❶ Israeli Supreme Court rejects Palestinian village’s appeal over confiscated land
❷ IOF attack activists at the symbolic “Al-Yasser village” with teargas
❸ Opinion/Analysis:  Nothing is simple in Palestine
❹ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
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❶ ISRAELI  SUPREME  COURT  REJECTS  PALESTINIAN  VILLAGE’S  APPEAL  OVER  CONFISCATED  LAND    
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 17, 2016
The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by residents of the occupied West Bank village of al-Nabi Elyas over Israel’s confiscation of 100 dunams of Palestinian land, Israeli radio reported on Thursday.
___According to the Arabic-language Voice of Israel station, the court ruled on Wednesday that residents of al-Nabi Elyas in the district of Qalqiliya could not prove ownership of land which had been seized to build a road.
___The court claimed that the road, whose construction is expected to begin in January, would benefit both Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the area.
___The ruling added that if Palestinians were able to prove ownership of the land after the confiscation, they were allowed to demand compensation.    More . . .  

❷ IOF  ATTACK  ACTIVISTS  AT  THE  SYMBOLIC  “AL-YASSER  VILLAGE”  WITH  TEARGAS       
Palestine News Network – PNN 
Nov. 17, 2016
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Thursday afternoon attacked the activists campaigning at the “Al-Yasser village” in response to Israeli legalization of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
___Many have suffered teargas inhalation due to the attack.
___The new village, set up this morning with only tents, was named “Al-Yasser” after the late Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.      More . . .   

❸ Opinion/Analysis:  NOTHING  IS  SIMPLE  IN  PALESTINE 
International Solidarity Movement   
Nov. 17, 2016
Almost nothing in Palestine is what you expect for the most part. And, this is so true of the negative things you see. No matter how bad you think things are or expect them to be, you are almost always guaranteed that they will be worse . . .   Part of our team was invited by an “inspector” from the United Nations office based here in Al Khalil to go to a Bedouin village in the South Hebron Hills where a demolition took place yesterday.      [. . . .] There have been 5 demolitions in the past year: October 27, 2015; 1 in April 2016; 2 this past August; and the most recent one yesterday where two structures were demolished. Their Community Center which housed the kindergarten, a computer center, an after school program to help kids with homework, and a library has been demolished several times.  More . . .   

“A  HOMELAND,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

So what,
When in my homeland
The sparrow dies of starvation,
In exile, without a shroud,
While the earthworm is satiated, devouring God’s food!

So what,
When the yellow fields
Yield no more to their tillers
Than memories of weariness,
While their rich harvest pours
Into the granaries of the usurper!

So what,
If the cement has diverted
The ancient springs
Causing them to forget their natural course,
When their owner calls,
They cry in his face: “Who are you?”

So what,
When the almond and the olive have turned to timber
Adorning tavern doorways,
And monuments
Whose nude loveliness beautifies halls and bars,
And is carried by tourists
To the farthest corners of the earth,
While noting remains before my eyes
But dry leaves and tinder!

So what,
When my people’s tragedy
Has turned to farce in others’ eyes,
And my face is a poor bargain
That even the slave-trader gleefully disdains!

So what,
When in barren space the satellites spin,
And in the streets walks a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!

Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive.

Samih Al-Qasim
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.