The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the Israeli authorities from preventing technical crews from repairing one of the major lines that carries electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip. The line has been disrupted for 13 days which has resulted in aggravating the electricity crisis affecting the Gaza strip, and increasing the power shortage by 37.3%. The PCHR is concerned over the consequences of the continued disruption of the line, especially the increase in the duration of electricity outages and the resulting impact on daily services provided to the Palestinian population. Mr. Jamal al-Dirdissawi, Director of Public Relations in Gaza Electricity Distribution Company (GEDCO), stated to the PCHR that on 17 November 2011, one of the major lines which carry electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip was disrupted near the northern border. According to al-Dirdissawi, this line provides 112 megawatts of electricity to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli authorities have not al...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli army vehicles entered the Gaza Strip early Wednesday as soldiers fired from military towers by the border, witnesses said. Four bulldozers, three tanks and several other military vehicles were seen leveling farm land in the Juhor al-Dik and Maqbola neighborhoods near al-Bureij refugee camp, onlookers told Ma'an. more Fishermen detained by Israel yesterday have been released but the boats have been confiscated

At least 10 Palestinian fishermen have been kidnapped by Israeli naval forces off the coast of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say. The incident took place near the northern shores of Gaza on Tuesday after Israeli military naval ships blocked two Palestinian fishing boats, DPA reported. The report added that the Palestinian fishermen were taken to the Israeli seaport of Ashdod. According to Palestinian sources, Israeli naval forces on Monday arrested two other fishermen while they were in the sea off the coast of al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza. more

Israel’s Defense Ministry apologized on Monday for forcing a pregnant New York Times photographer to remove her clothes and submit to a physical search after she had already passed through an X-ray machine three times at a checkpoint in Gaza last month. The photographer, Lynsey Addario, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer who was one of four Times journalists subjected to brutal treatment in March after being captured by Libyan government forces and held for six days. In a letter to the Israeli ministry last month, Ms. Addario wrote that soldiers at the Erez Crossing in northern Gaza had treated her with “blatant cruelty” when she arrived there on Oct. 24 and asked not to have to pass through the X-ray machine. Because she was seven months pregnant at the time, she had been advised by her obstetrician to avoid exposure to radiation. Ms. Addario had phoned an official at the border crossing in advance to make her request and had been assured that there would be no problem. When...

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Fatah and Hamas are in talks to release political prisoners in a bid to end all outstanding disagreements, an official said Monday. "(President Mahmoud) Abbas gave instructions to the director of the Palestinian Authority’s general intelligence service, Majid Faraj, to release Hamas-affiliated detainees stated in a list received from Hamas," Fatah affiliated lawmaker Faysal Abu Shahla told Ma'an. There are no political detainees in Ramallah, only suspects held on security-related charges, Abu Shahla added. "We submitted a list of 47 names of Fatah affiliates detained by the de facto government’s security services, and we highlighted that others were being summoned for interrogation," the Fatah official said. Hamas has submitted a list of detainees held in the West Bank and a special committee is reviewing the names. Both parties will agree soon on a date for the simultaneous release of Fatah and Hamas detainees, Abu Shahla said. Both faction...

The administration of Gaza City has requested assistance from Turkey in the construction of several mosques needed after many were destroyed or severely damaged in the 2008-2009 Gaza War, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday. According to a report released by government officials in Gaza, Anatolia noted, there is an urgent need for mosques in the city due to rapid population growth and the fact that most mosques were damaged during the Gaza War, which broke down the infrastructure of the coastal city. During the war, 34 mosques were destroyed. Another 161 were damaged and need to be renovated. The cost of such renovation projects have pushed officials in Gaza to seek outside assistance. more

When the United Nations, in 1977, proclaimed 29 November of each year as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, it was a clear admission of guilt towards this people. It was recognition that the Palestinian people deserve international solidarity and support, in the name of justice and rights. This was merely one small event in a long story. The story of Palestine and its people is one that will go down in history. In fact it has already started to do just that. One might say that the victor is the one that writes history. The victor in this case will inevitably be justice, and justice is at the core of the Palestinian struggle against apartheid, colonialism and oppression. And as in every episode in history, everyone will be mentioned according to their positions, and more importantly their deeds with respect to each story. In the day of solidarity, let us remember that. Never Before Campaign

• Fruit and vegetable imports from Israel facilitate violations of Palestinian rights and international law, European campaigners say • More than 60 actions take place across 10 countries Occupied Palestine, November 27 – A wave of demonstrations, flash mobs and lobby actions by European human rights campaigners, trade unionists, NGOs and faith groups have called for an end to the trade with Israeli agricultural export companies such as Mehadrin and Agrexco over their complicity with Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian rights. The actions, organised under the banner Take Apartheid off the Menu , timed coincide with the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29, aimed to raise awareness about the role Israeli agricultural companies play in the theft of Palestinian land and resources in illegally occupied Palestinian territory and their exploitation of Palestinian workers. Demonstrations were held outside the British and French headquarters of le...

(Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon - image from coteret.com) The Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister told reporters Saturday that the Israeli government is considering cutting off the Gaza Strip’s meager supply of electricity and water if the Palestinian Authority manages to form a unity government. The two main Palestinian political parties, Hamas and Fateh, have been meeting in Cairo in recent weeks to try to work out a plan for a unity government until elections are held in the Palestinian Territories this spring. Israeli authorities have condemned the effort, claiming that the Hamas party is a terrorist entity, and any government including the Hamas party would be a ‘terrorist government’. In 2006, after the Hamas party won the Palestinian legislative elections and control of the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government attempted to use the rival Fateh party to instigate a coup against the elected government. The coup failed in Gaza, but succeeded in the West Bank, whe...

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli warplanes hit several targets in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, causing material damage but no reported injuries. Ma’an’s reporter said an Israeli plane fired a missile at an open area in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza. No casualties have been reported. Also on Sunday, Israeli fighter jets launched two missiles at greenhouses in the Khan Younis district, southern Gaza, causing material damage. "In response to rocket fire towards Israel this weekend, the air-force targeted sites of terrorist activity in the south and the center of the Gaza strip during the night," an Israeli spokesman said. Militants in the Gaza Strip fired a projectile into the Eshkol region of southern Israel on Saturday morning causing no casualties, Israeli police said. more

3 Palestinians, including a media worker, were wounded in a peaceful demonstration in al-Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah. The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. Israeli naval troops opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the north and the south of the Gaza Strip. IOF opened fire at bird hunters in the north of the Gaza Strip but no casualties were reported. IOF conducted 66 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited ones into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested at least 19 Palestinians, including 4 children. IOF raided the houses of many Palestinians who were released recently from Israeli jails, delivered them notices to appear before the Israeli intelligence and threatened some of them. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. Israeli soldiers arrested at least 5 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, at a checkpoint in the...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel has set new restrictions on business owners in Gaza, the head of Palestinian contractors said Thursday. At a news conference in Gaza City, Osama Kahil said conditions were more difficult despite a recent meeting between businessmen from Gaza and Israeli officials. "Media reports said the meeting between businessmen from Gaza and Israel resulted in facilitating the work for the Gazan businessmen, but Israel implemented that in its own way. "Israel stopped issuing permits for businessmen, traders, and contractors to Israel and set some new restrictions that prevented them from continuing their work," Kahil said. He said Israel had permitted the import of construction materials into the Gaza Strip "to recycle the blockade." "Allowing construction materials, which are sold for a much higher price than those sent through tunnels, was done after Israeli traders pressured the government. They want to use us and keep the blockade on...

CAIRO — The long-estranged leaders of the two rival Palestinian political movements held rare talks Thursday in Cairo to try to rescue a power-sharing arrangement that has stalled over who should lead an interim unity government. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Western-backed pragmatist, and Khaled Mashaal, chief of the Islamic militant Hamas, held their first working meeting since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, leaving Abbas with only the West Bank. Abbas hopes to establish an independent state in both territories. In May, the two reached an agreement in principle that called for setting up an interim unity government, holding parliamentary and presidential elections within a year and merging rival security forces. However, talks on carrying out the agreement quickly deadlocked over who should serve as interim prime minister, with Hamas rejecting Abbas’ candidate, West Bank-based Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas official, said all elements of the power...

