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Al-Aqsa

Soldiers assault, kidnap a Palestinian woman in Al-Aqsa Mosque

IMEMC/Agencies 3 Nov — Undercover soldiers of the Israeli military kidnapped, on Monday morning, a Palestinian woman in the yards of the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem, when she tried to stop and an extremist member of Knesset (MK) from invading the yards of the mosque accompanied by her armed guards and Israeli soldiers. Eyewitnesses said the woman, Sahar Natasha, started chanting and shouting Allahu Akbar (God is greater) to express her rejection to the invasion and desecration of the mosque, and tried to stop the Israeli MK, Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, of the “Jewish Home” Party. An-Natsha was one of many women who tried to stop Shuli and her guards, who were advancing towards the Dome of the Rock, after invading its yards. Israeli soldiers also imposed further restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and closed all gates before allowing the Israeli MK and her guards into the area. Eyewitnesses said employees of the Waqf and Islamic Endowment Department, in addition to Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the head of the al-Aqsa Mosque, tried to help the woman who was being beaten and arrested, but the army assaulted them, and forced them away [4 Nov IMEMC : Also in Jerusalem, the army released Sahar Natsha, after holding and interrogating her at a police station in the city. The police agreed to release her under the condition that she will not be allowed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque for two months.] ... The eyewitnesses added that dozens of soldiers and Israeli extremists invaded the yards of the al-Aqsa Mosque through the al-Magharba Gate, while dozens of soldiers were also deployed at the main gates of the mosque before preventing all men below the age of 40 from entering. They said scores of Palestinians have also been prevented from entering the mosque for dawn prayers, Monday, while the army withheld the ID cards of all older men who were allowed through. In addition, the soldiers conducted searches in the yards of the al-Aqsa mosque, and interrogated several worshipers.

http://www.imemc.org/article/69590

Israeli deputy minister of transportation tours Aqsa compound

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 4 Nov – Israel’s deputy transportation minister Tzipi Hotovely of the Likud party toured the al-Aqsa mosque compound Tuesday morning while being escorted by Israeli police officers. Commenting on the unwanted visitor, director of the Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani told Ma‘an that “the Israeli occupation continued with its policy of imposing siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque from dawn prayer until noon time.” This period, he said, has been allocated for entry of Jews under the so-called “foreign tourism” period. Sheikh al-Kiswani added that Palestinian men under 50 were denied entry into the compound before noon. Women, he added, are forced to leave their ID cards at Israeli police checkpoints which control all gates. Only four gates were open Tuesday ; the Lions gate, Hatta gate, the Council gate and the Chain gate. The union of “Temple Mount Organizations” have called on thousands of Jews to come to the mosque on Wednesday for a major rally in the holy place. The rally, according to organizers, will be dedicated to prayer for Yehuda Glick, the right-wing rabbi who was shot last week outside an event in Jerusalem.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737436

Dozens injured during Aqsa clashes, several detained

[with photos] JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Dozens of Palestinians suffered tear-gas inhalation and several others were injured by stun grenades, shrapnel and rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound area on Wednesday, an official said. Palestinian Red Crescent official Amin Abu Ghazaleh told Ma‘an that Red Crescent ambulances moved nine injured to the Al-Maqased Hospital where their injuries were reported as moderate. Two were injured in the eye, and 32 with stun grenades, shrapnel and rubber-coated steel bullets in addition to many who suffered severe gas inhalation. Three Palestinian members of Israel’s Knesset, Hanin Zoabi, Talab Abu Arrar and Ibrahim Sarsour, were able to enter the mosque during the closure and clashes.
Israeli soldiers neared the Al-Qabali mosque [or al-Qibli, the silver-domed mosque usually known as ’al-Aqsa’ - the entire compound is also referred to as al-Aqsa] inside the compound as they fired stun grenades and tear-gas bombs inside, the director of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, said. He said that a fire erupted inside the muezzin’s hall and cables and speakers were also burned and damaged. Soldiers "deliberately" threw holy books on the floor, he alleged.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737734

Violence / Illegal arrests

Policeman killed in Jerusalem car attack

Jerusalem (AFP) 6 Nov by Sarah Benhaida — A Palestinian slammed his car into pedestrians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a border policeman and wounding nine other people in the second such attack in a fortnight. The rampage, which came hours after clashes between police and Palestinians at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparked even more violence in east Jerusalem. Police described the car incident, which took place on the line between west Jerusalem and the city’s annexed Arab east, as a "hit and run terror attack". Hours later, in the occupied West Bank, the army reported another car assault, in which three soldiers were run down as they stood guard outside El-Arub Palestinian refugee camp, south of Bethlehem. "One is in critical condition, two with moderate wounds," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said on his official Twitter account, adding that the driver fled the scene. Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders asked the UN Security Council to demand Israel take steps to end clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque, warning of a brewing religious confrontation. In the Jerusalem incident, the driver, Ibrahim al-Akari, whom police identified as a Palestinian from Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, hit two groups of pedestrians before getting out of the vehicle and attacking passers-by with an iron bar. He was then shot dead by police. Citing security concerns, police ordered his family to bury him shortly before midnight and limited the number of mourners to 35.
The Jerusalem attack mirrored an incident on the same road on October 22 when a Palestinian rammed his car into a group of pedestrians, killing a young woman and a baby. Hours after Wednesday’s attack, police started installing concrete blocks at light rail stops, to prevent vehicles striking passengers, a police statement said. Spokeswoman Luba Samri said the driver in the Jerusalem attack had first struck a group of border policemen near their headquarters, before hitting another group of pedestrians. Emergency services spokesman Zaki Heller said two of the wounded were in very serious condition.
 Fresh clashes - Shortly after the attack, clashes broke out in both Shu‘afat refugee camp and ‘Issawiya, also in east Jerusalem, an AFP correspondent reported. Skirmishes spread across several east Jerusalem hotspots, with police saying riot control weapons were used against Palestinians who hurled stones and firecrackers ... US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the attack as a "terrorist act" that "only raises tensions" in the tinderbox region ... The attack was hailed by the Islamist Hamas movement, which described Akari as a "hero" whose actions were a "natural response" to Israel’s actions at the Al-Aqsa compound. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas of encouraging such attacks by sending condolences to the family of a Palestinian shot dead by police last week over the attempted assassination of hardline rabbi Yehuda Glick.... Clashes in Jerusalem prompted a furious response from Jordan, which has custodial rights over Muslim holy sites in the city, with Amman recalling its ambassador to Israel "in protest at Israel’s escalation" ... Palestinian representative to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said the Security Council must "adopt a position to call on the Israeli government to stop all these activities and policies of provocation and incitement" Mansour blamed the latest confrontation at the Al-Aqsa mosque on "extremists" who entered the mosque, some without taking their shoes off, which he said "is extremely provocative" ... In a bid to quell disturbances at the mosque, police entered "several metres (yards)" inside to remove blockages set up by the protesters, she said. Amin Abu Ghazali of the Palestinian Red Crescent said 39 people were wounded, six of whom were in serious condition.

