and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
In South Hebron Hills, Palestinians always fear the next demolition / Dolev Rahat
Rabbis for Human Rights 3 July — …Bir El Id is a typical example of the problems of the Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills. It is located in Area C, and therefore the responsibility for planning and developing infrastructure lies with the Civil Administration, which is also authorized to issue building permits and to demolish structures that were built without a permit. As with most of the villages in Masaafat Yatta (the rural area surrounding the town of Yatta) in Bir El Id, the master plan in force dates back to the British mandate. This plan, named RJ5, designates the land as agricultural land. That means that the permitted building density falls far short of the residents’ needs. As a result, the residents are forced to build tents, houses and facilities without a permit, which means that the tents, facilities, toilets, water cisterns and roads are constantly exposed to the threat of demolition.
http://rhr.org.il/eng/index.php/2011/07/in-south-hebron-hills-palestinians-always-fear-the-next-demolition/
Israel municipality to erect thirty settler houses in E. Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 2 July — Israeli sources say the Jerusalem municipality is planning on erecting some thirty settler houses in the East Jerusalem district of Ras al-Amud. The municipality has given locals sixty days to file petitions against the construction decision before it would discuss and finally approve the decision, said the Israeli leftist group Peace Now. The group said the construction would take place on Ras al-Amud’s main road some 50 meters from the local police station. If approved, settlers would be enabled to broaden their existence largely in the Palestinian neighborhood, Peace Now warned, adding that the structures would be ensued by an increase in security and infrastructure and would therefore change the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Jerusalem municipality has earmarked 5 millions dollars to construct nine roads between planned settlements in East Jerusalem.
Elsewhere, Israeli occupation forces continue to bulldoze land amid plans to expand four settlements in areas in Salfit province in northern West Bank
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Gov’t to transcribe al-Quds to Yerushalayim?
Ynet 3 July — Government to discuss transportation minister’s proposes to replace Arabic, English signpost captions according to Hebrew version. Katz: Jerusalem has always been Yerushalayim — The plan is not controversy-free: While signposts for Arab communities whose transcription is identical in Hebrew will remain as is; Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz is planning on changing the transcription in many mixed communities, whose names in Arabic, and sometimes in English, differs from their Hebrew name — to fit the Hebrew version … the Arabic caption ” أُورشَلِم القـُدْس” (al-Quds) [actually “al-Urushalim al-Quds” on the sign, not the Arabic version] will be changed to sound like “YERUSHALAYIM” using Arabic letters. The same goes for other cities and sites.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090372,00.html
Jerusalemites wounded in clashes with settlers, policemen
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 2 July — A number of citizens in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem were treated for injuries and breathing problems after clashes with Israeli occupation police and Jewish settlers on Friday evening, locals reported. They said that among those injured were two children, adding that the Israeli policemen sprayed gas directly into the faces of citizens. One of the injured women said that the clashes started after the end of the weekly march by the inhabitants protesting Jewish settlement activity in their neighborhood. She said that one of her relatives was taken to hospital after a settler hit her in the head.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq
Violent incitement against internationals in Sheikh Jarrah
ISM 2 July — Two international activists were assaulted by 4 Israeli police officers in an unprovoked attack in Sheikh Jarrah this morning. The two Danish activists were part of a group of five internationals staying at a home which has been partially occupied by settlers. Police arrived for no reported reasons at approximately 8:30am and approached one of the activists who was sitting and reading at the gate of the home. Police demanded that he showed them his passport. He and the other Danish activist presented their passports which were then snatched by the police officers . The officers then proceeded to push the activists to the ground and punch and kick them while on the floor.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/07/19167/
Settlers
Jewish settler runs down Palestinian woman in Nablus
NABLUS (PIC) 3 July – A Jewish settler ran down a Palestinian woman with his vehicle near Hawara southeast of Nablus city in northern West Bank, locals have reported. The woman sustained injuries and fractures and was left in a difficult health condition, the sources said. The woman, in her forties, was hit on the main road in Hawara. The driver tried to flee, but villagers there managed to apprehend him. She was transported to Rafidia surgical hospital where she is being treated for injuries affecting all parts of her body.
Three local youths also in Asira village south of the city suffered the effects of breathing tear gas fired at them by Israeli occupation soldiers after local youths emerged to confront settler crimes.
