Amira Hass reports from Live Fire Zone 918 (also known as the village of Jinba in the South Hebron Hills)

A proper Zionist live fire zone / Amira Hass
Haaretz 20 Aug — …In the battle royal over what is the most creative struggle against oppressive authorities, it is no wonder the media prefers Pussy Riot in Putin’s Russia over 1,800 shepherds and farmers who insist on living and cultivating their land and raising their naturally-growing families (heaven forbid ) in the place where their ancestors were born long before Herzl envisioned the Jewish state. And even longer before the army of that state decided that their lands, precisely this land, was suitable for its exercises, and that these exercises displace the rights of the indigenous inhabitants to dignity and security…
It is not for us to be burdened by the considerations of foreign news editors, and so for the second week in a row, we return to Live Fire Zone 918, this time to tell the story of Mahmoud Jabarin’s tractor, expropriated by the soldiers. And of the law-breaking driver detained by the soldiers, Hamza Jabarin. And of the distress that pervaded the village of Jinba on the night between Wednesday and Thursday when first a flock of goats disappeared (they were found at dawn alive and well ), and afterward of the tractor driver who set out to look for them did not return…
Let’s not be surprised if in five years, Live Fire Zone 918 turns into a thriving Jewish town.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/a-proper-zionist-live-fire-zone.premium-1.459329

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid

Palestinians fined for confiscation of their own equipment
JVS 18 Aug — Through policies designed to enable the ethnic cleansing of the Bedouin population of the Jordan Valley, the Israeli occupation authorities have been imposing extremely high fines to local Palestinians for the confiscation and holding of tractors, agricultural equipment and for the detainment of the Palestinians themselves.
Hussein Makhoul was fined 5000 shekels after the confiscation of his tractor for a month.
Mohammed Ahmed Anbusa Had to pay a 1700 shekel fine.
Ibrahim Mohammed Abu Mohsen was fined 5000 shekels during the distribution of tents in Fasayel. They detained his truck for a month.
Hussein Ali Massaeid from Al Maleh was fined 7500 after the detention of his tractor and water tank for a month.
Majid Haza Alsoda from Rasa ar Mar was fined 7000 shekels after the seizure of his truck.
Mohammed Alia of Ain al-Hilweh was fined 1500 for grazing his cattle….[etc.]
[Note that JVP is updating its website, and this article may not be accessible at all times]
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=483

Israeli court upholds order to demolish Dutch-funded well in West Bank
MEMO 21 Aug — The Israeli courts have upheld a decision by the military authorities to demolish an agricultural well near the town of Khadr in the southern West Bank; the well’s owner has been ordered to demolish it himself within the next fourteen days. The well was built with donations from Holland by the Agricultural Relief Association as part of a project to support farmers in the region. It lies along the path of the illegal Apartheid Wall. According to statements by Ahmed Salah, a coordinator for the national campaign against settlements and the Wall in Khadr, Israeli courts rejected a petition brought by Mahmoud Sabih requesting annulment of the demolition order. The well is crucial for the irrigation of crops which constitute the farmer’s sole source of income.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4185-israeli-court-uphold-order-to-demolish-dutch-funded-well-in-west-bank

The ABCs of Israeli demolitions in oPt
RAMALLAH, 16 August 2012 (IRIN) — Rasmiyye Hamande has lived in a cave in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) for most of her life, which may have been a blessing in disguise. “This cave,” she says, “can’t be demolished so easily.”  Other places in the village of Al-Mufaqara, in Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank under Israeli military control – are more easily destroyed.
Some 622 structures were demolished by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2011, a 42 percent increase from 2010. 2012 could well surpass last year’s numbers, as by the end of July, some 395 demolished structures in oPt were registered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)…
Firing zones like this one, all officially intended for military training, make up about 18 percent of the West Bank; 45 percent of all demolitions in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank since 2010 have taken place in firing zones.  IRIN takes a look at the circumstances surrounding these demolition orders. When and why are Palestinian structures in Area C considered illegal by Israel? All structures need government-approved permits; those without can be demolished. But acquiring a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration — a military body tasked with overseeing oPt – for Palestinian construction in Area C is close to impossible.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96118/Briefing-The-ABCs-of-Israeli-demolitions-in-oPt

