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4 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Occupation Soldiers, Including 50-Year Old Woman Near Al-Aqsa Mosque

March 9, 2016 

 

50-year-old Palestinian woman, Fadwa Abu Tair, was murdered by Israeli occupation soldiers near Al-Aqsa Mosque, March 8, 2016 pic	A Palestinian man shot to death in Tel Aviv by Israeli soldiers after allegedly attacking them, March 8, 2016 pic

Eyewitnesses: IOF executed Palestinian woman in cold blood

March 9, 2016, OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

 Eyewitnesses affirmed to the PIC news reporter that the Palestinian woman Fadwa Abu Tair was deliberately executed by Israeli occupation soldiers near al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, stressing that she was not holding a knife.

One of the eyewitnesses, who managed to reach the scene after hearing gunshots, said that Fadwa was directly hit in her eye and in the upper part of her body.

She was left lying on the ground bleeding for more than half an hour before being proclaimed dead, she added.  

“I could see with my own eyes there was no knife on the ground,” the eyewitnesses stressed, denying the Israeli claims saying she was holding a knife.

For his part, Dr. Amin Abu Ghazala said that Palestinian medical crews were prevented at first from reaching the victim. 

He added, “We have been then allowed to check her critical situation, and we tried to resuscitate her but it was too late. She received three bullets in her right eye and abdomen.”

Local sources said the Israeli occupation soldiers fired multiple shots at 50-year-old Fadwa Abu Tair and prevented the ambulance crew from reaching the scene to evacuate the casualty to hospital. Fadwa was reportedly left bleeding on the ground until she breathed her last. 

Amnesty International has earlier released a report that called into question a number of accounts in which Palestinians were shot and killed after alleged stabbing incidents. The group found that many of the cases were extrajudicial killings.

“There is mounting evidence that, as tensions have risen dramatically, in some cases Israeli forces appear to have ripped up the rule book and resorted to extreme and unlawful measures.” Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty said. “They seem increasingly prone to using lethal force against anyone they perceive as posing a threat, without ensuring that the threat is real.”

3 Palestinians killed in 3 separate anti-occupation attacks

March 9, 2016, OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Three Palestinians were shot and killed Tuesday afternoon after they carried out separate anti-occupation attacks in occupied Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Yafa.

The three attacks resulted in the killing of one Israeli police officer and the wounding of 13 others.

The first anti-occupation attack was carried out near the port in the Arab city of Yafa, when a Palestinian was shot dead after he stabbed to death one Israeli officer and wounded ten others.

In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian was shot and killed after he stabbed and wounded an Israeli settler near Petah Tikva settlement east of Tel Aviv.

Yediot Ahranot Hebrew newspaper said that he stabbed a Jewish Israeli in his mid-30s "in the upper part of his body," leaving him with light to moderate injuries.

Israeli police forces arrived at the scene and shot dead the Palestinian, the sources said, adding that Israeli forces closed the area for investigation.

A video appeared in different social networking sites showed a bleeding Palestinian young man, believed to be the attacker, lying on the ground while Israeli bystanders hurl verbal abuses at him.

The young man was left bleeding on the ground for long hours till he breathed his last breath.

In occupied Jerusalem, two Israeli soldiers were seriously injured when a Palestinian fired gunshots at a group of soldiers stationed near Salah al-Din neighborhood.

The Israeli occupation soldiers opened fire at the Palestinian shooter, seriously injuring him before he was then pronounced dead.

Earlier Tuesday, a Palestinian woman was fatally shot by the Israeli occupation soldiers near al-Aqsa Mosque allegedly after she attempted to stab an occupation soldier. 

Local sources said the Israeli soldiers fired multiple shots at 50-year-old Fadwa Ahmad Abu Teir and prevented the ambulance crew from reaching the scene to evacuate the casualty to hospital. Fadwa was reportedly left bleeding on the ground until she breathed her last. 

Since the outbreak of Jerusalem Intifada at the beginning of October last year, 194 Palestinians have been shot and killed by Israelis including 44 children and nine women. 450 Palestinians were also injured by Israeli forces and settlers during the same period. 

Israeli Soldiers Kidnap Twenty Palestinians In The West Bank

Tuesday March 08, 2016 13:10 by IMEMC News

Israeli soldiers have kidnapped, earlier on Tuesday, at least, twenty Palestinians, including two women, in different parts of the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that the dozens of soldiers invaded the northern West Bank district of Jenin, stormed and ransacked homes, and kidnapped five Palestinians, including one woman.

