TODAY in PALESTINE

============================================

Tweet

class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false"
data-lang="fr">Follow @PalestinePlus

Restriction of movement

Israeli policy splits Palestinian families

Al Jazeera In Depth 7 Nov by Mya Guarnieri — To Westerners and Palestinians, Gaza "is hell", says Ali Batha. "It’s a scary place … It’s the last place in the world [people want to go]." There’s Gaza’s 30 per cent unemployment rate, and the Israeli blockade that restricts imports and exports. Clean drinking water is increasingly scarce. Fuel and electricity shortages cause daily blackouts. And, according to the United Nations, the Gaza Strip "will not be livable by 2020" unless the blockade, isolation, and Israeli-Palestinian conflict all come to an end. Despite the bleak outlook, and despite the fact that Batha, 31, is in the prime of his life, he is planning to leave the West Bank to move to Gaza. It’s the only place where he and his wife, Rehab, can live together. Because of Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement, it’s been three-and-a-half years since the two have seen each other. Batha and Rehab are just one of thousands of Palestinian families who have been torn apart by Israel’s "separation policy"...
While Batha is angry with the PA for not doing more to help, he blames the Israeli government for the painful separation from his wife, which he likens to "a prison". Israel also maintains the Palestinian population registry, which gives it the final say regarding official address changes. Mother who disappeared : In Nisreen Asaid’s case, this means that Israel decides whether or not the 30-year-old mother of two will be able to live with her children.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210307433987466.html

Palestinians barred from studying in West Bank

Forward 7 Nov by Tania Hary — Israel Bars Gaza College Students From Travelling— Photo : Free to Study ? Palestinian students celebrate their graduation from Bir Zeit University on the West Bank. Why does Israel bar Gaza students from travelling to complete their studies ? — Since the beginning of 2012, Gisha and Al Mezan, an Israeli and a Palestinian human rights organization, respectively, have been arguing a petition before Israel’s highest court asking that five women from Gaza be permitted to enter the West Bank to complete their academic studies. In September the petition was rejected, against the backdrop of a 12-year ban on travel between the two parts of the Palestinian territory for the purposes of engaging in academic studies. Then it was revealed that even the United States cannot broker permits for its State Department-funded scholars from Gaza, who had hoped to start the academic year at Palestinian universities in the West Bank.
http://forward.com/articles/165299/palestinians-barred-from-studying-in-west-bank/

Stripped of my clothes, my father, but not of my right to return / Asma Jaber

Al Jazeera 6 Nov — Discrimination against Palestinians is alive and well in Israel, reminiscent of Jim Crow — "Unbutton your pants," Sara, the stone-faced security agent at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, told me. I sobbed, choking on my words, "My dad was born in Nazareth." "Lift your shirt," she continued. "He’s dying, and he can’t return here," I mumbled. I thought of what my father looked like at that moment, bruised and broken from a drunk driver, unable to breathe on his own, and helpless in a hospital bed in South Carolina.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211310301870237.html

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Europe condemns Israel’s OK for new settler homes
AP 7 Nov — Germany, Britain and France criticized Israel on Wednesday over its decision to go ahead with the construction of more than 1,200 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The three European powers warned that the move could jeopardize efforts to restart the Mideast peace process.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4302623,00.html

House demolished in Deirit, South Hebron Hills [Update : video added]

ISM 6 Nov — On the morning of November 6th, 2012, a house was demolished by the Israeli Army amidst most of the town watching and a significant amount of media coverage. The military started moving towards the location at approximately 6 am with two excavator cranes and one bulldozer. This heavy equipment was accompanied by multiple army vehicles and border police personnel who woke up the family and forced them from their residence. The Israeli Occupying Forces gave no forewarning verbally or otherwise as to their homes destruction. The building of the house began three years ago and was on land that was perfectly acceptable and legal to build on ... Mohammad Moussa Abuarram was the home owner, he and his family of eight are now being sheltered at one of his brothers houses.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/house-demolished-in-deirit-south-hebron-hills/

Israel issues eviction orders to 40 families in Nablus

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — Israeli authorities issued eviction orders to 40 families in a Nablus village on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that Israeli forces gave the families in Khirbet Tana, in Area C, until Saturday to leave their homes. The Israeli army is planning to turn the area into a military training zone.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534834

Israel to illegally seize Palestinian lands near Bethlehem

IMEMC 7 Nov — Under the pretext of "military considerations", the Israeli army informed Palestinian residents of al-Fordaes [Fardis] village, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, that it intends to seize large areas of their lands in al-Oqban area, the Palestine News Network (PNN) reported. Israel intends to seize dozens of dunams in Basin 4, and the order is effective immediately. Breijieh added that he contacted two lawyers identified as Ghayyath Nasser and Mohammad Shqeir, to follow-up on the issue and appeal the Israeli military decision, PNN reported.
In related news, armed Israeli settlers bulldozed Palestinian agricultural lands in Khallit al-Qoton area, south of Bethlehem, in order to build a new settlement ; the area in question is 1,700 dunams (approx. 420 acres).
On Tuesday, the Israeli army issued an order for the demolition of a pool used for collecting rain water, and another order against a well is Qeizoun area, east of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64522

Journalists among 6 injured in Salfit clashes

SALFIT (Ma‘an) — Clashes between Israeli soldiers and residents of a village near Salfit left six Palestinians injured including two journalists, locals and a Ma‘an correspondent said. Israeli forces crossed into the Kifl Haris village north of Salfit with bulldozers to demolish houses there, residents of the village said. Alaa Dawood, the imam of Hares mosque, told Ma’an that Palestinians threw rocks at the Israeli soldiers who were preparing to demolish several houses they claimed were unlicensed. Israel’s forces brought two bulldozers and several military vehicles ... The two injured journalists were Farah Zahalqa of Watan TV and Rouya TV and Majdi Zaid, a photographer for Ma‘an. Forces surrounded the house of Hisham Salamah and ordered the residents of 20 homes in nearby area Umm al-Qutouf to leave in preparation for their demolition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534849

Settlers set ground on fire in Salman Valley, Burin

ISM 6 Nov — Today at around sundown, settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar set fire to the ground in the Salman valley at Burin. The fire was in the same location where two ISMers and two members of the Michigan Peace Team (MPT) had been picking olives only hours before in the Najjar family groves. The fire service attended and with the help of around 10-15 villagers the fire was finally put out after about 90 minutes. The inability of the fire truck to reach that part of the slope meant that the fire needed to be put out by beating it down with shovels. While it burned it devastated both upper slopes of the valley
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/settlers-set-ground-of-fire-in-salman-valley-burin/

Colonizers ruin olive trees in Hebron

ISM 7 Nov — Olive trees and one apricot tree were ruined on the morning of November 5th in a section of Khalil (Hebron) called Jales Mount, which is near the colony of Kiryat Arba. Rashed Zaroo showed the damage to internationals that afternoon. He explained that the land is owned by his father and uncle Fayez, before that his grandfather acquired the land in the early twentieth century. The trees were planted forty years prior and were some of the strongest in a large grove that produced olives and fruit. Five months ago Shakel Zaroo was attacked and gased by settlers that he caught damaging his property. In addition five hundred square meters of the Zaroo family land was confiscated for Route 60. The neighboring families’ land has seen even more devastation, the Abu Rmela and Abo Sunina families had approximately 400 olive trees burned by settlers last year.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/colonizers-ruin-olive-trees-in-hebron/

Settlers ’uproot 100 trees, spray racist graffiti’ in Nablus

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 Nov - Israeli settlers uprooted over 100 olive trees and sprayed racist graffiti in a Nablus village on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that settlers from Rechalim sprayed "Death to Arabs" and "Price Tag" on the walls of al-Sawiya village.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534829

For first time, Bedouin town to be part of Jewish regional council

Haaretz 7 Nov — A new Bedouin town is to be formed in the Ramat Negev Regional Council - the first Bedouin community to be incorporated within the boundaries of a Jewish regional council in the south. Under the plan, approved by the National Planning and Building Committee on Tuesday, the new community will be formed on 1,000 dunams (about 250 acres) and be called Ramat Tzipporim. It will provide homes for members of the Azzazmeh tribe who live in two unrecognized communities in the Negev highlands, between Kibbutz Sde Boker and Mitzpeh Ramon. Much of the area where the tribe currently lives consists of military firing zones, antiquities and nature reserves, according to the agency in charge of regulating Bedouin settlement. Bedouin there therefore lack infrastructure and basic services. The new community will be rural to let the Bedouin preserve their way of life. [and is this with the consent of the Bedouin ?]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/for-first-time-bedouin-town-to-be-part-of-jewish-regional-council.premium-1.475757?localLinksEnabled=false

Violence / Raids / Clashes

Clashes reported in Silwan, 2 residents kidnapped, several injured
IMEMC 8 Nov — Local sources in occupied East Jerusalem reported, on Wednesday evening, that the army invaded Silwan town and clashed with local youths, who hurled stones at them, and fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets leading to several injuries ; the army also kidnapped two residents ... The clashes took place as the locals were holding a welcome ceremony for a detainee who was released from an Israeli detention facility when the soldiers invaded the area, and attacked them. It is worth mentioning that undercover forces of the Israeli army were also extensively deployed in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64525

Muhammad Samih al Abassi, arrested child, has his house raided and searched

Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 Nov — On Sunday, Israeli forces raided the house of Samih al Abassi in Al Madares Street. In Batn al Hawa, Silwan they searched the house- messing up its furniture- a few hours after arrest of 17-year old Muhammad. Al Abassi’s uncle’s house was also raided. Members of the family were held in one room whilst the house was searched. The uncle and his son were also held for an hour and a half by the Israeli authorities, despite the fact that they are both ill. Israeli officers have refused to tell the family why the raid took place and why Al Abassi has been arrested, claiming the case is classified.
http://silwanic.net/?p=30389

Magistrates Court extended the arrest of 6 young men from Jerusalem
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 6 Nov — On Monday, November 5 the Magistrates Court extended the arrest of six young men from Shuafat refugee camp and Silwan for several days. Five of them were from Shuafat refugee camp ... Their arrest has been extended until next Friday. They were accused of throwing stones and Molotov at Israeli forces. They were arrested after a raid on their houses in Shuafat refugee camp. While the detention of Mohammad Samih Abbasi, 17, from Silwan was extended for the next Sunday. Abbasi has been interrogated in Maskubiya Jail, note that the session was held in secret where his lawyer or his family was prevented from attending, arguing that the file is "secret".
http://silwanic.net/?p=30387

WATCH : Palestinian child chases the occupation forces after they arrested her brother Waed al-Tamimi in the village of Nabi Saleh
2 Nov — They are the children of the prisoner Bassem Al Tamimi and the recently released prisoner Nariman Al Tamimi. The occupying forces also arrested journalists, five internationals. [Ynet interpretation of this, "Palestinian girl tries to goad soldiers into lashing out" can be found here]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oWlxLq-2RQA

Citizens suffer breathing difficulty in IOF violent dispersal of demo
RAMALLAH (PIC) 7 Nov — Many citizens were treated for breathing problems near Ofer jail on Wednesday after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) used teargas to disperse their march. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that IOF soldiers fired teargas canisters at participants in a march organized in solidarity with Ibrahim Abu Hijla, who was liberated in Wafa Al-Ahrar prisoners exchange deal then re-arrested by the IOF.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Clashes erupt after storming Youssef’s tomb by hundreds of settlers
NABLUS (PIC) 7 Nov — Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed at dawn on Wednesday, the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, and performed religious rituals in Youssef’s Tomb under the protection of the Israeli army. Eyewitnesses said that a number of Israeli military vehicles stormed the eastern part of Nablus, and headed towards Yussef’s tomb to secure the entry of buses and cars carrying hundreds of Jewish settlers who came to perform religious Talmudic rituals. The sources added that clashes have erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths in the area surrounding the Youssef’s Tomb, where the occupation forces fired stun grenades and tear gas against Palestinian houses in the area.
It should be noted that the Israeli settlers have repeatedly stormed the Tomb which was an Islamic mosque built over a tomb of an Islamic Sheikh named Youssef Dweikat from the town of Balata. It was seized by Israeli settlers just after the occupation of the West Bank in 1967 under the pretext that it contains Tomb of Prophet Youssef [Joseph].
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Four Palestinians kidnapped in the West Bank
IMEMC 7 Nov — Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday at dawn, four Palestinians during invasions targeting different parts of the occupied West Bank. The army invaded several areas in the districts of Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah and Tulkarem. The army invaded Beit Ommar, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, broke into and searched a number of homes, and kidnapped Montaser Ibrahim Ekhlayyil, 19, and Mohammad Abdul-Nasser Ekhlayyil, also 19. Both men were taken to an Etzion military base....
http://www.imemc.org/article/64523

