Palestinian hungers strikers end historic action

The Nakba / Refugees

Palestinians to commemorate 'Nakba' day
Al Arabiya/AFP 14 May -- On Tuesday, Palestinians will commemorate the exodus of hundreds of thousands of their kin following the foundation of the Jewish state in 1948. Nakba Day, commemorated annually on May 15, is normally marked by protests, and often by clashes with Israelis in the Palestinian territories. The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which represents Arab communities in Israel, called for a general strike and for Israeli Arabs to go to displaced Palestinian villages ... Tuesday’s central Palestinian rally will be in the West Bank city of Ramallah, organized by the Palestinian Authority. Demonstrations are also scheduled for Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem and throughout the Gaza Strip. Israel from its side, is bracing for possible unrest on Tuesday.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Palestinians in Egypt insist on right to return
EI 14 May by Rami Almeghari -- Photo: Ameena Tulba, 80, was exiled from Jaffa, Palestine, in 1948 -- Said Mohammad al-Shorbajy wants to die in Palestine. “That is my only wish, which I hope God will grant me,” he said. An ailing man in his late sixties, he is originally from Jaffa, a Palestinian city now in Israel. He has lived in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria for the past four decades. His father, Mohammad, was a fishmonger in Jaffa. During the Nakba  -- the wave of ethnic cleansing that led to Israel’s establishment in 1948 --  his family was forced from their home. At that time, Said, who is also known as Abu Mohammad, was only three years old. Following the Nakba, his family moved to al-Shati, a refugee camp in Gaza. A teenage Said was once again uprooted when Israel occupied Gaza in 1967. Ever since then, he has lived in the Abu Qeer suburb of Alexandria.
link to electronicintifada.net

Refugees mark 64 years of 'Nakba', still hopeful about returning home
Al Arabiya 14 May by Nadia Mayen -- Palestinians prepare to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the Nakba, which means the catastrophe in Arabic, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their lands and homes in 1948 when the state of Israel was established.  An estimated 10,000 Palestinian refugees remain living in the Aqabit Jaber refugee camp in Jericho on the West Bank hoping that they can return back to their lands and homes following the Nakba. Ratiba Abed al-Hadi, 85, is one of the 1948 refugees who have lived in lifelong misery in the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp.  "“We cannot leave this key, it is now with me and I will give it to my children, who will give it to their children and grandchildren, so our land will stay in our minds and we will not forget," she said, as she held on to a key.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Palestinians sticking to identity, despite Israeli bids to wipe it out
Al Manar 14 May by Marwa Haidar -- "I’m from Um Khaled in Palestine," said Abu Ahmad, 70, insisting on the Arabic name of his village. "But it has another name now that I don’t know…. Even I don’t want to know this fake name," added Abu Ahmad. While asking his son, Ahmad, about the name of their village, the 39 year old man answered with regret: "It’s Netanya." Um Khaled is one of many Palestinian villages and cities whose names have been changed by the Zionist entity since the occupation of Palestine in 1948.
link to www.almanar.com.lb

Zochrot: May 15 - Tel Aviv commemoration of Nakba Day
Tuesday, 15/5/2012 at Sderot Ben Zion near King George St, 7pm -- Zochrot will commemorate the Nakba Day by doing what the police prevented at The Israeli Independence Day  -As Minister Limor Livnat was surprised to find out at the parliament few days ago 'Points, points, points from the north to the south' Minister Limor Livnat said: 'What is the Arab villages which Zochrot speaks about' is trying to present to the public? the public should know what it is about. They present a map and the map has a points. Points, points, points. You may not know the Web site. You know him well, in my opinion. Points, from the north to the south, south of Beersheba. And these points which are the villages are all over the State of Israel. I found such in Tel Aviv dozens of points. Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion, Rehovot - and where not? in Beit Shemesh, Netanya, Or Akiva, around all of these areas. Tiberias, Madam Speaker. where not? where not? in Beit Shean. where not?'
Read excerpts from the discussion translated to English. Here the video  from the Knesset.
link to www.kibush.co.il

