Israeli gov’t has allocated 38% of West Bank state land to settlers, 1% to Palestinians

Land, property theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Just 0.7% of state land in the West Bank has been allocated to Palestinians, Israel admits
Haaretz 28 Mar by Chaim Levinson — Over the past 33 years the Civil Administration has allocated less than one percent of state land in the West Bank to Palestinians, compared to 38 percent to settlers, according to the agency’s own documents submitted to the High Court of Justice. The West Bank includes 1.3 million dunams ‏(approximately 325,000 acres‏) of “state land,” most of which is allocated to Jewish settlements. The declared policy of the previous Netanyahu government was to remove Jewish construction from private Palestinian land in the West Bank and to approve all construction on state lands. According to the classification of the Civil Administration, a small amount of “state land” was registered with the Jordanian authorities until 1967. But most declared “state land” was declared as such after 1979. The need for such a declaration emerged in October 1979, when the High Court struck down as unconstitutional the state’s practice of seizing Palestinian land, ostensibly for “military needs” but in practice in order to establish Jewish settlements. It was after 1979 that the process of the wholesale declaration of territory as state land began. According to the law in the West Bank, any land with continuous agricultural cultivation for at least 10 years becomes the property of the farmer; land under cultivation cannot be seized by the state. Although the Civil Administration team charged with determining which lands are cultivated is supposed to base their conclusions on testimony and aerial photos, a senior official in the Civil Administration conceded recently in the Ofer Military Court that the decisions are political. The hearing at which the official was speaking was over the state lands declared with regard to the Hayovel outpost. The latter has been at the heart of a High Court case for over seven years. The state had decided to retroactively authorize Hayovel, but aerial photos clearly show a number of houses and cultivated land, and the road to Hayovel goes through private Palestinian land. The state therefore devised a method of declaring the area between cultivated spots, for example, between trees, as “uncultivated” and thus it could deem it state land.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/just-0-7-of-state-land-in-the-west-bank-has-been-allocated-to-palestinians-israel-admits.premium-1.512126

Israel rejects Palestinian claims, registers Dead Sea land as state land
Haaretz 28 Mar by Chaim Levinson — The shrinking sea line of the Dead Sea has opened up a Palestinian-Israeli legal battle over newly-exposed earth, and it looks as if the State of Israel has won. After two years of deliberations, some 140,000 dunams (35,000 acres) of land exposed by the receding of the northern Dead Sea can be registered as state land by the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria. The decision comes after the preliminary registration committee rejected the claims of local Palestinian villages to the land … The preliminary registration process in the West Bank is a procedure that ends with a declaration that the land belongs to someone and is registered as such in the Land Registry … As part of the procedure, the Israel Defense Forces checks with the Jordanian authorities as to whether there had ever been a Palestinian village there, as well as if anyone had purchased any rights to the land. In this case, neither is possible since the land had been underwater.  But the adjacent villages of Zaatra, Sawahara, Dar Salah and Tekua filed claims, arguing that since they were owners of the old shorelines, since the shoreline has moved they are now entitled to ownership of the new shoreline.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-rejects-palestinian-claims-registers-dead-sea-land-as-state-land.premium-1.512330?localLinksEnabled=false

Haniyeh: No alternative to land of Palestine
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — Palestinians must reject the idea of settling in any land other than Palestine, Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday on the eve of Land Day. “We reject resettlement in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or the Sinai,” Haniyeh told crowds during a speech in Gaza on Friday. “There is no alternative to the land of Palestine.” Palestinians face ongoing political, economic, military and media campaigns to give up their land, the premier said, adding that US President Barack Obama’s recent visit confirmed the country’s bias toward Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580064

Settlers lay foundations to expand settlement
PNN — On Thursday 28th March, Jewish settlers laid foundations for new caravans on private-owned Palestinian land east of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron, for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Ovijal, built on the town’s land, according to a local source. Ratib Jabour, coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in southern Hebron, said that settlers laid foundations for new caravans on land belonging to the families of Jabareen and Mohammad. He said that scuffles erupted between the settlers and the landowners who tried to prevent them from taking over their land which they have all documents proving their ownership of the land.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4342-settlers-caravans

Workers seen expanding settlement near Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — Settlers’ bulldozers started on Wednesday to enlarge the Saalin settlement near near Tulkarem, witnesses said. Onlookers said the work began early Wednesday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579363

Settlers raid evacuated settlement in Jenin
PNN — On Wednesday 27th March, dozens of Jewish settlers raided the evacuated illegal Homesh settlement, south of Jenin in the northern West Bank, under Israeli army protection. Security sources told Palestinian official news agency WAFA that settlers broke into the settlement in the early morning and set up mobile restrooms there. Homesh was evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel’s plan to remove some settlements from the West Bank, but settlers often return to the settlement in an attempt to rebuild it.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4316-settlers-raid-evacuated-settlement-in-jenin

Caught red-handed: Settlers steal Palestinian donkey
972mag 29 Mar by Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz — Much of the Israeli public believes Palestinians lie constantly. This time, Yossi Gurvitz witnesses and documents evidence in real time — …The story was simple, humdrum, and depressing. The farmers of Yasouf received a very limited permit to work their lands adjacent to the Tapuach settlement: it was limited to two days. When the farmers came early on the first morning, they found two settlement security vehicles blocking their way to the lands, as IDF soldiers watched on, doing nothing. An officer from the IDF’s Civil Administration intervened, and the settlers left. About half an hour later, five men came out of the settlement’s north gate — it’s locked, so how they opened it is a mystery — and one of them was hooded. They started throwing stones at the farmers working their land, who retreated. Three of the attackers advanced while throwing stones at the farmers, and the two others grabbed their donkey, which carried some agricultural equipment, and pulled it through the gate in Tapuach … So, this time, there was a camera at the right place at the right time, and it provides us with the proof we are not willing to accept when it is backed only by the words of Palestinians. The police, this time, have all the evidence they need: there are security cameras on the gate to Tapuach. The attack and the theft ought to be thoroughly documented. And still, I have full faith in the ability of the Israeli police to botch its job and not catch the criminals, even when documentation exists
http://972mag.com/caught-red-handed-settlers-steal-palestinians-donkey/68372/

