IOF camp east of Nablus and expel the residents for six months
NABLUS (PIC) 2 Nov -- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) asked the
residents of Khirbet Tana near the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus to
leave the entire area for a period of six months, under the pretext of
conducting military exercises. Eyewitnesses said that the IOF erected
military tents and caravans in the region, pointing to the presence of
military vehicles holding the flags of the Israeli entity and the United
States of America which roamed the area ... The occupation forces gave
people ten days to leave their homes and go to the Beit Furik, and
warned the residents that the occupation forces will use live ammunition
to destruct Khirbet Tana and to force them to leave.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Israel authorities distribute demolition orders in Hebron
PNN
-- On Friday 2nd November, Israeli occupation authorities distributed
demolition orders to seven houses in Ethna village, west of Hebron
Governorate. The owners of the notified houses told Land Research Center
(LRC) that patrols of Israeli army, escorted by staff of Israel's Civil
Administration raided Khelit Harb area and "put the demolition orders
on the houses and took some pictures before leaving." The notices were
issued by Israel's Civil Administration and came on claims that the
houses were build without an Israeli authorization.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2997-israel-authorities-distribute-demolition-orders-in-hebron
IOA threatens to remove solar panels and a school south of Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 2 Nov -- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
threatened on Thursday the people of Alfajat and Taban areas east of
Yatta, south of al-Khalil, in the occupied West Bank, to remove the
solar panels that provide their area with electricity, and to demolish
al-Mosafer school in the same area. Haji Akram Sari Abu Sabha, 44, the
network guard, confirmed to the PIC reporter, that the occupation forces
raided the room that contains the solar panels network and threatened
to remove it. Abu Sabha considered that "this measure came in the
context of tightening the noose around the citizens in order to force
them to leave."
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Israel: New risk to Palestinian Christians' livelihoods
Ind. Catholic News 1 Nov -- Bishops in the Holy Land are rallying in defence of Christian families
near Bethlehem who risk losing access to their olive groves and fruit
farms if the Israeli government goes ahead with plans to extend its
security wall. Plans to extend the West Bank Barrier -- a security
measure which separates the Palestinian territories from Israel --
through the Cremisan Valley will affect the livelihoods of 58 families
in the predominantly Christian village of Beit Jala.
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=21355
PHOTOS: Palestinian house demolished for sixth time
Activestills/972mag 1 Nov -- ...At 3:00 a.m. this morning, Israeli forces demolished Beit Arabiya, the
family house of Salim and Arabiya Shawamreh, for the sixth time. First
built in 1994, it was rebuilt once again this summer
by international, Palestinian, and Israeli volunteers organized by the
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), which has used the
house as a peace center since 2003. ICAHD: "Arabiya and Salim have dedicated their home as a center for peace in the
memories of Rachel Corrie and Nuha Sweidan, two women (an American and a
Palestinian) who died resisting home demolitions in Gaza. In the past
decade ICAHD has hosted numerous visitors at Beit Arabiya, and based its
annual rebuilding camp at the house, rebuilding 186 demolished
Palestinian homes."
http://972mag.com/photos-palestinian-house-demolished-for-sixth-time/58848/
Occupation devises new ways to punish the Palestinian MPs
RAMALLAH (PIC) 31 Oct -- The occupied West Bank in
general and its city of Ramallah, in particular, witnessed recently, a
remarkable escalation in Israeli brutal practices against Palestinian
MPs and liberated prisoners. The Israeli forces have increased its
violations through seizing MPs' vehicles, a new phenomenon that is
described by political analysts as "piracy".
