Video: Palestinian man’s desperate moments as he is attacked by illegal Jewish colonists

Violence / Attacks / Raids / Detentions

Watch: Israeli settlers attack Palestinian in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Beit Hadasa in Hebron on Saturday attacked a young Palestinian man with pepper spray, witnesses said. A Ma‘an reporter identified the Palestinian man as Ayman al-Fakhori, and said that he had been transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment. An activist group, Youth Against Settlement in Hebron, released video footage of the incident that appears to show the Palestinian scuffling with masked men and an Israeli soldier. The masked men, identified by the activist group as settlers, then beat the Palestinian, before one of them sprays pepper spray directly into his face. The masked men then run from the scene along with the Israeli soldier.
Earlier on Saturday, the official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported another incident of a Palestinian being attacked and pepper-sprayed by Israeli settlers in Hebron. Wafa identified the Palestinian as Jadawi Hani Abu Haykal, 21. Abu Hakyal’s family reportedly told Wafa that he was attacked near the illegal Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida and that his body was left severely bruised. He was reportedly taken to hospital following the incident.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767451

Mother of Palestinian baby slain in arson attack dies
Ynet 7 Sept by Rotem Elizera — Reham Dawabsheh, who was critically wounded in an arson attack on her home in the Palestinian village of Duma, succumbed to her wounds in the early hours of Monday, bringing the number of victims in the July 31 attack to three. Reham, 27, suffered from burns to 90 percent of her body and has been fighting for her life at the Tel HaShomer Medical Center in Ramat Gan for a little over five weeks. Her baby son ‘Ali Dawabsheh was burned to death and killed instantly, while her husband Saed Dawabsheh, who suffered burns to 80 percent, fought for his life for a little over a week before succumbing to his wounds. Her elder son, four-year-old Ahmad, is suffering from burns to 60 percent of his body and still in serious condition, but has shown positive signs when he woke up and communicated with his surroundings only a day before his father died. The attack on the Dawabsheh home is believed to have been committed by Jewish perpetrators. It prompted widespread condemnation and led the Israeli government to take tougher measures against Jewish vigilantes who have repeatedly attacked Palestinians and their property over the years. Two suspected Jewish extremists have been put in administrative detention and several others were slapped with restraining orders barring them from entering the West Bank. However, no one was directly accused of involvement in the attack.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4698297,00.html

Israeli soldiers ‘assault 3 Palestinian workers’ near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 7 Sept — Israeli soldiers on Monday assaulted three Palestinian workers from the city of Yatta in the southern West Bank as they headed to work in Israel, locals said. Locals named the workers as Muhammad Rizq Shamisti, whose leg was broken in the attack, and Fayiz Ghanim Abu Qbeita and Fayiz Muhammad Isbayya, who both sustained bruises.The men were reportedly attacked near the illegal settlement of Shima in the south Hebron hills, although the details of the incident are unclear.They were taken to a hospital in Hebron for treatment.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767476

Video — Testimony: Vittorio Fera on his arrest and the Israeli system
ISM 5 Sept — Vittorio Fera is released on bail after an extremely violent and terrifying time in Israeli prisons. He is falsely accused of throwing stones  and attacking Israeli soldiers. His case will be in court again Tuesday the 8th of September in Jerusalem. Here is Fera’s own testimony on the arrest, imprisonment and the international media attention:
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/09/testimony-vittorio-fera-on-his-arrest-and-the-israeli-system-2/

IOF storms Ya‘bad for the second time in 24 hours
JENIN (PIC) 5 Sept — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Friday evening Ya‘bad town in southern Jenin for the second time in 24 hours. Israeli troops were deployed in a primary school for girls in the town. The IOF soldiers searched the school after breaking into it. Local sources told the PIC reporter that the school is located in al-Meloul district to the south of Ya‘bad town. The IOF soldiers repeatedly target the district for being close to a street used by Israeli troops and Jewish settlers of nearby settlement outposts.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=73426

Israeli forces detain 2 Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Old City
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — Israeli forces detained two young Palestinian men on Friday night after allegedly assaulting them in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, a witness told Ma‘an. Iyad al-Tawil said that Israeli forces detained his brother, Muhammad, 24, and Muhammad al-Bibi, 23, on al-Wadi Street inside the Old City. Iyad said that Israeli forces assaulted his brother Muhammad and al-Bibi, before detaining them and taking them to the al-Qishla police station. An Israeli police spokesperson did not respond for comment. It was not clear under what grounds the two men were detained.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767439

Five Palestinians, including three children, kidnapped in Jerusalem
IMEMC 7 Sept — Israeli soldiers invaded, earlier on Monday, a number of Palestinian communities in occupied East Jerusalem, searched several homes, and kidnapped five Palestinians, including three children between the ages of 12 and 15. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic), in Silwan town in occupied East Jerusalem, has reported that the soldiers broke into, and violently searched, several homes in the al-‘Eesawiyya town, and the Old City, before kidnapping the five Palestinians, and took them to an interrogation facility. The soldiers kidnapped Issa Farawy, 13 years of age, and Nasri Farawi, 15, from their homes in the Old City, after searching their families’ homes, causing property damage. Mohammad Abu al-Hummus of the Follow-up Committee in the al-‘Eesawiyya town, said the soldiers also invaded and searched several homes in different parts of the town, and kidnapped ‘Aziz Ghassan ‘Oleyyan, 12 years of age, Mohammad Ibrahim ‘Oleyyan, 19, and a young man identified as Mahmoud Mustafa. Abu al-Hummus added that, late on Sunday at night, the soldiers invaded the town, installed a monitoring tower and a surveillance balloon, on the main entrance of the town, while dozens of soldiers were deployed in the area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72931

Soldiers kidnap two Palestinian women
IMEMC/Agencies 7 Sept — Media sources have reported that the soldiers invaded al-Biereh city, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped Najwan Odeh, 33, after breaking into her home and violently searching it.
In addition, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that the soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian woman, Sunday, from the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, while visiting her brother, imprisoned by Israel at the Nafha prison. The PPS said Nadia Abdul-Jawad Lebbat, 44, was taken prisoner while visiting her brother, Bilal Abdul-Jawad Zreiqi, who was taken prisoner in 2006, and was sentenced to a 25-year term.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72930

