and other news from Today in Palestine:
Unity
VIDEO Unity celebration in Gaza
Another celebratory video from Gaza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEyYk9b1Y9I&feature=youtu.be
Photo: Fatah, Hamas, Palestinian flags together in Gaza
http://twitpic.com/4tcdx5
Unity announced in Cairo
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 4 May — In a recorded broadcast which aired one hour after a unity announcement was made in Cairo, leaders of Fatah and Hamas both welcomed a Palestinian reconciliation deal they said would pave the way to statehood … Abbas reaffirmed that the new government would renounce violence, but underscored his continued support for popular resistance activities against Israel’s continued military and settler presence in the West Bank. “The people are leading a struggle that is recognized by the world … the people struggle against occupation, settler oppression, [and the] ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem,” he said, labeling Israel’s occupation of Palestinian areas “state terrorism.” … Abbas gave extensive comment on recent threats by Israeli officials to lobby against the unity government, as well as the Israeli government decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority. “If they keep blackmailing us, we’ll make September nearer,” he said, referring to the PA’s stated intention to head to the UN in September asking that the international body recognize a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 borders, on land recognized as the West Bank — including Jerusalem — and the Gaza Strip. “Israel used division as pretext to stall a peace deal. Now they object to unity. That’s unacceptable, its illegitimate,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384752
Hamas chief at reconciliation ceremony: Palestinians’ only battle is against Israel
Haaretz 4 May — The leaders of warring Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas met in Cairo on Wednesday to sign a reconciliation agreement that ends four years of bitter strife. Hamas leader Khaled Mesha‘al said at the ceremony that the Islamist group wanted the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state on land of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as its capital.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-chief-at-reconciliation-ceremony-palestinians-only-battle-is-against-israel-1.359808
Arab MKs arrive in Cairo for Hamas-Fatah unity deal
Haaretz 4 May — Egypt invites MKs Ahmed Tibi, Taleb El-Sana and Mohammed Barakeh to take part in deal as tribute to their efforts to bring about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah; it remains unclear if the MKs will take an active role in the signing.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/arab-mks-arrive-in-cairo-for-hamas-fatah-unity-deal-1.359779
Unity ushers in swift change in media freedoms
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 May — Anchors from Fatah and Hamas-aligned media stations were for the first time since the 2007 divide permitted to broadcast live from Gaza City and Ramallah on Wednesday, as party leaders signed an accord in Cairo. Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan appeared on Palestinian Authority-sponsored satellite channel Palestine TV, interviewed by correspondent Adel Az-Za‘nun on Omer Al-Mukhtar Street in Gaza City. In his first appearance on the channel since the Gaza and West Bank authorities split in 2007, Radwan told Az-Za‘nun that the era of dispute was over, and a new page of harmony had been turned.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384664
Hamas and Fatah plan to begin implementing unity pact next week
Reuters 4 May — Leaders of Islamist movement to meet Abbas to kick-start procedures for reconciliation, after signing deal in Cairo to mend four-year rift.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-and-fatah-plan-to-begin-implementing-unity-pact-next-week-1.359828
Fayyad says unity deal must be swiftly implemented
RAMALLAH (AFP) 4 May — Caretaker West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday welcomed a surprise unity accord between Fatah and Hamas but stressed the deal must be implemented on the ground immediately. His words were echoed by fellow Third Way party member and PLO leader Hanan Ashrawi … The US State Department said on Tuesday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called both Fayyad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the reconciliation deal. But a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Clinton had not threatened to cut off aid to any new Palestinian government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384797
Hamas says prepared to give peace with Israel another chance
Reuters 4 May — At reconciliation ceremony with Fatah, Hamas leader Meshaal says Israel does not seem ready for peace, urges world to ‘stand with us’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-says-prepared-to-give-peace-with-israel-another-chance-1.359836
Candidates for the next Palestinian PM
