46% of Israeli teens: Revoke Arabs’ rights
Ynet 31 Mar — Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Youth Study reveals Israel’s teens think greatest threat to state is Jewish-Arab conflict, believe less in democratic values. As for who they trust most – IDF gets 93% … About 60% of Jewish youths prefer “strong leadership” to rule of law … Asked how they feel when they think of Arabs, 25% responded with “hate” and 12% responded with “fear”.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land and property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Jerusalem
IOA planning to expropriate 662 Palestinian dunums in OJ
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 31 Mar — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is planning to confiscate 662 dunums of Palestinian land between Tur and Aissawayia villages in occupied Jerusalem. The Israeli Ir Amim organization, specialized in monitoring the situation in East Jerusalem, said on Wednesday that the planning and construction committee of Jerusalem municipality had decided to allocate this area for establishing parks and tourism buildings. It said that the project is expected to be endorsed by Monday,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Israeli forces attempt to raid Information Center director’s home without warrant
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 31 Mar — A large force of Israeli police attempted to raid the home of Wadi Hilweh Information Center director Jawad Siyam today, the reasons of which have not been disclosed by officials. Silwanic learnt that police attempted to remove the door to Siyam’s home without prior warning, then refused to show an arrest warrant for Siyam to his brother when asked the reason for the raid. House raids without warrants are illegal under Israeli law, as Siyam learnt from his lawyer’s consultation. After 20 minutes of unsuccessfully attempting to enter the home, police withdrew from the property but remained in the area.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14308
Dawn raid in Wadi Hilweh, one arrested
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 31 Mar — Israeli forces executed a heavy raid this morning at 5am in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan, storming several homes and arresting one. Troops raided the house of Ahmed Qaraeen and searched the yard surrounding the home, then broke in to his mother’s adjacent property. Qaraeen’s mother had been in bed asleep when troops stormed her home. Ahmed’s younger brother Farouk, 20, was then arrested and removed by armed forces. Farouk’s other brother Mohammed, 30, is also currently in Israeli detention.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14306
Youth arrested in dawn raids on Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 31 Mar — Israeli forces stormed Silwan this morning, arresting several minors from ‘Ein Silwan district. Witnesses report that a large force raided a number of homes, seizing several underage youth. Amongst the detainees are reported to be several under the age of 16, the legal age to stand trial.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14311
American settler tycoon persecutes East Jerusalem family
30 Mar — The judge’s ruling, while seeming equivocal, will most likely lead to the ultimate evacuation of the Hamdallah family. The struggle of American millionaire and settler patron, Irving Moskowitz, to expel the Hamdallah family from their house, has culminated with the probable expulsion of the family from a bedroom and the front yard to make way for a right-wing, religious Jewish family. Moskowitz’s decade-long legal attack on the Hamdallahs in Ras al-Amud, East Jerusalem, is emblematic of the unswerving fortitude exhibited by ideologically motivated Jews bent on settling the ‘historic basin’ of the Old City.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1736
Palestinian refugees act to save Jerusalem’s Lifta village from destruction
AIC 29 Mar — “This is not just a construction plan- they want to erase our memory,” architect and Lifta refugee Nasser Abu-Lel told local and international media today in East Jerusalem regarding the Israel Land Administration’s plan to build a luxurious residential and commercial zone on the remains of his village in West Jerusalem. “The Israeli plan targets what remains of the houses we were forced to leave in the Nakba of 1948; the stones and walls that echo the daily life of our own parents, before the Zionist gangs forced them to leave.” … The press conference this morning to protest the plan was organized by the Sons of Lifta Society, an organization that gathers refugees from Lifta and their descendants in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3468-palestinian-refugees-act-to-save-jerusalems-lifta-village-from-destruction
A plan for 30 units in Ras Elamud is now for sale
[includes map] 31 Mar The Israeli Channel 10 and Maariv reported that a plan for 30 housing units in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras Elamud in East Jerusalem is now for sale. The plan is located at the heart of Ras El-Amud near the settlements of Ma’ale Zeitim, and Ma’ale David (the old police station building that is now being converted into apartments for settlers) and is meant to replace an existing gas station with 30 new apartments. According to the publication, the owner of the Land, Yossef Sultan, an Israeli businessman, decided to sell the land and there are rumors that both settlers and Palestinian businessmen are bidding for the land.
