Peace Now: New starts on settler homes at a seven-year high; 355% increase from end of 2012

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

PA: Israel forging documents for settlement construction
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 9 June — Israeli construction companies have been forging documents to transfer land to Israel for the construction of settlements in the northern West Bank district of Salfit, a Palestinian Authority official said. Twenty five cases were discovered, of which five involved land in the Palestinian village of Marda in the Salfit district, said Mohammad Elias, who heads the Settlement and Wall file for the PA. Speaking at a meeting held with lawyers from the Qarawat Bani Hassan village in the district, where some of the fraudulent ownership documents were also found, Elias said the PA was working with “all possible legal tools” to continue uncovering similar deals.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603213

NGO: Settlement construction starts at 7-year high
JERUSALEM (AFP) 9 June — Building starts on settler homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank hit a seven-year high in the first quarter of 2013, Israeli watchdog Peace Now said on Sunday. “Between January 2013 and March 2013, construction of 865 new housing units began,” the NGO said in a statement quoting recently released government statistics. “This is three times as many construction starts compared to the same quarter last year (January-March 2012),” it added. “If compared to the final quarter of last year (October-December 2012), this is an astonishing 355 percent increase.” The Peace Now report comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry, who last week warned time was running out for a possible peace deal, is expected to return to Israel and the Palestinian territories within days.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603460

Man detained during protest against East Jerusalem park
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 9 June — Israeli police on Sunday briefly detained a Palestinian activist who was protesting against the construction of a National Park in East Jerusalem. Muhammad Abu al-Humos was protesting against the destruction of land in the neighborhood of al-Mutilleh for the construction of an Israeli ‘National Park’, due to be built between the Palestinian neighborhoods of al-Isawiya and al-Tur. Al-Humos told Ma‘an he was arrested for obstructing the work of Israel’s Nature and National Parks Authority and was later released by Israeli police and forbidden to enter the al-Mutilleh neighborhood for 12 days
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603320

Negev residents to protest forced displacement plan
BEERSHEBA, Israel (Ma‘an) 9 June — Arab and Bedouin residents in the Negev announced Sunday that they would be rallying against a legislative proposal to be put before the Knesset that would see the dismantling of unrecognized villages and the forced displacement of residents. The Al-Naqab Association for Land and Human Beings said all residents were being urged to join Thursday’s protest, which includes a general strike, organized by the Higher Guidance Committee of the Arab Residents in the Negev.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603270

Expansion of Karmel settlement prevents inhabitants of Umm al Kheer from accessing their land
Umm Al Kheer, South Hebron Hills (Operation Dove) 9th June — On Saturday June 8 an old Palestinian man from the village of Umm Al Kheer, Suleiman Aid Yameen Hadleen, was detained for more than three hours by the Israeli army while affirming his right to access his own land. In the last two days the soldiers denied the Palestinians from Umm Al Kheer the access to their own land until Sunday morning, without any official order. The above-cited land is on a hill that belongs to Hadleen family. On the top of it the settlers of Karmel Israeli settlement in 2011 planted some olive trees and about two weeks ago built a small tent. Two days ago the settlers started to dig holes on the ground with the intention of planting more olive trees in a row that would go along the top of the hill, preventing Palestinians to enter the land behind it. That hill is crossed everyday by Palestinian shepherds, since it is the only way that takes to the valleys grazed by their sheep. On Saturday June 8, three Palestinian shepherds with their flocks, together with other Palestinians, Israeli activists and international volunteers were chased away from the top of the hill by the Israeli army.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/expansion-of-karmel-settlement-prevents-inhabitants-of-umm-al-kheer-from-accessing-their-land/

Settler radio limited
Gush Shalom — Following Gush Shalom’s appeal, settler radio’s broadcasts will have to stop broadcasting within the Green Line, in violation of the terms of its concession Gush Shalom: The settlers attempted a backhanded way of setting up a countrywide extreme right radio station — June 5, culminated a long struggle waged by the Gush Shalom movement against attempts by the settlers radio station “Galey Yisrael” (Israel Waves) to broadcast to the areas within the Green Line (pre-’67 border) contrary to the terms of their concession, and transform itself into a country-wide political and ideological radio broadcasting extreme right propaganda to Israel’s main population centers. Among other things, the state representatives informed the judges that the settlers’ transmitter at the “Eitanim” site near Jerusalem was closed down, after the Minister of Communications cancelled its permit. In addition, the military government’s Civil Administration ordered “an immediate end of operations” to another transmitter, located at the Yatir site near Hebron, and the Civil Administration considers measures to enforce this decree upon the settler radio.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1370705431

