Israeli military killed four Palestinians, detained 290 (including 42 children) during the month of July

Reports: IOF killed four Palestinians, detained 42 children in July
GAZA (PIC) 2 Aug — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) killed four Palestinians and detained 290 others including 42 children in July, the Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Studies (PCPS) and the Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights said in their monthly reports.
The PCPS report revealed that IOF soldiers launched 167 incursions in the Palestinian villages, cities and refugee camps where IOF had arrested more than 290 Palestinian, including 42 children, an MP, and a liberated prisoner.
IOF had particularly escalated arrest campaigns in Al-Khalil where 95 civilians were rounded up including children and sick people.
More than 15 worshipers including the Imam were also arrested in Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem, according to the report.
The center information officer, Riad Ashkar, confirmed that IOF had arrested during July 42 children under the age of eighteen, including 14 in Ramallah, and three women one of them aged 17 years.
He said that in Beit Hanoun crossing, northern Gaza Strip, occupation forces arrested two sick Palestinians while on their way for treatment.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7my8NQ8s%2bognaV1y%2bzAs58EAQd8sz8CU0qKpcMLCrCoowh2%2fTEQ%2bm22DVJLtKc2GTXNuSPYgVb6UMnpnZ4wVXIsu5eW6LbQmL%2bUzJrEYCwDU%3d

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Restriction of movement

Property demolished for illegal settlement expansion
[striking photos of area before and after settlement building] IMEMC 2 Aug — Israeli forces closed a road near Bethlehem in preparation for the demolition of Palestinian property. On Thursday morning Israeli bulldozers began demolishing structures on privately owned land in Beit Jala, a community near Bethlehem, reports Ma‘an News. Raji Zeidan, the Mayor of Beit Jala, stated months ago that Israeli forces had begun harassing residents of certain neighborhoods. Families living near valuable agricultural land or the illegal settlements are often targeted after Israelis demand room for expansion into the West Bank.
The Shaban family, whose property was occupied this morning by bulldozers and Israeli soldiers, lost their family home in what is now Israel decades ago. They have been living ‘temporarily’ in Dheisha refugee camp ever since but were able to purchase some land in the greater Bethlehem district. Now their land sits between a growing illegal settlement and the city of Beit Jala.
Israeli forces cannot confiscate the land if it is in permanent use. They must first drive landowners away by destroying structures that would otherwise shelter livestock, provide for irrigation, or provide housing for Palestinian residents. The Bethlehem district has already lost nearly 90 percent of its original land claim, which was maintained through the Ottoman and British occupations, the 1947 UN partition and the 1967 armistice line, according to the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64001

Photos: Susya’s women document life under threat of demolition
972blog 1 Aug — The women of the Palestinian village of Susya tell their stories through the lens of a camera. A participatory photography project coordinated by Activestills.
http://972mag.com/photos-susyas-women-document-life-under-threat-of-demolition/52189/

IOA demolish two buildings in Bethlehem village
BETHLEHEM (PIC) 3 Aug — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) sent its demolition teams to Beit Jala village in Bethlehem and destroyed a house under construction and part of a restaurant on Thursday. Local sources said that the 100-meter square house was owned by George Khaliliya. They added that the IOA teams razed a kitchen and toilets in a restaurant owned by Ramzi Qaisiya, which were destroyed last April but Qaisiya rebuilt them. Qaisiya charged that the demolition was illegal since the building was built before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7st7dckaFn1wbMsXPCAWCyCdZdvSqGDds3PLcszKpYEcWAP36y2MwRsTvhfRDEWrWMSC7zInRRXJnJyKnZxztz%2f0bZa5zH5AoIIS2yuG4jA8%3d

Israeli trucks put up caravans in Ramallah-area town
RAMALLAH, August 2, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli trucks Thursday started moving caravans to an area near the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to mayor of Sinjil Ayyoub Sweid. He told WAFA that construction activities have been recently spotted in the area as Israeli bulldozers have razed the land in preparation for putting up the caravans on the land, which has been confiscated by the Israeli authority in 2001 under the pretext of “being used for military purposes.” Sweid noted the escalating settlers’ attacks, almost on a daily basis, targeting Palestinians and their property in Sinjil; the latest of which were an arson attempt of a Palestinian vehicle in the town [see below] and vandalism. Sinjil is surrounded by four Israeli settlements and military points, said Sweid, adding that a large part of the town’s land has been confiscated by Israeli authorities or settlers.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20385

One year after killings, ‘Iraq Burin continues its struggle
ISM 31 July by ‘Jonas Webber’ — Three days before the start of Ramadan, the small mountainside town of ‘Iraq Burin was attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal colony of Bracha. The attackers descended from the settlement at 12:30 a.m. and were soon followed by the Israeli military, shooting tear-gas and sound grenades. “Since Ramadan started, things have been relatively calm here,” says Yousef, a resident of Iraq Burin, “earlier we used to have trouble all the time.”
Ironically, the settler attacks are most common on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, which traditionally is revered as a day of rest. “But there have also been plenty of attacks on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” says Yousef.
The settlers target farmers closest to the settlement, making it impossible for them to work their land due to risk of being attacked or shot. The farmers’ lack of activity is then used against them as settlers claim the land to be abandoned and subsequently annex it. By these means, the illegal settlements across the West Bank continue to steal the lands of neighboring Palestinian villages.
Of the 2000 dunums that originally was ‘Iraq Burin, 300 have been annexed by the settlement of Bracha and many hundreds have become inaccessible to Palestinians due to the risk of violent attacks. To protest this, the village has been holding demonstrations every Saturday for the past year … For a short while, the demonstrations ceased after 2 young men, Muhammad and Usaid Qadus, were shot dead at close range by an Israeli soldier.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/07/one-year-after-killings-iraq-burin-continues-its-struggle/

‘They demolish and we rebuil[d]. This is our life’
PNN/ Exclusive 30 July — The Palestinian community of Silwan in East Jerusalem sits at a geographically important location for the Israeli regime as it is located right below the Old City. The regime has, for decades, expanded its domain by expropriating the land of Palestinian families who have live there for generations. In Silwan live about 18% of the Palestinians in East Jerusalem; it is home to 55,000 residents. Silwan was at one point recognized as “the center of the intifada” in the 1980s, due to its politically active and organized society. Israeli forces have for decades expropriated the land of Silwanian families in order to accommodate Jewish settlers and to expand the Jewish touristic and religious enterprise. The Elad Association, the richest and most powerful Jewish settlement association, has enforced its occupying power to slowly turn Silwan into a Jewish region by monopolizing on the history of the region while dismissing the historical importance it has for Palestinian families. The settler association continues to appropriate Palestinian land on the grounds that it is a territory of ‘archeological, historical, and religious importance’ as well as making use of its monopoly of the law, by expropriating homes under the ‘absentee property law.’ In addition, 11 touristic parks have replaced hundreds of Palestinian homes. Today, close to 65% of Silwanians face house demolition orders
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/nonviolence/2321-they-demolish-and-we-rebuilt-this-is-our-life

Jordanian minister speaks out to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque
MEMO 2 Aug — The Jordanian Minister of Religious Endowments has affirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem is “part of the Islamic faith” and accused Israeli soldiers and settlers of “defiling” the sacred mosque with their incursions. Abdus-Salam Al-Abadi was reacting to Israeli claims that the courtyard of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa is “public space” and can be turned into “public parks”. Al-Abadi said that such moves would be “clear aggression against the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque which, apart from provoking Muslim anger, are serious breaches of international conventions.” The whole Noble Sanctuary is “Al-Aqsa Mosque”, stressed Mr. Al-Abadi. “This includes all of the land, mosques, benches, domes, open spaces and other facilities across the sanctuary’s 37 acres,” he insisted. “This is the correct Shari‘ah definition of Al-Aqsa Mosque which is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.”
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4090-jordanian-minister-speaks-out-to-defend-al-aqsa-mosque

Third Friday of Ramadan . . . Israeli occupation hinders the arrival of worshipers to Al Aqsa Mosque
PNN 3 Aug — On Friday, 3rd August, Israeli occupation intensified its procedures at the checkpoints that were placed at the entrances of the occupied Jerusalem and hindered the arrival of more than 320,000 worshipers from the West Bank to al-Aqsa mosque to pray in the third Friday of the holy Ramadan. The Israeli forces at Qalandiya military checkpoint deliberately separated men from women, and also separated the people with special needs claiming that they want to organize the entry process, yet it got worse than the last Friday and the Palestinians started to push each other at the crossing. The Israeli forces also prevented the busses that transport Palestinians from entering to Jerusalem city, hindered the passengers and prevented Palestinian men under 40 from getting to Jerusalem, while the Israeli forces allowed all women to enter..
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/2360-third-friday-of-ramdan-israeli-occupation-hinders-the-arrival-of-worshipers-to-al-aqsa-mosque

IOA blocks call for prayers in Ibrahimi Mosque
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 2 Aug – The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) blocked Adhan, the call for prayers, at the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil for 50 times in July. The Awkaf department in Al-Khalil condemned the IOA for the banning the Adhan, urging human rights groups to intervene and bridle the IOA practice. The IOA ban on Adhan was because it “disturbed” Jewish settlers, the Awkaf said in a statement, adding that the IOA was also planning to close down the mosque for one day during the month of Ramadan that usually witnesses increasing number of Muslim worshipers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ROcy0%2b9rWOkJtDWVYvXjmJixT4wTX%2bbXdF7wJIdftOzXoiVqSAXM9tJPnLy27nu20k0u%2ffRqqNtYSuI2W2M8QjNEIOwQIiVTP1ZGjqvPPv8%3d

Zahalka: Israel planning to steal Golan oil
NAZARETH (PIC) 3 Aug — Jamal Zahalka, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, has charged the Israeli government with planning to steal the Syrian Golan Height’s oil and gas resources. Zahalka, who was commenting on the news report that Israeli energy minister Uzi Landau ordered the start of oil exploration in the occupied Syrian territory, said that the decision is downright robbery. He said that the Golan is a Syrian territory and Israel was exploiting its natural resources contrary to the international law. Israel annexed the Golan Heights more than 30 years ago and allowed settlers to exploit its land for settlement, agricultural, and industrial purposes.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7MVtUVKCoKhTID6pGIOXkpZPtyFopt77qb3BisIG01mrXDnbpeZ7LF2BkDR3Rs7TsrWh0vKrzE6mxWkXhzxhiC6i1BRsgmjyZCD3NSHV1Ii0%3d

Army radio broadcast from West Bank settlement spurs protests
Haaretz 2 Aug — Dozens of people gathered early Wednesday evening outside of the Israel Defense Forces’ radio station complex in Jaffa to voice protest its decision to broadcast a program from the West Bank settlement of Susya … The Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement, which organized the protests, condemned the broadcast as a legitimization of occupation. “The broadcast of an entertaining culture program from within the settlement of Susya, located on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Susya, is an attempt to legitimize the theft of land and occupation of the South Hebron Hills region in general, and Susya in particular, and to support the destruction of homes and expulsion that awaits village residents,” the group said in a statement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/army-radio-broadcast-from-west-bank-settlement-spurs-protests.premium-1.455451

Violence / Raids / Arrests / Provocations

Settler car bomb near Ramallah redoubles ‘price tag’ attacks
[with photos] Mondoweiss 3 Aug by Allison Deger — On Wednesday radical Israeli settlers planted a bomb under a Palestinian car near Ramallah, marking a return to tactics used by clandestine Jewish militias in past decades. Ma‘an News also reported settlers sprayed threatening graffiti near the ethylene, benzene and sulfur bomb: “A group of settlers from Givat Ariel outpost wrote ‘Palestinians should die,’ and ‘Stay away from our lands,’ on a wall in the village, Sinjil mayor Ayoub Swaied said.” The settlers who sprayed the graffiti and planted the explosives are from Givat Ariel, an illegal outpost situated in the Salfit governorate, not far from Nablus, which was founded in 2003 as the hard right’s response to an impending government demolition of a another illegal settlement. According to a report published earlier this year [PDF] by the Jerusalem Fund, Salfit overtook Hebron in 2010 and 2011 as the governorate with the most violent settler activity.
https://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/settler-car-bomb-near-ramallah-redoubles-price-tag-attacks.html

Israeli forces break up Bethlehem village demo
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — Israeli forces disrupted a weekly non-violent protest in the Bethlehem village of al-Ma‘sara on Friday, a local committee said. The popular committee against the wall and settlements said the protest was in support of the families of 20 Palestinians killed in Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp on Thursday. Dozens of Palestinian, international and Israeli activists joined the demonstration, which was broken up by Israeli soldiers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509672

An agent from the special unit dressed in Arabs uniform (Mista’revim) kidnaps a young man from Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 1 Aug –  Undercover unit arrests man in Al-Bustan coffee house — A young man from Silwan was kidnapped by undercover Israeli officers on Sunday, 29 July. Talal Hijazi, aged 20, was taken from an al-Bustan coffee shop that evening when he was accosted by Israeli Mista’revim unit officers dressed as Arabs at the coffee house after the evening Ramadan meal. Eyewitnesses state that eight officers entered the establishment, one of them dressed in the traditional dishdash garment, and speaking fluent Arabic. The officer approached Hijazi, put his hand on his shoulder and threw him to the ground. He then drew a concealed gun and took Hijazi outside. Clashes broke out in the coffee house as officers then fired sound grenades, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets inside the crowded and enclosed space. Patrons responded by throwing stones at the officers, who fled the scene.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27853

Israeli military kidnaps a Palestinian youth from Beit Ummar
IMEMC 2 Aug — Israeli military kidnapped a disabled Palestinian youth form Beit Ummar, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, on Thursday afternoon.  Local sources reported that Ahmad Awad, 25, was on his way home when stopped by the Israeli military operating at the entrance of Beit Ummar and kidnapped him, and took him to Ofer detention center. On his part, Mohammad Ayyad Awad, spokesperson of the Popular Committee against the Settlements in Beit Ummar, said that the wounded youth suffers a disability in his left foot.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces broke into the family’s house and kidnapped his brother Mohammad, meanwhile, his younger brother Bilal 16, was kidnapped last March.
The Israeli military have setup a military tower and a checkpoint at the entrance of the village in order to control the entry and exit of the residents.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64004

Israeli military arrests mother of released prisoner
IMEMC 3 Aug — Israeli occupation forces arrested Najah Amin al-Ateli, mother of released prisoner Abeer Odeh, at her home in Rahat City [Israel] on Thursday. The Palestine News Network reported that the Israeli intelligence service, Shabak, arrested al-Ateli after a raid on her home despite the fact that she suffers from several health problems.
Al-Ateli has had seven of her children arrested by Israeli authorities, and one child was killed by Israeli forces in 2007. Her son Abeer was released as part of Gilad Shalit’s exchange deal last year.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64008

IOF soldiers arrest son of Hamas leader
JENIN (PIC) 2 Aug — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested the son of Yehya Zayud, a Hamas leader in Seelat al-Harthiya village in Jenin, at dawn Thursday. Local sources said that the soldiers stormed the central market in Barta‘a Al-Sharqiya  village and burst into the shop where Hamza Yehya Zayud is working.
IOF soldiers raided two other nearby villages west of Jenin but made no arrests.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7QIDAqYebwygbkd7EE6VTFgHR4l%2bkyTyyexiIcJcQtoQ%2fwxfiYM5IBg8Yntru7DHa5551tUynDG%2fT40OMfAg829AzxB%2fWoZYmqKRar2lX1VY%3d

Nablus: Night raids and arrests
[with photos] ISM 30 July by ‘Jonas Webber’ — Five Palestinian men were arrested by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in a night raid inside the old city of Nablus on Saturday, July 28. Tear gas and sound bombs were used against families and civilians protesting the arrests. 19 young men suffered asphyxiation and were taken to hospital. Israeli soldiers remained inside the city until 6 a.m. terrorizing residents … Among the families who were particularly afflicted by the night raid was the al-Kharuf family. At 2 a.m. their home was attacked by Israeli soldiers shooting tear gas at the 9 inhabitants, 5 of whom are children under 12 years old. The children were terrified by the attack and have now been sent to stay with relatives outside the city. An elderly woman had to go to the hospital after suffocating from the tear gas.
The IOF entered the house, where they seized Walid Kharuf. He was questioned on the whereabouts of his brother Omar and was severely beaten. When Walid claimed he did not know where his brother was, he was threatened by the commanding officer, “If you are lying and I find your brother here, I will destroy the house.” The Kharuf home was turned upside down in the search for Omar, who was eventually found. After arresting the 23-year-old young man, Israeli soldiers ordered everyone outside while they applied a bomb to one of the walls in the house. The blast that followed tore a hole in the house and devastated the room in which it was placed.
All of Saturday the Kharuf family was busy clearing their home of rubble and broken furniture scattered throughout the house. “So now we are homeless,” Walid solemnly noted, surveying the damage to his home.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/07/nablus-night-raids-and-arrests/

PCHR Weekly Report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory 26 July-1 Aug 2012
2 Aug — IOF killed a Palestinian worker and wounded 3 others at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. IOF use force to disperse peaceful protest organized by Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and a Swedish human rights defender were wounded. IOF conducted 33 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip.  IOF arrested 10 Palestinians, including a child, in the West Bank. IOF blew up a part of a house in Nablus. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. IOF arrested a Palestinian woman in the old town of Hebron.Israeli gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats in the Gaza Strip. IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli settlers uprooted or burnt 30 olive trees in Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah. [Read on for details.]
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8689

