[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Palestine and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Palestine Page co-editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each roundup to Palestine@jadaliyya.com.]
The Occupation Forces
Israeli Undercover Units Nab Youth After Beating Him and His Father Israeli undercover units grabbed a Palestinian youth as he was driving with his father in the eastern neighborhood of Dahiyat Shuweika, north of Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, according to the youth’s father. The father told WAFA that an undercover Israeli unit driving a Palestinian-registered van intercepted their car and forced them to stop before proceeding to smash the rear windows of their car.
Israeli Army Detains 10 Palestinians From Across the West Bank The Israeli army detained early Tuesday ten Palestinians from across the West Bank, including a child, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. It said soldiers raided the town of Yatta in the south of the West Bank and detained Nour Abdul Aziz al-Hindi, fifteen, after raiding his home and searching it.
UPDATE: Israeli Navy Shoots, Injures Three Palestinian Protesters Northwestern Gaza Shore At least three Palestinians were shot and injured, and dozens of others suffocated as the Israeli navy opened fire on Palestinian boats sailing in the Gaza sea, off the northwestern shore of the city of Gaza, said sources. Israeli naval boats opened fire on a number of boats carrying Palestinian protesters sailing in Gaza sea as part of the Great March of Return protests, shooting and injuring at least three protesters with live ammunition.
Palestinian Killed By Israeli Forces After Alleged Car Attack The Israeli army shot dead a Palestinian man after he allegedly rammed his car into a group of soldiers on a road junction near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society identified the driver as Ramzi Abu Yabis from the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem.
Hamas Publishes Images of 'Israelis involved in Gaza covert unit' The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades posted pictures of eight alleged members of the Israeli force, including two women, on its official website, as well as pictures of two vehicles used by the force during the botched operation on 11 November In a statement, the group called on Palestinians to communicate to them any information they might have regarding these pe but provided no further details on the identities of those pictured.
NGO: Most Palestinian Demonstrators Shot in Gaza Not in Immediate Vicinity of Fence The majority of Palestinian demonstrators injured by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Gaza Strip since March were not in the immediate vicinity of the perimeter fence when shot, according to newly-published research by Israeli NGO B’Tselem. Over recent months, B’Tselem field researchers in the occupied Gaza Strip conducted an extensive survey of hundreds of protesters who were shot and injured, including dozens of children. In total, fifty-eight percent of the hundreds of injured demonstrators surveyed by B’Tselem were “not in the immediate vicinity of the fence” when shot by Israeli soldiers.
Domestic Policy
Fatah Delegation Arrives in Cairo to Complete Reconciliation Talks A delegation of the Fatah movement arrived in Cairo on Sunday to discuss Egyptian reconciliations and to finalize talks between Fatah and Hamas. Palestinian sources said that the visit of the Fatah officials to Cairo is in wake of Egypt’s continued efforts to achieve a long-term truce between the groups and Israel. The talks aimed to complete the reconciliation and meetings with Egyptian officials were had including follow-up developments in the Palestinian area.
Parliamentarian Delegation from Gaza Heads to Arab, Islamic Countries A delegation of Palestinian MPs from the Hamas bloc in the Palestinian parliament left the Gaza Strip yesterday to begin a tour of a number of Arab and Islamic countries, Quds Press reported. The delegation of the Change and Reform Bloc was headed by MP Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior member of Hamas political bureau. In a statement, the group said that it would mobilize support for the Palestinian cause on both the official, parliamentarian and popular levels. The delegation did not give details of which countries it would be visiting.
Foreign Policy
Israel 'moving rapidly' Towards Annexation: UN Envoy Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, urged the General Assembly to act to stop Israel’s annexation of the West Bank via settlement expansion in a report last month. Failing to do so will likely prompt Israel to formalize annexation into domestic law, Lynk warned, adding that most Israeli cabinet ministers have advocated for some form of annexation of the West Bank.