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Restriction of movement
OPT: Israeli promises of family reunification fall short
RAMALLAH, 2 Nov (IRIN) -- Until "that day" in 2007, Nisreen
Asaid was a wife and a mother. She was also a hairdresser. But life as
she knew it came to a sudden end when Asaid was sent, against her will,
from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.Â
The Israeli authorities have not allowed Asaid to return to her home in
the West Bank’s de facto capital, Ramallah. Her husband got tired of
waiting and divorced her. Asaid has no close relatives in Gaza, and,
with unemployment hovering around 30 percent, she has been unable to
find work. She is dependent on her family in the West Bank, which wires
money to her so she can stay afloat. Despite her difficulties and
uncertain future, Asaid’s biggest worry is that her two children do not
remember her face ... With the help of Gisha, an Israeli NGO that
campaigns for freedom of
movement, Asaid has waged a legal battle in the hope of returning to her
two children. She managed to get her address updated to the West Bank
and got a new ID that reflects the change. But the Israeli authorities
will not allow Asaid to leave the Gaza Strip despite the fact that they
have no security claim against her ... [Gisha Executive Director Sari
Bash] said the so-called "separation policy" is driven by the fact that
Israel
has territorial claims in the West Bank, but has abandoned those claims
in Gaza.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96693/OPT-Israeli-promises-of-family-reunification-fall-short
Violence / Raids / Illegal arrests
The IOF desecrate mosque, arrest 9 West Bankers
OCCUPIED WB (PIC) 1 Nov -- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have
desecrated at dawn on Thursday a mosque west of the city of al-Khalil in
the occupied West Bank, and arrested eight Palestinian youths.
Eyewitnesses told PIC's reporter that Israeli soldiers raided the mosque
of Ahmed Yassin in Ethna village west of al-Khalil, desecrating and
searching it, and damaging its contents.
Israeli occupation forces arrested at dawn
on Wednesday the liberated prisoner Sultan Khallouf, 29, after raiding
his house in the village of Burkin, south of Jenin. Khallouf had previously spent four and a
half years of his life in Israeli jails, on charges of resisting the
occupation, and belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement. He is married
and works in the field of agricultural engineering. The liberated prisoner Sheikh Khader Adnan
said that Khallouf's arrest, who was the most prominent supporter of
Hana Shalabi's hunger strike, came as revenge from the prisoners' hunger
strike issue and the hunger strikers' supporters.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Soldiers kidnap mother of Palestinian detainee in Nablus
IMEMC 2 Nov -- Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Thursday evening, Dalaal Zamel, the
mother of detainee Mahran Abu Khamis, at a flying checkpoint installed
west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Soldiers also kidnapped
wife of former detainee Tha‘er Halahla, after crossing into the West
Bank following a visit to her parents in Jordan.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64493
Suspected 'price tag' act in Burqa
Ynet 2 Nov -- "Price tag" graffiti and a partially burnt car were found
Friday in the West Bank village of Burqa, east of Ramallah. Security
forces are canvassing the area for the perpetrators.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4300494,00.html
A mother's story
PSP
2 Nov -- Mohammed, Khatab and Raneem had been missing their father
while he
was away from home. Now that he was home they finally had a rare chance
to play games together, talk about the celebration of Eid, what they
did at school and to eat a family dinner together. The children could go
to bed with smiles on their faces. Their nice dreams abruptly turned
into a nightmare. In the early hours of Tuesday 30th October a
contingent of over 100
Israeli soldiers surrounded the house of Waheed Abu Maria in the small
farming village of Beit Ommar, south of Bethlehem ... The soldiers shone
spotlights on the house and demanded, through a loudspeaker,"Everyone
leave the house!" ... Umm Hamza, her daughter and two sons left the
house and were ordered to
walk a short distance up the road and sit down in the roadway. The
children were both scared and cold because they did not have any time to
get properly dressed. They waited in the streets for two hours before
being taken to a neighbour’s house. During this time the army continued
their demands that Waheed leave the house and, when he refused,
commenced to fire automatic weapons at the doors and windows. They also
fired several rounds of a bazooka-like weapon in their efforts to breach
the door. When this failed they brought in a military bulldozer and
commenced to demolish the front of the house.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2012/11/02/a-mother%E2%80%99s-story/
Israeli occupation raid Beit Ummar, break into a prisoner's house
PNN
-- On Thursday 1st November, Israeli forces raided the village of Beit
Ummar in Hebron and broke into the house of a prisoner, Wahid Abu Maria,
searched it and rummaged with the contents. Israeli forces detained Abu
Maria's wife and sons in one of the rooms and started to search the
house, claiming that there are weapons hidden in the house. Another
armed force raided a chicken farm belonging to Abu Maria in Beit Za'ta
and thoroughly searched it.
