On Independence Day, Israeli Housing Minister announces construction to begin in E1

Minister: Israel will build in ‘E1’
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 16 Apr — Israel will allow construction companies to start work in “E1,” an illegal settlement project on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israel’s Housing Minister Uri Ariel said Tuesday. “We will fulfill our right and our obligation to build here. In another year and a half apartments will be built in E1,” Ariel said at an event for Israel’s Independence Day, the settler news site Arutz Sheva reported. E1 would create a linked-up stretch of Jewish neighborhoods in the West Bank between Pisgat Zeev and Maale Adumim, cutting the West Bank in half and isolating Jerusalem from Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=586307

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

The Wall, 11 years on: Changes, normalization and dissent
972mag 14 Apr by Haggai Matar — Exactly 11 years ago today, PM Ariel Sharon ordered the start of construction on a ‘separation barrier’ in the West Bank. It would soon become what is probably the biggest, most expensive and most influential construction project in Israel’s history. Eleven years later, how is construction of the wall progressing, and what is to become of it? A project update … But perhaps the most important development in the story of this gigantic geo-political construction project came just a couple of days ago, when former Defense Minister Moshe Arens told Ma’ariv he supports tearing down the wall altogether. That call, interestingly enough, was supported by settler representatives in the Knesset, while Zionist left-wingers came to the barrier’s defense, as Dimi Reider pointed out and explained. Arens supports a claim previously made by others and presented in the series, saying that the wall has little or no security value for Israel. By the way, it’s interesting to see how the wall’s critics, including Arens and his mates, use the term “wall,” while its defenders are usually the ones to call it a “fence.” This is the first serious challenge to the wall’s existence from within mainstream Israeli politics, and it is coming from the political camp which grew stronger in the latest elections.
http://972mag.com/the-wall-11-years-on-changes-normalization-and-dissent/69231/

14,000 Jerusalemites have lost residence status since 1967
MEMO 15 Apr — A professor of international law has revealed that the most recent poll published by the Israeli occupation forces indicate that Israel has revoked the “permanent residence” status of 14,087 Palestinian Jerusalemites in the period 1967 to 2011. Dr Hanna Essa’s findings were presented by the WAFA official news agency in the context of the extension of a law preventing the reunification of Palestinian families where one partner is a non-Israeli citizen. When East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967, said Dr Essa, its residents were not given Israeli citizenship, but were granted “permanent residence” instead, even though Israel annexed — illegally, says the international community — the city to itself. After conducting a census, a large number of Jerusalemites were denied their rights and family ties and were considered “absent” because they were not in Jerusalem at the time that it was occupied.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5735-14000-jerusalemites-have-lost-residence-status-since-1967

Cultivating dispossession: Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley
Ma‘an Dev. Ctr — The settlements in the Jordan Valley are unique in certain aspects. First, they are agriculturally-based and in most cases employ a plurality or even a majority of the settlers. However, most of the settlers in the West Bank are commuters and very
few actually work in their own settlement. Second, the settlements in the Jordan Valley have the highest per capita water usage of any of the Israeli settlements in the oPt. Third, these settlements, geographically speaking, are the furthest away from the Green Line. Fourth, the number of settlers per settlement is the lowest in the oPt. Fifth, the majority of these settlements were established as Nahal military camps (described below) built by the Labor party, and are still politically associated with the Labor party. Sixth, the Jordan Valley settlements have the highest per capita land access and usage rate of settlements. Seventh,
these settlements rely heavily on Palestinian labor for agriculture, in addition to construction in and around the settlement. Lastly, although they are dependent on subsidies for their existence, the settlements actually produce economic output
http://www.maan-ctr.org/pdfs/FSReport/cultivating/cultivating.pdf

Israel heritage plan exposes discord over West Bank history
[map, photos] BBC 15 Apr by Raffi Berg — Israel is launching a Year of National Heritage, to coincide with the country’s independence day. As part of this push to celebrate heritage, Israel is progressing with a five-year project promoting Jewish ties to ancient sites in Israel and the West Bank. Israel says it is a purely cultural endeavour, which will help save sites from ruin; but Palestinians have criticised it as politically driven – highlighting deep historical differences fuelling the conflict … “The West Bank is an integral part of the history of Palestine,” says Hamdan Taha, director of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. “Netanyahu’s heritage plan is an aggression against the cultural right of Palestinian people in their own state,” as the West Bank’s status is considered to be by many Palestinians. Mr Taha says the Israeli government’s emphasis on the Jewish historical aspect of some sites is “an ideological misuse of archaeological evidence” … According to official Israeli and Palestinian data, there are between 6,000 and 10,000 known archaeological sites in the West Bank, the remains of thousands of years of settlement by civilisations since Neolithic times. Critics of the heritage plan say Jewish history is only one part, and that Israel is focusing on this to the detriment of other eras. “If you want to learn about the history of this land, it’s about the different layers, the different civilisations that have been here – it’s not just about one,” says Yoni Mizrachi, a former Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21973708

Water for One People Only: Discriminatory access and ‘water-apartheid’ in the OPT
Al-Haq by Elisabeth Koek — Conclusion: For more than four decades of occupation Palestinians in the OPT have endured severe and continuous infringements of their water rights. Israel maintains a system of water governance that attests to its ‘self-interested administration’ of the region’s shared water resources, and unlawfully exploits and appropriates Palestinian water resources for the benefit of those residing in Israel and in Israeli colonies at the expense of the protected Palestinian population in the OPT. Moreover, Israel’s illegal exercise of sovereign rights over Palestinian water resources and its discriminatory policies and practices are integral elements of an institutionalised system of Jewish-Israeli domination over Palestinians as a group, in the form of a colonial and apartheid regime. While the violations of international law set out in this study entail responsibilities for Israel and for third-party States to bring the illegal situation to an end, the current state of the water sector in the OPT and Israel will not improve unless structural changes are made to the use and management of the shared water resources.
http://www.alhaq.org/publications/Water-For-One-People-Only.pdf

