Israeli soldiers fired tear gas Aug. 5 to disperse the weekly anti-wall protest in the Palestinian village of Bil'in, west of Ramallah on the West Bank—marking the first Friday of the Ramadan holy month. (Ma'an News Agency, Aug. 5) Thousands gathered at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque for prayers, despite Israeli restrictions that barred Palestinian men under the age of 50 from entering the city. (MSNBC, AFP, Aug. 5)

The International News Safety Institute (INSI) issued a statement Aug. 5 expressing concern over a July 30 NATO air-strike on the Tripoli headquarters of state broadcaster al-Jamahiriya that killed three staff and wounded 21, according to media reports. The statement calls on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to determine whether the air-strike was a breech of a 2006 Security Council resolution that bans attacks on journalists. NATO said the bombing was in line with its UN mandate. Countered INSI director Rodney Pinder: "NATO forces in Libya are acting under a Security Counsel mandate to protect civilians and journalists are civilians." He added that such attacks could not be excused "on the basis that you disagree with the point of view of the news organizations." AP notes that the International Federation of Journalists also condemned the bombing and called for a probe.

Tens of thousands returned to the streets in towns and cities across Syria for the first Friday protests of the Ramadan holy month Aug. 5, especially declaring their support for the residents of Hama, where an estimated 200 have been killed in a military crackdown over the past week. Rights advocates said 14 were killed in Erbin, Homs and Mouadhamiya. State-run Syrian TV broadcast footage from inside Hama for the first time, showing scenes of burned-out buildings, barricaded streets and damaged cars. In YouTube footage purporting to come from protesters in Hama, heavy gunfire can be heard and improvised roadblocks seen in the street, with a tank in the background. A voice says in Arabic: "Hama, 5 August 2011, severe artillery shooting in Hama... tanks incursion of Hama... gangs of Bashar al-Assad are shooting Hama neighborhoods." The date and name of the city are repeated. (The Guardian, Reuters, Aug. 5)

Belarus faced condemnation from European and UN leaders Aug. 5 over the arrest of Ales Beliatsky, head of the human rights group Vyasna (Spring) who was detained outside his home after months of police pressure and charged with crimes punishable by seven years in prison. Beliatsky was ostensibly arrested on tax evasion charges, but his organization had been closely monitoring the regime's response to ongoing "social network" protests in Belarus. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Belarus "to guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Beliatsky and all human rights defenders in Belarus." (AFP, Aug. 5)

We've already noted that the angry rent protests Tel Aviv hold the potential for an historic and truly threatening (to the power structure) convergence of the global econo-protests (most advanced in Greece and Spain), the Arab Spring, and the Palestinian struggle. But we've also noted how, if the movement fails to explicitly solidarize with the Palestinians, it can be derailed by the lure of fascistic pseudo-solutions. Here, alas, is evidence for this latter tendency. Ha'aretz reports Aug. 3 that a group of far-right West Bank settler activists who call themselves the "Hilltop Youth" have established their own camp within the Tel Aviv tent town.

A Guatemalan court on Aug. 2 convicted and sentenced four former soldiers to 6,060 years in prison each on war crimes charges related to the 1982 Dos Erres massacre. Carlos Antonio Carias, Manuel Pop, Reyes Collin and Daniel Martínez were convicted of crimes against humanity for being members of a military force that killed more than 250 people in the village of Dos Erres during the 36-year Guatemalan civil war, though the men were ultimately held accountable for only 201 deaths. Three of the men were members of a special forces unit known as the Kaibiles, which is alleged to have played a role in the massacre. The military force was attempting to put down insurgents during Guatemala's military rule under Gen. Efrain Rios Montt. The men pleaded not guilty to the war crimes charges at the start of the trial last week, arguing that they were not stationed with the group that carried out the atrocities at Dos Erres. Twenty-three witnesses, including former military officials and survivors, testified at trial.

An immigrant family on Aug. 1 accused federal immigration officials of brutalizing a 46-year-old woman during a drug raid on a their home in Norco, Calif., where they had moved less than three weeks before. Carmen Bonilla told reporters in Spanish at a press conference at the headquarters of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles that roughly 40 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stormed the house on July 19, pointing guns at her and threatening to shoot. They said "shut up or we'll shoot," said Bonilla, before the agents shoved her to the floor and began kicking her. Bonilla said she and her daugter-in-law were held face-down on the floor with guns to their heads as agents searched the house, apparently for drugs. She said she later went to a hospital for treatment of scratches and bruises. "This family suffered an unjust attack by the authorities and had nothing to do with the drugs they were looking for," said immigration lawyer Jessica Domínguez, who represented the family at the press conference. Since the raid, the Bonillas say deportation proceedings have been brought against all undocumented family members. (LA Weekly's Informer blog, AP, EFE, NBC LA, Aug. 1)

Twelve Israeli settlers accused of setting fire to Palestinian mosques, property and vehicles have been slapped with restraining orders limiting their movement in the West Bank, the Israeli military said Aug. 2. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had signed off on the restraining orders based on recommendations from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). The orders range from three months to a year, with six settlers told to stay away from certain communities, three prohibited from entering the Yitzhar settlement south of Nablus, and three more prevented from entering the West Bank at all.