This Week in Palestine -Week 12 2009

As the military kills Palestinians this week in Gaza and kidnaps MPs in the West Bank, Israel and the ruling Hamas party in Gaza failed to reach a prisoner swap deal. These stories and more, coming up.

Nonviolent Activities

Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's Mary Arthur:

Bil'in

The residents of Bil'in village, located near the central west Bank city of Ramallah, marched towards the wall today after Friday prayers. The protest was joined by Israeli and international activists.

Protesters carried a huge banner condemning Israeli's ongoing policies and violence against civilians, especially in Jerusalem. The protest began in the center of the village, called for national unity and resistance to the occupation, then headed towards the Apartheid Wall which is built on Bil'in's land.

An Israeli army unit stationed behind the wall prevented the crowd from going through the gate. The army fired tear gas canisters to break up the crowd, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation. At least three demonstrators were injured in today's protest including two from the United States.

Nil'in

Also near Ramallah on Friday scores of villagers from Nil'in, held their weekly protest on Friday midday against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land.

Along with international and Israeli solidarity workers, villagers marched towards the land which is being confiscated by Israel to build the wall.

Demonstrators carried banners in support of the American supporter, Tristan Anderson, who was critically wounded in last week protest. Anderson is still at an Israeli hospital receiving treatment. Doctors are currently saying that he will live but with severe disabilities resulting from the injury to his head.

As soon as locals and international supporters arrived in the part of the village where Israel is building the wall, soldiers showered them with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets; also firing live rounds of ammunition.

Six were injured, one critically when he was hit in the head by a rubber-coated steel bullet. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation.

For IMEMC.org this is Mary Arthur.


The Political report

Representatives of more than a dozen political factions and independent parties returned back empty-handed from Cairo after they failed to achieve an agreement on national conciliation. Also, Israel and the ruling Hamas party in Gaza failed to reach a prisoner swap deal. IMEMC’s Jessica Hulsey has the details:

According to Walid Alawad, representatives of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), stated on Thursday that the parties in Cairo failed to agree on four main issues; the elections, the platform of an upcoming unity government, the reformation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the transitional period between an expected unity government and elections.

Sources in Cairo confirmed that the parties agreed on a date for the presidential and parliamentary elections. They are expected to take place on January 25, 2010.
Meanwhile, sources said that representatives are expected to resume dialogue by the end of this month.

This week, Israel declared the Egyptian-mediated prisoner swap with the ruling Hamas party in Gaza to be a failure. Israeli representatives that went to Cairo, blamed Hamas for the failure of the talks.

In Gaza, Hamas held Israel responsible for the failure of the deal, saying that Israel has produced a list of would-be released prisoners that excluded names Hamas wants to see freed.

Immediately after the failure of such talks, the Israeli army detained at least five Hamas members of parliament from the West Bank. The detentions are believed to be part of Israel’s plan to put pressure on Hamas.

Despite the failure this week, Egyptian sources expected a new round of prisoner exchange talks between Hamas and Israel. Some political analysts suggest that upcoming talks will be harder than ever as current Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert is leaving office by the end of this month.

Coincidently, Israeli President, Shimon Peres, gave Benyamin Netenyaho, winner of the Likud party, a 14-day period to form a coalition government.

For IMEMC.org this is Jessica Hulsey.



The Gaza Repot

The Israeli army continued it attacks on Gaza this week, two Palestinian fighters were killed and a number of civilians were injured during several attacks by the military. From Gaza, IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports:
The Al Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of the Fateh movement, reported that two of its fighters were killed in an Israeli Air Strike in the central Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday. Meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesperson stated that as far as she knows, the army was not operating in the Gaza Strip or in any area close to the border fence between Gaza and Israel.

One Palestinian civilian was injured midday on Tuesday when Israeli naval boats opened fire on residents and fishermen gathered at the beach near the Beit Lahyia town in the central Gaza Strip. Doctors pronounced that one man sustained moderate wounds and was moved to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The Israeli military opened two border crossings leading into Gaza on Monday to allow food supplies into the besieged region. Local sources said that the army opened Karem Abu Salem and Al Mintar crossings in the southern and central Gaza strip. It was stated that a total of 110 trucks loaded with food supplies were allowed into the Costal Region in addition to 6 trucks of cooking gas and 10 trucks of gasoline to generate electricity.

The Gaza strip has been under siege from the Israeli army since June of 2007, allowing only limited amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, leaving the 1.5 million Palestinians living there with very little to live on.

Also in Gaza, Palestinian sources reported on Monday that unmanned Israeli planes fired missiles at a group of people gathered in the town of Jabaliya, in the northern part of the Gaza strip late on Sunday night. Doctors reported that one man sustained critical injuries due to the attacks.

For IMEMC.org this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.

The West Bank report

In the West Bank this week, the Israeli army conducted at least 39 military invasions into Palestinian communities. Troops kidnapped at least 60 Palestinian civilians during this week’s attacks, this and more from IMEMC’s John Muller:

Among those kidnapped were Palestinian elected MPs. Dr. Nasser Al Sha'er, vice-prime minister of the dissolved Hamas government, Sheikh Adnan Asfour, a political leader of Hamas, and Professor Isam Al Ashqar, are all from Nablus.

PLC members Ayman Daraghma and Abdul-Jabbar Foqaha, and Mazin Al Reemawi, head of the Ramallah legislators' office were kidnapped in Ramallah. Legislators Azzam Salhab and Nizar Ramadan were kidnapped from Hebron, and Legislator Khalid Tafish from Bethlehem.

One house, two Bedouin huts and an animal shed owned by Palestinians near Jerusalem city were demolished on Wednesday by the Israeli authorities. All the demolitions took place in al-Eziryiah, a Palestinian town just outside East Jerusalem. The home, owned by Rabie' Al Qamari, was demolished on Wednesday midday. Israel says the home is built on an Israeli area without the required documents, while the other structures are close to the Israeli wall being built there.



"My house is legal I have all needed documents, anyway the house is built in a Palestinian controlled area not an Israeli area, when my son asked them for the demolition order they beat him up"

Also in Jerusalem, bulldozers belonging to the Israeli municipality demolished a Palestinian owned flat located in the Beit Safafa neighborhood of the city on Tuesday.

In related news, this week, Israel has handed out 80 new demolition orders to homes owned by Palestinian in Jerusalem city. Israeli has intensified its campaign of demolition of Palestinian-owned homes. The Jerusalem municipality handed out demolition orders to 96 Palestinian families in the first week of March. While another 88 such orders were handed out in February.

Since Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967, the authorities have rarely given Palestinian residents permission to build homes. The Israeli government has continued to build Jewish settlements in and around Jerusalem, an act which violates international law.

Staying in Jerusalem, the Israeli Supreme Court gave the go-ahead to the Israeli Authorities to raze the home of the East Jerusalem Palestinian who carried a bulldozer attack in the city in July of 2008. The decision came after the court rejected a petition filed by Taiseer Dweikat, the father of Husam, who carried out the attack and was shot dead. Three Israelis were killed and several others were injured in the attack.

A 24-year-old Palestinian woman sustained moderate wounds after she was attacked by settlers near Hebron, medical sources reported. The young woman’s family reported that she was on her way back home in Hebron city, when settlers from a nearby illegal settlement threw stones at her. The residents say that the settlers attack them frequently, sometimes aided by the military.

For IMEMC.org this is John Muller.


Conclusion

That's 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 Jenna Orwell.