Photo Essay: Gaza rallies for the Global March to Jerusalem

Words and Images by Julie Webb-Pullman – Gaza.Scoop.ps Correspondent In Gaza City

1. Looking for the way home...Palestinian Land Day in Gaza
(Photo essay continues below – Click Here)31 March 2012 - Gaza City: Over 50,000 people gathered at Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip today for the Global March to Jerusalem.
With the exception of a hundred or so people between the back of the stage and the Erez crossing a kilometre away, the enormous crowd was peaceful and well-behaved, but determined to make their point on Palestinian Land Day.
As most listened attentively to the speeches, standing in the crowd or sitting on the sidelines, a few beat drums, set tyres alight, and made occasional attempts to burst through the line of security.

The security forces were extremely restrained despite frequent provocation, using only as much force as was necessary to encourage the mostly young male protagonists to retreat – which was often more the threat of force, rather than its actual application. Merely raising a baton in the air, or riding a horse towards those trying to break through, was usually sufficient to encourage them to back off, although a few came to blows. On the whole, trouble-makers were quickly identified and removed, under the intense scrutiny of the media.
Despite the good behaviour of the majority of the GMJ marchers, some protestors did make it through to the Erez crossing, where some removed part of a metal fence near the wall, according to an activist’s twitter report, and were fired upon by Israeli soldiers.
Overall in Gaza, Mahmoud Zakot, 20, was killed by Israeli fire near Erez and 31 others were injured, with six hospitalised in Khan Younis. Palestinian official medical spokesperson Adham Abu Salmiya said this evening that three of those injured are in a critical condition.
With few exceptions, the Global March to Jerusalem was a resounding success in Gaza, making its point peacefully, and pointedly.

Photo Essay Continues

2. At least 50,000 at Beit Hanoun stretched for over a kilometre

3. While some watched from the sidelines

4. others were in the thick of it.

5. Most listened peacefully to the speeches

6. while a small minority set fires.

7. A bemused goat watched the action

8. while Action Boy waved the flag.

9. Local Security forces showed admirable restraint

10. despite frequent provocation.

11. Whatever their differences, the message was the same


12. This land is my land

**************Julie Webb-Pullman (click to view previous articles) is a New Zealand based freelance writer who has reported for Scoop since 2003. She has been reporting from Gaza for most of the past year and is one of a handful of Western journalists located in the besieged Palestinian city.
Photo Essay: Gaza rallies for the Global March to Jerusalem |

Israel has approved 1,800 illegal settlement units since the beginning of the year

 

 

Quds Media Center – Agencies -

It has been disclosed that the Israeli occupation authorities have seized hundreds of acres of agricultural land in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem for the benefit of illegal settlement and Judaisation projects. A report prepared by the Palestine Liberation Organisation to coincide with Land Day also claims that Israel has given approval for 1,800 new housing units on illegal settlements since the beginning of 2012. It seems, says the PLO, that the pace and scope of the Israeli occupation is being stepped up, with more Palestinian land being stolen by force.

This year alone, Israel has seized more than 3.5 million square metres of Palestinian land to expand its illegal settlements and construct the “apartheid” wall. More than 1.2 million square metres of land owned by Palestinians in Walajeh, south of occupied Jerusalem, has been earmarked by the Israelis for a so-called “biblical garden”.

According to the report, the Israeli government has approved the building of 1,805 new settlement units in the Palestinian territories during the last three months, including nearly a thousand units to be built in settlements located in occupied Jerusalem.

The report added that more than 90 buildings including houses, tents, barracks and industrial installations belonging to Palestinians were demolished by Israel to make way for its illegal building plans. The PLO mentions that while this ongoing colonisation is taking place, the Israelis have also been destroying homes and other buildings in Gaza with their aerial bombardments.

Details noted in the report include the 35 Palestinians who have been killed by the Israelis in the first three months of 2012, including 7 children; 175 people were wounded in the recent attacks on the Gaza Strip. Almost 800 Palestinians have been arrested by Israel in a period which has seen the longest hunger strike ever to take place in an Israeli prison; the prisoner was protesting against Israel’s oppression of the people of Palestine.

Israel has approved 1,800 illegal settlement units since the beginning of the year

Several Residents Injured In Jerusalem, 15 Kidnapped

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 

Israeli soldiers shot and injured, on Friday evening, several Palestinians in Al-Esawiyya, in occupied East Jerusalem, after invading the town leading to clashes with local youths; at least fifteen Palestinians were kidnapped by the army.

A Wounded Reisdent - Friday - Palinfo

Local sources reported that the army kidnapped at least fifteen Palestinians from the town, and that some of the kidnapped residents suffered concussions and bruises after being violently attacked by the soldiers and the undercover forces of the Israeli military.

The sources added that the number of kidnapped Palestinians could be in the dozens as the soldiers detained dozens of residents, and released some of them later on, but kept a large number in its prisons.

Soldiers also broke into and searched several homes in the town, attacked several families with batons causing several injuries; some of the wounded residents required hospitalization, the Palestinian Information Center reported.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers opened fire at Palestinian protesters marking the Palestinian Land Day, in the Gaza Strip, killing one resident, while at least 37 residents, including one journalist, were wounded.

In the West Bank, soldiers shot and wounded approximately 100 civilians, including an American peace activist, while the residents were marking Land Day in several parts of the West Bank.

Hundreds of protesters marched towards Jerusalem demanding an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, and were attacked by the soldiers at roadblocks and terminals leading to occupied Jerusalem.

Protests were also organized at the Lebanese border with the country, as well as areas that are close to the border with Jordan.

- International Middle East Media Center

One Killed, 37 Injured, by Israeli troops Gunfire in Gaza Land Day Protests

by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News 

A Palestinian 20 year old youth was killed, 37 injured, among them a journalist when Israeli troops opened fire at Palestinian protesters marking land day in the Gaza Strip.

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Palestinian sources reported that soldiers opened fire at protesters who marched up to the borders with Israel near Gaza city killing Mohamed Zakout, 20, and injuring 37 others. Among those injured were 3 in critical conditions and a local journalist.

In the West Bank Israeli troops injured 100 civilians including an American activist who marked land day in different parts of the West Bank today.

Marking the 36th anniversary of land day today Palestinians and their supporters marched for Jerusalem demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of the city. Protests were organized near the Israeli Lebanese borders as well as the borders with Jordan.

The Land day commemoration started in 1976, when Palestinian residents of the Galilee to the Negev protested Israel’s plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes. Israeli military and police attacked the protests leaving 6 killed, hundreds injured.

International Middle East Media Center

#Palestine - Video - Dozens of wounded and shooting at Erez border in Beit Hanoun, Gaza,

Uploaded by rosaingaza on Mar 30, 2012

Today we joined the Global March to Jerusalem from Gaza.
Israeli soldiers shot continuosly, dozens of people injured, one killed.
I made this small video during the march. Some young people show the blood on their hands. Some guys with two motocyles carried continuosly the people injured to the ambulances. However the israeli soldiers kept on shooting.

Video: #Palestine Nilin Weekly Demonstration 30.3.2012

Video: Qalandia 30.03.2012 By haithmkatib

PCHR - HumanRights Violations over the past week in Palestine (Remember it's just 1 wk!)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT -Palestinian Center for Human Rights

Ongoing construction works in “Armon Hanatsin” settlement in Jerusalem

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.

A Palestinian civilian was wounded.

Dozens of protesters and 3 diplomats suffered from tear gas inhalation.

IOF conducted 65 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip.  

3 Palestinian civilians were wounded during an Israeli incursion into Rammoun village, northeast of Ramallah.

IOF arrested 19 Palestinians, including a child, two women and a patient.

A Palestinian child was wounded by the explosion of a suspicious object left by IOF near Nablus.

Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.

IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.

Israeli settlers attacked 3 Palestinian shepherds and wounded a Palestinian civilian in Ramallah.

Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of trees and stole agricultural tools in Bethlehem.

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in Nablus and injured one of them.

IOF demolished 4 tents, 6 barnyards and 3 barracks in the northern Jordan Valley.

Palestinian detainee in Gaza deportation deal should be released to West Bank | Amnesty International

Palestinian detainee in Gaza deportation deal should be released to West Bank | Amnesty International:
deal that led to Palestinian Hana Shalabi halting her hunger strike and moving to the Gaza Strip for a three year period could amount to a forcible deportation, Amnesty International said.

Shalabi, 30, was arrested by Israeli troops last month in the West Bank and has been held under administrative detention. She is allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement but has never been charged with a criminal offence.

She spent 43 days on hunger strike and suffers from impaired thyroid functions, weakness and dizziness, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel. Despite halting her hunger strike, she continues to require specialised medical care.

“The fact that Hana Shalabi was denied access to her independent lawyers raises serious concerns about her deportation to the Gaza Strip,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Amnesty International fears the deal may amount to a forcible deportation given her medical condition and the denial of access to independent doctors and lawyers.”

“Instead of deporting her to the Gaza Strip, where access to specialized medical care is limited, due to the Israeli economic blockade and the ongoing fuel crisis which threatens hospitals, she should be released along with other Palestinians held in administrative detention, or promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offence.”

Israeli military orders allow the authorities to detain Palestinians from the occupied West Bank indefinitely and without trial under administrative detention if they are deemed to pose a “security threat”.

Hana Shalabi is currently being held at Ramleh Prison Hospital in central Israel and the date of her move to the Gaza Strip has not been made public.

Her lawyer Jameel Khatib described her deportation as “forced” and told Amnesty International:
"I was not part of any negotiations; I am against these types of deals. There was no need to go through the whole hunger strike if at the end there will be deportation to Gaza. If that was our goal we could have struck a deal long time ago before Hana reaches this level of danger to her life.

However, Palestinian Prisoners' Society lawyer Jawad Boulos who negotiated the deportation deal, says Hana Shalabi voluntarily accepted the agreement.

More than 30 other Palestinian detainees and prisoners held in several Israeli prisons have declared open-ended hunger strikes against the policy of administrative detention, some for more than four weeks.

Among them are three men who have been on hunger strike for around 30 days. Tha'er Halahleh, Bilal Diab, and Kifah Hattab have been denied access to independent lawyers and doctors.

Despite their poor health, none has been granted access to independent doctors. Bilal Diab has been transferred to Assaf HaRofeh hospital in Tel Aviv after he apparently lost consciousness, where he remains under prison guard.

“There is a real risk that Hana Shalabi’s deportation could mean that other administrative detainees may be pressured to agree to similar deals and be coerced into agreeing to be deported to the Gaza Strip, “ said Ann Harrison.

“Once there, they would be cut off from any contact with their families in the West Bank, making their lives increasingly isolated.”

While the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are internationally recognised as a single territorial unit under the Oslo Accords and international humanitarian law, the Israeli authorities do not allow Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip access to the West Bank or vice versa.

The Geneva Conventions prohibit an occupying power from forcibly transferring or deporting people from an occupied territory.

IDF troops beat and arrest A young Palestinian During Land day protests.

Medics: Palestinian killed in Gaza rally

Maan News Agency

Shadows of Palestinians are cast against a poster depicting the Dome of the
Rock during a protest marking Land Day, near the border between Israel and the
northern Gaza Strip March 30. (Reuters/Suhaib Salem)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli fire killed one young Palestinian man and injured over 30 others in clashes at two sites in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical official said Friday evening.

Adham Abu Salmiya identified the victim as Mahmoud Zaqout, 20. He was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, the official said.

Thirty-one others in the Erez area were injured and taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital. In Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized.

Three people were critically injured, Abu Salmiya added.

Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching frontier barriers in the small coastal territory.

An Israeli army spokesman said a Palestinian man approached the Erez crossing before soldiers opened fire. Forces acted within the rules of engagement, firing warning shots before directly targeting him, he said.

The military official said 23 people were injured in the Erez area and six more in Khan Younis.

Hamas forces had set up checkpoints to prevent protesters reaching the border area, but many of the activists bypassed them, an activist who attended protests in Beit Hanoun said.

Ebaa Rezeq says she witnessed at least six of the injuries which came after Israeli forces fired on a crowd that arrived at the border area.

Rezeq says Israeli forces used live fire after they managed to remove a part of a metal fence near the wall.

"People are falling here like flies," she wrote on Twitter. "Blood everywhere".

A young Palestinian protester in Bethlehem, meanwhile, was seriously injured on Friday afternoon after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Muhammad Arafa, 20, was taken to hospital in Hebron. He was injured when Israeli forces fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians who threw stones at a checkpoint in a rally marking Land Day.

Two other people have been seriously injured, the head of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem reported. Eleven people were hospitalized in total at a demonstration outside an Israeli checkpoint.

Activists had called for the Global March to Jerusalem to commemorate the Land Day anniversary of Israel's killing of six Palestinians protesting against land confiscation in 1976. Thousands rallied at checkpoints around Jerusalem and in Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan.

Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades, sprayed foul-smelling water and used a "scream" acoustic device against stone-throwing Palestinians at Qalandia near Ramallah.

Red Crescent spokesman Muhammad Ayyad told Ma'an that medics treated 249 protesters at Qalandiya and 20 were transferred to hospital.

Israeli forces injured nine medics and damaged three ambulances at the protest, he added.

