and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
I’m either an illegal citizen of one state, or an inferior citizen in another / Jalal Abukhater
RAMALLAH Salem-News 10 June – I am considered under the Israeli law to be an illegal citizen of the Palestinian West Bank and I am supposed to avoid it as an area of danger while Jewish settlers are allowed to come from all over the world and settle legally (under Israeli law) in the Palestinian West Bank. I am a Palestinian who lives in the occupied eastern part of Jerusalem. I am required to carry around my blue identification card which permits me to cross checkpoints daily from my house in Jerusalem to my school in Ramallah and vice versa. Carrying the blue identification card enables me to travel “freely” across the West Bank and 1948 Palestine while those carrying West Bank and Gaza IDs are not able to leave those areas without special Israeli issued permits. Having said that, however, carrying this blue ID is more of a curse than it is a blessing.
http://salem-news.com/articles/june102011/palestine-citizen-ja.php
Jerusalem Old City’s Jewish Quarter almost entirely haredi
Haaretz 10 June — Neighborhood has resumed the ultra-Orthodox character it had before the 1948 War of Independence … Rubin and Bar also noted that finds from archaeological digs carried out in the Jewish Quarter are displayed to the public in ways that highlight the area’s Jewish history at the expense of its Christian and Muslim history. A sign in the Jewish Quarter designating the location of a Crusader-era church, for example, has been replaced with one that simply labels the location an archaeological park.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jerusalem-old-city-s-jewish-quarter-almost-entirely-haredi-study-finds-1.366855
Syria refugee’s dream of return ends in tragedy
JERUSALEM (AFP) 10 June — When Ezzat Maswadi burst across the ceasefire line from Syria into the occupied Golan Heights, he thought his chance to return to Jerusalem — the city of his birth — had finally come. But the return that Maswadi had longed for was not to be, and his attempts to reach the Holy City would eventually lead to his death, three weeks later, in the fields between Syria and the Golan town of Majdal Shams. Born to a Palestinian family in Jerusalem in 1977, Maswadi grew up in the nearby town of Al-Eizariya until 1984, when his family moved first to Jordan and then to Syria. His father moved back to Jerusalem shortly afterward, but Maswadi and his mother were told they had lost their residency permits under an Israeli law which quietly revoked the residency of anyone who stayed away more than three years.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395435
Returning from afar
JPost 9 June — …In the farthest reaches of northeast India, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh, live the Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for “the sons of Manasseh”). They are descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel… And now, after so many centuries, God is rewarding them for their faithfulness and bringing them back. Over the past decade, Shavei Israel has brought 1,700 Bnei Menashe to Israel, where they have been absorbed successfully into the Jewish state. Another 7,232 remain in India, awaiting their chance to return. Over the past year, Israel’s government has been deliberating whether to allow the rest of the community to make aliya. It is expected soon to pass a decision that will enable all the remaining Bnei Menashe to come home to Zion.
