TODAY in PALESTINE

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

Tweet

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

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

Settlers raze land in Jordan Valley

Palestinian officials claim that settlers from Rotem, an Israeli settlement in the northern Jordan Valley, razed on Monday Palestinian lands adjacent to the settlement, in the Jordan Valley.
link to www.alternativenews.org

Aqsa foundation unveils Israeli plan to erase Islamic antiquities in Wad street

The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage revealed an Israeli plan to remove the Islamic monuments and antiquities in Al-Wad street in the old city of occupied Jerusalem.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

New Interior Ministry procedure for dealing with stateless people contradicts international convention

Leaves stateless persons without any social rights for over a decade, and doesn’t address the issue of Bedouin who were never registered with the population registry and thus have no status in Israel.
link to www.haaretz.com

Settlers drop bid to be named owners of Ulpana land

During the legal battle, the Amana movement and the Kiryat Hayeshiva Beit El Development Corp., which built the buildings, argued that they had bought the land in 2000.
link to www.haaretz.com

Gaza : Citizens remove the border fence in the Bureij and Johr al-Dik

Dozens of Palestinian citizens managed on Monday to remove the border fence set up by the occupation east of Johr al-Dik town and the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Jerusalem Municipality Delays Discussion Session To Change Arab Names Of Jerusalem Neighborhoods

Yesterday, the Jerusalem Municipality postponed a session to discuss the change of names and streets in the neighborhoods of Silwan and Swaneh, in accordance with the request of the settlers who live in the Municipality of Jerusalem.
link to www.imemc.org

To get into Gaza from the West Bank, Linah must travel from Occupied Palestine to Jordan and then to Egypt : From Ramallah to Gaza : Two countries, two continents and finally there, Linah Alsaafin
For the first time since September 2005, I finally made it into Gaza by crossing two countries and two continents. For my week long stay, I be keeping a diary recording my experiences upon reuniting with family, meeting new friends, and hearing the stories of other people.
link to electronicintifada.net

Refugees

UN : $53 million needed for Palestinians in Syria

The United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday it needs $53 million in donations to provide aid to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in war-torn Syria. "We have around 300,000 to 500,000 (Palestinian) people who have been impacted by the conflict, and they require humanitarian assistance," UNRWA director for Syria Michael Kingsley told a news conference in Jordan’s Dead Sea region. "The number is rising and we expect it to go even higher," he added.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

Palestinians in Syria forced to pick sides

But the leaders of Hamas’s military wing, which is largely based in the Gaza Strip, have taken a different stance, analysts say. In recent years they have received financial and military assistance as well as training from Iran, one of President Bashar al-Assad’s closest allies, and have remained supportive of the Syrian government.
link to www.washingtonpost.com

Syria rebels take loyalist Palestinian training camp : NGO

Syrian rebels on Sunday seized the training camp of a pro-regime Palestinian faction in Damascus province and took control of an arms depot after fierce clashes, a watchdog reported. “Rebels stormed a Popular Front-General Command (PFLP-GC) training camp in the Rihan area of Damascus province, after violent clashes with local fighters,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said the rebels took full control of the camp after launching an attack on Saturday, with casualties suffered on both sides, including among the families of a number of the Palestinian militants. Separately, rebels took over arms depot after several days of fighting in Deir Suleiman, also in Damascus province, seizing weapons and ammunition, the Observatory said.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Israeli & Egyptian Siege on Gaza

A youth died of electric shock in a tunnel in Rafah
A Palestinian citizen died of an electric shock while working at a border tunnel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday afternoon.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Ceasefire deal brings new types of fish to Gaza markets

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — New types of fresh fish can be found in Gaza’s markets following an easing of Israel’s coastal blockade over the weekend. As part of a ceasefire to end Israel’s eight-day war on Gaza, Israel agreed to allow fishermen to sail six nautical miles off the coast of Gaza instead of three, which had been the limit under Israel’s siege. Fishermen welcomed the move, but said they hoped the fishing zone would be extended further.
link to www.maannews.net

Ceasefire re-awakens dreams of Gaza fishermen

Fishermen in Gaza are able to fish six miles from the shore for the first time since 2006 after the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. Fishermen hope the fishing industry will recover after its almost complete destruction by the siege but say that 6 miles is not deep enough.
link to palsolidarity.org

Grandi calls for a complete end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza

Commissioner-General of UNRWA Filippo Grandi on Monday called for lifting the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and addressing the real problems that lie behind Israel’s latest military action.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

OIC recommends an urgent plan to rescue Gaza

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recommended for the need to prepare an urgent humanitarian plan to meet the medical needs in the strip.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Will the siege on Gaza finally be lifted ?, Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
Hamas and Israel are supposed to negotiate the opening of crossings under the terms of their ceasefire accord.
link to electronicintifada.net

