Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for 18th, September to 24th, 2010
As Palestinian President expresses hope for success of talks with Israel the tension in the Palestinian territories raises after the killing of two Palestinians in the West Bank, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.
Nonviolence
Lets us begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities in West Bank.
Anti wall protests were organized in the villages of Bil’in and Nil’in, in the central West Bank, and the villages of Al Ma’sara, and Al Walajeh, in the southern West Bank.
This week Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at protesters in Bil’in and Nil’in. two local journalists and two activists were injured by the army fire in Bil’in.
Eyad Jadallah, 25 year old and 34 years old Haytham Al Khateeb, both local Palestinian journalists were hit, Jadallah in the head while Al Khateeb in the chest, also Ashraf Al Khateeb, 30 years old and 32 years old Samier Burnat, were both injured by live rounds in their legs. They were moved to a hospital in the nearby Ramallah city for treatment.
In Nil’in five protesters suffered effects of tear gas inhalation, chased the demonstrators back to the village where clashes erupted between the invading troops and local youth, the clashes ended without any injuries on either side.
Also on Friday, villagers from Al Ma’ssara and Al Walajeh, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. In Al Ma’ssara, Troops stopped the protest at the village entrance. People set fire to settlements products that are being marketed by Rami Levie stores. After the Palestinian Authority made it illegal to buy or sell Israeli products in West Bank cities. Rami Levie, an Israeli business man and member of Israel’s Jerusalem municipality, opened stories near West Bank settlements in areas that can be reached by Palestinians.
This week a new campaign was organized to protest those stores that only sell settlement products, by organizing protests in front of those shops. According to international law all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.
Soldiers today fired tear gas and used batons to force people back to Al Ma’ssara village, a number of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. Israeli and international supporters also joined the villagers of Al Walajeh located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. People marched up to the construction site of the wall. Village organizers delivered speeches and the protest ended without clashes with the army.
Political
Palestinian President expressed this week hope for success of peace talks with Israel, despite Israel's reluctance to freeze all settlements building on occupied Palestinians lands in the West Bank. Meanwhile, a factional meeting in Gaza did not come out with concrete progress towards national unity. IMEMC's Rami Al-Meghari has the details.
This week, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamine Natenyahou said he would let an envoy of him in Washington in order to find a solution to the problem of freeze of settlements. Nateyahou's position came as both parties have not yet reached an agreement over guidelines of their current direct peace talks.
From their part, Palestinians want a total freeze of settlement activities while the Israeli side iniststs that such activities should continue unabated. Among other contentious negotiation issues are the borders of future Palestinian state, the security, refugees and the occupied East Jerusalem.
Despite Washington's concentrated efforts, such issues are still vague and obviously not to be solved in the near future. This might affect the recently-resumed direct talks, for the first since late 2008.
In a related developments, national unity talks between the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the ruling Hamas party is yet to observe any progress since the two parties have split in 2007.
This time, the Islamist Hamas party along with many other political factions in Gaza have rejected current peace talks with Israel unless Israel admits the Palestinian people's right to the occupied lands.
A factional meeting in the territory this week, involving Hamas, representatives of Fatah and some other local political parties such as leftist ones, did not bring any concrete results towards reaching lon-waited national unity.
On another note, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas, downplayed the factional talk unless there is concrete progress on the ground. Hamas refused to sign an Egyptian-produced conciliation paper that was drafted in October of this year.
Hamas contends that such a paper derogates the Palestinian people's right to resist the Israeli occupation, in reference to what the paper stipulates' integrating all Palestinian armed factions into the Palestinian Authority.
The international community including Washington had demanded Hamas to recognize Israel, accept past-signed peace agreements with Israel and renounce violence, before the party wins international recognition.
Rami Almeghari. IMEMC.ORG, Gaza
West Bank and Gaza Israeli forces extra-judicially executed a Palestinian in Tulkarem and a private Israeli security guard killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded two others in Jerusalem, the details with IMEMC's George Rishmawi.
On Friday, September 17, an Israeli military force shot dead Eyad Abu Shilbaya, 38 from Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. Abu Shilbaya is an operative of the Islamic Hamas movement, and is claimed to be wanted by the Israeli military.
