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May 2015

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The unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Araqib was in court Wednesday, where the state of Israel argued the southern desert town must pay $500,000 [2 million Shekels] to cover the cost of demolitions, and more than 1,000 police deployed to carry out the destruction. Since 2010 al-Araqib has been razed to the ground 83 times, more than any other locality in Israel.

In early December, 2014, Daoud El Ghoul and four other Palestinians from Jerusalem were given an Israeli military order banning them from Jerusalem for 5 months. Following the order, Daoud and the four others went to the West Bank to live out the order. However six days after arriving in the West Bank, Daoud was given another order banning him from the West Bank. Although this is not the first time Israel has exiled Palestinians from their homeland, a temporary military order banning a person from their home town is a relatively new practise. Even though this may seem like a new and isolated event, it is important to place Daoud’s ban within the larger context of settler colonialism.

Katie Miranda writes an open letter to Pamela Geller inviting her to visit her mosque so that Geller can experience what an actual Muslim-American community looks like. Miranda says it is not the caricature Geller rails against in her quest for attention and provocation, and in fact Geller may leave with a new perspective on life.

The Alternative Information Center reports: “Besieged Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley have called on the international community to immediately intervene to halt Israeli military training in the area, which has already resulted in the temporary deportation of residents from four villages from their homes and threatens the future livelihood of these communities. Massive Israeli military training in the northern Jordan Valley began on Sunday, with forces using live ammunition around the homes and farms of Palestinian communities.”