Video captures execution of Palestinian citizen by Israeli police
Electronic Intifada 9 Nov by Ali Abunimah — At least thirty Palestinian citizens of Israel were arrested in the Galilee village of Kufr Kana on Sunday as protests spread over the cold-blooded police killing of a youth on Friday. The video above shows Israeli police shooting 22-year-old Kheir Hamdan in Kufr Kana in circumstances that totally contradict their initial account. “It is clear from the video footage that the shooting of Hamdan was a murder, as Hamdan did not pose an immediate threat to the lives of the police officers when they shot him,” the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel said in a statement. “Hamdan approached the officers’ van and banged on the windows with an object [Why? According to Al Jazeera, officers from the nearby city of Nazareth were reportedly called to the village to arrest another man on suspicion of throwing a stun grenade during a family dispute. Kheir al-Dein Hamdan, the man's 22-year-old cousin, attacked the police car with a knife, according to police reports.]. The officers then opened the door of the van, got out and shot him from close range as he tried to run away from the scene, without giving any prior warning such as firing a shot into the air,” Adalah added … Israeli police had previously told media that Hamdan was shot “when he tried to stab an officer during an attempt to arrest him for allegedly throwing a stun grenade in the town.” “The officers’ actions clearly violate the open fire regulations of the police,” Adalah added. “The video also raises suspicion that the police shot Hamdan again after he was injured and had fallen to the ground.” The group notes that “the police dragged Hamdan’s body in a humiliating manner while he was bleeding and threw him into the police van, as if they were carrying a meaningless object, instead of calling on rescue teams to save him.” … Adalah noted that the shooting came after direct incitement to violence against Arab citizens of Israel by a senior minister: “Adalah sees a direct connection between the murder of Kheir Hamdan and the statements made earlier this week by Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich. The Minister stated that anyone who attacks Israeli Jewish citizens should be killed immediately. In any democratic society that respects the life of its citizens, any government minister that makes statements such as those by Yitzhak Aharonovich should be immediately dismissed.”
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-captures-execution-palestinian-citizen-israeli-police
When it comes to Arab citizens, the police are quick on the trigger / Jack Khoury
Haaretz 10 Nov — The shooting of Khayr al-Din al-Hamdan emphasizes what many Israeli Arabs have always thought: The police haven’t learned the lessons of the events of October 2000 — The Israeli Arab public does not view the shooting of Khayr al-Din al-Hamdan, Saturday morning in Kafr Kana, as a matter for in-depth examination. In its eyes, things are clear, black and white, and explanations and justifications are unnecessary: A policeman shot a young man, an Israeli citizen, at close range and killed him. All the rest is commentary, words with no public significance. From here things may well develop in one of two directions. The tension could explode – not just in Kafr Kana – and bring back the days of protests during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge and even those of the October 2000. Back then, 13 Arab demonstrators in northern Israel were killed by police over several days of disturbances that followed Ariel Sharon’s visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque at the end of September 2000. The second possibility is the incident could be contained in a way that any civilized country would when a uniformed policeman shoots a citizen, without any connection to his ethnic origin. But the responses from the Prime Minister’s Office and a few ministers, as well as that from the Israel Police’s upper echelons, do not herald good news. Talk of deterrence and revoking citizenship means the government at its head still relates to Arabs as a violent community, and the response to it must be aggressive and repressive, not one of dialog. Talk of deterrence and revoking citizenship means the government at its head still relates to Arabs as a violent community, and the response to it must be aggressive and repressive, not one of dialog.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.625476
Israel may cancel citizenship of those who want its ruin
Middle East Monitor 9 Nov — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said that he would ask his new interior minister Gilad Erdan to consider canceling the citizenship of those who called for the destruction of the state of Israel. The northern Israel town of Kafr Kanna has been the scene of sporadic clashes between angry Arabs, on one hand, and Israeli police, on the other, after the killing by Israeli police of a 22-year-old Arab in the morning on Saturday. The man was accused of trying to assault an Israeli policeman with a knife. Even with this, the alleged assault by the Arab man was not clear in footage by a camera near the site of his killing by Israeli police. The Arab residents of Israel – sometimes called the Arabs of 1948 – carry the Israeli nationality. Netanyahu’s office described Arab demonstrations in Kafr Kanna earlier in the day against the killing of the 22-year-old man as “riots.” “Israel is a state of law that will not tolerate either riots or turbulence,” Netanyahu was quoted by the statement as saying. He vowed to take measures against those who throw rocks and block roads and also those who call for Israel’s replacement with a Palestinian state. He said that he would ask his interior minister to revoke the Israeli nationality of those who called for the destruction of the state of Israel.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15174-israel-may-cancel-citizenship-of-those-who-want-its-ruin
If you’re an Arab, they shoot first / Oudeh Basharat
