Israeli occupation To Build 3000 New Settlement Units

Source :  http://www.qassam.ps/news-7773-Israeli_occupation_To_Build_3000_New_Settlement_Units.html

04-12-2013,09:08 Occupied Palestine - [Tuesday, December 3, 2013] Israeli War Minister, Moshe Yaalon, has decided to approve 3,000 new units in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. New illegal settlement also to be built in the Negev.The decision came despite a statement made by Netanyahu, who alleged that the occupation “will not rush new plans” and “will not issue new bids at the current stage.” Israeli sources said that Yaalon issued several similar decisions, and that most of these decisions were made in July of this year, when he approved the construction of 2,487 units for several settlements in the occupied West Bank.Israeli Peace Now Movement said that Yaalon is waging an extensive campaign to expand various illegal settlements, including Alia Zahav, Shilo, Kedumim, Givat Zeev, and Talmon.In related news, the Israeli Regional Construction and Planning Committee has decided to build a new settlement of 250 units for young Israeli couples in the Negev, as part of the Ramat Negev Regional Council of Settlements. The decision came amidst massive protests against the Prawer-Begin displacement plan in the Negev. The Prawer-Begin Plan aims at illegally confiscating nearly a million dunams of Arab – Bedouin land in the Negev, and the total destruction and removal of nearly 36 “unrecognized villages”, an issue that would lead to the displacement of about 100,000 people. By forcing out the Arabs from the Negev and constructing malls and “Jewish-only” areas, Israeli occupation will be blocking any geographical contiguity between the Negev, Gaza and Sinai. The plan, which passed following the first reading, would also lead to the illegal annexation of more than 800,000 dunams of Arab lands in the Negev.

1518 Palestinian children were killed since 2nd intifada

Source : Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades

Al Qassam website- Ramallah- Nearly 1518 Palestinian children were killed sin second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in 2000, according to a Palestinian official r

The report, issued by the Ministry of Information on Monday, affirmed th thousand children were injured since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada 13 ago.

The report came to mark the International Day for the Protection of Children of the Israeli brutal daily practices against Palestinian children.

The report confirmed that 9000 children under 18 were arrested since th uprising, including 881 children in 2012.

The Ministry said that 246 children under 18 are currently held in Israe including 47 children under 16.

The report stated that the children under 18 constitute 47.6 per cent of th population.

Israel to build 1,000 settler homes in mainly-Palestinian areas of Jerusalem

Source : Al Akhbar English

Israel is preparing to build more than 1,000 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem as the United States strives to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, an NGO said late Wednesday.

Danny Seidemann, director of Jerusalem settlement watchdog Terrestrial Jerusalem, told AFP that contracts for 300 homes in the northeastern settlement of Ramot were signed and another 797 plots were to be offered for sale in the southern Jerusalem settlement of Gilo, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Both are in mainly-Palestinian areas of the holy city which were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day war then annexed, in a move still unrecognized by the international community.

Seidemann said that the plans were approved last year, before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quietly ordered a settlement freeze, but the latest steps in their implementation were leaked to media by the office of hardline Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel .

"This does not mean that the freeze is over, it does mean that Netanyahu's minister of construction is trying to achieve that," Seidemann said.

Ariel is himself a settler and number two in the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, which joined Netanyahu's coalition government in the wake of January's general election.

The news came less than a week after Kerry's latest round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his fourth visit to the region since he took office in February.

On Sunday he unveiled a $4 billion US plan to boost the Palestinian economy but it was met with a cool response, with an advisor to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas saying that the leadership would "not offer political concessions in exchange for economic benefits."

Abbas himself called on Israel to "end the occupation of our lands", evacuate settlements and free Palestinian prisoners."

The Palestinian leadership wants a total freeze on Israeli settlement construction before it resumes peace talks with Israel, which have been stalled for almost three years.