Israeli troops detain man in Beit Ummar; clashes erupt
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — Clashes broke out on Sunday morning between young Palestinian men and Israeli troops who at dawn stormed the town of Beit Ummar near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, and detained a Palestinian man, local officials said.Spokesman of a local committee against Israeli settlements and separation wall Muhammad Ayyad Awad told Ma’an that Israeli troops raided al-Mabadi neighborhood in western Beit Ummar and detained Ziad Ahmad Ajouri, 30, after raiding his home.
An Israeli army spokesperson said Ajouri was detained because he was “involved in illegal activity.” Israeli forces also set up a military checkpoint on the main road between Beit Ummar and Surif. The soldiers shut down the road and detained a number of other Palestinian workers for several hours. When the Israeli soldiers withdrew from the town, local young men set fire to used tires and pelted the soldiers with stones. The soldiers responded with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several young men suffered from tear gas inhalation. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Beit Ummar are frequent, as the town is home to frequent night raids and detainments.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767456

Army threatens further collective punishment against Zabbouba village
IMEMC/Agencies 6 Sept — Several Israeli military vehicles invaded, on Saturday at night, the village of Zabbouba, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and threatened further collective punishment and invasions “should local youths continue to clash with the army.” The soldiers invaded and searched the home of the head of the Local Council, Mohammad ‘Obeydiyya, and informed him they will be frequently invading, and searching homes in the village. ‘Obeydiyya told the government-run Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) that several army vehicles drove around in various neighborhoods in Zabbouba, before the soldiers stopped and interrogated several Palestinians. He added that the soldiers threatened severe measures “should local youths continue to throw stones on the army,” and continue to cut and destroy the fence surrounding various Palestinian farmlands and orchards, and the Salem military base.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72912

Israeli troops briefly detain head of Nablus police department
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — Israeli forces on Sunday held the head of the Nablus police department for more than an hour near the entrance of Hijja village west of Nablus, security sources told Ma‘an. They said that Israeli troops stopped Abdul-Latif al-Qaddumi on his way to Nablus police station in central Nablus and held him for more than an hour before releasing the police officer. Last month Israeli forces detained Palestinian police officer Tayseer Ahmad Muhammad Abu Eisha 40 from Beit Wazan village west of Nablus after raiding his home.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767465

Campus informants prompt debate at West Bank schools
Ramallah, occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera) 6 Sept — Moments before he was detained by plainclothes Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces outside the Birzeit University campus last April, Jihad Saleem, a member of a Hamas-affiliated student group, remembered being greeted by a student from a rival Fatah-aligned group. He believes the Fatah-aligned student greeted him deliberately to identify him to the PA forces, suggesting that the two were working in concert. “Preventive security took me in an unmarked car to their office in Birzeit, and when we arrived, the student who identified me to the plainclothes security personnel was already at the office waiting for us,” Saleem, 21, told Al Jazeera. Saleem’s arrest was detailed in a Human Rights Watch report the following month. Saleem said he was held in stress positions and deprived of sleep and legal counsel during his detention, before being released without charge less than 24 hours later. As the university year starts again this week, both students and university staff at Birzeit tell Al Jazeera that the PA’s alleged practice of paying students to provide information is prevalent at Birzeit and other schools throughout the occupied West Bank. Many say they want the practice to stop. )cont.)
https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/campus-informants-prompt-debate-west-bank-schools-140204953.html

Nabi Saleh’s weapon against occupation: humiliation
+972 mag 5 Sept by Dahlia Scheindlin — Many Israelis never heard of Nabi Saleh before a video of a soldier struggling with a child and his women family members went viral. It wasn’t just the violence of a soldier’s overwhelming might rushing the delicate body of an injured kid that made the video upsetting. There was something horrible about seeing a grown man lose his armed-to-the-teeth cool to a mere child, struggling and cursing as if fighting for his life. He had lost control, not only of the situation, but of himself. The women who harangued him caused no physical damage. But his soul and his distorted mouth, pulled wide by the women’s fingers, looked tormented. Military injuries — a bullet or even a rock — can look heroic in popular imagination. Having one’s mouth pried open and the fingers of your enemy stuck inside robs the soldier even of his heroism. The pain of this video for Israelis is that he looks wrecked, violated — humiliated . . . Despite the simple issues, when last week’s video surfaced, the Israeli press almost completely avoided the political background of the story. One television anchor explained that Palestinians provoke soldiers, then chase after the resulting scene with cameras. It was, she said, their regular tactic in the battle of consciousness. Or narratives. Or images. I don’t remember the exact word, because they are used interchangeably here. Whichever it was, she and her audiences know which word silently precedes those terms: false consciousness. False narratives. False images. (cont.)
http://972mag.com/nabi-salehs-weapon-against-occupation-humiliation/111415/

