and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Thirsting for justice
Pal Mon 25 May — As an occupying power in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to ensure the welfare of the civilian population. Not only does Israel violate this responsibility through military invasions, extrajudicial assassinations and regular violent assaults on peaceful protesters, but also by deprivation of the most fundamental human need: water. EWASH, the Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene group, a coalition of 30 humanitarian organizations working in Occupied Palestine, has launched a campaign, Thirsting for Justice. The campaign aims to raise international awareness of Israel egregious violations of humanitarian law through its water policies in Palestine.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=44
New Palestinian house building in the Jordan Valley
26 May –JVS is currently running a project of house building in Arab El Ka’abneh, in Al Awja village, southern Jordan Valley, funded by the Spanish cooperation and in partnership with Ma’an Development Centre. The aim of the project is to support this Palestinian Bedouin community to stay on its land. They are currently living under very harsh conditions, under metal shelters, very cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer. This community is surrounded by three settlements and a checkpoint and live under the shade of two big Jewish-only water reservoirs. They have no access to electricity and have to go to buy their drinking water to the Israeli water company, Mekorot, kilometers away with their tractor and mobile water tank.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=275:new-palestinian-house-building-in-the-jordan-valley&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
MKs attend controversial settlement announcement
JERUSALEM (AFP) 26 May — The speaker of Israel’s parliament and two ministers attended the dedication on Wednesday of new Jewish settler homes in East Jerusalem in what an Israeli NGO called “a dangerous provocation.” … The ceremony, in which Israel’s Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also took part, came the day after Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s claim to all Jerusalem — half of which was occupied in 1967 and illegally annexed to Israel in the 1980s. East Jerusalem is not officially recognized as part of Israel’s capital … The new homes are in the Jewish-only enclave of Maaleh Zeitim, in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras Al-‘Amud, where another 50 settler apartments were completed in 2003. On the slopes of the Mount of Olives, overlooking the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, it is close to the center of Palestinian East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391243
Protesters: Ras Al ‘Amoud not Maale Zetim
[good photos] Pal Mon 26 May — “He just said we should all be dead,” said an Israeli activist, grinning wide and nodding towards a kippah-capped settler. The latter had stopped pushing his occupied baby stroller before a swarm of police, protesters and settlers outside the Maale Zetim settlement in East Jerusalem. The two argued in Hebrew as activists pounded drums and chanted into megaphones, police and soldiers stood at the ready, and settlers stared down at the tumult from atop their concrete enclave.”“I shout apartheid, you shout fight back,” said an Israeli woman on the bullhorn. “Apartheid.” “Fight back!” bellowed the crowd. About forty Jewish and Arab Israeli and other activists stood before the Maale Zetim settlement last night to protest the continual expansion of the Judaization of East Jerusalem. The mayor of Jerusalem, the Speaker of Knesset and the Minister of Education was attending an inauguration ceremony for Maale Zetim’s neighbors at Maale David.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=291
Upcoming events in East Jerusalem
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) — Here are some of the upcoming dates and events in East Jerusalem [simplified]: *Thursday 26/5/11, 9:00 am, Jerusalem Hashalom Court — hearing — the eviction case of the settlers against the Sabbah family of Sheikh Jarrah; *Thursday 26/5/11, 10:30 am, Jerusalem Hashalom Court — hearing — the eviction case of the settlers against the Hamdallah family of Ras El-Amud; *Thursday 26/5/11, 1:00 pm, Jerusalem District Court — hearing — the Parking Lots Case that the Jerusalem Municipality wants to seize from the Palestinian owners in Wadi Hilweh Silwan; *Sunday, 29/5/11, 1:00 pm, The Regional Planning Committee — discussion (approval or rejection) of a plan to legalize a house in the Bustan neighborhood that got a demolition order; *Monday 30/5/11, 6:30 pm, The ‘City of David’ site in Wadi Hilweh — the Moskowitz Prize ceremony — hundreds of settlers supporters expected in the event….
http://silwanic.net/?p=17125
Right ‘ambivalent’ on PM’s speech
Ynet 26 May — Heads of settlement movement largely support PM Netanyahu’s Washington statements but say time has come to speed up construction in east Jerusalem, West Bank. ‘New neighborhood in east J’lem is tip of the iceberg’ says rightist element
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4074130,00.html
Israeli military
Keeping our eyes on Awarta
Pal Mon 26 May — …On 17 April 2011, the Israeli army announced it had extracted two confessions for the murder of five on 11 March 2011. Two Palestinian teenagers from Awarta allegedly confessed to the killing of five members of the Fogel family. The confessions followed hours of interrogation of the two boys and over a month of systematic collective punishment of the village. As of today, there is no further evidence that points to the guilt of either suspect … Now, the army is reported to be seeking the death penalty … [which] has only once been applied by an Israeli court, in the case of Nazi war criminal, Adolph Eichmann in 1962. While Israeli courts require that further corroborating evidence than a confession be present in order to sentence someone to capital punishment, it is highly unlikely that the boys will see justice in their military trials: 99.7% of all cases result in conviction.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=175
Disabled man shaken after military assault
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 26 May — …The day before, 23-year-old Ashraf Muhammad Suleiman Mousa, who lives with a developmental disability and has the cognitive ability of a four-year-old, was assaulted by Israeli forces apparently searching for stone throwers on Tuesday evening, witnesses said … Ashraf’s mother, 42-year-old Karima, said that when her son arrived at the door to the home the soldiers ran up on foot behind him. “They grabbed him, tackled him to the ground and started beating him mercilessly. They trod him with their military shoes. I tried by all means to tell them he was disabled. I tried to speak to them in English, but all they did was order me to go inside. Then they cuffed Ashraf’s hands and legs, blindfolded him and took him to the jeep. I brought a medical report to show it to the soldiers, but they did not even look at it.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391012
Israeli intelligence, backed by military, threatens villagers in At-Tuwani
Christian Peacemaker Teams 24 May — On Monday May 23, Israeli intelligence entered At-Tuwani, escorted by about fifteen soldiers … At around 7 pm, two military vehicles and about fifteen soldiers on foot entered the village. Soldiers first invaded the house of one of the community`s nonviolent resistance leaders. Soldiers searched rooms and the surroundings at gunpoint. At the same time four men in civilian clothes, but with military gear and assault rifles, systematically approached local adult men and began questioning them. The four men, later identified as intelligence agents, asked for addresses, phone numbers, places of employments and other personal details. Intelligence personnel also interrogated villagers about recent demonstrations and direct actions carried out by the community, and demanded that Palestinians cease their nonviolent resistance.”Do you want to become the father of a martyr?” they asked one of the village leaders, hinting that the occupation forces might retaliate on his children.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=46810
Israeli forces storm Madaa Center for Children in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 26 May – Israeli forces Thursday stormed Madaa Silwan creative center in Wadi Hilwah, a neighborhood in Silwan, near Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the children were there, according to witnesses. Witnesses told WAFA that the Israeli soldiers terrorized the children while they were looking for the head of the Center, Jawad Siyam.