Over 15,000 people gathered in Kafrein in Jordan, around 10 kilometers from the border with the West Bank, Agence France-Presse reported.

Israeli forces were put on high alert on the frontiers with Lebanon and Syria, but there were no reports of anyone nearing the border fences.

Previous Land Day remembrances have mostly passed quietly, but Israel decided to reinforce its defenses this year following deadly clashes along the Lebanese and Syrian borders in May and June that appeared to catch the military off guard.

Protest organizers called for peaceful rallies Friday against "the policies and practices of the racist Zionist state" and said solidarity protests were planned in some 80 nations.

"When crowds from 80 countries move towards Jerusalem, they send a strong message to the Israeli occupation that no one can accept what they are doing in Jerusalem," said Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh.

Reuters contributed to this report.

150 Palestinians injured in protests in occupied Jerusalem

 

 

Quds Media Center – Sources -

Protests to mark Land Day and express support for Jerusalem took place in occupied Jerusalem and around on Friday after the Friday prayers.

The IOF tried to supress the central demonstration in Jerusalem injuring 23 participants and arrested 45 young men who were not allowed to reach the Aqsa Mosque to attend the Friday prayers. Eighteen of those injured were taken to Jerusalem hospitals, 6 of them to Makased hospital.

Amongst those injured was MP Hatem Abdel-Qader the Jerusalem minister in Salam Fayyad’s government.

The IOF troops interrupted the speech of the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, Adnan al-Husaini, and moved in to disperse the protestors outside Bab al-Amoud near the walls of the old city were demonstrators gathered. 11 of the participants were arrested using IOF soldiers disguised as Palestinians who mingled with the crowd.

Clashes with the IOF broke out in Tur and Wadi al-Jouz suburbs of Jerusalem were youth belted IOF soldiers with stones and empty bottles. In Silwan and Shafat refugee camp the IOF was present in force but it did not stop youth from throwing stones at IOF soldiers and settlers.

At the Qalandia roadblock to the north of Jerusalem which West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to cross into Jerusalem, IOF troops dispersed protestors by firing teargas and rubber-coated bullets injuring 120 Palestinians, 23 of them were taken to hospitals in Ramallah. The IOF also arrested 17 participants in the march.

The IOF had declared a 24 hour closure of the West Bank and declared a state of alert amongst its armed forces to deal with the Land Day protests.

150 Palestinians injured in protests in occupied Jerusalem

Scores Injured as Israeli Troops Attack West Bank land Day Protests

by George Rishmawi & Ghassan Bannoura 

Thousands of Palestinians marked land day, on Friday, Palestinian sources said that 100 civilians were injured when Israeli troops attacked protesters in Ramallah and Bethlehem cities.

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Marking the 36th anniversary of land day today Palestinians and their supporters marched for Jerusalem demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of the city. Protests were organized near the Israeli Lebanese borders as well as the borders with Jordan.

The Land day commemoration started in 1976, when Palestinian residents of the Galilee to the Negev protested Israel’s plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes. Israeli military and police attacked the protests leaving 6 killed, hundreds injured.

Today After the midday prayers, people marched from Ramallah city, central West Bank, towards Qalandiya checkpoint that separates Ramallah from Jerusalem.

Troops fired tear gas and sound bombs then later used rubber-coated steel bullets. 80 Palestinians were injured. Witnesses told IMEMC that among those injured were two Palestinian medics.

In Bethlehem 20 residents were injured, seven were moved to hospitals, when soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs at land day protesters. The marchers were first stopped by the Palestinian security forces however they managed to reach the gate of the wall separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem. As protestors reach the gate, youth threw rocks and firebombs at the wall and the nearby military tower.

“We are here to tell the Israeli occupation that Jerusalem is Palestinian and will never forget it.” One of the protesters told IMEMC.

Israeli troops responded by firing tear gas and sound bombs. A source from the Palestinian Red Cresent Society told IMEMC that one resident was hit with a tear gas canister in his back causing burns and bruises.

The wounded was identified as Yousef Sharqawi from Bethlehem. Another activist from the US was hit with a tear gas canister in his head and was transferred to the hospital for medical treatment. Field medics said his wound is moderate.

west bank | israeli attacks | news report ghassan at imemc dot org

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

Land Day Protest in Bethlehem Today – Photo by Ghassan Bannoura

International Middle East Media Center

Israeli forces in Land Day protest clashes

 Irish Examiner

Israeli forces in Land Day protest clashes

Friday, March 30, 2012 - 02:25 PM

Israeli security forces in riot gear have confronted Palestinian demonstrators along Israel’s frontiers on an annual protest day.

Minor skirmishes broke out between thousands of protesters and security forces in the Jerusalem area. Palestinians threw rocks and Israeli troops responded with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber pellets. No serious injuries were reported.

In Gaza, Palestinians said Israeli forces shot and wounded two men who approached the border during a demonstration by about 15,000 people, organised by Gaza’s Hamas rulers. The Israeli military said soldiers shot and wounded one protester.

Elsewhere, things were calm.

The Land Day rallies are an annual event marked by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who protest what they say are discriminatory Israeli land policies.

Supporters in neighbouring Arab countries also planned marches near the Israeli frontier, but organisers said they would keep protesters away from the borders.

Last year, demonstrators from Lebanon and Syria tried twice to break across the borders into Israel, setting off clashes with Israeli troops in which at least 38 people were killed.

In southern Lebanon today, more than 3,000 Lebanese and Palestinians gathered outside the Crusader-built Beaufort castle 15km from Israel. Lebanese security forces kept them from moving any closer to the border.

Sobhiyeh Mizari, 70, said she always taught her 12 children “never to forget Palestine.”

“We will liberate our land against the will of Israel and its backers,” said Mizari, who said her husband was killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon in 1978.

Security forces were preparing for demonstrations in northern Israel, where a large portion of Israel’s Arab minority lives.

Several dozen Palestinians who live in east Jerusalem waved their national flag outside Jerusalem’s walled Old City. “One, one homeland!” they chanted.

Palestinians were banned from entering from the West Bank except for medical emergencies, and police barred Palestinian men under 40 from praying at a volatile Jerusalem holy site, citing security concerns.

The demonstrators performed their communal Muslim Friday prayers where they stood, praying on their flags instead of traditional mats.

They were surrounded by what appeared to be an equal number of Israeli security forces.

“Israel has no trouble with peaceful protest and respects the rights of people to demonstrate peacefully,” said government spokesman Mark Regev.

Many Palestinians, energised by Arab Spring uprisings that have overturned decades-old authoritarian regimes, see massive, coordinated marches as one of the most effective strategies to draw attention to their cause.

“After the Arab revolutions, there’s awareness of the importance of popular participation,” said Arab activist Jafar Farah. “This has rattled the Arab regimes, and now it’s frightening the Israeli government.”

Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/israeli-forces-in-land-day-protest-clashes-545594.html#ixzz1qcSJAqND

Palestinians Commemorate Land Day as Israel Forces Fire at Protesters

Palestinians Commemorate Land Day as Israel Forces Fire at Protesters | Common Dreams:

PA: Israel deportation policy 'a war crime'

A woman holds a placard depicting prisoner Hana Shalabi during a rally
in support of her hunger strike (Reuters/Ammar Awad)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel's policy of deporting Palestinians is a war crime, a top Palestinian Authority official said Thursday after a deal to send a detainee to Gaza.

Prisoners minister Issa Qaraqe told Ma'an his ministry rejects the policy which it considers a war crime.

Hana Shalabi was subjected to pressure from the Israeli intelligence services and was taken advantage of due to her deteriorating condition, Qaraqe told Ma'an following the deal.

President Mahmoud Abbas instructed his civil affairs minister to follow up on the case after it emerged that Shalabi agreed to a three-year deportation to the Gaza Strip in exchange for ending her strike.

Hussein al-Sheikh told Ma'an that the Palestinian government in Ramallah rejects the deportation policy and played no role in negotiations that would lead to such an outcome.

He said a bilateral meeting between Shalabi and the Israeli government resulted in some kind of deal, but the details remained unclear. The PA's position is she should be freed unconditionally, he said.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman agreed, denying it was involved or aware of the deal.

An Israeli official said only that "I am aware there were negotiations of that sort." He did not elaborate, Reuters reported.

The agreement was reached late Thursday, Shalabi's lawyer confirmed.

Qadoura Fares of the Palestinian prisoners society said Shalabi agreed to the deal "in return for ending her strike and being freed."

He added: "We reject deportation, but this is her decision and her own life."

Maan News Agency

Prisoner Ends Hunger Strike in Return for Expulsion

Palestine News & Info Agency 
 RAMALLAH, March 29, 2012 (WAFA) – Hana Shalabi, the Palestinian prisoner held in Israeli jails who has been on hunger strike for 43 straight days, agreed Thursday to end her strike in return for expulsion to the Gaza Strip for three years, according to Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqi.

He said Shalabi reached this decision on her own, but explained that she must have come under heavy pressure to accept this deal from the Israelis.

Shalabi, 30, went on hunger strike immediately after her arrest on February 16 when she was placed under administrative detention for six months to protest her arrest.

Even though her sentence was later reduced to four months, she continued on her hunger strike demanding release from prison.

Shalabi, from the Jenin area of the West Bank, was previously held in administrative detention for 25 months until her release in the October prisoners swap between Hamas and Israel.

Jews Control 85% of Historical Palestine, says Statistics Bureau

RAMALLAH, March 29, 2012 (WAFA) – Jews constitute around 52% of the total population living in historical Palestine and utilize more than 85% of the total area of the land, press release issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

Arabs make the remaining 48% but are allowed to utilize only 15% of the land, it added.

The report came on the occasion of Land Day, which falls on March 30 and marks the 36th anniversary for the killing of six Palestinians living inside Israel during a demonstration against Israeli confiscation of 21,000 dunums of land in the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Naqab.

The PCBS said while the Jordan Valley makes up 29% of the West Bank, Israel controls approximately 90% of it. Fewer than 65,000 Palestinians remain there today compared to 9,500 settlers.

The Annexation Wall has a total length of about 757 kilometers, of which 92% are inside the West Bank. According to this route, 733 km² of Palestinian land were isolated between the Wall and the Green Line in 2010. This comprises approximately 13.0% of the West Bank, of which about 348 km² were agricultural, said the release.

It added that While Palestinians represent 30% of the population of Jerusalem, they pay 40% of the value of the taxes collected by the municipality. Yet, the Jerusalem municipality only spends 8% on providing services to Palestinians.

There were 474 Israeli settlements, outposts and military bases in the West Bank by the end of 2011. Settlers established 11 new outposts in 2010.

Data indicate that the number of settlers in the West Bank totaled 518,974 at the end of 2010; 262,493 settlers live in Jerusalem governorate and constitute 50.6% of all West Bank settlers. Of these land, 110 km2were confiscated for Israeli settlements and military bases, 250 km2were forest and open areas, and 25 km2 Palestinian built-up land. The Wall isolated 53 localities and affected over three hundred thousand people, particularly communities in Jerusalem where 27 localities affected are home to a quarter of a million people.

Moreover, the Wall besieges 165 localities with a population of more than half a million inhabitant, and Qalqilya city is one of the witnesses on that, said PCBS.

The Israeli occupation authorities demolish Palestinian homes and create obstacles and constraints to the issuance of building permits for Palestinians. According to the Al-Maqdisi Institute, between 2000 and 2011, 1,059 buildings were demolished in East Jerusalem (the areas annexed by Israel in 1967). This has resulted in the displacement of 4,865 people, including 2,537 children.

Data from Israeli human rights organizations indicate that about 25 thousand homes have been demolished in the occupied Palestinian Territory since 1967.

The data indicate an increase in demolitions where residents have to demolish their own homes, 289 residents were forced to demolish their own homes since 2000, on the other hand the year 2010 had the highest rate of self-demolition with 70 demolitions compared to 49 in 2009. In 2011, 20 self-demolitions took place. In many cases, residents do not inform the media and human rights organizations of the demolition.

About 196,178 live in areas of Jerusalem annexed by Israel in 1967. In demographic terms, the proportion of settlers to the Palestinian population in the West Bank was about 20 settlers per 100 Palestinians compared with 68 settlers per 100 Palestinians in Jerusalem governorate.

In March 2012, there were 4033 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 178 administrative prisoners and 8 female prisoners. Of these, 49 prisoners have spent more than 20 years in captivity and 15 prisoners have spent more than 27 years in captivity.Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA

Israeli court orders six-month administrative detention of Sheikh Hadid

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The Israeli court of Ofer prison on Wednesday issued a six-month administrative detention against Hamas-affiliated reformer Sheikh Hussein Abu Hadid, aged 65 from Al-Khalil city.

His wife told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that her husband Abu Hadid suffers from a serious medical condition and is fitted with a pacemaker to regulate the function of his heart.

She added her husband was taken to Hadassah hospital after his health seriously declined, but later he was back to Ofer jail.

Sheikh Hussein Abu Hadid was taken prisoner several times by PA and Israeli security apparatuses and he is the father of a Palestinian martyr and two detainees, one in a PA jail and the other held by Israelis.

Israeli court orders six-month administrative detention of Sheikh Hadid

IOA renews administrative detention of Palestinian MP

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- An Israeli court renewed the administrative detention of Al-Khalil lawmaker Nizar Ramadan, 50, for three months for the fourth time running, his family said.

