❶ Israeli forces kill two 16-year-old Palestinians during clashes in Gaza, West Bank

• “Israeli Civilians Versus Palestinian Combatants? Reading the Goldstone Report in Light of the Israeli Conception of the Principle of Distinction.” Leiden Journal of International Law.

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Thousands attend funeral of slain teen in Nablus village
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Israel ‘Accidentally’ Shoots Palestinian Toddler in the Head (VIDEO)
❷ Israeli forces suppress Jerusalem recognition rally, detain Fatah officials
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinian family members during northern West Bank raid
❸ France condemns Israeli plans to build over 1,100 units in 20 West Bank settlements
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) Irish Foreign Minister visits Gaza Strip
❹ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
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❶ ISRAELI  FORCES  KILL  TWO  16-YEAR-OLD  PALESTINIANS  DURING  CLASHES  IN  GAZA,  WEST  BANK
Ma’an News Agency
Jan. 12, 2018 ― Two Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by Israeli forces, while three others were injured during clashes on Friday in the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank.      ___In the Gaza Strip, dozens of Palestinian youth took to the border fence with Israel, east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in continued protest of US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.      ___Israeli forces opened live fire on the protesters, who threw rocks towards the border fence, tens of meters away from Israeli forces.     MORE . . .    ..

KOT, JEAN-PHILIPPE.  “ISRAELI  CIVILIANS  VERSUS  PALESTINIAN  COMBATANTS?  READING  THE  GOLDSTONE  REPORT  IN  LIGHT  OF  THE  ISRAELI  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  DISTINCTION.”
LEIDEN  JOURNAL  OF  INTERNATIONAL  LAW , vol. 24, no. 4, Dec. 2011, pp. 961-988.
[. . . .] During the first phase of the Targeted Killing case [Israeli Supreme Court, Dec. 14, 2006], in response to the question presented by the applicant’s representative as to why Israel does not arrest rather than assassinate targeted people, Justice Cheshin said ‘my son, not yours, goes into that area and I do not want to endanger him’. In other words, the safety of ‘our’ soldiers takes precedence over the safety of ‘their’ civilians. Even if one should not overestimate the legal implications of such a statement, it reveals the close ties between Israeli society and its defence forces. The reasons are easy to understand. In the words of the president of Israel, pardoning GSS agents for beating to death a suspect under interrogation, ‘[i]n the special conditions of the State of Israel we cannot allow ourselves any relaxation of effort, nor permit any damage to be caused to the defence establishment and to those loyal men who guard our people’. It does not seem necessary to explore deeply what those special conditions are. Suffice it to recall that a majority of the Supreme Court justices were of the opinion that: The danger to the Israeli public, to its security and to its life is a clear and present danger “. . . . The SOURCE OF THE DANGER, it should be remembered, is not merely the Palestinian Authority but – and perhaps mainly – the terror organizations and THE PALESTINIAN PUBLIC IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
___The Kasher and Yadlin doctrine must be understood in this context. In an endeavor to substitute a system of rights for a utilitarian pecking order of interests, this doctrine indeed offers a new ethical appraisal of the traditional principle of distinction between civilians and combatants, which turns this ‘us/them’ dichotomy into practical guidance for military action.     SOURCE . . .    ..

