lead to the collapse of the PA. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Cohen’s remarks came during a discussion at the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday. The discussion was raised by Knesset member Orit Struck of the right-wing Jewish Home party. She asked Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein last week to discuss the possibility of withholding tax revenues which Israel passes on to the PA every month. She claimed that the PA pays tens of millions of shekels every month in salaries to Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel over attacks against Israelis. Thus, she said, the Israeli government should deduct that money from the tax revenue transferred to the PA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=745575

Irish government to accept motion to recognize Palestinian state
DUBLIN (Reuters) 9 Dec — Ireland to join Sweden in officially recognizing Palestine in 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital; motion also states Israeli settlement construction is ‘illegal and severely threatening the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.’ — The Irish government will accept a motion to be proposed by the opposition on Tuesday calling on parliament to recognize Palestine as a state, echoing similar recent symbolic decisions in other European Union countries … Members of parliament in the lower house are due to discuss the motion proposed by the opposition Sinn Fein party later on Tuesday and on Wednesday. A government spokesman said it will not oppose the bill, meaning MPs will not be required to vote. The motion calls on the government to “officially recognize the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as the capital, as established in UN resolutions, as a further positive contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4601693,00.html

The forbidden fruit of reconciliation between Hamas and Dahlan
Al-Akhbar 9 Dec by Orouba Othman & Sanaa Kamel — Reconciliation with Mohammed Dahlan (Abu Fadi) is not the first ‘taboo’ to be dropped by Hamas. Recently, there were suggestions Hamas would hold direct talks with Israel, “to negotiate strongly in order to restore rights.” However, Dahlan brings up painful memories for Hamas’ supporters, for the suffering they went through before and during the Palestinian division. Reconciliation with Abu Fadi also provokes his archrival Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), something that Hamas seem to be seeking these days — … Dahlan had withdrawn from Gaza before Hamas took over the enclave, and many in Hamas are deeply averse to him over his history in repressing the movement and its supporters when he was the chief of the notorious Preventive Security Service. However, Hamas finds itself forced to pursue this bitter option to avoid a more bitter one. After forsaking power and letting the burden fall on Abu Mazen, the latter did not act to integrate the 45,000 civil servants in Gaza Hamas is still burdened with. So Hamas is now looking to corner Abu Mazen, and what better way to do it than by waving the name of Mohammed Dahlan?
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/forbidden-fruit-reconciliation-between-hamas-and-dahlan

Hamas: We seek to enhance our historic relations with Iran
TEHRAN (PIC) 9 Dec — Mohammed Nasr, political bureau member of Hamas and head of its delegation on a Tehran visit, said that his Movement’s visit to Iran fell in line with its belief in the importance of mobilizing all Islamic potentials in support of the Palestine cause. He told the PIC that Hamas was keen on enhancing its historic relations with Iran based on both parties’ conviction of the importance of maintaining contacts and exerting serious efforts to overcome the sensitive and delicate circumstances currently prevailing in the region. Nasr said that Hamas delegates met with Iranian officials and discussed with them developments in occupied Jerusalem and dangers threatening the Aqsa Mosque. The discussions also tackled repercussions of the Israeli aggression on Gaza last summer along with the closure of Gaza crossings and obstruction of the reconstruction process, he said, adding that the oppressive siege on Gaza was also discussed during those meetings. The Hamas delegation arrived in Tehran on Monday on a two-day official visit.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=69059

Police arrest husband, ex-husband, and brother of ‘honor killing’ victim
Haaretz 9 Dec by Ilan Lior — The Israel Police reported Tuesday that it has solved the October 25 “honor killing” of Busaina Abu Ghanem, a mother of six from Ramle, and has arrested her husband, ex-husband and brother in connection with the crime. Abu Ghanem, 31, was shot while sitting in her vehicle near her home on Ha’eshel street in Ramle. She is the 10th woman from her [notorious] extended family to be murdered during the last 14 years. Police arrested her husband, Niam Abu Razek, her ex-husband Salah Abu Ghanem and her younger brother Ismail. On Thursday police, along with the Central District Prosecutor, filed a prosecutor’s statement calling for the three to be put on trial. Indictments are expected to be issued against the three suspects in the coming months … Police discovered that the motive for the murder was the victim’s relatively independent behavior, and visitation rights for the daughter she had with her ex-husband.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.630826

Judge orders Palestinian-American Rasmea Odeh freed on bond
Electronic Intifada 8 Dec by Ali Abunimah — Supporters of Rasmea Odeh are celebrating a rare piece of good news as a federal judge today granted a motion to release the Palestinian American community leader from jail, pending sentencing. In the past few days, concern had been mounting for Odeh, 67, who has been held in solitary confinement for more than twelve consecutive days at St. Clair County Jail in Port Huron, about an hour’s drive north of Detroit, Michigan … William Goodman, Odeh’s Detroit-based attorney, confirmed to The Electronic Intifada that Judge Gershwin Drain had granted a defense motion to reconsider his decision to revoke Odeh’s bond. Drain set Odeh’s bond at $50,000 in cash, money that will have to be raised and posted before she is released. She will also have to report to a probation officer in Chicago within 24 hours of her release and then every two weeks. In his ruling, Judge Drain wrote that Odeh’s “dedication to her community work and the people that such work assists, as well as the presence of relatives in Chicago, demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that she is not as significant a flight risk as originally believed.”
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/judge-orders-palestinian-american-rasmea-odeh-freed-bond

Best books for newcomers to Palestine and its literature
Electronic Intifada 8 Dec by Sarah Irving — Is there someone on your holiday gift list who could use a little education on the subject of Palestine? Or for the avid reader who might not yet be introduced to the rich literature of Arabic writing translated into English? Here are some titles for those new to the issue of Palestine and Palestinian literature that would make great presents any time of year. The fat, satisfying novel …or, as my mother-in-law calls them, in mockery of old-fashioned cover blurbs, “sweeping family sagas spanning three generations.” There’s a bitter irony to recommending the wonderful Woman from Tantoura at this moment, with the death of author Radwa Ashour sadly announced last week. But what better tribute to this major Middle Eastern writer — who was also the wife of Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti and mother of poet and scholar Tamim Barghouti — than to see her fiction on more shelves?
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/sarah-irving/best-books-newcomers-palestine-and-its-literature

Trailer: A cinematic ode to an absent dad and Palestinian revolutionary
Electronic Intifada 9 Dec by Maureen Clare Murphy — Hind Shoufani describes her feature-length documentary Trip Along Exodus, making its world premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival on Friday, as “an homage to my dad, an ode to Palestine, an ode to the revolution, an ode to socialist thinking, a call to rebellion perhaps, a call to remembering who the enemy is and a portrait of a visionary, powerful man who was very much a tragic and broken figure by the end of his life.” Trip Along Exodus (watch the trailer above) tells the story of Palestine’s struggle for liberation through the experience the director’s father, Dr. Elias Shoufani, who left a career in academia in the United States to join the underground Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut during its heyday in the early 1970s. Hind didn’t know at the time about her father’s role in the Fatah party and his bitter opposition to its iconic and authoritarian leader, Yasser Arafat, eventually splintering from the organization and moving to Damascus.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/cinematic-ode-absent-dad-and-palestinian-revolutionary

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