To day in Palestine

Palestinian land in Silwan, East Jerusalem faces demolition threat
Jerusalem — The Jerusalem Municipality sent ten notices stating its plans to reactivate the demolition order of Al Bustan, a neighborhood in Silwan, East Jerusalem this week. The demolition would destroy 50 acres of land and the homes of 1,500 Palestinians.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3006&Itemid=1

UN official voices concern over Israel’s human rights violations in Palestine
Prasad Kariyawasam, the head of the special UN committee on human rights, voiced deep concern about the ongoing Israeli violations against human rights in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7b%2fZVtmi971nbEnte1SduvwGTV5DeaWTk3jLjUno2caOVD5JaSD8JgRrRRkThZvcO0CqTaDXvijisKj6OYlf570blzSiEjJfRxO8cHG1WVq8%3d

75 children and 23 women killed, the harvest of Israel’s terrorism in the first 6 months of 2008
The Israeli occupying forces have killed 75 children and 23 Palestinian women during the first half of this year, says a report published yesterday by the National and International Relations Department of the PLO in Ramallah.
http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/07/02/75-children-and-23-women-killed-the-harvest-of-israel%e2%80%99s-terrorism-in-the-first-6-months-of-2008/

Israeli soldiers shoot female farmer in Gaza
Palestinian medical officials said the woman was shot in the lower limbs when she entered her land near the southern Gaza Strip “border” with Israel, east of Khan Younis.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1414274.php/Israeli_soldiers_wound_female_farmer_in_Gaza__1st_Lead_

Arab Negev man dies of wounds sustained after being attacked by Israeli placement 3 months ago
The Naba’ News Agency reported on Tuesday that an Arab young man from the Negev died on Wednesday evening at an Israeli hospital after three months of suffering since he was brutally attacked by Israeli policemen in Ashkelon.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55788

P.A security arrests 11 Hamas supporters in the West Bank
Sources close to the Hamas movement reported on Tuesday that Palestinian security forces, loyal to Fateh movement, arrested eleven members and supporters of the movement in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55789

Hamas calls on pro-Abbas forces to stop arresting West Bank members
Palestinian security forces arrested two members of the Islamic Resistance Movement or Hamas in West Bank, the Hamas said in a statement on Thursday. According to the statement, the detentions took place in Nabluscity. The West Bank forces, loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, arrested Hamas supporters and members for political motivation related to the Islamic movement’s takeover of Gaza Strip more than a year ago.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/03/content_8484444.htm

The Israeli army attacks a village near Nablus and kidnaps 24 civilians
The Israeli army invaded on Thursday the village of Duma, south of Nablus city in the northern part of the West Bank, troops kidnapped 24 civilians during the attack.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55793

Israel arrests 15 Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli forces on Wednesday arrested 15 Palestinians in various cities in West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-07/02/content_8477836.htm

One injured, three kidnapped, during separate Israeli attacks targeting Hebron
One Palestinian man was injured and three others kidnapped during morning attacks the Israeli army did in Hebron city in the southern part of the West Bank on Thursday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55794

IOF troops raid 3 mosques in the Ramallah district
IOF troops raided on Wednesday evening the village of Silwad, to the north east of Ramallah and stormed the Abu Obeida Mosque, more troops raided the village Shiqba to the west of Ramallah.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7D7L9JN0d3s3SNyvYJ00wK7fSIbGbdxOOlSrQdKXbTGKPV81UVCYoW62iE1OH15JXzohSTjma7kfRHgCwvVl2hfHnqpV53nzZh1Bmfn2kty0%3d

Israeli troops attack a mosque in Sliwad village near Ramallah
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli forces attacked a mosque in the village of Sliwad, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, on Thursday morning.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55797

Israeli forces attack homes in Jerusalem old city, one civilian injured
An Israeli police force and army units attacked on Thursday morning homes of Palestinian families that live in Jerusalem’s old city.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55796

IOF troops kidnap paralyzed youth along with six others in Nablus
Israeli occupation forces at dawn Wednesday rounded up seven Palestinians in various Nablus suburbs including a paralyzed youth, local sources reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7RnIEEzBJHlnrrxqiE4jI9gwZE6Nb28vSMsz%2bnaG2H6k%2bGJ3qrfFTyI4QgMlSDlnyyXZg%2f15JHWdJWT0i7S%2f6MPAQN99Ise2ZcoeEsHW862Y%3d

10-year-old subjected to torture by Israeli soldiers
A 10-year-old boy was subjected to physical abuse amounting to torture for 2.5 hours by Israeli soldiers who stormed his family’s shop on 11 June, seeking information on the location of a handgun. The boy was repeatedly beaten, slapped and punched in the head and stomach, forced to hold a stress position for half and hour, and threatened. He was deeply shocked and lost two molar teeth as a result of the assault.
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/display.cfm?DocId=811&CategoryId=1

