Video: Uncertainty stalks Palestinian village
AJ 11 May — Lifta faces uncertain future despite Israeli court’s ruling against land sale — In the outskirts of Jerusalem, the village of Lifta is the last deserted Palestinian village still standing in modern day Israel. On Wednesday, the Jerusalem District Court said the lands of Lifta should not be offered for sale to real estate developers, but Israel’s land authority could act otherwise. Israel is concerned that allowing Palestinians to return would set a precedent for other refugees to return to their ancestral homes inside Israel. And that – the Israeli government believes – would undermine it as a Jewish state. Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from Lifta.
Israeli Arab towns get new street names but West Bank wall still divides city
Haaretz 11 May — For many years the Israeli Arab town of Baka al-Garbiyeh defied all GPS and map-reading capabilities. Most of the streets in the town, to the east of Hadera, never had names – except for the main road, which for some reason was called Weizmann Street. But about a month ago a committee changed all that and gave names to the streets. That’s how the main street became known as Al-Quds Street, which crosses Palestine Street (the street that leads to the West Bank ). Palestine Street does not, however, reach Baka al-Sharkiyeh, the adjacent community on the other side of the Green Line; it is cut off by the ugly separation wall.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 11 May –Document obtained by Haaretz reveals that between 1967 and 1994 many Palestinians traveling abroad were stripped of residency status, allegedly without warning …The Center for the Defense of the Individual said that “mass withdrawal of residency rights from tens of thousands of West Bank residents, tantamount to permanent exile from their homeland, remains an illegitimate demographic policy and a grave violation of international law.” It noted that an unknown number of Gaza residents had lost residency rights in a similar manner, but that the exact number was still a secret the center vowed to uncover.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-admits-it-covertly-canceled-residency-status-of-140-000-palestinians-1.360935
Erekat: Israel’s cancelation of Palestinian residency is a ‘war crime’
Haaretz 11 May — …”This policy should not only be seen as a war crime as it is under international law; it also has a humanitarian dimension: we are talking about people who left Palestine to study or work temporarily but who could not return to resume their lives in their country with their families,” Erekat added. The top PA official also pointed out that the document revealed by Haaretz was evidence that “Israel’s actions violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that ‘everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country’.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erekat-israel-s-cancelation-of-palestinian-residency-is-a-war-crime-1.361079
Venture lets Palestinians buy piece of West Bank
RAMALLAH (Reuters) 11 May — Palestinians can make a political statement and a financial return by buying a piece of the West Bank in a new venture designed to anchor their ownership of the Israeli-occupied territory. With the aim of “putting Palestinian land in Palestinian hands,” the TABO project seeks to promote broader ownership of the West Bank by making land more affordable and encouraging formal registration of land holdings in official title deeds. Though the Palestinians claim to know who owns every hill and valley in the West Bank, only a third of the territory occupied by Israel since 1967 has formal title deed, or “tabo” in Arabic. Palestinian and Israeli activists say that loophole has reduced the legal risks to Israel of settling the territory opening the door to what they describe as a land grab that has undermined Palestinians’ hopes of founding an independent state.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110511/wl_nm/us_palestinians_land
Court protects Palestinian homes, for now
Ynet 11 May — Palestinian homes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Bustan are not to be demolished until plans are finalized and approved for the park that is to be established in their stead, the Jerusalem District Court ruled Wednesday. Mayor Nir Barkat is promoting the plans, which require the demolition of 22 illegally built homes. In exchange, the Arabs who reside in these homes will receive permits to build new homes legally on the other side of the neighborhood, at their expense. In addition, the 66 other homes in the neighborhood will be legalized retroactively.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067176,00.html
Israel freezes West Bank fence near major settlement bloc
Haaretz 11 May — Israel has frozen the construction of the West Bank separation fence near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc over budget concerns, Army Radio said on Wednesday, adding that Defense Ministry documents showed construction could resume in late 2012 … The cost of completing the said section is estimated at around NIS 5 billion … Two fences are actually slated for construction in the area, essentially to surround Gush Etzion on both sides. But such a fence would also pen in 30,000 Palestinians, who therefore lodged the High Court petition.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-freezes-west-bank-fence-near-major-settlement-bloc-1.361039
Group petitions court against Israeli construction on Palestinian land
Ynet 11 May — Yesh Din, a human rights advocacy group, has petitioned the Supreme Court to order the state to halt illegal construction on Palestinian-owned land near Migron Outpost. It was claimed in the petition that three permanent illegal buildings have been constructed near the outpost.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067213,00.html
The indigenous become squatters – Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
