Video: Dispossession of Bedouins in the Ma’ale Adummim area
[short, 1.37 minutes, English and Hebrew subtitles] B’tselem 5 June — Muhammad Khamis relates how his family arrived in the Judean Desert as part of a group of families that were expelled in the 1950s from the area of Arad to al-Murassas, east of al-‘Eizariya. The families, he relates, raised flocks and farmed the land until establishment of the Ma’ale Adummim settlement, when they were expelled again, to a nearby site. The building of the settlement resulted in destruction of the wells the families used for their sheep and goats, and blocked access to their farmland. Two years ago, demolition orders were issued for the dilapidated structures in which they presently live, although they have nowhere to go.
IOF soldiers destroy Bedouin tents
JORDAN VALLEY (PIC) 14 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) tore down Bedouin tents and tin homes in Fasayel Al-Wusta area in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday morning rendering ten families homeless. Safa news agency … said that the IOF demolition displaced more than 120 individuals including women, children, and old people. Bedouins in Fasayel Al-Tihta opened their homes for the displaced families. Locals said that the soldiers confiscated small electricity generators used by those Bedouins. The sources noted that the IOF soldiers recently discovered relics in the area and demolished the Bedouin homes in a bid to turn the area into a tourist attraction.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
IOF serves notice for demolition of village mosque
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 15 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday stormed the village of Ma‘sara south of Bethlehem and told the inhabitants that their village mosque would be knocked down for unlicensed construction. Spokesman of the popular anti-wall committee in Bethlehem Mohammed Brejiah said in a press release that the notice gave the inhabitants 13 days to contest the decision at the civil administration’s office in Etzion south of the city or else the demolition would take place after this period.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Home demolitions in Fasayel
[photos] JVS 14 June — Today the colonialist forces demolished 18 structures in Fasayel, Southern Palestinian Jordan Valley. At 6 o’clock this morning, about 10 military jeeps, one civil administration car and 3 bulldozers entered Fasayel Wasta and Foqa, turning the area into a ‘closed military area’, preventing anybody to enter the village for more than 3 hours. The army demolished 9 homes and 9 animal shelters, leaving 9 families homeless and destroying the means of production of 9 some of them. … All [he owners] but Omar Taamri had got a demolition order 3 months ago. Soldiers attacked Taamri’s wife and daughter, hitting both of them.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=289:home-demolitions-in-fasayel&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Peres becomes Sheikh
Ynet 14 June — Peres was awarded the title in a ceremony held Tuesday on the Bedouin community of Hura, in the Negev … The newly appointed and visibly moved Sheik Peres said: “This visit has been a pleasure. I am deeply impressed by Hura. You have done more for yourselves than anyone else could have.” The Bedouins, he said, “Are a part of the Negev. It cannot be developed without developing the Bedouin community, so that it may keep its traditions while joining the modern world.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082248,00.html
Israeli forces demolish 5 wells in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 14 June — Israeli forces demolished five water wells in the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday morning, targeting a neighborhood in the city’s south. The wells belonged to the Al-Jamal family, brother of the owner Samir Abdul-Hamid Ma‘an. Soldiers and crews from Israel’s Civil Administration arrived on the property early, Samir said, assaulting family members who attempted to prevent the demolitions and then deploying tear-gas to drive them out of the area. Five wells were destroyed and filled-in, “under the guise that they were built without a license,” Samir said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396523
IOF soldiers torch hundreds of Palestinian dunums
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 14 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) set hundreds of dunums of cultivated land west of Ramallah city and near the racist, separation wall on fire. Local sources said that the fire spread in the Safa village land near the separation wall on Monday night and that villagers rushed to extinguish the blaze but were prevented by the IOF troops. The IOF command claimed that it was cleaning the land of weed fearing possible infiltration of Palestinians across it. IOF troops started fire in agricultural land near Azun village in Qalqilia a couple of days earlier causing fire to spread and destroy vast areas of farmers’ land.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Demolition orders handed to farmers
