Month: December 2015

“. . . a reality that is willfully obscured by the complicit international community . . .” (Ramona Wadi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
destruction
❶ A research centre affiliated to the PLO has revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities destroyed 478 Palestinian buildings and other facilities during 2015. (Photo: MEMO File Photo)

❶ Settlement expansion and the disappearance of Palestinian memory
❷ Palestinian killed after suspected car attack near Huwwara
❸ Israeli forces detain 16 Palestinians from West Bank
❹ Young Palestinian patriot cut down by Israeli bullet
❺ Opinion/Analysis: +972’s Story of the Year: The Right has officially taken over
❻ Poetry by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
SETTLEMENT  EXPANSION  AND  THE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  PALESTINIAN  MEMORY
Ramona Wadi
Dec. 30, 2015
Israeli pressure group Peace Now, which defends Israel’s right to exist “within secure borders” and advocates for the two-state paradigm, has revealed that the Israeli housing ministry is planning the construction of 55,548 settlement units in the occupied West Bank. . . .
___For Palestinians. . . “Greater Israel” and its ramifications are about the concept of disappearance with regard to history and memory – a reality that is willfully obscured by the complicit international community.   MORE . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PALESTINIAN  KILLED  AFTER  SUSPECTED  CAR  ATTACK  NEAR  HUWWARA
Dec. 31, 2015
A Palestinian was shot dead after a suspected vehicular attack near the Huwwara military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, Israel’s army said.
___A spokesperson for the Israeli army told Ma’an that an assailant ran his car into Israeli forces who were stationed on highway 60 near the Huwwara checkpoint for security purposes.
___The forces opened fire on the man, killing him on scene, the spokesperson said.   MORE . . . 
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  16  PALESTINIANS  FROM  WEST  BANK
Dec. 31, 2015
Israeli forces overnight Wednesday detained 16 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, a prisoners’ rights group said.
___The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society told Ma’an that four Palestinians were detained from Bethlehem, identifying the detainees as Ahmad Amer Odeh, 20, from the Aida refugee camp, Ahmad Mahmoud Shakarneh and Noor Izzat Shakarneh from the Nahalin village, and Muhammad Salem Khalil Jibrin, 20, from the Tuqu village.    MORE . . .

alayan
Mahmoud Alayan, killed by Israeli troops Nov. 19. (Photo: Electronic Intifada)

❹ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
YOUNG  PALESTINIAN  PATRIOT  CUT  DOWN  BY  ISRAELI  BULLET
Budour Youssef Hassan
Dec. 31, 2015
Mahmoud Alayan was a Fatah party supporter and an active member of its campus chapter at his school.
___He was also an implacable opponent of the status quo in occupied territory to which a Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority clings.
___That defiance ultimately cost him his life.   MORE . . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
+972 MAGAZINE
+972’S  STORY  OF  THE  YEAR:  THE  RIGHT  HAS  OFFICIALLY  TAKEN  OVER
Noam Sheizaf
Dec. 30, 2015
Benjamin Netanyahu and the Right finally took over Israel this year. The right wing successfully isolated and delegitimized the Left, eliminated any serious ideological challengers, put the country’s Palestinian citizens in its crosshairs, and quietly ushered us into an un-democratic one-state era.
___Save for the brief episodes of the Rabin and Barak governments, the Israeli Right has been in power since 1977 . . .  In the 70s and 80s the right- and left-wing blocs were relatively balanced, but over the past 15 years the Likud . . . has been the unchallenged, dominant force in the Israeli political system. . . .  The Right is in the driver’s seat, alone.  MORE. . .

1-Bibi-limo-speech-March-2-Amos-Ben-Gershom
❺ Benjamin Netanyahu makes final notes to a  speech against the Iran deal he delivered to AIPAC in Washington. March 2, 2015, Washington D.C. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)

“MARTYRS OF THE INTIFADA,” BY FADWA TUQAN

1
They drew up the map of the road to life
they paved it with precious stones and with their young hearts
they raised their hearts as stones on their palms
embers and flame
and with these they pelted the monster of the road,
now is the time to show courage and strength,
their voice was heard strong everywhere
it reverberated everywhere
and there was courage and strength
they died standing
blazing on the road
shining like stars
their lips pressed to the lips of life.

2
Death charged and drove its scythe through them
they stood up in the face of death
fairer than palm groves
fairer than the yield of wheat
fairer than bright day rising
fairer than the trees which the rain has bathed in the lap of dawn
they rose they sprang they were on their way to the battlefield
and there they spread like balls of fire
they burned they shone and gave forth light
in the middle of the road–and then disappeared like the sun.

3
Ah dream of theirs which appear in the distance
embracing the happy future!
You will bring about their rebirth
along with their great tomorrow.
Their rebirth will come will rise out of the depth of death and darkness,
on its face it bears good tidings
and on its broad brow a star shines.

4
Earth shall suckle him all through life
neither the concentrations of evil
nor the demons of earth land and sea
shall tear him from its breasts
never will he be weaned whatever the usurper’s cruelty
he shall not be weaned
until in a perfidious night death paints
the nipples of the bountiful breasts with the juice of bitter apple.

5
Look at them in the distance!
How they rise up higher and higher
while the whole world watches!
How they climb up ever higher
on a ladder of their gushing blood!
Never shall treacherous death seize their hearts
as long as rebirth and the new dawn
remain their vision which guides them on the path of sacrifice!
Look at them falcons in their Intifada
how they join to the heavens the land and their sacred country!

About Fadwa Tuqan
Posted in University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth
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“. . . their dignity sets them free . . .” (Samah Sabawi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
jewish terrorists
Screenshot of a video showing extremist Israeli Jewish wedding-goers celebrating killings of the Dawabsha family. (Jerusalem: Channel 10)

❶ 24 shot, injured by Israeli forces in clashes after funeral in Abu Dis
❷ Analysis: Terrorism as defined by Israel
❸ Israeli police detain 5 after Israeli wedding incited murder
❹ Analysis: Palestinians and Israelis will pay a heavy price for unchecked Jewish settler terror
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Arab group in Israel paves new future for town’s next generation
❻ Poetry by Samah Sabawi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
24  SHOT,  INJURED  BY  ISRAELI  FORCES  IN  CLASHES  AFTER  FUNERAL  IN  ABU  DIS
Dec. 30, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Clashes broke out late Tuesday in Abu Dis following a funeral held for a Palestinian killed earlier this month, whose body was held by Israeli authorities for 26 days.
___Locals told Ma’an that 24 Palestinians were shot and injured by rubber-coated steel bullets while 19 others suffered from severe tear gas inhalation when clashes erupted between locals and Israeli military forces.  More . . .
❷ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
TERRORISM  AS  DEFINED  BY  ISRAEL
Dr Fayez Abu Shamaleh
Dec. 30, 2015
The burning to death of the Dawabsheh family in July created a conflict between the Israeli Shin Bet internal security agency and the Jewish settlers who sympathised with those who carried out the deadly arson attack. While the Shin Bet knows how dangerous the extremist Jewish groups are and the consequences of their heinous acts that reflect on the existence of the state itself, the rabbis and settler leaders continue to attack the agency. . . .
___ “See, the murder in Duma was just a means,” said [Education Minister Naftali] Bennett. “They want to bring down the house on our heads. That is their goal. It is antithetical to the substance of religious Zionism. They want to dismantle the State of Israel. They are terrorists . . . .  More . . .
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  POLICE  DETAIN  5  AFTER  ISRAELI  WEDDING  INCITED  MURDER
Dec. 30, 2015
[Blogger’s note: why would Israel prosecute when it refuses to prosecute Ali Dawabsha’s murderers?]
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli police have arrested five Israelis involved in a Jerusalem wedding ceremony that incited violence towards Palestinians [in video footage that went viral], Israeli media reported Tuesday.
___The groom of the wedding . . . was arrested in addition to an Israeli soldier and two minors, Israeli daily Haaretz said.
___Israeli police also arrested renowned extremist settler Daniel Pinner from the illegal settlement of Tapuah, who was among a number of others seen dancing with a gun in video footage of the wedding . . . .
___At one point during the ceremony, a masked Israeli youth . . . stabs a photo of Ali Dawabsha, an 18-month-old Palestinian burned alive in an arson attack carried out by Jewish extremists over the summer. More . . .

abu dis funeral
Clashes broke out late Tuesday in Abu Dis following a funeral held for a Palestinian killed earlier this month. (Ma’an News Photo)

❹ Analysis
THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
PALESTINIANS  AND  ISRAELIS  WILL  PAY  A  HEAVY  PRICE  FOR  UNCHECKED  JEWISH  SETTLER  TERROR
Professor Kamel Hawwash
Dec. 29, 2015
The recent Israeli wedding video in which revellers danced with knives and guns, and stabbed pictures of Palestinian baby Ali Dawabsheh, who was burnt to death by Jewish settlers, should trouble Israel’s supporters and society. . . .
___ However, there has been a worrying rise in settler violence, coordinated under the label of “price tag” attacks which target Palestinians on both sides of the Green (1949 Armistice) Line. They have included attacks on mosques and churches . . . .
___As settlers develop a terror infrastructure, safe in the knowledge that the state basically condones it, those Israelis who want to see a peaceful resolution to the conflict could soon face settler violence for advocating any evacuation of settlements under a peace agreement. . . . More . . . 
❺ Opinion/Analysis
+972 MAGAZINE
ARAB  GROUP  IN  ISRAEL  PAVES  NEW  FUTURE  FOR  TOWN’S  NEXT  GENERATION
Amjad Iraqi
Dec. 27, 2015
Three weeks ago, the building of the municipality of Tira, a Palestinian Arab town in the Muthalath (“Triangle”) area of Israel, was bustling with over two hundred people gathering in its auditorium.
___Five speakers took the stage and delivered captivating talks on five different topics, all of which were nothing short of inspiring. Fadi Matar, the 24-year-old founder of the organization behind the event, described the process of making it happen in a community not used to such initiatives. . . .
___The “Tira Talks” were organized by the Academiyu al-Tira (“the students/educated of Tira”), a local collective of Arab university and college students from the town. More . . .

“DEFYING  THE  UNIVERSE,”  BY  SAMAH  SABAWI
Dedicated to her husband Monir

Are your loved ones trapped behind the wall
Do they need the army’s permission
For their prayers to reach the sky
For their love to cross the ocean
And touch your thirsty heart
Are your loved ones trapped

Do you yearn to be in your family home
And when you call, do they always say
“we are fine, alhamdollelah”
Does it surprise you that they are whole
While you… are broken
Must they always worry about you
Urge you to have faith in your exile
Must they always pity you
For not breathing the air
Of your ancestors’ land
Must they always comfort you
Even when the bombs are falling
Do you ever wonder who is walled in
Is it you…or is it them
And when it finally dawns upon you
That their dignity sets them free
Do you feel ashamed of your liberty

About Samah Sabawi.
From: Valentine, Douglas. “Poetry, Palestine and the Language of Resistance Counter Punch.” Counter Punch. counterpunch.org. September 20, 2013. Web.

“. . . O Lord. . . are the joys of Jerusalem silenced on your birthday?. . . (Fadwa Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
zzzzzzransacked charity
Rnsacked headquarters of the Palestinian Authority-run committee for charitable work. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency, December 29, 2015)

❶ Israeli forces raid charity, shut down prisoners’ rights group
❷ Christian Zionists prefer to ignore Bethlehem’s Palestinians
❷―(ᴀ) Bethlehem Celebrates another Occupied Christmas, By Latin Patriarch Emeritus Michael Sabbah
❸ Brazil Refuses Israeli Settler as Diplomatic Envoy
❹ Israel settlement plan revealed to target strategic Palestinian land
❺ Global Message from Bethlehem: Bethlehem is a beacon for humanity, by Vera Baboun, Mayor of Bethlehem
❻ Poetry by (Fadwa Tuqan)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  RAID  CHARITY,  SHUT  DOWN  PRISONERS’  RIGHTS  GROUP
Dec. 29, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Tuesday ransacked the Bethlehem headquarters of the district’s Palestinian Authority-run committee for charitable work as well as a prisoners’ rights group office in Nablus, destroying and confiscating property.
___The treasurer of the Bethlehem charity, Mahmoud Khalifa, told Ma’an that “occupation forces broke into the headquarters at 2:40 a.m. and ravaged the place, breaking down the doors of administrative and accounting offices.”
More . . .
❷ +972 MAGAZINE
CHRISTIAN  ZIONISTS  PREFER  TO  IGNORE  BETHLEHEM’S  PALESTINIANS
Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org
Dec. 25, 2015
Why does America’s largest Christian Zionist organization continue to ignore the plight of its co-religionists in Jesus’ birthplace?
More . . .
Related . . . BETHLEHEM  CELEBRATES  ANOTHER  OCCUPIED  CHRISTMAS,  BY  PATRIARCH  EMERITUS  MICHAEL  SABBAH,  LATIN PATRIARCH  OF  JERUSALEM,  1987-2008.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.693394
❸ IMEMC NEWS
BRAZIL  REFUSES  ISRAELI  SETTLER  AS  DIPLOMATIC  ENVOY
Dec. 29, 2015
Brazil’s reluctance to accept an Israeli ambassador who is a West Bank colonist has set off a diplomatic crisis and led to concerns in the Israeli government that the clash could encourage pro-Palestinian activism against it.
More . . .
Related. . .    ISRAELI  WINDSURFERS  DENIED  VISAS  FOR  MALAYSIA  CONTEST
❹ THE NEW ARAB
ISRAEL  SETTLEMENT  PLAN  REVEALED  TO  TARGET  STRATEGIC  PALESTINIAN  LAND
Dec. 29, 2015
An Israeli anti-settlement watchdog has revealed that Israel secretly plans to build more than 8,000 settler homes in a strategic section of the West Bank near Jerusalem.
___Peace Now said the homes were among more than 55,000 settler homes on Palestinian land at various stages of planning by Israel’s Housing Ministry . . . .
___The Palestinians strongly object to settlement of the occupied area, saying it would separate a future Palestinian state in the West Bank from east Jerusalem, their hoped-for capital.
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
GLOBAL  MESSAGE  FROM  BETHLEHEM:  BETHLEHEM  IS  A  BEACON  FOR  HUMANITY
Vera Baboun, Mayor of Bethlehem
In Palestine, the land which yearns for peace and justice, I live the realities of my Palestinian nation; realities of hegemonic occupation, systematic land confiscation, brutal wars, and an Apartheid Wall. This has been the national saga that my ancestors have lived, we are living, and our grandsons will seemingly have to live. In Bethlehem, the City of the Cradle and the Capitol of the Nativity, we live a life that unceasingly oscillates between reassurance and anxiety, tranquility and panic, gain and loss, and mostly between hope and despair . . . .
More . . .

