(VIDEO) Israeli settlers resume building in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces injure worker in northern Gaza

Ma'an - BETHLEHEM – A Palestinian worker was injured by Israeli fire on Wednesday near the northern no-go area in Beit Lahiya.

Medical services spokesman Adham Abu Silmiyya said Muhammad Yousif Ma'rouf, 23, was injured as he collected scrap in the area.

Ma'rouf was transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital for treatment.

A spokeswoman for Israel's army said a force in the area identified "four suspects" approaching the area, calling on them to leave and firing warning shots. The representative said they failed to leave the area, and the force opened fire at their feet, identifying a hit.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian worker collecting stone aggregates near Gaza's northern border was injured when Israeli forces stationed near the Erez crossing opened fire.

The worker said he was collecting rubble from an evacuated settlement before the incident.

Israel releases child charged with stone throwing

Ma'an - HEBRON – An Israeli military court Tuesday released a 13-year-old child following six days of detention on charges of stone throwing, fining the boy 2,000 shekels ($545).

Karam Da'na was detained from his school in the Old City of Hebron on 22 September by Israeli forces and taken to the Ofer detention center in Ramallah.

A Palestinian Prisoner Society lawyer said the military court ruled that Da'na was not allowed to return to his family home until his next trial is heard. During Da'na's hearing, he said, the military prosecutor objected to the child's release, prolonging the session for over an hour.

An Israeli military source told Ma'an on Monday that Da'na had been charged with "throwing rocks" at Israeli forces, and that following an internal investigation, the case was referred to Israel's National Police.

A spokesman for the police did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the case.

Qadoora Fares, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, said putting the child on trial "does not fall in line with the law, nor is it based on international standards."

On Sunday, Da'na's family told Ma'an of their son's detention from the Al-Mutannabi School in the Old City of Hebron. At the time, an Israeli military spokeswoman said the army was not familiar with the detention.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information denounced the trial and arrest in a statement issued Monday, and called on Israel to release the 350 Palestinian children currently in Israeli custody.

The ministry also accused Israeli forces of carrying out arrest campaigns targeting children in particular.

In March 2010, an Israeli military tribunal released 12-year-old Al-Hassan Al-Muhtaseb after his father refused to pay a similar bailout fee, instead pledging to bring him in for trial if called.

At the time, the child's lawyer said no indictment had been filed nor were they any witnesses that Al-Muhtaseb, who was detained near his home in Hebron, had thrown stones on Israeli forces.

(VIDEO) Viva Palestina 5 arrives in Istanbul

Video: Israeli guard lied about shooting that led to E Jerusalem riots

New evidence embarrasses Jerusalem’s police, already under fire for having a heavy pro-settler bias
 
New video, broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2, seems to indicate that the Israeli security guard who shot Samar Sarhan, triggering riots in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, lied to the police.

The protest in East Jerusalem lasted three days and resulted in the death of a Palestinian baby. The demonstrations started after a private security guard for one of the settlements opened fire on Palestinians in Silwan.

Pain and anger on the face of a Palestinian in Silwan in confrontation with an Israeli border policeman. (photo: Joseph Dana/+972 Magazine)

The guard later told the police he drove into a Palestinian ambush at 4 am. The protesters blocked his path, and his jeep wouldn’t start. Fearing for his life, he claimed to have been forced to open fire. The guard shot and killed Samer Sarhan, father of five.

The Jerusalem police accepted the security guard’s story, released him on the same day and issued a statement supporting him.

But new evidence from a local security camera might indicate that the guard could have drove away from the scene immediately, without opening fire.

Here is Channel 2’s report, with English subtitles (source: Wadi Hilweh Information Center):

Dutch watchdog criticizes Israel tourism information for blurring borders

Map: Israeli occupation 1947 - 2005

Associated Press - THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Dutch advertising watchdog has criticized Israel for publishing "misleading" information on its tourism website that blurs the borders between Israel and occupied Arab territories.

The Advertising Code Committee says in a nonbinding ruling that material distributed by the Dutch branch of the Israeli National Tourism Board does not "clearly show where the border lies between what is internationally recognized as Israeli territory and 'disputed' areas."

Pro-Palestinian activists complained that the maps gave the impression that parts of the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem are in Israel, as well as the Golan Heights captured from Syria.

The ruling, which can be appealed, has no immediate practical effect, and the committee cannot compel the Israeli tourism board to withdraw the ads. But it contributes to the international criticism of Israel's occupation at a time when it is in peace negotiations with the Palestinians over the future status of the territories.

Earlier this month, a group of mayors from Israel cancelled a trip to the Netherlands after objections were raised that the delegation included mayors of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Phon van den Biesen, a lawyer representing the activists, said Thursday that Israel should change its advertising material based on the ruling. He said the Israeli material was promoting towns in occupied territories such as Bethlehem as part of Israel.

"It is like inviting your friends to a party at your home while in fact you are inviting them to your neighbour's home who was not involved in the invitation," Van den Biesen said.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor rejected the criticism.

"If you want to make a political reading of tourism campaigns, or just commercial advertisements, you'll always find ambiguities," he said. "The situation is ambiguous, and anybody who has basic knowledge of the situation here knows that is part of the problem, which is why we need a political peace treaty that would put an end to ambiguity as much as possible."

He also noted that advertising a place as being in "the land of Israel" is a biblical geographic term, and not a political statement.

It is not the first time Israel's attempts to lure tourists has fallen foul of advertising standards authorities.

Last year, a British advertising watchdog said an Israeli tourism poster could not be displayed because it suggested the West Bank and Gaza Strip are part of Israel.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority rules over most Palestinian cities and towns, but Israeli forces retain overall control.

Israel seized the area — a strip of hilly territory wedged between Israel and Jordan — from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians want the territory, as well as east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as their future independent state.