Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Restriction of movement



Settlers cut [down] Palestinian trees near Hebron

IMEMC — Thursday June 6 2013, a number of extremist Israeli settlers cut nearly 20 Palestinian olive trees that belong to a farmer from Beit Ummar Palestinian town, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Mohammad Awad, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against Settlements in Beit Ummar, told the Quds Press news agency that settlers of Beit Ayin illegal Israeli settlement, north of Beit Ummar, invaded a Palestinian orchard and cut the trees.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65632

Israelis scrawl ‘death to Arabs’ in Salfit

SALFIT (Ma‘an) 7 June — Jewish worshipers scrawled “Death to Arabs” on Palestinian homes during a visit to a tomb in a northern West Bank town on Thursday night. Israeli soldiers accompanied the extremist group to Kifl Haris, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. Locals said soldiers closed all entrances to the town, ordered shops to shut and prevented residents from moving around. Around 400 Israelis entered Kifl Haris on buses to visit a tomb revered by Jews as the burial site of Joshua. They stayed for over three hours and sprayed racist graffiti in Hebrew on village walls, homes and inside the shrine.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602795

Settlers burn a Palestinian car in Jerusalem

IMEMC Friday June 7 2013, several extremist Israeli settlers burnt, on Friday at dawn, a Palestinian car that belongs to resident, Yasser Samir Najib, 31, from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem. Najib said that his car was burnt approximately at three at dawn; it was parked in front of his home. His neighbors told him that they saw extremist settlers around his home close to midnight, the Palestine News Network has reported. Najib also stated that the area where he lives, close to the Shimon Tezek illegal outpost, witnesses frequent settler attacks, and that two weeks ago, settlers punctured tires of several Palestinian cars.

In related news, several extremist settlers attacked, on Friday morning, Palestinian farmers in Rojeeb village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Medical sources have reported that the settlers assaulted resident Salah Kamel Dweikat and his sons, before Palestinian farmers managed to force the settlers away.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65639

Area C Palestinians under threat of displacement

972 Resources 5 June — A new report published by B’Tselem to mark 46 years since Israel occupied the West Bank reveals how the Civil Administration has violated its obligation to administer the area for the benefit of the Palestinian population. Contrary to its legal obligations, the Civil Administration, the body responsible for implementing Israeli government policy in Area C (60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control), implements exactly the opposite policy. The Civil Administration consistently prefers Israeli and settlements’ interests while displacing Palestinians, exploiting the area’s resources to benefit Israelis, and bringing about a permanent situation in which Israeli settlements thrive and Palestinian presence is negligible.

http://972mag.com/resource-area-c-palestinians-under-threat-of-displacement/73014/

After 46 years of occupation, land confiscation renders Israeli law obsolete

972mag 5 June by Mairav Zonszein — Since Israel occupied the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, it has continued to engage in legal acrobatics to confiscate Palestinian homes and land. In doing so, the state is actively erasing its internationally recognized border — the Green Line — One thing has become abundantly clear about Israeli policy when it comes to land: first it acts, only later giving its legal stamp of approval. This is essentially how the state was first established and built itself up, and is the story of how all settlements are born to this day in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Make your presence known on a piece of land for long enough, get a trailer, set up a makeshift synagogue, wait until the state provides electricity and water and it is only a matter of time before it is recognized, de facto or officially. The chances that a court will order that an outpost-turned-settlement be removed are very slim (and even slimmer that the state will enforce such a legal decision), as is evident from the half-a-million settlers who live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem today, and the 100 or so outposts that are considered illegal even under Israeli law.

http://972mag.com/after-46-years-of-occupation-land-confiscation-renders-israeli-law-obsolete/73017/

IOF confiscates water tankers at Wadi al-Maleh in Jordan Valley

JENIN (PIC) 6 June — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have confiscated two Palestinian tractors transferring water tankers used by the residents of Wadi al-Maleh in Jordan Valley and took them to a military camp in the area. The IOF have stopped the tractors that used to transfer water tankers from distant areas after the Israeli authorities prevented them from using the water wells in the area, local sources said … Ali Daraghma told PIC reporter that the Israeli authorities escalated its violations against the residents of Wadi al-Maleh in order to force them to abandon their lands, especially since the lands are close to an Israeli military base

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ml8W7lDhNzBiOsnUdEEY8zm2YAlp0kfbA8nlo5TAuEjOeSEdOqDp6dioQ9H99UZ7U7P3JE%2fUTO9JArtLSXbWK8v0voOK0RNbJkfEm5vb%2b4w%3d

Israel ‘plans new road’ in sensitive West Bank area

JERUSALEM (AFP) 6 June — A plan to build a new interchange between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim was expected to be approved by an Israeli planning committee on Thursday, Haaretz newspaper reported. It is the latest phase of construction in the contentious E1 zone east of Jerusalem, which has drawn protests from the United States and Europe.

Hagit Ofran of settlement watchdog Peace Now confirmed details of the plan, saying that although the new stretch of road was only 100-200 meters (yards) long, it would have political impact as it would connect Jewish settlements in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem with Maaleh Adumim. “At the same time it will let Palestinians cross E1 in way that will allow Israel to say there’s no problem.” Experts have warned that settlement construction in E1 could practically cut the West Bank in two and prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602615

Despite media blackout, Christians not backing down on ‘draconian’ treatment in the holy land

Mondoweiss 6 June by Annie Robbins — When Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the graffiti sprayed on walls of The Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem over the weekend my ears pricked up, not for what he said, but for what he didn’t. The Israeli government has been curiously silent over a much more offensive action — the attack on Palestinian Christian worshipers trying to reach The Holy Fire ceremony at The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jesus’s Tomb, in the Old City of Jerusalem during one of the most sacred days on the Christian calendar. This is not going away anytime soon.

