Today in Palestine!

Jerusalem Fund Information Brief by Diana Buttu

While a recent poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) found that 62 percent of Palestinians expect the Annapolis meeting, scheduled for 26-27 November, to fail, the Palestinian leadership hopes that it will launch talks on the final status issues that are central for the establishment of an independent viable Palestinian state. The “core-issues”—Jewish settlements, Jerusalem, Refugees, Water and Borders—have been discussed, at certain degrees, during pervious U.S.-brokered meetings. However, mutual agreement on the issues remains evasive. In a three-part special series, The Palestine Center looks at the current reality of and possible solutions for: Settlements and the Wall, Jerusalem and Refugees.
http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/images/informationbrief.php?ID=187

Palestinian blindfolded, beaten by Israeli forces in Hebron

According to international human rights workers living in the area, a Palestinian man was detained, blindfolded and beaten by Israeli forces Monday night in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron. The man was on his own property, just two meters from his door, when the Israeli soldiers approached and shouted at the man that he was in a closed military zone.

http://www.imemc.org/article/51642

Al Funduq and six other villages under house arrest

For the first time ever, Israeli forces have put the residents of the sleepy village of al Funduq, near Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, under house arrest. Villagers must stay indoors - they are forbidden from going outside by the Israeli occupying forces.
http://www.imemc.org/article/51643

Olmert approves provision of 50 armored vehicles to PA security forces

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to allow Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank receive 50 armored vehicles, reversing two years of opposition, Israeli officials said Wednesday. Olmert is presenting the agreement as a gesture to moderate Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in advance of next week’s Mideast peace conference in the U.S., the officials said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/926308.html

Three Palestinian Killed, Four Wounded In the Strip

Three Palestinians were shot and killed Tuesday morning among were two belongs to Al Aqsa martyr Brigade during a shootout with the Israeli troops north Gaza Strip while the third killed by the fire of IOF special forces while having been in front of his home south the Strip.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=20134

An Interview with Norman Finkelstein

Wajahat Ali speaks to American political scientist and writer Dr. Norman Finkelstein about the denial of his tenure at DePaul University, anti-Semitism, and challenging the academic status quo on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
http://www.suhaibwebb.com/blog/2007/11/19/interview-with-norman-finkelstein-by-wajahat-ali/

The US is Guilty of Human Rights Violations Against the Palestinian People

The United States government knows Israel is guilty of numerous human rights abuses against the Palestinian people and has done for many years. However, the US government chooses to overlook Israel’s numerous crimes against humanity and breaches of international law because it feels it is a country of strategic ...
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/11/20/the-us-is-guilty-of-human-rights-violations-against-the-palestinian-people/

Curfew in Al Funduq

The village of Al Funduq, 15km from Qalqilia, is today under curfew. For the first time in the history of the village the 700 residents are forbidden from entering the streets, driving cars, and are subject to random house searches.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/11/20/curfew-in-al-funduq/

Israel increases restrictions on occupied Palestinians in preparation for summit

Curfews have been imposed on all towns and villages in the northern West Bank. Access to Jerusalem for worshippers hoping to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque has been cut off. Soldiers operating the over 700 checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank have been instructed to severely restrict the movement of Palestinian people.
http://www.imemc.org/article/51641

Israeli Army Invades Fara’h Refugee Camp

On Tuesday, November 20th, international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were alerted to a military invasion in the Fara’h refugee camp, near Nablus. The military had surrounded the camp during the night and the attack began around 1 am.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/11/20/israeli-army-invades-farah-refugee-camp/

PFLP fighters say they didn’t forget Abbas’s forces crime in Jericho

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has accused the PA security apparatuses under the command of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas of targeting them, affirming they didn’t and will not forget the crime of those forces against the PFLP leaders in Jericho.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ck3jF8GxuWGBkE5E71cRlzBGnn2qW4Of77JTZCvX3BSzD%2fIR%2bIqc5BtMzOUiGJvm%2fxm%2frpI%2fiVzElt%2bQHGJCLlQHvjrcJjtLwZCLaOu9MHE%3d

Palestinian police using torture in Gaza Strip

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has received more affidavits from Palestinians who were subjected to beating, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment while in detention by the Palestinian police in the Gaza Strip. PCHR condemns such illegal practices and calls for prosecuting the perpetrators and ensuring that laws that regulate procedures of detention are applied.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9111.shtml

Gaza Strip patients struggling against death due to the closure

Palestinian child dies as a result of delay in allowing entry to Israeli hospital.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/PANA-795JRB?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Israel to heart patient: “Go die in Gaza”

Y.A.H is a 37-year-old heart patient in need of open heart surgery. He was referred to a hospital in Nablus, the West Bank, for surgery. He previously received a permit but was asked by the Israeli General Security Services (Shabak) to provide information on friends of his brother. When he failed to he was returned to Gaza and told “go die in Gaza.” Since then he has no permit. His condition is deteriorating and he is very weak, with breathing difficulties, and is in danger of sudden death at any moment.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9110.shtml

Palestinian child dies as result of Israeli imposed sanctions: A nine-year old Palestinian boy died in Gaza city after Israeli military has rejected calls for him to travel for treatment, Palestinian hospital sources said on Monday.

