Palestinians - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Palestinians hand bullet that killed journalist to U.S. for examination

ALI SAWAFTA THE Palestinian Authority has handed the bullet that killed prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to U.S. authorities for forensic examination, a Palestinian official said on Saturday. Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Her death sparked Palestinian outrage and international condemnation. "The relevant parties in the state of Palestine agreed to allow the U.S. side to conduct ballistic works on the bullet. It was handed over to them," Akram al-Khatib, General Prosecutor for the Palestinian Authority, said in…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Israeli police arrest nine as Palestinians seethe over Jerusalem shrine

WORLD

ISRAELI riot police faced off with fireworks-hurling Palestinians in the alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City as a visit by Jews to a disputed holy site stoked tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Violence at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, which erupted on Friday, has raised fears about a slide back into deeper conflict over the site as Ramadan coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Christians also marked Easter in Jerusalem on Sunday. Sunday's confrontations were less violent, but Israeli police said several passengers on two buses had been lightly wounded when stone-throwing Palestinians smashed the vehicles' windows.…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Palestinians clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy site, 152 injured

WORLD

AT least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli riot police inside Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence that has raised fears of a slide back to wider conflict. Most of the Palestinian injuries were incurred from rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons, the Palestine Red Crescent said, at the most sensitive site in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli security forces have been on high alert after a series of deadly Arab street attacks throughout the country over the past two weeks. Confrontations at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Tense Ramadan nights at Jerusalem gate stir escalation worries

WORLD

A week into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a flashpoint Jerusalem site is seeing nightly confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli police that have raised concern about a repeat of the violence that erupted last year. The amphitheatre-style plaza outside the Old City's Damascus Gate is a popular spot for Palestinians to meet after breaking their daily holiday fast. Vendors roll carts of snacks and juice into the square. Palestinian youth at times perform acrobatics to cheers from the crowd. But tensions are again high in the city holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims. Israel has deployed extra security forces…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

New Israeli government faces tension with Palestinians over Jerusalem

WORLD

JEFFREY HELLER VETERAN leader Benjamin Netanyahu handed over power in Israel yesterday to new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett but remained defiant as the patchwork government faced tensions with Palestinians over a planned Jewish nationalist march. Minutes after meeting Bennett, Netanyahu repeated a pledge to topple the new government approved on Sunday by a 60-59 vote in parliament. "It will happen sooner than you think," Netanyahu, 71, who spent a record 12 straight years in office, said in public remarks to legislators of his right-wing Likud party. Formation of the alliance of right-wing, centrist, left-wing and Arab parties, with little in…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Red Cross chief urges Israel, Palestinians to end cycle of violence

WORLD

NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI THE head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has urged Israel and the Palestinians to find a political solution so violence like last month's hostilities over the Gaza Strip border might be prevented. On his first visit to Gaza in four years, Robert Mardini toured areas devasted by Israeli bombardments during the 11 days of fighting, including a road where 42 people were killed. "It is really heart-breaking to see and to hear about the people who paid the ultimate cost of this escalation - women, children, civilians who were living safely in their apartments…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Displaced by Israeli bombs, Gazans camp by rubble of their homes

WORLD

NIDAL Al-MUGHRABI TENTS have replaced some high-rises in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, where heavy Israeli airstrikes left several families homeless and doubtful that rebuilding will start soon. Palestinians in the enclave have already received some pledges of financial help for reconstruction after 11 days of fighting. Egypt and Qatar, which helped to mediate a truce that started on Friday, each promised to allocate $500 million. In Beit Lahiya, children played among the wreckage of homes. Adults drank tea on broken furniture. Banners carried the names of the bereft homeowners. A sign bore the names of four children,…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Some Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem Palestinians wary of coronavirus vaccine

WORLD

AS Israel leads the world in the rate of coronavirus vaccination, some of its Arab citizens and Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem are regarding the shot with suspicion. In what officials see as a result of misinformation about possible side-effects or supposed malicious properties, turnout for vaccines has been low among Arabs, who make up 21% of Israel's population, and Jerusalem Palestinians. "I will not be vaccinated because I don't know what is in there. No one explained it to me," said Marouf Alyino of East Jerusalem. "Everyone is looking at Facebook and social media, where we hear about someone…