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 15 June — Israel’s Civil Administration handed out demolition orders to three farmers in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, warning them that bulldozers would shortly arrive to demolish their greenhouses and farm buildings. Officials from the agricultural village of Majdal in the Nablus region said water collecting buckets and plastic tenting were targeted in the orders, affecting the farms of Hani Bani Fadel, Ayed Bani Fadel and Imad Bani Fadel. A tractor from the farm of Fadel was confiscated … In April, UN officials warned that home and building demolitions carried out by Israeli forces had doubled since the beginning of 2011. UN reports showed that demolitions in May had displaced a record number of Palestinian children.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396377
Report: Palestinians assist visit to flashpoint holy site
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 14 June — With assistance from the Palestinian Authority, eight right-wing members of Israel’s parliament visited Joseph’s Tomb in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli media reported. Hundreds of Palestinian officers were deployed on main Nablus traffic routes as the lawmakers entered the city on a guarded bus in the first visit during daylight hours since 2000, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. “We came not only for historic reasons, but to make Arabs see that there is no place in the Land of Israel we cannot enter,” Knesset member Arieh Eldad said, according to the report … Under the Oslo accords, the city of Nablus is in the so-called Area A and is part of the 17 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian civil and security control.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396666
Settlers hurl stones at Palestinian homes in Hebron
IMEMC 14 June — Dozens of fundamentalist Israeli settlers, living in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, hurled on Tuesday at night, stones at five Palestinian homes in the city while chanting racist slogans and slurs at the Palestinian natives of the city. Mofeed Sharabaty, a local resident, stated that approximately 100 settlers attacked his home, the homes of his brother Zeidan, and the homes of Abdul-Rahman Al Salayma, Idrees Zahda, and Ali Al Nather. The army was present in the area but did not attempt to stop the settlers.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61442
The sad face of a boy who had his bike stolen in the middle of the night / Vicky Orwel
PNN 14 June — When your neighbor steals your bike and you see them riding around the streets enjoying it and as happy as can be, what do you do? Go and take it back? Not if you live in Palestine and your neighbors are settlers. This was the case of one boy living in Tel Remeida who left his bike outside his front door before going to bed at night, as he always used to do, only to wake up in the morning to find it gone.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10227&Itemid=56
News video: ‘Israel after Gaza natural resources’ / Ashraf Shannon
PressTV 14 June
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TELCitXb9co
Activism / Solidarity
Video: How Israel deals with nonviolent Palestinian protest / Adam Horowitz
Mondo 14 June — Watch this video from Nabi Saleh (13 June). You might recognize the woman in the video. She is the same mother who fought as her 11-year old child was abducted by the Israeli military (video below). This is yet another tactic Israel has used to try to break the back of the nonviolent protests in the West Bank. [interesting comments on the YouTube video. Top-rated comment is “It makes me want to donate to Hamas.”]
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/how-israel-deals-with-nonviolent-palestinian-protest.html
Video: Special Forces vs. weekly demonstration, buffer zone, Gaza Strip
14 June. For once, no injuries, just a peaceful demonstration, in a very dangerous place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OfIrNH1A7M
Armed settlers harass the villagers of Qusra, a village southeast of Nablus in the West Bank
ISM 14 June — On Saturday June 11, six or seven armed settlers accompanied by the Israeli military entered the Palestinian village of Qusra and harassed villagers … At approximately 5.00pm, the Imam of the mosque in Qusra started calling to the population of the village that there were armed settlers (from a new illegal outpost near the village) approaching the village, from one of the surrounding mountains. In a show of strength and solidarity, around 100 villagers went to the mountain with the purpose of defending their land. The army accompanied the settlers and threw several sound bombs to disperse the Palestinians. One of the bombs fell in between 19 year old Ismail Aburedi’s legs. It rendered him unconscious and later, deaf and unable to walk. The Israeli army refused to let Ismail be taken to the hospital but it is reported that his friends placed him in the back of a car and raced him to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where he was kept until 2 am the next day.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/06/18868/
7 hurt at protest against land confiscation near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 15 June – Seven Palestinians were injured, including two critically, Wednesday after an anti-wall protest turned into clashes between Israeli soldiers and young Palestinians in Deir Qaddis, west of Ramallah. A rally headed from the village to obstruct Israeli bulldozers digging up private lands for the separation wall, a Ma‘an correspondent reported. Israeli forces were heavily deployed in the area and tried to disperse the demonstrators, beating them with clubs and rifle butts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396986