According to Peace Now data for 2012, at least 1,747 new settlement housing units were built in the past year, and plans were approved for the construction of 6,676 more homes.

The international community views all Israeli construction on occupied Palestinian land as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

(AFP, Al-Akhbar)

25 Palestinians Injured Near Ramallah

Source : International Middle East Media Center

Friday evening, May 17 2013, Palestinian medical sources reported that approximately 25 Palestinians have been injured, including twelve who were shot by live rounds, during clashes that took place when Israeli soldiers invaded the Al-Jalazoun refugee camp and Silwad town, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

The sources said that clashes took place at the entrance of the Al-Jalazoun refugee camp, close to the Bet El illegal settlement, and added that the army fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition, wounding twelve Palestinians, mainly in their lower body.

Also, clashes took place in Silwan town, east of Ramallah, after the army invaded the town following Friday prayers, and fired dozens of gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets, wounding more than 10 Palestinians, one in his mouth.

The soldiers also kidnapped one Palestinian after ambushing him in the town, local sources reported. Furthermore, the army attacked several Palestinian reporters wounding one identified as Moath Mashal, a cameraman working for the Anadolu Turkish news agency.

In related news, hundreds of Palestinians held Friday prayers in lands Israel intends to illegally confiscate for its illegal settlement activities, in Deir Jarir village, east of Ramallah. Israeli soldiers attacked the residents, fired gas bombs, and rubber-coated metal bullets.

Israel settlers also arrived at the scene and fired rounds of live ammunition in an attempt to remove the Palestinians from their lands.

Local sources reported that several trees and crops were burnt due to Israeli army gas bombs fired at the residents.

ramallah, israeli attacks

Zionists Storm Aqsa Mosque on Nakba Anniversary

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

53 Zionist settlers stormed Al-Aqsa mosque Wednesday morning through the Moroccans Gate, under high police protection, while 50 other Israeli children concurrently broke into the mosque through King Faisal Gate.

The settlers made these escalatory moves as Palestinians were reviving the 65th anniversary of Al-Nakba (catastrophe).

The occupation has been calling on settlers to go on with their violations of Al-Aqsa mosque, and the biggest violation is expected to take place on the coming Thursday as Jewish youth and children will reportedly break into Al-Aqsa mosque to celebrate “Torah Revelation Holiday” in the “Temple Mount”, where they believe the Torah was revealed.

The call was published by Israeli settlers on social network and media, who said that Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Rabbi Yosef Elbaum will head a mass pilgrimage, and will move after that to a Jewish neighborhood in the old city to demand freedom of performing Jewish prayers in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Seven Children Injured In Jerusalem

Source : International Middle East Media Center

Saturday, May 11 2013, Palestinian medical sources reported that seven Palestinian children have been injured by gas bombs and concussion grenades fired by Israel soldiers at elementary schoolchildren in At-Tour town, in occupied East Jerusalem.

The sources said that the seven children were injured by fragments of gas bombs, and concussion grenades, and that all of the wounded are 10-13 years old.

Dozens of students hurled stones at the army after attacking them leading to further clashes, local sources reported.

Furthermore, the army kidnapped one resident, identified as Mustafa Abu Al-Hawa, 20, and took him to an unknown destination.

Hatem Khweiss, media spokesperson of the Parents Committee of Jerusalem Schools, stated that the union will call for a strike and a press conference on Monday to expose the ongoing violations carried out by the soldiers against the Arab students in occupied Jerusalem.

He added that these violations require a serious action to stop them, and called on the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing Israeli violations against the Palestinians, their lands and property in Jerusalem.

87 civilians killed in Israeli operation of Pillar of Defense: report

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, May 9 (Xinhua) -- About half of Palestinians killed during operation Pillar of Defense last November were civilians, according to a new report by B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, published on Thursday.

During eight days of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas- ruled Gaza, 167 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military. At least 87 of them were civilians, who did not take part in the hostilities, the report found. Among them were 31 juveniles, who are about 35 percent of the casualties.

