Israel blocks UNESCO fact-finding mission to investigate assaults on holy places in Jerusalem

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

UNESCO visit to Jerusalem canceled by Israel
Times of Israel 20 May by Gavriel Fiske — Palestinian ‘politicization’ of UN mission cited as reason for decision to block inspection of Old City — In a last-minute about-face, Israel said Monday that it would not allow a UNESCO delegation to inspect Jerusalem’s Old City as had been arranged. The visit had been heralded as a possible sign of a thaw in ties between Israel and UNESCO, after Jerusalem cut off contact with the UN body following its recognition of a Palestinian state in 2011.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/unesco-visit-to-jerusalem-canceled-by-israel/

Villagers threatened with ethnic cleansing hold a sit-in outside Beit Eil court
Al-Khalil (PIC) 20 May — Dozens of Palestinian families from eight villages south of al-Khalil, held a sit-in outside the headquarters of the Israeli Civil Administration, in Beit Eil, on Sunday afternoon, during a Court hearing to look into the appeal made by the villagers against the demolition of their homes due to lack of license. The IOF moved the villagers by force hundreds of meters from the administration building while allowing settlers to attend the Court hearing. The Israeli ministry of war decided to demolish eight Palestinian villages south of Hebron known as “Susia” villages, they are: Jazz, Taban, Wasfi, Alfkhait, Alhalawa, Almarakz, Janba and Kharouba at pretext of building without a permit.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7sYPz7fLOgttdVkH6ByISN9tk1cxr0a7LJ%2fKeaUROvjN7DYhQxTOG80Tb0Pb3Z4M13ABg0fYg7E%2fRf8phqg4Is6dM%2bJz62rz%2fjgzoBzVM6ds%3d

Israel demolishes car dealership in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 20 May – Israeli bulldozers demolished a car dealership in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem and an apartment in Shu‘fat refugee camp allegedly built without a permit, residents said. The owner of the car dealership, Muhamad al-Julani, said he was shocked when he received a call from the Israeli side informing him that he had to remove 65 cars from the site ahead of the demolition. Israeli troops surrounded the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood at 5:30 a.m. accompanied with dogs and bulldozers preparing to demolish the dealership, a Ma‘an correspondent observed. He added that the owner was removing cars from the site. Julani told Ma‘an that he tried to get a permit for three years. His case is pending in the court and he is “totally shocked” by the decision to demolish the site without informing him officially.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597296

Israeli court postpones East Jerusalem eviction decision
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 20 May — An Israeli court on Monday postponed a decision regarding the eviction of 10 people from their home in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. Muhammad Ayoub Shamasnah, the son of the home-owner, told Ma‘an that the court did not make a final decision about the eviction and has postponed the case until further discussions. The court suggested during the hearing that the family could remain in the property until the elderly parents die, but settlers who are targeting the property once the family is evicted refused the proposal, he added … The property is home to Muhammad Shamasnah, 82, his wife, their son Muhammad Ayoub and his wife and children, totaling 10 people.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597514

Israel demolishes 4 homes in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 21 May — Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem on Tuesday, having earlier destroyed two Palestinian homes in al-Tur … One building belonged to the Abu al-Dabaat family and consisted of three floors housing four families in four apartments totaling 480 square meters. “The building has been there since 1973,” said Raed Abu al-Dabaat, one of the apartment owners. “It was built on land owned by my father, and he lived there since 1930,” he told Ma‘an. “After the building was finished my father was arrested and sentenced to two years for allegedly building without a permit. In 2007, we were fined 160,000 shekels ($44,000), and two years later a demolition order was given but we managed to stop it,” Abu al-Dabaat said, adding that the family had not received any new demolition orders.
Israeli forces assaulted family members in clashes that erupted before the demolition, and three Palestinians were arrested, a Ma‘an reporter said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597708

WATCH: ‘My Neighborhood’ — the human impact of settlements in Sheikh Jarrah
972blog 17 May — 26-minute film — Just Vision’s Peabody Award winning film, My Neighbourhood (directed by Julia Bacha and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi), tells the story of Mohammed El Kurd, a Palestinian teenager in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah whose family is forced to share a section of their home with Israeli settlers. Mohammed comes of age in the midst of unrelenting tension with his neighbors and unexpected cooperation with Israeli allies in his backyard. The struggle against evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah returned this week as the Shamasneh family stands to lose its home, which would be the neighborhood’s first eviction since 2009.
http://972mag.com/watch-my-neighbourhood-the-human-impact-of-settlements-in-sheikh-jarrah/71657/

Walking tours highlight West Bank’s shrinking landscape
Deir Ghassaneh (IPS) 20 May by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours — A reddish-brown dome sits atop an ancient stone house, used hundreds of years ago for prayer. It peeks out from the surrounding trees as the rolling green valleys and hills of the central West Bank stretch out into the distance. This shrine, known as the al-Khawass shrine, sits 540 meters above sea level in the Palestinian village of Deir Ghassaneh. It is one of several stops along the Sufi trail, which begins in the valley below and takes visitors and locals alike back in time to when Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, was widespread in the area … “The landscape in the West Bank is shrinking, vanishing, dying slowly. It’s mainly because of the occupation. If we come close to settlements, we risk being attacked. It’s really sad to see tracks that we’ve been walking nicely suddenly off limits for us,” al-Mohor explained.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/walking-tours-highlight-west-banks-shrinking-landscape/12477

