Patrick O. Strickland | 12 November 2012

Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian woman.

RAMALLAH: Israeli settler attacks against Palestinian civilians have been on the rise in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) reports.

The AIC, a joint Israeli-Palestinian nongovernmental organization based in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, published a report last month that detailed reported attacks from May until August. It said that the frequency of settler attacks was notably high in Hebron and the southern region of the West Bank.

Attacks sharply increased during the Palestinian olive harvest season last month. “Reports of violence and vandalism [against Palestinians and their lands] have been reported every day,” the AIC said. In one instance, settlers destroyed 120 olive trees on which several Palestinian families from a village south of Nablus relied for their income. It added that in most cases settlers were armed.

Last week, settlers again uprooted 100 trees in a Nablus village and spray painted “Death to Arabs” and “Price Tag” throughout the village, Ma’an News Agency reports.

On Sunday night, settlers raided al-Manshiya, a village near Bethlehem, and attempted to burn down a Palestinian home. After pouring gasoline on the house, the settlers fled when villagers came to defend the home by throwing rocks and forced them from the village.

Over 500,000 Jewish settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The international community considers all settlements illegal.

BM   
More here:  http://www.bikyamasr.com/80574/israeli-settler-attacks-on-the-rise-...

#WestBankUnderAttack | Racist graffiti, pour gasoline on a home and arson by Israeli settlers in Bethlehem

Tuesday November 13, 2012 01:50 by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC News

A group of right-wing Israeli settlers tried to set fire to a Palestinian home near Bethlehem Sunday night, and spraypainted racist graffiti on the home and nearby structures.

‘Kill all Arabs’ graffiti (IMEMC archive photo)

The graffiti included ‘Death to Arabs’, which has become a rallying cry in recent years for the right-wing settler movement, whose state objective is to rid the West Bank of its indigenous Palestinian inhabitants and take over their land to annex it to Israel.

The incident took place at around 2:30 am, Monday morning, in the village of al-Manshiya southeast of Bethlehem.

According to reports from local sources, the settlers poured gasoline on the home of Younis Abu Dayyeh in the village, and spraypainted racist slogans, then tried to light the gasoline on fire.

They were chased out by the villagers before they managed to carry out the arson attack.

This incident is just the latest in a string of arsons, sabotage, property destruction and racist graffiti by settlers, in addition to violent attacks on Palestinian farmers and shepherds with guns, sticks and rocks.

More here:  http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/westbankunderatta...

Settlers, accompanied by soldiers, tour Hebron's old city.
(MaanImages/Elenora Vio)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A group of settlers attempted to set fire to a Bethlehem home overnight Sunday and sprayed racist graffiti on the walls, a local committee said.

Hassan Bargeya, coordinator of the national committee against settlements and the wall, told Ma'an that settlers raided the village of al-Manshiya at around 2.30 a.m. and poured gasoline on a house.

Settlers then attempted to light the petrol but were forced out of the area by villagers who started throwing stones at them, Bargeya said.

The house belongs to Younis Abu Dayyeh.

On Wednesday, settlers uprooted over 100 olive trees and sprayed "Death to Arabs" and "Price Tag" in a Nablus village.

Settler violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank is routine and rarely stopped by Israeli military authorities on the ground or prosecuted by Israeli courts.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=536425

Clashes erupt in Bedouin village as Israel's Interior Ministry distributes demolition orders

Bedouin claim Israel Police fired tear gas at local school; police deny allegation, saying tear gas was used to disperse riot 300 meters away.

By Yanir Yagna | Nov.13, 2012

Children receiving treatment for tear gas burns, November 12, 2012. Photo by Jalal Ziadna

Residents of a Bedouin village in the Negev claim that police fired tear gas canisters at a local school Monday during clashes that erupted when Interior Ministry inspectors tried to distribute demolition orders for illegal construction.

The police denied the allegation, saying that while tear gas was fired to disperse the rioters, it was used at least 300 meters from the school.

But 29 children were taken to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, where they were treated for burning eyes - a standard reaction to tear gas - and then released.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/clashes-erupt-in-bedouin-villa...

Police ban Israeli activists from West Bank demonstrations

Thirteen anti-occupation activists were awoken by police officers early Sunday morning to receive closed military zone orders, preventing them from joining Palestinians in weekly demonstrations in the West Bank.

By Leehee Rothschild

An Israeli activist displays a closed military zone order which, given to her by Israeli policemen at 6 a.m. in her

Tel Aviv home, November 11, 2012. (photo: Activestills)

Israeli police officers distributed closed military zone orders for four West Bank villages early Sunday morning to 13 prominent activists in groups such as Anarchists Against the Wall, Ta’ayush, and the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement. In most cases, the military orders were delivered personally, but for some activists who happened not to be home, they were left under their doors. In some cases, the officers came to look for the activists in their old addresses, disturbing family members and friends, entering homes without a court order, and videotaping those present against their will, even after they were requested not to do so.

