Month: April 2016

“. . . will find tickets in my pockets: One to peace . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
palestine-unemployment-rate
Palestine Unemployment: Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. (Published: TradingEconomics.com)

❶ Israel’s Rejection of French Initiative Reaffirms Its Decision to Continue Its Crimes, says PLO Erekat
❷ Unemployment Rate in Palestine in 2015 Reached 26%, says Statistics Bureau
❸ A Hard Time for Start-Ups: The Legal and Regulatory Environment for Entrepreneurs in Palestine
❹ Hebron shooter called to ‘kill everyone in Gaza’
❺ Opinion/Analysis: UNDERSTANDING  THE  BIRZEIT  ELECTIONS
❻ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAEL’S  REJECTION  OF  FRENCH  INITIATIVE  REAFFIRMS  ITS  DECISION  TO  CONTINUE  ITS  CRIMES,  SAYS  PLO  EREKAT
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 30, 2016
PLO Secretary General, Sa’eb Erekat, maintained that the Israeli rejection of the French Initiative, ‘is a reaffirmation of the Israeli government’s decision to continue its crimes and violations.
___The PLO official noted that the Israeli rejection of the French initiative; to convene an international peace conference intended to revive the moribund Palestinian-Israeli peace process,  came a few hours after Israeli officials informed the Palestinian side that the Israeli government has decided to continue violating its obligations under the signed agreements, including the daily military raids in vast areas of the Occupied State of Palestine.      MORE . . .  

❷ UNEMPLOYMENT  RATE  IN  PALESTINE  IN  2015  REACHED  26%,  SAYS  STATISTICS  BUREAU
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 30, 2016
The unemployment rate among participants in the labour force aged 15 years and above in Palestine was 26% (About 336 thousand persons were unemployed), said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statists (PCBS).
___On the occasion of International Labour Day, which falls annually on the 1st of May, PCBS presented the current status of Palestinian labour force during 2015.      MORE . . .

❸ A  HARD  TIME  FOR  START-UPS:  THE  LEGAL  AND  REGULATORY  ENVIRONMENT  FOR  ENTREPRENEURS  IN  PALESTINE
This Week in Palestine
May, 2016
Tareq Touqan
According to the 2016 World Bank’s Doing Business report, the Palestinian economy is currently ranked 170th out of 189 world economies in terms of ease of starting a business. This represents a drop of 11 places from the 2015 ranking, which only serves to verify that starting a business in Palestine is certainly not getting any easier. In spite of this, it is difficult to ignore the growing start-up community in Palestine.      MORE . . .

azaria
Sgt. Elor Azaria carried on the shoulders of his supporters (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

❹ HEBRON  SHOOTER  CALLED  TO  ‘KILL  EVERYONE  IN  GAZA’
+972 Blog
April 29, 2016
John Brown*
On the Facebook page belonging to the IDF soldier who shot and killed the wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron, one can find calls to massacre everyone living in Gaza, and support for Jewish terrorist Meir Kahane. His father also expressed support for Kahane and for the call to “kill everyone.” His mother suggested killing women and children, first among them, Knesset Member Haneen Zoabi.    MORE . . . 

*John Brown is the pseudonym of an Israeli academic and a blogger. A version of this article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call, where he is a blogger. Read it here. 

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  UNDERSTANDING  THE  BIRZEIT  ELECTIONS
Palestine Chronicle
Abdul Sattar Qassem
April 29, 2016
The elections held at the Palestinian universities, Birzeit and Al-Najah, are considered a good indicator of the popularity of Palestinian factions. The media outlets usually refer to the student union to sense the popular Palestinian feelings towards the Palestinian factions and organisations.
___In recent years, the media outlets focused on Birzeit University because its administration believes in democracy and insists on holding elections [. . . .]
___The Birzeit University student union elections were held on 27 April 2016 and Hamas won 25 out of 51 seats.      MORE . . .

TWO  SHORT  POEMS  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM 

“TICKETS”

The day I’m killed
my killer will find
tickets in my pockets:
One to peace,
and one to fields and the rain,
and one
to humanity’s conscience.

I beg you―please don’t waste them.
I beg you, you who kill me: Go.

“STORY OF A CITY”

There was a blue city
that dreamt of foreigners wandering
around and spending their money
day after day.

But it became a black city
despising strangers
with their rifles’ muzzles
making the rounds of its cafés . . . .

From Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER  THAN  WATER.  NEW  AND  SELECTED  POEMS.  Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008.    Available from Amazon
Samih Al-Qasim. Obituary, August 20, 2014

“. . . They . . . turned me into A file . . .” FREE DAREEN TATOUR!

Harold Knight3 Comments
1-13047983_970084189765752_7040460490350376704_o
The poet Dareen Tatour, who was arrested last October and spent several months in prison before being placed under house arrest — with no access to the internet — in January. Her next court hearing will be May 8.

❶ Israel Places 27 Palestinians under Administrative Detention
❷ 7 elderly Palestinians indicted for ‘incitement’ at Aqsa
. . . . . ❷― (ᴀ) Israel bans Palestinian travel from Gaza to Aqsa for 2nd week
❸ Prominent Palestinian astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi detained by Israeli occupation forces
❹ UN: Four-fold increase in Israeli demolitions this year
❺ Opinion/Analysis: CHARGED  WITH  CONSPIRACY  — FOR  RENTING  A  ROPE  TO  CLIMB  OVER  THE  WALL
❻ POETRY by Dareen Tatour
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAEL  PLACES  27  PALESTINIANS  UNDER  ADMINISTRATIVE  DETENTION
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 29, 2016
The Israeli authorities Thursday issued administrative detention orders against 27 Palestinian detainees, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
___Fourteen of the detainees received administrative detention orders for the first time, whereas the remaining detainees received renewed administrative orders.
___There are more than 500 Palestinian prisoners being held under administrative detention, a controversial Israeli practice that allows detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for up to six-month intervals that can be renewed indefinitely.      MORE . . . 

❷ 7  ELDERLY  PALESTINIANS  INDICTED  FOR  ‘INCITEMENT’  AT  AQSA
Ma’an News Agency
April 29, 2016
Seven elderly Palestinians from Jerusalem were issued indictments on Friday by an Israeli court for alleged incitement and involvement with Murabitun, an Islamic group outlawed by Israel last year.
___The seven, indicted for alleged incitement at Al-Aqsa Mosque, were banned by the Israeli magistrate court from entering the holy site and the Old City of Jerusalem until their court date, which has been postponed until May 17th.
___The seven men . . . were detained almost two weeks ago after Israeli forces raided and searched their homes.      MORE . . .   
. . . . . ❷― (ᴀ) ISRAEL BANS PALESTINIAN TRAVEL FROM GAZA TO AQSA FOR 2ND WEEK
Ma’an News Agency
April 29, 2016
The Israeli authorities for the second week in a row prevented Palestinians from traveling from the Gaza Strip to Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for Friday worship due to the Jewish holiday of Passover.       MORE . . .

❸ PROMINENT  PALESTINIAN  ASTROPHYSICIST  IMAD  BARGHOUTHI  DETAINED  BY  ISRAELI  OCCUPATION  FORCES
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
April 26, 2016
Palestinian astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi was arrested again by Israeli occupation forces at Nabi Saleh checkpoint northwest of Ramallah on 24 April. Barghouthi, 53, is a professor of theoretical space-plasma physics at Al-Quds University. A former employee at NASA in the United States, his scientific work is well-regarded internationally.       MORE . . .  

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IOF kidnaps scientist Imad Barghouthi near Ramallah (Photo: Palestinian Information Center)

❹ UN:  FOUR-FOLD  INCREASE  IN  ISRAELI  DEMOLITIONS  THIS  YEAR
Ma’an News Agency
April 29, 2016
UN figures released Thursday revealed a four-fold increase from last year in the rate of Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures, that have left a record-high 808 Palestinians displaced since the start of 2016.
___According to UN documentation, the Israeli authorities have destroyed some 588 Palestinian structures across the occupied Palestinian territory since January.
___The over 800 Palestinians to be displaced this year far surpasses the number displaced during the entirety of 2015, while well over 1,000 Palestinians were also affected after losing structures related to their source of income.       MORE . . .  

❺ Opinion/Analysis: CHARGED  WITH  CONSPIRACY  — FOR  RENTING  A  ROPE  TO  CLIMB  OVER  THE  WALL
+972 Magazine
Haggai Matar
April 27, 2016
Israeli police prosecutors indicted a 26-year-old Palestinian man in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Wednesday morning for climbing over the separation wall in order to find work [. . . .]
___It is worth noting that the indictment was filed by a prosecution unit belonging to the police and not the State Attorney’s Office . . . . Professional and government committees have been recommending for decades that the police stop acting as a prosecutorial body. However, despite a government decision 15 years ago to absorb the police prosecution unit into the State Attorney’s Office, police continue to file the vast majority (87 percent) of indictments in Israel.       MORE . . .  

“I  WILL  NOT  LEAVE  MY  COUNTRY,”  BY  DAREEN  TATOUR
Trans. Ghada Mourad
FREE DAREEN TATOUR

They signed for me
And turned me into
A file, forgotten
Like the butts of cigarettes
Alienation tore me
I became an immigrant
Inside my own country
I left the pens
Weeping over the sorrows
Of inkwells
They left my right and my dream
On the entrances to
Grave
And yes: one waiting
Laments his luck
While life passes
Besiege me
Kill me, detonate me
Assassinate me, incarcerate me
I will not abandon
My country
Demolish my home
Destroy my years
Burn my trees
Before you I remain
A fighter
Sow death in my land
Rain bombs
Over me
I will not leave
My country
No judaization
No confession
And no enlistment
I was born to struggle
On this earth I am
A proud palm
I’d rather die of thirst and hunger
Than consent to bow
I will never sell my homeland
Deprive me
Of my mother’s lap
Of the morning’s smile
Rob me of meanings
And of paging through books
Deprive me of everything
Deny me
Comfort and sleep
I will stay
I will live
In my country
I will not travel
I will remain in a sunrise
Like a sun
Radiating warmth—resisting
I will not leave
The shadows of my country
If I am killed, unjustly
A child fighter
Will be born
After me
To bring me back to life
I will continue
No and a thousand thousand nos
I will not, will not, I will not, leave. . .

Tatour’s next court hearing is scheduled for 1:30, Sunday, May 8, and there will be a vigil beginning before that in front of the Nazareth court building.
You can follow her case on Facebook
Ghada Mourad is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature and a Schaeffer fellow in literary translation at the University of California, Irvine.
The poem for which Dareen Tatours was arrested.
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“. . . tomorrow looms over us, nearer and nearer . . .” (‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud)

Harold Knight1 Comment
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“Have you come to visit the Aqsa mosque or to bid it farewell . . . .” ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud (Photo: H.Knight, Nov. 13, 2015)

❶ Cabinet Condemns Execution of Pregnant Mother, Brother at Qalandia Checkpoint
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman and brother, armed with knives: police
❷ CHAOS  CONTINUES  AT  AL-AQSA,  5 Israelis evacuated
❸ Israeli Soldiers Injure Palestinian Teen after SETTLERS  BREAK  INTO  HISTORICAL  SITE
❹ Hamas bloc wins over student vote in Birzeit University elections
❺ Opinion/Analysis: DID  THE  ARABS  BETRAY  PALESTINE?
❻ POETRY by ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ CABINET  CONDEMNS  EXECUTION  OF  PREGNANT  MOTHER,  BROTHER  AT  QALANDIA  CHECKPOINT
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 28, 2016
The Palestinian cabinet Thursday condemned the international silence towards the execution of the Taha siblings, and the reaction towards Israel’s violations, including arrests, raids and harassment.
___The government’s spokesperson Yousef Mahmoud said in a press release that the execution of siblings Maram and Ibrahim Taha at Qalandia military checkpoint Wednesday is just another crime to be added to a long Israeli record.      MORE . . .  
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  FORCES  KILL  PALESTINIAN  WOMAN  AND  BROTHER,  ARMED  WITH  KNIVES:  POLICE
Reuters
Jeffrey Heller
April 27, 2016
Israeli police shot dead a Palestinian woman and her teenage brother on Wednesday, saying they were armed with knives and tried to carry out an attack at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
___Police said the woman, holding a knife, and a man walked rapidly towards police and other Israeli security guards in a vehicles-only lane at the Qalandia checkpoint outside Jerusalem.      MORE . . .

❷ CHAOS  CONTINUES  AT  AL-AQSA,  5  ISRAELIS  EVACUATED
Ma’an News Agency
April 27, 2016
Chaos continued at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem Wednesday when five Israelis were evacuated for violating visitation rules as hundreds toured the area for Passover.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that a group of over a hundred right-wing Israelis entered the mosque compound via Dung Gate, four of whom performed religious rituals in violation of longstanding agreements regarding worship at the site.      MORE . . .

❸ ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  INJURE  PALESTINIAN  TEEN  AFTER  SETTLERS  BREAK  INTO  HISTORICAL  SITE  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 28, 2016
Israeli soldiers Thursday shot a Palestinian teen during confrontations that erupted with Palestinians youth near Joseph tomb east of Nablus, said security sources.
___The teen, identified as Ahmad Masoud, 17, from Balata refugee camp was hit with a live bullet in the hip area after confrontations erupted when Israeli settlers broke into the area.      MORE . . .    