The family told the PIC on Thursday that Ramadan is held in the Negev desert prison.

The MP was arrested on 28/5/2011 and previously held in occupation jails for separate intervals.

IOA renews administrative detention of Palestinian MP

Calls on EU Parliament to press Israel into releasing Palestinian MP Hajj

GAZA, (PIC)-- The international campaign for freeing kidnapped Palestinian MPs informed the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament about the deterioration of the health of detained MP Ahmad Ali Hajj who has been on hunger strike for 15 days.

The campaign called, in letters to both Mr. Martin Stchaulz President of the European Parliament and Mr. Anders Johnson Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to exert international parliamentary pressure on the occupation to release the MP Ali Al-Hajj, warning that his health is worsening by the day.

Hajj (74 years) is at risk of death at any moment because of his serious health condition. He has already lost 10 kg as a result of his hunger strike to protest administrative detention without charge or trial, in addition to losing 70% of his ability to hear and other ailments, the campaign added.

27 Palestinian MPs are still detained in the occupation jails in violation of the international law and their parliamentary immunity, the campaign said, pointing to the occupation’s arbitrary measures against the elected representatives, especially administrative detention for years on end. The campaign stated that the international silence toward this blatant violation of human rights gives the occupation a green light to commit more crimes towards people's representatives.

Calls on EU Parliament to press Israel into releasing Palestinian MP Hajj

Limited Israeli incursion into southern Gaza

Israeli forces operate along the Gaza border (MaanImages, File)

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli military vehicles crossed into the Gaza Strip late Thursday in a limited incursion, witnesses said.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed into territory east of Rafah and aircraft fired nearby, the witnesses reported.

An Israeli military spokeswomen said Israeli forces fired at open areas in the southern Gaza Strip "in order to thwart terror activity."

Hours earlier, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Eshkol regional council, the Israeli army said.

There were no reports of injury or damage, the official told Ma'an.

Israeli media reported that three rockets were fired from Gaza.

Maan News Agency

Deal reached to free Hana Shalabi

A Palestinian woman holds a placard depicting Hana Shalabi during a rally in
Ramallah, in support of Shalabi and calling for the release of Palestinian

prisoners held in Israeli jails March 20, 2012. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A deal to release Palestinian hunger-striker Hana Shalabi to the Gaza Strip temporarily was reached late Thursday, officials with knowledge of the negotiations told Ma'an.

The officials say Shalabi will be sent to Gaza for three years in exchange for giving up a 43-day strike against Israel's policy of holding detainees without charge.

The Palestinian prisoners society confirmed the deal in a statement praising Shalabi's resolve. It expressed its appreciation for her efforts to bring attention to Israel's policies toward prisoners.

Qadoura Fares of the prisoners society said Shalabi agreed to the deal "in return for ending her strike and being freed. ... We reject deportation, but this is her decision and her own life," Fares said.

Shalabi's lawyer, Jawwad Boulous, also confirmed the agreement.

According to a high-ranking Palestinian source, the deal was reached after Palestinian officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross intervened to confirm that Shalabi approved.

An Israeli official said: "I am aware there were negotiations of that sort." The official did not immediately elaborate.

Israel had previously held Shalabi for 25 months but released her in October under a prisoner swap with Hamas, which controls Gaza.

Israeli authorities say Shalabi remains an active member of Islamic Jihad, but her father, Yehia, said that since the exchange his daughter had not been active in the group.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman, Daoud Shihab, denied knowledge of the deal. If it exists, he said, the agreement would have been made without the participation of Islamic Jihad, which rejects deportation.

Israel struck a deal last month with Khader Adnan, an Islamic Jihad member, persuading him to end his 66-day strike after assuring him that he would be released in April from his detention without trial.

Human rights groups have condemned Israel's detention without trial of some 300 Palestinians.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Maan News Agency

Israeli tanks enter southern Gaza Strip

PressTV - Israeli tanks enter southern Gaza Strip:

Israeli tanks enter the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah as Tel Aviv launches yet another incursion into the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israeli aircraft opened fire towards open areas near Khan Younis in Gaza. There were no reports of injuries.
Palestinian sources said Israeli choppers opened fire on homes in the Rafah area. (ynet)

Pro-Palestine march: 37 Indian activists detained

 Rediff.com India News:
 A group of 37 Indians, including 10 women, who were to participate in a pro-Palestine global march to Jerusalem, have been detained by Lebanese authorities at Beirut port.
Click!

Indian activists and journalists participating in the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ), along with 3 Filipinos and one Iraqi, have been asked not to leave the 246-seater boat which docked at Beirut yesterday at 9 am (IST).

The GMJ's local contacts had been assured that the delegation would be issued visas on arrival.

"Our passports have been taken by Lebanese authorities," one of the detainees told PTI over phone.

Jaishankar Gupta, a journalist who is part of the delegation, said that Lebanese authorities denied them permission to leave the boat.

"We have been detained since 9 am (IST) yesterday. So far we have not been given any reasons for being detained or for the delay in issuing visas," he said.

"The authorities first said that we will be deported, but after we protested and refused to be deported, they detained us," he added.

He said that they were facing inconvenience in the boat and couldn't even sleep as there was no arrangement.

"It is not a big boat and there is no sleeping arrangement. We are sitting as such, but we have not panicked," he said.

The delegates are carrying the posters of Mahatma Gandhi [ Images ] and said they haven't done anything wrong to be treated like this.

"If they want they can arrest us. We are peace and democracy lovers. We do not fear anyone."

Though, he said, they have not got any confirmation regarding their visas, but they were told that Indian Embassy officials are in touch with Lebanese authorities.

The delegation is scheduled to take part in a protest gathering at the Israel border on Palestine Land Day on 30 March.

Gaza children demonstrate for Shalabi's release

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Dozens of children demonstrated outside Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City on Thursday calling for the release of hunger-striking detainee Hana Shalabi.

Shalabi has refused food for 43 days since Israeli forces detained her from her home in the northern West Bank on Feb. 16. Israel has sentenced her to four months but she has not been charged with any crime.

Children released balloons decorated with Shalabi's face, sang and waved Palestinian flags.

They carried banners reading: "We are all Hana Shalabi," and "The children of Palestine will not give up on you even if the whole world does."

A young girl delivered a speech calling on the children of the world to join her in demanding Shalabi's freedom. "When is the world going to act?" she asked. She said the children of Gaza supported Shalabi and all Palestinian political prisoners.

Shalabi was hospitalized on March 20. A doctor from Physicians for Human Rights - Israel visited her on Monday and said her muscle atrophy had worsened, and was affecting her heart muscle.

An Israeli military court on Sunday rejected Shalabi's appeal against her four-month sentence.

The judge claimed that a medical report did not provide information to suggest her state of health was a cause for concern, Amnesty International said.

Lawyer Jawad Bulus, a member of her legal team, said he submitted a petition to the Israeli high court on Monday demanding her release.

Amnesty called on Israeli authorities to either release Shalabi or charge her with an internationally-recognizable criminal offense and bring her to trial in accordance with international standards. Gaza children demonstrate for Shalabi's release

Red Cross: Gaza fuel shortage puts lives at risk

Red Cross: Gaza fuel shortage puts lives at risk:
 By Associated Press March 29, 2012, 6:06 pm

GENEVA: The International Committee of the Red Cross says a shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip is putting the lives of thousands of hospital patients in the Palestinian territory at risk.

The Red Cross said Thursday it is preparing to deliver 150,000 liters of diesel to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza so that hospital generators can keep running.

But the aid group says the supply will only last for 10 days.

Red Cross delegation chief Juan-Pedro Schaerer says the lack of fuel and electricity "could rapidly lead to interruptions in vital public services."

He urged authorities to take immediate action to solve the fuel crisis.

The two-month-old crisis was sparked by a dispute between Hamas and neighboring Egypt over the delivery and payment for fuel.

Red Cross: Gaza fuel shortage puts lives at risk

Red Cross: Gaza fuel shortage puts lives at risk:
 By Associated Press March 29, 2012, 6:06 pm

GENEVA: The International Committee of the Red Cross says a shortage of fuel in the Gaza Strip is putting the lives of thousands of hospital patients in the Palestinian territory at risk.

The Red Cross said Thursday it is preparing to deliver 150,000 liters of diesel to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza so that hospital generators can keep running.

But the aid group says the supply will only last for 10 days.

Red Cross delegation chief Juan-Pedro Schaerer says the lack of fuel and electricity "could rapidly lead to interruptions in vital public services."

He urged authorities to take immediate action to solve the fuel crisis.

The two-month-old crisis was sparked by a dispute between Hamas and neighboring Egypt over the delivery and payment for fuel.

Losses in millions of dollars due to Gaza power crisis

Losses in millions of dollars due to Gaza power crisis

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Gaza Strip has lost millions of dollars in economic damages as a result of the fuel and power crisis that has been plaguing the enclave for more than a month, an economic expert said.

Dr. Maher Al-Taba, public relations director at Gaza chamber of commerce, told Quds Press that all economic sectors were negatively affected, adding that the losses are estimated at millions of dollars but could not determine an exact figure due to the continued losses.

The industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors along with transport and services sectors were badly affected, he said, adding that return of regular power and supply of fuel are a must for an economic recovery in the Strip.

The only electricity generation station in Gaza has stopped due to lack of fuel.

IOF kidnap three school children in Al-Khalil yesterday

 

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped on Wednesday three Palestinian children under age 15 at a checkpoint in Al-Khalil city.

Activist from youth against settlement Mohamed Zaghir reported that Israeli troops at a military checkpoint leading to Shuhada street in Al-Khalil kidnapped three school children.

The children are Omar Abu Abu Eisheh, 14, Hamdan Sha'abneh, 13, and Shadi Muhtasib, 14, according to the activist who also affirmed that the IOF physically assaulted them before taking them to an unknown destination.

He noted that the IOF stepped up unprecedentedly the kidnapping of school children in Shuhada area and lately 17 children from Kortuba school were taken prisoners.

The incident of kidnapping these three kids happened as the IOF intensified their presence yesterday throughout Al-Khalil city, especially the southern villages and towns of the city.

The IOF reportedly set up roadblocks and embarked on searching vehicles and checking IDs of Palestinian citizens for many hours.

IOF kidnap three school children in Al-Khalil yesterday

Israeli occupation to raze water wells in Al-Khalil villages

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) served water wells demolition notices to a number of Palestinians in villages near Al-Khalil on Thursday, local sources said.

Ibrahim Makhamre said that IOF troops handed him the demolition notice of his only water well south of Yatta town in Al-Khalil province.

Hussein Ghnumait said that he received demolition notifications of his water wells in Khirbat Abu Mousa to the west of Sourif town also in Al-Khalil province.

Meanwhile, Jewish settlers uprooted a number of olive saplings near Beit Hagai settlement, south of Al-Khalil, on Wednesday night.

Local sources said that the saplings are owned by Tobasi family in Rehiya village.

Israeli occupation to raze water wells in Al-Khalil villages

Settlers Occupy A Palestinian Home In Hebron

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 

A group of extremist Israeli settlers occupied, on Wednesday night after midnight, a Palestinian home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and claimed purchasing the property from its Palestinian owner.

Image - Maan News Agency

The Maan News Agency reported that a large group of Israeli settlers broke into the home that belongs to members of Abu Rajab family, near the playground of the Ibrahimi School in Hebron, and even brought furniture to the property.

The settlers also distributed sweets celebrating the takeover of the home, local sources said.

The settlers said that they bought the home from its owner, and used the name of the grandson of the owner as the seller; the grandson’s name is identical to the name of the grandfather who is the sole owner of the property, Maan added.

 International Middle East Media Center

Video - Power cuts and fuel shortages kill children in Gaza

29 schoolchildren hurt in earthquake drill gone wrong

Maan News Agency

Hebron mayor Kamel Hmaid visited the children in hospital Wednesday.

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- More than two dozen children were hospitalized on Wednesday after they were crushed during an earthquake drill gone wrong at a school in Hebron.

Dr Jihad Shawer, who runs the emergency unit at Hebron hospital, said 29 children were admitted. Some were treated for fractures.

The incident occurred during a drill led by the civil defense at Al-Arrub elementary school.

Students told Ma'an they were instructed to evacuate their classrooms in an orderly manner when the school's bell rang. But dozens of children were trampled as they ran to the playground, students said.

Some of the children "left in a hurry and fell on top of each other," a student told Ma'an.

Hebron mayor Kamel Hmaid, who visited the injured children in hospital, said an inquiry committee had been formed to investigate the accident. He said the incident underscored the need for disaster training.

7 years Prison sentence for Makdisi for belonging to Hamas

 

 

Jerusalem Center for Media – sources: -

The occupation central court gave a prison sentence for seven and a half years for young Jerusalemite.

The radio said that the occupation court ruled against the young man, “Mohammed Dwayyat” from the village of Sur Bahir, on the pretext of being a member of Hamas and possession of a weapon, pointing out that has been added ten-month suspended sentence to his sentence.

The radio claimed that Dwayyat prepared the explosive device intended to be placed in the station near the junction of tunnels south of occupied Jerusalem, but he placed near the Jewish settlement of Gilo and exploded in the hands of a Occupation Municipality workers which led to the cutting his hand, indicating that the “Israeli” court committed the prisoner to pay compensation of $ 200 thousand shekels to the worker.