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/06/christians-draconian-treatment.html

WATCH: Israeli ban on family reunification, a ‘temporary measure’?

Israeli Social TV 6 June — The amendment to Israel’s Citizenship Law, enacted by the government in 2002 in the midst of the second intifada, prohibits Palestinians from the Occupied Territories and citizens of enemy states from entering into Israel for family reunification. Meanwhile the attacks of the Intifada have stopped and a decade had passed. Separated families, however, continue to pay the price. Last April, this law was passed for the tenth year in succession.

http://972mag.com/watch-israeli-ban-on-family-reunification-a-temporary-measure/73180/

Israel bans West Bank journalist from travel

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 June — Israeli authorities prevented a Palestinian journalist from leaving the West Bank to visit relatives in Jordan, a detainees’ center said Thursday. Nawwaf al-Amer told the Palestine Center for Studies that Israeli forces refused to let him cross the Allenby Bridge between West Bank and Jordan, citing “security reasons.” Al-Amer, 50, added that he had crossed the border earlier this year to perform a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. He was released from an Israeli prison in 2012 and has been detained several times.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602775

Israel bans guards from entering Aqsa compound

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 June — Israel on Friday banned 25 Al-Aqsa compound guards from the vicinity of the mosque for varying periods of time. Samer Qweider was banned from entering Al-Aqsa until the end of Ramadan for allegedly verbally abusing rightists who tried to get into the compound … Another guard, Fadi Bakeer, said that Israel wanted to “silence” the guards, and added that any guard who tried to stop rightists from entering the holy compound would be banned. A religious department worker said that guards are pressured, arrested, beaten, banned, and fined. He added that his department has pleaded for King Abdullah II of Jordan for help. Israeli authorities have allowed the Jordanian leadership a degree of control over the holy Muslim site as well as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher due to its historical connections to Jerusalem.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602919

Residents: Israel closes village entrances

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 June — Israeli forces imposed a curfew [house arrest] on Thursday over al-Mughayyir village northeast of Ramallah and closed all entrances to the area, locals told Ma‘an. The Israeli army denied the reports. According to residents, however, the Israeli army closed the area after accusing Palestinians of throwing stones, threatening to maintain a curfew for a week if they did not stop. Residents said clashes erupted at the eastern entrance of the village, but no injuries were reported.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602614

Violence / Attacks / Raids / Suppression of protests / Arrests

PCHR Weekly Report: Israeli troops wound 7 civilians, including 2 children, in attacks this week [30 May – 4 June]

IMEMC 7 June — A Palestinian worker was wounded in the north of the Gaza Strip. A child was wounded during an Israeli incursion in al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem. 4 protesters, including a freelance photojournalist, were wounded during a peaceful protest in Bil‘in village, west of Ramallah, and a Palestinian child was wounded during a peaceful protest in the north of Bethlehem.Israeli attacks in the West Bank:Israeli forces conducted 70 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, abducting 24 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children….[Full Report]

http://www.imemc.org/article/65636

Activist: Baby hurt in army raid on Kafr Qaddum

[with photo of canister inside home] QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) –A 7-month-old baby suffered tear gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers fired canisters at her home in a raid on Kafr Qaddum early Friday, activists said. Sana Eshtewi was treated by Red Crescent medics, said Murad Eshtewi, spokesman of the local protest committee. The spokesman said Israeli troops raided the village at dawn and clashed with locals. Soldiers fired tear gas indiscriminately, as well as live bullets and stun grenades, he said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602784

WATCH: Isolated incident: soldiers refuse to treat injured Palestinian boy

972blog 6 June by Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz — One day in May M., a 13-year-old child from the village of Qariut left his school and headed to his father’s lands to find out what his chores were for the day. Unfortunately for M., the village’s land borders a plit seized for protecting the settlement of Eli. M. was already used to settlers disrupting his family members while tilling their lands, and he learned to identify the settlement’s security personnel. Soon after M. reached the plot of land, a civilian security officer from the settlement also arrived. His behavior was unusual: M. says he pointed a gun at him, shouted that he was mad and yelled out a few more words in Hebrew that M. didn’t understand. Then the security officer fired his gun in the air. M. panicked and started running; he stumbled, fell and broke his leg in two places. The shots were heard in the village and B., a village council member who’s also a Red Crescent volunteer, raced to the scene, video-taping as he drove. What he saw was shocking, and you can see it below.

http://972mag.com/isolated-incident-soldiers-refuse-to-treat-injured-palestinian-boy/73205/

UPDATE: Two arrested in Nabi Saleh weekly protest

Nabi Saleh (ISM) 7 June – SECOND UPDATE: The two boys, Tamim & Mo’men, have now been released — Today’s weekly protest in Nabi Saleh was met with skunk water and rubber coated steel bullets. In addition, two people, one of them a child, were arrested. After midday prayer, around sixty Palestinians, together with Israeli and international activists, marched as usual from the centre of the village towards the stolen spring across the main road. As protesters were building stone barricades along the road to prevent Israeli forces from invading the village, a skunk water truck and two jeeps appeared at the scene. The truck ran over the barricades and drove along the road spraying demonstrators with foul smelling water. Israeli soldiers and border police officers shot several rounds of rubber coated steel bullets injuring one protester in the right side of the abdomen…

http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/two-arrested-in-nabi-saleh-weekly-protest/

Settlers assault farmer near Nablus

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 June — Israeli settlers on Friday attacked a 66-year-old farmer east of Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said. Residents of Itamar settlement assaulted Kamel Dweikat and tore apart bags of hay and wheat he had harvested, said Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank. Dweikat sustained moderate injuries, Daghlas told Ma‘an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602802

