and other news from Today in Palestine:
Settlers / Land, property and resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
MK Baraka exposes plan targeting Arab homes in Lod
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Arab MK Mohammed Baraka, speaking Saturday before the Israeli Knesset, offered evidence suggesting that NIS 40 million of the NIS 130 million budget set aside to develop the city of Lod will be used to demolish Arab homes that were allegedly built without permits. Baraka accused the Israeli government of promoting the development project without discussing details. “But when we read that NIS 40 million of the total amount for the plan, which is nearly 31 per cent of the total allocated budget, will be spent on what the government calls ‘applying the law against building violations’, we know in what way the government will develop the city of Lod,” he said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s71eCmHDegiEAV8GxSH3c9A3SLPG%2fzk68atp0yB%2fHn9kjcoSJXMoanWmjQyzoaU2Zyex97OBJhHrRMVzQK83Pf1UgiKaIB3mmXG%2bP1KM50jXI%3d
Fires in West Bank destroy 300 olive trees
Firefighters controlled blazes in several villages throughout the week which had burned around 300 olive trees, a civil defense report said. Civil defense crews also extinguished fires in two cars in Qalqiliya and Dura, the report added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331104
Adding insult to injury / Gideon Levy
A Palestinian family’s olive-picking was interrupted by angry settlers, who ended up receiving the output … Only 25 trees remains today in the grove of 300 trees planted in the 1980s, which have been damaged or uprooted over the years by settlers. In this case, members of the Abu Sabha family from the village of Yatta, south of Hebron, picked the olives, the settlers attacked them – and the police gave the sack to the settlers. Adding insult to injury, the police detained two members of the family, but not a single one of the attackers.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/adding-insult-to-injury-1.323068
Hundreds of worshipers pray Jumaa at the Bustan sit-in tent and the Red Cross
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Hundreds of Jerusalem residents performed the Friday prayers at the Bustan sit-in tent in the Jerusalem suburb of Silwan and outside the Red Cross compound where three Jerusalem officials threatened with deportation are holding a sit-in for the past 128 days. Local sources said that the occupation police intensified its presence around the protest tent at Bustan neighbourhood which witnessed clashes between occupation police and local Palestinian youth last night.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s755qoBEv0RoX6301zUQ4PWpRKEmg%2bm%2bgNBBLAf%2bDDW2C2ssoCsEzi3MQkSQhY3uO%2fxsjHsJrTPV4AdW3ol4vqRhUcYCuO%2fhE4Pf7Ng4SXheA%3d
Israeli fast train to run through West Bank
BEIT IKSA, West Bank (AP) — A high-speed train between two major cities seems like a must for a developed nation. But Israel’s long-awaited, $2 billion Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway is turning into a potential political nightmare after planners moved parts of the route into the West Bank. The route dips twice into the war-won territory, at one point as a short cut and at another to appease Israelis who objected to tracks in their backyard. Critics say that violates international law because the construction has seized occupied Palestinian land and won’t serve West Bankers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101105/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_railway_wrangle
The settlements have been a project of Main Street Jewish America / K. Feldman
The ironic part about this Al Jazeera video is that, because it’s Al Jazeera, they have to frame their story as “going undercover” to expose sales in the settlement of Efrat by real estate giant Anglo-Saxon (motto: “have a foothold in Israel”). And yet, there’s nothing secret about the very mundane way that the Green Line has been erased for the past 30+ years. I approach real estate agents as simply a New York-based reporter, and they are happy to talk my ear off. Just this past June, the Jewish Agency hosted a real estate expo in the Times Square Marriott, where property on both sides of the Green Line was for sale—with no mention of the 1967 borders in sight.