Haaretz 10 Nov — Why bother looking into the circumstances of the killing of Khayr al-Din Hamdan of Kafr Kana? Just watching the police officers throwing him, like a sack of onions, onto the floor of the police car after he was mortally wounded says everything about the value of an Arab’s life. The video shows no hesitation or embarrassment on the part of the ones who took this young man’s life. I had a bothersome thought a couple of days ago that would not let go: Where did they put the mortally wounded young man in that cramped space? A likely assumption is that they put him on the floor of the car, at the feet of the police officers who had shot him moments before. From the calm demeanor of the police officers, I assumed that if this had happened in a far-flung, remote place, Hamdan’s fate would have been no different from that of Omar Abu Jariban, who was left bleeding at the side of the road. It is a good thing that there are cameras. I found another question disturbing as well. What were the two police officers talking about as the wounded Hamdan lay, hovering between life and death, at their feet? Did they talk about the fate of a person whose whole life had been ahead of him? About his future plans, which were cut off in a single moment? About his last movements? About his echoing fall? And yes, what were his last words? The chain of events seems to indicate that the police officers were involved with more practical questions, such as how to spin a story of self-defense. Police officials said that the police officers had fired in the air first and at the young man only afterward, when their lives were in danger. Too bad the camera ruined the cover story. In the meantime, minister Naftali Bennett praised the police officers — the one who did the shooting and the ones who did the dragging — not forgetting to label Hamdan a terrorist. That is the first confirmation of killing. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the police officers into civilians whose attackers deserve the death penalty — without trial, of course. That is the second confirmation of killing. The prime minister mixed an apocalyptic issue of the destruction of the Jewish state with the issue of the killing of this Arab man. Thus it happens that the incident is equal in severity to the nuclear threat from Iran. And that is the third confirmation of the killing.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.625492
Clashes in Galilee village after Israeli police kill Palestinian
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — Clashes broke out in the village of Kafr Kana in the Galilee region of northern Israel after police shot and killed a Palestinian from the village overnight, Israeli media reported Saturday. Dozens of Palestinian youths gathered at the entrance to the village, set tires on fire, and through with Israeli police, who attempted to forcefully disperse them, the Israeli news site Ynet said. Residents of the village announced a strike following the overnight killing of the Palestinian, identified as 22-year-old Khair al-Din Rouf Hamdan. According to locals in Kafr Kana, Hamdan was shot dead after police attempted to arrest his cousin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738499
Angry Arabs march in north Israel after shooting
KFAR KANA (Israel) (AFP) 9 Nov — Angry Arab-Israeli protesters took to the streets across the country on Sunday and police raised alert levels nationwide amid shock waves over the fatal shooting of a young Arab-Israeli. Shops, schools and businesses were shuttered in Arab towns and villages where a general strike was observed over Saturday’s killing of a 22-year-old in Kfar Kana near the northern city of Nazareth. In the town on Sunday mounted police dispersed masked protesters who hurled stones and fireworks, blocked streets with burning tires and waved Palestinian flags. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that 22 people were arrested, among them minors … The incident came as Israel struggled to cope with a wave of unrest which has gripped annexed east Jerusalem for more than four months, with police facing off against youths almost nightly. Arab students protested the Kafr Kana killing Sunday in Jerusalem, the northern port city of Haifa and in Beersheva in southern Israel’s Negev desert. In the northern Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, about 250 people rallied, among them firebrand Islamic cleric Raed Salah, an AFP photographer said. Stones were hurled at a bus on the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway alongside the Arab village of Abu Ghosh, police said. In strife-torn east Jerusalem, clashes raged in Shu‘afat refugee camp for a fifth straight day as masked youths held running battles with Israeli border police, an AFP correspondent said. Elsewhere in east Jerusalem, masked Palestinians hurled petrol bombs at police in A-Tur and threw stones in ‘Issawiya, with police responding with “riot dispersal means” in both cases, police statements said. No injuries were reported.
http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-general-strike-north-israel-shooting-165042845.html
Jewish man narrowly escapes attempted lynch
Ynet 9 Nov by Hassan Shaalan — Masked men attacked Jewish driver at entrance to Arab town of Tayibe, but is saved by locals only to have car set ablaze, as violence continues to spread throughout Israel — Masked Arab men stopped a car driven by a Jewish man and pulled him out of the vehicle Sunday in an Arab town in central Israel in what seems to be an attempted lynch. The man managed to escape the scene with the help of local residents who pulled him away in the nick of time, and the perpetrators then set the abandoned vehicle on fire. A witness told Ynet that “I was at the scene, there were almost 20 people there protesting, some were masked. They stopped the car in which the Jewish man was traveling and began pelting it with stones and fireworks. They took out the driver and began beating him and shouting ‘Allah Akhbar’. Then a group of people pulled him out from under the mob, they claim he said: ‘I saw death, I never thought I’d make it out alive.'” The man, in his 40s, was visiting friends in the town and was on his way home when he was attacked. “I have worked with people from the Arab sector all my life, I have good relations with so many of them. I cannot believe something like this can happen. It was very scary. I can only hope this doesn’t happen again, to anybody.” Police went on heightened alert Sunday following protests across the country over the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Arab Israeli who appeared in video footage to be retreating from police….