Elia ME Hamas student election Bizreit
Birzeit University Election results announced by Dr. Ahmad Al-Ahmad, chairman of student affairs at Birzeit University (Photo: Middle East Eye/Elia Ghorbiah)

❹ HAMAS  BLOC  WINS  OVER  STUDENT  VOTE  IN  BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY  ELECTIONS
Ma’an News Agency
April 28, 2016
___A student bloc of the Hamas movement on Wednesday came out on top in the closely-followed elections at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
___Following debates between factions vying for the student vote, the pro-Hamas al-Wafaa Islamic bloc claimed victory after gaining 25 seats, with the Yasser Arafat bloc of the Fatah movement trailing behind with 21 seats.
___The bloc representing Leftist movement Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine for its part came out with five seats.     MORE . . .   

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  DID  THE  ARABS  BETRAY  PALESTINE?
Palestine Chronicle
Ramzy Baroud
Apr 27 2016
At the age of 21 [1993], I crossed Gaza into Egypt to pursue a degree in political science. The timing could have not been worse [. . . .]
___It was then [after the 1967 War] that some Arab countries’ relations with Palestine began changing. Israel’s victory and the US-West’s unremitting support convinced some Arab governments to downgrade their expectations, and expected the Palestinians to do so, as well.
___So, did the Arabs betray Palestine? The question is heard often, and it is often followed with the affirmative, ‘yes, they did’ [. . . .]
___I beg to differ.      MORE . . .

“THE  AQSA  MOSQUE,”  BY  ‘ABD  AL-RAHEEM  MAHMOUD  (1913-1948)
(A salute to Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abd al’Aziz when he visited the poet’s town, ‘Anabta, on August 14, 1935.)

Honorable Prince! Before you stands a poet
whose heart harbors bitter complaint.
Have you come to visit the Aqsa mosque
or to bid it farewell before its loss?
This land, this holy land, is being sold to all intruders
and stabbed by its own people!
And tomorrow looms over us, nearer and nearer!
Nothing shall remain for us but our streaming tears,
our deep regrets.

Oh, Prince, shout, shout! Your voice
might shake people awake!
Ask the guards of the Aqsa: are they all agreed to struggle
as one body and mind?
Ask the guards of the Aqsa: can a covenant with God
be offered to someone, then lost?
Forgive the complaint, but a grieving heart needs to complain
to the Prince, even if it makes him weep.

(This poem gained great fame later on because of its prophetic words about imminent loss of Palestine.)

About ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud
ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.
About Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abd al’Aziz
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“. . . at the encampment of sorrow . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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PalFest 2010
Closed shops in Hebron old city. (Photo: Justin McIntosh)

❶ Settlers Set Up Tents near Jenin
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) Israeli forces escort settlers into Area A village
❷Palestinians forced to close shops in Hebron for Israeli Passover visits
❸Israeli forces open fire on fishermen, level land in Gaza
❹ Israel arrests Palestinian journalist en route to int’l conference
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ISRAEL’S  CONTINUED  PURSUITS  IN  THE  WEST  BANK
❻ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶  SETTLERS  SET  UP  TENTS  NEAR  JENIN
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 26, 2016
Dozens of Israeli settlers on Tuesday broke into an abandoned military base to the south of Jenin, where they erected tents, according to local sources.
___Witnesses told WAFA that dozens of settlers accompanied by a military escort broke into Dothan, an abandoned military base to the south of Jenin, and set up tents, performed rituals, and chanted racist slogans against Arabs.
___To be noted, Israeli settlers and settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal in international law.      MORE . . .  
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ)  ISRAELI  FORCES  ESCORT  SETTLERS  INTO  AREA  A  VILLAGE
Ma’an News Agency
April 26, 2016
Israeli settlers were escorted by armed military forces into the Palestinian village of al-Karmil in the southern occupied West Bank district of Yatta on Tuesday to visit a local park in direct violation of peace agreements, locals said.
___Head of Yatta’s city council Mousa Makhamrah told Ma’an that dozens of Israelis arrived from nearby illegal settlements to perform religious rituals at an ancient pool in the area.
___Al-Karmil’s park is located under full Palestinian jurisdiction in Area A, and Makhamrah warned that Israeli entrance into the area marked a grave breach of Palestinian sovereignty.      MORE . . .

❷ PALESTINIANS  FORCED  TO  CLOSE  SHOPS  IN  HEBRON  FOR  ISRAELI  PASSOVER  VISITS
Ma’an News Agency
April 26, 2016
Palestinian shop owners were forced to close their storefronts in Hebron Tuesday as Israeli politicians called for the annexation of the occupied city during visits by thousands of right-wingers for Passover.
___Hebron local and prominent activist Issa Amro told Ma’an that Israeli forces instructed shopkeepers in both the H1 and H2 areas of Hebron to remain closed.
___Amro said forcing shops to close in H1 — the area of the city under jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority — the Israeli authorities were supporting right-wing Israelis aiming to push Palestinian locals from the city.       MORE . . .  

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  ON  FISHERMEN,  LEVEL  LAND  IN  GAZA
Ma’an News Agency
April 26, 2016
Israeli forces on Tuesday opened fire on Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip as military forces leveled Palestinian land on the borderline with Israel, locals said.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli naval forces fired live ammunition at fishermen working off the coast of al-Zahra area of central Gaza. No injuries were reported.
___In the eastern area of the besieged enclave, locals said Israeli bulldozers entered Palestinian land near al-Shujaiyya and leveled the area.      MORE . . .  

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Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal, member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate in the West Bank, arrested April 23. (Photo: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)

❹ ISRAEL  ARRESTS  PALESTINIAN  JOURNALIST  EN ROUTE  TO  INT’L  CONFERENCE
Mondoweiss
By Haggai Matar
April 25, 2016
Israel arrested a Palestinian journalist on Saturday while he was trying to leave the West Bank en route to Sarajevo for a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists.
___Omar Nazzal, a Ramallah-based independent journalist and a member of the board of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, was arrested before crossing Allenby Bridge into Jordan and has since been detained on “security charges,” Israel claimed.     MORE . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  ISRAEL’S  CONTINUED  PURSUITS  IN  THE  WEST  BANK
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
April 25, 2016
Palestinians and Israelis are experiencing a conflict over the Israeli army’s “pursuit” of wanted Palestinians in Area A. Meanwhile, Palestinian security agencies are asking Israelis to hand over security information in order for them to arrest and pursue wanted Palestinians themselves, but Israel is refusing and demands to do it itself. The PA is not afraid that it will lose what is left of its status and sovereignty over the West Bank.
___The Israeli army took advantage of the outbreak of the intifada since October 2015 and the expansion of the parameters of the Palestinian attacks against Israelis, causing the death of 33 Israelis and the wounding of over 250 others, to violate all areas of the West Bank under the pretext of the pursuit of wanted Palestinians. They did not distinguish between Areas A, B, and C.        MORE . . .   

“JOSEPH,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

For you my Beloved
I cut tents with my own skin,
And at the encampment of sorrow
Water the rose nurseries
With tears of blood.

If the wind blows,
I question it.
And should it return,
I ask it to carry my greetings
And eagerly address it,
Even if it does not answer.

Peace be with you, my Beloved,
My Brethren, my Neighbours and my Friends,
Peace.
How fare you in the seasons of heat and cold?
How fare the children
And our dead comrades?
Have they, on the other side of the fence,
Got used to the long night and its silence?
How is our father Jacob?
Does he still, my heart, lean upon his sorrows,
One hand always on his cheek
Because of the long silence of grief,
And the other sunk deep in the shirt of blood?
O my Beloved, my Beloved,
Should the wind, out of tenderness, visit me,
And choose to be my messenger,
It shall stop by the tent of our father, Jacob,
And say that I, after kissing
His hands from the distance,
Bring him the glad tidings
Of the return of our beloved Joseph.
For it is written:
God and man
Are to meet on earth.

From: A  LOVER  FROM  PALESTINE  AND  OTHER  POEMS:  AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF  PALESTINIAN  POETRY. Ed. Abdul Wahab Al-Messiri. Washington, DC: Free Palestine Press, 1970.      Available from Amazon.
About Samih Al-Qasim

“. . . until every door is opened . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
al aqsa
The struggle over Al-Aqsa Mosque is a colonial and not a religious one, Palestinian experts say. (Photo: Al Jazeera Staff, 21 Sep 2015)

❶ Jordan: Israel’s Provocations in Jerusalem Lead to Grave Consequences
❷ Massive collective punishment: homes of 149 Palestinians suspected of no wrongdoing demolished since Oct. 2015; hundreds more under threat
❸ Israeli Forces Detain Three Palestinians, Steal Money, Jewelry from Hebron, Jerusalem
❹Gleam of hope in gold trade fades in Gaza
❺ Opinion/Analysis: INDIGNITY, GRIEF AND MOURNING ON THE GAZA BORDER
❻ POETRY by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ JORDAN:  ISRAEL’S  PROVOCATIONS  IN  JERUSALEM  LEAD  TO  GRAVE  CONSEQUENCES
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 25, 2016
The government of Jordan warned on Monday that Israel’s repeated violations in Jerusalem, mainly provocative visits by Israeli settlers to al-Aqsa Mosque, could lead to disastrous consequences.
___Jordan’s State Minister for Media Affairs, Mohammad al-Mumini, told Jordan News Agency (Petra) that provocative visits by Israeli settlers and soldiers to al-Aqsa Mosque represent a violation of international law and conventions.      MORE . . .

❷ MASSIVE  COLLECTIVE  PUNISHMENT:  HOMES  OF  149  PALESTINIANS   SUSPECTED  OF  NO  WRONGDOING  DEMOLISHED  SINCE  OCT.  2015;  HUNDREDS  MORE  UNDER  THREAT
B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
April 21, 2016
Since October 2015, Israel has stepped up use of house demolitions as a way to punish the families of Palestinians who perpetrated attacks against Israelis or are suspected of perpetrating or aiding such attacks. Since then, the authorities have demolished or fully or partially sealed 37 apartments. Fourteen of these apartments were not under demolition orders and were damaged simply because of their proximity to apartments slated for demolition. As a result of this large-scale punitive action, 149 people, 65 of them minors, have lost their homes.      MORE . . .

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  THREE  PALESTINIANS,  STEAL  MONEY,  JEWELRY  FROM  HEBRON,  JERUSALEM
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 25, 2016
Israeli forces detained early Monday three Palestinians and stole money and jewelry during raids into Hebron and Jerusalem districts, said security sources and a local activist.
___Forces detained Baraka Taha, 33, after storming and ransacking his family house in Hebron city in the southern West Bank [. . . .]
___He added that troops had stolen 1.5 kilo of Jewelry, worth of about $60,000, belonging to Ahmad’s wife and three of her married daughters, INS 3,000 ($800) and 150 Jordanian Dinars (about $211) before withdrawing to the nearby settlement of Karmei Zur.
___Ahmad’s son, Ibrahim, 27, had been shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes in the town on October 10.      MORE . . .  

gaza gold
People shop for gold in Gaza City’s gold market on March 29, 2016 in Gaza City. Israeli authorities on Tuesday banned imports and exports of gold from and into the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Getty Images/ NurPhoto/Contributor)

❹ GLEAM  OF  HOPE  IN  GOLD  TRADE  FADES  IN  GAZA
Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Adnan Abu Amer
April 24, 2016
The Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip has variously affected the territory’s economic, business and financial sectors. Now, it is the gold market’s turn. Nazmi Muhanna, general director of the Palestinian Crossing and Borders Authority, announced March 29 that Israeli officials had informed him that they were halting the movement of gold, in all forms, into and out of Gaza.      MORE . . .  

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  INDIGNITY,  GRIEF  AND  MOURNING  ON  THE  GAZA  BORDER
+972 Blog
First published in Hebrew on Local Call
Nomi Heger
April 22, 2016
A woman from Gaza is told during a visit to Israel that she must terminate her advanced pregnancy. The Israeli army and courts effectively refuse to allow her to mourn with her husband by her side.      MORE . . .

(A portion  of this poem was posted in this blog on September 17, 2015)

“MY  LIBERTY,”  BY  FADWA  TUQAN

My liberty―my liberty―my liberty,
a sound I repeat
with angry lips
under the exchange of fire
and flames
I run after it
despite my chains
and follow its tracks
despite the night
and struggle ardently
for my liberty
My liberty
My liberty

And the Holy River
and Bridge repeat:
my liberty
and the two banks reiterate:
my liberty
and the raging wind and thunder,
tornadoes and rain
echo the sound:
my liberty

I shall carve its name
while I resist
on the land
by the walls and the doors
in the Temple of the Virgin
in the altar
and in the field,
on every hill
and every valley
and every curve
and road
in prison
in the torture rooms
and on the gallows
Despite the chains
and the house demolition
I shall carve its name
until I see it again
extending to my Homeland
and flourish
and flourish
until every inch of the land is covered
until every door is opened
by red liberty.
And the night vanishes
and the day breaks
My liberty―my liberty―my liberty

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.
Fadwa Tuqan

 

“. . . We shall arrive On the wind . . .” (Fouzi El-Asmar)

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youngest 2
Dima Al-wawi, 12, with her father after she was freed from Israeli prison, April 24, 2016 (Photo: Palestine News Network)

❶ Youngest Palestinian prisoner finally free
❷ Settlers attempt to provide offerings at Al-Aqsa Gates on occasion of the Jewish Passover holiday
. . . . . ❷ ―(ᴀ) Hopes for Temple Mount to be ‘flattened’ expressed at Passover SACRIFICE CEREMONY
❸ 4 Palestinians detained, 2 injured in overnight raids
❹ Amnesty demands Hamas to condemn Jerusalem bus bombing
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ON  SPEAKING  TRUTH  AND  VOTING:  FREE  EXPRESSION  AND  PALESTINE
❻ POETRY by Fouzi El-Asmar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ YOUNGEST  PALESTINIAN  PRISONER  FINALLY  FREE
Palestine News Network
April 24, 2016
Dima Al-wawi, 12, is finally free from the Israeli prison this Sunday morning. Dima was one of the youngest girls in the world to be imprisoned.
___She was received by the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners, Issa Qaraque, and her family at the Israeli military checkpoint in Tulkarem, in the occupied West Bank [. . . .]
___Al-Wawi, a 7th grader from the occupied West Bank town of Halhoul, near Hebron, was arrested on February 9 while on her way to school wearing her school uniform, for allegedly “wielding knife at armed Israeli soldiers.”      MORE . . .

❷ SETTLERS  ATTEMPT  TO  PROVIDE  OFFERINGS  AT  AL-AQSA  GATES  ON  OCCASION  OF  THE  JEWISH  PASSOVER  HOLIDAY
Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Silwan
April 22, 2016
The occupation police arrested on Friday morning three settlers that attempted to provide offering in the markets of the Old City of Jerusalem on occasion of the Jewish Passover holiday.
___The police said they arrested three settlers and confiscated two goats from the settlers that they tried to offer for sacrifice on occasion of Passover holiday.       MORE . . .     
. . . . . ❷ ―(ᴀ) HOPES  FOR  TEMPLE  MOUNT  TO  BE  ‘FLATTENED’  EXPRESSED  AT  PASSOVER  SACRIFICE  CEREMONY
The Jerusalem Post 
Jeremy Sharon
April 19, 2016
The model ceremony included the various ancient Temple rites prescribed by the Torah and Jewish law, including the slaughtering of a lamb by Cohanim, priests, in the white robes used in Temple times.
___At a model Passover sacrifice ceremony on the Mount of Olives attended by approximately 400 people, several public figures expressed the hope that the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque will soon be removed from the Temple Mount.    MORE . . .

sacrifice
Passover third temple. Cohanim priests taking part in the Passover ritual. (photo credit: JEREMY SHARON)

❸ 4  PALESTINIANS  DETAINED,  2  INJURED  IN  OVERNIGHT  RAIDS
Ma’an News Agency
April 24, 2016
Israeli forces detained at least four Palestinians during predawn raids Sunday in the occupied West Bank, and two Palestinians were injured when clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in Silwan.      MORE . . .

❹ ‘AMNESTY’  DEMANDS  HAMAS  TO  CONDEMN  JERUSALEM  BUS  BOMBING
Ma’an News Agency
April 23, 2016
Amnesty International on Friday demanded the Hamas movement to condemn attacks on civilians after the group claimed a Jerusalem bus bombing that took place earlier this week.
___The international rights group said in a statement that “deliberate attacks on civilians” could never be justified, calling on Hamas to reject rather than support such attacks.      MORE . . .   

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  ON  SPEAKING  TRUTH  AND  VOTING:  FREE  EXPRESSION  AND  PALESTINE 
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
Dr. Philip Leech  
April 21, 2016
New Yorkers went to the ballot box this week in what is likely to be the most important vote in the US presidential primaries so far. As opinion polls had suggested, there were big wins for the front-runners in each party . . . .
___ . . . during the debate between Clinton – a former US Secretary of State — and her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders . . .  Sanders appeared to depart from the usual script followed by generations of presidential candidates. . . he also believes that Palestinians living in utterly dire conditions under a protracted military occupation should not be ignored entirely [. . . . ]
___A common refrain . . .  is that political discourse within the Israeli political system is actually much less restrictive than in America. However, while . . .  some Israelis are capable of speaking more honestly about the nature of the occupation than many Americans, it does not follow that there is greater freedom of speech overall.      MORE . . .  

(This poem was published here on Feb. 20, 2016, inadvertently omitting the last three stanzas.)

“DREAMS  ON  A  MATTRESS  OF  THORNS,”  BY  FOUZI  EL-ASMAR
Oh my homeland
The whisper of the leaves in the breeze
Robs me of my sleep.
The darkness of the dawn
And the glance of my beautiful sister
Searching for our songs
Robs me of my sleep.

Lovebirds returning to their nest
At sunset
Kissing their nestlings
Rejoicing
Rob me of my sleep.

The silence of the night
Robs me of my sleep
Oh my country.

Sleep does not bless my eyelids
For there are nails in my eyes
Covered with the rust of many days
And the blast of drums in my eyes
Beaten by the arms of hatred.

And I run
I run
I run in order to wrap
The morning around my body.
I run towards my love ones
I kiss them
I console them for the loss
Of their yesterday.

I tell them:
My loved ones
Forget the yesterday
Let us fold it
And bury it in the ground
The day is ours
The morrow is ours
They carry the sun
Of our destiny.

My loved ones
Do not fear.
Despite the delayed dawn
Despite the dagger
Stabbed deep into your hip
We shall arrive.

We shall arrive
On the wind
Among the clouds
Under the zenith
Among the bleating sheep
Among the drops of sweat
Adoring the face of the workman
Aspiring with great longing for
His land.

We shall come
On the sun rays we shall come
Have no fear
We shall come.

About Fouzi El-Asmar
El-Asmar, Fouzi. THE  WIND-DRIVEN  REED  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1979.    Available from Amazon.

 

“. . . But I do not die . . .” (Taha Muhammad ‘Ali)

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ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-DEMONSTRATION
Banner calling for the erasure of the Palestinian people at massive rally for Elor Azraya in central Tel Aviv, April 19, 2016. (Photo: Agence France‑Presse)

❶ If the Palestinians are guilty of incitement, then what does Israel’s 24/7 occupation amount to?
❷ Israeli forces injure 5 Palestinians in weekly Gaza protests
❸ Israel to Seize Hundreds of Dunums of Land for Benefit of Illegal Israeli Settlements
❹ Jerusalem at the center of Palestine-Israel naming dispute
❺ Opinion/Analysis: RELEASE  OF  A  COLD-BLOODED  KILLER  ILLUSTRATES  THE  RACISM  OF  ISRAELI  SOCIETY
❻ POETRY by Taha Muhammad ‘Ali
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ IF  THE  PALESTINIANS  ARE  GUILTY  OF  INCITEMENT,  THEN  WHAT  DOES  ISRAEL’S  24/7  OCCUPATION  AMOUNT  TO?
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
Kamel Hawwash
April 22, 2016
Hardly a day goes by without Israel accusing Palestinian leaders of incitement against the state and its citizens.
___Incitement as far as Israel is concerned covers a wide spectrum, from calling those killed by Israel “martyrs” to objecting to repeated incursions by Jewish settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque, and including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign . . . .
___ Israel has worked tirelessly to convince the so called “international community” to accept its definition of “terrorism”. . . .
___If the Palestinians are guilty of incitement, then what does Israel’s 24/7 occupation amount to? . . . . Israel’s deliberate daily provocation and humiliation of subjugated people in the hope of a reaction . . .  is the most significant incitement of young Palestinians.      MORE . . . 