Witnesses : Israeli forces raid Bethlehem stone quarry
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — Israeli forces raided a quarry in the Bethlehem village of Beit Fajjar on Wednesday, locals said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli forces inspected the stone quarry and questioned workers, before leaving the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534807

Prisoners / Court actions

Palestinian teen spends 21 days behind bars on false charges
Haaretz 7 Nov — The Prosecutor’s Office declared on Tuesday that it would cancel all charges against a Beit Hanina youth who was held in custody for three weeks on false charges of aggravated assault, after closed-circuit television footage proved that two Border Police officers lied to the court from the start. The Jerusalem Magistrate Court freed Udai Biomi, 20, unconditionally, after the screening of the footage clearly revealed that it was actually Biomi who was attacked and not vice versa, as the two officers wrote in their report and under investigation. Biomi intends to complain against the two officers who were the cause of his false arrest and might also sue them for civil damages ... Biomi’s attorney told Haaretz : "Unfortunately this is but one example of many of how citizens are accused of attacking police officers, when the officers were actually the aggressors..."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-teen-spends-21-days-behind-bars-on-false-charges.premium-1.475762

After jail sentence, Bassem Tamimi declared prisoner of conscience
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — Palestinian activist Bassem Tamimi, who has been sentenced to four months in prison in a plea bargain with an Israeli court, is a prisoner of conscience and should be released, Amnesty International said on Wednesday. Tamimi was detained on Oct. 24 during a protest at an Israeli supermarket in a Jewish settlement near Ramallah. Ofer military court sentenced him to four months in prison and fined him 5,000 shekels ($1,280) in a plea bargain on Tuesday, Amnesty said ... "Bassem Tamimi has a long record of peaceful protest, and this court hearing showed that even the military prosecution has acknowledged he did not use or advocate violence at the demonstration," Amnesty’s Mideast director Philip Luther said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535083

Jerusalemite prisoner threatened with losing his eyesight
NABLUS (PIC) 7 Nov — Tadhamun Foundation for Human Rights said that a Jerusalemite prisoner in Israeli jails is threatened with losing his eyesight as a result of the medical negligence in the prison. The researcher at the Foundation, Ahmed Betawi, pointed that captive Haitham Moussa Ibrahim Salhab, from the town of Shuafat in Jerusalem, told the Foundation’s lawyer, when he visited him in Nafha prison, that he suffers from severe vision problems and cannot see farther than two meters. Betawi stated that Salhab cannot see what is going on around him and cannot distinguish between inanimate objects and human beings, farther than the distance of 2 meters and that, almost one year ago, he has started seeing big black points, even when wearing glasses, and feeling he is losing his eyesight gradually.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Gaza

Official : Farmer injured by tank fire in central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — A Palestinian man was moderately injured by tank fire in central Gaza on Wednesday, a medical official said. Ministry of health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the man was being treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah after coming under tank fire. He is a farmer from Bureij refugee camp, the official said. Witnesses told Ma‘an earlier on Wednesday that Israeli military vehicles entered the Gaza Strip near Bureij
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534976

Qatari fuel for Gaza still stuck in Sinai amid unrest
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — Fuel donated by Qatar for the Gaza Strip is still stuck in Egypt due to the unrest in Sinai, a Gaza official said Wednesday. Mohammad Abadleh, an official with a gas company coalition in Gaza, said the blockage was due to the security situation in the restive peninsula, not any procurement problems.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534804

Hamas apologizes after police beat female activists
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — The Hamas government in Gaza apologized on Wednesday after reports emerged of security forces attacking female activists in Gaza City on Tuesday, a statement said. "The government clearly apologizes for what has happened, and the Ministry of Interior will form a commission of inquiry to determine the circumstances of the incident, because what happened does not reflect the culture of the government or the Palestinian people," director of Hamas’ media office Ehab al-Ghusein said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534706