Military and settler vandalism escalates as court battle over south Hebron Hills heats up
[with photos] The Only Democracy 21 Aug — We continue to follow, report and support the struggle of the Palestinian residents of the West Bank’s southernmost region, to continue living on their ancestral lands which they legally own. One would think that in an enlightened society such a simple request would be guaranteed beyond doubt. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. For an entire generation, the Occupation regime, aided and egged on by the settlers that regime has introduced into the region, has been trying to uproot a few thousand indigenous residents. The mechanisms have ranged from military edicts, bad-faith legalistic arguments in court, pressure on the ground, and naked violence and vandalism … This summer’s campaign has started, as reported here, with sweeping evacuation and demolition decrees, in apparent violation of the pending court case. Now, during the first week of August the IDF raided two of the 4 villages removed from its evacuation edict! Then, on August 7 it raided Jinba village, which is among the 8 still included in the court case. Images of this “heroic” use of military might and resources against defenseless civilians, are below.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2012/08/military-and-settler-vandalism-escalates-as-court-battle-over-south-hebron-hills-heats-up/

Jewish settlers establish poultry farm on Palestinian land
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 20 Aug — Jewish settlers seized a piece of land in Khader village south of Bethlehem and established a poultry farm on it, local sources said. Ahmed Salah, the coordinator of the popular anti-settlement committee in the village, told Quds Press on Sunday that the piece of land is owned by Subaih family in Khilat Ein Masur area. He said that the area is mountainous and lacks electricity and running water services, adding that the settlers carry water to the area using primitive means. Salah said that the settlers were trying to control an area of ten dunums that surrounds the farm using dogs to scare off the owners, noting that the area is near to a settlement, which they were trying to “fatten”. [from IMEMC: Salah further stated that the new outpost is close to the Daniel illegal settlement, and that the settlers will likely try to bring mobile homes in order to officially establish their outpost.]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7qYREqUE01n0xrxvtay3FFf0%2fwjOgScJ3lIhH0r3e0oDfG8UsW%2bBdyiAG33zhfSdcSjp%2bgcCmrqrOpAA0GWQOVUs809ENQV8Hv%2fi64HM1hJs%3d

Hit-and-run settler kills 15 goats
ISM 20 Aug by ‘Markus Fizgerald’ — Monday the 6th of August Mershid (19), son of Muhamad Abdalah Rashid Dawabsheh, checked for oncoming cars and started to cross the road between Nablus and Ramallah with his herd of goats. The time was approximately 5pm and he was leading the herd towards the small village of Duma after a day of grazing. An Israeli car appeared as he was walking down the road but instead of slowing down it picked up speed and drove through the herd, killing 12 goats. When driving through the herd the front bumper including registration plate was ripped from the car. The settler driver stopped his car to retrieve his plate from the ground. As Mershid saw the armed settler he got scared and ran away. The whole incident was witnessed by Muhamad’s nephew, who was standing some 50 metres from the scene. As he started for the herd, the settler saw him, got in his car, and hit another three goats including the leader of the herd (the only male) as he drove off, leaving registration plate and bumper behind.  In all 15 goats were killed and 2 mortally injured, now hovering between life and death. As Muhamad arrived on the scene he called the Israeli police. When no help was offered he turned to PA police.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/08/hit-and-run-settler-kills-15-goats/