Israel confiscates private Palestinian land to enlarge checkpoint
[with video (Arabic)] JENIN (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — …Salih Abu Farha told Ma‘an that an Israeli officer approached him Friday and identified himself as a commander in charge of lands in military zones. The officer handed Abu Farha a warrant reading that the administration of al-Jalama commercial checkpoint [north of Jenin] decided to posses five small tracts of land in order to enlarge the checkpoint and install a security gate at the main entrance. “All five tracts are private properties of mine and they measure about 3,000 square meters. They are located right in front of the checkpoint, and I turned them into a parking lot for Palestinian workers who leave their vehicles and pay me a few shekels in return. This is my only source of income.” Abu Farha added that the Israeli authorities confiscated 8,000 square meters of his land in the past few years to be used for the same purpose. In addition, he added, they prevent him from tending other agricultural lands because they are close to the separation wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579310

Palestinian Authority rejects Bethlehem settler visit
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — The Palestinian Authority says it rejects Israeli plans to bring a group of settlers to the historic Solomon’s Pools site near Bethlehem [and just south of Al-Khader] in the occupied West Bank. On Thursday the deputy governor of Bethlehem, Mohammad Taha, told Ma‘an that the decision was a “flagrant violation” of the Oslo Accords which designate areas of control in the occupied territories. The pools are in Area A — the 17 percent of the West Bank under the full control of the Palestinian Authority. Taha said the Palestinian Authority would act to prevent settlers from entering the area. He was to meet with a Bethlehem security commander Thursday to discuss the issue … The visit, scheduled for Sunday, was to be accompanied by Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli media. The group planning the trip is from a school in the illegal Gush Etzion settlement bloc. “Thanks to the cooperation with the army we will return to a land of ancestors that was given to the Palestinians after the Oslo accords,” the school’s principal Yaron Rosenthal said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579972

Settlers uproot olive trees south of Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — Israeli settlers uprooted hundreds of olive trees and saplings in al-Khader village south of Bethlehem early Thursday morning, activists said. Ahmad Salah, the coordinator of popular committee against settlements and the wall in al-Khader, told Ma‘an that a group of settlers from Nevi Daniel were behind the incident. The land is owned by Ahmad Nabhan Mousa, and the settlers uprooted about 200 olive trees planted a year ago by the local YMCA. They also sprayed graffiti saying “Stone uprising.” Salah noted that the attack came soon after Israel’s approval to allow settlers into the village [to visit ‘Solomon’s Pools’]. Salah said that the committee would re-plant the trees and the saplings.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580000

Grassroots groups plant olive trees in Al-Khader
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar – Commemorating the 37th anniversary of the Land Day, Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights carried out Friday a voluntary activity in al-Khader south of Bethlehem in association with the village’s municipal council and several grassroots organizations. More than 100 Palestinians from Bethlehem and Hebron refugee camps along with international solidarity activists gathered in agricultural land called Khirbet Alya near the Israeli bypass road known as route 60 and planted 150 olive tree saplings. The lands in Khirbet Alya are close to an incomplete section of Israel’s separation wall south of Bethlehem, and the Palestinians fear Israeli plans to confiscate the lands to complete the wall around Bethlehem. Local farmers and land owners joined the activity. The land, measuring more than 15,000 square meters, belongs to Riyad Abdul-Latif Salah from al-Khader.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580103

Podcast: Maath Musleh on Israel’s plan to sever Jerusalem villages from one another
EI 29 Mar [several topics, among them the following] Rush transcript: Maath Musleh, journalist and EI contributor The Electronic Intifada: Let’s talk about Issawiyeh in the context of what’s happening across Jerusalem to Palestinian families and their homes. Give us an update on the types of repression and demolition of Palestinian homes across the city, especially in Issawiyeh, and the kinds of resistance that Palestinians are engaging in day by day. Maath Musleh: In several villages of Jerusalem, there are many issues. Each village has its unique issue and unique problem with the occupation. But house demolitions and house evictions are something that does occur between most of the villages. For example, in Sheikh Jarrah, the whole area is under the threat of being evicted. There has been an eviction order on several houses in March which were postponed, but several cases are in the court and under threat of being evicted, at least nine houses in Sheikh Jarrah … But the plan is really to turn these villages into just neighborhoods. Neighborhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem that could easily be … to just destroy the identity of each of these villages. EI: Maath, can you talk about what these kinds of attacks, for example in Beit Hanina, in Issawiyeh, look like — what does it look like when the Israeli army comes in and starts demolishing homes, what happens to the families?
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/podcast-maath-musleh-israels-plans-sever-jerusalem-villages-one-other

Azhar denounces IOA closure of Ibrahimi mosque
CAIRO (PIC) 27 Mar — Al-Azhar, the most respected authority in the Islamic Sunni sect, has denounced the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for closing down the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil [Hebron] for two days. It said in a statement on Wednesday that the Ibrahimi mosque is solely Islamic and the IOA has no right to close it in order for Jews to celebrate their feasts in it … The IOA closes the Ibrahimi mosque ten days each year to allow Jews free celebration of their feasts inside it. Azan (Call for prayers) is prohibited during those days and the mosque is totally closed to Muslim worshipers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7LgQgn4ItiXAWdBy%2fVhpV%2f8cDAr3BN7TS8mp1UzffrG9CZm64pJYrS3fsnKBmMz4DLX%2f3SfxHH%2fy2OaQXTz%2bO6KyVywqHWYd9CbJNM4%2bh0IQ%3d

Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem

6 injured trying to access Aqsa mosque
[photos] JERUSALEM (Ma’an) 29 Mar — Six Palestinians were injured in Jerusalem on Friday as Israeli forces prevented worshipers from praying at the al-Aqsa mosque.Jamal Kabaja, 54, and his son Muhammad, 18, were evacuated to hospital after Israeli forces assaulted them en route to the mosque compound, a Ma‘an reporter said. Kabaja sustained bruises to his head and lower body while Muhammad suffered contusions to his hands and feet. Israeli forces also assaulted three men with clubs after clashes between soldiers and worshipers. Several people managed to cross an Israeli checkpoint to access the mosque after rushing the area. Medics told Ma‘an that a steel police barrier fell over and fractured a man’s finger. Another person suffered a dislocated knee after being hit by Israeli police clubs and a man was hit in the chest and evacuated to hospital, medics added.
An elderly man suffered fractures to his pelvis and leg after an Israeli policeman on a horse pushed him while walking to the mosque compound, witnesses said.
Palestinian journalist Muhammad Abu Sneineh, 22, was arrested near Jerusalem’s Chain Gate.
Israel had deployed significant reinforcements Friday in the occupied West Bank including east Jerusalem for demonstrations commemorating the deaths in 1976 of Palestinians on Land Day.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580127

Israeli rightists enter Aqsa grounds under guard
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — Scores of Jewish worshipers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday, accompanied by Israeli forces, the director of Islamic endowments in Jerusalem said. Over 170 Israeli rightists entered the courtyards of the mosque through the Moroccan Gate for the Jewish holiday of Passover, said Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib. Meanwhile Israeli forces evicted several young Muslims from the compound and banned others from entering, the sheikh said. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday condemned recent Israeli “raids” of the compound. “We’ve witnessed this before, and we know what the consequences are. The entering of Al-Aqsa compound by a settler official and Knesset Member like Mr. Feiglin, in coordination with Israeli Occupation Forces, is a violation of the sanctity of the place as well as a direct provocation against Palestine, the Arab- and Muslim world,” Erekat said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579858

Palestinians pray in the streets as Israel imposes restrictions
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — Thousands of Palestinians performed prayers in the streets outside the Al-Aqsa compound on Friday after Israel imposed age restrictions on worshipers, a local foundation said. Israeli troops and police officers were deployed in the streets and alleyways of the Old City and set up checkpoints near gates leading to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage said.
Ultra-orthodox Jewish worshipers entered the compound on Thursday and late into the night to perform religious rituals on the occasion of the Passover holiday, the group added.
An Israeli police spokeswoman told AFP that thousands officers had been deployed in the Old City to “prevent disorder.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580108

Christians descend on Jerusalem for Good Friday
JERUSALEM (AFP) 29 Mar — Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims marched Friday along the narrow alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City on the path that tradition holds Jesus carried the cross on the way to his crucifixion. [See Bearing the cross of colonization: the Via Dolorosa today ] The pilgrims were marking Good Friday by walking from the Monastery of the Flagellation along the route now known as the Via Dolorosa or Way of Suffering to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Filipinos, Indians, Spaniards and Sri Lankans were among those who took part in the procession through the Stations of the Cross under the watch of thousands of Israeli police. Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches celebrate Easter this weekend but for the Orthodox Churches Easter Sunday falls on May 5. Israeli security forces have been deployed to protect the pilgrims [!] as Palestinian demonstrators emerge from the main weekly Muslim prayers ahead of “Land Day” commemorations, an Israeli police spokeswoman told AFP.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580082

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Illegal Arrests

PCHR Weekly Report: 4 wounded, 30 abducted by Israeli troops this week [21-27 March]
IMEMC 29 Mar — the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. 4 protesters were wounded in the center and south of the West Bank, including a Norwegian human rights defender and a Palestinian one. In addition, Israeli forces conducted 37 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 26 Palestinian civilians, including 6 children, were abducted in the West Bank, and a Palestinian child was abducted while attempting to cross the borders into Israel in the Gaza Strip. 3 Palestinian children were abducted at checkpoints. The Israeli forces closed Karm Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun (Eirez) crossings into the Gaza Strip for seven consecutive days. Full Report
http://www.imemc.org/article/65266

Child ‘critically injured’ in Hebron clashes
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — A 12-year-old is in critical condition after he was injured in clashes with Israeli forces in Hebron, medics said. Yousef Abu Aisha was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. Three other Palestinians were also injured by rubber bullets, a Ma‘an reporter said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579595

Clashes in Hebron as Israel boosts security for Land Day
HEBRON (AFP) 29 Mar — Palestinians and Israeli forces clashed in the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday as Israel deployed significant security reinforcements ahead of a day of demonstrations. Palestinian security forces in Hebron said that hundreds of people took part in two demonstrations, one inside the city and one south of it, and threw stones at Israeli security forces who responded with tear gas and dyed water … Both sides said there were no arrests or injuries.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces broke up a rally south of Hebron demanding that a main road connecting several villages be reopened. Israel shut down a road connecting Hebron, Adh-Dhahiriya, As-Samu, Dura and al-Fawwar refugee camp 12 years ago. A Palestinian teenager was hit by a tear gas canister during the clashes and dozens of local and international activists were injured by heavy tear gas fire.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580143

2 injured during clashes in Nabi Saleh, witnesses say
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — Two people were injured Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in Nabi Saleh, locals said. Dozens of protesters marched from the center of the village to land slated for confiscation by Israel for nearby Hallamish settlement. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at the demonstrators as they arrived at the site, named Ein al-Qus. An Irish journalist was hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet and Waad Tamimi twisted his ankle while trying to escape Israeli forces firing tear gas canisters. Several other people suffered from gas inhalation and Israeli forces fired foul smelling liquid at protesters.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580130

Video: Nabi Saleh protest 29-3-2013
uploaded by planxtysumoud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HpBA1l2tToY

Photo: Tommy Donnellan, Irish activist & cameraman, hit in Nabi Saleh
“Today, whilst videoing the protest in Nabi Saleh, I was deliberately targeted and shot with a so called “rubber bullet” (a gross misnomer as it was a steel ball covered with a thin coating of plastic) by a soldier in the IOF or more specifically a vicious thug as there were no stone throwing shabab near me and when I reacted angrily the bugger went into a firing position to shoot me again, luckily there was a petrol station wall nearby to shelter behind.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=540306879347345&set=a.431276906917010.96751.431256660252368&type=1&theater

Video: Bil‘in weekly demo (Land Day) / Haitham Khatib
2:19 minutes 29 Mar — in the land Day … occupation destroys farm belonging to the family of Bassem Abu Rahmah.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-gFK5fYDHLk

Settlers attack 80-year-old man near Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — A group of settlers attacked an 80-year-old man tending his land in Tulkarem on Friday, medics said. Hasan Barhoush was in a private field in the village of Kafr al-Labad when settlers attacked him. Barhoush was moderately wounded in the assault and taken to Thabit Thabit hospital in Tulkarem, medics told Ma‘an. Kafr al-Labad is located near the illegal Israeli settlement of Enav.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580158

80-year-old activist injured in Bil‘in rally, witnesses say
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — An 80-year-old activist was injured during a protest on Friday to commemorate Land Day in the village of Bil‘in, locals said. The international solidarity activist was shot in the hand by a rubber-coated bullet, while other protesters suffered tear gas inhalation. The rally was to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the deaths of six Palestinian protesters shot dead by Israeli police and troops during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and foul-smelling liquids at demonstrators and chased villagers through olive fields, witnesses said. Locals were joined by Israel and international activists, who raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans to support Palestine.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580116

Settler attacks ISM activists
[with video, but not of the attack] ISM 29 Mar — An ISM activist and her sister were attacked today on Shuhada street, Hebron, by the infamous settler Anat Cohen. The incident is the last in a long line of violent acts committed by Cohen. It was believed to be motivated by the fact the ISM activist was wearing a headscarf, as Palestinian access to Shuhada Street has not been permitted since 1994. Despite being allowed access by a soldier, the pair’s walk down the street was quickly interrupted by the aggressive advances of the settler. Cohen blocked their path and shouted about Auchwitz, dubbing the pair “Nazis”. She then kicked one of the women in the leg and attempted to slap the other. An EAPPI member was also the victim of some abuse as he came to the scene and filmed events (See attached video). The victims were especially horrified by the position of the police, who after ignoring the initial incident spoke and listened to Cohen, while completely ignoring the Internationals. The ISM activist and her sister were then requested to go to the Police Station. After 90 minutes of investigation from uninterested police officers, they were told to “be sensitive during the Jewish holiday”, and released, with no re-assurance of future safety on Shuhada Street.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/03/settler-attacks-ism-activists/

Israeli forces raid Nablus village, detain 4
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — Israeli forces arrested on Wednesday at dawn four young men from Burqa village west Nablus. Local sources told Ma‘an that Israeli forces raided the village at dawn and broke into houses in the village.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579294

Israeli forces detain Hebron teen
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — Israeli forces on Wednesday evening detained Mohammad Hmeidan al-Ewiwi, 18, from the old city of Hebron, a Ma‘an reporter said. The reporter said Israeli forces assaulted the teen, and took him to unknown location.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579616

Israeli forces detain Hamas leaders in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — Israeli forces raided the southern West Bank city of Hebron early on Wednesday morning and detained five local Hamas leaders, local sources said. Israeli forces ransacked several homes of Hamas leaders before detaining five of them. The detainees were identified as Muhammad Natsha, a Hamas-affiliated lawmaker, Abdul-Khaliq Hasan Natsha, Muhammad Tahsin Shawar, Amjad Hamouri and Jawad Muhammad al-Jaabari … A military spokeswoman confirmed the arrests but put the number at six…
Separately, Israeli soldiers stormed the home of a Hebron man in eastern Hebron and turned it into a military base.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579277

Hamas: Palestinian Authority detained 3 party members
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 27 Mar — Palestinian Authority security forces arrested three Hamas members in the West Bank, Hamas said Wednesday. Forces from the Fatah-led PA detained Hamas members in Hebron and Tubas, the movement said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579365

Prisoners / Hunger strikers / Court decisions

Israel postpones hearing for Hebron journalist
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 27 Mar – Israel’s military court Ofer extended the detention of a 22-year-old journalist from Hebron on Wednesday. In a statement, the the detainees’ center representing the southern West Bank city said that the court postponed the session considering Mosaab Shawer’s arrest until May 5. The center said Shawer’s work at a Hebron radio station focused on prisoners issues. He was arrested on Feb. 25 from his home without any prior warning, the center said.
In Ramallah, meanwhile, the head of Mada, a Palestinian media freedoms group, told reporters that the past year witnessed an increase of some 65 percent in violations against Palestinian journalists. Ghazi Hanania recounted 164 Israeli violations in 2012 compared to 100 in 2011.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579403

RSF welcomes pardon of jailed reporter, urges reforms
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — President Mahmoud Abbas’ pardon of a reporter sentenced to a year in jail for criticizing him is a welcome development but the case highlights the need for reforms, a leading media rights group said Friday. “We welcome this pardon but the fact remains that it depended on the president’s will,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement a day after Abbas pardoned Mamdouh Hamamreh, a correspondent for al-Quds satellite channel. Hamamreh was charged over a photo posted to Facebook juxtaposing Abbas beside a similar-looking man who plays the part of a collaborator with French colonial forces in an old Syrian television drama. Reporters Without Borders said the case called attention to Palestine’s outdated media law. “A Palestinian citizen can still be jailed for insulting President Abbas.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580123

Detainee launches hunger strike after 50 days in isolation
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — Palestinian prisoner Dirar Ahmad Hamdana announced a hunger strike after being locked in an isolation cell, a lawyer at the prisoners center reported Thursday. Hamdana was placed in the cell for 50 days and is being refused transfer to the general population despite that the period of his investigation already ended, the lawyer said. Activists have accused Israel of placing his son into custody as a way to pressure the father. Hamdana was arrested in February in a raid on Asira village south of Nablus, according to the center. He had previously spent seven years in jail before being deported to Lebanon for one year in 1992. His son was detained two weeks ago.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579813

