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Land Theft & Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Restriction of Movement / Apartheid & Occupation / Refugees

Devout Israeli Jews moving to Arab-Jewish cities

Orthodox Jewish Israelis, the driving force of the West Bank settlement movement, have begun to turn their attention inward to Israel itself, moving into Arab areas of mixed cities in an attempt to cement the Jewish presence there.
link to news.yahoo.com

Bedouin village in Negev to be destroyed, Jewish settlement to be built on site

Noam Sheizaf - +972 - "The construction of Jewish Hiran has been promoted by the “Or” movement – an NGO that promotes and facilitates the Judaization of southern and northern Israel."
link to 972mag.com

Backed by court, East Jerusalem settlement expands into Palestinian home
In Israel, a settler’s pre-1948 property claim provides legal grounds for the takeover of private Palestinian land. The property deeds of scores of Palestinians are disregarded, because there is one set of laws for Jews and another for Palestinians. Separate and unequal.
link to 972mag.com

Settlers Install New Illegal Outpost Near Nablus
A group of extremist Israeli settlers installed, Wednesday, a new illegal settlement outpost near Yanoun Palestinian village, south east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
link to www.imemc.org

Israel Rejects Settlers Claim Of Purchasing Hebron Home
The Israeli Civil Administration Office in the occupied West Bank decided not to grant a group of settlers a permit to purchase a Palestinian home near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. The settlers occupied Al-Rajabi six months ago, and claimed that they purchased it from its owners.
link to www.imemc.org

Closure of Ras Khamis checkpoint impedes freedom of movement further
Ramallah – On Wednesday, September 19th, the Israeli authorities closed down the Ras Khamis checkpoint, which serves 65,000 Palestinians and is one of the only two link to www.palestinemonitor.org

Palestinians cope with insufficient resources Living under Israeli occupation, Palestinians face numerous difficulties in their daily lives. The health sector is among the most affected arenas as there are Palestinian casualties on a daily basis as a result of the continuous Israeli attacks on the one hand, and a shortage of resources on the other. Since 2006, the Israeli occupation, supported by the international community, has imposed a strict siege against the Gaza Strip resulting in a sharp drop in the quality of medical services available ; so much so that hundreds of types of medicine are unobtainable. The latest Israeli war against the enclave, dubbed ’Operation Cast Lead’, has resulted in an increase in the number of amputee patients. The health sector that deals with this is already under-resourced and the casualties of the war have made the situation even more difficult to cope with. However, a Gaza rehabilitation centre has given some hope to victims.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

OCHA : “Israel Restricting Palestinian Access To Basic Services”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA) issued a new report accusing Israel of continuing its serious violations against the Palestinian people, and of preventing access to basic services.
link to www.imemc.org

Group : 20 Palestinians killed in Syrian refugee camp
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Twenty Palestinians were killed overnight Tuesday in a refugee camp in southern Syria, a Damascus-based Palestinian group said. The coordinating committee of Yarmouk refugee camp told Ma’an that 20 Palestinians in Deraa camp were killed and dozens injured in heavy bombing by the Syrian army. Sources in Deraa camp said that artillery shells and mortars targeted several streets near the area’s mosque. It is nearly impossible to reach the injured, they added, saying that the stench of decaying bodies fills the streets. Last week, the Yarmouk coordinating committee told Ma’an that four Palestinians were killed at a security checkpoint near the city of Aleppo.
link to www.maannews.net

The Palestinians in Lebanon : Remembering the Sabra-Shatila Massacre
What can we say to their families who left with Arafat, trusting in the promises of Reagan, Mitterrand, and Perini, who had assured them that the civilian population of the camps would be safe ? How can we explain that we allowed children, old people and women to be massacred, and that we are abandoning their bodies without prayers ? How can we tell them that we don’t know where they are buried ?
—Jean Genet, “Four Hours in Chatila.”
link to www.jadaliyya.com

Israeli & Egyptian Siege on Gaza

Gaza– and the failure of American charity, Philip Weiss
An important question. My fellow Americans, our image is tanking in the world. And p.s. Gaza is not a humanitarian issue, it is a political issue. But that’s not the point here... Are these people just animals to us ? Have we adopted that Israeli view ?
link to mondoweiss.net

