and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
PM green lights West Bank settlement expansion
Ynet 4 Apr — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, it what seems to be a move inspired by right-wing pressures, agreed Sunday on a new zoning plan for the West Bank settlement of Nofim. The rare move effectively enables further developments of the settlement.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051676,00.html
Settlers angry expansion plans don’t include Itamar
Ynet 4 Apr — Leaders of Samaria councils demand all settlements be included in government’s new zoning plans while Jerusalem approves 942 new homes in Gilo
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4052076,00.html
Barak to endorse the construction of four new settlements in WB
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 4 Apr — Israeli war minister Ehud Barak is to endorse within the few coming days the construction of four new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Hebrew media quoted sources on Monday as saying that one of those settlements would be near Nablus, the other south of Al-Khalil, and two in the Jordan Valley.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87M
Israeli zoning stifles Area C village
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — The 1,200 residents of Furush Beit Dajan, 60 kilometers north of Nablus, have no water, sewage or electricity networks, and say that despite appeals to the Palestinian Authority, little has, or can be done to improve conditions. Surrounded by settlements and the Hamra military checkpoint, officials say the past 30 years have seen the lands of the village shrink from 12 square kilometers to three, after agricultural fields were annexed for Jewish-only housing. The only source of running water in the village is a single tap at the local school, which residents take turns using … The dirt roads and difficult access mean limited services get to the villagers, with one resident, Ali Salama, saying that “Two pupils died last year because it took a long time to transfer them to the nearest hospital after they were stung by a scorpion. There isn’t a clinic in the village to offer first aid.” ….
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375369
Tax Authority raids Information Center
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Apr — The Wadi Hilweh Information Center was raided by the Israeli Tax Authority this morning on the pretext of searching for commercial goods. Residents and merchants throughout Silwan are no stranger to this tactic, in what is commonly viewed as another form of control and collective punishment of the village’s Palestinian population.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14396
Youth and mother summoned for police interrogation
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 Apr — A 20-year old boy and his mother were summoned to the Jerusalem police station for investigation today. Yazan Qaraeen was beaten by police when he was arrested last week in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan, resulting in his hand being broken. Police have lodged charges against Qaraeen of attacking a policeman himself.
http://silwanic.net/?p=14390
Jerusalem resident says Israelis trying to push him out of his Old City home
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 4 Apr — Ayed Kastero, a Palestinian living in Al-Qarmi area in the Old City of Jerusalem, faces since 1987 great pressures from the Israelis to force him to leave his 600 years old house. Kastero was fined several times by Israeli courts where they imposed heavy fines on him for reasons such as claiming that his house obscures the sun from a Jewish family living near his house.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15786
Occupational forces have tripled the height of the ‘Eastern Wall’
Jordan Valley Solidarity posted 4 Apr — For the last few days diggers and bulldozers have been re-digging the ditch and earth mound that separate the Jordan Valley from the rest of the West Bank. This comes just 3 weeks after Netanyahu’s provocative visit to the Jordan Valley, when he reiterated Israel’s intention to annex the valley. This ditch and earth mound are the eastern wall. They may look less dramatic, but the impact they have on local communities is devastating. It will mean that people will not be able to visit people who were their neighbours and friends, and will have to far greater distances to collect water with the tractors and water tanks.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203:occupational-forces-are-tripled-the-hight-of-the-qeastern-wallq&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
IOF attacks
Report: 32 Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks since January
Gaza PNN 4 Apr — The Emergency and Ambulance High Commission based in the Gaza Strip has issued a report saying that since the beginning of this year Israeli attacks targeting the coastal enclave have left 32 Palestinians dead and 118 injured. Adham Abu Salmyah, a spokesperson for the Commission, told the state-run al-Ra’y newspaper that the first quarter of 2011 have witnessed an increase of fatalities compared to 15 Palestinians killed 70 others injured by Israeli attacks during the same period in 2010. During the reported period, Abu Salmyah said that the Israeli army carried out 34 air attacks and fired 90 tanks shells; in addition, the Israeli army implemented 17 invasions targeting border areas in Gaza and opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats 11 times.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9822&Itemid=56
IOF incursions
Israel scours Palestinian village in hunt for killers
AWARTA, West Bank (NYT) 4 Apr — In the rolling hills of the northern West Bank, Palestinian villages and Israeli settlements exist in a geographical intimacy that belies decades of mutual hostility, suspicion and fear. Here neighbors are also enemies, and the brutal killing of five members of the Fogel family in the settlement of Itamar three weeks ago has done nothing but harden that division. The Israeli military and security services have focused their search for the suspected killers in Awarta, the Palestinian village next door. The army has repeatedly raided the village, searching homes, forcing doors and breaking furniture, residents said. Hundreds have been arrested, they said, and about two dozen remain in custody. … residents of Awarta, who denounced the killings, said they did not believe that anyone from their village could be responsible for such an act. Standing outside his house on the edge of the village, across from the distant row of houses where the Fogels lived, Asad Abd al-Karim Lolah, 70, said it was “impossible for any Palestinian Muslim Arab to have committed that crime.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/middleeast/05awarta.html?_r=1&src=mv&ref=world
International activists target of Bil‘in raid
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — Israeli forces entered the central West Bank village of Bil‘in on Monday morning, searching homes and harassing residents, reportedly in search of international solidarity activists who often remain in the area to document rights violations … A statement from the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee said Abu Rahma was questioned about who was residing in his house, noting soldiers were “interested in internationals, although they could not find any,” noting that soldiers and police searched Abu Rahma’s home and garden, including the garbage and inside cars located nearby.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375329
Video: Bil‘in 04.04.2011 Haitham al-Khatitb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dpPz7GqWI9U#at=13
Israel summons Jenin residents for questioning
JENIN (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — Israeli intelligence officers accompanied by soldiers entered the northern West Bank village of Jalqamus on Monday morning, demanding entry into several homes before sunrise and delivering summons to four residents. The homes of Rabie Al-Hajj, Khalil Al-Hajj, Sami Al-Hajj and Hashem Al-Qazam were entered by armed soldiers and briefly searched. Relatives were handed summons orders for the head of household to appear before intelligence officials during the coming week. No detentions were reported in the village, which is east of Jenin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375319
Detention
Israel arrests 11, summons 8 for interrogation
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 4 Apr — …Forces also arrested 11 Palestinians from several cities in the West Bank. In Hebron, Israeli soldiers raided several villages and towns near Hebron, according to security sources. The army arrested one man originally from Gaza when he was taking his daughter to a doctor’s appointment … The army also arrested a 16-year-old boy. In addition, two men were handed summons to report to the Israeli intelligence office in the Hebron area. The army also set up checkpoints on the entrances of Yatta, Bani Na’im, Halhoul, Sa’ir and al-Fawar refugee camp, and stopped vehicles and checked identification papers of the drivers.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15782
Gaza engineer indicted over Hamas rockets
BEERSHEVA, Israel (AFP) 4 Apr — A Gazan engineer who was snatched from Ukraine was indicted on Monday by an Israeli court for belonging to Hamas and designing rockets for the Islamist group’s armed wing, court papers showed. According to an official summary of the indictment which was filed by prosecutors at Beersheva District Court, Dirar Abu Sisi was charged with belonging to a militant group and with hundreds of counts of attempted murder and making rockets … It also said that Abu Sisi ran the Hamas military academy set up after Operation Cast Lead, the massive 22-day Israeli assault on Gaza which began at the end of December 2009 in a bid to stamp out rocket fire from the enclave. His Israeli lawyer, Smadar Ben-Natan, told journalists that her client had confessed to “certain things” that she could not elaborate about because of court-imposed restrictions. She said his confessions were made “under very heavy duress which I would characterise as torture.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110404/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansgazaukrainecourt
‘Abu Sisi developed improved Qassams’
Ynet 4 Apr — Palestinian engineer Dirar Abu Sisi was indicted Monday on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, attempted murder, and weapons violations for helping Hamas to develop longer-ranging Qassam rockets over the past nine years. The Gazan resident, who was abducted in the Ukraine in February, was also accused of developing missiles that can penetrate steel, in order to help the terror organization fire into armed IDF vehicles. According to the indictment, Abu Sisi received a doctorate degree from a Ukrainian military engineering academy, where he worked with a Scud missile specialist. During his studies the engineer gained knowledge on the development of missiles and their control systems. In addition to his job at Gaza’s power plant, Abu Sisi joined Hamas and engaged in covert operations of the organization, the state is claiming.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4052002,00.html
Shin Bet interrupts cell phone service inside prisons
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 3 A{r — The Israeli Prison Service has reached an agreement with the country’s general security service Shin Bet to cut off cell phone chips of Palestinians jailed in Israeli prisons, the prisoners said in a letter that was leaked Sunday. The move came as Israeli occupation authorities attempt to isolate Palestinian prisoners from the outside world and tighten restrictions … The prisoners said they learned about the deal after cell phone chips had stopped working within the past two days.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Families: Prisoners not yet released from Egypt
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — Families of 14 Palestinians from Gaza in Egyptian prison said Monday they have not yet received word on the release of the men, despite promises from Egyptian officials.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375331
Child diagnosed with cancer released from prison
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 4 Apr — The Israeli authorities released Monday 16-year-old Mustafa Abdul Wahhab after he was diagnosed with advanced case of cancer, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs. The ministry said it called on the Israeli military court to release Abdul Wahhab so that he can get treatment outside the prison. Upon his release, Abdul Wahhab was immediately transferred to a medical facility in Ramallah to receive adequate attention. Minister of Prisoners Issa Qaraqe‘ held the prison administration responsible for the deterioration of the Abdul Wahhab’s health, saying he was diagnosed with cancer earlier during his time in prison but did not get the proper treatment, which worsened his condition. Abdul Wahhab, from the village of Obwein, in the Ramallah area, had served 55 days in prison after he was arrested on allegations of throwing stones at settlers.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15785
Activism / Solidarity
US Boat to Gaza leaders challenge Netanyahu threat to impending flotilla
3 Apr — Human rights activists who are preparing to sail a U.S. ship in a 22-nation flotilla to Gaza at the end of May sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to stop the boats from sailing.
Israel media reported on Friday that Netanyahu argued to the UN Secretary-General that the flotilla is a conglomerate of “extreme Islamists that are interested only in provocation” whose aim is to destroy Israel. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Jane Hirschmann and Richard Levy in a joint statement, both of New York, who are building support for the U.S. boat, named “The Audacity of Hope.” “We are appalled by this flagrant misrepresentation…”
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/us-boat-to-gaza-leaders-challenge.html
Sun is shining and spring is in the air
An appeal from one of the most active of our 339 coalition member groups… Soon we will be shedding our winter clothes and wearing our T-shirts outdoors again. Now is the time to order your U.S. Boat to Gaza T-shirt! You will be helping the campaign raise the last money needed to sail The Audacity of Hope to Gaza in Spring 2011 … Please also take a moment to join our newest effort, To Gaza with Love, a letter-writing campaign from people like you in the U.S. to the people in Gaza in an act of friendship and solidarity.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/sun-is-shining-and-spring-is-in-air.html
Anti
Israel pressing UN to halt new Gaza aid flotilla
Haaretz 4 Apr — Security officials and the Foreign Ministry have started preparing feverishly for the expected arrival of another Gaza flotilla in late May. More than 1,000 leftists and pro-Palestinian activists are expected to take part in the flotilla, which sources say will include more than 20 vessels of various sizes … In recent weeks, Jerusalem has engaged in a large-scale diplomatic effort aimed at pressuring heads of states in countries from which ships are expected to sail, to discourage their citizens from taking part. The hope is that such an effort will head off a large-scale “sequel” to last year’s flotilla. Furthermore, in the event that another military raid is called for, this time Israel wants to be able to claim that every possible effort was made to stop the ships peaceably.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-pressing-un-to-halt-new-gaza-aid-flotilla-1.353914
Israeli Apartheid Week scores condemnation from Canadian officials
Haaretz 3 Apr — PM Harper: We must be uncompromising in exposing anti-Semitism for what it is; Liberal Party leader Ignatieff: It is impermissible to compare it to South Africa … “The new anti-Semitism is a global threat,” Harper warned the sold-out crowd at the Royal Conservatory of Music. “It targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel, which it depicts as a source of injustice and conflict in the world perversely using a language of human rights to do so.”
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/israeli-apartheid-week-scores-condemnation-from-canadian-officials-1.353787
Gaza
Another war on Gaza? / Ali Abunimah
EI 4 Apr — In recent weeks an escalation in violence between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip has claimed the lives of more than a dozen Palestinians, the youngest of them 10-year-old Mahmoud Jalal al-Hilu. Does this escalation increase the likelihood of another large-scale assault on Gaza similar to “Operation Cast Lead” in winter 2008-2009 that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians? There are worrying signs Israel — by its words and deeds — could be laying the ground for an attack.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11896.shtml
ElBaradei: We’ll fight back if Israel attacks Gaza
Ynet 4 Apr — In interview with Arab newspaper, former IAEA chief says if elected as Egypt’s next president he will open Rafah crossing in case of an Israeli attack
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051939,00.html
Single crossing brings goods into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — Israeli authorities informed Palestinian officials that between 180-190 truckloads of goods would enter Gaza on Monday, as the blockade of the coastal enclave continues … Israel did not permit any exports to leave the Gaza Strip on Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375255
Israel to deploy 4 more ‘Iron Dome’ anti-rocket devices
JERUSALEM (AFP) 4 Apr — Israel is planning to deploy four more batteries of its “Iron Dome” short-range missile defense system, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday. Speaking on military radio, Barak said: “With the financial help of the Americans, we hope to equip ourselves with four new ‘Iron Dome’ batteries so we will have six in operation in the next two years.” … Following installation along the Gaza-Israel border, officials say the ‘Iron Dome’ will then be deployed along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375296
War crimes/criminals
Goldstone retraction to lessen judicial risk for IDF officers
Ynet 3 Apr — Change in South African judge’s stance on Gaza War likely to reduce chances that senior IDF officers traveling overseas will face legal action … The Goldstone Report accused Israel of perpetrating war crimes during its Gaza campaign, and sparked a slew of overseas prosecutions filed against senior politicians and IDF officers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051646,00.html
PCHR highlights key issues relating to report of UN fact-finding mission on Gaza conflict (the ‘Goldstone Report’
PCHR 4 Apr — In light of the media debate and confusion triggered by Justice Richard Goldstone’s 1 April opinion piece in the Washington Post, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) wishes to highlight a few key issues regarding the current status of the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s Report, and the search for accountability in the aftermath of Israel’s 27 December 2008 – 18 January 2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip. PCHR represents 1,046 victims of the offensive, and has submitted 490 criminal complaints to the Israeli authorities on behalf of these individuals.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7355:pchr-highlight-key-issues-relating-to-report-of-un-fact-finding-mission-on-gaza-conflict-the-goldstone-report-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194
Goldstone’s shameful U-turn / Ilan Pappe
EI 4 Apr — “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone report would have been a different document.” Thus opens Judge Richard Goldstone’s much-discussed op-ed in The Washington Post. I have a strong feeling that the editor might have tampered with the text and that the original sentence ought to have read something like: “If I had known then that the report would turn me into a self-hating Jew in the eyes of my beloved Israel and my own Jewish community in South Africa, the Goldstone report would never have been written at all.” And if that wasn’t the original sentence, it is certainly the subtext of Goldstone’s article.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11895.shtml
UN: Judge hasn’t asked Gaza report to be nixed
GENEVA (AP) 4 Apr — A U.N. official says the retired South African judge who authored a damning report on Israel’s 2009 incursion into Gaza must formally request the document to be withdrawn before it can be repealed as Israel has demanded.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_eu/un_un_israel_war_crimes
‘NYT refused to publish Goldstone retraction’
Ynet 4 Apr — Source close to South African judge claims he initially approached liberal publication to print his letter of regret – and was rejected. New York Times says in response it does not comment on editorial process
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051762,00.html
Politics / Diplomacy / International relations
Unity delegation leaves for Cairo
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — Representatives of several Palestinian factions and independent figures left for Cairo on Monday, for a series of talks under Egyptian mediation, and meetings with delegates from the Middle East and Europe, a source close to the meetings said … Beyond political parties, the delegation is said to include businessmen, academics, Muslim scholars, Christian clergy, professors, judges and representatives of civil society institutions from the West Bank and Gaza. In Gaza, the official said figures had met several times in advance of the trip, discussing ways to end division.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375300
