and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Susya and Lasefer, May 7, 2011 / David Shulman
Two things strike you immediately, closely followed by a familiar third. The first is the sheer brazenness of the theft — or, rather, of the thief, who stands before you jeering, smug, sure of his power, eager to hurt. He has already taken some 95% of your family`s land, and now he bullies his way into the tiny patch that is left in order to harass you and humiliate you further, for this evidently gives him joy. Then there is the pure racism, purer perhaps than what one sees anywhere else in the world today. The thief regards you as barely human, an object capable only of feeling pain, though he needs you as his victim, for without you he is incomplete, profoundly frustrated, lonely, unfulfilled. Thus the settler in his Shabbat white, a huge knitted skullcap on his head, takes a pebble and holds it out on his fingertips to a Palestinian woman from Susya as he clucks his tongue at her, beckoning her, teasing her, as one would a dog, then tosses the pebble at her in contempt, as one throws a dog a biscuit, and he laughs. I saw him do it this morning in Susya, and I wasn’t the only witness.
http://kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=46479
I thought I am going to die
Jerusalem – Maysa Abu Ghazaleh/PNN exclusive 3 May — “I thought I am going to die” this is how 19 year old Ala Sharawnah from Jerusalem recalls Monday night after surviving an attack by Israeli settlers. “I was going back home after I finished work, a group of 20 Jewish settlers surrounded me and attacked me. My heart was beating fast and I could not breath, I thought I am going to die. I blacked-out and woke up in the hospital.” Ala explains what happened to him … The family is planning to file a complaint to the Israeli police even though they are sure the attackers will not be caught. “Last year they killed Husam Rowidie from Silwan in East Jerusalem and the attackers were not caught.”
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9988&Itemid=56
Settlers attempt to abduct 2 Palestinian children in Hebron
West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) 8 May — About 20 Israeli settlers attempted yesterday to abduct two Palestinian children who were playing in front of their homes central Hebron. Local sources said that the two children were identified as Marwan Al-Sharbati, 6, and Waid Al-Sharbati, 6. Marwan’s father told that a group of settlers attempted to storm his house to abduct Marwan without reasons mentioned. The father added that settlers withdrew after the intervention of the neighbors to prevent the abduction, while Waid escaped. Marwan was evacuated to the public hospital in Hebron to receive medication as he suffered from a state of fear. [End]
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9113-settlers-attempt-to-abduct-2-palestinian-children-in-hebron.html
Yafit settlement expands its farmland on Palestinian land
JVS 8 May — Yafit, an Israeli settlement located on the road 90, between Fasayel and Jiftlik, is currently grabbing around 300 dunums (1 dunum = 1000 m²) of Palestinian land in order to expand its agricultural land. Yafit is established on hundreds of dunums of Palestinian land and produces already tonnes of fruits and vegetables that are exported on the European market. This new grab of land will be used by settlers as a farm as well as to implement a water reservoir. Yesterday, JVS volunteers saw workers building a fence around this land.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=258:yafit-settlement-expends-its-farm-land-on-palestinian-land&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Israeli forces demolish tent village in the South Hebron Hills
CPT 7 May — On Friday, May 6, the Israeli military declared the area of Amniyr, a Palestinian village south of Yatta, a closed military zone and chased away the families who own the land, after demolishing structures and trees on the land the day before. The demolitions at 5 a.m. on Thursday, May 5, when the military destroyed six shacks and uprooted 150 olive trees in Amniyr. On Friday, the Palestinians of Amniyr had returned to the land and hung six tarps to create makeshift tents. The Israeli army issued a “closed military zone” order on the area at 9:00 a.m. At 2:00 p.m. seven military jeeps arrived, including police and border police. The commanders showed the order and gave the people one minute to leave. Using sound bombs and tear gas, the soldiers and police forced off the land all the Palestinians present — about thirty adults, many of them elderly, and ten children –as well as accompanying internationals. One woman, Fatmi Mahmoud Jaboor, passed out due to the bombs and required medical attention.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/05/18189/
Video: Susya, Um-Nir, after being destroyed by occupation forces
Uploaded 8 May. People try to salvage what they can from the wreckage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2-Nxro7QfY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Seeing the West Bank for the first time in a tour bus