Gazans return to the “buffer zone”
Women hand-harvesting wheat in the Gaza ‘buffer zone’. After years of being barred from their land, Gazan farmers celebrate their ability to return. Once the terms of ceasefire were announced thousands flocked back to their property that has been vacant for eleven years, though many are still understandably wary. Jaber Abu Regaleh, who is a farmer from Farahin (which is near the border of Gaza and close to the former buffer zone) said : “We are celebrating. Everyone, young men, young women, old people, we are all outside walking on our land along the border. I am near the fence now. There is ten meters between me and the Israeli jeep. We have a lot of work to do to repair the destruction caused by the occupation, but we will till the land and plant it. We will renew the agricultural land so it is as it used to be. This is better than a holiday for us.”
link to palsolidarity.org

FIFA pledges help to rebuild Gaza stadium
Sao Paulo : FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke has pledged that football’s world governing body will help rebuild the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, after it was partially destroyed in Israeli air strikes. "We see it our mandate to rebuild football infrastructure which has been destroyed," Valcke was quoted as saying on fifa.com. "We will also rebuild the stadium in Gaza, which has been destroyed. "Football brings people together and we will support any re-construction necessary when football infrastructure is destroyed through disasters," added Valcke, who is in Brazil for the draw of the Confederations Cup.
link to sports.ndtv.com

Israeli Terrorism / Aggression / Raids

Palestinian Youth Injured By Army Fire In Rafah
Palestinian medical sources reported, Tuesday evening, that a young Palestinian man was shot by a live round in the chest after Israeli soldiers, stationed across the border, opened fire at him east of Rafah city, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
link to www.imemc.org

Two wounded by Israeli army in Gaza
Two Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire on Monday in Gaza, less than a week after the Jewish state agreed end its bombardment of the coastal enclave after reaching a truce with Hamas. Two Palestinians in their 20s were shot and suffered from moderate wounds while walking near the border fence in southern Gaza, a health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. The spokesman told AFP that one of the men was hit in the arm and another in the leg. There have been a growing number of incidents near the border fence in southern Gaza in recent days following the ceasefire agreement which ended Israel’s eight-day assault November 21.
link to english.al-akhbar.com

PHIC : 174 killed and 1399 wounded during the Israeli aggression on Gaza
The Palestinian Ministry of Health issued its final statistical report related to the brutal Israeli aggression against unarmed civilians in the districts of Gaza.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Testimony : Iyad Abu Khusah, a year-and-a-half-year old toddler, killed in bombing while playing in yard of his al-Bureij home with two 4-year-old cousins, both injured
I live with my four sons and their families in a residential compound east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. My house is in the eastern part of the al-Bureij refugee camp in a nearly unpopulated area. The compound is surrounded by a wall. Yesterday, 18 November 2012, around 7:40 am, three of my grandchildren – Suhaib and Sarah, both four years old, and Iyad, a year and a half old – were playing in the yard in front of the house, within the compound.
link to www.btselem.org

Testimony : Samaher Qdeih, 28, was killed in her yard in an air strike. She is survived by a two-month-old infant daughter, 17 November 2012
I am married to two women and I live in the a-Sheikh a-Radwan neighborhood in the village of Khuza’ah, east of the city of Khan Yunis. There are two apartments in my house. My first wife, Um Jihad and our children live in one apartment. I live in the other apartment with my new wife Samaher and our baby daughter Mayar, who is less than two months old. The apartments share a small garden with olive trees. I used to work as an electrical technician for the Palestinian Authority. I still receive a salary from them but I have no work. I spend most of my time at home, with my two families, and take care of things at home. My two wives and the children have a very good relationship.
link to www.btselem.org

In occupied Palestinian territory, the violence has had an impact on children
21 November 2012 : UNICEF correspondent Chris Niles reports on how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is affecting children.
link to www.youtube.com

Gaza girl unable to speak after Israeli drone destroys her home, Mel Frykberg
GAZA CITY (IPS) - Civilians are still paying the price of Israel’s blistering eight-day military assault on the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) more than 160 Palestinians lost their lives by 21 November, the last day of the bloody confrontation between Israel and Palestinian fighters. The dead included at least 103 civilians, 33 of them children. More than a thousand Palestinians were wounded, including 971 civilians — 274 of them children.
link to electronicintifada.net

Growing up in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Fatima Qortoum was just 9 years old when she saw the brains of her brother, 7-year-old Ahmed, fall out of his head. He was struck with shrapnel after an Israeli airstrike. That was 2008. Last week, another one of Fatima’s brothers, 6-year-old Mahmoud, was critically injured when an Israeli attack knocked him to the ground, leaving a nearly three-inch-long gash in his torso and damaging his lungs.
link to www.minnpost.com