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  5  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEEKLY  GAZA  PROTESTS
Ma’an News Agency
April 23, 2016
Five Palestinians were injured when clashes broke out across the Gaza Strip on Friday night after Israeli forces attempted to suppress weekly protests, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said.      MORE . . .  
RELATED . . .  ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  ON  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS  IN  SOUTHERN  GAZA    

❸ ISRAEL  TO  SEIZE  HUNDREDS  OF  DUNUMS  OF  LAND  FOR  BENEFIT  OF  ILLEGAL  ISRAELI  SETTLEMENTS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 23, 2016
Israeli occupation authorities Saturday notified the takeover of hundreds of dunums of land in the village of Jalood to the south of Nablus, as well as in the towns of Turmosayya and al-Mghayar to the north of Ramallah, to pave a new road that would serve illegal Israeli outposts and settlements, according to a local official. . . .
___The notice also included a plan to open a road, designated for the sole use of Israelis, that would connect the illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Shiloh’ with other settlement outposts to the east.      MORE . . .

❹ JERUSALEM  AT  THE  CENTER  OF  PALESTINE-ISRAEL  NAMING  DISPUTE
Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Ahmad Abu Amer
April 20, 2016
Shortly after Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 it faced a problem in how to refer to Jerusalem in Arabic. Not wanting to use the Arabic name al-Quds, the Israelis came up with a compromise by inserting the biblical Jewish name Urashalim. . . . Combining the Jewish and the Arabic term reflected what then was the prevalent Israeli attitude of treating the holy city as a crucible of religions. . . .
___But over the years, Israelis lessened their pluralistic effort as they embarked on a strategic policy to make the city more Jewish. Arabic names were slowly changed to Hebrew ones.      MORE . . .

palestinian-girl-female-stone-throwing
Young Palestinians take matters into their own hands. (Photo: MEMO, April 22, 2016)

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  RELEASE  OF  A  COLD-BLOODED  KILLER  ILLUSTRATES  THE  RACISM  OF  ISRAELI  SOCIETY
International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team
April 23, 2016
Yesterday, Elor Azraya, a soldier in the Israeli army, infamous for the extrajudicial execution of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), has been released to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pessach with his family [. . . . ]
___The approval and support Elor Azraya has been receiving both from his comrades (that can be seen in the video with them not even flinching when he executes Abed al-Fattah) and settlers, mirrors the great support he enjoys from the majority of the Israeli population. Upon arriving home, Elor Azraya was received as a hero with a big celebration. MORE . . .  

(The “child” is a metaphor for Palestine. This poem is chosen to reflect the news of the day that Israel has once again confiscated Palestinian land, but Palestine does not die.)

“THROMBOSIS,”  BY  TAHA  MUHAMMAD  ‘ALI

A child I was
when I fell into the abyss
But I did not die
I was very young
when I drowned in the pond
But I did not die
Nowadays one of my habits―God preserve us―
is to knock against scores of land mines
on the frontiers
and for my songs to be dispersed
as the days of my youth are:
here a flower, there a scream
But I do not die.

They slew me upon the threshold
Like the lamb of the feast
―petroleum coagulated in my veins
―In God’s name―
Thousands of times they slit my throat
from ear to ear
yet each time my blood would swing
like the feet of a hanged man
and settle like a rose mallow
large and crimson, a mark
to warn ships
and point out the sites of palaces and embassies.

And tomorrow!
―God preserve us!―
A telephone will not ring
in palaces or in brothels or in one of the Gulf Emirates
except to offer a new prescription
for my extermination
But . . . .
Just as the rose mallow tells
and as the frontiers expect
I shall not die!
Shall not die!
I shall remain a splinter of shrapnel
the size of a penknife
lodged in their necks
I shall remain
a blood stain
the size of a cloud
on this world’s tunic!
―Translated by Lena Jayyusi and John Heath-Stubbs

About Taha Muhammad ‘Ali 
From: ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.
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“. . . Our land is not barren . . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

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Spring in Gaza. Palestine In Pictures, March 2016. (Photo: The Palestinian Information Center)
Spring in Gaza. Palestine In Pictures, March 2016. (Photo: The Palestinian Information Center)

❶ Regional conflicts spill into Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps
❷ Israel suspends Aqsa visits for Gazans over Jewish holiday
❸ Israeli forces arrest suspects in connection to Jerusalem explosion
❹ Pro-Palestine forum kicks off in Tunisia
❺ Opinion/Analysis: PALESTINIAN  POLITICAL  DISINTEGRATION,  CULTURE,  AND  NATIONAL  IDENTITY
❻ POETRY by Mahmoud Darwish
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ REGIONAL  CONFLICTS  SPILL  INTO  LEBANON’S  PALESTINIAN  REFUGEE  CAMPS
Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Ahmad Melhem
April 21, 2016
Things are heating up in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps, as many observers fear al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS) influences are working to create chaos and violence there.
___The situation is particularly worrisome right now at the Ain al-Hilweh camp, where Fatah security official Gen. Fathi Zeidan was assassinated April 12. Another member of the secular Fatah movement was killed March 28 by a person officials described as an Islamic militant. . . .
___The tension is bubbling like a volcano ready to explode, and Ain al-Hilweh is perched on its crater.
“Extremist groups are trying to drag the camp into a battle with the Palestinian factions, which are seeking to control the situation on the ground” . . . .      MORE . . .

❷ ISRAEL  SUSPENDS  AQSA  VISITS  FOR  GAZANS  OVER  JEWISH  HOLIDAY
Ma’an News Agency
April 22, 2016
The Israeli authorities suspended visits to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Gazans on Friday due to the Jewish holiday of Passover.
___Israeli authorities prevented dozens of Palestinians over the age of 60 from traveling to Jerusalem via the Erez crossing for their weekly Friday worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque, sources at the Palestinian liaison office told Ma’an.      MORE . . . 

