And more news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Israel plans to seize a million sq meters of Negev land
THE NEGEV, (PIC) 2 Apr — Israel has planned to confiscate a million square meters of Palestinian and Arab land in the Negev desert, occupied in 1948, on the anniversary of Land Day which fell two days ago, the president of the council of regional villages of the Negev, Ibrahim al-Waqili warned. The plan falls under the recommendations made by the Israeli Goldberg committee which was formed in 2008 headed by retired judge Eliezer Goldberg … He added that Israeli occupation authorities have sights set to settle 300,000 Jews in the Negev within the next ten years and wants to accelerate the implementation of the said recommendations.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
What is the Jewish National Fund?
[photos] Canada: Cancel the JNF Charitable Tax Status — The JNF advertises itself as an Israeli forestry, park and land charity. But what is it really? The Jewish National Fund was created in 1901 at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Switzerland. Its purpose is to ‘acquire’ land to establish the Zionist state of Israel in historic Palestine, specifically “for the purpose of settling Jews on such land”. Crucially, this land could never again be sold or leased to non-Jews. Today the JNF enjoys charitable status in over 50 countries worldwide, including Canada … Today the JNF is complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories and of the Syrian Golan Heights.
http://ijvcanada.org/uncategorized/what-is-the-jewish-national-fund/
World Bank approves $3 million for Palestinian water sector
WASHINGTON, 31 Mar — A $3 million grant to the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) will fund the know-how needed to design and implement a sustainable water resources management strategy. The amount, approved by the World Bank Board of Directors today, will also be used to train Palestinians to effectively execute and monitor reforms of the management of this key resource. The scarce water resources available in the West Bank and Gaza are further constrained by limitations on access to natural resources imposed by the closure regime.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/KKAA-8FH5GS?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Jewish settlers damage Palestinian crops
AL-KHALIL, (PIC) 2 Apr — Tens of Jewish settlers assaulted Palestinian citizens and damaged land and crops to the east of Yatta village, in Al-Khalil, local sources reported on Saturday. Coordinator of the popular anti wall and settlements committee Azmi Al-Shiyukhi said in a press release that Israeli occupation soldiers escorted the settlers during the attack. He said that the settlers opened the way for a large number of their sheep into the Palestinian farmers’ land, which caused big damage to the trees and crops.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Activists: Settlers burn storefront in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — Israeli settlers burned a store in the center of the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday, activists said. Protesters assembling ahead of a demonstration said settler tossed flammable materials that burned a storefront on Shalala Street. Palestinian firefighters put out the blaze that caused damage to the stores and prevented it from spreading, onlookers said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374541
Israeli forces erect more checkpoints in Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — Israeli forces on Saturday erected several military checkpoints on the road to Wadi Qana south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, denying local farmers access to their fields in the area. Meanwhile, 13 busloads of Israeli settlers from the nearby Alfe Menashe and Qarne Shomron settlements were escorted to the Wadi Qana valley by heavy police and military forces.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374646
Attacks by Israeli forces
Medics: 3 killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza
[photo] GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — Israeli war planes struck the southern Gaza Strip overnight Friday killing three Palestinians and seriously injuring a fourth, medics said. Gaza medical services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said the deceased were transferred to the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Khan Younis, adding that their bodies were charred from the intensity of the strike. A fourth man was seriously wounded in the attack and taken to the same hospital, Abu Salmiya said. Witnesses said Israeli drones fired a missile at a white Toyota traveling on Salah Ad-Din road between Khan Younis and Deir Al-Baleh. They said the car was totally destroyed, and that the explosion shook the city of Khan Younis. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the Israeli air force and army carried out a joint operation in the Khan Younis area targeting Hamas fighters. Forces confirmed a hit, she said. The spokeswoman said the group was planning to carry out kidnapping attacks in Israel and in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the Jewish holiday of Passover in late April.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374617
Al-Qassam Brigades: Israel will pay dearly for killing three of our fighters
GAZA, (PIC) 2 Apr — Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for all consequences of its assassination of three Qassam commanders at dawn Saturday, stressing what what happened was serious escalation … Regarding Israeli claims that the fighters were planning to carry out an operation against Israeli targets, the spokesman said the occupation made such claims to justify its crime.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Brigades: Gaza ceasefire over after Israeli airstrike kills 3
