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This Week in Palestine – Week 24 2007

Audio Dept. | 15.06.2007 17:12 | Palestine | World

This Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.IMEMC.org, for June 9 through 15, 2007.

This Week in Palestine – Week 24 2007 - mp3 11M


As the Israeli army continues its invasions to the West Bank and some parts of Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the unity government and declared a state of emergency. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine

Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent actions in Palestine against the wall and settlements.

Bethlehem

In Bethlehem, nonviolent activities that were planned for this Friday were all suspended due to the current situation. A number of people gathered near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and expressed rejection of the infighting between the Palestinian factions.

Bil'in

On Friday the villagers of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, conducted their weekly non-violent protest against the illegal Israeli wall.

The protesters called on Hamas and Fatah to stop their recent infighting and return to a government of national unity.

The protesters also insisted that the fight should focus on the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank, as well as the illegal construction of the wall and the continued expansion of Israeli settlements.

As is the case every week, the villagers of Bil'in were joined by a group of international and Israeli activists.

For its part, the Israeli army installed razor wire blockades to stop the protesters from reaching the gate of the wall separating the Palestinians from those lands illegally annexed by its construction.

Israeli troops showered the protesters with tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets, leading to the injury of three protesters, among them a child and a journalist.

In addition, the Israeli army kidnapped two Israeli peace activists and took them to an unknown location.

The protest ended after several hours with promises from its organizers to return next week.

Abbas Dissolves the National Unity Government and Declares state of emergency

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed three presidential decrees on Thursday evening in which he decided to dissolve the national unity government and declare a state of emergency.

Abbas’ decisions came after recommendations by the executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine, (PFLP) was the only PLO faction who expressed opposition to the declaration of state of emergency.

Through the three decrees, Abbas fired Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh of Hamas, declared a state of emergency in all the Palestinian Authority jurisdiction areas and formed a temporary executive government to implement emergency regulations and laws.

According to the basic law of the Palestinian Authority, the president is authorized to dissolve the government and declare a state of emergency in certain cases, including natural disasters, war, or an armed coup.

The state of emergency is limited to 30 days renewable for another term. However, renewal requires the approval of two-thirds of the Palestinian Parliament, a majority that is unlikely to be granted given that Hamas controls 63 percent of the parliament.

Tayyeb Abdul Rahim, spokesperson for Abbas, stated that the reason behind the president’s decisions was that an illegal armed coup is taking place in the Palestinian territories. Abdul Rahim also declared the president’s intention to hold elections as soon as the situation allows.

The armed wing of Hamas and the executive force formed by the former Hamas government were declared illegal and the National Security forces held a wide scale arrest campaign in the West Bank and took dozens of Hamas supporters and affiliates prisoner.

On Friday, Abbas assigned Salam Fayyad, Minister of Finance in the unity government to form a temporary government that would implement emergency law.

Hamas rejected all Abbas’ decisions, arguing that they lack a legal basis and stating that the dissolved government will continue to function normally. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas leader and spokesperson, said the basic law does not allow the President to form an emergency government.


"Definitely we reject those decisions, first they have no practical value because the dissolved government will continue to run civil affairs according to the Palestinian basic law, second this is a violation of the Basic Law which does not allow the President to form an emergency government."


Abu Zuhri also accused Abbas of acting based on American influence.


“These decisions reflect that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah movement are not interested to contain crisis. The Saudis made contacts with us and with Abbas and he expressed his intentions to reach a solution. So, he delegated Ahmad Hillis to meet with us in Gaza. On Thursday we had a meeting with Hillis as a representative for Abbas. We were surprised, however, during the meeting that these decisions were made, which makes us believe that Abbas’ decisions were dictated from the United States in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.”

Local analysts believe that two governments will be established, one by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and one led by Fatah in the West Bank, which will increase the chaos in the Palestinian territories.

The infighting has resulted in the death of more than 70 Palestinians in five days. At least 360 were wounded and life was paralyzed in the Gaza Strip. Clashes between Fatah and Hamas loyalists moved to the West Bank, but were not as intense as reported in the coastal region.

The al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah attacked a TV station and arts company affiliated with Hamas in Ramallah and Nablus on Tuesday and Wednesday, kidnapping workers who were released a few hours later.

Apparently, Fatah was unable to withstand an armed battle with Hamas, who in four days declared it has assumed control over all the Palestinian security forces headquarters in the Gaza Strip, with Egyptian sources adding that several Fatah leaders and fighters had fled to Egypt.

