Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Palestine Today 05 16 2011

IMEMC Audio Dept | 16.05.2011 16:08 | Other Press | Palestine | World

Welcome to Palestine Today a service of the International Middle East Media Centre www.imemc.org, for Monday May 16, 2011

Palestine Today 05 16 2011 - mp3 6.4M


On Saturday, Palestinian medical sources in Jerusalem reported that Milad Sa’id Ayyash, 17, died of wounds suffered Friday during clashes with the Israeli police in Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem. Eyewitnesses reported that the bullet was fired by a settler from one of the floors of the illegal “Yonatan” outpost in Batn Al Hawa neighborhood. The settler fired the illegal “Dumdum” rounds at the protesting youths in the area, the witnesses told the Bokra website. Dumdum bullets are rounds of live ammunition designed to expand on impact in order to cause a larger diameter wound.

Israel Police Superintendent, Luba Samri, stated Saturday that the police detained twenty Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem following clashes with the army and the police in several areas of the city. Several Palestinians and a number of police officers were injured. Samri stated that eight policemen were injured during the clashes, including five who required hospitalization for further treatment. She added the police decided to impose restrictions on the entry to the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, as males below the age of forty will not be allowed in. Palestinians from the West Bank holding entry permits to Jerusalem will not be allowed into the mosque.

Israeli authorities decided to implement a 24-hour closure of the West Bank under direct orders issued by Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak. The Israeli Radio reported that Israel will be deploying nearly 10.000 policemen and soldiers in East Jerusalem, and in Arab towns in the 1948 Territories. The Israeli government said that it will be arresting any person who marks the Nabka in “Israel”, and also deployed hundreds of policemen in cities have have Arab and Jewish inhabitants.

Despite Israeli “laws”, which effectively criminalize commemoration of “Nabka Day”, that marks the creation of Israel on Palestinian lands and the displacement of millions of Palestinians, thousands of residents, including Jewish peace activists, marched on Saturday evening in Jaffa, and held an art festival affirming the Palestinian historic rights and their legitimate struggle against oppression and occupation.

Several intellectuals and local leaders delivered speeches in which they stated that Israel needs to realize that the Palestinians are not immigrants, but are natives of the country despite the Israeli occupation and aggression, and the forced removal of the refugees.

An estimated four people were killed Sunday on the Syria-Israel border, five killed on the Lebanon-Israel border, 52 injured in Gaza, and at least 24 injured in the West Bank as Israeli forces attacked Palestinian refugees trying to re-enter their former homes in what is now Israel.

Thousands of Palestinian refugees in southern Lebanon tried to cross the border with Israel on Sunday morning, and were met with gunfire from Israeli troops stationed at the border. Local sources report that at least five people were killed, and ten wounded by Israeli gunfire in the Maroun al-Ras area.

In Gaza, according to local sources, around 1,000 Palestinian refugees and supporters from the Gaza Strip marched on the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that a Palestinian youth was killed and at least 172 were wounded on Sunday due to Israeli military excessive use of force against the “Return Protests” in different parts of the coastal region. The sources stated that Israeli troops based near the Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza City, killed an 18-year-old youth identified as Salah Khamis, from Jabalia in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian refugees from the West Bank also marched to the Qalandia checkpoint established by Israeli forces as the main border crossing between the West Bank and what is now Israel, although Qalandia’s location is far east of the internationally-agreed armistice line of 1967, and indicates a possible land grab by Israel if established as an actual border.

At least five Palestinian youth were injured when Israeli forces fired live rounds at a group of youth throwing stones during the largely peaceful demonstration of several thousand people at Qalandia. Dozens more were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas inhalation.

In al-Walaja village, a site known for non-violent anti-Wall protests, several hundred Palestinians, internationals and Israelis marched to the site of Wall construction in the center of the village. A total of 11 peace activists and reporters were detained Sunday by the Israeli military as they attempted to march to the old village.

Those detained included leading activist Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh, Chairman of Board of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement Between People (parent organization of the IMEMC). The seven arrested international activists have been subsequently released while four Palestinians remain in custody in Atarot prison in Jerusalem. At least 63 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces at protests in the West Bank and Jerusalem since Friday.

Palestinian medical forces reported Sunday that at least 150 Palestinians were injured by Israeli military fire, while dozens of residents were kidnapped as the army opened fire at the “Return Protests” in Ramallah and Al Bireh on Sunday. A source at the Ramallah governmental hospital said that 150 residents were admitted to the hospital, including seven who are in serious conditions. Rubber-coated metal bullets hit dozens of the wounded, while dozens of residents were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation.

In response Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the protests stating that the protests were not about 1967 borders or the right of return of refugee’s but questioned “the very existence of Israel”. Netanyahu defended the action of the Israeli military, saying that Israel was determined to defend its sovereignty. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has also defended the actions of the military placing blame for the deaths with those who crossed the border and those who sent them. He warned that such instances were just the beginning of similar problems in the future.

Israel has confirmed that it will renew the transfer of tax payments collected on Palestinians behalf to the Palestinian Authority. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed rumours started by The Union of Civil Servants that payment due to Palestinian government workers for April, due to them since the 5th of the month, would be paid by the end of the day on assurances from the PA. In a statement Steinitz claimed he had received insurances from the PA that no funds would be transferred to the Hamas or to terrorist activities.

Thats all for today from the IMEMC. This was the Monday 116 of May’s daily roundup of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope you will join us again tomorrow. This was brought to you by Husam Qassis and me David Steele.

IMEMC Audio Dept
- e-mail: info@imemc.org

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech