Category: Avigdor Lieberman

“. . . the stones of your streets grow sad . . .” (Nizar Qabbani)

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Selected News of the Day

Foreign Ministry summons Australian diplomat over remarks in favor of Israel

WAFA
September 23, 2019
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry today summoned an Australian diplomat over the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s remarks in favor of Israel.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, Amal Jadou, stated that the Acting Director of the Australian Representative Office, Warren Hooy, was summoned following Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad Malki’s instructions over Morrison’s remarks in favor of Israel.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Jado met with Hooy to express Palestinian “dissatisfaction and resentment” of Morrison’s remarks in which he underscored a shift by his government to take “an even stronger stand against the biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN General Assembly.”
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Morrison, who is currently on a visit to the US, made his remarks during his opening speech.  More . . . .

Arab MKs recommend Gantz for Israel prime minister

Middle East Monitor
September 23, 2019
In a rare move, the Arab dominated Joint List yesterday recommended head of the Blue White Benny Gantz to become Israel’s new prime minister, local media reported.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Commenting on the recommendation, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman said: “The Joint List are enemies.”
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Meanwhile, head of the Likud and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the move and said that the thing which he had warned of has just happened.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Reports said that the Joint List’s bid was inline with their election promise of “bringing an end to Netanyahu and his government, who spread hate” against Arab citizens of Israel.   More . . . .

Israeli Forces Injure Many Palestinians On Azzun Town

Days of Palestine
September 22, 2019
Scores of Palestinian citizens on Saturday night suffered injuries after the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Azzun town in Qalqilya and attacked local residents.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Local sources said that a large number of Israeli soldiers raided the town, imposed a curfew in the central district, forced storeowners to close their businesses and fired a barrage of tear gas canisters at citizens to make them go home.   More . . . .

  • Soldiers Invade Sebastia Town Near Nablus
    IMEMC News
    September 23, 2019
    Several Israeli army jeeps invaded, Monday, the archeological area in Sebastia Palestinian town, north of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Mohammad Azem, the head of Sebastia Town Council, said dozens of soldiers invaded the area and fired a barrage of gas bombs at the Palestinians to force them away.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ He added that many Palestinians protested the invasion, and hurled stones at the soldiers who fired live rounds and more gas bombs.   More . . . .
  • 16 Palestinians Injured By IOF In Jerusalem
    Days Of Palestine
    September 22, 2019
    At least 16 Palestinian citizens suffered injuries on Saturday evening when the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) assaulted local residents in al-Eizariya town, east of Jerusalem.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The Red Crescent said its ambulance crew provided medical assistance to 16 citizens in Eizariya after they suffered different injuries.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ According to local sources, Israeli police forces stormed Eizariya town and directly fired volleys of tear gas canisters at Palestinian homes, which provoked clashed with local youths.  More . . . .

Commentary

Israel’s Anti-Liberal Legislative Trends: A Guide for the Perplexed

Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture
By Frances Raday
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ [Frances Raday is professor of law, Elias chair, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem]
Israeli legislation has over the last decade been increasingly geared to entrench the ethnic-religious and nationalist ideology of Binyamin Netanyahu and his coalition government. This legislative trend is evident in some laws which have already been passed by a majority in the Knesset and is accentuated in the numerous legislative initiatives proposed by members of the Knesset belonging to parties in the governing coalition. The government’s drafting of its legislative initiatives has frequently exhibited the trademarks of an authoritarian hegemony with disregard for human rights implications. The persistent vigilance and activism of Israeli civil society, however, along with interventions of the Supreme Court and the media, both local and international, have frequently succeeded in nixing or toning down the early legislative drafts.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Nevertheless, the final versions of these laws that do pass are blatantly anti-liberal, undermine democracy and, in some cases, constitute violations of international humanitarian or human rights law. The trend has four interconnected facets: validation of illegal settler colonization of the West Bank; deference to Jewish religion or ethnicity at the cost of unequal treatment of national minorities and of women; limiting freedom of expression through measures restricting NGOs; and restrictions on expression of ethical pluralism in education and the arts.   More . . . .

Poem of the Day

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  NIZAR  QABBANI

Oh Jerusalem, luminous city of prophets
The shortest path between heaven and earth!

