By Dave Zirin - When Israeli sports teams travel to Europe, they are often met with protest. Palestinian solidarity and human rights organizations, such as Red Card Israeli Apartheid, have argued that such spectacles “normalize” the military occupation suffered by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. They also argue that it is fantasy to pretend that these games do not carry a strong political as well as symbolic weight. Now the specter of a pro-Palestinian protest at an Israeli sporting event is coming to the United States. This will happen next month when the most celebrated basketball team in Israel’s history, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, will return to the United States and play two NBA preseason games against the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers. As Euroleague Champions, this will be the fifth time in nine years that Maccabi has played in the United States. But coming on the heels of the summer bombardment of Gaza, there are many activists in New York City arguing that it can no lo...

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) barred prisoner Ahmad Saadat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, from receiving prison visits for three renewable months. Saadat’s wife, Abla, said in press remarks on Thursday that the Israeli prison authority did not state the reason for its decision. The detainee, currently held in Gilboa prison, are regularly transferred to different jails as part of the ongoing punitive measures taken against him. His wife said the Israeli jailers always prevent her and her children from visiting their father, but the difference this time was that the visit ban decision was issued in writing. more

Six-year-old Islam Al-‘Amour of Yatta village south Hebron, was ‘hit and run’ by an Israeli settler. Islam suffered a number of fractures, cuts and bruises in different areas of his body. He was immediately moved to Al-Ahli hospital in Hebron. This ‘hit and run’ incident by Israeli settlers is not the first of its kind. A similar incident took place last Thursday in Silwan town, East Jerusalem, when a 10 year old Palestinian child was deliberately run over by settler, as Wadi Hilweh information centre reports. The child suffered similar fractures in his hand bones and was transferred to hospital. more

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), along with several other prominent legal groups, is urging the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “initiate her own investigation” into “crimes committed and ongoing during and immediately before Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.” In a letter written in August, during the last week of Israel’s 51 days of attacks on the Gaza Strip, NLG president Azadeh Shahshahani states that “Israel’s clearly disproportionate use of force against the 1.8 million residents of Gaza appears to have little to do with any claim of security, but seems to be calculated to exact revenge against Palestinian civilians.” The letter lists specific examples of numerous violations of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s core treaty which defines international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. The NLG and endorsing organizations also write that the international court’s investigation “should include whether cert...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Local organizations have donated 100 mobile homes to Palestinians displaced by Israel's military offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip, sources said Tuesday. The homes, which were built locally and funded by charitable organizations, were donated to families in the Khuzaa neighborhood in Khan Younis. Each home consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathroom and can house five people. Suad Najjar, who lost her home in Israel's assault, told Ma'an that the mobile homes were not big enough to accommodate her family and worries that they could replace the rebuilding of her home. "The mobile home fits only five. It is not enough for all my children, where would they live?" she said. The mobile homes are the size of one room in her destroyed house, she said, adding that the properties should not become a permanent solution for those displaced. "Where do we go if we do not rebuild our houses, to the sea? I will set up a tent next to ...

A large group of extremist Israeli settlers, with members of the right-wing fundamentalist settlement group "Elad", broke into 23 Palestinian apartments in three buildings of Silwan town, in occupied Jerusalem, and seized them. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, in Silwan, said that the attack started around 1:30 am, when dozens of settlers and soldiers invaded the town, and illegally took over 22 empty apartments, and one inhabited apartment after violently forcing the family out. The Center added that dozens of soldiers and settlers were deployed in Wadi and Beidoun neighborhoods in Silwan, before breaking into the buildings. The apartments belong to members of the families of Beidoun, al-Karaky, Abu Sbeih, Zawahra, al-‘Abbassi, al-Khayyat, Qara’in and al-Yamani. The Center said the ownership of some of the apartments might have been leaked to the settlers through suspicious underground deals. “The attack itself is illegitimate, carried out by Elad group, known f...

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- The Palestine Liberation Organisation said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blatantly manipulated the facts when he compared Hamas with the Islamic State group in a UN speech on Monday. "Netanyahu's speech at the UN was a blatant manipulation of facts and attempted at misleading the audience through a combination of hate language, slander, and argument of obfuscation," PLO executive member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement in English. "Obviously Netanyahu has lost touch with reality, particularly in refusing to acknowledge the fact of the occupation itself or the actions of the Israeli army of occupation in committing massacres and war crimes," she added. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly earlier, Netanyahu denied accusations of Israeli war crimes during its July-August offensive on the Gaza Strip that killed 2,140 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left the enclave in ruins. He instead said that Palestinian preside...

Thirty tons of sweet potatoes were exported from Gaza to Europe for the first time since Israel imposed a siege on the Strip, the Ministry of Agriculture said Monday. Ministry official Tahsin al-Saqqa said "this small quantity" of potatoes were exported after it was permitted by Israeli authorities. Al-Saqqa said he hoped the Israeli decision would be the beginning of a policy to allow continuous exports of farmers' goods from Gaza. The Israeli siege has severely limited imports and exports as well as movement of people, crippling Gaza's economy. more

What started as a marriage of convenience has netted Israel its closest Muslim ally. The majority Shiite nation of Azerbaijan is the biggest supplier of oil to Israel, which reciprocates by selling sophisticated arms including missile systems and drones. While the flow of oil in exchange for advanced weapons is the backbone of the alliance, a confluence of interests is propelling the former Soviet republic on the Caspian Sea closer to Israel, often in defiance of discontent at home and dismay among neighbors Iran and Turkey. Tested by Israel’s 50-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which sparked protests among Azeris, President Ilham Aliyev is throwing his lot in with Israel to maintain a military edge in a quarter-century-long conflict with Armenia. Azerbaijan, which together with Armenia also buys Russian weapons, benefits from access to advanced technology from Israel as part of $3.7 billion in annual spending on rearmament. “Aliyev is not easily budged by foreign pressure...

The Steering Committee of the United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network, on Sunday, called on the United Church of Christ Board, United Church of Christ Pension Boards, United Church Funds, Conferences, local churches, members and other related United Church of Christ entities to divest any holdings in companies profiting from the occupation of the Palestinian Territories by the state of Israel. The Committee also called on the church and church members to study the Kairos Palestine document and take heed of its call for solidarity with the Palestinian people. This is one of a number of resolutions passed by regional committees, including the Central Atlantic Conference, the New York Conference and, now, the Central Pacific Committee, in the leadup to the Thirtieth General Synod of the United Church of Christ, which will be held in 2015. In their resolution, the Committee named the following companies, but said that the divestment should not necessarily be limited to these c...

Israeli forces demolished three floors of a residential Palestinian building in Abu Dis overnight Sunday on the pretext that the owners lacked building permission, locals said. Witnesses told Ma'an that five Israeli bulldozers accompanied by Israeli forces surrounded a five-story building in Abu Dis after midnight and began demolishing three floors at around 1:40 a.m. Israeli forces closed all roads leading to the building before the demolition. Owner Muatasim Adilah, a lecturer at Al-Quds University, said that Israeli forces ordered him and his family to leave the building without being allowed to remove any belongings. Neighbors and local residents were not allowed near the area during the demolition. Three of the five floors were destroyed, with the other two floors left uninhabitable. Adilah said that the first two floors were built in 1959 while an additional three floors were constructed several years ago after obtaining a license from the Palestinian Authority. Israe...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian farmer was shot and injured by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip late Sunday, medics and an army spokeswoman said. Medical sources told Ma'an that Rajab Maarouf, 22, was shot in the foot in northern Beit Lahiya and taken to Kamal Adwan hospital with moderate injuries. An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the shooting, saying "there were two suspects that approached the security fence" in the area. Soldiers fired "warning shots in the air and at the lower extremities and then the suspects moved away," the spokeswoman said. She said she could not provide information about whether hits were confirmed, what the Palestinians were doing in the area, or whether they posed a threat to Israeli forces. A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza ended a 50-day war on the Strip on Aug. 26. more

Residents of the Wadi Fukin village received eviction notices as Israel plans on further seizing 400 hectares of land. - Israel recently announced its decision to seize nearly 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement activists termed the largest land grab in 30 years. At the time, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," presidential spokesman Abu Rdainah said. In a statement published on its website, Peace Now also condemned the land confiscation and said that it would further damage the chance of achieving a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on a two-state solution. The Palestinian village of Wadi Fukin sits just west of Bethlehem along the Green Line, and is surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements that are constantly growing. more

Israeli authorities on Sunday morning opened the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing in the southeastern Gaza Strip after it was closed shut for three days over the Jewish New Year holiday. A spokesperson for the Gaza crossings authority said in a statement that Israel notified the Palestinian side that 380 truckloads of goods would be allowed into the coastal enclave through the Kerem Shalom (Kerem Abu Salem) crossing. The shipments include 32 truckloads of humanitarian aid, 24 truckloads of animal feed, 45 truckloads of goods for Gaza's agricultural sector, one truckload of equipment for Gaza's power authority, and two truckloads for water authorities. The statement also said that 65 truckloads of gravel and 13 truckloads of cement would be allowed in for projects sponsored by the UN's Palestine refugee agency UNRWA. more

