13-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead at gate of settlement

Violence / Detentions — West Bank / Jerusalem

13-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead after alleged stab attempt
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 23 Jan  — A 13-year-old Palestinian was shot dead Saturday after reportedly attempting to stab an Israeli security guard outside of an illegal West Bank settlement northeast of Jerusalem, Israeli police said. Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that the girl approached a gate leading into the Anatot settlement, also known as Almon, and attempted to stab a security guard. The guard immediately fired gunshots at the 13-year-old, injuring her critically, al-Samri said. The child died on site shortly after. The police spokesperson said that initial reports into the incident suggested that the 13-year-old had been in a quarrel with members of her family in the Palestinian village of ‘Anata, west of the Anatot settlement, before leaving home with a knife in order to carry out a stabbing attack, al-Samri said. The father arrived to the scene shortly after the attack in search of his daughter before being detained for questioning, al-Samri added. The head of ‘Anata’s village council, Taha Nuaman, identified the girl as Ruqayya Eid Abu Eid. He said the girl’s family lives in ‘Anata but is originally from the city of Yatta south of Hebron.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769932

21 Palestinians shot during Friday demos in West Bank, Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Clashes erupted Friday between Israeli military forces and Palestinians during weekly Friday demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip [see under ‘Gaza’], leaving several Palestinians injured and others detained.
In the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli forces shot and injured three Palestinians with live fire, one of whom was a child. Spokesman for the popular resistance committee in the village, Murad Shtewei, told Ma‘an that 9-year-old Ayat Zahi was shot in the hand while standing on the porch of her house in the area where clashes were taking place. She was taken to Rafidia hospital in a moderate condition. Hamza Khaldoun, 21, and Abdullah Anwar, 40, were injured with live fire in their feet and taken to Rafidia Hospital for treatment, Shtewei added . . .  In Qalqiliya, paramedics told Ma‘an 20-year-old Tamir Thiyab lost an eye after being shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet during clashes. In Bil‘in, locals told Ma‘an that 10-year-old Bashar Mustafa al-Khatib was injured with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the head while dozens of others suffered from tear gas inhalation. Meanwhile, in the village of Beit Furik east of Nablus, a Palestinian identified as Sharif Haneni was shot in the foot with a rubber-coated steel bullet.
Separately, undercover forces detained three Palestinians participating in a demonstration at the northern entrance of Bethlehem, witnesses said. Locals said one young man was shot in the foot before being detained, and that two others were beaten then arrested. Undercover Israeli forces — known as “must‘arabin” — are often used by Israeli security and military forces to detain Palestinians. The forces in recent months have on several occasions infiltrated demonstrations in order to detain participants. Medical sources said another Palestinian was injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet in the foot in Bethlehem and was taken to Beit Jala hospital for treatment.
Over 13,000 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in the previous three months, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.The majority were injured during clashes with Israeli military forces during October and November, with injuries including wounds sustained from live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas inhalation.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769924

Eleven Palestinians injured in Ni‘lin
IMEMC 22 Jan — At least eleven Palestinians were injured, Friday, in the village of Ni‘lin, northwest of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, after Israeli soldiers assaulted the weekly nonviolent protest. Medical sources said two of the wounded were shot with rubber-coated metal bullets, and nine others suffered severe effects of tear gas inhalation. The protest started from the center of the village, while many persons carried Palestinian and Swedish flags, to express gratitude to the Swedish stances in support of the legitimate Palestinian rights of independence and freedom. Some protesters also carried pictures of imprisoned journalist Mohammad Al-Qeeq, who is held by Israel and continues his hunger strike since November 24, 2015.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74686

PCHR Weekly Report: 5 Palestinians killed, 23 wounded by Israeli troops this week [14-20 Jan]
PCHR-Gaza 22 Jan — 5 Palestinian civilians were killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These include a Palestinian civilian who was killed, and his brother was wounded, in a deliberate run-over attack by settlers in the West Bank. 23 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children and a female journalist, were wounded in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . . .
SAMPLE: Settler attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property  At approximately 21:00 on Friday, 15 January 2016, Israeli settlers covered a large rock with black plastic bags and then put it at the intersection of Wadi Qana near the entrance to “Immanuel” settlement, northwest of Salfit. This resulted in a car accident, as Mohammed Ihssan al-Khateib (21), from Deir Istiya village, northwest of Salfit, was driving his car when he was surprised to find the rock at the above-mentioned intersection. As a result, the car hit the rock, due to which the car broke down. Mohammed al-Khateib said to PCHR’s fieldworker:  “At approximately 21:00 on Friday, 15 January 2016, I was driving my taxi on Wadi Qana road heading to Deir Istiya village with two passengers with me. When I approached Wadi Qana intersection near the entrance to “Immanuel” settlement, I was surprised that my car had crashed into a black object. After I got out of my car, I found a large rock covered with black plastic bags; the rock was placed at the intersection in an invisible place.”
At approximately 16:30 on Monday, 18 January 2016, an Israeli settler from “Ariel” settlement ran over two brothers, one of whom was a child, from Mas’ha village, west of Salfit, while they were returning by bicycle from their work in Kufor Qassem village. The settler intentionally deviated from the main street, although it was empty, and drove towards the bicycle that was ridden by Khalil Mousa Zuhair ‘Amir (19), and his brother ‘Odai (17). As a result, the bicycle rolled over and the driver was immediately killed, while ‘Odai sustained serious wounds, after which, ‘Odai was transported to Beilinsion Hospital in Israel to receive medical treatment. [Note that Ma‘an reported this on 18 Jan as likely to have been an accident]
http://www.imemc.org/article/74684

Settlers attack homes in Old City, Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 22 Jan — Israeli settlers, on Thursday, attacked a number of Palestinian homes in the center of Hebron, throwing stones and verbally abusing residents, according to a local activist with Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Raed Abu Rmeila said settlers attacked the homes of Fawaz Qafisha, Shams al-Zatari, and Hussein al-Zatari on al-Sahla Street, near the flashpoint Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Rmeila said settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, broke several doors in the area and threw rocks at the homes, while screaming insults at the families. The settlers were reportedly positioned on rooftops as well as the main street. The activist added, according to Ma‘an, that Israeli forces responded by firing tear gas at Palestinian homes, causing several residents to suffer severe tear gas inhalation.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74680

Israeli settlers attack Christian cemetery in Nazareth
NAZARETH (PIC) 22 Jan — A group of Israeli settlers attacked at dawn Friday the Latin cemetery in Nazareth city within the Green Line and sprayed racist graffiti in English on three graves. Israeli police claimed that an investigation has been opened into the incident. Settlers often carry out such “Price Tag” attacks on Islamic and Christian sites, most cases are either left unsolved or the perpetrators are never prosecuted. The attack came as part of Israeli systematic aggressions targeting the Arab, Islamic and Christian presence in occupied Palestine.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=76317

Soldiers kidnap thirteen Palestinians in Hebron, Ramallah and Tulkarem
IMEMC 21 Jan — The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped, Thursday, thirteen Palestinians, in the West Bank districts of Hebron, Ramallah and Tulkarem, raising the number of kidnapped residents since Wednesday evening to at least 25.  The Hebron office of the PPS said the soldiers conducted extensive searches of homes, interrogated many Palestinians, and kidnapped seven identified as Issa Jamal Makhamra, 25, Mohammad Yousef Warasna, 25, Amir Sami Darweesh, Akram Faisal Badawi, 33, Mahmoud Ali al-Qadi, Ja’far Mahmoud Jabarin, 19, and Mohammad Nader Natsha. In Ramallah, the soldiers invaded the al-Jalazoun refugee camp, and kidnapped Misbah Marwan al-Kans, 32, Yazan Mahmoud Nakhla, 20, and Ziad Abdul-Ghani Qattash. In the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, the soldiers kidnapped three Palestinians, identified as Ala Khalil Barqawi, 32, Ammar Jamal Anbas, 26, and Samer Salah Abdul-Haq, 28.  (Continued)
http://www.imemc.org/article/74678

The occupation arrests two children from Beit Hanina
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 21 Jan — The occupation forces arrested on Wednesday night two minors from the neighborhood of Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem. Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the occupation forces arrested 13-year old Ghazi Burqan and 14-year old Mohammad Yaghmour and transferred them to Nabi Yaakov police center in Beit Hanina.
http://silwanic.net/?p=66801

Palestinian detained on suspicion of planned attack at Beit Einun
HEBRON (Ma’an) 20 Jan — Israeli forces on Wednesday detained a Palestinian close to the Beit Einun junction near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on suspicion he was planning a stab attack. Locals told Ma‘an that 19-year-old Jafar Mahmoud Hammad Jabarin from the Hebron-district village of Sa‘ir was detained after Israeli soldiers said they found a knife hidden in one of his shoes . . . The Beit Einun junction — site of a settler bypass road that leads to the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba — has seen a number of deadly accounts in recent months. At least four Palestinian residents of Sa‘ir have been shot dead at the junction this month following alleged attempts to stab Israeli soldiers stationed at the junction. No Israelis were injured in any of the incidents. Residents of Sa ‘ir say that the intensive presence of Israeli soldiers on the outer edges of the village, which they describe as a “military siege,” is largely to blame for the high death toll.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769903

At Death Square, Israeli forces kill two Palestinians: an assailant and a bystander
Haaretz 23 Jan by Gideon Levy & Alex Levac — The soldiers did not shout at the panicked van driver to stop before they began shooting, killing Adnan Mashni, a teenager on his way to physics class — . . . yellow iron gates seal off the roads that branch off from the [Beit Anun] junction, thus preventing traffic between Hebron and the neighboring towns of Beit Anun, Sa‘ir and Shuyukh. Passengers these days get out of one shared taxi or van, which usually hold 10 people, pass through one of the gates, cross the busy highway by foot and get into another multi-passenger vehicle, just as they did during the second intifada . . . Last Tuesday, Adnan Mashni got out of a taxi next to the gate on the eastern side of Highway 60, crossed the road and got into a van, on the western side, on his way to school in downtown Hebron. It would be the vehicle of his death. In the van was a young man of 22, Mohammed Kwazba, from Sa‘ir. No fewer than 12 residents of that village have been killed while attempting to perpetrate knifing attacks on soldiers or civilians. Five come from the extended Kwazba family, including two brothers. Just after Mashni got into the vehicle, Kwazba got out. Brandishing a knife or a hatchet (it isn’t clear which) and shouting “Allahu akbar” – God is great – he began running toward the soldiers stationed behind the concrete blocks, at the roundabout. They immediately shot and killed him. Panic broke out. Pedestrians at or near the scene scattered every which way. Ghanem Jaabari, from Hebron, the driver of the van from which the assailant emerged and which Mashni had gotten into, tried to drive away as fast as he could, for fear that he too would be shot. The soldiers, seeing the vehicle pulling out, opened fire at it, though they had no idea who was inside it. It was all over in a flash. The soldiers did not shout at the driver to stop before they began shooting, Jaabari later told the bereaved father. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.698814

Fighting the phenomenon of teenage terrorists
Ynet 22 Jan by Elior Levy — A third of the terrorists of the last few months have been under the age of 20. The Palestinian Authority says that most of them suffer from personal difficulties and prefer to die ‘heroically.’  — One of the most striking aspects of the current wave of terror has been the significant number of youngsters among the many lone attackers who have emerged over the last few months. The fact that these are young people who have undertaken a momentary decision that no one can predict is creating real problems for Israel’s security establishment. But over the last few weeks the Palestinians have gradually started to understand that these children and teenagers are not serving any interest, except for their own.  As such the Palestinian Authority has started, on orders from above, to try and fight this phenomenon however possible, including arresting young people who have expressed a desire to die or who are behaving suspiciously. These stories of foiled attacks aren’t usually heard. But various Palestinian officials have, over the past few days, managed to give Ynet a rare glimpse into how the PA is attempting to tackle the phenomenon, as well as into the internal criticism against the glorification of martyrs that has sprouted in Palestinian society. The attackers’ background stories reveal that most of them had severe personal problems that were not connected in the least to the Palestinian national issue. Some of them were abused children or teenagers, others were socially alienated, still others were experiencing unrequited love.
“A few days ago, Palestinian security operatives managed to get hold of a Palestinian youngster who they’d heard was preparing to carry out a terror attack,” a source familiar with the details told Ynet. “They caught the kid in Hebron’s old city when he’d already armed himself with a knife and was on his way to carry out the attack. During his interrogation he was asked why he wanted to do it and he responded that was in love with a girl from Hebron, but her father didn’t agree to their getting married.” According to the official, the youngster had decided that dying would be better than being alive, and if he was going to die better to do so as a national hero and not by committing suicide, which would bring shame on his family. But that is not where the story ends. Hebron Governor Kamal Hamid had been made aware of the events and wanted to be sure that the same youngster wouldn’t try to carry out another attack. “The governor met with the father of the youngster and the father of the young woman the boy was in love with, and managed to convince them that the two should be married. “The fathers agreed, the young couple was happy, and the governor of Hebron succeeded in preventing the same young man from dying and trying to kill others.”. . .
Early detection: Schools raise alert about no-show pupils  These teenagers have not been sent by any terrorist organization, forcing the Palestinian authorities to try and find a method for detecting would-be attackers in time. In some West Bank districts, schools to notify the district governor’s officer by 8.30 every morning of any students that have not turned up for class. The governors’ offices call the students’ parents in order to check why their children are not at school and if the parents know nothing about it, the Palestinian authorities will search for and try to catch the youngster. (Continued)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4756501,00.html

Palestinian factions condemn PA crackdown on attacks against Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Palestinian factions on Thursday condemned a Palestinian Authority official who said that PA security forces had aborted 200 potential attacks on Israelis since October. The Hamas movement, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a joint press release said that the remarks by PA intelligence chief Majed Faraj constituted “an insult to the struggle and sacrifices of Palestinians.” The PA official made the remarks during an interview with US-based magazine Defense News, where he also said that PA forces had, in addition, confiscated weapons and detained around 100 Palestinians. The factions said that Faraj’s remarks “reflected the state of monopoly exerted by the PA over the Palestinian national decision.” “They [the PA] disregard the national consensus that rejects all relations between PA and the Israeli occupation,” the political groups said, rejecting attempts by the PA to “gain Israeli endorsement” through security cooperation.
The Fatah-dominated PA and Israeli forces have worked in coordination since the Oslo Accords in 1993, which planned for a gradual power transfer of the occupied West Bank from Israeli forces to the PA over the next five years. Over 10 years on, Thursday’s condemnation is the most recent criticism by Hamas and other groups who have accused the PA of aligning with Israel’s goals in the occupied West Bank, and most recently of preventing a sustained uprising against Israel. PA leadership has yet to openly support or reject a series of attacks that have taken place by individual Palestinians against Israeli military and civilians, but has been accused of facilitating the arrest of potential attackers by Israel as well as preventing demonstrations against Israeli military.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769925

