On the 30th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in which hundreds of defenseless Palestinian refugees were slaughtered by Lebanese right-wing militias under the cover of the Israeli military, Al-Akhbar publishes an account of the events by a Palestinian survivor who was a young boy when he witnessed the killings.
Today marks the 30 year anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, in which hundreds of defenseless Palestinian refugees were slaughtered by Lebanese right-wing militias under the cover of the Israeli military. Below are profiles of the main culprits responsible for the killings.
Land Theft and Destruction / Ethnic Cleansing / Apartheid / Refugees
Thirty-Two Palestinian Civilians Displaced due to Israeli Demolitions in Area C
In its August 29-September 4 weekly on Protection of Civilians, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory highlighted the following developments: thirty-two (32) Palestinian civilians, including 14 children, displaced due to the Israeli authorities demolition of Area C structures; two settlement outposts evacuated by Israeli forces following a court ruling, but about 100 additional outposts, including many built on private Palestinian land, still in place; and twelve Palestinians, including a child, accidently injured, and a number of residential buildings sustained damage, as a result of misuse of weapons by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The introductory paragraphs of the report appear, followed by a link to the full report.
Three basic issues have been worrying Israel since its creation in May 1948; they are inseparable. The first relates to the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland and be compensated for damage and disadvantage. That right is both collective and individual, and is inalienable, unable to be waived, denied or negotiated away. The second relates to settlement building, which has a divisive and racist dimension, in law and practice. Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, are illegal in international laws, conventions and treaties, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its annexes of 1977.
In October 1979 the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the eviction of the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh in the West Bank. Basing its decision on the Hague Convention of 1907, the Court ruled that the land was private, belonged to Palestinians and could only be expropriated for military benefits; Elon Moreh was a civilian settlement. At the time, some saw this ruling as the beginning of the end of settlements, or at least a measure that would go towards curbing their existence. Before this ruling, even private land was taken with impunity. Unfortunately, though, they have mushroomed since then across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The Hague Convention means that settlements can be justified with proof that there is a military necessity for the settlement, and essentially leaves state land open to exploitation.
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Higher Education on Thursday condemned the Israeli government’s approval to upgrade an education center in a West Bank settlement to the status of university. The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the measure, even though the Israeli High Court is still considering a petition to block the move, Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported.
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma’an) — Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority has rescinded its consent to build the separation wall around the village of Battir, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Thursday. No state agency has ever opposed the construction of the wall in any area before, Haaretz said. The Nature and Parks Authority wrote to the Israeli Defense Ministry warning of damage to Battir’s landscape and relations with villagers, and demanding the ministry find an alternative route for the wall.
IOF raids lands in Juhor Dik and expel farmers
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed, on Tuesday, the central Gaza Strip and fired at farmers and Palestinian houses there.
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In the afternoon of Tuesday, 11 September 2012, settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar burned farmers’ land containing almond trees in the Palestinian village of Burin. Around 10 settlers came down from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar and started to burn the trees; when Palestinian shepherds came to investigate the fires they returned quickly to the settlement. They were guarded by security officers as they watched from above.. The firemen arrived within several minutes and were successful in their efforts to control the fires. After one hour the Israeli army, Israeli Disctrict Coordination Offices (DCO) and border police arrived.
Settlers Occupy Palestinian Lands Near Bethlehem
The Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA) reported Thursday that a number of extremist settlers occupied privately-owned Palestinian lands that belong to residents of the Al-Khader town, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64234
Settler group tours Hebron lands
HEBRON (Ma’an) — More than 150 Israeli settlers toured Palestinian agricultural lands in south Hebron on Friday morning, locals said. No clashes were reported. The group proceeded through the Wadi Abu Qamra area near Dura, on lands owned by Abdel al-Hai Shaheen, under military protection, residents said. They also surrounded a local school and mosque, the witnesses added. Israeli settlers living in communities in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law, regularly enter Palestinian villages sparking confrontations.
In 2008, the Israeli army annexed a spring that belonged to the Palestinian village of Yatma, providing fresh water to the village for free. This theft has severely limited the village’s access to water, as the majority of the output of the spring is now diverted to the illegal Israeli settlement of Rechelim, immediately adjacent to Yatma. This settlement is over 25 kilometres into the Palestinian territories and is condemned by International law according to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are moving to the West Bank in search of jobs, education and community.
Israel policies pushing Palestinians deeper into poverty: U.N.
