and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Construction in West Bank settlements quadrupled since end of temporary freeze
Haaretz 5 Mar — According to data by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, settlers began building over 114 houses during the 10-month settlement freeze, and began construction of over 427 houses since October 2010. According to the data, over 114 housing units that settlers started building during the 10-month settlement freeze have been completed, as well as over 1,175 housing units which were started before the temporary moratorium. The data also reveals that construction of over 427 housing units has begun since October 2010. The Central Bureau of Statistics noted, however, that the data is based on partial information, and that there has also been a dramatic rise in illegal construction in West Bank outposts that has not been officially documented.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/construction-in-west-bank-settlements-quadrupled-since-end-of-temporary-freeze-1.347303
Settlers chop down 500 trees in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 4 Mar — Settlers chopped down more than 500 olive trees owned by Palestinians in the West Bank district of Nablus on Friday, Palestinian Authority officials said. Residents of the illegal Shvut Rachel settlement raided Qusra village and chopped down the trees, said Ghassan Doughlas, PA official for settlement affairs in the northern West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365413
Settlers attack Palestinian villagers
NABLUS, (PIC) 5 Mar — Jewish settlers attacked on Saturday villagers of the Irak Burin south of Nablus city and tried to storm their village but were repelled by its inhabitants, local sources said. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the settlers from Bracha settlement attacked Palestinian farmers and shepherds near the village and threw stones at them. They said that inhabitants of the village rushed to aid their compatriots and violent clashes ensued with both sides throwing stones at each other.
Last night groups of armed settlers stormed the village of Raba east of Jenin city to terrorize its inhabitants, witnesses said, adding that the around 20 armed settlers riding bicycles roamed the streets for 20 minutes while chanting anti Arab slogans and threats.
In Bethlehem, settlers dumped stones and sand west of the village of Artas, locals said, adding that the tens of trucks routinely dump such refuse in the same area threatening its environment.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Settlers desecrate mosque in al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 4 Mar — Dozens of fanatic Jewish settlers, at dawn Thursday, stormed the Nabi Younis [Jonah] Mosque in the town of Halhoul to the north of the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil. Local sources told PIC that more than a hundred fanatic settlers, some of them armed, stormed the mosque under the protection of IOF troops and carried out Talmudic rituals inside and outside the mosque, challenging the feelings of the residents. The local resident also said that the IOF troops closed the northern entrance to the town at the Nabi Younis Junction for several hours to facilitate the settlers’ access to the mosque.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
When buying dinner becomes dangerous / Maysa Abu Ghazala
Jerusalem - PNN/Exclusive 4 Mar – On Thursday, February 24, 20-year-old Mohamed Gharib of al-Issawiya village near Jerusalem was driving home, bringing dinner from a restaurant in Jerusalem … When they reached the intersection leading to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, their car broke down. “As I was trying to see what happened to the car, three settlers stopped and offered to help,” Mohammad recalled. ”I thanked them and as I was speaking to them in Hebrew, they realized I was Arab. They started calling me bad names, then one of them pulled his gun and shot me in the knee.”… “Doctors installed a device to make me walk,” he said, “but now I can’t leave my bed on my own”
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9651&Itemid=63
Two Palestinian families threatened with eviction in Beit Hanina
4 Mar — Another case of implementation of ‘the right of return’ to Jews in East Jerusalem: Kol Yisrael Radio reported today that the Jerusalem local court ordered two weeks ago the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem. The attorney of the families said that they will appeal against the decision to the district court.