Thankful to be alive in Gaza : My family’s story of survival, Hani Almadhoun
My two-year-old nephew Omar had been confined to a small apartment with six other screaming children and their families since Israel began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip eight days ago. Shortly after a ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, he and his parents returned to our family home in Bait Lahia. My mother, who I spoke to over the phone, said that the first thing that Omar did was rush up the stairs in search of his most prized possession : his bike.
link to mondoweiss.net

Sharif Abdel Kouddous on Gaza’s "Severe Damage" and Why Truce Won’t Stop the Violence of Occupation
Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip ended in a ceasefire last week with the final toll standing at around 170 Palestinians killed, and more than 700 wounded. Meanwhile in Israel, four Israeli civilians and two Israeli soldiers were killed, along with dozens of others wounded, in Palestinian attacks. We’re joined from Cairo by Democracy Now ! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who has just returned to Cairo after several days in Gaza. "The destruction in Gaza is severe," Kouddous says.
link to www.democracynow.org

Clashes Reported Near Jenin
Palestinian sources reported that clashes took place between dozens of residents and Israeli soldiers after the army placed iron barriers blocking the eastern entrance of Ya’bod village, near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
link to www.imemc.org

Illegal Arrests

IOF arrests 23 citizens in occupied West Bank and Jerusalem
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested on Tuesday morning 23 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank cities and Jerusalem, after breaking into their homes, including six Jerusalemite children.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Six Palestinian children arrested in occupied Jerusalem
Israeli occupation forces arrested six Palestinian children in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem, local sources said.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Other Prisoner News

The Israeli court sentences the leader Jaber Abu Alya to 19 years
The Israeli military court in Ofer detention center sentenced the Qassam leader Jaber Hussein Jaber Abu Alya, 55, to 19 years and a fine of 12,000 shekels, about three thousand dollars.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

IOA sentences two MPs, 20 others to administrative detention
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) sentenced 22 Palestinian detainees to administrative detention, including two Hamas lawmakers, on Tuesday.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

IOA holds three detainees in administrative custody
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) informed three detainees from Al-Khalil province that they would be held in administrative detention for four months.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Prisoners in Israeli jails launch solidarity hunger strike
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launched a one-day hunger strike on Tuesday in solidarity with two long-term hunger strikers at risk of death, a prisoners center said. The Gaza-based Prisoners Center for Studies announced that prisoners from all political factions are participating in the solidarity strike action and called on the Palestinian community to support long-term hunger strikers Ayman Sharawna and Samer Issawi. The center called on Egyptian authorities to intervene to protect prisoners’ rights. Sharawna, 37, has been on hunger strike for 150 days since first launching protest action on July 1. Samer Issawi, who has been on hunger strike for 119 days, started refusing water on Nov. 21, prisoner rights group Addameer said.
link to www.maannews.net

Protests / Solidarity / Activism / BDS

After destroying Paralympic HQ and stadium in Gaza, Israel must not host UEFA tournaments, Ali Abunimah
Israel’s targeting of sports infrastructure in Gaza underscores need for a sporting boycott.
link to electronicintifada.net

“Boycotting Israel works,” says Rachel Corrie’s dad, Joe Catron
A few days before Israel bombed it for eight consecutive days, Gaza hosted a visit by Cindy and Craig Corrie. Their daughter, Rachel, was murdered by an Israeli soldier in 2003 as she tried to prevent bulldozers from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza., It was the Corries’ first visit to Gaza since an Israeli court ruling in August this year, which rejected a lawsuit they had taken over Rachel’s murder. The Haifa District Court declared that the Israeli state and military were not responsible for her death.
link to electronicintifada.net

ACT : Tell Stevie Wonder not to perform at "Friends of IDF" fundraiser
Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder is scheduled to perform at the annual gala of the "Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)" organization on December 6 in Los Angeles. The Israeli news outlet Ynet reports that the annual gala is a "flagship event" of the organisation, expected to be attended by over 1,000 members of the LA Jewish community, and has been known to raise millions of dollars.
link to www.alternativenews.org

Thousands of Afghan students protest against Israel over recent Gaza offensive
Students at Nangarhar University burn Israeli and U.S. flags, as well as a Chrisitan cross, in protest of Israel’s operation in Gaza, also denounce Pakistan for recent border artillery shelling into Afghanistan.
link to www.haaretz.com