The kidnapped have been identified as Amjad Taiseer Hamarsha, Fadel Mahmoud Turkman and Mohammad Bassam Hamarsha, all are 18-19 years old, in addition to Tareq Bilalou and a woman, identified as Roweida Abu Mweis, 42.

The soldiers also kidnapped Hammoudi Obeid, 25, from the Jenin refugee camp, after stopping him at a military roadblock near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.

In the southern West Bank district of Hebron, the soldiers kidnapped four Palestinians, identified as Omar Hazem Bader, Jihad Raed Faisal, 18, Mohammad Ramadan Abu Ramouz and Faisal Mohammad Badawi, 63.

Also in Hebron, undercover Israeli soldiers, driving a civilian car with Israeli license plates, infiltrated into Ras al-Joura area, near the city’s northern entrance, stopped a Palestinian car and forced all passengers out, before kidnapping one Palestinian and confiscating the car.

The soldiers interrogated the Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards, and drove away heading towards bypass road #35.

The soldiers also invaded and searched many homes in Abu Dis town, near occupied Jerusalem, and kidnapped three Palestinians identified as Amir Khaled Jaffal, Ahmad Radi Erekat and his brother Mahmoud.

In addition, the soldiers kidnapped a young Palestinian woman, trying to cross the Qalandia terminal, north of occupied Jerusalem; the army claims she “carried a knife.”

In Qalqilia, in the northern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped two brothers identified as Ramzi, 31, and Yousef Sweidan, 31.

In Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded Beit Fajjar town, and kidnapped ‘Awni Ahmad Taqatqa, 13, and Mahmoud Abdullah Taqatqa, 18.

The soldiers also invaded Iraq-Burin town, in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, and kidnapped a Palestinian, identified as Jasser Faleh Qadous.

In Ramallah, the soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian woman, identified as Manal Tamimi, 40, from her home in Nabi Saleh town.

EU Observer: Palestinians Joining Exodus to EU, according to Erekat

Wednesday March 09, 2016 03:26 by IMEMC News & Agencies

Palestinians are joining the Middle East exodus to Europe in greater numbers because of the Syrian war and ongoing Israeli occupation, a senior Palestinian official has said.

Palestinians collect their belongings from under the rubble of a residential tower, which witnesses said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City August 24, 2014.

Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), told EU Observer, from Ramallah, that “thousands” had already left for Europe.

“What other options have they? We have people dying of starvation in al-Yarmouk refugee camp [in Syria], and thousands of Palestinians leaving Syria and Lebanon trying to reach Europe,” he said, according to the PNN.

“The UN has said that Gaza will be unfit for human habitation by 2020, but Israel’s siege of Gaza continues.”

The Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza are home to some 4.5 million Palestinians.

Two million more live in refugee camps in Jordan in a legacy of wars in 1948 and 1967. Another 500,000 live in camps in Lebanon and a further 500,000 in Syria.

Frontex, the EU border control agency in Warsaw, said that just six Palestinians were intercepted trying to enter the EU via irregular crossings to Greece in January of last year, but that figure rose to 488 in August. It peaked at 1,747 in October, and stayed high (1,142) in January of this year, despite inclement weather.

The real number is likely to be much bigger because most Palestinians travel without ID papers, making them difficult to count.

Easo, the EU asylum agency in Malta, said that up to 19,000 Palestinians applied for asylum in the EU last year, compared with 15,680 in 2014 and 9,590 in 2013.

It said that most of them were “Palestinian ‘refugees’ or persons of Palestinian origin who were previously long term residents of countries now affected by the Syrian conflict.

It additionally stated that these people have a 53 percent to 87 percent chance of success, depending on which EU state handles their claim.

Israel ‘killing hope’

The number of Palestinians on the move is likely to go up if the spate of knife and car-ramming attacks on Israelis that has been going on since last year escalates into a full-scale uprising.

Erekat blames the instability on the Israeli occupation.

“[Israeli] prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist government have done everything possible to kill hope in the minds and hearts of Palestinians. What they see on a daily basis are more settlements, land grabbing, checkpoints, siege, military raids, settler attacks and systematic denial of their rights,” he said.

He said the Arab-Israeli conflict also contributes to instability in Syria, the main source of the EU refugee crisis.

