Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank unite in mourning of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni
ISM 15 Apr — Palestinians across the Gaza strip and the West Bank will join today in mourning slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni. People will gather both in the Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhull, the unknown soldier park, in Gaza City. Mourners will be received by the ISM, local popular committees, and BDS and civil society activists.
Dismay and sorrow in hometown of Italian activist
Daily Star 15 Apr — MILAN, Italy: Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian abducted and killed by Al-Qaeda-aligned militants in the Gaza Strip, was an idealist from a small town near Milan whose residents heard the news with “dismay and sorrow.” Tattooed on his arms and with an eyebrow stud, Arrigoni came from Bulciago, a quiet town of some 2,700 inhabitants about 35 kilometers north of Milan where his mother is mayor. He had been in the Palestinian territories on and off for a decade. The 36-year-old, who often wore a black worker’s cap, identified himself as one of a community who unlike “governments complicit with the Zionist Israeli government are ready to devote their lives to come to embrace their brothers in Gaza.” His mother Egidia Beretta, who Arrigoni telephoned regularly, said they had spoken a few days earlier.
Friends of murdered Italian activist ‘devastated’
Ynet 15 Apr — The family and friends of the Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni, who was murdered by a radical Islamist group in Gaza early Friday, are devastated by his death, one of his friends told AFP. “The people who were close to him, as I was, are devastated and consumed by pain,” Maria Elena Delia said by telephone in Italy. Delia said rallies and gatherings were planned in Milan, Turin, Rome and Genoa on Friday, including a reading from Arrigoni’s book “Gaza, Stay Human” in Turin in the evening.
Hero of Gaza: Vittorio Arrigoni, kidnapped and murdered / Tim King and Bonnie King
…His life’s work is his legacy. It surpassed all boundaries. Vittorio Arrigoni has helped an endless list of Palestinian people over the years and his work has led to a great deal of exposure of the treatment of Palestinians under the Israeli occupation. As the world moves toward a real understanding of the reality of Gaza; Israeli snipers, constant fear and attacks on civilians from the Israeli military, Vittorio Arrigoni was a bright light. He was close to our friend and fellow writer Ken O’Keefe, and loved by thousands, perhaps millions. [links to his writings for Salem-News at end of article]
Vik: a friend, a brother, a humanist / Eva Bartlett
15 Apr / Stay human, he always said. And so was the title of his book on the Israeli massacre of Gaza in 2008-2009. Stay human. Viks blog, Guerrilla Radio, gave voice to Palestinians who have strong voices but are denied the microphone. During the Israeli war on Gaza, we all worked together, riding in ambulances, documenting the martyred and the wounded, the vast majority (over 83%) civilian. Vik was always on the phone, Italian media taking his words and printing them for the public to see … Vik, my brother, allah yerhamek, bless you for your humanity and your great contribution to Palestinian justice. I will miss you, your smile, your humble, fun personality. Yatikalafia ya Vitorrio.
From the place he loved, in memory of Vittorio / Mohammed Rabah Suliman
“Ween?” (the Arabic for ‘where’) was the first thing Vittorio ever asked me. He was looking for my phone number and sent me a FB message titled, “ween?” Today I ask him the same question: “ween?” I can’t think of one reason that would make a “Palestinian” kill someone like Vittorio. A man who dedicated his life to fight injustice. A man who abandoned the luxury of Rome and came to one of the most turbulent regions in the world in order to expose Israeli atrocities committed against Palestinians. A man on whose right arm, the Arabic word for resistance ‘Moqawama’ was brilliantly tattooed in big words. A hero in whose eyes there was a whole lot of unmistakable meanings of profound love, loyalty, hope, sacrifice, truth and courage.
Remembering Vik / Jeff Halper
ICAHD 15 Apr — Less than two weeks after losing another friend and comrade, Juliano Mer-Khamis, I now have to mourn and remember my fellow Free Gaza shipmate Vittorio (Vik) Arrigoni, who was brutally murdered last night by religious extremists in Gaza (and who actually resembled Juliano, physically, in his buoyant personality and in his insistence on “being there” when the oppressed needed him).
Gaza’s symbolic funeral for Vittorio Arrigoni – in pictures
Palestinians take part in a symbolic funeral for Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza City & Ramallah April 15, 2011.