Jerusalem Palestinians stage sit-in at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday orchestrated a sit-in at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound protesting Israel’s continued withholding of Palestinian bodies and supporting prisoners on hunger strike. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Palestinian worshipers attending prayers were stopped and searched as they left the mosque compound where the sit-in was taking place. They said Israeli forces arrested three teens who were taken to a nearby detention center. An Israeli police spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. Protesters present at the sit-in demanded the return of 10 Jerusalemite Palestinians whose bodies have been held since they were killed by Israeli forces during attacks on Israelis that have taken place since October. Israel has conditionally handed over several bodies since, including the bodies four Palestinians who Israeli authorities demanded be buried outside of the separation wall that splits occupied East Jerusalem. Participants also held posters in support of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel who are staging hunger strikes in protest of their detentions. Demonstrators praised journalist Muhammad al-Qiq in particular, who is nearing his 60th day on hunger strike against being held by Israeli authorities without charges under administrative detention.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769928

Israeli teens arrested on suspicion of scrawling hate speech on church
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — Two Israeli teenagers suspected of scrawling hate speech on a historic church in occupied East Jerusalem earlier this week have been arrested, Israeli police said. Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that a 16-year-old Jewish suspect was arrested on Tuesday and another Jewish teen, 15, was arrested on Wednesday following ongoing police investigations. The two are suspected of writing “Nazi and anti-Christian slogans” on the walls of the Dormition Abbey, al-Samri said. Wadie Abu Nassar, a senior advisor to the Catholic Church who is considered close to the Vatican, told Ma‘an on Saturday that racist vandalism written in Hebrew read: “Kill the Christians, the enemy of Israel” and “The revenge is coming very soon,” as well as “Send Christians to hell.” Dormition Abbey — dating back to the 5th century and thought to be the place where the Virgin Mary died — has been site to hate crimes in the past. Jewish extremist Yinon Reuveni was charged earlier this month alongside several minors for torching the church in a previous attack. The extremist was charged during the same investigation that charged two Israeli suspects for an arson attack that killed three members of the Palestinian Dawabsha family in the occupied West Bank last summer.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769897

PPS: ‘Israel kidnapped 130 Palestinians for social media activities in 2015’
IMEMC 20 Jan — The Palestinian Detainees Committee has reported, Wednesday, that the Israeli Authorities have kidnapped 130 Palestinians, in 2015, for social media activities, deemed by Israel to be “incitement.” The Committee said 27 of the detained Palestinians faced “incitement and supporting terrorist groups” charges in Israeli courts, and many others were imprisoned under Administrative Detention orders, without trial. Most of the arrests were focused in occupied Jerusalem, especially due to the escalating Israeli violations, demolition of homes and ongoing attacks against worshipers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the repeated invasions and provocative tours into the holy site. “Such arrests and violations are carried out while Israel continues to ignore racist Israeli social media posts, photos and statements by extremists who openly call for killing the Arabs, for executing them and for removing them out of their homeland.” The Israeli army and police also targeted Palestinians who expressed solidarity with families of Palestinians, killed by soldiers and settlers, the detainees and the wounded, in addition to those who voicing opposition to Israel’s home demolition policies. The Committee further stated that Israel did not only arrest social media activists, but also forced many of them out of their city, Jerusalem, for different periods, in addition to imposing high fines, and issuing many house arrest orders.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74658

Gaza

21 Palestinians shot during Friday demos in West Bank, Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — A spokesman for Gaza‘s Ministry of Health told Ma‘an that 17 Palestinians were injured during clashes, 15 of whom were hit by live fire and one of whom was in critical condition after being shot in the stomach in the al-Faraheen area east of Khan Yunis. Another Palestinian was shot in the foot with live fire when clashes broke out with Israeli forces near the Nahal Oz checkpoint. The demonstrator was taken to a hospital for treatment. Clashes also took place at the Karni crossing and the al-Bureij refugee camp, where no injuries were reported. [IMEMC reported: Dr. Al-Qedra also said that two Palestinians were also injured while on their way back into the Gaza Strip after praying in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.]
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769924

Hamas militant killed in tunnel collapse in Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 Jan – A Hamas-affiliated militant died on Saturday after a tunnel collapsed west of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, medical and local sources in Gaza said. A spokesman for Gaza’s Ministry of Health Ashraf al-Qidra identified the victim as Ahmad Ashour al-Najjar, 26. Locals told Ma‘an that the tunnel was used for “resistance,” and Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Bridges, confirmed in a statement that Ashour was a member of the group. Another member of the group, 29-year-old Abd al-Rahman al-Mubashir, was killed last month in a tunnel collapse in the same area.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769938

Palestinian shot, injured near Gaza borderline
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — A Palestinian was shot and injured by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday near the borderline with Israel, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said. The spokesman for the ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, told Ma‘an that a 42-year-old Palestinian man was shot moderately in the foot near the Karni crossing southeast of Gaza City.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769901

Gaza cancer patients protest ‘premeditated death sentence’
[with video (Arabic)] teleSUR TV 21 Jan — Palestinian female cancer patients participated in a sit-in this week in order to protest Israel’s refusal to allow women cancer patients from Gaza to cross into Israel to seek medical help, which they have been receiving for years. The sit-in was organized by the Aid and Hope program in front of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Gaza. The group provides aid and support for cancer patients in the Palestinian enclave. “Our message is to demand a clear explanation over the travel ban imposed on women cancer patients in the Gaza Strip,” Eman Shaman, the general director of the AHP program in Gaza, told teleSUR correspondent in Gaza Noor Hazareen . . . Earlier this week, Israel imposed a travel ban on the patients through the Beit Hanon (Erez) crossing in the north of the Strip. Israel has given no reason for the ban on the patients who were previously allowed to enter Israel on medical grounds. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, there are more than 14,600 cancer patients in Gaza. The AHP says 30 percent of them have been receiving medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Gaza-Cancer-Patients-Protest-Premeditated-Death-Sentence-20160121-0050.html

Currency fraud: A threat to Palestinians in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestine (Fulton County News) 22 Jan by Nour Abo Aysha — Currency fraud has become a serious problem for citizens living in the deteriorated economy of the strip — Ahmed Salim, 32, a Palestinian living in the blockaded Gaza strip, has to thoroughly check 100 shekel ($28) banknotes in fear of becoming a fraud victim again. Salim became a victim when he took his payment for a few days of construction work and could not use his cash as it was forged. For Salim, as a Palestinian citizen in Gaza, 100 shekels is a substantial sum of money, especially with the poor financial situation he suffers in a society with high poverty and unemployment rates because of the imposed Israeli blockade. Currency fraud has become endemic to Gaza, experts said. Gaza government statistics showed that $48,900 and 64,500 shekels were damaged in 2013, thus facilitating counterfeiting fraud. “Although currency fraud in Gaza is not an organized crime, however, citizens are concerned about it living in the deteriorated economy in the strip,” Ahmed Kalakh, head of the Fraud Department at the criminal lab of Ministry of Interior, told Anadolu Agency on Friday. Kalakh said the crime is not a “phenomenon,” but the use of “high-tech printers” has made it easier for forgers to operate. Saed Abdo, a Palestinian prosecutor, told Anadolu Agency that “forging money and using it are random and individual as no gangs work with the aim at forging money.” Abdo said that police actions are reducing currency fraud. The number of cases has dropped to 51 in 2015 from 63 in 2014, down from 86 cases in 2011.
http://www.newsfultoncounty.com/economics/news/2225409-currency-fraud-a-threat-to-palestinians-in-gaza