http://news.yahoo.com/jerusalem-car-attack-injures-10-driver-shot-dead-105414741.html

Palestinian anger boils in the heart of East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Reuters) 5 Nov by Noah Browning and Luke Baker — For months, the streets of mainly Arab East Jerusalem, in the shadow of the Old City but where tourists seldom venture, have been ablaze, with daily clashes between armed Israeli police and Palestinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. The roots of the unrest are many : from the killing in July of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists — apparently in revenge for the killing of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinians — to increased settlement building in East Jerusalem, the war in Gaza and a push by ultra-nationalist Jews to be allowed to pray at one of Islam’s holiest sites. The seething anger was brought to the fore again on Wednesday, when a Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into pedestrians and Israeli border police on a road straddling East and West Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding a dozen. The attacker was shot dead by police. The result is the greatest period of unrest the city has experienced since the second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, began in 2000, a five-year period of conflict that left around 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis dead. While the upheaval has largely been confined to half a dozen neighborhoods in the hills and valleys to the south and east of the Old City, Palestinians say anger in their community now probably exceeds that of 14 years ago. And there are clear signs of the unrest spreading ... "Let them arrest us, let them shoot us, it doesn’t matter," said Hamada Abu Omar, 21, one of those involved in the fighting, a black-and-white chequered scarf, the type made famous by former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, around his neck. "At least we can frustrate them, slow them down and show them we will never give up," he said. For Sayid Samer, 54, who was born in the Old City, runs his grandfather’s souvenir shop there and has watched the ebb and flow of tension over decades, Jerusalem is dangerously on edge. "It’s more terrible now than it was in 2000, much worse," he says, pursing his lips in concern as a group of Israeli police passed his store in the Muslim Quarter. "It’s like a war now." ...
HARD TO RISE UP While the anger on the streets may be akin to the last Intifada or even the first, which began in 1987 and lasted until the Oslo peace accords in 1993, the ability of Palestinians to strike at Israel has become far harder. From aerial surveillance balloons to the high concrete wall that separates the Israeli-occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem, Israel has invested heavily in security measures and intelligence gathering since the early 2000s, making it extremely difficult for a mass uprising to emerge. In Abu Tor, older Palestinian men who remember the earlier Intifadas are doubtful about prospects for another one focused on Jerusalem. Ibrahim Hijazi, the father of the man suspected of having shot Glick, expressed anger at Israel’s occupation and the fight over al-Aqsa as visitors came to mourn his son’s death, but also a sense of resignation. "We live in madness. This is supposed to be a holy city, but every year under occupation we lose more land, we’re humiliated and now with al-Aqsa we’re on the brink of a religious war," he said, his eyes red and his face unshaven. While no one underestimates the frustration felt by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, few believe at this stage that an uprising to equal those that have gone before is possible. "What’s happening in Jerusalem is less of an uprising than a protest movement by the youth. Without the support of leaders, it seems unsustainable — while the Israeli police crackdown used against it is very sustainable," Samir Awad, a Palestinian analyst at Birzeit University in the West Bank, told Reuters.

http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-anger-boils-heart-east-jerusalem-162749722.html

PA arrests 250 Islamist operatives to prevent West Bank violence

Times of Israel 5 Nov by Avi Issacharoff — Despite fiery statements against Israel, Abbas leading tough policy against Hamas, Islamic Jihad ; PA believes Hamas also behind Jerusalem escalation — Palestinian Authority security forces have carried out a major series of arrests of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives in recent weeks in a largely successful effort to prevent riots and unrest against Israel from spreading throughout the West Bank, Palestinian sources told The Times of Israel Tuesday night ... Around 150 operatives were arrested in September, and over 100 in October. While many of those detained have since been released, dozens remain in PA holding facilities. Among those taken into custody are well-known Hamas religious figures, some mid-level operatives and several organizers of recent West Bank rallies and parades. The arrest operations have been overseen by two of the PA’s intelligence bodies : General Intelligence under Majed Faraj and Palestinian Preventive Security under Ziad Habalreeh. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has publicly castigated Israel for its actions to quell the unrest. In a condolence letter to the family, he described Mu’taz Hijazi, the Palestinian who allegedly attempted to assassinate right-wing activist Yehudah Glick in Jerusalem last Wednesday before being killed by Israeli security forces, as a martyr. This prompted furious Israeli condemnations. And he called Israel’s one-day closure of the Temple Mount last Thursday, in the wake of the Glick and Hijazi shootings, a declaration of war. Nonetheless, it is Abbas who is personally dictating the tough policies against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, the sources said.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-arrests-250-islamist-operatives-to-prevent-west-bank-violence/

Hamas claims Jerusalem car attack

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Hamas on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a Jerusalem car attack that killed one Israeli border policeman and injured 14 others earlier in the day. Hamas said in a statement that Ibrahim al-Akkari, the alleged attacker, took "revenge for his people," for the al-Aqsa mosque, and for Jerusalem through the attack. The military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, meanwhile said on Wednesday following the attack that "al-Aqsa is the detonator that will cause a volcano to erupt in Israel’s face." ... The Israeli border police — the target of Wednesday’s car attack — are the security arm of the national police, and frequently work with the army in occupied Palestinian territory such as East Jerusalem and the West Bank. [Soldiers were the target of the second Wednesday attack]

