and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Violent confrontations mark another Friday in Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 6 May — Clashes swept through Silwan today following the midday Friday prayer, say eyewitnesses. Confrontations spread to Al-Thouri and Ral al-Amoud districts near Silwan, where Israeli forces fired heavy amounts of tear gas. Confrontations were particularly concentrated in ‘Ein Silwan area, where a tear gas canister was fired inside a home, forcing the family to evacuate.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15474
Four youths sentenced to house arrest
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 6 May — Four young men from Silwan were sentenced to a three-day period of house arrest by the Israeli Magistrates Court on 4 May. State prosecution requested a five-day sentence and that the youth to sign a financial guarantee of 1,500 NIS. Brothers Mohammed and Thaer Abbasi, and Odai Ibrahim Sawalha and Yusuf Dawood Abbasi refused to pay the guarantee. The presiding judge deemed three days sufficient for the sentence.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15443
Israeli bill to give settler group authority in Silwan / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
EI 5 May — A new Israeli parliamentary (Knesset) bill that would give direct control of national parks to private organizations is causing alarm amidst Jerusalem-area activists, who say that its underlying aim is to provide legitimacy to a right-wing Israeli group’s control of an archaeological site in East Jerusalem … The situation in question involves Elad, a private, right-wing Israeli settlement organization that controls and manages the City of David National Park, an archaeological site just outside Jerusalem’s Old City. The site sits at the foot of the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest site in Islam, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Located at the entrance to the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of the East Jerusalem village of Silwan, the City of David is said to represent the location of biblical Jerusalem, which was captured by King David more than 3,000 years ago … According to Orly Noy, Elad’s control of the City of David is problematic because it “gives Elad an incredible basis to promote its political agenda in a very aggressive way in Silwan, which is the heart of Palestinian Jerusalem and a very sensitive and strategic place.”
http://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-bill-give-settler-group-authority-silwan/9916
Settlers promote vineyards in bid to draw Israeli tourists to West Bank
PSAGOT, West Bank (AP) 6 May — Perched atop a West Bank hill, the Binyamin region visitors center invites travelers to look past the military jeeps patrolling the surrounding area and enjoy nature, archaeological sites and bucolic vineyards. Jewish settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state. Proponents hope that drawing visitors will help increase support for retaining the territory, while critics say the tourism campaign, like Jewish settlements, is a foothold that stands in the way of making peace.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/settlers_promote_vineyards_history_in_bid_to_draw_israeli_tourists_to_west_bank/2011/05/06/AFEi3b7F_story.html
Settlers starting campaign against pre-September ‘panic’
JPost 5 May — The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria wants you — to chill out. That’s the message that the council will be delivering in an Internet campaign starting next week to counter messages from the Left that have suggested that the UN General Assembly will be able to create a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines in September … The settlers’ council will also demand that the government respond to a unilateral Palestinian declaration of a state by annexing Area C in Judea and Samaria, where 100% of the West Bank’s Jews live and only 3% of the Arabs.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=219434
Israeli army violence / Restriction of movement
PCHR Weekly Report: Seven Palestinians wounded by Israeli gunfire since last Thursday
Gaza (PNN/PCHR) 6 May — Last week’s Israeli military attacks targeting Palestinians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank left seven Palestinians injured, according to the weekly report of the Palestinian Center of Human Rights (PCHR). … PCHR announced that among those seven injured last week were five children and a woman, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Three of the children were wounded in Bil‘in village, central West Bank, as two of them were wounded when Israeli troops moved into the village on 28 April 2011 while the third child was wounded during the weekly anti wall protest in last Friday . The other four Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were wounded in an artillery shelling that targeted a house in the Gaza Strip.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9995&Itemid=56
Israeli occupation steps up measures in the W.B. in response to reconciliation
WEST BANK, (PIC) 6 May — The Israeli occupation has stepped its military measures in the West Bank, through reinstating road blocks and repeated raids of Palestinian villages and towns over the past few days. The IOF have reinstated the Shavi Shamron and Ennav roadblocks on the road connecting the northern West Bank cities of Nablus and Tulkarem. The soldiers manning the roadblocks stopped cars, searched them and examined identification papers of passengers, causing long queues, according to eyewitnesses. Although these roadblocks were never removed the traffic was allowed to go through without thorough examination of vehicles and passengers. Meanwhile, and in a step reminiscent of the tight siege imposed on Nablus in the early years of the decade, the IOF completely sealed the roads leading to Nablus through the Zaatarah and Hawarrah roadblocks. Commuters reported that IOF troops conducted personal searches in cubicles setup for this purpose.
