4 Palestinians found in collapsed Gaza tunnel

The workers had gone missing when a cross-border tunnel collapsed a week ago

 News Briefs

The bodies of four Palestinian workers were recovered on Sunday from a collapsed tunnel on border between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to a Palestinian security source.

The workers had gone missing when a cross-border tunnel collapsed a week ago, the source told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to media.

In recent months, the Egyptian army has begun flooding a network of cross-border tunnels linking Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip with seawater.

Subject to a years-long blockade by Israel, the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Palestinian group Hamas, had come to depend on the tunnel network to import desperately-needed commodities, including food, fuel and medicine.

Since the 2013 military coup against President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian authorities have cracked down on the tunnels along border with the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, the Egyptian army said its forces had destroyed seven cross-border tunnels on Gaza border last month.

In 2014, Egyptian authorities began to establish a buffer zone in North Sinai’s city of Rafah along Gaza border following a spate of militant attacks against army and police forces.

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Aid Watch Palestine Raises Awareness of Failed Reconstruction Efforts in Gaza

Aid Watch Palestine holds parallel exhibitions in the West Bank and Gaza to advocate for a just reconstruction process in the besieged coastal enclave, and assert Palestinian unity.

News Briefs

On Wednesday, November 23, Aid Watch Palestine (AIP) organized a photo exhibition in central Ramallah, West Bank, titled “Gaza Incomplete.” The event addressed reconstruction efforts in Gaza since the 51-day Israeli offensive against the besieged coastal enclave in the summer of 2014.

See archive IMEMC video: 09/02/14 Gaza City’s Devastated Al-Shuja’eyya Suburb

AIP is an independent Palestinian civil society initiative that stimulates and supports efforts to make international aid more accountable to Palestinians — starting with reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The exhibition sought to raise awareness, in the West Bank, of the severity of Gaza’s on-going humanitarian crisis since the offensive, as well as the reasons why international aid has not been successful in meaningfully slowing it. AIP hopes that doing so will change public opinion and eventually push the Palestinian and Israeli governments to change their respective – and sometimes coordinated – policies on Gaza. The event consisted of two short films and a photo exhibition.

The 2014 Israeli offensive on Gaza exacted unprecedented devastation. Israeli forces killed 2,251 Palestinians and completely destroyed 18,000 houses. It was estimated that an adequate reconstruction effort would cost $570 million and require 4 million tons of materials.

Dwindling funds for stopgap solutions

Speaking to the Alternative Information Center, AIP Media Communication Coordinator Elia Ghorbia drew attention to a primary problem hindering reconstruction efforts in Gaza: “The donor countries aren’t pledging sufficient amount of money.”

In response to the 2014 Israeli offensive, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Palestine requested a total of $570 million for reconstruction efforts. International donors then pledged millions of dollars to rehabilitate Gaza’s infrastructure. However, as of November 2016, only $195 million has been disbursed. In other words, only 34% of the total budget requested for urgent humanitarian needs was met two yeas after the offensive.

The lack of funds continues to contribute to the suffering of an entire population, leaving the 28% of Gazans who were displaced with bleak prospects of returning home. A film shown by AIP at the exhibition stated that 4,000 homes were still unrepaired from – not the 2014 offensive on Gaza – but the 2008 and 2012 Israeli attacks.

But, even if Gaza were to receive an appropriate amount of humanitarian aid to piece together the damage incurred in 2014, other obstacles persist. “We want to raise awareness not only about the suffering of people in Gaza, but also about the [Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM)] and its implications,” Ghobia added.

The GRM is a temporary agreement brokered by the United Nations (UN) between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel that intends to address conflicting interests: Israel’s security concerns and the entry of essential construction materials into Gaza in light of Israel’s decade-long blockade on the coastal enclave.

The GRM dictates that the UN monitors and collects private information about Palestinian households in a database accessible to Israel. Israel then retains the power to veto which Gazan families are given permission to sell and receive building materials.

As pointed out in an AIP film at “Gaza Incomplete,” the GRM has not fulfilled its self-professed raison d’etre: only 16% of such materials have entered Gaza thus far.

Because of the paltry entry of goods, critics see the GRM as another treaty that legitimizes and reinforces the Israeli blockade whilst undermining the livelihoods of the people of Gaza due to the imposition of a strict monitoring system that only seems to further restrict the flow of goods. Moreover, 65% of purchased construction materials that do enter Gaza come from Israeli markets, thus financially propping up the Israeli economy.

