Month: March 2015

“. . . to forget the word ‘future,’ or to erase it completely from your vocabulary. . .” (Somaya El Sousi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Church goers before the troops arrived
Unruly (dangerous?) Church goers before the troops arrived

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
ISRAELI SOLDIERS RAID PALM SUNDAY CELEBRATION IN BEIT JALA
by IMEMC News & Agencies
Monday March 30, 2015
Palm Sunday celebrations in Beit Jala were brought to an abrupt end, on Sunday, when Israeli troops raided the majority-Christian town near Bethlehem and began threatening locals. Palestinian policemen on duty near the celebrations were threatened by Israeli soldiers with arrest during the raid, which took place in the middle of the day as Sunday mass was coming to an end in local churches, Ma’an News Agency reports.

The town of Beit Jala is subject to regular incursions by Israeli forces, even though the large majority of its population live in Areas A, subject to full Palestinian civil and military control under the Oslo Accords. Palm Sunday is celebrated this year on March 29 according to the Gregorian calendar, which is recognized for religious purposes by most Western Christian denominations in Palestine. Orthodox Christians, meanwhile, use the Julian calendar and will be celebrating Palm Sunday on April 5.

The raid raises fears of a repeat of last Easter, when Israeli restrictions on Christian worship during the holiday prevented thousands of Christian Palestinians from traveling to Jerusalem and led to chaotic scenes in the city itself.
(More. . . .)

From B’TSELEM
CIVIL ADMINISTRATION DEMOLISHES 4 HOMES IN KHALLET MAKHUL, NORTHERN JORDAN VALLEY, 18 MONTHS AFTER DEMOLISHING ALL STRUCTURES IN COMMUNITY
25 Mar 2015
At 6:30 A.M. on 18 March 2015, representatives of the Civil Administration arrived with a military escort at the shepherding community of Khallet Makhul in the northern Jordan Valley. Civil Administration bulldozers demolished four residential tents belonging to four of the community’s nine families. They also demolished 4 kitchens, 12 livestock enclosures and a tent used by one of the families to produce cheese. The very same day, the families erected tents they received from aid organizations to serve as substitute housing. The next evening, a military patrol arrived at the community. Once more, they demolished the tent of one of the families.
(More. . .)

Khallet Makhul - Israeli demolition equipment
Khallet Makhul – Israeli demolition equipment

from MONDOWEISS
PALESTINIANS MARK THE 39TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAND DAY
Allison Deger
March 30, 2015
Today, March 30th Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, marched for Land Day, Yom al-Arda in Arabic, which commemorates protest in the Galilee in 1976 where six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed.

The main marches today were held in the village of Sakhnin and Arrabe in the north of Israel, home to the first Land Day protests 39 years ago. Other demonstrations took place in the lower Galilee and in the Bedouin town of Rahat in the Negev desert. Unlike past years, no general strike was called. Businesses and schools stayed open although the Israeli outlet Ynet News reported 70% of school-aged Palestinian children inside Israel took the day off. “Sixty-seven years have passed since the establishment of Israel and there still is no equitable allocation of land,” said Joint List Knesset-elect member and current parliamentarian Ahmed Tibi in Rahat, reported the Jerusalem Post.
(More. . . .)

from COMMON DREAMS
WHEN BEING PRO-PALESTINIAN AND PRO-ISRAELI IS THE SAME THING: ON WHY I PAINTED PHYSICIAN, AUTHOR, AND PEACE ACTIVIST ALICE ROTHCHILD
By Robert Shetterly
March 31, 2015
Editor’s note: The artist’s essay that follows accompanies the ‘online unveiling’—exclusive to Common Dreams—of Shetterly’s latest painting in his “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait series, presenting citizens throughout U.S. history who have courageously engaged in the social, environmental, or economic issues of their time. This painting of Alice Rothschild—a physician, author, filmmaker, and peace activist—is his latest portrait of those who dedicated their lives to equality, freedom and justice. Posters of this portrait and others are now available at the artist’s website.
(More. . .)

“THE ART OF LIVING IN GAZA,” BY SOMAYA EL SOUSI
(A narrative prose-poem)
To live in a dreamless city, a city abundant in its discontents and completely forgotten about, a city whoever enters is lost and whoever leaves is destined for a new life, you must learn a great many survival skills. Then, as an individual, you can become harmonised with the paradigm that rules everything in it.

The first of these skills is the ability to interact with time. I don’t mean that time is important, to such a great extent, in this city. On the contrary: in Gaza there is a great surplus of time, which you must know how to use up, how to get rid of, in every possible way, as there are no important appointments binding you to your schedule, and no particularly sacred or respected times. Everything is possible at any time, and it’s up to you to kill time as you see fit. So you either remain a prisoner in your own home, workplace, or wherever it is that you know and that knows you, or you think of other ways to kill time. Whatever you do will lead you to the same result in the end: you will make it as far as your pillow, at night, with a sense of absolute futility. You will be unable to find anything to think of other than fleeing from your self, the self that asks itself constantly until when? And what will you do tomorrow? And how are you going to spend the rest of your life?

The second skill is to forget the word ‘future,’ or to erase it completely from your vocabulary, because it doesn’t mean anything when it comes up against the reality you inhabit. You cannot contemplate what you’ll do in an hour’s time, because there are so many changes which you have no say in and which happen at lightning speed; so you could fall prey to a stray bullet which comes at you in your house or in the street, a bullet no one knows the source of. Bullets are so plentiful these days and they roam around with such an unprecedented freedom that your life could end with absolute simplicity and you could become just another number, the latest addition to the list of casualties of random firearm use. . . . (More. . .)

Somaya El Sousi was born in Gaza City in 1974. She studied English language at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, and works as a researcher in the sociological division of the Palestinian Planning Centre. Four collections of her poetry have been published so far: The First Sip of the Sea’s Chest (1998), Doors (2003), Lonely Alone (2005), Idea, Void, White – in a joint collection with the poet Hala El Sharouf, published by Dar Al-Adab, Beirut, (2005) (More. . . )

Dr. Alice Rothschild, by Robert Shetterly
Dr. Alice Rothschild, by Robert Shetterly

“. . . my son doesn’t walk this path with me. . .” (Mohammed Lafi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Nov. 1, 2014. Israeli soldiers escort a group of Palestinian school children as they walk through the Israeli settlement of Havat Ma'on in West Bank. The students’ journey takes them through a legal and political maze as they pass between a legal and an illegal Israeli settlement on their way to school. (Max Becherer/Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post)
Nov. 1, 2014. Israeli soldiers escort a group of Palestinian school children as they walk through the Israeli settlement of Havat Ma’on in West Bank. The students’ journey takes them through a legal and political maze as they pass between a legal and an illegal Israeli settlement on their way to school. (Max Becherer/Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
SCHOOL STUDENTS USE SEWAGE CHANNELS TO REACH SCHOOL
March 24, 2015
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian students are being forced to cross through sewage channels to reach a high school in western Ramallah district after a settlement road cut off the only other means of access, residents told Ma’an.
Up to 200 students from the villages of al-Tira and Beit Ur al-Fuqa now reach the school using a four kilometer route that runs along the separation wall, where armed settlers, as well as Israeli soldiers, almost daily interrupt their commute.
The route passes through sewage channels and regularly takes students up to 40 minutes to reach their school,
(More. . .)

