Israeli policy splits Palestinian families
Al
Jazeera In Depth 7 Nov by Mya Guarnieri -- To Westerners and
Palestinians, Gaza "is hell", says Ali Batha. "It's
a scary place … It's the last place in the world [people want to go]."
There's Gaza's 30 per cent unemployment rate, and the Israeli
blockade that restricts imports and exports. Clean drinking water is
increasingly scarce. Fuel and electricity shortages cause daily
blackouts. And, according to the United Nations, the Gaza Strip "will
not be
livable by 2020" unless the blockade, isolation, and
Israeli-Palestinian conflict all come to an end. Despite the bleak
outlook, and despite the fact that Batha, 31, is in
the prime of his life, he is planning to leave the West Bank to move to
Gaza. It's the only place where he and his wife, Rehab, can live
together. Because of Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement, it's
been three-and-a-half years since the two have seen each other. Batha
and Rehab are just one of thousands of Palestinian families who have
been torn apart by Israel's "separation policy"...
While Batha is
angry with the PA for not doing more to help, he
blames the Israeli government for the painful separation from his wife,
which he likens to "a prison". Israel also maintains the Palestinian
population registry, which gives it the final say regarding official
address changes.
Mother who disappeared: In Nisreen Asaid's case, this means that Israel decides whether or
not the 30-year-old mother of two will be able to live with her
children.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210307433987466.html
Palestinians barred from studying in West Bank
Forward
7 Nov by Tania Hary -- Israel Bars Gaza College Students From
Travelling-- Photo: Free to Study? Palestinian students celebrate their
graduation from Bir Zeit University on the West Bank. Why does Israel
bar Gaza students from travelling to complete their studies? -- Since
the beginning of 2012, Gisha and Al Mezan, an Israeli and a
Palestinian human rights organization, respectively, have been arguing a
petition before Israel’s highest court asking that five women from Gaza
be permitted to enter the West Bank to complete their academic studies.
In September the petition was rejected, against the backdrop of a
12-year ban on travel between the two parts of the Palestinian territory
for the purposes of engaging in academic studies. Then it was revealed
that even the United States cannot
broker permits for its State Department-funded scholars from Gaza, who
had hoped to start the academic year at Palestinian universities in the
West Bank.
http://forward.com/articles/165299/palestinians-barred-from-studying-in-west-bank/
Stripped of my clothes, my father, but not of my right to return / Asma JaberAl
Jazeera 6 Nov -- Discrimination against Palestinians is alive and well
in Israel, reminiscent of Jim Crow -- "Unbutton your pants," Sara, the
stone-faced security agent at
Israel's Ben Gurion airport, told me. I sobbed, choking on my words, "My
dad was born in Nazareth." "Lift your shirt," she continued. "He's
dying, and he can't return here," I mumbled. I thought of what
my father looked like at that moment, bruised and broken from a drunk
driver, unable to breathe on his own, and helpless in a hospital bed in
South Carolina.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211310301870237.html
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansingEurope condemns Israel's OK for new settler homes
AP
7 Nov -- Germany, Britain and France criticized Israel on Wednesday
over its decision to go ahead with the construction of more than 1,200
new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The three European powers warned that the move could jeopardize efforts to restart the Mideast peace process.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4302623,00.html
House demolished in Deirit, South Hebron Hills [Update: video added]ISM
6 Nov -- On the morning of November 6th, 2012, a
house was demolished by the Israeli Army amidst most of the town
watching and a significant amount of media coverage. The military
started moving towards the location at approximately 6 am with two
excavator cranes and one bulldozer. This heavy equipment was accompanied
by multiple army vehicles and border police personnel who woke up the
family and forced them from their residence.
The Israeli Occupying Forces gave no
forewarning verbally or otherwise as to their homes destruction. The
building of the house began three years ago and was on land that was
perfectly acceptable and legal to build on ... Mohammad Moussa Abuarram
was the home owner, he and his family of eight are now being sheltered
at one of his brothers houses.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/house-demolished-in-deirit-south-hebron-hills/
Israel issues eviction orders to 40 families in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- Israeli authorities issued eviction orders to 40
families in a Nablus village on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan
Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank,
told Ma‘an that Israeli forces gave the families in
Khirbet Tana, in
Area C, until Saturday to leave their homes. The Israeli army is planning to turn the area into a military training zone.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534834
Israel to illegally seize Palestinian lands near BethlehemIMEMC 7 Nov -- Under the pretext of "military considerations", the Israeli army
informed Palestinian residents of
al-Fordaes [Fardis] village, near the West Bank
city of Bethlehem, that it intends to seize large areas of their lands
in
al-Oqban area, the Palestine News Network (PNN) reported.
