and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land theft / Demolition / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Israeli municipality of Jerusalem hands demolition order to elderly Palestinian woman in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 10 July — The Israeli municipality of Jerusalem Sunday handed an elderly Palestinian woman, Khadija Abdul Razeq, 67, a demolition order of her house, where she lives with 10 of her children and grandchildren, under the pretext of ‘building without a license’, according to witnesses. Abdul Razeq’s son, Hamoudeh, said that employees from the municipality, accompanied by reinforced forces of soldiers and police surrounded the house and posted an administrative demolition order on its wall, and then asked them to appear at the inspection department of the municipality.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16669
Israeli authorities are changing historical sites’ features in Silwan
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 10 July — The Committee for the Defense of Silwan Sunday uncovered the escalated Israeli authorities’ measures, which aim to change the characteristics of various historical sites in Silwan, a town east of Jerusalem … It noted that the Israeli machineries are conducting an extensive digging in north, south, west and centre of Silwan, near the historical water spring; which belong entirely to the Islamic Waqf … It said that in Ein Em Edorg, an area in Silwan, diggings reached a depth of more than 20 meters under the ground, and there are diggings in Al-Ain Mosque, the oldest mosque in Silwan, in the area of Ain Silwan, in addition to the digging of tunnels.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16666
West Bank town forgotten behind the Wall
Xinhua 10 July — Waiting at an Israeli military electronic gate that separates his house from the place where he works, was a daily concern of the despaired Ahmad Aassa, the 40- year-old Palestinian from the town of Nazlet Eassa, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem … He added “if we want to buy an egg, we have to coordinate in advance with the joint Israeli-Palestinian liaison join office to allow it, and it is similar to the entire kinds of food,” he told a story that happened with him when he bought three km of fish for his children. “After the soldier at the gate checked out the fish, he decided that I can’t take the fish for security reasons,” said Asaad while laughing with pain,
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7434860.html
Bedouin Development Authority builds trust in Negev
Ynet 10 July — Negotiators being trained for land reform talks say Israel ‘must take back governance in Negev’ … “Every Bedouin sees his residence as a potential settlement. The state will have to act with determination as the moving stage begins, only after coming up with solutions cooperatively,” said Avi Yifrach, 41, who has been working for the authority for nearly five years.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093183,00.html
Settlers / Settlements
Israeli settler runs over Palestinian child in Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (WAFA) 10 July — An Israeli settler Sunday ran over a Palestinian child, 6, in Khirbet ’Beit Sakarya’ located in central of ‘Gush Etzion’ settlement compound, south of Bethlehem, according to witnesses. Head of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement in Bethlehem, Hasan Zawahra, said that the child’s condition is serious and he was taken to ‘Hadassa’ hospital in Israel.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16668
Video compares police to Nazis
Ynet 10 July — Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino has ordered an investigation against producers of a YouTube video that compares police special forces to Nazis. The video shows footage taped at a number of right-wing protests, combining the footage with scenes from Nazi Germany showing soldiers beating prisoners.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093305,00.html
Vote set on Israeli settlement boycott bill
JERUSALEM (AP) 10 July — Israeli backers of a bill that would punish people for boycotting West Bank settlements said Sunday they will push forward with the proposal, despite accusations that it’s an undemocratic slap at freedom of speech. In recent years, settlement opponents in Israel have joined boycotts of products made in the settlements. The Palestinians and most of the international community say settlements are illegal because they are built on war-won land. The Palestinians want the West Bank for their future state. The local initiatives have angered settlers and their powerful political patrons.
