6 dec 2015
By Ramzy Baroud
Israeli commentators, Yaron Friedman, of “Ynet News” and Haviv Rettig Gur, of the “Times of Israel” are clueless about the driving force behind the Palestinian mobilization and collective struggle. In two recent articles, and with unmistakable conceit, they attempted to highlight what they perceive as the failure of the current Palestinian uprising, or ‘Intifada’.
Gur argues that ‘the terrorism’ of the Palestinians is not a surge of opposition to Israel but a “howl against the pervasive sense that resistance has failed”. He reduces the Intifada to the mere act of alleged stabbing of Israelis, and points out to the painful truth that the Palestinian Authority ‘elites’ are paying lip service to the ‘martyrs’, while “simultaneously acting with determination on the ground to disrupt and stop attacks”.
In his long-winded article, “Losing Palestine”, Gur essentially claims that the current struggle against Occupation stems mostly from internet fervor and is more a deceleration of defeat than a strategy for victory, and that no Palestinian leader dares to be the first to accept this.
Friedman, on the other hand, describes the ‘knife Intifada’ as a ‘fire without coal'; that the “insane actions of the stabbers” is designed to ignite religious fervor, ultimately aimed at blaming the Jews.
Those who launched the Intifada “have no real internal or external support (financial or with weapons) and it broke out at a time when the nightmare of all the Arab world’s leaders is the social protests turning into anarchy,” he wrote.
There is little sense in arguing against the unsympathetic approach Zionist commentators use to describe Palestinians or their insistence on seeing Palestinian collective action, violent or otherwise, as an act of ‘terror’; on their refusal to see any context behind Palestinian anger or on how they inject a religious narrative at every turn, and lob ‘anti-Semitic’ accusations unfairly, whenever they see fit.
But what is particularly interesting about the Israeli take on the Palestinian Intifada, as presented by Friedman, Gur and others in the media, including from within the Israeli political establishment, is the attempt to display an exaggerated sense of confidence, that unlike other uprisings, this one is a farce.
In fact, the Israelis are certain that the uprising is likely to deflate once the limited tools at its disposal are contained. This supposition has led Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, to meet with representatives of YouTube and Google “to discuss ways to cooperate in what she calls the fight against ‘inciting violence and terrorism’,” reported MEMO, citing Israeli daily, ‘Maariv’.
This hasty self-assurance among Israeli state officials and media is predicated on several suppositions:
First, while the PA has not yet moved to take part in crushing the Intifada, it has done its utmost to thwart the people’s effort at mobilizing Palestinians beyond the limited confines of the ruling Fatah faction and its worthless promises of peace and statehood.
The PA knows well that if the Intifada escalates beyond its current scale, it could undermine – if not entirely challenge – the PA itself, which has served for many years as a line of defense for the Israeli Occupation. Thanks to the ‘security coordination’ between the Israeli army and the PA, Palestinian resistance in the West Bank has, until recently, been largely contained.
Second, Hamas, although it has openly called for an escalation of protests against Israel, is swamped in its own problems. The siege on Gaza, tightened further with the closure of the Rafah border and the desperate need to rebuild what successive Israeli wars have destroyed, makes it difficult for Hamas to take part in any effort that could open up another war front with Israel.
One must recall that the Israeli war on Gaza in the summer of 2014 was, itself, an Israeli attempt at redrawing the battle lines. At that time, a momentum for an Intifada was taking shape in the West Bank following an increase in Israeli army and settler violence against Palestinians. The war on Gaza managed to change the narrative of that budding conflict into an Israeli war aimed at defending its own borders, as Israeli hasbara dictated. Israel is now relying on the assumption that Hamas would avoid, at least for now, a repeat of that scenario which cost Palestinians over 2,200 lives and thousands of wounded and maimed, let alone the massive destruction of the already impoverished Strip.
Third, Arabs are consumed with their own regional fights, whether for political or sectarian domination. Almost every Arab country is somehow, either fully or partially, involved or is affected by the various wars and conflicts under way in Syria, Libya, Egypt’s Sinai, Iraq and Yemen. The supposedly successful Tunisian model is suffering its own fallout, too, from militant violence, whether homegrown or that which spills over from violent borders.
Previous intifadas succeeded, or so goes the Israeli logic, because of Arab backing. But the most that Arabs have done is to pay lip service and nothing more. In fact, if the PA itself is keen on spoiling popular Palestinian initiatives, little can be expected of the Arabs, who are busy fighting one another.
However, the Israeli argument is, as has always been the case, narrow-minded in its view of history, or it conveniently applies history to fit whatever political argument Israeli officials or mouthpieces deem handy. Just a few weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, absolved the Nazis from the idea behind the Holocaust and pinned the blame on the Palestinian Mufti instead.
Previous intifadas, but more importantly the 1987 ‘Intifada of the stones’, was not constructed as a strategy for liberation, but was a spontaneous reaction to a series of Israeli provocations, and the adjacent failure of the Palestinian leadership, all positioned within the larger context of the ongoing Israeli occupation.
Palestinians do not revolt when ‘the time is right’ for them to do so, but whenever their collective suffering has culminated to the point that they cannot be silenced anymore.
Those, whether Israeli or even Palestinian intellectuals, who opine about the need for the intifada to do this or that, change directions or tactics, stop altogether or move forward, are simply unable to understand that the momentum of a collective struggle cannot be dictated from above.
This is not to argue that a grassroots, genuine Palestinian leadership that operates outside the confines of fatalism and defeat as demonstrated by the PA is not a necessary step needed to galvanize the popular efforts. But that is a decision to be taken by the youth themselves, and its timing and nature should be determined based on their own reckoning.
The Israelis are counting on their shoot to kill policy. The Palestinian leadership is waiting for the anger to fizzle out before resuming its endless quest for a frivolous peace process and financial handouts. The Intifada itself, however, operates on the basis of an entirely different arithmetic: a collective spirit that can neither be intimidated by violence nor procured by funds.
In fact this is precisely why the Intifada started in the first place and, as long as the factors that led to its inception remain in place, it, too, is likely to continue and escalate, not for the sake of liberating Palestine through some magic formula, but for the urgent need to regain national initiative, redefine priorities and a new sense of collective, as Palestinian first and foremost.
– Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
Israeli commentators, Yaron Friedman, of “Ynet News” and Haviv Rettig Gur, of the “Times of Israel” are clueless about the driving force behind the Palestinian mobilization and collective struggle. In two recent articles, and with unmistakable conceit, they attempted to highlight what they perceive as the failure of the current Palestinian uprising, or ‘Intifada’.
Gur argues that ‘the terrorism’ of the Palestinians is not a surge of opposition to Israel but a “howl against the pervasive sense that resistance has failed”. He reduces the Intifada to the mere act of alleged stabbing of Israelis, and points out to the painful truth that the Palestinian Authority ‘elites’ are paying lip service to the ‘martyrs’, while “simultaneously acting with determination on the ground to disrupt and stop attacks”.
In his long-winded article, “Losing Palestine”, Gur essentially claims that the current struggle against Occupation stems mostly from internet fervor and is more a deceleration of defeat than a strategy for victory, and that no Palestinian leader dares to be the first to accept this.
Friedman, on the other hand, describes the ‘knife Intifada’ as a ‘fire without coal'; that the “insane actions of the stabbers” is designed to ignite religious fervor, ultimately aimed at blaming the Jews.
Those who launched the Intifada “have no real internal or external support (financial or with weapons) and it broke out at a time when the nightmare of all the Arab world’s leaders is the social protests turning into anarchy,” he wrote.
There is little sense in arguing against the unsympathetic approach Zionist commentators use to describe Palestinians or their insistence on seeing Palestinian collective action, violent or otherwise, as an act of ‘terror’; on their refusal to see any context behind Palestinian anger or on how they inject a religious narrative at every turn, and lob ‘anti-Semitic’ accusations unfairly, whenever they see fit.
But what is particularly interesting about the Israeli take on the Palestinian Intifada, as presented by Friedman, Gur and others in the media, including from within the Israeli political establishment, is the attempt to display an exaggerated sense of confidence, that unlike other uprisings, this one is a farce.
In fact, the Israelis are certain that the uprising is likely to deflate once the limited tools at its disposal are contained. This supposition has led Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, to meet with representatives of YouTube and Google “to discuss ways to cooperate in what she calls the fight against ‘inciting violence and terrorism’,” reported MEMO, citing Israeli daily, ‘Maariv’.
This hasty self-assurance among Israeli state officials and media is predicated on several suppositions:
First, while the PA has not yet moved to take part in crushing the Intifada, it has done its utmost to thwart the people’s effort at mobilizing Palestinians beyond the limited confines of the ruling Fatah faction and its worthless promises of peace and statehood.
The PA knows well that if the Intifada escalates beyond its current scale, it could undermine – if not entirely challenge – the PA itself, which has served for many years as a line of defense for the Israeli Occupation. Thanks to the ‘security coordination’ between the Israeli army and the PA, Palestinian resistance in the West Bank has, until recently, been largely contained.
Second, Hamas, although it has openly called for an escalation of protests against Israel, is swamped in its own problems. The siege on Gaza, tightened further with the closure of the Rafah border and the desperate need to rebuild what successive Israeli wars have destroyed, makes it difficult for Hamas to take part in any effort that could open up another war front with Israel.
One must recall that the Israeli war on Gaza in the summer of 2014 was, itself, an Israeli attempt at redrawing the battle lines. At that time, a momentum for an Intifada was taking shape in the West Bank following an increase in Israeli army and settler violence against Palestinians. The war on Gaza managed to change the narrative of that budding conflict into an Israeli war aimed at defending its own borders, as Israeli hasbara dictated. Israel is now relying on the assumption that Hamas would avoid, at least for now, a repeat of that scenario which cost Palestinians over 2,200 lives and thousands of wounded and maimed, let alone the massive destruction of the already impoverished Strip.
Third, Arabs are consumed with their own regional fights, whether for political or sectarian domination. Almost every Arab country is somehow, either fully or partially, involved or is affected by the various wars and conflicts under way in Syria, Libya, Egypt’s Sinai, Iraq and Yemen. The supposedly successful Tunisian model is suffering its own fallout, too, from militant violence, whether homegrown or that which spills over from violent borders.
Previous intifadas succeeded, or so goes the Israeli logic, because of Arab backing. But the most that Arabs have done is to pay lip service and nothing more. In fact, if the PA itself is keen on spoiling popular Palestinian initiatives, little can be expected of the Arabs, who are busy fighting one another.
However, the Israeli argument is, as has always been the case, narrow-minded in its view of history, or it conveniently applies history to fit whatever political argument Israeli officials or mouthpieces deem handy. Just a few weeks ago, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, absolved the Nazis from the idea behind the Holocaust and pinned the blame on the Palestinian Mufti instead.
Previous intifadas, but more importantly the 1987 ‘Intifada of the stones’, was not constructed as a strategy for liberation, but was a spontaneous reaction to a series of Israeli provocations, and the adjacent failure of the Palestinian leadership, all positioned within the larger context of the ongoing Israeli occupation.
Palestinians do not revolt when ‘the time is right’ for them to do so, but whenever their collective suffering has culminated to the point that they cannot be silenced anymore.
Those, whether Israeli or even Palestinian intellectuals, who opine about the need for the intifada to do this or that, change directions or tactics, stop altogether or move forward, are simply unable to understand that the momentum of a collective struggle cannot be dictated from above.
This is not to argue that a grassroots, genuine Palestinian leadership that operates outside the confines of fatalism and defeat as demonstrated by the PA is not a necessary step needed to galvanize the popular efforts. But that is a decision to be taken by the youth themselves, and its timing and nature should be determined based on their own reckoning.
The Israelis are counting on their shoot to kill policy. The Palestinian leadership is waiting for the anger to fizzle out before resuming its endless quest for a frivolous peace process and financial handouts. The Intifada itself, however, operates on the basis of an entirely different arithmetic: a collective spirit that can neither be intimidated by violence nor procured by funds.
In fact this is precisely why the Intifada started in the first place and, as long as the factors that led to its inception remain in place, it, too, is likely to continue and escalate, not for the sake of liberating Palestine through some magic formula, but for the urgent need to regain national initiative, redefine priorities and a new sense of collective, as Palestinian first and foremost.
– Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
Member of Hamas political bureau Fatehi Hammad called on Fatah Movement to stop negotiations and co-ordination with Israeli authorities and to cancel Oslo accords.
During “We will Redeem Al-Aqsa with our Souls” rally, Hammad pointed out that Palestinian women took to Gaza’s streets in support of resistance option.
The leader in Hamas hailed the ongoing Palestinian uprising, saying that the Jerusalem Intifada will continue till achieving its goals.
Gaza is ready more than any time to unite with the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, he stressed.
Gaza women, Hammad continued, have prepared themselves for the liberation battle of Palestine.
"We will not abandon any inch of Palestinian land and we will never give up on any of our rights," he vowed.
Hammad concluded by calling on PA security forces to get rid of Oslo accords’ impacts and restrictions.
During “We will Redeem Al-Aqsa with our Souls” rally, Hammad pointed out that Palestinian women took to Gaza’s streets in support of resistance option.
The leader in Hamas hailed the ongoing Palestinian uprising, saying that the Jerusalem Intifada will continue till achieving its goals.
Gaza is ready more than any time to unite with the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, he stressed.
Gaza women, Hammad continued, have prepared themselves for the liberation battle of Palestine.
"We will not abandon any inch of Palestinian land and we will never give up on any of our rights," he vowed.
Hammad concluded by calling on PA security forces to get rid of Oslo accords’ impacts and restrictions.
Kerry "unclear" on PA survival
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday, rejected statements made by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, that Israel is shifting towards being a “bi-national state”.
According to Jpost Israeli news outlet, Netanyahu said “I want to make clear, Israel will not be a bi-national state,” under claims that the Palestinian Authority “does not want peace”, and “calls for incitement” against the occupation.
Netanyahu said, according to the PNN, that when Erekat not only does not condemn the terrorist acts but, rather, pays a condolence call on the family of a terrorist, he “gives backing and encouragement to acts of terror,” referring to Erekat’s condolence call to the family of Mazrn Oraiba, who was shot-dead by Israeli forces at Hizma checkpoint, under the pretext of a car-ramming attack.
Netanyahu’s opposition came after Kerry’s statement at the Saban Forum in Washington, on Saturday, when he said “the truth is that many of those arguing against the PA simply don’t believe in two states.”
During the Israeli cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also took the chance to condemn the comments of the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom against the Israeli terrorism, calling them “scandalous.”
John Kerry, speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington D.C., on Saturday, warned that current trends in the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts are leading to a one-state reality. Kerry also said that if the situation continues, it is unclear how long the Palestinian Authority can survive.
“If there is a risk the Palestinian Authority might collapse and Israel wants it to survive, shouldn’t Israel do more to help sustain it?” Kerry said.
According to Haaretz, Kerry added that the two-state solution for the Israeli Palestinian conflict mustn’t become a “slogan,” but warned that “current trends are leading for a one state reality.”
“We have to be honest about what a one-state solution looks like,” Kerry said, warning that Israel couldn’t maintain its character as Jewish and democratic, asking rhetorically what the international reaction would be to such a scenario, and saying that true peace with its neighbors will not be possible under such conditions.
In a related context, in May of 2014, Israeli Minister of Economy and head of the Jewish Home party Naftali Bennett suggested the demolition of a portion of the apartheid wall which surrounds the West Bank,, offering an incentive of full Israeli citizenship for Palestinians affected by the move, but with the more strategical intention of annexing Area C to the state of Israel, amidst of new wave of increased settlement expansion.
During the 2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks led by none other than Kerry, Israeli officials announced and, eventually, carried out in full force, plans to build thousands of additional homes in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, while continuing to further seize lands, demolish homes and agricultural resources and, thus, leaving scores of Palestinian families severely disenfranchised and without so much as a roof over their heads to shelter them from inclement weather.
Gazans were already surviving on a mere 8 hours per day of electricity when the Palestinian negotiating team finally resigned in protest, in mid-November. Israel, soon after, made quite clear its position on securing peace with Palestinians when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, during a meeting with young Likud Party supporters, boasted:
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked about "peace talks with the Palestinians”, the PM reportedly replied, according to +972 online Israeli magazine: “about the – what?” to which his audience responded with a round of chuckling.
“The one-state solution is no solution at all for a Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace,” Kerry went on to say, Saturday.
Editor's note: In stark contrast with Kerry's statement, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. ~ Wikipedia
Kerry said that the distrust between the two sides has never been more profound. “President Abbas feels great despair – more than I have ever heard him,” Kerry said.
Saying that peace is the best way to achieve security, Kerry added that first of all, the violence must stop. “There’s no justification for violence against civilians. Israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself,” he said.
“We need people to act in restraint. The Palestinian leadership should stop the incitement and condemn terror attacks,” he said.
Regarding the fight against Islamic State, Kerry seemed to be rebutting statements made by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon the day before about a lack in U.S. leadership, and laid out U.S. actions and policy against ISIS and in Syria.
“We want a transition to a unified non-sectarian Syria,” Kerry said, adding that the U.S. isn’t naïve about the diplomatic effort in Syria. “It’s difficult,” he admitted. However, he added that the Vienna talks were “the most promising diplomatic effort regarding Syria in the last years.”
Regarding the nuclear deal with Iran, Kerry addressed Israel directly, saying that he knows Israel still has concerns, but that the U.S. is “convinced that we will know what Iran is doing.”
“Under the nuclear deal all of Iran’s pathways to a bomb are blocked,” he said, adding that it was the deal was the right thing to do, “regardless of whether they will change their behavior or not.”
Also of interest: Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday, rejected statements made by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, that Israel is shifting towards being a “bi-national state”.
According to Jpost Israeli news outlet, Netanyahu said “I want to make clear, Israel will not be a bi-national state,” under claims that the Palestinian Authority “does not want peace”, and “calls for incitement” against the occupation.
Netanyahu said, according to the PNN, that when Erekat not only does not condemn the terrorist acts but, rather, pays a condolence call on the family of a terrorist, he “gives backing and encouragement to acts of terror,” referring to Erekat’s condolence call to the family of Mazrn Oraiba, who was shot-dead by Israeli forces at Hizma checkpoint, under the pretext of a car-ramming attack.
Netanyahu’s opposition came after Kerry’s statement at the Saban Forum in Washington, on Saturday, when he said “the truth is that many of those arguing against the PA simply don’t believe in two states.”
During the Israeli cabinet meeting, Netanyahu also took the chance to condemn the comments of the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom against the Israeli terrorism, calling them “scandalous.”
John Kerry, speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington D.C., on Saturday, warned that current trends in the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts are leading to a one-state reality. Kerry also said that if the situation continues, it is unclear how long the Palestinian Authority can survive.
“If there is a risk the Palestinian Authority might collapse and Israel wants it to survive, shouldn’t Israel do more to help sustain it?” Kerry said.
According to Haaretz, Kerry added that the two-state solution for the Israeli Palestinian conflict mustn’t become a “slogan,” but warned that “current trends are leading for a one state reality.”
“We have to be honest about what a one-state solution looks like,” Kerry said, warning that Israel couldn’t maintain its character as Jewish and democratic, asking rhetorically what the international reaction would be to such a scenario, and saying that true peace with its neighbors will not be possible under such conditions.
In a related context, in May of 2014, Israeli Minister of Economy and head of the Jewish Home party Naftali Bennett suggested the demolition of a portion of the apartheid wall which surrounds the West Bank,, offering an incentive of full Israeli citizenship for Palestinians affected by the move, but with the more strategical intention of annexing Area C to the state of Israel, amidst of new wave of increased settlement expansion.
During the 2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks led by none other than Kerry, Israeli officials announced and, eventually, carried out in full force, plans to build thousands of additional homes in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, while continuing to further seize lands, demolish homes and agricultural resources and, thus, leaving scores of Palestinian families severely disenfranchised and without so much as a roof over their heads to shelter them from inclement weather.
Gazans were already surviving on a mere 8 hours per day of electricity when the Palestinian negotiating team finally resigned in protest, in mid-November. Israel, soon after, made quite clear its position on securing peace with Palestinians when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, during a meeting with young Likud Party supporters, boasted:
“I was threatened in Washington: ‘not one brick’ [of settlement construction] … after five years, we built a little more than one brick…”
Asked about "peace talks with the Palestinians”, the PM reportedly replied, according to +972 online Israeli magazine: “about the – what?” to which his audience responded with a round of chuckling.
“The one-state solution is no solution at all for a Jewish, democratic Israel living in peace,” Kerry went on to say, Saturday.
Editor's note: In stark contrast with Kerry's statement, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. ~ Wikipedia
Kerry said that the distrust between the two sides has never been more profound. “President Abbas feels great despair – more than I have ever heard him,” Kerry said.
Saying that peace is the best way to achieve security, Kerry added that first of all, the violence must stop. “There’s no justification for violence against civilians. Israel has the right and the obligation to defend itself,” he said.
“We need people to act in restraint. The Palestinian leadership should stop the incitement and condemn terror attacks,” he said.
Regarding the fight against Islamic State, Kerry seemed to be rebutting statements made by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon the day before about a lack in U.S. leadership, and laid out U.S. actions and policy against ISIS and in Syria.
“We want a transition to a unified non-sectarian Syria,” Kerry said, adding that the U.S. isn’t naïve about the diplomatic effort in Syria. “It’s difficult,” he admitted. However, he added that the Vienna talks were “the most promising diplomatic effort regarding Syria in the last years.”
Regarding the nuclear deal with Iran, Kerry addressed Israel directly, saying that he knows Israel still has concerns, but that the U.S. is “convinced that we will know what Iran is doing.”
“Under the nuclear deal all of Iran’s pathways to a bomb are blocked,” he said, adding that it was the deal was the right thing to do, “regardless of whether they will change their behavior or not.”
Also of interest: Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
Member of Hamas's political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk has accused Fatah leaders of using the issue of the Rafah border crossing as a bargaining chip to politically pressure the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In Facebook remarks on Sunday, Abu Marzouk said that Fatah officials and its spokespersons use the suffering of the Gazans as a political card to pressure Hamas and divert attention from al-Quds intifada (uprising).
He affirmed that the unity government in Ramallah had rejected all the proposals which were accepted by Hamas to run the crossing, expressing his belief that the government does not want a solution to the issue.
The Hamas official also said that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas wants absolute power with no partnership and away from any form of resistance against the occupation.
In Facebook remarks on Sunday, Abu Marzouk said that Fatah officials and its spokespersons use the suffering of the Gazans as a political card to pressure Hamas and divert attention from al-Quds intifada (uprising).
He affirmed that the unity government in Ramallah had rejected all the proposals which were accepted by Hamas to run the crossing, expressing his belief that the government does not want a solution to the issue.
The Hamas official also said that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas wants absolute power with no partnership and away from any form of resistance against the occupation.
A report by the Palestine Network for Dialogue documented the murder of 72 Palestinians by the Israeli occupation troops during October and 36 others during November.
However, the number of Israelis who were killed during the same period was much lower compared to the death toll among the Palestinians.
11 Israelis died in various anti-occupation attacks during October and nine others died in attacks carried out in November.
According to the report, the Palestinian casualties were killed following various anti-occupation attacks, including stabbing and car-ramming.
73 anti-occupation attacks were carried out in November compared to 140 in October.
The report kept record of the murder of 108 Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupation troops.
1,145 more Palestinians were injured by live rounds and rubber bullets. Thousands more choked on tear gas during the same period.
The group also reported the abduction of 940 Palestinians during the month of November.
However, the number of Israelis who were killed during the same period was much lower compared to the death toll among the Palestinians.
11 Israelis died in various anti-occupation attacks during October and nine others died in attacks carried out in November.
According to the report, the Palestinian casualties were killed following various anti-occupation attacks, including stabbing and car-ramming.
73 anti-occupation attacks were carried out in November compared to 140 in October.
The report kept record of the murder of 108 Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupation troops.
1,145 more Palestinians were injured by live rounds and rubber bullets. Thousands more choked on tear gas during the same period.
The group also reported the abduction of 940 Palestinians during the month of November.
5 dec 2015
In the second month of the popular uprising, the occupation authorities continued the policy of murdering Palestinians and continued to detain their bodies concurrently with random arrests carried out in the city of Jerusalem, assaults on Jerusalemites’ property and the sanctity of schools and medical institutions in addition to harassing people in terms of their livelihoods.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center (WHIC) said that four Jerusalemite Martyrs passed away in the city including one in Ramallah and one Martyr from Nablus passed away in the Old City of Jerusalem while the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of Martyrs who passed away during the last two months.
WHIC monitored that the assaults and violations committed by various occupation authorities against Jerusalemites through targeting holy sites, residential houses, commercial stores, medical and educational institutions as well as sports facilities.
Martyrs
During the month of November, 4 Martyrs passed away in the city of Jerusalem and one in Ramallah in addition to a Palestinian man from Nablus who passed away in the Old City of Jerusalem after being shot by occupation forces or settlers’ guards. Among the Martyrs was a girl and a boy and the Israeli pretext of “carrying out or attempting to carry out a stabbing attack against Israeli soldiers or settlers or even participating in clashes” was always ready to shoot them. In all cases, injured Palestinians are left bleeding on the ground and are not provided with necessary first aid which could possibly save their lives.
The Information Center said: “the occupation authorities get busy taking off the shoes and clothes of the injured Palestinian and humiliating him at questioning him at times instead of providing him with first aid.”
The first Martyr in November was 37-year old Mohammad Abed Nimer from the village of Esawyeh who passed away on 10/11/2015 after being shot by the settlers’ guard in the area of Al-Musrara in Jerusalem. A recording released by the occupation police showed the young man following the settlers’ guard while holding a knife in his hand but didn’t pose a real threat to require fatally shooting him; the recording only showed the young man following the settler and didn’t show if the young man was insulted or provoked by the guards. Nimer has three children where the oldest is 19 and youngest is 5 years old.
The second Martyr was 14-year old Hadil Wajih Awwad from Qalandia. She was shot on 23/11/2015 by the occupation soldiers while she was with her 16-year old cousin Nourhan in Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem. Video recordings showed the two girls attempting to stab Israelis in the area using small scissors and didn’t really pose threat and weren’t able to get close to anyone. They were only waving with the sharp tools and it was possible to arrest them without shooting them but once policeman decided to open fire towards the two girls.
The third Martyr was 22-year old Mahmoud Alayan from the village of Anata. He passed away on 19/11/2015 following an injury he suffered in the head during clashes near the settlement of Bet El established on the lands of Al-Bireh in Ramallah.
The fourth Martyr was 38-year old Baseem Abdulrahman Salah who passed away on 29/11/2015. He is from the city of Nablus and was shot by the occupation forces and settlers’ guard in Al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to witnesses, eleven bullets were fired towards the young man who was left bleeding on the ground and first aid was only provided to the soldier who was injured in his neck.
The fifth Martyr was 17-year old Ayman Sameeh Abbasi who was shot by the occupation forces in his chest during clashes in the neighborhood of Ras Al-Amoud in Silwan on 29/11/2015.
The occupation police claimed to open fire towards the lower part of the Martyr’s body while he was throwing a Molotov Cocktail towards them” but the Martyr’s picture falsified the claims of occupation police as it showed an injury in the upper body part “chest”.
The picture revealed the “murdering policy” followed by the occupation authorities against Palestinians as they are targeted in critical parts of their bodies while the authorities claim to only shoot towards the limbs.
Detained Martyrs’ bodies
The occupation continues to detain the bodies of 14 Palestinian Martyrs; among them a Martyr from the city of Hebron who passed away in the area of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem and one girl and four children.
Detaining Martyrs’ bodies was based up a suggestion made by the Internal Security Minister, Gilad Ardan, not to release the bodies of Palestinian Martyrs who passed away while carrying or attempting to carry out attacks in order to “limit attacks against Israelis in the city of Jerusalem in particular as well as other areas” as he says. He also said that detaining the bodies will deteriorate others from carrying out similar attacks especially that releasing the bodies and carrying out special funerals and burying them in well-known cemeteries that will become a “shrine” afterwards only promotes the “attacking” ideas for others- according the occupation authorities’ claims.
The Martyrs are: Thaer Abdelsalam Abu Ghazaleh 19, Ishaq Qasem Badran 16, Mohammad Saeed Mohammad Ali 19, Mustafa Adel Khatib 17, Hasan Khaled Manasra 15, Baha’ Mohammad Alayan 22, Ala’ Daoud Abu Jamal 32, Basel Bassam Sider 20 from Hebron, Ahmad Abu Sha’ban 23, Mutaz Ahmad Aweisat 16, Ahmad Hamada Qneibi 22, Mohammad Abed Nimer 37, Hadil Wajih Awwad 14, Baseem Abdulrahman Salah 38.
Arrests
The occupation authorities arrested 268 Palestinians from Jerusalem during the month of November including 94 minors whom 20 of them are under the age of responsibility (12 years) and 5 girls and 9 women.
The distribution of arrests in the city of Jerusalem was as follows: Silwan (69), Esawyeh (56), Old City of Jerusalem (41), Al-Tur (28), Shu’fat refugee camp (17), Beit Hanina and Jabal Al-Mukabber and Shu’fat (7 each) and Sur Baher (8) in addition to arrests from Al-Sowaneh, Kufor Aqab, Sheikh Jarrah and Wad Al-Joz and from Al-Aqsa Gates.
In November, the occupation authorities transferred six Jerusalemites to administrative arrests following an order from the Minister of Defense, Moshe Ya’alon, to increase the number of Jerusalemite administrative arrest prisoner to 31; note that they were sentenced for periods between 3 and 6 months.
During last month, the Musta’ribeen unit (undercover police) carried out a series of arrests targeting students of Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan; nine children aged between 9-13 years were arrested in two days. The students were assaulted, blindfolded and insulted and were detained for several hours without providing them with food or water. They were also not allowed to use the restroom; one student was injured due to being brutally assaulted and is still receiving treatment at the hospital.
The forces also arrested 21 students during last month while they were heading to their schools or after leaving schools in Silwan, Al-Tur, Jabal Al-Mukabber and Esawyeh. Nine students were arrested by the Musta’ribeen and one student was arrested from inside his classroom in Ras Al-Amoud School in Silwan; few days later, he was arrested again from the school’s courtyard.
The forces also arrested the 11-year old Ali Ihab Alqam after he was shot three times in the stomach, hand and pelvis by the light rail’s guard in the settlement of “Pisgat Zi’ev” while attempting to stab the guard along with his cousin as shown in a recording video. Before he completed treatment, he was transferred to an internal institute in the city of Akko despite being under the age of responsibility (12 years); it is prohibited to arrest or interrogate him but he was detained for 12 days in a room in Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital and was interrogated. His parents were only allowed to visit him three times for 20 minutes in the presence of Israeli police that prevented his family from brining clothes for their son.
The 16-year old Nourhan Awwad is still receiving treatment at Shaare Zedek hospital after suffering injuring in the chest area in Jaffa Street.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Settlers continued to violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and nearly 1015 extremist settlers broke into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque through Dung Gate which is controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem. They carry out tours in the courtyards under heavy protection from Israeli Special Forces.
In November, the occupation authorities isolated three Jerusalemites from Al-Aqsa Mosque for 45 days and one woman for 15 days.
For the third consecutive month, the authorities also continued to prevent more than 60 Palestinian women including journalists listed under the “black list” from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque following an order from the Chief of Israeli police in the Old City of Jerusalem, Avi Baytoon, against women who create problems inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Harassing Martyrs’ families
The occupation authorities continues to harass the families of Martyrs and prisoners accused of carrying out attacks against settlers of occupation forces by continuously raiding their houses, taking measurements and checking the walls by engineers and explosives’ specialists a step taken before decision made to either seize or demolish the house.
The authorities also issued a decision to demolish and seize the house of Martyr Baha’ Alayan in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber. The Internal Front Commander also issued a decision to close the house of Akram Abu Jamal where the family of prisoner Bilal Abu Ghanem used to live under a leasing contract.
Demolishing nine establishments
The occupation municipality’s bulldozers demolished in November nine establishments (residential and barracks for horses) under the pretext of building without a permit. They displaced 16 individuals including 7 children under the age of 18; demolitions occurred in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber, Beit Hanina and the Old City of Jerusalem.
An apartment owned by Samer Idris where 7 individuals live, two barracks used for horses and a room for Yaser Bashir were demolished in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber, and a 3-storey residential building (3 apartments) owned by Nijem and Dsooqi families was demolished in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina; note that 8 individuals lived in the building. Also, a house for Abu Khalaf family where one woman lives was also demolished.
Al-Deesi family was forced to self-demolish the bathroom of their house following an order from the municipality.
The occupation authorities also continued distributing demolition orders to residential establishments in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem especially in Silwan.
Occupation authorities’ assaults on Palestinian Institutions
The occupation authorities also continued their assaults against medical, educational and sports institutions in Jerusalem.
The forces and intelligence raided during November Al-Maqased hospital looking for the file of an injured boy concurrently with threats made by the police and Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Ardan, to open an interrogation against the medical staff of Al-Maqased hospital in Jerusalem under the pretext of “treating children who participated in clashes without informing the police”.
The forces also attempted to raid the Red Crescent hospital in the neighborhood of Al-Sowaneh but the guards confronted them.
Also, the forces raided “Baladna” medical center in Esawyeh and Ein Al-Lozeh medical center in Silwan in an attempt to seize the body of Martyr Ayman Abbasi; they also detained the medical staff, workers and patients for more than two hours.
In terms of educational institutions, the occupation forces raided Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan and searched the entire classrooms and arrested one student while sitting on his desk; several days later they raided the school and arrested the same child from the school’s courtyard.
The occupation forces targeted the schools of the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber with tear-gas canisters and Al-Tur schools at the beginning of the month when soldiers fired a sound grenade towards the school during a sports’ period and injured a 14-year old student with shrapnel in his leg. The forces also deliberately deployed at the schools’ gates in the morning and afternoon hours with their police dogs which terrified the students.
The occupation also made sure to obstruct the educational process in Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan by directly targeting students at the checkpoint established in the street leading to the schools. Students were stopped, detained and searched resulting in the breakout of daily clashes; Musta’ribeen units also raided the Schools’ Street twice and executed arrests.
The forces also raided Mount of Olive Club in the village of Al-Tur in November and confiscated surveillance cameras and also targeted the club’s staff with sound grenades and tear-gas canisters.
Harassing peoples’ livelihoods…
A state of financial recession occurred in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem last month especially in the Old City of Jerusalem, Silwan, Esawyeh and Al-Tur due to daily raids by municipality crews, tax authorities and Nature and Parks authority. They imposed high fines on merchants and requested them to license their commercial establishments and professions. They also handed some of them evacuation notices in case they don’t obtain the required licenses.
Part of the policy of collective punishment practiced against Jerusalemites were high fines imposed on merchants for random reasons such as the presence of empty boxes outside the stores, smoking inside or at the stores’ gates, displaying merchandise outside the stores in addition to imposing fines on merchants because the stores’ signs do not meet required standards.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center (WHIC) said that four Jerusalemite Martyrs passed away in the city including one in Ramallah and one Martyr from Nablus passed away in the Old City of Jerusalem while the occupation authorities continue to detain the bodies of Martyrs who passed away during the last two months.
WHIC monitored that the assaults and violations committed by various occupation authorities against Jerusalemites through targeting holy sites, residential houses, commercial stores, medical and educational institutions as well as sports facilities.
Martyrs
During the month of November, 4 Martyrs passed away in the city of Jerusalem and one in Ramallah in addition to a Palestinian man from Nablus who passed away in the Old City of Jerusalem after being shot by occupation forces or settlers’ guards. Among the Martyrs was a girl and a boy and the Israeli pretext of “carrying out or attempting to carry out a stabbing attack against Israeli soldiers or settlers or even participating in clashes” was always ready to shoot them. In all cases, injured Palestinians are left bleeding on the ground and are not provided with necessary first aid which could possibly save their lives.