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/the-settlements-have-been-a-project-of-main-street-jewish-america.html
Israel moves to improve relations with UNESCO after forging holy sites
NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Israeli government is determined to settle existing differences with UNESCO (the UN organization for Education, Science and Culture) in light of the organization’s recent decisions to counter the prior’s practice of adding Islamic holy sites in Palestine to the country’s Jewish heritage list, Israeli media said. According to Israeli Radio, a series of bilateral talks between Israeli officials and UNESCO representatives will be held in the French capital this week in an effort to solve current disagreements between both parties as relates to Israel’s decision to include a number of religious and archaeological sites in Palestine to the alleged heritage list.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NvhHIpguW2g5Z5kLqyJJ3VV0fO%2berhybc7DLxQGquD6lQll6MRS2cCKm6igf4qnn%2b0bRN%2b0zy0NGsVaF5j2%2byG6d076H3X0IHUl20NzQJ%2fA%3d
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Foreign activists take part in protest rally in JV
JERICHO, (PIC)– Inhabitants of Jaftelk village, Jericho district, in the Jordan Valley organized a protest sit-in on Saturday with the participation of foreign solidarity activists against Israeli settlement activity. The rally was held following the recent Israeli confiscation of 25 dunums of the Jaftelk land, which would isolate 32 families, 120 individuals, from their land and property. The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) already controls 95% of the area and is trying to expropriate the remaining 5%.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NZDACGAUrIHNw3OFSnFNYrEJ9VAWSyvAACu9yLMi%2faIMCImz78dJYjvn%2bysyghpSFp5Q39eq%2bK1%2bSVACle1untIMkgnk8HYFZGr8OGzrBjE%3d
Gazans demonstrate on anniversary of Balfour Declaration
(ISM) As Israeli army snipers in the control tower at the Erez crossing looked on, Saber Al Za’anin, the General Coordinator of the Local Initiative group spoke passionately about Palestinian resistance on the anniversary of the November 3rd 1917 Balfour Declaration.“We carry forward the fight of our great grandfathers to dismiss the disgraceful and unjust promise that the UK Foreign Secretary offered to the Zionists to create a state in the middle of Palestine 93 years ago. Here we are, the present-day Palestinian generation standing strong again to uphold the principle of our forefathers and the struggle that has been passed down for us to continue today.”
http://palsolidarity.org/2010/11/15405/
The People Speak / Eva Bartlett
(IPS) – The focus on people’s movements in Palestine continues to gain momentum with growing non-violent demonstrations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, and with a Palestine-wide call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Years of the non-violent demonstrations throughout the occupied West Bank against Israel’s separation wall have finally generated some media interest in the issue of the wall and annexation of Palestinian land. Yet the behind-the- scenes work of Palestinian unions, Palestinian and international BDS groups, video conferences bridging Palestine to the outside world, and the struggle of Palestinian students to access an education continues largely unnoticed by the cameras.
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/the-people-speak/
Ali Abunimah lecture at Stanford Nov 3 – YouTube in 13 parts
“My lecture at Stanford, hosted by Students Confronting Israeli Apartheid on Nov 3, 2010. Go to the Youtube page to access the subsequent segments.”
http://palestinianpundit.blogspot.com/2010/11/ali-abunimah-lecture-at-stanford-nov-3.html
UK official: Gaza situation is unbearable
British Foreign Office spokesman Martin Day on Thursday called on Israel to allow Gaza borders to open for exports to ease an unbearable situation in the Strip … Day said the British government believed settlements were a major obstacle to achieving peace, and that the UK continuously relayed this to Israel. All settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, contravened international law and should be frozen to create an atmosphere for successful negotiations, he said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331050
Letter calls on Israeli artists not to perform in Ariel
Group of Israeli artists say there is no obligation to perform in West Bank settlement because ‘Ariel is not part of sovereign territory of Israel’. — A group of well-known arts and entertainment figures issued a letter Friday to all theater actors, calling on them not to perform in Ariel and providing them with legal information regarding their rights to refuse performances in the West Bank settlement, reported Army Radio.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=194199
Anti
Jeez louise: Freiburg, Germany, demands that Nakba exhibit with Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein requires …. balance
From Hedy Epstein, Palestinian-solidarity activist and Holocaust survivor, who leaves the midwest for Germany tomorrow to do several speaking engagements: “A Palestine Solidarity Group in Freiburg, Germany, applied and received permission from the city gov’t to show a Nakba Exhibit in the city public library, beginning on Nov. 12, 2010. Just nine days before the opening of the exhibit, the permission was withdrawn. Reason: The one sidedness of the exhibit. Additionally it was stated that I will speak at the opening of the exhibit as a patron of the exhibit…that I am a member of a terrorist organization, Free Gaza.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2010/11/jeez-louise-freiburg-germany-demands-that-nakba-exhibit-with-holocaust-survivor-hedy-epstein-requires-balance.html#more-28788
Flotillas
Friends of Humanity calls on Egypt to facilitate Road to Hope convoy mission