PA official: Settlers destroy 2,500 olive trees in June
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 9 June — Settlers have destroyed over 2,500 Palestinian olive trees in the Nablus area since the beginning of June, Nablus governor Jibrin al-Bakri said Sunday. The areas primarily affected by settler violence are the villages of Awarta, Burin, Azmut and Deir al-Hatab, all of which are in close proximity to illegal Israeli settlements. Settlers have uprooted and burned olive trees and Palestinian agricultural fields in Nablus, destroying the main source of income for villagers in the area, al-Bakri said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603370

Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian village in occupied West Bank
[with video] PressTV 9 June — Over 400 Israeli settlers have vandalized a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, during what they claimed to be a religious visit to Joshua’s tomb. The settlers sprayed the village walls with grafitti, writing insults such as “Death to Arabs”. The group was accompanied by Israeli soldiers who imposed a curfew on Palestinian residents of Kifl Haris to supposedly conduct their rituals. But locals say that during their visit, the settlers drank alcohol, played loud music and sprayed racist graffiti in Hebrew on the village walls and inside the tomb.  The villagers say that contradictory to the settlers’ claim that they wanted to visit a tomb for prayers, their objective seems to have been to cause disturbance and violence towards the Palestinian community.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/06/09/307907/israeli-settlers-vandalize-palestinian-village-in-occupied-west-bank/

The return to Iqrit
Iqrit, Israel (Al Jazeera) 9 June by Jonathan Cook — Descendants of those expelled from one Palestinian village during the creation of Israel are trying to reclaim the land  – A dream long nurtured by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians made refugees during the establishment of the state of Israel has become a concrete reality at a small makeshift camp atop a windswept hill. A dozen young men have set up the camp at a site in the Upper Galilee from which their grandparents were expelled more than six decades ago.
Today, all that remains of the village of Iqrit, close to Israel’s border with Lebanon, is a Catholic church on the hill’s brow. But in 1948, the village was home to 600 Christian Palestinians. Walaa Sbeit, one of the camp’s leaders, said the group had been inspired by a vision of rebuilding their village. “We never lost the connection to this place,” he said. “Every summer we hold a summer school here for the children to learn about the village and their past. And once a month the villagers hold a service at the church. For us, this was always our real home.”
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/06/20136811252772542.html

Families interrupted — Adalah opens an exhibition in support of victims of Israel’s racist citizenship law
Free Haifa 7 June — I have a neighbor. He is a quiet man, working hard in construction and after work he would stay with his family. You rarely even see him in the neighborhood. One morning I saw him sitting in the street — he had a story to tell. He is from Jenin. He married in Hallisa (our Haifa neighborhood) and came to live with his wife here. They are already married for some twenty years but he couldn’t get his papers right. As the occupation gets old, so do many of its victims. So, that night, my neighbor felt his heart was betraying him and hurried to the hospital. Apparently it was not that bad. After checking him and verifying that he was not dying, the doctors in the hospital called in the police, which, at 3:00 am, drove him to Jenin (some 45 km south east of Haifa) and threw him on the other side of the army block … Today (6/6/2013) – as Adalah was opening a photo exhibition about the lives of victims of Israeli racist citizenship law — I learned that the doctors that called the police to take my neighbor were not alone. Apparently they were “just following orders” — or working according to the standard procedure in Israeli hospitals.
http://freehaifa.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/families-interrupted-adalah-opens-an-exhibition-in-support-of-victims-of-israeli-racist-citizenship-law/