◊◊◊◊◊
from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
DCI-PALESTINE: 30 CHILDREN SHOT BY ISRAELI FORCES IN 2015
by IMEMC News & Agencies
March 24, 2015
Israeli forces shot and injured at least 30 children across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, according to Defense for Children International- Palestine (DCIP).
DCIP reported that, while Israeli military regulation permits the use of live ammunition when a direct mortal threat exists, the organization found no evidence that any of the children injured in 2015 posed such a threat to Israeli forces or settlers.
“The pace at which we are documenting injuries from live ammunition in 2015 shows no sign of slowing down,” DCIP advocacy officer Olivia Watson told Ma’an News Agency.
(More. . . )

Feb. 14, 2015. Nasser Murad Safi, 15, was shot by Israeli soldiers with live ammunition breaking his leg.
Feb. 14, 2015. Nasser Murad Safi, 15, was shot by Israeli soldiers with live ammunition breaking his leg.

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
TEL AVIV U: 850 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR GAZA ATTACK SERVICE
by Alternative Information Center
March 25, 2015
Tel Aviv University (TAU) recently awarded scholarships to 850 students who took part in Israel’s military attack on the Gaza Strip last summer.
The “President’s Scholarship for Service in Operation Protective Edge”, up to NIS 2,000 per student, was awarded as tuition credit to the winners.
Already during the attack. . . University President Joseph Klafter announced that such scholarships would be made available. . .
(More. . . )

◊◊◊◊◊
from HAARETZ
OBAMA SAYS ‘REAL POLICY DIFFERENCE’ BETWEEN ISRAEL, U.S.
U.S. president says Netanyahu has ‘different approach,’ and that his administration still believes two-state solution is ‘best way to preserve Israel’s security.’
Barak Ravid
March 24, 2015
The crisis between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that broke out anew after the Israeli election, worsens from day to day. At a press conference on Tuesday Obama said that there is “real policy difference” between himself and Netanyahu when it comes to the need to establish a Palestinian state. This dispute, Obama added, will have ramifications for U.S. policy
(More. . . )

◊◊◊◊◊
From HUFFINGTON POST
ISRAEL CANNOT REFORM ITSELF AND NEEDS SOME TOUGH LOVE
Bob Herbst
March 24, 2015
There is a silver lining in the black cloud of the recent Israeli election. The pretense at the base of Israel’s pious public pronouncements about its desire for peace with the Palestinians has been stripped away. Netanyahu revealed himself as unalterably opposed to the end of the occupation of the West Bank, to the creation of a viable state for the Palestinians, and thus to a lasting peace and just end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite all the talk we have heard for the last decade and more about Israel’s lacking a Palestinian partner for peace, it turns out to be the Palestinians who don’t have an Israeli partner really willing to make peace. And Netanyahu’s rant in the closing days of the campaign about the Arabs flocking to the polls “in droves” to vote betrayed an ugly racism truly disgusting to behold in the political leader of the Jewish state who purports to represent Jewry worldwide.
(More. . . )
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-herbst/israel-cannot-reform-itself-and-needs-some-tough-love_b_6918806.html

◊◊◊◊◊
MY OTHER SELF AND I, BY MOHAMMED LAFI
my son doesn’t walk this path with me
nor my father or brother or a friend
but I sense his presence as I walk
and I sense his absence as I walk
and whenever past misfortunes camp at the door
I sense his presence more
Calling out in whispers and shouts
Whenever our steps seem lost on the edge of the war:
Stop! Mohammed!
If your innocent conscience is violated even once
It will turn to fire

On the path I am not a son for him nor a father
A brother or a friend yet he remains with me
that last faithful survivor from the family of the wolf
watching guard over me at night
following me through the day
and he howls when I step off
of the grass that leads the way:
Stop! Mohammed!
open your ears and listen hard O Mohammed!
the virginity of your conscience once sullied
will burn
and the ashes on your path will never be reborn
—translated by Jim Ferguson
Mohammed Lafi is a Lecturer in English and Translation at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, and he works as a freelance translator for local and international organizations.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Amazon.com.

“. . . Happy is he with an iron roof above his head. . . ” (Zakaria Mohammed)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

olivesfrom PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
ISRAELI FORCES DEMOLISH WATER CISTERN, UPROOT OLIVE TREES IN JENIN, HEBRON VILLAGES
Jenin
March 24, 2015 (WAFA)
Israeli forces Tuesday demolished a water cistern, uprooted olive trees and handed two demolition orders in Ta‘annak village to the west of Jenin and al-Kom locality to the southwest of Hebron.
.  .  .  Escorting a bulldozer, large Israeli troops, consisting of at least 10 vehicles, raided Ta‘annak, where they proceeded to demolish a 50-meter-deep water cistern that is used to provide local farmers in this village as well as Rummana, Zboba, Silat al-Harithiya and al-Yamoun with water for irrigation, said ‘Abdul-Rahman Zyoud, a local farmer and owner of the water cistern.
(More. . . .)

◊◊◊◊◊

from PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
IOF HAND OUT FIVE ARBITRARY DEMOLITION THREATS TO JERUSALEM HOMES
PNN/ Jerusalem/
March 23, 2015
Israeli occupation forces this morning have handed out demolition threats to 5 homes in Silwan village north Jerusalem, under the pretext of having no permit to build. Some of the structures date back to 45 years, some of them were newly constructed and others in the process of construction.
.  .  .  The Palestinian Christian-Islamic committee on Monday warned of these threats, since they count as extra Judaization project against Silwan and Al-Aqsa mosque altogether.
(More. . . .)

Jerusalem home demolition (photo by Harold Knight, August, 2008)
Jerusalem home demolition (photo by Harold Knight, August, 2008)

from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
Art, Music & Culture
ISRAELI PORTRAIT OF ROSE-TINTED PAST GIVES WAY TO RAGE AT SETTLERS
Selma Dabbagh
March 23, 2015
It is unusual to read a book on Israel and the Palestinians — perhaps the most documented conflict in world history — that starts by focusing on commonalities rather than divisions: on marriages rather than feuds, festivals rather than riots and municipal housing plans rather than the demolition of homes.
.  .  .  Menachem Klein’s Lives in Common: Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Hebron (Hurst Publishing) is a loving, albeit rose-tinted, depiction. By conveying past realities, the book offers a vision of a future for the area that was the British Mandate of Palestine
(More. . . .)