Group of prominent Israelis to propose peace plan
JERUSALEM (NYT) 4 Apr — A group of prominent Israelis, including former heads of Mossad, Shin Bet and the military, are putting forth this week an initiative for peace with the Arab world that they hope will generate popular support and influence their government as it faces international pressure to move peace talks forward. Called the Israeli Peace Initiative, the two-page document is partly inspired by the changes under way regionally and is billed as a direct response to the Arab Peace Initiative issued by the Arab League in 2002 and again in 2007. It calls for a Palestinian state on nearly all the West Bank and Gaza with a capital in much of East Jerusalem, an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, and a set of regional security mechanisms and economic cooperation projects.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/middleeast/05israel.html
Turkish-Israeli trade at record high; tourist numbers plunge
Zaman 3 Apr — The number of Israeli tourists visiting Turkey has plunged since the notorious flotilla incident; however, the trade volume between the two countries and Turkey’s exports to Israel are at their highest level since the two started trading after Israel was established in the late 1940s. The rosy decades-long relationship between Turkey and Israel took a big hit in May 2010 when Israeli soldiers attacked the Mavi Marmara, one of the vessels in a humanitarian aid convoy heading to Gaza. The incident threw the two countries’ warm relations deep into cold water, with a heated period of diplomacy on both sides.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-240029-turkish-israeli-trade-at-record-high-tourist-numbers-plunge.html
Argentina denies offering to ‘forget’ Iran’s role in attacks against Jewish community
AP 4 Apr — Argentina’s foreign minister on Monday denied reports that his government has offered to stop investigating two deadly bombings against Jewish centers in the 1990s in return for improved trade ties with Iran.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/argentina-denies-offering-to-forget-iran-s-role-in-attacks-against-jewish-community-1.354065
Jordan presses for return of Christian relics smuggled into Israel
AP 3 Apr – Jordan’s archaeology chief says the books, which could be the earliest Christian writing in existence, were smuggled into Israel by a Bedouin.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/jordan-presses-for-return-of-christian-relics-smuggled-into-israel-1.353880
US suspends arms aid to Lebanon
Ynet 4 Apr — Fearing weapons would fall into Hezbollah’s hands, US halts arms deliveries to Lebanon. Since 2006, US provided Lebanon with $720 million in military aid, Wall Street Journal reports
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4052022,00.html
Other news
Actor Juliano Mer-Khamis shot dead in Jenin
Ynet 4 Apr — Fayyad vows to find killers of pro-Palestinian activist who established Freedom Theater in refugee camp …The 52-year old Mer-Khamis, a pro-Palestinian political activist born to a Jewish mother and Arab father, has previously received death threats after establishing the Freedom Theater at Jenin’s refugee camp. … Residents of the refugee camp disseminated fliers in 2009 calling the actor a fifth column. “If words don’t help we will have to speak in bullets,” the fliers said. The theater, which became one of the city’s main culture centers since its establishment five years ago, has sustained many firebomb attacks. In April of 2009 the theater’s door was torched … In an interview with Ynet that year, Mer-Khamis said he feared for his life. “But what choice do I have? To run? I am not a fleeing man,” he said … However, the actor added, he was taking precautions. Of those behind the fliers he said, “It makes them crazy that a man who is half-Jewish is at the head of one of the most important projects in the Palestinian West Bank and it is just hypocritical racism.” [See AP story from 2009: Palestinian play criticizes local politics]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4052070,00.html
Striking UNRWA worker hospitalized
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 4 Apr — UNRWA warehouse workers in Jerusalem remain on strike demanding better wages, and said Monday that one of the hunger strikers was hospitalized early in the day … As part of the strike, Jabir said, locals in cooperation with popular committees shut down the UNRWA office in the Deheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem on Monday and obstructed the bus which transports employees from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375359
Israel government unveils counter-cyberterrorism unit
Xinhua 4 Apr — Israeli officials have said they are set to implement a new strategy aimed at foiling the growing wave of cyberterrorism and cybertheft attacks perpetrated against its government ministries, military agencies, and major banking and commercial entities. Israel averages about 350 on-line hacking attacks per second every day, according to Assaf Keren, the former project director for Israel’s e-Gov portal.