Resisting the root of the problem 

Maintaining that while “there are many internal problems which must be solved,” Ghorbia emphasized that the main solution to humanitarian disaster in Gaza is “to lift the blockade.”

Until then AIP will continue to encourage discussion of why international aid has failed to alleviate the affects of Israeli occupation in Gaza in such a way that both advocates for Gazans’ needs and insists upon the unity of Palestine.

In Gaza, AIP held “Gaza Incomplete” with a different aim: to initiate dialogue between the Gazan people and authorities leading reconstruction efforts, and create space for those affected to voice concerns.

Speaking of the parallel exhibitions, Ghorbia concluded, “it is important to make Israel aware that it cannot separate the West Bank and Gaza.”

source : imemc.org

Palestine’s Fatah gears up for internal polls Saturday

Palestinian Fatah movement to elect members of Revolutionary Council, Central Committee tomorrow

 News Briefs

Candidates will be nominated Friday evening for seats on the Palestinian Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council and Central Committee, according to a movement spokesperson. 

Mahmoud Abu al-Haija, a spokesman for Fatah's ongoing seventh general congress, told Anadolu Agency that the nomination process for council and committee seats would begin today at 6:00 p.m. local time. 

"The nomination processes will end today," he said, "while the vote will be held Saturday morning." 

Composed of 21 party members, Fatah’s Central Committee is the group’s main decision-making body and is responsible for all its activities. 

The 50-member Revolutionary Council, meanwhile, is the movement’s highest legislative body. 

More than 1,400 Fatah members are attending the five-day congress, which is slated to wrap up Saturday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 

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Palestinian Fatah movement convenes party congress

Following seven-year hiatus, Palestinian Fatah movement holds party congress in West Bank city of Ramallah

 News Briefs

The Palestinian Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas opened its seventh party congress on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 

Up to 1,400 Fatah members are expected to attend the five-day congress, the first to be held since 2009. 

"More than 90 percent of the party’s members have arrived in Ramallah to take part in the event," congress spokesman Mahmoud Abu al-Haija, told Anadolu Agency. 

He also noted that some 250 out of 390 Fatah members based in the blockaded Gaza Strip had arrived in the city to attend the congress. 

According to Abu al-Haija, the conference will also be attended by almost 100 overseas delegations. 

Congress participants are expected to discuss Fatah’s political program and the movement’s relationship with the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian political factions. 

Abu al-Haija said the conference would also tackle longstanding inter-Palestinian divisions -- exacerbated when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007 -- and possible means of resolving them. 

The opening session of the party congress is expected to be attended by representatives of Hamas, along with those of other Palestinian factions. 

During the congress, Abbas is expected to be reelected as Fatah leader. 

Fatah members will also elect members of both the group’s Central Committee and its Revolutionary Council. 

Composed of 21 party members, Fatah’s Central Committee is the group’s main decision-making body and is responsible for all its activities. 

The 50-member Revolutionary Council, meanwhile, is the movement’s highest legislative body. 

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Palestinian shot dead in Jerusalem 'stabbing attempt'

The slain Palestinian man allegedly tried to stab Israeli soldiers before he was gunned down, according to Israeli police

 News Briefs

A Palestinian man was shot dead on Friday after he allegedly tried to stab Israeli soldiers in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli police said in statement.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a Palestinian man allegedly armed with knife tried to stab Israeli soldiers at the Shufat checkpoint in Jerusalem.

"The soldiers at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death,” Rosenfeld said in the statement.

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers.

According to Palestinian figures, close to 250 Palestinians have been killed since an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence began in October 2015.

Israeli authorities say at least 42 Israelis have been killed over the same period.

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Ben-Gurion barred Palestinians' return to Haifa

Israeli daily Haaretz has revealed that a letter by David Ben-Gurion, shows that he gave explicit orders to prevent Palestinians returning to their homes.

 News Briefs

 David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, ordered that Palestinians not be allowed to return to their homes in Haifa following their expulsion from the city during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, an Israeli newspaper revealed Wednesday.

Quoting a letter addressed to Abba Khoushy, who had served as secretary-general of the Haifa Workers' Council at the time, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Ben-Gurion had given orders to bar expelled Palestinians from returning to their ancestral homes in Haifa as long as fighting continued.

The newspaper published a photo of the letter, which carried Ben-Gurion's personal signature.

According to Haaretz, the letter will be put up for sale next week at Jerusalem's Kedem auction house.

"I hear that Mr. Marriot [Cyril Marriot, the British consul in Haifa at the time] is working to return the Arabs to Haifa," the letter reads.