An eyewitness told PIC correspondent that the IOF soldiers stopped their car and started asking the passengers what they thought of the reconciliation, then they started telling them that a return of Hamas will mean more roadblocks and more harassment from the IOF.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Israel stops hairdressers traveling to West Bank
Independent 5 May — It would have been a chance to exchange ideas, compete against their peers, and brush up on the latest styling techniques, but for hairdressers living in conservative Gaza, it was a step too far. As an annual Palestinian hair styling convention kicks off in the West Bank this weekend, six stylists will be conspicuous by their absence. The Israeli army, which controls access to and from the besieged Gaza Strip, has denied the stylists permits to leave the narrow coastal enclave. Gisha, an Israeli human rights group, has appealed to the Israeli authorities on behalf of the stylists, four of whom are women along with one male hairdresser, to allow them to cross into the West Bank.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-stops-hairdressers-travelling-to-west-bank-2279135.html
Detention
Occupation security men raid mosque and arrest two worshipers in Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 6 May — Israeli occupation security men raided the Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisee mosque in Wadi al-Jouz suburb of occupied Jerusalem and arrested Wael al-Hadini and Mazen al-Zein on the charge that they were violating an order by the occupation internal security minister stipulating the closure of the building. Local residents said that the occupation security men raided the mosque while one of the worshipers was reciting the Athan (the Muslim call for prayer) for the noon prayers. They interrupted and arrested him, but the locals defied the occupation authorities and performed the Zuhr (noon) and Aser (afternoon) prayers. The targeted mosque was opened two weeks ago in a ceremony attended by the Islamic Awkaf officials, in a building which belongs to the Islamic Awkaf.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87M
5 Palestinians arrested in Jenin operation
JENIN (Ma‘an) 6 May — Israel’s army arrested five Palestinians from the northern West Bank early Friday, residents said. An undercover unit raided Jenin refugee camp and seized Islamic Jihad leader Bassam As-Saadi, who had recently been released from Israeli prison after completing an eight-year jail term … Four residents of a village near Jenin were also seized … An undercover unit joined the army in the operation, witnesses said. They fired bullets and stun grenades at homes, and soldiers beat several residents after cuffing them outside their houses.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385283
Did case of mistaken identity put Palestinian man behind bars? / Amira Hass
Haaretz 6 May — A 52-year-old Palestinian taxi driver has been held in Israeli detention for the past two weeks on allegations by a soldier that the driver had thrown stones at him … Tamimi told investigators that he did not throw stones at Dahan and had not appeared on YouTube. He said he had recently suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for three weeks, and would not have engaged in stone throwing. He also said that at the time of the stone-throwing incident, he was in Ramallah and provided the telephone numbers of two other taxi drivers who could corroborate his account. ..
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/did-case-of-mistaken-identity-put-palestinian-man-behind-bars-1.360092
Civil society leader Ameer Makhoul arrested one year ago today
EI 6 May — A year ago today, Palestinian civil society leader Ameer Makhoul, an Israeli citizen, was arrested from his Haifa home after it was raided by Israeli forces. Makhoul, the coordinator of Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community Associations and an advocate of boycott, divestment and sanctions, warned The Electronic Intifada in January of 2010 that Israel was increasingly persecuting the Palestinian community in Israel, attempting to cut the community off from the rest of the Palestinian national movement. “Israel uses its legal system and its laws on citizenship and loyalty to the Jewish state to achieve this,” Makhoul said … Later that month [May 2010] the Israeli government indicted Makhoul with “the most serious security offensives on Israel’s statute book, including espionage.” While vehemently denying the charges, after spending nearly six months in jail, in late October of last year Makhoul signed a plea agreement with israeli state prosecutors. The Electronic Intifada reported:
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/maureen/palestinian-civil-society-leader-ameer-makhoul-arrested-one-year-ago-today
PA detention
After deal, Hamas says activists held in West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 5 (Reuters) – Six Hamas sympathisers have been detained by Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank since rival groups concluded a deal aimed at reconciliation, a Hamas source said on Thursday. The detentions in the Hebron and Nablus area underline the challenges facing implementation of the reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah, which is headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. “We regret these detentions,” said the source, adding that the Western-backed Palestinian Authority was currently holding around 200 Palestinians for their affiliation with Hamas. “We want this to stop,” the source said. Under the unity deal concluded in Cairo, political detainees are supposed to be released. The Palestinian Authority has said it does is not have any political detainees in its jails.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/after-deal-hamas-says-activists-held-in-west-bank
Gaza
Fatah official prevented from leaving Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 May — Israeli authorities on Thursday prevented Abdullah Abu Samhadana, secretary of Fatah, from leaving Gaza to attend a Fatah revolutionary council meeting in Ramallah. Abu Samhadana said Israel’s decision amounted to an attempt to separate Gaza from the West Bank, part of a policy of enforcing division that the Palestinians managed to resolve this week. He called for geographical contiguity between Gaza and the occupied West Bank, affirming it was not only the responsibility of the Palestinians but a goal that should be shouldered to the international community. On Thursday, Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip briefly prevented five Fatah leaders from leaving to attend the same session, the deputy secretary of the council said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385239
Rafah crossing travel schedule
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 May — Times for southern Gaza’s Rafah border terminal, May 8-12, 2011: –Sunday [8 May]: Travelers on the May 2 list –Monday: Travelers on the May 3 list –Tuesday: Travelers on the May 8 list –Wednesday: Travelers on May 10 list –Thursday: Travelers on May 12 list [clearly no general opening of Rafah terminal yet….]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385182
Seeing with their hearts
Gaza — ANERA TO PNN 6 May — “These children can see with their hearts. They feel things. They have a very powerful sense of touch. They ask very detailed questions. I admire their wonderful ability to describe things using their imagination,” said Ibtisam Marzouk, as she talked about 36 preschoolers joining the Friends Society of Visually Impaired Rehabilitation. The colorful building, located in a peaceful neighborhood of Gaza City, is like a second home for the visually impaired children, most of whom come from poor families. “Each one needs special teaching and care,” said Director Marzouk. There are two classes for children, one for totally blind and one for the visually impaired.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9998&Itemid=56
Uncovering the future
?date? In the early morning, the spring sun warms the fertile fields of Gaza. It’s time for planting but first it’s time for cleaning. Wearing hats against the hot sun, workers spread out across the green fields to collect the plastic sheets covering last season’s strawberry plants. This planting season offers a glimmer of hope for farmers who were allowed to export a limited amount of strawberries, after inspection, to European markets … In 2011, the project aims to clean an area of 509 acres (2,061,000 square meters). The expected amount of plastic to be removed is 115 tons and 233 farmers will benefit.
http://www.anera.org/ourWork/commEcoDev/UncoveringtheFuture.php
Activism / Solidarity / BDS
Anti-wall protests celebrate national unity
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) — Palestinians celebrated national unity at anti-wall protests in villages across the West Bank on Friday. Protesters in Al-Ma‘sara and Bil‘in carried coffins to symbolize the death of the division, after Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo last week. In Bil‘in, near Ramallah, two villagers dressed as Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khalid Mash‘al carried the coffin. Protesters burned the coffin at the gate of Israel’s separation wall in what they said was a message that the end to the division was permanent … Meanwhile in Ni‘lin, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the wall for Friday prayers led by Sheikh Muhammad Tayeh.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385364
Activists: 15-year-old arrested at West Bank protest
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 May — Soldiers arrested a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a demonstration against Israel’s wall and settlements in the central West Bank village of Bil‘in, near Ramallah, protesters said Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385318
Photoessay: Izbet At-Tabib / Marie, IWPS
5 May — On May 1st IWPS teammates responded to a call to Izbet at-Tabib, which is a village of less that 50 homes, 32 of which are under demolition orders. We were told that a large military presence was there along with a military bulldozer. When we arrived (from Burin where we taking reports on settler attacks in that village from a widow whose home is attacked several times a week by settlers) there were 3 internationals under arrest [look at other IWPS reports on this site]
http://wordsfrompalestine.org/?p=648
Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) formed at historic conference
Occupied Palestine, 4 May 2011 – In commemoration of the first of May – a day of workers struggle and international solidarity – the first Palestinian trade union conference for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel (BDS) was held in Ramallah on 30 April 2011, organized by almost the entirety of the Palestinian trade union movement, including federations, professional unions, and trade union blocks representing the entire spectrum of Palestinian political parties.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/ptuc-bds-formed-6912
Canadian boat Tahrir will sail to help end Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – May 5, 2011) – The Canadian Boat to Gaza campaign announces today the successful conclusion of arrangements to purchase and register a boat to carry the Canadian delegation to Gaza. The boat’s name Tahrir (Liberation in Arabic) has been chosen to honour the square in Cairo that was the focus of the democratic uprising that has spread hope across the Middle East. The Tahrir will sail with vessels from France, USA, UK, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, and other countries, as part of the Freedom Flotilla II.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/canadian-boat-tahrir-will-sail-to-help-end-israels-illegal-siege-of-gaza-1510875.htm
Not settlements, and not watermelons / Amira Hass
Haaretz 6 May — The Karameh National Empowerment Fund has made good progress in its campaign to rid PA territories of goods grown or made by Jewish settlements, says its director … In supermarkets and other shops, food products and various household products manufactured in settlements have disappeared entirely in recent months. The one-time large-scale purchase of gravel and asphalt from Israeli-owned quarries in the West Bank has also been stopped … When the Karameh initiative was launched, there was talk in the PA about stopping Palestinian employment in settlements. Very quickly it became clear, however, that this was a blow the public could not handle. It will be possible to discuss such a concept, according to sources at the National Economy Ministry, only when the Palestinian economy is able to create a significant number of jobs.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/not-settlements-and-not-watermelons-1.360180
CRH involvement with Israel’s illegal wall again a major issue
6 May — …On the morning of Wednesday 4th May 2011, over 50 human rights activists supporting the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign formed a ‘human wall’ outside the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Irish multinational CRH, while concerned shareholders inside asked serious questions about the role of the cement company in the building of Israel’s illegal Separation Wall and illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. CRH has a 25% stake in the Israeli Mashav group, which acts as a holding company for Israel’s sole cement producer, Nesher. Nesher provide up to 90% of all cement sold in Israel, including cement used in the construction of Israel’s illegal separation wall in Palestine, illegal settlements and checkpoints.
http://www.aggregateresearch.com/articles/22155/CRH-involvement-with-Israels-illegal-wall-again-a-major-issue.aspx?src=rss
Worldwide just-peace action on Israel-Palestine announced
6 May — As part of a week-long series of events to promote a just peace in Israel and Palestine, Palestinians and Israelis will be praying for peace in front of several Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the separation wall and in houses of worship in Jerusalem and across Palestine. They will be part of a worldwide effort to affirm the human dignity and rights of all peoples through the World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel, an initiative of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), which is taking place from 29 May to 4 June 2011.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/14715
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Cairo to oversee Palestinian security talks
GAZA CITY (AFP) 6 May — A senior Egyptian intelligence official will oversee talks between Hamas and Fatah on reshaping their security forces, a Palestinian official said Friday. The unity agreement signed this week called for a security oversight committee to work out the details of the thorny issue of reforming the partisan security forces who have battled each other in the past.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385335
Unification: Hamas rallies in Ramallah
[with photos] Pal Mon 6 May — Today, for the first time in four years, Hamas members waved their green flags in the West Bank without persecution. Marching up Al Quds street of Ramallah, about 200 men, women and youth wrapped in green headbands or scarves swarmed around Al Manara.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1796
Hamas supporters demonstrate in Nablus in support of national reconciliation
NABLUS, (PIC) 6 May — Thousands of jubilant Hamas supporters demonstrated in the northern West Bank city of Nablus Thursday in support of the Palestinian reconciliation that Hamas and Fatah signed in Cairo a couple of days ago. The demonstration of Hamas was the first ever in four years as the Movement was banned by the PA authority in Ramallah from holding any rallies. Prominent political figures of Hamas in the city headed by MP Hamid Al-Bietwai, led the demonstration that started after Maghrib prayer in the old town of the city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD
Palestinian official calls on EU to continue support for police in wake of reconciliation
dpa 6 May — Senior West Bank police official implores European Union to continue program to help Palestinian police forces even after Fatah and Hamas join forces; EU official says must see ‘facts on the ground’ before details of support can be discussed.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-official-calls-on-eu-to-continue-support-for-police-in-wake-of-reconciliation-1.360270
EU to transfer funds to PA
Reuters 6 May — Ashton says $124 million transfer meant to pay workers’ salaries after Israel cut off funds in response to Fatah-Hamas truce. Meanwhile Hamas flags waved in marches throughout West Bank in honor of ‘Truce Friday’
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065512,00.html
Finance minister: Ridiculous to give PA money days before signing deal with Hamas
Haaretz 6 May — Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz yesterday defended his decision to freeze the transfer of tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority, saying it was meant to act as a warning to the PA against moving closer to Hamas.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/finance-minister-ridiculous-to-give-pa-money-days-before-signing-deal-with-hamas-1.360089
Israeli PM urges clarity from Hamas
PARIS (Reuters) 5 May — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday in Paris called on Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to clarify its position toward Israel before peace talks with Palestinians can resume. Speaking to journalists after meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Netanyahu accused Hamas of wanting a Palestinian state to pursue its aim of destroying Israel rather than living side-by-side in peace … “I think clarity is necessary, because in fact, what is being discussed today is to create a Palestinian state in order to improve the positions from which Hamas wants to drive Israel to the sea.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110505/wl_nm/us_france_israel
Hamas implies acceptance of Israel
JERUSALEM (AFP) 6 May — Even as Israel slammed the door on any dialogue with the Palestinians after a unity deal with Hamas, the Islamic group has been slowly inching its way toward a tacit acceptance of Israel. Despite being officially dedicated to “liberating all of Palestine,” in recent days Hamas leaders have spoken of accepting a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, effectively alongside Israel.
Speaking to AFP in Cairo on Thursday, a day after the ceremony to sign the surprise reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas chief Khalid Mash‘al said there was a broad consensus on the 1967 borders among Palestinian groups. Hamas “agrees to the the establishment of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, without settlers and without giving up the right of return,” he said. That implies, at least initially, a tacit acceptance of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He made a similar statement at Wednesday’s signing ceremony.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=385374
Israel sees progress in its Hamas fight
PARIS (AFP) 6 May — Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday wound up a diplomatic offensive meant to head off French and British support for a Palestinian statehood initiative, with aides declaring him encouraged so far … But both Sarkozy and Cameron said they would reserve judgement on the emerging Palestinian alliance, with the Elysee saying it hoped to get a better idea of its make-up and intention “in the coming days” and Cameron expressing the “hope that Palestinian unity between Fatah and Hamas will be a step forward.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110506/wl_mideast_afp/israelfrancebritaindiplomacy
Clinton refuses to rule out talks with PA unity government
6 May — U.S. Secretary of State stresses that Hamas must renounce terror and violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist as prerequisites to talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/clinton-refuses-to-rule-out-talks-with-pa-unity-government-1.360090?localLinksEnabled=false
Russia welcomes Palestinian unity deal
IMEMC 6 May — In a statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian government welcomed the Palestinian national unity and reconciliation agreement which includes forming a transitional government run by technocrats … It also said that all obstacles need to be removed in order to maintain this unity and to conduct democratic elections before resuming the peace process based on the Arab Peace Initiative and international legitimacy. Furthermore, Moscow stated that all efforts must be conducted to ensure a viable, and a geographically contiguous Palestinian state living in peace and security next to Israel.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61185