Abu Hamdeyya falls unconscious at Eishel jail
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 29 Mar — The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in the al-Khalil district said that captive Maysarah Abu Hamdeyya on Thursday fell unconscious at Eishel jail in Beersheba and lost all ability to move as he suffers from cancer. According to PPS sources a state of unrest prevails amongst the Palestinian captives in Eishel prison because of the deliberate medical neglect of captive Abu Hamdeyya. The prisoners called on all decent people of the world to pressure the occupation to release Abu Hamdeyya who is in his sixties and has cancer.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s75N6EesIqFK1RHLPhz9OmH1WrIGtmePEWgGjz8HWLhixp3Vlxmtw9p7e3%2fx%2bw3F6YLtOSrn98ypFeBWo6zygkhF4r0WxJvF4f4XYClCDpgeo%3d

Ahrar: Israeli occupation punishes prisoners’ families
NABLUS (PIC) 29 Mar — Ahrar center for Prisoners studies and human rights denounced the occupation procedures punishing the families of Palestinian prisoners and preventing them from traveling. The center’s director Fuad Al Khuffash said that the Israeli occupation authorities have prevented on Wednesday the mother of the prisoner Israr Al-Barghouti, from Cooper town near city of Ramallah, from travelling to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia. Khuffash said that when Suad Al-Barghouti, 58, arrived at the Jordan bridge, after passing Jericho, the Israeli intelligence stopped her and took her passport. She waited for hours, and then she was informed that she is banned from traveling because her son is a captive.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7u6gpazGulTRWBw%2bkUXLldZbtX11xVZsjs1kwnE11WjofZMniB%2fwXFQDPfsdFk303S9soraXuGjPhRBK207bp85vVr1pIPL5x5O5gvf3n8to%3d

IOF imposes house arrest on prisoner’s mother
JENIN (PIC) 29 Mar — The Israeli Occupation Forces continued to impose house arrest on an elderly patient from Jenin after her arrest while visiting her son on 11 February. The Israeli military court imposed house arrest on Hajja Fethiye Khanfar, 58, at a house in Rahat city in 1948-occupied territories, said Yousef Khanfar, the prisoner’s husband. He added that the occupation authorities released her on 18 February, on bail of 30 thousand shekels, and imposed on her house arrest in the village of Rahat within 1948-occupied territories until the court session on 14 April … The occupation forces accused her of smuggling mobile phones to her son who is serving a 15-year sentence in Israeli jails. He added that the court’s decision forced her to live with a guarantor from 1948-occupied territories and to sign twice a week, Sundays and Wednesdays, at the nearest Israeli police station despite her difficult health condition.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XKn1KhSUFh7q%2fQA7sGGzsA7zRYAD8Q5ElEx8wQmKWddrhIt7G63K5JIvB5YOkZXQF32YwxPXtoi4DbbFy6EKT%2f2dvGScE7Urz8LW6WQeT0U%3d

Israel extends detention of 2 Palestinians
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — An Israeli military court extended the detention of two Palestinians for an extra nine days on Thursday, the radio station Asra FM reported. Asad and Ahmad Ezzedin were arrested last week from their homes in Arraba village near Jenin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579890

DCO coordinates release of 11-year-old boy
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 28 Mar – The Palestinian district coordination office in Hebron said Thursday it was able to coordinate with the Israeli side on to release 11-year-old Motaz Jabber. Israeli forces seized Motaz in Hebron’s old city and accused him of throwing stones, according to a DCO statement which said the office was working to release all minors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579773

PA secures release of young Palestinian in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 29 Mar — The military liaison office in Nablus on Thursday secured the release of Yazan Jihad Ahmad Abed al-Hadi from Jericho. He was detained in Sabastia for stone-throwing. The Palestinian military liaison office made contacts with the Israeli side to release the young Palestinian.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579991

Israeli forces release Hamas MP from Hebron
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 27 Mar – Israeli authorities released on Wednesday Hamas lawmaker Nayef Al-Rujub from Hebron. The detainees’ center reported that Nayef was held in administrative detention for two and a half years. The center added that Nayef was detained in December 2010. He spent around 10 years at Israeli detention facilities at different times. Half of them were administrative detention. In a statement, the center said that there are 14 Palestinian lawmakers in Israeli prisons.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579333

Gaza siege

IOF soldiers raid central Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 28 Mar — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided central Gaza Strip on Thursday morning and bulldozed agricultural land. A field observer said that the soldiers stormed east of Maghazi refugee camp escorting two military bulldozers and opened intermittent firing at nearby fields. The incursion is the latest in a series of violations of the calm agreement concluded with Palestinian resistance in Gaza back in November 2012 under Egyptian patronage. The agreement has been practically nullified by the IOF soldiers that daily violate articles of that accord.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s73AludWphoQ5g24rFTmwvuEYiysjWmCIqucmpaw%2btGY5GBN3aY3P3Cqeq1kudoNgZNCjoF2qJN45pwrpuEMxE4bsYIU0iICDDDYs3oj6SmD8%3d

Gaza fishermen outraged by renewed Israeli restrictions
Al-Monitor 28 Mar by Mohammed Suliman — …Khaled El-Shrafi, 56, a fisherman from Gaza, explained how this additional restriction on the movement of fishermen in Gaza waters will have grave impacts on the livelihood on fishermen across the costal enclave. Shrafi, a father of seven, says he could hardly make ends meet for his family while fishermen were allowed a six-nautical-mile fishing zone. According to him, there is hardly any fish in the newly imposed three-mile zone and fish prices will definitely skyrocket, making it less and less affordable for average people. “To make things worse,” he added, “the decision could not have come at a worse time for fishermen since this is specifically the fishing season during the entire year. Now I will go at the end of a long day with not enough money to ensure that my children live with dignity. We are losing more and more. I hope I can work freely in the sea one day with no restrictions and no prospects of getting shot at by Israeli soldiers.” Another fisherman, Mohammed Baker, 35, expressed the same concerns saying that fishermen are particularly outraged about not only the decision, but its timing which coincides with the fishing season that extends from April until July of every year.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/gaza-fisherman-israel-restrictions.html