US citizen in Jerusalem arrest video speaks to EI
EI 14 June MCM: What was it like in Israeli detention? LK: …What struck me most about my time in prison is that it is a reflection of the rest of Israeli society in that it’s completely segregated. I was placed against my will in the Jewish cell. I asked to be put in the Arab cell. The Jewish cell conditions weren’t bad at all; it was still jail, but it was bearable. I did see the Arab cell or at least one of the Arab cells and the conditions there were absolutely abominable. … We had furniture, we had beds of some sort, we had a clean bathroom. They had nothing. Just a bench and an open toilet. The conditions were horrible. That’s what struck me most.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/us-citizen-jerusalem-arrest-video-speaks-ei/10080
Gaza — under siege for 1,463 days now
UN: Gaza unemployment rate remains among the worst in the world
Haaretz 14 June — UNRWA report says 45.2 percent of Gazans in working age are unemployed, dropping more than 5,900 jobs to 190,365 in the second half of 2010 … the refugees, who make up two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.5 million population, were the worst hit,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said of the report in a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-study-gaza-unemployment-rate-remains-among-the-worst-in-the-world-1.367580
Red Cross donates stockpiled medicine to Gaza hospitals
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 June — The Red Cross in Gaza announced Tuesday that it had donated all of the medicine in its local warehouses to public Gaza hospitals as the health sector remained in a shortage crisis. ICRC spokesman Omar Fery said warehouse managers were coordinating shipments with hospitals across the sector as they await a second shipment of medicines from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396647
Red Cross: Gaza medical crisis needs attention
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 June — The Gaza medication crisis is “enormous and needs concentrated efforts” to see its resolution, Red Cross official Omer Ferry said Wednesday. Ferry said the organization would continue supporting the health sector in any way it could, but called on the Palestinian Ministry of Health to look seriously at the problem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396789
Gaza suffers gas shortage after pump breaks at crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 June — The Gaza Strip has been suffering from shortages of domestic-use gas for three days due to a technical fault in the gas pump at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396994
Germany to spend 73 million euros in Gaza projects
GAZA (Xinhua) 14 June – German Minister for Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel said on Tuesday that his country will provide 73 million euros (about 105 million U.S. dollars) to support projects in the Gaza Strip. Niebel’s announcement came during a news conference at the end of his hours-long visit to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Of the amount, 50 millions are allocated to complete the development of a station to treat sewage water in Central Gaza Strip and another 20 millions for a similar project serving Gaza City, Niebel told reporters inside the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the city. Three million euros will also go for the UNRWA to build more schools.
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2011-06-14/content_2898959.html
250 trucks of goods allowed into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 June — Israeli officials approved the transport of 250-260 truckloads of goods and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip via the sole commercial crossing between Israel and the coastal enclave … The goods are just a fraction of the number needed for the 1.6 million Palestinians in the area, according to the latest reports from UN monitors. Goods remain at some 40 percent of pre-siege levels.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396768
Egyptian police seize Gaza arms dealers
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 15 June — Egyptian police in the northern Sinai said officers had arrested a ring of Palestinian arms dealers on Wednesday who were preparing bring a shipment of automatic weapons, flak jackets and night vision goggles into Gaza … The weapons – Israeli and American – were being sold to buyers in Egypt and Gaza, Al-Masri said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396922
Flotillas
French flotilla ship won’t sail
Ynet 15 June — Members of Jewish community in France band together, send 500 letters of protest against Gaza flotilla, effectively preventing ship bought by organizers for €530,000 from docking in Marseille … Ynet learned Wednesday that the ship was being prevented from docking in France thanks to pressure applied by parliament members and organizations on insurance local companies and authorities. The vessel is currently anchored in waters outside of Marseille, where it has been for the past four days.”It’s fantastic. Even we didn’t believe this battle would lead to victory,” a member of the French Jewish community told Ynet.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082772,00.html
Video: Freedom Flotilla 2: Message in a Bottle / Adam Shapiro
Camera: Mohammed Al Majdalawi – Dear Ansaam and all the children in Gaza: We received your messages. We are coming!
