[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 Forces Attack Gaza Border Protests, Injure 87 Palestinians Israeli soldiers manning the Gaza-Israel fence fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the protesters who gathered at many encampments along the border, injuring eighty-seven protesters, including forty-four by live gunshots. The wounded included a journalist and a medic.
Israeli Bulldozers Level Palestinian Land West of Bethlehem Israeli bulldozers today leveled Palestinian land in Wadi al-Makhrour, located to the west of the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Hassan Breijeh, a local anti-wall and settlement activist, said that Israeli bulldozers started leveling Palestinian land in Wadi al-Makhrour, a step which lays the groundwork for the construction of a one-kilometer tunnel that would connect the Gush Etzion settlement bloc with Jerusalem.
MSF: Over 1,000 Patients in Gaza Suffering From ‘severe infections’ From Gunshot Wounds Sustained in Great March of Return According to a new report released by Médecins Sans Frontièrs more than thousand Palestinians who were shot by the Israeli army over the past year have developed “severe bone infections” that are becoming increasingly difficult to treat. The group noted that while gunshot wounds are naturally prone to infection, the nature of the injuries in Gaza—splintered bones and large wounds that stay open for longer—“drastically” increase the risk of infection.
24 Palestinian Journalists Still Held by Israel Israel’s military occupation authorities continue to target Palestinian journalists, the Journalist Support Committee (JSC) said on Sunday, Quds Press has reported. The JSC pointed out that the number of Palestinian journalists held in Israeli jails has risen to twenty-four. The JSC added that the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel face “intentional medical negligence.”
Domestic Policy
Palestinians Demand Justice For the Alleged Honor Killing of Israa Ghrayeb The suspected “honor killing” of twenty-one-year-old Israa Ghrayeb from a village outside of Bethlehem has sparked outrage across the West Bank, shining a light on gender-based violence in Palestine. Ghrayeb died on Thursday 22 August at her home after she was discharged from the hospital where she was admitted for spinal injuries.
Palestinian PM Vows to Release Probe Result Over Woman's Death Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says a number of people have been called in for questioning over the death of twenty-one-year-old Israa Gharib under suspicious circumstances, in a case that sparked widespread anger in the occupied West Bank. Scores of people on Monday amassed by Shtayyeh's office in Ramallah, demanding justice for Gharib and calling on the Palestinian Authority to amend laws to tackle domestic violence.
Palestinians Decide to Defy Israel’s Control Over Area C of West Bank The undersecretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Ahmad Ghoneim, said Tuesday that his ministry is in the process of coming up with an action plan to do away with the Oslo classification of West Bank land into areas A, B, and C. As part of this, the ministry has told local authorities to accommodate “natural” town expansion, which includes expansion of towns located in Area A and B into Area C.
Hamas Arrests 10 in Gaza Accused of Fatal Bombings Tuesday Mousa Abu Marzouq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, stated on Thursday that the security forces of the Interior Ministry in Gaza have arrested ten people who are believed to be members of the cell that carried out the two bombings on last Tuesday which killed three security officers.
Abbas: ‘We are ready to implement Cairo agreement immediately to go to fair elections’ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Affirmed that Palestine would continue working on building its national institutions and at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said, “. . . we will continue to seek national unity after we have agreed under the auspices of Egypt. We are committed to this agreement and ready to implement it immediately so that we can go to fair elections if the other party agrees to the accord.”
Israel: Ahmed Tibi Names Conditions to Form ‘blocking majority’ with Gantz MKs Ahmed Tibi and Yousef Jabareen named conditions for the Joint List to support a government led by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, during a press conference Tuesday. According to Tibi, the demands include a sixty-four-billion-shekel development plan for the Arab sector, the recognition of Arabs as an official minority community, and the cancellation of discriminatory legislation.
Foreign Policy
Sada Social Center : Social Media Sites Have Continued Their Crackdown on Palestinian Content Sada Social Center, which monitors social media attacks on Palestinian content, documented more than seventeen violations against Palestinian content on social media in August, most of them on Facebook. Content from artist Qassem al-Najjar, Yarmouk University, the Great March of Return, and others suffered bans, removals, and deletion of posts on Instagram as well.
Palestinians Condemn Honduras, Nauru Moves on Jerusalem Status Palestinian officials say they will lodge a complaint to the United Nations against Honduras over its controversial decision to open a diplomatic office in Jerusalem, a move the Central American country has described as recognition of the disputed city as Israel's capital.
