Israel fires at Palestinian fisherman in Gaza and confirms military-controlled buffer zone three times larger than previously reported

Gaza siege

IDF: ‘Forbidden zone’ in Gaza three times larger than previously stated
[with map] 972mag 12 May by Noam Sheizaf — The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has clarified that the ‘forbidden’ buffer zone in Gaza strip stretches 300 meters from the fence (the Israeli border), and not 100 meters as it previously announced. Civilians who enter the area risk being shot by the army. In the past, the killing of Palestinians who wandered into the forbidden zone has led to retaliatory rocket launching from the Strip into Israeli territory. The clarification was made following a request by the human rights organization Gisha. Gisha had noticed that the IDF Spokesperson’s messages stated a different distance than did the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, which claimed that Gazans are not allowed into an area stretching only 100 meters from the fence. Recently, the army notified Gisha that the forbidden zone is indeed three times larger than previously reported. The army has refused to fully detail the methods it uses to warn farmers and other civilians from wandering into the forbidden zone it declared. A spokesperson for the army has told Gisha that such methods are part of “the opening fire procedures, and cannot be disclosed.”
http://972mag.com/idf-forbidden-zone-in-gaza-three-times-larger-than-previously-stated/71282/

Israel navy gunboats open heavy machine gun fire at Palestinian fishermen
GAZA (PIC) 12 May — Israeli navy gunboats opened heavy machine gun fire at Palestinian fishing boats working off the coast of central Gaza Strip on Saturday night. Local sources told the PIC reporter that the gunboats opened intensive fire at the boats that were fishing off the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s74PTcZ7nnv%2fsdgodTI1p9ScUtby0y5mP3MkwX7Z4mUDy74SI712hVs8PhhyrA%2f3cp%2bbhLSdwGYgJEJB1HdYQufhftBI4r%2bwHDeHNluNWxlfQ%3d

Egypt seizes fuel en route to Gaza Strip
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 11 May — Egyptian forces on Saturday seized large quantities of fuel destined to smuggled into the Gaza Strip, a security source said. Forces seized a truck carrying diesel and detained two Egyptian smugglers, the security official told Ma‘an. Meanwhile, Egyptian officers detained two Palestinian smugglers trying to enter Egypt through tunnels from the Gaza Strip, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594433

Gaza ministry: Collaborator campaign a success
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 May — The Hamas government in Gaza on Sunday claimed that a recent campaign to target collaborators with Israel was a success, the interior ministry said. Ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan told a press conference that all collaborators who handed themselves in during a month long amnesty are enjoying the guarantees promised at the start of the campaign. On March 12, Hamas said it had a list of collaborators but offered a one-month amnesty for informers to give themselves up in return for leniency. The campaign has now officially ended, Shahwan said, adding that a number of collaborators were detained during the crackdown.
Muhammad Lafi, director of internal security in Gaza, told reporters that the campaign had achieved its goals, noting that Israeli intelligence activities had decreased along the northern Gaza border. All collaborators who complete two-thirds of their sentence will be released early, he said, adding that two people have been sentenced to death on collaboration charges. The execution charges will not be carried out in public, Lafi said, and clerics will be present.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594771

Gaza police ban street parties ahead of high school exams
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 May — Police on Saturday started imposing a ban on street parties in the Gaza Strip until high school exams are over. Police will allow parties in private buildings but not in public areas, Gaza police spokesman Ayoub Abu Shar told Ma‘an, adding that residents were temporarily prohibited from using speakers in Gaza streets. The ban began Saturday and will be in place until school leavers have completed the Tawjihi, the Palestinian high school test, in June, the police spokesman said. He said the decision was made in cooperation with the Education Ministry to ensure an appropriate atmosphere for high school students.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594428

Activists to not drop charges against Israeli soldiers
Today’s Zaman 12 May by Gözde Nur Donat, Ankara — Families of the victims of Israel’s Mavi Marmara raid along with the survivors of the incident are determined to continue their legal struggle in trying members of the Israeli military responsible for the raid, notwithstanding any agreement between Turkey and Israel for the compensation of the event. In remarks to Sunday’s Zaman, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said that an agreement with Israel would have an effect on the civil lawsuits that the families of the raid victims have initiated. “There are lawsuits filed by those who would receive the compensation. We are aware of their demands. There are talks over acquiring 10 or 20 times the amount of compensation for the trials demanding compensation. If we come up with a bilateral agreement [with Israel], they [the families] will be required to waive their lawsuits, otherwise they will not receive any compensation,” Arınç stated.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-315162-activists-not-to-drop-charges-against-israeli-soldiers.html

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Clashes / Arrests

IOF abuses liberated captive at checkpoint in al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 11 May — Liberated captive Issa Halaiqa was taken to al-Khalil government hospital on Friday after he fainted at a checkpoint near Ras al-Jura district, north of al-Khalil, where he was stopped and attacked by an Israeli force. Halaiqa, aged 38, told PIC’s correspondent that the occupation soldiers stopped him at the checkpoint on Friday afternoon as he was returning to his home in the town of Shyoukh. He said the soldiers locked him in his car trunk, blindfolded and handcuffed, for more than two hours until he lost consciousness. The soldiers at the checkpoint called an ambulance which arrived to the place and took Halaiqa to hospital.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7h2IO4Dm6VDQuP%2fPh4BW5iNm%2bOqplbhmF%2bLy2d%2fBL%2bBYwXWzcUmRtZkOPzyZS5OnUnzq3YZe4U8nMvuXh9kjnfgV7CaqJ%2bnm95RTfyVA4SpY%3d

