Activism

Israelis sanction a march of incitement against Hanin Zoabi in her hometown

 Report: Police sanction protest against Zoabi in Nazareth
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police have given permission for a right-wing march against a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament in her home town of Nazareth, Israeli media reported Monday. Part of a campaign under the slogan “Expel Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset”, her fellow parliamentarian Michael Ben-Ari will accompany activists from far-right group Our Land of Israel in the procession through the Palestinian city on March 11, Hebrew newspaper Maariv said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463557
 
Land Theft / Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Apartheid
 

Islamic-Christian Committee Calls For Protecting Al-Aqsa Mosque
The Islamic-Christian Committee for Protecting Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, called on the Arab, Islamic and international countries to intervene for halting the escalating Israeli attacks against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, especially amidst repeated attempts by extremist settlers who have been trying to break into it.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63059

The Al-Quds Arab Conference, held in Doha – Qatar, concluded its deliberations on Monday with a decision to head to the United Nations over the ongoing Israeli violations and escalation against the Arab and Islamic Holy Sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63068

Soldiers go to sleep in village threatened with demolition
Haj Sami Sadeq – Al Aqaba village council – A month after the Israeli Army issued demolition orders for 90% of the small village of Aqaba, villagers were surprised, on coming to prayer on an early morning hour, to find numerous Israeli soldiers deeply sleeping in jeeps outside the village`s mosque – evidently having complete trust in the goodwill of the threatened village`s inhabitants. Indeed, Aqaba villagers took care not to disturb the sleeping soldiers.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=51872

Violence & Aggression
Witnesses: Settlers raid Hebron village
HEBRON (Ma’an) — A group of Israelis entered Hebron village Halhul overnight Monday, sparking clashes with locals, witnesses said. No injuries were reported. Witnesses told Ma’an the group attempted to pray near Nabi Younis Mosque in the east of the village and threw stones at worshippers performing the dawn prayer. Israeli forces surrounded the village, and escorted the group out with military jeeps, locals said. Settler attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians increased by more than 50 percent in 2011, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463756
 

Israeli warplanes intensify flights over Gaza
All types of Israeli warplanes were seen filling the skies over Gaza Strip on Monday evening as Palestinian security agencies evacuated their buildings in anticipation of possible air strikes.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7goxUX79g4bIq5IWgAQ1DNnX4FJuBY7Rq5h72TnLx7lttDPetYEvBNnkbBLi5x4%2fleKSmZ%2bvwv8YMOo%2f6EGzCABuxQ7SEUxQZKtcRSK1G0m4%3d

 
February 25 2011-Hundreds of mourners on Saturday marched in the funeral procession of 25 year old Talaat Abdel-Rahman Ramiya, who was killed on Friday by the Israeli military forces in Qalandiya during clashes between them and unarmed Palestinian youth protesting the storming of Al-Aqsa compound by Israeli forces on the same day.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/?p=4250

Clashes and arrests in the town of Tur
Broke out this evening clashes in the town of Tur East Jerusalem and the occupation forces arrested two young men from the region. Our correspondent said that the clashes broke out near Al-Maqased hospital and Tur club down to the Sawwanah neighborhood crossroads. He said that the occupation authorities used large amounts of tear gas, rubber and sound bullets, and youths response with throwing stones and iron bars at soldiers. Witnesses said that soldiers arrested two young men at least in the confrontations that take place in the town for the fourth day in the neighborhood protesting to storm Al Aqsa Mosque on Friday.

http://palsolidarity.org/2012/02/clashes-and-arrests-in-the-town-of-tur/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+palsolidarity+%28International+Solidarity+Movement%29
 
Political Prisoners & Detainees
 

IOF soldiers arrest two minors, raid Jenin villages
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested two Palestinian minors near Yatta village in Al-Khalil province while rearing sheep.