Cooking gas, diesel allowed into Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Israeli authorities allowed cooking gas and diesel into the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian sources told Ma‘an. Samir Hamadeh, a board member of an organization of Gaza fuel and gas companies, told Ma‘an that around 120 tons of gas and 200,000 liters of diesel were allowed into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing. The Israeli authorities exceptionally opened the Kerem Shalom crossing on Friday to allow the materials through. The fuel was intended to supply the Gaza power station, which has suffered from chronic shortages due to the crippling Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave. The power station has not run at full capacity in years. The Gaza Strip also suffers from shortage of gas — used daily by Palestinians in the strip for both cooking and heating — as the allowed quantities are not sufficient for residents’ needs.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769922

Israeli naval forces open fire on Gaza fishermen
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip Friday, fishermen said. Fishermen told Ma‘an that the forces opened fire on their vessels, forcing them to return to the shore. No injuries were reported . . . Palestinian fishermen are frequently targeted by Israeli forces, facing near daily harassment and interference with their work. Israel’s army routinely says such measures are necessary to counter security threats. As part of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the summer of 2014, Israel agreed to expand the fishing zone off of Gaza’s coast, allowing fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles from shore, and to continue to expand the area gradually. Despite this agreement, the head of Hemaya Center for Human Rights, Omar Qarut, told Ma‘an that the Israeli navy had opened fire on Palestinian fishermen at sea at least 159 occasions in 2015. At least three fishermen were killed last year while working off of the Gaza coast, which has been under naval blockade by Israeli forces since 2007. Seventy fishermen were detained by Israeli forces during last year, including seven children, and 26 boats were confiscated, according to the center.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769918

Israeli army deploys artillery battery on Gaza border
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Jan — The Israeli army recently deployed an artillery battery on the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokesperson confirmed Thursday. The spokesperson told Ma‘an that the battery arrived on the border on Jan. 18, although she was unable to specify where it had been deployed. Israeli media reported the deployment to be an unusual move, suggesting that in recent years, artillery battery have typically been deployed near Gaza ahead of escalating hostilities. Earlier this month, a Gazan was killed and three seriously wounded when Israeli artillery bombarded an alleged “terrorist cell” east of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. However, the army spokesperson on Thursday downplayed the possibility that the artillery battery was a sign of possibly escalating violence between Israeli forces. “The new forces along the Gaza border arrived as part of routine unit movement,” she said. “There is no specific operational purpose for movement in the area.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769908

Before settling down, Gaza couples get US-style marriage help
GAZA (Reuters) 20 Jan by Nidal Al-Mughrabi —  Hesitant but curious, several Palestinian couples walked into a classroom in Gaza this week to attend the first marriage guidance program in the conservative, Hamas-run enclave. The initiative, backed by three Palestinian ministries, the Islamic University and British-based charity Interpal, is designed to prepare young couples for married life, including religious, legal, medical and psychological counseling. Courses are free, with couples offered gifts worth $60 to encourage them to attend the 15-hour course. Some classes are mixed and some are held with the partners separated.  “So far it is a trial course of 90 brides and grooms,” said Hassan Al-Jojo, head of the Higher Religious Judicial Council, one of the program’s sponsors. “We want to encourage couples to come because there is still hesitation.”  Marriage is a big business in Gaza, with 20,000 unions last year, 5,000 more than in 2014, when a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants interrupted plans. Much of the rubble and destruction of that conflict remains. Since more than half of Gaza’s 1.95 million people are aged under 25, the marriage figures are only likely to grow. Most Gazans cannot easily leave the densely-populated coastal territory, which is blockaded by Israel and Egypt.  But even if marriage is popular, it does not mean it is always a success, particularly with many unions arranged. While U.S.-style counseling feels awkward for many Muslims, the promoters hope it will make marriages stronger . . . Jojo said a lack of mutual understanding, rather than poverty or hardship, was the main reason for divorce in Gaza. Divorce remains a last choice for a failed marriage and less common in comparison to neighboring Arab countries, yet the course’s backers hope their guidance will minimize it. (Continued)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-gaza-marriage-idUSKCN0UY1OC

Gaza’s zoo animals are suffering
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) 22 Jan by Fares Akram — The African tiger at the zoo in southern Gaza Strip was emaciated, its belly shrunken and its striped coat hanging loose. It strode nervously up and down its cage. “I swear to God the tiger has not eaten for four or five days,” said Mohammed Ouida, the owner of South Jungle Zoo. “It needs 100 shekels (about $20) of food a day.” Once bustling with families bringing their children to see lions, monkeys, crocodiles and ostriches, the zoo is mostly empty now, and Ouida can’t generate enough cash to feed his animals. The same story is playing out across Gaza’s six makeshift zoos. Years of conflict, cold winters, longstanding negligence and outbreaks of disease have killed many animals in captivity. Even in better times, there has often been little awareness of animal welfare in Gaza. In 2013, for instance, two lion cubs died shortly after birth because zoo workers in northern Gaza did not know how to care for them . . . “People have a hard time finding food, much less the animals,” lamented Ouida, noting that half of the remaining 20 or so animals and birds in his zoo are ill because he also can’t afford a veterinarian. Vets used to check his animals every two months. (Continued)
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2016-01-22/animals-at-gazas-zoos-die-of-hunger-diseases

Red Cross denies it warned of possible war on Gaza
MEMO 29 Jan — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) denied reports that it informed residents, institutions or authorities in the Gaza Strip that a new war could be waged on the enclave. In statements to Quds Press, ICRC spokeswoman in Gaza Suhair Zaqout called on the media to pursue accuracy before publishing news. She said her organisation has nothing to do with the rumours circulating that the Gaza Strip would be subjected to a new war, adding that it did not inform the competent authorities or residents of the border areas about a possible war. “As an international institution, we support the water and health sectors in accordance to needs, and there are lessons from the previous wars and conflicts.” She pointed out that the Gaza Strip underwent three rounds of armed conflict and, as a result, the people of this area and institutions working there should naturally be ready.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23439-red-cross-denies-it-warned-of-possible-war-on-gaza

Why hasn’t Israeli lifted the Gaza blockade? / Shlomi Eldar
Al-Monitor 21 Jan — If even Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the most right-wing member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, has reached the conclusion that the siege on the Gaza Strip should be lifted, we can only wonder: What is actually delaying Netanyahu? After all, lifting the siege would be an easy and wise move on the part of Israel . . . Netanyahu is not the one who placed the siege on Gaza. He inherited the situation from his predecessor, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but he has sustained it. Olmert’s main assumption and that of the security establishment in his day was that a siege on Gaza would pressure Hamas and lead the heads of the movement, which took over Gaza by force, to give up their rule. This forecast hasn’t transpired. Hamas has not only not given up its rule and the sovereignty it created in the strip, but sought to lift the siege by force after the many diplomatic efforts and messages to Israel fell on deaf ears, as far as it was concerned. The siege on nearly 2 million residents in the Gaza Strip, who live under horrific conditions, has continued for eight and a half years. Remember that the United Nations declared that Gaza may become uninhabitable by 2020 — four years from now. As the siege continued, the Strip became not only a difficult humanitarian problem but also a bigger security threat to Israel. Two million residents lacking a livelihood or future, including youths who have nothing to lose, are a ticking human time bomb. The youth of Gaza are far more depressed and hopeless than the West Bank youths who in recent months have carried out an individual intifada. What would Israel do if tens of thousands of despairing young men and women from Gaza climbed the fence surrounding the Strip, unarmed? How would the military force surrounding it react? What deterrence could be used against them? . . . The Israel Defense Forces and the security establishment have warned more than once that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating. In July of last year, senior IDF officers recommended partially opening the crossings into the Strip. Their main concern was and remains the impossible situation in the Gaza Strip and its disastrous effects, but not one of them dared to argue what is clear to everyone: The siege on the Gaza Strip has been a colossal failure. The time has come to own up to the mistake that has caused enormous loss of life as well as great damage to Israel’s international image. (Continued)
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/01/israel-gaza-blockade-bennett-objects-failure-netanyahu.html