Excavations in the Buraq Square and Umayyad palaces
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 21 May — The Israeli occupation authority has accelerated on Monday its excavation and destruction in Buraq square and Umayyad palaces south of al-Aqsa mosque as a prelude to establish the so-called “Israeli Strauss Center project,” a new Jewish-only building includes a police station and a Rabbi visitors centre. Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage confirmed that Israeli bulldozers started digging on Monday morning in the Buraq area for the installation of steel shoring columns. The excavations led to the removal of several Arab and Islamic monuments in the area.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7f1tiU5VpvGqOWpHcyKWkuZe2uByRluUDB9P3FbnRdbncBe57iDFk26OiVIOy8xjSzhPAfCTa78LxJsHOKw5sE5j4NV9eZky9oTsBX1qea%2fU%3d

Prelude to land theft: a livelihood trashed in Aqraba
ISM 21 May by Team Nablus — Seven hundred olive trees were uprooted first thing in the morning of 16th May while a bulldozer got to work destroying the farmer’s concrete water storage facility and surrounding dry stone walls and fences in Aqraba. The Israeli army, who did some of the damage along with specially contracted workers, has since returned to check that the ground has not been replanted. Arriving at 6am, the military came in jeeps and with a bulldozer and, along with the other workers, began to trash the wire fence enclosing the area and pull up the trees on it by hand. They came without any prior notification. When the mayor made a complaint on the scene at about 8am, saying that demolitions cannot happen without the land owner being warned and signing a confirmation as such; even citing several simple ways in which the owner or, at least, the municipality could be informed. He was told that an order had been delivered and placed “on a rock” there some “two years ago”.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/prelude-to-land-theft-a-livlihood-trashed-in-aqraba/

Israeli forces issue demolition orders to Bedouins in Yatta
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 20 May — Israeli forces issued demolition orders to seven Bedouin families in south Hebron on Monday, locals said. Israeli military vehicles raided an area east of Yatta and issued the orders to Bedouin families from the al-Hathalin tribe, witnesses told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597521

Army uproots farmlands in Hebron, destroys irrigation systems
IMEMC 20 May — Israeli soldiers uprooted, on Monday, more than four Dunams (0.98 Acres) of agricultural lands in Al-Baq‘a village, east of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Ata’ Jaber, a local farmer, told the Palestinian New & Info Agency (WAFA) that the army uprooted and bulldozed the lands, and destroyed irrigation systems. Jaber added that the lands were planted with tomato seedlings, beans, and zucchinis, and are nearly 500 meters away from the Kharseena illegal Israeli settlement.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65511

[Settlers burn lands in Nablus]
AL-KHALIL, NABLUS (PIC) 21 May — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Palestinian towns and villages around al-Khalil on Monday and erected military checkpoints at their entrances … Meanwhile, Israeli settlers from Gilad settlement set fire to Palestinian lands belonging to villagers from the villages of Immatin and Far‘ata in an attempt to burn the wheat crop. Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli forces prevented the Palestinian farmers from reaching their fields to put out the fire and arrested a Palestinian villager claiming he was trying to attack the soldiers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Lo376V4rytJ0IsLQ0yv4Qk2aVxxgjZwufWLvQNATnc7Ov668BAI7oaAwqwgxDgtjaKQy0FO5ewqd0zPha2nxhHLK8HgeVe1fF8%2fdRtwYxW8%3d

Israeli forces demolish commercial property in Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 20 May — Israeli forces on Monday demolished four commercial properties at the southern entrance of Barta‘a which located behind the Israeli separation wall. Israeli forces claimed the properties were not licensed and that they were located outside the allowed area for Palestinians, an official said. Tawfiq Qabha, a member of the village council, told Ma‘an that 15 military vehicles and two bulldozers entered the village about 5:30 a.m. and began demolishing shops for used car parts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597253

Houses, fences and fruit trees: a decade of watching settlements grow
Times of Israel 20 May by Matti Friedman — A trip through the West Bank with Dror Etkes, who tracks how Israel’s settlements are altering the physical, political and human landscape in one of the world’s most complicated pieces of land — It has been just over a decade since Dror Etkes began criss-crossing the West Bank in a long war of unstinting dedication and uncertain efficacy against the spread of Israeli settlements. In these years, Etkes, 44, has developed the skills of a political tracker — an expert at discerning what the landscape can reveal about the humans vying for control of this small piece of crowded and disputed land … Viewing a series of aerial photographs of one location over several years, he knows that dark brown fields divided into small, uneven plots means land worked by Palestinian farmers. Grayish soil means the land has been abandoned, sometimes because of closures by the army or because the Palestinian owners fear violence from settlers. When, a few years later, neat green rows of trees or vines appear, it usually means Israeli farmers are now working the same land. It is a pattern he has seen repeated across the West Bank.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/houses-fences-and-fruit-trees-a-decade-of-watching-settlements-grow/

Report notes restrictions on Israel, Palestinian journalists
Al-Monitor 20 May by Daoud Kuttab — If physical access is an important requirement for good journalism, the ability of Palestinians and Israelis to cover their ongoing conflict is largely compromised. This is one of the issues raised by a delegation of the International Press Institute (IPI) that visited Palestine and Israel in February … The report notes that Israeli and Palestinian journalists are denied physical access to the other’s territory and at times even the ability to speak to sources on the other side. Israel denies access by journalists on both sides — its security forces control the entry of Palestinians into Israeli territory as well as Israelis into Gaza — though for different reasons. One factor is that Israel simply does not recognize the existence of a Palestinian press … a Palestinian journalist can be accredited if working for the BBC or Mexican TV, but not if he or she works for Palestine TV in Ramallah or the Felesteen daily out of Gaza.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/ipi-report-press-freedom-israel-palestine.html

