and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
The judge releases and the police detain — the attack of Jerusalem police against the Palestinian Civil Society continues
31 Mar — The Jerusalem police continue to harass the leadership of the Palestinian Civil Society, especially in Silwan. Jawad Siyam, one of the leaders of the community center of Wadi Hilweh, was arrested on January for an alleged assault of another Palestinian. After three months in house arrest, the Jerusalem court decided yesterday to release him. Today the police tried to raid Siyam’s house looking for him. Later he was called for investigation where he was arrested. It is not the first time that the police tries to bypass the court decision.
http://settlementwatcheastjerusalem.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/jawad2/
Peace Now: East Jerusalem settlement set to grow
JERUSALEM (AFP) 1 Apr — An Israeli landowner is seeking to sell plots for 30 homes in a Palestinian neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, where 117 settler families already live, Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Friday. Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran said that although the landowner has declared himself ready to sell to the highest bidder – Jew or Arab – the outcome is most likely to be an extension of the existing settlement enclave in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amud. “We know the owner…he is a settler himself,” she told AFP.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374598
A tour of Lifta village: the spring, mosque, and cemetery are living relics of pre-Nakba times
Jerusalem/Misa abu Ghazala/ PNN-Exclusive 31 Mar — From the mountains northwest of Jerusalem, the village of Lifta overlooked the holy city with its mosque, school and houses all built in an artistic architectural style. The agricultural land was cultivated with olive trees, vegetables and grain, which reached the boundary of the Old City at the western gate. Lifta was one of the most important villages surrounding the capital in terms of money and agricultural wealth.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9814&Itemid=56
Beit Ommar: IDF imposing collective punishment
Ynet 31 Mar — A week has passed since the IDF blocked the entrance from Highway 60 to the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar. Residents of the village, which is located between Hebron and Jerusalem, are able to exit it only from the west. They claim this extends their journey to Jerusalem and makes their daily lives more difficult in general. “This is a policy of an army that imposes collective punishment on all the residents,” Biet Ommar council head Nasri Sabarna told Ynet Thursday … “It is true that there is a small group of youngsters who throw stones, and we are vehemently against this,” Sabarna said, “But why do all of Beit Ommar’s residents have to suffer because of it? … “We do not have total control over every resident. We are trying to lower the level of violence, but when a settler throws stones at Palestinians does the army block the entrance to his settlement?”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050582,00.html
Witnesses: Palestinian child run over by settler
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — An Israeli settler ran over a three-year-old girl and fled the scene in central Hebron on Thursday, locals said. Lana Al-Ja’bari was transferred to hospital with moderate injuries, her relatives said. She was run over near the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in the presence of Israeli soldiers, witnesses said. On Monday, an Israeli settler ran down a Palestinian girl on her way to school south of Hebron. He remained in the area until police arrived. However, in two other incidents in March, Israeli settlers driving in the West Bank struck Palestinians and drove away. [End]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374418
Settlers attack shop, home in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — Israeli settlers attacked a shop and a home in the West Bank city of Hebron on Thursday, witnesses said. Onlookers said settlers destroyed the contents of a store in Jaber neighborhood and damaged a Palestinian home in Tel Rumeida in central Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374413
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian family
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) 1 Apr — Jewish settlers Friday attacked the Da‘ado family from al-Khader, a town south of Bethlehem, while they were in their agriculture land, said family members. They said that when they entered their property, they were surprised to find a number of settlers farming the land. When the family members tried to stop the settlers, they attacked and beat Yassin Da‘ado, 47, and threatened to shoot him. An Israeli force arrived at the scene to protect the settlers and arrested Yassin. The soldiers also confiscated the family members’ identity papers and notified them not to enter their property for a week claiming it was a closed military zone.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15744
Army incursions / harassment
Israeli army continues to harass local Palestinian farmers
[with photos] 31 Mar — Yassir and his family (including 8 children) have been living during the spring time in Khirbet Samra, Jordan Valley, since 2006. At 8.30 pm yesterday evening the Israeli army came to his home claiming to be looking for terrorists from Nablus who they said they knew were staying with him. Despite his insistence that only his family were there they made everyone leave the tents and requested to see the ID papers of all of the family, including his terriifed young children. On the request of the army the family produced their ID. All the ID’s showed that they were related and none of the IDs produced were Nablus IDs. The army refused to say why they believed that people from Nablus were staying with the family. For some time the family were made to stand while the army decided what to do.The army then claimed that they believed that the family were hiding guns in their tents. They made their way straight to where the children slept and ransacked their tent emptying all the clothes onto the floor. After failing to find any guns they went to the milk store and poured the contents of the milk vessels onto the floor and mixed it with sugar … Yassir and his family keep goats. They use their milk to drink, to make cheese for them to eat and then sell what is left in Hebron. The milk from the family’s goats is their only form of income. That morning all of the goats had been milked and their full store (60 litres) was destroyed. At no point did the army show any documents which proved the search was legal as well as speaking in Hebrew the whole time so that the family were unable to understand what was happening. After destroying the family’s livelihood they left.
