WATCH: IDF terrorizes a Palestinian village / Noam Sheizaf
972mag 16 July — I try not to use loaded words like “terrorizes” in my writing, but there is simply no other way to describe this video, showing four army vehicles enter the small village of Nabi Saleh (West Bank) in the middle of the night, throw stun grenades and shoot tear gas at the homes of the sleeping Palestinians. Nabi Saleh has been the site of weekly unarmed protests by Palestinians, international activists and Israelis against the confiscation of the village’s land by a nearby settlement. You can read about it here. There are no demonstrations at night. The clip is one and a half minutes long. You can hear the anxiety in the people’s voices as the army convoy approaches. After the cars stop, you can hear the weapons loaded. Then there are the blasts, and the silhouettes of the soldiers throwing more and more grenades at the local houses. The occasional shots you see are the gas launchers, fired in all directions. Around one minute into the video, you can hear the tear gas spreading near the Palestinian photographer (and later again around 1:20).
Dozens of Palestinians injured in West Bank night raids
NABLUS (PIC) 16 July — Several Palestinians in Idhna village west of Al-Khalil suffered from the effects of breathing tear gas after Israeli forces continued to raid several regions of the West Bank on Saturday morning. Locals said a large Israeli force of seven jeeps and a troop carrier stormed the town, leading to clashes with locals. Several locals sustained breathing difficulties after the force fired tear gas, stun grenades, and bullets at them.
More night raids took place in Yaabud, located west of Jenin city. Locals said Palestinians were randomly questioned by an intelligence officer who accompanied the raid, but they were released without arrests.
Separately, Israeli occupation authorities arrested a 19-year-old Palestinian youth from the Nablus area while he was crossing an Israeli bridge with his family on his way to Jordan. Elements from the Israeli intelligence agency told the family of the arrestee, Ala Hamdan al-Amouri, that there was an order to arrest him without explaining the reason for arrest or where he would be taken.
West Bank blaze after soldiers ‘ignite explosives’
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 17 July — A fire broke out in the northern West Bank on Sunday after Israeli soldiers detonated explosive charges in the area, a Palestinian Authority official said.
Ghasan Doughlas, who monitors settlements in the area, said the fire burned fields near the Zawata village west of Nablus “after soldiers ignited an explosive charge near the scene.” He said the Israeli army barred firefighters from reaching the area until after carrying out standard coordination so “it took firefighting crews three hours to put out the fire.”
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Activists say Israel hinted at banishing them from Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 16 July — Several Jerusalem politicians and activists have revealed that Israeli intelligence services hinted at banishing them over activities they have taken part in while in the holy city. Israeli intelligence recently summoned those figures on separate occasions, and the men said that during questioning they received messages implying that if they continued their activities, they would be banished from the holy city in September. Reliable sources and foreign diplomats as well as human rights organizations confirmed earlier that Israeli occupation authorities prepared a list of 384 Palestinian activists, politicians, and figures in Jerusalem that would be exiled from the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Haaretz editorial: Family dissolution
I17 July — Interior Minister Eli Yishai is expected to ask the cabinet today to extend by another six months an emergency order that significantly limits the possibilities for mixed Palestinian-Israeli couples to live together in Israel. In practical terms, the order prevents the unification of hundreds of families. The cabinet is expected to approve the extension … This emergency order is a close relative of a Civil Administration decision not to permit family reunifications between Palestinians living in the West Bank and their spouses living abroad, mainly in Jordan.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/family-dissolution-1.373629
Water authority condemns destruction of wells
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 July — The head of the Palestinian Water Authority has condemned Israel’s destruction of three water wells near Nablus, calling on the international community to intervene. Shaddad Attili said the Beit Hassan wells were used to irrigate 2,000 dunums of land on which several families relied. “It is the ability of these families to stay on their land that Israel is targeting,” Attili said. “In recent months, Israel has rapidly accelerated its destruction of essential Palestinian water infrastructure in flagrant violation of international law as well as previous agreements. “This year alone, the Israeli military has destroyed 20 rainwater harvesting cisterns and 12 Palestinian wells. The impact on affected Palestinian communities continues to be disastrous.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404723
Settlers
Jewish settlers resume expanding settlements in Jordan Valley
NABLUS (PIC) 17 July — Jewish settlers resumed Sunday expanding buildings in Maskiot and Mekhola settlements in Jordan Valley area, witnesses reported. They said that the settlers started building new floors and rooms for buildings in Maskiot settlement, where a new neighborhood was constructed months ago on large areas of Palestinian land. The witnesses said that Jewish settlers were also expanding the nearby Mekhola settlement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
IDF officer: Yeshiva in West Bank settlement harbors ‘Jewish terror’ and must be shut down
Haaretz 17 July — GOC Central Command Avi Mizrahi said Saturday that the yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar must be shut down since it functions as a source of terror that must be dealt with.Speaking to ‘Meet the Press’ on Channel 2 television, Mizrahi stated that several of the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva leaders hold views that are not “consistent with democracy”, although they represent only a small minority of the settler community. Mizrahi went on to characterize settler attacks on Palestinian residents of the West Bank as
“Jewish terror”, and implored the courts to do more in order to support security forces in deterring such events from occurring.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-officer-yeshiva-in-west-bank-settlement-harbors-jewish-terror-and-must-be-shut-down-1.373694
Lone West Bank pair charged with stopping settler-Palestinian clashes
National 18 July — NABLUS // The job of heading off clashes between Palestinians and Jewish settlers on the outskirts of this venerable West Bank city falls to a small number of employees of the Palestinian Authority’s housing and village affairs unit. Two, to be exact.
For more than five years, Ghassan Doughlas and his assistant Khader Oweis have toiled to devise ways to support outlying Palestinian villages that bear the brunt of violence from neighbouring Jewish settlements. Security for most of the 60 villages surrounding Nablus is technically the responsibility of the Israeli military but, in fact, it does little to protect Palestinians from attacks by Jewish settlers. That leaves Mr Doughlas and Mr Oweis as jacks-of-all-trades – troubleshooters, peacemakers, fundraisers – as they attempt to stem what Palestinian officials describe as a mushrooming number of clashes between settlers and Palestinians.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/lone-west-bank-pair-charged-with-stopping-settler-palestinian-clashes
The settlers’ real conquest / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 17 July — As in Syria, Israel is quickly progressing to a situation in which the minority controls the majority — In a short time from now, shorter than they dreamed, the settlers will be able to return to the homeland. In other words, to the place where they will finally be able to feel at home. It will be a country in their image. A country where the halakha (religious law ) is the law, the rabbis are judges and the police are their servants. A proper Jewish state. They will no longer have to disguise themselves as redeemers of the land, renewers of the Zionist enterprise or guardians of its border from invaders. They will complete the conquest of Israel … The “settlement enterprise” knew how to camouflage itself. Only a few more hours of prayer in the Cave of the Patriarchs, begged the settlers; just let us clean up the site of the Avraham Avninu synagogue in Hebron; only a small and intimate neighborhood in Kiryat Arba; just a small increase in the population of the neighborhood; only an outpost and an access road.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-settlers-real-conquest-1.373630
Israeli forces
OCHA weekly report July 6-12: One Palestinian fatality, 23 injuries
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 16 July — Israeli forces killed a Palestinian in Gaza and injured 37; six in Gaza and 31 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in incidents during the week between July 6 and 12 (adding the casualties in July 13 and 14), said the weekly report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA).
http://www.wafa.ps/english/index.php?action=detail&id=16727
IOF troops bulldoze land in central Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 17 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) in armored vehicles advanced hundreds of meters to the east of Breij refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday. Local sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF troops advanced in five armored vehicles including two military tractors and bulldozed and combed the area. They said that the soldiers open sporadic fire every now and then but no casualties were reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Gaza
Israel aircraft raid Gaza for fourth day in a row
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 16 July — Israeli aircraft struck Gaza overnight for the fourth time in as many days, wounding a militant who was about to fire a rocket, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday. The Palestinian was admitted to hospital but his injuries were not life-threatening, the sources said. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that an air strike had targeted a Palestinian.The raid was followed by the firing of two rockets from Gaza into Israel, neither of which caused casualties or damage, she added.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/July/middleeast_July368.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
Man injured in Gaza airstrike; body found in tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 16 July — A man was injured on Saturday morning by an Israeli airstrike on Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, medical sources said. Palestinian medics said a man in his 20s sustained moderate injuries from the Israeli missile and was evacuated to Kamal Udwan hospital in Beit Lahiya. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the raid targeted a group of Palestinian militants as they prepared to launch a homemade projectile towards Israel from the east of Gaza City. Palestinian security sources later confirmed that a militant was hit.
Also on Saturday, rescue crews in the Gaza Strip found the body of Ibrahim Al-Bayouk, 22, in a tunnel near Rafah, southern Gaza. Ambulance crews said that the body was found inside a tunnel which was bombed in an Israeli air strike on Thursday. Five Gazans were injured Thursday and a sixth was reported missing after an Israeli warplane attacked a tunnel at the Egyptian-Palestinian border near Rafah. Rescue crews explained that they were still searching for a second missing body.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405549
Israeli airstrike injures 7 in north Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 July – Seven people including four children were injured in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun when Israeli jets fired a missile at a target near a residential area overnight, a medical official said. Gaza emergency and ambulance services official Adham Abu Salmiya said all the victims were members of the Zaanin family. They were evacuated to Beit Hanoun Hospital for treatment. Abu Salmiya highlighted that over the past two weeks, three people were killed and more than 20 were injured in Israeli raids on the coastal enclave. Among the injured, he added, were six children and two girls. Israeli forces have been launching strikes on a daily basis over the past four days.
Meanwhile, three so-called Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday night hit open areas in the western Negev, Israeli media reported Sunday morning. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405815
Breaking News – Israeli air force bombs Gaza, 2 injured
Gaza, (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli air force launched 4 air raids on Gaza Strip City, early Monday morning of Khan Yonis. The bombardments took place eastern Khoza‘a village in the city. Medical sources said that 2 Palestinians are wounded critically while dozens of trauma cases of kids arrived at Nasir hospital in the City. The air raids launched by Israeli F16s and caused great atmosphere of fear, trauma and panic across the civilians who were sleeping that time after midnight … On Sunday, Israeli air force dropped thousands of leaflets asking people of Gaza to be spies on their own people on so-called war of terror. The leaflets vowed of oncoming Israeli attacks across Gaza, especially northern areas.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/gaza-strip/9651-breaking-news-israeli-air-force-bombs-gaza-2-injured.html
A family under attack / Julia Churley
[photos] Occupied Palestine 17 July — Imagine being violently awakened by a missile strike in your backyard at 3 am. This is exactly what happened to the Zaanin family of Beit Hanoun last night as their water wheel and well were hit by a missile fired from an Israeli F16 with absolutely no warning and for no apparent reason. The wheel, well, and half of one of the family’s homes were completely destroyed. The IDF has denied the attack; however, the pictures speak for themselves and the family heard the F16s and drones overhead for an hour prior to the strike. The Zaanin family live in a cluster of homes surrounding the water wheel and well and all of the houses suffered major damage from the attack. Broken windows, smashed roofs, broken doors, and concrete dust were everywhere, even falling on us from the trees with the breeze as we spoke … This is a refugee family with no ties to Hamas or the resistance groups and children attending the UNRWA schools and Summer Games. One of the boys even had on a Fatah t-shirt.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/a-family-under-attack-by-julia-churley/
IDF doesn’t view rocket attacks as real escalation
JPost 18 July — Despite the continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, the IDF does not appear to be preparing for a large-scale operation, such as Operation Cast Lead in 2009. The understanding in the defense establishment is that the approximately 20 rockets that landed in Israel since last week have been fired by radical Islamic groups affiliated with al-Qaida and global jihad, made up of former Hamas operatives. “The groups are blowing off steam,” one defense official said on Sunday after three more rockets hit Israel on Saturday night. ““We are not viewing this as a real escalation.”