“TO  CHRIST  THE  LORD  ON  HIS  BIRTHDAY,”  BY  FADWA  TUQAN

But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
St. Mark’s Gospel XII: 7-8

O Lord, O glory of the universe,
crucified this year on your birthday,
are the joys of Jerusalem
silenced on your birthday?
O Lord, all the bells
for two millenia have not been silenced
on your birthday
except for this year:
the domes of the bells are in mourning,
black wrapped in black.

Jerusalem along the Via Dolorosa,
whipped under the cross of ordeal,
bleeding at the hands of the executioner,
and the world is a sealed heart
in the face of affliction.
In this hard indifferent world, O Lord,
the sun’s eye is smothered: the world went astray
and was lost.
In the ordeal it did not even raise a candle.
It did not even shed a tear
to wash away the sorrows in Jerusalem.

The husbandmen killed the heir, O Lord,
and raped the vineyard.
The sinners of the world fledged the bird of evil
dashing off to defile the purity of Jerusalem,
damned and infernal, hated even by Satan.

O Lord, O glory of Jerusalem,
from the well of sorrows, from the abyss,
from the depth of the night,
from the heart of plight,
the wails of Jerusalem are raised up to you.
In your mercy, take away from me, O Lord, this cup!

―Translated by Ferial Ghazoul

From: Smith, Michael. Ed. “Contemporary Palestinian Poetry.” Free  Verse. english.chass.ncsu.edu. 2008. Web.
About Fadwa Tuqan

“. . . a voice from a minaret . . . Mingled with church bells . . .” (Yusuf Hamdan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
resistance tree
Tree killed by the Israeli wall turned into Christmas tree, Bethlehem. (Photo: Palestine News Network TV Reports, Dec. 22, 2015)

❶ Days before Christmas, Bethlehem erects ‘resistance tree’ outside Nativity Church
❷ UN adopts resolution on Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources
❸ Bethlehem-area village sealed by Israeli military for weeks
❹ Will PA security turn on Israel?
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Christmas Spirit in Bethlehem
❺―(ᴀ) Sabeel Christmas Message 2015
❻ Poetry by Yusuf Hamdan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MONDOWEISS
VIDEO:  DAYS  BEFORE  CHRISTMAS,  BETHLEHEM  ERECTS  ‘RESISTANCE  TREE’  OUTSIDE  NATIVITY  CHURCH
Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi
Dec. 22, 2015
Tourists, political leaders, activists and residents of Bethlehem gathered right in front of the Nativity Church Thursday night with an unusual message. While December is usually a time for cheerful Christmas celebrations at the Nativity, this year the people of Bethlehem have been unable to put aside the political turmoil for the sake of the holiday.
___With Christmas just days away, the city of Bethlehem erected what they call a “Resistance Tree.” The tree, an olive tree which was recently uprooted by Israeli forces from a nearby neighborhood . . . .
More . . .

The-Restoration-of-the-Church-2
Restoration of the wall mosaics, Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Photo courtesy of the Presidential Committee for the Restoration of the Church of the Nativity.

❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
UN  ADOPTS  RESOLUTION  ON  PALESTINIAN  SOVEREIGNTY  OVER  NATURAL  RESOURCES
Dec. 23, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution demanding Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources under Israeli occupation.
___The draft solution, “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources,” was adopted with 164 votes in favor and five against.
Member states that voted against the measure included Canada. . . Israel. . . and the United States.
More . . .
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
BETHLEHEM-AREA  VILLAGE  SEALED  BY  ISRAELI  MILITARY  FOR  WEEKS
Dec. 23, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The movement of residents in Ras Al-Wad southwest of Bethlehem has been cut off for weeks by Israeli military forces, locals said Wednesday.
___A resident told Ma’an that the forces closed off the main entrance to the small village with large mounds of dirt around three weeks ago, and the road has remained closed since.
___The road was used by residents in Ras al-Wad to access a main highway nearby. While they have been able to find an alternate route — a one-way dirt road that connects to the nearby village of Beit Sahour — access to the highway is severely limited, locals said.
More . . .
❹ AL-MONITOR (PALESTINE PULSE)
WILL  PA  SECURITY  TURN  ON  ISRAEL?
Ahmad Abu Amer
Dec. 22, 2015
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel is convinced that new developments are about to take place in the West Bank, especially after the killing of Mazen Arabia, a Palestinian intelligence officer accused of opening fire at the Hizma military checkpoint, northeast of Jerusalem, injuring an Israeli soldier Dec. 3. . . .
___This incident, the first of its kind during the uprising in the Palestinian territories, sparked Israeli concerns that other armed Palestinian security officers will engage in similar acts. Therefore, the Israeli government rejected the recommendations of the Israel Defense Forces on Nov. 25 to supply the Palestinian security apparatus with weapons and ammunition to be used to control the situation in the West Bank and face any security developments stirred by Palestinian protesters.
More . . .
Related . . . WILL  STOPPING  SECURITY  COOPERATION  WITH  ISRAEL  BENEFIT  PA?
❺ Opinion/Analysis
THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
CHRISTMAS  SPIRIT  IN  BETHLEHEM
Muna Nassar
December, 2015
Growing up in Bethlehem, December was the month that I, along with many relatives and friends of mine would passionately await in awe and anticipation. December has and will always be the Sunday of the months, . . . .  December is the star on top of the Christmas tree.
More . . .
❺―(ᴀ) Special for Christmas
SABEEL ECUMENICAL LIBERATION THEOLOGY CENTER
SABEEL  CHRISTMAS  MESSAGE  2015
Naim Ateek
Dec. 17, 2015
When we look at the state of our world today and the messy situation we find ourselves in, it seems ludicrous at this Christmas season to talk about peace on earth . . . and goodwill to all.
___Tragically, we have been witnessing on a daily basis terror vs. terror, military power vs. military power, revenge and counter revenge. . . Jesus Christ seems to have no place in the raging conflicts, and justice does not seem to stand a chance.
___Yet it is precisely in the midst of this terrible world predicament, political turmoil, and human devastation that we must proclaim our commitment to the above virtues.
More . . .

“TO  JERUSALEM,”  BY  YUSUF  HAMDAN

You came to me, chained,
Carried forcibly.
You came
Flowing, like the tears of a wounded heart.
And yet, I will not meet you.
Forgive me,
For today, you are occupied!

Have you indeed come to me?
In my passion, I prayed often
Without a “Rock,”
And when I found no water,
I simulated the ritual ablution;
And when you finally came to me, I vowed:
I will not accept you occupied!

I want you to be a Kaaba for the people of the earth,
A spacious house,
Without guards;
I love you . . . a voice from a minaret,
The sound of horns
Mingled with church bells.
I love you, a jasmine in the open air,
But I have sworn, yes I have,
I will not accept you occupied!

From: THE  PALESTINIAN  WEDDING:  A  BILINGUAL  ANTHOLOGY  OF  CONTEMPORARY  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE  POETRY.  Ed. and Trans. A. M. Elmessiri. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. Reprint from Three Continents Press, Inc., 1982.
―Available from Palestine Online Store.
Yusuf Hamdan was born in 1942 in the Triangle area of Palestine. He lived in Haifa in the early ‘60s and taught in a nearby Arabic school. He published his poems in al-Jadid, al-Ittihad, and al-Ghad, and lost his teaching position because of his poetry. In 1970 he left Israel for the US, where he presently lives and works.

IMG_3367
Naim Ateek speaks to members of Sabeel Witness Visitors after service at the Greek Orthodox Church in Beit Jala. (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 8, 2015)

“. . . a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors! . . .” (Majid Abu Ghoush)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

❶ West Bank village punished for exposing Israel’s brutality
❷ Palestinian home targeted in suspected revenge attack by settlers
❸ WATCH: Israelis say ‘enough’ to violence and occupation
❹ Dual-citizen suspects in the Duma killings: Four suspects maintain citizenship with Anglo-Saxon countries [Related: suspects released]
❺ Opinion/Analysis: DELINKING  THE  PALESTINIANS
❻ Poetry by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
WEST  BANK  VILLAGE  PUNISHED  FOR  EXPOSING  ISRAEL’S  BRUTALITY
Nancy Murray
Dec. 21, 2015
The small West Bank village of Nabi Saleh is paying a steep price for a VIDEO OF ISRAELI BRUTALITY.
___Widely circulated in recent months, the video shows the mother and sister of 12-year-old Muhammad Tamimi wresting him away from a masked and armed Israeli soldier. The boy was throttled and jammed into boulders on 28 August, despite having a cast on his arm. . . .
___Miri Regev, Israel’s culture minister, said that the soldier should have shot the boy’s unarmed rescuers.
___Since the incident, the Israeli army has detained scores of young men from the village and subjected them to lengthy periods of interrogation, during which abusive treatment occurred.   More . . .

❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PALESTINIAN  HOME  TARGETED  IN  SUSPECTED  REVENGE  ATTACK  BY  SETTLERS
Dec. 22, 2015
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Suspected Israeli settlers early Tuesday attacked a Palestinian home in a Ramallah-area village in the occupied West Bank in what appeared to be a revenge attack for the arrest of Jewish extremists who carried out a deadly attack last summer.
___Hussein al-Najjar, 30, told Ma’an that settlers arrived to his home in the village of Beitillu around 1:30 a.m. and vandalized the exterior walls of the house before smashing in a window and throwing three tear gas bombs inside.
___Al-Najjar said that he and his wife as well as their 9-month-old son Karam suffered from severe tear gas inhalation.   More . . .
❸ +972 MAGAZINE
WATCH:  ISRAELIS  SAY  ‘ENOUGH’  TO  VIOLENCE  AND  OCCUPATION
December 21, 2015
Since the beginning of October, more than 120 people — Palestinians and Israelis — have lost their lives, while hundreds of others have been wounded in the latest round of violence. Lives on both sides are cut short, entire families are torn apart, and fear and hatred reign in the streets. Dozens of Israeli activists heeded the call of their Palestinian counterparts and protested in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv last week to call for an end to the violence.   More . . .
❹ ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)
DUAL-CITIZEN  SUSPECTS  IN  THE  DUMA  KILLINGS:  FOUR   SUSPECTS  MAINTAIN  CITIZENSHIP  WITH  ANGLO-SAXON  COUNTRIES.
Sergio Yahni
Dec. 21, 2015
In July 2015, two parents and their 18-month-old son were burned to death when a commando threw firebombs at the Dawabshe family’s home in the village of Duma. A four-year-old child survived the attack, but sustained severe injuries.
___At least six Israelis were arrested for the attack . . . .
___Meyer is a U.S. citizen. Shin Bet claims that Mordechai committed arson at Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem.
___Ettinger – a U.S. citizen and the grandson of militant Jewish nationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane . . . .   More . . .
Related . . . SETTLER  IMPUNITY:  ISRAELI  DEFENSE  MINISTER  SAYS  THERE  IS  NOT  ENOUGH  EVIDENCE  TO  DETAIN  OR  PROSECUTE  DAWABSHE  KILLERS
❺ Opinion/Analysis
THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
DELINKING  THE  PALESTINIANS
Joseph Massad
Dec. 22, 2015
Since the more recent third Palestinian uprising started in early October, there has been a rush by different Arab countries and intellectuals to legitimize their good relations with, and their love for, Israel.
___With the Palestinian uprising refusing to abate in November, panic set in among the Arab anti-Palestinian camp, which has gained considerable ground across the Arab world since the 1978 Egypt-Israel Camp David accords . . . .
___On 1 November, the Egyptian government, in addition to being one of the two jailers of 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza, voted openly and for the first time ever in favor of Israel at the United Nations.   More . . .

“RESISTANCE,”  MAJID  ABU  GHOUSH

I plant my poetry
in the streets,
in every quarter
and every alley,
a poem…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my fingers
in the streets,
in every hole,
in every flower pot:
a finger…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my blood
in the streets,
on every sidewalk,
on every roadsign:
a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my dreams
in the streets,
in the heads of passers-by:
an infant dream…resisting the conquerors!
I plant the names of my loved ones
in the streets,
on every tree, on every wall:
the name of a martyr resisting the conquerors!
I plant the colors of the flag
in the streets,
on every house,
and every window and door:
a color…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my children’s luggage
in the streets
at every roadblock,
at every checkpoint:
a suitcase…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my hands
in the streets,
on every corner:
a firm hand resisting the conquerors!

Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine. Abu Ghoush reading one of his own poems.  See also. 
From: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Middle East Affairs
Special Programs, Commemorating the Intifada’s Tenth Year, April 10, 1998
Prof. Naseer Aruri

 

“. . . In which storm may my heart play? . . .” (Yousef Abdul-Aziz)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
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Israeli left-wing activists march to protest the recent incitement against “Breaking the Silence” and other left wing NGOs, in central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

❶ 5 East Jerusalem youth indicted for ‘terrorist’ activities
❷ Israeli forces raid Duheisha refugee camp, tear gas residents
❸ Hundreds march in Tel Aviv against growing right-wing incitement
❹ Analysis: Israel and UN incitement against Palestinian resistance
❺ Opinion/Analysis: The  Occupation  Cannot  Hold  Back  the  Palestinians  Forever
❻ Poetry by Yousef Abdul-Aziz
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
5  EAST  JERUSALEM  YOUTH  INDICTED  FOR  ‘TERRORIST’  ACTIVITIES
Dec. 21, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Five Palestinian youths from occupied East Jerusalem were indicted Monday for a range of “terrorist attacks,” the Israeli police said.
___Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said in a statement that the findings came after investigations by Israeli police in cooperation with Israel’s international security agency, Shin Bet.
___Al-Samri said that the “large number of local terrorist attacks included throwing rocks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails at security forces and Jews” in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood and near the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.  More . . .
Related . . . ISRAELI  FORCES  KILL  3  PALESTINIANS  ON  FRIDAY
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  RAID  DUHEISHA  REFUGEE  CAMP,  TEAR  GAS  RESIDENTS
Dec. 21, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces early Monday stormed the Duheisha refugee camp south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank during an arrest raid, locals said.
___Locals told Ma’an that snipers deployed on rooftops as groups of soldiers surrounded the home of 24-year-old Salih Jueidi. . . .
___Jueidi’s home was searched before Israeli soldiers detained him. Locals across the camp told Ma’an that they came under heavy tear gas fire as well as live ammunition when military vehicles and undercover forces that raided the camp remained in the area following the arrest.
___Several residents of Duheisha were evacuated to the hospital following tear gas inhalation. . . .  More . . .  
Related . . . ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  19  PALESTINIANS  FROM  ACROSS  WEST  BANK

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Palestinians burn tires and throw stones at Israeli security forces during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces after Friday prayer in Gaza city, Gaza on December 18, 2015.

❸ +972 MAGAZINE
HUNDREDS  MARCH  IN  TEL AVIV  AGAINST  GROWING  RIGHT-WING  INCITEMENT
Haggai Matar
Dec. 20, 2015
Over a thousand Israelis marched Saturday night in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against incitement and occupation, and in support of Israeli human rights organizations, peace, equality, and social justice.
___The protest was organized by the group “Omdim Beyachad” (Standing Together) in response to the recent incitement by far-right group Im Tirzu and government ministers against Breaking the Silence and other human rights organizations last week.  More . . .
Related . . . WATCH:  INCITEMENT  AGAINST  THE  ISRAELI  LEFT  JUST  GOT  A  LOT  SCARIER
Related . . . WHY  DO  SO  MANY  ISRAELIS  HATE  “BREAKING  THE  SILENCE?”
❹ Analysis
THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
ISRAEL  AND  UN  INCITEMENT  AGAINST  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE
Ramona Wadi
Dec. 17, 2015
While Israel continues with its premeditated and systematic oppressive policies, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement which, as is typical of the organisation, is devoid of both coherence and context . . . . the statement seeks to disguise the organisation’s feigned ignorance with rhetorical ambiguities.
___While the refusal to recognise the Palestinian uprising is the primary and recurring error in every official UN statement, the latest omission has depicted a historical turning point as a merely untenable situation which, although precarious, is no longer of concern to the international community.  More . . .
Related . . . ISRAEL  THREATENS  TO  REVOKE  JERUSALEM  RESIDENCY  FOR  230,000  PALESTINIANS
❺ Opinion/Analysis
THE NEW ARAB
THE  OCCUPATION  CANNOT  HOLD  BACK  THE  PALESTINIANS  FOREVER
Vijay Prashad
Everything is known of the everyday indignities of living under the Israeli occupation: the checkpoints, the separation wall, the embargo, the settlers, the IDF raids . . . .
___Much has been written about individual acts of violence and inconvenience. The fundamental immobility of the Palestinians is not often underlined. Palestinians in Gaza are cut off from this in the West Bank, who are themselves not allowed into Israel proper. . . .
___This is the myth of the IDF and Mossad:: that they are invincible and legendary. Each retelling affirms the Israeli project. The Palestinian movement is tossed into purgatory.
___Nothing is further from the truth.
___Israeli occupation is a failure. The arrogance and anxiety of the IDF at the checkpoints shows their tenuous hold on power.  More . . .

“THE  BOOK  OF  DOUBT,”  BY  YOUSEF  ABDUL-AZIZ

Tonight
I stumbled across Solitude I my house.
Not only wearing my best shirt
and drinking my coffee
but also
smoking my tobacco
it was thrashing about the pages
of what looked like my manuscript.
It sat in my chair like a queen
and from its hands
rose an enchanted fog. . .

Still cloaked in my dreams I stood close by
trembling like a branch of the night
raining down bitter
questions:

What is woman?
In which storm
may my heart play?
Where did I bury the fire?!

As though I were a ring on its finger
it didn’t give me much thought.
Unfazed by my stiff shadow at the door
Solitude went on
with a sneer
scrambling pages
tearing them out of the manuscript.
I saw myself cast out to blind lands
and I hollered;
I saw before me a sphere of water
rising up in the wind
and above, a cracked moon,
and slain butterflies
strewn around me.

I’m sure
you will soon wrap up this farce! I yelled.
Solitude glanced at me with its two eyes of a gazelle―
my own eyes.
And it handed me
the book of doubt―it was my own book.
—  Translated by Juana Adcock

From A  BIRD  IS  NOT  A  STONE:  AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF CONTEMPORARY  PALESTINIAN  POETRY. Ed. by Henry Bell and Sarah Irving. (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014).
— Yousef Abdul-Aziz was born in Jerusalem and studied in Amman and Beirut. He is a teacher, a committee member of the online journal Awraq, and recipient of literary awards, including the (Jordanian) Arar prize.