VIENNA, (PIC)– Friends of humanity international organization appealed to the Egyptian authorities to allow Road to Hope convoy to move from the Egyptian-Libyan borders into the Gaza Strip to deliver medical and human assistance to the impoverished Palestinian people there.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7f8TTOqtas8yPIxda%2fXVdak9736Ogjdg%2fbnwN04MVgSSHRNVnIssYqCPYIfR3a7t0Niy08vYQiVIvkcZ%2bO4o7NXWsflOYTA1RN4qKL63SSvA%3d
Swedish activists to sue Israeli leaders
LONDON, (PIC)– Swedish activists have decided to sue Israeli leaders for their role in ordering the attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy that was bound to Gaza Strip but was intercepted at sea by Israeli navy forces late last May. Dror Feiler, the spokesman for the Swedish ship that was part of the Flotilla, told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper on Friday that he would file a complaint on behalf of 11 Swedes against the Israeli leaders on 8th November with Tel Aviv police and the Israeli prosecutor.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7riwLE4xta%2fYEnNzM7pAyig9p7%2bH0vo2nkuD4giaXDjNwRUsVcmfxvKzFYlnO2ZcS%2bIoeRl4XqkcjprF4q%2bWb9Yu7lD63MmDZUAZvCG8iy40%3d
Israeli flotilla participant wants saxophone back
Artist Dror Feiler demands confiscated items be returned. ‘Why does Israel need my saxophone?’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3978738,00.html
Siege / Restriction of movement / Denial of rights
Israel issues Jerusalem resident 6 month travel ban
Israel’s Interior Minister Eli Yeshai issued an order Thursday banning Jerusalem resident Ya’qoub Abu A’sab, 40, from travelling for six months. Ma’an’s correspondent said the minister cited security concerns as grounds for the order.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331053
Internal issues behind Allenby travel block, PA says
Senior Palestinian officials blamed internal politics for an embarrassing incident at the Israeli-controlled West Bank-Jordanian border crossing on Wednesday, a report in the Arabic daily Al-Quds newspaper said. PLO official Ahmad Qrei’a was told by Israeli officials at the border crossing that he would not be permitted to drive his government car through to Jordan, saying the privilege had been reserved for President Mahmoud Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad only. The incident, which drew ire from Palestinians as another humiliation from the Israeli occupation, did not illicit immediate comment from Palestinian officials. Reports in the Israeli press said the privilege had been revoked because of statements issued by Qrei’a against the stalled peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Speaking anonymously to Al-Quds, one official said “I believe that a Palestinian side requested from the Israeli side to take this measure.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331024
Israeli occupation stops dozens of pilgrims from leaving for Makka
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– The Palestinian captives committee said that the Israeli occupation authorities refused to allow dozens of pilgrims from leaving the West Bank to Amman on their way to Makka to perform Hajj. The committee added in a statement on Friday that the Israeli occupation intelligence held the pilgrims in different areas of the Allenby bridge border crossing. Some of them were thoroughly searched and questioned by occupation intelligence officers. Some of them were barred from travelling on allegations they constitute a security threat to “Israel” and others under other “security” pretexts.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7sgiv9EsgKQP9pYjNSLWGKrzklj%2bP0Zg8MAxIQzEywSV3c5Hu6WEiMPjpriAIVnlRdiNqZND3GYXn5KDqZtmbh%2fIlMbHam2xHwyRqVQsMDmE%3d
Rafah crossing sees more pilgrims depart Gaza
Hajj pilgrims from Gaza continue to leave the coastal enclave via the Rafah crossing with Egypt in a process that has so run smoothly, officials told Ma’an on Saturday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331176
Protest against Fayyad for excluding Jerusalemite pilgrims from Hajj mission
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Dozens of Jerusalemite families of prisoners, ex-detainees and martyrs on Friday rallied outside the house of Salam Fayyad, head of Fatah’s government in Ramallah city, in protest at excluding them from the pilgrimage (Hajj) mission to Makkah this year as part of the generous gesture made by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7F3a%2fxrrRUaMhKwRGnLnMaRvYEf%2fKLj23%2b7T5xQWNuTPf12Xo%2bWSskvoBPwLUljeEAam3Q3hBk6OcM9QFBCPw%2fqq32DUn%2baffBSth41x8YKA%3d
Detention
Plea deal ‘only option’ for political prisoner Ameer Makhoul / Jillian Kestler- D’Amours
After spending nearly six months in jail, Palestinian political prisoner Ameer Makhoul signed a plea agreement with Israeli state prosecutors on 27 October … According to Dr. Hatim Kanaaneh, Chairperson of the Committee for the Defense of Ameer Makhoul, while the decision to plead guilty to reduced charges was extremely difficult for Makhoul, his family and the defense team, the reality of life for Palestinian citizens of Israel made it the only option. “Historically, the record of Israel’s court system shows that nearly 100 percent — definitely over 95 percent — of cases where a person is accused or arrested on the basis of security violations, are indicted and put in jail. The court finds them guilty.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11611.shtml
Sheikh Saleh goes on trial Wednesday
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli court in the Israeli Ramle prison has scheduled the hearing of Sheikh Raed Salah this coming Wednesday to investigate whether or not he violated orders from the Israeli occupation police not to meet with more then seven people in a public place.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s778syiptqlbkLKLaXL31WAd8TmeorHNntHI2KYBEBEDPNzmpyUoBWK6CVoiiTjJMrAuUpCIj%2fRq7g0uULVQAa0dunxtSRQTREC2M1NVIKm%2b4%3d
Hamas: PA security carried out 163 political arrests this month