http://vimeo.com/25105104
IHH may not take part in flotilla
Ynet 15 June — Turkish organization announces it will make final decision by end of the week, but other groups slated to take part in Gaza sail determined to go … On Wednesday, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that the IHH is considering canceling the flotilla following developments in the region, particularly in Syria … IHH senior official Hussein Uruç confirmed the report saying the group is rethinking the departure date but that preparations are still underway.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082482,00.html
IHH sends ‘no violence’ message to Israel
Ynet 14 June — Flotilla organizers ask Turkish Jews to tell Israeli government they are willing to subject vessels to international inspection before heading to Gaza in late June. Meanwhile, Turkish government officials vow to stop flotilla from departing
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4081829,00.html
Navy gears for Turkish flotilla
Ynet 15 June — IDF determined to stop Gaza-bound flotilla, senior officer says. ‘If we allow one ship to enter, next ones will carry dangerous weapons.’ IDF equipped with new non-lethal means to stop vessels
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082355,00.html
Detention
10 Palestinians detained from West Bank overnight
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 15 June — …Palestinian officials said five were detained in the north after soldiers entered the villages of Beit Dajan and Einabus and carried out house-to-house searches. Local sources told Ma’an that soldiers entered both villages at 2:30 a.m. A military official reported that lawyer Zidan Khaled Abu Za’lan, 40, and Wa’el Tawfiq Hanini, 39, both from Beit Dajan, were detained for “suspected terrorist activity.” The Israeli military confirmed that six other Palestinians were also taken into custody.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396781
Israel detention campaign continues to target political leaders
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 14 June — The fifth Palestinian political leader detained since the start of May, Fatah leader in Qalqiliya Muhammad Walwil and his brother were taken from their family home before dawn on Tuesday morning. The detention followed a home raid and search which family member said took place at 3 a.m., prompting immediate condemnation from Fatah officials.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396448
Two detained from Bethlehem village, families say
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 June — The families of two 17-year-old Bethlehem-area residents reported their abduction by Israeli forces overnight, saying the teenagers were taken to an unknown location after home raids on Tuesday morning. An Israeli military spokesman said two Palestinians were detained overnight, one from west of Bethlehem and a second from an area north of Nablus. A statement from the military said both were “wanted for terrorist activity” and were “transferred for security questioning.” The families of Mahmoud Sabateen and Usama Shusha said soldiers forcibly entered their homes and forced the men, women and children in the homes outside as searches were carried out at 2 a.m.
In the Jerusalem region, Israeli military jeeps entered the village of Anata at 1:30 a.m., and handed out summons to several villagers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396470
MP Mansour says Nablus attack a message for Cairo meeting
NABLUS (PIC) 14 June — MP Mona Mansour has called on Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to issue orders freeing all political prisoners immediately, saying it is inconceivable that Palestinians would be held in both Israeli and Palestinian jails on the same charges. “The reconciliation is in a valley, and the practices of the security agencies are in another valley,” Mansour said, referring to the daily arrests in the West Bank targeting Hamas’s men in the West Bank that persisted after the Palestinian unity deal signed in early May. “It’s as if the reconciliation is non-existent and they’ve never heard of it.” … Mansour was one of those attacked on Monday when West Bank security services cracked down on a sit-in staged by the families of political prisoners and attended by several members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Although it was held in a “peaceful and civilized manner,” the security elements also attacked media that was present to cover the event and confiscated video footage of the crackdown.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Nakba / Naksa Days
Doc: Damascus behind ‘Nakba’ riots
Ynet 14 June — British blogger posts official-looking Syrian document showing clear link between Syrian regime, deadly ‘Nakba Day’ riots on northern border
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082124,00.html
Syrian forces let Palestinians cross ceasefire lines: UN
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) 15 June – Syrian forces stood by as Palestinian demonstrators crossed the Golan Heights ceasefire line and were fired upon by Israeli forces, according to a UN report obtained by AFP. At least 27 people were killed in the demonstrations on May 15 and June 5 and some diplomats said the accounts given in the report reinforced claims that Syria is stirring up border troubles to divert attention from President Bashar al-Assad’s deadly crackdown on opposition protests … The report on the UN Disengagement Force (UNDOF) monitoring the ceasefire between Syria and Israel did not accuse Syrians of organising the protests by Palestinians. But each time Syrian forces were nearby, it stressed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110615/wl_mideast_afp/syriapoliticsunrestpalestinianun
