This Week In Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.IMEMC.org, for September 1st through September7th, 2007.
This week saw renewed internal Palestinian clashes between Fatah and Hams while the Israeli army killed at least 10 Palestinians in the Gaza strip. These stories and more coming up stay tuned.
Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine
After more than two years of continuous non-violent struggle against the annexation wall, the villagers of Bilin scored a victory when the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the wall must be re-routed. The re-routing will allow the village to retrieve 275 acres out of the total of 600 confiscated behind the wall and used to build the illegal settlement of Modi’in.
Although not all the confiscated land the Biliners decided to celebrate their victory. Hundreds of international, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists converged on the village from different parts of the West Bank for the celebration which was also attended by Palestinian officials.
The villagers believe that their continuous non-violent resistance to the wall and the efforts of the village’s lawyer, Michael Sfarad were the main reasons behind the court ruling. Eyad Burnat, head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in, said the struggle to liberate all the land will continue.
“We will not build big hopes on the Israeli court ruling, it is the occupation’s court, the same one that took several decisions to build the wall, however, we believe that this decision was achieved by the popular resistance in Bilin, and we have made a decision to continue the struggle until the occupation comes to an end and the wall to be removed.”
Bilin has been conducting weekly non-violent protests against the wall for more than two and a half years in a bid to prevent the erection of the wall on their land. Dozens of the villagers have been injured, imprisoned or beaten by the Israeli army during the nonviolent actions.
The International Solidarity Movement, which has been actively involved in trying to stop the construction of the wall since 2002, said that only four out of 120 court cases have been successful. In July of 2004 the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the wall in all areas of the West Bank is illegal and demanded Israel remove it and compensate local people for the damage caused by its construction.
In April, an international conference on Popular Resistance was held in the village and was attended by more than 500 Palestinian, Israel and international peace activists. During the three-day conference speakers focused on the need for joint action by Palestinians and Israelis against the military occupation to bring about its end.
Political report
In Political news this week, the leader of Hamas and deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has published a plan detailing a proposed route out of the current internal political crisis. IMEMC's John Smith has more:
Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya this week proposed a five-point plan detailing a means to escape the political turmoil currently engulfing the occupied Palestinian territories. Among the points suggested were a restructuring of the Palestinian security bodies, a reforming of the Palestine Liberation organization, and reinstalling the Palestinian national unity cabinet, all in light of Hamas’ overwhelming victory in last January’s legislative elections.
President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called Hamas’ takeover of Gaza in June a ‘coup’ against legitimacy and demanded the movement give up the region before any dialogue commences. The region has recently witnessed a series of diplomatic activities ahead of the Washington-led conference on Middle East peace, scheduled for November.
In his meeting with President Abbas in Ramallah, Javeir Solana, the EU’s chief for external relations, this week continued to boycott the Hamas-led government in Gaza. Solana stated that he would not hold meetings with Hamas officials until the Islamist group abides by the Quartet’s conditions.
The Palestinian president, in his meeting with Jordan’s king Abdullah II in the Jordanian capital, lowered expectations concerning the Middle East conference, unless a specific timetable and goals were set forth. In a similar vein, the chief of the league of Arab states, Amr Mousa, cast doubt on the potential of the conference to achieve any real success without a Cleary defined agenda.
So far, no details on timetables, attendees or objectives have been revealed by Washington.
Hamas has stated its opposition to the proposed conference, claiming that it is aimed at undermining the Palestinian question and eliminating any Palestinian resistance.
Hamas, which took power last year, has been demanded by the international quartet to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previously-signed agreements before the group wins recognition. Hamas currently refuses to accept these conditions, a refusal that has been used as a justification for the crippling economic and political embargo placed on the movement and the people of the Gaza Strip.
In other news, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the amendment of the Palestinian electoral system, restricting candidacy to those who embrace the PLO’s platform regarding recognition of Israel's asserted right to exist. Speaking to IMEMC, Ahmad Alkhaldi, professor of law and chairman of the committee for formulating the Palestinian constitution, said that the Palestinian bylaw does not authorize the president to change the elections law, except in certain conditions.