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Palestinian family forced to demolish own home in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — A Palestinian family in the occupied East Jerusalem village of Sur Bahir on Friday demolished their own home following an order from an Israeli court. Khalil Dabash, owner of the home, told Ma‘an that a Jerusalem municipal court ordered the demolition on the grounds that it was built without proper permits. The court said the Dabash family would be charged payment for the demolition of their home if it was not demolished before Sunday. Dabash is among many Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem who are forced to demolish their own homes in order to avoid paying the municipality high fees to carry out the demolitions. Dabash said that his mother Jamila had built the house around 20 years ago and that the family had paid fines to the Jerusalem municipality several times before. The self-demolition left Dabash’ sister homeless.
Thirty-three percent of all Palestinian homes in the occupied city lack Israeli-issued building permits, potentially placing at least 93,100 residents at risk of displacement, the UN reported in 2012. According to rights group Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Israeli government issues building permits in line with discriminatory state policy enacted to increase the Jewish population, while neglecting local Palestinians. Only 14 percent of East Jerusalem land is zoned for Palestinian residential construction, while one-third of Palestinian land has been confiscated since 1967 to build illegal Jewish-only settlements, ACRI says.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769935

Israeli forces demolish homes in Jerusalem-area Bedouin neighborhood
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 21 Jan — Israeli bulldozers demolished three housing structures belonging to Palestinian Bedouins in Jerusalem district on Thursday, displacing 17 Palestinians, half of them children. Israeli bulldozers escorted by Israeli forces raided and surrounded the Jabal al-Baba neighborhood of the village of al-Eizariya, forcibly evacuated residents, and demolished the houses. Jabal al-Baba representative Atallah Mazaraa told Ma‘an that the demolition was sudden and without prior notice, adding that an Israeli court had frozen all demolition orders in the area around a year ago. Mazaraa said that he and the residents were held at gunpoint for hours while the demolition took place, causing fear and panic among the children present. Mazaraa said the three demolished homes belonged to Hamda Muhammad Odeh Abu Kutaiba, her son, Ali Abu Kutaiba, and Ghassan Jahalin. The families’ furniture and possessions were still inside when the housing structures were destroyed. Ali Abu Kutaiba and Jahalin had been living with their families in mobile homes donated by the European Union. Mazaraa said the EU-donated structures could have easily been taken apart instead of demolished. Israeli forces also leveled the lands on which the houses were standing in order to prevent any attempts at reconstruction, he added. COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry unit in charge of civil administration in the Palestinian territories, only confirmed the demolition of two structures
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769904

Palestinian PM condemns ongoing displacement of Bedouin communities
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah slammed the displacement of Palestinian Bedouin communities near Jerusalem in a press release on Wednesday. The statement said Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah “deplore(s) the illegal transfer” of the Palestinian Bedouin community, highlighting the issue in the Jerusalem area specifically. “Israel’s systematic violation of international laws is no longer acceptable by the international community,” Hamdallah was quoted as saying. Hamdallah’s condemnation comes after Israeli forces destroyed five Bedouin dwellings in the Abu Nuwwar community east of Jerusalem on Jan. 6, leaving 25 people homeless. Abu Nuwwar is one of several Bedouin villages facing forced relocation due to plans by Israeli authorities to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements in the E1 corridor.
On Tuesday, the Coordinator for Humanitarian and United Nations Development Activities for the occupied Palestinian territories, Robert Piper, and UNRWA’s West Bank operations director Felipe Sanchez called for “an immediate end” to Israeli plans to displace Bedouin communities in the Jerusalem area. “Under international law, Israel is responsible for meeting the needs of Palestinians living under its occupation and for facilitating humanitarian assistance, not for obstructing aid and pressuring residents to leave so that Israeli settlements can expand,” Piper said in a statement. “The international community must ensure that plans to transfer these communities are revoked, if the two-state solution is to be protected.” Sanchez said he was “once again deeply alarmed to witness Israel’s relentless push towards removing Bedouin Palestine refugees from their homes, destroying their livelihoods and their distinct culture.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769898

VIDEO: Settlers break into Palestinian houses in Hebron
21 Jan — Backed by Israeli soldiers, a group of ultra-orthodox settlers break into old homes in central Hebron, using force. Settlers reportedly took over the homes.
https://www.facebook.com/PNNEnglish/videos/948424568569503/?pnref=story

Israeli police evict settlers from Hebron homes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Israeli forces on Friday morning evicted dozens of Israeli settlers from two buildings believed to belong to Palestinians in Hebron’s Old City, a day after the settlers forced their way into them. Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said that Border Police had removed more than 80 settlers from the homes. “All the people that illegally entered the buildings have been removed,” he told Ma‘an. He added that the homes were afterward “sealed and closed off,” and that Israeli courts would determine their future status. Israeli far-right news site Arutz Sheva reported Thursday that the settlers claim to have purchased the buildings from Palestinians. The settlers stormed the homes in the tense city center on Thursday afternoon under the protection of the Israeli army and police forces. Arutz Sheva published video footage of the settlers thanking the soldiers and officers. Jawad Abu Aisheh, deputy head of local activist group Youth Against Settlements, told Ma‘an that dozens of settlers broke through the buildings’ back doors and stormed the buildings. He said: “The Border Police did not do anything to stop them.” Instead, he said that police forces began firing tear gas canisters at Palestinians protesting the settlers’ actions. He said that at least five Palestinians had to be treated for excessive tear gas inhalation. Abu Aisheh added that the buildings belonged to Hebron’s al-Zakari family, and were being rented out to members of the al-Qafisheh family.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769921

The occupation demolishes a house in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina
[with photos] SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 20 Jan — The occupation municipality’s bulldozers demolished on Wednesday morning a house in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem. Occupation forces along with municipality crews raided the neighborhood of Bert Hanina and surrounded the area where the demolition would take place. The demolished home is owned by Hiba Abu Asab. Abu Asab family explained that Hiba recently built her home (two rooms and their facilities) and intended to move in next week with her four children (oldest is 14 and youngest is 8 years old). The family pointed out that the occupation bulldozers demolished parts of the wall and removed the gate to allow bulldozers to go in and execute the demolition process that took place without prior notice. The family added that the municipality forced them to self-demolish their home at the end of 2014 and imposed a 20-thousand NIS fine on them under the pretext of building without a permit; note that the family is still paying the fine until this day.
http://silwanic.net/?p=66791

Army demolishes an under-construction home south of Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 20 Jan — Israeli soldiers demolished, Wednesday, an under construction Palestinian home, and its surrounding walls, in Beit ar-Roush village, south of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Omar Kashour, head of Beit ar-Roush Local Council, said the soldiers invaded the village, after surrounding it, and demolished the 150 square/meter property. The demolished property belongs to Salem Mohammad Abu Ayyash. The soldiers also demolished the property’s surrounding walls, and bulldozed its surrounding lands.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74661