From the International Solidarity Movement - Wadi Foukeen is a Palestinian village just west of Bethlehem with a population of approximately 1,250 people. A weekly Friday demonstration has been organized by the village community against the Israeli occupation and in response to the recent land grab of 4,000 dunams (nearly 1,000 acres) by the Israeli government. Over a quarter of the confiscated land belongs to the village of Wadi Foukeen, which has already lost much of its land and natural resources to the constantly growing illegal Israeli settlements of Beitar Illit, Hadar Beitar, and Tsur Hadassah that surround it on three sides. Today’s demonstration began after midday prayers with a peaceful march of about 60 Palestinians, Israelis, and International protesters and media members. The protestors marched from the village mosque to the boundary of the illegal settlement of Beitar Illit. While many of the demonstrators chanted protest songs, waved Palestinian flags and held up sig...

Labor and Palestine solidarity activists in the San Francisco Bay Area came together again in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning to greet a cargo ship from the Israeli line Zim at the Port of Oakland. With roughly 75 people, dispersed across the five entrances to the berth, activists hoped to prevent longshore workers from unloading the cargo. Zim Integrated Shipping Services is Israel’s largest cargo shipping company and has become an increasingly popular target around the country among Palestine solidarity activists. As the sun rose over the small gathering, no workers seemed to be arriving for the shift. Nevertheless, organizers kept the picket lines moving, expecting some workers would eventually arrive. But as the window for the shift came to an end, Jack Heyman, chair of the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee and a retired member of the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union), made an announcement: only one longshoreman chose to work the shift unloading the...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Hamas spokesman said in a statement on Saturday that the Palestinian faction determines the security of the Israeli towns and cities just outside the Gaza Strip, not the Israeli government. The remarks from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had guaranteed the safety of Israelis in the border region through the destruction of Hamas tunnels in the area and through the killing of Palestinian military leaders. Abu Zuhri, however, denounced Netanyahu's claims, calling the statement a "lie" and insisting that it is Hamas that determines the security of Israelis in the region, "not Netanyahu." more

/ Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Saturday that an unnamed international body is willing to pay the salaries of civil servants in Gaza who were employed by the former Hamas-run government in the Strip. Speaking at a news conference at the office of the Nablus governorate, Hamdallah said the national consensus government could not afford to pay the wages of the thousands of civil servants formerly employed by Hamas. But an international body has expressed willingness to pay the salaries, and employees will receive their August wages on Monday, Hamdallah said. He did not provide further details. more

Gaza-based painter Raed Issa’s home was destroyed during this summer’s intensive Israeli attack on Gaza, which killed over 2,000 people. But, in the slow clear-up and under-resourced reconstruction which has followed, Issa has sought to find a way in which his burnt and crushed paintings can continue to convey a message. His answer has been to display the paintings in the environment in which they were both created and destroyed, hanging them on lines strung through his wrecked home and studio, and holding them up himself amid the chaos. This series of photographs shared by Issa with The Electronic Intifada illustrate his stubborn insistence on finding resonance among the destruction, and on defying that destruction with humor and creativity. Issa recently commented with irony on a Facebook gallery of some of the photos taken of this most site-specific of installations or exhibitions, saying: Here are some of my paintings which have been salvaged from under the rubble of my destroy...

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian President Abbas on Friday said that a return to direct negotiations was impossible and accused Israel of committing "genocide" during a speech at the United Nations during the 69th annual General Debate. Speaking a day after he said that the speech speech would unveil a new way forward for the Palestinian cause, Abbas slammed Israel for having "predetermined" the result of the negotiations process so far. Abbas had promised to submit a resolution to call for a timeline for the end of the Israeli occupation, but his speech offered few new ideas and even fewer strategies. "The coming resolution will be based on UN General Assembly resolution 194 with added elements from the more recent Arab Peace Initiative," he said, stressing that there would be little new in the resolution. He also told the United Nations that "the hour of independence for Palestine has arrived," adding: "There is an occupation that...

