and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Study: Israel’s wall segregates 13% of West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 July — Israel’s separation wall will annex 773 sq. km. of Palestinian land, a study by the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem said on the anniversary of a judicial ruling which called on Israelis to stop building. Just 6.5% of the wall is constructed along the pre-1967 armistice lines internationally recognized as the basis of an independent Palestinian state, ARIJ said Saturday in the report marking the International Court of Justice advisory opinion. The wall, 473 km. of which has been constructed, 54 km. under construction, and 247 km. planned for building, separates Palestinians from 13% of the total area of the West Bank, ARIJ said in its survey of the June 2011 status of the wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404019
IOA endorses new road in Silwan, serves demolition notice in same village
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 11 July — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) authorized the construction of a new four-meter wide road in Silwan town, south of the Aqsa Mosque, on Sunday to serve settlement outposts in occupied Jerusalem. The IOA-controlled Jerusalem municipality approved the construction of the road starting from Ras Al-Amud suburb to Al-Bustan street. The new road, which would be completed by the end of the year, passes through densely populated neighborhoods.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Israel demolishes six structure in Area C, destroying livelihood of Palestinian refugee families
AIC 11 July — Today, 11 July 2011, six structures were demolished in Al Khalayla, a dislocated community of Area C on the Jerusalem side of the Barrier. The demolished structures were used for livelihood purposes by six families, of whom at least two families are refugees.
Background — Al Khalayla is inhabited by some 700 Palestinians, including 250 West Bank ID holders, and is entirely located in Area C on the Jerusalem side of the Barrier near Giv’on Hadashah settlement (Giva’at Ze’ev settlement bloc). It is built on lands that are historically part of the nearby Al Jib village. Approximately half of the West Bank ID holders are UNRWA registered refugees. Following construction of the Barrier in 2005, Al Khalayla residents were cut off from the remainder of the West Bank and could only enter the West Bank through Al Jib checkpoint (on foot) or via Ramot and Beit Iksa checkpoints (vehicle). Residents’ names (both West Bank and Jerusalem IDs) are on a list at Al Jib checkpoint so that they can reach service centers such as Bir Nabala and Biddu enclaves. Residents, including children, must always carry their identification documents to cross. There are no schools, clinics, mosques or a cemetery in Al Khalayla and access by visitors or relatives is only possible for those who are able to obtain permits. There is a Palestinian-plated bus (with one driver) to transport students to Al Jib, Beit Iksa and Biddu that can cross through Al Jib. Residents can only bring in a limited amount of food item through the checkpoints and there are often problems and coordination requirements regarding the entry of meat, dairy products, gas and construction materials.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3704-israel-demolishes-six-structures-in-area-c-destroying-livelihood-of-palestinian-refugee-families
Israeli authorities uproot, confiscate 450 olive trees in Salfit
SALFIT (WAFA) 11 July — Israeli authorities Monday uprooted and confiscated 450 olive trees in Wadi Qana, an area west of Deir Estia near Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to Nazmi Salman, mayor of Deir Estia. Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching their land in Wadi Qana under the pretext of it being classified as a closed military area, said Salman … He said that Israeli forces confiscated the olive trees and the fence that surrounds the lands. It is believed that they took the trees to the nearby settlements of Karnei Shomron, Yakir and Nofim.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16676
Army invades al Essawiyya town, clashes reported
Israeli troops invaded, on Sunday evening, the Al Esawiyya town, in occupied Easy Jerusalem, and clashed with local youths who hurled stones and empty bottles at them … Soldiers fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets leading to several injuries, medical sources in Jerusalem reported.