AP 6 May — Settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state … Proponents hope that drawing visitors will help increase support for retaining the territory, while critics say the tourism campaign, like Jewish settlements, is a foothold that stands in the way of making peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/seeing-the-west-bank-for-the-first-time-in-a-tour-bus-1.360201
Restriction of movement
Israel seals West Bank for national holiday
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 8 May — Israeli troops will seal off the West Bank for three days starting Sunday as Israel celebrates the 63rd anniversary of its founding, the army said Saturday. The Israeli military said the closure was imposed “in accordance with the directives of the Minister of Defense,” in a statement. Israel routinely imposes tight restrictions on the West Bank during Jewish holidays.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385685
Detention by Israel
Israel arrests Palestinians in Hebron
West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) 8 May — Five Palestinians were detained Sunday after raiding their homes in the towns of Deir Samt and Tarqumia in the West Bank city of Hebron. Security sources told SAFA News Agency that Israeli forces entered the city at early morning arresting five Palestinians who were sent unknown destinations . Sources added that Israeli military troops raided the towns of Beit Halhoul and Beit Ummer in the north of Hebron in addition to several districts in the city
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9114-israel-arrests-palestinians-in-hebron.html
IOA extends administrative detention of MP Ramahi
GAZA, (PIC) 8 May — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) extended the administrative detention, without trial, of MP Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ramahi for six more months, the international campaign to release detained lawmakers said on Sunday. It added in a statement that Ramahi’s detention ends on Monday but was extended at the last moment as is usual with the IOA practices against Palestinian detainees.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Detainees protest solitary confinement
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 May — Palestinians detained in Israeli jails declared a hunger strike Saturday to demand the release of prisoners from solitary confinement, the Ministry of Detainees in Gaza said. The ministry said detainees would go on a two-day hunger strike every week until Israeli prison authorities released Palestinians from solitary confinement, some of whom had been isolated for many years. Ministry spokesman Riyad Al-Ashqar said 2,000 prisoners were participating in the strike in Eshel, Ramon, Ashkelon and Nafha jails. Israel’s prison administration had already punished prisoners in Ramon prison for the strike by banning them from family visits for one month, Al-Ashqar added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385577
Detention by factions
Independents: ‘Huge’ efforts to stop political arrests
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 8 May — There are “huge” efforts being made by leaders of the Palestinian factions involved in the Cairo reconciliation deal, independent delegate Khalil Asaf told Ma‘an on Saturday. The officials spoke while on a visit to the government-run Al-Juneid Prison in Nablus, where many of those said to be political prisoners are held … All parties have stressed the necessity of ending the political arrests issue. Hamas officials in the West Bank regularly report the detention of members and affiliates by PA forces for what they say are political reasons, while West Bank security officials say the men are detained on criminal charges. In Gaza, an unknown number of Fatah-affiliates are said to be held in Hamas-run prisons, though Hamas officials say there are no political detainees in the coastal enclave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385884
Islamic Jihad accuses PA of targeting members for arrest
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 May — Five Islamic Jihad affiliates were detained for political reasons, officials from within the movement accused Palestinian Authority officials in a statement released on Sunday. “Such arrests are poisoning the conciliation atmosphere,” a statement said, adding that a continuation of political arrests in the wake of the signing of a unity deal in Cairo is “enforcing division.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385992
Report: Hamas agrees to Egyptian draft on Shalit deal
Ynet 8 May — Al Jazeera claims Cairo’s intelligence services have been able to formulate exchange deal acceptable to Hamas. Deal to be presented to Israel within days
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4066170,00.html
International kidnapping
Sources: Iranian former defense minister in Israeli jail