It's worth mentioning that Abu Maria was
arrested On Tuesday 30th October, after they raided his house and
demolished part of it.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2989-israeli-occupation-raid-beit-ummar-break-into-a-prisoner-house
Young Palestinian nabbed for alleged attempt to attack soldier
QALQILIA (PIC) 1 Oct -- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a
Palestinian youth in Qalqilia city at dawn Thursday claiming that he
attempted to stab a soldier. Hebrew media reported that the young man
tried to assault the soldier in front of the house of a "wanted"
Palestinian. The reports said that the unidentified youth was arrested
and taken for questioning.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Israeli paper releases details of Abu Jihad's killing in Tunis
TEL AVIV (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- An Israeli newspaper on Thursday published an
interview with the commando who killed the PLO's second-in-command more
than 20 years ago. Israel never officially acknowledged its role
in the April 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir, known as Abu Jihad. Most
Palestinians had little doubt it was an Israeli operation. Yediot
Ahronoth [Hebrew?] on Thursday published an interview conducted with Nahum Lev,
who led the operation, after military censors cleared the story. Lev
died in a car accident in 2000.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533128
Hamas: PA security arrests two of our leaders, summonses three others
PNN -- On Friday 2nd November, Hamas Movement said that the Palestinian
Authority security agencies arrested two of Hamas leaders and summoned
three others. Islamic Jihad Movement also accused PA preventive security
in Jenin Governorate of arresting a leader in the movement, Ibrahim
Sweiti, after they broke into his house in Qabatiya village. A leader in
Jihad Movement also accused the preventive security of searching his
house and confiscating mobile and computer devices. Hamas in Tul Karem
said that the preventive security re-arrested Adnan Samarah, and
summoned Imad Bdair, 35, for the second time in almost two months. PA
preventive security also summoned Raja'I Ahmad al-Amoury and Foad
al-Shalabi after they were released a week ago.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2996-hamas-pa-security-arrests-two-of-our-leaders-summonses-three-others
Gaza
Palestinian seriously wounded by Israeli fire on central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- A 22-year-old Palestinian was seriously wounded on
Friday morning by Israeli tank fire on the central Gaza Strip, medics
said. Witnesses said Israeli artillery fired several shells on a group of farmers east of Al-Bureij refugee camp. Ministry
of health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said a young man was brought to
al-Aqsa hospital with serious wounds to the neck and chest. An
Israeli military spokeswoman said forces fired on "a suspect apparently
placing an explosive device." She said no explosion had ensued, but
noted that an Israeli soldier had been wounded by explosives in the same
area two weeks ago.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533173
Turkey: ErdoÄŸan 'plans to visit Gaza'
ISTANBUL (Today's Zaman) 2 Nov -- Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan has revived a plan to make a postponed visit to
Gaza and demanded that Israel lift its blockade of the narrow strip
between Israel and Egypt as a precondition to restore ties between
Ankara and Tel Aviv. Erdoğan 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 realize
this trip.
http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=296893
Court to hear 490 witnesses against Israel in Mavi Marmara case
MEMO 2 Nov -- A criminal court in Istanbul is due to begin the hearing of 490
witnesses from 37 countries in the case against Israeli officials
responsible for the murderous attack on the Mavi Marmara. Nine Turkish
citizens were killed by Israeli commandos during the assault in May
2010. According to Turkish newspaper Sabah, the court will also hear the
testimony of Haneen Zoabi, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4548-court-to-hear-490-witnesses-against-israel-in-mavi-marmara-case
'Ark' loaded with Gaza exports to set sail in 2013
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- The first siege-breaking ship to originate
inside
Gaza is set to depart for an early 2013 voyage to take goods to
international markets, a Red Crescent official said Friday. Muna
al-Farra says the "Gaza Ark" aims to break the Israeli blockade with
help from French and Canadian activists in partnership with Palestinian
activists and traders. The ship will have 13 activists on board with an
undetermined number of Palestinian traders. The voyage is expected to
depart in the first months of 2013, al-Farra said. Organizers expect to
load agricultural products onto the ship after coordinating with foreign
ports. The ship will also accompany Palestinian fishermen to protect
them from Israeli gunboats.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533260
Hajj pilgrims return to Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- Around a thousand Palestinians from Gaza will