Hamas affirms rejection of violence against peaceful demonstrations
(PIC) 7 Nov — The Islamic Resistance movement, Hamas, has affirmed its respect of the right of Palestinian citizens to demonstrate peacefully and its rejection of any violence against such marches. A responsible source in Hamas said on Wednesday that the movement was not against peaceful marches that do not disturb public discipline or impede public transport. He renewed assertion that his movement asked the Gaza government to investigate reasons for the violent dispersal of a women’s rally in Gaza city on Tuesday and to bring those responsible to account in order to ensure non-recurrence of such incidents.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Smuggling some fun : Teens sneak paintball game into Gaza
Gaza (Reuters) 7 Nov — It was once the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, but now the site has been turned into the Gaza Strip’s first ever paintball park. The arrival of the strategic action game in Gaza is offering Palestinian youths a chance to try something new. But bringing the relevant equipment and protective clothing into the blockaded territory was no small achievement : everything had to be smuggled in through one of the 1000-metre (yard) underground tunnels that link Gaza with Egypt... But with an entrance fee of 10 shekels ($2.50), 50 shekels ($12.80) to rent the paintball field and 30 shekels ($7.60) for 50 paintballs, the experience is beyond the reach of most Gazans.
http://talesofacitybythesea.com/2012/11/07/smuggling-some-fun-teens-sneak-paintball-game-into-gaza/

Refugees

Syrian rebels kill 10 pro-Assad Palestinian militiamen
AMMAN (Reuters) 7 Nov — Syrian rebels killed 10 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a faction loyal to President Bashar Assad, on Wednesday in clashes near a Palestinian camp in Damascus, opposition sources said. Fighting between the two sides has escalated in the last few days in ’Street 30’ and Hajar al-Aswad near Yarmouk, a camp inhabited by 150,000 Palestinians and as many Syrians. Syrian army artillery and warplanes have bombarded rebel positions in the area, the opposition sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534858

PFLP-GC blame Qatar for Syria rebel killings
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — A Palestinian faction loyal to President Bashar Assad on Wednesday blamed Qatar’s support to rebel fighters in Syria for the killing of its members near a refugee camp in Damascus. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command said Qatar held full responsibility for the killing of eight of its members near Yarmouk camp earlier Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535043

Racism / Discrimination

Ashdod Sudanese urge Israeli neighbors : Vote for leaders who won’t deport us
Haaretz 7 Nov — About 2,000 Sudanese and Eritreans live in Ashdod ; they say they are the ones who are afraid to go out at night, because local residents attack them for no reason — Sudanese migrants sent a letter to their neighbors in Ashdod’s Rova Bet neighborhood this week asking them to vote for candidates in the upcoming Knesset and mayoral elections who support granting asylum to African migrants.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ashdod-sudanese-urge-israeli-neighbors-vote-for-leaders-who-won-t-deport-us.premium-1.475768

BDS

AICvision : Israeli occupation, accountability, BDS (video)
AIC 7 Nov — In this week’s AICvision, a special programme on the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. We interview Adri Nieuwhof, who presented a statement in support of BDS to last month’s international solidarity conference of the African National Conference (ANC). Nieuwhof shares her rich experience of working against apartheid in South Africa.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/multimedia/5587-aicvision-israeli-occupation-accountability-bds.html

Political, other news

Palestinian protesters harassed, beaten by Abbas supporters in Jerusalem

EI 7 Nov byBudour Youssef Hassan — Palestinian youth groups in Jerusalem called for a march from the Old City’s Damascus Gate on 5 November in protest of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ interview with Israeli Channel Two in which he renounced his right of return to Safad, his ethnically cleansed hometown in northern historic Palestine. The march was scheduled to begin at 5pm but was marred by attacks on protesters by pro-Abbas thugs. Damascus Gate has seen some of the most vicious attacks by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian demonstrators this year, but this time around it was Palestinians who attacked fellow Palestinians and harassed them as surrounding Israeli soldiers gleefully watched the spectacle.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-protesters-harassed-beaten-abbas-supporters-jerusalem/11854

PA says to pay some salaries next week
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Nov — The Palestinian Authority cabinet on Tuesday said it was paying salaries next week to those making over 1,000 shekels and under 2,000 per month. The cabinet insisted it was doing its best to pay the rest of the salaries as soon as possible.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534543

