Budrus: A Palestinian story of non-violent protest

By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11555031

n the opening sequence of the new documentary film, Budrus, the camera follows a winding road to the home of Palestinian activist, Ayed Morrar.

"We don't have time for war. We want to raise our kids in peace and hope," he states in Hebrew, addressing any Israelis in the cinema audience.

Mr Morrar comes from one of six small villages close to the occupied West Bank's border with Israel, which were due to be encircled by the Israeli separation barrier in 2003.

The plans would have cut off Budrus residents' access to some 300 acres of land and torn up their olive trees.

The film, produced by a Palestinian and an Israeli, follows the villagers' largely peaceful protests against the barrier............

PLO chief: We will recognize Israel in return for 1967 borders

Yasser Abed Rabbo says that in exchange for accepting Palestinian territorial claims, it will recognize Israel as 'whatever it wants.'

By Avi Issacharoff for Haaretz

Senior Palestine Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday that the Palestinians will be willing to recognize the State of Israel in any way that it desires, if the Americans would only present a map of the future Palestinian state that includes all of the territories captured in 1967, including East Jerusalem.

In response to U.S. State Department Spokesman Phillip Crowley's statement on Tuesday night that the Palestinians should respond to the Israeli demand, Abed Rabbo told Haaretz, "We want to receive a map of the State of Israel which Israel wants us to accept."

"If the map will be based on the 1967 borders and will not include our land, our houses and East Jerusalem, we will be willing to recognize Israel according to the formulation of the government within the hour," added Rabbo.

Abed Rabbo continued, "It is important for us to know where are the borders of Israel and where are the borders of Palestine. Any formulation the Americans present – even asking us to call Israel the 'Chinese State' – we will agree to it, as long as we receive the 1967 borders. We have recognized Israel in the past, but Israel has not recognized the Palestinian state."

Palestinians boys hit by settler's car in Jerusalem

Two stone-throwing Palestinian boys were injured after being hit by a car driven by a Jewish settler leader in East Jerusalem, officials have said. -  BBC News

Imran Mansur, 11, broke his leg after being thrown into the air and bouncing off the car windscreen. Iyad Gheit, 10, had to have glass removed from his arm.

David Be'eri said he accidentally hit them when trying to escape the assault.

The incident was photographed by journalists, who were in the area in case of unrest after Friday prayers.

the first Palestinian Human Rights Film Festival at an-Najah University

My visit to Nablus coincided with the first Palestinian Human Rights Film Festival at an-Najah University. Even better than the films shown were the panel discussions afterwards, on issues such as refugees, resistance and women’s rights. The first film I saw was “To Shoot an Elephant” (watch it here), a brutal, highly-recommended documentary shot by International Solidarity Movement activists who happened to be in Gaza as the 2008/09 massacre unfolded. After the screening the audience communicated with director Alberto Arce via a video link-up to Spain. (Alberto is permanently banned from entry into Israeli-controlled territory.)

Alberto said this: “It is not my job to tell the Palestinians what to do. It’s my job to support the Palestinians and to witness what’s happening to them. The Palestinians have suffered so much from the actions of foreigners, and foreigners have no right to impose their beliefs on Palestinians.”



PLO urges Abbas to quit peace talks

Influential Palestinian leaders urge President Abbas to quit direct talks with Israel, owing to settlement construction. - Al Jazeera

The Palestinians want Israel to extend construction freeze in the occupied territory which expired last Sunday [AFP]

An influential Palestinian body has urged the Palestinian president to quit direct talks with Israel, saying there should be no further peace talks as long as Israel continued settlement construction in the occupied territories.

Reading from a statement on Saturday, Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee, said Israel's failure to extend a 10-month partial freeze in settlement construction in the West Bank has made the negotiations "devoid of any meaning".

The Israeli government bore "full responsibility for the current impasse in the peace process" and "the collapse of negotiations," Rabbo continued.

The PLO statement, which comes just days before an Arab League committee meets on the issue, exerts more pressure on the Palestinian president to disengage from the direct talks - a decision he said he would make after the Arab League consultations.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, has repeatedly threatened to walk out of the US-sponsored talks if the moratorium is not extended. The direct talks were relaunched a month ago with a declared goal of a two state solution within a year.......

Abbas has said he would not make a final decision on the talks until after meeting Arab foreign ministers in Libya on Friday, giving US mediators another few days to try to strike a compromise.

Israeli navy kills Gaza fisherman

Military spokesperson says troops opened fire on the Palestinian man's boat because it was "heading towards Israel".

A Palestinian fisherman has been shot dead by the Israeli navy off the Gaza Strip.

"Fisherman Mohammed Bakr died by a bullet by the Israeli navy today in the sea north of the Gaza Strip," Adham Abu Selmiya, heading the Palestinian territory's medical services, said on Friday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the fisherman was in restricted waters "heading towards Israel".

"Troops ordered him to turn back. As he refused to obey they fired warning shots and then shot towards his boat," she said.

Slogans raised

Hundreds marched in the funeral for the 20-year-old fisherman in Beit Lahiya, shooting in the air and chanting slogans.

Israeli navy vessels enforcing a naval blockade on the Palestinian territory regularly fire at Palestinian fishermen to prevent them from venturing more than a few kilometres from shore.

Palestinians say the Gaza fishing zone they use is too narrow to provide for the impoverished territory.

Israel says patrolling by its navy is aimed at preventing seaborne Palestinian attacks on Israeli territory and to stop the Palestinian group Hamas from smuggling weapons into Gaza.

The Occupied Territories the iPhone app

Americans for Peace Now have released an iPhone and iPad app that allows viewers to see occupation of the West Bank with maps and facts. (The blue houses are Israeli settlements.)

Here is the info from peacenow.org....

Welcome to the Americans for Peace Now map. You can use this map to explore the data we have collected about settlement activity in the West Bank. The map is organized in several layers that show different kinds of data. In the Layer Selector, you can click on the headings to view different areas of the map with pre-selected sets of layers. Or, you can turn on or off individual layers to customize your view.

When you select an individual settlement, we'll show you the data that we've collected about it, such as the year it was established and its population.

When we post news stories about events in the West Bank, we'll include a link that takes you directly to the location. You can then explore the area so you can understand the news in context.

Obama calls for settlement freeze

US president says moratorium on Israeli settlement construction should be extended beyond September 26 expiry date. - Al Jazeera

Barack Obama, the US president, has called for Israel to extend its partial freeze of the building of settlements on occupied Palestinian land to inject fresh momentum into newly-resumed Middle East peace talks.

Speaking on Friday, Obama said that last week's launch of a new round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians had "exceeded many people's expectations".

But the president warned that the approaching expiry of a moratorium on Israeli construction of projects on Palestinian territory, which is due to end on September 26, could threaten the negotiations.