http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/two-palestinian-families-threatened-with-eviction-in-beit-hanina/
Israeli authorities demolish temporary homes of Palestinian family
LOD, (PIC) 2 Mar — Israeli municipality teams escorted by 200 policemen, some of them masked, razed the temporary (caravan) homes of the Palestinian family Abu Eid after their homes were demolished a few weeks ago in Lod. Witnesses said that the policemen brutally assaulted the family members, even women, who tried to block the demolition and arrested some of them. The Arab 48 website said that a number of women were hospitalized after the attack and that among the detainees was a disabled man.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IOF storms OJ suburb; detains 80 Jerusalemite children in two months
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 3 Mar — Israeli occupation forces and municipality teams stormed a number of suburbs in Beit Hanina, to the north of occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday, eyewitnesses reported. They said that the municipality vehicles escorted by a military unit roamed the suburbs of Ashqariya, Wadi Al-Dam, and Marwaha, without breaking into citizens’ homes. Citizens said that such tours are usually followed by serving demolition notices at the pretext of unlicensed construction. They recalled that the municipality recently handed tens of demolition notices including one to the Burj Al-Mara tower and its 22 apartments inhabited by 150 citizens.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Hamas condemns accelerated Aqsa Mosque conversion drilling
GAZA, (PIC) 5 Mar — Hamas has strongly condemned Israeli drilling operations on the historical Umayyad palaces running along the Aqsa Mosque as a “blatant infringement on the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim people, and on the history and civilization of Jerusalem.” According to reports, Israel has been increasing construction of a network of bridges and iron stairs in the historical area to transfer it to facilities of the alleged second temple.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
West Bank chaos just a stone’s throw away / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 4 Mar — An old rattletrap, some despondent villagers, a unit of Civil Administration soldiers and some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country … For our part, we arrived late in the morning at the encampment, a collection of International Red Cross tents erected in place of the demolished dwellings, and near the water wells which had also been destroyed.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/west-bank-chaos-just-a-stone-s-throw-away-1.347086
Rightist ‘Day of Rage’ showed police holding their own against settlers
4 Mar — Right-wing activists who organized a “day of rage” on Thursday were hoping to deter the government from dismantling outposts, but the protest appeared to show instead that the police are quite capable of holding their own … The demonstrators did have a few brief successes
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/rightist-day-of-rage-showed-police-holding-own-against-settlers-1.347006
Violence / Attacks / Incursions
Palestinian boy claims police beat him
Ynet 3 Mar — An 11-year old boy arrested in east Jerusalem for throwing stones claims officers beat him while his hands were tied. Hospital tests confirm the boy sustained injuries to the eye, head, and stomach … Later that evening, he vomited blood and his parents took him to the hospital. There, doctors found that the boy was suffering from a fractured bone in his eye cavity as well as head and stomach wounds.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4037421,00.html
Witnesses: Airstrike targets central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Mar — Israeli warplanes struck a car in central Gaza Friday morning causing no injuries, witnesses said. Locals said Israeli fighter jets fired two missiles near the An-Nuseirat refugee camp, destroying a jeep belonging to a resistance fighter. Many Israeli drones were hovering over Gaza at the time of the raid, residents said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365392
Jeep fires gas inside shop, 7 children inside
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Mar — A tear gas grenade was fired from a speeding Israeli military jeep in to a minimarket in Bir Ayyub district of Silwan last night. Inside the shop, owned by Palestinian resident Hammouda Siyam, were 7 children, all whom suffered severe asphyxiation due to gas inhalation. Eyewitnesses report that a second gas canister was fired at the shop 10 minutes later as the jeep drove past again.
http://silwanic.net/?p=12833
Undercover forces seize 12-year-old boy in Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Mar — Undercover Israeli forces arrested a 12 year old Palestinian boy from Silwan yesterday afternoon. Walid Zaloom was seized by plainclothes Israeli officers in the Ein Silwan area during clashes that swept through the village yesterday. Confrontations took place between Palestinian residents and the Israeli military, concentrated largely in Ras al-Amoud. A heavy presence of soldiers was seen throughout Silwan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=12836
4 youth arrested in dawn raid on Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Mar — Israeli forces raided Silwan today at dawn, arresting 4 local children. The boys arrested are aged between 13 and 15 years, and are scheduled to appear in the Israeli Magistrates Court on charges of stone-throwing in the near future
http://silwanic.net/?p=12839
Clashes reported in Silwan
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) 4 Mar — Violent clashes erupted in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday afternoon, a local activist said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365473
OPT Protection of Civilians Weekly Report – 23 Feb – 1 Mar 2011
UN OCHA 4 Mar — 2 March: Initial reports indicate that the Israeli authorities demolished dozens of residential shelters and animal pens in the Khirbet Tana community (Nablus governorate). Israeli forces vandalized nine caves in the same community. The same day, Israeli forces demolished a water cistern, a cave, two tents and an animal pen in the Al Baqʹa area and Khashem ad Daraj Bedouin community in the Hebron governorate due to the lack of building permits….
