Day: 16 October 2021

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Palestinians attempting to reach their lands in south of West Bank attacked by Israeli settlers

Palestinians in Yatta, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, were today prevented by Israeli settlers backed by soldiers from reaching their lands east of Yatta town, according to Rateb al-Jabour, a local activist.

He told WAFA that settlers prevented the landowners from reaching their lands located near the illegal Avigal, Susiya and Mitzpe Yair settlements to inspect it after settlers had set up water reservoirs on their lands to irrigate trees they had illegally planted in the Palestinian-owned land.

He said the settlers, with protection from the soldiers, attacked the landowners and prevented them from reaching their land, pushing them back.

The settlers had illegally taken over more than 300 dunums of privately-owned land in Yatta and claimed it for their own.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Occupation army orders demolition of three buildings under construction near Bethlehem

The Israeli occupation army ordered today the demolition of three buildings currently under construction in the village of al-Meniya, in the occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, according to a local source.

Hasan Breijieh, a Palestinian Authority official in charge of monitoring the Israeli settlement activity in the Bethlehem area, told WAFA that Abed Rabbo Kawazbeh, a local Palestinian citizen, was notified by the occupation army that he has 96 hours to demolish three buildings that are still in the construction stage under the pretext of not having an Israeli building permit.

He said each of the three buildings consists of two floors, each with an area of 500 square meters.

Israel denies planning permits for Palestinians to build on their own land or to extend existing houses to accommodate natural growth, particularly in occupied East Jerusalem and in Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli occupation authorities so far this year demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized 118 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including the 26 in East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Former Syrian prisoner shot dead by Israeli troops at border

Medhat Saleh Al-Saleh, a former Syrian prisoner in Israeli jails, was announced dead on Saturday evening after being shot by Israeli occupation soldiers near Syria’s border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Damascus-based Sana Agency said Saleh was shot with gunfire by Israeli soldiers while he was in the way to his home in the village of Ain Eltinah, which is adjacent to the border with Golan Heights, and was announced dead some time later.

Al-Saleh is a former prisoner in Israeli jails who spent 12 years between 1985 and 1997 behind bars.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Social media watch group welcomes Facebook’s decision to examine policies of Arabic and Hebrew content

A local social media watch group yesterday welcomed Facebook’s decision on Thursday to examine policies of Arabic and Hebrew content in light of strong accusation against the social media giant of bias against the Palestinians and censoring pro-Palestine content in its conflict with Israel.

The Haifa-based 7amleh – the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media said in a statement that it welcomes Facebook’s latest and “surprising” decision to implement the recommendations of the Facebook Oversight Board and conduct an independent examination of the moderation policies of Arabic and Hebrew content, considering this “an important step in the right direction.”

This decision comes following repeated requests by 7amleh and a large number of local, regional, and international human rights organizations, coalitions and networks, that Facebook guarantees a transparent and equitable policy with regards to Palestinian content, it said.

7amleh said that the Israeli war on Gaza in May and the ensuing events in the West Bank, which it called the “May Uprising,” kick-started an increase in the pressure against Facebook “to end its discriminatory policy against Palestinians and supporters of Palestinian rights, as various acts of systematic censorship of Palestinians and defenders of Palestinian rights continued to be monitored over the years, in response to continued digital violations from the Israeli government and other parties.”

Facebook’s Oversight Board recommended to “engage an independent entity not associated with either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to conduct a thorough examination to determine whether Facebook’s content moderation in Arabic and Hebrew, including its use of automation, have been applied without bias. The report and its conclusions should be made public.”

7amleh emphasized the importance of appointing independent professionals with a background in human rights in general and digital rights in particular, and called on Facebook to commit to implementing the recommendations of the examination.

It considered the decisions and recommendations of the Oversight Board as “positive and serious steps in the right direction, which will contribute to ensuring that Facebook moderates content in a safe, fair and equitable manner.”

It expressed hope that “Facebook seriously considers these recommendations and implements them immediately.”

7amleh also called on Facebook “to accept and commit to the remaining recommendations of the Oversight Board, including specifying the criteria for ‘dangerous individuals and organizations’ or parties whose content is automatically removed from the platform, as well as disclosing all cooperation with governments and positive responses to governmental requests of content removal, in addition to translating content moderation policies to all languages and making them more accessible.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Palestine’s Foreign Ministry critical of the US anti-Human Rights Council stand on the Israeli occupation

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatiates yesterday denounced statements by the United States State Department spokesman Ned Price in which he said his country would oppose the position of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) on the Israeli occupation.

“We have concerns with the council. We will vigorously oppose the council’s disproportionate attention on Israel, which includes the council’s only standing agenda item targeting a single country,” Price told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “very surprised” by Price’s statement that came after the US rejoined the HRC following the former administration’s withdrawal from it due to the HRC’s stand from Israel.