“. . . A night without light where our voices are lost . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
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Hundreds mourn at funeral of youth whose body was returned to Nablus by Israel. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency)

❶ The forced transfer of Palestinian detainees — why it matters
❷ 8 detained in predawn arrest raids
❸ PA: Israel’s torture of Palestinian prisoner ‘unfathomable’
❹ Military Court Watch Briefing Watch, December 2015
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Israel’s cynical new strategy: Reframe Palestine debate as a religious battle, when it is really about civil rights
❻ Poetry by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ +972 MAGAZINE
THE  FORCED  TRANSFER  OF  PALESTINIAN  DETAINEES  — WHY  IT  MATTERS
Gerard Horton
Dec. 19, 2015
Palestinian children detained in the Israeli military detention system should be held in facilities located in Palestine, as opposed to Israel, in accordance with international law, UNICEF recommended in its 2013 report, Children in Israeli Military Detention (2013). . . .
The articles of the Convention are accompanied by a commentary . . . [that] makes it clear that the prohibition against transferring protected persons from occupied territory, for whatever reason, stems from the experiences of the Second World War when mass transfers in Europe were commonplace. More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
8  DETAINED  IN  PREDAWN  ARREST  RAIDS
Dec. 20, 2015
JENIN (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Sunday detained eight Palestinians in predawn arrest raids in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian sources and Israel’s army said. . . .
___Two Palestinian minors were also detained Saturday, according to the spokesperson.
___Around 6700 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli jails, and well over 2000 have been detained since the beginning of October. More . . .

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Israeli forces detaining Palestinians in predawn arrest raids in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency)

❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PA:  ISRAEL’S  TORTURE  OF  PALESTINIAN  PRISONER  ‘UNFATHOMABLE’
Dec. 7, 2015
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority’s department of prisoners’ affairs on Monday alleged that Israeli forces tortured a Palestinian prisoner charged with attempting to stab an Israeli soldier.
___Legal affairs director Louay Akka said Palestinian prisoner Wasim Marouf was covered with 28 cigarette burns on his hands, chest and back. 
___”I don’t know the nature of the directives or training [the Israeli guards] must have received to become this brutal,” Akka said. More . . .
❹ MILITARY COURT WATCH (MONITORING THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN DETENTION)
MILITARY  COURT  WATCH  BRIEFING  WATCH
This Briefing Note reviews developments in the Israeli military detention system for children and covers the period September to December 2015.
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
AL-SHABAKA: THE PALESTINIAN POLICY NETWORK (Reprinted From Salon)
ISRAEL’S  CYNICAL  NEW  STRATEGY:  REFRAME  PALESTINE  DEBATE  AS  A  RELIGIOUS  BATTLE,  WHEN  IT  IS  REALLY  ABOUT  CIVIL  RIGHTS
Nadia Hijab and Alaa Tartir
Dec. 7, 2015
With the focus on Syria, in part due to ISIS and in part to the massive refugee crisis, the threats to world peace because of the Israeli occupation of Palestine have been put on the back burner. Indeed, the U.S. administration has seemingly washed its hands of its efforts to broker peace. . . .
___Yet there is a dire need to end the Israeli occupation, because Israel’s actions could rapidly and suddenly escalate the situation beyond the occupied territory to encompass Israel itself. . . . Israel moved to ban the northern branch of the Islamic Movement — despite the objections of its own intelligence chief Yoram Cohen, who had said there was no evidence to link it to terror. . .
___By so doing, Israel amplified Palestinian fears since the clashes began at the Noble Sanctuary compound in East Jerusalem two months ago, that it is seeking to reframe the conflict as a religious war instead of what it really is: A Palestinian struggle for civil and political rights . . . . More . . .

TWO  POEMS  FROM  “BEHIND  THE  BARS,”  BY  FADWA  TUQAN  (1970)
“A salute to our sons and daughters, the fighters that
have been swallowed up by Israeli prisons.”

2. From “Hiba’s” Diary
My mother’s phantom hovers here
her forehead shines in my eyes
like the light of stars
She might be thinking of me now,
dreaming

(Before my arrest
I drew letters on a book
new and old
I painted roses
reared with blood
and my mother was near me
blessing my painting)

I see her
on her face silence and loneliness now
and in the house
silence and loneliness
My book case there on the book shelf
and my school’s uniform on the hanger
I see her hand extending
removing the dust from it
I follow my mother’s steps
and listen to her thoughts
yearn to hug her and the face of the day

3. From the Diary of “―”
(There in Israel, our prisoners
whom we know nothing about.)

From the ravine pours silent angry darkness
and night spreads its large sails here
the light of the stars and the dawn
cannot sneak in
A night without light
where our voices are lost
and the echo dies
and time cannot move

Time has lost its shoes here
it stood still
turning around the axis of stillness and boredom
confusing days and seasons
Is it the season for planting?
Is it the season for harvest?
Is it―who can say?
No news and the jailer stands, his face a stone
his eye a stone
robbing from us the sun, robbing the moon

About Fadwa Tuqan
From: Aruri, Naseer and Edmund Ghareeb, eds. ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN:  POETRY  OF  THE  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE.  Washington, DC: Drum and Spear Press, 1970. Available from Amazon.

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Al Aqsa. A rare view inside for non-Muslims. The mosque is a key component in the Israeli attempt to make the Palestinian situation a “religious” war. (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 4, 2015)

“. . . I am getting ready to buy the world . . .” (Ibtisam Barakat)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
zzzzzzdead
Nashaat Asfour, 33 (from the village of Sinjil north of Ramallah) was killed when he was shot in the chest with an explosive bullet by an Israeli soldier. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency)

❶ 96 Palestinians shot by Israeli military in Friday demos
❷ Palestinian dies after being shot in chest during Friday clashes
❸ WATCH! Activists disrupt Jerusalem Quartet
❹ Why my books are not published in Israel (Susan Abulhawa)
❺ Opinion/Analysis: The long road to Bethlehem, Part Four (A Four-Part Personal Memory)
❻ Poetry by Ibtisam Barakat
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
96  PALESTINIANS  SHOT  BY  ISRAELI  MILITARY  IN  FRIDAY  DEMOS
Dec. 18, 2015
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Friday shot and injured at least 78 Palestinians, two critically, when clashes broke out across the occupied Palestinian territory. . . .
___The Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma’an that nine Palestinians were also injured Friday. . . near the northern entrance of Bethlehem. . . .
___In the Gaza Strip, a 20-year-old Palestinian was shot dead, 31 were injured by live fire and 12 by rubber-coated steel bullets . . . .  More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PALESTINIAN  DIES  AFTER  BEING  SHOT  IN  CHEST  DURING  FRIDAY  CLASHES
Dec. 19, 2015
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A Palestinian man succumbed to his wounds on Friday hours after he was shot and critically injured during clashes with Israeli forces in the village of Sinjil north of Ramallah.
___Israeli soldiers shot Nashaat Asfour, 33, in the chest with an explosive bullet. . . .
___Friday’s deaths brought the total number of Palestinians killed. . . since Oct. 1 to 126. . . .  More . . .