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MCOI-8EMD7P/$File/full_report.pdf
Activism / Solidarity
The struggle for al-Araqib is the struggle for Palestine / Ameer Makhoul
EI 4 Mar — Al-Araqib was the last village I visited before my arrest. Al-Araqib is not just a village, but the very heart of a nation and a people. On 5 May 2010, I was there under the tent of Sheikh Sayah, a local leader. There was a big crowd after the destruction and the reconstruction of the village. We met there until late at night, taking advantage of the desert darkness.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11844.shtml
Injuries reported as soldiers fire on protest
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 Mar — Israeli forces violently shut down a demonstration led by women north of Jerusalem on Saturday, organizers said. Border police fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at the protesters marking International Women’s Day at the Qalandiya checkpoint.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365823
Anti-wall protest near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 Mar — Israeli authorities sent infantry forces into the village of An-Nabi Saleh on Friday in order to prevent the residents from holding their weekly demonstration against the wall and settlements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365481
Palestinians at home, abroad protest division, leadership
EI 4 Mar — Palestinian civil society groups are preparing for a day of mass sit-ins on 15 March, to protest the widening split between Palestinian political and resistance factions as Israel’s illegal occupation grinds on. As The Electronic Intifada reported, most of the groups involved in the 15 March organizing are led by Palestinian youth who are gravely concerned by the prospect that legislative elections, called for September by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, could occur without the involvement of opposition parties.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11843.shtml
Aid convoy to Gaza / Abdullah Saeed, South Africa
Arab News 5 Mar — Near the end of June this year, the African continent will witness the historic crossing of the first land-based humanitarian aid relief convoy that will journey from Cape Town, South Africa, to the besieged and occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza.
http://arabnews.com/opinion/letters/article298782.ece?comments=all
World Social Forum puts Palestine solidarity into action
EI 2 Mar — Tens of thousands of activists gathered in Dakar, Senegal for the 2011 World Social Forum (WSF) in February. Hundreds of workshops and assemblies on social justice struggles around the world were held at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, including a series of presentations on the Palestinian struggle for liberation and the growing global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli apartheid.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11835.shtml
Warning: BDS success answered by ‘Boycott Arab goods’ smear / Stuart Littlewood
I-P 4 Mar — Congratulations, BDS campaigners. Your global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions effort is hurting Israel so much that panic-stricken propaganda bosses are casting about in desperation for something to hit back with… for example, the libelous press release which portrays yours truly and other Palestine freedom campaigners as promoters of a new movement boycotting Arab goods. This tissue of lies arrived the same day as news that Israel is spending $1.6 million to train “new media warriors” in the use of social media tools for disseminating the regime’s endless stream of disinformation.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/03/warning-bds-success-answered-by-%E2%80%98boycott-arab-goods%E2%80%99-smear/
Siege / Restriction of movement
Palestinians threaten to close Kerem Shalom crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Mar — The administrative board of the Gaza Strip’s Private Transport Association has threatened to shut down Kerem Shalom crossing in protest over Israel’s closure of the bulk goods Karni crossing … “Closing the Karni crossing will add more suffering and freight will go up. The Salah Addin Street can’t cope with the large number of trucks carrying the cargo from the southern Gaza Strip to the north. The roads are not well paved, and the street already sees too many road accidents because the traffic is always congested,” Salim explained. He added that the Kerem Shalom crossing was not equipped to receive goods for a population of over 1.6 million. “It is only barren land without any facilities like rest rooms, water or electricity,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365645
Gaza’s crossings squeezed shut: Gisha’s response to closing of Karni crossing
3 Mar — Gisha expresses concern that today`s closing of Karni Crossing will further restrict the ability of Palestinian residents of Gaza to engage in dignified, productive work. Rather than considering opening new crossings, as Israel promised as part of its ‘easing’ of the closure, Israel is squeezing shut one of the last gateways into Gaza, pushing all access into the small southern Kerem Shalom Crossing. Kerem Shalom can accommodate just 250 trucks per day, as opposed to the 1,000 truck per day capacity of Karni, Gaza’s commercial lifeline. Since 2007, Israel has closed three of Gaza`s four commercial crossings. Currently, Israel is allowing 40% of Gaza`s need for incoming trucks, and just 1% of its outgoing needs, despite promises to lift the ban on exports.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=45354
Sole Gaza crossing closed until Sunday
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) 4 Mar — Israeli authorities decided to close the only operating crossing on the Gaza border on Friday and Saturday, Palestinian officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365407
Anglican bishop of Jerusalem sues Israel over visa refusal
Guardian 4 Mar — The Anglican bishop of Jerusalem has launched legal action against the Israeli government after it refused him and his family a residency visa for the city.The Right Reverend Suheil Dawani, who is Palestinian by birth and US educated, has been denied the visa for more than six months after anonymous and unsubstantiated allegations against him of illegal land transactions and forgery.Suheil Dawani appeals against deportation order tied to claims he made illegal land transactions with Palestinians