Qassam member killed in eastern Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — A member of Hamas’ armed wing died Thursday during a mission in eastern Gaza, medical officials and witnesses said. Mohammad Ahmad al-Sarhi, 20, from the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, was killed in a tunnel collapse, and three other people were wounded, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. Witnesses in the area confirmed to Ma’an that a group of Al-Qassam members were operating in a tunnel east of Zaytoun when the tunnel collapsed suddenly.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579754

Israel closes Gaza border for Jewish holiday
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an)  28 Mar — Israel will shut its border with the Gaza Strip for four days, a day after lifting a week-long closure, a Palestinian crossings official said Thursday. Israel informed Palestinian officials that the Kerem Shalom and the Erez crossings would close on Friday for the usual weekend, but will not reopen until Monday evening because of the Jewish Passover holiday, Raed Fattouh told Ma‘an. Israel had reopened both crossings on Thursday for the first time in a week.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579909

‘Gaza’s Ark’ to break blockade, this time from within
Times of Israel 29 Mar by Elhanan Miller — A new initiative will strive to export produce from Gaza rather than bring supplies in — A group of Palestinian and international activists are gearing up for a new attempt to break the Israeli naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. But unlike previous flotillas that attempted to reach Gaza, organizers hope to get a boat out of the Strip and into international waters. Titled “Gaza’s Ark” and initiated by local organizations and international solidarity groups including the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the initiative seeks to highlight the plight of Gaza’s exporters who have been banned from delivering their produce via the sea. The initiative is also intended as a protest against Israel’s restrictions on Gaza’s fishermen, who are only permitted to fish three nautical miles from the shore (reduced from six miles after last week’s rocket fire into southern Israel).
http://www.timesofisrael.com/gazas-ark-to-break-blockade-this-time-from-within/

Malaysian doctors arrive in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — A group of Malaysian doctors arrived in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to provide training and perform specialist surgeries.The head of the delegation Saleh al-Hams told Ma‘an the doctors would perform surgeries in several specialties and provide training to local doctors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579730

Miles of Smiles aid convoy arrives in Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 29 Mar — Miles of Smiles convoy (20) arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening through the Rafah border crossing, some of the members were due to arrive Friday. Sources from the Gaza government reception committee told PIC that 41 members of the convoy arrived, while 54 others were still awaiting Egyptian authorities clearance. The sources said that the convoy comprises of activists from various nationalities who brought with them two tons of medicines for the people of the Gaza Strip to alleviate the effects of the siege.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2b6IPLivxjOQiZaGMDaTYOEZrn4%2fZrI3U87qpSEWm99i52ByeH7OoKIBY4ONE5%2bsaEIJy7I3Xr5VTlKu6WXEdxyyNF5R2f5x0qAOc8GCBWTg%3d

Deputy PM: Pro-Palestinian activists raped in Libya
TRIPOLI (AFP) 29 Mar — Two British activists with a humanitarian convoy destined for the Gaza Strip were subjected to a brutal gang rape by five men in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi, the deputy prime minister said Thursday. The two women of Pakistani origin “were brutally raped in front of their father,” Awadh al-Barassi said on his Facebook page, condemning “a horrible act.” Barassi said he had been to see the two victims in Benghazi on Thursday, and that the family was “in a very bad psychological state.” The women, accompanied by their father on the convoy organised by Turkish NGO IHH, had been destined for the Palestinian coastal enclave blockaded by Israel when it was blocked from leaving Libya and entering Egypt. The three decided to return to Benghazi accompanied by two more Britons, with the aim of getting a flight home. But when they arrived in Libya’s second city they were abducted by five unidentified men.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579985

Made in Gaza juice feels the squeeze in local market
Reuters 28 Mar — The Palestine Food Industries in Gaza City is producing a variety of locally made food and drinks, but although they take pride in the quality of their products, they are finding it difficult to stand out in a market flooded with similar imported goods … The public’s misconception or distrust of locally produced product is a hurdle difficult to cross, as the company is unable to expand beyond the local market. ”I am forbidden from exporting. I am not allowed to export any products outside of the Gaza Strip. My market is limited, it is the Gaza Strip only,” says Ibraheem Swaity, head of the factory.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/business/2013/03/28/Made-in-Gaza-juice-feels-the-squeeze-in-local-market.html

Political and economic developments

Abbas: Palestinians seek to implement UN decision
DOHA (Ma‘an) 26 Mar — President Mahmoud Abbas said in his speech at the 24th Arab summit in Doha that the Palestinian Authority seeks to implement a United Nations decision admitting a Palestinian state. Abbas warned about Israeli actions in Jerusalem that attempt to make the city Jewish and damage its Islamic and Christian sites. He also called for a stronger Islamic and Arab stand against such Israeli endeavors.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579189

Fatah says Egypt to relaunch reconciliation
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — Egypt will host initial consultations with Fatah and Hamas officials to relaunch national reconciliation talks that have been suspended since February, a Fatah official said Thursday. Yahya Rabah told Ma‘an that the key issue is implementation, not more talks, but a ministerial committee of Arab states will nonetheless meet soon to discuss the stalled unity deal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579718

Ambassador: Efforts underway to transfer Palestinian aid
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 29 Mar – The Palestinian ambassador in Washington said Friday the White House was working with Congress to transfer aid to the Palestinians for 2012 and 2013. Maen Areikat told Ma‘an on Thursday that the transfer of $370 million was pending. Areikat said the United States had allocated $495 million for 2012 for the Palestinians, but the US Congress put a hold on the transfer. In 2013, meanwhile, the US administration was pressuring the Congress to transfer $295 million. He said the funds will be transferred toward judicial institutes and anti-drugs initiatives as well as US development agency projects.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579995

