The Samouni children’s video of what happened to them three years ago during the Cast Lead massacre, via Max Ajl.
Three years ago, Israel began its savage 22-day long bombardment of Gaza. Looking back, Mohammed Suliman recalls that there seemed to be “no beginning and no end to the bombing.”
27 December 2008: The Al Ashi family
“For the upcoming anniversary of the war, me and other women who lost husbands in the attack plan to give gifts to orphans who lost their fathers during the war. The gifts will be inscribed with the words ‘On this day you are the beloved ones of your mother’. We want children to remember they still have their mothers and they will always love them”
IOF soldiers deliver demolition notices, detain more West Bankers
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) served five demolition notices to owners of five homes in Al-Khalil and Bethlehem on Tuesday, local sources said.
AP – A hard-line Israeli group said Tuesday it was launching plans for a new tourist center at the site of a politically sensitive archaeological dig in a largely Arab neighborhood outside Jerusalem’s Old City, drawing fire from Palestinian officials.
Protests in the West Bank During the Season of Christmas
Nabi Saleh youth shot with 0.22 roundsStop the Wall has sent an urgent complaint to UN Special Rapporteurs and diplomatic missions urging them to further investigate the Israeli repression of human rights defenders and to make 2012 the year in which they finally hold Israel accountable for these and other crimes. There is a clear pattern of escalation of Israeli repression developing and we call the international community to urgently take effective measures.
On Saturday, December 17, 2011, several dozen Palestinian women and their children from several villages and towns in the West Bank were supported by a group of Israeli women as they visited Jerusalem, defying the arbitrary Israeli laws that make Jerusalem and the rest of Israel forbidden zones for most Palestinians living in the West Bank. Occupied East Jerusalem is held out by many Palestinians as the future capitol of their state, and it is a city of great religious, cultural, and historical significance to Palestinians. This past Saturday was a continuation of Israeli-Palestinian women actions which challenge the apartheid policies of Israeli Authorities, that have been occurring for the past year and a half.
Twenty years of annexation and resistance
Twenty years ago, in 1991, the issues facing Silwan looked little different from today. At the time, hundreds of Palestinians belonging to left-wing movements organized a large demonstration against Israeli settlements in Silwan in response to the extreme right wing campaign to take over their neighborhoods. The demonstration was attended by many Palestinian parliament members and left-wing activists, who denounced the expansion of settlement blocs in Silwan and the danger they posed to the American-sponsored peace process – the same process that allegedly continues to this day, but has still failed to produce an independent Palestinian state. Today, settlement policies in East Jerusalem are still a major obstruction to the peace process. Settlement association Elad spearheads the settlement movement in Silwan, and is behind projects such as the archaeological “City of David” settlement project and other tourist attractions focused exclusively on Jewish history and culture in Jerusalem.
Israel allows Gaza athletes to cross into West Bank, but bars outstanding academics, Amira Hass
A 13-year-old Palestinian child was wounded on Tuesday after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired at him east of Masdar village in central Gaza Strip, medical sources said.
More than one thousand Jewish settlers infiltrated under military protection at dawn Tuesday into Nablus city to perform Talmudic rituals in the Tomb of Yusuf.
On 26 November 2011, Amin al-Bakri, a resident of Hebron and a volunteer in B’Tselem’s camera distribution project, filmed a border policeman cock his weapon and aim it at al-Bakri’s son thirteen year-old son, Muhannad. Al-Bakri and his family live near the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a densely populated Palestinian area with many checkpoints, most of them staffed by the Border Police. Security forces regularly patrol near the Palestinian homes, creating great tension. Palestinians report long delays at checkpoints and settler attacks against them, sometimes while the security forces stand idly by.
Israeli forces arrested a local youth from Al-Ein Street in Silwan at 1am, 24 December. Muhammad al-Taweel was taken by Israeli forces as he stood beside his family’s car, say eyewitnesses.
9 Palestinians arrested every day in 2011
According to a report by researcher Abdul Nasser Ferwaneh, 3312 Palestinans were arrested by the Israeli military in 2011. This breaks down to 276 arrests a month or nine arrests a day.
Page by page, Marwan Barghouti`s anti-war tome walked out of prison
Joseph Dana – TheNational.ae – In his book smuggled out of prison, Barghouti sets out to demonstrate how Palestinians can achieve a meaningful non-violent resistance against the military court system. In addition to the practical information of surviving within the Israeli prison system, he details his arguments for Palestinian political unity as a means of resistance to Israeli occupation.
MK Demands Firing MK’s Who Refuse To Recognize Israel As Jewish State
Israel’s Propaganda Minister: Arabs are a deplorable nation
Israel’s Propaganda and Diaspora Minister, Yuli Edelstein, said the Arabs are a “deplorable nation.” His spokesman: He meant every one of them. Israel’s Propaganda and Diaspora Minister, Yuli Edelstein, told a crowd in a public diplomacy event in Or Yehuda that “as long as the Arab nation continues to be a deplorable nation, which continues investing in infrastructure for terrorism, education to hate, and welfare for the families of shaheeds (martyrs), there will be no peace.” It can be seen in his Facebook page, here (Hebrew). The Hebrew epithet used by Edelstein to describe Arabs – נפסד – is rather difficult to translate: I put it as “deplorable” but it can also mean “morally bankrupt.” I phoned the minister’s office for comment, and asked his spokesman: “Are you aware of the fact there are some 80 million Arabs in the world, from Sudan to Syria?” He replied: “Yes, there are – and the minister meant them all.”
Minister Yishai: Soccer also segregates sexes
Interior minister says discussion surrounding issue has been blown out of proportion; ‘why aren’t women, men playing together in Maccabi Tel Aviv? You can claim that they also exclude women,’ he says.
Women’s singing: Gantz proposes compromise
IDF chief says some soldiers can be excused from informal social gatherings, as opposed to formal events where attendance is mandatory.
Haredi paper: PM betraying coalition partners
In editorial, United Torah Judaism’s mouthpiece says Netanyahu turning ultra-Orthodox community into ‘punching bag’.
Protests held at Lacoste stores across France against “racism” and censorship of Palestinian artist, Ali Abunimah
Palestine solidarity activists staged protests on Christmas Eve at Lacoste clothing stores in several French cities to protest the censorship and expulsion of Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour from a prestigious art competition sponsored by the French luxury clothing.
Boycott Campaigners Claim Credit For Denial Of London Contract To Company Invested In Settlements
A French transportation company, Veolia, that has been the target of a campaign by human rights groups around the world for its investment in Israeli settlements, has been denied a contract in West London – leading supporters of the boycott campaign to claim credit.
“Educate through action”: poet Remi Kanazi on triumphant UK tour
Poet and activist Remi Kanazi talks about his recent UK tour, the successes of the global boycott movement, and why artists must act beyond mere entertainment.
Political Developments / Diplomacy
Avigdor Lieberman says that turmoil in the Middle East means that an agreement with Palestinians was unlikely.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/12/2011122603431194759.html
Lieberman to Europe: Israel has nothing to apologize for
Following strong European condemnation of settlement activity and rightist violence, FM says Israeli democracy ‘has nothing to be ashamed of’ and will know how to handle ‘price tag’ assailants. ‘Obstacle to peace not Jewish settlements, but Palestinian policies,’ he adds.
Honorary consul: Barak belittled Tanzania
Kasbian Nuriel Chirich says that in trying to stress importance of key euroepean countries to Israel, defense minister made disparaging remark on African country.
Activist blogger freed in Egypt
Alaa Abdel Fattah was accused of inciting violence during a demonstration by Coptics in Cairo in October.
Egypt court ends virginity tests
A court in Cairo blocks forced virginity tests on female detainees in military prisons after a case brought by a Tahrir Square protester.
Mass protests in Homs as Arab monitors visit
Estimated 70,000 demonstrate in Syria’s protest hub, with Arab League observers expected to return on Wednesday.
