BRUSSELS, Feb 29 (KUNA) -- Visiting Jordanian Foreign Ministers Nasser Judeh said Wednesday that in this wake of the Arab awaking, with people seeking justices and equality and a dignified life, the Palestinian issue "remains the elephant in the room". "There is no complete Arab Spring or Arab awakening without peace in the Middle East. And there will not be peace in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict," he told the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament here this evening.
"And our position in this regard is very clear and well-known. It is the two-state solution, whereby the independent variable, contiguous, Palestinian state is established, along the basis of the 67-lines, and whereby Israel lives in security and the two of them, Israel and Palestine live in a secure, stable, prosperous Middle East," he noted.
Commenting on the situation in Syria, Judeh said that as a neighbour country Jordan is extremely concerned about the killing and the atrocity, and the blood spilling everyday. "We are working with the Arab League, with the international community to try and do something. The end result must be a political solution. We don't want to have any interference, that will further destabilise the region," he added.
KUNA : Jordan FM: No complete Arab awakening without Palestine solution
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Palestine: WAFA Updates
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Monday, February 27, 2012
Israeli Soldiers Detain Palestinian Eight-Grader near Hebron
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
HEBRON, February 27, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Monday detained a Palestinian school student in an area near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron’s old city, according to local sources.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers assaulted eighth-grader Muhannad al-Bakri on his way to school, and ripped his bag before arresting and detaining him in a police station in Kiryat Arba settlement, near Hebron.
Al-Bakri was later released after the International Red Cross intervened.
HEBRON, February 27, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Monday detained a Palestinian school student in an area near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron’s old city, according to local sources.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers assaulted eighth-grader Muhannad al-Bakri on his way to school, and ripped his bag before arresting and detaining him in a police station in Kiryat Arba settlement, near Hebron.
Al-Bakri was later released after the International Red Cross intervened.
Settler Opens Fire on Farmers near Hebron
HEBRON, February 27, 2012 (WAFA) – A Jewish settler Monday opened fire at Palestinian farmers and their livestock in Khirbet Janba, south of the West Bank city of Hebron, after failed attempts to steal their sheep, according to a local resident.
Khader al-Amour, a school principal in Janba, told WAFA the settler tried to steal some of the sheep using several dogs to scare off the farmers and when failed, he opened fire at the farmers that led to a fistfight between them.
Members of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) arrived at the scene and seized several sheep and told their owners they must pay for them if they wanted them back, he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities also imposed almost $2000 on a Palestinian farmer from Khirbet Janba under the pretext that he was herding the sheep in an Israeli army-control area.
Palestinian residents in Khirbet Janba depend on their livestock to make a living.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Report: Israel Denies 14,000 Arabs in Jerusalem Residency
RAMALLAH, February 27, 2012 (WAFA) – Israel has denied over 14,000 Arab residents of occupied East Jerusalem the right to live in their city of birth, a report by the PLO Negotiations Affair Department (NAD) said Monday.
It also demolished 3,300 Palestinian-owned homes in the city, it added.
NAD report monitored Israeli unilateral measures in East Jerusalem since its occupation in 1967.
The report said Israel withdrew right to live in the city from 14,000 Palestinians, around 50% of them from 2006 and 2008. The Israeli action affected more than 20% of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem.
In addition, Israel demolished 3,300 Palestinian homes and historical and religious sites in East Jerusalem since 1967, around 500 of them in the past six years only.
The Israeli Apartheid Wall isolated around 70,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, who found themselves living behind the wall and have to go through military checkpoints to reach their work and schools in the Israeli-annexed section, said NAD report.
It said the Israeli closure policy imposed on East Jerusalem prevented three million Muslim and Christian Palestinians from reaching their holy places in the city.
NAD also said the Israeli government continues to enact the Absentee Property Law of 1950 that allows it to seize Palestinian property in the city on allegation of absence of their owners even though the owners are still living in the city or near it.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Heavy Israeli Military Clampdown in Jerusalem
by Mary Abu-Sahliya - IMEMC & Agencies
International Middle East Media Center
Many Jerusalem Streets and its surrounding towns witnessed Heavy Israeli Military Procedures early Sunday Morning. Israeli Soldiers and their Machines were spread all over the streets, towns and neighborhoods.
The Israeli army spread out its special units and police in the Old City of Jerusalem, especially around Al-Aqsa Mosque while the police units, based on the main gates of the Mosque, reserved the ID’s of the young men before they entered to pray.
Other Israeli Police Forces were scattered in almost all of the City’s streets and entrances of the neighboring towns. Including the entrances of the towns of Silwan, Tur, Thawri, Anata, Ram, Shuafat and other neighborhoods. The army police placed many checkpoints, stopped cars and gave out tickets.
One of the police spokesmen mentioned that these measures were ‘in anticipation of the renewed fightings with the citizens in different parts of Jerusalem.’
International Middle East Media Center
PA to 'reconsider cooperation with Israel'
President Mahmoud Abbas attends the opening of the International Conference
on Jerusalem in Doha, Feb. 26, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)
on Jerusalem in Doha, Feb. 26, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous)
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority is planning to reconsider its security, political and economic agreements with Israel in the coming days, a PLO official said on Sunday.
After exploratory talks with Israel ended without agreement, the PLO Executive Committee has agreed to take a number of measures to jolt the current stalemate.
PLO officials protest that they cannot enter negotiations while Israel builds settlements on lands needed for a viable Palestinian state. The PA complained that Israel's approval of 500 new settler homes and retroactive approval of 200 more in the northern West Bank last week is "stark indication of Israel’s policy to continue occupying the West Bank."
In an interview with Egyptian channel CBC on Friday, President Mahmoud Abbas said the PA was planning a "major decision" in no more than 10 days, in response to the talks' failure.
PLO Executive Committee Hanna Amira told Ma'an the PA will reconsider its cooperation with Israel, and reactivate popular resistance against Israel's occupation. It will also consider taking its case to the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
"All alternatives are open in future, but that does not necessarily mean disbanding the PA," he added, referring to past threats to dissolve the Palestinian government.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Qays Abdul-Karim told Ma'an Abbas's measures would not break past agreements, but reevaluate their terms.
"The Israeli government has turned its back on all agreements and continues to impose facts on the ground through settlement expansion and the Judaization of Jerusalem … this cannot continue," he said.
Without any further talks on the horizon, the PA cannot continue to carry out its duties, Abdul-Karim added.
The PA government was given temporary jurisdiction within limited areas of self-rule in the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The measures intend to press the international community to meet its obligations to the peace process and push Israel to adhere to international agreements, Abdul-Karim said.
"Otherwise, we will not be responsible for the tension and instability if Israel continues to deny us our rights," he added.
No Israeli response to these moves could make the situation any worse than it is at present, the DFLP official said.
Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues to the PA -- collected by Israel on the Palestinian government's behalf under international agreements -- twice in 2011 when faction leaders agreed to end their four-year division.
The Arab League has largely accepted the Palestinian plans, and will protect the PA financially if Israel withholds tax again, Abdul-Karim said.
But Amira said Palestinian officials expect little support from the Arab League and Arab countries because of their current focus on the situation in Syria.
After exploratory talks with Israel ended without agreement, the PLO Executive Committee has agreed to take a number of measures to jolt the current stalemate.
PLO officials protest that they cannot enter negotiations while Israel builds settlements on lands needed for a viable Palestinian state. The PA complained that Israel's approval of 500 new settler homes and retroactive approval of 200 more in the northern West Bank last week is "stark indication of Israel’s policy to continue occupying the West Bank."
In an interview with Egyptian channel CBC on Friday, President Mahmoud Abbas said the PA was planning a "major decision" in no more than 10 days, in response to the talks' failure.
PLO Executive Committee Hanna Amira told Ma'an the PA will reconsider its cooperation with Israel, and reactivate popular resistance against Israel's occupation. It will also consider taking its case to the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
"All alternatives are open in future, but that does not necessarily mean disbanding the PA," he added, referring to past threats to dissolve the Palestinian government.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine Qays Abdul-Karim told Ma'an Abbas's measures would not break past agreements, but reevaluate their terms.
"The Israeli government has turned its back on all agreements and continues to impose facts on the ground through settlement expansion and the Judaization of Jerusalem … this cannot continue," he said.
Without any further talks on the horizon, the PA cannot continue to carry out its duties, Abdul-Karim added.
The PA government was given temporary jurisdiction within limited areas of self-rule in the 1993 Oslo Accords.
The measures intend to press the international community to meet its obligations to the peace process and push Israel to adhere to international agreements, Abdul-Karim said.
"Otherwise, we will not be responsible for the tension and instability if Israel continues to deny us our rights," he added.
No Israeli response to these moves could make the situation any worse than it is at present, the DFLP official said.
Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues to the PA -- collected by Israel on the Palestinian government's behalf under international agreements -- twice in 2011 when faction leaders agreed to end their four-year division.
The Arab League has largely accepted the Palestinian plans, and will protect the PA financially if Israel withholds tax again, Abdul-Karim said.
But Amira said Palestinian officials expect little support from the Arab League and Arab countries because of their current focus on the situation in Syria.
Maan News Agency
Hunger strike galvanises Palestine
The hunger strike of Palestinian activist Khadr Adnan has turned the spotlight on the double standards of the Israeli justice system, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah
In many ways, the struggle between Khadr Adnan and his Israeli captors epitomises the enduring strife between an arrogant and manifestly callous Israel on the one hand and a helpless but defiant people longing for liberty and clinging to life on the other.
Khadr Adnan, a 44-year-old Islamic Jihad activist, was arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities on 17 December. He started an open-ended hunger strike the following day to protest his detention without charge or trial. Sixty-six days later, he has lost some 40 per cent of his body weight.
Adnan's wife Randa and his lawyer say he is now hanging between life and death. Last week, his lawyer filled a petition with the Israeli High Court, often a mere rubber stamp in the hands of the Israeli security establishment, for Adnan's release.
"Khadr's life is in danger, but he has a strong will and very high spirits. However, he is not conscious and is not able to speak," Randa told reporters. "He is fading away, and his eyes are sunken."
The petition to the Israeli court included a medical report by a doctor from the Physicians for Human Rights Foundation, which has been monitoring Adnan's condition.
"When I met the patient, he was on the 52nd day of his hunger strike. He had been shackled to his bed by both legs and one arm, and he was refusing to undergo tests or receive medical treatment," the report stated.
One unidentified doctor quoted by Ynet News said that "a fast in excess of 70 days doesn't allow survival. The infusion of liquids, salts, glucose and vitamins cannot prevent death due to such a protracted hunger strike."
During his imprisonment, Adnan was humiliated and beaten by prison wardens. Israeli law allows the employment of "moderate physical pressure" against Palestinian detainees, in many cases a euphemism for torture.
While Adnan does not want to become another Bobby Sands, the Irish activist who died on 5 May, 1981, following a similar 66-day hunger strike. However, the Israeli occupation regime does not allow honour, dignity or freedom for Palestinians, meaning that he may have little choice.
To silence the Palestinians, Israel uses "administrative detention" procedures, another name for open-ended incarceration without charge or trial. "Administrative detention," Palestinians say, hangs over Palestinian activists, even if Israeli law can find no reason to indict them.
Palestinians who may have committed no violation of Israeli laws are kept behind bars for prolonged periods, sometimes in excess of ten years, without ever knowing the reasons behind their imprisonment.
One administrative detainee, Mustafa Shawar, a Hebron University lecturer, told the Weekly that "I appealed to the Israeli military judge to let me know why I was detained, but to no avail."
"I told him, 'please let me know what I did, so that I won't do it again.' But the judge said he wouldn't give me that privilege because the evidence against me was secret."
Shawar has so far spent ten years in Israeli prisons without charge or trial, and he has no idea if he will ever be freed.
Thousands of Palestinians, including lawmakers, students, professionals and peaceful political activists, have been subjected to prolonged periods of administrative detention.
A few weeks ago, the Israeli military authorities detained Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, sentencing him to six months in prison. The six-month sentence may only be the beginning for Dweik, as the Israeli authorities routinely extend such sentences many times.
The massive shows of solidarity Khadr Adnan has been receiving are unprecedented, with all the Palestinian political factions organising demonstrations demanding his immediate release.
Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has appealed to Russia, China and Britain to press Israel to release Adnan, and Saeb Ereikat, the PA negotiator, has said that Israel will be held responsible for "what happens to Khadr Adnan."
Similar messages have been dispatched to the Obama administration and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, warning against the ramifications Adnan's death could have in the region.
Earlier this week, Catherine Ashton, the European foreign policy chief, urged Israel to do everything possible to preserve Adnan's health. She also reiterated EU concerns about Israel's "extensive use of administrative detention without formal charge."
According to the Israeli human-rights organisation B'tselem, there has been a sharp increase in the number of administrative detainees held by Israel over the past year, from 219 in January 2011 to 309 in January 2012.
Eighty people, or 26 per cent of the detainees, have been held for six months to one year, with another 88 people, or 28.5 per cent, being held for between one and two years. Sixteen detainees have been in administrative detention for between two and four-and-a-half years.
B'tselem stressed the illegality of the administrative detention procedure because it violates the right to liberty and due process, detainees being incarcerated for prolonged periods on the basis of secret evidence without charge or trial.
Administrative detention is also reserved for non-Jews, particularly Palestinians, and is designed to punish and break the will of those who won't submit to the occupation.
While some non-Jews have been held in administrative detention by Israel, their number has been very small and the jail-time symbolic, underscoring the discrimination against non-Jews in Israel-Palestine.
Israel does not seem to be indifferent to Adnan's fate, apparently out of concern about the reactions his death may provoke among Palestinians.
The Israeli High Court decided on 21 February to free Adnan two months from now, leaving open the question of whether he will survive until then or whether he will be immediately rearrested.
Al-Ahram Weekly
Israeli Strikes Destroy Tunnel, Injure 2 Palestinians in Gaza
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA - Israeli Strikes Destroy Tunnel, Injure 2 Palestinians in Gaza: RAFAH, February 26, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli warplanes Sunday launched a strike targeting a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah near the borderline between Gaza and Egypt, acorrding to witnesses.
They said the raid completely destroyed the tunnel and caused damage to the surrounding area. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, two Palestinians were injured late Saturday nights when Israeli F-16 warplanes shelled an area west of Rafah, causing severe damage to the targeted location.
They said the raid completely destroyed the tunnel and caused damage to the surrounding area. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile, two Palestinians were injured late Saturday nights when Israeli F-16 warplanes shelled an area west of Rafah, causing severe damage to the targeted location.
OCHA: Over 300 Administrative Detentions in Israeli Jails
JERUSALEM, February 26, 2012 (WAFA) - There are over 300 Palestinians being currently held under Israeli administrative detention, around 45% of them from February 2011, Sunday said the weekly report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA).
Violent clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians during protests resulting in around 40 injuries, said OCHA’s Protection of Civilians weekly report covering15-21 February 2012.
It said Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip injured 15 civilians, including three children, as well as caused damage to at least 15 houses, a hospital and a school.
In addition, the report featured long electricity blackouts of between eight to 16 hours per day due to the power outages throughout the Gaza Strip because of the insufficient fuel supplies to run the Gaza Power Plant, disrupting the daily life in Gaza.
The weekly report said the level of reported settler violence remained low, with five settler attacks against Palestinians and their property, including an incident where Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured an elderly Palestinian while he was grazing his livestock near Ramallah.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA - OCHA
(last night) Throwing Molotov cocktails and confrontations in Silwan
Jerusalem Center for Media – Exclusive – Mohammed Al-Zaghal -
Throwing Molotov cocktails and confrontations in Silwan
Confrontations broke out tonight in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque after throwing three firebombs at Beit Yonatan settlement in the neighborhood of Maragheh.
Our correspondent added that an infantry unit that tried to storm the village had been exposed to throw another Molotov cocktails and the clashes intensified after that in the village.
The confrontation stationed in Ein Al-Louza and Ein Silwan and the region witnessed an intensive presence of the occupation soldiers.
In a call to the center, a young man from neighborhood of Ras al-Amud confirmed the outbreak of clashes in the neighborhood near a mosque in the neighborhood and panorama roundabout.
Throwing Molotov cocktails and confrontations in Silwan
Clashes in Ram after murder a young man
Jerusalem Center for Media:-
Clashes in Ram after murder a young man:
Clashes broke out in Ram town to the north of occupied Jerusalem on Saturday after one of its young men was shot to death by the Israeli occupation police.
Our correspondent said that the strike as observed in mourning over the death of Tala’at Ramiya, 25, who was hit with bullets in his chest and abdomen during protests on Friday and left to bleed for a while before the policemen allowed an ambulance car to evacuate him.
He add that police forces fired live and rubber bullets in addition to teargas and sonic bombs at young men at the northern entrance to the town while the youths threw stones, empty bottles, and crude firebombs at the policemen in addition to placing burning tires and large stones on the roads to impede entry of police vehicles.
Clashes in Ram after murder a young man:
Israeli airstrikes hit south Gaza, no injuries
(MaanImages/File)
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli warplanes fired on two sites in in the southern Gaza Strip early Sunday, causing severe damage.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said there were no injuries in the raids.
Security officials in Gaza told Ma'an that Israeli jets hit a concrete production site west of Rafah, and an underground tunnel in al-Salam neighborhood east of the city. Both sites sustained severe damage, they said.
An Israeli army statement said the airstrikes hit a "weapon manufacturing site and a smuggling tunnel ... in response to the rockets fired at Israel over the weekend."
An army spokesman said a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel on Sunday morning after the airstrike, the seventh rocket to hit Israel since Friday. No injuries or damage were reported, he said.
The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees released statements on Friday and Saturday claiming the launch of projectiles into Israel, saying they were in response to Israel's violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians.
Early Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza City lightly injuring two Palestinian fighters.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said there were no injuries in the raids.
Security officials in Gaza told Ma'an that Israeli jets hit a concrete production site west of Rafah, and an underground tunnel in al-Salam neighborhood east of the city. Both sites sustained severe damage, they said.
An Israeli army statement said the airstrikes hit a "weapon manufacturing site and a smuggling tunnel ... in response to the rockets fired at Israel over the weekend."
An army spokesman said a rocket fired from Gaza landed in southern Israel on Sunday morning after the airstrike, the seventh rocket to hit Israel since Friday. No injuries or damage were reported, he said.
The military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees released statements on Friday and Saturday claiming the launch of projectiles into Israel, saying they were in response to Israel's violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians.
Early Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed Gaza City lightly injuring two Palestinian fighters.
Maan News Agency
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Soldiers Attack Anti-Wall Protest in Beit Ummar
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
HEBRON, February 25, 2012 (WAFA) - Israeli soldiers Saturday attacked the weekly non-violent demonstration against settlements and the Apartheid Wall in Beit Ummar, a town north of Hebron, said local activist.
Yousef Abu Maria, spokesman for the Popular Committee against the Wall in Beit Ummar, said Israeli soldiers fired smoke and sound grenades to disperse the protesters, as well as assaulted some participants with gun butts and sticks causing bruises and gas inhalation suffocation. All injuries were treated on the scene.
Participants in the protest condemned the Israeli authorities’ seizure of Palestinian-owned land for settlement expansion and the Israeli policy to prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their agricultural land.Detainee Shalabi Enters Her Eighth Day Of Hunger Strike
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
International Middle East Media Center
Female detainee, Hana Ash-Shalabi, entered her eighth day of open-ended hunger strike at her cell at the Ha-Sharon Israeli prison, protesting her illegal detention and the administrative detention order served against her without charges.
Ash-Shalabi, 28, from Jenin in the northern West Bank, is the first female detainee who was release under the Shalit prisoner-swap deal to be re-arrested by the army. She was taken prisoner on February 16, 2012, and was ordered under Administrative Detention for six months.
She said that she will continue her strike until an order for her release is issued, similar to the case of detainee Adnan Khader who carried out a 66-day hunger strike until Israel pledged to release him in April. He had been near death, facing possible organ failure at an Israeli prison hospital.
Atalla Abu As-Sabah, Minister of Detainees at the Hamas-led government in Gaza, stated that Shalabi’s health condition is deteriorating, and that she is currently in solitary confinement, while the Israeli Prison Administration is threatening to transfer her to an Israeli prison for female prisoners held on criminal charges.
He voiced an appeal to the Egyptian security chief, Morad As-Sufi, to intervene in order to stop the illegal Israeli policy of re-arresting the detainees who were release under the Shalit deal. Officials at Egypt’s Intelligence Services played an essential role in negotiating, finalizing, and implementing the swap-deal.
It is worth mentioning that Shalabi’s parents, both 67 years old, also declared hunger-strike until they receive news about their daughter, the Palestinian Information Center reported. Shalabi spent 2.5 years in detention before she was release under the swap-deal.
International Middle East Media Center
Al-Azhar protesters chant for liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Azhar protesters chant for liberation of Al-Aqsa Mosque | Egypt Independent: Prev Next Pause Play
Around 3,000 worshipers at Al-Azhar Mosque broke out into chants supporting the liberation of Jerusalem from Israeli control, as Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip took to the podium to speak after Friday prayers.
The protesters could be heard chanting, “We sacrifice our blood and souls for Al-Aqsa [Mosque in Jerusalem].”
Ismail Haniyeh, the disputed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority who is currently on a visit to Cairo, told worshipers that despite the suffering of the Palestinian people ― including torture, destruction and death ― they are “determined not to recognize the Zionist entity [Israel] whatever the cost,” according to the Al-Wafd newspaper's website.
The worshipers held up banners in support of the Palestinian fight against Israel, such as, “The people want to liberate Palestine.”
Haniyeh assured those in attendance that Hamas will continue to resist Israeli occupation.
Those chanting also called for something to be done to end the Syrian military's crackdown on its own civilians. The Hamas leader saluted the “great people of Syria” for their struggle for freedom and rights that had been taken from them.
He also congratulated all the nations of the Arab Spring, and called for continued support for citizens of these countries until they achieve their freedom, according to the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper's website.
The Jerusalem committees of both the Arab Doctors Union and the World Federation of Muslim Scientists, as well as other political forces, called last week for a demonstration at Al-Azhar Mosque to support saving Al-Aqsa Mosque and support the Syrian people.
News reports on Friday said that Palestinians and Israeli security forces were fighting around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an important religious site for Muslims. Palestinian youths throwing rocks and Israeli soldiers firing tear gas have clashed around the site in recent days amid reports that Israeli authorities had allowed Jewish extremists in to incite Palestinians, according to the US news website CNN.
- Sent using Google Toolbar
Around 3,000 worshipers at Al-Azhar Mosque broke out into chants supporting the liberation of Jerusalem from Israeli control, as Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip took to the podium to speak after Friday prayers.
The protesters could be heard chanting, “We sacrifice our blood and souls for Al-Aqsa [Mosque in Jerusalem].”
Ismail Haniyeh, the disputed prime minister of the Palestinian Authority who is currently on a visit to Cairo, told worshipers that despite the suffering of the Palestinian people ― including torture, destruction and death ― they are “determined not to recognize the Zionist entity [Israel] whatever the cost,” according to the Al-Wafd newspaper's website.
The worshipers held up banners in support of the Palestinian fight against Israel, such as, “The people want to liberate Palestine.”
Haniyeh assured those in attendance that Hamas will continue to resist Israeli occupation.
Those chanting also called for something to be done to end the Syrian military's crackdown on its own civilians. The Hamas leader saluted the “great people of Syria” for their struggle for freedom and rights that had been taken from them.
He also congratulated all the nations of the Arab Spring, and called for continued support for citizens of these countries until they achieve their freedom, according to the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper's website.
The Jerusalem committees of both the Arab Doctors Union and the World Federation of Muslim Scientists, as well as other political forces, called last week for a demonstration at Al-Azhar Mosque to support saving Al-Aqsa Mosque and support the Syrian people.
News reports on Friday said that Palestinians and Israeli security forces were fighting around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, an important religious site for Muslims. Palestinian youths throwing rocks and Israeli soldiers firing tear gas have clashed around the site in recent days amid reports that Israeli authorities had allowed Jewish extremists in to incite Palestinians, according to the US news website CNN.
- Sent using Google Toolbar
Friday, February 24, 2012
Violent clashes in the Aqsa plazas between worshipers and the IOF
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Violent clashes took place Friday after the noon prayers between Palestinian worshippers and IOF troops who stormed the Aqsa Mosque plazas after the prayers.
Eyewitnesses said that the IOF troops raided the Mosque after the end of the Friday prayers resulting in the clashes with the worshippers. The IOF troops fired teargas canisters and stun grenades and Palestinian worshippers responded with stones.
The IOF restricted entry to the Aqsa Mosque barring young Palestinians from attending the prayers there.
Israeli media outlets said that the IOF was taking strict measures around the mosque since Friday morning.
Over the past few days, extremist Jewish settlers have escalated their attacks against Muslim and Christian holy places in the city.Violent clashes in the Aqsa plazas between worshipers and the IOF
(Last night!) Two Palestinians wounded in Israeli occupation airstrike
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Palestinians were wounded late Thursday evening in an Israeli occupation airstrike against Gaza City.
Palestinian sources said that an Israeli occupation drone, late Thursday evening, fired at least one missile at a group of Palestinians near the car market in Zaitoun suburb south east of Gaza City, wounding two Palestinians.
Adham Abu Selmeyya, spokesman for the emergency services in Gaza, stated that two wounded people were taken from car market area in Zaitoun suburb after being moderately wounded in an Israeli occupation airstrike.Two Palestinians wounded in Israeli occupation airstrike
IOF arrested 40 Palestinians following Aqsa confrontations
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation police revealed that they arrested dozens of Palestinian youth over the past few days on the pretext of their participation in defending the Aqsa Mosque against extremist Jewish settlers who stormed the Aqsa plazas during the week.