Settlers injured Mohammed Ziad from Madama village south of Nablus causing wounds to his head Sunday evening after burning local farmlands in the village and in nearby villages.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
3 Palestinians detained after confronting settlers
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 2 July — Israeli police reportedly detained three Palestinian men on Saturday in the Ar-Ras neighborhood of Hebron in the southern West Bank after they tried to confront a group of settlers who had assaulted them. The detainees were said to be 19-year-old Abed Husni Matariyya, 32-year-old Rami Abdul-Hayy Matariyya, and 34-year-old Muhammad Abdul-Hayy Matariyya, eyewitness Jamal Matariyya told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401548
Jewish settlers burn Palestinian olive trees
QALQILIA (PIC) 2 July — Jewish settlers set tens of Palestinian olives trees on fire in Kafr Qaddoum village, near Qalqilia, on Friday as Israeli occupation forces (IOF) wounded six citizens in the same village while quelling a protest march. The blaze destroyed tens of olive trees before the Palestinian fire brigades managed to extinguish it, local sources reported. [briefly reported at end of another article by Ma‘an on Friday]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
WATCH: The settler-zombie roaming West Bank roads / Ami Kaufman
972mag 3 July — +972 Magazine has received rare footage of the so-called ‘settler-zombie’ known to roam West Bank roads in pursuit of Palestinians, peace activists or other creatures who convey certain amounts of godlessness. The ‘settler-zombie’, until today considered an urban legend of sorts, is comparable to ‘Big Foot’, ‘Golem’ or the Loch Ness monster ‘Nessie’. Eye witnesses in recent years have told of a large man who screeches so high that Mariah Carey has been known to shudder. According to most accounts, the ‘settler-zombie’ also tires out quite quickly, most probably due to a bad diet and lack of exercise.The creature in the footage below, harassing a left winger at Susiya junction in the West Bank, seems to fit the description.
http://972mag.com/rare-footage-%E2%80%9Cthe-settler-zombie%E2%80%9D-roaming-west-bank-roads/
Violence
Qalqiliya boy critically injured after kidnapping
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 3 July — A boy from the West Bank city of Qalqiliya was critically injured after being struck by a car which fled after kidnapping a resident of the center of the city. Onlookers told Ma‘an that persons who were riding the car kidnapped Ali Abu Khadejah, 40, from the center of the city and while they were escaping the scene, their car hit Khaled Daoud Abed Al-Karim, 14 years old. The kidnappers escaped in an Israeli-plated car while the boy was transferred in critical condition to hospital in Nablus. Medics said the boy sustained serious wounds to the head. The car that hit the boy fled, and police have installed checkpoints at the entrances of the city in an attempt to seize the perpetrators. They have also opened an investigation in the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402058
Report: Israeli forces killed 26 Palestinians in June
WEST BANK (PIC) 3 July — A report by the International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights revealed that Israeli forces killed 26 Palestinians at home and abroad in June 2011. The report shows that Israeli occupation forces escalated attacks on Palestinians after Naksa Day events in early June, marking the anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It details that two men were killed in the Gaza Strip and one in the West Bank that month by injuries sustained some years back. Celebrating the 44th Naksa Day, 23 Palestinian and Syrian protesters were killed and many more were injured while protesting the Israeli occupation on the border of the occupied Golan Heights, the report says.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Activism
Standing where Bil‘in fence once stood, change begins to sink in / Libby Lenkinski
972mag 3 July — Last Friday was the first weekly demonstration since the Israeli authorities moved the separation barrier in Bil’in. It’s hard to believe but that fence, which for years was the physical symbol of the occupation, is no longer standing where it used to … When we arrived at the existing wall that remains (just over half a kilometer west of where the fence) used to be, while people danced and built, Ashraf Abu Rahmah, brother of the late Bassem Abu Rahmah and Jawaher Abu Rahmah took his flag and walked toward the new wall. He stood there for a few minutes alone in the quiet, looking at the wall and at the Israeli settlement Modi’in Illit behind it, and then raised his arms, still holding the flag. He had lost two siblings in the struggle against the fence, and now the fence was gone.
http://972mag.com/standing-where-bilin-fence-once-stood-change-begins-to-sink-in/
Kafr Qaddoum peacefully demonstrates after 6-year wait
ISM 3 July — The popular committee, or local council, of Kafr Qaddoum requested the attendance of ISM volunteers at their first demonstration in the village after more than six years of protracted legal arguments before the notoriously one-sided Israeli High Court. The attempts to gain justice through legal recourse were motivated by a unilateral Israeli decision in 2003 to block the main arterial road linking Kafr Qaddoum with Nablus.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/07/19195/
Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries make history
Solidarity Mag 30 June — Israeli employers, Palestinian workers and an Arab-Jewish union: Workers at Salit Quarries demand basic, fair employment terms, but the quarry management says their claims are childish. The first organized labor dispute in the West Bank is coming to a head — is this ideological adventurism or a revolutionary precedent? … The troubles in Salit Quarries have been going on for a long time … The quarry is surrounded by the shanty neighborhoods of the Jahalin Bedouins. The workers say that the Bedouins and the quarry came to an understanding: they would allow the quarry to be established and in return they would be offered jobs. The heavy dust caused by the quarry would not have been acceptable to most towns in Israel, but the quarry was considered part of the Jahalin industrial zone. The quarry was to have funded schools and infrastructure using revenues from taxation, but in reality the taxes were channeled back to Israel, just like most raw materials extracted in the West Bank. The Bedouins made do with earning an income.
http://solidaritymagazine.org/2011/06/palestinian-workers-at-salit-quarries-make-history/
Palestinian workers’ strike at Salit Quarries enters 15th day – update
30 June — The strike of Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries has completely frozen the firm’s economic activity. Trucks from outside contractors which arrived in the first days of the strike to load up with sand and gravel no longer come. Traffic which on a regular working day constitutes some 100 trucks has stopped. Damage to the quarry so far is estimated at about NIS 2 million.
http://mim.io/07d341?fe=1&pact=4275410090
Hundreds to challenge Israeli restrictions on traveling to Occupied Territories / Noam Sheizaf
972mag 3 July — A coalition of organizations has made public [French, PDF] its intention to have hundreds of international activists land at Ben-Gurion airport this Friday, July 8th, and openly declare their intention to visit the West Bank. Until now, visitors coming in solidarity with the Palestinians had to conceal their destination when questioned at the airport, or risk immediate deportation. A couple of years ago, American scholar Noam Chomsky was denied entry to Israel at the Jordanian border, after declaring his intention to give a lecture at Ramallah’s Bir Zeit University. The closure over the West Bank works in the opposite direction as well: Many don’t know it, but Israel controls all air and land entries to the West Bank, not only to Gaza. Palestinians wishing to travel abroad must apply for special permission from the Israel authorities. Those wishing to travel to the United States must first obtain a permit to visit the American Consulate in East Jerusalem and obtain their visa … UPDATE: Mondoweiss has posted an article from one of the participants in the planned protest at Ben Gurion airport
ttp://972mag.com/bengurion372011-12578/
Hundreds of Internationals and hundreds of Palestinians gear up for July 8-16 activities
IMEMC 3 July — Civil Society organizations finalizing preparations for welcoming hundreds of International activists coming to the Palestinian territories in a campaign defined by the organizers as “Welcome to Palestine”. The organizing groups, which mount up to 40 organizations, groups and popular committees and political factions issued a press release on Saturday. The organizers are concerned that Israeli authorities will not allow estimated 600 – 1000 people to come through Ben Gurion airport on July 8. Israeli media sources reported that the Israeli government is preparing for the July campaign … The planned July activities are part of series of events organized by Palestinian organizations in coordination with International peace groups held in December of 2010 as part of the efforts of the Palestine Justice Network, an advocacy group created following the Israeli war on Gaza in 2008/2009 … According to the press release, the activities will be held in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jordan Valley, Naqab (Negev) and Jerusalem, in addition to some other parts of the West Bank.
http://imemc.org/article/61596
Detention
IOF troops arrest four Palestinians from Tobas
TOBAS (PIC) 3 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested four Palestinians at Al-Hamra roadblock near the city of Tobas [or Tubas] at an early hour on Sunday, Palestinian sources said. They added that the IOF troops checked the young men’s IDs then claimed that the four were wanted for interrogation. Meanwhile, an IOF force stormed a Palestinian home in Doha west of Bethlehem and handed him an order to meet an intelligence officer in Etzion, south of the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IOF arrests farmers, workers, serves demolition notices
Nazareth (PIC) 2 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested three Palestinian farmers in Al-Khalil, dozens of workers in Haifa, and served demolition notices north of Sakhnin city on Saturday. Sources in Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil city, told the PIC reporter that the IOF soldiers with the help of Jewish settlers assaulted and detained three farmers, including two brothers, while tending to their land south of the village.
Meanwhile, Israeli police rounded up dozens of Palestinian workers from the West Bank in Haifa, witnesses told the PIC, adding that many of them were beaten in the process. The sources said that at least 25 workers, mostly from Jenin, were captured today in construction workshops.
In another development, Israeli authorities served demolition notices to three inhabitants of Fakhikhira village, to the north of Sakhnin city, claiming they were built on land owned by the land of Israel department. The citizens said that they own the land since the Ottoman era and they have papers to prove it,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Pq7jy1Qfiye4MZ8wPD3EAAaBYncSxmrQlUOSju4HTEV6FTQeTVApBGoPntpW4qPFCtkYzDwkwF8ZzaCG4VkaWcn%2fgNBOOhuFS2TqeGFYxDI%3d
Tamimi adamant on hunger strike despite isolation threat
NAZARETH (PIC) 3 July — The director of Hasharon jail has threatened Palestinian prisoner Ahlam Al-Tamimi with solitary confinement if she did not break her hunger strike which she started last Wednesday. Human rights sources said that the problem started last Wednesday when Tamimi went to meet her lawyer and the policewomen searched her and found a list of names of Palestinian female prisoners in her possession. A thing not punishable by the law.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Two young men arrested at Hamra checkpoint
Jordan Valley Solidarity 2 July — Today, JVS volunteers witnessed the arrest of two young men by the occupation army at Hamra checkpoint. At 2.15 pm two Palestinians, on their early twenties, from Nablus were kept handcuffed in their undershirts on the floor, at Hamra checkpoint, for several hours. They were then sent to an interrogation center. At 8 pm they were still under arrest. Hamra checkpoint is one of the five checkpoints that close the Jordan Valley from the rest of the West Bank. It is located on the way to Tubas, at the entrance of Frush Beddajan village, in the central Jordan Valley. It is known as one of the worse checkpoints in the West Bank. Last January two young Palestinians were killed as they were crossing this checkpoint.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=300:two-young-men-arrested-at-hamra-checkpoint&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Palestinians in Israeli jails start hunger strike
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 3 July — Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails will go on hunger strike Sunday to protest the prison administration’s crackdown, the Palestinian prisoners’ society said. The society said prisoners were at risk since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the prison service to toughen conditions for Palestinian detainees … PA Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Friday that Israeli authorities had formally informed all prisoners of new policies, which include preventing prisoners from continuing their university education in prison. Qaraqe said the prison-wide strike would last three days. The strike was called following raids in Ashkelon prison on Thursday. The Nahshon and Metzada units of the Israeli Prison Service beat detainees and sabotaged their possessions, a statement by Qaraqe said. They were also forced to strip naked and were made to wait in the prison courtyard for six hours, the minister added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401807
Israel decides to deport Palestinian prisoner after extending detention
RAMALLAH (PIC) 3 July – Israel has decided to deport Palestinian prisoner Hammad Muslim Abu Amra to Lebanon thirty months after his prison sentence had ended. The International Committee of the Red Cross has informed Abu Amra, 48, of Israel’s decision to deport him to live with his family in the Nahar al-Barid refugee camp in Lebanon, the Popular Movement for the Support of Prisoners and Palestinian Rights reported. Abu Amra was being held prisoner at the Nafha prison after his six-year prison sentence came to an end in February 2009, as Israel considered him a non-Palestinian Arab prisoner and dealt with him using the “Unlawful Combatant law”, the PMSPPR said. The law allows for holding the prisoner indefinitely without an indictment.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Society condemns transfer of sick detainee
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 2 July — A Palestinian prisoners society on Thursday condemned the transfer of a sick detainee on hunger strike to Ashkelon prison, where the group said he would not have access to medical care. Yousef Skaki has been on hunger strike since June 12. He had a heart attack in 2010, suffers from kidney disease and recently had an operation on his retina, the Hebron-based society said. He was previously held in Israel’s Beer Sheva prison. Skaki’s daughter visited the prison but Israeli guards refused to allow her to see her father, the group said, adding that she died on April 22. The society said Skaki was beaten in Ashkelon prison by Nahshon and Metzada units of the Israeli Prison Service despite his critical condition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401257
Eldest detainee in administrative detention freed
JENIN (Ma‘an) 3 July — Israeli authorities have released a prisoner from the West Bank city of Nablus who is the eldest [longest-serving?] of prisoners placed under administrative detention without charge, a researcher said. Ahmad Al-Betawi of the international solidarity organization said Ahmad Doulah, undersecretary of the ministry of interior and former manger of the directorate of education in Nablus, after three years in custody. Doulah was detained without charge three and a half years earlier in December 2007.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402068
Police detain teen sitting exam for twin brother
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 3 July — Police on Sunday detained a teenager who tried to sit a high school exam on behalf of his identical twin brother in the northern West Bank district of Qalqiliya. The teenager, who was not identified, tried to take the exam for his brother who was detained by Israeli forces on Thursday … Police said the teen was using a mobile phone to cheat in the Tawjihi, the final high school exams. [his brother was faced with not graduating from high school by missing this crucial exam while imprisoned]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401868
Hamas: Israel’s escalation will only solidify our prisoner exchange conditions
GAZA (PIC) 2 July — Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri has said Israel’s recent escalation against the Palestinian prisoners will only increase his movement’s firmness on the conditions it set on a prisoner exchange deal.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
PA security forces shut down Hizb-ut-Tahrir rallies
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 July — Pacifist Islamist group Hizb Ut-Tahrir on Saturday said Palestinian Authority security forces shut down mass rallies across the West Bank. Hizb Ut-Tahrir organized rallies in six cities to mark the 90th anniversary of the fall of the last caliphate. The party, which promotes the re-establishment of an Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East, accused the PA of turning Ramallah into a military post. In a statement, the group said over 100 affiliates were detained at checkpoints installed on the outskirts of several cities … In the northern West Bank, local sources told Ma‘an that PA forces arrested more than 30 Hizb Ut-Tahrir supporters in Nablus, and dozens in Tulkarem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401725
Gaza
‘Gaza worse off than ever’
PressTV 30 June — Palestinian and UN officials say the quality of life in the impoverished Gaza Strip has even further deteriorated since the Israeli regime claimed it was ‘easing’ its blockade of the coastal sliver. Milina Shahin, who is with the Public Information Office at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, says unemployment has climbed to 45.6 percent while the number of Palestinians earning just $1.6 per day has tripled over the past year, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that still very little gets through the blockade.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186860.html
Abu Zuhri: Egypt promised improvement in Rafah crossing
GAZA (PIC) 3 July — Hamas spokesman Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri has revealed that Egyptian officials promised to improve conditions at the Rafah border crossing within two months. He said during a meeting with directors of security apparatuses in Rafah, “We are aware of the crisis at the Rafah border terminal, but we realize that pressures are being exercised on Egypt.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
South Africa sends aid to Gaza
Ynet 30 June — A South-African aid agency announced Thursday that it has launch a Gaza-bound aid convoy carrying various goods to the Strip. The fleet of trucks will cross Africa in what organizers described as a “solidarity journey.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089702,00.html
Israel allows 200 trucks into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 July — Israeli authorities decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow limited goods into the Gaza Strip on Sunday. [after closing it Fri-Sat for the Israeli weekend]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401770
Flotilla
On eve of US Independence Day, US passengers on flotilla start open-ended fast at US Embassy in Athens
3 July — Demand that U.S. government pressure Greece to free their boat and captain, and allow boat to sail to Gaza — Members of the U.S. Boat to Gaza have begun an open-ended fast calling on the U.S. government to defend our right to sail out of Greece. The fast has begun in front of the U.S. Embassy at 91 Vasilisis Sophias Avenue in Athens. Fasters delivered an urgent letter to the Embassy and plan to sleep overnight outside the Embassy gates.