IOF attack students at al-Tur primary school
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 12 May — Seven children from al-Tur primary school suffered suffocation and burns, following an attack on the school students by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday. Head of the Parents’ Committee Mohammed Abu Ghannam said in a press statement that following the end of the school hours and as the students were leaving to their places, the IOF fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters towards them. Many children suffered injuries and burns in their necks, hands and feet, and were transferred to hospital to receive treatment. This primary school includes nearly 1200 students. Al-Tur’s schools have been recently exposed to the Israeli police attacks. [Ma‘an: this happened ‘while arresting 20-year-old Mustafa Abu al-Hawa’.]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7l2Jxj%2b7P84ILExu9ecD%2fFO9gxM8FQ33YjbJO3Tk7W6Ud0ATF4igajpsVuvzT4LD79W8aj6CaVgsIDSTx9fkemRssmyU7sbBsqF2fl805T6A%3d

Clashes as Israel detains 2 al-Aqsa brigade members in Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 13 May — Clashes broke out Monday morning in the Jenin refugee camp as Israeli forces detained two members of the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, locals said. Locals said the fighting continued for two hours after Israeli forces raided the al-Jabaryat area of the camp at 4 a.m., detaining Raed Amin Dababa and Mohammad al-Amer. A large military convoy was seen in the camp and two helicopters were overheard in the area, they added.
The two detainees are exempt from arrest by Israel under a deal with the Palestinian Authority signed in 2007, allowing Palestinian fighters who renounced violence against Israel and gave up arms immunity from detention.
The camp residents said the sound of clashes reminded them of the second Intifada, when the camp was held under siege for 11 days during Operation Defensive Shield in which over 50 Palestinians were killed.
In a recent interview with Ma‘an, commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Zakariya Zubeidi said Israeli forces were returning to the camp and targeting activists of the brigade who have full immunity from detention. “I call on all the members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade to be careful, and consider themselves [as being] chased by the Israeli authorities,” he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594955

Dozens of settlers clash with locals in Nablus
BURIN (AFP) 11 May — Dozens of settlers marched into a Nablus village on Saturday, leading to clashes with locals, witnesses said. One villager in Burin was slightly hurt in the hand by a stone and another passed out from tear gas fired by Israeli troops trying to separate the two groups, an AFP journalist said. The military said that Israeli soldiers also fired rubber-coated bullets, lightly wounding a Palestinian who was given first aid on the spot. An Israeli army spokeswoman told AFP that about 50 settlers and 20 Palestinians were involved in the confrontation. The settlers came from Yizhar, a notorious settlement known for being home to Jewish extremists.
Yitzhar settlers also clashed with Palestinians in another neighboring village, Urif, but no injuries were reported, locals said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594580

Jalud attacked by settlers again
ISM 12 May by Nablus Team — At about 11 PM on Sunday, May 5, about 40 illegal Israeli settlers attacked Jalud, west of Salfit, attempting to set fire to two homes with firebombs. Settler attacks on Jalud started two years ago from nearby illegal settlements of Yahyah (first outpost 13 years ago) and Esh Kodesh (more recent outpost). Attacks are typically on the homes of five families on the furthest edge close to the settlements, not within the village center. All those homes now have several metal protections on all windows to prevent harm based on previous attacks. Recent attacks have been at night, but have also happened during the day lasting just 5-15 minutes, say locals. The attacks nonetheless cause great damage and are always unexpected. The army arrives within minutes after the settlers and has used tear gas on residents to clear any gatherings due to settler attacks.
This attack fortunately left just scorched ground and walls as Jalud residents put out the fires immediately. However, the previous attack in February this year left a 4-year-old in the hospital with six stitches from a rock thrown at the head. Settlers also attacked a family’s car, breaking windows and causing reportedly 2000 Shekels worth of damage. Furthermore, 17 people in the past year have been hospitalized for injuries
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/jalud-attacked-by-settlers-again/

‘Price tag’ attack in South Hebron Hills
[photos] Operation Dove 10 May — On May the 10th at about 6 a.m. some Palestinians from At-Tuwani and two Operation Dove volunteers found out that 62 olive trees had been cut during the night in a field next to the Bypass road 317. On a small wall nearby the olive field the sentence “price tag for those who steal” was found. The “price tag policy” (Hebrew: מדיניות תג מחיר) is, according to B’Tselem, the name given to “acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces” by radical Israeli settlers, who, according to the New York Times, “exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise.” The olive trees grove belongs to the Amor Palestinian family and had been planted approximately 30 years ago. The members of the family which were present on the scene were particularly shocked for the loss.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/price-tag-attack-in-south-hebron-hills/