“You can’t defeat Daesh (ISIL) without ending the Israeli occupation,” he said, using an Arabic name for Islamic State, a jihadist group which controls parts of Syria and Iraq.

“Lack of hope could lead people to commit desperate acts like joining Daesh. Though the numbers of Palestinians joining them are minimal, this is not a situation that can be taken for granted.”

Sanctions call

The 60-year old Palestinian diplomat has served as the PLO’s chief negotiator in Arab-Israeli peace talks for most of the past 20 years.

He welcomed a French project to set a deadline for new peace talks after which France would recognise Palestine in its 1967 borders.

“Recognising Palestine is not going to end the occupation, but it’s a strong message to the Palestinian people in terms of support for their rights. European countries will be investing in peace,” he said.

He also welcomed an EU retail label code on settler food, wine, and cosmetics exports that was published last year. But he advocated tougher action.

“Effective actions against Israeli settlements are banning of settlement products, divestment and sanctions on companies profiting from the occupation,” he said.

Apartheid jibe

The UN and the EU advocate a two-state solution to the conflict.

Erekat said: “I sincerely don’t see any other solution but a two-state solution for the welfare of both Israelis and Palestinians.”

But, he added: “I personally think that Israel doesn’t want a two-state solution. The Israeli government believes in … one state with two systems, which means apartheid.”

He said Israel’s impunity in the EU and US is part of the problem.

“Radicals that could not even get close to the Knesset [the Israeli parliament] 20 years ago are now part of the government coalition. But I also believe that this [Israeli policy] has a lot to do with pragmatism: Israel has the feeling that no matter what, they’ll never be held accountable,” he said.

He said the only “morally acceptable” alternative to two states is “one single, democratic state in all of historic Palestine”.

‘Stop making excuses’

“If they don’t like the idea of two sovereign states living side by side, I call upon them to talk to us and let’s set the terms for a one-state solution. But they should not even dream that our people will accept anything short of … the right to self-determination, freedom,” Erekat said.

The one-state model would imperil Israel’s objective to be a “homeland of the Jews” in demographic terms.

Based on Erekat’s comments, EUobserver asked the Israeli mission to the EU if any models other than the two-state solution would be acceptable to Israel.

The mission asked for its statement to be published in full.

“Israel’s declared and unequivocal position is two states for two people,” the statement said.

“In order to achieve this, Mr. Erekat and his colleagues should engage in direct negotiations and stop making excuses as to why they can’t come to the table. Prime minster Netanyahu has repeatedly stated his willingness to restart direct talks – be it in Jerusalem or Ramallah. All other personal beliefs should be challenged in the negotiation room.”

Israeli and U.S. Groups sued for $34.5 Billion for funding construction of Israeli settlements

Tuesday March 08, 2016 12:24 by Celine Hagbard - IMEMC News

A group of Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans who have been victims of Israeli settlement construction filed a lawsuit this week to demand financial compensation from some of the companies, individuals and organizations responsible for funding the construction.

Israeli settlement construction (image by adelaidenow.com.au)

Israeli settlement construction takes place on illegally seized Palestinian land, and is considered a flagrant violation of international law and Israel's responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention as an occupying power.

The U.S. Government has also condemned Israeli settlement construction – although a bill being considered by the U.S. Congress right now would make it illegal to boycott Israeli products that come from these illegal settlements.

In fact, U.S. Law currently allows U.S. Citizens to donate to the Israeli military directly – the only military on earth that U.S. Citizens are allowed to directly donate to. In addition, U.S. Citizens and groups are permitted to give tax-deductible donations to Israeli settlement construction project – despite the fact that doing so directly violates U.S. Stated policy.

The lawsuit launched this week names Washington lobbyist and multi-millionaire Sheldon Adelson, investor Irving Moskowitz, right-wing mega-church pastor John Hagee and other individuals who have funneled millions of dollars into Israeli colonial settlement construction.

In addition, a number of organizations are named in the lawsuit, including 'Christian Friends of Israeli Communities', Israel Chemicals Limited, the controversial Dead Sea cosmetics company Ahava, and security firm G4S.

Martin McMahon, one of the lawyers representing the complainants in the lawsuit, told reporters from Al Jazeera, "It's about time that the world woke up to the fact that Palestinians are being murdered every day with US taxpayer dollars."

In addition to charging the defendants with funding illegal settlement construction, the lawsuit also charges five counts of conspiracy, war crimes, aggravated trespass, pillage and racketeering.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Washington DC.

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