They interrogated Siyam’s wife who was at the center, and handed her a summons for her husband to be interrogated in the interrogation center in Jerusalem. They also raided Siyam’s house looking for him, witnesses added.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/israeli-forces-storms-madda-center-for-children-in-jerusalem/
Two Palestinian children injured by dud bomb in South Hebron Hills
AIC Ta‘ayush 26 May — Last Friday, 20 May, two Palestinian children were injured from a dud left by the occupation army on the lands of Buweb. The village of Buweb is located in the South Hebron Hills, East of the Dirath village. It appears that the dud was a lightning bomb [‘used to illuminate the sky and area below’] that the children found. The dud exploded in the children’s hands and they sustained burns all over their body. The children were taken to a hospital in Hebron, and will require long-term and extensive treatments. On Sunday (22 May) an addition dud was located some 100 metres from where the children were injured. The principal of the Buweb village school immediately called the police, notifying them of the danger. On Monday, after the police had done nothing to remove the dangerous dud, the principal contacted Ta‘ayush.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/hebron/3618-two-palestinian-children-injured-from-dud-bomb-in-south-hebron-hills-
Detention
Israeli military asks Palestinian detainee to pay for own surgery
Jerusalem (PNN) 26 May — The Palestinian detainees and ex-detainees society announced on Thursday that the Israeli military prison administration has asked Ahmed Assofor to pay the expenses of a surgery he needs. Assofor was arrested on Nov. 24, 2009 as he was leaving the Gaza Strip to get medical treatment in Jerusalem. He was injured during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip that happened from December 2008 to January 2009 … Human Rights groups have started a campaign to put pressure on the Israeli military to release Assofor from detention as he is in desperate need of a pancreas transplant and the reconstruction of his elbows.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10108&Itemid=56
Israeli troops arrest 7 civilians from Ramallah
Ramallah (PNN) 26 May — Palestinian sources reported on Thursday that Israeli troops arrested seven men from Ramallah area in central West Bank. Sources said that seven men were taken away by troops that invaded a number of villages and towns around Ramallah city. The Israeli army radio announced that those arrested are on its wanted list
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10109&Itemid=64
Families sit in for Hamas detainees held by PA
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 26 May — Families of Hamas-affiliated prisoners in a Palestinian Authority jail in Nablus held a sit-in outside the facility Thursday, demanding their relatives be released following the unity deal between former rival factions Fatah and Hamas. Relatives carried slogans calling for all 140 prisoners to be released outside the Juneid prison in the northern West Bank city … Khalil A’saf, representative of the group of independent politicians, told Ma‘an that “independent figures are making efforts with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority so as not to inflame the issue between the two parties, as the subject of prisoners is a sensitive one.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391368
FPJS condemns IOF for raiding house of Palestinian journalist Alaa al-Titi
GAZA, (PIC)– The Forum of Palestinian Journalists has condemned the Israeli occupation forces for raiding the home of Palestinian journalist Alaa al-Titi from the Al-Arub refugee camp in Al-Khalil and the arrest of his brother Hisham Jabr al-Titi, 17, who is a high school student … A force of 20 soldiers raided Titi’s home at around 2:30am and locked all the people living in the house in one room while they searched the three-story home for more than an hour.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
IDF: Fogel family murderers planned another attack
Haaretz 26 May — Two suspects in the killing of the five family members last March in Itamar retracted their confession, but prosecution says it has solid forensic evidence — The two suspects in the murder of the Fogel family in Itamar last March were planning to carry out another attack, the military prosecution said Thursday. These details were revealed as a military court ruled to extend the suspects’ remand by 11 days.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-fogel-family-murderers-planned-another-attack-1.364273
Gaza
Eager anticipation for Rafah border opening
RAFAH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 26 May — The siege on the Gaza Strip, maintained by Israel and Egypt for the past four years, will soon be significantly relaxed for would-be travelers, a decision that has Palestinians on both sides of the border waiting anxiously. From students to tunnel smugglers, opening Gaza will transform lives drastically impacted by years of isolation … “The siege has separated me from my family, the friends I grew up with, and it is very frustrating because they are only a few hours away and I cannot go and they cannot come,” says Khalil Abu Samhadana, 22, a Palestinian student living in Cairo. Khalil has not visited his family in Gaza in two and a half years for fear of getting stuck on his return, a misfortune not uncommon here.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=390723
Hamas, EU hail Egypt plan to open Rafah border
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 26 May — Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the European Union on Thursday welcomed an Egyptian decision to permanently open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave. The Islamist movement hailed the move as “a courageous and responsible decision which falls in line with Palestinian and Egyptian public opinion,” spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement … The European Union also praised the move and said it was in consultations with Egypt, the Palestinians and Israel about returning its team of advisers to monitor activity along the frontier. But Israel expressed concern, with Home Front Defence Minister Matan Vilnai telling public radio it would create “a very problematic situation.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110526/wl_mideast_afp/egyptisraelpalestiniansgazaborder
Gisha: If Israel wants a say in passage via Rafah, it should permit passage to West Bank
Tel Aviv (PNN) 26 May — The Israeli Legal Center for Freedom of Movement – Gisha – issued a press statement on Thursday welcoming Egypt’s decision to open the Rafah crossing with the Gaza Strip. According to Gisha, the announcement that Egypt will expand the ability of Gaza residents to travel abroad via Rafah Crossing, which has become Gaza’s gateway to the world, in light of Israel’s closure of Gaza’s airspace and territorial waters and restrictions on travel via Erez Crossing. Gisha also noted the need to permit passage of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, recognized by Israel as a single territorial unit whose integrity is the basis for a two-state solution.