Storify: Vittorio Arrigoni murdered by jihadists in Gaza
Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras has aggregated tweets about this news on Storify
Vittorio Arrigoni – Hero of Palestine
15 Apr — Palestinians and international solidarity activists around the world are collectively mourning the shocking death of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian journalist and solidarity activist. Arrigoni was also an occasional contributor to The Electronic Intifada (see “Gaza’s record-breaking children,” 16 August 2010 and “No words to console Gaza child after mother is killed by Israeli shelling,” 26 July 2010).
Gaza: Stay Human by Vittorio Arrigoni
“An authoritative and deeply moving eyewitness account of the terrible twenty-two-day Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009. These daily dispatches were written in precarious conditions, between bombing raids and intermittent Internet access. Vittorio Arrigoni ends his dispatches with the plea “stay human,” which became the motto of the peace protests in his native Italy. This English translation is updated with new entries reflecting on life in Gaza after the offensive and also features an introduction by famous Israeli historian Ilan Pappé.” [“Only 9 left in stock–order soon (more on the way).” Or get it elsewhere.]
STAY HUMAN … Freedom Flotilla renames voyage in honor of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni
Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) 15 Apr — The next flotilla of boats that will set sail to break the siege of Gaza will be named FREEDOM FLOTILLA — STAY HUMAN in memory of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian activist and volunteer who was murdered Tuesday by an extremist group in the Gaza Strip. ‘Vik’, 36, was a passenger on the first small flotilla that broke the siege in 2008, and has lived and volunteered in the blockaded region off and on ever since.
Haniyeh orders swift investigation after Italian activist murdered
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — The premier of Hamas’ government has ordered its interior ministry to immediately open a criminal investigation leading to the killers of an Italian peace activist abducted by extremists in Gaza. The government will consider Vittorio a Palestinian martyr and name a street after him, he said. Hamas officials said Haniyeh called Arrigoni’s mother to express his and his government’s condolences for the death of her son. He explained the efforts the government is making to prosecute those responsible. The killers will be brought to justice “as soon as possible” to deter any similar crime, he said. Arrigoni’s mother thanked Haniyeh for the call and appreciated his efforts, the officials said. Security forces will increase protection to members of the international solidarity campaigns to break the siege, and the government called on them to continue their efforts until the siege is lifted.
Hamas condemns murder of Italian ISM activist
GAZA (PIC) 15 Apr …Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement on Friday morning that the aim of the responsible group is to bring back security chaos to the Gaza Strip, to spoil the atmosphere of internal security that has prevailed in the Gaza Strip and to damage popular solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially the international solidarity with the besieged Gaza Strip. Barhoum added that the aims of this outlawed group are harmonious with the aims of the enemies of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.
Hamas official hints Israel killed Italian activist to intimidate future Gaza flotilla members
AP&Haaretz 15 Apr — Hamas indirectly accused Israel on Friday of engineering the killing of an Italian Palestinian peace activist in Gaza in order to intimidate other foreign activists hoping to sail to Gaza as part of the next flotilla. “Such an awful crime cannot take place without arrangements between all the parties concerned to keep the blockade imposed on Gaza,” Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said at a rally held by the group to honor executed Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni.
Abbas: Murder of activist ‘grotesque, disgraceful’
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 15 Apr – President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday strongly denounced the killing of an Italian peace activist in Gaza as a “grotesque and disgraceful crime,” the official Palestinian Authority news agency reported … “This disgraceful crime is against the values of our people who are struggling to gain freedom and independence,” Abbas said, adding that Arrigoni was a supporter of the Palestinian cause. The president extended his condolences to Arrigoni’s family and praised the role international peace activists played in defending Palestinians’ legitimate national rights. Abbas’ Fatah party also condemned the killing as a terrorist crime and “an act of betrayal,” which served only Palestinians’ enemies. “This kind of crime is alien to the Palestinians,” Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf said, adding that respect for human dignity was at the core of Palestinians’ moral values.