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/04/anglican-bishop-jerusalem-sues-israel
The ‘illegal’ bishop of Jerusalem and the Christian exodus from the ‘holy’ land / Eileen Fleming
IP 3 Mar –“Israel is destroying the local Christian community. It is only a matter of time before Christians and Muslims will be unable to survive culturally and economically. I witness the strangulation of East Jerusalem, and the deprivation of her non-Jewish residents’ religious rights every day. Even the United States seems to have been taken in by Israeli spin.” — Mother Agapia Stephanopolous (sister of ABC News commentator, George Stephanopolous)
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/03/the-illegal-bishop-of-jerusalem-and-the-christian-exodus-from-the-holy-land/
Center: Israel denies British volunteers entry to West Bank
NABLUS (Ma‘an) — …Israeli officers stopped a delegation of 12 Scottish Youth Initiative volunteers on the Jordanian border with the West Bank. The volunteers were interrogated for seven hours before Israeli officials denied them entry, the HAYAT Center for Civil Society Development said. The group was due to participate in a one-week youth exchange program between the West Bank city of Nablus and its twin city Dundee.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365747
17 years after Goldstein massacre, Hebron city center paralyzed
B’Tselem 3 Mar — Zlikhah Muhtasab, 49, is one of the few Palestinians still living on Shuhada Street in the center of Hebron. The street, one of Hebron ‘s main thoroughfares, links the north and south of the city and passes by the major markets, the Old City , the Tomb of the Patriarchs and al-Haram al-Ibrahimi, and Israeli settlement compounds. Since October 2000, Israel has forbidden Palestinians to walk or drive on the street, although no valid military order for the closure has been presented. Along with other restrictions on Palestinian movement in the area, this has led to an economic collapse of the city center. Many residents have left, and the area has become a ghost town.
http://www.btselem.org/english/Hebron/20110303_Hebron_17_years_after_Goldstein_Massacre.asp
War crimes
Israeli bombs spread cancer in Gaza
PressTV 4 Mar — The number of cancer patients has been climbing in Gaza due to the use of depleted uranium by the Israeli military during its onslaught on the impoverished enclave two years ago, medical sources say.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168114.html
Detention
Mossad kidnaps Gaza engineer in Ukraine, now held incommunicado in Israeli prison
Tikun Olam — A Ukrainian news source reported in late February that the Mossad kidnapped the chief engineer of Gaza’s only power plant in Ukraine … Now an Israeli source confirms that Dirar Abu Seesi (note correct spelling) is being held incommunicado in an Israeli prison where he’s being interrogated. My source does not yet tell me what he’s charged with, but one can presume if a detainee is being interrogated it’s on an intelligence-security related issue … But Abu Seesi may be a different case. As the chief engineer of Gaza’s power plant he may know a good deal of technical information Israel would like to have about the plant, how it operates, how it can be shut down. In fact, given the success of Stuxnet in penetrating Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israel would have a definite interest in being able to penetrate the Gaza plant with a remote program and shut it down during hostilities without having to destroy it as it did during Operation Cast Lead … If these reports are true, then the Mossad is continuing its violation of the sovereignty of other nations and kidnapping foreign nationals on foreign soil.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/03/03/mossad-kidnaps-gazan-engineer-in-ukraine-now-held-incommunicado-in-israeli-prison/
IOF detains 7 Palestinians including crippled man; 90 in al-Khalil in February
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 3 Mar — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained seven Palestinian citizens in pre-dawn incursions in West Bank cities on Thursday, the Israeli radio said. The broadcast quoted an IOF spokesman as saying that the arrests were made in Bethlehem and Al-Khalil districts. Meanwhile, locals said that an IOF unit stormed the village of Shuyukh east of Al-Khalil city before dawn Thursday and took away two brothers, one of them crippled.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Muhammad al-Za‘tari: Innocent, accused of stabbing settlers, and tortured for five months
Jerusalem –PNN/Exclusive – 3 Mar — Muhammad was arrested on September 24, 2010 and accused of stabbing an Israeli settler in the al-Tur neighborhood of East Jerusalem. At the time of his arrest, he was 14 years old. … Muhammad explained the interrogation methods in an interview with PNN:
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9645&Itemid=56
Mandela: IOA holds Palestinian woman in cell with homicide convicts
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 3 Mar — The Mandela institution catering for prisoners and human rights said that the IOA imprisoned Palestinian woman Samha Hijaz in one cell with Jewish homicide convicts before being transferred to Talmund jail. Lawyer Buthaina Dakmak of the institution said that Samha was arrested on 8/2/2011 after female conscripts found a mobile phone in her possession while on her way to visit her brother Yasser in Askalan jail.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
A rare instance of justice at the Ofer military court / Joseph Dana
3 Mar — Nonviolent organizer Issa Amro was released from military prison this morning in a rare case of swift justice for Palestinians in the Israeli legal system. Amro, the director of the Hebron-based NGO Youth Against Settlements, was one of the organizers of Friday’s international day of action to open Shuhada street … This morning, a hearing was set for Amro in the Ofer military prison. Before the judge even arrived, the state dropped its charges against Amro.