Detainees

Concerns over the arrest of Abu Rouis and Nemer and we call on the Olympic Committee to save them
Press release 3 Aug — UFree Network expressed its deep concerns and worries towards the continuing arrest of Omar Khaled Abu Rouis, goalkeeper of Palestinian national Olympic team, and Mohammed Sadi Nemer, football player of Al Amari youth club, in the West Bank by the Israeli occupation forces since February 2012 and until now. UFree network said that detaining Palestinian athletes without any accusation represents a flagrant violation for humanitarian and international conventions … Mohammed Hamdan, UFree chairman, stated that UFree will launch a solidarity campaign for the two Palestinian athletes during London Olympic Games 2012, which was inaugurated in July.It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time for Israel to detain Palestinian athletes.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1208/S00056/concerns-over-the-arrest-of-abu-rouis-and-nemer.htm

Lawyer: Hunger strikers assaulted by prison authorities
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — Israeli prison authorities on Wednesday assaulted two prisoners on hunger strike, a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners Society said. Jawad Boulos said that hunger strikers Samer al-Barq and Hassan Safadi had both been severely assaulted, after a visit to Ramle prison clinic on Wednesday. “At 2 a.m., (Safadi) was in bed when jailers attacked him and forced him to stand and tore his clothes up and his mattress and pillow. When he tried to resist one of the jailers punched him in the face and fought with him until an officer intervened,” Boulos said in a statement. The prison administration transferred al-Barq to another prison. Using a wheelchair due to his poor health, guards at the jail asked him to stand up and walk, and when he was unable to they threw him to the ground, Boulos said. He was sent to a clinic due to his health condition.
Al-Barq, 36, has been on hunger strike for 73 days and Hassan Safadi, 34, for 43 days.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509374

Israeli prison authorities release Hamas member
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — Israeli prison authorities released a member of Hamas on Thursday, local sources told Ma‘an. Hussein Abu Hadid, 60, was imprisoned under administrative detention for four months and suffers from heart disease.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509590

Israeli authorities release administrative detainee after 20 months
PNN 3 Aug — On Thursday, 2nd August, Israeli occupation authorities released the principal of Amrish primary school in Hebron, Jadallah al-Rjoub. Israeli forces arrested al-Rjoub and put him in administrative detention. They renewed his sentence more than once, as he spent 20 months in Israeli jail.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/nonviolence/2359-israeli-authorities-release-administrative-detainee-after-20-months

Australia to investigate Israeli treatment of Palestinian children
IMEMC 31 July — The Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, announced on Monday that he plans to send officials from his office to Israel to observe trials of Palestinian children who are sentenced to military prison, the Palestine News Network reported … Since the year 2000, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) estimates that about 8,000 children have been arrested in contravention of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Israel is a signatory. Those arrested who are defined as children include anyone under the age of 18, but many children in Israeli prisons are as young as 12 years old and Israel has even arrested children as young as 9.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63983

Gaza

After 6 years, Gaza power plant operating at full capacity
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — The power authority in Gaza announced Thursday it is capable of operating the sole generator in the enclave at full capacity for the first time in six years. The generator is only operating at full power — 100 megawatts — at night. During the day it is working at 60 megawatts to conserve fuel, a spokesman for the energy authority Ahmad Abu al-Omrin said at press conference in Gaza City. It would require 600,000 liters of fuel daily to operate the plant at full strength 24 hours a day, Abu al-Omrin said. Energy needs have increased in Gaza in recent years due to population growth and urban development, he said, and the enclave needs 360 megawatts of electricity daily. Abu al-Omrin thanked the Islamic Bank for funding the rehabilitation of the power plant, which was damaged by Israeli military operations in 2006 and 2008. He also thanked Egypt and Qatar for supplying fuel to Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509446

WHO warns against effects of siege on health sector in Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 1 Aug — Mahmoud Daher, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Gaza, said that the health sector has been dramatically affected by the Israeli siege imposed on the Strip. From a list of 480 essential drugs, Gaza’s health ministry’s medical store is currently missing 206 items, he confirmed, adding that 45 percent of pharmaceutical products are not found in health stores. There is no funding to purchase medicines, PA and government in Gaza are not able to purchase and fund drugs, he stated. “As an international association we call on supporting countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, for more support to the health sector particularly the pharmaceutical sector urgently,” Daher said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7kGANffT5OmkGELW%2fhi5czpr%2bmqdnCF8puuY5NImOITEmwg%2bIAdhxGHr9EELnvSgAZDY0kfjhRDAEGqB4RJFjlBbdI59Wb%2fonB22ok1nFeGM%3d

Sources: Hamas frees leader of militant group in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Reuters) 3 Aug — Gaza’s Hamas government has freed a militant group’s leader who is believed to have ties to al-Qaida and had been detained for 17 months, a source from a Jihadist Salafi group said on Friday. Hisham Al-Saedni, also known as Abu Al-Waleed Al-Maqdissi, was freed late on Thursday, the source said. Hamas declined immediate comment. Saedni, in his late 50s, is believed to head the Jihadist Salafi group Tawhid and Jihad (One God and Holy War).
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509581

Activists get set to launch new flotilla to break blockade of Gaza Strip
[with video] 972mag 3 Aug by Haggai Matar — European activists are organizing a new flotilla in solidarity with residents of Gaza. Their boat is expected to leave the Baltic Sea in the coming weeks and pass through several harbors in the Mediterranean for events aimed at raising awareness, before reaching the sealed off Strip. Previous flotillas were intercepted by the Israeli Navy, which is expected to stop this trip too. Activists posted a clip on YouTube on Wednesday showing the Estelle, a ship they recently bought for the journey to the blockaded Gaza Strip. The ship is currently on its way to Oslo after going through maintenance work in Sweden, and it is due to leave for a two-to-three months’ long voyage to Gaza in the coming weeks to protest against the ongoing Israeli siege on the Strip. In the clip, former Israeli artist Dror Feiler declares that the activists’ goal is to pressure European states into making Israel end the siege, or at least to have them protest against it.
http://972mag.com/new-flotilla-to-set-sail-for-blockaded-gaza/52317/