http://www.jpost.com/ChristianInIsrael/Comment/Article.aspx?id=224098
Incursions / Clashes
Israeli police enter Al Aqsa Mosque, firing tear gas to disperse stone-throwing Palestinians
Israeli police stormed the venerated Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Friday, firing teargas at Palestinians who had assembled there. The police briefly entered the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound after Friday prayers and fired tear gas towards stone-throwing youths, police and mosque officials said. “After prayers some of the Arab youths started throwing stones,” a Jerusalem police spokeswoman said. “There were no injuries but when the stone throwing continued, police and border police entered the mosque compound to disperse the youths before leaving.” Police fired tear gas and one person was arrested, she said. A spokesman for the Islamic authorities that run the mosque said one or two youths had been throwing stones, but the incident ended quickly. The sprawling mosque compound contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock [shrine] and is the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/10/152693.html
Palestinian injured in clashes with settlers near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 June — A 65-year-old Palestinian was shot and injured Friday during clashes with Israeli settlers and soldiers near Ramallah, witnesses said. Locals told Ma‘an that dozens of settlers tried to enter an illegal outpost near Kafr Malik village, which had been evacuated by Israeli forces. Villagers tried to stop the settlers, who were supported by Israeli soldiers. Clashes erupted and Yousif Hamad Al-Qaq was shot and injured, onlookers said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395504
PCHR: Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory – June 2-8
Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 30 Palestinian civilians, including 12 children and a woman, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Twenty nine of them were wounded in the West Bank and the thirtieth was wounded in the Gaza Strip, and the majority of them were wounded in peaceful demonstrations. In the West Bank, On 02 June 2011, a Palestinian child from Fraata village, northeast of Qalqilya, was wounded when a group of settlers from “Havat Gilad” settlement raided Palestinian lands in Fraata village and set fire to lands planted with wheat and stoned Palestinian farmers. The settlers then called IOF who rushed to the scene to provide protection to settlers. IOF started firing tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at Palestinians. Asaad al-Tawil, 16, was hit as a result by a tear gas canister to his left eye … In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian civilian was wounded on 07 June 2011 when IOF positioning on observation towers at the border near Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing, in the far north of the Gaza Strip, opened intensive fire at a group of Palestinian and international demonstrators who were nearly 300 meters from the border fence to the north of the Agricultural School of al-Azhar University, north of Beit Hanoun.. ..
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=78500
Activism / Solidarity
2 injured in Hebron anti-settlement rally
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli forces injured two Palestinians and detained two activists on Friday at a demonstration against illegal settlements near Hebron, activists said. Rateb Al-Habor, coordinator of the local committee against settlements, said dozens of Palestinian and international activists joined the peaceful rally after Friday prayers. Al-Habor said Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters. He said Adham Muhammad Ahmad Shawaheen, 22, and Fadel Ahmad Muhammad Ad-Dababseh, were both hit by tear-gas canisters. Israeli forces detained Qasem Muhammad Hasan Abu Arram, 50, and a 30-year-old Israeli activist, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395493
Photos: Protest in Nabi Saleh consumed by tear gas / Joseph Dana
972mag 10 June — Unusually high levels of tear gas were used in an attempt to crush the weekly unarmed demonstration today at Nabi Saleh. Roughly 40 new (and many first time) Israeli supporters joined the demonstration today, led by IPCRI director Gershom Baskin. From the demonstration, Baskin repeatedly contacted the Israeli army and informed them of the high numbers of Israelis present and the desire to maintain a non-violent, unarmed demonstration. Despite this, the demonstrators were only able to march about 100 meters inside the village before they were attacked by tear gas.
http://972mag.com/photos-protest-in-nabi-saleh-consumed-by-tear-gas/
At-Tuwani reflections: Healing the trees
CPT 7 June — We start slowly, our delegation members, several men, a handful of women, a sprinkling of children. As we walk out of the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani the procession grows, women cutting across fields, children scrambling down hillsides. Some of the boys carry hoes; the women swing buckets; a young child waves a Palestinian flag. We are on our way to a small olive orchard in the valley to take part in a healing ritual, but the conversation, in Arabic, sounds chatty, neighbors exchanging the tidbits that make up daily life. A few of the children try to bring us into the loop with their schoolroom English; we try a few Arabic phrases. When we reach the orchard, we pause. I know in my head that Israeli settlers who live across the valley from At-Tuwani sometimes sneak down at night and chop down the villagers’ olive trees. But seeing the wounded trees myself cuts more deeply. The breaks are jagged, branches twisting off the trunk, the silver-green leaves curling in the dust. Ten trees have been hacked off, an attempt to chop down Palestinian life in the South Hebron Hills.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/06/07/tuwani-reflection-healing-trees
