I left my home in the United States to spend the summer in the West Bank, where I was attacked by Israeli settlers late last month. As a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team, I went to the South Hebron Hills to help keep young Palestinian children safe from Israeli settlers intent on hurting Palestinians. Armed only with a video camera, it was my job to escort the children back and forth from school and summer camp. 

Landmines planted in abandoned Israeli military base in the West Bank killed one man in Arraba south west of Jenin on Friday. The information office for the Palestinian police said 24-year-old Nizar Sawarkah was killed immediately when a landmine exploded beneath the young man. Nizar was transferred to Jenin governmental Hospital, but died of the injuries he sustained. 

This is Israeli justice in a nutshell: Lt. Col. Omri Burberg, the battalion commander suspected of giving an utterly illegal order to shoot a bound Palestinian, is wandering free and being considered for a senior training post in the Israel Defense Forces. Meanwhile, Jamal Amira, the father of Salam, the amateur camera operator who filmed the shooting, spent 26 days in an Israeli jail, until a military judge was so kind as to release him on bail last week. 

Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, head of the orthodox-affiliated, non-profit Zomet Institute, has expressed perhaps the most strident censure possible in Judaism for Peace Now activists, who are fighting to uproot settlers from the Migron settlement. "Such tale-bearing is known in Hebrew as 'moser' (informer)... Individuals who have sunk to this lowest level of behavior were despised and shunned (in Jewish tradition). 

 

Two siege-breaking boatloads of international human rights advocates will leave the Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon, bringing with them seven Palestinians who have been unable to leave due to the Israeli blockade. Among the Palestinians leaving is 10-year-old Saed Mosleh from Beit Hanoun who lost his leg due to Israeli shelling. Saed is leaving Gaza with his father to seek medical treatment. "I can't believe we're finally able to leave for medical treatment," said Khaled Mosleh, Saed’s father. 

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been holding talks with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut at the start of a two-day visit. He is discussing issues including the future of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. The refugees want better living conditions and easier access to jobs. Lebanese officials have expressed concern about outbreaks of violence in the refugee camps, where security is controlled by Palestinian groups.