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- The second batch of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli occupation jails according to the prisoners exchange deal would be set free within three weeks, Sheikh Saleh Al-Aruri, political bureau member of Hamas, said on Wednesday. He told Al-Resalah net website that the Israelis had categorically turned down an Egyptian request to re-open negotiations over the second batch. He said that the Israelis were obstinate and said that the file was closed and no talks would be held over improving the standards by which the second batch of prisoners would be freed. Aruri noted that the second batch of 550 prisoners would be chosen by Israel but would not include anyone imprisoned on criminal charges. more

Dozens of academics and parliamentarians from over 40 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America, along with revolutionary representatives from Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, have come together to affirm their opposition to and condemnation of the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip. The announcement came in the context of condemnation of siege tactics being used against any group of people, but with particular emphasis on the siege against Palestinian civilians. It was made at a conference in Gaza City on Tuesday; several members of the Palestinian Legislative Council were in attendance. During the proceedings, the European delegation called on governments and human rights organisations across the world to utilise all peaceful means at their disposal to force Israel to end its siege of Gaza. It emphasised the need to put an end to the ban on imports and exports of materials relevant to the healthcare industry, as well as industrial, commercial and construction materi...

GAZA, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- Israeli artillery and bulldozers surrounded the eastern part of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Five Merkava Israeli tanks were scene accompanied by military bulldozers entering 300 meters inside Al-Nahda area east of Rafah, Palestinian sources told KUNA. The sources added that Israeli forces were heavily firing on Palestinian houses amid during the incursion along with recon warplanes hovering over. On a different front, an Israeli recon plane fired at a training center which belonged to Salah Eddin Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Popular Committees. more

(pic: Construction materials are in short supply in the Gaza Strip after Israel banned them for four years, fearing Hamas would use them to build military bunkers (Lo Yuk Fai, PNN) On Tuesday, Israeli forces opened the Karem Abu Salem crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, admitting nearly 300 trucks loaded with aid and supplies for the industrial, agricultural, and transportation sectors. Palestinian liaison official Ra’ed Fattouh said that 12 trucks loaded with cement and other construction materials, as well as another 53 trucks full of gravel entered Gaza through the crossing. He said a limited amount of cooking gas would be pumped in as well. The crossing was open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m, in which 298 trucks were admitted to Gaza: 11 of them carried aid supplies, 183 were designated for the industrial sector, 40 of them carried livestock feed, nine were designated for the agricultural sector, and five for transportation carrying 20 new vehicles. Twenty-two trucks loaded with gravel p...

A solidarity convoy made it into the Gaza Strip, on Monday evening, through the Rafah Border Terminal, between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Members of the "Freedom Spring" convoy will be holding meetings with political and social figures in Gaza. Representatives of Arab Spring movement are part of the convoy; convoy members plan to hold a meeting with Ismail Haniyya, Prime Minister of the dissolved Hamas-led government in Gaza, and several Palestinian officials, in addition to holding meetings with Gaza businessmen, representatives of women movements, and representatives of local NGO’s. The visiting convoy members will be touring refugee camps in Gaza, to observe the dire situation, and also intend to visit the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). The convoy is distinguished by the participation of representatives of the Arab Spring, sweeping across the Arab world demanding justice and change, in addition to parliamentarians fro...

From Mondoweiss Palestine solidarity activists and human rights lawyers are decrying a Congressional bill that would investigate whether organizations involved in last summer's thwarted flotilla to Gaza should be designated as "terrorist" groups. Critics of the House of Representatives bill see it as the latest in a decades-long effort to intimidate Palestine solidarity activists in the United States. Introduced to the House on October 6, the bill seeks to: direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization The legislation also demands that the State Department, in the same document, report on Any actions taken by the Department of State to express support and gratitude for the principled stance taken by the Government of Greece to prevent the recent Gaza flotilla attempt to violate Israel’s lawful bl...

The latest Miles of Smiles convoy to Gaza has donated $60,000 to the field hospital established by Jordan in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2009. According to the coordinator of the convoy Miles of Smiles 7, participant NGOs donated the money to the hospital to purchase much-needed medical equipment. Dr. Essam Mustafa pointed out that Miles of Smiles 6 had donated an electrical generator to the hospital two months earlier valued at $40,000. Speaking to the media, Dr. Mustafa hailed the efforts of the King of Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in supporting the Palestinian people. He pointed out that the aid convoys organised by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) played an important role in easing the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. more

Mondoweiss has an excellent breakdown of a report by the Israeli non-profit organisation (Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement) Gisha - from its Gaza Gateway project Gisha's Gaza Gateway has published a position paper presenting a brief overview of how Israel continues to maintain control in Gaza. Here are some examples: The tax system Israel continues to control taxation in the Gaza Strip, which forms part of a single customs envelope along with Israel and the West Bank. This means that Israel sets the customs and Value Added Tax rates collected for goods and in so doing influences product prices as well as Palestinian fiscal policy. To illustrate: a merchant in Gaza who purchases clothes from an Israeli manufacturer pays VAT at a rate determined by Israel, and Israel is responsible for transferring this amount to the Palestinian Authority. If the merchandise is imported, Israel sets and collects the customs for it and is responsible for transferring the amount to the Palestini...

