This Week in Palestine Sept.14-20
HAVANA TIMES — Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for September 14th to the 20th, 2013.
One killed and dozens wounded this week in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority voices concern about the ongoing settlement activities in Jerusalem, these stories and more, coming up.
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. on Friday Israeli soldiers used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bulets to attacked the weekly protests organized at the villages of Kufur Qaddoum, Nabi Saleh, Bil’in, Nil’in, central West Bank and Al Ma’ssara village in southern West Bank.
Anti wall and settlement protests were organized this week in the villages of Kufur Qaddum, Nabi Saleh, Bil’in, Nil’in, Al Ma’assara, and in central West Bank. The protests this week were dedicated to commemorate the massacre of the two Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Sabra and Shatilla, where over 2000 Palestinians were killed in 1982.
Dozens of Palestinians, Israelis, and foreigners managed to reach the wall in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin, despite the intensive military presence.
Israeli soldiers, however, fired several rounds of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at the unarmed protesters. As a result many civilians were injured and were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation by field medics.
Meanwhile in the nearby village of al Nabi Saleh, Israeli soldiers used tear gas at the nonviolent protestors and managed to stop them. Local activists said the soldiers left the village when the protest ended. However, they returned shortly after and fired several tear gas bombs at the residents homes causing several people to choke.
In Kufur Qaddum, seven people were injured including two journalists and one Israeli protestor during the weekly nonviolent protest against the wall and settlements in the village. The journalists were injured by a direct hit of gas canisters in the knee and in the back.
In Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers attacked the residents of al Ma’ssara who took to the streets together with a number of International and Israeli peace activists. The Israeli soldiers stopped them at the entrance of the village and assaulted them with bottoms of the rifle and batons, forcing them back into the village.
The soldiers managed to detain one of the protesters, however the name was not reported.
The Political Report
Hamas attempts to distance itself from Egyptian accusations, in the meantime, the Palestinian Authority is concerned about the ongoing settlements construction in the occupied East Jerusalem
Top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Eriqat, was quoted as saying that current round of peace talks with Israel is likely to fail if Israel continues settlements building on occupied Palestinian territories, mainly in East Jerusalem .
Eriqat’s statement comes as the talks have not yet achieved any concrete progress between on contentious issues. Washington that has helped the two parties return back to negotiations table, is being attracted by the situation in Syria.
Washington has always voiced concern over continued illegal settlement colonial buildings in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. US has envisioned a two-state solution that would secure a Palestinian state on 1967 border lines including East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In the Gaza Strip, the ruling Hamas party has detached itself from recent accusations by media outlets in Egypt that the ruling Hamas party is involved in current violence across the nearby Sinai Peninsula .
As Egypt has tightened closure of the border with Gaza and embarked on destruction of underground tunnels, lifeline for Gaza , Israel began this week easing the blockade on the territory by allowing limited quantities of raw building materials into Gaza. This is the first time that Israel allows such material in , in more than six years.
The West Bank and Gaza Report
This week Israeli forces conducted at least 42 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza. During these attacks Israeli troops killed a Palestinian civilian and injured a dozen others. Moreover soldiers kidnapped at least 41 Palestinians, including 9 children.
Israeli army Invasions this week were focused in the cities of Ramallah, central West Bank in addition to Jenin and Nablus, in northern West Banks.
Moreover Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded also border areas in central and southern Gaza Strip. Tanks opened fire at random as bulldozers bulldozed local farmers’ lands.
On Tuesday, a Palestinian youth was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers invading his home in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Dozens of residents have been injured during ensuing clashes, and one was kidnapped. Islam Husam Toubasy, 19, was shot by rounds of live ammunition fired at him by the invasion soldiers who broke into his home after detonating its door. Meanwhile three more civilians were injured when local youth clashed with the invading soldiers.
Another Palestinian died on Wednesday as he bled to death when his Israeli employer dragged him from the construction site after he was seriously injured during work in Tel Aviv. Witnesses said that the man, Ehsan Abu Srour, 54, from the Askar refugee camp, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, was moved out of his work area after getting injured by his employers then was left on the side walk to bleed to death.
Erlier in the week, Israeli soldiers invaded on Monday Khirbit Makhoul in the West Bank Northern Plains area, and demolished homes and residential structures. The villagers never received any notices or orders from the military, and never had the chance to legally challenge the Israeli decision.
Elsewhere, In the Gaza strip this week Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Waha resort, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire on Monday at Palestinian fishing boats that were sailing about 4 nautical miles off the shore. The fishermen were frightened and fled back to the shore fearing of being arrested or injured. Neither casualties nor material damage were reported.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for September 14th to the 20th 2013 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please keep visiting our website at www.imemc.org. This week’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi.