Pediatric and intensive care patients injured as Israeli military fires tear gas into Jerusalem hospital

Army fires gas bombs into Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem
IMEMC 2 Dec — Israeli soldiers fired, on Tuesday evening, two tear gas bombs into the al-Makassed Hospital, in the at-Tour town, in occupied Jerusalem, causing many Palestinians, including patients, to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. Hospital administration said the gas from the soldiers reached the Children’s Ward and the Intensive Care Unit, causing many patients, including children, and visiting family members to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. It added that one woman, accompanying her child in the children’s ward, suffered burns in her hand after carrying one of the gas bombs and throwing it outside.  The al-Makassed Hospital administration issued a press release, and an urgent call for international human rights and legal groups to intervene and stop the Israeli escalation and violations, especially since the hospital has lately become a target of frequent military invasions and attacks. The Israeli army claims it was searching for Palestinians who reportedly hurled stones and Molotov cocktails on their vehicles, during clashes near the hospital. The hospital has been attacked and invaded at least six times since October, and the soldiers repeatedly fired gas bombs, in addition to breaking into different sections of the hospital, including Urgent Care, and also stormed administration offices, looking for admission records of wounded Palestinians.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74080

Violence / Detentions — West Bank, Jerusalem

Army kills a Palestinian teen in Bethlehem
IMEMC/Agencies 1 Dec — The army claims he “attempted to stab a settler”; Israeli soldiers shot and killed, on Tuesday morning, a Palestinian teen, sixteen years of age, near the Gush Etzion settlement block, built on Palestinian lands south of Bethlehem. Palestinian medical sources said the slain teen has been identified as Ma’moun Raed al-Khatib, 16 years of age, from Doha city, in the Bethlehem district. According to the Israeli army, al-Khatib “approached a settler with the intention to stab him,” before a soldier shot and injured him. The slain Palestinian was left bleeding on the ground, and died of his wounds. Israeli sources said the army also accidentally shot and injured one settler in his arm, suffering a mild wound, and that no Israelis were hurt in the reported “stabbing attack.” Al-Khatib’s death brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, since October 1 to 107, including children and women, among them a mother and her baby who were killed after the army bombarded their home in Gaza.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74072

Palestinian teen shot dead after alleged attack near Tulkarem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 Dec — An Israeli military officer shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian woman at a checkpoint east of Tulkarem on Tuesday, saying that she had attempted to stab him, Israel’s army said. An Israeli army spokesperson said that the officer killed the young woman at a checkpoint near the illegal settlement of Enav east of Tulkarem because she posed an “immediate danger” to him. The Israeli officer was not injured during the encounter. A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent said that one of their emergency teams arrived on the scene shortly afterward. She confirmed that the young woman had no vital signs. The team was prevented from taking away her body, which was instead taken away in an Israeli army medical jeep. The Red Crescent initially estimated the woman to be around 15 years old. However, a Palestinian family later identified her from photos circulating social media as their 19-year-old daughter, Maram Ramiz Hassouna, from Rafidia in Nablus.The family told Ma‘an that she had spent a year in Israeli custody after she was charged with attempting to stab an Israeli soldier at the same checkpoint near Enav settlement two years ago. Israeli police said that the area was closed off following the incident.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769111

Martyr Ayman Abbasi . . . a bullet in the chest falsifies the occupation’s claims
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 30 Nov — A picture [above] of the 17-year old Martyr Ayman Sameeh Abbasi falsifies the claims of occupation police about shooting him in his lower limbs because of posing threat to them under the pretext of throwing a Molotov Cocktail towards them. The police said in a statement: “Police and border control personnel opened fire towards the lower part of the Martyr’s body while he was throwing a Molotov Cocktail towards them.” The picture revealed the “murdering policy” followed by the occupation authorities against Palestinians as they are targeted in critical parts of their bodies while the authorities claim to be only shooting towards the limbs.
http://silwanic.net/?p=65477

State Prosecutor: It is forbidden to lynch a neutralized terrorist
Ynet 1 Dec by Tova Tzimuki — State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan warned high schools students on Monday against lynching a neutralized terrorist, arguing that “you are not Van Damme [of action fillms].” Speaking to the students during an online lecture on human rights, Nitzan stressed the importance of leaders making it clear to the public that they must not take the law into their own hands and attack a neutralized terrorist, warning that “whoever act violently against a terrorist who no longer presents a danger will be prosecuted.” . . .  “Once the terrorist is neutralized, there should not be violence done to them by a citizen. If he is handcuffed it is forbidden to beat him up. It is forbidden to hit. You are not Van Damme. You’re not the police, not judges, not God.” . . .  “If a policeman sees someone trying to stab another person, it is clear that it his obligation to remove the danger and if the only way is to shoot the stabber, this is his duty as a cop. One must not shoot him in the center of the body in order to kill him. If he is too close, then you can fire at the center of the body only if it is essential to remove the danger,” he said.  However, the state prosecutor made it clear that if anyone misjudges the danger and the error is genuine and reasonable, he will be protected before the law . . . Nitzan also called on young people to refrain from incitement on the internet.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4732962,00.html

Army injures three Palestinians, kidnaps one, in Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 2 Dec — Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday evening, Jabal ar-Rahma area in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, shot and wounded three Palestinians, including one who suffered a serious injury, and kidnapped one resident. Badea‘ Dweik, of Human Rights Defenders Coalition in Hebron, said the soldiers fired several rounds of live ammunition, wounding three Palestinians, in addition to storming and searching a number of homes. He added that one of the injured Palestinians suffered life-threatening wounds, and that the army took him to an unknown destination. The other wounded residents suffered injuries in the lower parts of their bodies.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74081

Israeli forces invade homes and threaten families with nine children in Deir Istiya
DEIR ISTIYA, Occupied Palestine 30 Nov by ISM/IWPS Huwwara Team — Deir Istyia, in Salfit district, is a village of 4000 inhabitants who mostly live on agriculture. The Salfit district has 19 villages and 24 settlements. Land confiscation is ongoing in the area and many of the settlements are growing, as the road that connects them is widening. Now three families, living in the outskirts of Deir Istyia (see photo), are under daily threats and harassment from the Israeli forces. They don’t know if the goal is to take over their land or just to try to make their lives so unbearable that they will themselves decide to move from the land on which they have been living peacefully for many generations. It started in the beginning of October this year, where the soldiers started to come to the houses and harass the families, mainly at daytime. Often the women are alone with the children during the day while the men are working. Israeli forces have chosen this time to come to the houses and scare the families.  One of the women explained to us that the soldiers hit her, told her that the house wasn’t hers and that she soon would have to move away. They also told her that she was a terrorist, and that the soldiers would soon come back and shoot her. Over the last 4 days the Israeli forces have been there day and night, telling the families that they have permission to stay on the roof of one of the houses. One night, they stayed all night and slept on the roof. They claim to have to watch the road and the surroundings, because of stone throwers, even though there hasn’t been any stone throwing in that area. Last Saturday, when the soldiers were there, they took pictures of the house and the yard. Now, the children are very insecure, and their mothers don’t leave the houses as they are afraid of leaving them alone, a situation that makes them feel, as they describe it, as in prison. They can hear the soldiers walking around outside their houses and standing on the olive hill behind them at night.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/11/israeli-soldiers-invade-homes-and-threaten-families-with-nine-children-in-deir-istyia/