Settlers hurl stones at Palestinian vehicles in north

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 6 June – Extremist Israeli settlers on Thursday evening smashed several Palestinian vehicles as they drove at the Tappuah crossroads south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settler activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that a group of settlers gathered near the junction near an Israeli checkpoint and pelted stones at Palestinian vehicles. As a result, he said, more than 20 vehicles sustained damages. Daghlas added that settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on the main road between Ramallah and Nablus. Several vehicles were damaged and Palestinians sustained minor wounds from shrapnel.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602733

UN to aid Palestinians victims of settler violence in West Bank

Haaretz 7 June by Chaim Levinson — Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights decides to fill vacuum left by Israel and the Palestinian Authority — The United Nations is formulating a plan to provide emergency aid to Palestinians harmed by settler violence in the West Bank, Haaretz has learned. The move is said to be a consequence of the increased number of violent attacks, including bodily harm and damage to property (including the torching of cars and fields). The Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority do not operate orderly mechanisms for providing compensation to the victims of violence in such cases … The aid will not only include monetary grants but also other means. The aid will be given on an individual basis, and the UN will estimate the damage in each specific case.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-to-aid-palestinian-victims-of-settler-violence-in-west-bank.premium-1.528273

Hebron man arrested for filing complaint about settler attack

Hebron (ISM) 8 June by Khalil Team — Human rights activist Jawad Abu Eysheh [or Aisha], 39, was arrested Friday 7th June following a complaint he made four months ago about a settler attack. At 4:20 pm on 7th June, Israeli Police arrived at the house of the Hebron organisation Youth Against Settlements and demanded to see the ID’s of Jawad and three other men present. The police then told Jawad that they wanted to take him away ‘for investigation’, and called the Israeli military to escort Jawad away in handcuffs … The line of questioning from the police made clear that Jawad was being detained as a result of events that happened back in February, when Jawad and other activists were attacked by American-born extremist Baruch Marzel and other settlers. Despite being a victim of that violent assault in February, it was Jawad who was subjected to arrest today, not the perpetrators. During his detention, Jawad was also forced to submit a DNA sample against his will, and to sign conditions that he will not speak with Baruch Marzel for the next 30 days. Jawad stated he is happy to comply with this stipulation at least.

http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/hebron-man-arrested-for-filing-complaint-about-settler-attack/

In Bethlehem, a life turns upside down

Haaretz 7 June by Gideon Levy & Alex Levac — After he lost his son to an army bullet, Ahmed Amarin sought solace in his work in Betar Ilit. Now that has also been taken away from him – Umm-Salah takes a shirt and pants out of the closet and tries in vain to stifle her weeping. This was the outfit her son wore before he changed into his soccer team’s uniform, shortly before his death. He had the uniform on when Israeli soldiers shot him in the head and killed him; it was soaked in blood and got lost at the hospital he was rushed to … Salah Amarin was a 15-year-old boy whom Israeli Defense Forces soldiers killed with live fire near Rachel’s Tomb; he was shot on January 18 and died five days later. We documented the circumstances of his death at the time and this week returned to the tidy apartment in the center of Bethlehem, which has in the interim become something of a shrine to Salah.

http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/in-bethlehem-a-life-turns-upside-down.premium-1.528392

Soldier kidnap three in Jenin

IMEMC 5 June — …Late on Tuesday at night — Eyewitnesses have reported that more than 15 Israeli military vehicles invaded the Jenin refugee camp, and kidnapped one resident identified as Zakariyya Mohammad Al-Ghoul, 22, after violently searching his home; damage was reported. Furthermore, dozens of soldiers invaded ‘Ejja [or ‘Ajja] village, south of Jenin, and kidnapped one resident identified as Waseem Saqer Omariyya, 20 … Several military jeeps invaded Kufur Qoud nearby village, and kidnapped one resident identified as Salim Jamal Oweiss, 28. On Tuesday evening, dozens of soldiers invaded the village of Jalkamous, east of Jenin, broke into and searched several homes, and occupied rooftops that belong to residents Fakhry Mohammad Al-Qarm, Jihad Najeh Al-Qarm and Wasef Hafeth Al-Qarm, and used the rooftops as monitoring towers. Scores of soldiers also invaded Um At-Toot nearby village, broke into one home and handed a resident, identified as Ramzi Zakarna, 22, a military order to head a military base for interrogation. Also on Tuesday evening, the army kidnapped three Palestinians during clashes that took place in the At-Tour Palestinian town, in occupied East Jerusalem, after extremist settlers attacked several Palestinians. In related news, dozens of soldiers invaded the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and kidnapped two Palestinians before taking them to an unknown location.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65620

Activist: Israeli forces raid Beit Ummar, detain 2

HEBRON (Ma‘an) 5 June — Popular committee spokesman Muhammad Awad reported that Israeli special forces raided the village on Wednesday at dawn and broke into the house of Khaled Nayef Ekhlayel. He said they broke a main door and beat Ekhlayel’s 19-year-old son Mahmoud before taking him away in a civilian car. Awad added that special forces raided the house of Abdul Aziz Ekhlayel, 47, breaking the door and giving his oldest son a notice to see Israeli intelligence. The father was taken in a civilian car with Palestinian plates, he said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602206