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  ARREST  SUSPECTS  IN  CONNECTION  TO  JERUSALEM  EXPLOSION
Ma’an News Agency
April 21, 2016
Israeli forces arrested a number of suspects Thursday evening said to be linked to a bus explosion in Jerusalem on Monday that left the suspect responsible for the attack dead and 20 others injured.
___Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement that 19-year-old Hamas operative Abd al-Hamid Abu Srour exploded the bomb on the bus, and that “a number” of other suspects linked to the incident have also been arrested [. . . .]
___Shortly after the announcement of his death, the Palestinian Ministry of Health identified Abu Srour as a resident of the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.      MORE . . .    
RELATED:  20  PALESTINIANS  DETAINED  IN  JERUSALEM  AMIDST  TIGHTENED  PASSOVER  SECURITY

A Palestinian man in Gaza turns his house, which was destroyed during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2014, into a simple aviary. (Photo: The Palestinian Information Center)
A Palestinian man in Gaza turns his house, which was destroyed during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2014, into a simple aviary. (Photo: The Palestinian Information Center)

❹ INTERNATIONAL  PRO-PALESTINE  FORUM  KICKS  OFF  IN  TUNISIA
The Palestinian Information Center
April 22, 2016
The Second International Arab Forum for Justice for Palestine is expected to kick off on Friday afternoon in Tunisia. The forum makes part of an initiative launched by the Arab International Center for Communication and Solidarity in coordination with the General Union of Tunisian Workers and other national and international human rights bodies.       MORE . . .   

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  PALESTINIAN  POLITICAL  DISINTEGRATION,  CULTURE,  AND  NATIONAL  IDENTITY
The Palestinian Policy Network
Jamil Hilal
March 15, 2016
The Palestinian political field, dominated by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since the late 1960s, has been in a state of disintegration since the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established under the Oslo Accords. What has been the impact of PLO dominance and what were the repercussions of its disintegration for the Palestinian body politic? And to what extent has the disintegration of the political field affected the cultural field and its contribution to Palestinian national identity? These are the questions addressed in this commentary.     MORE . . . 

“ON  HOPE,”  BY  MAHMOUD  DARWISH

Do not tell me:
I wish to be a baker in Algeria
In order to sing with the revolutionaries
Do not tell me:
I wish to be a shepherd in the Yemen
To sing for the uprising of the age
Do not tell me:
I wish to be a waiter in Havana
To sing for the victory of the poor
Do not tell me:
I wish to be a stone carrier in Aswan
To sing for the rocks
My friends:
The Nile will not pour into the Volga
The Congo and Jordan Rivers
Will not serve the Euphrates
Each river has its own
Our land is not barren
Each land has its own rebirth
Each dawn has a date with revolution.

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.
About Mahmoud Darwish.  

Has anything changed in 46 years?
(Observation written in 1970; from the Preface to ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN)
Tragedy is accepted to mean a sequence of events seemingly inevitable, exciting pity and fear and leading to disaster. It is hard to escape the chilling impression that this describes the state of affairs in the Middle East. Not simply is our compassion invoked for the victims of that drama, and there are legitimate demands on either side for that―but there is a leitmotif of derailment―of unfixable outofjointedness; the times, and the place, are out of joint and no one has the tools to mend them.

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“. . . I have not seen a dragon in the land . . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

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Birzeit University Cast of "The House of Bernarda Alba,” a play written by Spanish Dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca and directed by Fathi Abdul Rahman. (Photo: Birzeit.edu)
Birzeit University Cast of “The House of Bernarda Alba,” a play written by Spanish Dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca and directed by Fathi Abdul Rahman. (Photo: Birzeit.edu)

❶ Birzeit University Theatre Wins Five Theatre Festival Awards
❷ Netanyahu: Israeli army to continue incursions in Area A
❸ Israeli Soldiers Beat up Palestinian near Nablus
❹ HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report slams ‘discriminatory’ Israeli closure of Palestinian quarries
❺ Opinion/Analysis: WHY NETANYAHU IS DOUBLING DOWN ON THE GOLAN HEIGHTS
❻ POETRY by Mourid Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ BIRZEIT  UNIVERSITY  THEATRE  WINS  FIVE  THEATRE  FESTIVAL  AWARDS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 21, 2016
Birzeit University’s Theatre Group, Mawasem Masrahyeh, have won five awards for their performance in “The House of Bernarda Alba” play in the 12th Philadelphia Arab Universities Theater Festival, held in Philadelphia University- Amman, Jordan.
___Produced by the Deanship of Students Affairs at Birzeit University and directed by Fathi Abdel Rahman, the play “The House of Bernarda Alba”, was inspired by the work of the Spanish writer and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, which displayed the plight of women in their societies.      MORE . . . 

❷ NETANYAHU:  ISRAELI  ARMY  TO  CONTINUE  INCURSIONS  IN  AREA  A
Ma’an News Agency
April 21, 2016
In spite of recent talks with Palestinian officials, Israeli armed forces will continue to intervene in parts of the occupied West Bank under full Palestinian Authority (PA) control, high-ranking Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
___During a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and Israeli army Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot “made it clear that the IDF (Israeli army) maintains the possibility of entering Area A, and anywhere necessary, according to operational needs,” a statement read.      MORE . . .  

❸ ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  BEAT  UP  PALESTINIAN  NEAR  NABLUS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 21, 2016
Israeli soldiers last night assaulted and beat up a Palestinian youth . . . .  Ahmad Bassam Mohammad, 21 years old from the village of Asira al-Qibilia in Nablus district, while he was attempting to enter Israel for work. [He] was transferred to Rafidia public hospital in Nablus for medical treatment [. . . .]
___According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, “Most cases involve a “small dose” of ill-treatment . . .  or degrading treatment. These acts have become an integral part of Palestinian life in the Occupied Territories. From time to time, however, cases of severe brutality occur,” the group has remarked.       MORE . . . 

A quarry in the southern West Bank town of Beit Fajjar stands empty on April 5, 2016, after Israeli forces shut it down. (Photo: Human Rights Watch)
A quarry in the southern West Bank town of Beit Fajjar stands empty on April 5, 2016, after Israeli forces shut it down. (Photo: Human Rights Watch)

❹ HRW  REPORT  SLAMS  ‘DISCRIMINATORY’  ISRAELI  CLOSURE  OF  PALESTINIAN  QUARRIES
Ma’an News Agency
April 21, 2016
Israeli authorities’ closure of 35 Palestinian quarries in the occupied West Bank since March is threatening the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and may constitute “collective punishment,” a HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT revealed on Thursday.
___The Civil Administration, a subsection of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) . . .  closed down the quarries in late March and confiscated millions of dollars’ worth of equipment, a move which HRW said highlighted “the discriminatory nature of Israeli rules for Palestinian quarries.”      MORE . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  WHY  NETANYAHU  IS  DOUBLING  DOWN  ON  THE  GOLAN  HEIGHTS
+972 Blog
Shemuel Meir
April 21, 2016
What led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wake up one fine day and declare, during a highly publicized but insignificant reserve duty exercise in the Golan Heights (and without the army Chief of Staff present, as is customary) that “we struck Syria dozens of times” . . . . __Despite the military terminology and context of Netanyahu’s performance in the Golan, the answer to this riddle can be found on the diplomatic front [. . . .]
___ It appears Netanyahu was trying to take advantage of the civil war and disintegration of Syria in order to gain international recognition for redefining Israel’s borders.      MORE . . .

“NORMAL  JOURNEY,”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI

I have not seen any horrors,
I have not seen a dragon in the land,
I have not seen the Kraken* in the sea,
nor a witch or a policeman
at the outset of my day.
Pirates have not overtaken mu desires,
thieves have not broken down the door of my life,
my absence has not been long,
it only took me one lifetime.

How come you saw scars
on my face, sorrow in my eyes,
and bruises in my bones and in my heart?
These are only illusions.
I have not seen any horrors,
everything was extremely normal.
Don’t worry,
your son is still in his grave, murdered,
and he’s fine.

*a legendary sea monster of large proportions

Interview with Mourid Barghouti  
From Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Trans. Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2008.  Available from Amazon.   
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Let the oppressor review his account. . . (Tawfiq Zayyad)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Issawiya
An Israeli policeman stands looking over Issawiya in East Jerusalem, during a protest against cement blockades at the neighborhood entrances on Nov. 12, 2014. (Photo: Agence France‑Presse /Ahmad Gharabli, File)

❶ Israel Detains 24 Palestinians in Jerusalem, West Bank
❷ Group: 43 journalists jailed by Israel since October
❸ Committee: Journalists’ life at risk in Gaza due to Israeli bans
❹ Army Demolishes A Palestinian Home In Qalandia, Injures 8 Palestinians And Kidnap One
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Opinion/Analysis: AMBIVALENCE AS AN ENDORSEMENT OF OPPRESSION
❻ POETRY by Tawfiq Zayyad
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAEL  DETAINS  24  PALESTINIANS  IN  JERUSALEM,  WEST  BANK
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 20, 2016
Israeli forces on Wednesday overnight detained at least 24 Palestinians, including children, most of them during a military raid in the district of al-Issawiya in East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).
___Israeli policemen broke into al-Issawiya, on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem, at predawn, where they raided dozens of homes, searched them and sabotaged their furniture. The police detained more than 20 Palestinians, including children, and summoned others for interrogation.      MORE . . .    

❷ GROUP:  43  JOURNALISTS  JAILED  BY  ISRAEL  SINCE  OCTOBER
Ma’an News Agency
April 16, 2016
The Committee to Support Palestinian Journalists said on Saturday that Israel had detained 43 journalists in the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2015, including two foreign reporters.
___The New York-based committee said in a report that during detention and imprisonment, journalists have reported torture, medical negligence, and unreasonable and illegal rulings by the Israeli authorities.
___The committee condemned the increasing number of detentions of journalists, and called for their immediate release.      MORE . . .  

❸ COMMITTEE:  JOURNALISTS’  LIFE  AT  RISK  IN  GAZA  DUE  TO  ISRAELI  BANS
The Palestinian Information Center
April 20 2016
The Committee to Support Journalists warned Tuesday of the dangers with which journalists’ lives have been fraught in Gaza due to the Israeli restrictions on the entry of press vests and shields. The committee said the Israeli occupation authorities have frequently banned journalists’ access to a set of helmets and bulletproof vests donated by international and Arab parties.     MORE . . .

❹ ARMY  DEMOLISHES  A  PALESTINIAN  HOME  IN  QALANDIA,  INJURES  8  PALESTINIANS  AND  KIDNAP  ONE   
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
April 20, 2016
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at dawn, Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem, demolished one home and injured at least eight Palestinians, including three with live fire; one of the wounded was among the abducted residents.
___The soldiers surrounded the home of Hussein Abu Ghosh, 17, forced the family out and demolished the property’s inner walls, rendering it uninhabitable.
___Abu Ghosh was killed by the army, along with another Palestinian on January 26, 2016, after stabbing an Israeli settler woman to death [. . . . ]
___The invasion into the refugee camp was carried out by more than 40 armored vehicles and a military bulldozer.      MORE . . .   

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  AMBIVALENCE  AS  AN  ENDORSEMENT  OF  OPPRESSION
Alternative Information Center – AIC
April 17, 2016
Demands to separate politics from culture is a nonsensical idea that only BDS activists and supporters are told to accept.
___Tomorrow, Monday April 18, New York noise band A Place to Bury Strangers will make their Israeli debut at the Tel Aviv Club Barby. Rapper Freddie Gibbs will do the same on May 23, followed by the alternative rock band Real Estate on May 25.
___Efforts are underway to stop these and the nearly twenty other performances by high-profile international musicians this summer. These include direct appeals to artists, though Tali Shapiro, an Israeli BDS activist says artists’ agents and managers sometimes shut these channels down. Shapiro maintains a Facebook page where she posts articles on Israel’s human rights record and tags artists in the posts.      MORE . . . 

“WE  SHALL  REMAIN,”  BY  TAWFIQ  ZAYYAD  – 1970

It is a thousand times easier
For you to pass an elephant through the needle’s eye
To catch fried fish in the Milky Way
To plow the sea
To teach the alligator speech, a thousand times easier
Than smothering with you oppression
The spark of an idea
Of forcing us to deviate
A single step
From our chosen march.
Like twenty impossibles
We shall remain in Lydda, Ramlah, and Galilee.

Here upon your chests
We shall remain
Like the glass and the cactus
In your throats
A fiery whirlwind
In your eyes.

Here we shall remain
A wall on your chests.
We wash dishes in the hotels
And serve drinks to the masters.
We mop the floors in the dark kitchens
To extract a piece of bread
From your blue teeth
For the little ones.

Here, we shall remain
A wall on your chests.
We starve,
Go naked,
Sing songs
And fill the streets
With demonstrations
And the jails with pride.
We breed rebellions
One after another.
Like twenty impossibles we remain
In Lydda, Ramlah, Galilee.

Here, we shall remain.
You may drink the sea;
We shall guard the shade
Of the olive tree and the fig,
Planting ideas
Like the yeast in the dough.
The coldness of ice is in our nerves
And a burning hell in our hearts.
We squeeze the rock
To quench our thirst
And if we starve
We eat the dirt
And never depart
Or grudge our blood.

Here―we have a past
―a present
―and a future.
Our roots are entrenched
Deep in the earth.
Like twenty impossibles
We shall remain.
Let the oppressor review his account
Before the turn of the wheel.
For every action there is a reaction:
Read what is written in the Book.
Like twenty impossibles
We shall remain―in Lydda, in Ramlah
And Galilee.

From: Aruri, Naseer and Edmund Ghareeb, eds. ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN:  POETRY  OF  THE  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE.  Washington, DC: Drum and Spear Press, 1970.
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About Tawfiq Zayyad