This Week in Palestine -Week 07 2009

Hamas negotiators in Cairo stated that there is a possibility of reaching a ceasefire deal with Israel later this month. Meanwhile, four Palestinians die due to Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. These stories and more, coming up. Stay tuned.

Nonviolent Activities

Let us begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura:

The residents of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, again gathered after the Friday prayer in a protest joined by international and Israeli activists and solidarity groups. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and banners calling on the Israeli authorities to stop crimes against civilians, to break the siege on Gaza and to stop settlement building.

The protest left from the center of the village, calling for national unity and resistance to the occupation, and headed towards the apartheid wall, built on Bil'in's agricultural land.

An Israeli army unit was situated at the site of the wall and prevented the crowd from going through the gate to their farmland beyond. The army shot tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation.

Also near Ramallah on Friday, scores of villagers from Nil'in held their weekly protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the village's land by the Israeli settlement and annexation project.

The events began with a football tournament between 19 teams from villages in the West Bank. The tournament was dedicated to Mahmoud Qassm and Arafat Al Khawaja, the two boys who were killed by the army during Nil'in protests two months ago. At noon the people held Friday prayers near the village lands, and then proceeded to march to the land being confiscated by Israel.

As soon as locals and their international supporters arrived at the area where Israel is building the wall, soldiers showered them with tear gas and shot rubber-coated steel bullets. Fifteen people, among them three journalists, received medical treatment for gas inhalation. Witnesses in the village added that soldiers shot tear gas canisters into three family homes in the village.

Elsewhere on Friday, more than one hundred Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators gathered at Al Ma'sara, a village near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.

The protestors displayed the Palestinian flags of different political parties, and a banner calling for the release of Marwan Barghouthi. The increased size of attendance comes in response to an increase in threats from the Israeli military.

The demonstrators marched toward the barbed wire set up to block the main road into the village, shouting slogans and playing music in front of the Israeli soldiers. The activists managed to remove the barbed wire from the road, considered by participants as “a major symbolic success”. The demonstration ended peacefully.

Last week, one of the main organizers of the protest was detained by the Israeli military, in an attempt to crush the weekly demonstration, ongoing for the last two years.

For IMEMC.org, this is Ghassan Bannoura.

The Political Report

Hamas negotiators in Cairo stated that there is a possibility for reaching a ceasefire deal with Israel later this month. Meanwhile, Israeli parliamentary elections resulted in the victory of the now ruling Kadima party as well as the rise of hardliner Israeli parties such as Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu. IMEMC's George Rishmawi has the story:

The spokesman of the ruling Hamas party in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said on Thursday that his party's delegation to the Cairo-mediated ceasefire talks with Israel has almost reached an agreement with the Egyptians over a possible ceasefire deal with Israel. The spokesman added that his party has agreed to an eighteen-month truce, in exchange for the complete re-opening of the six Gaza crossings. Barhoum maintained that any potential prisoner swap deal with Israel will not be included in any truce agreement.

Representatives of both Hamas and the rival Fatah party have also agreed to renewing unity talks and have revealed that an agreement is likely, once outstanding issues, such as reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been finalized. These developments come on the back of the Israeli parliamentary elections, which have brought greater power to hard-line Israeli parties Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu. Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman of the ruling Hamas party in Gaza commented:


"In light of such results, we in Hamas reconfirm our commitment to our Palestinian people's rights and to be ready for such potential Zionist fundamentalism, consequently, our message that the Zionist occupation must respect the Palestinian people's rights."

The Kadima party, led by Tzipi Livni, is leading the race after winning 28 of 120 Knesset seats. Rival Likud, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is just one seat behind, while the Labor party's representation dropped to just 13 seats. The Arab parties attracted similar support to the 2006 elections, and now occupy 11 seats.

According to the Israeli elections committee, the extreme-right-wing party, Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman, managed to obtain some 15 seats, and thus is expected to have a bigger influence in government coalitions. Michael Warschawski, an Israeli political analyst, says that the elections outcomes were expected:


"it was obvious if the current discourse is a discourse of no compromise and brutality against Palestinians, the right wing will be the winner, the right is moving to the far right, the left to the center and the center to the right, in an overall shift of society and the political leadership."

Haneen Zo’ubi is with the National Democratic Coalition, who won three seats, and the first Arab woman to represent an Arab party in the Israeli parliament.