http://ustogaza.org/latest/on-eve-of-u-s-independence-day-u-s-passengers-on-flotilla-start-open-ended-fast-at-u-s-embassy-in-athens/
US captain of Gaza ship held in ‘shocking conditions’
ATHENS (AFP) 3 July — The captain of a US vessel intercepted after it tried to defy a ban and sail for Gaza from Greece was being held in “shocking conditions” Sunday and has not received consular assistance, a lawyer said. Captain John Klusmer was arrested when the US boat Audacity of Hope — the flagship in a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists — attempted to leave Greek waters on Friday after Athens banned all Gaza-bound ships from setting sail. Klusmer was charged with two felonies and ordered to appear in court Tuesday … New York lawyer Richard Levy — a passenger on the boat who has visited Klusmer in jail in a port town near Athens — told enraged US activists that “he had no bed or toilet in his cell, and is receiving no food or water”.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401973
Greece offers to transport flotilla’s aid to Gaza
Haaretz 3 July — The Greek government approached Israel and the flotilla organizers Sunday, with an offer to send the flotilla’s humanitarian aid to Gaza with Greek diplomats, under UN supervision. The offer is intended to serve as a compromise in order to end the flotilla affair. The flotilla organizers have not yet responded to the offer. Senior officials in Israel’s Foreign Ministry evaluate that Israel will respond to the request and allow the Greek government to deliver the aid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/greece-offers-to-transport-flotilla-s-aid-to-gaza-1.371136
Gaza flotilla to set sail Monday despite numerous setbacks / Amira Hass
Haaretz 3 July 11:47 — The organizers of the Gaza-bound flotilla said Sunday that all operational ships will set sail on Monday, despite the numerous delays the flotilla activists had encountered in the past week. The decision to depart on Monday was made following several days of deliberations on the subject, and the exact number of ships due to sail is still unknown. In contrast to recent reports, most of the Gaza flotilla activists are still participating.
Moreover, activists in several countries of origin of the ships participating in the flotilla such as Canada and Belgium held protests in support of the Gaza flotilla and against the Greek government, which had issued an order to bar the ships from leaving Greek ports. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-flotilla-to-set-sail-monday-despite-numerous-setbacks-1.371050
200 additional activists may join Freedom Flotilla
IMEMC 3 July — A Jordanian union leader told Agence France Presse that a boat has been purchased for $800,000 in Greece to carry construction materials, medical supplies, and 200 additional passengers to join the Gaza Freedom Flotilla … The boat is sponsored by a new organization called ‘Noor’, which means ‘Light’ in Arabic, made up of participants from around the Arab world who collectively donated over a million dollars to ensure the Flotilla’s success … Wael Saqqa, a representative for ‘Noor’, said that 35 Jordanian activists would be part of the newest addition to the Flotilla, along with representatives from other Arab countries.
http://imemc.org/article/61599
Israel fears aid convoys to Gaza by air
NAZARETH (PIC) 3 July — Israel has expressed fear of new movements by pro-Palestinians to challenge the Gaza siege by air. Israeli media sources say talks are being held to cope with possible attempts by pro-Palestinians to land and protest at the Israeli Ben Gurion airport or land directly in the Gaza Strip. The source said that Israeli authorities have received information indicating the new trend. A political source has told Israeli Radio that protest organizers are planning on carrying out such a plan 7 June[?].
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6
Endless delays and fading hope while waiting to sail to Gaza / Amira Hass
Haaretz 3 July 02:19 — Activists scramble to meet Greek authorities’ criteria to set sail toward Gaza despite meticulous planning …Since the morning, [steering committee member David] Heap told them, the authorities started making new demands. First, they were told to replace the boat’s radio. One of the French Canadians rushed off and got one. Then it was: You don’t have beds on the boats. “Yes we do,” the Tahririan sailors said, pointing at some padded benches. The minimum demand is 10, they were told, and you’ve only got seven, and even these are too narrow. “We can find the legal minimum of bed width if we look.” Then, another demand: a water heater on the boat.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/endless-delays-and-fading-hope-while-waiting-to-sail-to-gaza-1.370940
Children rally for flotilla in Gaza port
ISM 2 July — Dozens of children from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative’s summer camp, “Vittorio Arrigoni – Stay Human,” rallied in the port of Gaza today to support Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human, and demand free passage and international protection for it. They were joined by Palestinian and international supporters, including the International Solidarity Movement – Gaza Strip. After gathering on the pier, they took to the sea in boats, decorated with the flags of countries participating in the Flotilla, for a spirited rally in the harbor.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/07/19170/
Israel rejects allegations it sabotaged Gaza flotilla ships
AP/Haaretz 2 July — FM spokesman calls charges of sabotage ‘ridiculous’; Turkish police investigation finds that damage to Irish ship was most likely not caused intentionally.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-rejects-allegations-it-sabotaged-gaza-flotilla-ships-1.370862
Barak satisfied with flotilla delays
Ynet 3 July – Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday expressed satisfaction with efforts to stop the Gaza-bound flotilla. “We are witnessing a positive development concerning the flotilla,” he said. “The governments of Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey are working to curtail this thing. It’s a result of extensive work by the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office. It’s obvious to all that Gaza is ultimately open to all civilian goods and it is also obvious that the flotilla is a provocation which elements such as Hamas are exploiting,” Barak said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090378,00.html
Lieberman: Gaza flotilla activists blaming Israel for their own failure
Haaretz 3 July — Foreign minister says Israel was behind the Greek ban on departure of ships, claims Greek government understands Israel’s needs — “The activists are trying to blame someone for their failure – no doubt they have watched too many James Bond films,” Lieberman told Army Radio in an interview. “There is an attempt to evade responsibility for their propaganda, as well as a lack of support from countries around the world.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lieberman-gaza-flotilla-activists-blaming-israel-for-their-own-failure-1.371062?localLinksEnabled=false
Leftist Greek MPs accuse government of caving to Israeli pressure / Amira Hass
Haaretz 2 July — Eight ships in the Gaza-bound flotilla were barred from leaving the Greek ports where they are anchored in the wake of an order issued on Friday by the Greek government. Flotilla participants and members of the leftist opposition in Greece have accused the Socialist government of caving in to Israeli pressure – a claim rejected by Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis. The Greek government is preventing the departure of the vessels in order to avoid a “humanitarian disaster” which will result from a violent confrontation with the Israeli navy, Lambrinidis told Veronique De Keyser, a Belgian member of the European Parliament.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/leftist-greek-mps-accuse-government-of-caving-to-israeli-pressure-to-stop-gaza-flotilla-1.370939
Embassy of Greece, Washington DC — Announcement on the Flotilla 1 July
http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/AuthoritiesAbroad/North+America/USA/EmbassyWashington/Articles/en-US/Announcement+on+the+Flotilla.htm
Racism / Discrimination / Incitement
Hundreds rally in Jerusalem after arrest of Shas spiritual leader’s son
Haaretz 3 July — Demonstrators gather outside Rabbi Yaakov Yosef’s home, after police arrest him for questioning over incitement to racism and violence … Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef, was arrested in his car after concluding his morning prayer at Simon’s Tomb in Jerusalem, and was questioned for less than an hour about his endorsement of the controversial book “Torat Hamelech,” which justifies the killing of non-Jews, before being released.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/hundreds-rally-in-jerusalem-after-arrest-of-shas-spiritual-leader-s-son-1.371089
Professors back university that cut anthem
Ynet 30 June — Israeli law professors on Wednesday supported their colleagues at Haifa University’s Law faculty, who refrained from playing the national anthem during the department’s graduation ceremony, in order not to insult Arab students. Since the affair went public, the department staff members say they have been subjected to an “ugly mud slinging campaign that involves personal attacks against the faculty heads.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089272,00.html
Detention of Sheikh Salah in the UK, banning of Ahmed Nofal
British authorities block lawyers’ visits to Sheikh Salah
LONDON (PIC) 3 July — British authorities on Friday banned lawyers’ visits to Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, until 11th July, said the law firm handling Salah’s case. A press release issued by the Irvine Thanvi Natas solicitors (ITN) on Saturday said: On Friday 1st July Mr. Raed Salah was transferred from an Immigration Detention Centre to a formal prison. No good reason for this transfer has been given. The transfer to prison will significantly interfere with the preparation of Mr Salah’s appeal against the Deportation Order. The deadline for Mr Salah to Appeal is the 6th July 2011. The prison have informed Mr. Salah’s lawyer that his legal team will not be able to visit him until the 11th July, 5 days after the deadline is due to pass … Sheikh Salah was first allowed into the country, he delivered a number of lectures, then he was arrested by immigration police, but was taken to a police station were suspected terrorists are usually held, then taken to an immigration detention centre and lastly moved to a formal prison making some commentators say that Sheikh Salah has become the UK’s first Palestinian political prisoner.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q
