and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft and destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Confrontations spread throughout Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 11 Mar 16:28 — Confrontations in Silwan have spread to other districts that were previously unaffected by the violence that unfolded on the village’s streets today. Israeli forces fired massive amounts of tear gas wantonly through Silwan, causing asphyxiation effects in several Palestinian residents. Witnesses stated that Israeli troops’ firing of gas in Bir Ayyub forced shop owners to close down their shops and evacuate the buildings due to the intensity of the barage. Soldiers also fired rubber bullets and sound bombs.
http://silwanic.net/?p=13384
One week old baby amongst those engulfed in the tear gas rained down on Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 11 Mar 14:04– Violent clashes continue into the night throughout Silwan, with confrontations raging since this morning. A one-week old baby was reported to be suffering the effects of tear gas inhalation during the ferocious barrage of gas canisters fired wantonly by Israeli forces in and between houses throughout the village. A 45 year old woman was transferred to hospital suffering from asphyxiation.
http://silwanic.net/?p=13381
Palestinians protest as Israel attempts to erase their presence in Lod
Palestine Monitor 11 Mar — A demonstration took place Tuesday evening in Lod, one of Israel’s mixed cities, provoked by the most recent spate of house demolitions there. … The crowd yelled, ‘You can arrest us and beat us but we will not leave Lod’. The most recent victims of home demolitions in Lod are the Abu Eid family, comprising seven families in total, whose homes were demolished three months ago. For two months, the families lived in tents on their land. Last week, they laid the foundations for temporary cabins but those too were torn down on the orders of the police.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1711
UN rights expert condemns sharp increase in Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes
UN 11 Mar — An independent United Nations expert has called on Israel to stop illegally demolishing Palestinian homes in the West Bank, including two apartment buildings in East Jerusalem where 150 people are about to be evicted, citing a recent surge in such actions. “This pattern of eviction, demolition, expansion of settlements, and settlers’ violent expropriation of Palestinian homes in the occupied East Jerusalem violates fundamental human rights, as well as provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention governing belligerent occupation,” UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Richard Falk said in a statement.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37739&Cr=Israel&Cr1=
Settlement attack and aftermath [see Analysis for history of Itamar]
IDF launches massive manhunt after five family members slain in settlement knife attack
Haaretz 12 Mar — Security services are scouring the area around the West Bank settlement of Itamar after five members of a family were found stabbed to death in their home Friday night … The family members – two parents and their three children – were killed when a suspected terrorist broke into their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar and stabbed them all to death … The overnight attack is the first attack against settlers in months and the first of its kind and scope in years …Itamar is home to some of the West Bank’s most fervent settlers.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-launches-massive-manhunt-after-five-family-members-slain-in-settlement-knife-attack-1.348707
Settlers raid villages across the West Bank
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 Mar 18:38 — Villages across the West Bank have reported raids by settlers since five Israelis from the same family were killed early Saturday morning in Itamar settlement … In Burin, near Nablus, village council head Ali Eid said residents of the illegal Bracha settlement entered Maher Mahmoud Hassen’s home and tried to take his children. Hassen’s children managed to escape, Eid said. Settlers also entered the homes of Najeh and Hatem Tawfiq E’mran, he added. Residents of nearby Huwwara also said they were harassed by settlers, who tried to enter Palestinian homes in the eastern side of the town … Meanwhile in Hebron, settlers threw rocks at a Palestinian Authority civil defense vehicle, smashing the wind screen and injuring the driver, police said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367927
Settlers threaten Palestinian villagers near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 Mar — Settlers handed out leaflets in a Palestinian village near Ramallah on Saturday threatening residents that their lives were at risk, villagers said. Beitillu residents said settlers distributed the statement signed by “the Jews from the land of Israel” at the village entrance, where Israeli forces were also stationed. The incident occurred as residents prepared to protest against the confiscation of village land to build settlements, which the international community recognizes as illegal.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367848
Nablus area closed after attack on settlement
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 Mar 11:39 — Israel’s military besieged the northern West Bank after an apparent attack on a settlement left five people dead. All army checkpoints in the area have been closed. Soldiers detained 20 Palestinians from Awarta village, the closest Palestinian community to Itamar … Soldiers began aggressive inspections using police dogs as helicopters and drones flew overhead. Military checkpoints which had been evacuated in recent months were erected again. Soldiers reoccupied the Huwwara post south of Nablus, the Taneib checkpoint to the west, and Al-Badhan in the north. Flying checkpoints were also set up after the attack. Locals said all Palestinians who attempted to cross in or out of Nablus were searched and sent back after the army declared the region a closed military zone. …The last deadly attack on a West Bank settlement was on August 31 last year, when four settlers were killed near Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367741
