MIFTAH
Friday, 29 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

At press time, a spokesperson for the “Estelle” said the ship which is aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza, has come under attack by Israeli naval forces. The ship, which is carrying dozens of pro-Palestinian activists including a former Canadian parliamentarian is carrying 41 tons of cement, books, toys, two olive trees and medical equipment. Israeli army sources have denied so far that the ship has been attacked but activists on board said six Israeli vessels surrounded the Estelle and are trying to stop it from reaching Gaza’s shores.

Meanwhile, an estimated half a million Palestinians will head to the polls today to vote for municipal council leaders in Palestine’s first municipal elections sin 2005. According to the Central Elections Committee, voting will take place for 93 local councils in 340 voting stations throughout the West Bank. President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to cast his vote in Al Bireh sometime this morning. The polling stations close at 7:00 p.m. and tallying of votes is to begin straight after.

On October 18, approximately 40% of the total number of Palestinian security services took to the polls, or 10,000 members. President Abbas had earlier ordered the security services to vote ahead of the people so that on election day, they would be free to provide security. Hamas has boycotted the elections, using the lack of reconciliation as an excuse for pulling out. Months ago, Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip banned the CEC from carrying out voter registration, the first step in the election process. The Gaza Strip will therefore not be voting today nor will Hamas members in the West Bank.

Municipal elections come at a time when the Palestinian Authority is still complaining of an ongoing financial crisis, which has forced them to pay only half salaries to its civil servants. On October 17, Israel announced it had transferred tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority two weeks in advance, ostensibly to help it deal with its economic crisis. Three hundred million shekels were reportedly transferred to the PA treasury ahead of the Eid Al Adha holiday which begins at the end of the week.

On October 17 and 18, PA public workers went on strike in protest of the government's failure to pay salaries. The workers union said they would have the same strike schedule next week on October 23 and 24 until salaries are paid. The finance ministry said on October 18 that it would pay partial salaries to its workers ahead of Eid Al Adha.

Meanwhile, a report on Israel’s food plan for the Gaza Strip was released on October 17 in which it calculated the number of calories Palestinians would need if Israel maintained its blockade without experiencing malnutrition. The report, according to an Israeli defense ministry official, was never used, but it has still put Israel under criticism.

The study, entitled "Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip -- The Red Lines", estimated the required daily calorie intake in the Strip at 2,279 per person.

Other news from the Gaza Strip this week was Hamas’ release of a videotape on October 19 recounting the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on the first anniversary of his release. The film features interviews with Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in exchange for Shalit, as well as with the kidnappers, one of whom was responsible for planning the kidnapping. Earlier this week, Hamas hinted that more soldiers would be kidnapped if Israel continued to re-arrest Palestinian prisoners freed in the swap for Shalit.

Also in Gaza, on October 14, an Israeli airstrike killed Yasser al-Atakal, 24, hours after Israel’s assassination of Salafist leader Hisham Saedni. Two others, 23-year-old Izz Addin Abu Nuseira, and 22-year-old Ahmad Abu Fatayir were also killed on the same day.

The 14th also saw the deaths of eight Palestinians killed in a Damascus-area refugee camp, including a mother and her four daughters. The eight were killed in the Husseiniyeh refugee camp. Three others were killed a day earlier.

On October 19, the Free Syrian Army reportedly shot down and killed Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command leader Adel Hasan in the Deraa refugee camp. The Palestinian leadership has repeatedly called for leaving its refugees out of the conflict, saying they are simply “guests” in Syria and have no stake in supporting either side.

In Jerusalem, as groups of Israeli settlers and soldiers continued to break into the Aqsa Mosque this week, the Israeli government approved the construction of 800 new housing units in the settlement of Gilo on October 18. According to Peace Now official Hagit Ofran, construction could begin within a few months.

"The government could stop the process before building begins but is taking advantage of the upcoming elections in order to set facts on the ground and will make the possibility of peace with the Palestinians even harder to achieve," she said.

The EU was not very happy to hear about this new settlement expansion either. "The High Representative deeply regrets the decision by the Israeli Ministry of Interior to approve the expansion of Gilo settlement by 797 new housing units," an EU statement said on October 18.

“These developments continue the process of separating East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory," the representative said. "The European Union maintains that negotiations continue to represent the best way forward in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Continuous expansion of settlements makes this all the more difficult.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian leadership continues to insist on its bid at the UN General Assembly to gain non-membership statehood status. After weeks of pressure on it to back down from the bid, mainly from the United States and Israel, it got some good news on October 19 when Vuk Jeremic, the president of the General Assembly said the Palestinian push for upgraded status is “likely to succeed,” while warning the United States against cutting UN funding over the issue. Jeremic voiced concern about a possible suspension of UN funding from the US due to the Palestinian issue, which he said would have "dire financial implications" for the United Nations.

"I don't think this would be in the interests of the United States to cut the financial aid, but I am not in a position to say to the United States what is it they should do," he said. "They know what is best for them, and that's what they are going to do."

President Abbas also tried to cover all the bases by sending a letter on October 16 to US President Barack Obama, insisting that his government was still committed to the two-state solution.

The letter, according to Abbas' political adviser Nimir Hammad, explains that the intended bid to the UN General Assembly to obtain the status of a non-member state was not a unilateral move. He said the bid was meant to maintain that the Palestinian people's land was occupied rather than disputed, Hammad said adding that was never meant to isolate Israel, but rather to obtain international recognition, something which would make the negotiation process easier. The letter also said the Palestinians would be willing to resume negotiations with Israel after they obtain international recognition as a non-member state.

 
 
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