Israel intends to seize dozens of dunams in Basin 4, and the order is
effective immediately. Breijieh added that he contacted two lawyers
identified as Ghayyath
Nasser and Mohammad Shqeir, to follow-up on the issue and appeal the
Israeli military decision, PNN reported.
In related news, armed Israeli settlers bulldozed Palestinian
agricultural lands in
Khallit al-Qoton area, south of Bethlehem, in
order to build a new settlement; the area in question is 1,700 dunams
(approx. 420 acres).
On Tuesday, the Israeli army issued an order for the demolition of a
pool used for collecting rain water, and another order against a well is
Qeizoun area, east of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64522Journalists among 6 injured in Salfit clashes
SALFIT (Ma‘an) -- Clashes between Israeli soldiers and residents of a
village near Salfit left six Palestinians injured including two
journalists, locals and a Ma‘an correspondent said. Israeli
forces crossed into the
Kifl Haris village north of Salfit with
bulldozers to demolish houses there, residents of the village said. Alaa
Dawood, the imam of Hares mosque, told Ma'an that Palestinians threw
rocks at the Israeli soldiers who were preparing to demolish several
houses they claimed were unlicensed. Israel's forces brought two
bulldozers and several military vehicles ... The two injured journalists
were Farah Zahalqa of Watan TV and Rouya TV and Majdi Zaid, a
photographer for Ma‘an. Forces
surrounded the house of Hisham Salamah and ordered the residents of 20
homes in nearby area Umm al-Qutouf to leave in preparation for their
demolition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534849Settlers set ground on fire in Salman Valley, Burin
ISM 6 Nov -- Today at around sundown, settlers from the illegal Israeli
settlement of Yitzhar set fire to the ground in the Salman valley at
Burin.
The fire was in the same location where two ISMers and two members of
the Michigan Peace Team (MPT) had been picking olives only hours before
in the Najjar family groves. The fire service attended and with the help
of around 10-15 villagers the fire was finally put out after about 90
minutes. The inability of the fire truck to reach that part of the slope
meant that the fire needed to be put out by beating it down with
shovels. While it burned it devastated both upper slopes of the valley
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/settlers-set-ground-of-fire-in-salman-valley-burin/
Colonizers ruin olive trees in HebronISM 7 Nov -- Olive trees and one apricot tree were
ruined on the morning of November 5th in a section of Khalil (Hebron)
called
Jales Mount, which is near the colony of Kiryat Arba. Rashed Zaroo showed the damage to
internationals that afternoon. He explained that the land is owned by
his father and uncle Fayez, before that his grandfather acquired the
land in the early twentieth century. The trees were planted forty years
prior and were some of the strongest in a large grove that produced
olives and fruit. Five months ago Shakel Zaroo was attacked and gased by
settlers that he caught damaging his property. In addition five hundred
square meters of the Zaroo family land was confiscated for Route 60.