PA asks Oman for financial assistance
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — The Palestinian ambassador to Oman met Tuesday with the head of the sultan’s office to ask for financial support for the struggling Palestinian Authority.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534983

Teacher strike closes West Bank schools
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Nov — The teachers union undertook large scale strike action on Tuesday, forcing most schools in the West Bank to close for the day. The union had announced Saturday that it would hold half-day strikes for two weeks, blaming the Palestinian Authority government for ignoring their salary demands.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534341

Outrage as Palestinian tycoon Munib Masri hosts Israeli settler mogul with Egypt’s Amr Moussa and Jordan ex-PM
EI 5 Nov by Jalal Abukhater — On Sunday, a delegation of Israeli businessmen, which included settler tycoon Rami Levy, was hosted by Palestinian billionaire Munib Masri in his Nablus mansion along with former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, former Jordanian Prime Minister Abd Al-Salam Majali and Jordan’s Prince Firas bin Raad who represented the so-called Quartet. Moussa, who also met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, traveled to the West Bank on a Jordanian government helicopter ... Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the Palestinian National Initiative, a political party, strongly condemned the meeting as “normalization with the Israeli occupation” and “crossing all red lines,” and called on those who attended to apologize to the Palestinian people.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/outrage-palestinian-tycoon-munib-masri-hosts-israeli-settler-mogul-egypts-amr

Haniyeh urges Tunis to sue Israel over assassination
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday said Mossad agents who assassinated a Palestinian leader must be put on trial. Khalil al-Wazir, known as Abu Jihad, was killed by Israeli operatives in Tunis in 1988, an Israeli newspaper revealed Thursday. Yediot Ahronoth published an interview with the commando who led the operation, after military censors cleared the story. Abu Jihad was Yasser Arafat’s deputy at the time.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535001

Ex-JAG : Marmara trial is a show
Ynet 7 Nov — Former Military Advocate General Avichai Mandelblit says trial against four former IDF commanders is ’more about politics than law’ — Israeli defense officials were relatively unfazed by a trial that kicked off in Turkey Tuesday against four former senior IDF officers including former IDF chief Gabi Ashkenazi and former Navy commander Eliezer Marom for their part in the killing of nine people during a raid on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010. The Prosecution demands nine consecutive life sentences for the officers in, but it appears unlikely that any sentence could be carried out.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4302090,00.html

Erdoğan’s Gaza trip fuels fire between Hamas, Fatah
Turkish Weekly 5 Nov — ...Erdoğan recently told journalists on a plane en route to Ankara from Berlin that he has plans to visit Gaza soon and that authorities are having talks with officials in Gaza to arrange the trip. He even added that he had extended an invitation to Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority that controls the Israel-occupied West Bank and is the main political rival to Hamas, to visit Gaza together. "He was warm to the suggestion," Erdoğan said. However, the office of Fatah, the party headed by Abbas, reacted to Erdoğan’s words on Saturday. A spokesman for Abbas, Yasser Abid Rabbo, said that is was unacceptable that a country would be invited to its own lands.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/144514/erdogan-39-s-gaza-trip-fuels-fire-between-hamas-fatah.html

PA hopes Obama will reduce Israel bias in 2nd term
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — The Palestinian Authority leadership hopes Barack Obama will lessen his bias toward Israel in his second term as US president, a senior official said Wednesday. Hussain al-Araj, President Mahmoud Abbas’ chief of staff, said re-elected American presidents had historically paid more attention to Israel’s occupation of Palestine during their second terms, and displayed less bias toward Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=535021

Abbas congratulates Obama, Hamas urges end to Israel bias
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Nov — President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday congratulated US President Barrack Obama after he defeated his Republican challenger ... PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed hope that Obama would stand by the Palestinian decision to gain non-member state status in the United Nations, Wafa reported. He called on Obama to act against Israeli settlement activities and other violations against the Palestinian people. Erekat also expressed hope that Obama would focus on democracy, peace and stability in the region in his second term and implement a two-state solution with Israel.
In Gaza City, the Hamas government called on Obama to re-evaluate his foreign policy concerning Palestine, and end his bias towards Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=534875