Army operations reported in Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an)12 Mar 11:59 — Israeli forces swept through the vicinity of southern villages in southern Jenin early Saturday. There were no reports of home raids or arrests. Soldiers fired stun grenades in Zbabdeh, Sanour and Maslyeh, residents said. They also used helicopters and police dogs, according to locals in the three villages. An army spokeswoman did not comment on the reports of the incursions in Jenin and elsewhere in the aftermath of a deadly stabbing attack that left five Israeli citizens dead.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367768
Shadowy group claims settlement attack
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Mar 13:12 — An armed faction calling itself the “Imad Mughniyya Group” has claimed responsibility for stabbing to death an Israeli family of five in the illegal settlement of Itamar in the northern West Bank. Israeli authorities have dismissed statements from the group in the past, as it has claimed responsibility for other operations that may have been the work of others. It is believed to be linked to Fatah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367847
Al Aqsa Brigades claims responsibility for West Bank killing
M&C 12 Mar – Nablus, West Bank – The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, claimed responsibility on Saturday for killing five Israeli settlers near the West Bank city of Nablus. A member of the al-Aqsa Brigades attacked a house in the Itamar settlement, south of Nablus, the group claimed in a statement sent to reporters. The mujahid killed all who were in the house at around 1:15 am local time (2315 GMT) at predawn on Saturday’, the leaflet said
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1625553.php/Al-Aqsa-Brigades-claims-responsibility-for-West-Bank-killing
Fayyad condemns settlement attack
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 Mar 14:46 — Prime minister-designate Salam Fayyad said Saturday that his government rejects violence without exception and has always condemned extremism … “An infant, two children and their parents were the victims, and as we have always rejected violence against our people, we reject it against others and we condemn it.” Fayyad added, while inaugurating a new building for the Beit Jala municipal council, that violence could not be justified no matter what the pretext, goal or identity of the intended victim.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367857
Netanyahu faults Palestinian incitement for West Bank settlement attackt
Haaretz 12 Mar 18:01 PM blames Palestinian Authority for fatal stabbing in which five family members were killed in Itamar settlement, says a society allowing ‘wild incitement’ against Israel prompts the murder of children.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-faults-palestinian-incitement-for-west-bank-settlement-attack-1.348763
US condemns West Bank killing of five Israelis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) 12 Mar — The United States on Saturday called the stabbing deaths of five Israelis on the West Bank a terrorist attack and urged the Palestinian Authority to “unequivocally” condemn the killings.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110312/pl_nm/us_usa_israel_killings_2
Siege / Restriction of movement
Health ministry curbs dialysis visits for Strip’s kidney patients
GAZA, (PIC) 12 Mae — The Ministry of Health in Gaza has been forced to curb the number of weekly dialysis visits for the Strip’s 375 kidney patients, including 13 children. The move was made to preserve the Strip’s supply of dialysis solution, which is required for more than 80 devices of varied types.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
5 Palestinian patients seek access to hospital
Pal Telegraph 12 Mar — Five Palestinian kidney patients were prevented Saturday from access to the hospital in Nablus city by Israeli occupation forces stationed at Beit Furik checkpoint in the east of the same city. Naser Abu Jaish, head of village council, said that Israeli army prevented all citizens including five patients to pass through the checkpoint. He emphasized that those patients in desperate need for medical treatment and he demanded the international committee of the red cross to immediately intervene to evacuate them to the hospital.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/8682-5-palestinian-patients-seek-access-to-hospital.html
Gaza truckers protest Israel’s closure of commercial crossing
EI 11 Mar — On 2 March Israel announced the complete closure of Karni, the principal commercial crossing into the Gaza Strip, prompting protests by Palestinian traders who rely on the crossing to bring goods into the territory. Karni, known by Palestinians as al-Muntar, has functioned intermittently for the past 16 years, since Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Oslo accords in 1993 … “The closure of Karni further tightens the blockade of Gaza and makes us lose hope that the siege will ever be eased,” Dr. Maher al-Tabaa of Gaza’s chamber of commerce told The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11853.shtml
Detention
Ufree: Palestinians have broken world prison time record
GENEVA, (PIC) 12 Mar — The Palestinians have broken world records in prison time, said Mohammed Hamdan, the director-general of the Oslo-based European Network to Support the Rights of Palestinian Prisoners (Ufree). Ufree has staged the ”working for justice” conference promoting the Palestinian POW cause at the symbolic UN headquarters in Geneva. “More than 750,000 Palestinians have passed through the Israeli prisons, and at least 6,000 remain there in captivity,” Hamdan said in a press statement to promote the conference due for Friday and Saturday. “The Palestinian captives have broken world records in captivity time.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Palestinians handcuffed, detained for picking wildflowers
Last Thursday, IDF gunmen detained three Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, on suspicion of picking an endangered plant, Gundelia tournefortiii. They handcuffed one of the Palestinians, and kept the detainees for about three hours, standing outside in the sun. One of them, aged over 60, felt ill and, after an intervention by the women of Machsom Watch, received medical treatment. The IDF Spokesman did not dispute the facts (Hebrew). Gundelia tournefortii is a thistle, the use of which is popular in Palestinian cuisine … this incident, which can properly be described as grotesque, clarifies the essence of the occupation. The Palestinians are prohibited from picking thistles that have been part of their diet for generations, because a foreign occupier has forbidden them to, naturally without bothering to consult them.
http://972mag.com/idf-protects-thorns-detains-palestinians/
Abbas militia imposes blackout on hunger striker in Al-Khalil jail
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 11 Mar — Family of kidnapped Palestinian citizen Wajdi Taha, 25, has accused the militia of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank of imposing blackout on the condition of their son who is on hunger-strike for many days now, holding Abbas personally responsible for the well-being of their son.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Refugees
Fayyad lays first brick for new UN joint program funded by Japan in Jerichot
JERICHO, March 10, 2011 (WAFA) –Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, together with the Representative of Japan to the PA, Naofumi Hashimoto and the UN Resident Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian Territory, Maxwell Gaylard, laid on Thursday the first brick of an adobe structure that will benefit over 100 women and children as a women’s community centre at the ‘Aqabat Jaber Camp, in Jericho.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:fayyad-lays-first-brick-for-new-un-joint-program-funded-by-japan-in-jericho-&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
Jailed Bil‘in protester, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, to be released on Sunday
ISM 11 Mar — Abu Rahmah is expected to be released after having served the 16 months sentence imposed on him by the Israeli Military Court of Appeals for organizing demonstrations … Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil‘in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested last year by soldiers who raided his home at the middle of the night and was subsequently indicted before an Israeli military court on unsubstantiated charges that included stone-throwing and arms possession. Abu Rahmah was cleared of both the stone-throwing and arms possession charges, but convicted of organizing illegal demonstrations and incitement. An exemplary case of mal-use of the Israeli military legal system in the West Bank for the purpose of silencing legitimate political dissent, Abu Rahmah’s conviction was subject to harsh international criticism.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/03/16960/
Frequently asked questions about BDS
Thanks to the BDS National Committee, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, the Institute for Middle East Understanding, the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, and Birthright Unplugged for guidance on these answers.
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2926
Global actions, backlash during Israel Apartheid Week
EI 11 Mar –The 7th annual Israeli Apartheid Week launched this week, with more than 75 cities across six continents participating in educational events and direct actions in support of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement … IAW events have been met with strong opposition and smear campaigns by local, national and international Zionist organizations since its launch. [See http://apartheidweek.org/en]
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11854.shtml
BDS: A call to the Coens
Dear Joel and Ethan Coen — We understand that you’re among this year’s winners of a $1mn Dan David prize, awarded jointly by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University. We read that you’re likely to attend the award ceremony in Israel on May 15, in the company of Israeli president Shimon Peres … Allow us to complicate your reported acceptance of this prize.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/03/bds-call-to-coens.html
Support Marrickville Council and BDS
8 Mar — Marrickville Council in Sydney recently became the first municipality in Australia to support the Palestinian initiated BDS campaign. They have since become of the target of a harassment campaign by groups pressuring the councillors to change their conscientious decision.