Palestinian NGOs network denounces assault on spokeman for Ship to Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 30 July — The Palestinian NGOs network condemned the assault that occurred to Dror Feiler, the spokesman for the Swedish aid campaign “Ship to Gaza,” in Gothenburg. Feiler was reportedly attacked by unknown assailants on Friday night when he was on his way to the campaign’s ship, Estelle, which is currently docked at Erikbergskaj in Gothenburg. The man or men attacked Feiler from behind, knocked him to the ground and kicked him several times before they left the scene. The NGOs network contacted Feiler on Sunday to enquire about Feiler’s health status and express its solidarity with him … Estelle is the name of the ship being used in “Ship to Gaza” campaign and it will be docked in Gothenburg until 1 August when it will go on its 5000-nautical-mile voyage to Gaza with the goal of ending the blockade.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7efnHSCrcpoazPRl6LJV46Rc3tDV%2b1Fx2xzMkAYoZtk8hkQhXJd7bOyJil2RUxZhcJVgLpAfuboqfhWGvAMaMwvlP6IBCLfJxxnvjtHKh%2bfc%3d

IDF tank-shield intercepts missile
Ynet 1 Aug — The IDF’s Windbreaker defense system has intercepted an anti-tank missile fired at a tank in the central Gaza Strip, near Kissufim on Wednesday. An IDF inquiry suggests that the tank shield detected a missile launch during operational activity near the border fence. No injuries were reported. The IDF considers the firing of the missile a very unusual event. Windbreaker has rarely been called into action since becoming operational two years ago. In March 2011, it successfully intercepted an RPG rocket fired at a tank.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4263283,00.html

Blind faith: Braille Quran helps visually impaired Palestinian girls
Reuters 1 Aug — Visually impaired Palestinian girls in Gaza can now recite the Quran, despite not being able to see the text. Under the supervision of religious scholars, blind girls at the Quran and Sunnah Charity in Gaza city have been using Braille copies of the Muslim holy book to study the verses. The Palestinian girls are reading the holy book at a summer camp in the Palestinian enclave. “Many girls are coming to memorize the holy Koran but we find some hardships while they memorize it because of their sight problems. Some of them are visually impaired, while others have lost their sight completely,” teacher Ikhlas Abu Omarin told Reuters Television. One of the students, Yasmine Drimri, said the use of Braille encouraged her to overcome obstacles in her education. “It is very nice. When I read the Quran I challenge myself and my disability,” Drimri said.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/01/229754.html

Hunger

OPT: Is greater food security an illusion?
JERUSALEM, 2 August 2012 (IRIN) — At a glance, the latest data on post-assistance food security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) last week — seems to warrant optimism. 2011 was the second straight year in which the number of those living in food insecurity declined in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) …
But, as UNRWA itself admits, a deeper look into the numbers is less encouraging.  In the West Bank, Palestinians who live in refugee camps have actually experienced a rise in food insecurity – from 25 percent in 2009 to 29 percent in 2011. One quarter of Palestinian households in Israeli-controlled Area C are food insecure – 8 percent more than the West Bank average. Herders’ families in Area C are in a precarious situation, with 34 percent suffering from food insecurity.
And while food insecurity stands at just under 30 percent in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip combined, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported in May 2012 that 50 percent of infants and children under two in oPt have iron deficiency anaemia. According to the same WHO report, malnutrition and stunting in children under five “is not improving” and could actually be “deteriorating.”
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96009/OPT-Is-greater-food-security-an-illusion

Hebron hospice feeds thousands during Ramadan
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — A hospice in Hebron provides daily Ramadan meals for over 3,000 people, a Mosque official said Friday. “At the beginning, the hospice was built next to the Ibrahimi mosque from the East,” director of the Islamic Waqf in Hebron Zaid al-Jabari told Ma‘an … The hospice provides food for poor families in Hebron and is a popular place to seek blessings after returning from pilgrimages. Over 500 kg of red meat, 1000 kg of white meat and 300 kg of green beans are cooked everyday and distributed to the needy. Milk and bread are also provided. The Ibrahimi Mosque is considered the fourth holiest site in Islam.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509584

Turkish food aid arrives in Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — A shipment of flour from Turkey arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a statement from the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said. The first shipment from Turkey will feed more than 129,000 families supporting 687,000 dependents. Around 12,500 metric tonnes of wheat flour worth $6.6 million will arrive in Gaza over the next eight weeks. “The need for this aid is clear with food insecurity currently threatening 60 percent of Gazans,” said Filippo Grandi, commissioner-general of the Palestine refugee agency UNRWA.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509384

Germany donates 2 million euros to UNRWA
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — Germany has donated 2 million euros of food aid to the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians, an official said Friday. Adnan Abu Hasna, media adviser for UNRWA, said the donation was made after an urgent appeal by the UN organization to reduce the impact of political and economic problems on refugees in the West Bank and Gaza. The German donation will go towards providing food aid to around 666,000 people, Abu Hasna added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509681

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

‘Palestinians for Dignity’ rejects EU hypocrisy on Israeli occupation
IMEMC 31 July — A Palestinian youth organization called “Palestinians for Dignity” issued a statement on Monday regarding the hypocritical stance taken by the European Union in its decision to upgrade relations with Israel despite statements acknowledging the atrocities of the occupation. The following is the statement released by Palestinians for Dignity as quoted in multiple news agencies:  “It has come to light over the last week that the European Union (EU) has decided to upgrade its trade and diplomatic relations with the state of Israel despite the latter’s intensification of its occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people … We hereby call on the EU to (1) immediately freeze the new upgrade of relations with Israel; (2) suspend the existing EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel complies with international law; and (3) investigate and halt the work of all European companies benefiting from Israel’s occupation and settlement policies. Barring meaningful action on the above, the Palestinian youth movement will organize to protest the latest manifestation of EU complicity and to challenge its presence and operations in Palestine.”
http://www.imemc.org/article/63989

