Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, and Ban-ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN
Rocket and mortar shell fire into Israeli territory
Rocket Fire -- Monthly Distribution
Mortar Shell Fire -- Monthly Distribution
Riots and demonstrations in Judea and Samaria
Riots and demonstrations in Judea and Samaria
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Overview
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Important Terrorism Events Israel’s South
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This past week one mortar shell hit was identified in Israeli territory in the western Negev (during the night of September 19). There were no casualties and no damage was done.
Rockets and Mortar Shells Fired into Israeli Territory 1
Rocket Fire — Monthly Distribution
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Mortar Shell Fire — Monthly Distribution
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Judea and Samaria
The Situation on the Ground
This past weekend there were demonstrations at the traditional friction points, especially in the villages of Bila’in and Nili’in, and at the Qalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Demonstrators threw stones at Israeli security forces, who responded with riot control measures. At Qalandia a soldier sustained minor injuries when he was hit by a stone.
Riots and demonstrations in Judea and Samaria. Top: Palestinian adolescents and children
throw stones at IDF forces during a riot at the Qalandia checkpoint.
Bottom: Demonstrators (IDF Spokesman and the Safa News Agency, September 17, 2011).
On September 16 there were confrontations between Palestinians and Jewish settlers who entered the village of Qasra (south of Nablus). According to the Palestinian media, the settlers were detained by local "popular committees" set up to provide security for the village. The Palestinians claimed that one of the settlers shot and wounded a Palestinian. Cold weapons were confiscated from the settlers. When the settlers were detained hundreds of village residents rushed to the site and the "popular committees" released them, fearing "they might be lynched" (Ma’an News Agency, September 16, 2011). A mosque in Qasra was recently set on fire and vandalized, apparently by Jewish settlers engaged in the so-called "price tagging" activities.
Palestinian sources claim that there has recently been an increase in the number of confrontations between Jewish settlers and Palestinians residents. Ghassan Dughlas, who holds the settlers’ portfolio in the Palestinian Authority, claimed it was deliberate Israeli policy with IDF involvement to "increase the escalation" in view of the Palestinian move in the UN. The Palestinian media reported that following the confrontations, the Palestinians set up "popular protection committees" in the local councils, villages and towns, and instructed the civilians to be careful when moving around the West Bank (Voice of Palestine Radio, September 15, 2011).
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Developments in the Gaza Strip
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The Crossings
This past week between 276 and 283 trucks carrying merchandise entered the Gaza Strip every day (Website of the Israeli government coordinator for the territories, September 20, 2011).
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The Diplomatic Front
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Overview
The move in the General Assembly, which the Palestinians have been preparing for months, will be tested this week. The focus of diplomatic activity was moved to New York when Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas arrived there, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way there.
Before he left for New York Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian Authority intended to appeal to the Security Council. Meeting with UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon on September 19, Mahmoud Abbas said he would present his request for "Palestine" to join the UN as a member nation after his speech in the General Assembly on Friday, September 23 (Wafa News Agency, September 19, 2011). However, at this point the Palestinian moves and their results are veiled in uncertainty.
In any event, the United States is conducting intensive diplomatic activity, among other things, to enlist support among Security Council members to obviate the need for an American veto to prevent a Security Council decision in favor of a Palestinian state.. Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the UN, claimed that a number of Security Council members had reservations regarding the the Palestinian move, and said that if the Palestinians did not back down, the United States would not be the only member of the Security Council to voice opposition to the bid for membership. American Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said that if necessary, the United States would use its veto, but did not know what it would do if the Palestinians appealed to the General Assembly (Haaretz, September 19 and 20, 2011).
Mahmoud Abbas’ Speech and the Israeli Prime Minister’s Response
Before he left for New York, Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech at the presidential office in Ramallah. He spoke mainly about the reasons for the Palestinian appeal to the UN and its significance. The main points were the following (Al-Arabiya, September 16, 2011):
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The main reasons for the Palestinian appeal to the UN:
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The speech made by American President Obama and the various statements made by the International Quartet regarding their hope of seeing a Palestinian state in September.
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The support of more than 126 countries for a Palestinian state and another third [of the countries around the globe] "which recognize us but do not allow us to open embassies."
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The Palestinians are "the only people in the world who still remain under an occupation" and are without representation in the UN.
