and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Izbat Al Tabib set to lose land with creation of wall
ISM 27 Apr — The village of Izbat Al Tabib outside Qalqilya is currently being threatened by the creation of a wall, which will annex 1000 square meters of their agricultural land. The village is situated right next to highway 55, and under the pretext of preventing stones being thrown onto the highway, the Israeli Civil Administration plans to build two walls, between which will be a buffer zone of Palestinian land. This will separate Izbat Al Tabib from the highway annexing vital agricultural land. The army is planning to begin constructing the wall on 1st May.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/18006/
IDF says it’ll soon complete moving Bil‘in security barrier
JPost 27 Apr –The IDF announced on Wednesday that the route of the West Bank security barrier that passes near the Palestinian village of Bil’in will soon be altered in compliance with a court order. In a move ordered by the High Court nearly four years ago and approved by the Defense Ministry three years later, the army plans to move the fence west, away from the village’s land and closer to Modi’in Illit.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=218094
Rabbi Lior: Encourage Bedouins to leave Israel
Ynet 26 Apr — Rabbi Dov Lior, rabbi of Kiryat Arba and head of the yeshiva there, chose to use the platform of the fourth Ramla conference to state that the State of Israel “must encourage Bedouins to return to their native land in Saudi Arabia and Libya”. Rabbi Lior made his statements at a special plenum devoted to the problem of the unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the Negev [and this Lior person was born in Galicia, Eastern Europe, while the Bedouins were born in Palestine]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4060912,00.html
Hundreds of rabbis sign edict prohibiting withdrawal from WB
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 26 Apr — Hundreds of Jewish rabbis sent a message to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday telling him that withdrawing troops from the West Bank was religiously forbidden. The message signed by 350 rabbis protested Netanyahu’s declaration that he was ready to evacuate a number of areas in the West Bank and deliver them to the Palestinian Authority along with readiness to resume negotiations with it. The rabbis included a Toratic edict in their message which prohibited withdrawing from West Bank land, describing it as the borders of the “Hebrew state”.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2Bc
Group announces it will travel to Joseph’s Tomb again
JPost 27 Apr — The group behind clandestine night trips into Nablus in order to pray at Joseph’s Tomb announced they would be going to the site on Wednesday night. A member of the group was killed at the site several day ago by PA policemen. In that case, the group had not notified the army of its intention to access the site.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=218090
Savage Jewish settlers burn commercial stores in Al-Khalil old city
Al-KHALIL (PIC) 27 Apr — Armed Jewish settlers attacked at dawn Tuesday Palestinian commercial stores with Molotov cocktails in Kazazeen souk (market) in the old city of Al-Khalil [Hebron] burning down four of them and all goods inside them. Owners of these stores are Shaban Hashlamoun, Mohamed Al-Shalloudi, Atta Al-Shweiki and Abdelhameed Al-Natsha. Firefighters from Al-Khalil municipal council tried to enter the old city to extinguish the fire, but the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) blocked their way at the pretext the area was a closed military zone. Eyewitnesses said they saw armed Jewish settlers in Kazazeen souk dancing in circles, singing and shouting racist chants against Arabs before culminating their revelry with an arson attack on the stores. [Hamas language is not always polite, but that doesn’t make a story any less newsworthy]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Jerusalem
Israelis suggest that Muslim call to prayer in Jerusalem can be a ‘loud nuisance’
Al Arabiya 27 Apr — For centuries the call for prayers in Jerusalem emanating from its mosques was always accepted, but now Israel is mounting a case that the sound of the call of the prayer is a nuisance. The Knesset, the unicameral legislature of Israel, is currently receiving suggestions to lobby for a decision to halt the ‘loud’ calls of the prayer including another suggestion which including controlling the volumes of the loudspeakers in the mosques. Palestinians are the ones who currently in charge of the loudspeakers and the wavelengths hailing from them. “The calls of the prayers in Jerusalem have been going for the past 15 centuries,” Sheikh Akrama Sabri, the Palestinian Higher Islamic Council, told Al Arabiya. “We realize that the occupiers [Israelis] do not protect religious rituals and symbols, the Israeli army has previously interfered as such,” Sheikh Sabri added.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/27/146865.html
Dawn raid on family home in Wadi Hilweh