Palestinians demolish part of separation wall
Al-Monitor 20 May by Linah Alsaafin — On Friday night, May 16, a group of 20 Palestinians drilled a hole in the wall at the Abu Dis checkpoint, between the villages of al-Ezzariya and Abu Dis, and broke it down to enter the Ras il-Amood neighborhood in Jerusalem … The reaction from the Israeli army was predictably frantic and disproportionate. Live ammunition was fired at the protesters, in addition to sound bombs and shock grenades. The hole in the wall expanded to four meters, and according to Salah Khawaja, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority Ministry of State concerning Israeli settlements and Apartheid Wall Affairs, at least three people crossed to Jerusalem and made their way to al-Aqsa Mosque for evening prayers. Abu Dis and Ras il-Amood used to be adjacent towns before the wall divided them, splitting neighbors and relatives from each other as well as multiplying distances and difficulty in reaching one area from another.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/israel-separation-wall-palestine.html

Violence / Attacks / Raids / Clashes / Arrests

Israeli forces shoot teen near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 May — Israeli forces on Tuesday shot and injured a Palestinian teenager in Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah, witnesses and the Israeli army said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Atta Sabah, 13, was walking with school friends when Israeli forces opened fire at the group and hit him in the back. An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian trying to hurl a firebomb at Israeli forces during a riot in the area … Sabah is undergoing surgery at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597868

Clashes in Hebron as Israeli forces search Palestinian woman
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 May — Clashes broke out in Hebron late Monday after Israeli forces physically searched a Palestinian woman near Shuhada street, locals said. Sundus al-Azza, 19, had passed through metal detectors at an Israeli checkpoint but was called back to be patted down by Israeli soldiers, locals said. Al-Azza demanded that a female soldier carry out the search, as is normal protocol, but the soldiers insisted on doing it themselves. The woman then shouted for help and locals in the area immediately rushed to her assistance. Issa Amr, Ahmad Amr and Imad al-Atrash were detained while trying to prevent the male Israeli soldiers searching al-Azza, witnesses said. “Young men from the neighborhood attempted to stop the soldiers who were harassing the girl, a fistfight broke out between both sides before several residents took to the street in protest,” local resident Mufeed Sharabati told Ma‘an. As news of the incident spread, dozens of men flooded the area and hurled stones and empty bottles at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The governor of Hebron, Kamil Hmeid, arrived at the scene with officials from the Palestinian Liaison office to investigate the situation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597662

Dozens injured as army invades Bodrus village
IMEMC 21 May — Monday evening, May 20 2013, Palestinian medical sources reported that several Palestinians have been treated for the effects of teargas inhalation, after Israeli soldiers invaded Bodrus [or Budrus] village, west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Property damage and fires have also been reported. Member of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement in the village, Naim Marar, told the Palestinian News & Agency (WAFA) that the army invaded the village from the western side, and harassed several residents while interrogating them, an issue that led to clashes with local youths.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65517

Israel issues arrest warrant for Palestinian Minister of Detainees
IMEMC 20 May — Monday May 20 2013, according to Israel’s daily, Haaretz, the Salem Israeli Military Court issued a warrant ordering the Israeli army to arrest Palestinian Minister of Detainees, Issa Qaraqe‘. Qaraqe‘ said that he was never informed of such a warrant. In an interview with PNN, Qaraqe‘ said that Israel claims he “smuggled mobile phones” to Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, and added that the Israel’s claims are just a fabrication. He also said that what Haaretz reported, and the allegations that he [was] smuggling mobile phones to the detainees, are merely acts of incitement and false allegations made by Israel as part of its incitement against the detainees and the Palestinian officials. The Minister further stated that Israel recently apprehended Israeli prison officers who smuggled mobile phones to the Palestinian detainees in exchange for cash.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65513

Settlers severely beat handicapped boy near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 May — Settlers assaulted a 16-year-old handicapped boy in Yatta on Tuesday, leaving him with bruising all over his body, official news agency Wafa reported. Mohammad Shawaheen, 16, was attacked east of Yatta by settlers from Maon. He was taken to hospital for treatment
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597645

PA secures release of 2 men from Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 20 May — The Palestinian Liaison Office said Saturday it had arranged the release of two Palestinians from a village near Nablus who were arrested by Israel for walking close to a settlement. Muhammad Aytani, 47, and Mahmoud Eweis, 21, from al-Sawiya village, were detained after walking too close to the Eli settlement, the liaison office said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597270

Soldiers kidnap two children in Jerusalem
IMEMC 21 May — Monday, May 20 2013; Israeli soldiers kidnapped two Palestinian schoolchildren returning home from school, in the Al-Wad Road area, in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. The twin brothers were released on bail. The Israeli army claimed that a number of Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli military vehicles and settlers, cars driving in the area. Eyewitnesses said that the soldiers kidnapped Nathif and Ibrahim Hani Bader, 10, students of the Islamic Orphanage School in the city, and took them to an interrogation center. The two were released later on after a bail was posted, and will be sent to court at a later date, local sources said.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65516

Soldiers kidnap two [more] children in Jerusalem
IMEMC 21 May — Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, two Palestinian children in Abu Dis town, in occupied East Jerusalem, after breaking into their families’ homes and violently searching them. Local sources reported that the army invaded the town, approximately at 4 at dawn, and kidnapped two children identified as Mohammad Khaled Jaffal, 14, and Mohammad Ziyad Jaffal, 13.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65524

