1,060 new settlement homes announced as anger grows over al-Aqsa

Plans for 1,060 new settlement units in Jerusalem were approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning.

The settlement expansion will see 400 new houses added to the Har Homa block north of Bethlehem, and 660 to the northern East Jerusalem block of Ramat Shlomo, which already houses some 20,000 Israeli settlers.

Read more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/west-bank-1192674398…

(Photo shows the Palestinian area of Jebal Abu Ghneim in 1997
and a picture taken in 2003, showing its transformation into the illegal settlement of Har Homa. Photo from:http://spiritofresilience.blogspot.com/).

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Source  : https://www.facebook.com/ismpalestine?fref=nf

(International Solidarity Movement)

900 Palestinians Detained in East Jerusalem

Monday October 27, 2014 21:59 

Israel has detained 900 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and pressed charges against 300 of them since the July 2 murder of East Jerusalem teen Mohammad Abu Khdeir, according to Israel's public security minister.

photo -- DCI-Palestine

10/27/14 -- The Alternative Information Center (AIC)

Israel's Minister of Public Security, Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beitenu), gave these figures to the Knesset's Internal Affairs and Environment Committee Monday, according to the settler-affiliated news site Arutz 7. The powerful committee held a discussion about the security situation in Jerusalem, during which Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called for creation of a special police force for areas in which clashes are prevalent. Barkat claimed that “Residents of the Arab neighbourhoods ask that we bring the police”.

At the request of Aharonovich and others, Israel's State Attorney has issued directives to carry out arrests and toughen punishment for rock throwers, including possible fines for the parents of minors who throw rocks. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu further urged Monday that additional directives to substantially stiffen penalties for rock throwers be moved speedily forward. Such tactics were utilised – unsuccessfully – by Israel during the first Intifada.

Clashes in the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Silwan, Ras al Amud and Issawiya continued Monday, as Israeli police and border police used “riot dispersal means” against Palestinian protesters. Israel had arrested eight Palestinians throughout East Jerusalem early Monday, four of whom were minors.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent an urgent message to the US on Sunday, requesting its intervention against Israeli policies in Jerusalem, and in particular attempts to change the status quo in the al Aqsa mosque compound (Temple Mount).

Source : http://www.imemc.org/article/69536

Israeli army kills 14-year old Palestinian with U.S. citizenship

© Shadi Hattem
14-year old slain Palestinian youth, Orwa Hammad who is also a U.S. citizen, was killed by the Israeli army, October 24, 2014

A Palestinian teen with U.S. citizenship was killed today by the Israeli army at a demonstration in the West Bank town of Silwad, near Ramallah. Fourteen-year old Orwah Hammad was shot with a live bullet that entered his neck and exited through his head, according to Ramallah hospital staff. He died while being treated at Ramallah hospital around 6 p.m. this evening, Jerusalem time.

The killing comes eight days after Israeli soldiers killed a 13-year-old boy during a raid on a West Bank village.

Hammad’s father, Abdulwahhab Hammad, lives in Louisiana and was informed of his son’s killing via telephone. His mother, Ikhlas Hammad, is in Jordan visiting relatives, but is said to be traveling back to the West Bank this evening.

“The Israeli soldier shot directly at the child,” said mayor of Silwad Abu Salah. “His father wanted his children to live here, not in America,” he continued.

The slain youth’s remains will be held in the morgue of Ramallah hospital until Sunday, when his father is due to arrive. A funeral will be held the same day with a procession in Ramallah, and a burial in the family’s home village of Silwad.

Hammad was shot while taking part in a weekly Friday protest against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Witnesses said Hammad was stone throwing when he was struck.

“Orwah is the tenth Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces with live ammunition in the occupied West Bank in 2014,” said Brad Parker, attorney and international advocacy officer at Defense for Children International-Palestine. “Impunity is the norm for Israeli soldiers that commit violence against children as they consistently violate their own live-fire regulations and know that they will not be held accountable for their actions no matter what the result. There is no justice or accountability for child victims.”

Update: Here is the State Department statement from Jen Psaki today:  “Death of US minor in Silwad.”

The United States expresses its deepest condolences to the family of a U.S. citizen minor who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces during clashes in Silwad on October 24.  Officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem are in contact with the family and are providing all appropriate consular assistance. We call for a speedy and transparent investigation, and will remain closely engaged with the local authorities, who have the lead on this investigation.  We continue to urge all parties to help restore calm and avoid escalating tensions in the wake of the tragic recent incidents in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

- See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2014/10/israeli-palestinian-citizenship#sthash.hBg25V5n.dpuf