Solemn march in NY commemorates Gaza victims, calls for GE boycott, Philip Weiss
New York, NY, November 26, 2012 : This morning, over 50 New Yorkers braved the chilly rain for a solemn march in front of the iconic General Electric Building at the heart of Rockefeller Plaza in commemoration of those killed by the assault on Gaza that ended in a cease fire on November 21st. Surrounded by preparations for the holiday season, the protesters, accompanied by the haunting music of the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, read the names and ages of all the people killed in the assault in the mic check style popularized by the Occupy Movement. The protesters called for divestment from General Electric, which provides the Israeli military with the engines for the F-16s and Apache helicopters used in the recent aerial bombardments of Gaza.
link to mondoweiss.net

Iyad Burnat to speak on nonviolent protest in Palestine in Columbus Wednesday night, Susie Kneedler
Iyad Burnat—whose travails trying to get into the U.S. we reported here and later here— will discuss "Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine" this Wednesday night, November 28, in Columbus, Ohio (details below). Susannah "Jill" Baker says of Burnat’s US speaking tour, "Iyad Burnat is head of the Bil’in Popular Committee and a leader in the village’s non-violent popular resistance movement. Since 2005, citizens of Bil’in have held weekly demonstrations against the building of the Israeli separation wall through the community’s agricultural lands and the encroachment of illegal settlements. The demonstrators are joined by Israeli and international peace activists, and have maintained a commitment to non-violent methods of resistance in spite of armed, military opposition that has resulted in many injuries and some deaths.
link to mondoweiss.net

Conscientious Objector Natan Blanc to military prison
Rawan Eghbariah - New Profile - Blanc stated to the recruiting officer : "Members of the cabinet can continue this cycle of bloodshed, with no end in sight. But we, as citizens and human beings, have a moral duty to refuse to participate in the cynical game.” He was sent to ten days in the military prison, which - should he persist in his refusal to enlist - would be the first in a string of repeated imprisonments. Letters of support are welcome.
link to www.newprofile.org

Israeli Vets on Israeli Treatment of Gaza & Palestinians : “It’s Mostly Punishment” (Breaking the Silence)
The authors of Our Harsh Logic, Israeli veterans who protest the treatment of Palestinians via an organization, “Breaking the Silence,” write at Tomdispatch.com : “It’s Mostly Punishment…” Testimonies by Veterans of the Israeli Defense Forces From Gaza and the Occupied Territories
link to www.juancole.com

Israeli Racism & Discrimination

Bedouins treated as "invisible citizens" vow to remain in Galilee, Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
Plastic chairs, rusted children’s toys, garbage and discarded household items lay strewn between dozens of tin sheds. Solar energy panels and satellite dishes are affixed to tin roofs, while animal pens cling haphazardly to the rocky ground, covered by thin plastic tarps. Less than 100 meters away, across a narrow, residential street, stand six and seven-story apartment buildings, equipped with balconies and made of beige limestone. A bright yellow crane hovers between the structures, a sign of future development. “There is Karmiel, and here is Karmiel,” Haje Swaid, a 56-year-old mother of eight, said from the front yard of her home, looking towards the apartments. “We want to live like our neighbors. We’re citizens ; there’s nothing different between us.”
link to electronicintifada.net

Police order Palestinian workers off buses to West Bank, at request of Israeli settlers
Haaretz - The number of Palestinians working in Israel has increased in the past two years to 29,000 a day, up from 22,000 in 2010. Palestinian workers generally do not enter the settlements to get on and off the bus, since that would require special authorization. Usually they get on and off along the Trans-Samaria Highway (Route 5). All the same, Ron Nachman the mayor of the West Bank settlement of Ariel [the "co-existence" guy !!], has announced on his Facebook page that he has spoken with the army, police and Transportation Ministry about "stopping Palestinians from boarding the buses that go to Ariel."
link to www.indiaeveryday.in

Israel’s Transportation Ministry mulling separate buses for Palestinians
Bus lines created exclusively for Palestinians is another step in the fortification of the de facto system of segregation imposed by the Israeli government between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. Thousands of Palestinians travel from the West Bank to work in Israel every day using Israeli public transportation. The buses are overcrowded. At times there are tensions and confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli settlers can’t stand the sight of Palestinians anyway. So why not create a separate bus line for them ? This is the logic behind a new proposal being considered by the Ministry of Transportation : Additional bus lines exclusively for Palestinians that go between checkpoints in the West Bank and central Israel, as Walla reported on Monday (Hebrew).
link to 972mag.com

Attempt at bus segregation appalling
Following disclosure that the Ministry of Transport is considering separate bus lines for Palestinians in the West Bank, Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has stated that the ministry, like all other governmental bodies, may not provide services on a discriminatory basis. There is not, nor can there possibly be, legal justification for separating Palestinians from Israelis. Services provided by the state must be available on an equal basis to all and any who require them.
link to www.btselem.org

Political Developments / Other News

For Syria’s new opposition head, Zionism is ‘a cancerous movement’
Mouaz al-Khatib, widely seen as a moderate religious figure, also praised Saddam Hussein for ‘terrifying the Jews’.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Report : Israel ambassador returns to Cairo
CAIRO (Ma’an) — Israel’s ambassador to Egypt Yaakov Amitai returned to Cairo on Monday, Egyptian media reported. Amitai had reportedly left Cairo as President Mohammad Mursi announced he was summoning him to discuss the Israeli attacks in Gaza, an airport source said a the time. However an Israeli diplomat in Jerusalem told Reuters Amitai had left Cairo before Israel launched "Operation Pillar of Cloud" on the Gaza Strip. Egyptian security officials told the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that Amitai returned to Cairo on Monday on a private plane from Tel Aviv.
link to www.maannews.net

Abdel Bari Atwan : Amr Mousa met Livni in secret to unsettle Morsi
In an interview with London based satellite television station, al-Hiwar, the editor-in-chief of al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, Abdel Bari Atwan, revealed the existence of intelligence reports documenting a secret meeting between former Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and Amr Mousa during the latter’s unexpected visit to Ramallah on November 4 - ten days before the attacks on the Gaza Strip. Reports mentioned that Livni made a direct request from Amr Mousa to pre-occupy Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, during this period with internal affairs.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Meshaal : We defend our people, we respond to the occupation’s crimes, and our relationship with Iran is present
During a recent interview, the chief of Hamas’ political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, denied that his movement is behind the bombing of a bus in Tel Aviv on November 21 ; expressed surprise at demands that he recognise Israel while Palestine is yet to receive international recognition ; and stressed that he accepts a state within the 1967 territory. Meshaal also denied that Hamas has cut its ties with Iran as a result of the dispute over Syria.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Haniyeh : We are facing a new phase of conflict with Israel
The Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that Palestine and the resistance are facing a new phase of the conflict with Israel, which has started since the eight day battle.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Gaza factions to join rally supporting UN bid
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Representatives of all Palestinian factions on Tuesday held a meeting in Gaza City during which all factions agreed to organize a joint rally raising Palestinian flags only to show support to the Palestinian statehood bid. Member of the politburo of the Palestinian People’s Party Walid al-Awad told Ma’an that factions would submit a memo to the government in Gaza about the rally, planned for Thursday.
link to www.maannews.net

Palestinians predict historic UN vote on statehood
The Palestinians predicted a historic U.N. vote recognizing their statehood this week, praising important new support from France on Tuesday and likely backing from other European nations seen as critical to enhancing their international standing.
link to news.yahoo.com

Palestinians refuse clause in UN draft barring criminal charges against Israel
Washington had sought to soften wording of draft resolution, but Palestinians submitted final proposal earlier Tuesday and have refused to discuss changes.
link to www.haaretz.com

Abbas says upgrading Palestinian status in UN is last chance for peace (XinhuaNet)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that upgrading the Palestinian status in the UN to a non-member state is the last chance for making peace.
link to news.xinhuanet.com

Palestinians warn : back UN statehood bid or risk boosting Hamas
Failure to support limited recognition would undermine Abbas and validate armed resistance to Israel for many, officials warn.The Palestinian leadership is warning Europe and the US that failure to support its bid for statehood at the United Nations on Thursday will further strengthen Hamas after the Gaza fighting by suggesting that violence, rather than diplomacy, is the way to win concessions from Israel. Senior Palestinian officials believe the vote is a crucial test of whether there is a future for President Mahmoud Abbas’s diplomatic strategy after his credibility was badly damaged among Palestinians by what they regard as the success of Hamas in the conflict with Israel this month.
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Report : UK prepared to back UN bid if conditions met
LONDON (Ma’an) — Britain is prepared to back Palestine’s bid for a status upgrade at the UN if certain conditions are met by the Palestinian Authority, the Financial Times reported on Monday. Israel and the United States oppose the move at the United Nations and Britain has also expressed reservations about the bid. However, British officials told the Financial Times that the UK will support Abbas in the Nov. 29 move if he provides assurances in three areas.
link to www.maannews.net

France to support Palestinian ’statehood’
French will vote in favour of Ramallah’s bid for recognition as a non-member observer state at UN, minister says.
link to www.aljazeera.com

Party revolt forces Australian PM to order abstention on Palestinian bid at UN
Threatened by political crisis, Julia Gillard retracts earlier decision to vote against Palestinian move. Move seen as a setback for normally close alliance between Jerusalem and Canberra.
link to www.haaretz.com

