This Week in Palestine -Week 32 2009

Israeli military and settler attacks continue against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip while the largest Palestinian Fatah party is holding one of its most critical general conferences in its history in Bethlehem. These stories, and more, coming up, Stay tuned.
Nonviolent Activities
Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank were dozens of nonviolent protestors were attacked with tear gas and dirty water in Bil'in and N'ilin, the details with IMEMC's Kathren Orwel:
N'ilin

At least three hundred Palestinians and international supporters marched in the West Bank village of N'ilin near Ramallah, against the annexation wall Israel is building on the lands of the village.

The March started after the Friday Prayer and moved to reach the construction site of the wall. Troops showered the crowd with a number of tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets, which caused dozens to choke. They were treated for gas inhalation afterwards, while some protesters suffered bruises.

As the tear gas and the steel bullets did not manage to disperse the crowd, Israeli soldiers showered the protesters with a dirty water cannon. Meanwhile, a group of Palestinian youth spotted seven undercover soldiers attempting to infiltrate among the protesters.

Youth hurled stones at the undercover soldiers forcing them out of the village.

The village of N'ilin has been organizing nonviolent anti-wall protests for more than a year, and the villagers are determined to continue their struggle to end the Israeli occupation, said Salah Al-Khawaja coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Apartheid Wall. Al-Khawaja called upon Fatah who is holding its sixth conference to adopt the nonviolent popular resistance as a strategy to end the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.

Bil'in

As the villagers of the Bil’in village in the central West Bank staged their weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli wall, troops fired tear gas at them causing dozens to suffer from tear gas inhalation effects.

The villagers were joined by international and Israeli supporters. As is the case each week, the march left the village after the midday prayers and headed towards the wall built on the villagers' lands.

The protesters demanded the release of Muhammad al-Khatib and Adib Abu Rahma, both from the local committee against the wall and settlements and all other detainees from the village that were kidnapped by the Israeli military this week.

As soon as the crowd reached the gate of the wall troops began spraying the demonstrators with green - colored water contaminated with animal waste and chemicals. Vomiting was reported among the protesters because of the water. Others were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation after soldiers shot teargas extensively on the crowd.

For IMEMC.org this is Kathrine Orwell.

The Political Report
This week in Palestine, the ruling Fatah party in the West Bank began a sixth election conference with the participation of more than 2000 members from the West Bank and some neighboring Arab countries, excluding the Fatah members from Gaza, after the ruling Hamas party in the coastal region prevented their travel. IMEMC's Alborz Ghandehari reports.
Today Friday, Fatah sources are expecting the election process to begin later in the day. Since Tuesday participants have been taking part in discussions and nomination moves.

The candidates that will be voted for include new and old guards of Fatah, from inside the occupied Palestinian territories and the Diaspora. Palestinian president and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas reiterated the party's charter during an inauguration speech Tuesday.

Abbas said that resistance of the Israeli occupation remains Fatah's option as long as the Israeli occupation persists. Abbas also asserted that his authority is not likely to resume peace negotiations with Israel unless Israel stops all settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands.

At least 400 Fatah members from the Gaza Strip were unable to travel to the West Bank to attend the conference. The ruling Hamas party, which has been at loggerheads with Fatah, has prevented Gaza's Fatah leaders and members from leaving the Gaza Strip.

In a statement Hamas said that the free passage of the Fatah members is linked with the release of Hamas members from Palestinian Authority jails in the West Bank as well as the delivery of passport papers to the Gaza Strip.

Amidst hopes of reviving the major party that has been hit by problems, other Palestinian factions in the occupied territories have expressed their views regarding the ongoing conference.

The PFLP and the DFLP, which belong to the Palestine Liberation Organization, looked forward to realizing a real change that would also have its effects on the PLO.

The Islamic Jihad group in Gaza said that if the Fatah party commits itself to the struggle against the Israeli occupation, it will be embracing any results of the current election conference.

As the situation toughens between Hamas and Fatah, due to the election controversy, the Islamist Hamas party has asked Egyptian mediators to set August 25 as the deadline for reaching a unity deal with Fatah.

Meanwhile, a Fatah leader in Gaza, MP Ibrahim Abuelnajja, requested the Egyptians to helpGaza-based Fatah members find ways to take part in the current electoral process. For IMEMC.org this is Alborz Ghandehari.


The Gaza Strip Report
Two Palestinians were reported killed this week, and the military invaded a number of areas in the Gaza strip; from Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari has the details:

On Wednesday a young Palestinian man was killed in a tunnel at the southern Rafah-Egypt border, as he died of an electric shock. On Tuesday one Palestinian civilian was killed and two others got injured as the tunnel they were in collapsed on them at the Gaza-Egyptian borders.
Last week alone 10 men died in similar incidents in Gaza. Since Israel put Gaza under a total siege in June 2007 the tunnels became the main source of much needed supplies for the 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that with this week's death the number of people killed because of tunnel collapses in 2009 has now reached 112.
Elsewhere in central Gaza two Palestinian children sustained injuries on Tuesday evening as an ordinance that was left behind by the Israeli army exploded in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp.
The two brothers, eight and ten years old, were taken to the hospital to receive treatment. The youngest was treated for light wounds and released, as the oldest had to be hospitalized at a specialist eye hospital.
On Wednesday, Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded areas close to the northern borders with Israel. Witnesses said that tanks opened fire at their homes while bulldozers destroyed farm lands. Earlier on Sunday, Israeli soldiers burnt Palestinian agricultural lands belonging to two Palestinian residents, near the Eretz crossing, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Two Israeli military bulldozers uprooted the farmlands before the soldiers put the uprooted trees and lands on fire.
On Thursday morning the Israeli Navy kidnapped two Palestinian fishermen in Palestinian territorial water in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
For IMEMC.org this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.


The West Bank Report
The Israeli military this week conducted at least 31 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli troops kidnapped 25 Palestinian civilians, IMEMC’s Lila Sharif reports:
On Thursday, Eight Palestinians were injured from attacks by Israeli forces who were delivering house demolition orders in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli police had come to the area to hand out five new demolition orders, in addition to the 90 already existing demolition orders. Residents that wanted to confront the Israeli police were dispersed with the use of tear gas.
Five Palestinians were injured and a number of them were arrested, on Monday afternoon as they protested Israeli settlers that had taken over two Palestinian 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 butts. 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.
A right-wing Jewish settler group called the Sephardic Community Committee claimed that the homes used to be owned by Jews before the Palestinian came to the area. Several months ago the Israeli court ruled in favor of the settler committee, even though the lawyer of the Sheikh Jarrah has evidence indicating that the settlers’ documents are forged.
Israeli bulldozers accompanied by military vehicles invade the Al-Tuwani village near Hebron, Tuesday morning. Troops said they want to remove poles set to be used for electricity. The poles are part of the infrastructure for a project to supply the village with electricity, a service promised to the villagers by the Quartet envoy Tony Blair during his visit to the village last March.
Villagers in the southern hills of Hebron face regular settler and army harassment in an attempt to force them to leave their villages and to continue their expansion of Israeli settlements in that area.
In related news, this week the Israeli military bulldozed Palestinian-owned lands near the northern West Bank city 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.
For imemc.org this is Lila Sharif.

Conclusion
And that's just some of the news of this week in Palestine. For constant updates, please check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This week's report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi.