TO DAY in PALESTINE

Land and Property Theft and Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Restriction of Movement / Apartheid

Report: occupation plans to expand over forty settlements in West Bank
A report issued by Hamas’s Media Office stated that settlement activity and Judaization projects have been escalated, in an unprecedented way, in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Occupation confiscates lands west of Jerusalem
The Israeli occupation issued an order to confiscate 14 dunums of Khalayleh neighborhood in the village of al-Jib northwest of Jerusalem, on the pretext of being used "for military purposes."
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Fire at a House Threatened With Demolition
On Wednesday 19th of September at 5 a.m. the home of Mohamad Abdulmajid Arar, his wife Fatima and their six children caught fire. The house is located in the south of Beit Ommar close to the colony of Karmei Tsur. Palestinian fire trucks and police, both from the village and Hebron, came to extinguish. Luckily there were no Israeli occupation forces to stop the firefighters from doing their job considering the home is in area C. None of the family members were home when the fire broke out but the fire department was alerted by a neighbour. Mohamad was at a hospital in Jordan with his sick daughter and returned to a ruined home Wednesday afternoon.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org

Aid groups appeal to Quartet to halt demolitions
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The international Quartet of Middle East negotiators must take immediate action to stop 13 Palestinian villages from being destroyed and evacuated in south Hebron, a group of 30 international organizations said Friday. The rare appeal comes after several development agencies received demolition or stop work orders for aid projects in the area. Oxfam said it was given notice by Israeli authorities that it is not permitted to enter the villages to continue its development projects.
link to www.maannews.net

Occupation builds a bridge to change the landmarks in Silwan town
Moriah Jerusalem Development Company will start, during the coming days, building a bridge for pedestrians and cars linking the visitor center of "City of David", established at Silwan’s entrance.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Qaryout and the front lines of settlement warfare: A walk in God’s country
This is Qaryout, on the front lines of settlement warfare between two unevenly matched communities. On the one side there are the Israeli settlers, heavily protected by the army and their government. On the other side there are hapless Palestinian farmers, who have watched dispiritedly for years as clusters of red roofs from Israeli settlements popped up on the hill tops around them. For the past 15 years the settlements have been steadily growing. A hill top here, a plot of land there. Then came the construction of roads connecting one settlement to another, squeezing the farmers into even smaller parcels of land. As a result, 68% of Qaryout’s lands have been confiscated by Israeli authorities and now house the illegal Israeli settlements of Shilo, Eli, Shvut Rachel, and the outpost of Adei Ad.
link to www.palestinemonitor.org

Addameer Board Chair Abdul Latif Ghaith barred from leaving Jerusalem
Abdul Latif Ghaith, 70, the Chair of the Board of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, former administrative detainee, and longtime activist, was once again prohibited from travelling outside Jerusalem in a military order renewed on September 15, 2012. The order, signed by Nitzan Alon, a commander of the Israeli Occupation Forces in the West Bank, prohibits Ghaith from entering the West Bank for undeclared “security reasons.” The order is in effect until March 15, 2013. It is important to note that Ghaith received an order from the Israeli Ministry of Defense prohibiting him from travel abroad approximately one month ago.
link to samidoun.ca

Refugees

New Challenges Grip Lebanon’s Palestinian Camps
The Sabra-Shatila Massacre: it seems like a dozen weeks, not 30 years ago. This year American citizens received messages to stay away from Beirut and the annual commemoration of the Israeli facilitated Massacre at Sabra-Shatila from their State Department and Beirut Embassy. The latter’s staff on 9/19/12 completed destroying sensitive documents and packing all non-essential items. The French government too told its citizens not to come to Beirut or participate in “mass gatherings because of concerns over sudden random violence”.
link to www.counterpunch.org

Sabra and Shatila Massacre: French writer accuses US and Israel of ignoring international law
During a speech in Beirut on Thursday, on the 30th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the French writer and legal activist Alain Gresh accused the United States and Israel of ignoring international law. He added that the scope of international law that Israel, the US and the West will deal with is limited to the old notion which says that they are the only civilised nations for whom special rules apply; it’s the discredited "imperialism theory". "This is what led to the bombardment of civilians because they believe that uncivilised nations do not understand anything except the language of force," Gresh said. "Under the same pretext, Israel bombarded civilians in Gaza in late 2008 and the beginning of 2009."
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Siege on Gaza

