Audio Link After Text
Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for October 17, to the 23, 2015.
This week 15 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks targeting Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu launched this week a political wave of attack against Palestinians and hold them responsible for the holocaust. 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. On Friday, Israeli troops attacked anti wall and settlements protests organized in West Bank communities using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. As a result, scores of protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. IMEMC’s Majd Batjali has more:
This week anti wall and settlements protests were organized in the central west Bank villages of Bil’in, Ni’lin, and al Nabi Saleh. In addition, protests took place in the villages of Kufer Qadum in northern West Bank. Israeli soldiers used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets against the unarmed protesters.
Protesters this week demanded a halt of Israeli attacks targeting Palestinians ,and the Israeli settlers attempts to takeover Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site for Muslims worldwide.
In Bil’in and Ni’lin, protesters managed to reach the Israeli wall. Meanwhile in al Nabi Saleh village, Israeli troops fired several rounds of rubber-coated steel bullets at the villagers as soon as they reached the village entrance.
In Bil’in village tear gas bombs fired by Israeli soldiers caused a fire in nearby olive orchards. As a result a number of trees were damaged by the fire. Ni’lin soldiers used Palestinian cameraman and a journalist from the Palestine Today TV as human shields during their attack on protesters. Troops detained the journalists for three hours and later released them.
at Kufer Kadum village scores of residents and their international supporters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly protest. Soldiers also fired tear gas into residents’ homes after invading the village.
For IMEMC News this Majd Batjali.
The Political Report
Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu launched this week a political wave of attack against Palestinians, he accused Abbas of joining ISIS and accuses a Palestinian leader of being behind the holocaust. IMEMC’s George Rishmawi with the details:
A new wave of attack is launched against the Palestinians by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamine Netanyahu. He made statements this week that created uproar among Palestinian and European leaders in which he accused Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1941 of being behind the holocaust.
Netanyahu said, that Husseini implanted the idea of exterminating the Jewish people in Hitler’s head. Addressing the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem on Tuesday Netanyahu said, Hitler wanted only to expel the Jews from Europe however, Husseini convinced him to exterminate them fearing that the Jews will go to Palestine.
Israel’s opposition head and Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog strongly criticized Netanyahu and described his statement as a dangerous historical distortion and demanded him to correct it immediately saying it minimizes the Holocaust, Nazism and Hitler’s part in the holocaust.
Netanyahu’s statement also had the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesperson state that the responsibility of the holocaust is German and there is no need to change history for any reason.
The Spokesperson said, ‘This is taught in German schools for good reason, it must never be forgotten. And I see no reason to change our view of history in any way. We know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own.’
Dr. Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said on Wednesday that Netanyahu’s statements have deepened the divide between Palestinians and Israelis and denounced his statements as “morally indefensible and inflammatory.”
Netanyahu has also accused the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, dubbed as ISIS.
Netanyahu told the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon this week, that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have joined ISIS and Hamas by saying that Israel threatens the existence of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Netanyahu claims that Israel has no intention to destroy the mosque and that it is committed to the status quo on the Aqsa Mosque square.
On his part Abbas denounced Netanyahu and said that he is the one fostering ISIS and An-Nusra militants adding that the Palestinian leadership is seeking peace only.
Such statements came during Ban’s visit to the country in an attempt to calm the situation which was flamed at the beginning of October, causing series of attacks and counter attacks that claimed the lives of 55 Palestinians and injured thousands others.
For IMEMC News, this is George Rishmawi
The West Bank and Gaza Report
This week 15 Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops live gunfire, during ongoing clashes all over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Occupied Jerusalem. Meanwhile during the clashes at least 300 civilians were injured this week. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura reports:
At the start of the week, five Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in Saturday in separate incidents. Three Palestinians were killed in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, another youth was killed in Jerusalem, and a fifth was killed at Qalandia checkpoint by Israeli live gunfire on Saturday.
On Sunday night, an elderly Palestinian woman from the al-’Isawiyya town, in occupied Jerusalem, died on a military roadblock, after Israeli soldiers, manning a roadblock on the eastern entrance of the town, delayed a car moving her to a hospital. 65-year-old Hoda Mohammad Darwish, suffered severe effects of tear gas inhalation fired ta her house during clashes with local youth near her home in al-’Isawiyya.
Four more Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in southern West Bank, on Tuesday, while a fifth Palestinian died after being shoot by Israeli troops during clashes at borders areas near central Gaza. Clashes between Palestinian youth and invading Israeli soldiers were reported all over the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Among the killed in Hebron on Tuesday there was two children Bashar al-Ja’bari 15, and his cousin Hussam 17. Both children were going home when a soldier manning a checkpoint outside their homes opened fire at them killing them both. The army took the children body and still refuse to allow their family to see them.
Later in the week, a Palestinian youth were killed by Israeli troops’ gunfire near Jerusalem, on Wednesday, while an elderly man died during ongoing clashes in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. On Wednesday afternoon, Moa’taz Attalah Qassem, 22, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Adam, near the town of Jaba’ north of occupied Jerusalem. He is From Eazaryia town near Jerusalem. Earlier on Wednesday midday, Hashem al-‘Azza, 54 years of age, from Tel Romeida neighborhood in Hebron old city, died of severe effects of tear gas inhalation, after dozens of soldiers invaded the Zawiya area in the city and clashed with local youth.
Moreover, One Palestinian was killed and one critically injured by Israeli police in Beit Shemesh, to the west of Jerusalem, Thursday, after an alleged stabbing attack, Israeli media and police said. On Friday a Palestinian youth was killed after he succumbed to wounds he sustained last week during ongoing clashes and the northern Gaza borders with Israel.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health 55 Palestinians have been killed including 12 children, since October 1. The ministry said in its report that at least 2000 Palestinians have been injured by live round and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by Israeli soldiers at protesters all over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Occupied Jerusalem. Moreover there were 3500 Palestinian who suffered effects of tear gas inhalation fired by Israeli troops.
For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for October 17, to the 23, 2015. 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 Maher Qasiess and me Eman Abedraboo- Bannoura.