Dozens of settlers storm Solomon’s Pools in Bethlehem
PNN — On Tuesday 16th April, dozens of Israeli settlers gathered at Ertas [or Artas] village, south of Bethlehem in an attempt to storm the historic Solomon’s Pools tourist site. PNN reporter said that dozens of settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, stormed Solomon’s Pools and performed their religious rituals. It’s worth mentioning that these continued attempts to storm Solomon’s Pools improve the settlers’ intention to seize the area in order to annex it to Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4497-dozens-of-settlers-to-storm-solomons-pools-in-bethlehem

Official: Settlers block water well near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — A group of Israeli settlers on Monday filled a well up with rocks in Madma village, south of Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that ten residents of Yitzhar settlement, escorted by settlement security guards, blocked al-Shaara well. The well served several local families, Daghlas told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585830

East Jerusalem man facing eviction says harassed by police
Haaretz 14 Apr by Amira Hass — The High Court of Justice will deliberate in May over the request of the resident’s family to appeal a court order of eviction from their apartment so that it can be repossessed by the heirs of the pre-1948 Jewish owner — An East Jerusalem resident who is requesting permission to appeal the eviction of his family from their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah claims that the police are harassing him and that he was even arrested on false charges … Ayoob and Fahima Shamasna, a couple in their 70s, live together with their son Mohammed, his wife and their six children in a small apartment that, prior to 1948, belonged to a Jew named Haim Ben Sulimani. The property, like other properties and plots in the neighborhood, was placed in the jurisdiction of the office of the Jordanian custodian general for absentee property and, after 1967, in the jurisdiction of the office of the Custodian General, to which the Shamasna family paid a monthly rental fee. Eight years ago, Sulimani’s heirs … requested that the Custodian General would release the property and transfer it to them. In this case, as in other similar cases in the neighborhood, right-wing organizations are involved. They locate the heirs of the properties, rent or purchase them and then populate them with Jewish families.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/east-jerusalem-man-facing-eviction-says-harassed-by-police.premium-1.515392?localLinksEnabled=false

IDF prevents Gaza runners from taking part in West Bank marathon
972mag 15 Apr by Noam Sheizaf — Last month the Israeli army pointed to the cancellation of the Gaza marathon as proof of the lack of freedom under Hamas rule. Now the IDF is denying the same runners travel permits to run in the Bethlehem Marathon – The first official Palestinian marathon is set to take place this Sunday, April 21, in Bethlehem. There will be races for 10 km, a half Marathon and full Marathon (42.2 km), all within area A. The start and finish lines are at the Church of Nativity. Twenty-five runners — 24 men and a woman — from Gaza were planning to take part in the Marathon, but currently they are not being issued travel permits by Israel. Among them is Nader Masri, who represented Palestine in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
http://972mag.com/idf-prevents-gazans-from-running-in-west-bank-marathon/69318/

Nakba Day

Israel fines Palestinians for raising flags
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 Apr — Israel on Tuesday detained and interrogated five Palestinians for raising Palestinian flags on their cars in Jerusalem. Two of those detained were released on bail of 5,000 shekels ($1378) and on condition that they do not raise Palestinian flags as Israel celebrates Independence Day, a Ma‘an reporter said. The three others were released. Eight others were pulled over by traffic police and fined 250 shekels for having Palestinian flags on their cars. Israeli flags are raised on buses, cars and buildings across Jerusalem as the country celebrates Independence Day.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=586213

Some 10,000 Arabs mark Nakba Day in Israel’s north
Haaretz 16 Apr by Jack Khoury — Some 10,000 people, most of them Arab teens and young adults, held a parade and a rally on Tuesday to mark the Nakba — “the catastrophe” — as many Arabs refer to Israel’s founding in 1948. The event was held on the lands of the uprooted village of Hubeiza, south of Haifa. The march was attended by most of the Arab MKs and the heads of political parties and movements active in the Arab sector. Participants carried Palestinian flags and placards with the names of the Arab villages destroyed during the War of Independence … In the West Bank and Gaza, as well as in Palestinian refugee camps elsewhere, the Nakba is marked on May 15, the civil anniversary of the State of Israel’s founding. But the march and rally sponsored by the displaced persons group, which is the roof body for the displaced who are Israeli citizens, has been taking place for the past 16 years on Independence Day – the day most of the displaced and their families visit the remains of the villages abandoned or destroyed in 1948. These marches were launched after the signing of the Oslo Accords, which ignored the plight of the displaced who are Israeli citizens.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/some-10-000-arabs-mark-nakba-day-in-israel-s-north.premium-1.515818

Lieberman: Israeli Arab ‘hate parade’ proves they must be included in deal with Palestinians
Haaretz 16 Apr by Jack Khoury — Former foreign minister, who has advocated to population transfer and denying citizenship to ‘disloyal’ Israeli Arabs, says sector must not be allowed to ‘exploit Israeli democracy’ and then enjoy its benefits.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/lieberman-israeli-arab-hate-parade-proves-they-must-be-included-in-deal-with-palestinians.premium-1.515814?localLinksEnabled=false

Violence / Attacks / Raids / Arrests

Jewish settler runs over Palestinian child on his way to school
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 15 Apr — Jewish settler ran over a Palestinian child, on Monday morning, while on his way to school in the town of Tekoa in Bethlehem southern occupied West Bank. The eight-year-old child Adel al-Shaaer was hit by a settler’s car while on his way to school, he was transferred to hospital with moderate injuries, Tekoa’s municipal administrator told Quds Press. The municipal administrator pointed out to the repeated traffic incidents on this particular road leading to two Israeli settlements due to the Israeli rejection to allow a pedestrian crossing under the pretext of not impeding the movement of settlers’ vehicles.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7fxYxiTWIsVI0kJq
%2f%2bwkm8zVKc43bXyo5ErTCkENBWdMK2ehoaFArTKhjNjiGrUA571xpHsktJYCGURlhsW9oRrwq82XuMPLR50G9N17KFMQ%3d

