JERUSALEM (IPS) — Amidst reports that the Israeli military is arming and training Israeli settlers in advance of the Palestinian Authority's bid to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations this week, Palestinian activists in the West Bank have organized emergency response teams to document settler attacks and prevent more from taking place.

RAMALLAH  — Around 1,000 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday to protest against U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will go to the United Nations Security Council and seek full membership in the world body next week, despite the looming threat of a U.S. veto, a Palestinian official said.

The Israeli military is arming and training West Bank settlers in preparation for mass protests by Palestinians that it expects to erupt around the time that the UN is asked to recognize a Palestinian state, according to a leaked document.

The boy, small and frail, is struggling to stay awake. His head lolls to the side, at one point slumping on to his chest. "Lift up your head! Lift it up!" shouts one of his interrogators, slapping him. But the boy by now is past caring, for he has been awake for at least 12 hours since he was separated at gunpoint from his parents at two that morning. "I wish you'd let me go," the boy whimpers, "just so I can get some sleep."

Jerusalem — A senior Israeli army commander has warned that unchecked "Jewish terror" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank threatens to plunge the territory into another conflict.