An Israeli military spokesperson claimed that Israeli troops opened fire as they felt a serious threat to their lives. The spokesperson added that Abu Shilbaya was walking towards the soldiers and he was hiding his hands behind his back ignoring orders by the troops to stop.
The Palestinian version of the story is in complete contradiction with the Israeli story. An investigation done by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights indicated that Abu Shilbaya was assassinated while in his bedroom, that has only one door, and that his blood is all over the bed.
This week witnessed high tension in Jerusalem, following the killing of a Samer Sarhan, 32 by an Israeli settler guard in the Silwan neighbourhood of the city.
Israeli police claim that the guard, who is employed by a security company hired to work in the Israeli settlement in the occupied east Jerusalem, was stuck in his car that was blocked and stoned by Palestinians.
Sarhan left behind a wife and five children, the oldest is 11 and the youngest is 3 years old.
On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority has demanded an international investigation in Sarhan's death.
Ahmad Al-Rweidi, in charge of Jerusalem unit in the office of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that there is evidence that Sarhan's death was not an accident or a reaction to an incident, adding that he believes that it was a pre-arrange assassination by Israeli settlers.
Al-Rweidi also said that the family of Sarhan told him that the Israeli police arrested Sarhan a number of time recently and that Israeli settlers has threatened to kill him several times.
Samer's cousin Mohammad said that as Samer was driving one of his friends to the hospital, an armoured jeep driven by an Israeli settler, blocked their way. A quarrel erupted between the settler and Samer, as a result, the settler guard jumped out of the car and shot Samer in the chest, and left him to bleed to death for half an hour.
The Gaza Strip:
In the Gaza Strip this week, Israeli gunboats stationed opposite to Beit Lahia beach in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats. They also fired flash bombs over the area. No casualties were reported.
Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for over three years. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
In the meantime, the ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip denied any relation to a new video claimed to be of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Some Israeli media outlets in Israel published a video showing two Qassam fighters standing next to Shalit while one of the fighters was holding a machine gun and another fighter telling a message.
The video also shows that, suddenly, the lights are off and gunshot sounds are heard in the background.
In an official press release published on its website, the Al Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, said that this video was like to be fabricated by the Israeli media itself, or by other groups adding, that the tape “contains untrue information”.
For IMEMC.org this is George Rishmawi
And that was just some of the news from this week in Palestine, for more updates; please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, this report has been brought to you by Dina Awwad Husam Qassis
Nonviolence
Lets us begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities in West Bank.
Anti wall protests were organized in the villages of Bil’in and Nil’in, in the central West Bank, and the villages of Al Ma’sara, and Al Walajeh, in the southern West Bank.
This week Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at protesters in Bil’in and Nil’in. two local journalists and two activists were injured by the army fire in Bil’in.
Eyad Jadallah, 25 year old and 34 years old Haytham Al Khateeb, both local Palestinian journalists were hit, Jadallah in the head while Al Khateeb in the chest, also Ashraf Al Khateeb, 30 years old and 32 years old Samier Burnat, were both injured by live rounds in their legs. They were moved to a hospital in the nearby Ramallah city for treatment.
In Nil’in five protesters suffered effects of tear gas inhalation, chased the demonstrators back to the village where clashes erupted between the invading troops and local youth, the clashes ended without any injuries on either side.
Also on Friday, villagers from Al Ma’ssara and Al Walajeh, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. In Al Ma’ssara, Troops stopped the protest at the village entrance. People set fire to settlements products that are being marketed by Rami Levie stores. After the Palestinian Authority made it illegal to buy or sell Israeli products in West Bank cities. Rami Levie, an Israeli business man and member of Israel’s Jerusalem municipality, opened stories near West Bank settlements in areas that can be reached by Palestinians.
This week a new campaign was organized to protest those stores that only sell settlement products, by organizing protests in front of those shops. According to international law all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.
Soldiers today fired tear gas and used batons to force people back to Al Ma’ssara village, a number of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. Israeli and international supporters also joined the villagers of Al Walajeh located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. People marched up to the construction site of the wall. Village organizers delivered speeches and the protest ended without clashes with the army.