http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/raselamud30/
Elsewhere
Lod’s growing resistance to ethnic cleansing
(photos) … Lod Under Attack At present 3,000 demolition orders are currently issued against the Palestinian residents of the city of Lod. In what residents of city are calling a “calculated process of ethnic cleansing,” all Palestinian residents of Lod live in a constant state of fear that their home will be next on the chopping block. Over the last year, resistance is growing in Lod. Watch this slideshow of its latest showing.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1737
Safed: 2 indicted for torching Arab cars
Ynet 31 Mar — Two teens from Safed have been indicted for torching two vehicles belonging to Arab students as revenge for the Itamar massacre in which five members of the Fogel family were stabbed to death. Graffiti reading “Kahane was right” “revenge” and “price tag” were apparently sprayed in Safed after the attack.
Also Thursday, police detectives raided settler houses in Itamar trying to locate weapons used to fire [at?] a Palestinian man in a nearby village two months ago.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050440,00.html
Brave man against settlers tells story
Beit Ummar, 31 Mar (WAFA) – Mohammad Asalibi, a 67 year-old Palestinian from Beit Ummar, a town north of Hebron, packed his farming equipments and food supply and headed to his land; which is planted with grapes, peach and pear trees and located next to ‘Karmi Tsur’ settlement, to find more than 30 settlers erecting a fence in his lands. Asalibi told WAFA his story saying, “I entered my grove and argued with them and stopped them from getting further” The next day Asalibi found more than 40 settlers in his land who also started erecting a fence. He argued with them and filed a complaint against them to Israeli Police, Who stopped the settlers from completing setting the fence. Days later, the settlers set the fence by force and stole two Acres from Asalibi’s land, however he cut it, entered and plowed it with his donkey.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15725
Settlers injure Ramallah woman
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 31 — Israeli settlers threw stones Wednesday at a 36-year-old woman driving between Ramallah and Birzeit, who was later hospitalized. The woman, identified as Rula Al-Qwasmy, suffered broken bones and a concussion, and was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374094
Palestinian youth killed in hit-and-run accident
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 31 Mar — An Israeli speeding car deliberately ran over a Palestinian young man in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday killing him on the spot. Local sources said that the man in his thirties was intentionally hit by the car and his identity was not known yet.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2BcOd87MD
Police violence
‘Police beat and spat on us’
A Palestinian man who was arrested in connection to a rape of an 11-year-old boy and was later released is saying he and the three other former suspects are considering suing the police for a violent arrest and humiliation they were subjected to during their interrogation. “We were treated like dogs, a police officer spat on us and shouted that all Arabs must be killed.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050289,00.html
Land Day
Palestinians commemorate the 35th anniversary of Land Day
[with photos of tree-planting in Houssan village] AIC 31 Mar — …In Israel, many cities organized strikes. The largest demonstrations were held in Ar-Raba (Galilee) and in the Bedouin village of Al Araqib (Negev). In this city, which is considered a symbol of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli policy after having been destroyed 19 times since July 2010, more than 1,000 people were present and Palestinian members of the Knesset gave speeches along with a number of women. The main cities of the West Bank (Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin, Tulkarem) also witnessed rallies and demonstrations against the Israeli policy of confiscation for illegal settlement expansion and against the Israeli denial of Palestinian rights in Area C. An example of the continuous violation of Palestinian rights is represented by the story of the village of Houssan. As Kharma, a resident of Houssan, explains, the settlers arrived in the 1980s and started expropriating lands and blackmailing the inhabitants. Since that time, the settlers of Bitar ‘Illit have been continuously threatening Palestinian land, cutting and uprooting their trees.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3472-palestinians-commemorate-the-35th-anniversary-of-land-day
Detention / International abduction
Nabi Saleh protest organizer Bassem Tamimi to remain under arrest
31 Mar — Tamimi’s arrest was extended by an Israeli military judge after the prosecution filed a grievous indictment. The hearing took place in front of a courtroom packed with Tamimi’s family, supporters, European diplomats and Israeli intellectuals … Tamimi is charged with incitement, organizing unpermitted marches, solicitation to throw stones, disobeying the duty to report to questioning, and a scandalous obstruction of justice charge, for allegedly giving youth advice on how to act under interrogation by the police in the event that they are arrested. Seven days after his arrest, today was the first time Tamimi was brought in front of a judge.