The United Nations UNCTAD agency issued a gloomy outlook for the Palestinian economy recently, arguing that tougher Israeli policies were pushing the Palestinian Territories and Gaza deeper into poverty.
Once the mainstay of the local economy, Palestinian agriculture in the rocky West Bank is in decline, with farmers struggling to protect both their livelihoods and their lands. Deprived of water, cut off from key markets and held back by hidebound traditions, farmers in Beit Ummar town can only look on with a mix of anger and envy as Israeli settlers copiously irrigate their own plantations and export at will. “The problems that we face as Palestinian farmers are because of the Israeli fruits and vegetables. Our vegetables are not allowed to be sold outside to Israel. The Israeli fruits and vegetables which are sold here, caused damages to our vegetables and fruits, we do not gain money from selling our fruits,” Palestinian farmer Abdel Hamid Abu Maria said.
Twilight Zone / Just another morning in Bethlehem
Gideon Levy–Since the second intifada, the Palestinian workmen who once flooded our streets, built, renovated, washed up and swept, have all but disappeared from view. Yet even now, more than 32,000 Palestinians cross the Green Line every morning and are granted entry into Israel to work, according to data from the coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7PtVh70IlYhUbCyahjHNnxTy59RoMm%2b%2bU1cZN1biGN8Vy46pMibajEvvJcMg0P0BiWWKsY6%2bVRkbGv2qbjTlsguWcdFvh5IoTewOyewXJxp8%3d
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/adri-nieuwhof/new-al-haq-report-says-governments-within-their-rights-sanction-israel-over
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip is undergoing a real water crisis which threatens people’s lives, the Hamas government’s agriculture minister said Thursday. ”About 95 percent of the groundwater in the Gaza Strip is not fit for human use in general, and may cause a number of diseases and health problems,” Mohammad al-Agha said. In al-Agha’s interview, published by the Palestine Center for Strategic Studies, he said the population in Gaza needed to be aware of the crisis affecting Gaza’s water. ”The Arab world in general and the Gaza Strip in particular are classified as dry regions. The main reason for this crisis in the Gaza Strip is the occupation and its policies,” he said.
Israeli Terrorism
Al Mezan Condemns Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Fishermen
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemned escalation of Israeli attacks on Palestinian fishermen and called on international community for immediate intervention.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ExRnhSX7mej8IoncfYRKzj04trlyMpbZDyOYvrKc%2f%2b89hdQSUDXCju3rfZ1hjUW7PFnKki1EuP6XyWU0FBl%2bj5abuk6l1FQ%2fH3WevvnSR%2bU%3d
The West Bank village of Awarta has been subject to siege for 18 months after the murders of a family in a nearby settlement, even though the killers have been arrested and confessed to the crime.
On Sunday evening, settlers entered Nabi Saleh village. In clashes that followed Israeli soldiers shot Omar al-Tamini, 25, with live ammunition in the abdomen, and then arrested him and Eyas from inside the ambulance which was taking Omar to Ramallah hospital. On Monday, September 11 at 2:30 a.m., Israeli forces forced entry to homes in Nabi Saleh and arrested Mohammed, and Zeyad, younger brother of martyr, Mustafa Tamini.
Settlers attack and injure Palestinians south of Nablus
Three Palestinians, including a woman, were injured on Friday evening when they were attacked by extremist Jewish settlers near Za’tara roadblock, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Scores of settlers break into Dura south of al-Khalil
Dozens settlers stormed on Friday morning the area of Wadi Abu Qamra in Dura, south of al-Khalil.
On the morning of September 10 in south west Hebron, at Checkpoint 56, a Palestinian man was shot with live ammunition by the Israeli military. Residents and army officials reported that Molotov cocktails were thrown at the checkpoint, and in response the soldiers fired with live bullets. Kamal al-Batsh, aged 31, was shot in the leg and was eventually transported to a hospital in Jerusalem, although Palestinian ambulances were prevented from arriving at the scene.
Illegal Arrests
Preventive security kidnaps 2 leaders in the Islamic bloc at Birzeit University
PA Preventive Security Forces kidnapped, on Thursday afternoon, 2 leaders in the Islamic bloc at Birzeit University.
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities detained a prominent religious figure in East Jerusalem’s Shufat refugee camp on Thursday evening, locals said. Sheikh Abdullah Alqam, the head of a popular committee of Palestinian clans, was summoned to the Shufat checkpoint before being transferred to police custody, they said. An Israeli police spokesman said he was looking into the incident. Tensions are high in the camp over Israeli plans to seal the Ras al-Khamis checkpoint, a move which will force all the residents to use a single checkpoint. Residents say the move will further cut the camp off from the rest of the city.
Palestinian jailed one month for “cursing” Israeli soldier
A young Palestinian from Hebron was held in Israeli jail for a month without any grounds, after a soldier wrongly believed he cursed him, an Israeli military judge ruled this week. Israeli rights group B’Tselem said Abd al-Aziz Fakhouri was released on Wednesday after video evidence contradicted the army’s account of his arrest. After he was detained in Hebron’s Old City on August 14, Israeli media aired a video showing Fakhouri violently dragged by Israeli soldiers in civilian clothes into a stairwell, with some kicking him.
Hunger Strikes
The organization usually prefers to express its opinion on the conditions of prisoners in private conversations with officials, and only rarely publishes these opinions in the press.
Issawi threatens to escalate his ongoing hunger strike
The prisoner Samer al-Issawi confirmed that he will continue his hunger strike which he started since 43 days ago.
Safadi in grave danger after 86 days of hunger strike
The Israeli prison service (IPS) has summoned the lawyer of the Palestinian prisoners Society (PPS) to Assaf Harofeh hospital on Wednesday following deterioration of Hassan Safadi’s health.
Hunger Striking Detainee Moved To Hospital
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPPS) reported, Thursday, that detainee Hasan Safady was moved to the Assaf Harofeh Israeli hospital after his health condition witnessed a sharp deterioration following 85 days of continuous hunger strike.
GAZA, PALESTINE, September 11 – The families of Palestinians detained by Israel called for a week of urgent actions to support a mass hunger strike on 13 September, as well as ongoing hunger strikes by individual detainees. Thousands of detainees will participate in a mass one-day hunger strike on Thursday, 13 September, beginning a “Saving the Strike” campaign to demand that Israel fully implement the agreement that ended the “Dignity” hunger strike on 14 May, 2012. “The agreement was to allow all prisoners from Gaza to receive visits from family members,” said Sadeya Saftawi, the wife of detainee Emad El Deen Saftawi. “But four months later, I still haven’t been able to see my husband.”
Bilal Diab on his 77-day hunger strike in protest of administrative detention in Israeli prison.
Other Prisoner News
GAZA, (PIC)– The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said different skin diseases spread among the Palestinian prisoners in Etzion jail because of its administration’s policy which force them to wear used and dirty clothes. Head of the society Qaddura Fares stated on Wednesday that the Israeli administration of Etzion deprives the prisoners of all their rights and maltreat them. Fares added that Etzion jailers overstepped all limits and forced the prisoners to wear clothes, including underwear, used previously by other detainees. Lawyer of the society Jacqueline Fararjeh, who visited the prisoners, said the jail administration forces any prisoner entering its premises to hand over the clothes he wear and put on instead unclean and used clothes.
NABLUS (Ma’an) — A Palestinian citizen of Israel had been moved into solitary confinement in Israeli jail, a Nablus-based human rights group said Saturday. Imad Rajeh Mustafa Sarhan, 34, was moved from Beersheva prison to an isolation cell in Ashkelon’s jail, the Solidarity for Human Rights group said. Prison authorities saying he was being moved due to psychological problems, researcher for the organization Ahmad al-Bitawi said.
Protests against land theft
On Friday, September 7, Israeli forces sealed off the village early in the morning and at least 4 people were detained hiking over the hill and two cars of Israeli activists were also detained while on route in to Nabi Saleh. All were released in the evening. Israeli forces broke up the demonstration with tear gas. Clashes broke out with local youth throwing stones, with Israeli forces firing rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas. On Friday evening after the weekly demonstration, Israeli forces drove through the village playing loud noises through speakers. Clashes broke out and Israeli military fired tear gas and at least one live round in the air. This week was relatively quiet with no serious injuries sustained.
Soldiers Attack Weekly Protest In Nabi Saleh
Israeli soldiers attacked, Friday, the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall and Settlements in Nabi Saleh village, near the central West bank city of Ramallah, and fired gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets sprayed them with toxic water; several injuries were reported.
Army Attacks Kufr Qaddoum Weekly Protest
Dozens of residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers attacked, Friday, the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall and settlements, and against the closure of the main road that leads to the village.