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4589988,00.html
General strike in Negev after shooting
BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 9 Nov – A general strike paralyzed the majority of Arab cities and towns in the Negev on Sunday in protest against the Israeli police shooting dead an Arab young man in the Galilee a day earlier. The strike was organized by the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel in protest of the deadly shooting of Khair al-Din Rouf Hamdan, 22 from Kafr Kanna, on Saturday. The strike included local authorities, shops and schools. Black flags were seen on rooftops in cities and towns across the Negev. The Israeli police southern command deployed large numbers of officers and announced a state of alert fearing possible confrontations. Rahat responded to the strike, a Ma‘an reporter said. Nevertheless, activists said that some shops in the Negev were seen open. Separately, a local popular committee in Rahat was scheduled to organize a demonstration at 3:30 p.m. at the city’s park.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738762
24 Palestinians in court for protesting after Israel shooting
JERUSALEM (AFP) 10 Nov — Twenty-four Palestinian citizens of Israel, 10 of them minors, appeared in court Monday on charges of rioting in Palestinian areas of northern Israel after police shot dead a young man. Police said all of them had been arrested on Sunday and were in court for a hearing to decide whether their custody should be extended. They are suspected of stone-throwing and other “public order offenses” during demonstrations which have rocked the northern town of Kfar Kana, near Nazareth, since the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old resident early on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738918
Israeli forces raid Jerusalem hospital, detain Palestinian in ER
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) — Israeli forces raided a hospital in East Jerusalem late Saturday and detained a young Palestinian man, witnesses told Ma‘an. Locals said Israeli forces searched the outer square of the al-Maqasid hospital in the al-Tur neighborhood before storming the hospital’s emergency room and detaining a young man who was escorting an elderly woman. The officers beat the young man “brutally” before taking him into custody, the sources told Ma‘an. The young Palestinian’s name was not immediately made available. The Palestinian news site Safa reported that Israeli forces claimed the man had hurled a Molotov cocktail at them and fled to the hospital. The hospital administration denounced the Israeli raid which they described as a “barbarian attack” that violated the sanctity of the hospital. Witnesses said the raid came during clashes in the al-Tur neighborhood, during which Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at Palestinian youths, who threw stones at the officers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738639
Israeli forces shoot Palestinian near Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 9 Nov – A Palestinian young man sustained injuries after being shot with a live bullet during clashes with Israeli forces in Seida village northeast of Tulkarem on Sunday. Medical sources told Ma’an that Abd al-Razzaq Wael Ashqar, 20, was shot in the foot after Israeli forces raided the village, and he was taken to Thabit Thabit hospital in Tulkarem with moderate to light injuries. Clashes broke out in the village after an Israeli army jeep raided the area firing tear gas, stun grenades, and live and rubber-coated steel bullets. Palestinians responded with rocks and empty bottles.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738828
Unidentified assailants set Palestinian worker on fire in Israel
JENIN (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — A Palestinian man from Jenin was critically injured late Friday after unidentified assailants set fire to his body in the village of Tamra in northeastern Israel. Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an that Mahmoud Kamel Qalalweh, 23, from the al-Jadida village in southern Jenin, was critically injured after unidentified assailants “deliberately” set him to fire, causing injuries all over his body. Sources added that an investigation into the incident had been opened.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738421
Israeli soldier critically injured in stabbing in Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 10 Nov — An Israeli soldier was stabbed and critically injured on Monday at a train station in Tel Aviv, Israeli media and an army statement said. The Israeli news site Walla reported that an Israeli man was stabbed at HaHagana train station and taken to Sheva Hospital in Tel HaShomer. Israeli police arrested [!] a Palestinian suspect from Nablus in his 20s, the report said. A Ma‘an reporter in Nablus said that the suspect was 18-year-old Nur al-Din Abu Hashya from ‘Askar refugee camp in the city. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the victim was an Israeli soldier and said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian from the Nablus area in the northern West Bank. She said the stabbing appeared to be politically motivated. “It was apparently an attack with nationalist motives. The suspect is a resident of the Nablus,” she said, adding that he had been arrested in a nearby apartment building where he had holed up … The incident follows the Israeli police killing of a Palestinian citizen of Israel in the Galilee region Saturday, which led to two days of protests and clashes with Israeli police. Further tensions have been escalating in Jerusalem, where in recent weeks Israeli forces have shot and killed two Palestinian suspects in car-ramming attacks on Israelis at light rail stations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738935
Israeli forces detain Palestinian lawyer from Nablus-area village
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 9 Nov – Israeli forces raided the village of Kafr Qalil south of Nablus in the northern West Bank overnight and detained lawyer Ibrahim Nawwaf al-Amir, family members told the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights. Israeli troops, according to the report, damaged the interior of the house and stole some money. Furthermore, the soldiers confiscated al-Amir’s mobile phone and a camera which belonged to his father. Director of the Ahrar Center Fuad al-Khuffash said that Israeli forces detained another Palestinian lawyer, Muhammad Allan, from the Nablus-area village of Einabus [or ‘Aynabus] a few days earlier.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738661
Israel arrests 4 Palestinians in Jerusalem, 2 in Hebron
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 10 Nov – Israeli police early Monday arrested four Palestinians, including a teenager after severely beating him up, from the Jerusalem area, while army forces arrested two others in Hebron, said security sources and local activist. Israeli police arrested Ra’ed al-‘Amuri and Ahmad Abu Gharbiyya from al-Suwana neighborhood, east of the Old City of Jerusalem. They also arrested Mohammad Zaidani and Nour Abu Zneid, 17, from al-Bustan neighborhood to the south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Shu‘fat refugee camp respectively. Abu Zneid was reportedly brutally assaulted by police during his arrest, causing fractures in his legs.