7 years Prison sentence for Makdisi for belonging to Hamas

Soldiers, Settlers, Break Into The Al-Aqsa Mosque

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 

The al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage issued a press release on Wednesday morning stating that dozens of Israeli soldiers and fundamentalist settlers broke into the al-Aqsa Mosque through the al-Magharba Gate and provoked the local Muslim worshipers.

The Foundation said that the attack led to tension in the mosque area especially as the soldiers were heavily deployed with their guns around the mosque while the armed settlers provoked several residents before performing prayers in and around the mosque.

It added that three groups of extremist settlers, and dozens of fully uniformed and armed Israeli soldiers, started the invasion at 7:30a.m., and that the total number of soldiers and settlers who conducted the attack was more than a hundred.

The Foundation called on the Arab and Islamic nations, and the International Community, to intervene and stop the illegal violations carried out by the soldiers and extremist settler groups against the Palestinians and their holy sites.

Several Palestinians were recently injured, some seriously, during numerous assaults carried out by armed fundamentalist settlers against the Palestinians, their homes and lands, in the occupied Palestinian territories.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian youth was shot in his leg by a fundamentalist Israeli settler in the Old City of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank. His condition was described as moderate due to significant blood loss.

International Middle East Media Center

Prisoners society: Shalabi in serious condition

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Palestinian hunger-striker Hana Shalabi reiterated Tuesday she will not back down, while a lawyer for a prisoners rights group says the detainee is now in serious condition.

Jawad Bulus of the Palestinian prisoners society visited Shalabi in Maer hospital in Kfar Saba and reported that she was in serious condition.

The visit was to inform Shalabi about the decision of the military court’s judge who rejected her appeal, and to inform her of a petition submitted to the Israeli supreme court in her name.

Hana expressed anger upon hearing the decision but has not lost hope, Bulus said.

She was suffering nose bleeds and sores in her mouth, which had raised her concerns, but the director of Israel's Phsyicians for Human Rights visited her and prescribed vitamins for the water she continues to drink.

The hospital intends to keep her for a few more days to monitor her condition, Bulus added.

The ethics committee of Meir Hospital may consider force-feeding Shalabi, rights groups said Monday.

The committee was scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss Shalabi's case and could discuss force-feeding her, Addameer prisoner rights group and Physicians for Human Rights said in a statement.

Amnesty International warned forcible feeding "could constitute cruel and inhuman treatment," a release from the group said.

Maan News Agency

Video: #GMJ Woman reading poem for #GlobalMarchToJerusalem

Uploaded by SistasReZist on Mar 27, 2012

A woman activist reads a poem at a Global March to Jerusalem event held at the Ministry of Detainee Affairs, Gaza City. The event was attended by many of the prisoners released in the prisoners exchange deal with Gilad Shalit. Those at the event demand the return of Jerusalem to Palestinians, so it can be preserved, and shared by all the world as the City of Peace - the status it held until it was occupied and divided by Zionist Israel. They also demanded the end of adminitsrtaive detention, and the release of Hana Shalabi and all Palestinian prisoners.

Violent Israeli criminals transferred to section of Palestinian female detainees

 

RAMALLAH (PIC)-- Muhjat Al-Quds society for prisoners' rights said the Israeli jailers of Sharon prison transferred last Monday Israeli female criminals to section 2 where all Palestinian female prisoners are detained.

In a press release on Tuesday, the society highlighted that the presence of violent Israeli criminals in the same section would expose the Palestinian female detainees to constant harassment and attacks.

The society noted that it received a leaked letter from the female detainees in this jail affirming that 22 Israeli criminals were brought to their section.

The Palestinian detainees noted in their letter that their incarceration conditions in this jail is very bad and their privacy is violated by Israeli jailers who keep watching them through surveillance cameras that were installed inside their section and outside in the prison yard.

The society called on the Red Cross to necessarily intervene to have these Israeli criminals removed from section 2 and work on having their prison conditions improved.Violent Israeli criminals transferred to section of Palestinian female detainees

Sayyed exposed to assassination attempt in occupation jails

TULKAREM, (PIC)-- Wife of imprisoned Hamas leader, Abbas al-Sayyed, said that her husband was exposed to an assassination attempt when a special force attacked and assaulted him severely beating him on the head and the chest with the aim of killing him.

Ikhlas al-Sweis, Sayyed’s wife, said that lawyers who visited him over the past three days informed her of the news and told her that he is in a serious condition after the assassination attempt which took place last Wednesday.

He told his wife through his lawyers that was it not for God's mercy he would be dead now considering the extent of barbaric beating he suffered and that he is still suffering severe pains but the prison authority would not provide him with medical treatment.

She added that prison guards told him that they were taking him out of his cell for a medical examination, they took him to a room with about 15 soldiers, as soon as he entered the room the door was closed and the took turns in beating him until he lost consciousness.Sayyed exposed to assassination attempt in occupation jails

Quds Media: The occupation try to trail The Jerusalemites for their prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque

 

 

Quds Media – Exclusive -

The Quds Center for Media in Jerusalem revealed in a statement circulated by Monday evening 26/3/2012 that the occupation intelligence arrest and trial on charges of young Jerusalemites because of their prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Center said that the occupation intelligence pursued during the last period the policy of deportation of young Jerusalemites from the Al Aqsa Mosque decisions arbitrarily starting with three days and be extended automatically for several months to prevent young people from approaching the limits of the Al Aqsa Mosque or the doors and some of them prevented from approaching the limits of the old town as a whole.

In the last decisions of occupation intelligence to attack houses and arrest young men who keep  the performance of their prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In other methods of pursuing a systematic policy of occupation, forces arrested young men and tried on charges of Prayer Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to empty it of the Muslims and open the doors of Al-Aqsa to enter the settlers.

The Center said that the intelligence of occupation made an indictment against for a group of young Jerusalemites who are “Haitham Al-Jouba, Fadi Al-Jouba, Hamza Zuhjair, Musbah Abu Sabih, Rami Fakhouri, Alaa Fakhoury, and Hamza Kotaina and Ghaith Ghaith” In addition to thirty children under the pretext of performing prayers at the  Al-Aqsa mosque.

In her statement to the unity of research and documentation in the center Majid Al-Juoba’s mother, the mother of Fadi and Haitham, confirmed that the intelligence arrested her son Haytham a month ago and continued detention under the pretext of the existence of a secret file in addition to the detention of a number of young people with the same pretext.

She added that the occupation forces alternated the arrest of her sons and their request for investigation from the beginning of this month. The trial was postponed several times under the pretext of “secret file”.