Egypt detains 3 Palestinians in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained three Palestinian students who entered Sinai through tunnels from Gaza, security sources said. Egyptian security officials told Ma’an the students were detained at a checkpoint in north Sinai and admitted under questioning that they entered through tunnels. They told police they wanted to visit relatives in Ismailia and faced difficulties crossing the Rafah border terminal.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli Terrorism & Aggression

Israeli officer insults the Prophet Muhammad
In a provocative act, Israeli soldiers have insulted the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, in the streets of the village of Barta’a in Jenin behind the apartheid wall.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Settlers storm al-Aqsa mosque, IOF arrests 4 worshipers
Dozens of settlers stormed, on Wednesday morning, courtyards of al-Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi Gate accompanied by Israeli soldiers, preventing Palestinian worshipers from entering it.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court : Jews should be allowed to pray on Temple Mount
A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge said Wednesday that the police should allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount – an exceptional remark given that the High Court of Justice has ruled that policy on the Temple Mount is the sole purview of the police.
link to www.haaretz.com

Israeli tour of Al-Aqsa compound sparks clash
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem’s Old City clashed with a Jewish group touring the holy site on Thursday, officials said. The Al-Aqsa Foundation for the Islamic Waqf and Heritage said around 140 Israelis toured the mosque, sparking physical and verbal scuffles with Muslims praying at the compound. Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said five Palestinian citizens of Israel were detained for attacking the group, who were on a security-escorted tour for the Jewish Sukkot festival. A Jewish Israeli citizen was also detained for refusing police orders to leave the compound, he said. After a similar tour on Tuesday, at least 12 people were detained by Israeli forces, witnesses said. The Al-Aqsa compound, containing the mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is the third holiest site in Islam and abuts the site where Jews believe the ancient Second Temple stood.
link to www.maannews.net

Soldiers Invade Tulkarem, Jenin And Hebron ; Clashes Reported
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday at dawn, several areas in the northern West Ban districts on Tulkarem, Jenin and Hebron, broke into several homes and buildings leading to clashes with dozens of local youths, injuries were reported.
link to www.imemc.org

Palestine’s Council of Churches condemns settler attack on Franciscan monastery
The Council of Catholic churches in the occupied Palestinian territories has condemned the hostile graffiti scrawled on the main gate of a Franciscan monastery in Jerusalem yesterday. The attack was carried out by extremist Jewish settlers claiming to be a part of the ’price-tag’ campaign. In a statement issued on October 3, the Council said that the "assault reminds us of the writings smeared on the walls of the Latrun monastery almost a month ago, and is a new attack on Jesus signed by the price-tag." The Council called on the Israeli authorities to "arrest the perpetrators from the price-tag gang and bring them to justice. Prior to this, the entrenched forms of education must be changed otherwise the same reasons will lead to the same results." The Council stressed that "this aggression is one chapter in a series of acts of intolerance that should not be accepted in Israel or anywhere else in the world."
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Illegal Arrests by Israel and the PA

Hamas : PA security services arrest 184 citizens last month
The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, confirmed the PA security services in the occupied West Bank has stepped up its arrest campaign against supporters and cadres of the movement during September.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Arrests in Jenin and Qalqilya
The Israeli occupation forces stormed the village and arrested Mujahid Mohammed Jaradat, 22, of the town of Silat al-Harithiya and took him to an unknown destination, locals told PIC’s correspondent.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Other Prisoner News

Deterioration in MP Sheikh Hassan Yousef’s health
The MP Sheikh Hasan Yousef, an elected Palestinian Legislator of the Change and Reform Bloc of the Hamas movement, detained since 11 months, is facing a deteriorating health condition.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Sharp deterioration of the prisoner Sharqawi’s health
The Palestinian prisoner Sharqawi, 23, sentenced to four years in Israeli jails, suffers from sharp deterioration in his health where he has liver and kidney failure.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli occupation release Palestinian MP Ahmad Haj Ali
The Israeli occupation authority released on Thursday morning the Palestinian lawmaker Ahmad Haj Ali (74 years) from Megiddo prison after a 16-month administrative detention, without charge or trial.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Protests / Solidarity / Activism / BDS