Meanwhile, forces raided Hebron city, where they arrested Ahmad Shehada, 19, after breaking into and ransacking his family’s house. They also raided Beit Ummar town, where they arrested released prisoner ‘Omar Braigheith, 33, after breaking into his house, according to Mohammad ‘Awad, who coordinates the local popular committee against settlement. Soldiers also broke into the house of Zeyad ‘Awad, as well as the houses of Bader Ikhlail, 70, and his son, Yousef, 32, destroying the main doors and ransacking the houses. They set up roadblocks at the entrances of Halhul and Sa‘ir towns as well as al-‘Arub refugee camp, stopping and inspecting Palestinian vehicles traveling along the way and checking passengers’ ID cards.
The Palestinian Prisoner Club (PPC), in a press release, revealed that Israeli forces have arrested 174 Palestinians, including 100 Jerusalemites who were mostly minors, since November 1.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=26999
Israeli forces ignore settler attacking child
HEBRON, Occupied Palestine (ISM, Khalil Team) 9 Nov — This afternoon in al-Khalil (Hebron), ISM activists witnessed a Zionist settler push a 10-year-old child to the ground. The settler was driving close to Salaymeh checkpoint, through a group of Palestinian schoolchildren walking home. He suddenly stopped, exited his car, and violently pushed the young boy. ISM activists who saw the incident tried to speak to nearby Israeli border police, who stated that they had not seen anything, so were unable to take action. The ISM’ers pointed out that the settler was still present, and the young boy was crying and bleeding, and then the officers asked, “what do you want us to do?” An ISM’er present stated, “We tried to say to the border police that they could at least speak to the little boy, and stop the settler from leaving the area, or even speak to the many witnesses present. However they refused to do anything, and even waved to the settler as he drove away in his car, smiling. We pointed out that if a Palestinian adult male had pushed a young settler child to the ground, they would have taken action whether they has seen the incident or not. They had no response to this.”
http://palsolidarity.org/2014/11/israeli-forces-ignore-settler-attacking-child/
Al-Aqsa
Israeli forces continue restrictions on access to Aqsa Mosque
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 9 Nov – Israeli forces on Sunday morning denied all Palestinian women access to al-Aqsa mosque, while men were allowed in on condition that they leave their identity cards at inspection stations manned by Israeli troops and police officers. Director of the al-Aqsa mosque Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani told Ma‘an that Israeli forces completely closed four gates. Palestinian worshipers were allowed them to use the Lions gate, Hatta gate, the Council gate and the Chain gate. Al-Kiswani said that 31 “extremist Jews stormed al-Aqsa compound at 7:30 a.m. heavily escorted by Israeli officers.”
Separately, Israeli forces detained nine young Palestinian men from East Jerusalem on Sunday morning.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738643
Israeli police: ‘Changes to the status quo at Al-Aqsa will be disastrous’
Middle East Monitor 6 Nov — The Israeli police force in Jerusalem acknowledged its inability to put an end to the escalating clashes in the city and stressed that the use of more force will not be feasible. The police emphasised that a political solution is the only thing that could achieve a sense of calm in the occupied city. Intelligence agencies within the police sector doubt that “the current bout of violence in Jerusalem” can be dealt with by using more brute force towards Palestinian Jerusalemites. In a session aimed at assessing the situation, which was attended by senior officials within the police force, it was determined that the police could only efficiently contain individual incidents; however, the greater tensions and clashes within the city can only be addressed by implementing a large-scale solution on the political level. According to the police, the current situation was caused by recent events in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the surrounding platform, not the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir or conditions in East Jerusalem.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15137-israeli-police-changes-to-the-status-quo-at-al-aqsa-will-be-disastrous
The Temple Mount: Israel’s tale of loons and darkness / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 9 Nov – It’s crazy to link events that might have happened thousands of years ago to the reality of 2014 — Anyone who wants to track the progress Israel has made on the steep slope toward fanaticism, religiosity and backwardness must examine its relationship to the Temple Mount. Anyone who insists on labeling Israel a modern Western country can’t ignore the extraordinary change that has taken place in recent years. And anyone who still thinks this is a nonreligious society must heed the dark and insane forces that motivate it. In no country in the West — which Israel pretends to belong to, more and more in vain — does an archeological site turn into an “existential foundation” and excuse for bloodshed. In no country in the West is holiness a matter of policy … What until recently was a matter for crazies, the lovers of strange tales, has suddenly become a fateful issue. Do you remember the red heifer? The coming of the Messiah and the rebuilding of the Temple have been beloved items for the editors of newspapers’ inside pages when nothing is happening, not to mention our empty-headed talking heads on afternoon television. It’s always possible to bring in some loon with a new interpretation of Jewish law on the matter. And suddenly, a revolution: The Temple Mount has become an issue. “He who controls the Mount controls the land,” wrote a commentator with unfathomable seriousness this weekend, as if he were living in the Middle Ages.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.625357
What is the vision of Jews who want to replace Al Aqsa mosque with temple? / Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss 9 Nov — What is the vision of the Jews who want to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem? Last Thursday night in Jerusalem I went to a rally of about 200 of these messianic Jews and spoke to four of them at some length. I’ve posted three video interviews below, which express some of the ideas I heard. These Jews explained that when the temple is rebuilt, no Muslim holy places would remain on the Temple Mount – or Haram al Sharif, as Muslims describe the site. How the Muslim sites would be removed these Jews could not say. “We don’t know the exact detail,” said a psychotherapist who gave his name as Yechiel Israel. There are hints, he said: earthquake or war. He pointed out that a Lubavitcher rabbi advised in 1967 that the Israeli army blow up the Al Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock — and the Six Day War had been a “window of opportunity” that wasn’t taken (video below).
