Correction by Waqf of item from August 8, 2017.

❶ Israel demolishes 3 homes belonging to alleged Palestinian assailants in Ramallah

• Background from Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture: “Occupied East Jerusalem: A Continuous Colonial Scheme,”
   and “Jewish Settlements in the Israeli Occupied State of Palestine: Undermining Authentic Resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

❷ The new normal in Palestine
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Locals stop Israeli demolitions in Bethlehem town
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) Israeli forces abduct 37 Palestinians in West Bank
❸ POETRY by Abdel Rahim al-Sheikh
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
Correction by Waqf of item from August 8, 2017.

❶ ISRAEL  DEMOLISHES  3  HOMES  BELONGING  TO  ALLEGED  PALESTINIAN  ASSAILANTS  IN  RAMALLAH     
Ma’an News Agency
Aug. 10, 2017.   Israeli forces demolished at three homes belonging to the families of alleged Palestinian attackers, while another home was sealed, in the villages of Deir Abu Mashaal and Silwad in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah during pre-dawn hours on Thursday, leaving dozens of Palestinians homeless.
___Israeli forces demolished the family homes of two alleged attackers in Deir Abu Mashaal: Baraa Ibrahim Saleh, 18, and Osama Ahmad Atta, 19.
___Meanwhile, the family home of the third alleged assailant Hassan Ankosh, 18, was sealed, not demolished, according to an Israeli army spokesperson.
___The families received demolition orders last month after the youths allegedly carried out a deadly attack near Damascus Gate in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, which left an Israeli police officer dead. The three Palestinians were shot dead at the scene by Israeli forces.   MORE . . .

Abdelrazek, Adnan.
“OCCUPIED  EAST  JERUSALEM:  A  CONTINUOUS  COLONIAL  SCHEME.”
Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 22, no. 2/3, July 2017, pp. 126-132.
[. . . .] According to an Ir Amim report (reference), 66% of building violations in Jerusalem occur in the Jewish neighborhoods, yet 65-70% of house demolitions take place in the Palestinian neighborhoods . . .  as part of an overall policy designed to force Palestinians to leave the city. HOUSE  DEMOLITION  POLICY is viewed as an instrument of COLLECTIVE  PUNISHMENT that the Israeli government uses against Palestinians in East Jerusalem . . .   during the years 2003-05 house demolitions reached one of the highest rates following the second intifada, and again in 2015-16 in response to the so called “individual intifada.”   SOURCE . . .

Isaac, Jad.
“JEWISH  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  ISRAELI  OCCUPIED  STATE  OF  PALESTINE:  UNDERMINING  AUTHENTIC  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN  CONFLICT.”
Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 22, no. 2/3, July 2017, pp. 85-91. A viable, contiguous Palestinian state remains a challenging concept, as Israel has spared no effort to undermine the “two-state solution” and the peace process altogether with its persistence in continuing with its land seizure policy, HOUSE  DEMOLITION  STRATEGY,  matrix of control on movement  and sustaining the dependency of the Palestinian economy, which ultimately eradicated the essence of the entire peace process and only restructured and repositioned the presence of the Israeli occupation army in the OPT.   SOURCE . . .

❷ THE  NEW  NORMAL  IN  PALESTINE
Palestine News Network – PNN 
By Iris Mark
Aug. 10, 2017.   On the 14 of May 1948, the state of Israel was declared. By the time Israel and the Arab States signed the Armistice agreement in 1948, Israel had gained control over 75% of mandate Palestine. . . .  800 000 were expelled or forced to flee and 15,000 were killed in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres. This is known as the Nakba, and is a violation of international law.
[. . . .] THE NEW NORMAL OF TODAY
___Israelis uphold their discriminatory policies in several ways and are severely affecting life in the West Bank.
___The enforced permit system, were the Palestinians have to apply for living in their own homes, travel a few kilometers to see their family, harvest on their own land and traveling to occupied east Jerusalem to pray. There are more than 100 different types of permits, which includes movement, residency, travel, work, farming, trade and money transfer, education, worshipers, visiting holy sites, construction, renovation and health. With only 19% of the West Bank being controlled by the Palestinian Authorities, the Israeli are using checkpoints to control where and when the Palestinians can travel.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) LOCALS  STOP  ISRAELI  DEMOLITIONS  IN  BETHLEHEM TOWN
The Palestinian Information Center   
Aug. 10, 2017.   Local residents in Walaja town, south of Bethlehem, managed Thursday morning to stop Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) from demolishing the exterior wall of a house and from bulldozing a nearby agricultural land.
___Head of the village council told Quds Press that Israeli forces stormed the town early today to demolish a home wall only to find a large number of Palestinian standing outside the property to stop its demolition.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) ISRAELI  FORCES  ABDUCT  37  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK
Days of Palestine
Aug. 10, 2017.   Israeli occupation forces abducted on Wednesday night 37 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian rights group said.
___Reporting local sources, the Palestinian Prisoner Club (PPC) said that the Israeli occupation forces raided several Palestinian villages, towns and cities.
___In a statement, the PPC said that the Israeli occupation forces abducted at least 37 Palestinian civilians during the raids.
___The PPC also said that the Israeli occupation inspected houses of the Abductees and confiscated mobiles, laptops and money.   MORE . . .

“SINGLE  ADDRESS  FOR  THE  POST,”  BY  ABDEL  RAHIM  AL-SHEIKH
On my way to them, I pass Him by,
(as, on his way, God passes me by)
for as we go our separate ways
we see no one but those on high.
The beds are allotted before the violet dawn.
The black and endless night is spent alone
and then the cataclysm comes
that will seed them from the borders of Palestine
the Great Thorn.
They are the only roses that grow.
From where they stalk the edge of paradise
the first paradise.
From where the children use thorns
to draw maps of this paradise.
From this spot.
We raise in the sky a glorying arc
the first milestone to Mecca
and we leave a kiss for those who left
with neither luggage nor papers for their passage.
This is the way the journey will always be.
They leave their bags for the postman to deliver
He takes them from the hands
of those who follow
And those who follow leave their packages
as the first ones do.
It’s hard for the post to make it to paradise.
There is no address
neither here nor there.
—translated by Rachel McCrum

Abdel Rahim al-Sheikh is from Jerusalem. He teaches philosophy, history, and creative writing at Bir Zeit University and the Qattan Center in Ramallah, and is the author of many literary and academic books.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Barnes & Noble.