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=229797
Official: PA refusing to transfer Gaza power funds
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 July — The sole operating power plant in the Gaza Strip is having a difficult time collecting revenue as the finance ministry in Ramallah is refusing to transfer funds, an official in Gaza said Sunday. Head of the energy authority Kanan Ubeid said “we have a deficit of 50 percent from the total procurement [of funds] via various sources, either through loss or failure of residents to pay.” The crisis stems from collecting electricity revenues from the salaries of government employees because the finance ministry in Ramallah is refusing to transfer the revenues to the electricity company, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=406081
Haniyeh urges Egypt to ease Rafah crossing backlog
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 July — Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh called Sunday for his Egyptian counterpart Essam Sharaf to ease restrictions on travel through the country’s sole crossing with the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405974
Activists say Israel navy tried to sink Gaza boat
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 July — A boat crewed by solidarity activists came under fire Saturday as it attempted to sail further than three miles off Gaza’s coast, breaking an Israeli sea blockade. The Oliva boat’s purpose is to try and defend Palestinian fishermen in Gazan waters. A European woman on board the boat told Ma‘an that when she informed sailors that she was helping fishermen, one of them said, “Even if the whole EU comes here, they will not pass, neither can they defy Israeli decisions. The decisions say each boat that tries to break the sea blockade will be sunk.” On Saturday, the Olivia sailed to bring back remnants of a fishing boat which the Israelis damaged earlier. Three internationals were on board, and they managed to anchor near Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City. Head of the Gazan association of fishing and sports Mahfouth Kabariti said the solidarity activists managed to bring back some fishing equipment belonging to the Al-Habil family, whose boat was sunk. He said two Americans and one Swedish citizen were on board the Oliva.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405673
Militant groups claim responsibility for firing missiles at Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 16 July — Two militant groups in Gaza, Al-Tawid (Unity) and Al-Jihad, claimed responsibility Friday for firing three missiles at the city of Sderot and the area of Shaar Hanegev, both in southern Israel … The group said that the projectiles were in response to Israeli crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and stated its willingness to continue firing missiles as a way to resist the Israeli occupation. Two missiles fell in the western Negev region of Eshkol without causing any casualties or damage, Israeli sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405489
Report: Army studies Gaza violence
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 16 July — The commander of Israel’s army Benny Gantz held an urgent meeting Friday to discuss the situation along the border with Gaza and “practical steps” to end projectile fire, news reports said. Israel’s Hebrew-language daily Maariv said the meeting was attended by senior commanders of the Israeli army in various wings including the commander of the southern region. The army officials said they held Hamas “fully responsible for this situation,” allegedly for deliberately failing to stop the firing of projectiles into southern Israel after a sharp decrease of several months.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405447
Palestinian electrocuted in Gaza tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 16 July — A Palestinian worked died Saturday inside a tunnel along the border between Egypt and Gaza, medical officials said. Nedal Yousef Tahrawim, 26, from Ash-Shabura refugee camp in Rafah, sustained an electric shock inside a tunnel, medics said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405777
Egypt seizes cement bound for Gaza
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 16 July — Egyptian border guards thwarted an attempt to smuggle more than 20 tons of cement into Gaza via tunnels along the border, security sources told Ma‘an. Palestinian and Egyptian smugglers were involved in the effort to bring large amounts of building materials into the besieged enclave, they added. The smugglers fled the scene … The cement will be sold at auction and the tunnel will be blocked by stones, they added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405703
Detention
B’Tselem press release: No minor matter
[with video interviews with some of the children] 18 July — New B’Tselem report reveals for the first time official data on treatment of Palestinian minors in Israeli military court system in the West Bank: 93% of all minors convicted of stone throwing were given jail sentences. This includes 19 children under age 14, who under domestic Israeli law could not be held in detention. The rights of Palestinian minors who are suspected of stone-throwing in the West Bank are violated severely throughout the criminal justice process … The report brings, for the first time, full official data on Palestinian minors tried for stone-throwing in the past six years, and is based on dozens of court cases, and on interviews with 50 Palestinian minors who had been arrested on suspicion of stone throwing, and with defense attorneys …835 Palestinian minors were tried in military courts in the West Bank on charges of stone throwing. Thirty-four of them were aged 12-13; 255 were 14-15; 546 were 16-17. Only one minor was acquitted during that time (0.11 percent of the total), a conviction rate far higher than the extremely high conviction rate in Israel. Of the 642 files where B’Tselem received details about the conclusion, 624 (97 percent) ended with a plea bargain … Minors are often arrested in the middle of the night and taken to interrogation alone, without being allowed to consult with an attorney or even their parents, and without a parent being allowed to be present at the questioning. Often they are treated violently.
http://www.btselem.org/press-release/2011-no-minor-matter
IOF arrests Palestinian woman during visit to her detained husband
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 17 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested the wife of Palestinian prisoner Munir Attoun on Sunday during a visit to her husband, Palestinian sources said. They said that the IOF soldiers searched the woman then took her to an interrogation center without giving a reason for the detention. Attoun is held in the Gilboa prison.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
IOF troops arrest 3 Palestinians in Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 16 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested three Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil on Saturday and installed roadblocks at main crossroads in the province, local sources said. They said that the soldiers scrutinized IDs of passengers especially the youngsters. The sources said that the soldiers accompanied by intelligence officers detained three young men including two brothers one of them a 16-year-old boy.
The IOF troops also searched a home in Edhna village and stormed Yatta and Dhaheria, south of Al-Khalil, firing gas and sonic bombs.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Prisoner on hunger strike in critical condition
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 16 July — The Palestinian prisoners’ society said Saturday that the Israeli prison administration transferred hunger-striker Yousef Iskafi to Ramle prison’s hospital in critical condition. Iskafi went on hunger strike for 34 days after being transferred to Ashkelon prison. The prisoner’s daughter died earlier this year shortly after Israeli authorities barred her from seeing her father in Beer Sheva prison several months earlier.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405794
Source: Hamas agreed to deport passengers
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 July — Hamas agreed during talks with the previous Israeli administration to deport 82 prisoners to Gaza rather than their hometowns but the new government refused, a top party official said Saturday. The movement also offered to let Israel pick 550 of the prisoners it would release in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit, the senior Hamas official wrote in a document smuggled from prison.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405787
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Video: Victory for Palestinian-Israeli solidarity: more than 3,000 participated in the March of Independence
Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity 16 July — …More than 3,000 Israelis and Palestinians marched from Jaffa Gate to Sheikh Jarrah in a historic and inspiring cooperation between the Solidarity movement and the popular committees of East Jerusalem. We held signs quoting Nelson Mandela’s saying that “only free people can negotiate” and drove home the message of the nonviolent struggle for freedom and equality. Even before it set out the march stirred a debate long absent from the Israeli political and ideological conversation. This is a debate about generational transition, political vision and the nature of the struggle for the future and soul of our region.
http://www.en.justjlm.org/557
Violent confrontations reported in ‘Iraq Burin
NABLUS (PIC) 16 July — Violent confrontations were reported on Saturday in the village of Iraq Burin near Nablus between Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and villagers after the troops sealed off the entire village. Local sources said that the clashes erupted after the IOF soldiers closed the village before all outsiders and declared it a closed military zone. The IOF soldiers were trying to block entry of foreign solidarity activists wishing to take part in the weekly village march against confiscation of their land and erection of the racist, separation wall.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Pro-Palestinian group in the Netherlands calls for boycott of Israeli bus company
Haaretz 16 July — Egged wins a public tender to run bus services in Waterland region, north of Amsterdam; Action group ‘Working Together for Palestine’ says Egged ‘makes money from trampling on the rights of Palestinians.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/pro-palestinian-group-in-the-netherlands-calls-for-boycott-of-israeli-bus-company-1.373546
Freedom Flotilla II
Greek coastguard: French Gaza boat sails to Egypt
ATHENS (AFP) 17 July — A French yacht carrying activists hoping to run the Israeli blockade on Gaza has sailed to Egypt after a troubled stay in Greece, the Greek coastguard said late on Saturday. The Dignité/Al-Karama sailed to the Egyptian port of Alexandria from the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, where it had berthed for the past few days, the coastguard said. While there, it was prevented from sailing on Friday after colliding with a Greek coastguard rescue vessel and causing limited damage, authorities said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405894
Spokeswoman: Protest ship to reach Gaza soon
AP 17 July — A pro-Palestinian activist says a ship trying to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip has set sail and should reach the territory by Monday … Speaking from France, [Nahla] Chahal said the Dignity left a Greek port late Saturday. It is carrying 16 passengers, including activists from France, Sweden and Canada as well as an Israeli newspaper correspondent and reporters from the Al-Jazeera satellite channel. She said the mission was solely to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. “We are making a political statement, we are not carrying any aid,” Chahal said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4096586,00.html
WATCH: Gaza youth produce rap video honoring flotilla / Ali Abunimah
Gaza Youth Break Out (GYBO) a Gaza-based youth activist group has produced a rap video celebrating the recent Gaza Freedom Flotilla and other efforts to break the siege of Gaza. Called “The Mystery,” the track is performed by Mohammed Anter and Ahmed Rezeq and carries English subtitles for the Arab lyrics. It also honors the late Vittorio Arrigoni.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/watch-gaza-youth-produce-rap-video-honoring-flotilla
Barghouthi: Pro-Palestinian activists have fulfilled their purpose
RAMALLAH (PIC) 17 July — Palestinian MP Mustafa al-Barghouthi, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, said the international pro-Palestinian campaign achieved more than it set out to, despite measures Israel took to prevent them from landing in the occupied territories … Barghouthi, who was on board the Freedom Flotilla II, said the Greeks bitterly felt that they had been politically and economically extorted, as the country succumbed to Israeli pressure and banned the flotilla’s ships from departing from its ports.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Israelis cannot make the Gaza reality disappear / Henning Mankell
Haaretz 17 July — … we weren’t prepared that Greece would so easily sell its national soul to Israel, disguised as threats and harassment. I criticize myself for not foreseeing this. Greece’s economic crisis weakens the nation. But it came as a surprise that Greece, when faced with Israel’s threats (supported by the United States ), would roll over so completely. Moreover, I fully admit that I overestimated the strength of Greece’s democracy. Or let me put it this way: I didn’t see how thin the varnish of what we call Israeli democracy really is. Israel’s actions remind me more of a military dictatorship’s methods. I’ll come back to why Greece has been brought to its knees, and why a relatively small solidarity movement like our flotilla manages to create turmoil in international politics and frightens Israel into challenging its neighbors and the EU.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israelis-cannot-make-the-gaza-reality-disappear-1.373632
July 16th alert from the US Boat to Gaza
Athens, July 16, 2011 – Day 16 of the imprisonment of the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, at a U.S. Embassy shared pier near Piraeus, Greece, just outside of Athens. The U.S. Embassy has done absolutely nothing to help us in 100 + degree heat at a U.S. Government shared pier! No shore power, no alternatives provided (like another pier). No consular visits to see the conditions for themselves. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! This weekend, please call the State Department 202-647-4000 and ask for the 24 hour Emergency Operations Center. Tell them that 3 people are still enduring the inhumane, dangerous conditions on the boat. All are women–2 Americans and 1 UK citizen.
http://groups.google.com/group/newprofile/browse_thread/thread/e3c98753a08f2842/b777739d3ca8dd79
Gaza-bound ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists sets sail from Greece / Amira Hass
Haaretz 17 July 00:13 — Ten activists head to Gaza aboard the French Dignité-Al Karama ship, regarding themselves as representatives of the entire abortive flotilla.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-bound-ship-carrying-pro-palestinian-activists-sets-sail-from-greece-1.373601
Undeterred, two Freedom Flotilla ships head to Egypt
IMEMC 17 July — After weeks of threats by the Israeli and US governments, sabotage by unknown parties, and a public relations campaign by the Israeli government aimed at discrediting the Freedom Flotilla in the international media, the peace activists with the Freedom Flotilla to break the siege on the Gaza Strip say they remain steadfast in their aims, and one of the original ten ships on the flotilla is now on its way to Egypt, with a second prepared to depart shortly. From Egypt, the crew and passengers of the ships will decide whether to continue to Gaza ….A second Flotilla ship, the ‘Juliano’ (named after slain peace activist Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was apparently killed by a Palestinian gunman while working for peace in Jenin), plans to depart the port of Heraklion as soon as it is given permission to sail to Alexandria, Egypt and join the Dignite Al Karama.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61699
Israeli legislation
Israeli firms prepare to use new law against those calling for boycotts
IrishTimes 16 July — BUSINESSES BASED in Israeli settlements in the West Bank are preparing to launch lawsuits against individuals and organisations calling for boycotts of their products following the passing of a controversial law that backs them, according to reports in the Israeli press. Yaakov Berg, the manager of a small vineyard near Jerusalem, told Yedioth Ahranoth newspaper that he was collecting material to be used in a case as soon as the law takes effect. Any compensation he received would be ploughed into settlements, he said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0716/1224300823940.html
With boycott law passed, rightist MK fires first salvo at Meretz
Haaretz 18 July — MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) filed a police complaint against Meretz secretary general Dror Morag and party activists who launched a campaign to label products made in the territories in stores throughout the country, Sunday. Eldad also asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to start criminal proceedings against Morag and the Meretz activists.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/with-boycott-law-passed-rightist-mk-fires-first-salvo-at-meretz-1.373768
Balaam’s curse / Adam Keller
Crazy Country 16 July — For many years, the Gush Shalom movement (of which, it must be disclosed, the present writer is the spokesperson) was alone in calling for a boycott of settlement products – the products coming from Israeli settlements in Occupied Territory, designed to serve as an obstacle to peace and to prevent the Palestinians from establishing their state … Precisely since Ze’ev Elkin managed to bend the Knesset to his will by disproportionate pressure, the drive for a boycott of the settlements is on an unprecedented rise, flourishing and jumping up as it never did before. From the moment when results of the Knesset vote were published, Peace Now started collecting signatures on the petition entitled: “Prosecute me – I’m boycotting the products of the settlements!” and parliamentarians read out a list of products to be boycotted on the Knesset floor, and the Meretz Youths entered supermarkets and stuck warning labels on settlement products displayed for sale. And day by day there is a lengthening list of public figures and columnists proclaiming that despite — and precisely because of — Elkin’s Law they would from now on boycott settlement products and call upon others to do the same.
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com/2011/07/balaams-curse-2011.html
Lieberman slams Netanyahu for rejecting probe of leftist groups
Haaretz 17 July — Passage of boycott law prompts Yisrael Beiteinu to revive inititiative to advance bill to investigate funding sources of human rights groups; PM’s Likud party says won’t support bill.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/lieberman-slams-netanyahu-for-rejecting-probe-of-leftist-groups-1.373682
Israel’s Lieberman calls NGOs ‘terrorists’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 17 July — An Israeli rights group on Sunday accused Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of “incitement and hate” after he referred to a number of leftist NGOs as “terror organisations.” Lieberman spoke to reporters as arrived for a cabinet meeting ahead of a vote in parliament this week on his campaign for a probe into leftist rights groups he says undermine Israel’s legitimacy and help foreign efforts to charge its soldiers with war crimes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=406068
The numbers crunch: Israelis ‘Like’ settlement boycotts
JPost 17 July — …On Facebook itself, meanwhile, local news was starkly reflected in “Like” trends. The Israeli cause “Sue me, I boycott products from the settlements” pulling almost 8,000 “Likes” in three days, after the Knesset passed a controversial bill which allows citizens to bring civil suits against persons and organizations that call for boycotts against Israel, Israeli institutions or regions under Israeli control. The cause was the top trend online in Israel, according to global popularity website Likester. Also on Facebook, a Tel Aviv rally protesting the new law, planned for July 30, was getting significant traffic, with over 4,000 people set to attend the event. Jerusalem Post readers, however, voiced resounding support for the bill, in a recent unscientific poll.