General strike at universities throughout West Bank
WEST BANK (PIC) 27 Mar — Palestinian universities closed doors on Wednesday and Thursday protesting against neglecting their employees’ demands by Fayyad’s government. Dr. Amjad Barham President of Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees said, in press statements, that the strike will continue in all West Bank universities, threatening to escalate it during the next week in protest at the policy of Salam Fayyad’s government in dealing with the Union’s demands.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DVYJY8XeKtQngvV8GEty8dfdUsCMD%2fDhSIRR5nfHcJ7K4sws5g6fkd%2fSaKYFbNXMJp1Qe3Wm0LRtGkiWqnuAVLhdTP6E01ck24wabuuV9K8%3d

John Baird wants to find out Palestinian Authority’s ‘priorities’ before renewing 300m in aid spending
Canadian Press 29 Mar — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is making no promises to renew Canada’s $300 million in aid spending for the Palestinians. The five-year commitment expires Sunday, but Baird said he wants to hear directly from the Palestinian Authority before he makes any future funding decisions. “There’s going to be a dialogue to find out what their priorities are,” Baird said Thursday, hours before he was due to embark on a lengthy trip through the Middle East and Persian Gulf.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/29/john-baird-wants-to-find-out-palestinian-authoritys-priorities-before-renewing-300m-in-aid-spending/

Turkey cautioned on PM’s visit to Gaza
ANKARA, Turkey, March 29 (UPI) — An expected visit to Gaza by Turkey’s prime minister should be planned to avoid further dividing rival Palestinian factions, a Palestinian diplomat said. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week he plans the visit to monitor the status of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Fadi F. Elhusseini, a senior diplomat at the Palestinian embassy in Ankara, said a trip that didn’t first include a visit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “would harm the Palestinian cause,” Today’s Zaman reported Thursday. Erdogan’s visit is being planned following an agreement reached by Arab League leaders to hold a mini-summit in hopes of reconciling the split between Fatah and Hamas. Erdogan should not bypass Abbas, the leader of Fatah, when he visits Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, Elhusseini said. Gaza is not an independent state, he said, and Hamas is not the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/03/29/Turkey-cautioned-on-PMs-visit-to-Gaza/UPI-10291364575523/

Erdogan’s planned Gaza visit concerns US
Times of Israel 28 Mar — …Asked whether the State Department would “look favorably” on a joint visit by Erdogan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the Gaza Strip for conciliatory talks with Hamas, Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell answered that the US’s position had not changed vis-à-vis the Palestinian enclave. “You know where we are on this. You know where we are in terms of Hamas, which has not changed, and our opposition to engagement with Hamas,” he said. He also asked that people who want to help Palestinians do so by working around Hamas and not with the terror organization.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/erdogans-planned-gaza-visit-concerns-state-dept/

Fewer Israelis see Obama as pro-Palestinian: poll
JERUSALEM (Arab News) 29 Mar — Fewer Israelis see US President Barack Obama as pro-Palestinian since his landmark visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank last week, according to an opinion poll published yesterday. The poll carried by the English-language Jerusalem Post found that just 16 percent of respondents said Obama was “pro-Palestinian” against 36 percent before the March 20 to 22 visit. The proportion who said he was “pro-Israeli” rose only slightly from 26 percent to 27 percent but the proportion who said he was “neutral” climbed sharply from 26 percent to 39 percent.
http://www.arabnews.com/news/446442

Other news

Abu Dhabi competition excludes Palestinian veiled poet
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 27 Mar – A Palestinian veiled woman from the Gaza Strip refused to remove the veil from her face and was banned from a poetry competition in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Afaf Al-Hasasneh was accepted to participate in the competition and the judge chose her to move for the second phase of the competition but one of the judges had a condition that she had to remove the veil over her face, said the Palestinian literature union. The union said it respected Afaf’s decision not to remove the veil. Afaf withdrew from the competition “with dignity” and flew back to the Gaza Strip, the union said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579311

Egyptian Copts celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 28 Mar — Fifty Egyptian Coptic Christians left Cairo for Israel on Thursday to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem, an Egyptian security official said. Several flights are scheduled between Cairo and Tel Aviv to bring Christian worshipers to Jerusalem for Easter. It is the second year that Egyptian pilgrims have celebrated Easter in Jerusalem since the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The late head of the Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III, who died in March 2012, had banned visits to Jerusalem while it remained under Israeli occupation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=579769

Analysis / Opinion / Reviews

Obama’s afikoman / Uri Misgav
Haaretz 28 Mar — …Regarding Passover, Obama has shown a keen ability to make distinctions and to see the essence of things … The power of Passover is rooted in a historical narrative that contains the ethos of the emergence from slavery to freedom. Therefore, it is difficult to understand how Israelis can continue, year in and year out since 1967, to proudly celebrate this holiday without being able to detect another form of slavery, without being able to see a nation struggling for its freedom. This is happening today, not thousands of years ago. This oppression is taking place right under the noses of Israelis and they are directly responsible for it. The absurdity is heightened by the fact that, on the days that the holiday is being celebrated, the occupation is accompanied by a “closure” – a euphemism that camouflages the term’s true meaning of a hermetically sealed curfew imposed on the entire West Bank. It remains in effect until the Jews on both sides of the Green Line (the pre-1967 border) have finished telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, celebrating their freedom, touring the nature reserves and enjoying picnics in the national parks. How can one explain such callousness? It is as if an entire nation has been smitten with the Eleventh Plague — the plague of blindness.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/obama-s-afikoman.premium-1.512368

PLO launches online platform to attack BDS right after sabotaging UN vote
EI 28 Mar by Ali Abunimah — The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) today launched a new online forum whose main priority appears to be to undermine the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. This came just days after the PLO sabotaged a UN Human Rights Council resolution that could have hastened international action against Israel for its continued illegal colonization of Palestinian land.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/plo-launches-online-platform-attack-bds-right-after-sabotaging-un-vote

