Nakba Day
Video: Palestinians mark 65th Nakba anniversary
15 May — Palestinians around the world are marking the 65th anniversary of al-Nakba Day – that’s Arabic for “The Catastrophe”. It commemorates the loss of Palestinian land because of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled from their villages or were expelled. Al Jazeera’s Jane Ferguson reports from the Occupied West Bank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7QncdZBfc0
VIDEO series: Al-Nakba
Al Jazeera 2008 series — “The Nakba did not begin in 1948. Its origins lie over two centuries ago….” So begins this four-part series on the ‘nakba’, meaning the ‘catastrophe’, about the history of the Palestinian exodus that led to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel. This sweeping history starts back in 1799 with Napoleon’s attempted advance into Palestine to check British expansion and his appeal to the Jews of the world to reclaim their land in league with France. The narrative moves through the 19th century and into the 20th century with the British Mandate in Palestine and comes right up to date in the 21st century and the ongoing ‘nakba’ on the ground. Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time.Editor’s note: Since first running on Al Jazeera Arabic in 2008, this series has won Arab and international awards and has been well received at festivals throughout the world.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/05/20135612348774619.html
Fact Sheet: The Nakba: 65 years of dispossession & apartheid
Institute for Middle East Understanding 8 May — From the earliest days of the movement, Zionist leaders struggled with the dilemma of how to deal with the non-Jewish Palestinians who inhabited the land on which they wanted to create their state. Most, including David Ben-Gurion, concluded the only solution was what became known as “transfer,” a euphemism for what is known as “ethnic cleansing” today. For more on the events leading up to the Nakba, whose reverberations continue to be felt today across the Middle East and remain at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts, read the IMEU’s new special extended fact sheet
http://imeu.net/news/article0023923.shtml
Palestinian population hits 11.6 million on 65th anniversary of Nakba
MEMO 14 May — In the wake of the 65th commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) announced detailed figures on the numbers of Palestinian refugees in occupied Palestine and the diaspora. According to the statistics, the Palestinian population was 1.4 million and lived in 1,300 Palestinian towns and villages. More than 800,000 were driven out of their homeland into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab countries and other countries of the world. Thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes but stayed within Israeli-controlled 1948 territory. According to PCBS, there is documentary evidence that the Israelis controlled 774 towns and villages and destroyed 531 Palestinian others during the Nakba. The atrocities of Israeli forces also included more than 70 massacres in which 15,000 Palestinians were killed. According to statistics, the Palestinian population has increased eight-fold since the Nakba. It was exactly 1.37 million in 1948, but by the end of 2012 the estimated world population of Palestinians totaled 11.6 million …
According to PCBS, UNRWA records show that there were 5.3 million Palestinian refugees registered in mid-2012, constituting 45.7 per cent of the total Palestinian population worldwide. They were distributed as 59 per cent living in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, 17 per cent in the West Bank, and 24 per cent in the Gaza Strip. About 29 per cent of registered Palestinian refugees live in 58 refugee camps, of which 10 are in Jordan, nine in Syria, 12 in Lebanon, 19 in the West Bank and eight in the Gaza Strip.
These estimates do not include Palestinians who were displaced between 1949 and the 1967 war, according to the UNRWA definition, and do not include the non-refugees who left or were forced to leave as a result of the war in 1967. The number of Palestinians who remained in their homeland within 1948 territory following the Nakba was estimated at 154,000 persons, and is now estimated at 1.4 million.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6007-palestinian-population-hits-116-million-on-65th-anniversary-of-nakba
Part 2 Audio – Samah Sabawi: Commemorating the Nakba, a 3CR radio special
15 May — Exposing the ethnocentric nature of the state of Israel, the ethnic cleansing and denial of rights to the Palestinians and how we can put a stop to it all — “I was 12 years old when for the first time in my life I became a citizen of a country – Australia. Before that I was a stateless Palestinian refugee. There were two laments my parents always repeated whenever they spoke of their place of origin Palestine: ‘If only we could have stayed’ and ‘If only we could return.’ Their right to stay on their land and their right to return to their land are both rights that are protected under international law, yet have been denied to the Palestinian people for generations, for no other reason than not being Jewish. Today we will talk about Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and what we can do to stop it…”
http://talesofacitybythesea.com/2013/05/15/part-2-audio-samah-sabawi-commemorating-the-nakba-a-3cr-radio-special/
Despite efforts to erase it, the Nakba’s memory is more present than ever in Israel
972mag 14 May by Noam Sheizaf — The Israeli Right has been waging a war on history in recent years, using extreme measures to remove evidence of the Nakba from the national discourse. It failed — …Three months ago, there was an unusual story on the cover of Yedioth Hakibbutz. The front page read: “We expelled, blew up and killed.” Inside the magazine was a three-page interview with Kibbutz Degania member Yerachmiel Kahanovich, a former fighter in the Palmach (the Jewish underground that preceded the IDF), in which Kahanovic confessed to his part in the expulsion and murder of Palestinians during the war of 1948 … The tiniest symbolic action or gesture relating to the Nakba can unleash disproportionate panic among Jews, since the Nakba is not just the ghost of the Zionist project — it’s a very real and political problem. Both Israelis and Palestinians understand this. An Israeli-Palestinian leader once told me that he would not support building Nakba museums. ““You put monuments when the story is over,” he said. “We are not there.”
http://972mag.com/despite-efforts-to-erase-it-the-nakbas-memory-is-more-present-than-ever-in-israel/71468/
Israeli troops attack Bethlehem rally
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May – Several Palestinians were injured by tear gas on Tuesday during a rally marking Nakba Day, which kicked off from Bethlehem’s Duheisha refugee camp. A Ma‘an reporter said about 300 Palestinians marched on the main road in Duheisha camp headed towards displaced Palestinian villages south of Bethlehem. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, popular committee official Monther Ameera said. As the rally arrived in the old town of al-Khader and headed to the bypass Israeli road, Rt. 60, Israeli soldiers attacked the rally with tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets. Israeli troops also detained the coordinator of a popular committee against settlements, Mazin al-Azzah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595444
Im Tirtzu protests ‘nakba bullshit’ at Tel Aviv University
Mondoweiss 14 May by Allison Deger — For the second time in two years, students at Tel Aviv University (TAU) commemorating the 1947-49 Palestinian expulsion and the destruction of villages were met with a counter-protest. At last year’s event over 1,000 amassed on campus, ending in clashes incited by members of Knesset. Again this year, the youth-based “new Zionist” group Im Tirtzu bottom-lined the demonstration, distributing a counter analysis pamphlet titled “Nakba Harta” or “Nakba-Bullshit”. (The English booklet’s title reads “Nakba Nonsense,” but the Hebrew title uses the word “Hartata,” or “bullshit.”). “Reading the names of the [destroyed] villages leaves it open to interpretation and many people believe that the state of Israel is a consequence,” said Ben Gross, 26, from Im Tirtzu. Gross explained that his group does recognize a catastrophe was experienced by the Palestinian people during Israel’s war of Independence, but qualifies without proper context, Israeli’s will be led astray to feelings of guilt and remorse over their territorial gain. “There is no need for us to apologize for winning the war,” Gross stated.
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/05/protests-bullshit-university.html
Photo Essay: March through Nablus and Tulkarem commemorates the Nakba
ISM 13 May by Team Nablus — Today, at around 8am, over thirty people from the Palestinian General Union of People with Disability marched through the city of Nablus to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Nakba. After the march, a bus drove participants to Tulkarem where they were joined by approximately 40 more demonstrators. Together they continued the march through the city of Tulkarem. They sang and chanted slogans remembering the 1948 massacre and reclaiming the right of return.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/photo-essay-march-through-nablus-and-tulkarem-commemorates-the-nakba/
Activists: Facebook blocks Nakba group page
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 May — A Facebook page promoting Nakba commemoration events in Jaffa was temporarily blocked overnight, Palestinian activists said Monday. Fatima Huleiwi, an activist with Jaffa Youth, told Ma‘an that it was not the first time that Facebook had blocked the group’s user page. “When we published material urging people to support hunger striking prisoners, our pages were blocked. Last night the invitation to an event commemorating the Nakba anniversary in Jaffa was also blocked on several accounts for hours,” she said. Sometimes right-wing Israelis report violations on the group’s Facebook pages, Huleiwi says, and as a result Facebook temporarily blocks the site for several hours. Jaffa Youth has to send a complaint to Facebook before they eventually unblock the page, she added.
Members of Jaffa Youth will commemorate the 65th Nakba anniversary in Jaffa’s Clock Square from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event will include artistic activities and public discussions about the Nakba, with Dr. Thabet Abu Ras from Adalah, and Eitan Bronstein from Zochrot, or ‘remembering,’ among the participants. “We will continue to prepare for this event and will try to make it the most prestigious commemoration of the Nakba in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948,” Mahmoud Abu Arisha, an activist from Jaffa Youth, told Ma‘an.
More than 760,000 Palestinians — estimated today to number 4.8 million with their descendants — were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes in the conflict surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.
Around 160,000 Palestinians who remained in Israel after 1948 now number around 1.36 million people, or 20 percent of the country’s population.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595266
Are Israelis appropriating the Nakba?
Counterpunch 14 May by Susan Abulhawa — Al Jazeera Stream contacted me a few days ago asking if I would participate on a show commemorating the Nakbe. I would be the only Palestinian, the producer said, “to balance things out” amidst various Israeli voices. Here’s the exact excerpt of the email: … Since we must perpetually put our pain in the form of analogies in order to facilitate empathy, let me do that to start off. Imagine Germany never acknowledged the Jewish holocaust. Imagine, we are living in an era where Jews are still fighting for basic recognition of their pain. Then imagine that on the day in which Jews engage in solemn remembrance of their greatest collective wound, television shows choose to feature German sons and daughters of Nazis in a discussion expressing differing views on whether or not and/or how Germany should deal with the memory of the genocide their country committed. And imagine, of course, there is a token Jew “to balance out” such an ill-timed and inappropriate public conversation.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/14/appropriating-the-nakba/#.UZLHso1jJeY.facebook
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Restriction of movement
Israel freezes decision to transfer Jordan Valley lands to PA
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May – Israeli minister of defense Moshe Yaalon has given orders to suspend construction of a new Palestinian city in the Jordan Valley after settlers protested an earlier decision to pass lands in Area C to the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli daily Maariv reported Tuesday that Yaalon passed orders to the Israeli Civil Administration to freeze the construction and stop the transfer of about 500 acres to the Palestinian Authority. The land was supposed to be used for rebuilding the Palestinian village of Nuwiema in the Jordan Valley.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595460
Israel plans construction scheme to facilitate Bedouin land confiscation
MEMO 14 May — Israeli media sources reported on Monday May 13, that the Israeli government plans to construct a city in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley for Palestinian Bedouins. Palestinians are of the opinion that the scheme will indirectly allow Israel to control vast areas of land where the Bedouin have lived and worked for decades. It will also free the Occupation from the embarrassment caused by the series of prosecutions, assaults and acts of displacement that the Israeli authorities carry out against Bedouin families and farmers in order to displace them.
The Israeli news site Walla reported that this step is similar, in one way or another, to what Israel has done and is still doing to the Bedouins of the Negev who have been besieged and then resettled in specific areas so that their land could be confiscated by the authorities. The website said that the Zionist Occupation’s civil administration intends to “develop the region inhabited by Bedouins in the West Bank, and change it into a city for the Palestinians to reside in.” According to the scheme, an area of about 1800 acres will be handed over for the purpose of constructing buildings which Palestinians will be moved to. The city will be named Nueimeh and all building construction will require the procurement of a license from the so-called “Civil Administration”, because the planned city is located in Area C.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6010-israel-plans-construction-scheme-to-facilitate-bedouin-land-confiscation
Israeli demolition orders in occupied Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 13 May — The Israeli municipal authorities in Jerusalem has issued a demolition order against a building under construction consisting of 6 apartments under the pretext of being built without permit in Beit Hanina town. The building construction was permitted since two years ago. However, the Israeli authorities claimed that the contractor has breached the permit’s terms, said the building’s owner … Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that the Israeli municipality of occupied Jerusalem issued three demolition orders including an administrative demolition order that permits the implementation of the demolition process in 24 hours while the judicial demolition orders could be postponed several times.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7N12YJz4CU%2b6PzRoVqPubeajzbqt3qtuSVyOxmRTSRXZnh60t5JVjNV637TJqhfmG%2bqMf954tCeamCqhD5yjAP1MBqNMwSbhMVUMfDv4%2flc4%3d
Settlers build religious school in Bethlehem outpost
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May — Settlers from the outpost of Givat Hatamar have built a religious school on land belonging to the Bethlehem-area village of al-Khader, locals said Monday. Ahmad Salah, spokesman for a local committee against settlements, told Ma‘an that the new structure measured about 1,000 square meters, and was built on a hill known locally as Batin al-Masi. Local farmer Muhammad Issa Saleh, who owns 23 acres of land in the area, said a security officer at the outpost said the new structure would house a religious building for settler children.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595320
Jewish settlers set alight 20 dunums of cultivated land
NABLUS (PIC) 14 May — Jewish settlers set ablaze more than 20 dunums of cultivated land lots in Qaryut village, south of Nablus, on Monday and prevented their owners from approaching to put it off. Bashar Al-Qaryuti, in charge with monitoring settlement activity in the village, said that dozens of settlers from the settlement of Shilo started the fire that burnt the land cultivated with barley, wheat, and olives. He charged that the Israeli occupation forces provided protection for the settlers and blocked the land owners, 25 individuals, from extinguishing the fire.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s70VknmpPB91PcXB27TfYqjS5ozaumH9EVogA4RUoFGi0L25xS5QXtr2wICH0C63Fn6RAz9S2p%2bgdS17OJ8EAIIfrAS%2fHr26tpgwD6qSuNMFs%3d
PA officials: Settlers torch wheat fields in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 May — A group of settlers set fire to wheat fields in Nablus for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma‘an that settlers from Elon Moreh set fire to fields in the Beit Furik village. The fire spread to vast tracts of land due to strong winds, Daghlas added. Israeli soldiers arrived in the area but did not order settlers to leave and prevented locals from extinguishing the flames, the PA official said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595496
Settlers uproot 150 trees near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 May — Israeli settlers on Tuesday uprooted over 150 trees belonging to Palestinians south of Nablus, a local official said. Settler monitoring official Ghassan Daghlas told Ma‘an that several settlers attacked Sbeih mountain area between Beita and Yatma villages and destroyed over 150 olive and fig trees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595520
Jewish settlers set Palestinian farm crops on fire [and demolition notices are served]
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 13 May — Jewish settlers set on fire Palestinian farm crops in Yatta town, south of Al-Khalil, on Monday morning. Local sources said that a number of settlers sneaked into the area from the nearby settlement of Maon and torched the crops owned by a member of Awad family. They said that big numbers of Israeli army soldiers were present at the time of the attack but did not intervene to stop it.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces served notices to citizens in Yatta and Daheriya that their water wells and other agricultural installations would be razed at the pretext they fell in areas under full control of the Israeli occupation authorities according to the Oslo accords.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7VxfgH4WpmIv2RK0bO6zgRFAh01PGM8z17Z6E040mLo3m3qC6ZuX96f%2fOGmNchgTbqnrJ0oHEybL5%2bGL72VCJnUH0nbXaNVszkf6JL6V0jhQ%3d
The Israeli army’s default position: Supporting the outlaws
972blog 14 May By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz — The IDF clarifies that instead of removing an illegal outpost, it prefers to defend it – and Palestinian farmers pay the price — In January 2001, as most of us were busy with the events of the Second Intifada, several outlaws built the Tapuach Ma’arav outpost in the West Bank. The outpost is about two kilometers away from the settlement of Kfar Tapuach, famous mostly because it was created by the supporters of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and also provided refuge (Hebrew) for the murderer Eden Nathan-Zada, who in 2005 killed four Israeli Palestinians in an attempt to halt the Gaza Disengagement Plan. Tapuach Ma’arav was partly built on the lands of the village of Yassuf, and as an outpost its logical purpose is to prevent the access of Palestinians to their lands, so that later — through manipulation of the land laws — they can be dispossessed of their property … About two months ago, we finally managed to arrange a tour of the scene, alongside the sector’s brigade commander, Col. Yoav Marom … The colonel admitted that the outpost is illegal, but said he does not see that as a consideration. His position was that the presence of the outpost ‘challenges’ his forces in carrying out their security mission — and hence, instead of removing the illegal outpost, the landowners’ access is to be restricted. The colonel refused to consider the possibility of imposing similar restrictions on the criminals living in the outpost.