The neighboring families’ land has seen
even more devastation, the Abu Rmela and Abo Sunina families had
approximately 400 olive trees burned by settlers last year.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/colonizers-ruin-olive-trees-in-hebron/
Settlers 'uproot 100 trees, spray racist graffiti' in NablusNABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 Nov - Israeli settlers uprooted over 100 olive trees and
sprayed racist graffiti in a Nablus village on Wednesday, a Palestinian
official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in
the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that settlers from Rechalim sprayed
"Death to Arabs" and "Price Tag" on the walls of
al-Sawiya village.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534829
For first time, Bedouin town to be part of Jewish regional council
Haaretz
7 Nov -- A new Bedouin town is to be formed in the Ramat Negev Regional
Council - the first Bedouin community to be incorporated within the
boundaries of a Jewish regional council in the south. Under the plan,
approved by the National Planning and Building
Committee on Tuesday, the new community will be formed on 1,000 dunams
(about 250 acres) and be called Ramat Tzipporim. It will provide homes
for members of the Azzazmeh tribe who live in two unrecognized
communities in the Negev highlands, between Kibbutz Sde Boker and
Mitzpeh Ramon. Much of the area where the tribe currently lives consists
of military
firing zones, antiquities and nature reserves, according to the agency
in charge of regulating Bedouin settlement. Bedouin there therefore lack
infrastructure and basic services. The new community will be rural to
let the Bedouin preserve their way of life. [and is this with the
consent of the Bedouin?]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/for-first-time-bedouin-town-to-be-part-of-jewish-regional-council.premium-1.475757?localLinksEnabled=false
Violence / Raids / ClashesClashes reported in Silwan, 2 residents kidnapped, several injured IMEMC
8 Nov -- Local sources in occupied East Jerusalem reported, on
Wednesday evening,
that the army invaded Silwan town and clashed with local youths, who
hurled stones at them, and fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal
bullets leading to several injuries; the army also kidnapped two
residents ... The clashes took place as the locals were holding a
welcome ceremony for
a detainee who was released from an Israeli detention facility when the
soldiers invaded the area, and attacked them. It is worth mentioning
that undercover forces of the Israeli army were also extensively
deployed in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64525Muhammad Samih al Abassi, arrested child, has his house raided and searched
Silwan,
Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 Nov -- On Sunday, Israeli forces raided the
house of Samih al Abassi in Al Madares Street. In Batn al Hawa, Silwan
they searched the house- messing up its furniture- a few hours after
arrest of 17-year old Muhammad. Al Abassi’s uncle's house was also
raided. Members of the family were held in one room whilst the house was
searched. The uncle and his son were also held for an hour and a half
by the Israeli authorities, despite the fact that they are both ill.
Israeli officers have refused to tell the family why the raid took place
and why Al Abassi has been arrested, claiming the case is classified.
http://silwanic.net/?p=30389Magistrates Court extended the arrest of 6 young men from Jerusalem
Silwan,
Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 6 Nov -- On Monday, November 5 the Magistrates
Court extended the arrest of six young men from Shuafat refugee camp and
Silwan for several days. Five of them were from Shuafat refugee camp
... Their arrest has been extended until next Friday. They were accused
of throwing stones and Molotov at Israeli forces. They were arrested
after a raid on their houses in Shuafat refugee camp. While the
detention of Mohammad Samih Abbasi, 17, from Silwan was extended for the
next Sunday. Abbasi has been interrogated in Maskubiya Jail, note that
the session was held in secret where his lawyer or his family was
prevented from attending, arguing that the file is "secret".
http://silwanic.net/?p=30387WATCH:
Palestinian child chases the occupation forces after they arrested her
brother Waed al-Tamimi in the village of Nabi Saleh
2 Nov --
They are the children of the prisoner Bassem Al Tamimi and the recently
released prisoner Nariman Al Tamimi. The occupying forces also arrested
journalists, five internationals. [Ynet interpretation of this,
"Palestinian girl tries to goad soldiers into lashing out" can be found
here]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oWlxLq-2RQA
Citizens suffer breathing difficulty in IOF violent dispersal of demo
RAMALLAH
(PIC) 7 Nov -- Many citizens were treated for breathing problems near
Ofer jail on Wednesday after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) used
teargas to disperse their march. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that IOF
soldiers fired teargas canisters at participants in a march organized in
solidarity with Ibrahim Abu Hijla, who was liberated in Wafa Al-Ahrar
prisoners exchange deal then re-arrested by the IOF.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk
Clashes erupt after storming Youssef's tomb by hundreds of settlers
NABLUS (PIC) 7 Nov -- Hundreds of Israeli settlers
stormed at dawn on Wednesday, the city of Nablus in the northern West
Bank, and performed religious rituals in Youssef's Tomb under the
protection of the Israeli army. Eyewitnesses said that a number of Israeli
military vehicles stormed the eastern part of Nablus, and headed towards
Yussef’s tomb to secure the entry of buses and cars carrying hundreds
of Jewish settlers who came to perform religious Talmudic rituals. The sources added that clashes have erupted
between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths in the area surrounding
the Youssef's Tomb, where the occupation forces fired stun grenades and
tear gas against Palestinian houses in the area.
It should be noted that the Israeli settlers have repeatedly stormed the
Tomb which was an Islamic mosque built over a tomb of an Islamic Sheikh
named Youssef Dweikat from the town of Balata. It was seized by Israeli
settlers just after the occupation of the West Bank in 1967 under the
pretext that it contains Tomb of Prophet Youssef [Joseph].
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk
Four Palestinians kidnapped in the West BankIMEMC 7 Nov -- Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday at dawn, four Palestinians
during invasions targeting different parts of the occupied West Bank.