Witness says settlers’ rockets were third attack in three weeks
A Palestinian civilian who witnessed the homemade rockets launched from and Israeli settlement of Bracha near Nablus said that this was the third projectile attack in as many weeks. Jamal Najar, a resident of the village of Burin, where the rockets landed, told the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) that he was sitting on his veranda on Tuesday when saw a projectile launched from near the settlement’s mobile phone tower.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30250

Awarta farmers challenge settler violence
Between the 23rd and 30th June, the farmers of the village Awarta, close to Nablus, challenged the threats of violence from settlers by constructing a well on their land close to the illegal settlement of Itamar. International human rights workers (HRW’s) participated in solidarity for the villagers right to reach their land.
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/07/03/awarta-farmers-challenge-settler-violence/

US approves plan to increase military aid to Israel
Last week, the US approved a $170 million addition to military aid to Israel. The addition constitutes what will be a 25% increase in military aid to Israel in 2009. Total military aid from the US to Israel over the next decade will be $30 billion.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article499

Report: Hamas arrests merchants planning to thwart truce
Following Ynet report that sunflower seed merchant was responsible for mortar shell fired at Israel last week, senior Palestinian source says series of arrests conducted in Strip.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3563431,00.html

Israeli VP: Reroute Jerusalem barrier
Israel should cut off outlying Arab neighborhoods from Jerusalem, Israel’s vice premier proposed Thursday, a day after a Palestinian construction worker from one of these districts went on a deadly rampage in the center of the city.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Bulldozer operation excuse to prevent reunification and revoke identification
After Wednesday’s bulldozer operation by a Palestinian from East Jerusalem’s Sur Bahir, the Israeli Interior Minister, Meir Sheetrit said that all identity cards must be revoked and that no family reunification could be passed.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3010&Itemid=1

New laws aim to revoke Israeli Arab terrorists’ citizenship
The Knesset approved in a preliminary reading on Wednesday two bills that would enable the government to revoke the citizenship of Israeli Arabs involved in terror activities as well as that of their families. The vote came hours after a Palestinian man went on a deadly rampage in downtown Jerusalem, ramming a bulldozer into a crowded bus and a string of vehicles, killing at least four people and wounding dozens.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=998347

Knesset votes in favor of stripping citizenship from families of terrorists
In move unrelated to Jerusalem terror attack - Two bills granting interior minister permission to revoke citizenship rights from families of terrorists pass preliminary readings at Knesset - Just a short while after the bulldozer attack shocked Jerusalem, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading two bills revoking the rights to citizenship from the families of terrorists.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3563216,00.html

MK Barakeh: Racist Israeli law of citizenship up for extension
Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset Muhammad Barakeh representing the Democratic Front said on Wednesday that “those who prepared the racial Israeli law of citizenship must be tried in international court because it is a racial and dangerous law.” Barakeh was speaking before the Knesset while it discussed a one year extension of the emergency citizenship law. Under the law, Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who are married to Israeli citizens are prohibited from living in Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30249

Prisoners’ lawyers announce boycott of Israeli courts
The Committee of Palestinian lawyers who defend prisoners in announced a two-day boycott of Israeli courts on Wednesday and Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30247

AMB: We are committed to national consensus on truce in Gaza
The Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah faction, has made it clear on Wednesday that it was committed to the Palestinian national consensus of holding a truce agreement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7sHWr1xjUjSIUyRQc5KkqBSvBH6lhe7e%2fcqWUC91bG6gX6G%2b8MrIL0p8HuH26du6zx9vc%2bZ6u1yBgizW%2fFAEzMt5duIyNoQdtAkOAsAeI9lM%3d

UN official says Israeli siege on Gaza increased poverty, destroyed its economy
Head of the special UN committee on Human Rights in Palestine, Prassed Kariyawasam, stated on Wednesday that the Israeli violations against human rights in Palestine, had increased poverty and destroyed the Palestinian economy in the coastal region.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55791

Hamas warns of the catastrophic situation in Gaza, holds Abbas responsible for continuation of siege
Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, warned that the situation is Gaza is disastrous and called on Egypt to find a solution to the Rafah border terminal in order to open it regularly until achieving a final solution The movement also held president Mahmoud Abbas partially responsible for the ongoing siege on Gaza as he, according the movement, rejected a proposed formula which plans the opening of the Rafah terminal, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55790

Poverty gap widens between West Bank and Gaza
The gap in prosperity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip has widened dramatically in the past year, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
http://www.meed.com/news/2008/07/poverty_gap_widens_between_west_bank_and_gaza.html

Israel reopens crossings; UN says 600,000 Gazans face food shortage
Israel announced on Wednesday that it will open the border crossings used to supply Gaza with goods and fuel according to orders by the Israeli defense minister Ehod Barak.
http://imemc.org/article/55765

Cement shipment insufficient to revive Gaza’s paralyzed construction sector
Israel allowed the first delivery of cement into the Gaza Strip in a year on Wednesday, but Palestinians in Gaza say the shipment was woefully short of what their besieged communities need.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30264

A Palestinian-Scottish couple are driving a ton and a half of urgently-needed medicines to Gaza
A Palestinian man and his Scottish wife will take a van loaded with 1.5 tons of urgently needed medical supplies from Scotland to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/55771

Israeli water consumption leads to worse crisis since 1948
Israeli water experts have declared the current situation to be “the most serious since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.” Water levels in Lake Tiberias are expected to fall below the “red line” next week. Most alarmingly, a further drop below the “black line” is predicted for this October. Once the level falls below the black line, it will no longer be possible to operate the pumps in Lake Tiberias.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3005&Itemid=1

Haneyya: The road to break the siege is through stabilizing the calm with Israel
premier Ismail Haneyya stated that the road to break the siege and to achieve the national interest are through stabilizing the truce between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s71SUKAQiflY8B%2fmdk9H5%2fkRReiGfaGF4TMT5JDBmIZWP373U6y4hkTG2GXOtbOGF9p%2fh3K%2fdzIR2Tvk3H5XlTx7hQAur1B3I4ZnjtLs1cp2k%3d

Canny politician / Nasrallah closes a deal
Why was Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah so anxious Wednesday to report the signing of the prisoner exchange? And why doesn’t he provide details on the abducted Israeli soldiers?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998419.html

Nasrallah dedicates prisoner swap with Israel to ’all Lebanese’
During the course of the news conference, Nasrallah also made his clearest indication yet that his party is willing to discuss the issue of its weapons within the context of a national defense strategy. “We are always ready to discuss the defense strategy. We are not afraid of discussion,” Nasrallah said. "Anyone afraid of discussion is weak and has done something wrong. We have a comprehensive defense strategy and we are ready to discuss it at all times. "Nasrallah added that the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah had formally “concretized” Lebanon’s defense strategy for the first time. Discussing the expected prisoner exchange with Israel, Nasrallah said he would not “set an exact date” for the swap. “The sooner it takes place the better,” he added. "I expect that in a week or two it will be implemented.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=93753

Arab League may blacklist Levant Jewellery stores
Dubai: The Arab League is considering blacklisting companies belonging to Israeli businessman Lev Leviev and that of his agent in the UAE, the pan-Arab body said just days after Unicef severed ties with the billionaire jeweller. The move came following a decision by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to reject all partnerships and financing from Leviev in protest against the continued building of Jewish colonies in the occupied West Bank by companies belonging to Leviev.
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10225495.html

Palestinian poet: History laughs at both victim and aggressor
Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish said on Wednesday his new works blend sarcasm and a deep sense of hope in their treatment of the decades-old conflict with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/998376.html

Mahmoud Darwish recites poetry in Ramallah
Renowned Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish participated in the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Ramallah’s municipal council, held Tuesday evening. The hall of the Culture Palace in Ramallah was packed with poetry lovers who came to listen to Darwish’s recitation.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=30239

Hamas launches summer camps in Gaza
Hamas’s Central Committee for Summer Camps (CCSC) announced on July 1 the launching of approximately 800 summer camps in the Gaza Strip, where more than 150,000 children will spend their summer vacation. The camps, titled ’Steadfastness Despite the Closure,’ “aims to strengthen the ongoing steadfastness of the Gaza Strip’s people, in the face of the strangling Zionist closure,” the announcement read.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214726191850&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Setting the record straight on Ramallah-"Re:West Bank’s Ramallah enjoy renaissance
I live in Ramallah, Palestine, and I found this article to be a gross misrepresentation of the reality in Ramallah, the West Bank and the entire Palestinian territories. Although it’s true that there are a few Western-style cafés and restaurants in Ramallah, and we do have a “Cultural Palace,” that does not mean that all of Ramallah is undergoing a “renaissance.”
http://windowintopalestine.blogspot.com/2008/07/setting-record-straight-on-ramallah.html

Photostory: The month in pictures, June 2008
The following slideshow is a selection of images from the month of June 2008. The month in pictures is an ongoing feature of The Electronic Intifada. If you have images documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos A T electronicintifada D O T net.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9661.shtml

’Girls, go to the back’
Rabbinical transportation committee calls on young women to ride buses in halachic manner, meaning to congregate in back of bus, even in those buses not deemed ’kosher’, in which driver won’t open back door - In a brochure distributed recently among the girls of the Beit Yaakov congregation, the Rabbinical Committee of Transportation asked the young women to preserve “halachic riding” during every bus ride, and not only on the buses defined as “kosher”.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3562768,00.html