❶ From B’TSELEM – THE ISRAELI INFORMATION CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
STOP THE EXPULSION #SAVESUSIYA
Last Friday B’Tselem organized a visit to the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya in the South Hebron Hills. Dozens of Israelis joined us to express solidarity with Susiya’s residents who are facing the threat of imminent expulsion from their land.
At any moment the Israeli Civil Administration (CA) might demolish all homes and structures in Khirbet Susiya leaving the villagers with no shelter in the harsh desert conditions. The threat of demolition looms large following a decision by Israel’s High Court of Justice to deny the residents’ request for an interim injunction on demolition by the CA. For more on the risk of demolition faced by Khirbet Susiya, see B’Tselem’s website page.
(More. . .)

❷ From PALESTINE INFORMATION CENTER
ISRAELI OCCUPATION KEEPS JORDANIAN-CANADIAN BUSINESSMAN IN CUSTODY, DENIES HIM LAWYER
May 18, 2015
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM –The Shin Bet security service has arrested a Jordanian-Canadian millionaire and held him for 12 days without permitting him to see a lawyer, Haaretz reported Monday.
___58-year-old Ibrahim Seyam was invited by Abbas to attend a conference in Ramallah on developing the PA economy. But when he arrived together with a group of other Jordanian businessman at the Allenby Bridge border crossing about two weeks ago, he was arrested by the Shin Bet and taken to the Kishon interrogation center for questioning.
___Seyam is a businessman of Palestinian descent. He left the country some 30 years ago and moved to live between Canada and Jordan.
(More. . .)

❸ From PALESTINE INFORMATION CENTER
PALESTINIAN DETAINEES AT OFER JAIL ON TWO-DAY HUNGER-STRIKE
May 18, 2015
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Islamic-Jihad affiliates held at the Israeli Ofer jail on Monday initiated a two-day hunger-strike in solidarity with their fellow who has been tortured by the prison wardens.
___Palestinian detainees at Ofer lock-up urged the Israeli prison authorities, in a statement, to launch a probe into an attack on their fellow Adel Musa and to take a tougher line against the perpetrators.
___The detainees announced their decision to go on a two-day hunger-strike in protest at the attack.
(More. . .)

❹ From ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
WILL ISRAELIS FILMED KILLING PALESTINIAN TEENS ON NAKBA DAY GET AWAY WITH MURDER?
By Olivia Watson
May 14, 2015
On 15 May 2014, an Israeli Border Police officer took aim at Nadim Nuwara and pulled the trigger of his M16 rifle.
___The live bullet struck Nuwara, 17, in the chest and exited through his back, killing him at the scene. CCTV cameras captured the shooting, allowing for detailed forensic video, sound and spatial analysis to be used to identify Nuwara’s killer. Despite seemingly clear evidence, systemic impunity for Israeli military violence continues to be an obstacle to justice for Palestinian families living under prolonged military occupation like the Nuwaras.
___Nuwara’s death appears to be the direct consequence of a de facto policy pursued by the Israeli military that permits the use of live ammunition, even against children, with almost complete impunity. The families of those killed are left to live with this injustice.
(More. . .)

❺ From MONDOWEISS
‘SO WAIT, THE NAKBA IS…?’: LISTENING TO ISRAELIS DISCUSS THE NAKBA
By Yara Dowani
May 15, 2015
How interesting it was to read the answers of Israelis who were asked about the Nakba for the video “So wait, the Nakba is…?”, done by De-Colonizer. Interesting but yet kind of disturbing.
___The interesting part was the idea of going around in Tel Aviv and asking random Israelis about this topic. In my opinion this step taken by De-Colonizer is really brave, because one has no idea what and how their reactions would be. I wonder what would be the answers of Israelis living in other cities and in the settlements?
___The disturbing part was reading the answers of the people who had no clue what the word Nakba means. How can a word, event, hold so much pain and suffering to some people and yet means nothing to the other people who were part of making it happen?
(More. . .)

“I HAVE NO HOME,” BY YOUSEF EL QEDRA
I saw clouds running away from the hurt.
I have no language.
Its weight is lighter than a feather.
The quill does not write.
The ink of the spirit burns on the shore of meaning.
The clouds are tears, filled with escape and lacking definition.
A cloud realizes the beauty she forms—
beauty which contains all good things,
for whom trees, gardens, and tired young women wait.

I have no home.
I have a night overripe with sweats caused by numbness all over.
Time has grown up on its own without me.
In my dream, I asked him what he looks like.
My small defeats answered me.
So I asked him again, What did he mean?
Then I found myself suspended in nothingness,
Stretched like a string that doesn’t belong to an instrument.
The wind played me. So did irresistible gravity.
I was a run of lost notes that have a sad, strong desire to live.

Translated by Yasmin Snounu and Edward Morin

Yousef El Qedra is a young poet and playwright living in Gaza. He has his BA degree in Arabic Literature from Azhar University, Gaza. Since 2006 he has worked as a project coordinator of theater and youth groups for the Cultural Free Thought Association in Gaza City. He has written several books and plays and published four volumes of poetry, translated into French and Spanish.
From BEFORE THERE IS NOWHERE TO STAND: PALESTINE ISREL POETS RESPOND TO THE STRUGGLE. Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012.