Youths from Beit Ommar mown down by settler’s car
PSP 13 Apr — On the 9th of April 2013 a settler from the colony of Kiryat Arba in Hebron ran down Ala’ Alami, a 23 years old university student from Beit Ommar, and two young boys with his car. The settler ran over them just outside the entrance to Beit Ommar as he was driving towards Gush Etzion. After hitting the youths the driver drove off. The wounded people were transported to Al Ahli hospital by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance for treatment. This incident was not an isolated one, Palestinian people are both injured and killed by cars driven by settlers. At the entrance of Beit Ommar there are car attacks a couple of times a month. The settlers claim the people in Beit Ommar throw stones and incendiary bottles at their buses and it is thought the settlers use their cars in revenge.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2013/04/13/youths-from-beit-ommar-mown-down-by-settlers-car/

Girl shot in Beit Salah
PSP 15 Apr — On Friday, April 12th, 2013, an 11-year old girl named Asisah Abu Maria was shot in Beit Salah, near Road 60. Soldiers entered the area and shot tear gas and rubber bullets. The girl was on the roof of her house and was shot with a [rubber]l-coated [steel] bullet in her chest. She was taken to Hebron hospital and is now in good condition.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2013/04/15/girl-shot-in-beit-salah/

Boy seriously injured after being shot by soldier
PSP 15 Apr — On Sunday April 14th, 2013 a 15-year old boy named Mahmoud Suleiman Mahmoud Ikhlayel was shot in the back of his head with a steel-coated rubber bullet in Beit Ommar. He sustained serious injuries to his head and was taken to Hebron Hospital. The incident occurred amidst clashes between Palestinian children and Israeli soldiers that occurred throughout Sunday evening, beginning at around 5 pm.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2013/04/15/boy-seriously-injured-after-being-shot-by-soldier/

IOF forces arrest three Palestinians in Hebron
PNN — On Tuesday 16th April, Israeli Occupation Forces arrested three Palestinians from Hebron, south of the West Bank. Security sources said that Israeli forces arrested the 12-year-old students Ali Tawfiq al-Asaili and Ahmed Aziz al-Mohtaseb from in front of their school in Hebron.
Israeli soldiers also arrested Islam al-Baied on a military checkpoint near al-Fwaar refugee camp.
Israeli forces broke into the house of Mohammed Yousef al-Hroub in Deir Samet village, west of Hebron and handed him a notice to meet with the Israeli Intelligence.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4498-iof-forces-arrest-three-palestinians-in-hebron

IOF soldiers storm village municipality, detain employees
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 15 Apr — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the municipality building of Taku‘ village in Bethlehem and detained employees in one of the offices at noon Sunday. One of the employees told Quds Press in a telephone contact during the detention that the soldiers arrived in six armored vehicles and encircled the municipality building. He said that the soldiers accompanied by intelligence agents conversed with the municipality chairman and the director. The operation came in line with investigation into the writing of racist slogans on the walls of two mosques in the village by Jewish settlers, who also threatened the municipality chairman.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Xu7N4H8pwcURro%2bp7lpcci6clBtmElPMGG8EvDjZ1Dod3PQhxca5%2fNDr23ugMAkt9OqKZOAga21Im7EcHLciky7NgSiLHoPLVFwZEGmcaJI%3d

IOF soldiers round up three Palestinians in al-Khalil Old City
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 15 Apr — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up three Palestinian young men in the Old City of Al-Khalil at dawn Monday after searching a number of homes. Local sources said that big numbers of IOF soldiers flooded several alleys in the Old City and arrested a number of students. They noted that the soldiers burst into a number of apartments that were maintained by a local committee then arrested Open Quds University student Arafat Al-Natshe. The sources said that two other young men, including a teenager, were taken from eastern Al-Khalil, after their families’ homes were ransacked.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s75OEgBTyMMzI3i8YXIRYwW1plPsqHV%2b9c5XY14DPjIrcVMfsEfeKNQBdu0JH1AxH%2bT3ZLnMHAyM9JiOXdvx%2bMuzmRGd3o5I1whXqWIxKf5pI%3d

Israeli forces raid house in Jenin
PNN — On Wednesday 17th April, Israeli occupation forces raided at dawn, a house in Zabouba village, west of Jenin. Security and local sources said that Israeli forces raided Zabouba village and broke into the house of Mustafa Mohammed Zaqzouq, searched it, interrogated its residents and took their ID numbers.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4505-israeli-forces-raid-house-in-jenin

Israeli teens ransack souvenir shop in Jerusalem’s Old City
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — A group of Israeli teenagers on Monday ransacked a souvenir shop in East Jerusalem, witnesses said. The group, aged between nine and 15, raided the shop in al-Bashora market in Jerusalem’s Old City and caused extensive damage, witnesses told Ma‘an. Israeli police intervened and forced the teenagers to leave, they added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585990

Settlers attack three Palestinian youths near Nablus
NABLUS, JENIN (PIC) 16 Apr — Three Palestinian youths were injured on Monday night after being attacked by Jewish settlers near the village of Burqa, north of Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, the settlement file official in the northern West Bank, said that a number of settlers attacked and hit the three young men a few hundred meters from the village of Burqa. Ala’a Daoud, 25, and Sami Abu Safiya, 22, have been moderately injured, and were transferred to Rafidia hospital in Nablus to receive treatment. Sami Abu Tawfiq, 22, sustained fractures and bruises in the head and chest.
Dozens of Israelis also stormed on Tuesday morning the evacuated settlement of Homesh, south of Jenin, and performed Talmudic rituals there. Local sources said that a bus carrying the settlers broke into the area under the protection of the occupation patrols which closed the area.
Israeli forces were deployed on the Jenin – Nablus Main Street, while the settlers threw stones at passing vehicles near the town of Silat al-Dahr and the Burqa village.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s73%2f6d6zQSIkhP%2bPXPGQumSJiXSyNaIXmx296klRAmonW2Gc9IPAau1T6T%2fPs849mmxaxI47BJ0KXo6G0u1V7mGU2t1cWK8BNZf%2bv729DbLPg%3d

Jewish settlers uproot, steal olive trees near Hebron
HEBRON, April 16 (WAFA) — Jewish settlers Tuesday uprooted and stole Olive trees that belong to a Palestinian farmer in Hebron, said the owner of the trees. He said that settlers from the settlement of Asfr uprooted around 20 Olive trees from his land in the town of Seir [or Sa‘ir] northwest of Hebron.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22153