Five Palestinians kidnapped in West Bank

IMEMC 6 June — Thursday at dawn, Israeli soldiers kidnapped five Palestinians, including an elected legislator, in different parts of the occupied West Bank. Local sources in Ramallah have reported that the army invaded the home of legislator Abdul-Jabbar Al-Foqaha, and kidnapped him before moving him to an unknown destination. … Furthermore, dozens of soldiers invaded the Al-Arroub refugee camp, in Hebron, and kidnapped one resident, a former political prisoner, identified as Mohammad Hasan ‘Aadi, 21 … dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded the Al-Fawwar refugee camp, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and the West Bank district of Bethlehem, and kidnapped three Palestinians, including a child … The child has been identified as Mohammad Yousef Jawabra, 14; he was cuffed and blindfolded before being move to an unknown destination. Furthermore, soldiers installed several roadblocks at the entrance of Ithna nearby town, and the main road between Ithna and Deir Samet village, west of Hebron. Dozens of soldiers also invaded Um Salmouna village, south of Bethlehem and kidnapped Ali Ahmad Taqatqa, 19, after dozens of soldiers broke his family’s home and searched it; damage was reported. Another resident, identified as Ala’ Mheisen, 22, was kidnapped by the army after several armored Israeli military jeeps invaded the camp, and searched homes.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65625

Israel arrests at least 3 in West Bank raids

TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 6 June – Israeli forces detained three brothers in a raid on Tulkarem in the northern West Bank at dawn on Thursday, Palestinian security sources said. Forces detained Ala Saadeh, Amjad Saadeh and Majdi Saadeh from their home, and confiscated their car and passports, Palestinian officials told Ma‘an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602642

Israel detains prisoners’ rights activist

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 6 June — Israeli forces detained a Palestinian prisoners’ rights activist in Nablus on Thursday morning, a local source told Ma‘an. Ammar Tbeileh, 46, was detained after his home was raided in the Rafidya neighborhood in Nablus, the source said. Israeli military jeeps stormed the area at dawn, the source added. An Israeli military spokeswoman said a Palestinian was detained in the Nablus district for ‘illegal activities.’

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602526

Israeli forces detain teen, father as they arrive for interrogation

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 June — …Sixteen-year-old Hamza Mahmoud al-Wahsh from al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, received a summons order a few days earlier demanding that he go to Etzion for questioning on Wednesday. The boy headed to the interrogation offices escorted by his father, but an Israeli officer detained him immediately when he arrived. When the father tried to argue with the Israeli soldier, he was taken into custody too.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602297

Israel detains Hamas deputy in Ramallah

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 June — Israeli forces detained a Hamas deputy on Thursday at dawn in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a detainees’ center said. Abdul Jaber Faqha, 47, was detained after Israeli forces raided the city and stormed his house, said Foad al-Khafsh, the head of the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies in a statement. Faqha is a former detainee who was released six months ago, after spending nine months in administrative detention, the center said. He was previously held for over 60 months.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602561

PA security forces detain 7 Hamas members in the West Bank

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 June — Palestinian Authority security forces arrested seven Hamas members in the West Bank on Wednesday, the Islamist group said. The Hamas-affiliates were detained in Tulkarem, Nablus and Tubas.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602193

Anniversary of the ’67 War and the Occupation / Global March to Jerusalem

Egypt cabinet ministers participate in the Global March to Jerusalem

CAIRO (PIC) 7 June — The Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ) in Egypt was launched after Friday prayers from a mosque in Nasr City in Cairo, with the participation of cabinet ministers. The event was called for by youths from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic movement in support of Jerusalem, and was joined by Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Hisham Qandil, Minister of Culture Dr. Alaa Abdel Aziz, and Sports Minister Farouk al-Amiri. Dr. Alaa Abdul Aziz, Minister of Culture, said in a press statement during the march: “We will never give up on Jerusalem which we consider the capital of Palestine,” stressing that the Jerusalem issue has united all the forces.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7GUr8NrS6AiOwkAHUX0xkgIcVT15VgbxtqJ7DBM%2ffAjD1hdP4ZndmbW0guTnU9BLK8ZFEO0mvo3aqy2D8bYrqjuwFYz0fwSr30KHz5mJk9yA%3d

Gaza joins Global March to Jerusalem

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 June — Demonstrators will march to the northern Gaza Strip on Friday as activists participate in the Global March to Jerusalem in cities around the world. Palestinians, joined by 33 solidarity activists from eight European and Arab countries, will head to the Hamodeh station after Friday prayers, said Majed al-Zeida, a spokesman for the global rally. The march intends to warn Israel that Jerusalem is not solely for the Jewish people and that any harm to the Holy City could cause an uprising, al-Zeida said in a statement. It also demonstrates solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied city, and calls for Arab support for Jerusalem, he added. Palestinians from all political factions, including rivals Hamas and Fatah, will be united in the march, the spokesman said, adding: “We need this march in light of the division.”

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602794

2 women injured in Jerusalem march

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 June — Israeli forces on Friday beat two women in a rally in Jerusalem marking the 46 anniversary of its occupation. One woman suffered bruises to her lower back, and another to her chest, a medic said. Moath Abu Rasheed, 17, was arrested and taken to a police station, while an Israeli activist was detained for several minutes. The march started from the al-Aqsa compound after Friday prayers.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602887

Clashes across West Bank as Palestinians mark war anniversary

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 June — Demonstrators in the West Bank on Friday joined mass protests to mark the Global March to Jerusalem, and dozens were lightly injured as Israeli forces tried to disperse them. In al-Ma‘asara, near Bethlehem, participants in a weekly march suffered tear-gas inhalation. Demonstrators raised Palestinian flags, pictures of prisoners and Palestinians killed by Israel to mark the anniversary of the Six-Day War. Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear-gas canisters at the demonstrators. Activists praised the unity of Palestinian people and promised more activities to protest Israeli actions. Dozens of others suffered tear-gas inhalation in Bil‘in, near Ramallah, where residents and supporters held a weekly protest against settlements, the wall and the confiscation of land. Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at protesters near the wall …. In Kafr Qaddum, another village, dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602878