Jewish outrage as Greens host Gaza ‘freedom’ event
Australian 11 June — The NSW Greens continue to support protests against Israel, with the party’s upper house leader David Shoebridge to host a function at Parliament House next week for an activist group preparing to head to Gaza. Jewish community leaders have criticised the Greens’ hosting of the Farewell to Freedom Flotilla event, saying it uses taxpayer-funded facilities to encourage groups to break international law.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/jewish-outrage-as-greens-host-gaza-freedom-event/story-fn59niix-1226073267266
Gaza – under siege for 1,458 days now
Ministry: Surgeries canceled in Gaza due to shortages
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 June — Doctors in Gaza have been forced to cancel surgeries due to critical shortages of medicine and supplies, a health ministry official said Friday. Ministry undersecretary Hasen Khalef said eye surgeries, and operations on blood vessels and nerves were among those canceled due to the lack of medication. Gaza Health Minister Bassem Naem said prescheduled surgeries — including children’s operations, cardiac catheterization, laparoscopic surgery and bone and nerve operations — would be stopped … Khalef said dental clinics and general practice clinics would be forced to close soon, and that health centers would reduce their hours because of the shortages.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395452
Israel closes sole Gaza crossing for goods and aid
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli authorities decided to close Gaza’s sole operating crossing for goods and aid until Sunday, Palestinian officials said … Egypt ended its role in Israel’s siege on May 28, permanently reopening the Rafah crossing on its border with Gaza. While the decision allowed the free movement of most Gaza residents for the first time in four years, the terminal is not equipped for the import or export of goods or aid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395400
Cairo denies reports of arms smuggling through Egypt
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 10 June — Military leaders in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday denied allegations that new smuggling routes had been established through Egypt into Gaza. The Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv on Friday said Israeli security officials had received information that weapons were being smuggled from Libya to the Gaza Strip via Egypt. According to the report, the uprising against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had allowed the flow of arms into the hands of arms dealers and “terror organizations” in Libya … Egyptian military sources denied the report, and said no weapons entered Egypt from Libya, noting that officers inspected all passengers entering from Libya through As-Saloum crossing.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395509
Palestinians plan ‘flotilla march’
Ynet 10 June — Pro-Palestinian activists have issued a Facebook call urging supporters to stage yet another march – the “return march” – this time to coincide with the arrival of the second Gaza-bound flotilla, planned for late June. The organizers said that this march is meant to commemorate “Nakba Day” and “Naksa Day” casualties. Once again, they urged participants to storm all of Israel’s borders.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4080253,00.html
US activists prepare to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza / Alex Kane
EI 10 June — Recent weeks have seen renewed attention on the blockade of Gaza as international activists’ efforts to break Israel’s blockade with a flotilla come to a head. The Israeli government has begun to ramp up its propaganda efforts, claiming the flotilla has ties to terrorism. The United States government has warned activists working against the blockade, with a State Department spokesman telling reporters earlier this month that “groups and individuals who seek to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions” (State Department press briefing, 1 June 2011). But while the flotilla is only beginning to make headlines now, it’s been a long time in the works. The organizing for an American boat to join the flotilla began a year ago.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/us-activists-prepare-break-israels-blockade-gaza/10070
Israel warns Inmarsat over Gaza flotilla
7 June — JERUSALEM: An Israeli group said yesterday that it had warned satellite navigation giant Inmarsat it could face legal action for providing services to ships trying to breach the naval blockade on Gaza. The Israel Law Centre said it had sent a letter to London-based Inmarsat cautioning it that supplying navigation services to a flotilla of 15 ships which is expected to sail for Gaza later this month, would violate the US Neutrality Act that bars helping groups considered hostile to an allied country. Inmarsat “is exposing itself to criminal liability and massive financial suits if it supplies satellite services to boats participating in the flotilla to Gaza,” the Centre said.