For IMEMC.org, this is John Smith
The Israeli attacks
The West Bank
This week the Israeli army conducted at least 31 military invasions of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these invasions Israeli troops kidnapped 44 Palestinian civilians, including a child, bringing the number of Palestinians kidnapped by the Israeli army in the West Bank since the beginning of this year to 1,877. IMEMC's Louisa White has more:
A Palestinian woman gave birth at the military checkpoint near Abu Dees just north of the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday morning. Israeli sources said that an Israeli border policeman prevented the woman from passing through the checkpoint on her way to a hospital in Jerusalem leaving her to give birth in the street.
The Israeli army kidnapped Ahmad Salah, a senior leader of the Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, during a military operation in Jenin in the northern part of the West Bank. The operation which began in the early hours of Thursday lasted into the afternoon. One child was seriously injured during the operation. Earlier, under-cover Israeli Special Forces kidnapped three Palestinian youths also from Jenin.
Palestinian sources in Balata refugee camp, in the northern West Bank City of Nablus, reported on Wednesday that Israeli forces invaded the camp breaking into the house of As’ad and Amjad Abu Gush and demolishing two recently-built rooms in the third floor;the rooms were destroyed by the use of explosives. The brothers are members of Hamas. Amjad was recently released from a Palestinian Security prison and later was kidnapped, along with five other Hamas members, in an Israeli invasion of the camp.
Local Palestinian sources reported that in Jerusalem Israeli forces and the Jerusalem municipal authority carried out several attacks against Palestinian areas over the past few days demolishing three houses in the Old City and one sheep farm in the town of Anata. The sources stated that on Monday bulldozers of the so-called Civil Administration Office, which is under the control of the Israeli Army, demolished the house of Zakariyya Al Natsha after the authorities claimed that his home was constructed without a license..
Two Palestinian civilians were injured during clashes which broke out on Tuesday night when the Israeli army invaded the village of Sa'er, north east of Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank. The clashes started when Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs at residents of the village. Local youth responded by throwing stones.
Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the Balata refugee camp in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses reported that a huge contingent of the Israeli army entered Nablus from several directions randomly opening fire and kidnapping two Palestinians. During the invasion of Balata refugee camp armed clashes broke out between the Israeli army and resistance fighters, resulting in the injury of three soldiers.
For IMEMC.org this is Louisa White.
The Gaza strip
The Israeli army continued to attack the Gaza strip this week, attacks that left ten Palestinian killed across the costal region, IMEMC's Rami Al Mughari has more:
Ten Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army fire on Thursday in several parts of the Gaza strip. Six fighters were killed after attacking a military base, one was killed by a shell, and three were killed earlier in the day during a military invasion.
The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, stated that six fighters managed to infiltrate into an Israeli military base, east of Al Maghazi refugee camp, in the Central Gaza Strip. The fighters used two armored vehicles. The fighters exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers, and five of them were killed during the clashes while the sixth carried a suicide attack by driving a wired vehicle and detonating it near an armored Israeli military vehicle. A seventh fighter who participated in the attack managed to escape unharmed.
In a separate incident, the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated that one of its fighters was killed by a tank shell during an Israeli military invasion to an area east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. On Thursday afternoon, three Palestinian fighters were killed during a military offensive to Al Qarara area, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The three resistance fighters were killed when Israeli army tanks shelled residents' homes and groups of resistance fighters.
On Monday Israeli aircrafts intensified their presence over the northern parts of Gaza Strip, in a bid to strike against what Israel states are launching-pads for home-made shells. Meanwhile, a number of homemade shells landed earlier in Sderot, an adjacent Israeli town. Residents in both Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun town, located in northern Gaza, feared the aircrafts would fire missiles on their houses. Israeli media sources said the rockets were fired while school children were heading for schools and that many of the children were shocked.
Israeli government sources reported on Wednesday that the Israeli cabinet agreed to step up pressure on the Gaza strip after Palestinian resistance fighters continued to launch home-made shells at the Israeli town of Sderot. The decision comes shortly after the Kadima party criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for not responding to the firing of home-made shells The attacks of Palestinian resistance came after the Israeli army heavily attacked the Gaza strip all last week, leaving at least 14 Palestinians dead, among them 6 children.
On Sunday Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, left five bystanders injured as resistance fighters of the Al-Quds brigades, an offshoot of the Islamic Jihad, escaped the attack.
For IMEMC.org this is Rami Al Mughari in Gaza.