Man killed in Gaza tunnel collapse
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A man was killed and another injured when a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed on Saturday, medical officials said. Spokesman for the ministry of health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidrah told Ma’an that Muhammad Ramadan Abu Armaneh, 33, died when the Rafah tunnel collapsed. Another unidentified man was injured, he added. Both men were taken to a hospital in Rafah, where Abu Armaneh was pronounced dead.
link to www.maannews.net

A worker dies and another is injured in a tunnel collapse
A Palestinian worker, on Saturday evening, died and another was wounded when a tunnel collapsed in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Egypt hesitant to ease Gaza closure
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Egypt has not made a final decision on ending the blockade of Gaza or conceding to requests by the Hamas government to create a free-trade zone in Gaza. A source in Hamas said Friday that Egypt is concerned that if it opens the Rafah crossing, Israel will have a pretext for permanently sealing the Kerem Shalom terminal with Gaza. Egypt is also trying to resolve a number of crises in the Sinai, and this is distracting attention from the Gaza situation, the source explained. Also Friday, the Hamas government’s economy minister Hisham Qandil told Ma’an that Gaza-based premier Ismail Haniyeh delivered proposals on a Rafah trade zone during his visit to Cairo.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza ministry: Tunnel closures hurt imports
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Basic goods are becoming more scarce in the Gaza Strip after Egypt moved to close dozens of tunnels under their border, Gaza’s ministry of national economy said Friday. Monthly imports of basic foodstuffs, including flour, rice, sugar, and wheat, have fallen 31 percent since the tunnel closures, the ministry said in a statement. Construction materials brought through the tunnels have declined by 45 percent, it added. By contrast, import of goods through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing had increased by 22 percent, the ministry said, while noting that the terminal’s 300 trucks-per-day entry limit was not sufficient for Gaza’s needs. An Israeli official said Thursday that military authorities had approved a host of measures to facilitate the entry and exit of goods at Gaza crossings, as long as border violence remained under control.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza to refuse import of fruit from Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip’s agriculture ministry on Friday said it would not allow the import of fruits to the enclave in order to protect the local market. The announcement came as Israel promised new measures facilitate the entry and exit of goods at Gaza crossings. Several products will be removed from a blacklist permitting their import to Gaza, an Israeli official said Thursday. Marketing director in Gaza’s agriculture ministry Tahsen al-Saqa told Ma’an that no fruits would be imported from Israel, with the exception of apples and bananas, as farmers in Gaza farmers grew their own guava, dates, citrus fruits and grapes.
link to www.maannews.net

Why did a young man in Gaza set himself on fire? Ehab Abu Nada’s family speaks, Rami Almeghari
A wave of self-immolation attempts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is ringing alarm bells.
link to electronicintifada.net

Gaza’s Future Looks Bleaker Even Than Its Past
Gaza’s statistics make grim reading. A recent report by the United Nations says the Gaza Strip will be unlivable by 2020 if nothing is done to alleviate the situation in the tiny coastal territory. According to the report, despite a recent pickup in the economy, by almost every indicator, Palestinians in Gaza are worse off than they were in the 1990s. Even as the infrastructure is crumbling, the population is booming. That, coupled with dwindling resources and restrictions on trade and travel by neighbors Egypt and Israel, has meant the situation for the 1.8 million Palestinians who live in Gaza is increasingly desperate.
link to www.npr.org

Israeli Terrorism

PCHR Weekly Report: 2 Palestinians executed; 3 wounded by Israeli forces this week
In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 13- 19 Sep. 2012, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that Israeli forces extra-judicially executed two members of the Palestinian resistance and wounded a third one in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
link to www.imemc.org

Confrontations with the occupation near Ofer prison
A Palestinian citizen was wounded in addition to dozens of cases of suffocation on Thursday evening, during the suppression of a peaceful march in solidarity with the prisoners.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

IOF storms al-Jamiaa and Salam streets in al-Khalil
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed, on Thursday, al-Jamiaa and Salam streets in al-Khalil in the southern West Bank.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinian man dies of wounds he sustained nine years ago
A young Palestinian man died on Thursday evening of wounds he sustained nine years ago by occupation forces’ fire, after a long battle with his injuries.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinian Authority in the Service of Israel