IOF soldiers arrest former prisoner from Hebron
PNN — On Wednesday 17th April, Israeli Occupation Forces arrested a Palestinian from Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron in the West Bank. Media spokesperson of the Popular Committee to Resist Apartheid Wall and Settlement, Mohammed Awwad, said that Israeli forces raided Beit Za’ta area, east of the village and arrested the 22-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Hammad Abu Marya, a former prisoner, after they raided his house, searched it and rummaged with the contents.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/4506-iof-soldiers-arrest-former-prisoner-from-hebron

Six workers detained in occupied Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 15 Apr — Six Palestinian workers from the West Bank were kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces on Monday in the Mount of Olives in occupied Jerusalem. Local sources said that IOF soldiers set up a roadblock in Suwana area and searched cars and public buses and scrutinized IDs and work permits of Palestinians. They said that six Palestinians were detained in the process at the pretext of lacking necessary permits to enter the holy city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70cso9%2fW2SlfdZQwV%2fE2rOV%2fSxQ3AT03seMEv8n4l4oLMDoOR46OA74vMXt7zcB02zhggS9kunsceRLtetLsTilCE5nXobSUDNVMBM7Jon%2b8%3d

UPDATED: Two teenagers murdered at checkpoint
ISM 15 Apr by Team Nablus — UPDATED: The fourth of the four Anabta village boys who were present at the murder of Amer Nassar, 17 and Naji al-Balbisi, 18 and the arrest of Deiyaa’ Nassar, 19 was taken by Israeli soldiers at about 4 AM on Tuesday April 9. Fadi Abu-‘Asr, 17 was brought to the hospital in Tulkarm the night of his friends’ deaths to treat his right forearm, injured by a plastic-coated steel bullet. He was discharged from the hospital shortly after to recover at home, but is now in the custody of the Israeli soldiers. His family have no information about his location, condition, or expected trial or release. Anabta villagers said they still do not know the whereabouts of Deiyaa’, but have been told his trial will be held on April 18. Israeli security law allows for holding Palestinians without trial or accusation for four days (for Israelis, 24 hours) before an official must tell family about the incarceration and provide a trial at which a charge is given.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/updated-two-teenagers-murdered-at-checkpoint/

Humanity has no nationality: 2nd anniversary of the murder of Vittorio Arrigoni
ISM 15 Apr by Team Khalil — “We must remain human, even in the most difficult times … Because, despite everything, there must always be humanity within us. We have to bring it to others.” – Vittorio Arrigoni — Today marks the second anniversary of the murder of ISM activist and comrade Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip. Vittorio arrived in Gaza on the 23rd of August 2009, breaking the Israeli siege on Gaza with around 40 other international activists which he described as one of the happiest moments of his life: “It became clear, not only to the world, but Palestinians also that there are people who are willing to spend their lives to come and hug their brothers here in Gaza.” From his arrival until his murder on the 15th of April 2011 , Vittorio stayed in Gaza to work with the International Solidarity Movement there where he attended regular demonstrations, helped both farmers and fishermen and documented the countless Israeli crimes against humanity that he witnessed. Vittorio also stayed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead which massacred hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians.[if you haven’t seen it, watch DARG Team’s Vittorio Arrigoni, Onadekom (Calling You)]
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/30568/

Group removes landmines in Husan village
PNN — On Monday 8th April, the American Seeds of Peace organization began to remove landmines from land belonging to the Bethlehem area village of Husan, according to the village head of council Taha Hamamreh. He told Palestinian official news agency WAFA that the landmines were a real nightmare to the village residents and have already claimed the life of five people and caused injuries and imputations to many others. A large number of sheep were also killed. He said the final stage for removing all the landmines will take place on April 21 and after that the land will be returned to its original owners to reclaim it. The mines go back to the pre-1967 period, when Jordan ruled the West Bank, and cover an area of around 10 dunums of land.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/nonviolence/4421-group-removes-landmines-in-husan-village

Prisoners / Hunger strikers / Court actions

Israel extends ban on visits for Gaza prisoners
MEMO 16 Apr — The Israeli occupation authorities have extended for the fifth week in a row their ban on visits by the families of prisoners from the Gaza Strip being held in Israel’s prisons. The pretext is so-called Israeli Independence Day, which led to the closure of the two border crossings between the occupying state and the Gaza Strip at Karam Abu Salam (Kerem Shalom) and Beit Hanoun (Erez). The International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza said that the Israelis informed its staff about the ban on visits which were scheduled to take place on Monday The prisoners’ relatives were frustrated after being prepared for the visit after the Israelis had blocked them in a series of punitive measures taken against Gaza after rockets were fired towards Israeli settlements. The father of one of the prisoners said that he starts preparing for each visit at dawn; they are monitored closely by the Israelis from the minute they approach Beit Hanoun. Each visit lasts for just half an hour, he added. “I haven’t met my son face to face but I spoke with him through a monitored phone link,” he said. “And the Israelis stop us from passing over clothes or food, but at least I made sure that he is alive.”
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5752-israel-extends-ban-on-visits-for-gaza-prisoners

Palestinian detainees demand prisoner of war status
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 Apr — Palestinian detainees have written to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding to be recognized as prisoners of war within 45 days. If the demand is not met, prisoners will escalate steps and to achieve prisoner of war status by any means necessary, the letter said. Under international law, Palestinian detainees have a right to be recognized as prisoners of war, the letter added. Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, said the demand was made in light of Palestine’s admission to the United Nations as a non-member state.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=586326

Gaza Central Prison reopens as a museum
MEMO 16 Apr — Gaza Central Prison has reopened. Commonly known as Al-Saraya, the old cells have been renovated; new tents have been erected; and the whole perimeter wall is topped with shiny barbed wire. The biggest difference, though, is that it is an NGO which has done the work on the remains of the building, and it is a museum, not a working prison. Almost everyone in the Gaza Strip can describe what kind of mistreatment prisoners could expect once the gates close behind them. Speaking to an old man outside a nearby mosque recently, it was clear that he has memories of the prison going back many years. “It was built by Jews before they occupied Palestine,” Abu Muhammad told me, which made me very curious to know more about the notorious building. Al-Saraya prison was built in 1936 during the British Mandate period, when Abu Muhammad was just 6 years old. The builder was a Jewish-owned company called “Simplea”, he said, and it was well outside the city in those days. The British authorities built it to accommodate criminals, but they imprisoned Palestinian fighters who were struggling against the Mandate authorities and rising Jewish immigration….
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5740-gaza-central-prison-reopens-as-a-museum

Palestinians open Israeli jail replica to honor prisoners
GAZA (Reuters) 16 Apr — Palestinians opened a replica of a former Israeli prison in Gaza on Tuesday to help illuminate the plight of 4,800 kin jailed in Israel after weeks of protests that have triggered clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Murals of famous leaders of Palestinian militant groups who were once held in the Saraya prison decorated walls at the site, along with a leather banner listing the names of 12 detainees who died in what locals dubbed “the slaughterhouse”. “Prisoner Day,” an annual Palestinian national rite that commemorates the detainees, is set for Wednesday and more street violence with Israeli troops is anticipated. Palestinians view compatriots held in Israel as heroes of their struggle for statehood, whereas the Jewish state says that many are guilty of killing or hurting innocents and the detentions guarantee its security.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/16/us-israel-palestinians-prison-idUSBRE93F0O920130416

Lawyer: Israel pressuring Issawi to end hunger strike
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 16 Apr — Intensive efforts are being made by Israel to convince hunger-striking prisoner Samer Issawi to end his protest action, a lawyer said Tuesday. Israeli negotiators have been visiting Issawi at Kaplan Medical Center since Friday and pressuring him to accept proposals to end his hunger strike, Palestinian Prisoner Society lawyer Jawad Boulos told Ma‘an after visiting Issawi on Tuesday. Doctors said that the prisoner’s heart is very weak, Boulous added … On Friday, Israel offered a deal to exile Issawi to a UN member country, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said … Israel has also offered to exile him to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=586169

Prisoners begin hunger strike in solidarity with Issawi
PNN — On Wednesday 17th April, Hadarim prisoners started an open ended hunger strike in solidarity with hunger striking prisoner Samer Issawi, said Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) Tuesday. According to PPS, the prisoners including Issawi’s brother will start their hunger strike in solidarity with Issawi and will not end it until Israel releases him.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/prisoners/4503-prisoners-begin-hunger-strike-in-solidarity-with-issawi

Israeli jailers refuse to release Gaza prisoner after finishing his term
GAZA (PIC) 15 Apr — The Israeli prison authority refused to release a Palestinian prisoner from Gaza after he completed his prison term. Director of Muhjat Al-Quds foundation Yaser Saleh told Quds Press that prisoner Iyad Abu Khudair completed his eight-year jail sentence, but the Israeli prison authority refused to release him. Saleh said that prisoner Abu Khudair is a Palestinian citizen and had lived in Jordan before he returned to Gaza in 1999 when the Israeli occupation authority declined his request for  reunification with his family. The Israeli occupation forces arrested Abu Khudari in April 2005 on a charge of participating in resistance activities against Israel and being a member of the Islamic Jihad Movement. Abu Khudari is married and a father of three children living in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli prison authority justified its refusal to release him that Abu Khudari does not have a Palestinian ID or a place of residence.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7E9DJf8DtPlu3MVuCcI8rA6zXNOgFfUduE9tV53Vf7oIVM%2fi4Ev7XN1gKRxhkq6mtZkN%2blyu0kB9QKfVWcutPN0ogfdmHYxHzdT7H16ODbp8%3d

OPA renews Thamer Saba‘na’s detention for five days
NABLUS (PIC) 15 Apr — Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) renewed the detention of the researcher in the Prisoners’ Affairs,Thamer Saba‘na from the town of Qabatiya, Jenin district, for five days pending further investigation. Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights’ director, Fouad Khuffash, said that Saba‘na is still being held since March 6 at the Jalemeh detention center near the northern West Bank city of Jenin without charge or trial. The center’s director confirmed that there is no indictment against him, pointing out that he should be released especially with no evidence is provided.
Prisoner Thamer Saba‘na was detained several times, most recently was shortly after his last release and weeks after the arrest of his brother the cartoonist Mohammad Saba‘na who was sentenced by Salem Military Court to five months administrative detention … In a related context, the IOA extended the house arrest of the liberated prisoner Fethiye Khanfar, from Jenin, within the city of Rahat in 1948-occupied Palestine after nearly three months of detention.
The PPS confirmed that the house arrest of Hajja Fethiye Khanfar, the prisoner Rami Khanfar’s [mother], was extended until May 19 … In its statement, the PPS called on the international human rights organization to pressure the occupation to end the house arrest of Hajja Fethiye, 58, who was arrested for 15 days in Israeli jails after visiting her son who is serving a 15-year sentence.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Magistrate’s Court extended on Sunday the detention of 6 Palestinian Jerusalemite youths until next Friday, where they had been arrested on Saturday on charges of throwing stones at an Israeli vehicle, the PPS stated.
In a related context, the mentioned Court released the two minors Mahmoud Hassan,15, and Hamza Hosheih, 17, from the Shuafat refugee camp, on bail of 500 shekels and house arrest for 7 days. The two minors were arrested on Monday on charges of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails in the camp.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s72jWMEAd5PAC656fFzTiTcVa3EtgztZ%2bDKHCSQGtyosyIt7muhrCPhl79%2f%2f%2foWXkl5XsA2C40%2bAcOMNsf%2fY7CDDlP3OcblWFitAby6BpX0C4%3d

