[Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: Protests, Aug-Dec 2008

[global resistance roundup]

*** December ***
* Ramallah, Ofer prison - prisoners, screws injured during jail uprising 
over cell damage
* Bilin, Nilin - nonviolent protests suppressed
* Kalandia - youth shot at checkpoint, Molotov alleged
* Gaza - youth, Egyptian guard killed in border clashes
* Bethlehem - "Santa" in protest scuffle
* Bilin - villagers throw shoes at soldiers
* Hebron - locals battle rampaging settlers
* Gaza - fourth protest boat arrives
* Gaza - Israeli activists stopped from taking aid to Gaza
* Gaza - Christians cancel Christmas to protest blockade
* Jerusalem - Israelis demolish protest camp yet again

*** November ***
* Nilin - Israeli MP, Irish Nobel prizewinner injured by troops at 
nonviolent protest
* Nilin - protesters stone Israeli troops
* Al-Ma'asara - nonviolent anti-wall protest attacked
* Nablus - protest at empty settler compound
* Gaza - second relief boat docks
* Gaza - relief boat arrives
* Jerusalem - house demolitions spark protests, clashes
* Jerusalem - municipal elections lead to strike
* Jitha - rabbis defend olive harvest from settlers
* Hebron - hundreds protest after settler rampage
* Tel Aviv - traffic blocked in protest of Gaza raid
* Jerusalem - protest tent is focus of eviction battle - demolition 
leads to protests
* Hebron - five injured in settler rampage
* Jerusalem - Muslims protest project to build museum on historic graveyard
* Ramallah - Hamas supporters protest Fatah repression
* Nazareth - Thousands of Palestinians march against Gaza siege

*** OCTOBER ***
* Ramallah - Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian during protests over 
earlier killing
* Nilin - Eight wounded as soldiers attack peaceful protest
* Al-Ma'sara and elsewhere - anti-wall protests continue
* Hebron - settlers clash with rabbis over olive harvest
* West Bank - dumping proposal causes outcry
* Nablus - farmers, settlers clash
* Acre - Palestinians revolt after home attacks - four-day uprising 
rocks mixed city
* Jerusalem - Palestinian killed, six injured in clashes during extreme 
Zionist attack

*** SEPTEMBER/AUGUST ***
* Gaza - human chain against siege
* Nilin - clashes, injuries at wall protest
* Hebron - Palestinians battle soldiers, settlers after rampage
* Bethlehem - soldiers murder child during unrest over attacks
* Qalandiya - soldiers attack checkpoint protest
* Gaza - teachers protest Hamas control
* Gaza - relief boat defies siege, brings Palestinians to Cyprus
* Deir Sharaf - hundreds protest waste dump plan
* Gaza - 12 killed in clashes between Hamas, local clan



http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/21/content_10531401.htm


Eight prisoners, two Israeli soldiers wounded in Israeli prison's clashes

Tear gas clouds rise from inside Ofer prison during clashes between 
Palestinian prisoners and Israeli prison guards, outside the West Bank 
city of Ramallah December 20, 2008. According to an Israeli prison 
service spokesperson, seven prisoners and three Israeli guards were 
injured and a tent set ablaze as riots broke out after guards wanted to 
conduct a search on Saturday.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

RAMALLAH, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eight Palestinian prisoners and two 
Israeli prison's guards were injured during clashes in Israel's Ofer 
Prison in the West Bank on Saturday.
Prisoners from inside Ofer prison told reporters on cellular phones that 
they were protesting an earlier search of prisoner property which 
damaged the living quarters of the prisoners.
They said that in response to the protest, dozens of Israeli soldiers 
fired rounds of rubber coated bullets and tear gas canisters on the 
prisoners, who set fire to some of the tents inside the prison.
They reported from inside their prison that several prisoners with heart 
problems or breathing difficulties were suffocated as the Israeli 
soldiers fired dozens of gas canisters at the prisoners.
Other prisoners reported that they have been harshly beaten by Israeli 
soldiers, saying many were forced out of their living areas and taken to 
solitary confinement cells.
According to the prisoners estimates, around 400 prisoners participated 
in the clashes.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society chief Abedelal al-Anani described what 
happened as a dangerous destabilization of condition, adding that "the 
soldiers used water hoses, gas bombs and rubber coated bullets to 
repress the prisoners."
Israeli police enter Ofer prison during riots between Palestinian 
prisoners and Israeli prison guards at Ofer prison outside the West Bank 
city of Ramallah December 20, 2008. According to an Israeli prison 
service spokesperson, seven prisoners and three Israeli guards were 
injured and a tent set ablaze as riots broke out after guards wanted to 
conduct a search on Saturday.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)







http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1228728266489

Dec 20, 2008 16:49 | Updated Dec 21, 2008 7:45
Guards, detainees clash at Ofer Prison
By AP AND JPOST.COM STAFF

Clashes broke out between Palestinian inmates and Israeli guards at the 
Ofer Prison near Ramallah on Saturday.

Prison guards wearing gas masks and riot gear enter Ofer prison during 
clashes with Palestinian inmates near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 
Saturday.
Photo: AP
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
Palestinian Authority deputy minister of prisoner affairs, Ziad Abu Ein, 
said guards were carrying out an inspection when the clashes erupted. He 
said the guards used sound grenades, tear gas and clubs, adding that 
eight prisoners were injured.
The Israeli Prison Service confirmed seven inmates suffered minor smoke 
inhalation and three guards were injured during the clashes. The 
difference in numbers could not be immediately rectified.
According to reports, the guards had tried to search the tents in which 
the inmates sleep. The prisoners refused, and immediately began to throw 
objects at the guards. During the violence which ensued, two tents were 
burnt down.
The Prison Service said about 150 prisoners took part in the fighting, 
and that the situation is now under control.
The prison holds over a thousand Palestinian security prisoners.







http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/20081220151131380408.html

Clashes erupt in Israeli-run prison

Israeli police entered Ofer prison outside Ramallah to quell the riot 
which erupted on Saturday [Reuters]

At least seven Palestinian detainees and three Israeli guards have been 
injured in a prison riot, according to Yaron Zamir, a prison service 
spokesman.
The clashes in the Ofer detention centre near the West Bank town of 
Ramallah erupted on Saturday when dozens of Palestinian inmates started 
throwing objects at guards who had entered to search a prison ward, 
Zamir said.
"Following the violence a larger force was sent into the ward and order 
was restored shortly afterwards," he told the AFP news agency.
Seven prisoners injured after inhaling tear gas were treated at the 
jail. Three guards were lightly injured by objects thrown at them, Zamir 
said.
More than 11,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, many of them 
detained for long periods without trial.
Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspodent reporting from Ramallah, said: 
"Palestinian detainees inside the miltary camp tried to prevent Israeli 
prison authorities from raiding their sections and undertaking a search 
of the wards.

"We have heard repeatedly from these detainees about the humiliation 
they undergo on a daily basis during these searches.

"And it was at this point they [inmates] wanted to protest against the 
measures undertaken by the Israeli prison authorities."
She said that calm appears to have been restored and situation brought 
under control. But it is unclear whether the Israeli authorities will 
respond to the Palestinian prisoners' frustrations and grievances after 
the latest incident.
Gaza fatality
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, a Palestinian man has been killed in an 
Israeli missile attack - the first death since the end of a 
six-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which controls the 
Palestinian territory.
Ali Hijazi, 22, and two other men who were wounded in Saturday's 
incident were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, witnesses said.
The air raid targeted a group of fighters firing rockets towards Israel, 
an Israeli military official said.
The attack in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip came a day after 
the end of the ceasefire.
Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said: "The [Israeli] 
military told us that six projectiles have been launched from the Gaza 
Strip towards southern Israel.
"This is coming as very sad news for the people here who once again find 
themselves in the position they were in before the ceasefire, in terms 
of this almost daily aggression by Israel and very uncertain times in 
terms of what will happen next.
"From the Israeli side they have said that ... as long as there is peace 
from the Palestinian side they will respond with peace. But if there is 
aggression by Palestinian factions, they will fight back with force."
A ceasefire agreed in June officially ended at daybreak on Friday, after 
Hamas said it would not renew it.
Hamas blamed Israelis for the failure of the ceasefire, saying that they 
had not lived up to their obligations under the deal by continuing a 
blockade of the Gaza Strip.






http://www.imemc.org/article/58005

Israeli Troops Suppress Non Violent Demonstrations in Bil'in and Ni'lin
Friday December 12, 2008 15:15 by IMEMC Staff
The people of Bil'in statred a demonstration after Friday’s prayers that 
included international and Israeli activists, as well as a community 
from the Bethlehem district.

(file) A demonstration in Bilin in summer 2007 (Photo by: Marcel 
Masferrer Pascual)
The demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and rang bells for the 
anniversary of the first Palestinian Intifada that occurred in 1987. The 
demonstrators marched inside the village, approaching the area where the 
wall is erected, but the Israeli soldiers stopped them from entering 
through the main gate. When the demonstrators approached, the Israeli 
soldiers shot tear gas canisters, sound grenades and rubber-coated 
bullets at the crowd, which caused many to choke, including Mohamad 
Basem, an eight year old child, as well as Baasem Abu Rahma, age 30, and 
Abed Hamamra, age 37.
The vilagers of Bil'in have been demonstrating against the wall, non 
stop, on a weekly basis, for the past three years. They have managed to 
reclaim half of the land that Israel had planned on confiscating for the 
construction of the apartheid wall.
Also, in the nearby village of Nil'in, during Friday prayers, on the 
lands near the construction area of the wall, Israeli soldiers 
surrounded the area in front of the demonstrators and shot tear gas 
while the prayers were still going on. The Israeli Army command called 
for more vehicles and units that, upon arrival, shot live ammunition and 
tear gas at the demonstrators. The excess tear gas created a massive 
cloud, causing many people to choke. Six young men were shot by live 
ammunition, among them a camera man from the International French Press 
(IFP), Abed Khabesa, who was shot with a tear gas canister while he was 
recording at the scene.







http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230456531396&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Dec 30, 2008 14:21
IDF fires at Palestinian with Molotov cocktail at protest near Kalandia
By JPOST.COM STAFF
IDF troops fired shots at a Palestinian youth holding a Molotov cocktail 
on Tuesday, during a protest near the Kalandia checkpoint south of 
Ramallah.
Troops shot at the lower half of the youth's body, and confirmed a hit.
The Red Crescent in Ramallah provided medical treatment.






http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/29/2455929.htm

Egyptian guard, youth killed in Gaza border clashes
Posted Mon Dec 29, 2008 9:00am AEDT
An Egyptian border guard and a Palestinian youth were killed during 
border clashes between Hamas and Egyptian security forces.
An Egyptian security source said Hamas forces had also shot an Egyptian 
policeman in the leg.
The incidents took place near the main border crossing between Egypt and 
Gaza, where Egyptian riot police fired in the air to try to drive back 
Palestinians who had managed to penetrate the border wall.
The Palestinians were trying to flee Gaza in the midst of Israeli air 
strikes which have killed nearly 300 people so far.
The events are likely to aggravate tense relations between Hamas and the 
Egyptian Government, which says that Hamas is largely to blame for the 
Israeli onslaught.
Witnesses said dozens of Palestinians crossed into Egypt from Gaza as 
Egyptian riot police fired in the air.
Reuters correspondent Yusri Mohamed said he had met several Palestinians 
on the Egyptian side of the border who told him they had slipped across 
at holes in the border wall.
- Reuters






http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/12007/39Santa39-involved-in-protest-scuffle.4811003.jp

'Santa' involved in protest scuffle
Published Date: 20 December 2008
A PALESTINIAN dressed as Santa Claus yesterday scuffled with Israeli 
soldiers during a protest at Israel's separation barrier near Bethlehem 
in the West Bank. No-one was hurt.
The 'Santa' then went on to hand out sweets to children in the village 
of Maasarah.

More than 20 Palestinians shouting and waving flags marched towards the 
barrier, the site of regular protests.








http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=29295

Palestinian protesters hurl shoes at Israeli troops

Hundreds of protesters demonstrate against West Bank separation barrier 
the Zaidi way.

BILIN, West Bank - Demonstrators hurled their shoes at Israeli security 
forces on Friday in a protest against the West Bank separation barrier, 
following in the footprints of a now famous Iraqi journalist.
Similar protests in the past near the village of Bilin have often ended 
with young Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli troops who generally 
respond by firing tear gas and rubber-coated bullets.
This time, many of the 500 or so protesters hurled shoes instead in 
tribute to the journalist who made international headlines and was 
jailed for throwing his footwear at US President George W. Bush in Baghdad.
"We want to demonstrate our support to Iraqi journalist Muntazer 
al-Zaidi and say that like the Iraqis, we are opposed to the 
occupation," one of the organisers of the protest said.
Palestinian and foreign activists regularly gather at the West Bank 
village to protest against the Israeli barrier.
Israel says the barrier, a projected 723 kilometres (454 miles) of steel 
and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire, is needed for security, 
while Palestinians view it as a land grab that undermines their future 
state.
To date Israel has built about 57 percent of the barrier, most of it 
inside the West Bank.
The barrier, also known as the “Apartheid Wall”, is condemned under 
international law because it is built on Palestinian territories 
illegally occupied by Israel in 1967.







http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=40219

Israeli Settlers Clash With Palestinians, Police in West Bank City
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By Julie Stahl

Smoke rises from a Palestinian area after a fire was allegedly set by 
Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday Dec. 3, 2008. 
Tensions have been high in the divided West Bank city around a house 
where Jewish settlers have holed up in defiance of an Israeli Supreme 
Court eviction order. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Tensions remained high in the mixed West Bank 
city of Hebron on Wednesday where Jewish protestors are trying to 
prevent Israeli security forces from evicting families living in a 
disputed building.

The clashes have focused attention on Israeli settlements in the West 
Bank, where Palestinians want to establish a future state. Settlements 
are one of six major issues that must be settled before a deal can be 
reached to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared to up the ante on Wednesday 
when he said he would not allow the settlers to overrule democracy and 
the rule of law in the country.

“There are phenomena that cannot be tolerated and which the government 
headed by me cannot accept,” Olmert said during a memorial ceremony for 
Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion.

“The dispute over the Land of Israel is legitimate, and the desire to 
maintain a Jewish presence in the holiest and most important of our 
cities is understandable. However, this desire cannot be stronger than 
the decision of the Supreme Court,” Olmert said.

Two weeks ago, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the settlers out of a 
building they call the House of Peace until its ownership could be 
determined. The Jewish tenants claim to have purchased the building from 
the Palestinian owner. But he says the deal was never completed and 
therefore the house is still his.

Israeli security forces have been hesitant to carry out the eviction 
order. But Olmert indicated that he would do so.

Olmert said he loved Hebron and harbored “boundless respect for its 
lovers, residents and guards” but said that since the Supreme Court had 
decided the building should be evacuated, it would be evacuated.

“I will not let anyone raise a hand against democracy in Israel,” Olmert 
said. He said he would try to avoid confrontation with negotiations, but 
he also insisted on discipline and order.

David Wilder, a spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, questions 
whether the Supreme Court decision demands an evacuation of the building 
or simply “permits” it.

Wilder told CNSNews.com he hoped that Defense Minister Ehud Barak would 
avoid confronting the settlers and allow the court system to take a look 
at the evidence regarding the building’s ownership.

Hundreds of Jewish youths have gathered in the city. On Wednesday, some 
of them tried to enter another house in Hebron that was evacuated by 
court order earlier, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

A Jewish settler scuffles with an Israeli border police officer as she 
is arrested near a disputed house in the West Bank town of Hebron, 
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
Youths threw rocks and bottles at police, who fired stun grenades at 
them, reports said.

Rosenfeld said paramilitary border police, trained in riot control, 
would replace Israeli army troops in the city.

On Tuesday Jewish youths clashed with Palestinians as well as with 
Israeli security forces trying to separate them. They reportedly slashed 
tires of Palestinian security vehicles and defamed a Muslim cemetery.

Wilder said that the youths in the city had been given guidelines and 
instructed not to initiate violence. He said at least 75 percent of the 
clashes with Palestinians had been started by the other side.

On Wednesday, one settler support group sent out emails calling for 
people to come to Hebron to prevent what they thought was an impending 
evacuation.

Some settler leaders said the violence blurred the justness of their cause.

“We are doing our best to make sure that [the struggle] is a moral one 
and a right one, is also conducted in moral, right and clever way,” said 
Danny Dayan, who heads the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and 
Samaria (West Bank).

“We are against the last incidents. I think it was a very big mistake,” 
Dayan told CNSNews.com.







http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1227702390742

Dec 1, 2008 22:30 | Updated Dec 3, 2008 7:55
Hebron home now closed military zone
By ABE SELIG AND YAAKOV KATZ


Settlers clashed with Palestinians and security forces under a hail of 
stones at the disputed Beit Hashalom in Hebron on Tuesday, as hundreds 
of people, some of whom have been holed up in the building for weeks, 
prepared to resist a possible evacuation.

Unrest in Hebron
A 16-year-old Jewish boy suffered serious head wounds when Palestinians 
on the roof of a neighboring home began throwing rocks and other debris 
at a crowd that had gathered below.
OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni signed an order Tuesday night 
declaring the area surrounding the building a closed military zone. 
Officials said that the order was issued to prevent settlers and 
far-right activists from reaching the home to reinforce those already 
there.
Since Monday night, 18 settlement supporters and 20 Arabs have been 
wounded near the disputed structure.

