Selected News of the Day

Israeli forces attack pro-prisoners protest at Ofer military camp; detain one

WAFA
August 22, 2019
· · · The Israeli forces crushed this morning a protest by Birzeit University students outside the Israeli Ofer military camp and prison near Ramallah held in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, reported WAFA correspondent.
· · · · He said soldiers based at the camp fired teargas and stun grenades at the students forcing them to scramble and detained one person after beating him up.
· · · · The Birzeit student council called for the demonstration in support of several prisoners who are on hunger strike demanding their release from an open-ended administrative detention which keeps them behind bars without charge or trial.
· · · · According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, eight Palestinians held in administrative detention are currently on hunger strike . . . . More . . .

50-year-old fire still raging at Aqsa Mosque

The Palestinian Information Center
August 21, 2019
As half a century has passed since the attempt by Jewish extremist Michael Dennis Rohan to burn down the Aqsa Mosque, the flames are still engulfing the Islamic holy site.
· · · · On the eve of this painful anniversary, which is commemorated on August 21, the flames were raging at the Aqsa Mosque, which is still exposed to daily violations against its Islamic sanctity by Israeli forces and settlers.
· · · · The Israeli occupation police recently escalated their aggression against the Aqsa Mosque through assaulting Muslim worshipers, Aqsa employees and Islamic Awqaf officials, and banning entry of many of them to the holy site. The latest Israeli assaults at the Aqsa Mosque happened on the first day of Eid al-Adha, August 11, when police forces brutally attacked Muslim worshipers following the Eid prayers and allowed dozens of Jewish settlers to defile its courtyards.   More . . .

• Arab League demands international protection for Aqsa Mosque (August 22)
• OIC emphasizes status of Jerusalem and Aqsa Mosque (August 22)

Israeli and US media attack centrist MIFTAH as ‘radical’ group in effort to discredit Omar and Tlaib 

Mondoweiss
Yumna Patel
August 21, 2019
Israel and its supporters have set their sights on a new target in part of a concerted effort to discredit US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib and their planned delegation to Palestine, after the decision to bar them entry to the country sparked nationwide outrage.
· · · · The newest focus of the right-wing media is MIFTAH, the Ramallah-based NGO that was sponsoring the planned delegation, as it has done in the past with US congressional delegations that visited the occupied West Bank.
· · · · Founded by PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH) is largely regarded as a mainstream, “centrist” group in Palestine.   More . . .

Israeli Warplanes Bombard Several Places In Gaza

Days of Palestine
Aug 22 2019
At night while Palestinians were sleeping, the Israeli warplanes attacked several areas in the north and south of the Gaza Strip causing damage but no injuries. Local sources said planes twice attacked a post on the Sheikh Ijjilin coast east of Gaza city destroying the location and causing fire. Damage was also reported to homes in the area but no injuries.   More . . .

• Israel Projects Aim To Export The Gaza Problem To Egypt’s Sinai
• Displaced again: Palestinian refugees from Syria struggle to survive in Gaza

Poem of the Day

“A CONFESSION” by Samah Sabawi

I stand between shame and relief
I breathe…
The missiles missed this time
Truth is, they didn’t’ really miss
Someone’s house is destroyed
but not the house I know so well
Someone’s family is grieving
but not the one whose name I carry
I linger…
between shame and relief
I breathe…
I… breathe…
I tell myself
‘this flesh, torn and scattered,
is not flesh I have ever embraced’.
I soothe myself,
‘Nor are these small lifeless hands
the ones with a crayon I’ve traced’
I…breathe…
This time…the missiles missed
those whose names are engraved on my lips
This time
they didn’t stop
those hearts beating in my chest
They live…
I breathe…
I…breathe…
But I must confess
Every time the bombs fall on Gaza
I want answers
What did they strike?
What street did they blow up?
What neighborhood did they destroy?
What lives did they steal?
Aware of my guilt I whisper a prayer
Dear God, please don’t let it be the ones I know.
Dear God, please don’t let it be the ones I love.
Dear God….
Ya Allah…
Ya Allah…
Ya Allah…
And when it’s over
And while a less fortunate family weeps
I stand between shame and relief
I breathe…
I… breathe…
Thank God my loved ones were spared
This time.
January 3, 2009

From I REMEMBER MY NAME. Ed. Vacy Vlanza. Novum Publishing. 2016.