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 26 Apr — Israeli forces launched a dawn raid on the family home Shadi Siyam today in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan, following an accusation lodged by settlers that Siyam, 25, had assaulted them. Siyam’s father was also summoned for investigation. Upon arrival at the police station, he was shown photographs that police claimed to be of his son attacking settlers. Siyam’s father denied that the photographs are of his son. Police also asked to investigate Siyam’s mother, who was transferred to hospital following interrogation.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15201
Court extends house arrest for two Silwan youth
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 26 Apr — The Israeli Magistrates Court extended the house arrest sentences of two youth from Silwan today. Suhaib Rajabi (17) and Islam Aoudeh (18) were sentenced to a further three months under house arrest. The decision was handed down when the two youth refused a police deal to plead guilty to charges lodged against them, which would have secured their release.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15203
Violence / Incursions
Security gaps in Tulkarem after shots fired
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — Israeli forces informed PA security in Tulkarem that they should step back from the city as soldiers enter the area for “ongoing security activity” Wednesday, following an incident of PA fire nearby an Israeli patrol yesterday. According to Palestinian sources, an Israeli guard showed his middle finger to a PA security officer as the two passed in a rare occurrence, prompting a PA officer to fire a single shot into the air in protest of the gesture … Following the single shot, which Tulkarem Mayor Dalal Dweikat had earlier characterized as a misfire, Israeli forces ordered the PA officers off the streets, security sources told Ma‘an. Soldiers re-entered Tulkarem overnight, amid what witnesses said was heavy gunfire, but appeared to withdraw shortly afterward. There has been no indication to PA forces, however, that they can re-enter the town and continue their work. The security vacuum has already lead to low-level disruptions, with witnesses saying a group of unknown assailants opened fire on the home of local school director Rasem As-Sa‘ed causing damages but no injuries
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382596
Israel prevents medical help for Palestinians
TULKARM (WAFA) 27 Apr — Isareli soldiers stationed at Khirbet Jbara village, south of Tulkarm Wednesdsay prevented an UNRWA medical delegation from entering the village to organize a free medical aid day. Witnesses told WAFA that Israeli soldiers prevented the medical delegation of a doctor, nurses and pharmacist from entering the gate and reaching the location of the village council where the event was supposed to be held. Palestinians living in the village condemned this action which deprived people from receiving medical care; the village lacks any medical institutions.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15988
Israeli forces prevent Palestinians from entering their land, seize bulldozer in Hebron
HEBRON (WAFA) 26 Apr — Israeli forces Tuesday prevented Palestinian farmers in Beit-Ula, a town west of Hebron city, from entering their land and seized a bulldozer that belongs to one of them. Spokesman of the National Committee against Wall and Settlements in the town said that the Israeli forces prevented the farmers from entering their land, under the pretext ‘ the land belongs to the Jewish state’ and farmers do not have the right to be there, in addition they seized a bulldozer which belongs to a Palestinian farmer.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15983
Gaza
‘Mathilde Redmatn’ and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza / Tim Haughton
Mondoweiss 27 Apr — As someone who spends a lot of time performing critical analysis of the press as well as studying propaganda in general, there are occasionally stories which prick my interest. A couple of days ago, a story appeared on the IDF Spokesperson’s Website which did just that. The story essentially reports on an interview with one “Mathilde Redmatn”, deputy head of the Red Cross in Gaza. The author quotes Redmatn as saying: “There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” … As one might expect, this “bombshell” was quickly scooped up by the corporate press, and covered (sometimes with extra spin) by CNN, Haaretz, JPost and so on. [Note that “According to UN statistics, around 70% of Gazans live on less than $1 a day, 75% rely on food aid and 60% have no daily access to water” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/31/gaza-blockade-israel]
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/04/mathilde-redmatn-and-the-humanitarian-crisis-in-gaza.html