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/11/vision-replace-mosque
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Palestinians remind world of their own wall
Al Jazeera 9 Nov — Palestinian youth have dug a hole in Israel’s separation wall with the Palestinian territories, as a symbolic gesture to mark 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Armed with hammers, a group of Palestinian activists on Saturday created a cavity in the wall that crosses through the West Bank village of Bir Nabala, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, braving tight Israeli security measures. “It doesn’t matter how high the barriers will be, they will fall. Like the Berlin Wall fell – The Palestinian wall will fall,” the Palestinian activists who organised the event wrote in a statement according to the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency. The collapse of the Berlin Wall a quarter century ago is a key event in the breakdown of communism and the preface to Germany’s reunification in 1990. During its 28-year existence, the Wall served as a symbol for communist oppression. Palestinians refer to the current wall separating the West Bank from Israel as the “apartheid wall” … The International Court of Justice ruled in 2004 that “the construction of the wall, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law”. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that the Israeli barrier “causes serious humanitarian and legal problems” and goes “far beyond what is permissible for an occupying power”. Al Jazeera’s correspondent Tamer Meshal said Saturday’s act was a symbolic gesture on the part of small group of activists as opposed to an organised campaign … The Palestinian activists, in footage filmed by the Palestinian TV, said that the aim of their act was to stress that Israel’s construction of the wall will not prevent Palestinians from reaching Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque, one of the Islam’s holiest sites. Photos of the action from the International Solidarity Movement
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/palestinians-wall-apartheid-berlin-westbank-israel-20141198037736737.html
Israel to confiscate 3,200 acres of Palestinian land near Jerusalem
[with maps] JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — Israeli authorities have delivered orders to the village of Beit Iksa north of Jerusalem ordering the confiscation of 12,852 dunums (3,176 acres) of Palestinian land, locals said on Saturday. Locals told Ma‘an that soldiers deployed at the military checkpoint at the entrance to the village delivered confiscation orders signed by the Israeli military commander in the West Bank Nitzan Alon that gave them until Dec. 31, 2017 to remain on their land. Villagers said that soldiers informed them that an official from the Israeli military liaison would arrive on Monday to specify which lands that would be confiscated, adding that the lands confiscated would be used for “military purposes.” If carried out, the confiscation would dramatically reduce the land available to Beit Iksa’s 1,700 people, the majority of whom are refugees who fled to the area in 1967 after the existing population of the village was forced to flee by Israeli authorities. Although located immediately next to Jerusalem, the village’s lands have been progressively confiscated and the village is surrounded on all sides by the Israeli separation wall. Villagers can no longer travel to Jerusalem without permits, and Palestinians not resident in Beit Iksa cannot enter the single Israeli checkpoint that allows access to the village. [details follow]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738438
Israel notifies to demolish school, residential structures near Hebron
HEBRON (WAFA) 10 Nov – The Israeli authorities on Monday handed notices to demolish a school, three houses, and two tents near the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, according to local sources. Coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in southern Hebron, Rateb Jabour, said a staff from the Israeli Civil Administration handed residents of Ma‘een, a small village near Yatta, notifications to demolish the village’s school, in addition to three other houses there. The staff handed notifications to demolish three houses belonging to Makhamreh family; one belonging to Isa, displacing his family of 11, in addition to two other houses belonging to his brothers Yousif and Mohammad; both are adjacent to the nearby illegal settlement outpost of Avijayl. The authorities further handed two brothers in the area; Sa’ad and Ihsan Shniran, notices to demolish their two residential tents, displacing their families. The village of Ma‘een, part of Masafer Yatta, a collection of 19 small [Bedouin] Palestinian villages south of Hebron, has been a frequent target for recurrent Israeli violations, including property demolitions and strict restrictions on the issuance of construction permits by the Israeli authorities. The congregation relies heavily on animal husbandry and cropping as a main source of livelihood, a sector that has widely been targeted by Israeli settlers and soldiers as regularly reported by Operation Dove – Non-Violent Peace Corps.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=27000
Israeli settlers level Palestinian land west of Salfit
NABLUS (Ma‘an) — Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Netafim leveled private Palestinian land near the central West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Hassan under guard of Israeli soldiers, witnesses told Ma‘an Sunday.The settlers intend to expand their settlement, which was founded in 1986 on Palestinian land from the villages of Qarawat Bani Hassan and Deir Istiya in the Salfit district, local researcher Khaled Maali told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738669
Gaza
Israeli forces open fire at Gaza fishermen, 3 injured
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Israeli gunboats shot and injured three Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the southern Gaza Strip late Sunday, witnesses told Ma‘an. The witnesses said Israeli forces shot at the boat until it took fire, and that fishermen in a nearby boat managed to pull the injured aboard and escape under heavy fire. The injured fishermen were taken to Abu Yusuf al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma‘an that navy forces identified a Palestinian boat entering Egyptian territorial waters around 10 p.m. Sunday, and that upon its return to Palestinian waters the forces called on the boat to stop. When the boat did not stop, the naval forces opened fire at the boat, “identifying a hit.” She confirmed that the boat caught fire and said that Palestinians “were seen jumping into the water.” Israeli forces believe the incident is “probably a potential smuggling,” the spokeswoman said. She added that a similar incident occurred at 1 a.m. Monday morning. The Aug. 26 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian militant groups stipulated that Israel would immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, allowing fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles from shore, and would continue to expand the area gradually. Since then, there have been widespread reports that Israeli forces have at times opened fire at fishermen within those new limits, and the zone has not been expanded. [AFP 10 Nov: Two Gaza fishermen were wounded and four missing on Monday after the Israeli navy fired on two boats off the coast, officials from the Hamas-run security services said. It was not immediately clear whether the four had been arrested, the officials added.]
