and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Aliyah arrivals destined for Palestinian areas of Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 July — An Israeli organization has announced plans to bring more than 2,500 Jewish Americans and Canadians to Israel this summer, as it seeks to resettle the new arrivals in areas with high Palestinian populations. The organization, Nefesh B’nefesh, which promotes Aliyah, or Jewish-only immigration to Israel, said it would cooperate with the Jewish Agency and Israel’s migration ministry to arrange for the new arrivals, the organization’s website said. The first group of 245 immigrants is set to land on Tuesday, July 12 at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, the organization said.Nefesh B’nefesh recently launched a project encouraging the resettlement of immigrants in the northern region of Israel where there is a high concentration of Palestinians, a step observers say is an attempt to change the demographic features of the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404440
Knesset approves Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance plans
JPost 12 July — The controversial Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance received final approval from the Ministry of the Interior’s District Planning and Construction Committee on Tuesday afternoon, meaning that work can begin on the site immediately. The building permit was awarded by the Interior Ministry, rather than the Jerusalem Municipality, due to the sensitivity of the site. Palestinian leaders claim the site, opposite Independence Park, is an ancient Muslim cemetery from the twelfth century.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=229015
ICJ ruling on illegal wall: Seven years on
Bethlehem, (Pal Telegraph) - PNN Exclusive – 12 July — Tomorrow, Palestinians will commemorate the seven year anniversary of the International Court of Justices (ICJ) ruling that the Israeli built wall and settlements in the Occupied Territories were against International law and International human rights. The ICJ at that ruling on July 9th 2004 called for the dismantling of the wall and compensation for those affected by it. The Israeli government has ignored these calls repeatedly. Although construction of the wall has slowed down, it is nearing completion, further forcing the abuses and human rights violations that tag along in its shadow to be imposed on more Palestinians.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9607-icj-ruling-on-illegal-wall-seven-years-on.html
Israel opens Jesus baptism site in West Bank
QASR EL-YAHUD, West Bank (AP) 12 July — Israel has opened what some believe is the baptism site of Jesus to daily visits in a move that required the cooperation of Israel’s military and the removal of nearby mines along the border with Jordan. Some believe the West Bank site is where John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the waters of the Jordan River. However, Jordan says a site on its side of the river is where the baptism took place.
The West Bank site has not been regularly open to the public since the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan. Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Daibes charges that Tuesday’s opening of the site is “illegal.” He calls it part of Israel’s “occupation” and “monopoly” of Palestinian historical and touristic resources.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110712/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_baptism_site
IOA forces Jerusalemite family to raze its own home
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 12 July — Maqdesi institution for social development has condemned the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) for ordering a Jerusalemite citizen to demolish part of his home. It said in a statement on Monday that the IOA told Khalil Dabash, who lives in Sour Baher in occupied Jerusalem, that he has to tear down an addition. It said that the Israeli interior ministry refused to consider his request for a building permit without first razing the 75-square meter area added to his first floor then turning the entire floor into a garage. Dabash demolished part of the addition in late 2010 but the ministry and the municipality were not satisfied and said that all added area should be demolished. Dabash has a family of 24 members half of them children who would be rendered homeless if he was forced to raze his house.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Israeli occupation forces destroy wells and confiscate pumps
[photos] JVS 12 July — This morning Israeli forces destroyed water wells in the villages of Al Nasaryah, Al Akrabanyah, Bet Hasan, in the Northern Jordan Valley. A big number of military jeeps, along with bulldozers and trucks entered villages located on the way between Tubas and Hamra checkpoint and demolished 3 water wells and confiscated the pumps. 5,000 people live in this region, classified “Area A” [full Palestinian civil and security control] by the Oslo Agreements. The destruction of these wells means the destruction of the only source of income of hundreds of Palestinian families who depend on agriculture.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=310
Israel digs more water wells in the Jordan Valley
JVS 12 July — For few days Israel is expanding its water wells in Arab Il Kaabneh area, in the Southern Jordan Valley. The water well is located just beside a Palestinian Bedouin community. No Palestinians have access to this water which goes directly into the different settlements that surrounds the Palestinian communities. Palestinians have to buy their drinking water that runs under their feet to the Israeli water company Mekorot, driving dozens of kilometers with their tractor and mobile water tank
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=311
Al Khalil (Hebron): Mekorot Water Company again destroys Jaber family water pipes
[photos] Christian Peacemaker Teams 12 July — On 6 and 11 July, 2011 Atta Jaber called the Hebron CPT Office to report that the Mekorot Water Company had destroyed plastic irrigation pipes in his family’s gardens. Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, employed young Palestinians to cut the water lines and accused the Jabers of stealing water by tapping into lines that supply the nearby Israeli settler communities of Harsina and Kiryat Arba … The United Nations Covenant establishes that under international law it is illegal for Israel to expropriate the water of the Occupied Palestinian Territories for use by its own citizens, and doubly illegal to expropriate it for use by Israeli settlers … The extended Jaber family has deeds to their lands dating back to the time of the Ottoman Empire. Atta Jaber believes that the water that flows to the Beqa‘a valley comes from an aquifer under the town of Bethlehem. “Palestinians should not have to pay for what is already their own,” he told CPTers. If their gardens fail, the family fears, Israel will declare the empty dunums of land unused, or abandoned, and settlers will claim them.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/07/12/al-khalil-hebron-mekorot-water-company-again-destroys-jaber-family-irrigation-pipe
Detention / Incursions
Israeli troops raid village in Jenin, detain 2 locals
JENIN (Ma‘an) 12 July — Israeli forces detained two men on Tuesday during a raid on Burqa village, south of Jenin. The army also reportedly handed out several orders summoning locals to appear before intelligence services at Salem military camp. Mahmoud Qasrawi, 30, and Adnan Subuh, 22, were both detained by soldiers in a dawn raid, security officials told Ma‘an. An Israeli army spokesman said there were no reports of such an incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404449
IOF soldiers arrest 8 Palestinians, beat up others
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 12 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up eight Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn Tuesday half of them in Al-Khalil province, Palestinian sources reported. They said that the soldiers searched many houses in the process after forcing all occupants out including women and children. An IOF spokesman said that the arrests were mainly made in Al-Khalil and Qalqilia. Local sources in Al-Khalil said that the IOF detained the brother of a Hamas martyr in the city and three other citizens in two villages. They said that the soldiers stormed two other villages without arresting anyone, noting that the IOF was recently concentrating on Al-Khalil province.
Meanwhile, in Qaryut village, to the southeast of Nablus city, IOF soldiers last night detained then beat up ten Palestinian civilians, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Gaza
IOF troops bulldoze lands in Gaza, detain citizens in a raid on Jenin
GAZA (PIC) 12 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) mounting a number of tanks escorted two military bulldozers into Zaitun suburb to the south east of Gaza city on Tuesday morning, local sources said. They told the PIC reporter that the IOF troops bulldozed land in the area amidst intermittent firing at nearby residential quarters.
Meanwhile, IOF units stormed five villages in Jenin province at dawn Tuesday and rounded up two young men in Burqin village after searching their homes and combing the vicinity of the village. Other units ordered two citizens in Arrabe village to report to the intelligence, warning their relatives against non compliance. A similar measure was made in nearby Fahme village during which the homes of the two citizens were damaged in the search process. Locals said that four IOF armored vehicles broke into the home of a citizen in Marka village and wreaked havoc on it and in the nearby village of Kufr Ra’ee the forces handed a citizen an order to report to the intelligence after ransacking his home.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Two Gaza rockets strike southern Israel
Haaretz 12 July — Two rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Tuesday night, causing minor damage to a house.One rocket landed in an open area in the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, while the other landed in Sdot Negev Regional Council, causing minor damage to a house. An alarm sounded throughout both areas prior to the explosion of the rockets
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/two-gaza-rockets-strike-southern-israel-1.372902
Solidarity at sea aboard the Oliva / Rana Baker
EI 12 July –For years, Palestinian fishermen have been subject to routine attacks, shootings and arrests by the Israeli navy as they attempt to ply their trade in the seas off the coast of Gaza. A month ago, Oliva, the first boat to monitor human rights violations in the Palestinian territorial waters, was launched … Mahfouz al-Kabariti, the president of the Fishing and Marine Sports Association, explained to The Electronic Intifada how the idea of this monitoring boat came to life.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/solidarity-sea-board-oliva/10148
UNRWA reinstates full name after outcry
Ramallah (PNN) 12 July — UN agency brings back ‘Reliefs’ and ‘Works’ to its full name on its website after Palestinian protests at name change … Last week a protest was held outside the UNRWA office in Gaza in opposition to the name change.The name change led many Palestinians to believe that services to Palestinian Refugees were being cut by the UN.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10425&Itemid=61
Israel demands clarifications after demonstration at Red Cross headquarters in Gaza
JERUSALEM (AP) 11 July — Israel on Monday sought clarifications from the International Committee of the Red Cross, following a demonstration outside the organization’s Gaza headquarters Monday by families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel … A Red Cross organizer said Monday’s event was special, marking the fourth anniversary of Israel’s refusal to allow Gaza families to visit prisoners. Israel bans most Gazans from entering Israel … At Monday’s event, Associated Press Television video showed speakers addressing the crowd from a podium emblazoned with the Red Cross emblem. Workers in Red Cross jackets were shown in the crowd … Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Red Cross involvement in the event appeared to violate its code of neutrality.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-demands-clarifications-demonstration-red-cross-headquarters-gaza-193634139.html
Qatar charity to begin QR13m Gaza project
DOHA (Peninsula) 12 July — Qatar Charity is preparing to implement a QR13m [about US$3.5m] reconstruction project for schools in the Gaza Strip in cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Gaza Reconstruction Programme … As part of the project, Qatar Charity will build 130 classrooms in more than 12 schools across the Gaza Strip to develop and expand the capacity of those schools.
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093427896
Activism / Solidarity
Israeli forces disperse rally in Hebron, detain man in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 12 July – Israeli forces dispersed on Tuesday a non-violent rally against settlement construction and closure of shops in the center of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades and tear-gas canisters at the protesters … The rally was initiated by a local group of Hebron youth called the Coalition Against Settlements. Protesters marched from Bab Az-Zawiya neighborhood toward Ash-Shuhada street. International solidarity activists joined the rally raising slogans demanding evacuation of Israeli settlers from the heart of the southern West Bank city, and re-opening its streets.
Separately, troops ransacked a printer in As-Salam street in Hebron, confiscating property. No arrests were reported.
In the nearby town of Beit Ummar, a few kilometers to the north, Israeli forces raided the home of 20-year-old Muhammad Ahmad Abu Mariyya in the early morning and detained him. On Monday, soldiers stormed a funeral procession in the town and assaulted four young men. Spokesperson of the town’s popular committees, Muhammad Ayyad Awad, said four young men were stopped at the funeral, taken to a military monitoring tower near the northern entrance where the soldiers beat them. He added that some soldiers tried to confiscate a camera he was using.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404604
Activists launch summer camp to rebuild Palestinian home
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 July — Activists on Sunday launched the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions’ ninth summer rebuilding camp, doing work on a demolished home in the West Bank town of Anata. This year, some 30 volunteers will rebuild a Palestinian home belonging to the Abu Omar family. The house was demolished in 2005 under the pretext that it was built on land zoned as an agricultural area. ICAHD says it has rebuilt a total of 170 Palestinian homes demolished by Israel. Founder Jeff Halper calls the effort an “overtly political act of defiance. By rebuilding, we set alternative facts on the ground.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403899
Who framed pilot-turned-activist Yonatan Shapira? / Dimi Reider
972mag 12 July — “A concerned citizen” and a radical rightwing MK claim to have found in trash bin an air force helmet and some secret documents belonging to Yonatan Shapira, a former IDF pilot and one of the most recognized anti-occupation activists — Israeli news site Ynet is running today an exquisitely odd story, seemingly incriminating former Air Force pilot and prolific activist Yonathan Shapira. According to Ynet, a “concerned citizen” helping a friend repair a flat noticed a strange bundle in the trash bin. As a “reservist of 16 years” he was “shocked and appalled” to discover in the bundle a pilot’s helmet, secret navigation documents and other equipment, with the rucksack and the helmet bearing the name of Yonathan Shapira. Instead of taking it straight to the police, the citizen took his loot to the most Kahanist of MKs, Michael Ben Ari (National Union), for a photo-op, and only then did the pair take the items to the police, which in turn delivered them to the IDF.