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — The National Resistance Brigades announced Saturday morning that the ceasefire was over in the Gaza Strip, following an overnight Israeli airstrike which killed three leaders of Hamas’ armed wing. The brigades, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said they would retaliate to the killings and that Israel “would have to bear the repercussions of this crime,” in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374638
IOF kidnap shepherd, take his cattle in Tubas
WEST BANK, (PIC) 2 Apr — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped a Palestinian shepherd from Tamun village in the West Bank district of Tubas and confiscated his cattle. Local sources said the IOF kidnapped a shepherd called Ghazi Bisharat, 19, at the pretext he was herding his cattle near an Israeli settlement in Tubas … The IOF also kidnapped on Friday morning a Palestinian villager who was protecting his land from Jewish settlers. The Hebrew radio did not mention that the villager was defending his land, but claimed that he used a shovel to attack a settler from Netzer outpost in Gush Ezion settlement area
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Palestinian youth attacked while planting olive trees
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — A group of Palestinian youth said they were attacked by Israeli soldiers while planting olive trees on Wednesday. Around 30 young men and women from a group “Ihna Gheir” (We are different) planted around 100 olive trees in ‘Abud village northwest of Ramallah to commemorate Land Day. One of the participants told Ma‘an that Israeli military jeeps raided the area and threatened the group. The soldiers were followed by a group of settlers, who uprooted the trees, and two Palestinians were injured in ensuing clashes. The Palestinian youth said they moved to another area to continue planting the trees.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374539
War crimes
Goldstone rethinks controversial report
Ynet 2 Apr — Head of UN probe into alleged war crimes carried out by Israel, Hamas during 2008 Gaza conflict laments his criticism of Israel in article published by Washington Post; claims Goldstone Report would have been a different document ‘if I had known then what I know now’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4050990,00.html
Goldstone: Hamas failed to investigate UN allegations
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — Hamas has not conducted any investigations into rocket and mortar attacks detailed in a UN inquiry into Israel’s 2008-2009 assault on the Gaza Strip, South African jurist Richard Goldstone says. In an op-ed Saturday in The Washington Post, Goldstone noted that while Israel has investigated his report’s allegations to a significant degree, “Hamas has done nothing.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374830
Netanyahu to UN: Retract Gaza War report in wake of Goldstone’s comments
Haaretz 2 Apr — Following Richard Goldstone’s op-ed in which he expressed regret regarding his report on alleged Israeli war crimes in the Gaza war, PM says ‘everything we said proved to be true’ and urges the UN to scrap the report.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-un-retract-gaza-war-report-in-wake-of-goldstone-s-comments-1.353696
Lieberman lauds new Goldstone conclusions about Gaza war
Haaretz 2 Apr — FM says ‘we had no doubt the truth would eventually come out’ after Richard Goldstone writes in op-ed that his allegations of Israeli war crimes would have been different if he knew then what he knows now.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/lieberman-lauds-new-goldstone-conclusions-about-gaza-war-1.353677
Arrest warrant plans make a mockery of universal jurisdiction / Daniel Machover
Guardian 30 Mar — The rationale behind universal jurisdiction is that certain crimes – piracy, war crimes, genocide, torture, crimes against humanity and hostage taking – are so harmful to international interests that states are entitled, and in some cases even obliged, to bring proceedings, regardless of the location of the crime and the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim … The coalition government claims that it is in favour of applying universal jurisdiction here [UK]. But it has brought forward proposals to change the law … If the law is changed, suspects from a list of “protected countries” that includes Israel, America, China, Saudi Arabia and potentially others, such as Bahrain, will visit our shores with impunity, making us a safe haven for some war criminals and torturers. This outcome would be a sick parody of true universal jurisdiction.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/30/coalition-criminal-justice-universal-jurisdiction
Refugees
Palestinian refugee camps: ‘Perpetual hell’ / Stuart Littlewood
1 Apr — A delegation of parliamentarians has returned from a tour of the refugee camps in Lebanon and made its report … The delegation’s purpose was to assess the humanitarian situation faced by Palestinians living in Lebanon’s refugee camps, and it was able to raise issues at the highest level with the Lebanese in a series of meetings. The UN Refugee Agency describes the plight of Palestinian refugees as “by far the most protracted and largest of all refugee problems in the world today”. Three-quarters of the 11 million Palestinians are refugees. Their plight is at the core of the 63-year struggle against Israel. All other issues, political and humanitarian, arose as a consequence of Israel’s denial of the right of refugees to return to their land.