UMM AL-HIERAN (IPS) 9 May — As plans to demolish a Palestinian Bedouin village to make way for a new, Jewish-only town move forward in the Negev desert, the Bedouin residents have submitted a motion for the right to appeal to the Israeli high court. Located about thirty minutes from the major town of Beer Sheva, Umm al-Hieran is one of many so-called ‘unrecognized’ Bedouin villages peppering the Negev area that don’t receive basic services or infrastructure from the Israeli state. In 2004, the Southern District Planning Committee unveiled its master plan, which involved completely demolishing the village — forcibly evicting 150 families and approximately 1,000 residents — and building the Jewish community of Hiran in its place.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55538
Amniyr closed for week following demolitions
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 11 May — A military closure order over the village of Amniyr in the southern West Bank was renewed until Monday following the demolition of 12 tent homes earlier in the week, observers said. A group from the Christian Peacemaker Teams said the first military order was issued on May 6 when the demolitions of the homes were carried out. It was the third time the homes have been taken down.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386658
Gaza
Israeli forces, tanks cross into Gaza
PressTV 11 May –Israeli soldiers apparently entered the Palestinian territory from Karni crossing on Wednesday and advanced hundreds of meters toward the east of Gaza City. According to Press TV’s correspondent in Gaza, Israeli soldiers dug a series of holes in the area and filled them with explosives. Israeli soldiers then blew up the explosives, causing loud explosions in the area, our correspondent added. Israeli officials claim that the troops were searching and destroying “possible tunnels” in the area that could be used by Palestinian resistance fighters to enter Israeli posts and capture Israeli soldiers. But analysts believe the Israeli attack aimed at provoking Palestinian fighters into firing on Israeli troops, which could have escalated the situation.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179435.html
Sole Gaza crossing opened after 2-day closure
West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) 11 May — Israeli occupation authorities opened Wednesday Karem Abu Salem crossing partially after two day of closure because of the Jewish holidays. Raed Fatouh, Gaza crossing official, said that Israeli authorities opened Karem Abu Salem crossing to allow the entry of 280 vans loaded with aids and goods for agricultural, commercial, and transportation sectors including 40 vans carrying cement and gravels for international projects in Gaza Strip. Fatouh added that one van carrying flowers will be exported to abroad via Karem Abu Salem crossing.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/economics/pal-economics/9149-sole-gaza-crossing-opened-after-2-day-closure.html
Detention / Court actions
Judge remands teen despite suspicions that soldiers beat him
Haaretz 11 May — An Israeli military judge extended the remand of a 15-year-old Palestinian on Sunday despite suspicions that the boy was badly beaten by soldiers. The reason for the extension was that the court was closed for Memorial Day and Independence Day. The boy, a resident of Bil‘in who can only be identified as A.H., was arrested on Friday on suspicion of throwing stones during the weekly protest against the separation fence, which cuts across the village’s lands … The record of the hearing confirmed that “the court observed a sizable number of bruises covering the suspect’s face, forehead and chin. Furthermore, the suspect’s left wrist was bandaged.” … But none of the soldiers claimed the boy had tried to resist arrest, so his injuries are thus far unexplained, Keinan noted. He therefore told the prosecution to come to the next hearing with answers that would explain the boy’s injuries, and said prosecutors might want to consider having the Military Police examine the soldiers’ behavior.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/judge-remands-palestinian-teen-despite-suspicions-that-soldiers-beat-him-1.360944
Hamas collaborator gets second jail term
Ynet 11 May — The Haifa District Court sentenced a resident of Umm al-Fahm to five years behind bars for contacting and conspiring with a Hamas operative, and receiving money and instructions from him to locate a secret cache for weapons and money in Israel. Khalid Agbaria, 52, was arrested in August 2010 not long after serving a six-year prison sentence for similar offenses that undermine Israel’s national security.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067218,00.html
Prosecution appeals sentence for settler who beat Palestinian teen
Ynet 11 May – The State Attorney’s Office has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the Jerusalem District Court’s decision to sentence Zvi Struck, a settler convicted of kidnapping and assaulting a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, to a year and a half in prison. The State Attorney’s Office claimed in the appeal that the punishment “is not appropriate for the severe, cruel, humiliating and frightening acts that he committed against the teen.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067189,00.html
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Video: Israeli army fires on Gaza demonstration at Erez Crossing
ISM 10 May — The Israeli army fired on 50 Palestinian and international activists protesting the Israeli-enforced closure of the “buffer zone” at Erez Crossing in Beit Hanoun, Gaza Strip today. The demonstration, organized by the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, was joined by activists from the International Solidarity Movement – Gaza Strip. Led by farmers and other Beit Hanoun community members, it was forced to withdraw by machine-gun fire after nearing the Israeli wall and its gun towers at 11:45 am. As protesters retreated, bullets struck the ground around them.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/05/18239/
Latest news from US Boat to Gaza
10 May — Dear friends, We are in the final push to launch The Audacity of Hope on its trip to Gaza with the international Freedom Flotilla — Stay Human, and we need your support and help more than ever … We have purchased our boat, which will carry at least 50 people, and it is now being prepared for the voyage. Our passengers are raising the money they each will need to get to the port of embarkation and to cover their personal expenses. They are organizing their local support groups and preparing a press blitz. (There’s no better story than one with a local angle).