The army invaded several areas in the districts of Hebron, Bethlehem,
Jericho, Ramallah and Tulkarem. The army invaded Beit Ommar, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron,
broke into and searched a number of homes, and kidnapped Montaser
Ibrahim Ekhlayyil, 19, and Mohammad Abdul-Nasser Ekhlayyil, also 19.
Both men were taken to an Etzion military base....
http://www.imemc.org/article/64523Witnesses: Israeli forces raid Bethlehem stone quarry
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- Israeli forces raided a quarry in the Bethlehem village of
Beit Fajjar
on Wednesday, locals said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli forces
inspected the stone quarry and questioned workers, before leaving the
area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534807Prisoners / Court actions
Palestinian teen spends 21 days behind bars on false charges
Haaretz 7 Nov -- The Prosecutor's Office declared on Tuesday that it would cancel all
charges against a Beit Hanina youth who was held in custody for three
weeks on false charges of aggravated assault, after closed-circuit
television footage proved that two Border Police officers lied to the
court from the start. The Jerusalem Magistrate Court freed Udai Biomi, 20, unconditionally,
after the screening of the footage clearly revealed that it was actually
Biomi who was attacked and not vice versa, as the two officers wrote in
their report and under investigation. Biomi intends to complain against
the two officers who were the cause of his false arrest and might also
sue them for civil damages ... Biomi's attorney told Haaretz: "Unfortunately this is but one example of
many of how citizens are accused of attacking police officers, when the
officers were actually the aggressors..."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-teen-spends-21-days-behind-bars-on-false-charges.premium-1.475762
After jail sentence, Bassem Tamimi declared prisoner of conscienceBETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an) 8 Nov -- Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi, who has been
sentenced to four months in prison in a plea bargain with an Israeli
court, is a prisoner of conscience and should be released, Amnesty
International said on Wednesday. Tamimi was detained on Oct. 24 during a
protest at an Israeli supermarket in a Jewish settlement near Ramallah.
Ofer
military court sentenced him to four months in prison and fined him
5,000 shekels ($1,280) in a plea bargain on Tuesday, Amnesty said ...
"Bassem Tamimi has a long record of peaceful protest, and this court
hearing showed that even the military prosecution has acknowledged he
did not use or advocate violence at the demonstration," Amnesty's
Mideast director Philip Luther said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535083Jerusalemite prisoner threatened with losing his eyesight
NABLUS (PIC) 7 Nov -- Tadhamun Foundation for Human Rights said that a
Jerusalemite prisoner in Israeli jails is threatened with losing his
eyesight as a result of the medical negligence in the prison. The researcher at the Foundation, Ahmed
Betawi, pointed that captive Haitham Moussa Ibrahim Salhab, from the
town of Shuafat in Jerusalem, told the Foundation's lawyer, when he
visited him in Nafha prison, that he suffers from severe vision problems
and cannot see farther than two meters. Betawi stated that Salhab cannot see what
is going on around him and cannot distinguish between inanimate objects
and human beings, farther than the distance of 2 meters and that, almost
one year ago, he has started seeing big black points, even when wearing
glasses, and feeling he is losing his eyesight gradually.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk
GazaOfficial: Farmer injured by tank fire in central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- A Palestinian man was moderately injured by
tank
fire in central Gaza on Wednesday, a medical official said. Ministry
of health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the man was being treated at
Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah after coming under tank fire.
He is a farmer from Bureij refugee camp, the official said. Witnesses
told Ma‘an earlier on Wednesday that Israeli military vehicles entered
the Gaza Strip near Bureij
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534976Qatari fuel for Gaza still stuck in Sinai amid unrest
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- Fuel donated by Qatar for the Gaza Strip is still
stuck in Egypt due to the unrest in Sinai, a Gaza official said
Wednesday. Mohammad Abadleh, an official with a gas company
coalition in Gaza, said the blockage was due to the security situation
in the restive peninsula, not any procurement problems.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534804
Hamas apologizes after police beat female activists
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- The Hamas government in Gaza apologized on
Wednesday after reports emerged of security forces attacking female
activists in Gaza City on Tuesday, a statement said. "The
government clearly apologizes for what has happened, and the Ministry of
Interior will form a commission of inquiry to determine the
circumstances of the incident, because what happened does not reflect
the culture of the government or the Palestinian people," director of
Hamas' media office Ehab al-Ghusein said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534706Hamas affirms rejection of violence against peaceful demonstrations
(PIC)
7 Nov -- The Islamic Resistance movement, Hamas, has affirmed its
respect of the right of Palestinian citizens to demonstrate peacefully
and its rejection of any violence against such marches. A responsible
source in Hamas said on Wednesday that the movement was not against
peaceful marches that do not disturb public discipline or impede public
transport. He renewed assertion that his movement asked the Gaza
government to investigate reasons for the violent dispersal of a women's
rally in Gaza city on Tuesday and to bring those responsible to account
in order to ensure non-recurrence of such incidents.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk
Smuggling some fun: Teens sneak paintball game into Gaza
Gaza (Reuters) 7 Nov -- It was once the Jewish settlement of Netzarim,
but now the site has been turned into the Gaza Strip’s first ever
paintball park. The arrival of the strategic action game in Gaza is
offering Palestinian youths a chance to try something new. But bringing
the relevant equipment and protective clothing into the blockaded
territory was no small achievement: everything had to be smuggled in
through one of the 1000-metre (yard) underground tunnels that link Gaza
with Egypt... But with an entrance fee of 10 shekels ($2.50), 50 shekels
($12.80) to rent the paintball field and 30 shekels ($7.60) for 50
paintballs, the experience is beyond the reach of most Gazans.
http://talesofacitybythesea.com/2012/11/07/smuggling-some-fun-teens-sneak-paintball-game-into-gaza/RefugeesSyrian rebels kill 10 pro-Assad Palestinian militiamen
AMMAN (Reuters) 7 Nov -- Syrian rebels killed 10 members of the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a faction loyal to
President Bashar Assad, on Wednesday in clashes near a Palestinian camp
in Damascus, opposition sources said. Fighting between the two
sides has escalated in the last few days in 'Street 30' and Hajar
al-Aswad near Yarmouk, a camp inhabited by 150,000 Palestinians and as
many Syrians. Syrian army artillery and warplanes have bombarded rebel
positions in the area, the opposition sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534858
PFLP-GC blame Qatar for Syria rebel killings
RAMALLAH
(Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- A Palestinian faction loyal to President Bashar Assad
on Wednesday blamed Qatar's support to rebel fighters in Syria for the
killing of its members near a refugee camp in Damascus. The Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command said Qatar held
full responsibility for the killing of eight of its members near Yarmouk
camp earlier Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535043
Racism / Discrimination
Ashdod Sudanese urge Israeli neighbors: Vote for leaders who won't deport us
Haaretz
7 Nov -- About 2,000 Sudanese and Eritreans live in Ashdod; they say
they are the ones who are afraid to go out at night, because local
residents attack them for no reason -- Sudanese migrants sent a letter
to their neighbors in Ashdod's Rova Bet
neighborhood this week asking them to vote for candidates in the
upcoming Knesset and mayoral elections who support granting asylum to
African migrants.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ashdod-sudanese-urge-israeli-neighbors-vote-for-leaders-who-won-t-deport-us.premium-1.475768
BDS
AICvision: Israeli occupation, accountability, BDS (video)
AIC 7 Nov -- In this week’s AICvision, a special programme on the
movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. We
interview Adri Nieuwhof, who presented a statement in support of BDS to
last month’s international solidarity conference of the African National
Conference (ANC). Nieuwhof shares her rich experience of working
against apartheid in South Africa.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/multimedia/5587-aicvision-israeli-occupation-accountability-bds.html
Political, other newsPalestinian protesters harassed, beaten by Abbas supporters in Jerusalem
EI 7 Nov byBudour Youssef Hassan -- Palestinian youth groups in
Jerusalem called for a march from the Old City’s Damascus Gate on 5
November in protest of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’
interview with Israeli Channel Two in which he renounced his right of
return to Safad, his ethnically cleansed hometown in northern historic
Palestine. The march was scheduled to begin at 5pm but was marred by
attacks on
protesters by pro-Abbas thugs. Damascus Gate has seen some of the most
vicious attacks by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian
demonstrators this year, but this time around it was Palestinians who
attacked fellow Palestinians and harassed them as surrounding Israeli
soldiers gleefully watched the spectacle.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-protesters-harassed-beaten-abbas-supporters-jerusalem/11854
PA says to pay some salaries next weekRAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Nov -- The Palestinian Authority cabinet on Tuesday said it
was paying salaries next week to those making over 1,000 shekels and
under 2,000 per month. The cabinet insisted it was doing its best to pay the rest of the salaries as soon as possible.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534543
PA asks Oman for financial assistanceJERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- The Palestinian ambassador to Oman met Tuesday with
the head of the sultan's office to ask for financial support for the
struggling Palestinian Authority.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534983Teacher strike closes West Bank schools
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Nov -- The teachers union undertook large scale strike
action on Tuesday, forcing most schools in the West Bank to close for
the day. The union had announced Saturday that it would hold
half-day strikes for two weeks, blaming the Palestinian Authority
government for ignoring their salary demands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534341Outrage as Palestinian tycoon Munib Masri hosts Israeli settler mogul with Egypt's Amr Moussa and Jordan ex-PM
EI 5 Nov by
Jalal Abukhater -- On Sunday, a delegation of Israeli businessmen, which included settler tycoon
Rami Levy, was hosted by Palestinian billionaire
Munib Masri in his Nablus mansion along with former Arab League Secretary General
Amr Moussa, former Jordanian Prime Minister Abd Al-Salam Majali and Jordan’s Prince Firas bin Raad who represented the so-called
Quartet. Moussa, who also met with Palestinian Authority leader
Mahmoud Abbas
in Ramallah, traveled to the West Bank on a Jordanian government
helicopter ... Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the Palestinian National
Initiative, a political party, strongly condemned the meeting as
“normalization with the Israeli occupation” and “crossing all red
lines,” and called on those who attended to apologize to the Palestinian
people.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/outrage-palestinian-tycoon-munib-masri-hosts-israeli-settler-mogul-egypts-amrHaniyeh urges Tunis to sue Israel over assassination
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday
said Mossad agents who assassinated a Palestinian leader must be put on
trial. Khalil al-Wazir, known as Abu Jihad, was killed by Israeli
operatives in Tunis in 1988, an Israeli newspaper revealed Thursday.
Yediot Ahronoth published an interview with the commando who led the
operation, after military censors cleared the story. Abu Jihad was Yasser Arafat's deputy at the time.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535001
Ex-JAG: Marmara trial is a showYnet
7 Nov -- Former Military Advocate General Avichai Mandelblit says trial
against four former IDF commanders is 'more about politics than law' --
Israeli defense officials were relatively unfazed by a trial that
kicked off in Turkey Tuesday against four former senior IDF officers
including former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi and former Navy commander
Eliezer Marom for their part in the killing of nine people during a raid
on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010. The Prosecution demands nine
consecutive life sentences for the officers in, but it appears unlikely
that any sentence could be carried out.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4302090,00.htmlErdoğan's Gaza trip fuels fire between Hamas, Fatah
Turkish Weekly 5 Nov -- ...Erdoğan recently told journalists on a plane
en route to Ankara from Berlin that he has plans to visit Gaza soon and
that authorities are having talks with officials in Gaza to arrange the
trip. He even added that he had extended an invitation to Mahmoud Abbas,
the president of the Palestinian Authority that controls the
Israel-occupied West Bank and is the main political rival to Hamas, to
visit Gaza together. "He was warm to the suggestion," Erdoğan said.
However, the office of Fatah, the party headed by Abbas, reacted to
Erdoğan's words on Saturday. A spokesman for Abbas, Yasser Abid Rabbo,
said that is was unacceptable that a country would be invited to its own
lands.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/144514/erdogan-39-s-gaza-trip-fuels-fire-between-hamas-fatah.html
PA hopes Obama will reduce Israel bias in 2nd termRAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- The Palestinian Authority leadership hopes Barack
Obama will lessen his bias toward Israel in his second term as US
president, a senior official said Wednesday. Hussain al-Araj,
President Mahmoud Abbas' chief of staff, said re-elected American
presidents had historically paid more attention to Israel's occupation
of Palestine during their second terms, and displayed less bias toward
Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535021Abbas congratulates Obama, Hamas urges end to Israel bias
BETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an) 7 Nov -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday congratulated
US President Barrack Obama after he defeated his Republican challenger
... PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed hope that Obama would stand by
the
Palestinian decision to gain non-member state status in the United
Nations, Wafa reported. He called on Obama to act against Israeli
settlement activities and other violations against the Palestinian
people. Erekat
also expressed hope that Obama would focus on democracy, peace and
stability in the region in his second term and implement a two-state
solution with Israel.
In Gaza City, the Hamas government called
on Obama to re-evaluate his foreign policy concerning Palestine, and end
his bias towards Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534875US judge dismisses suit linking Arab Bank to Hamas shooting attack
Reuters
7 Nov -- A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit brought
by an
American man wounded in Israel, who sought to hold Arab Bank liable for
providing material support to the Palestinian group Hamas. U.S. District
Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, held that
Mati Gill could not prove Arab Bank was responsible for injuries he
sustained in 2008 from gunshots fired from Gaza into Israel.
At the time of the attack, Gill was serving as an aide to Israel's
then-public security minister, Avi Dichter, according to the complaint
... A lawyer for Gill, Gary Osen, said he was disappointed and intended
to appeal.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/u-s-judge-dismisses-suit-linking-arab-bank-to-hamas-shooting-attack-1.475940?localLinksEnabled=false
Analysis / Opinion / Reviews / Human interestObama the Second / Gideon LevyHaaretz
8 Nov -- Israel needs a furious and determined American president -
that is its last chance to save itself from the curse of the occupation -
and the second Obama is expected to have greater self-confidence and be
less concerned with considerations of survival than the first Obama --
They could turn out to be the winning duo, the ones who bring about an
agreement with the Palestinians: a furious U.S. President Barack Obama
opposite a gambling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who lost the
gamble). If a second-term Obama obeys his heart and logic, his moral
code and values, and American and world interests, then we can expect an
old-new president in the White House. A president who will translate
his anger against Netanyahu into pressure on Israel to finally end the
occupation. It is precisely this pair, who didn't get on together and
didn't consult
one another, that might lead to momentum. All those who know Obama
personally have testified that his heart is in the Palestinian problem.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/obama-the-second.premium-1.476061
Obama victory: Israeli memes poke fun at Bibi972mag 7 November
http://972mag.com/obama-victory-israeli-memes-poke-fun-at-bibi/59294/
After Bibi's bet on Romney, peace camp can beat him / Larry Derfner972mag
7 Nov -- Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni can win the January 22 election.
If there is one loser in the U.S. election outside the U.S., it is
Benjamin Netanyahu – and all of Israel knows it. No one is fooled by his
denials that he backed Romney and opposed Obama as demonstratively as
he possibly could. The widespread conviction, now that Obama has won
four more years in the White House, is that Bibi has endangered Israel’s
relationship with America in a way that is unprecedented in its
recklessness. No Israeli prime minister ever took sides in a U.S.
presidential election like Netanyahu just did, and his side lost. If
Romney had won, people here would be hailing Bibi right now as a genius,
a prophet. But Obama won, which makes Bibi, in Israeli eyes, a screw-up
of historic magnitude.
http://972mag.com/after-bibis-bet-on-romney-peace-camp-can-beat-him/59271/
President Barack Hussain Obama - again: But the grace is gone / Hamid DabashiAl
Jazeera 7 Nov -- Very few US presidents have had the opportunity to
alter the global perception of the US, and Obama has squandered it --
...For the moment, the world is saved from the outlandish antics of Mitt
Romney - a bizarre cut between an Attila the Hun in global warmongering
and Jack-the-Ripper in capitalist savagery deluded to become "the
leader of the free world", as these people call themselves. This indeed
is the fate of this democracy, which fancies itself "the
leader of the free world" and wishes to cast the whole world in its own
image -- that every four years we are so scared out of our wits by the
prospect of a Romney that we rush to vote for an Obama -- opting for a
political opportunist rather than a global peril. The assumption that
Obama is relatively better than Romney is of
course very hard to sell to Iranians, Afghans, Palestinians, or
Pakistanis, who are in one way or another suffering the consequences of
his deadly decisions.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211785348348393.html
Clearing the path for future tyranny / Murtaza Hussein
Al Jazeera 31 Oct -- The right to
indefinitely detain citizens without trial,
classified kill-lists and "
disposition matrices", a fast-expanding
fleet of legally-unaccountable aerial drones, and the presumptive right
to kill American citizens without due process -
all these sweeping expansions of executive power are the legacy of four
years of Barack Obama's presidency and of themselves represent a new
era in the power of the American government over its citizenry. Never
before has an American president asserted their ability to act
as judge, jury and executioner towards their own citizens, a power which
Barack Obama claimed for the executive branch in killing the New
Mexico-born fundamentalist preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki in a drone strike -
followed by his 16 year-old son two weeks later. The passage of the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) provides
the President with the ability to place Americans under indefinite
military detention without trial or even the provision of evidence; a
power which extends to citizens abroad as well as to those on US soil.