Army kidnaps three Palestinians near Nablus
IMEMC — Monday at dawn, May 20 2013, Israeli soldiers invaded Kufur Qalil village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped three Palestinians. Local sources reported that the army broke into several homes, and violently searched them causing property damage. The sources added that the three residents have been identified as Saleh Sa’dy Al-’Amer, 22, a student of the An-Najah University in Nablus and a former political prisoner, in addition to Ehab Joseph, 38, and Mohammad Nader Adel, 25.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65509

Israeli forces detain 6 in West Bank arrest raids
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 21 May — Israeli forces arrested six people overnight Monday in the West Bank, locals and Israel’s army said. Israeli military vehicles raided Balata refugee camp in Nablus and detained Khaled al-Asi, 21, Khalil al-Asi, 17, and brothers Abdul Fattah, 20, and Adham Abu Eisheh, 19, locals said. In Tulkarem, Hamza Haloub, 17, was detained after Israeli troops raided his home, relatives said. Haloub was seriously wounded during the raid, his mother told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597584

Army invades Jenin
IMEMC 21 May — Monday at dawn, May 20 2013, Israeli soldiers, supported by armored jeeps, invaded the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and the Al-Yamoun nearby town, installed a number of roadblocks and interrogated several Palestinians. The army also handed two residents warrants ordering them to head to a nearby military base for interrogation.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65514

PPP slams arrest of five of its members by PA forces
IMEMC 22 May — Tuesday May 21 2013; the leftist Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) issued a statement condemning the arrest of five of its members by the Palestinian Security Forces in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem. It said that several members are being targeted by the P.A for resisting the Israeli occupation, and practicing their right to Freedom of Speech … Furthermore, the PPS said that Israeli soldiers also kidnapped, on Tuesday at dawn, one of its members in Tulkarem, identified as Abdul-Basset Shreiteh, 21, and added that Israeli soldiers kidnapped six members over the last two months.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65526

PA security arrests a PFLP member in Nablus
IMEMC 21 May — Palestinian sources reported that Palestinian security officers kidnapped, on Monday evening, one of the political leaders of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), from his home, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65518

PA security forces detain 3 Hamas members
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 May — Palestinian Authority security forces arrested three Hamas affiliates in the West Bank on Tuesday, the Islamist group said in a statement. Three Hamas members were detained in Bethlehem and Nablus, the group said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597673

Gaza

Israel to re-extend Gaza fishing zone to 6 miles
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 May — The Israeli government has decided to re-extend Gaza’s fishing zone to 6 miles, after reducing it in March following a rocket attack from the coastal territory, a statement from Israel’s army said Tuesday. The decision was announced after a meeting between Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Moshe Yaalon, who then informed the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. Senior Egyptian and international officials were also informed about the decision, the statement added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597629

Israeli occupation gunboats fire at fishing boats in Gaza sea
GAZA (PIC) 21 May — Israeli occupation gunboats on Monday morning opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the sea of Gaza and at Palestinian homes near the shore to the west of Gaza City. No human casualties were reported, but light material damage to the fishing boats resulted from the occupation navy assault.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7D6FpSrdrgB4TdKcREqtcJ%2f3WrZ%2b8Zc4OdJdMCO0oeRIi7dnlKfHnBm6x9LK7pbd3IGFRte7W%2f5nED6xcBXeaBJ48wm4KwLYCz2dRWuBmv5Y%3d

Reporter: Israeli forces arrest fishermen
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 May – Israeli forces detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, a Ma‘an correspondent said.  Mahmoud and Khaled Zayed were taken to an unknown location and their boat was confiscated.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597336

Egypt reopens Rafah after kidnapped soldiers released
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 22 May — Egyptian police officers reopened the Rafah crossing on Wednesday following the release of seven Egyptian officers on Wednesday, military officials said. The crossing had been closed for 5 days following the abduction of the servicemen on Thursday by armed gunmen. The seven officers were released in a desert area south of el-Arish city, Egyptian security services told Ma‘an. A military helicopter immediately headed to the area and took the Egyptian officers back to Cairo. A spokesman for the Egyptian armed forces, Colonel Ahmad Muhammad Ali, confirmed that the soldiers had been released and were on their way to Cairo. The release of the servicemen came after intensive efforts by Egyptian intelligence in cooperation with the “noble people of Sinai and tribal sheikhs,” Ali added. Egyptian security sources said the gunmen were Jihadists and were demanding the release of suspects accused of killing Egyptian officers in an attack on el-Arish police station in August.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597974

Thousands stranded as Rafah closed for 5th day
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 May — Egyptian authorities kept the Rafah crossing with Gaza closed for a fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, despite efforts by Palestinian officials to reopen the terminal. Egyptian police closed the Rafah crossing on Friday after gunmen ambushed two minibuses in Sinai’s Wadi al-Akhdar and detained seven Egyptian servicemen. The police said they would not reopen Rafah crossing until their colleagues were released.
A Gaza based center for human rights said that over 2,400 Palestinians are stranded at both sides of the crossing. The group urged Egyptian authorities to open the crossing and “exclude it from the internal affairs of both sides.” Passengers told Ma‘an on Monday that they were making do with cardboard and newspapers to sleep at night, and to avoid the heat of the sun during the day. Some sleep in mosques, and very few can afford to hire a hotel room in el-Arish. Some passengers have even managed to cross into Gaza through smuggling tunnels.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597608

Jamal al-Dura: Israel killed my son in cold blood
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 May — The father of Muhammad al-Dura, who was shot dead by Israeli forces in 2000, said Monday that he was not surprised by Israel’s refusal to take responsibility for his son’s death. “Every year the Israelis come up with a new narrative,” Jamal al-Dura told Ma‘an. “Yes, Muhammad is still alive in our hearts and in the hearts of the Arab and Islamic nation as well as all the noble people who support the Palestinian cause.” France 2 reporter Charles Enderlin’s reportage on the incident shows the death of 12-year-old Muhammad in the arms of his father in Sept. 30, 2000 after being caught in the crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants at the start of the second intifada. An Israeli report by the ministry of international affairs and strategy said raw footage of the incident showed that Muhammad was seen alive in the video.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597423

