UN: When complete, 85% of separation wall will run inside West Bank; 23,000 Palestinians to be isolated

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

OCHA: 23,000 Palestinians will be isolated when barrier is completed
RAMALLAH (PIC) 13 July — The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) this week issued a fact sheet about the segregation wall being built by the Israeli occupation and the impact it is having and will have on Palestinian lives when it is completed. According to OCHA, 85% of the wall’s route will run inside the West Bank rather than along the Green Line, isolating 9.4% of the West Bank. “Around 7,500 Palestinians who reside in areas between the Green Line and the Barrier (Seam Zone), excluding East Jerusalem, require special permits to continue living in their own homes; another 23,000 will be isolated if the Barrier is completed as planned,” the report stated adding that those Palestinians whose land lies behind the barrier have to have special permits to enter their land.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Greater Israel watch, ctd.
Daily Beast 12 July by Andrew Sullivan — Yesterday we posted a photograph of the collection can of the Jewish National Fund, showing a map of Israel that shows no boundary between Israel and the occupied territories. A reader found his grandfather’s JNF can. Compare the two images after the jump:
link to andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com

Municipality ‘hiding’ house demolitions in E J’lem
JPost 13 July — The Jerusalem Municipality has manipulated the statistics of housing demolitions in east Jerusalem to make it look like fewer are taking place, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The policy of not including “self-demolitions” — where Arab families are threatened with staggering fines if they do not demolish their own houses — in the official count, has allowed Jerusalem to present a picture of a dramatic decrease in demolitions during Mayor Nir Barkat’s term … The revelation is especially significant ahead of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Israel next Monday. After a number of demolitions were announced during her first visit as secretary of state in March 2009, she publicly called housing demolitions in east Jerusalem “unhelpful.” “Clinton said we can’t demolish homes, but she didn’t say anything about them demolishing their own homes,” Margalit said. “This way, it doesn’t show up on the statistics.”
link to www.jpost.com

New Israeli colony in Abu al Ajaj
[good map of Jordan Valley, photos] JVS 12 July — Israeli settlers are establishing yet another new colony in the Jordan Valley. With the support of the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, they are taking over a disused army base close to two Palestinian communities and claiming the land for themselves, just as the notorious Maskiyyot settlers did in 2002 … These new colonialists are clearly working closely with the settlement-run ‘Jordan Valley Regional Council’ and the neighbouring settlement of Massu’a. One of the most aggressive colonies in the Jordan Valley, Massu’a settlers are responsible for a series of land grabs whereby they have violently stolen land from Abu Al Ajaj on three separate occasions in recent years.
link to www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org

Palestine welcomes home her youth from the diaspora
PNN-HCEF 11 July — The youth of the 2012 “Know Thy Heritage” Leadership Program set foot in their homeland for the first time on Monday, July 9. They were welcomed joyfully into Bethlehem by the local boy scout and girl scout bands, which led them through the streets to Manger Square, where the Deputy Mayor of Bethlehem city, Mr. George Sa’adeh, and the Deputy Governor of Bethlehem district, Mr. Mohammad Taha greeted them in a welcoming ceremony attended by the residents of Bethlehem and the surrounding area. Sir Rateb Rabie, President/CEO of HCEF, explains that this journey was far from easy; many of the youth delegates have been travelling for several days, from as far away as Australia and California. Even after gathering together in Amman, Jordan on July 7, 2012, there were more challenges awaiting them.
“The group was delayed for over 7 hours at the King Hussein Bridge as they tried to enter, with the Israeli security forces questioning some youth as many as 3 separate times,” says Rabie, “but I’m proud to say they were not discouraged, and grew only more determined to share this experience in solidarity with their brothers and sisters living under occupation in Palestine.”
link to english.pnn.ps

Violence / Raids / Arrests / Provocations

PCHR Weekly Report: 5 civilian Palestinians wounded, 33 abducted by Israeli forces this week [5-11 July]
IMEMC 13 July — …Also this week, Israeli forces abducted two Palestinian civilians and 3 human rights defenders at non-violent protests, 26 Palestinians, including 7 children, during incursions into the West Bank, and two Palestinian civilians, including a child, who attempted to cross the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel to search for jobs inside Israel.  Israeli attacks in the West Bank: During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 63 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During these incursions, Israeli forces abducted 26 Palestinians, including 7 children … Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip: In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian man was wounded this week by Israeli forces in the northern Gaza Strip when he was together with other workers collecting scraps of construction materials … During the reporting period, Israeli warplanes launched 3 air strikes at a training site of the Palestinian resistance, an open area and agricultural lands in the Gaza Strip. Also in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces conducted one limited incursion into Palestinian areas to the east of Khan Yunis, during which they leveled areas of Palestinian land. Full Report
link to www.imemc.org

The IOF arrests Hamas leader and six citizens from the West Bank
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 14 July — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested during the last two days a Hamas leader and six Palestinians from different districts in the West Bank, and set up checkpoints at several main crossroads.
The IOF soldiers arrested on Saturday morning a Palestinian citizen at Etzion crossroad in the north of Al-Khalil in the West Bank, and transferred him, handcuffed and blindfolded, to an unknown destination, local sources said. The Israeli TV second channel quoted an IOF spokesman as saying that ‘The Kfir Brigade’, which operates in the West Bank, had also arrested on Friday five wanted citizens from different districts of the West Bank, and transferred them to investigation centers.
Meanwhile, the IOF soldiers have deployed in several neighborhoods and towns of Al-Khalil province and established several military checkpoints in a number of areas, on main crossroads, to arrest Palestinians and to search citizens’ vehicles.
The IOF also arrested yesterday the leader in Hamas movement, Sheikh Jamal al-Tawil after searching his house and questioning his wife and daughter. Tawil, who had been one of the deportees to Marj Al-Zouhour in 1992, has been arrested several times and served over ten years in Israeli occupation jails
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Elderly hurt from Israeli army tear gas
NABLUS, July 14 (WAFA) – An elderly Palestinian was admitted to hospital in Nablus Saturday morning after he was hurt when Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters inside his home in the Nablus-area village of Iraq Burin, according to local witnesses. They said the elderly [man] and one of his daughters were suffocated by the gas that was fired straight at their home during a raid of the village. Residents confronted the forces and clashed with them. Several people had to be treated for tear gas inhalation, said the witnesses.
link to english.wafa.ps

Israeli troops kill man crossing illegally from Egypt
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 13 July — Israeli troops shot dead a man trying to infiltrate the Sinai border with Egypt and wounded another on Friday, the Israeli military said, in the latest in a series of deadly incidents along a once quiet frontier. Both men, who crossed the desert border under cover of darkness, turned out to be unarmed when Israeli medics found them after dawn, a military spokeswoman said. She would not divulge the identities or nationalities of the infiltrators though Israeli media said they were Palestinians from the nearby Gaza Strip.
link to www.maannews.net

8 held after Israeli raids in Hebron area
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 July — Israeli forces detained five people Thursday from Beit Kahil and three others from Hebron, locals said. In Beit Kahil, Israeli forces broke into homes and conducted searches. They detained Mahmoud Hammam Asafra, Safwat Ibrahim Asafra, Omar Khalil Asafra, Islam Issa Asafra, and Osama Issa Asafra.
In Hebron, soldiers arrested engineer Nadeem Abu Khalaf of the Al-Khobaraa center for human development and Firas al-Mujahid, a lecturer at Al-Quds Open University. They also detained engineer Izzat Abdul-Aziz al-Natsheh, who was had been released from Israeli detention two months earlier after starting a hunger strike.
link to www.maannews.net

The occupation closes a sports club in Issawiya town in Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 13 July — The Zionist occupation authorities released four Jerusalemite youths, on Wednesday, while its forces broke into a sports club in Issawiya town in Jerusalem. Jerusalemite sources said that the Zionist court released the youths after serving five months in Israeli jails pointing out that they were arrested after confrontations with Zionists in Al Aqsa Mosque.
The same sources added that elements of the occupation police stormed Issawiya’s Sports Club and forced its employees to close a summer camp bearing the name of the liberated prisoner Mahmoud Sarsak, noting that they were terrorizing children and destroying the gates’ locks during the raid.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Attacks on Palestinians continue but police only arrest leftist activists / Amira Hass
Haaretz 13 July — Graffiti in Hebrew reading “death to Arabs” and “revenge” were found Wednesday night painted on a water tank in the eastern part of the Palestinian village of Susya in the southern Hebron Hills, not far from the settlement of Susya. Similar slogans had been painted 10 days earlier on crumbling limestone along the road. On Saturday, activists from the anti-occupation group Ta’ayush protesting the demolition order the Civil Administration had issued against 52 tents and makeshift structures, as well as the authorities’ inaction over the graffiti, came to the site to protest. A number of activists painted their own slogans, among them “no to violence” and “free Susya.” One activist daubed over one of the anti-Arab slogans with black paint. A large contingent of military police and soldiers that was on site when the protesters arrived arrested four of them and held them for more than 24 hours.
link to www.haaretz.com

Settlers break into Nablus-area park
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 July — A group of settlers broke into parks in the al-Bathan Valley northeast of Nablus on Thursday, witnesses said. About 30 settlers arrived in three vehicles and entered the area of Wadi Bathan shortly after 5 a.m., locals said. They said it was not the first such incident of its kind. There were no reports of damage.
link to www.maannews.net

Body of Palestinian evacuated from Gaza border
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 July — Palestinian medical teams on Saturday morning evacuated the body of a man killed a day earlier in the Gaza Strip near the northern border with Israel. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said the body would be transferred to Kamal Udwan hospital in Jabaliya, after emergency teams coordinated with Israel to retrieve the body. The man, who was not identified, was found dead near the Bedouin village by Beit Hanoun, close to Israel’s Erez crossing.  An Israeli military spokeswoman said a gunman had approached the border on Friday afternoon and opened fire on Israeli forces. Soldier returned fire and identified a direct hit, she said.
link to www.maannews.net

