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Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for November 7th to12, 2010.
Palestinians continue to stress the need to reach a peace deal, meanwhile Israel plans to build more settlements and continue to attack Palestinian communities, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.
Nonviolence
Lets us begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities in West Bank IMEMC’s Sami Talhami with the details.
Anti-wall protests this week took place in the villages of Bil’in, Nil’in, in the central West Bank, and also in Al Ma’ssara, in southern West Bank.
This week’s protests were commemoration of Late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat who died six years ago. Israeli and international supporters joined the villager’s at all three locations.
Israeli soldiers used force on Friday to suppress the weekly anti-wall protest at the village of al-Ma’ssara; Israeli troops stopped the protest at the entrance of the village; then used batons and rifle butts to force people back into the village.
In Bil’in village the protest started shortly after the midday prayers at the local mosque. As has been the case for the past six years, protesters marched from the village to local farmers’ lands on the other side of the wall.
As soon as protesters reached the gate of the wall separating villages from their lands, local organizers and political leaders made speeches. When people tried to cross the gate to their lands soldiers stationed there fired tear gas and sound bombs at them. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. This week the protest ended with clashes between local youth and Israeli soldiers, but without any injury.
In the nearby Ni’lin village; Villagers held the midday prayers at their lands near the wall, later they were joined by Israeli and international supporters and marched up to the gate of the wall separating local farmers from their lands.
Israeli soldiers stationed there fired tear gas and sound bombs at the unarmed protesters; many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
For IMEMC.org this is Sami Talhami
Political
During a West Bank public speech this week, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas emphasized the need to reach a peace agreement with Israel. He also reasserted his wish for a Palestinian national unity that includes the ruling Hamas party in Gaza. Meanwhile, U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, committed her country to the preservation of Israel’s security in any upcoming peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel. IMEMC’s Rami Al-Meghari has more
Palestinian president reiterates call on Israel to resume direct peace talks with Palestinians after the Israeli state halths all settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territories.
During speech marking the sixth anniversary of the death of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Abbas maintained that previous Israeli governments, including late Prime Minister, Ishaq Rabin, had recognized Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO, as the sole representative for the Palestinian people.
He went onto saying that hence that all Palestinian political parties including the ruling Hamas in Gaza , which is rival to Fatah party of Abbas, should abide the PLO’s drive towards peace negotiations with
Israel on basis of the inalienable legitimate Palestinian rights including the right to return to historical Palestine.
In a call to the Hamas party in Gaza following the failure of new rounds of national unity talks in Damascus this week, the Palestinian president encouraged further unity talks until the rival parties reach an agreement
President Abbas (Actuality)
‘We wont say more, we want dialogue and this dialogue should succeed’.
Meanwhile, in her efforts to bring Palestinians and Israelis together back to the negotiating table, U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, met yesterday in New York with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The two discussed stalled peace talks and agreed on the importance of Israel’s security in any future peaceful settlement.
Clinton pledged that the U.S will guarantee maximum security of Israel within any future agreement between Israel and Palestinians. In the meantime, the US Secretary reiterated call on Israel to stop all settlement building on occupied Palestinian lands.
On the internal level, the ruling Hamas party in Gaza criticized Abbas’s remarks over national unity as ‘ not signaling a unity deal soon’. However, Hamas reaffirmed willingness to continue dialogue until an agreement is reached.
This week, a new round of unity talks failed without reaching any agreement, based on an Egyptian-produced conciliation paper that Fatah signed in October of last year.
Rami Almghari IMEMC.org Gaza
West Bank and Gaza
This week the Israeli military conducted at least 34 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli attacks this week left two Palestinians injured,
the details with IMEMC’s Cathy Winther.
During this week’s military invasions to West Bank communities, Israeli troops arrested 18 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children and the secretary of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr. Mahmoud al-Ramahi.
On Sunday, Israeli police destroyed a mosque in the Palestinian Bedouin town of Rahat, in southern Israel. The mosque was considered ‘built without a permit’, according to Israeli Land administration. Around 1,000 people gathered to protest against the demolition and five of them were arrested.
Clashes broke out also on Tuesday morning between Israeli forces and hundreds of Palestinian school children in al-Isawiya neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Tensions allegedly erupted after the Israeli military erected road-blocks at the eastern entrance of the neighborhood, obstructing access to school classrooms.
The residents of Silwan also witnessed undercover police officers detaining five young men and beating four others, during a raid on a grocery store.
Palestinian sources reported that Israeli soldiers abducted an owner of construction materials store on Tuesday night, and requested the shopkeeper to head to the nearest police station for questioning. Both are residents from the village of Silwan, a neighborhood in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday in Gaza, a Palestinian worker was wounded by Israeli military fire while working near Beit Hanoun terminal in the northern part of the Strip. Also in Gaza, Israel launched a ground incursion with its forces advancing hundreds of meters into the east of the southern city of Khan Younis. The attack was conducted after Israeli fighters jets circled over Gaza last night. For IMEMC.org this is Cathy Winter
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 Husam Qassis and George Rishmawi