http://endtheoccupationblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/latest-news-from-us-boat-to-gaza.html
Video: Onadekum (Calling you) — DARG Team
3:15 minutes – One of Vittorio’s favorite music that he was always singing in Gaza with children, young and elder. DARG Team couldn’t find any thing better of reviving Vik’s memory on one of his best tunes and instruments … so Long Live Palestine, Long Live Gaza, Long Live Vik and Onadekom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7J4TUpdng&feature=share
Ahava promotional campaign on Twitter jammed with BDS messaging
EI 11 May — The Stolen Beauty campaign focusing on a boycott of Ahava cosmetics, which are illegally manufactured in the occupied West Bank using Palestinian natural resources, has launched a culture jamming initiative currently underway on Twitter … So many people have responded to this call, that I can’t see any tweets that AREN’T about BDS and Israel’s rights abuses when searching #AHAVAreborn on Twitter.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/maureen/ahava-promotional-campaign-twitter-jammed-bds-messaging
Pizzarotti should follow in Deutsche Bahn’s footsteps / Stephanie Westbrook
Mondo 11 May — Italian construction firm Pizzarotti is stupefied, bewildered, stunned. In an article on today’s Corriere della Sera, Italy’s top newspaper, covering Deutsche Bahn’s withdrawal from the Israeli project for a high-speed train line that cuts through the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Michele Pizzarotti said “We are astonished to find ourselves involved in these protests.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/pizzarotti-should-follow-in-deutsche-bahns-footsteps.html
Anniversary of the Nakba
The Nakba: Marking 63 years after a catastrophe
IMEU 11 May — Palestinian narratives. “We thought it would be a matter of weeks, only until the fighting died down. Of course, we were never allowed to go home.” Nina Saah, Washington, DC “My family’s farm of oranges, grapefruits and lemons, centuries old, was gone.” Darwish Addassi, Walnut Creek, California “Those of us who left unwillingly in 1948 are plagued with painful nostalgia. My house in West Jerusalem is an Israeli nursery school now.” Inea Bushnaq, New York, New York
http://imeu.net/news/article0020878.shtml
Video: Gaza gearing up for Nakba Day
Yousef al-Helou, Press TV, Gaza 10 May — Palestinians in Gaza have started to mark the 63rd anniversary of ‘Nakba’ or ‘catastrophe’, a term Palestinian refugees use to describe their expulsion from their homes and towns when Israel was created on occupied Palestinian territories. “We are returning” is the motto of this exhibition, which aims to highlight the Plight of Palestinian refugees who say that their right of return is a sacred right.
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/we-shall-return-to-our-land.html
Israeli army prepares for Nakba Day
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 11 May — Israel’s army is “preparing to face the possibility of a third Palestinian intifada outbreak” Israeli military official Galey Zahal told the country’s Army Radio on Wednesday morning. He cited Facebook groups calling for a popular uprising on May 15 … Zahal told the station that while troops were preparing, they felt risks were generally low, on account of security coordination with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which would “forbid the expansion of these protests.”
Palestinians seeking to commemorate the day in Israel, however, face a fine of three times the event’s cost, doubling if it is violated again within two years.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386687
Refugees
Violence hurting Palestinians in Syria
NAIROBI, 11 May 2011 (IRIN) – Continuing violence in Syria has affected the delivery of aid to Palestinian refugees, raising concerns about the impact on 30,000 people in Dera‘a and surrounding areas, including 120 patients who receive insulin, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said. “UNRWA has attempted to send urgent medical supplies to Dera‘a but this has not yet been possible,” said Christopher Guinness. “UNRWA has expressed its concerns to the government of Syria and hopes the resumption of normal operations will be possible soon.” The agency has 118 schools across Syria teaching 66,000 pupils; 23 primary health centres, six community rehabilitation centres and 15 women’s centres.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92683
Political / Diplomatic / International
Barak presents plan for Palestinian accord
Ynet 11 May — Israel ready to take ‘brave steps’, defense minister says ahead of Netanyahu’s speech before Congress — Defense Minister Ehud Barak revealed his plan for an accord with the Palestinians on Tuesday, hinting at the points Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to present in his upcoming speech before the US Congress and President Barack Obama … Barak added that these conditions have been Israel’s demands since the year 2000.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4066949,00.html
Obama may preempt PM’s Congress speech with his own plan
Reuters 11 May — WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama could deliver a major policy speech as early as next week laying out his new Middle East strategy following the US killing of Osama bin Laden and amid ongoing upheaval in the Arab world, US officials said on Wednesday. A key sticking point is whether Obama, who gained a boost in global stature with the death of the al-Qa‘ida chief last week, will use also his coming address to present new proposals for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, a source familiar with the administration’s internal debate said.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=220102&R=R1
Palestinians’ Fayyad could keep PM job
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) 11 May — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, facing heavy international pressure, is leaning toward retaining his prime minister in an emerging Palestinian unity government, officials close to Abbas said Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110511/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_palestinians_prime_minister
Quartet backs Abbas, Fayyad-led government
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 May — The Quartet trusts President Mahmoud Abbas because he is committed to the peace process, head of mission Gary Grappo told Ma‘an on Tuesday … “The Quartet’s stance is statehood with an agreement first instead of unilateral options.” Grappo said the Quartet was in full support of Palestinian unity, but noted bias for caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386483
Hamas: Delegations to Cairo Saturday to form govt
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 May — Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil said delegations from Fatah and Hamas will go to Cairo on Saturday to form the new transitional Palestinian government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386782
Palestinian PM urges Arab donors to meet wage bill
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 11 May — The Palestinian Authority appealed to Arab countries Wednesday to pay the salaries of 155,000 government workers after Israel decided to suspend the transfer of tax funds to the PA. “We say to our Arab brothers: save us. We need your help more than any time before. It is the moment of truth,” Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told a news briefing in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110511/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_arabs_1
Hamas: Recognizing Israel jeopardizes rights
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 May — Hamas will accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, but will maintain its refusal to recognize Israel, party leader Mahmoud Az-Zahhar told Ma‘an on Wednesday. Speaking with Ma‘an radio, the official said that Hamas was ready to recognize a Palestinian state “on any part of Palestine,” for the first time publicly steering away from prior Hamas demands that the modern Palestinian state must be established “from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.” … The Hamas leader said that recognizing Israel would jeopardize the right of return for Palestinian refugees who have been exiled from the land since 1948 when Israel was recognized by the United Nations. If only Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are considered citizens of a Palestinian state, he continued, “what will be the fate of the five million Palestinians in the diaspora?”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386651
Rally in Gaza calling for swift transition
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Hundreds of Palestinians came out en masse calling for leaders to protect the fragile reconciliation process, in a Wednesday afternoon rally in Gaza City. The demonstration started in front of the Abu Khadra government headquarters building and saw protesters march toward the Square of the Unknown Soldier in the center of Gaza City. Civil society groups, scouts and police joined in the event, walking side-by-side in a sign of internal unity.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386821
Protest a tough sell among Palestinians
LA Times 11 May — The reasons for the reluctance to hit the streets, many conclude, are that Palestinians are cynical about prospects of ending the Israeli occupation and skeptical their leaders can make the difference.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-palestinians-protest-20110511,0,1434984.story
