and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Israeli forces raid family home following arrest of son
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 13 Apr — Israeli forces stormed the Sheyuki family home in Silwan today, following the arrest of Muath Sheyuki yesterday. Troops entered the house by force, searching its contents and confiscating clothes belonging to Muath, claiming that they had been worn by Muath during clashes with the police the day before. Muath’s mother stated that when Israeli troops could not find the yellow shirt for which they searched, they took one belonging to his sister instead. Sheyuki, 18, was arrested by Israeli forces yesterday while washing a friend’s car
http://silwanic.net/?p=14718
Settler aggression against Palestinian children in Hebron
AIC 13 Apr — On Wednesday 6th April, a kindergarten in the Old City of Hebron was attacked by Israeli settlers. Four settlers arrived at the kindergarten with dogs, threatening the children from behind the fence. The 5-year-old children were frightened by the barking of the dogs and the shouting of the settlers, and many of them were in a state of shock following the attack. The Palestine Red Crescent Society was immediately called, but the Israeli soldiers who control the area stopped the ambulance. Doctors and nurses were forced to reach the kindergarten by foot, thus delaying assistance to the children.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3521-settler-aggression-against-palestinian-children-in-hebron
Settler hits Palestinian child with car in Hebron
Hebron – PNN 13 Apr — A five-year old Palestinian girl sustained moderate wounds when an Israeli settler hit her with his car in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday. Doctors at Hebron city hospital that Haala Addees arrived at the hospital with bruises and broken limbs and tire marks on her body. Witnesses said that the settler hit the child in Hebron’s old city centre and then fled the scene. Pedestrians rushed her to the hospital upon seeing the incident.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9891&Itemid=64
Aqaba: the crime of existing / Adam Keller
12 Apr — …Why are the authorities bothered so much by the existence of a tiny village, of which the majority of Israeli citizens have never heard? Never was an official answer given. One may only speculate that it may have started in some way with Yigal Alon, a senior minister in the government of Israeli at the aftermath of 1967, who came up with the idea that Israel should permanently keep the Jordan Valley and settle it with as many Israeli Jews as were willing to go there and discourage in every possible way the presence of Arabs there. The village of Aqabah is unfortunate to be situated on the very edge of the Jordan Valley. If it were gotten rid of, the area earmarked for Israeli annexation plans would become that much wider… Alon is long dead, but the plan that he laid down is still alive and kicking. Very painfully kicking, at times.
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com/2011/04/aqaba-crime-of-existing.html
Gaza
Gaza crossing open after 7 days of closure
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Apr — After seven days of closure, Israeli officials informed their Palestinian counterparts that a single terminal would be opened Wednesday for the import of goods into the coastal enclave. Palestinian liaison officer Raed Fattouh told Ma‘an that after the significant period of closure, 260 loads of commercial goods and humanitarian aid, including a limited shipment of cooking gas would be transferred into Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378229
Israeli warplanes launch mock raids on Gaza
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Apr — Israeli warplanes launched a series of mock raids on various areas in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The mock raids spread fears among the populace especially after the Israeli massacres that killed 19 people and injured dozens a few days ago.
In another context, Israeli occupation forces stormed the village of Deit Estiye near Salfit city and roamed its streets then set up a roadblock at its entrance searching all those entering into or getting out of it.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Barak: ‘IDF is strong enough to conquer Gaza’
13 Apr — Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Channel 2 News’ Facebook page that the IDF is strong enough to conquer Gaza, but that Israel does not need to launch a new attack. “If we need to, we will act even more intensely than in the previous round in Operation Cast Lead,” Barak said. “As long as we don’t need to [attack], we won’t.”