UK bans Nofal entry
AMMAN (PIC) 1 July — Airport authorities in Queen Alia airport in the Jordanian capital Amman have banned Thursday prominent Muslim preacher Dr.Ahmad Nofal from boarding the airplane to London, saying the ban was requested by the British Embassy in Jordan that issued him the visa. According to the authorities, the ban was based on the same reasons that led to the arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the Muslim Movement in the 1948-occupied Palestine, for his support to the Palestinian issue … Birawi also accused the Zionist lobby in Britain of being behind the move to ban Nofal and Salah from lecturing in the UK, saying that the Zionist lobby started to feel the danger of delegitimizing the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and of unveiling its criminal nature against the Palestinian people. Nofal was the target of a smear campaign by pro-Israel media outlets accusing him of hatred to Jews and Judaism in order to prevent him from participating in the Palestine Day festival organized yearly by the Forum although he did so many times in the past years.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Organizers: Palestine Day to continue despite Salah arrest
LONDON (PIC) 2 July — The arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah and the entry ban on Ahmed Nofal will not affect Palestine Day events to be held in the UK this week, organizers have reported. Events will take place in the headquarters of the Palestinian Forum in Britain (London) on Saturday and in Manchester on Sunday, the Palestinian Forum in Britain said. “Attempts by the Zionist lobby to thwart the annual gathering of Britain’s Palestinians will fail, and the media campaign against the PBF’s guests has induced more popular attraction to the PFB and its guests,” said PFB public relations official Zahir Beirawi. He added that the turnout was expected to double this year because of the media campaign targeting Salah and Nofal.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Netanyahu dubs land swap ‘a joke’
IMEMC 3 July — An Israeli official close to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that Netanyahu fully opposes any Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 border, and believes that the proposal of land-swap is a “joke.” … On Sunday at night, the official said that the Prime Minister does not only oppose talks on Israel’s withdrawal to the 1967 borders, but also opposes the whole proposal and any proposal that includes settlement evacuations, borders and other core issues. He further stated that, during his talks with Netanyahu, the latter told him that talks on land-swap are “just a joke,” and that “Israel has no lands to give to the Palestinians under this formula” as Netanyahu opposes the whole idea in general.
http://imemc.org/article/61598
Obama assumes the offensive in Jewish vote race
Ynet 3 July — Following heavy criticism from Jewish community over US president’s stance on Mideast, his advisers initiate new image campaign ahead of 2012 elections — United States President Barack Obama plans to take a more assertive stance against his critics with his approach towards Israel, the Washington Post reported this weekend. The US administration has assembled a special team composed of senior Jewish figures and advisers who will tackle criticism against Obama in the media … Meanwhile, a recent US poll suggests that many Americans who consider themselves Israel supporters believe Obama’s policy in the region is a balanced one
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090300,00.html
Middle East Quartet: Additional Gaza flotillas should be discouraged
Haaretz/Reuters 2 July — Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators says it is concerned, however, with ‘unsustainable conditions’ in Gaza; calls for an end to ‘deplorable’ detention of Gilad Shalit … The Quartet’s statement said it recognizes that Israel “has legitimate security concerns that must continue to be safeguarded” and it was committed to working with Israel, Egypt and the international community to prevent the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition into Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/middle-east-quartet-additional-gaza-flotillas-should-be-discouraged-1.370904
Abbas: US should not have veto power over Middle East Quartet decisions
dpa/Reuters 2 July — The United States should not have the power to veto decisions by its partners in the Quartet for Middle East peace, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday in a radio interview. The Quartet, which also includes the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, is expected to meet in Washington on July 11 to discuss ways to revive the deadlocked Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. … Abbas said that he was still in favor of negotiations but that he was also determined to seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September, despite U.S. objections.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-u-s-should-not-have-veto-power-over-middle-east-quartet-decisions-1.370868
PNN poll: Majority of Palestinians support leadership bid to recognise Palestinian state at UN
Bethlehem (PNN) 2 July — According to the poll 57.92% of PNN viewers answered that they support the decision, while 26.24% said that the bid will not benefit the Palestinian cause and will not change facts on the ground even if the UN recognises the Palestinian state. Moreover 6.38% said that the new state bid is not correct. Meanwhile 9.46% of PNN visitors agreed that the UN state bid was unrealistic and would not accomplish anything. The poll was conducted over the period of 3 weeks; PNN used a very high standard of accuracy in which viewers could vote [not] more than once by recognising the computers of individual participants in the poll.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10368&Itemid=56
Palestinian Authority faces cash shortage
AJE 3 July — The Palestinian Authority can only pay employees half their salaries this month because of a shortfall in foreign aid which it needs for its financial survival, the prime minister said on Sunday. Salam Fayyad appealed to donors to meet their financial pledges. His administration relies on budget support to pay salaries to 150,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and monthly allowances to another 75,000 people. Fayyad, addressing a news conference at his office in Ramallah, identified a shortfall in funding from states in the region, an apparent reference to Arab countries, but would not say which governments he was talking about … So far in 2011, the PA had received $331 million of $970 million pledged by international donors.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/20117317120860777.html
Israel, Turkey to soften UN flotilla report?
