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Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for November 16 to the 22, 2013.
This week the United Nations council asserted the Palestinian rights to self determination, while Israeli attacks targeted the West Bank and Gaza continued. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. This week Israeli troops used rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and sound bombs to suppress anti wall and settlements protests organized in a number of West Bank villages. IMEMC’s Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura reports:
On Friday protests were organized in the central west Bank villages of Bil’in Ni’lin and Al Nabi Saleh, as well as Al Ma’ssara village, southern West Bank.
In the villages of Bil’in, and Nil’in residents and their international and Israeli supporters managed to reach the Israeli wall built on lands taken from local famers.
Meanwhile Israeli troops used tear gas and chemical water that generate bad smell to attack residents and their supporters before leaving the village of Al Nabi Saleh.
Many civilians were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli soldiers at all three locations. In addition Israeli troops invaded the village of al Nabi Saleh and fired tear gas inside residents’ homes causing many women and children to suffer effects of tear gas inhalation
Elsewhere at al Ma’ssara village, southern West Bank, Israeli soldiers stopped the weekly anti wall protest there at the village entrance. Soldiers forced people back into the village using rifle buts and batons to push people back, no injuries were reported.
For IMEMC News this is Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.
The Political Report
A United Nation’s council has decided that Palestinians should attain their right to self-determination. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority has shown willingness to continue peace talks with Israel. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari has more:
Majority of United Nations member states voted for a resolution by United Nations council for economic and social affairs that Palestinians should attain their right to self-determination and that this right is a given inalienable one. Some other states including Israel and United States voted against it.
Palestinian observing mission with the UN hailed the resolution and called on UN to help pressure Israel to halt illegal settlements building on occupied Palestinian territories. Self-determination is meant to give Palestinians right to a statehood on the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip.
In the meantime, Palestinian negotiations team has been reformulated to include new members. This comes after the old team resigned over lack of progress in talks with Israel. Old top negotiator , Saeb Eriqat, remains in post.
Palestinian Authority has further adhered to a 9-month negotiations with Israel, based on US intervention in June 2013, and since then, no concrete progress has been observed.
This week, an Israeli high court gave the Israeli government an ultimatum of six months to dismantle housing units, erected on Palestinian lands in the occupied east Jerusalem.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian prime minister of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, said on Friday that Egypt-Gaza ties should go on and that relations with nearby Egypt are unshakable . Haniya’s remarks come amidst severed Hamas-Egypt connections in the shadow of deadly events across the nearby Sinai peninsula.
For IMEMC News, I am Rami Almeghari in Gaza.
The West Bank and Gaza Report
This week the Israeli army conducted 56 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these attacks Israeli troops kidnapped 58 Palestinians. IMEMC’s Salam Qumsiy with the details:
This week Israeli invasions and kidnappings were focused in the west Bank cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah and Jenin. Among those kidnapped this week there were 11 children. Moreover Israeli soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian mother and her 11-year-old child to force her other 17 year old child to surrender to the army.
On Sunday, dozens of Palestinians have been injured by Israeli gas bombs and concussion grenades during clashes with Israeli soldiers who invaded in Abu Dis town in occupied East Jerusalem.
Local youth clashes with soldiers who invaded the town to install electric barbed wire fence at a section of the Annexation Wall that was recently breached by local youths last week. Soldiers attacked the local university and nearby high school, local sources said.
On Tuesday Shamseh Al Sharief, 60 years old, from Howara town near Nablus city was moved to hospital after sustaining moderate wounds due to being hit by the settler car. The assailant hit Al Sharief and fled the scene, local source reported. Earlier on Tuesday morning near Nablus, a number of extremist Israeli settlers invaded Far’ata village, burnt two cars and wrote racist graffiti on walls.
Later in the week Israeli army forces and bulldozers invaded on Wednesday morning the village of Akraba, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus and leveled farm structures. Local sources said that the army bulldozers destroyed a water cistern and an animal shad owned by local farmers while troops surrounded the area and forced residents away.
In the Gaza Strip this week, Israeli warplanes and jetfighters attacked on Tuesday evening different parts of the Gaza Strip. Local sources reported that F16 jetfighters targeted Khan Younis town in the southern part of the Gaza strip in addition to areas in Gaza City.
Earlier on Tuesday at dawn, Israeli navy boats opened fire at a number of Palestinian fishing boats near the Gaza coast, causing damage but no injuries.
For IMEMC News This is Salam Qumsiy
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for November 16, to the 22, 2013 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www.imemc.org. This week’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi and me, Ghassan Bannoura.