http://972mag.com/shapira1/
Fly-in / Flytilla
Israel deports more ‘flytilla’ activists
JERUSALEM (AFP) 12 July — Israel on Tuesday expelled 22 foreign pro-Palestinian activists detained after flying into Israel for protests at the weekend, and more were due to leave in the evening, an official said. Immigration service spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said that those who left during the day were put on flights to Italy, France and Austria. “Another 11 are on their way to an Alitalia flight,” she told AFP. “There could be more during the night. At the moment we have 23 (still in custody).”
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110712/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictflotillaairport
Flying into Israeli detention
AJ 11 July — Almost immediately after landing at Ben Gurion, Israeli security officers quickly separated a group of passengers for extra scrutiny at passport control, among them most of the activists. They were then taken to a police bus parked outside the terminal where men and women were separated and were shoved into tiny cells in the converted touring car after being stripped of their belongings. Ten men were crammed into a space of roughly 3,5 square metres that was infested with cockroaches. The activists on the bus started singing and chanting and demanded to see a lawyer, but were told by the Israeli border police to “shut up” and were threatened with violence if they didn’t. “I don’t want to hurt you but I certainly will if I have to,” shouted an officer after opening the door to the cell in which the activists were held. When the singing and chanting continued, the border police officers started spraying water through the bars of the cell. “Dogs are treated better in my country,” Bilal, a 24-year-old student from Brussels, said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/07/201171173732684155.html
Israel airport arrests: Campaigners fly back to the UK
BBC 12 July –…The group had planned to attend events in support of Palestinians in the West Bank. About 700 people from around the world had intended to visit Bethlehem on the invitation of families there … University lecturer Mr Napier said the members of his group began a hunger strike after information on charges against them was not provided and they were denied a phone call. “We were chained, handcuffed and detained for no apparent reason – we had committed no crimes – no UK or Israeli law was breached. “We were denied any information about any charges against us and were also denied a telephone call over the entire period we were in prison. “It was a situation of lawlessness,” he said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14117884
Flotilla
Action alert, July 12 — from the Audacity of Hope
Athens, July 12, 2011, At 10 am Greek time today, the shore electricity was cut off to the Audacity of Hope, the U.S. Boat to Gaza, leaving us with no power. The boat has been imprisoned at the US Embassy/Greek Coast Guard dock, near Piraeus, Greece, just outside of Athens, since we tried to sail to Gaza on July 1. The Greek Coast Guard intercepted our small boat and hauled us into this compound. It is over 100 degrees inside the boat, and a Russian ship is spewing grain and dust over the entire area as it unloads grain. In addition, the off-loading noise the ship is making is above environmentally acceptable limits, sounding like a bad rock concert playing at the back of our boat! Six women are staying on board to protect the Audacity of Hope, since two boats heading to Gaza were already sabotaged in an attempt to prevent us from sailing to Gaza. Four of us are over 60 … Call the Greek Embassy in Washington and .the Greek consulates around the Country and demand that they release the Audacity of Hope.
