Palestine Today 080309

Israeli police attacks Palestinians in Jerusalem and the military bulldozes farm lands in the northern West Bank areas, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

The News Cast

Five Palestinians were injured and a number of them were arrested, on Monday midday as they protested that Israeli settlers had taken over two homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, after the police had kicked out the families that had been living there on Sunday.

The families that used to live in the two homes and their international and Israeli supporters were protesting when police attacked them using batons and rifle buts. Local sources reported that five people were taken to the hospital while at least six people were arrested by the police. Among the arrested were injured people as well.

On Sunday at dawn several hundred Israeli police men attacked the homes of Al Ghawi and Hanoun families and evicted the residents. Minutes after the police removed the Palestinian families settlers moved in and took over the two homes.

Al Ghawi and Hanoun families originally lost their homes during the 1948 war, after Israel declared its independence. The United Nations and the Jordanian Authorities in East Jerusalem at the time housed the families in homes located in Sheikh Jarrah.

A Jewish settler's right wing group called Sephardic community committee claimed that the homes used to be owned by Jews before the Palestinian owners. Several months ago the Israeli court ruled in favor of the settlers group, even though the lawyer of the Sheikh Jarrah has evidence indicating that the settler’s documents are forged.

The Court acknowledged the claimed Sephardic committee ownership over the homes but also allowed the Palestinian families protected tenant statuses, meaning they can't be forced out of their homes. Recently the settler committee filed a lawsuit against the families after claiming that they violated the agreement, which was won by the committee.

In related news, The Israeli military bulldozed Palestinian owned lands near the northern West Bank of Nablus. Local sources reported that the lands are located south of Nablus and owned by farmers from the nearby villages of Bureen and Irak Bureen. The head of the Bureen village council, Ali Eid, told local media that the military is expanding the Israeli settlements of Barkha and Yitshar, located nearby.

Elsewhere Israeli soldiers kidnapped fourteen Palestinians after breaking into their homes at dawn, in several parts of the occupied West Bank, local sources reported. Seven Palestinians civilians and one American were kidnapped during a pre dawn invasion targeting the village of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org; this report has been brought to you by Ghassan Bannoura.