Cyprus upgrades Palestinian delegation to mission
NICOSIA (AFP) 6 May — The Palestinian delegation in Cyprus has been upgraded to the status of “mission”, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported Friday, citing an announcement by Palestinian diplomats … Faced with a lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a number of European countries have upgraded the status of Palestinian delegations, most recently Denmark on March 9. Britain previously made the same move, following in the footsteps of fellow European Union members France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110506/wl_mideast_afp/palestinianscyprusisraeldiplomacy
Other news
Joseph’s Tomb shooting reenacted
Ynet 6 May –The police on Thursday night reenacted the shooting incident at Joseph’s Tomb on Passover, which left Breslov Hasid Ben-Yosef Livnat dead.The three Palestinian police officers who fired at the Jewish worshippers that infiltrated the compound did not take part in the reenactment … Nablus Governor Jibrin al-Bakri confirmed to Ynet that the policemen who were involved in the shooting were still in detention and awaiting their trial. According to the governor, the Palestinian Authority has completed its investigation into the incident
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065409,00.html
Israeli army: We used Gaza military operation to test new weapons
Al-Ahram 4 May — Israel used the war in Gaza in 2008 as a training opportunity for its armed forces to test new weapons, designate Israeli military chief of staff has revealed. In a speech at the Begin-Sadat Center of Strategic Affairs at Bar-Ilan University, Major General Yoav Galant said that Gaza was an “ideal training zone” as it lacks a strong enemy that could inflict serious casualties upon Israel. Galant was the operation commander of Israel’s Cast Lead Operation on Gaza between December 2008 and January 2009 in which more than 1600 Palestinians were killed. Most of the fatalities were among women and children.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/11384/World/Region/Israeli-Army-We-use-Gaza-military-operation-to-tes.aspx
For 1st time since 2006: IDF holds logistics drill
Ynet 6 May — For the first time since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the IDF has deployed all the logistic equipment needed for battle on the northern front … During the Second Lebanon War there was harsh criticism of the lack in logistical supplies. Food, ammunition, fuel and medical equipment failed to reach the troops in time if at all.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065460,00.html
Winners of UNRWA’s photo competition talk about their work
6 May — In May 2011, UNRWA organised a photography competition for young Palestine refugees with funding from the European Union. Young Palestinians throughout the Middle East were tasked with creating a photo series that would give an insight into how they live, on the theme “What you don’t know about my life”. Having deliberated over nearly 100 entries from throughout the region, the judging panel awarded the first prize to 23 year old Hadeel Al Ramli, for her portrayal of life in Gaza Womens’ Prison.. Unable to travel to the West Bank to pick up their prizes in person, Al Ramli and third prizewinner Abdel Rahim Abu Laban, from Yarmouk camp, Syria, sent video messages of thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGayB74OHlI
81%: Shoah survivors treated badly
Ynet 6 May …Forty-two percent of the respondents said the State was maintaining Shoah survivors’ dignity in a “moderate manner”, 39% said survivors’ dignity was maintained in an “almost non-existent” manner, and only 17% were satisfied with Israel’s treatment of Holocaust survivors (the rest had no opinion).
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065085,00.html
Haredi schools ignore Independence Day
Ynet 6 May — …The haredi schools for first to eighth graders receive up to 55% state funding and their decision to hold classes on Independence Day has enraged many elements within the education system that see the fact that classes are being held during the State’s holiday as an act of defiance against the State’s independence.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4065369,00.html
Haredi newspaper photoshops Hillary out of situation room pic
http://theantitzemach.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_04.html
Analysis / Opinion
New Israeli ID cards to begin at 6 million / Dimi Reider
972mag 4 May — Yedioth Ahronoth reported today that the serial numbers of the cards (as opposed to the actual ID numbers, which will remain the same), will begin “at six million up, to commemorate the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust… the new cards will be embedded with six Stars of David, also to commemorate Holocaust victims.” Three thoughts that come to mind: 1. Not only do we appoint ourselves to representing all living Jews of the world (and then are shocked when non-Israeli Jews are targeted by opponents of the Israeli state), but we now have appointed ourselves to represent the dead ones — not as a group but each and every one, individually … 2. It’s profoundly disrespectful to the Holocaust victims themselves, many if not most of whom weren’t Zionist and saw themselves as Jews and as nationals of their own country. 3. The same ID cards will be given to Jews and Arabs in Israel, which makes the entire shenanigan appear as if the state officially says that the 6 million murdered Jews who never set foot in Israel (certainly never acquired residency or citizenship) were here before the Arab citizens who were born here.
