16 june 2016
Hundreds of settlers Thursday morning stormed Bernat historic site in the Asirah Ashamaliya town near Nablus and performed Talmudic rituals at the place under Israeli army protection.
The town’s municipality president Naser Jawabrah told the PIC reporter that settlers claimed that the site has monuments of a Jewish alter in disregard to the fact that the site is owned by Palestinian citizens who possess official documents that prove their ownership of the land.
Israeli government in April, 2015 announced inauguration of the site as the altar of Joshua for settlers, urging them to perform Talmudic rituals at the site as a Jewish historical holy place.
The town’s municipality president Naser Jawabrah told the PIC reporter that settlers claimed that the site has monuments of a Jewish alter in disregard to the fact that the site is owned by Palestinian citizens who possess official documents that prove their ownership of the land.
Israeli government in April, 2015 announced inauguration of the site as the altar of Joshua for settlers, urging them to perform Talmudic rituals at the site as a Jewish historical holy place.
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Head of the maps department at the Arab Studies Society Khalil Tufkaji has warned that the Israeli municipality intends to establish a new outpost for Jewish settlers soon in the heart of Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque.
Tufkaji told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that this outpost would be the first building for settlers that was approved by the Israeli municipality without its departments sanctioning its structural plan. Following political pressure by the government, the municipality's planning and building committee on Wednesday directly approved the plan of the |
settler group Ateret Cohanim in Silwan without taking other approvals from the competent authorities.
The new outpost, which is a three-floor apartment building for Jewish settlers, will be built on Palestinian land purchased by Ateret Cohanim in 2005. It will be located near Beit Yonatan outpost.
Tufkaji voiced concern that this new settlement building could be a prelude to carrying out more projects for settlers in Silwan, especially after right-winger Avigdor Lieberman recently became the war minister.
"The far-right alliance of the Israeli government has recently taken a series of decisions and pushed forward many projects that were frozen in the past in the settlements of Gilo and Ramat Shlomo, and in Sheikh Jarrah and finally in Silwan," he said.
The new outpost, which is a three-floor apartment building for Jewish settlers, will be built on Palestinian land purchased by Ateret Cohanim in 2005. It will be located near Beit Yonatan outpost.
Tufkaji voiced concern that this new settlement building could be a prelude to carrying out more projects for settlers in Silwan, especially after right-winger Avigdor Lieberman recently became the war minister.
"The far-right alliance of the Israeli government has recently taken a series of decisions and pushed forward many projects that were frozen in the past in the settlements of Gilo and Ramat Shlomo, and in Sheikh Jarrah and finally in Silwan," he said.
13 june 2016
A group of American Palestinians from the West Bank have filed a lawsuit in a Washington court against a string of US-based tycoons, companies and organizations supporting settlement construction on Palestinian land.
The suit was filed in the Federal District Court of Washington DC last Monday, June 6, 2016, according to Israeli newspapers.
Brought by Washington lawyer Martin McMahon on behalf of Basem Attamimi, a resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, and about 35 others, the suit says that the respondents contravened American law against money laundering, in terms of which the transfer of money for the purposes of committing a crime is illegal.
According to the plaintiffs, the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories has been accompanied by violence, death and injury, the destruction of houses and the burning of trees and is thus criminal.
The suit also includes other accusations against the respondents.
Among those named in the suit are casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, sponsor of settler groups in Jerusalem Irving Moskowitz, evangelist John Hagee, Israeli businessman Lev Leviev, media mogul and film producer Haim Saban, and former diplomat Elliot Abrams.
The American organizations named in the suit include Friends of the IDF in the US, Friends of Ariel, Honenu, the Hebron Fund, the Karnei Shomron Fund and the Falic Family Foundation as well as a group of pro-settlements lawyers.
Among the businesses named in the suit are Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Volvo (whose vehicles are allegedly used in house demolitions,) Africa-Israel, Motorola, Hewlett Packard and RE/MAX real estate.
Tamimi is a long-time anti-settlement activist. The current suit complements one he brought in December against the US Treasury for allowing tax-free donations to settlements. The federal court accepted the lawsuit and will convene a hearing on this case in early October.