Hamas: 120 members detained in West Bank in days
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas said on Saturday that security services in the West Bank have continued to round up their members, after a spate of arrests on Wednesday was criticized by human rights groups. A Hamas statement said 120 party members had been arrested or summoned to report to security services since Wednesday. It said detainees are from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Askar refugee camp in Nablus, Jerusalem-area village Qatanna and Qalqiliya. On Wednesday, Hamas and Palestinian rights group said around 60 people were detained overnight. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights condemned the campaign and called on the Palestinian government in Ramallah to fully comply with the law and stop political arrests.
link to www.maannews.net

EMOHR accuses PA of kidnapping one of its staff
EMOHR strongly condemned PA arrest of one of its employees in the Nablus district, within the security campaign that targeted a wide range of political and human rights activists Tuesday.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

MADA demands PA to release journalist Khaled Walid
Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemned arrest of journalist Walid Khaled, former director of "Filastin" newspaper office, in West Bank by PA security.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Illegal Arrests by Israelis

Palestinian child prisoners ’abused’
Hundreds of Palestinian children are arrested by the Israeli military every year for throwing rocks at occupying forces. They are tried in Israeli Military Courts and human Rights organisations say the trials lack due process and are against international law. Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports from Abu Dis in the occupied West Bank.
link to www.youtube.com

Israel arrests 6 at protest against land theft in Kufr Qaddum
Four human rights defenders (3 British citizens and an American), as well as two Palestinians, were arrested at the weekly Kufr Qaddoum demonstration. They are currently detained in the illegal Kedumim settlement police station for interrogation. The two Palestinians, Majed Faruq, 20, and Abd al-Latif Faruq, 24 were arrested from inside their homes as the army stormed the village.
link to palsolidarity.org

Al-Khalil: IOF arrests a citizen in Edna
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested yesterday evening a Palestinian from Edna village, west of Al-Khalil in the southern West Bank, also raided the town of Samu, south of the province.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Occupation arrests 6 citizens in West Bank
Israeli occupation forces arrested on Thursday six citizens in the cities of Qalqilya and al-Khalil, including two children from the village of Kafr Kodoum.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinian sentenced to 15 months for participating in Naksa anniversary march
An Israeli court sentenced to fifteen months imprisonment Mohammed Kanaana, 47 from Arraba Buttof town inside the Green Line, after being convicted of participating in the March of Return.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Hunger Strikers

Sharawna in isolation at Ramle prison hospital
The Palestinian Information Centre reported that Ayman Sharawna, on hunger strike for 80 days, is now being held in isolation at Ramle prison hospital: RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Family of Palestinian prisoner Ayman Sharawna confirmed that occupation authorities moved Sharawna, on hunger strike since 79 days in protest against his administrative detention, to solitary confinement despite his difficult health conditions. Jihad Sharawna told “Quds Press”that the occupation held his brother Ayman in extremely difficult circumstances in solitary confinement in Ramle prison hospital, pointing out that the health status of the captive is extremely serious, as he became unable to move one foot and has been suffering from internal bleeding since several days. Sharawna was one of the prisoners liberated under prisoners’ exchange deal between Hamas and the Israeli occupation, through Egyptian mediation in October last year, after being sentenced to 38 years imprisonment. Yet he was re-arrested on the 31st of last January.
link to samidoun.ca

Podcast: The “revolution inside Israeli prisons” continues, says hunger striker Mahmoud Sarsak
Palestinian footballer and former hunger striker Mahmoud Sarsak with Shahd Abusalama on the ongoing prisoner hunger strikes in Israeli jails; and an interview with Eric Romann of LA Dump Veolia.
link to electronicintifada.net

Other Prisoner News

Lawyer: Palestinian prisoner hospitalized in Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities have transferred a Palestinian prisoner from Ramle prison clinic to a civilian hospital in central Israel, a lawyer said on Friday. Alaa Addin Talal Hassouna from Hebron was taken to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center after a serious deterioration in his condition, Fadi Ubeidat of the Palestinian Authority’s prisoners ministry said. Hassouna, 35, suffers from heart trouble after undergoing surgery, Ubeidat said.
link to www.maannews.net

IOA releases a prisoner from Gaza after ten years in prisons
Israeli Occupation authorities (IOA) released, on Thursday, a Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip, after serving his ten-year prison sentence.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli forces release Hamas activist from Nablus
NABLUS (Ma’an) – Israeli authorities freed Friday a Hamas activist from Nablus in the northern West Bank after 10 months in custody, a human rights group said. Al-Tadamon (Solidarity) for Human Rights said Shaikh Samih Eleiwi, 50, was released from Israel’s Megiddo prison after the group’s lawyer Muhammad al-Abid obtained a court decision to release him. Eleiwi was detained on Dec. 12, 2011 after Israeli troops stormed his home in Nablus. He joined the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike for 20 days while in custody.
link to www.maannews.net