Palestinian residents in the buffer zone along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip suffer the loss of their homes and source of income in every Israeli escalation. Palestinian farmer Mohamed Qudih, 60, and his wife Sabiha, 59, lost their house, which was destroyed by the Israeli occupation during the ground invasion in the Khan Younis village of Khuza'a. They also lost their farm, which included around 50 olive and date trees and okra crops. "I was surprised when I saw the rubble of my house," Qudih told local Palestinian news agency Quds Net. "I was also surprised to see around 50 olives trees and date palms were uprooted and the okra crop was crushed." Qudih's farm is 800-metres away from the Gaza-Israeli border. "We suffer so much as the Israeli occupation always razes the farms adjacent and near its borders," he said. He added: "We are always in danger while working or staying in our farms as the Israeli border troops in the militar...

From the Guardian - Tariq Abu Khdeir has been arrested twice this summer. The first time, Israeli police accused the 22-year-old of participating in the riots in July in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat following the kidnapping and murder by Jewish extremists of his 16-year-old cousin, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, whose burned body was found in the Jerusalem Forest. Last week, the police came again for Tariq, this time at 1.30am, accusing him and two other cousins of throwing stones at the light railway trains that run through East Jerusalem – a charge he denies. “They took me for interrogation to the police station in Neve Yaakov,” he says. “It was full. There were young guys in there accused of everything – from throwing stones and fireworks. Everything.” Tariq Abu Khdeir is one of more than 700 Palestinians from East Jerusalem, 260 of them children as young as 13, who have been arrested in the continuing crackdown on what those on both sides have tried to define as the beginnings of a “kids’ in...

Palestinians in Gaza displaced by Israel's military offensive on the besieged enclave are still waiting for solutions as winter approaches. Israel's military assault left over 110,000 Palestinians homeless and the displaced are traveling from one place to another to find refuge. Muin Bahar, who lives amongst the rubble of his destroyed home, told Ma'an that it is difficult to find a place to live, eat or drink. "All we are able to eat is canned food and I do not have a job or money for us and for the kids in schools." He urged Palestinian authorities to start the rebuilding process before winter arrives. "Soon, we could be sleeping under the rain," he said. With indirect talks with Israel suspended until late October, life for Gazans is becoming more difficult by the day, as the necessary materials needed for reconstruction are not allowed entry into the enclave. "The (ceasefire) agreement imposes strict security on the materials allowed int...

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, locals and police said. Men under 50 and Palestinians from the West Bank were prohibited from entering the holy site, locals said, while women of all ages were granted access. Israeli police said in a statement that the closures were imposed after receiving reports of planned demonstrations after Friday prayers. Palestinian Muslims were banned from entering the holy site on Tuesday morning at dawn ahead of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the Jewish New Year. Worshipers were eventually allowed access on Wednesday, but clashes later that day with Israeli forces left 15 Palestinians injured by rubber bullets and shrapnel from stun grenades. more

The Russell Tribunal on Palestine’s Emergency Session on Israel’s Operation Protective Edge held yesterday in Brussels has found evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of murder, extermination and persecution and also incitement to genocide. The Jury reported: ‘The cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of collective punishment in Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in Gaza.’ ‘The Tribunal emphasises the potential for a regime of persecution to become genocidal in effect, In light of the clear escalation in the physical and rhetorical violence deployed in respect of Gaza in the summer of 2014, the Tribunal emphasises the obligation of all state parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention ‘to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide.’ The Jury heard evidence from eyewitness...

Nearly a month after Israel’s military offensive against the Gaza Strip ended in an indefinite ceasefire on 26 August, Israeli forces continue to shoot at and detain Palestinian fishermen. The Israeli military has captured ten fishermen and confiscated four fishing boats, while firing live ammunition in dozens of attacks on both the sea and shore of the besieged coastal enclave. A day before its security cabinet ordered the military operation on 7 July, and two days before its forces started intensely bombarding the Gaza Strip, Israel unilaterally reduced the permitted zone it had imposed on Palestinian fishermen to three nautical miles from the shore. Its navy had previously allowed them to sail as far as six nautical miles after a ceasefire ended eight days of Israeli attacks on Gaza and retaliatory Palestinian rocket fire in November 2012. “War against livelihoods” In a statement released to media, the Palestinian agriculture and fisheries ministry called the reduction “a war...

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached a "comprehensive" agreement Thursday for the return of their unity government in Gaza after two days of talks in Cairo, negotiators from both sides said. Egyptian sources told Ma'an that the two movements had been able to reach an agreement on a number of major points of contention, including the Palestinian Authority take over of the crossing into Egypt at Rafah and the adjacent Philadelphi corridor. In addition, the sources said that agreement had been reached on the issues of activating the Palestinian Authority's rule and authority in Gaza, the payment of former Hamas employees' salaries, and making decisions related to war and peace. The Egyptian side led by minister of Egyptian intelligence services Muhammad Tuhami, told all parties that the ongoing Palestinian disputes will "carry away the fate of the indirect talks with Israel" and that quick solutions must be reached...