Palestinian Harvard Student Denied Entry to US Finally Arrives Ismail Ajjawi, a seventeen-year-old refugee, was denied entry on 23 August and sent back to his home in Lebanon after spending hours in the Boston Logan International Airport. US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael McCarthy told Al Jazeera last week that Ajjawi had been "deemed inadmissible.” But the US Embassy in Beirut reviewed Ajjawi's case and reissued his visa, according to Amideast, a nonprofit that awarded Ajjawi a scholarship to Harvard.
The U.S. Border Patrol And an Israeli Military Contractor Are Putting a Native American Reservation Under “Persistent Surveillance” On the southwestern end of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s reservation, roughly one mile from a barbed-wire barricade marking Arizona’s border with the Mexican state of Sonora, US Customs and Border Protection will soon construct a 160-foot surveillance tower that can monitor every entity within a radius of seven and a half miles. CBP has entered into a twenty-six million dollars contract with Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems to build ten of these towers across the reservation.
EU Contributes €24.5 Million to PA Payment of August Salaries and Pensions The European Union announced today a contribution of 24.5 million euros to the payment of the August salaries and pensions of nearly fifty-six thousand Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Armed Settlers Raze Land in Beit Jala in Prep For Setting Caravans On It Israeli settlers, accompanied by soldiers on Monday morning razed agricultural land in Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem, a one week after Israeli Occupation Forces demolished a home and restaurant on the same land.
Netanyahu Says Israel Will Announce Sovereignty Over Settlements Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday morning that he will declare Israeli sovereignty over all settlements in the near future. “We will impose Jewish sovereignty on all settlements as part of the State of Israel. We are building new houses here,” Netanyahu said.
EU: Israel’s Settlement Policy, Illegal Under International Law The European Union representative issued a statement in agreement with the European Union Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah on the illegality of Israel’s settlement policy on Monday. The statement included the accusation that the settlements threaten the two-state solution, which the European Union continues to support.
Trump Will Greenlight West Bank Annexation to Force Israeli Pols to Keep Netanyahu as PM, Observers say Michael Koplow of the Israel Policy Forum described a possible deal between Trump and Netanyahu whereby Trump assists Netanyahu’s bid for another term as Prime Minister by legitimizing the illegal annexation of the West Bank in return for Netanyahu’s agreement not to block another US attempt at negotiating with Iran.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
Hundreds of Activists Take Direct Action Outside DSEI Arms Fair to Protest UK’s Trade in Arms with Israel Hundreds of human rights activists protested the United Kingdom’s trade in arms with Israel outside Defense & Security Equipment International, the world’s largest arms fair, held at ExCel London every two years.
Kentucky Governor Signs Bill that Would Crack Down on BDS Movement On 27 August Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin held a ceremony to officially sign Senate Bill 143. The law allows the state to refuse business from companies that boycott Kentucky trade partners, including Israel. The bill’s supporters identify it as a way for the state to crack down on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
Law
200 Palestinian Prisoners Suspend Their Hunger Strike Two hundred Palestinian prisoners at the Rimon detention camp suspended their hunger strike, which they started on Monday, to demand the removing of carcinogenic devices in the prison, and to improve the living conditions of prisoners held in the detention center.
Netanyahu Intervened in Israel Media While Under Investigation, Leaks Show Leaked recordings have revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to intervene in Israel’s media and communications policy, despite being forced to give up his position as minister of communications pending investigations into his alleged corruption. In the leaks, Netanyahu tries to abolish the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, which regulates commercial television.
Environment, Economy, and Other
Japan Provides New Contribution to the Jericho Agro Industrial Park Incentives Program The Japanese Government has provided over 305,000 euro to support Al Mahroom Company for production & exporting operating in the Jericho Agro Industrial Park. This company is the twelfth beneficiary under the Palestinian Authority’s PRIDE (Partnership for Regional Investment, Development & Employment) Program of Incentives to Jericho Agro Industrial Park.
A look at Washington DC’s Museum of the Palestinian People A formerly traveling exhibit of Palestinian heritage has now found a home in a small but carefully curated space in Washington DC. Head curator Nada Odeh commented on the difficulty of opening a permanent space, saying, “Having the museum open was not something easy to be done, especially with financial challenges and starting a space in DC, collecting items to exhibit. It takes courage to do that. People were hesitant, others worried about things politically.”