http://josephdana.com/2011/03/nabi-saleh-protest-organizer-bassem-tamimi-to-remain-under-arrest/
Israel rearrests Hamas lawmaker in West Bank
HEBRON, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 31 Mar — The Israeli army rearrested a Hamas lawmaker on Thursday, more than a year after he was released from prison, relatives and Palestinian security officials said. Mohammed Maher Badr, 52, was taken away by troops from his home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, they said … “I can confirm that he was arrested for involvement in the Hamas terrorist organisation,” a military spokeswoman told AFP. Badr was the third Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament arrested this year.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110331/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicthamasarrest
Israel approves lawyer visit ban on Palestinian prisoners
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 31 Mar — The Israeli ministerial committee has approved a law that empowers the courts to ban lawyer visits to Palestinian prisoners for one year after arrest, the Palestinian Prisoner Society warned. Israel is trying to express its racist and inhumane policies in the form of law provisions, the PPS said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87M
Mofaz threatens to boost prison restrictions
NAZARETH, (PIC) 31 Mar — Shaul Mofaz, head of the Knesset’s foreign affairs and security committee, has threatened to heighten restrictions on Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as Israeli political pressure to see captured soldier Gilad Shalit is released soars. Mofaz’s threats came during a visit to the Ofer prison near Ramallah city as he toured the facility with Knesset members from the Labor and Likud parties and vowed to discontinue the prison canteen system and deny prisoners rights to visits and to some television stations.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Abu Sisi: I know nothing about Shalit
Ynet 3 Mar — Palestinian engineer Dirar Abu Sisi on Thursday spoke for the first time since his disappearance in the Ukraine last month and denied having any information on captive soldier Gilad Shalit. “I don’t know anything about Gilad Shalit. They asked me. I don’t know anything. I’m an engineer,” he said outside the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court before his remand was extended. Police said an indictment will be filed against him … He denied all the other allegations against him, which are still under a gag order. “Everything they say I did is a lie.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050367,00.html
Sieges / Restriction of movement
Israel lays Gaza-like siege on West Bank village / Nora Barrows-Friedman
EI 31 Mar — Since 24 March, Israeli forces have sealed the southern occupied West Bank village of Beit Ommar for an indefinite amount of time as soldiers continue to arrest young Palestinian residents and hold them in Israeli detention centers. In a move akin to the four-year-long economic blockade against the occupied Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers have closed the six entrances to the village of 17,000 inhabitants and have imposed a widespread prohibition policy against all major imports and exports from the village — including gasoline, produce, raw industrial materials and basic supplies. Ambulances have also been prevented from entering or exiting the village. The closures and arrests followed a brazen attack by an Israeli settler on a funeral procession on 21 March.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11891.shtml
Return of 88 Palestinians stranded outside Egyptian borders to Gaza
CAIRO, March 31, 2011 (WAFA) – the Palestinian embassy and general consulate in Cairo Thursday announced the return of 88 Palestinians stranded outside the Egyptian borders to Gaza. According to the embassy, 82 Palestinians flew through the Cairo airport, And six others entered through Borg El Arab airport, near Alexandria. They were transferred to Rafah crossing accompanied by staff from the Palestinian embassy and the consulate to assist them with the traveling procedures. It is noted that the Egyptian Authority will close the Rafah land crossing for the weekend and will reopen it on Monday morning.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15722
Another assault on Gaza?