Jerusalem, you of the myriad minarets,
become a beautiful little girl with burned fingers.
City of the Virgin, your eyes are sad.
Shady oasis where the Prophet passed,
the stones of your streets grow sad,
the towers of mosques downcast.

City swathed in black, who’ll ring the bells
at the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday mornings?
Who will carry toys to children on Christmas Eve?
City of sorrows, a huge tear
trembling on your eyelid,
who’ll save the Bible?
Who’ll save the Qur’an?
Who will save Christ?
Who will save man?

Jerusalem, beloved city of mine,
tomorrow your lemon trees will bloom,
your green stalks and branches rise up joyful,
and your eyes will laugh. Migrant pigeons
will return to your holy roofs
and children will go back to playing.
Parents and children will meet
on your shining streets,
my city, city of olives and peace.
——Translated by Sharif Elmusa and Naomi Shihab Nye

From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND:  PALESTINE  ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE. Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012. Available Barnes and Noble.

“. . . She gazes at me like a little child. . .” (Muhammad al-Dhahir)

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IMG_3697 - Copy - Copy - Copy
Neighborhood of Jericho (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 15, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .  
|  PRISONER’S  SOCIETY:  ISRAEL  DETAINED  OVER  900  PALESTINIAN  CHILDREN  SINCE  BEGINNING  OF  YEAR
Israel detained 908 Palestinian children under 18 years of age since the beginning of the year, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said on Tuesday.    ___It said in a statement marking  UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY, which coincides on Tuesday, that out of the 908 detained since January 2018 until the end of October, 270 are still held in detention in various prisons in Israel.   More . . .
|  THE  RIGHT  TO  EDUCATION  CAMPAIGN  CONDEMNS  ARBITRARY  ARREST  OF  BIRZEIT  UNIVERSITY’S  HEAD  OF  STUDENT  COUNCIL
The Right to Education Campaign expresses its grave concern over the Israeli Occupying forces’ arrest of the head of Birzeit University student council Yehya Rabie’ at dawn on November 19, 2018, from his house in Al- Mazra’a Al Gharbiya near Ramallah. Rabie’ is a third-year student in the Faculty of Business and Economics.    ___ Such outrageous acts are categorical violation of international laws and norms, which all forbid any violation against the basic right of people to the right of education.   More . . .
|  ISRAEL  RAZES  PALESTINIAN  LANDS,  UPROOTS  500  PALM  TREES  IN  JERICHO
Israeli bulldozers razed and leveled Palestinian-owned agricultural lands, and uprooted about 500 palm trees, on Tuesday, in Jericho City, near road 90, in the central occupied West Bank district of Jericho.    ___Ibrahim Ahmad, the tenant of the razed lands, said that Israeli forces along with several bulldozers stormed the area and razed agricultural lands that belong to the ISLAMIC  ENDOWMENT  (WAQF)  DEPARTMENT.    ___No reason was given for the razing and leveling of the lands.  More . . .
. . . . Related  Netanyahu: KHAN AL-AHMAR to Be Demolished Very Soon
. . . . Related  Israeli  bulldozers  raze  lands  in  GAZA
. . . . Related  Israeli  bulldozers  demolish  Palestinian  structures  in  EAST  JERUSALEM 

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  WHY  IS  NETANYAHU  SO  DESPERATE  FOR  A  CEASEFIRE  WITH  HAMAS?
It was supposed to be a routine intelligence undercover operation whereby the Israeli agents would infiltrate into “enemy territory”, carry out the mission, and leave without being detected . . .  But the Israeli intelligence operation on November 11 in Gaza did not go according to plan. . .    [. . . .] Seven Palestinians were killed in the botched operation, including a prominent al-Qassam Brigades commander, Nour Baraka . . .    [. . . .] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had little space for manoeuvre: he was forced to settle for a ceasefire with Gaza armed groups, which prompted Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman to resign and plunged his government into a major political crisis.    ___This time, provoking a new conflict in Gaza in order to take attention away from the domestic political mess he has made is not an option for Netanyahu. He is cornered by a resurgent Hamas and his own geopolitical game in the Middle East, so he needs to keep Gaza quiet.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“THE  LITTLE  GIRL,”  BY  MUHAMMAD  AL-DHAHIR

I tell her:

speak to me—she holds her breath
and draws a circle of suffering
a circle of soldiers
a circle of guns

She lets down her ropelike braids
I tell her:
Plough my body
travel in my palm
and give me a sign

She gazes at me like a little child
opens her album
pointing to the map of the big Arab homeland
writing in blood the names of the tribes

I tell her:
Draw a moon for proof
She slams her album shut
and enters me to sleep within my ribs
Out comes a troop of children,
a bouquet of wheatstalks,
And her voice, whispering:
—All others but you are enemies
and every god but you, an intruder.