http://www.uruknet.info/?new=76463
Siege
Video: Egypt stops building materials into Gaza
PressTV 1 Apr — A week has passed since the 15-member Egyptian delegation touched down from Cairo to the Rafah border hoping to take through 10 tons of cement into Gaza. But after a series of delays and no definitive answer from the Egyptian authorities, the Egyptian military decided to confiscate the cement and urge the members to pack up and go. The cement did not go through. Observers say this is perhaps a clear indication that Mubarak’s strict and cruel policies towards Palestine is still present within the Egyptian authorities.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172666.html
Detention
Army kidnaps a Hamas leader in Ramallah
IMEMC 1 Apr — Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Thursday evening, Mohammad Ahmad Rayyan, a political leader of the Hamas movement in the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Rayyan’s arrest comes a few days after her was release from a detention facility run by the Palestinian Security Forces loyal to President, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank … His release came after he spent two months in Palestinian detention facilities and was sent to court several times without any convictions.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60982
Palestinian female prisoners threaten protest against violations
MEMO 1 Apr — A report released by the Palestinian Ministry for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners has stated that the Israeli Occupation authorities have renewed the administrative detention of Hanaa Yahia Saber El Shalabi, a female prisoner from Jenin, for the fourth consecutive time. The ministry’s lawyer, Sherin Eraqi, who has visited the prisoner, said the Israeli intelligence had issued an order to renew Shalabi’s detention, despite no charges being brought against her and without any legal justification. The intelligence services allege the existence of a secret dossier on the prisoner. Hanaa El Shalabi was administratively detained on September 14th 2009 … Female prisoners in the Sharon and Damun prisons have stated that they will take steps throughout the coming month to protest against the violation of their rights and human dignity by the prisons’ administration.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2196-palestinian-female-prisoners-threaten-protest-against-violations
Gaza families demand to be allowed to see sons imprisoned in Israel
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) 2 Apr — Families of Gaza detainees held in Israeli jails complained Saturday that they have been banned from visiting their sons and daughters for four consecutive years. They said this was a violation of international laws and the Fourth Geneva Convention. Palestinian human rights groups called upon the national and Islamic forces, the International Red Cross and all human rights organizations to compel Israel to allow visitation rights and for the families to be allowed to send the prisoners basic needs such as clothes, foods and books.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15757
Palestinian detainees held in Egypt to be released Sunday
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 1 Apr — Egypt’s Supreme Military Council says it will release 14 Palestinians from prisons on Sunday, a rights group said. The UK-based Arab Organization for Human Rights said the council decided to release the Palestinian detainees after lobbying efforts by prisoners’ relatives and lawyers … The detainees set to be released were identified as:
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374588
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
Video: Bil‘in weekly demo
1 Apr – Two citizens were wounded today with various injuries and there were dozens of cases of choking on poison gas. Many also suffered after being hit by the colored chemical water stench that the Israeli occupying forces launch towards the demonstrators.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_G_yWPZWpo
IDF arrests leftist protesters
Ynet 2 Apr — The IDF detained for questioning Saturday 17 left-wing activists from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement who protested at the West Bank village of Beit Ommar. Four of the activists remain in custody.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051026,00.html
Reality vs. propaganda: the An Nabi Saleh protests / Kim Bullimore
Pal Chronicle 29 Mar — On 26 March, a piece of Israeli Occupation Forces propaganda masquerading as journalism was published by YNet, an Israeli news website, which publishes in both Hebrew and English. The YNet article, headlined “Secrets of Nabi Saleh protests” purported to offer a “behind-scenes look at [the] most violent protests around” [1]. However, the article by Yair Altman did nothing of the sort. Instead it gave carte blanche coverage, with little questioning, to the preposterous and often ridiculous assertions by Israeli Occupation officials against the recently arrested non-violent Palestinian leaders from An Nabi Saleh’s Popular Committee against the Occupation.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16755
Global actions mark Palestine’s Land Day
EI 2 Apr — Direct actions, rallies and protests took place across Palestine and in numerous cities across the world on 30 March to commemorate the 35th annual Land Day, an important day of remembrance for six Palestinians with Israeli citizenship gunned down by Israeli forces in 1976 during a general strike in protest of expanded land confiscation inside the state … Many events incorporated boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) strategies and direct actions, as the ongoing Palestinian-led call for BDS grows in worldwide response to Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing practices. According to the BDS movement website, more than 60 cities across the globe commemorated Land Day by engaging in BDS actions.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11893.shtml
Video: Land Day gift from Argentina: BDS reaches Buenos Aires
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/03/land-day-gift-from-argentina-bds.html
Volunteer in Gaza with the ISM
ISM 1 Apr — The International Solidarity Movement is appealing for activists to join our team in the besieged Gaza Strip. In recent months numerous people have managed to cross into Gaza through Egypt, so at present, there is a small window of opportunity to enter. ISM Gaza was reinstated in August 2008, when volunteers traveled aboard the historic, siege-breaking voyage of the first FreeGaza Movement boat. ISM has maintained a constant presence in Gaza since that time, for over two years of Israel’s crippling siege.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17347/
Are any of you willing to protect the unarmed humanitarians sailing with tlatest Gaza freedom flotilla? / Stuart Littlewood
30 Mar — Campaign organisers say that Israel has responded by threatening to once again use deadly force to stop the flotilla, including snipers and attack dogs. (LONDON) – The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) has issued a press release to remind everyone of that what promises to be the largest flotilla yet, comprising 15 ships carrying passengers from 12 European states as well as Latin America, Africa, Asia, Canada and the United States, is due to sail for Gaza in late May.