Political
Palestinian President expressed this week hope for success of peace talks with Israel, despite Israel's reluctance to freeze all settlements building on occupied Palestinians lands in the West Bank. Meanwhile, a factional meeting in Gaza did not come out with concrete progress towards national unity. IMEMC's Rami Al-Meghari has the details.
This week, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamine Natenyahou said he would let an envoy of him in Washington in order to find a solution to the problem of freeze of settlements. Nateyahou's position came as both parties have not yet reached an agreement over guidelines of their current direct peace talks.
From their part, Palestinians want a total freeze of settlement activities while the Israeli side iniststs that such activities should continue unabated. Among other contentious negotiation issues are the borders of future Palestinian state, the security, refugees and the occupied East Jerusalem.
Despite Washington's concentrated efforts, such issues are still vague and obviously not to be solved in the near future. This might affect the recently-resumed direct talks, for the first since late 2008.
In a related developments, national unity talks between the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the ruling Hamas party is yet to observe any progress since the two parties have split in 2007.
This time, the Islamist Hamas party along with many other political factions in Gaza have rejected current peace talks with Israel unless Israel admits the Palestinian people's right to the occupied lands.
A factional meeting in the territory this week, involving Hamas, representatives of Fatah and some other local political parties such as leftist ones, did not bring any concrete results towards reaching lon-waited national unity.
On another note, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas, downplayed the factional talk unless there is concrete progress on the ground. Hamas refused to sign an Egyptian-produced conciliation paper that was drafted in October of this year.
Hamas contends that such a paper derogates the Palestinian people's right to resist the Israeli occupation, in reference to what the paper stipulates' integrating all Palestinian armed factions into the Palestinian Authority.
The international community including Washington had demanded Hamas to recognize Israel, accept past-signed peace agreements with Israel and renounce violence, before the party wins international recognition.
Rami Almeghari. IMEMC.ORG, Gaza
West Bank and Gaza Israeli forces extra-judicially executed a Palestinian in Tulkarem and a private Israeli security guard killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded two others in Jerusalem, the details with IMEMC's George Rishmawi.
On Friday, September 17, an Israeli military force shot dead Eyad Abu Shilbaya, 38 from Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. Abu Shilbaya is an operative of the Islamic Hamas movement, and is claimed to be wanted by the Israeli military.
An Israeli military spokesperson claimed that Israeli troops opened fire as they felt a serious threat to their lives. The spokesperson added that Abu Shilbaya was walking towards the soldiers and he was hiding his hands behind his back ignoring orders by the troops to stop.
The Palestinian version of the story is in complete contradiction with the Israeli story. An investigation done by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights indicated that Abu Shilbaya was assassinated while in his bedroom, that has only one door, and that his blood is all over the bed.
This week witnessed high tension in Jerusalem, following the killing of a Samer Sarhan, 32 by an Israeli settler guard in the Silwan neighbourhood of the city.
Israeli police claim that the guard, who is employed by a security company hired to work in the Israeli settlement in the occupied east Jerusalem, was stuck in his car that was blocked and stoned by Palestinians.
Sarhan left behind a wife and five children, the oldest is 11 and the youngest is 3 years old.
On the other hand, the Palestinian Authority has demanded an international investigation in Sarhan's death.
Ahmad Al-Rweidi, in charge of Jerusalem unit in the office of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that there is evidence that Sarhan's death was not an accident or a reaction to an incident, adding that he believes that it was a pre-arrange assassination by Israeli settlers.
Al-Rweidi also said that the family of Sarhan told him that the Israeli police arrested Sarhan a number of time recently and that Israeli settlers has threatened to kill him several times.
Samer's cousin Mohammad said that as Samer was driving one of his friends to the hospital, an armoured jeep driven by an Israeli settler, blocked their way. A quarrel erupted between the settler and Samer, as a result, the settler guard jumped out of the car and shot Samer in the chest, and left him to bleed to death for half an hour.
The Gaza Strip:
In the Gaza Strip this week, Israeli gunboats stationed opposite to Beit Lahia beach in the northern Gaza Strip opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats. They also fired flash bombs over the area. No casualties were reported.
Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for over three years. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since June 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.
In the meantime, the ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip denied any relation to a new video claimed to be of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Some Israeli media outlets in Israel published a video showing two Qassam fighters standing next to Shalit while one of the fighters was holding a machine gun and another fighter telling a message.