Children of the Occupation
MEE 6 Sept by Gideon Levy — A video tells the world how a 12-year-old child incredibly escapes the clutch of an Israeli soldier. Hundreds more are far less fortunate, to the point of death — There was the one picture worth a thousand words: the terrified child gripped by the soldier, whose mask has been torn from his face by the child’s mother – exposing the naked, ugly reality of occupation. The most moral and powerful army in the Middle East against a child of 12. Most Israelis, however, concerned themselves with the lesser question of how the soldier ought to have behaved in this complicated situation. Very few, if any, asked what he was doing there in the first place – which is the only question that should have been asked, and was not. If the soldier had shot Tamimi and killed him, with no cameras there to record it, there would have been no story from the standpoint of Israeli media and public opinion. The Israeli army would have claimed that the soldier was in mortal danger, most Israelis would never have doubted that account in the slightest, the military police would have launched an “investigation,” typically without beginning or end, and the world of the occupation would have marched onward, regardless. Thus it was a few weeks earlier, for example, when Colonel Yisrael Shomer, commander of the Binyamin Brigade, fatally shot Mohammed Kasbeh, age 17. Someone threw rocks at the commander’s jeep –  maybe Kasbeh, maybe not – and the brigade commander got out of his vehicle and chased Kasbeh, shooting him in the back, killing him as he fled. The brigade commander was no longer in any sort of mortal danger, yet he used live ammunition. This is the example provided by Israeli army officers, and this is how they are expected to behave. The brigade commander did not know, when he aimed and fired, that Mohammed would be the third child of Sami Kasbeh killed by Israeli soldiers after stone-throwing incidents. Two of Mohammed’s brothers had preceded him: Tamer, 14, and Yasser, 10, killed within 40 days of one another in 2002, a very bloody year. Now, on 3 July,  the Israeli officer had made Mohammed’s a bereaved family for the third time. Israel, however, was not especially interested in this incident, and the commander has already been promoted to another job, with the investigation of this case yet to be concluded and despite the fact that the investigators are in possession of video from security cameras showing unequivocally that the young Mohammed was shot while fleeing, when the commander was in no danger.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/children-occupation-754496377

Al-Aqsa

Israeli restrictions on Al-Aqsa entry continue for 3rd week
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — Israeli forces continued to impose restrictions on Palestinians attempting to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday for the third consecutive week, a Palestinian Authority official told Ma‘an. Israeli forces early Sunday reportedly guarded the entrances to the mosque compound and prevented dozens of women from entering, in addition to restricting some men and youths. Israeli authorities have prevented women from entering the mosque between 7 and 11 a.m. for nearly three weeks, locals said. Israeli Jerusalem police commander Avi Bitton told Ma‘an previously that the extra restrictions on women were imposed “to prevent any tensions in the area, as they violate order, and present a threat to visitors.” However, locals have alleged that Israeli forces are setting aside hours in the morning to allow Jewish worshipers access to the mosque compound, flouting an Israeli agreement with the Islamic Endowment responsible for the compound that forbids non-Muslim worship at the holy site. Some 42 right-wing Israelis reportedly entered the mosque compound on Sunday.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767463

UPDATE: Police assault female worshipers at al-Aqsa
IMEMC/Agencies 6 Sept — Israeli police assaulted, on Sunday, a group of Palestinian women who attempted to enter al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, after being denied entry to the holy site, according to media sources. WAFA correspondence reports that around 40 women were organizing a peaceful protest at as-Selsela Gate leading to the compound in protest of being denied entry to the holy site for almost two weeks, when Israeli police assaulted them and forced them to get back. This came as Jewish extremists resumed their daily provocative visits to the holy site, amid calls by far-right Jewish groups for mass entry to the site on Sunday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of two hard-line Jewish rabbis. The Jews attempting entry were faced with an angry Palestinian crowd who chanted religious slogans against them.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72921

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Judaization

Record number of Palestinian structures slated for demolition in West Bank
Haaretz 7 Sept by Amira Hass — More than 11,000 demolition orders are pending against at least 13,000 Palestinian structures in the part of the West Bank known as Area C, which is under full Israeli control, according to data from Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank. The data show that in 1988-1995, only 49 demolition orders a year, on average, were issued in the 60 percent of the West Bank designated as Area C under the 1993 Oslo Accord. The average shot up to 304 in 1996-2001, then rose to 511 in 2002-2009; throughout these 13 years, there was a slow but steady rise from year to year. But in 2010-2014, the average almost doubled, to 966 per year. Demolition orders are issued against many different types of structures, from homes and public buildings solidly built of concrete blocks through tents and tin shacks to sheepfolds, portable toilets, electricity pylons, solar panels and cisterns for collecting rainwater. What they all have in common is that they were built without permits from the Civil Administration. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs analyzed the Civil Administration data, which was obtained thanks to a freedom-of-information request filed by Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights and independent researcher Dror Etkes. OCHA’s report will be published today . . . The Civil Administration has thus far approved master plans for Jewish settlements covering 282,174 dunams, or 8.5 percent of Area C. The unplanned area encompassed by the settlements’ municipal boundaries is much larger. In contrast, approved master plans for Palestinian communities cover only 18,243 dunams – less than one percent of Area C. Moreover, the report says, Palestinians filed 2,030 requests for building permits in 2010-14, yet of these, only 33 – 1.5 percent – were approved.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.674838

The Bedouin children trying to stop bulldozers with their cameras
+972 Blog 6 Sept by Michal Rotem — The children of the unrecognized Bedouin village Umm al-Hiran started their summer vacation in an usual way. The future of the village in which they grew up in is unclear, the struggle against the demolition of their homes is gaining traction, and the bulldozers are working tirelessly nearby to establish the Jewish town of Hiran. Despite the fact that the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality organizes its yearly photography workshops during the summer, it was clear that this year it was of utmost importance to do it in the summer, despite the heat. In May, Israel’s High Court of Justice refused to cancel eviction orders against Umm al-Hiran, home to 700 men, women and children of the al-Qi’an tribe. The state wants to demolish the village and relocate the Bedouin residents to the town of Hura – for the sole purpose of building Hiran over its ruins. Umm al-Hiran’s adjacent sister village, Atir, will also be destroyed to expand the man-made forest of “Yatir.” Those who came to last week’s protest against the bulldozers, which are working hard to build the new Jewish town, were surprised to find children with cameras strapped around their necks, documenting the demonstration from every possible angle. (cont.)
http://972mag.com/the-bedouin-children-trying-to-stop-bulldozers-with-their-cameras/111434/