It said that the US “ignores the fact that the Human Rights Council in Geneva was forced to adopt a special item (Item 7) on its permanent agenda related to the human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, because Israel, the occupying and apartheid state and the US’s main ally, continued to violate Palestinian human rights on a daily basis and is the first and only state that insists on systematic and daily violation of Palestinian human rights for more than 54 years of totalitarian occupation of the land of the State of Palestine.”

The Foreign Ministry said it expects the US administration to stick by its principles and to be honest with its commitments and to include Palestine in its human rights positions and not to exclude Israel from condemnation as the top country in the world that maintains the worst criminal record against the Palestinian human being.

It expressed hope that the return of the US to the HRC would open its eyes to the crimes of the occupying state “and become convinced to keep this item (Agenda Item 7) as a permanent item on the agenda of the council as long as Israel continues to behave as an occupation power, insisting to commit more crimes against the Palestinian human being, his lands, holy places, properties, homes and elements of his steadfastness on his land and in his country.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Nine deaths from Coronavirus, 270 new cases confirmed in Palestine in the last 24 hours

Nine people died of Coronavirus in Palestine in the last 24 hours as 270 new cases were recorded, the lowest number of new cases in recent weeks, according to Minister of Health Mai Alkaila.

She said in her daily report on the pandemic in Palestine that six of the deaths were in the Gaza Strip where 198 new cases were confirmed and 1050 patients recovered.

The West Bank recorded three deaths, 72 new cases, and 220 recoveries.

Alkaila said 134 Corona patients are getting treatment in hospitals, and 64 are in intensive care, while 11 are on ventilators.

A total of 1,216,508 people have already received two shots of COVID-19 vaccines in the West Bank and Gaza Strip while 6,927 have received the third shot.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

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Netflix launches Palestinian Stories of award-winning films by Palestinian filmmakers

The American TV and film production company, Netflix, launched on Thursday the Palestinian Stories collection, showcasing a lineup of award-winning films by Palestinian filmmakers or about Palestinian Stories. The collection is set to launch with 32 films with more to be added over the next few weeks, said a Netflix press release.

Featuring the works of prolific and critically-acclaimed directors like Annemarie Jacir, Mai Masri, Mahdi Fleifel, Susan Youssef, May Odeh, Farah Nabulsi and many more, “the collection is a tribute to the creativity and passion of the Arab film industry as Netflix continues to invest in stories from the Arab world.,” it said.

“I’m glad to finally have alternative Palestinian films accessible to wide audiences through Netflix. We all in the Palestinian film industry have been eager to share our narrative with the world through our authentic creative productions as an alternative to news reporting.” said May Odeh, Director of ‘The Crossing’.

Spanning multiple genres and styles, the collection will showcase the depth and diversity of the Palestinian experience, exploring people’s lives, dreams, families, friendships, and love, said Netflix.

Nuha El Tayeb, Director, Content Acquisitions, MENAT at Netflix said, “The diversification of our content sits close to my heart as Netflix works to become the home of Arabic Cinema, a place where anyone in the world can access great Arab stories. We believe that great stories travel beyond their place of origin, are told in different languages and enjoyed by people from all walks of life and, with the Palestinian Stories collection, we hope to amplify these beautiful stories to a global audience. While these stories are distinctly and authentically Arab, the themes are quintessentially human, and will resonate with audiences across the world. That is the true beauty of storytelling.”

The collection showcases a number of award-nominated and award-winning films. Annemarie Jacir’s ‘Like 20 Impossibles’ was the first short film from the Arab world to premiere in Cannes and went on to become a National Finalist for the Academy Awards as well as winning Best Film at Palm Springs, Chicago, IFP/New York, Nantucket, and Mannheim-Heidelberg film festivals. Elia Suleiman’s ‘Divine Intervention’ secured two wins and a nomination at Cannes while ‘3000 Nights’ by Mai Masri won the Jury Prize at the 2016 International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights.

Some of the films, such as ‘Present’, ‘Pomegranate and Myrrh’ and ‘It Must be Heaven’ are already on the service and will now live under the Palestinian Stories collection, making it easier for members to find outstanding content from the Arab world. The majority of the titles will stream globally, and all the films will include subtitles relevant to those countries where they are streaming in Arabic.

Prolific Director of films such as ‘A Drowning Man’, ‘Xenos’ and ‘A World Not Ours’, Mahdi Fleifel is excited for his body of work to sit under The Palestinian Stories Collection and reach global audiences.

“Finally! A larger audience can have this exceptional opportunity to avoid all social obligations and binge watch my films in one sitting! Thank you for this great privilege, Netflix. I’m thrilled!”

The Palestinian Stories Collection can be accessed via Netflix.com/PalestinianStories and by searching “Palestinian Stories” on Netflix.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency