Click on Link to download or play MP3 file|| 7 m 10s || 6.56 MB ||
Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday, October 26, 2010.
Local sources in Jerusalem reported that on Monday, Israeli Authorities handed 231 demolition orders targeting Arab and Palestinian homes in several neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem. Clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police occurred as orders were handed out, and injuries were reported. Hundreds of residents also protested near Bab Al Amoud in East Jerusalem, holding pictures of elected Hamas legislators who had protested at the Red Cross in Jerusalem after an Israeli court order that revoked identity cards and ordered their expulsion from the city.
The Hamas Interior Minister of the dissolved government in Gaza spoke at a university in Khan Younis in Gaza. He stated that Hamas will liberate Akka and Haifa, and armies from different parts of the world will join the effort. In addition he told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas will remain steadfast on the path of resistance. He said Israeli leaders are worried about traveling abroad because they fear prosecution by International Criminal Courts. He accused president Mahmoud Abbas or providing endless concessions to Israel.
On Tuesday morning, the slogan ‘Kahane tasdak’ which means (Kahane was right) was found written on the walls of restaurants, stores and in a Latin church in the Israeli city of Jaffa. An eyewitness saw the settlers arriving in a car then spraying the slogan on the door of a school. Later graffiti was found sprayed on other walls. Informed, police did not respond in a direct manner. These acts of spraying “Kahane was right,” have been ongoing and appear in several villages.
Meir Kahane was a radical Israeli rabbi and leader of the Jewish terrorist organization, Kach, who advocated immigration to Israel, warning of another Holocaust. He was shot in Manhattan in 1990, following a speech he had given.
Medical sources reported, onTuesday morning, that a retarded Palestinian was shot by Israeli soldiers stationed in the towers surrounding the military terminal near Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. He was transferred to a hospital for treatment of a mild wound.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends offer a three-month freeze on settlement activities, and said to be preparing a plan to submit to the American President next month. He plans to say that Israel will not construct in West Bank settlements for three months, after which limited construction for natural growth will resume for nine months. Netanyahu’s office denied decisions regarding a new settlement freeze.
Although peace talks are ongoing with the Obama administration, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is demanding that Israel halt all settlement activities and stop its invasions and arrest campaigns in the occupied territories before peace talks are resumed with Palestinians.
On Tuesday morning, Israeli soldiers invaded and kidnapped five Palestinians in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron after invading and searching several homes.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army continues arrests in Jerusalem and in other Palestinian cities.
Six Palestinians were abducted in occupied Jerusalem; and six in the Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood. Israeli police claimed they hurled stones at police vehicles and border guards.
The Israeli Ofer Military Court sentenced Palestinian Legislator Hatem Qfeisha of the Hamas’ Change and Reform Bloc, to six month in administrative detention without presenting any charges against him.
Islamic Legislators demanded that the International Community intervene to stop Israeli detentions without being given the reason for arrest, saying Israeli military courts are committing crimes against humanity and violating international law. Qfeisha has been subjected to numerous arrests in the past. Several other members of his family have also been subjected to repeated arrests. Currently twelve elected legislators are being held captive.
Two Palestinians were killed on Monday evening due to a power surge at a siege-busting tunnel in Rafah, in the southern part of Gaza. One of many, the tunnel was used for smuggling food supplies and basic materials into Gaza. Approximately 150 Palestinians have died and dozens were wounded in similar accidents in tunnels bordering Egypt.
A study released by the International Transparency Organization on Tuesday found Israel to be among the most corrupt countries in the Western World. The 2010 study ranked 178 countries. A score of one was given for the least corrupt. Israel was listed at number 30.The research shows that Israel received a score of 6.1 out of 10 in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranks countries according to the perception of corruption as judged by the public sector. Of the thirty three Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, Israel is in the 22nd place and has the widest social gaps.
Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are the least corrupt countries, according to the International Transparency Organization.
That’s some of our news for today, Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today, a program of the International Middle East Media Center. For more updates and for details of these stories, please visit our Website at www.imemc.org. This report was brought to you by Husam Qassis and Doris Norrito.