http://livefromoccupiedpalestine.blogspot.com/2011/03/support-marrickville-council-and-bds.html
Tear down this Israeli wall / Roger Waters
Guardian 11 Mar — I want the music industry to support Palestinians’ rights and oppose this inhumane barrier
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/cultural-boycott-west-bank-wall
Political / Diplomatic news
Tens of thousands in Gaza march demanding national unity
GAZA, (PIC) 12 Mar — Tens of thousands took part in the march organized by national factions in Gaza Strip on Friday demanding an end to internal division and restoration of national unity. The marchers hit the streets following the Friday congregation and headed to the Palestinian legislative council hoisting placards calling for an end to the internal rift and an end to the siege while hoisting Palestinian flags only. Almost all factions took part in the march with the exception of Fatah
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Turkey dismisses Israel’s concerns over spy satellite
Reuters 11 Mar — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan dismissed on Friday security concerns expressed by Israel over the launch of Turkey’s first spy satellite. “We are sending our Gokturk satellite to space in 2013. Some people are disturbed by this. They say: ‘Turkey will watch us from space in the future’. You have been watching us for many years, decades,” Erdogan told youth party members of his ruling AK Party, without mentioning ex-ally Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/turkey-dismisses-israel-s-concerns-over-spy-satellite-1.348628
Mofaz expects military showdown with Palestinians
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 11 Mar — Head of Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Shaul Mofaz, said on Thursday that he expected a military showdown with the Palestinians if the political process remains stagnant. Israeli radio quoted Mofaz, who is also a former War Minister, as saying that if the political process with the Palestinians is not resumed, then the next confrontation [with the Palestinians] is a matter of time. Mofaz, who was talking to Israeli secondary school students in Ramat Gan, also said that he did not think that Netanyahu had prepared a political plan.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Other news
ICM European poll reveals massive disconnect between governments and people over conflict in Palestine
MEMO 11 Mar — This latest research by the polling institution ICM Government and Social Research Unit, was carried out in six major European countries: Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. The following are some of the key findings: 1. A mere 10% of Europeans agree that their countries should support Israel rather than the Palestinians; while almost four folds, 39%, disagree. 2. A clear majority of Europeans, 58%, oppose changing the law to make it easier for those accused of war crimes to visit Europe, only 10% agree to make such changes. 3. 34% believe Israel is NOT a democracy, while less than half, 45%, believe it is a democracy. In Italy and Spain: 41% believe Israel is not a democracy….
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/press-release/2136-icm-european-poll-reveals-massive-disconnect-between-governments-and-people-over-conflict-in-palestine
Support on Facebook for Palestinian uprising
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 12 Mar — Tens of thousands of Palestinians on Facebook want a third intifada. “Third Palestinian Intifada” had over 80,000 supporters Friday, nearly twice as many as the day before. The page was established Sunday. “After the Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan intifadas, it’s time for the Palestinian intifada,” the page says. “It’s time to free Palestine.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=367671
Poll finds 83% of Likud members oppose concessions
JPost 10 Mar — Only 5% of faction members in favor of creating Palestinian state in temporary borders, even though it could soon become PM’s peace plan — Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may have a harder time advancing a new diplomatic initiative than he had previously thought, after an automated poll conducted by a body called the Likud National Task Force found that 83 percent of Likud members opposed making any concessions to the Palestinians.The automated polling system, which settler leaders admit was unscientific, called 113,643 Likud Party members. Nearly 72,000 picked up the phone, of whom 26,959 participated and agreed to answer one question.–
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=211654
Gaza: Investigate torture of protest organizer
HRW 11 Mar (Jerusalem) – Hamas authorities in Gaza should investigate claims that security officials tortured a blogger and activist and prosecute any officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said today. The blogger had called for demonstrations in favor of ending the split between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/11/gaza-investigate-torture-protest-organizer
IDF searching for soldier missing since Monday
Haaretz 11 Mar — Israel Defense Forces is searching for soldier Corporal Bogdan (Dan) Shirokov who has been missing since Monday morning, with no signs of his whereabouts. Shirokov, a Ramat Gan resident, last made contact with his family on Monday. The soldier was last seen wearing his uniform at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station when he boarded the 411 ‘Superbus’ bus heading to Beit Shemesh.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/idf-searching-for-soldier-missing-since-monday-1.348637
Analysis / Opinion
History of Itamar / Editor, Palestine Monitor
