and other news from Today in Palestine:
Arab solidarity with Palestine
Video, Photos: Egypt in solidarity with Palestine
Al-Arish march for Palestine — Video: Residents of the Sinai beach town of Al-Arish marched in solidarity with the people of Palestine and promise to one day help break the siege on Gaza and “liberate” Jerusalem – Photos: Tahrir Square
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/egypt-in-solidarity-with-palestine-in-pictures/
Jordanians and Egyptians take to streets for pro-Palestinian protests
AP 13 May — Protesters in Egypt and Jordan call for establishment of Palestinian state, end to displacement of refugees; demonstrations take place days before Nakba Day; Jordanian protesters call for end of peace with Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/jordanians-and-egyptians-take-to-streets-for-pro-palestinian-protests-1.361537
Thousands gather in Egypt’s Tahrir Square
AJ 13 May — Thousands of people have gathered in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, rallying for different causes. Activists had called for a mass show of unity on Friday, a week after 15 people were killed in sectarian violence in the country. But many of those gathered in the square were there to show their support for Palestinian unity, ahead of “Nakba day”, marking the creation of the state of Israel and displacement of thousands of Palestinians. Demonstrators also celebrated the reconciliation deal signed recently between Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions … Footage from Tahrir Square showed people waving Palestinian flags and banners with slogans for Egyptian national unity …
Activists have called for a march to neighbouring Gaza at the weekend, to protest against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The interior ministry has urged them to cancel the march and Khaled Mesha‘al, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, said that for the time being, Egyptians are not “required” to march to the Gaza Strip in support of the Palestinian cause.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/201151394331855329.html
But:
Egypt blocks Sinai access to halt Gaza march
EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) 13 May — Egyptian authorities on Friday blocked access to the Sinai peninsula to prevent a march from Cairo to Gaza, as thousands protested at the Israeli embassy in Cairo, AFP correspondents said. The march was due to leave from Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Saturday to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and call for the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the release of all Palestinian prisoners. “Peace Bridge”, one of the main access routes to Sinai from mainland Egypt, has been closed to all but residents of the peninsula. The army also stepped up security around the peninsula, a security official said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hFwUK84DTBKMnU5amOUWKNzwFfTA?docId=CNG.e3465c20de9ed0ab1051e340d52cbd47.3e1
Thousands march on Israeli consulate in Alexandria
JPost 13 May — …”We are here today to show our support for the Palestinian cause,” said Mohammed Abdel-Salam, a 22-year-old activist on Friday. “The victory of our revolution will not be complete without the liberation of Palestine,” he added … The gatherings in Cairo, Alexandria and El-Arish come amidst preparations by activists to organize a march to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, May 15 — which Palestinians mark as the anniversary of their 1948 displacement following the establishment of Israel.
Egyptian authorities have banned the march, saying the timing was inappropriate given sectarian tensions in Egypt. [some excuse]
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=220426&R=R1
Theft of resources
Water chief hails report on ‘Israeli exploitation’
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 May — The Palestinian Water Authority chief welcomed Thursday an Israeli rights group’s report on the country’s exploitation of water resources in the Jordan Valley, saying Israel’s water allocation is used “as a weapon to target some of the most vulnerable Palestinian communities.” The Jordan Valley “serves as a microcosm of what is going on across the occupied Palestinian territory when it comes to Israel’s systematic exploitation of Palestinian water resources in violation of international law,” Shaddad Attili said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387083
Violence in response to activism on land theft, ethnic cleansing
Youth critically injured by live ammunition in Baten al-Hawa
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 13 May 19:21 — Silwanic has received news that a young resident of Silwan has been shot in the stomach with live ammunition in Baten al-Hawa by either Israeli armed forces or militant settlers. The 16 year old boy has been transferred to Al-Maqased Hospital and is currently in surgery. Doctors describe his condition as critical, worsened by the delay in his transfer to hospital which caused a significant loss of blood. Dozens of family members have gathered in support of the injured youth. Al-Maqased Hospital has issued an urgent request for residents to donate blood, stating that the injured youth requires vast amounts for a blood transfusion. It is unknown who was responsible for the shooting, given the heavy fire from both settler militias and Israeli military forces in Baten al-Hawa at the time. Three other injures by rubber bullets have been reported in Silwan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=16025
Worst violence in Silwan since death of Samer Sarhan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 13 May 14:40 — Intense clashes have swept through all major neighbourhoods in Silwan Since late morning, characterised by levels of violence not witnessed in the village since the martyrdom of resident Samer Sarhan by a settlers’ guard last September. A massive presence of Israeli troops is evident throughout Silwan, blocking off all the roads leading to and exiting Silwan, backed up by police on horseback and Mista’arevim undercover military forces (Israeli soldiers dressed up as Arab civilians). Israeli forces are firing tear gas grenades and rubber bullets wantonly throughout the village, causing several cases of asphyxiation in residents, including women and children.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15936
Teen critically injured as Israel cracks down on Nakba demos
PSCC 13 May — …In Nabi Saleh — a regular target for military aggression recently — soldiers and Border Police officers injured no less than 25 protesters, including a Palestinian women in her 50s who was beaten up so badly that her wounds required her removal from the Salfeet Hospital to the bigger and more advanced Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus. A 25-year-old American demonstrator suffered a serious head injury and an Israeli activist was diagnosed with two open fractures in his hand. Both were injured by tear-gas projectiles shot directly at them from short range, in violation of the Israeli Army’s open fire regulations. Four protesters were arrested in Nabi Saleh, including two Palestinian women … The Israeli military and police’s violent and hysteric reaction to the Nakba day demonstrations today is an example to the fact that Israel cannot conceive handling Palestinian civil resistance to the Occupation in any means but military means.
