On Tuesday morning, April 2, Maysara Ahmed Abu Hamdiya, 64 from Hebron, died in Soroka Hospital in Be’er Saba’. Abu Hamdiya had been suffering from cancer of the throat and had been recently transferred from prison to the hospital. Abu Hamdiya, married and a father of four children, was a major general in the PA security forces. He was initially detained by Israeli forces in May 2002, and was tried and convicted of being a member of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and participating in attacks against Israeli forces. He was initially sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment; however, on 22 April 2007, an Israeli court increased the sentence to life imprisonment. Diagnosed with cancer of the throat four months ago, his illness was at an advanced stage. In late March, Abu Hamdiyeh was finally admitted to the hospital, after the cancer spread to his spinal cord. Since the time of Abu Hamdiya’s initial arrest, he was denied family visits by the Israeli authorities however, some members of his family were allowed to visit him more recently, following the deterioration of his condition. Israeli authorities had rejected all demands for his release.
Lawyer Jawad Bulous, Director of the Legal Unit in the Palestinian Prisoners Club, was quoted in the media as saying that he visited Abu Hamdiya in Soroka Hospital two days before he passed away. Abu Hamdiya’s hands and feet were bound, and the Israeli guards refused to remove the restraints during the visit. Bulous stated that Abu Hamdiya had been in very serious condition, and was unable to speak.
On April 6, results of an autopsy on the body of Abu Hamdiyeh showed that his death was caused by medical negligence, according to a Palestinian official. The results showed that Israeli prison service neglected the medical situation of Abu Hamdiyeh for several years, Minister of Prisoners' affairs Issa Qaraqe said. He accused Israel of deliberately neglecting the prisoner who suffered from throat cancer. Qaraqe pointed out that Abu Hamdiyeh had been suffering from pain in his body since 2003, but Israeli prison authorities only gave him antibiotics and painkillers.
Expressing his sorrow and condolences, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad praised Abu Hamdiyeh's distinguished role in the national struggle for freedom and said "his contributions to the just cause of our people will remain alive in our national memory and continued struggle for freedom." There are 25 Palestinians diagnosed with cancer in Israeli jails. Some 207 Palestinians have died in Israeli jails since 1967, including 54 who died from medical negligence, the Palestinian Authority says.
Several clashes were reported on April 5 following the news of Abu Hamdiyeh’s deah. In al-Khader village near Bethlehem the coordinator of the local popular committee against settlements and the wall said that the clashes took place near al-Nashash military checkpoint, where protesters set tires on fire and soldiers fired tear gas canisters at them. He added that dozens were hurt by tear gas inhalation. Additionally, in the Kufr Qadum village east of Qalqiliya, Murad Shteiwi, spokesman for the local popular resistance committee, stated that Israeli troops raided a demonstration in solidarity with detainees in Israeli jails. Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets, but there were no immediate reports of injury. Clashes also broke out this week in Jerusalem. Several Jerusalemites were beaten and arrested on April 2 at a protest at Damascus Gate in solidarity with prisoners in Israeli jails. Israeli authorities have imposed strict restrictions on the entry to Jerusalem since then, particularly during Friday noon prayers at Al Aqsa.
Funerals for two Palestinian teenagers from Anabta, near Tulkarm were held on April 4. Soldiers in the area opened fire at Amer Nassar, 17, killing him instantly in what Israel described as a response to a Palestinian targeting a military post. The second victim, Naji al-Balbisi, 18, was only discovered after Israeli forces detained the body for several hours, and then at 4 a.m. they handed the body to a Red Crescent ambulance. Nearly 1,000 people turned out on the streets of Tulkarem in the aftermath. Mourners carried the youths’ body as the crowd chanted slogans condemning the attack. The incident came as clashes broke out in the West Bank -- particularly Hebron -- between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians protesting over the death of Maysara Abu Hamideyeh, who was given a military funeral in his hometown of Hebron.
On April 3, it was reported that the United Nations will provide financial support to thousands of Gaza families affected by last year's conflict with Israel thanks to a Saudi donation of nearly $16 million. "Over 7,000 refugee families in Gaza will receive financial support from UNRWA to repair and reconstruct homes damaged during the November conflict," the refugee agency said in a statement. UNRWA's Gaza operations director Robert Turner praised the "quick and generous donation by the Saudi Fund for Development. "We have never before been able to provide this scale of support for war-damaged refugees," he said. The total cost of the damage caused to Gaza -- which included the complete destruction of 200 homes and partial damage of another 8,000 -- was estimated at more than $1.2 billion.
UNRWA, however announced on April 4 that it would close its offices in Gaza after angry Gazans broke into them in protest of agency cuts on cash allowances to the most needy. UNRWA admitted to the cuts due to budget deficits but said it would provide the alternative of temporary employment to the families. Turner said the offices would only reopen after the agency is given guarantees that no other riots would take place.
Hamas re-elected Khaled Meshaal as its leader on April 2 despite past criticism of him by movement hardliners in the Gaza Strip. A diplomat in the region said Egypt and Qatar had lobbied strongly on behalf of a reluctant Meshaal before the vote in Cairo by about 60 Hamas leaders who had met through the night. Mashaal had indicated previously he would not seek another term, but in an interview on the 3rd, he downplayed the idea he would represent Hamas to run in presidency elections; but did say however, that heading the PLO “was a possibility.”
Finally, on March 31, a group of settlers from the "Yitzhar" settlement, established on Palestinian land south of Nablus, threw stones at school buses with students from the Ramon School for Girls on their way home from a fieldtrip to Qalqilya. As a result, 11-year-old Bushra Farah Abdul-Qader Kohla sustained cuts in the right side of her face after a stone hit her in the face. Also, many others sustained scratches because of the scattered glass.
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.