The report is based on interviews with eye witnesses, data dispatched by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and Palestinian records.

"Our investigation shows that at least in some cases Israel violated international law," Yael Stein, research director at B' Tselem and author of the report, told Xinhua.

Palestinian leader denounces al-Qaradawi ‘betrayal’

Source : http://old.mehrnews.com

TEHRAN, May 9 (MNA) –The leader of the Islamic Movement in Palestine has rejected supports for an Israeli plan to exchange lands with Palestinians.

Sheikh Raed Salah denounced Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the head of International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), for his fatwas (religious decree), and Qatari Emir for their support for Israeli land swap plan. “Al- Qaradawi is not Palestine’s representative; he does not have the right to issue fatwas about Palestinians; he issues fatwa on sanctioning Quds, but travels to Gaza under the support of the Zionists. He is like one who seeks the help of the enemy to damage his brother,” Salah emphasized.

“Neither Qatari Emir nor anyone else in the world would impose the land swap plan on us. They had better go and swap their own lands, and do not interfere with Palestinian lands, since these lands are Islamic waqf,” he added.

“I call for any Arab Muslim to come to pilgrimage to al-Aqsa mosque. God bestowed the Prophet with the Miraj while the mosque was under Roman influence, now, how would al-Qaradawi sanctions pilgrimage on al-Aqsa, but himself travels to Gaza under support of the Zionists,” Salah explained.

“If I were in Gaza, I would reject al-Qaradawi,” he added.

Israel plans to wage another war on Gaza

Source : islamicinvitationturkey.com

The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine has said the Israeli regime was planning to wage another war on the besieged Gaza Strip, Press TV reports.

The group’s military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, has been holding military exercises in order to prepare its members for a possible Israeli aggression, the movement also said.

“The Zionist enemy is getting ready for a major military operation on Gaza. We expect an escalation in the coming days but we are not sitting idle. Our military wing has been training for another war and it will not be a cakewalk for Zionists when they come to confront our fighters,” said Khader Habib, a senior Islamic Jihad official.

The Israeli regime launched an eight-day war on Gaza last November, killing 177 Palestinians, including women and children.

Israel launched another war on the coastal enclave in December 2008-January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22-day Israeli onslaught and thousands more injured.

Mustafa Sarsour, a college student, told Press TV he was sure Israel would wage another war on Gaza within days or weeks.

“Almost everyone you talk to in Gaza will tell you that they are worried about another war especially with continued Israeli threats,” he said.

Analysts say the Tel Aviv regime has been issuing threats as a tactic to stop Palestinians from resisting Israel’s aggression.

Hani al-Basous, a political analyst, said the Israeli forces might target leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in its new aggression as well as Palestinian infrastructure.

“This is part of Israelis psychological war … on people and military in the Gaza Strip and to threat the people to get them under pressure all the time,” he added

China willing to assist Palestine-Israeli leaders' meeting: FM spokeswoman

Source : Xinhua

BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Friday that China is willing to assist Palestinian and Israeli leaders if they wish to meet while visiting China.

"If the leaders of Palestine and Israel have the will to meet in China, China is willing to offer necessary assistance," spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will pay a state visit to China from May 5 to 7 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pay an official visit to China as a guest of Premier Li Keqiang from May 6 to 10.

"China sincerely hopes Palestine and Israel can resume peace talks at an early date and score substantial progress," Hua said, adding that China will play a positive and constructive role in the matter

Palestinians, Arab League share positions regarding peace with Israel: negotiator

Source : Xinhua

RAMALLAH, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday said its position regarding a final settlement with Israel conforms with that of the Arab League.

The Palestinian and Arab positions "put the ball in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's court to make progress on the way of peace," said Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian peace negotiator.

On Tuesday, a senior Qatari official said that the Arab states see that making peace between Israel and the Palestinians should be based on a two-state solution and that the two sides can agree on trading lands.