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 8 May — Former Iranian deputy defense minister Ali Riza Asghari has been detained in Israel since his abduction by the Mossad in 2006, sources told Ma‘an. The sources said Israeli authorities had imposed a gag order on the country’s media forbidding them from reporting details of the case. Iranian officials and Asghari’s family have accused Israel’s Mossad of abducting the former cabinet minister, who disappeared during a visit to Turkey in December 2006 … Shortly after Asghari’s disappearance, a senior US official told The Washington Post that the Iranian had defected and was providing Western intelligence services with information on links between Hezbollah and Iran … Journalist Richard Silverstein reported in December 2010 that Asghari was found dead in his cell in Israel’s Ayalon prison.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385674
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Beit Ummar: residents celebrating unity say attacked by soldiers
[photos] HEBRON (Ma‘an) — Israeli forces violently shut down a rally celebrating Palestinian national unity in Beit Ummar near Hebron on Saturday, injuring several protesters, locals said … Local committee spokesman Mohammad Ayyad Awad said Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and attacked demonstrators with stun grenades, rifle butts and batons. Soldiers tried to arrest head of the anti-wall committee Yousef Abed Al-Hamid Abu Maria, 36, who owns land confiscated by the illegal Karmi Tzur settlement. Organizers said soldiers twisted Abu Maria’s arm and wrist until it broke in two places … Awad said committee secretary Ahmad Khalil Abu Hashem, 42, his 12-year-old son Hamza and coordinator Abed Abu Maria, 33, were beaten by soldiers and sustained bruises. Several journalists were also attacked, Awad said,
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385885
24-year-old man from ‘Iraq Burin shot by teargas canister at close range
[photo] ISM 8 May — Yesterday afternoon, 24 year old Abdallah Aadus from the village of ‘Iraq Burin was taken to hospital after being shot in the side by a teargas canister which was fired from close range. Abdallah had been participating in a demonstration against the theft of his village’s agricultural land by settlers.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/05/18197/
Omar Barghouti, founding member of BDS movement, calls on celebrities to rally around international campaign to boycott Israel
MEMO 6 May — Omar Barghouti takes part in an exclusive interview with MEMO’s Dr Hanan Chehata in which he discusses the successes and challenges facing the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement against Israel.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/interviews/2311-omar-barghouti-founding-member-of-bds-movement-calls-on-celebrities-to-rally-around-international-campaign-to-boycott-israel
Political / Diplomatic / International
A legal tsunami called Palestine
Ynet 8 May — Legal experts said Sunday that if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is successful in his unilateral bid for a Palestinian state, Israel may find itself facing an abundance of various legal troubles. “I’m sure we will find ourselves dealing with diplomatic crises morning, noon and night,” International Law specialist Attorney Michael Sefarad said … The main concern, according to Sefarad, is to Israel’s legal status in the territories: “Instead of being the legitimate administrator of the area pending a decision about its final status, we will be considered the illegal occupiers of a UN-member state.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4066123,00.html
Young Palestinians to form ‘shadow cabinet’
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 May — Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip say they will form a “shadow cabinet” once the transitional government has been formed. The group is consulting with youth organizations in Gaza and the West Bank to form the cabinet, which it says will mirror the cabinet in the technocratic government currently being formed. Muhammad Hasna, who helped initiate the project, said Palestine expected his generation to bring its cause to the forefront. Hasna said each young cabinet member would have a portfolio, and would be expected to exert pressure on the government to serve the Palestinian people and their homeland.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385800
Over 300 Palestinians, Israelis meet in historic conference in Hebron
AIC 8 May — Over 300 Palestinians and Israelis met in Hebron on Saturday (7 May) in the first ever public conference between Israeli socio-political activists and the Palestinian political parties. The conference, entitled A Joint Struggle for an End to the Israeli Occupation and Racism, was jointly conducted by the Palestinian Left in Hebron, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) and Tarabut-Hithabrut, a social political movement in Israel.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/11-aic-projects/3577-over-300-palestinians-israelis-meet-in-historic-conference-in-hebron-