Also, troops broke into Biddo Club, northwest of Jerusalem, and confiscated several computers after destroying furniture and property. Head of the club, Khaled Mansour, reported that this is not the first attack against the club, and that soldiers repeatedly searched it and destroyed its property.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61652
Teen arrested in village facing continuous raids
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 July — Israeli forces detained two people, including a minor, from Husan village east of Bethlehem on Monday. Israeli troops entered the village, ransacking a number of homes, before detaining Montaser Mohammed Za‘ul, 20, and Ahmed Ali Hamamra, 15, witnesses told Ma’an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404208
2,500 US Jews aim to fill gaps in northern occupied territories
NAZARETH (PIC) 11 July — An Israeli organization has announced plans to bring more than 2,500 Jews from North America to the [1948] occupied Palestinian territories this summer, as it seeks to resettle the regiment in areas with high Palestinian [‘Israeli Arab’] populations … The first batch of 245 immigrants should land on Tuesday 12 July at the Ben-Gurion airport, the organization said. Nefesh B’nefesh recently launched a project encouraging resettling the immigrants in the northern region of the territories occupied in 1948, where there is a high concentration of Palestinians, a step observers say is an attempt to change the demographic features of the area. The project, dubbed “go north”, has cost a total of 10 million US dollars. It aims at settling 1,500 Jews in neighborhoods in the Triangle, Galilee, Marj Ben Amir, as well as Tabariya and Golan. The formerly Arab city of Haifa and vicinity, which have a Jewish majority, were excluded from the project..
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Conference to discuss strengthening Israel’s control of West Bank
NAZARETH (PIC) 11 July — Zionist organizations are gearing to help stage a conference to study options for strengthening Israeli control of the West Bank. The development comes as Zionist figures have begun to discuss plans to extend the boundaries of Israel’s Jerusalem municipality to the east. The conference, organized by Women for Israel’s Tomorrow (Women in Green), aims at exploring “practical steps of asserting Israeli sovereignty, including Jewish, Zionist, political, diplomatic, economic, and legal ramifications,” the Israel National News has reported. Slated for 21 July in a center seized by Jewish settlers near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil, the conference will be attended by Knesset member Tzipi Hotovely, Caroline Glick, Yoram Ettinger, Professor Rafi Yisraeli, Eran Bar-Tal, Att. Elyakim Haetzni, and Gabi Avital.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Settlers
The latest in settler tourism: hiking the West Bank
Forward blog 11 July — …Increasingly frustrated that they are having little luck expanding settlements, settlers and settler sympathizers are increasingly trying to make their mark on the parts of the West Bank that lie outside settlement fences. In this mission, hiking has become a key issue. There’s a strong push in settler circles to walk the West Bank to stake an ownership claim. It’s essentially a statement that, in their view, the Jewish West Bank doesn’t stop at the edge of settlements. Favorite destinations are those that highlight that there is Jewish history in the West Bank.
http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/139671/
Watch: West Bank escort program shatters long-held perceptions
CTV News 10 July — Every day for the last seven years, a group of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank have discreetly followed marching orders that fly in the face of the nation’s long-standing conflict with Palestinians. With guns in tow, a team of Israeli Defense League soldiers in the restive village of Al Twani spends one hour every day escorting a group of Palestinian children to and from school. The intent is to protect the children from right-wing Jewish settlers in Ma’on, a community that sits along the children’s route to school. In the absence of the soldiers, some of the Palestinian children report being harassed by hard-line settlers. “They attacked me with stones,” Delal Assad-Ali told CTV. “They broke my hand.”
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110710/idf-escort-program-west-bank-110710/
Border Guard violence
Medics: Palestinian shot at Hebron checkpoint
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 11 July — Israeli soldiers shot and injured a young Palestinian man Monday in the occupied West Bank, medics said. Bassam Abdel Hamid Nofal sustained a gunshot wound to the right leg while crossing a checkpoint in the Hebron area, Red Crescent officials said. Medics at Al-Ahli Hospital described his injuries as moderate. Medics said Nofal was on his way to work in Jerusalem when troops at Daharia checkpoint opened fire. An Israeli border police spokesman said no such incident had been reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404299
2 Border Guards indicted for assaulting Palestinians