◊◊◊◊◊

From JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE
UCLA RESOLUTION ON ANTI-SEMITISM CREATES DANGEROUS PRECEDENT
Naomi Dann Naomi@jvp.org
March 11, 2015
Jewish Voice for Peace welcomes the commitment of the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) to addressing issues of anti-Semitism on campus. We recognize that a recent series of troubling incidents, including anti-Semitic graffiti and inappropriate questioning of a Jewish student, have raised concerns about rising anti-Semitism on campus, which we condemn in the strongest terms. However, we are also deeply concerned that the resolution passed by the USAC on March 10, 2015 further enshrines long-standing political efforts to silence legitimate criticism of the state of Israel by codifying its inclusion in the definition of anti-Semitism.
.  .  .  The resolution draws on the “State Department Definition of Anti-Semitism,” (sometimes referred to as the “3 D’s”). However, this definition has no legal standing in the US and was actually removed as a working definition by the European body where it originated.
(More. . . .)

◊◊◊◊◊

from THE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT (ISM)
IN GAZA THE FARMERS IRRIGATE THE LAND WITH THEIR BLOOD
Valeria Cortés
March 18, 2015
Tilling the land in Gaza is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The Zionist Occupation Forces fire on the peasants and their families while they sow or harvest their own land near the infamous Zionist fence which surrounds Gaza. They also burn their fields and routinely ravage their crops with bulldozers, leaving hundreds of families ruined and preventing the Gaza Strip from developing its already devastated economy or achieving a minimum of food sovereignty.
(More. . . .)

“THE CYPRESS TREE,” BY ZAKARIA MOHAMMED
The gale above the rooftops –
this gale which has swept through mountain passes
and raced down glens –

Hellish, horned wind –
bellowing and breaking branches. . .

Who smashed the metal stockade?
Who let loose the terrified herd?

The herd-dogs couldn’t stop them,
those horses, fleeing before the wind,
whinnying and upturning time. . .

This storm overhead – horned wind,
battering lampposts, flagpoles, telegraph poles,
pounding with its hooves our hearts and minds –

Happy is he with an iron roof above his head
For the gale will spare his house.
Happy is he who lashes his soul to the cypress tree
that shall not be moved
for his spirit won’t be broken by the winds.
–Translated by Kathleen Jamie

From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Amazon.com.

Zakaria Mohammed was born in Nablus in 1951, studied in Baghdad, and now lives in Ramallah, working in the Palestinian Ministry of Culture. He is also a journalist and creative writing teacher.

“. . . Each river has its own springs, Its own course and its own life. . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Palestinian water resources
Palestinian water resources

from PALESTINE INFORMATION CENTER
On the occasion of World Water Day
SETTLERS CONSUME SEVEN TIMES MORE WATER THAN NATIVE PALESTINIANS IN WB

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– A Palestinian statistical report clearly showed unfair distribution of shares of aquifers in the West Bank in comparison between the Israeli settlers and the Palestinian natives.

The report, issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on March 22, which marks the World Water Day, showed that the Israeli daily share per capita of water consumption reached seven times higher than the Palestinians.

Palestinian water resources are fully controlled by Israel, according to the provisions enshrined in the Oslo Accords. According to some estimates, Israel is using more than 85 percent of the water in the West Bank, covering around a quarter of its own needs.
(More. . . .)

Swimming pool at the illegal Israeli settlement at Ariel
Swimming pool at the illegal Israeli settlement at Ariel

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
SETTLERS ATTACK PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, INJURE 6-YEAR-OLD GIRL
by IMEMC News & Agencies
March 23, 2015

Masked Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’on, south of Hebron, threw stones at Palestinian children and injured a six-year-old child, Saturday.

The child sustained a head injury and was taken to the nearest hospital for medical treatment, according to witnesses.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not have any immediate information, but told Ma’an News Agency that she was looking into the incident.

The Hebron Defense Committee has reported that two masks settlers threw stones, on Saturday afternoon, at two children from Khirbet a-Tawil, southeast of Yatta town.

The Committee added that a child, identified as Sojoud ‘Awad, 6 years of age, was struck in the head, and one of her legs.

Settlers routinely carry out acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank but are rarely held accountable, as Israeli authorities are often complicit in the attacks on Palestinians, their property and their lands, according to Israeli human rights organization B’tselem.
(More. . . .)

from THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE
WEST PUNISHED PALESTINE WHEN IT VOTED FREELY; ENDORSES ISRAEL’S VOTE FOR OCCUPATION
By Ghada Ageel
March 23, 2015

The 2006 elections were an amazing demonstration of Palestinian democracy in its multi-coloured beauty. The people under occupation expressed their determination to resist Israel’s attempt to force them to surrender through its colonisation efforts, expansionist strategies and racism. And the people have kept their word. Even where there is occupation with its control over their lands, lives and destinies, there is still no surrender.

The elections were significant in that they owed nothing to American pressure and to the selective effort by the USA to promote only those democracies that fit its own agenda. Ironically, the elections were also a dramatic surprise for the EU. They had spent millions of dollars on the illusive peace project and had threatened to cut off the aid to Palestinians if the outcome was not in line with that project. Instead, the elections were a stunning testimony to the fact that Palestinian civil society is more vibrant than ever and can be mobilised into an organised political force. It also proved that Palestinian politics has its own effective dynamic that has little to do with pressure, bribery and blackmail from the outside but much to do with the political, social and economic demands of ordinary people in their atrocious situation. Although Palestinians had become poorer, more vulnerable, less secure and more targeted through the “peace process,” they rejected all pressure and reaffirmed their demand for freedom.

In response, they have been made to suffer the drastic consequences that followed.
(More. . . .)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAEL ‘BOYCOTTS’ UN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION ON GAZA WAR
March 22, 2015

GENEVA (AFP) — Israel’s representative was conspicuously missing when the UN Human Rights Council started a special session Monday on the situation in the Palestinian territories and the 2014 Gaza conflict.

“I note the representative of Israel is not present,” said council president Joachim Ruecher.

Israel provided no immediate explanation for their absence at the session dedicated overwhelmingly to discussion of its policies and alleged abuses, but a source close to the council said it clearly amounted to a boycott.

“We won’t comment on that,” a spokeswoman with the Israeli mission in Geneva told AFP.

The United States was also absent from Monday’s discussions.
(More. . . .)

from THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
A KAIROS PERSPECTIVE OF TOURISM AND PILGRIMAGE: COME AND SEE
By Rifat Odeh Kassis
March 2015

When we created the Kairos Document (launched in December 2009), we at Kairos Palestine tried to reflect on what tourism and pilgrimage really mean to us. In our advocacy, we try to see and respond to both our reality and our rights. We address churches, tourists, and pilgrims of all faiths and ethnicities in hopes they will see the injustice happening in Palestine and walk and work in solidarity with us along the path to justice. Kairos Palestine believes in facilitating the “sight” of the many people who visit our land, whether they are tourists or pilgrims.

To be a tourist is to play an unusual role.

You arrive in a place you’ve never seen before and stay for some time. You explore. Perhaps you read a book that tells you where to go, or recruit a guide to take you there. You take pictures, you look and look, and what you see will be the only material you can use to make sense of where you are. Perhaps you realize that the information offered to you is, in itself, a purposeful narrative that will demand your acceptance and affirmation, often at the exclusion of other narratives.

Because of this, tourism is a heavily political business anywhere you go, whether or not the politics are advertised.
(More. . . .)