Olmert says Gaza war inevitable
Press TV 31 Mar — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that an all-out war against the Gaza Strip is inevitable. “If there’s one thing I regret — it’s that we didn’t finish the job back then — we cannot avoid the need to complete the job,” Olmert said on Wednesday, referring to the Gaza war while he was in office. “Israel cannot accept the presence of a terror entity in Gaza, which threatens the citizens of Israel, without taking action. Not random action, but controlled, precise and organized action with enough force to bring a change to the reality in Gaza,” Olmert was quoted as saying by Ynetnews.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172432.html
Hamas official: Reasons holding off Israeli war
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza (Ma‘an) 30 Mar — …Hamas leader and PLC member Salah Al-Bardawil, listed the the current agreement between the Gaza factions on a ceasefire with Israel, the military development of resistance groups exceeding Israel’s expectations, and international media reports’ warning of Israel against an offensive, as the key deterrent factors to another war on Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373824
Reprisals
Rocket hits south of Ashkelon; no injuries
Ynet 31 Mar — A rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists in north Gaza Thursday evening landed in an open area south of Ashkelon. There were no reports of injury or damage.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050597,00.html
Rights group calls for inquiry into internal projectile fire
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 31 Mar — The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights released a statement of concern Tuesday, in the wake of the fall of several projectiles on a house and soft-drinks factory in the northern Strip, in which six civilians were injured. A report from the organization said it was the third home-made projectile to land on civilian property in Gaza in the past week, and called on government officials to investigate.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373722
Human rights
‘Israeli intolerance’ concerns UK
Ynet 31 Mar — Human rights report released by Foreign Office in London calls ‘Nakba Law’ discriminatory; slams treatment of Bedouins, Silwan children
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050605,00.html
Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (24-30 March)
PCHR 31 Mar — *3 Palestinian resistance activists were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip, one of whom was extra-judicially executed. *IOF warplanes launched a series or air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip. *IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. *IOF conducted 52 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and two limited ones into the Gaza Strip. *Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. *IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. [Details follow]
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7335:weekly-report-on-israeli-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territory-24-30-march-2011&catid=84:weekly-2009&Itemid=183
Israel’s Palestinian helpers
PA security save settlement from popular protests
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 31 Mar — Palestinian Authority security militias cracked down on Palestinian protesters before reaching their destination near the Israeli Beit El settlement, as the PA continues to offer security services to Israel. Dozens headed out towards an area near the Beit El settlement near Ramallah, but the militias stopped them before crossing to the area near the center of friction amid shouts calling for national unity and emphasizing Palestinian rights. [Has PA Security ever tried to stop a settler attack on a Palestinian village?]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
No-Fly Zone over Palestine
AIC 30 Mar — We invite all organisations which are active in the struggle to join us this coming Sunday, April 3rd 2011 at 19:30, for a loud protest in front of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. We will join Palestinians in calling for a No-Fly Zone over Palestine. Together we will call upon the world: Ban Israeli planes from bombarding the besieged Gaza Strip. Together we will demand: US and EU – end your support of Israeli crimes … Palestinian civil society organizations are calling upon the Security Council and the international community to protect the Palestinian people and prohibit these deadly jets from flying over Palestine, as is being enforced over Libya. Similar calls were also voiced by Ismail Haniyeh and Salam Fayyad.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3469-no-fly-zone-over-palestine-ban-israeli-bombardments-of-gaza-end-us-eu-support-for-israeli-war-crimes-
Rachel Corrie trial resumes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 31 Mar — The civil lawsuit brought by parents of slain American peace activist Rachel Corrie against the state of Israel will resume Sunday, the foundation named after her said Wednesday … “Corrie’s case forms a new test for the Israeli judicial system. This case will give this system another chance to show that it is able to work as an independent system that seeks to achieve justice and apply the law, rather than continue to entrench its politicized attitude by seeking to shield [Israeli forces]” a joint release by rights groups Al-Mezan, Al Dameer, and Gaza Community Mental Health Program said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374130
Peres greeted by protesters in London
Ynet 30 Mar — During visit to prestigious research institute, president accuses British press of biased reporting, urges them to call on Hamas to cease rocket fire. Outside building, small group of pro-Palestinian activists hold signs calling Peres ‘war criminal’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050054,00.html
BDS campaigners force Ahava shop to move
BDS 31 Mar — The central London flagship store of Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company whose products come from stolen Palestinian natural resources in the occupied West Bank, and are produced in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, has been forced to move following a sustained campaign from BDS activists. A spokeswoman for Shaftesbury PLC, which owns the property that the shop is currently located in, told the Jewish Chronicle: “When Ahava’s lease expires in September, we will not offer them a new one.”