Bricks, stones and pottery - a piece of which struck the boy in the head 
- were thrown from the roof, and settlers responded by stoning the 
Palestinian home.
Soldiers and border policemen who were patrolling the area lobbed stun 
grenades onto the Palestinians' roof in an attempt to quell the 
violence. When a small band of young settlers attempted to break through 
the gate of the Palestinian home with a wooden battering ram, soldiers 
threw stun grenades at them as well.
The incident sparked chaos in and around the home, as soldiers, 
paramedics and settlers scurried to evacuate the wounded boy while rocks 
continued to fly in all directions.
At one point, a young Jewish man confronted one of the soldiers guarding 
the gate of the Palestinian home, drawing jeers from the crowd.
"Don't touch the soldiers," people yelled.
"This is the way we'll lose," another man said. "If we fight each other, 
we're going to lose."
A dozen soldiers entered the Palestinian home, setting up a guard post 
on the roof and throwing the remaining bricks and debris safely down 
into the yard. Soldiers were seen entering and exiting the house 
throughout the rest of the day, keeping the young men and women from 
Beit Hashalom at bay and enforcing some degree of order.
After the crowd began to disperse, police continued to arrest small 
numbers of teenagers from the disputed structure who had wandered down 
the road toward other Arab homes.
Rocks and light bulbs continued to be sporadically thrown from the roof 
of the disputed home at passing Border Police jeeps, but the majority of 
those inside Beit Hashalom were vocal in their opposition to such acts.
"There will be no rocks thrown off of this roof!" One woman yelled at a 
young man after he tossed a stone down toward the street.
"Don't do it again!" she said.
Nevertheless, IDF officers in Hebron said the settler violence had 
"grown out of control" and was an indication that any evacuation would 
be met with fierce resistance.
One far-right activist who has been living in Beit Hashalom for the past 
week said the settlers were preparing "surprises" for any evacuating 
forces.
Soldiers from the Givati Brigade's Shaked Battalion, who were deployed 
on the roof of the structure, said that they had fought in Gaza and in 
the West Bank but that the standoff with the settlers was their most 
frightening experience.
On Tuesday, OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Shamni decided to deploy a 
special Border Police force near the building.
"We are scared," one soldier standing outside the home said Tuesday 
afternoon, shortly after the violence ended. "This is even scarier than 
operations in the Gaza Strip, since here we're facing off against Jews 
and not Palestinians."
Brig-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, head of the IDF's Civil Administration in 
Judea and Samaria, met Tuesday with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister 
Salaam Fayad as well as with Palestinian leaders from Hebron to discuss 
ways to calm the situation in the city.
Officials in Defense Minister Ehud Barak's office said that Eitan 
Broshi, the ministry's liaison with the settlements, was in daily 
contact with the Jewish leaders in Hebron as part of efforts toward a 
nonviolent evacuation of Beit Hashalom.
The officials said the plans for the evacuation were being finalized and 
that the operation would take place in the coming weeks, in accordance 
with the High Court of Justice's ruling allowing the eviction.
"Israel is a law-abiding state and we will not permit attempts by small 
groups of radical people to undermine the authority of the state," Barak 
said Tuesday during a tour of an IDF Education Corps base in the North.
"We cannot allow this to happen and will not allow it to happen."






http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1045061.html

Last update - 18:38 09/12/2008

Fourth protest boat sails into Gaza, breaching Israeli blockade By The 
Associated Press Tags: Blockade, Israel News, Hamas
A small boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists has sailed into Gaza's 
port, in the fourth such violation of an Israeli blockade on the coastal 
territory.

Three other protest boats have reached Gaza from Cyprus since Israel 
imposed the closure on the Hamas-ruled territory in response to rocket 
fire by Palestinian militants. The activists said they wanted to 
highlight the damaging effects of Israel's blockade.

Israel has recently halted two other boats bound for Gaza - one from 
Libya and one carrying Israeli Arab activists from Israel.

Among the new arrivals Tuesday were British activists who advocate a 
boycott of Israel's universities.

Also on board was a Gazan man who left the territory years ago.

His wife and children wept with joy as they embraced him. Relatives 
refused to say why he had left, or why he had been unable to come back.






http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/07/Israeli-police-stop-Gaza-protest-boat/UPI-62421228663639/

Israeli police stop Gaza protest boat
Published: Dec. 7, 2008 at 10:27 AM

TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Israeli protesters preparing to pilot 
a boat to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid have been prevented from 
leaving port, authorities said.
Police officials said the boat, with several Arab members of the Israeli 
Knesset and peace activists aboard, was seized at the port of Jaffa 
Sunday morning and brought to the Tel Aviv marina, The Jerusalem Post 
reported.
Authorities also said they had seized a truck with medicine and food 
supplies and detained three people for questioning.
The Knesset members and activists had planned to sail to Gaza to "break 
the Israeli-imposed siege" a day before the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, 
the Post reported.
Police said they were acting on an Israeli law that prevents any 
unauthorized dockings at Gaza.








http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/247711,extra-gaza-christians-annul-xmas-celebrations-to-protest-blockade.html

EXTRA: Gaza Christians annul Xmas celebrations to protest blockade
Posted : Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:39:10 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Middle East (World)

Gaza - Palestinian Christians living in the Hamas-ruled Gaza will not 
celebrate Christmas this year and will not perform the midnight 
Christmas mass, Gaza Latin Church pastor Manuel Musalam said Wednesday. 
In a statement sent to the media, he said the decision was to protest 
Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip and to protest what he said were 
Israeli threats to invade the salient.
Around 4,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip. Most of them are 
adherents of the Greek Orthodox Church, but a few follow the Latin 
church and celebrate Christmas on December 24-25.
Sources inside the Strip said that 800 Christians applied to Israel for 
permission to travel to the West Bank city of Bethlehem to attend 
midnight mass on Wednesday, but only 280 received a permit.
"Annulling the Christmas mass prayers at midnight in Gaza came also to 
protest the Israeli decision not to give permission to Gaza Christians 
to go to Bethlehem," Musalam said.
He called on Christians and Moslems to gather at the Holy Family School, 
run by his church, to attend a silent mass, instead of praying at the 
Church.
Israel has kept the Gaza crossings shut since Friday, when the 
expiration of a six-month truce led to an upsurge in rockets attacks 
from the salient.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak reversed a decision to 
open the crossings, after militants in the Strip showered southern 
Israel with rockets, to protest Israel's killing of three Hamas 
militants Tuesday night. Israel said the three were trying to plant a 
bomb by the Gaza-Israel border fence when spotted.






http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1230111681631&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Dec 24, 2008 15:00 | Updated Dec 24, 2008 15:01
Gaza Catholics cancel Christmas Eve Midnight Mass in protest of blockade
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

The head of Gaza's tiny Roman Catholic community announced on Wednesday 
that Christmas Eve's Midnight Mass celebration is canceled, in protest 
of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Father Manuel Musallem said the parish would instead hold an evening mass.
About 4,000 Christians, including about 300 Roman Catholics, live in 
Gaza, a conservative Muslim society. Most of the remaining Christians 
are Greek Orthodox.








http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0812/S00494.htm

Israeli forces demolish Sheikh Jarrah protest camp
Monday, 22 December 2008, 3:08 pm
Press Release: ISM Media
Israeli forces demolish Sheikh Jarrah protest camp yet again
Israeli forces have again demolished the protest tent established in 
Sheikh Jarrah, Occupied East Jerusalem, built on Palestinian private 
property in support of the evicted al-Kurd family and the 18 Palestinian 
families who currently face eviction from the neighbourhood.
Two international solidarity activists, one British and one Austrian, 
who had been staying in the tent, were detained by Israeli police and 
taken to the local police station for their details to be taken. They 
were released three hours later.
Israeli forces arrived at the site of the protest camp at around mid- 
day and began to dismantle the tent despite the protests of Sheikh 
Jarrah residents who repeatedly pointed out that the tent is built of 
private property. The police then took two of the international 
solidarity activists from the site. They were released from the police 
station three hours later.
Um Kamel al-Kurd, who was evicted from her home of 52 years by Israel 
had this to say following the most recent demolition of the Sheikh 
Jarrah protest camp; "This time there were no order, no paper no reason 
for the demolishing. Before they referred to either lack of permit or an 
act of law; any objects that destroy the natural beauty in an area can 
be removed. This is a law that they did not use since 30 years but now 
they have implemented it again. Today they only claimed that this is 
public area".
"I am sad to see the tent being demolished again. Also I am very 
frustrated, because we have no means to stop this." "Still I am 
resolute, I will maintain here and if they return to demolish again, we 
will rebuild it again". "Where are the conciousness, where are the 
hearts of the world? Why are they not defending us and helping us to 
return to our home?"
Fellow Sheikh Jarrah resident Rima added; "We are calling the 
international governments and people to come here. They must implement 
the international law that they are behind". The protest camp was 
established by the Sheikh Jarrah Neighbourhood Committee following the 
violent eviction of the al-Kurd family on the 9th November initially to 
show support for the evicted family and the 500 other Palestinians who 
are under threat of eviction from the neighbourhood. It has been 
demolished three times already by Israeli authorities despite being 
situated on private Palestinian property.
The camp has been used as a cultural centre for the Sheikh Jarrah 
neighbourhood, regularly screening films, holding traditional 
Palestinian dancing and showing Palestinian photo exhibitions. The 
latest demolition of the tent can be viewed as another effort by Israel 
to react against displays of Palestinian national identity within 
Occupied East Jerusalem.
The house had become emblematic of the plight of Palestinian residents 
of Occupied East Jerusalem. The al-Kurd family were previously made 
refugees from Jaffa and West Jerusalem. They were then made refugees for 
the second time as they were evicted from their home of 52 years. A 
previous protest tent had been active throughout the Summer on the 
al-Kurd property, as widespread international condemnation of Israeli 
policy against the family and neighbourhood grew, including an official 
complaint from the US State Department (see below). Abu Kamel al-Kurd 
was immediately rushed to hospital following the family's violent early 
morning eviction with high-blood pressure. He was re-admitted to 
hospital two weeks later where he died of a heart attack homeless.








http://www.imemc.org/article/57758

Palestinian Lawmaker, Irish Noble Prize winner wounded in Ni'lin protest
Friday November 21, 2008 17:32 by IMEMC Staff
As the residents of Ni’lin village, near the central West Bank city of 
Ramallah, supported by international peace activists, held their weekly 
nonviolent protest against the Israeli Annexation Wall on their lands 
while Israel soldiers showered them with teargas bombs.

Troops violently attacked the peaceful protest, and a number of 
residents were treated for gas inhalation. Among them were Palestinian 
legislator, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Irish Noble Prize laureate, Maread 
McGuire, and Palestinian cameraman Mahmoud Harbiyyat who works for the 
Watan TV. All received treatment by field medics.
The protest started after Friday prayers and the protesters were 
planning to march towards a construction site of the Annexation Wall. 
Soldiers attacked them and barred them from reaching the area, local 
sources reported.
Later on, clashes erupted between local youth who hurled stones at the 
soldiers and the army showed them with teargas canisters and rubber 
coated bullets.
Soldiers also fired teargas canister at a number of homes in the 
village; several residents were treated for gas inhalation.






http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/155142

Arab Protestors at Naalin Stone Israeli Troops

Reported: 15:50 PM - Nov/02/08

(IsraelNN.com) Dozens of Arabs, anarchists, and pro-Arab activists were 
protesting the partition fence near the Arab village Naalin west of 
Ramallah.
The protestors were throwing rocks at Israeli security forces. Security 
forces employed riot-dispersal techniques, such as tear gas.
http://www.imemc.org/article/57666

Israeli troops wound four nonviolent protestors in Bil’in
Friday November 14, 2008 19:12 by George Rishmawi - 1 of International 
Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial Group
At least four nonviolent protestors were wounded in the weekly 
nonviolent protest in Bil’in west of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Dozens of the villagers accompanied by International and Israeli 
supporters marched after the Friday prayer and went through the village 
in an attempt to reach the land confiscated for the construction of the 
wall.

The protest this week was dedicated to commemorate the fourth 
anniversary of the death of the late President Yasser Arafat and the 20 
anniversary for the Palestinian declaration of independence.

Israeli troops fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters 
at the protestors to prevent them from going through the gate in the 
wall to their land.

The four were identified as, Ahmad Jabarin, Ahmad Saleh, Adib Abu Rahma 
and Abdulmajeed Nasser.







http://www.imemc.org/article/57664

Israeli troops attack nonviolent protestors in Bethlehem
Friday November 14, 2008 18:57 by George Rishmawi
Israeli troops assaulted nonviolent anti-wall protest in the West Bank 
village of Al-Ma’asara near Bethlehem.

The protest was also to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 
declaration of independence by the Palestinian National Council.

Mohammad Brejeieh spokesperson of the Popular Committee against the Wall 
and Settlements said troops severely beat the nonviolent protestors 
causing them bruises and wounds.

The villagers of Al-Ma’asara, together with International and Israeli 
peace activist protest on weekly basis against building the wall on the 
villages land, which is the main source of income for most of the 
families of the village.







http://www.imemc.org/article/57760

Palestinians organize a protest at an evacuate settlement near Nablus
Friday November 21, 2008 18:32 by IMEMC News
Residents of the villages near the evacuated settlement of Homesh In 
Nablus area, organized a nonviolent demonstration to protest the return 
of six settler families to the evacuated land.

An Areial Photogrsaph for the evacuated Homesh colony - 2006 (Photo: 
decolonizing.ps)
Ten protestors were wounded when the Israeli soldiers fired 
rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters at the protestors.
This is the second demonstration organized by the popular committee 
against the colonial settlement activity in this area.
Israeli soldiers prevented the protestors from entering the evacuated 
settlement.
This settlement was evacuated in 2005 as part of the unilateral 
disengagement plan during which Israel pulled out from four small 
settlements in the West Bank, however, all of them remained until this 
moment under military order, which prevents Palestinians from entering 
the evacuated areas.









http://www.thehindu.com/yw/2008/11/04/stories/2008110450080300.htm

In protest
Despite a strict blockade by Israel, a boat with 27 pro-Palestinian 
activists docked in the Gaza Strip last Wednesday; the second in three 
months. Dignity left Cyprus and arrived in Gaza to protest against 
Israel’s blockade after Gaza was seized by Hamas in June last year. The 
activists in Dignity included Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire 
(Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for peace efforts in Northern Ireland); 
Palestinian parlia mentarian Mustafa Barghuti and Israeli activist 
Gideon Spiro. Barghuti called it “a historic day” as he would normally 
require a permit to enter Gaza being a resident of Ramallah in the West 
Bank. The first boat docked in August to focus attention on the state of 
the 1.5 million people who live in the area. Israel warned activists not 
to enter the military zone around the Gaza Strip but did not move to 
stop the voyage.
COMPLIED BY R. KRITHIKA






http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=115936&d=30&m=10&y=2008

Thursday 30 October 2008 (01 Dhul Qa`dah 1429)

Another boat arrives to protest Gaza blockade
Hisham Abu Taha | Arab News

NOBLE ACT: Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire visits a 
Palestinian patient in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Wednesday. (Reuters)

GAZA CITY: A boat carrying 27 international activists sailed into the 
Gaza Strip yesterday, braving stormy seas and defying an Israeli naval 
blockade to bring attention to Israeli sanctions on the Hamas-controlled 
territory.
Israel had threatened to block the boat. But navy ships did not 
interfere, and the boat sailed unhindered into a Gaza harbor, where it 
was greeted by Hamas policemen and a small group of Palestinian activists.
In the West Bank, Palestinians said Israeli troops shot and killed a 
67-year-old farmer during a nighttime raid.
The 66-foot yacht Dignity took off from the nearby island of Cyprus on 
Tuesday with a shipment of humanitarian supplies.
The passengers included Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel 
Peace Prize for her work with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
“The government of Israel cannot cut off Gaza forever. We will come 
again and again,” Maguire said. The activists are scheduled to remain in 
Gaza for four days.
Israeli activist Gideon Spiro said he joined the boat to express his 
opposition to his government policy toward Gaza. “It is collective 
punishment against people who did not do anything wrong, especially 
children, women, elderly people, and I think that’s not the way to 
handle it and that’s why I’m here,” he said. Jamal Khoudary, one of the 
Palestinian organizers of the protest, said the boat would take 10 
Gazans back to Cyprus, including students and patients needing medical care.
In the West Bank early yesterday, Israeli troops killed a 67-year-old 
farmer in a nighttime raid, Palestinians said. Taher Abahreh, 40, of the 
West Bank town of Yamoun, said his father, Muhammad Abahreh, was near a 
small enclosure outside the town guarding his livestock when he was 
shot. Troops were unsuccessfully trying to treat his father when he 
arrived about an hour after neighbors called him and reported hearing 
gunfire, he said. The Israeli military said the man opened fire at the 
soldiers before he was killed. The military said troops found a shotgun 
on his body and ammunition nearby. Abahreh said his father would not 
have confronted troops. Palestinian security officials confirmed 
Abahreh’s account.
— With input from Mohammed Mar’i






http://news.netster.com/story.asp?id=D94B27K80

Boat carrying EU lawmakers sails into Gaza port with medicine, part of 
blockade protest Email this story to a friend 7:38 PM EST November 8, 2008
The Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip
A group of European lawmakers sailed from Cyprus into Gaza Saturday, 
defying an internationally backed blockade of the Hamas-run territory 
with activists promising to send more visitors and goods to end the 
coastal strip's isolation.
Israel's navy did not try to block the vessel, Dignity, which made its 
third run from Cyprus to Gaza since August. The 23 passengers included 
13 members of various European parliaments and an Israeli journalist, 
who will stay until Tuesday.
"We came on a boat. Many more boats can come. Let's have dozens of boats 
and then we can open up the siege," said Clare Short, a former member of 
the British Cabinet.
Parliamentarians and activists say they are not seeking to legitimize 
Hamas' rule of Gaza, which it seized last year after pushing out 
security forces loyal to Fatah. Hamas' takeover prompted Israel and 
Egypt to seal its borders with Gaza, only allowing in humanitarian aid 
and a trickle of commercial goods.
Instead, activists say they want to highlight the harm done to Gaza's 
1.4 million residents.
The ship also brought a ton of medicines and some hospital equipment.
"Even prisoners have rights ... to have a life in dignity," said Lord 
Nazir Ahmed, a Muslim member of Britain's House of Lords, referring to 
the difficulties faced by Gaza residents.
Ahmed said Arab lawmakers were planning a similar boat trip to show 
their solidarity with the Palestinians.
Black-clad Hamas police on horse and foot secured the dock as 
intelligence officials in civilian clothing patrolled the area. Ahmed 
said there were plans to send more boats to the territory, including one 
that will carry Arab parliamentarians.
Shortly after the boat arrived, Hamas officials based in Syria said 
their group would boycott upcoming Palestinian reconciliation talks with 
rival Fatah. The decision was taken because Fatah did not release Hamas 
loyalists from West Bank jails, the group said.
The talks were to start Sunday in Cairo, Egypt.






http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7711590.stm

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Clashes as Israel flattens homes

The demolitions caused anger in especially in Silwan neighbourhood
Israel demolished four unauthorised Palestinian-owned buildings in 
occupied East Jerusalem in one day, triggering clashes in one Arab 
neighbourhood.
Palestinian youths threw stones at police and a demolition unit in 
Silwan, where two homes were razed.
A house in Shuafat and a wedding hall in Beit Hanina also were demolished.
Human rights groups have criticised homes demolitions, saying it is 
often impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits in Israeli-occupied 
areas.
The Israeli authorities said they were applying the law by removing 
structures built illegally without permits.
Israeli police said several people were detained in Silwan but there 
were no injuries.
More than 100 paramilitary border guards, including some on horseback, 
protected the demolition team using a large digger.
Local people threw rocks from rooftops, while the security forces fired 
rubber bullets and used stun grenades.
Witnesses said some people had barricaded themselves inside one of the 
condemned buildings but they agreed to leave after negotiations with 
police.
Local activists said the Jerusalem municipality had issued demolition 
orders against 90 homes in Silwan, located in a valley below Jerusalem's 
Old City, to build a park.





http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225715349371&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Nov 5, 2008 13:56
Palestinians protest home demolition in east Jerusalem
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Police were trying to disperse a violent protest in Jerusalem where 
Palestinian protesters were trying to halt a home demolition, police 
spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Wednesday.
Rosenfeld said authorities went to the area to take down a home that was 
built illegally. The crowd gathered and began pelting police with 
stones. He said police were trying to break up the crowd with stun 
grenades.
The unrest was taking place in east Jerusalem.








http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/05/content_10313455.htm


Arabs in east Jerusalem riot over house demolition

JERUSALEM, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Arab residents in East Jerusalem held 
a violent protest on Wednesday after the authorities demolished 
buildings in the area.
Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Xinhua that the Palestinian 
protestors sought to block the demolition of a illegal house inside the 
village of Silwan.
The police managed to disperse the crowd with stun grenades, causing no 
injuries.
Israel has leveled more than 300 homes in Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods 
since 2004, citing a lack of building permits.
However, critics say the permits are virtually impossible to obtain and 
that the demolitions are part of an Israeli policy to discourage 
Palestinian population growth in the disputed city.

Editor: Yan






http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=15126

Palestine: Strikes in East Jerusalem in protest of Israeli municipal 
elections
12-11-2008
By Maisa Abu Ghazaleh
Jerusalem, (PNN): Israeli forces arrested 14 Palestinians in Jerusalem 
yesterday for calling on shop owners to close their doors during a 
strike against the Israeli-controlled municipal elections. Among those 
arrested are several Fateh officials.

The Palestinian Authority called earlier this week for a formal boycott 
of the elections, the two main candidates for which were described as 
intending to “make life harder for Arabs," and "erase the Arab nature of 
the city.”

On Salah Addin Street and in central Beit Hanina the polls were sparsely 
attended. PNN’s Jerusalem correspondent reports that members of the 
Palestinian press were prevented by Israeli police from entering polling 
stations in East Jerusalem or photographing and interviewing voters, 
while the Israeli press was afforded access to other voting sites.

The Director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, 
Ziad Hammouri told PNN that the mayor of West Jerusalem is in a unique 
position to implement the schemes of the Israeli occupation. If 
Palestinians vote in the Israeli elections, the Israeli administration 
will likely use that fact as a means to prevent participation in the 
Palestinian Authority and Legislative Council elections, which was 
already a difficult issue in 2005.

Hammouri commented on Tuesday's elections, “It is very clear that to 
continue with the Palestinian national approach we must boycott the 
elections. We demand the end of the occupation and the right to 
self-determination for the Palestinian people.”

"The vote would allow the annexation of the eastern part of the city, 
and to participate in the election means the Palestinians are satisfied 
with this annexation. All the world knows it was forcibly annexed and 
occupied. United Nations resolutions condemn the annexation, and even 
the US does not support Israeli annexation,” added the Director of the 
Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights.

Strikes lasted from the morning and into the evening when the polls 
closed at eight.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3961&Itemid=1 







http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/3369505/Rabbis-face-down-settlers-in-Palestinian-olive-harvest-clashes.html

Rabbis face down settlers in Palestinian olive harvest clashes
Israeli rabbis have come to the defence of Palestinian farmers who are 
being attacked in the West Bank by Jewish hardliners while harvesting 
their olive trees.

By Carolynne Wheeler in Jitha
Published: 2:29AM GMT 03 Nov 2008

The olive harvest is critical to farmers' livelihoods as well as being a 
traditional time for family gatherings in the predominantly Palestinian 
West Bank Photo: Reuters
Malik Maher, 15, clambered up the side of a terraced hill to his 
family's olive grove like a mountain goat, occasionally pausing to laugh 
at the foreigners puffing below him.
But he stopped short as he came within sight of the caravans parked just 
a couple of hundred yards away and spotted two Israeli soldiers.
Two days earlier, a group of angry teenage boys descended from those 
caravans, an extension of a nearby Jewish settlement, and chased his 
family, including his 75-year-old great-grandmother, out of their grove.
"They pelted us with stones and chased us with sticks, so we ran away," 
said Malik.
This year's olive harvest, critical to farmers' livelihoods as well as a 
traditional time for family gatherings in the predominantly Palestinian 
West Bank, has been the most violent ever for clashes between farmers 
and Israeli soldiers and settlers.
The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has urged his people to plant a 
million trees in protest while begging the Israeli forces to protect 
them, while the Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak has condemned the 
radical Israeli settlers as "thugs".
The violence has gone beyond the olive harvest. Israel's 
attorney-general has called for an investigation into recent settler 
riots, in which scores of Palestinian cars had tires slashed and Muslim 
graves were defaced with paint after the Israeli army razed an illegal 
settler outpost.
"Whoever expresses himself in such a manner belongs in jail. We've had 
enough of all this violence. Verbal violence that brings physical 
violence - and we will not abide this," the outgoing prime minister, 
Ehud Olmert, told his cabinet recently.
But in the middle of Malik's grove was an unexpected peacemaker - a 
lanky, long-bearded Israeli rabbi who has made it his mission to lead 
Jewish volunteers into the West Bank to shield Palestinian farmers as 
they bring in their crops. He speaks to the soldiers in calm but firm 
Hebrew, and they turn away after issuing a warning - another day's work 
for Arik Ascherman, executive director of Israel's Rabbis for Human 
Rights movement.
"I want to give credit to the security services, they are being more 
active this year against these attacks. But it's a real tide of settler 
violence this year and they are just overwhelmed," said Mr Ascherman, 
48, who has been running the olive harvest campaign since 2002. "I've 
been beaten by security forces. I've been attacked by settlers. I've had 
my car stolen by Palestinians - it's equal opportunity out here in the 
West Bank. But I think it's a risk worth taking.
"As a Jew, as a rabbi, as an Israeli and as a Zionist, it's the right 
thing to do."
The spike in violence is blamed on a radical Right-wing Israeli fringe 
which has recently begun a campaign of protests to counter progress in 
peace talks, in which Israel is expected to halt settlement growth in 
return for a Palestinian crackdown on militant groups.
The most radical of this Israeli fringe are blamed for setting off a 
pipe bomb in front of a Left-wing Israeli professor's home in September 
and for offering rewards for the assassination of liberal Israeli activists.
Their latest target appears to be the olive harvest, as Palestinians 
attempt to access land near Jewish settlements or the security barrier.
Just a mile away from Malik's family home, dozens of Israeli soldiers 
had inserted themselves between a group of Palestinian farmers and 
Jewish residents from the nearby settlement of Kedumim. Nearby, Shosh 
Ilan, a 70-year-old grandmother, paraded her grandson who lost a leg 
during a Palestinian shooting attack six years ago. "There is no balance 
between what they're saying and reality," she scoffed, arguing the 
settlement was built on government land and the grove is theirs. "It has 
nothing to do with taking things from the Arabs."
This time the soldiers were successful in pressing the two sides back.
Many other times in recent days, they have failed. At least 20 serious 
clashes have been recorded between settlers and Palestinian farmers 
since the olive harvest began in early October.
The fringe movement has even Israel's settler leaders taken aback and 
frustrated. "We really condemn any manifestation of violence and we call 
on law-enforcement officers to punish the culprits," said Dani Dayan, 
chairman of the Yesha Council which represents the settlements, though 
he argued that the confrontations are often the result of "deliberate 
provocation by Palestinians and Left-wing organisations, Israeli and 
international."
The Israeli volunteers - some of whom refuse to work with international 
volunteers seen as radically anti-Israel - beg to differ. Aid agencies 
estimate some 2,000 Israeli volunteers helped with last year's 
Palestinian olive harvest.
"Friends ask me if I'm afraid to go to the West Bank and I say I'm 
afraid when I see the settlers," said Netanya Ginsburg, 69, a volunteer 
from Rabbis for Human Rights, pausing from stripping olives from a branch.
"One day I had a pot of animal urine and feces thrown in my face. I've 
been threatened by kids who wanted to throw stones at me," said the 
South African-born retired librarian, who has been in Israel 45 years.
"But our policy is non-violent, not physical, just verbal. Arik believes 
in helping these people and that's good enough for me."






http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1225199628779

Nov 2, 2008 16:01 | Updated Nov 3, 2008 0:40
Hundreds of Palestinians hold protest in Hebron
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hundreds of Palestinians staged a protest in the center of Hebron, 
witnesses said Sunday afternoon.

A Jewish settler walks through a Hebron neighborhood (illustrative).
Photo: Ahmad Gharabli
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
The demonstrators were calling on Hebron residents to reclaim the 
downtown area where IDF troops guard several Jewish enclaves.
During the protest, several Jewish settlers pulled down three 
Palestinian flags and burned one of the banners. IDF forces pushed the 
settlers away.
Soldiers then demanded that the Palestinians leave the area, which 
promoted a scuffle. No one was wounded in the incident.
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/20/israel.settlers/index.html

November 20, 2008 -- Updated 2356 GMT (0756 HKT)

HEBRON, West Bank (CNN) -- Inflammatory graffiti was found on Muslim 
gravestones and a mosque in the divided West Bank town of Hebron as a 
group of Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinians, Israeli military 
sources said Thursday.

Israeli soldiers guard a Muslim cemetery Thursday in Hebron after Jewish 
settlers vandalized gravestones.

Army Radio reported that Jewish settlers scrawled "Mohammed is a pig" on 
the mosque, which is near a disputed building in Hebron. Israel Defense 
Forces cleaned the graffiti off on Thursday, the radio reported.
Pigs are reviled by many Muslims as unclean, and the Quran prohibits 
them from eating pork. Jews also are prohibited from eating pork.
A day earlier, Jewish settlers living inside the disputed building 
ignored a court-ordered deadline to evacuate, setting themselves up for 
a possible confrontation with the Israeli military.
The settlers moved into the building last year, claiming they bought it 
from a Palestinian man who says no deal was made. The court must still 
settle that issue. Nine families made up of 70 people live at the property.
The court ruled Sunday that the settlers would be evicted within 30 days 
if they did not leave voluntarily.
Settlers and Palestinians clashed overnight, with IDF and Israeli police 
forces trying to prevent violence and disperse the participants, Israeli 
military sources said.
One Israeli soldier was slightly injured by a chemical substance that 
Israeli settlers threw at him, the sources said. Some settlers also 
threw rocks at Israeli soldiers who were trying to contain the clashes, 
Army Radio reported.
A number of IDF and Israeli police cars were damaged.
Hebron is one of the most contested cities in the West Bank. It is home 
to approximately 160,000 Palestinians and 500 Israelis.
It is also the location of the Cave of the Patriarch, a religious site 
holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, and has been the site of high 
profile violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
Settlers in the area were preparing ahead of the Wednesday deadline. 
More than 1,000 convened an emergency meeting in a neighboring town on 
Tuesday to discuss the possible eviction.
"The state of Israel has become the enemy of the people and the land of 
Israel," settler Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe said at the meeting, according 
to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Nissim Zeev, an Israeli member of the Knesset from the ultra-Orthodox 
Shas Party, opened an office in the four-story building in a sign of 
solidarity. He called on other Knesset members to join him in Hebron.
Settlers presented Zeev with evidence they have gathered relating to the 
legality of the purchase. This includes a videotape they say shows the 
homeowner counting the cash the settlers paid him when they purchased 
the property






http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/156073

Anarchists Protest IDF Destruction of Kidnap Tunnel

Reported: 23:43 PM - Nov/18/08

(IsraelNN.com) Several dozen pro-PA activists and anarchists disrupted 
local traffic outside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv Tuesday evening, 
to protest the IDF's action in Gaza on December 4. The IDF on that day 
destroyed a 300-meter-long tunnel dug by Hamas terrorists under the 
security fence on the Gaza border.
Police arrested two of the protestors.
Israeli intelligence had reports that the tunnel was soon to be used to 
kidnap more Israeli soldiers. The tunnel ran near an IDF position manned 
by an attackable number of soldiers, not unlike where the 
Hamas-affiliated attack captured Gilad Shalit.








http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7737725.stm

Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Israel police remove protest tent

Police said they were operating on the basis of a court order
Israeli police have pulled down a protest tent set up by a Palestinian 
family evicted from their home of 52 years in East Jerusalem.
They also arrested three international activists and one Palestinian.
Fawzia al-Kurd, 57, had been sleeping in the tent since she and her 
disabled husband were forced from the house last week on the basis of a 
court ruling.
Jewish groups have claimed ownership of the site as part of efforts to 
settle the Israeli-occupied east of the city.
They say the land, which includes a site held to be an important Jewish 
burial place, was Jewish-owned in the 19th Century.
"They kicked me out of my home and now they kicked me out of the tent," 
Mrs Kurd told the BBC.

Eviction in battle for Jerusalem

"Where am I supposed to go?"
A spokesman for the Israeli police said their actions were based on a 
court order and were co-ordinated with the Jerusalem municipality.
The municipality said the tent had been erected on public land and was 
dismantled after the Kurd family failed to comply with a warning calling 
for its removal.
Mrs Kurd said she had received no written warning, and activists said 
the land was privately owned.
The case has been followed closely by international activists and 
centres around the controversial issue of the status of Jerusalem.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, but Palestinians want to 
locate the capital of a future state in the east of the city, where they 
make up the majority of the population.
Israel has annexed the city's east and extended its municipal boundaries 
into the West Bank.
But this move is not recognised by most of the international community, 
which regards East Jerusalem as occupied, along with the West Bank, 
since the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.







http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7729487.stm

Saturday, 15 November 2008

Eviction in battle for East Jerusalem

Fawzia al-Kurd has been living in the tent since she was evicted on Sunday

By Heather Sharp
BBC News, Jerusalem

Fawzia al-Kurd, 57, raises her black cloak to show the bottoms of the 
pyjamas she is still wearing several days after she and her 
wheelchair-bound husband were forced from the home he had lived in for 
five decades.
She had no time to change or gather her possessions when the Israeli 
police arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning.
In borrowed shoes, she shows us around the tent that she now calls home 
near the single-storey, two room house in East Jerusalem.
Jewish Israelis who had already moved into the extension the Kurd family 
had built for their son, have now taken over the rest of the flat.
'Never forgive'
Mohammad al-Kurd, 55, who is partially paralysed and suffers from heart 
and kidney problems, diabetes and high blood pressure, is now staying 
with relatives.
He had lived in the house for 52 years when the Israeli Supreme Court 
served an eviction order on him in July.
"I will never forgive the Israelis for what they have done to me and my 
sick husband, kicking us out of our own house in the early hours of the 
morning. I may forgive other things they have done, but not this," said 
Mrs Kurd.

The Jewish-occupied houses are adorned with Israeli flags
The eviction is the culmination of a decades-long legal dispute between 
the Kurd family and organisations seeking to boost Jewish residency in 
the Israeli-occupied east of the city.
The case, followed closely by international activists, goes to the heart 
of one of the most hotly-contested issues in Israeli-Palestinian peace 
talks - the status of Jerusalem.
Palestinians fear an Israeli drive to create "facts on the ground" in 
the part of the city where Palestinians are the majority and want to 
locate the capital of a future state.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital and has annexed to the 
east of the city and extended its municipal boundaries into the West Bank.
But the international community sees it as occupied, along with the West 
Bank, since the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.
The few houses draped in blue and white Israeli flags with their own 
armed guards, amid a cluster of cream stone Arab-style properties, are 
therefore considered illegal settlements under international law.
Their inhabitants will not speak to the media.
'Not forced out'
But Daniel Luria of Ateret Cohanim, an organisation which promotes 
Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem says "nobody's forcing anyone out - 
the courts ruled they [the Kurds] were living there illegally".

The Kurds' lived metres from the Jewish settlers who moved into the 
extension (Image: ISM)
The Kurd family were among some 700,000 Arabs who fled or were forced 
from their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war that followed 
the creation of Israel.
Jordan, which controlled the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the war, 
and the UN housed them and several other families on the plot of land.
But after 1967, a Jewish association laid claim to it in the courts on 
the basis of Ottoman-era documents.
An Israeli lawyer working for the Kurd family agreed to relinquish their 
ownership claim to the land in exchange for "protected tenancy status".
The family maintain they were unaware he was doing this and fired him as 
soon as they found out.
July's court ruling followed a labyrinthine legal battle, but was 
apparently based on the Kurd family's refusal to pay rent to a trust 
fund established in case the Jewish claim was finally validated.
Side-by-side
Since 2001, a group of Jewish settlers has been living in the Kurds' 
extension.
Their argument is that it was built without official permission - as is 
much Palestinian construction in East Jerusalem because the Israeli 
authorities rarely grant building permits.
Both sides say the other harassed them as they lived side by side, the 
front doors metres apart.

JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN EAST JERUSALEM

Mrs Kurd said her Jewish neighbours would teach their children to shoot 
toy guns at pictures of Palestinian children; the Jews have said they 
had excrement and stones thrown at them by local Arabs.
Jewish groups also point out that the house is near the site held to be 
the burial place of 3rd Century BCE Jewish high priest Shimon Hatzadik, 
and an old synagogue there was used as a rubbish dump and goat shed 
until they sought access to clean it up.
A Jewish settlement company has already proposed a 200-unit development 
where 27 families neighbouring the Kurds currently live. They fear they 
will be next.
Mr Luria says that the eviction is an unusual case.
Counting just over 100 families that have moved into about five sites in 
what he calls the "Holy Basin" around Jerusalem's Old City in the past 
five years, he says most cases are straightforward transactions.
"No-one acts individually to just drive someone out - an Arab wants to 
sell, he sells and a Jew moves in."
The sales are usually at inflated prices, sometimes done through middle 
men to protect the vendors from recriminations.
Mrs Kurd says she turned down an offer of US$10m for her modest apartment.
Daniel Siederman, a left-wing lawyer specialising in Jerusalem, says the 
location is one of several targeted by Jewish organisations which 
effectively ring the Old City, home to Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy 
sites.
"The battle for the Old City has begun, and these are the crown jewels," 
he says. "The Kurd family has been run over by historical forces beyond 
their power."
He says the situation is very different for Palestinians trying to 
reclaim pre-1948 property from what is now Israel.
"We have a very unlevel playing field and it doesn't work the other way 
round."
To Mr Luria, the Green Line - the 1949 ceasefire line - between East and 
West Jerusalem is meaningless, whatever the international community says.
"God gave the land to the Jewish people. Full stop."
But the Kurds are currently mounting a legal challenge, based on 
Jordanian documents which have recently come to light.
Mrs Kurd says she is hopeful she will one day return to the house: "It 
is my homeland, it is my right."







http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1035683.html

Last update - 00:00 09/11/2008

Elderly Palestinian couple evicted from East Jerusalem home despite U.S. 
protest By Michael Bahl Tags: Israel News, U.S., Jerusalem
In a pre-dawn operation in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of 
predominantly Arab East Jerusalem, scores of police officers and IDF 
troops Sunday evicted an elderly Palestinian couple from their home, 
despite protests by the United States, other countries, and human rights 
groups.

Security forces also detained several activists of the pro-Palestinian 
International Solidarity Movement who had been sleeping on the family's 
property, and expelled them to the adjacent West Bank, without pressing 
charges.

A Jerusalem court in July ruled that the east Jerusalem housing provided 
to Mohammed al-Kurd and his wife Fawzieh in 1956 by the Jordanian 
government and a UN refugee agency was built on land to which their 
title was in doubt and they must vacate the property.

The case came to international attention when U.S. diplomats lodged an 
official protest with Israel for harming Palestinians and for 
anti-Palestinian actions taken by settlers, citing as one example the 
eviction of the al-Kurd family from their home in the Shimon Hatzadik 
complex in Sheikh Jarrah.

For months, a group of settlers has also lived in a portion of the 
house, maintaining that an Ottoman-era bill of sale grants ownership of 
the Shimon Hatzadik property to the Committee for the Sephardic Group. 
The Jerusalem District Court issued a ruling in favor of the Sephardic 
Group,which transferred the property to a settler organization called 
"Shimon's Estate."

The settler group, in turn, sought to evict the al-Kurd family, refugees 
from West Jerusalem, who have lived in the house since the early 1950s.
At 4:45 on Sunday morning, some 20 IDF vehicles and seven police 
minibuses sealed off much of the neighborhood, prior to the eviction, 
witnesses said.

The al-Kurds were then taken from the apartment, which they have been 
sharing with Israeli settlers since 1999, when Israeli courts evicted 
their son Raed from an added wing of the property. The couple has been 
fighting for their property through the courts ever since, but in July 
2008 they were ordered to vacate the premises at once.

Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said that following the court 
order naming a Jewish family as the legal owner of the house, "The Arab 
family was evicted. Two people were, in fact removed from the house," he 
told Haaretz, referring to the al-Kurds.

"There were also seven tourists, left-wing activists, who were removed." 
ISM members said that there were eight activists taken from the house, 
nationals of Denmark, Sweden, the United States, England and Canada.

Danish ISM activist Anders Pilmark, 20, said that 40 to 50 IDF soldiers 
and police woke them up at 4:45 A.M. and immediately started to clear 
out the al-Kurd's apartment. The activists were detained on suspicion of 
trespassing, but were later escorted to the West Bank's Qalandiya 
checkpoint with no charges pressed.

The couple's neighbor's gathered Sunday morning outside the closed 
perimeter set up by the IDF. They have been following the case closely, 
and believe that the court decision and forced eviction of the family 
paves the way for the takeover of 27 multi-storey houses in the 
neighbourhood, threatening to make 500 Palestinians homeless.

"This is only the first. Just you wait and see," one of the neighbors said.

Rafiq Husseini, an aide to Palestiniann President Mahmoud Abbas, has 
been quoted as warning that the takeover of the Kurds' home was part of 
a wider drive to change the geography of Jerusalem by forcing out 
Palestinians and replacing them with Israeli settlers. "Such a 
development would deal a death blow to already-strained peace 
negotiations," he wrote in a letter to foreign consulates in Jerusalem







http://www.canadiandimension.com/blog/2008/11/israeli-bulldozer-demolishes-protest-camp/

Israeli bulldozer demolishes protest camp
Matthew Brett, November 20th, 2008
Update: The Israeli bulldozer is now creating a wall surrounding the 
residents who have remained on the site of the protest tent. The wall 
that the Israeli forces are creating is on Palestinian owned private land.
———–
9:30 am, East Jerusalem: Israeli forces are again dismantling the 
protest camp in Sheikh Jarrah, set up after the eviction of the al-Kurd 
family on the 9th November.
A bulldozer arrived at the private property at 8:45am with orders to 
destroy the tent and the surrounding fence where the al-Kurd family has 
been living since they were evicted from their home on the 9th November 
2008. The camp is situated on Palestinian-owned private property.
Yesterday the tent was also demolished, and one Palestinian and four 
internationals were taken into Israeli police custody. The Palestinian 
resident of Sheikh Jarrah continues to be held.
The family re-constructed the tent yesterday in order to continue their 
protest. Today, while the fence surrounding the private land was being 
bulldozed, neighbors dismantled the tent in order to save it from 
repeated destruction. At present, the demolition of the fence continues 
as the Al-Kurd family, neighbors, and internationals are eating breakfast.
The decision to remove the al-Kurd family paves the way for the takeover 
of 26 multi-story houses in the neighborhood, threatening to make 500 
Palestinians homeless and signifying the ethnic cleansing of 
Palestinians from Occupied East Jerusalem by the Israeli State. In July 
the US State Department brought forward an official complaint to the 
Israeli government over the eviction of the al-Kurd family, openly 
questioning the legality of terms on which the Israeli Jewish settler 
group claimed to have purchased the land. (see 
www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/1005342.html).
The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was built by the UN and 
Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 
war. The al-Kurd family began living in the neighbourhood after having 
been made refugees from Jaffa and West Jerusalem. However, with the the 
start of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, following the 1967 
war, settlers began claiming ownership of the land the Sheikh Jarrah 
neighborhood was build on.
Stating that they had purchased the land from a previous Ottoman owner 
in the 1800s, settlers claimed ownership of the land. In 1972 settlers 
successfully registered this claim with the Israeli Land Registrar. 
While the al-Kurds family continued legal proceedings challenging the 
settlers claim, the settlers started filing suits against the 
Palestinian family.
In 2006, the court ruled the settlers claim void, recognizing it was 
based on fraudulent documents. Subsequently, the Al-Kurd family lawyer 
petitioned the Israeli Land Registrar to revoke the settlers 
registration of the land and state the correct owner of the land. 
Although it did revoke the settlers claim, the Israeli land Registrar 
refused to indicate the rightful owner of the land.
In 2001 settlers began occupying an extension of the al-Kurd home. 
Despite the fact that their claim to the land was revoked, settlers were 
given the keys of the al-Kurds family home extension by the local 
Israeli municipality. This was possible after the municipality had 
confiscated the keys of the extension that the al-Kurd family built on 
their property to house the natural expansion of the family. When this 
extension was declared illegal by Israeli authorities, the Israeli 
municipality handed the keys over to Israeli settlers. The al-Kurd 
Family went to court and an eviction order was issued against the
settlers. When the al-Kurd family were evicted on the 9th November 2008, 
the settlers were allowed to remain in the property, despite their own 
eviction order.
In July 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the eviction of the 
al-Kurd family, for their refusal to pay rent to the settlers for use of 
the land. Although the settlers claim to the land had been revoked two 
years earlier, the court instead based their decision on an agreement 
made between a previous lawyer and the settlers. It should be noted that 
the al-Kurd family -and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood as a whole- 
rejected this agreement and fired their legal representative at the time.






http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=15170

Palestine: Israelis forces dismantling protest camp in East Jerusalem
20-11-2008
The International Solidarity Movement:

9:30 am, East Jerusalem: Israeli forces are again dismantling the 
protest camp in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, set up after the eviction 
of the al- Kurd family on the 9th November.The Israeli bulldozer is 
currently creating a wall surrounding the residents who have remained on 
the site of the protest tent. The wall that the Israeli forces are 
creating is on Palestinian owned private land.

A bulldozer arrived at the private property at 8:45am with orders to 
destroy the tent and the surrounding fence where the al-Kurd family has 
been living since they were evicted from their home on the 9th November 
2008. The camp is situated on Palestinian-owned private property.

Yesterday the tent was also demolished, and one Palestinian and four 
internationals were taken into Israeli police custody. The Palestinian 
resident of Sheikh Jarrah continues to be held.

The family re-constructed the tent yesterday in order to continue their 
protest. Today, while the fence surrounding the private land was being 
bulldozed, neighbors dismantled the tent in order to save it from 
repeated destruction.

At present, the demolition of the fence continues as the Al-Kurd family, 
neighbors, and internationals are eating breakfast.

The decision to remove the al-Kurd family paves the way for the takeover 
of 26 multi-story houses in the neighborhood, threatening to make 500 
Palestinians homeless and signifying the ethnic cleansing of 
Palestinians from Occupied East Jerusalem by the Israeli State. In July 
the US State Department brought forward an official complaint to the 
Israeli government over the eviction of the al-Kurd family, openly 
questioning the legality of terms on which the Israeli Jewish settler 
group claimed to have purchased the land.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem was built by the UN and 
Jordanian government in 1956 to house Palestinian refugees from the 1948 
war. The al-Kurd family began living in the neighbourhood after having 
been made refugees from Jaffa and West Jerusalem.

However, with the the start of the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, 
following the 1967 war, settlers began claiming ownership of the land 
the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood was build on.

Stating that they had purchased the land from a previous Ottoman owner 
in the 1800s, settlers claimed ownership of the land. In 1972 settlers 
successfully registered this claim with the Israeli Land Registrar.

While the al-Kurds family continued legal proceedings challenging the 
settlers claim, the settlers started filing suits against the 
Palestinian family.

In 2006, the court ruled the settlers claim void, recognizing it was 
based on fraudulent documents. Subsequently, the Al-Kurd family lawyer 
petitioned the Israeli Land Registrar to revoke the settlers 
registration of the land and state the correct owner of the land.

Although it did revoke the settlers claim, the Israeli land Registrar 
refused to indicate the rightful owner of the land.

In 2001 settlers began occupying an extension of the al-Kurd home.
Despite the fact that their claim to the land was revoked, settlers were 
given the keys of the al-Kurds family home extension by the local 
Israeli municipality. This was possible after the municipality had 
confiscated the keys of the extension that the al-Kurd family built on 
their property to house the natural expansion of the family.

When this extension was declared illegal by Israeli authorities, the 
Israeli municipality handed the keys over to Israeli settlers. The 
al-Kurd Family went to court and an eviction order was issued against 
the settlers. When the al-Kurd family were evicted on the 9th November 
2008, the settlers were allowed to remain in the property, despite their 
own eviction order.

In July 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the eviction of the al- 
Kurd family, for their refusal to pay rent to the settlers for use of 
the land. Although the settlers claim to the land had been revoked two 
years earlier, the court instead based their decision on an agreement 
made between a previous lawyer and the settlers. It should be noted that 
the al-Kurd family -and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood as a whole- 
rejected this agreement and fired their legal representative at the time.







http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9978.shtml

Only feeble protest over family's eviction
Jonathan Cook, The Electronic Intifada, 21 November 2008

The middle-of-the-night eviction last week of an elderly Palestinian 
couple from their home in East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers 
is a demonstration of Israeli intent towards a future peace deal with 
the Palestinians.

Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd are now on the street, living in a tent, 
after Israeli police enforced a court order issued in July to expel them.

The couple have been living in the same property in the Sheikh Jarrah 
neighborhood since the mid-1950s, when East Jerusalem was under 
Jordanian control. The United Nations allotted them the land after they 
were expelled from their homes in territory that was seized by Israel 
during the 1948 war.

Since East Jerusalem's occupation by Israel in 1967, however, Jewish 
settler groups have been waging a relentless battle for the Khurds' 
home, claiming that the land originally belonged to Jews.

In 1999, the settlers occupied a wing of the house belonging to the 
couple's son, Raed, though the courts subsequently ruled in favor of the 
family. The eviction order against the settlers, unlike that against the 
Khurds, was never enforced.

The takeover of the Khurds' house is far from an isolated incident. 
Settlers are quietly grabbing homes from Palestinians in key 
neighborhoods around the Old City of Jerusalem in an attempt to pre-empt 
any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

What makes the case of the Khurd family exceptional is that it has 
attracted the attention of western consulates, particularly those of 
Israel's important allies, that is, the United States and Britain. They 
have appealed without success to the Israeli government to intercede.

In particular, the diplomats are concerned that the takeover of the 
Khurds' home will set a dangerous precedent, freeing settler groups to 
wrest control of most of Sheikh Jarrah. The settlers plan to oust more 
than 500 Palestinians from the neighborhood and build 200 apartments for 
Jewish families.

If the settlers can take control of other areas, such as Silwan, Ras 
al-Amud and the Mount of Olives, the Old City and its holy sites would 
be as good as sealed off not only to Palestinians in the West Bank -- as 
is the case already -- but also to nearly 250,000 Palestinians in the 
outlying suburbs of East Jerusalem.

Because the Palestinians expect East Jerusalem and its holy places to be 
the core of their state, the Sheikh Jarrah judgment effectively offers 
the settlers a blocking veto on any future negotiations.

That may be one reason why the Israeli government has shown little 
inclination to intervene in cases like that of the Khurds. In Israeli 
law, all of Jerusalem, including the eastern half of the city, is the 
"indivisible" capital of the Jewish state.

The eviction order also worries western diplomats because it opens up a 
Pandora's box of competing land claims that will make it impossible for 
Palestinian negotiators to sign up to a deal on the division of Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority has already pointed out to the consulates that 
nearly two-thirds of West Jerusalem's land was owned by Palestinians 
before the creation of Israel. Fawziya Khurd, for example, lived in 
Talbieh, in what is now the city's western half, before 1948.

If the settlers can make property claims in East Jerusalem based on 
title deeds that pre-exist 1948, why cannot Palestinians make similar 
claims in West Jerusalem?

The US involvement in the Khurd case demonstrates its desire to mark its 
red lines in East Jerusalem. The concern is that Israeli actions on the 
ground are seeking to unravel the outlines of an agreement being 
promoted by Washington to create some kind of circumscribed Palestinian 
state.

In the US view, the basis of such a deal is an exchange of letters 
between President George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime 
minister at the time, in spring 2004 in which the US president affirmed 
that Israel would not be expected to return to the armistice lines of 
1949. Instead, he declared that Israel would be able to hold on to its 
"population centers" in the West Bank -- code for the established 
settlement blocs.

As a result, the current US administration has turned a blind eye to 
continuing construction in the main settlements, home to most of the 
West Bank's 250,000 settlers. The unstated agreement between Tel Aviv 
and Washington is that these areas will be annexed to Israel in a future 
peace deal.

In an indication of Israel's confidence about the West Bank settlements, 
the Israeli media reported at the weekend that Ehud Barak, the defense 
minister and the leader of the Labor Party, had personally approved 
hundreds of new apartments for the settlers in the past few months.