Ynet 11 July — The Police Internal Affairs Bureau filed charges Monday against two Border Guard officers accused of assaulting and intimidating illegal aliens at a checkpoint near Bethlehem. Gennady Mazevich, 22, and Moshe Alkobi, 21, were charged with obstruction of justice as well … The officers noticed the infiltrators, stopped them and lined them up against a nearby fence. At this point, Mazevich began slapping the Palestinians, kicking them and shoving them against the fence. One of them, Zalah Rani, a resident of the village of al-Khaḍr, fell from the force of the push, and Alkobi used the opportunity to kick the man in the face, breaking his teeth.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093932,00.html
Fly-in / Flytilla
‘Flytilla’ activists go on hunger strike
PressTV 11 July — Dozens of ‘Welcome to Palestine’ activists went on hunger strike on Monday in protest against their incarceration under stringent conditions in Israeli jail, a Press TV correspondent reported. The strike comes three days after Israeli forces arrested them at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. The activists had flown to Israel and had sought to head to the Palestinian territories on a peaceful mission to visit Palestinian families … Minors and elderly persons with medical conditions are reportedly among the activists. Hikmat Al-Sabty, 57, of Rostock, Germany, for instance is being denied much needed medication, and his wife has not been allowed to speak with him directly.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188650.html
Israel expels 39 pro-Palestinian activists over weekend, holds 81 more in jail
Haaretz 11 July 18:34 — A standoff between Israel and dozens of detained European pro-Palestinian activists continued Monday, with some of them refusing to be put on return flights. More than 81 were still being held in an Israeli jail early Monday, three days after being refused entry on landing at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport … Some 39 had been expelled by Monday, including 10 Germans who landed in Frankfurt late Sunday. Among the expelled was an 82-year-old German, who complained that despite his advanced age, he was kept on a transportation vehicle for hours, then brought to Beer Sheva prison with the other activists. He said he had only told Israeli security at Ben-Gurion that he wished to “visit friends in Israel and Palestine.” Palmor said he had no information of the specific case, which outraged many.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-expels-39-pro-palestinian-activists-over-weekend-holds-81-more-in-jail-1.372693
Were ‘air flotilla’ activists arrested in West Bank demonstrations? / Joseph Dana
978mag 9 July — According to media reports carried by all major news outlets in Israel, four ‘air flotilla’ passengers were arrested/detained Saturday in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh during an unarmed demonstration this morning … None of these reports seem to based on facts on the ground in Nabi Saleh. Kobi Snitz, an Israeli activist with the Anarchists Against the Wall, told me by telephone from Nabi Saleh that he has not seen any ‘air flotilla’ passenger in the course of the day. He told me that four people were indeed arrested, but they were all Israeli Jews from Tel Aviv. In fact, the Israeli activists are being charged with assaulting soldiers despite clear video footage to the contrary according to Snitz.
http://972mag.com/were-air-flotilla-activists-arrested-in-west-bank-demonstrations/
Detention
Israeli forces detain teen in Jenin Camp
JENIN (Ma‘an) 11 July — Israeli forces detained a teenager early Monday in Jenin refugee camp, after entering a number of homes and questioning residents. Palestinian security officials told Ma‘an that Israeli military personnel raided several homes in the northern West Bank camp, and a number were questioned. Najeeb Mustafa Abu An-Nasr, 19, was blindfolded and detained by Israeli soldiers, and taken from the camp, they said. An Israeli army spokesperson said An-Nasr had been detained, but could not confirm the circumstances behind the detention. Questioning of Jenin camp residents was “routine security activity,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404084
Female detainee released after two years
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 11 July — A 35 year-old woman from Nablus was released by Israeli authorities on Sunday, after spending two years in Israeli jails. Nelly Zahi As-Safadi was incarcerated in the Israeli prison Hasharon, and was due for release a month ago, according to Ahmad Al-Betawi, a researcher with the International Solidarity Organization.
Al-Betawi said As-Safadi was detained at an Israeli military checkpoint at the entrance to Ramallah in November 2009, as she was traveling to visit her brother. Israeli forces took her to an interrogation center in Petah Tekva near Jerusalem, where she was interrogated and physically and psychologically tortured over three months, Al-Betawi said … During her confinement, Israeli forces detained her brother Hassan and mother-in-law, and raided her family home twice, to put pressure on her he said … Upon release, As-Safadi left behind her blind husband, O’bada Belal, who has spent 10 years in Israeli jail.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404005
PA security arrests 3 liberated prisoners
RAMALLAH (PIC) 11 July — Preventive security agents, loyal to the Ramallah authority, arrested three Palestinians, who were previously held in Israeli jails, over the past few days in the West Bank. Locals said that the detainees were taken from their homes in Nablus, Salfit, and Tulkarem, noting that one of them was released from Israeli jails less than a week ago.
The Israeli occupation for its part arrested three Palestinians who were recently released from PA security prisons.
Meanwhile, Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank called on the PA security apparatuses to release Mohamed Al-Aruri who has gone on hunger strike three days ago to protest his continued detention despite the end of his jail term.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Boycott law
Israeli house passes ban on settlement boycotts
JERUSALEM (AP) 11 July — Israel’s parliament has approved a contentious law against boycotts targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The vote late Monday was 47 to 36 in favor of the law. It allows settlers or settlement-based businesses to sue Israelis who promote boycotts of settlements for damages. Backers of the law insists it is necessary to protect Israelis living in the West Bank. Opponents charge it is an anti-democratic attempt to curtail freedom of speech.
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-house-passes-ban-settlement-boycotts-194932483.html
Heated debate in Knesset over boycott law: ‘Legislation will stain Israeli democracy’
Haaretz 11 July 19:38 — The Knesset discussed Monday the “boycott law”, which proposes penalizing persons or organizations who call for a boycott of Israel or the settlements. Later on Monday the MKs will vote on the law. MK Nitzan Horowitz from Meretz blasted the proposed law, calling it outrageous and shameful. “We are dealing with a legislation that is an embarrassment to Israeli democracy and makes people around the world wonder if there is actually a democracy here,” he said. Ilan Gilon, another Meretz MK, said the law would further delegitimize Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/heated-debate-in-knesset-over-boycott-law-legislation-will-stain-israeli-democracy-1.372697
Palestinians denounce ‘boycott bill’
Ynet 11 July — PLO official Yasser Abd Rabbo says if bill placing sanctions on those who boycott Israel passes Knesset vote, Quartet announcement regarding renewal of negotiations is as good as void … Speaking to Ynet, Abd Rabbo, a senior Palestinian negotiator, noted that “the bill will turn settlements into sacred places and whoever comes near them will be fined. What kind of negotiations and solutions can we talk about then?”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093761,00.html
Uri Avnery, will the boycott law make you stop calling to boycott the settlements?
Haaretz 11 July — Uri Avnery, will the Boycott Law lead you to stop calling for a boycott of goods from the settlements? “The boycott law is a sophisticated law. It doesn’t impose criminal sanctions on someone who calls for boycotting the settlements. If it did, we wouldn’t have the slightest problem; we would go to jail. Instead, this law makes everyone who calls for boycotting the settlements liable for paying millions of shekels in compensation to the settlers. “There is no limit to the sum that the settlers can demand of us in compensation for damages, without their even having to prove it [the damages] … “This is most the draconian law in the history of Israel. Obviously I am concerned. It’s not a hollow, demonstrative law that is empty of content. It is a substantive law that turns the dictatorship of the settlers into the basis of Israeli law.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/uri-avnery-will-the-boycott-law-make-you-stop-calling-to-boycott-the-settlements-1.372597
Watch: Roger Waters speaks against boycott bill, endorses BDS / Noam Sheizaf
972mag 11 July — At the time of writing, it’s not clear yet whether the the boycott bill will go for a second and third vote in the Knesset today, or whether it will happen next week. In both cases, the proposed law, criminalizing any opposition to the occupation that would take the form of a boycott call, is expected to pass with a clear majority. From the moment it’s published as a state law, even a call not to visit occupied Hebron might get someone prosecuted and heavily fined. I will write more about this bill later this week but meanwhile, here is a call to oppose it and an endorsement of the BDS, that was made just now by legendary leader of the Pink Floyd, Roger Waters.