return from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on Friday, an official
said. They will cross the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah in two
stages throughout the day, border official Maher Abu Sabha said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533238
Qatar to fund major sports city project in Gaza
Al
Arabiya 2 Nov -- A $25 million sports city project in Gaza City will be
launched soon as
funding will be provided by Qatar, the Palestinian Minister of Sports,
Youth, and Culture Mohammed Al-Madhoun announced, according to the
Arabian Business news website on Friday. The announcement by Madhoun was
made during the opening of the football
youth league in Gaza adding that the sports project will include an
international stadium, sports fields, hotels, offices and an
Olympic-sized pool built in the southern part of the city. Named after
the late Ahmad Yasin, Hamas’ prominent spiritual leader who
was assassinated by Israel in 2004, the Minister said that the
construction of "Yasin City" will be a speedy one.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/02/247289.html
Prisoners
Official: Red Cross says Gaza relatives still visiting Israeli jails
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- The International Committee of the Red Cross is
still coordinating family visits to Gazans imprisoned in Israeli jails, a
Gaza official said Friday. The Palestinian Authority prisoner
affairs ministry said earlier this week that Israel had canceled the
family visits, three months after they were resumed. But DFLP
official Louai Moamar said the ICRC is not aware of any cancellation,
after a meeting with Khan Younis ICRC chief Enrique Lomana and the
governor of the southern Gaza province. Rather, the Red Cross
organized a visit last week that passed without obstacles, and has
already got Israeli approval for another next week, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533179
Hunger-striker in Israeli jail 'transferred to hospital'
HEBRON
(Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- A Palestinian prisoner being held under Israel's
administrative detainee status was transferred to Hadassah hospital on
Friday after going on hunger strike three days earlier. Mohammad Ahmad
al-Najjar 30, suffers from a stomach illness, the Palestinian Prisoners
Society reported. The
prisoner has been in and out of administrative detention for eight
years of his life. He was last arrested on Oct. 30 and began a hunger
strike immediately upon arriving.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533258
Gaza government calls for the release of Ayman Sharawna
GAZA (PIC) 2 Nov -- The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a
letter
to "Peter Maurer," the head of the International Committee of the Red
Cross, asking him to pressure the Israeli occupation for the release of
captive Ayman Sharawna and to form a committee to investigate the
prisoners and detainees' conditions in Israeli jails ... Sharawna is a
liberated prisoner who was
released in Wafa al-Ahrar deal in October 2011, but he was re-arrested
by the occupation on January 31 of this year and turned him to
administrative detention without charge or trial.
Sharawna has launched his own hunger strike since early July of this
year ... The striker prisoner suffers a very critical health condition,
suffering
from head pain and frequent blackouts limiting his ability to remember.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Amnesty International demands immediate release of Wa‘ed Tamimi, son of detained Palestinian activist
New
York 2 Nov -- Amnesty International demanded the immediate release from
custody today of the 16-year-old son of Bassem Tamimi, a detained
Palestinian rights activist and prisoner of conscience in the occupied
West Bank, after the son was himself arrested by Israeli soldiers during
the regular weekly protest against the encroachment of Israeli settlers
onto Palestinian land. Wa‘ed Tamimi was arrested along with four
activists during the demonstration on Friday afternoon in the West Bank
village of al-Nabi Saleh northwest of Ramallah. "Today's arrest of Wa‘ed
Tamimi while he was walking peacefully in his village points to the
continuing harassment of activist Bassem Tamimi, his family, and the
community of al-Nabi Saleh by Israeli military forces," said Ann
Harrison, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa deputy
director. "This harassment must stop."
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/amnesty-international-demands-immediate-release-of-wa-ed-tamimi-son-of-detained-palestinian-activist
Palestinians hold demo to protest Israeli occupation
Press TV 2 Nov -- Palestinians have
staged an anti-Israeli demonstration near the West Bank city of Nablus
to protest against the expropriation of their land by the Zionist
regime.
Scores of Palestinian protesters took part in the weekly
anti-occupation protest in the village of Kfar Qaddum on Friday and
called for an end to the Israeli occupation.
During their demonstration, the Palestinians burned a British flag
in condemnation of London's support for the Israeli occupation of their
lands.