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He reiterated his intention to appeal to the UN Security Council and his objective of "obtaining full membership in the UN." He said that once membership had been attained, negotiations with Israel for the final status arrangement would resume, and they would be negotiations between "an occupying country and a country living under an occupation which had to end."
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He said that the appeal to the UN was only part of the "Palestinian strategy to restore to the political map Palestine with the 1967 borders, and whose capital was Jerusalem."
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He blamed the Israeli government for the failure of the negotiations and for bringing them to a dead end. However, he said it was not the intention of the Palestinians to isolate Israel, but rather "to isolate Israeli policy."
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He stressed that the Palestinians did not mean to use violence because it would harm their objective.
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Concerning future negotiations, he said that after UN recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, negotiations would be held for the final status arrangements of Jerusalem, the problem of the Palestinian refugees, the borders between the two countries, water, security, the settlements and the Palestinian prisoners.
In reference to the speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that peace could not be achieved by taking unilateral steps in the UN or joining Hamas, a terrorist organization, but only through direct negotiations with Israel. At a press conference with the Czech prime minister, Netanyahu said he had "decided to convey these twin messages of direct negotiations for peace and the quest for peace through the quest for the truth. I�ve decided to take this message the United Nations General Assembly when I speak there next week" [ITIC emphasis](Israeli Prime Minister’s website, September 15 and 17, 2011).
Hamas Opposition to the Palestinian Move in the UN
This past week Hamas spokesmen intensified their objections to the Palestinian Authority;s move in the UN. In an official statement Hamas said that Mahmoud Abbas’ appeal to the Security Council was "full of defects." It also said that Hamas "objects to every move that cedes one centimeter of the land of Palestine" and gives up any "right" of the Palestinian people, especially the "right of return" (Hamas’ Palestine-info website, September 16, 2011).
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum claimed that the appeal to the UN was an "individual step" taken by Mahmoud Abbas, with no coordination or agreement with Hamas, and that the movement would not support it (Ma’an News Agency, September 16, 2011). Hamas also stressed that in the Gaza Strip it would not permit activities to be held in support of the UN move (PalPress website, September 15, 2011).
Activities on the Ground
The Palestinian campaign accompanying the move in the UN continues organizing support activities on the ground. This past week they were still keeping a low profile. Palestinians were called on to hold marches throughout Gaza Strip on September 21 and 23. Activities are supposed to be held in Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho, Jenin and other cities in Judea and Samaria as well as East Jerusalem (Al-Ghad, September 15, 2011).
The Israel Police and the Palestinian security forces are deploying for the expected events. The Israeli Ministry of Internal Security has initiated a series of emergency measures to improve the police department’s ability "to deal with uncontrollable mass riots." This past week the Palestinian security forces received training in crowd dispersal, catching law-breakers, etc. (Haaretz, September 18 and 20; the Palestinian police in the West Bank website, September 15, 2011) .
However, in the media, including the digital media, calls were extended for activities to oppose the Palestinian move in the UN:
A campaign calling itself "the third Palestinian intifada" posted an announcement calling on Palestinians in the territories and abroad "to rise up against Israeli activity" on Friday, September 23, referred to as "Palestine Friday." They are to demonstrate for the "end of the occupation of all the territory of historical Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea," and stress the so-called "right of return." The posting ends with the statement that "Palestine will be liberated and we are those who will liberate it, from the river to the sea and from the sea to the river" (Facebook, September 18, 2011).
Palestinian activists of unknown affiliation are using Facebook to call on Palestinians to hold marches in the Western countries where they live to "confirm the Palestinians’ adherence to their rights to all Palestine and not only to the 1967 territories." They use the group’s Facebook page to state their opposition to "any solution which does not include the ‘right of return’ and the ‘right to all Palestine’" (Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, September 14, 2011).
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Convoys and Flotillas to the Gaza Strip � Update
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Miles of Smiles Convoy Expected to Reach the Gaza Strip on October 6
The Miles of Smiles convoy is expected to reach the Gaza Strip on October 6. The Jordanian LifeLine committee, which failed in its efforts to dispatch a ship to the Gaza Strip in the last flotilla, announced its participation in the convoy (Al-Busla, September 15, 2011).
1 The statistics do not include the rockets and mortar shells which fell inside the Gaza Strip. As of September 20, 2011.