India to Finance Construction of National Printing Press in Palestine The Palestinian Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara and India’s Cosmas International Company signed a contract, on Thursday, for the construction of a national printing press in Palestine. Bishara said in a statement that the national printing press will be financed by India and will cost five million dollars.
Bill to Recognize Palestine Submitted to UK House of Commons A bill to officially recognize Palestinian state was submitted to the House of Commons by the first British Palestinian MP, Laula Moran, on Wednesday. She said: “Whilst I appreciate that the United Kingdom recognizing the state of Palestine alone will not be a solution, doing it would go some way to reigniting the spark of hope that has gone out in the heart of Palestinians across the world.”
EU Condemns Israeli Demolitions in Shuafat Refugee Camp The European Union on Saturday evening condemned Israel’s demolition of around twenty structures in Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, as well as the continued Israeli settlement expansion in the city. The demolitions were part of the Israeli municipality’s new policy of extending the reach of municipal enforcement to refugee camps in Jerusalem.
Trump: US Troops will Stay in Middle East to Protect Israel In an interview with the Washington Post yesterday, Trump explained that he would not withdraw US troops from the region because of the need to support Israel, despite the fact that other US concerns such as oil were no longer sufficient reason to remain. It is no secret that the United States provides extensive military support to Israel.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Israel to Seize Hundreds of Dunams in Jordan Valley Israeli authorities decided to seize hundreds of dunams of Palestinian land, which belongs to the Catholic Church, in an area in the northern Jordan Valley, on Tuesday. Mutaz Bisharat, a Palestinian official in charge of Jordan Valley's Israeli settlements file at the Palestinian Authority, told Ma’an that Israeli authorities have issued a decision to seize sixty-six acres of land belonging to the Catholic Church.
Israeli Forces, Settlers Seize Palestinian Land in NablusIsraeli settlers seized a part of Palestinian-owned land in Jalud village, south of the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli outpost of Ahiya seized about ten dunams of land, near Palestinian homes built in the village’s land classified as Area C.
Israeli Court Approves Eviction of 100 Palestinian Families From Silwan The Israeli Supreme Court approved, on Thursday, a decision to remove dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem, after rejecting a petition by the families. The Israeli Supreme Court also allowed the Israeli-Jewish settler group, Ateret Cohanim, to continue with plans to expel seven hundred Palestinians from their homes, claiming the homes were built on lands owned by Jews before 1948.
Netanyahu Says “no settlement will be evacuated” in His Time Speaking at a Likud party meeting on the thriving Israeli relations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he received an invitation to visit Chad and that he would make the visit. During the meeting as well, Netanyahu reassured his Likud faction that the central West Bank Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar will be razed “very soon.”
New Settlements Planned in The Heart of The West Bank The Israeli government on Sunday approved a map of “national priority” areas, including a number of settlements in the heart of the occupied West Bank. The settlements referred to are: Magron, Shvut Rahal, and Kerem Re’em, usually referred to as “isolated settlements” because they are built outside major settlement blocs in the West Bank. The Israeli Ministry of Housing has also decided to return the settlement of Ariel to the map, after it was removed from it in the past.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions Movement
Pro-Palestine Groups Urge Artists to Boycott Eurovision in Israel Manchester Palestine Action, Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine posted a tweet, urging songwriters and performers to boycott the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in Tel Aviv. All three pro-Palestine groups, who are part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, called on “all concerned individuals to take a stand for the Palestinians, still occupied, still violently forced from their land and still killed mercilessly under Israel's apartheid regime.”
Israeli Academics Pull Out of South Africa Conference After Pro-Palestinian Pressure Several Israeli academics have withdrawn from a conference in South Africa scheduled for December following pressure by Palestinian solidarity groups in the country. Their decision purportedly comes after Palestinian solidarity organizations in South Africa called for their withdrawal from the four-day event featuring some 350 people from twenty-three countries have registered for the conference.