Today (Tuesday) at Salaymeh checkpoint in Hebron, Israeli forces fired 29 rounds of tear gas and 5 stun grenades at children going to school. The morning started off peaceful as children passed through the checkpoint but as word spread that two Palestinians had been murdered by the Israeli army the night before, tensions began to rise quickly. Israeli forces had a clear presence at the checkpoint from the start. A few small stones were thrown by a small number of young boys, but landed nowhere near the checkpoint. Three Israeli Border police proceeded to fire the first round of tear gas at the children. In total, 29 tear gas canisters and 5 stun grenades were fired. This was extremely excessive and unnecessary as the Israeli border police were clearly in no danger. Two ambulances were called to the scene due to the immense amounts of tear gas fired and a Palestinian teacher stated that 30 school children and 15 teachers suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation. International Sol...

Palestinian youths on Thursday threw a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli military watchtower in Ofer prison near Ramallah, setting it alight. Witnesses told Ma'an that protesters attacked the military watchtower with fireworks and firebombs during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the area. Israeli forces stationed in the watchtower fired live shots, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters at demonstrators before being forced to flee after the fire broke out. more

GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Every time Gaza fisherman Rami goes to sea, the same thing happens: five nautical miles offshore, shots ring out and a voice over an Israeli loudspeaker demands he turn back. Officially, Gaza's fishing fleet has the right to trawl the waters up to six nautical miles off the shore under the terms of Israel's eight-year blockade. Although that outer limit has frequently been reduced, or even cancelled outright over the years, it was formally reinstated by virtue of an August 26 truce agreement which ended a deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas fighters. But nearly a month after the ceasefire took effect, even those six nautical miles -- which the fishermen say is not nearly enough -- are unattainable. One afternoon, Rami Bakr and his 10-man crew put to sea for a 10-hour fishing expedition. With them was an AFP team. Very quickly, warning shots skimmed the boat as an Israeli navy vessel approached. On board were around a dozen soldiers armed with mac...

(Reuters) - Palestinian factions met in Cairo on Wednesday for two days of talks aimed at mending a rift that could threaten Egyptian-mediated negotiations to turn the Gaza ceasefire into a lasting truce. The split between the Islamist movement Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction relates to several key issues including control of Gaza. The disagreement could undermine any broader deal with Israel. The ceasefire struck last month between Israel and the Palestinians to end the Gaza war including stipulations that the Palestinian Authority, led by Abbas, should take over civil administration in Gaza from Hamas. But a dispute over the Palestinian Authority's non-payment of salaries to Gaza's public sector workers has brought tensions between the two main Palestinian factions to near-braking point, raising the risk of a return to conflict. Sakher Bseiso, a Fatah central committee member taking part in the talks, told Reuters Fatah and Hamas would di...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Egypt opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza on Wednesday for students from the Strip who study at universities abroad, a Palestinian official said. Ismail Abu al-Jibbain told Ma'an that priority would be given to Gazans who were denied entry to Egypt after attempting to enter on Sept. 17 or earlier. more

NEW YORK (AFP) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry met with President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the situation in Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive, a state department official said. The meeting in New York came as leaders converged for the United Nations General Assembly, and a day after Abbas gave a speech at Cooper Union vowing to present a new timetable for peace talks with Israel. Kerry and Abbas agreed on the importance of providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, where a 50-day assault by Israel destroyed homes and infrastructure in densely populated Gaza, leaving more than 100,000 Palestinians homeless in the long term, according to the United Nations. The top US diplomat also reiterated Washington's support for a two-state solution and its willingness to support negotiations. more

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Indirect talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials will continue in the last week of October, a senior Hamas official said Tuesday. Izzat al-Rishaq said that talks ended Tuesday and both sides presented their demands to be discussed in the next round of negotiations. The Palestinian delegation demanded a permanent truce and ceasefire, the rebuilding of an airport and seaport, and the suspension of all sanctions imposed by Israel since June, including the release of rearrested prisoners and Palestinian MPs. Earlier, Palestinian officials suspended talk for two hours after Israeli forces raided Hebron and killed two Palestinians suspected of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June. more