[with map] 12 Mar — Settlement central to regional tension and Jewish fundamentalism — In the disgust and fury following the murder of five family members in the Itamar settlement, mainstream news sources are ignoring the full context of the Nablus/Shomron region …Itamar was founded in 1984 by members of the Amana settler community. Named after the nephew of Moses who is buried in the Palestinian village of Awarta, Itamar has just over 700 members, according to an Israeli military database of settlement construction and expansion leaked by Haaretz two years ago. Idith Zertal and Akiva Eldar argue in their history of the settler movement Lords of the Land that the ‘fanatical settlement’ of Itamar was part of a grand Zionist design perpetuated by more than a decade of policy by Israel’s political elite … Itamar’s spiritual life revolves around Avichai Ronsky, a former Chief Rabbi of the Israeli army. He was removed from office last year when Breaking the Silence, Haaretz and Rabbis for Human Rights called for his resignation following reports that he circulated hate-speech pamphlets to soldiers during Operation Cast Lead … Right now, Ronsky is sitting with his grief-stricken community, reeling from the loss of five friends. Perhaps he is preaching peace, but the great fear is that the ‘fighter-rabbi’ will call for retribution.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1714
from 27 Sept 2010:
The village of Burin: under attack by surrounding settlements
…With a population of approximately 3,500 that is wholly dependent on the yields of their olive trees, Burin’s lands are hemmed in by two settlements on the North and South ends of the village, named Bracha and Yitzhar respectively. In addition to these government-sanctioned settlements, there are four outposts that have taken root up on these hilltops over the last 10 years … since 2000 Burin’s olive groves and land have been preyed upon by the surrounding settlers, who have declared their desire to annex the entire area into their own territory. Attacking Burin both literally and administratively, the settlers have terrorized the village by burning olive fields, slaughtering sheep, stealing farming equipment, and throwing rocks at villagers. In the last ten years the village has lost more than 16,000 trees … Recently, the Yitzhar settlement has garnered significant attention due to the ultra-right ideology of their head Rabbi, Yitzhak Shapira, who has been charged with advocating for the killing of non-Jews in his recently published book, The King’s Torah. Shapira’s argument for the removal of Palestinians from “Judea and Samaria” aligns with the Kach movement and political party, which was illegalized in Israel in 1994. In Shapira’s book, he justifies the killing of non-Jewish people, including children, as a legitimate means to protect Jews.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1548
Massacring truth: the story of Jenin, Jenin / Seraj Assi
Israel’s hysterical campaign against Jenin Jenin is not over the film’s politics; quite the contrary, its provocative professionalism … In 2007, five Israeli soldiers who took part in the Jenin massacre sued Bakri for ’emotional distress’ … Israel’s policy towards Palestinians has long been predicated on ensuring that Palestinian blood remains far cheaper than the ‘feelings’ of its solders. Yet we must be reminded that when Israel demands apology from its victims, it is serious about it. For violence against Palestinians is not only legitimate from the Israeli perspective; rather, it is necessary. Its rationality stands alone and has its own logic and morality. That Israel demands that Bakri apologize for its own crime is not a mere audacity. It is a colonial mentality.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16716
The New Israeli Left / Joseph Dana and Noam Sheizaf
Nation 28 Mar issue — …As far as most of the Jewish public in Israel is concerned, these activists took the wrong way a long time ago. It has been almost a decade since a handful of them started taking part in unarmed Palestinian demonstrations against the occupation. Their number has risen steadily, as has hostility from mainstream Israeli society. Their actions are considered a breach of the old ways of the Zionist left, which for the most part preferred rallies in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, attended by a predominantly Jewish crowd and carried out with police approval and protection. Those rallies targeted government policy and right-wing settlers. But the methods of this younger breed of activists, which involve protesting side by side with Palestinians and confronting the IDF — still the most sacred of Israeli institutions — are seen by most Israelis as breaking a taboo, as no less than betrayal.
http://www.thenation.com/article/159164/new-israeli-left
In the land of King David / Lia Tarachansky
IOA 11 Mar — As the Israeli government endorses school trips to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israelis protest against the arrest of four hikers who killed a Palestinian during a similar tour … On 28 January 2011, the David and Ahikam Tours Company took a group of Jewish-Israeli hikers over the lands of the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar in the Hebron governorate. Youths from the village saw the group and threw stones. The hikers shot back, using live ammunition, wounding 23-year-old Bila Mohammad Abed Al-Qador and killing 17-year-old Yousef Fakhri Ikhlayl. It never occurred to the Israeli media to ask why the youths had thrown stones. Here are some thoughts. It could have been that they mistook the group for settler scouts looking for a place to start a new outpost. Maybe they were frustrated at the military raids in their village two days before. Maybe they were angry that settlers had killed19-year-old Oday Maher Hamza Qadous near Nablus the day before
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2011-03-11/lia-tarachansky-in-the-land-of-king-david/?
