Freies Politikforum für Demokraten und Anarchisten

palestina libera · Beiträge: 1665

Israeli forces have killed more Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2016 than any other year in the last decade, rights group Defence for Children International (DCI) has said.

The organisation's chapter in the occupied Palestinian territories recorded the killings of 32 Palestinian children (under 18), making 2016 "the deadliest year of the past decade" for them, the group said in a recent report.

Many of those killings happened during Israeli military raids on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank, confrontations with the Israeli army or during unarmed protests.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/2016-deadliest-year-west-bank-children-decade-170103145022165.html

Number of Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons doubles in 2016

Israeli forces are disproportionately incarcerating Palestinian children in occupied Jerusalem, says documentary short film by Addameer: Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php/features-02/307-arrests-of-jerusalemite-children

Israeli officials back shoot-to-kill policy of Palestinian suspects, says Human Rights Watch

'No attacker, male or female, should make it out of any attack alive,' says defence minister
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-shoot-to-kill-policy-palestinian-suspects-human-rights-watch-idf-soldiers-west-bank-gaza-a7505486.html

Human Rights Watch: ‘some senior Israeli officials’ encourage extrajudicial killing of Palestinians

The encouragement accompanies a climate of impunity: despite over 150 cases in which Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian in the last year, only one soldier has gone to trial.
http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php/headlines/314-human-rights-watch-some-senior-israeli-officials-encourage-extrajudicial-killing-of-palestinians

Israeli military turns blind eye to attacks on Palestinians

An Israeli advocacy group on Tuesday criticized what it called an "exceptionally low" prosecution rate by the Israeli military in cases of violence committed by soldiers against Palestinians.

The report by Yesh Din, a human rights group that is often critical of the Israeli military, came a day before a military court's verdict is to be delivered in a high-profile manslaughter case against a soldier.

In its annual report, Yesh Din said the army opened 186 criminal investigations into suspected offenses against Palestinians in 2015, but just four of those investigations yielded indictments. The group said the 2015 figures, based on official army data, were the most recent available.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2017/Jan-03/387701-report-israeli-military-turns-blind-eye-to-attacks-on-palestinians.ashx

Hebron shooter Elor Azaria is indeed the norm

Over the past year and a half, dozens of Palestinian men, women and children have been killed, even though they could have been overpowered while they were still alive. The difference between them and Azaria is that he was videotaped.
http://www.tlaxcala-int.org/article.asp?reference=19617

Elor Azaria case: ‘No hope of equality before the law’

Trial exposed not just the rogue actions of one soldier but the dark underbelly of Israeli society and its ‘citizens’ army’
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2017-01-05/elor-azaria-case-no-hope-equality-before-law/

Azaria exposed the reality of Israel's colonial project

Elor Azaria is not a rotten apple. His killing of a Palestinian exposes the normalisation of Israel's colonial project.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/azaria-exposed-reality-israel-colonial-project-170105132616056.html

Elor Azaria and the army of the periphery

.....
Azaria was born to a low-income Mizrahi family in Ramle, a working class mixed city in the heart of the country. He joined a brigade mostly made up of people who looked and spoke like him — people who, merely because of their ethnic background and where they grew up — would always belong to what Israeli sociologist Yagil Levy calls the “army of the peripheries.” As the demographic makeup of the country shifts, so too does the makeup of army’s infantry — those who are tasked with carrying out the day-to-day maintenance of Israel’s military dictatorship. This maintenance, which includes manning checkpoints, carrying out night raids, patrols, breaking up protests, etc. inevitably puts soldiers in situations that could easily turn into conflagrations, leading them to potentially commit immoral and illegal acts.

Thus the “classic” Israeli soldier — brave, white, decent — has been replaced with what photojournalist Mati Milstein and Mizrahi activist Tom Mehager term “black labor” — soldiers who hail mostly from Israel’s poorer segments. They are Mizrahi, Ethiopian, Druze, Bedouin. Put bluntly: they are not Ashkenazi.
https://972mag.com/elor-azaria-and-the-army-of-the-periphery/124155/

Activist who filmed Hebron shooting 'fears for his life' after Israeli soldier convicted

Imad Abu Shamsiyya, a Palestinian activist who filmed the point-blank shooting of Abd al-Fattah al-Sharif by an Israeli soldier in Hebron last March, said he “feared for his life” after the Israeli soldier was found guilty of manslaughter for the killing Wednesday.