The video also shows that, suddenly, the lights are off and gunshot sounds are heard in the background.
In an official press release published on its website, the Al Qassam brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, said that this video was like to be fabricated by the Israeli media itself, or by other groups adding, that the tape “contains untrue information”.
For IMEMC.org this is George Rishmawi
And that was just some of the news from this week in Palestine, for more updates; please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, this report has been brought to you by Dina Awwad Husam Qassis
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This Week In Palestine Week 38 September 2010
24.09.2010 18:20
This past week nine mortar shells were fired into Israeli territory, eight on one day. Some of them contained phosphorus. In response, the Israeli Air Force attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.
An aid convoy organized by Viva Palestina left for the Gaza Strip. It is currently in France and from expects go to Italy, Turkey, Greece and Syria. From the Syrian port of Latakia it expects to sail to the port of El Arish. It expects to be joined by convoys from Middle East countries. The convoy will drive overland from El Arish and enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.
Important Terrorist Events
The Gaza Strip: Mortar Fire
This past week nine mortar shells were fired into Israeli territory, eight of them on September 15. They fell in open areas in the western Negev. There were no casualties and no damage was done. According to media reports, some of the shells contained phosphorus.
In response to the reports, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that "phosphorus shells" were not fired into Israeli territory and that the reports were an Israeli attempt at escalation. However, an anonymous Palestinian operative said that phosphorus-containing rockets were in fact fired and that the material had been taken from shells used by Israel during Operation Cast Lead (Ynet, September 16, 2010).
On September 15, in response to the mortar shell fire Israeli Air Force planes attacked terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip, among them a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and a Hamas weapons store. The media reported one dead and four wounded (Safa News Agency, Al-Jazeera TV and Ynet, September 15, 2010).
The Palestinian media reported that Egyptian security forces in Sinai were put on alert following information that Palestinian operatives were planning to transfer rockets from the Gaza Strip to the Sinai Peninsula for launching into Israel (Ma'an News Agency, September 19, 2010).
Judea and Samaria
This past week IDF forces detained several dozen Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity in Judea and Samaria (IDF Spokesman, September 20, 2010).
On September 17, while detentions were being carried out, Ayad Abu Shilabiya, a senior Hamas operative from Tulkarm, was shot and killed. Following his death Fathi al-Qirawi, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, demanded that the Palestinian Authority stop negotiating with Israel (Hamas’ daily Felesteen, September 19; Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website and Al-Jazeera TV, September 17, 2010).
Information about the Terrorist Shooting Attack at Bani Naim
Anonymous Palestinian security sources reported that the terrorists who carried out the shooting attack at Bani Naim (southeast of Hebron) on August 31, 2010, in which four Israeli civilians were killed, admitted during interrogation that they had been instructed to bury the bodies of the victims, take their Israeli identity cards and claim that they had abducted them. According to the sources, the instructions were given following Hamas evaluations in Damascus and the Gaza Strip that an abduction would cause Israel to abandon the direct negotiations, impose a closure on the villages in Judea and Samaria, and perhaps even occupy some of Palestinian Authority territory. The sources claimed that the attack was carried out by two armed Hamas operatives who shot at the car until they were certain that all the passengers were dead, but were forced to flee before they could complete the second stage of the plan (Al-Ahram, September 20 2010).
The Peace Process
On September 15, following the meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met at the prime minister's home. Also present were American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and American Special Envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the prime minister's home
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the prime minister's home (Photo: Avi Ohayon for the Israeli Government Press Office, September 15,2010).
During the week the Palestinians made a number of resolute statements about the negotiations. The Palestinians said that they would not compromise on construction in the settlements or other matters of principles. The important points were the following:
Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, said that the negotiations would continue as long as the moratorium on construction continued, but should it begin again, the they would not continue "even for one more day" (Haaretz, September 20, 2010). He said he believed an agreement could be reached during the moratorium (Agence France-Presse, September 20, 2010). According to a senior figure in the Palestinian Authority who remained anonymous, Mahmoud Abbas again threatened to resign if negotiations with Israel failed. The figure said that the Palestinian Authority would abandon the negotiations immediately if Israel began construction in the settlements after September 26 (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, September 19, 2010)
Nabil Shaath said that the Palestinian Authority would be willing to hold fast-track negotiations about borders. He claimed that there was a suggestion (apparently American) to freeze construction in the settlements for four more months, at the end of which there would be an agreement, and thus in any case the moratorium would continue. He also said that the Palestinian Authority would not compromise on the issue of the freeze, and claimed that continued construction would lead to "an escalation of the popular resistance and increased international support for the Palestinian position" (Voice of Palestine Radio, September 19, 2010).