Israel detains ex-prisoner freed in Shalit deal
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 May — Israeli forces on Sunday morning detained a former prisoner who was released from jail in a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas in 2011, locals said. Israeli forces took Tahrir Sati al-Qinna, 35, and her brother Saddam, 25, to an unknown location after raiding their village, Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Soldiers raided the village at 3 a.m., locals said. The brother and sister are affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine … Israel has re-arrested over a dozen former prisoners it released under the terms of a deal to free captured soldier Gilad Shalit in October 2011.
Separately, Israeli forces raided the Rafedia neighborhood west of Nablus and detained 42-year-old Omar Abdul-Rahim al-Hanbali.
A relative told the Tadamun (Solidarity) Foundation for Human Rights that large numbers of Israeli troops ransacked al-Hanbali’s house late Saturday and took him to Huwwara detention center. Al-Hanbali is a pharmacist, according to Ahmad al-Bitawi of Tadamun. He highlighted that al-Hanbali’s brother Muhammad, an engineer and prominent leader within Hamas’ military wing, was assassinated by Israeli forces in 2003.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594657

Israeli forces arrest seven Palestinians
JENIN, May 13, 2013 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Monday arrested six Palestinians from the West Bank cities of Jenin, Nablus, and Hebron, in addition to a 21-year-old from the town of ‘Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, according to local and security sources. They told WAFA that forces arrested a 50-year-old Imam while he was standing in front a mosque in the village of Jalqamous, near Jenin, after raiding and searching his home. Forces also arrested two Palestinians from the Jenin refugee camp after completely destroying their homes’ contents. A 22-year-old Palestinian from the village of ‘Ureef, south of Nablus, was also arrested after raiding and searching several Palestinian homes. Forces arrested two Palestinians from the town of Ithna, west of Hebron, after raiding and searching several homes. Meanwhile, Israeli police arrested a 21-year-old after raiding his home in the village of ‘Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, which lead to confrontations with the residents.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22356

[Young Palestinian man hit with a bullet in the face in ‘Orif]
NABLUS (PIC) 12 May …Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man from ‘Orif [or ‘Urif] village, south of Nablus, was hit with a bullet in his face during confrontations with IOF soldiers after they stormed into the village. Another youth was injured in his foot in the same confrontations and was arrested by the soldiers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7chzi8vt4bRf8w3D1ES7E4c0z1oHU6li2wZOuOaJ8qozKtgc%2bDULycLqnks1d7yVL4tfzCGvOIkvhoToQv%2bvenfTkwfwkJnFMycxA4xgTHlM%3d

Clashes continue in Sa‘ir between PA security services and Palestinian citizens
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 11 May — Clashes broke out anew between the PA security forces and Palestinian protesters in the vicinity of the police station in Sa‘ir town east of al-Khalil on Friday night and lasted till dawn Saturday leading to six casualties including a serious injury.  A number of armed persons, in a private car, fired randomly towards police officers and PA security forces outside the police station in the village before fleeing the scene, local sources told PIC reporter.  The PA police chased the fleeing attackers to Wadi Sa‘ir area and shot two of them and arrested the third, the sources added. According to the local sources, the attackers were relatives of Khaleda Taysir Koazibh who was shot dead by PA security forces while chasing her husband’s car.
Meanwhile, the so-called PA Preventive Service has detained four of Hamas supporters in al-Shuyoukh town, also in al-Khalil, including a liberated prisoner. The PA Preventive security arrested the liberated prisoner Khalil Yacob Halaiqa, who served six years in Israeli jails, and his elderly father in addition to two members of the same family.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7kxqHdPmq27oSRmrtE2gDXpLmVIpjDgYwnlp%2bwJf2XM%2bdKxsKCZfivRZlcntS0NOqwkLrXjGAQMUpnA3HnXQ%2fQW9l%2b%2fVg2HUj9TAEd2XMoNk%3d

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

Qablan and Talfit show their lives under occupation
ISM 9 May — Israeli occupation  has created different problems for Talfit and Qabalan. Talfit is proud of its history and wants to protect it from Israeli army night incursions that seek to appropriate it, as Qalaban struggles to provide water to its population.
Talfit is a village situated south of Nablus, in a valley rich with olive fields. A village proud of its history, especially for its role in the resistance during the 1st and 2nd Intifadas. This resistance resulted in the village being collectively punished with arrests and house demolitions, including the house of a present member of the village council who witnessed those importance struggles of resistance. In the last months, weekly night incursions by Israeli occupation forces took place in Talfit, provoking concerns from the inhabitants. During these incursions the soldiers have been very interested in the old buildings of Talfit. Antiques such as jars and ploughs have been taken from the village by the army. Larger structures such as old buildings containing millstones and olive presses are photographed by the soldiers during these incursions where they have also been known to write Hebrew and draw the Star of David on the walls and doors of the buildings.
These incursions are of concern for the villagers who worry that their purpose is to try and appropriate their history, which could lead to future problems. Israel has in the past used the appropriation of Palestinian history and culture as a pretext to change the continuity of the history of the Palestine people and the land. A similar strategy was used in Susyia where villagers were expelled and their homes demolished due to the discovery by Zionist archaeologists of an old synagogue, not recognising the villager’s history predating the synagogue and after.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/qabalan-and-talfit-show-their-lifes-under-occupation/

IOA to demolish four houses in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 12 May — The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) served four demolition notices in Wadi Hilwa suburb in Silwan town, south of the Aqsa mosque, on Sunday. The Wadi Hilwa information center said that owners of four houses in the suburb were notified of the demolition decision, adding that orders to that effect were glued on their homes. It said that the demolition orders were indiscriminate as one of the buildings was built dozens of years before the occupation of Jerusalem and its owner did not maintain it or add anything new to it because it was owned by the Islamic Awkaf (endowment).
The center pointed out that the Israeli municipality teams, escorted by security forces, broke into a children’s playground and took shots of it after measuring its total area. [Ma‘an: Separately, Israeli forces broke into a children’s playground connected to the Madaa Silwan Creative Center. Heated arguments erupted between locals and Israeli officers after the latter imposed a curfew on some alleys preventing children from accessing their homes.]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7bQRTLqUp%2bCJYvhba6L1MUch8GIS%2fn%2bjw1R5PtKARoejIW5yXOh3AuPO7MPye58y5sZdxP8of0eozdxZs0YrS1IGtOpa8KCEMZJ0LUyMaRPc%3d

Unruly building engulfs East Jerusalem life
Al Jazeera by Mya Guarnieri — Lacking services and oversight, Palestinian areas suffer from straining infrastructure and quality of life — Every day, investors knock on the door of a small home in Kufr ‘Aqab, a village on the Palestinian side of the separation wall but inside Jerusalem municipal borders. The tidy, one-storey, two-room house is surrounded by new apartment buildings, some reaching nine stories high. Contractors are currently finishing more than 1,000 units in the area; billboard advertisements suggest many more are to come. The same phenomenon is occurring in other Palestinian neighbourhoods that are technically part of Jerusalem, but separated from the ancient city sites by the huge concrete wall. Apartment buildings are popping up like mushrooms in these areas. The sound of construction fills the air. Kufr ‘Aqab – once full of open, green spaces – is now “crowded” and “dirty”, says Amira, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman who lives here. She asked not to be identified by her real name out of fear of endangering her Israeli-issued Jerusalem residency permit. Residents pay taxes to the state of Israel but receive far fewer services than the neighbouring Jewish districts of Jerusalem. While Palestinians constitute approximately 35 percent of the city’s population, only eight to ten percent of the municipal budget is allocated to their communities.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/04/201342383830770118.html

Israel to demolish 14 homes near Jericho
JERICHO, May 13, 2013 (WAFA) – The Israeli military authority Monday notified Palestinian residents of the village of al-‘Oja [or al-‘Auja], north of Jericho, of its intention to demolish 14 homes under the pretext they were built without permit, according to local sources. They said that an army force handed the residents demolition orders for their homes. Israel demolished last week three homes in the same village under the same pretext.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22359

Jewish settlers expel farmer and his wife from their land
JENIN (PIC) 12 May — Guards of a Jewish settlement prevented farmer Nader Subaih and his wife from entering their land in Khader village near to the settlement. Subaih said that three guards of the Efrat settlement ordered him and his wife to leave under gun threat. He said that the guards insulted him and his wife and attempted to beat them. He added that the guards took his ID and only gave it back when he left his five dunum piece of land, which is adjacent to the settlement’s barbed wire. Subaih said that settlers routinely assault him and his land with the aim to terrorize him away and take control of it.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s75lGDT6knR5DSuI4%2bRGsWMXrLEgHvkqga1usx5I4cAiCr%2fITcHNpOrJMqj3FGsAlmT3SbPHC4wPlBOFAnMQHT2nGH7kfE%2buPWshXUH3yF62Y%3d

Settlers attack Palestinian property, graves near Nablus
IMEMC 13 May — Monday morning, May 13 2013; Palestinian sources reported that a group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked and destroyed Palestinian property, destroyed graves and wrote racist graffiti in As-Swiya [or Al-Sawaiya] village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The sources said that the settlers destroyed a hothouse and two agricultural tractors that belong to resident Abdul-Aziz Nasr, and also attacked and defaced a number of graves in the village, and wrote racist graffiti on them. On Sunday evening, several settlers hurled stones at dozens of Palestinian cars at the Shave Shomron junction, near Nablus, causing extensive damage, no injuries have been reported.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65467

Settlers drown Palestinian land with wastewater near Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, May 12, 2013 (WAFA) – Jewish settlers Sunday drowned Palestinians’ land with wastewater in An Nabi Samuel, a village northwest of Jerusalem, according to local residents. They told WAFA that settlers from Har Samuel settlement built illegally on the village’s land pumped wastewater to private-owned Palestinian agricultural land planted with olive and almond trees, causing damage to hundreds of trees.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22349

Teachers denied access to school near Yatta
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 12 May – Israeli troops on Sunday morning stopped the teaching staff of a Palestinian school in Jinba south of Hebron in the southern West Bank. Hani Makhamra, a staff member, told Ma‘an that an Israeli patrol obstructed the teaching staff near an illegal Israeli outpost Mitzpe Yair on their way to school. They denied them passage because the area has been declared a closed military zone, Makhamra said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594691

Christian leaders concerned over Israeli measures during Easter
JERUSALEM, May 12, 2013 (WAFA) – Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, issued a statement on Sunday concerning the Israeli police measures during Easter, in which they expressed concern over such practices. The statement said “we, the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, watched with sorrowful hearts the horrific scenes of the brutal treatment of our clergy, people, and pilgrims in the Old City of Jerusalem during Holy Saturday last week. A day of joy and celebration was turned to great sorrow and pain for some of our faithful because they were ill-treated by some Israeli policemen who were present around the gates of the Old City and passages that lead to the Holy Sepulcher,” said the statement.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22347

Quartet urges Israel to respect religious freedom
RAMALLAH, May 12, 2013 (WAFA) – The International Quartet Sunday urged Israel to respect worshipers’ right to practice their religion and to freely access their religious sites, said a press release. Quartet Representative Tony Blair said, “I urge Israel to respect and guarantee free access for believers from all religions to their respective holy places for worship.’  He expressed concern over the recent tension and violence during Easter and in al-Aqsa Mosque. ‘I am concerned over the rising tension in the holy places in Jerusalem and the scenes of violence that we witnessed during Easter,’ he said.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22351

but compare the Copt experience
Egyptian Copts visiting Israel in throngs
Times of Israel 12 may by Asher Zeiger — After years of being banned from making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in the past month alone some 15,000 Egyptian Copts visited Israel to celebrate the Coptic Easter, commemorated on May 4. Egyptian Copts were forbidden from visiting Israel by their late Pope Shenouda III, who put the prohibition in place to protest Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem. Shenouda passed away in March 2012 at the age of 88 after leading the ancient church for 40 years. In November, the church selected Pope Tawadros II as the new pope. According to the Egyptian news site Ahram Online, Tawadros also opposes the visits, but has refrained from enforcing the ban and thus paved the way for the thousands of pilgrims that have come in the past month.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/egyptian-copts-visiting-israel-in-throngs/

Protests

Army attacks nonviolent protesters in Beit Sahour
IMEMC 13 May — Israeli soldiers attacked on Sunday morning a nonviolent protest carried out against the army’s illegal decision to allow Israeli settlers to install a settlement outpost on city land, used as a public park after the army removed its military base from the area. Local sources reported that the army fired concussion grenades at the protesters who tried to enter land that the army wants to illegally confiscate and make it part of its planned settlement. The Israeli army evicted its ‘Osh Ghrab (Crow’s Nest) military base, located east of Beit Sahour, in 2006, but recently allowed Israeli settlers to return to the area under the pretext of maintaining existing structures in preparation to using them as a settlement outpost later on. Israeli media sources reported that the current plan includes the restructuring of four buildings in the area. The protesters carried Palestinian flags, chanting slogans against the occupation, and carried signs that read, “The land is part of the Palestinian State, the Occupation Must Leave Immediately.”
Hasan Beijiyyah, member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem, stated that, should a settlement be built in the area, Bethlehem will be completely surrounded by Israeli settlements, and will completely be isolated from its surrounding Palestinian areas.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65464

Village of ‘Azmut organises first demonstration against the Israeli occupation and land theft — settler road blocked successfully
ISM 10 May by Team Nablus — On Friday 10th of May, around 60 people from the village of ‘Azmut, near Nablus, supported by 6 international activists, demonstrated against the Israeli occupation and systematic land theft by illegal settlements. The action was successful, but the residents continue to suffer heavily the effects of Israeli policy in the West Bank. The demonstration started from Khirbat al-‘Aqrabaniyya, a village situated at the base of the hill where the settlement of Elon Moreh was illegally established in 1980. The protesters walked for about one hour over the hill to reach a big plain of land (around 500 dunums), which was recently stolen in a land-grab by the settlers of Elon Moreh. After the community of ‘Azmut gathered for Friday prayer, Palestinian flags were placed on the land that the villagers have been working for centuries. After this, the demonstration moved to the road that was lately built up by the settlers to reach the land that they have taken from ‘Azmut.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/village-of-azmut-organises-first-demonstration-against-the-israeli-occupation-and-land-theft-settler-road-blocked-successfully/

Residents of Deir Jreer and Silwad resist occupation and settlement expansion
ISM 10 May by Team Ramallah — At around 9 am today, 150 Palestinians, accompanied by International activists, went to Deir Jreer [or Dayr Jarir] lands to construct a new road so that local farmers could reach their lands more easily. Two bulldozers flattened the path from the nearest road to the lands located near an illegal Israeli outpost. Israeli military personnel maintained a presence on a facing hilltop but did not intervene. In addition to constructing a new road ‘ the villagers wanted to protest the confiscation of their privately owned land by Israeli settlements and military. In the nearby village of Silwad, approximately one hundred Palestinians, joined by a handful of Israeli and international activists, also demonstrated against land confiscation and settler violence. After midday prayers, demonstrators walked along the main road towards the entrance of their village where Israeli forces were located. Clashes soon erupted; Palestinian protesters threw stones and Israeli forces shot excessive amounts of tear gas canisters, some stun grenades and rubber coated steel bullets at people. The confrontations lasted until around 15.30.
In the past few weeks, the villages of Silwad and Deir Jreer have faced an increase in violence from the settlers of Ofra settlement , the nearby outpost and the Israeli military. Settlers established a new outpost on the top of a hill but Palestinians dismantled it after a Silwad villager was severely attacked by settlers.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/residents-of-der-jreer-and-silwad-resist-occupation-and-settlement-expansion/

Protest against new road block in the village of Al Walaja
ISM 11 May by Team Khalil — On Friday 10th May, Palestinians from the village of Al Walaja protested against a new road block, placed by the Israeli army in one of the two roads giving them access to Bethlehem. The iron barrier that was placed earlier this week, is part of a plan to annex land that belongs to Al Walaja and expand the illegal Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo … Al Walaja is located between the Green line and the Israeli annexation wall, which effectively surrounds its land. Palestinians of Al Walaja were already displaced during the Nakba in 1948 and the annexation of Jerusalem and many of them are still living in refugee camps in the Bethlehem region. Of those that returned to rebuilt Al Walaja where it stands today, many have faced house demolitions.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/05/protest-against-new-road-block-in-the-village-of-al-walaja/

VIDEO: Kafr Qaddoum protest, Friday 10 May 2013
Published on May 10, 2013 by planxtysumoud — At the end of this video, Murad Tamimi, organiser of the protests, gives a good description on why the villagers of Kufr Qadddum resist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnRCAQFKP2o

VIDEO: Nabi Saleh 10-5-2013
Bilal Tamimi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3eK3pLsC1c

Detainees

Report: ‘100% of administrative detainees are former prisoners’
IMEMC 13 May — The Ahrar Center for Detainees’ Studies and Human Rights reported that all of the Palestinian current administrative detainees held by Israel without charges are former political prisoners who have been repeatedly kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel. Fuad Al-Khoffash, head of the Ahrar Center, reported that Israeli is currently holding captive 218 detainees under Administrative Detention, mainly at the Negev detention camp and Ofer prison, while the rest are held in Majiddo, Hadarim and other prisons. Al-Khoffash added that 80% of the Administrative Detainees are supporters of the Hamas movement, and that some of them spent more than 15 years after being kidnapped and detained numerous times without charges … Detainees held under Administrative Detention do not even know what charges they are facing as Israel holds them under the pretext of having a “secret file” against them, a file that neither the detainees, nor their lawyers, have access to.
http://www.imemc.org/article/65466

Occupation extends captive Atiti’s detention only one hour before his release
NABLUS (PIC) 12 May — Ahrar center for Prisoners’ studies and human rights condemned the extension of the administrative detention of prisoner Abdul-Qader Jabr Atiti on Wednesday for an additional three months. Captive Atiti, aged 27 from Al-Aroub refugee camp in the city of al-Khalil, has spent 15 months in administrative detention. His detention has been extended only an hour before his release, for the fourth time. The director of Ahrar center, Fuad Al-Khuffash, said that Abdul-Qader Atiti is a liberated captive who had earlier served 52 months in the occupation jails and was re-arrested on 8 February 2012.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7p03ngrbJNa1ZAInm%2bJN4UCBdDYrpuBRqCN%2fMv75%2bCTZ9%2fGKCcR3mfg3zGGY%2fkFTGUKryDbJimOB1jnr%2bsmdO%2b5uBVZiQ468UPTK2rzTrVXU%3d

Occupation refuses to put two detained brothers in the same section
GAZA (PIC) 12 May — Israeli prison administration still procrastinates transferring the two detained brothers Hassan and Montaser Karajeh to the same prison section. The brothers Hassan and Montaser Karajeh, from the village of Safa [or Saffa] west of Ramallah, were arrested on January 23, 2013, under a campaign of arrests in the area. The Israeli prison law allows sending two detained brothers to the same section, however the prison administration claims that “there is no kinship” between Hassan and Montaser and refuses to put them in the same cell. Their brother, lawyer Muhannad Karajeh, published on Saturday a letter he had received from his brother Hassan, in which he says: “There is no basis for that claim, we hold the same Full Name, and we were arrested by the same force from the same house!” “My father and my brother tried to prevent the soldiers from taking us to the military vehicle. The soldiers terrorized my sister Baghdad, and I have seen all this with my brother Montaser at the same time. How can they claim there is no kinship between us?”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7A9W8%2bN6%2bqLwo5ZrtniEXuonjntiATYEYBbHHEeu%2bI359SO%2bscfyC2aIIpBN%2bc%2f2fWlnGlB0FTo3du%2be7f6gvWjt5yYBMk1veY2sXO75LqP4%3d

Political, other news

Abbas slams settler attacks, Al-Asqa violations
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 May — President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday condemned settler attacks on Palestinians and violations at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a statement following a PLO executive meeting said. “We cannot stand idly by and allow such atrocities to continue,” the president said during the meeting. “East Jerusalem is our capital, Al-Aqsa is ours, the church of the holy sepulcher is ours, we will not stand for these crimes.” Abbas called on Arab and Islamic states, and the international community, to intervene against Israeli violations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594894

