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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday, September 4rd, 2012.
In some Arab countries, self-immolations have sparked mass protests. Today in Palestine self-immolations are on the rise and protests continue across the west bank. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
Protests against price increases on goods and fuel are happening for the second day across the West Bank, including Hebron and Ramallah. Protesters are demanding the resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, whose government they hold responsible for the price hikes.
On Tuesday, a municipality guard in the Palestinian village of Dura, near Hebron, succeeded in preventing a local man from dousing himself in gasoline, and setting himself on fire. The 42-years-old resident of the Al-Fawar refugee camp, has recently been unable to make a living, even working for the Palestinian Police and as a taxi driver.
Ihab Abu Nada, a 20-year old Gazan man, killed himself in a public act of protest Sunday, dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself on fire. In a statement, his family shared he was frustrated at being unable to find a job, and decided to take his own life to protest the conditions in Gaza, a place where he and other young people feel that they have no future.
Palestinians are very highly educated and yet a recent report by the United Nations stated that if present conditions are allowed to continue, without a lifting of the naval, air and land blockade, Gaza will be unlivable by the year 2020.This marks the first such self immolation protest in Gaza, although local human rights groups say that dozens of Palestinian residents of Gaza have been pushed to commit suicide due to the dire economic situation.
In other news, “Price Tag” attacks carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against the Palestinian people, their lands and property, continued today. Tuesday at dawn a group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked the Latrun Christian Monastery in occupied Jerusalem. Israeli Ynet News reported that the wooden door of the Monastery was burnt and racist graffiti describing Jesus as a “Monkey”, and other disparaging language towards Christianity in general, was found at the site. The attack was carried out around 3:30 am; the monk sleeping nearby managed to extinguish the fire before it spread.
Tamer al-Atrash, media spokesperson of the Youth Coalition Against Settlements, reported that several Israeli soldiers stopped his car, forced him out, and began shouting, kicking and punching him. The attack happened in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank Monday night. Al-Atrash reported that he recognized the soldiers who attacked him as soldiers he had previously filmed assaulting other residents near Hebron.
Several residents, including children, suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation Monday. Local sources report that at least two military vehicles invaded and fired gas bombs at dozens of homes near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Dozens of injuries were reported. An explanation for the attack is still unknown.
The Israeli military reported Monday that a Palestinian man dropped a bag filled with explosives at a roadblock near Ni’lin village, and the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Explosive experts arrived at detonated the explosives in a controlled explosion. The suspect arrived at the roadblock without a permission to enter Israel and was turned away. Shortly there after, the man returned carrying a bag. When the soldiers wanted to search him, he threw it at them and ran away.
That’s all for Palestine Today, This was the Tuesday September 4th round up of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www.imemc.org. Today’s report has been brought to you by Hussam Qassis and me, Catherine Anderson.