This week’s protest coincided with the 95th anniversary of the
Balfour Declaration, which refers to a formal statement of policy by the
British government on November 2, 1917 regarding the establishment of a
Jewish homeland in Palestine.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/02/270129/palestinians-hold-antiisraeli-demo/
EU considers ban on settlement products
MEMO 2 Nov -- A Greek diplomat has claimed that the EU is considering a
comprehensive ban on goods produced on Israeli settlements, Yedioth
Ahronoth has reported. The anonymous diplomat told the newspaper that EU
committees are deliberating on the issue of settlement products and are
expected to present their conclusions to the EU executive for a
decision on the matter. He said that his country reminds Benjamin
Netanyahu regularly "that settlements are illegal". The options open to the EU include making sure that all products
originating from any territory beyond Israel's 1967 borders are marked
clearly as such, along with the banning of such imports completely.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/4544-eu-considers-ban-on-settlement-products
West Bank's shadow falls on Delhi International Arts Festival
New
Delhi (IANS) 2 Nov -- The tension between the West Bank and Isreal is
echoing at the sixth edition of the Delhi International Arts Festival in
India with an umbrella group calling for the boycott of the Cameri
Theatre, which will stage relationship drama "Stempenyu" here Nov 4.
However, the Delhi International Arts Festival said Friday the
production would go ahead as scheduled
http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-96746.html#.UJSruYaAaSo
'Material support' law used in Holy Land 5 case is how US government harasses Palestine solidarity activists
Mondoweiss 2 Nov by Adam Horowitz -- The last legal avenue for the former heads of the Holy Land Foundation closed earlier this week
when the Supreme Court decided not to hear their appeal, much to the
chagrin of Palestine solidarity activists and the families of the Holy Land Five,
as they are known. The five men were convicted for violating the U.S.
prohibition on "material support" for designated terrorist groups. And
what’s important
to note is that the Holy Land Five case was hardly the first time the
"material support" law has been used against those advocating for
Palestinian rights. Indeed, the prohibition on "material support" for
State Department-designated terrorist groups is a favored tool of the
government to go after Palestine solidarity activists. The continued use
of the law is contributing to a slow process of criminalizing Palestine
solidarity activism -- not by outlawing the activism, but by using
terrorism-related concerns to hinder advocates' work.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/material-support-law-used-in-holy-land-5-case-is-how-u-s-government-harasses-palestine-solidarity-activists.html
Refugees
PFLP-GC says Palestinian brigade in Syria 'dangerous'
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- A Palestinian faction in Syria aligned with
President Bashar Assad said Friday that reports of a rebel-formed
Palestinian brigade to challenge their authority was a "dangerous
development." Syrian rebels said on Wednesday they had begun
arming Palestinians to establish the Liwa al-Asifah (the Storm Brigade)
to wrest control of Damascus' Yarmouk refugee camp.
The largest
Palestinian camp in Syria, Yarmouk is largely under the control of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command. Rebels
accuse the faction of attacking them and cracking down on dissent
against Assad. PFLP-GC politburo member Hussam Arafat said on
Friday that arming anti-Assad Palestinians would constitute a real
danger to all Palestinians living in Syria.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533209
Palestinian exile, identity and conflict in Lebanon's refugee camps
MEMO 2 Nov --Â EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Palestinian historian Salim Nazzal was born in Lebanon to a Galilean
Palestinian family exiled by the Israelis. His main research areas are
history and social anthropology. He has contributed extensively to
furthering knowledge and awareness about the Middle East, with
particular focus on identity and education in Palestinian exiles. In
this interview, Dr Nazzal elaborates on the struggle for Palestinian
identity by focusing on history, education and identity. Palestinian
refugees have been sidelined by their host country and attempts by the
United Nations to restore their rights have been repeatedly shunned by
Israel, since General Assembly resolutions are not binding. Thus, the
community continues to struggle within a reality which is mostly
obscured within international oblivion.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/resources/interviews/4545-palestinian-exile-identity-and-conflict-in-lebanons-refugee-camps
Political, other news
Palestine's Abu Mazen rescinds his right of return on Israeli TV
Al
Akhbar 2 Nov -- Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas
rescinded his
internationally sanctioned right to return to his hometown of Safad,
annexed by Israel in 1948, on Israeli TV Thursday night. Pressed by
Israeli Channel 2 TV about whether the Palestinian
Authority considered towns in the Galilee to be part of Palestine, Abbas
struck a deeply personal note in the Authority's latest efforts to
placate Israeli concerns about Palestinian refugees. "I want to see
Safad. It's my right to see it. But not to live there," said an