What’s beyond the story of Al-Silsileh Gate police station ‘Bet Elyahu’?
[photos] SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 6 Sept — The property of Abu Mayaleh family formerly and a police station currently known as “Bet Elyahu” is located in Al-Silsileh [‘Chain’] Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem and was confiscated in 1969 by the occupation authorities for security reasons with a decision made by the “military commander” in the central area. It included the confiscation of 17 houses and commercial stores and places of worship based on article (119) of the defense system (emergency) for the year 1945 under the pretext that the residents of that street and the neighboring streets (according to the confiscation order) violated the defense system with a view to kill and injure people who were on their way to pray at Al-Buraq Square “Wailing Wall” and the residents of that area helped in committing the above mentioned crimes. The property of “occupation’s police center” is the property of Hajj Mustafa Abu Mayaleh and after the confiscation order was issued, more than 50 people were displaced for security reasons.
http://silwanic.net/?p=61928

Israel hopes ‘lost tribes’ can boost Jewish numbers
MEE 6 Sept by Jonathan Cook — Facing Palestinian majority, Israeli officials seek way to loosen legal definition of ‘Jew’ so millions more can qualify for immigration — Israel is examining ways to expand the scope of the Law of Return, a foundational piece of legislation defining who is a Jew, to entitle millions more people to immigrate. A government committee established last month will determine whether immigration rights should be extended to “groups with ties to the Jewish people.” That would include so-called “lost tribes”, remote communities in India, Latin American and elsewhere that claim their ancestors were once Jewish. The move follows a recent statement from Silvan Shalom, the interior minister and a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he intended to take “the most liberal policy on immigration there is to bring people from everywhere around the world.” According to experts, a change to the law could mean that more than three million additional people would qualify to come to Israel and receive instant citizenship. The committee’s creation appears to reflect mounting concern among officials that Israel is losing the “numbers battle” against the Palestinians. The issue has become more pressing because Netanyahu is refusing to engage in talks to end the occupation and create a Palestinian state. A leading demographer, Sergio DellaPergola from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, warned recently that Palestinians were now a majority in the area under Israeli rule, comprising Israel and the occupied territories. Israel includes a large minority of 1.5 million Palestinian citizens . . . Jamal Zahalka, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, accused the government of seeking to further exploit a “racist, undemocratic law.” “The Law of Return was created specifically to allow millions of Jews who have no connection to this land to immigrate and to prevent millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants from returning to their homes,” he told Middle East Eye.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-hopes-lost-tribes-can-boost-jewish-numbers-1923523277

Gaza

Israeli army charges Palestinian over ‘attacks’ during Gaza war
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — The Israeli army said Sunday that it has brought 12 charges against a Palestinian accused of involvement in “multiple attacks” during Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip last summer. The army said in a statement that it had detained Eyhab Abu Nahel, 27, from Gaza City, in a joint operation carried out with Israeli intelligence and police in July. It said it had brought 12 charges against Abu Nahel at Beersheba regional court in relation to his alleged involvement “in multiple attacks during operation ‘Protective Edge,'” referring to last summer’s Gaza war. The charges, filed on Aug. 30, include “attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of weaponry and weapon trafficking,” the statement said. It alleged that Abu Nahel was part of an extremist Salafi faction named ‘Unity of God’ that it said is part of Popular Resistance Committees and is affiliated with the Islamic State militant group. The Israeli army claimed that Abu Nahel “conveyed detailed information of his involvement in terrorist activities.” It claimed that he had worked with Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Popular Resistance Committees, before he joined ‘Unity of God’ in 2014. The army said that “despite his affiliation with the Salafi faction, (he) joined Hamas operatives to carry out various attacks against Israel” during last summer’s war, “including planting and detonating IEDs.” The statement added that he was arrested when he “requested to relocate to Qatar for work purposes.” Israeli news site Ynet reported that Israeli intelligence Shin Bet said that Abu Nahel was one of more than 100 Gazan teachers offered work in Qatar as part of a Qatari initiative to employ Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767470

Gaza water shortage catastrophic: ‘We can’t drink, cook or wash with it’
RT 6 Sept — …The UN says that 500,000 people have been displaced in Gaza as a result of last year’s IDF operation alone. More than 20,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed, and 148 schools and 15 hospitals and 45 primary health-care centers were severely damaged. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. But worse still is when the populace is deprived of the prime source of life – water. Without it, no reconstruction and no rebuilding of lives can take place. Medicine, sanitation, hygiene and crucial facilities that depend on water all suffer. RT investigated the extent of the hardship under these conditions. “We can’t drink it, cook with it, or wash in the kitchen with it… we are forced to buy all the clean water separately,” said Umm Ibrahim Amna Abdel’al, as she stood in her kitchen, little more four bare cement walls and a sink. A delivery pickup truck trundled through the streets outside with a water tank sitting in the back. “The last war on Gaza, of course, resulted in the destruction of some of the infrastructure, the water holes and the pumping stations were [heavily hit.] More than 50 percent of the water infrastructure could not be accessed,” said Mahmoud Elkhafif, UNCTAD’s special coordinator for assistance to the Palestinian people. “Part, of course, vanished,” he added. RT’s Lizzie Phelan tasted what remains of the Strip’s water for herself: “This coffee tastes like it has salt not sugar in it. That’s because the water that’s used to wash it – like much of Gaza’s water – is contaminated with sea water.” The woman went on to describe how “tiny kids suffer from cramps and colic” – a syndrome commonly associated with stomach infections. “See my hand?” she pointed to the irritated skin on her palm. “It is because of the salty water. I have a skin infection. The water is full of salt. It is like sewage.”And salt isn’t the only problem. The water coming into homes is also full of nitrate – a carcinogenic.
https://www.rt.com/news/314577-gaza-water-shortage-humanitarian/

Egypt to open Rafah for 3 days allowing Gazans to make holy pilgrimage
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 Sept – The Egyptian authorities on Sunday notified the Gazan Ministry of Interior that the Rafah border crossing would be open for three days starting Monday to allow Gazans to leave for the holy Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia’s Mecca, Gazan officials said. The Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the Egyptian authorities would only allow pilgrims access through the terminal.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767462