One message written to Abu Shamsiyya said that his killing was "inevitable," while the activist also said members of the soldier's family had broken into his house.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774749

Israeli forces kill Palestinian man during predawn raid in al-Faraa(10-01)

A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces during an overnight raid in the al-Faraa refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank district of Tubas on Tuesday, Israeli and Palestinian sources reported, although they widely diverged over the circumstances of the man’s death.

A member of the politburo of the Palestinian People's Party (PPP), Khalid Mansour, told Ma'an that an Israeli intelligence officer "executed" Muhammad al-Salihi, 32, during a raid in his home.

Al-Salihi and his mother were surprised when Israeli forces entered and ransacked their homes, Mansour said.

"Muhammad started to shout at them because he thought they were thieves, and the soldiers immediately showered him with bullets at point-blank range, before the very eyes of his elderly mother," Mansour recounted.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774838

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (29 Dec. 2016 – 04 Jan 2017)
http://pchrgaza.org/en/?p=8676

Clashes break out as Israeli forces storm Shufat refugee camp, detain 25(03-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774750

Israeli forces detain 40 Palestinians in overnight raids(03-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774739

Israeli forces detain 14-year-old Palestinian following clashes in Beit Ummar(05-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774765

Israeli forces detain 9 Palestinians, interrogate children in West Bank raids(05-01)

Israeli forces detained at least nine Palestinians across the occupied West Bank during overnight raids carried out between Wednesday and Thursday, and interrogated several Palestinian children, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.

In the West Bank district of Bethlehem, 22-year-old Muhammad Saleh was detained, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS). The exact location of the detention was not reported by PPS.

However, locals told Ma'an that Israeli forces raided the village of Wadi Rahhal south of Bethlehem for the second consecutive night, stating that tens of Israeli soldiers raided the small village and searched several homes in the area.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774761

Israeli forces raid Hebron-area village, detain 7 in West Bank raids(06-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774782

Israeli forces detain Palestinian near Hebron's Ibrahimi mosque(07-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774794

Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinians, including minors in predawn raids(08-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774798

Israeli forces detain 5 relatives of Palestinian killed carrying out deadly truck attack(08-01)

Israeli forces raided homes in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir on Sunday and detained at least five relatives of Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al-Qunbar, a Palestinian who was killed earlier in the day after carrying out a deadly vehicular attack.

Al-Qunbar, 28, was killed by Israeli forces and armed civilians after he drove his truck into a group of soldiers in the illegal settlement of East Talpiyyot, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding 13 others.

Al-Qunbar’s sister Shadia told Ma’an that Israeli forces raided the Palestinian’s home, as well as his brothers’ and parents’ houses, holding the family members for more than three hours.

She said that Israeli forces had detained al-Qunbar’s wife Tahani, his parents Ahmad and Minwa, and two of his brothers, Muhammad and Munther.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774811

Israeli court extends the remand of slain attacker's family members(09-01)

Israel’s magistrate court in Jerusalem on Monday extended the remand of three family members of Fadi al-Qunbar, 28 -- who was killed on Saturday after driving a truck into a group of uniformed Israeli soldiers, killing four and injuring at least 13 others -- from the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774835

Israeli minister decides to revoke Jerusalem IDs of slain attacker's family(10-01)

After facing imminent demolition of their home, with some being rounded up in Israeli detention centers, the relatives of the slain Palestinian who carried out a deadly truck attack in a Jerusalem-area settlement will now have their East Jerusalem residency status revoked.

Israeli Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri decided to revoke the residency status and the corresponding social benefits of 13 family members of Fadi al-Qunbar, including his mother.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774845

Israeli forces detain 20 Palestinians in overnight raids(09-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774818

Israeli forces detain 33 Palestinians, confiscate belongings in overnight raids(10-01)

Israeli forces detained at least 33 Palestinians, including at least six minors, during overnight raids in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank between Monday and Tuesday, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

In East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) reported that Israeli forces detained three minors in the neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir, identifying them as Usama Uweisat, 12, his brother Bassim, 14, and their cousin Muhammad, 14.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774839

Israeli forces detain 25 Palestinians in raids(11-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774860

Israeli forces fire tear gas in elderly Palestinian woman's home during night raid(10-01)

sraeli forces injured an elderly Palestinian woman with tear gas during an overnight raid in the village of Kafr Qaddum in the occupied West Bank district of Qalqiliya, witnesses told Ma’an on Tuesday.

Israeli soldiers broke into the home of Shafiqa Ahmad Abd al-Qadir Jumaa late on Monday night and fired tear gas inside her house, causing her to suffer from tear gas inhalation.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774842

Palestinian teen undergoes leg amputation 'after being hit by Israeli jeep'(11-01)

A 16-year-old Palestinian detainee has had to undergo a below-the-knee amputation, due to a severe injuries he sustained after an Israeli jeep hit him at an Israeli military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Jenin last week, according to Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer.

Addameer wrote in a statement on Tuesday that an attorney representing Sharif Khanfar said the teen was with three of his friends riding a Vespa motorcycle when they were apprehended by Israeli forces for allegedly planning a vehicular attack on soldiers on Jan. 3, and were injured after an Israeli jeep hit them.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774856

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian agricultural land in southern Gaza Strip(03-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774731

Gaza fisherman goes missing after encounter with Israeli navy(05-01)

A Palestinian fisherman went missing on Wednesday night after his boat was attacked by Israeli naval forces off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.

The head of the Gaza fishermen’s union, Nizar Ayyash, said that an Israeli navy ship attacked and sunk a boat belonging to Muhammad al-Hissi at around 10:30 p.m. off the coast of Beit Lahiya, and that al-Hissi went missing shortly afterwards.

Ayyash added that searches were being conducted to find the fisherman.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces were escorting a Palestinian fishing boat which had deviated from the Israeli-designated fishing zone to a port on Wednesday evening when "the Israeli vessel collided with another Palestinian vessel which was not visible."
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774757

Gaza fishermen announce 2-day protest in wake of missing fisherman(05-01)

Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip announced on Thursday the suspension of their work at sea for two days in protest of the attack and sinking of a Gaza fisherman’s boat by Israeli naval forces on Wednesday night.

Head of the Gaza Fishermen's Union, Zakariya Bakr, told Ma’an that Gazan fishermen will suspend their work off the coast of the Gaza Strip starting Friday in condemnation of Thursday’s “crime” that caused Gaza fisherman Muhammad Ahmad al-Hassi, 33, to go missing.

Bakr said that the search for al-Hassi would continue on Friday, highlighting that fishermen had set up a sit-in tent in protest of “continuous Israeli violations against them.”

Gazan fishermen, whose numbers are estimated to be around 4,000, have suffered from a near decade-long siege of the Gaza Strip, which limits fishermen to just six nautical miles into the sea in accordance with the ceasefire agreement signed with Palestinian factions in 2014.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774773

As search for missing fisherman in Gaza continues, family announces his death(07-01)

The family of Palestinian fisherman Muhammad al-Hissi, who went missing Wednesday after an encounter with Israeli forces, announced his death on Friday, despite his body having yet to be recovered.

Locals told Ma’an at the time of the incident that Israeli forces purposely attacked and sunk al-Hissi’s boat. Palestinian authorities, reportedly with the help of Israeli authorities, launched a search of the 33-year-old’s body that was still ongoing as of Thursday.

The family said in a statement that “after consultations and after listening to witnesses who watched what had happened, we have decided to announce the death of Muhammad and declare him a martyr for Gods’ reward,” using a common term used for any Palestinian killed by Israeli forces.

The family added that Israel was fully responsible for the death, since Israeli forces had “deliberately sunk his boat.”

The statement also urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other international human rights groups to put pressure on Israel to find and return al-Hissi’s body and to stop the routine attacks on Gaza fishermen.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774790

PA claims Israeli forces open fire at Palestinian deputy minister’s car(05-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774755

Israeli forces set up checkpoint east of Qalqiliya(05-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774772

Israeli forces lift closure on two roads in Ramallah(06-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774781

Israeli forces suppress weekly Bilin, Kafr Qaddum protests(06-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774786

Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian lands in southern Gaza(07-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774788

Israeli forces disperse protest in Qalqiliya against construction of new settler road(07-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774792

Israeli forces open fire at Palestinian farmland in Gaza(08-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774801

After attack, heavy presence of Israeli forces in East Jerusalem sparks clashes(08-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774817

Israeli police detains dozens of undocumented Palestinian workers across Israel(09-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774832

Israeli forces destroy water pipeline serving Bedouin villages in northern West Bank(10-01)

Israeli forces destroyed a pipeline supplying water to four Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley, a Palestinian official said on Tuesday morning.

Muataz Bisharat, who monitors settlement-related activities in the Jordan Valley, told Ma'an that bulldozers under Israeli military protection destroyed part of an 11-kilometer water pipeline supplying the villages of al-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Hadidiya, Khirbet Makhul, and Khirbet Humsa.

Bisharat added that the pipeline was funded by international NGO Action Against Hunger four years ago.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774840

Israeli forces set up checkpoints in Qalqiliya following accident with military jeep(10-01)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774854

2016: A record in occupied East Jerusalem home demolitions

For decades, Israel has been accused of using home demolitions as a tool to control the Palestinian population in the occupied territories. Israel approves less than two percent of all requests for building permits submitted by Palestinians, and then razes the homes and shops that lack one. In recent months, Israel has also ramped up its policy of punitive demolitions - destroying the family homes of suspected Palestinian attackers - despite the practice being labelled a war crime.
http://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/jerusalem-2016-home-demolitions/index.html#map2

UN: Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes reach record high in 2016

Israel demolished more Palestinian homes in the occupied territory in 2016 than in any year since the United Nations began documenting demolitions in 2009, while Israel also increased restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the occupied territory in 2016.

The unprecedented demolition campaign left some 1,593 Palestinians homeless and affected the livelihoods of another 7,101, according to preliminary analysis of data collected by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774660

Israeli forces demolish 2 homes in Jerusalem, displacing 18 Palestinians(04-01)

Israeli bulldozers demolished Palestinian homes in the neighborhood of Shufat in occupied East Jerusalem, and delivered demolition orders in the village of Jinsafut in the Qalqiliya district of the occupied West Bank between Tuesday and Wednesday.

At 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Israeli bulldozers entered the Shufat neighborhood in northern Jerusalem and demolished two houses belong to Adnan Shweiki after evacuating the residents and some material contents inside the home, locals told Ma’an.

Shweiki said that two families lived in the houses on a rental lease, and pointed out that the demolition was carried out without any prior notice.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774737

Israeli authorities deliver 19 stop-construction orders in Salfit area(04-01)

Israeli authorities on Wednesday delivered 19 stop-work orders to Palestinian residents in the towns of Kafr al-Dik, Kifl Haris, and Deir Istiya in the northern occupied West Bank Salfit district.

Palestinian officials from the Salfit governorate told Ma’an that Israeli officials ordered Palestinian residents of the towns to immediately halt the construction of houses and buildings, claiming they were being built illegally in Area C -- the more than 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli security and civilian control.

Officials called the move punitive, and vowed to move forward with appropriate legal procedures to prevent the likely demolition of the 19 structures in question.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774745

Israel seizes apartment bloc in Silwan

On Friday, Israeli settlers seized a two story residential building in the Wadi Hilweh area of Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

A group of about 20 settlers entered the building under the cover of heavily armed and masked Israeli forces, who raided the building. No Palestinian residents were in the building at the time.

The apartment sits just outside of the Old City, south of the al-Aqsa compound. It is now the first Jewish settlement in the Fakhouri area of Wadi Hilweh.

Elad, a settlement organization in Jerusalem, plans to open a tourist center there. Elad also oversees the “City of David” settlement in Silwan.
http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php/headlines/309-israel-seizes-apartment-bloc-in-silwan

Israeli forces demolish 2 Palestinian homes in Beit Hanina(04-01)

Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished two Palestinian-owned homes in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a statement by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

According to statements released on the PLO’s Twitter account, Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian home in Beit Hanina, before making their way to demolish another home in the same neighborhood.

Amer Ubeido, the owner of the second home, told Ma’an that his family had tried to get the Israeli magistrate and central courts to postpone the demolition of the house where they had lived for 16 years since early Wednesday morning, in vain.

Ubeido said that the central court had approved a postponement in the afternoon on the condition that his family pay a 50,000-shekel ($12,948) fine within half an hour. Ubeido added that he rushed to obtain the large sum of money, only to find out upon reaching the court that the demolition was under way.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774741

Negev Bedouins protest against Israeli policy of home demolitions(09-01)

Palestinian residents of several unrecognized Bedouin villages in southern Israel protested on Sunday against Israeli policies of home demolitions in their area.

The Higher Guidance Committee for Arab Residents of Negev organized the protest, where demonstrators held signs condemning the escalation of demolitions in the past three weeks, during which time more than 60 homes were destroyed.

Protesters condemned the “direct incitement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu” against their communities, and urged people to continue the fight against what they have called “racist policies” against them, and to “refuse all incitements against Arab citizens [of Israel].”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774827

10 Palestinian homes demolished in Israeli city, prompting mayor to resign(10-01)

Israeli authorities demolished 10 homes belonging to Palestinian citizens of Israel in the city of Qalansawe in central Israel on Tuesday morning, prompting a defeated mayor to resign after Israeli authorities refused for decades to approve the city’s master plan.

Local sources told Ma’an the devastating demolition campaign sparked clashes between Israeli police and residents.

Mayor Abd al-Basit Mansour visited the area along with members of the municipal council and announced he would resign from his post, as Israeli bulldozers razed the homes to ground.

Mansour told reporters that, "We have been waiting for approval of a master plan for twenty years, but our request fell on deaf ears.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774848

Israeli authorities deliver demolition notices in Salfit-area town(10-01)

Israeli authorities Tuesday delivered stop-construction and demolition notices to four Palestinians in the town of al-Zawiya in the western part of the occupied West Bank district of Salfit.

Mayor al-Zawiya, Naim Shuqeir, told Ma’an that Israeli forces, escorted by the Israeli civil administration, raided the town and delivered stop-construction and demolition notices to three Palestinian-owned homes and a printing company.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774851

Israeli settlers raid Palestinian village to pray at holy site, spark clashes(05-01)

Israeli settlers Wednesday night entered into the Palestinian village of Kifl Haris in the northern occupied West Bank district of Salfit, sparking clashes with locals youth, according to Hebrew media.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774767

Israeli stabs, injures Bedouin Palestinian in Ashdod(05-01)

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israeli stabbed and injured a Bedouin Palestinian in the Israeli city of Ashdod on Thursday morning, Israeli police reported.

According to Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri, the Bedouin Palestinian was lightly to moderately injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.

The suspect fled the scene, al-Samri added.

Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that the Bedouin man said he was assaulted after the ultra-Orthodox Israeli heard him speaking in Arabic.

However, al-Samri said that Israeli police believed for the time being that the incident was likely criminal and not "nationalistically" motivated.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774762

Israeli settler runs over, seriously injures Palestinian man south of Nablus(06-01)

A 40 year-old Palestinian man was seriously injured after he was run over by an Israeli settler car south of Nablus city in the northern occupied West Bank on Friday, according to Israeli police and Hebrew-language media.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774777

Israeli forces escort Israeli settlers to visit shrine in Palestinian village(08-01)

Israeli forces raided the Palestinian town of Kifl Haris in the Salfit district of the central occupied West Bank overnight Saturday to provide protection for Israeli settlers visiting a site believed to be a Jewish shrine.

Eyewitness Yousif Yaqoub told Ma'an that he counted about 30 Israeli military vehicles storming the center of the town to escort the settlers, with Israeli soldiers firing stun grenades.

Israeli forces then set up military checkpoints at the entrances to Kifl Haris and imposed curfew, according to Yaqoub.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774800

Israeli settler group takes over Palestinian building in East Jerusalem neighborhood(08-01)

Israeli settlement group Elad reportedly took over a Palestinian-owned property in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Sunday, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center said.
According to the local NGO, nearly a dozen Elad guards raided a two-story residential building on al-Ein Street in Silwan belonging to Hani Sarhan on Sunday morning while its owners were away in Jordan.
Relatives of Sarhan who live in the area argued with the guards and brought out paperwork attesting to his ownership of the house.
The relatives said that Elad had claimed ownership of the building several years ago after using a Palestinian as a proxy to buy the house from Sarhan then transfer it to the settlement group -- a common practice by settler groups wishing to expand their presence in Palestinian-majority areas of East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774809