Taking BDS to the streets
[photos] ISM 30 July by ‘Marshall Pinkerton’ — On July 26, youth activists in Nablus, in connection with the Tanweer Center for Enlightenment and Dar Al Qandeel association for arts and culture, kicked off a campaign to encourage residents of Nablus to boycott Israeli products this Ramadan and beyond. Because people tend to purchase more products during Ramadan, the activists resolved that the month would be a perfect time to encourage the masses to resist Israeli occupation through boycott … Over 25 activists participated in the first day of canvassing, with largely positive feedback from their interactions with residents. Many of the old city’s residents were unaware of the growing campaign and interested in participating in a further form of resistance.
http://palsolidarity.org/2012/07/taking-bds-to-the-streets/

Political / Economic / Diplomatic News

Erekat: No date set for next UN bid
JERICHO (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday that no date was set for next steps at the United Nations, where officials are considering a new initiative to seek membership as a state. Erekat said the timing of a draft application for the General Assembly will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting on Tuesday and after consulting with regional leaders. His remarks followed separate meetings with ambassadors from France, Germany, India, Brazil and the United States, Erekat said.
The Associated Press, meanwhile, reported that it had obtained a document spelling out Palestinian fears of reprisals in the event the UN granted Palestine membership in the world body.  Prepared by the PLO’s negotiations support unit, the document said both Israel and the US had an arsenal of punitive measures at their disposal. It said the US could close the PLO mission in Washington, suspend aid to the Palestinians or withhold contributions to any UN agency the Palestinians try to join, the AP reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509368

Captive economy: The pharmaceutical industry and the Israeli occupation
PulseMedia 2 Aug — One of Israel’s favorite selling points, in its campaign to rebrand itself and divert attention from its ongoing theft of Palestinian land by means of ethnic cleansing, military control and apartheid policies, is its claim to world leadership in medicine. The problem with this line of apartheid PR is, of course, the failure to mention the control the state of Israel has over the Palestinian healthcare system. Captive Economy, a new report by Who Profits investigates the involvement of Israeli and multinational pharmaceutical industries in the occupation of Palestinian land.  The report exposes a complex system of military and civilian laws and regulations that make the West Bank and the Gaza Strip a captive market for Israeli and International drug companies.
http://pulsemedia.org/2012/08/02/captive-economy-the-pharmaceutical-industry-and-the-israeli-occupation/

Official: PA customs revenue reaches $200 million
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Aug — Revenue from Palestinian customs increased to $200 million annually over the period 2008 – 2012, a Palestinian Authority official said Friday. Fuad al-Shobaki, general director of customs, said the increase in revenue will help to ease the financial crisis currently affecting the PA. The Palestinian customs system is constantly developing and is now capable of receiving goods at any crossing, al-Shobaki added. On Tuesday, the Palestinian Authority and Israel agreed on a revamp of revenue collection that may help relieve the Palestinian government’s deepening debt crisis, officials said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509594

UNESCO advanced ‘new stage’ for Palestinians
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — Palestine entered a new stage internationally after being accepted as a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, PLO observer to the UN Riyad Mansour said Wednesday. Palestine has attended four conferences recently as a member, including a discussion concerning maritime law and the standardization of geographical names of countries, Mansour told Ma‘an. The Palestinian delegation is working hard in the UN to explain the negative impact of settlement activity on the prospects for a two state solution, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509295

Fatah official briefly detained again in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Aug — Security services in the Gaza Strip on Thursday detained the local spokesman of Fatah for the third time in a week, an official said. Fayez Abu Aita has a law degree and served as the mayor of Beit Lahiya until 2007 when Hamas seized control from the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority. He was released after about three hours. Hamas forces briefly detained the official for the first time on Sunday. He was held for about four hours, according to the group’s West Bank spokesman. Abu Aita was arrested after making remarks about national reconciliation and elections, Fatah said. Hamas is refusing to hold elections in Gaza despite agreeing to a vote in in a deal signed with Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=509403

Refugees

In Syria, mortars kill 21 in Damascus refugee camp
BEIRUT (AP) 3 Aug — Mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, killing 21 people as regime forces and rebels clashed on the southern outskirts of Damascus, activists said Friday. The attack on Yarmouk camp came as the government battled rebel fighters in the nearby Damascus suburb of Tadamon on Thursday evening. Clashes there continued on Friday and sounds of explosions from the neighborhood could be heard as far as the mostly deserted Damascus downtown, with plumes of smoke seen rising into the sky. The U.N. agency running Palestinian camps confirmed that at least 20 people had died in the shelling of Yarmouk. The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which first reported the deaths, said the mortars hit as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal. The activists with the group would not speculate on who was firing.
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-mortars-kill-21-damascus-refugee-camp-105502493.html

Video: Syria: carnage as mortar shells hit Palestinian camp in Damascus
Telegraph 3 Aug — Amateur footage believed to show the chaotic aftermath of a mortar attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus has been published online.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9449312/Syria-carnage-as-mortar-shells-hit-Palestinian-camp-in-Damascus.html

Shelling and deaths in Syria’s Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp — UNRWA statement
[includes videos] Elect. Int. 3 Aug — …Today, Chris Gunness, spokesman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, confirmed in a statement that, “Intensive armed engagements in Tadhamoun, Yalda, Hajar Al Aswad, Al Kaddam and other districts that share borders with Yarmouk have resulted in deaths and injuries of residents of Yarmouk, including Palestine refugees. Refugee homes and properties and UNRWA installations have also been damaged during the armed engagements. There is no indication that Palestine refugees, homes or properties are being targeted … UNRWA is in the process of verifying Palestine refugee casualties.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/shelling-and-deaths-syrias-yarmouk-palestinian-refugee-camp-unrwa-statement