PLO officials mark 46th anniversary of 1967 occupation

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 June — PLO officials on Wednesday marked the 46th anniversary of the Naksa, or setback, in which Israel defeated five Arab armies in 1967 and seized the occupied territories. “Forty-six years later, the Israeli occupation of twenty-two percent of historical Palestine still constitutes a humanitarian and political disaster that dominates and controls the lives of the Palestinian people in Palestine and in exile,” PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602285

Palestinian youth mark anniversary of Six Day War

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 June — Palestinian youth on Wednesday marked the 46th anniversary of the Six Day war, mourned by Palestinians as the “naksa” or setback, with a demonstration in Jerusalem. Protesters raised Palestinian flags and raised signs reading “Revolution is born from sorrow” and “Jerusalem is the capital.” Dozens of Israeli officers were present at the protest and took photographs of demonstrators. Israeli forces occupied Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602491

We were sleeping when Israel attacked: Gaza remembers June 1967

EI 7 June by Rami Almeghari — Abu Hassan grew up on a farm next to the seashore in Jaffa. The son of a sheep trader, he still has strong memories of the fruit trees with which his hometown is synonymous. He was 11 years old when Zionist forces uprooted his family during the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948. This week Abu Hassan — his full name is Hajj Jumaa Abu Hadrous — recalled another shameful episode in Israel’s history. On 5 June 1967, Israel began its occupation of Gaza, where Abu Hassan’s family had sought refuge almost two decades earlier. The invasion is known to Palestinians as the Naksa or ‘setback’. “I was sitting with some folks on the eastern outskirts of al-Maghazi refugee camp,” he said. “It was 3pm when rows of Israeli tanks began assembling, less than 500 meters away from where I was sitting. We did not think it was a war, yet several hours later and while we all were sleeping peacefully, Israeli tanks rolled into the camp, backed by warplanes. As the Israeli tanks fired at and hit the western parts of our camp, I took my three children and wife and fled to the nearby coastal village of Zawaida, to the west of al-Maghazi…

http://electronicintifada.net/content/we-were-sleeping-when-israel-attacked-gaza-remembers-june-1967/12522

Detainees / Court actions

Female detainee undergoes surgery

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 June — A Palestinian detainee underwent surgery on Wednesday after female prisoners threatened to go on hunger strike over delays to her treatment. Lina Jarbouni is recovering in hospital from an operation to remove her gall bladder, said lawyer Taghreed Jahshan. Doctors told Jahshan the operation took two hours as Jarbouni was in a serious condition, and that she would have to stay in hospital for four days due to infections. Jarbouni is chained to her hospital bed and is being guarded by three prison officers, the lawyer said, adding that Jarbouni is uncomfortable being in a hospital robe in the presence of male guards.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602798

Palestinian minister released after two years in captivity

IMEMC 7 June — On Thursday evening [6 June 2013], Israel released former Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Wasfi Kabaha [or Qabaha] (50 years of age) after holding him under Administrative Detention for two years without charges or trial…

http://www.imemc.org/article/65634

Israel court fines, imprisons man after soldier injured in clashes

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 5 June — An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced a young Palestinian man to 20 months imprisonment after an Israeli soldier lost two teeth during clashes in 2012, the man’s father said. Huthayfa Salameh, 19, was sentenced to serve jail time and fined 3,000 shekels ($819) by Israel’s Salem military court after allegedly taking part in clashes in Nabi Saleh on June 21, 2012, his father told Ma‘an. The fine was compensation for an Israeli soldier who lost two teeth during the clashes. Fourteen Palestinians were arrested during the incident.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602203

Female detainees start hunger strike

IMEMC 6 June –– Thursday June 6 2013, Palestinian female detainees, held by Israel, started an open-ended hunger strike demanding the Israeli Prison Authority to provide the needed medical treatment to detainee Heba Abu Rezeq. Abu Rezeq was kidnapped three months ago, and is being held in solitary confinement. She is facing several psychological problems, and needs urgent therapy, yet the prison administration is threatening to move her to a different facility, and to completely isolate her.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65627

IOA renewed the administrative detention of 4 detainees

RAMALLAH (PIC) 5 June — The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) renewed on Tuesday the administrative detention of 4 Palestinian prisoners including 2 leaders in Hamas and Jihad movements, Tadamun Foundation revealed.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7vnUU7isUkl2UlTmWz88zgbz%2fA1yqtVfCHNQa0h%2fqYaLa3YiVqTk5nGumWVQxmBdnkY1tx7SMa73bVZxZ0VWB61uTvQLqc6cggoN5sm20IPE%3d

Gaza blockade

Palestinian farmer wounded by Israeli army fire

Gaza (ISM, Rosa Schiano) 7 June — Sunday morning a young Palestinian farmer was wounded by Israeli army fire in an area called Abu Safiyeh, East of Jabalia, in the Northern Gaza Strip. The young man, Ahmad Hamdan, 21, was rushed to the hospital Kamal Odwan. We went to visit him in the hospital where we met some of his family members. According to his uncle Eyad Hamdan, at around 6:00 am on Sunday, June 2, Ahmad was going to pick watermelons along with four or five other workers. Ahmad’s family does not own land, Ahmad is a simple worker in the fields. That morning there were many farmers’ families, children, and bird hunters out in the fields. There were Israeli jeeps on the border and the workers had warned of gunfire but did not bother because they were far from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip. Ahmad and other workers were heading to work on a wagon when the bullet hit Ahmad. He was injured before he had started work, at about 6:30 in the morning … The bullet entered and exited from the right leg of Ahmad and provoked a femoral fracture. [See photos] The doctors have placed an external fixation on the leg. Inside the leg there are bone fragments. Relatives told us that the doctors will then evaluate the condition of the muscles and nerves.

http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/palestinian-farmer-wounded-by-israeli-army-fire/#gallery-32485-1-slideshow

Video: Farming in Khuza‘a, Gaza Strip

Gaza (ISM / Gal·la) 5 June — Farmers are working in Gaza buffer zone under threat of Israeli soldiers, tanks, bullets, etc. This video shows the difficulty of daily life for farmers in Khuza‘a, [in the] south of Gaza Strip … People harvest with their bare hands. Any machinery such as tractors are major targets for Israeli attacks

http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/farming-in-khuzaa-gaza-strip/

Israeli forces detain 2 fishermen off Gaza coast

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 June — Israeli forces detained two fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip and confiscated their boat overnight Thursday. Israeli naval forces detained Khader al-Saeidi and Hassan Murad off the northwestern coast of the enclave, said Mahfouth Kabariti, head of an association for fishermen in Gaza. The forces also took their boat, Kabariti told Ma‘an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602806

Video: Reality of life for fishermen in Gaza — 6 miles of sea

Gaza (ISM / Gal·la) 6 June — Zakaria Baker, head of the committee for fishermen in Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) explains the reality for fishermen in Gaza, following Israel re-extending the permitted sailing area for Palestinians from three to six nautical miles. Despite this ‘allowance’, Palestinian fishermen have recently been attacked and their boats confiscated by the Israeli military when they were well inside the previously allowed three nautical miles.

http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/6-miles-gaza-sea/

Egypt detains suspected fuel smuggler en route to Gaza

EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 7 June — Egyptian authorities on Friday detained a truck driver suspected of trying to smuggle fuel to the Gaza Strip, a security source said. Security forces stopped a truck carrying 5,000 liters of fuel and arrested the driver, who admitted he planned to smuggle the diesel to Gaza through tunnels, an Egyptian security official told Ma‘an. They also confiscated the fuel, he added.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602825

Family denies govt account of deadly Gaza raid

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 June — A family in Gaza accused of storing illegal drugs and firing at police denied Thursday the Hamas government’s allegations and description of a deadly police raid. Relatives said there were no drugs or weapons in their Beit Lahiya home, sharply contradicting allegations by the Ministry of Interior which blamed a deadly shooting on the family. “We don’t have weapons. The police raided our home without permission from the owner of the house. They also assaulted and beat up the owner of the house, and the police opened fire toward Wissam Salim Ahmad Abu Sitteh,” a relative told Ma‘an. The family added that 15 people were injured in the clashes. Some of them were shot, and others suffered from bruises as a result of being beaten with sticks. Four people from the family were detained. The family asked the Gaza government to investigate what happened.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602873

Govt committee to investigate Beit Lahiya shooting

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 June — The Hamas-run ministry of interior in the Gaza Strip will appoint a committee to investigate clashes Thursday between police and suspected drug dealers in Beit Lahiya. The committee will be headed by Hamas-affiliated lawmaker Ismail al-Ashqar, who is in charge of a security and interior committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip. The ministry explained in a statement that a man who was shot dead in the morning in Beit Lahiya was trying to mediate between police officers and the suspects. Muhammad Salman Abu Sittah was hit, according to the ministry, by a gunshot from the direction of the house where the suspects were hiding.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602713

My son lives in constant fear that his family will die’

PCHR 5 June — Baraa’ Abd al Rahman Badawi is an 11 year old Palestinian boy who lives in Gaza City with his mother, Dima Badawi. On 7 January 2009, at approximately 18:30, during the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, codenamed ‘Operation Cast Lead’, Baraa’s father, Abd al Rahman Badawi, and Baraa’s maternal uncle were targeted and killed by tank shelling in the Al Zaitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. Baraa’, who was six years old at the time, was woken from a nap by the explosion that killed his father and uncle. Despite his young age, living in the context of occupation and the constant threat of attack, Baraa’ had a premonition that his father had been killed. Dima explains, “When I went to his room, he sat up in his bed and shouted, ‘My father is dead’. He became hysterical, screaming and crying, and could not be consoled. It was only after an hour that we found out his premonition had been correct.” Baraa’ has experienced great psychological trauma since his father’s death. Dima explains: “Baraa’ changed from being a happy and playful child, to a nervous, aggressive, and lonely boy. He cried a lot and would spend long periods of time staring blankly into space.” The impact of his father’s death has been far-reaching. “Baraa’ became very absentminded and extremely clingy, constantly weeping and holding onto me. When anyone mentions anything related to the war, he leaves the room and cries by himself.”

http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9569

Gaza militants fire mortar shells

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 June — Militants in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday fired three mortar shells which landed near the border with Israel, witnesses said. The mortars landed near the Palestinian liaison office at Erez crossing, witnesses told Ma‘an.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602475

Hizb al-Tahrir supporters rally in Gaza

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 June — Hundreds of Hizb al-Tahrir supporters rallied in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to mark the 92nd anniversary of the fall of the Islamic Caliphate. The demonstrators held signs calling for the return of the Islamic state, saying it would free the Al-Aqsa Mosque, help Muslims and save humanity. [Spokesman Hassan Madhoun] added that the pacifist group was against the concept of land swaps in a peace treaty with Israel.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602353

Miles of Smiles 20 arrives in Gaza

IMEMC Wednesday June 5 2013; The “Miles of Smiles 20” human right solidarity convoys managed to reach the Gaza Strip via the Rafah Border Terminal between the coastal region and Egypt, the Palestine News Network (PNN) has reported. Abdul-Rahman Al-Madhoun, in charge of the Committee for Welcoming Solidarity Convoy in Gaza, stated that convoy members would participate in the “World Procession to Jerusalem” this Friday. Dozens of parallel processions are planned in Arab and Islamic capitals around the world as part of an international solidarity campaign with the Palestinian people, living under Israeli occupation, aggression and siege. Al-Madhoun added that convoy members also carried tons of medical supplies, equipment and medications urgently needed in the Gaza Strip.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65623