 

IOF soldiers round up 8 Palestinians in Nablus village
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Kafr Qalil village to the south east of Nablus at dawn Monday and rounded up eight citizens before withdrawing from the village.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7eSUDNTyAksiayb5rch9BeH6c96Uqw3mONljvkfM94ZZzK2Oh5nLToB
6hF384W7xHzAXOmq1oBy%2bVbEUya%2f40fShojYaS%2bzyhKuy4YOWnbt4%3d

IOF soldiers launch arrest campaign in Jenin refugee camp
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided the Jenin refugee camp at the early dawn hours on Tuesday and rounded up five citizens, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7N0kzktH0UPcGG892FsiJWJB7yWeyrk4lAUjAsza2HOQSj5EwV2cVksqT%2fQjm0w7u5UZmEVItujuNiC6SnT6TUVHwCZbD0qcLUm%2fIg1xB0UQ%3d

Uproar over arrest of Palestinian activist
Fadi Quran, a Palestinian activist, set to appear in an Israeli court for the second time since his arrest on Friday.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201222894425416533.html
 

Palestinian activist faces Israeli administrative detention
Palestinian nonviolent youth activist, Fadi Quran was assaulted and arrested in Palestine on Friday as he demonstrated for the reopening of the Shuhada Street to Palestinians. Quran’s crime? Israeli officials say Fadi “pushed” a soldier. 

 
Hunger Strikers
 
Palestinian Khader Adnan was rushed into surgery on Monday evening despite giving up his 66-day hunger strike last week. Prisoners’ rights group Addameer, which has been dealing with Adnan’s case, tweeted on Monday evening that Adnan had been taken into surgery but added that it was not clear whether his life was in danger.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hunger-striker-khader-adnan-rushed-surgery?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29

Khader Adnan ‘stable’ after surgery
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Khader Adnan is in a stable condition after undergoing surgery on his intestine after his 66 day hunger strike, a lawyer for the Palestinian detainees’ center said Tuesday. Raed Mahamid said after visiting Adnan in Zeev hospital in northern Israeli town Safed that his condition is good, and he is recovering from the anesthesia used during the operation. Adnan underwent surgery after reporting severe pain in his abdomen two days ago, caused by an intestinal blockage, after he went for two months without food.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463846
 
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Female detainee Hana Shalabi has been moved to solitary confinement as a punishment for her hunger strike action, a lawyer from the Ministry of Detainees said Monday. Shireen Iraqi said that Hasharon prison authorities have moved Shalabi into isolation. Her health is deterioting, Iraqi said, adding that Shalabi has not been medically examined since she went on strike.
 

Four political detainees on hunger strike for one week
Four detainees in the PA jails have been on hunger strike in Nablus jails for the past week demanding their release, relatives said on Sunday.


Gaza

Gaza power plant closes again
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza’s only power plant has been forced to shut down for the second time in two weeks due to a fuel shortage, the energy authority in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday. Energy officials appealed to Egypt to provide Gaza with a sufficient amount of fuel to allow regular operation of the plant, adding that the disruptions were inflicting a heavy toll on the 1.7 million Palestinian residents of the blockaded strip. The power station had only re-started operations eight days ago, reactivating one of four generators when emergency fuel supplies arrived from Egypt. A crisis in fuel supplies shut the plant on Feb. 14, plunging Gaza into up to 18 hour blackouts per day.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463876

Popular Protests 
 

On February 25th Palestinian men and women, elders and children, together with Israeli and international activists gathered for two demonstrations organized by the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee. The first demonstration, attended by approximately ninety people, was planned in response to twenty-nine trees being cut down during the last four months on private Palestinian property near the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on. During the action the participants planted about thirty small olive trees on a hill near the village of At-Tuwani. The demonstration was guarded by the Army, the border police, the police and the DCO (District Coordination Office), nearly forty officers overall.

 

Beit Ommar Demonstrators Continue to Demand an End to the Occupation
On Saturday, February 25th, 2012, Palestinian villagers from Beit Ommar, supported by international and Israeli solidarity activists, rallied against the Israeli occupation during the community’s weekly unarmed demonstration. As usual, the demonstrators headed towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur, which is built on Beit Ommar village farmland. Demonstrators could not get anywhere close to the settlement fence; instead they were met with scores of soldiers preventing them from going any farther by pushing them back. The activists chanted and called upon the soldiers to act more humanely. Farmers in Beit Ommar want to access the land that the new fence separates them from; this is why these demonstrations take place. The increasing amount of land grabs make it more difficult for Beit Ommar residents to survive economically.

