September sees the Palestinian Statehood bid take centre stage in the global media; Sheikh Raed Salah wins damages from the British government and the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra causes a stir at home and abroad.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas submitted a Palestinian statehood bid to the United Nations this month, in a move that has not only vexed Israel and the pro-Zionist lobby but also split the pro-Palestinian movement. September 20th has come and gone and the furore and excitement that came with it is also receding as the pro-and anti-campaigners continue to woo member states before the vote at the General Assembly in a few weeks' time.
Early this month, just hours before the Palmer report was published, Turkey announced that it would be expelling the Israeli ambassador and suspending military agreements with Israel over the country's refusal to apologize for killing 9 Turkish citizens aboard the Mavi Marmara in 2010. The relationship between the two former allies deteriorated rapidly following the carnage of the flotilla and there were months of delay before the report were published due to disputes over content and the Turkish demand for an apology. Turkey has also down-graded diplomatic ties with Israel to the level of second secretary.
Erdogan pledges Turkish warships to aid future Gaza aid vessels and has said Turkey will take steps to stop Israel unilaterally exploiting resources from Eastern Mediterranean states.
In the first event of its kind for 15 years, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, paid a visit to Egypt. The visit was set against the backdrop of deteriorating Turkish relations with Israel and an increasingly strained Egypt-Israel relationship which was exacerbated when Israel killed six Egyptian police on the border last month.
The Price Tag campaign continued in full force this month as hardline settlers targeted a mosque in the town of Qusra, near Nablus. The mosque windows were smashed and Hebrew graffiti mentioning the words 'Social Justice' and 'Migron' were scrawled across the walls and tyres were also set alight inside the mosque. The attack followed the demolition of settlement outposts in the area including the outpost of Migron which was demolished a few hours before the attack.
A new tramline 10 years in construction which connects the illegal settlements in East Jerusalem with Israel began running this month. Observers believe the inauguration of the tramline is Israel's way of asserting sovereignty of East Jerusalem.
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