Israel extends law preventing Palestinian citizens of Israel from living with spouses from ‘enemy states’ (including the occupied territories)

Land, property theft & destruction / Judaization / Apartheid / Restriction of movement

Israel extends law restricting unification of citizens with spouses from ‘enemy states’
Haaretz 14 Apr by Jonathan Lis — Photo: Acre-based Israeli Arab Taysar Hatib holding up a picture from his wedding day with his wife Lana, of Nablus. The two have been denied reunification under the Citizenship Law — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet decided unanimously on Sunday to extend the Citizenship Law restricting the “family reunification” of Israeli citizens with certain foreign partners for an additional year. The law denies entry or living permits to partners who are considered a security threat, among them Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, and citizens of enemy countries or from areas involved in long-term conflict with Israel. The law affects mainly Israeli Arab citizens and their families from the West Bank and Gaza. The proposal brought before the cabinet on Sunday was submitted by Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and was formulated based on a Shin Bet opinion regarding the volatility of partners from the Gaza Strip. Meretz party head Zahava Gal-On slammed the decision as placing “draconian restrictions on Israeli Arab citizens’ right to marry,” calling the designation of all Palestinians as a security threat “racist” and discriminatory.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israel-extends-law-restricting-unification-of-citizens-with-spouses-from-enemy-states-1.515423

Erekat slams ‘racist’ Israeli citizenship law
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — PLO official Saeb Erekat on Sunday slammed Israel’s decision to extend a law which prohibits granting residency or citizenship to Palestinians from the occupied territories who are married to Palestinian citizens of Israel, a statement said. “What the Israeli government has approved is a racist law attempting to distort the Palestinian social fabric and force the displacement of Palestinian families,” Erekat said. “Israel not only wants to control Palestinian freedom of movement and steal land and natural resources through its colonial settlement enterprise, but seeks to control the very right of our people to choose and establish a family.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585638

Army to impose two-day curfew in the West Bank
JPost 14 Apr — Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has declared a two-day general quarantine in the West Bank while Israelis observe the Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars and Independence Day, the army reported on Sunday. The quarantine is a general curfew over the entire area which will only allow movement that is considered “humanitarian, medical or an emergency.” The restrictions will be lifted on Tuesday at midnight.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=309798

Proposal to extend Buraq wall plaza by destroying Al Magharbeh Hill
MEMO 12 Apr — Israeli media reports have unveiled for the first time a scheme which threatens Al-Magharbeh Hill and the historic sites close by. The so-called “Sharansky Proposal” is to expand the Buraq (“Western”) Wall plaza to the south-west of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, destroying the historic hill and Islamic sites in the process. The intention is to provide additional prayer areas for Jews. Natan Sharansky is the head of the extremist Jewish Agency who was born in Russia. His proposal is to extend the plaza in front of the Buraq Wall – know to Jews as the Western, or Wailing, Wall – towards what Israelis call Robinson’s Arch on the southern wall of the Islamic Sanctuary. The proposal has been drafted in response to an order from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do something about keeping Jewish men and women separate when saying their prayers at the Wall …  Palestinians regard this as yet another stage in Israel’s Judaisation of the occupied Holy City.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5723-proposal-to-extend-buraq-wall-plaza-by-destroying-al-magharbeh-hill

Water restrictions in Area C threaten to displace villages
MASAFER YATTA (Ma‘an) 13 Apr by Charlie Hoyle — “Life is hard, but I won’t leave the village,” Zahira al-Jundi says. Despite winter rainfall which has painted green patches on the rolling south Hebron hills, the 145 residents of Tuba face a daily struggle to access the most basic levels of water needed to survive. Like 70 percent of Palestinian communities in Area C, Tuba is not connected to the water network. The weekly sight of a water tanker negotiating the rocky sand-colored terrain to reach the village is a welcome relief for residents, but only a temporary measure to ease the humanitarian impact of an acute water shortage. Located in 30,000 dunams of land designated by Israel as a closed military area, or Firing Zone 918, Israel’s Civil Administration forbids all construction in Tuba. Villagers live in caves and tents and depend entirely on cisterns and tankered water to meet their daily needs.
“These communities live in conditions similar to that of a post-disaster situation, such as an earthquake or tsunami,” Advocacy Task Force Officer for EWASH, Alex Abu Ata, tells Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=576309

Illegal setter gets more than 4 times as much water as Palestinian neighbor  — and US signed off
Mondoweiss 13 Apr by Philip Weiss — Lauren Gelfond Feldinger in Haaretz reports on water distribution in the West Bank and says that the Palestinian Authority has gone along with the apartheid system of inequitable division because of the Oslo Accords. The figures: “On average, West Bank Palestinians have access to about 70 liters a day per person, although in some areas availability is as low as 15 liters, depending on the season. In contrast, Israeli citizens inside the Green Line or in West Bank communities utilize around 280-300 liters per person a day year-round, according to rights organizations, water NGOs and the Palestinian Water Authority.” Feldinger says that EWASH (a coalition of 28 international NGOs working locally on Palestinian water issues) along with the Middle East Children’s Alliance, started a program to get international volunteers to use only 24 litres of water for one day, so as to dramatize the inequality.
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/04/illegal-palestinian-neighbor.html

Jewish settlers attack Palestinian property, uproot saplings
NABLUS (PIC) 13 Apr — Heavily armed Jewish settlers went on the rampage in Orif [or ‘Urif] village, south of Nablus, under Israeli military protection on Friday night. Local sources said that the settlers, guarded by Israeli occupation forces, attacked citizens’ homes and property to the east of the village and damaged olive and almond saplings that were planted by the villagers only a month ago. They explained that a number of institutions in the village had organized a day for volunteers in which they planted those saplings. They said that the soldiers attacked the citizens who tried to stop the attack and fired flare bombs and teargas grenades at them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7iJpS%2fYN0JGwUXFkKqzxxtF7Tfmqc30q9qBtDjMsPLmObiLeqn5bCcWWY3pcT9aCi7a7lVvG207J4VsNq5Goj%2b6VziZN59gT3s1FiLe%2bud1k%3d