Weekly Demonstration in Beit Ommar
A weekly demonstration took place on Saturday 15th September at the entrance to the Gush Ezion compound, north of Beit Ommar. Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, joined by a large media contingent, assembled on the roundabout on the Hebron-Jerusalem road which marks the turning to the bloc of nine Israeli settlements. A number of occupation soldiers and police were present at the demonstration, which was the first arranged by PSP in this location.
On Friday 7th September myself and four other international activists attended the weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall in the village of Ni’lin. Since 2004 the villagers of Ni’lin have been non violently protesting against the annexation of their lands. So far the village has lost over 50,000 dunum (1 dunum = .1 hectare) of land, in part to surrounding illegal settlements and in part annexed from the village in the construction of the apartheid wall. Saeed Amireh, member of the Ni’lin popular committee explains that the confiscation of the land and colonization of the West Bank with illegal Israeli settlements are calculated methods designed to expel the Palestinians from the land. Many of the inhabitants in Ni’lin rely on the farm land and in particular the ancient olive trees for their livelihood.
Protests against Oslo, low wages, PA
Workers’ Union in WB threatens to launch strike against Fayyad’s government
Public sector workers’ union head, Bassam Zakarneh, said the civil servants will continue their protest activities against the economic policies adopted by the government of Salam Fayyad.
Israeli soldiers attacked, Friday, the weekly protest against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in, causing scores of Palestinians and international activists to suffocate.
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Hundreds of people took part in a Nablus protest organized by the union of Palestinian workers on Saturday, a Ma’an correspondent said. Union head Shaher Saad, businessman Muni al-Masri, and executive committee member Ghassan Hamden attended the protest, which demonstrated against the rising cost of living in the West Bank. ”Our message is clear and direct; to insure the minimum needed for a humane and dignified life for our people,” Saad said.
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The public sector union director Bassam Zakarneh said Thursday that it will announce any strikes on Sunday after a meeting of its council. Zakarneh said the union was contemplating an open strike beginning on Oct. 1, saying this would give the government time to come up with a serious response to the protesters demands. The union chief criticized the Palestinian government’s response to mass protests last week against high living costs and low wages, calling premier Salam Fayyad’s measures “bubbles of air.”
Other protests, activism, international solidarity and BDS
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Palestinian and German organizations on Friday protested as former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert spoke at a campus symposium in Iserlohn, Germany. The protestors waved Palestinian flags and photos of Palestinians killed during the 2008 Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, which claimed hundreds of lives in the coastal enclave. Olmert was speaking at the BiTS, Business and Information Technology School, Campus Symposium, which is held annually
Khan al-Ahmar – On Friday September 7th the Freedom Bus project, together with the youth activists from Al Walajah, arranged a work day in the Bedouin encampment of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank of occupied Palestine. The September Freedom Bus Ride will run from September 23rd to October 1st 2012 – a nine day solidarity ride through eleven communities in the West Bank. The bus ride is built around what is called the Playback Theatre, which is an interactive and spontaneous form of theatre that is meant to gather people and give new perspectives on different matters.
On September 12, 2012, Los Angeles Residents Confronted Veolia Corporation on Human Rights Violations at L.A. City Council Transportation Committee. Below you’ll find a Report-Back and Call to Action from DumpVeolia.LA. ***PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY!*** There’s something everyone can do among the items in red below.
Israeli plan for West Bank university fuels boycott debate in British academia
The Israeli cabinet this week approved the upgrade of settlement-located Ariel University Center to full university, drawing a rebuke from Britain’s Foreign Office.
Political Developments / Other News
VIENNA (Reuters) — Arab states are expected to refrain from targeting Israel over its assumed nuclear arsenal at the UN atomic agency’s annual conference next week so as not to undermine wider efforts for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, diplomats said. This would be welcomed by Western states, which have been concerned that an Arab move against Israel would discourage Tel Aviv from attending talks due to be held this year on banning such weapons of mass destruction in the volatile region. ”It is certainly positive,” one Western envoy said.
Draft of the Tunisian constitution, As’ad AbuKhalil
Zaid sent me this: ”I thought you’d be interested to know that article 2.27 of the latest version of Tunisia’s draft constitution provides that: “All forms of normalization with Zionism and the Zionist entity shall be deemed a crime punishable by law”.”
“A similar pattern emerged as to Israeli efforts to prevent a clause being added to the new Tunisian constitution outlawing normalization or contacts with Israel. The Foreign Ministry asked the United States to intervene, but was not satisfied by the response. “They told us, ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be all right, the clause will be left out,’ but the clause is still in there,” the official said.” This is quite something: Israel asks the US to change the constitution of Tunisia.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday anyone wishing to mediate an end to a two-year rift between Turkey and Israel should not waste their time unless they could guarantee all of Ankara’s demands would be met. Turkish and Israeli media have said the United States is trying to mediate an end to the dispute but Israeli and Turkish officials have not commented on the reports.
Collapse of PA will lead to collapse of Israel-Jordan peace agreement
A senior official at Israel’s Defence Ministry has warned that the collapse of the Palestinian Authority will lead to the collapse of Israel’s peace agreement with Jordan. Amos Gilad was speaking at the 12th world summit of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism held in Herzliya. He also called on the Israeli government to rein in right-wing groups which carry out the so-called Price Tag attacks against Palestinians, saying that such violent criminal acts of terror are intended to drag Israel into a religious Armageddon scenario. The Ministry’s Director for Policy and Political-Military Affairs referred specifically to the recent firebomb attack on a Palestinian taxi, and the attempt lynching of a Palestinian youth in West Jerusalem’s Zion Square.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4299-collapse-of-pa-will-lead-to-collapse-of-israel-jordan-peace-agreement
Israeli Politician: “Netanyahu Thinks He Runs America”
Israeli daily, Yedioth Aharonoth reported Friday that political criticisms of the policies of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are on the rise due to his meddling in the American Presidential election campaign, and quoted an official stating that “Netanyahu thinks he runs the United States”.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday denied accusations he was interfering in US politics after coming under fire for fiercely criticizing Washington’s handling of Iran. Relations between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama hit a new low this week after the Israeli leader said nations that failed to set red lines for Iran did not have the “moral right” to prevent Israel from launching a military strike. He did not mention the United States by name, but the comments were clearly aimed at Obama and his administration.
Interview part of PM’s campaign to garner American public support for his position on Iran.
In an interview with Foreign Policy, Leon Panetta discusses recent attacks on U.S. presence in the Middle East. ‘Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.’
Berlin rejects Israeli pressure over submarine sales to Egypt
German Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere dismissed Israeli pressure not to sell two submarines to Egypt, while acknowledging the country was “not as stable” as he would like in an interview published Saturday. “No country in the world has the right of veto to decisions taken by the German government,” the minister told the Frankfurter Rundschau when asked to comment on the probable sale of two Type 209 attack submarines. Questioned specifically about Israeli pressure not to go through with the deal, he repeated: “Nobody has the right of veto.” However he admitted that Egypt “is not as stable as I would like”, while stressing this was a “personal point of view” and had “nothing to do with any possible transaction over submarines.”
DUBAI (Reuters) — An aide to Iran’s supreme leader said Israel’s military threats had “put Israeli citizens one step away from the cemetery” and that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was ready to hit back. Yahya Rahim-Safavi, military adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the increasing threats from Israel to strike Iranian nuclear facilities were “foolish”, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Friday. ”The boldness and foolishness of Israeli officials in threatening the Islamic Republic, have put Israeli citizens one step away from the cemetery,” he said.
Mohamed Esmat Seif al-Dawla, an advisor to President Mohamed Morsy, said on Thursday that the Camp David Accords with Israel should be amended to give Egypt full control over Sinai. Real development in Sinai can only be achieved with protection from the Armed Forces, Dawla told the Shura Council’s Arab affairs committee. ”The peace treaty doesn’t allow for the protection [of Sinai], because it disarms two thirds [of the peninsula],” he added. The 1979 peace treaty between former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and former Israeli Prime Minister Manachem Begin bans Egypt from sending armed troops into the peninsula, allowing only Egyptian police with light weapons to guard the borders with Israel.
King Abdullah II on Wednesday accused Israel of disrupting Jordan’s nuclear program which is aimed at meeting its dire energy needs and powering water desalination plants, in an exclusive interview with AFP. “Strong opposition to Jordan’s nuclear energy program is coming from Israel,” the king said. “When we started going down the road of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, we approached some highly responsible countries to work with us. And pretty soon we realized that Israel was putting pressure on those countries to disrupt any cooperation with us.”
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the Israeli Minister of Industry, has warned that hatred of Israel “is increasing” in the wake of the violence and anger across the Arab world triggered by an anti-Islam film. The movie was made by an Israeli and, it is claimed, was financed by Jews. Ben-Eliezer predicted greater risk as a result “because the whole Arab world can be dragged behind a wave of anger.” He expressed pessimism for the future of Israel in the light of the developments which resulted in the killing of the American ambassador in Libya.
