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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for Wednesday September 19th, 2012.
Palestinian prisoner in Palestinian Authority jail starts a hunger strike demanding his release, meanwhile a world bank report says the financial crises of the Palestinian authority is deepening, these stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
Former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah movement, Zakaria Zobeidi decided to resume his hunger strike at a Palestinian prison after the court refused, Tuesday, to release him.
Zobeidi was arrested by the Palestinian security forces four months ago, and never faced charges since then.
During the court session, Zobeidi said that he will not eat or drink anything, and will not even speak until he is released. His statements came after the court granted the prosecution 19 more days to submit its case against him.
Zobeidi went on hunger strike that partially ended when delegates representing Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, informed him that he will be released within five days. But the court’s decision made him to restart his strike.
He used to be the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin, and was one of many fighters of the Fatah movement who were granted amnesty by Israel as part of a deal with the Palestinian Authority. He, along with several others, co-established the Freedom Theatre in Jenin refugee camp in 2006.
Also in prisoners news, the Palestinian Prisoners Society demanded Israel to release Kamal Al-Husseini who, on September 9, was taken prisoner by Israeli police in occupied East Jerusalem.
Prior to his arrest, Husseini was shot and wounded by a live round in his right thigh, and the bullet also fractured his pelvis.
The prisoners society added that Al-Husseini is currently being held at an Israeli hospital, shackled and tied to his bed despite his bad health condition.
Medical sources said that the detainee will likely remain hospitalized for more than two months due to several health complications.
The PPS demanded Israel to ensure the release of the wounded detainee, and to send him back home in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, so that he can receive the urgently needed medical help at a local hospital.
Al-Husseini, is 23 years old from ath-Thaheriyya town, south of Hebron. He was shot while heading to work in occupied Jerusalem. He never faced charges and Israel is refusing to release him.
In other news, the World Bank provided 14.3 million dollars in budgetary support to the Palestinian Authority.
The World Bank’s latest report on the Palestinian economy warns of a deepening fiscal crisis in the Palestinian territories, calling on donors to act urgently.
The Palestinian Economic Monitoring Report which was published Wednesday, emphasizes that only strong private sector investment will drive sustainable growth and underscores how many layers of physical, administrative and security restrictions now constrain the private sector, to invest in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in area C. Area C represents around 60 per cent of the West Bank which is under total Israeli control.
That’s all from Palestine Today; This was the Wednesday September 19th 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, George Rishmawi.