After 4-year delay, aggregates enter Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) — Over the past month and a half, at least 60,000 tons of construction aggregates have been imported into Gaza, following a four-year-long wait that dated back to the start of Israel’s siege on the coastal enclave. Speaking with Ma‘an, UNRWA’s spokesman in Gaza Adnan Abu Hasna said the imports had come unexpectedly, but followed years of pressure on Israel from UN and other international bodies. “I think they wanted to get rid of the materials,” Abu Hasna said, adding that he expected the remaining 15,000 tons of materials to make it through to Gaza during the next month. The tens of thousands of tons had been imported via the Sufa crossing, a terminal that Israeli officials had closed permanently in 2008.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382486
Khan Younis: Israeli tanks enter 200 meters into Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — Residents said six bulldozers, a tank, and a personnel carrier entered the coastal enclave, and appeared to carry out a sweep of the area near the border, unilaterally declaring ‘no go zone.’ Shots were fired, witnesses said, but no injuries were reported, according to medics.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382498
Gaza security arrests spies working for Israeli intelligence
GAZA, (PIC) 27 Apr — …Senior security official Mohamed Lafi told Palestine newspaper that the interior security apparatus arrested recently a number of collaborators with the Israeli intelligence. Lafi noted that anyone arrested or summoned by the interior security apparatus in Gaza is not necessarily a spy or agent because there are many security issues addressed by the apparatus other than espionage.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
9 return to Gaza from Egyptian jail
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — Nine Palestinians released from prison in Egypt are en route to Gaza, spokesman of the prisoners’ families Imad As-Sayed said Wednesday … The ex-detainees were freed by Egyptian authorities from Al-Qanater prison, northeast of Cairo. There are still twenty Palestinians in Egyptian jails, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382650
Rafah crossing opens for second day
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip began operations for the second day in a row on Wednesday following a brief one-day closure. The slight backlog due to Monday’s closure was expected to be made-up, officials said, with all those registered as of April 21 permitted to travel through the terminal on Wednesday. Additional closures are expected Friday, Saturday and Sunday as Egypt marks May Day.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382546
Hamas urged to ‘come clean’ on dead detainee
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 26 Apr — Authorities in the Gaza Strip should order a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died five days after Hamas security officials arrested him, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Relatives of Adel Razeq, a 52-year-old father of nine, say that when security officials arrested him on April 14, they did not present a warrant and took him away under false pretenses. When his brother examined the body, it was badly bruised and appeared to have broken bones, he says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382469
Gaza govt urges ministry against torture
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday night that he had designated his Minister of the Interior to reinforce rules against torture, following an outcry over the death of a detainee earlier in April. “There is good treatment of inmates in our prisons,” Haniyeh said in a statement, adding that following concern from rights organizations, the minister would again instruct all security departments and interrogators about Gaza’s prohibitions on the use of torture.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382501
Activism / Solidarity
Today the farmers of Beit Hanoun harvested their wheat
ISM 26 Apr –Today the farmers of Beit Hanoun harvested their wheat. This would be unexceptional news in any other part of the world, but in Palestine things aren’t always so simple. Beit Hanoun is close to the Israeli border, a border where Israel imposes an illegal “buffer zone” in which it claims the right to shoot anyone it wishes. Israel claims the buffer zone is 300 meters wide, but farmers and scrap collectors who work along the border are often shot at at distances up to 1.5 kilometers from the border. The border is lined with massive towers containing guns, sometimes the guns fire, and people die. You won’t read about the dead in the New York Times though, they are Palestinian and their deaths are unremarkable and un-newsworthy. In honor of the slain Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni the Local Initiative, the group that organized today’s harvest, had decided to launch the Vittorrio Arrigoni Campaign to Harvest Wheat. Today was its first action.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17993/
Activists prepare new 15-boat flotilla to Gaza
ISTANBUL (AP) 26 Apr — Pro-Palestinian activists say a planned convoy of aid ships to the Gaza Strip will be twice as big as a similar flotilla that was raided a year ago by Israeli forces, leaving nine people dead on a Turkish boat. Organizers say they hope to depart around the May 31 anniversary of the fatal raid, but say it could happen later than that. Huseyin Oruc, a spokesman for an Islamic aid group in Turkey, said Tuesday that an international coalition of 22 non-governmental organizations plans to send 15 ships with a total of 1,500 people.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110426/ap_on_re_eu/gaza_flotilla_1