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737806

Another Palestinian hit by Israeli settler car

IMEMC/Agencies 5 Nov — An Israeli settler driving through Beit Jala, on Tuesday morning, hit Palestinian citizen Ibrahim Hamdan with his car as he was on his way to work, according to witnesses. Local sources told Ma‘an that the settler appeared to hit him "deliberately." Mr. Hamdan was taken to a hospital in Beit Jala for treatment, locals said, without providing further details, other than that he had been lightly injured ... The incident follows a similar one which occurred on October 19th, when an Israeli settler drove his car into five-year-old Einas Khalil in the West Bank town of Sinjil, fatally injuring her. [with links to articles about 4 additional occurrences of Israelis hitting Palestinians]

http://www.imemc.org/article/69611

Unidentified assailants kidnap Jerusalem teen

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Unidentified assailants kidnapped a 16-year-old Palestinian, Amir Majdi Ramadan, from Beit Hanina while he was heading to his school on a motorcycle Tuesday. Ramadan’s father said that according to what his son told him and reported to the police, while he was on his motorcycle going to school Tuesday morning he was hit by a car from behind, three unidentified assailants beat him with a gun on his head and placed him in the trunk of their vehicle. The boy’s father added that he did not know of the incident until he received a call from Amir’s school telling him his son did not arrive. He attempted to call his son several times before he received a call from a friend telling him his son was found lying in a neighborhood in Beit Hanina, and that a local took him to the main street and called an ambulance. He said that the Israeli police arrived to the area and found a jacket covering the boy that is thought to belong to one of the kidnappers. A booklet in Hebrew was also found in the jacket’s pocket. Ramadan’s motorcycle was found by the Israeli police in a garbage container. However, his school bag was not found. Ramadan was taken to the Hadassa Ein Karem Hospital. He had bleeding in his lungs and bruises on his neck and back. Amir said that he could not recognize any of the kidnappers, saying none of them spoke a word to him.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737685

2 Palestinians injured with live bullets in clashes in al-Ram

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Two Palestinians were injured by live bullets after Israeli forces opened fire on protesters at the northern entrance of al-Ram village south of Ramallah. Clashes broke out after Israeli forces raided the village and angry locals met them with stones and empty bottles. The soldiers retreated and redeployed at the northern entrance to the village, from where they fired live bullets and tear gas canisters and chased down Palestinians in military vehicles ... Al-Ram has been a frequent site of clashes in recent weeks, as Israeli forces have repeatedly raided the area. Al-Ram is located directly north of Israel’s separation wall on the West Bank’s main north-south artery. The wall cuts the village off from Jerusalem on two sides and exposes it to intense military surveillance.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737881

At least six Palestinians kidnapped during overnight West Bank campaign

IMEMC/Agencies 4 Nov — Israeli forces are reported to have kidnapped, at dawn on Tuesday, six Palestinian citizens during a large-scale raid campaign throughout the occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian media[PNN], local sources said that forces arrested a university student after violently storming and searching his home in Deir Sammit town, to the south of al-Khalil (Hebron). His family members were reportedly left outdoors in rainy weather, during the search. Additionally, two ex-detainees, having served several months in Israeli jails, were also detained when Israeli soldiers violently raided their homes in Beit Ummar, in Hebron city. During the campaign, Israeli troops stormed a number of homes as they allegedly looked for a wanted person. One high school student received a summons for interrogation during a raid on his parents’ home. In Jenin, Israeli soldiers abducted injured young man Mujahed al-Iz, at dawn today, from his home. Dozens of citizens were also reportedly detained and interrogated during the night at Dothan and Barta‘a military checkpoints, to the southwest of Jenin, while their vehicles were searched. Israeli forces also intensified their presence in Ya‘bud town, where they carried out a search operation in the olive fields. In related news, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society has reported that forces detained, last October, around 100 Palestinians from al-Khalil, 45 of whom have been kept in administrative detention.

http://www.imemc.org/article/69610

Army kidnaps 17 Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem

IMEMC/Agencies 5 Nov by Saed Bannoura — Israeli soldiers invaded various villages and neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, and the Abu Dis nearby town, broke into and ransacked dozens of homes, and kidnapped at least 17 Palestinians. Local sources said the police and the army surrounded entire neighborhoods in occupied Jerusalem, before invading them and breaking into homes, and ransacking them.

http://www.imemc.org/article/69614

Report : Israel police detain 38 undocumented Palestinian workers

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Nov — Israeli police have arrested dozens of Palestinian workers in the Galilee for allegedly working in Israel without permits, Israeli media said Monday. The Hebrew-language news site Walla said Israeli police detained 38 undocumented Palestinian workers in the towns of Sakhnin, ‘Arraba, and Kafr Manda [Kfar Manda] in the lower Galilee region of southern Israel. The workers will appear in court to determine whether they will be detained in Israel or sent back to the West Bank immediately, the report said, without providing further details. Between 20,000 to 30,000 Palestinian workers without permits cross into Israel every year to work, according to Israeli group Kav LaOved.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737167

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Bride, 18, jailed for protesting demolition of Negev home

BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 4 Nov — An 18-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel has been in jail for three weeks for protesting the demolition of her home in the Negev one week before she was due to get married. Duaa Sami Abu Sweilem, 18, from Wadi al-Niam in the Negev has been held in an Israeli jail for trying to protect her future home from destruction. Her father, Sami Abu Sweilem, 50, was also detained, together with her uncle Muhammad, her cousin Salman, and a neighbor, Saleh Abu Huweidi. Israeli bulldozers entered the village on Oct. 14 and demolished the home where Duaa and her future husband were due to live following their wedding a week later. Israeli police say she tried to assault police officers. A local activist and relative of Duaa said that Israeli police are using intimidation tactics to scare Negev residents.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737530

Israeli forces demolish ancient houses in Nablus

IMEMC/Agencies 4 Nov — Israeli bulldozers demolished on Monday, in the early morning, three houses dating back hundreds of years in the village of Kherbet al-Tawel, in southern Nablus, of the northern occupied West Bank. According to Al Ray, a PA official who monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, Mr. Ghassan Daghlas, said in a statement that this is not the first time that Israeli forces have demolished old houses in the same area. Khirbet al-Tawil, with most of its land confiscated by the encroaching settlements, was demolished eight times before. The locale is under constant attacks by Israeli settlers and the Israeli army, some including house demolitions, seizure of land for the benefit of illegal settlements, as well as destruction of property. Hamza Dayriyya, a member of the committee against settlements in ‘Aqraba village, said, according to WAFA, that forces bulldozed the main road leading to the village and public utilities infrastructure and prevented locals from accessing the village, declaring it a closed military zone.