Palestinian refugees outside Palestine

Palestinian medical workers in Syria struggle to provide basic services

Damascus (IPS) 7 June by Mutawalli Abou Nasser — It was nine in the morning when the shell landed in front of nine-year-old Hella al-Abtah’s house in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. Hella survived the initial blast but was critically wounded in the head, and her father rushed her to the Palestine Hospital, blood pouring from the laceration. Doctors at the hospital managed to stabilize Hella, but the relief was short-lived. Because of a chronic shortage of critical medical supplies and frequent power cuts, they could not complete even routine procedures. Hella died. Her death was one of many needless deaths due to collapsing medical services in the besieged Yarmouk camp. Before the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, Yarmouk, which, with a population of 125,000, was the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, and home to one of the busiest markets in Damascus.

Now Yarmouk has become a violent battlefield subject to daily bombardment. Until 2012, Palestinian camps had mainly stayed out of the Syrian conflict, but many are now fully engaged in the fighting. Since opposition fighters established a permanent presence in Yarmouk, the Syrian army’s siege on the camp has resulted in a complete ban on any medicine or medical supplies entering the camp. The collective punishment enforced on the community, as well as the direct targeting of individuals or groups offering humanitarian support, has severely weakened medical services available to the camp’s embattled residents.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-medical-workers-syria-struggle-provide-basic-services/12517

Israeli racism

‘Damn Arab,’ they cursed, and then proceeded to beat the man (Der Spiegel on Israeli racism)

Mondoweiss 7 June by Philip Weiss — “Racist Attacks Against Arabs Increase in Israel” is the headline in Der Spiegel online. Yesterday we noted that Leonard Fein has described Israeli racism as “unimpeded.” Again I wonder, when is the mainstream American press going to get to this story? So far the attitude is, Move along now, nothing to see here. Julia Amalia Heyer reports in Der Spiegel online: “Arabs are being beaten and insulted in Israel, where the number of racially motivated attacks has risen dramatically. The unresolved conflict, fueled by nationalist politicians, is shifting from Palestinian areas into the Israeli heartland…

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/06/proceeded-spiegel-israeli.html

Political, other news

15th PA cabinet sworn in

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 June — The 15th Palestinian government headed by Rami Hamdallah was sworn in before the President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday evening in Ramallah. The 24-member cabinet remains mostly the same as its predecessor but includes some changes, notably the appointment of two deputy premiers and a new finance minister … The new line-up saw two deputy premiers sworn in — former foreign minister Ziad Abu Amr, and Mohammed Mustafa, head of the Palestinian investment fund, as an economy adviser. Banker and economist Shukri Bishara took over the finance ministry, and Kamal al-Shirafi, from Gaza, will serve as minister of social affairs. The following is the list of cabinet members in the new government:

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602725

Hamas: Abbas statement on tunnels ruins relations with Egypt

GAZA (PIC) 5 June — Hamas movement said that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas’s statement on Gaza tunnels was ruining Egyptian-Palestinian relations. Hamas said in a terse statement on Tuesday that the statement constituted a clear incitement for blockading and starving the Gaza Strip. The movement said that Abbas’s statement on reconciliation was increasing tensions and did not serve efforts for achieving reconciliation. Abbas told Saudi newspaper Al-Watan that the tunnels were threatening Egyptian national security.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s78LYQ2jrS%2bUndlK7KoUPWSURSPpLZo2DzY5zknTxnAI2%2bq5FNhtJ%2b5Wal3MoLldtWksNIr%2biCyQtsmT6XD2nEc7%2fNJbtRIHC3%2f2cDo9DXZr0%3d

EU to Israel: If negotiations fail, we will support Palestine at Hague

PNN — On Thursday 6th June, Ma’ariv Israeli newspaper reported that the European Union informed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau that if settlement construction continued in east Jerusalem, they will support Palestine at the UN agencies and their access to The International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague. The newspaper added that the EU’s statement came over concerns that Netanyahu would fail the efforts of the US Secretary of State John Kerry to revive negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, through proceeding with the settlement construction plans especially in Jerusalem, following the recent announcement of building thousands of new housing units in east Jerusalem.

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/international/4898-eu-to-israel-if-negotiations-fail,-we-will-support-palestine-in-hague

Palestine becomes member of the IFJ

IMEMC 8 June — Palestine became a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) during the meeting in Dublin Castle, on June 6. Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate head, Abdul-Nasser An-Najjar, was elected as a member of the IFJ Executive Committee by 283 votes out of 369 … The IFJ demanded Israel to stop the assaults against Palestinian journalists, and strongly denounced the murder of journalists Husam Salama, Mohammad Abu Aisha and Mahmoud Al-Komy, who were killed by Israeli military fire and shells during the war on Gaza last year.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65640

PA employees to receive May wages on Wednesday

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 5 June– The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance will pay employee salaries for May on Wednesday, an official said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602134

G4S annual general meeting dominated by controversy over Israeli prison contracts

IMEMC 7 June — G4S’ involvement in the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli jails dominated the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday 6th June, overshadowing all other business, including last year’s Olympic security fiasco, said Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in a press release … Throughout the two hour AGM, Palestinian solidarity campaigners demanded to know when G4S would be ending its contracts with Israeli prisons, where Palestinian children, women and men are held, often without trial, and routinely tortured. Of the 16 questions asked by shareholders, seven were about G4S’ Israeli prison contracts.

http://www.imemc.org/article/65641

Fayyad signs agreement with protesting doctors

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 June — Outgoing Prime Minister Salam Fayyad signed an agreement with the doctors union on Wednesday after protesting medics broke into the offices of the Palestinian Authority cabinet in Ramallah. Doctors in public hospitals went on strike on Wednesday in protest over the PA’s failure to implement an agreement reached with their union in 2012 to pay them bonuses.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602305