Gaza pilgrims brace for Hajj holy journey
GAZA (OnIslam/Agencies) 4 Sept — Joining millions of Muslims worldwide, hundreds of Palestinian pilgrims will embark on hajj journeys on Sunday, September 6, through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, with hopes to return homes after all their sins are washed away. “All arrangements for the holy journey have been completed,” head of Hajj and Umrah Authority in Gaza Strip, Mohammad Abdulbari, told KUNA news agency on Friday, September 4. About 2,450 Gaza pilgrims will leave to Saudi Arabia through Egypt on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Divided into three batches, each containing 850 people, pilgrims will take buses bounding for Cairo International Airport from Rafah crossing that will be opened for Gaza pilgrims in the coming days. “Gaza pilgrims used to travel from the nearby Al­Areesh Airport in Northern Sinai, but this year Egyptian authorities announced that they could travel through Cairo International Airport as Al­Areesh Airport is not ready for receiving them due to the security situation in Sinai,” Abdulbari said. He added that the new route will add 12 more hours to hajj journey from Gaza . . . The hajj official added that Saudi has granted 1,000 free Hajj visas for families of the Palestinian martyrs and prisoners in Israeli jails. The kingdom has also offered 500 more hajj visas for Palestinians in the West Bank and 500 visas for those in Gaza Strip.
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/middle-east/493085-gaza-pilgrims-brace-for-hajj-holy-journey.html

Project to limit flood damage in Gaza
DOHA (The Peninsula) 6 Sept — As winter approaches, Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has started a new water and sanitation project to protect houses and shops from floods during the rainy season in Gaza. The $3m (QR10,918,700) project is co-funded by the Programme of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Reconstruction of Gaza, under the supervision of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and QRCS. According to official reports, 551 households were flooded across Gaza last year, and nearly 1,000 greenhouses were damaged. Public movement was restricted in many areas, and schools and marketplaces shut down.  Khaled Zidane, Infrastructure and Construction Officer at QRCS Gaza Office, said, “As part of its continuous work in Palestine, QRCS has begun a project to develop Asqula Endowment Pond, Gaza City, construct a rainwater capture and storage system in Beer Al-Naaja, Jabalia, and re-use the collected water in Khan Younis.” More than 1.2 million cubic metres of rainwater will be collected per year and injected into Gaza’s groundwater, to reverse the overuse and low-quality water. The project will cover 18.5 dunums of land in Asqula Endowment District, eastern Gaza City. (cont.)
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/351745/project-to-limit-flood-damage-in-gaza

Turkey to restore mosques in Gaza
ISTANBUL (Daily Sabah) 6 Sept by Ebru ŞENGÜL — Israel has approved the transfer of construction materials to the Gaza Strip for a Turkish project to restore nine mosques devastated during Israel’s Gaza offensive last year. Turkey’s top religious authority, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (DİB), known for its construction of mosques across the globe, is spearheading the project for damaged mosques in Gaza where more than 2,000 people were killed and 73 mosques were destroyed the previous summer. After the quartet of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, which mediates the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, approved the project, Israel last Thursday allowed a transfer of construction materials to Gaza. Funds had already been channeled to Gaza, and restoration work will start as soon as the materials arrive in Gaza, sources said. The nine mosques to be restored by Turkey all carry great symbolism and meaning for Palestinians.
http://www.dailysabah.com/nation/2015/09/07/turkey-to-restore-mosques-in-gaza-after-israels-approval

3 Palestinians injured in ‘dispute’ at Fatah conference in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — A number of Palestinians were injured Saturday morning after a “dispute” erupted at a Fatah conference in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Fatah members threw stones at people taking part in the conference, injuring at least three, including a woman. Ahmad Shahwan, a member of Fatah in Khan Younis, told Ma‘an that “some angry members whose names were not included in the conference’s list threw rocks at the conference, injuring a member.” Shahwan added that the Fatah conference took place in Khan Younis with 530 members from 12 regions across the Gaza Strip, with the intent of electing 32 members for the leadership of Fatah in Khan Younis. The Gaza police arrived at the scene and were able to return order.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767444

another version:
4 hurt in Gaza clashes between Abbas, Dahlan loyalists
MEMO 6 Sept — Four Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after clashes broke out between supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and expelled Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan. “Four injured Palestinians were taken to Nasser Hospital Medical Centre in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip,” Palestinian medical sources told Anadolu Agency. According to witnesses, the clashes broke out as internal elections were being held in Khan Younis for Abbas’ Fatah movement. “During the elections, a quarrel erupted between Abbas supporters and Dahlan loyalists,” one witness said. “Police eventually intervened and broke up the fighting,” the witness added. Once calm was restored by police, the internal polling resumed.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20874-4-hurt-in-gaza-clashes-between-abbas-dahlan-loyalists

Gaza teenager banned from school for refusing to wear a hijab
IBT 5 Sept by Mousheera Jammal in Gaza City — While more than one million students in Gaza were getting ready for school, Marah Nashwan, 16, was brewing tea. For the last 10 days, Marah has been turned away from her school in Gaza City because she refuses to wear a hijab. Marah had tears in her eyes as she told IBTimes UK how her principal at the Ahmad Shawki High School for Girls refused to allow her to return to school with her head uncovered. Marah said she was humiliated when returning to school from the three month summer break at the end of August. “I was scolded and insulted by the school principal in front of everyone, my friends and my classmates. I was so excited to see them again after our vacation,” she said. “My happiness was stolen with a big part of my dignity. The hijab is not the biggest issue, my loss of dignity is more important and I have the right to reclaim it.” While many women in the Palestinian West Bank do not wear hijabs – headscarves that cover a woman’s hair, neck and ears – it is increasingly unusual in Gaza, which has been governed by conservative Islamist movement Hamas since 2006. For Marah, the experience of challenging the situation over the past 10 days appears to made her grow up quickly . . . Mohamed Nashwan, Marah’s brother, was keen to stress to IBTimes UK that his sister is a good Muslim, praying five times a day and not seeking to court controversy. But he said the attitude of her headteacher was disrespectful (cont.)
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/gaza-teenager-banned-school-refusing-wear-hijab-1518573