Israeli universities file against West Bank college
Forward 20 Aug — Israel’s seven universities have asked the country’s Supreme Court to reverse a decision to make the Ariel University Center in the West Bank a full-fledged university. The petition filed Monday claims that the decision-making process was flawed and that the Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria did not have the authority to make a decision that crosses the boundaries of the West Bank and affects all of Israeli higher education, according to reports. It also says that the establishment of another full university in Israel will harm higher education in Israel. The lawsuit was filed against the Israeli military commander in the West Bank, the government, the ministers of defense and education, the Higher Education Council and the center itself.
http://forward.com/articles/161412/israeli-universities-file-against-west-bank-colleg/

Israel to pursue evacuation of Migron settlers to new West Bank settlement
PNN 21 Aug — Israel is to pursue the evacuation of settlers from the illegal West Bank outpost of Migron, the Israeli Attorney General’s Office said in a statement to the Israeli High Court on Monday. However, the settlers will be not be removed from the West Bank, but will be moved to a new settlement just 2km from Migron. The new outpost is due to be built on the land of the Palestinian village of Mukhmas in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, which is classified by Israel as state-owned land, Israeli NGO Peace Now told PNN.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2501-israel-to-pursue-evacuation-of-migron-settlers-to-new-west-bank-settlement

State says it will allow a few buildings in Migron outpost to be left standing
Haaretz 20 Aug — In response to Israel’s High Court, the state admits all structures in settlement are illegal, but says it has agreed to leave some intact — The state will allow several of the evacuated buildings in the West Bank settlement of Migron to remain standing, due to claims made by residents that they had recently bought the lands on which the homes are built, the state told Israel’s High Court Monday … The residents argued that the al-Watan development company, which is owned by the Mateh Binyamin regional council, had purchased part of the outpost’s lands, and therefore the central argument against them – that they were living on private Palestinian land — was no longer valid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/state-says-it-will-allow-a-few-buildings-in-migron-outpost-to-be-left-standing.premium-1.459507

Restriction of movement

Photos: ‘Ramadan kareen’ at Jerusalem checkpoints?
972mag 20 Aug by Activestills — Due to a temporary relaxation in Israeli policy, many Palestinians traveled to Jerusalem through checkpoints during Ramadan this year. But now that Ramadan is over, it’s back to business as usual.
Every day, thousands of Palestinians circumvent the Israeli separation wall by crossing into Jerusalem without permission from Israeli authorities. Haggai Matar recently described this major flaw in the wall’s security rationale, even quoting a pro-barrier activist who admits: “There’s no problem crossing the gaps in the fence and tens of thousands of illegal workers cross it back and forth every day, and there should be no problem getting suicide bombers through with them” stresses Ilan Tsi’on, co-founder of “A Fence for Life.” “So why don’t they? Because that’s the Palestinians’ choice.”…
If the “security situation” allows access during a holiday, why is collective punishment required during the rest of the year?
http://972mag.com/photo-essay-ramadan-kareem-at-jerusalem-checkpoints/53844/

Violence / Raids / Arrests

Arsonists attempt to burn down home in Far‘ata
JPost 22 Aug — Police have opened an investigation into the attempted arson of a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Far‘ata late Monday night. Police said the investigation is examining all possible angles, including the possibility that the act was a ‘price tag’ attack on Palestinians by Jewish extremists. Police said no arrests have been made so far in connection with the attempted arson, which charred the entryway of a family’s home. The IDF said following the attack that they had launched a search of the area to no avail, and then turned the investigation over to police. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Tuesday it is assisting police in the investigation.
Itidal Tawil and her three children were in their house in the village when unknown assailants tried to set the house on fire at 12:10 a.m. Tuesday morning. “I was watching TV and it was very noisy when my brother-in-law called me to warn us about the fire,” she told the The Jerusalem Post. Tawil said she believes that if not for her husband and her uncle, who immediately noticed the attack, things could have been much worse. She locked her children in a room and went out to her house’s burning gate, as relatives and neighbors came to help put out the fire. She did not want her children to know she believed the fire was an assault by settlers
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=282086&R=R1

