Three Palestinians injured by Israeli settlers in Hebron

Date: 04 / 11 / 2008  Time:  09:28
Hebron – Ma’an –

Illegal Israeli settlers shot and threw stones at Palestinians near the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday evening, Palestinian witnesses said.

A medical source in Hebron Public Hospital said three civilians were treated for bruises and broken bones following the attacks. They were identified as 18-year-old Shadi Al-Ja’abari, 18-year-old Mo’awiya Al-Ja’abari and his 20-year-old brother Qusai.

There has been an upsurge in settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. On Monday Israeli security chief Yuval Diskin warned that settlers are preparing for “war” after the Israeli government vowed to cut support for what it calls “illegal outposts” in the West Bank. Over the weekend illegal Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli occupation soldiers who attempted to evacuate one such illegal setter outpost, called ”Federman Farms” near Hebron.

Illegal Israeli settlers restrain EU leader near Ibrahimi Mosque

Date: 04 / 11 / 2008  Time:  17:39
Hebron – Ma’an –

 Illegal Israeli settlers obstructed the deputy president of a European Union (EU) parliament delegation in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday.

An argument erupted between the settlers and the politician, Luisa Morgantini, and witnesses told Ma’an that Morgantini shouted: “You are thieves who steel buildings!” during the dispute.

“You assault Palestinians day and night to force them out of their homes,” she told the settlers restraining her, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation soldiers sealed the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque, preventing Morgantini from meeting with a group of Israeli activists rallying nearby. The activists were apparently staging a demonstration at the Abu Ar-Reish checkpoint near the mosque.

On Monday, Israeli occupation forces prevented the leader of the European parliament’s Green Party, Daniel Cohen Bendit from touring the Hebron Old City, under the pretext that it was under curfew. Bendit is a member of the EU’s Foreign Relations Committee.

Report: UK seeking EU crackdown on goods produced in Israeli West Bank settlements

Date: 04 / 11 / 2008  Time:  17:20
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

Britain is pressuring the EU to curb imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to halt the construction of the colonies.

An internal EU memo reported by the UK’s Independent newspaper shows that the British government is concerned that settlement-produced goods are entering Britain in violation of an Israel-EU trade agreement.

The UK is hoping the EU will enact more stringent laws so that products made in settlements cannot be labeled “West Bank,” which implies they are Palestinian-made.

The memo is a sign of frustration among British officials at Israel’s continued construction of illegal Jewish settlements on the Palestinian lands Israel has occupied during the 1967 war of aggression. The UK and the international community at large view the settlements as illegal.

The UK is seeking labeling laws that would distinguish between goods produced inside the 1967 Green Line and those made in settlements.

According to the Independent, the memo decries the acceleration of settlement activity since Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations were re-launched at the Annapolis summit in 2007.

Top Palestinian negotiator harassed by Israeli police near an illegal settlement

Date: 04 / 11 / 2008  Time:  14:46
Jerusalem – Ma’an –

Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Qurei was stopped by Israeli occupation government police near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which was built illegally on Palestinian lands, on Tuesday morning, Qurei’s office said.

Qurei’s office said Israeli policeman ‘deliberately’ stopped the car for an extended period of time, checking the official’s documents and the car’s registration ‘in a provocative way,’ causing an argument.

A police reportedly captain asked Qurei: “Where are you from?”

When he replied, “I am from Palestine, how about you?” The captain said: “From Ma’ale Adummim.’

“Then you are a settler and I am a Palestinian civilian,” Qurei responded, according to his office.

“Israeli forces meant to provoke him personally and they intended to send a negative political message for him as he is head of the negotiating team,” the statement commented.

Qurei is the head of the Palestinian negotiating team in the current round of peace negotiations, and a former Palestinian prime minister.

Israeli police frequently pull over Palestinian cars on the settler bypass road at Ma'ale Adumim. The road is a main thoroughfare connecting the north and south of the West Bank.