Classical music moves into the camps of Palestine
Al-Bawaba 23 Mar by Rafique Gangat — How often does one see pictures of brave Palestinian children facing up to Israeli soldiers and tanks, armed only with stones in their hands and often paying with their lives for daring to do so? Ramzi Aburedwan was one such child, who grew up in the refugee camp of Al Amari near Ramallah. At the tender age of 8, he witnessed his best friend being killed during an Israeli military operation. He then found himself throwing stones during the first Intifada and as a street combatant Aburedwan seemed destined for an Israeli prison or a Palestinian martyr’s poster. But fate decided to intervene. At 17, he was invited to a music workshop in Al Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah, where he fell in love with the art and started to learn to play the viola. Replacing stones with a musical instrument led to a journey of channelling his anger into creativity and of personal transformation. After studying for a year at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM) in Ramallah and thereafter attending a summer workshop in the United States — at the Apple Hill Centre for Chamber Music of New Hampshire — he enrolled at the Conservatoire National de Region d’Angers. In 2000 Ramzi created the ensemble “Dal’Ouna”, music that symbolised the link between East and West. It flowed from an encounter between Palestine and France, from the melting of pure traditional Middle Eastern songs with mixed jazzy compositions, played on Western classical musical instruments (viola, violin, clarinet, flute, guitar, piano), and traditional Eastern instruments (bouzouk, oud, darbouka, bendir, etc).
http://www.albawaba.com/entertainment/palestine-camps-music-479027

Suicide note from Palestine: New play opens at the Freedom Theatre on April 4
28 Mar by Samah Sabawi — One day before her final exams, Amal has a concerning nightmare: she is Palestine and she has decided to die. Amal’s nightmare drafts between confusion, torture and despair – notions set as strange characters that symbolise some of the key players in world politics that shape the land, history, politics and the occupation of her country. Interrogated and manipulated, Amal is forced into a comatose state and can barely speak. – This play is important because it’s pointing at the place of the pain inside the Palestinian people’s minds and hearts, says the Director, Nabil Al-Raee. Suicide Note from Palestine is a window into the younger generation of Palestine; a generation just as hopeless about their present as they are about the future. The play provides a rare glimpse on the general depression, confusion and concerns of a people regarding its land. Suicide Note from Palestine is a physical video/visual art performance, inspired by 4:48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane. It is an exploration of identity and uses social satire to present an image of the national trauma of the Palestinian people.
http://talesofacitybythesea.com/2013/03/28/suicide-note-from-palestine-new-play-opens-at-the-freedom-theatre-on-april-4/

Palestinian activists prepare for refugee return
IQRIT, NORTHERN GALILEE (Al-Monitor) 26 Mar by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours — Standing on a rocky hilltop overlooking Lebanon, 23-year-old Haytham Sbait’s face lights up when asked what life would be like if he was able to live in his family’s ancestral village permanently. “Simple,” the 23-year-old says, sipping tea from a paper cup as two brown donkeys graze in the short grass in front of him. “A small house, a horse, a donkey, the land. Simple.” Sbait’s family is originally from the village of Iqrit. Located in the Galilee region, 25 kilometers north of Acre, Iqrit was depopulated shortly after the Israeli state was created in 1948. After Israel blocked early attempts to return to the village, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that residents had the right to go back to Iqrit in 1951. The Israeli army ignored the ruling, however, and destroyed the village shortly thereafter. Only the local church and cemetery are what remain of the original Palestinian-Christian village. A third-generation, internally-displaced Palestinian refugee, Sbait and almost two dozen other Palestinian youth moved back to Iqrit in August of last year. Living in two small rooms, built as extensions off the church, the young men sleep in the village in shifts — usually two or three nights per week, each — and maintain a constant presence in the village.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/03/palestinian-refugees-right-of-return.html

Palestinian rappers bring world stage to Drom
NYTimes EastVillage 29 Mar by Fatima Malik — Straight outta Lod, Israel: a trio that’s often hailed as the first Palestinian hip-hop group will kick off a U.S. tour promoting its new album, “Dabke on the Moon,” at Drom this Sunday. DAM was formed in 1998 by Mahmoud Jreri and brothers Suhell and Tamer Nafar. Suhell grew up loving the “fast lyrics and the beat” of hip-hop; his older brother Tamer at first hated the music but changed his mind when he heard Tupac Shakur’s “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” After they cut an album, “Stop Selling Drugs,” as The Untouchables, a classmate told them her brother wanted to meet them. They didn’t know anyone else who liked hip-hop, so they agreed. Mahmoud Jreri joined the band and DAM was born. (The name means “immortal” in Arabic and “blood” in Hebrew; Suhell takes it to signify the idea that “our blood will be eternal.”) The project started as fun, but later Suhell realized that “the lyrics we were writing were actually protests,” he said. “We were actually fighting racism, fighting problematic circumstances without knowing that we’re fighting it.”
http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/palestinian-rappers-bring-world-stage-to-drom/?smid=fb-share

Ahmed Errachidi’s unlikely voyage from London cook to Guantánamo Bay
Guardian 27 Mar by Ahmed Errachidi and Gillian Slovo – Ahmed Errachidi was not a terrorist, just a man trying to support his family, but he spent more than five years in Guantánamo Bay, organised protests and earned the nickname ‘The General’. Gillian Slovo introduces an extract from his book. “Protests were commonplace in Guantánamo. Life was lived out to the sound of shouting and beating doors. But even so, when I first got there, these tended to be reactive and spontaneous, and running underneath them there was an air of hopelessness: few of us felt we had any control over our destinies or any way of stopping the things that were done to us. The longer I was in Guantánamo the more convinced I became of the need to change that…”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/28/ahmed-errachidi-guantanamo-bay-general

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