–Translated by May Jayyusi and Naomi Shihab Nye
From ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.

 

 

Noontime call to prayer, Jericho, November 10, 2015.

“. . . Do you remember your panic― at the reign of death . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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Israelis escorted through Al Aqsa Mosque courtyard, Jerusalem, by IOF soldiers (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 5, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|    DEFENSE  MINISTER  AVIGDOR  LIBERMAN  RESIGNS  OVER  HAMAS  CEASEFIRE
Claiming that the government has capitulated to terrorism, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced his resignation on Wednesday, one day after Israel agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.    ___“I have tried to remain a faithful member of the cabinet and to make heard another view, even at a great electoral and political price,” Liberman said at a news briefing immediately following the faction meeting. However, Tuesday’s ceasefire with Hamas “cannot be interpreted in any way other than a capitulation to terrorism,” he added. “This will severely harm our security in the long run. The response that we gave to the 500 rockets shot from Gaza was not enough, to say the least. The South should come first. Our weakness is being broadcast to other fronts.”    More . . .
|    PLO:  30  YEARS  AFTER  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE,  OCCUPATION  STILL  LINGERING
Thirty years after the historic declaration of Palestine’s independence, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land is still lingering, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said on Thursday marking Palestine’s Declaration of Independence Day.    ___The Palestinian National Council issued the Palestinian Declaration of Independence on November 15, 1988 in Algiers, declaring an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.    [. . . .] PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement on this occasion. . .   “Thirty years later, following this historic and painful compromise, the longest occupation in modern history still continues and holds an entire people captive, willfully stealing their land, resources, freedom, and rights with full impunity. . .     More . . .
. . . . Related  A  FAMILIAR  INVASION:  SETTLERS  TAKE  ANOTHER  MOUNTAIN  TOP,  SOLDIERS  FOLLOW,  AND  PALESTINIANS  DEMONSTRATE  FOR  THEIR  RIGHTS
|    ISRAEL  BANS  JERUSALEMITES  ENTRY  AS  SETTLERS  STORM  AL-AQSA     Israeli authorities banned six Jerusalemites, on Thursday, from entry to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, for one consecutive month. . .   [. . . .]  two days prior to the ban, the six Jerusalemites were detained by Israeli forces during predawn raids of their homes in East Jerusalem.     ___Meanwhile, about 35 Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Moroccan Gate and “provocatively” toured the compound, according to local sources.     More . . .
. . . . Related  GAZA  IN  PHOTOS:  CEASEFIRE,  MOURNING  AND  PROTESTS  OF  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  A  TELEVISION  STATION

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|    ISRAEL’S  NEXT  ELECTIONS  WILL  BE  ABOUT  WHO  IS  MORE  VIOLENT  TO  PALESTINIANS 
Israel appears to be going to early elections. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday announced that he is resigning from his post, and that his party, Yisrael Beytenu, will leave the ruling coalition over what he called Netanyahu’s “surrender to terrorism.” The surprise resignation came just a day after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire, ending the most violent flare-up the Gaza border has seen since the 2014 war.    ___Immediately following his announcement, the right-wing Jewish Home party . . .  released a statement that it too would leave the coalition unless party leader Naftali Bennett replaces Liberman as defense minister. It is unlikely Netanyahu will agree to such conditions, which means that his coalition will probably fall apart, ushering in early elections in the spring of 2019, instead of their original date in November 2019.    ___Liberman’s move makes perfect sense, if one considers that his party, which holds only five of 120 seats in the Knesset, might not make it past the election threshold, as several polls have indicated . . .  Liberman also used his podium to attack Netanyahu for backing down on the demolition of Khan Al-Ahmar, allowing Qatari cash and fuel into Gaza, and the latest cease-fire.    More . . .
. . . . Related POLL:  64%  OF  ISRAELIS  SEEK  TO  ESCALATE  AGGRESSIONS  ON  GAZA
. . . . Related  WHAT  NETANYAHU’S  IDEA  OF  PEACE  LOOKS  LIKE
. . . . Related   IN  BREACH  OF  HUMAN  RIGHTS,  NETANYAHU  SUPPORTS  THE  DEATH  PENALTY  FOR  PALESTINIANS