Sultan Qaboos 'broke Omani law' By Hosting Israel's Netanyahu: BDS Activists Oman's Sultan Qaboos al-Said may have breached a law forbidding ties with Israel that he issued himself, when he hosted a surprise visit by Benjamin Netanyahu in Muscat last month, BDS campaigners in the country have told Middle East Eye. The law bans import of Israeli goods and prohibits making deals with Israel, punishing these actions with three to ten years in prison with hard labor.
Kentucky Bans Working With BDS Supporters Kentucky has become the twenty-sixth US state to ban state contracts with organizations that support the boycott of Israel. Denouncing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as anti-Semitic and “repugnant,” Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin signed an executive order last week barring state contracts with companies that support a boycott of the State of Israel.
US College Faculty Backs pro-BDS Motions Faculty at Pitzer College in California have “overwhelmingly voted to pass two motions providing support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for Palestinian rights,” according to a press release by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel yesterday. The first motion rejected Pitzer’s president’s decision last year to nullify a Student Senate BDS resolution, while the second urged Pitzer to suspend academic exchange programs with the University of Haifa.
Law
Palestinian Hunger-Striking Prisoner Refuses Water The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs Committee confirmed, on Tuesday, that Palestinian prisoner, Mahmoud Atallah, continues his open hunger strike for the fifteenth day against being held in solitary confinement for over five months. The committee pointed out that Atallah’s health has deteriorated as he stopped drinking water. The committee added that Atallah, a resident from the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, has been imprisoned for seventeen years and is currently held in solitary confinement in the Israeli prison of Ashkelon.
Palestinian Prisoner's Wife Gives Birth for 2nd Time Using Smuggled SpermThe wife of a Palestinian prisoner gave birth after she had conceived from smuggled sperm from her husband, who is serving an imprisonment of twenty-seven years in Israeli prisons. According to Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, the wife of Palestinian prisoner Saed Muhammad Ali Salah, from Kafr Dan village in the northern West Bank district of Jenin, gave birth to a baby boy named Ayyed at the Specialized Arab Hospital in Nablus from her husband's smuggled sperm.
Airbnb Faces Israeli Lawsuit For Delisting Illegal Settlements Maanit Rabinovich, an Israeli settler from the illegal Kida settlement, said in her filing request that the Airbnb’s decision to remove listings located in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank constitutes “severe, offensive and extremely outrageous discrimination on the basis of place of residence, country of origin and opinion.” Rabinovich claimed fifteen thousand shekels in personal damages. The class action suit would seek an unspecified sum on behalf of others, according to court papers presented at Jerusalem District Court.
New Israel Supreme Court Ruling Gives Further Backing to Use of Torture According to the Jerusalem Post, the court–sitting as the High Court of Justice–ruled that the torture used on Fares Tbeish by Shin Bet agents in September 2012 was not illegal, classifying the methods used as permitted “enhanced interrogation.” Tbeish’s lawyers from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel said that Shin Bet agents subjected the prisoner to torture, repeated beatings and threats.
Marc Lamont Hill Speech at United Nation's International Day of Solidarity with Palestine In response to this speech, Hill has been subjected to a barrage of attacks on social media and mainstream media outlets. Most recently, CNN fired Hill from his position as a CNN commentator.
Economy, Environment, and Other
Palestine Strengthens Startup Scene with Successful Participation in Global Entrepreneurship Week The activity-filled week from 12 to 18 November 2018, witnessed inspiring workshops and events across Palestine that helped connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and investors, and introduced them to new entrepreneurial possibilities. The highlight of the event was the Seedstars World competition, which was won by Inggez, Jwar & Gamiphy. The Global Entrepreneurship Week Palestine was supported by more than seventy partners. The Main Sponsor of the event was Arab Bank.
Palestinian Teen Wins International Equestrian Award A fifteen-year-old Palestinian girl won an international award for horse riding in Bahrain on Tuesday. Leila Malki from occupied Ramallah was awarded the “Against All Odds” prize by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Malki, who has traveled across the world to compete without the support of a trainer or team, said “I would like to tell every woman out there, if you have a dream if you have a goal go ahead and do it.” She also volunteers to promote horseback riding, helping young children and those with special needs begin riding.