http://www.imemc.org/article/69595

Army demolishes four homes in Silwan, in occupied Jerusalem

IMEMC 4 Nov by Saed Bannoura — Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and demolished four Palestinian homes [on Tuesday]. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan has reported that the soldiers invaded Wad Yasoul neighborhood in Silwan, and demolished two homes belonging to former political prisoner Khalil Abu Rajab, and Issam Abu Sbeih. It added that the soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers and personnel of the City Council, invaded the neighborhood nearly at 6 in the morning, and surrounded Wad Yasoul neighborhood before invading the home of Abu Rajab and forcing the family out, and demolished their home. Abu Rajab’s home is a two-story building that was constructed nearly five months ago ; he lived in the first floor with his eight-member family, including his mother, while his brother Ahmad was preparing to move into the second floor. Abu Rajab said the soldiers invaded his property and forced the family out without even allowing them to remove their furniture and property. In addition, resident Issam Abu Sbeih said he built his home a few months ago to live with his five family members, including his physically challenged child. He moved into the first floor of the building last week, and was still constructing the second floor. The soldiers also demolished two more homes belonging to members of Abu Sbeih and Borqan families, in the same neighborhood, while at least 36 Palestinians have been rendered homeless. The families said the destruction comes as part of Israel’s collective punishment measures meant to stop the ongoing protests to Israeli violations and attacks, including unreasonable fines imposed on home and store owners, in addition to the extremely high taxes imposed on them... [From Ma‘an : Also Tuesday, Israeli municipality workers forced the family of Muhammad Jaabis, who was shot dead in August by an Israeli security guard in West Jerusalem, to demolish two animal barns they owned in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood, locals said.]
http://www.imemc.org/article/69604

Israel demolishes building under construction in al-Tur
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday demolished an under-construction building in the East Jerusalem town of al-Tur, locals said. Israeli forces, escorted by municipality employees and bulldozers, raided the area and demolished a building belonging to Abu Shuaib al-Hadra, claiming it was built without a license. Abed al-Hadra, the son of the owner, said the demolition took place without any official notification. The family began constructing the building four months ago.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737697

NGO : Israel OKs plans for 500 E. Jerusalem settler homes
JERUSALEM (AFP) 3 Nov — Israel approved Monday plans for some 500 new settler homes in occupied , a watchdog said, only days after a government pledge to build the structures drew Palestinian ire. The units, which the government said Thursday it was "planning," were approved by the interior ministry, and are in the existing settlement of Ramat Shlomo in volatile East Jerusalem, the Peace Now non-governmental organisation said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737311

Stealing the land, inch by inch / Doris Norrito
IMEMC 5 Nov — … this is the way the world ends ; not with a bang but a whimper. From “The Hollow Men” by T.S. Eliot — The words of the poet T.S. Eliot sprang to mind at Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem and again at Ush Ghraub in Bethlehem as I listened to the stories of Palestinian land theft. Once adamant defenders of their lands, many have become disheartened and resigned to watch generations-old precious family lands stealthily taken from them by foreigners ... Walls and barriers divide family farmlands placing portions of it in Israel. Permits are required to visit the land and tend the precious olive and fruit trees ; restrictions change on whim, and permits, frequently denied, make access impossible. Ultimately Israel declares the property abandoned and it becomes state property. The family, dependent on olives for its livelihood, is deprived of making a living. Many are forced to move out. Is this not a form of ethnic cleansing ? ...
In 2014, a group of demonstrators assembles on the street across from the Sheikh Jarrah district. It is comprised of residents, Jewish supporters from West Jerusalem, Internationals from Sweden and Ireland, the UK and EAPPI. Johannes came from South Africa to support Palestinians. He says he sees the same conditions here as were imposed in South Africa. “We faced evictions, house demolitions ; had to carry ID cards and get permits to move”. A man holding high a Palestinian flag says, “Israel is the problem ; it’s not religion”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69617

Israel’s Arab roads lead nowhere
Haaretz 5 Nov by Matthew Kalman — While presented as a sign of progress, plans for Israel’s first planned ’Arab City’ smack of paternalism at best and racism at worst — Imagine the British government announcing plans to build an “Asian city” in the United Kingdom, or Congress approving the construction of a “Black city” in the United States. The idea smacks of paternalism at best, racism at worst. But the plan announced this week by the National Planning and Building Council for Israel’s first planned “Arab City” near Acre is being presented as a sign of progress, recognition of the housing needs of Israel’s 1.7 million Arab citizens. But, as the Druze-Palestinian-Israeli poet Salman Masalha pointed out in these pages on Wednesday, this ghettoized approach to planning is a double-edged sword. Specifying a city as “Arab” or “Jewish” may be a well-intentioned attempt to provide community-specific services for Israel’s sharply differentiated religious and ethnic groups, but it also creates the danger that places labeled in this manner will also suffer discrimination because of those very labels. It also smacks of yet another attempt by Israel to add a new experiment in social engineering to the long list of failures it has scored when attempting to address the needs of its Arab citizens, who now constitute 21% of the population.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/outside-edge/.premium-1.624884

New Arab city will perpetuate inequality / Salman Masalha
Haaretz 4 Nov — We should oppose the construction of a new Arab city on principle. From here it’s a short distance to pushing Arab citizens out of so-called ’Jewish’ cities — This week we were informed that not just a new settlement, but a major Israeli city is slated to be built in the Galilee “for the Arab population,” as reported in the media. The city’s planners are said to consider its construction a righting of decades-old wrongs and are calling it “a process of affirmative action.” Should we rejoice ? Ostensibly, yes. At last, positive steps are being taken and they should be welcomed by Arab citizens. But on second thought, the planned city is liable to act as a boomerang and strike the Arabs. For that reason, anyone to whom civil rights are important should oppose the construction of the city in the proposed format. The fact is that there has been long-standing institutional discrimination against the Arab population, of which the housing shortage is but one aspect. But the proposed plan to build an Arab city is not an answer, since it is actually liable to exacerbate the discrimination. There are other ways of solving the housing shortage in Arab communities. It can be done by preparing master plans, expanding the area of jurisdiction to state lands on which well-kept urban neighborhoods will be built, with high-rises that will be open to all citizens regardless of religion, race, etc. We should remember that not only discrimination on the part of Israeli governments is responsible for the failure of development in the Arab communities. There are other causes related to the conduct of Arab society itself. One cause is the ethnic and family-based structure from which Arab society is unable to free itself. Another is related to land ownership. The land in Arab communities is privately owned, and every last centimeter of the property is used for construction, in violation of the planning laws that require maintaining a distance from the street. That is also the reason why there are no public parks in Arab communities, no sidewalks for pedestrians and no orderly parking places. The result : communities that are heaps of cement and asphalt. That’s why there are often reports of Arab children hit by vehicles in their own communities, sometimes by family members.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.624628