This was seen as a concession that provides more flexibility for talks on the borders of the future Palestinian state, which the Palestinians have long said must be built on the lands that Israel has occupied in 1967.

The Arab position was announced after foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington.

"If Netanyahu accepts the two-state solution and there is a need for a slight swap of lands, the Arabs and the Palestinians are ready for this," Erekat said.

Erekat said if the Israeli government doesn't endorse the two- state solution, then the debate about reviving the peace process would be fruitless.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over a dispute on Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Israel demolishes West Bank homes, water wells

Source : Al Akhbar English

Israeli forces on Monday demolished Palestinian homes and water wells in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, as settlers confiscated land near Hebron to build a new outpost, local media reported.

In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces razed two apartments in the Tur neighborhood after several attempts by the owners to reverse the demolition order failed.

The authorities evicted 24 members of the Ghaith family, including five children and an elderly woman, from the two apartments ahead of the demolition, Rushi Ghaith, one of the owners, told Palestinian news agency Ma'an.

The apartments were scheduled for demolition in December but the family secured a court-ordered injunction to stop it from going ahead, Ghaith said.

The Ghaith family lawyer said they had successfully stalled attempts to raze the apartments since September 2004, when Israeli authorities handed down the demolition notice because the home was built without a licensing permit. The family's case to reverse the demolition order is ongoing.

Ghaith said the family has been fined 80,000 Israeli shekels (about $22,000) since the case began.

Meanwhile Israeli soldiers demolished water wells south of Hebron in al-Fawar refugee camp, as settlers from the nearby Ma’oun settlement seized land west of Yatta in preparation for the establishment of new outposts.

Abdul Hadi Hantash, an expert on settlement policies in the southern West Bank, said that the Ma’oun settlers seized land of one of the hills southwest of their original outpost.

Hantash told reporters that the wells the soldiers destroyed were used for agricultural purposes and irrigation.

He added that the continued confiscation of land and demolition of Palestinian structures, including the bulldozing of homes and uprooting of trees, are part of the Israeli government’s illegal settlement expansion program.

Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and other structures in the occupied West Bank occur almost daily under the pretext of building without a permit.

According to the United Nations, 33 percent of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack Israeli-issued building permits, which are difficult to obtain, potentially placing at least 93,100 residents at risk of displacement.

Roughly 94 percent of Palestinian applications for building permits are rejected, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

The group estimates that Israeli authorities have demolished about 27,000 Palestinian structures in the West Bank since 1967.

(Ma’an, Wafa, Al-Akhbar)

Palestinian Anti-Occupation March Faced by Rubber Bullets, Tear Gas

Source :

Numerous injuries have been reported in the West Bank Friday when Zionist troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a march of some 500 Palestinians protesting against the occupation and regular attacks by Zionist settlers.

The march outside the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ofra, was organized to highlight violence by the settlers, whom the Palestinians said they attacked them twice thi week.

Prior to the march, a number of Palestinian youths have hurled stone at the Zionist military unit which responded with rubber bullets and tear gas at the growing provocation. According to local witnesses the march was organized in retaliation to Zionist intrusion into Palestinian villages. The villagers say Zionist settlers set cars on fire in the village, planted Zionist flag on a church and pelted villagers with stones. “This was a peaceful area. We're gathered today to say we refuse to b attacked and driven off our own land," said Sami Issa, a resident. "W want their army to pull the settlers out.” Earlier on Friday, Palestinians threw two homemade bombs and severa firebombs at a company of Border Guard troops in eastern Jerusalem Zionist forces returned fire with crowd-dispersal munitions. In its weekly report on Zionist human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories for the week of 18- 24 April 2013, the Palestinia Center for Human Rights (PCHR) discovered that there were 98 militar incursions into Palestinian villages in the West Bank. During thes operations at least 52 Palestinians, including 6 children and a numbe of Hamas members were abducted. Eight Palestinians, including 4 children and a 70-year-old elderly woman, were wounded in the Wes Bank.