Qassem: Qurei’s remarks reflect PA’s political failure
Dr. Abdul Sattar Qassem denounced remarks of leader in Fatah and the PLO, Ahmed Qurei, about PA’s willingness to conduct negotiations with the occupation about creating a bi-national state.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7bg7RyQRY1kBwIjQKQYbM7AmgvL7dP%2fNR2RLUjrA%2fuKIhz8NY26LojLsEE7pdNTXJKG1HzcFa1WN%2bzlUeMm5BlSdXFZFC2VC%2fULwCRlKYSMI%3d
Khreisheh: bi-national state contradict foundations of Palestinian struggle
Hassan Khreisheh, Second Deputy speaker of the PLC denounced remarks made by leader in Fatah and the PLO, Ahmed Qurei, about PA’s willingness to negotiate a bi-national state with the occupation.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to 200 million euros in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday. The development aid will be focused on water, sanitation and support for refugees. A further 100 million euros aid credits unspent last year will be also spent in 2012, the European Commission said in a statement. ”The decision shows our commitment to help the people of Palestine in the areas which are vital to their everyday lives,” said Stefan Fuele, EU commissioner for enlargement and European neighborhood Policy.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Fatah is sticking to the two-state solution despite a recent proposal by a former prime minister to adopt a single bi-national state as the movement’s end goal. Faysal Abu Shahla, a senior party leader from the Gaza Strip, said Saturday that Jerusalem-based Fatah leader Ahmad Qurai’s remarks about adopting a bi-national state did not represent an official view. Abu Shahla said there was diversity of thought within Fatah, and officials have a number of views about a future peace.
The list called ‘By Participating, We Can,’ is gearing up for next month’s vote with a campaign that aims both to win at the polls and to convince voters that women can lead just as well as men.
Analysis / Op-ed
Nineteen years after the Oslo Accords were officially signed on September 13, 1993, it is clearer than ever that the Accords have blocked Palestinian rights of freedom, return and self-determination. The current protests shed light on this disastrous burden for Palestinians.
ICAHD endorses one-state solution, warns against “warehousing” of Palestinians, Ali Abunimah
ICAHD concludes that with no prospect of a “two-state solution,” the only options are apartheid, “warehousing” or a single state.
Hebron’s Ghost Town: Shuhada Street
Shuhada Street used to be an integral part of the vibrant centre of Hebron. The shops and markets, for which the city is renowned, lined the pavements. The street itself was a busy main road through the city and was considered the most important street in Hebron. Since the Goldstein Massacre, the Israeli occupation forces chose to make restrictions on the Palestinians rather than on the Israeli settlers living inside Hebron and the Palestinian movement have been restricted intermittently. Vehicles were banned from using the Shuhada Street, but it remained a hub of activity in the old city.
No words were necessary when Janan Abdu, activist and wife of political prisoner Ameer Makhoul, met Cindy Corrie after last month’s court verdict.
TIFF’s Cozying up to Israeli Propaganda, Eric Walberg
The empire requires a nice juicy enemy to keep people’s minds off its own sins. During the Cold War, Hollywood responded admirably to the challenge, churning out anti-communist thrillers with Russian bad guys, most memorably during Reagan’s surreal presidency, when “Red Dawn” and “Rocky IV” reduced international politics to a comic book parody.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19564
Travel on Travel tells the story of a meeting between two Palestinians. Fadwa (played by Suleiman), the refugee artist from Bissan, has been living in Morocco since she was six. Salim (played by Haddad), a native of of Jaffa, still lives in the city but his parents were evicted from their home, making him a Palestinian refugee in his own homeland.
www.TheHeadlines.Org
Wow that is one powerful video.
wow, til this day i didn’t know about the executions that took place after the massacre. that fisk talks about starting at 6 minutes. maybe i just blanked it out. it’s still hard for me to comprehend how humans can carry out such cold blooded murder.
“Odd Karsten Tveit, a famous badass Norwegian journalist and war correspondent reporting directly from the Westbanks in 1990. Palestinian stone throwers are throwing stones around and he don’t even flinch then an IDF soldier open fire right behind him and continues his report”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR2I_L9CL14
R.I.P. the aged, the women and children of Sabra and Shatila.
My only wish is that Sharon is being incessantly tortured by their cries for help in his purgatorial coma.
The 1982 invasion was supposed to answer the Palestinian question definitively. As in “there is no such thing as a Palestinian.”
But the culture was too strong for Zionism.
And now it is not the palestinians who have the existential fear .