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“BUCHENWALD,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

Have you forgotten your shame at Buchenwald?
Do you remember your flames at Buchenwald?
Have you forgotten your love in the lexicon
of silence? Do you remember your panic―
at the reign of death, in the nightmare of time―
that the whole world
would become a Buchenwald?
Whether you’ve forgotten or not,
the dead’s images linger
among the wreaths of flowers,
and from the dismembered corpses
a hand emerges,
a nail in the palm and tattoo on the wrist―
a sign for the planet.
Do you remember? Or not?
Buchenwald― whether or not you’ve forgotten,
the images of the murdered
remain among the wreaths of flowers . . .

From Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER  THAN  WATER.  New  and  Selected  Poems.  Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008.  Available from Barnes and Noble

“. . . they say he will come back, suspended . . .” (Zuhair Abu Shaib)

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490762CMedical sources reported that Abdullah Hamayel sustained fractures and bruises in various areas of his body due to the violent assault by Israeli forces. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency, Nov. 9, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . . .
|    WEEKLY  REPORT  ON  ISRAELI  HUMAN  RIGHTS  VIOLATIONS  IN  THE  OCCUPIED  PALESTINIAN  TERRITORY  (01  –  07  NOVEMBER  2018)   Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Israeli forces continue systematic crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)  Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip:

  • A civilian succumbed to wounds he sustained during his participation in the Return and Breaking Siege protests.
  • 77 civilians, including 12 children, a woman, a journalist and 3 paramedics, were wounded; 4 of them sustained serious wounds.
  • [. . . .] Israeli forces wounded 12 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a woman, in the West Bank.
  • Israeli forces conducted 88 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and 2 limited ones into the southern Gaza Strip.   53 civilians, including 11 children and a woman, were arrested in the West Bank.    More . . .

|    ISRAELI  FORCES  REPEATEDLY  ASSAULT  AL-BIREH  MUNICIPALITY  EMPLOYEE 
Israeli forces assaulted and injured Abdullah Hamayel, a Palestinian staff member of the al-Bireh Municipality, late Thursday, while passing by on the road leading to the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Mikhmas, built on the lands of Mikhmas Palestinian village, in the central occupied Ramallah district.     [. . . .] The reason for the assault remained unknown.    More . . .
. . . . Related    ISRAEL  BANS  JERUSALEM  GOVERNOR  ENTRY  TO  WEST  BANK
. . . . Related    ISRAELI  FORCES  ARREST  8-YEAR-OLD  NEAR  HEBRON
. . . . Related    PALESTINIANS  REINSTALL  MONUMENT  TO  PALESTINIAN  MARTYR    Background
. . . . Related    IOA  HAND  EVICTION  NOTICES  TO  AGRICULTURAL  LAND  IN  SOUTHERN  WEST  BANK
. . . . Related    LIEBERMAN  AGREES  TO  RETURN  BODY  OF  MARTYR

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Jerusalem’s Palestinian governor, Adnan Ghaith, was detained without explanation. (Photo: Anadolu Agency, Oct. 22, 2018)