Internal unrest
As Fatah supporters performed Friday prayers in the open-air for the third week running at least 20 people have been reported injured in different parts of the coastal region. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura with details:
The Hamas-dominated government in Gaza had banned open-air prayers in the region, a decision based on the Islamist group’s particular interpretation of Islam. Fatah disobeyed Hamas’ orders and thousands of their supporters took to the streets for prayers.
Among those wounded on Friday were three cameramen and at least 1O others in Gaza city, 12 people in southern Gaza, and four others in central Gaza Strip. According to local media sources and witnesses Hamas’ executive forces have been widely present at the main intersections trying to enforce the government ban. Many of them clashed with worshippers.
In Gaza city, executive force personnel cracked down strictly on Friday's rallies taking into custody two senior Fatah leaders, including Fatah’s chief in Gaza Zakariya aL-Agha. Two journalists as well as a number of women participants were also held.
Shortly before the prayers began the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbbas, in a faxed press release, called on his followers in Gaza to avoid any confrontations with Hamas forces. President Abbas, along with many members of his cabinet, performed prayers in the open near his Ramallah headquarters, Al-Moqata’a, in the West Bank.
The prayers, called for by Fatah’s leadership, came in protest against what Fatah calls ‘incitement by Hamas-linked mosques against the movement’s ranks’. In the meantime, Fatah accused Hamas yesterday of murdering one of its supporters, a security officer, who was found dead in central Gaza Strip.
Palestinian resident Majed Qaider, 30, from the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, was shot dead on Sunday in mysterious circumstances according to both local and medical sources. Medics stated that the dead man had been hit by several bullets to his abdomen and foot and that severe bleeding was the cause of death.
In the West Bank this week a Palestinian security officer was killed during clashes between Fatah-affiliated security forces and Palestinian fighters in the northern west Bank city of Jenin late on Wednesday night. The clashes started when security forces tried to confiscate the car of a Palestinian fighter working for Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
Both Hamas and Fatah security forces continued this week to arrest members of their opposing political factions. Arrests have been reported in the West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus and Qalqilia, as well as in various parts of the Gaza strip.
For IMEMC.org this Ghassan Bannoura.
Conclusion
And that’s just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem, this Colin Paul .
Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine
After more than two years of continuous non-violent struggle against the annexation wall, the villagers of Bilin scored a victory when the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the wall must be re-routed. The re-routing will allow the village to retrieve 275 acres out of the total of 600 confiscated behind the wall and used to build the illegal settlement of Modi’in.
Although not all the confiscated land the Biliners decided to celebrate their victory. Hundreds of international, Israeli and Palestinian peace activists converged on the village from different parts of the West Bank for the celebration which was also attended by Palestinian officials.
The villagers believe that their continuous non-violent resistance to the wall and the efforts of the village’s lawyer, Michael Sfarad were the main reasons behind the court ruling. Eyad Burnat, head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in, said the struggle to liberate all the land will continue.
“We will not build big hopes on the Israeli court ruling, it is the occupation’s court, the same one that took several decisions to build the wall, however, we believe that this decision was achieved by the popular resistance in Bilin, and we have made a decision to continue the struggle until the occupation comes to an end and the wall to be removed.”
Bilin has been conducting weekly non-violent protests against the wall for more than two and a half years in a bid to prevent the erection of the wall on their land. Dozens of the villagers have been injured, imprisoned or beaten by the Israeli army during the nonviolent actions.
The International Solidarity Movement, which has been actively involved in trying to stop the construction of the wall since 2002, said that only four out of 120 court cases have been successful. In July of 2004 the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the wall in all areas of the West Bank is illegal and demanded Israel remove it and compensate local people for the damage caused by its construction.
In April, an international conference on Popular Resistance was held in the village and was attended by more than 500 Palestinian, Israel and international peace activists. During the three-day conference speakers focused on the need for joint action by Palestinians and Israelis against the military occupation to bring about its end.
Political report
In Political news this week, the leader of Hamas and deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has published a plan detailing a proposed route out of the current internal political crisis. IMEMC's John Smith has more:
Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya this week proposed a five-point plan detailing a means to escape the political turmoil currently engulfing the occupied Palestinian territories. Among the points suggested were a restructuring of the Palestinian security bodies, a reforming of the Palestine Liberation organization, and reinstalling the Palestinian national unity cabinet, all in light of Hamas’ overwhelming victory in last January’s legislative elections.
