Palestine Update 597
Comment
Israel ruthlessly both grabs and suppresses everything it wants to
For years; Israel has had its eyes on Golan for strategic military reasons. It also wants a monopoly of the tourism sector in The Golan Heights because there are massive profits in this arena. Israel annexed Golan in 1981 through a Knesset resolution. Even though that was nullified by a Security Council Resolution, Donald Trump in some of his most bizarre decisions gifted Israel, Jerusalem, the Golan and then the settlements! Zionism has not hidden its greed in the Golan since 1918, as David Ben-Gurion drew his conception of the “State of Israel”. In a document in which he stated that the borders of “the Jewish state” should include the entire Negev and part of the Sanjak of Damascus and the districts of Quneitra, Wadi Anjar and Hasbaya. The Zionist entity occupied Golan in 1967 and sought from the first day of its occupation to change its geographical and demographic features, destroying its villages and farms, establishing settlements, displacing its residents, tampering with its monuments, extending its control over all water resources, and laying mines in Agricultural areas and in the vicinity of populated areas and worked to convert many sites and villages into military sites. Any space that Israel eyes as helpful to its interests become part of its design for occupation and colonization. Syrian citizens in Golan refuse to surrender and are steadfast in the face of the Zionist occupation authorities. To them it is their conviction that the Golan will return to their homeland, Syria sooner or later.
On another difficult front we are informed by Sada Social Center, a Ramallah-based social media rights group, that there have been 130 violations against Palestinian digital content on the social media in September 2022, including the permanent removal of 93 accounts. The platforms run by Meta came at the top of the platforms censoring the Palestinian content, with 91 violations on Face book, which varied between deleting posts, restricting access, preventing posting, preventing the use of some features such as live broadcasts and advertisements and participation in groups for a certain period of time, and the permanent removal of accounts. Still on the question of reporting news, WAFA has recorded 26 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists and media in the occupied territories during September. WAFA stated in its monthly report on Israeli violations against journalists and media outlets that the Israeli occupation forces continued to deliberately target Palestinian journalists with an aim to limit their coverage of the Israeli army practices and violations against the defenseless Palestinian citizens.
Israeli occupation forces have been ruthless in their killing of innocent Palestinians during military assaults. The targets have been young people and those killings are aimed to remove liberation fighters from the younger age group. 175 Palestinians, including at least 29 children, were injured by Israeli occupation forces across the West Bank, of whom 17 were hit by live ammunition. Israeli settlers protected by soldiers also injured eight Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 11 instances. During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted 120 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 216 Palestinians, including at least 10 children across the West Bank. The UN has called for an investigation, said OCHA. The UN report also reports confiscation of Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; four of the structures had been provided as donor-funded humanitarian aid. Citizens and were displaced, and the livelihoods of about 270 others were affected. Israeli authorities seal off wells without prior notice. These wells are the sole irrigation source for about 4,000 dunums of cultivated land and are also used for drinking water. These indiscriminate acts affect more than 8,000 Palestinians in surrounding villages.
Other vicious Israeli acts include seeking to diminish the voices of those who speak out socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture. Despite growing strides the Palestinian cause in the USA, criticism of the Israeli government and its treatment of the Palestinians is still the major taboo in US political discourse. Left-Wing Journalist Katie Halper Has Been Fired for Calling Israel an Apartheid State.
The Resistance rages on. The Islamic Movement Hamas organized a mass rally on Saturday under the title “Al-Aqsa is in Danger”, to emphasize the centrality of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hamas representatives denounced the escalation of Israeli aggressions and violations of the sanctity of the holy mosque. The rally attracted thousands of Palestinians from across the besieged Gaza Strip, brought together a large number of Palestinian political leaders and dignitaries.
Ranjan Solomon
For MLN Palestine Updates
Golan is Syrian territory and will remain Syrian- report
Mount Hermon -Al-Sheikh mount- is located in the north and is separated from the southern Bekaa in Lebanon, as well as the Yarmouk Valley in the south from the northwestern heights of Ajloun and Jordan, and from the west the Hawa Plain and Lake Tiberias, while Wadi Al-Raqad lies in the east between it and the area Houran. Golan diversity climatic ranging between cold, moderate and hot, and it is an ideal area for agriculture throughout the year and it is attractive for tourism as well. Various civilizations had followed it, most notably the Canaanite, Aramaic and Islamic ones.
Zionism has not hidden its greed in the Golan since 1918, as David Ben-Gurion drew his conception of the so-called “State of Israel” in a document in which he stated that the borders of “the Jewish state” should include the entire Negev and part of the Sanjak of Damascus and the districts of Quneitra, Wadi Anjar and Hasbaya. The Zionist entity occupied Golan in 1967 and sought from the first day of its occupation to change its geographical and demographic features, destroying its villages and farms, establishing settlements, displacing its residents, tampering with its monuments, extending its control over all water resources, and laying mines in Agricultural areas and in the vicinity of populated areas and worked to convert many sites and villages into military sites.
On December 14, 1981, the Israeli Knesset approved the so-called decision of annexing the Golan, according to which “Israeli law, judiciary, and administration were imposed on the Golan,” but the UN Security Council responded quickly to the Zionist move and adopted Resolution No. 497 on December 17 From 1981, considering that Israel’s decision to annex the Golan is null and void and has no legal effect on the international level. Today, Syria citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan continue to stand firm in the face of the Zionist occupation authorities, and they are all confident and certain that the Golan will return to homeland, Syria.