Clashes at TAU's 'Nakba Day' rally
Ynet 14 May -- Some 200 right wing protesters faced off with 400 leftist protesters who sought to hold a Palestinian 'Nakba Day' ceremony – commemorating the "disaster" of the foundation of the State of Israel – at Tel Aviv University, Monday. Three protesters were arrested after the confrontations. The right wing protesters called out at the organizer of the event, who was arrested: "Traitor!" ... They also prevented the ceremony's organizers from speaking and booed them repeatedly. During the ceremony the leftist activists read out what they said was "an alternative Yizkor prayer." Six Arab students presented their personal stories and those present stood for a moment of silence.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Connecting the Nakba to the present day / Amira Hass
Haaretz 14 May -- As the Nakba Day and its events draw closer, Palestinian uniformed forces send a clear message that demonstrations should not disturb the settlers.
link to www.haaretz.com

Hamas warns of attempts to change Lebanon's refugees into expatriates
BEIRUT (PIC) 14 May -- The Hamas Movement warned that there are fresh European and US projects seemingly intended for improving the living conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, but they are actually aimed at liquidating their right to return ... Hamas appealed to the Lebanese government and parliament to work on securing a decent living for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon through granting them humanitarian, civil and social rights, and on developing a strategy to encounter resettlement schemes.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Hunger strikes

Hunger-striking detainees sign deal with prison authority
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May 18:29  -- Detainees on Monday signed a deal with the Israeli prison authority to end their mass hunger strike, officials told Ma‘an. Prisoner representatives from each of the factions agreed to the deal in Ashkelon jail, prisoners society chief Qaddura Fares said in a statement. Israel's internal security service Shin Bet confirmed the deal, and prison authorities said detainees would halt their hunger strike within hours, the Israeli news site Ynet reported. Senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri, who was a member of the negotiations team, said Israel agreed to provide a list of accusations to administrative detainees, or release them at the end of their term. In comments to the Hamas-affiliated new site Palestine Information Center, he said that under the Egypt-brokered deal Israel agreed to release all detainees from solitary confinement over the next 72 hours. Israel will also lift a ban on family visits for detainees from the Gaza Strip, and revoke the so-called Shalit law, according to the official. Israel's "Shalit law," restricted prisoners' access to families and to educational materials as punishment for the five-year captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Shalit was freed in October in a prisoner swap agreement.
link to www.maannews.net

Palestinians end Israel prison hunger strike
Al Jazeera 14 May 20:18 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have agreed on an Egyptian-brokered deal aimed at ending a mass hunger strike that challenged Israel's policy of detention without trial and raised fears of a bloody Palestinian backlash if any protesters died. After the announcement of the deal Al Jazeera learned that at least two Palestinian prisoners [Diab and Halahleh?] had vowed to continue their hunger strikes. Al Jazeera's Cal Perry, reporting from Jerusalem, said the story was "still developing". "This was a deal that was seemingly to include all prisoners, but clearly this is not what we're hearing now out of Ramallah," he said. Our correspondent added that the celebrations that erupted in Gaza after the deal was announced may be premature. "We haven't heard that this deal is going to change [the Israeli policy of] administrative detention. There are at least 308 Palestinians held in administrative detention and in this deal they will continue to serve out their sentences," Perry said.
link to www.aljazeera.com

Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike as agreement reached with Israeli officials
Haaretz 14 May -- Sources within the Palestinian Prisoners Club claim that agreement regulates administrative detainees, solitary confinement policy, and visits from family members residing in Gaza ... Last Tuesday, the Knesset approved the second and third reading of legislation proposed to arrange humane prison conditions for all prisoners in Israel, including security prisoners. The legislation merges a law proposed by Dov Khenin (Hadash) with a proposal offered by the Ministry of Public Security. .
link to www.haaretz.com

Danon: Israel, Palestinian prisoners deal 'serious error'
JPost 14 May -- Likud MK Danny Danon called the deal signed between Israel and Palestinian prisoners on Monday that accepted certain demands of the inmates concerning improving their conditions a serious mistake, calling on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to convene urgently over the matter.
link to www.jpost.com

Israel subjects Bilal Diab to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment on 77th day of hunger strike
EI 14 May by Ali Abunimah -- Palestinian prisoner Bilal Diab is suffering frequent loss of consciousness and is close to death on his 77th day of hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial by Israel. Despite this, Israel continues to subject him to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, blackmail and other unethical medical practices and to deny him proper care, according to his own account provided in statement from Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
link to electronicintifada.net