"I don't know how it is his business, but until the war is over, we don't want a return of the enemy [i.e., Palestinians]. And all institutions should act accordingly," Ben-Gurion adds in the letter.

The letter contradicts the Israeli narrative of events that Palestinians voluntarily left their homes during the 1948 war and that Israel did not prevent them from returning to their homes.

Ben-Gurion sent the letter only weeks after Israel captured most of the land of historical Palestine and declared the establishment of the new self-proclaimed Jewish state.

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After Convicting Her Of Attempted Stabbing, Israeli Court Sentences Palestinian Teen To 13 Years

An Israeli court sentenced, Wednesday, a wounded Palestinian teenage girl to 13.5 years in prison, after convicting her of an attempted stabbing attack in Jerusalem, along with her cousin Hadeel, who was executed after being shot and seriously injured.

News Briefs

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that an Israeli court, in occupied Jerusalem, sentenced Nourhan Awwad, 16, to 13.5 years, and a 30.000 Israeli shekels fine, after convicting her of carrying out an attempted stabbing attack in Jerusalem, on November 23, 2015.

Nourhan was shot and injured in the incident, while her cousin Hadeel Awwad, 16, was first shot by an Israeli guard, and then was executed after while bleeding on the ground.

The incident, which took place in Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, was caught on a surveillance video, showing the two girls being shot the first time by an armed guard, then shot again after being neutralized.

imemc.org

Militarized BDS backlash targets college campuses

Reservists on Duty and the Lone Soldier Center recruit recently released American Israeli soldiers to attack the BDS movement on college campuses.

News Briefs

Israeli anti-BDS organization Reservists on Duty (RoD) is partnering with the Lone Soldier Center to launch a recruitment campaign titled "Project Gideon," the Jerusalem Post reports 

RoD was established in January in apparent exasperation over the success of the BDS movement. The group travels to college campuses in North America and Europe. The Lone Soldier Center is an organization based in Jerusalem that supports Jewish people around the world enroll in the occupation forces and integrate into settler colonial Israeli society.

The campaign targets recently released American Israeli soldiers and encourages them “to implement the principles and tactics employed by Reservists on Duty in their fight against [the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS)] on university and college campuses across North America.”

The BDS movement is a global, non-violent, social justice movement that advocates boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning Israel and the companies that do business with it until Israel complies with international law and respects Palestinian human rights.

RoD dismisses the tactic of hasbara – i.e. touting Israeli propaganda – as ineffective against the BDS movement. Instead, the group advances characterizations of Palestinian society as uniquely implicated in human rights violations. Israel, on the other hand, is propped up as a colonial savior. RoD also claims that BDS – a movement started by 170 Palestinian civil society organizations – is actually counter to Palestinians' wellbeing.

RoD hopes to inspire Israel’s highly secretive anti-BDS bodies to devote more time to berating Palestinian society too. Israeli consul general Dani Dayan has met with the group. 

Alternativenews.org

Israel to keep Palestinian icon in solitary confinement

Court in Beersheba declines to release Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of Islamic Movement in Israel, from solitary confinement

 News Briefs

An Israeli court on Tuesday ruled to keep Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, in solitary confinement for another three months. 

According to Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, head of the Freedom Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel (established by Arab parties and public figures in Israel), an Israeli court in Beersheba ruled to keep Salah in solitary confinement until he finishes serving out a nine-month jail term. 

Al-Khatib said that the court had based its decision on "secret information" presented by Israeli prosecutors. 

"It [the court] claims Sheikh Raed poses a danger to the security of the Israeli state," he said. 

On Friday, Salah -- an icon of Palestinian resistance against Israel’s decades-long occupation -- ended a five-day hunger strike to protest his ongoing detention. 

Salah began serving out a nine-month jail sentence in May for alleged "incitement". Since then, the Israeli authorities have kept him in solitary confinement. 

Born in 1958 in the city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, Salah studied Islamic Law at the University of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

Between 1987 and 2001, he served as mayor of Umm al-Fahm for three consecutive terms. 

In 1996, Salah was elected as leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The movement is known for staging daily demonstrations at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- to protest violations against the mosque by the Israeli authorities. 

In November of last year, Israel’s security cabinet outlawed the movement, accusing it of engaging in "incitement" and "propaganda". 

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Palestinian killed for alleged knife attack in W. Bank

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers

 News Briefs

A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces Tuesday for allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier in the West Bank, the Israeli police said. 

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a Palestinian wielding a knife had approached security guards at the Qalandia checkpoint near Jerusalem. 

