and other news from Today in Palestine:
Unity
Israel freezes cash transfers over unity deal
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) 1 May — Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said Sunday that he would freeze cash transfers to the Palestinian Authority because of the reconciliation of Palestinian factions. Sunday’s postponed meeting was supposed to have culminated in the transfer of around 300 million shekels ($88.7 million) to the PA, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonoth. Under an economic deal agreed alongside the Oslo Accords, Israel collects between 3.5 and 5.0 billion shekels ($1.04 billion to $1.48 billion) each year on behalf of the PA. The revenue forms a significant part of the PA’s annual budget … PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Steinitz’s decision to freeze the transfer of the PA’s money would not deter national reconciliation, and that Palestinians would work harder to achieve unity in the face of Israeli threats. Fayyad said the PA was in contact with international parties to stop Israel withholding the transfer, the official PA news agency WAFA reported … Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of Hamas’ political bureau in Gaza, called Israel’s decision “Zionist piracy.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383674
Video — Piracy and blackmail – Dr. Mustafa Barghouti
Pal Mon 1 May — Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi condemns Israel’s freezing of Palestinian funding as blackmail, piracy and hypocritical .. money collected from Palestinian taxpayers, not Israeli money
http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1785
PA could fail to pay salaries if money withheld
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 May — Caretaker Minister of Economy in the Palestinian Authority government Hassn Abu Libdeh warned Sunday that the PA could fail to meet its payroll if Israel went ahead with a plan to withhold tax revenues. Salaries were due to be transferred into the accounts of employees on Monday, but could be delayed pending word from Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383811
Fayyad urges international intervention over Israeli freeze on Palestinian taxes
Reuters 1 May — Palestinian PM denounces Israel’s suspension of $89 million, says Israeli ‘threats’ would not disrupt Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/fayyad-urges-international-intervention-over-israeli-freeze-on-palestinian-taxes-1.359171
Hamas leader Mesha‘al in Cairo to sign unity deal
Haaretz 1 May — Hamas leader Khaled Mesha‘al arrived in Cairo on Sunday to sign an Egyptian-brokered deal to end a rift between his Palestinian group and President Mahmoud Abbas’ rival Fatah, Egypt’s state news agency reported … It was not immediately clear if Mesha‘al would meet Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshall Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, but any meeting between the Hamas leader and Egypt’s top political leaders would have been unthinkable when Mubarak was in power.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-leader-meshaal-in-cairo-to-sign-unity-deal-1.359209
PA security chief will head to Gaza ahead of Abbas visit
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 May — Head of Palestinian military intelligence in the West Bank Nedal Abu Dukhan will head to Gaza this week, to carry out preparatory arrangements for the president’s expected visit, the official told Ma‘an on Sunday. Abu Dukhan will also meet with the Gaza government security forces to discuss elements of the planned overhaul of security services in both the West Bank and Gaza, per the pending unity agreement between Palestinian factions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383794
Israel prevents Abbas’s envoy from entering Gaza
Ahram Online 1 May — Abbas’s personal envoy for national reconciliation has been prevented from entering Gaza strip from Ramallah Sunday morning through the Erez crossing. This is, in fact, a second [time?] for Mohamed Abou Tir, Abbas’s envoy. As an alternative, Abou Tir is considering entering through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian Gaza border. Abou Tir’s visit was expected to precede the signing of the national reconciliation agreement to be signed in Egypt on Wednesday 4 May to put the Palestinian house in order. Meanwhile, Palestinian presidential political advisor, Nemr Hamad, confirmed Abbas’s intention to go on with his planned visit to the Strip before the end of this month.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/11134/World/Region/Israel-prevents-Abbas-from-entering-Gaza–days-bef.aspx
Israeli ministers and lawmakers call for annexing West Bank
Ahram Online 1 May — A recording reveals Israeli leaders countering the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation signing to take place in 3 days by calling for annexation of the West Bank … Israeli Channel 2 revealed that the calls weren’t only propagated by parliamentarians of the far right, but also included important ministers in the Israeli government