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7339829.html
Culture / Human interest
Photos: Palestinians 400-year-old traditional Turkish bath in West Bank city of Nablus
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90783/91324/7339270.html
Palestinian runs Chinese restaurant to local appetite in West Bank
Xinhua 4 Apr — … Ali al-Dali’s Chinese restaurant is becoming popular among local residents since he opened the restaurant in his home town of Ramallah not long ago.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7339435.html
Analysis / Opinion
Juliano Mer-Khamis: taken too soon / Yousef Munayyer
4 Apr — Shocking news broke this morning about the murder of Juliano Mer-Khamis in a refugee camp in Jenin where he lived. The 53 year-old apparently fell victim to masked gunmen who opened fire on his car. I met Juliano on a few occasions and his work and dedication for the Palestinian cause was remarkable. His loss will be tremendously felt.
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/04/juliano-mer-khamis-taken-too-soon.html
Challenging the evangelical bias against Palestinians / Aziz Abu Sarah
+972 4 Apr — Last week Ynetnews.com published an article by Johnnie Moore, a Christian evangelical pastor and vice president of Liberty University (the largest evangelical university in the world, founded by televangelist Jerry Falwell). Moore was visiting Israel with a group of students on a trip that ended 24 hours before the bombing in Jerusalem. A Christian tourist was killed in the bombing, and Pastor Moore was moved to write about the terror attack and his views on Israel and the Palestinians. The article, entitled “No Excuse for Brutality,” was one-sided and inflammatory, asserting that Palestinians are entirely to blame for the conflict. Normally, as a Palestinian I would brush off such an article as an example of the natural, emotional responses that arise from tragedies and traumas like last month’s bombing. However, Moore’s article is more than a reactionary piece; his comments also reflect the views of many Christian evangelicals in the United States. As a result, I feel it is important to respond to some of the points Moore raised.
http://972mag.com/challenging-the-evangelical-bias-against-palestinians/
Goldstone reminded us of the real face of Kadima / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 4 Apr — Operation Cast Lead 1, manufactured by Kadima, constitutes an Israeli and international license for Cast Lead 2 …
Now that Kadima is five years old, it is looking more like a satellite branch of the right wing, disguised as a centrist party. The shared victory party of those behind Operation Cast Lead and the leaders of the struggle against the so-called “delegitimization” of Israel is an excellent opportunity to bring them all together under the chuppah. Thank you, Judge Goldstone. Thank you for reminding us what the real face of the alternative actually looks like.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/goldstone-reminded-us-of-the-real-face-of-kadima-1.353943
Iraq
Sunday: 2 US soldiers, 4 Iraqis killed, 28 Iraqis wounded
At least four Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in the latest violence. Two U.S. soldiers were killed as well, by indirect fire (mortar or rocket attack) in an unreported location yesterday. A third U.S. soldier was wounded in a blast in Najaf. In Ramadi, a pair of bombs targeting police killed one and wounded 14 others; one victim apparently died later. Four people were wounded yesterday when a sticky bomb exploded at a checkpoint. One woman was killed and six others were wounded when a Katyusha rocket feel in Mosul….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/03/sunday-2-us-soldiers-4-iraqis-killed-28-iraqis-wounded/
