This Week in Palestine -Week 26 2009

As Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are stalled, the Israeli military have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip. 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 Kathrin Orwell:

Dozens suffered from gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest in Bil'in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Bil'in and marched from the village center after the Friday midday prayers. Joining the protest on Friday was the the Canadian writer and Journalist Naomi Klein.

The protesters demanded the halt of the Israeli illegal settlements and the construction of the wall. As the protesters arrived at the wall, Israeli troops at the gate nearby fired a barrage of sound bombs, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets.

Dozens were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. This week the Israeli military attacked the village on a number of occasions and kidnapped six people among them two children.


Also near Ramallah on Friday Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian villagers along with their international and Israeli peace supporters during the weekly non-violent protest against the wall in Ni'lin village.

Villagers and their supporters held the midday prayers near the construction site of the Israeli Wall, after which they marched towards the bulldozers building the wall.

As soon as the crowd reached the location and started to dismantle parts of the wall, troops attacked them with tear gas. Scores were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.


For IMEMC.org this is Kathrine Orwell.




The Political Report

As Palestinian-Israeli peace talks are stalled, there will be more speeches by regional and international leaders, coming up this month. Washington has appointed Denis Ross, as Middle East Affairs chief in a bid to advance such talks. This and more by IMEMC's Jessica Hulsey:

Hamas's top political leader, Khaled Mash'al, delivered a speech this week, in which he conveyed his party's rejection to Israel's criteria for peace with the Palestinians. Mash'al refused a 'demilitarized state' offered during a recent speech by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Also, the Hamas leader voiced his party's willingness to accept a two-state solution, based on the Palestinian people's right to supremacy over the occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem as the capital for future Palestinian state.

Mash'al's speech responded to Netanyahu's vision for the two-state solution, proposed by Washington. Israel wants east Jerusalem as part of Israel's 'united capital' and that settlements on occupied territories remain there, which would mean a dismembered Palestinian state.

Earlier, Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad of the Ramallah-based government, reiterated his government's commitment to the two-state solution but according to Washington-backed peace arrangements.

In Britain, Jordanian King, Abdullah II, told British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, that there should soon be a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on a two-state solution, with east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

On the internal level, the rival Palestinian parties, Fatah and Hamas are set to hold a preliminary session in Cairo on June 28, in preparation for their seventh round of Cairo-mediated national unity talks.

The expected round of talks is likely to come out with a solution for outstanding issues between the two sides, especially the detention of Hamas supporters in the West Bank and that of Fatah supporters in Gaza.

In Israel, a lawsuit filed by several Israeli human rights groups, continues its proceedings in the Israeli High court. Through the proceedings, documents have emerged exposing a wide swath of support for Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank by the Israeli government, in violation of both international law and Israeli law.

The Israeli human rights organization, Yesh Din managed to obtain a document which is a contract showing that the World Zionist Organization, working on behalf of the Israeli government, took private land belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank and rented it to Jewish settlers.

When the Palestinian owners of the land, along with allies in the Israeli human rights movement, went to court to demand that the Israeli government enforce its own court order to demolish the illegal outpost, the court gave the government two weeks to explain why demolition had not yet occurred.

Instead of replying to the court, the government took the two weeks to hastily complete construction of eight houses in the Ofara settlement in the central part of the West Bank. Once the houses were completed, the Israeli government froze the demolition order on the settlement, explained by the fact that " the situation is too complicated". Shlomo Zakari is the lawyer representing Yesh Din in the case.



"The court rejected that statement and we are expecting a hearing during September to deal with this obviously unbelievable statement, I mean an official state Authority is stating that they are not going to enforce an order that the same authority made it."

Khalil Al Tafakji, an expert on the Israeli settlements issue says the settlements are a tool for blocking the two state solution:



"The settlements expansion right now in the wets Bank shows that the Israel government is not interested in a Palestinian state, the settlements kills the state that should be geographically connected."

Despite US pressure to halt settlement activity, according to Israeli army radio, Israel plans to allocate 250 million dollars over the next two years to settlements in the occupied West Bank.


For IMEMC.org this is Jessica Hulsey.