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/11158/World/Region/Israeli-ministers-and-lawmakers-call-for-annexing-.aspx
Officials: Truce will not lessen pressure on Israel
Ynet 1 May — Israeli officials fear Europe opting to give joint Hamas-Fatah government chance, will soon resume pressure on Israel to present plan for peace talks. US support expected to wane by PA statehood declaration in September
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062599,00.html
‘Hamas ready for peace talks with Israel’
Ynet 1 May — Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri, who helped mediate Hamas-Fatah unity pact, says Gaza leadership willing to agree to comprehensive peace deal based on 1967 borders
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062868,00.html
Netanyahu: Hamas-Fatah unity deal should worry all those who care about peace
Haaretz 1 May — Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, the prime minister says anyone in the world who wishes for peace should be concerned about a Palestinian government containing Hamas … A future peace between Israel and the Palestinians will be created “only with those who want to be on our side, and not those who want our annihilation,” Netanyahu said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-hamas-fatah-unity-deal-should-worry-all-those-who-care-about-peace-1.359134
Livni: Netanyahu isolating Israel
Ynet 1 May — Opposition chairwoman lashes out at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response to Fatah-Hamas reconciliation, says he is failing to exercise damage control, find alternative. ‘You can’t simply keep saying the world is against us’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062685,00.html
Army and Border Police violence
Family house shelled: two children, a woman, and a man injured
Inge Neefs, ISM Gaza 30 Apr — In the evening of April 28th, Nasser was still cherishing his dream of his wife, while lying in the bedroom, when all of a sudden, the Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the house at 8:10 pm. Within five minutes, four shells were fired from a tank, stationed by an Israeli base by the border, 3 kilometers from the family house. The first one went straight through the bedroom wall, were Nasser was resting. The second and third shells passed through the corridor where three of his children were playing and the fourth shell hit the bedroom a second time … Both Maisa [5] and Ala’ had been injured by shrapnel … The Abu Said family house is situated in Johr Al-Dik’s farming land, exactly 340 meters from the border with Israel. Currently, 14 people live in the house … Other families have evacuated the area in the past decade, because of the danger, but the Abu Said family lacks resources to relocate to a safer area.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/18051/
Soldiers charged with abusing Palestinian minor
Ynet 1 May — Border Guard officers Yishai Ben Ozri, Shani Sivilya indicted over checkpoint incident during which they beat 17-year-old Palestinian. They allegedly continued abusing victim at local police station … At this point, Sivilya took out her personal weapon, cocked it, and pointed the unloaded weapon to the victim’s neck, while she counted down from 10 to one. The teen is then alleged to have screamed “no, no” after which, when she finished her countdown Sivilya pulled the trigger while yelling “Death to Arabs” and “All Arabs are whores”.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4063012,00.html
Israeli soldiers injure Palestinian worker
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 May — Israeli soldiers on Sunday assaulted two Palestinian workers trying to enter Jerusalem near the Zayem checkpoint, at the eastern entrance to Jerusalem. Mahmoud Abu Sarhan, 25, said he lost consciousness and fell from a cliff after an Israeli forces officer threw a rock at his head. The Bethlehem resident sustained serious head injuries in the attack, a Ma‘an correspondent said … “We were a group of workers trying to overstep the separation wall not far from the Zayem checkpoint around 4:00 in the morning. As we started to climb the wall, two soldiers surprised us and so we jumped back and started to run toward the foot of the mountain where we tried to hide,” said 22-year-old worker Salah Sarhan.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383702
Palestinians working in Israel
from 11 May 2010:
VIDEO: Catch me
Every day, hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank enter Israel illegally. Their goal is to work, since Palestinians without permits are not allowed to work in Israel. Once they are inside, they lead lives of considerable precariousness and danger, often sleeping in the open air and continually having to evading capture. In addition, they give fuel to a deep-rooted Israeli fear of Palestinian infiltration … Video courtesy of B’Tselem [Considering the very large number of Palestinians who enter Israel illegally, the Wall seems not to be working very well as a security measure — its primary purpose being land theft, anyway. Note that if anyone wanted to bring a bomb into Israel, it wouldn’t be that hard, but it seems no one wants to.]
