Palestine Today 071508

Tuesday July 15, 2008 17:18 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMc -Audio Dept.

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday July 15th, 2008.

The Israeli soldiers attacked West Bank areas, kidnapping at least 33 Palestinian civilians, and demolishing two homes in Jerusalem. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.

The News cast

Israeli military operations continued on Tuesday afternoon, targeting the village of Beit Fajar located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Local sources stated that the army conducted a wide scale search campaign in the village; witnesses told news agencies that soldiers have rounded up at least 20 men from the village and are holding them at an unknown detention camp.

On Tuesday at dawn a number of Israeli troops invaded Beit Fajar village and placed the village under curfew. Soldiers occupied a local building and used it as a military post. Israeli troops prevented journalists from moving around the village to document the invasion. The Israeli army has given no reason for today's attack on Beit Fajar. The village of Beit Fajar is renowned for its highly developed granite factories.

Continuing our coverage of West Bank developments; on Tuesday morning the Israeli army invaded the city of Nablus and Der Sharaf village kidnapping 13 civilians. The army entered several neighborhoods in the city and kidnapped seven civilians, while another Israeli military force invaded the nearby Der Sharaf village, ransacked homes and kidnapped six civilians.

Earlier on Tuesday morning Israeli settlers left the local park at Esh Ghrab in Beit Sahour town near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. According to eyewitnesses the settlers left early on Tuesday morning leaving behind racist graffiti and Israeli flags. On Monday evening more than 150 Israeli settlers invaded the local park at Esh Ghrab, which is an evacuated military base, owned by the people and municipality of Beit Sahour. As IMEMC reporter Ghassan Bannoura and photographer Rami Rishmawi approached the site, settlers assaulted the two men despite their clearly visible press credentials.

This is not the first time the settlers attempt to colonize this site. The first time they appeared on May 15, 2008 while Palestinians were commemorating the 60 anniversary of the 1948 Nakba. During the Nakba approximately 800 thousand Palestinians were expelled from their homes and land to make way for the colonization of Palestine and the creation of the Israeli state.

Also On Tuesday morning the Israeli Authorities demolished a two-story home in Al Aiswiye neighborhood in Jerusalem city. The Israeli troops stormed the neighborhood with a number of bulldozers, ransacking residences in the area and demolishing the building that belonged to Aishaq Mustafa which housed 12 family members. Furthermore, the Israeli army announced to 20 other civilians that their homes would also be demolished.

The Israeli army says that the cited homes had been built without permission from the Israeli government. Since Israel occupied Jerusalem in 1967 it has rarely given its Palestinian residents any form of documentation for their land and homes.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Taylor Bray and Ghassan Bannoura.

palestine | english audio report | audio report ghassanb at imemc dot org