The suit was filed in the Federal District Court of Washington DC last Monday, June 6, 2016, according to Israeli newspapers.
Brought by Washington lawyer Martin McMahon on behalf of Basem Attamimi, a resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, and about 35 others, the suit says that the respondents contravened American law against money laundering, in terms of which the transfer of money for the purposes of committing a crime is illegal.
According to the plaintiffs, the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories has been accompanied by violence, death and injury, the destruction of houses and the burning of trees and is thus criminal.
The suit also includes other accusations against the respondents.
Among those named in the suit are casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, sponsor of settler groups in Jerusalem Irving Moskowitz, evangelist John Hagee, Israeli businessman Lev Leviev, media mogul and film producer Haim Saban, and former diplomat Elliot Abrams.
The American organizations named in the suit include Friends of the IDF in the US, Friends of Ariel, Honenu, the Hebron Fund, the Karnei Shomron Fund and the Falic Family Foundation as well as a group of pro-settlements lawyers.
Among the businesses named in the suit are Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, Volvo (whose vehicles are allegedly used in house demolitions,) Africa-Israel, Motorola, Hewlett Packard and RE/MAX real estate.
Tamimi is a long-time anti-settlement activist. The current suit complements one he brought in December against the US Treasury for allowing tax-free donations to settlements. The federal court accepted the lawsuit and will convene a hearing on this case in early October.
Israeli settlers on Sunday continued to level for four days agricultural lands in the north of occupied West Bank district of Salfit, locals said.
Eyewitnesses affirmed that Israeli bulldozers have leveled Palestinian-owned lands in Deir Estia and Hares town east of the city to expand the illegal Rafafa settlement, where several new housing units were being built.
The sources pointed out that the bulldozing has been ongoing secretly for few days in total media blackout. Local activist Khaled Maali said that Israeli settlement construction has been ongoing around the clock in Salfit district.
Eyewitnesses affirmed that Israeli bulldozers have leveled Palestinian-owned lands in Deir Estia and Hares town east of the city to expand the illegal Rafafa settlement, where several new housing units were being built.
The sources pointed out that the bulldozing has been ongoing secretly for few days in total media blackout. Local activist Khaled Maali said that Israeli settlement construction has been ongoing around the clock in Salfit district.
A former soldier relates his experience with regard to the destruction of Palestinian olive trees while on patrol with the Israeli army.
testimony catalog number: 314970
rank: Sergeant First Class
unit: Reserves 455 Armored Corps
area: Hebron area
period: 2013
‘There’s this term called ‘price tag.’ (A settler strategy of committing violent acts against Palestinians – usually against property – whose stated objective is dissuading Israeli authorities from interfering with settlement expansion.)
There was one incident where already the night prior, they said a ‘price tag’ action was going to be carried out. It was known. And, the next morning, a whole grove of olive trees was discovered chopped down – 65 trees chopped down.
Now, chopping down a tree is an affair that takes a good half hour – it’s not as simple as it looks. Chopping down one tree costs approximately 5,000 shekels (around $1,300). You need equipment, special saws. The trees can collapse, so you chop them down in stages. To chop down 60 trees you’d need something like eight hours of work and three saws.
There were lots of people there, with lots of equipment, who’d need a supply of water – it’s not a simple operation. I don’t believe that the military, with all it’s observation points, on an olive grove located on the main road, didn’t see something like that taking place.
The observation posts are efficient to the degree where you can identify any vehicle that stops for a moment on some route – it’s impossible 60 trees were chopped down and no one noticed. No way. So, they brought over the military tracker to figure out where the footsteps had come from.
The tracker looks right and left for a bit. Now, a tracker, he can tell you based on just one footstep, which direction they came from, which way they left, where they paused, and where exactly they are now. So, he looked around and said, “I don’t know where they came from.”
Now, this was a no-brainer, it was right in front of the settlement – in front of Carmel. I saw the trails left by the vehicles and the quad bikes myself. So, he said to me, “I’d rather not know.”
It was taken to the deputy battalion commander, and he asked me, “Do you really want to start a fight with the entire sector now? I can’t do anything, it’s at the brigade level.” The next day, a protest tent was set up, a canopy with a few Bedouin women sitting under it in black dresses to mourn their olive trees that’d been chopped down.
We called in the Border Police straight away and dispersed them, arrested them, took apart their canopy. The next day, because of that, all the left-wingers came, and more busses and more Arabs and more settlers, and there was another little demonstration, which of course we also scattered.’
How did you scatter them?
‘Arrests. “Disperse, please,” a few Border Police guys, a few clubs – but there’s a directive not to shoot, and it’s very strict. A few days after that, the settlers chopped down one more tree, just to show [the Palestinians] that the fact that they’d set up a tent wasn’t scaring anybody.’
This testimony can also be read in Hebrew.
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
testimony catalog number: 314970
rank: Sergeant First Class
unit: Reserves 455 Armored Corps
area: Hebron area
period: 2013
‘There’s this term called ‘price tag.’ (A settler strategy of committing violent acts against Palestinians – usually against property – whose stated objective is dissuading Israeli authorities from interfering with settlement expansion.)
There was one incident where already the night prior, they said a ‘price tag’ action was going to be carried out. It was known. And, the next morning, a whole grove of olive trees was discovered chopped down – 65 trees chopped down.
Now, chopping down a tree is an affair that takes a good half hour – it’s not as simple as it looks. Chopping down one tree costs approximately 5,000 shekels (around $1,300). You need equipment, special saws. The trees can collapse, so you chop them down in stages. To chop down 60 trees you’d need something like eight hours of work and three saws.
There were lots of people there, with lots of equipment, who’d need a supply of water – it’s not a simple operation. I don’t believe that the military, with all it’s observation points, on an olive grove located on the main road, didn’t see something like that taking place.
The observation posts are efficient to the degree where you can identify any vehicle that stops for a moment on some route – it’s impossible 60 trees were chopped down and no one noticed. No way. So, they brought over the military tracker to figure out where the footsteps had come from.
The tracker looks right and left for a bit. Now, a tracker, he can tell you based on just one footstep, which direction they came from, which way they left, where they paused, and where exactly they are now. So, he looked around and said, “I don’t know where they came from.”
Now, this was a no-brainer, it was right in front of the settlement – in front of Carmel. I saw the trails left by the vehicles and the quad bikes myself. So, he said to me, “I’d rather not know.”
It was taken to the deputy battalion commander, and he asked me, “Do you really want to start a fight with the entire sector now? I can’t do anything, it’s at the brigade level.” The next day, a protest tent was set up, a canopy with a few Bedouin women sitting under it in black dresses to mourn their olive trees that’d been chopped down.
We called in the Border Police straight away and dispersed them, arrested them, took apart their canopy. The next day, because of that, all the left-wingers came, and more busses and more Arabs and more settlers, and there was another little demonstration, which of course we also scattered.’
How did you scatter them?
‘Arrests. “Disperse, please,” a few Border Police guys, a few clubs – but there’s a directive not to shoot, and it’s very strict. A few days after that, the settlers chopped down one more tree, just to show [the Palestinians] that the fact that they’d set up a tent wasn’t scaring anybody.’
This testimony can also be read in Hebrew.
http://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
12 june 2016
Over 100 Israeli fanatic settlers stormed on early Sunday morning the holy al-Aqsa Mosque via the Maghareba Gate under heavy police escort.
Tension has flared up at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque following the break-in. Muslim learners and worshipers kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the assault. Israeli police troops escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the break-in.
The assault comes at a time when Israel’s alleged temple mount organizations launched calls for mass break-ins at al-Aqsa on Sunday and Monday to mark the Shavuot holiday.
In a related development, the Israeli police arrested the member of al-Aqsa reconstruction staff, Muhammad al-Ruweidi, and another unidentified Palestinian youth on charges of protesting the break-ins.
Muslim women have also maintained vigil outside al-Aqsa and recited holy Koran in protest at being banned from entering the Mosque to perform their prayers.
Tension has flared up at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque following the break-in. Muslim learners and worshipers kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the assault. Israeli police troops escorted the Israeli fanatics all the way through the break-in.
The assault comes at a time when Israel’s alleged temple mount organizations launched calls for mass break-ins at al-Aqsa on Sunday and Monday to mark the Shavuot holiday.
In a related development, the Israeli police arrested the member of al-Aqsa reconstruction staff, Muhammad al-Ruweidi, and another unidentified Palestinian youth on charges of protesting the break-ins.
Muslim women have also maintained vigil outside al-Aqsa and recited holy Koran in protest at being banned from entering the Mosque to perform their prayers.
A settler group called Regavim has tried to file a lawsuit against the European Union (EU) with the Israeli higher court to extract a verdict ordering the Europeans to halt and provide reports on their construction projects in Area C of the West Bank.
According to the Hebrew website NRG on Saturday, Regavim described the EU-funded structures for the Palestinians in Area C as "against the law" and called on the court to issue a verdict demanding the EU to provide full reports on its construction activities in Area C and to halt future projects for the Palestinians living in this area.
However, the petition was rejected by the court, prompting the settler group to file another one against the Israeli army's civil administration accusing it of ignoring the establishment of EU-funded projects in that area.
Recently, this organization has also embarked on preparing another petition against new construction projects being carried out by the EU in a Palestinian area east of Bethlehem near Mishor Adumim settlement.
Its new petition this time will demand the court to order foreign and European diplomats in Israel to respect their host country and refrain from interfering in its affairs. In this regard, the higher court has given all parties to the case a chance until next August to submit their legal papers on the petition.
According to the Hebrew website NRG on Saturday, Regavim described the EU-funded structures for the Palestinians in Area C as "against the law" and called on the court to issue a verdict demanding the EU to provide full reports on its construction activities in Area C and to halt future projects for the Palestinians living in this area.
However, the petition was rejected by the court, prompting the settler group to file another one against the Israeli army's civil administration accusing it of ignoring the establishment of EU-funded projects in that area.
Recently, this organization has also embarked on preparing another petition against new construction projects being carried out by the EU in a Palestinian area east of Bethlehem near Mishor Adumim settlement.
Its new petition this time will demand the court to order foreign and European diplomats in Israel to respect their host country and refrain from interfering in its affairs. In this regard, the higher court has given all parties to the case a chance until next August to submit their legal papers on the petition.
11 june 2016
Jewish settlers on Friday erected new caravans in Elon Moreh settlement to the west of Deir al-Hatab town near Nablus.
Abdurrahman al-Jammal, ian nhabitant of the town, said that the caravans which included houses and stockyards were being installed in the settlement while a drone was hovering over the area.
Elon Moreh settlement was forcibly established over Palestinians’ lands in the West Bank towns of Deir al-Hatab, Salem, and Azmout. It is only ten kilometers far from Occupied Jerusalem.
Abdurrahman al-Jammal, ian nhabitant of the town, said that the caravans which included houses and stockyards were being installed in the settlement while a drone was hovering over the area.
Elon Moreh settlement was forcibly established over Palestinians’ lands in the West Bank towns of Deir al-Hatab, Salem, and Azmout. It is only ten kilometers far from Occupied Jerusalem.
10 june 2016
Israeli settlers torched two cars belonging to Palestinians and spray-painted anti-Palestinian slogans in the streets of Yafa an-Naseriyye town within the Green Line.
Israeli police claimed that an investigation has been opened into the “nationalist attack”.
The police refused to reveal further details about the suspects’ identity.
“Price tag" is a euphemism for nationalist-motivated hate crimes by Jewish extremists, which generally target Palestinians or Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and have increasingly also hit Christian and Muslim places of worship.
Israeli police claimed that an investigation has been opened into the “nationalist attack”.
The police refused to reveal further details about the suspects’ identity.
“Price tag" is a euphemism for nationalist-motivated hate crimes by Jewish extremists, which generally target Palestinians or Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and have increasingly also hit Christian and Muslim places of worship.
9 june 2016
Extremist Jewish groups have incited their followers to march en masse to the Aqsa Mosque on Thursday to mark the approaching occasion of the Shavuot holiday.