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News A radio station that has worked for 7 years to bring together Palestinians and Israelis in joint broadcasts and dialogue was shut down by Israeli authorities on Saturday, with the claim that the station lacked the proper license – despite the fact that the station broadcasts from the West Bank and is not under Israeli jurisdiction. The station was founded by Israeli and Palestinian peace groups seven years ago, and is called ‘Kol Hashalom’ which means ‘Whole Peace’. Its broadcast facility is in Ramallah, which is the base of the Palestinian Authority and considered to be under Palestinian Authority control according to the Oslo Agreement of 1993. According to the Israeli Communications Ministry, “The Ministry carried out wireless supervisory activities in cooperation with Israel Police against a pirate radio station, just as it carries them out against all other illegal station”. The shutdown came after Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Member Danny Danon dema...

( pic: Palestinians mourn during the funeral of Mohammed Kelani who was killed in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian Navy Site in the northern Gaza Strip - PCHR ) · 4 Palestinians, including a civilian, a member of the Palestinian Marine Police and two resistance activists, were killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip. - 14 Palestinians, including 6 civilians and 5 members of the Palestinian Marine Police, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip. - The site of the Palestinian Marine Police in al-Soudaneya area, north of the Gaza Strip, was totally destroyed. · IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. - 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded in a peaceful demonstration in al-Nabi Saleh village. · The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. - Israeli naval troops arrested three Palestinian fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat. · IOF conducted 91 incursions into P...

RAFAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian worker on Friday morning died as a result of being electrocuted while working in a smuggling tunnel at the Egyptian Gaza border. Palestinian medical sources told PIC correspondent that Salamah Abu Hammad, 20 years, a resident of Bani Suhaila to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip died as a result of being electrocuted during his work inside one of the smuggling tunnels. More than 210 Palestinians died and 800 injured during work inside smuggling tunnels since the Israeli occupation imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006, forcing residents to resort to smuggling tunnels to smuggle essential goods. more

Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli government confiscated privately owned Palestinian lands in the Jordan Valley, and gave the lands to Kibbutz Merav, inhabited by Jewish settlers. The Israeli government re-routed the Annexation Wall in the area in order to secure the illegal takeover of nearly 1500 Dunams (375 Acres) of privately owned Palestinian lands, effectively declaring the lands as part of Israel. The move in question is not new, as Israel’s settlements and settlements blocks in the occupied territories are mostly built on Palestinian lands. This instance is different as the ownership of West Bank Palestinian-owned lands is transferred to a Jewish community that is considered inside Israel itself. Haaretz said that Maj. Guy Inbar, a spokesperson for the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the occupied territories, stated that the expropriated Palestinian lands are in the West Bank, and claimed that Jewish settlers in Merav “have been farming the lands...

PLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi issued a press release on Thursday saying she "strongly denies" that the PLO would be paid off with its withheld tax revenues in order to drop its bid for membership in the UN. The Ha'aretz report, citing unnamed European diplomats, said the PLO would freeze all moves to achieve full membership for Palestine in various UN agencies until the end of January if Israel let go of the $100 million in Palestinian tax revenues it had withheld as punishment for Palestine joining UNESCO. “This report is completely untrue, and the Israeli media tools are not the source of information for the Palestinian positions and decisions,” Ashrawi said. “The report is a new Israeli maneuver and an attempt to create confusion to stop the Palestinian bid to the UN." more

Health facilities in the Gaza Strip face a serious shortage of drugs and medical supplies. In late September, 36% of essential drugs were lacking. While MSF makes regular donations, no aid actor can meet the full range of needs. The Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip, which began in 2007, together with years of financial crisis within the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the chronic lack of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Gaza authorities, have caused harm and threaten Gaza's health system and its patients. Last spring, drug companies stopped supplying the Palestinian Authority. The situation, which had been worsening steadily for several years, deteriorated further in 2011 and has reached an alarming level. As Israeli bombs struck the Gaza Strip in mid-August, local health authorities called on international aid actors working in the area for help. Since that time, they have asked for donations on a regular, long-term basis. However, no humanitarian actor – ...