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=216470
From Libya, Palestinians return home to Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17:03 — One hundred and ten Palestinians who were stuck in Libya entered the Gaza Strip via Egypt Wednesday, weeks after fighting between pro and anti-government forces turned Libya into a battleground. The group, who had been living in Libya, includes Palestinian passport holders and their family members, as well as those who have verified travel documents but no Palestinian national identification number.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378237
Strikes paralyze UNRWA facilities in Gaza Strip
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Apr — Strikes have paralyzed the facilities of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip after the agency refused to answer to the demands of its staff. The strike included schools where around half a million Gaza children are taught and health clinics serving around a million Palestinians after several partial strikes took place over the past few days.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
As Israelis celebrate / Reuven Pedatzur
13 Apr — The joy around the success of the Iron Dome missile defense system is a bit premature and to a large extent misplaced … Let’s start with the financial angle. The cost of intercepting each rocket is so high that all the Palestinians need to do is keep firing more and more of their cheaply made rockets, and within a relatively short time they will deplete the stockpiles of Israel’s anti-projectile missiles – each of which costs an estimated $100,000.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/as-israelis-celebrate-1.355657
Resilience in the green fields of Gaza / Rana Baker
EI 11 Apr — …Yamen suggested that we visit the al-Najjar family, a family that has so many stories to tell and whose house lies really close to the boundary. The al-Najjars live in a small stone house next to a green field with a front door riddled with bullet-sized holes. From here too, one could see the Israeli watchtower … We explained that we were there to document the story of their village and convey their messages to the world. Wafaa, a member of the family, appeared a while later. She told us her story. She is 16 years old and was shot in her knee two years ago just after Israel’s 22-day attacks on Gaza in the winter of 2008-09. “I was going to school when they shot me. I was 14 years old. I know I can walk but I wish I could run like I used to before,” she said.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11903.shtml
Children and youth under fire in Gaza: two killed and more than ten injured
[with photos] ISM 13 Apr — On Friday April 8th at approximately 5.30 pm a drone dropped a bomb on a group of children and young people who were playing football next to a school in the Al-Shuja‘iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, near the border. People hurried to come to the rescue of the injured when a second bomb hit the exact same place. A child and a young man were killed, while 10 more civilians were injured, including a paramedic and six children. It took a day to identify the brutally dismembered body of a young man after initially only a headless body was found. It belonged to 23 year old Bilal Mohammed Al A‘arer.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17595/
We left Gaza City early…
ISM 13 Apr — We left Gaza city early; we were going to Faraheen, a small village near the buffer zone to help farmers plant peppers. Israel has declared a 300 meter ‘buffer zone’ along the entire border with Gaza. What does the buffer zone mean? Simply, that Israel will shoot anyone who approaches within 300 meters of the border. They don’t really have rulers though; usually they don’t even have soldiers. Just remote control guns controlled by teenage conscripts in the basement of a military base somewhere, maybe an office park, maybe the soldiers telecommute, that would be more convenient for them. For the soldiers, it is basically a video game, push a button on your mouse, and shoot a farmer … The thunder finally reached us just as we finished planting the last of the peppers. It was loud, somewhere in Faraheen. We hadn’t noticed any Apaches in the air, but the noise of the drones had become like background noise — always there. The men took me to my friend’s house. Faraheen was on the news. The younger children were afraid of the bombing, but a bit excited to see their village on the news. The excitement didn’t last. Etufa, the oldest daughter came into the room. She had just heard that a friend of hers had been killed in the bombing. The room grew silent. Etufa went to her room to cry.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17580/
Killings haunt Gaza City graveyard families
13 Apr — GAZA CITY: Bloodstains can still be seen on the graves in Sheja‘iya cemetery just days after a deadly Israeli raid, showing that even the dead cannot rest in peace in the war-torn Gaza district. Israel says the raid, which killed two people at dusk on Friday, targeted Palestinians firing rockets … Shortly after the graveyard was struck, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad announced that Raeir was one of their activists who had been killed after he fired a missile at an Israeli position. The Israeli military subsequently posted air force footage of the graveyard showing shadows moving around the cemetery with a tubular object — what they said was a rocket launcher … “We have a housing crisis here,” said Jaru. “When we need to build, we look at the date on the graves, and if they are very old and all that’s inside is dust, we clear them.” Signs of life among the dead are all around, with rubbish littering the ground around the graves, and washing lines strung between the headstones.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=41267&Cat=1&dt=4/13/2011
Video: Gaza rockets fired from civilian centers
Ynet 12 Apr — Hamas’ military wing releases videos showing Qassam rockets being fired from residential areas confirming IDF claims … [can’t imagine why they don’t just use their many dedicated air bases]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055975,00.html
Gaza filmmakers overcome chaos
12 Apr — University students complete the first action film made in Gaza, Fawda (Arabic for chaos), in spite of a lack of proper equipment and funding. ‘This film has nothing to do with the Palestinian cause … our aim was to do something different.”