htttp://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738880
Power authority: Fuel urgently needed to run Gaza power plant
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 9 Nov — Gaza’s Energy and Natural Resources Authority on Sunday urged Palestinian officials to ship fuel to Gaza in order to increase the efficiency of the Strip’s sole power plant. “There have been no fuel shipments … as a result of the disagreement between the Ministry of Finance and the General Petroleum Corporation over new fuel prices set by the Palestinian government,” the authority said in a statement. On Tuesday, the PA cabinet decided that it would exempt fuel bound for Gaza from taxes, the statement explained. It said the energy authority had transferred 20 million shekels ($5.25 million) for fuel … Gaza has been forced into dependence on Israeli electricity as a result of the siege, which has crippled domestic production and repair capabilities.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738709
Hamas condemns Fatah for accusations of Gaza blast responsibility
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — A top member of the Hamas politburo on Saturday condemned Fatah leaders for accusing Hamas of being linked to more than a dozen blasts across Gaza the day before, urging all sides to prevent rhetoric that could undermine national unity. Khalil al-Hayya called upon Fatah leaders to hand over to Gaza security services the names of those that Fatah claims are responsible for the attacks targeting the homes and cars of Fatah leaders, condemning Fatah for having rushed to conclusions. “If the cost of these blasts is avoiding reconciliation, we have the right to ask who is behind them,” he said, stressing that Hamas is not “hiding” behind the blasts to avoid reconciliation. He also condemned Fatah leaders for making unfounded accusations and holding Hamas responsible for the blasts “even before security services reached the results of their investigations.” … The attacks came a day before the Palestinian cabinet was supposed to visit Gaza from the West Bank and amid rising optimism over the political reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas that was launched in April after seven years of division. Some have speculated that whoever was behind the blasts could have been trying to thwart reconciliation and ensure the Palestinian Authority did not re-extend its control over Gaza. All major political factions in Gaza, however, condemned the attacks, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and a leader of Salafi militant groups. Hamas leader Al-Hayya warned against using the incident as an excuse to avoid reconciliation, calling on all sides to uphold their responsibilities towards the national good. Al-Hayya also stressed the need for a planned Fatah event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat in Gaza City to take place, a day after a bomb blast hit a stage being prepared for the event
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738419
Arafat ceremonies canceled in Gaza in wake of bomb blasts
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 Nov — The Fatah movement announced Sunday that the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza would be canceled. The ceremony, which was scheduled for Tuesday, would have been the first time a commemoration of Arafat’s death was allowed in the Strip since Hamas took control in 2007. “After the series of explosions and assaults against Fatah leaders, we have been notified by Hamas’ political and security officials that security services won’t be able to take charge of security arrangements during the Arafat anniversary ceremony,” said a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip. Zakariyya al-Agha said in a statement that “Gaza security services asked the workers who were fixing the stage at al-Katiba square in Gaza City to stop working and leave.” A Hamas-affiliated spokesman confirmed the cancellation. “Due to serious tension amidst the public, and the exchange of accusations after the suspicious explosions in Gaza, as well as other logistic difficulties,” Gaza security services will not be able to take charge of security arrangements during the anniversary ceremony, said Iyad al-Buzm, spokesman of the former Hamas-run government’s interior ministry.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738757
Gaza’s businessmen facing bankruptcy
GAZA CITY (Al-Monitor)7 Nov by Mohammed Othman — Israel targeted important economic sectors in the Gaza Strip in the latest war, rendering many businesses bankrupt and business owners unemployed – Gazan businessman Monzer al-Harazin sits inside a small tent he erected in front of the ruins of his home, his two companies and his factory that imported and manufactured clothing and fabrics in the Shajaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City. He is guarding his identity documents and clients’ checks, and some household items he retrieved from under the rubble. Harazin, who was wounded by shrapnel from Israeli tank shells while fleeing his home during the 50-day war, told Al-Monitor that Israeli F-16 fighter jets bombed his home, his companies and factory, and completely destroyed everything just hours after he and his family had evacuated the neighborhood. Harazin explained that his losses, as a result of this attack, exceeded $2 million, not to mention the loss of other small properties. “The warehouses contained clothing and fabrics worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and the factory’s sewing machines were all brand new and purchased only a few months earlier,” he said. “I left a bag at my home with about $130,000 [in cash] and several checks from merchants and clients, not to mention tradable goods such as gold jewelry and personal items, and electrical equipment such as modern telephone devices.” Harazin lived with 15 members of his extended family, including two wives, in a rented apartment in Gaza City, but he has moved to the home of one of his relatives. He said that he lost about 98% of his business.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/israel-war-gaza-target-economy-bankruptcy.html
Palestinian homes as targets
Al Jazeera 7 Nov by Salil Shetty — Amnesty International discloses details of a series of Israeli attacks carried out in Gaza on Palestinian family homes — Nearly three months have passed since the latest conflict came to an end, but the piles of rubble and empty shells of family homes in Gaza serve as painful reminders of the death and destruction that resulted from Israel’s latest military operation there in July and August. Mohammad Akram al-Hallaq’s three grandchildren were watching cartoons in the television room when three missiles struck on July 20. The walls collapsed in an avalanche of rubble, crumbling into piles of dust and rocks above and below them. None of the children survived. Eight people, all civilians, including four children from another family living in the building were also killed. Across Gaza, similar scenes were repeated. At least 18,000 homes were destroyed or damaged beyond repair and more than 1,500 Palestinian civilians were killed during Operation Protective Edge. In Israel, at least six civilians, including one child, were killed as Palestinian armed groups fired indiscriminate rockets across the border.In our report published on Wednesday, Amnesty International discloses the details of a series of Israeli attacks carried out in Gaza on Palestinian family homes. Many of the homes attacked were crammed full of people who had sought safety with relatives after fleeing other war-ravaged areas of Gaza. Appalling disregard With this evidence we can now say with certainty that Israeli forces displayed an appalling disregard for civilian life, levelling entire buildings housing dozens of residents in several grossly disproportionate attacks carried out without warning. The evidence clearly points to the fact that some of these unlawful attacks are war crimes.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/11/palestinian-homes-as-targets-2014115102416786418.html
WATCH: State Department: Israel should have, could have done more to prevent casualties
Haaretz 9 Nov — Jen Psaki was asked on Friday to clarify the Obama Administration’s official position after the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Israel ‘went to great lengths to limit collateral damage” — (from transcript) Matt Lee from the Associated Press: (Starts at 3:25) Yesterday, the ICC made its decision that there was no case to prosecute for war crimes in Gaza. But also yesterday – and you spoke about that very briefly here. But also yesterday, General Dempsey, who is no slouch when it comes to military things, told an audience in New York that the Israelis went to extraordinary lengths to limit collateral damage during the Gaza war. And I’m puzzled, because I thought it was the position of the Administration – or maybe it was just the position of the State Department and the White House – that Israel was not doing enough to live up to its – what you called its own high standards. Back on August 3rd, there was the statement you put out after the UNRWA school incident, saying that the U.S. “is appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling.” And that was some pretty fierce criticism. How do you reconcile these two apparent divergent points of view? When this statement came out, the United States was appalled? Did that just mean the State Department was appalled? Jen Psaki, State Department: No, that is the position of the Administration; it remains the position of the Administration….
http://www.haaretz.com/news/video/1.625481
In Pictures: ‘I miss my games and red dress’
Al Jazeera 6 Nov by Anne Paq — Gaza’s children talk about the loss of the places in which they once felt safe, their small universes – their bedrooms — More than 108,000 Palestinians lost their homes during the latest Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, with more than 60,000 housing units destroyed or damaged, forcing one in four Palestinians in Gaza to flee. Around 110,000 people are still displaced. And the majority of them are children. Their bedrooms were their safe place, their small universe, but that was destroyed this summer. According to the UN, it will take 20 years to rebuild the parts of Gaza that were damaged. A simple question was asked of some children: What do you miss most from your room?
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/11/pictures-i-miss-my-games-red-dr-201411693347431796.html
Egyptian sources: We did not accuse Hamas of Sinai blasts
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 8 Nov — Egyptian sources on Saturday told Ma‘an that Egypt did not blame Hamas for a bomb attack in Sinai last month that left 30 Egyptian policemen dead, but had instead accused the group of losing control of Gaza and thus inadvertently allowing terrorists to enter Egypt. The statements come after weeks of closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza following the blast, which was the deadliest peacetime attack on security forces in Egyptian history. The bombing also renewed Egyptian pressure on Hamas as well as domestic repression against political dissidents … The sources added that Egypt is preparing to re-open the Rafah crossing and to receive both the Israeli and Palestinian delegations in order to resume indirect ceasefire negotiations. They added that “despite the terrorism Egypt is facing, it will not hesitate to support the Palestinian cause.” The easing of Egyptian rhetoric on Hamas follows more than a year of intense pressure on the group that followed the Egyptian military coup in July 2013.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738465
Journal: Farming in Gaza near the Buffer Zone
KHUZA‘A, Occupied Palestine (ISM) by Rina Andolini — The farmers are rarely talked about. They blend into the background of the lands beyond the destroyed buildings of the towns. The reality is though, they are facing a battle themselves. Many farmers have had their homes, and farmland attacked. Farm land attacked I repeat, I mean, who would ever have thought that land could be an enemy that needed to be struck by a missile? Well, the attacks from the air have stopped, for now, although the buzz of the drones rarely hum a tune of silence, sometimes accompanied by the whooshing high speed winds that the F-16s bring with them. The farmers’ situation is clear cut and simple; they have land and are in fear of tending to it. What is to fear when all you want to do is plough, and sow seeds, and nurture your land to provide food, shelter, and clothing to your family? How is it okay for a person to work in fear of being shot at, for doing nothing other than farm on their land? The fence in the buffer zone is the cutoff point, so we should be able to go right up to it without fear of being shot at, or even worse, shelled, as the Israeli army rolls around in their tanks pretty much, round the clock. Yesterday, the 8th of November, the farmers went to their land to start ploughing away at the soil to get it ready for sowing. They use a tractor. What happened when they went? The Israeli military shot in their direction. Luckily, nobody was hurt, but a tire was shot at and destroyed. These farmers struggle to even pay for contingencies such as these; work hazards caused by Israeli attacks, and why should they even have to? But they do. So, they called several international activists here in Gaza, and said, “Please come with us to our land, we need to go there with the tractor and do our work but they keep shooting at us.” Of course, we agreed to go and help, and even this morning, they rang two times, to make sure we were coming. They would not start their work without our presence. This is their situation, they cannot work without fear of being shot at.
