❶ Palestinians Mark 68th Anniversary of Deir Yassin Massacre
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) Deir Yassin Massacre
❷ Netanyahu: Our military presence in Area A “sacred”
❸ IDF preventing Arab citizens from visiting ailing relatives in Gaza
❹ UN pulls Israeli exhibition claiming Palestinian citizens have equal rights
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ON  OUR  WAY  OUT  OF  THE  APARTHEID  CLOSET
❻ POETRY by Ibrahim Nasrallah
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❶ PALESTINIANS  MARK  68TH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  DEIR  YASSIN  MASSACRE
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 9, 2016
Palestinians Saturday marked the 68th anniversary of the massacre of 254 Palestinians by Zionist militias in the Jerusalem village of Deir Yassin.
___The massacre of Deir Yassin is an episode that characterizes the widespread terror and horrific acts of violence committed by Zionist militias against Palestinians. According to the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, massacres and expulsions of Palestinians created an atmosphere of fear and panic that forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. The left behind land and personal possessions that were subsequently stolen by the State of Israel, sometimes out rightly and sometimes through ‘clever’ legislation.
___Deir Yassin Massacre is an episode that characterizes the atrocities of the Nakba (catastrophe) and highlights the impunity that Israel still enjoys today.      MORE . . .  
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) DEIR  YASSIN  MASSACRE
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
April 9, 2016
Today, Saturday, is the sixty-eight anniversary of Deir Yassin massacre committed by the Ergun and Stern Zionist terrorist organizations against this village in 1948, killing 250-360 Palestinian in cold blood, after the two groups invaded the village of 750 inhabitants.     MORE . . .

❷ NETANYAHU:  OUR  MILITARY  PRESENCE  IN  AREA  A  “SACRED” 
The Palestinian Information Center
April 9, 2016
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his government will never end its military activities and campaigns in “Area A” of the West Bank, which is, according to Oslo accords, under the Palestinian Authority’s civil and security control. According to Haaretz newspaper, Netanyahu described Israel’s freedom to carry out operations in the Palestinian West Bank areas “sacrosanct,” stressing that Israel would not allow the situation that had existed before 2000 to repeat itself.      MORE . . .  

❸ IDF  PREVENTING  ARAB  CITIZENS  FROM  VISITING  AILING  RELATIVES  IN  GAZA
+972 Blog
Michal Luft
April 7, 2016
A new Israeli policy makes it nearly impossible for Palestinian citizens from visiting their ailing relatives in the Gaza Strip. All in the name of security.      MORE . . .

❹ UN  PULLS  ISRAELI  EXHIBITION  CLAIMING  PALESTINIAN  CITIZENS  HAVE  EQUAL  RIGHTS
Mondoweiss
Emily Mulder
April 6, 2016
The UN removed portions of an Israeli exhibition at the international body’s headquarters in New York this week that alleged Israel’s equal treatment of Palestinian citizens and touted Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, claims deemed by the UN as falling out of line with international law.       MORE . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  ON  OUR  WAY  OUT  OF  THE  APARTHEID  CLOSET 
+972 Blog
April 8, 2016
Marzouq El-Halabi
By advancing legislation to exclude the Arab minority from the Knesset, Israel is showing the world that its political system is really only intended for one group.
___The so-called “suspension bill,” which passed its first reading in the Knesset several weeks ago, constitutes another step by the Israeli Right to exclude Arab representatives from Israeli politics. The bill, which gives the Knesset the authority to temporarily or permanently suspend elected members, stems not from a worry over the fate of Israel’s democracy, but is part of the Right’s slow effort to maliciously and intentionally harm it. The ultimate goal of the bill goes unspoken, although it is clear to all: to remove the Arab electorate from the political game in order to ensure the Right’s reign in the near future.      MORE . . .  
RELATED . . . ROADMAP  TO  APARTHEID  – FILM  REVIEW  (VIDEO) 

“CHAIRS,”  BY  IBRAHIM  NASRALLAH 

Chairs will distract us in war
Overwhelm us in peace
and forgive us like sins
Chair Hell
Chair Intercession
And whenever something new appears they shout
Die―so courage can live
They dearly love people
People’s contentment
Though chairs made of blood on top of blood
cannot withstand the bloom of a dream
As those chairs were never trees

[Note: This is the last of a series of short poems―four to twelve lines each―from a set titled “Chairs” in which each poem is an intense image of a relationship between the inanimate chair and the lives of people. The blood image seems particularly appropriate for the anniversary of the Massacre at Deir Yassin.]

From Nasrallah, Ibrahim. RAIN  INSIDE:  SELECTED  POEMS. Trans. Omnia Amin and Rick London. Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 2009. Available from Amazon.
About Ibrahim Nasrallah