 

Occupation Forces Suppress Popular Weekly Protests, Dozens of Suffocation Cases from Poison Gas
al-Masara: The occupation forces suppressed the weekly protest against the settlements and the apartheid wall. This protest sent as well strong condemnation of the frequent attacks on the al Aqsa Mosque and remembered the anniversary of the Hebron massacre. People were chanting slogans in solidarity with the people of Hebron that had gathered in a mass protest demanding the opening of al-Shuhada Street, which has been closed since the massacre of Palestinian worshippers at the hands of an Israeli militant. The occupation forces suppressed the weekly march and prevented the protesters from entering their land under the pretext that the land is considered a closed military zone. Kufur Qaddom: The occupation forces rained tear gas bombs on the protestors, causing dozens of cases of suffocation. They also sprayed the protesters with sewage water and used sound bombs. However, all this failed to end the march. Bilin: A photojournalist alongside other protesters and internationals suffered from suffocation after inhaling tear gas. The weekly march came to kick off Israeli Apartheid Week under the title “Dignity and Resistance.” The occupation forces shot metal bullets covered with rubber and tear gas bombs towards the protesters.

 

Al Aqsa – “The banner of our struggle for justice, freedom and equality”
Yet another martyr, Talat Ramia, 23 years old, killed by the Israeli military with live rounds on his chest last Friday. The protest during which he was killed happened in ar Ram, a suburb of Jerusalem, in reaction to Israel’s threats against the al Aqsa mosque.The latest escalation came as a result of inflammatory statements from Israeli hard-liners threatening to destroy the mosque and build in its place a Jewish Temple.Ibrahim, an eyewitness to the events in Al Aqsa on Friday explains how the events unfolded: “I go every day to the al Aqsa mosque soo I have been able to follow not only the provocations from  the Israeli side but also the reaction from Palestinian Jerusalemites.

 
Activism / BDS
 
From March 5 – 9, 2012 the Bethlehem Bible College will be hosting it’s second “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Bethlehem. The conference will bring Christians from around the world to Bethlehem to connect with Palestinian Christians and to better understand the daily situation they are living under and how certain Christian theological stances help to perpetuate those conditions.
 
A two-day conference of the international committee for the “Global March to Jerusalem” opened in Amman on Sunday. Members of both the executive and central committees of the march, representing more than 60 countries, were present. The head of the Jordanian committee taking part in the meeting, Abdullah Obeidat, said that trades unions and opposition parties decided to support the march and participate in defence of the holy city and Palestinian families in the occupied territories. “This is a global, peaceful protest with the aim of bringing about an end to Israel’s occupation and fighting racism in occupied Palestine,” he said.
 
Other News
 
Member of PLO Executive Committee tells Ma’an news agency that PA is mulling whether to spark a ‘popular uprising’ against the Israeli occupation.
 
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police have given permission for a right-wing march against a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament in her home town of Nazareth, Israeli media reported Monday. Part of a campaign under the slogan “Expel Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset”, her fellow parliamentarian Michael Ben-Ari will accompany activists from far-right group Our Land of Israel in the procession through the Palestinian city on March 11, Hebrew newspaper Maariv said.
 

Arab MKs: Harming al-Aqsa will lead to global jihad
Arab MKs spark fury back in Israel over participation in International Conference for Defense of Jerusalem in Qatar; claims Israel is ‘Judaizing Jerusalem.’ Website lists them as Palestinian representatives.

 

Egyptian FM: We won’t remain silent toward violation of Aqsa sanctity
Egyptian foreign minister Mohammed Kamel Amr has condemned the Israeli occupation authority’s desecration of the sanctity of the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7gnXQHfwG79R5olu0zsSkXpcZuoGRXTO6JTwrdC4yPBB86k%2buLDYf5NjQglMDIwcU%2bSW0VHH4XH%2b4ITi9TJLtnQpFoco3fpt93dBEjGWIpQA%3d

Bardawil: Hamas did not change its position toward Syria
Hamas did not change its position toward Syria and as always does not interfere in the internal affairs of any Arab country, Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil, a Hamas leader, said on Monday.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2bba5zLjD75U0N8lv7VZ5Pk8r7EzwVig53C3w9CoYotjPrkJZuiG9wgi8bAomRZ9Ne7kJKynSidsM3RvUX29oZUeanioG8xPWIjiDHkbY2bE%3d

Israeli government confirms plan for segregated settler train system
On Monday, Israeli officials announced their intention to construct a train system for Israeli settlers living in violation of international law in the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63069
 

Analysis / Op-ed
 
In 2001, the Israeli parliament the Knesset passed a bill forbidding members of the Knesset (MKs) from travelling to “enemy” states, as a response to Balad leader Azmi Bishara’s Syrian trip that year. Consequently, along with being charged with speaking at a public gathering in the Palestinian town of Um Al-Fahem and at a memorial service in Syria, the Knesset voted to lift the immunity of Bishara.
 
There’s going to be a one-state conference at Harvard this weekend. One of the fascinations of my latest trip to Israel/Palestine was seeing how Palestinians have given up on the two-state solution because Israel has destroyed the possibility and the U.N. has pocket-vetoed Palestinian statehood, and people who are sick of occupation are desperately looking around for other ideas (including, inevitably, armed resistance).
 
Behind bars, prisoners have few ways to resist injustice. Refusing food’s a common tactic. Khader Adnan’s the latest detainee to attract attention. His heroism made it worldwide. After 66 days, he began eating after a deal was agreed to release him in April. It’s not without strings, may unravel, or find him again unjustly detained. Israel’s a rogue terror state. It can’t be trusted. Its word lacks credibility. It spurns rule of law principles. It imprisons innocent victims like Khader and many others unjustly. If freed, Adnan risks re-arrest. He was wrongfully detained nine times. Is number 10 next?
 

The Mossad Has Long Given Marching Orders to AIPAC, Grant Smith
AIPAC’s Washington policy conference next month is drawing intense scrutiny and unprecedented resistance. AIPAC has worked quietly for years to tripwire the United States into war with Iran. Soon it will “ask” Congress and the president to define “nuclear weapons capability” as the threshold for war, essentially demanding an immediate attack. 

 
Bahrain
Bahrain: Hundreds Railroaded in Unjust Trials
Bahrain has routinely convicted hundreds of opposition activists and others of politically motivated charges in unfair trials. The government should void the convictions in trials before Bahrain’s military and civilian courts that fell far short of international fair trial standards.

 

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/28/bahrain-hundreds-railroaded-unjust-trials
 

Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked peaceful demonstrators near the capital, Manama, dispersing the anti-government protest using force.

 
For over a year, Saudi and Al-Khalifa monarchy security forces terrorized nonviolent protesters. Thousands braved tear gas, beatings, rubber bullets, live fire, arrests, torture and disappearances. Washington’s very much involved. Bahrain’s the home of America’s Fifth Fleet. Millions of dollars in aid’s provided. So are weapons, including armored vehicles, bunker buster missiles, wire-guided ones, and more. A Pentagon statement said: They’ll “improve Bahrain’s capability to meet current and future armored threats. Bahrain will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.”
 
Iran
 
Israel’s civil defenses are not ready to protect the population in a missile war, an opposition lawmaker said on Monday, fueling debate about the feasibility of an attack on Iran’s nuclear program. Almost one in four Israelis lack access to bomb shelters, whether communal or reinforced rooms in private homes, said Zeev Bielski, chairman of a parliamentary panel on Israel’s home defense preparations. ”Are we prepared for a war? No,” he told Reuters. “Things are moving too slowly and we are wasting very precious time.”
 

Dore Gold converts to Sunni Islam–and speaks on its behalf
“Many Sunni Arab countries are in fact more worried by the threat coming from the Persian Shias of Iran than by Israel, reckons Dore Gold, a former official who posits an opportunity for pacts of mutual interest. “What pulled Europe together was not coal and steel but fear of the Soviet Union,” he says.”

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/02/dore-gold-converts-to-sunni-islam-and.html

Obama Promises Israel Use of U.S. Bases for Iran Attack If It Will Wait, Richard Silverstein
There have been endless recent visits to Israel from high-ranking U.S. officials regarding the Iran issue, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and most recently National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.  The AP reports that during the last set of meetings the Israelis defiantly told the U.S. that if they attacked Iran, they would leave the U.S. in the dark. 

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/02/28/obama-promises-israel-use-of-u-s-bases-for-iran-attack-if-it-will-wait/
 
Saudi Arabia
 
“We are facing a new form of terrorism.” This statement was made by a Saudi interior ministry official at a time when the authorities started a campaign to arrest a number of intellectuals, writers and activists, particularly in the city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia. There is no end in sight to the arrest campaign in Qatif, which has been home to a protest movement for months. On Wednesday, poet and photographer Habib Ali al-Maatiq joined those who have been detained as a group of Saudi security forces arrested him at his workplace. Al-Maatiq has been held incommunicado as even his place of detention is unknown. However, Saudi websites have been circulating reports claiming that the reason behind his arrest was his webmaster position at al-Fajr Cultural Network. 
 

Arabia awaits its spring | Saad al-Faqih,  Saad al-Faqih
Staggeringly corrupt and repressed, Saudi Arabia is ripe for revolution. But fear deters reformers from declaring their views ’Let us strangle the last king with the guts of the last priest,” the French 18th century philosopher Denis Diderot said. The same phrase is now widely repeated across Arabia – or Saudi Arabia, as it is currently named under the dynastic autocracy. It is only a matter of time before the revolutions that have swept the Arab world in the past year reach the Saudi kingdom.

 
Syria
 

Scores reported dead in Syria violence

Activists say 125 killed as government touts overwhelming approval for new constitution meant to end one-party rule.

“Murdering Assad more Noble than Killing an Israeli”
Saudi cleric who once offered cash prize to whomever kidnaps Israeli soldier comes out against the Syrian President.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=47039&cid=23&fromval=1

• Just three people evacuated from Homs as siege continues
• Western journalists not among those taken to safety
• Government announces 89% voted for new constitution 
• Qatar calls for Syrian opposition to be armed

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/feb/27/syria-rescue-wounded-homs-live

Syria calls on foreign forces to stop arming opposition
Syria called on Tuesday for countries to stop “inciting sectarianism and providing arms” to opposition forces in the country, and said that sanctions imposed by some countries were preventing Damascus from buying medicines and fuel. Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, stormed out of the UN Human Rights Council after delivering an angry speech to the Geneva forum’s emergency debate on the deteriorating situation in Syria called at the request of Gulf countries and Turkey, and backed by the West.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-calls-foreign-forces-stop-arming-opposition?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
 

EU imposes new sanctions on Syrian regime
European foreign ministers have frozen the assets of several Syrian government officials and imposed sanctions on the country’s central bank.

Away from official results and declarations, Al-Akhbar correspondents examine proceedings of the constitutional referendum on the ground and the mood of Syrians from all stripes in this detailed round-up on polling day in Damascus, its surrounding areas, and Aleppo.
 
Syrians should beware of some of their foreign ‘friends’, Brian Whitaker
Syrians should fear eastern, not western, intervention – especially autocratic ‘friends’ like Saudi Arabia. From Monday no one will be tortured in Syria. The state will guarantee personal freedom for its citizens and preserve their dignity and security. People’s homes will be inviolable. Everyone will have the right to express opinions freely and openly, and the state will guarantee the freedom and independence of the press. At least, that is what is supposed to happen if President Assad gets a yes vote today in his referendum on thenew constitution. It’s meant to show Syrians – and the rest of the world – that Assad, in the midst of turmoil, is steadily and calmly pressing ahead with “reforms”.
 
This was a quintessential American spectacle. You know that this was managed and orchestrated and choreographed by a low-ranking diplomat at the US Department of State. People with longer memories can see parallels with the theatrics that characterized US policies prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. International conferences were held and the US sponsored a conference for Ahmad Chalabi’s Iraqi National Congress (which reminds one of Syrian National Congress – both are led by highly educated exiled natives whose presence could not conceal the power of religious forces they are dependent on).
 
Damascus: The Everyday Life of Crisis

The busy streets that surround the administrative part of the city make one question whether the country’s troubles have had any impact on the capital. Poster reads: “Looking to the future… [looking] forward… to Syria. We love Syria, strong and proud.”
 
U.S.
 
The leak of over five million emails from the US-based intelligence firm Stratfor, including information about credit card details, passwords, and the identities of sources, sheds new light on the rapidly changing world of intelligence gathering and exposes those behind it. Al-Akhbar gained access to the data obtained and published by WikiLeaks, including sensitive material pertaining to the Middle East.
 
US intelligence firm’s emails leaked
Stratfor calls disclosure of five million stolen confidential emails by WikiLeaks “deplorable, unfortunate and illegal”.

 
Outrage over the New York Police Department’s expansive spy program targeting Muslims has grown across the Northeast in recent days. The latest Associated Press (AP) revelation about the NYPD’s arbitrary surveillance of Muslims shows that the program’s long hands are intertwined with the White House’s.

www.TheHeadlines.Org

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“Part of a campaign under the slogan “Expel Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset”, her fellow parliamentarian Michael Ben-Ari…”

Apparently Ben-Ari has more spare time after being forbidden to visit USA on the account of his terrorist links.