Political / Diplomatic / International news
US envoys try to renew Israeli-Palestinian talks
JERUSALEM (AP) 15 June — Senior U.S. diplomats have returned to the Middle East for an unannounced visit to try to find a way to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that collapsed last year and now face new challenges. Dennis Ross and David Hale’s visit, confirmed by Israeli and Palestinian officials Wednesday, is their first to the region since special Mideast envoy George Mitchell resigned last month after failing to break the negotiations deadlock.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110615/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
EU’s Ashton due in Mideast over stalled peace talks
JERUSALEM (AFP) 15 June — EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is to fly to the Middle East this week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials over the impasse in peace talks, a spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110615/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianseudiplomac
Eastern Europe new battleground in Mideast rift
WARSAW, Poland (AP) 15 June — Warsaw and Prague might seem like unlikely battlegrounds in the Middle East conflict. Yet it suddenly matters — a lot — whether Poles, Czechs and others in the region align themselves with the Israelis or Palestinians. Their votes will be crucial if the Palestinian leadership carries out a plan to bring a resolution on Palestinian statehood to the United Nations in September, and that has sparked intense diplomatic efforts in recent weeks by both Israelis and Palestinians to win them over to their side. The Palestinians aim to win two-thirds support in the 192-member General Assembly at the United Nations — or 129 countries — and are now about 13 countries short of their target.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110614/ap_on_re_eu/eu_new_mideast_battleground
Bardawil: Name of premier to be resolved in Abbas-Misha‘al meeting
GAZA, (PIC) 15 June — Hamas leader Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil hailed the Hamas-Fatah meeting in Cairo yesterday, saying that it was “positive and amicable”. Bardawil in a press statement on Wednesday said that an agreement was reached on the issue of political detainees and the passports. He added that Fatah promised to solve both issues. The formation of unity government and its premier would be resolved next Tuesday in Cairo when Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and PA chief, and Khaled Misha‘al, the Hamas leader, meet, he elaborated.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k
Report: Hamas nominates Haniyeh to head government
Ynet 14 June — Several days after Fatah nominated Salam Fayyad to head the new Palestinian government, Hamas announced it was pushing for Ismail Haniyeh’s appointment. According to the London-based al-Hayat newspaper, a senior Hamas element said that as far as the Islamist group is concerned, Haniyeh will head the new Palestinian government. Fatah and Hamas representatives are slated to meet Tuesday and discuss the makeup of the new government.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4081928,00.html
Fatah denies claims of unrest after Dahlan ouster
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) 15 June — The office of Fatah leader Nabil Sha‘ath denied Wednesday claims on Facebook and Palestinian internet forums that the leader’s home had been torched by mobs of “angry Fatah members.” … Dahlan was voted out of Fatah on Sunday, following a discreet internal investigation during which unnamed sources said the former Fatah strongman in Gaza tried to mobilize a personal militia in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396937
MP: No success for elections without freedom
NABLUS (PIC) 14 June — MP Husni Al-Bourini has rejected the decision by minister of economy in the illegitimate Ramallah government Hassan Abu Libde to organize elections for the Nablus chamber of commerce and industry in mid-July. The lawmaker charged that the decision ran contrary to the atmosphere of reconciliation and to the vision of the majority of national forces, which opined that the elections should be delayed until suitable conditions were created.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Prosor assumes UN ambassador role
Ynet 15 June — Former UK envoy to weather political storms in September, when PA plans to declare statehood
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082684,00.html
European Parliament: East Jerusalem should be Palestinian capital
dpa 15 June — In a speech before the Knesset, European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said he backs Obama’s peace plan, and that negotiations are the ‘only solution.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/european-parliament-east-jerusalem-should-be-palestinian-capital-1.367891
MK Majadele receives death threats
Ynet 15 June — Letter sent to Labor MK’s Knesset office says he has 180 days to live, will die agonizing death … A letter addressed to Majadele at his Knesset office stated that a Pulsa Dinura (Kabbalistic death curse) had been cast upon him on May 1 for his “Anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist activity.” … Sources close to the MK said that he had recently declared in an interview that east Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine and that Islam’s holy sites in Jerusalem must be handed over to the Palestinians. They noted the letter may be linked to these statements.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082522,00.html
Other news
Israel’s harassment of US-Mexico border human rights activist raises many questions / Gabriel Matthew Schiavone