Israeli forces detain 2 West Bank girls for allegedly carrying knives
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 Dec — Two Palestinian schoolgirls were detained for allegedly carrying knives in their bags in the occupied West Bank in two separate incidents on Tuesday, Israeli media and a prisoner rights group said. In the district of Bethlehem, a 14-year-old girl identified as Sabrin Sanad was detained at al-Nashash checkpoint, south of Bethlehem city, after Israeli forces allegedly found a knife in the girl’s bag, a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Muhammad Shahin, said. Shahin said the 14-year-old is currently being held at Etzion detention center, but will be transferred to HaSharon prison shortly. He added that she is set to be presented to the Ofer military court on Thursday. In Hebron, Israeli forces detained another young girl after checking her bag at a checkpoint and allegedly finding a knife, Israeli media reported. The identity and age of the girl has not yet been confirmed.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769119

Soldiers kidnap lawyer Tareq Barghouth in Jerusalem
IMEMC 2 Dec — Israeli soldiers have kidnapped, on Tuesday evening, lawyer Tareq Barghouth of the Palestinians Detainees’ Committee, after summoning him for interrogation. Lawyer Mahmoud Taha said the soldiers decided to keep Barghouth under interrogation for 24 hours, most likely to be renewed, allegedly for “incitement of Facebook.” Lawyer Barghouth will be sent to the Israeli District Court in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, as the court will be ruling on either releasing him or keeping him under interrogation. It is worth mentioning that Barghouth refuted Israeli claims that an Israeli security officer was feeding the detained wounded [13-year-old] child, Ahmad Manasra, back in October, and denounced Israel for secretly filming the wounded child in his hospital bed. The video [below] that was published by Israel, alleging that a security officer was feeding the child, was secretly filmed without showing the face of lawyer Barghouth, who was actually the person helping Manasra eat, especially since one of the child’s hands was cuffed to his bed.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74083

Soldiers kidnap eleven Palestinians in Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 1 Dec — Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, the southern West Bank district of Hebron, searched and ransacked dozens of homes, and kidnapped at least eleven Palestinians in Hebron city and Yatta town . . . The soldiers also invaded the towns of Sa‘ir, Taffouh and Halhoul, and installed several roadblocks on main entrances of a number of villages and towns in Hebron, before stopping and searching dozens of cars, and interrogated many Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74074

Army kidnaps thirteen Palestinians in Hebron
IMEMC 2 Dec — Israeli soldiers invaded, late at night and on Wednesday at dawn, several parts of the southern West Bank district of Hebron, and kidnapped thirteen Palestinians, including seven children. Media sources in Hebron said the soldiers invaded Khallet al-Ein and the ath-Thaher areas, in Beit Ummar town, north of the city, stormed and ransacked dozens of homes, and kidnapped seven Palestinians, including five children . . . The soldiers also photographed the home of resident Hussein Hosni Za’aqeeq, in the ath-Thaher area, close to the illegal Karmie Tzur Israeli colony, south of Beit Ummar . . . The soldiers closed the main roads of many villages and towns, in addition to the al-‘Arroub and al-Fawwar refugee camps, and intensified the siege isolating the Palestinian communities in the Hebron district from each other, and from the rest of the West Bank.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74086

Army kidnaps 27 Palestinians in the West Bank
IMEMC/Agencies 1 Dec — Israeli soldiers invaded, earlier on Tuesday, several Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, stormed and violently searched dozens of homes, and kidnapped 27 Palestinians, including one child. [details follow]
http://www.imemc.org/article/74075

Army kidnaps 10 Palestinians in Jerusalem
IMEMC/Agencies 2 Dec — Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at dawn, the town of Hizma, in occupied Jerusalem, searched many homes, and kidnapped ten Palestinians . . . Local sources said the soldiers invaded many homes, and searched them, before removing and confiscating carports used by the Hizma car company. The sources added that the army broke into, and searched at least 30 homes in the town, and interrogated many Palestinians before kidnapping ten residents. One Palestinian kidnapped in Tulkarem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74087

Former Israeli national security advisor: Little can be done to prevent lone attackers
JPost 30 Nov by Yaakov Lappin — Little can be done to prevent lone-wolf Palestinian terrorism, according to former national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, who also warned that impassioned calls for “massive retaliation” would result in no improvements, but rather a possible deterioration of the security situation. “While there is no doubt that Israel is facing a difficult security situation, the surge in Palestinian violence does not pose any existential threat to Israel,” Amidror wrote in a paper published Sunday by the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, where he is a senior fellow,. “Israel has weathered longer and harsher waves of terrorism,” Amidror said, adding that, “Israeli leaders must keep things in proportion and reject calls for ‘massive retaliation’ that will not truly improve security and could make things worse.” Calls for a “massive military campaign” and for the IDF to “seize Judea and Samaria” are “nothing but empty words,” Amidror wrote. “There is no need for a massive military campaign, as Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 established the IDF’s control over Judea and Samaria, and Israeli forces are free to operate anywhere in the area,” he added. “If there is intelligence of a weapons cache in the heart of Nablus, for example, the IDF can deploy troops within a day. The same goes for executing demolition orders on terrorists’ homes. And soldiers pursuing a suspect can chase him wherever they must, even into a Palestinian hospital,” he stated. Equally, calls for house-to-house weapons searches in Hebron, the home of most of the recent terrorists, are futile, he said. “What are the soldiers supposed to look for – kitchen knives? Over 90 percent of the attacks were carried out using weapons of opportunity, from screwdrivers to axes. Only a handful of attacks have involved firearms.”
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Former-national-security-advisor-Little-can-be-done-to-prevent-lone-attackers-435814