http://972mag.com/new-israeli-id-cards-to-begin-at-6-million/
The rights of Israel / Joseph Massad
AJE 6 May — Israel’s ‘lawfare’ against the Palestinian people is rooted in a fictitious narrative of having a ‘right’ to exist — …The Zionist movement has often argued that establishing a Jewish State for world Jewry was a moral and historical necessity that must be protected and enshrined in law, something it tirelessly pursued over the decades. However, this did not mean that its foundational texts proceeded from this juridical or moral principle. Indeed in his two foundational texts, The State of the Jews and Old-New Land, Theodor Herzl, the ‘father’ of Zionism, never invoked the notion of Jewish ‘rights’ to argue for a state of and for the Jews, whether in Palestine or Argentina, the other location he proposed. Herzl did speak of a ‘solution’ to the Jewish Question but not of a ‘right’ … In contrast to Israel’s invocation of rights that are not internationally sanctioned, the Palestinians invoke a number of internationally recognised rights that challenge Israel’s self-arrogated rights. For example, Palestinians affirm their right to live in the Jewish State from which they were expelled, a right upheld by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115684218533873.html
So targeted killings do work, after all / Yaakov Katz
JPost 6 May — The killing of Osama bin Laden shows the US recognizes the importance of a type of attack Israel is very familiar with … The policy known as ‘targeted killings’ was adopted by Israel in its war against Palestinian terrorism following the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000. While human rights organizations argued against the policy and petitioned the High Court of Justice, the IDF claimed it was effective on three different levels — preventing terror attacks, creating deterrence and causing critical damage to terrorist infrastructure … There are two categories of targets killed this way. The first is field operatives, people like Hezbollah’s military commander Imad Mughniyeh, reportedly killed by Israel in 2008 in Damascus, or Ali Mahmoud Mabhouh, the Hamas weapons smuggler reportedly killed by Israel in Dubai in 2010 … Then there are symbolic figures whose assassination can have an effect on a terrorist group. This was the case in 2004 with the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound Hamas spiritual leader who was killed by an IAF missile as he left a mosque in the Gaza Strip. Bin Laden’s death resembles Yassin’s in this respect. …
http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=219439
Bin Laden death: Call it execution, not justice / Dan Rodricks
4 May — True justice would have meant capture and trial for bin Laden … “Justice has been done,” President Obama said, making it clear that he now fully embraces the post-Sept. 11 approach to that hallowed principle established by his predecessor … Asked about the killing of Osama bin Laden, the human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson called President Obama’s statement about “justice” a perversion of the term. “Justice means taking someone to court, finding them guilty upon evidence and sentencing them,” Mr. Robertson told an Australian television network. “This man has been subject to summary execution, and what is now appearing after a good deal of disinformation from the White House is it may well have been a cold-blooded assassination.” But, as I said, post-Sept. 11 America seems OK with that, and the president ought to just say that was the plan all along. Please don’t call this “justice.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-rodricks-justice-20110504,0,3099851.column
The supreme morale booster / Aluf Benn
Haaretz 6 May — The spontaneous celebrations after bin Laden’s death are reminiscent of a certain ancient superpower in whose image the United States was built … Assassinations of wanted terrorists – the “engineer” Yahya Ayyash from Hamas, the “Hezbollah defense minister” Imad Mughniyeh and Hamas heads Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi – boosted Israeli morale from its depths after devastating terror attacks or failed wars, like the Second Lebanon War. The debate in Israel touches on the fear of revenge attacks in the wake of assassinations or the indictment in Europe of the officers and politicians who ordered the killings, not the fact that symbols of the enemy have been eliminated. In America, the killing of enemy leaders and commanders is bound by moral and legal constraints. In the 1970s there was even a presidential order prohibiting U.S. intelligence from carrying out such actions. But this exception was abandoned after the attack on the United States in September 2001 … There is a controversy about the benefit of killing leaders. The targeted assassinations of Yassin and Rantisi did not topple the Hamas movement, which has only strengthened and is now headed by Khaled Meshal, who was rescued from an attempt on his life [see Kill Khalid: the failed Mossad assassination of Khalid Mishal and the rise of Hamas]
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/the-supreme-morale-booster-1.360172
The forest for the trees / Dalia Karpel
Haaretz 6 May — Dor Guez. On his father’s side he’s a third-generation Holocaust survivor, on his mother’s side the scion of a prominent Palestinian Christian family. In his work, artist Dor Guez explores his roots while refusing to be labeled … In the work “Pioneer Tree” (2011 ), Guez’s grandfather is seen narrating his history, first as a laborer and afterward as the first Arab foreman in The Nation’s Groves corporation. The laborers, including him, were photographed in work clothes, erect and smiling as in the images of pioneers familiar from Zionist archive photos. Guez found this documentation in the album of his grandfather, who lost his property and his status and was forced to adapt to the Jewish state and become part of it in order to survive. Guez displays the photos with captions in Arabic.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/the-forest-for-the-trees-1.360214
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