The Hebrew radio quoted police sources that the Israeli occupation police arrested more than 40 Palestinians who hail from Jerusalem and 1948-occupied Palestinian areas accusing them of throwing stones at IOF troops at Maghareba gate, one of the main gates of the Aqsa Mosque, during confrontations that took place between Palestinian worshippers and extremist Jewish settlers who attempted to storm the mosque.
There were many calls made for Palestinians in Jerusalem and 1948-occupied areas to keep regular presence at the Aqsa Mosque to protect against escalating Israeli aggressions against it and against other Muslim and Christian holy places in the holy city.
Al-Quds International Institution has earlier warned that the coming few weeks are expected to witness an escalation in settler attacks against the holy shrine.IOF arrested 40 Palestinians following Aqsa confrontations
PCHR Weekly Report: 25 Palestinians wounded, 21 abducted in 74 Israeli incursions
by Saed Bannoura - 1 of International Middle East Media Center Editorial Group
For the full text of the report, click on the link below:
International Middle East Media Center:
For the full text of the report, click on the link below:
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_...d=183
In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 16 – 22 Feb. 2012, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights found that 25 civilians were wounded this week, and 21 abducted in 74 incursions by the Israeli military into Palestinian territory.
Protesters in Nabi Saleh (PCHR photo)
Israeli forces have continued bombardments and shootings in the Gaza Strip, including 5 airstrikes and 9 missiles that wounded 14 civilians, including 2 women and 3 children. A metal workshop was destroyed and several houses and civilian establishments were damaged.
Israeli forces have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. 7 protesters, including an Israeli peace activist, were wounded. 5 of the wounded were participating in Kafr Qaddoum protest and 2 of them were participating in al-Nabi Saleh protest.
4 protesters were wounded in front of 'Ofer prison, southwest of Ramallah, in a protest in support of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan.
Israeli attacks in the West Bank:
Israeli forces conducted 74 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they abducted 21 Palestinians in the West Bank.
The abducted Palestinians include 4 Palestinians who were released from Israeli jails in the recent prisoner swap, and including the wife and daughter of a Palestinian who was released from Israeli jail in the recent prisoner swap and who was abducted again during the reporting period.
Also this week in the West Bank, Israeli forces wounded 11 protesters, including an Israeli peace activist. Seven of the Palestinians wounded in the West Bank were wounded in peaceful protests of the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities while 4 Palestinians were wounded in peaceful demonstrations organized in support of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan. Two were wounded in the weekly protest in al-Nabi Saleh on 17 February 2012, and 5 wounded in the weekly protest in Kafr Qaddoum also on 17 February. Additionally, dozens of protesters suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Israeli forces raided houses of members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the office of PLC members of Hamas Change and Reform Bloc.
Israeli forces abducted 3 Palestinians at checkpoints in the West Bank.
On Monday, 20 February, at approximately 12:50, an Israeli forces undercover unit kidnapped Umar Khaled Abu Rweis, 23, from al-Am'ari refugee camp, west of al-Bireh. The members of the undercover unit severely beat Abu Rweis while transferring him to Qalandia checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, and then to an unknown destination. According to investigations made by PCHR, at approximately 12:50, an Israeli forces undercover unit consisting of five armed members traveling in two vehicles, a white Mercedes bus and a white lorry, with Palestinian registration plates, stopped near the main entrance of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in al-Bireh on the main road between Ramallah and Jerusalem. Then the white Mercedes bus parked in front of PRCS main gate. Abu Rweis who works as a guard at PRCS walked to the driver to tell him that he was not allowed to park in front of the gate. At that moment, all the five armed members of the undercover unit stepped down and kidnapped Abu Rweis at gunpoint. They took him to the bus and drove to Qalandia checkpoint. They severely beat Abu Rweis with their hands, legs and gun butts throughout the body.
The Israeli Municipality's District Committee for Planning and Building in Jerusalem approved a plan to construct a large building in the yard of the al-Buraq Wall (the Western Wall) opposite to the western wall of the al-Aqsa Mosque and near the Mughrabi Gate Bridge. The building will be called "Beit Halibah". According to the plan, the building area is estimated at approximately 3,700 meters squared, consists of three floors and two underground floors. The building was prepared for use by Jewish settlers and foreign tourists, as well as an information center and exhibition grounds.
During the reporting period, many peaceful demonstrations were organized in support of and in solidarity with Khader Adnan , the Palestinian prisoner who has been holding an open-ended hunger strike in an Israeli jail since 17 December 2011. Israeli forces used excessive force against participants in these demonstrations which were called for by the student movement in Birzeit University, in front of "Ofer" prison, southwest of Ramallah. As a result, 4 Palestinian civilians were wounded.
At approximately 13:00 on Tuesday, 21 February 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails gathered to organize a peaceful demonstration in support of the Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails Khader Adnan . The demonstration was called for by the student movement in Birzeit University. The demonstrators headed to "Ofer" prison in the southwest of Ramallah, and then they walked towards the gate of the prison. Israeli forces closed the gate. Before the demonstrators arrived at the gate, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets, metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the demonstrators who threw stones at Israeli forces. As a result, 4 students from Birzeit University were wounded. The wounded students were transferred to Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah for treatment. Additionally, many participants suffered from tear gas inhalation including Nawal Jamil Abdul Hamid, 52. Israeli forces also abducted Nidal Ahmed Abu 'Ein, 20, and Mahmoud Ghasan Dar al-Sheikh, 22, and took them to "Ofer" prison.
Israeli forces have established checkpoints in and around Jerusalem, severely restricting Palestinian access to the city. Civilians are frequently prevented from praying in the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
There are approximately 585 permanent roadblocks, and manned and unmanned checkpoints across the West Bank.
At least 65% of the main roads that lead to 18 Palestinian communities in the West Bank are closed or fully controlled by Israeli forces.
There are approximately 500 kilometers of restricted roads across the West Bank. In addition, approximately one third of the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, is inaccessible to Palestinians without permits issued by Israeli forces. Such permits are extremely difficult to obtain.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip:
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes launched 5 airstrikes at civilian targets and training sites used by groups of the Palestinian resistance. In these airstrikes, Israeli forces fired 9 missiles. Additionally, Israeli forces fired 2 artillery shells at a site of the Palestinian National Security Service. As a result, 14 Palestinians, including 2 women and 3 children, sustained bruises and wounds by shrapnel wounds. Additionally, the destructions and damages were caused to the targeted places and their surroundings.
On Thursday, 16 February, at approximately 22:10, Israeli forces an Israeli forces warplane fired two missiles at Zuhdi Ashor & Sons Metal Workshop, east of al-Zaytoon headquarters in the east of Gaza City, which is owned by Eyad Zuhdi Rashad Ashour, 38. As a result, the workshop, which measures 600 meters square, was totally destroyed. The windows of the house of Eyad Zuhdi Rashad Ashour which is built on top of the workshop were crushed as well. Additionally, Mohammed Salim Ramadan Ashour, 27, sustained light wounds.
Israeli forces abducted 2 Palestinians in the south of the Gaza Strip while they were getting ready to hunt birds.
Israeli forces detained a Palestinian patient at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for several hours as he was on his way to al-Maqased hospital for treatment.
Israeli Annexation Wall:
When completed, the illegal annexation wall will stretch for 724 kilometers around the West Bank, further isolating the entire population. 350 kilometers of the wall have already been constructed. Approximately 99% of the wall has been constructed inside the West Bank itself, confiscating more Palestinian land.