France has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to a meeting at the foreign ministry after an air strike wounded the French consul in Gaza, along with his wife and daughter. A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that France's ambassador in Tel Aviv had complained to Israeli authorities over the bombing, and that Israel's envoy had been required to meet with senior officials in Paris. The consul, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were injured during an Israeli air strike on Sunday night, Bernard Valero, the French foreign ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday. Valero told reporters that the three were were hit by shrapnel at their residence in Gaza, which is located 200 metres from the site of an Israeli missile attack. "France condemns the consequences of the raid," he said. "While we are all for Israeli security, France recalls the utmost necessity to avoid civilian harm," Valero adde. Though Valero did not comment on the nature of their injuries...

A brief interview, followed by the arrest of Palestinian Freedom Rider Fadi Quran, taken from the livestream of the November 15 protest. Quran was one of seven Palestinian Freedom Riders who were violently arrested while attempting to ride on segregated Israeli public transportation transporting settlers from inside the West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem in an act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. civil rights movement.

Israeli defence forces chief Benny Gantz has threaten a new invasion of Gaza if rocket fire continues. He said: "recent rounds of escalated violence and the injury of both lives and the daily routine of citizens of Israel's south are leading to a reality in which the IDF will have to take significant, aggressive action in the Gaza Strip." GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli airstrikes injured two people in Gaza City early Wednesday, a Ma'an reporter said. Israeli F16 jets fired at least one missile in the Tuffah neighborhood, lightly injuring one woman who was taken to Shifa Hospital. Several homes were also damaged in the strike, a Ma'an correspondent reported. Meanwhile an Israel warplane struck a group of militants west of Gaza City. Medics said one man suffered light wounds in the attack. more

In the next few hours, history could be made in Palestine. A small number of brave Palestinians will risk attack and arrest to commit a forbidden act -- they will board a public bus. Lacking their own state, Palestinians are forbidden to use buses and roads reserved for non-Arabs -- part of a host of race-based rules that US President Jimmy Carter has called "apartheid". 50 years ago, African-Americans in the US challenged these rules by simply and non-violently refusing to follow them. In a few hours, Palestinians will take the same approach, and their actions will be live webcasted by Avaaz teams at the link below. As diplomats stall in the fight for a Palestinian state, the Palestinian people are taking the fight into their own hands, one public service at a time. And they're doing it with the simple, elegant and unstoppable moral force of non-violence in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The Palestinian spring begins right now - click below to watch it L...

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Fatah and Hamas have agreed on several controversial issues as part of a reconciliation deal signed on May 4 between both parties, a Fatah official said Monday. Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad told a local radio station that details of the agreements will be released after a meeting set to take place in late November between President Abbas and Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mashaal. Last Friday, the official PA news agency had reported that Abbas and Mashaal would meet in Cairo in the last 10 days of November. The Fatah official said that both parties had agreed that elections will take place next May, although he stressed that certain conditions must be secured before a vote can take place. more

Israel continues to breach the terms of the prisoner-swap deal by breaking into the houses of ex-detainees’ throughout the West Bank , Palestinian news agency, Ma’an reported. Palestinian officials in charge of the detainees’ , asserted that the Israeli Prison Administration is still punishing and isolating the detainees. In addition, (IPA) has refused to lengthen visiting times and prevented the prisoners from buying sweets and visiting each other within the same jail. Ex-detainees, Nae’l al-Barghouthi and Fakhri al-Barghouthi, were freed after 34years within the swap last month and were called for interrogation in Ofer detention center near Ramallah. They demanded the Egyptian mediator to exert pressure on Israel to stop the humiliating policy against them and their families. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society condemned the move and called for a solution to be found to save the lives of the ex-detainees. more

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- One police officer was killed and four others injured early Monday morning when Israeli warplanes targeted a naval police building in Gaza City. Medical sources in Gaza identified the victim as Muhammad Kilani. His body was found amid the rubble. Four other officers were evacuated to Ash-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Two sustained serious injuries while two were lightly injured, medics said. more

Thanks to Mondoweiss Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians from the town of Qabatya, south of Jenin, on Wednesday morning, while Israeli settlers in the southern West Bank sprayed a family of Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy, with gas. In Jenin refugee camp, local sources reporting to Palestinian government news wire Wafa said that “a huge number” of forces accompanied by a low-flying helicopter conducted a four hour raid in which troops searched all the neighborhoods in the camp. By dawn soldiers had arrested Anas Atta Kamil, 27, Ahmed Hisham Kamil, 26—a student in the American University in Jenin and released prisoner—and 24-year-old Yazan Ateb Obaideh. more

Thanks to the International Solidarity Movement On 13 March 2009, Israeli Border Police officers shot US activist from California,Tristan Anderson, in the head with a high velocity tear-gas projectile during a demonstration in the West Bank Village of Ni’ilin. He was shot from a distance of about 40 meters away, at a time when no clashes or protesters were in his immediate vicinity. As a result of the shooting, Anderson suffered serious brain damage and the loss of his eye, as well as being paralyzed on half of his body. His injuries prevent him from functioning as an independent adult. A criminal investigation into the incident by the Israeli police is still pending. Proceedings in the Anderson family’s civil suit against the State of Israel will begin on Thursday at the Jerusalem District Court in Jerusalem. The suit was filed by attorney Ghada Hleihil of the Lea Tzemel Law Office to demand reparations for the unjustified shooting and for damages incurred by Anderson and his loved on...

The Military Advocate General (MAG ) is delaying the publication of an internal report from a year ago which shows that most of the West Bank outpost of Derekh Ha'avot is on private Palestinian land. The report, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, indicates that 60 percent of the Etzion Bloc community is on Palestinian farmland. The outpost, also known as Nativ Ha'avot, was established in early 2001 and is home to about 35 families. In 2002, the Palestinian landowners petitioned the High Court of Justice for the return of their land. A government team appointed to conduct a land ownership survey never completed its work. more

Gaza Strip, (Pal Telegraph)-Israeli military towers on Saturday opened fire at Palestinian houses and agricultural lands in Khuza'a town and al-Farrahin area in the east of Khan Younis city, southern Gaza Strip. Local sources confirmed that Israeli soldiers stationed inside military towers in the eastern borders of Gaza strip opened massive fire at civilians' houses for several hours with no injuries reported. Israeli forces often open fire at Palestinian houses along Gaza's borders with Israel creating a state of panic among civilians and inflicting great damage to their properties. more

Let's hope these stories of arms smuggling from Libya will not be used as another pretext for further wars against the people of Gaza. (Reuters) - Israel has accelerated the installation of anti-missile defences on its airliners, a security official said on Friday, seeing an enhanced risk of attack by militants using looted Libyan arms. Jets flown by El Al (ELAL.TA) and two other Israeli carriers are being equipped with a locally made system known as C-Music that uses a laser to "blind" heat-seeking missiles, the official said, giving a 2013 target for fitting most of the fleet. As a stop-gap, Israel is adapting air force counter-measures for use aboard civilian planes, said the official, who declined to elaborate on the technologies involved, or to be identified. "We have long been aware of the threat and were ahead of the rest of the world in preparing for it. Libya has meant government orders to step things up even further," the official said, citing intellig...

Thanks to the International Middle East Media Center Non-violent protests took place in five locations on Friday, in different parts of the West Bank, resulting in injuries at all five locations and arrests in the village of al-Ma'sara, near Bethlehem, Kafr Qaddum, near Qalqilya, and an-Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah. In Kafr Qaddum, whose villagers have begun weekly protests in the last month, three resident of the village were injured today by direct hits from tear gas cannisters. One of those injured was arrested whilst being treated by medics. The firing of tear gas canisters directly at protesters contravenes international law that states that tear gas canisters must be fired in a upwards arc, and never directly at persons. In al-Ma'sara, local protest organizer, Mahmoud Alaaeddin, was arrested whilst returning home from the village's protest. The Popular Committee in the village reported that the protest took place without injury and in a peaceful manner, and that the prot...

An Israeli court has given the go-ahead for the publication of ex-Mossad Chief Meir Dagan's testimony in a murder trial. The accused has claimed that he killed a British tourist in cold blood in part due to the psychological effects of his service in an elite Special Forces unit once commanded by Dagan. Sayeret Rimon unit operated on the southern front, including Gaza, and is held responsible for killing 290 Palestinians on a wanted list of 300. Dagan told the court that he didn't count the Palestinians who were killed and that for every one who was killed there were hundreds who were arrested. Reports in Israel claim that the Israeli Army's Southern Command is reviving the Sayeret Rimon unit to work undercover in the Gaza Strip. Recruits, it is said, must be fearless and experienced soldiers. Several dozen have been recruited for the unit, whose targets include the leaders of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza. It is alleged that the then General Ariel Sharon was pleased t...

