21 nov 2016

The Israeli municipality in Lod city, within the Green Line, fined a Palestinian imam for using loudspeakers to broadcast the call to prayer (Adhan), Haaretz Hebrew newspaper reported Monday.
A penalty of USD 197 was imposed on the Imam Mahmoud al-Far for using loudspeakers to call out the Adhan during night time, the newspaper said.
The Israeli municipal authorities in Lod have fined the imam for violating an existing Israeli “pollution and nuisance law,” which restricts the volume at which mosques can use loudspeakers to call out the Adhan, the newspaper reported.
The penalty came after the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the draft legislation, which calls for barring the use of loudspeakers during the Adhan, moving it to the Knesset where it is expected to go through several readings before making it into law.
Howevder, Israeli Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman appealed the bill, effectively postponing Knesset consideration of the draft legislation until further notice.
Litzman argued that the current phrasing of the bill would not only affect the use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer, but also the use of sirens on Friday evenings to announce the Jewish holy day of Shabbat.
A penalty of USD 197 was imposed on the Imam Mahmoud al-Far for using loudspeakers to call out the Adhan during night time, the newspaper said.
The Israeli municipal authorities in Lod have fined the imam for violating an existing Israeli “pollution and nuisance law,” which restricts the volume at which mosques can use loudspeakers to call out the Adhan, the newspaper reported.
The penalty came after the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the draft legislation, which calls for barring the use of loudspeakers during the Adhan, moving it to the Knesset where it is expected to go through several readings before making it into law.
Howevder, Israeli Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman appealed the bill, effectively postponing Knesset consideration of the draft legislation until further notice.
Litzman argued that the current phrasing of the bill would not only affect the use of loudspeakers for the Muslim call to prayer, but also the use of sirens on Friday evenings to announce the Jewish holy day of Shabbat.

A Palestinian elderly man in his 60s, who has been held administratively in Israeli jails for about one year, could be released soon.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), the Israeli military court in Ofer, west of Ramallah, set the end of the current month, November 30, as a date for the release of 63-year-old Omar al-Barghouthi from administrative detention.
A PPS lawyer, who was following the case of the prisoner, stated on Monday that the court decided not to extend the administrative detention of Barghouthi after he spent one year in Israeli jails, with no guilt, indictment or trial.
Barghouthi was kidnapped from his home in Kobar town, northwest of Ramallah, on November 19, 2015, and since then, he has served five administrative prison terms.
He had already spent a total of 26 years during different periods in Israeli jails.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), the Israeli military court in Ofer, west of Ramallah, set the end of the current month, November 30, as a date for the release of 63-year-old Omar al-Barghouthi from administrative detention.
A PPS lawyer, who was following the case of the prisoner, stated on Monday that the court decided not to extend the administrative detention of Barghouthi after he spent one year in Israeli jails, with no guilt, indictment or trial.
Barghouthi was kidnapped from his home in Kobar town, northwest of Ramallah, on November 19, 2015, and since then, he has served five administrative prison terms.
He had already spent a total of 26 years during different periods in Israeli jails.

The Israeli Central court sentenced Monday afternoon two Jerusalemite youths to 18 years imprisonment for allegedly being involved in anti-occupation attacks.
According to the PIC reporter, the prisoner Subhi Abu Khalifa, 19, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a fine of USD 47,000 for an alleged stabbing attack in October 2015.
Abu Khalifa, from Shufat refugee camp, was arrested after allegedly stabbing and seriously injuring an Israeli settler in occupied Jerusalem.
Since his detention, Abu Khalifa was transferred from one Israeli jail to another and is currently held in Gilboa jail.
Along the same line, the Israeli court sentenced the 18-year-old Abed Dwayyat, from Sur Baher village, to 18 years imprisonment for allegedly throwing stones at an Israeli settler’s car, leading to the driver’s death after losing control on his car.
The Israeli prosecution had earlier made a deal with the defense lawyer for imposing a 18-year sentence against Dwayyat.
According to the PIC reporter, the prisoner Subhi Abu Khalifa, 19, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and a fine of USD 47,000 for an alleged stabbing attack in October 2015.
Abu Khalifa, from Shufat refugee camp, was arrested after allegedly stabbing and seriously injuring an Israeli settler in occupied Jerusalem.
Since his detention, Abu Khalifa was transferred from one Israeli jail to another and is currently held in Gilboa jail.
Along the same line, the Israeli court sentenced the 18-year-old Abed Dwayyat, from Sur Baher village, to 18 years imprisonment for allegedly throwing stones at an Israeli settler’s car, leading to the driver’s death after losing control on his car.
The Israeli prosecution had earlier made a deal with the defense lawyer for imposing a 18-year sentence against Dwayyat.

