Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 2 m 45s || 2.50 MB ||
Welcome to Palestine Today a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org for Monday, August 09, 2010.
Israeli military has a shortage of Arabic translators and a Palestinian farmer reclaims some of his land from settlers these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.
The lack of translators accessible to the army is preventing investigations by the military police in the Israeli forces from receiving testimony of abuses from Palestinians about Israeli soldiers, according to a report from the rights group Yesh Din.
The group documented how many Palestinians go out of their way to attend pre-scheduled meetings with police investigators only to have the meeting scrapped because of a lack of a suitable interpreter.
Yesh Din emphasized that those wishing to give testimony set up a time to meet with the investigators, and then that to make the trip they take the day off work, endure all the checkpoints to get to a meeting only to be told that the meeting cannot continue due to lack of an adequate translator.
The army has said that it is only experiencing a temporary shortage of qualified persons.
Around Bethlehem, A farmer with the help of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee reclaimed land which had been inside of an illegal Israeli settlement.
Imad Ash-Shaer of Husan village had his lands annexed 10 years ago by an Israeli military base near Betar Illit settlement.
The farmer was able to get back all forty-eight dunums of land which had been behind the barb-wire fences of the settlement.
The Agricultrual Relief Committee determined that there was no legal basis for keeping the farmer from his land only claims of security.
At a cost of $1000 per dunum, six families have gotten their lands returned to them. PARC covered 75% of the costs. The farmers still endure harassment from settlers.
In the Negev, the Israeli authorities destroyed three more houses on Monday. They demolitions come at a stressful time with the record heat and the coming of Ramadan.
These latest demolitions come not long after Israel destroyed an entire village in the Negev because they had not recognized it as official.
The people of Gaza face even more electricity blackouts as a fuel shortage becomes exaggerated.
Power shut off Saturday and will only restart for about a day and a half unless more fuel is allowed into the Gaza Strip. There is an ongoing disagreement between the governments in Gaza and the West Bank over payments for that fuel.
Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, for constant update, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Brian Ennis.
