Saturday, September 16, 2023

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, injuring 1 with a knife and throwing stones at buildings, causing damage. Israeli soldiers were present at the scene and fired a warning shot in the air. Israeli forces raided Beita twice, causing tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinians protesting a raid in Tulkarm; no injuries were reported. (WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 9/16; HA 9/17; UNOCHA 9/26)

All crossings from Israel to the West Bank and Gaza were closed due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday. (HA 9/14)

The Palestine Writes Literature Festival organizing committee released a letter it had written to the University of Pennsylvania on 9/2 in response to attacks by Zionist organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Federation, that had called on the university to cancel the festival which is scheduled for 9/22-9/24. The organizing committee rejected charges of anti-Semitism and the conflation of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, calling suggestions that the festival is a threat to Jewish students at the university libelous. (MDW 9/16)