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  • ChronologyOctober 16, 2011 – January 15, 2012

Abbreviations

ABC

ABC News

AFP

Agence France Presse

Al-Arabiya

Alarabiya.net

AJE

Aljazeera.net

AA

Asharq Alawsat

AP

Associated Press

Bloomberg

BBC

www.bbc.co.uk

CBS

www.cbsnews.com

CSM

Christian Science Monitor

CNN

www.cnn.com

Dawn

www.dawn.com

EurasiaNet

www.eurasianet.org

FT

Financial Times

Global Voices

The Guardian

GN

Gulf News

Haaretz

HRW

Human Rights Watch

Hurriyet

IBT

International Business Times

JP

The Jerusalem Post

KT

Khaleej Times

LM

Le Monde

NPR

National Public Radio

NYT

The New York Times

RFE/RL

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Reuters

VOA

Voice of America

WSJ

The Wall Street Journal

WP

The Washington Post

Ynet

Ynet News

Zaman

Arab-Israeli Conflict

See also Jordan

Oct. 18: In accordance with an agreement reached on October 11, over 400 Palestinian prisoners were released to Gaza, while Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was reunited with his family in Israel. Forty were deported to Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and Qatar. For phase two of the swap, scheduled for December 2011, the remaining portion of the 1,027 Palestinian prisoners would be released to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) or abroad. Over 5,000 Palestinians remained in Israeli prisons, an issue that was viewed as a major stumbling block to peace with Israel. Egypt negotiated the deal, a major diplomatic success for the ruling SCAF. [VOA, 10/17, AJE, NYT, 10/18, BBC, JP, 10/19]

Oct. 27: Egypt and Israel conducted a prisoner swap in which Ilan Grapel, an American-Israeli dual national who was arrested on suspicion of espionage, was traded for 25 Egyptian prisoners. At a press conference, Grapel reported that he was treated well in prison. Inspired by the success of the Israel-Hamas prisoner swap the previous week, the US-mediated agreement was reached on October 24 and approved by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s special security cabinet the following day. Most of the Egyptian prisoners were convicted of offenses like drug smuggling; none were what Israel referred to as “security prisoners.” Both sides saw the agreement as a diplomatic victory. [Reuters, 10/24, AJE, 10/25, 10/26, NYT, 10/27]

Oct. 31: The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved of the recognition of Palestine as a member state. The US responded by refusing to pay UNESCO $60 million it planned to contribute in November. The US provided $80 million per year to UNESCO, or approximately 22% of the organizations’ annual funding. The following day, Israel began construction on 2,000 new settlements. A total of 1,650 of the settlements would be built in Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, while the rest would be in the West Bank settlements of Ma’aleh Adumim and Efrat. [AJE, 10/31, WP, 11/1]

Nov. 3: As a response to UNESCO’s decision to accept Palestine’s membership bid, Israel decided to withhold a $2 million contribution to the organization. [JP, 11/3]

Nov. 4: Israel apprehended two flotillas in [End Page 313] international waters en route from Turkey to the Gaza Strip, bringing them to the port city of Ashdod. The Tahrir and MV Saoirse carried activists, journalists, and a large contingent of Irish foreign nationals. Israel stated that those who did not leave voluntarily would be given 72 hours to appeal deportation. [AJE, 11/4]

Nov. 14: A Gaza policeman was killed and seven others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting an unspecified “terror activity site.” The attack came in retaliation for rockets that Hamas fired at southern Israel the previous day. An electricity supplier was damaged during the strike, cutting off power to nearly 100,000 Gazans. [AP, 11/14]

Nov. 29: Israel and Lebanon exchanged rocket fire for the first time since 2009. Rockets from the Lebanese side damaged two buildings in western Galilee and were launched from the Christian town of Rmeish, two kilometers from the border with Israel. Israel fired four rockets in response. No casualties were reported. [Reuters, 11/29]

Nov. 30: Israel released frozen tax revenues that it withheld from the PA since November 1. The sum was nearly $100 million dollars per month. Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad had previously stated that...

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