"The Israeli forces at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death,” he said in a statement. 

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers. 

More than 245 Palestinians have been killed since an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence began in October 2015, according to Palestinian figures. 

Israeli authorities say at least 42 Israelis have been killed over the same period. 

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Bid to quieten Muslim call to prayer amplifies Israel tensions

But he stops short when asked how he feels about the prospect that the sound echoing from the minarets could soon be dampened.

 News Briefs

It is 4:30 am and Mufeed Shawana is rushing to Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the first Muslim call to prayer of the day rings out across the Old City of east Jerusalem.

"It upsets me. The calls to prayer have happened for 1,400 years."

A bill backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban mosques around Israel and annexed east Jerusalem from using loudspeakers to amplify late night and early morning azans, or calls to prayers, has been approved by a ministerial committee ahead of a parliamentary debate and voting.

It has been temporarily blocked but the government is still confident of pushing it through.

Shawana argues that nobody would deny Jews their own religious rituals, which are "their right".

"This is our right," he adds, before disappearing inside the mosque.

The dispute around high-decibel minarets is not unique to Israel, which argues that other states, including in Europe and North Africa, have similar restrictions to those it is looking to implement.

But it has touched a raw nerve in Israel, where many in its minority Arab population -- around 17.5 percent of the whole and overwhelmingly Muslim -- believe Netanyahu's rightwing government is systematically persecuting them.

They also worry that their connection to Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam, is under threat.

Large numbers of Israeli Jews view the azans as noise pollution, with the bill's sponsor Motti Yogev, of the far-right Jewish Home party, arguing they disturb the peace of hundreds of thousands of people.

He has also claimed that in some cases they are used by religious leaders to incite against Israel.

In its current draft, the law would prevent the summons to worshippers between 11:00 pm until 6:00 am from being relayed on loudspeakers.

Palestinians and Arab Israelis have organised protests against the ban, with an Arab Israeli MP performing the azan in Israel's parliament to the fury of some of his Jewish colleagues.

The Arab League called the bill "a very dangerous provocation".

Arab Israelis, who largely identify as Palestinians, are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

On Tuesday Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported a mosque in the Arab Israeli city of Lod was fined 750 shekels ($193) for playing the call to prayer too loud.

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350 Palestinian minors held in Israeli jails

More than 2,000 Palestinian minors have been detained by Israeli forces since 2015

 News Desk

At least 350 Palestinian children are languishing in Israeli jails, a local Palestinian NGO said Saturday.

"Israeli authorities are holding 350 Palestinian children aged between 12 and 18,” the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement on the occasion of the UN Universal Children’s Day.

It said twelve females were among jailed children in Israeli prisons.

According to the NGO, more than 2,000 Palestinian minors have been detained by Israeli forces since 2015.

"Israel has committed several violations against Palestinian children, including firing live ammunition against them, detaining them and [keeping them] without food and water in addition to beating and intimidation,” it said.

The NGO cited that Israeli investigators used threats to extract confessions from Palestinian children.

It said some Palestinian children were slapped with life sentences by Israeli courts, while others were sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The NGO went on to call on international organizations, particularly the UNICEF, to intervene to protect Palestinian children in Israeli prisons.

According to Palestinian official figures, more than 7,000 Palestinians are currently held in detention facilities throughout Israel.

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Israel plays with fire by anti-Adhan bill: Hamas chief

Many fear the Israeli bill is aimed at mosques that broadcast Adhan, or call to prayer, five times a day

News Desk

Political chief of Palestinian group Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has decried an Israeli bill calling for a ban on mosques using loudspeakers for the call to prayer.

“[By this bill], Israel is playing with fire,” Meshaal told Anadolu Agency in exclusive statements on Sunday.

The bill, which is currently awaiting approval before it is presented to the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, has the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It applies to all religions across Israel but many fear it is aimed at mosques that broadcast the Adhan, or call to prayer, five times a day.

The planned legislation specifically mentions Israelis who “suffer regularly and daily from the noise caused by the call of the muezzin from mosques.”

“This bill has drawn a strong reaction from the Palestinian people and Muslims worldwide,” Meshaal said.

Before it becomes law, the bill must pass three rounds of voting by lawmakers.

Many Israelis have condemned the bill as an attack on freedom of religion and part of a pattern of persecution against Muslims.

Meanwhile, Meshaal called on President-elect Donald Trump to change U.S. foreign policy with a view to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“We realize that regional and international developments affect the Palestinian cause and all regional issues, but what makes history is the struggle of the peoples,” Meshaal said.