Israel's wall is being crafted to include these blocs, eating into 
one-tenth of the West Bank and leaving only a few tens of thousands of 
settlers on the "wrong side."

For the time being, the US is showing indecision only about two 
settlement-cities, Ariel and Maale Adumim. If the wall encompasses them, 
it will effectively sever the West Bank into three parts.

In relation to East Jerusalem, the White House has so far appeared to 
favor maintaining the status quo. That would entail the eastern half of 
the city being carved up into a series of complex zones, or "bubbles" as 
they have been described in the Israeli media.

Another 250,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem, though almost 
all of them reside in their own discreet colonies implanted between 
Palestinian neighborhoods. These settlements are considered so 
established by Israelis that most of their inhabitants do not regard 
themselves as settlers.

However, the more ideological settlers of the kind taking over homes in 
Sheikh Jarrah refuse to accept partition of the city on any terms. They 
are trying to erode the Palestinians' chances of ever controlling their 
own neighborhoods in the eastern half of the city.

Backed by powerful allies in the courts, government and municipality, 
the settlers look set to continue expanding in East Jerusalem.

Nir Barkat, the millionaire businessman who was elected mayor of 
Jerusalem last week, forged close ties with some of the most extreme 
figures in the city's settlement movement during his campaign.

Like his chief rival for the mayoralty, he has promised to build a new 
Jewish neighborhood, called Eastern Gate, that will be home to at least 
10,000 settlers on land next to the Palestinian neighborhood of Anata.

The move, much like the eviction of the Khurds, has been greeted with 
silence from the government. Both developments are a sign of 
Washington's powerlessness to force even the limited concessions it 
expects from Israel in East Jerusalem.

Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His 
latest books are Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and 
the Plan to Remake the Middle East (Pluto Press) and Disappearing 
Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair (Zed Books). His 
website is www.jkcook.net.

This article originally appeared in The National published in Abu Dhabi 
and is republished with permission.






http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/25/israelandthepalestinians

Israeli policeman headbutts woman in Palestinian demolition clashes
Human rights group B'Tselem films violence at demonstrations as police 
move in to destroy 'illegal' homes
• Owen Bowcott and agencies
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 November 2008 11.59 GMT
• Article history

Clashes at Silwan Link to this video
An Israeli policeman wearing a hard helmet is shown headbutting a 
Palestinian woman in a video released by a human rights group today.
The short film was recorded by the Israeli group B'Tselem during a 
protest against the demolition of Palestinian homes.
The Jerusalem municipality destroyed two houses because, it said, they 
had been built without permission.
The pictures, taken on November 5 but not released until today, show the 
actions of one policeman whose reinforced visor is pushed back above his 
helmet.
At one point he grasps the hands of a Palestinian woman and slams 
against the top of her head with his protective headgear. She reels 
back, clutching her head. Other residents object, and the policeman is 
seen grabbing the wrists of a Palestinian man and headbutting him as well.
According to an Israeli police spokesperson, the family living in the 
house that was destroyed refused to leave the building, and local 
residents threw stones and firebombs at officers.
"[On] the day, severe riots took place in Silwan," Micky Rosenfeld, a 
police spokesman, told Reuters.
"As a result five policemen were wounded and evacuated to hospital, 11 
locals were arrested for assaulting policemen and throwing firebombs and 
six police vehicles were damaged. This event was exceptional and is now 
being examined by an external police investigation unit."
Police were said by B'Tselem to have used stun grenades to break up the 
crowds. Witnesses later claimed police fired live ammunition in the air.
Silwan is in Arab East Jerusalem, an area annexed by Israel in 1967. 
Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to be the capital of a 
future Palestinian state.
B'Tselem monitors human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied West 
Bank and Arab East Jerusalem.
In July, B'Tselem activists filmed two Israeli soldiers shooting a bound 
Palestinian with a rubber bullet. They were later charged by the army.
B'Tselem in Hebrew literally means "in the image of", but the group says 
it is also used as a term meaning human dignity.





http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=257690&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

Five hurt in Hebron clashes


A Palestinian wounded in the head helps another injured man after tens 
of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian houses with stones and fired 
live bullets in Hebron yesterday
HEBRON, West Bank: Five people were injured yesterday in clashes between 
Jewish settlers and Palestinians outside a disputed house in the West 
Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army and witnesses said.
“At least three Palestinians were hurt by stones being thrown and were 
taken to hospital in Hebron,” a witness said. “The settlers also shot at 
the Palestinians but did not wound anyone.”
An army spokeswoman said “two settlers were wounded, and the army, 
border guards and police were trying to separate the two sides.”
The controversial house was occupied by dozens of hardline Jewish 
settlers in March 2007. They have remained in the building, which they 
dubbed “the house of peace,” despite a November 16 court order for them 
to move out.
The settlers say they bought the house from a Palestinian, who denies 
that a deal was ever completed.
With more than 170,000 Palestinian residents, Hebron is the largest city 
in the West Bank apart from annexed Arab East Jerusalem.
It has long been a flashpoint because of a settler enclave of around 600 
hardline Jews in the heart of the city, and a further 6,500 settlers 
living in Kiryat Arba on the outskirts. - AFP








http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1225910055540

Nov 6, 2008 19:26 | Updated Nov 7, 2008 7:21
Wiesenthal dean rejects museum protests as extremist agitation
By YAAKOV LAPPIN AND JERUSALEM POST STAFF

Hundreds of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians held a demonstration at the 
Mamilla Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem on Thursday to protest a 
High Court decision to allow the construction of the Museum of Tolerance 
on a site that partially covers the medieval cemetery.

Arabs march from east Jerusalem to Mamilla to demonstrate against 
construction of Tolerance Museum next to old Muslim Cemetery.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
Slideshow: Pictures of the week
But Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Los Angeles-based 
Simon Wiesenthal Center which is building the museum, has rejected the 
Islamic condemnations as the voice of extremism and vowed that it will 
rise as "an institution that offers hope and reason."
On October 29, after a prolonged legal battle, the High Court rejected a 
petition by the Al-Aqsa Company for Development of Holy Muslim Assets 
against the museum's construction. The High Court ruled that the $250 
million museum safeguarded religious sensitivities and respected the 
historical burial site.
Muslim opponents say the museum's location violates the cemetery's 
sanctity. According to Muslim tradition, a number of companions of 
Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, are buried at Mamilla.
But in an article to be published in Sunday's Jerusalem Post, Hier notes 
that the site, which was jointly owned by the Israel Lands 
Administration and the Jerusalem Municipality, had functioned for almost 
half a century "as the city's municipal car park (a portion of it 
included three levels of underground parking), serving the diverse 
communities of Jerusalem. Everyday, since the 1960s, hundreds of Jews, 
Christians and Muslims parked their cars there. The city of Jerusalem 
also laid electrical cables and sewer lines below the ground."
During that period, Hier goes on, "no Muslim group, including today's 
most vociferous critics of the museum... raised a word of protest... 
They were silent because, as the High Court said, '...the area has not 
been classified as a cemetery for decades.'"
Hier adds that the Wiesenthal Center "offered numerous compromises" 
during the court process, "but they were all rejected out-of-hand by 
Sheikh [Raed] Salah" of the Islamic Movement. Now, he writes, Salah "is 
agitating against its decision because he lost..."
"From this half-century former parking lot in the center of west 
Jerusalem will rise an institution that offers hope and reason to all 
the people of Israel and the world," Hier writes.
In a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles, Hier said: "The 
opposition to the move is not motivated by religious concerns but is a 
political attempt at a land grab by Islamic fundamentalists, who are in 
cooperation with Hamas, in the center of west Jerusalem."
During Thursday's protest, Sheikh Kamal Hativ, Deputy Chairman of the 
Islamic Movement's Northern Branch, said: "We came to announce to the 
entire world in the name of all Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, 
those within the Green Line and in the Diaspora - we will not reconcile 
with you and will not forgive you for violating the graves of our 
mothers, fathers, and grandparents. We will not forgive you for building 
the tolerance structure,"
"The cemetery has in any case been in existence before Israel, and the 
graves of our forefathers will remain after Israel," Hativ added.
Jerusalem Police said the protest passed without incident.
Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report






http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=3&id=1648

Palestinians Protest against Construction of ‘Museum of Tolerance’ on 
Jerusalem Muslim Cemetery
12/11/2008
The Alternative Information Center (AIC)
http://www.alternativenews.org
November 11, 2008

On Thursday, 6 November, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated against 
the recent Israeli High Court decision permitting the construction of 
the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s “Center for Human Dignity-Museum of 
Tolerance” on top of the Ma’mam Allah Islamic Cemetery in West Jerusalem.

The cemetery, dating back to the 13th century, served as Jerusalem’s 
primary cemetery for the city’s Muslim population until 1948, when the 
newly created state of Israel declared it “absentee property.” In 1955, 
Israel proposed the first changes to the area’s status, although no 
public notice of these proposed changes were issued in Arabic. Over the 
next 30 years, the Jerusalem Municipality expropriated the area and 
acquired ownership of the property. All objections made were to no 
avail, and the cemetery was legally designated as an “open public 
space,” which today functions as a picturesque “park” through which 
Israelis walk in the center of West Jerusalem.

Approximately 70,000 graves fill the 200 dunam cemetery, and although no 
burials have been conducted in the past 50 years, it contains the graves 
of numerous Muslims leaders and is regarded as scared. Local Palestinian 
families still visit the Ma’man Allah Islamic Cemetery to honor their 
deceased family members.

On 29 October, the Israeli High Court gave the final “green light” for 
the creation of the Center for Human Dignity-Museum of Tolerance, noting 
that since no objections were filed since 1960, when the Jerusalem 
Municipality built a parking lot on a part of the cemetery, there is no 
reason to block further construction on the site.

The Simon Weisenthal Center, a Los Angeles based Jewish organization 
“focusing on racism in America and the history of the Holocaust,” 
dedicated the site already in 2004, although subsequent legal 
proceedings blocked construction until late last month. The US$250 
million museum aims to build bridges between warring tribes and to 
create tolerance and co-existence.

Last week’s protest march began outside the American Consulate in East 
Jerusalem, from where the thousands of participants—a mix of the old and 
young, men and women, Muslims and Christians—marched together to the 
cemetery in West Jerusalem. Prayers and speeches were conducted at the 
cemetery, where the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein stated 
that this court ruling is criminal as it permits the “attack of the 
tombs and bones of Muslims.” Among the demonstrators were many Islamic 
and Christians leaders and figures, and the security was very tight.









http://english.sina.com/world/p/2008/1114/198409.html

Hamas supporters protest against Abbas' Fatah movement
2008-11-15 05:53:22 GM
RAMALLAH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The security forces of Palestinian 
President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday arrested 17 Hamas members across the 
West Bank, the Islamic Hamas movement said in a statement.
The arrests have been highlighted tension between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah 
and complicated Egypt's efforts as Cairo announced it has postponed 
hosting a national Palestinian dialogue due to be held this week to 
reconcile the two movements.






http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1226404738790

Nov 15, 2008 21:10 | Updated Nov 15, 2008 21:34
Hamas protests PA West Bank crackdown
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Tensions between Hamas and Fatah mounted over the weekend as the 
Islamist movement organized demonstrations in the Gaza Strip against the 
Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

A Palestinian police officer gestures as he and other Hamas supporters 
gather during a demonstration in Gaza City.
Photo: AP
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
The tensions have seen an ongoing crackdown on Hamas supporters in the 
West Bank by PA security forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas.
Fatah, on the other hand, accused Hamas of detaining dozens of its 
supporters and activists in the Gaza Strip over the past few days.
Addressing the demonstrators in Gaza City, Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior 
Hamas official, called on his followers in the West Bank to resist 
attempts by Abbas's men to arrest them.
"We won't abandon our people in the West Bank to be tortured by the 
security forces belonging to the Ramallah leadership," he said.
The Hamas official also warned Fatah supporters in Gaza against any 
attempt to cause trouble.
Hamas representatives in the Strip said Abbas's forces had detained more 
than 500 Hamas supporters and members in the West Bank over the past 
five weeks.
They said that among those detained over the weekend was Baker Mansour, 
17, the son of prominent Hamas political figure Jamal Mansour, who was 
killed by an IAF missile in a Hamas command center in Nablus in July 2001.
Abbas's forces also arrested Ra'fat Nassif, a top Hamas operative in the 
northern West Bank, the Hamas representatives said, adding that the man 
had been involved in efforts to achieve reconciliation with Fatah.
Hamas leaders claimed that Abbas's latest clampdown on their supporters 
in the West Bank was being carried out on instructions from Israel and 
the US.
"This campaign is part of the security understandings reached between 
Abbas, on the one hand, and the Israelis and Americans on the other 
hand," said Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon. "We have 
information that US army generals are supervising the campaign against 
Hamas."
Hamdan said the stepped-up measures in the West Bank were aimed at 
"undermining" the movement and removing it from power after it won the 
2006 parliamentary election.
"Attempts to reverse the results of the free [2006] election will fail," 
he said. "In fact, these attempts have backfired and Hamas remains the 
preferred choice of the Palestinians."
Mahmoud Zahar, the top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, condemned Abbas 
and his PLO colleagues as "traitors and spies."
If Hamas ever decided to join the PLO, it would be only to "cleanse the 
organization of all the traitors, spies and merchants," he said.
Zahar said the only reason Abbas had agreed to attend the "national 
reconciliation" conference that was supposed to be held in Cairo last 
week was because he wanted to win Hamas's approval for the extension of 
his term in office for another year.
Abbas and Fatah, he added, were very worried by the growing power of PA 
Prime Minister Salaam Fayad, of the independent Third Way party, whose 
government has laid its hands on the funds and security forces in the 
West Bank.
"They feel that Salaam Fayad is a big threat and that's why Fatah wants 
to get rid of him," he said. "The Fatah people were hoping that Hamas 
would help them get rid of Fayad by agreeing to form a Fatah-Hamas unity 
government and keeping Abbas in power after January 2009."
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum attacked Abbas for agreeing to hold 
another meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week. Abbas was 
going to Jerusalem "to receive orders from Israel to keep trying to 
eliminate Hamas," he said.
Barhoum said the Americans and Israelis had been putting heavy pressure 
on Abbas to refrain from solving the crisis with Hamas.
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior Fatah official and close aide to Abbas, 
scoffed at the Hamas allegations and said it was only a matter of time 
before the Hamas leaders found themselves on trial for staging a coup 
against the PA in the Gaza Strip.
Abdel Rahman described the Hamas leaders as "highway thieves" and 
"mercenaries" who didn't represent anyone.
"What does Hamas have to offer the Palestinians other than more militias 
that are persecuting and killing our people?" he asked. "The Hamas 
leaders are all murderers who are perpetrating crimes against our 
people. In one day they killed 13 members of the [pro-Fatah] Hilles clan."






http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=149744

Israeli Arabs protest against Gaza blockade Sunday, November 30, 2008
NAZARETH, Israel: Thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated in the 
northern town of Nazareth on Saturday to protest against the crippling 
Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The protesters carried pictures of children and sick people in Gaza and 
placards reading: No to the hunger of the Palestinian people and (US 
President George W) Bush and (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert are 
war criminals.

Men and women marched separately in the demonstration which was 
organised by the wing of the Islamic Movement whose leader Sheikh Raed 
Salah led the protesters.

The Islamic activists do not recognise the Jewish state and field 
candidates only in municipal not parliamentary elections.

Israel has allowed food into the Gaza Strip on only three days since a 
flare-up of violence on the border on November 4 prompted it to tighten 
its blockade of the aid-dependent territory.






http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-10/2008-10-15-voa63.cfm?CFID=89137493&CFTOKEN=66901786

Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian During West Bank Protest
By VOA News
15 October 2008

Hospital sources in the West Bank city of Ramallah say Israeli soldiers 
fatally wounded a Palestinian man during clashes Wednesday to protest 
the killing of another man a day earlier.
The sources said the 21-year-old man was shot in the chest at the 
heavily guarded Jewish settlement of Bei El, and later died of his wounds.

An Israeli military spokesman said troops shot at a protester who was 
preparing to throw a firebomb at them.

The incident took place following the funeral of an 18-year-old 
Palestinian man killed by Israeli troops late Tuesday as he was 
preparing to throw a firebomb into a Jewish settlement.

A military statement said Israeli soldiers found another 10 firebombs at 
the scene.






http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10251047.html

Eight wounded in West Bank barrier protest
Agencies
Published: October 10, 2008, 15:36
Nilin: Israeli security forces clashed with demonstrators at the West 
Bank on Friday, injuring eight people, medics said.

More than 200 people gathered near Nilin to protest the building of a 
barrier in the area.

A military spokesman said Israeli forces used anti-riot measures after 
demonstrators hurled rocks at soldiers, who fired rubber-coated bullets 
and teargas at demonstrators.

Israel says the projected 723-kilometre barrier is needed for security, 
while Palestinians view it as a land grab that undermines their future 
state.





http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2008/October/middleeast_October150.xml

Eight demonstrators wounded in West Bank protest
(AFP)

10 October 2008

NILIN, West Bank - Eight people were slightly wounded when Israeli 
security forces fired rubber-coated bullets and teargas at demonstrators 
protesting the West Bank separation barrier on Friday, medics and 
witnesses said.
A border guard also suffered light injuries, according to a military 
spokesman who said Israeli forces used anti-riot measures after 
demonstrators hurled rocks.
More than 200 people, including foreign activists, participated in the 
demonstration near Nilin and symbolically helped Palestinian villagers 
pick olives from their trees located near the barrier.
Villagers, Israelis and foreigners regularly protest at Nilin against 
the building of the barrier, hurling rocks at construction workers and 
Israeli troops, who usually respond with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets.
Since the end of July, a Palestinian child and a teenager have been 
killed by Israeli forces during the protests.
Israel says the projected 723 kilometres (454 miles) of steel and 
concrete walls, fences and barbed wire is needed for security, while 
Palestinians view it as a land grab that undermines their promised state.
To date Israel has built 57 percent of the projected barrier, most of it 
inside the West Bank.






http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=92407&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName=TopNews&rpc=23&videoChannel=1&sp=true

Palestinian protest over Israel wall
(01:54) Report
Oct 18 - Palestinians protest against the Israeli construction of 
barriers separating Palestinian and Jewish communities.
Demonstrators lob rocks at Israeli police guarding construction vehicles 
from being attacked. Police send tear gas and rubber bullets back. 
Caught in the middle are olive growers who are at the peak of the 
harvesting season who must attempt to pick olives amid conflict and tear 
gas.
Penny Tweedie reports.






http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=14974

Palestine: Israeli troops suppress a nonviolent demonstration near Bethlehem
11-10-2008
International Middle East Media Centre:

Israeli soldiers dispersed international, Israeli and Palestinian 
activists who assembled in a protest against the wall in the village of 
Al-Ma’sara near Bethlehem on Friday afternoon.

The protest started after the Friday noon prayer in the village and 
headed towards the construction site of the wall.

However, Israeli troops halted them and prevented them from continuing 
towards the wall, and showered them with tear gas and concussion 
grenades. No injuries were reported.

The villagers of Al-Ma’sara and the neighboring villages have been 
organizing weekly protests in the past two years in bid to stop the 
construction of the wall on their land, which is the main source of 
income for most of the villagers.

http://www.imemc.org/article/57283







http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTUzNDM2NTgx

Settlers, rabbis clash over West Bank olives
Published Date: October 04, 2008
HEBRON: Militant Jewish settlers clashed with activists of the Rabbis 
for Human Rights movement near the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday as 
they protected Palestinians beginning the annual olive harvest.

Israeli police and soldiers grappled with settlers who tried to drive 
off local Palestinians and international supporters of Palestinian 
rights in the Israel-occupied territories.

This is just the beginning of the olive harvest which will be going on 
for the next two months," said the executive director of Rabbis for 
Human Rights, Arik Ascherman.

He said activists were going to 40 Palestinian villages to protect olive 
growers and uphold their right to work the land, and harvest. They would 
act "as human shields" if necessary.

A settler woman screamed "Murderer, murderer" at the rabbi, and settlers 
angrily shouted down any activists trying to explain their aims to TV 
reporters.

The West Bank olive harvest has developed over the past decade into a 
regular confrontation between Palestinian farmers and militant Israelis 
who have settled on nearby land.

Palestinians say settler harassment often turns to encroachment and 
eventually seizure of more land in the name of settler "security".

There are those who say all the land of Israel belongs only to the 
Jewish people," Ascherman said. "Everybody knows these are 
Palestinian-owned trees.

It's unfortunate that some people so filled with mistaken religious 
fervour are choosing to insult, be violent, trying to steal the olives.

The Jewish militants say they want a secure route from the settlement 
through the olive grove, to a cave regarded as a Jewish holy site.

The settlers would like to make a path ... as part of their effort to 
create facts on the ground," Ascherman said. "They've been trying to 
create this outpost here to take more and more Palestinian land.

Rabbis For Human Rights said in a statement that delegations also joined 
Palestinians for the olive harvest near Nablus, "where there is a long 
history of the army preventing agricultural work".

In several locations olives have already been stolen in recent weeks, 
and this year's harvest will be all the more difficult because of the 
recent wave of settler violence," the group said.

Its members would "work to insure that Israeli security forces meet 
their obligations under international law and the ruling of the Israeli 
High Court", the statement added. --- Reuters






http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1222017467135

Oct 5, 2008 22:43 | Updated Oct 5, 2008 22:59
West Bank dumping stirs protest
By EHUD ZION WALDOKS

A controversial project to turn a West Bank quarry into a dumping site 
has been resurrected in a slightly different format in recent months, 
prompting concern among local residents and environmental organizations 
about possible contamination of water supplies.

PLANS TO turn a West Bank quarry into a dumping ground has opponents 
worried about possible water contamination.
The Baron Industrial Park Company would like to turn the Abu Shusheh 
quarry just outside Deir Sharaf, near Nablus, into a building-waste dump 
site for both area residents and perhaps Israeli waste shipped over the 
Green Line as well. The company is a joint endeavor of the Kedumim and 
Karnei Shomron town councils and the Samaria Regional Council.
Residents held a demonstration at the site on August 26 in protest, 
concerned the project could pollute their water sources. However, the 
project could also pose more than a local threat if not done properly, 
as the mountain aquifer runs below the quarry and could be contaminated 
as well. One third of Israel's water comes from the aquifer.
A previous initiative by the company to dump waste exclusively from 
Israel proper was stopped through the legal efforts of the Israel Union 
for Environmental Defense (IUED) in 2005. IUED, in conjunction with 
B'Tselem, contended, in a case that went all the way to the Supreme 
Court, that it was against international law to ship waste across the 
Green Line to be dumped on occupied territory. They argued that dumping 
potentially contaminating waste violated the rights of local residents. 
In light of IUED's efforts, the Civil Administration froze the plan 
until it could be modified to comply with international law and Israeli 
regulations. Now it seems as though the project has been revived.
Yitzhak (Itche) Meir, head of the Municipal Environmental Associations 
of Judea and Samaria, who is overseeing the project for the Baron 
company, told The Jerusalem Post late last week that there were two 
differences with this adaptation of the project.
First, he said, the proposed project would be just for dry waste such as 
building waste. The earlier plan called for storage of "reject" waste, 
which contains small amounts of organic material and therefore has a 
higher pollution potential.
Secondly, this time the surrounding Israeli settlements and perhaps even 
Palestinian villages would mostly dump in the quarry with perhaps some 
waste being transported from the other side of the Green Line, he told 
the Post. It is legal to export waste to the territories if local waste 
is also being collected, he said.
The Civil Administration has given planning permission to the company 
thus far but nothing else, an Administration spokesman told the Post.
Meir said the plans included sealing the bottom of the site as well as 
other measures to ensure there would not be any polluting leaks.
While IUED had not heard about the latest plans, organization head Tzipi 
Iser Itsik said they would be looking into it very carefully in light of 
the information brought to their attention by the Post.
"If it has been decided to renew the plan, we plan to check if it 
adheres to the conditions the IDF Command and the Civil Administration 
affirmed to the Supreme Court they would uphold," she said via e-mail. 
"[We will also check] to make sure the new plan does not violate 
international law, nor does it contradict environmental principles or 
environmental justice."
"As is our wont, we do not intend to give up our role as the guard dog 
of public and environmental interests especially not when those 
interests were fully recognized and delineated by the judges of the 
Supreme Court in Jerusalem," she added.






http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017507966&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Oct 11, 2008 14:33
Palestinian farmers and settlers clash near Nablus
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Palestinians and settlers clashed near Nablus Saturday morning, when 
Palestinian farmers came to harvest olives in lands belonging to the 
village of Burin, located near the settlement of Yitzhar.
The IDF said that the farmers had neglected to coordinate their arrival 
with the army. It acknowledged that a riot had developed at the scene, 
but added that soldiers had arrived and broken up the fight.





http://www.b92.net//eng/news/world-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=10&dd=12&nav_id=54165

Israeli Jews, Arabs clash for fourth day 12 October 2008 | 11:14 | 
Source: VOA ACRE -- Ethnic violence has rocked a mixed Jewish-Arab city 
in Israel for a fourth day, VOA reports.

Israeli Jews and Arabs clashed again in the historic port city of Acre, 
despite the deployment of 700 police.

Trouble began when crowds of Jews and Arabs gathered in a neighborhood 
and threw stones at each other. Police quickly moved in.

They dispersed the crowds using tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades.

Later on, Jews set fire to two Arab homes. There were no serious 
injuries; 12 people were arrested.

Riots first erupted on Wednesday, during Yom Kippur or the Day of 
Atonement, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. Though it is 
customary not to drive on the holiday, an Arab drove through a Jewish 
neighborhood with music blaring and was attacked by angry residents.

As word spread about the incident, Arabs took to the streets, 
vandalizing Jewish-owned cars and shops.

Israeli-Arab Cabinet Minister Raleb Majadele appealed for calm. "We 
cannot allow thugs to disrupt life in Acre," Majadele told Israel Radio. 
He called on the police to restore order so that the two peoples, Jews 
and Arabs, can coexist in peace.

The port city of Acre was once the Crusader capital of the Holy Land, 
and today, it is one of the few cities in Israel with a mixed Jewish and 
Arab population.

Jews and Arabs generally get along, but the riots are a reminder of a 
deep cultural and religious divide in the State of Israel.







http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-10/2008-10-29-voa29.cfm?moddate=2008-10-29

Recent Riots Highlight Frustrations of Arab Israelis
By Luis Ramirez
Acre, Israel
29 October 2008
Ramirez report - Download (WM)
Ramirez report - Watch (WM)
Clashes in the Mediterranean port city of Acre this month highlighted 
tensions between Jews and Arabs who are citizens of Israel. If Israeli 
Palestinian negotiations succeed, there will be a Palestinian state 
ideally in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Arabs there will be governed 
by Arabs. For more than a million Arab citizens of Israel however, the 
future involves a battle against discrimination. VOA's Luis Ramirez 
reports from Acre.

Ancient city of Acre in northern Israel
The ancient city of Acre in northern Israel has weathered many conflicts 
through the millennia. It was conquered by Assyrians, Romans, Crusaders, 
and Turks. In 1948, at the end of the British Mandate, Israelis captured 
the city, forcing thousands of Arab residents to flee.

Recent decades have seen peace, with Jews, the majority, co-existing 
with an Arab minority.

But coexistence was shattered earlier this month when Jews and Arabs 
clashed.

It began at this intersection where Jewish residents chased an Arab man 
who drove his car with the stereo blaring through this Jewish 
neighborhood on Yom Kippur - the most solemn Jewish holiday.


Jewish resident
Rumors that the man was killed brought hundreds of Arab youths in the 
middle of the night.

"At around 1:30 people wearing masks, faces covered, arrived and they 
started turning the cars over, breaking windows, and throwing stones," a 
Jewish resident said. "They damaged hundreds of cars. My mother and 
father-in-law, they were scared to death when hundreds of Arabs 
surrounded the house. They were yelling Allahu Akbar on Yom Kippur, our 
holiest day."

Now, damaged storefronts are repaired, and soldiers patrol the streets.

But fear remains. And tourists no longer come to Acre in their usual 
numbers.

This Arab souvenir vendor says he has not sold a thing for days. He says 
the clashes have added to tensions over plans to gentrify the waterfront.
"What has been happening in Acre is that the Israelis want the Arabs 
out," the vendor said. "They want every Arab out of Acre in order to 
bring Israelis and to bring Israeli investors."


Sami Hawari
Arabs here are Israeli citizens. They pay taxes and have access to 
public health. But community activists like Sami Hawari say Arab 
Israelis continue to suffer discrimination in city services, education, 
and housing,
"The façade of coexistence in this city between Arabs and Jews," Hawari 
said. "It's false advertising and I believe that there's a lot of 
conflict between Arabs and Jews, that the municipality and other 
authorities are covering and trying to make it [seem like] a 'beautiful 
life' etcetera."

Virtually all Arabs interviewed said they would never move to a newly 
independent Palestinian state. In Israel, they enjoy democracy and 
economic opportunities. They are here to stay.

But days after the riots, anger still runs deep - especially after some 
Jewish factions called on Jews not to buy goods from Arabs.

Near the riot scene, a gathering of Jews and Muslims. They are calling 
for peace.

"There is sort of the reality that it will never change," a Jewish rally 
attendee said. "[Both] people live in the place and I can't see them 
going out of the place. So even if there will be two states, I believe 
that Arabs will live in Jewish places as well and we'll have to both 
learn how to make it happen."

Addressing that question will be a tough challenge for Israeli leaders, 
who learned a new lesson - in Acre - on just how fragile coexistence 
within Israel is.







http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1012/mideast.html

Fourth night of Jewish-Arab clashes
Sunday, 12 October 2008 22:30
Jews and Arabs clashed for a fourth consecutive night in the northern 
Israeli city of Acre leaving at least three people injured in hospital.
Three Jewish demonstrators were also arrested in the town where riots 
erupted late on Wednesday night on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
More than 700 officers remained on patrol in the coastal city of 50,000 
people to try and keep a lid on the violence.
Advertisement
Police said the clashes broke out when an Arab resident drove through a 
conservative Jewish neighbourhood blaring music from his car stereo.
A group of Jewish youths assaulted the driver, accusing him of 
deliberately making noise and disrupting the sanctity of Yom Kippur, 
when most Jews in Israel observe a religious ban on driving.
Hundreds of Arabs took to the streets shortly afterwards, damaging 
around 100 cars and 40 shops, according to the police.
In the ensuing days Jewish and Arab rioters clashed with each other and 
with police.
Two protesters and a police officer have been wounded and 25 people 
arrested since the violence broke out.






http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49A21420081011

Israel's Acre suffers third night of violence
Sat Oct 11, 2008 12:17pm EDT
By Ammar Awad
ACRE, Israel (Reuters) - Rioters in northern Israel torched two houses 
and badly damaged several others in the third night of tensions between 
Jewish and Arab residents of Acre, officials said Saturday.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Arab residents were evacuated 
before their homes were set alight and that nobody was injured. He said 
police remained on very high alert.
Sami Hawary, an Israeli-Arab resident of Acre who heads a group which 
works for cooperation between Arabs and Jews, said that during the early 
hours of Saturday angry Jewish residents set fire to two houses and 
damaged eight others.
"There were scores of angry Jewish residents, mainly younger people who 
set fire to the homes, the tension is very high here, things are on a 
knife-edge," Hawary told Reuters.
Friday, Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni visited Acre and 
urged a return to calm from both communities. Livni is trying to form a 
new government following the resignation of premier Ehud Olmert.
Abbas Zakour, an Israeli Arab lawmaker from Acre confirmed 10 homes had 
been damaged and that tensions remained high.
"Jews burned 10 homes inside a Jewish area last night, there is calm at 
the moment but the tensions remain," he told Reuters.
Rosenfeld said police had worked through the night to contain sporadic 
violence in the city of 46,000 and remained on high alert to counter 
further outbreaks. He said officers had arrested 12 people from both 
communities.
Many shops and restaurants in the old town, a popular tourist 
destination which was once the Crusader capital of the Holy Land, 
remained closed Saturday, Rosenfeld said.
Trouble started in Acre after dark Wednesday at the start of the Yom 
Kippur, the holiest day for Jews, when an Arab drove into a Jewish 
district, disturbing the start of 24 hours during which many Jews fast 
and abstain from driving.
As word spread from mosque loudspeakers of Jewish youths stoning the 
car, Arab crowds responded angrily, causing widespread damage to cars 
and shops in a main city street.
Relations between Jews and the mostly Muslim Arabs have been sometimes 
tense in Israel and dog the nature of a peace settlement which still 
eludes the two communities, 60 years after Israel was established in 
what was then Palestine.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed in principle on a two-state 
solution in which the 4 million Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza, many 
descended from those driven out or who fled Israel during the war of 
1948, would eventually have a state.
As a result of the violence, Acre's mayor canceled an annual theater 
festival set to take place in the city next week but Israeli Culture 
Minister Galeb Magadla, himself an Israeli-Arab, said it was the wrong move.
(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Writing by Ori Lewis; 
Editing by Matthew Jones)






http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=58194

Published On: 2008-10-11
Front Page
Jewish-Arab clashes hit Israeli town
Afp, Acre

Police clashed with Jewish protesters in Acre yesterday as Foreign 
Minister Tzipi Livni travelled to the northern Israeli city to appeal 
for calm after two days of clashes between Arab and Jews.

Police fired a water cannon at the crowd of about 200 people as some 
demonstrators hurled bottles and stones at security forces.

Chanting "death to Arabs," the protesters were headed from a 
predominantly Jewish neighbourhood to the house of an Arab when police 
intervened.

The incident took place just hours after Livni, who is trying to form a 
new government and replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, 
travelled to Acre, where she issued what she said was "a message of 
reconciliation and cooperation to calm tempers within the population."

Police deployed an additional 500 officers to help the 200-strong local 
force after violence broke out on Wednesday night as Jews observed Yom 
Kippur, or Day of Atonement.

"We have also raised our level of alert throughout the country so that 
similar incidents do not occur again in Acre, or elsewhere," police 
spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.

Israeli President Shimon Peres also appealed for calm.

"Jews and Arabs must stop immediately this violence which will not 
benefit anyone," he said in a statement.

Two protesters and a police officer have been lightly wounded. Twelve 
people -- Arabs and Jews -- have been arrested since the first clashes 
broke out, Rosenfeld said.

About 100 cars and 40 stores were damaged by Arab demonstrators, he said.

Rosenfeld said the initial unrest erupted when an Arab motorist drove 
into a neighbourhood where Arabs and Jews live, playing his car stereo 
loudly.

A group of Jewish youths assaulted the driver, accusing him of 
deliberately making noise and disrupting the sanctity of Yom Kippur, 
when most Jews in Israel observe a religious ban on driving.

"Rumours then spread out, namely from mosques, claiming that the 
motorist had been killed, prompting several hundred Arabs to take to the 
streets," Rosenfeld said.

Clashes started again on Thursday, when rioters from both sides hurled 
rocks at each other and the police used tear gas to disperse them, media 
reported.

Football matches planned for the weekend were cancelled as was an annual 
theatre festival that was to be held next week and which usually draws 
thousands of visitors to the Mediterranean coastal city, media reported.






http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&7ADCCB6C03F8913DC22574DE0017C70F

Clashes Erupt in Mixed Arab-Jewish City
Arabs and Jews traded blows and threw rocks in a northern Israeli city 
on Thursday, in a second day of sectarian violence that marred the 
somber Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
Police set up roadblocks in and around Acre, one of only a few 
Arab-Jewish towns in Israel, to separate the angry crowds. Officers 
fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to quell the violence.

Several people were arrested, but there were no reports of serious injury.

Israel's caretaker prime minister, Ehud Olmert, called on Arabs and Jews 
in the city to restore calm. "Coexistence between Jews and Arabs is of 
the utmost importance, especially in mixed cities, and all efforts must 
be made to live together," Olmert said in a statement.

The fighting erupted late Wednesday, after the start of Yom Kippur, in a 
predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Acre. Observant Jews fast, pray for 
forgiveness of their sins and abstain from most activities, including 
driving, during Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.

Police said an Arab driver entered the neighborhood and was attacked by 
Jewish youths who beat him. Abbas Zakour, an Arab parliament member, 
said the driver lives in the neighborhood and was trying to get home.

Israeli media and some police officials said the driver and two 
companions had loud music blasting from the car radio as they entered 
the neighborhood.

After the attack on the driver, several hundred Arab residents rioted, 
chanting "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great, and smashing the windows of 
dozens of cars and shops in Acre's main commercial area, police said.

With the end of Yom Kippur after sundown Thursday, Jewish residents took 
to the streets, some chanting "Death to the Arabs." At one point, Arabs 
and Jews scuffled and threw rocks at each other, police said.

Police eventually managed to separate the sides, setting up roadblocks 
in and around Acre. Riots continued in Acre's Old City, where hundreds 
of Arab residents threw stones and burned tires, police said.

Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population. They enjoy full 
rights but have suffered from discrimination under successive Israeli 
governments.(AP)

Beirut, 10 Oct 08, 07:26







http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017498195&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Oct 9, 2008 19:10 | Updated Oct 10, 2008 10:13
Yom Kippur riots garner strong reactions from lawmakers
By YAAKOV LAPPIN


The Arab-Jewish Yom Kippur riots garnered strong reactions from 
political leaders.

A smashed store window in Acre, Thursday.
Photo: Channel 10
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL) called the riots a "Jewish pogrom," and said the 
police were handling the "attack against the Arab residents" in a 
discriminatory manner.
Hadash MK Muhammad Barakei echoed Tibi's words, saying that "fascist 
gangs in Acre carried out a pogrom against Arabs, reminiscent of dark 
days in human history. We have been warning for a while of the expansion 
of these gangs in Acre, whose only purpose is to harass the Arabs."
"Mixed cities are supposed to serve as a model of coexistence... The 
police must impose order, otherwise these cities will turn into ticking 
time bombs," MK Nadia Hilou (Labor) commented Thursday night. Hilou, who 
heads the Knesset lobby for mixed cities, called on Public Security 
Minister Avi Dichter to come to Acre. "I foresee an immediate danger - 
these sorts of riots might spread to the rest of the region," she added.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in response to the riots that 
maintaining coexistence between Arab and Jewish sectors in Israel was a 
highly important mission. He called on Acre residents to show restraint 
and to do their best to make efforts to get life in the city back on track.
Kadima leader Tzipi Livni spoke with Acre Mayor Shimon Lankri, who 
updated her on events.

Israel Beiteinu MK Estherina Tartman said, "The pogrom in Acre is 
another proof that the Arabs of Israel are the real threat to the state. 
There is no solution [other than] a swap of territories," she said.
Israel's only Arab minister, Ghaleb Majadle (Labor) said he believed 
that the Acre riot was "an exceptional and unusual incident, and I hope 
it won't repeat itself."
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) called on Public Security Minister Avi Dichter 
and Cohen to resign. "Israel has become the only country in the world 
where pogroms against Jews are taking place, [with participants] harming 
them, their property and calling to kill the Jews. A police [force] 
incapable of protecting the Jewish residents of Acre and Peki'in needs 
to reassess itself," Steinitz said.
Israel Police Commissioner Ch.-Insp. Dudi Cohen held a special situation 
assessment meeting at an Acre police station on Thursday evening and 
admitted that local police were caught off guard by the outbreak of 
hostilities.
"I am aware of the evidence and witness to the consequences," Cohen 
said, alluding to the widespread damage. "It is difficult for me to 
assess whether the incident was nationalistically motivated or simply an 
act of hooliganism; we will know this later on. I wish to stress that 
the Acre Police Department is prepared for this Yom Kippur in accordance 
with recent years and we had no information indicating that such as 
incident was about to occur."
Shelly Paz and JPost.com staff contributed to this report







http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9399340.htm

Jews and Arabs clash in northern Israeli city
10 Oct 2008 00:46:56 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds details)
By Ori Lewis
JERUSALEM, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Police used tear gas and water cannon to 
try and stamp out clashes between Jews and Arabs in Israel's northern 
coastal city of Acre on Thursday, officials said.
Israeli television showed smashed shop fronts and damaged cars in the 
city, where Jews and Arabs live close together, but no major casualties 
were reported.
Arab witnesses said the clashes began when Jewish youths stoned a car 
carrying Arabs late on Wednesday during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in 
the Jewish calendar.
Police set up road blocks to keep the two sides apart and helicopters 
flew over the ancient port. Local Arab Israeli parliamentarian Abbas 
Zakkour said dozens of people were injured by tear gas canisters and 
that some had been taken to hospital for treatment.
"We must guard vigilantly the ability to live together in co-existence 
in these towns," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement.
Police said clashes broke out twice and that eight Arabs and four Jews 
had been detained.
Traditionally during Yom Kippur all vehicle traffic, except for 
emergency services, stops in Jewish parts of Israel.
Israel's Arabs number about 1.5 million, about 20 percent of the 
population. They are descended from families that stayed while hundreds 
of thousands fled or were forced out during the 1948 Independence War.
They complain of discrimination and say the government fails to give the 
same funding to their towns, schools and other infrastructure as it does 
for Jews. Israeli officials deny any discrimination and note there are 
Arab parliamentarians.
Relations between the communities are mostly calm, although occasional 
breakdowns have occurred over the years, most recently in October 2000 
when police killed 13 Arabs while trying to halt violent demonstrations.
The demonstrations were launched in support of Palestinians at the start 
of their 2000 uprising against Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and 
the West Bank. Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in September 2005. 
(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Writing by Douglas 
Hamilton and Ori Lewis; Editing by Ralph Gowling)







http://arabnews.com/?page=4&section=0&article=115377&d=13&m=10&y=2008

Monday 13 October 2008 (12 Shawwal 1429)

Palestinian groups protest Acre riots
Hisham Abu Taha | Arab News

GAZA CITY: Leaders of several Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip 
yesterday vowed to retaliate for anti-Arab violence in the northern 
Israeli city of Acre.
Abu Abeer, spokesman of Al-Nasser Brigades, the armed wing of the 
Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), told reporters that the group would 
respond to “the crimes against our Palestinian brothers” soon.
Clashes between Arabs and Jews erupted in Acre on Wednesday evening 
after an Arab motorist entered a predominantly Jewish area during the 
Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Yesterday marked the fifth consecutive day 
of violence with Jews torching an empty Arab house.
Israeli media reported yesterday that police have arrested some 54 
people from both communities involved in rioting.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told police to show “zero tolerance” 
toward rioters. “The scenes from Acre since Yom Kippur and over the past 
several nights have been very distressing,” Olmert told the weekly 
Cabinet meeting.
The National Brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the 
Liberation of Palestine, promised an appropriate response.
“The Palestinians are one nation be it in Gaza, the West Bank or Israel. 
We can never accept these attacks on our brothers in Akka (Acre), which 
is aimed at forcing them to leave their city,” a statement issued by the 
group said.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) denounced the Israeli police 
action of releasing Jewish youths while keeping Arabs in detention as 
racist. The PLO called for immediate international intervention to 
protect the Arabs, whom “Israel is treating as “second class citizens.”







http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1945348&Language=en

Clashes in Jerusalem claims life of Palestinian -- sources Military and 
Security 10/19/2008 1:44:00 PM

GAZA, Oct 19 (KUNA) -- Six Palestinian residents of Jerusalem were 
injured on Sunday when they were attacked by Jewish extremists along 
with a truck driver who was stoned.
"Six Palestinians were injured as they were caught in clashes with 
Jewish extremists in Jerusalem, and were transferred to a medical 
facility, while police forces arrested three of the Jewish attackers," 
Israel Radio said.
Meanwhile, similar assaults occurred when the Jewish activists stoned a 
truck driver, a resident of Jerusalem. One of the attackers was detained 
by the Israeli police, the radio added.
After the bloody confrontations between the Palestinian activists and 
Jewish extremists in the city of Akka (Acre) last week, fears have been 
predominant that similar violence would take place in cities where 
Israeli settlers reside, Israel's newspaper, "Yedioth Ahronoth," said.
Border guards have recently reinforced their presence in the area, and 
Israeli police found the corpse of a Palestinian citizen in front of an 
uninhabited building in West Jerusalem -- with signs of violence on the 
body.
Meanwhile, tens of Israeli right-wing activists broke into courtyard of 
Al-Aqsa Mosque supported by Israeli police forces.(end) zt.sab KUNA 
191344 Oct 08NNNN






http://palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=eed48ce86e7f667ceaa46a00c3384819&mode=details

Human Chain Protests Gaza Siege

BEIT HANUN, Gaza Strip - Thousands of Palestinians formed a human chain 
across the in the beleaguered Gaza Strip on Monday, February 25, to 
protest the crushing Israeli blockade and sending an urgent SOS plea to 
the international community.
"There is hardly any food, and the Israeli incursions are frequent," 
Huzeifa al-Masri, 14, who together with his classmates joint the chain, 
told Agence France Presse (AFP).
"We want to live in security like the rest of the world."
Under a light late-morning rain, thousands of schoolchildren were joined 
by adults along Salaheddin Road, the main highway traversing the center 
of the impoverished coastal strip.
They held banners and chanted slogans such as "End Gaza Siege", "Save 
Gaza" and "The World Has Condemned Gaza to Death."
After two hours, the demonstrators dispersed peacefully.
A small group of youths set fire to a tyre a few dozen meters from the 
Israeli army position at the Erez crossing.
The Israeli troops, put on alert for the event, responded by opening 
fire at them, wounding two.
Israel has sealed the Gaza Strip to all but vital humanitarian supplies 
since Hamas seized power last June following clashes with rival Fatah.
On January 17, Israel completely locked down the Strip, causing its sole 
power plant to shut down for lack of fuel.
Many international human rights groups have accused Israel of pursuing a 
policy of collective punishment against Gaza's 1.6 million residents.
Ticking Bomb
Jamal Al-Khudari, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, the 
event organizer, thanked participants.
"This is a peaceful and civilized act to let the people express their 
rejection of the siege and of collective punishment," he said.
"We are raising a cry to the world for it to act."
Organizers planned to place one person every meter along the roughly 
40-kilometre road running from Rafah to Beit Hanun, for a total of 
around 40,000 people.
Hamas said the human chain sends a clear message to the world that Gaza 
could explode at anytime.
MP Ismail al-Ashqar warned that unless the siege is lifted "there will 
be a hurricane that will flood the whole region."
On January 23, Palestinian militants blasted several holes in the border 
barrier with Egypt, sending a human tide of hundreds of thousands 
streaming into Egypt to replenish depleted stocks.
Hamas security forces and Egyptian troops resealed the border on Sunday, 
February 3.
Israel fears that could have happened at its borders with the Strip.
"This is a message addressed to the international community and to the 
Israeli occupation, and I hope it will seize the opportunity to lift the 
siege," said spokesman Fawzi Barhum.







http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127600

Peaceful Jewish Demonstration Becomes Angry Arab Riot at Na'alin

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com)

Violent riots again broke out in the Palestinian Authority-controlled 
village of Na’alin on Friday, leaving two Border Guard police officers 
lightly wounded in the melee. Pro-Arab Israeli activists, foreign 
nationals and Palestinian Authority Arabs have been rioting at the site 
almost daily to protest the construction of the Judea-Samaria security 
barrier that is being built in the area.

Arab prepares to hurl rock at Israeli civilians and soldiers
Photo: Yehuda Boltshauser

The peaceful Israeli protest of support
Photo: Yehuda Boltshauser

Soldiers refrain from live ammo and fire gas cartriges in response to 
barrage of rocks
Photo: Yehuda Boltshauser

The protest against the separation barrier actually began as a 
demonstration in support of soldiers by rights activists who arrived at 
the site in the morning.

The activists demonstrated peacefully until almost 1:00 p.m., according 
to an eyewitness who said the trouble began when pro-Arab protestors 
began to approach the barrier from the Arab side of the fence.

Rights activists at that time were warned by Border Guard officers to 
leave the area. “’It’s not safe here,’ they said” related 
photojournalist Yehuda Boltshauser, who was on the scene at the time.

“They -- the Arabs -- started moving toward the barbed wire and were 
also igniting fires as they moved forward,” he added. “It appeared as 
though they were lighting branches and sticking them in shrubs. They 
also continued throwing heavy barrages of rocks.”

Border Guard police responded to the riot first with gas grenades and 
then with shock flash-bang grenades. When those measures failed to stop 
the onslaught, security personnel received authorization to fire rubber 
bullets at the rioting Arabs, who were by that time hurling 
softball-sized rocks at the officers.

“They were using slingshots to fling the rocks,” said Boltshauser.

The village, which is located near the PA-controlled city of Ramallah 
and the Jewish city of Modi’in, has been the scene of increasingly 
bloodly clashes as the riots continue over the construction of the barrier.







http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/08/15/Three-hurt-in-West-Bank-fence-rioting/UPI-68321218820714/

Three hurt in West Bank fence rioting

NAALIN, West Bank, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Two border guard officers and an 
Israeli photographer were hurt Friday in rioting over the new border 
fence at the West Bank town of Naalin.
Officials said the officers were stoned by demonstrators protesting 
construction of the security fence, Ynetnews reported.
The photographer suffered light to moderate wounds and was taken to a 
Jerusalem hospital.






http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Middle&set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=nw20080913140754843C873563

Boy stabbed, four injured in West Bank clash

September 13 2008 at 02:12PM

Nablus, West Bank - At least four Palestinians were wounded in clashes 
with Israeli troops and Jewish settlers in the West Bank on Saturday 
after an intruder stabbed a child in a nearby settlement, officials said.

A Palestinian man stabbed a nine-year-old boy and burned down an 
abandoned house after sneaking into the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar 
early on Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian security officials said.

The boy was taken to hospital after being lightly wounded in the attack, 
which took place at around 8.00am (0500 GMT), an Israeli army 
spokesperson said.

Shortly after the attack around 150 settlers from Yitzhar - a bastion of 
extreme right-wing Israelis - stormed into the nearby village of Asira 
al-Qibliya, breaking windows, throwing rocks and firing shots in the 
air, according to local councillor Mohammed al-Shami.

He said Israeli troops arrived on the scene to disperse the crowds, 
shooting and wounding four Palestinians.

Medics in Nablus confirmed they were treating the four men for gunshot 
wounds and that one of the patients was seriously wounded.

The army spokesperson said there had been "some sort of gathering or 
demonstration by Israeli civilians," but that he was not aware of shots 
being fired.

Israeli troops had earlier launched a manhunt for the person who 
attacked the child, placing Asira al-Qibliya and two other villages 
under strict curfew and also trying to prevent settlers from entering.

Hundreds of members of the Palestinian security forces were deployed in 
Nablus in November last year at the start of a security plan intended to 
underpin US-backed peace talks relaunched the same month.

The plan has largely succeeded in reining in violence and organised 
crime in the city, but Israeli officials say the security forces have 
done little to combat Palestinian militant groups.

The Palestinians have meanwhile accused Israel of undermining the plan 
by carrying out regular nightly incursions of its own and preventing 
Palestinian security forces from operating in certain areas. - AFP







http://news.scotsman.com/world/Palestinian-boy-shot-dead-in.4489927.jp

Palestinian boy shot dead in clash

Published Date: 14 September 2008
ISRAELI troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager yesterday in a clash 
near Bethlehem.
The military said troops fired one live round, but could not immediately 
say what caused the fatal wound. Medics at Beit Jalla hospital said 
16-year-old Hassan Hmeid was shot in the chest. Witnesses said soldiers 
opened fire when a patrol entered Tekoa village and came under a hail of 
stones from youngsters.

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers rampaged through the Palestinian 
village of Assira Kubliyeh, wounding six, after a Palestinian stabbed a 
nine-year-old Israeli boy outside a nearby Jewish settlement.

The Israeli military said an intruder set fire to an abandoned building 
near Yitzar yesterday morning and when the boy raised the alarm the man 
stabbed and lightly injured him, then fled.

Dozens of settlers then raided Assira Kubliyeh, until Israeli soldiers 
arrived three hours later, mayor Hosni Sharaf said. Resident Ahmed Daoud 
said

his 10-year-old son was lightly hurt by shrapnel and his neighbour was 
hit in the face by a rubber-coated steel bullet. Sharaf said two 
villagers were hit by live fire and four by rubber bullets.

The army said any casualties to Palestinians were a result of settler 
violence.







http://politicom.moldova.org/news/israeli-forces-disperse-checkpoint-rioters-147869-eng.html

Israeli forces disperse checkpoint rioters
September 05, 2008
Subscribe to: RSS, Email
Israeli forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem say they were 
forced to disperse nearly 100 Palestinians who were throwing rocks at 
them Friday.
Ynetnews reported that the riot north of the Israeli capital came during 
the first Friday of Ramadan, a religious observance for Muslims. The 
Israeli news group said no injuries were reported from the checkpoint clash.
Two similar rallies took place along the Israeli security barrier near 
the West Bank city of Ramallah.
In one of the incidents, nearly 150 Palestinians allegedly began pelting 
Israeli border troops with rocks. Security forces nearby told Ynetnews 
that nearly 50 Palestinian protesters and Israeli activists also began 
throwing stones as part of a similar protest.
Meanwhile, Ramadan ceremonies took place in Jerusalem without major 
incidents.
Ynetnews said in preparation for the related prayer ceremonies, Israeli 
officials deployed thousands of troops throughout the city to limit 
those entering the Old City and the Temple Mount compound.





http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1220526718100

Sep 5, 2008 15:15 | Updated Sep 6, 2008 0:20
Ramadan prayers end in Kalandiya riots
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

Some 100 young Palestinians rioted at the Kalandiya checkpoint, north of 
Jerusalem, on Friday, shortly after the first communal prayers of Ramadan.

A Border Police officer stands surrounded by Palestinian Muslim 
worshipers as they wait to cross Kalandiya checkpoint, between Ramallah 
and Jerusalem.
Photo: AP
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World
The Palestinians hurled stones at IDF troops and border policemen 
deployed in area, prompting the security forces to take crowd control 
measures. No casualties were reported.
Simultaneously, there were two disturbances near the security fence, 
near Ramallah. Some 150 Palestinians gathered for the routine anti-fence 
protest in Ni'lin, in which, as usual, security forces were pelted with 
stones, and a similar but smaller demonstration was held in Bi'lin.
Meanwhile, near the village of Yata, south of Hebron, an Israeli vehicle 
was damaged when it was struck by stones thrown by Palestinians. No one 
was wounded.
Also on Friday, around 90,000 Muslims congregated on the Temple Mount in 
Jerusalem for prayers, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. He said 
"thousands" of policemen were deployed around the city to prevent any 
disturbances.
Citing security concerns, police restricted the entry of Palestinians, 
banning men under 45 and requiring many women to produce valid entry 
permits. In the past, some Friday services at the site have ended in 
riots. No disturbances were reported in the area this time.







http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5730302.htm

Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers on holy day
05 Sep 2008 13:20:16 GMT
Source: Reuters
KALANDIA, West Bank, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinians hurled 
rocks at Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank after the army 
blocked them from attending Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque in 
Jerusalem, witnesses said.
Israel restricted Palestinian access to Jerusalem to men older than 50 
and women over 45, angering would-be worshipers eager to reach Islam's 
third holiest shrine for prayers on the first Friday of the Muslim holy 
month of Ramadan.
One Palestinian was injured when he was struck on the head by a tear-gas 
grenade fired by soldiers trying to disperse a crowd at the Kalandia 
crossing, which leads to the city of Ramallah where the Western-backed 
government of President Mahmoud Abbas is based.
Israeli police said some 90,000 worshipers attended prayers at al-Aqsa, 
which sits on the complex in the walled Old City known to Jews as the 
Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif.
Palestinian access to Jerusalem is already limited because Israel 
requires those who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to obtain 
hard-to-get permits. Palestinian officials have demanded that Israel 
provide open access for worshipers. (Reporting by Abed Omar Qusini; 
Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Dominic Evans)






http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014728.html

School year off to a shaky start in Gaza, as teachers protest Hamas 
control By Haaretz Service Tags: gaza, palestinian authority
The Palestinian Authority education system opened the 2008-2009 school 
year on Sunday, with approximately 250,000 children expected to attend 
classes.

In Gaza, the new school year got off to a shaky start, as teachers loyal 
to President Mahmoud Abbas declared a five day work-stoppage.

Teachers' Union Secretary-General Jameel Shehada said the strike was to 
protest "the actions Hamas took against the teachers."

He said Hamas police took over the building belonging to the Palestine 
Liberation Organization-affiliated Teachers' Union, fired some employees 
of the education ministry, and transferred some teachers to remote schools.

Hamas interior ministry official Mohammed Abu Shuqair said in reply that 
the takeover of the building was not connected to the
"education process," while the teachers were moved because of a
"legal procedure."

Hamas is expected to appoint its own teachers to replace those who went 
on the strike. The movement has already appointed Hamas loyalists as 
headmasters in most schools.

Students in Gaza last week also learned that there is a shortage of 
school supplies in the coastal Strip. Despite the Egyptian-brokered 
truce between Israel and Hamas that went into effect in June, few goods, 
apart from humanitarian necessities, have been allowed to enter Gaza.

On June 19, 2008, pursuant to the truce, Israel decided to expand the 
list of goods allowed into the Strip. But since no formal government 
decision was ever made about which items would be sanctioned, items that 
pose no apparent security risk are still prevented from entering the 
Strip .

Anwar al-Qazaz, 41, had sent one of his sons to the market to buy school 
supplies for his younger sisters. "He returned home with his sisters and 
told me there was nothing. No pens and pencils, no notebooks, and no 
school uniforms," Qazaz told Haaretz last week. He added that he could 
buy the necessary products from Egypt, but that would significantly 
increase the cost.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) also runs schools 
within the Palestinian Territories, and classes there are scheduled to 
begin in September.







http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=240005&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

Hamas police force end to Jihad protest GAZA CITY: Hamas-run security 
forces dispersed some 150 teachers loyal to the Islamic Jihad movement 
who had gathered yesterday to protest against the politicisation of the 
civil service in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas police forcibly dispersed the teachers protesting against both the 
Islamist-run government’s sacking of loyalists of the rival Fatah party 
and the resulting strikes by teachers and medical workers.
They also prevented photographers from approaching the demonstration, 
witnesses said.
Senior Islamic Jihad member Nafid Azam slammed the dispersal of what he 
said had been a peaceful and non-political protest, calling it a 
“dangerous and unacceptable situation.”
“The teachers did not demand anything beyond insulating public education 
from political differences,” he said, referring to the rivalry between 
Hamas and the secular Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud 
Abbas.
The two main Palestinian movements have been bitterly divided since 
Hamas seized power in the impoverished territory of 1.5mn people after 
routing Abbas’s security forces in a week of bloody street battles in 
June 2007.
Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions have remained mostly 
neutral in the Hamas-Fatah dispute while calling for national unity.
“Regrettably (police) attacked some of the teachers who were 
participating in the demonstration, which was entitled ‘Preserving the 
Unity of the Teachers’ and was not allied with any party at the expense 
of another party,’” Azam said.
A spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry said the demonstration 
was illegal because the teachers had not obtained a permit, but Azam 
said the organisers had informed police of their plans.
Thousands of doctors and teachers across the isolated territory have 
been on strike for more than a week in protest at the Hamas-run 
government’s firing of dozens of civil servants belonging to Fatah. - AFP









http://www.creative-i.info/?p=399

FREE GAZA — LIBERTY ARRIVE IN CYPRUS WITH PALESTINIANS ON-BOARD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Cyprus: Greta Berlin: +357-9908 1767 – iristulip at gmail.com
Cyprus : Osama Qashoo: +357-9779 3595 – osamaqashoo at gmail.com
Jerusalem: Angela Godfrey-Goldstein: +972-547366393 angela at icahd.org
Website: www.freegaza.org
FREE GAZA MOVEMENT announces the arrival at 20:30 (10:30am PDT), Friday 
29 August, 2008 of the FREE GAZA and LIBERTY vessels, in Larnaca 
Harbour, returning from Gaza, and a successful end to this first of such 
missions.
The historic return voyage represents the first time ever that 
Palestinians have been able freely to enter and leave their country. The 
Free Gaza Movement will mark this historic moment with a reception at 
Larnaca Harbour , as will Palestinians in Gaza , as both boats return 
safely from Gazan and international waters after a calm and uneventful 
crossing.
Organiser Paul Larudee: “This endeavour has been a huge success, far 
more significant and wide-reaching than anyone ever dreamt it could be. 
It has had obvious beneficial effects on the Palestinian people, but 
also on Israel . In fairness, credit must go where credit is due — 
despite threats or obstacles, a responsible decision was made by Israeli 
authorities not to interfere with our mission and this is a model for 
the future.”
As reported by the world press, news has travelled worldwide of the Free 
Gaza Movement. Supportive messages have come in, including from UN 
Special Rapporteur on human rights in the OPT, Richard Falk, who wrote:
“The landing of two wooden boats carrying 46 human rights activists in 
Gaza is an important symbolic victory. This non-violent initiative of 
the Free Gaza Movement focused attention around the world on the stark 
reality that the 1.5 million residents of Gaza have endured a punitive 
siege for more than a year. This siege is a form of collective 
punishment that constitutes a massive violation of Article 33 of the 
Fourth Geneva Convention. The siege, the coastal blockade, and 
overflights by Israeli aircraft all bear witness to the fact that 
despite Israel’s claimed ‘disengagement’ in 2005, these realities on the 
ground establish that Gaza remains under Israeli occupation, and as a 
result Israel remains legally responsible for protecting the human 
rights of its civilian population. By severely restricting the entry of 
food, fuel, and medicine the economic and social rights of the people of 
Gaza have been systematically violated. There is widespread deafness 
among the people of Gaza that is blamed on the frequent sonic booms 
produced by over-flying Israeli military aircraft. For this reason the 
peace boats brought 200 hearing aids to Gaza.”
Mr. Falk strongly urged the international community to take action to 
uphold human rights in the Gaza Strip.
“Above all, what is being tested is whether the imaginative engagement 
of dedicated private citizens can influence the struggle of a 
beleaguered people for basic human rights, and whether their courage and 
commitment can awaken the conscience of humanity to an unfolding tragedy.”
Or, in the words of Palestinian voyager, Musheir El-Farra, originally 
born and raised in Khan Younis in Gaza but currently living in Sheffield 
, UK :
“For the first time in my life, I went to Gaza without being humiliated, 
without having to ask Israel for permission. We did it. We finally did 
it. And now others must join us and do it as well.”
www.freegaza.org
www.anis-online.de/office/events/FreeGazaSong.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/29205195 at N02/
Huwaida on Al Jazeera Intnl. vs Israeli spokesman:
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aUPA0z2zRHQ
and Part 2:
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C-DGBHPMe5c
Editor’s Note:
Typically, the mainstream media have completely ignored this historic 
mission, so if you have access to a Website please spread this release. Ed.






http://palestinechronicle.com/news.php?id=afdd01c2d412259248b01252fde38600&mode=details

21:33 08/28/2008 Gaza Blockade Protesters Sail Back to Cyprus
Two boats carrying foreign peace activists who had defied an Israeli 
blockade of the Gaza Strip left the Hamas-ruled territory on Thursday 
for Cyprus, taking with them seven Palestinians.
An Israeli official said the Israeli navy would not intercept the boats.
Thousands of cheering Palestinians had welcomed the boats, carrying 44 
peace activists from 17 nations, when they docked in the Gaza Strip on 
Saturday.
A Hamas official said nine activists decided to stay in the territory in 
a show of solidarity with its 1.5 million inhabitants.
The seven Palestinians who sailed with the activists to Cyprus included 
16-year-old Sa'ad Mesleh, who lost a leg in an Israeli army attack on 
militants three years ago, as well as a mother and her four children 
hoping to reunite with her husband.
Mesleh's father, Khaled, said he would seek to fit an artificial limb 
for his son in Cyprus.
"We have agreed with the Free Gaza activists to organise more sailings 
to Gaza in the near future," said Jamal al-Khodary, a Hamas-backed 
legislator.
Saying it wanted to avoid a public confrontation, Israel allowed the 
activists to reach the Gaza Strip.
They were the first foreigners to come to the territory by sea since 
Israel tightened travel restrictions after Hamas's takeover more than a 
year ago.
As part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that took effect in June, 
Israel has eased its blockade of the territory, allowing in more 
humanitarian goods and medical equipment.








http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=138152

Hundreds protest Israeli plan to dump waste in WB Saturday, September 
27, 2008
DEIR SHARAF, West Bank: Around 300 Palestinians protested on Friday in 
the West Bank against what they say is an Israeli plan to reopen a 
controversial toxic waste dump near important underground springs.

After holding Friday prayers at the site outside the village of Deir 
Sharaf, demonstrators waved signs reading “Stop Dumping Settler Waste on 
Palestinian Lands” and “Waste Destroys the Palestinian Environment.”

Israel dumped waste from Israeli towns and West Bank settlements at the 
site until it was closed in 2005 amid protests from Palestinian 
residents who said the dumping threatened underground wells.

Officials say Israeli work crews have returned to the area in recent 
weeks, raising fears the site may soon reopen.

“This is a very dangerous place to dump waste, because it is going to 
pollute water in Palestinian lands,” said Mohammed Abu Safat, a 
geologist at Al-Najah University who attended the protest.

There are five artesian wells around the site, supplying water to Deir 
Sharaf but also to the northern West Bank’s main city of Nablus, and 
another village, Beit Iba.

“There is an underground well no more than 500 metres away, so this 
would endanger the water on which tens of thousands of Palestinians 
depend,” Abu Safat said.

A spokesman for Israel’s coordinator of activities in the Palestinian 
territories said no decision has been taken on reopening the tip.








http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1431169.php/11_killed_in_new_outbreak_of_inter-Palestinian_clashes__Roundup__

11 killed in new outbreak of inter-Palestinian clashes (Roundup)
Middle East News
Sep 16, 2008, 14:13 GMT
Gaza City - Hamas police in the Gaza Strip battled it out with one of 
the salient's most powerful clans Tuesday, leaving at least 11 people, a 
baby infant among them, dead, in the worst internecine violence in the 
salient in more than a month.
Dozens of people were also injured in the fighting, which saw both sides 
use rocket-propelled grenades and semi-automatic weapons.
The clashes erupted when Hamas police forces raided a neighbourhood in 
southern Gaza City before dawn, seeking to arrest members of a powerful 
local Dughmush clan.
A statement by the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said the police 
killed three 'wanted criminals' who refused to surrender during an 
attempt to arrest them.
The radical Islamist movement ruling Gaza ordered the raid after one 
clan member killed a Hamas policeman and wounded another when police 
tried to arrest him near a Gaza City market on Monday.
Jameel Dugmush fled to the family's stronghold in the al-Sabra 
neighbourhood, prompting Hamas to send its forces into the area after him.
Ihab al-Ghussein, a spokesman for the Hamas Interior Ministry, said 'the 
security campaign in al-Sabra neighbourhood is over.'
'All the wanted criminals were killed in the operation,' he added in a 
statement sent to the media. 'This was not a campaign against the 
Dugmush family. It only targeted some members of the family involved in 
security chaos.'
'We will not allow more security strongholds in Gaza Strip to cause 
anarchy and threaten the safety of the residents,' Islam Shahwan, a 
Hamas police spokesman, said.
Tuesday's clashes were the worst since early August, when a Hamas raid 
on the pro-Fatah Helles family in Gaza City's Sheja'eya neighbourhood 
left some 13 Palestinians dead and dozens more wounded.
Most of the large clans in Gaza Strip are loyal to Fatah, but after the 
Hamas Gaza takeover made their peace with the Islamist movement.
The Dughmush clan did not however, but Hamas did not take action against 
the family, in part because the clan harboured in its ranks the Army of 
Islam, a radical group which joined Hamas in snatching an Israeli 
soldier during a June 2006 cross-border raid.
In addition, many Dughmush family members are active in the Popular 
Resistance Committees (PRC), a pro-Hamas armed group.
But relations between Hamas and the clan soured when the Army of Islam 
kidnapped BBC correspondent Alan Johnston and held him for several months.
Hamas has accused the Army of Islam of trying to stir disorder in the 
strip on the order Hamas' bitter rival, the Fatah movement of 
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas says Abbas' movement, which is consolidating its power in the West 
Bank, is behind 'attempts to shake security in Gaza.'
The two Palestinian movements have severed all ties since Hamas 
violently seized sole control in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 by 
overpowering the headquarters of security forces loyal to Abbas.






http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/0917/1221599421764.html

Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Hamas clashes with clan claim 12 lives in Gaza
MICHAEL JANSEN
GAZA: TWELVE PEOPLE were killed in Gaza yesterday during clashes between 
Hamas security forces and members of the heavily armed Dogmush clan.
Among the dead were a policeman, an infant and 10 clansmen, including a 
member of the Army of Islam, which is an al-Qaeda affiliate. A number of 
policemen were wounded.
A nine-hour firefight erupted when Hamas security forces stormed the 
Dogmush compound in the Gaza City district of Sabra with the aim of 
detaining three clansmen allegedly implicated in the murder of a 
policeman on Monday.
Interior ministry spokesman Ehab Gussen said security forces took action 
only "after exhausting all peaceful efforts" to detain the suspects who 
had resisted arrest. Explosives and weapons were seized during the raid.
The Dogmush clan, which has links to criminals as well as militant 
groups, was originally tied to Hamas but has shifted its allegiance to 
Fatah's former Gaza strongman Muhammad Dahlan.
The Army of Islam, founded by Dogmush clan leader Mumtaz Dogmush, was 
involved in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006 and 
in the kidnapping of BBC journalist Alan Johnston in March 2007.
Since seizing power in the Strip 15 months ago, Hamas has largely 
restored order by cracking down on disruptive Gaza clans and on Fatah 
elements allied to Mr Dahlan.
In early August, another nine people were killed during fighting with 
the Hilles clan when Hamas security forces attempted to arrest members 
accused of a July 25th bombing at a seafront cafe were five Hamas 
officers and a girl died.
Clan leader Ahmad Hilles, who was the military chief of Mr Dahlan's 
Fatah faction in the Strip, fled to Israel along with 180 men, 150 of 
whom were given sanctuary in the West Bank.