Attacks on Palestinians highlight history of lax enforcement on Jewish extremists
972mag 21 Aug by Roi Maor — Two recent incidents have brought attention to the issue of attacks on Palestinian civilians by Jewish extremists … Both incidents have sparked widespread condemnation; and the firebomb attack has been labeled a terrorist attack by both Israeli and American officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and promised him that Israel will catch the perpetrators of this attack.
Yet this kind of incident is hardly a new development. Last year, the Jerusalem Post warned that Jewish terrorism was “gaining steam.” The article argued that a serious response to this problem is “long overdue,” pointing to several years of warnings by Israeli security officials on this issue.
Despite this, law enforcement on Jewish extremists has remained highly deficient. According to information gathered by the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din, 85 percent of police investigations fail when it comes to violent crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians.
http://972mag.com/attacks-on-palestinians-highlight-history-of-lax-enforcement-on-jewish-extremists/54042/

Israelis held in attack on Palestinians in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (NYTimes) 20 Aug by Isabel Kershner — Seven Israeli teenagers were in custody on Monday, accused of what a police official and several witnesses described as an attempted lynching of several Palestinian youths, laying bare the undercurrent of tension in this ethnically mixed but politically divided city. A 15-year-old suspect standing outside court said, “For my part he can die, he’s an Arab.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/7-israelis-held-in-attack-on-palestinians-in-jerusalem.html

Palestinian victims of violent attacks get a surprise visit
Haaretz 21 Aug — Four Israeli activists venture to Hadassah Ein Karem to pay their respects to 18-year-old Jamal Joulani, who was severely beaten by Jewish teens in West Jerusalem over the weekend, and to the six West Bank residents wounded when an explosive was thrown at their car … Besides police investigators and Jamal’s employer at a summer job, the four activists (and the other) were the only Israelis to have visited the Joulanis to date. No official representatives from the state or city have come to visit the victim of an attempted ethnic lynch in downtown Jerusalem. Nor did they venture to the plastic surgery ward or burns unit, just one floor up, to support victims of another violent attack that occurred the same weekend.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/palestinian-victims-of-violent-attacks-get-a-surprise-visit.premium-1.459761

IOF soldiers arrest school principal
JENIN (PIC) 20 Aug — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a Palestinian school principal at a military barrier south of Jenin on Sunday night, local sources said. They said that IOF soldiers at a roadblock at the entrance to Brukin intercepted traffic of civilians on the first day of Eidul Fitr. The sources said that Walid Al-Masri, 52, who works as a headmaster was stopped at the roadblock and detained.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7rRJ9H4rfc%2fKc9OeaCY4ecdm2YlizVbnYXbWw8juecCE1aoG7%2b7EbuY2bKSy8%2bA8u5a9Ao0TEjbokugaOKUGxI8nFhOuH0NaSUlrkZGQp6RE%3d

Israeli and Palestinian children growing more violent, study finds
Haaretz 22 Aug — Joint American, Israeli and Palestinian study find show a correlation between children’s exposure to political violence and their own violent behavior … The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, examined reports of displays of violence among more than 1,000 children, and the findings show a correlation between children’s exposure to political violence and their own violent behavior. The researchers examined a sample of 451 Jewish children, 450 Israeli Arab children and 600 Palestinian children (64 percent from the West Bank; 36 percent from the Gaza Strip ) during three points in time between 2007 and 2010 … when asked if a friend or acquaintance of theirs had died in the conflict, 55 percent of Palestinian children answered “yes,” compared to 13 percent of Israeli Jews and three percent of Israeli Arabs … In the researchers’ analysis, exposure to political violence during the first phase of this three-year period had a clear tendency to lead to violent behavior at school, at home or in the neighborhood. The influence of such exposure to political violence was identified most clearly among the younger children — those who were first interviewed at age eight (as opposed to those who were ages 11-14 during their first interview). This study is the first of its kind
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-and-palestinian-children-growing-more-violent-study-finds.premium-1.459818