Throughout his career, Rifat Odeh Kassis has been advocating for the effective application of international human rights and humanitarian law in Palestine through various professional and voluntary positions. He was the driving force and one of the co-authors of Kairos Palestine document and has been the general coordinator of the Kairos Palestine Movement since its inception. He has published two books: Palestine, A Bleeding Wound in the World’s Conscience and Kairos for Palestine.

“CONCERNING HOPES,” BY MAHMOUD DARWISH

Don’t tell me:
I wish I were a baker in Algeria
To sing with a fighter.
Don’t tell me:
I wish I were a shepherd in Yemen
To sing for resurrection.
Don’t tell me:
I wish I were a waiter in Havana
To sing the victories of the oppressed.
Don’t tell me:
I wish I were a young porter in Aswan
To sing for the rocks.
The Nile will never flow into the Volga,
Nor will the Congo or the Jordan flow into the Euphrates.
Each river has its own springs,
Its own course and its own life.
Our land, my friend, is no barren land.
Each land gives birth in due time,
And each fighter will see the dawn.

“. . . At night, we wait for dreams, dressed up as priestesses of fog. . .” (Sami Muhanna)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Al-Aqsa Mosques (NE exposure)
Al-Aqsa Mosques (NE exposure)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
JEWISH RIGHTISTS TOUR AL-AQSA COMPOUND, ASSAULT PALESTINIAN WOMEN
Sunday, March 22, 2015

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews toured the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday morning under the protection of Israeli forces, while Israeli police detained Palestinians even as groups of settlers reportedly assaulted worshipers nearby.

A spokesman for the Jerusalem office of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments told Ma’an that 127 “extremist Jewish settlers” entered the compound via the Moroccan Gate in groups.
[. . . ]
One of the settlers tried to “tear off his clothes inside the compound before security guards intervened and stopped him,” said an eyewitness, who told Ma’an he believed the act was part of religious ritual.

Israeli police officers, who entered the compound to protect the settlers, chased Palestinian worshipers including children and women.
[. . . ]
Settlers also assaulted a group of Palestinian women outside the Chain Gate who were unable to access the compound after an Israeli court decision banned them from visiting the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. [See next item for background.]
(More. . . . )

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAEL COURT BANS 4 WOMEN FROM ENTERING AQSA COMPOUND
Thursday, February 26, 2015

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli court on Thursday banned four Palestinian women from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for periods of between 10 and 60 days, a lawyer said.

The women were detained on Wednesday as they were leaving the holy site and taken for interrogation at a local police station, lawyer Ramze Kteilat told Ma’an.
[. . . ]
It is unclear why the women were banned.
(More. . . )

Israeli Soldiers blockading entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israeli Soldiers blockading entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque

from PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
PALESTINIANS DECRY ISRAELI COURT’S RULING TO UPHOLD JEWISH PRAYER IN AL-AQSA COMPOUND
JERUSALEM,
March 4, 2015
Palestinian organizations criticized the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruling which ostensibly backs claims that Jews are allowed to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

While Jewish extremists praised the ruling and considered it a “historic victory” as Israeli media sources reported, al-Aqsa Foundation for Islamic Waqf and Heritage published a report claiming that the move aims to legalize Jewish control over the Islamic site.

On Sunday, Judge Malka Aviv said the police ban on far-right extremist Yehudah Glick visiting the compound was issued “without appropriate consideration, was arbitrary, and only out of concern for the consequences of the broadcast.”
[. . . ]
The extremist Glick, who is known for his regular attempts to legalize prayer at the compound, was banned by the Israeli police from entering the compound and attempting to pray there, as the action will “inevitably” trigger Palestinians.
[. . . ]
And the judge insisted that Jews have a right to pray in the compound. Following the ruling, Glick’s lawyer said, “Starting from today, all Jews are allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. There is no longer any crime in prayer itself.” While Jews considered the ruling as a first step that will eventually allow all Jews to pray in the compound, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “committed to upholding the so-called status quo” in November 2014.
(More. . . )

from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
Opinion/Editorial
THE MESSAGES FROM ISRAEL’S ELECTION
Ilan Pappe
Friday, March 20, 2015
Those of us who know the nature of the beast could not have been surprised by the results of the Israeli election.

Like many of my friends, I was also relieved that a liberal Zionist government was not elected. It would have allowed the charade of the “peace process” and the illusion of the two-state solution to linger on while the suffering of the Palestinians continues.

As always, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself provided the inevitable conclusion when he declared the end of the two-state solution — inviting us all to the long overdue funeral of an ill-conceived idea that provided Israel with international immunity for its colonialist project in Palestine.

The power of the charade was on show when the world and local pundits unrealistically predicted a victory for liberal Zionism, an Israeli ideological trend that is near extinction — embodied by the Zionist Union list headed by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni.
(More. . . )

from THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
JERUSALEM OF THE SPIRIT: SUFISM, MYSTICISM, AND THE SUBLIME
Dr. Ali Qleibo
Issue #203, March 2015
The mere name, Al-Quds, triggers an emotional, affectional upsurge in every Muslim heart and mind, wherein nostalgia, piety, and the love of God and his prophet Mohammed meet. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad is a spiritual journey leading to a process of religious transformation, and touching the deepest aspects of the human spirit. It is a mystical rite of passage that promotes one’s personal connection with God.

The lore of Jerusalem as the axis mundi –the symbolic center of the world where the four compass directions meet– reverberates throughout Islamic history. Inspired by Prophet Mohammad’s Night Journey to Jerusalem to connect with God, the pious believe that travel and correspondence between Heaven and Earth, between the higher and lower realms, is possible at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Communication from the lower realms may ascend to the higher ones, and blessings from the higher realms may descend to the lower realms. Jerusalem functions as the omphalos (navel), the world’s point of beginning, inflaming Muslim passion with yearning for the holy city.
(More. . . )
Dr. Ali Qleibo is an anthropologist, author, and artist. A specialist in the social history of Jerusalem and Palestinian peasant culture, he is the author of Before the Mountains Disappear, Jerusalem in the Heart, and Surviving the Wall, an ethnographic chronicle of contemporary Palestinians and their roots in ancient Semitic civilisations. Dr. Qleibo lectures at Al-Quds University.


“RHYTHMS OF THE NIGHT,” BY SAMI MUHANNA

At night the heavens come closer
to wolves.
At night, quiet is transparent,
treads on the carpet of the horizon of contemplation,
sees nothing but the breadth of its imagination.
At night, we listen to breaking hearts,
we grieve with the spirit’s dove,
we embrace our dreams.
At night, we remember and visualize,
mix colours into a paste of old wishes.
At night, we hear our true voice.
Night listens for childhood, in case it returns
and for love on the cusp of desire.
Night is the pulpit of our silence.
At night, directions don’t work.
At night, we lessen leaving
to the width of windows.
At night, we wait for dreams, dressed up
as priestesses of fog.
At night, details, distance and secrets encompass
the realm of infatuation.
Night writes
Without the restrictions
Of rhyme.