Haniyeh honors the youngest doctor in the world

GAZA (PIC) 6 June — Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has honored the Palestinian refugee Eqbal Asa’d a Palestinian refugee for being the youngest doctor in the world. The Prime Minister’s office confirmed that Haniyeh called Asa’d, 20, and congratulated her for her excellence. The Guinness World Records set her as a world record for the youngest medicine student in the world and the youngest doctor in the world. Eqbal Asa’d, 20, a Palestinian refugee who lives in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, enrolled at Weil Cornell Medical Collage in Qatar when she was just 14. At age of 20, she got the bachelor degree in medicine with honors.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Y7E%2bUtyMipfAhMPCAKhcMH9qbjR2oiN%2fl47dQh5eJjjvylYoZ3v2OTfRS9FeLFYSiG0tp9N4E7g54kbjwua0If5AcPBNSUanL9ulitvtGPI%3d

Ma‘an to air ‘Palestine Chef’ during Ramadan

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 June — Ma‘an Network on Wednesday invited the public to apply to take part in a new cooking show that is set to be broadcast during Ramadan. ‘Palestine Chef’ will be the first program of its kind in Palestine, featuring competitors showing off their cooking skills in front of judges to be named as Palestine’s top chef. Filming begins this week and participants from all over the country have applied.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602269

Syrian army retakes Golan frontier crossing

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AFP) 6 June — Syrian regime forces on Thursday retook the only crossing along the Israel-Syria ceasefire line in the Golan Heights after it was seized earlier by rebels, an AFP correspondent and a security source said.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602658

Analysis / Opinion / Review / Photoessay

The month in pictures: May 2013

EI 6 June — Palestinians faced yet another chapter of mass forced displacement in Syria in May — the month in which Palestinians mark the anniversary of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing and violent dispossession of historic Palestine during the establishment of Israel in 1947-48. At least five Palestinian refugees were reported killed in an explosion in Sbeineh Camp near the Syrian capital on 27 May. UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, estimated at the end of the month that “approximately 235,000 Palestine refugees have been displaced during the Syria conflict.” Armed groups “have taken up positions in camp after camp, in turn attracting intense military responses from government forces,” resulting in “casualties and deaths on a daily basis.” According to UNRWA, “In a single day at the end of April, some 6,000 Palestine refugees were compelled … to flee their homes in Ein el Tal Camp in Aleppo Governorate” (UNRWA condemns attack on Sbeineh Palestine refugee camp in Syria).

Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, approximately 250 were injured during Nakba Day protests; half the injuries during the protests were caused by rubber-coated steel bullets.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/month-pictures-may-2013/12515

Ramallah will keep right on being nice / Amira Hass

Haaretz 5 June — Even with a new prime minister, the Palestinians will still beg alms from the world and will keep right on truckling to Israeli dictates, sometimes with no alternative, sometimes out of inertia — Dr. Rami Hamdallah has a clear advantage over his predecessor as prime minister of the Ramallah government, Dr. Salam Fayyad no one expects him to perform any miracles of economic development and growth inside the jaws of the Israeli occupation. He has been appointed in order to gain a few more months of domestic restraint (in which Israel, the United States and Europe are extremely interested). And then? God only knows. The game of “let’s pretend” can continue for a little while longer to the satisfaction of the observers. We’ll keep calling this thing a “government,” which has powers and resources less than those of a federation of local councils and problems the size of a major power’s.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/ramallah-will-keep-right-on-being-nice.premium-1.527853

We all profit from the occupation / Haggai Matar

Haaretz 6 June — It’s convenient to place all blame for the occupation on the extreme Zionist settlers. The painful reality, however, is that we all share responsibility.

http://www.haaretz.com/we-all-profit-from-the-occupation.premium-1.527937

Occupation? What occupation? / Uri Avnery

Haaretz 7 June — How do we resolve the contradiction between our extreme morality and our blatantly immoral circumstances? Simple: We go into denial — Every person is endowed with a certain denial mechanism they can use to avoid the shame, fear, guilt and pain involved in coping with their improper actions. Instead of facing their failure, accepting reality and dealing with it, they simply enter a state of denial. But denial extracts a heavy price from the denier. The mental effort involved in self-deception causes serious emotional harm. Someone who denies facts is declaring that they have a mental problem. They need treatment. For 46 years we have been in this situation. We are denying one of the most significant phenomena of our national existence, if not the most central one: the occupation … We are ruling completely over another people. This influences every sphere of our national life – our politics, our economy, our values, our military, our legal system, our culture and more. But we don’t see – and don’t want to see – what is going on only a few minutes’ drive from our homes, over the black line known as the Green Line. We have become so accustomed to this situation that we see it as normal. But the occupation is intrinsically an abnormal, temporary situation.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/occupation-what-occupation.premium-1.528245

Cruelty of Israel’s Cast Lead assault captured by new documentary

EI 6 June by Daryl Meador — Where Should the Birds Fly, the new documentary directed and narrated by Fida Qishta, begins with chilling footage of Israeli bulldozers destroying houses in Rafah in 2004. Qishta, a native of Rafah, the city in the south of the Gaza Strip, watched her parents’ house of 30 years crumble under the bulldozers. As it was destroyed, her father told her and her family to leave and keep walking. “He feared if our eyes took in the sight, our hearts would be filled with hate,” Qishta says. The young woman channeled the intense anger and frustration felt from this episode, and many others caused by the Israeli blockade, to create a touching film that reveals many of the daily injustices in Gaza.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/cruelty-israels-cast-lead-assault-captured-new-documentary/12508

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