Serious development reported in major Jewish terrorism case
Ynet 1 Dec by Elish Ben Kimon & Rotem Elizera — A serious development has been reported in the large scale investigation of one of the most serious acts of Jewish terrorism to take place in recent years. There are only two things that can be said about the development: It has led the Shin Bet, security establishment, and police to an optimistic outlook regarding solving the crime, and the likelihood of submitting an indictment to prosecute those responsible. The second is that police have filed for and received a gag order to cover all details of the investigation. As such there is not much that can be said of the development at this point . . . The development is even more significant due to the fact that few acts of Jewish terrorism are ever solved, in light of increased efforts by the security establishment to attain sufficient evidence to built indictments against individuals for attacks against Palestinians . . .  Attorney Ariel Atari, who represents Jewish terror suspects, expressed doubt any indictments will come out of this development, saying police in the past claimed to have sufficient evidence in cases, but it later transpired that was not the case . . . Meanwhile, over 4,000 Israelis signed a petition calling to prosecute the murderers of the Dawabsheh family.  “Defense Minister Ya’alon said several times that the defense establishment knows the identity of the murderers – but for different reasons they were not prosecuted,” the petition says. “We cannot stand by while the killers of an Arab family live among us and are not made to face justice. This is a discrimination between one kind of blood and another, it is a message that the killing of innocent Arabs is allowed.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4733080,00.html

Report: Israeli defense officials reject expulsion of West Bank terrorists to Gaza
Algemeiner 30 Nov — Israeli security officials have moved away from considering banishing West Bank Palestinian terrorists and their families to the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported on Monday. According to the report, security officials are concerned that expelling West Bank Palestinians would be both ineffective and potentially harmful for Israel. Anonymous defense sources told Israel Radio that while such measures had been taken in the past, they were not effective in reducing Palestinian terrorism. The comments came after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said expulsion was one of the steps being considered by Israeli security officials.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2015/11/30/report-israeli-defense-officials-reject-expulsion-of-west-bank-terrorists-to-gaza/

Punitive demolitions

Palestinian house demolished in Shu‘fat refugee camp, entrances closed
[with VIDEO of explosion] JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 2 Dec — The Shu‘fat refugee camp was put under lockdown Wednesday when Israeli forces demolished the family home of Ibrahim al-Akkari, who was killed last year after carrying out a vehicular attack in Jerusalem. Locals told Ma‘an that more than 1,200 Israeli soldiers accompanied by Israeli police raided the cramped camp — sealed by the forces since the morning — preventing residents from entering or exiting. Prior to the demolition, Israeli forces entered the al-Akkari residence — home to Ibrahim’s wife and five children — in preparation to bring the home down with explosives, his family’s lawyer, Midhat Dibah, told Ma‘an. Clashes erupted in al-Akkari’s neighborhood between residents and Israeli forces following the demolition, according to Thaer Fasfous, a spokesperson of the Fatah movement in the refugee camp. Clashes also erupted in the town of ‘Anata — adjacent to Shu‘fat — where locals said that Israeli forces opened live fire at residents . . . The home is the most recent case of punitive demolitions carried out by Israeli authorities on the homes of Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks on Israeli military and civilians.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769131

Another account of same event:
Hundreds of soldiers invade Shu‘fat, detonate home
[with VIDEO of astonishing number of soldiers entering the town] IMEMC 2 Dec — Hundreds of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at noon, the Shu‘fat refugee camp, in occupied Jerusalem, after completely surrounding the camp and exploding a Palestinian home — causing structural damage to a number of nearby homes. The hundreds of soldiers were deployed in different parts of the refugee camp, while sharpshooters occupied the rooftops of many buildings. The demolished property is the third floor of a residential building, owned by Ibrahim al-‘Akari, who was killed by the Israeli army last year. Family lawyer Midhat Deeba said the soldiers first demolished parts of the property before wiring and detonating it. Deeba added that the surrounding home of the al-‘Akari brothers were badly damaged by the blast. The families were removed from their properties before the soldiers demolished the al-‘Akari home. The Israeli invasion and demolition led to clashes between the soldiers and dozens of local youth in different parts of the refugee camp, while a number of armed Palestinian resistance fighters also exchanged fire with the invading soldiers in the at-Tehta neighborhood, near the neighborhood were al-‘Akari family home is located . . .  The soldiers also surrounded the homes of Mohammad Ali and Ahmad Salah, who were both killed by the army in October. It is worth mentioning that the body of Ali is still held by Israeli authorities, who refuse to release the body to Ali’s family.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74089

Israeli forces prepare to demolish homes of Palestinian attackers
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 30 Nov — Israeli forces on Monday raided the homes of several Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis in preparation to demolish their homes, witnesses told Ma‘an. Israeli forces raided al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron and examined the family home of Muhammad Ismail Shubaki, 19, who was shot dead last week after stabbing an Israeli soldier near the camp. Israeli engineers took measurements of the property, likely in preparation to demolish the home, locals said. Israeli forces also raided the village of Taffuh west of Hebron and raided the homes of Imadiddin al-Tarda and Taha al-Tarda, whom Israel accuses of stabbing attacks in Rishon Letzion and Jerusalem.  Both homes were examined in preparation for their demolition, locals said. In Nablus, Israeli forces raided the home of Ashraqat Qatanani, 16, in al-Askar refugee camp. The young girl was run over and then shot dead by an Israeli settler at Huwwara checkpoint on Nov. 22. Forces also raided the homes of Alaa al-Hashash and Baseem Salah, who are both accused of attacks on Israelis. Salah was shot dead on Sunday after he allegedly stabbed and injured an Israeli police officer near Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem. Al- Hashash, 16, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers after reportedly attempting to stab a soldier near Huwwara checkpoint in Nablus on Nov. 23. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expedited punitive home demolitions last month, in a supposed attempt to deter future attacks against Israelis.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769097

Israeli Supreme Court cancels demolition of 2014 attacker’s home
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 Dec — The Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday canceled a demolition order on the family home of a Palestinian teenager convicted of killing a 20-year-old Israeli soldier last year. Israel’s top court ruled that it would be unreasonable to demolish the family home of 18-year-old Nur al-Din Abu Hashiya some 11 months after the attack was carried out, according to Israeli media reports. Abu Hashiya, frrom ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus, was found guilty of premeditated murder by Israeli authorities after he stabbed and fatally wounded an Israeli soldier at a Tel Aviv train station in November last year. The Supreme Court reportedly ruled that demolishing his family’s home after such a long delay would not serve to deter further attacks, which is the usual justification for punitive home demolitions. The decision contradicts efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expedite such demolitions.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769115