http://salem-news.com/articles/march302011/flotilla-defense-sl.php
Human rights
Human Rights Watch: New laws marginalize Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel
1 Apr — Two new Israeli laws affecting Israel’s Palestinian Arab residents would promote discrimination and stifle free expression, Human Rights Watch said today. One would authorize rural, Jewish-majority communities to reject Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and other “unsuitable” applicants for residency, and the other would chill expression regarding a key moment in the history of Palestinian citizens, Human Rights Watch said.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2011-04-01/hrw-new-laws-marginalize-palestinian-arab-citizens-of-israel/
Politics / Diplomacy
Sha‘ath: Palestinian leaders mulling one-state solution
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) — Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha‘ath said Thursday that a bi-national state was one of “many ideas” being formulated by the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian leaders plan to declare an independent state in September, and to seek UN recognition of that state … However, if a Palestinian state is not established, several alternatives are being discussed by Palestinian leaders, Sha‘ath said. The senior Fatah official told Ma‘an that one option to end the occupation was to form one state across all of historic Palestine, in which Palestinians would demand citizenship and equal civil rights. He said leaders were also considering dissolving the Palestinian Authority and ending all Palestinian commitments to Tel Aviv, leaving Israel fully responsible for its occupation. Placing Palestine under the mandate of the UN General Assembly was also being considered, Sha‘ath said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374477
Abu Obeida: Abbas must release detainees for unity
GAZA (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — Hamas’ armed wing said Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas must release the party’s affiliates detained in the West Bank to achieve national unity. Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida issued a statement in response to Abbas’ initiative to visit Gaza for unity talks.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374602
Ban stresses concern over stalled peace talks in phone call with Israeli premier
UN NS 1 Apr — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed his concern over the current difficulties in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians during a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both leaders discussed the recent violence affecting Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, with Mr. Ban saying that he hoped that the Mr. Netanyahu “would act with wisdom and restraint,” according to a statement issued by the spokesperson of the Secretary-General.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-8FHUBB?OpenDocument&RSS20=02-P
Hamas: German mediator failed to make Shalit deal
LONDON (Ma‘an) 2 Apr — German mediator Gerhard Conrad failed to secure an agreement between Israel and the captors of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Gaza, deputy Hamas politburo chief Mousa Abu Marzouq told the London-based Al-Hayat daily newspaper on Saturday. “The German mediator has failed and there is no way back. He has not succeeded in securing the prisoner exchange deal, and now a breakthrough is no longer possible,” Abu Marzouq told the newspaper
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374684
Other news
Video: Gazans mark Orphans Day
Press TV 1 Apr — To draw the smile on orphan faces who were deprived from love and sympathy a series of entertainment activities were organized for them … According to the latest statistics on orphans in Gaza, there were about 53,000 orphans in Gaza; children who have lost both, one of their parents prior to the 22 day war. An estimated 1,900 Gazan children lost parents in the Israeli 22 day assault as well.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172663.html
Facebook sued over Intifada page
AFP 2 Apr — ‘American citizen of Jewish origin’ sues Zuckerberg for $1 billion for not removing page fast enough
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051019,00.html
Israeli lawmakers to study US Jewish community
AP 2 Apr – Six Israeli lawmakers are headed to the United States this weekend for an intense study of American Jewish life amid concerns about a growing gap between American and Israeli Jews.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/israeli-lawmakers-to-study-u-s-jewish-community-1.353596
Analysis / Opinion / Human interest
Interview with Stuart Littlewood: The Zionists wield their influence by winning the ongoing propaganda war
30 Mar – (TEHRAN) by Kourosh Ziabari — Stuart Littlewood is a British writer and photographer. He is the co-author of the book “Radio Free Palestine” in which he has elaborately described the plight of the Palestinian nation under the Israeli occupation … Stuart joined me in an in-depth interview to discuss the ongoing anguish of the people of Palestine, the situation of Gaza Strip and West Bank, the influence of Israeli lobby over the mass media in the West and the international isolation of Iran due to its unconditional support for the Palestinian people.