http://news.yahoo.com/vote-set-israeli-settlement-boycott-bill-190016622.html
Israeli forces
Court: Probe of slain Palestinian girl ‘sloppy’
Ynet 10 July — The High Court of Justice rejected Sunday a petition to put two Border Guard officers on trial for alleged involvement in the death of 10-year-old Abir Aramin, nearly a year after Jerusalem District Court ruled that she was killed by a rubber bullet shot by Border Guard officers during a riot. However, in their ruling, the High Court justices criticized the police and prosecution, calling their investigation “sloppy and incomplete.” The State of Israel and the Border Guard were also forced to pay NIS 10,000 ($2,942) for legal costs.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093294,00.html
Israeli forces raid Bethlehem, break into homes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 July — Israeli forces raided the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday morning and ransacked houses. Palestinian security officials told Ma‘an that six Israeli military vehicles stormed Bethlehem in the early morning hours and toured the area before troops dismounted and ransacked several homes in the As-Saff neighborhood. The soldiers claimed they were searching for a ‘wanted’ Palestinian who allegedly lives in the area … Troops also broke into the home of Mousa Ahmad Khmeidan Hmeidan, a Palestinian national security officer. He was handed a warrant ordering him to appear before Israeli intelligence in the nearby Etzion center. Confrontations erupted between young Palestinians and the soldiers at the main Hebron-Jerusalem road.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403762
IOF raids several locations in West Bank
RAMALLAH (PIC) 10 July — Israeli occupation forces raided several locations in the West Bank and set up road blocks on Sunday morning arresting at least one Palestinian man. Locals said dozens of Israeli soldiers raided Tammoun near Jenin and arrested Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Basharat, 25, after surrounding and raiding his home. Sources added that IOF soldiers set up surprise checkpoints in Tammoun and Al-Fari‘a refugee camp and have been searching vehicles since early morning. More forces raided Qubatiya east of Jenin and combed the area surrounding the western part of the village without report of raids.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Restriction of movement
Palestinian journalist ‘barred from traveling’
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 10 July — A Palestinian journalist says he has been barred from leaving the West Bank. Mustafa Sabri says Israel has prevented him from traveling to Jordan due to “security concerns.” “I presented a travel application in 2001 through Hamoked,” an Israeli organization, Sabri said. It was rejected at the time and 10 years later, “I traveled to Allenby and was sent away for the same reason.” Palestinians are frequently stopped at the bridge and turned away, he says. Sabri, affiliated with the Hamas party, has spent time in Israeli prison. He works as a freelancer.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403680
Gaza
Gaza woman injured by Israeli fire
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 July — A Palestinian woman was hit by a stray gunshot, apparently from an Israeli guard tower, in northern Gaza on Saturday. Spokesperson for the Gaza Strip’s emergency and ambulance service Adham Abu Salmiya said the woman was evacuated to the hospital and medics said her wounds were moderate. Abu Salmiya highlighted that Red Crescent crews were working diligently with Palestinians who live along the borders with Israel as they could be hit by gunfire at any moment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403764
Army strikes Gaza after projectiles land in Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 July – Israeli fighter jets bombarded a target in the northern Gaza Strip early Sunday morning. The Israeli army said the target was hit accurately. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said a concrete factory in the Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza city was bombarded and destroyed. No injuries were reported. Military sources said the airstrike came in response to three homemade projectiles fired from Gaza at Israeli targets. Israeli media said two projectiles landed in an open area near Ashkelon, and the third inside Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403744
Gaza fishermen challenge naval siege
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 July — Palestinian fishermen are challenging Israeli naval restrictions on how far they can sail off the coast of Gaza. The Ministry of Agriculture in the Gaza Strip says some fishermen took their ships out six miles from the coast Saturday and Sunday, even though the navy opened fire to send them back. In a statement, the ministry called for solidarity with the fishermen in their daring move, and insisted the campaign would continue until the fishing limits imposed by Israel are finally lifted. The fishing industry employs some 3,500 people on 700 boats, according to labor statistics provided by the ministry. The industry supports the livelihoods of some 70,000 Palestinians, it says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403977
Limited goods to be allowed into Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 July – As Israel continues to besiege the Gaza Strip closing all its commercial crossings, some goods and humanitarian aid is expected to be allowed into the coastal enclave Sunday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403758
Chart: Building materials (gravel, steel, cement) Needs vs. Supply March through June 2011
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/07/building-materials-gravel-steel-cement-%E2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-%E2%80%93-mar-2011-%E2%80%93-jun-2011/
Plastic isn’t fantastic when used as invisible shrapnel / Ken O’Keefe