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/ahava-london-move-5936
Politics / Diplomacy / International relations
Hamas meets with Supreme Council ruling Egypt
CAIRO, (PIC) 31 Mar — A delegation of Hamas led by Mahmoud Zahar has met with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which received power in Egypt following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, as well as several political forces and Egyptian parties and a number of youth behind the Jan. 25 revolution. They congregated at the headquarters of the Egyptian Wafd party.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87M
Israel envoys: Recognize interim Palestinian state
JERUSALEM (AFP) (31 Mar) — Some Israeli diplomats are urging their government to acknowledge a Palestinian state within provisional borders rather than wait for the Palestinians to seek UN recognition of their sovereignty … Those pushing for Israel to take the initiative believe it would take the wind out of the Palestinian campaign, leaving the question of permanent frontiers to be hammered out in talks between the sides. The Palestinian leadership has already rejected the idea of a state with provisional borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374401
‘U.K. didn’t always feel safe to share intelligence with Israel’
Haaretz 31 Mar — Speaking at conference marking 60 years of U.K.-Israel ties, former MI6 chief says he has no doubt Israeli intelligence ‘plays by a different set of rules’ than those observed in London.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-k-didn-t-always-feel-safe-to-share-intelligence-with-israel-1.353348
Uruguay, Palestine sign mutual recognition agreement
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 31 Mar — Member of PLO executive committee Saeb Erekat and Uruguay minister of foreign affairs Luis Almagro signed a mutual recognition agreement on Thursday … The Uruguay official affirmed his country’s full support of the peace process until reaching a two-state solution on the 1967 borders and said settlements should stop as a real entrance to resume talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374359
Stop the Wall releases new report on Brazil’s military relations with Israel
30 Mar — …we are happy to announce the release of Stop the Wall’s disconcerting and potentially explosive report on growing and strategic military relations between Brazil and Israel. Notwithstanding its recent recognition of the Palestinian State and its long tradition of supporting Palestinian rights and upholding international law, the Brazilian government has signed contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with Israel’s arms industry … The major Israeli arms companies active in Brazil — Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems — are both directly involved not only in providing the Israeli occupation army with weaponry used in committing what the UN Goldstone Report characterized as “war crimes” and possible crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people, but are directly constructing the Wall and settlement infrastructure
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/brazil-arms-report-5849
Israeli map shows nearly 1,000 Hezbollah sites
JERUSALEM (AP) 31 Mar — The Israeli military on Thursday released a map detailing what it says are nearly 1,000 underground bunkers, weapons storage facilities and monitoring sites built by the militant Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110331/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_lebanon
Fatah wins Birzeit University elections
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 31 Mar — Fatah won Birzeit University’s student senate election, which was boycotted by Hamas, officials said Wednesday. Mohammed Al-Ahmad, the dean of students, said Fatah won 29 of 51 seats. The Popular Struggle Front and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s joint bloc won 14 seats, and eight others went to three smaller blocs, Al-Ahmad said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374084
Protest tent in Ramallah square vandalized
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 31 Mar — A group of Palestinians attacked a protest tent in Ramallah on Wednesday, burning books inside the camp and leading to fist fights among the youth. Sleeping bags, a first aid kit and 30 books were stolen in the attack by “Fatah thugs,” activists said … The March 15 youth have been protesting in Ramallah for several weeks, calling for elections for the Palestinian National Council to end the division between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374086
Other news
Removed third intifada page regains 30,000 fans in first day
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 30 Mar — The organizers of the third Palestinian intifada page on Facebook have gained over 27,000 fans in one day after the Facebook administration removed the page in response to official calls in Israel. The page now includes opening statements condemning the Facebook administration and founder Mark Zuckerberg after they responded to pressure from Israel to close the page calling the Palestinians to take to the streets for a third intifada against Israel on May 15, which marks the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Gaza children aboard the Mavi Marmara
IHH Ten Gazan children who were brought to Turkey by the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation visited the Mavi Marmara ship which is undergoing maintenance at the Haliç Shipyards in İstanbul. The children who visited the ship said they were happy to board the ship whose name they have always heard … Another Gazan Salva Masib said: “Mavi Marmara is an injured ship. It was not allowed to reach Gaza. We were looking forward to seeing this ship there. We want peace now, we don’t want war,” Masib said.