Thousands join Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Tens of thousands of Islamic Jihad supporters gathered in al-Kateba square in Gaza City on Thursday to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the movement’s founding. The event also marked the 17th anniversary of the assassination of Islamic Jihad’s founder Fathi al-Shiqaqi. Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ramadan Shallah addressed the crowds and called for a new national strategy. "The Palestinian project of establishing a state on the 1967 borders through negotiations has obviously failed," Shallah said.
link to www.maannews.net

BDS key to a "just peace," says Palestinian Christian boycott activist
While much work is still to be done, the coordinator of the project that produced the landmark Kairos Palestine document reflects on its successes.
link to electronicintifada.net

Issues of the day : Marty calls for boycott of Israeli products
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is calling for nations to consider reviewing diplomatic ties with Israel and boycotting its products in solidarity with Palestine. Marty acknowledged that the situation in the occupied territories had grown unfavorable following unilateral Israeli moves. “There is an unbalanced situation and Israel should bear responsibility for the failure of peace negotiations,” Marty said on the sidelines of the 67th UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.The foreign minister was commenting on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s pessimistic assessment of the peace process. “The door may be closing, for good, on a two-state solution,” Ban said in his speech to the assembly. “We must break this dangerous impasse,” Ban added.
link to www.thejakartapost.com

Israel fears increasing boycott of settlement produce
An Israeli media reported on Monday that the country’s foreign ministry has expressed concerns over the broadening of the Norwegian initiative to boycott Israeli settlement produce. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store, said last month that his country, which is not a part of the EU, is considering taking action against trade in settlement goods. During a visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah last month, the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported Store as saying, "The international community must consider how to relate to the import of goods that are produced in settlements, which we regard as illegal under international law".
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

“Freedom Flotilla”ship to sail for Gaza from Naples
The Estelle, the latest ship to try to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza as part of the “Freedom Flotilla” movement, will set sail from Naples in southern Italy on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the movement told AFP.“The Estelle will be leaving in two days time, probably towards sundown. We are ready,” Ann Ighe said by telephone. “We think it will take around two weeks to get to Gaza, but it will obviously also depend on the weather conditions,” she added. The Estelle, whose voyage is being organised by an international pro-Palestinian coalition, will be carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip. There will be 17 activists from around the world on board, including passengers and crew from Canada, Israel, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from entering the coastal territory, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas, and has used force to defend it in the past.
link to www.khaleejtimes.com

Activists building ship in Gaza to defy Israel
VANCOUVER - A ship built in Gaza will sail next year carrying Palestinian exports to international customers, and to challenge Israel’s blockade from the inside out, Canadian activists said Wednesday. The Gaza’s Ark project is building a boat using existing resources in the tiny Palestinian enclave to carry Palestinian goods to the outside world, former Canadian Member of Parliament Jim Manly. Manly held a news conference at Vancouver’s airport before flying for Naples to join the Estelle ship, which is scheduled to sail from Italy this month carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip, in another challenge to the blockade. The Estelle, coordinated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, will carry an anchor for Gaza’s Ark paid for by Canadians, he said.
link to www.asiaone.com

Sold-out Russell Tribunal on Palestine within easy reach with live video, Twitter coverage, Abraham Greenhouse
Though tickets for this weekend’s Russell Tribunal on Palestine have completely sold out, the proceedings will be broadcast live on the web and live-tweeted.
link to electronicintifada.net

Israeli Racism

‘Peace Now’ video against binational state features scary soundtrack : Muslim call to prayer, Philip Weiss
More than a year ago Peace Now in Israel (Shalom Achsav) posted the above video in Hebrew, calling on Israelis to save Israel from "downfall" by giving up the territories and working to establish a Palestinian state— two states for two peoples. The video has lately been translated and reposted by leftwing Israelis critical of Peace Now. You will see that at :47 the video warns that if Israel annexes the territories, "Israel will become a binational state, without a Jewish majority." At this point the wail of the muezzin, or Muslim call to prayer, is heard. So : A liberal group is employing Islamophobia. (The recent Nation issue on Islamophobia pointed out the connections between Zionism and Islamophobia.)
link to mondoweiss.net