Zoabi: Israel fears Palestinian unity
Ynet 11 May — Balad MK says Israel views Fatah-Hamas reconciliation as threatening, ‘strives to deepen rift between Palestinian people’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067316,00.html
Mesha‘al: Every Arab has a duty to stand by Egypt until it recovers
MEMO 11 May — The leader of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Khaled Mesha‘al, met on Monday, May 9th, with representatives of Egypt’s Coordinating Committee of the Revolution … The newspaper said that Mesha‘al expressed concern and sadness over the events of Imbaba and urged the revolution’s youth to bring an end to the sectarian strife. He said that the most important motivation behind the completion of the Palestinian reconciliation was that they couldn’t let down Egypt’s revolution. Moreover, he emphasized the need to restore Egypt’s regional role … Mesha‘al stressed that Hamas does not interfere in the internal affairs of any Arab country and that rumours about the presence of Hamas elements in demonstrations during the Egyptian revolution are not true.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2330-meshaal-every-arab-has-a-duty-to-stand-by-egypt-until-it-recovers
Egyptian activists gear up for Third Intifadah
CAIRO, May 10, 2011 (IPS) – Following the February ouster of Egypt’s longstanding President Hosni Mubarak, calls have been circulating in Egypt and throughout the region for a ‘Third Intifadah’ to begin May 15. “Unlike the first two Palestinian uprisings, the proposed Third Intifadah is meant to involve the entire Arab world,” Egyptian journalist and political analyst Abdelhalim Kandil told IPS. It began with the appearance of a Facebook.com page in early March calling for a ‘Third Intifadah’ against the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55576
Turkish Center helps raise funds for Carmel forest
JPost 11 May — Head of organization unaffiliated with Ankara gov’t says, “our friendship with Israel, Jewish people goes back for centuries to 1308”
http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?ID=220105&R=R1
Other news
Gov’t to build Ethiopian village?
Ynet 11 May – The government is planning to establish a new Ethiopian-style village in the western Negev, where immigrants from the African nation will live, farm and operate guesthouses — turning the site into a tourist attraction.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed support for the idea, which was brought forth by Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, and has asked his advisers to research ways to bring the initiative to life.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067317,00.html
Obama’s half brother visits Israel
Ynet 11 May — Jewish Mark Ndesandjo meets with chief rabbi, agrees to press Obama to release Jonathan Pollard
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067143,00.html
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Hollow ‘reconciliation’ in Palestine / Ali Abunimah
AJ 9 May — By deciding to join the US-backed Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas risks turning its back on its role as a resistance movement, without gaining any additional leverage that could help Palestinians free themselves from Israeli occupation and colonial rule. Indeed, knowingly or not, Hamas may be embarking down the same well-trodden path as Abbas’ Fatah faction: committing itself to joining a US-controlled “peace process”, over which Palestinians have no say – and have no prospect of emerging with their rights intact. In exchange, Hamas may hope to earn a role alongside Abbas in ruling over the fraction of the Palestinians living under permanent Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115962939402933.html
The unbearable Israeli lightness of arresting Palestinians / Amira Hass
Haaretz 11 May — A senior IDF officer signed an administrative detention order full of mistakes in its contents and with many whiteout erasures. Is an arrest without trial for six months such a trivial matter that it doesn’t require checking of the details? — It began with what dozens of Palestinians experience every month: In the middle of the night, there are kicks on the door or shouts behind it and the house is inundated with soldiers aiming rifles. This time the rifles were aimed at a girl of 14 and her 67-year-old grandmother who are visiting an aunt of 53 and her 22-year-old daughter at their home in El Bireh. Afterwards the young women related that the soldiers “barked” orders, questions and threats.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-unbearable-israeli-lightness-of-arresting-palestinians-1.361106
Remember Beita . . . Remember Awarta / Reham Alhelsi
[Another village treated to collective punishment like Awarta later] 13 Apr — The story of Beita is the story of many Palestinian villages, the story of many Palestinians. But Beita is also the story that is seldom told and, although Beita occurs over and over again, it is seldom remembered … On 8:30 of the morning of 06.04.1988 a group of Zionist colonists from the Zionist colony of Elon Moreh stopped outside the Palestinian village of Beita. The group consisted of children and their armed guards … while the villagers argued, the guard Aldubi began shooting again and killed Hatem Fayez Ahmad Jaber (22 years). According to the residents, one of the settler children, Tirza Porat, tried stopping Aldubi from shooting. She grabbed his arm and told him that what he was doing was terrible. It was then that he shot her … The Israeli occupation forces had decided that Beita was to be blamed for the death of the settler girl, although no Palestinian owned a gun and she was killed by one of the settler guards, and that Beita was to be punished. A curfew was imposed and the village school was turned into a detention centre and hundreds of residents were detained from their homes. One Beita resident, Isam Abdel Halim Mohammad, 15 years, was shot dead by the IOF as he fled the village during the detention raid. On that same day, tens of olive trees were uprooted and 5 Palestinian homes were blown up.