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 May — With the Palestinian unity agreement signed and set to be sealed on Wednesday noon in Cairo, four candidates have emerged as the top contenders for the post of prime minister: Munib Al-Masri Billionaire philanthropist and unity activist from Nablus, who spearheaded a unity push with business owners and independent leaders in the West Bank, traveling more than once to Gaza to meet with figures there. He heads PEDECO, a Palestinian investment firm. Ziad Abu Amer Legislative Council member, author and former foreign minister from Gaza City who earned his master’s degree in comparative politics from Georgetown University in Washington DC. He was first elected to the PLC in 1996. Abed Al-Karim Shubeir Former independent presidential candidate in the 2005 elections, where he garnered 2.6 percent of the popular vote, coming in fourth after Abbas, Mustafa Barghouthi and Taysir Khald. Jamal Al-Khudari Gaza independent and former minister, elected to the Legislative Council in 2006. He has been active in the unity push.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384619
Israeli and world reactions
Netanyahu: Hamas-Fatah unity pact is a victory for terrorism
Haaretz 4 May — Premier calls reconciliation of rival Palestinian faction a ‘tremendous blow to peace’; outgoing Shin Bet chief Diskin: Fear of unity deal is blown out of proportion.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-hamas-fatah-unity-pact-is-a-victory-for-terrorism-1.359821
Netanyahu: Israel won’t negotiate with Palestinian version of Al-Qa‘ida
Haaretz 4 May — Israeli premier attempting to lobby European leaders against Hamas-Fatah reconciliation; ‘To Abbas I say – leave the podium and come back to path of peace. To Hamas I don’t say anything’, declares Netanyahu — Israel will not negotiate with a “Palestinian version of Al-Qa‘ida”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday. The Israeli premier plans to impart the same message to French President Nicolas Sarkozy during their meeting on Thursday, in the wake of the Islamist Hamas movement’s reconciliation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-won-t-negotiate-with-palestinian-version-of-al-qaida-1.359850
Israel accused of trying to use bin Laden’s killing to block recognition of Palestinian state
MEMO 4 May — Fatah has accused Israel of trying to capitalise on the killing of Osama Bin Laden by suggesting that the Palestinian struggle against the occupation is linked to al-Qa‘eda. The accusation was made by Dimitri Dilyani, a member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council who added that “Israel’s aim is to gain international sympathy before [the Palestinians] go to the United Nations to obtain recognition of an independent Palestinian state in September”.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2297-israel-accused-of-trying-to-use-bin-ladens-killing-to-block-recognition-palestinian-state
Israel foreign ministry views Hamas-Fatah deal differently than Netanyahu
Haaretz 3 May — An internal, confidential Foreign Ministry report advises that the creation of a Fatah-Hamas unity government in the Palestinian Authority would offer Israel a strategic opportunity … “The Palestinian move is not only a security threat but also a strategic opportunity to create genuine change in the Palestinian context,” the report states. “Such change may serve the long-term interests of Israel.” … Instead of counseling blanket opposition to a Palestinian unity government the authors of the report recommend that Israel adopt a “constructive approach that would sharpen the dilemma on the Palestinian side” regarding the aims of such a government and Hamas’ unwillingness to recognize Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-foreign-ministry-views-hamas-fatah-deal-differently-than-netanyahu-1.359706
Carter wants world to back Palestinian unity
AFP 4 May — Former US president warns lack of support for historic deal to be signed Wednesday may lead to renewed violence, while Palestinian Authority dismisses international demands that Hamas recognize Israel as ‘unfair, unworkable’ [it would be reasonable to ask Hamas to recognize Israel as a fait accompli, but to ask them to recognize Israel’s ‘right to exist’ is to demand that they acknowledge that Zionists had a right to seize Palestine, which of course they won’t do.]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4064267,00.html
Saudi Arabia calls on Quartet to support Palestinian unity deal
RIYADH, (PIC) 4 May — Saudi Arabia has called on the powerful Quartet to encourage and support the signed Hamas-Fatah unity deal, and not only to recognize it. Saudi Arabian Prince Talal bin Badr Al Saud advocated that Palestinian unity is in the interest of democracy, stability, and peace in the region … He said in a press statement that the KSA welcomes the unity deal and called on undersigning parties to swiftly form a unified government recognized by world powers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
IOF seize Palestinian agricultural lands in Al-Fawwar camp and Dura village
Al-KHALIL, (PIC) 4 May — The land research center said the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) notified six Palestinian farmers of their intents to confiscate dozens of dunums of their agricultural lands in Al-Fawwar refugee camp and Dura village for military purposes.
One of the farmers told the center that a large number of troops along with Israel civil servants stormed Al-Qurei Mount area and Abdulfattah territory and embarked on placing evacuation notifications inside the lands to be seized.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46
Settlers attack Palestinian shepherd in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 4 May — Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian shepherd in the Nablus village of Qusra on Wednesday, killing one of his sheep, Palestinian officials said. Three settlers from the illegal settlement of Shilo attacked Abdul Rahman Moussa Abdul Rahim Abu Reyada, 44, in the village to the south of the northern West Bank city, Fatah official monitoring settler activity in the north Ghassan Doughlas told Ma‘an. Abu Reyada, Doughlas said, was left with bruises all over his body.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384708
Official: Settler tries to stab Palestinian
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 3 May — An Israeli settler tried Tuesday to stab Palestinians near Qaryot village south of Nablus, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan Doughlas, a Fatah official charged with monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said a settler from “Alia” attacked a farmer and tried to stab him even though he had a permit to be on the farmland. Doughlas said Radi Farhan Ahmad Issa, 45, fled but the settler slashed tires on Issa’s tractor. The Israeli army, meanwhile, closed the nearby Huwara checkpoint and posted other blocks at the entrance of a number of villages, Doughlas said. They were preparing for a settler demonstration, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384397
Right-wing Israelis barricade themselves in West Bank Jewish holy site
Haaretz 4 May — A nighttime operation planned by Bratslav Hasidim and right-wing activists from an organization called Garin He’arim Ha’ivriot ended with 55 arrests — It was hard not to rub one’s eyes in disbelief: At 4:30 A.M., just as Israel Defense Forces soldiers were preparing to leave Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, 55 ultra-Orthodox Jews and right-wing activists burst from adjacent alleys, sweating from their rush to arrive in time. Suprising the soldiers, they barricaded themselves inside the tomb complex. It was the climax of an operation planned last week, with the goal of restoring Israeli sovereignty to Joseph’s Tomb.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/right-wing-israelis-barricade-themselves-in-west-bank-jewish-holy-site-1.359707
Military violence / incursions
IOF troops raid southern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS, (PIC) 4 May — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escorted two military bulldozers into eastern Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning. The PIC reporter said that four IOF army vehicles escorted the bulldozers amidst indiscriminate shooting at Palestinian homes and property. No casualties were reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
23 killed, 81 wounded by army fire in Gaza, in April
IMEMC 4 May — The Higher Committee for Emergency and Medical Services in Gaza, issued a report on Israeli attacks and violations against the Gaza Strip in April, revealing that Israeli soldiers killed 23 Palestinians, including two children, and wounded 81. During the month of April, the army bombarded Gaza by air, sea and land mainly targeting civilian areas in a direct violation to the International Law and all treaties related to protecting the civilian population … The number of Palestinians killed in April is four times more than the number killed in April of last year, the report stated. The report revealed that two children and four elderly were killed by Israeli shells and missiles in April … 33 of the wounded are children, 16 are women; these figures indicate that nearly 60% of the wounded in April are women and children. Furthermore, one medic working for the Red Crescent was injured by a nail bomb fired by the army at his ambulance east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61170
Detention by Israel
2nd Hamas leader detained in 48 hours
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 4 May — Israeli forces detained Palestinian legislator Issa Khairy Aj-Ja‘bari from his home in the Namra neighborhood of Hebron overnight. The detention of the Hamas leader, elected in 2006, marks the second such detention in two days, after PLC member Ali Romanin was taken from his home in Al-Ouja [al-‘Awja] village north of Jericho on Tuesday morning … Legislative council president Aziz Dweik condemned the latest detention, saying “no deputy is safe,” and blaming Israel’s reaction to the decision to unite the Palestinian people under one government. “Israel is furious because their policy (of division) failed,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384627
Bahar: Romanin arrest proves Israel in crisis
GAZA, (PIC) 4 May — Deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Bahar has emphasized that Israel’s policy of repeatedly arresting Palestinian figures “has failed miserably,” and that attempts to eliminate their political and social action in the West Bank “have ended without return.” … Bahar suggested that the arrest reflects the depth of Israel’s crisis and the extent of confusion that dominates decision-making circles in Israel … The senior PLC official condemned world silence over Israel’s abuses of Palestinian elected officials, accusing UN agencies and rights groups of “political hypocrisy.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IOF soldiers detain 4 citizens including former minister
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up four Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil city and nearby Dora village including former minister of local government Issa Al-Ja‘bari …The soldiers also detained a young man in the city while two others were arrested at a roadblock at the southern entrance to Dora.