Bahrain medics recall jail ‘horror’
Shiite Muslim doctors, out on bail in Bahrain pending retrial for their role in pro-democracy protests, look back with horror at months of torture and demand a neutral hearing. “I can’t talk,” sobbed consultant paediatrician Nader Dawani, recounting how he was forced to stand up for seven days, while being beaten repeatedly, mainly by a female officer. “She was the harshest. She used to hit me with a hose and wooden canes, many of which broke on my back,” said the frail 54-year-old man. “They attempted to insert a bottle in my anus,” he recounted.
Sadr bloc calls for early elections in Iraq (Reuters)
Reuters – The head of the political bloc of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Monday for new elections in Iraq after the biggest crisis in a year saw Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki move against two senior Sunni rivals.
US Marine: “I was the aggressor” against “the resistance fighters in Fallujah”
It has been seven years since the 2nd siege of Fallujah — the American assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds-of-thousands more — the assault that poisoned a generation, plaguing the people who live there with cancers and their children with birth defects. It has been seven years and the lies that justified the assault still perpetuate false beliefs about what we did. The American veterans who fought there still do not understand who they fought against, or what they were fighting for.
Saudi Arabia: Save Convicts from Amputation
The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia should void a sentence to amputate the hands and feet of six stateless people convicted of armed robbery, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Saudi Human Rights Commission. The sentence constitutes internationally prohibited torture. (Beirut) – The Supreme Court of Saudi Arabia should void a sentence to amputate the hands and feet of six stateless people convicted of armed robbery, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the Saudi Human Rights Commission.
Iran to ‘block’ Gulf oil if sanctions proceed
Vice president threatens to cut off shipments at Strait of Hormuz if West sanctions Iran’s vital oil exports.
Armenian Genocide as Political Payback Against Turkey, Richard Silverstein
One of the sacred lessons of the Holocaust in contemporary Jewish life has always been that it is such a transcendent historical event that it must not be exploited for political gain by anyone, Jew or gentile. This, in essence is one of the sine qua nons of the ADL, which makes a point of taking to task demagogues of the world who engage in such cheap behavior. My problem with that organization is that such denunciations seem reserved far more often for the political left than the political right. But that’s a subject for another time.
The Muqata: Facade of a Palestinian State
Amid talks of reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) so-called state-building continues unabated. Lacking real political power, the illusion of authority is created through the spatial organization of state structures, like the network of buildings known as the muqatas, serving as PA headquarters across the West Bank.
The veteran American journalist Helen Thomas has questioned why Israelis cannot accept that the people of Palestine elected Hamas in a democratic poll. She made her statement in an interview published in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, during which Ms Thomas responded to Israel’s listing of Hamas as a “terrorist organisation”. She is, she said, against violence, but can understand Hamas’s desire to regain what was taken from them, a reference to the loss of Palestine by the creation of the state of Israel.
It’s the right moment for churches to pay attention to Israel’s occupation
A new book about the Palestine Kairos Document tells the story of the Christian churches’ effort to communicate the suffering imposed by Israel on Palestinians.
Confronting intimidation, working for justice in Palestine, Ilan Pappe
If once you do not cave in, you discover that as time goes by, the ability of Zionist lobbies of intimidation around the world to affect you gradually diminishes.
www.TheHeadlines.org
The Gaza Massacre is the most horrible event that happened during my lifetime. I hope it remains that way, but I’m afraid Israel will do something much, much worse on the way down.
With the recent banning of certain art, that of children or anything coming from the Palestinians, we hear this outcry of “political,” and baseless accusations about the art being done by adults, etc. One does not need to wonder why a message in art of this sort comes from the Palestinians, because it is the truth in pictorial form, what needs to cease is the continuous activity of the murderous colonial settler state of Israel – than all grasping for “political” accusations by the guilty dominant would not be necessary.
this video just knocked me right off my equilibrium. just out of this world, what a tearjerker. and those beautiful faces at the end. just.omg