Mondo 14 June — On May 16, a 19-year-old American student from a Southwest university was stopped by Israeli security agents and held for several hours as she attempted to enter the occupied Palestinian West Bank with 17 other schoolmates and two professors. At one point in a grueling interrogation that lasted until 2 am, she was harassed about her affiliation with No Más Muertes/No More Deaths, a humanitarian group that operates along the U.S.-Mexico border.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/israel%E2%80%99s-harassment-of-us-mexico-border-human-rights-activist-raises-many-questions.html
89,000 Palestinian students to take Tawjihi
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 15 June — Approximately 89,000 Palestinian students sat for the first session of the General Secondary Certificate, or Tawjihi, in the West Bank and Gaza on Wednesday. Education Minister Lamis Al-Alami said that of the 88,768 registered test takers, 52 percent were women. Of the total number of students, 52,367 were from the West Bank and 36,401 were from Gaza. The Tawjihi, administered every year for Palestinian students seeking the high school qualification, is required for those who wish to enter Palestinian universities. The score on the test determines which programs a would-be student can enter.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=396870
Jerusalem education fund created during Amman conference
AMMAN (PIC) 14 June — A specialized fund to urgently support Jerusalem’s culture and education sectors was established during a conference on the holy city in Jordan’s capital Amman. The conference titled “Jerusalem: A human right and nation’s responsibility” ended Sunday evening and was slated to discuss the situation in the holy city and to take political action to confront attempts to Judaize the holy city and displace its Arab residents … As 60 percent of Palestinians in Jerusalem attend schools administered by Israel’s Jerusalem municipality and learn Hebrew history and language, the participants called for new Palestinian schools funded by Arabs and Muslims.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Israel police train for mass Palestinian protests
JERUSALEM (AFP) 14 June – Hundreds of Israeli police are taking part in a training exercise in preparation for potentially large-scale Palestinian protests in September, a police spokesman said on Tuesday. “There’s an exercise that the police are carrying out… in order to deal with public order, maintaining public order, and dealing with widespread disturbances,” spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told AFP. The Palestinian leadership plans to seek UN recognition and membership in September in a move Israeli security officials fear could be accompanied by widespread Palestinian protests.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110614/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictdemopolice
Bedouin sheikh jailed for imprisoning, raping girl
Ynet 15 June — The Beersheba District Court on Wednesday sentenced a Bedouin sheikh to 13 years in prison for imprisoning, raping, and beating a teenage girl because she violated “family honor”. The girl’s uncle, convicted of kidnapping her, was sent to prison for five years … the uncle’s attorneys claimed that he saved the girl’s life by setting up her marriage to another man. They added that the defendant is a known women’s rights activist in the Bedouin sector.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082814,00.html
Rivlin: Public service shouldn’t favor ex-soldiers
Ynet 14 June – Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday said that a bill meant to give preference to those who served in the army or did national service in admittance into public service positions “is contradictory to the principle of equal opportunity.” Speaking at a conference on absorption of Arab workers into the public service, Rivlin said “ex-soldiers and those who did national service should be rewarded with housing, scholarships, and grants, but not with benefits that will harm other sectors and the special role of the public service.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4081966,00.html
Muslim police officer ascends to new heights
Ynet 15 June — Deputy Inspector-General Jamal Hakroush on Wednesday became the first Muslim police officer to ascend to his rank in Israel. He was recently nominated to the office of deputy chief of the Traffic Department … The officer added, “My religion and origin are facts I do not ignore, but I have never, in all my years of service, felt discriminated against or hurt by it.” Hakroush says his home village of Kfar Kana has offered a lot of support.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082782,00.html
Glenn Beck’s Jerusalem rally program unveiled
Ynet 15 June — Tens of thousands of excited Israelis and Americans, music performances, appearances by local and international celebrities, senior politicians and a live broadcast that will reach millions of viewers – this is just some of what is in store for Glenn Beck’s upcoming rally “to restore courage,” which is set to take place on August 24 in Jerusalem.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4082351,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Interview: The leader of the group that claims to have kidnapped Vittorio Arrigoni speaks
15 June — You deny to have played any role in the kidnapping and assassination of Vittorio Arrigoni, yet you are still being accused of that. Someone wants to involve us at all costs in this affair, but Tawhid wal Jihad did not in any way plan or participate in the kidnapping of the Italian. Our denial was immediate, from the very start we made it clear that the kidnappers were not part of our Jihad project. Those young men used our name because it is known and they wanted to gain some attention.