The Information Center said: “the occupation authorities get busy taking off the shoes and clothes of the injured Palestinian and humiliating him at questioning him at times instead of providing him with first aid.”
The first Martyr in November was 37-year old Mohammad Abed Nimer from the village of Esawyeh who passed away on 10/11/2015 after being shot by the settlers’ guard in the area of Al-Musrara in Jerusalem. A recording released by the occupation police showed the young man following the settlers’ guard while holding a knife in his hand but didn’t pose a real threat to require fatally shooting him; the recording only showed the young man following the settler and didn’t show if the young man was insulted or provoked by the guards. Nimer has three children where the oldest is 19 and youngest is 5 years old.
The second Martyr was 14-year old Hadil Wajih Awwad from Qalandia. She was shot on 23/11/2015 by the occupation soldiers while she was with her 16-year old cousin Nourhan in Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem. Video recordings showed the two girls attempting to stab Israelis in the area using small scissors and didn’t really pose threat and weren’t able to get close to anyone. They were only waving with the sharp tools and it was possible to arrest them without shooting them but once policeman decided to open fire towards the two girls.
The third Martyr was 22-year old Mahmoud Alayan from the village of Anata. He passed away on 19/11/2015 following an injury he suffered in the head during clashes near the settlement of Bet El established on the lands of Al-Bireh in Ramallah.
The fourth Martyr was 38-year old Baseem Abdulrahman Salah who passed away on 29/11/2015. He is from the city of Nablus and was shot by the occupation forces and settlers’ guard in Al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to witnesses, eleven bullets were fired towards the young man who was left bleeding on the ground and first aid was only provided to the soldier who was injured in his neck.
The fifth Martyr was 17-year old Ayman Sameeh Abbasi who was shot by the occupation forces in his chest during clashes in the neighborhood of Ras Al-Amoud in Silwan on 29/11/2015.
The occupation police claimed to open fire towards the lower part of the Martyr’s body while he was throwing a Molotov Cocktail towards them” but the Martyr’s picture falsified the claims of occupation police as it showed an injury in the upper body part “chest”.
The picture revealed the “murdering policy” followed by the occupation authorities against Palestinians as they are targeted in critical parts of their bodies while the authorities claim to only shoot towards the limbs.
Detained Martyrs’ bodies
The occupation continues to detain the bodies of 14 Palestinian Martyrs; among them a Martyr from the city of Hebron who passed away in the area of Damascus Gate in Jerusalem and one girl and four children.
Detaining Martyrs’ bodies was based up a suggestion made by the Internal Security Minister, Gilad Ardan, not to release the bodies of Palestinian Martyrs who passed away while carrying or attempting to carry out attacks in order to “limit attacks against Israelis in the city of Jerusalem in particular as well as other areas” as he says. He also said that detaining the bodies will deteriorate others from carrying out similar attacks especially that releasing the bodies and carrying out special funerals and burying them in well-known cemeteries that will become a “shrine” afterwards only promotes the “attacking” ideas for others- according the occupation authorities’ claims.
The Martyrs are: Thaer Abdelsalam Abu Ghazaleh 19, Ishaq Qasem Badran 16, Mohammad Saeed Mohammad Ali 19, Mustafa Adel Khatib 17, Hasan Khaled Manasra 15, Baha’ Mohammad Alayan 22, Ala’ Daoud Abu Jamal 32, Basel Bassam Sider 20 from Hebron, Ahmad Abu Sha’ban 23, Mutaz Ahmad Aweisat 16, Ahmad Hamada Qneibi 22, Mohammad Abed Nimer 37, Hadil Wajih Awwad 14, Baseem Abdulrahman Salah 38.
Arrests
The occupation authorities arrested 268 Palestinians from Jerusalem during the month of November including 94 minors whom 20 of them are under the age of responsibility (12 years) and 5 girls and 9 women.
The distribution of arrests in the city of Jerusalem was as follows: Silwan (69), Esawyeh (56), Old City of Jerusalem (41), Al-Tur (28), Shu’fat refugee camp (17), Beit Hanina and Jabal Al-Mukabber and Shu’fat (7 each) and Sur Baher (8) in addition to arrests from Al-Sowaneh, Kufor Aqab, Sheikh Jarrah and Wad Al-Joz and from Al-Aqsa Gates.
In November, the occupation authorities transferred six Jerusalemites to administrative arrests following an order from the Minister of Defense, Moshe Ya’alon, to increase the number of Jerusalemite administrative arrest prisoner to 31; note that they were sentenced for periods between 3 and 6 months.
During last month, the Musta’ribeen unit (undercover police) carried out a series of arrests targeting students of Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan; nine children aged between 9-13 years were arrested in two days. The students were assaulted, blindfolded and insulted and were detained for several hours without providing them with food or water. They were also not allowed to use the restroom; one student was injured due to being brutally assaulted and is still receiving treatment at the hospital.
The forces also arrested 21 students during last month while they were heading to their schools or after leaving schools in Silwan, Al-Tur, Jabal Al-Mukabber and Esawyeh. Nine students were arrested by the Musta’ribeen and one student was arrested from inside his classroom in Ras Al-Amoud School in Silwan; few days later, he was arrested again from the school’s courtyard.
The forces also arrested the 11-year old Ali Ihab Alqam after he was shot three times in the stomach, hand and pelvis by the light rail’s guard in the settlement of “Pisgat Zi’ev” while attempting to stab the guard along with his cousin as shown in a recording video. Before he completed treatment, he was transferred to an internal institute in the city of Akko despite being under the age of responsibility (12 years); it is prohibited to arrest or interrogate him but he was detained for 12 days in a room in Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital and was interrogated. His parents were only allowed to visit him three times for 20 minutes in the presence of Israeli police that prevented his family from brining clothes for their son.
The 16-year old Nourhan Awwad is still receiving treatment at Shaare Zedek hospital after suffering injuring in the chest area in Jaffa Street.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Settlers continued to violate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and nearly 1015 extremist settlers broke into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque through Dung Gate which is controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem. They carry out tours in the courtyards under heavy protection from Israeli Special Forces.
In November, the occupation authorities isolated three Jerusalemites from Al-Aqsa Mosque for 45 days and one woman for 15 days.
For the third consecutive month, the authorities also continued to prevent more than 60 Palestinian women including journalists listed under the “black list” from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque following an order from the Chief of Israeli police in the Old City of Jerusalem, Avi Baytoon, against women who create problems inside Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Harassing Martyrs’ families
The occupation authorities continues to harass the families of Martyrs and prisoners accused of carrying out attacks against settlers of occupation forces by continuously raiding their houses, taking measurements and checking the walls by engineers and explosives’ specialists a step taken before decision made to either seize or demolish the house.
The authorities also issued a decision to demolish and seize the house of Martyr Baha’ Alayan in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber. The Internal Front Commander also issued a decision to close the house of Akram Abu Jamal where the family of prisoner Bilal Abu Ghanem used to live under a leasing contract.
Demolishing nine establishments
The occupation municipality’s bulldozers demolished in November nine establishments (residential and barracks for horses) under the pretext of building without a permit. They displaced 16 individuals including 7 children under the age of 18; demolitions occurred in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber, Beit Hanina and the Old City of Jerusalem.
An apartment owned by Samer Idris where 7 individuals live, two barracks used for horses and a room for Yaser Bashir were demolished in the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber, and a 3-storey residential building (3 apartments) owned by Nijem and Dsooqi families was demolished in the neighborhood of Beit Hanina; note that 8 individuals lived in the building. Also, a house for Abu Khalaf family where one woman lives was also demolished.
Al-Deesi family was forced to self-demolish the bathroom of their house following an order from the municipality.
The occupation authorities also continued distributing demolition orders to residential establishments in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem especially in Silwan.
Occupation authorities’ assaults on Palestinian Institutions
The occupation authorities also continued their assaults against medical, educational and sports institutions in Jerusalem.
The forces and intelligence raided during November Al-Maqased hospital looking for the file of an injured boy concurrently with threats made by the police and Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Ardan, to open an interrogation against the medical staff of Al-Maqased hospital in Jerusalem under the pretext of “treating children who participated in clashes without informing the police”.
The forces also attempted to raid the Red Crescent hospital in the neighborhood of Al-Sowaneh but the guards confronted them.
Also, the forces raided “Baladna” medical center in Esawyeh and Ein Al-Lozeh medical center in Silwan in an attempt to seize the body of Martyr Ayman Abbasi; they also detained the medical staff, workers and patients for more than two hours.
In terms of educational institutions, the occupation forces raided Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan and searched the entire classrooms and arrested one student while sitting on his desk; several days later they raided the school and arrested the same child from the school’s courtyard.
The occupation forces targeted the schools of the village of Jabal Al-Mukabber with tear-gas canisters and Al-Tur schools at the beginning of the month when soldiers fired a sound grenade towards the school during a sports’ period and injured a 14-year old student with shrapnel in his leg. The forces also deliberately deployed at the schools’ gates in the morning and afternoon hours with their police dogs which terrified the students.
The occupation also made sure to obstruct the educational process in Ras Al-Amoud schools in Silwan by directly targeting students at the checkpoint established in the street leading to the schools. Students were stopped, detained and searched resulting in the breakout of daily clashes; Musta’ribeen units also raided the Schools’ Street twice and executed arrests.
The forces also raided Mount of Olive Club in the village of Al-Tur in November and confiscated surveillance cameras and also targeted the club’s staff with sound grenades and tear-gas canisters.
Harassing peoples’ livelihoods…
A state of financial recession occurred in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem last month especially in the Old City of Jerusalem, Silwan, Esawyeh and Al-Tur due to daily raids by municipality crews, tax authorities and Nature and Parks authority. They imposed high fines on merchants and requested them to license their commercial establishments and professions. They also handed some of them evacuation notices in case they don’t obtain the required licenses.
Part of the policy of collective punishment practiced against Jerusalemites were high fines imposed on merchants for random reasons such as the presence of empty boxes outside the stores, smoking inside or at the stores’ gates, displaying merchandise outside the stores in addition to imposing fines on merchants because the stores’ signs do not meet required standards.
Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallström, is once again racking up criticism for her accusations against the Israeli government, this time in regard to the execution of Palestinian assailants without trial.
On Friday, when asked by a Swedish parliamentarian why she refused to condemn Palestinian acts of violence against Israelis, Margot replied that while she did not condone terrorism and that Israel did have a right to self-defense, “at the same time the [Israeli] response doesn’t need to be extrajudicial executions or disproportionate force”, causing [another] diplomatic crisis between the two governments.
Wallström’s comments were made during a discussion at the Swedish parliament about the ongoing wave of violence and terror attacks raging in Palestine, PNN reports.
A fast response from the Israeli Ambassador to Stockholm, Isaac Bachman, followed her statement:
“Israel’s moral standards when it comes to fighting terrorism are at least at par with other Western nations coping with the same threat,” Bachman said. “Israeli practices are even more successful in avoiding civilian casualties than in other Western nations’ cases, according to verified military statistics”.
Last month, after the Paris attacks, Wallström was asked the following question on Swedish television:
“How worried are you about the radicalization of young people in Sweden who are fighting for ISIS?”
According to the translation, Wallström answered:
“Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world, because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where not least, the Palestinians see that there isn’t a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence.”
In October, Wallström displeased the Israeli government with a tweet about the wave of violence in Palestine:
“Escalating violence in Jerusalem. Attacks against civilians unacceptable. Bring perpetrators to justice. Leaders must act responsibly,” she wrote.
Sweden is one of the countries that is leading the call to place consumer labels on settlement products, exacerbating the tensions between Stockholm and Tel Aviv, prompting a scathing response from the Israeli ambassador to Sweden.
On Friday, when asked by a Swedish parliamentarian why she refused to condemn Palestinian acts of violence against Israelis, Margot replied that while she did not condone terrorism and that Israel did have a right to self-defense, “at the same time the [Israeli] response doesn’t need to be extrajudicial executions or disproportionate force”, causing [another] diplomatic crisis between the two governments.
Wallström’s comments were made during a discussion at the Swedish parliament about the ongoing wave of violence and terror attacks raging in Palestine, PNN reports.