During the reporting period, Israeli forces used excessive force against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians, international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest to the construction of the Wall and settlement activities in the West Bank, and in protest to the establishment of a buffer zone in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces attacks on peaceful demonstrations resulted in wounding 7 civilians, including an Israeli peace activist. Additionally, dozens of Palestinian civilians and human rights defenders participating in peaceful demonstrations suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Following the Friday Prayer on 17 February 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians, international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Bil'in village, west of Ramallah, protesting the construction of the annexation wall, marking the seventh anniversary of the popular resistance in Bil'in and in support of Khader Adnan, the Palestinian prisoner who has been holding an open-ended hunger strike in an Israeli jail. They raised the Palestinian flag and the photos of the PLC member in Israeli jails Marwan al-Barghouthi and Khader Adnan. They called for ending the political division and for releasing all the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. They then moved towards areas of Palestinian land, which the Israeli High Court ordered to be returned to their Palestinian owners. Israeli soldiers stationed in the area fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, a number of Palestinians sustained bruises and suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Also following the Friday Prayer, on 17 February 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians, international and human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Ni'lin village, west of Ramallah, in protest against the construction of the annexation wall and in support of the Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan. They chanted slogans calling for Palestinian reconciliation, adherence to the Palestinian inalienable rights and resistance of the occupation. They clashed with Israeli troops positioned near the annexation wall. Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at demonstrators. As a result, a number of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Also following the Friday prayer on 17 February 2012, dozens of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders gathered in the center of al-Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah, to start the weekly peaceful protest against the construction of the annexation wall and settlement activities and in support of the Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan. They raised the Palestinian flag and the photos of Palestinian Prisoner Khader Adnan and other prisoners. The protesters walked towards the gate erected by Israeli forces near the entrance of the village and leading to Palestinian lands that Israeli settlers from the nearby "Halmish" settlement are trying to seize. Israeli soldiers, who had been extensively deployed in the area and near all the entrances of the village since the morning, began to confront the protesters who wanted to walk towards the affected lands. Israeli soldiers fired live and rubber-coated bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the protesters. As a result, 2 Palestinians (PCHR maintains their names) sustained wounds. In addition, dozens of Palestinian civilians and human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Also following the Friday Prayer, at approximately 12:45 on the same day, dozens of Palestinian civilians, international and Israeli human rights defenders organized a peaceful demonstration in Kafr Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilya, in protest against closing the eastern entrance of the village. The demonstrators headed towards that entrance. Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 5 demonstrators including an Israeli peace activist, were wounded. (PCHR) maintains of the names of the wounded.
At approximately 12:30 on Tuesday, 21 February 2012, Israeli forces positioned in watchtowers at the border fence near Beit Hanou (Erez) crossing, north of the Gaza Strip, fired at a group of demonstrators and Palestinian and international activists in the vicinity of the crossing. The demonstration was comprised of approximately 80 protestors, including 63 international activists, 10 journalists and representatives of Palestinian resistance groups. When they approached to a distance of 150 meters from the border, Israeli forces opened fire, but no injuries were reported.
Saber al-Za'neen, Coordinator of the Local Initiative in Beit Hanoun and the supervisor of the demonstration, said that at approximately 11:30 on the said day, a demonstration headed to the northern area. When they reached the cement wall, at approximately 12:30, an activist planted the Palestinians flag. In response to this act the Israeli soldiers positioned in the watchtower opened fire. The demonstrators were terrorized and fled out of the area. No injuries were reported.
Recommendations to the international community:
Due to the number and severity of Israeli human rights violations this week, the PCHR made several recommendations to the international community. Among these were a recommendation that the international community pressure Israel to lift the severe restrictions imposed by the Israeli government and its occupation forces on access for international organizations to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The PCHR reiterates that any political settlement not based on international human rights law and humanitarian law cannot lead to a peaceful and just solution of the Palestinian question. Rather, such an arrangement can only lead to further suffering and instability in the region. Any peace process or agreement must be based on respect for international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law.
International Middle East Media Center:
Clashes Took Place At The Al-Aqsa Mosque
International Middle East Media Center
by Saed Bannoura
by Saed Bannoura
Palestinian sources reported Friday that clashes took place between dozens of youths at the Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and Israeli soldiers who fired gas bombs at them leading to several injuries. The clashes took place following the Friday noon prayers at the mosque.
Eyewitnesses reported that the youth hurled stones at the soldiers who were extensively deployed in the area preventing hundreds from entering the mosque. The soldiers fired gas bombs and concussion grenades; several residents suffocated after inhaling gas fired by the army.
The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage reported that dozens of soldiers broke into the area of the main mosque, Al Masjid Al-Qibli, and attacked dozens of protestors causing several injuries and leading to clashes.
The Foundation added that undercover forces of the Israeli army were also deployed on the rooftop of the Al-Qibli mosque and chased dozens of protestors.
It is worth mentioning that thousands of Palestinians headed to the Al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers amidst threats by Israeli extremists to break into the mosque “to prove ownership” according to the extremists.
Israel also intensified its military and security arrangement in occupied East Jerusalem and around the Al-Aqsa mosque, and prevented hundreds from reaching it.
Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding area attacked 100 times during 2011
Jerusalem Center for Media – Middle East Monitor -
Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding area attacked 100 times during 2011
A study conducted by Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage in Israel has revealed that Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding area has been subjected to around 100 attacks and violations in 2011 alone. The study noted that the attacks varied between physical attacks and plots which pose threats to the sanctity and security of the mosque. The study also documented provocative statements constituting incitement by Israelis to damage the third holiest site in the Muslim world.
The report claims that around 5,000 Israelis, including Jewish settlers and members of other extremist groups, stormed into Al-Aqsa in 2011. The intruders performed Talmudic rituals, sometimes in public, other times in secret, including carrying parts of the Torah inside the mosque.
There has also been an escalation in the frequency of incursions by Israeli intelligence officers and political and official figures into Al-Aqsa Mosque.
More than 200,000 tourists were granted admittance to the mosque, sometimes violating its sanctity by wearing scanty clothing.
Al-Aqsa has witnessed a campaign of unprecedented military presence; strict measures preventing Muslims from going to the mosque; and acts aimed at decreasing the continuous Muslim presence in the Noble Sanctuary, through banning orders and limiting entry to certain age groups. The Israeli Occupation Authorities also prevented 3.7 million Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from reaching Occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque to conduct acts of worship therein.
While the Israelis have blocked essential maintenance and reconstruction within the mosque compound, Jewish organisations’ calls for the mosque to be destroyed and a temple to be built in its place have increased in number. The year 2011 saw a campaign of excavations and the construction of long, interlinked tunnels underneath Al Aqsa and the surrounding area in all directions. The tunnels are to have “Jewish synagogues and Judaisation centres”. What has been notable about the excavations last year is that they have been more overt, unlike previous years.
Israeli efforts to Judaise the area have included work at the Muslim-owned Buraq (“Wailing”) Wall and the proposed demolition of the historic Magharba Gate Bridge. The report notes that the latter was saved, temporarily at least, by the effects of the Arab Spring and concerns raised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has plans to transform the area around Al-Aqsa into so-called “Talmudic gardens”, which will incorporate tourist centres and commercial shopping malls. All of this is in addition to the increasing number of illegal Jewish settlers and settlements in districts such as Ras Al-Amoud.
The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage has issued a warning that the Israeli Occupation Authorities could seek to capitalise on the developments of the Arab Spring so as to damage Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sanctuary in 2012. Intelligence reports, it says, predict serious attacks against Al-Aqsa by extremist Jews. Such predictions follow statements by former Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Member Avraham Burg that Al-Aqsa will be demolished or torched while Netanyahu is in office; and this, he claimed, will be followed by the establishment of the so-called Third Temple. In the light of these serious threats to the Holy Mosque, the Foundation called on Muslims and Arabs to put Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa at the top of their priorities for action.
Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding area attacked 100 times during 2011
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Army Orders Construction on Houses to Stop
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
HEBRON, February 23, 2012 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Thursday issued notices to stop construction work on eight Palestinian houses in the Hebron area village of Surif as a prelude to demolish them under the pretext they were built without permit, according to the Land Research Center (LCR).
A field researcher at the center said that Israeli forces along with officers from the Civil Administration, the Israeli military government’s arm in the West Bank, threw the notices near the house before leaving the village.
The notices said there will be a court hearing February 29 to look into what it called “demolition of a construction and turning it back to its previous state.”
Owners said the houses were inhabited and were built 10 years ago.
HEBRON, February 23, 2012 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Thursday issued notices to stop construction work on eight Palestinian houses in the Hebron area village of Surif as a prelude to demolish them under the pretext they were built without permit, according to the Land Research Center (LCR).
A field researcher at the center said that Israeli forces along with officers from the Civil Administration, the Israeli military government’s arm in the West Bank, threw the notices near the house before leaving the village.
The notices said there will be a court hearing February 29 to look into what it called “demolition of a construction and turning it back to its previous state.”
Owners said the houses were inhabited and were built 10 years ago.
Israeli Forces Demolish House, Water Wells
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
HEBRON, February 23, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday demolished a Palestinian house and two water wells in Beit Ula, a town northwest of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the popular committee against the wall, Isa al-Omla, told WAFA that a large Israeli force stormed the town and demolished a 50-square-meter house, razing the land around it in addition to two water wells.
Al-Omla called upon the international community to promptly move to stop the Israeli measures against Palestinians.
He also called upon the international human rights organizations to condemn the Israeli attacks against the town’s residents which aim to empty the land as prelude to seize it.
HEBRON, February 23, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Thursday demolished a Palestinian house and two water wells in Beit Ula, a town northwest of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the popular committee against the wall, Isa al-Omla, told WAFA that a large Israeli force stormed the town and demolished a 50-square-meter house, razing the land around it in addition to two water wells.
Al-Omla called upon the international community to promptly move to stop the Israeli measures against Palestinians.
He also called upon the international human rights organizations to condemn the Israeli attacks against the town’s residents which aim to empty the land as prelude to seize it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Israeli Army keeps Iron Dome defense system in southern Israel
KUNA
GAZA, Feb 22- The Israeli Army decided to keep the 'Iron Dome' mobile air defense system of short-range missiles interception in southern Israel. This is in anticipation of deterioration of the security situation in Gaza Strip, Radio Israel quoted a spokesman of the Army as saying on Wednesday morning.
This defense system was to be transferred to Tel Aviv, specifically 'Gush Dan' in central Israel, as a part of army training to test the performance of the Dome in this densely populated region, he stated.
Southern Israel was attacked last week by various missiles launched from Gaza Strip, and the security services in Israel are taking all needed measures to face those continuous attacks, the spokesman affirmed.
A large number of antimissile batteries will be deployed across the country and especially in the most frequently attacked areas, to enhance readiness for emergencies, Israeli Army announced.
Last April, Israel announced success of the Iron Dome in facing attacks by Grad rockets launched from the Strip towards Beer Sheva or Be'er Al-Sabe', Ashkelon, and Ashdod.
This army system has three platforms, distributed in Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, and Haifa in northern Israel. Israel announced a desire to set up 10 to 15 additional firing units as part of the Iron Dome.
Each missile interception comes to a cost of USD 40,000, compared to just hundreds of dollars for each Palestinian missile launched.
The Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system in development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells. The system was created as a defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel's civilian population on its northern and southern borders. It is designed to intercept very short-range threats up to 70 kilometers in all-weather situations.(
GAZA, Feb 22- The Israeli Army decided to keep the 'Iron Dome' mobile air defense system of short-range missiles interception in southern Israel. This is in anticipation of deterioration of the security situation in Gaza Strip, Radio Israel quoted a spokesman of the Army as saying on Wednesday morning.
This defense system was to be transferred to Tel Aviv, specifically 'Gush Dan' in central Israel, as a part of army training to test the performance of the Dome in this densely populated region, he stated.
Southern Israel was attacked last week by various missiles launched from Gaza Strip, and the security services in Israel are taking all needed measures to face those continuous attacks, the spokesman affirmed.
A large number of antimissile batteries will be deployed across the country and especially in the most frequently attacked areas, to enhance readiness for emergencies, Israeli Army announced.
Last April, Israel announced success of the Iron Dome in facing attacks by Grad rockets launched from the Strip towards Beer Sheva or Be'er Al-Sabe', Ashkelon, and Ashdod.
This army system has three platforms, distributed in Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, and Haifa in northern Israel. Israel announced a desire to set up 10 to 15 additional firing units as part of the Iron Dome.
Each missile interception comes to a cost of USD 40,000, compared to just hundreds of dollars for each Palestinian missile launched.
The Iron Dome is a mobile air defense system in development by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems designed to intercept short-range rockets and artillery shells. The system was created as a defensive countermeasure to the rocket threat against Israel's civilian population on its northern and southern borders. It is designed to intercept very short-range threats up to 70 kilometers in all-weather situations.(
UN Deplores Israeli Decision to Expand Settlement
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
JERUSALEM, February 22, 2012 (WAFA) – The United Nations said Wednesday that it deplores an Israeli decision to build 500 new housing units in Shilo settlement, north of Ramallah.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said in a statement that Israel’s decision “to approve a large number of new units deep inside the occupied Palestinian territory in the settlement of Shilo and retroactively legitimize hundreds in a nearby outpost is deplorable and moves us further away from the goal of a two-state solution.”
He said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during his recent visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory that “settlement activity is illegal, contrary to Israel’s obligations under the Road Map and will not be recognized by the international community.”
JERUSALEM, February 22, 2012 (WAFA) – The United Nations said Wednesday that it deplores an Israeli decision to build 500 new housing units in Shilo settlement, north of Ramallah.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said in a statement that Israel’s decision “to approve a large number of new units deep inside the occupied Palestinian territory in the settlement of Shilo and retroactively legitimize hundreds in a nearby outpost is deplorable and moves us further away from the goal of a two-state solution.”
He said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during his recent visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory that “settlement activity is illegal, contrary to Israel’s obligations under the Road Map and will not be recognized by the international community.”
Israeli Prison's Authority Move 120 Prisoners To Unknown Location
by George Rishmawi - IMEMC & Agencies 
International Middle East Media Center:
One day after the deal between the Palestinian Prisoner Khader Adnan who ended his hunger-strike after 66 days, the Israeli prisons' administration transferred approximately 120 prisoners from Negev Desert Prison to an unknown location.
A press statement issued by the prisoners published by the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, said that 120 prisoners were transferred without allowing them to take their belongings after two special military forces broke into the prison with weapons and dogs.
The prisoners' statement reads "there was no justification for the prisons' administration.”
They also said that the prisons' administration informed the prisoners that it would cancel all previous agreements with them, and that it would escalate the procedures against them.
It is still unclear whether this Israeli measure is related to Adnan's deal in which Israel agreed to release him on April 17, without renewing his administrative detention.
International Middle East Media Center:
11 soldiers and 15 extremist Zionist storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Jerusalem Center for Media – Rasim Abdel Wahed – Asmaa Thaher
11 Zionist soldiers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque today morning with the military uniforms (without weapons) and a group of extremists Jewish, from the Mughrabi Gate, accompanied by heavy security from the elements of the units of occupation army.
According to our correspondent that the soldiers have organized in a tour with a tour guide in the courtyards of the holy mosque, while another group of extremists Jewish attended a separate tour amid a wide spread of the elements of occupation police in the courtyards of the mosque.
On the other hand, the occupation police force stationed at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque prevented the entry of young Jerusalemites to the mosque and held a large number of ID cards until they got out of the mosque.
At the same time, Jerusalemites in the old town went to the holy mosque in the atmosphere of tense and is likely to escalate in light of the insistence of the occupation to target the al-Aqsa mosque.
11 soldiers and 15 extremist Zionist storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israel Notifies Farmers it Plans to Seize their Land
HEBRON, February 22, 2012 (WAFA) - The Israeli authorities Wednesday informed Palestinian farmers from Beit Ula, a town northwest of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, of its intention to take over about 20 dunums of their land, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the popular committee against the wall, Isa al-Omla, told WAFA that farmers found notices on their land put there by the Israeli authorities informing them that they should leave their land and remove everything on it because it will soon be expropriated under the pretext that the land is state land.
The notices, he said, gave the farmers 45 days to file a complaint at Ofer military camp, near Ramallah, or else the army would evict them by force and force them to pay costs of their eviction.
One of the land owners, Nader al-Omla said that the Israeli authorities aim to force Palestinian farmers to leave their land in order to seize it for the benefit of expanding the Apartheid Wall and prevent urban expansion.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Call for solidarity: Submit your photos for the liberation of Shuhada street
Call for solidarity: Submit your photos for the liberation of Shuhada street
Updated on February 22, 2012
Posted under: Press Releases
20 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Beginning this week local organizers in Al Khalil (Hebron) and Youth Against Settlements have organized a series of events to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the re-opening of Shuhada Street, once the commercial heart of Al Khalil, now off limits to locals, Palestinians in general, and even international supporters following the massacre that claimed 29 Palestinian lives.
While one street may seem insignificant or small, the segregation, economic strangulation, violence, and oppression that Shuhada Street suffers is a microcosm of Zionist policy. As extremist settlers continue to harass and violently attack Palestinians and internationals, and the Golani Brigade continues to show no accountability or concern for international law, it is all the more essential that this street be the symbolic avenue of freedom for Palestinians.
The residents of Al Khalil, Palestinian activists, and International Solidarity Movement call on the international community to display their support in a project that will showcase international solidarity for the opening of Shuhada Street.
As such we ask that the international community submits a photo of solidarity to International Solidarity Movement. This photo will be of a major street or landmark of your hometown with a display or sign of solidarity for Shuhada Street. Diversity in support for human rights can humanize the victims of Zionist oppression in Al Khalil and elsewhere.
Get creative with your slogans and locations! Please note that multiple photos from the same location will not all be published, so local organizing in deciding a location in your community is suggested, or the ISM media team will select 1 photo from each location.
In order to participate, please submit a photo to palreportskhalil@gmail.com and keep in mind the following guidelines:
- In the subject line of your email please be sure to write “Open Shuhada Street Campaign”
- Photos should not be a maximum of 1 MB
- A poster, sign, clothing or any other visual statement supporting the opening of Shuhada Street should be visible in the photo along with the landmark or major street
- It is not necessary for individuals to be a part of the picture, as your privacy is honored, however if individuals can please indicate their names (if they wish to be identified)
- Please include a location of the photo (example: Hollywood sign, Hollywood, California) in the email
- Include the date when the photograph was taken in the email
- If the visual is written in a language other than English, please write the statement in the body of the email in order to be translated.