http://palsolidarity.org/2014/11/journal-farming-in-gaza-near-the-buffer-zone/
Other news, analysis
Israel moves to extend law to W. Bank settlers
Al Jazeera 9 Nov — An Israeli ministerial committee has approved a proposed bill that would ensure the wholesale application of Israeli law to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, a move sponsored by politicians who want Israel to annex part of the territory. The bill needs to be submitted to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, for voting and must pass three readings before becoming law. However, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief negotiator in peace talks with the Palestinians that collapsed in April, said she would appeal against the decision, effectively putting parliamentary ratification on indefinite hold, the Reuters news agency reported on Sunday. Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank are currently formally subject to military rule. However, the area’s 350,000 settlers are effectively under the jurisdiction of civilian courts in Israel because parliament has already applied a clutch of laws, primarily criminal and tax laws and military conscription, to them. At present, to ensure that other Israeli laws are binding on settlers in the West Bank, the military commander there has to transpose them, at his discretion, into military regulations.The new draft bill would make it mandatory for the commander to issue, within 45 days of a law’s passage in parliament, an identically phrased military order, effectively ensuring that all ratified legislation also applies to settlers. According to the new bill, Israelis living in the occupied West Bank will be under Israeli law, while Palestinians who live in the same areas would remain under military rule. Sponsors of the bill said such arrangements would not change the status of the territory or contravene international law.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/israel-moves-extend-law-w-bank-settlers-2014119162035647672.html
Abbas wants to move Arafat shrine to Jerusalem
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 9 Nov — President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the shrine of late President Yasser Arafat will be moved to Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, at the earliest possible opportunity. Abbas said during a ceremony opening Arafat’s museum in Ramallah that the late Palestinian leader deserves to “remain immortal in the hearts of our people.” The president added that the museum is a place to be visited by people who do not know Arafat [Israel would not let Arafat be buried in Jerusalem, as he wanted, ten years ago -- unlikely that they would allow this now]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738844
Top EU diplomat: Jerusalem should be capital of 2 states
RAMALLAH (AFP) 8 Nov — The European Union’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini said on Saturday that Jerusalem “should be the capital of two states,” as tensions gripped the holy city hit by Israeli-Palestinian violence. “I think Jerusalem can be and should be the capital of two states,” Mogherini told reporters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, touching on a sensitive issue that has blocked peace efforts for decades … “Jerusalem is not just a beautiful city, the challenge is to show that Jerusalem can be shared in peace and respect,” said Mogherini. “The message is not for the people who live here, the message is to the rest of the world,” she said. “It is not a Palestinian-Israeli situation, it is a global issue.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=738534
New EU foreign affairs chief amplifies call for Palestinian statehood during Gaza visit
RT 8 Nov — The European Union’s new foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, emphasized that the bloc backs Palestinian statehood and warned of rising tensions in Jerusalem during a visit to Gaza on Saturday. “We need a Palestinian state — that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union,” she said, adding that another war in Gaza cannot be afforded. In remarks made ahead of her meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mogherini urged the reduction of tensions. “It would be good if we all managed to lower tensions, verbal and on the ground. What is happening and what has happened here in Jerusalem in the last week is extremely worrying,” she said Friday. Mogherini, a former Italian foreign minister who took up her post as the EU’s foreign and security policy chief with the appointment of a new European Commission on Nov. 1, has previously made similar calls. On Tuesday, she said: “I would be happy if by the end of my term, a Palestinian state existed.” READ MORE: New EU foreign chief calls for creation of Palestinian state in 5 years
http://rt.com/news/203483-palestine-statehood-mogherini-gaza/
Israel environmental minister quits Netanyahu’s cabinet
JERUSALEM (AFP) 8 Nov – Israeli Environment Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday he is resigning over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s social policies, in a potentially major blow to the stability of the coalition government. Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Peretz said the state was undergoing “an earthquake in all fields — diplomatic, social and financial,” and accused Netanyahu of acting irresponsibly, a statement from his spokeswoman said … The former head of the powerful Histadrut labour union, who left Labour to join Justice Minister’s Tzipi Livni’s HaTnuah party before the latest election, has been a vocal critic of Netanyahu’s social policies. He has also expressed concern over the lack of any political progress with the Palestinians since the latest round of peace talks collapsed in April. Peretz also said he would not support the state budget, which is to be tabled for parliamentary approval on Monday. “I did everything I could to promote a diplomatic process and fight for the dignity of Israelis,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday, saying there was “deterioration” on all fronts — diplomatic, social and economic. “I have no intention of continuing to serve the policies of Netanyahu, who has become a prisoner to the right-wing,” he said. Opposition chief Isaac Herzog, who heads the Labour party, welcomed Peretz’s resignation, calling it “the beginning of the end” of the government. He said HaTnuah was part of the centre-left camp “which Labour will lead in the next elections until the regime is changed.”