http://wewritewhatwelike.com/2011/06/15/interview-the-leader-of-the-group-that-claims-to-have-kidnapped-vittorio-arrigoni-speaks/
Gaza border opening little more than rhetoric / Ramzy Baroud
JT 16 June — For most Palestinians, leaving Gaza through Egypt is as exasperating a process as entering it. Governed by political and cultural sensitivities, most Palestinian officials and public figures refrain from criticizing the way Palestinians are treated at the Rafah border. There is really no diplomatic language to describe the relationship between desperate Palestinians — some literally fighting for their lives — and Egyptian officials at the crossing which separates Gaza from Egypt. “Gazans are treated like animals at the border,” I was told by a friend who was afraid that her fiancé would not be allowed to leave Gaza, despite having his papers in order. Having crossed the border myself just a few days earlier, I could not disagree with her statement … I was one of the very first Palestinians who stood at Rafah following the announcement of a “permanent” opening. Our bus waited at the gate for a long time. I watched a father repeatedly try to reassure his crying 6-year-old child, who displayed obvious signs of a terrible bone disease. “Get the children out or they will die,” shouted an older passenger as he gasped for air. The heat in the bus, combined with the smell of trapped sweat was unbearable.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20110616rb.html
Palestinians seek to redefine national struggle / Tom Perry
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 15 June — Freedom, justice, dignity and equality are the demands of a new generation of Palestinians seeking to redefine their national struggle in a way that could threaten both Israel and their own leadership. They are neither Fatah or Hamas and care as little for the Palestinians’ factional politics as they do for the “two-state solution” which President Mahmoud Abbas has long presented as the only workable resolution to the conflict with Israel. “As far as we are concerned, our issue is one of rights,” said Hazem Abu Hilal, an activist in a human rights-focused movement which he says is gaining followers thanks to Arab uprisings across the region. “It’s not that important if there is a state or not. What matters is securing these four demands,” he said, speaking as he recovered from the effects of a foul-smelling liquid sprayed by Israeli forces during a West Bank protest he helped organise.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/palestinians-seek-redefine-national-struggle-131235015.html
Gaza: Young Palestinians lead a global movement / Joe Catron
13 June — On a warm, sunny afternoon, I met Eman Sourani and Rana Baker in an airy outdoor café several blocks from the port of Gaza. Both are members of the Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI). Sourani, a 22-year-old English literature student at Al-Aqsa University, cofounded the group after Operation Cast Lead in January 2009, while Baker, a 19-year-old blogger and a business administration student at the Islamic University of Gaza, joined it during Israeli Apartheid Week, a global event in March 2011. PSCABI is the student arm of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), itself part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee. Since its July 2005 founding by Palestinian organizations from Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, and the diaspora, BDS has grown into a formidable global movement with an impressive record of victories.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16920
The Bedouin minority must be integrated / Moshe Arens
Haaretz 14 June — How many times does it have to be said that integrating the large minority population is the major challenge facing Israeli society? … Of all the segments of the Israeli minority population, the integration of the Bedouin is by far the most difficult. For centuries they have followed a nomadic lifestyle and now find themselves in the midst of a modern industrial society without the skills needed to become productive members of this society. The age-old tradition of polygamy is still practiced among them; a father having a large number of children is commonplace, leading to parental neglect and delinquency. [reminds me of Queensland, Australia, where ‘assimilation’ of the Aboriginal population actually means the destruction of their culture]
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-bedouin-minority-must-be-integrated-1.367548
Reasonable conjectures on Israel’s changing demographics – an analysis by Dr. Lawrence Davidon
Part 1 — Young Israelis are voting with their feet — If the historical goal of the state of Israel is to provide the world’s Jews a secure national home, a place of refugee in a world of real or potential anti-Semitism, it seems to have failed. It has failed not because this writer says so, but because an increasing number of its own Jewish citizens say so. There have been studies originating both in Israel and abroad that show “as many as half of the Jews living in Israel will consider leaving …if in the next few years the current political and social trends continue.” This finding is in addition to the fact that yerida, or emigration out of Israel, has long been running at higher numbers than aliyah, or immigration into the country.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/06/reasonable-conjecture-on-israel%E2%80%99s-changing-demographics-%E2%80%93-an-analysis-by-dr-lawrence-davidon/
groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)
