Palestine Today 11 29 2011

Citizens in the U.S. are suing a state body for investing in Israeli bonds, and another family from East have been ordered to demolish and vacate their family home, these stories and more coming up; so stay tuned.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest possible terms the decision of WHO Europe to conduct an official conference in Jerusalem, hosted by Israel. By conducting a Conference in the city of Jerusalem, the UN Agency WHO sends an implicit message of recognition of Israel’s annexation of the city, and gives legitimizes many of Israel’s illegal actions in the city.

Israel’s decision in 1967 to annex East Jerusalem, and the Israeli Knesset's declaration in 1980 that "The whole united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel" and their policy of expanding Jerusalem's municipal boundaries constitute grave violations of international law and United Nations Resolutions.

In other news from Jerusalem, the Israeli Army has decided to demolish a house belonging to resident Nawal Al Jahaleen in Jabal Al Mukabber area, East Jerusalem.

A planned settler only road will travel through her land, and as such the land and house will be annexed. The Jerusalem City Council claims that the home was built without a construction permit. The family of Nawal was first displaced from the Negev during the war in 1948, and the family home was destroyed again during the Six Day war in 1967.

The Israeli Defense Ministry has issued an apology to a pregnant American journalist who was strip-searched, humiliated, and forced into an X-Ray machine, at a military roadblock while heading to Israel from Gaza.

An official request was sent ahead of time by the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, stating that an X-ray could be harmful to her unborn child. The message appears to not have been relayed and despite pleading, she was forced through the X-ray several times. She was taken to a separate room, and made to strip to her underwear and searched. She stated in her letter that she has never been humiliated like this, and she has worked in more than sixty countries around the globe.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that four Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon into an area in northern Israel on Monday at night, causing damage and fires, but no injuries. Haaretz added that the army and the police were searching the area and found the site were two of the rockets stuck, and were trying to locate the two other rockets.

Over in the states, The Minneapolis Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC), a statewide campaign aimed at stopping Minnesota investment in Israel’s violations and abuses, are suing the State Board of Investment.

The group claims that the Board has purchased sovereign Israeli bonds, and further contends that such investment violates the Minnesota statutes that control the types of foreign investments that the SBI is permitted to make. Foreign government bonds, which include Israeli bonds, are not included in the SBI’s list of authorized investments. The only exception is for Canadian Bonds.

That’s all for today from the IMEMC News, this was the Tuesday November 29th daily roundup of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope you will join us again tomorrow. This was brought to you by Hasam Qassis and myself, William Gibson.