Also in Ofer today, journalist and activist Mahmoud Al-Jabari, 20, was released from the military prison after the state dropped stone throwing charges against him. Al-Jabari was arrested during last Friday’s Hebron demonstration with an Israeli activist. The Israeli was released after three hours but Al-Jabari was detained and charged with stone throwing. Today, the military court decided to drop charges against him for lack of evidence. His mother attended the trial and even brought a photo of her son with Israeli President Shimon Peres taken last year. It might have swayed the judges’ opinion enough to grant the young journalist freedom.
http://josephdana.com/2011/03/a-rare-instance-of-justice-at-the-ofer-military-court/
Report: Israel illegally interrogates, tortures children
IMEMC 2 Mar — The Palestinian Ministry of Detainee Affairs published a new report Wednesday documenting the torture of children as young as seven in Israeli prisons. Since the beginning of this year, Israeli soldiers have abducted 150 children and all of them were interrogated during the course of their imprisonment. Many were subjected to harm treatment such as hitting, psychological abuse, violence and the threat of violence without a parent or adult representative present.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60761
Israel rearrests Hamas lawmaker
PressTV 3 Mar — Israeli forces have rearrested a Hamas legislator, Azzam Salhab, outside the occupied southern West Bank town of al-Khalil, also known as Hebron. Salhab, 54, who was released from prison five months ago, was once again arrested along with some other legislators on Wednesday while passing through an Israeli checkpoint on the road between Ramallah and al-Khalil, AFP quoted Palestinian security officials as saying on Thursday. The other legislators were released later on, while Salhab was transferred to Etzion detention center, north of al-Khalil. This is the third time that Salhab is being arrested. But Israeli military said they had no record of his previous arrests. Salhab is not the only one to be rearrested by Israeli forces. Dozens of the 64 Hamas lawmakers and members Israel detained in 2006 have been rearrested in recent months.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168086.html
Palestinians and Egypt
9 Palestinians return to Gaza from Egypt jail
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Mar — …Two of the freed men were identified as Abdallah Abu Raya and Nedal Hamada, affiliates of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Al-Quds Brigades. Egyptian authorities released 12 Palestinians from the Al-Aqrab prison on Thursday, a spokesman for the families of the detained said … There are an additional 32 Palestinians who remain in Egyptian custody, according to families who have been in touch with the prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365411
Body of Gazan killed in Egypt brought back via tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) 5 Mar — The body of a Palestinian man murdered in the Egyptian city of Rafah was returned to the Gaza Strip via a smuggling tunnel on Friday night, local sources said. The body of Adel Madhi, 32, was taken to Abu Yousif An-Najjar Hospital in the Gaza-side of Rafah, a border town, Palestinian sources said. Madhi was shot dead by an unidentified gunman.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365608
Political news
EU’s Ashton mulls scrapping Mideast envoy job
BRUSSELS (AFP) 4 Mar — European Union chief diplomat Catherine Ashton has decided to leave the post of special envoy to the Middle East empty while she considers whether to scrap the position, diplomats said Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365495
Abbas: Palestinian state must become permanent member of UN
Haaretz 5 Mar — During a press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Ramallah on Saturday, Abbas argued that now is the time to have an independent Palestinian state – based on the 1967 borders – that would become a permanent member of the United Nations by September … Moreover, Abbas reiterated that he will not accept any Israeli peace initiative if it calls for temporary borders for a future Palestinian state and said that he has yet to be notified of the new plan that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce in the coming weeks.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-palestinian-state-must-become-permanent-member-of-un-1.347290
Netanyahu: Binational state would be disastrous for Israel
Haaretz 4 Mar — Comment comes as Prime Minister expected to present Mideast peace initiative after weeks of intense international pressure over the apparent peace talks deadlock … In private talks recently, Netanyahu has reportedly begun discussing the growing threat of a binational state. “This trend will intensify and become stronger,” Netanyahu told his advisers. “However there are those in Israel who think that one state is a good idea. I think it is a disaster.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-binational-state-would-be-disastrous-for-israel-1.346999
Netanyahu wants 40% of West Bank under Israeli control
Arab News RAMALLAH 5 Mar — A senior Palestinian official on Friday said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded to keep 40 percent of West Bank under Israeli control for an extended period. Netanyahu told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel wants this percentage of West Bank territories as part of a peace agreement, said Nabil Sha‘ath, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, in an interview with the Voice of Palestine Radio.