‘It is time to guard our house!’: Nazareth Illit mayor promises to prevent a Palestinian school in order to ‘stop the demographic deterioration’ of the city
Mondoweiss 12 Apr by Adam Horowitz — The above statement was published by Nazareth Illit mayor Shimon Gapso and posted on a Facebook page for the city. Nazarth Illit is a predominantly Jewish city located inside the state of Israel that was established in the 1950s overlooking the Palestinian city of Nazareth to promote the Judaization of the Galilee. We have covered the rampant racism in the city before . Ofer Neiman provided the following translation: “An account to/for the residents – what have we done on the issue of the city’s identity? Upper Nazareth – Jewish Forever! Not to be taken for granted, but the result of a staunch standing and a daily struggle…”
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/04/publishes-demographic-deterioration.html

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Protests / Arrests

VIDEO: 13-year-old boy arrested in Hebron
Hebron (ISM) 13 Apr — A thirteen year old boy was arrested from his home in the Old City of Hebron, blindfolded and detained inside several small checkpoint boxes as well as the military base on Hebron’s Shuhada Street. International activists who attempted to document the incident were physically stopped and threatened by soldiers and settlers. The boy was taken from his home and transported to Checkpoint 56, a small metal box on the border between the Israeli and Palestinian controlled areas of the city. He was blindfolded and shut inside the checkpoint for around 20 minutes. After this, he was removed by soldiers and walked down Shuhada Street, still blindfolded, and put inside another small checkpoint box. After 15 minutes he was removed from this checkpoint and walked to an Israeli army base. International activists who attempted to follow to document the situation were stopped by soldiers who called them “Nazi pigs”, pushed them and refused to accept their passports as identification. After several minutes of the soldier harassing activists a group of around fifteen settlers arrived, several carrying automatic weapons. They pushed and threatened the international activists — see video below.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/video-13-year-old-boy-arrested-in-hebron/

Al-Khalil (Hebron): New report documents the loss of childhood
APTnet 11 Apr — A newly released report compiled by internationals working in the West Bank city of Hebron documents an alarming rate of abuse of the rights of children. Human rights workers in H2, the portion of the city under Israeli military control, have witnessed 47 detentions or arrests of children age fifteen and under by soldiers since the start of February. Other violations documented in the report include conducting war training when children are present, delaying children and teachers as they pass checkpoints to access schools, detaining children in adult facilities, questioning children without the presence of an adult, and blindfolding children in detention … Documentation in the report was collected by three human rights organizations working in Hebron. Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Solidarity Movement, and Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine all maintain teams in Hebron in order to provide protective presence and documentation in civilian neighborhoods.
http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2013/04/11/al-khalil-hebron-new-report-documents-loss-childhood

Israeli military invades houses during settler tour of Hebron
ISM 13 Apr by Team Khalil — Israeli soldiers invaded at least four Palestinian houses in the city of Hebron on Saturday 13th April, prior to and during the settler tour, intimidating children and families. During the tour, around fifty settlers and Jewish tourists occupied the Palestinian souq (market), surrounded by around fifty heavily armed Israeli soldiers, border police and police officers. Before the tour began, around twenty soldiers walked through the market, pointing guns into doorways, intimidating shoppers and restricting movement for Palestinians. At this point soldiers invaded two Palestinian homes, stationing themselves on the roofs of these homes for several hours until the end of the tour … As the tour progressed through the souq, a group of soldiers split from the main group and invaded two other Palestinian houses, in one home disturbing a family with several young children and in another walking in on a young woman who was home alone (see video below). She stated that they enter her home every week, and she is usually the only person there. The soldiers are all heavily armed, aggressive and do not respond when asked why they are entering private Palestinian property.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/israeli-military-invades-houses-during-settler-tour-of-hebron/

Army invasion of Burin
Burin (ISM) 12 Apr — At 2am on Thursday 11 April Burin village near Nablus was invaded by over ten army jeeps, 100 soldiers and border police. The Army raided houses arresting 3 young men from the village and destroying the cultural centre used by the community. Solidarity activists entered the village shortly after 2am and witnessed soldiers all over the village, detaining a youth and raiding several homes. They were able to enter the home of one family and stay with them as the Army pulled back at around 4:30am. The family had several small children including a baby … The Army appeared to be targeting members of the cultural centre in the village, which is used to organise events, teach English and is a space for local people and youth to use computers and learn. The centre was destroyed, donated computers were thrown on the floor and the doors and equipment were smashed … Burin village is regularly invaded by the Israeli Army due to its steadfast resistance to the stealing of village land by the illegal settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha. These illegal settlements are particularly notorious and the villages surrounding them regularly suffer settler harassment.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/army-invasion-of-burin/

Israel destroys West Bank community center, arrests 20
Burin (EI) 12 Apr by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours — Large slabs of wood lay scattered on the brightly tiled floor. Ripped posters were still clinging to the walls by bits of tape. A handful of computer hard drives were ripped out, and lay haphazardly on their sides. The electricity wires were cut, and broken windowpanes let in what little light entered the room. “[The Israeli interrogator] told me, ‘We are now breaking your dream and your friends’ dreams,’ ” said 23-year-old Ghassan al-Najjar, while standing on piece of a broken wooden desk. “They said, ‘We will come back soon, but next time will be to take you and put you in the prison.’ ” Al-Najjar founded the Bilal al-Najjar Martyrs Center with friends in his home village of Burin, in the northern occupied West Bank, in 2007. Located in the heart of the village, the center provides language and computer classes, and other educational resources, to women, children, the elderly, and anyone else in Burin.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israel-destroys-west-bank-community-center-arrests-20/12364

45-year-old wounded in clashes south of Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Dozens of Palestinians suffered tear-gas inhalation during clashes at the southern entrance of Hebron, an official told Ma‘an Friday.  Rateb al-Jbour, the coordinator of popular committees in Hebron, told Ma‘an that the Israeli troops attacked a weekly march south of Hebron. This march aimed to condemn the closure of the roads link between Hebron and its southern villages. It also condemned Israeli violence and negligence in Israeli jails. Israeli troops fired tear-gas toward Palestinians.
Yousef Abu Maria, 45, the coordinator of popular committees in Beit Ummar, was struck by a tear-gas canister. The march was launched after Friday prayers, and Palestinians from several factions participated.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585023

3 teens injured in Beit Ummar clashes
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 Apr — Three teenagers were injured during clashes in Beit Ummar on Saturday, a local official said. Committee spokesman Muhammad Ayad Awad told Ma‘an that Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes with locals, injuring three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17. One teenager was hit in the jaw, another in the abdomen, and one in the foot.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585350

Updated: Nabi Saleh demonstration violently suppressed by Israeli forces; activist shot three times
ISM 12 Apr — UPDATE 13th April 2013: The injured Spanish activist returned to hospital Saturday morning, after experiencing continued pain, dizziness and fatigue. She had been shot three times with plastic coated steel bullets at Nabi Saleh demonstration the day before. She is currently under observation at the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, being treated with antibiotics — Around one hundred Palestinians, joined by a handful of Israeli and international activists, participated in today’s demonstration in Nabi Saleh. After midday prayers, protesters marched from the centre of the village, deviating from their usual route and walking across the main road and up the hill, trying to reach the water spring stolen by settlers from Halamish settlement more than three years ago. By the time protesters reached the hilltop, several Israeli Border Police officers waiting and immediately started to shoot tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets at them. One Spanish international activist was hit by a rubber coated bullet in the right leg. As people retreated from the hilltop back to the main road, Israeli forces continued shooting tear gas canisters.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/04/nabi-saleh-demonstration-violently-suppressed-by-israeli-forces-activist-shot-three-times/

VIDEO: Silwad protest, 12-4-2013
Published on Apr 12 –  Fierce resistance was sparked yesterday by the vicious beating of a 60-year-old former judge Ahmad al-Zir after so called “settlers” attacked him the previous day with an iron bar which fractured his skull and left him unconscious as he was tending his land between Ofra colony and the Palestinian village of Silwad. “They were hitting him again and again on the head, cursing him and telling him to shut up,” said Mahmoud Hussein, a relative and an eyewitness of the alleged attack Reuters reports. Village youths tracked down the Israelis to their encampment and burned down one of their improvised homes. Israeli forces were sent to the scene late Thursday to disperse the angered Palestinians. They fired at the protesters, wounding two with live bullets, including one in the chest, medics said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uzsyPljZUVM

Palestinians, Israeli troops clash near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Apr – Five young Palestinian men were hurt Friday in clashes with Israeli troops in the central West Bank town of Silwad near Ramallah. A Ma‘an reporter said fierce clashes erupted as Israeli forces tried to prevent hundreds of worshipers from performing Friday prayer in the open in private Palestinian lands slated for annexation to the nearby Israeli settlement of Ofra. Despite the presence of Israeli troops, more than 250 worshipers managed to access the agricultural lands and perform Friday prayer. However, after the prayer the soldiers showered the worshipers with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets. Young worshipers responded by hurling stones and empty bottles at the Israeli soldiers who chased them across the town’s alleys.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585112

Clashes break out in al-Khader
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Clashes broke out after Friday noon prayers between Palestinians and Israeli forces in al-Khader village south of Bethlehem, a local official said. Popular committee coordinator Ahmad Salah told Ma‘an that dozens of Israeli soldiers positioned in the alleys, and over the rooftops in Umm Rukba area in the village. They fired tear gas canisters at the Palestinian youths.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585032

Protesters set Israel watchtower on fire
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Palestinian demonstrators on Saturday threw two home-made bombs toward a concrete military watchtower, causing soldiers to temporarily evacuate it. Israeli troops left the watchtower immediately and dozens of demonstrators piled burning tires against the Israeli separation wall around ‘Aida refugee camp, witnesses said. Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets toward the Palestinians. Five Palestinians suffered from tear-gas inhalation.
In the al-Khader village near Bethlehem, clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Palestinian youths. Three Palestinians were wounded with plastic-coated steel bullets. Two of them were hit in the head while the third one was hit in his back. Dozens suffered from tear-gas inhalation and were transferred to Beit Jala hospital for treatment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585408

Israel arrests 3 Hamas leaders in Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Israeli forces on Sunday arrested three Hamas leaders from Jalqamus village east of Jenin, locals said.  Israeli forces raided the village and detained two brothers, Abed al-Haj, 45, and Rabe, 44. They also detained Abed al-Rahim Sami al-Haj, 43, after raiding his house.  Abed al-Basit al-Haj was the spokesman of Hamas in Jenin, and he served 13 years in Israeli custody, most of the time in administrative detention.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585428

Israeli forces raid Hamas leader’s house
JENIN (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Israeli forces raided the home of a Hamas leader at dawn on Friday near Jenin, locals said. Soldiers ransacked Sheikh Jihad Nawadha’s home in Yamun village in the northern West Bank, locals told Ma‘an. Forces questioned the 48-year-old Hamas leader but did not arrest him, they added. Nawadha has spent six years in Israeli jails.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585015

Witnesses: Israeli forces raid Bethlehem refugee camp
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Israeli forces raided several homes in ‘Azza refugee camp in Bethlehem on Sunday, locals said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli troops raided several homes in the camp. No arrests were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585557

2 detained in Bethlehem refugee camp
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Israeli soldiers detained two Palestinians from ‘Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem on Thursday, locals said. Forces raided the camp and detained 21-year-old Mahmoud Mukhles and Omar Aziyeh, 25, from their homes, locals told Ma‘an. Aziyeh has been detained by Israel several times and is due to be married later in April.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585024

Israeli forces detain 2 near Ramallah
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Israeli forces detained on Friday two Palestinians at in Aboud village north of Ramallah. A Ma‘an reporter said Israeli forces placed a checkpoint at the entrance of the village, and arrested Mahmoud al-Barghouthi, 23, and Fayeq al-Barghouthi, 25. Clashes broke out in the area after the arrests.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585038

Every soldier has a name
Haaretz 14 Apr by Gideon Levy — The soldier hiding behind the army places full responsibility on the most moral army in the world — What happened on the evening of April 3 at the foot of the guard tower of the Einav checkpoint, at the entrance to Tul Karm, seems to have been an execution; no other term can describe it. Four young Palestinians were approaching the checkpoint on foot. The Israel Defense Forces began monitoring them when they were still as much as two kilometers away, watched them approach while trying repeatedly to ignite the Molotov cocktail they carried and did nothing to stop them. When they finally threw the device at the tower’s concrete wall — to protest the death from cancer, the previous day, of Maysara Abuhamdieh, a Palestinian prisoner incarcerated in Israel — two soldiers emerged and shot at the four. Amer Nassar died on the spot; Fadi Abu Assal, who was shot in the hand, fled; Diya Nassar was apprehended. But that was not enough for the soldiers: They pursued Naji Balbisi into the yard of a nearby leather factory where they shot him in the back, apparently at close range, killing him.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/every-israeli-soldier-has-a-name.premium-1.515336

‘My son is not a terrorist’
JPost 11 Apr by Ben Hartman — Taiba family says Hichmat Masarwa went to Syria to find brother; rejects claims he was joining global jihad forces — If you ask his family, Hichmat Masarwa did what any brother would do, risking his life to find his little brother Hussein, who had disappeared in one of the most dangerous corners of the earth.If you ask the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), Masarwa slipped into Syria to link up with international jihadi groups … “This is a lie and a fraud, nothing less,” said Otman Masarwa, Hichmat’s 52-year-old father, sitting in the courtyard of the family’s multi-level house in Taiba, 12 kilometers east of Kfar Saba, on Thursday. “They made him out to be a terrorist; he is no terrorist,” Otman said, surrounded by his other sons – Hamad, 26; Karam, 25; and Abdallah, 23. The Masarwa clan is one of the largest in Taiba, numbering by some estimates well over 15,000 people.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=309540&R=R1

Prisoners / Hunger strikers / Court actions

Israel offers to exile Issawi abroad
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Israel on Friday offered long-term hunger striker Samer Issawi a deal to exile him to a UN member country, Israeli spokesman said. Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, said that an offer was presented to exile Issawi for health reasons. He added that “the EU and UN who demanded his release declined to find a country that will accept him.” The Palestinian minister of detainees told Ma‘an that Issawi, who has been on hunger strike for over 265 days, rejected the offer and insists on returning to his hometown, Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585066

Two very different Israeli replies to Samer Issawi’s invitation
Mondoweiss 14 Apr by Ira Glunts — This week in a public letter, Samer Issawi, the Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for eight months, challenged Israelis to visit him in the hospital where he is close to death in order to “stare into … [his] …face,” and by doing so confront the horror of his imprisonment. “I chose to write to you: intellectuals, writers, lawyers and journalists, associations, and civil society activists. I invite you to visit me, to see a skeleton tied to his hospital bed, and around him three exhausted jailers. Sometimes they have their appetizing food and drinks around me.”  On Saturday, two markedly different Israeli responses to Issawi were reported. A group of twelve activists attempted to visit Issawi at Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot.  Of the group, only two women, the writer Ilana Hammerman and Chava Lerman, succeeded in approaching the prisoner’s room, although they were prohibited from visiting Issawi by hospital guards who used force to deny them entry.  The police were summoned and evicted all 12 activists, briefly detaining Hammerman and Lerman …
A different type of response to Samer Issawi’s invitation came from a group of Israeli writers who included A. B. Yehoshua and Amos Oz.  Instead of going to the hospital, the writers sent a letter to Issawi via Facebook, suggesting he end his hunger strike.  I was not able to locate the letter on Facebook or anywhere else.  This is how Ha’aretz described parts of the authors’ written statement:
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/04/different-issawis-invitation.html

PA minister: Israel to allow foreign press to visit Ofer prison
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Apr — Israel will allow foreign journalists to visit Ofer detention center near Ramallah on Sunday, a Palestinian Authority official said. Issa Qaraqe, PA minister of detainee affairs, said during a press conference Saturday that the unprecedented visit is an attempt to alter the truth about conditions for Palestinian prisoners. Israel will try to present the prison as a “luxurious five star hotel,” he said. Since February, two Palestinian detainees have died in Israel’s prison system and thousands of detainees are denied basic rights, Qaraqe said. Journalists at the briefing should ask Palestinian detainees about their medical issues, infirmary conditions, and whether Israeli doctors treat them when they are sick, the PA minister added. They should ask Palestinian minors about interrogation methods and torture they were subjected to by Israeli prison authorities, Qaraqe said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585262

Prisoner to start hunger strike over rearrest
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — A 31-year-old prisoner says he will go on open hunger strike on Sunday in protest over Israeli efforts to cancel his amnesty. Ayman Abu Daoud was pardoned under the Oct. 2011 prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. He was rearrested in February and is being held at Megiddo prison. “All doors are closed in my face and the Israeli administration wants to sentence me for 36 years. I am desperate and I will start a hunger strike on Sunday until I am free from this detention,” Abu Daoud told the Ahrar Prisoners Center. Abu Daoud previously served seven years of his sentence for injuring an Israeli settler. Israeli authorities also demolished his home.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=584950

Bethlehem demonstrates for prisoners
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Hundreds of Palestinians marched through Bethlehem on Thursday demanding the release of prisoners from Israeli jails. Protester marched to the Nativity Church, chanting slogans including “free despite chains.” Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqe addressed demonstrators and said peaceful protests would lead to freedom for prisoners.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=584969

11 prisoners hurt in Israeli prison fire
NAZARETH (PIC) 13 Apr — Hebrew media reported that 11 Palestinian prisoners were hurt at dawn Saturday when fire broke out in the Israeli prison Ohli Kedar in Beersheba. The website of Yediot Ahronot said that the prisoners’ injuries were light to moderate, adding that some of them were treated in the prison for smoke inhalation while others were flown to Soroka hospital.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s78yjbgp391xvLaPDEy%2bjqERHwbu5FUIBt%2bBMH06UhGBHlYl0Gn2tkbeDJUt9lttO6fJ7ThUZYnERi%2b6fRqAbbPQ514npMoFs05bYydJ5KTVM%3d

Israel releases Bethlehem prisoner
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Israel on Thursday released a 19-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem after detaining him in Ramon jail for a year. Dozens of Palestinians gathered to welcome Foad Faraj in Doha, southwest of Bethlehem. Faraj told Ma‘an that Palestinians were suffering in Israeli jails, particularly those with poor health. He urged organizations to intervene for their release.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585001

Sharp rise in Hamas attempts to abduct soldiers
Ynet 14 Apr by Yossi Yehoshua — According to the Shin Bet internal security service, 33 kidnapping attempts have been foiled since the beginning of the year, compared with 24 thwarted attempts during all of 2012. Senior officers in the IDF Central Command warned that over past few months Hamas has stepped up its efforts to abduct soldiers and use them as “bargaining chips” to bring about the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367254,00.html

Gaza siege

Gaza farmers destroy goods bound for Europe
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Farmers in the Gaza Strip on Sunday destroyed three tons of rotten herbs and spices that were to be shipped to markets in Europe before Israel closed the border crossings. Muhammad Zuweid, a marketing official in Gaza, told Ma‘an that three tons of mint, sage, basil, and tarragon were ready to be exported to Europe and waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing. After days of closure, the goods expired and became unsafe to use, he said. Moreover, the herbs are not heavily consumed by local markets. The available amounts exceed the needs of the local markets, which is why they were selected to export abroad. He explained that the tarragon herb is not used locally, but it is usually exported abroad. Salvia officinalis, or garden sage, was being prepared for export for the first time this year.
Israel closed Kerem Shalom and the Erez passenger crossing on Monday after militants in Gaza fired a rocket across the border.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585505

Poverty forces Gaza children into labor market
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Poverty in the Gaza Strip is forcing a growing number of Palestinian children to drop out of school and enter the job market … “I have been selling cigarettes for one and a half years,” Mustafa al-Assar, 12, told Ma‘an. “My father forced me to leave school in the third grade. I work from the early morning selling cigarettes to drivers, bystanders, and passengers at the main road of al-Nuseirat.” Mustafa’s father is also a street vendor, selling cigarettes for eight hours a day from a moving vehicle for fear of being arrested by customs police. He tells Ma‘an that three of his children work on the streets, selling cigarettes and other goods … Muhammad al-Hour, 15, is also a street vendor in Gaza. He sells tea and coffee in a parking lot next to al-Nuseirat refugee camp. “I wake up at 6 a.m. every day. I take a teapot and a coffeepot, and head to the parking lot of al-Nuseirat refugee camp. Many students and drivers buy coffee and tea from me.” Muhammad says his father is old and can no longer work and his brothers and sisters are too young to earn money.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585148

Hamas arrests ‘collaborators’ as amnesty ends
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 Apr — Hamas is arresting alleged collaborators who did not hand themselves in during a month-long amnesty that expired Thursday, the Interior Ministry in Gaza said Friday. On March 12, Hamas said it had a list of collaborators but offered a one-month amnesty for informers to give themselves up in return for leniency.  The list has been handed to security forces who will arrest all those who did not surrender “in the coming hours,” interior ministry spokesman Ibrahim Salah told Ma’an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=584970

Israel’s spies fleeing Gaza as repentance campaign ends
GAZA (PIC) 13 Apr — Informed sources revealed that a number of spies working for the Israeli occupation regime fled or tried to flee along with their families from the Gaza Strip during the last two days. The sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that as the period set by the Palestinian interior ministry for the repentance of Israel’s informers and spies had ended, two of them escaped along with families through the northern side of Gaza. He added that the security forces caught another spy with his family as he was trying to flee Gaza in addition to other spies in different security operations. He noted that the movement of suspects is under constant surveillance by the security apparatuses in Gaza and there would be another campaign in the coming days to arrest those proved to be involved in espionage activities for the occupation. For his part, spokesman for the interior ministry Islam Shahwan said that the security campaign that gave a chance for the spies to turn themselves in had paid off … Spokesman Shahwan affirmed that some spies turned themselves in and repented for what had done without stating their number. He also said that the number of spies in Gaza is limited and declining.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uhttp://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Tt2Bbw0VAnrKZ%2fJilXqtYE%2brIpcW%2bW2CU1XL9dGYO2u2qn9HrK1Y8K%2bfLYLSXhW6PAOSxlZmJhwjoZvu9jwxD4lSC3chyd03f%2fnT8d3OSU8%3d

Gaza court sentences two men for collaboration with Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — A military court in the Gaza Strip on Sunday sentenced two people to custodial sentences for collaborating with Israel. One man was sentenced to 20 years in jail, and the other to seven years, on the charges of spying for Israel. On Friday, Hamas security forces began arresting alleged collaborators who did not hand themselves in during a month-long amnesty which began on March 12.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585692

Israeli military refuses to investigate deadly Gaza strike that killed 12 civilians
Mondoweiss 14 Apr by Alex Kane — The Israeli military will not open a criminal investigation into the most controversial strike carried out during the November 2012 assault on Gaza, according to a report in Haaretz.  On November 18, 2012, in the midst of Israel’s latest operation in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli warplane dropped a large bomb on the al-Dalou family’s home. The attack killed ten members of the family and two neighbors. It instantly became a grim symbol of Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense, the military name given for the assault in November that killed 101 Palestinian civilians, according to a UN Human Rights Council report.
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/04/military-investigate-civilians.html

Turkey’s Erdogan to visit Gaza in May
ISTANBUL (AFP) 14 Apr — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday announced plans to visit Gaza at the end of May, possibly after a key trip to Washington which brokered a rapprochement between Turkey and Israel last month. “God willing, we will be in Gaza at the end of May. We will embrace one another there,” Erdogan said through a video link with a Turkish aid centre in the coastal territory media reported. Erdogan, a staunch advocate of the Palestinian cause, earlier said he would visit Gaza in April “to help the process” of lifting an Israeli embargo on Gaza
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585555

Palestinian refugees in Syria

2 Palestinian refugees killed in Syria clashes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Apr – Two Palestinian refugees were killed Saturday in the ongoing clashes between the Syrian regime forces and rebels, a Palestinian group said Sunday. The working group for Palestinians in Syria told Ma‘an that Mahmoud Uqla was killed in clashes in Bab Hud neighborhood of Homs, and Anas Alkabra was killed in the Yarmouk camp in Damascus. Most areas in the Yarmouk camp have been without electricity and water supplies since four days, the group added. They highlighted that refugees in the camp were already suffering as a result of a blockade imposed by the Syrian regime forces that has been preventing entry of foods and medicines into the camp. A similar blockade has been imposed by the Free Syrian Army on al-Nayrub refugee camp east of Aleppo creating shortages in basic foods including bread and milk as well as medicines.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585472

Political developments

No clear frontrunner to replace Fayyad
RAMALLAH (AFP) 14 Apr — Palestinians were on Sunday mulling the prospect of a new prime minister after Salam Fayyad resigned following months of tension with president Mahmoud Abbas. The resignation of the US-educated economist, who won international acclaim for his state-building efforts, came despite US efforts to head off the crisis, with Secretary of State John Kerry making a personal intervention late on Friday … Abbas accepted Fayyad’s resignation at a brief meeting at the Muqata‘a presidential compound in Ramallah, but officials said he had asked the 61-year-old to stay on in a caretaker role until a new premier can be appointed. So far, there is no clear frontrunner to take up the post which has been held by Fayyad since 2007. Possible successors include Mohammed Mustafa, head of the Palestine Investment Fund, and businessman and former economy minister Mazen Sinokrot who has good relations with Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585673

Fatah pleased with Fayyad resignation
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Hours after President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the resignation of Salam Fayyad as prime minister, a top Fatah official said the movement was satisfied by the outcome. Amin Makboul, secretary of Fatah’s revolutionary council, told Ma‘an on Sunday that Fayyad’s government had miserably failed to manage the economic problems and to solve them. Rather, the Palestinian Authority faces massive debts and cannot pay its employees. Makboul said that it was too early to announce the names of candidates to replace Fayyad but talks are ongoing. Hamas needs two weeks to finish distributing seats in its politburo, he said. “If Hamas acts to end the split and implement reconciliation, then President Mahmoud Abbas will be the prime minister of the new unity government until comprehensive elections are held.’  However a senior leader of Hamas says Fayyad’s resignation is not connected to the reconciliation process.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585462

Fayyad quitting ‘may harm Palestine statehood bid’
RAMALLAH (AFP) 14 Apr  — Palestinian Authority Prime minister Salam Fayyad’s resignation is likely to raise questions over donor support for the Palestinian Authority and may slow its steps towards statehood, experts warn … Fayyad, who formerly worked with both institutions, is widely respected on the international scene for cleaning up the PA’s finances and for his institution-building efforts. As speculation about his imminent resignation gathered pace late last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry called Abbas late on Friday in a last-ditch bid to head off the crisis.  Several hours after his resignation, Washington hailed him as “a strong partner to the international community and a leader in promoting economic growth, state-building and security for the Palestinian people.” While there was no official reaction from Israel, Haaretz newspaper said Fayyad’s departure was likely to have an impact both on foreign aid donations as well as on moves announced last week by Kerry to revive the West Bank economy. “Without Fayyad guarding the public coffers, it’s not certain that the countries currently providing the Palestinian Authority with aid will continue to do so,” wrote the paper’s diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid. “Israel will also hesitate to promote economic measures in the West Bank with Fayyad away from the steering wheel,” he wrote. But Imad Ghayatha, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank dismissed any suggestion that Fayyad’s departure would affect international aid. “This will not affect relations with donors,” he told AFP. “Maintaining the PA is not only a Palestinian interest but also an Israeli and a regional one. The peace process relies on maintaining the PA and international powers know better than to tie up their interests with one individual,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585625

US thanks ‘strong partner’ Fayyad
AFP 14 Apr — …The United States hailed Salam Fayyad as a “strong partner” on Saturday after he resigned from his post as Palestinian prime minister over longstanding tensions with president Mahmud Abbas. The United States had pressed the US-educated economist widely respected in the West to stay on, with Secretary of State John Kerry telephoning Abbas on Friday to urge him to find common ground with his prime minister … In Canada, Foreign Minister John Baird said he was “saddened and deeply disappointed” about Fayyad’s decision to leave his post. Hailing Fayyad as a “trusted and dedicated interlocutor and friend of Canada,” Baird expressed hope that he will “continue to advance the cause of peace and continue to work to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367617,00.html

PPP leader: Haniyeh should resign to pave way for unity govt
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 14 Apr — Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh should resign following the departure of Salam Fayyad in order to pave way for a unity government to be formed, the secretary-general of the Palestinian People’s Party said Sunday. Bassam Salhi told Ma‘an that following the resignation of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad both Fatah and Hamas must take serious steps to end the division between Gaza and the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585613

Hamas says ready to implement reconciliation deal
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Hamas is ready to implement the 2011 reconciliation deal in its entirety, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Sunday. Fatah’s selectivity in implementing different clauses has slowed down the reconciliation process, he said. Senior leader of the Islamic Jihad movement Khalid al-Batsh said Sunday that Fayyad’s resignation presents an opportunity to begin formatting a unity government headed by president Abbas, adding that Egypt is keen to implement Palestinian reconciliation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585617

PLO complains to Canada after minister’s Jerusalem visit
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) 13 Apr by George Hale — The PLO lodged an official complaint with Canada on Friday after its foreign minister attended a meeting with an Israeli leader in East Jerusalem. John Baird broke a widely observed diplomatic taboo when he met with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni at her office in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967. Such meetings are normally avoided by visiting diplomats over concerns they could be seen as legitimizing Israel’s annexation of the city’s eastern sector. In the complaint, obtained by Ma‘an, a senior PLO official blasted the move:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585089

Report: Turkey nixes NATO meeting with Israel
Ynet 13 Apr — An initiative to bring Israel and six Arab countries’ ministers together under NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue group for the first time since 2008 has been nixed by Turkey and Egypt, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported Saturday. Ankara and Cairo reportedly said “it was not the right time” for such a meeting.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367510,00.html

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

Israeli center threatens suit to stop divestment resolution at US pension fund
NEW YORK, April 13, 2013 (WAFA) – An Israeli law center is threatening to file a lawsuit against the American pension fund giant, TIAA-CREF, should the shareholders submit for a vote a proposal calling on the board to divest from companies supporting the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory, a statement from the We Divest group said Friday.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22128

South Africa to soften labeling language on West Bank products
PRETORIA, South Africa (JTA) — The South African Trade Ministry in new regulations requiring the labeling of imported goods from West Bank settlements will soften the language used on the labels. The new regulations will be consistent with the compromise reached last month between the Trade Ministry and the Jewish community of South Africa, Jewish groups said Wednesday. According to a letter received April 9 by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem must be identified as ”West Bank: Israeli goods” or ”East Jerusalem: Israeli goods.” Trade Minister Rob Davies issued a notice nearly one year ago saying that products from the West Bank would be required to be labeled as originating from “the Occupied Palestinian territories.” The new regulation was approved by the South African Cabinet, and a new binding notice is expected to be issued by the end of the week.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/04/11/3124001/sa-trade-ministry-to-issue-softened-west-bank-product-labeling-language

Playback and protest: The Freedom Bus hits the road
Nablus (EI) 12 Apr by Daryl Meador — For 13 days in March, the Freedom Bus Tour, coordinated by the Jenin Freedom Theatre, traveled through the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills. Combining improvised theater, folkloric arts, information seminars and volunteer work, the tour was meant to bring international attention to some of the most contentious areas of the occupied West Bank. The events and excursions were met with sometimes violent opposition from the Israeli forces, who arrested and deported one of the Freedom Bus Tour participants. The tour kicked off in Jenin, where locals and international visitors gathered to watch the Freedom Theatre’s signature “playback theater.” Participants told stories of their lives under occupation or abroad, and the troupe of four actors, all from Palestine or present-day Israel, acted the events out in impressive theatrics — sometimes sad and sometimes hilarious.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/playback-and-protest-freedom-bus-hits-road/12348

Other news

University staff go on strike
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 Apr — Staff at government universities launched open strike action on Sunday, the workers union said in a statement. The strike is an escalation against the PA ministry of education’s failure to meet their demands, a union spokesperson said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=585577

Cornerstone laid for Palestinian culture museum
BIRZEIT (AFP) 11 Apr — Palestinian officials on Thursday joined a ceremony to lay the cornerstone for a new museum of Palestinian culture, history and society in Birzeit near Ramallah. Organizers said the museum would provide Palestinians with “a valuable source of information on Palestine and its history”. The museum is to be constructed in two phases, the first of which is slated for completion by the end of 2014. It is expected to cost some $20 million. “The museum will not only be for Palestinians but will reach out to the whole world through an advanced digital network,” project manager Omar al-Qattan said as ground was broken on the new venture.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=584888

Tension in Tubas over PA procrastination to launch Turkish hospital
TUBAS (PIC) 14 Apr — A state of tension prevailed in Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley over the PA negligence to provide the region with a government hospital in light of the absence of any government or private hospitals in this region. The Turkish government, represented by Tikka institution, had built the hospital about two years ago waiting the Ramallah authority to provide it with the medical staff, local sources told PIC reporter. The sources pointed out that several protests were organized in Tubas to pressure the PA in order to stop its procrastination policy.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Q49WeHIXc9U08YjqEfqofru8EGt1QlVoTHPprITJH42d1j8R31qxA85QCUN3hPAA4jF1zxTktY1X8taxpWTbryiXewZihfDeI6r48MaV%2bE8%3d

Hamas refuses settlement of Palestinian refugees in Canada
BEIRUT (PIC) 12 Apr — Hamas movement renewed its affirmation that the right of return for Palestinian refugees to their homeland from where they were forcibly evicted is a sacred right. It said in a press release on Friday that no power on Earth could revoke that right, adding that the Palestinians were forced to live in other countries on temporary basis and would never relinquish the right of return. Hamas was responding to statements attributed to Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird that his country was ready to absorb 120,000 Palestinian refugees where they would be granted Canadian citizenship and live there forever. [Did Baird actually say this? Not found in news search]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s79SM0Oavnl%2bdw5gqTNw9r9Tn%2bX%2fcX3e8aMShZYyqYQuQ6cXKRwxLHwOysAqXBOZznB0sgCkJ0tiC4lOL%2bhNZYlyxjFB7zMVnFRNLkW2pRvsM%3d

Israeli NGO to sue PA for terrorism
Ynet 14 Apr by Shahar Chai — Organization urges terror victims to testify on Facebook for ICC lawsuit in ‘Terrorizing Terror’ campaign. Chairwoman: PA starting war against soldiers, we’ll defend them — An Israeli civil rights NGO is preparing to sue the Palestinian Authority in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its alleged responsibility for thousands of terrorist attacks on Israel. “Terrorizing Terror” is the Shurat HaDin – Law Center‘s tagline for the campaign, meant to deter Palestinian efforts to file lawsuits against Israeli soldiers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367659,00.html

Austrian Golan peacekeepers, fearing [for] safety, to assess presence
Reuters 12 Apr — Austrian UN peacekeepers, fearing their safety due to fighting in Syria, will assess on a daily basis if they can stay to monitor a truce between Israel and Syria, Austria’s foreign minister said on Friday. Israel is anxious for the peacekeepers to remain, worried that the Golan will become a springboard for attacks on Israelis by Islamist militants fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4367328,00.html

US visa waiver bill stymied over Arab-Americans entering Israel
Haaretz 13 Apr by JTA — A legislative effort led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to enable Israelis to enter the United States without visas may be stymied by the government — Israel’s government. The hitch is Israel’s inability or unwillingness to fully reciprocate, something required for visa-free travel to the United States. Israel, citing security concerns, insists on the right to refuse entry to some U.S. citizens. AIPAC is pushing for an exemption for Israel from this rule. But congressional staffers say Israel is unlikely to get such an exemption, which U.S. lawmakers view as an attempt to bar Arab Americans from freely entering Israel. “It’s stunning that you would give a green light to another country to violate the civil liberties of Americans traveling abroad,” said a staffer for one leading pro-Israel lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-visa-waiver-bill-stymied-over-arab-americans-entering-israel-1.515227

Guards, prisoners face off in Guantánamo cell sweep
Miami (Reuters) 13 Apr by Jane Sutton — Guards swept through communal cellblocks at the Guantánamo detention camp on Saturday and moved the prisoners into one-man cells in an attempt to end a hunger strike that began in February, a U.S. military spokesman said. “Some detainees resisted with improvised weapons, and in response, four less-than-lethal rounds were fired. There were no serious injuries to guards or detainees,” Navy Captain Robert Durand said in a news release … Attorneys, military officials and human rights monitors have all said the hunger strike was partly an expression of frustration over the prisoners’ unresolved fate. About half of them have been cleared for release or transfer, but Congress has made it increasingly difficult to move prisoners out of Guantánamo and President Barack Obama has failed to implement his 2009 order to shut down the detention camp.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/13/us-usa-guantanamo-idUSBRE93C0A620130413

Analysis / Opinion / Human interest

Video: A Day in the Life of Hamde, 7-4-2013
Posted by planxtysumoud — Bil‘in villager, activist and photojournalist Hamde Abu Rahmah is shortly publishing a book. Here’s his press release: Roots Run Deep — Life in West Bank Palestine is an exciting project for those who would like to share and understand life in Palestine. This is a photographic insight into life under inhuman and relentless military occupation of Palestine for the last six decades. Through the incisive camera lens of the award winning photo journalist Hamde Abu Rahma, it’s a dream come true to share his extraordinary and heart wrenching journey and experiences in his beloved home. Living in the picturesque village of Bil‘in west of Ramallah, he showcases everyday life in a village that prides itself as an example of peaceful resistance whilst living under occupation. Hamde shares intimate and personal images of everyday life in Palestine. The book shows the exceptional beauty of the land, members of his family and the village community who go about their daily lives under extreme hardships. He not only highlights the day to day problems of his village but has also captured lighter moments showing off Hamde’s fun side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNAgxuuj_Y

Goliath doesn’t get to throw stones / Oudeh Basharat
Haaretz 15 Apr — The uproar over Amira Hass’ article in defense of Palestinian stone-throwing is the cry of a people that has relinquished the role of righteous underdog to its enemy  — Before June 1967, it was engraved in consciousness — including Arab consciousness — that David, who went into battle with Goliath with a stone in his hand, is an Israeli who stood valiantly against the Arab monster that threatened to destroy him. The struggle of the State of Israel was presented as the struggle of one little country against many big, evil countries. In the 1967 War, it became apparent that this presentation does not accurately reflect reality on the ground that Israel isn’t necessarily the weak side, and the roles were quickly swapped. The perfect expression of this role swap was the first intifada, when the Palestinians were the ones bearing stones against Israel’s powerful forces … This is the reason the grudge we now see against stones is even greater than the bitterness at terrorist attacks. The bitterness is because of the swap of stone-users. Why is this important? Because the stone conceals moral strength. It signifies the small against the big, the weak against the strong. When one side is deprived of this weapon, no matter how strong it is, it is on the way to defeat, even if the road is long. The stone is also faithful to its living space — the home, the courtyard, the olive grove. A stone doesn’t wander from place to place. You won’t find the stones thrown by Na‘alin residents in Tel Aviv, and the stones of Haifa are not to be found in Ramallah. A stone is not an offensive weapon — it is only a defensive one.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/goliath-doesn-t-get-to-throw-stones.premium-1.515489

Stone-throwing, an old Jewish custom / Amira Hass
Haaretz 15 Apr — A Yiddish children’s song evokes the huge gap between the legacy of East European Jews and current sentiment in Israel — Stone-throwing features prominently in a children’s song that the mother of Yehoshua Kolodny, a Hebrew University geologist, sang to him. Kolodny, 79, won the Israel Prize for his work in earth science in 2010. He’s a native of Pinsk, today in Belarus … Kolodny approached me with a mischievous look in his eyes in the Cinematheque’s mirror-paneled lobby and almost immediately began reciting lines from the song he had been brought up on. “Loifn polizei farbei − di kinder varfen shteyner.” ‏(“The police are running to and fro − the children are throwing stones.”‏) … It turns out that the song, “Barikadn” ‏(“Barricades”‏), was written in the 1920s and describes a workers’ uprising in Lodz … Kolodny, the geology professor, wrote in an email: “[Stone-throwing] is therefore an old Jewish custom, and the children of the intifadas did not invent it.” …  Stones of the opposite kind, of those with power, were thrown Thursday morning at Hammad-al Sleibi, who went to attend the plot of land he and his brother own in Wadi Abu Rish at Beit Omar. We’ve stopped counting the number of times the olive and fruit trees of these two elderly farmers from the village of Safa have been mutilated, and the number of times the two have been attacked by unknown, brazen men who come down from the settlement of Bat Ayin at the top of the hill, as I described in Haaretz on January 28.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/stone-throwing-an-old-jewish-custom-1.515541

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