WEST BANK, (PIC)– PA security forces arrested this month 163 Palestinians throughout the West Bank, among them 74 ex-detainees who were released from Israeli jails, and transferred 40 detainees for military trials over their political affiliation, the Hamas movement in Gaza reported Saturday. The official report added that Israeli forces arrested 13 Hamas supporters who were previously released by the PA security militia, while the PA security arrested a number of Hamas affiliates immediately after their release from Israeli prisons.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7hCJyK4iAjl0cAlE73Gv0TWxtqlEHPfdeYz8ga5ok40%2bliW2ELN3vYqSYT3N2Kf3P4lJDxLasmog5xwHpozjfz53xAMRThKKAc%2fZ7i2vmgtc%3d
Hamas: PA gave detainee day release for funeral
Hamas officials in the West Bank said Saturday that PA forces continued to detain the party’s members and affiliates in the region, citing two recent releases as evidence that detentions remained political. With three Hamas affiliates allegedly detained by PA forces overnight, the party statement said, two others were released without charges, one for only a few hours to attend his mother’s funeral, and a second man due to deteriorating health conditions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331172
Extrajudicial killings
Israeli occupation hints at involvement in the assassination of Nimnim
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Israeli occupation military sources hinted that the US was involved in the assassination of Muhammad al-Nimnim, a Palestinian resistance fighter affiliate with the Islamic Army faction and whose car was targeted by an Israeli occupation drone on Wednesday. Israeli radio on Friday quoted occupation military sources that the assassination of Nimnim was coordinated with the US, and while an occupation military spokeswoman refused to give details on the subject she said that there was good coordination between the two sides [the Zionist occupation and the US] and added that “Israel” conveys from time to time information to the US and other parties.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7B275cV9OYBwkvpf5CtJGRU%2bkyCYMR6ANHCX33b%2bt5d3edwlKOMkhidTuF9pMkFtMqqdEXVqD2RcsRi%2bO3TuDTJkgE4QJyc7uGdjw2I06ewk%3d
Racism / Discrimination / Segregation
A lesson in inequality
As opposed to comfortable learning conditions in Omer, Bedouin students attending nearby Segev Shalom high school study in overcrowded caravans with no air-condition. Teacher: Our goal is that these students attend university, but it’s not easy
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980374,00.html
87% of seculars: We won’t live in haredi building
Ynet-Gesher poll finds two-thirds of secular Jews have not visited ultra-Orthodox home, one-third have no religious acquaintance or friend. And how many secular employers would hire former yeshiva student?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3978555,00.html
Reprisals
Projectile fire reported from northern Gaza
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed media reports Saturday morning saying a single homemade projectile was fired from northern Gaza toward Israeli territory … there were no reports of injury or damage from the projectile, which was said to have landed in an open field. No Palestinian faction has claimed the act.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331296
Israelis attacked on way to Jerusalem pub
Three students and Australian tourist take wrong turn on way to Jerusalem’s city center, find themselves in heart of Arab neighborhood of Issawiya. ‘Dozens of young men began throwing stones and sticks at us. It was a well-planned ambush,’ driver recounts
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980165,00.html
Political news
Mideast peace still a priority for Obama, US says
(dpa) Republican gains in midterm elections will not reduce pressure on Israelis to strike a peace deal, says State Department.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/mideast-peace-still-a-priority-for-obama-u-s-says-1.323209
US denies support for UN statehood bid
WASHINGTON (Ma’an) — A US State Department official denied a host of rumors on the progress of the peace process Friday, including reports that Washington would back a bid for a Palestinian state presented to the UN Security Council.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331162
Erekat: US-Israeli decision on freeze in 3 weeks
Chief Palestinian negotiator expecting answer from US on requested settlement construction freeze
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980438,00.html
Palestinians will shun talks without freeze
LONDON: An overwhelming majority of Palestinians will refuse to back the current peace process if Israel resumes building settlements in the occupied West Bank. A report by research group YouGov Siraj revealed that 90 percent of Palestinians would no longer back talks if West Bank settlement building restarted. It also stated that most Palestinians believe the current talks are meaningless with only 16 percent believing the talks will lead to a positive outcome and 60 percent believing they were likely to fail.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121254#axzz14WVuncoV
Report: PA to make decision on talks late November
ABU DHABI, UAE (Ma’an) — US mediators will hand the Arab League peace initiative’s followup committee details on a deal to bring Palestinian and Israeli negotiators back to the table by 10 November, the Palestinian presidential spokesman told AFP Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331161
Al-Masri arrives in Gaza
Palestinian National Coalition leader Munib Al-Masri urged Hamas and Fatah to engage every effort to achieve success in their upcoming meeting in Damascus. On November 9 the rival factions will discuss security, the final issue stalling the ratification of an Egyptian-backed reconciliation agreement, said Yaser Al-Wadieyah, a representative of independent officials seeking unity. Al-Masri arrived in Gaza Friday via the Erez crossing for a three-day visit to meet Hamas and Fatah leaders including Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to prepare for the Damascus meeting. The Nablus tycoon would also discuss economic issues, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331132
Abbas: Iran is holding up peace talks