[with video] Salem, Ore. (Salem-News) 7 July — You wouldn’t believe what is killing and maiming people in Palestine — This article is about war-related issues in Palestine that are missing the radar in western newsrooms. I am referring to the use of plastic shards intentionally placed in rockets that leave behind undetectable shrapnel in humans, munitions that puzzled doctors because they amputate human limbs by heat, and the massive killings of Palestinian farm animals and wildlife through the use of Israeli-manufactured tablets deposited on Palestinian land … Bassam Elmassri explained: “Small pieces come out from the rocket, it’s like plastic pieces because when they take the injured people to the hospital to do the x-ray on them, it’s not working. So they can die, because this makes it more difficult to remove the pieces from the body. The plastic pieces are not seen on the x-ray”
http://salem-news.com/articles/july072011/israel-plastic-tk.php
Activism / Solidarity
Resistance to the occupation continues in Ni‘lin and Shuqba
[photos] PSP 10 July — …The same afternoon in the neighboring village of Shuqba, around 30 demonstrators and 5 internationals marched to a rock quarry built by settlers on their land.For an hour and a half, participants, including many children, waved flags and informed guards at the quarry that they were on stolen land and that the Palestinians would not stop resisting the occupation. The guards at the quarry responded by threatening the demonstration with their guns. Villagers also removed a long roll of barbed wire separating the village from the quarry. The demonstration in Shuqba was the fifth in recent weeks. The quarry has occupied village land for five years, and settlers destroyed many olive trees to construct it.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/07/10/resistance-to-the-occupation-continues-in-nilin-and-shuqba/
IOF continues to crack down on West Bank protests
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 10 July — Israeli occupation forces cracked down Sunday on peaceful demonstrations welcoming foreign pro-Palestinian activists near the Dome Barrier outside of Bethlehem. The troops fired tear gas and bullets into the crowd of around 200, causing breathing difficulties to dozens. The organizers, a Bethlehem resistance campaign, said the march came to compliment the popular movements this week protesting the apartheid wall and the occupation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Protesters try to break through Bethlehem checkpoint
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 July — Palestinians and international activists in Bethlehem on Sunday tried to force their way through a checkpoint separating the West Bank city from Jerusalem. Among the protesters were activists who were on board the so-called ‘flytilla’ that arrived Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport. Israeli soldiers prevented protesters from accessing the area and threatening to shoot anyone who approached the checkpoint, one of the main terminals connecting the occupied West Bank with Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403855
VIDEO: An Nabi Salih 9 July 2011
Tussles between soldiers and activists, including Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Aww8Pd1pUEs
Hebron villagers protest settlement expansion
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 July — Villagers from At-Tuwani south of Hebron marched Saturday to the outpost of the Maon settlement, delivering a message to settlers protesting their presence. Israeli soldiers tossed smoke and stun grenades to disperse the protesters. One person sustained mild burns after a stun grenade exploded near his feet, a protest organizer told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403430
Video: Breaking the Silence marketing tours to Birthrighters / Mairav Zonszein
Breaking the Silence — the organization of former IDF soldiers who talk about their experiences serving in the Occupied Territories in an effort to expose the everyday reality of Israeli control of the West Bank — is now marketing its tours of the West Bank to participants of the Birthright-Israel trip while here in Israel. Anyone who extends their stay in Israel beyond the free 10-day trip is offered a free tour to Hebron and the South Hebron Hills that allow an “unmediated encounter with the reality of military occupation.” Below is a video of Breaking the Silence volunteers walking around the Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem handing out flyers and talking to Birthright participants, in an effort to get them interested and informed.
http://972mag.com/breaking-the-silence-marketing-tours-to-birthrighters/
Notes on the Rachel Corrie trial / Dorothy Naor
Spouse and I attended the final (presumably) session of the Rachel Corrie trial. We remained for the entire prosecution questioning of the single witness (from noon till 5:00PM) but did not stay for the defense cross questioning. We’d both had enough. I would imagine that so did the Corries, but of course they stayed on. The single witness today was Col. Pinhas Zuaretz, who when Rachel was killed in 2003 was Commander of the Gaza Division Southern Brigade, the brigade involved in her death. The bulldozer driver that killed Rachel was a reservist assigned to the unit. From the first question that the prosecutor asked, the direction of the responses was clear. The question was, “You of course value human life,” the response was “My soldier’s lives.” After some slight prodding, Zuaretz agreed (rather than himself say) that yes he valued human life. His response to this was much less a declaration (as was his initial response) than a grudging ‘yes’. He throughout gave the feeling that he considered himself superior to the prosecutor (a Palestinian citizen of Israel), and to Palestinians in general … He, for instance, claimed that he would kill 10 innocent civilians to save the life of one soldier. Again, he claimed that it is allowed to kill anyone who wanders into or comes into a ‘war zone’, as was the Philadelphi line at the time that the bulldozer ran over her. Thus the bulldozer driver was not, Zuaretz claimed, working. He was at war.