- Photos are original and not edited or borrowed from another entity
- Please submit photos no later than February 28th
ISM Palestine looks forward to receiving your photographs. Stay tuned for a publication on April 1st on palsolidarity.org
Posted under: Press Releases
#Solidarity : In court 2Day (another administrative detainee) WALID HANATSHEH (ABU RASS)
Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association - ADDAMEER - WALID HANATSHEH (ABU RASS)
ARREST
WALID HANATSHEH (ABU RASS)
“Administrative detention has a beginning but doesn’t have an end.” -Bayan, Walid’s wife
Date of Birth: 1 January 1969
Place of residence: Ramallah
Marital status: Married with two daughters
Occupation:Finance and Administration Manager for the Health Work Committees (HWC)
Date of arrest: 22 November 2011
Place of detention: Ofer
Number of administrative detention orders: 1
Expected end of current detention order: 22 May 2012
Click here to view this profile as a PDF.
Walid Hanatsheh is a human rights defender who is currently in administrative detention. In his work as Finance and Administration Manager for the Health Work Committees (HWC), one of the largest community health service providers in the occupied Palestinian territory, Walid helps to provide necessary healthcare to over 500,000 beneficiaries.
ARREST
Walid was arrested on 22 November 2011, when Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) raided his home at 1:30 in the morning. A large group of soldiers, accompanied by an intelligence officer and another man wearing a mask, arrived at Walid’s building and surrounded it completely. They used black duct tape to cover the peepholes of all the apartments in the building, before knocking loudly on his door and entering his house. Twenty soldiers searched the house while the intelligence officer began to interrogate Walid. He was then detained without being given any reason for his arrest. This arrest is his fourth arrest by the IOF.
ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION
Walid was issued an administrative detention order for 6 months on 30 November 2011. As with all other administrative detainees, Walid’s detention is based on secret information collected by Israeli authorities and available to the military judge but not to the detainee or his lawyer. This practice violates international humanitarian law, which permits some limited use of administrative detention in emergency situations, but requires that the authorities follow basic rules for detention, including a fair hearing at which the detainee can challenge the reasons for his or her detention. These minimum rules of due process have been clearly violated in Walid’s case, leaving him without any legitimate means to defend himself.
The confirmation hearing for Walid’s administrative detention took place in two phases. In the first session, the military judge allowed Walid and his lawyer to be present in court with the prosecution. The second session was a closed session, during which Walid and his lawyer were not allowed to be present while the judge read the classified material on which his administrative detention is supposedly based. The judge claimed that this material contains trusted information that Walid is an activist in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and that administrative detention is the “only way to prevent the danger posed by the detainee.” The judge referenced Walid’s previous administrative detentions, which were also under the claim that he was active in the PFLP.
When the judge confirmed his administrative detention order on 1 December, Walid’s lawyer filed an appeal, emphasizing that Walid is an employee in a humanitarian institution providing necessary medical services to many individuals and that his detention negatively affects his work and beneficiaries. He noted that Walid’s previous arrests were also all based on classified material and vague reasoning and that there was never any proof or official charges made regarding his alleged PFLP activity. The appeal was rejected by the judge on 15 January 2012.
Addameer believes that Walid’s detention is also connected to his work with the HWC and their support of the prisoners’ hunger strike launched on 27 September. The HWC actively coordinated solidarity events and other support of the prisoners during their 22-day hunger strike. Furthermore, as the hunger strike was initially launched by PFLP members in prison, this affiliation may cast light on why Walid has been accused by the military judge of being active in the PFLP. Walid’s case reflects the policy of arbitrary detention employed by Israeli authorities, and particularly the use of administrative detention as punishment for individuals when there is not sufficient evidence for an indictment.
PREVIOUS ARRESTS
Walid has been consistently targeted for arrest and administrative detention by Israeli authorities. He was first detained in 1994, when he was interrogated for 30 days before being released.
His next arrest occurred on 18 May 2002 and he was subsequently held for three and a half years in administrative detention. On 27 June 2005, the military judge decided to cancel his administrative detention order, which was for 5 months at that time, but gave the prosecution 72 hours to object to the cancellation. The prosecution then submitted an appeal to the military appeals court, which was approved and the order was not cancelled. Walid’s lawyer, Sahar Francis, submitted a petition to the Israeli High Court against this decision. In the General Prosecutor’s reply to the petition, he stated that Israeli authorities were already planning on extending his administrative detention. He suggested that Walid be deported for two years as an alternative to his detention. Walid, his family and Addameer strongly opposed this proposal. The petition was dismissed by the High Court and Walid received a renewed administrative detention order for three months. Walid’s lawyer filed an appeal, which was refused, and followed up with another petition to the Israeli High Court to release him. The High Court announced that there would not be another renewal of his administrative detention order after December, so the petition was pulled. Walid was finally released on 21 December 2005. Walid’s case again highlights the liberal use of administrative detention against Palestinians, wherein Israeli authorities claimed he was enough of a “security risk” to keep him in administrative detention in September, but then released him three months later.
Walid was arrested for the third time in 2009. From 12 January 2009 to 10 January 2010, Walid was again held in administrative detention.
WALID’S FAMILY
Walid’s continuous detention has been extremely difficult for his wife, Bayan, and their two daughters. His wife has stated that she believes administrative detention slowly kills detainees and their families by separating and thus destroying them. She adds that his family cannot make any future plans because of his frequent detention. His daughters, Mais, 13, and Malak, 4, constantly ask why their father is never home and why he does not pick them up from school like the other kids. His frequent arrests have prevented the family from being together during the most significant events in their lives. When Walid was in prison in 2002, his wife became seriously ill. Walid’s lawyer used the medical reports in court so that he might be released to be with his wife during her illness, but the Israeli judge rejected the motion, stating, “The lives of the Israeli public are more important than Waleed’s life or his wife’s life.”
Walid’s wife and daughters have been able to visit him once since his detention in Ofer. His wife recalled of the visit, “Before we went I prepared my daughters for what it was going to be like. I told them that they were going to see him behind a glass barrier. During the visit Malak kept kissing her father through the glass barrier. The Prison Administration refused to let her in to see her father without a barrier, claiming that they had a different day specified for children under the age of six to get in.” As with all other family visits, Walid’s family can only visit for 45 minutes and must speak with him by phone. Often the volume is too low, making it difficult to hear, especially with all the other visits taking place at the same time. Walid is originally from Dura near Hebron and his mother and other family members are denied family visits based on “security reasons”. Even during his previous arrests, his mother has never been permitted to visit him in prison.
In addition to the suffering his detentions have caused his family while he is in prison, the IOF has also denied his family from living peacefully even while he is released. Walid’s wife holds a Jerusalem ID card and therefore has to live in Jerusalem in order to maintain her residency. She has applied many times for Walid to also acquire a Jerusalem ID, but each time he is denied for “security reasons”. This denial of residency as had a negative effect on the stability of the family, as Walid has also been refused permits to enter Jerusalem. He has also been prevented by Israeli authorities from travelling out of the country even to conferences and workshops related to his work at the Health Work Committees.
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Human rights defenders are formally defined as persons who work peacefully for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Walid clearly falls within the category, in that his activities are peaceful in nature and aimed at the promotion of human rights in the health sector. Addameer views Walid’s imprisonment as a deliberate violation of his fundamental freedoms and special protections provided under international law for human rights defenders, particularly freedoms of movement, expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold detainees indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army is authorized to issue administrative detention orders against Palestinian civilians on the basis of Military Order 1651. This order empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six month renewable periods if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is frequently renewed. This process can be continued indefinitely.
For more information on administrative detention, read Addameer’s report on administrative detention: Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: A Legal Analysis Report.
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ACT NOW!
Here is how you can help Walid Hanatsheh:
Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities and demand that Walid Hanatsheh be released immediately and that his administrative detention not be renewed.
- Brigadier General Avihai Mandelblit
Military Judge Advocate General
6 David Elazar Street
Harkiya, Tel Aviv
Israel
Fax: +972 3 608 0366; +972 3 569 4526
Email: arbel@mail.idf.il; avimn@idf.gov.il - Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi
OC Central Command Nehemia Base, Central Command
Neveh Yaacov, Jerusalam
Fax: +972 2 530 5741 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
Ministry of Defense
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya
Tel Aviv 61909, Israel
Fax: +972 3 691 6940 / 696 2757 - Col. Eli Bar On
Legal Advisor of Judea and Samaria PO Box 5
Beth El 90631
Fax: +972 2 9977326
Write to your own elected representatives urging them to pressure Israel to release Walid Hanatsheh and to put an end to such an unjust, arbitrary and cruel system of incarceration without trial.