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Iran was holding up peace talks by pressuring Hamas not to be part of any agreement, CNN reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331094
PLO official criticizes one-state solution
A movement to seek a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse would only prolong Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian negotiator Hanan Ashrawi said Thursday … “It will be buying time for Israel to do more damage and create more prejudicial situations on the ground,” she said, adding, “we’re not going to find a global partnership for this anywhere.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=330918
Other news
Past fails to pass barriers / Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM, Nov 2, 2010 (IPS) – A Swedish attempt to bridge conflicting historical narratives has failed to bring Israeli and Palestinian educators together in teaching the other side’s views on history … The Swedish project revolves around a joint textbook titled ‘Learning the Historical Narrative of the Other’, which tries to present both national narratives of the conflict. The book was banned from the outset by the Israeli Education Ministry, and now the Palestinian Education Ministry, after initially approving the project, has also backed away.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53433
Bethlehem holds vigil for Baghdad church victims
A mass and a candlelight vigil were held in Bethlehem Sunday for the victims of Sunday’s massacre in a Baghdad church. Hundreds of Christians attended a mass at the Nativity Church, and then held a candlelight vigil in Nativity Square in Bethlehem city center. Several speeches were given in front of the Peace Center expressing solidarity with Iraqi Christians and Iraqis in general. Muslims and Christians from all denominations held candles and signs condemning the slaughter, which left dozens dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331115
Israel allows guns into Gaza to protect UN chief
Israel has authorized a UN agency to take automatic weapons into Gaza for the protection of its director, Agence-France Presse reported Friday. UNRWA, whose mandate is to assist and protect Palestinian refugees, requested the weapons three years ago, an Israeli military spokesman told AFP. The agency acquired the weapons in June, but it took five months for Israel to authorize their transfer, the spokesman said … UNRWA director John Ging survived an assassination attack in March 2007, when gunmen sprayed bullets at his armored car.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=331136
Islamist students boycott Najah University election
Islamist students at an-Najah University, in the city of Nablus, have announced that they will boycott the Student Council election after the PA security forces arrested several supporters, according to local sources.
http://www.imemc.org/article/59837
Authorities battle Jenin tattoo parlors
Municipality says underground parlors pose serious health, moral risks for Palestinian youth [not to mention being against Islamic teachings]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3973650,00.html
Israeli army chief’s letter on military conduct to be read to every soldier
The unusual decision to send a clear and direct message to every soldier reflects concern over a backlash against the prosecution of military personnel. It follows a campaign of graffiti-spraying near the home of Brigadier General Avichai Mendelblit, the military advocate general, accusing him of being a traitor. The graffiti is thought to refer to a few prosecutions of soldiers on charges relating to the war in Gaza of 2008-2009. [see next article]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/04/israeli-army-chief-sends-letter
Radical students from Yitzhar launch campaign against MAG [military advocate general]
Calling themselves ‘Your Wreckers and Your Destroyers,’ the group of anonymous activists from Samaria are operating in their rabbis’ name in an effort to protest against civil servants and law-enforcement agencies.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/radical-students-from-yitzhar-launch-campaign-against-mag-1.323001
Civil marriage possible by weekend
Knesset approves fee for civil marriage certificate, allowing non-Jewish Israelis or citizens defined by State as lacking religious denomination to wed without Chief Rabbinate. ‘Law will solve a problem faced by thousands of people,’ says law’s initiator, MK David Rotem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3979038,00.html
What ‘fortifications’?
IDF Home Front engineers on strike
Civilian engineers working for the IDF Home Front Command have been striking for several days now, holding up fortification work across Israel, Ynet has learned. The engineers, who are in charge of approving fortification plans, are striking over what they refer to as “unbearable working conditions.” They say that they are facing an immense burden because of new fortification regulations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980264,00.html
Golan Heights bushfire ravages thousands of dunams in nature reserve
Fire apparently erupts after tourists burn toilet paper near the archaeology site Umm el-Kanater and throw it away.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/golan-heights-bushfire-ravages-thousands-of-dunams-in-nature-reserve-1.323231
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Financing the Israeli occupation
Israeli banks provide the financial infrastructure for all activities of companies, governmental agencies and individuals in the continuing occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. The services provided by the banks support and sustain these activities. Additionally, as this report shows, it is evident that the banks are well aware of the types and whereabouts of the activity that is being carried out with their financial assistance. Our research has identified six categories of involvement of Israeli banks in the occupation.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/reports-and-publications/1720-financing-the-israeli-occupation
Where will the next leaders come from?