Settler leader endorses boycott of apartheid
Mondoweiss 19 Aug by Matthew Taylor — Check out this gem from the New York Times’ fawning GQ-like profile of Israeli settler leader Dani Dayan: ‘[Dayan and his wife] built a showpiece home, where the sunken double-height living room is filled with a painting from Vietnam, a sculpture from Machu Picchu and a meditation bowl from Nepal. “This is from South Africa,” he said, pointing to a set of large wooden masks. “Post-apartheid South Africa. I refused to visit apartheid South Africa.”‘ Chickens. Home. Roost
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/settler-leader-endorses-boycott-of-apartheid.html

Detainees

Israel releases MP from administrative detention
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Aug — Israeli authorities released a Palestinian lawmaker on Sunday evening after he had spent seven months in Israeli detention without facing charges. Khaled Tafesh, MP for the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform Bloc, was seized by Israeli forces from his Bethlehem home on January 19, 2012. In May his administrative detention order was renewed for a further three months.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513442

Sixth batch of relatives of Gaza prisoners start their travel to visit them
GAZA (PIC) 20 Aug — The sixth batch of relatives of Gaza prisoners in the Israeli jails left Monday morning the Strip on a visit to those prisoners for the first time in six years. A prisoners’ hunger strike forced the Israeli prison service to allow visits for Gaza prisoners after six years of deprivation. The relatives assembled in a bus for the Red Cross that left the coastal enclave via Erez crossing point en route to Nafha jail. The Israeli occupation forces are still detaining 470 prisoners from Gaza out of around 5000 Palestinians held in the occupation prisons.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7sKnd1reg%2bjsM7%2f%2f8DOTXEpVPIvjvYn4IdnN%2fa91C%2bR12ucRAXprdEQ6GDMBer0ECSMY0l2thG9MGVy8BnJCRFhZa1pGwP%2fPGN36K5RRPS08%3d

27 years in captivity: Arab detainee to be released Wednesday
IMEMC 22 Aug — Arab, Syrian political prisoner, from the occupied Golan Heights, Sidqi Suleiman Al-Maqt, will be released from Israeli prison Wednesday after 27 years in captivity. Al-Maqt is currently 45 years old. Born on April 16, 1967 in Majdal Shams town, in the occupied Golan Heights, Al-Maqt and his comrades, Midhat As-Saleh, Seetan Al-Waly, Hayel Abu Zeid, Asem Al-Waly, and Bisher Al-Maqt, formed a movement called “The Secret Resistance Movement”, and managed to obtain some grenades and mines after breaking into an Israeli military base in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64097

Israel holds four Palestinians over kidnap plot
AFP 20 Aug — Israel has been holding four Palestinian militants since May on suspicion of plotting to kidnap Israelis for use as bargaining chips for their jailed leader, the security service said on Monday. The Shin Bet statement ended a protracted media blackout on the arrest of the four members of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. “In May, Shin Bet agents, backed by the army and police, arrested an armed PFLP cell that was preparing to kidnap Israelis for use as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners,” the statement said. It said the four were suspected of plotting to seize “soldiers or settlers” with the aim of securing the release of jailed PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat. It said the four were charged with illegal possession of weapons before a military court, which remanded them in custody until trial.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-holds-four-palestinians-over-kidnap-plot-133719351.html?_esi=1

War crimes

VIDEO: From the children of Gaza: Samouni Street
20 August 2012 | Besieged Gaza, occupied Palestine — From the children of Gaza comes this adorable [and horrifying] animation depicting the story of 4 kids of the extended Samouni family in Gaza. By animated drawings they express what happened to them and their family during operation ‘Cast Lead’.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/08/from-the-children-of-gaza-samouni-street/