Megiddo captives denied visits for a month
The Israeli occupation authorities stepped up its punitive measures against Palestinian captives at Megiddo prison under flimsy excuses.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Ex-prisoner explains self-immolation attempt
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A former prisoner who tried to set herself on fire in Ramallah on Thursday says the Palestinian Authority is neglecting released detainees. Abeer Odeh, 30, tried to self-immolate in Ramallah’s Manara square on Thursday but was stopped by police, a Ma’an correspondent said. She was taken to a nearby police station. Odeh was released from Israeli detention last year in a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. Speaking to Ma’an on Thursday evening, Odeh accused the PA ministries of health and prisoner affairs of failing to assist prisoners struggling with health problems and financial difficulties after their release. She said she tried to set herself on fire to draw attention to the plight of ex-detainees.
link to www.maannews.net

Palestinian Activism / BDS / Solidarity

Israeli Military attempts to crush weekly Kufr Qaddum demonstration, 6 arrested
Four human rights defenders (3 British citizens and an American), as well as two Palestinians, were arrested at the weekly Kufr Qaddoum demonstration. They are currently detained in the illegal Kedumim settlement police station for interrogation. The two Palestinians, Majed Faruq, 20, and Abd al-Latif Faruq, 24 were arrested from inside their homes as the army stormed the village.
link to palsolidarity.org

PFLP to demonstrate in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners September 22
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has called for a march and demonstration in Ramallah on Saturday, September 22, 2012, in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom. The demonstration will particularly stand with the 111 pre-Oslo prisoners demanding their freedom, and the brave hunger strikers Samer al-Barq (121 days); Hassan Safadi (91 days) and Ayman Sharawna (81 days) The protest will start at 3 pm in Manara Square and then take to the streets, carrying flags of Palestine and images of the prisoners.
link to pflp.ps

Palestinians for Dignity close EU office, demand support for hunger striking prisoners
The following statement was issued by Palestinians for Dignity, a Palestinian youth organization that sat in at the European Union building, EUPOL COPPS – an EU entity that funds and trains Palestinian Authority police – to protest recent EU free-trade agreements with Israel, and demand that the EU take a clear position to free the Palestinian hunger striking prisoners. Former prisoner and hunger striker Khader Adnan sent a message of support to the youth, saying that “The Palestinian youth closure of the European Union police agency headquarters in Ramallah on Friday morning in support of the prisoners and in rejection of international silence is a blessed action of which all must be conscious.” Former prisoner and at one point the longest serving prisoner in Israeli prisons, Nael Barghouthi, came to the protest to offer his support.
link to samidoun.ca

Palestinian youth picket EU office in Ramallah
Some 20 Palestinian youth blocked entrances to a European Union representative building in Ramallah Friday to protest a recent law easing trade between the EU and Israel. The protesters standing outside the European Union Co-ordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support (EUPOL COPPS) also demanded that the EU issue a statement calling for the immediate release of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike, and to investigate all EU businesses benefiting from Israeli occupation and settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Women on front line in West Bank
Every Friday Nariman Tamimi and her 11-year-old daughter Ahed gear up for a confrontation with Israeli troops as their village protests over the seizure of lands by settlers. Earlier this month, this 35-year-old mother of four was arrested by the soldiers and held for hours as villagers from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh held their weekly demonstration, a tradition since the end of 2009. The villagers are protesting over the seizure in 2001 of around 240 acres (100 hectares) of their land by residents of the nearby Jewish settlement of Halamish. But with almost all demonstrations in the West Bank defined as “illegal” under Israeli military law, the protesters are routinely stopped by Israeli soldiers.
link to www.khaleejtimes.com

PHOTOS: Protest at Athletic Bilbao-Hapoel football match
A strong demonstration for Palestinian rights was conducted during the football match between Athletic Bilbao (Basque country) and Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shoma (Israel), conducted on 20 September 2012. The demonstration is particularly impressive given reported attempts by Athletic Bilbao authorities to frighten supporters with the possibility of fines and a ban from UEFA. Two supporters’ clubs of Athletic Bilbao were actively involved in organising the protest.
link to www.alternativenews.org

Will other countries follow? Norway bans tax deductions for donations to Israeli settlements, Ali Abunimah
In a precedent-setting move, Norway has ended tax-deductions for organizations that finance Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
link to electronicintifada.net

“We’re counting on you”: In video, students in Gaza call on world peers to intensify BDS, Shahd Abusalama
“Every BDS success makes us feel like we made a stride forward towards freedom, justice, equality and return”
link to electronicintifada.net

New Mexico Jewish Fed smears Sabeel conference as “anti-Semitism,” bullies churches, Ali Abunimah
The movement for Palestinian rights has gained strength even though the bully and smear tactics of Zionist groups have remained the same.
link to electronicintifada.net

Leila Khaled: Icon of Palestinian Liberation
It’s 2012 and Leila Khaled can still manage to stir-up controversy. In May, the staff members at Manchester’s branch of the Blackwell’s bookshop were inundated with phone calls; the company’s multi line system was essentially under blockade. On the end of each of their telephones were aggressive campaigners, on the line to express distaste at a book launch set to take place in the shop. The book was Sarah Irving’s new biography of Leila Khaled.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

New Rachel Corrie Story Published at Truthout, Richard Silverstein
I submitted an article about the Israeli court decision against the Corrie family regarding her 2003 death, to Truthout a few weeks ago. It’s just now been published and I hope you’ll visit and read it. I dissected the claims of the State against Corrie and used the defense’s words from the court records to impeach it. One of the most astonishing things said there, is that Corrie wanted to be a martyr for the Palestinian cause: in effect, that she committed suicide by stepping in front of that Caterpillar D9 tractor. The only suitable response is rage: rage against the injustice of it all, rage against Israel’s unmitigated chutzpah.
link to www.richardsilverstein.com

Israeli Racism

A young Israeli woman gets her picture taken with African ‘animals’, Philip Weiss
"There are no signs saying Do Not Take Photos With the animals on Display. There were no signs saying it’s forbidden to feed them, but this we did not do. With Abuba Buba, Obunga Dobunga, Znbura Buka Caluga Chaka and Sabuba"
link to mondoweiss.net

Political Developments and Other News

Israeli soldier, three others killed in Egypt border clashes
Updated 4:39pm: Israeli soldiers killed three armed men who crossed into Israel from Egypt on Friday, the army said, with local media reporting that an Israeli soldier had also died in the incident. The military declined to comment on Israeli casualties. Israel claimed the men were strapped with explosives. It was at least the fourth cross-border attack into Israel from Sinai in just over a year. Previous attacks were blamed on Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip and their supporters, who have allegedly established bases in the Sinai.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Mofaz: Israel won’t attack Iran in 2012
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel will not attack Iranian nuclear sites this year, Israeli opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said Friday. Mofaz, leader of the largest opposition party Kadima, said the US must take the leadership role in any possible strike on Iran, Israel’s Army Radio reported. Meanwhile, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin called on European countries to escalate sanctions on Iran and to impose a total embargo on the Iranian regime. Rivlin also called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be banned from speaking at the UN General Assembly during its annual debate. Israel has urged world powers to set a red line for Tehran’s nuclear programme, saying time was running out to stop what it sees as its quest for atomic arms and raising international concern it could launch a go-it-alone strike against Iran. Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
link to www.maannews.net

Egypt’s Morsi calls on U.S. to make good on its commitment to Palestinian self-Rule
If Egypt is to keep its Camp David commitments to Israel America should also make good on its commitments from 1978, he explained.
link to www.haaretz.com

Egypt: “U.S. Did Not Threaten To Stop Aid”
Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Amro, denied media reports claiming that the United States issued an official threat to cut all financial aid to Cairo, adding that there is no crisis in relations between the two countries.
link to www.imemc.org

Egypt Wants To Modify Peace Agreement With Israel
Israeli media sources reported that the new Egyptian government, headed by elected Islamist leader, Mohammad Morsi, intends to hold deliberations on modifying the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement, especially regarding security attainments in Sinai, the Palestine News Network (PNN) reported.
link to www.imemc.org

Palestinian Authority concerned about Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt, says official
Following Gaza Strip Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s departure from Cairo, a high-ranking Palestinian Authority official expressed grave concerns Friday concerning Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and what that meant for Egypt’s relations with Palestine. Azzam al-Ahmed, a member of the Fatah party’s central committee, stated that the Palestinian Authority rejects the Egyptian government’s meetings this week with the Hamas delegation from the Gaza Strip.
link to www.egyptindependent.com