http://groups.google.com/group/newprofile/browse_thread/thread/f87ad39f30eea203/8b5c5182bc4ecf54?show_docid=8b5c5182bc4ecf54&pli=1
Detention
The tactic of arresting Palestinian children / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
AJ 8 July — The Israeli tactic of arresting and detaining Palestinian children is aimed to deter resistance — Dozens of Palestinian children clamoured excitedly in the East Jerusalem village of Silwan on June 26, each clutching the strings to as many helium-filled balloons as they could. Moments later, the children watched as the sky above this flashpoint Palestinian neighbourhood filled with red, green, black and white – the colours of the Palestinian flag – and the hundreds of balloons were taken away by the wind … “These balloons represent every small child that has been arrested and beaten at the hands of police,” Shafa said. “The duty of the police is to protect children and not to try to arrest them. [We and] our children suffer greatly from the municipality and the occupation police.” …1,267 criminal files against minors accused of throwing stones were opened across East Jerusalem between November 2009 and December 2010. This pattern has continued into 2011, as hundreds of children continue to be arrested and detained for allegedly throwing stones, especially in Silwan. Frequently taken from their beds in the middle of the night, children have been interrogated without the presence of lawyers, their parents or other family members, and nearly all have been subjected to some form of either physical or psychological abuse during their arrest and questioning.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117211922998201.html
IOF soldiers arrest Palestinian journalist
TOBAS (PIC) 10 July– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested Palestinian journalist Mohammed Basharat from his home in village of Tamun, Tobas province, on Sunday, sources in the village told the PIC reporter. They said that the IOF soldiers broke into Basharat’s home and wreaked havoc in it before taking him away. Basharat, 25, was kidnapped more than once at the hands of the Ramallah security authorities and was severely tortured. The Ahrar center for prisoners studies and human rights condemned the IOF detention of Basharat, recalling that the IOF had launched a large-scale arrest campaign in lines of Palestinian journalists and rights activists late last month including the center’s director Fuad Al-Khuffash.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Israeli court extends detention of Hamas MP for six months
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 10 July — An Israeli military court on Sunday extended the detention of Hamas MP and former finance minister Dr. Omar Abdel Razek for six months for the second time running. Relatives of the lawmaker told the PIC that the Salem military court extended his detention without any charge or indictment list leveled against him.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Detainee in Ramallah goes on hunger strike
RAMALLAH (PIC) 10 July — Mohammed Naim Al-Aruri went on hunger strike in a Ramallah jail on Saturday to protest being held in jail for three months after completing his sentence. Relatives of Aruri, 24, told the PIC that he was adamant on pursuing his hunger strike until the Ramallah authorities order his release, affirming that he completed his six-month sentence over three months ago.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
PA ‘arrests 22 Islamists’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 July — The Hizb ut-Tahrir movement on Friday said the Palestinian Authority arrested 22 of its members after the pacifist Islamist group distributed a statement criticizing the government. The PA harshly beat those who were detained in Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, the movement said in a statement calling on the government in Ramallah to release its supporters.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403660
Al-Khalil (Hebron): Many people injured in clash between Hizb-ut-Tahrir demonstrators and Palestinian police
Christian Peacemaker Teams 8 July — On 2 July 2011, the Islamic political organization, Hizb-ut Tahrir (The Party of Freedom), staged a last-minute demonstration in Hebron after the Palestinian Authority (PA) blocked a planned demonstration in Ramallah. Over 1,000 demonstrators descended upon the Palestinian-controlled area of the city in the late afternoon. Subsequent clashes with Palestinian police — with the protestors throwing stones and police responding with tear gas and shots fired into the air — resulted in about thirty casualties, including one person who was hospitalized. Bystanders, including four CPTers, watched as Palestinian police, dressed in full riot gear, brutally pushed back onlookers in an attempt to clear the area.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/07/08/al-khalil-hebron-many-people-injured-clash-between-hizb-ut-tahrir-demonstrators-an
Flytilla / Fly-in
After banning international activists from West Bank, Israel tries to do the same with Israelis / Joseph Dana