Students for the temple organization and other Jewish groups announced, on their websites and social media, their intents to organize a mass march to the Mosque.
The Jewish event will include a mass break-in at the Aqsa Mosque and then a meeting to listen to a lecture on the importance of the alleged temple mount.
Students for the temple organization and other Jewish groups announced, on their websites and social media, their intents to organize a mass march to the Mosque.
The Jewish event will include a mass break-in at the Aqsa Mosque and then a meeting to listen to a lecture on the importance of the alleged temple mount.
Extremist Israeli settlers, on Thursday, spray-painted racist graffiti on the walls of an Arab village known as Abu Ghoush, to the northwest of Jerusalem, according to WAFA sources.
The painted graffiti included racist slogans, such as “Death to Arabs” and “Price Tag”.
According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, “Israeli civilians have perpetrated various forms of violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories, damaging their lands, their persons and their property.”
It further explained, “In recent years, settlers have carried out violent acts under the slogan ‘price tag.’ These are acts of violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces.”
B’Tselem has documented many such acts including the blocking of roads, throwing stones at cars and houses, making incursions into Palestinian villages and land, torching fields, uprooting trees, and other damage to property.
The painted graffiti included racist slogans, such as “Death to Arabs” and “Price Tag”.
According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, “Israeli civilians have perpetrated various forms of violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories, damaging their lands, their persons and their property.”
It further explained, “In recent years, settlers have carried out violent acts under the slogan ‘price tag.’ These are acts of violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces.”
B’Tselem has documented many such acts including the blocking of roads, throwing stones at cars and houses, making incursions into Palestinian villages and land, torching fields, uprooting trees, and other damage to property.
8 june 2016
Israeli settlers, Wednesday, razed Palestinian-owned lands in the village of al-Khader, to the south of occupied Bethlehem, according to local sources.
Hasan Burajeya, of the Anti-Settlement Committee in Bethlehem, told WAFA that a group of illegal Israeli settlers, accompanied by a military escort, proceeded to raze about 15 dunams of land near al-Khader. The razed land belongs to local Palestinians from the village.
Burajeya asserted that the razing of said lands comes as part of Israeli plan to construct a yeshiva (Jewish school) at the site.
According to Israeli human rights group Peace Now, over the years, Israel used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them.
“Using primarily these five methods: seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property; confiscation for public needs; and initial registration, Israel has managed to take over about 50% of the lands in the West Bank, barring the local Palestinian public from using them,” the group argues.
Hasan Burajeya, of the Anti-Settlement Committee in Bethlehem, told WAFA that a group of illegal Israeli settlers, accompanied by a military escort, proceeded to raze about 15 dunams of land near al-Khader. The razed land belongs to local Palestinians from the village.
Burajeya asserted that the razing of said lands comes as part of Israeli plan to construct a yeshiva (Jewish school) at the site.
According to Israeli human rights group Peace Now, over the years, Israel used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them.
“Using primarily these five methods: seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property; confiscation for public needs; and initial registration, Israel has managed to take over about 50% of the lands in the West Bank, barring the local Palestinian public from using them,” the group argues.
7 june 2016
Dozens of Israeli settlers broke into al-Aqsa Mosque via the Israeli-controlled al-Magaribeh gate on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on Monday.
Quds Press affirmed that 62 settlers stormed the holy shrine and toured its courtyards amid heavy police protection. Meanwhile, Palestinian worshipers intensified their presence at the Mosque since the early morning hours and tried to confront the Israeli settlers’ break-in into their Mosque.
Earlier Sunday, 307 Israeli settlers stormed the Mosque on the 49th anniversary of the occupation of Eastern Jerusalem.
Quds Press affirmed that 62 settlers stormed the holy shrine and toured its courtyards amid heavy police protection. Meanwhile, Palestinian worshipers intensified their presence at the Mosque since the early morning hours and tried to confront the Israeli settlers’ break-in into their Mosque.
Earlier Sunday, 307 Israeli settlers stormed the Mosque on the 49th anniversary of the occupation of Eastern Jerusalem.