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=229700
Reform rabbis against boycott law
Ynet 16 July — Dozens of members of Council of Progressive Rabbis sign ‘manifesto’ calling controversial bill adopted by Knesset ‘a dangerous move unlike any other, which repeatedly erodes Israel’s Jewish character’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4095862,00.html
Racism
Jewish group fights beach harassment
Ynet 17 July – The Organization for Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land (Lehava) has decided to start “defending the daughters of Israel” on the country’s beaches. According to the organization, many Arab men are posing as Jews, courting and harassing the beautiful women. In response, a “coast guard” aimed at fighting the alleged phenomenon has been set up.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4096350,00.html
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Abbas begins European tour to garner support for UN bid
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 May — Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will embark on a European tour Saturday to garner international support for the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Abbas will visit Norway, Spain and Turkey, a Palestinian official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405550
PLO in ‘massive’ diplomatic campaign for UN bid
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 July — The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is preparing a massive diplomatic campaign to gain recognition of statehood from the United Nations and individual countries, a PLO official said Saturday. Saeb Erekat says the campaign is aimed at achieving two goals, “first gaining recognition of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, secondly gaining membership as a state in the UN.” PLO officials assisting in what he called a “massive” initiative are Fatah parliamentary bloc leader Azzam Ahmad and Palestine People’s Party representative Bassam Salhi, who will travel to China to lobby support. Among the others are Abbas Zaki and Sabi Seidam, who are going to India and Vietnam. PA spokesman Ghassan Al-Khatib will go to Australia and New Zealand, while lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi will go to Canada while Nabil Shaath heads to Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Portugal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405793
Erekat: Abbas will submit UN bid
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 July –PLO official Saeb Erekat said Saturday that it will be President Mahmoud Abbas who will submit the UN bid for statehood, and not the Arab League.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405624
Erekat: US has no reason to veto Palestinian bid for statehood
Haaretz 16 July — Top PA negotiator says Israel has ‘ruined the peace process’, implores U.S. to reconsider veto at UN in September in light of failure to revive stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/erekat-u-s-has-no-reason-to-veto-palestinian-bid-for-statehood-1.373574
Palestinians may give up on bid for full UN membership to avoid US veto, sources say
Haaretz 17 July — Wishing to avoid an American veto at the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority is considering turning directly to the United Nations General Assembly in September in order to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood. Palestinian sources and European diplomats say that the Palestinians will give up their effort to be accepted as a full member of the UN – a move that would require approval by the Security Council – and will seek instead recognition by the General Assembly of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders, which will not be a full member of the organization.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinians-may-give-up-on-bid-for-full-un-membership-to-avoid-u-s-veto-sources-say-1.373610
Fatah calls to ban violent settlers from entering Europe
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 16 July — Fatah movement’s spokesman in Europe, Jamal Nazzal, Saturday called on the European Union state members to ban Israeli settlers involved in violence from entering European territories. In a press release by the movement’s Information and Cultural Commission, Nazzal praised the Cooperation for Peace organization’s call to deny settlers from access to Europe, and described it as “Europe’s finest response to Israel’s deportation of European peace activists.”
http://www.wafa.ps/english/index.php?action=detail&id=16726
Defense officials: Israel considering apology to Turkey over deadly raid
Haaretz 17 July — Cautious apology could stop possible lawsuits by Turkish organizations against Israel Defense Forces officers and bring the affair to an end.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/defense-officials-israel-considering-apology-to-turkey-over-deadly-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.373611
Hamas officials in Turkey to discuss reconciliation deal
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 July — A parliamentary delegation headed by Hamas lawmaker Ismail Al-Ashqar arrived to Istanbul on Sunday to attend a workshop on strengthening Palestinian reconciliation. The workshop focused on mediation and dialogue and comes as a follow-up for a workshop in Turkey in May organized by a Finnish institution specializing in managing international crises. In addition to Al-Ashqar, officials from Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, civil society organizations and Palestinians abroad participated in the delegation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405903
Gaza official: No plans to receive Turkey PM
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 July — Authorities in the Gaza Strip say they have received no information about a visit by the Turkish prime minister, reported Sunday in the Israeli press. The Hebrew-language daily Maariv said political sources confirmed Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought and received approval from Egypt’s ruling military council to visit the coastal enclave on July 25 despite Israeli objections. “We have not being officially notified,” foreign minister in Gaza Muhammad Awad told Ma‘an. According to Maariv, Israel tried to prevent the visit by sending a message to the Egyptian authorities, but their request was denied. Israel views the trip as a boost for Hamas, the daily reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405934
Resheq: Abbas’s UN step unilateral
DAMASCUS (PIC) 17 July — Political bureau member of Hamas Ezzet Al-Resheq has said that Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief, step of asking recognition of a Palestine state at the UN was a unilateral step taken away from national consensus. He said in a statement on his Twitter page on Sunday that the Palestinian state should be taken by the force of right and not by begging. Resheq stressed that only resistance is capable of restoring Palestinian rights, liberating the land, and declaring the state.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Fatah takes heavy losses in Nablus elections