Salafi leader: Islam prohibits murder
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Salafi leader Iyad Ash-Shami said Friday that Salafi groups were not involved in the murder of an Italian activist in the Gaza Strip. The killing of Vittorio Arrigoni “had nothing to do with Islam,” he said, adding that Salafi groups and scholars all agreed that the killing of any man was prohibited … Salafi radicals were suspected of kidnapping Arrigoni, last seen alive in a video posted online Thursday. The kidnappers identified themselves in the video as belonging to a previously unknown group called The Brigade of the Gallant Companion of the Prophet Mohammed bin Muslima.
Salafi faction ‘not involved’ in murder of Italian activists
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — The Salafi faction At-Tawheed wa Al-Jihad on Friday denied involvement in the abduction and murder of an Italian peace activist in Gaza … “But we affirm that what happened is a natural outcome of the policy of the [Hamas] government carried out against the Salafi,” the group added …Hamas security forces have in recent years taken a hard line against Salafists in Gaza. There are five major Salafist groups in Gaza, all of which espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the early days of the faith. [as if Islam in the time of the Prophet had been anything like them … the Prophet stressed moderation in all things]
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Only 6 houses without demolition order in Aqaba
[with video & photos] JVS 15 Apr — Today April the 8th, some volunteers from the Jordan Valley Solidarity, with other internationals and Israeli activists, visited Al Aqaba village where some homes and roads were demolished yesterday. Neighbors from Al Aqba told the activists some of their histories about demolitions and lands grab. Later the volunteers visited the mayor of the village where there is a population of 400 inhabitants. The major is a disabled person in a wheel chair, because he received three shots from an Israeli soldier. The mayor confirmed that all of the buildings and any sort of built thing on the surface of Al Aqaba, except 6 houses, have demolition orders. That means schools, hospital, clinic, kindergarten, roads, streets, pillars [?], shelters, pens and the mosque. Everything.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=228:only-6-houses-without-demolition-order-in-al-aqaba&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Israel harasses communities in the Jordan Valley
JVS 15 Apr — Fasayil: The Bedouin community located between upper Fasayil and lower Fasayil has been issued with 9 demolition orders. They went to military court in Bet El on the 10th of March and were told they had until the 10th April to leave. This means the demolitions could happen any day from now on.
Al Hadidiya: Al Hadidya, in the north of the Jordan Valley, is accessed via two roads. One leads from the community of Mak-hul, and the other passes through the gates of the local settlement Roi. Yesterday, settlers diverted their sewage across the road from Mak-hul, rendering the road unusable for the Palestinians living in Al Hadidya.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:israel-harass-communities-in-the-jordan-valley-&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Lydd residents protest home demolitions
EI 14 Apr — The Electronic Intifada attended a demonstration against home demolitions in Lydd on Tuesday night, 12 April. The demonstration was part of regular weekly protests against the increasing ghettoization of the heavily-segregated Palestinian areas of the city, which is located southeast of Tel Aviv. The weekly protest have been held since the December 2010 demolition of seven homes belonging to the Abu Eid family.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11914.shtml
Israel approves 1,842 new settlers’ homes in southern Jerusalem
Jerusalem – PNN 15 Apr — The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee announced new plans on Thursday to build 900 new houses in the settlement of Gilo, located between the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and nearby Jerusalem, just one day after uprooting 942 houses in the same settlement on Wednesday. After those two approved plans, Gilo settlement would expand on its southern side by 1,842 houses at the expense of the nearby village of al-Walajeh.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9898&Itemid=64
Israeli forces seize control of territory in ‘Anin near the Apartheid Wall