Translated by Katherine Sowerby
From A Bird Is not a Stone
Sami Muhanna is a poet and lawyer, and president and founder of the Arab Writers Union in Haifa. He is active in Palestinian political and academic affairs inside Israel.

Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinian Muslim worshipers perform traditional Friday prayers in a street outside the Old City in east Jerusalem on October 17, 2014. The Israeli government has restricted access to the mosque for men under 50 years of age.
Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinian Muslim worshipers perform traditional Friday prayers in a street outside the Old City in east Jerusalem on October 17, 2014. The Israeli government has restricted access to the mosque for men under 50 years of age.

“. . . I left them with a voice singing its song of love for my country. . .” (Aminah Kazak)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron. Worshipers and tourists.
Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron. Worshipers and tourists.

March 17, 2015
A new (highly professional and informative) BLOG:
“Today, the Institute for Palestine Studies launched its first ever blog! We hope you’ll join us at Palestine Square for expert analysis on Palestinian affairs, exclusive interviews with Palestinian artists, Palestine Unbound – the digital counterpart to the Journal of Palestine Studies quarterly feature highlighting the ever expanding realm of discussion on Palestine and Israel unbound by the traditional media – and much, much more!”
The Institute for Palestine Studies
At first glance, this may seem to have made this little blog irrelevant. Probably not. This blog is a quick and simple compendium of (more or less) daily news. Palestine Square has the resources of the Institute for Palestine Studies and will be an important instrument for presenting in-depth news about Palestinian thought and culture.

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
SETTLERS RAID HEBRON’S IBRAHIMI MOSQUE
IMEMC News & Agencies
Friday March 20, 2015

A group of Israeli settlers entered the Isaac Hall inside the Ibrahimi Mosque, in Hebron, on Thursday under armed protection from Israeli forces, witnesses said.
Local sources said that guards attempted to prevent settlers from entering the mosque, but that the army facilitated their entrance.

Under an agreement with endowment officials, Jewish visits to Isaac’s Hall are limited to 10 per year, Ma’an further reports.

The agreement came into place after a Brooklyn-born Jewish settler massacred 29 Palestinians in the mosque after opening fire at worshipers in 1994.

The Ibrahimi Mosque is known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, and is the site where both faiths believe the Biblical patriarch Abraham is buried.

Around 700 settlers live in 80 homes in the city center of Hebron, surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians. The settlers are protected by the Israeli army in the tightly controlled city, where many streets are off limits to Palestinians.

Ibrahimi Mosque disrespected
Ibrahimi Mosque disrespected

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
DOZENS OF SETTLERS RAID MUSLIM MONUMENT NEAR NABLUS
IMEMC News & Agencies
Friday March 20, 2015

Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed, early Thursday, the monument of Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local religious figure, to the east of Nablus, said security sources.
Protected by Israeli forces, several buses packed with settlers stormed eastern Nablus and proceeded to Joseph Tomb, where they performed religious rituals, triggering clashes with the residents, according to WAFA.

Soldiers fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian locals who attempted to prevent settlers from storming the religious site. No arrests or injuries were reported.

The site of Joseph’s Tomb is contentious. Palestinians believe the site to be the funerary monument to Sheikh Yousef Dweikat, a local religious figure, while Israeli settlers believe it to belong to the biblical patriarch, Joseph.

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
38 SETTLERS STORM AL AQSA MOSQUE
IMEMC News & Agencies
Thursday March 19, 2015

Extremist Jewish settlers stormed the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque from the Mughrabi gate, on Thursday morning, amid tight security from a private Israeli police force.
The media coordinator at the Islamic Waqf in Jerusalem, Firas AL-Debes, told Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency that 38 settlers, spread over 4 groups, stormed the Al-Aqsa courtyards, noting that the settlers carried out provocative rounds in front of worshipers, while students in Quran study circles raised their voices in chanting, “Allahu Akhbar! (God is Greatest.)”

Extremist Israeli settlers and politicians have been violating the sanctity of the historic Mosque on an almost daily basis and always under the protection of armed occupation forces, which often attack Palestinian worshipers who try to protect their holy site.

The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, of which East Jerusalem is a part, is illegal under international law.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70952
from THE NATION
ON ‘LOST CAUSES’ AND THE FUTURE OF PALESTINE
The appearance of Palestinian defeat is an optical illusion—one that hides the probability of eventual Israeli defeat.
Richard Falk
December 16, 2014

“What follows can be seen as a more considered response to this diplomat’s stance of cynical realism: it is my insistence that Palestine is not a lost cause, and that even if it were a lost cause from the perspective of realism, a continued commitment to it is greatly preferable to defeatist resignation and indifference toward such a grossly unjust outcome of such an epic struggle. My deeper conviction is that the appearance of Palestinian defeat is an optical illusion that hides the probability of eventual Israeli defeat—that while Israel is winning one war due to its military dominance and continuous establishment of ‘facts on the ground,’ Palestine is winning what in the end is the more important war, the struggle for legitimacy, which is most likely to determine the political outcome.”


“DEPORTATION,” BY AMINAH KAZAK

Before they came for me
I took my voice and hid it under the dawn
so they found only my bleeding mouth, my broken
hands, my eyes empty of vision

They traveled
to every corner of my country,
frustration building
The sound of my voice split their heads like thunder,
my agony pumped through their veins

Later they took my bleeding mouth, my broken hands,
my eyes empty of vision
and threw them past the horizon
so I left them with a voice
singing its song of love for my country
which they will never understand
never embrace and never possess.

Meghdessian, Samira. “The Discourse Of Oppression As Expressed In Writings Of The Intifada.” World Literature Today 72.1 (1998): 39.
This poem was selected from the Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature . Although the poet lives in the diaspora, she describes one of the most violent aspects of the occupation: the deportation of Palestinian males, to empty the land of its inhabitants and to break the basic family structure.
The Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature spans the period 1858-1990. It contains an excellent eighty-page introduction, which discusses both the external forces and the internal dynamics that influenced Palestinian literature. The book includes translated works which read very well. The editor, Salma Khadra Jayyusi, does not identify the literature of the Intifada per se, but my selections fit the designated period through their dates of publication.

Those who pray outside the Ibrahimi Mosque are apparently dangerous.
Those who pray outside the Ibrahimi Mosque are apparently dangerous.

“. . . Gaza is pregnant with people and no one helps with the labor. . .” (Nathalie Handal)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

from GLOBAL POST
WHAT DO ISRAELI VOTERS SAY ABOUT GAZA? NOT A LOT.
Laura Dean
March 15, 2015

With media fixated on where Netanyahu falls in the polls, you don’t hear much about last summer’s war that left more than 2,100 Gazans dead.

Haneen Zoabi, a member of the Israeli-Arab party Balad, running for reelection. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/30/israeli-arab-flotilla-election
Haneen Zoabi, a member of the Israeli-Arab party Balad, running for reelection. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/30/israeli-arab-flotilla-election

TEL AVIV, Israel — The first election in Israel since Operation Protective Edge will take place on March 17.