NGOs to court : Prohibit mass imprisonment of Sudanese migrants
Asylum seekers and Israeli human rights groups petitioned a Jerusalem court to prohibit Interior Minister Eli Yishai from ’hysterical and barbaric’ decision to round up and jail Sudanese citizens in Israel.
link to www.haaretz.com

Israeli Palestinian Physics Prize Winners “Disappeared” by Israeli Media
One of the more popular memes Jewish triumphalists use to prove religious-ethnic superiority is how many Nobel Prizes have Jewish names attached to them. This supports the claim of genetic and racial superiority of Jewish DNA, I presume. Pro-Israel advocates use the same technique to pump up the volume on behalf of their nation. Entire websites and organizations exist whose sole purpose is to trumpet Israeli achievements, whether deserved or not.
link to www.richardsilverstein.com

Political Developments / Other News

Israeli military : Armed Syrians approach border
Dozens of armed men gathered on the Syrian side of the cease-fire line in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights Wednesday, prompting authorities to close a tourist site as a precaution, the Israeli military said.
link to news.yahoo.com

When Salam Fayyad secretly urged the US to block salaries for Palestinian Authority employees
In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been in a worsening financial crisis, chronically unable to pay the salaries of its 150,000 workers on whose docility its survival depends. But while PA “prime minister” Salam Fayyad, would love to be able to meet payroll now, that was not always the case. Reading through a leaked confidential US government cable from 9 May 2006, I came across a little gem...
link to electronicintifada.net

Palestinian charged with spying for Hezbollah
An Israeli court on Thursday charged a Palestinian holding Israeli citizenship with gathering information for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, including details of security arrangements for President Shimon Peres, the Shin Bet security agency said. In a statement, Israel’s domestic security service said Milad Mohammed Khatib, from the Palestinian village of Majdal Krum in northern Israel, was charged with espionage, contact with an enemy agent, aiding the enemy in time of war and conspiracy to aid the enemy.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Palestinian UN status likely to be debated in November
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — The United Nations is likely to hold a debate on whether to upgrade the Palestinians’ UN status to a sovereign country in mid-November — after the US election, the president of the 193-member UN General Assembly said Wednesday. Having failed last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, President Mahmoud Abbas said last week he would seek a less-ambitious status upgrade at the world body to make it a "non-member state" like the Vatican. The Palestinians’ current UN status is an "observer entity." If Abbas wins, that would change to "observer state."
link to www.maannews.net

Fatah official : Lieberman’s threats must be taken seriously
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The furious Israeli reaction to President Abbas’ UN speech is part of a strategy to derail seeking member status at the international body, a Fatah official said Wednesday. "For Palestinians to have a state and avoid a veto created a problem with the Israelis, who are thinking of initiating a PR campaign to force Abbas to stand down," Abbas Zaki told Ma’an. "Lieberman’s threats must be taken seriously because he represents the Israeli government," he added. Reacting to Abbas’ speech Thursday, Lieberman said Abbas was "the biggest obstacle to peace." The controversial Israeli foreign minister called Abbas’ speech "incitement" and said the president was lying and using slander against Israel.
link to www.maannews.net

Barhoum calls on PA to free the resistance to respond to Israeli raids of Aqsa
Fawzi Barhoum considered that storming al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish extremists represents an offense against al-Aqsa and the holy places and proves Israeli insistence on violating Palestinian sanctities.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Meshaal : Hamas doesn’t forget support, but doesn’t compromise the nation’s blood
Khaled Mashaal said that the movement does not forget who supported and stood by it, "but it cannot compromise the nation’s blood, in reference to Hamas’s position on the Syrian revolution.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinians lose aid as US intensifies anti-statehood campaign
The Palestinian Authority received no funding pledges from its usual donors at a New York meet last week, according to Ma’an news agency.The absence of pledges appears to be linked to the PA’s bid for statehood, in defiance of an aggressive US campaign against it.“The Europeans said it clearly that they have paid their dues and can’t pay more. And the Arabs don’t seem to care,” a senior government official told Ma’an on condition of anonymity. Washington has warned European countries not to support the PA’s bid to become an “observer state” at the UN, a secret memo published in part by The Guardian Monday revealed.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