http://salem-news.com/articles/march302011/littlewood-interview-kz.php
The impoverishment of Palestinian Arabs in Israel / Shazia Arshad
MEMO 31 Mar — 61.3 per cent of Palestinian families live below the poverty line compared to 29 per cent of Jewish families. Of the Israeli Civil Service employees, just 5% are Palestinian Israelis. The Israeli government spends $1,100 per year on each Jewish Israeli student and $192 per year on each Palestinian Israeli student. In the 2008 – 09 budget the Israeli government apportioned just $11 million out of $188 million to the Palestinian infrastructure within Israel.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/resources/briefing-papers/2195-the-impoverishment-of-palestinian-arabs-in-israel
Signs of the times: two indications of the future of Israel/Palestine? / Yousef Munayyer
Two news stories caught my eye today which I think speak to the future of Israeli politics and policy and, perhaps more importantly, to the implications for Palestinians which are the subjects and often targets of those policies … The second story is also very troubling. It seems the Israeli government is entertaining a plan to build an island off the coast of Gaza where an air and sea port would be located to “encourage tourism” and “relieve Israel of the obligation to be the transit point for goods into the enclave.” … The fact that such ideas are even entertained speaks to Israeli strategic thinking about Gaza. The plan “would cost up to $10bn (£6.2bn), create 100,000 jobs and take up to 10 years to complete.” This suggests that as far as the Israelis are concerned, the policy of siege is a long-term strategic framework at the foundation of their thinking and not on the surface of it. Simply speaking, the siege of Gaza is the new normal, so much so in fact that it’s leading the Israelis to come up with all kinds of abnormal, bend-over-backwards plans to keep it in place.
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2011/03/signs-of-times-two-indications-of.html
Is the settlement boycott misdirected? / Joseph Dana
2 Apr — …I see two problematic issues. The major issue is that the settlement boycott has nothing to do with the actual Palestinian BDS call which is designed to isolate Israel until it abides by international law in the occupied Palestinian territories. By co-opting the BDS movement and changing it to fit the narrow needs of the progressive Jewish community in the diaspora, more harm than good is done for the aspirations of Palestinians living under occupation. The second problematic issue is that a settlement boycott creates a division between the settlements and Israeli society. The settlements (and Occupation) are part and parcel of Israeli society.
http://josephdana.com/2011/04/is-the-settlement-boycott-misdirected/
Israel’s new military ally / Lia Tarachansky
Why Canada has made itself Israel’s new friend on the block — JNews 30 Mar — It used to be that when you counted Israel’s top allies, the obvious names came to mind: Germany, the UK and, of course, the US. These days, Canada seems determined to soar to the top of that list, confirming the judgment of Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign Minister. While visiting Canada in 2009 he said, “Canada is so friendly that there was no need to convince or explain anything to anyone… We need allies like this in the international arena.”
http://www.jnews.org.uk/commentary/israel%E2%80%99s-new-military-ally
Mute until age four, Palestinian girl speaks like a scholar
Osama Awad – PNN/Exclusive 31 Mar — She’s a little girl in the flower of her youth, but she didn’t say a word until she was four years old. Then one day, Jihan Abu Aliya started speaking unlike any other child her age — in the language of the Qur’an. Standard Arabic, known as fusha, is the official language of Palestine and the language of Islam and Arab literature. But like in other Arab countries, it is used sparingly in Palestine, where local dialects take prominence.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9809&Itemid=
Iraq
Friday: 5 Iraqis killed, 59 wounded
At least five Iraqis were killed and nine were wounded in new attacks, while another 50 were injured during demonstrations in Iraqi Kurdistan. About 50 people were injured during protests in Suleimaniya. A large number of the injured belonged to security forces. Demonstrations calling for reform within the Kurdish Autonomous government have occurred there for about six weeks….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/01/friday-5-iraqis-killed-59-wounded/