He said ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is the key to regional stability.

“There will be no stability in the region until the Palestinian people regain their rights and the [Israeli] occupation of ours lands and holy sites come to an end,” he said.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, which the Palestinians want – along with Gaza Strip – to make up their future state.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in 2014 over the latter’s refusal to halt settlement building in occupied territories.

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Turkey has key voice on Palestine refugees

Head of UN agency for Palestinian refugees hopes trip to Turkey can open opportunities for cooperation

 News Desk

Turkey's experiences in working with Syrian refugees and its traditional closeness to the Palestinian cause can be an asset for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), its chief told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

Ahead of a trip to Turkey on Tuesday, UNRWA's Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl voiced hope his meetings with Turkish officials and development agencies could open up new opportunities for partnership, especially before Turkey takes a key role as Vice-Chair of the agency's Advisory Commission next year.

"Turkey has been supportive of UNRWA activities, in particular through a mix of food assistance and cash support to our organization but we’re very keen to see what other opportunities there would be and would exist in the future," Krahenbuhl said.

“I’m very keen to look at areas of mutual interest in education but I know that historically there has been a strong focus on Gaza and the tension there, so if we can expand further the areas of cooperation in that regard, that would be very welcome,” he said.

UNRWA works with more than five million Palestinian refugees across the occupied Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon but has struggled with funding instability, almost leading to the start of the school year being delayed last year, with an expected $115 million funding shortfall next year.

With much of world attention focused on other crises in the Middle East, Krahenbuhl said UNRWA has had to work to raise awareness about Palestinian refugees to ensure they do not fall off the international agenda at a time when many in Syria and the blockaded Gaza Strip remain especially vulnerable.

“This is certainly an area where I’m very interested to have Turkey’s voice heard in these debates,” he said.

"For me, it’s just important that the historic support and focus that Turkey has on the issue of Palestine and Palestinian refugees remains. And I think from everything that I’m seeing in the preparation of this visit, the signs are very strong in the regard,” said Krahenbuhl, who will also brief Turkish officials on UNRWA's work with Palestinian refugees during his trip.

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Palestinians bury youth killed by Israel on Gaza border

The 26-year old youth was killed Friday during a protest on Gaza-Israel border

 News Desk

Hundreds of Palestinians on Saturday buried a youth killed by Israeli gunfire during a protest on border between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Israel. 

Mohamed Abu Saedeh, 26, was killed on Friday after being struck in the chest by a bullet fired by an Israeli sniper during a protest on Gaza-Israel border, according to health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. 

He said three other Palestinians were moderately injured during the rally near the Al-Breig refugee camp in Gaza. 

The Israeli army, for its part, said dozens of Palestinians breached the buffer zone, damaged the border fence and attempted to infiltrate Israel. 

"Forces had fired shots to disperse Palestinians trying to breach the Gaza border fence which led to the death of a Palestinian," it said in a statement. 

More than 245 Palestinians have been killed since an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence began in October 2015, according to Palestinian figures.

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Palestinian icon Raed Salah ends 5-day hunger strike

Hunger strike end at request of High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel

 News Desk

Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel and Palestinian resistance icon, has ended his 5 day hunger strike Friday upon request of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel. 

Head of the of the Freedom Committee o for Arab Citzens in Israel, Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib, told Anadolu Agency that Raed Salah ended his open-ended hunger strike upon the request of the Arab citizens in Israel. 

"Salah was protesting the bad treatment the policy of holding Palestinian prisoners in solitary confinement," Sheikh al-Khatib said. 

"He knew that stopping these actions are the demands of all the Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails," he added. 

Kamal Al-Khteib asserted that there have been several meeting between the leaders of the Arab communities in Israel to discuss Salah's Hunger strike. 

"It was clear that Salah succeeded in delivering his message so we sent a message asking him to end his hunger strike," he said. 

"Salah was briefed by his lawyer on solidarity campaigns by the Arab masses and accepted to end his hunger-strike," he added. 

On Sunday, Salah -- who is being held in southern Israel’s Ramon Prison -- declared an open-ended hunger strike to protest his prison conditions and draw attention to the plight of Palestinian political detainees. 

In May, Salah began serving out a nine-month jail sentence for "incitement". Since then, the Israeli authorities have kept him in solitary confinement. 

Salah was born in 1958 in the city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel and later studied Islamic Law at the University of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

He served as mayor of Umm al-Fahm for three consecutive terms between 1987 and 2001. 