A fast response from the Israeli Ambassador to Stockholm, Isaac Bachman, followed her statement:
“Israel’s moral standards when it comes to fighting terrorism are at least at par with other Western nations coping with the same threat,” Bachman said. “Israeli practices are even more successful in avoiding civilian casualties than in other Western nations’ cases, according to verified military statistics”.
Last month, after the Paris attacks, Wallström was asked the following question on Swedish television:
“How worried are you about the radicalization of young people in Sweden who are fighting for ISIS?”
According to the translation, Wallström answered:
“Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world, because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where not least, the Palestinians see that there isn’t a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence.”
In October, Wallström displeased the Israeli government with a tweet about the wave of violence in Palestine:
“Escalating violence in Jerusalem. Attacks against civilians unacceptable. Bring perpetrators to justice. Leaders must act responsibly,” she wrote.
Sweden is one of the countries that is leading the call to place consumer labels on settlement products, exacerbating the tensions between Stockholm and Tel Aviv, prompting a scathing response from the Israeli ambassador to Sweden.
The preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Yousef Abu Snene, called in his Friday sermon (Khutba) on Israel to deliver the bodies of slain Palestinians to their families to be buried in accordance with Islamic Sharia.
He said that the Palestinians in their native holy city ‘Jerusalem’ are suffering a lot and have been targeted in their homes and means of sustenance.
The Sheikh pointed to the Israeli policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, the latest of which was that of martyr Ibrahim Akkari, which was done in broad daylight and in front of TV cameras in the presence of thousands of heavily-armed soldiers.
The Aqsa Mosque is daily defiled, settlers desecrate its courtyards and soldiers assault worshipers and arrest them at will with no one in the world doing anything to condemn and stop such practices, the preacher went on.
He did not forget to mention the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and how they are deprived of basic and simple rights in captivity.
Sheikh Yousef addressed the congregation saying, “Look at the people of al-Quds … how they are suffering in their daily life due to the enemy’s tightening the noose on their businesses … imposing taxes and fines, draining their resources, and erecting barriers”.
Thousands of Palestinians attended the Friday Khutba in the holy site amidst tight Israeli military measures in various areas of occupied Jerusalem.
He said that the Palestinians in their native holy city ‘Jerusalem’ are suffering a lot and have been targeted in their homes and means of sustenance.
The Sheikh pointed to the Israeli policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, the latest of which was that of martyr Ibrahim Akkari, which was done in broad daylight and in front of TV cameras in the presence of thousands of heavily-armed soldiers.
The Aqsa Mosque is daily defiled, settlers desecrate its courtyards and soldiers assault worshipers and arrest them at will with no one in the world doing anything to condemn and stop such practices, the preacher went on.
He did not forget to mention the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and how they are deprived of basic and simple rights in captivity.
Sheikh Yousef addressed the congregation saying, “Look at the people of al-Quds … how they are suffering in their daily life due to the enemy’s tightening the noose on their businesses … imposing taxes and fines, draining their resources, and erecting barriers”.
Thousands of Palestinians attended the Friday Khutba in the holy site amidst tight Israeli military measures in various areas of occupied Jerusalem.
A general strike was declared since the morning hours on Saturday throughout Ramallah and al-Bireh in the West Bank in mourning for Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
The strike was called for by the local national forces in the twin cities.
The strike came in mourning for the four Palestinian youths who were killed by IOF gunfire on Friday.
The strike was called for by the local national forces in the twin cities.
The strike came in mourning for the four Palestinian youths who were killed by IOF gunfire on Friday.
PA Security Forces withdrew Friday evening from the surrounding areas of Arafat Hospital in Salfit city in the West Bank in order to pave the way for “Israeli security activity” in the hospital.
Earlier Friday, a Palestinian ambulance transferred the body of the martyr Abdel-Rahman al-Barghouthi to the hospital after being shot and killed by Israeli fire for carrying out a stabbing attack against an Israeli soldier.
Quds Press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that PA forces were deployed throughout the surrounding areas following the body’s arrival to the hospital.
However, a Palestinian security official ordered PA forces to withdraw from the area as an “Israeli security activity” is scheduled to be carried out in the city.
High tension was reported in the hospital as dozens of youths and the martyr’s family maintained vigil at the external gate to prevent any Israeli attempt to steal the body of their son.
Along the same line, clashes broke out between locals and Israeli forces at the entrance of the city. No injuries were reported during the clashes.
Abdel-Rahman al-Barghouthi , 26, was shot dead after stabbing an Israeli soldier at the entrance of Abud village, west of Ramallah, at noon Friday.
Earlier Friday, a Palestinian ambulance transferred the body of the martyr Abdel-Rahman al-Barghouthi to the hospital after being shot and killed by Israeli fire for carrying out a stabbing attack against an Israeli soldier.
Quds Press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that PA forces were deployed throughout the surrounding areas following the body’s arrival to the hospital.
However, a Palestinian security official ordered PA forces to withdraw from the area as an “Israeli security activity” is scheduled to be carried out in the city.
High tension was reported in the hospital as dozens of youths and the martyr’s family maintained vigil at the external gate to prevent any Israeli attempt to steal the body of their son.
Along the same line, clashes broke out between locals and Israeli forces at the entrance of the city. No injuries were reported during the clashes.
Abdel-Rahman al-Barghouthi , 26, was shot dead after stabbing an Israeli soldier at the entrance of Abud village, west of Ramallah, at noon Friday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported, Friday, that the Israeli army killed two Palestinians, one of them a U.S citizen, in two separate incidents in the Central West Bank district of Ramallah; four Palestinians killed on Friday, dozens injured. 114 killed since October 1.
On Friday afternoon, the soldiers killed Abdul-Rahman Wajeeh Barghouthi, 27, in 'Aboud village, west of Ramallah.
The slain Palestinian is also a citizen of the United States of America, where he lives with his family.
Medical sources said Barghouthi was shot with two live rounds in his neck and arm; he died at the scene before medics were able to reach him due to Israeli military restrictions.
Israeli sources said an Israeli soldier, 20, was seriously injured, reportedly after being stabbed by Barghouthi, and was moved to the Tal HaShomer Medical Center.
Eyewitnesses said Barghouthi was walking near the main entrance of 'Aboud village, heading back home after visiting his fiancé in Deir Ghassana nearby village, and that the soldiers shot and killed him, before tossing a knife next to his body.
A Red Crescent Ambulance moved the body of Barghouthi to the Salfit Governmental Hospital. Israeli soldiers tried to chase the ambulance to snatch the body of the slain Palestinian, but were unable to do so.
The army also installed various roadblocks, and pushed more units in the Ramallah and Salfit districts.
Salfit Governor ordered the Palestinian Security Forces to guard all hospitals, and prevent the Israeli soldiers from invading them.
On Friday evening, the soldiers killed Anas Bassam Hammad, 21, in Silwad town, east of Ramallah.
The army claimed Hammad rammed Israeli soldiers with his car, at the western entrance of Silwad town, mildly wounding two.
After shooting him, the soldiers invaded Silwad, and fired dozens of gas bombs at medics and residents, who tried to reach him in an attempt to move him to hospital.
The army also targeted dozens of Palestinian journalists and residents, wounding reporter Shatha Hammad from Silwad, and three other Palestinians. They were all moved to the Palestine Medical Center for treatment.
The slain Palestinian is a close friend and relative of 'Orwa Hammad, 14 years of age, a Palestinian-American child, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Silwad on Friday, October 24, 2014.
In addition, at least fourteen Palestinians were injured in Betunia and al-Biereh towns, in Ramallah, after the soldiers invaded them, and clashed with dozens of local youths, who hurled stones and empty bottles on them.
Medical sources said the soldiers shot and injured nine youngsters with live rounds, three with rubber-coated steel bullets, while dozens of residents suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, as many of those bombs directly struck Palestinian homes.
The soldiers used gas bomb launchers, attached to the top of their vehicles, and can fire 16 bombs in a single shot.
The army also invaded Jabal at-Tawil area, in al-Biereh city, and clashed with dozens of local youths. The soldiers fired live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and gas bombs.
Also, the army chased dozens of Palestinians in the streets and alleys of the city, and fired several gas bombs targeting a number of homes, and also prevented protesters from marching near Beit El settlement.
Earlier on Friday, the army killed two Palestinians, identified as Taher Faisal Fannoun, 17, and Mustafa Fadel Fannoun, 15, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 114 Palestinians, including 25 children and five women, have been killed by Israeli army in occupied Palestine since October 1. At least 13,500 Palestinians have been injured, 4800 of them with live rounds.
On Friday afternoon, the soldiers killed Abdul-Rahman Wajeeh Barghouthi, 27, in 'Aboud village, west of Ramallah.
The slain Palestinian is also a citizen of the United States of America, where he lives with his family.
Medical sources said Barghouthi was shot with two live rounds in his neck and arm; he died at the scene before medics were able to reach him due to Israeli military restrictions.
Israeli sources said an Israeli soldier, 20, was seriously injured, reportedly after being stabbed by Barghouthi, and was moved to the Tal HaShomer Medical Center.
Eyewitnesses said Barghouthi was walking near the main entrance of 'Aboud village, heading back home after visiting his fiancé in Deir Ghassana nearby village, and that the soldiers shot and killed him, before tossing a knife next to his body.
A Red Crescent Ambulance moved the body of Barghouthi to the Salfit Governmental Hospital. Israeli soldiers tried to chase the ambulance to snatch the body of the slain Palestinian, but were unable to do so.
The army also installed various roadblocks, and pushed more units in the Ramallah and Salfit districts.
Salfit Governor ordered the Palestinian Security Forces to guard all hospitals, and prevent the Israeli soldiers from invading them.
On Friday evening, the soldiers killed Anas Bassam Hammad, 21, in Silwad town, east of Ramallah.
The army claimed Hammad rammed Israeli soldiers with his car, at the western entrance of Silwad town, mildly wounding two.
After shooting him, the soldiers invaded Silwad, and fired dozens of gas bombs at medics and residents, who tried to reach him in an attempt to move him to hospital.
The army also targeted dozens of Palestinian journalists and residents, wounding reporter Shatha Hammad from Silwad, and three other Palestinians. They were all moved to the Palestine Medical Center for treatment.
The slain Palestinian is a close friend and relative of 'Orwa Hammad, 14 years of age, a Palestinian-American child, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Silwad on Friday, October 24, 2014.
In addition, at least fourteen Palestinians were injured in Betunia and al-Biereh towns, in Ramallah, after the soldiers invaded them, and clashed with dozens of local youths, who hurled stones and empty bottles on them.
Medical sources said the soldiers shot and injured nine youngsters with live rounds, three with rubber-coated steel bullets, while dozens of residents suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, as many of those bombs directly struck Palestinian homes.
The soldiers used gas bomb launchers, attached to the top of their vehicles, and can fire 16 bombs in a single shot.
The army also invaded Jabal at-Tawil area, in al-Biereh city, and clashed with dozens of local youths. The soldiers fired live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and gas bombs.
Also, the army chased dozens of Palestinians in the streets and alleys of the city, and fired several gas bombs targeting a number of homes, and also prevented protesters from marching near Beit El settlement.
Earlier on Friday, the army killed two Palestinians, identified as Taher Faisal Fannoun, 17, and Mustafa Fadel Fannoun, 15, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 114 Palestinians, including 25 children and five women, have been killed by Israeli army in occupied Palestine since October 1. At least 13,500 Palestinians have been injured, 4800 of them with live rounds.
4 dec 2015
About 1,160 Jewish settlers and intelligence officers desecrated the Aqsa Mosque last November, according to a recent report released by Qpress.
The report stated that most of the settlers' break-ins at the Mosque went smoothly during the month because of the tight Israeli security measures inside and outside the Islamic holy place.
The report also highlighted Israel's Judaization activities around the Aqsa Mosque compound, most notably its decision that gave the notorious Ir David (Elad) foundation jurisdiction over the Umayyad Palaces area at the southern wall of the Mosque.
