This Week in Palestine -Week 20 2009

As Pope Benedict XVI arrives to the region this week, Palestinians Mark Nakba, and Israeli military and settlers continue their attacks, These stories and more coming up stay tuned.

Nonviolent Activities

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

Residents of Bil’in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah marched on Friday after midday prayer in the weekly protest. They were joined by international and Israelis activists.

Protesters carried Palestinian flags and held banners commemorating 61 years of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), the day Israel was created after expelling thousands of Palestinians and killing hundreds more.

A 5 meter long key was carried as a symbol to the right of return. A lot of Palestinians still have keys to their original homes as well as land ownership documents. Protesters marched towards the wall calling for the end of the occupation, and to stop the construction of the Wall.

The Israeli army had gathered in big numbers behind cement blocks and used razor wire to prevent the crowd from going through the gate. The army fired tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd, causing dozens to suffer from gas inhalation and nine were shot with rubber coated steel bullets.

Also near Ramallah Israeli soldiers on Friday attacked Palestinian and international peace activists holding the weekly non-violent protest against the Wall in Ni’lin village.

The protesters marched in commemorating 61 years of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe). As soon as the crowd reached the lands were the army is building the wall, troops attacked them with batons and tear gas. Six protestors were injured and dozens were treated for the effects of gas inhalation.

For IMEMC.org this is Katharine Orwell.


The Political report

Representatives of the rival Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, are set to hold a fifth round of talks in Cairo on Saturday. The situation has not changed, with Gaza left without reconstruction, Palestinians mark their 61st anniversary of the Nakbah and Israel continues with their expansionist settlement policy. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura has the story:

This week in Palestine, representatives of both Fatah and Hamas confirmed they are heading for Cairo to attend further national unity talks, in the hope of reaching an agreement. The latest remark from Hamas in Gaza, said that the party would discuss possibilities for a national unity government, provided that any American or international conditions would not be honored during the talks.

Hamas wants a power-sharing government that does not have a specific agenda, while Fatah insists that any agreement between the two parties should be based on Hamas's acceptance of past-signed peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Godfather of the Palestinian National Authority.

Since coming to power after January 2006's elections, Hamas has shunned peace talks with Israel, until the occupation of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank comes to an end.

The new round of talks in Cairo comes on the heels of the 61st anniversary of the Palestinian people; the Nakbah of 1948. The Nakbah has scattered millions of Palestinian refugees in different parts of the world including the occupied Palestinian territories.

Veteran Palestinian leader and politician, Dr. Abdullah Alhurani commented on the national unity talks as Palestinians mark their Nakbah. Alhurani is also director of the National Studies Center in Gaza and chairman of the Palestinian committee for the defense of Palestinian refugees' rights.

Actuality (In English)

In Gaza, elderly Palestinians have different ambitions from those of Hamas and Fatah. Sulieman Abu Jazzar, 75 and his wife Om Saleh, 70, are two Palestinian refugees who were expelled from the Palestinian town of Beer Assaba' (Beer Sheva'), in 1948. They currently live in the southern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Rafah.

Actuality (In Arabic)Both female and male voices!

“If they would give us all treasures of the world, we would not accept that but we will accept the right to return to homeland. FEMALE HERE------Where to go, do they want us to say we don’t want it. We just accept the return".

In related news, as Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Washington in the upcoming period, Israeli leaders have reiterated their demand from Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

The demand is seen by Palestinians as clear-cut Israeli deviation from the two-state solution, envisioned by Washington a few years ago, or any other workable solutions for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Dr. Haidar Eid is a political analyst in Gaza:

Actuality (In English)

Meanwhile, the ruling Hamas party in Gaza regarded this week’s visit by the Pope to the Palestinian territories as a shortfall, for what Hamas says ' the Pope's ignorance of the Palestinian peoples suffering.

For IMEMC.org this is Ghassan Bannoura.

The Field Report

As Pope Benedict XVI arrived to the region this week, the Israeli military conducted at least 15 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Troops also kidnapped 12 Palestinian civilians. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli naval troops detained four Palestinian fishermen for several hours. IMEMC’s Rosa McCarthy Reports:

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Israel on Monday. After a day of meeting Israeli officials, the Pope visited Jerusalem were he met religious leaders. In Jerusalem, the Israeli police closed down a Press office set up by Palestinians to provide services for local and international media during the Pope's visit.

Organizers say the media center was intended to counter the Israeli attempt to sideline the Palestinian community in the city. Ahmad Al Ruwidi, head of the Jerusalem affairs unit in the Palestinian President Office explains:



"Israel wanted to present the city as if it is a unified Israeli city and to not allow the Pope to see and hear what the Palestinians living in the city of Jerusalem are facing."

On Wednesday, thousands of Palestinian Christians and Muslims gathered at the Church of the Nativity Square in Bethlehem to welcome his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his first visit to Palestine. Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and a number of Palestinian Authority officials were present in Bethlehem to welcome the Pope.

During the Mass, the Pontiff began his sermon with a special welcome to the Gaza residents who were able to come to Bethlehem and offered condolences for those killed in January's Israeli offensive on the coastal strip.

He also said he hoped the siege on Gaza would soon end. Only 48 Palestinian Christians from Gaza were granted permits by Israel to come to Bethlehem. More than 200 others were denied permission. During his last stop for the day at Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Pope Benedict XVI described the separation wall between Israel and the West Bank as a symbol of "stalemate".


For his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his calls for peace with Israel:



"Before your Holiness, I turn to our Israeli neighbors with a message of peace, and I call upon them to stop their occupation, settlement activity, detaining and humiliating us, their security comes through peace. Their acceptance in the region happens though peace, with peace development and coexistence will prevail among the nations of this region."

As the Pope visited Bethlehem on Wednesday, the Israeli authorities issued more orders to demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. The orders target 31 apartments providing shelter to more than 300 Palestinians.

In Gaza this week, a Palestinian child died while waiting for medical treatment that Gaza hospitals were unable to provide due to the 23-month long siege.

2 year old Feras As'ad Al Mazlom, died because of a heart defect he was born with. The Israeli army delayed his departure from Gaza until he died on Tuesday, minutes after the Israeli military agreed to allow him to leave the strip for medical care.

Also this week in Gaza, a Palestinian fighter was reported dead on Thursday in the town of Khan Younis. The Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that the fighter was killed during a special mission. The Israeli army did not issue any comment regarding the report.

For IMEMC.org this is Rosa McCarthy

Conclusion

And 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 George Rishmawi.