Gaza Strip patients struggling against death due to the closure
Palestinian child dies as a result of delay in allowing entry to Israeli hospital: PCHR strongly condemns Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for violating Palestinians’ rights to health, and depriving them of treatment in medical facilities outside the Gaza Strip. Restricting movement of patients to hospitals in the West Bank and Israel effectively puts them in a struggle against death. Most recently, a Palestinian child died after delaying his entry to Ichilov hospital inside Israel.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/PANA-795JRB?OpenDocument

ISRAEL-OPT: Inside the maze

Movement restrictions in the West Bank: Traffic news on the radio in the West Bank is more likely to be about checkpoints and barriers than jams and accidents, as a complex system of controls and permits can make a short journey for work, family or medical reasons into a time-consuming marathon, according to a new UN report.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75426

Chronology - Middle East peacemaking

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/LSGZ-795JTQ?OpenDocument&rc=3&emid=ACOS-635PFR

Feature: Arabs in East Jerusalem get jitters before Annapolis summit
Sitting in his cafe standing by the footway leading up to Mount of Olive, a tourist must in East Jerusalem, Nabil Ansari, the owner of the cafe in his 50s, was worrying about the fate of the city where he lives as a Mideast peace summit loomed.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6306225.html

Partial list of confirmed invitees to Annapolis peace summit
The following is a partial list of confirmed invitees to a U.S.-sponsored peace conference set to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, according to officials, who provided it on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement of the conference.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=926297&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1

ANALYSIS: The importance of who attends Annapolis from Arab states
The pessimism barometer surrounding the Annapolis summit now includes a new measure: in addition to the question that has yet to be answered - which Arab states will attend - everyone is waiting for Thursday to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Will the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo tomorrow select themselves, signaling their desire to give real Arab backing to the summit? Or will they only dispatch ambassadors, by which Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will understand that the Arab support he enjoys is limited and that those dignitaries’ presence is merely an attempt to contain the insult to U.S. President George W. Bush?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=926540&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1

Gaza must be the priority in Annapolis

The situation in Palestine is even more dire than Jonathan Steele suggests (Comment, November 16). The West Bank is ruled by Fatah with an iron fist; the scale of settlements already built by Israel - together with the scores of checkpoints making movement very difficult - has effectively reduced it to a string of little Bantustans.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2214429,00.html

Aid agencies want Gaza on the agenda at Annapolis

A BRITISH development agency is warning that an international conference on the Middle East which will be attended by world leaders including Tony Blair (pictured) will fail unless the crisis in Gaza is addressed. Christian Aid, along with 40 other development and human rights organisations, has warned that next week’s Annapolis Conference cannot afford to ignore the humanitarian and political crisis in Gaza.
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/8-0&fd=R&url=http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/%3FNewsID%3D1179&cid=1123893533&ei=UlZDR7-nCo7eqgPLspSkDw

Will Annapolis fail like all the others?

We had been discussing the prospects for the meeting in Annapolis in the United States scheduled for next week at which the Israelis and Palestinians are supposed to commit themselves to reaching a peace agreement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7103407.stm

PLO takes Veolia Transport and Alstom to court in France

At the end of October 2007 European corporations Veolia Transport, and Alstom were taken to court by Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS), because of their involvement in the Israeli light rail or tramway project that is planned to link West Jerusalem with the ring of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Veolia has been under international pressure to withdraw from the project, but so far refuses. Now the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, has joined AFPS in the legal action against the two companies. Adri Nieuwhof and Maria Lherm report for EI.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9104.shtml

Group ’Judaizing’ East Jerusalem accused of withholding donation sources

The registrar of associations is considering demanding the dissolution of the Elad association, which promotes the “Judaization” of East Jerusalem. The registrar claims the association is refusing to divulge the sources of donations totaling over $7 million that Elad received in 2005. Elad representatives claim that all they know about the bodies that donated funds is their addresses, and that the association is not obligated to provide any additional information about its donors.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/926322.html

Israelis rediscovering West Bank

As in days gone by, Israel Arabs are returning in droves to a number of West Bank cities. Israel, PA conducting talks on reopening Jenin to Israeli citizens in order to boost Palestinian economy, publicize improved relations between two sides.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473688,00.html

Thus Spoke Equality, Why Israel Has No “Right to Exist” as a Jewish State

Yet again, the Annapolis meeting between Olmert and Abbas is preconditioned upon the recognition by the Palestinian side of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. Indeed the “road map” should lead to, and legitimate, once and for all, the right of such a Jewish state to exist in definitive borders and in peace with its neighbours. The vision of justice, both past and future, simply has to be that of two states, one Palestinian, one Jewish, which would coexist side by side in peace and stability. Finding a formula for a reasonably just partition and separation is still the essence of what is considered to be moderate, pragmatic and fair ethos.
http://www.counterpunch.org/bendor11202007.html

U.K. left wing sees one-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict

Over a decade after the Israeli right in effect abandoned the vision of a Greater Israel, the radical left in both Israel and Britain has come to favor the idea with a few essential changes. On Sunday, London saw the conclusion of a conference on the so-called one-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While pro-Israel groups accused the organizers of staging a provocation aimed at bashing Israel’s image, academics from Israel and the Palestinian Authority discussed possible models for the formation of a single state ranging from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River, and maybe even further east.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/926542.html

The Unrecognized

This short documentary by Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, has been around for a while now but I am only discovering now. I thought of posting it again for those who drop by here and have not had a chance of watching it yet. "The Unrecognized “highlights the plight of Palestinian Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel living in the Naqab (Negev) desert, many of whom were forced off their lands following the establishment of the state in 1948.”
http://filasteen.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/the-unrecognized/

Haidar Eid: Annapolis Meeting: Institutionalization of Racism

The idea of defining the country as exclusively white and democratic at the same time was never accepted by the international community. It was considered blatant racism.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-112007160844.htm

Joharah Baker: The Moral Responsibility we all Bear

Once we start turning against each other, branding each other with names we previously reserved for our most bitter enemy, the path to national destruction will be well on its way.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-112007160545.htm

Ben White: The One-State Reality

The two most common critiques of a one-state solution are that it is a recipe for massive bloodshed and that it is impossible to implement.
http://palestinechronicle.com/story-112007160419.htm