occupied territories

The Church of Scotland General Assembly agreed, under threat, to withdraw a resolution calling for a UK ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Paraic Reamonn says that the ethnically-defined nature of the current Israeli state, its treatment of Palestinians and what its policies are doing to the identity of Jewish people should be a matter of priority concern to Christians and others of goodwill.

Quakers in Britain are considering a challenging call from Palestinian Quakers in the West Bank to consider a boycott over the Occupied Territories.

In the northern West Bank Palestinian farmers face the threat of attacks and damage to their trees from Israeli settlers, in the Bethlehem they are denied access to their land.

Settlers' leaders confirm construction has begun on some 600 new housing units in the occupied West Bank since the Israeli settlement freeze ended.