President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called Hamas’ takeover of Gaza in June a ‘coup’ against legitimacy and demanded the movement give up the region before any dialogue commences. The region has recently witnessed a series of diplomatic activities ahead of the Washington-led conference on Middle East peace, scheduled for November.
In his meeting with President Abbas in Ramallah, Javeir Solana, the EU’s chief for external relations, this week continued to boycott the Hamas-led government in Gaza. Solana stated that he would not hold meetings with Hamas officials until the Islamist group abides by the Quartet’s conditions.
The Palestinian president, in his meeting with Jordan’s king Abdullah II in the Jordanian capital, lowered expectations concerning the Middle East conference, unless a specific timetable and goals were set forth. In a similar vein, the chief of the league of Arab states, Amr Mousa, cast doubt on the potential of the conference to achieve any real success without a Cleary defined agenda.
So far, no details on timetables, attendees or objectives have been revealed by Washington.
Hamas has stated its opposition to the proposed conference, claiming that it is aimed at undermining the Palestinian question and eliminating any Palestinian resistance.
Hamas, which took power last year, has been demanded by the international quartet to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previously-signed agreements before the group wins recognition. Hamas currently refuses to accept these conditions, a refusal that has been used as a justification for the crippling economic and political embargo placed on the movement and the people of the Gaza Strip.
In other news, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the amendment of the Palestinian electoral system, restricting candidacy to those who embrace the PLO’s platform regarding recognition of Israel's asserted right to exist. Speaking to IMEMC, Ahmad Alkhaldi, professor of law and chairman of the committee for formulating the Palestinian constitution, said that the Palestinian bylaw does not authorize the president to change the elections law, except in certain conditions.
For IMEMC.org, this is John Smith
The Israeli attacks
The West Bank
This week the Israeli army conducted at least 31 military invasions of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these invasions Israeli troops kidnapped 44 Palestinian civilians, including a child, bringing the number of Palestinians kidnapped by the Israeli army in the West Bank since the beginning of this year to 1,877. IMEMC's Louisa White has more:
A Palestinian woman gave birth at the military checkpoint near Abu Dees just north of the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday morning. Israeli sources said that an Israeli border policeman prevented the woman from passing through the checkpoint on her way to a hospital in Jerusalem leaving her to give birth in the street.
The Israeli army kidnapped Ahmad Salah, a senior leader of the Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, during a military operation in Jenin in the northern part of the West Bank. The operation which began in the early hours of Thursday lasted into the afternoon. One child was seriously injured during the operation. Earlier, under-cover Israeli Special Forces kidnapped three Palestinian youths also from Jenin.
Palestinian sources in Balata refugee camp, in the northern West Bank City of Nablus, reported on Wednesday that Israeli forces invaded the camp breaking into the house of As’ad and Amjad Abu Gush and demolishing two recently-built rooms in the third floor;the rooms were destroyed by the use of explosives. The brothers are members of Hamas. Amjad was recently released from a Palestinian Security prison and later was kidnapped, along with five other Hamas members, in an Israeli invasion of the camp.
Local Palestinian sources reported that in Jerusalem Israeli forces and the Jerusalem municipal authority carried out several attacks against Palestinian areas over the past few days demolishing three houses in the Old City and one sheep farm in the town of Anata. The sources stated that on Monday bulldozers of the so-called Civil Administration Office, which is under the control of the Israeli Army, demolished the house of Zakariyya Al Natsha after the authorities claimed that his home was constructed without a license..
Two Palestinian civilians were injured during clashes which broke out on Tuesday night when the Israeli army invaded the village of Sa'er, north east of Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank. The clashes started when Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs at residents of the village. Local youth responded by throwing stones.
Israeli forces invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and the Balata refugee camp in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses reported that a huge contingent of the Israeli army entered Nablus from several directions randomly opening fire and kidnapping two Palestinians. During the invasion of Balata refugee camp armed clashes broke out between the Israeli army and resistance fighters, resulting in the injury of three soldiers.
For IMEMC.org this is Louisa White.