http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110305044328/Netanyahu%20wants%2040%25%20of%20West%20Bank%20under%20Israeli%20control
Barak: Make-up of government is problematic for advancing peace
Haaretz 3 Mar — The defense minister says in an interview that government’s right-leaning coalition isn’t suitable for advancing direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He added that in order for the government to make progress in this area, it would be more convenient if Kadima, which is a more center-leaning party, was part of the coalition.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/barak-make-up-of-government-is-problematic-for-advancing-peace-1.346960
Israelis ‘fear greater peace pressure’: poll
JERUSALEM (AFP) 5 Mar — Most Israelis believe their country will come under increased international pressure to strike a peace accord with the Palestinians in the aftermath of massive Arab uprisings, public radio said on Saturday, citing an opinion poll.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110305/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeacediplomacy
Erekat: Negotiations staff are Palestinians
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 Mar — All the staff in the Palestine Liberation Organization’s negotiating teams are Palestinian by origin, outgoing chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Friday … Erekat noted that all the department’s employees were Palestinians, regardless of where they lived. Some were refugees living in exile and others had left appointments at the world’s most prestigious universities to offer their services to the PLO. Erekat demanded an end to “the frantic campaign against the negotiations department” which he said only served the Israeli occupation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365583
Fatah officials demand Abbas fire Western-backed Fayyad
Reuters 3 Mar — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has no significant political base of his own but wields substantial power as a former World Bank economist.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/fatah-officials-demand-abbas-fires-western-backed-fayyad-1.346968
Chile’s Pinera seeks to push peace on Mideast trip
JERUSALEM (AFP) 4 Mar — Chile’s recognition in January of a Palestinian state was aimed at helping end the Middle East conflict, President Sebastian Pinera said on Friday. Speaking to reporters on the Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem, Pinera said Chile wanted to help the two sides work towards a peace agreement that would see both living within their own states with internationally recognized borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365544
Hamas confirms new unity plan underway
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Mar — Hamas is preparing an initiative to restore national unity, the movement’s spokesman said … The initiative is in its final drafting and will be proposed to the other Palestinian factions soon, the spokesman said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365533
Fayyad takes questions on Facebook
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Mar — Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah has been busy lately on his Facebook page. On Wednesday, he published videos answering questions posed to him through the social networking site. He discussed the new cabinet with Palestinians on Facebook and with Palestinian civil society institutions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365204
Other news
Salafi group: Hamas detained leader
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Mar — Sources in the At-Tawhid militant group on Friday confirmed reports that Hamas detained its leader in Gaza on Tuesday. The Israeli daily Haaretz reported Thursday that security forces detained Hisham Saidani from his home in Al-Maghazi refugee camp. Saidani is a leader of the Salafi faction, which is the armed wing of the Army of Islam and has links to Al-Qaeda. According to Haaretz, Hamas raised its security alert level in fear of reprisals from the group.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365459
Gaza Bedouin turns tent into Internet cafe
GAZA, March 4 (Xinhua) — …Abu Shabab, a 21-year-old Bedouin living near the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, established an Internet cafe in a tent, which was erected on a 5-square-meter area next to his small house and once used as a greenhouse. The small cafe enables the villagers, who lack the simplest means of communication due to deteriorating economical situation, to surf the Internet and get in touch with the outside world.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-03/05/c_13762587.htm
Hundreds march in Tel Aviv to protest deportation of foreign workers’ kids
Haaretz 4 Mar — Relief organizations staged a demonstration in Tel Aviv Friday in a renewed effort to prevent the deportation of foreign workers’ children, which is expected to occur imminently. A counter-protest took place at the entrance to Meir Park, where the relief organizations were demonstrating, with south Tel Aviv residents shouting, “Enough with the baby visas!”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/hundreds-march-in-tel-aviv-to-protest-deportation-of-foreign-workers-kids-1.347179
Israel grows ever harsher in treatment of migrants / David Elkins