"We are not part of the Israeli political map, we do not join the Knesset to be part of the system, we will call upon the international community to place sanctions on Israel if Lieberman joins any government."

Lieberman's party does not recognize the rights of Arabs and Palestinians, and has repeatedly called for the deportation of the Arab from Israel to the nearby Arab countries.

Even if Livni is officially declared the winner on Wednesday, yet, she must guarantee a 61-seat coalition, needed to form a government. The results of thee elections indicate that although Kadima won the highest number of parliamentary seats, a coalition by the Likud and other parties is still able to form a parliamentary majority headed by Netanyahu.

For IMEMC.org, this is George Rishmawi.

The Gaza Strip Report

As the Israeli military continues to attack Gaza, four Palestinians from Gaza were reported dead this week. From Gaza, IMEMC's Rami AL Meghari reports:

Israeli warplanes targeted Palestinian police in southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, although no injuries were reported. Witnesses said that an Israeli plane shot two missiles at the headquarters of the Palestinian police in Khan Younis city. The building was damaged during last month’s Israeli “Cast Lead” offensive.

A Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip was reported dead at an Egyptian hospital on Wednesday. Fayz Shamiya, 23, from Gaza City, had been transferred to Egypt last week after sustaining severe head wounds during the Israeli “Cast Lead” operation.

According to the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo, Shamiya is the 33rd Palestinian to die in Egypt after sustaining wounds in the latest Israeli attacks.

Three Palestinian men were reported dead on Monday morning, one due to wounds sustained during the "Cast Lead" operation, and two others during a morning attack by the Israeli Air Force, doctors said.

One of those killed in the dawn attack was 22-year-old Khaled Al Kafarnah, killed when he was hit in the head by shrapnel, after an unmanned Israeli aircraft shot a missile targeting him in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis.

The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that Al Kafarnah and another fighter had clashed with Israeli forces invading the area. During the firefight, an unmanned Israeli drone shot missiles at them, killing them both. The Al Quds Brigades have yet to release the name of the other fighter.

Local sources in Gaza reported that unmanned Israeli drones shot several missiles at a group of people in Khan Younis. A further attack targeted the police station in the town of Beit Lahiya.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Hassan Shamiyah was pronounced dead at an Egyptian hospital on Monday morning, after succumbing to wounds sustained two weeks ago. Israeli sources said that the Monday attacks were in response to home-made shells that were shot late on Sunday from Gaza into nearby Israeli areas. Israeli sources reported no damage or injuries due to the home-made shells.

The Israeli Navy on Saturday shelled several areas along the northern and western areas of Gaza beach, inflicting extensive damage to dozens of Gazan fishing boats.

For IMEMC.org, this is Rami Al Meghari.


The West Bank Report

This week the Israeli army conducted at least 32 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Meanwhile Israeli settlers injure a boy; IMEMC's Jon Smith has the story:


During this week's invasions, Israeli troops kidnapped 30 Palestinian civilians, including 10 children. Local sources reported that a Palestinian boy from the village of Hussan, located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, was injured on Monday night when he was shot by Israeli settlers.

Medical sources stated that Ali Hammamrah, age 15, sustained wounds to his leg, and was moved to Bethlehem hospital for treatment.

The village reported that the boy was playing in the street when settlers from a nearby settlement drove by and opened fire, injuring the boy. They added that in recent weeks, the settlers have increased their attacks on the villagers and their land. Also, residents of the village commented that Israeli troops usually aid the settlers in their attacks.

On Wednesday, Israeli media sources reported that the Israeli army put an Israeli soldier in jail after he opened fire towards Palestinian farmers while he was off-duty. The soldier was captured on camera by the Israeli human rights group B'tselem.

The footage showed that the soldier was in civilian clothing when he opened fire twice at Palestinian farmers near a settlement in the southern part of the West Bank. The army said that the soldier will face military court in a few days and will be sentenced to jail.

An Israeli army spokesman told reporters that the soldier behaved in a careless manner, adding that there was no good reason for the soldier to open fire. According to the Israeli human rights group, B'tselem, the incident took place last November.

For IMEMC.org this is Jon Smith.

Conclusion

and that was just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, please check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This week's report has been brought to you by Jessica Hulsey.