Occupation permits Bilal Diab to call his family
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 14 May 9:52 am -- Bilal Diab, 77 days on hunger strike, has called his family for the first time, on Sunday evening, which is considered the first occupation's response to his demands, "victory is coming soon, God willing," he said.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Official: Israel to return bodies of Palestinians
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May -- Israel will return the bodies of 100 Palestinians to their families as part of a deal signed Monday with prisoners on hunger strike, an official said Monday ... No date has been set for the return of the bodies, Gendelman added ... Israel holds the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians in what it calls the "enemy fighters' cemetery," known to Palestinians as the "cemetery of numbers."
link to www.maannews.net

UN official praises civil society support for hunger strikers
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May -- The top United Nations humanitarian official in Palestine on Monday paid tribute to Palestinian civil society for promoting prisoners' rights, amid protests against UN inaction on the detainees' hunger-strike.  Maxwell Gaylard said prisoner representatives and civil society organizations had been "absolutely steadfast" in highlighting the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
link to www.maannews.net

Activists block entrance to Ma'ale Adumim settlement in solidarity with Palestinian hunger strikers
[with video] PSCC 14 May -- 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists blocked the entrance of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement yesterday, in support of the Palestinian prisoners’ massive hunger strike, now on its 27th days. The protesters managed to halt traffic at  the entrance to the settlement for about 20 minutes, before Israeli forces managed to remove them from the road and onto the pavement. Two of the Palestinian protesters were detained and taken to the adjacent police station. The Ma’ale Adumim Jewish-only settlement is located 7 km east of Jerusalem, and is the third largest in the West Bank, with about 35,000 residents. The entrance that was blocked, leads to the Israeli police's Judea and Samaria Central Unit's interrogation center, one of the biggest in the West Bank.
link to mondoweiss.net

Group sets up life-size prison cell to support striking prisoners
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 14 May -- A rights group Monday set up a life-size Israeli prison cell in Ramallah, mimicking real cells many Palestinian prisoners are currently held in while finishing their fourth week of a mass open-ended hunger strike. Head of the Palestine Deserves group Ayman Sbeih said in a press release that the Freedom Cell aims to attract global attention to the prisoners ... An elderly father of one of the Palestinian striking prisoners stood inside the cell representing striking prisoners and was freed later on, suggesting that all prisoners will be freed one day.
link to english.wafa.ps

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Restriction of movement

Netanyahu ordered evacuation of Hebron home over fears of war crimes suit
Haaretz 13 May by Chaim Levinson -- AG's fear of legal action against Israeli officials at The Hague also reason for state's hesitance regarding authorization of the Ulpana Hill West Bank outpost -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the evacuation of a Hebron home taken by settlers last month after being informed that the expropriation of Palestinian homes and lands could complicate Israeli officials in war crimes litigation, Haaretz learned on Sunday. Last month, Israeli security forces evacuated Israeli settlers from a house in a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron, in a surprise move that ended an affair that sparked controversy across Israel and caused a rift in the government.
link to www.haaretz.com

Netanyahu says no to West Bank annexation
Ynet 13 May -- Ministerial Committee on Legislative Affairs called to vote on bill to impose Israeli law on Jewish settlements in West Bank. After opposition from Begin, Meridor, Prime minister eventually intervenes to remove matter from committee's agenda
link to www.ynetnews.com

IDF closes Palestinian school to make way for West Bank training zone / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 14 May -- Civil Administration issues demolition order against the school, though residents have no access to any other -- A Palestinian elementary school was shut down last week after Israel's Civil Administration confiscated the vehicle used to transport teachers to it ... On Sunday, the administration also confiscated the car of a veterinarian employed by the Palestinian Authority when he came to the village to vaccinate sheep. The vehicles were seized as part of a stepped-up enforcement campaign in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli control.
link to www.haaretz.com