Egypt FM: Hamas ’not opening bureau in Cairo’
CAIRO (Ma’an) — Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamel Amr said Thursday that Hamas had not opened a bureau in Cairo, Egyptian media reported. Amro told the Al-Ahram daily that Hamas officials were welcome in Cairo as visitors, but denied reports the party had opened an office there. Turkish state media reported Thursday that Hamas had permanently closed its politburo in Damascus and moved its staff to Cairo. A Hamas official told the Anadolu Agency that Hamas officials in Syria would begin working in Cairo from October. The official said Egypt gave Hamas permission to relocate to Cairo six months ago but the offer was not publicized "perhaps due to a request by the Egyptian government or due to expectations on the end of crisis in Syria."
link to www.maannews.net

U.S. lawmakers express concern over Israeli-American relations
Martin Indyk warns U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee that Israel ’has very good reasons to be concerned’ about the developments in the Middle East.
link to www.haaretz.com

Israel sends top officials to the White House
Israel is trying to thaw the frosty relationship between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House, and set up a meeting with President Barack Obama, an Israeli newspaper said on Friday. A report in the Maariv daily said National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror was in Washington and had been “meeting senior White House officials for the past two days in an attempt to reach certain understandings regarding the red lines that must be set for the Iranian nuclear programme.” Critics say that Netanyahu’s repeated demands for Obama to set unambiguous “red lines” for Tehran have angered the White House and put the president on the spot in the runup to the US election and supplied ammunition for Republican hopeful Mitt Romney.
link to www.rawstory.com

World Bank calls on donors to continue support for Palestinian Authority
The World Bank has launched an appeal to its member states urging them to address the fiscal crisis afflicting the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank as a matter of urgency. According to a report published by the World Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority faces a dangerous situation in its public finances in light of the raised budget deficit which exceeds the expected level, along with large debt to the local banking sector. Such a position will reduce the PA’s opportunities for getting more credit from the private sector, it is claimed.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

PA, Jordan in deal to export Palestinian produce
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Jordanian minister of agriculture wrapped up a 5-day visit to Ramallah on Thursday to strengthen cooperation in the field and facilitate the transfer of goods through Jordan. Ahmad al-Khattab met with his counterpart Walid Assaf during the visit and the two agreed to create a technical committee on agriculture marketing, exchange of goods, and research. The visit was intended to increase the amounts of agricultural exports to and through Jordan for international markets as well as bring in more income for Palestinian farmers. Officials called the visit an opportunity for the Jordanian minister to observe in person the damage suffered by Palestinian farmers due to the occupation and settler vandalism against agricultural infrastructure.
link to www.maannews.net

Israel’s Deputy FM Ayalon: There will be no peace without a just resolution of Jewish refugee problem
Israel has launched a new and controversial diplomatic initiative aimed at placing the plight of Jews in Arab countries on an equal footing with that of Palestinian refugees, insisting that the resolution of both problems is a prerequisite to Middle East peace.
link to www.haaretz.com

Dahlan slams Hamas ’diplomacy program’
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Ousted Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan released a statement on Saturday slamming Hamas for trying to pose as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. In recent weeks, Hamas announced it had begun a training program for diplomats in the Gaza Strip, drawing ire from the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank. Dahlan accused Hamas of trying to replace the legal representative of Palestinians on the world stage, the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza car dealers compelled to pay tax increase
The government in Gaza is enforcing a recent tax increase for car importers, the head of a car dealers association said on Saturday. The Hamas-run government has seized more than 200 vehicles and shut down several companies to compel importers to pay the tax rise, Ismail al-Nakhaleh said.
link to www.maannews.net

Analysis / Op-ed

After 19 years, the PLO admits Oslo failure
For the first time in 19 years the Palestine Liberation Organisation/Palestinian Authority has raised publicly the possibility of revoking the Oslo accords with Israel. Several press reports have quoted senior PLO officials, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Nabil Shaath, among them as saying that the annulment of the agreement was now on the table for Palestinian discussion. The explanation given for this sudden turn-around is that Israel’s policies have practically ruined all chances of a two-state solution to the conflict.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