In a separate incident, locals reported that IOF soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian car near Samu village, also in Al-Khalil, but the car sped away with no damage or injuries reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Israel court extends isolation of Sada‘at for 6 months
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 4 May — The Israeli court in Beer Sheba prison decided to extend the isolation of Ahmed Sa‘adat, the secretary general of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine, for six more months ending 3/11/2011. Sa‘adat affirmed during the hearing his boycott of the Israeli court in its capacity as a tool in the hands of occupation that works for implementing its political and security orders. The ruling proved Israel’s continued policy of isolating Palestinian leaders held in its jails. Sa‘adat has been in solitary confinement for 700 days.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Palestinian writer under administrative detention
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 4 May — An Israeli military court sentenced Palestinian writer Ahmad Qatamish to six months of administrative detention late Tuesday, in an order that appeared to have been tampered with, Palestinian human rights group Addameer said Wednesday. Israeli judicial authorities had indicated that Qatamish was to be released Tuesday, following 13 days of detention in Israel’s Ofer jail, but a last minute order was issued containing inaccurate information, the group said in a statement … The order also states that the writer is suspected of being a Hamas member, the group said, calling the claim “absurd” as the previous week Israeli police accused Qatamish of membership of leftist faction the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the group with which he has historically been associated.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384737
A third of Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strike
GAZA, (PIC) 4 May — Palestinians held in four Israeli prisons began an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday. The prisoner affairs ministry in Gaza has put their number at 2,000, a third of all Palestinians detained in Israeli jails. They are demanding an end to the prison authority’s policy of isolating prisoners and improvements in living conditions. The strike will gradually escalate, said the ministry’s media director Riyadh al-Ashkar. New prisoners will join the strike later because of the effect that will have on pressuring the prison authority to respond to their humanitarian demands.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Video: Stolen children, stolen lives
In two parts. Military arrest and mistreatment of children. Includes interviews with children and parents and with Dor Sandak, ex-soldier and Combatant for Peace as well as an Israeli observer at the military court
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/stolen-children-stolen-lives-israels.html
Detention by PA
MP Ramadan warns ongoing West Bank arrests could ‘detonate’ unity deal
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 4 May — Palestinian MP Nazzar Ramadan warned that continued arrests targeting Hamas in the West Bank could detonate Hamas-Fatah unity talks. West Bank security services rounded up four Hamas men in Nablus, Ramallah, and Al-Khalil and summoned dozens, as ruling parties gathered in Cairo to sign a deal that would end the Palestinian split. He said it is inconceivable to stand in the way as Hamas and Fatah embark on the historic event.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Shihab calls for stopping political arrests, security cooperation in West Bankt
CAIRO, (PIC) 4 May — Senior Islamic Jihad official Dawoud Shihab hailed the reconciliation agreement that was signed by the Palestinian resistance factions in Cairo on Tuesday as a positive step and demanded an immediate cessation of the security cooperation with the Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Racism
Study: Jews leaving mixed cities
Ynet 4 May — Figures presented by Ramla Conference organizers point to drop in number of Jews, rise in number of Arabs in Lod, Nazareth Illit and Haifa. Central Bureau of Statistics data show similar trend taking place in Akko, Ramla, Jaffa, and Jerusalem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4061996,00.html
Policewoman charged with assaulting Palestinian posted anti_Arab comments on Facebook
Haaretz 4 May — ‘Whoever likes Arabs should be given payback by God,’ wrote Shani Sevilia, accused of assaulting a Palestinian teen in custody .. .On her profile page, she posted a video entitled “How Arab children in Gaza are taught to swim,” as well as clips warning against relations between Jews and Arabs. ..
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/policewoman-charged-with-assaulting-palestinian-posted-anti-arab-comments-on-facebook-1.359713
Israeli Border Policewoman as stone cold killer / Richard Silverstein
2 May — A new expose of Israeli police brutality and torture exploded yesterday with reports that a member of a special Border Police unit, Shani Sivilia, had been accused of torturing a Palestinian boy in March 2010, by cocking and pretending to fire her pistol into his head at close range, all in response the ‘deadly’ act of his possessing three firecrackers. While the charges brought against her were shocking enough, even worse was the discovery by Israeli journalist, Ido Kenan, of her Facebook page, which is replete with the feverish product of what Ido cinematically calls “Dangerous Mind.” … When a Facebook Friend writes: Any [Jewish] girl who goes out with Arabs should die. Sivilia replies (and again keep in mind the acts of torture she’s being charged with): You just now figured this out?? They should flay the skin from their bodies and cast them in the Dead [Salt] Sea.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/05/02/israeli-border-policewoman-as-stone-cold-killer/
Other news
Human rights groups petition High Court to overthrow Nakba law
Haaretz 4 May — Adalah, a legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel submitted a petition to the High Court Wednesday to overturn a law barring public funding of entities that “undermine the foundations of the state and contradict its values.” The law, referred to as the “Nakba Law,” is specifically directed at Israel’s independence day, when some Israeli-Arabs mourn their Arab ancestors who were expelled from their homes.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/human-rights-groups-petition-high-court-to-overthrow-nakba-law-1.359802