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NjQzNTEzNjYx
Inside the jail of Gaza – Walking to the Buffer Zone / Johnny Barber
Counterpunch 10-12 June — We marched to the buffer zone with about 20 others including members of the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative who have been organizing non-violent demonstrations for the past three years, as well as several members of GYBO (Gaza Youth Break Out). Carrying flags and alternately chanting, singing and walking in silence we approached the Israeli border. This is a no go zone for Palestinians. Israel has deemed that 300 meters from the wall is a buffer zone, so Palestinian farmland is taken away. Waving flags and chanting we reached the edge of the buffer zone and continued walking. Almost immediately, dust kicked up just ahead of us, a warning shot rang out. We stopped, daring to go no further. Climbing a small embankment we waved our Palestinian flags and chanted to the soldiers hidden in the guard towers. Not five minutes passed and 2 shots rang out, one kicking up dust at our feet. 19 year old Mohammed Kafarna grabbed his neck, turned, and ran back in the direction we had come. He had been hit with shrapnel
http://www.counterpunch.org/barber06102011.html
Detention
Israel detains Hamas leader from Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli forces detained Hamas leader and former minister Wasfi Qabaha overnight Thursday from his home in the West Bank city of Jenin, witnesses said. Locals said soldiers surrounded Qabaha’s home amid intensive shooting and took the 50-year-old to an unknown location. In 2007, Qabaha was arrested by Israeli forces and detained without charge for three years under administrative detention.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops detained eight Palestinians overnight from the West Bank. Locals in Hussan village west of Bethlehem said Israeli troops detained 22-year-old Muhammad Shusha in a dawn raid on his father’s home.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395404
Palestinian women stripped naked during provocative prison search.
WEST BANK, (PIC) 9 June — Four Palestinian women detained at the Israeli HaSharon prison were stripped naked during a humiliating and provocative cell search, those women told the Ahrar prisoner studies center. The names of the women held for alleged security reasons were left undisclosed. The search was conducted by ten female and five male prison guards and security and intelligence officials as well as the director of Room 2, where the women reside. The crew was looking for a mobile phone allegedly smuggled into the prison by one of the women. Each woman was strip searched separately inside the unit in a way they described as humiliating and “conflicting with ethics and morals.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Israeli jailer takes photos of Palestinian captive during a strip search
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 10 June — The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) has strongly deprecated Thursday the Israeli occupation authority over the “strip search” policy it practices against the Palestinian captives in its jails. Lawyer of the PPS revealed that an Israeli guard in Majeddo prison took some pictures of a Palestinian captive after he subjected him to a strip search prompting the captive to strongly protest this Israeli assault against him … The Israeli practice was meant to humiliate Palestinian captives and is a blatant violation of international laws and ethics on prisoners. The captive went on hunger-strike for three days to protest the Israeli action against him. He was placed in solitary confinement before the guards forcibly transferred him and his three comrades to Shatta, the PPS pointed out.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Hamas: PA detained affiliate
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 June — Hamas on Friday accused Palestinian Authority security forces of detaining a party member from Siris village near Jenin. The Islamist movement said forces from the Fatah-led PA detained Islam Abu Ali, a student at the Arab American University in Jenin. On Tuesday, Hamas said PA forces detained four party affiliates across the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395451
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Real peace only possible ‘if Hamas on board’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 10 June — A lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is only possible if Hamas is involved, a group of former top statesmen and diplomats said in a letter made public on Friday. In the letter, which is addressed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, 24 former international figures warned against the dangers of rejecting a recent Palestinian unity deal aimed at ending years of bad blood between the secular Fatah faction and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Israel slammed the deal as a “great victory for terrorism” in a move which found echoes in Washington, with US President Barack Obama describing it as “an enormous obstacle to peace.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395497
