WAFA —
RAMALLAH, Wednesday, October 31, 2018 (WAFA) – The boycott of Israeli municipal elections in occupied East Jerusalem dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Wednesday.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that Palestinian residents of Jerusalem boycotted the Israeli municipal elections, affirming the Arab identity of Jerusalem.
Al-Ayyam printed a picture of an empty polling station in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shufat.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida also reported that Druze Syrians also boycotted Israeli municipal elections in the occupied Golan Heights.
Al-Quds added that Israeli forces quelled Druze protestors who attempted to block their townspeople from voting in the Israeli municipal elections.
It printed a photo showing Israeli police surrounding a gathering of Druze, some carrying Syrian flags, outside the gates of a polling station in the mountainous plateau that Israel has occupied since June 1967.
On the other hand, al-Hayat al-Jadida opted to highlight the meeting of the higher national committee mandated to implement the Palestinian Central Council’s (PCC) decisions to sever ties with Israel.
Al-Ayyam said that President Mahmoud Abbas presided over the meeting, while al-Hayat al-Jadida reported him stating that the PCC’s two-day session was successfully held to address the difficult conditions facing the Palestinian question.
Also with regards the PCC’s session, al-Quds printed an analysis titled Analysts unanimously agree that the Palestinian Authority is serious about implementing the PCC’s decisions.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported member of Fatah Central Committee Azaam al-Ahmad stating that those casting doubts over Abbas and the Palestinian leadership’s positions seek to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan, dubbed Deal of the Century.
Covering daily life under occupation, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that Israeli forces carried out a large-scale detention and search campaign in the northern West Bank area of Shweika, north of Tulkarem.
Al-Quds added that Israeli forces conducted detention raids across the northern West Bank districts of Tulkarem and Nablus.
According to both dailies, Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian young man to the east of Deir al-Balah city in the central besieged Gaza Strip.
Al-Ayyam said that Israeli settlers seek to consolidate their takeover of Palestinian-owned lands in the northern Jordan Valley.
Moreover, al-Quds said that the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, held deliberations on a bill aimed to “annex” West Bank Palestinian-owned lands to Israeli settlements.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that the Egyptian delegation has left Gaza following meetings with leaders of Palestinian factions over calm and intra-Palestinian reconciliation.
Yet, al-Quds reported the Muslim Waqf Department in Jerusalem stressing the need to carry out renovation works for the eastern wall of East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
The controversial recently-proposed Palestinian Social Security Law also hit the front page headlines in the dailies.
The cabinet reportedly announced that it has commenced the implementation of the law in accordance with a timeframe starting with organizations with over 200 employees.
According to al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida, Wataniya Mobile, the Palestinian mobile phone company, realized a net profit of $1.2 million in the third quarter of 2018.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam spotlighted Israeli media’s report Israel Decides against Toppling Hamas in Gaza, Seeks to Weaken it.
It also highlighted a Palestinian campaign demanding Britain political and legal responsibility on the 101 anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
K.F.