From Mondoweiss Ami Kaufman of +972 Magazine highlights this disgusting message from Danny Danon, a Likud Party member of the Israeli Knesset: I am currently in Ashkelon to witness the security problem facing the city specifically in neighborhoods with new Olim and have come to two main conclusions. Firstly, we must do everything we can to ensure the safety of all residents with an emphasis on areas with new immigrants who greatly lack protection, and more importantly, to deal with Hamas leaders in Gaza, and for every missile that falls in our southern towns, we retaliate by deleting a neighborhood in Gaza It is disturbing to hear such a blunt call for collective punishment and the wholesale destruction of civilian life in Gaza from a politician with power in Israel. Unfortunately, it is no surprise--a similar mentality was behind Israel's conduct during Operation Cast Lead. Danon's call echoes what former combatants in the Israeli army told the UK-based Channel 4 early this ...

( pic: Ma'man-Allah Graveyard - IMEMC ) The Al Aqsa Foundation for Waqf (Islamic Endowment) and Heritage issued a press release on Thursday evening, denouncing a fresh attack carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against the Ma’man-Allah (Mamanullah) historic Islamic cemetery in Jerusalem. The cemetery is in West Jerusalem is one of the largest cemeteries in the city, and stands on an area of 200 Dunams (nearly 90 acres). The settlers wrote racist graffiti, destroyed gravestones, and tried to dig-up some of the graves. The foundation held the Israeli government responsible for the attack, and demanded Prosecution of the assailants, especially since the graveyard has become subject to frequent Israeli attacks. Israel wants to build the so-called Museum of Tolerance in place of the ancient cemetery that contains graves going back to the Muslim caliphate in Palestine. The foundation stated that “Recently, extremist settlers carried out repeated attacks against Islamic and Christia...

CAIRO (Reuters) -- Saboteurs blew up the gas pipeline between Egypt, Israel and Jordan on Thursday in Northern Sinai using remote controlled bombs, forcing it to shut down, Egyptian security sources said. The first blast, the sixth since the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and the seventh this year, was near Mazar area, 30 kilometers west of the town of Al-Arish, security sources and witnesses said. Witnesses saw a second, smaller explosion west of Al-Arish near a pumping station, state news agency MENA reported. The report said it was not clear whether any damage was done. The explosions are the first since pumping resumed on Oct. 24. "Primary examination showed that Improvised Explosive Devices were put under the pipeline and were detonated from a distance," a security source told Reuters. "The attackers used two trucks and extended wires were found at the scene," he added. more

Despite a threat from an Israeli judge that they could face 2 months in prison, Freedom Waves to Gaza activists David Heap and Ehab Lotayef are being released and deported back to Canada today. They will arrive on Thursday, November 10. ARRIVAL What: Heap and Lotayef will arrive in Toronto after 5 days in Israeli prison, following their abduction from international waters en route to Gaza to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade. When: Scheduled flight arrival time is 6:40am, with likely disembarkation completed by 7:20, Thursday, November 10, 2011. Where: Arrivals Gate, Pearson International Airport, Toronto PRESS CONFERENCE What: Heap and Lotayef will discuss their experiences on Freedom Waves to Gaza aboard the Canadian ship Tahrir and their time in Israeli prison. When: 1pm, Thursday, November 10, 2011 Where: Charles Lynch Room, 130-S, Parliament Hill, Ottawa The third Canadian who was aboard the Tahrir, Karen DeVito, has also been released and will be returning home to Vancouver nex...

The seven Irish human rights activists due home in Ireland this afternoon at 2:25 pm were at the last minute prevented from boarding their flight out of Ben Gurion airport by Israeli armed guards. They had been taken last night to a holding cell and were ready to board their 7:40 am flight to London this morning when at the last minute they were prevented from doing so by Israeli security forces and returned to Givon prison. All seven are now being detained indefinitely, with no further news available from Israeli authorities or the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs about when they will be released. An Irish Ship to Gaza shore team coordinator spoke briefly on the phone with Fintan Lane before communication was abruptly cut off. Lane said: “This is a deliberate and calculated attempt by the Israelis to break our spirit. It won’t succeed.” Lane also reported that the seven had been subject to “continuous harassment and repeated, humiliating body searches” and were shackled and “denie...