Army Invades Al-Khader, Clashes reported
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
International Middle East Media Center
Israeli troops invaded, on Tuesday afternoon, Al-Khader town, west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs at dozens of youth who hurled stones and empty bottles at them.
File - Image By Palestine News Network
The soldiers also attacked dozens of bystanders, and violently struck and beat a 15-year-old, youth identified as Issa Yousef Sbeih, before kidnapping him and taking him to an unknown destination.
In related news, soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, three Palestinians who approached the border fence area, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses identified the three as Ashraf As-Sufi, Mohammad Abu Ghadra, and Saddam Abu Ghadra; all from Rafah.
Israel enforces a no-man zone in areas that are close to the border, an issue that prevents hundreds of residents from entering their own farmlands.
Several casualties were reported when Israeli troops opened fire, and even fired shells, at residents who approached the “no-man” zone.
International Middle East Media Center
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Israeli decision to release Palestinian detainee Khader Adnan in April ‘insufficient’
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FEBR 21 2012
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
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| Demonstriations calling for Khader Adnan’s release have been held in the West Bank on Tuesday © Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images |
The Israeli authorities’ decision to release a Palestinian detainee by mid-April is insufficient, Amnesty International said amid reports that he has agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike.
The organization has urged Israel to release Khader Adnan immediately to allow him to receive urgent medical treatment. The 33-year-old baker – allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement – is at immediate risk of death after more than 10 weeks on hunger strike.
“A deal which will see Khader Adnan released on 17 April unless significant new evidence emerges is insufficient when he needs urgent medical treatment to save his life now,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Interim Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Even if reports that Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike are true, this does not mean he is out of danger nor does it lessen the need for highly specialized medical care.
“He cannot constitute a ‘security threat’ in his current condition and should be released from custody immediately. The Israeli authorities have revealed no evidence justifying his continued detention.”
Khader Adnan was given a four-month administrative detention order on 10 January. Israeli military orders allow the Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians from the occupied West Bank without trial indefinitely if they are deemed to be a “security threat”.
The Israeli Supreme Court had been due to address Khader Adnan’s appeal on Tuesday, but the hearing was cancelled following a reported agreement between his lawyer and the Israeli authorities.
Both the Palestinian Authority and Israeli governmental spokespeople have reported that Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike, something Amnesty International has not been able to verify independently.
“Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to release Khader Adnan and other Palestinians held in administrative detention, unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards,”, said Philip Luther.
Khader Adnan was arrested on 17 December last year at his home in the village of Arrabe near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli security forces burst into his house in the early hours of the morning.
His prolonged hunger strike was begun in protest against his ill-treatment, the conditions of his detention, and the policy of administrative detention.
Amnesty International has called on Israel to end the practice of administrative detention because it violates the internationally recognized right to a fair trial which must be upheld for all detainees, even during states of emergency.
The baker has been hospitalized since 30 December as his health deteriorated. He is currently being held in the Ziv hospital in northern Israel under armed guard.
As of 19 February, doctors from Physicians for Human Rights – Israel reported that he was still shackled to his hospital bed, despite commitments by the Israel Prison Service that the shackles would be removed.
Some 309 Palestinians, including more than 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are currently being held in administrative detention. One man has been held for over five years.
The organization has urged Israel to release Khader Adnan immediately to allow him to receive urgent medical treatment. The 33-year-old baker – allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement – is at immediate risk of death after more than 10 weeks on hunger strike.
“A deal which will see Khader Adnan released on 17 April unless significant new evidence emerges is insufficient when he needs urgent medical treatment to save his life now,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Interim Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Even if reports that Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike are true, this does not mean he is out of danger nor does it lessen the need for highly specialized medical care.
“He cannot constitute a ‘security threat’ in his current condition and should be released from custody immediately. The Israeli authorities have revealed no evidence justifying his continued detention.”
Khader Adnan was given a four-month administrative detention order on 10 January. Israeli military orders allow the Israeli authorities to detain Palestinians from the occupied West Bank without trial indefinitely if they are deemed to be a “security threat”.
The Israeli Supreme Court had been due to address Khader Adnan’s appeal on Tuesday, but the hearing was cancelled following a reported agreement between his lawyer and the Israeli authorities.
Both the Palestinian Authority and Israeli governmental spokespeople have reported that Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike, something Amnesty International has not been able to verify independently.
“Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to release Khader Adnan and other Palestinians held in administrative detention, unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and tried in accordance with international fair trial standards,”, said Philip Luther.
Khader Adnan was arrested on 17 December last year at his home in the village of Arrabe near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, after Israeli security forces burst into his house in the early hours of the morning.
His prolonged hunger strike was begun in protest against his ill-treatment, the conditions of his detention, and the policy of administrative detention.
Amnesty International has called on Israel to end the practice of administrative detention because it violates the internationally recognized right to a fair trial which must be upheld for all detainees, even during states of emergency.
The baker has been hospitalized since 30 December as his health deteriorated. He is currently being held in the Ziv hospital in northern Israel under armed guard.
As of 19 February, doctors from Physicians for Human Rights – Israel reported that he was still shackled to his hospital bed, despite commitments by the Israel Prison Service that the shackles would be removed.
Some 309 Palestinians, including more than 20 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are currently being held in administrative detention. One man has been held for over five years.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
European groups meet in London to arrange for global march to Jerusalem
Jerusalem Center for Media – Sources -
Pro-Palestinian organizations from different European countries intend to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the arrangements to be made for the global march towards occupied Jerusalem, which will take place on the 36th anniversary of the Palestinian land day.
Representatives of these organizations will come to London from Britain, Germany, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands to prepare for this communal march which will be organized inside the occupied Palestinian territories and its neighboring countries.
The participants in this march will try to reach the Aqsa Mosque or the nearest possible point in the Palestinian-Arab border areas.
Sarah Colborne, the executive director of Palestine solidarity campaign, said the global march to Jerusalem would take place to protest the Judaization, apartheid and ethnic cleansing crimes committed by Israel against Jerusalem and its people in particular and against Palestinians in the occupied territories in general.
Calborne added the British organizers of the march decided to hold a massive rally outside the Israeli embassy in London on the same day of the global march.
For its part, Hafez Karmi, the head of the Palestinian forum in Britain, said in a recent press release that it is no longer possible to tolerate Israel’s practices against the Palestinians and the time has come for serious popular moves to curb Israel.
Karmi noted that a large number of British dignitaries and head of Arab and Muslim communities support the global march to Jerusalem and would participate in the protest outside the Israeli embassy in London.
National committee for the global march to Jerusalem were formed in occupied Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, South Africa, the Arab Maghreb states, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, America, Iran, India, and other countries.
European groups meet in London to arrange for global march to Jerusalem
Clashes Erupt at Al-Aqsa Mosque
JERUSALEM, February 21, 2012 (WAFA) – Confrontations erupted Tuesday afternoon between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City after police allowed 22 extremist Jews to enter the Mosque compound, according to witnesses.
They said worshippers protested the entry of the extremists, who came in through Magarbeh Gate under police protection, provoking worshipers to clash with the police.
The worshippers chanted religious slogans at the extremists while police closed all gates of Mosques and deployed its troops inside it.
Calls were earlier made by Jewish extremists to visit the compound of al-Aqsa Mosque to perform religious rituals provoking calls by Muslims to confront them.
Police has been on high alert in the occupied city and banned Palestinians under the age of 40 from entering the Old City and al-Aqsa Mosque.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Israeli Army Opens Fire at Protest near Gaza Border
JERUSALEM, February 21, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli army units Tuesday opened fire at a non-violent demonstration against the buffer zone between Israel and the Gaza Strip near Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza, according to participants.
No injuries were reported.
Beit Hanoun residents often protest against the buffer zone, which is a military no-go area that extends along the entire northern and eastern perimeter of the Gaza Strip's border with Israel and goes deep into the Palestinian Territory at a range of between 500 meters to two kilometers.
The buffer zone encompasses 30% of Gaza's agricultural land and around 27,000 dunums, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Palestinians, mainly farmers and landowners, are denied access to the land; whereas Israeli forces use live fire against anyone within the buffer zone.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA
Soldiers Use Force to Disperse Protest
Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA - Soldiers Use Force to Disperse Protest: RAMALLAH, February 21, 2012 (WAFA) – Several Palestinians were injured Tuesday when Israeli soldiers used force to disperse a protest outside Ofer military camp near Ramallah held in solidarity with Khader Adnan, the prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 66 straight days, said witnesses.
Confrontations broke out when Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at the demonstrators, injuring 10 people who were hit by rubber bullets. Many others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Confrontations broke out when Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at the demonstrators, injuring 10 people who were hit by rubber bullets. Many others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
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