The Gaza Strip Report

The Israeli military have continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. As the Israeli military attacks were limited at the sea side, the situation in the Strip remains critical, from Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari Reports:

The Israeli siege of Gaza, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, marks its 2-year existence this month and has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli navy kidnapped four Gazan fishermen on Monday morning after stopping their boats off the Gaza City coast. They were taken to Israel’s Ashdod port, north of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources said that the Israeli warships obstructed two fishing boats, taking four fishermen, all members of the As-Sultan family, while they were sailing in the As-Sudaniyya area. The sources added that Israeli navy officers beat the fishermen and also confiscated their boats.

Also this week the Israeli army has continued to prevent the entry of spare parts forms water networks and sewage systems. Losses incurred to this sector are estimated at US$ 6 million.

Meanwhile at least 900 Palestinian political prisoners from the Gaza strip in Israeli military detention camps have been denied family visitation rights for more than 24 months.
The US-based Free Gaza Movement, that in the past has successfully sailed to Gaza to break the siege of the Strip, was stopped by Cypriot shipping officials from leaving the sea port on Thursday. The officials stated that it was for inspection requirements.
The Free Gaza movement planned to sail to Gaza with two vessels, carrying medical supplies, 33 activists and cement. Israel bans imports of cement, steel or other building supplies to Gaza, saying militants could use them for military purposes. One of the vessels was to carry 15 tons of cement to rebuild some of the houses that were destroyed during the recent war.

One day later on Friday, the Free Gaza movement issued a statement, saying that despite the warnings of Cyprus, the US and Israel, it will not back down from its mission to sail to Gaza. Organizer Greta Berlin said that they “will not back down to Israel’s threats and intimidation.”



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


The West Bank Report

This week the Israeli military conducted at least 19 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks troops kidnapped 22 Palestinian civilians, including two children. IMEMC’s Jane Smith reports:

This week’s military invasions targeted Hebron in the southern west Bank, the central west Bank city of Ramallah, and Jenin, in the northern West Bank.

Israeli settlers uprooted more than 150 olive and grape trees from Palestinian-owned land near the settlement of Bat Ayin, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, on Monday. Settlers from Bat Ayin also set fire to places in the same area. Witnesses said that the settlers carried out these attacks under the protection of Israeli soldiers.

In other news the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Dr Aziz Dweik was released on Tuesday from Israeli military detention.

Dr. Dweik arrived at a military checkpoint near his home town Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank on Tuesday afternoon, along with another Hamas law maker Jamal Hawel, where they were greeted by their families, city officials and journalists.

Both were kidnapped by the Israeli military three years ago when the latter conducted a campaign in which 40 Hamas law makers were kidnapped in response to the capture by the Palestinian Resistance Group of an Israeli soldier in the Hamas run Gaza Strip.

Palestinian residents of Sheik Jarrah in East-Jerusalem, managed to stop a group of Israeli settlers from taking over a house twice during the night of Wednesday on Thursday.
The settlers tried to overrun the house to take control of it. Both times they came, the Palestinians stood their ground and prevented the settlers from entering the house. The settlers were not accompanied by Israeli police and were surprised to find the Palestinians in the house.

Earlier in the week, on Sunday evening, the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem handed out more demolition orders to 65 Palestinian families all over east Jerusalem.

According to local sources some of these families had received the same notices before. The orders were issued under new legislation, Israeli law 212. Law 212 allows homes to be demolished or evacuated without any formal legal charges being brought forth or any party to be convicted of any alleged violation of the Israeli Planning and Building Law.

According to the Israeli municipality, the homes were built without required building permits. Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, it has rarely given Palestinian residents permission to build homes or to modify existing ones. Meanwhile, Israeli settlements in and around Jerusalem continue to be built, an act that is illegal under international law.

In related news, this week the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign said 304 Palestinians face house demolitions in the Jordan Valley in June. Last month, the military distributed demolition orders to 32 families in the Jordan Valley. The demolitions, if carried out in total, are said to affect 304 people.

For IMEMC.org this is Jane Smith.


Conclusion

and that's just some of the news of 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 Ghassan Bannoura.