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The Israeli authorities have referred a Palestinian author -- who is already serving a life prison sentence -- to trial for writing a children’s book.
According to Israeli media reports, Palestinian prisoner/author Walid Daka will be tried Wednesday evening at Israel’s Megiddo Prison for writing the book.
Daka is already serving out a life prison sentence after having been convicted for abducting and killing an Israeli soldier in 1984.
Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has reportedly banned the sale of the book -- entitled “The Story of the Oil Secret” -- in Daka’s hometown of Baka al-Garbiyeh in northern Israel.
A group of Jewish settlers on Wednesday attacked a boys’ school in the Palestinian village of Ourif near the West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official. “Scores of Jewish settlers from the nearby Yitzhar settlement attacked the school with stones,” Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of settlement affairs, told Anadolu Agency. “The settlers were backed by Israeli troops who fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the students,” Daghlas said. According to the official, at least one Palestinian student was injured after being struck by a rubber bullet. More than 650,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler “outposts” (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.Jewish settlers vandalize Palestinian cars in West Bank
Settlers attack Palestine school in West Bank: Official
According to Daka’s family, the book was issued with the approval of the Israel Prison Service, which later claimed that it never approved it.
Daka is a Palestinian writer and researcher who managed to earn a Master's Degree in political science during his many years behind bars.
His 96-page book tells the story of a child who wants to visit his father in prison, but can’t do so because of the draconian restrictions imposed by Israel’s occupation.
The child eventually manages to enter the prison by hiding inside an olive tree.
But instead of using the tree’s special sap to leave the prison again, he gives it to other children who cannot go to school because of Israeli restrictions.
Scores of Jewish settlers early Wednesday vandalized a dozen private vehicles in the Palestinian village of Karyout in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a local official. “Settlers stormed the village, located south of Nablus, and slashed the tires of several cars parked in the area before painting racist slogans on them,” Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of settlement affairs, told Anadolu Agency. Jewish settlers, he added, had recently stepped up their attacks on Palestinian villages, since the region’s farmers are currently busy harvesting their olive crops. Olive production -- from an estimated 27 million olive trees -- represents a primary source of income for over 100,000 Palestinian families in the West Bank. US professor urges release of student held in IsraelAccording to Palestinian figures, more than 650,000 Israeli settlers now live on 196 Jewish-only settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) across the West Bank, in addition to more than 200 settler “outposts” (built without its approval).In a related development, the Israeli army rounded up 24 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied territory, a Palestinian NGO said Wednesday. “Fourteen Palestinians were detained after Israeli forces raided their homes in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm,” the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said in a statement. Fuel allowed into Gaza for sole functioning power plantAnother six Palestinians were detained in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Qalqilia and Jericho, the NGO added, along with four others in Hebron (Al-Khalil) and East Jerusalem. The Israeli army frequently carries out sweeping arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which ostensibly target Palestinians "wanted" by the Israeli authorities. According to Palestinian figures, roughly 6,400 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including scores of women and hundreds of minors.Israel tightens security on Palestinian West Bank workers
Jewish settlers vandalize Palestinian cars in West Bank