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

What happens when a Bedouin builds a gravel path so his kids can get to school on rainy days
Haaretz 30 Nov by Dafna Banai — Abu Sakr just wanted his kids not to miss school, but the story ended with his tent encampment destroyed, his son’s sheep pens leveled, and his pregnant daughter rushed into a hospital after being pushed by an Israeli soldier — The military has forbidden construction in Area C of the West Bank, which is under total Israeli military and civilian control. Anyone violating this ban risks the demolition of their building, sometimes without warning. That’s why Abu Sakr and his children, who live in the Bedouin village of Al-Hadidiya in the Jordan Valley, had to work like thieves in the night to build a gravel path. They need it so the kids can get to school on rainy days. Every week I go to the Jordan Valley with my friends from Machsom Watch. That’s how I know that, for years, the children of Al-Hadidiya lived on their own in the neighboring village of Tamoun without parental supervision. Why? Because all the routes to the central West Bank were blocked with earth mounds, checkpoints, gates, huge boulders and more. No one could enter or leave. This meant the children could not study because there is no school for them in the northern Jordan Valley. As a result, the Jordan Valley Solidarity NGO built a shabby mudroom in the nearby village of Khirbet Samra to serve as a school. On August 10, shortly after construction was completed, the army demolished it. From Abu Sakr’s house to the school there’s a long path, which turns into an impassable swamp during the rainy season. Abu Sakr and his sons pave the gravel path in the dead of night because they fear the strong arm of the military. In Area C, as noted, it’s forbidden to repair a path. It’s against army regulations. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.689305

Palestinian house demolished in ‘Arraba
IMEMC/Agencies 1 Dec — Israeli bulldozers demolished, on Tuesday morning, a Palestinian house in the town of ‘Arraba (also known as ‘Arrabat al-Battuf), Upper Galilee, in pre-1948 occupied Palestine. Ashraf Khatib, a resident of the town, said that the Israeli occupation bulldozers, protected by police and special forces, stormed the town and demolished a house belonging to the family of Said Khatib, under the pretext having no permit. He reported that the two-story house has been completely torn down, according to Al Ray. Palestinian citizens confirmed that clashes occurred between Israeli forces and a number of people of the town before and after the demolition. Locals reported that Israeli forces took into custody three youth, including two of the owners of the destroyed house.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74078

Al-Deesi family demolishes a bathroom following a decision from the occupation’s municipality
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC)  2 Dec — The family of Nabil Al-Deesi recently self-demolished a bathroom in their house following an order from the occupation’s municipality under the pretext of building without a permit. Al-Deesi family explained that the municipality issued an order to demolish the bathroom in the family’s house located in the area of Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem under the pretext of building without a permit. According to the decision, the demolition should be carried out by Al-Deesi family or the municipality will demolish the bathroom and charge the family 30 thousand NIS. The family added that they used self-demolition tools and executed the municipality’s order to demolish the bathroom. The family pointed out that their house is small and only has two rooms and a kitchen; the house is without a bathroom now. Occupation forces came to the house and checked if the family executed the demolition. Family members also pointed out that they were forced to build the bathroom five years ago and have paid 49 thousand NIS since then in building violation fees.
http://silwanic.net/?p=65571

Ghada Karmi visits the ‘New York Times’ reported in her former house in Jerusalem
Mondoweiss 1 Dec by Philip Weiss — There’s a changing of the guard in Jerusalem. Jodi Rudoren, the current New York Times bureau chief, is coming back to New York. Soon we will learn the name of her replacement. All signs are that it will be White House correspondent Peter Baker. Last night in New York, Rudoren gave a talk at the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side. She was hosted by two rabbis, and there were a number of sharp questions from the (almost-completely) Jewish audience. Not one person asked her about a preeminent issue in the minds of Palestinians when they think of the New York Times bureau chief. Will you continue to live in that house? The Times owns an apartment in the Qatamon section of West Jerusalem that has become a symbol of the newspaper’s insensitivity to the Palestinian side of the story, because the house was formerly owned by a Palestinian family that was forced to leave in 1948 and never allowed to return. And never compensated for its stolen property either. The owner of the house was a journalist named Hasan Karmi, who became famous working for the BBC in London. but never thought of himself as English, moved ultimately to Amman to be as close to Palestine as he could. His daughter Ghada is a physician and a writer of distinction. She lives in London and lately published a memoir titled Return, about her work in the West Bank 10 years ago. In that book she tells about visiting the house; and last month, she spoke at NYU and I asked her to tell the story (at minute 6 of the video below).
https://mondoweiss.net/2015/12/reporter-former-jerusalem

Gaza

Israeli Arab, Palestinian charged with smuggling banned materials into Gaza
Haaretz 1 Dec by Almog Ben Zikri — On Monday the Be’er Sheva District Court indicted Zaid Mohammed Kamel Khatar, a Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip, and Araef Ahmed Salam Talalka from the southern city of Rahat, for attempting to smuggle coils of welding wires into Gaza. Bringing such materials into the Strip is prohibited for security reasons. Khatar is also accused of successfully smuggling in various construction-related materials before, without the help of Talalka. The charge sheet states that Khatar has, in the past, legally bought items in Israel including electrical equipment, shoes, clothing and toys, and brought them into Gaza. However, on a number of occasions, in addition to the legal goods, he allegedly brought in other items illegally – in this case, welding wires and cables, which are considered dual-use products that can be used for both legitimate purposes as well as for other uses, such as building underground tunnels and rockets . . . The court charged Talalka, a driver, with transporting Khatar to various places in Israel to pick up his goods.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.689406

Gaza’s only ballet school a haven of calm for traumatized girls
GAZA (Reuters)1 Dec by Nidal al-Mughrabi — The group of girls, ponytailed and dressed in pink, stretched their arms out to the sides and pivoted onto their toes, trying desperately to hold still. Eagle-eyed, the instructor surveyed Gaza’s latest crop of would-be ballerinas. Fifty girls aged five to eight are now enrolled in the ballet school at the Al-Qattan Center for Children in Gaza, making it one of the most popular classes the arts institute runs, under the watchful eye of a Ukrainian teacher. Amid the chaos and destruction that has shattered Gaza so often over the past five years, with repeated wars between Israel and Hamas, the school is a haven of calm and order, one many parents are eager for their children to enjoy. “The ballet project was a dream for many families,” said Heyam Al-Hayek, the head of Qattan’s cultural activities. “They had been asking for ballet courses but we couldn’t find trainers. It was difficult to bring an instructor from abroad.” The dream began to take shape when they found Tamara, a Ukrainian married to a Palestinian and living in Gaza, who had studied dance and was qualified to teach. She asked not to give her family name.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/features/2015/12/01/Gaza-s-only-ballet-school-a-haven-of-calm-for-traumatized-girls.html

Gazans oppose violence against women
MEMO 30 Nov — EXCLUSIVE IMAGES — Dozens of women in the Gaza Strip participated in the formation of a “human chain” yesterday to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Those participating in the event organised by the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza carried signs that read “No to violence against women” and “together for a work environment safe from violence against women.” They also called for ending the occupation as well as the violence and oppression exercised by the occupation against Palestinian women. The participants called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to immediately and urgently intervene to protect female Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons . . . The statement also indicated that the occupation’s violence is still the main hindrance to Palestinian women, preventing them from continuing their internal struggle against all types of discrimination in society.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/22564-gazans-stand-up-against-violence-against-women

Prisoners / Court actions

Former hunger striker released from prison
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 30 Nov — Israeli authorities released Palestinian prisoner and former hunger striker Ghassan Zawahra on Monday, his family told Ma‘an. Zawahra was released to his family in ‘Aida refugee camp, near the northern entrance of Bethlehem city in the southern occupied West Bank after being held for 18 months under administrative detention, an Israeli policy that allows detainees to be held without charge or trial for renewable six month periods, indefinitely. Zawahra went on a hunger strike on Aug. 20, along with seven other prisoners, to protest his administrative detention. More than a month later, on Sept. 29, Israeli authorities announced that Zawahra and one other fellow hunger striker would not have their administrative detention renewed and Zawahra agreed to end his strike. On Oct. 13, Israeli forces shot and killed Zawahra’s younger brother, Mutaz, during clashes near their home. Upon his release Zawahra went straight to his brother’s grave site before going home with his family.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769106

Israeli sentenced to 3 years for arson attack on Jerusalem school
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 1 Dec — An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced a Jewish extremist to three years in prison for his part in an arson attack on a mixed Palestinian and Israeli school in Jerusalem last year. Yitzhak Gabbai, 31, was handed two years for the attack and a further ten months for possession of a knife and incitement to hatred. He was also ordered to pay 10,000 shekels ($2,584) in compensation to the Hand-in-Hand school. The sentence followed Gabbai’s earlier confession to setting fire to a classroom in the school and daubing “Death to Arabs” on one of its walls, the court said. Gabbai carried out the attack on Nov. 29, 2014, along with brothers Shlomo and Nahman Twito, who were sentenced to two years and two and a half years respectively in July this year. All three are members of the extremist anti-Palestinian group Lehava, which is believed to have carried out a number of violent hate crimes against Palestinians. Hand-in-Hand, which has six schools of 1,400 children across Israel — half Jewish and half Palestinian — is viewed as a rare model of tolerance in an otherwise fiercely divided society. The schools said in a statement: “We are less interested by the several years the arsonist will spend in prison than we are by the message. The court made a clear statement against incitement and against the distribution of racially inflammatory material.” The schools added that this message would be communicated to the students and their parents, adding that they would continue to work toward a more egalitarian education, which they said was their “answer to racial incitement.”
https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769122

Court sentences 3 for planning to kill Jews praying on Temple Mount, e. Jerusalem atttacks
JPost 30 Nov by Yonah Jeremy Bob — The Jerusalem District Court on Monday sentenced three east Jerusalem Arabs for conspiring to carry out shooting and kidnapping attacks against Jews praying on the Temple Mount and security forces posted in the eastern part of the capital. Jalal Koutoub was sentenced to 13 years in prison for assisting the enemy in a time of war, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping, two counts of attempted murder, kidnapping for the purpose of murder and other crimes. Muhammad Shaar was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison and Ahmad Bazalmit was sentenced to 3.5 years, both for assisting the enemy in a time of war and attempted robbery. It was unclear whether the prosecution would seek longer prison terms on appeal. The court’s decision did not address the status of the proceedings against the leader of the cell, Nor Hamdan, 24, as well as two other defendants, Omar Vuzvuz and Amjad Raazam. Their sentencing hearings are to take place in approximately two weeks. After the sentencing, family members of the defendants got into a physical altercation with the court’s security guards. It was unclear whether charges would be filed. According to his indictment, Hamdan decided in February 2013 to carry out shooting attacks on Jews who came to the Temple Mount to pray and against security forces in east Jerusalem. To accomplish this, Hamdan allegedly recruited the other defendants and others to form a terrorist cell. The cell members reside in Ras al-Amud and a-Tur in east Jerusalem, as well as the capital’s Old City, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said. Hamdan made contact with several terrorist organizations in the West Bank and Gaza to receive training, guidance and weaponry, said the indictment. The terrorist cell met around 10-15 times in February and March and intended to help enemy terrorist organizations in their war with Israel. (Continued)
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Court-sentences-3-terrorists-to-13-years-in-jail-for-planning-to-kill-Jews-praying-on-Temple-Mount-435835

BDS

West Bank winemaker says new labeling rules won’t hurt sales
Stuff 30 Nov by Ruth Egan — Yaakov Berg, Jewish settler and West Bank vintner, thinks the decision by the European Union to insist that he label his cabernet sauvignon as a product of an Israeli settlement will do little to hurt overall sales of his kosher wine. It might even help, he said. A few days after the EU announced its new labeling guidelines, Berg continued to expand his business: installing a new whiskey distillery in his boutique winery, a few miles from the outskirts of the Palestinian city of Ramallah. He is also preparing to launch an online shop to sell his wares, as well as goods from other nearby Jewish settlements, to Israel’s evangelical Christian supporters in the United States. And he may also get a little help from one of Israel’s biggest fans: Republican presidential candidate and evangelical pastor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who has led dozens of tours to Israel and never misses a chance to visit Berg’s winery. “I believe the best way to fight the decision is to show that we have people who love Israel, they read the Bible and they know this is our homeland,” Berg said, as he described the e-commerce initiative, called “Blessings of Israel. We are proud of where we are located . . .”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/74568569/west-bank-winemaker-says-new-labelling-rules-wont-hurt-sales

Other news / Analysis / Opinion

Month in Photos: Unabating violence, fighting for a better future
Activestills 1 Dec Photos by: Ahmad al-Bazz, Akram Drawshi, Faiz Abu-Rmeleh, Ezz Zanoun, Hosam Salim, Oren Ziv, Keren Manor, Tess Schaflan — Over 100 Palestinians and nearly two dozen Israelis have been killed in recent months during demonstrations, stabbings and vehicular attacks across the West Bank, Israel and Gaza. Thousands of Israelis demonstrated against the privatization of natural gas resources, others protested violence against women, commemorated the genocide of Native Americans, and a rare Palestinian-Israeli demonstration in the West Bank demanded an end of the occupation.
http://972mag.com/month-in-photos-unabating-violence-fighting-for-a-better-future/114359/