Netanyahu orders Israeli politicians, security forces, to thwart new Gaza flotilla
Haaretz 27 Apr — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his inner cabinet on Wednesday to continue diplomatic efforts to thwart an upcoming Gaza aid flotilla, a statement said on Wednesday, adding that the premier also instructed Israel’s security forces to prepare for the flotilla’s possible arrival. The flotilla, which was expected to set sail in May, will now probably only embark in mid-June, its organizers preferring to wait for the outcome of the election to the Turkish parliament.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-orders-israeli-politicians-security-forces-to-thwart-new-gaza-flotilla-1.358434
only Ynet has this story, looks like hasbara
Report: New Gaza flotilla postponed
Ynet 27 Apr — IHH claims delay due to Turkish elections in June, but reports cite trouble recruiting activists — Pro-Palestinian activists organizing the next Gaza flotilla said Tuesday they are having a hard time recruiting activists, vessels and crew members. Apparently many fear a confrontation with the Israeli naval commandos after eight Turks and one Turkish-American died during an IDF raid last May on board the Mavi Marmara, according to reports making their way to the political echelon in Jerusalem [whatever that is] … It also turns out the Turkish organizers have been largely unsuccessful in raising donations to fund the operation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4061063,00.html
Detention / Court actions
Video: Gaza art exhibit highlights prisoner plight
Press TV 26 Apr — An exhibition displaying artwork and handicrafts of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails was held in Gaza in their honor.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176899.html
Israel arrests 6 Palestinians in West Bank
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 27 Apr — Israeli forces Wednesday arrested six Palestinians in raids of different parts of the West Bank, according to local sources. Israeli soldiers arrested Adib Maslamani, 37, after breaking into his house and tampering with its contents in Tubas city north of the West Bank. Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) said that Maslamani, who spent 18 years in Israeli prisons and was only released 6 months ago, suffers from a serious health condition and needs constant medical care. Israeli forces also raided Awarta, a village southeast of Nablus in the north West Bank, opened fire, launched sound bombs, and inspected the family houses of two suspects in the murder in Itamar settlement nearby in March.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15986
State again reschedules testimony of Col. Pinky Zuaretz
ISM 26 Apr — In another round of last minute maneuvering, attorneys for the State in Corrie vs. State of Israel requested that testimony from their highest-ranking witness be postponed. Former Brigade Commander Colonel Pinhas (Pinky) Zuaretz, who was scheduled to testify on April 27, will not testify until May 22.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/18001/
Court: Knesset must explain why Arab MJ Zuabi stripped of rights
Haaretz 26 Apr — The High Court ruled on Tuesday that the Knesset must explain why they stripped the rights of Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zuabi, which occurred after she participated in last year’s flotilla to Gaza. In their ruling, the court gave the Knesset 30 days to submit an explanation.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/high-court-knesset-must-explain-why-arab-mk-zuabi-stripped-of-rights-1.358255
Politics / Unity
Fatah, Hamas agree to form interim government, hold vote
GAZA (Reuters) 27 Apr — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement and its bitter rival, the Islamist Hamas, struck a deal on Wednesday to form an interim unity government and fix a date for general election, both sides said. The deal, which took many officials by surprise because of profound Fatah-Hamas divisions over how to resolve generations of conflict with Israel, was thrashed out in Egypt and followed a series of secret meetings. “The two sides signed initial letters on an agreement. All points of differences have been overcome,” Taher Al-Nono, the Hamas government spokesman in Gaza, told Reuters. He added that Cairo would shortly invite both sides to a signing ceremony. The accord was first reported by Egypt’s intelligence service, which brokered the talks. In a statement carried by the Egyptian state news agency MENA, the intelligence service said the deal was hatched by a Hamas delegation led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group’s politburo, and Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110427/wl_nm/us_palestinians_reconciliation
Fatah-Hamas pact to include release of prisoners
Ynet 27 Apr — PA official says reconciliation agreement stipulates interim government to be composed of ‘non-partisan experts.’ Senior Hamas member: Pact to include restructuring of PLO, to allow integration of factions