972mag 10 July — One day after the “air flotilla” landed in Tel Aviv, Palestinian and Israeli activists held a demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh just west of Ramallah. The village’s agricultural spring was taken over by Jewish settlers in the nearby settlement of Halamish over two years ago. Every Friday since, villagers and their Israeli and international supporters have been holding weekly unarmed demonstrations in protest of the takeover. Yesterday saw a similar protest but for the first time in months, Palestinians were able to get close to the spring itself … In the course of the demonstration yesterday, three Israeli activists were arrested by soldiers. The Israeli media reported that these activists were actually part of the ‘Welcome to Palestine’ campaign although they were unable to provide concrete facts to support their claim. The Israeli activists were charged with assaulting officers and transferred to the Russian compound jail in Jerusalem. This afternoon, the activists were brought before a judge as the state sought the unusually harsh punishment of six months banishment from the West Bank and one month of house arrest.
http://972mag.com/what-is-the-israeli-response-to-palestinian-non-violence/
Israel begins deportation of pro-Palestinian flytilla activists
Haaretz 10 July — The first group of 36 Europeans who were refused entry to the country have boarded a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt…
Executives of the European airlines registered a grievance on Sunday over a political position against the ‘flytilla’ participants being attributed to them because they helped prevent the activists from reaching Israel. The airlines were upset with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon’s comments made to the media to the effect that Israel’s diplomatic efforts led to the airlines’ cooperation in preventing the entrance of the activists. “We are a commercial business. The fact that we prevented the activists from boarding the planes is no evidence of our supporting the State of Israel against the activists, or the opposite. Our actions are bereft of any political statement for one side or another,” said the manager of a European airline in Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-begins-deportation-of-pro-palestinian-flytilla-activists-1.372508
‘Flytilla’ debacle another PR nightmare for Israel / Mel Frykberg
BEN GURION AIRPORT, Tel Aviv (IPS) 10 July- Confused foreign tourists arriving at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday would be forgiven for thinking that a terrorist attack was about to take place. Hundreds of armed Israeli soldiers and police spread throughout the airport as Israeli police surrounded six Israeli pro-Palestinian peace activists who were arrested for unfurling Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. A war was under way but one of a very different kind to which the Jewish state is used to fighting. One that Israel is taking very seriously but which it appears to be losing – the PR struggle for international opinion as the world awaits a UN vote on Palestinian statehood in September.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56422
Flotilla
Pro-Palestinian activists withdraw Tahrir ship from Gaza flotilla / Amira Hass
AGIOS NIKOLAOS, Crete (Haaretz) 10 July — Activists on board the Tahrir withdrew their ship from the planned flotilla to Gaza yesterday evening, after failing to gain permission from the Greek authorities to sail. The final straw came after the authorities asked for new documents that had not previously been required. There are now just two ships from the original flotilla still planning to reach Gaza. One is Dignity El Karameh, with a French delegation of activists; it has been at sea for two weeks, waiting for the other vessels to join it. A few days ago, the vessel anchored in Crete in order to refuel. The other ship is the Greek-Swedish-Norwegian Giuliano, which left Athens last Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/pro-palestinian-activists-withdraw-tahrir-ship-from-gaza-flotilla-1.372385
Greece, Gaza, and the grand drama / Kathy Kelly
PalChron Athens 8 July — It looked like a scene from an opera. Massed in the doorway and second floor balconies of a quaint building in Athens, facing a magnificent view of the Parthenon, Spanish activists hung banners and flashed peace signs and proclaimed that they wouldn’t leave the building, the Embassy of Spain, until their government assured them that their boat, “The Guernica,” could at last leave for the suffering and besieged territory of Gaza … We haven’t tried an embassy occupation. “That’s what your group should be doing,” said one of the main organizers of the international flotilla effort, referring to the Spanish action. He’s right. And yet, crucial and telling differences exist between the Embassy of Spain in Athens, where I counted exactly one security guard nonchalantly keeping watch in the first afternoon of the Spanish activists’ demonstration, and the Embassy of the U.S. in Athens. The U.S. Embassy takes up about four square blocks of land. Nondescript, boxy white buildings are surrounded by spiked fences of battleship gray. Embassy employees arrive at a checkpoint and are subjected to search routines that include examining the base of their vehicle as it drives over a pit. Dozens of guards maintain round the clock security. What necessitates such elaborate security measures? Is it simply that U.S. lives are more precious than the lives of others and therefore must be intensely safeguarded, or might it be that menacing economic and military policies enforced by the U.S. have caused antagonism and rage sufficient to endanger official U.S. representatives in almost any part of the globe?