Palestinian Authority limits Christmas celebrations in West Bank
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (RNS) 30 Nov by Michele Chabin — The Palestinian Authority has asked municipalities to tone down their public Christmas celebrations this year amid escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Hanna Amireh, who heads a government committee on churches in the West Bank, confirmed the Palestinian Authority is requesting “a certain decrease” in festivities following the deaths of dozens of Palestinians since mid-September. The majority of them were killed during clashes with Israeli forces or carrying out terrorist attacks, according to the Israeli government. Amireh said the government has asked the municipality of Bethlehem, the town where Jesus was born and where official Palestinian celebrations of Christmas take place, not to set off holiday fireworks this year and to limit the festive lights and decorations that traditionally adorn the town to two main streets . . . News of the limitations upset Palestinian Christians, who comprise less than 2 percent of the population in the West Bank and Israel. “I’m truly disappointed,” Ekram Juha, director of the Bethlehem mayor’s office, said of the Palestinian Authority’s plans.
http://www.religionnews.com/2015/11/30/palestinian-authority-limits-christmas-celebrations-west-bank/

PA orders Hamas TV off the air in West Bank
Times of Israel 30 Nov by Tamar Pileggi — The Palestinian Authority on Monday instructed its broadcasting authority to indefinitely suspend Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV programming in the West Bank. “The PA’s security apparatuses have announced officially to all broadcasters in the West Bank that they are forbidden from airing the Al-Aqsa network,” Hamas confirmed in a statement on Facebook. Israeli watchdog groups have long-claimed Al-Aqsa TV promotes terrorist activity, teaches anti-Semitism and incites hatred of Israelis, especially in its programming for children. Monday’s move was seen as an attempt by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to tackle Hamas “incitement,” and in so doing to curb the almost-daily clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian rioters. The directive came one day after Israel Defense Forces soldiers raided a popular radio station in the West Bank city of Hebron, confiscated equipment, and shut down the station due to accusations that it has been inciting violence against Israelis. It was the third radio station to be raided in recent weeks amid persistent Israeli claims that the recent wave of Palestinian terror attacks has been spurred by incitement against Israel in social and traditional media.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-orders-hamas-tv-off-the-air-in-west-bank/

Israeli Arab party leader makes Foreign Policy’s ‘100 Leading Global Thinkers’ list
Haaretz 1 Dec by Jonathan Lis — The chairman of the Joint Arab List, MK Ayman Odeh, is on Foreign Policy magazine’s list of the top 100 “leading global thinkers” of 2015. The list is being published for the seventh year, and in the past has included such outstanding statesmen as U.S. President Barack Obama, Iranian President Hassan Rohani and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, alongside intellectuals and writers including David Grossman. “Middle East peace talks may be all but dead, but Ayman Odeh still dreams of resolving the world’s most intractable conflict,” wrote the magazine, which mentions the caricature published in Haaretz in which Odeh appeared as Mickey Mouse, a hint of the public affection for him. “I’m happy for the opportunity to present the unique problems of the country’s Arab citizens, which are barely mentioned in the international discourse,” said Odeh on the eve of his first trip to the United States as a politician. He is scheduled to participate in a Foreign Policy event and in “HaaretzQ: with NIF” – a first-of-its-kind conference to be held in New York on December 13.  Odeh will meet with members of Congress and representatives of the U.S. State Department and the White House, as well as leaders of the civil rights movement, activists and representatives from the Palestinian and Jewish communities, intellectuals and prominent political activists.  (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.689505

Israeli culture minister seeks to defund cinema institution over Nakba film festival
Haaretz 1 Dec by Nirit Anderman — Tel Aviv Cinemathèque screening film festival about 1948 war next week, which Miri Regev believes violates ‘Nakba Law.’ — Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev has ordered an investigative committee to be established to examine allegations that a film festival at the Tel Aviv Cinemathèque violates the Nakba Law, which allows the government to defund organizations presenting Israel’s establishment as a catastrophe, in line with the Palestinian narrative. The 48mm Festival, founded by [Israeli] anti-occupation NGO Zochrot and scheduled for December 4-6 at the cinemathèque, is also known as The Third International Film Festival on Nakba and Return. A 2011 amendment to the state budget law authorizes the finance minister to defund any institution that encourages incitement, racism or armed struggle against Israel, or presents Independence Day or the establishment of Israel as a day of mourning. The High Court rejected a petition to repeal the amendment, known as the Nakba Law, in 2012. Regev stated in an official announcement on Sunday evening that the committee would be comprised of members of the Censorship Board of Israel, which will be requested to view the festival films and write reports relative to the Nakba Law for further discussion and legal consultation within the ministry. “The minister will decide based on these opinions whether to ask the Finance Ministry to invoke the law,” the ministry announced.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.689179

Police target second ‘Breaking the Silence’ event in a week
+972 mag 30 Nov by Haggai Matar — For the second time in a week, Israeli police have imposed restrictions on Breaking the Silence lectures scheduled to take place in private venues. The owners of those venues and Breaking the Silence claim police are silencing the organization’s message in a way that serves the right wing in Israel. Breaking the Silence is an organization of former IDF soldiers that collects and distributes soldier testimonies about the occupation in order to show Israeli society exactly what it is sending its children to do. It has become the target of numerous right-wing attacks in recent years, including from members of the government. Three high-ranking police officers, including a station commander, showed up on Sunday at Bar Kayma, a vegan restaurant-bar in south Tel Aviv’s Florentine neighborhood. The police brass asked the restaurant’s management various questions about the Breaking the Silence event planned for Monday. The officers noted that on the event’s Facebook page some 70 people had indicated they planned to attend the lecture, whereas the restaurant’s business license gives it a maximum capacity of 38 people.
http://972mag.com/police-target-second-breaking-the-silence-event-in-a-week/114322/

Netanyahu: ‘I don’t want Palestinian Authority to fail because alternative may be worse’
PARIS (Haaretz) 1 Dec by Barak Ravid — In press briefing at Climate Change Conference in Paris, Netanyahu says his handshake with Abbas was in keeping with protocol, and doesn’t signify any change in relationship — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he is not hoping for the downfall of the Palestinian Authority because the alternative was liable to be worse. “I do not wish for the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,” Netanyahu told Israeli reporters after a day of meetings at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. He added that Israel is trying to implement measures that would prevent such a development, but refused to elaborate. “The fact that there’s now a bad alternative [the PA], doesn’t mean that we won’t get a worse alternative,” he said. “But there has to be a change in the PA leadership’s behavior.” . . . Netanyahu said that during a 10-minute conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, the two spoke about the Palestinian issue. “I said to Obama, look at how Abu Mazen is continuing his incitement,” Netanyahu recalled. “I told the president that the first step toward peace is to stop the incitement and the terror. I’m pressing this point and I want to see results in this area. Abu Mazen has to stop his incitement and his spreading of lies. Obama told me that he plans to speak with Abu Mazen about this and that he agrees with me that it has to stop.”
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.689348