http://972mag.com/waters-120410-72011/
Rachel Corrie case
Rachel Corrie’s family claims Israeli military withheld vital video evidence
Guardian 11 July — Craig Corrie, Rachel’s father, told a press conference in Jerusalem that the footage from a surveillance camera near the scene of his daughter’s death submitted to the court was “incomplete”. Additional video material obtained by the family showed Rachel’s body in a different spot to the place identified by some military commanders, he said. He also alleged that the Israeli military had misled US officials on the position of Rachel’s body when she was killed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/11/corries-accuse-israelis-death
Gaza
Hamas organizes summer outings for poor
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 July– The Hamas movement has initiated a campaign to boost the spirits of poor people in Gaza this summer. The Islamist movement says it is spending some $30,000 to arrange boat trips for about 1,000 families from the Jabaliya refugee camp area. The free trips would include transportation costs, a fancy dinner, a stay in a tent inside a park, and even a gift for each participating child. Hamas leader Ibrahim Salah said “the start of the campaign aims to decrease the suffering and depression of the Palestinian people under difficult circumstances, particularly due to the blockade.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403895
Limited goods to be allowed into Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 July — With just one commercial goods crossing operating five days a week for one and half million and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, some goods and humanitarian aid are expected to be allowed into the coastal enclave Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404071
Traumatized Gaza children relieved by mind-body techniques
GAZA (Xinhua) 11 July — The 10-year-old Nariman al-Attar had suffered from nightmare and a low learning level since the end of Israel’s three-week military operation in the Gaza Strip nearly two and a half years ago. But this semester, Nariman has done better in school while nightmare and fear she used to feel have almost gone. That was only when Nariman started attending sessions to treat the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in her neighborhood in northern Gaza Strip. The treatment uses techniques involving mind and body without any drugs. The training is sponsored and overseen by the Washington-based Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), run by the U.S. psychiatrist James S. Gordon.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-07/11/c_13978518.htm
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Mideast Quartet meets to avoid looming crisis
AFP 11 July — WASHINGTON (AFP) — Envoys from the Middle East diplomatic Quartet meet on Monday in Washington in one of the final attempts to avoid a major confrontation at the United Nations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404142
Analysis: Palestinians start to feel pain from new strategy
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) 11 July – The Palestinians’ drive to forge a new Middle East strategy, opposed by Israel and the United States, is starting to exact a financial price that will test their resolve. Palestinian Authority employees, who received only half wages in July, are getting a taste of what could be in store if their leaders defy Washington and follow through on plans to take their statehood quest to the United Nations in September. Dependent on aid from Europe, the United States and its Arab allies, some of which has not been forthcoming this year, the Palestinians are facing a financial crisis which a senior official linked directly to their decision to go on the diplomatic offensive at the United Nations General Assembly.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110711/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_pain
Canada rejects Palestinian statehood bid at UN
CBC News 11 July — Canada is rejecting a Palestinian effort to win recognition at the United Nations as an independent state. The move is not surprising given that the Harper government has forcefully highlighted its loyalty to Israel and the United States. Both oppose the Palestinian initiative.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/07/11/canada-palestine-state.html?ref=rss
Ya’alon: September is all about scare tactics
Ynet 11 July — In an interview with Ynet on Monday Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya’alon said that even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not interested in a UN declaration of the establishment of a Palestinian state. “He knows what it means to deal with Hamas without IDF assistance,” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093728,00.html
Haneyya meets with high-profile Fatah delegation
GAZA (PIC) 11 July – Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya met Monday with a delegation from the Fatah party headed by the personal representative of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting was held at the prime minister’s headquarters in Gaza, our correspondent said, and it was attended by Abbas’s representative Rouhi Fattouh as well as MP Ashraf Jum’ah and Diab al-Lauh. The men discussed the reconciliation deal and the obstacles it has so far encountered.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Israeli soldiers blocked Icelandic foreign minister’s car with rocks