East Jerusalem Arab says El Al ‘racist’ airline
Ynet 9 June by Hassan Shaalan — Attorney Islam Abu Ziad, 35, a resident of east Jerusalem, was planning to fly to a conference in Holland a few weeks ago, but he did not make the flight. Upon arriving at Ben Gurion Airport, Abu Ziad was taken to a private room and asked to strip down. A coworker who was traveling with him was taken to a separate room, where she was also asked to take her clothes off. Abu Ziad, who was never suspected of a security offence, told Ynet that after he and his coworker were taken out of the respective rooms, they were sent to passport control. But “when they looked at our travel documents… they decided to change our seats on the flight. As if we were suspects.” … The two coworkers nonetheless made it to the gate and waited to board the plane. “Suddenly we heard our names being called. They told us we can’t travel because we don’t have passports,” Abu Ziad related … “I told them that residents of east Jerusalem travel with documents approved by the Interior Ministry and that I’ve traveled many times this way. But they said that El Al talked to (authorities in) the Netherlands, where they were told we could not enter with our travel documents,” he claimed … Following the incident, the east Jerusalem lawyer contacted the Dutch Embassy in Israel and was told there was no reason not to allow him entrance to the country.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4390139,00.html

‘Hate-spewing’ PA official barred from Tel Aviv conference
Times of Israel 9 June by Adiv Sterman and Lazar Berman — A top official from the ruling Palestinian party, known for making harsh comments against Israel, was banned from attending a conference organized by a left-wing Israeli political party on Sunday. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ruled Saturday that Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub would be prohibited from entering Israel from now on, citing recent statements of “severe incitement” against the state of Israel. Rajoub, who last month attended the annual Institute for National Security Studies convention in Tel Aviv, was scheduled to be a keynote speaker at a conference organized by the Meretz political party, which took place in Tel Aviv Sunday. Rajoub is a past speaker, too, at Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-official-barred-from-tel-aviv-conference/

State drops plan to conduct tissue testing of Israeli citizens living in Gaza Strip
Haaretz 10 June by Amira Hass — Court orders Interior Ministry to find other ways to ascertain identity of Israelis crossing border and renewing ID papers — The Interior Ministry has decided to drop a plan to compel Gaza residents with Israeli citizenship to under tissue testing as a condition for visiting Israel or renewing their identity papers. The decision follows a legal battle that was waged by Gisha-the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, and two appeals filed with district courts in their capacity as administrative courts: one in Be’er Sheva, on behalf of a Ms. Al-Wahidi, whose mother is an Israeli citizen living in Israel, and the second, in Jerusalem, on behalf of three sisters from the Dabas family, whose sisters still live in Israel. Although both the Interior Ministry and the Civil Administration conceded that the four women are all Israeli citizens, they were refused entry to Israel because they now hold Palestinian residence permits.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/state-drops-plan-to-conduct-tissue-testing-of-israeli-citizens-living-in-gaza-strip.premium-1.528782?localLinksEnabled=false

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Suppression of protests / Arrests

OCHA: 50 Palesinians injured, 13 others displaced in one week
RAMALLAH (PIC) 8 June — A UN report said that around 50 Palestinians were injured in the West Bank and Gaza, 1,000 olive trees were damaged, and 30 people were displaced in East Jerusalem as a result of demolitions during the past week. In its weekly report on Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 50 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces, the majority of whom were minors. The report (from 28 May to 3 June 2013) documented 18 Israeli attacks against Palestinian property and one that led to a Palestinian injury (in Gilo settlement in Jerusalem). “This represents a 50 per cent increase compared to the weekly average of such incidents so far in 2013. No settlers were injured this week.”
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7KdG1T3jUJeja0HFnFzPGXmdG3x60zv6OTNCZ20VFHJxkpqo%2bHprPYqsnYZAhe26hi9SeQHdAoHTwECEUTRSx0iog0Q5HrQrPUXwlKoCdj5E%3d

Israeli forces destroy Palestinian protest village
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 8 June — Israeli forces destroyed the Palestinian protest village of Canaan on Saturday for the third time, a local committee said. Yousef Abu Maria, spokesman for Beit Ummar’s committee against the wall, told Ma‘an that Palestinian and international activists rebuilt the village after it had been destroyed months earlier by Israeli military forces. A fire broke out in the area as Israeli troops fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs to disperse activists, who vowed to continue building the village and fight against Israeli plans to confiscate Palestinian land, Abu Maria said. The village is built on land belonging to the village of al-Jab‘a, which is slated to be confiscated to expand surrounding illegal settlements in the Gush Etzion bloc.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603057

Settlers prevent Yatta villagers from accessing land
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 8 June — Settlers prevented Palestinian villagers from accessing their land near Yatta on Saturday, locals said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Palestinian shepherds were prevented from grazing their sheep near Khirbet Umm al-Khair. Clashes broke out between settlers and Palestinian shepherds, with Israeli forces arriving at the scene and arresting Suleiman Eid, 55, before declaring the area a closed military zone.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603081