http://972mag.com/the-israeli-armys-default-position-supporting-the-outlaws/71467/
Wadi Ara: Mosque desecrated; 3 cars set on fire
Ynet 14 May by Hassan Shaalan — Three vehicles were set on fire overnight near a mosque in the village of Umm al-Qutuf [or Um al-Qatf] in Wadi Ara [in Israel] and graffiti was sprayed on the wall of the mosque, reading “price-tag” alongside a Star of David and “Eviatar,” most likely referring to Eviatar Borovsky, who was stabbed to death in the Tapuach Junction some two weeks ago. Police forces at the scene reported to have launched an investigation into the circumstances, “including nationalistic motives,” a police source told Ynet … Earlier Tuesday, the Safed police launched an investigation into the spraying of racist graffiti in the city. One of the graffiti read: “Arabs out.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4380016,00.html
Clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque compound
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 15 May — Clashes broke out on Wednesday around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound as Israeli rightists tried to enter the holy site. Dozens of Israeli right-wingers raided the compound through the Moroccan gate, and clashes broke out at the Bab al-Hutta gate as Israeli forces escorted rightists into the mosque area. Witnesses told Ma‘an that 17 Israelis tried to enter the compound area via Chain Gate, before local Palestinians obstructed them. A group of Israeli rightists and Palestinians began pushing each other, before Israeli forces intervened to protect the Israelis, witnesses said.
An Israeli organization called Temple Mount Organizations published invitations on their Facebook page encouraging Israelis to enter the Al-Aqsa compound for the religious holiday of Shavuot. The group said that Likud right-winger Moshe Feiglin will attend Shavout celebrations due to be held on the Mount of Olives. Feiglin has in the past proposed that Israel pay Palestinian families to leave the West Bank, and says there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.
Although Israeli law technically does not bar Jews from praying inside the compound, the matter is at the discretion of the police who, for reasons of public order, have never allowed Jewish prayer to take place there since 1967. According to mainstream religious leaders, Jews are forbidden from entering for fear they would profane the “Holy of Holies” the inner sanctum of the Second Temple.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595725
Palestinian celebrity gets the ‘Jewish sticker’ at Ben-Gurion Airport
972mag 13 May by Ami Kaufman — On the one hand it’s obvious the young man has just made my life easier by putting on the sticker for Jews. On the other hand, it’s one of the things that it’s hard to say thanks for. I mean, thank you for not considering me a terrorist any more? — Actress Mira Awad’s tale of Israeli airport security.
http://972mag.com/palestinian-celebrity-gets-the-jewish-sticker-at-ben-gurion-airport/71429/
Israeli forces disrupt Hebron bike rally
[with photos] HEBRON (Ma‘an) 15 May — Israeli forces on Tuesday prevented international solidarity activists from completing a bike rally in Hebron’s old city. Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the Ibrahimi mosque forced cyclists to dismount their bikes and continue on foot. The rally was organized by the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee to show international activists the daily suffering of Palestinian residents as a result of Israeli restrictions and settlers. “Young people in most European countries hear about Israeli violations of the Palestinian people’s rights, but they don’t see these violations firsthand. Thus, it was important for sympathizers with the Palestinian people to see how serious these violations are,” activist Sareh Sarraf told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595680
Violence / Attacks / Raids / Clashes / Arrests
Palestinian youth wounded in Israeli war exercises
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 14 May — A Palestinian young man was wounded on Tuesday when he was passing in Etzion area near Bethlehem where the Israeli army was conducting maneuvers. Palestinian security sources told Quds Press that Oday Al-Qady, from Beit Sourif village in Al-Khalil, was hit by shrapnel near the area of the maneuvers, charging the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) with deliberately firing in his direction.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers stormed Edhna village in Al-Khalil for the third consecutive day on Tuesday and roamed its streets but no arrests were reported.
Violent confrontations were reported in ‘Aroub refugee camp in Al-Khalil on Monday night between IOF soldiers, who broke into the camp, and young men. Dozens of those young men were treated for breathing difficulty due to the extensive use of teargas on the part of the soldiers. Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the soldiers fired teargas canisters even at civilian homes.
In another town in Al-Khalil, IOF soldiers arrested the newly-wed Rafat Jabour after savagely breaking into his home in Yatta on Monday. Activist Ratib Jabour told the PIC that Rafat was married a couple of days earlier, adding that the IOF savagery terrorized citizens in the entire neighborhood.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s72hrkykvIZEbvYmdyyu3wPqGFPnRUsvF6l%2byL1Lz8Rjw3Gtr1TqiQs3S1mVemF0l7o22HIxpHV5llRcMfsR8oxE9NliuWzYG4keWx9gaN1ps%3d
A life of uncertainty under occupation
Beit Ummar (ISM) 13 May by Team Khalil — At 3am on 13th May, Nasri Sabarna of Beit Ummar woke up to the sound of Israeli soldiers kicking down his front door. The sound of them shooting tear gas, rubber bullets and sound bombs at people passing his house on their way to the Mosque for morning prayer also woke up his 3 year old granddaughter, whose crying in turn woke up the rest of the Sabarna household. The 6 jeeps full of soldiers had come to arrest his 21 year old son Achmed – for the fifth time. Achmed is a 21 year old student who has yet to be charged with any crime … Despite not being guilty of committing any crime, his father does not expect to see him anytime soon … His father, Nasri is no stranger to the Israeli culture of injustice practiced against Palestinians. At the age of 13, he himself was arrested by Israeli soldiers without charge and imprisoned for 10 months. His whole life has been shaped by the occupation around him … Nasri’s main concern now is the effect that Israel’s systematic use of administrative detention, harrassment and abuse will have on the younger generations of Palestinians born under occupation. When he was mayor, 40 soldiers broke into his house and destroyed most of their belongings. They wore balaclavas as they did so and terrified his youngest son Abdullah. Over the following weeks Abdullah’s teachers told his father that his mood had changed, he had become aggressive, argumentative and unusually violent. Nasri sought the help of psychologists from Médecins Sans Frontières who worked with Abdullah regularly. He told the psychologists of times where soldiers had lined him and his classmates up when walking home from school and made them jump over their guns before beating them.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/nasri-sabarna/
VIDEO — Crap cannon: Israel sprays putrid liquid to control West Bank crowd
RT 13 May Filmed esp. in Nabi Saleh. Interviews with Palestinians who have suffered from this and an apparently American-Israeli army captain who doesn’t seem to think it’s all that bad…
http://www.prisonplanet.com/crap-cannon-israel-sprays-putrid-liquid-to-control-west-bank-crowd.html
Palestinian detained in Jerusalem as clashes erupt
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 13 May — Israeli forces on Monday detained a Palestinian from the East Jerusalem town of Abu Dis, residents said. Mohammad Rabee, 19, was detained after four Israeli military vehicles raided the area and his home, locals said. Residents said the raid caused a “state of fear.” Clashes erupted following Rabee’s detention, with residents describing Israeli soldiers as “roaming the streets in a provocative way.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595033
Israeli forces assault Ma‘an staff near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 14 May — Israeli soldiers on Tuesday assaulted two Ma‘an staff members amid clashes in the Bethlehem-area village of al-Khader. Reporter Mirna al-Atrash suffered bruises to her hands and shoulders after being shoved by soldiers while covering the clashes. She received medical treatment at the scene. Photographer Ahmad Mezher suffered a minor hand injury in the clashes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595540
IOF soldiers storm village, serve summonses to father and his 4 sons
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 13 May — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, at dawn Monday and broke into the home of a municipal council member. Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the soldiers forced their way into the home of Nasri Sabarna and searched it. They said that an intelligence officer accompanying the soldiers served a summons to Sabarne and his four sons. They have to appear at the Gush Etzion detention center, south of Bethlehem, next Monday. Sabarna denounced the IOF repeated storming of houses of unaware civilians and the policy of summoning citizens especially minors. Meanwhile, violent confrontations took place at the entrance to the village between the attacking soldiers and young men.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7DyTJIqZi5dy5UDjt836WzDb%2fFn1FDJQfdOX8nMlWDluFVitaF2fpSKJdz8x3xGaJ9C1zZeJNzaSudAgnruGRDRXzcN2OzE8R%2bZ1Y4SKwT%2b4%3d
Israeli forces detain 9 in West Bank arrest raids
JENIN (Ma‘an) 14 May — Israeli forces arrested nine people in the West Bank overnight Monday, locals and Israel’s army said. Ten Israeli military vehicles raided the Jenin village of Ya‘bad at 3 a.m. and detained seven young men, six of whom are students at the Arab American University, locals told Ma’an. In Beit Ummar, Israeli forces arrested Ammar Muhammad al-Alami, 19, after raiding his home. Al-Alami is a student at Al-Ahliya University in Bethlehem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595395
IOF storms liberated prisoner’s house, arrests 14 in WB
OCCUPIED WB (PIC) 14 May — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided at dawn, the house of a liberated prisoner deported to the Gaza Strip, and interrogated his family. The liberated prisoner’s father confirmed that an Israeli military force stormed the house and interrogated the family members concerning their son who was released during Wafa al-Ahrar deal and deported to Gaza strip in 2011. The Israeli forces threatened to target the deported liberated prisoner in the Gaza strip if he does not stop his military activities as they claimed. The Israeli authorities have escalated their provocations and pressures on the liberated prisoners’ families in an attempt to break their will after the victory they achieved following the Dignity strike.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7jMZGF3btC1pU9X1U0jrETQ0YWgeiXVz0Zv5w1t1rHGNt%2bElrHi1DtPBn12V1YtZugOwCLyUtkUXBbn3IBtXDyA1lvhQkO74roNIfs9mKtEM%3d
Gaza siege
ICC prosecutor opens initial probe into Gaza flotilla
THE HAGUE (AFP) 14 May — The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary probe into Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday. “My office will be conducting a preliminary examination in order to establish whether the criteria for opening an investigation are met,” Fatou Bensouda said in a statement issued from the court based in The Hague. Nine Turkish nationals were killed when Israeli commandos staged a botched pre-dawn raid on a six-ship flotilla seeking to bust Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip on May 31, 2010. Bensouda said she had met Istanbul-based lawyers who are acting for the government of the Comoros, which referred the case to her office. The ship on which the activists sailed was registered in the Indian Ocean island country, which has been a state party to the ICC since 2006.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595628
Adel Baker, a fisherman from Gaza, now fighting for his life in hospital