PA asks Google to block anti-Islam video
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority minister of justice has asked Google to block an anti-Islam video that sparked worldwide protests, his ministry announced on Thursday. Ali Muhanna sent an official message to Google saying the clip breaches Palestinian law against offending religious sensibilities. Google has refused to remove the film from YouTube, despite pressure from the White House and others to take it down, though the company has blocked the trailer in Egypt, Libya and several other countries. The minister said he saw no reason the offensive film should be shown in the Palestinian territories when it has been blocked in other Muslim countries.
link to www.maannews.net

US imposes sanctions on Lebanese charities with alleged Hamas ties
The United States on Thursday imposed financial penalties on two Lebanese charities that fundraise for Hamas, an effort by the Obama administration to disrupt the Islamist group’s activities. The US Treasury added the two Beirut-based charities, Al-Waqfiya and Al-Quds International Foundation, to its list of entities hit with asset freezes. It is not known whether the two charities hold US assets. The Treasury Department did not provide details on any assets under US jurisdiction and declined to comment when asked.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Ethicist Asa Kasher : IDF can conduct medical experiments on soldiers under certain conditions
In an opinion for court obtained by Haaretz, Kasher says experiments on soldiers may be carried out for ’building the military force.’
link to www.haaretz.com

Analysis / Op-ed / Human Interest

Israel excluded as model UN meets in Gaza, Rami Almeghari
Young Palestinians in Gaza tell the Palestinian Authority and international leaders that they must be included in discussions about their rights.
link to electronicintifada.net

Month in Pictures : September 2012
A monthly roundup of photographs documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, and international solidarity with Palestine.
link to electronicintifada.net

"Cool" Tel Aviv proudly boasts of citizens’ role in brutal Israeli occupation army, Ali Abunimah
Tel Aviv sells itself as a “cool” to counter international boycotts, but boasts of its role in occupation army at home.
link to electronicintifada.net

The deeply disturbing Israel court ruling on Rachel Corrie
Cindy Corrie - The Seattle Times - He ruled that Rachel was killed as an act of war, which, according to Israeli law, absolves the military of responsibility. He added that she alone was to blame for her own killing and then went on to commend the military police for their professionalism in carrying out such a credible investigation.
link to www.kibush.co.il

Watch : Animated short by Nina Paley satirizes divine claims to Palestine
Cartoonist and free culture activist Nina Paley has released a new animated short satirizing and abbreviating the history of divine claims to Palestine. “I envisioned This Land Is Mine as the last scene of my potential-possible-maybe-feature film, Seder-Masochism, but it’s the first (and so far only) scene I’ve animated,” she wrote on her blog. The song used in the animation is “The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine)” by Ernest Gold and Pat Boone and performed by Andy Williams.
link to electronicintifada.net

Israeli Tourist Buses Invade Bethlehem
The internationally beloved city of Bethlehem should provide much needed tourism revenue to Palestine. However, Israeli tour-guide companies enter the territories without restriction, while their Palestinian counterparts are not allowed to travel.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Palestine freedom battle "will be won" : interview with author Miko Peled
A solution can be clinched within the coming decade, according to the son of an Israeli military chief.
link to electronicintifada.net

Netenyahu’s objective is "to deny the Palestinians an independent existence in Palestine"
Avi Shlaim, professor of International Relations at Oxford and fellow of the British Academy, has studied the history of Israel for over 30 years. The Iraqi-born British/Israeli academic is one of the New Historians, Israeli scholars who are critical of the history of Zionism and question the official state version of events. Believing that the "job of a historian is to judge", he is frequently an outspoken critic of Israeli policy.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Why I Dislike Israel, Philip Giraldi
Even those pundits who seem to want to distance U.S. foreign policy from Tel Aviv’s demands and begin treating Israel like any other country sometimes feel compelled to make excuses and apologies before getting down to the nitty-gritty.
link to original.antiwar.com