The health condition of the Palestinian prisoner Bassam al-Sayeh, 43, has entered a very critical stage, the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said.
Following his visit to Ramla prison hospital, the PPS lawyer affirmed that the cancer patient al-Sayeh has recently undergone a surgical pacemaker implantation.
Al-Sayeh suffers from both bone marrow and blood cell cancer, in addition to serious lung inflammation.
He recently became unable to move, the lawyer pointed out.
Al-Sayeh, from Nablus, was arrested on Oct. 8, 2015 during a trial for his wife.
There are some 1,700 sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 24 suffering from cancer. Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons.
According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), poor conditions in Israeli prisons -- that “have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments” -- have led to the deterioration in the health of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.
Following his visit to Ramla prison hospital, the PPS lawyer affirmed that the cancer patient al-Sayeh has recently undergone a surgical pacemaker implantation.
Al-Sayeh suffers from both bone marrow and blood cell cancer, in addition to serious lung inflammation.
He recently became unable to move, the lawyer pointed out.
Al-Sayeh, from Nablus, was arrested on Oct. 8, 2015 during a trial for his wife.
There are some 1,700 sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 24 suffering from cancer. Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons.
According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), poor conditions in Israeli prisons -- that “have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments” -- have led to the deterioration in the health of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, overnight and earlier Monday, ten Palestinians in Jerusalem, Tulkarem, Ramallah, Nablus, and Jericho, in the occupied West Bank.
The Tulkarem office of the PPS, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, said the soldiers abducted two Palestinians, identified as Fuad al-Qeb and Luay al-Ashqar, from their homes in Deir al-Ghsoun and Saida towns.
The soldiers also invaded Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah, and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Ghannam and Abdul-Latif Issa, after violently searching their homes.
The Ghannam family said the soldiers illegally confiscated 3000 Shekels, and a coin bank for used by Mohammad’s child.
In occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mustafa Hashlamoun, 19, and Eid Shabana, 21.
In addition, the soldiers invaded the town of al-Yamoun, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, abducted a young Palestinian man, identified as Mohammad Mahmoud Sammar, and invaded a car wash facility.
The soldiers also invaded Deir Sharaf town, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and abducted Ibrahim Mohammad Nofal, 22, from his home.
Another Palestinian, identified as Hussein Fahmi Enjoum, was abducted in the al-‘Oja town, in Jericho.
In related news, the soldiers shot a Palestinian day laborer in Wadi al-Hummus area, near the al-Khass and an-No’man villages, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as he was trying to enter Jerusalem for work.
IOF arrests 10 Palestinians, summons others for investigation
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Monday ten Palestinians during an overnight raid campaign throughout the West Bank.
Israeli army sources said that nine “wanted” Palestinians were detained overnight and at dawn today for being involved in alleged anti-occupation attacks.
The sources said that three detainees, from Tulkarem, were affiliated with Jihad Movement, while two others, from Ramallah, were affiliated with Hamas Movement.
Three more arrests were carried out in al-Khalil while a young man was detained in Jericho.
Weapons and amounts of money were reportedly found during the overnight raids, the sources claimed.
Along the same line, Israeli forces stormed Yamoun town, west of Jenin, and arrested a local resident after breaking into his house.
In Tulkarem, Israeli forces stormed Saida town, north of the city, in large numbers where they erected a number of make-shift checkpoints.
Two locals were detained during the raid.
Meanwhile, six local youths were summoned for investigation in Azzun town, east of Qalqilia, as Israeli forces violently broke into its neighborhoods.
The Tulkarem office of the PPS, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, said the soldiers abducted two Palestinians, identified as Fuad al-Qeb and Luay al-Ashqar, from their homes in Deir al-Ghsoun and Saida towns.
The soldiers also invaded Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah, and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Ghannam and Abdul-Latif Issa, after violently searching their homes.
The Ghannam family said the soldiers illegally confiscated 3000 Shekels, and a coin bank for used by Mohammad’s child.
In occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mustafa Hashlamoun, 19, and Eid Shabana, 21.
In addition, the soldiers invaded the town of al-Yamoun, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, abducted a young Palestinian man, identified as Mohammad Mahmoud Sammar, and invaded a car wash facility.
The soldiers also invaded Deir Sharaf town, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and abducted Ibrahim Mohammad Nofal, 22, from his home.
Another Palestinian, identified as Hussein Fahmi Enjoum, was abducted in the al-‘Oja town, in Jericho.
In related news, the soldiers shot a Palestinian day laborer in Wadi al-Hummus area, near the al-Khass and an-No’man villages, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as he was trying to enter Jerusalem for work.
IOF arrests 10 Palestinians, summons others for investigation
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Monday ten Palestinians during an overnight raid campaign throughout the West Bank.
Israeli army sources said that nine “wanted” Palestinians were detained overnight and at dawn today for being involved in alleged anti-occupation attacks.
The sources said that three detainees, from Tulkarem, were affiliated with Jihad Movement, while two others, from Ramallah, were affiliated with Hamas Movement.
Three more arrests were carried out in al-Khalil while a young man was detained in Jericho.
Weapons and amounts of money were reportedly found during the overnight raids, the sources claimed.
Along the same line, Israeli forces stormed Yamoun town, west of Jenin, and arrested a local resident after breaking into his house.
In Tulkarem, Israeli forces stormed Saida town, north of the city, in large numbers where they erected a number of make-shift checkpoints.
Two locals were detained during the raid.
Meanwhile, six local youths were summoned for investigation in Azzun town, east of Qalqilia, as Israeli forces violently broke into its neighborhoods.

An Israeli court on Sunday charged a Palestinian child for alleged incitement “to violence and terrorism” in reference to anti-occupation advocacy.
A statement by the Israeli occupation police said officers have embarked, over the past couple of weeks, on a probe into suspicions of “incitement to violence and terrorism on Facebook” by two Jerusalemite minors, in their 15’s of age.
The two children created a Facebook page entitled “the News of Bahaa Alyan”, in reference to the Palestinian youth who carried out an anti-occupation shooting and stabbing attack in the Israeli illegal settlement of Armon Hanatziv built on Palestinian lands in Jabal al-Mukbir, in southeastern Occupied Jerusalem.
The indictment accused the minors of publishing photos of “terrorists” which garnered thousands of likes and comments.
The Israeli police said a third suspect, 32, from Jabal al-Mukbir was arrested on the same allegations.
The Israeli occupation authorities ruled for extending the captives’ remand, with an indictment being filed against one of the minors.
Since the start of the anti-occupation Jerusalem Intifada, in early October, Israel has created over 5,000 fake Facebook accounts to counter anti-occupation postings and chase down Palestinian activists on claims of inciting to violence.
A statement by the Israeli occupation police said officers have embarked, over the past couple of weeks, on a probe into suspicions of “incitement to violence and terrorism on Facebook” by two Jerusalemite minors, in their 15’s of age.
The two children created a Facebook page entitled “the News of Bahaa Alyan”, in reference to the Palestinian youth who carried out an anti-occupation shooting and stabbing attack in the Israeli illegal settlement of Armon Hanatziv built on Palestinian lands in Jabal al-Mukbir, in southeastern Occupied Jerusalem.
The indictment accused the minors of publishing photos of “terrorists” which garnered thousands of likes and comments.
The Israeli police said a third suspect, 32, from Jabal al-Mukbir was arrested on the same allegations.
The Israeli occupation authorities ruled for extending the captives’ remand, with an indictment being filed against one of the minors.
Since the start of the anti-occupation Jerusalem Intifada, in early October, Israel has created over 5,000 fake Facebook accounts to counter anti-occupation postings and chase down Palestinian activists on claims of inciting to violence.