According to Gisha, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comment before the U.S. Congress that in Rafah, “the European observers evaporated overnight” failed to note that the “evaporation” was ordered by Israel, which refused to allow the EU border mission observers to reach their post and has objected to the implementation of the agreement ever since. The EU observers have been waiting in their hotel in Ashkelon for the last five years, waiting for Israeli permission to return to Rafah.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10101&Itemid=63
European observers: No request to return to Gaza border crossing
dpa 26 May — The inoperative mission of European observers, who under a 2005 agreement should be monitoring the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, said Thursday they had not received a request to return – this despite the crossing’s imminent opening. Benoit Cusin, the spokesman for the European Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) expressed concern that without the European monitors, international standards for security checks and passengers’ rights may not be upheld. [and why should there be European monitors for a border between two Arab lands?]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/european-observers-no-request-to-return-to-gaza-border-crossing-1.364214
Activists refuse to send Gaza aid via Israel
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) 26 May — Activists on a Malaysian aid ship that had been bound for Gaza refused to hand their cargo to Egypt on Thursday, saying they feared it would end up in Israel. They had tried to land in Gaza last week but changed course when the Israeli navy fired warning shots. Matthias Chang, who is heading the mission for the Perdana Global Peace Foundation, told AFP the group was not consulted when the Malaysian and Egyptian governments worked out a deal to end the impasse. Chang said Egypt had insisted the cargo be discharged and transported via Kerem Shalom, at the Israeli border in Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391443
$1 billion investment fund for Gaza unveiled
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 26 May — Muhammad Mustafa, the Palestine Investment Fund president, announced Thursday the establishment of a $1 billion investment fund for the reconstruction of Gaza. The rumored top candidate for the role of prime minister in the new technocrat government arrived in Gaza on Wednesday, to coordinate reconstruction efforts and meet with prominent contractors and businesspeople.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391188
American Friends of UNRWA – online deal
Join G-Team and donate $6 to help American Friends of UNRWA provide children in Gaza with the necessary attire to participate in the Summer Games program. If G-Team members raise $300, American Friends of UNRWA will be able to outfit 50 children with caps, shirts, and sneakers. Each additional $6 raised will provide attire for another child. An anonymous donor has agreed to match each donation up to a total of $5,000.
http://www.groupon.com/deals/american-friends-of-unrwa/
Racism / Discrimination
‘Disgruntled Ethiopians could be next Black Panthers’
JPost 26 May — Israel must improve the living conditions of Ethiopian immigrants, or it could face radical protests from within that community, a former minister of immigrant absorption said on Wednesday. Former Meretz MK Yair Tsaban said that if such improvements aren’t made, “we will see Black Panthers in the same style that they had in the US.” Tsaban added Israel must strengthen its welfare state and “the struggle against racism in every way.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=222255&R=R2
Israeli universities to award academic credit for military reserve duty
AIC 24 May — Israel’s Council for Higher Education plans to approve for the coming academic year the provision of two academic credits for those who serve in military reserve duty. According to the Hebrew language online news site Walla, this decision of the Council will be brought for final approval in the near future … Palestinian citizens of Israel would obviously be excluded from this, as would the vast majority of women in Israel, who either do not serve in reserve duty or serve extremely short periods.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3617-israeli-universities-to-award-academic-credit-for-military-reserve-duty-
Video — Orwell, 2011: ‘These weren’t child arrests’ / Dimi Reider
972mag 26 May — The headline comes from a response issued by the Interior Ministry in Israel to baseless accusations by self-hating activists, who brazenly claimed ministry officials yesterday swooped on the homes of 9 migrant families and arrested 9 mothers with their children, aged 18 months to three years, to begin processing them for deportation. In line with the ministry’s statement, I would like to ask you not to watch the video below. It plainly shows members of the Ministry’s “Oz” Unit not taking a young Philippine mother down the stairs of her home, with her three-year-old daughter not toddling beside her. It then proceeds not to show the sizable force not dispatched to not detain this dangerous pair not forcing them to get into a car, not preventing them from even saying goodbye to neighbors.