Haniyeh: No differences among Hamas leaders
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 June — Gaza government Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that there were no internal differences among Hamas leaders. Speaking at Friday prayers in Gaza City, the premier denied media reports of internal disagreements within the Islamist movement … Haniyeh said Hamas would not negotiate with Israel or concede Palestinians’ rights. In May, Damascus-based Hamas chief Khalid Mash‘al said the party was willing to allow the PLO to negotiate with Israel for a period of time in order to prove that talks would lead nowhere.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395496
Hamas leaders open Facebook pages in attempt to woo Palestinian public
Haaretz 10 June — A few leading Hamas figures have opened Facebook pages over the past few weeks, as part of the organization’s broader attempt to win hearts and minds among the Palestinian public to reverse its declining support in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. According to an opinion poll published Wednesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, 39.2 percent of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians have faith in Fatah, while only 16.6 percent put their trust in Hamas. Hamas is now trying to rebrand itself as a more open and, above all, a more moderate movement.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hamas-leaders-open-facebook-pages-in-attempt-to-woo-palestinian-public-1.366854
Haaretz exclusive: Secret cables show Israel’s battle plan over Palestinian UN bid
10 June — Israel has started mobilizing its embassies for the battle against UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September, ordering its diplomats to convey that this would delegitimize Israel and foil any chance for future peace talks. Envoys are being asked to lobby the highest possible officials in their countries of service, muster support from local Jewish communities, ply the media with articles arguing against recognition and even ask for a call or quick visit from a top Israeli official if they think it would help. Foreign Ministry Director General Rafael Barak and the heads of various ministry departments sent out classified cables outlining the battle plan to the embassies over the past week, after earlier ordering all the country’s diplomats to cancel any vacations planned for September. The contents of the cables reached Haaretz and are reported here in full.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/haaretz-exclusive-secret-cables-show-israel-s-battle-plan-over-palestinian-un-bid-1.366852
Minister: Berlin to advise Palestinians against statehood bid
BERLIN (AFP) 10 June — A high-level German diplomatic mission to the Middle East will try to convince Palestinians next week to drop plans to gain UN recognition for an independent state in September, a minister said Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395534
US senators oppose Israel return to 1967 lines
AFP 10 June — US senators proposed a resolution on Thursday opposing any Israeli withdrawal to 1967 lines, dealing a symbolic blow to President Barack Obama’s efforts to renew peace talks. “It is contrary to United States policy and national security to have the borders of Israel return to the armistice lines that existed on June 4, 1967,” read the text introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent. The resolution, which enjoys the support of some 30 other senators [out of 100], including Democrats, says US policy aims to “support and facilitate Israel in maintaining defensible borders.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4080333,00.html
Other news
Al-Quds Brigades arrest suspected collaborator
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Islamic Jihad’s armed wing the Al-Quds Brigades on Friday announced the arrest of a collaborator accused of involvement in the assassination of 16 resistance fighters. The brigades said the collaborator was identified after several months of intensive monitoring and interrogations by the group’s security department … The collaborator was handed over to the Hamas-led Interior Ministry in Gaza to be brought to trial, the brigades said. The Hamas-led government in Gaza has executed six men accused of collaboration, most recently on May 4.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395468
Low-profile, influential Hamas founder Shama dies
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) 10 June — A founder of Hamas in the Gaza Strip died Friday of a stroke after decades as an influential yet little-known figure at the helm of the Palestinian militant organization. He was 76. Muhammad Hassan Sham‘a, revered by Hamas loyalists but nearly anonymous outside Gaza, was one of the eight founders of the Islamist group in the 1980s. After his death, Hamas publicly announced Friday for the first time that Sham‘a had been the leader of the secretive Shura Council, its top governing body.