Video – Leila Farsakh: The Arab revolutions and Palestine
10 Mar — In this episode of Palestine Studies TV, Dr. Leila Farsakh discussed the implications of the protest movements in the Arab world on Palestinian politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
http://www.palestine-studies.org/columndetails.aspx?t=4&id=33
Please report any unattended human rights / Jesse Bacon
TOD 10 Mar — I read Neve Gordon’s piece a few months back about human rights websites being banned at Ben Gurion airport, and thought what a perfect microcosm of the front Israel is trying to put up to the world. While they wouldn’t think of banning such websites to their own population, I hope, international travelers are key to the PR efforts that they shouldn’t be allowed to read any such depressing news. Including, presumably, reports on the Palestinians or Israeli activists being denied entry or the foreign journalists being strip-searched. Well, Joseph Dana of Popular Struggle was watching Palestinian citizens being harassed at security on his way to South Africa and tried to load up Jewishvoiceforpeace.org the website of our sponsor here at The Only Democracy?. Indeed, the website is banned as well, and in good company with Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International. Another case of reading about a policy in the abstract and then later realizing it affects you directly. I assume this blog is banned as well, but please folks, don’t wait until it’s your own website to be outraged.
http://theonlydemocracy.org/2011/03/please-report-any-unattended-human-rights/
The dwarfs / Uri Avnery
12 Mar — …A region with open borders, with commercial activity and economic cooperation flourishing from Marrakesh to Mosul, from Haifa to Aden, within a generation or two – yes, that is one of the possibilities opened by the current earth-shaking events. SUCH A development would need, of course, a total change in our basic concepts, some of which are at least as old as Zionism itself. It will not happen as long as our political and intellectual life is dominated by Netanyahu, Lieberman, Barak, Eli Yishai, Tzipi Livni, Shimon Peres and their ilk. The stage must be cleared of this whole crop of dwarfs.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1299886464/
Iraq
Friday: 1 Iraqi killed, 29 wounded
At least one Iraqi was killed and 29 others were wounded in new violence and one previous attack. Iraq also saw protests again today as demonstrators filtered out of mosques and onto the streets … Former Sahwa fighters, who are credited with reducing violence in Iraq, say they have given up almost all hope in finding jobs with the government.
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/03/11/friday-1-iraqi-killed-29-wounded/
U.S.
White supremacist charged in MLK Day bomb plot
Salon 11 Mar — A Washington man with ties to a neo-Nazi group allegedly planted a backpack explosive on a Spokane parade route … The bomb was fortuitously discovered in time for the parade to be rerouted and no one was hurt, but authorities said it could have been lethal.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/11/spokane_bomb_arrest/index.html
Judge hears arguments in Muslim abuse case
NEW YORK (Reuters) 11 Mar — After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Muslims and Arabs were illegally targeted and detained by the U.S. government without proper suspicion of ties to terrorism, a rights lawyer told a New York judge on Friday … The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of eight Muslim men who said they were illegally targeted and harshly abused by federal prison employees because of their religion and ethnicity.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110311/us_nm/us_usa_muslims_abuse
Mother of 9/11 victim condemns King hearing on Muslim ‘radicalization’
Democracy Now 11 Mar — We speak to Talat Hamdani, the mother of Mohammed Salman Hamdani, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Minnesota Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, broke down in tears at the hearing when telling the story of her son. We also speak with Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/11/mother_of_9_11_victim_condemns
US Muslims find defending themselves exhausting
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) 12 Mar — Finishing law school is a challenge for Dewnya Bakri-Bazzi, but being an American and a Muslim can be downright exhausting … Bakri-Bazzi, president of the Muslim Legal Society at Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Detroit area campus, says she fears Thursday’s hearing will only spark backlash against innocent members of her community just going about their lives.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110312/ap_on_re_us/us_muslims_terror_hearing_mood
Congressman Peter King’s great Muslim scare / Franklin Lamb
…King comes across as a prejudiced lawmaker determined to demonize American Muslims as violent radicals …King consistently misrepresents the facts. As Middle East specialist Mohamed Khodr instructs us, between 1980 and 2005, according to FBI statistics less than six percent of terrorist incidents during this fifteen year period were committed by Muslims, while 94% were committed by non-Muslims. Moreover, 23 of the 24 recorded terrorist incidents (2002-2005) were carried out by domestic terrorists The FBI claims that of the 83 terrorist attacks in the United States between 9/11 and the end of 2009, only three were clearly connected with the jihadist cause. (3.6% of total)
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/03/congressman-peter-king%E2%80%99s-great-muslim-scare/