Read more in Syria Arab News Agency
Digital rights group documents more than 130 violations against Palestinian digital content in September
Sada Social Center pointed out that journalists and media organizations were the most vulnerable to documented violations, with 73 violations as some accounts were permanently deleted. In September 2022, the Center said 48% of the content censored were texts and words related to the Palestinian cause, 32% were Palestinian pictures of martyrs or events describing the Israeli attacks, and 16% were videos of the funerals of Palestinian martyrs. Sada Social Center noted that these documented violations came despite the release of the BSR Center for Human Rights study, which expressed in its results the bias of Meta against Palestinian content and was acknowledged by Meta’s administration.
Read full report in WAFA News agency
WAFA documents 26 Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists and media in September
The report said 11 journalists were hurt in September from rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters fired by soldiers, as well as severe beatings and other attacks. In addition, 13 cases were recorded in which soldiers detained, seized press cards or opened fire at journalists without causing injury, while two cases were documented in which soldiers damaged press equipment and attacked media outlets.
Read more from International Middle East Media centre
IOF have killed or caused the death of 11 Palestinians since mid-September – UN report
Two Palestinians aged 22 and 23 years were killed on 14 September, a 17-year-old boy was killed the next day, and, on 28 September, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire. Israeli occupation forces also shot and killed a Palestinian man in the northern West Bank city of Nablus during an army raid of the city on 25 September. Meanwhile, two Palestinians were shot and killed during two alleged attacks in the occupied West Bank. On 24 September, a 36-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed after a road accident with an Israeli police car near Nablus, and on 22 September, a 23-year-old Palestinian man from al Tur area of East Jerusalem was shot and killed by an off-duty Israeli policeman after he allegedly physically assaulted Israelis at a traffic light north of Jerusalem. On 29 September, the heart of a 7-year-old Palestinian boy, Rayyan Suleiman, stopped and he dropped dead after being chased by Israeli soldiers in the Bethlehem-area village of Tuqu in the south of the West Bank. The UN has called for an investigation, said OCHA.
In total, added the UN report, 175 Palestinians, including at least 29 children, were injured by Israeli occupation forces across the West Bank, of whom 17 were hit by live ammunition. Israeli settlers protected by soldiers also injured eight Palestinians and damaged Palestinian property in 11 instances. During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted 120 search-and-arrest operations and arrested 216 Palestinians, including at least 10 children across the West Bank.
The Israeli occupation authorities also demolished or confiscated 45 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C of the West Bank since September 13, said the OCHA report, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; four of the structures had been provided as donor-funded humanitarian aid. As a result, 21 people, including 13 children, were displaced, and the livelihoods of about 270 others were affected. All of the structures were in Area C, including 13 structures seized without warning, which prevented the owners from objecting in advance. This represents a significant increase in such seizures compared with the biweekly average since the beginning of the year (four), said OCHA. In Ras Atiya in the Qalqiliya governorate, and in Kur, in Tulkarm, the Israeli authorities sealed off two wells, that were located in Area B, without prior notice. The wells were the sole irrigation source for about 4,000 dunums of cultivated land and were also used for drinking water; their sealing affects more than 8,000 Palestinians in three surrounding villages.
Read more in Palestine News Network
Left-Wing Journalist Katie Halper Has Been Fired for Calling Israel an Apartheid State
Jacobin is a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture
Before long, Halper was informed it wouldn’t run at all by Hill editor in chief Bob Cusack, who told her it was “not in our sweet spot of coverage.” When Halper asked him explicitly if the segment was being nixed because it was about Israel, he confirmed that that was the “rationale,” and that the Hill’s focus is largely on domestic, not foreign, policy. Soon, she was told by an executive in an email that they wouldn’t need her to record a show the next day. “We wish you all the best,” was the sign-off.
It’s not clear what Cusack was referring to when he said that the Hill doesn’t cover foreign policy. In the past week alone, Rising’s other cohosts have run segments on the Brazilian election, Italy’s new neo-fascist prime minister, the South Korean president’s hot mic scandal, and multiple segments on the war in Ukraine. And while Halper’s monologue was largely devoted to laying out the evidence for Tlaib’s labeling of Israel as an apartheid state, it had a domestic element, too, given what a major flashpoint it became in US politics and the intraparty factional war among Democrats, with establishment, pro-Israel officials piling on the socialist Tlaib in concert.|
Read more in Jacobin
‘Al-Aqsa in Danger’: Hamas Rallies Thousands in Gaza (PHOTOS)
Rawhi Mushtaha, a member of the Hamas political bureau, warned that Israeli violations of Al-Aqsa could lead to a series of explosions that would change the shape of the region. Mushtaha said that Gaza was conveying a simple and clear message to Arab and Muslim leaders, as well as to all world leaders. He warned against any attempt at dividing Al-Aqsa Mosque, pointing out that Hamas will not tolerate Israel’s banning of Muslim worshippers, arrest of young people, and continued excavations that put the mosque in danger. Mushtaha also expressed his solidarity with Al-Qassam Brigades in Jenin and Nablus, paying his tribute to those who were killed and wounded by recent Israeli violence targeting the northern West Bank.
Read full report in The Palestine Chronicle