12 held after West Bank settlement demo
AFP 13 July — An Israeli anti-settlements activist and an American journalist were among 12 people detained by soldiers on Friday during a demonstration in the West Bank, an activist group’s spokeswoman said. “The Israeli army arrested five Israeli activists including Jonathan Pollack and five foreigners as well as Ben Ehrenreich of the New York Times magazine and a Palestinian farmer working his land,” Abir Kopty said. Kopty, spokeswoman for a group that coordinates “popular resistance” in the Palestinian territories, was speaking after the weekly demonstration in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh. “The army arrived together with border guards equipped with handcuffs to arrest” demonstrators, she said.
link to ca.news.yahoo.com

Israel still holds 5 foreign women activists
AFP 14 July — Israel was still holding five foreign women activists on Saturday who were arrested in the West Bank after a demonstration a day earlier, a police spokeswoman said. “Five European activists arrested Friday during a demonstration in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) remain in detention,” Luba Samri told AFP. “The five women are accused of causing disturbances during the event” in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, she said, adding they will face a hearing later Saturday in a Jerusalem court for their eventual deportation to Sweden, Italy and Britain. “Four others, including Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack, were also apprehended by border guards but later released Friday after a brief interrogation,” she said. At the same time, she denied the arrest of American journalist Ben Ehrenreich of the New York Times magazine.
link to news.yahoo.com

Kufr Qaddoum: Israel fires at peaceful protest, man injured in head
ISM 14 July — On Friday, July 13, several protesters were injured when the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired tear-gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at the weekly peaceful demonstration in the Palestinian village of Kufr Qaddoum. One man was shot in the head by a tear-gas grenade and was taken to hospital. Two other men were badly injured by rubber-coated bullets. A home adjacent to the demonstration was hit by tear-gas grenades and caught fire. One child, 2 men, and 4 women were injured by the fire and smoke. An ambulance arrived but was delayed for 30 minutes because of the IOF attacks on the village … On Thursday, June 12, the residents of Kufr Qaddoum celebrated the one year anniversary of their Friday demonstrations. During this year, 60 people have been arrested, 65 people have been shot and badly injured by tear-gas canisters, 200 olive trees have been burned, and the town has suffered systemically from nightly raids and harassment by the IOF.
link to palsolidarity.org

Activist injured in Bil‘in protest
IMEMC 13 July — A Dutch national sustained a head injury after being hit by a tear gas canister and dozens of others suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked demonstrators at the separation wall near Bil‘in … Villagers from Bil‘in were joined by about 25 internationals who then marched from the village to the wall, chanting slogans denouncing the illegal occupation. The Israeli army responded by firing salvos of tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. In the past these have caused serious injury and death when they have been fired directly at people. One international activist was struck in the back of the head causing serious injury. The Israeli army fired dozens of tear gas canisters towards the demonstrators despite the fact that many children were present. The volume and dispersion of the canisters meant the protesters were unable to reach safety before suffering from the effects of the gas.
link to www.imemc.org

Gaza

Video: Gaza’s health care system in crisis
Guardian 11 July — Medical staff and the parents of patients discuss the effect of five years of Israeli blockade and Hamas rule on Gaza’s healthcare system. Power cuts and shortages of drugs and equipment mean patients are suffering. Those in urgent need of medical care often seek treatment in Israel — but permission to travel is not always granted
link to www.guardian.co.uk

Ship to Gaza: Estelle arrives in Stockholm with a message
[with map] Mondoweiss 14 July by Mikael Löfgren — …The only thing the siege has definitely succeeded in is to magnify bitterness and suspicion on either side of the wall — a wall that encloses the short strip of beach, along with the sea that is forbidden territory for Palestinians. So the question is not why the siege should be ended but why it has not already been ended. Why is the Israeli government clinging to this inhumane, illegal and — for all parties involved — destructive policy? And why does the international community, which purports to support international law and human rights, keep allowing the siege to continue?  There are three factors that may shed some light on that mystery. Geopolitics. …On the morning of May 31, 2010, the first constellation of Ship to Gaza/Freedom Flotilla was attacked by an Israeli military force, way out in international waters. The attack resulted in nine deaths and approximately fifty wounded. A few days after the assault, it became known that there had been a significant natural-gas discovery in the Eastern Basin, named Leviathan after the sea monster in the Old Testament. According to optimistic calculations, the discovery will transform Israel from an importer into an exporter of energy for decades to follow …The natural-gas discovery suggests that there may be non-military motives to Israel’s arbitrary expansion of its security zone in the Mediterranean Sea, which occurred at the same time as the freedom of movement for Palestinian fishermen in Gaza was restricted to three nautical miles.
link to mondoweiss.net

Hamas confident Mursi will defy Israel, end blockade
GAZA CITY (Reuters) 13 July — The head of the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip said on Friday he was confident Egypt’s new president would shield the coastal enclave from Israeli attack and fully open its borders to end a trade blockade. Muhammad Mursi, who won power in last month’s presidential election in Egypt, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and ideologically close to Hamas. The Gazan Islamists long complained that his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, ousted from power last year in a popular revolt, sided not just with Israel, but also with their political rival — President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement. So far, Hamas has seen little sign of a policy shift since Mursi took office and diplomats said the Egyptian leader had so many domestic problems that he could ill-afford to dedicate much time to re-tooling Cairo’s relations with the Palestinians.
link to www.maannews.net

Yediot: Israeli authority asks settlers in Gaza to stay in shelters, warning of possible attacks
PNN 13 July — On Friday, 13th July, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahranot published on its website that the Israeli authority has warned and asked from the settlers who live in settlements that surround the Gaza Strip to stay close to shelters and make all the required fortifications, warning from a Palestinian possible attempt to attack Israel. The leadership of the Israel interior front called those settlers to rush into the nearest shelters if they heard the sirens. Mahmoud al-Hiqi, from al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, was killed yesterday, and five were injured in an Israeli artillery shell fired on al-Zaytoun and al-Shuja‘yeh neighborhoods, east of Gaza.
link to english.pnn.ps

Gaza-Egypt tunnels: the underground world
Al Arabiya 9 July — Egyptian authorities have started tightening security around tunnels that link the Egyptian city of Rafah and the Gaza Strip and while doing so, several secrets about that underworld were revealed. Based on investigations conducted by Egyptian security forces, there are fixed prices for transferring people from Rafah to Gaza or vice versa which are estimated according to the tunnel used and the distance crossed, said an inside source. The source explained that the prices generally start from $100 and could amount to $250 per person. “Many of the people who handle those underground trips wait on the Gaza side for Palestinians going back after being banned from entering Egypt for security reasons,” the source said. “They then offer them entrance through the tunnels instead of checkpoints and give them the price list.”
link to english.alarabiya.net

Prisoners

Family visits to start Monday
GAZA (PIC) 13 July — Israel will start permitting family visits to Gazan prisoners in Israeli jails for the first time in five years … The first stage of the implementation will include visits for 25 prisoners at Ramon prison near the southern desert town of Mitzpe Ramon, of approximately 49 people, prisoner wives and parents under Israeli strict conditions … This came following an agreement between the Israeli prison service and Captive movement, two months ago, regarding the prisoners’ rights, as part of negotiations to end the hunger strikes.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Gaza Ministry of Detainees’ Affairs: Family visits to start
Scoop 12 July by Julie Webb-Pullman — Photo: But will the Rikhawi children’s father still be alive by the time they arrive? –  In an interview this afternoon, Gaza Minister of Detainees’ Affairs Dr Atallah AbuSebah informed that family visits for prisoners from Gaza will begin from next Monday. Dr AbuSebah said that he had met with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) this morning and demanded that the ICRC guarantee the safe arrival and return of the families visiting their loved ones in Israeli jails. He also demanded that the family members not be subjected to strip searches. He informed that ICRC personnel will accompany the family members. When asked about the length and regularity of the Gaza family visits, the Minister said that such details had not been discussed, and that it was not possible to know the answer until the families actually got there.
link to www.scoop.co.nz

Photo gallery: Family members in waiting
Scoop 13 July by Julie Webb-Pullman
link to www.scoop.co.nz

Prisoners threaten to boycott visitations
RAMALLAH, July 14 — Some 1300 Palestinian prisoners held at Ofer military camp near Ramallah threatened to boycott  family visitations to protest ill-treatment of their families, a press release by the Ministry of Prisoners said Saturday. It said Israeli forces deliberately insult their relatives, especially women, search them in a humiliating way and hold them for long hours under the hot sun at military checkpoints on their way to the prisons. It added that although visitations start at one o’clock in the afternoon, the families leave at five o’clock in the morning and they return to their homes after midnight due to Israeli arbitrary measures and deliberate delay at the checkpoints.
link to english.wafa.ps

Oldest serving administrative detainee to be released on Sunday
NABLUS (PIC) 14 July — The oldest serving administrative detainee and Hamas leader Adnan Asfur is to be released from Israeli occupation jails on Sunday. Fuad Al-Khafsh, the director of the Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies and human rights, said on Saturday that Asfur was detained since 19/3/2009 and is thus considered the “dean of administrative detainees”. He said that Asfur, who is from Nablus, has been in administrative custody, without charge, for almost 40 months, adding that Asfur suffers from numerous diseases but his condition did not deter the Israeli occupation authority from renewing his detention for nine times.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Why is EI’s Catherine Ashton defending Israel’s use of administrative detention? / Ali Abunimah
Elect. Int. 11 July — Just days before Israel released Palestinian football hero Mahmoud Sarsak from three years of detention without charge or trial, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs apparently gave her stamp of approval to Israel’s widely condemned practice of “administrative detention.” In response to a question from members of the European Parliament, the EU’s top foreign affairs official pointedly refused to condemn Israel’s practice, even as Amnesty International has again called on Israel to end it once and for all. Currently more than 300 Palestinian political prisoners are held by Israel without charge or trial. Moreover, the circumstances in which she gave her statement suggest Ashton acted in order to ensure that Israel’s human rights abuses would not be discussed by the Foreign Affairs committee of the European Parliament.
link to electronicintifada.net