UEFA should cancel football tournament in Israel, says former French sports minister

Source : SouthWeb Org

Former French sports minister Marie-George Buffet has asked European football’s governing body to cancel its plan to hold this year’s under-21 championship in Israel.

In a 7 March letter to UEFA president Michel Platini, the member of parliament argued that Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement for Palestinian athletes, and the groundless incarceration of football players on the Palestinian national team “are incompatible with the sport values that should be respected when organizing a major international competition.” Israeli football racism

Also incompatible with sports values of fair play and respect is the amount of racism in Israeli football. In January, Ali Abunimah addressed racism in Israeli football on his blog. He quoted Haaretz:

Only in Israeli soccer can a club block Arabs from joining its ranks, and harsh violence is treated solely as a disciplinary infraction, to be handled by the Israel Football Association’s internal court. The anarchy and lack of police enforcement have turned Israeli soccer into a source of violence, racism and hatred, and has even started to attract dubious characters, who at times manage the teams.

The video above exposes the racism of the fans of Israeli Premier League team Beitar Jerusalem against a play on their own side.

Hundreds of Beitar fans leave the stadium after Zaur Sadayev — a Muslim player from Chechnya — scored a goal to protest the presence of a Muslim player on their team, as reported by the online magazine Jweekly.com.

The letter continues (translation from French original):

This plan has aroused strong emotions among many athletes – you are certainly aware of the protests by many football players – but also among the people and associations that are campaigning for justice and peace in Israel and Palestine. You are also familiar with my involvement in the promotion of sport for all in every corner of the globe, without demanding from athletes the endorsement of any political agenda.

It is this moral code that has prompted me to approach you with the request that the European Cup should not be held in Israel. I fully agreed with you in 2010 when you stated that “Israeli measures applicable to Palestinian sport constitute a breach of the international regulations and laws in force” to be a member of UEFA.

This situation, far from improving, persists today. It is a deplorable fact that Palestinian athletes are not only being denied travel permits within and outside the Palestinian territories so that they are unable to take part in competitions, but that many athletes are also frequently arrested and imprisoned. Mention may be made, in particular, of the groundless incarceration of the goalkeeper of the Palestinian Olympic team, Mr. Omar Abu Roïs, and of the Ramallah footballer, Mr. Mohammed Nmir, as well as that of Mr. Mahmoud Sarsak of the Palestinian national team, who was imprisoned on traveling from Gaza to the West Bank for a match.

You will agree with me, Mr. President and Dear Friend, that such adverse practices against athletes and a country’s right to engage in sport are incompatible with the sport values that should be respected when organizing a major international competition.

I am therefore convinced that you will be sensitive, in the name of sport and the right of all to engage in sport, to the current protests against the holding of the competition in question in Israel. I know that I can rely on your concern to ensure respect for that principle as a motive to reconsider the venue for the 2013 European Football Championship.

Warm regards,

Marie-George Buffet

Obama calls on Israel to stop building Jewish settlements

Source  :  Xinhua

JERUSALEM, March 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama called on the Israeli government Thursday to stop building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying continued settlement activity is "counterproductive" to peace.

Obama, who is in Israel on a three-day visit, was delivering a keynote speech to Israeli students which was nationally televised.

In the emotional speech, Obama said an independent and viable Palestinian state is the only way to guarantee the peace and security of Israel and he believed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is a "true partner" for peace with Israel.

"Israelis must recognize that continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace, and that an independent Palestine must be viable, that real borders will have to be drawn, " he said.

Obama also expressed his objection to unilateral steps in solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, saying that "The U.S. will oppose unilateral steps that attempt to bypass negotiations in the UN (United Nations)." He was referring to the Palestinians' bid to win recognition of their state by the United Nations.