http://972mag.com/these-werent-child-arrests/
Political / Diplomatic / International news
PA consent on opening Gaza crossing led to Hamas reconciliation
Haaretz 26 May — …Under the Mubarak regime, Egypt vehemently opposed using Hamas guards at Rafah and demanded that the crossing point remain closed until Palestinian Authority personnel were deployed at the venue. Haaretz has learned that the decision to reopen Rafah was taken in recent weeks and discussed at the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation meetings. It was the Palestinian Authority’s consent to opening Rafah that was one of the incentives used to persuade Hamas leaders to sign the reconciliation accord.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pa-consent-on-opening-gaza-crossing-led-to-hamas-reconciliation-1.364074
Top Fatah official arrives in Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 26 May — A top Fatah official arrived in Gaza on Thursday, to discuss with Hamas leaders, factions and other figures a response to the Israeli prime minister’s speech and implement a reconciliation agreement. Nabil Sha‘ath’s visit was also intended to move forward on a bid to achieve recognition of statehood from the United Nations in September.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391400
Report: former Mossad chief supports Palestinian UN bid
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 26 May — Former Mossad Director Meir Dagan came out against Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday, in a speech saying he was against blocking a Palestinian move to bring the issue of statehood to the UN. The speech, reported by the daily Ma’ariv, was delivered during a closed forum at Tel Aviv’s Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center … “Recognition of a state is inevitable,” the former director was reported to have said, recommending that Israel impose its own conditions on statehood rather than allowing the UN to sanction the Palestinian vision. Dagan said Israeli acceptance of the move could actually minimize “any damage.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391245
Haaretz poll: Netanyahu’s popularity soaring following Washington trip
26 May — Despite tensions in Washington during PM’s visit, Israelis generally don’t believe Obama is hostile to Israel or that U.S.-Israel relations have been harmed, indicating that the public seems to be turning a deaf ear to analysts who criticized Netanyahu’s address to Congress.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/haaretz-poll-netanyahu-s-popularity-soaring-following-washington-trip-1.364068?localLinksEnabled=false
Sarkozy: Palestinian unity agreement is good news
Haaretz 26 May — French president to send foreign minister to region next week to convince sides to return to the negotiating table.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/sarkozy-palestinian-unity-agreement-is-good-news-1.364281
Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair: Obama anxious about Israel’s fate
AP 26 May — Former U.K. prime minister says Obama offered new Mideast peace initiative since he sees the current situation as “particularly dangerous” ahead of a Palestinian state vote in September.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/mideast-quartet-envoy-tony-blair-obama-anxious-about-israel-s-fate-1.364203
Other news
US to help Israel buy four more Iron Dome anti-missile systems
Reuters 26 May — U.S. army official says anti-rocket system ‘highly effective’ in combat; funds come from $200 million-plus Obama initiative.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-to-help-israel-buy-four-more-iron-dome-anti-missile-systems-1.364065
Israeli killed by Palestinian police in Joseph’s Tomb officially recognized as terror victim
The Defense Ministry announced Thursday that the nephew of Science and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, killed by Palestinian policemen in the West Bank, will be officially recognized as a terror victim, Army Radio reported. Ben-Joseph Livnat, a 25-year-old father of four, was killed by Palestinian security forces last month when they opened fire on three cars carrying Israeli passengers who entered Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus without permission … The incident, however, has still not been classified as a terror attack … Since the lethal incident a month ago dozens of right-wing activists and settlers have visited the holy site, situated in the heart of the Palestinian city. Some of the visits were approved by security forces while some of the cases were infiltrations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-killed-by-palestinian-police-in-joseph-s-tomb-officially-recognized-as-terror-victim-1.364254
Amnesty to IDF: Rescind death penalty demand for Fogel family murderers