US judge dismisses suit linking Arab Bank to Hamas shooting attack
Reuters 7 Nov — A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit brought by an American man wounded in Israel, who sought to hold Arab Bank liable for providing material support to the Palestinian group Hamas. U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein in Brooklyn, New York, held that Mati Gill could not prove Arab Bank was responsible for injuries he sustained in 2008 from gunshots fired from Gaza into Israel. At the time of the attack, Gill was serving as an aide to Israel’s then-public security minister, Avi Dichter, according to the complaint ... A lawyer for Gill, Gary Osen, said he was disappointed and intended to appeal.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/u-s-judge-dismisses-suit-linking-arab-bank-to-hamas-shooting-attack-1.475940?localLinksEnabled=false

Analysis / Opinion / Reviews / Human interest

Obama the Second / Gideon Levy

Haaretz 8 Nov — Israel needs a furious and determined American president - that is its last chance to save itself from the curse of the occupation - and the second Obama is expected to have greater self-confidence and be less concerned with considerations of survival than the first Obama — They could turn out to be the winning duo, the ones who bring about an agreement with the Palestinians : a furious U.S. President Barack Obama opposite a gambling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who lost the gamble). If a second-term Obama obeys his heart and logic, his moral code and values, and American and world interests, then we can expect an old-new president in the White House. A president who will translate his anger against Netanyahu into pressure on Israel to finally end the occupation. It is precisely this pair, who didn’t get on together and didn’t consult one another, that might lead to momentum. All those who know Obama personally have testified that his heart is in the Palestinian problem.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/obama-the-second.premium-1.476061

Obama victory : Israeli memes poke fun at Bibi
972mag 7 November
http://972mag.com/obama-victory-israeli-memes-poke-fun-at-bibi/59294/

After Bibi’s bet on Romney, peace camp can beat him / Larry Derfner
972mag 7 Nov — Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni can win the January 22 election. If there is one loser in the U.S. election outside the U.S., it is Benjamin Netanyahu – and all of Israel knows it. No one is fooled by his denials that he backed Romney and opposed Obama as demonstratively as he possibly could. The widespread conviction, now that Obama has won four more years in the White House, is that Bibi has endangered Israel’s relationship with America in a way that is unprecedented in its recklessness. No Israeli prime minister ever took sides in a U.S. presidential election like Netanyahu just did, and his side lost. If Romney had won, people here would be hailing Bibi right now as a genius, a prophet. But Obama won, which makes Bibi, in Israeli eyes, a screw-up of historic magnitude.
http://972mag.com/after-bibis-bet-on-romney-peace-camp-can-beat-him/59271/

President Barack Hussain Obama - again : But the grace is gone / Hamid Dabashi
Al Jazeera 7 Nov — Very few US presidents have had the opportunity to alter the global perception of the US, and Obama has squandered it — ...For the moment, the world is saved from the outlandish antics of Mitt Romney - a bizarre cut between an Attila the Hun in global warmongering and Jack-the-Ripper in capitalist savagery deluded to become "the leader of the free world", as these people call themselves. This indeed is the fate of this democracy, which fancies itself "the leader of the free world" and wishes to cast the whole world in its own image — that every four years we are so scared out of our wits by the prospect of a Romney that we rush to vote for an Obama — opting for a political opportunist rather than a global peril. The assumption that Obama is relatively better than Romney is of course very hard to sell to Iranians, Afghans, Palestinians, or Pakistanis, who are in one way or another suffering the consequences of his deadly decisions.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/11/201211785348348393.html

Clearing the path for future tyranny / Murtaza Hussein
Al Jazeera 31 Oct — The right to indefinitely detain citizens without trial, classified kill-lists and "disposition matrices", a fast-expanding fleet of legally-unaccountable aerial drones, and the presumptive right to kill American citizens without due process - all these sweeping expansions of executive power are the legacy of four years of Barack Obama’s presidency and of themselves represent a new era in the power of the American government over its citizenry. Never before has an American president asserted their ability to act as judge, jury and executioner towards their own citizens, a power which Barack Obama claimed for the executive branch in killing the New Mexico-born fundamentalist preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki in a drone strike - followed by his 16 year-old son two weeks later. The passage of the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) provides the President with the ability to place Americans under indefinite military detention without trial or even the provision of evidence ; a power which extends to citizens abroad as well as to those on US soil. Such concepts seem utterly otherworldly to most Americans, especially given their origination from a liberal president who had been elected in large part as a response to the perceived belligerence and militarism of George W Bush.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121029155126349265.html