A Palestinian family has begun to demolish part of a building it owns in East Jerusalem to avoid paying fines after the Israeli municipality issued a demolition order, the owner said Tuesday. Walid al-Ubeidi told Ma'an that due to the size of his family, he expanded the building from three to four floors in 2002, and to five floors in 2004-2005. He tried to obtain building permits from the municipality for both expansions, but to no avail, al-Ubeidi said. An Israeli court recently ordered the family to demolish the fifth floor and seal the fourth floor by Sept. 25, or else face paying huge fees for the municipality to bulldoze it. Some 18 people from his extended family will be displaced as a result of the demolition, he added.A Palestinian family has begun to demolish part of a building it owns in East Jerusalem to avoid paying fines after the Israeli municipality issued a demolition order, the owner said Tuesday. Walid al-Ubeidi told Ma'an that due to the size of his f...

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Thousands of mourners attended the funeral for two Palestinian men killed by Israeli forces overnight during an ambush in the Hebron area. The funeral for Amer Abu Aisha and Marwan al-Qawasmeh, suspects in the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in June, set off from the al-Hussein Bin Ali mosque in central Hebron. Abu Aisha's mother took part in carrying her son's coffin, as her husband and other sons are currently being held in Israeli detention centers. The governor of Hebron said Israel "executed" the men and at no point attempted to detain and interrogate them. The bodies of al-Qawasmeh and Abu Aisha were given to the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Military Liaison after the families identified the bodies. Clashes broke out before the funeral, with 20 Palestinians injured by live fire and rubber-coated bullets. One man was shot in the head and medics say he is in a critical condition. more

In late July while Israel’s 50-day offensive Operation Protective Edge was in its final weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-hand man met with a group of journalists in Jerusalem. Tensions were at a peak; the ground invasion had just ended and the air campaign was at an unstable pause. The Israeli Minister of Intelligence Yuval Steinitz was about to give the first political strategy briefing on what the Jewish state would want for the future of Gaza, what it would go on to lobby for in truce talks once reconvened in Cairo. Meanwhile in another part of the Middle East, ISIS carried out its first public decapitations that grabbed Western headlines– they killed over 50 Syrian soldiers and mounted their heads in a town square. Gaza and Israel were overshadowed by the Islamic group that had declared a new caliphate. Back in Jerusalem on that July afternoon the Steinitz made the case for the de-militarization of Gaza and to strategically turn the besieged coastal strip “into R...

The European Union’s key trade and political agreement with the European Union should be suspended in response to the recent attack on Gaza, according to 24 Palestinian campaign groups. In a letter to Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, the groups also demand that the Union impose an arms embargo on Israel until such time as it complies with international law. The letter is signed by representatives of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, the Palestinian NGO Network and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, among others. It underscores that the EU-Israel association agreement commits both sides to respecting human rights. Entering into force in 2000, that accord facilitates largely unrestricted trade between the EU and Israel and allows Israel to participate in more EU programs and projects than most other non-European countries. Because the human rights clause in the agreement has not been i...

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Prisoners who were rearrested this year after being released in the 2011 Shalit deal announced they would go on hunger strike Tuesday to pressure the Palestinian delegation in Cairo to negotiate with Israel for their release, a rights group said. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoner's Society said Monday that the strike would be observed by 63 prisoners who were among a group of 1,027 freed by Israel under the terms of a 2011 swap arrangement. PPS head Qaddura Fares echoed the prisoners' demands in a statement, calling on the delegation to "hold onto the principle of releasing these prisoners especially since they have begun considering an open hunger strike in protest of their rearrest." The strike is timed to coincide with the resumption of indirect truce talks in Cairo aimed at cementing the terms of a ceasefire deal which ended 50 days of fighting in and around Gaza, and which went into effect on Aug. 26. Israeli and Palestinian ne...

The Israeli Persecution initiated, since the beginning of July, a new policy in occupied East Jerusalem, resulting in keeping hundreds of Palestinians, including dozens of children, behind bars for extended periods, until concluding all “legal measures” against them. Israeli daily Haaretz said the new policy, used by Israeli prosecution, is resulting in keeping every detained Palestinian, believed to have thrown stones at the soldiers or settlers, or believed to have committed a violation, behind bars until all legal measures are concluded. Such measures led to keeping dozens of children imprisoned for a month, and in many cases two months, before there were even sent to trial. Haaretz said the army and police have arrested 260 Palestinian children in the last two months. It added that 58 Palestinian children from Jerusalem are currently detained by Israel for “participating in clashes with the army and police in Jerusalem." Several defense attorneys, and social workers, s...