WASHINGTON, Mar 2, 2011 (IPS) – A new report from the Global Detention Project (GDP) on Israel’s immigration detention policies reveals the tough reality behind the feel-good story offered in the Academy Award-winning “Strangers No More”, an inspirational documentary about students from migrant families who attend the Bialik-Rogozin school in Tel Aviv … “Many countries have adopted harsh migrant detention policies in recent years,” says Michael Flynn, the GDP’s lead researcher. “But the Israeli government’s policies stand out.” According to Flynn, the government’s reaction appears to be spurred by several factors. “On the one hand, Israeli officials appear to be acutely sensitive to ethnic differences because of the country’s preoccupation with remaining a Jewish state,” he said.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54691
Top Israeli professors charge Bar Ilan University with political persecution
Haaretz 3 Mar — Some 70 prominent lecturers from various universities nationwide this week accused Bar-Ilan University of political persecution and denying lecturers promotion and tenure due to their political opinions and activity.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/top-israeli-professors-charge-bar-ilan-university-with-political-persecution-1.346793
Rabbi: Boycott MK married to gentile
Ynet 3 Mar – Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, head of the Zomet Institute dedicated to merging Halachic Judaism with modern life, has launched a scathing attack on a Knesset Member of the Independence faction over her marriage to a non-Jewish man. He made his statement following reports that Wilf would be appointed chairwoman of the Knesset’s Education Committee.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4028422,00.html
Fence separates haredi, secular Jerusalem kids
Ynet 4 Mar — After playing together for six months, haredi, secular children separated by fence at Jerusalem kindergartens; secular father slams ‘catastrophe,’ says site that previously offered hopes for coexistence ‘turned into ghetto’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4037666,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
The necessity procedure: Laws of torture in Israel and beyond, 1987-2009 / Itamar Mann & Omer Shatz
This article traces the history of the regulation of torture in Israel, and shows how it foreshadowed the legal understanding of torture in the United States in the wake of “The War on Terror.” Part I of the article demonstrates how the celebrated Israeli Supreme Court decision in Public Committee v. Israel, traditionally understood as a bold prohibition of torture, should instead be seen as institutionalizing and managing torture. Since Public Committee, the Israeli executive and the judiciary worked hand in glove to protect this regime, which we label necessity management … We argue that this regime, which originated in the undemocratic political context of occupation, foreshadowed protections for torturers under the Bush and the Obama administrations.
http://www.legalleft.org/2011/02/the-necessity-procedure-laws-of-torture-in-israel-and-beyond-1987-2009/
Arabs challenge Israeli hasbara / Ramzy Baroud
5 Mar — When the Libyan people took on their reviled dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, Israeli officials seemed puzzled by the alarming and unprecedented trend of popular awakenings in the Arab world. Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has claimed that these awakenings are only proof of the ‘weakening’ of the Arabs – even at a time when international consensus points to the opposite conclusion.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365494
A transformative generation / Abdaljawad Hamayel
5 Mar — …the revolts have not only set ablaze the monarchies and the once seemingly robust authoritarian regimes, but it has also set ablaze a set of Middle-Eastern experts who became too comfortable with the once static and unchanged realities of the Arab world. These are the same experts that judged the Arabs for their passivity, alluding to their culture or to their religion or the socio-economic factors that have contributed to what they saw as an entrenched docility, or as famously placed by the New York Times’ Roger Cohen as the ‘captive Arab mind’.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=364985
Legal Affairs: Forgive and forget? / Ron Friedman
JPost 5 Mar — In an effort to heal the rifts caused by the 2005 Gaza disengagement, the Knesset a year ago passed a law granting pardons and erasing criminal records of people who were charged for offenses relating to resistance to the evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Shortly afterward, 12 left-wing activists, many of whom have been arrested during protests against the evictions of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem, filed a petition with the High Court claiming the law was unconstitutional because it discriminated between offenders on the basis of their political leanings. They asked that it either be revoked or expanded to include all offenders who were indicted for the same offenses regardless of their political orientation.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=210729
West Bank wind of change / Joseph Dana & Jesse Rosenfeld
As protests multiply across the Arab world and grassroots resistance grows in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority faces popular anger for its investment in a failed ‘peace process’
http://josephdana.com/2011/03/west-bank-wind-of-change/
Palestinians may be looking for peace beyond Washington / Jonathan Schachter
Could it be that the PA has made a strategic decision to move away from the United States and put its fate more squarely in the hands of Europe and the UN?
