Click on Link to download or play MP3 file || 2 m 15s || 2.06 MB ||
Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Monday, February 14 2011.
The Palestinian cabinet in the West Bank submitted its resignation on to enable Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad, to select new ministers under a request from President, Mahmoud Abbas. This step is seen as a consequence of the recent revolutions that brought down the regimes of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, and popular protests in other Arab countries demanding change and reform.
A group of heavily-armed Israeli settlers stormed the village of Beit Ummar, in the southern part of the West Bank, on Sunday night. They harassed villagers but, according to local eyewitnesses, caused no injuries. The incident took place just two days after a large non-violent protest was held in the nearby city of Hebron challenging a planned ‘marathon run’ by Israeli settlers through Palestinian towns and villages
Two days after Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak was toppled by a torrent of peaceful protests, a rally headed by Gazan youth gathered in Gaza City calling on Egypt to open its Rafah border crossing with Gaza. The General Union of Youth Organizations gathered more than 100 people in the central square, asking that Egypt rescind its peace agreements with Israel and that it open the Rafah crossing.
A Palestinian quarry in Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, is to close due to ‘enforcement activities’ by the Israeli authorities. The town, located in area C, under the Oslo Accords, lost its High Court battle with Israeli pressure group, the National Land Protection Trust. The military confiscated a large number of items in a series of raids last year, and the National Land Protection Trust has vowed to prevent any attempts to license the quarry, as, they claim, nearby settlements suffer from dust and noise pollution from the site.
That sums up our news for today, thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today, from International Middle East Media Center. For more updates, please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you by Husam Qassis and Circarre Parrhesia.
