The jury is still out regarding the Cairo talks over whether Hamas and Fateh can come to an agreement on national conciliation or not. Apparently, Hamas has denied earlier reports from Egyptian sources and from Fateh veteran Nabil Shaath that the movement had given its approval to the plan, which said the Islamic movement had agreed to extend President Abbas' term in office. On October 11, Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said it was "too early" to talk about such developments, saying the movement would accept an extension to his term if they reached a consensus over the formation of a national conciliation government.
The Cairo talks, which began on October 6, got off to a rocky start, with Hamas saying its participation in the dialogue was contingent on four "no's", including a rejection of a technocrat government or any amendments on the security forces in Gaza without similar amendments to the West Bank government under Abbas. The movement said it would reject any singling out of the Gaza Strip as a separate entity from the West Bank, in addition to its rejection of any bypassing of the Legislative Council election results.
Hamas is apparently insisting on the formation of several working committees to deal with the issues of the security forces and restructuring of the PLO. Should a national conciliation government be reached, it would ostensibly replace both the de facto Hamas government in Gaza as well as the caretaker PA government in the West Bank. The government will supposedly be comprised of religious, political and intellectual figures that will help to lift the siege off the Gaza Strip and "restore unity among the Palestinians." Other articles of the plan include the reform of the security services in addition to concomitant parliamentary and presidential elections and most importantly, putting an end to the inter-factional divisions.
Palestinians across the board have expressed their fear that the two political giants will not come to an agreement on all the details of a conciliation agreement and will thus push the area into further internal turmoil.
October 10 brought even more unpleasant news in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Two homes were taken over by Israeli army troops in the Hebron-area village of Beit Ummar, even after international peace activists joined the Palestinians in their efforts to halt the takeover. The two homes, owned by Mershid Mershid and Wahib Hussein, were turned into an Israeli military post, leaving the two families homeless. Protesters gathered outside the homes, demanding that the soldiers evacuate the premises, but were met with hostile soldiers who beat them with batons, rifle butts and tear gas. Seven people were injured in the incident.
At the other end of the West Bank in Nablus, six Palestinians were injured when soldiers from the area settlement of Bracheh attacked them while they picked olives. According to Rafidiyeh hospital sources, two of the six injured were children, eight-year old Hisham Mansour and 12-year old Madeeha Mansour. Seventy-year old Fathi Mansur, Ibtisam Rasheed and Manal Mansur were also injured in the attack.
Furthermore, 20 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were injured in the towns of Bilin and Nilin by Israeli forces trying to disperse demonstrators who had come to both protest the separation wall in the villages and to join in the olive picking harvest. Israeli troops apparently prohibited villagers from reaching some of their lands in need of harvesting, which were confiscated by Israeli authorities.
In the Gaza Strip, two men were killed while two others remain missing when a gas canister exploded in an underground tunnel connecting the Strip to Egypt. The tunnel, one of hundreds used by Palestinians to smuggle people, goods and weapons in from Egypt, was located near the Barazil Refugee Camp in Gaza City.
The day before proved to be no better. Just before dawn on October 9, approximately 100 Israeli religious and right wing activists broke into the Haram Al Sharif Compound in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter. According to eyewitnesses and the Aqsa Foundation for Islamic Waqf and Heritage, the groups were chanting "Death to the Arabs" as they stampeded throughout the Muslim holy site.
The seven settler groups that were allowed into the compound under the watchful eye of the Israeli police entered the Haram through the Magharbeh Gate and proceeded to chant and pray on the grounds.
The day of the break-in was no coincidence. October 9 marked the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. Jews are supposedly required to repent for past sins and spend the day in prayer, fasting and meditation. In preparation for the day, Israeli authorities closed off Jerusalem and Israel to the Palestinians, declaring a military closure for two days until the Jewish holiday came to an end. In addition, main roads were blocked to traffic in Jerusalem and other areas inside Israel, which disrupted the day for many Palestinian residents of Jerusalem as well.
Meanwhile, on Yom Kippur, violence erupted in the mixed Palestinian-Israeli city of Acre. On the night of October 9, an Israeli youth apparently beat a young Palestinian resident of the city for driving through a predominantly Jewish neighborhood during Yom Kippur while playing music from his car stereo. Seen by Jews observing the fast as a provocation, dozens of Jews gathered and faced off with Palestinians. The clashes continued the following day with Jewish youths gathering outside a Palestinian home. They were met with masked family members ready to fight back. According to Israeli media sources, police were able to disperse the rioters. It did not last long though, with the rioting continuing into the morning of October 11 when two Palestinian homes were set on fire in Acre.
Accusations were quick to follow. After the initial rioting, Likud Party Knesset member Yuval Steinitz said the incident was like "an Arab pogrom against Israelis". Arab MK Ahmad Al Tibi begged to differ but chose to use the same terminology as his colleague. He called the violence in Acre a "pogrom perpetrated by Jews against Arab residents. Mohammed Barakeh, also an Arab MK, said the riots were similar to the pogroms that Jews were exposed to at the hands of Nazi gangs in Germany, clearly alluding to the 1938 Nazi pogrom against Jews known as Kristallnacht.
In other news, President Abbas has been promised $20 million from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Ten million dollars are to be granted directly to the Palestinian Authority while the remaining $10 million are to be allocated for projects in the Palestinian territories. The President then travelled to nearby Sri Lanka to meet with officials there and discuss bilateral ties between the two countries.
Finally, Jewish settlers announced on October 5 that they had purchased a new home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the extremist Ateret Cohanim settler organization, the purchase is aimed at "reinforcing the Jewish presence in the eastern sector of Jerusalem." Ateret Cohanim says over 900 Jewish setters now live in houses in the Old City's Palestinian quarters.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