Prisoners

New Israeli law limits Palestinian prisoner releases
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 4 Nov by Maayan Lubell — Israel’s parliament has passed a law aimed at limiting the practice employed in the past of releasing Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis to promote peace efforts. "Terrorists should die in jail," Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, from the far-right Jewish Home party, which promoted the legislation, said after parliament voted 35-15 late on Monday to approve it. Palestinians regard their people jailed by Israel as heroes in a campaign for an independent state in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Drawing protests from right-wing groups and relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks, Israeli governments have released convicted killers as part of so-called confidence-building measures in peace talks in the past. Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ club, the main group representing Palestinians in Israeli jails, called the law "racist". He said Israel would inevitably have to free inmates as part of a prisoner exchange or to restart talks. "Israel will find themselves one day compelled to change the law if it is important for political reasons," he said. U.S.-brokered negotiations collapsed in April, and the new law will empower judges to rule that defendants committed murder "under severe circumstances", a special designation that will bar the government from freeing them as part of peace talks or prisoner exchanges. The new law, however, will not apply to current prisoners. It also contains a loophole enabling Israeli presidents - who traditionally stand above politics and have largely rubber-stamped government-proposed releases in the past, to pardon future inmates of their own volition. Zehava Galon, leader of the left-wing opposition Meretz party, said Jewish Home was trying deliberately to foil any chance of Israel striking a peace deal with the Palestinians. "You are not allowing the government any political leeway," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-law-limits-palestinian-prisoner-releases-111233119.html

Solitary confinement a common denominator in Jerusalem attacks
972 Blog 3 Nov by Noam Rotem — Israel held over 3,000 prisoners — in over 5,000 incidents — in solitary confinement over the course of last year. Over 200 minors were sent to solitary. Experts call the practice cruel and inhuman treatment, and agree that it causes severe psychiatric problems. With two attacks in Jerusalem within the span of a week committed by men who spent significant period of time in solitary, it merits a closer look — On Wednesday night, October 29, a man arrived on a motorcycle to a conference organized by a Jewish right-wing movement to promote the building of a new temple on the Temple Mount and shot three bullets at Yehuda Glick, a central figure in the movement. A few hours later, Shin Bet forces invaded the Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem and shot and killed Muataz Hejazi, a Palestinian recently released from jail, who they claimed was responsible for shooting Glick. But the story is more complicated than that. Hejazi, a resident of Abu Tor, was sent to prison in December 2000 — during the Second Intifada — after being convicted of an attempt to set fire to an electrical box in a settlers’ house. His acquaintances claim that he was not a member of the Islamic Jihad organization, as claimed by the state, but admitted to being a member after he was tortured by Israeli investigators. During his time in jail — and, according to the same sources, after he and family members visiting him were humiliated in prison — he attacked a prison officer with a razor and beat up an investigator who, according to his family, was among those who tortured him. In response to these incidents the jail authorities decided to hold him in solitary confinement. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a Palestinian NGO that supports prisoners and their families, Hejazi spent 11 years in Israeli prison, 10 of which were in solitary confinement. When he was released in June 2012 he suffered severe psychiatric disorders which, according to sources close to him, were caused by his long stretch of solitary confinement. Hejazi was active during the recent Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike, and after his release attempted to raise awareness to the danger of long terms of solitary confinement....
http://972mag.com/solitary-confinement-a-common-denominator-in-jerusalem-attacks/98386/

Administrative detainee continues his hunger strike in Israeli hospital
IMEMC 4 Nov by Saed Bannoura — Lawyer of the Palestinian Detainees’ Committee, Karim Ajwa, managed to visit hunger striking Palestinian detainee Ra’ed Mousa, who started his hunger strike 46 days ago, and is currently held at the Barzelai Israeli medical center. Ajwa said Mousa was moved to Barzelai a week ago following a sharp deterioration in his health condition, especially after a serious loss in his body weight, as he stopped the intake of water, sugar, salt and even vitamins, and is only drinking water. Mousa is currently suffering from a sharp pain in his abdomen, continuously dizzy, lost sensation in his legs, and throws up 4-5 times a day. The layer said Mousa is cuffed and shackled to his hospital bed every day from six in the morning until six in the evening, and is even cuffed when he needs to use the toilet. Issa Qaraqe‘, head of the Detainees Committee, warned that the detainee is facing life-threatening health conditions, and said that Israel must release him instantly as he is being held under arbitrary Administrative Detention orders, without charges or trial.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69600

Report : 1982 airline bomber denied deportation to West Bank
NEW YORK (Ma‘an) 3 Nov — A Jordanian-born Palestinian responsible for a deadly 1982 airline bombing sought to be deported to the West Bank upon completing his prison sentence last year, The Associated Press reported Monday. Mohammed Rashed was not permitted to enter the West Bank because the Israeli government denied the request, citing problems with his identity documents, according to the AP, citing obtained documents. It said there had been "confidential diplomatic dealings" aimed at moving Rashed out of the US in order to fulfill an earlier commitment to deport him, according to the AP’s documents. It said Rashed, who lived in Bethlehem’s Duheisha refugee camp, was released from federal prison in March 2013 for the bombing of Pan Am 830, which killed one person and injured dozens more. The AP said Rashed remains in a New York immigration detention facility.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737250

Israel to transfer Palestinian prisoner to Bethlehem for treatment
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 3 Nov — A Palestinian prisoner jailed in Israel will be transferred to the West Bank to receive psychiatric treatment for a mental health issue, a lawyer said Monday. Hamada Suf from Haris village in the central West Bank was detained on June 17 during clashes and was shot in the foot. The transfer request was made by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and will see Suf receive medical treatment in Bethlehem for an unspecified mental health disorder.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737206