Four political detainees resume their hunger strike in PA jail
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 14 July — The political detainees in a Palestinian Authority jail in Bethlehem city decided to resume their hunger strike after the intelligence agency flouted its agreement with them in which it pledged to release them gradually. Abu Jafar, the father of detainee Motasem Natsheh, told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that he visited his son on Friday morning and learned that all the four political detainees including his son decided to resume their hunger strike until they are released. The father added that the PA intelligence promised to release his son two days ago, but it did not abide by its agreement.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Solidarity / BDS

Fifth annual festival of South Hebron Hills nonviolent popular resistance
PNN 12 July — When: Saturday 14 July 2012, 10am-3pm Where: Al Mufaqarah village (South Mt. Hebron) Please come and show your support for the community of Al Mufaqarah, and adjacent communities, as they celebrate the perseverance and courageous spirit of the people of the South Hebron Hills. The festival will celebrate the completion of the annual summer camp and the commitment of South Hebron Hills communities in the nonviolent resistance. It will take place in Al Mufaqarah, a village threatened by displacement policies, in order to stress the right of the inhabitants to keep living in their land. Information will be also provided about the ongoing obstacles faced by school children walking from Tuba and Maghayir Al-Abeed, the continuing human rights abuses against farmers and shepherds in the region, and the continued attempts to defend life and land through acts of nonviolent resistance. Activities will include dabke dancing (a traditional Palestinian dance) performed by a troupe from At-Tuwani, clowns’ entertainment, skits performed by the children who attended the summer camp, speeches by the leaders of the community and a ceremony to commemorate the Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals that have been most influential in improving the conditions in the Masafer Yatta area and supporting the continued nonviolent resistance to the occupation of Palestinian land and way of life.
link to english.pnn.ps

Ethnic cleansing in the Jordan Valley: Land theft, house demolitions, fire zones, nature reserves, deliberately induced thirst
PNN 12 July — Following the increasingly brutal policy against Palestinians in the Jordan Valley On Friday, July 13, 2012 we will hold a solidarity and protest visit against Apartheid in the Jordan Valley. Those willing to join are asked to register in advance visit, so we can plan transportation … We will visit villages suffering from severe water problems. We’ll try to bring us a water tanker and bottled mineral water. Participating organizations: Gush Shalom, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Yesh Gvul, Coalition of Women for Peace
link to english.pnn.ps

Continuous support from Chilean medical missions
PNN 10 July — Thanks to a joint effort between the Palestinian Foundation Bethlehem 2000, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) and the Chilean Society of Pediatric Surgery; two Chilean medical missions one of urology and other of traumatology successfully ended. The first Chilean medical mission traveled to the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj AlBarajneh in Beirut, Lebanon, and later to Nablus, Palestine to work at Rafidia Hospital …Thirteen children in Lebanon and twelve children in Nablus with orthopedic deformities underwent surgery. The second Chilean medical mission traveled to Al Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala, Palestine, where 25 children underwent complex surgery to correct congenital urological anomalies.
link to english.pnn.ps

Founder of Palestinian scholarship program may have passed away, but his legacy of ‘Hope’ lives on
Al Arabiya 9 July — Every weekend for the last twelve years Fahim Qubain would cook Middle Eastern food and watch old Egyptian movies with his 13 students, creating a home environment in his own house in the United States for his students, who were thousands of miles away from their own homes and families. He wasn’t a teacher, school principal, or university board member, but a one-man scholarship machine who wanted a better future for qualified underprivileged Palestinian students.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Anti-boycott group forced to pay $160,000 damages to Olympia Food Co-op board members
Elect. Int. 12 July — Following today’s hearing in Olympia, Washington, of a lawsuit brought on by anti-Palestinian, anti-boycott individuals — working with Israel lobby group StandWithUS — the judge in the case ruled that the 16 defendants (board members of the Olympia Food Co-op), must be awarded $10,000 each in damages. Almost exactly two years ago, the Olympia Food Co-op became the first grocery store in the US to de-shelve Israeli products as part of the Board’s commitment to social justice and human rights. Since then, anti-boycott individuals and groups have relentlessly pursued legal options and outright intimidation of board members in an effort to force the store to rescind its decision to support the Palestinian-led movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions.
link to electronicintifada.net