Israeli court refuses Jamal al-Tawil’s appeal
RAMALLAH (PIC) 15 Apr — An Israeli court refused on Sunday the appeal submitted by a leader in Hamas movement against his administrative detention (without charge or trial). The Israeli Supreme Court has extended the administrative detention of the leader in Hamas movement Jamal al-Tawil for three months, the activist in prisoners’ issues Bushra al-Tawil confirmed. The administrative detainee’s daughter pointed out that, according to the court’s decision, this extension is scheduled to be the last and her father will be released on 13 July.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7zSkBioCAxrOcBJCgRe%2buJxE6WDcBQeQS6gs%2bK%2bwAGpZ83CiKZgqhju1bDXEo%2ffrD4oyYlNZyeEt%2bdcOd%2bgl0LXzj%2fvckUnIUo2WEv1OSRYE%3d

14-year-old prisoner released, happy to be back with his family
PSP 16 Apr — 14-Year old Nassim Abu Maria was released late Sunday 14th of April after spending 4 ½ months in Ofer Prison, which is located between Jerusalem and Ramallah. He was arrested during a surprise night raid and it was his first time in prison. During the night raid, soldiers came to his house unexpectedly at 3 am and he was told that he was being arrested because the soldiers possessed photos of him throwing stones. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken into custody. After ten court appearances, the soldiers were unable to bring forward the photos they allegedly possessed of Abu Maria’s stone throwing, yet, he was still sentenced to prison, without any evidence of his alleged political activity. Abu Maria shared his experience of the prison with PSP and indicated that he had been injured during the arrest, beaten in prison and was refused medical treatment various times for serious injuries he sustained to his arm from rubber bullets during his arrest. He was finally permitted to have surgery at an Israeli hospital and will require additional therapy to treat the injury to his arm, which has left him with limited wrist mobility and function.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2013/04/16/14-year-old-prisoner-released-happy-to-be-back-with-his-family/

PA court demands four Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails to surrender themselves
RAMALLAH (PIC) 16 Apr — A Palestinian authority court in Qalqiliya city circulated a verdict in local newspapers demanding four Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to turn themselves in within 10 days to the authorities. The court said in its announcement that the prisoners must stand trial on charges of their affiliation with armed groups from Hamas … The families of the prisoners, for their part, expressed their dismay and shock at this attitude and described it as immoral, antinational and a stab in the back of the captive movement.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7iugftOCVe%2bS2AiFeZa7LQhoHLqWHU8UOLBVF1%2bpISGmsUHthc0tP0%2b7zt21lsvGN0Ybfz4d1DOozfM%2bzIyxktJEZghD6VdfAchHOpkmEBKM%3d

Gaza siege

Official: Israeli forces shoot Palestinian in Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — Israeli forces on Tuesday shot a 34-year-old Palestinian in the chest in the eastern Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run Ministry of Health said. Israeli soldiers in a watchtower shot Mohammad Abu Issed in the chest near the border east of al-Buraij refugee camp, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. Abu Issed was taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=586345

Israeli navy boats fire at Palestinian fishermen
GAZA (PIC) 15 Apr — Israeli navy gunboats fired at Palestinian fishermen while working at sea before dawn Monday and forced them to retreat nearer to the shore. Sources in the Gaza marine police told the PIC reporter that the Israeli gunboats opened machinegun fire intermittently all throughout the dawn hours. They said that the shooting took place in Sudaniya to the northwest of the Strip and off the coast of Gaza city and the central areas of the enclave. The sources pointed out that the fishermen were forced to work only one and a half nautical miles off the coast
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7qz7ilcocIEYo%2f1%2brKzEEkKaQjplNHatEm0KMFN6F9dI8iHxySkoLWZ4VTylNFbRePALjTH6sz2TF4p9hn3Ri8%2fe%2bWW313U9TSSSYxINbZMI%3d

IOA opens Abu Salem crossing only for Sunday
GAZA (PIC) 15 Apr — The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) opened Karem Abu Salem for Sunday allowing the entry of 340 trucks carrying goods and cooking gas for the Gaza strip, to re-close it during the next two days. The IOA opened the Karem Abu Salem commercial crossing  southeast of Rafah city in farthest southern part of the Gaza Strip on Sunday to re-close it on Monday and Tuesday under the pretext of the so-called “independence day”, the Chairman of the Coordination Committee of goods entry into Gaza, Raed Fattouh, confirmed. Fattouh told Quds Press that the occupation authorities have reopened the crossing on Sunday and it is expected to allow one flower consignment for export to European countries … Karem Abu Salem crossing has been closed since April 9, where it was reopened only on Friday for 4 hours,
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7eM5eLdaYB%2fIVtPxgXdZZnzx4W1MYSRm1gg%2brX%2fmMKybUkW5uLa%2bB7x1FmrJuKDMpBJEhsW4hWXs7a75OjHUrZHlxy8vlyLrUyOYLS70BqlY%3d

A who’s who of fighters in Gaza
GAZA, 15 April 2013 (IRIN) — This month, tensions have escalated in Gaza following the first Israeli air strikes since a ceasefire was signed in November 2012.  Despite the November ceasefire – which ended eight days of sustained conflict – the past month has seen both rocket fire aimed at Israel by Gazan armed groups and incursions by Israeli tanks into Gazan territory … So what are the chances for lasting peace? Much will depend on those holding the guns, rockets and bombs. Israel – as well as rights groups – holds Hamas responsible for any rockets fired from its territory. While Hamas has been able to secure consensus with some of the larger, more moderate groups, it has at times struggled to control other armed groups, which have fired rockets three times since the November ceasefire. Many of these groups see Hamas’ willingness to sign ceasefire agreements with Israel as a sign of its weakness and lack of commitment to the cause of resistance. This month, Hamas police reportedly detained members of one armed groups trying to fire rockets at Israel. IRIN takes a look at those who can make or break the ceasefire.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97847/A-who-s-who-of-fighters-in-Gaza

Gaza’s Hamas gov’t using UNESCO heritage site for military training
JERUSALEM (JTA) 15 Apr  — The Hamas-run government in Gaza bulldozed part of a UNESCO heritage site to expand a military training zone. The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, bulldozed a part of the ancient Anthedon Harbor in northern Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea last month, the Al-Monitor news website reported. The 3,000-year-old seaport discovered in 1997 was named an international heritage site by UNESCO in 2012, and is the oldest harbor in Gaza. It contains mosaic floors with historical pillars from the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic ages, according to Al-Monitor. “Due to rising population in the region, the ministry appreciates the urgent need for using new pieces of land,” the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism said in a statement, Al-Monitor reported. “This is why the ministry has agreed with the different responsible parties on using a limited part of the location temporarily in a way that won’t harm the underground monuments there in any way.” Much of the port is covered with sand to protect the artifacts until they can be excavated.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/04/15/3124301/gazas-hamas-government-uses-unesco-heritage-site-for-terror-training