Israel continues to detain Gazans at border crossing
Al-Monitor 17 May by Khaled Kraizim — “It was silent save for the whispers of praise, the recitations of the Quran and the shuffling feet of some Israeli soldiers. All of a sudden, while we were waiting for permission to traverse the crossing that separates Gaza from Israel, they took my husband without reason!” … Um Yousef Maarouf lost all hope of treating her eye after the Israeli occupation detained her husband Zahir at the Beit Hanoun-Erez crossing in the northern part of the Gaza Strip last week. He was accompanying his sick wife because the only treatment option available to her was going to an Israeli hospital inside occupied Palestine. Um Yousef arranged her affairs, grabbed her clothes and bag, gathered her remaining memories of the day her husband was detained and in a daze returned to the Gaza Strip without receiving treatment … In recent years, the Erez crossing — which separates the Gaza Strip from Israel — has become a trap, the victims of whom are subject to detention and investigation, while others are blackmailed into becoming informants for Israeli intelligence services. They are offered entrance into the West Bank for treatment or visitation in exchange for information regarding the resistance.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/gaza-border-israel-detains-patients.html

Official: Hamas willing to close down tunnels
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 May — The Hamas government in Gaza is willing to close down all smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border once a commercial crossing opens, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday. “We do not want the tunnels in the first place,” said Ghazi Hamad. “They burden citizens and cause hundreds of fatalities, but they are essential because there is no alternative.” “The tunnels issue can be resolved by finding a solution that balances the security needs of Egypt and the humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip through lawful commercial transactions monitored by both,” he added in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597804

The children of Gaza’s tunnels
Al-Monitor 19 May by Khaled Kraizim — Inside a long corridor less than two meters wide, a dim ray of light sneaks through a small opening at the top of the basement where a border tunnel begins. A Palestinian child named Mohammad enters the tunnel in Gaza and walks thousands of meters in the dark to the other end, in Egypt. Dozens of Gaza’s children repeatedly pass through these “crossings of death” — the tunnels separating the border between Egyptian Rafah and Palestinian Rafah. They do so because they are poor. They do so despite the danger that the tunnels might collapse. Lately, Egyptian security forces have been flooding the tunnels with sewage. The tunnels are a way for the people of Gaza to get essentials, which are being otherwise prevented from reaching them by Israel’s seven-year-old blockade. According to local estimates, it is believed that 10,000 people work in the tunnel business. Mohammad, 14, spends ten hours a day transporting merchandise from Egypt to Gaza. He is worried about dying as he tries to earn a living, and he is worried that Egyptian security forces might find the tunnel.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/child-labor-gaza-tunnels-egypt-rafah.html

High-profile Gaza visitors leave hollow mark
Al-Monitor 16 May by Rana Baker — It is easy to tell when a high-profile delegation is visiting Gaza. Flags of the delegation’s home country are suddenly fluttering on the lampposts of Gaza’s main roads, and billboards offer words and images of gratitude to the “honorable” guests coming to stand with their kinfolk in their struggle for liberation … The politicians who visit Gaza — typically politicians, monarchs, and religious leaders from majority-Muslim nations — do so more for themselves than for the Palestinians with whom they claim to stand in solidarity. These trips boost support for them back home — as happened with Egypt, Qatar, and Malaysia — and tamp down criticism of them by their people … The money they provide Gaza is aimed at short-term “development,” at best, and is politically motivated, at worst.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/gaza-visits-erdogan-qatar.html

Women’s prison in Gaza swells with ‘moral’ criminals
Al-Monitor 16 May by Abeer Ayyoud — At Gaza’s only all-female prison located in the central city, dozens of detained women from across the coastal enclave remain under intense security, irrespective of the crime. Al-Monitor gained access to this high-security, one-story facility with the permission of the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior, on condition that the correspondent be accompanied by a guard, names of prisoners are not published and that the final report was reviewed by the ministry before publishing … The head of the prison, Jazya Abu Mousa, said that this year has witnessed the largest number of female prisoners since she began working there in 2007. “The number changes from time to time as most of the prisoners here are detained and not sentenced,” Abu Mousa said. Criminals in the prison are divided into three categories: thieves, security convicts of crimes often related to cooperating with the Israeli occupation, and “moral” convicts, which includes prostitution or sexual relations without marriage. This final category holds the largest number of prisoners. Abu Mousa blames the increasing number of crimes in the Strip on weak religious awareness among locals, family disintegration and the poor financial situation of most people in Gaza.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/gaza-women-prison.html

Gaza rappers persevere despite Hamas ban
[with video] Al-Monitor 20 May by Lena Odgaard — The Gazan hip-hop group Palestinian Unit has been traveling across Europe, performing for a growing fan base. Although their popularity is on the rise in Spain, France and Denmark, in Gaza they are banned. According to one of the group’s members, rapper Ayman Jamal Mghames, the official excuse of the Hamas-led government is that hip-hop is too “Western.” He has no doubt, however, that it is the messages in the group’s songs that the authorities find problematic.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/gaza-rapper-hamas-youth-islamization.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7287