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A Palestinian protester throws stones towards Israeli soldiers during clashes near the border between Israel and the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 15, 2015 (Photo: (Agence France‑Presse/Mohammed Abed)

❸ ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)
WATCH!  ACTIVISTS  DISRUPT  JERUSALEM  QUARTET
Dec. 17, 2015
The Jerusalem Quartet, an Israeli string quartet that has toured around the world and received numerous awards, recently performed in Lisbon, Portugal. . . . BDS activists disrupted the concert . . . calling for a boycott of Israel.
___Activists cite the quartet’s decision to name itself after Jerusalem and its members’ service in the Israeli military as “Distinguished Musicians” as clear evidence of the artists’ complicity in representing and branding Israel. . . .  More . . .
❹ MONDOWEISS
WHY  MY  BOOKS  ARE  NOT  PUBLISHED  IN I SRAEL
Susan Abulhawa
Dec. 16, 2015
Over a year ago, in June 2014, I was offered a contract by an Israeli publishing house for both Mornings in Jenin and The Blue Between Sky and Water. As a firm supporter of both the economic and cultural boycotts of Israel, I refused. . . . rather than write an essay, I’ll just share the full correspondence here. My decision and reasons for it are evident.  More . . .
Related, by Susan Abulhawa. . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis – A Four-Part Personal Memory
+972 MAGAZINE
THE  LONG  ROAD  TO  BETHLEHEM,  PART  FOUR
Mya Guarnieri
Dec. 19, 2015
After taking a job at a Palestinian university in the West Bank, Jewish journalist Mya Guarnieri feels that the center of her life is increasingly on the ‘other side’ of the Green Line. Israeli soldiers give her a hard time for being a Jew in ‘enemy territory’ and it becomes more and more difficult to live in Israeli society.  More . . .
Part One. . . 

“PALESTINE,”  BY  IBTISAM  BARAKAT

At the checkout register,
at an office-supplies store,
I am getting ready to
buy the world –
The globe that is. . .
Fifty dollars the man says,
one hundred and ninety-five countries,
all for fifty dollars!
I am thinking –
That means twenty five cents a country!
Can I give you all the money I have,
and you throw in Palestine?
Where do you want it? he asks.

Wherever there are
Palestinians.

From Poem Hunter.com
Ibtisam Barakat is a Palestinian-American writer, poet, and educator. She was born in Beit Hanina, near Jerusalem. Barakat received her Bachelor’s degree from Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. In 1986, she moved to New York City, where she interned with The Nation magazine. She earned a Master’s degree from the University of Missouri. Her childhood memoir, Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, about growing up under Israeli occupation following the 1967 Six-Day War, was published in 2007 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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Susan Abulhawa (photo: Henning Lillegård / Dagbladet)

“. . . Right now this child is innocent . . .” (Philip Metres)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
zzzhebron bodies
Hundreds of Palestinians from Hebron marched in demand that the Israeli government immediately return the bodies of 21 Palestinians who were recently killed by Israeli forces. (Photo: Ma’an Images)

❶ Shin Bet: Jewish terrorists seek to ‘violently overthrow’ government
❷ Kerry: Israel shifting towards unitary state which is ‘impossible to manage’
❸ Hundreds in Hebron demand return of 21 bodies held by Israel
❹ Israeli gov’t builds more settlements in Jerusalem
❺ Opinion/Analysis: The American Jews prying open the conversation on the occupation
❻ Poetry by Philip Metres
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
SHIN  BET:  JEWISH  TERRORISTS  SEEK  TO  ‘VIOLENTLY   OVERTHROW’  GOVERNMENT
Dec. 18, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet on Thursday cautioned that a Jewish terror organization is seeking to “violently overthrow” the Israeli government . . . .
___Israeli media across the board described the public statement issued by the security agency as a rare response to actors who have slandered the Shin Bet in a campaign to defend Jewish extremists . . . .
___”A Jewish terror organization has been under investigation recently, whose activity is suspected to include serious terror attacks that endangered life and harmed religious sanctity and property,” the Shin Bet statement said, according to Israeli media. More . . .
❷ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
KERRY:  ISRAEL  SHIFTING  TOWARDS  UNITARY  STATE  WHICH  IS  ‘IMPOSSIBLE  TO  MANAGE’
Dec. 16, 2015
The US Secretary of State John Kerry said the Israeli government doesn’t know how it wants to solve the conflict with the Palestinians and with its current policies it will turn into a “unitary state that is an impossible entity to manage”.
___In a lengthy interview with the New Yorker magazine, Kerry explained that he is particularly concerned that the Palestinian Authority could collapse causing its 30,000 security officers to scatter; adding that chaos and increasingly violent clashes with Israel would follow. More . . .
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
HUNDREDS  IN  HEBRON  DEMAND  RETURN  OF  21  BODIES  HELD  BY  ISRAEL
Dec. 17, 2015
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Hundreds of Palestinians from the Hebron district on Thursday marched in demand that the Israeli government immediately return the bodies of 21 Palestinians who were recently killed by Israeli forces.
___Families of those killed, Hebron governor Kamel Hmeid, and a number of Palestinian officials were among crowds that gathered to protest Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians who carried out attacks on Israelis, or who were suspected of doing so. . . .
___The [Israeli] decision [to hold bodies] — one among a series of stringent security measures — was reportedly taken in order to avoid mass funerals that Israeli leadership have termed “nationalistic” events that “incite” against Israel. More . . .
Related . . . ISRAEL’S  POLICY  OF  WITHHOLDING  PALESTINIANS’  BODIES  IMMORAL,  SAID  B’TSELEM
❹ DAYS OF PALESTINE
ISRAELI  GOV’T  BUILDS  MORE  SETTLEMENTS  IN  JERUSALEM
Dec 17, 2015
Days of Palestine, West Bank –Israeli occupation government approved on Wednesday plans to build 891 new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem.
___Israeli Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of the new housing units in the southern Jewish-only Gilo Settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, which lies beyond the green line.
___Initial approval for this plan was given in 2012, but was postponed due to some adjustments. More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
+972 MAGAZINE
THE  AMERICAN  JEWS  PRYING  OPEN  THE  CONVERSATION  ON  THE  OCCUPATION
Tom Pessah
Dec. 18, 2015
The Jewish American establishment has been trying to dictate the confines of the conversation on Israel and Palestine on college campuses in the United States. One group of young Jews is trying to erase the red lines being drawn around them by leveraging communal pursestrings to ensure their voices are heard. More . . .

From ALONG  THE  SHRAPNEL  EDGE  OF  MAPS,  BY PHILIP  METRES
For Rabbi Erik (Arik) Asherman***

The midrash says, when Hagar and Ishmael were banished
into the desert, before God builds a well, the angels

say,―What are you doing? Don’t you know the tsuris
the Jewish people are going to suffer at the hands

of the children of Ishmael? & God, according to this midrash,
says,―right now, in front of me, there’s a child. Right now

this child is innocent. When I call on them, the parents waken
their children to introduce them to us. Our nation lives in a bubble

in which it claims every action is carried out according to law.
But I hold in my heart the looks of children who return home

to see their house destroyed, a book piercing through the rubble,
families sitting on packed suitcases, the words

of a Palestinian boy they’d tied to a windshield that I’d freed―
who said that a tall man in a kippa came to his aid.

(midrash―Bible commentary)
(tsuris―trouble or woe)
(kippa―another name for a yarmulke)

Philip Metres is of Lebanese-American descent. He teaches at John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH. His faculty homepage says, “Were it not for Ellis Island, his last name would be Abourjaili.”
Metres’ Israeli/Palestinian Literature Project
*** Arik Ascherman (born 1959) is an American-born Israeli Reform rabbi, and co-founder and Director of Special Projects for Rabbis for Human Rights.
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. Available from Barnes and Noble.

“. . . There is no gazelle in today’s headline . . .” (Naomi Shihab Nye)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
A Gazelle walk
“Like as the gazelle desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God.” Psalm 42. See also: https://mesenescent.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/quemadmodum-desiderat-cervus-ad-fontes-aquarum/

❶ Analysis: How Israeli settlements stifle Palestine’s economy
❷ Palestinian shot dead in Nablus after alleged attempted attack
❸ UN Secretary-General Accuses Israel of ‘Breeding’ Palestinian Attacks
❹ The ‘neo-Palestinians’
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Why is Israel recruiting so many Jordanian workers?
❻ Poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ Analysis
AL-SHABAKA: THE PALESTINIAN POLICY NETWORK.
HOW  ISRAELI  SETTLEMENTS  STIFLE  PALESTINE’S  ECONOMY
Nur Arafeh, Samia al-Botmeh, Leila Farsakh
Dec. 16, 2015
Israel is marshaling pro-Israel forces in Europe as well as in the US against the European Union’s recently issued guidelines on labeling some of its settlement products, for fear that this will lead to stronger measures . . . .
___Israel sees the European Union’s recently issued guidelines on labeling some of its settlement products as the thin edge of the wedge. It fears this will open the door to stronger measures against its illegal settlement enterprise and is marshaling pro-Israel forces in Europe as well as in the United States.  More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PALESTINIAN  SHOT  DEAD  IN  NABLUS  AFTER  ALLEGED  ATTEMPTED  ATTACK
Dec. 17, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian near the Huwarra military checkpoint in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus on Thursday, Israeli media reported.
___Initial reports indicate that the Palestinian was shot dead after allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint. No Israelis were injured during the incident.
___The deaths mark at least 123 Palestinians to be killed since violence escalated in the occupied Palestinian territory in October. More . . .
❸ IMEMC-INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
UN  SECRETARY-GENERAL  ACCUSES  ISRAEL  OF  ‘BREEDING’  PALESTINIAN  ATTACKS
Dec. 16, 2015
This past Tuesday, in Jakarta, Indonesia, the International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem was organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It was sponsored by the United Nations.
___In a statement delivered on his behalf to the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon said that the recent Palestinian attacks on Israelis are “bred from nearly five decades of Israeli occupation.”
___“It is the result of fear, humiliation, frustration and mistrust,” he said . . . .  More . . .

neo-palestinians
Palestinian youth carry the wounded during clashes with Israeli troops following an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Oct. 4, 2015. (Photo by REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusin)

❹ AL-MONITOR (ISRAEL PULSE)
THE  ‘NEO – PALESTINIANS’
Ben Caspit
Dec. 16, 2015
The “new Palestinian,” or “neo-Palestinian,” is the name the Israeli security establishment has coined to refer to the generation of young Palestinians leading the current terror wave that Israel continues to find difficult to define, characterize and restrain some two and a half months after it began . . . . There is no infrastructure, no planning, no hierarchy, no leaders, no organizations and no intelligence.
___“This is something else entirely, something we have not completely identified,” admitted a higher-up in Israeli security speaking on condition of anonymity. “It is a social phenomenon, maybe even a mental one. It is the outcome of circumstances and deep processes that have come to fruition. . . .  More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
AL-MONITOR (PALESTINE PULSE)
WHY  IS  ISRAEL  RECRUITING  SO  MANY  JORDANIAN  WORKERS?
Adnan Abu Amer
Dec. 16, 2015
Many Palestinians are wondering why Israel is replacing Palestinian workers with ones from Jordan. None of the speculation seems positive
___In light of ongoing Palestinian armed operations against Israeli settlers, Israel has been taking punitive measures against Palestinians. When the violence began in October, Israel decreed that Palestinians could not travel to their workplaces inside Israel. It would not issue new work permits. On Oct. 4, Israeli Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz threatened to withdraw more than 100,000 work permits.
___However, the Israeli Security Agency (Shabak) opposed those government decisions and on Nov. 26 demanded that additional work permits be granted for Palestinians. The move was seen as one designed to keep Palestinian workers employed so they wouldn’t join unemployed Palestinians in their attacks against Israelis. More . . .

“19  VARIETIES  OF  GAZELLE,”  BY  NAOMI  SHIHAB  NYE

A gash of movement,
a spring of flight.

She saw them then
she did not see them.

The elegance of the gazelle
caught in her breath.

The next thing could have been weeping.

Rustic brown, a subtle spotted hue.

For years the Arab poets used “gazelle”
to signify grace,
but when faced with a meadow of leaping gazelle
there were no words.

Does one gazelle prefer another
of her kind?

They soared like history
above an empty page.

Nearby, giant tortoises
were kissing.

What else had we seen in our lives?
Nothing better than 19 varieties of gazelle
running free at the wildlife sanctuary. . .

“Don’t bother to go there,”
said a man at our hotel.
“It’s too far.”

But we were on a small sandy island,
nothing was far!

We had hiked among stony ruins
to the Tree of Life. ***
We had photographed a sign that said
KEEP TO THE PATH in English and Arabic.

Where is the path?
Please tell me.
Does a gazelle have a path?
Is the whole air the path of the gazelle?

The sun was a hot hand on our heads.

Human beings have voices―
what have they done for us?

There is no gazelle
in today’s headline.

The next thing could have been weeping. . .
Since when is a gazelle
wiser than people?

Gentle gazelle
dipping her head
into a pool of silver grass.

Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19  VARIETIES  OF  GAZELLE:  POEMS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  EAST. New York: Green Willow Books, 1994. Available from Barnes and Noble.
About Naomi Shihab Nye.
*** About the Tree of Life

Labourers disembark a Palestinians-only bus before crossing through Israel's Eyal checkpoint as they returns to the West Bank, near Qalqilya
Jordanian laborers disembark from a bus before crossing through Israel’s Eyal checkpoint as they return from work sites in Israel, near Qalqilya, March 4, 2013. (Photo by REUTERS/Baz Ratner)