Army destroys Susiya shelters
IMEMC/Agencies 21 Jan — Israeli army forces, on Wednesday, tore down two tents used as shelters by Palestinian families living east of Yatta, in the occupied West Bank, to the south of Hebron. The Popular Committee Coordinator in Yatta, Rateb al-Jabour, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers raided the Susiya area, in which about 350 people live, and tore down two tents used as shelters by the family of Naser Shretih. The village of Susiya has become the focus of an international campaign, attracting European diplomats, officials, the US state department and pro-Palestinian activists, after the Israeli High Court denied a Palestinian request for an injunction to stop Israel’s plans to destroy their homes in May 2014.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74670

Israel to confiscate vast tract of land in Jericho
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — Israel is set to declare 1,500 dunams (370 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank district of Jericho as “state land,” Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced Wednesday. The plans were revealed earlier in the day by Israeli Army Radio, which said the land was located north of the illegal Israeli settlement of Almog and had been used by settlers over the past 20 years. COGAT confirmed the plans were in their “final stages,” and said they were in accordance with a political ratification. Israeli Army Radio reportedly said: “This is a very sensitive issue which will likely garner harsh critique from Europe and the United States, and of course from the Palestinian Authority.” The move is the largest declaration of “state land” since August 2014, when Israel claimed 4,000 dunams (988 acres) of land near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sparking international outcry. Following Wednesday’s announcement, Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a statement that continued land confiscation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was a “diplomatic catastrophe.” “The government’s decision is another step on the way to destroy the possibility for a two state solution. Netanyahu is being dragged by Naftali Bennett and begins a silent annexation of area C,” the group said, referring to the area of the occupied West Bank under full control of the Israeli military. The announcement comes just two days after US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro made a stringing criticism of Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territory.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769896

The brave Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian pothole attack / Amira Hass
Haaretz 20 Jan — In the West Bank, the Israeli army strategy seems simple: Potholes for Palestinians, asphalt for the Jews — The IDF has won again. Last Saturday it prevented a serious attack by volunteers from the Arab-Jewish group Ta‘ayush who were fixing up a portion of the road that leads to Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank. The medals go to soldiers from the Keren battalion in the Artillery Corps, to the battalion commander who refused to identify himself, to another commander with two oak leaves named Aviv, to a restless soldier with antennas sticking out of his backpack and a stun grenade poking from his pocket, and to soldier Y.B. Risking his life, Y.B. stood on the rocky outcrop that Ido was hitting with a pickaxe. Ido stopped. When Y.B. got down from the outcrop and Ido again began to strike the rock, a grain of geology flew off. Y.B. rushed to practice the arrest procedure on the activist.  “Why does it bother you that we are fixing a road full of potholes?” the activists asked. And the soldier, with utter self-confidence, replied: “This is the State of Israel. This route does not need to change, this road needs to remain the way it is. With holes. Because this is the territory of the State of Israel.”
Thirty-one men and women set out last Saturday for regular Ta‘ayush activity in the southern Hebron hills. They divided into two groups . . . The smaller group made its way to the rocky road leading to the villages of Bir al-‘Eid and Jinba. The weapons were kept in Ezra Nawi’s jeep: Black buckets, pickaxes and hoes. The road, full of potholes, leads off a beautifully paved road that leads to the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpe Yair. The ruler is the same ruler, the nature is the same nature. But what the Jews deserve is forbidden to Arabs. Residents of the villages are sentenced to travel on what is not really a road, three kilometers long.  (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.698402

Punitive demolitions

Israeli forces deliver punitive demolition notice to prisoner’s family
SALFIT (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — Israeli forces raided the home of a Palestinian prisoner on Wednesday and delivered a demolition notice to the family in the central occupied West Bank district of Salfit, locals said. Locals said Israeli forces gave a written notice to the family of Abd al-Aziz Hamad Marie which said they had until Jan. 24 to evacuate their home in the Qarawat Bani Hassan town of Salfit. Hamad was recently detained by Israeli forces for alleged involvement in the planning of an Oct. 3 stabbing attack during which Muhannad Halabi, 19, was shot dead after he killed two Israelis and injured two more in Jerusalem’s Old City. The attack was the first stabbing attack to take place in the wave of unrest that has since swept the occupied Palestinian territory. The home demolition notice was also delivered to neighbors who may be affected by the demolition. The Marie family told Ma‘an that they were calling upon Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and any relevant rights and humanitarian groups to intervene and prevent Israel from demolishing their home . . . While families who receive demolition orders are given the opportunity to appeal the measures, Israel’s High Court of Justice typically rejects such appeals, according to Israeli watchdog Hamoked.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769891

Prisoners / Court actions

Canceling the residency of four young Jerusalemite men from Sur Baher and Jabal Al-Muhabber
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 22 Jan — The Israeli Minister of Interior decided on Thursday to cancel the residency of four Jerusalemites accused of killing Israelis during the last few months. Israeli sources said that the Minister of Interior decided to take away the IDs of 23-year old Bilal Abu Ghanem (stabbing and shooting attack in an Israeli bus), 18-year old Mohammad Salah Abu Kaf, 19-year old Walid Firas Al-Atrash and 20-year old Abed Mahmoud Dwayyat (all three accused of throwing stones towards a settler’s vehicle which led to his death; they were accused of attempted murder and causing death). The young men are from the villages of Sur Baher and Jabal Al-Mukabber south of Jerusalem.
http://silwanic.net/?p=66826

New study details sexual torture of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention
MEMO 12 Jan by Ben White — A new academic study in the peer-reviewed medical journal ‘Reproductive Health Matters’ has revealed dozens of cases of “alleged sexual torture or ill-treatment” of Palestinian male prisoners detained by Israel. The article, ‘Sexual torture of Palestinian men by Israeli authorities’, claims to be “a first in the investigation of torture and ill-treatment of a sexual nature, allegedly carried out by Israeli security authorities on Palestinian men.” The study’s findings “show that sexual ill-treatment is systemic”, with 60 testimonies identified over the period 2005-2012. According to the article, “Israeli authorities are systemically involved with torture and ill-treatment of a sexual nature.” Daniel J.N. Weishut, a clinical psychologist and teaching associate at Bar Ilan University, authored the study based on a database of testimonies gathered by human rights NGO The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI). Weishut is a volunteer member of PCATI’s forensic group . . . Weishut divided the incidents into three categories: verbal sexual harassment, forced nudity, and sexual assault (60 testimonies indicated incidents of sexual torture or ill-treatment, but as some of these testimonies included more than one such incident, a total of 77 incidents were identified) (Continued)
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/debate/23299-new-study-details-sexual-torture-of-palestinian-prisoners-in-israeli-detention