Google denies monitoring accord with Israeli government
JERUSALEM (AFP) 30 Nov — Internet giant Google on Monday denied a report from Israel’s foreign ministry that it has reached an agreement with the government to jointly monitor YouTube videos inciting attacks. The ministry last week said that Google, which owns YouTube, had agreed a joint mechanism to monitor online materials — including videos encouraging attacks on Israelis — after a meeting between Google executives and the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. But the firm said no such agreement had been struck. A Google spokesman told AFP the meeting, in which Hotovely met Google’s senior counsel for public policy, Juniper Downs, and YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki, was just “one of many that we have with policymakers from different countries to explain our policies on controversial content, flagging and removals”. “The Israeli ministry for foreign affairs has corrected its original announcement which, in error, suggested there had been an agreement with Google to establish a mechanism to monitor online materials,” he added. Foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon confirmed a statement on their website had been changed but said Israel was still “extremely grateful for the good relations with Google”.
http://news.yahoo.com/google-denies-monitoring-accord-israeli-government-211733928.html

EU vows to continue working for peace despite row with Israel
BRUSSELS (AFP) 30 Nov — The European Union vowed Monday to work for Middle East peace even though Israel suspended it from the diplomatic process over the bloc’s decision to label goods imported from Jewish settlements. “When it comes to the Middle East peace process, the EU continues and will continue to work on this in the quartet… with our partners,” European Commission foreign affairs spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said. “Because peace in the Middle East is of interest to all,” she said. The EU is a member of the international quartet, along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, that conducts diplomacy with Israel and the Palestinians in a bid to end their decades-old conflict. Israel’s foreign ministry said Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “ordered suspension of diplomatic contacts with the institutions of the European Union and its representatives on this issue.” It said the ban would be in force for the duration of a reassessment of the bloc’s role in peace efforts.
http://news.yahoo.com/eu-vows-continue-working-peace-despite-row-israel-191433540.html

The logic of Israel’s anti-European propaganda / Roy Peled
Haaretz Opinion 30 Nov — Despite the government’s claim of being singled out for punishment, all the EU has done against the settlements is take away their advantages. By comparison, it imposes economic sanctions on fully 36 countries — There are two basic conditions necessary for public brainwashing. The first is the continued feeding of the public with baseless information, a well-known method that was developed into an art by dark regimes, in which repeating a lie enough times turns it into the truth. The second is the blocking of credible alternative information. If the public runs into the same information time after time and there is no one to undermine it, the chance to succeed in engineering public consciousness is high. These two conditions clearly exist in the way Europe’s relations with Israel are been presented here, as a result of the decision on labeling products of the settlements. The great majority of the Israeli media have taken a stand alongside the government to carry out this mission. A unified chorus has sounded the hysterical cry, free of all doubt, which none can challenge. European anti-Semitism has once again arisen. Once again the Europeans have isolated Israel, and once again acted according to their familiar double standard . . . This brainwashing we are being subjected to about Europe’s relations with Israel is very effective, and it is just one example. The image and actions of Mahmoud Abbas as chairman of the Palestinian Authority are another example. So is the policy of U.S. President Barack Obama. This imaginary world that the government and media in Israel present to its citizens works to justify Israelis’ feeling of victimization and the constant willingness to fight the entire world. It’s a shame that what gets lost along the way is truth and reality, which could offer people a somewhat more normal life in this country.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.689307

Netanyahu admits: Israel is operating in Syria
Ynet 1 Dec by Attila Somfalvi — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Tuesday that Israel operates in Syria. “We’re operating in Syria from time to time in order to stop the country from becoming a front against Israel,” he said at the Galilee Conference in Acre.  “We’re operating against another terror front that Iran is trying to build in the Golan, and in order to thwart the transfer of particularly deadly weapons from Syria to Lebanon. We will continue doing this,” the prime minister continued. Apart from ambiguous hints or what could be better defined as an unintentional slip, this is the first time an Israeli official – particularly, the prime minister – declares that Israel does indeed hold military operations where Assad forces, different rebel groups, Hezbollah and Iran are all fighting. A series of airstrikes has been attributed to Israel over the past few years, but Jerusalem has never officially claimed responsible for it.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4733465,00.html

The Arab-Muslim IDF soldier with a ‘Long live Israel’ tattoo
Ynet 25 Nov by Yoav Zitun — Samal Ziyad (not his real name), an Arab-Muslim who serves in the IDF’s Bedouin Trackers Unit, could easily compete for the title of the most Zionist soldier serving in the West Bank today. One of only a few dozen Arab Muslims serving in the army, he chose to volunteer for military duty, drawing fierce opposition from Arab society and the risk of personal attacks. Such is Ziyad’s exceptional story. He is now an infantry fighter serving at the height of the current wave of terror . . . Ziyad is not afraid to be identified, even though he has already had to deal with condemnation from Muslims opposed to his enlisting in the army. “Since I was little my father has encouraged me to serve in the army and he taught me that Israel is our country too,” Ziyad tells Ynet. “There were always Israeli flags at home hanging so they face outside and pictures of Israeli leaders were always up on the walls.” . . .  Ziyad has already asked his commander to put him forward for an officers’ course, so that he can progress in the army. “He is a remarkable soldier and a fantastic fighter, even though he comes from a village where almost no one serves,” says Shai Sharaf, the deputy commander of Ziyad’s brigade. Sharaf also notes that in spite of the challenges in Ziyad’s personal situation – he is married with children – he is continuing in full combat service. Ziyad and his colleagues have made significant operational accomplishments over the last few weeks in the Jenin area, for which their brigade is responsible.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4730358,00.html