But while media has made much of the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is behind in the polls, one thing you don’t hear much about is the 51-day war last summer, which left more than 2,100 Gazans dead.

The war sparked an international outcry as the death toll rose and rose. Meanwhile, as Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza launched rockets at Israel, domestic support for the campaign grew ever stronger.

Seven months later, large swathes of the Gaza Strip still look as though an earthquake hit days before.

Yet across the border in Israel, with election campaigns in full swing, the war — Israel’s longest and by far its most violent with Gaza — is hardly mentioned. (More. . .)

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
SOLDIERS OPEN FIRE ON HOMES, LANDS, IN SOUTHERN GAZA
by IMEMC & Agencies
March 15, 2015

Israeli soldiers, stationed across the border fence, fired on Monday morning rounds of live ammunition at Palestinian homes, and farmlands, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) has reported that the soldiers, stationed on military towers across the border, east of Khuza’a town to the east of Khan Younis, fired smoke bombs and a number of live rounds, causing property damage.

WAFA added that the farmers fled their lands following the shooting; no injuries were reported.

The army frequently attacks farmers and workers, in Palestinian lands and areas close to the border fence in the northern and eastern parts of the coastal region, and prevents them from entering their lands. (More. . .)


gaza injured child
from THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE
INJURED GAZANS RALLY TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF ISRAELI OFFENSIVE
March 12, 2015

Hundreds of Palestinians injured during Israel’s summer offensive on the Gaza Strip on Thursday protested in Gaza City against what they say is official inaction for Palestinians disabled by Israeli warfare.

Participants in the protest called upon officials to form committees specializing in the affairs and rights of the wounded and to improve Palestinians’ access to medical care and medications, which are severely limited by the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Protester Rami Dabbour told Ma’an that the number of injured Palestinians in Gaza reaches into the tens of thousands, estimating that around 74,000 Gazans live with some form of physical injury or disability as a result of Israeli attacks on the enclave of 1.8 million people. (More. . .)

from MONDOWEISS
NEOCON METEOR SEN. COTTON IS FUNDED BY ABRAMS, ADELSON AND KRISTOL AND LOVES WAR A LITTLE TOO MUCH –
Philip Weiss
March 11, 2015

. . . . The [Salt Lake City] Tribune labels Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton an “uber-hawk.” The letter is sure to define his career, and not in a good way. The Kansas City Star says:

On Tuesday, Tom Cotton, the freshman senator from Arkansas who started the letter, defended it and said he wasn’t a traitor.

The liberal Zionist group J Street says that Cotton was scripted by neoconservative Bill Kristol. Street is reveling in the letter because it is sure to drag the neoconservative rightwing Israel lobby down politically, marginalize the greater-Israel lobby in the far right wing of the Republican Party. Just as the Netanyahu speech has hurt Netanyahu and the Likud wing of the lobby, the Cotton letter is turning out to be an own-goal, scored by the neoconservatives. (More. . .)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAEL PREPARES TO EVICT PALESTINIAN FAMILY IN JERUSALEM
March 16, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an)

Israeli forces surrounded a Palestinian home in the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday in preparation to evict the family from the property, the owners told Ma’an.

Rafat Sub Laban told Ma’an that Israeli forces surrounded the property in the Old City early Monday and ordered the family to leave the house.

The family refused, and Israeli forces brought in equipment to remove the front door.

The family’s lawyer managed to delay the eviction for two hours in order to obtain a court order to halt the evacuation.

The Sub Laban family rented the property in 1956 from the Jordanian government and since that time have been paying rent as “protected tenants,” Rafat said.

Following the Israeli occupation in 1967, rental contracts with the Jordanian government were taken over by the Israeli authorities, specifically the Custodian of Absentee Property. These contracts are renewed annually until the Custodian objects. (More. . .)

from MADE IN PALESTINE (May 3 through October 23, 2003)
By NATHALIE HANDAL

Gaza City
I sit in a gray room on a bed with a gray blanket
and wait for the muezzin to stand up.
The chants enter my window and I think of all
those men and women bowing in prayer, fear escaping
them at every stroke, a new sadness entering
their spirit as their children line up in the streets
like prisoners in a death camp.
I walk towards the broken window
my head slightly slanted and try to catch a glimpse
of the city of spirits—those killed
who pass through the narrow opening of their tombs.
My hands and the side of my right face
against the cold wall, I hide like a slut, ashamed.
I pull the collar of my light blue robe so hard
it tears, one side hanging as everyone’s lives hang here.
My fingers sink deep into my flesh,
I scratch myself, three lines scar my chests,
three faiths pound in my head and I wonder
if God is buried in the rubble. Every house is a prison,
every room a dog cage. Debke is no longer part of life,
only funerals are. Gaza is pregnant
with people and no one helps with the labor.
There are no streets, no hospitals, no schools,
no airport, no air to breathe.
And here I am in a room behind a window,
helpless, useless.
In America, I would be watching television
listening to CNN saying the Israelis demand,
terrorism must stop. Here all I see is inflicted terror,
children who no longer know they are children.
Milosevic is put on trail, but what about Sharon?
I finally get dressed, stand directly in front of the window
and choke on my spit as the gun shots start,
the F-16 fighter jets pass in their daily routine.

More about Nathalie Handal. . .
nathalie handal

“. . . I have prepared my poems And reclaimed my hand . . .” (Ibrahim Nasrallah)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

from MONDOWEISS
NETANYAHU FLAILS AGAINST INT’L CONSPIRACY, AS LIBERAL ZIONISTS SEEK ORANGE REVOLUTION AGAINST ‘FADING STRONGMAN’
Israel/Palestine
Philip Weiss
March 13, 2015
Israel’s illusion that it is at the center of the known universe is now shared by a lot of American commentators. The mood is even more intense because liberal Zionists sense a historic election in which Benjamin Netanyahu goes down and is replaced by the center-left. Haaretz’s Barak Ravid is mocking the prime minister’s statements about outside influence:

Netanyahu says “Scandinavia” is trying to topple him. Yes – you heard me – Scandinavia

Gershom Gorenberg explains that Netanyahu has accused European governments, especially Scandinavian ones, of funding campaign to depose him. Gorenberg:

Last refuge of the fading strongman: accuse outside agitators, foreign govts. (More. . .)

The Choir of the Custody of the Holy Land with members of the Sant Angela Choir of Budapest
The Choir of the Custody of the Holy Land with members of the Sant Angela Choir of Budapest

from THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
Artist of the Month
THE CHOIR OF THE CUSTODY OF THE HOLY LAND (Roman Catholic)
March, 2015
The Magnificat Choir of the Custody of the Holy Land was founded in 1850 by a number of clerics in Jerusalem. After the establishment of the Terra Sancta Boarding School in 1870, the choir expanded and graduates of the school began volunteering their services to the choir. These included Augustine Lama, a choir conductor and organist, and later, organist Salvador Arnita. During the late 1950s, the Franciscan priests took charge of conducting the choir. Among the most famous were Father Teofilo Ciardini and Father Antonio Foley, who developed the Parish Choir. Over the course of time, these two choirs combined and began singing both in Latin and in Arabic throughout the churches of the Holy Land. (More. . .)

from PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
‘ISRAEL’ PLANS TO BUILD NEW SEPARATION WALL ALONG JORDANIAN BORDER
PNN/Jerusalem
March 14, 2015
Following the completion of a security fence on the border with Egypt, ‘Israel’ plans to build a new separation wall on the border with Jordan to protect ‘Israel’ from a possible infiltration by “global Jihadists”, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

The Israeli government said that the first section of the wall will stretch for 30 km and will be equipped with security cameras and watch towers. The wall is part of a broader defence plan to secure the Timna region prepared by the Israeli army in the wake of the geo-strategic changes in the region.