In 1996, Salah was elected leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, known for holding daily protests at East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- against perceived threats to the iconic mosque by the Israeli authorities. 

 Israel’s security cabinet outlawed the movement last year, accusing it of "incitement" and "propaganda" 

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Palestinian woman killed in Nablus fighting

Three security forces were injured in clashes

 News Desk

A woman was killed and three soldiers were injured Wednesday in renewed clashes between Palestinian security forces and gunmen in the West Bank city of Nablus, according to the city’s governor. 

Akram Rajoub said a 39 year-old woman was shot dead in the violence that broke out after gunmen opened fire on the governorate building in the city. 

"Three security forces were also injured in the clashes,” he said in a statement. 

In recent months, Nablus has seen repeated clashes between security forces and gunmen. 

In August, two Palestinian security forces were killed in a shootout with armed men in the old city of Nablus.

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Palestinians slam bill restricting call to prayer

Israeli PM says bill enjoys wide support while Palestinians say it violates basic religious freedoms

 News Desk

The Gaza-based Hamas movement and Palestinian lawmakers in the Knesset (Israel's parliament) have slammed an Israeli ministerial committee for approving a bill that would limit the Muslim call to prayer.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Joint List coalition of Arab lawmakers said the "racist law" to reduce the volume of the call to prayer -- by banning the use of loudspeakers -- threatened Muslims’ right to freely practice their faith.

The Muslim call to prayer is an integral part of Palestinian culture and tradition, the coalition asserted, going on to accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government of adopting "racist and Islamophobic" policies.

Hamas, which has governed the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, said in a statement issued Sunday: "Forbidding the Adhan [Muslim call to prayer] is an outrageous provocation to the sentiments of Muslims everywhere and unacceptable interference in worship and religious practice."

The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves draft laws before they go to the Knesset, where they then must pass three rounds of voting before becoming law. 

Netanyahu claimed Sunday that the bill enjoyed wide popular support, while Palestinians have roundly condemned the move as a blatant violation of citizens’ freedom to worship. 

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Freedom March: Stop Demolishing of Palestinian Homes

At least 250 Palestinian and Israeli activists from Combatants for Peace and other peace groups marched on Friday at the freedom march demanding  the halt of Israeli occupation policy of destroying Palestinian homes in the West Bank. The march was in coordination with Standing To gather Coalition and other Palestinian and Israeli peace groups

The march started from the entrance of Hussan village to the south of Bethlehem city. People marched towards settlers road 60 and walked all the way to the tunnel checkpoint separating Bethlehem area from Jerusalem.

During the march activists and members of CFP used hand-made poppets to close the settlers road and then used it during the protest as the chanted anti occupation slogans and demanded the end of occupation and the establishment of peace.

At the checkpoint the theater group pf CFP presented a short play about the effects of Israel’s home demolishing policy on the Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

CFP believes that the conflict cannot be resolved, through military means, by either of the parties, but only through joint action, can we break the cycle of violence and put an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The movement calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, based on the border of June 4, 1967, alongside Israel. CFP uses nonviolent means and call on both nations to join us to achieve peace and reconciliation between Palestinians and Israelis.

From the bottom-up: alQaws invigorates dialogue on sexual, gender diversity

by Louisa Emslie

The civil society organization starts an advice hotline and a professional working group on gender and sexuality in the West Bank. 

AlQaws, a Palestinian civil society organization for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* (LGBT) folk, launched a new campaign titled “Alkhat – Listening and Information National Hotline.” The hotline offers confidential support and advice to callers in Palestine concerned with gender or sexuality issues.

AlQaws is also forming a group for therapists in the West Bank, based on their success doing so in Haifa for years. The professionals will collectively explore therapeutic approaches to issues of sexual and gender diversity. “This appears to be the first ever professional working group on gender and sexuality in the West Bank and the registered therapists have expressed welcome, anticipation and excitement,” a press release states.

Finally, alQaws published a research paper [Arabic]: “Attitudes and Trends in Palestinian Media on Sexual and Gender Diversity Issues.” Otherwise, the group's monthly youth forums and Palestinian queer parties continue to enrich Palestine’s LGBT community.

AlQaws advocates for social change in regards to gender and sexual diversity in Palestine at the same time as it encourages action to upend sexism, capitalism, and colonization. This social justice-driven agenda of course includes resisting the Israeli occupation as well as the lie that it is gay-friendly and therefore democratic.

Louisa Emslie is a graduate from the University of Edinburgh where she studied Arabic and Spanish Studies. She lives and works in Ramallah, Palestine.