Govt employees to protest as salaries go unpaid
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 May — Government and public-sector employees announced a two-hour sit-in scheduled for Tuesday across the West Bank and Gaza Strip as salaries remain unpaid, the union chief said Monday. Employees will gather outside the cabinet building in Ramallah and the Square of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza, Bassam Zakarneh said. “The Ministry of Finance continues to target the employees’ pockets in favor of the World Bank. It stopped paying the annual premium, the cost of living allowance while raising prices, taxes and charges,” he said. “A citizen pays 40 percent of his income taxes, and in return does not get anything from the services,” the union chief added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594981

Unidentified gunmen open fire at Fatah MP
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 May — Unidentified gunmen opened fire Monday at the car of a Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Legislative Council member in Ramallah, the MP’s office said. Fifteen bullets were fired toward Majid Abu Shammaleh’s car at 2:20 a.m. while it was parked in the al-Tireh neighborhood in Ramallah, his representatives said from Egypt, where the MP is attending a workshop. Palestinian Authority security forces were called to the scene and an investigation has been launched into the shooting, they added. No injuries were reported in the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594991

Yachimovich meets Abbas to push for peace talks
Times of Israel 12 May  by Asher Zeiger — Opposition leader Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday in Ramallah to discuss stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Yachimovich told Abbas that she had promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the support of the opposition if he takes significant steps toward peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “The Labor Party is deeply committed to the peace process and the two-state solution,” Yachimovich told Abbas, noting, however, that under any agreement, Israel’s first priority was the security of its citizens.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/yachimovich-meets-abbas-to-push-for-peace-talks/

League chief says no changes to Arab peace initiative
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 12 May — No amendments have been made to the Arab peace initiative proposed in 2002, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said Sunday. A delegation from the Arab League visited Washington in late April to discuss the initiative with US Secretary of State John Kerry, but no amendments to the proposal were made, Elaraby said. “The delegation went to Washington to negotiate the initiative, not change it,” he said.
Following the discussions with Kerry and US Vice President Joe Biden, Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim, who headed the delegation, said that he backed Obama’s proposals for a “comparable and mutual agreed minor swap of the land” between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel’s lead peace negotiator Tzipi Livni praised the “important” concession, but top PLO official Saeb Erekat said minor agreed border modifications were already part of the Palestinian position.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594880

Palestine establishes diplomatic ties with Honduras, Salvador
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) 11 May — Palestine on Friday established diplomatic relations with Honduras, during the Palestinian Authority foreign minister’s tour of central American countries … On Thursday, al-Maliki signed a similar agreement to establish diplomatic relations with Salvador. The agreement was signed in the office of Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594411

Video: Gaza contestant on Arab Idol unites Palestinian nation
Ynet 12 May by Elior Levy — Mohammad Assaf wins Palestinians’ hearts after audition stage for singing show; President Abbas calls to congratulate; PM Fayyad: He is deservedly representing Palestine — Captivating audiences and judges, a 22-year-old Arab Idol contestant from the Gaza Strip became the first Palestinian to pass the auditions stage and has engendered a rare exhibition of solidarity from Palestinian factions. The popular show, broadcast by the Lebanese MBC network, is entering its second season with the young Mohammad Assaf as a strong candidate for finals.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4379146,00.html

Syria says it reserves right to invade Golan Heights
Times of Israel 12 May by Ilan Ben Zion — The Syrian government announced Sunday that it reserves the right to invade the Israeli-held Golan Heights at any time, and accused Israel of violating the terms of the 1974 ceasefire that ended the Yom Kippur War.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/syria-says-it-reserves-right-to-invade-golan-heights/

Also see Levy ‘Twilight Zone’ article in the last section
Report: PFLP-GC preparing Golan units to fight Israel
LONDON (Ma‘an) 11 May — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command says it is preparing units to conduct operations against Israel in the occupied Golan Heights, Reuters reported Saturday. The Syria-based Palestinian faction said in a statement Friday that “it will form brigades to work on liberating all violated (Israeli-occupied) territories, first and foremost the occupied Golan,” according to Reuters. The group encouraged Syrian citizens to volunteer “in the formation of the resistance,” the statement added … The PFLP-GC is aligned with embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=594546

‘Israel opens diplomatic mission in unnamed Gulf State’
Times of Israel 12 May by Gavriel Fiske — Foreign Ministry economic plan for 2013-2014, to be submitted for cabinet approval this week, revealed that Israel has established a diplomatic mission in an unnamed state in the Persian Gulf, one of 11 new diplomatic missions set up in various states around the world since 2010 … Israel’s relations with the Persian Gulf’s Arab states are fraught with sensitive diplomatic and political issues. Israel used to have diplomatic missions in Oman and Qatar, but both were shut down by the host countries following Israeli military operations in 2000 and 2009. According to Haaretz, diplomatic emails released by Wikileaks in 2010 revealed that Israeli diplomats have held meetings with officials from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, both US allies.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-has-diplomatic-mission-in-unnamed-gulf-state/

Revealed: Netanyahu’s secret talks with the Palestinians
Times of Israel 13 May by Avi Issacharoff — More than two years ago, the Times of Israel reports here for the first time, top PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo held a series of meetings with the PM’s peace envoy, Yitzhak Molcho, and ultimately met at length with Netanyahu himself, to discuss new negotiations. The prime minister seemed ready to restart talks on the basis of pre-1967 lines, but then discontinued the contacts
http://www.timesofisrael.com/revealed-netanyahus-secret-talks-with-the-palestinians/