MEMO 15 Apr – On Thursday 14 April, Israeli occupation forces confiscated a large area of land from the village of ‘Anin in the Jenin governorate of the northern West Bank; they then leveled it, and erected two control towers. Palestinian eyewitnesses said that a large force of Israeli troops, accompanied by bulldozers and heavy machinery, stormed the village of ‘Anin and started razing vast areas of land located along the Apartheid Wall, which is built on territory belonging to the village. The occupation forces have constructed two surveillance towers, believed to be part of the system for monitoring the movement of Palestinian civilians in the vicinity of the wall. About a month ago, the Israeli occupation authorities seized control of more than six hundred acres owned by the people of ‘Anin and other villages in east Jenin to expand the Apartheid Wall.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2247-israeli-forces-seize-control-of-territory-in-anin-near-the-apartheid-wall
Video: Soldiers ignore settlers throwing stones
Ynet 14 Apr — Video handed to B’Tselem shows Itzhar settlers throwing rocks at Palestinians; soldiers standing aside. Itzhar spokesperson slams video as ‘blood libel’; IDF claims was not given opportunity to investigate incident
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4057166,00.html
Gaza
Israel may let new flotilla reach Gaza
IrishTimes 14 Apr – Israel is considering allowing the Freedom Flotilla 2, due to sail next month, to reach Gaza, to prevent a repeat of last summer’s clash between flotilla participants and Israeli forces. A document drawn up by the foreign ministry in Jerusalem and presented to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested as one option allowing the vessels to reach Gaza without interference. Such a scenario, it was argued, would not undermine the legality of Israel’s naval blockade imposed on the Hamas-controlled strip. As proof, foreign ministry officials noted that when Ehud Olmert was prime minister several vessels were permitted to reach Gaza.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0414/breaking6.html
Israel allows 120 truckloads of goods into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — Israel agreed to open one border crossing into Gaza on Friday for the limited entry of aid, goods and cooking gas, Palestinian officials said … Israel closed crossings into Gaza for a week in April, devastating the commercial sector and threatening a fuel crisis. On Thursday, fuel company official Mahmoud Al-Khazendar said the reopening of Kerem Shalom on Tuesday had not averted the crisis. Only 80 tons of cooking gas had entered the coastal enclave, while Gaza residents needed 200-300 tons per day, Al-Khazendar said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378885
Israel army: 2 Grad rockets strike Ashdod
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — Two Grad rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Friday afternoon, the Israeli army said, in the first major attack since the start of a new ceasefire.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=379043
Insects in disguise / Yasmeen El Khoudary
EI 13 Apr — At least with flies and mosquitoes, which you wrongfully accused, you can use your palm or spray some insecticide. But what can you do about a drone that buzzes unreachably above your head, 24/7? At night, the drone always keeps you company. It buzzes you with a never-ending lullaby and it invades your dreams (that is, if you’re able to sleep despite its awful, nonstop buzzing) … What is it that this drone really wants? Spy on our spectacular lives, or teach us life lessons by moving the whole population of Gaza out of its besieged “comfort zone” and into a besieged “anxiety zone,” constantly watched over by Big Brother? In Gaza, we call the drone zannana, which has two meanings: “buzzer” and “nagger.”
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11911.shtml
Woman killed in Gaza air strike was anticipating wedding
Photo: The chairs that Nidal and Najah Qdeih were sitting in when they were killed in an air strike. (Rami Almeghari) EI 14 Apr — Around midday last Friday, Ibrahim Qdeih was chatting with his daughters and wife about preparations underway for his daughter Nidal’s wedding later this month. Those plans would be forever disrupted after an Israeli missile hit their house, taking the lives of Ibrahim’s wife, Najah, and daughter, Nidal. “I was set to go to the Friday sermon [at the mosque] and it was about 12:15pm, when my daughter Nidal was talking to me about the final touches for her wedding party. By then, electricity was cut off and my wife Najah and my daughters Nidal, Neda and Fida, all moved to rest a bit on these chairs,” Qdeih explained, standing near a crater left by the fatal missile strike next to his modest, rural home in al-Faraheen, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11915.shtml
Detention
Teenage girl released from prison: Awarta
ISM 15 Apr — Late on Thursday afternoon sixteen year old Julia Manzen Awwad arrived back to the village of Awarta, following her release from Israeli military prison. She had been detained for five days after being arrested by force during an army raid on her family home in the early hours of Sunday morning. Upon arrest Julia was taken blindfolded and bound by her wrists and ankles to the military base at Huwwara, where she was detained for a night. She was then transferred to a military prison. During her detention Julia was denied basic human rights and prevented from contacting either her family or a lawyer. Instead she was confined to a dark room and intensively interrogated about the murders of the Fogel family at Itamar, the nearby illegal settlement. Julia described being woken at regular intervals and asked the same questions repeatedly. Confused and frightened she answered that she knew nothing, only to be met with aggressive retorts accusing her of lying … At times she was not even allowed to use the toilet. Prior to her release Julia was coerced into signing a document she could not understand and had wires attached to various parts of her body during a lie detector test.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17741/
Detainee’s father dies without seeing son
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — The father of a Palestinian detained in Israel died Thursday without seeing his son for over four years, a detainees center reported. Israel refused to allow Salem Al-Bardini to visit his son Tayseer, who has been held in Israel prisons since 1994. Tayseer Al-Bardini was accused of killing an Israeli settler in Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel has banned Gaza residents from visiting their relatives in prison in Israel since militants in Gaza captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid in 2006.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378897
University student arrested in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — Israel’s army arrested a student in the West Bank city of Hebron while he was leaving the Polytechnic Univ. An army jeep arrested Ala Muhammad Abdalla Al-Atawneh, 20, after checking his ID card.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378803
Hamas: PA detained 6 affiliates
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — Hamas on Friday accused the Palestinian Authority of detaining six party members across the West Bank overnight … A group of protesters demanding national unity have been on hunger strike in Ramallah since March 26 calling on the Hamas-run Gaza government and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to release all political detainees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378927
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Two arrested at Al Ma‘asara demonstration
PSP 15 Apr — One Israeli and one international solidarity activist were arrested in the village of Al Ma‘asara during the village’s weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation and annexation barrier.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/04/15/two-arrested-at-al-maasara-demonstration/
TEDx Ramallah: Don’t miss it / Yousef Munayyer
One of the main objectives of this blog is to bring Palestinian narratives to the forefront. An event taking place tomorrow is going to be doing just that, and is well worth checking out. TEDx Ramallah is an all day event of inspirational speakers and presentations that will link Palestinians all around the world … In a break from the conventional format, TEDxRamallah will be taking place in three venues in three cities simultaneously – in Bethlehem, Amman and Beirut – to enable as wide an audience as possible to participate in the groundbreaking event. A total of 20 universally talented but widely diverse speakers are confirmed to speak
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/04/tedx-ramallah-dont-miss-it.html
US campus activists facing increased repression / Marwa Katbi
EI 13 Apr — USC is not the only campus where solidarity activists have experienced disturbing attempts deny their First Amendment rights. Eleven Muslim students at the University of California Irvine are currently facing criminal charges for disrupting a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren. The FBI has issued subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury to several Palestine solidarity activists in the Midwest, some of them students, threatening their right to free speech and engaging in what some are calling a witch hunt. The context of this repression is the growing success of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, which is challenging Israeli apartheid and its supporters in the US.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11912.shtml
San Francisco college backs out of Palestinian rights meeting
SAN FRANCISCO 14 Apr — Faculty at the University of California, Hastings law school are criticizing the university’s decision to cancel a speech by its dean and pull its name from a Palestinian rights conference following complaints by Jewish groups. Nearly all of the school’s tenured professors signed a letter to UC Hastings’ board of directors last week protesting its decision to back out of the conference, which focused on using courts to promote Palestinians’ rights. The conference took place on the school’s campus in San Francisco in March. University officials said that Jewish groups, including the Jewish Community Relations Council, complained the conference was one-sided and against Israel.
