Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, http://www.imemc.org, for March 25, to the 31, 2017. 

Listen now:

Copy the code below to embed this audio into a web page:
Download Audio (6.9mb)

This week Arab Leaders reiterate their support to the peace process, Israel responds by building more settlements as a Palestinian woman is killed by Israeli army gunfire.  These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned. 

The Nonviolence Report

Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank.  Scores of civilians were injured many others treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked nonviolent protests organized in the West Bank this week.  IMEMC’s Majd Batajli has more:

Israeli troops used live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas on Thursday to attack protesters all over the West Bank as they marched in commemoration of the annual Land Day.  The procession was organized by the National Committee against the Annexation and Colonies

Israeli soldiers shot at least fifty with rubber-coated steel bullets, and caused dozens to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, in Madama village, southwest of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.  Troops used tear gas to attack Land Day protesters in Hebron, Bethlehem and Ramallah.  Many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as clashes erupted between soldiers and unarmed protesters. 

On Friday of this week, In Kufer Kadum in northern West Bank many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest there.  Meanwhile in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin, in central West Bank, Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters as soon as they reached the gate in the wall that separates local farmers from their lands. 

For IMEMC News this Majd Batajli. 

The Political Report

While Arab leaders vow to help boost Middle East peace talks, Israel declares more settlements plans in the West Bank, IMEMC’s George Rishmawi with the details:

In their summit which was held in Jordan, Arab leaders declared their willingness to help advance the two-state solution, signaling that Palestinian demands would have to be addressed before, not after, any regional embrace of Israel. 

The closing statement of the annual Arab League Summit, said Wednesday that peace is a strategic option for its members.  The Arab states declared their willingness to continue to work to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations based on their longstanding framework. 

The Arab leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative declared in 2002, which states that the Arab countries would go for full normalization with Israel if the second withdraws to the pre-1967 borders. 

On his part, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded bilateral negotiations toward a Palestinian State in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as its capital.  However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claims to support the establishment of a Palestinian State, he has repeatedly said that this state is not feasible in the foreseeable future, and has always stressed the Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel. 

On the sidelines of the summit, Abbas has met with the Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi apparently for consultation ahead of his White House meetings in coming weeks. 

Abbas will attempt to influence the U.S. administration’s position on Middle East diplomacy and the intention to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

In the meantime, Israel has announced its plans to confiscate more than 1000 dunams of Palestinian land to build more settlement units and a collage and railways. 

This is not the first time Israel responds with a negative action to an Arab peace deal.  Israel’s response to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 was to reinvade the West Bank and destroy several Palestinian Authority headquarters which caused chaos in the West Bank resulted in several deaths among Palestinian civilians. 

For IMEMC News, this is George Rishmawi

The West Bank and Gaza Report

This week a Palestinian woman was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank meanwhile the army targets Gaza farmers.  IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura reports:

Seham Nimir, 49, was killed after being shot by Israeli soldiers, on Wednesday, in Bab al-‘Amoud area, in occupied East Jerusalem.  The army claimed she attempted to attack the soldiers.  Nimir from Shu’fat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, is the mother on Mustafa Nimir, who was killed by the army on September of 2016. 

After killing the woman, the soldiers abducted one of her daughters, who was with her, and took her to an unknown destination.  Palestinians who saw the fatal shooting, said that an argument erupted between the soldiers and Nimir, before one of them shot her with his pistol, and then, another soldier shot her with his rifle. 

Staying in Jerusalem, Israeli troops destroyed four Palestinian homes this week.  On Thursday troops leveled two homes in Jabal al-Mokabber village, in the southern part of occupied Jerusalem, meanwhile soldiers destroyed a two more homes in the al-‘Eesawiyya town, in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday.  The army claimed that the homes were built without permits.  The so called building permits are never giving to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, while the Israeli government illegal build settlements for Israelis in and around the city on occupied Palestinian land. 

During the week, Israeli forces conducted at least 51 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank including Jerusalem.  During these invasions, Israeli troops detained 57 Palestinian civilians, including 14 children.  Among those arrested were ten of al-Aqsa guards. 

In Gaza sraeli soldiers, stationed across the border fence, in the southern part of the Gaza strip, opened fire, on Tuesday mornings, at farmers in their own lands, east of Khan Younis, and Rafah, in the southern part of the coastal region. 

The soldiers fired many live rounds at the farmers, while working on their lands, close to the border fence, east of Khan Younis, forcing them to leave in fear of additional escalation.  A similar attack was carried out against farmers near Sofa area, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, while the soldiers also fired flares. 

For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura. 

Conclusion

And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine.  This was the Weekly report for March 25 , to the 31 , 2017.  From the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  For more news and updates please visit our website at www-dot-imemc-dot-org, This week’s report has been brought to you by Sa’ed Naji and me Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.