Police teams in southern Gaza have deactivated three tons of unexploded ordnance from Israel's recent military offensive on the besieged enclave, a statement said Monday. The Khan Younis engineering unit, part of the local police force, said they have deactivated over three tons of Israeli bombs and missile which landed in the southern Gaza Strip but did not explode. The police called on residents to be attentive and act with extreme caution if they find a "suspicious device." On Friday, three Palestinians were killed and two injured when an Israeli bomb blew up in the Shujaiyya neighborhood of eastern Gaza City. In mid-August, six people were killed and another six were critically injured after an unexploded Israeli missile blew up in Beit Lahiya. more

Israeli forces detained 16 Palestinians in West Bank arrest raids overnight Sunday, Israel's army and locals said. In Nablus, Israeli forces detained Salim Bashir Mleitat, 29, in Beit Furik after raiding his home at 3 a.m. Mleitat was released from an Israeli jail several months ago. In Burin, Israeli forces detained Abd al-Rahman Mashhur Muhammad Najjar, 19, Omar Muhammad Ali Qadus, 18, Mahmoud Nasser Jaber Asous, 21, and Muhammad Suheil Qassem Najjar, 22. more

From The Electronic Intifada - As a possibly historic People’s Climate March in New York City approaches this weekend, a debate among participants and the organizers over Israel-aligned co-sponsors smolders below the surface... ...The story reaches far beyond several Israel-aligned groups sponsoring a single climate march. Faced with consistent negative global perceptions over state policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and in the region, the Israeli foreign ministry officially launched the “Brand Israel” campaign in 2006. With the help of US marketing executives, the Israeli government poured in enormous resources to “rebrand” Israel in a positive light upon the world. By 2010, the ministry allotted some $26 million for branding efforts. Part of the spin campaign comes under the guise of protecting the environment. In June 2012, Israel, for the first time, launched “an international television campaign on CNN to brand itself as a green country which pioneers ‘green techn...

More than two weeks after a boat carrying migrants to Europe sunk off the coast of Malta, none of the bodies of Palestinians who are thought to have drowned at sea have been recovered by search teams. Eight Palestinians are known to have survived the Sept. 6 shipwreck that killed around 500 migrants, and they are being cared for between Italy, Greece, and Malta. But Palestinian ambassador to Italy Mai al-Kaila on Saturday told Ma'an that rescuers have had difficulties recovering bodies from the sea because the boat capsized in international waters. Despite this, however, she said that Italian coastal guards are continuing the search for the missing. Al-Kaila said that Italian authorities have promised to give political asylum to two Palestinians who survived the shipwreck, and the pair will also be allowed to bring their families to live in Italy. Meanwhile, Marwan Tubasi, Palestine's ambassador to Greece, told Ma'an Saturday that authorities in that country had grant...

At least eight Palestinians have been kidnapped, on Sunday at dawn, during Israeli military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank districts of Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin. Local sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, have reported that several Israeli military jeeps invaded Beit Ummar town and al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, and Yatta town, south of the city, searched a number of homes and kidnapped four Palestinians. The soldiers kidnapped Wahid Hasan Sabarna, 23, from his home in Beit Ummar, and Fares at-Teety from his home in the al-‘Arroub refugee camp. In addition, soldiers kidnapped Ahmad al-Qawasmi also after breaking into his home and ransacking it, in Hebron city. In Yatta town, south of Hebron, soldiers invaded at least one home, and kidnapped Mohammad Maher al-‘Adra, 22. In Bethlehem, soldiers kidnapped three Palestinians from the al-Walaja, west of Bethlehem, allegedly while trying to enter Jerusalem for work, without ...

The Palestinian cabinet has recently approved a $5 billion plan for economic revival and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the Israeli assault, a senior official said Saturday. "We will seek to collect international donations in order to materialize our ambitious vision of rebuilding Gaza during the donor countries conference scheduled to be held in Cairo on Oct. 12," Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa said in a statement Saturday. The rehabilitation of infrastructure in Gaza will cost $1.9 billion, while reconstruction and rehabilitation of houses will cost another billion. Some $700 million will be needed for humanitarian, social, health, and education aid for Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom lost homes and family members and some of whom became disabled as a result of the war, the statement added. Meanwhile, $1.2 billion will be needed to reactivate Gaza's economy and increase productivity. more

RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians on consolidating the Gaza truce are set to resume in Cairo Wednesday, two days after new reconciliation negotiations between Fatah and Hamas, officials said. On August 26, both sides agreed a truce that ended 50 days of deadly conflict in the enclave and provided for a resumption of negotiations within a month to discuss unresolved issues. These include the construction of a seaport and restoring the territory's airport, and exchanging Palestinian prisoners for the remains of captured Israeli soldiers. The indirect talks between Israel and a delegation of all Palestinian groups will be preceded by talks between the two heavyweights of Palestinian politics, the Fatah faction of president Mahmoud Abbas and its rival Hamas. "Egypt has invited Palestinian and Israeli delegations to resume talks in Cairo on September 24," a Palestinian official said. There has been no official word yet from Israel, but an...