Egypt studies reopening consulate in Gaza, official says
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Ma‘an) — Gaza’s caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Planning Mohammad Awad told Ma‘an on Sunday that Egypt’s transitional leadership was seriously studying the option of opening a consulate in Gaza City to facilitate communication with Gaza officials … Speaking to reporters in Rafah on mechanisms being discussed to facilitate the opening of the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in the city, Awad said the decision to open an Egyptian office in Gaza would have little effect on the opening of the crossing. “Egypt is not a party to the 2005 agreement,” he said
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385951
Report: Abbas wants Fayyad to head unity gov’t
Ynet 8 May — Palestinian president attempts to convince Hamas to keep Salam Fayyad as PM of unity gov’t because of his international popularity — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is interested in keeping Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the head of the Hamas- Fatah unity government despite recent reports to the contrary, the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4066058,00.html
Palestinian conference sees heavy turnout in Germany
WUPPERTAL, GERMANY (PIC) May — The 9th Palestinians in Europe Conference commenced in Wuppertal city of Germany on Saturday morning. The event was organized by General Secretariat of the Palestinians in Europe Conference, Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), and Palestinian Assembly in Germany. The considerable turnout of around ten thousand Palestinians from Europe who flooded from across the continent reiterated the Palestinian refugees’ right of return and shared a moment of joy over the historic unity deal between once split Palestinian parties.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Report: Qatar offering Israel gas ‘below cost price’
Ynet (Hebrew?) 8 May – Several newspapers and Internet forums in the Arab world are reporting that Qatar has expressed its willingness to supply natural gas to Israel instead of Egypt. The reports’ sources have not been disclosed. According to the reports, Qatar’s Industry and Commerce Minister Hassan Abdulla Fakhro told his Israeli counterpart in a phone conversation that his country was willing to export natural gas to the Jewish state “for an unlimited period of time and below market prices”.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=77519
Other news
Israel’s population stands at 7,746,000 on its 63rd birthday
Haaretz 8 May — …Since last Independence Day, there has been a 2% rise, 155,000 people, in Israel’s population. Israel’s Jewish population comprises about 5.837 million (75.3%) of the total 7.746 million inhabitants, while Israeli Arabs comprise about 1.587 million (20.5%) of the total population. Immigrants and their descendants who are not listed as Jews in the Interior Ministry are about 322,000 (4.2%) inhabitants of the total population … According to the report, over 70% of Israel’s Jewish inhabitants were born in Israel and more than half were at least second generation Israelis, in comparison to 1948, when only 35% of Israel’s inhabitants were born in the country.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-s-population-stands-at-7-746-million-on-its-63rd-birthday-1.360533
Palestinian hackers add bin Laden image to Israeli Facebook pages
Haaretz 8 May — Palestinian hackers took control Friday night of the Facebook pages of Bank Leumi, Israel Railways and the national lottery agency Mifal Hapayis … The hackers left a calling card on the sites they broke into: the message “hacked for Palestine” and the image of Osama bin Laden.
http://english.themarker.com/palestinian-hackers-add-bin-laden-image-to-israeli-facebook-pages-1.360433
Nuclear whistle-blower Vanunu requests revocation of citizenship
Haaretz 7 May — Vanunu spent 18 years in prison for revealing state nuclear secrets to London-based newspaper, The Sunday Times, in 1986. He made his request in light of a new Citizenship Revocation Law, passed by the Knesset on March 28, 2011. According to this law, those convicted of treason lose their right to Israeli citizenship. “After the treatment and ‘care’ which I got from this country and its citizens, I cannot feel myself a wanted citizen here,” the letter says. “I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I don’t want to go on living here.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/nuclear-whistle-blower-vanunu-requests-revocation-of-citizenship-1.360386
Shara‘a Simsim launches early childhood website
Nablus / New York — To PNN – With a click of a keyboard and a scroll of a mouse, Palestinian children and adults can now have access to an exciting virtual world with Arabic speaking characters, games, activities and useful advice. … Meanwhile, twenty six new episodes of the television program Shara‘a Simsim [Sesame Street] will begin broadcast on Palestine TV and Maan Network this month.