Analysis / Opinion

VIDEO series: Al Nakba
Al Jazeera Special Series 8 May — A series on the Palestinian ‘catastrophe’ of 1948 that led to dispossession and a conflict that endures to this day — “The Nakba did not begin in 1948. Its origins lie over two centuries ago….” So begins this four-part series on the ‘nakba’, meaning the ‘catastrophe’, about the history of the Palestinian exodus that led to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the establishment of the state of Israel. This sweeping history starts back in 1799 with Napoleon’s attempted advance into Palestine to check British expansion and his appeal to the Jews of the world to reclaim their land in league with France. The narrative moves through the 19th century and into the 20th century with the British Mandate in Palestine and comes right up to date in the 21st century and the ongoing ‘nakba’ on the ground. Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time. AJ Editor’s note: Since first running on Al Jazeera Arabic in 2008, this series has won Arab and international awards and has been well received at festivals throughout the world.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/05/20135612348774619.html

No, most Palestinians aren’t anti-semites / Maysoon Zayyid
Daily Beast 9 May — My first name is one of those names that makes folks being introduced to me instantly ask, “Where are you from?” and New Jersey is not the answer they are looking for. They want to know where I’m from from. When I tell them I’m Palestinian, I’m met with such gems as, “Are you gonna blow me up?” “That’s where they killed Osama Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty, right?” or the most often repeated, “Oh, I’m Jewish. Is that bad? Do you hate me?” Each time I’m accused of anti-Semitism at hello, I feel compelled to parade out not one token Jewish friend, but my entire lifetime collection, to prove my innocence. “Please meet Mrs. Palumbo, my 6th grade piano teacher. I’d also like to introduce you to Ashley and Cori, my Jewish bridesmaids and perhaps you know of my good friend, Adam Sandler. Reports of my anti-Semitism have been greatly exaggerated.” The concept of hating someone due to their faith is completely foreign to me. Their shoes, yes; their faith, no. The number of people who assume that I, and all other Palestinians on earth, hate Jews is disturbing. Allow me to dispel this myth. I, and the lion’s share of Palestinians out there, can absolutely differentiate between Israeli policies and Judaism. We hold no ill will toward the latter. It’s Israel’s land grabs, collective punishment, invasions, and dehumanization that Palestinians have a beef with — not their Jewishness. The use of the word ‘yahood’ (Arabic for Jew) as a synonym for the word ‘Israeli’ by some Palestinians is not solid evidence of blind hatred either. It is similar to the way many in the Western media tend to use Muslim and Arab interchangeably, and just as inappropriate.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/09/no-most-palestinians-aren-t-anti-semites.html

Techwashing: Hasbara group strikes back after Hawking boycott / Yossi Gurvitz
972mag 9 May — Israeli hasbara organizations have been calling Stephen Hawking a hypocrite for daring to boycott Israel while simultaneously using an Israeli-designed chip in his wheelchair. And this, in essence, is the emblematic Israeli response: shut your mouth when you criticize me — One of the more repulsive concepts underlying Israeli hasbara (the Hebrew term for the public relations efforts geared at disseminating information about Israel) is “redemption through technology.” The concept states that since Israel is a technology leader, it is exempt from any criticism for the fact that it oppresses the Palestinians and other minorities. The same get-out-of-jail card should apply to the fact that it is an ethnocracy, which just happens to be best thing that has ever happened to anti-Semites since the 19th century. This is usually expressed as “ah, so you write some criticisms of Israel, you despicable lowlife? Are you aware that you are using Israeli technology?!” As if somehow this provides some sort of rebuttal to the criticism.
http://972mag.com/techwashing-giving-the-gift-of-speech-as-long-as-it-doesnt-criticize-israel/70758/

WATCH: Are Israelis free to choose whom to marry?
Israeli Social TV 11 May — In contemporary Israeli society, civil marriage, gay marriage, mixed couples and same-sex parenting appear to exist out in the open. But we live under the illusion that we have the freedom to choose whom and how to marry. In reality, we can’t marry someone from a different religion – even the type of wedding is dictated to us. These decrees harm freedom of religion and they don’t only affect Jews. In Arab society, the situation is even more challenging. A discussion about the topic took place in Haifa recently.
http://972mag.com/watch-are-israelis-free-to-choose-whom-to-marry/70754/

Twilight Zone: On the Golan Heights, the people are (mostly) with Assad / Gideon Levy and Alex Levac
Haaretz 11 May — A conversation with one of the relatively few Syrian residents of the Israeli Golan who is actively supporting the rebels who are fighting Assad’s regime — …Maybe in Israel, the slogan is “the people are with the Golan” — but in the Golan, most of the people are with Assad. Monday’s gathering was one in a series in support of the Damascus regime, in the heart of the village of Buqat’a, which is under Israeli sovereignty. If in the past, the Syrian residents of the Golan, whom Israelis prefer to call Druze, were split between a handful of supporters of Israel and a majority that supported the regime in Damascus, today the Golan Heights are split between supporters of the regime — the majority — and supporters of the rebels, the minority.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/on-the-golan-heights-the-people-are-mostly-with-assad.premium-1.523334

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www.theheadlines.org (archive)