Palestinian moved to IDF jail in West Bank after court orders his release from Jerusalem jail
Haaretz 22 Jan by Nir Hasson — Israel Police did not act in contempt of court when instead of releasing a Palestinian employee of B’Tselem from a Jerusalem jail, as ordered to do by the court, it transferred him to a military jail in the West Bank, a Jerusalem District Court judge ruled on Friday. Nasser Nawaja, who works as a field researcher for the leftist NGO, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiring to cause the death of a Palestinian from the south Hebron Hills and of contact with a foreign agent. On Thursday, the Jerusalem District Court ordered Nawaja released, after granting his lawyers’ petition that an Israeli court does not have the authority to rule in Nawaja’s case as the offense was neither committed in Israel nor security related.  According to the district court decision, the police should have released him immediately. However, instead of releasing him, the police transferred him to a military court in the West Bank, which extended his remand by four days, to be spent at the Ofer Camp, a military jail in the West Bank. Nawi’s lawyer, Attorney Gabi Lasky, filed an urgent petition against the police for contempt of court. According to her, the police and the military court itself are jointly in contempt of the district court’s decision. In its response on Friday, police told the court that it acted “with good intentions” and due to suspicions of serious crimes . . . Nawaja is also suspected of contact with a foreign agent, which raises some questions, since he is a resident of the Palestinian Authority and the foreign agent he allegedly approached were members of the Palestinian security services. In addition, Israeli defense officials are in contact with members of the PA security services on a regular basis, so it’s not clear what legal grounds there could be for such a charge . . . Nawaja was arrested following a report on the investigative television program Uvda, in which Israeli left-wing activist Ezra Nawi was purportedly taped admitting to causing the deaths of Palestinians who wished to sell lands in the West Bank to Jews.  Police has launched an investigation into Nawi as well, and he was arrested about 10 days ago. On Thursday, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended Nawi’s remand until Sunday, as well as that of another left-wing activist, Guy Batavia, who was arrested in relation to the affair. Nawi’s lawyers say the Palestinian land dealer Nawi is suspected of conspiring to kill actually died of natural causes.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.698944

BDS

Palestinians march to boycott Israeli settlement products in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 Jan — The Palestinian National Initiative’s Bader Boycott Campaign held a march in Hebron city on Thursday to call for Palestinians to ramp up their efforts in boycotting Israeli settlement goods, Yousef Tmeiza, coordinator of the PNI told Ma‘an. Tmeiza said the march set off from the al-Hussien Mosque next to the Martyrs Cemetery and continued to the Ibin Rashid junction in Hebron city. He added that the march is just one of many new initiatives planned by the Bader Campaign to encourage the boycott movement. During the march, protester stopped at markets along the way, encouraging shopkeepers to stop carrying Israeli settlement products. Marchers raised Palestinian flags and called for the boycott of settlement goods as a means to resist Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory. Protesters also held posters depicting Ali Dawabsha, an 18-month-old Palestinian baby who was burned alive by Israeli settlers in July, as well as hunger-striking journalist Muhammad al-Qiq and 13-year-old Ahmad Manasra, who is being charged with two counts of attempted murder after an October stabbing attack in Jerusalem. One participant at the march told Ma‘an that he supports the boycott of Israeli goods because “the money from their products goes to the Israeli army and helps to murder Palestinians on a daily basis.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769914

200 Brazilian academics to join boycott force
IMEMC/Agencies 23 Jan — In just three days, an online letter endorsing the academic boycott of Israeli institutions, circulated by Brazilian intellectuals, received 200 signatories from faculty across Brazilian universities. According to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the letter was signed by well-known academics, including Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a popular Brazilian diplomat who served on the country’s Truth Commission on human rights abuses that took place during the era of Brazil’s military dictatorship and was the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, as well as B. Boris Vargaftig, physician, pharmacologist, and one of the most internationally quoted Brazilian academics. According to the PNN, this campaign came right after extremely popular Brazilian congressman Jean Wyllys accepted to participate in a conference at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has deep ties to human rights abuses against Palestinians. Most of the University campus is built in the occupied East Jerusalem and, for that reason, was recently the subject of a new and influential boycott. A letter signed by 351 international academics explains that “while all Israeli universities are deeply complicit in the occupation, settler-colonialism, and apartheid, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is particularly noteworthy.” (Continued)
http://www.imemc.org/article/74696

Other news

Video: Children of the camp
Mondoweiss —  by Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi — On Thursday, January 21 children from Bethlehem’s ‘Aida and Beit Jibrin refugee camps talked to Mondoweiss about their life in the camps. We wanted to know exactly how much the children understood about the military occupation going on around them, and how normal they believed their lives were. With their parents’ permission, we asked five children from the streets of the two camps what they thought. All of the answers were spontaneous and unrehearsed, and as it turned out, the kids understood — and have experienced — quite a lot. Many of the children talked about tear gas, soldiers, and being scared of going outside. All of the children have seen family members killed, injured and detained by Israeli forces — as is the life in the occupied West Bank’s many refugee camps. Still, the children have high hopes, telling Mondoweiss they want to be doctors, lawyers and engineers when they grow up.
https://mondoweiss.net/2016/01/video-children-of-the-camp

Abbas: I agreed to meet Netanyahu, he didn’t respond
Ynet 21 Jan by Elior Levy — Speaking to Israeli reporters on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that for the past two months his office and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office have been communicating in an attempt to arrange a meeting, but that Netanyahu did not respond to the latest message.  “There have been talks between my office and Netanyahu’s office and the US was not in the picture at all,” Abbas said Thursday. “Among other things, there were talks about a meeting between us.” The Prime Minister’s Office rejected the claims, saying: “This is not true. This is an attempt by Abbas to avoid his responsibility for the lack of negotiations. Today as well, in Davos, Netanyahu called for Abbas to come and negotiate without preconditions.”  According to the Palestinian president, it was agreed that the sides will appoint two representatives each, who will coordinate the meeting. “I agreed, and haven’t heard any response from Netanyahu ever since,” Abbas claimed.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4756303,00.html

EU provides €2 million to social infrastructure projects in Area C
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — The European Union on Wednesday signed agreements to donate €2 million to social infrastructure projects in Area C of the occupied West Bank. The agreement is part of a larger €9.5 billion project to benefit Palestinians living in the 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, the EU said in a press release. Projects funded through the agreement will include kindergartens, water networks, roads, playgrounds, and additional classrooms. The agreement comes as the EU and Israeli leadership have come to a head in recent months after ongoing criticism of Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territory and an EU decision to label products manufactured in illegal settlements. The EU is one of several international bodies who regularly donate funds and materials to Palestinians in Area C, many of whom do not receive basic services from the Israeli government despite living under their jurisdiction.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769894

Palestinians launch petition against Israel ban on Islamic Movement
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 22 Jan — The Campaign against the Ban on the Islamic Movement has launched a campaign to gather petition signatures in three languages, Arabic, English, and Turkish, to demand the Israeli government to revoke its measures against the Islamic Movement and other Arab institutions. Secretary of the campaign Tawfiq Mohamed said that the petition considers the ban on the Islamic Movement and 20 other civil institutions “illegal, seeking to prohibit the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied lands from engaging in the civil and political life.” Mohamed added that the petition demands the Israeli government to revoke its decisions against the Islamic Movement and all Arab institutions. He stated the signing campaign is aimed at exposing and raising the issue of the Israeli racist measures against the Palestinians and their institutions in the 1948 occupied lands at all levels. Since its start a few days ago, thousands of people at home and abroad have signed the petition.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=76316

Vandals deface Jerusalem home of Jewish secularist scholar
JPost 22 Jan by Daniel K. Eisenbud — During the early morning hours of Thursday, vandals defaced the home of the leader of a secular Jewish education center in the capital’s German Colony neighborhood, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Yaakov Maalkin, provost of the International Institute for Humanistic Secular Judaism based in the capital, discovered biblical verses and a Star of David spray painted in Hebrew on the walls and door of his residence. “Amalek beast,” a reference to the biblical nation that was an enemy of the Jewish people, was one of the phrases scrawled on Maalkin’s property. A knife was also found at the scene. Police have opened an investigation into the attack. No arrests have been made.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Vandals-deface-Jerusalem-home-of-Jewish-secularist-scholar-442429