NABLUS (PIC) 17 July — The Fatah party lost heavily in the Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Industry elections, with independents winning most of the seats … The results showed that the Independent party won seven seats, Nablus for All won four, and an independent figure won one in the Nablus Chamber of Commerce and Industry elections, giving independent parties 73 percent of the vote, as they took the vote of 2,284 out of 3,129 local traders. A total of 29 nominees ran in the elections.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Algerian initiative to support Jerusalem during Ramadan
MEMO 17 July — An organisation in Algeria which offers support for the Palestinian people has announced a series of projects and charity events to support the Holy City of Jerusalem and its Palestinian citizens during the holy month of Ramadan.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2627-algerian-initiative-to-support-jerusalem-during-ramadan
Israeli envoy denounces Spanish ‘hatred’
AFP/Ynet 16 July — Israel’s ambassador in Spain, Raphael Schutz, who is about to leave his post, denounced the “anti-Semitism and hatred that exist in Spanish society” in a message on the embassy website Saturday … ”I also take with me the hatred and the anti-Semitism that still exist in Spanish society, and which I experienced personally,” he wrote. The outgoing ambassador cited Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008-9 and the lethal flotilla raid in 2010 as especially difficult periods.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4096179,00.html
‘Israel plans to strike Iran in September’
Ynet 16 July — Ex-CIA official Robert Baer believes an Israeli strike against Tehran is rather imminent; predicts US will have to get involved … Baer didn’t name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack, but the few he did cite are all Israeli security figures who have publicly warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwas adamant to strike Iran, such as former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4096015,00.html
Other news
Sheikh Raed Salah and the rise of the Islamic movement in Israel / Ali Badwan
MEMO 16 July — If we want to know why the British government decided to arrest Sheikh Raed Salah, we need to look at his pivotal role in the Islamic Movement inside Israel (“the 1948-occupied Palestinian territories”), which is a cause for great concern for the Israeli authorities and security services in the Zionist state. This stems from the rise and growing effectiveness of the Palestinian Islamic Movement inside Israel and the exceptional respect for Sheikh Raed Salah amongst the people.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/arab-media/2626-sheikh-raed-salah-and-the-rise-of-the-islamic-movement-in-israel
BBC rules on Newsnight complaint
MEMO 16 July — The BBC has upheld a complaint that Jeremy Paxman failed to adequately challenge Louise Ellman MP on false claims she made about child suicide bombers during an edition of Newsnight.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/europe/2623-bbc-rules-on-newsnight-complaint
PA arrests 69 at Jordan border throughout week
JERICHO (Ma‘an) 16 July — …Police said security officials arrested 69 fugitives wanted for various charges of fraud and criminal acts, and the crossing registered 48,971 travelers on both directions within the week … The statement added that some 21,921 travelers entered the West Bank from Jordan, while 27,050 traveled to Jordan. Twenty-one patients traveled in Palestinian ambulances after coordination with Jordan. Israel barred 148 Palestinians from traveling to Jordan due to “security concerns,” police added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405719
Arab municipalities in Israel seek funds to stop harmful trash burning\
Haaretz 17 July — The Environmental Protection Ministry admits it hasn’t been able to stop the illegal burning of trash in the Galilee, something that seriously damages the environment. According to sources at the ministry, the problem cannot be tackled unless there is a drastic improvement in the finances of the Arab municipal authorities.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/arab-municipalities-in-israel-seek-funds-to-stop-harmful-trash-burning-1.373616
800 ultra-Orthodox protesters attempt to block Jerusalem road
Haaretz 16 July — A group of close to 800 ultra-Orthodox protesters tried to block a central Jerusalem thoroughfare on Saturday, in an attempt to prevent the desecration of Shabbat. Police arrived on horseback to disperse the crowd on the central Neviim Street, using a water-spraying vehicle to push the ultra-Orthodox protesters back toward the curb and allow traffic to resume. Protesters yelled out “Shabbos” and “Nazis” and threw objects as police remained in the vicinity to keep the peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/800-ultra-orthodox-protesters-attempt-to-block-jerusalem-road-1.373579
US trade union statement in support of Palestinian call for full and immediate arms embargo against apartheid Israel
13 July — …Whereas, since the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1947-1948, Israel has used at least $108 billion from the U.S. government to carry out ongoing war, ethnic cleansing, racism and apartheid against the Palestinians and many other Arab nations; and Whereas, in the past ten years alone, the U.S. government — with overwhelming bipartisan support — has given Israel $17 billion in military aid; over the next decade, it will give another $30 billion; and Whereas, as a result, Palestinian workers continue to be killed and maimed by U.S.-supplied naval vessels, jet fighters, Apache helicopters, white phosphorous and other weapons; and… [list of signers follows]
http://www.laborforpalestine.net/2011/07/14/u-s-trade-union-statement-in-support-of-palestinian-call-for-full-and-immediate-arms-embargo-against-apartheid-israel/
Analysis / Opinion
Extremist rabbi Dov Lior has widespread support / Eyal Clyne
972mag 16 July — …So who is this great popular rabbi, you ask? By his rulings shall we know him. According to Lior’s interpretation of Halacha: sperm donations by non-Jewish men will result in a baby with “negative genetic traits,” since “gentile sperm leads to barbaric offspring”; employing Arabs or renting and selling them homes is prohibited; the Jewish terrorist Baruch Goldstein is “as holy as the Holocaust saints”; and it is permitted to kill “allegedly innocent” civilians in wartime. He also spiritually guided the Gush Emunim underground terrorists; and (according to testimonies of other key rabbis) Prime Minister Rabin’s assassin, like Goldstein before him, came often to see Lior in his settlement near Hebron, for guidance and instructions, and was told that Judaism orders the prime minister’s death. While Jews around the world fight antisemitism and racism (which is sometimes hidden under the pretext of religious freedom), it is actually in Israel that such rabbis enjoy widespread support.