Freedom of the press

IFJ condemns Hamas meddling in Gaza journalists’ affairs
PNN 3 Aug — The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Thursday, 2nd August, accused Hamas security forces of harassing elected officials of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) in Gaza. In a letter to Ismael Haniyeh, Prime Minister in the Hamas government, the IFJ President said that journalists’ leaders in Gaza have been subjected to a campaign of intimidation and threats designed to force them to stop their union work. Some of them are now facing charges of illegal activities and a travel ban after they refused to give in to pressure.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/2352-ifj-condemns-hamas-meddling-in-gaza-journalists-affairs

Journalists disrupt Israel radio broadcasts to protest political intervention
Haaretz 2 Aug — Israel Radio’s journalists’ union is protesting management’s decision to ‘balance’ political, economic programs which are known for being critical.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/journalists-disrupt-israel-radio-broadcasts-to-protest-political-intervention.premium-1.455589

Israeli Racism / Discrimination

Why should Ariel, not Nazareth, get a university?
Haaretz 2 Aug by Susan Drinan — The only academic college located in an Arab community in Israel doesn’t receive any public funding, and its efforts to gain accreditation have been a long struggle. What’s the obstacle to getting the budget promised by the state in 2010 to the Nazareth Academic Institute when the new Ariel University will get millions?
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/why-should-ariel-not-nazareth-get-a-university.premium-1.455434

Israeli hospitals refusing to treat African patients
972mag 30 July by Mya Guarnieri — Report: Jerusalem’s Bikur Holim Hospital refuses to treat a number of African asylum seekers under the premise that they don’t have health insurance. In the past week, the Bikur Holim hospital in Jerusalem has turned away at least three Eritrean asylum seekers, according to a report in Maariv (Hebrew) … The phenomenon of refusing or limiting African patients is not new.  In early 2011, for example, an Eilat doctor refused to care for a pregnant African woman, telling her that he does not tend to Sudanese. In late 2010, an Eritrean man who had been attacked on the street by an Israeli man in Ashkelon was turned away from a local hospital even though he was bleeding.
http://972mag.com/israeli-hospitals-refusing-to-treat-african-patients/52120/

Israeli authorities detain 6-year-old mentally disabled child
IMEMC 3 Aug — A six-year-old mentally disabled girl who was born in Israel to parents who migrated from Sierra Leone was detained Thursday morning by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority. Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the girls’ family is in the process of appealing the rejection of their asylum request and has yet to receive a final decision from the Israeli Interior Ministry’s humanitarian committee.
An NGO dedicated to the rights of children reported to Ha’aretz that the girl and her family were detained at 5 AM which violates a policy of not waking up children in the middle of the night. They added, “The jailing of children must be our last option, and in this case it was the first.” The Population and Immigration Authority claim that they were not detained in the middle of the night, but at 6 AM.
http://www.imemc.org/article/64007

Detention camp for African migrants in Israel’s south to hold up to 30,000 people
Haaretz 2 Aug — The detention compound being built in the south for African migrants will accommodate up to 30,000 people, despite Defense Ministry statements that it would house 12,400, an Interior Ministry protocol shows.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/detention-camp-for-african-migrants-in-israel-s-south-to-hold-up-to-30-000-people.premium-1.455632

Three Eritreans stabbed in south Tel Aviv internet café
972mag 31 July by Haggai Matar — At around 11 a.m. this morning (Tuesday), a man entered an internet cafe in the Shapira neighborhood of south Tel Aviv, stabbed three Eritrean asylum seekers who were inside, and fled the scene. One man was reportedly stabbed in his back, another in his knee and the third in his hand. The stabber has not yet been identified but is alleged to be an Israeli male. UPDATE: An Israeli resident of south Tel Aviv, aged 38 and reportedly mentally ill, has been arrested by police in connection to the stabbing incident.
http://972mag.com/three-eritreans-stabbed-in-south-tel-aviv-internet-cafe/52142/

Modiin Illit’s mayor leaves ceremony over women’s singing
Ynet 2 Aug — Inauguration of new police station in haredi city tainted by dignitaries leaving it over female officers’ singing … A Judea and Samaria Police official was forgiving of the exclusion incident, saying that the choice of singers “was an innocent mistake” — given the nature of the station’s location and the crowd attending the ceremony.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4263555,00.html

Other news

battle of the beach videos:
In video: Our children are ready too
PNN 2 Aug — On Wednesday 1st August, Israeli newspaper Maariv stated that Palestinians took revenge for the Egyptian president Mohammad Mursi, by making a video in response to the Israeli video which insulted Mursi. The newspaper said in a report titled, “See the retaliatory Palestinian video from the Gaza Strip”, that Palestinians from the Gaza Strip uploaded a video on YouTube responding to the Israeli video that promotes for the construction of the Jewish temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/nonviolence/2346-in-video-our-children-are-ready-too

another view of this contest:
Watch: Hamas an far-right Jewish organization prepare their children for holy war
972mag 29 July — “Our children are ready!” The Temple Institute, an ultra-nationalist Jewish organization that is obsessed with rebuilding Solomon’s Temple exactly on the spot where the Dome of the Rock is located today in Jerusalem’s Old City, released the video below just in time for Tish’a b’Av (the Ninth of Av according to the Jewish calendar). On this day, Jews traditionally spend the day fasting and mourning the destruction of the ancient temple – as well as a long list of other tragedies that are alleged to have befallen the Jewish people on that day …
Not to be outdone, Hamas created a video of its own. In the Hamas version, below, a loving father takes his two children to the beach in Gaza … After he pauses briefly to pray, the Gazan father watches fondly as his children construct a replica of the Dome of the Rock out of sand. The father tears a piece off his newspaper, writes something on the slip of paper, attaches it to a matchstick and plants it on the dome of the mosque. As the sun sets over the Med he leads his children away by the hand and the camera gives us a close up of the flag so that we can see what’s written on it: “here is no god but God.”
http://972mag.com/watch-hamas-and-far-right-jewish-organization-prepare-their-children-for-holy-war/52072/