The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) on Sunday evening renewed the administrative detention of two Palestinian detainees from the northern West Bank province of Jenin.
A PIC news correspondent quoted local sources as stating that the IOA issued a renewed six-month administrative prison-term against the Palestinian detainee Qusay Khaliliyeh, from Jenin’s southern town of Jaba’.
The IOA further sentenced detainee Shady Jarrar, from Wadi Berkin, to the west of Jenin, to a renewed administrative term in the Negev desert jail, in the third such sentence against the detainee.
Prisoner Jarrar was released after he had spent eight years in Israeli jails, before he was re-arrested by the Israeli occupation forces.
Israel’s policy of administrative detention rules for the incarceration of Palestinians with neither charge nor trial for up to six months, often arbitrarily renewed.
A PIC news correspondent quoted local sources as stating that the IOA issued a renewed six-month administrative prison-term against the Palestinian detainee Qusay Khaliliyeh, from Jenin’s southern town of Jaba’.
The IOA further sentenced detainee Shady Jarrar, from Wadi Berkin, to the west of Jenin, to a renewed administrative term in the Negev desert jail, in the third such sentence against the detainee.
Prisoner Jarrar was released after he had spent eight years in Israeli jails, before he was re-arrested by the Israeli occupation forces.
Israel’s policy of administrative detention rules for the incarceration of Palestinians with neither charge nor trial for up to six months, often arbitrarily renewed.

The Israeli occupation police on Sunday evening kidnapped two Palestinian young men from the streets of east Jerusalem.
According to local sources, Israeli policemen rounded up a young man identified as Mohamed Abu Asnainah after searching and brutalizing him in Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate) area.
A Palestinian citizen was able to photograph the young man as he was being bullied by a group of policemen.
Another young man from Ramallah city was also detained by the police during his presence in al-Qattanin market in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The police said they arrested him for not carrying a permit allowing his entry to the holy city.
Meanwhile, an Israeli police force set up a makeshift checkpoint at the western entrance to Issawiya district in east Jerusalem and embarked on searching vehicles.
In a separate incident, three Israeli soldiers suffered injuries on the same day during violent clashes with young men in al-Ram town, northeast of Jerusalem.
Local sources said the soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the young man during their campaign in the town.
Soldiers also stormed Hizma town, northeast of Jerusalem, which provoked clashes with local young men.
No arrests were reported during the Israeli campaigns in the towns of al-Ram and Hizma.
According to local sources, Israeli policemen rounded up a young man identified as Mohamed Abu Asnainah after searching and brutalizing him in Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate) area.
A Palestinian citizen was able to photograph the young man as he was being bullied by a group of policemen.
Another young man from Ramallah city was also detained by the police during his presence in al-Qattanin market in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The police said they arrested him for not carrying a permit allowing his entry to the holy city.
Meanwhile, an Israeli police force set up a makeshift checkpoint at the western entrance to Issawiya district in east Jerusalem and embarked on searching vehicles.
In a separate incident, three Israeli soldiers suffered injuries on the same day during violent clashes with young men in al-Ram town, northeast of Jerusalem.
Local sources said the soldiers responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the young man during their campaign in the town.
Soldiers also stormed Hizma town, northeast of Jerusalem, which provoked clashes with local young men.
No arrests were reported during the Israeli campaigns in the towns of al-Ram and Hizma.