Toddler born from smuggled sperm to visit jailed father
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 Nov — Lawyers from the PA Department of Prisoner’s Affairs have secured a visit for a baby boy conceived using sperm smuggled from his jailed father. Israeli prison services had prevented prisoner Abed al-Karim Rimawi from receiving family visits because they said his son, now 18 months old, was born using sperm smuggled from a Negev jail. Rimawi’s wife said she tried to visit her husband with the then one-month-old baby in 2013 but prison officers stopped the visit after demanding that the baby take a DNA test to prove it was Rimawi’s son. She submitted an objection to the decision through ministry lawyers in which the prisoner claimed that the sperm his wife used was not smuggled but frozen before he was jailed. The Israeli court rejected the claims and charged him 5,000 shekels ($1,300) for giving false information to the court. The lawyer managed to obtain a letter from the court that they no longer insist on verifying the DNA of the child, but that they must punish him for smuggling sperm to his wife. It is unclear when the visit will take place.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737522

Overcrowding leads to shortages of winter clothes in Israeli jails
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 Nov — Palestinian prisoners in Megiddo and Gilboa jails are facing shortages in blankets and winter clothes due to overcrowding, a lawyer said Tuesday. Mamun al-Hashim, a lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, said there are now over 1,200 prisoners in Megiddo jail, leading to shortages in mattresses, blankets and clothes. Prisoners have been using their mattress covers as blankets due to the cold conditions, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737447

Gaza

Israel to reopen Gaza border crossings Tuesday : army
JERUSALEM (AFP) 3 Nov - Israel will reopen two border crossings with Gaza that it had ordered shut over the weekend, an army spokeswoman said Monday. "The crossing points of Erez and Kerem Shalom will be open as normal on Tuesday morning," the spokeswoman told AFP, without giving details. The two crossings had been ordered shut after a rocket fired from Gaza struck Israeli territory on Friday, without causing any casualties or damage.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-reopen-gaza-border-crossings-tuesday-army-215113116.html

Israel allows construction material into Gaza through Kerem Shalom
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Israeli authorities allowed a limited amount of goods, including construction material, to enter the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, an official said. Raed Fattouh, a Palestinian official responsible for the entry of goods into Gaza, said the Kerem Shalom crossing would be open to allow 400 truckloads of goods to enter Gaza. Some 53 truckloads of cement, steel, and aggregate were allowed to enter the Strip for international projects, Fattouh said. Diesel, gasoline, and cooking gas will also be allowed into Gaza, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737681

Egypt closes Rafah crossing for second week
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Nov — Egyptian authorities have closed the Rafah crossing with Gaza for the second week in a row, a Gaza official said Wednesday. Maher Abu Sabha, director of Gaza crossings, said that officials have received no updates from Egypt about the status of the crossing, adding that Gazans are paying a heavy price while it remains shut. Egypt immediately closed the Rafah crossing following an attack in Sinai which killed over 30 soldiers and began work on a buffer zone along the Gaza border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737701

Ambassador asks Egypt to open Rafah for exceptional cases
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 4 Nov — The ambassador of Palestine to Egypt has requested that the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip be opened to allow stranded Palestinian families to return home, a statement said Tuesday. Jamal al-Shubaki said in a statement that he phoned Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Shukri to ask him to open the crossing for exceptional cases. Among those stranded on the Egyptian side of the border are injured Palestinians who had been receiving medical treatment in European countries, the statement said. Al-Shubaki said the Egyptians promised to open Rafah as soon as the army finished a military crackdown that was launched following a deadly attack in the Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 24.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=737492

UN to deduct $30m in expenses from Gaza aid
Middle East Monitor 5 Nov — An official source in the Egyptian foreign ministry has expressed "extreme surprise" over the UN’s decision to deduct $30 million in administrative costs from the aid donated for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian newspaper Al-Resalah reported yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a number of media outlets reported that the UN had deducted approximately $800,000 as a first payment for about 24,000 UN employees. According to the source, the total sum deducted from the expected financial aid for Gaza is $30 million. The Egyptian officials expressed his surprise over the deduction of this money and the high rate of administrative costs. He said that this is not in keeping with humanitarian work.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15117-un-to-deduct-30m-in-expenses-from-gaza-aid

Thousands of Gaza civil servants strike
GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) 4 Nov — About 20,000 civil servants in the Gaza Strip went on strike Tuesday to protest the Palestinian unity government’s refusal to pay military and security employees of the Islamist movement Hamas. All ministries and other institutions run by Hamas in Gaza were shut and gated, except for schools, after the walkout by mostly administrative workers, an AFP correspondent said. Thousands of military and security workers caught up in a row between Palestinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah in the war-ravaged territory have not been paid for several months. Hamas hired more than 40,000 people after it seized Gaza in 2007 following deadly clashes with militants of Fatah, the party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. But after a reconciliation deal with Abbas that led to the formation of a West Bank-based national unity government in June this year, Hamas relinquished responsibility for paying salaries. Hamas has technically handed power to the unity government but it remains in de facto control of Gaza. Abbas’s West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) initially refused to pay the workers, but on Wednesday about 24,000 civilian Hamas employees received their salary from the unity government. Roughly 16,000 more — all holding jobs in the military and security services — have still not been paid...
UN peace envoy Robert Serry meanwhile announced Tuesday that the temporary reconstruction mechanism for the war-torn Palestinian territory had begun operations, under the auspices of the newly formed Palestinian unity government. "Some 700 beneficiaries were able to purchase much needed construction material in order to start the rehabilitation of their homes after the recent devastating conflict in Gaza," his office said. Serry noted the urgency in providing cement and other materials to tens of thousands of damaged homes in Gaza ahead of winter.
http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-gaza-civil-servants-strike-141714873.html

Global court says will not investigate Israeli raid on Turkish flotilla
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) 6 Nov by Thomas Escritt — International prosecutors believe Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes during a raid that killed nine Turkish activists in 2010, but have decided the case is beyond their remit, according to court papers seen by Reuters. The move by lawyers at the International Criminal Court is likely to enrage Ankara which accused its erstwhile ally Israel of mass murder after the commandos abseiled onto a flotilla challenging an Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. "The information available provides a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes under the Court’s jurisdiction have been committed in the context of interception and takeover of the Mavi Marmara by IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) soldiers on 31 May 2010," read the paper seen on Wednesday. But the lawyers decided the crimes in question were not of sufficient gravity to fall under the court’s jurisdiction, the papers added. Prosecutors added they had reached these conclusions on the basis of publicly available information.
http://news.yahoo.com/icc-not-investigate-israels-2010-turkish-flotilla-raid-212148906.html

Amnesty : Israel committed war crimes in Gaza war
JERUSALEM (AP) 5 Nov by Peter Enav — Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Israel of committing war crimes during the war in the Gaza Strip this summer, saying it displayed "callous indifference" in attacks on family homes in the densely populated coastal area ... "Israeli forces have brazenly flouted the laws of war by carrying out a series of attacks on civilian homes, displaying callous indifference to the carnage caused," said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program ... Israel says the military was as careful as possible to avoid civilian casualties citing its system of providing warning to civilians that strikes on their buildings were coming when possible.It argues that the heavy civilian death toll is Hamas’ fault,
http://news.yahoo.com/amnesty-israel-committed-war-crimes-gaza-war-062210416.html

Fatah MP in West Bank : Government does not give Gaza its rights
Middle East Monitor 4 Nov — A Palestinian MP for Fatah in the occupied West Bank said on Monday that the unity government is not giving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip their equal rights, Al-Resalah newspaper reported. Speaking exclusively to Al-Resalah, Najat abu-Baker said that the Gaza Strip is in need of massive support from the unity government during this difficult time ... Abu-Baker accused the Palestinian leadership of acting too late in solving problems, saying that they have now accumulated after several years of inaction. She called on the unity government to set a timeline for helping Gaza, as well as to pay the needed budgets for the operation of all ministries in Gaza. The MP added that solving the problems in Gaza needs a concerted effort during the coming days. She called on ministers to attend to their offices in Gaza as they do in the West Bank.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15061-fatah-mp-in-west-bank-government-does-not-give-gaza-its-rights

Coca-Cola to build first Gaza factory
Jerusalem Post 4 Nov by Neve Elis — "The only enemy of extremism is good jobs," said Palestinian entrepreneur Zahi Khouri, the man behind the decision to build in Gaza — The man behind the sodapop venture in Gaza, Palestinian entrepreneur Zahi Khouri, a founder and the chairman of the Ramallah-based National Beverage Company solely licensed for Coca-Cola in the West Bank, spoke exclusively to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. His company already operates Coca-Cola factories in Ramallah, Jericho and Tulkarm.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Coco-Cola-to-build-first-Gaza-factory-380771

Other news

Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (23-29 October 2014)
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child in Selwad village, northeast of Ramallah. Israeli forces continued to open fire at border areas along the border fence. A Palestinian bird hunter sustained severe wounds, north of the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. 3 protesters, including an American human rights activist, were wounded during weekly protests against the construction of the annexation wall. 11 civilians, including 4 children, were wounded during other protests. Israeli forces conducted 62 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded during an Israeli incursion into Ya’bad village, southwest of Jenin. 72 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children and a woman, were arrested. 27 of those civilians, including 4 children and a woman, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem. 3 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, including a child, were arrested while sneaking into Israel via the border fence ... Israeli navy forces continued to target Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip Sea. Israeli navy forces opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats and a boat caught on fire off Rafah shore, south of the Gaza Strip.[details of these and other events follow]
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10702

Israel ex-officers urge PM to make peace with Palestinians
Jerusalem (AFP) 3 Nov — Over 100 former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue peace with the Palestinians, media reported Monday. "We, the undersigned, reserve IDF (army) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars," 105 signatories said in a joint letter addressed to Netanyahu. Excerpts of the letter were published by Ynet news website. It called on Netanyahu to embark on a "courageous initiative" and make peace with the Palestinians and other Arab states. "We fought bravely for the country in the hope that our children would live here in peace, but we got a sharp reality check, and here we are again sending our children out onto the battlefield," it said. "This is not a question of left or right. What we have here is an alternative option for resolving the conflict that is not based solely on bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, which have failed time and again. "We expect a show of courageous initiative and leadership from you. Lead — and we will stand behind you," said the letter. The website said the letter was the brainchild of major general Amnon Reshef, a former armoured corps commander.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-ex-officers-urge-pm-peace-palestinians-202908048.html

Israel moves to outlaw Palestinian political parties
NAZARETH (Electronic Intifada) 4 Nov by Jonathan Cook — The Israeli parliament voted overwhelmingly last week to suspend Haneen Zoabi, a legislator representing the state’s large Palestinian minority, for six months as a campaign to silence political dissent intensified. The Israeli parliament, or Knesset, voted by 68 to 16 to endorse a decision in late July by its ethics committee to bar Zoabi from the chamber for what it termed “incitement.” It is the longest suspension in the Knesset’s history and the maximum punishment allowed under Israeli law. At a press conference, Zoabi denounced her treatment as “political persecution.” “By distancing me from the Knesset, basically they’re saying they don’t want Arabs, and only want ‘good Arabs.’ We won’t be ‘good Arabs,’” she said. The Knesset’s confirmation of Zoabi’s suspension comes as she faces a criminal trial for incitement in a separate case and as the Knesset considers stripping her of citizenship. But Zoabi is not the only Palestinian representative in the firing line. Earlier this year the Knesset raised the threshold for election to the parliament, in what has been widely interpreted as an attempt to exclude all three small parties representing the Palestinian minority. One in five citizens of Israel belong to the minority. In addition, it emerged last week that a bill is being prepared to outlaw the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, the only extra-parliamentary party widely supported by Palestinian citizens.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-moves-outlaw-palestinian-political-parties-knesset/13998