A Palestinian who was severely injured after an unexploded Israeli ordnance blew up in the Shujaiyya neighborhood of Gaza City on Friday has died of his wounds. Spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra said that Muhammad Riyad Abu Asir, 24, passed away, bringing the total number of dead to three in the explosion. Al-Qidra earlier identified the victims as Ayman Ziad Abu Jibbah, 23, and Abdullah Jibreel Abu Asir, 23. Spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qidra said that Muhammad Riyad Abu Asir, 24, passed away, bringing the total number of dead to three in the explosion. Al-Qidra earlier identified the victims as Ayman Ziad Abu Jibbah, 23, and Abdullah Jibreel Abu Asir, 23. The Gaza Strip is currently littered with a large number of unexploded Israeli ordnance, a reminder of the more than 50-day Israeli offensive that left more than 2,150 dead, 11,200 injured, and more than 110,000 homeless. more

ABASSAN, Gaza Strip — Samir Asfour, 57, held a mobile phone that never stopped ringing in one hand, a cigarette in the other. His Palestinian passport was sticking out of the chest pocket of his white jalabiya. “I will travel whenever I can,” he said, speaking nervously outside his home in Abassan, a small town east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. “I need to go and bring back their bodies from wherever they are.” Mr. Asfour’s son Ahmed, 24, and three of Ahmed’s cousins, ages 17 to 27, are among dozens of young Gazans missing in the Mediterranean. Mr. Asfour last heard from them on Sept. 6, a week after they left Gaza for Egypt. There, they intended to board an illegal migrant ship bound for Italy. Their final destination was not clear, but relatives said they had been heading to Europe in search of jobs and better medical care. The ship, with about 500 migrants aboard, sank last week off the coast of Malta after it was rammed by human traffickers on another boat during a...

The Union of European Football Associations has rejected an Israeli bid to host games during the 2020 European Championships. The decision follows a campaign by Palestinian sports teams and campaign groups and activists across Europe. The Israeli Football Association bid to host games in Jerusalem as part of the UEFA 2020 tournament that will take place across 13 cities, but UEFA announced on Friday that Jerusalem was not one of the successful bidders. Israel was one of just 6 countries that failed in its bid to host games. 75 ​Palestinian football teams and NGOs​​ wrote to​ UEFA president Michel​ Platini arguing that holding the UEFA 2020 games in Jerusalem would be tantamount to “rewarding” Israel for its massacre of more than 2,100 Palestinians, including over 500 children, during its recent 52-day assault on Gaza. Campaigners across Europe pressured UEFA and national football associations not to accept the Israeli bid. Sit-ins were held by Palestine solidarity activists at the ...

Egyptian border police shot dead a Palestinian and detained two others after they exited the opening of a smuggling tunnel in the border town of Rafah on Saturday morning, Egyptian military sources said. Border guard officers reportedly spotted three men walking out of a tunnel opening in area of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier area on the Egyptian side of Rafah, a town that straddles the border. The sources said that officers shouted at the men to stop, but the men instead attempted to return into the tunnel. As a result, officers opened fire, killing one. The other two men then stopped and were taken into custody. more

Israeli police assaulted, this past Wednesday, 16-year old Shadi Raed Ghurab as he was walking along Nablus Street, in occupied East Jerusalem. Police severely beat the boy with batons while being detained in the interrogation room, at the Salah Eddin Street police station, according to Jerusalem's Wadi Hilweh Information Center. The Center noted that he suffered fractures in his arm and leg, as seen in the photo. Shadi explained that an officer detained him on Nablus Street and, then, took him to Salah Eddin Street police station. After the interrogator entered the room, he mocked the child for being a resident of the Al-Thori neighborhood, which resulted in a number of verbal altercations. Additionally, according to the boy's testimony, the interrogator then transferred him to a different room which did not have any cameras, upon which he was assaulted by not one but three officers. more