https://www.popularstruggle.org/content/teen-critically-injured-israel-cracks-down-nakba-demos
22 wounded, one critically, in the weekly nonviolent protest in Nabi Saleh
IMEMC 13 May 15:37 – A large march started after the Friday prayers midday towards the construction site of the new settlement Israel is building on the land of the villagers of Nabi Saleh near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Israeli soldiers fired a number of tear gas bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets at the nonviolent protesters wounding at least 22 civilians. One American protester was wounded in the head (rather peculiar photo) when he was hit with a tear gas canister. He was moved to the hospital for treatment and his wounds were described as critical. Israeli troops also kidnapped two women identified as Nida and Iqbal Tamimi. Eyewitnesses said they were handcuffed and blind-folded and were taken to unknown destination. Troops also arrested two Israelis from the site. Dozens other were treated for gas inhalation and for being beaten by the Israeli soldiers. Israeli soldiers also assaulted photojournalist Hilmi Tamimi, and broke his camera during the protest.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61235
Israeli troops attack West Bank anti-wall protests commemorating Nakba; 29 civilians injured
Ramallah (PNN) 13 May 17:22 — On Friday 29 civilians were injured when Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti-wall protests taking place in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, al-Nabi Saleh, central West Bank, as well as al-Ma‘ssara village in the south. This week protesters marked the 63 anniversary of Nakba. [Photo: Bil‘in villagers holding symbolic key to their lost homes]
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10027&Itemid=56
Activists traveling to weekly Be Lin protest turned around
IMEMC 13 May — Roads were today blocked to activists traveling to the weekly anti-wall protest in the town of Bi Lin [Bil‘in?]. The Israeli military blocked all roads going into the town as a means of minimising turnout for the protest.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61239
Canine combat / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 13 May — Palestinians desperate to earn a living are becoming bolder about getting into Israel to find work. The IDF response? Dogs — The old man threw me a helpless look, collapsed and fell to the ground, losing consciousness for a moment. The young men around him rushed to give him water and then carried him to the van and left. He was a worker from distant Tul Karm, much older than the rest of the group, and he was trying to return home because Palestinians were prohibited from staying in Israel on Independence Day, and he had spent the past two weeks working and sleeping in hiding there. When he tried to go through the breach in the fence in the southern Hebron Hills, between Kibbutz Lahav and the Bedouin refugee town of al-Ramadin, dogs led by soldiers suddenly appeared.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/canine-combat-1.361449
PCBS: ‘More than 7,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in 10 years’
IMEMC 13 May — On Thursday, The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) issued a report stating that more than 7000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories over the past ten years. The PCBS said that 7,342 Palestinians were killed in the period between September 29, 2000 and December 31, 2010 … The PCBS report also indicated that Israeli soldiers kidnapped nearly 750,000 Palestinians since 1967. Among the kidnapped were 12,000 women and dozens of thousands of children. It added that more than 6,000 Palestinians are still imprisoned by Israel, including dozens of persons from different Arab countries.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61229
PCHR weekly report: ‘Palestinian dies of earlier wounds; 3 nonviolent protesters injured this week’
IMEMC 13 May — Israeli forces continued to target Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza sea, firing live rounds at the fishermen on several occasions. Israeli forces continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. Three demonstrators, including a child, a woman and an international human rights defender, were wounded in Nabi Saleh and Bil‘in villages.