Feature: Football match in Gaza becomes unusual as players, referees are deaf
Xinhua 20 May by Agencies — In any regular football match, fans on terraces loudly applaud when players scream at each other, asking another player to pass the ball to his colleague to score a goal and suddenly the referee whistles due to a foul, but the situation is totally different in a Gaza football match. In a football stadium in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, the situation was completely different where all the players, the referees and most of the fans sitting on the terraces were deaf. Instead of shouting or whistling, the scene was amazing when referees used colorful flags instead of the whistle.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/782822.shtml#.UZyKIJxZ4Sk

Gaza internet shows provide comic relief
[with video of Shareeda episode] Al-Monitor 20 May by Ilham Rawoot — The Internet is Ahmed Balousha’s only reprieve from the isolation of Gaza. Balousha, 24, hosts a weekly YouTube show called “Shareeda” from Beit Lahia, a suburb just outside Gaza City. Shareeda is a game that Gazan children play on the streets. It involves two teams trying to catch each other. “This game is what life in Gaza is like,” says Balousha in the show’s introduction. “One person is trying to escape while the other is trying to catch him.” Four months ago, Balousha’s fellow presenter and best friend, Mohammed Sheikh Yusuf, was sought by the Hamas government for his leading role in the March 15 movement, which aimed to end divisions between Hamas and Fatah. He had to move to Qatar.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/gaza-internet-comedy-shaheeda.html

Keeping alive Gaza’s culinary traditions
BBC News, Gaza 19 May by Yolande Knell — … The style of food in the Gaza Strip owes much to its port, which was on the ancient spice route linking south Arabia and the Mediterranean. Chillis of all kinds are popular and cooks make greater use of fresh green herbs and sour tastes than elsewhere in the region. There is also diversity in dishes because the majority of Gazans are descendants of refugees from a wide area of historic Palestine, where there were different tastes and ingredients. They were displaced in the 1948 war that led to the creation of Israel.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22560237

Detainees / Hunger strikers / Court actions

Israel hospitalizes hunger striker
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 May — Israel on Tuesday hospitalized a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, his lawyer said. Ayman Abu Daoud was transferred from Ramle prison clinic to the Haemek Medical Center in Afula, said Jawad Boulos, a lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Abu Daoud has been on hunger strike since April 14. The 32-year-old was released in Oct. 2011 in Israel’s prisoner swap with Hamas, but rearrested four months later and accused of violating his release terms by distributing financial allocations to persons affiliated with a political party, according to the prisoner rights group Addameer. Military prosecutors are trying to reinstate the 28 years remaining on his previous sentence. Abu Daoud, a father of two, denies the charge and has announced he will continue his hunger strike until he is released.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597872

10 political detainees in PA jails start hunger strike
RAMALLAH (PIC) 21 May — Families of political prisoners committee in the West Bank announced that 10 political prisoners held in the Preventive apparatus’s prison in Bitounia, in the city of Ramallah, announced entering an open hunger strike until their release. Sources close to the families of a number of hunger strikers pointed out that the detainees decided to start returning the meals after the prison director broke his promises to release them, as the Court extended the arrest of one of them; journalist Mohamed Awad, for 45 days.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7zOIXaVDspVXBodQzC4OFdptDakSNC7divJWCjad%2fw5E4DcDxigMtWBT1w6X7aATza1Jdx%2bW5BrfmhO3kqCJAgDMz77s3UsO9sGzhV1DoKpk%3d

Israel allows Gaza families to visit relatives in jail
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 May — Eighty-seven family members were allowed to visit their loved ones in Nafha prison after receiving permission from Israel to cross via Beit Hanoun, the Red Cross said Monday. Nasser al-Najjar, a spokesman for the Red Cross, told Ma‘an that 87 Palestinians headed to Nafha prison early in the morning. Israeli authorities allowed 13 children to join the visit.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597225

Israel releases Jerusalem man from jail
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 19 May — Israeli forces on Sunday released a Palestinian detainee from Silwan east of Jerusalem after he spent three and a half years in prison, his family said. Abed al-Rahim Khalil Abbasi’s family said Israeli intelligence forces raided the home days ago and handed out notifications directing relatives to meet with intelligence officers. They asked the family not to hold celebrations or raise Palestinian flags upon his release, they said. An Israeli court accused Abbasi of being affiliated to a group planning to throw Molotov cocktails toward Israeli military vehicles in Silwan. They also accused him of possessing ammunition without a weapon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=596896

PA minister denies phone smuggling claims in Israeli jails
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 May — The Palestinian Authority minister for prisoners on Monday denied Israeli media reports alleging that the ministry is involved in illegally providing detainees with mobile phones. A report published Monday by Israeli daily Haaretz said that it was discovered recently, during a trial in an Israeli military court, that Palestinian prisoners had obtained mobile phones to contact their families and speak with detainees in other jails.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597473

Prisoners who starved for art honored by Gaza show
GAZA CITY (EI) 21 May by Joe Catron — For former Palestinian detainee Abdelfattah Abu Jahil, prison art is a victory. “At the beginning, it was really hard,” he said of painting, embroidery and sculpture during his first detention by Israeli forces in 1983. “It wasn’t allowed. We had to keep it hidden from the guards. And we had to smuggle the tools, like beads and threads, to make the art.” That changed, he said, when a mass hunger strike forced the Israeli Prison Service to let Palestinian detainees keep and use art supplies.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/prisoners-who-starved-art-honored-gaza-show/12479