Moti Fogel to speak with bereaved Palestinian on Yom Ha-Zikaron
3 May — Moti Fogel, whose older brother Udi was murdered in Itamar with his wife and children a few weeks ago, plans to speak at an alternative commemoration of Israel’s Yom Ha-Zikaron alongside a bereaved Palestinian woman, Siyam Abu Awad. Abu Awad’s brother, Yousef, was killed by IDF fire in 2000 in a village near Hebron. The event is sponsored by the Israeli NGO Combatants for Peace, whose members are veterans who’ve fought on both sides of the conflict. They will be joined in the ceremony by Israeli and Palestinian families who’ve lost loved ones to the fighting, along with artists from both sides. Fogel hopes that he can move forward the goals of dialogue, reconciliation and non-violence for both Israelis and those living under the PA.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/05/03/moti-fogel-to-speak-with-bereaved-palestinian-on-yom-hazikaron/
Israel’s Islamic Movement reunites after rift over role in Knesset
Haaretz 4 May — The northern and southern branches of Israel’s Islamic Movement merged on Wednesday, following a years-long rift that had them operating as nearly separate organizations …The southern branch has participated in parliamentary elections and is represented in today’s Knesset by two United Arab List-Ta’al MKs. The northern branch has opposed participation in parliamentary elections, although it has taken part in local authority elections. The northern branch, under the leadership of Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, is seen as the more radical of the two.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-islamic-movement-reunites-after-rift-over-role-in-knesset-1.359844
Gaza government executes spy
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 4 May — Gaza’s Ministry of the Interior announced the death Wednesday of a man convicted of collaboration, identified only as A.S., and said to have been found guilty of spying. It is the sixth execution that has been carried out by the Gaza government, in contradiction to a Palestinian law that necessitates the approval of the president before death sentences are carried out.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384601
US slams ‘outrageous’ Hamas condemnation of bin Laden killing
Haaretz 4 May — U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner slammed comments on Monday made by a Hamas leader who criticized the U.S. for killing ‘holy warrior’ Osama bin Laden. Ismael Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, said in response to the U.S. operation against bin Laden “we regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.” Toner said Haniyeh’s comments were “outrageous.” “It goes without saying bin Laden was a murderer and a terrorist. He ordered the killings of thousands of innocent men, women and children, and many of whom were Muslim,” Toner said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-slams-outrageous-hamas-condemnation-of-bin-laden-killing-1.359698
Analysis / Opinion
Will bin Laden killing pave way for similar moves by Israel? / Amos Harel
Haaretz 4 May — Former top IDF intel official talks to Haaretz about a gradual change in the rules of confrontation in the framework of the global war on terror — At the height of the second intifada, until the middle of the last decade, Israel developed and enhanced a system of assassinations of terrorists which was euphemistically referred to as “pinpointed assassinations.” Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi (Farkash ) headed the IDF General Staff intelligence branch at that time. While the American assault force’s operation against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was an operation on a much bigger scale than the Israeli actions and took place far from the borders of the United States, to a large extent it employed a similar format to that used previously by the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service. We must not forget that we are not a power. Not everything that is permitted to the Americans is permitted to us as well. But nevertheless, there is a gradual change in the rules of confrontation in the framework of the war on terror. A wider maneuvering space has been opened. Nassrallah understands that too. It is no coincidence that he so seldom leaves his bunker in recent years.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/will-bin-laden-killing-pave-way-for-similar-moves-by-israel-1.359736
Palestinian youth: new movement, new borders / Noura Erekat
Al Jazeera 4 May — Reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah may present the first victory of a nascent Palestinian youth movement, which earned its moniker, the March 15th movement, from the first day of its mass protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Only one day after the launch of their movement demanding an end to the four-year internecine conflict that also divided the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced his willingness to travel to Gaza to engage in unity talks, while other leading Fatah members, aware of the youths’ potential force, opened twitter accounts just to follow the pulse of the movement.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/05/201153101231834961.html
Israel must choose between peace and a racist state / Sefi Rachlevsky
Haaretz 4 May — Netanyahu needs to face a simple, clear-cut question: Do you want a democratic state based on the 1967 borders, or not? …when you ask what Israel wants, the requisite answer is clear: a state based on the borders in which it achieved independence, known today as the 1967 borders; a democratic state in which all are equal, as described in the Declaration of Independence … But the question of what Israel wants has a second possible answer: Israel wants a racist messianic state, one in which Jews are citizens and non-Jews are subjects. This second answer is not fantastic. In essence, this has been the Israeli reality for 44 years already. In the territories, and also in Jerusalem, Jews are citizens and non-Jews aren’t. Just this week, the science minister (!) presented an award to Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu at a ceremony in which the latter advocated cleansing Safed of Arabs.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-must-choose-between-peace-and-a-racist-state-1.359742