Enough money, too much occupation / Ralph Seliger
Daily Beast 6 Nov — Visiting Ramallah with Partners for Progressive Israel (formerly Meretz USA), I was one of 17 Americans — all but one of us Jews — meeting with several notable Palestinians, including Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad. We also spoke with Palestinian-American businessman Sam Bahour ... what really surprised us was his revelation that the Palestinians have private funds amounting to seven billion dollars in a bank waiting for a reasonable investment climate. He indicated to me by email that these private monies are deposited in private banks regulated by the Palestine Monetary Authority. Prompted to explain this apparent anomaly of a large fund of private capital amidst an economy entirely dependent upon international aid, Bahour emphasized that "the issue is not money, that is if you are in the private sector. The issue is squarely military occupation.’
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/06/enough-money-too-much-occupation.html

Israel is responsible for ’price tag’ attacks, not just a few settler extremists / Philip Bato
EI 7 Nov — The small Palestinian village of Burqa near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank was once again targeted by Israeli settlers this Saturday — the latest so-called "price tag" attack committed by settlers to avenge outpost demolitions by the Israeli government. The village has been repeatedly attacked by such "price tag" militants. Last year, two cars went up in flames, and three months later the mosque in Burqa was burned, with the words "Mitzpe Yitzhar" (an outpost near Nablus) and "War" painted on its charred walls. On Saturday, several cars were damaged and graffiti references to a Migron outpost left on the crime scene. Israeli police say they are "canvassing the area." Despite the widespread coverage of "price tag" violence, mainstream media outlets habitually neglect the pivotal role of the Israeli government in breeding these attacks.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-responsible-price-tag-attacks-not-just-few-settler-extremists/11852

New film on Nazi links to Zionism sidesteps the toughest questions / Terri Ginsberg
EI 7 Nov — Arnon Goldfinger’s 2011 documentary The Flat has just opened in New York City. Although enthusiastically publicized as an unpredictable and astonishing trip into buried history revealing unpopular truths about the Israeli past, The Flat — or Ha-dira in Hebrew — ultimately fails to deliver on its proclaimed promise. Instead, the film adheres closely to the acceptable parameters of Zionist discourse, offering little to challenge prevailing conceptions about the film’s ostensible focus : the controversial relationship between Zionism and National Socialism.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/new-film-nazi-links-zionism-sidesteps-toughest-questions/11811

West Bank’s Sufi Trail offers a glimpse into landmarks and history of Islamic mysticism
AP 7 Nov — For most tourists, iconic religious landmarks like the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall and the Church of the Nativity are an important part of any visit to the Holy Land. Now a new trail offers visitors a look at little-known spiritual sites associated with Sufism, or Islamic mysticism. The Sufi Trail is less than an hour from Jerusalem, in the central West Bank, amid vast expanses of olive tree terraces, forests and rocky hills. The trail showcases sanctuaries and shrines marking the burial sites of Sufi spiritual leaders. In an era of rising Islamic fundamentalism, the trail also provides a glimpse of a moderate strain of Islam while preserving the history of a millennium-old tradition that is rapidly fading from local memory... Tourists can choose from three different paths, each named after Sufi mystics with stops at four to six sanctuaries. The tours take a half-day of walking, hiking and riding a bus. The countryside and small Palestinian villages line the paths connecting the shrines. http://www.sufitrails.ps/
http://news.yahoo.com/west-banks-sufi-trail-offers-glimpse-landmarks-history-183037026.html

Watch : Unexpected sensations in ’Palestine Interrupted’ video installation by Adam Abel
EI 7 Nov — Palestine Interrupted Trailer from Adam Abel Studio on Vimeo. Artist Adam Abel recently released the above trailer which puts into linear form segments from nine short videos which are the basis of his master’s thesis exhibition at Parsons, The New School for Design in New York City. Abel states on his website : "I am using narratives from Palestine to disrupt narratives about Palestine. Predictable images of military, checkpoints, walls and violence are absent in my videos. Through fragmented vignettes and sensorial experience, I weave together moments that are melancholic, hopeful, mundane and anxious."
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/watch-unexpected-sensations-palestine-interrupted-video-installation-adam
— 
www.TheHeadlines.org