http://avoicefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/remember-beita-remember-awarta/
Israel is getting away with robbing Palestinian taxes / Amira Hass
Haaretz 11 May — Once again, Israel is showing everyone who the real man is here. It is busy carrying out (yet another ) robbery in broad daylight of $105 million from the Palestinians. And as usual, it is going off without a hitch. The sum that is being stolen consists of customs duties on Palestinian imports that were collected at border crossings under Israeli control … We all know that the robber will not be punished. The robber will even get encouragement in the form of an emergency budget for the PA, put together by the United States and Europe. That budget will then enable them to make even more political demands of the Palestinians.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-is-getting-away-with-robbing-palestinian-taxes-1.360975
Israel’s new laws promote repression / Neve Gordon
+972blog 11 May — As Arabs across the region struggle for freedom and democracy, Israeli law seems to be headed in the opposite direction … On the one hand, the book of laws under which Israel’s citizenry live is — with the exception of a handful of significant laws that privilege Jews over non-Jews — currently very similar to those used in most liberal democracies, where the executive, legislative and judicial powers are separated, there are free, fair and regular elections, and the citizens enjoy basic rights – including freedom of expression and association … However, on the other hand, the Israeli military law used to manage the Palestinians are similar to those deployed in most Arab countries, where there is no real separation of powers and people are in many respects without rights. Even though there has been a Palestinian Authority since the mid-1990s, there is no doubt that sovereignty still lies in Israeli hands.
http://972mag.com/israels-new-laws-promote-repression/
Christian Zionism: Theology that legitimates oppression / Tony Campolo
The most serious threats to the well-being of the Palestinians in general, and to the Christian Palestinians in particular, come not from the Jews, but from Christian Zionists here in the United States. They are armed with a theology created in the middle of the 19th century by a disaffected Anglican clergyman named John Nelson Darby in Plymouth, England. With this theology, called “Dispensationalism,” they argue that according to their interpretation of Genesis 15:18-21, the Holy Land should belong exclusively to the Jews.
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/05/19/christian-zionism-theology-that-legitimates-oppression/
On Israeli Memorial Day, suicide, fratricide, and accidents remain top causes of soldier deaths / Max Blumenthal
9 May — On Israel’s Memorial Day observances for “fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks,” the Defense Ministry’s commemoration unit claimed that 183 Israelis “were killed in the line of duty or in terror attacks since last year’s Remembrance Day,” according to YNet. The number appears to represent a wild exaggeration that is inconsistent with past statistics documenting the number of Israeli soldiers killed annually in combat operations versus those who died by suicide or in accidents. In recent years, suicide has been either the leading cause or among the leading causes of deaths in the Israeli army. While I was having lunch in Tel Aviv last summer with my friend Ruth Hiller, a founder of the Israeli anti-militarization group New Profile, she told me that around 50 percent of Israelis buried in military cemeteries had died through suicide, accidents or fratricide.
http://maxblumenthal.com/2011/05/on-israeli-memorial-day-suicide-fratricide-and-accidents-remain-top-causes-of-soldier-deaths/
Reflection from Taybeh / Maria C. Khoury
PNN 11 May — Green is such an amazing color during the spring time every year in Taybeh since everything blooms and all the hills and valleys reflect the deep beauty Mother Nature has granted to the highest mountain region in Palestine … I sort of like green only because it is part of the beloved Palestinian flag but it is sometimes difficult to mention that green was selected as a drink label to reflect the mother Earth and not Hamas when the Taybeh Brewing Company selected to launch its first nonalcoholic beverage a few years ago.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10018&Itemid=58
Only 16 years old and has already invented 6 devices
Hiba Lama – PNN Exclusive 10 May — Hadeel Naser, only 16 years old, but her dreams are big, the Israeli four-year long siege on the Gaza Strip and poverty did not stop her from being a scientist and a premier inventor, something Naser wanted to do since early childhood. Eight inventions, including a one that she has a patent for from Washington; “I have little and my dreams are big, this is a problem because it restricts my production ability, I want to make more experiments and invent new things but because of the siege and lack of raw materials it restricts my ambition.”
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10013&Itemid=56
IMEU: Some short profiles of Palestinian-Americans
http://imeu.net/enws/palestinian-americans.shtml
www.theheadlines.org (archive)