impassioned Abbas.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestines-abu-mazen-rescinds-his-right-return-israeli-tv
Hamas PM blasts Palestinian leader over TV remarks
GAZA CITY (AP) 2 Nov -- The prime minister of the Hamas-ruled Gaza
strip criticized the Palestinian president on Friday for comments given
to Israeli media, alleging that they contradict longtime Palestinian
territorial demands. Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that Mahmoud Abbas'
remarks, aired on Israel's Channel 2, were "extremely dangerous." Abbas,
who was speaking about borders of a future Palestinian state,
said the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem are Palestine - and the rest
is Israel.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-02/193686-hamas-pm-blasts-palestinian-leader-over-tv-remarks.ashx#axzz2B6cFpeGB
Israel backs Romney but Palestinians indifferent
JERUSALEM (Daily Star) 2 Nov -- Israel may be openly hoping that Republican challenger Mitt
Romney will end up stealing the presidency from Barack Obama, but for
the Palestinians it makes little difference who takes over the White
House ... With peace negotiations on hold for more than two years, Obama no longer
inspires the enthusiasm he once did among Palestinians who say the
identity of the next US president will not change anything.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-02/193627-israel-backs-romney-but-palestinians-indifferent.ashx
Patriarch 'threatens to close Sepulchre church' over bank freeze
TEL
AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 2 Nov -- The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is
threatening to close the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in a
dispute over water bills, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday ... The
church, said to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial, is
struggling with a 9 million shekel ($2.3 million) unpaid bill owed to
the Jerusalem water company ... Maariv said that for decades there had
been a tacit agreement between
the church and a former mayor of Jerusalem, exempting the Patriarchate
from paying for water piped to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=533255
Christian leaders spar over IDF enlistment
Ynet
2 Nov -- The issue of the enlistment of Christians in the IDF has
sparked unexpected tensions in Israel's Arab Christian community.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4300418,00.html
'Qalandiya International' highlights Palestinian suffering through art
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 1 Nov by Filistin Al-Remawi - “Qalandiya International†festival,
which was inaugurated Thursday in Qalandiya village, north of Jerusalem,
cast the lights on the area that was Palestine’s window to the world,
where Qalandiya airport was active until 1967, and suffers daily from
the Israeli occupation’s wall that suffocates it.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20969
Senior Israeli defense official: Egypt's Morsi won't talk to us
Haaretz
2 Nov -- Amos Gilad described Morsi's government as a 'terrible
dictatorship,' but stressed that Israel must safeguard the peace treaty
with Egypt 'at any cost,' saying that Israel does not want to engage in
military activity against its southern neighbor. Gilad added that today
the Israeli and Egyptian leaderships are not in
contact. "There is no talk between our political echelon and that of
Egypt, and I don't think there will be," he said, adding that they
"won't talk to us."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/senior-israeli-defense-official-egypt-s-morsi-won-t-talk-to-us-1.474030
The latest casualty of strained Turkish-Israeli relations: Independence Day ceremonies
Haaretz 1 Nov -- The strained relations between Israel and Turkey, which
have led to the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, a downgrading of
security and intelligence cooperation and an almost complete disconnect
between Ankara and Jerusalem, have now manifested themselves in mutual
and official boycotts of the countries' independence ceremonies.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/diplomania/the-latest-casualty-of-strained-turkish-israeli-relations-independence-day-ceremonies.premium-1.473844
UNIFIL barometer mistaken for spy device
BEIRUT (Daily Star) 1 Nov -- A resident at the bordering town of Blida reported finding an
Israeli spying device. A security source said that an army unit and
several members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon deployed
at the scene to launch an investigation. After arriving to the scene,
security forces said that the device was a barometer installed by
UNIFIL’s French contingent.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Nov-01/193457-unifil-barometer-mistaken-for-spy-device.ashx
Israeli Racism / Discrimination
When an Israeli soccer game looks like a Klan rally / Larry Derfner
972mag
2 Nov -- It’s hard to say which is worse – the behavior of racist fans,
or the tacit approval they get from Israeli sports officials and media
... what happened this week to Nigerian-born Israeli player Toto Tamuz
shows
a level of callousness to blatant, raw racism that I wonder how many
countries could match.
http://972mag.com/when-an-israeli-soccer-game-looks-like-a-klan-rally/58818/
Women's rights activist: We are reclaiming Judaism's holiest site / Dahlia Scheindlin
972mag 2 Nov -- What was the back story behind your recent arrest while praying at the women’s section of the Western Wall? The Wall is totally managed by The Western Wall Heritage Fund,
it’s quasi-governmental, but not managed like any NGO that I know.