The Palestinian youth are fed up with politics. In a country where 70% of young people described themselves as ‘politically inactive’ in a Sharek youth forum survey, and just 33% professed to have trust in any political party, what has gone wrong? It was a question debated by representatives of all the major parties in a specially convened event at the Sharek Centre on Wednesday.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1603
Ramallah seeks an out / Khalid Amayreh
The Palestinian leadership is looking for side exits from a moribund peace process that appears set to collapse — Increasingly frustrated by US inability — or unwillingness — to force Israel to end its decades-old military occupation of Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is preparing a list of alternatives that would forestall the looming breakdown of US- sponsored talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1022/re61.htm
The voice of Hamas – Manuela Paraipan interviews Khaled Mashal
Q: Why is a top ranking Hamas leader living in Damascus? And who is Khaled Mashal in his own words? A: On your first question – you should ask the Israelis. But I can answer your second. I am a Palestinian, an Arab, a Muslim and a human being. I am looking for freedom and self-determination. I have two purposes in life: to serve Almighty God and my people. In the time I devote to serving my people, I take as my guiding light humane and religious values.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/manuela-paraipan/voice-of-hamas
UN will be judged on whether it upholds Palestinian rights / Richard Falk
As this is my last report to the General Assembly in my term as Special Rapporteur on the Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 it seems appropriate to describe some of the special difficulties that have faced the mandate-holder in discharging the functions of the position. The most salient of these difficulties involves the non-cooperation of the Government of Israel … This mandate has also been hampered to some extent, as well, by the Human Rights Council and by the Palestinian Authority.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11610.shtml
Tears of Gaza / Ashraf Ezzat
The history of Gaza is the history of empires come and empires go but the people of Gaza always remain in the land, They do not go. They remain to grow more children and more olive trees. Many times they have been conquered but never have they been treated like prisoners. Never have they been terrorized nor punished except by the Israeli occupation. Never have they been humiliated nor the olive trees uprooted like this before.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/11/tears-of-gaza/
“We won” / Shay Fogelman
Fifteen years after casting a death curse on Yitzhak Rabin, Avigdor Eskin is satisfied with the way his views are spreading. Now, to further his ideological and business interests, he is allying with white segregationists in South Africa
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/we-won-1.323092
The nobleman and the horse / Uri Avnery
…THE BIG winner of the American election is none other than Binyamin Netanyahu. His policy is similar to that of his political mentor, Yitzhak Shamir. It is based on the Jew who had to teach the Polish nobleman’s horse to read and to write within a year – otherwise the whole shtetel would be massacred. “A year is a long time,” he tried to soothe his weeping wife, “Within a year the horse or the nobleman will be dead.” Shamir’s game was to postpone everything, miss every opportunity to bring peace closer, gain time.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1289050375/
Red Rag: Israel is not a Nazi state – yet / Gideon Spiro
…Israel is not a Nazi state – not yet. But there are alarming signs that are reminiscent of the racist demon of the 1930s. There is much evil and crime in Israel, as well as military occupation, racism and apartheid. And here too, it is not just the army that collaborates with the evil. Without the collaboration of the wearers of ties, the whole complex could not move.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=43214
Travels in hyperreality / Ilana Hammerman
A police investigation of another trip in which young Palestinian women were brought into Israel for a day of fun; a nighttime encounter with laborers easing past checkpoints to get to work in Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/travels-in-hyperreality-1.323093
Vicious circle / Tal Niv
Of all the many recently published photographs of the policing and suppression of demonstrations in the territories, this is one of the most disturbing, like a thorn in an animal’s paw. It was taken on October 9 by Nasser Shiyoukhi of the Associated Press in the village of Beit Ummar, near the settlement of Karmei Tzur in the Hebron area, during the dispersal of a routine demonstration by Palestinians and foreign activists. The headlock is the focus of this photograph. Not just the headlock itself but the dominance it represents.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/vicious-circle-1.323100
Iraq
Friday: 5 Iraqis killed, 9 wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and nine others were wounded in a pair of attacks in Iraq. Other reports focused on past violence, including abuse from British soldiers, and the potential for future attacks … The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for a string of attacks on Shi’ite targets in Baghdad earlier this week and threatened more violence towards Christians and Shi’ites … Baghdadiya television station was shut down ostensibly for breaching “professional standards and regulations” after Sunday’s attack against a Baghdad church, but many believe the closure is in retaliation for programming that is embarrassing to the government.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2010/11/05/friday-4-iraqis-killed-9-wounded/
Iraqi prisoners were abused at ‘UK’s Abu Ghraib’, court hears