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1393
Palestinian workers don’t celebrate May Day
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 1 May — On Sunday, laborers around the world [not the US] celebrate International Workers’ Day but the holiday is not taken by most Palestinians … Most workers waiting at the checkpoint were surprised when asked why they were not taking the day off. Several blamed Palestinian authorities, and others appealed to Arab countries for support. … A survey by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics found that in 2010, 65,000 Palestinians were working in Israel while a further 9,000 worked in Israeli settlements. Palestinians employed in Israel and in Israeli settlements accounted for 15% of salaried Palestinians in the West Bank, PCBS found.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383669
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
VIDEO: A putrid price for nonviolent resistance – the ‘Skunk’ / Joseph Dana
How do I convey the smell of the ‘Skunk’? Imagine rolling around the floor of a dairy farm for a few hours and the subsequent smell of your skin. A smell so overbearing that people can’t bear to be in the same room with you. Now, imagine that you can’t get that smell out for two weeks. This is the smell of the ‘Skunk.’
Last Friday, the tiny village of Nabi Saleh held a demonstration against the Occupation. Brave Palestinians embracing the tradition of nonviolence which typified the struggle for civil rights in the American south have been demonstrating for almost two years along with Israeli and international supporters. After midday prayers on Friday, demonstrators began to march to the village’s agricultural spring, which has been taken over by settlers with the blessing of the Israeli army.
http://972mag.com/another-price-of-nonviolent-palestinian-resistance-the-skunk/
When Montgomery comes to Nabi Saleh
Al Jazeera 28 Apr — As the nonviolence movement in Palestine continues to be threatened, knowledge of its existence remains minimal at best … But what is extraordinary about the Nabi Saleh campaign is its effectiveness. The protesters are trained in non-violent tactics. “Our strategic choice of a popular struggle — as a means to fight the occupation taking over our lands, lives, and future — is a declaration that we do not harm human lives,” Tamimi has said. “The very essence of our activity opposes killing.”
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/04/2011427184153217415.html
60-year-old American woman injured in protest
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 1 May — Israeli forces injured an American activist and detained three other foreign nationals Sunday, as they attempted to stop Israeli bulldozers from razing Palestinian agricultural land east of Qalqiliya, witnesses said. International solidarity activists gathered in Izbat At-Tabib in the northern West Bank on privately-owned Palestinian property, which Israel seeks to confiscate for the construction of a wall around Jewish-only settlements in the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383744
A US Boat to Gaza event not to be missed
JOIN A SUNSET CRUISE IN NY HARBOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 THE MARCO POLO MARINA 23rd STREET & FDR DRIVE BOARDING 6:30 pm · RETURNING 10:30 pm Tickets are just $25! Enjoy a bounty of Middle Eastern hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, inspiring music and great people. SPECIAL GUESTS Meet some of the passengers who will travel on the U.S. BOAT TO GAZA, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE … The application process to sail on the U.S. boat to Gaza, the Audacity of Hope, is now closed. Thank you to all who applied.
http://ustogaza.org/front/a-u-s-boat-to-gaza-event-not-to-be-missed/
Seattle: Anti-Israel billboard ads to be removed
Ynet 1 May – A Seattle group seeking to publish ads calling for an end to US financing of Israel suffered another defeat recently. Last year the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign tried to get ads pointing to “Israel’s war crimes” to run on the sides of buses but they were canceled. The Seattle Times reported Sunday that the ad agency has now removed the “softened” message billboards as well … the ad agency claimed that they have no problem with the slogans in the ads but pointed to the website content as problematic.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4063089,00.html
Gaza siege
Netanyahu mulls sending envoy to Egypt for talks with interim leaders
Haaretz 1 May — PM’s possible Egypt outreach seen as a response to a comment by the Egyptian army chief who advised Israel not to interfere in Cairo’s decision to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-mulls-sending-envoy-to-egypt-for-talks-with-interim-leaders-1.359032
Rafah open this week only for registered travelers
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 1 May — Despite a Thursday announcement announcing the opening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, conditions for those seeking passage remain stringent, requiring registration and documentation weeks in advance.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383787
Israel wary of change in Rafah crossing’s status