NGOs: EU's PA aid projects razed by Israel
AFP 14 May -- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says Israel destroyed various infrastructures built with European funds across West Bank, Gaza Strip -- Israel demolished dozens of Palestinian homes, water cisterns and farm buildings built with European funds in 2011, and over 100 such structures are at risk, aid groups said in a report on Monday. The figures, compiled by a group of local and international NGOs chaired by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were published just ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. The report from the Displacement Working Group (DWG) said Israel razed 62 European-funded structures last year, and another 110 such projects were at risk. The DWG said that affected structures were financed by France, the Netherlands, Britain, Poland, Ireland and the European Commission.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Destruction policy in South Hebron Hills
Rabbis for Human Rights  posted 14 May -- Before the week of the 2nd of May, 2 “stop work” orders were issued in Umm el Cheir.  They were  actually demolition orders: One demolition order was issued against a new tin structure that was built the last days with the help of OCHA. This was supposed to be finished these days and it was supposed to be for the use of the widow and her 7 children whose home was demolished on January 25th 2012. The demolition can be seen on Facebook album. A second demolition order was issued tverge skeleton of an old vehicle that is used as a social club of Um El Chir. Inside it there are a modest library and a modest playroom that are not under the permission of the security forces.
link to rhr.org.il

Cave-dwelling Palestinian farmers facing eviction from homes
Telegraph 13 May By Adrian Blomfield, Jenba, the West Bank --  Israel's defence ministry is expected to seek court approval this week to destroy up to 12 traditional "fellaheen" communities situated in an area designated as a training zone for the occupying Israeli army. The issue has threatened to heighten tensions with the Palestinian leadership, which has refused to resume peace talks with Israel as long as it continues to build settlements on land it occupied in the Six Day War of 1967. It has also set the Jewish state on a collision course with European powers, particularly the British government which funded the construction of cisterns and sanitation facilities for the cave-dwelling communities, home to some of the poorest Palestinians in the West Bank ... Although the communities under threat have been marked on British maps since the 1830s, no one knows how long they have really existed. In the village of Jenba, one of the largest of the 12 communities, they all remember they were born in the same caves as their fathers and grandfathers.
link to www.telegraph.co.uk

Committee: Israeli settlers raze trees south of Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 May -- Israeli settlers chopped down olive trees belonging to a Palestinian family south of Hebron on Sunday, a local committee spokesman said. Israelis from Maon settlement razed a 3000-square-meter olive grove near Tuwani village, belonging to Muhammad Ribee and his brothers, Ratib al-Jbour said. "Settlers and Israel's occupation aim to destroy the Palestinian national economy, and prevent Palestinian citizens from having any source of income for their families," al-Jbrour said in a statement.
link to www.maannews.net

Settlers destroy trees north of Hebron
HEBRON (WAFA) 13 May  – Israeli settlers Sunday cut down olive, almond and grape trees in Palestinian-owned land north of Beit Ummar, a town north of Hebron, said a local activist. Spokesman of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements, Mohammed Awad, told WAFA that Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement on Beit Ein attacked the Palestinian land and destroyed fruitful trees belong to Hammad al-Salibi. Awad said this is the fifth attack targeting al-Salibi land since the summer.
link to english.wafa.ps

Visualizing Occupation: Freedom of movement / Michal Vexler
972mag 14 May -- Whereas West Bank settlers can travel freely between Israel and the West Bank, Palestinian movement is governed by the Israeli security establishment. This illustration is the fourth in a series of infographics on the effect of the occupation on the Palestinian civilian population.
link to 972mag.com

Violence / Raids

Israeli soldiers terrorize elderly man and his wife in Silwan district
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 14 May -- Israeli soldiers on Sunday stormed the house of a 70-year old man called Younis Assi in Silwan district of occupied Jerusalem at the pretext of searching for a weapon and terrorized him and his family. Assi reported that Israeli troops broke into his house in Al-A'awar neighborhood all of a sudden and locked him up along with his elderly wife in one of the rooms before embarking on ransacking the house ...The elderly man said Israeli officers interrogated him for hours and later released him after he was forced to pay 5,000 shekels and sign a bail order of another 10,000 shekels.
In a separate incident, Israeli municipal employees escorted by policemen handed out on the same day demolition notices against seven Palestinian homes in Silwan district at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Medics: Teenager injured by tear gas canister in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 May -- A teenage boy was injured and another arrested in Hebron on Sunday as locals clashed with Israeli soldiers, medics said. Ali Manasra, 15, was injured when a tear gas canister was fired at his chest in the village of Bani Naim, medical sources told Ma‘'an. He was taken to hospital by the Red Crescent. Nihad Trayreh, 16, was arrested by soldiers and taken to an unknown destination, locals said.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli forces raid Beit Ummar, Hebron
PNN 14 May -- On Monday, 14th May, Israeli forces stormed the village of Beit Ummar, northwest of Hebron, broke into two houses and handed the owners interview notices to appear before the Israeli intelligence in Etzion interrogation center, north of Hebron.
link to english.pnn.ps