Traditional horse-riding on the wane in Gaza
MEMO 5 Sept — EXCLUSIVE IMAGES — In an increasingly unusual scene, dozens of horse-riding fans have gathered in the east of Gaza City to watch what may well be only riding competition left in the whole Gaza Strip. The fans start clapping and whistling when the horses and their riders arrive in the muddy, sandy arena, some distance away from the residential area. The riders are keen to start the competition, even though they are not competing for a cup or a crown. The only prize is that the winner is honoured as the best horse-rider, and when he takes part next week, the pride in his victory will still be with him. Winners work hard to retain their title as champion, and that’s it. People in Gaza regard horse-riding as a traditional activity and the few riders left in Gaza are always busy. They are often invited to display their skills during wedding celebrations. The groom who gets such a display is privileged and feels proud because his wedding has included an example of traditional Palestinian folklore. Images by MEMO Photographer Mohammed Asad.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20870-traditional-horse-riding-on-the-wane-in-gaza

Prisoners

Palestinian prisoner undergoes surgery to remove tumor
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — A Palestinian prisoner underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his intestine Saturday after he was transferred to Soroka Hospital in southern Israel earlier in the week, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said. The Israeli authorities moved 33-year-old Sami Abu Diak from Ramon jail to Soroka Hospital on Thursday following a sharp deterioration of his health. Abu Diak, from Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, has been in prison since he was 20, spending 13 years of three life sentences plus 30 years of jail time. According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations (CEPR), poor conditions in Israeli prisons have led to the deterioration of health for a large number of Palestinian prisoners. “Prison clinics have become renowned for offering only aspirin for all health treatments and physicians within the clinics are all soldiers,” CEPR said in a report.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767447

Palestinian refugees outside Palestine

Palestinian teen who cried before Merkel gets residency permit
BERLIN (AFP) 4 Sept — A Palestinian teen [with cerebral palsy] threatened with deportation who burst into tears during a televised debate with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has got a residency permit for “humanitarian reasons,” a statement said Friday. In the encounter last month, 14-year-old Reem told Merkel in fluent German that she and her family, who arrived in the north German city of Rostock from a Lebanese refugee camp four years ago, faced possible deportation. Merkel expressed sympathy before defending her government’s asylum policies, saying Germany “couldn’t manage” to shoulder the burden of all those fleeing war and poverty. Minutes later, Reem began to weep and the chancellor stroked her head and tried to comfort her in a way critics said appeared awkward and cold, and which led to a storm of protest on social media. The Rostock city hall said in a statement that Reem and her family “had today received for the first time residency permits for humanitarian reasons.” “These permits are valid until March 2016,” it said.
https://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-teen-cried-merkel-gets-residency-permit-214224663.html

Abbas wants UN, EU to urge Israel to let Palestinians fleeing Syria into West Bank
Haaretz 5 Sept by Jack Khoury — The Palestinian Authority is in contact with the United Nations and the European Union to urge them to pressure Israel to allow Palestinian refugees from Syria into the West Bank, officials in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ office said Saturday. According to the officials, Abbas has instructed the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, to coordinate measures for the refugees’ entry into the Palestinian Authority with the UN institutions and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “This is not only a humanitarian issue but a right for every Palestinian living in exile in refugee camps,” a statement issued by Abbas’ office said. In April, the Palestinian leadership made a similar call when the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk near Damascus was under siege by ISIS and the Nusra Front. According to the UN, more than 525,000 Palestinian refugees who have been displaced by the Syrian civil war are currently residing in UN camps in Syria. Meanwhile, Israeli Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog called on the government to allow Syrian refugees into Israel, saying that “Jews cannot be indifferent while hundreds of thousands of refugees are looking for safe haven.”  Herzog’s call was backed by Meretz Chairwoman Zahava Galon and Yesh Atid lawmaker Elazar Stern. But the proposal was criticized by Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, who said that it would open a “back door for a discussion of the Palestinian right of return.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.674641

Netanyahu says will not allow Israel to be ‘submerged’ by refugees
JERUSALEM (AFP) 6 Sept — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he would not allow Israel to be “submerged” by refugees after calls for the Jewish state to take in those fleeing Syria’s war . . . “We will not allow Israel to be submerged by a wave of illegal migrants and terrorist activists,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is not indifferent to the human tragedy of Syrian and African refugees… but Israel is a small country — very small — without demographic or geographic depth. That is why we must control our borders.” . . . There is already hostility in Israel toward asylum-seekers from Africa and a concerted government effort to repatriate them.
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-not-allow-israel-submerged-refugees-132526742.html

Other news, opinion

Month in pictures: August 2015
Electronic Intifada 4 Sept
https://electronicintifada.net/content/month-pictures-august-2015/14824

Abbas to declare end of Oslo II Accord at UN General Assembly
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Sept — President Mahmoud Abbas will tell the upcoming UN General Assembly that the Palestinian leadership is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords due to Israel’s lack of commitment to the 1993 agreement, a PLO official said Sunday. PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Majdalani told Ma‘an that the decision to no longer abide by Oslo II was drafted by a preparatory committee for the upcoming Palestine National Council (PNC) meeting and will likely be approved during the session scheduled for Sept. 14-15. The move is based on agreements reached by PLO factions during previous Central Council meetings. “The Palestinian leadership has decided to terminate the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip known as the Oslo Accords II, which was signed in Taba on September 28, 1995,” Majdalani said. “In light of the lack of commitment by Israel, the Palestinian leadership has decided that it isn’t bound by the agreement anymore and president Abbas will announce that before the UN General Assembly.” Future moves will be prepared by a PNC committee, he added, without providing further details. The official provided no indication of what would become of security coordination between the PA and Israel, a key requirement of Oslo, although he said that the leadership in Ramallah has decided to make the PNC a Palestinian parliament and the PLO Executive Committee a Palestinian government. (cont.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767475