The Gaza strip
The Israeli army continued to attack the Gaza strip this week, attacks that left ten Palestinian killed across the costal region, IMEMC's Rami Al Mughari has more:
Ten Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army fire on Thursday in several parts of the Gaza strip. Six fighters were killed after attacking a military base, one was killed by a shell, and three were killed earlier in the day during a military invasion.
The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, stated that six fighters managed to infiltrate into an Israeli military base, east of Al Maghazi refugee camp, in the Central Gaza Strip. The fighters used two armored vehicles. The fighters exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers, and five of them were killed during the clashes while the sixth carried a suicide attack by driving a wired vehicle and detonating it near an armored Israeli military vehicle. A seventh fighter who participated in the attack managed to escape unharmed.
In a separate incident, the Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, stated that one of its fighters was killed by a tank shell during an Israeli military invasion to an area east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. On Thursday afternoon, three Palestinian fighters were killed during a military offensive to Al Qarara area, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The three resistance fighters were killed when Israeli army tanks shelled residents' homes and groups of resistance fighters.
On Monday Israeli aircrafts intensified their presence over the northern parts of Gaza Strip, in a bid to strike against what Israel states are launching-pads for home-made shells. Meanwhile, a number of homemade shells landed earlier in Sderot, an adjacent Israeli town. Residents in both Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun town, located in northern Gaza, feared the aircrafts would fire missiles on their houses. Israeli media sources said the rockets were fired while school children were heading for schools and that many of the children were shocked.
Israeli government sources reported on Wednesday that the Israeli cabinet agreed to step up pressure on the Gaza strip after Palestinian resistance fighters continued to launch home-made shells at the Israeli town of Sderot. The decision comes shortly after the Kadima party criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for not responding to the firing of home-made shells The attacks of Palestinian resistance came after the Israeli army heavily attacked the Gaza strip all last week, leaving at least 14 Palestinians dead, among them 6 children.
On Sunday Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, left five bystanders injured as resistance fighters of the Al-Quds brigades, an offshoot of the Islamic Jihad, escaped the attack.
For IMEMC.org this is Rami Al Mughari in Gaza.
Internal unrest
As Fatah supporters performed Friday prayers in the open-air for the third week running at least 20 people have been reported injured in different parts of the coastal region. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura with details:
The Hamas-dominated government in Gaza had banned open-air prayers in the region, a decision based on the Islamist group’s particular interpretation of Islam. Fatah disobeyed Hamas’ orders and thousands of their supporters took to the streets for prayers.
Among those wounded on Friday were three cameramen and at least 1O others in Gaza city, 12 people in southern Gaza, and four others in central Gaza Strip. According to local media sources and witnesses Hamas’ executive forces have been widely present at the main intersections trying to enforce the government ban. Many of them clashed with worshippers.
In Gaza city, executive force personnel cracked down strictly on Friday's rallies taking into custody two senior Fatah leaders, including Fatah’s chief in Gaza Zakariya aL-Agha. Two journalists as well as a number of women participants were also held.
Shortly before the prayers began the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbbas, in a faxed press release, called on his followers in Gaza to avoid any confrontations with Hamas forces. President Abbas, along with many members of his cabinet, performed prayers in the open near his Ramallah headquarters, Al-Moqata’a, in the West Bank.
The prayers, called for by Fatah’s leadership, came in protest against what Fatah calls ‘incitement by Hamas-linked mosques against the movement’s ranks’. In the meantime, Fatah accused Hamas yesterday of murdering one of its supporters, a security officer, who was found dead in central Gaza Strip.
Palestinian resident Majed Qaider, 30, from the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, was shot dead on Sunday in mysterious circumstances according to both local and medical sources. Medics stated that the dead man had been hit by several bullets to his abdomen and foot and that severe bleeding was the cause of death.
In the West Bank this week a Palestinian security officer was killed during clashes between Fatah-affiliated security forces and Palestinian fighters in the northern west Bank city of Jenin late on Wednesday night. The clashes started when security forces tried to confiscate the car of a Palestinian fighter working for Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
Both Hamas and Fatah security forces continued this week to arrest members of their opposing political factions. Arrests have been reported in the West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus and Qalqilia, as well as in various parts of the Gaza strip.
For IMEMC.org this Ghassan Bannoura.
Conclusion
And that’s just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem, this Colin Paul .
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