In about-face, Israel says it won’t cancel Oslo if Palestinians pursue UN bid
If Abbas unilaterally seeks statehood status, Jerusalem will weigh other punitive measures, senior official says.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Israel tells Abbas, "We will topple you if you go to the Hague after the UN"
Israel has threatened to topple the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas if he gets non-member status at the UN and then challenges the Zionist state at the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The Gaza Now network quoted the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as saying that the Israeli government is not yet decided on how it would deal with the Palestinian state in the event that the UN General Assembly votes yes on Thursday to accept Palestine as a "non-member observer state".
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

U.S. clashes with France over Palestinians status at UN
WASHINGTON — The United States publicly disagreed with France, one of its closest allies, on Tuesday, after Paris said it would back a Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations. “We obviously disagree with our oldest ally on this issue. They know that we disagree with them,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. “But it’s their sovereign decision to make, how to proceed.” She confirmed that if a vote goes ahead as planned in the UN General Assembly this week, the United States will vote against the Palestinian request, which Washington regards as “a mistake.”
link to www.rawstory.com

US still working to thwart Palestinian UN bid, senior official says
America said to be pursuing several avenues to counter PA’s initiative to gain nonmember status.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

U.S. : Palestinian UN bid is a ’mistake,’ negotiations are only way forward
State Department statement comes after Israeli official says efforts to soften wording of General Assembly resolution on Palestinian status have failed.
link to www.haaretz.com

Canada : Palestinians must drop U.N. bid
OTTAWA, Nov. 26 (UPI) — The Palestinian Authority will face consequences from Canada if it continues to seek U.N. recognition, sources told The Globe and Mail in Toronto. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has threatened "there will be consequences" if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not end his campaign for the P.A. to be recognized by the United Nations General Assembly as a non-member observer state, the newspaper reported Monday. Abbas plans to present his request to the General Assembly Thursday. Last year, the U.N. Security Council turned down the same request.
link to www.upi.com

Report : Israel trying to prevent Palestine joining ICC
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel is seeking the addition of a clause in the PLO’s UN bid rejecting membership of the International Criminal Court, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Tuesday. The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on Thursday on a resolution upgrading the PLO’s status at the world body to a non-member state. Israel and the US oppose the move, and Israel had asked the US and EU countries not to enter talks with the PLO on the bid, Haaretz reported.
link to www.maannews.net

PA says will take Israel to ICC if tests prove Arafat assassinated
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority will start legal proceedings against Israel at the International Criminal Court if forensic tests prove that President Yasser Arafat was murdered, chief investigator Tawfiq Tirawi said Tuesday. "We have evidence and indications that (Arafat) was killed, including remarks by Israeli leaders that they must get rid of Arafat, but we need evidence to submit to the International Criminal Court," Tirawi told reporters at a news conference in Ramallah.
link to www.maannews.net

Arafat’s widow speaks out after exhumation
Forensic investigators have taken samples of Yasser Arafat’s remains to test them for radioactive polonium. Suha Arafat, Yasser Arafat’s widow, joined Al Jazeera from Valletta, the capital of Malta.
link to www.youtube.com

Israeli PM Netanyahu suddenly seems vulnerable
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared to be cruising to re-election a few weeks ago, suddenly appears vulnerable as the country prepares to go to the polls in January.
link to news.yahoo.com

Hardliner Moshe Feiglin set to become MK, as Likud chooses hawks over moderates for Knesset slate
Veteran Begin could lose his seat, Meridor almost certainly will ; Netanyahu may try to adjust final list, but has limited room for maneuver.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Foreign Ministry instruct envoys to return letters using the term ‘Palestine’
Delegations worldwide told to deal only with communiques with correct terminology.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

World Bank to fund Gaza water services rehabilitation
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The World Bank approved on Tuesday a $6.4 million grant to improve and expand coverage of water and sewage services in the Gaza Strip, the financial institution said. In a statement, the World Bank said the board of directors approved the plan for the Gaza Water Supply and Sewage Systems Improvement Project, which will finance the rehabilitation and expansion of water and wastewater systems and enhance the capacity to provide and maintain water and sewage services.
link to www.maannews.net

Fajr rockets up the name list
Gazans have a blast naming their children after icons of recent round of conflict with Israel.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Jenin man sentenced to lifetime hard labor for collaboration
NABLUS (Ma’an) — A Nablus court on Tuesday sentenced a Palestinian man to a lifetime of hard labor for collaborating with Israel. The 21-year-old man from Qabatiya in Jenin, identified by his initials J.A., was convicted of serving a hostile army and of providing Israeli agents with information about Palestinian fugitives who were eventually killed by Israeli forces, a Ma’an reporter said. He was sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor for serving the enemy under article 110 of the Palestinian Basic Law, and received another life sentence of hard labor for premeditated murder under article 327.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Analysis / Op-ed / Human Interest