http://ustogaza.org/latest/action-alert-july-12th/
Obama administration using anti-terror laws to intimidate and harass American pro-Palestinian activists / Alex Kane
AlterNet 8 July — For the past year, as activists prepared for the participation of an American boat in the flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, organizers tried to come up with a way to circumvent a major obstacle: the prohibition against “material support” for State Department-designated terrorist groups … In the months leading up to the second Freedom Flotilla, U.S. Boat to Gaza activists decided to carry cargo of a much different sort than earlier Gaza-bound boats: 3,000 letters from American citizens addressed to the citizens of Gaza as a symbolic act of solidarity … That cargo, they reasoned, couldn’t be construed as material support for a designated terrorist group, Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip after being democratically elected in 2006 … But much to the chagrin of the U.S. Boat to Gaza, it looks like the American flotilla activists will have to deal with the specter of prosecution.
http://www.alternet.org/story/151526/obama_administration_using_anti-terror_laws_to_intimidate_and_harass_american_pro-palestine_activists/
The story of the flotilla is not over / Ewa Jasiewicz
EI 12 July — …Israel’s actions suggest that the diversity of voices and forces opposing Israeli impunity and illegality have no right to exist and must be silenced, deterred from activism, reporting and revealing. The second Freedom Flotilla challenges this doctrine head-on. In the case of the occupation and blockade on Gaza, this action represents a global democratic movement of delegitimization of the illegal blockade. The Freedom Flotilla has played outside the worn-out chessboard of diplomatic state maneuverings, negotiations and lobbying. The lesson learned from Greece serving as Israel’s mercenary by intercepting the flotilla boats shows the lack of democracy, autonomy and accountability states have when pressured by the bullies of the global school-yard. However, it also shows the power democratic movements have in creating scenarios and actions which propel them into the arena of state-level politics and force these actors to have to deal with democracy from below.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/story-flotilla-not-over/10166
Suppression of dissent
Yisrael Beiteinu advances anti-leftist bill
Ynet 12 July – The Yisrael Beiteinu faction is planning to arrange a Knesset vote on a proposal to set up a commission of inquiry against leftist groups less than a day after the ‘boycott bill’ passed a Knesset vote.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4094387,00.html
Rights groups: Anti-boycott law is legal annexation
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 July — Israeli human rights groups condemned on Tuesday a new law which prohibits the boycott of businesses, universities and social or cultural institutions based in Israel and settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. … Human rights groups say that it seriously harms freedom of expression and freedom of association and gives protection to illegal West Bank settlements by penalizing opponents. “The bill seeks to enforce legal protection for an illegal project,” Hadas Ziv of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said in a statement. “In other words, it signals a de-jure annexation of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank,” he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404493
Israeli groups to challenge boycott law in court
JERUSALEM (AP) 12 July — A new law that seeks to impede boycotts against West Bank settlements sparked a ferocious debate Tuesday — with proponents praising a new bulwark against efforts to isolate Israel and critics fearing for its embattled democracy … The dispute reflects a growing chasm separating Israelis who support the country’s 44-year-old occupation of the war-won West Bank and others who view the presence of soldiers and settlers in the territory — claimed by Palestinians for their own hoped-for state — as a national calamity.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110712/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
US on Israeli boycott law: Freedom to protest is a basic democratic right
Haaretz 12 July — The U.S. State Department responded Tuesday to the new anti-boycott law passed in Israel, saying that the freedom to organize and protest is a democratic value Israel and the U.S. have long shared … When asked to comment on the anti-boycott law, the U.S. State Department said the law was an “Israeli internal matter” but also hinted its criticism by pointing out the right to peaceful protest in democratic countries …The Anti-Defamation League also expressed its criticism regarding the new law on Tuesday, saying that despite its opposition of boycotts of Israel, it is concerned the new law impinges on the “basic democratic rights of Israelis to freedom of speech and freedom of expression.” “To legally stifle calls to action – however abhorrent and detrimental they might be – is a disservice to Israeli society,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said in a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-on-israeli-boycott-law-freedom-to-protest-is-a-basic-democratic-right-1.372884
Refugees
Palestinian Open University project back on track
DailyStar 12 July — …Palestinian students are still treated as foreigners at Lebanese universities. Scholarship money has decreased. And a group of young Palestinians have revived an idea from decades past. For the past two months they have been conducting workshops in UNRWA schools, gathering information, and garnering support for the building of a Palestinian university in Lebanon … Organizers recently presented Salvatore Lombardo, UNRWA’s director of affairs, with a petition 10,000 signatures strong requesting the university. All of the signatories are Palestinian students from the country’s 12 refugee camps … There is opposition, too. Khaled said he received one email that read, “You want a Palestinian university? Please get out of Lebanon.” Another said, “please give up your weapons from inside the camps and you can make anything [you want].”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Jul-12/Palestinian-Open-University-project-back-on-track.ashx#axzz1RuXTatlK
Racism / Discrimination
Women banned from economic conference
Ynet 12 July — Haredi, secular women refused entry to event organized by ultra-Orthodox newspaper at Jerusalem International Convention Center. ‘It was humiliating and incomprehensible,’ one of them says. Organizers: Women excluded for modesty reasons
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4094000,00.html
Knesset passes bill against discrimination in schools
JPost 12 July — The Knesset plenum passed a bill late Monday night banning all forms of discrimination in the school system based on the country of origin of a student or their parents. “In light of numerous incidents of both covert and overt discrimination against students simply because of their country of origin, the Knesset today has made it clear that there is no place for such incidents in an advanced country, which has in its laws the protection of an individual’s dignity and freedom,” initiator of the bill, MK Alex Miller (Israel Beitenu) said on Monday.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=229013
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Greek president visits Palestine
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 July — Greek president Karolos Papoulias arrived in Ramallah on Tuesday as part of an official visit to the Palestinian territories … The visit comes as the Greek government recently prevented Gaza-bound flotillas from leaving its ports, leading to an outcry by international activists who questioned the government’s motives. A youth group in Ramallah were set to hold a demonstration on Tuesday in protest against the Greek president’s visit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404579
Hamas objects to Abbas’s welcoming of Greek president
GAZA (PIC) 12 July — Hamas has rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s conduct in welcoming Greek President Karolos Papoulias after Greece issued a ban on Gaza flotilla ships docked at its ports … Senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil said in a press statement on Tuesday: “At a time when the Palestinians are outraged at Greece’s official position…in response to Zionist pressure…Abbas shocks us by receiving Greek president Karalos Papoulias in Ramallah.” Bardawil also objected to the fact that the move came after Papoulias visited Israeli President Shimon Peres and Peres thanked Papoulias for support of Israel’s position on the flotilla.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%
Mideast mediators fail to agree on new peace talks
WASHINGTON (AP) 12 July — Already dim prospects for any quick resumption to Mideast peace talks have been dealt a blow as international mediators failed to reach agreement on how to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and a confrontation that is likely to set back efforts even further looms at the United Nations.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110712/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_us_mideast
Obama administration defends aid to Palestinians
WASHINGTON (AP) 12 July — The Obama administration is defending U.S. aid to the Palestinian authority, telling Congress the assistance is critical to peace and stability in the Mideast … Last week, the House overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling on the Obama administration to consider suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority in light of the deal between the government and Hamas — considered a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jacob Walles said the administration will closely monitor whether a new government emerges and will reassess the aid.
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110712/ap_on_re_us/us_us_mideast_congress
US officials urge Arabs to resume Palestinian aid
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Wednesday called on Arab governments to resume previous levels of assistance to the Palestinians [read: PA], and raised warning flags over aid cuts contemplated by U.S. lawmakers. State Department officials appearing before Congress emphasized the benefits of assistance to the Palestinian Authority, including a newly trained cadre of Palestinian security forces they said were boosting regional security by pursuing militants in the West Bank.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/us-officials-urge-arabs-to-resume-palestinian-aid
China supports Palestinian membership in UN
BEIJING (WAFA) 12 July — China expressed its support Tuesday of Palestinian membership in the United Nations. The statement was made by the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi during a meeting in Beijing with a Palestinian delegation that included Azzam al-Ahmed, member of Fatah Central Committee, and Bassam al-Salhi, general secretary of the Palestinian People’s Party.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16684
Kazakhstan supports Palestinian plan to seek UN recognition
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 12 July – Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Jordan, Bulat Sarsenbayev, reiterated Monday his country’s support of the Palestinian plan to seek United Nations recognition of a Palestinian state within 1967 borders.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16683
Israeli students fly to South Africa to improve their country’s image
Haaretz 12 July — One of Israel’s most serious image problems is how it is perceived on campuses around the world. Now, a group of 27 Israeli students are planning to tackle the issue head-on, funding their own trips to South African universities … On the first trip, scheduled to depart August 11, the participants will spend 10 days visiting universities in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town and try to convince students there that Israel is not an apartheid state. Pro-Palestinian activities are held almost daily on these campuses.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-students-fly-to-south-africa-to-improve-their-country-s-image-1.372734
Video: Gunmen blow up Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel
AP 12 July — At least four assailants drive away guards, blow up terminal in El-Arish in fourth attack on pipeline since Mubarak’s ouster [click on left-facing arrow at right of screen to watch video]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4094114,00.html
Al Jazeera: We’re the target of a threat campaign
DOHA (DailyStar) 11 July – Al-Jazeera satellite news channel Sunday condemned what it called a campaign of threats against its journalists because of its coverage of uprisings in the Arab world. “Al-Jazeera presenters have been the targets of a campaign of threats, with in some cases their own safety and that of family members being threatened,” the Doha-based channel said in a statement. The campaign “is aimed at influencing Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the uprisings and protests that have swept many Arab countries,” it said … a source at the broadcaster said the threats emanated from Syria,
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Jul-11/Al-Jazeera-Were-the-target-of-a-threat-campaign.ashx#axzz1RuXTatlK
Other news
4.2 million Palestinians in West Bank, Gaza Strip
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 July — On World Population Day 2011, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the total population of the Palestinian territory stood at 4.2 million people. Some 2.6 million live in the West Bank and 1.59 million in Gaza, the PCBS report said. Among the other findings: More than one-fifth of participants in the Palestinian labor force are unemployed
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404341
Investigator: PA corruption suspects to be named ‘soon’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 July– Head of the Palestinian Authority’s anti-corruption commission Rafiq An-Natsheh said Sunday that several suspects would be identified soon. “The commission will surprise the citizens and will reveal its accomplishments in the near future as well as publish the names of those involved in corruption,” he said. “The investigation is moving along two lines,” An-Natsheh told Ma‘an. “One is internal and another is external, through cooperation with our embassies abroad…”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=404280
81% of Israelis support EU membership, BGU poll finds
JPost 12 July — Sixty-four percent of Israelis would support a NATO deployment of peacekeeping troops to the West Bank and Gaza, according to a survey published by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev on Monday. The survey, compiled by Sharon Pardo, Jean Monnet Chair in European Studies in the Department of Politics and Government at BGU, found that the level of support for such a move was the same for both Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=228926
