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 . . .

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.