Majid said that the occupation court which took place on Sunday morning has been directed to the indictment of her sons and the rest of the group of young men and which stated:

That the group was keen on the performance of Al-Aqsa mosque prayers, and practice the game of football in the yards, and the organization of banquets in the mosque, which it considers contrary to the occupation intelligence law.

Majid mother asked how the prayers to be in violation of the law!! And whether to play football and Breakfast in Al-Aqsa forbidden and in the same time they allowed the settlers to enter the Aqsa and perform the Talmudic rituals.

And went on to say: Prayer is a legitimate right of all religious in for Muslim, Christian and Jewish so how the occupation tried to charge our children.

The occupation forces have arrested since the beginning of this month, 30 children from Jerusalem in addition to the eight young men, accused of praying at Al Aqsa Mosque.

The director of Prisoners’ Club in Jerusalem, Nasser Qous the trial of eight detainees Jerusalemites, for to pray in Al Aqsa Mosque as a dangerous precedent and a threat to all the young al-Maqdisi, to prevent them from praying and Rebat in the Aqsa Mosque, in preparation for empty it from worshipers, and give the  opportunity for settlers to enter to al-Aqsa mosque.

Quds Media: The occupation try to trail The Jerusalemites for their prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque

Demonstrators protest Gaza buffer zone

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Dozens of demonstrators rallied in northern Gaza on Tuesday to protest Israel's confiscation of land inside the border.

The Israeli military imposes a no-go buffer zone inside the borders of Gaza, demolishing homes and buildings in the area, capturing valuable agricultural land and firing at Palestinians near the fence.

The rights group Al Mezan reports that the depth of the no-go zone is unclear and Israeli soldiers have shot at people as far as two kilometers from the border.

The demonstration was organized by a local initiative in Beit Hanoun.

Protesters marched toward a trench Israeli forces are digging in the zone and chanted "The land is not for sale," "The wall must fall," and "From Gaza to Bilin, we are one people."

Coordinator Saber Zaaneen said the rally was "just the beginning" of a series of marches planned to mark Land Day on Friday.

The Global March to Jerusalem is planning international rallies Friday to commemorate the death of six Palestinian citizens of Israel who took part in a general strike in protest of an Israeli decision to confiscate privately owned Palestinian lands in 1976.

Zaaneen urged Palestinian people to rise up in peaceful resistance to Israel's occupation.

"Jerusalem is in our hearts, it is our compass," he said.

Maan News Agency

Youth Injured By Settler Gun Fire In Hebron

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies 

Palestinian medical sources reported Tuesday that a Palestinian youth was shot in his leg by a fundamentalist Israeli settler in the Old City of Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.

file - image milad.ps

The sources added that Mohammad Hisham Abu Iker, 18 years old, was admitted to surgery after being shot by a live round in his right foot.

His condition was described as moderate due to significant blood loss resulting from the injury. He was attacked by a group of armed fundamentalist settlers.

This assault is amongst a series highlighting a serious escalation in the severity of attacks carried out by the extremist settlers against the Palestinians, their land and property in the occupied West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem.

Earlier on Tuesday, three brothers were wounded during an Israeli military invasion into Rammoun village, near the central West bank city of Ramallah. One soldier was wounded during the invasion after being stabbed in his back, Israeli sources reported.

The army claimed that the soldiers opened fire at the three brothers after the soldier was stabbed. The three men were identified as Rashad, Akram and Anwar Theeb, one of whom is in a serious condition.

In related news, soldiers abducted three Palestinians in the Hebron district, and two in Husan near Bethlehem.

International Middle East Media Center

Attorney Says Health of Striking Prisoner Deteriorated

RAMALLAH, March 27, 2012 (WAFA) – Attorney Jawad Boulus, who represents striking prisoner in Israeli jails, Hana Shalabi, said Tuesday that Shalabi’s health has deteriorated and that she was bleeding from the nose and mouth.

Boulus visited Shalabi at Meir Hospital in northern Israel, where she is getting treatment following 41 continuous days of hunger strike to protest her administrative detention.

He said Shalabi was disappointed and angry when she was informed that an Israeli court had rejected her appeal for early release.

Shalabi, 30, from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank, was arrested on February 16 and placed in administrative detention for six months. Her sentence was later reduced to four months.

Boulus said Shalabi will be kept in hospital to remain under observation as she continues to refuse to eat.Attorney Says Health of Striking Prisoner Deteriorated

Demolition Orders Issued for Silwan Residents

Palestine News & Info Agency - WAFA 
 JERUSALEM, March 27, 2012 (WAFA) – The West Jerusalem Israeli municipality handed six Palestinian families living in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan home demolition notices under the pretext of building without a permit, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said Tuesday in a statement.

It said municipality staff accompanied by a large police force handed the notices to the residents.

One of the homes that received a demolition order was demolished seven years ago. It was later rebuilt. The owner has already received three demolition orders over the last five months.

Palestinian on Hunger Strike "in Mortal Danger" (now day 41 of hunger strike)

Hospital 'may consider force-feeding' Shalabi

A boy holds a poster depicting Hana Shalabi during a rally in her support in Gaza
City on March 25. The writing on the poster reads: "My strike is a protest against
administrative arrests and strip-searches." (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The ethics committee of Meir Hospital may consider force-feeding hunger-striking detainee Hana Shalabi, human rights organizations said Monday.

The committee will meet Tuesday to discuss Shalabi's case and could discuss force-feeding her, Addameer prisoner rights group and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said in a joint statement.

Amnesty International warned forcible feeding "could constitute cruel and inhuman treatment," a release from the group said.

Shalabi has been on hunger strike for 40 days since she was detained from her home in the northern West Bank. On March 20 she was transferred to Meir Hospital in central Israel.

A doctor from PHR-Israel visited Shalabi on Monday and reported that on Saturday she had agreed to receive calcium and vitamin K to protect her from immediate heart attack.

The doctor said Shalabi's muscle atrophy and wasting had increased on Monday including her heart muscle. She still refuses food and is in danger of death, the doctor said.

Addameer and PHR-Israel expressed their dismay that an Israeli military court on Sunday rejected Shalabi's appeal against her administrative detention order.

Amnesty International also condemned the decision, noting that "the judge’s decision was based on secret evidence not disclosed to Hana Shalabi or her defense team.

"The judge also claimed that a medical report, submitted by the lawyers, did not provide information which suggested that Hana Shalabi’s state of health is a cause for concern," Amnesty said in a statement Monday.

Shalabi, 29, is sentenced to four months imprisonment without trial. She is refusing food to protest the order and her violent arrest and treatment.

Lawyer Jawad Bulus, a member of her legal team, said he submitted a petition to the Israeli high court on Monday demanding her release.

Maan News Agency