http://972mag.com/extremist-rabbi-dov-lior-has-widespread-israeli-support/
Confessions of a so-called leftist / Mya Guarnieri
972mag 15 July — The Palestinian laborers working next door brought an end to Mya Guarnieri’s privacy. But while familiarity quickly replaced resentment, it also highlighted the vast distance between her and her temporary neighbors … Maybe the workers next door were from the West Bank. Maybe they had permits and the checkpoints were closed today. Or maybe they were undocumented and had been busted? After all, there are thousands of undocumented workers who make into Israel every day. (So much for the army’s claim that the separation barrier is there for security—if a terrorist really wanted to get in, he or she could. In fact, a state comptroller’s report found that most suicide bombers entered Israel via checkpoints, passing right under the army’s collective nose.) When I got home, I searched the news to see if the West Bank was indeed closed. It wasn’t. Are they on strike? I wondered.
http://972mag.com/confessions-of-a-so-called-leftist/
Hamas perspectives on September, unity government: interview with PLC member Mohammad Totah
AIC 17 July — Mark West interviews Palestinian Legislative Council Member Mohammad Totah. …When we signed the reconciliation agreement with Fatah in Egypt, it was stated that both factions will agree on the PM and ministers of the government. In fact, we agreed on two things: first of all, to rebuild Gaza and secondly, to prepare the ground for new elections. That means both sides had to agree on the PM and ministers. Unfortunately, Abbas wants to impose his decision to keep Salam Fayyad as PM, which does not adhere to the reconciliation agreement signed by both sides. Fayyad’s main achievement has been to build institutions in Palestine. Nonetheless, while some institutions are ready for statehood, we are still under occupation. Hamas thinks that we have to achieve the freedom of our land and people before we build national institutions. Let me tell you, any country or people that is under occupation has to confront the occupation, to resist, until they get their freedom and then start building organizations. It is futile to construct organizations and institutions under occupation because the Israelis can come at any time and destroy everything that was built. Last of all, two years ago, Fayyad promised that by September 2011 Palestinians would no longer need to depend financially on any external donor. Yet, the PLO is currently unable to pay its salaries because they are still dependent on foreign aid. How can you say you are ready to be a state when you cannot pay for that same state without foreign aid?
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3709-hamas-perspectives-on-september-unity-government-interview-with-plc-member-totah-
Confused strategy: How the PA sold out Palestinian unity / Ramzy Baroud
Ma‘an 15 July — With a deficit standing at around $640 million, the PA government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is experiencing one of its worst ever financial crises. However, the Palestinian economy is not a real economy by universally recognized standards. It survives largely on handouts by donor countries. These funds have spared Israel much of its financial responsibility as an occupying power under the stipulations of the Fourth Geneva Convention. They have also propped up a Palestinian leadership that tries to secure its own survival by serving the interests of major donors. The funds, however, are now drying up. This could be due to a political attempt to dissuade PA President Mahmoud Abbas from seeking recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN next September. PA officials have been greatly angered by the shift, blaming donor countries – including Arab countries – for failing to honor their financial commitments.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=405323
‘The struggle for Palestinian independence is also one for liberty for Israelis’
[photos] Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity 17 July — Daniel Argo, “Solidarity” Activist, Speech at the rally ending Friday’s March: I’m delighted and excited to stand here and take part in this important event. I’m excited because I got to see the long path on which we have walked, Israelis and Palestinians, to reach this day … We are not fighting for our right to be lefties in an Israel controlled by the raging right. We are fighting to take Israel from the extreme right. Because a political struggle is not a struggle for the right to appeal to the Supreme Court every time our actions are limited and our liberties slashed. A political struggle is a struggle for the right to shape our lives ourselves, to be free in our own country. Just as we are fighting for the Palestinians to be free in theirs. The crowd that has gathered here today does not contest the Palestinian peoples’ right to strive for independence. But rights cannot always be received; sometimes they have to be taken.
http://www.en.justjlm.org/563
Anonymous soldiers as medical experts? Only when the NYT covers Israel killing a Palestinian / Alex Kane
posted 17 July [but written in April] — U.S. media coverage of the death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah reflected how the corporate press routinely covers high-profile civilian deaths caused by Israel. The Israeli government, it seems, can count on U.S. media to print its anonymous claims — no matter how baseless. Two days after Abu Rahmah, a Palestinian woman from the West Bank village of Bil’in, died from tear-gas inhalation during a December 31 demonstration against the separation wall, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) went into spin mode. Anonymous ‘senior officers’ in the Israeli army pushed a number of theories about her death — Abu Rahmah wasn’t at the demonstration, she had cancer, it may have been an ‘honor killing’ and more — that the Israeli press dutifully reported.
http://alexbkane.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/anonymous-soldiers-as-medical-experts-only-when-the-nyt-covers-israel-killing-a-palestinian/
It can happen here! / Uri Avnery
15 July — Years ago I said that there are but two miracles in Israel: the Hebrew language and democracy … Anyhow, the position of Hebrew is secure. Babies and Nobel Prize laureates speak it. The fate of the other miracle is far less assured. The future — indeed, the present — of Israeli democracy is shrouded in doubt … The ‘boycott law’ is a very clever piece of work. Obviously, it was not drafted by the parliamentary simpletons who introduced it … First of all, the law is disguised as a means to fight the de-legitimization of the State of Israel throughout the world. The law bans all calls for the boycott of the State of Israel, “including the areas under Israeli control”. Since there are not a dozen Israelis who call for the boycott of the state, it is clear that the real and sole purpose is to outlaw the boycott of the settlements … Looming over everything else is the explicit threat of right-wing factions to attack the hated “liberal” Supreme Court directly, shear it of its ability to overrule unconstitutional laws and control the appointment of the Supreme Court judges. Fifty-one years ago, on the eve of the Eichmann trial, I wrote a book about Nazi Germany. In the last chapter, I asked: “Can It Happen Here?” My answer still stands: yes, it can.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1310733120/
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