Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 4 m 30s || 4.12 MB ||
Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday, October 5th 2010.
Israel deports a Noble Peace Prize Laureate and Jewish Rabbis pay a visit to the mosque torched by settlers in Bethlehem, these stories and more, are coming up, stay tuned.
A Palestinian man was shot and wounded, today at dawn, after Israeli soldiers opened fire at him at a military roadblock near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. On Monday, 36 year old Iz Ed-Din al-Kawazba was shot to death at point blank range as he tried to cross a barbed wire fence in East Jerusalem in order to seek work.
The Israeli Supreme Court denied an appeal filed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire.
Justices said the 10-year deportation order against her was valid because she knew of the order and “violated the law…” and they could not overrule the decision to deny her entrance into the country.
Maguire was deported for her participation in the Freedom Flotilla attacked in May while attempting to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
The judges said she was aware of a district court ruling, which should have been filed by her in Ireland. Also denied was her claim that her basic rights had been violated. Israeli sources said she could challenge the ruling by filing an official appeal to the court.
In other news, on Tuesday a number of Israeli rabbis visited the mosque that Israeli settlers burned in the village of Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem on Monday. Governor of Bethlehem Abdul Fattah Hamayel, Muslim clergy and representatives of the families of the village welcomed the delegation of rabbis.
The rabbis condemned the settler’s act saying it is not part of the Jewish religion’s values. They gave the Imam of the Mosque a gift of a number of copies of the Muslim’s Holy Quran.
A group of settlers said to be from he Gush Etzion settlement set the mosque on fire on Monday, apparently as part of their so called “price-tag” operation, which targets mosques in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers entered the Nafha Prison on Monday evening and searched the rooms of the detainees causing damage. The attack led to tension in the prison camp when the soldiers forced the detainees out of their rooms. The Wa’ed Society for Detainees reported that the attack was carried out by Mitzada, the Special Forces of the Israeli Prison Administration.
The Society stated that the soldiers broke into Section 14 at the Nafha Prison and violently forced the prisoners out of their rooms before searching them and confiscating electronic equipment. .
The Society called on the International Red Cross to intervene and to protect the prisoners by calling on Israel to implement the Fourth Geneva Convention and related resolutions regarding the rights of prisoners of war.
In internal Palestinian affairs, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, spoke in Gaza on Monday about national reconciliation with Fatah. He emphasised that the Hamas agenda is to end the occupation, protect the holy sites and free all political prisoners.
While not wanting a civil war with Fatah, he rejected Abbas’ security coordination with Israel and called on the PLO to support armed resistance.
Dr. Zahar expressed concern that Israel might increase its attacks on Palestinians once the peace talks fail, and that the talks will distract the world from Israel’s plans to attack Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.
That concludes our news for today, thank you for joining us form occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today, from the International Middle East Media Center. For more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by, Hussam Qassis, and George Rishmawi.