Silencing pro-Palestinian speech on campus / Remi Kanazi
Al Jazeera In Depth 12 July — The UC has double standards when it comes to Palestinians and their right to free speech, writes Kanazi – On July 9, 2012, the University of California’s Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion presented its fact-finding report and recommendations on Jewish Student Campus Climate. According to a letter written by UC President Mark Yudof, the report was launched in response to the 2010 Berkeley student government vote to divest from companies selling weapons to the Israeli military and the 2010 UC Irvine protest against Israeli ambassador Michael Oren. The “climate report” was tasked with “fact-finding about the challenges and positive campus experiences of Jewish students at UC and to identify steps needed to make campuses more inclusive and welcoming for Jewish students” … From the outset, the Jewish Student Campus Climate report focuses on non-violent protests and speeches critical of Israel, a state in clear violation of international law, not anti-Jewish bigotry … The report further presents Palestine Awareness Week as a “negative experience” for Jewish students, a framing that disregards the viewpoints of many Jewish students involved in organising and planning the event.
link to www.aljazeera.com

Video: Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East / Thomas Woodley
AJE 26 June — [A Canadian's awakening to what is really going on in I/P and the subsequent actions of his group -- difficult in a country whose leadership is very pro-Israel] — Researched, Produced and Directed by Abir Alsayed.  Part of Asdekaa Al Arab series
link to www.youtube.com

Political / Economic / Diplomatic news

PNN poll: Majority of Palestinians doesn’t trust Fatah, Hamas, regard[less] of reconciliation
A poll hosted by the Palestine News Network has shown that the majority of Palestinians, around 80%, have no confidence in the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, saying that there is no hope for the reconciliation. The poll was published on the PNN website several weeks ago directly after the news about Fatah and Hamas signed an agreement on the formation of a new consensus government. The poll shows that: Around 80.4% of Palestinians voted “no confidence” in Fatah and Hamas. The result shows that Palestinian society has lost confidence in the reconciliation after a series of disappointments that followed the promises broken by Hamas and Fatah over the implementation of the agreement. The percentage of those who trust Fatah and Hamas – those who had “medium confidence” – was around 13.8% Only 4.1% had “high confidence” and 1.7% responded that they didn’t know.
The Palestine News Network occasionally runs these website polls that address topical issues with professional and accurate methods, such as not allowing multiple votes. The polls reflect the views of Arabic website readers.
link to english.pnn.ps

Erekat: Clinton not planning to visit to West Bank after Israel talks
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 July — PLO official Saeb Erekat said Saturday that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was not planning to visit the occupied territories on Monday after visiting Israel. Israel’s Channel 10 reported that Clinton was arriving in the region in a bid to bring officials from both sides back to the negotiating table and establish conditions for returning to the peace process. Erekat said President Mahmoud Abbas met Clinton last week in Paris but no meetings were scheduled domestically.
link to www.maannews.net

European Commission president urges Israel not to neglect Palestinian peace process despite Iran threat
Haaretz 13 July — Israel is the strong side while the Palestinians feel humiliated, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso tells Haaretz … Barroso: “The settlement policy is making it difficult to establish a democratic and sustainable Palestinian state which will be able to live in peace with Israel. Besides the great importance which we attach to the legal aspect and to international law, our position is that every policy and development that tries to create facts on the ground and is hindering the establishment of peace is a mistaken policy. That is a clear stance which is unequivocal: The illegal settlements must be brought to an end.” As it happens, these remarks were made after a demonstration of sincere friendship for Israel, at times bordering on adoration.
link to www.haaretz.com

Other news

Fourth annual Sumud festival held in Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 July — The Arab Educational Institute, a member organization of Pax Christi International, held a fourth annual festival entitled “Sumud: For the Sake of Achieving our Rights” in Bethlehem on Wednesday. Hundreds of Palestinians and international activists attended the festival that took place near the separation barrier north of Bethlehem. Fuad Giacaman, the institute’s director, welcomed the participants and affirmed the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in addition to holding onto their Palestinian identity.
link to www.maannews.net

Arafat sister: Don’t exhume late leader’s body
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 July — A sister of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is not among those, including his widow, calling for the Palestinian Authority to exhume the body in the wake new questions about his death. “Leave him to rest in his soil,” Khadija Arafat said Thursday, saying she has been overwhelmed with media inquiries following an Al Jazeera investigation that raised the possibility Arafat was poisoned.
link to www.maannews.net

German court halts refugee deportation
Deutsche Welle 14 July — A Palestinian family which arrived in Germany from Italy may not be sent back, a German court has ruled. The ruling cited the ‘inhuman and humiliating treatment’ faced by asylum seekers in Italy. “A large majority of asylum-seekers,” the German court ruled in its verdict on Italian migrant conditions, “must live without shelter and without reliable access to food, water and electricity.” Significant evidence exists that Italy is not meeting its obligations in accordance with European and international law, the court said.
link to www.dw.de