(with video) Detainees were starved, deprived of sleep and threatened with execution at JFIT facilities near Basra, high court told … [The court] also received allegations that JFIT’s prisoners were beaten, forced to kneel in stressful positions for up to 30 hours at a time, and that some were subjected to electric shocks. Some of the prisoners say that they were subject to sexual humiliation by women soldiers, while others allege that they were held for days in cells as small as one metre square.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/06/iraq-prisoner-abuse-court
European court demands halt to forcible return of Iraqi asylum seekers
• Human rights court cites ‘deteriorating security’ in Iraq • Home Office ‘will not enforce’ deportations under rule 39 — The government’s programme of deporting failed asylum seekers to Iraq has been thrown into confusion after the European court of human rights ruled that forcible returns to Baghdad should be suspended immediately because of an upsurge in sectarian violence and suicide bombings. The court decision has already led to the Netherlands halting all removal flights to Iraq. In the UK, the Home Office pledged to “continue to undertake” deportations but acknowledged that in cases where the Strasbourg court supported petitions from individuals it would not enforce removal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/05/strasbourg-forcible-returns-iraqi-asylum
Car bombs wound 27 civilians in northern Iraq
(AP) An Iraqi police officer says three car bombs have exploded in the northern city of Kirkuk, wounding 27 civilians. Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir said Saturday morning that the parked cars exploded over a 30-minute period in three adjacent Kurdish areas.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980338,00.html
Iraq postpones crucial parliament session
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Iraqi MPs on Friday postponed a meeting to elect a speaker and kick off the process of forming a government, as civil society groups seek to recover 40 million dollars from deputies left idle over the past eight months.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101105/wl_mideast_afp/iraqpoliticsparliament
Iraqi Christians seek autonomous region in Nineveh province
An organization representing Iraqi Christians today issued a call for the Iraqi government to accept the establishment of an autonomous region for the nation’s Christian minority, carving out part of the Nineveh Province and bordering Iraqi Kurdistan, the first such autonomous region. Iraqi Christians have an ancient history but have come under growing attack since the 2003 US invasion. As many as half of the nation’s Christians are believed to have died or fled into exile. The region in question includes a large number of Iraqi Christians, but has also been singled out as a target of annexation for the Kurds.
http://news.antiwar.com/2010/11/05/iraqi-christians-seek-autonomous-region-in-nineveh-province/
They kill Christians (too) / Sinan Antoon
…While Iraqi Christians are not the only targets of this sectarian violence (Sabaeans and Yazidis amongst the non-Muslims, for example) and of course hundreds of thousands of Sunnis and Shi`is have also been the victims of violence and have had their mosques and shrines attacked, the plight of Christians and other non-Muslims always receives disproportionate attention in the west. Genuine concern for the plight of others notwithstanding, the tradition of official “concern” for minorities in the Middle East, especially Christians, has been used as a pretext for intervention and a tool to gain geopolitical influence and power.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/281/they-kill-christians-%28too
Outlook improves for two large southern Iraq oilfields: SOC
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Output at one of southern Iraq’s largest oilfields is on the uptick after sharp declines, and it should bottom out at a second field next month before turning higher, the head of South Oil Co said in comments published on Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101105/wl_mideast_afp/iraqeconomyoilcompanysoc
Other Mideast
Report: Lebanon says Israel erecting 21 spy posts along its border
Lebanon’s parliament accused Israel on of erecting 21 wiretapping and spy posts along the Lebanese border, Channel 10 quoted Quds Net news agency as having reported on Thursday. Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese parliament, said that the parliament’s media and committee had investigated photographs, documents and maps proving that Israel was engaging in intelligence activity.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-lebanon-says-israel-erecting-21-spy-posts-along-its-border-1.323201
Beirut probes tribunal staff attack
(Al Jazeera) Lebanon has told the United Nations that it is investigating an attack last week on UN officials involved in the inquiry into the killing of Rafiq al-Hariri, Lebanon’s assassinated ex-prime minister.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/11/20101160719424630.html
US: Syria risks IAEA action over suspected atom site
(Reuters) The United States warned Syria on Friday it may face action by governors of the UN nuclear watchdog if Damascus fails to give its inspectors access to the remains of a suspected nuclear site in the desert. It has been over two years since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was allowed to visit the Dair Alzour site in Syria where secret nuclear activity may have taken place before it was bombed to rubble by Israel in 2007.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3980339,00.html
Bush considered attack on Syrian facility: book
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former President George W. Bush says he considered ordering a U.S. military strike against a suspected Syrian nuclear facility at Israel’s request in 2007 but ultimately opted against it. Israel eventually destroyed the facility, which Syria denied was aimed at developing a nuclear weapons capability.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101105/ts_nm/us_bush_book_mideast
UK: Damascus has failed to protect jailed lawyer
(AFP) …Eight groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, say Hassani, co-founder of the Syrian Human Rights Organization, was “physically assaulted” on October 28 by a fellow prisoner in his jail in Damascus. They said Muhannad al-Hassani, who was awarded an international human-rights prize in May for representing opposition figures, needed 10 stitches for a head wound after the assault.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121211#axzz14WXBRnWQ
Al-Qaeda claims parcel bomb plot
(Al Jazeera) Group’s Yemen wing says it was behind plan to hit US targets, and caused earlier Dubai air crash.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/11/2010115204329353739.html
Yemen orders US born cleric to be found dead or alive
(AP) A Yemeni judge ordered police Saturday to find a radical U.S.-born cleric “dead or alive” after the al-Qaida-linked preacher failed to appear at his trial for his role in the killing of foreigners. Yemen is under heavy U.S. pressure to crack down on the country’s al-Qaida offshoot after a scheme to send bombs through the mail in packages addressed to the U.S. was thwarted a week ago.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/yemen-orders-u-s-born-cleric-be-found-dead-or-alive-1.323252
Yemen mobilized tribe of radical cleric against Al-Qaeda
ADEN, Yemen: The Yemeni government, which this week charged radical US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi with incitement to kill foreigners and with links to Al-Qaeda, is trying to mobilize his Awaliq tribe in Shabwa Province. Tribal dignitaries who are close to the government met Awaliq leaders in October to convince them to combat the local arm of Osama bin Laden’s extremist network, a tribal source told AFP.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=121213#axzz14WWbMr4z
Egypt holds blogger past deadline
Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman, an Egyptian blogger serving a four-year prison term for inciting unrest and antipathy to Islam, has not been released despite serving out the end of his sentence, journalists and activists close to Suleiman say.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/11/2010115163112910778.html
Blog at your own risk in the Middle East
“According to Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based watchdog, at least 17 “netizens” are in jail across the Middle East: eight in Iran and the rest in Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. China may be the biggest online represser, but the Middle East is not far behind.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-at-your-own-risk-in-middle-east.html
U.S. and other world news
UN body accuses US of rights abuses
(Al Jazeera) The United States has for the first time faced the United Nations Human Rights Council over accusations of human rights violations. Council members in Geneva, Switzerland, levelled a barrage of criticisms at the US administration on Friday, calling for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and for investigations into alleged torture by US troops abroad.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/11/201011519328797206.html
Largest world gathering of Muslims, Jews kicks off in US
The third annual Twinningsm weekend kicked off this weekend as Jews and Muslims, as well as representatives of Mosques and Synagogues from across the globe came together to take part in the world’s largest gathering encouraging ethnic tolerance.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/largest-world-gathering-of-muslims-jews-kicks-off-in-u-s-1.323169
Upper West Side Synagogue and Brooklyn Jewish Center to host memorial events for far right extremist Meir Kahane / Alex Kane
Three memorial events for the racist, far-right ultra-nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane are to be held throughout New York City this Sunday in ceremonies marking twenty years since the killing of Kahane … The honoring of Meir Kahane has sparked controversy among the Jewish community in New York City, and there are plans, led by Yeshiva students in the city, to protest the memorial events … Perhaps the most infamous act of violence by a follower of Kahane was the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre, when Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-settler born in Brooklyn, murdered 29 Muslims praying at the Cave of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. The Israeli government outlawed the Kach political party, which was founded by Kahane, and an offshoot party, in the 1990′s.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/upper-west-side-synanogue-and-brooklyn-jewish-center-to-host-memorial-events-for-far-right-extremist-meir-kahane/#comments
NJ train worker who burned Quran sues over firing
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A former New Jersey train worker fired after publicly burning pages from the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit Friday seeking reinstatement and monetary damages. Derek Fenton’s dismissal violated his constitutional right to free expression, the American Civil Liberties Union said in its lawsuit.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101105/ap_on_re_us/us_quran_burned_conductor_fired
California man accused of terrorism
(AP) SAN DIEGO – A Somali national accused of routing money from San Diego to a terrorist organization in his native country was being held without bail Friday after government prosecutors argued he was a flight risk and danger to the community. Basaaly Saeed Moalin and two other Somali nationals living in San Diego were among six people indicted nationwide this week by federal authorities and accused of funneling funds to al-Shabab
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101105/ap_on_re_us/us_terrorism_us_somalia