http://www.ihh.org.tr/gazeli-cocuklar-mavi-marmara-da/en/
Israeli traveler humiliated in Germany, Canada
Ynet 31 Mar — German, Canadian authorities falsely arrest, humiliate Israeli traveler, accusing him of being terrorist, carrying fake passport. ‘They didn’t want to let me into Canada because I’m black,’ he says [these stereotypes about a country’s population — [This reminds me in a small way of a trip I made to Singapore with an Northern Australian group — the guide refused to believe we were from Australia because some of us were black (Aboriginal), some Asian. Everyone ‘knows’ that all Aussies are white… The Aboriginal travelers were particularly upset – ‘But we were there first,’ said one.]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050560,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
A new Palestinian movement: young, networked, nonviolent / Joe Klein
TIME 31 Mar — Fadi Quran is the face of the new Middle East. He is 23, a graduate of Stanford University, with a double major in physics and international relations. He is a Palestinian who has returned home to start an alternative-energy company and see what he can do to help create a Palestinian state. He identifies with neither of the two preeminent Palestinian political factions, Hamas and Fatah. His allegiance is to the Facebook multitudes who orchestrated the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and who are organizing nonviolent protests throughout the region. In the Palestinian territories, the social-networking rebels call themselves the March 15 movement – and I would call Quran one of the leaders of the group except that it doesn’t really have leaders yet.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110331/us_time/08599206230800
Corporate media delete US role in Hamas-Fatah split / Alex Kane
In response to the youth of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank rising up on March 14 and 15 to call for Palestinian political unity, both the leaders of Fatah and Hamas pledged to enter into talks aimed at reconciliation … With those talks came a spate of articles in the U.S. corporate media about the efforts at reconciliation. But in providing background on why these talks are happening, and the roots of the split between Hamas and Fatah, media outlets have deleted the crucial role the U.S. played in fomenting that split … The exposé of the Bush administration’s role in the split by David Rose in Vanity Fair remains essential reading for those wanting to understand the roots of the split.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/corporate-media-delete-u-s-role-in-hamas-fatah-split/
Video: In search of the spirit of Al-Andalus
With the Moorish architecture of Granada’s Alhambra and Córdoba cathedral as a backdrop, Marcel Theroux meets a group of Spanish Muslims who are drawing on the area’s Islamic legacy to a promote a new religious tolerance
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2011/mar/30/marcel-theroux-spain-granada-cordoba
Iraq
Wednesday: 7 Iraqis killed, 22 wounded
With the country recovering from yesterday’s deadly bombing and hostage situation in Tikrit, Iraqis were faced with more violence but a significantly lower tally of casualties. At least seven Iraqis were killed and 22 others were wounded in new attacks. Unidentified gunmen wearing military uniforms killed five brothers, one a policeman, during a home invasion in Abu Ghraib. In Mosul, a grenade wounded 13 people in a central neighborhood, while a bomb killed one person south of the city. An exchange of fire at a checkpoint left one soldier dead and another wounded….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/30/wednesday-7-iraqis-killed-22-wounded/
U.S.
What the Patriot Act does for you / Philip Giraldi
31 Mar — Incessant warmaking overseas will someday end when the United States runs out of money or soldiers or both. But less well understood is the collateral damage here at home where the consequences of the global war on terror will linger on in the form of a shattered constitution. The Patriot Act is generally promoted as the principal legislative tool being used to fight international terrorism. It is, in reality, a devastating and poorly conceived bit of legislation originally approved just after 9/11. It will soon be up for an extension in the US Senate.
http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2011/03/30/what-the-patriot-act-does-for-you/