http://gulfnews.com/gntv/arts/gaza-filmmakers-overcome-chaos-1.791095
UNRWA hopes for big crowds at 1st-ever Gaza marathon
JPost 13 Apr — Fortunately for the marathon planners, the Strip is almost exactly the length of a marathon, at around 42 kilometers from north to south … the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees is hoping that the coastal territory will bring hundreds — if not thousands — to take part in the first-ever Gaza Marathon on May 5. The marathon is being held largely as a fundraiser for UNRWA’s 5th annual summer games.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=216361
World Bank grants $3 million for Gaza water and sanitation
13 Apr — The FINANCIAL — Washington. The World Bank on April 12 approved a grant of $3 million to the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility to fund cost overruns in the implementation of a $31 million project to improve access and delivery of water and sanitation services to people in the Gaza Strip.
http://finchannel.com/news_flash/Banks/85257_World_Bank_Grants_$3_Million_for_Gaza_Water_and_Sanitation/
Awarta
Notes from visit to West Bank village of Awarta / Yaacov Manor
AIC 13 Apr — …The mother of the family, Shama and the children Majd, 14 years old and Alaa, 6 years old, who were not detained, related that the army’s invasion of their home began at 4am and ended around 11am. Family members were dragged out of their beds and not permitted to bring warm clothing or blankets. A soldier who saw the little girl trying to shield herself from the cold ripped the blanket away from her. Alaa relates that “they took my blanket and I was very cold and afraid, and waited outside until the soldiers left.” Majd notes that “I was handcuffed, my eyes were covered and they beat me. All in all I’m a little boy, what did I do wrong?” The father of the family, Mahmoud, 45 years old, the son Majdi, aged 20, a third year university student and the son Amjad, 19 years old, a first year university student and the son Hakhem, 17 years old, were detained. Their cousin Ayman, 21 years old, was also detained. The mother claims that soldiers took 2,500 Jordanian dinars from a drawer and 5 mobile phones. The mother looked broken, in shock and in deep grief. The fear and terror had not yet left her eyes.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3519-notes-from-visit-to-west-bank-village-of-awarta-
Detention
IOF arrests 14 including children
WEST BANK, (PIC) 13 Apr — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested 14 Palestinians including minors during raids sweeping the West Bank Wednesday morning. The majority of those arrests took place in Jerusalem province, where the IOF arrested five Palestinians, among them two children and a minor, sources said. Arrests were also reported in the provinces of Nablus, Al-Khalil, and Bethlehem. Among those arrested was a 61-year-old man while he was near his home near the Kiryat Arba settlement east of Al-Khalil city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2B
6 arrested in Beit Ommar night raid
PSP 13 Apr — On the night of Monday, April 11th, military forces entered the village of Beit Ommar and arrested the following six residents: Sofian Fathi Awwad, 21; Hisham Fathi Sabarnh, 18; Ahmed Abd-Allah Abu Ayyash, 16; Mershed Khadr Zidan Sabarnh, 41; Oda Mahmoud Awwad, 21; Mahmoud Khader Sabarnh, 17. No reason was given for their arrests. Each of the six has been arrested and jailed prior to this incident.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/04/13/5-arrested-in-beit-ommar-night-raid/
Palestinian MPs sentenced to extra six months without indictment
NABLUS, (PIC) 13 Apr — Israel extended Tuesday night the prison terms of Palestinian lawmakers Hatem Qufeisha and Omar al-Barghouti by six months to be served in administrative detention without an indictment, the Tadhamon human rights group in the West Bank reported… Israel is holding 13 members of the PLC, the most recent of whom is MP Mohammed Mahir Badr, who was detained about two weeks back,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IPS moves Abu Sisi to an isolation cell
GAZA, (PIC) 13 Apr — The Israel prison service (IPS) moved Palestinian detainees Dirar Abu Sisi and Murad Abu Rikab to isolation cells, the information department at the ministry of prisoners in Gaza said on Wednesday. It said in a statement that the Eshel prison administration informed Abu Sisi, the operations manager of Gaza electricity station who was abducted by Israeli agents from the Ukraine almost two months ago, that he would be moved to solitary confinement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IDF judge: Unnecessary extension of Palestinian remands borders on illegal / Amira Hass
Haaretz 12 Apr — According to the law, a Palestinian may be detained for up to eight days before being brought before a judge; judge reprimanded police for habitually extending Palestinian suspects’ remands.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-judge-unnecessary-extension-of-palestinian-remands-borders-on-illegal-1.355418
Report: Hamas mulls sending Shalit tape
Ynet 13 Apr — Al-Risala reports Red Cross agents have requested additional videotape of kidnapped soldier ahead of Passover. Politburo chief Khaled Mashaal considering complying, ‘but for this Israel must pay price,’ says source … For the previous tape sent by Shalit’s abductors, in October of 2009, Israel released 19 Palestinian prisoners held in its jails.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056206,00.html
Senior Israeli security chiefs urge release of Hamas men in Shalit deal
NAZARETH, (PIC) 12 Apr — Former Israeli security chiefs have called on the Prime Minister Netanyahu to finalize the Shalit deal by freeing Hamas’s men detained in Israeli prisons. Shalit was captured by Palestinian resistance forces in a cross border raid from the Gaza Strip into Palestinian lands occupied in 1948. Those forces are demanding that the Israeli occupation release some 1,400 of its men, women and children from its jails. Former Shin Bet chief Ya’akov Perry said during a press conference by some of Israel’s senior security and military chiefs that Israel has enough intelligence and military capabilities to deal with those released in the deal if they return to the practice of “terrorism.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Racism / Discrimination
Haaretz editorial: Israel’s Arabs are partners, not enemies
12 Apr — Forty-five years after the military regime within the Green Line was revoked, public officials and state authorities continue to treat the Arab minority in Israel as a suspicious group of second-class citizens.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-arabs-are-partners-not-enemies-1.355461
EU turns blind eye to Palestinian citizens in Israel / David Cronin
EI 12 Apr — … When I asked Ashton’s spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic why EU representatives never utter the words “Israel” and “apartheid” in the same sentence, she replied that “Israel is a democratic country and a partner of the European Union. Human right issues and possible shortcomings in this respect are discussed in the regular dialogue we have with the Israeli authorities.” Israeli historian and political dissident Ilan Pappe disagrees with Kocijanic’s assessment. In an interview published earlier this month by New Internationalist magazine Pappe explained that “Israel is what we in political science call a herrenvolk democracy, democracy only for the masters” (Reframing the Israel-Palestine conflict).