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/palestinians-may-be-looking-for-peace-beyond-washington-1.347068
Wrong side / Uri Avnery
5 Mar — OF ALL the memorable phrases uttered by Barack Obama in the last two years, the one that stuck in my mind more than any other appeared in his historic speech in Cairo in the early days of his term. He warned the nations not to place themselves “on the wrong side of history.” It seems that the Arab nations took heed of this advice more than he might have anticipated. In the last few weeks they jumped from the wrong to the right side of history. And what a jump it was! Our government, however, is moving in the opposite direction. It is determined, so it seems, to get as far away from the right side as possible.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1299325474/
Roots of the Arab revolts and premature celebrations / James Petras
I-P 4 Mar — Street-based movements lack the organization and leadership to project, let alone impose a new political or social order. Their power is found in their ability to pressure existing elites and institutions, not to replace the state and economy. Hence the surprising ease with which the US, Israeli and EU backed Egyptian military were able to seize power and protect the entire rentier state and economic structure while sustaining their ties with their imperial mentors.”
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/03/james-petras-roots-of-the-arab-revolts-and-premature-celebrations/
Iraq, Other Mideast
Thursday: 11 Iraqs killed, 31 wounded
At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 31 more were wounded in newly reported violence. Only one of a small number of attacks was significant, and it was the cause of most of today’s casualties. In response to weeks of demonstrations, Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan, has called for early elections in the semi-autonomous region. Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, demanded the Kurdish government recall Peshmerga fighters who are illegally operating in Kirkuk province.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/03/thursday-11-iraqis-killed-31-wounded-2/
Friday: 3 Iraqis killed, 1 wounded, journalists beaten
Although security forces, for the most part, used passive methods to dissuade protestors from gathering across Iraq, thousands of Iraqis overcame their fears in at least 10 cities. The protests, however, were smaller than last Friday’s, which turned deadly thanks to overzealous troops. As expected, reports of violence are scant; however, the full extent of last week’s protests was unclear until at least the following day. At least three Iraqis were killed and one more was wounded.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/04/friday-3-iraqis-killed-1-wounded-journalists-beaten/
The people on the street document casualties – why can’t governments? / John Sloboda
Guardian 2 Mar – Those who have died in the Arab uprisings are being memorialised. War victims have a right to the same attention … An informed global citizenry armed with open sources of global information means that the genie is out of the bottle as far as holding perpetrators of violence to account is concerned. A new website, Every Casualty, hosted by the Oxford Research Group, taps into this new energy. It provides information about and from the growing number of projects around the world that document casualties of conflict.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/02/arab-uprisings-casualties-war-victims
Saudi Arabia bans protest rallies
AJ 5 Mar — Interior ministry vows to use all steps “to prevent attempts to disrupt public order” following recent Shi‘a protests.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201135143046557642.html
Oman’s ruler dismisses ministers
AJ 5 Mar — Gulf state’s sultan replaces two ministers as protesters demand an end to government corruption and better wages.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/03/20113565533194678.html
Egypt security building stormed
AJ 5 Mar — Protesters in Alexandria enter state security headquarters, saying officers destroyed documents to cover up past abuses.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201134228359128.html
Egypt ex-minister pleads not guilty
AJ 5 Mar — Graft trial of Habib al-Adly, the first member of Hosni Mubarak’s ousted regime to be tried, put off until April 2.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011359752154613.html
Protests continue in Yemen
AJ 5 Mar — Thousands of protesters gather in cities and towns across the country to demand that the president step down.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201135111245876717.html
Jordan protesters hold strong
AJ 4 Mar — Demonstrations in capital continue for tenth week, but government rejects calls for reforms.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/03/20113418201846991.html
Anti-government protests in Bahrain
AJ 4 Mar — Thousands converge in the capital, and in a neighbouring town, one day after clashes between Sunni and Shi‘a communities
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201134161558262343.html