Israeli advert stirs accusations of inter-Jewish racism
JERUSALEM (AFP) 1 Dec – An Israeli advert for a high-end housing development has been accused of carrying a racist message, shedding light on often hidden tensions between Jewish communities in the country. The video, which depicts a family of light-skinned Jews praying before receiving a knock on the door from their darker-skinned neighbours, was published online by the Bemuna construction company. Wearing unusual hats and lacking in social graces, the neighbours end up toasting marshmallows on the family’s Hanukkah candles — a Jewish religious holiday due to start next Sunday. “Do you also want to live in a house of your own? Do you want neighbours to your own liking?” the voiceover adds, before the names of the building project and the company appear on the screen. While the advert doesn’t specifically mention either group, it draws on long-standing tensions between lighter-skinned Ashkenazi — of central and eastern European descent and who have traditionally been Israel’s political and economic elite — and Sephardic Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. The advert, since taken off the Internet, received criticism on social media. The company could not be reached for comment.
http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-advert-stirs-accusations-inter-jewish-racism-153003986.html

Hamas: A pale image of the Jewish Irgun and Lehi gangs
Washington Report May/June 2006 by Donald Neff — AS EASY as it is to dismiss clichés as banal and misleading, the troubling problem is that they often cloak an essential truth. Scoffs and derision often greet the cliché that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Yet freedom fighters is exactly how Israelis view the early Zionists who fought in 1947 for the establishment of Israel—and how Palestinians now consider their fighters resisting Israeli occupation. The reality is that when faced with a superior military force, such as Britain possessed in 1947 and Israel does today against the Palestinians, terror is the underdog’s only viable weapon . . . Sixty years ago, however, at the time of the British Mandate, it was Jews in Palestine who mainly waged terrorism against the Palestinians. As Jewish leader David Ben-Gurion recorded in his personal history of Israel: “From 1946 to 1947 there were scarcely any Arab attacks on the Yishuv [the Jewish community in Palestine].” The same could not be said for the Zionists. Jewish terrorists waged an intense and bloody campaign against the Palestinians, British, and even some Jews who opposed them leading up to the establishment of Israel. The two major Jewish terror organizations in pre-independence Palestine were the Irgun Zvai Leumi—National Military Organization, NMO, also known by the Hebrew letters Etzel—founded in 1937, and the Lohamei Herut Israel, Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, Lehi in the Hebrew acronym, also known as the Stern Gang after its leader Avraham Stern, known as Yair, founded in 1940.The Irgun was led by Menachem Begin, the future Israeli prime minister . . .
SIDEBAR 1947: A Year of Terror —
Jan. 12 — Four killed by Irgun terrorist bombing of British headquarters.
Jan. 13 — Arab kidnapped and castrated by Jewish terrorists.
March 1 — Sixteen Britons killed by Jewish terrorists/Britain invokes martial law
March 10 — Jewish informer killed by Jewish terrorists.
March 11 — Two British soldiers killed by Jewish terrorists.
April 8 — British constable killed by Jewish terrorists.
April 8 — Jewish boy killed by British troops.
April 8 — Jew beaten to death by Arabs.
April 22 — Eight killed in Jewish terrorist bombing of the Cairo-Haifa train.
ETC.
http://www.wrmea.org/2006-may-june/hamas-a-pale-image-of-the-jewish-irgun-and-lehi-gangs.html

The rise of psychological trauma in occupied Palestine / Megan Hanna
Mondoweiss 30 Nov — . . . MSF released a statement revealing that the number of patients struggling with mental health issues has increased fivefold in Hebron, which has been bearing the brunt of violence in the West Bank, and where it has been reported that schools are also having to provide psychological first aid for students. “Under the current circumstances our patients are suffering from fear, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, anger, frustration, and hopelessness. Children often suffer from bed-wetting; they are scared to leave their home and to go to school, they lack the energy to study and cannot concentrate,” explains Marcos Matias Moyano, MSF psychologist in Hebron. “Many adults are facing sleeping and eating problems, crying, fear and despair. Although this is a protracted conflict, the level of acute stress we have seen among our patients in the past weeks is concerning. It will have a serious impact on people’s ability to cope,” he added. However, it seems that it’s not just Israel’s military actions that are contributing to this worrying trend, but the lack of accountability for settlers whose violent attacks are rarely prosecuted and seem to operate in an environment of impunity. A report from Médecins du Monde France released last month assessed the psychological damage to 72 direct and indirect victims of the Duma arson, where a Palestinian family was burned alive inside their home. Their findings showed that 82% of the beneficiaries are at severe risk of developing PTSD, and 45% are unable to carry out daily activities such as cleaning and cooking. – Chronic conditions of instability – Souha Shehadeh, a child psychiatrist who works for the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR), spoke to Mondoweiss to explain why psychological wounds take so long to heal in Palestine. “Here we are not in a situation where there is a war and everything returns back to normal”, she explained, “instead we have a chronic situation where from time to time there are explosions [of violence] and acute things happen, and then it comes down again, with things being relatively stable, albeit with the threat that things could explode again.” (Continued)
https://mondoweiss.net/2015/11/psychological-occupied-palestine

The illusion of Palestinian Sovereignty / Amira Hass
Haaretz 1 Dec — The West Bank’s division into ‘territorial capsules’ makes it hard for Palestinians to mass against Israeli aggression; instead, there are ‘lone-wolf stabbers.’ — Israeli military incursions into the West Bank’s Area A and even Area B – the districts where only Palestinians live and the Palestinian Authority operates – have one positive aspect. Yes, even when they include the destruction of radio stations or raids on hospitals. Despite all the shock and the denunciations, these raids are a lesson in reality. For a few hours, they destroy the illusion of Palestinian sovereignty. It’s a virtual sovereignty, fragmented and curtailed. Therefore, it’s an illusion – but an illusion that works. Broadcasters in Hebron think they can tell their listeners where soldiers are located, as if they lived in an independent state. Palestinian Facebook users inhabit a virtual reality twice over: They see the real world in cyberspace and are convinced that it protects them from raids and arrests. Doctors treat people with bullet wounds and forget that the sovereign is the settlement defense forces, which don’t recognize the immunity of medical institutions. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas receives ambassadors with great pomp, but is dependent on exit permits from the army. And professors from abroad are shocked when Israeli security services raid the campus of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis; their political geography classes evidently ended in 1993. That is when Zionism achieved one of its greatest military and diplomatic successes. Short of expelling every Palestinian or “causing them to flee,” this is the outcome most closely resembling transfer that was possible to achieve. The international political circumstances didn’t allow the territory to be emptied (again) of its Palestinian inhabitants. So reservations were set up (Areas A and B). They were supposed to be temporary, but meanwhile they’ve become permanent. It’s not important for now whether this is exactly what Zionist leaders intended when they concocted the Oslo Accords’ interim agreements. The result is the same either way: Palestinian pseudo-sovereignty in territorial capsules, which is one of the main reasons why the current uprising hasn’t taken off. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.689502

groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)