Settler attacks farmer in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 May -- A local farmer was attacked by a settler on Sunday while tending to his land in Beit Ummar, a local official said.  Walid Muhammad Salman Sabarneh, 30, was farming his land when a settler approached and ordered him at gunpoint to leave the area, popular committee spokesman Muhammad Ayyad Awad told Ma‘an. After refusing to leave his land, the settler began to throw rocks at Sabarneh, before assaulting him using the butt of his gun. Saberneh was taken to hospital in Hebron, Awad said. Israeli soldiers stood by as the incident took place, he added. The settler from Karmi Zur is well known to local residents and has threatened farmers in the area on several occasions.
link to www.maannews.net

Detention

IOF soldiers storm home of old woman to arrest her 'detained' son
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 14 May -- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the home of a woman in her seventies in Shuyukh village, in Al-Khalil province, to arrest her already detained son. The mother of Khalil Halaika said that dozens of soldiers broke into her home on Sunday and asked for her son, who has been arrested ten days earlier.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

IOF soldiers arrest citizen in Al-Khalil, storm houses and shops
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 14 May -- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a Palestinian citizen in Al-Khalil on Monday and stormed a number of houses and shops in the city. PIC reporter in the city said that the soldiers arrested Abdul Rahman Abu Snene and broke into the homes of two others. He said that the soldiers installed a roadblock near Polytechnic Palestine faculty and stormed a number of shops and assaulted their owners.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

PA security arrests two Hamas supporters
JENIN (PIC) 14 May -- Palestinian Authority’s security apparatuses arrested two Hamas supporters in Nablus and Jenin on Monday, local sources said. The PA preventive security detained Sheikh Hassan Al-Zaghal, a former prisoner in Israeli occupation jails, from Zabuba village in Jenin, locals said. The same apparatus in Nablus arrested student Anas Raddad, who hails from Saida village in Tulkarem, at the outside gate of Najah University. He was previously arrested on several occasions by different PA apparatuses. The preventive security in Ramallah is still holding Sheikh Fadel Al-Mubaid from occupied Jerusalem for almost a month. Mubaid was arrested on 19/4/2012 only a short while after his release from 15 months in Israeli detention.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinian forces seize ex-fighter in West Bank
AP 13 May -- Palestinian security forces detained a prominent ex-fighter Sunday, stepping up a campaign of arrests following the death of the governor of the northern West Bank district of Jenin, residents said. Masked security men seized Zakariya Zubeidi in Jenin after halting his car, blindfolding him and shackling him before bundling him into another car and speeding away, residents said. Zubeidi, who is in his mid-30s, was a well-known militant who once battled Israeli forces before he was granted amnesty four years ago and co-founded a theater. Zubeidi is known in Israel because of his fluent Hebrew and frequent interviews in the Israeli media.
link to democratherald.com

Portraits of Palestinian prisoners illustrate their absence
KUFR RAI, West Bank (AP) 13 May -- For the thousands of Palestinian families who have a relative in Israeli detention, a photograph is the only real contact with their loved ones. In homes, the images are usually decked in elaborate frames alongside the portraits of dead ancestors, marking the conspicuous absence of the prisoners. The fate of the prisoners, always an emotional issue in Palestinian society, has become an especially poignant rallying point over the past month as more than 1,000 men imprisoned by Israel have staged a hunger strike
link to www.sun-sentinel.com

Lawyer: Court presses detainee to stop hunger strike
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 May -- Israel's High Court rejected the appeal of hunger-striking administrative detainee Mohammad Mahmoud Abu Arab for the third time, his lawyer said Monday. The court offered to hear Abu Arab's appeal if he ends his 17-day hunger strike, the lawyer said, adding that the prisoner refused to give up the strike. Abu Arab has been held without charge in Israel's Megiddo jail since Oct. 8 2010, he said.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza

Cut Gaza power supply, to boost Israel grid: minister
AFP 13 May -- Israel should consider cutting its supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip this summer if it experiences power shortages, Israeli Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said ... "If there are power shortages in Israel this summer, the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip should be halted... It represents 4.5 percent of Israeli production," the letter said ... "If we are in that situation it would be absurd for Israelis to be the first ones affected while at the same time we continue to provide electricity to Gaza, while they are not paying," he said, apparently referring to late payments by the Palestinian Authority for the 120 megawatts which Israel supplies to the strip. Fawzi Barhum, spokesman of the Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza, said Erdan's "threats... exposed the true face of the occupation."
link to news.yahoo.com

Egypt seizes unlicensed fuel in north Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 12 May -- Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai, officials said Saturday. Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added. Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip, officials said. Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel network -- used to bring goods into the blockaded coastal strip -- sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts.
link to www.maannews.net

Arab writers return from Gaza, overshadow literature festival with anti-Hamas testimonies
Al-Ahram 13 May -- Arab writers returning from Gaza condemn Hamas repression, lament erasure of Palestinian character ... "The main feeling you get while in Gaza is anger, and there are many reasons there for that. The situation there is atrocious; the blockade is everywhere, and this creates chaos that inevitably leads to fear," Khaled El-Khamisi said. The people of Gaza are angry not only towards Israel, but also towards Egypt and — more significantly -- Hamas ... Most of the writers who visited Gaza had one opinion with respect to cultural activities in Gaza: "deplorable." They say the aim appears to be to erase the Palestinian character and culture, which gave the world thinkers and poets like Mahmoud Darwish and Edward Said. Professor of English Literature Sahar El-Mougy said that there’s a deplorable condition of cultural hunger. There aren’t even cinemas, libraries, or shops that sell books on the arts, philosophy or literature. The only available books are those on Islamic Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) and Fiqh (thinking). [no, shari‘a is Islamic law and fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence]
link to english.ahram.org.eg

Israel allows export of Gaza-made garments for the first time in six years
Gaza, May 14 (Xinhua-ANI): Israel on Monday allowed the export of Gaza-made garments to abroad markets for the first time since Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2006, a Palestinian official said. Raed Fattouh, Palestinian coordinator for commercial movement in the Gaza Strip, said a truck loaded with Gaza-made clothes has been exported through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalon Crossing on the borders with Gaza. "The load of clothes, which were weaved by Gazan dressmakers, was exported through Kerem Shalom to the Israeli Seaport of Ashdod, then will be transferred to the British Clothing Company GB Williams," said Fattouh. The load of sewed garments, including 1,000 pieces of wool, is the first export of garments from Gaza to abroad markets since 2006, according to Fattouh.
link to www.newstrackindia.com

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

Viva Palestina: Viva hope
Morning Star 14 May by Ann Czernik -- For the past month, the Viva Palestina 6 aid convoy has been making its way from Bradford to Gaza, and is scheduled to arrive today, the anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 ... Arshad Ali chairs Viva Palestina in Bradford and has led three convoys since 2009. A big man with a huge heart, he was reduced to tears by Palestinians he met in the Jordanian coastal city of Aqaba. "It's a beautiful place, and across the beach you can see Palestine a few miles away," he says. "There are people sitting on the beach crying. Every day they go and look at their house now under Israeli occupation. "They say: 'That was our house, where we used to live'." Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are separated by a distance of a few miles.
link to www.morningstaronline.co.uk

Cooking with solar power
Jordan Valley Solidarity 13 May -- In the intense heat of the Jordan Valley, where Palestinians have been stripped of their natural resources, and most families are dependent on expensive gas for cooking, we are looking at ways we can use everyday materials to harness the energy of the sun. Our latest innovation is the solar oven, made from just cardboard boxes, tin foil and a sheet of glass. We interviewed one of our new volunteers to find out how it works.
link to www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org

BDS roundup: 10,000 signatures delivered to Irish corporation demanding divestment from Israeli contracts
EI 14 May by nora -- This week in BDS news around the world: 10,000 signatures delivered to Irish building materials corporation demanding divestment from Israeli business contracts; Palestinian BDS National Committee, Popular Struggle Coordination Committee call for 24 hours of hunger in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and boycott of international security firm G4S for its involvement in the Israeli prison service; and the campaign to demand the Red Hot Chili Peppers cancel their scheduled Tel Aviv gig continues.
link to electronicintifada.net