The Israeli security forces fear the Iraqi and Syrian jihadists who were reported to have entered Jordan in huge numbers and it is possible that they’ll find their way to ‘Israel’. A senior Israeli officer said they do not have intelligence about the activities of ISIS elements in Jordan.
(More. . .)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
HAMAS LAUNCHES #ASKHAMAS INFORMATIONAL TWITTER CAMPAIGN
March 14, 2015
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas launched a campaign on Twitter Friday aimed at improving transparency and reaching out to English social media users.

The movement said its English-language initiative #AskHamas was designed so officials could answer questions from social media users.

The campaign was timed to coincide with the deadline for a European Union appeal against removing the group from the EU’s terror list, Hamas said.

A European court in December ordered the removal of Hamas from the bloc’s terror list, but the European Union said it would appeal the decision within three months.

“The #AskHamas campaign … will begin Friday and continue for five days,” said an Arabic-language statement posted on Hamas media official Taher al-Nunu’s Facebook page.
(More. . .)

from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
KEEPING PALESTINIAN IDENTITY ALIVE IN HEBRON
Narjas Zatat
March 13, 2015
Once a thriving marketplace, Hebron’s Shuhada street has been closed to Palestinians for the past twenty-one years.

Israel used the 1994 massacre at the nearby Ibrahimi Mosque — during which the extremist American settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 worshippers — as a pretext to tighten its control over the occupied West Bank city.

Today, Jewish-only settlements have surrounded Hebron and taken over parts of the city. These settlements are illegal under international law.

The closure of Shuhada Street is vigorously opposed by Palestinians. The organization Youth Against Settlements (YAS) both documents human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli military and takes direct action against Hebron’s suffocation.

In a symbolically important move, the group has succeeded in setting up a kindergarten on Shuhada Street. (More. . .)

Ibrahim Nasrallah
Ibrahim Nasrallah

“ABSENCE,” BY IBRAHIM NASRALLAH
Who loves the winter as you do?
And is fascinated by trees that resist the wind as you do?
And who like you perfects life
With such innocent joy?
God!
If only you were with me now
I have prepared everything
The chestnuts and the fire,
I have pulled back the blinds
And raised my prayer to the gypsy rain
Pleaded that it persist in its discord
And eternal rites
God!
If only you were beside me now!
I have prepared my poems
And reclaimed my hand
From the combat of the street
From the merchants
And the brokers
And the guardsmen,
And a frost that has tried so often
To squeeze you out of my heart
From bullets that have repeatedly aimed
To swallow up the ring of your voice
As you commune with the buds
Or kindle the fire
God! Had you been with me
We would have sung our song now
The one which the wind almost uproots from my voice
Each time I sing it alone

–Translation by Ibrahim Muhawi
Ibrahim Nasrallah (born 1954 in Amman, Jordan, in Wihdat refugee camp) is a Jordanian-Palestinian poet, novelist, professor, painter and photographer.
He studied in the UN agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) schools and at the UNRWA Teacher Training College in Amman. He taught in Saudi Arabia for 2 years in the Al Qunfudhah region and worked as a journalist between 1978 and 1996. Nasrallah then returned to Jordan and worked at Dostur, Afaq and Hasad newspapers. He is in charge of cultural activities at Darat-al-Funun in Amman. He has published 14 books of poetry, 13 novels and two children’s books. In 2009 his novel The Time of White Horses was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Biography from “Poem Hunter.com.”

“The reason, see, is that I am an Arab. . .” (Fouzi El-Asmar)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Harvesting tomatoes in Gaza
Harvesting tomatoes in Gaza

from DALLAS MORNING NEWS
GAZA EXPORTS FIRST PRODUCE TO ISRAEL SINCE HAMAS TAKEOVER
By Fares Akram, Associated Press
Mar. 12, 2015
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli authorities allowed the import of Gaza produce on Thursday for the first time since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, a move that will aid Gaza’s battered economy and help pious Jews observe a biblical farming sabbatical.

Some 27 tons of tomatoes and five tons of eggplants were cleared to leave Gaza for Israel, Palestinian officials and Gaza merchants said.

“Exporting to Israel is better, but insufficient,” said Gaza merchant Hosni Shehada, who oversaw the preparation of half-ripe tomatoes and large eggplants for export at his warehouse.

Before Hamas took over the seaside territory nearly eight years ago, Gaza merchants used to export hundreds of tons of vegetables to Israel on a daily basis. (More. . .)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
15-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN ENTERS 76TH DAY IN ISRAELI CUSTODY
March 12, 2015
Fifteen-year-old Palestinian Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody on Wednesday after he was

Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody
Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody

sentenced to four months jail time and given a 2,000 shekel ($495) fine for throwing rocks and burning tires.

Al-Sheikh’s family told the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights that Khalid was not medically treated by Israel since he was detained on Dec. 25, 2014 despite the fact that he suffers from anemia. (More. . .)

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
ARMY KIDNAPS NINE PALESTINIANS IN JERUSALEM AND NABLUS
by IMEMC & Agencies
March 12, 2015
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday evening, three young Palestinians including a 10-year old child, and four women, in occupied East Jerusalem, in addition two Palestinians near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Amjad Abu ‘Asab, head of the Jerusalem Detainees Committee, said the Police kidnapped Mohammad ‘Awad, 17, and Nour az-Zaghal, 17, from Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood in Silwan. (More. . .)

Funeral of Tawfiq Abu Riyala, Gaza
Funeral of Tawfiq Abu Riyala, Gaza

from MONDOWEISS
ISRAEL SHOT AT GAZA FISHERMEN 5 TIMES IN FIRST 7 DAYS OF MARCH, KILLING 1, INJURING 2
Ben Norton
March 11, 2015
Israeli forces shot at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza on 7 March, killing one, a man by the name of Tawfiq Abu Riyala. Two fishers were also arrested.

Associated Press implied that it was not a purposeful attack on the part of Israel, and that the innocent fisherman was to blame for his own death, writing: “It was not clear how the fisherman ended up in the line of fire.” Such an attack on defenseless, unsuspecting fishermen is not uncommon, however. Not by any means.