Zionist propaganda trickery in the New York Times : the false symmetry trick, As’ad AbuKhalil
Look at this sentence : " Israel bombed more than 1,000 targets in Gaza and the militants fired more than 1,500 rockets into Israel..." They counted the number of rockets that were fired on Israel but they did not count the number of bombs, rockets, missiles (from the air, land, and sea) that Israel dropped on Gaza. In fact, Israel often drops more than 10 or 20 bombs on the same target. So the sentence should have read : militants fired weak 1500 rockets on Israel, while Israel dropped more than 15000 (at the very least) bombs, missiles and rockets on Gaza. Who do you think that you are fooling with these numbers ? Do you have a doubt that Israeli terrorist military released this count to the media to make it look as if Israel dropped less bombs and rockets than the other side ?
link to angryarab.blogspot.com

Gazans say ’Thank you Iran’ after Israel war
GAZA CITY (Reuters) — Gazans offered very public thanks to Iran on Tuesday for helping them in this month’s fight against Israel, when Iranian-made missiles were fired out of the enclave towards Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. "Thank you Iran", said large billboards on three major road junctions in the Gaza Strip — the first time there has been such public acknowledgement of Iran’s role in the arming of militants in the tiny territory. The message was written in Arabic, English, Hebrew and Farsi. The posters also depicted the Iranian Fajr 5 rockets that were used for the first time to target two large population centers. No one was injured in the attacks.
link to www.maannews.net

How lonely must it be to be Mahmoud Abbas ?
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is losing support at home as Hamas’ star rises. While he’s trying to regain relevance with a UN bid this week, the US and Israel are working against him.
link to rss.csmonitor.com

Maguire : Sanction US for its $8 million a day in military aid to Israel
Mairead Maguire, Nobel laureate, peace activist, speaking at a rally for Palestine in Belfast (thanks to Peter Belmont) : The biggest block to real change is not Israel but the United States of America continually vetoing and supporting the murder of children in Gaza and war against civilians. We have to know what Israel is about. Jimmy Carter gave an interview last week, and in this interview Jimmy Carter said the policy of the Israeli government is to confiscate Palestinian land. The policy of the Israeli government is to take more and more Palestinian land, they want a greater Israel and not only do they want a greater Israel, they want the 20% of the Arab people who live within Israel proper to acknowledge Israel as a ‘Jewish state’...
link to mondoweiss.net

Latin American reaction to Israeli aggression on Gaza
The reaction of Latin American governments to Israel’s aggression on Gaza has ignited a spectrum of opinions, from outright condemnation to neutral rhetoric. In 2009, the brutality unleashed during Operation Cast Lead led Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales to sever diplomatic relations with Israel. Expressing his concerns over genocide, Morales had stated his intent to request that the International Criminal Court press charges against Israeli officials.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Buttu : Palestinians need reconciliation (CNN)
Fmr. PLO Legal Adviser Diana Buttu says it’s time for different Palestinian factions to find reconciliation and peace.
link to www.cnn.com

What’s next for Palestinian territories ? (CNN)
History professor Rashid Khalidi discusses the future of the Palestinian territories and how the latest conflict may shift political power.
link to amanpour.blogs.cnn.com

The Daily Wrap with Michael Castner, 21 Nov 2012(Wall Street Journal)
A cease fire announced between Israel and Hamas, can it last ?
link to podcast.mktw.net

Where’s our humanity for Gaza ? by Sara Roy
Between February 2009 - just after the Operation Cast Lead onslaught - and August 2012, Israeli attacks in Gaza, averaged six per week. They came by aircraft, helicopter gunships, drones, and tanks throughout Gaza ; the confiscation of, or damage to, fishing boats and the detention and arrest of fishermen ; attacks on industrial, farm, and food production facilities ; and military ground incursions.
link to bostonglobe.com

The President and the Fatal Trilateral Logic of US, Egyptian and Israeli Relations, Amro Ali
In 2007, Mohammed Morsi, then chairman of the Brotherhood’s political department and member of the Executive Bureau, complained of the inability of Washington to match its rhetoric on promoting democracy in Egypt. He said that Israel had no interest in a democratic Egypt as it, “would do more to support the Palestinians.” Now Morsi, having brokered a Gaza ceasefire has shown that his policy on the Palestinians is no more imaginative than Mubarak-era policies and, partly as a result of US approval, has undertaken a democratic rollback that has ignited Egypt’s streets.
link to www.jadaliyya.com