|    BDS  VICTORY:  UNIVERSITY  OF  LEEDS  DIVESTS  FROM  ISRAEL-LINKED  FIRMS    A UK university has ended investment in companies involved in Israeli arms trade following a fierce student-led BDS campaign.    ___The University of Leeds has ceased its dealings with Airbus, United Technologies and Keyence Corporation – all of which supply military equipment to Israel.    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|    ECONOMIC  DISENGAGEMENT  AND  NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  PALESTINE
By Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, Chairman of Palestine Investment Fund
Given the political deadlock we have reached, the Palestinian leadership is in the process of reviewing the framework governing our relationship with Israel.    ___The notion of economic disengagement from Israel is top of mind for the Palestinian leadership; and with it the need to revise or terminate the Paris Economic Protocol that was signed between the PLO and Israel in April 1994 . . .   the creation of a custom union with free movement of people and goods, and unified taxation between Palestine and Israel.    ___Israel’s unilateral actions over the years . . .  have effectively abolished the essence of the Paris Protocol, and created in its place a system to cement the Palestinian economy’s captivity to Israel.    More . . .
|    THE  THOUSANDS  OF  UNDOCUMENTED  GAZANS  LIVING  IN  LIMBO
By Amjad Yaghni
Wafaa Abu Hajjaj has been active in the media industry in Gaza for the past eight years, working as a correspondent for various local and regional television news outlets. But she has also been deprived of dozens of job opportunities abroad because she doesn’t have a Palestinian identification card. Without it, she can’t be officially employed or access government services.    __Abu Hajjaj and her father are among thousands of undocumented Palestinians in Gaza.    ___Israel withdrew its military and civilian presence from the Strip in 2005, but one of the countless ways it still exercises immense control over the lives of Gazans is through its control over the Palestinian population registry. Many simple types of changes to the registry, including changing the address or place of one’s residence, still require the Israeli army’s approval.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“MARTYR,”  BY  ZUHAIR  ABU  SHAIB
When they found him
he had become an emerald flame;
as when they lifted his arms they found
sheaves of wheat where a heart should be;
and they say those sheaves were whispering
beneath his shirt; and they say the wild birds
ferried his blood to his family, drop by drop;
and they say he will come back, suspended
in the hidden tree at the burning heart of volcanoes
and that his mother will fold him in her arms.
But when they found him he was an emerald flame,
so they stitched together rose petals for a shroud
and smoothed out the sky to keep him warm
and for a pillows, they lifted down the sun
and laid it beneath his head.
—Trans. By John Glenday

Zuhair Abu Shaib was born in Deir al-Ghusun and studied at Yarmouk University. She was a teacher and journalist in Yemen, and a book designer. She was also editor of the journal Awarq.
From A  BIRD  IS  NOT  A  STONE:  AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF  CONTEMPORARY  PALESTINIAN  POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014). Available from Barnes and Noble.

“. . . an unmistakable signal that [the US] Palestinian views and perspectives will be . . . defined by our relationship with Israel . . .” (Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer )

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Donald-Trump-and-Benjamin-Netanyahu-850x567SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

|    NETANYAHU  TEMPORARILY  DELAYS  FORCIBLE  EVICTION  OF  KHAN  AL-AHMAR
The Israeli government has postponed the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar until further notice, following weeks of rising tensions in the Bedouin village.     ___Following a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the village will soon be “evacuated,” adding that the government plans on implementing the September High Court decision allowing for the demolition of the village.     ___[. . . .] Later Sunday afternoon, the Israeli news website Haaretz that the Israeli security cabinet approved Netanyahu’s plans to temporarily postpone the demolition “in order to exhaust negotiations with the village residents.”   More . . .
Related . . . .  Land  in  the  south  of  the  West  Bank  leveled,  [320  olive  and  almond]  trees  uprooted
|    ISRAEL  MINISTER:  NO  CHOICE  BUT  WAR 
Israel’s war Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) threatened to wage a bloody war against Gaza at the start of a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.     ___“Wars are only conducted when there is no choice, and now there is no choice,” the minister claimed on Monday. “Anything less than the toughest response won’t help anymore. We have exhausted the other options.”     ___ “There is no popular uprising,” Lieberman said. “There is violence organized by Hamas.     More . . .
|    ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  13  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK  RAIDS 
Israeli forces detained at least 13 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, on predawn Monday.     ___According to Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), Israeli forces detained one Palestinian in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. . .    In the southern West Bank district of Bethlehem, three Palestinians were detained. . .    In Kafr Aqab town, in the central West Bank district of Jerusalem, one Palestinian was detained by Israeli forces. . .  In the central West Bank district of Ramallah, another three Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces. . .   In the northern West Bank district of Nablus, two Palestinians were detained. . .   In the northern West Bank district of Jenin. . .    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