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16972
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Quartet needs to change approach to peace, says Ashrawi
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 10 July — Hanan Ashrawi, PLO Executive Committee member, Sunday said in a press release that the Quartet needed to significantly change its approach if prospects for Middle East peace are to be revived … “All negotiations should be firmly embedded in international law, including recognition of the June 4 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The Quartet must also effectively bring Israel to compliance, including a cessation of all settlement activities, and adopt a clear and binding timeframe for implementing agreements,” Ashrawi added.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16664
Palestinians losing European support?
Ynet 9 July — More than 100 European parliamentarians sign letter objecting to unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence; only talks can bring peace, letter says, but US officials admit situation gloomy, depressing
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093049,00.html
Netanyahu: Maritime borders proposed by Lebanon encroach upon Israeli territory
Haaretz 10 July — Netanyahu says lines declared by Lebanon are further south than those determined in previous deals; Israel to submit coordinates on maritime border with Lebanon to UN after U.S. endorses Lebanese version of where lines should be … The cabinet meeting was convened days before Israel plans to submit coordinates to the United Nations its take on where its maritime economic border with Lebanon should be, as the two countries scramble for gas reserves estimated to be worth billions of dollars.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-maritime-borders-proposed-by-lebanon-encroach-upon-israel-territory-1.372467
Lebanon: We won’t forfeit maritime rights
Ynet 10 July — Beirut’s minister of energy warns Israel against violating Lebanon’s naval territory … Gebran further said that exploring the natural resources within Lebanon’s maritime border is “a scientific matter and falls under the rule of international law.” He added Lebanon will not hesitate to take the matter up at the United Nations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093473,00.html
Vice Premier: Iran, Hezbollah behind Lebanon protest over Israel sea border
Haaretz 10 July — Moshe Ya’alon tells cabinet Iran and Hezbollah decided to turn maritime border into point of contention after Israel announced natural gas discoveries.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/vice-premier-iran-hezbollah-behind-lebanon-protest-over-israel-sea-border-1.372532
Ten Israeli aircraft enter Lebanon
PressTV 10 July — Ten Israeli military aircraft have once again penetrated Lebanese airspace and flown over parts of the country in blatant violation of a UN Security Council resolution. Six Israeli warplanes flew over the border village of Kfar Kila, located 96 kilometers (59 miles) south of the capital Beirut, at 9:50 a.m. (0650 GMT) on Sunday and conducted several unwarranted flights above areas in southern Lebanon, a statement released by the Lebanese military read … Meanwhile, two Israeli fighters violated Lebanese airspace at 10:05 a.m. local time (0705 GMT), and flew over southern part of the country … Two remote-controlled Israeli drones also entered the Lebanese airspace and carried out covert surveillance fights over the village of al-Naqoura, located 91 kilometers (57 miles) south of Beirut, and the southern village of Rmeish.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188504.html
Lieberman: Erdoğan shut the door on Israeli-Turkish reconciliation
Haaretz 10 July — Turkey’s leader has “shut the door” on reconciliation with Israel by insisting it end the Gaza blockade and apologize for storming a Turkish ship sailing toward the Palestinian enclave, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. But in a possible reflection of disagreement within Israel’s coalition government, another official said rapprochement talks continued with Turkey ahead of the publication of a UN report which Israel has predicted will largely vindicate its actions.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lieberman-erdogan-shut-the-door-on-israeli-turkish-reconciliation-1.372455
Anti-Israel bias in Mexican school exam