Human interest

Notes from a Nazarene
Brisbane Times 14 July — ”I COULD start my story in a way that everyone knows – once upon a time there was a carpenter from Nazareth,” chuckles Palestinian-Israeli pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar. ”But in this case the carpenter was my grandfather. I had a wonderful childhood and spent many happy hours learning how to work with wood in my grandfather’s workshop in the old town where donkeys were the only transport.” That was the start of Abboud Ashkar’s long journey from the Arab-Israeli town to become an international classical pianist that brings him to Australia to perform with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in its debut at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
link to www.brisbanetimes.com.au

Video: Palestinian traditional dresses take Jordanian runway
Al Arabiya 26 June — The Palestinian folk dance group Hanouneh held a fashion show in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Saturday showcasing a number of traditional Palestinian dresses. Hannouneh was formed in 1993 with an aim to promote and preserve the Palestinian folkloric traditions through music and dance. Models sashayed down the catwalk as traditional music played in the background, displaying a variety of intricate clothing in a number of styles and vibrant colors. Palestine is known to have a rich variety of traditional dresses, many of which are hand-embroidered. Traditionally, a person’s village or town would be recognizable from the style and design of the clothing they wear. However, today many designers and dress makers have altered traditional styles to add a modern flair.
link to english.alarabiya.net

Israeli racism / sexism / discrimination

Double Take: From nation-builders to racism: ‘No one wants Mohammed hanging around’
JERUSALEM (Haaretz) 6 June by Joel Greenberg — Back in the pre-state era, “Hebrew labor” was a vaunted Zionist goal. The nation’s forefathers wanted to create a Jewish labor force in manufacturing and fields, and to eliminate the need for Arab workers … The idea persists today, but with a new twist: Hebrew labor as a means to boycott Palestinian workers. You can find it on the trucks of Eliezer Movers, a Jerusalem-based company, which declare that they offer “blue-and-white work.” On their English-language website, they are blunter: “Israeli labor only.” In southern Jerusalem, homemade ads stuck to lampposts proffer painting jobs, home renovations, plumbing and tile work, done by “100% Hebrew labor,” and jobs “done by skilled and experienced Jewish hands.” Fear is a major motivating factor. “A lot of women are afraid to have Arabs come into their homes,” says Bruce Kline, who made and posted the ads … There is also the Hebrew Labor Board at www.avoda-ivrit.org, offering a place for Jewish-only businesses and Jewish job-seekers alike to connect. The site’s mission, displayed on its home page, says that it is preferable “to provide a place of work and a livelihood to a Jew rather than to support a gentile.” It also lists a warning against “the security risk of employing our enemies and the problem of assimilation created through daily contact” with non-Jews.
link to www.haaretz.com

Tel Aviv residents form group to press for deportation of African migrants
Haaretz 13 July — Dozens of activists convene to urge government to deport all African migrants, but stress they oppose violence — …Yesterday’s event was the first organized by the Action Committee to Remove the Infiltrators, a new group set up to unite activists from all towns with a high concentration of African migrants … Shlomo Maslawy, chairman of the Hatikva neighborhood committee and a Tel Aviv city councilman from the Likud party, said that while dozens of migrants have been deported recently, “at the same time, hundreds entered, and thousands more will come.” He said the organization is planning many activities aimed at returning the issue to the public agenda, including tours of south Tel Aviv for politicians, a big demonstration in Jerusalem, and efforts to dissuade apartment owners from renting to migrants.
link to www.haaretz.com

Danon: Expel all migrants from state of Israel
JPost 12 July — Hours after Eritreans attacked in Jerusalem, MK says “infiltrators must have two modes: Deported or awaiting deportation.” … Danon offered his preferred solution to the ongoing issue: Israel must “build cities for infiltrators, finish construction of the border fence (along Israel’s southern border with Egypt) and expel all the infiltrators from Israel,” he said.
link to www.jpost.com

Give Eritreans the asylum in Israel that Jews were denied in Europe / Habtom Yohannes
Haaretz 12 July — Gross human rights violations in Eritrea have led to more than a quarter of a million Eritreans to flee and seek shelter elsewhere. Why would Israel want to join the unsavory club of countries that send refugees back to Eritrea? — … According to Amnesty International, “… All forcibly returned Eritreans are at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment during interrogation. Leaving the country is itself considered by the authorities as an act of treason.” … Considering these experiences and that of the Jewish people throughout history, I don’t want to believe that Israel will send Eritrean refugees back to a country where they could face inhuman treatment in secret locations and with no access to justice. The Jewish people know more than other peoples what it means to be denied the right to asylum.
link to www.haaretz.com

Is the IDf the world’s most liberal institution? / Noam Sheizaf
972blog 13 July — Our company’s staff sergeant at basic training was a short bald man, who used to terrorize us in our first days at camp with endless “repeated training” … He also used to refer to every female that passed near the camp simply as a “whore.” As the training progressed, we were taught obscene songs about women which we were to sing every time we saw a female soldier. As in any infantry unit, there were only two women in our company: One in charge of “social issues” — interviewing soldiers about family problems and presented it before the staff — and another in charge of morale. In the songs we learned, the latter was referred to as “the mattress.” … During shooting range drills, I had to ask to replace my female instructors because the soldiers didn’t let them touch them when they corrected their position. From what I read in the papers regarding religious units, things have only gotten worse since. This is why I was so surprised to read this piece by the Guardian’s military correspondent, Nick Hopkins, regarding women’s service in the Israeli army. Hopkins states that “the IDF is the most progressive in the world [regarding women in service].”
link to 972mag.com