Officials in the security establishment estimated that despite the recent voices in Cairo, calling to reopen the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, the border passage will remain closed. “As of now, it seems that there are no changes being made at the border,” a security official told Ynet Sunday. Any such change at the Rafah crossing may have heavy repercussions on the balance of power in the Strip. Accordingly, Israel is closely following the developments in the area.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062831,00.html
Hamas won’t oppose EU presence at border, official says
JPost 1 May — Hamas doesn’t object to the reinstatement of European Union observers at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, a Hamas official told The Media Line. “We don’t mind if the Europeans are involved as long as the Egyptian side agrees to this,” Ahmad Yousef, a political adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told The Media Line on Sunday. “The only objection we have is to Israeli involvement. This is an agreement between Palestinians and the Egyptians,” he added.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=218673&R=R1
Gaza crossing opens after 2-day closure
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 1 May — Israeli authorities agreed to allow limited goods to enter Gaza on Sunday through Kerem Shalom crossing, Palestinian officials said. The crossing has been closed since Thursday. It is the sole operating border crossing
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383619
State appeals order to release minimum Gaza food info
JPost 1 May — Defense Ministry claims exposing “red lines document” that outlines caloric intake will have chilling effect on internal deliberations … The precise contents of the “red lines document” are unknown, but it is believed to contain a formula by which the Defense Ministry calculated the minimum amount of food required by the Palestinian population in the Gaza strip necessary to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=218682&R=R1
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Breaking: Bulldozer in Izzat Tabib
Pal Mon 1 May — International Solidarity Movement activists report that a bulldozer, five jeeps and fifty soldiers have arrived in Izzat Tabib, just east of Qalqiliya. “If media is present, they might stop,” said ISM’s field coordinator, who spent last night in a tent with other activists to try and block the illegal deconstruction of Palestinian homes. UPDATE 15:15 ISM reports three violent arrests and one hospitalization following a soldier’s attack on activists and villagers. Video and photographic equipment was confiscated. The military justified actions because it Izzat Tabib is in a “closed military zone.”
http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1784
The ghost town between Palestine’s past and its future / Catrina Stewart
Independent 30 Apr — Catrina Stewart visits an abandoned settlement, frozen in time 63 years ago, that may soon become a luxury housing development — Walking through the abandoned Palestinian village of Lifta, Yacoub Odeh is transported back to a time more than 63 years ago when as a child he would play in these streets before his carefree existence came to an abrupt end. As he points out the old mosque and olive press, names come tumbling back, events, memories – a life before 1948
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-ghost-town-between-palestines-past-and-its-future-2276864.html
Refugees in their own land
Haaretz 29 Apr — Trade in ancient olive trees is a big business, often across the Green Line. Arab farmers are tempted by the big cash that wealthy Israelis will pay for such a status symbol, and there’s little the law can do about it.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/refugees-in-their-own-land-1.358781
State to increase building enforcement in West Bank
Ynet 1 May — Defense Ministry to file response to Peace Now petition over illegal outposts in West Bank, tell court rapid eviction of illegal outposts underway. Home of fallen soldier to be spared
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062635,00.html
State looking to authorize illegal settler buildings
JPost 1 May — The state is expected to tell the High Court of Justice today that it is looking to authorize illegal Jewish construction in certain areas of the West Bank on state land – including in the Givat HaYovel outpost near the Eli settlement. It is submitting a response to a number of High Court petitions regarding illegal construction, both in West Bank settlements and outposts, Defense Ministry’s settlement advisor, Eitan Broshi, said.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=218582&R=R2
Politics / Diplomacy / International news
Egypt calls on US to recognize Palestinian state
AFP 1 May — Foreign Minister Nabil al-‘Arabi claims recognition would correspond with previous statements by US administration regarding two-state solution
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4063039,00.html
Abbas to visit Arab, European states before signing Palestinian deal
(Bernama) Ramallah 30 Apr –… Currently, Abbas is in Jordan and is scheduled to visit Qatar and Germany before arriving in Cairo on Wednesday to sign an Egyptian-brokered agreement between Fatah and Hamas.In Germany, Abbas will ask Chancellor Angela Merkel to support the Palestinian reconciliation and the technocratic government that would be formed accordingly.
