Overplaying Its Hand, Israel Still Holds Plenty of US Cards
Gunmen shoot, injure 3 PA security officers in Jenin gun clash
Unidentified gunmen shot and injured three Palestinian Authority security officers late Tuesday during clashes in Jenin refugee camp, security officials said.
The security officers came under fire while pursuing a suspect into the camp after he had attacked a PA officer.
One officer sustained a serious head injury, while two others suffered moderate to light injuries.
A Fatah leader in the Jenin district, Ali Zakarna, told Ma'an that the gunmen were affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"Members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad attacked a Palestinian security officer during a festival to announce support for Jerusalem, then gunmen affiliated to both movements opened fire at security forces from behind the crowds," Zakarna said.
He said that Palestinian security officers abstained from firing back, fearing for the safety of the crowds at the festival.
Islamic Jihad has said it will not defend its members who were involved in the shooting.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767631
Excessive force used by PA security during rally under investigation
Palestinian Authority security forces on Friday forcibly dispersed a peaceful rally in the Azza Refugee Camp in Bethlehem in support of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, sparking uproar among residents against the excessive use force by PA security against its own citizens.
A video went viral on social media revealing a group of PA security officers violently attacking a teenage boy with clubs during the clashes.
Dozens of young men from the Duheisha Refugee Camp south of Bethlehem also demonstrated in the area's main road later in the evening after PA forces arrested two teenage boys for partaking in the Al-Aqsa rally near the Azza camp.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767702
Israeli, PA forces clash with Palestinian protesters over Aqsa
Palestinian protesters in West Bank clash with Israeli, PA police as al-Aqsa is closed to men under 40 years old
Mahmoud Abbas drops wet firecracker, not bombshell, at UN
On Wednesday, Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations General Assembly that his Palestinian Authority would no longer be bound by the 1993 Oslo accords with Israel.
Despite headlines trailing it as a bombshell, Abbas speech was more of a wet firecracker, as I told The Real News today.
The PA leader failed to announce any concrete measures and only threatened unspecificied future actions.
Had he been serious, I argued, he would have demanded at least an arms embargo and other sanctions on Israel.
Als sie Witwe wurde, befand sie sich plötzlich in einer unausweichlichen finanziellen Lage. Sie hatte drei Töchter, die alle vorhatten, an der Universität zu studieren. Wie sollte sie sie denn ernähren? Masri, die nun 45 Jahre alt ist, ergriff die Initiative, eine kleine Hühnerfarm im Flüchtlingslager von Nuseirat aufzubauen. Sie fing an, die hier erzeugten Lebensmittel an ihre Verwandten und Nachbarn zu verkaufen.
Palestinian interrogators using torture for forced confession
Palestinian security forces are using methods of torture on detainees held in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in order to obtain confessions under force, the Independent Commission for Human Rights said.
ICHR Director, Ammar Dwaik, told Maan Tuesday that the organization received 1220 complaints of torture from detainees of Palestinian detention centers this year.
According to the complaints filed, Palestinian interrogators used physical and psychological forms of torture, Dwaik said, including lashing, cursing, blasphemy, sleep deprivation, foot whipping, and tying detainees in one position for several hours.
ICHR received 292 complaints of ill-treatment in detention centers in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank and 928 similar complaints from Palestinians who were detained in the Hamas-led Gaza Strip. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769362
PA cuts salaries of 60 former prisoners of Israel
The Palestinian Authority this week cut the monthly salaries of more than 60 former Palestinian prisoners in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) told Ma'an.
A spokesperson with the society said the reasoning for the cuts are unclear, but confirmed that some of the former prisoners are no longer receiving payment due to their political affiliations.
The spokesperson was unable to provide direct details as to what those affiliations might be, but said that they may not recognize the "legitimacy" of the Palestinian Authority. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769371
PA security forces suppress peaceful Palestinian march in Ramallah
Palestinian Authority security forces on Wednesday prevented a peaceful Palestinian march in Ramallah's al-Bireh neighborhood from reaching a checkpoint outside the nearby Israeli settlement of Beit El, protesters told Ma'an.
Witnesses told Ma'an that PA forces stopped hundreds of protesters from continuing their march to the Israeli checkpoint by setting up their own flying checkpoints and blockades. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769583
Gaza bans public New Years Eve celebrations
Gazan authorities on Wednesday issued notices to restaurants and hotels in the Strip banning establishments from throwing New Years Eve celebrations, a Gaza police spokesperson said.
Ayman al-Butneiji told Ma'an the notices were issued because New Years Eve celebrations, in the eyes of the Hamas-run Gazan government, "contradict" Islam, and "are mainly an imitation of the west. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769582
Israeli officials say PA security coordination 'exceptionally good'
Security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel has been "exceptionally good" in recent days, unnamed Israeli security officials told Israeli daily Haaretz Thursday. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769695
Palestinian Intelligence Chief: We Foiled 200 Attacks Against Israelis
The Palestinian Authority has foiled 200 attacks against Israelis in the upsurge in violence that began in October and it will continue its security coordination with Israel, Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj said in an interview this week with Defense News.
Faraj, who is considered very close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, rarely makes public statements. He told the U.S.-based publication that Palestinian security and intelligence forces also confiscated weapons and arrested about 100 Palestinians during this period. He said was important to keep the Islamic State organization from establishing a base in the West Bank in bringing about the PAs collapse. https://t.co/O0kGwpg5yy
7 ways the Palestinian Authority helps Israeli occupation
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority works closely with the Israeli occupation.
Earlier this month, for instance, Israeli officials praised the PA for cracking down on opposition and resistance to Israels occupation in the West Bank.
The PAs leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has previously called this so-called security coordination a sacred duty.
But theres near unanimity among Palestinian political factions that this collaboration with the occupation must stop.
The PAs intelligence chief Majid Faraj boasted to Defense News recently that his forces had arrested 100 Palestinians in recent months and were working closely with Israeli occupation forces to prevent the unpopular PA from collapsing.
We, together with our counterparts in the Israeli security establishment, with the Americans and others, are all trying to prevent that collapse, Faraj said.
Faraj added that his goal was to protect Israel from the Islamic State group.
Theyre already in Iraq, Syria, Sinai, Lebanon and Jordan, but Ramallah, Amman and Tel Aviv must remain immune from them, the PA general said. https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/infographic-7-ways-palestinian-authority-helps-israeli-occupation
Palestinian factions condemn PA crackdown on attacks against Israel
Palestinian factions on Thursday condemned a Palestinian Authority official who said that PA security forces had aborted 200 potential attacks on Israelis since October.
The Hamas movement, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in a joint press release said that the remarks by PA intelligence chief Majed Faraj constituted an insult to the struggle and sacrifices of Palestinians.
The PA official made the remarks during an interview with US-based magazine Defense News, where he also said that PA forces had, in addition, confiscated weapons and detained around 100 Palestinians. http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769925