Gaza, Occupied Palestine (IAP) 13 May by Rosa Schiano — …In the early hours of Wednesday morning on May 1st 2013, a Palestinian fisherman was seriously injured when Israeli naval vessels off the coast of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats that were within 3 nautical miles of the Gaza coast. During the attack, a piece of the engine that is used to pull in the nets, smashed into the head of 51 year old Karim Adel Al Baker from Gaza City, leaving him seriously injured. Adel Najjar Baker was transported to the hospital and then to the European Hospital in Khan Younis. We headed to the hospital to check on his condition … Dr. AlKhadi told us that Adel has suffered a serious head injury and that he had arrived at the hospital unconscious. The doctor added that Adel has undergone surgery to relieve the pressure from the bone fragments from the skull and that he was now under artificial ventilation. Adel has suffered a depressed skull fracture (a depressed skull fracture is a break to the bone of the skull with depression caused by the bone going into the brain) … At the time of writing, the conditions of Adel Baker have slightly improved, but he is still unconscious in the ICU. While Adel Baker fights on in the hospital, many fishermen are at sea facing the daily risk of new attacks.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/adel-baker-a-fisherman-from-gaza-now-fighting-for-his-life-in-hospital/
Israeli kidnap man and boy in Gaza Strip
MEMO 14 May — Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped two Palestinian workers in Johr Al-Deik in the Middle Area of the Gaza Strip. Mahmoud Obaid, 27, and his cousin Ra‘ouf Obaid, 17, were taken on Tuesday morning while they were collecting scrap metal close to the Palestine-Israel border. Family sources confirmed that the two are missing and they have had no contact with them. No information has been given about their whereabouts, or the reason for the kidnapping. Israel imposes a 300-metre buffer zone inside Palestinian territory along the whole border. This should have been removed following the truce with Hamas which brought Israel’s 8-day offensive against Palestinian civilians to an end last November.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6000-israelis-kidnap-man-and-boy-in-the-gaza-strip
IOF raids northern Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 13 May — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) escorted four bulldozers into eastern Beit Hanun in northern Gaza Strip on Monday. Well-informed security sources said that the IOF force bulldozed citizens’ cultivated land lots after advancing more than 200 meters into the area. IOF forces invade Palestinian land in Gaza Strip on a semi daily basis and bulldoze land in violation of the calm agreement signed with Palestinian resistance factions in Cairo under Egyptian patronage last November.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ByUjQG1gWQAglYv%2bqgspZLRFaBtT8tyKiVIQ490rnxQenVmLa30qgpLOyXlZdwb7D08qZIgEM2R5r202nbmRcAJAwkl2FHWUvsNB%2bOreCHE%3d
Israel to shut down Gaza crossing Tuesday, Wednesday
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 14 May – Israeli authorities decided to shut down Gaza Strip’s Kerem Shalom crossing Tuesday and Wednesday. Chairman of the coordination committee for the entry of goods into Gaza Strip Raed Fattouh told Ma‘an the Israelis informed the Palestinian side that the crossing would operate regularly on Thursday. The closure, he said, was due to Jewish holidays.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595340
2 injured at military training site in northern Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 May — Two Palestinian militants were seriously injured Monday afternoon at a military training site in the northern Gaza Strip, medics and activists said. Palestinian medical sources and human rights groups told Ma‘an that an explosion was heard at a training site belonging to one of the resistance groups in northern Gaza Strip. As a result, the sources added, two militants sustained serious burns all over their bodies. It is not immediately clear which group the militants belong to. Doctors at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital said one of the victims was in critical condition.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595189
A hungry Gaza finds sustenance in urban farms
GAZA CITY (Globalpost) 12 May by Rebecca Collard — On the roof of a six-story apartment block in Gaza City, 51-year-old Abu Ahmed plucks heads of lettuce and vines of tomatoes from his garden. With no land to farm, and only sporadic employment, Abu Ahmed had been struggling to feed his family. But now, he uses his roof to grow tomatoes, parsley, red cabbage and onions, all of which feed his family and create a lush green space overlooking the otherwise drab cityscape. “My father and my grandfather were farmers – we were always farmers. But we have no land now,” said Abu Ahmed, whose family are refugees from a village that is now inside Israel. “Now, I love to work on this farm. The vegetables are much better than the ones in the market, and they are just upstairs from my home – I can pick them anytime.” Urban aquaponic farms like Abu Ahmed’s – where herbs and vegetables are grown without soil, in tubs filled with rocks and water from connected fish tanks – have the potential to curb food insecurity in the cramped Gaza Strip. The United Nations says almost half Gaza’s 1.7 million people lack secure access to food.
http://www.montereyherald.com/digitalextras/ci_23225041/hungry-gaza-finds-sustenance-urban-farms
Sudan has paid a heavy price for its connection with Palestine
MEMO 13 May — Ismail Haniyeh has praised the people and government of Sudan for their support for the Palestinian cause, especially the Gaza Strip. “It was a pleasure for Sudan to pay a heavy price for their links with us,” said the Palestinian Prime Minister approvingly. Speaking at a welcome ceremony for a delegation from Sudan on Sunday, Mr Haniyeh pointed out that the country had not hesitated to embrace the Palestinian struggle and offer political and media support. “Despite the long distance between Sudan and Palestine, such delegations as this bring us closer together in solidarity,” he said, adding out that marches and demonstrations have a huge “moral significance” in the struggle. Sudan has stood beside the Palestinian government in good times and bad, even though the government in Khartoum has itself faced destabilising plots and threats. “Sudan was the first Arab country to revolt against injustice,” said Mr Haniyeh, “raising the banner of Islam and the Law of God in authority.” In response to the prime minister’s praise and thanks, a spokesman for the Sudanese delegation said that its members were delighted to be in the blessed land of Palestine; he praised the steadfastness of the Palestinians and expressed the hope that all occupied Palestinian land will soon be free.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5996-sudan-has-paid-a-qheavy-priceq-for-its-connection-with-palestine
Detainees / Court actions
PA to stop paying Israeli prisoner fines in June
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) — The Palestinian Authority will stop paying fines imposed by Israel on Palestinian detainees, the minister of Prisoners’ Affairs said Monday. The boycott of fines levied by Israeli courts will begin on June 1, Issa Qaraqe said during a high school leavers’ exam celebration in the al-Masrara village in Bethlehem. “Paying the fines to Israeli courts is theft, illegal economic plunder and funds the Israeli occupation,” he told gatherers. The ministry will continue paying until June 1. Qaraqe said the fines were non-refundable, and that it was unclear where the money paid was directed.