People sit there for decades and according to the NGO Registrar, they’re
all Haredi (ultra-orthodox) men.
Rav Shmuel Rabinovich is the head. He decides to enforce the rules of
the Kotel (Western Wall). Some he enforces, some he ignores
http://972mag.com/womens-rights-activist-we-are-reclaiming-judaisms-holiest-site/58900/
Analysis / Opinion / Reviews
Good morning, President Abbas / Nour Joudah
Elect. Intifada 2 Nov -- ...this morning, I woke up to this: "I visited Safad before once. But I want to see Safad. It’s my right
to see it, but not to live there. Palestine now for me is '67 borders,
with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is now and forever…this is
Palestine for me. I am a refugee, but I am living in Ramallah. I believe
the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine and the other parts are Israel." -
Mahmoud Abbas
The next time someone tells me any particular word I choose is too
strong or harsh to describe Abbas, I am considering printing the
transcript of this interview and slapping said person with it...
My father is almost 80 years old and he has more than the right to visit Isdoud.
I, and my siblings, have more than the right to see the grass of where a
village once stood. I have the right to return and rebuild Palestine
from the ground up. All of it. And so does every refugee and their
descendants. The kids from Safad living in Shatila and Ein el-Hilweh, and all the
camps of Lebanon, are not dreaming of your Ramallah, Mr. President. They
are dreaming of their Safad. If I or they want to sign away our right of return, we will let you know.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nour-joudah/good-morning-president-abbas
Hamas realignment leaves resistance axis reeling / Hugh Naylor
JERUSALEM (National) 3 Nov // It has been called the "Axis of Resistance", but the
anti-US alliance of Iran, Syria and Hizbollah and Hamas is
disintegrating. Hamas's decision to align itself with Sunni-led countries such as
Qatar and Bahrain has come as a major blow to the axis also reeling on
several other fronts. The Qatari emir's visit to Hamas-ruled Gaza
last month underscored the degree to which the axis has unravelled and
sent a powerful message the governments in Damascus and Tehran, which
views the Arab Gulf state as an arch foe ... That Hamas, a Sunni Islamist group, has allied itself with Sunni
powers reflects the faultlines in the Middle East, say analysts. Hamas was the only Sunni member of the axis
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/hamas-realignment-leaves-resistance-axis-reeling
Bringing Arab Israelis to the ballot box / Mohammad Darawshe & Amnon Be'eri Sulitzeanu
Haaretz
2 Nov -- The renowned American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:
"Shall
we then judge a country by the majority, or by the minority? By the
minority, surely." A democracy is indeed judged, first and foremost, by
the extent to which the minority participates in public life.
Particularly in countries with a substantial minority belonging to one
ethnic group, its participation in all facets of life - the economy,
academia, the media and political life - is vital for social stability
... That is why the sharp fall in participation in the elections among
the Arab citizens of Israel over the past decade is so alarming. From a
turnout of 75 percent in the national election of 1999, the voting rate
among Arabs had declined to 54.4 percent a decade later - a much sharper
drop than that registered among Jewish voters.
Election turnout can be seen as a precise seismogram of the extent to
which the minority feels that it belongs to the state, and reveals the
undercurrent of relations between the minority and the state.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/bringing-arab-israelis-to-the-ballot-box.premium-1.473893
Eighteen years and getting colder / Dr. Assaf David
Haaretz
2 Nov -- Failing to dissuade the [Jordanian]
designated ambassador to Israel, Walid Obeidat, from accepting the
position, dignitaries from the tribe issued a harsh 'statement of
repudiation.' -- Last week marked the 18th anniversary of the peace treaty between
Israel and Jordan. Israelis remember that day as a happy moment, as
proof that the Jewish state indeed had a real friend in the Arab world.