IceNews 11 July — The Icelandic FM’s visit to Palestine has now drawn to a close with one of the biggest headlines being Skarphedinsson’s declaration that Iceland would support any UN resolution on Palestinian independence and UN membership … “Today [Sunday] we were in a long car entourage with Icelandic and Palestinian flags en route to the city of Qalqiliya to see how the Israeli army has literally walled it in. When we went to a checkpoint where passports are checked, we were not allowed to continue. To underline the fact, soldiers rolled large rocks out into one of the two streets at the crossroads. After a lot of fuss and bother, we had no choice but to take the other road and the trip which should have taken 45 minutes took three hours. This is the daily lot of people living in this area…”
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2011/07/11/israeli-soldiers-blocked-icelandic-fms-car-with-rocks/
Peres thanks Greece for thwarting Gaza-bound flotilla
Haaretz 11 July — Israeli and Greek presidents discuss their countries’ strengthening ties during meeting in Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/peres-thanks-greece-for-thwarting-gaza-bound-flotilla-1.372671
Egypt detains kosher food delivery to Israeli embassy
Ynet 10 July – Israel’s tense relations with Egypt were strained further recently, after Egyptian border guards stationed at the Taba Border detained vehicles transporting kosher food to the Israeli diplomatic staff stationed at the Cairo embassy, Ynet learned Sunday. The vehicles underwent an extensive security check, which included stripping them from their cargo, before they were allowed to cross into Egypt.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093545,00.html
Tunisians protest against Israel ties
AFP 11 July — Some 600 people demonstrate against Tunis’ wish to restore diplomatic ties with Jerusalem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093538,00.html
Qaddafi representatives visit Israel
IMEMC 11 July — Military correspondent of Israel’s TV Channel 2, Roni Daniel, reported Sunday that Libyan envoys, representing president Moammar Qaddafi, arrived in Israel several days ago in order to hold a meeting with Kadima opposition party head, Tzipi Livni … Furthermore, a paper in the Arab Gulf reported that Qaddafi is trying to convince Israel to open an embassy in Tripoli, an issue that is currently rejected by Tel Aviv.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61650
Other news
PA urges patience as corruption inquiry drags on
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) — The Palestinian government in Ramallah says it is committed to accountability and transparency. But a week after its anti-corruption unit announced that the legal immunity of several ministers had been removed to make way for charges, the PA has indicated that its investigation is far from over. “Removing immunity, according to the law, is when there are people to be taken to court and not when they are questioned,” said PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib, in a statement. “So far, there are no lists of charges and no judiciary measures.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403297
Illiteracy levels among Palestinian women still very high [?]
GulfNews 12 July — Latest figures point to a relatively young population, high population density and a falling fertility rate — Ramallah: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Monday announced that the total population of the Palestinian Territories in mid-2011 stood at about 4.17 million. Of these, 2.58 million were in the West Bank and 1.59 million in the Gaza Strip. The new figures were released to mark World Population Day and give a review on the status of the Palestinian population. The number of males stands at 2.12 million while 2.05 million are females. Ola Awadi, who heads the bureau said that 7.8 per cent of females aged 15 years and above are illiterate — a figure more than three times higher than that of males (2.4 per cent) but still quite low compared to much of the world]. She said that the data revealed that the Palestinian population is a young population, with individuals aged 0-14 constituting 40.8 per cent of the total population while the elderly (65 years and above) constitute 2.9 per cent.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/illiteracy-levels-among-palestinian-women-still-very-high-1.837226
Video: Palestinian brewery to expand abroad
BBC 11 July — It is the only brewery in the Palestinian territories but, against an uncertain economic and political backdrop, Taybeh beer is still going strong. The West Bank company sells its bottles as far apart as London to Tokyo. But getting its product to the international market requires negotiating time-consuming Israeli checkpoints. So, the company is looking to overcome the barriers by expanding its business abroad.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14107896
American Jew refused entry to Israel on suspicion of converting to Islam / Amira Hass
Haaretz 11 July — Two years after participating in a Taglit-Birthright tour, Harald Fuller-Bennett was denied entry into Israel. The Shin Bet claimed he had links to terrorists and suspected him of no longer being Jewish.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/american-jew-refused-entry-to-israel-on-suspicion-of-converting-to-islam-1.372598
Israel gives award to tank shell used against civilians in Gaza
IMEMC 8 July — The Israeli Defense Ministry awarded the “Israel Defense Prize” to the Calanit artillery tank shell, a new type of shell which has been deployed in tanks stationed along the Israel-Gaza border … In the award ceremony, military official Danny Peretz praised the shell, saying, “In this new reality we must hurt the people themselves, the enemy, who know where to hide.” … Five Palestinian children killed by these shells in the last four months went unmentioned by the military officials in the ceremony. Among the casualties of Calanit shells were Mahmoud Jalal al-Hilu, 10, of Shujaiya, east of Gaza City, Gaza, killed, with his 15-year old cousin and their granduncle, by military shelling near thir home.