Relatives of prisoners on Thursday criticized the move. “This decision is disastrous,” said the wife of prisoner Ahmad al-Mughrabi, from Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. The PA should pay prisoners’ fines, she told Ma‘an. “They sacrificed for their homeland, and in return they should be given even a small reward. A day outside jail is better than 10 inside.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595043
Israeli court indicts Ayyash for giving financial assistance to needy families
AMMAN (PIC) 14 May — The Israeli Salem military court charged Atta Ayyash, the uncle of late Qassam Brigades commander Yehya Ayyash, with offering money to family of Yehya and to the Gaza Strip. A press release by the Ayyash family said that the indictment was tabled at the court after one month of Atta Ayyash’s detention. The family statemnt said that the next court hearing into his case would take place on 26th May … The Israeli occupation authorities moved Atta, 61, from Petah Tikwa detention center, where he was held since his arrest on 13th April, to Megiddo jail. Atta, who worked as a teacher for three decades in the Jordanian ministry of education, is currently the director of the charitable Islamic center in Mafraq, Jordan. Israeli occupation forces arrested Atta at the King Hussein Bridge on his way back to Jordan after a routine visit to his family in Rafat village, Salfit governorate, in the West Bank.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7M%2fC2b%2f%2fJJQPqWgvPtn912MSSAMAkTBRdckRSonA%2fhfBcp9zPHzp1ukP9QABX17LyNAWxFXPsr%2bW%2bolvM0GYXQ3dQsF7xTGDzui20rVX%2b88o%3d
Israeli court sentences 4 men from Shu‘fat refugee camp
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 13 May — An Israeli military court in Jerusalem on Monday sentenced four men from Shu‘fat refugee camp to jail time for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli military vehicles, a Ma‘an reporter said. Fadi Zaki Saad, 22, Rabi Naji Saad, 19, and Muhammad Omar Anati, 23, were sentenced to 40 months in prison. Mahmoud Nasser Daajina, 22, was sentenced to 30 months. The four men were detained in November 2012 and interrogated at the Russian Compound detention center, before being transferred to Gilboa and Ramon prisons.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595246
4 additional years to a Hamas-affiliated prisoner
QALQILIYA (PIC) 14 May — Ofer Military Court has decided to add 4 years to a Palestinian prisoner sentenced to 10 years, Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights confirmed. Ahmad al-Bitawi, a researcher at the foundation, affirmed that the prisoner Mustafa Abu Diab, 32, was sentenced to 4 additional years under the pretext of carrying military operations from the prison. Abu Diab was arrested in 2004 and sentenced to 10 years after being subjected to torture during interrogation for being affiliate with Hamas, al-Bitawi added. Abu Diab was re-interrogated in 2008 to be sentenced for 7 additional months and a fine of 2000 shekels for the same charge.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7XdyIOtTeGNN5u%2beseEQdi8xuLxzBM6aBEF2I3yqazQDkONM7KzMKEsSLb%2f7udBd27gyl3RliZ7fL80%2fupyjxx%2f3HFWVixhYFlYUUyrKc8O0%3d
Palestinian liaison office secures release of 3 teens
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 May — Palestinian Authority liaison officials on Monday secured the release of three teenagers detained by Israel, an official said. Director of the department, Mujahid Abu Dayya, told Ma‘an that Israeli soldiers had detained Omran Ata Masimi, 15, Ibrahim Abdul-Karim Marshud, 15, and Muhammad Riyad Hashash, 14, at Huwwara checkpoint for allegedly carrying a knife. The liaison department exerted intensive efforts with their Israeli counterparts to release the teens, Abu Dayya added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595285
Refugees outside Palestine
VIDEO: Palestinians living in Egypt suffer an undignified existence
14 May (2:14) — For the Palestinian refugees living in Egypt, life is far from easy. Roughly 3,500 of the estimated 70,000 Palestinian refugees in Egypt live in Geziret Fadel village. They have built their mud-houses themselves and most are living subject to major restrictions on freedom to travel, access to healthcare, and education. The majority of families can not afford to send their children to school, creating a generation of illiterate youngsters trapped in a cycle of poverty. Despite this, many are just grateful to be allowed to stay in Egypt. Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh reports from Geziret Fadel, Egypt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm7g850FD9E
Convoy of European Wafaa campaign arrives to Syria camps
DAMASCUS (PIC) 14 May — The convoy of the European Wafaa campaign arrived in Damascus on Monday, from the Lebanon towards the shelters and the Palestinian refugee camps in the Syrian territories. Amin Abu Rashid, the campaign coordinator, said in a press statement that the convoy comprises a number of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid and is considered the first popular movement from abroad to support the refugee camps since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict, more than two years ago … The coordinator of the European Wafaa campaign stressed that the convoy is directed to the Palestinians and Syrians alike, pointing out that this first convoy will be followed by other convoys.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7%2fPjP0d7LhAzcbcQU4mYOsDR78DHzL%2biuKyymMZJGmMrO33GqQgjWUSgAfnHgoHBYbM4aACNbAK%2b7XIeTbGQVeFUCz4YVwLt9j%2b59RlJM%2bKU%3d
1287 Palestinian martyrs since start of the Syrian revolution
LONDON (PIC) 13 May — The number of Palestinian martyrs in Syria has amounted to 1,287 since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution two years ago during the shelling of the Palestinian refugee camps, the Working Group for the Palestinian Refugees in Syria revealed in its report. “The Palestinian refugee camps are still subjected to continuous shelling and unjust blockade imposed by the Syria regime forces which led to the depletion of their basic human needs,” the report explained. “The choking blockade in al-Husayniyah refugee camp led to the depletion of food supplies, flour and fuel with their houses bombed continuously, in addition to the bombing of markets and citizen gatherings areas,” the report added.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7fFg5FiuR0C2wwODgqOJTs8VBjmFPmGfDe2E1%2f6GbZZoTeNfB8fp92Xm7VEMPX96QEpTDjEtwuc96%2fjX4bipMxVl%2fZV9PlaT3ol7iHtrqoSw%3d
Political, other news
Hamas: Unity government to be formed in three months
