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Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for August 20th to the 26th 2011.
Israeli attacks this week targeting Gaza leave seven Palestinian dead meanwhile the U.S mounts purser on the PA to drop the state bid at the UN slated for September. These stories and more are coming up, stay tuned
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank. Protests on Friday were reported in the villages of Bil’in and Nil’in in central West Bank, addition to al-Ma’ssara in the southern West Bank. This week protests were in solidarity with Gaza and marking the international day of Jerusalem.
One child and a man were injured when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti wall protest organized at the southern West Bank village of al-Ma’sara .
Israeli troops also attacked anti wall protests in central West Bank villages. In Bil’in village many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at villagers and their international supporters.
In the nearby village of Nil’in villagers marched along with their international and Israeli supporters. As soon as people reached the wall built of villagers’ lands troops fired tear gas; many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
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The Political Report
As the UN General Assembly convention nears, US pressure the Palestinian Authority not to request an international recognition of an Independent Palestinian State, the details and more with IMEMC’s George Rishmawi has the story:
The United States will stop all financial aid to the Palestinians if they insist on requesting an international recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, said the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, Daniel Rubinstein.
Rubinstein told Chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Sa’eb Ereikat, that the U.S. would veto a UN Security Council resolution on this matter.
Ereikat urged the US to reconsider its position regarding the Palestinian statehood saying that it is essential for the peace process to support the Palestinian statehood request in September.
On the other hand, International Law expert Guy Goodwin-Gill said that the September bid of statehood threatens Palestinian Rights. Gill, a professor of International Law at Oxford, said in a seven-page legal opinion on the september bid that if the bid succeeds, UN representation of the Palestinian people would shift from the global Palestinian Liberation Organisation – currently recognised as the ‘sole and legitimate representative’ of all Palestinians around the world – to the envoy of a state based in the West Bank and Gaza.
Gill adds in his document that Millions of Palestinian refugees who live in the diaspora could be ‘accidentally disenfranchised.’
In the meantime, tension between Israel and Egypt has escalated after Israeli military killed four Egyptian soldiers during a cross-border pursue of fighters who carried out a coordinated deadly attack against Israelis last week.
Egypt requested an official strong and clear apology from Israel who failed to do so. Thousands of Egyptian protesters surrounded the Israeli embassy in Cairo and replaced the Israeli flag on the Embassy with a Palestinian one and demanded the Egyptian government to expel the Israeli ambassador.
The protestors had also demanded Egypt to sever all relations with Israel and to cancel the peace agreement with Israel known as Camp David, signed in 1979.
The agreement puts strong limitations on Egyptian Military presence on the borders with Israel.
Series of meetings had already started between Egypt and Israel and had already agreed in principle to boost Egyptian military presence in the Sinai desert.
The Godfather of the Camp David Agreement, former US president Jimmy Carter expressed concern over hints to cancel the Camp David agreement and held Israel responsible.
For IMEMC.org this is Gorge Rishmawi
The Israeli Attacks
This Week Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip left seven Palestinians dead. Moreover during the week the Israeli army conducted at least 27 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 77 Palestinian civilians. Most of the detainees were arrested from the southern west Bank city of Hebron. IMEMC’s Carmen Rodriguez with the details:
In the recent Israeli escalation on Gaza the Israeli military launched at least 41 air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. They destroyed or damaged a number of civilian buildings and 6 training sites of Palestinian resistance groups.
On Saturday, August 20th, seven Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were wounded by Israeli attacks targeting the Gaza Strip towns of Rafah and Jabaliay as well as Gaza City.
On Sunday, August 21st an Israeli drone attacked a number of Palestinian activists, who launched a home-made rocket into Israeli towns, near al-Shaimaa’ School in the north of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip. As a result, Haitham Ahmed Ma’rouf, 13, who was on his father’s land, was seriously wounded by shrapnel throughout the body.
On Wednesday, August 24th the Israeli army extra-judicially executed a leader of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad) in Rafah. A passing child was wounded. On the same day, Israeli troops killed a farmer in al-Boreij refugee camp.
They also killed a resistance activist in Gaza City. On the same day, a worker was killed and 4 others were wounded when Israeli jet-fighters bombarded a tunnel in the town Rafah at the borders with Egypt.
In the West Bank, Israeli invasions were focused this week on Bethlehem and Hebron, southern west Bank. At least 53 Palestinians were arrested during a search campaign in Hebron. The arrested were mostly members and activists of Hamas, including a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, two journalists, some academics and members of charitable associations.
For IMEMC.org this is Carmen Rodriguez
And that was just some of the news from this week in Palestine, for more updates; please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, This report has been brought to you by Ghassan Bannoura and Hussam Qassis.