The orders, which are timed from 8:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Friday, and are valid from the beginning of September until March 4, define all or part of the villages of Bil’in, Nil’in, Nabi Saleh, and Kufr Qaddum as closed military zones, prohibiting any entrance into those areas. These are four of several villages in which Palestinians hold weekly demonstrations against the wall, joined regularly by Israeli and international activists.

The weekly demonstrations are deemed illegal under Israeli military law, much like any form of protest or demonstration in the West Bank. In fact, every Friday, the Israeli military issues orders defining those very villages as closed military zones. The demonstrations are violently dispersed by the Israeli army and police with tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

The military’s violence has led to the death of 28 activists, and the wounding of countless others. Palestinian organizers and participants in those protests face ongoing persecution, including night raids on their homes, and long periods in prison, sometimes under administrative detention.

http://972mag.com/police-ban-israeli-activists-from-west-bank-demon...

A bad day in Nabi Saleh

by Philip Weiss on November 12, 2012

Back in August the photograph below of the arrest of Nariman Tamimi by Israeli soldiers who tore her away from her two daughters went viral and I knew I had to visit her village in Palestine. Nabi Saleh is famous for its active resistance to occupation, and for the crushing Israeli response, and the truth is I had been afraid to go before. But the photograph made me ashamed of that fear. Last Friday I spent most of the day in the village, and it was a bad day, according to villagers. Israeli soldiers came repeatedly into the streets to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators.  

Israeli soldiers arrest Nariman Tamimi, as her daughters try
to prevent the arrest, August 24, 2012.
(Photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

At 5 o'clock 11-year-old A'hd Tamimi was struck by a rubber bullet in the arm and carried, crumpled, into the house where I was sitting. She wasn't crying. A journalist came limping after her, hit in the thigh. By then the Israelis had shut off power to the village and a tear gas attack had set a neighbor's yard on fire and soldiers were firing live rounds into the air to intimidate people. I felt trapped. All I wanted to do was leave.

But a group of popular committee members then decided to go off through the village to deal with the fire and tend to a woman who'd been hit in the head by a rubber bullet. They told me to come with them.

"Where is the safest place right now?" I said. "With us," an older man responded, as we ran through the streets and up a hillside.

Nabi Saleh is about 15 miles northwest of Ramallah in the hills of the West Bank. Its population is 550, many of them from one family, the Tamimis. It is on a picturesque hillside that could be in Italy or California, except the lands on the next hillside to the south are colonized by Israelis.

Nabi Saleh now has a fine view of serried red rooftops in a settlement called Halavahs, and right next to Halamish is an army base that serves to protect the settlement. Driving past, it looks like an armed camp. There are Israeli flags out on the road, and large gates with men standing around with semiautomatic weapons.

Because Friday is demonstration day, and Israel is trying to sew up Palestinian resistance, the road to Nabi Saleh was blocked by soldiers when my minibus arrived last week. Two women were asking the soldiers to be allowed to walk to the village. They were barred from doing so. The minibus had to proceed about 8 miles around to the west and north, entering Nabi Saleh from the rear.

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/11/a-bad-day-in-nabi-saleh.html

Expanding Jewish presence on campuses

Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to help students on 70 North American college campuses to connect to Jewish state, respond to anti-Israel activity

Joshua Berkman

The Jewish Agency for Israel has bolstered the ranks of its campus emissaries for the 2012-2013 academic years. There are now 56 Israel Fellows on 70 North American campuses (including five in Canada), up from 50 Fellows last year.

Trained and recruited by Jewish Agency, these fellows help students connect to the Jewish state and respond to anti-Israel activity.

On campus, Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel function as Hillel staffers. They inspire individual students to connect to Israel and recruit them to participate in Israel experiences, including Birthright Israel and many longer-term programs affiliated with The Jewish Agency’s Masa initiative.

Once students return from Israel, fellows keeps them engaged. And they empower the students to organize and lead Israel-based programming on campus.

Launched in 2003, during the aftermath of the Second Intifada, this strategic partnership between The Jewish Agency and Hillel’s national organization has created a multi-faceted Israel engagement campaign through the entire Hillel system.

The environment for Jewish students on campus is becoming increasingly difficult. The anti-Israel sentiment has gone mainstream, which deters many Jewish students from indentifying with Judaism in a proud and public way.

As a result, many motivated and informed students – including those who do travel to Israel – quickly lose their resolve to speak up when Israel comes under attack.

“These students and their connection to Israel are essential to our vibrant Jewish future,” says Ronen Weiss, the Jewish Agency’s national Hillel emissary.

Fostering 'sense of pride and passion'

As anti-Israel groups have built momentum on campus and hostile faculty members have found greater acceptance campus-wide, the number of Israel fellows has grown steadily from six emissaries in 2003 to more than 50 today.

Campuses where students are now working with Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel for the first time include:

University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Connecticut, University of Pittsburgh, University of Cincinnati, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Washington University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Virginia Tech and Queens University of Canada.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4288032,00.html