Palestinian activist detained in Israeli raid
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 8 June — Israeli forces on Friday raided the al-Sumoud (“steadfastness”) center in Hebron and detained Jawad Abu Aisheh, 39, from the Old City, an official said. The director of the center, Ahmad Amro, said six soldiers and two policemen stormed the center, causing damage. They also assaulted some of the activists there and threatened them. Forces detained Jawad Abu Aished who lives near the center. The coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, Badi Dweik, said that “detaining Abu Aisheh is proof that the Israeli authority helps and supports settlers in their attempts to control … the Old City.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602956

Israel raids home owned by former Palestinian deputy PM
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 8 June — Israeli forces early Saturday raided the house of Nasser al-Din al-Shaer, a former deputy prime minister, for the second time in a week, locals said. Soldiers raided his apartment west of Nablus in an “aggressive way,” onlookers said.
They handed a notification to al-Shaer’s son Qasim, 22, to meet Israeli intelligence. Qasim studies medicine at Al-Najah National University in Nablus.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=602953

Undercover Israeli forces detain Hamas activist
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 9 June — Undercover Israeli forces on Sunday detained a Hamas activist while he was driving his car in Nablus, security sources told Ma‘an. Mohammad Nimer Asideh, 30, from the Tell village in the Nablus district, was accosted by several undercover forces who entered the area in a white Mercedes bus, the source said. Asideh had been summoned by Israeli intelligence on several occasions for questioning at the Huwarra military camp, but refused to attend, the source added. Eyewitnesses said they saw several Israeli intelligence officers raiding Asideh’s home, causing extensive damage.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603225

Israeli forces detain 7 Palestinians in Hebron raids
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli Monday detained seven Palestinians from Hebron district early Monday and took them to an unknown location, locals said. An Israeli military force raided houses in Dura village and detained al-Mutaz Bellah Munther Abu Attwan, al-Ghadnfar Aykhman Mousa Abu Attwan, and Abdullah Maher Abdullah Abu Sharar. Soldiers also raided Yatta, a Palestinian village in the same district of Hebron, and detained Muhannad al-Rabei. They also detained Islam Shanan from the city of Hebron.
They detained two Palestinians from al-Arrub refugee camp. Soldiers raided the camp in the early morning hours and entered several houses there. They detained Maher Abu Warda, 19, and Nidal Jamal al-Balasi, 24. Clashes broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces before they left the camp.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603516

Gaza blockade

Gaza farmers near fence with Israel remain wary
WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (NY Times) by Fares Akram & Jodi Rudoren — About 185 yards from the fence that separates Gaza from Israel, 300 rows of green chili pepper plants are sprouting on farmland that lay barren for years. Ziad Abu Ettewi, 42, said he planted the peppers, and some parsley, on his seven-acre plot after the November cease-fire agreement between Israel and Gaza, which promised farmers increased access to the area close to the fence that had long been off limits. But Mr. Ettewi is worried that the Israeli military might level the plants or shoot at the 10 workers he will need to harvest them next month. “I’m afraid of having them bulldozed since the first day I planted them,” he said as he walked along his fields here in a village southeast of Gaza City.
“We do not know if the tanks will enter here today or tomorrow. Uncertainty is the biggest problem we face.” … “The soldiers are moody — we do not know why they shoot,” Mr. Said said. “We want to know if this is a restricted area or not. We do not have the enthusiasm to plant our lands here again, because nothing is clear or taken for granted.” Sari Bashi, director of Gisha, an Israeli group that advocates free movement of people and goods to and from Gaza, said the buffer zone was part of a series of “unfulfilled promises” from the November cease-fire brokered in Cairo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/world/middleeast/palestinian-farmers-in-gaza-buffer-zone-remain-wary.html

Official: 12,000 activists entered Gaza since the beginning of the year
GAZA (PIC) 9 June — More than 12 thousand foreigners and solidarity activists have arrived in the Gaza Strip via Rafah and Beit Hanoun crossings since the beginning of this year, at a rate of 2,400 foreign visitors per month. Aybak Rab’i, Deputy Director General of the Immigration department in the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, said during a tv interview: “The entry of such large numbers of foreign visitors to the Gaza Strip proves the international solidarity with our people, especially after the Zionist devastating war.” He noted that more than 26 thousand foreigners visited the Gaza Strip in 2012. Rab’i pointed out that the Department offers entry permits, temporary residency, and annual residency cards to the foreign visitors.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7vdiNXg6zXQkgbl9geqBSmwcn4G9C2sYNMBLOeVrRYOMZyIm3bAYtXUi8Dss9mtwYtcSV7hilWGuYUfrc%2fIjP02Tn%2bfBmaSRcJYTEbE4L1KQ%3d