The identity of the council’s members is a closely guarded secret because of fears they could be targeted by Israel. The founder and first leader of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2004.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jII49kohdQzw0ou0VPiYzRuzZxng?docId=91126407e9274dae8c3bd083e9e4dae1
Agriculture ministry: Watermelons not contaminated
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 June — The Palestinian Authority agriculture ministry said Thursday that reports of toxic chemicals in watermelons in the West Bank were false. According to media reports, watermelons grown in settlements and sold in the West Bank contained traces of hormones and pesticides. The ministry said it conducted tests on watermelon samples from across the West Bank at the An-Najjah University in Nablus, but found no traces of contamination. Watermelons grown in illegal settlements are sold in the West Bank despite a government-led boycott of settlement produce. Palestinian Authority Agriculture Minster Ismail Du’eik said the government had a trade agreement with Israel to buy watermelons from settlements, in exchange for Israel buying Palestinian-grown cucumbers, the official PA news Agency Wafa reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=395275
Light rail segregation has heavy price / Tali Farkash
Ynet 10 June — Allotting one of train’s cars to sexual segregation may be democratic, but zealots won’t stop there … While Israelis were busy with the cheesecakes and flower arrangements that go along with Shavuot earlier this week, haredi zealots have been busy with their next battle: Imposing the ‘kosher bus’ rules on the Jerusalem light rail … in actuality, the light rail is just another battle in the war on gendered freedom of movement in Israel. This war is no longer just about specific buses in specific haredi areas. It is a nationwide war which currently includes sidewalks, supermarkets, planes, and HMOs with separate medical services.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4080149,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
UK anti-Sharia legislator backed Israel group calling for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians / Ali Abunimah
EI blog 9 June — A legislator who has introduced an ‘anti-Sharia’ bill into the UK parliament supposedly in the name of equality agreed to serve as co-president of an Israeli organization that favors expulsion of Palestinians, denies the Nakba, and espouses extreme anti-Muslim views … Cox’s endorsement of extremist racist The Jerusalem Summit, and her introduction of laws targeting Muslims in the UK in the name of “equality” is a marker of the increasingly close alliance between Zionists and Islamophobes and their attempt to stir up Islamophobia in Europe and the United States in order to bolster support for Israel as a supposed bulwark against a mythical Muslim invasion characterized by “creeping Sharia.” Just this week in the United States, Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said he would require a special loyalty oath to be administered to Muslims appointed to government positions. There is not such much a creeping, but rather a galloping alliance between pro-Israel extremists and Islamophobes that is causing dangerous polarization in the United States and Europe, largely for the sake of Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/uk-anti-sharia-legislator-backed-israel-group-calling-ethnic-cleansing
Pro-Israelis turning US into Islamophobic police state / Maidhc Ó Cathail
MEMO 10 June — The recent call by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer for increased rail safety funding and the creation of a “no-ride” list for Amtrak trains is yet another reminder of just who is stoking fear of Muslims in America. In an interview last year with a Jewish radio talk show in New York, Senator Schumer said he believed that HaShem (an Orthodox Jewish term for “God”) gave him the name “Schumer” — which means “guardian” — so that he could fulfill his “very important” role in the U.S. Senate as a “guardian of Israel.” Presumably, Schumer’s God-given role also includes turning the country he is actually paid to represent — the United States — into an Islamophobic police state. Americans wondering what happened to their freedoms since 9/11 need to understand the key role played by ardent pro-Israelis like Schumer in undermining their civil liberties under the guise of protecting them from terrorism.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/americas/2457-pro-israelis-turning-us-into-islamophobic-police-state
This Week in History: RFK is shot a year after Six Day War
JPost 10 June — Robert Kennedy is shot by a Christian Palestinian man from Jerusalem upset by the senator’s pledge to supply Israel with Phantom fighter jets – Born in 1944, Sirhan Sirhan fled his Jerusalem home during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Soon thereafter, he and his entire family moved to the United States where he attended school, including several years at a local college. But despite his many years in the US, Sirhan’s heart remained with the Palestinian people. Following the Arab defeat in the 1967 Six Day War, he told American news program Inside Edition in a 1989 interview, he was “downcast and crestfallen.” … Robert Kennedy, the younger brother of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy, had been a hero to Sirhan Sirhan. “He was my champion, he was the defender of the downtrodden,” he later said in an interview, believing himself to be the downtrodden that RFK had pledged to defend. But when Sirhan heard that Kennedy was promising to supply military jets to Israel, he felt personally betrayed … Sirhan Sirhan remains in a California prison to this day.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=224425
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