Shaare Zedek: Women’s pictures covered by stickers
[photos] Ynet 12 July –  Owners of an orthopedic products store in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem recently covered products with pictures of women on them with stickers in response to requests made by certain customers. Dana Kaduri, 30, recently visited the hospital and upon entering the store noticed that products that had women on them were covered. “I wanted to purchase an elastic bandage for my hands,” she said, when I looked at the products I discovered that the pictures of the women were all covered with stickers — including their faces and the rest of the body. Every sign of the female form was removed.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Spitting Image: A visit to Beit Shemesh, 6 months after the harassment of eight-year-old girls
Haaretz 13 July — WATCH: The key players reflect on how they won the battle against the zealots, but not necessarily the war — As the national-religious girls made their way home from Beit Shemesh’s Orot Banot school late last month, they appeared relaxed and carefree. Among the students was the strikingly blonde second-grader Naama Margolese, heading confidently home accompanied by her friend. For Hadassa Margolese, who waited at home for her daughter to arrive while cuddling her youngest child, Yishai, Naama’s happiness and peace of mind as her school year drew to a close was a hard-won victory. Only six months earlier, a Channel 2 television newscast showed a frightened, weeping Naama clinging fearfully to Hadassa’s leg on her way to school, the terrified victim of the violent harassment of Orot Banot girls by extreme ultra-Orthodox elements who objected to her school’s presence across the street …
“When you ignore girls’ faces being blurred, when you ignore the fact that women don’t appear in magazines, they take it to another level,” Margolese explains. “Then, if no one stops them, they just keep adding more things that are not even Torah-based. They just make these rules up because they can’t handle seeing a woman’s face or a 3-year-old or a 1-year-old girl’s face. And it just turns into these people thinking about women all day long in this perverted way. All they can think about is ‘How can we not see women?’ instead of just living their lives like a regular human being.”
link to www.haaretz.com

Analysis / Opinion

What’s going on in Israel? / Stephen M. Walt
Foreign Policy 12 July — One of the more enduring myths in the perennial debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict is the claim that Israel has always been interested in a fair and just peace, and that the only thing standing in the way of a deal is the Palestinians’ commitment to Israel’s destruction. This notion has been endlessly recycled by Israeli diplomats and by Israel’s defenders in the United States and elsewhere. Of course, fair-minded analysts of the conflict have long known that this pernicious narrative was bogus … Over the past several weeks, however, the veil has fallen off almost completely. If you want to understand what’s really going on, here are a few things you need to read. Start with Akiva Eldar’s cover article in The National Interest, entitled “Israel’s New Politics and the Fate of Palestine.” Eldar is the chief political columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, and his article provides a succinct account for why the two-state vision is at best on life support and is unlikely to be resuscitated. [includes links to the most important recent articles about the Situation]
link to walt.foreignpolicy.com

Service to Israel tugs at Arab citizens’ identity / Jodi Rudoren
NY Times 12 July — NAZARETH, Israel — Three young Palestinian women sat on the floor at a summer camp this week surrounded by Legos and 3-year-olds. As the toddlers played, the women taught them the color of each block, repeating the words in Arabic, azrak for blue or akhdar for green. But the seemingly simple scene here in the Galilee was actually caught up in some of the most contentious issues confronting Israeli society: How do Arabs reconcile their identity as citizens of a Jewish state? What is the appropriate role for a growing Arab minority in a state determined to be democratic and Jewish? The  young women are volunteers in Israel’s national service program, an alternative to the military that comes with the same financial benefits and similar advantages for future education and employment. That program is now the focus of a searing national debate over plans to draw up a law that will no longer exempt categories of citizens.
link to www.nytimes.com

Uniting the global movement for Palestine / Paul Larudee
Pal. Chron. 11 July — ‘The old will die and the young will forget.’ - David Ben Gurion, 1948 (1) When I first went to Palestine in 1965, Ben Gurion’s prediction seemed plausible.  Palestinians and the Palestine solidarity movement were nearly invisible outside the Middle East.  The Palestinian narrative was not commonly heard, except among academics and specialists who rarely had the opportunity to address the public.  Building an international movement was an unlikely dream and dependent mainly upon the good graces of sympathetic governments and NGOs, which proved elusive. Today, the prediction seems more like wishful thinking, bordering on delusion.  Both Palestinians and their allies throughout the world are more numerous and better organized than ever.  They are mounting increasingly sophisticated movements to challenge the Zionist project of expelling the indigenous population from Palestine and replacing it with racially and ethnically selected immigrants.
link to palestinechronicle.com

groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)