Voices are rising this week to save the life of prisoner Khader Adnan who has been on hunger strike for 56 days. Adnan is the longest running single hunger striker in prisoner history. Palestinians are calling him the “Bobby Sands of Palestine” in reference to the Irish hunger striker who lost his life after 66 days of hunger strike in 1981.
On February 9, an Israeli military court convened in the Ziv Hospital in Safad where Adnan is being held and postponed a decision on the appeal to cancel the four-month administrative detention order handed to Khader, one of the reasons for his strike. By now Khader has lost over 40 kilograms, is hallucinating, has lost hair and is close to a total shutdown. On February 10, Human Rights Watch called on Israel to either charge Khader or release him while his own lawyer has demanded his release on the basis that he was never found guilty of anything.
On February 10, PA prisoner affairs minister Issa Qaraqe said that Egypt was intervening with Israel to free Khader Adnan. Qaraqe said there had been communications between Egyptian officials and the Israeli government based on an official request from Palestinians to intervene to save Adnan’s life.
Qaraqe also said Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons announced that Sunday would be a day of hunger strikes to support Adnan. Several activities in solidarity with Khader have taken place throughout Palestine, calling for his release and an end to the unjust administrative detention sentences.
Furthermore, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Robert Serry said on the 10th that he was following Adnan’s situation "with concern" and called on Israel "to do everything in its power to preserve the health of the prisoner and resolve this case while abiding by all legal obligations under international law."
Serry also said his office "was following up on some of the issues related to the question of prisoners, particularly on the use of administrative detention, which should only be employed in exceptional circumstances," he said in a statement.
This week also saw the signing of the Doha Agreement on February 6 between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshaal. The deal ended with the appointment of Abbas as Prime Minister of the transition unity government to be formed. The parties agreed to meet on the 18th of this month to finalize details of the technocrats that would be part of the government, whose main goal is to prepare for legislative and presidential elections and end the political rift.
The news was not surprisingly unwelcomed by the Israeli government. On the same day of the signing, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said that,“If Abbas moves to implement what was signed today in Doha, he will abandon the path of peace and join forces with the enemies of peace.”
He even addressed Abbas personally. “President Abbas, you can’t have it both ways. It’s either a pact with Hamas or peace with Israel. It’s one or the other.”
The United States is holding back so far on any real opposition. Also on the first day, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that “Questions of Palestinian reconciliation are an internal matter for Palestinians.”
However, a few days later, on February 9, Nuland came out again and said that her administration was still “waiting to see how this deal might be implemented if, in fact, it is implemented at all.”
“What matters to us – and what matters, we think, to the process that we are trying to keep on track here – is that Abbas remains the president, that [Salam] Fayyad remains the prime minister,” Nuland said.
This particular point has been a bone of contention for some Palestinians from the start, namely with Hamas. Officially, Hamas has said it backs the Doha agreement and Abbas’ appointment. On February 9, Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef denied that Hamas was split on the deal, saying misunderstandings were due to the “sudden nature of the announcement.”
"Perhaps the announcement of the Doha meeting was surprising for everyone, including the dialogue committees," Yousef said. Still, he maintained, "there won’t be any split in the Hamas movement; there are institutions that don’t allow this to happen.”
Yousef's comments come following concerns from Hamas' "Change and Reform" parliamentary committee, which brought into question the legality of Abbas’ appointment in Palestinian law because he would be serving both as president and prime minister of a future government.
The PLC Deputy Speaker Ibrahim Khreisheh however, challenged the claim, saying on the 9th that President Abbas faces no legal problems in taking on the two roles, saying it “does not break any Palestinian laws.” He added that Abbas would only hold the two positions for a matter of months.
Israel, meanwhile, is continuing unabated with its settlement expansion on Palestinian territory and also continues to allow its settlers free reign in terrorizing the Palestinians. On February 10, the Israeli planning and construction committee approved a plan near the Aqsa Mosque Compound at the Moroccan Gate. The site will host a building with a reception hall, information center and archeological exhibit over an area of 3,700 square meters. It will have three floors and be used for settlers and visitors coming to the Western Wall. According to the Aqsa Institute for Waqf and Heritage, the project will be built over Arab and Islamic archeological ruins adding that excavation works began five years ago during which Muslim and old Arab buildings were torn down.
Also on February 10, Israel announced plans to build more units in the West Bank settlement bloc of Gush Etzion
Settlers meanwhile, have been busy. On February 10, Ma'on settlers bulldozed 100 dunums of lands belonging to the Kharoubeh village. According to coordinator for the popular committee against the wall and settlements, Rateb Al Jabour, the settlers began to bulldoze the lands early in the morning in an attempt to expand the settlement.
On February 9, settlers raided the village of Qaryut, north of Ramallah, accompanied by Israeli soldiers. According to the villagers, settlers marched to the center of the village and planted trees on village land. The residents also said soldiers prevented the people from accessing their land while the settlers planted on it.
On February 7, Jewish settlers targeted a Christian site in Jerusalem. In west Jerusalem’s Wadi Al Musallabeh monastery, settlers scrawled anti- Christian and anti-Palestinian slogans on the monastery and the adjacent school and vandalized two cars. The slogans were in Hebrew and read, “Death to Christians” and “Price Tag”.
Two female soldiers from the settlement of Itimar were also caught on tape on February 7 entering the Nablus area village of Lubban Al Sharqiya and writing anti Muslim slogans on the walls such as “Mohammed is a Pig. The soldiers also poked holes in bags of construction material in the village, which they entered at around one in the morning.
Finally, on February 8, Amnesty International called on Israel to cancel plans to forcibly displace around 2,300 Bedouin residents from areas around Jerusalem. The displacements come as part of Israel’s plan to complete the E1 settlement plan, which severs Jerusalem from the West Bank.
“Thousands of Bedouin living in some of the most vulnerable communities in the West Bank are facing the destruction of their homes and livelihoods under this Israeli military plan," Ann Harrison, interim Deputy Director for Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, said.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