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11905.shtml
Israel’s uneven justice / Mya Guarnieri
13 Apr — Last week, Israeli immigration police arrested and deported a three-year-old boy, born and raised in Israel. The toddler was detained and expelled to the Philippines along with his mother, M, who is pregnant. The children’s father is a migrant worker from Thailand who was deported several months ago. Distance and poverty makes it unlikely that the family, torn apart by the state of Israel, will be reunited. This is just one heartrending story that has surfaced as the Israeli government steps up its current efforts to ensure a “Jewish and democratic” state — by deporting non-Jewish, Israeli-born children of migrant workers, along with their parents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378272
Migrant workers won’t lose visa for pregnancy
Ynet 13 Apr — Supreme Court voids Interior Ministry regulation that requires female migrant workers to leave Israel three months after giving birth. ‘Regulation violates human rights,’ Justice Procaccia says … The justice said on Wednesday that the regulation forces the migrant worker to choose whether to leave the country with her child and forgo the rest of her employment period, or return to Israel to work — without her child.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056341,00.html
War crimes
B’Tselem to Turkel Commission: Independent investigation apparatus must be appointed to investigate suspected breaches of laws of war
11 Apr — The apparatus would operate in circumstances in which the Military Police Investigation Unit (MPIU) cannot investigate properly. B’Tselem’s executive director, Jessica Montell, raised this demand before the Turkel Commission, which is studying the question whether Israel’s present apparatus for examining and investigating claims of breach of the laws of war conforms to its international obligations.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Releases/20110411.asp
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Swiss court: Ban on anti-Israel signs violates free speech
Ynet 13 Apr — Swiss train service is ordered to allow signs that claim ‘Israel was established with violence on Palestinian land’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056223,00.html
Another pro-Israel event walkout
KabobFest 12 Apr — The Students for Justice in Palestine at Pennsylvania State University pulled off a nice little protest at pro-Israeli events last month. After filling up the room for Israeli apologist-speakers, they simply left in unison.
http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/04/another-pro-israel-event-walkout.html
Peace Works 2011 / Emily Weisberg
12 Apr — Dozens of writers, activists, students, filmmakers and human rights organizers came to Olympia, Washington USA over the weekend of April 8-9 for the 5th annual Peace Works conference, organized by the Rachel Corrie Foundation … Abedalhadi Basheer, a student from Deir al-Balah, Gaza, attended to speak about the ethnic cleansing and apartheid rule that he and his family face in their own country.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1752
Washington University Hip-Hop program revokes invitation to Israeli cultural ambassador
9 Apr — The St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL-PSC) welcomes the decision by program organizers to disinvite Israeli hip-hop artist Marvin Casey from Universal Beatz, a week of performances at Washington University in St. Louis by Middle Eastern rappers and dancers, due to begin on Monday, April 11, 2011. Casey’s dance troupe, Tribe 13, is sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel, a Zionist organization that facilitates the immigration of Jews from around the world to Israel while denying the right of Palestinian refugees exiled from their homes and lands from returning.
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/washington-university-hip-hop-program.html
Political/Diplomatic/International news
Zoabi: Palestinians entitled to defend themselves
NAZARETH, (PIC) 12 Apr — Arab member of the Israeli parliament Hanin Zoabi said that Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions are entitled to fire rockets for the sake of attaining their people’s freedom. She was quoted by Hebrew daily Maariv as saying on Monday that those living under siege and miserable living conditions do everything in their power for the sake of their freedom and the Israeli occupation authority should understand that. The Israeli parliament had withdrawn Zoabi’s diplomatic passport and other privileges after charging her with “betraying Israel” for participating in the Freedom Flotilla last year that was carrying humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
MK Zoabi: I hope Arabs launch intifada
Ynet 13 Apr –…Tahrir Square should be the Arab youths’ new model. I would like to see them mount a popular resistance against the occupation, because occupiers cannot expect to lead normal lives.” As for the incident which saw a rocket hit an Israeli school bus, leaving one teenager critically injured, Zoabi said that “Palestinians were killed before that incident and Palestinians were killed after it. You don’t count the dead Palestinians, only the dead Israelis. It is immoral for only the occupier to be seen as the side entitled to lead a normal life.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056304,00.html
Unity protesters plan to recruit thousands