Palestinian refugees outside Palestine

Palestinian refugees from Syria especially vulnerable
Al-Monitor 20 May by Samar El Yassir — Syria’s civil war has forced more than a million Syrians to flee their homeland in search of protection and shelter in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Palestinian refugees from Syria are particularly vulnerable as a result of the lack of recognition and support they receive from the international community. Many of these Palestinian refugees are experiencing displacement for a second or third time. Statelessness multiplies the horrors and fears with each new war and displacement. While the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today is responding to the needs of Syrian refugees in the Middle East, Palestinian refugees remain outside its mandate and as such do not receive its relief aid … before the violence in Syria, [UNRWA] was already struggling to meet the needs of Palestinian refugees, especially the more than 260,000 living in 12 refugee camps in Lebanon. That leaves Palestinian refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria in limbo. More than 50,000 Palestinians already have sought refuge in Lebanon. Thousands more arrive each month. They arrive with the clothes they are wearing and few or no resources to survive on their own.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/palestinian-refugees-syria.html

Palestinian refugee counsels Syrians
BEIRUT (Daily Star) 21 May by Brooke Anderson — BEIRUT: As a blind Palestinian woman from an internally displaced family in the West Bank, Laila Atshan knows what it’s like to be an outsider. Her background has helped the veteran psychologist to connect with the traumatized Syrian refugees she is now counseling in Lebanon for the next several weeks … “The violence in Syria has become very random, and it has affected people’s trust – sometimes of their neighbors and their best friends. Many people have been put in the situation of murdering their neighbor or losing their life.” Atshan has spoken with refugees who are experiencing flashbacks, met children and teenagers who won’t stop crying and won’t leave the house, including one little girl who refused to take a shower for three months because her next-door neighbor had been blown apart in a bombing while taking a shower … She has also counseled Palestinians, who are now second-time refugees, mainly from Yarmouk, a camp on the edge of Damascus. “It’s super frightening for them. They think: what’s next? They already carry with them the trauma of their parents and grandparents”” she notes.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/May-21/217795-palestinian-refugee-counsels-syrians.ashx

Group: 4 Palestinian refugees killed in Syria
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 May — Four Palestinian refugees were killed in Syria on Monday, the Damascus-based task-force for Palestinians in Syria said. Farid Qasim was “executed” by gunmen affiliated with rebels from the Free Syrian Army in the Sheikh Anbar neighborhood, a statement said, allegedly because he was connected to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, a pro-Assad faction. Zuheir Talib Mousa, an officer in the PLO’s Liberation Army, was killed after being caught in the crossfire during fighting, and Muhammad Atwah died after being tortured by the Syrian regime in jail … Muhammad Khair al-Razzaz from Yarmouk refugee camp, also known as Abu Sakhr, was shot dead in clasheson the outskirts of Damascus, the task-force said. Several people were injured on Monday as Syrian regime forces shelled an area of Yarmouk refugee camp, the working group for Palestine said. The al-Husayniyah camp on the outskirts of Damascus was also shelled
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597590

Islamic Jihad denies involvement in Syrian clashes
IMEMC 22 May — On Tuesday, May 21, the Islamic Jihad in Palestine denied accusations of involvement in the ongoing clashes between the Syrian army and armed groups in Syria, and said that its struggle is only against Israel. The Movement issued a press release denouncing what it described as ““suspicious media reports that try to drag the Islamic Jihad into what is happening in Syria.”
http://www.imemc.org/article/65529

Solidarity / BDS

EU denies holding off on settlement product labeling
Times of Israel 20 May by Raphael Ahren — Neither John Kerry nor anybody else tried to dissuade us from labeling goods from beyond the Green Line, Europeans say — The European Union on Monday denied a report that claimed it had frozen a plan to label imported Israeli goods produced beyond the Green Line … an EU spokesperson said legislation to label settlement goods was ongoing.  “Contrary to what was recently reported in the Israeli media, work on the effective enforcement of EU legislation with regard to the labeling of settlement products has not been delayed. Nor has the EU been asked to postpone such work,” a spokesperson of the EU delegation in Israel said in a statement Monday.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-denies-holding-off-on-settlement-product-labeling/

WATCH: Supporters stage prison vigil for conscientious objector Natan Blanc
Israeli Social TV 20 May — Israeli teenager Natan Blanc was sentenced to a tenth prison term of 28 days for refusing to serve in the Israeli army last week. With the latest sentencing, he has been sent to prison more times than any previous conscientious objector in Israel. Earlier this year, supporters and activists held one of many regular support vigils on a hilltop overlooking the IDF’s Prison 6, where he is currently being held.
http://972mag.com/watch-support-vigil-for-imprisoned-conscientious-objector-natan-blanc/71748/

Video: Alicia Keys: Come together with your sisters. Boycott apartheid.
Published on May 20, 2013 by Talula Appleton — An appeal to Alicia Keys to cancel her concert in apartheid Israel, on July 4th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GiWZKH5xrV4

Political and other news

Chief Palestinian peace negotiator backs Kerry’s efforts
United Nations (Reuters) 20 May by Michelle Nichols — The top Palestinian negotiator with Israel on Monday threw his weight behind U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s bid to revive stalled peace talks, while describing the situation in the West Bank as apartheid worse than that suffered in South Africa. Kerry is due to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday and Friday. U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel broke down in 2010 in a dispute over continuing Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told a U.N. committee in New York on Monday that a settlement freeze and the release of Palestinian prisoners were not conditions for returning to negotiations, but rather obligations that Israel must fulfill.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSBRE94J0TE20130520

Kerry objects to Israel legalizing outposts
JERUSALEM (UPI) 21 May — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry lodged a protest over Israel’s decision to legalize four West Bank outposts, officials said. In a telephone call to Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, Kerry demanded an explanation and issued a protest, Haaretz reported Tuesday.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/05/21/Kerry-objects-to-Israel-legalizing-outposts/UPI-29941369127878/