On the last day of November, a plan to carry out a Jewish project known as Beit Haliba at the western wall of the Aqsa Mosque was approved at the behest of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli government also issued last month a verdict outlawing the Islamic Movement led by Sheikh Ra'ed Salah in addition to 20 other Palestinian civil organizations as punishment for their active defense of the Aqsa Mosque.
The report stated that most of the settlers' break-ins at the Mosque went smoothly during the month because of the tight Israeli security measures inside and outside the Islamic holy place.
The report also highlighted Israel's Judaization activities around the Aqsa Mosque compound, most notably its decision that gave the notorious Ir David (Elad) foundation jurisdiction over the Umayyad Palaces area at the southern wall of the Mosque.
On the last day of November, a plan to carry out a Jewish project known as Beit Haliba at the western wall of the Aqsa Mosque was approved at the behest of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli government also issued last month a verdict outlawing the Islamic Movement led by Sheikh Ra'ed Salah in addition to 20 other Palestinian civil organizations as punishment for their active defense of the Aqsa Mosque.
“It is not we, Palestinians, who are the terrorists, but rather the ones—Israelis—that have demolished our homes and turned us into homeless refugees, ” the brother of the slain Palestinian youth Ibrahim al-Akari said hours after the occupation troops reduced his brother’s home to mounds of rubble.
“One year has gone by since our brother was killed and taken away from us once and for all. However, the memories and traces of his anti-occupation activism still survive as if they were yesterday,” Akari said.
“What on earth has my brother’s family done to have their own and only home demolished?” Akari wondered. “Israel is turning every ordinary Palestinian into the most loathsome of all enemies.”
Addressing the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Akari said: “What sort of reactions do you expect from a people that you have turned homeless refugees, wandering in streets, shivering with cold and with no roofs over their heads? Someday, somewhere, you’ll be thrown into history’s dustbins just like dogs’ leftovers.”
“For Allah’s sake is there, anywhere else in the world, a terrorism that is more barbaric than the one perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians?” Akari further wondered.
Recalling Israeli aggressions on the al-Aqsa Mosque, he stated: "The events at al-Aqsa Mosque hurt us all. It is not we who are the terrorists, but rather those who harm Muslim holy sites, and who forbid the entrance of worshipers to the mosque. We have no problem with any Jew in the world, but those who intend to harm holy places and step on our honor, must be punished."
"The Israeli occupation government gives a green light to violations at al-Aqsa," he continued. "They are responsible for everything that's going on in Occupied Jerusalem. This government is foolish. He who is interested in peace does not harm holy places.”
“I am a schoolteacher, my students always ask me what's happening with al-Aqsa, and what answer can I give? Should I tell them that the third holiest site in Islam is being taken away from them and that they can no longer pray at it?” Akari further stated.
“One year has gone by since our brother was killed and taken away from us once and for all. However, the memories and traces of his anti-occupation activism still survive as if they were yesterday,” Akari said.
“What on earth has my brother’s family done to have their own and only home demolished?” Akari wondered. “Israel is turning every ordinary Palestinian into the most loathsome of all enemies.”
Addressing the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Akari said: “What sort of reactions do you expect from a people that you have turned homeless refugees, wandering in streets, shivering with cold and with no roofs over their heads? Someday, somewhere, you’ll be thrown into history’s dustbins just like dogs’ leftovers.”
“For Allah’s sake is there, anywhere else in the world, a terrorism that is more barbaric than the one perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians?” Akari further wondered.
Recalling Israeli aggressions on the al-Aqsa Mosque, he stated: "The events at al-Aqsa Mosque hurt us all. It is not we who are the terrorists, but rather those who harm Muslim holy sites, and who forbid the entrance of worshipers to the mosque. We have no problem with any Jew in the world, but those who intend to harm holy places and step on our honor, must be punished."
"The Israeli occupation government gives a green light to violations at al-Aqsa," he continued. "They are responsible for everything that's going on in Occupied Jerusalem. This government is foolish. He who is interested in peace does not harm holy places.”
“I am a schoolteacher, my students always ask me what's happening with al-Aqsa, and what answer can I give? Should I tell them that the third holiest site in Islam is being taken away from them and that they can no longer pray at it?” Akari further stated.
In a controversial move, Knesset member Moti Yogev from the Israeli right-wing party Jewish Home has re-submitted on Thursday a bill that would ban Adhan (prayer call) over loudspeakers.
Yogev claimed the five daily public prayer calls are disruptive and negatively affect the quality of life of non-Muslim residents living near Muslim neighborhoods, villages and cities in Israel.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the Galilee, Negev, Jerusalem, Tel, Aviv, Jaffa and central Israel routinely suffer from the calls of the muezzin,” the bill states.
In a similar step, MK Robert Olaitov, from the right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, submitted last year a bill to the Knesset urging the abolition of Adhan through loudspeakers.
Two years ago, Israeli Knesset member Anastasia Michaelli had submitted draft legislation to the Knesset to stop the Adhan being recited through loudspeakers.
Yogev claimed the five daily public prayer calls are disruptive and negatively affect the quality of life of non-Muslim residents living near Muslim neighborhoods, villages and cities in Israel.
“Hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the Galilee, Negev, Jerusalem, Tel, Aviv, Jaffa and central Israel routinely suffer from the calls of the muezzin,” the bill states.
In a similar step, MK Robert Olaitov, from the right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, submitted last year a bill to the Knesset urging the abolition of Adhan through loudspeakers.
Two years ago, Israeli Knesset member Anastasia Michaelli had submitted draft legislation to the Knesset to stop the Adhan being recited through loudspeakers.
3 dec 2015
Over the past month, a Palestinian young man was killed while 98 others were injured by Israeli gunfire in Gaza Strip.
In its monthly report, Hemaya Center for Human Rights documented 27 Israeli gunfire attacks along the borders of Gaza and three Israeli incursions.
The report also pointed out that 16 Israeli violations were carried out during November against Palestinian fishermen and their fishing boats off Gaza shores.
The Israeli-controlled Karem Abu Salem crossing was also closed for eight days during the reported period.
In its monthly report, Hemaya Center for Human Rights documented 27 Israeli gunfire attacks along the borders of Gaza and three Israeli incursions.
The report also pointed out that 16 Israeli violations were carried out during November against Palestinian fishermen and their fishing boats off Gaza shores.
The Israeli-controlled Karem Abu Salem crossing was also closed for eight days during the reported period.
2 dec 2015
By Hasan Afif El-Hasan
For outsiders, it is hard to sense the real character of Israel through all the artificial identity that has been imposed on it by its supporters without serious discussion about the Palestinians’ tragedy. Israel has imposed and tightened the harshest blockade and the brutal assaults and incursions on top of accumulated injustices against the Palestinian refugees in Gaza where thousands of civilians including children perished and many were injured, while the survivors are starved and their homes destroyed. Israel builds settlements on confiscated Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Jerusalem, enacted Jewish law of return for world-wide Jews, but it would not allow even one refugee from the Palestinian villages it had destroyed after 1948 to return to his/her home. And according to members of the Israeli military, the occupation soldiers practice torture and killing of the Palestinian civilians who do not threaten them just for fun and entertainment.
The Israeli governments and their Western supporters like the outsiders to believe that the Israeli military in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is essentially aimed at safeguarding the country from terror. And the notion in Israeli society is that the control of occupied lands is aimed at protecting its citizens from Palestinian terrorism. But human rights organizations and Israeli peace advocates and Israeli soldiers who had been stationed in the occupied lands tell completely different stories about how they treat the civilian Palestinians. They all report killings, arrests, raiding homes, demolishing houses, punishing the people collectively, and interrupting their daily life. They describe barbaric actions that do not seem to serve military needs or promote hope for peace.
A little known organization called “Breaking the Silence” compiled testimonies of more than a hundred ex-military members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who had served in the occupied lands. In its published book, “Our Harsh Logic,” the ex-soldiers describe in their own words and personal memoir a broad Israeli policy that is extremely inhumane and offensive against the civilians. The soldiers reveal the ugliness of Israel’s rule over the Palestinians, and offer a gripping and immediate record of oppression, brutality and hatred. These are a few examples of their testimonies in their own words:
A soldier who served in 2003 stated: “We went into the town of Tubas at three in the morning in a Safari and threw stun grenades in the street, for no reason except just to wake people up. This happened every day- a different force of my company did it each time, it was just part of the routine, part of our lives.” Another soldier said about his experience when serving in 2004, “We called it ‘happy Purim’, to stop people from sleeping. It means going into a village in the middle of the night, going around throwing stun grenades and making noise to demonstrate the presence of the military.” The rationale behind that kind of operation: “If the village initiates an operation, then we are going to initiate a lack of sleep. In general, maybe this creates the impression that the IDF is in the village at night, without having to do too much.”
Another soldier said one of the many things that shocked him during his service in the territories in 2009 was the midnight searches. He described a search he participated in, in a small village called Hares at two after midnight. “They [the military battalion commander] said there are sixty houses that have to be searched. We spread out over the whole village, took control of the school, smashed the door locks of the classrooms. One room was used as the investigation room for the Shin Bet, one room for detainees, and one room for the soldiers to rest. We went house by house, knocking on the families’ doors. They were scared to death, girls peeing in their pants with fear. We went into the house and turned everything upside down. We gathered the family in one room, put a guard there, the guard was told to keep his gun on them, and then we searched the whole house. We received another order that everyone born after 1980, doesn’t matter who, bring him in cuffed and blindfolded. We yelled at old people, one of them had an epileptic seizure. He did not speak Hebrew and they [soldiers] continued yelling at him. We did the rounds. Every house we went into, they took everyone between sixteen and twenty-nine and brought them to the school. They [detainees] sat tied up in the schoolyard. The commander told us the purpose of all this was to locate weapons. But we did not find any weapons in the end. We confiscated kitchen knives.”
“What shocked me the most was that there was also stealing. One soldier took twenty shekels. This was a very poor village. At one point, soldiers were saying, ‘What a bummer, there is nothing to steal.’ That was said in a conversation among the soldiers, after the action. There was a lot of joy among the soldiers at people’s misery; they were happy talking about it. There was a moment where a Palestinian they knew was mentally ill, yelled at us, but one soldier decided to beat him up anyway, so he smashed him. Then he hit him in the head with the butt of a gun, he was bleeding, and he was brought to the school along with everyone else. There were a pile of arrest orders signed by the battalion commander, ready, with one area left blank. They’d fill in that the name of the person was detained on suspicion of disturbing the peace. They just filled in the name and the reason for arrest. They smash the floor, turn over sofas, throw plants and pictures, turn over beds, break the closets, the tiles. And after all that, we left them for hours tied up and blindfolded in the school. The order came to free them at four in the afternoon. So that was more than twelve hours.”
Another soldier described the murder of a Palestinian who was not armed and had not posed a threat in 2002. He said, “We took over a central house, set up position, and one of the sharp shooters identified a man on a roof, two roofs away, I think he was fifty and seventy meters away, not armed. I looked at the man through the night vision-he was not armed. It was two in the morning. A man without arms [weapon], walking on the roof, just walking slowly around, perhaps meditating or praying. The company commander said: ‘Take him down [kill him].’ The sharpshooter fired, took him down. The company commander,–, ordered via radio, the death sentence for this man! A man who was not armed. The man was no threat to us, and the commander gave the order to shoot him. We’d laugh about it, we had code names for this incident: ‘the lookout,’ ‘the drummer,’ ‘the woman,’ ‘the old man,’ ‘the boy,’ and other ones.”
Another ex-soldier described his experience at a check point in 2005: “It was in Elkana, at a fence that separates the Jewish and Palestinian houses, and there’s still one Palestinian house on the Jewish side. They [the Israeli fence builders] made a mistake with the fence there, and because there’s a checkpoint, their whole family access was through the checkpoint. It was forbidden to cross if they don’t have this document or that permit. There was someone coming from the other side, we did not allow him to go in. He had a bag of grocery and documents and did not know why he could not go into his home. He really annoyed us by keep asking us to go to his family, and we decided to punish him, so we put him in a corner, with his bags, blindfolded and handcuffed as he sat there for four or five hours, just like that. When I was released from the army, I feel ashamed; I’m ashamed when I think about it.”