VIDEO from 2010 season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypg3qqgENnw
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9994&Itemid=63
Analysis / Opinion
Palestinian unity has cast Netanyahu adrift / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 8 May — Premier doesn’t care whether the two sides of the Palestinian state manage to merge, nor does he care who will be their leader. As far as he is concerned, this is neither a Palestinian nor an Arab story – it’s all about Israel or, more precisely, it’s all against Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/palestinian-unity-has-cast-netanyahu-adrift-1.360440
Terminal, we love you / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 8 May — A state which wallows in its disasters and is addicted to threats has no greater disaster than the momentary closing of the aerial route in and out … Anyone who can get a second passport gets one, and don’t you talk to us about closing our “aerial gate.” There’s no greater proof for the feeling of suffocation and siege, the Holocaust always lurking behind the corner, the innate paranoia and the acquired claustrophobia … It’s true that at the actual gate there’s an inevitable, ugly display of naked racism, with heavily armed security guards wishing you “good morning” or “good evening” just to hear your accent. And it’s true the place is off-limits for Palestinians from the territories and a nightmare for Arabs from Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/terminal-we-love-you-1.360439
Gaza militia in grab for power / Hugh Naylor
RAFAH (The National) 8 May // They are supposed to function as Hamas’s military: an enigmatic commando force carrying out attacks against Israel and protecting the Islamist group’s political leadership. But Palestinian leaders, political analysts and human rights groups in Gaza say the powerful Qassam Brigades have grown unwieldy, increasingly defiant of Hamas political leaders and brutally repressive towards public dissent. Instead of focusing on Israel, they say, the Brigades have been trying to consolidate their power in Gaza.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/gaza-militia-in-grab-for-power
U.S.
US Attorney escalates attacks on civil liberties of antiwar, Palestinian human rights activists
On Friday, May 6, the U.S. government froze the bank accounts of Hatem Abudayyeh and his wife, Naima. This unwarranted attack on a leading member of the Palestinian community in Chicago is the latest escalation of the repression of anti-war and Palestinian community organizers by the FBI, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Hatem Abudayyeh is one of 23 activists from Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in Chicago, and his home was raided by the FBI in September of last year. Neither Hatem Abudayyeh nor Naima Abudayyeh have been charged with any crime.
http://ht.ly/4PMlJ
NYC marks Birthright Israel Month
Ynet 8 May — Some 200 events in communities and synagogues across North America throughout the month of May will mark Birthright Israel Month, which celebrates Taglit-Birthright Israel sending nearly 300,000 Jewish young adults on 10-day trip and raises awareness for its new goal of sending 51,000 participants annually – or one in every two young Jewish adults – beginning 2013. Birthright Israel Month was launched with a Mega Event in New York City last Wednesday, with over 1,000 alumni and 200 officials and guests. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a formal proclamation at the event, declaring May 2011 as Birthright Israel Month.”New York has always had a special bond with Israel and Jewish communities worldwide…” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065481,00.html
Jews and Muslims united for sharia? / Justin Elliott
Salon 6 May — Jewish groups mobilize against anti-sharia bills that would also bar arbitration under Jewish religious law … You don’t hear much about halachah, or rabbinical courts known as beit din, even though both have been a feature of observant American Jewish communities for years.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/05/06/jews_against_anti_sharia_laws/index.html
Jews and Muslims confronting Islamophobia, finding common cause / Richard Silverstein
8 May — This is a talk I delivered at the Confronting Islamophobia: I am My Brother’s Keeper conference on Saturday at St. Mark’s Cathedral here in Seattle … In conceiving this conference, the organizers knew in theory they were going to be addressing an important issue in American life. But events since we first began organizing it have proven just how fortuitous our choice of topics has been. American Islamophobes like Rep. Peter King, and Pamela Geller and David Yerushalmi have turned up the heat and volume on this debate and placed into even starker relief the necessity of having a rational, tolerant discussion of the role of Islam and American Muslims in the life of this nation … The movement led by Pam Geller, David Yerushalmi and Frank Gaffney which seeks to criminalize being a Muslim is profoundly offensive to American values. I’m proud to say this as an American and as a Jew.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2011/05/08/jews-and-muslims-confronting-islamophobia-finding-common-cause/
Filling in the gaping holes in WikiLeaks’ Guantánamo detainee files / Jason Leopold
Truthout 6 May — Imagine that the more than 700 Guantánamo files released two weeks ago by WikiLeaks contained information explaining how interrogators obtained “intelligence” from “war on terror” detainees captured or sold to US forces after 9/11, such as this firsthand account: “On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold.
http://www.truth-out.org/filling-gaping-holes-wikileaks-guantanamo-detainee-files/1304691552
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