While calling on the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Obama said the Palestinians has a right to self- determination.

"It is not just when settler violence against Palestinians goes unpunished... it is not right to prevent Palestinians from farming their lands or restrict Palestinian students from moving around their lands or displacing Palestinian families from their homes; neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer; and just as Israel has built a state in their own land, the Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land," he said to the applauding audience.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is one of the main topics on the agenda of Obama's first visit to Israel as president of the United States. He discussed the stalled peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting Wednesday and with Palestinian President Abbas Thursday in Ramallah, the West Bank.

The Israel-Palestinian peace talks have stalled since 2010 after the Israeli government led by then prime minister Netanyahu refused to extend a freeze on the settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to build their own state.

To lower expectations for his ongoing tour, Obama Wednesday told reporters that he would not make any major announcement during his stay in Israel. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is accompanying Obama in the trip, will reportedly come to Israel to meet with Netanyahu on follow- up actions on the peace process after Obama leaves Jordan for home Saturday.

Israeli Navy Opens Fire At Fishermen In Gaza

Source : International Middle East Media Center

Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli Navy fired dozens of rounds of live ammunition at several fishing boats, and into the air in an attempt to force the fishermen back to the shore.

The fishermen were within the six-nautical mile area they are allowed to enter and fish, but the army attacked them.

The attack is similar to numerous attacks that led to dozens of casualties and significant damages.

Under the Oslo accords in the mid-nineties, the Palestinians are allowed to fish in 20 nautical miles off the Gaza shore, but in 2008, Israel unilaterally reduced the fishing area to three nautical miles.

As part of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israeli war on Gaza in November 2012, Palestinian fishermen were allowed to fish within six nautical miles off the Gaza coast, but the army continued to attack them in their allotted areas.

Illegal Israeli bullet claims a Palestinian life

Source :   Al Akhbar English

Israeli forces shot dead a young Palestinian protester Tuesday night using bullets prohibited by international law.

Mahmoud Adel Faris al-Teiti, 25, was hit in the head by expanding “dum dum” bullets during clashes at the al-Fawwar refugee camp near Hebron, according to local media.

“Dum dum” bullets, first made by British colonial forces in India's Calcutta, expand on impact to limit penetration and produce a larger diameter wound. The use of expanding bullets is prohibited by the 1899 Hague Declaration and is listed as a war crime in the Statute of the International Criminal Court (Article 8(2)(b)(xix)).

Witnesses said Israeli soldiers raided Fuwar and opened fire after coming under a barrage of rocks from local Palestinians. Hospital officials said a 25-year-old man died after being shot in the head and two others were wounded by the Israelis.

Two other young men were shot and injured by live ammunition. Another six were hit by rubber-coated bullets.

Israeli forces say they only shoot live fire in 'life-threatening situations', but reports of their use in recent weeks have been abundant.

According to Palestinian officials, al-Teiti was the sixth Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the beginning of this year. A seventh was killed on the Gaza border on January 11.

Palestinians have also taken to the streets to protest against Israel's extrajudicial jailing of thousands of their countrymen. The resulting confrontations, often bloody, have drawn warnings on both sides that a full Palestinian revolt could be brewing.

Settlers attack 67-year-old farmer in Beit Ummar

Source :  Maan News Agency

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A group of 30 settlers attacked a 67-year-old farmer in north Hebron on Saturday, a local committee said.

Mohammad Abed al-Hamid Jabir Slaibi, 67, and his sons were working on their land adjacent to Bat Ayin settlement when a group of young settlers started swearing at them and throwing rocks, a popular committee in Beit Ummar told Ma'an.

Slaibi and his sons left the area to escape the attack.

Israeli soldiers were present at the time of the incident but did not intervene, the committee added.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank is routine and rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Report: Israeli Army to Use Live Fire against Fireworks Protesters

Source : Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israeli forces will respond to fireworks shot toward them with live ammunition at protesters, an army official said.