Israeli occupation force moves to purchase new battle fort system as part of Lebanon war preparations
PNN 3 Aug — The Israeli occupation Force (IOF) is planning to purchase a new high-tech portable fortress system that allows soldiers to construct bunkers within enemy territory, reported Yaakov Katz, Jane’s Defence Weekly correspondent, yesterday. The forts are manufactured from collapsible steel mesh, which allows them to be transported and then erected within the battlefield. They are also designed to withstand more than just rifle fire, as Katz reports that ‘during the tests it was found that both the fort and the roof can withstand shelling from various mortar shells.’
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/2362-israeli-defence-force-moves-to-purchase-new-battle-fort-system-as-part-of-lebanon-war-preparations

AOHR accuse Israeli security firms of committing war crimes
LONDON (PIC) 29 July — The Arab organization for human rights (AOHR) in Britain accused Israeli security contractors of being involved in armed conflicts happening in some African countries and in killing innocent people there. In a report, AOHR said many Israeli retired security and army officers established private companies for security and bodyguarding services around the world, but due to the sensitivity raised by the Israeli nationality of such companies, their owners registered them in other countries especially in European states. These Israeli companies recruit military and security personnel from different countries to work as mercenaries and bodyguards, AOHR added.
The most notorious security company of those, according to the Arab organization, is “Benital International Security” which was founded by the retired Israeli general Beni Tal in 1981 and this man was responsible for the personal security of high-level Israeli figures such as Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. Banital company carries out its international operations and services through five main branches in the occupied Palestinian territories, France, the US, Russia and Italy.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Puh7sco10%2bS6hej70YzRjp2TpjKkxqG%2fc3vx01USSij98DzrT0tqfAe6mC8BOAIL8igKrYuz29gHEeAkV61e3OXvvl6UIseaATbGqwCAbJs%3d

Analysis / Opinion

NIF head: ‘The occupation is a cancer that’s eating us’
Haaretz 2 Aug — …Lurie, a Reform rabbi who headed the San Francisco Jewish Federation for more than 17 years, was CEO of the now-defunct United Jewish Appeal and is considered by some to be the inventor of the Taglit-Birthright program to bring young Diaspora Jews for visits to Israel. He told Haaretz that the NIF represents core Jewish values and strives to strengthen both Israeli democracy and its Judaism. In this vein, he described the achievement of equal rights for Arabs, an area in which he has been involved for many years, as the “proof test” of Israel as a Jewish state. “Every Jew in every Diaspora has said, at one time or another: We want to be equal. That’s our history of 2,000 years. And now that we have a state, we don’t do the same thing?” Lurie said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/nif-head-the-occupation-is-a-cancer-that-s-eating-us.premium-1.455331

The murder of Arafat / Sam Bahour
Counterpunch 3-5 Aug — How the Israeli Quintet Indicted Itself — “We have to get rid of Arafat” ~ Israeli defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to Prime Minister Sharon caught on an open mic Source: Haaretz (Hebrew) “We operated against Ahmed Yassin and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi [two Palestinian leaders extrajudicially assassinated by Israel] when we thought the time was suitable. On the matter of Arafat we’ll operate in the same way, when we find the convenient and suitable time. One needs to find the time and to do what has to be done.” ~ Israeli Prime Minister Sharon to Ma’ariv newspaper  Source: The Guardian
Yasser Arafat may be dead, but for all intents and purposes he lives on and continues to be a thorn in Israel’s side. Earlier this month a Swiss doctor announced that high levels of toxic polonium-210 were found on some of Arafat’s belongings. Polonium-210 is a highly radioactive substance, one that would require a nuclear reactor and expertise to produce and handle. Israel, being a nuclear power and having publicly expressed a motive for Arafat’s “elimination,” fits the description.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/03/the-murder-of-arafat-2/

Is the power of Britain’s pro-Israel lobby on the wane? / Asa Winstanley
MEMO 31 July — In Palestine solidarity circles the debate around the pro-Israel lobby often focuses on the chicken-or-the-egg problem: are Western governments supportive of Israel because the lobby is so influential, or does the lobby only seem influential because governments are so supportive of Israel?  A focus on this question neglects another, more crucial, aspect of the debate: how can we win? How can the tide be turned against Western governments’ support for Israel? In April, a Palestinian political and religious leader won an important victory in the British judicial system. Sheikh Raed Salah’s successful appeal against deportation gives us a glimpse of how to answer this question … Ultimately what the Raed Salah case proves is this. With enough determination, the pro-Israel lobby can be defeated. As it resorts to more and more nakedly false propaganda, the Palestinian narrative will win more and more battles against it, and truth will out.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/guest-writers/4030-is-the-power-of-britains-pro-israel-lobby-on-the-wane

Mitt Romney, Palestinian culture and white supremacism: responses worth reading
Elect. Int. 2 Aug — …The culture of ‘white supremacy’ — ‘  Writing in Black Agenda Report, Glen Ford mocks Romney’s contentions that “Two cultures have clashed in Palestine, and one has been found to be 20 times as productive as the other.”  Turning the tables, Ford points out how the ‘culture’ of white supremacy from which Romney’s ideology flows has been used in the United States and Africa to justify the subjugation of people of color … Get the facts — Seizing the opportunity of Romney’s ignorant comments, the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) has put together an excellent fact sheet “Palestinian Culture: 64 Years Under Israeli Assault.”
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/mitt-romney-palestinian-culture-and-white-supremacism-responses-worth-reading

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