Gaza / Sinai

Turkish goods fill Gaza markets
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 Aug — Markets in the Gaza Strip are increasingly turning to Turkish products to fill their shelves, Ma‘an’s correspondent reported Sunday. The demand for Turkish products exceeds other competing imported goods, and the prices suit the Gazan market. “When citizens come to buy, they always ask for Turkish goods and buy them as they are more practical and more comfortable,” clothes shop owner Samir Moussa said. Another businessman, Wael Shawwa, said that he only imports Turkish goods, but mainly due to the country’s steadfast support for the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513449

IOF soldiers fire at residential areas in east Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 20 Aug — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened machinegun fire at Palestinian residential quarters on the eastern outskirts of Gaza city and Khan Younis governorate. Local sources said that soldiers in military watchtowers opened fire at the residential quarters on Sunday but no casualties were reported. The Hebrew radio, meanwhile, claimed that a locally made rocket was fired from Gaza at the western Negev. It said that no human or material losses were sustained as the rocket fell in a deserted area.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7fwdQLZsT9Kz1UBEKiLxQr4UcGHUK8dUQVH2vboePPRh2yPOvJs6wQJPOd6eNbTOYeYJkX9lk6OX6wFU99aKl3F2%2bhiNbAGSxtz8c88315ns%3d

Egypt prepares to use tanks, air force in Sinai
IMEMC 21 Aug — Egyptian security sources reported that the country is preparing to use its Air Force and Tanks to counter armed groups and arms smugglers operating in the Sinai Peninsula. This will be the first time Egypt deploys tanks and the Air Force in Sinai since the 1973 war with Israel. Reuters reported that the new Egyptian Defense Minister, Abdul-Fattah As-Seesy, is conducting the final touches to the military plan.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64092

Israel wants Egypt to withdraw its tanks from Sinai
IMEMC 21 Aug — Israeli paper, Maariv, reported Tuesday that the Israeli government demanded Egypt to withdraw its tanks from the Sinai Peninsula after Cairo deployed them to counter extremist groups operating in the area. Maariv said that the office of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent a letter to the Egyptian leadership through the White House, asking Cairo to remove its tanks. Israel said that deploying further Egyptian soldiers in Sinai without prior coordination, is considered a serious violation to the peace agreement between the two countries.
Yet, on Monday, several Israeli military and security officials said that said that they are in direct communication with Cairo and that they encouraged the newly-elected Islamist leadership to act decisively against the armed groups in Sinai.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64095

Political / Economic news

UN envoy says PA quickly losing legitimacy
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 22 Aug — UN envoy to Jerusalem Robert Serry said Monday that the Palestinian Authority was “quickly” losing legitimacy due to its inability to achieve political goals, Israeli media reported. The Jerusalem Post newspaper said Serry told a group of students at a model UN event in Lishon Lezion that a strong Palestinian economy would not be enough to maintain stability in the West Bank. “This is because the Palestinian Authority is quickly, in my view, losing its legitimacy in the eye of the public, if it is not able to bring also the political goal forwards — the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security,” Serry said, according to the report. “As we have witnessed lately in the region, no political institution can survive if it rests only on economics and lacks political legitimacy,” he reportedly added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=513568

Israeli racism / Discrimination

The holy war against Arab-Jewish relations and the Jerusalem lynch
972mag 21 Aug by Noam Sheizaf — Those who attacked Palestinians in central Jerusalem claimed they wanted to prevent them from speaking to Jewish girls. The fear of interracial relations once found only in the fringes of the right are now turning into a legitimate, mainstream political issue in national-religious circles … There are several organizations promoting ethnic segregation in Israel, with a special emphasis on preventing relations between Jewish girls and Palestinian men. The most vocal is Lehava, an NGO that calls upon citizens to inform them of any case of mixed marriage or relationship. Their low-tech internet site, filled with racism and hate-talk, has a section titled “shame page,” which features the pictures of women, mostly public figures, who are in relationships with non-Jews. The head of Lehava, a Kahanist called Bentzi Gopstein, said today that the Jerusalem attackers “have raised Jewish honor from the floor and did what the police should have done.” Lehava wouldn’t merit much attention if it wasn’t for their legitimacy in right-wing circles.
http://972mag.com/the-holy-war-against-arab-jewish-relations-and-the-jerusalem-lynch/54198/