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 14 May — Fatah and Hamas agreed Tuesday to form a unity government within three months, a senior Hamas official said. Moussa Abu Marzouq told Ma‘an that Hamas and Fatah officials held “positive” talks in Cairo and agreed a timeline to implement reconciliation by July … Abu Marzouq said officials did not discuss any names for the new government in Tuesday’s meeting.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595594
Abbas to visit Cairo on Wednesday
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 14 May – President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Cairo on Wednesday to hold talks with Egyptian president Muhammad Mursi, the PA ambassador to Egypt said. Barakat al-Farra told Ma‘an that the “important meeting” will discuss bilateral issues, and will focus on Jerusalem and Israeli violations at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The two leaders will also discuss developments surrounding the peace process, the Arab League’s recent visit to Washington, and Palestinian reconciliation, al-Farra added. Tensions have been high around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem over the past week, as Israel has limited access to Palestinian worshipers while allowing Israelis to tour the compound under armed guard. Israeli forces also temporarily detained the grand mufti of Jerusalem, with Abbas calling the detention “an audacious challenge to freedom of worship.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=59535
Fayyad: Press freedom essential for Palestinian state
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 May — Freedom of the press must be an essential component of the Palestinian state, resigned premier Salam Fayyad said Sunday. “When it comes to freedom of the press, there is nothing called excessive freedom,” Fayyad said while addressing media at a photography awards ceremony in Ramallah … The protection of the freedom of expression is one of the most important priorities of the Palestinian Authority’s work, he added. Palestine is ranked 146th out of 179 countries according to the 2012 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594833
ICHR says Abbas to criminalize torture
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 13 May – President Mahmoud Abbas will make an official announcement incriminating torture by Palestinian Authority security forces, says the commissioner general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights. Ahmad Harb made the comments Monday at Abbas’ office as he handed the president the ICHR’s 18th annual report. “During the meeting with the president we highlighted several points the first of which was related to torture and mistreatment of detainees. His Excellency accepted the remarks open-mindedly,” Harb said.
Harb added that he and his delegation highlighted to Abbas that court orders should be implemented. In many cases, he said, courts gave irrevocable verdicts, but they were not implemented which is harmful to the dignity of the state [and] the judiciary.
“We agreed with the president to appoint a joint committee to follow up with several issues including preparation for joining international agreements and conventions after Palestine has been accepted a non-member state of the UN General Assembly,” added Harb.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=595187
Palestinian journalist wins International Media Festival award
MEMO 13 May — Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael Al-Dahdouh, has won an award at the International Media Festival held in London on Sunday for his outstanding coverage of the conflict in his home country. US diplomat Mark Hambley made the announcement that Al-Dahdouh had topped a group of short-listed journalists from around the world. Nominations for the award were submitted by various media organisations. “I consider this victory to be a tribute to all the Palestinian journalists, especially in the Gaza Strip, who insisted on continuing to work under the bombing and under fire,” said Mr Al-Dahdouh
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/5993-palestinian-journalist-wins-international-media-festival-award
Newseum folds under pressure, will not include Gaza cameramen in program honoring fallen journalists
Mondoweiss 13 May by Adam Horowitz — Last week we reported Israel supporters were pressuring the Newseum to drop two Palestinian journalists, Mahmoud al-Kumi and Hussam Salama, from its yearly event honoring reporters killed in the line of duty. Al-Kumi and Salama worked for Al-Aqsa television and were killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza last November. Although the Newseum originally defended their inclusion, this morning the Washington, DC-based museum dedicated to the news industry announced that al-Kumi and Salama would in fact not be a part of today’s ceremony.
https://mondoweiss.net/2013/05/pressure-cameramen-journalists.html
No war crimes charges for West Bank separation barrier firm
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) 14 May — In a blow to pro-Palestinian activists, Dutch authorities said yesterday they will not prosecute a company on war crimes charges for renting out equipment to construct Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.
Dutch human rights lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld, who filed in 2010 on behalf of the Palestinian group Al Haq, said she was disappointed by the decision. Still, she said the three-year investigation should serve as a warning to companies involved in Israeli construction work in occupied territories. Ms Zegveld was trying to get the Dutch to prosecute Lima Holding BV, known in the Netherlands as Riwal, for complicity in war crimes for providing cranes and aerial platforms to builders. The move was the latest in a series of actions aimed at pressuring companies not to get involved in Israel’s construction of the barrier and settlements in occupied territories. Pension funds in Norway and Sweden have divested themselves of holdings in some firms involved in such building work.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/no-war-crimes-charges-for-west-bank-separation-barrier-firm
In West Bank, one family’s stand against made-in-China keffiyehs
Hebron, West Bank (CSM) 14 May by Christa Case Bryant -No one told the looms at the Hirbawi Keffiyeh factory that business is slow in the West Bank. Some are as old as the factory, bearing the inscription “1961.” But they still churn out the fabric for traditional Palestinian head scarves, and at a deafening pace. This is the only Palestinian factory that still produces keffiyehs, popularized by the late Yasser Arafat as a symbol of the Palestinian national struggle. All other keffiyehs sold in the West Bank these days are made in China, which many blame on the Palestinian Authority’s liberalization of trade policies over the past two decades.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0514/In-West-Bank-one-family-s-stand-against-made-in-China-keffiyehs