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?type=lnews&title=S.F.%20college%20backs%20out%20of%20Palestinian%20rights%20meeting&id=156593
Political news
US Senate urges UN to rescind Goldstone’s Gaza report
Haaretz 15 Apr –Resolution 138 passes unanimously, calls on members of Human Rights Council to ‘reflect the author’s repudiation off the Goldstone report’s central findings’, and asks UN chief Ban to ‘do all in his power to redress the damage to Israel’s reputation’.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-senate-urges-un-to-rescind-goldstone-s-gaza-report-1.356124
Other news
PCHR weekly report Apr 7-13
15 Apr — Last week’s Israeli military attacks killed 18 Palestinians, according to the weekly report of the Palestinian Center of Human Rights … Additionally, 38 civilians, including 14 children, a woman and two paramedics, and 4 resistance activists were wounded. In the West Bank, PCHR says Israeli troops wounded two Palestinian civilians and an international human rights defender … During the reporting period, PCHR reported documented at least 58 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank by Israeli forces, during which they arrested 37 Palestinian civilians, including 8 children and two women.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9903&Itemid=63
Palestinians inaugurate first West Bank international soccer stadium
RAMALLAH (dpa) 15 Apr — The first international soccer stadium in the West Bank was inaugurated yesterday, with French international star Lilian Thuram making the first kick. The French- and German-funded stadium in al-Birah, a suburb of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, has 9,000 seats and cost more than 1.1 million euros, said a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/palestinians-inaugurate-first-west-bank-international-soccer-stadium-1.356064
Rabbi asks Arabs not to sell chametz
Ynet 15 Apr – Akko’s Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar has asked the imam of the al-Jazar Mosque, Sheikh Samir Asi, to instruct Arab business owners in the Old City to avoid selling chametz (leavened food) to Jews during the Passover holiday. The sheikh has agreed to do so.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4057199,00.html
Analysis / Opinion / Interviews / Reviews
You have the right to remain occupied / Yousef Munayyer
14 Apr — Last week a number of white students were found dead in a dorm room at Columbia University in New York. The police arrived on the scene and the mayor soon declared that he would stop at nothing to find the black murderer. Shortly thereafter, the army was called in and the neighboring Harlem neighborhood, where it was claimed the alleged perpetrator must have came from or fled to, was encircled and besieged. Raids were conducted in each apartment and home, dwellings were ransacked and property destroyed. Hundreds of blacks were detained, many were DNA tested and finger printed. This continued for a month, day in and day out, but no charges were made against any suspects. If you haven’t already guessed, this is a fictional story. Such things should never occur in a functioning democracy with rule of law, civil rights and due process. But something very similar is happening to a Palestinian village called Awarta at the hands of a state that claims to be “the only democracy in the Middle East.”
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/04/you-have-right-to-remain-occupied.html
Walking the wall: comedian Mark Thomas interviewed / Kevin Squires
EI 13 Apr — Last month, Mark Thomas, the English “activist-comedian,” was in Dublin performing his new live show Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel’s Barrier. For Fun. The show (and accompanying book and film) has its sights trained on Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank. Thomas recounts his experiences of walking its full 723 kilometer route — from detentions by the Israeli military, to encounters with Palestinians from all walks of life, to conversations with settlers and officials.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11913.shtml
‘Tears of Gaza’ — lest our tears dry up / Susan Abulhawa
‘Tears of Gaza’ by Vibeke Lokkerberg is a documentary film that should be watched by every American, to see how Israel spends our taxes. Every European should watch it, to see the true face of Israel. It should be viewed by every Arab, to renew our resolve not to allow a racist nation to wipe Palestine and her children from the map and from history. I had read the stories from Gaza after Israel’s so-called “Operation Cast Lead”. I had read the reports. I thought I had cried enough then not to cry again. But this film went to my heart,
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16800
Iraq
Hope of Iraqi family’s new life dashed on the rocks of Australian island
13 Apr — SYDNEY // Members of the Ibrahimy family paid more than $30,000 and travelled nearly 10,000 kilometres from Iran for what they hoped would be a life of opportunity in Australia. “They came so close, but they never made it,” said a grief-stricken Madian el Ibrahimy, whose wife, Zman, 24, and their two children, Nzar, 4, and 8-month-old Zahra, were killed when the people-smuggler boat they were travelling in smashed against rocks at the foot of Christmas Island cliffs. Mr el Ibrahimy, 27, had taken the same route to Australia six months earlier. A stateless Iraqi whose family was deported to Iran nearly 30 years ago, he was in detention on Christmas Island when he learnt that Zman and the children had perished on their way to join him.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/hopes-of-iraqi-familys-new-life-dashed-on-the-rocks-of-australian-island
Thursday: 3 Iraqis killed, 32 wounded
At least three Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Also, the U.N. confirmed a significant number of fatalities stemming from last week’s raid on an Iranian dissident camp in Diyala. In Baghdad, three soldiers were wounded in a blast in al-Liqaa Square. A bomb wounded three at a Zaafaraniya barber shop. Three civilians were wounded in a blast in Zeraa Dejla. A former Ba’athist was arrested and charged with murder; he may have been a recruiter. A jailbreak was thwarted at Rusafa Prison. Two people were killed and 13 more were wounded in a double bombing in Yusufiya. In Mosul, a sticky bomb planted on a door killed a woman and wounded her husband….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/14/thursday-3-iraqis-killed-32-wounded/