Peace debate exposes deep rifts in Israeli government
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 21 May by Jeffrey Heller — Israel’s coalition government presented a divided front on Palestinian statehood on Tuesday as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry prepared a new mission to revive long-defunct peace talks. Appearing before a parliamentary committee, Israeli chief peace negotiator Tzipi Livni outlined a vision she said she shared with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an end to the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians. “My policy and that of the prime minister is that a solution of two states for two peoples must be achieved,” said Livni, who heads a small centrist party in the governing coalition. Far-right members of the government were having none of it, in a rare public clash of ideologies between political allies in Netanyahu’s administration since it took office in March.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/21/us-israel-palestinians-idUSBRE94K0CO20130521

Palestinian group: Ruler rights abuses increasing
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) 21 May — A Palestinian report shows human rights abuses by the rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza are on the rise. The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights said in its annual report Tuesday that incidents of abuse are up 10 percent since last year. Director Ahmed Harb said, “Most of the complaints were on torture, mistreatment, preventing and dispersing public assemblies, preventing reporters from reporting or arresting them.” The report said the rift between Palestinian factions is a main cause. Islamic Hamas militants ousted Fatah forces from Gaza in 2007 and took power. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority rules the West Bank. The report said there were seven extrajudicial killings of alleged Israeli collaborators in Gaza, and two Palestinians died in West Bank jails. Palestinian officials were unavailable for comment.
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-group-ruler-rights-abuses-increasing-174436518.html

Sheikh Sabri issues fatwa prohibiting ‘land swap’
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 20 May — Sheikh Dr. Ikrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council and the Al Aqsa Mosque preacher, issued a Fatwa prohibiting Land Swaps with the occupation which was recently accepted by the PA and the Arab league.
Palestine is the land of gathering (mahshar) and the Resurrection (Manshar) therefore it is not for sale nor for compromise, he said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s74AyKCUuNDuMQZ6KZ82E6ZsgJEM7sr%2fErwR49jChV88N3PtpkklmUWXMXOnH89gj9apg7ijxdOm8v%2fuCA1jB1UbGDtAV6DeUTcvJkhGmopjE%3d

Jordan denies entry to Islamic Jihad official
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 May — Jordanian authorities on Tuesday denied entry to a representative of the Islamic Jihad movement, the group said. Abu Imad Rifaee, a senior Islamic Jihad official, was en route to Jordan to take part in a reconciliation committee meeting tasked with reactivating the PLO. Islamic Jihad condemned the move, urging committee members to move the meetings to another Arab country. It is the second time that Jordan has denied entry to Rifaee, although it is unclear on what grounds he was refused entry.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597674

Palestinian film of love and betrayal breaks new ground at Cannes
CANNES (Reuters) 20 May by Belinda Goldsmith — A tragic love story between two Palestinians living under Israeli occupation received a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival on Monday and broke new ground as the first film fully funded by the Palestinian cinema industry. “Omar” by director Hany Abu-Assad, known for the 2005 award-winning film “Paradise Now”, is a political thriller interwoven with a story of trust and betrayal as two lovers are torn apart by Israel’s secret police and Palestinian freedom fighters.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/film-cannes-palestinians-idINDEE94J0BZ20130520

Hebron NGO receives award for outstanding work
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 May  — A Palestinian NGO in Hebron has received an award for outstanding work in its field, a statement said Monday. The Hebron Youth Development Resource Center received a 2013 Clubhouse Kudos Award for its outstanding results in the area of mentor recruitment and retention. The award was presented by US-based NGO The Computer Clubhouse, which implements youth projects to develop technological skills.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=597482

US-Israeli, Palestinian companies join forces in high tech
Al-Monitor 20 May by Danny Rubinstein Translated from Calcalist (Israel). ASAL Technologies is a Palestinian high-tech company based in Ramallah, where the Palestinian high-tech industry is primarily located. The company, which provides outsourcing services to companies in the Arab world and the West, is considered a rather small enterprise compared with high-tech companies in Israel. According to ASAL Technologies CEO Murad Tahboub, there are 135 software engineers employed in ASAL. About 30 of them are working in collaboration with or provide services to Israeli companies — for the most part, international companies that have development centers in Israel. One of these is the American software company LivePerson, which has 350 employees in Israel and, in addition, hires the services of nine software engineers from Ramallah … A business relationship between an established American-Israeli company and a young Palestinian company is, above all, an important step forward for the Palestinians. There are currently some 6,000 employees in the Palestinian high-tech industry. However, most of them provide support services to the local market and the public sector.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2013/05/palestinian-and-israeeli-high-tech-join-forces.html

Despite secrecy, interest builds around mysterious First Temple find outside Bethlehem
Times of Israel 19 May by Matti Friedman — A mysterious First Temple-era archaeological find under a Palestinian orchard near Bethlehem is increasingly gaining attention — despite attempts to keep it quiet. In February, a tour guide leading a group through an underground tunnel in the rural West Bank, not far from Jerusalem, was surprised to stumble upon the remains of a unique carved pillar. The pillar matched monumental construction from the 9th or 8th centuries BCE — the time of the First Temple in Jerusalem. That signaled the presence of an important and previously unknown structure from that period. The guide, Binyamin Tropper, notified antiquities officials … “They told me — we know about it, keep it quiet,” he said. The remains are in the politically charged West Bank, on the outskirts of an Arab village and on land privately owned by a Palestinian — all reasons the Israeli government might deem attempting an excavation there a major political headache to be avoided.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/bible-era-find-intrigues-scholars-despite-attempts-to-hush-it-up

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