Political and diplomatic news

Fatah leader: Netanyahu letter presents 'dead end'
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 14 May -- Fatah official Abbas Zaki said Monday that Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu's letter on the peace process presents a "dead-end." ... Speaking to official Voice of Palestine radio, Zaki said the letter outlined long-term solutions that would take 20 years to implement, which he warned would allow Israel time to take over all Palestinian lands.
link to www.maannews.net

PLO: No clear answers in Netanyahu's letter
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 13 May -- PLO Executive Committee said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to President Mahmoud Abbas’ letter did not include any clear answers regarding central issues obstructing  the peace process, Sunday said a statement by the committee ... Abbas received Netanyahu's response through the Israeli envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, in Ramallah on Saturday night.
link to english.wafa.ps

Israel letter says new cabinet chance for peace: report
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Daily Star) 14 May: Israel's new unity government could help move forward the stalled peace process, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a letter to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday. Quoting a source who saw the letter, the paper said Netanyahu had told Abbas that his surprise move to form a broad coalition with the center-right Kadima opposition, which was announced last week, would help advance peace talks. Haaretz said the letter also contained a pledge "to establish a demilitarized Palestinian state in keeping with the principle of a two-state solution." Netanyahu has backed that position in public before, but the newspaper said it was the first time it had been outlined in an "official state document."
link to www.dailystar.com.lb

PA prepares for local elections despite Gaza objections
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May -- The Palestinian Authority on Sunday pledged to prepare for local government elections, despite objections from the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. The Fatah governing body, meeting on Sunday, agreed to form a committee headed by President Mahmoud Abbas to prepare for the municipal vote, Fatah spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said. Presidential, parliamentary and local government elections are all overdue since Fatah and Hamas split bitterly over Hamas' electoral success in 2006.
link to www.maannews.net

Mashaal meets Emirati leaders in Abu Dhabi
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 May --  Mashaal discussed his reconciliation deal with rival party Fatah and other areas of common concern, in meetings with minister council deputy-head Zayed al-Nahyan and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Emirates News Agency said. Sheikh Bin Al Nahyan confirmed his country’s support for the Palestinian right to an independent state in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative, while Mashaal thanked the United Arab Emirates for its position.
link to www.maannews.net

Racism / Repression of dissent

The institutional racism
RHR 14 May by Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann --A few years ago, a significant number of rabbis showed support of the book "Torat Hamelech", an Halachic book written by Rabbis Isaac Shapira and Yosef Elitzur from Od Ysef Chai Yeshiva located in Yitzhar. The book, which contains a permit to kill the enemy’s children as there is an apprehension that the children might grow up to oppose us. The institutional racism knows how to properly fight against the incitement of a religious Muslim leader, but remains hushed. By remaining silent, it supports the incitement of Jewish Rabbis at ideological settlements – Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann reminds how the authors of "Torat Hamelch" were dealt with.
link to rhr.org.il

'Judicial proceedings against Muhammad Bakri would be a severe violation of the freedom of expression'
14 May -- Hundreds of Israeli cultural and intellectual personalities and concerned citizens wrote to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, calling upon him to reject the idea of prosecuting actor Muhammad Bakri over his film 'Jenin, Jenin'.
link to www.kibush.co.il

Arab-Israeli drivers denied access to Kirya canteen
Ynet 13 May -- Japanese Ambassador to Israel Hideo Sato has filed an official complaint with the foreign and defense ministries after security guards at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv prohibited two Arab-Israeli drivers working for the Japanese embassy from leaving their vehicles to purchase food at the military canteen, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Sunday. The drivers, both residents of Jaffa, were driving the Japanese defense minister and members of his delegation. Jewish drivers of other cars in the convoy were permitted to leave their vehicles, the report said.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Other news