The Israeli left must realize it is at war / Orly Noy
+972 mag 20 Jan — When will the Jewish Left wake up and come to terms with the fact that the rules of the game have changed? — It seems that even the most skeptical of radical left-wing activists in Israel were taken by surprise by the aggressive, relentless, and mounting attacks that we have witnessed over these past few days against left-wing activists. This madness refuses to die down. Day after day we hear about arrests of left-wing activists, who disappear into their cells without ever being informed of what they are being accused. The police slap a gag order on the entire story, preventing us from even publishing their names . . . We remain silent when another Israeli activist, a dear friend to many of us, is arrested — even when many of us suspected that this would be the next step. Anyone who was aware of the circumstances surrounding the first arrest won’t be surprised. So we know, and we remain silent. We return to the courthouse and wait outside during the hearing, return home and continue to remain silent. Then we guess who will be next in line . . . The time has come to say it openly: we are at war, and we must think long and hard about how to prepare ourselves. It is unthinkable that we will play by the rules of the game while our friends are being hunted. It is unthinkable that we will play according to the “rules of democracy” as fascism becomes the new state religion. Our silence today will only serve as the basis upon which our friends will be arrested tomorrow. Now is the time to break that silence.
http://972mag.com/the-israeli-left-must-realize-it-is-at-war/116114/

The illusion of Israel’s $3.8-billion Arab Development Plan / Yoram Gabbay
Haaretz 20 Jan — So the cabinet passed a resolution: Around half of all cabinet resolutions are implemented only in part, if at all. — Some years ago, I chaired an interministerial committee on the Education Ministry budget. I found a general consensus at the various ministries, and in the committee itself, in favor of differential allocation of funds based on socioeconomic criteria. But when the figures were examined, it became clear that increasing spending on state schools in the Arab and ultra-Orthodox communities would necessitate significant funding cuts to the state nonreligious and national-religious school systems. The upshot was that any reforms actually carried out were partial. The same thing will happen with the much-vaunted cabinet resolution to allocate 15 billion shekels ($3.85 billion) to an ambitious five-year development plan for Arab communities in Israel. As soon as it transpires that the Jewish majority will have to “forgo” that 15 billion shekels in order to make it available to the Arab minority, the reform will evaporate, for the most part, particularly in light of the state’s anticipated high budget deficits in the next two years. It is in Israel’s economic interest to reduce economic and social inequality. Without substantive improvement in the Arab community’s physical and intellectual infrastructure, the country cannot fully realize its growth potential, to the benefit of everyone. But politically, the reform’s chances are terrible, and this is why. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/opinion/.premium-1.698519

Israel claims West Bank ‘terror cell’ led by Hezbollah leader’s son
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — The Israeli army said Wednesday it has detained five people in the occupied West Bank allegedly linked to a “terror cell” led remotely by the son of the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma‘an that a joint operation by the Israeli army, police, and domestic intelligence service Shin Bet dismantled a “terror cell based in the Tulkarem area” in the northern West Bank. The person leading the group, she said, was a “Hezbollah operative who had received instructions online from Jawad Nasrallah,” the son of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. The spokesperson said the group was planning to “purchase weapons and carry out a shooting attack,” although she could not confirm when they were detained. The spokesperson declined to identify the head of the group in Tulkarem, although Israeli newspaper Haaretz identified him as Mahmoud Zaaloul. Israeli news website Ynet quoted a Shin Bet statement saying Hezbollah had allegedly transferred $5,000 to the group in Tulkarem, calling the case “highly unusual.” Hezbollah has yet to comment on the case. The Lebanese group usually launches attacks against Israeli forces along the Blue Line between Lebanon and northern Israel, or in the occupied Shebaa Farms. However, Hassan Nasrallah vowed last month that his organization would retaliate “at the time and place and fashion we deem appropriate” against Israel after a suspected Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah commander Samir Kantar in Syria on Dec. 19.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769895

Obama to visit Israeli embassy in Washington
ISRAEL (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — United States President Barack Obama is expected to attend a Holocaust Remembrance ceremony in an “unprecedented” visit to the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer said in a statement on social media that the US president would make an appearance at the event which will posthumously honor four non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust. The event is the first of its kind to take place at the D.C.-based Israeli embassy, Dermer said, adding his “deep appreciation” for Obama’s acceptance of his invitation to speak. The ceremony is expected to take place on Jan. 27 and is the first time a US president will enter the Israeli embassy since President Bill Clinton made a visit following the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Commenting on Obama’s upcoming visit, a senior Israeli official told Israeli daily Haaretz: “[…] an act when an American president makes a speech at the Israeli embassy in Washington – that’s unprecedented.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769936

Israeli military prepares for conflict on Syrian, Lebanese fronts
ISRAEL (Ma‘an) 20 Jan — The Israeli military finished training exercises in preparation for a potential “long-term multi-front” conflict with Syria and Lebanon, according to a statement released by the army. Major General Aviv Kochavi said in the statement that the training prepared military forces to “implement operational plans in all arenas while facing Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad both in Syria and Lebanon.” The Israeli general added that forces “simulated vast maneuvers, substantial fire power, and attack of thousands of targets in all combat areas, with high efficiency, including residential areas exploited by the enemy.” Since conflict erupted in Syria in 2011, a number of rockets and mortar rounds — mostly stray — have hit the Israeli-occupied Golan, prompting occasional armed responses. Israel has avoided large-scale involvement in the conflict in neighboring Syria, but opposes Bashar Assad’s regime and has reportedly carried out strikes on Iranian arms transfers to Hezbollah through Syria. Last month an Israeli airstrike in Syria’s capital of Damascus killed top a Hezbollah official, Samir Kuntar, as well as several Syrian civilians, according to international media reports. The day after, three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon and landed in open areas in northern Israel, which responded with “targeted artillery fire” into southern Lebanon. Lebanese security officials said at the time that the rockets launched into Israel were reportedly transported from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and launched by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine movement in “symbolic retaliation” for Kuntar’s death.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769902

To Whom it May Concern review — Searing images of Israel by Haaretz
NEW YORK (The Guardian) by Jason Farago — At first it’s so abstract you can barely make sense of it: hundreds of squat little beige boxes, punctuated with little black squares. But the featureless boxes in the photograph are in fact ramshackle dwellings, stretching as far as you can see, in the Balata refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus. Look a while longer and the image starts to open up: everywhere, in every direction, are hastily improvised dwellings constructed with little infrastructure, and little regard for human life. What appears visually confusing ends up being morally unfathomable. The photograph, shot by Nir Kafri, appeared in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in 2001, and it forms the opening salvo of To Whom It May Concern, an insistent, eye-opening exhibition in New York of photojournalism from one of the world’s most important newspapers. Haaretz is Israel’s oldest daily, just shy of a hundred years old. “It is the very model of a liberal newspaper,” the Guardian affirmed in 2014 – a bastion of seriousness, scepticism and oppositionality in a country with little time for nuance. Its detractors, inevitably in a region of such angry divisions, decry the paper as far-left or even anti-Israel, but in fact it espouses a disappearing sort of Zionism, one intertwined with liberal values and freedom for all. In a lengthy 2011 profile, the New Yorker editor David Remnick called Haaretz “arguably the most important liberal institution” in Israel. But as the country continued its drift to the right, and as oppositions between Israelis and Palestinians hardened further, Haaretz has grown lonelier – and thus even more vital. (Continued)
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/20/to-whom-it-may-concern-review-searing-images-israel-haaretz

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