.  .  .  .  .  ❶ ―  (ᴀ)  THOUSANDS  ATTEND  FUNERAL  OF  SLAIN  TEEN  IN  NABLUS  VILLAGE
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Jan. 12, 2018 ― Thousands of Palestinians Friday afternoon attended the funeral procession of a slain Palestinian teen in Iraq Burin village, south of Nablus.
___Thousands of mourners attended the funeral procession of Ali Qadous, 16, who was killed by Israeli forces near a makeshift checkpoint at the entrance of the neighboring village, which had been sealed off by Israeli troops with cement blocks.
___Mourners raised Palestine flag and flags of different Palestinian factions and shouted slogans condemning the Israeli occupation and threatening to avenge the killing. Among the mourners was Nablus governor Akram al-Rajoub.
___This came as Israeli forces violently suppressed Palestinian rallies that continued to rock the occupied territories for the sixth consecutive Friday in protest of the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.   MORE . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ❶ ―  (ᴃ)  ISRAEL  ‘ACCIDENTALLY’  SHOOTS  PALESTINIAN  TODDLER  IN  THE  HEAD  (VIDEO)  
Palestine Chronicle
Jan. 11, 2018 ―     A three-year-old Palestinian was shot in the head during an Israeli “military training” session in the northern occupied West Bank city of Tubas.
___According to a statement by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health, the child was hit in the head with live bullets. He was taken to Rafidia Surgical hospital in Nablus.   MORE . . . 
❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  SUPPRESS  JERUSALEM  RECOGNITION  RALLY,  DETAIN  FATAH  OFFICIALS 
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA   
Jan. 12, 2018 ― Israeli forces Friday afternoon violently suppressed a rally protesting the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, detaining a senior Fatah official in Bethlehem city.
___Palestinians rallied from Jerusalem-Hebron Road to the northern entrance of Bethlehem city, chanting slogans condemning US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
___Israeli forces opened fire and cracked down on the protesters, detaining two and causing several others to suffocate due to tear gas inhalation.
___The detainee was identified as member of Fatah Revolutionary Council Hassan Faraj.   MORE . . .  
.  .  .  .  .  ❷ ―  (ᴀ)  ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  5  PALESTINIAN  FAMILY  MEMBERS  DURING  NORTHERN  WEST  BANK  RAID    
Ma’an News Agency
Jan. 12, 2018 ― Israeli forces detained six Palestinians, including five members of the same family, during pre dawn raids on Friday in the northern occupied West Bank.
___In the Alar town in northern Tulkarem, locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces raided the home of Muayyad Taqatqa and detained his son Yazan, 17.
___The family reported that soldiers stole 17,400 shekels ($5,105), 750 Jordanian Dinars ($1,057), and 600 USD from the house.      MORE . . .  
❸ FRANCE  CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  PLANS  TO  BUILD  OVER  1,100  UNITS  IN  20  WEST  BANK  SETTLEMENTS
Palestine News Network – PNN
Jan. 11, 2018 ― The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday condemned the Israeli authorities’ decision to allow more than 1,100 housing units to be built in 20 different West Bank settlements with some on private Palestinian lands.
___The ministry said in a statement that the country condemns allowing “the construction of more than 1,100 homes in 20 different settlements in the West Bank, and particularly that of seven structures in Nativ Haavot [a West Bank settler outpost] partly on private Palestinian land against the decision of the High Court of Justice, which had ordered its evacuation by March 2018.”
___The ministry added that settlements activities are contrary to international law as stressed in resolution 2334 of the UN Security Council.    MORE . . .  
.  .  .  .  . ❸ ―  (ᴀ)  IRISH  FOREIGN  MINISTER  VISITS  GAZA  STRIP
The Palestinian Information Center
Jan. 11, 2018   The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, arrived on Thursday to Gaza Strip and visited a number of projected funded by his country.
___The Irish Minister entered Gaza Strip via the Israeli-controlled Beit Hanoun crossing for a few hours visit.
___During the visit, Coveney met with officials of a number of international organizations working in the besieged Strip.     MORE . . .   

“THE  MAN  WHO  VISITED  DEATH,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
Leave the martyr shrouded in his garments,
Lay him at the foot of the mountain: for it knows his sorrow.
Do not bury him, while his wounds
Proclaim his testament of love and suffering.
Do you hear?

Let him take leave of his friends,
A bleeding eagle among the rocks.
Lay him in the sun; his face caressed
By the winds, redolent with the fragrance of the land of his youth.

Do not close his eyes; a final
Red glimmer still shines in them.
His call reverberates in the golden valleys:
“You who fear death, I fear it not;
Take me to my home
To rest my cheek upon its threshold,
To kiss the doorknob,
Take me to my vineyard, I would die, with the pangs of my love in my heart,
If my eyes do not feast once more on the sight of its soil.

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.