Right-wing MKs submit bill to apply Israeli law to West Bank settlers
Jerusalem Post 4 Nov by Lahav Harkov — Senior MKs on the Right on Tuesday sought to apply all laws to Israelis living in Judea and Samaria, with a bill that would require the IDF to issue orders identical to laws the Knesset passes. According to the initiative, within 45 days of the Knesset passing a law, the OC Central Command would order that it apply to the West Bank. The cabinet discussed taking similar action with labor laws earlier this week, requiring Israeli businesses in the West Bank to provide Israeli minimum wage and benefits to all employees, Israeli and Palestinian, among other changes ... The bill’s explanatory portion states that “the law in Judea and Samaria today relies on Ottoman, Jordanian, British and Israeli laws, as well as many [military] orders... This system creates legal confusion and intolerable differentiation between the rights and duties of Israeli citizens who live in different parts of the land.” The MKs called the situation “unacceptable from a democratic point of view,” which they said harms the rights of Israelis living in the West Bank and leads to discrimination against them ... Meretz leader Zehava Gal- On slammed the bill, calling it “a malignant combination of annexation and apartheid. “Applying Israeli law is de facto annexation of the occupied territories, and applying it only to settlers creates racial discrimination,” she said. “This is another step in the bizarre campaign to do everything to discredit Israel in the world and turn it into a leper in the eyes of the international community.”
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Right-wing-MKs-submit-bill-to-apply-Israeli-law-to-West-Bank-settlers-380761

Israeli garment factories relabel products for Palestinian market
IMEMC/Agencies 4 Nov — Garment factories in illegal Israeli settlements have been re-labeling their products with international brand names for marketing them in Palestinian stores, said the Ministry of National Economy. According to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency, Israeli garment businesses operating in illegal West Bank settlements are palming off their products in the attempt to circumvent the boycott campaign and construct inroads into the Palestinian market. The Consumer Protection Directorate crews are said to have closely monitored a vehicle loaded with Israeli garments while exiting the illegal settlement of Burkan, and heading to Salfit market. After the driver was caught red-handed, he was brought before a competent court. The director of Consumer Protection in Salfit, Raed Naser, stated that his directorate crews have noted dealings between Burkan garment factories and some Palestinian tailoring workshops : ... WAFA reports that, in April of 2010, President Mahmoud Abbas signed a law banning trade and promotion of settlement products in Palestinian markets.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69609

French lawmakers prepare motion to recognize Palestine
PARIS (AFP) 4 Nov - French Socialist lawmakers are preparing to submit a motion to parliament asking the government to recognise Palestine as a state, sources said Tuesday, weeks after British MPs passed a similar vote. The planned move follows the collapse of peace talks between Israel and Palestinian territories and this year’s conflict in Gaza in which more than 2,000 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis were killed. "The (lower house National) Assembly asks the French government to use recognition of the state of Palestine as an instrument to obtain a final settlement of the conflict," reads the provisional motion seen by AFP. A meeting on the lawmakers’ proposal is due Wednesday with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Socialist senators who are also planning a similar initiative. Fabius himself acknowledged last month that Paris would eventually have to recognise Palestine as a state, but wanted to choose the best moment to do so for the move to have a real impact. The lower house vote could take place within weeks, and while it is unlikely to change government policy immediately, it would be highly symbolic after a similar move by British MPs last month.
http://news.yahoo.com/french-lawmakers-prepare-motion-recognise-palestine-205243623.html

Obama threatening to drop US-Israeli veto ?
IMEMC/Agencies 4 Nov — According to recent Israeli and UK media releases, US President Barack Obama has threatened to drop the veto at the United Nations Security Council. The United States has a long history of using this power to block anti-Israel measures and has, in response to continued Israeli rejection of US demands regarding the Middle East peace process (and just following an official denunciation of new plans for Israeli settlement expansion), threatened to lift the ban on[drop] the veto. "The prime minister told colleagues in recent days ...that his office’s understanding of the issue and the government’s take on it is that the Americans will not cast a veto against a resolution that reaches the Security Council," diplomatic correspondent for the Makor Rishon daily, Ariel Kahana, reportedly stated to the Algemeiner.
http://www.imemc.org/article/69606

Who will put an end to the murder of Arab women in Israel ? / Samah Salaime Egbariya
972 blog 4 Nov — Ten women from the same family have been murdered since 2000. In failing to protect them, we have failed in coming to terms with the fact that women are independent, free human beings who have exclusive ownership over their bodies. The first documented murder of a woman in Palestine occurred in 1930. A young Christian woman returned to her village on horseback while being held by one of the Arab fighters. He claimed that he gave her a ride to the village when a deluge of rain caught her in the fields. Someone from the village concluded that an act of forbidden love was involved. The next day that young woman’s body was found in a cave near the village. Her virgin body was buried in the cave ; her tomb became a pilgrimage site because she was pure when she was murdered. The warrior, of course, continued to fight for occupied Palestinian land, and lost the battle as we know. Eighty years have passed. In the meantime the State of Israel was founded, and the Palestinian minority within it is still fighting for its civil rights and its Palestinian Arab identity. Since then many women have been murdered by men in their family who were angry about something that didn’t seem quite right in their behavior as women. Somehow the honor killing of that Christian girl has become Islamized, yet Muslim sheikhs rush to absolve Islam after each murder. The “heroic” men have been transformed into anonymous masked men who are paid in advance by other men for the murders. The rage and the irrepressible wrath has been transformed into a carefully crafted deed carried out by a criminal gang armed with illegal weapons. It determines who is going to be killed, when and how. The very same men who appoint themselves “the honor guard” of the family allow themselves to do what they forbid the women ... Arab honor, which is trampled upon in this country everywhere and in every way, has settled upon the frail shoulders of Arab women. It has been transformed into a public trash bin, into which the “motives” are tossed in order to provide a legitimate excuse for the murder of Arab women. In an astounding show of cooperation, the macho police force and patriarchal society reinforce and preserve this verbal trash bin. This is the same bin that has produced the “immigration crisis that caused the husband to murder his wife and then attempt suicide” among Ethiopian women. For women from the former USSR it has become the “violent drunken husband,” while for everyone else it has created the category of “romantic motives” as the excuse for murder ... Every year, 5,000 women are murdered throughout the world. In Israel the annual tally is 20 ; 10 are Arab and another 10 are Jewish. The one place where we have achieved equality. The numbers are similar in Jordan and Syria, and since the beginning of the year 13 women have been murdered in the occupied territories. Let us dwell for a moment on the number that has rattled the lives of every Arab woman in Ramle and Lod this week. Ten young women from the Abu Ghanem family have been murdered since 2000....
http://972mag.com/who-will-put-an-end-to-the-murder-of-arab-women-in-israel/98400/