According to the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, since the summer 2014 ceasefire agreement, in at least 10 incidents, Israel has injured 17 Palestinian fishers and detained 49 more. (More. . .)

from MONDOWEISS (Opinion)
BY BUSTING UP PEACE EFFORTS, AIPAC MAY HAVE BURST ITS OWN BUBBLE
Medea Benjamin
March 11, 2015
Early in the morning of March 3, on AIPAC’s national lobby day and just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was set to address the joint session of Congress, AIPAC President Robert Cohen, along with the group’s Policy Director and two associates, briskly approached the Congressional office of Speaker of the House John Boehner. To their horror, they found the office locked and surrounded by crowd of CODEPINK activists staging a sit-in to protest the Netanyahu speech. . .

When finally cornered after seeking refuge in the office of Congressman Steve Stivers, the policy director agreed to talk to the CODEPINK group. But he kept repeating the mantra that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and as such, cannot be trusted in a nuclear deal.

This is the AIPAC line, and its strategy is to sabotage the negotiations . . . there is speculation that AIPAC was behind the letter by 47 Republican senators to the Iran government . . . AIPAC’s underhanded efforts to scuttle talks with Iran threaten to move us down a dangerous path towards war. But it’s not just AIPAC’s position on Iran that poses a threat to peace. AIPAC tries to undermine any attempts by the Palestinians to take their grievances to the international community. (More . . .)

“Because I Am an Arab,” Fouzi El-Asmar
I sit in preventive detention.
The reason, see, is that I am an Arab.
An Arab who has refused to sell his soul
who has always striven, sir, for freedom.
An Arab who has protested at the suffering of his people
Who has carried with him the hope of a just peace,
Who has spoken out against death at every corner
Who has called for and has lived a life of brotherhood.
That is why I sit in preventive detention
Because I carried on the struggle
And because I am an Arab.

Born in Haifa, Palestine, Dr. El-Asmar grew up in a Palestinian area of Israel. In 1958, he became a member of the editorial board of the literary monthly, Al-Fajr, and in 1966 he became editor of the Arabic magazine, Hadha-al-Alam. He attended Central Connecticut State University (then Central Connecticut State College) and received his B.A. degree there with honors in 1975. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. from the University of Exeter in England.Then in 1979, he became the managing editor of the London-based international newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat.

Dr. El-Asmar lectured and taught at a number of universities, including St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and Bradford University in England, and the American University in Washington, D.C. He held dual Israeli and U.S. citizenship and resided in Bethesda, Maryland.

“. . .hotels for wishes that never give birth. . .” (Rashid Hussein)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Has the Pilgrimage been hijacked?
Has the Pilgrimage been hijacked?

from THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE
ISRAEL’S ARAB POLITICAL PARTIES UNITED FOR FIRST TIME
March 11, 2015
A coalition of once fractious Arab parties is suddenly emerging as Israel’s newest power bloc, forcing the Jewish state to pay attention to its large Arab minority as never before.

If polls taken ahead of next week’s general election are accurate, Arab Israelis could end up heading the third-largest political faction in Israel’s next parliament, giving a voice to the often-sidelined Arab population.

It’s a remarkable of twist of fate for Israel’s 1.7 million Arabs, who make up roughly 20 percent of the country’s population and have never had much political clout. (More. . .)

from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
THE FRAT BOYS WHO SLANDER PALESTINE SOLIDARITY
Rania Khalek and Nora Barrows-Friedman
March 10, 2015
Last month the student court at the University of California at Davis overturned a recently approved resolution to divest from companies that profit from Israeli violations of Palestinians’ rights.

Determining that the resolution was “unconstitutional,” the student court’s ruling was based on a complaint made by Jonathan Mitchell, a former student body senator and former board member of the campus chapter of a right-wing Jewish fraternity.

The fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), has close ties to Israel lobby groups intent on crushing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. (More. . .)

from MONDOWEISS
ISRAEL’S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR BEHEADING ARAB CITIZENS AND IT’S NOT ANYWHERE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Scott Roth and Phil Weiss
March 10, 2015

Two days ago Israel’s foreign minister called for beheading Arab citizens of Israel who are “against us.” Haaretz did the story yesterday. So did Newsweek.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that Arab citizens who are not loyal to the state of Israel should have their heads “chopped off with an axe”.

The minister, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and an outspoken critic of Israel’s Arab population, made the controversial remarks on Sunday in a speech to an election rally held in the western Israeli city of Herzliya ahead of the March 17 vote.

“Those who are with us deserve everything, but those who are against us deserve to have their heads chopped off with an axe,” the ultra-nationalist politician said. (More. . .)

from THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
HAS THE PILGRIMAGE BEEN HIJACKED?
Richard LeSueur
March 2015
The travel industry has discovered a new word, “pilgrimage.” What was commonly marketed in previous years as a “Tour to the Holy Land” is today promoted as a “Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.” Has anything changed? Not really. The itineraries read the same: the frenetic pace, glossy hotels, air conditioned coaches, sumptuous meals, ample shopping opportunities, and the blur of sites. One might ask then, what do these tours have to do with the ancient practice of pilgrimage? Is this simply a marketing scheme to add sticker value and appeal to religious clients? Has the pilgrimage been hijacked for consumerist ends? Is there a difference between tourism and pilgrimage?

For more than twenty-five years I have been facilitating programs of Christian pilgrimage primarily in the Middle East. Pilgrimage is not tourism. Pilgrimage may involve elements of tourism common to all travel, but it is an ancient, soulful way of approaching a land, its peoples, and its story. Pilgrimage is different from tourism in its intention, design, collective rituals, and the principles that underlie the day-to-day experience. (More. . .)

Print
INTRODUCING THE BDS MOVEMENT
The global movement for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights was initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005, and is coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), established in 2007. BDS is a strategy that allows people of conscience to play an effective role in the Palestinian struggle for justice.

. . . On July 9 2005, a year after the International Court of Justice’s historic advisory opinion on the illegality of Israel’s Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), a clear majority of Palestinian civil society called upon their counterparts and people of conscience all over the world to launch broad boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognized in full compliance with international law. (More. . .)

“WITHOUT A PASSPORT,” BY RASHID HUSSEIN

I was born without a passport
I grew up
and saw my country
become prisons
without a passport

So I raised a country
a sun
and wheat
in every house
I tended to the trees therein
I learned how to write poetry
to make the people of my village happy
without a passport

I learned that he whose land is stolen
does not like the rain
If he were ever to return to it, he will
without a passport

But I am tired of minds
that have become hotels
for wishes that never give birth
except with a passport

Without a passport
I came to you
and revolted against you
so slaughter me
perhaps I will then feel that I am dying
without a passport

Translated by Sinan Antoon. From Rashid Hussein, Al-A`mal al-Shi`riyya (al-Taybe: Markaz Ihya’ al-Turath al-`Arabi, 1990)
Rashid Hussein (1936-1977) was born in Musmus, Palestine. He published his first collection in 1957 and established himself as a major Palestinian poet and orator. He participated in founding the Land Movement in 1959. He left in 1966 and lived in Syria and Lebanon and later in New York City where he died in February, 1977. He was buried a week later in Musmus. His funeral was attended by thousands of Palestinians.

A view "Pilgrims" never see.
A view “Pilgrims” never see.