[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
IOF Arrest 16 Palestinians From West Bank Israeli Occupation Forces on Monday overnight arrested sixteen Palestinians from the West Bank in raid and arrest campaigns. According to the Prisoners ‘Club, three Palestinians were arrested from’ Anabta village in Tulkarem, three others from Jenin. Others were also arrested from Salfit and Jerusalem.
Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian Protester in Gaza, Wound Dozens Alaa Nizar Hamdan, twenty-eight, was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers in Jabalia, northern Gaza, Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza said on Friday. Among the fifty-four injured, twenty-two, were shot with live bullets, he added. There were no reports of injured occupation forces.
Palestine TV Cameraman Injured During An Israeli Army Raid of Ramallah Neighborhood A Palestine TV cameraman was injured today from a rubber bullet fired by Israeli soldiers during an army raid of al-Tireh neighborhood in Ramallah to arrest a local resident, said witnesses. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers also raided early this morning several villages in the Ramallah area, including Kobar, Deir Abu Mashaal and Jifna, and detained several people.
10-year-old Boy Shot in the Head Remains Immobile, Family Waits For Answers From Israel It’s been almost three months since ten-year-old Abdul Rahman Shteiwi was shot in the head by Israeli Forces in his village of Kafr Qaddum in the northern occupied West Bank. “The doctors still aren’t sure exactly how much of his brain function has been permanently damaged,” Murad Shteiwi, a relative of the family and local activist in Kafr Qaddum told Mondoweiss.
Palestinians Discover Camouflaged Surveillance Device in Ramallah Cemetery Palestinians found a surveillance device planted in concrete at a village cemetery in occupied Ramallah on Friday. The surveillance equipment found consisted of a camera, transmitter and a battery which was relaying information from the site in Kober, a village northwest of Ramallah.
Israel to Build Camps As Preparation for Displacing Arab Citizens Israel’s District Planning and Building Committee considered a plan on Sunday submitted by the Bedouin Settlement Authority in the Negev which aims to build camps as preparation for the displacement of thirty six thousands Palestinians citizens of Israel.
Domestic Policy
PA Will Once Again Accept Tax Money Collected by Israel However, the Palestinian Authority has been struggling with a deep financial crisis even before the tax trouble became an issue, so Hussein Al-Sheikh, a close friend to Mahmoud Abbas, organized a meeting with Israel’s Minister of Finances Moshe Kahlon last Thursday. The two parties decided to “agree to disagree” on the stipend matter and the Palestinian Authority will once again start accepting the funds.
Palestinians in Israel Observe a General Strike to Protest Police Apathy Toward Rise in Crime Palestinians inside Israel observed today a general strike called for by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee to protest Israeli police apathy and inaction in dealing with violent crime rocking the Palestinian community in Israel, said local sources.
President Abbas Says General Elections Are Past Due President Mahmoud Abbas said today that the date for holding general elections has seen significant delays despite the multiple attempts to hold them earlier.
Hamas: ‘We accept inclusive elections but demand guarantees that the result will stand’ Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, is hoping that Fatah movement will respond to the Palestinian factions’ initiative for national unity. He reiterated his movement’s position, which approves of the general elections, saying: “We will support legislative and presidential elections if announced. We prefer these elections to be held following a national consensus and we challenge Fatah and Abbas to announce it.”
Hamas Launches ‘secret war’ Against Daesh in Gaza Hamas is undertaking a “secret war” against Daesh and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese daily Al Akhbar has reported. This activity has consisted of confiscating weapons from several groups. It was initiated in response to the explosions that occurred in August that left three policemen and three civilians dead.
Foreign Policy
Israel Seeking 'non-aggression' Agreements with Gulf States Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said he is seeking "non-aggression" agreements with Gulf states, as relations between the two sides warm against common foe Iran. In a tweet, Katz said he discussed the "non-aggression" plan with Arab foreign ministers and US President Donald Trump's outgoing envoy for the Middle East Jason Greenblatt during the assembly.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Holding Back UN Blacklist of Companies Working in Settlements Encourages Impunity The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlement has described the UNs’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet’s abstention from disseminating the names of all companies working in the settlement, as a clear political, legal and moral violation of human rights.
Israeli Settlers Set Fire to Olive Fields South of Nablus Israeli settlers set fire to dozens of olive trees belonging to the south of Nablus, the northern occupied West Bank, said a local activist. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement construction activities in the northern West Bank, said settlers set fire to olive fields located between the towns of Burin and Huwwara, burning at least seventy trees.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
German City Denies Prize to Lebanese Artist Because of His Support For Boycott of Israel The German city of Aachen denied yesterday Lebanese artist Walid Raad the Nelly Sachs literature prize worth ten thousand euros because of his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, reported the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar. Al-Akhbar said Aachen Mayor Marcel Philipp said in a statement that “according to research, we have to assume that the nominated prize-winner is a follower of the BDS movement and has participated in several measures in the cultural boycott of Israel.”
Israel Prepares to Deport BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti Israel’s Minister of the Interior says he is taking action to force Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, out of the country. The announcement comes after Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber notified Deri’s office that it had the authority to revoke Barghouti’s residency.
Fordham Appeals Students for Justice in Palestine Court Ruling In April of 2017, five students from Students for Justice in Palestine brought a case against Fordham University for preventing them from forming an official club. They won in August of this year, but now Fordham University has filed a notice of appeal.
Law
Case Closed: Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Prosecutor’s Attempts to Reopen Case Against Dareen Tatour Four years after she was arrested by Israeli police over a poem she had written and published on social media, Dareen Tatour’s legal battles are finally over. The Israeli Supreme Court rejected last week a petition filed by the state prosecutors that was made in an attempt to reopen the case against her.
Hunger Striker Reveals Details of Her Horrific Torture in Israeli Prisons Heba Al-Labadi, twenty-four, was arrested on 20 August by Israeli soldiers as she crossed the Allenby Bridge. According to her lawyer, Al-Labadi has been subjected to inhumane treatment in detention. She was apparently stripped of all of her clothes as soon as she was arrested and was subject to various forms of physical, verbal, and psychological torture.
US Senate Proposes Draft Law Against PA, PLO US Congress is discussing a draft bill that holds the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organisation accountable for the killing and injuring of Israeli Jewish settlers who hold American passports, Arabi21 reported yesterday.
Environment, Economy, and Other
Gaza’s Industry And Economy Shattered by Israeli Siege According to a report published early last month by the Gaza Aid Association in Istanbul, the situation in Gaza is currently “the worst over the years of siege”. The Israeli occupation is still imposing restrictions on Gazan imports and exports and according to Palestinian Member of Parliament Jamal Al-Khodari, who was also an academic and a businessman, the direct loss to Gaza’s economy because of these measures amounts to about seventy million dollars each month.
Campaign Launched to End Facebook’s Attack on Palestinian Content Journalists and activists in Palestine on Tuesday October 8 launched a social media campaign against Facebook’s censorship of Palestinian content. Using the hashtag FBblocksPalestine, the drive hope to bring to light “the threat posed by Facebook against Palestinian content.” The campaign is run by Sada Social Center, who said that Facebook has dramatically increased its crackdown on Palestinian content as of late.