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Apr — Leaders of the March 15 unity movement said Tuesday they would “recruit thousands for a sit-in protest in Ramallah, after their “demands fell on deaf ears.” Pro-unity protesters have been on hunger strike in Ramallah’s central square since March 26, and two of the movement, Ma‘ath Musleh and Iyas Sarhan, are said to be in a serious health condition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378238
Meshaal and Shalah to visit Cairo within days
MEMO 13 Apr — Hamas’ representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, confirmed that Cairo has extended an invitation to their movement’s political bureau chief, Khaled Meshaal, and the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdallah Shalah, to visit Egypt as part of efforts to end Palestinian division and achieve reconciliation among the factions.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2239-meshaal-and-shalah-to-visit-cairo-within-days
Abu Marzouk: Hamas vision for Palestinian reconciliation contradicts Abbas initiative
DAMASCUS, (PIC) 12 Apr — Deputy chief of the Hamas political bureau Moussa Abu Marzouk has confirmed that contacts are being made with Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas to end the current Palestinian political split, but he said that the persecution of Hamas elements in the West Bank must be curbed before reconciliation can be realized … “Abu Mazen has launched an initiative, and we have had reservations on it, because it is based on one point, which is to form a Palestinian government with two principle tasks: elections and reconstruction, while Hamas’s vision is based on all of the topics that need to be discussed to end the split on solid foundations and so past experiences do not recur, specifically the Makkah agreement experience.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Clinton: US plans new push on Israeli-Palestinian peace
Reuters 13 Apr — ‘The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months,’ says Secretary of State.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/clinton-u-s-plans-new-push-on-israeli-palestinian-peace-1.355675
US peace push must come soon — Palestinians
RAMALLAH, April 13 (Reuters) – The United States must move fast on its planned drive to revive Middle East talks before Palestinians seek recognition as a state, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday. “It’s time for the American administration to move before September,” said President Mahoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/new-us-peace-push-must-come-soon-palestinians
Fayyad to request $5 billion to launch Palestinian state
Reuters 13 Apr — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says donors have ‘welcomed’ his plan to launch the state, and will officially present the plan at a pledging conference in June
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/fayyad-to-request-5-billion-to-launch-palestinian-state-1.355757
‘US will have hard time standing alone in UN’
Ynet 13 Apr — State officials feel efforts to prevent UN support of Palestinian state futile, believe US will have hard time voting against declaration in September — Israeli state officials estimated Wednesday that the US decision to postpone a European initiative to set parameters for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians will involve a price to be paid by Benjamin Netanyahu. “The prime minister will be forced to outline his plans in a clear manner,” one state official said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056142,00.html
Israel minister: US will veto Palestine declaration
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr 23:48 — Israeli officials have said that the US will use its veto if the UN Security Council decides to vote on approving an independent Palestinian state. Israel Radio reported that the US supports negotiations rather than unilateral steps. Israeli minister Uzi Landau said Israel should announce the annexation of several huge settlement outposts and the Jordan Valley if the Palestinians announce statehood at the UN.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378135
Egypt orders review of gas contracts with Israel
AP 13 Apr — Egypt’s prime minister says has ordered a price review of its contracts to supply natural gas to Israel and Jordan over widespread domestic criticism, reports Egypt’s official news agency MENA.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/egypt-orders-review-of-gas-contracts-with-israel-1.355796
Spanish royal meets Palestinian president
JERUSALEM (AFP) 12 Apr — Spanish Crown Prince Felipe restated his nation’s support for an independent Palestinian state during talks on Tuesday with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a local news agency said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110412/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeacespaindiplomacy_20110412172941
Other news
Ligue 1 – Thuram visits Palestine
11 Apr — World Cup winning former France star Lilian Thuram visited young Palestinians in a West Bank refugee camp in Qalandia, near Jerusalem … Thuram, who holds France’s all-time caps record, is also in Palestine to mark the opening of their new national team stadium in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah. The 9,000-seat stadium was part-financed by France, Germany and FIFA.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11042011/58/ligue-1-thuram-visits-palestine.html
School of hard knocks
JPost 11 Apr — It’s a Sunday morning at Beersheba’s Hagar School, and the second-grade children are actively engaged in a math lesson. They sit around small clusters of tables and work in pairs or seek out the help of the teacher for the task at hand. While the class of around 25 pupils looks pretty much like any other of its kind countrywide, what sets this group of children apart and makes this school unique, especially in the South, is that half of the children are Arab residents of Beersheba and half are Jews, even though it’s almost impossible to tell who is who.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=216189
Analysis / Opinion
The future of Palestinians in Israel as it transforms into a religious state / Professor Majdi Taha
MEMO 13 Apr — A new study published by Arnon Sofer, who is considered to be one of the foremost Israeli researchers in the field of demographics, has stirred up controversy among Israeli intellectuals and academics, particularly those who support secularism. Sofer is the architect of the “Judaisation” plan and a proponent of the theory that Arabs are a demographic threat. He is now saying that Israel will be transformed into a religious state by the year 2030, because of the changes that Israeli society is currently undergoing … Sofer expects that the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews will exceed one million by 2030. This is because of the natural growth rate in the Haredi and other religious communities, which is between six and seven per cent per year.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/middle-east/2240-the-future-of-palestinians-in-israel-as-it-transforms-into-a-religious-state
Interview: US backs down and grants visa to Omar Barghouti
Democracy Now 11 Apr — [with transcript] We speak to Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, author of the new book Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. After months of extended delays and an international public pressure campaign, in March the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem granted Barghouti a visa to visit the United States for his book tour.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/4/11/us_backs_down_and_grants_visa
Miral defies racial stereotypes of Arabs in the media / David A. Love
HuffPost 13 Apr — …Unlike most media portrayals of Arab people in the U.S., this film presents Palestinians as everyday human beings, in all their complexities. For example, the children in the film demonstrated the full range of Palestinian diversity, from fair-haired blond to Mediterranean olive to black African. Palestinians and Israelis are known to fall in love with each other and become couples. And sometimes people and their actions are not so cut-and-dried … Through its depiction of the Israeli occupation, Miral provided a public service to viewers who are unexposed to it, unaffected and unaware. The daily regimen of humiliating checkpoints, soldiers demanding to see identification, and hostile religious settlers backed by troops are a reality for Palestinians.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-a-love/miral-defies-racial-stere_b_848363.html
Iraq
Tuesday: 15 Iraqis killed, 27 wounded
Although the new Iraqi government continues to insist the last American soldier will leave at the end of this year, Independent M.P., Safiya al-Suheil, questioned Iraq’s commitment to the 2008 U.S.-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement, as no security ministers have been selected. Meanwhile, light attacks continued apace, leaving at least 15 Iraqis dead and 27 more wounded….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/12/tuesday-15-iraqis-killed-27-wounded/
U.S.
Video: American radical: the trials of Norman Finkelstein
American Radical is the probing, definitive documentary about Jewish-American political scientist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, an ardent critic of Israel and US Middle East policy, Finkelstein has been steadfast at the centre of many intractable controversies, including his denial of tenure at DePaul University. Called a lunatic and self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarising figure. From Beirut to Kyoto, the filmmakers follow Finkelstein around the world as he attempts to negotiate a voice among both supporters and critics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McyF92_LCXo&feature=player_embedded
Language and American perceptions of the world / Thomas Harrington
13 Apr — Yet here we are in 2011 and all our major news organizations are still hostage to an overwhelmingly monolingual cadre of reporters, people who are themselves pitifully dependent — yet ironically and tragically unable to ever determine really just how much — on an army of native interpreters possessing wildly varying linguistic skills, political inclinations, and critical-thinking abilities. Though it might surprise many people to hear this, the situation is not all that much better among the ranks of the many academic “experts”paraded across our television screens and given prominent places on the op-ed pages of our major dailies.
http://original.antiwar.com/thomas-harrington/2011/04/12/american-perceptions-of-the-world/
Red Cross survey finds young Americans unaware of rules of war
WASHINGTON, Apr 12 – A new American Red Cross survey reveals that only 1 in 5 American youth is familiar with the Geneva Conventions, while 4 in 5 think that the U.S. should better educate young people before they can vote and enlist in the military. These rules protect civilians in conflict zones, allow safe passage for the sick and wounded and promote humanitarian treatment of prisoners … Nearly 3/5 youth (59%) – compared to 51% of adults – believe there are times when it is acceptable to torture the enemy. More than 2/5 youth (41%) believe there are times when it is acceptable for the enemy to torture captured American prisoners, while only 30% of adults agree.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/red-cross-survey-finds-young-americans-unaware-of-rules-of-war
www.theheadlines.org