"Palestinian protestors are increasingly shooting fireworks recently," an army official told Israel's Maariv newspaper.

"We see these as dangerous weapons rather than toys," he said.

Maariv described the fireworks, adapted to be let off through metal pipes, as a new symbol in the latest wave of protests.

It said an incident at Qalandia checkpoint, in which a Palestinian protester was shot dead by Israeli forces, was the catalyst for the Israeli army's decision to respond to fireworks in the same way soldiers respond to Molotov cocktails, by shooting at protesters' lower bodies.

Soldiers thought the protester was firing a gun, but he was actually shooting fireworks, it said.

The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem plans to file a complaint against the Israeli army's increased use of live ammunition against protesters.

"We noticed an increase in critical conditions in the last few days, of which four cases were transferred to Hadassah hospital because of the use of live ammunition, which can be deadly or paralyzing," a representative of B'Tselem told Ma'an.

Practical Steps to Boycott Israel

Source :   Al Akhbar English

Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon held its first press conference on 28 February 2013 at the Lebanese Press Syndicate in Beirut to answer questions related to their boycott platform.

Questions addressed issues like the purpose and effectiveness of the boycott; alternatives to boycotted entities; and the fate of those employed locally in companies that support Israel.

More specifically, some asked whether or not the boycott of performers who take part in events in Israel constitutes a snub to “culture and modernism,” as opponents of the boycott like to maintain. Others wondered about the viability of implementing the boycott in the “Information Age” since so many spheres seem open to all, even Israel.

The conference’s Q&A session tried to debunk such myths and refute claims about the inability of individuals to boycott the state of Israel.

When the governments of the Arab League member states enforced a systematic boycott of Israel and the businesses that supported it at the end of the 1940s, the Jewish state incurred losses of up to $96 billion until the early ‘90s. As a result of the Camp David Accords and other pacts with Israel, some Arab states withdrew their public boycotts, weakening the official pan-Arab stance against Israel.

What is the aim of the boycott today? Should we proceed to individually boycott everyone and everything that supports Israel?

The Campaign’s answer is simple: ideally, yes. The campaign further advises to adopt the following tactic: “Boycott wherever possible.” In difficult circumstances, create some sort of ranking scale for boycott targets of “worst to least bad.”

What are the determining criteria of “worst to least bad”? At the top of the list, according to the Campaign, are companies that have built facilities on territory that has been “cleansed” of Palestinians.

For instance, the Coca-Cola Company signed an agreement with the Israeli government in 2002 to establish a plant in Kiryat Gat, a settlement built on the ruins of two depopulated Palestinian villages, Faluja and Iraq al-Manshiyya.

Furthermore, the beverage company donates to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, which promotes Jewish immigration to Palestine. It is worth noting that Coca-Cola was absent from Arab markets from 1968 to 1991 due to the Arab boycott.

For its part, the Swiss multinational company Nestlé built its most important facility in Sderot, a settlement built on the lands of Najd, a Palestinian village that was ethnically cleansed in 1948.

Such boycott criteria applies to firms that acquire Israeli companies or stakes in them, a process that helps inject money into Israeli bank accounts. This is the case with firms like General Electric and Johnson & Johnson.

The boycott can be indeed effective, as is evident with Burger King, whose sales slumped by 50 percent in Saudi Arabia after the fast food chain opened an outlet in the illegal Israeli settlement Ma'ale Adumim.

Likewise, McDonald's sales plummeted in Muscat, Oman by 65 percent in January 2003, while campaigns against Starbucks’ support for Israel led the American coffee chain to shut down all of its stores in Israel in 2003, citing “operational challenges.”

What about the boycott of certain performers? This issue is often controversial as it draws accusations of obscurantism toward the Campaign.

Regardless, the Campaign maintains that performing in Israel contributes to whitewashing its crimes and promoting Israel as a “beacon” of culture.