For many Jordanians, however, it was a difficult and even painful event,
encapsulating Jordan's dependence on the West. Even their hope for
economic prosperity as a result of the peace, a hope that was
imprudently cultivated by the regime as a means to mitigate domestic
criticism, was soon to be lost. Mixed feelings of guilt, fear and
resentment between Transjordanians ("Bedouin" ), the traditional bedrock
of the regime, and Palestinian-Jordanians, and the complicated
relationship between the East Bank and the West Bank, cast their
enormous shadow on the implementation of the treaty, thwarting its
transformation from peace between governments to peace between peoples.
While Israel has taken Jordan for granted ever since, the Jordanian
elite and public opinion have grown increasingly frustrated and
resentful toward Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/eighteen-years-and-getting-colder.premium-1.473894
US elections: Why Israel is a 'red state' / Herb Keinon
JPost
1 Nov -- Poll after poll shows Israelis favor Republican candidate Mitt
Romney over US President Barack Obama. This even though their American
Jewish brethren hold the opposite point of view. Why? ... So if Obama
has been so good for Israel’s security, why are Israelis so
cold toward him? Why doesn’t this argument resonate in Israel? Oz Almog,
a Haifa University sociologist and author of numerous books and
articles on the Israeli psyche, said that to some degree it has to do
with the emotional makeup of the Israeli. Israelis are emotional and
their impressions are linked to images and symbols, he said. He added
that the images Israelis have taken away from Obama over the
past four years have been those of a president who skipped over visiting
Israel, even though he went to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; who
showed disrespect to and snubbed the prime minister in Washington; and
who has revealed hesitance in dealing with Iran.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?ID=290213&R=R1
Israeli army opens West Bank barrier for animals
Deutsche
Welle 2 Nov -- The West Bank barrier is blocking animal migration
between Israel and
the Palestinian territories. But now, the Israeli Defence Force is
seeking ways to allow animals to get over - or even through - the wall.
Hundreds of kilometres of concrete, iron and barbed wire cut through the
West Bank, across deserts, over mountains and through forests. Israelis
call it a security fence while Palestinians call it a racial separation
wall.
Cut off from feeding grounds -- Imad Atrash is the
Palestine Wildlife Society Executive Director and
says the barrier divides animal families. In an interview with DW, he
explained that before the barrier was built, between Jerusalem and
Bethlehem, the red fox population was separated by a fence. "The male
was on the Israeli side and the female was inside Palestinian lands," he
said. "The male dug a hole and came to the female." But then the West
Bank barrier was built. "How many families of animals were separated in
the West Bank?" Atrash asked.
Court rulings against Israel's Ministry of Defence in recent years have
resulted in a significant slowing down on the barrier's construction.
The army now works with environmental organizations to find solutions to
allow small animals to pass from Israel into the Palestinian
territories and back again. It has created zigzag passes in places to
facilitate the passage of small wildlife.
http://www.dw.de/israeli-army-opens-west-bank-barrier-for-animals/a-16351700?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
Book review: A family history firmly rooted in Jerusalem's soil / Susan Abulhawa
Elect. Intifada 3 Nov -- Jacob Nammar’s autobiography describes a Jerusalem that is impossible to imagine today -- Born in Jerusalem, Born Palestinian by Jacob Nammar is both one man’s autobiography and a national narrative. Born into a prominent Jerusalem family of wealthy Palestinian Christians
with roots that span centuries in that eternal city, Nammar was
destined to live a life of comfort and privilege. His family prospered
in Palestine, owning large tracts of valuable property in the Christian
quarter, Harra al-Nasara. His was the only family to have a
neighborhood named after it and one that gave generously to the
community, including a large sum (200 Ottoman coins) to renovate a
Jewish synagogue during the 19th century ... It was the day before his seventh birthday that Jacob’s family was
driven from their beautiful spacious Jerusalem villa. His father and
older brother were abducted and tortured by Jewish militias. His home,
and all other Palestinian homes in that affluent neighborhood, had been
looted by Jewish settlers. Nammar also describes the methodical looting
of precious books, which has only recently come to light in a
documentary, The Great Book Robbery. ...
http://electronicintifada.net/content/book-review-family-history-firmly-rooted-jerusalems-soil/11839
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