Israel indicts MK Basel Ghattas for smuggling phones to Palestinian prisoners

Israel’s attorney general approved on Thursday the indictment of Knesset member Basel Ghattas on charges of smuggling cellphones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli custody.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Ghattas, a member of the Joint List political bloc which represents Palestinian-led parties in the Knesset, was charged with suspicions of “illegally smuggling phones into a prison, prohibited use of property for terrorist purposes,” and “deceit and breach of trust by a public servant and aggravated fraud.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774760

Why Palestinian prisoners have the right to cell phones

Benjamin Netanyahu claimed not so long ago that Palestinian citizens of Israel have “equal rights and equal duties.” The markedly different way that he and a Palestinian lawmaker have been treated over the past few weeks exposes how dishonest that claim was.

Despite being under investigation for alleged corruption, Netanyahu has been able to continue serving as Israel’s prime minister. A bill aimed at protecting him from further probes has even been drafted by a representative of Likud, the largest government party.

Like Netanyahu, Basel Ghattas is a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. Unlike Netanyahu, he has already been punished for accusations made against him.

The accusation that Ghattas smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has led to him being suspended from the Knesset for six months.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/why-palestinian-prisoners-have-right-cell-phones

Israeli court sentences 17-year-old Palestinian girl to 8 years in prison

Israel’s central court in Jerusalem sentenced a Palestinian teenage girl to eight-and-a-half years in prison on Wednesday morning, convicting her of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack in occupied East Jerusalem in October 2015.

According to Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners, the court sentenced Marah Jawdat Moussa Bakr, 17, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, to eight-and-a-half years of prison and imposed a fine of 10,000 shekels (approximately $2,595).
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774738

Israeli police questions imprisoned Islamic Movement leader over incitement

Israeli police summoned Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the outlawed Islamic Movement in Israel, for interrogation on Wednesday over alleged inciting statements, Israeli police said in a statement.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said the interrogation of Salah, who has been imprisoned since May, was carried out with the approval of an Israeli prosecutor.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774752

Mossad Chief Investigated for Accepting Bribes from Australian Billionaire

....An Israeli source tells me that the scandal involves one of Israel’s major intelligence agencies (the Hebrew phrase guf bitchoni gadol is a Hebrew euphemism for one of these units). He ruled out Shabak as the suspected party. That leaves essentially the Mossad or the IDF military intelligence unit, AMAN. While AMAN has had corruption scandals in the past reported by Ronen Bergman, I understand that this scandal is not based in the same unit he reported on in the past.
https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2017/01/09/brewing-mossad-scandal-military-censorship/

UN vote tops Wiesenthal list of top 10 antisemitic, anti-Israel cases in 2016

The US abstention from a recent vote against Israeli settlements at the UN Security Council topped the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual list released Tuesday of the 10 worst outbreaks of Jew-hatred and anti-Israel incidents.

The Jewish human rights organization ranked the Obama administration’s move as the top case, charging that it erased Jewish history.
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/UN-vote-tops-Wiesenthal-top-10-lit-of-antisemitic-anti-Israel-cases-476646

39% of Israelis support annexing the West Bank

A recent survey, conducted by the independent Israeli Rafi Smith Institute, have shown that 39 per cent of Israelis support the annexation of the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Citing Israeli media sources, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said that 39 per cent of Israelis support the annexation of the large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, with a Palestinian state being established in the remaining areas, including East Jerusalem.

The survey showed that only 30 per cent of Israelis support the establishment of a Palestinian state on Palestinian lands that Israel occupied in 1967.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161231-39-of-israelis-support-annexing-the-west-bank/

Number of Jewish immigrants to Israel declines

The number of Jewish immigrants to Israel has decreased in 2016 compared to 2015; a new report has revealed.

As many as 27,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in Israel this year compared to 31,000 in 2015; Israel’s Channel 2 reported citing a statistical report by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Immigrant Absorption Ministry.

Russia and Brazil witnessed an increase in the number of Jewish immigrants to Israel while France and Ukraine witnessed a significant decline in the number of immigrants.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20161230-report-number-of-jewish-immigrants-to-israel-declines/

China-Israel Deal: 20,000 Chinese Workers to ‘Solve Housing Crisis’ in Israel

China has agreed for thousands of migrant construction laborers to work in Israel in a bid to alleviate a housing crisis the Israeli government said yesterday.