http://topalestineinsolidarity.blogspot.com/2011/03/israeli-army-continue-to-harrass-local.html
Soldiers stop Palestinians from planting olive trees
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) 1 Apr — Israeli soldiers Friday prevented a group of Palestinian youth from planting olive seedlings in Aboud, a village northwest of Ramallah, marking Land Day. A group of 50 participants were planting olive seedlings when they noticed a settler, guarded by Israeli soldiers, taking pictures of them. Soldiers stopped the planting and uprooted some of the seedlings the group had planted.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15745
Soldiers declare Wadi Qana a closed military zone
SALFIT, (WAFA) 1 Apr — Israeli soldiers Friday declared Wadi Qana, a valley near the West Bank town of Salfit, a closed military zone and prevented residents and farmers from entering or leaving it. Nathmy Salman, mayor of nearby village of Deir Istiya, said that a large number of Israeli soldiers prevented farmers and residents from entering their land in Wadi Qana and locked up the farmers who were in the valley in an old house and warned them from leaving before 2 in the afternoon. Meantime, 13 buses carrying Jewish settlers from Alfe Menashe and Karne Shomron settlements were seen in the valley. Israeli soldiers refused to let farmers and livestock breeders to market their daily production of milk, which jeopardized the only source of living for these farmers. On the other hand, Israeli police issued Mosleh Mansour, a resident of Wadi Qana, an arbitrary fine of around $300 for crossing the road on foot, on the pretext of obstructing traffic.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15743
Young man arrested in Al Hadidiya
1 Apr — We have just heard that a young man from Al Hadidiya has been arrested whilst walking from Al Hadidiya, near the land that Roi settlement has stolen from the community. His family saw the army take him, but have been given no information about why he’s been arrested, where he is, how long he’ll be held, or what he’s been arrested for … Two days ago we visited the small Palestinian Bedouin community of Al Hadidya, which is situated between the Israeli colonies (settlements) of Roi and Beqa’ot and a large Army training area. The community has faced years of persecution and attempts to force them from the land, including repeated demolitions, arrests and beating of villagers and increasing restrictions on movement to and from the village. Only three days ago two young men from the village were arrested and badly beaten. They were then refused permission to travel to health clinics to get medical care
http://topalestineinsolidarity.blogspot.com/2011/04/we-have-just-heard-that-young-man-from.html
Siege
Netanyahu to UN chief: Upcoming Gaza flotilla must be stopped
Haaretz 1 Apr — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the flotilla, scheduled to head toward the Gaza Strip in May, is a provocation and goods can easily be transported to the strip via land.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-un-chief-upcoming-gaza-flotilla-must-be-stopped-1.353536
Qassam operative killed in tunnel collapse
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — A member of the armed wing of Hamas died Thursday after a tunnel collapsed in the southern Gaza Strip. He was identified as Hasan Abu Jaser from Jabaliya in southern Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374430
Activism / Solidarity
Israeli soldiers assault Palestinians near Nablus
NABLUS (WAFA) 1 Apr — Israeli soldiers Friday assaulted Palestinian residents of Qusra, a village southwest of Nablus, who performed Friday prayers on their land near Shilo settlement, illegally constructed on the village’s property. At least 1500 Palestinians performed the prayer on their land, which is threatened to be seized by settlers. Israeli soldiers attacked the worshippers while they prevented others from reaching the area. Jewish settlers previously attacked Palestinians and uprooted olive trees in the same area.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15742
Three injured as troops attack weekly anti-wall protests in the West Bank
PNN 1 Apr … In the village of Bil‘in, where anti wall protests have been organized for the past six years, three men were injured when Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters….After the midday prayers in the local mosque finished, villagers were joined by international and Israeli peace activists and marched up the gate of the wall separating villagers from their lands. Troops stationed there opened fire at protesters injuring Bassem Yassen, 34 years old, Rani Burnat, 29 and Kamel Al Khateb, 19. The men sustained injuries when soldiers fired tear gas canisters directly at them … The nearby village of Ni‘lin held a similar protest on Friday.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9816&Itemid=56
Running water to Al Farisiya
JV Solidarity — 31 Mar — In the autumn of 2010 Jordan Valley Solidarity ran water to the farming village of Al Farisiya, who have been persistently harassed by the Israeli occupation in recent years in an attempt to confiscate their land and ethnically cleanse the area of Palestinians … And all this work was carried out by Palestinian and international volunteers working together. Over 100 families have access to this water, and the green fields and greenhouses in the area are testament to this. We met a local farmer who showed us his cucumbers, beans, peas, palms and other plants that are being irrigated with the water. He said to us: “The Israeli’s believe they can kick us off the land, but its our land and we won’t go.” … And why does the Israeli Army not simply destroy it? The pipe itself does not count as a fixed structure, and similarly, the reservoirs constructed to store the water are simple, plastic lined constructions. Although this does not make them safe from Israel’s destructive policies, it does give the water system some measure of protection. The only part of the process which does count as a fixed structure - the water pump, is located in Area B and therefore not subject to the same level of military rule.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=207:running-water-to-al-farisiya&catid=14:2009&Itemid=21
International abduction
PA ambassador: Gaza engineer not linked to Hamas
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — Palestinian Ambassador to the Ukraine Mohammad Al-As‘ad said Friday that the Gazan engineer held by Israel was not affiliated to Hamas or any other faction … The engineer’s family said he was detained because of innovations he made at the power station, which enabled the Gaza Strip to halt its use of Israeli industrial diesel. Abu Sisi initiated a trial run using purified fuel brought in through tunnels from Egypt. Shortages of fuel imported through Israel have frequently led to mass blackouts in the Gaza Strip, often endangering hospital machinery dependent on electricity … [Sisi’s sister] Suzanne said her brother was “not linked in any way to any political faction, he was working as the head of the operations of the plant before Hamas came to power, and he continues his work as a university professor.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374532
Politics / Diplomacy / International relations
Israel holds secret talks with Russia in bid to thwart recognition of Palestinian state
Haaretz 1 Apr — Isaac Molho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser and top negotiator on the Palestinian channel, made a secret trip to Moscow on Wednesday and met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The purpose of the visit was to dissuade Russia from supporting the European Union’s intention to present in two weeks’ time a plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-holds-secret-talks-with-russia-in-bid-to-thwart-recognition-of-palestinian-state-1.353404
Abbas to visit Cairo
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to go to Cairo on Wednesday in his first visit since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374425
Other news
Israeli, Palestinian launch West Bank venture capital fund
Haaretz 31 Mar — Yadin Kaufmann, who invested in Israeli startups that gave the world the USB flash drive and satellite communications systems, and Palestinian software entrepreneur Saed Nashef recruited an initial $28.7 million from companies like Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. They said their aim is to boost the West Bank’s community of software entrepreneurs and build a robust economy for an eventual independent state.
http://english.themarker.com/israeli-palestinian-launch-west-bank-venture-capital-fund-1.353358?localLinksEnabled=false
Court releases Israeli leftist activists, slams police for limiting free speech
Haaretz 1 Apr — The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court released on Sunday leftist activists detained while demonstrating outside a West Bank outpost, stressing specifically that police had no authority to limit their freedom of speech. The activists were detained after a demonstration near the Havat Maon outpost on Saturday to protest the stabbing of a Palestinian days earlier. Police and Army forces presented them with a document declaring the area a closed military zone, leading to an argument in which 15 people were arrested.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/court-releases-israeli-leftist-activists-slams-police-for-limiting-free-speech-1.353402
Analysis / Opinion
In Palestine, curse anything but the land / Mohammed Rabah Suliman
EI 1 Apr — …A state is not what Palestinians would feel worried about having or losing. A state is a meaningless and enigmatic concept. A farmer never knows what “state” stands for, neither does a fisherman. A teacher would possibly know, but he or she would never feel it. All of them, however, know one simple word, one grand concept, one sacred entity. It is a reachable concrete and spiritual one: the land. This is how they raise their children. They raise them to love their land and feel it under each step they take. These children soon start to see this land in the morning sky above, they soon touch it on the seashore, and feel it in the rainfall
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11892.shtml
For the love of Egypt: When besieged Palestinians danced / Ramzy Baroud
Pal Chronicle 31 Mar — A dear friend of mine from Gaza told me that he hadn’t slept for days. “I am so worried about Egypt, I have only been feeding on cigarettes and coffee.” My friend and I talked for hours that day in early February. We talked about Tahrir Square, about the courage of ordinary Egyptians and about Hosni Mubarak’s many attempts to co-opt the people’s revolution. We were so consumed by the turmoil in Egypt that neither of us even mentioned Gaza.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16762
Dominici in Israel: Dispossession by law / Seraj Assi
31 Mar — Imagine you are an Israeli Arab. You receive a graduate fellowship in an American university. You set there in the campus cafeteria, meet with a Syrian or Lebanese colleague or friend, a fellow Arab who happens to share with you the same religion, nationality and language. You then return home for the summer vacation. You are arrested, stripped of your citizenship and expelled out of your homeland. This episode is not taken from a satirical novel. It is what the new Knesset law all about. The law already passed in its second and third reading. “Knesset passes law to strip terrorists of Israeli citizenship” was Haaretz headline. That is, not only does the law make dispossession and transfer of Palestinians legal, but also label the entire people terrorists.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16764
Shin Bet chiefs spearhead the occupation / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 31 Mar — …the Shin Bet, unlike its counterparts in the West, is involved in almost every aspect of our lives: from the granting of a security classifications of a large number of people to carrying out assassinations, from the bloated and ridiculous security detail it gives to our leaders to its operations tracking and pursuing left-wing and settlement activists. It decides who will be allowed to enter the country and who will be allowed to invest here. The Shin Bet state, which philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz prophesied, has already been with us for some time.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/shin-bet-chiefs-spearhead-the-occupation-1.353218
Go ask the Palestinians / Allegra Pacheco
Haaretz 1 Apr — The Imad Mughniyeh Group, affiliated with Hezbollah and Fatah, said it had ‘abandoned many attacks’ due to the presence of children … all the Palestinian people I have spoken with here in the West Bank who heard of the murders shake their heads and say how terrible they were (and none saw the pictures). And in the next breath they add, “and I’m sure it wasn’t a Palestinian who did this.” The murders were condemned by Palestinian militant groups, the political leadership and civil society. And yet the Israeli government has had a field day, accusing the Palestinian collective of incitement to murder and using the incident as a pretext to expand settlements — and to hold hostage the entire village of Awarta (over 5,000 people), adjacent to Itamar
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/go-ask-the-palestinians-1.353458?localLinksEnabled=false
Twilight Zone: Return to Shuk Hatikva / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 1 Apr — A great miracle happened here: Munir Dweik, our devoted taxi driver in Gaza, received a permit to visit Israel, for the first time in 18 years. [He had] spent his teen years working in the Hatikva quarter’s chicken market. This week he paid a return visit … His eyes light up again at the sight of the used taxi lots in south Tel Aviv. In Gaza, their cost is astronomical. If only he could take one of these with him. And if only he had listened to a friend in the market who told him he should get married then, in the 1980s, to an Israeli Arab woman, and get an Israeli ID card and stay here. If only he’d listened. The friend told him the day would come when Gaza would be completely closed off. But Munir couldn’t believe it: They’ll only keep the bad people out, not everyone. If only he’d listened to his friend … See you, Munir. When the madness is over.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/twilight-zone-return-to-shuk-hatikva-1.353503
Love song for Palestine / Roni Shaked
Ynet 31 Mar — Unlike the square uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the Palestinian protest in Bethlehem and other West Bank cities is more of a festival, featuring patriotic music, film and street performances. The women, most of whom do not wear the Hijab, dance with men side by side. The festive atmosphere and the lyrical slogans do not scream revolution. “We will pick the flower of unity,” one sigh read. “My homeland, your wonderful smell is dearer than my soul,” another announced. [an odd piece, flawed in many ways, but interesting]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4049873,00.html
Registering the diaspora to vote / Hugo van Randwyck
31 Mar — Palestinian youth are demanding unity, they have camped out in the squares of the West Bank and taken to the streets in Gaza. A coalition of organizations calling themselves March 15 drove the movements. What they were calling for was the election of a new Palestinian National Council, the supreme body of the PLO, and demanding the participation of Palestinians across the Middle East and in the wider diaspora. Many dismissed the demand as impossible, but I hold that there are mechanisms, and straightforward ones at that, which could make the idea a practical reality.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373432
Winning entries of first annual Israeli apartheid film contest / Rick Colbath-Hess
EI 1 Apr — A year ago, the Ramallah-based Stop the Wall campaign and itisapartheid.org began to collaborate on the first International Israeli Apartheid Short Film Contest. This contest encouraged the local Palestinian and larger international community to submit short films on the theme of Israeli apartheid. From the videos submitted, the top ten short films were chosen to be showcased on the website (www.itisapartheid.info).
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11889.shtml
Former official bemoans government’s disregard of Supreme Court / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 1 Apr — Human rights activist Yehudit Karp says discrimination against Arab communities in the field of education is just one example of a failure to enforce court rulings.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/former-official-bemoans-government-s-disregard-of-supreme-court-1.353406
1989: Israel protest song is born of three mothers / Yuval Ben-Ami
[with video clips] 972mag 31 Mar — In the midst of the first intifada, patriotism in Israel was on the rise. It was us (The Israeli military) against them (rioting Palestinians and the hostile international press). Few dared to challenge that axiom … Then, in the midst of 1989, three very different artists went on to redefine the Israeli protest song with great courage. All three of them were female singers, and all three got sharply criticized for taking a stand. Two of the three actually hurt their careers, and while they both recovered, the memory of drama stuck to their names … Listeners did not miss Alberstein’s point. She dared to reference the irony of the occupation being maintained by the nation that suffered the holocaust. That was an absolute first. The Israeli public was shocked.
http://972mag.com/1989-israeli-protest-song-is-born-of-three-mothers/
Book review: Waiting for redemption in “The Hour of Sunlight” / Raymond Deane
EI 30 Mar — The Hour of Sunlight chronicles the life of Sami Al Jundi, former supervisor of the Seeds of Peace Center in Jerusalem. But the book doesn’t deliver on its promise to show readers “the path to a resolution” of the conflict.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11887.shtml
Iraq
Thursday: 5 Iraqis killed, 14 wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in the latest violence. U.S. forces were involved in one incident that occurred when a bus driver couldn’t understand their commands. U.S. troops fired on a bus in Kirkuk, wounding a female student. A sticky bomb wounded two people. In Baghdad, a Katyusha rocket landed in Karrada where it killed one person and wounded three others; other rockets landed in the Green Zone. A university student was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded in Ghazaliya. Another sticky bomb was spotted on a car belonging to a B.O.C. member; it blew up a few minutes later without causing casualties….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/31/thursday-5-iraqis-killed-14-wounded/
Afghanistan
Two more Afghan civilians killed by NATO as toll mounts / Jason Ditz
AntiWar 31 Mar — Killings become embarrassingly common in recent weeks — …According to reports, NATO troops opened fire into traffic in Kandahar after a civilian car’s brakes failed near a checkpoint, which they assumed was a suicide attack. The hail of NATO bullets killed two teenage boys and wounded at least two others. Such attacks are becoming increasingly common under Gen. David Petraeus’ watch, and hardly a week goes by in which at least one incident of civilian killings by coalition troops is not reported.
http://news.antiwar.com/2011/03/31/two-more-afghan-civilians-killed-by-nato-as-toll-mounts/
What price an Afghan life? / Peter Singer
Guardian 1 Apr — If Nato treated all human life as of equal value when paying compensation it would change the face of the Afghan conflict … Thanks to a freedom of information request from the Guardian, we know how much the MoD has paid families when a member has been killed. Here are some examples: daughter hit by shrapnel from air-strike and later died of injuries, $1,000; mother killed during bombing, $5,000; two brothers and two sons killed by hellfire missile strike, $32,000. The variation in the figures is not explained, but in no case was more than $8,000 (about £5,000), paid for the loss of a single life. Now let’s take a look at the value of a British life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/01/afghan-life-nato
U.S.
NY court asserts jurisdiction for PLO bombings lawsuit
Ynet 1 Apr — A New York judge has concluded that he has jurisdiction to preside over litigation resulting from a lawsuit filed against the Palestine Liberation Organization by victims of bombings in Israel … The ruling came in a 2004 lawsuit that seeks up to $3 billion in damages as a result of attacks between January 2001 and February 2004.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050701,00.html
