Two men were injured on the morning of September 1 in air raids on Gaza, which Israel says is in response to projectiles fired from the Strip on Israeli territory. In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunitions on protestors in the village of Nabi Saleh, on August 31, shooting one man in the hand, injuring another man in the head with rubber bullets and hitting a woman in the leg with tear grenade. The soldiers also detained three Palestinians and one foreign activist, witnesses said.
On a similar note, the Israeli army raided the village of Awarta, near Nablus and detained overnight 14 Palestinians around 1.am Thursday morning, August 30. As a statement by the Israeli army spokeswoman has confirmed, one person was arrested from the Awarta raid along with 13 Palestinians from across the West Bank from Azzun village, Qalqilya, Dura, Battir and Beit Awa over the course of the week.
Meanwhile, the agricultural village of Nahlin near Bethlehem has received a confiscation order for the confiscation of 12 dunams of land planted with grapes, almonds and olives, which Israeli authorities claim is “Israeli state land”. The village council has appealed to the PA to intervene in the matter after it received the order on Thursday 30 August.
On a happier note, an Israeli court has ruled on Wednesday 28 August that settlers in the outpost of Migron in the West Bank evacuate the outpost by 4 September. The court had passed the evacuation order a year ago, saying that the outpost is built on private Palestinian land but the 50 settler families have delayed their evacuation saying that temporary housing elsewhere in the West Bank was not ready for them. But the court has rejected their latest appeal for a delay ordering the buildings be cleared by 11 September.
But the evacuation order has set a series of settler-violence incidents where five Palestinians were injured by stones thrown by settlers at a bus going to Nablus on 31 August. A similar incident took place on the 30th on the same road where settlers were throwing stones and damaging cars passing by, causing closure of the road for over an hour. The PA has warned Palestinians to be vigilant and take the necessary precautions against settler violence as the evacuation of Migron is in process.
On a related topic, villages around Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus have also witnessed vandalism, physical attacks and racist comments coming from settlers throughout the week. Settlers set fire to a car and sprayed racist graffiti in al-Zira village, near the Beit El settlement; a similar incident was also reported in the village of Sair in Hebron. Clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians around Nablus also left four Palestinians and one settler injured on August 27. Tuesday also marked the indictment of nine Jewish teenagers who were involved in a grave assault of a 17-year old Palestinian in Jerusalem. The teenagers, eight of whom are 19, punched and kicked Jamal Joulani while chanting “death to Arabs” and other racist remarks. Israeli leaders including PM Benjamin Netanyahu have condemned the action, saying “This is something we cannot accept-not as Jews, not as Israelis”.
Meanwhile, President Mahmous Abbas arrived in Tehran on August 29 to represent Palestine at the international summit of the non-aligned movement. Abbas’ attendance came after Hamas leader Ismail Hanniyeh rejected his informal invitation by Tehran saying it would broaden divisions between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. Foreign Minister Riyad Malki indicated that Abbas would use this opportunity to garner support for the Palestinian bid for an upgraded, non-member state status at the upcoming meeting of the UN General Assembly. The Tehran visit is also expected to renew PA – Tehran relations. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has assured Abbas of his endorsement for the Palestinian resistance and has expressed his support for Palestinian reconciliation saying unity would strengthen the national resistance.
Diplomacy was in action back in the West Bank as well where PA minister of prisoner affairs, Issa Qaraqe met Egyptian consul Hamam Abu Zaid on August 28, to request that Egypt add Palestinian prisoners in an anticipated prisoner exchange deal with Israel. Qaraqe asked the Egyptian consul to intervene on the case of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, namely Hassan Safadi and Samer al-Barq who have been on hunger strike for 70 and 100 days respectively, against their detention without charge or trial.
In more internationally notable news on August 27 however, was an Israeli court’s rejection of a civil case brought against the Israeli army over the death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie in 2003, in Gaza. Ms. Corrie was crushed by an army bulldozer while standing in front of a Palestinian home, in protests against its demolition. Her parents had brought the case to the court on the claims of negligence, which the court rejected saying it was a “regrettable accident”. PLO executive committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi has both spoken against the court’s decision saying it is reflective of the bias of the Israeli judicial system and that it points to the “the impunity with which the Israeli army functions not only over Palestinians but also international activists in support of the Palestinian cause”.
On the same day, Israeli shelling of two compounds in Gaza city injured women in nearby homes. Israel has justified its action saying the targets are used for weapon manufacturing and storage while the spokesman of the ministry of health in Gaza said the shelling targeted an “agricultural area in Wadi Gaza”
In different yet court related news, a French court has opened a murder investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat on Tuesday 28 August, as per the request of the late Arafat’s wife Suha. The investigation comes after a Swiss research institute revealed a few months ago that it had found traces of Plonium-120, a radioactive substance on Arafat’s clothing after he died while being treated at a French military hospital in Paris. The Institute said on August 30 that time is running out to conduct a reliable scientific examination of the body in order to probe on the cause of death and it is now waiting for permission from Arafat’s widow and the French to exhume the body.
A coalition of human rights groups has came out with a report on Tuesday 28, linking the late June early July repression of protestors in Ramallah to high ranking PA officials, saying that the police chief and his deputy were acting under direct orders from the presidential office. In a comeback to the report, the spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Adnan Dmeiri has accused the report of being a political tool rather than a legal inquiry saying it’s a supplement to the recent “Israeli-American-Hamas attack on the presidency”.
This report by the coalition of human rights groups came after Human Rights Watch had echoed the same accusations a day earlier on August 27, calling on the United States, the European Union and other donors to reconsider their security aid to the PA. It has accused the PA of failing to prosecute members of its security forces for several abuses of protestors, journalists and detainees. Dmeiri has refuted these accusations saying that HRW hasn’t done a “thorough investigation” and that “the PA has greater transparency than Human Rights Watch and the United States”.
Even though an official inquiry set by Abbas had conducted an investigation of the PA security crackdown of the Ramallah protest, the new report has recommended further question of the Ramallah’s police chief, head of the police station and director of criminal investigations.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ministry of Defense is preparing to close the Ras Khamis checkpoint serving 65,000 residents of the Shufat refugee camp in northeast Jerusalem. The ministry has already started dismantling the checkpoint by removing security cameras as Haaretz reported on Monday August 27. If closed, the residents of the refugee camp would only have one exit and would only be able to access Jerusalem through a central crossing two kilometers away from some of the residents.
While this was going on in the West Bank, the Israeli army has detained seven teenagers from Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza on Saturday and five on Friday, Al-mezan center for Human Rights reported. The Israeli army has said in a statement that they were “suspects” of “breach[ing] the security fence” and were arrested for further investigation. Three out of the seven detained are 16 and 17-year old teenagers.
News from Gaza this week was also marked by a plan for the third cabinet reshuffle after Hamas came to power in 2007. The de facto Hamas government in Gaza is preparing for a reshuffle after its Prime Minister Ismail Haniye submitted a new ministerial list to the Palestinian Legislative Council of Gaza on Sunday 26 August.
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.