Beijing and Jerusalem are in the final stage of forging a deal to let 20,000 Chinese construction workers come to Israel over the next few years.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/china-israel-deal-20000-chinese-workers-to-solve-housing-crisis-in-israel/

Justice minister claims Bible gives Israel “legal right” to Palestinian city

Israel has wasted no time accelerating Palestinian displacement during the first 10 days of 2017.

On Tuesday, Israel’s justice minister Ayelet Shaked invoked biblical mythology to advocate for expanded Israeli Jewish colonization in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

“This place was bought by patriarch Abraham for its full price, the first deed of sale of its type in the world, so we have both historical and legal right to this place,” she said in a short videotaped speech during a visit to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/justice-minister-claims-bible-gives-israel-legal-right-palestinian-city

Israel insists attack on soldiers in occupied territory is “terror”

Israel has begun to implement a series of draconian measures after a Palestinian ran a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers at the East Talpiot settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, killing four and injuring 13. The Palestinian man, identified as Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al-Qunbar, 28, was shot dead at the scene.
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-insists-attack-soldiers-occupied-territory-terror

Netanyahu links Jerusalem attack to IS. Israeli media calls him out

Israeli commentators have blasted Benjamin Netanyahu for linking an attack in Jerusalem to the Islamic State group, saying the prime minister is deploying a narrative to fit Israel within the wave of attacks in the West and distracting from the occupation of Palestinian land.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-commentators-criticize-netanyahu-linking-jeruslaem-attack-1002091771

Gaza residents face a cold winter with more than 12 hours of power cuts per day

A new chapter of embitterment has opened for those living in the besieged Gaza Strip, as residents scramble to sustain their daily lives under longer daily power cuts, leaving most of the coastal enclave with just a few hours of electricity a day amid the increasingly cold weather during winter months.

According to a statement released Saturday by Gaza’s electricity company, most districts of the small Palestinian territory will only receive power for three-hour intervals in between 12-hour power cuts, as one of the two generators of Gaza’s sole power plant stopped operating on Friday due to severe fuel shortages.

The statement added that out of the 600 megawatts of power needed in the besieged enclave, less than 150 megawatts are available.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774791

Fire destroys shop in Gaza, amid rise in accidents as electricity crisis deepens
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774859

Palestinians protest dire electricity crisis in Gaza amid 12-hour blackouts

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took to the streets on Sunday and Monday to protest an ever-worsening electricity crisis in the besieged coastal enclave, where people have had to cope with only three hours of power in between 12-hour-long blackouts.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=774822

John Berger, storyteller and friend of Palestine, dies at 90

“In exactly what arena do we speak when we speak of loved ones who have just died or been killed? Our words seem to us to resonate in a present moment more present than those we normally live.”

John Berger, who died at the age of 90 on 2 January, wrote these words after visiting the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s grave in Ramallah, in a 2009 essay for Threepenny Review.

In the same year, Berger published a translation of Darwish’s long poem Mural with Rema Hammami.

Berger – a British writer who spent much of his adult life in France – began his career as a painter, but it is for writing of an unusually diverse kind that he is best known. His published work includes art criticism, poetry, plays, essays and novels, although latterly he preferred to be known simply as “a storyteller.”

Berger’s most famous book is Ways of Seeing (1972), adapted from a collaborative television series that he presented.
https://electronicintifada.net/content/john-berger-storyteller-and-friend-palestine-dies-90/19071

The annexation of Palestine could be closer than you think

Senior Israeli government minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that he will introduce legislation to effectively annex Israel’s third-largest settlement in the West Bank, Ma’ale Adumim, by the end of January. It is safe to assume, that when Bennett says “by the end of January,” he means after the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump.
Bennett’s desire to incrementally annex parts of the West Bank are neither new nor secret. The chairman of the Jewish Home party has run on a platform of annexation since he first ran for office in 2013 and in every election since. Through short videos and aggressive sound bites, the Israeli education minister has attempted shift the public discourse, in Israel and around the world, toward his annexationist aims.
https://972mag.com/the-annexation-of-palestine-could-be-closer-than-you-think/124077/