Marwan Barghouti, a member of Fatah's Central Committee imprisoned in Israel, claimed that the current negotiations were doomed to failure, just as the talks of the last two decades had failed. He said that although he agreed to the path of negotiations, the Palestinians had to focus on "achieving unity and internal reconciliation, and on broader participation in the popular resistance to the occupation" (Reuters, September 20, 2010).
Developments in the Gaza Strip
The Crossings
This past week between 174 and 253 trucks entered the Gaza Strip daily. In addition, $13.5 million was transferred to UNRWA for pay salaries. On September 20, 20 cars were allowed into the Gaza Strip, most of them used. It was the first time cars were permitted to enter since 2007 (Website of the Israeli Coordinator for the Territories and the New York Times, September 20, 2010).
On September 20 construction work to widen the Kerem Shalom crossing was expected to be completed, making it possible to transport a greater volume of merchandise into the Gaza Strip.
The "authority for political and moral guidance," part of the interior ministry of the de facto Hamas administration, said in an announcement that registration for a Qur’an memorization contest had begun, open to "members of military and civilian bodies of the interior ministry." Whoever demonstrates expertise in the Qur’an can expect to receive additional years of seniority toward his pension, in accordance with a decision made by the Hamas administration (Website of the de facto Hamas administration's ministry of information, September 19, 2010).
The Palestinian media also reported that a hotel in the Gaza Strip was closed for three days by the Hamas police force because a woman there was found smoking a water pipe (Pal-press, September 16, 2010). In addition, the water park, which was closed a number of weeks ago by the Hamas police on the grounds that "licentious parties" were held there, was destroyed by armed men, and some of it was burned to the ground (Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, September 19, 2010).
Flotillas and Convoys Update
This past week a Viva Palestina aid convoy left London for the Gaza Strip. Reports continue in the media of preparations for additional land and sea convoys.
The convoy of Viva Palestina, an organization headed by George Galloway, left London on September 18 and is currently in France. It is expected to stop in Paris and Lyon and a number of smaller towns on the way. From there it will go to Italy and pass through Torino and Milan, and from there to Greece, Turkey and finally Syria (infopal.it website, September 18; Viva Palestina website, September 21, 2010). The convoy expects to reach Syria on October 2 and from there leave for the Gaza Strip, reaching it on October 10 via the Rafah crossing (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, September 18, 2010). According to information previously issued by the organization, the convoy plans to sail from the Syrian port of Latakia to the Egyptian port of El Arish.
George Galloway, one of the organizers, said that another convoy would soon leave from Kuwait and make its way via the Persian Gulf and Arabian peninsula, then join reinforcements from Jordan and continue to Syria. Another convoy, he said, would leave from Casablanca in Morocco, drive through Algeria and Tunisia and from there sail to the port of Latakia and join the other two convoys (Press TV, Iran, September 18, 2010).
According to the convoy's organizers, there will be between 150 and 200 vehicles, including 40 trucks from Britain. Labor unions in Jordan are expected to contribute 50 trucks and Algeria will send 50 more (Ma'an News Agency, September 19; EinNews, September 18, 2010).
Two activists who were aboard the Mavi Marmara, Kevin O'Venden, a senior Viva Palestina figure, and Nicci Enchmarch, are convoy participants. There are also participants from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia. Indonesia, France, Italy and Canada (CNN, September 18; Press TV, Iran, September 18 and 19; WorldBulletin.net website, September 19; Al-Jazeera TV, September 18, 2010).
Other Initiative
Syria: On September 19 a Syrian aid ship which sailed from the port of Tartus carrying 650 tons of humanitarian assistance and 40 tons of medical equipment anchored in El Arish. Unloading began on September 20 (Syrian News Agency, September 18; Masrawy.com, September 19, 2010).
What really happened