Such concepts seem utterly otherworldly to most Americans, especially
given their origination from a liberal president
who had been elected in large part as a response to the perceived belligerence and militarism of George W Bush.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121029155126349265.htmlEnough money, too much occupation / Ralph Seliger
Daily
Beast 6 Nov -- Visiting Ramallah with Partners for Progressive Israel
(formerly Meretz
USA), I was one of 17 Americans -- all but one of us Jews -- meeting
with
several notable Palestinians, including Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad. We
also spoke with Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bahour ... what
really surprised us was his
revelation that the Palestinians have private funds amounting to seven
billion dollars in a bank waiting for a reasonable investment climate.
He indicated to me by email that these private monies are deposited in
private banks regulated by the
Palestine Monetary Authority.
Prompted to explain this apparent anomaly of a large fund of private
capital amidst an economy entirely dependent upon international aid,
Bahour emphasized that "the issue is not money, that is if you are in
the private sector. The issue is squarely military occupation.'
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/06/enough-money-too-much-occupation.html
Israel is responsible for 'price tag' attacks, not just a few settler extremists / Philip Bato
EI 7 Nov -- The small Palestinian village of Burqa near
Ramallah in the occupied West Bank was once again targeted by Israeli settlers this Saturday — the latest so-called "
price tag"
attack committed by settlers to avenge outpost demolitions by the
Israeli government. The village has been repeatedly attacked by such
"price tag"
militants. Last year, two cars went up in flames, and three months later
the mosque in Burqa was burned, with the words "Mitzpe Yitzhar" (an
outpost near
Nablus) and "War" painted on its charred walls. On Saturday, several cars were damaged and graffiti references to a
Migron outpost left on the crime scene. Israeli police say they are "canvassing the area."
Despite the widespread coverage of "price tag" violence, mainstream
media outlets habitually neglect the pivotal role of the Israeli
government in breeding these attacks.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-responsible-price-tag-attacks-not-just-few-settler-extremists/11852
New film on Nazi links to Zionism sidesteps the toughest questions / Terri Ginsberg
EI
7 Nov -- Arnon Goldfinger’s 2011 documentary The Flat has just opened
in New York City. Although enthusiastically publicized as an
unpredictable and astonishing trip into buried history revealing
unpopular truths about the Israeli past, The Flat -- or Ha-dira in
Hebrew -- ultimately fails to deliver on its proclaimed promise.
Instead, the film adheres closely to the acceptable parameters of
Zionist discourse, offering little to challenge prevailing conceptions
about the film’s ostensible focus: the controversial relationship
between Zionism and National Socialism.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/new-film-nazi-links-zionism-sidesteps-toughest-questions/11811
West Bank's Sufi Trail offers a glimpse into landmarks and history of Islamic mysticism
AP 7 Nov -- For most tourists,
iconic religious landmarks like the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall
and the Church of the Nativity are an important part of any visit to the
Holy Land. Now a new trail offers visitors a look at little-known
spiritual sites associated with
Sufism, or Islamic mysticism. The Sufi Trail is less than an hour from
Jerusalem, in the central West Bank, amid vast expanses of olive tree terraces, forests and rocky hills. The trail showcases
sanctuaries
and shrines marking the burial sites of Sufi spiritual leaders. In an
era of rising Islamic fundamentalism, the trail also provides a glimpse
of a moderate strain of Islam while preserving the history of a
millennium-old tradition that is rapidly fading from local memory...
Tourists can choose from three different paths, each named after Sufi
mystics with stops at four to six sanctuaries. The tours take a half-day
of walking, hiking and riding a bus. The countryside and small
Palestinian villages line the paths connecting the shrines.
http://www.sufitrails.ps/
http://news.yahoo.com/west-banks-sufi-trail-offers-glimpse-landmarks-history-183037026.html
Watch: Unexpected sensations in 'Palestine Interrupted' video installation by Adam Abel
EI 7 Nov --
Palestine Interrupted Trailer from
Adam Abel Studio on
Vimeo. Artist Adam Abel recently released the above trailer which puts into
linear form segments from nine short videos which are the basis of his
master’s thesis exhibition at Parsons, The New School for Design in New
York City. Abel states on
his website: "I am using narratives from Palestine to disrupt narratives
about Palestine. Predictable images of military, checkpoints, walls and
violence are absent in my videos. Through fragmented vignettes and
sensorial experience, I weave together moments that are melancholic,
hopeful, mundane and anxious."
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/watch-unexpected-sensations-palestine-interrupted-video-installation-adam
-