Abetting Murder in Gaza, Stephen Zunes
The Nov. 22 ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas forces is a huge relief for the civilian population on both sides — the primary victims of the conflict. But the Obama administration’s unconscionable decision the previous week to block a ceasefire effort by the U.N. Security Council not only resulted in additional civilian deaths but also serves as an indication that, despite the president owing his re-election to the hard work of his progressive base, his foreign policy will continue to lean to the right.
link to original.antiwar.com

Jon Stewart blasts media coverage of Gaza-Israel conflict
Though disappointed to learn the Iron Dome wasn’t a giant yamaka, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Monday night was thankful that the Gaza-Israel conflict ended “before it could fulfill the Mayan 2012 prophecy.” Stewart said the media seemed obsessed with finding the winners and losers in the deadly conflict, as if it were merely a board game. Various pundits declared Israel, Hamas, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Egypt as the winners, while Mahmoud Abbas and Iran were both declared losers. “So the only two losers in the war between Israel and Gaza are the people who don’t live in either of those places ?” Stewart mockingly remarked. “So the lesson here is the next time your region descends into a war, you have got to be in it to win it.”
link to www.rawstory.com

How to End the Gaza Violence, Rep. Ron Paul
As of late Friday the ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding, if tentatively. While we should be pleased that this round of fighting appears temporarily on hold, we must realize that without changes in U.S. foreign policy it is only a matter of time before the killing begins again.
link to original.antiwar.com

Palestine : Oppression Will not Work
Anyone who knows a little bit of history realizes that when there is situation where a people has refused to surrender and abandon its rights, oppressing it will not work. The only ones who may live in denial of this fact are the oppressor and those who support it. Their wishful thinking thus leads them to trying different types of violence and criminality, coupled with mass lies and distortion campaign. In Palestine today, this is merely one layer of the issue. The Israeli regime has convinced itself not only that it can get the Palestinian people to surrender, forget and let go, but also that the whole world should be supporting its racist policies and actually help it achieve its goals. Everyone else in the world, who has not fallen prey to the Israeli PR campaigns, do not doubt the inevitable outcome of the struggle of the Palestinians : justice and equality.
link to dissidentvoice.org

Operation Pillar of Cloud doubled Israeli deficit
An Israeli economics magazine said on Sunday that the financial repercussions of Israel’s "Operation Pillar of Cloud" are such that the deficit in the government’s 2013 budget has been doubled. The government was unable to get the budget passed by the Knesset several months ago. The magazine, linked to Haaretz newspaper, did not reveal any precise figures for the losses resulting from the military offensive, but did say that the direct and indirect losses for the Israeli government exceeded NIS4 billion (around £600 million). The losses, according to the magazine, would affect the income and expenditure of the government. According to Israeli law, the budget cannot be passed by the Knesset if there is excessive expenditure. As the current budget contains such a huge deficit, the government is now facing a massive challenge to finance its aggression against the people of Gaza.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

300,000 tourists cancel their visit to Israel costing $1.8 billion
Israel has suffered a major blow due to the operation Pillar of Defense, to its successful tourism industry, according to press reports. Some 300,000 tourists have canceled their visit to Israel, after the operation Pillar of Defense began. According to estimates, the fighting in Gaza has cost the tourism industry in Israel $1.8 billion in damages. An emergency meeting was held over the weekend between Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, and Tourism Ministry Director-General Noaz Bar-Nir, with leaders of the tourism industry, in an attempt to find a way to rescue the winter and minimize damage suffered by the industry.
link to www.yourjewishnews.com

The Likud presents : The craziest, most radical list ever expected to win elections, Noam Sheizaf
Knesset members behind attacks on the left, Arabs and asylum seekers won the day at the Likud primaries. All moderates but one were pushed down the list, and probably won’t serve in the next Knesset. The Likud, Israel’s ruling party the last four years, and the one expected to win the next elections according to every poll I have seen since 2009 (!), held its primaries on Sunday and Monday. The outcome was somewhat expected but is still stunning, and more than anything, it reveals the deep change Israel is going through.
link to 972mag.com

Rockets vs. resolutions
When you’re fighting for your rights, you have a choice to use peaceful methods or violence. I’d like to say that peace works best. But as I watch this experiment in the laboratory of the Middle East conflict, I’m not so sure. For years, Palestinians have tried both tactics. Some support Hamas, a militant group in control of Gaza that shoots rockets at Israeli civilians to further the Palestinian cause. Others support Fatah, a political party that controls much of the West Bank, which has renounced violence and vowed to use only peaceful means to achieve a Palestinian state. The difference between the two has never been more stark : Last week, Hamas rockets terrorized Israeli towns. This week, Fatah’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected to appear at the United Nations to seek recognition as a nonmember state.

www.TheHeadlines.Org