A punchy and provocative guide book to Gaza
EI 15 Apr by David Cronin — Dervla Murphy’s latest book A Month By the Sea: Encounters in Gaza has an ironic and provocative title. At first, it conjures up images of a sun-dazzled vacation. Then you realize that the sea in question is heavily polluted with human excrement because Israel has bombed Gaza’s sewage treatment facilities; that fishermen who depend on this sea are regularly attacked by the Israeli navy. Now in her eighties, Murphy is described as “Ireland’s pre-eminent travel writer” by her publishers, Eland. But calling her a “travel writer” appears too reductive. Murphy shuns the “what to eat, where to stay” formula typical of Lonely Planet or Time Out guides, focusing more on political analysis than on Gaza’s admittedly scarce tourist attractions.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/punchy-and-provocative-guide-book-gaza/12359

Political and other news

CEC opens nomination for the second complementary election
PNN — Nomination for the second complementary elections is open as of today April 16th until April 25th, 2013. Central Election Committee (CEC) offices will be open to lists, political parties and to citizens wishing to submit nomination applications in 36 localities where elections will be held from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/4491-cec-opens-nomination-for-the-second-complementary-election

Abbas likely to delay Fayyad exit, awaiting US moves
RAMALLAH (Reuters)15 Apr — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is likely to keep Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in office for the next few weeks while the United States tries to revive Middle East peace talks, officials said on Monday. Abbas accepted the resignation of Fayyad on Saturday, adding a layer of uncertainty to local politics just when Washington had resumed efforts to end the generations-old conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. However, officials close to Abbas said they expected Fayyad, who is widely respected in the West but much less so among his own people, would carry on in a caretaker capacity until it became clear if anything would come from the U.S. drive.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/uk-palestinians-israel-fayyad-idUKBRE93E0Q020130415

Abbas arrives in Kuwait
PNN — On Monday 15th April, President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Kuwait during which he will hold talks with the Emir of Kuwait and raise the Palestinian flag on the Palestinian embassy for the first time in 22 years. The Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber, received Abbas at the airport in official ceremonies.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/international/4492-abbas-arrives-in-kuwait

Abbas accepts credentials of four ambassadors
PNN — On Sunday 14th April, President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the credentials of Argentinean, Brazilian, Turkish, and Swiss ambassadors at the presidency headquarters in Ramallah.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/4483-abbas-accepts-credentials-of-four-ambassadors

Poll conducted by Awrad focusing on important issues of the Palestinian society
PNN 17 Apr — These are the results and analyses of the latest Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) public opinion poll, focusing on elections, reconciliation, the performance of the Fayyad and Haniyeh governments, the approval rates of leaders, the peace process, the Obama visit, the Arab Spring and support for existing political parties and prospective future candidates. The questionnaire was fielded April 2-4, 2013. For this survey, 1,200 Palestinians were interviewed in the West Bankand Gaza Strip.  All socioeconomic groups were represented in the poll (for more details on the sample, please refer to: www.awrad.org).
Highlights: 52 percent of respondents say that Palestinian society is heading in the wrong direction.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/4501-poll-conducted-by-awrad-focusing-on-important-issues-of-the-palestinian-society

Hoax ‘Mossad agents list; circulating online does real harm to Palestinians whose names are on it
EI 17 Apr by Ali Abunimah — M. arrived at work last Friday morning in a city in the north of present-day Israel. As she walked in, one of her colleagues approached her with a look of concern and asked her to step outside. “Your name is on a list of Mossad agents,” M. recalls the colleague saying. “‘Then congratulate me,’ I said, thinking this was all a strange joke,” M. recalls responding. But then M. found that many other people at her workplace were talking about a list, a file obtained by hackers and circulated on social media purporting to contain the names of agents of Israel’s notorious spy and assassination agency Mossad. The vast majority of names on the list are Hebrew names of Israelis. “I looked at the list, it had my name on it, my ID number and other details. By the end of the day everyone knew about it and was talking about it.” M., however, is a Palestinian, a citizen of Israel, with an Arabic name – although like all the other names on the list her name was written in the Hebrew alphabet. She was stunned. The false accusation or suspicion of being an Israeli agent can be absolutely devastating for any Palestinian.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/hoax-mossad-agents-list-circulating-online-does-real-harm-palestinians-whose

23% of Jewish Israelis support apartheid, 13% support status quo
972mag 14 Apr by Mairav Zonszein — Survey finds that majority of Jewish Israelis think the country should unilaterally determine its borders along the route of the West Bank separation barrier. One-third support either annexing the West Bank without giving Palestinians civil rights, or perpetuating the status quo — both of which are apartheid.
http://972mag.com/poll-23-of-jewish-israelis-support-apartheid-13-support-status-quo/69244/

Gaza man runs for parliament in Bulgaria
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 15 Apr — A young Palestinian from the Gaza Strip is running in Bulgarian parliamentary elections on May 12. Kamal Dughmush, 26, told Ma‘n he had held meetings with the Bulgarian public and the Palestinian and Arab communities in the country. He said that, if elected, he would be committed to serving Palestinian causes in Europe. Dughmush has been living in Bulgaria for several years, and his most recent visit to Gaza was shortly before Israel’s last war on the enclave in November.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585914

Report: French rail firm banned Muslims from working during Peres visit
Ynet 15 Apr — Transport union files complaint saying everything was done to ensure there were ‘no Muslim railway employees to welcome Israeli president’ when he arrived at Paris station — France’s national railway company banned its black and North African employees from working during President Shimon Peres’ visit last month over fears they “might be Muslim,” newspapers in Britain reported overnight Monday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4368132,00.html

Rockets hit southern Israeli resort of Eilat
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 17 Apr — Two rockets struck Israel’s Red Sea resort of Eilat on Wednesday, causing no casualties or damage, the city’s mayor said. The mayor, Meir Yitzhak Halevy, told Army Radio that the rockets, apparently fired from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, struck open areas. Rockets were last fired at Eilat in November. The attacks, launched from the Sinai, have fuelled Israeli concerns about Islamist militant activity along its Egyptian border since President Hosni Mubarak’s downfall in 2011. Army Radio said there were reports that two rockets had also hit the neighboring Jordanian city of Aqaba.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/17/us-israel-explosions-idUSBRE93G07220130417

Analysis / Opinion

Israeli occupation: you have to see it to believe it / Mairav Zonszein
972mag 16 Apr — Most Jewish Israelis will admit the “occupation” is bad, but few have ever gotten a taste of what it feels like to be anywhere near the receiving end of it. To do that you’d have to choose to experience it as a civilian alongside the Palestinian population, confronted with Israeli soldiers or settlers, which almost no Israelis do. No matter how liberal an Israeli you are, if you have not experienced it in some way, first hand, the concept of Israeli occupation has an entirely different meaning to you than someone who has. This fact separates the majority of Israelis from the tiny minority of activists, journalists and NGO workers who have experienced it. I remember the first time I was in a West Bank village when the IDF entered and started shooting live gunfire … I remember being in the Bedouin village Al-Araqib (demolished over 40 times) when dozens of special army forces showed up at dawn in armored personnel vehicles, fully armed, to dismantle the homes of these citizens of Israel … . I remember being arrested and watching countless other Palestinians and Israelis being arrested over and over again, for breaking absolutely no laws and causing no one harm. These are incidents I had to see to believe.
http://972mag.com/israeli-occupation-you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it/69412/

Apartheid of the consciousness / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 17 Apr — We may one day have ‘peaceful coexistence’ with the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza. With the Arabs of Israel, it will take much more. We need sincere reconciliation … Last year, then Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized the Nakba Day ceremony at Tel Aviv University: “This is a wrong, infuriating decision that hurts the public’s feelings,” he said. “There is no reason that campuses in Israel should be places for shows of hatred against Israel.” All he was doing in this statement was protecting the consciousness of apartheid. The nakba terrifies Israel. We cannot forgive the Arabs for exiling themselves from Palestine, for destroying their own villages, for becoming refugees and for causing the cleansing of the War of Independence. Neither can we forgive them for the fact that many of them remained in Israel, destroying its aspiration to be a pure Jewish state, not only a state for Jews.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/apartheid-of-the-consciousness.premium-1.515856

Palestinian civil society: What went wrong? / Tariq Dana
Al-Shabaka 15 Apr — Over the past two decades, social, political, cultural and institutional changes have swept across the occupied Palestinian territories. Many of the changes can be traced back to the Oslo process, such as the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the redefinition of official Palestinian-Israeli relations, the involvement of international donors, and the radical shift in the political economy of the occupied territories. Al-Shabaka policy member Tariq Dana argues that Palestinian civil society is fundamental to understanding the multilayered changes that have negatively affected Palestinian society. He identifies the four dimensions of “what went wrong” since Oslo — the shift in organizations’ agendas, the role of the grassroots, the status of politics, and the production of knowledge — and concludes with recommendations to revive civil society as a fertile terrain for profound social transformation.
http://al-shabaka.org/policy-brief/civil-society/palestinian-civil-society-what-went-wrong?page=show

Palestinian Christians dwindling in number due to political situation / Patsy McGarry
Irish Times 16 Apr — Senior Palestianian churchmen blame Israel, the US, and Germany — Since the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948 at least 35 per cent of Palestinian Christians had left the Holy Land, a senior Palestinian churchman said in Dublin yesterday. “It has been the greatest de-Christianising influence there since the Ottomans,” Fr Peter Madros of the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarchate of Jerusalem said yesterday … Archbishop of Sebastia,Theodosios Atallah Hanna, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchiate of Jerusalem, pointed out “we are different [Christian] denominations but all Palestinians. We’ve suffered a loss of freedom and injustice that has led to the exile of many Palestinians.” He described the decline of the Palestinian Christian community to between 1 and 2 per cent of the population as “a disaster not only for Palestinian Christians but for all Palestinians.” The three churchmen are members of a delegation that arrived in Ireland a week ago on a trip sponsored by the Sadaka group …Fr Madros said “the unconditional support of America [for Israel] hurts us most. It wounds us most”.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-christians-dwindling-in-number-due-to-political-situation-1.1361325

Baird’s East Jerusalem scandal shows Canada has a Mideast dishonesty gap / Roland Paris
Globe&Mail 16 Apr — Any peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians will have to address the city’s contested status. Partly for this reason, Canada has maintained a longstanding policy of not meeting with Israeli officials (or accepting Israeli government escorts) in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem. These guidelines have reflected both Canada’s strong support of Israel and its commitment to international law and a just peace. Why, then, did Mr. Baird later say that the location of his East Jerusalem meeting was “irrelevant” and that it did not “signal a change in Canadian foreign policy”? … Mr. Baird has traveled to the Mideast before and seems to have a particular interest in the politics of the region. It is inconceivable that fundamental facts about the political status of East Jerusalem would have escaped his attention. It is similarly inconceivable that his officials would not have been informed him of Canada’s longstanding policy regarding meetings with Israeli government officials in the occupied territories, along with the reasons behind this policy.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/article11257627.ece

$40 billion arms deal for Israel: why Obama’s Palestine rhetoric rings hollow / Josh Ruebner
AlterNet 15 Apr — Actions speak louder than words: Obama is in negotiations to prolong U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons to Israel long after he leaves the White House … Defense News reported that the Obama administration is entering negotiations with Israel that would leave U.S. taxpayers on the hook to fund up to an additional $40 billion in weapons for Israel through the 2027-8 budget cycle. This agreement would nearly double the annual U.S. taxpayer funding of Israel’s military since Obama took office.
http://www.alternet.org/world/40-billion-arms-deal-israel-why-obamas-palestine-rhetoric-rings-hollow