Ynet 2 July — Amid attempts to launch next Gaza flotilla, officials in Jerusalem, Ankara try to iron out differences, soften conclusions of Palmer committee on previous sail
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089941,00.html
Turkey working for Shalit’s release
Ynet 3 July — Israeli-Turkish businessman recently handed Erdogan letter from Noam Shalit asking him to convince Hamas to accept German mediator’s swap deal proposal. Turkish PM pledged to handle matter personally as way to rebuild Israel ties
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090205,00.html
Fatah becomes member of Socialist International
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 2 July — Palestinian political party Fatah was granted full membership to the Socialist International on Friday, according to the movement’s international relations commission in Ramallah. The accreditation was granted during the organization’s recent summit in Athens, Greece. The Fatah delegation to the summit was headed by Nabil Shaath, the commissioner for international relations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401555
Nasrallah: Hariri probe is Israeli plot
Ynet/AP 2 July — Hezbollah’s leader said Saturday that the four men indicted in the killing of a former Lebanese prime minister are “honorable” members of his Shiite militant group, and he denounced the six-year investigation as a plot by Israel.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090069,00.html
Other news
Palestinian soccer team advances to next World Cup round
Haaretz/AP 3 July — The first World Cup game ever to be played at home in the Palestinian territories took place Sunday, as the Palestinian national team secured its place in the next round after a 1-1 draw against Afghanistan, the BBC reported. For years, Palestinian soccer was disorganized, underfunded and hindered so much by Israeli travel restrictions that games were often forfeited because players couldn’t arrive for the kickoff. “When teams come play on our land, it’s a way of recognizing the Palestinian state,” said player Murad Ismael, 26, to the Associated Press last month. “That benefits the Palestinian cause, not just Palestinian sports.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/palestinian-soccer-team-advances-to-next-world-cup-round-1.371145
Fires destroy 200 olive trees in West Bank cities
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 July — Civil defense crews from several districts in the West Bank were able to control and suppress fires that broke out in the West Bank Thursday morning. Fires destroyed over 200 olive trees and damaged wheat fields in the villages of Al-Yamoun and Al-Arafa in Jenin, Irtah in Tulkarem, the villages of Bidya and Burin south of Nablus, and Al-Thahriya in Hebron. It is thought the fires began as a result of negligence by farmers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401216
Ancient priesthood predicting future
NABLUS (AFP) 3 July — In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a small and ancient Samaritan community is managing to make ends meet by dabbling in the age-old practice of fortune-telling. University Avenue, in the hill-ringed city of Nablus, is lined with white banners with the names of Samaritan priests, renowned among their Palestinian neighbors for astrology and divination.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=401774
Jewish-Druze celebration planned
Ynet 1 July — Unique religious event to be held next week in Galilee town for first time in decades … It will be held in the Druze town of Sajur in the Galilee region, in honor of the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, who was considered a righteous man both among the Druze and the Jews. Rabbi Shmuel Sheetrit of Ashdod explained why a joint event of this kind has not been held before: “Due to ignorance, we thought the Druze were hostile to us.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4089627,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Israeli right-wingers, you’re in control, so stop whining / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 3 July — The right-wing assumption that the left controls Israel’s major political institutions could not be further from the truth.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israeli-right-wingers-you-re-in-control-so-stop-whining-1.370966
The US may be heading toward talks with Hamas / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 3 July — How would Israel respond if a “senior American official” were to declare that the United States was prepared to speak with Hamas leadership? Don’t be alarmed just yet. The United States still maintains its policy of not speaking with Hamas, yet last week America did lift its ban on speaking with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. From this point on, there’s no need for meetings in a dark alley.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-u-s-may-be-heading-toward-talks-with-hamas-1.370965
The Jewish Ayatollahs / Uri Avnery
Gush Shalom 2 July — THE ARCHBISHOP of New York announces that any Catholic who rents out an apartment to a Jew commits a mortal sin and runs the risk of excommunication. A protestant priest in Berlin decrees that a Christian who employs a Jew will be banished from his parish. Impossible? Indeed. Except in Israel — in reverse, of course.The rabbi of Safed, a government employee, has decreed that it is strictly forbidden to let apartments to Arabs — including the Arab students at the local medical school. Twenty other town rabbis — whose salaries are paid by the taxpayers, mostly secular, including Arab citizens – have publicly supported this edict … THIS WEEK, Israel was in uproar. The turmoil was caused by the arrest of Rabbi Dov Lior. The affair goes back to a book released more than a year ago by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira … What really set off a storm was a passage in the book that says that it is permitted to kill children, when it is clear that once they grow up, they can be “harmful”.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1309538748/
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