The Israel Defense Forces should rescind its reported demand that the suspects in the Itamar stabbing attacks be given the death penalty, Amnesty International said in a statement on Thursday. Last week, Haaretz reported that the army intended to seek the death penalty for the suspected murderers of five members of the Fogel family in the West Bank settlement of Itamar in March, which would mark the first time it has sought a sentence of death since the mid-1990s.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/amnesty-to-idf-rescind-death-penalty-demand-for-fogel-family-murderers-1.364182
Analysis / Opinion / Interviews
Nakba denials must be condemned / Yousef Munayyer
DB 25 May — Often, the events of this period are recited like this in mainstream media: After Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, armies from neighboring Arab states attacked the new nation; during the war that followed, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes by Israeli forces. As a student of history and the grandchild of Nakba survivors, I find it not only inaccurate to suggest Palestinian refugees are merely the unintended consequence of war, but also offensive and disgusting. That sequence of events, from a recent New York Times article, was repeated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his meeting with President Obama last week. Both describe the refugees as a result of the “Arab attack” in 1948. But even a cursory look at history reveals how flawed this is. Before a single Arab soldier crossed into Palestine on May 15, 1948, more than half the total refugees were created. Arab mobilization then became a reaction to massive refugee flows and not the cause of it.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-25/nakba-denials-must-be-condemned/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR6#
Bibi and the Yo-Yos / Uri Avnery
Gush Shalom 25 May — IT WAS all rather disgusting. There they were, the members of the highest legislative bodies of the world’s only superpower, flying up and down like so many yo-yos, applauding wildly, every few minutes or seconds, the most outrageous lies and distortions of Binyamin Netanyahu.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1306359471/
Netanyahu relegated himself to the footnotes of history / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 26 May — …Now it is certain: Netanyahu will go down in the history of Israel and of the world as a forgotten footnote. What did he do? What did he coin? That we live in “the land of our forefathers” and the settlers are not occupiers. Good job, Bibi. That he is prepared to be “generous,” without understanding that we are the occupiers and occupiers, just like robbers, can never be “generous.” Rather, what we have to be is just. We are not “giving up” anything; we can only restore what we have stolen to its rightful owners and restore justice. Who is going to buy the tiny crumbs he has thrown to the Palestinians and to the world?
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-relegated-himself-to-the-footnotes-of-history-1.364110
Nakba denials must be condemned / Yousef Munayyer
DB 25 May — Often, the events of this period are recited like this in mainstream media: After Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, armies from neighboring Arab states attacked the new nation; during the war that followed, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes by Israeli forces. As a student of history and the grandchild of Nakba survivors, I find it not only inaccurate to suggest Palestinian refugees are merely the unintended consequence of war, but also offensive and disgusting. That sequence of events, from a recent New York Times article, was repeated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his meeting with President Obama last week. Both describe the refugees as a result of the “Arab attack” in 1948. But even a cursory look at history reveals how flawed this is. Before a single Arab soldier crossed into Palestine on May 15, 1948 more than half the total refugees were created. Arab mobilization then became a reaction to massive refugee flows and not the cause of it.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-25/nakba-denials-must-be-condemned/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR6#
Arabeh Mayor Omar Nasser – Do you agree with Netanyahu that Arabs live better here than elsewhere?
Haaretz 26 May — …Were you surprised when the prime minister spoke about the rights of Israeli Arabs and how they enjoy democracy more than Arabs in any other country? It was unbearable hypocrisy. The prime minister is mistaken and misleading, and it’s a disgrace that members of Congress applauded him. The prime minister chose to compare democracy in Israel to the Arab world. But if he is so proud of democracy in Israel, then why doesn’t he compare it to democracy in Canada or in Sweden or in Switzerland? Yet, if you were the mayor of a town in an Arab country, you wouldn’t dare attack a prime minister in this way? True. But again, don’t compare me to Libya and Sudan; compare me to Switzerland and Canada, where no one questions the right of someone else to voice an opinion
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/head-to-head-arabeh-mayor-omar-nasser-do-you-agree-with-netanyahu-that-arabs-live-better-here-than-elsewhere-1.364104
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