Fasayel vs. Al Awja: a goal for the Palestinian Jordan Valley
JVS 11 July — Yesterday, July 10th, was launched the third edition of the Jordan Valley football tournament in Al Awja. Yousef Lafi, from the Palestinian Football Federation, along with Al Awja club manager, Fathy Khderat and Ibrahim Sawafta, from the JVS campaign, opened the football tournament. Every speaker emphasized the importance of this tournament as a way of putting light on the Jordan Valley and its specific situation.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=309
Banksy in the West Bank / Adrian Margaret Brune
[with photos] HuffPost 11 July — …Banksy, the subversive British artist who started his career with a can of spray paint and a graffiti rat tag, has become as popular around the West Bank as Naji Salim al-Ali, the iconic and martyred political cartoonist. In fact, even more so, if imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery. It takes a trained eye to spot the real Banksy from his legion of protégés, who have colored their side of the 425-mile-long Geder Hafrada (separation barrier) — or as the Palestinians call it, “jidar al-fasl al-‘unsuri” (racial segregation wall) — with an incredible panoply of resistance art. In many ways, it’s difficult to know who inspired whom. In 2005, Banksy traveled for the first time to the West Bank and painted, in Bethlehem, the trompe-l’oeil scenes of a beaches peeking through smashed holes in the wall. They were a huge hit with the Palestinians — not so with the Israelis, who fired their guns in the air to scare off the enigmatic, misanthrope who already relishes in disdain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adrian-margaret-brune/banksy-in-the-west-bank_b_895037.html
Remi Kanazi’s poetry of struggle / Alexander Billett
EI 11 July – It’s early June, a few days after Gil Scott-Heron’s death. There’s something about the passing of an icon like him that makes the search for new, vibrant rebel art all the more urgent. In a strange twist of serendipity, I just happen to be sitting down to read Poetic Injustice by Remi Kanazi. The first lines hit me like a punch in the gut: I never saw death / until I saw the bombing / of a refugee camp / craters filled with / dismembered legs / and splattered torsos / but no sign of a face / the only impression / a fading scream
http://electronicintifada.net/content/remi-kanazis-poetry-struggle/10165
Embracing the land / Reham Alhelsi
[photos] 11 July — Every morning he wakes up, prays, prepares tea, carries the old tea pot and a small glass and goes to check on his trees and plants. He wanders between the loquat tree and the apple tree and the vineyard, between the jasmine, the sage and the thyme bushes. He checks on them, waters them, removes unwanted weeds and collects some mint for his tea. He then sits in a corner, under the shade of the loquat tree, sips his hot tea and watches the leaves dance with the cool morning breeze. All his life he had been a villager, a farmer, a land-worker, a land-lover. His father and grandfather and forefathers before him were villagers, farmers, land-workers and land-lovers. They all used to wake up with the first rays of sunlight, often race the sun to the land. They, his father, grandfather and forefathers, all planted olive trees, apple trees, carob trees, loquat trees, apricot trees and fig trees and created a green heaven, a paradise, a home. They all worked the vast areas of the land that was and is theirs, the land that was and is part of them and they part of.
http://avoicefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/embracing-the-land/
Analysis / Opinion
Counting the cost of a Palestinian state / Yousef Munayyer
AJE 11 July — …the intended goal has focused on a Palestinian state in name only, without much regard for what that state would look like or whether it would afford Palestinians their rights. This peace process would seemingly go forward endlessly if it could loosely attach the concept of a state to any hilltop in the West Bank, so long as there was a Palestinian leadership willing to go along with it. Palestinians cannot and should not accept a “state” at any cost … For 20 years, the Washington-led peace process has succeeded in doing one thing better than anything else; giving Israel every incentive to maintain its occupation. By assigning the policing responsibilities for the urban centers to the Palestinian Authority and having the Europeans and the Americans pay for this project, Israel has effectively retained the security domination and colonial usurpation benefits inherent in occupation without having to be responsible for any of the costs.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/201179114849859694.html
Video – Israeli peace activist Uri Avnery: ‘We’ve become the Goliath’
VJMovement 28 March — He speaks about the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians, the ‘unique’ colonial situation, Israeli contempt for Palestinians and Arabs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnZKjq6PWD8&feature=player_embedded#at=284
groups.yahoo.com/group/f_shadi (listserv)
www.theheadlines.org (archive)