Official: Hamas to allow Gaza PNC members to attend emergency session
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — Hamas will allow members of the Palestinian National Council in the Gaza Strip to leave the coastal enclave to participate in an upcoming PNC session later this month, a senior Hamas official said Sunday. Ghazi Hamad, the undersecretary of Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that the presence of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members at the PNC session was important. He said that all PNC members in Gaza would be allowed to leave the territory through the Erez crossing to attend the session. However, he condemned the way the session has been planned, saying that it should have been done in coordination with other Palestinian factions. Israeli authorities could still refuse passage to the representatives through the border crossing.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767469

Palestinian People’s Party lends support to PNC session
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Sept — The Palestinian People’s Party on Sunday lent its support to an upcoming session of the Palestinian National Council, saying that it believed all institutions of the PLO should be activated. “A PNC session is badly needed to strengthen the role of the PLO and its institutions and to approve a united nationalistic strategy,” the PPP said in a statement, a day after its central committee met to discuss recent political developments. The party added that it was still deciding which of its members would be able to attend the session.The 740-member PNC — the PLO’s legislative body — decided to convene later this month to elect a new PLO Executive Committee — the PLO’s executive body — after 11 of the committee’s members, including President Mahmoud Abbas, announced their resignation in August. The PNC session is currently scheduled for Sept. 14-15 in Ramallah. However, several Palestinian factions have protested the plans, arguing that changes to the national institution are being carried out unilaterally by Fatah.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767464

Christian School Crisis / All Arab students strike today in support of Christian schools
Haaretz 7 Sept by Jack Khoury — Some 450,000 Arab students will stay home from school today as Arab schools have called a solidarity strike in support of the church schools. The country’s 47 Catholic schools have been on strike since the start of the school year last Tuesday to protest government budget cuts. Yesterday thousands of people demonstrated opposite the Prime Minister’s Office to demand additional state funding for the church schools, where some 30,000 students, mainly Arabs, learn. The leaders of the Catholic Church in Israel attended the protest, as did both Christian and Muslim parents and students, Knesset members and Arab mayors. The church schools fall into the category of “recognized but unofficial,” meaning they are not part of the state school system, but are accredited by the government and receive 75 percent of the funding given to regular state schools. The remainder comes from tuition payments that average 4,000 shekels ($1,000) a year, but can run higher at the most prestigious schools. Both Christians and Muslims attend these schools. Despite the church schools’ ongoing protests, there has been no progress in their negotiations with the Education Ministry, said Father Abdel Messih, who heads the forum of Christian school principals. The ministry’s proposal that the schools join the state system is unacceptable, he added, because it means “expropriating the schools and their cultural and educational history and heritage, some of which goes back hundreds of years.”  (cont.)
http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.674820

Palestinians ready to host 1st ever World Cup qualifier
RAMALLAH (AP) 6 Sept —  Palestinians are preparing to host their first ever World Cup qualifier on Tuesday when their team takes on the United Arab Emirates in the first in a series of high-profile matches in the West Bank.    Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Football Association, described the match in Group A of the Asian Zone qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup as “historic.”Rajoub said other home matches would be played in the weeks ahead. Upcoming fixtures include home World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia in October and Malaysia in November.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4698273,00.html

Protesters greet Israel in Cardiff before Euro 2016 match with Wales
CARDIFF, Wales (The Guardian) 6 Sept by Steven Morris — Adie Mormech was looking distinctly uncomfortable as he held a banner declaring that the Kop – the famous football stand at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium – believed Israel should be booted out of international sport. It was not that he lacked confidence in the rightness of the cause or was struggling with the weight of the banner on a bright sunny day in Cardiff. “I’m a Manchester United fan,” he said. “I’ve never held a Liverpool banner before and never will again. But this is such an important cause, you have to put aside the usual loyalties.” Mormech was one of hundreds of football fans who had travelled to the Welsh capital not to find out if the national team would reach a major tournament for the first time since 1958, but to protest against their opponents, Israel, and show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/06/protestors-greet-israel-in-cardiff-ahead-of-euro-2016-match-with-wales

France committed to labeling of Israeli settlement products
JERUSALEM (AFP) 6 Sept — French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that while Paris backs EU plans to label products from Israeli settlements, it opposes any boycott of Israel. “The French and European diplomatic position is clear and has not changed and will not change,” he told reporters at the start of a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. The labeling plan has been blasted by Israel which says it is the target of an international delegitimisation campaign. But Macron was adamant that France opposes campaigns such as that of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to put political and economic pressure on Israel over its occupation of the Palestinian territories . . . Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday that Israeli diplomats in European capitals were working to halt or at least slow down the labeling plan, which it said was nearing completion.
http://news.yahoo.com/france-committed-labelling-israeli-settlement-products-175747892.html

After Iran deal, EU bids to restart Israel-Palestinian talks
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) 4 Sept — Arab countries will join the Middle East Quartet in New York at the end of September to seek ways to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the EU’s top diplomat said on Friday, part of a new European diplomatic initiative. Encouraged by Europe’s role in securing a nuclear deal with Iran, the EU believes a broad range of countries could help, more than a year after the collapse of a U.S.-brokered peace push envisaging a Palestinian state co-existing with Israel. On the margins of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and the head of the Arab League will join the Middle East Quartet of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia for talks. “We hope that this re-start of the process can lead to improvements on the ground and also to re-open prospective and political horizons to the talks,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. Mogherini sees a chance for EU diplomacy in the absence of a new push from Washington as U.S. President Barack Obama approaches the end of his final term.
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-deal-eu-bids-restart-israel-palestinian-talks-171544957.html

Israel starts building border fence on frontier with Jordan
JERUSALEM (AP) 6 Sept — Israel has begun building a fence along part of the country’s eastern border with Jordan as Syrian civil war refugees and other migrants flee their countries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday: “We see today what happens when countries lose control of their borders.” He seemed to be referring to the massive influx of refugees from the war-torn Middle East and African migrants heading to Europe. Netanyahu earlier bemoaned the “human tragedy” of Syria’s civil war and said Israel has aided its victims. However, he said Israel is too small to take them. Israel already built fences along its border with Egypt to stop African migrants and in the Golan Heights bordering Syria.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-starts-building-border-fence-frontier-jordan-175710290.html