Ynet 10 July — Diplomatic crisis averted at last minute over geography exam with anti-Israel question. Mexican officials claim question was ‘external mistake,’ apologize … Last month, a question on a geography test focusing on the economic reasons for the Israel-Palestinian conflict included the following answers: “The Jewish community used biased and racist methods against the Arab population when the State of Israel was founded”, and “Israel uses its military superiority to control borders, roads, airspace and maritime space.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4093533,00.html
Other news
Palestinian news agency offices set on fire in suspected arson
Haaretz/AP 10 July — Ma‘an News Agency editor-in-chief Nasser Laham decries firebomb attack as assault on ‘freedom of press in Palestine’– Palestinian Ma‘an News Agency says a firebomb was hurled at its Gaza City newsroom Sunday morning, setting off a small fire at the entrance to its offices. There was no damage to the interior of the office and no one has thus far claimed responsibility for the blaze … Ma‘an News Agency (MNA) was launched in 2005 and publishes online news in both Arabic and English. Its main offices are in Bethlehem and its sub-office is in Gaza City. It is part of the Ma‘an Network, a non-profit media organization founded in 2002.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/palestinian-news-agency-offices-set-on-fire-in-suspected-arson-1.372451
Secular activists: Police ignoring haredi attacks on Jerusalem Sabbath traffic
Haaretz 10 July — Police are turning a blind eye to ultra-orthodox efforts to block traffic on a central Jerusalem street every Saturday, with hundreds of religious men often resorting to violence in a bid to prevent cars from desecrating Shabbat, secular activists reported on Sunday. The ultra-orthodox activists have attempted to close off the street using dumpsters, and have been known to attack private cars trying to drive down the usually bustling road. Neviim Street, a central Jerusalem road, is one of the most important avenues of transportation in the capital
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/secular-activists-police-ignoring-haredi-attacks-on-jerusalem-sabbath-traffic-1.372493
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Bringing hope and history to Balata Camp youth / Mel Frykberg
BALATA REFUGEE CAMP, occupied West Bank (IPS) 5 July — Bougainvilleas climb the walls of the Yaffa Community Center (YCC). Children play in its kindergarten, while older students attend a class in the center’s media department. A group of foreigners is touring the attractively decorated building and getting a brief introduction to its history. YCC, named after the city of Jaffa in present-day Israel, was established in 1996 by a group of Palestinian intellectuals. It was established to teach the next generation of Palestinians about their culture, history and the Palestinian political struggle.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/bringing-hope-and-history-balata-camp-youth/10146
Welcome to the state of the police / Hagai Matar, Adam Keller
9 July –[first Hagai Matar’s eyewitness account of events at the airport, then Keller’s comments] … Benjamin Netanyahu foiled a flotilla of ten small boats, whose arrival in Gaza would have in no way endangered the security of Israel, and prevented several hundred peace activists from reaching the Palestinian Territories – who were no threat either. And in return he enhanced and strengthened all over the world the image of Israel as a dark octopus reaching its tentacles everywhere, with its clandestine forces and agencies and pressures and control levers behind the scenes in all countries. We may feel the results in years to come, long after the flotilla and flytilla are forgotten, after Binyamin Netanyahu is himself forgotten.
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com/2011/07/welcome-to-state-of-police.html
Was New York Times’ Ethan Bronner duped by Israeli Facebook fraud? / Ali Abunimah
RAMALLAH, West Bank (EI Media Watch) 10 July — “Moad Arqoub, a Palestinian graduate student, was bouncing around the Internet the other day and came across a site that surprised and attracted him. It was a Facebook page where Israelis and Palestinians and other Arabs were talking about everything at once…” That is how an article in today’s New York Times by Ethan Bronner begins. But much of Bronner’s article is misleading and possibly false, as The Electronic Intifada discovered.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/was-new-york-times-ethan-bronner-duped-israeli-facebook-fraud
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