Hamas captured several leaders of the Al-Aqsa brigades and the National Security Force in Gaza, but released 10 others on Friday afternoon.

Several attempts to end the infighting failed shortly after agreements were reached. Local observers believe that the instability in the Gaza Strip has allowed third parties to inflame the situation.

Meanwhile, Talal Okal, a political analyst in Gaza, attributes this failure to the contradiction in Fatah’s and Hamas’ ideology.


“The fact that core issues were not tackled in these talks resulted in this fluctuating situation. These core issues are related to the contradictory political vision of Hamas and Fatah. Also this contradiction existed between Hamas and Fatah when Hamas was not in the Authority and move with Hamas into the Palestinian Authority.”

In reaction to the Gaza infighting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described Hamas victory over Fatah as a defeat for the Palestinians, the Israelis and the international community. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her country will consider sending international forces to maintain security in Gaza.

Ahmad Jibreel, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in Damascus that the Palestinian factions should meet at the Arab league to find a solution to the current crisis.

Jibreel slammed Abbas’ decision to declare a state of emergency, stating that external parties, including Israel, the US and some Arab regimes, contributed to the infighting and supported Fatah over Hamas.


The Israeli attacks

The West Bank

During the week, Israeli troops carried out 25 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, broke into dozens of houses and constructions, killed three Palestinians, among them one child, injured at least seven and kidnapped another 21 civilians, raising the number of residents abducted since the beginning of the year to 1358. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura has more:

Earlier this week Israeli soldiers shot and killed one Palestinian child in Tafoah village, west of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and injured another child.

The army claimed that the child and two other children were carrying a gun when soldiers fired at them. Palestinian sources confirmed that the children were carrying a handmade hunting gun as they were hunting birds. Eyewitnesses reported that the children could have been arrested easily, but the military chose to open fire.

On Thursday morning, around 60 Israeli army vehicles stormed the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. During the invasion, Israeli troops surrounded a group of four Palestinian resistance fighters, killing one and injuring another. The other two managed to flee the scene unharmed. Clashes erupted between the local youth and the invading forces during the day, with 10 receiving injuries, two of whom were injured critically.

Na'eem Sowelem, a Palestinian journalist was near the attacked area in Qalqilia city:



"60 military vehicles stormed Qalqilia city from several directions, surrounded four resistance men, and clashed with one of them leading to his death,, the occupation forces kidnapped one of the four who was injured, another two managed to escape the scene."

Palestinian sources reported on Thursday evening that one fighter of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah movement, was assassinated by Israeli forces in Saida village, north of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. The force surrounded a house in the village and showered it with live rounds killing Mohammad Tweir, a member of the brigades.

For IMEMC.org this Ghassan Bannoura.

The Gaza Strip

The Israeli army continued to attack the Gaza strip this week and five children were killed by Israeli tank fire in the southern part of the region. IMEMC's John Smith has more:

On Thursday evening, five Palestinians children were killed and seven residents injured after the Israeli army fired artillery shells at Al Shouka town, in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The shelling was carried out as ground forces invaded the eastern parts of the town.
The sources added that all five children are members of Abu Matroud family, and that the bodies of four of them were moved to Abu Yousef Al Najjar hospital in Rafah. The bodies were severely mutilated in the blasts. Four of the victims were brothers and the fifth is their cousin.

Six Palestinian residents were injured during several Israeli air strikes and shelling carried out this week.

One of the injured residents is deaf and was shot when the army opened fire at the Al Amal neighborhood, northeast of Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Four more residents were injured when an Israeli war jet fired two missiles at a Palestinian research and study center near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli air force fired two missiles at two camions which belong to a milk company. Some damage was reported.

The army also shelled a blacksmith workshop in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City. The workshop was destroyed and several nearby houses were damaged.

Two invasions were also carried out in Gaza during the reported period; one in Dir Al Balah and one in Rafah. Six residents were kidnapped, and 33 donums of farmland were uprooted.

The Gaza Strip remains totally isolated from the outside world. Its crossings are blocked and the area is suffering from severe shortages in medicines and fuels.

Only limited supplies of medicines and goods were allowed into the Gaza Strip, and the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was only opened for several hours in two days.

For IMEMC.org this John Smith.


Conclusion
And that’s just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem, this is Beth Thompson and John Orwell.


Audio Dept.
- e-mail: info@imemc.org
- Homepage: http://www.imemc.org

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