West Bank seeks to meet fish demands with farms
Al Arabiy/Agencies 12 May by Noora Faraj -- Residents of the land-locked West Bank have long been dependent on expensive Mediterranean fish supplied to them by Israel. Today, fish farming can provide an alternative. In the city of Jericho, farmer Omar Sawafta is one of many who have opted to fish farming in tanks and pools in a bid to make the West Bank self-sufficient in 'sea' food ... Despite the availability of water for the fish, there is increased competition for the precious commodity from nearby Jewish settlements, which is having a dramatic impact on Jericho's main industry, farming.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Abbas receives FIFA vice president, heads of football federations
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 14 May -- President Mahmoud Abbas Monday received Jordanian Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the Vice President of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and heads of international and Arab football federations on the sidelines of their participation in the Palestine from Nakba to Statehood football champion[ship] in Ramallah ... Several football teams arrived in the Palestinian Territory to participate in the championship marking the 64th Nakba Day, including the Vietnamese and Pakistani national teams.
link to english.wafa.ps

Opinion / Analysis

A brief history of land robbers, judges, and slippery lawyers / Adam Keller
12 May -- Shortly after the IDF entry into the West Bank and the establishment of the military government which continues to this day, it was Meir Shamgar – head of the army's judicial branch, later Attorney General and still later President of the Supreme Court – who resolved to give occupied Palestinians the option of appealing to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem against the acts of the army set to rule over them. This was considered a significant expression of what was then termed "enlightened occupation" and speakers for Israel took great pride in it during their appearances worldwide. But there were limits to enlightenment. The Supreme Court flatly refused to hear appeals based on the Fourth Geneva Convention, though the State of Israel had been among the first to sign it, already in 1949. Quite simply, this Convention speaks of the duties and obligations set on an occupying power in its relationship with inhabitants of the Occupied Territory -- and the State of Israel refused to recognize that the West Bank is Occupied Territory, and found all sorts of other terms such as "Administered Territory" or "Disputed Territory".
link to adam-keller2.blogspot.com

Analysis: Israeli government challenges the law to embrace illegal settler outposts
RAMALLAH/TEL AVIV (IRIN) 14 May -- When Netanyahu formed a new unity government with the centrist Kadima party on 8 May, some analysts said this could bring along changes, while Palestinian officials immediately called upon the new government to freeze settlement activity. But, many warned that settlers were only gaining in strength, holding onto occupied land at any price. Now, say analysts, state support for settlements and illegal outposts has crossed a point of no return, undermining the rule of law and threatening Israeli democracy. "What happened around Migron and other outposts is a total earthquake of Israeli constitutional balance," Dror Etkes, an Israeli expert on land issues in oPt, told IRIN. "There is a major clash coming up between the government, the settlers and the Supreme Court. By legalizing the outpost, the government made clear that it neither cares about national, nor about international law."
link to www.irinnews.org

Israel putting any two-state peace deal at risk, says EU / Harriet Sherwood
Guardian 14 May -- European Union criticises expansion of settlements and conditions for Palestinians in West Bank and East Jerusalem ... In a sharply critical statement issued in Brussels on Monday, the EU foreign affairs council warned that the acceleration of settlement construction, evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, settler violence and provocations, and worsening conditions for Palestinians in most of the West Bank "threaten to make a two-state solution impossible" ... Israel swiftly rejected the statement, saying its "long list of claims and criticisms [were] based on a partial, biased and one-sided depiction of realities on the ground".
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Third intifada is the only alternative left for Palestinians / Abdel Bari Atwan
Gulf News 15 May -- They have tried everything to reclaim their dignity. A spark is all that's needed now -- For 64 years the Palestinians have patiently and steadfastly continued their struggle for justice, enduring the longest occupation in modern history. Recently, however, other events throughout the region have dominated the world’s press. First, the ‘war on terror’, then the invasion of Iraq, apprehension about a nuclear Iran, and now the turmoil of the Arab revolutions. Has the Palestinian cause been side-lined, or even forgotten, in the clamour for democracy and the horror of so much violence? ... Indeed, the Arab press has relegated most stories about Palestine to the inside pages, not only because of the drama of the Arab revolutions but also out of disillusionment with political infighting, the weakness and corruption of the ineffectual Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the shortcomings of its leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Disappointment too, perhaps, that the Palestinians haven’t yet joined the revolutionary club and taken to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza in their thousands. But the Nakba (catastrophe) is not forgotten, because the Palestinian question is deeply embedded in the Arab psyche, and the Palestinians flag is still the flag that is flown to demonstrate Arab solidarity from Tahrir Square to Benghazi.
link to gulfnews.com

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