Eilat parents: We don’t want Sudanese in our schools
Ynet 21 Aug — Less than a week before the new school year is set to begin, parents in Israel‘s southern city of Eilat are threatening to hold a strike in the city’s schools. The reason: A Beersheba District Court decision on the integration of illegal migrants’ children in the city education system.The migrants called the threat insulting and racist.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4271272,00.html

Survey shows racist attitudes of Israeli 12th-graders
Haaretz 22 Aug — Tel Aviv University study shows that 58 percent of 12-graders support the deportation of African refugees.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/survey-shows-racist-attitudes-of-israeli-12th-graders.premium-1.459813

Israel prison services denying visits to asylum seekers, rights group claims
Haaretz 21 Aug — The Hotline for Migrant Workers human rights organization has filed a petition in Israel’s High Court of Justice against the Israel Prison Service, claiming that prison officials have ceased allowing the organization’s workers and volunteers to visit asylum seekers being held at the Saharonim and Ketziot prisons. The HMW contends that by forbidding such visits, the prison service is denying asylum seekers their right to representation, liberty and due process of law.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-prison-services-denying-visits-to-asylum-seekers-rights-group-claims.premium-1.459766

Other news

Founding member of Jewish-Arab village Neve Shalom dies in car accident
Haaretz 21 Aug — Dr. Ahmad  Hijazi, 45, one of the founders of the binational cooperative village of Neve Shalom, was killed in a car accident on Monday, along with his 11-year-old son Adam, while vacationing on the African island of Zanzibar … Neve Shalom, which means “oasis of peace,” is a cooperative community founded by Israeli Jews and Arabs and located midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/founding-member-of-jewish-arab-village-neve-shalom-dies-in-car-accident.premium-1.459772

Modi’in threatens to bar ultra-Orthodox from park after nearby town bars seculars from heritage site
Haaretz 21 Aug — Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas threatened on Tuesday to bar ultra-Orthodox visitors from his city’s central park in response to Modi’in Ilit Mayor Yaakov Gutterman’s pledge to keep non-Haredi visitors out of an archaeological site slated to open soon in his town. The site, called Khirbet Bad-Issa, is a Second Temple farming village and was proclaimed a national heritage site by the government in 2011. Last week Gutterman told the Haredi newspaper Yated Neeman that the archaeological site “will be open only to the ultra-Orthodox public, which will keep it a proper place for them to visit and connect to their Jewish roots, without the distortions and disruptions of other places, where there is fear of hearing false opinions.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/modi-in-threatens-to-ban-ultra-orthodox-from-park-after-nearby-town-bars-seculars-from-heritage-site.premium-1.459733

We sat and wept when we remembered Zion
Haaretz 20 Aug by Khaled Diab — Exile is no longer a strictly Palestinian sentiment today, as a growing number of Sephardi Jews in Israel brand themselves as refugees and even claim a right of return — The United States House of Representatives is now considering a bipartisan bill, submitted last month, that would effectively equate the plight of the Palestinian refugees with that of Jews whose origins were in Middle Eastern countries. Although the tragedy that befell Jews in Arab countries following the creation of Israel certainly requires recognition and redress, many Mizrahi Jews resent the linkage … Although Palestinians and Mizrahi Jews do have the loss of their homelands in common, the Mizrahim, particularly those in Israel, generally do not wish to return to their ancestral lands; indeed, many Mizrahim are actually situated on the anti-Arab end of the Israeli political spectrum…
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/we-sat-and-wept-when-we-remembered-babylon.premium-1.459497

Amazing photos: Images from Palestine / Haitham Al Khatib
You can look at these great photos even if you’re not on Facebook. New ones all the time.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Images-From-Palestine/431256660252368?ref=stream

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