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4061507,00.html
Netanyahu: Palestinian Authority must choose peace with Israel or Hamas
Haaretz 27 Apr — Premier lambastes Abbas’ Fatah movement for agreeing to reconciliation deal with rival movement; Hamas: Israel was an impediment to Palestinian unity.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-palestinian-authority-must-choose-peace-with-israel-or-hamas-1.358460
US: Any Palestinian government must renounce violence, recognize Israel
Reuters/Haaretz 27 Apr — State Department says U.S. supports Palestinian reconciliation on ‘terms which promote cause of peace’.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-any-palestinian-government-must-renounce-violence-recognize-israel-1.358470
Other news
Anti-corruption unit asks to freeze assets of 3
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 27 Apr — The head of the Palestinian Authority’s anti-corruption committee recommended the seizure of assets of three top figures inside the government, including the holding of assets abroad, informed sources told Ma‘an on Wednesday. Anti-corruption chief Rafiq An-Natsheh made the recommendations in a letter earlier this month, in what sources describe as part of a ramped-up effort to restore huge sums of money that officials say was stolen from the Palestinian public purse by corrupt leaders over the years. Cabinet officials, however, told the chief to shelve the letter pending a cabinet shuffle expected weeks ago.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382515
Palestinian embassy in Algiers confirms three Palestinians tried to assassinate ambassador
IMEMC 27 Apr — …In its statement, the Embassy said that what happened on Monday was an assassination attempt “carried out by a group of outlaws and murderers”. It added that the attackers entered the embassy on an ordinary work day claiming to be there to file official applications. The embassy further stated that the attackers proceeded to the office of the ambassador attacked him with knives. The attackers clashed with embassy personnel and fled the scene. On Tuesday, several media outlets in Algeria and Palestine stated that the attack appears to be “a message to president Mahmoud Abbas who ordered all payments stopped to former employees who are still to receiving salaries despite the fact that they stopped working for the embassy”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61143
Saboteurs bomb Egypt pipeline to Israel, Jordan
El-ARISH (AFP) 27 Apr — Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai on Wednesday, sending flames shooting into the sky and cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan. It was the second attack since February and came two weeks after Egypt’s new government decided to review all contracts to supply gas abroad, including to neighbors Israel and Jordan, amid corruption probes. Officials said the attack took place at dawn near Al-Sabil village in the El-Arish region … Several hours later, Gasco, the company responsible for the pipeline, said the fire had been brought under control.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=382647
Analysis / Opinion
An Israeli day / Avirama Golan
Haaretz 27 Apr — A mature, wise and righteous nation should be able to understand that there are other people here, who cannot take part in celebrating an independence that pours salt on the open wound in their hearts
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/an-israeli-day-1.358313
The role of Jews in the Palestinian solidarity movement / Henry Herskovitz & Michelle J. Kinnucan
…The words of this fighter for justice [Malcolm X] are valid 46 years later in another context: Defining the role of Jews in the Palestine solidarity movement. The lesson is that sincere Jews should not play leading roles in the Palestinian solidarity movement, but should instead expose and challenge the racism that exists in their own Jewish communities. So what are Jewish-led and Jewish-identified groups and leaders doing?
http://www.counterpunch.org/herskovitz04262011.html
U.S. / Canada
How many weapons to Israel?
From FY2000 to 2009, the US appropriated to Israel $24.099 billion …in military aid. With this taxpayer money, the US licensed, paid for, and delivered more than 670,903,390 weapons and related equipment to Israel … During these same calendar years, Israel killed at least 2,969 Palestinians who took no part in hostilities
http://weaponstoisrael.org/section.php?id=360
Canada Election 2011: Harper’s attack on the Arab and Muslim communities / Edward C. Corrigan
26 Apr — …the Conservative government of Stephen Harper has been the most anti-Arab and anti-Muslim government in Canadian history. Harper’s government’s actions have gone far beyond rhetoric. Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and even Jewish dissident voices have been marginalized and attacked for being anti-Semitic for defending Palestinian human rights or for presenting pro-Arab opinions.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/04/harpers-attack-on-the-arab-and-muslim-communities/