Another soldier talked about his experience while serving at a checkpoint in the West Bank in 2006: “We were four guys, three privates and a young commander, who’d never been at a checkpoint. You stand there, in the middle of the night between a village … it was north of Ramallah-Anata, I think. A checkpoint which all the students went through to Birzeit and whatever. I didn’t really understand why we were checking them, because they were crossing from a Palestinian side to a Palestinian side. They’re not going to Israel. They put me at a small guard post nearby and I see lot of students going to university and I am pointing my weapon at them. They are late to work but they had to wait until we allow them to go. What frightens me isn’t that we’d really do things like that to them, but we never treated them with respect and they no longer have the same worth to us as other human beings.”
Another soldier from Nahal Brigade unit stationed in Hebron in 2004 said, “Our battalion was there to uphold a certain status. One of the most frustrating things in Hebron is that the settlers don’t care, they do whatever they want, even if they are just a meter away from you [the soldiers]. We put up partitions in the middle of the road, the Palestinians crossed on one side and the Jews on the other. Now, the number of the Palestinians crossing the road was ten times more than the number of Jews who crossed them. I am talking about hundreds, every morning and went on their side. There was one Palestinian woman who tried to cross the road on the Jewish side. I came and said to her, ‘Madam, lf you cross I will shoot you, and I had my weapon pointed at her.’ The other Palestinians shouted at her stop stop come back. She got quiet and went back. On the same day, there was a family of something like ten or fifteen Jews and they walked in the road, like free style on both of the crossings. And I go there and say to one of the Jews, ‘Listen, sir, we partitioned the road for some reason, I’m asking you to wait.’ He[the Jewish man] said’ Who do you think you are? This is my road, this is my town. I do whatever I want’.”
“That one, and another situation in the same place where a Palestinian father on the Palestinian side of the road with his son at his side, and then four settler children showed up. They picked up a rock, threw it at the Palestinian boy. I yelled at them, but I cannot lift a hand against settler children. I cannot threaten them with my weapon. If the situation was the reverse and an Arab boy picked up a rock against a Jewish boy, then we’d have to handcuff him, blindfold him, send him wherever, follow the orders. If a Palestinian boy started not doing what I told him, like the Jewish guy who said, ‘who do you think you are,’ I ‘d have to start shooting in the air, then at his feet, all kinds of things like that. There were incidents like that in Hebron.”
After choosing to stay in endless wars and turning into a militaristic chauvinist state, the threat to Israel is not the Palestinians or the Arab states; it is the moral threat of denying the Palestinians’ elementary rights and eradicating their history and existence. The desire for peace never existed even on the fringes of Israeli society. The ongoing occupation and the fear of the growing Palestinian population that has created xenophobia, racism and savagery has taken its moral toll on the Israelis. The fascist ideas that attracted many right-wing Europeans in the 1930s and victimized Jews in Europe are being endorsed by most leading politicians in the ruling Israeli circles. Israel’s claims to democracy are not supported by its terror actions. Its policy toward the vulnerable occupied Palestinians casts a dark shadow over Israel’s democracy and history.
– Hasan Afif El-Hasan, Ph.D. is a political analyst. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
For outsiders, it is hard to sense the real character of Israel through all the artificial identity that has been imposed on it by its supporters without serious discussion about the Palestinians’ tragedy. Israel has imposed and tightened the harshest blockade and the brutal assaults and incursions on top of accumulated injustices against the Palestinian refugees in Gaza where thousands of civilians including children perished and many were injured, while the survivors are starved and their homes destroyed. Israel builds settlements on confiscated Palestinian lands in the West Bank and Jerusalem, enacted Jewish law of return for world-wide Jews, but it would not allow even one refugee from the Palestinian villages it had destroyed after 1948 to return to his/her home. And according to members of the Israeli military, the occupation soldiers practice torture and killing of the Palestinian civilians who do not threaten them just for fun and entertainment.
The Israeli governments and their Western supporters like the outsiders to believe that the Israeli military in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza is essentially aimed at safeguarding the country from terror. And the notion in Israeli society is that the control of occupied lands is aimed at protecting its citizens from Palestinian terrorism. But human rights organizations and Israeli peace advocates and Israeli soldiers who had been stationed in the occupied lands tell completely different stories about how they treat the civilian Palestinians. They all report killings, arrests, raiding homes, demolishing houses, punishing the people collectively, and interrupting their daily life. They describe barbaric actions that do not seem to serve military needs or promote hope for peace.
A little known organization called “Breaking the Silence” compiled testimonies of more than a hundred ex-military members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who had served in the occupied lands. In its published book, “Our Harsh Logic,” the ex-soldiers describe in their own words and personal memoir a broad Israeli policy that is extremely inhumane and offensive against the civilians. The soldiers reveal the ugliness of Israel’s rule over the Palestinians, and offer a gripping and immediate record of oppression, brutality and hatred. These are a few examples of their testimonies in their own words:
A soldier who served in 2003 stated: “We went into the town of Tubas at three in the morning in a Safari and threw stun grenades in the street, for no reason except just to wake people up. This happened every day- a different force of my company did it each time, it was just part of the routine, part of our lives.” Another soldier said about his experience when serving in 2004, “We called it ‘happy Purim’, to stop people from sleeping. It means going into a village in the middle of the night, going around throwing stun grenades and making noise to demonstrate the presence of the military.” The rationale behind that kind of operation: “If the village initiates an operation, then we are going to initiate a lack of sleep. In general, maybe this creates the impression that the IDF is in the village at night, without having to do too much.”
Another soldier said one of the many things that shocked him during his service in the territories in 2009 was the midnight searches. He described a search he participated in, in a small village called Hares at two after midnight. “They [the military battalion commander] said there are sixty houses that have to be searched. We spread out over the whole village, took control of the school, smashed the door locks of the classrooms. One room was used as the investigation room for the Shin Bet, one room for detainees, and one room for the soldiers to rest. We went house by house, knocking on the families’ doors. They were scared to death, girls peeing in their pants with fear. We went into the house and turned everything upside down. We gathered the family in one room, put a guard there, the guard was told to keep his gun on them, and then we searched the whole house. We received another order that everyone born after 1980, doesn’t matter who, bring him in cuffed and blindfolded. We yelled at old people, one of them had an epileptic seizure. He did not speak Hebrew and they [soldiers] continued yelling at him. We did the rounds. Every house we went into, they took everyone between sixteen and twenty-nine and brought them to the school. They [detainees] sat tied up in the schoolyard. The commander told us the purpose of all this was to locate weapons. But we did not find any weapons in the end. We confiscated kitchen knives.”
“What shocked me the most was that there was also stealing. One soldier took twenty shekels. This was a very poor village. At one point, soldiers were saying, ‘What a bummer, there is nothing to steal.’ That was said in a conversation among the soldiers, after the action. There was a lot of joy among the soldiers at people’s misery; they were happy talking about it. There was a moment where a Palestinian they knew was mentally ill, yelled at us, but one soldier decided to beat him up anyway, so he smashed him. Then he hit him in the head with the butt of a gun, he was bleeding, and he was brought to the school along with everyone else. There were a pile of arrest orders signed by the battalion commander, ready, with one area left blank. They’d fill in that the name of the person was detained on suspicion of disturbing the peace. They just filled in the name and the reason for arrest. They smash the floor, turn over sofas, throw plants and pictures, turn over beds, break the closets, the tiles. And after all that, we left them for hours tied up and blindfolded in the school. The order came to free them at four in the afternoon. So that was more than twelve hours.”
Another soldier described the murder of a Palestinian who was not armed and had not posed a threat in 2002. He said, “We took over a central house, set up position, and one of the sharp shooters identified a man on a roof, two roofs away, I think he was fifty and seventy meters away, not armed. I looked at the man through the night vision-he was not armed. It was two in the morning. A man without arms [weapon], walking on the roof, just walking slowly around, perhaps meditating or praying. The company commander said: ‘Take him down [kill him].’ The sharpshooter fired, took him down. The company commander,–, ordered via radio, the death sentence for this man! A man who was not armed. The man was no threat to us, and the commander gave the order to shoot him. We’d laugh about it, we had code names for this incident: ‘the lookout,’ ‘the drummer,’ ‘the woman,’ ‘the old man,’ ‘the boy,’ and other ones.”
Another ex-soldier described his experience at a check point in 2005: “It was in Elkana, at a fence that separates the Jewish and Palestinian houses, and there’s still one Palestinian house on the Jewish side. They [the Israeli fence builders] made a mistake with the fence there, and because there’s a checkpoint, their whole family access was through the checkpoint. It was forbidden to cross if they don’t have this document or that permit. There was someone coming from the other side, we did not allow him to go in. He had a bag of grocery and documents and did not know why he could not go into his home. He really annoyed us by keep asking us to go to his family, and we decided to punish him, so we put him in a corner, with his bags, blindfolded and handcuffed as he sat there for four or five hours, just like that. When I was released from the army, I feel ashamed; I’m ashamed when I think about it.”
Another soldier talked about his experience while serving at a checkpoint in the West Bank in 2006: “We were four guys, three privates and a young commander, who’d never been at a checkpoint. You stand there, in the middle of the night between a village … it was north of Ramallah-Anata, I think. A checkpoint which all the students went through to Birzeit and whatever. I didn’t really understand why we were checking them, because they were crossing from a Palestinian side to a Palestinian side. They’re not going to Israel. They put me at a small guard post nearby and I see lot of students going to university and I am pointing my weapon at them. They are late to work but they had to wait until we allow them to go. What frightens me isn’t that we’d really do things like that to them, but we never treated them with respect and they no longer have the same worth to us as other human beings.”
Another soldier from Nahal Brigade unit stationed in Hebron in 2004 said, “Our battalion was there to uphold a certain status. One of the most frustrating things in Hebron is that the settlers don’t care, they do whatever they want, even if they are just a meter away from you [the soldiers]. We put up partitions in the middle of the road, the Palestinians crossed on one side and the Jews on the other. Now, the number of the Palestinians crossing the road was ten times more than the number of Jews who crossed them. I am talking about hundreds, every morning and went on their side. There was one Palestinian woman who tried to cross the road on the Jewish side. I came and said to her, ‘Madam, lf you cross I will shoot you, and I had my weapon pointed at her.’ The other Palestinians shouted at her stop stop come back. She got quiet and went back. On the same day, there was a family of something like ten or fifteen Jews and they walked in the road, like free style on both of the crossings. And I go there and say to one of the Jews, ‘Listen, sir, we partitioned the road for some reason, I’m asking you to wait.’ He[the Jewish man] said’ Who do you think you are? This is my road, this is my town. I do whatever I want’.”
“That one, and another situation in the same place where a Palestinian father on the Palestinian side of the road with his son at his side, and then four settler children showed up. They picked up a rock, threw it at the Palestinian boy. I yelled at them, but I cannot lift a hand against settler children. I cannot threaten them with my weapon. If the situation was the reverse and an Arab boy picked up a rock against a Jewish boy, then we’d have to handcuff him, blindfold him, send him wherever, follow the orders. If a Palestinian boy started not doing what I told him, like the Jewish guy who said, ‘who do you think you are,’ I ‘d have to start shooting in the air, then at his feet, all kinds of things like that. There were incidents like that in Hebron.”
After choosing to stay in endless wars and turning into a militaristic chauvinist state, the threat to Israel is not the Palestinians or the Arab states; it is the moral threat of denying the Palestinians’ elementary rights and eradicating their history and existence. The desire for peace never existed even on the fringes of Israeli society. The ongoing occupation and the fear of the growing Palestinian population that has created xenophobia, racism and savagery has taken its moral toll on the Israelis. The fascist ideas that attracted many right-wing Europeans in the 1930s and victimized Jews in Europe are being endorsed by most leading politicians in the ruling Israeli circles. Israel’s claims to democracy are not supported by its terror actions. Its policy toward the vulnerable occupied Palestinians casts a dark shadow over Israel’s democracy and history.
– Hasan Afif El-Hasan, Ph.D. is a political analyst. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
A number of sick Palestinian children and a woman were left injured after the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided an area near the Maqasid hospital, in Occupied Jerusalem, and discharged spates of tear gas canisters.