Cooking gas, building materials enter Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 9 June — Israeli authorities partially opened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza on Sunday for the entry of limited goods, a Palestinian Authority official told Ma‘an. Liaison committee chief Raed Fattouh said 220 truckloads of goods for the commercial, agricultural and aid sectors would enter Gaza. Twenty of the trucks contain cement and iron for building for specific projects, Fattouh added. Cooking gas will also be pumped through the crossing, the official said … According to a UN report, Israel intensified its restrictions on the goods crossing since the beginning of 2013. “These are resulting in market shortages of basic foodstuffs and essential supplies, including fresh fruit, dairy products and cooking gas, and undermining the livelihoods and rights of some of the most vulnerable families in Gaza.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603200

Gaza health ministry to spend $46 million on new projects
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 8 June — The Ministry of Health in Gaza is set to implement projects in 2013 worth $46 million, a spokesman said Saturday. “The health situation today is much better than before, despite the blockade and closures, because the ministry has taken it upon itself to provide health services for the Palestinian people,” Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603110

Gaza crime, murder rate on rise
Al-Monitor 7 June by Khaled Kraizim — Poor living conditions, high unemployment and Israel’s siege are contributing to a rising crime rate in Gaza — In the past few weeks, Palestinians have been incensed by a number of cases of arson and murder in the Gaza Strip causing several deaths and injuries. The last of these incidents was the killing of Amin Shrab, 60, a currency trader. He was found dead in his shop near the Great Mosque in Gaza City. A pharmacist was injured after being assaulted with a sharp object in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City. According to the Palestinian police, the motive behind the crimes was theft … Mustafa Ibrahim, a researcher for the Independent Commission for Citizens’ Rights, told Al-Monitor that eight citizens were killed in the Gaza Strip in May. The deaths were the result of family disputes, robberies, tunnel collapses and suicides. [rate still seems pretty low compared to that of the US, though.]
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/06/gaza-crime-rate-murder-arson.html

3 injured as unidentified gunmen open fire in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 9 June — A father and his two sons were injured on Sunday afternoon after unidentified gunmen opened fire at them in al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, a medical source told Ma‘an.The three were shot at from a speeding vehicle, witnesses told Ma‘an. They were evacuated to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a medical source said. Police have opened an investigation into the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603319

USS Liberty anniversary

On 46th anniversary, survivors of Israeli attack on USS Liberty demand congressional inquiry
Antiwar 7 June by Jason Ditz — Saturday marks the 46th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, a Naval spy ship in the Mediterranean Sea. The attack killed 34 American crew members and wounded 171 others … Israel claimed that they assumed the USS Liberty was an Egyptian destroyer, despite it flying a US flag and having clearly identified Latin alphabet letters all over it. The US rejected the claim but accepted an Israeli apology, along with a $6 million payment made in 1980 to cover a fraction of the repair costs for almost destroying the ship. Israel’s own investigations into the matter throw their own story into doubt, with a 1982 IDF History Department Report (pdf) noting that the Israeli Navy knew hours before the attack that the ship was from the US Navy, and then goes on to speculate that the ground controllers directing the attack were just never told about this.  It then brushed off the whole incident as “an innocent mistake.” There were some limited US military inquiries into the matter but nothing in the way of Congressional investigations
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/06/07/on-46th-anniversary-survivors-of-israeli-attack-on-uss-liberty-demand-congressional-inquiry/

Liberty survivors invoke Benghazi, demand hearings
Military.com 7 June by Bryant Jordan — Forty-six years after the attack on the USS Liberty, survivors are again demanding a congressional investigation into the incident, but this time drawing parallels to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. In both instances, Americans under fire called for help that never came, the survivors said. But while Benghazi  is the focus of several ongoing investigations, the Israeli attack that killed 34 and wounded 174 Americans has never been investigated by Congress. “We have long been struck by the similarities between Benghazi and USS Liberty,” retired Lt. Cmdr. James Ennes, a Liberty survivor, said in an email to Military.com. “Two unprovoked attacks, both resulting in deaths of Americans, but Congress quickly dismissed the Liberty attack as unworthy of their attention while dissecting the Benghazi issue for months.”
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/06/07/liberty-survivors-invoke-benghazi.html

USS Liberty Memorial
On June 8, 1967, US Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty was suddenly and brutally attacked on the high seas in international waters by the air and naval forces of Israel. The Israeli forces attacked with full knowledge that this was an American ship and lied about it. Survivors have been forbidden for 40 years to tell their story under oath to the American public. The USS Liberty Memorial web site tells their story and is dedicated to the memory of the 34 brave men who died. [The site includes photos, maps, witness statements.]
http://www.gtr5.com/index.html

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

London: Whole in the Wall first UK solo exhibition by Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar
9 June – Yareah Magazine: This exciting body of work, which includes a new site-specific participatory installation, will be shown in London from 20 June – 3 August 2013. Inspired by everyday events and experiences, Jarrar’s practice incorporates performance, video, photography and sculpture to document his observations on life in an occupied Palestine. The restrictions imposed on him and his fellow citizens have become the catalyst and subject of his occasionally satirical artistic output. One of the highlights of the exhibition is an installation which will see Jarrar construct an imposing concrete wall extending along the length of the gallery; confronting the viewer immediately upon entering the space. In order to pass through the wall visitors will have to clamber through a hole shaped like Palestine — an allegory for the process endured by people crossing the apartheid wall in the West Bank in order to reach their homes in Palestine.
http://talesofacitybythesea.com/2013/06/09/london-whole-in-the-wall-first-uk-solo-exhibition-by-palestinian-artist-khaled-jarrar/

The Fourth National BDS Conference rejects normalisation with Israel
Bethlehem (ISM) 8 June by Ramallah Team — Beginning in the early morning, with buses coming from all over the West Bank full of eager participants, the Fourth National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference, hosted at Bethlehem University got off to an amazing start with a fully packed auditorium. As the day progressed, a plethora of agenda items on how to further BDS against Israel were discussed by a wide range of speakers who emphasised rejecting normalisation with Israel … During the conference, there was a dispute between the Palestinian Minister of Economy Jawad Al-Naji, and an audience member, resulting in the Minister walking out of the room. The argument was triggered by the audience member’s opinion on Mahmoud Abbas and his tactic of normalisation with Israel. The activist who questioned the Economy Minister was reportedly later attacked and injured by seven people, presumably related to the PA forces, needing to be taken to hospital.
http://palsolidarity.org/2013/06/the-fourth-national-bds-conference-rejects-normalisation-with-israel/?

Report: Secret EU funding for BDS leader
Ynet 9 June — In a new report presented to members of the European Parliament, NGO Monitor details the damaging impact of “highly secretive EU funding for radical political advocacy NGOs.”  According to NGO Monitor, EU funds are going to organizations involved in anti-Israel boycotts and violent demonstrations, which “undermine the EU’s efforts to secure peace in the Middle East.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4390149,00.html

Political, other news

The empire Hamdallah built
Haaretz 9 June by Amira Hass — The man appointed Palestinian prime minister helped turn An-Najah University into a flourishing and influential body. On the Nablus campus, students and faculty describe Rami Hamdallah and the institution he shaped.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-empire-hamdallah-built-1.528593

West Bank Palestinians indifferent to new prime minister
Al-Monitor 7 June by Linah Alsaafin — …News of the appointment of the British-educated Hamdallah, who obtained a doctorate in applied linguistics from the University of Lancaster and has been An-Najah’s dean since 1998, was largely met with indifference on the Palestinian street. Abbas — whose presidential mandate legitimately expired in 2009 — has chosen Hamdallah without elections in the same manner that Fayyad was cherry-picked immediately following the bloody division with Hamas in 2007, in which hundreds of Palestinians from both sides were killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In a phone interview on June 4, Mohammad Jaradat, a Ramallah-based journalist, told Al-Monitor that he believes that Hamdallah will be nothing more than a puppet in Abbas’ hands. “The prime minister’s role will be nothing more than a mouthpiece for all of the decisions that will be undertaken directly by the president’s office, and not by the government,” he said. “In the end, someone had to fill in the position of prime minister, nothing more and nothing less.”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/06/rami-hamdallah-west-bank-palestinian.html

UN official says Israel, its proxies distort facts to allow violations
GENEVA, June 8, 2013 (WAFA) – Israel and its proxies distort facts on the ground in order to allow human rights violations to continue, said Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory, according to a news report by the UN Human Rights Council published Thursday. “Neither Israel nor its proxies can justify the facts on the ground in occupied Palestine,” he said. “So they distract, distort and defame to allow the violations to go on.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=22577

UN expert under fire ahead of Palestinian rights report
GENEVA (Daily Star) 9 June — A pro-Israel rights group said Sunday that it, with backing from Washington, would call on the UN’s top rights body to dismiss a top official after he demanded an investigation of the organisation. “UN Watch’s draft resolution to remove (Richard) Falk has been published by the United Nations as an official document and will be put before the (Human Rights) Council when he addresses it tomorrow,” the group said in a statement. US ambassador to the Human Rights Council, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, also called for Falk’s departure in a statement Friday.The calls came after the outspoken expert on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories published a report in which he urged the council to investigate UN Watch, which he described as “a pro-Israel lobbying organisation accredited as an NGO.”
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jun-09/219847-un-expert-under-fire-ahead-of-palestinian-rights-report.ashx

Palestinians lay groundwork for future state
Ynet 9 June by Akiva Novick –   Six cities, two airports, a high-tech complex, a university and a system of highways to connect all of the above are included in the new Palestinian construction plan aimed at setting facts on the ground and creating a territorial continuity in the West Bank. Dozens of sites in the West Bank are part of the new trend of construction, as the authorities refuse to wait for the revival of peace talks and are laying down the foundations and infrastructure for an independent state. Yedioth Ahronoth obtained a document detailing the planned construction projects that are part of the “Fayyad Plan,” a template for a de facto Palestinian statehood. The majority of the projects are in the Israel-controlled Area C, and many of them have already begun. Some are awaiting the approval of the Civil Administration, the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4390035,00.html

Israel PM answers critic over two-state solution
JERUSALEM (AFP) 9 June  – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, June 9, reiterated his commitment to a Palestinian state, after his deputy defense minister said the government would not support a two-state solution. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, June 9, reiterated his commitment to a Palestinian state, after his deputy defense minister said the government would not support a two-state solution. Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu — who in 2009 declared his support of a two-state solution — said he and US Secretary of State John Kerry will “try to make progress to find the opening for negotiations with the Palestinians, with the goal of reaching an agreement.” “This agreement will be based on a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, and on firm security arrangements based on the IDF (Israeli military),” he said. His remarks came just days after Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, a member of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, rejected the notion that the government was serious about reaching a peace agreement that would lead to the formation of a Palestinian state. “There was never a government discussion, resolution, or vote about the two-state solution,” Danon said in an interview with The Times of Israel news website on Thursday, June 6.
http://www.rappler.com/world/30964-israel-pm-answers-critic-over-two-state-solution

Israeli Arab MK: Civil service destroys our youths’ national identity
Haaretz 9 June by Jack Khoury — Adding his voice to the loud public debate and recent Knesset legislation about equal responsibility and representation in the Israeli military, Jamal Zahalka, chairman of Balad, an Arab political party, called for Arab citizens to oppose civilian national service. MK Zahalka warned that young men and women who performed such service would be shunned by their community and would not be introduced to potential marriage partners.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-arab-mk-civil-service-destroys-our-youths-national-identity.premium-1.528698?localLinksEnabled=false

Union slams PA, Israeli companies after laborer dies
JENIN (Ma‘an) 9 June — A Palestinian union on Sunday accused Israeli construction companies of negligence after a laborer from Jenin fell to his death a day earlier on site. The General Union of Palestinian Workers in Jenin said Israeli companies “operate carelessly toward Palestinian laborers working in Israel.” The comments were made a day after Ahmad al-Zarieni, 22, from the Qabatiya village in Jenin, fell from a six-meter high building on a work site in the Barka village. The union called on unions across the world to pressure Israel into providing better protection and safety for Palestinian laborers working Israel. They also said the Palestinian Authority “did not care about the suffering or the situation of Palestinian laborers in Israel.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603233

Abbas urges Palestinians to vote for Arab Idol star
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 8 June — President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday urged Palestinian communities across the world to vote for Arab Idol contestant Mohammad Assaf, the first Palestinian to reach the final of the pan-Arab show. Abbas instructed the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact international Palestinian embassies in order to mobilize support for the Arab Idol star, and urged the Palestinian diaspora to vote for Assaf. The president praised Assaf’s creativity and powerful voice, calling him a son of Palestine who is bringing joy to his people. Since March, the 22-year-old Gazan’s powerful voice has propelled him every weekend to the ranks of only four remaining singers in a Beirut-based competition that started out with 27.  [Mohammed Assaf’s Facebook page]
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=603435

Iran and Arab allies up cyber attack on Israel, says Netanyahu
TEL AVIV (Reuters) 9 June — Attacks May Be Retaliation for U.S. and Israeli Attacks on Iran — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran and its Palestinian and Lebanese allies on Sunday of carrying out “non-stop” cyber attacks on major computer systems in his country. He gave no details on the number of attacks but said “vital national systems” had been targeted. Water, power and banking sites were also under threat, he added. “In the past few months, we have identified a significant increase in the scope of cyber attacks on Israel by Iran. These attacks are carried out directly by Iran and through its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah,” he told a conference on cyber warfare in his country’s commercial hub Tel Aviv. “Despite the non-stop attacks on us, you hear only about a few of them because we thwart most of them,” he added.
http://forward.com/articles/178310/iran-and-arab-allies-up-cyber-attacks-on-israel-sa/

Ministers approve upping punishments for terror
JPost 9 June by Lahav Harkov — Meretz, ACRI say bill is anti-democratic, violates human rights; MK Gal-On accuses Knesset of waylaying human rights to fight terror — The punishments for involvement in terror organizations and for anyone who supports, identifies or sympathizes with terror will be increased, according to a bill approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation Sunday. The Justice Ministry worked on the bill for four years, and its passage was disrupted by the last election.
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Ministers-approve-upping-punishments-for-terror-315926

US Congress committee endorses $488 million aid to Israel
Haaretz 10 June by Amos Harel — The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has endorsed a $488 million increase in military aid to Israel, which would pay for Israel’s procurement and development of additional rocket and missile interception systems.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-congress-committee-endorses-488-million-aid-to-israel.premium-1.528784?localLinksEnabled=false

Israel to compensate Palestinians killed by Hamas rocket
Ynet 10 June by Yoav Zitun — Qassam fired by Hamas in 2005 leads to death of two Palestinians, Chinese farm worker. Eight years later, special IDF committee decided to compensate families with NIS 1M — A special Defense Ministry committee charged with the compensation of victims who fail to meet the standard criteria for government compensation has recently decided pay two Palestinian families in Gaza, who lost two of their loved ones in a rocket attack in 2005, before the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the coastal enclave. Each family is due to receive NIS 1 million ($280,000) … Five additional Palestinians were also wounded in the incident, which took place in the former Israeli settlement of Ganei Tal.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4390259,00.html

Ancient site decays amid Israeli-Palestinian strife
AP 8 June by Daniela Biretta — Neglect, religious conflict and looting take toll on Sebastia — The ancient town of Sebastia is one of the major archaeological sites of the Holy Land, with its overlapping layers of history dating back nearly 3,000 years. But today the hilltop capital of biblical kings, later ruled by Roman conquerors, Crusaders and Ottomans, is marred with weeds, graffiti and garbage. Caught between conflicting Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions, the site has been largely neglected by both sides for two decades. Beyond the decay, unauthorized diggers and thieves have taken advantage of the lack of oversight to make off with priceless artifacts-
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Ancient+site+decays+amid+Israeli+Palestinian+strife/8498135/story.html

The Speed Sisters trailer debuts, and it looks awesome
Jalopnik 9 June by Michael Ballaban — Almost exactly a year ago we first heard about Speed Sisters, the documentary about Palestinian female racing drivers and drifters. It was just an announcement really about a documentary, and sometimes these things fizzle out. Now though, it seems like it’s actually on track, and it looks great. In case you’ve forgotten, Speed Sisters tells the story of Texas-born Noor Daoud, who not only has been on the Palestinian Olympic swim team and the soccer team, but has also raced in Formula 3, and her group of friends who race and drift cars. That on its own would be pretty neat to watch, but the social dynamics almost play an entirely new character as well.
http://jalopnik.com/speed-sisters-trailer-debuts-and-it-looks-awesome-512178240

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