UK petition calling for arrest of PM Netanyahu hits 100,000 target
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 Sept — A petition to the UK government and parliament requesting that the government arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “for war crimes when he arrives in London,” reached its target Saturday afternoon with 100,341 signatures.The petition calls for the arrest of Netanyahu on the grounds of alleged war-crimes committed by Israel during its 51-day 2014 Gaza offensive, which killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, with many more wounded in the 139 square mile strip. The creator of the petition, UK resident Damian Moran, asks potential signatories to participate in demanding the arrest of the Israeli PM “under international law,” which they claim lays grounds to detain the leader “for war crimes upon arrival in the U.K for the massacre of over 2000 civilians in 2014.” Petitions to the UK government that reach more than 100,000 signatures are to be considered for a debate in the UK parliament; however, an official UK government response stressed that Netanyahu cannot and will not be arrested.
“Under UK and international law, certain holders of high-ranking office in a State, including Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs are entitled to immunity, which includes inviolability and complete immunity from criminal jurisdiction,” said an official response released by the UK government before the petition had reached its goal of 100,000.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767445

In Israel, refugee welcome gains small foothold
JERUSALEM (IRIN) 4 Sept by Annie Slemrod — The Facebook request was simple: “Man needs a home.” The actual demand was perhaps less so. Late in August, Israeli activists began asking fellow citizens to take strangers – asylum seekers or refugees just freed from detention – into their homes. Dan Levi, a university student in Jerusalem who turns 27 in a few days time, was one of those to respond to the call. When he heard that hundreds of men, mainly from Sudan and Eritrea, were in urgent need of somewhere – anywhere – to sleep, he offered up what he had in his flatshare: a couch, a key, and a neatly folded set of linens. “I haven’t been in their situation myself but I feel a lot of empathy [for the refugees]… I felt I had to do something,” Levi told IRIN. After years of legal wrangling, Israel’s high court decided last month that 20 months – the maximum amount of time the state had been holding male refugees and asylum seekers in a desert lockup – was too long. So, on the last few days before a court deadline to let them go, nearly 1,200 were released from the Holot detention centre. But there was a catch. They were banned from living or working in Tel Aviv or Eilat, the cities where the majority of Israel’s approximately 45,000 refugees live. Unable to return to family, friends or community, many were left stranded. (cont.)
http://www.irinnews.org/report/101957/in-israel-refugees-welcome-gains-small-foothold

Opinion: Drowned Syrian boy exposes Israeli hypocrisy / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 6 Sept — Why are Israelis so moved by the image of a dead Syrian refugee, but oblivious to the plight of a slain Palestinian child? — Two photographs. In the first a face buried in the sand, a tiny body dressed in rags, his bare feet askew, dried blood on one of them. In the other, face buried in the sand, feet in small shoes resting next to each other, the tiny body awash in water. They are almost the same age and the similarity between them is amazing and shocking. Ismail Bahar [Baker], in the first picture, Aylan Kurdi in the other. Two dead toddlers, lying on the seashore, separated by a year and a few months and a few hundred kilometers. The first photograph appeared all over the world and was concealed in Israel. That compassionate newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, did not publish it on its front page and did not caption it “the toddler who moved the world.” The death of Ismail did not move anyone in Israel. In contrast, the dead Aylan became a worldwide icon, including, of course, Yedioth Ahronoth, which knows what is likely to move Israelis. A Palestinian child in Gaza, killed by Israel Air Force pilots’ bombardment together with his three small cousins during Operation Protective Edge, while they were playing soccer on the beach, is not “moving.” A Syrian child of the same age, who drowned while fleeing with his family to Europe is “the toddler who moved” the world. And if this amount of hypocrisy was not enough, we will add only that no one stood trial in Israel for the criminal killing of Ismail (the case was closed). Following Aylan’s death in a criminal accident, a few suspects were arrested in Turkey  . . . Those who are shocked at Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban’s statement that the stream of refugees threatens “the Christian roots of Europe,” have to explain what the difference is between concern over the “Christian roots” of Europe, which sounds very bad in Hungarian, and concern for the “Jewish character” of Israel, which sounds excellent in Hebrew. Only one source of homegrown pride is absolutely justified in all this: Hungary and Bulgaria want to learn from Israel how to build a border fence, and in Israel they’re proud of this, of course. Are we or are we not a light unto the gentiles?
http://frammentivocalimo.blogspot.com/2015/09/gideon-levy-why-are-israelis-so-moved.html

Germany, light unto the nations / Odeh Bisharat
Haaretz 7 Sept — It was German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel who said, “We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” Now, around 200 years later, another German, Angela Merkel, is proving that in fact, one can learn from history. The gates of Berlin are open wide to all refugees fleeing death, oppression and starvation. Good for you, Germany! It’s hard for the ear to hear such praise, given Germany’s dark history during the previous century, but “the worst pain is the current one,” as the Arabs say. And if Germany is positioning itself as the primary country to face the current pain and give solace to a million refugees from Syria and elsewhere, the country and its leader deserve praise and appreciation. One tends to assume that if Merkel had been an interior minister named Silvan Shalom, or a culture minister named Miri Regev, she would have been given the boot after making such a promise. So it’s lucky for the tormented Syrians knocking on Germany’s door that there is no German Silvan Shalom. Beyond that, I think that in addition to the humane attitude behind Merkel’s decision, there also lies some common sense; what turned America into a mighty power could repeat itself in Europe. After all, refugees are people hungry for work and integration, and want to make up for everything they lost in their homelands. These aspirations, which gave America so much of its momentum, could also bring benefit to Europe, which is suffering from a negative birthrate, if it will be wise enough to help the refugees feel that they belong . . . Let me conclude with a philosophical thought of my own, in the spirit of Hegel. From history we learn that there is no people that serves as a light unto the nations forever. During the Middle Ages, the Ottoman empire held the torch as it absorbed the Jews expelled from Spain. Today the torch is being carried by the Germans.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.674799

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