Israeli forces abducted at least 12 Palestinians at military checkpoints in the West Bank. Israeli forces conducted 45 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they abducted 18 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children….full report
http://www.imemc.org/article/61234
Nakba
#NakbaSurvivor
Short videos of personal testimony by second-generation Nakba survivors, talking about what their parents and grandparents went through – more videos added all the time
http://www.nakbasurvivor.com/
Photo from Bil‘in: Carriage packed with old belongings, signs ‘Heading toward Ramla/Acca/Yaffa’
http://yfrog.com/gylljzoj
Thousands of Palestinians in Israel march to return / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
EI 13 May — As nationalist parties and festivals were held throughout Israel to mark the country’s Independence Day on 10 May, several thousand Palestinians and their supporters held a commemoration of their own in the Galilee, demanding the right to return to their ancestral villages and homes … The March of Return was the first of many activities planned this year to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba inside Israel. This is despite the fact that the Israeli parliament (Knesset) recently passed the controversial, so-called “Nakba Law,” which aims to criminalize any commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/thousands-palestinians-israel-march-return/9947
Refugees march to return / Matthew Cassel
EI 13 May — Lebanon: …What initially started as a call for a protest on Facebook has transformed into a grassroots movement led by Palestinians around the world … Protests are planned in Ramallah, Gaza City, Amman, Damascus, Cairo and other cities. Egyptian activists are also planning to go to Gaza and challenge their government’s complicity with Israel in the siege of the territory. Here in Lebanon, organizers are calling for an unprecedented “Right of Return” march to the border that they were forced to cross 63 years ago this week … Unlike Tunisians, Egyptians and other peoples in revolt, Palestinian refugees don’t have the luxury of living under only one oppressor. In Lebanon, for example, hundreds of thousands of refugees live with few civil rights; many are restricted to refugee camps enclosed by the Lebanese army … Bibi says there are already more than 500 buses planned to transport an estimated 35,000 persons — mostly Palestinian refugees — from across Lebanon to the village of Maroun al-Ras on the boundary with Israel. Very few mainstream Lebanese political groups are endorsing the march, except for Hizballah, the Shi‘a Islamic resistance movement celebrated for liberating southern Lebanon from 22 years of Israeli occupation in 2000.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/refugees-march-return/9946
Their independence is our Nakba; Thousands of Palestinians march on Thursday
PNN 12 May — By Munjed Jadou — Their Independence is our Nakba. That is the slogan that was chosen for this year protests. In Bethlehem same as West Bank and Gaza Strip main cities; school students, teachers and politicians as well as religious leaders; both Muslims and Christians, marched affirming the right of return to the today’s 4.7 million refugees in and outside Palestine … Bishop Attallah Hanna from the Orthodox Church reiterated Palestinians right to Jerusalem. “We are gathered in the Manger Square in Bethlehem, as one people, Christians and Muslims, to reiterate that we are Palestinians we are Arabs, and we demand our right of return and our right to Jerusalem and that right of return does not decay with time.” Bishop Hanna told PNN.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10025&Itemid=71
Israel police flood Jerusalem as ‘Nakba’ events begin
JERUSALEM (AFP) 13 May — Israeli police flooded the streets of Jerusalem on Friday, fearing violence as Palestinians began marking the “Nakba” or “catastrophe” that befell them following Israel’s establishment in 1948. “The police are on high alert and we have deployed thousands of police officers in and around Jerusalem, as well as in the north,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. Police said around 8,000 worshippers turned up for Friday Muslim prayers at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound inside the Old City, which is located on a site revered as the holiest place in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam after Mecca and Medina. Hundreds more were left outside the gates of the walled Old City, with police refusing to admit men under 45 who did not hold a blue Israeli identity card, AFP correspondents said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110513/wl_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictnakba
Netanyahu asks the Palestinian Authority to regulate Nakba anniversary rallies
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Palestinian Authority and its security apparatuses to regulate Palestinian rallies commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba … The PA should also, insists Netanyahu, prevent the rallies from crossing the Separation Wall established on Palestinian territory in the West Bank and clashing with Israeli occupation forces.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2351-netanyahu-asks-the-palestinian-authority-to-regulate-nakba-anniversary-rallies
Gaza
Egypt: Jury out on promise to open Rafah
JERUSALEM, 13 May 2011 (IRIN) – Egypt’s new leadership has promised to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza permanently after more than five years of partial and occasionally full closure, but observers wonder how far this will go to ease the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). “Our intention is to alleviate the human problems and living conditions for the people in Gaza,” Ambassador Mahna Bakhoum, spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told IRIN. “It is under study now – how, when and what [the opening of Rafah crossing will involve]. This is all being discussed by the government and by the whole country, not just the Foreign Ministry.”