http://imemc.org/article/61642
New ‘Kosher’ preventive driving course
Ynet 11 July — The Transportation Ministry has opened segregated preventive driving courses for ultra-Orthodox men wishing to avoid studying alongside women.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4087740,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Freedom Flotilla II: No to a kinder, gentler siege
HuffPost 4 July — It was never about aid. Freedom Flotilla II is, like its assaulted predecessor of a year ago, a political act. The passengers came together in shared determination to challenge Israel’s five-year siege of Gaza and to exercise their right to travel through international waters to Palestinian shores and, by so doing, support the Palestinian right to freedom. Many have misrepresented this political act as being about aid. If Palestinians had a dollar for every time the State Department bleated, “there are established channels for aid to Gaza,” they would never need another donated dime. Instead, because of U.S. policy the highly educated and enterprising Palestinians have been stripped of their dignity and forced to live on international charity.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nadia-hijab/freedom-flotilla-ii-no-to_b_889618.html
Israel uses ‘crazy democracy’ to justify security needs / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 10 July — The peace activists of the flotilla, or flytilla, represent a point of view that Israel has been trying to eradicate for years, that Israel is not immune to outside pressure, and that when Israel declares itself to be the only democracy in the Middle East it means it … Israel aspires to become a “crazy democratic state.” On one hand, a state with an elected government, a multiparty system and concern for civil rights that listens to its citizens. On the other hand, a state it’s best not to mess with because when it comes to security it is completely unpredictable. A state that shoots first and asks questions later. If innocent civilians are killed – Palestinians, Turks or “deluded peace activists” – it is not just human error, an accident of war, but a tool to reinforce the “crazy” reputation, the purpose of which is deterrence. Israel did not invent the method. The greatest democracy of all, the United States, operates the same way in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-uses-crazy-democracy-to-justify-security-needs-1.372403
Protests in Israel are not only legitimate, they’re vital / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 10 July — The common perception of protests in Israel is that of an irritating public nuisance. Only rarely can Israel stomach a demonstration, provided it’s a properly organized popular rally, a cultural gathering on a square, obviously with a license from the police … Governments don’t like protests, and this is only natural. In Israel, the public doesn’t like protests either, which is seriously disconcerting. Any protest here is met with a hostile reaction from the decent public.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/protests-in-israel-are-not-only-legitimate-they-re-vital-1.372407
Did you ever talk to Sheikh Raed Saleh? Did you ever really listen to him? / Rahela Mizrahi
MEMO 9 July — With a resounding absence of a reasonable explanation for the arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah in the British press, he is still represented, following the Israeli press, as a dangerous Muslim extremist. Actually, Sheikh Raed Salah says nothing more radical than what the great majority of the Palestinians and many other people around the world think: he rejects Israeli house demolition, graveyard demolition, the takeover of land and holy places – focusing in Jerusalem – and the siege on Gaza. He does not recognize the Zionist regime, including its parliament, as legitimate; he is not ready to give up Palestinian land, and the refugees’ right of return. But Sheikh Raed Salah says it loudly; he speaks in a clear voice, shows only one face. Threats of prison or assassination will not stop him doing or saying what he believes is right. And that is probably the reason that the Israeli establishment does not stop persecuting him. But let us ask a simple question: Has anyone in the British press ever spoken with Sheikh Raed Salah? Has the British public ever really had the opportunity to hear what he has said? Have they ever had the opportunity to read his writings? He has not associated himself with violence. If you listen to what he has to say, you would know why he is appreciated by so many Palestinians and others around the world.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/middle-east/2591-did-you-ever-talk-to-sheikh-raed-salah-did-you-ever-really-listen-to-him
Survey: Theater helps Israeli youth humanize Palestinians / Dahlia Scheindlin
972mag 9 July — It’s unusual to get good news about levels of tolerance toward the other, when it comes to Israelis, Palestinians and the conflict – especially youngsters. As my colleagues and I found in a large study of Israeli youth, intolerance, exclusive and discriminatory attitudes are embraced by a large and perhaps growing numbers of young folks. So this rare, happy finding reported in Haaretz this week caught my eye:
“A new study found a link between culture and tolerance: Israeli teens who watched plays about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict became more optimistic about the chances of achieving peace and viewed Palestinians more positively.”
http://972mag.com/survey-theater-helps-israeli-youth-humanize-palestinians/
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