Eyewitnesses said the IOF rolled into the area and targeted the vicinity of the Maqasid hospital with randomly-shot tear gas grenades.
A number of tear gas canisters were slammed into the intensive care and pediatrics sections at the Maqasid hospital, causing critical breathing disorders among hospitalized children and a woman.
Medics at the hospital spoke out against the state of panic triggered by the raid among the patients and their accompanying persons.
The hospital administration called on all international and civil human rights organizations to urgently intervene and put an end to Israel’s violations of the sanctity of hospitals and of international laws.
Palestinian hospitals and medical centers have often been the scene of similar raids.
The Israeli raids on Palestinian hospitals and the attacks on medical staff and patients are a breach of international laws, which prohibit attacking medical facilities under any circumstances.
Eyewitnesses said the IOF rolled into the area and targeted the vicinity of the Maqasid hospital with randomly-shot tear gas grenades.
A number of tear gas canisters were slammed into the intensive care and pediatrics sections at the Maqasid hospital, causing critical breathing disorders among hospitalized children and a woman.
Medics at the hospital spoke out against the state of panic triggered by the raid among the patients and their accompanying persons.
The hospital administration called on all international and civil human rights organizations to urgently intervene and put an end to Israel’s violations of the sanctity of hospitals and of international laws.
Palestinian hospitals and medical centers have often been the scene of similar raids.
The Israeli raids on Palestinian hospitals and the attacks on medical staff and patients are a breach of international laws, which prohibit attacking medical facilities under any circumstances.
Israeli so-called temple mount organizations announced their intent to launch mass break-ins at Muslims’ the holy al-Aqsa Mosque to mark the Festival of Lights—Hanukkah.
Addressing dozens of its fanatic backers on social media networks, the organizations launched calls for mass sacrilegious break-ins from 2 to 10 December.
A set of desecration rituals and sermons on the counterfeit history of the alleged temple mount are expected to be performed all along the event.
A candlelight march is also set to sweep Jerusalem’s Old City during Muslims’ evening prayers at al-Aqsa to push for the destruction of such a sacred place of worship and for the establishment of the alleged temple.
The campaign falls in line with the striking surge in Israeli aggressions on Muslims’ al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—in an attempt to wipe out its typically Islamic character and hold sway over it.
Addressing dozens of its fanatic backers on social media networks, the organizations launched calls for mass sacrilegious break-ins from 2 to 10 December.
A set of desecration rituals and sermons on the counterfeit history of the alleged temple mount are expected to be performed all along the event.
A candlelight march is also set to sweep Jerusalem’s Old City during Muslims’ evening prayers at al-Aqsa to push for the destruction of such a sacred place of worship and for the establishment of the alleged temple.
The campaign falls in line with the striking surge in Israeli aggressions on Muslims’ al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—in an attempt to wipe out its typically Islamic character and hold sway over it.
1 dec 2015
State Prosecutor Shai NItzan
Shai Nitzan tells high school students that it is forbidden to resort to violence against a handcuffed terrorist: 'you are not Van Damme.'
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan warned high schools students on Monday against lynching a neutralized terrorist, arguing that "you are not Van Damme."
Speaking to the students during an online lecture on human rights, Nitzan stressed the importance of leaders making it clear to the public that they must not take the law into their own hands and attack a neutralized terrorist, warning that "whoever act violently against a terrorist who no longer presents a danger will be prosecuted."
Nitzan said that education classes must be held in each school to explain to young people what is allowed and what is forbidden during terrorist attacks in order for Israel to maintain its humanity.
"Once the terrorist is neutralized, there should not be violence done to them by a citizen. If he is handcuffed it is forbidden to beat him up. It is forbidden to hit. You are not Van Damme. You're not the police, not judges, not God."
Nitzan quoted the Talmud which states that "If someone comes to kill you, get up early to kill him first," but called to exercise discretion.
"If a policeman sees someone trying to stab another person, it is clear that it his obligation to remove the danger and if the only way is to shoot the stabber, this is his duty as a cop. One must not shoot him in the center of the body in order to kill him. If he is too close, then you can fire at the center of the body only if it is essential to remove the danger," he said.
However, the state prosecutor made it clear that if anyone misjudges the danger and the error is genuine and reasonable, he will be protected before the law.
"One is permitted to use violence during a terrorist attack only when required. Whoever resorts to violence, even against a terrorist, will be prosecuted because we live in a state of law," he explained.
Nitzan's lecture also addressed the issue of the demolition of terrorists' houses and said that it was "a very extreme step that Israel tries to avoid due to the fact that innocent people are hurt."
However, Nitzan said that security officials presented evidence before the High Court that showed that house demolitions is an effective deterrent for some of those who are planning attacks.
Nitzan also called on young people to refrain from incitement on the internet. According to him, it is possible to express any opinion, but not incitement to racism and violence.
"It's evil and accomplishes nothing but release stress and frustration. The Jewish people endured two thousand years of racism and know that it can lead to bad acts. We can not go down that road because it is immoral and contradicts the heritage of Judaism and Islam," he asserted.
Shai Nitzan tells high school students that it is forbidden to resort to violence against a handcuffed terrorist: 'you are not Van Damme.'
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan warned high schools students on Monday against lynching a neutralized terrorist, arguing that "you are not Van Damme."
Speaking to the students during an online lecture on human rights, Nitzan stressed the importance of leaders making it clear to the public that they must not take the law into their own hands and attack a neutralized terrorist, warning that "whoever act violently against a terrorist who no longer presents a danger will be prosecuted."
Nitzan said that education classes must be held in each school to explain to young people what is allowed and what is forbidden during terrorist attacks in order for Israel to maintain its humanity.
"Once the terrorist is neutralized, there should not be violence done to them by a citizen. If he is handcuffed it is forbidden to beat him up. It is forbidden to hit. You are not Van Damme. You're not the police, not judges, not God."
Nitzan quoted the Talmud which states that "If someone comes to kill you, get up early to kill him first," but called to exercise discretion.
"If a policeman sees someone trying to stab another person, it is clear that it his obligation to remove the danger and if the only way is to shoot the stabber, this is his duty as a cop. One must not shoot him in the center of the body in order to kill him. If he is too close, then you can fire at the center of the body only if it is essential to remove the danger," he said.
However, the state prosecutor made it clear that if anyone misjudges the danger and the error is genuine and reasonable, he will be protected before the law.
"One is permitted to use violence during a terrorist attack only when required. Whoever resorts to violence, even against a terrorist, will be prosecuted because we live in a state of law," he explained.
Nitzan's lecture also addressed the issue of the demolition of terrorists' houses and said that it was "a very extreme step that Israel tries to avoid due to the fact that innocent people are hurt."
However, Nitzan said that security officials presented evidence before the High Court that showed that house demolitions is an effective deterrent for some of those who are planning attacks.
Nitzan also called on young people to refrain from incitement on the internet. According to him, it is possible to express any opinion, but not incitement to racism and violence.
"It's evil and accomplishes nothing but release stress and frustration. The Jewish people endured two thousand years of racism and know that it can lead to bad acts. We can not go down that road because it is immoral and contradicts the heritage of Judaism and Islam," he asserted.
The Israeli military and security forces kidnapped and detained 914 Palestinians during the current month from different West Bank areas, according to a recent report released by the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).
40 percent of those detainees were minors and children, and there were also 29 women and young girls.
Since al-Quds intifada (uprising) started in early October, 2,500 Palestinians were either detained or jailed by Israel, the report stated.
The report asserted that all the detainees and their families had been exposed to some forms of maltreatment, humiliation or punishment by Israeli soldiers and policemen since the start of the intifada.
40 percent of those detainees were minors and children, and there were also 29 women and young girls.
Since al-Quds intifada (uprising) started in early October, 2,500 Palestinians were either detained or jailed by Israel, the report stated.
The report asserted that all the detainees and their families had been exposed to some forms of maltreatment, humiliation or punishment by Israeli soldiers and policemen since the start of the intifada.
Hours after shaking Prime Minister Netanyahu's hand, Abbas lashes out at Israel for destroying PA's natural resources.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for all the ecological problems in the Palestinian territories on Monday at the COP21 summit in Paris, mere hours after shaking hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking to world leaders at the United Nations summit, Abbas said that the Palestinian's "resources are being usurped, our trees are being uprooted, our agriculture is being destroyed."
Abbas told world leaders that the Palestinian Authority had made “great progress” in adopting climate change laws, but claimed that the “continued Israeli occupation and violation of international laws related to the environment” was challenging their implementation.
At the same time Abbas claimed that the PA was still interested in peace with Israel. “Our hand is still extended in peace to our neighbors,” he said. “In the meantime, we will continue to build our state based on modern and democratic principles.”
This verbal attack came just hours after Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu shook hands on the sidelines of the summit in their first meeting since 2010. The meeting between the two leaders was very brief and they did not hold any form of official talks.
Later, Netanyahu said that the handshake with Abbas was "protocol. Its important that world sees we are willing to talk. I have no illusions about Abbas."
The heads of more than 150 nations kicked off 12 days of talks in search of an elusive pact that would indirectly restructure the world economy, weaning it off fossil fuels that stoke global warming.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for all the ecological problems in the Palestinian territories on Monday at the COP21 summit in Paris, mere hours after shaking hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking to world leaders at the United Nations summit, Abbas said that the Palestinian's "resources are being usurped, our trees are being uprooted, our agriculture is being destroyed."
Abbas told world leaders that the Palestinian Authority had made “great progress” in adopting climate change laws, but claimed that the “continued Israeli occupation and violation of international laws related to the environment” was challenging their implementation.
At the same time Abbas claimed that the PA was still interested in peace with Israel. “Our hand is still extended in peace to our neighbors,” he said. “In the meantime, we will continue to build our state based on modern and democratic principles.”
This verbal attack came just hours after Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu shook hands on the sidelines of the summit in their first meeting since 2010. The meeting between the two leaders was very brief and they did not hold any form of official talks.
Later, Netanyahu said that the handshake with Abbas was "protocol. Its important that world sees we are willing to talk. I have no illusions about Abbas."
The heads of more than 150 nations kicked off 12 days of talks in search of an elusive pact that would indirectly restructure the world economy, weaning it off fossil fuels that stoke global warming.
30 nov 2015
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has met the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday afternoon at the UN Climate Summit.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper said that Netanyahu and Abbas shake hands at the conference, pointing out that the meeting was the first face to face exchange since 2010.
According to the newspaper, Netanyahu and Abbas shook hands during a “family photo” of the nearly 150 world leaders gathered here for the climate conference.
The meeting comes as tensions remain high in the occupied territories where 106 Palestinians were shot and killed while thousands others were injured since the outbreak of Jerusalem Intifada on October 1 in protest against Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem.
Haaretz Hebrew newspaper said that Netanyahu and Abbas shake hands at the conference, pointing out that the meeting was the first face to face exchange since 2010.
According to the newspaper, Netanyahu and Abbas shook hands during a “family photo” of the nearly 150 world leaders gathered here for the climate conference.
The meeting comes as tensions remain high in the occupied territories where 106 Palestinians were shot and killed while thousands others were injured since the outbreak of Jerusalem Intifada on October 1 in protest against Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem.
Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka criticized UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and US secretary of state John Kerry for their attempts to stop al-Quds intifada (uprising) to save Israel.
Addressing the 24th congress of the union of Islamic organizations in Istanbul on Sunday, Baraka urged the leaders and peoples of the Islamic countries to provide the Palestinian intifada with political, economic, media and financial support.
He also called on them to urgently move to protect the Aqsa Mosque against Israel's Judaization and division plans.
The Hamas official affirmed that the Israeli government took advantage of the events and conflicts in the Islamic world to finish off the Palestinian cause and carry out its Judaization schemes in Jerusalem.
Addressing the 24th congress of the union of Islamic organizations in Istanbul on Sunday, Baraka urged the leaders and peoples of the Islamic countries to provide the Palestinian intifada with political, economic, media and financial support.
He also called on them to urgently move to protect the Aqsa Mosque against Israel's Judaization and division plans.
The Hamas official affirmed that the Israeli government took advantage of the events and conflicts in the Islamic world to finish off the Palestinian cause and carry out its Judaization schemes in Jerusalem.