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92718
Building materials: Needs vs. supply Jan-Apr 2011
Graph: Apr – truckloads needed: about 5,000; truckloads allowed to enter: 149
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/05/building-materials-%E2%80%93-needs-vs-supply/
Goods: Needs vs. supply Apr 10 – May 7 2011
http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/05/goods-%E2%80%93-needs-vs-supply-2/
Political / Diplomatic / International
Mitchell ‘plans to resign’ as US envoy
AJ 13 May — White House is expected to announce that Obama administration’s special Middle East peace envoy is stepping down. [What good did having a Lebanese-American as US envoy do the Arab world anyway?]
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/05/2011513153632403430.html
Abbas: PA won’t surrender to Israeli ‘blackmail’
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 May — President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that a new Palestinian government would be formed within days with a focus on rebuilding Gaza and holding elections. He also said the Palestinian Authority would not give in to Israel’s “blackmail” over tax revenues withheld in the wake of a reconciliation deal aimed at ending years of enmity in the occupied territories.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387227
PLO official: Right of return will not be compromised
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 May — The right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes will not be compromised, PLO official Zakaria Al-Agha said Thursday. Al-Agha, who heads the PLO refugees affairs department, said no one had the right to deny refugees the right to return, as enshrined in UN resolution 194 of 1948.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387217
PA adviser says that the new government, not Hamas, has to recognize Israel
MEMO 13 May — The Palestinian Authority’s Political Adviser has told the Israelis that it is up to the new unity government to recognise Israel, not Hamas. Nimer Hammad made his statement as he called on the Israeli government to rescind its freeze on the transfer of tax revenues to the PA, a decision made in the wake of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement … Speaking to Quds Press, Mr Hammad noted that Hamas is not required to recognise Israel. “The new government that will be formed is required to recognise all of the previously signed agreements and to accept the two-state solution; Hamas should understand this but recognition is necessary by the new government, not the individual factions.”
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2348-pa-adviser-says-that-the-new-government-not-hamas-has-to-recognise-israel
Other news
BBC under fire for ‘censoring’ Palestinian lyric
Guardian 13 May — The BBC is under attack for using sound effects to mask the lyric “free Palestine” from a performance by rapper Mic Righteous on BBC Radio 1Xtra.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/13/bbc-palestine-lyric-mic-righteous
Analysis / Opinion
The sea is the same sea, but is Hamas the same Hamas?
AP 13 May — Palestinian analysts say militant group ruling the Gaza Strip has made changes, albeit subtle ones, upon the understanding that an agreement with Israel is the only way to go.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/the-sea-is-the-same-sea-but-is-hamas-the-same-hamas-1.361458
Twilight Zone; Nothing to give a whoop about / Gideon Levy
Haaretz 13 May — Neither the bin Laden assassination nor the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation – the two major news developments of the past few weeks – have stirred much emotion at the Jenin refugee camp;a local Hamas activist explains why the Palestinians are so disillusioned.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/twilight-zone-nothing-to-give-a-whoop-about-1.361483
Israel at 63: What part of Shut Up do you not understand? / Bradley Burston
Haaretz 9 May — When, I wonder this Independence Day, did Israelis lose their nerve? These people, who used to be all nerve. When did they opt to be led by sheep? Israelis, whose leaders talk about Te’uzah, daring, until their listeners are gray in the face — when did they stop taking risks? These people, my friends, the Israelis, who, when they live abroad or work on start-ups, astound with their flexibility and willingness to improvise, their powers of innovation, their courage of imagination, when did they begin to give up on their own future? Part of it, of course, is that the same Occupation which ruins the lives of our neighbors, our cousins, the Palestinians, has also rendered Israel bloated and fearful and tainted and dumbed down and callous – and thus fundamentally unable to do anything about the most enduring threat to its own future, the Occupation.
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/israel-at-63-what-part-of-shut-up-do-you-not-understand-1.360754
Is Israel using gay rights to excuse its policy on Palestine? / David Kaufman
TIME 13 May — Next month is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride month, an international season of parades, cultural festivals and street parties celebrating gay rights. But amid all the good cheer, tensions are rising over a controversial issue that is splintering LGBT communities. Around the world, major pride events are being used as battlegrounds to combat what some pro-Palestinian, progay activists are calling pink washing: Israel’s promotion of its progressive gay-rights record as a way to cover up ongoing human-rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2070415,00.html
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