The illusion of Hamas: what Israel got wrong
What Israel thinks Hamas is, and what the reality is, is more of an abyss than a gap, according to Gaza correspondent Shlomi Elder who reports for Channel 10 News in Israel. His book, ’Getting to Know Hamas’, attempts to close this divide and explain the real thinking behind Hamas and Israel’s outlook against the movement. In a detailed review of Elder’s book by Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz this week, attention is drawn to ’ Hamas and Israel: Peaceful Coexistence’, a document written by the political head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, and published for the first time in Elder’s book. It was penned and sent to Ehud Olmert in 2006, Israeli Prime Minister at the time that Palestinian militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Jewish migration from Israel to Europe on the rise
Almost 1 million Israelis left the state to live in the US, Britain, Australia and Germany in 2011. The figure was revealed by researcher Michel Sharon, who added that they end up having a prosperous life in their new countries. The details of Israel’s migration statistics were given in a television programme on Israeli Channel 2. Migrants to Canada told the programme that life there is "more peaceful" than in Israel. Around 2,500 Israelis migrate to Canada every year; one of the reasons given is that there is no talk of death and destruction there. This is causing the Israeli government some concern.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Senior Israeli tells Abbas to ditch Oslo as "it destroyed Palestinians"
In a long TV interview on Thursday, senior Israeli politician Yossi Beilin called on the Palestinian President to get rid of the Oslo agreement because "it destroyed Palestinians". Beilin is considered to be the architect behind the 1992 Oslo accord. He said that Mahmoud Abbas has to to get rid of the agreement in order to protect the interests of his people. "Oslo destroyed and wasted the Palestinian issue," he insisted. "If Abbas wants to keep his people, he needs to cancel it, dissolve the Palestinian Authority and put the whole Palestinian burden onto Israel." The veteran official, who served in several ministerial posts in the past, pointed out that, practically speaking, countries helping the PA financially are providing subsidies for the occupation. "The PA has to be dissolved and Israel has to pay the salaries of teachers, doctors and police," said Beilin. "Continued support for the PA is support for Netanyahu, who is doing his best to keep an ’empty Oslo’ alive."
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

"We cannot force Israel to do anything": My talk with Swedish politician highlights EU complicity, Rana Baker
It is very interesting that a “leftist” who offers “full support for Fatah” and who strongly believes that the EU must not boycott Israel, would “understand my frustration.”
link to electronicintifada.net

New AIPAC spox reflects the pro-Israel tent having worked for Lieberman, McCain and the Christian Coalition, Adam Horowitz
The new AIPAC spokesman seems to have run the political gamut during his career and perfectly compliments the organization’s political coalition. Marshall Wittmann has worked for Joe Lieberman, the Democratic Leadership Council, John McCain, the Heritage Foundation and the Christian Coalition.
link to mondoweiss.net

Palestinians head back to UN seeking non-member state status, Annie Robbins
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is heading back to the United Nations on September 27th to seek non member state status for Palestine through the General Assembly, although he is not pressing for a vote until after the U.S. presidential election on November 6. There will undoubtedly be intense diplomatic pressure from both the U.S. and Israel for Palestinians to drop their bid which has strong backing from members of the General Assembly.
link to mondoweiss.net

Romney dirge for two-state solution causes widespread panic among those fearing for Israel, Philip Weiss
Leaked comments by Mitt Romney that there is no point in the peace process have caused alarm among other Israel supporters that the two-state solution is fading from view. Here are four men who fault Romney in part out of fear for what this means for Israel.
link to mondoweiss.net

That Was Now, This Is Then: Netanyahu Edition, Nima Shirazi
Journalist Jim Lobe has done a tremendous service to those of us who follow the warmongering propaganda of American and Israeli officials over the Iranian nuclear program. This week, Lobe reminded us of the testimony then-former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered before the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on September 12, 2002 in which he marshaled nearly every hackneyed talking point about weapons of mass destruction, support for terrorists and the benefits of regime change in an effort to push the United States to illegally invade and occupy Iraq.
link to www.wideasleepinamerica.com

Netanyahu plays a risky election game
What is going on between Benjamin Netanyahu and Mitt Romney? The rapport between the two is no secret, dating back to the 1970s when they both worked in the Boston Consulting Group. Romney has made it clear that if he becomes US president, he will pursue a more hawkish stance than President Obama, even hinting he would support Israel in a war with Iran. Netanyahu went out of his way to be photographed with Romney on the latter’s visit to Israel, and has praised his views on Iran. It is clear, then, that a Romney win in November would be in Netanyahu’s interest. But many people in Israel - including within Netanyahu’s own government - are concerned that the Prime Minister is making his feelings known rather too clearly.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com