http://mmail.com.my/content/71001-abbas-visit-arab-european-states-signing-palestinian-deal
Report: Mubarek’s wealth came from Israel gas deal
Ynet 1 May — Cairo’s new justice minister says ousted Egyptian president owes his vast fortune to corrupt arms deals, gas sales to Israel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4062779,00.html
Other news
IDF to bolster presence near Palestinian areas ahead of Nakba Day events
Haaretz 1 May — The Israel Defense Force is preparing to substantially bolster its presence near Palestinian population centers in the coming two weeks as planned public events to mark the Nakba (the Palestinians’ term for the events of 1948) approach, including processions and rallies. In recent weeks, a number of Palestinian groups have posted notices online calling for a “Day of Rage” in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Nakba Day, which falls this year on May 15. The groups are calling for demonstrations to promote the reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas factions and for the immediate establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Some groups also called for a third intifada against Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-to-bolster-presence-near-palestinian-areas-ahead-of-nakba-day-events-1.359039
‘Hatred and denial of Jews has become hatred and denial of Jewish state’
The prime minister spoke ahead of Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day [which] begins at sundown on Sunday … While in the early years after Israel’s foundation, in 1948, Holocaust survivors made up about half the country’s Jewish population, they today form under 4 per cent. Their number is dwindling fast
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/hatred-and-denial-of-jews-has-become-hatred-and-denial-of-jewish-state-1.359152
Analysis / Opinion
Gaza is a symbol of occupation, thanks to Israel / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 1 May — Israel’s Pavlovian response to Palestinian reconciliation, which included the usual threats of boycott, is the result of the ingrained anxiety of people who no longer control the process … Israel interpreted the political conflict between Abbas and Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and Khaled Meshal in Damascus as an unsolvable ideological conflict and a reality in which, in Israel’s thinking, Palestine is divided not only into two regions, but into two mutually hostile peoples. Israel tortures one side while celebrating with the other at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of a shopping center … Now, with this policy in its death throes, Israel is telling horror stories in which the Palestinian state becomes a Hamas state, an Iranian proxy and a focus of terror. It is also trying to say that this reconciliation will be the death of the peace process – the same process whose remains are already in the morgue.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/gaza-is-a-symbol-of-occupation-thanks-to-israel-1.359062
Hamas should be given a chance / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 1 May — Palestinian reconciliation is not good for Israel according to the distorted zero sum game that we have been playing forever: What is good for them is bad for us — Why should we bother with elections, changing prime ministers and parties? For what do we need all this unnecessary trouble if Israel’s response will always be the same, government after government on autopilot? Why is it that every time there appears to be a chance for positive change, Israel is quick to make a sour face, to scaremonger and hunker down behind its rejectionism. Why? Because that is how we are.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/hamas-should-be-given-a-chance-1.359064
Benefits of voter registration of all Palestinians / Hugo van Randwyck
PNN 30 Apr — Voter registration of all Palestinians — West Bank, Gaza, refugees, diaspora … How would voter registration work? Firstly, the internationally recognised process of Out of Country Voting (OCV) could be used. Every Palestinian wherever they live could have a voter registration card showing their Palestinian town/village of origin and also their current address — this would apply to children and grandchildren of refugees as well … How could this help the Palestinians and people around the world supporting peace? The action of having a unified voter registration list of all voters, is in itself a unifying process. For the first time, all Palestinians will be able to express their voting voice, and also have an opportunity to speak in referendums. Also people around the world will be able to see that in 1948, as well as people being expelled from the Holy Land, ‘voters’ were expelled, and have been prevented from voting.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9973&Itemid=58
Video dialogue: The Arabs and the Holocaust
Arab and Israeli reactions to the Holocaust differ naturally and are yet closely interconnected, as the Nazi genocide of the Jews has become the object of various and often symmetrical forms of instrumentalisation on both sides of the Middle East conflict. Paying tribute to Tom Segev’s study of Israeli reactions in his best-selling The Seventh Million, Gilbert Achcar’s most recent book explores the Arab side of this history in all its complexity from the 1930s to our time. A dialogue between these two critical minded authors is a unique opportunity that should not be missed.
http://www.jewishbookweek.com/2011/arabs-and-the-holocaust.php
www.theheadlines.org