|   THE  TRUMP  ADMINISTRATION’S  LATEST  BLOW  TO  THE  CHANCES  FOR  MIDEAST  PEACE
Daniel  Kurtzer,  US  Ambassador  to  Israel,  2001-2005
[. . . .] the Trump administration has decided on yet another step that accelerates the burial of an already moribund peace process: closing  the  American  Consulate  General  in  Jerusalem  and  transforming  it  into  a  “Palestinian  Affairs  Unit”  with  the  U.S.  Embassy. The strangest part of all this is that the administration believes it can still achieve what President Trump has called the “ultimate deal.”   ____The American Consulate General in Jerusalem has been an independent diplomatic mission since its establishment in 1844. Since 1948, and in particular since 1967, the Consulate has served a critical purpose of engaging with Palestinians in an effort to advance the prospects of peace with Israel. The Consulate reported directly to Washington, commenting on what its officers saw and heard, and offered recommendations on how to resolve problems both small and large.   More . . .
|    NETANYAHU,  THE  ARMED  PROPHET  OF  THE  CLASH  OF  CIVILISATIONS 
Dr. Mohammad Makram Balawi, president of ASIA  MIDDLE  EAST  FORUM
. . . . Netanyahu is the prophet out to save the modern Israelites in a hostile environment. His message is to cast the clash of civilisations  theories of Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington into a religious mould. The battle is against evil, which is embodied, he believes, in Islam. . . . I suspect that even Lewis and Huntingdon would be shocked if they could see where Netanyahu has taken their idea.     ___ [. . . .] Netanyahu’s words did not reflect gratitude to the US President as much as implicate and entangle him in a messy situation in an area were historical feuds are rarely forgotten. The Israeli-US alliance. . .  is “an eternal bond that can never, ever be broken,” said Netanyahu. His message was clear: you cannot leave us alone, because we share both the responsibility and the consequences for. . .  occupying the Holy City and land of our existential enemy, Islam.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“SAND  KINGDOM,”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI

With small shovels
and plastic buckets,
the children,
in their joyful clothes,
are building sturdy sand castles.

They throw balls in a game without rules,
they shout, call each other names, laugh,
get scratched in short inevitable clashes.
Complaints are also inevitable:
“Why did you leave me alone?”
“Why don’t you leave me alone?”

They squat on the seat, in a flash,
to make the swing fly higher and higher.

They invent their sudden demands:
a glass of water,
a cry for help, soon forgotten,
a napkin,
a look at the miracle about to take place:
“Watch what I am going to do now!”
“Watch how I jump.”

In the half circle of benches in the part,
on wooden seats
that have almost lost their cumin-colored paint,
mothers and grandmothers in their drab clothes
turn up the collars
to avoid a gust of cold wind,
or silently finger their wrinkled worries.

And from time to time,
trying to overcome their boredom,
they exchange the latest news
in low voices.

They send their children a caring smile,
an encouraging look,
or an instructive gesture.

A big-bellied cat with heavy steps
moves around, as if lost, looking for something.
A string of birds, silent, turns slowly,
like a column of prisoners of war.

Dark clouds pile up above the scene;
a small sun keeps on trying.

From the sand kingdom
a shriek of grief,
a child yells at everyone:
“The castle has fallen.”

—From MIDNIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS, by Mourid Barghouti, translated by Radwa Ashour. London: ARC Publications, 2008.  Available from Barnes and Noble.

“. . . When the almond and the olive have turned to timber . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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THE VILLAGE OF BURIN. PHOTO BY SALMA A-DEB’I. B’Tselem Website, March 27,2018.

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

|  IN  VIDEO  –  ISRAELI  SETTLERS  ATTACK  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS  IN  NABLUS       Video footage showed how several Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers, on Saturday, while they were harvesting olive harvest on Palestinians lands belonging to the residents of the Burin village, south of the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus.    ___According to local sources, Israeli settlers from the illegal Givat Ronin settlement attacked two Palestinian farmers by throwing rocks at them and chased them out of their own lands.    ___The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported that “Settler violence and vandalism takes place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part in the assault; at other times, they stand idly by.    More . . .
|  VIDEO:  AS  THE  OLIVE  HARVEST  BEGINS,  SO  DO  THE  SETTLER  ATTACKS     The time had finally come: the residents of Turmusayya, a lush Palestinian village nestled in a valley between Ramallah and Nablus in the central occupied West Bank, had gotten permission from Israeli authorities to go harvest their olive trees. This chance only came twice a year: two days in the spring to cultivate their land, and two days in the fall to harvest the olives.     ___When they arrived, they were devastated to find dozens of trees chopped down, uprooted, and rotting.     More . . .
. . . . Related  Israeli forces chase Palestinian herders out of grazing land
. . . . Related  Settlers chop off olive, grape trees near Bethlehem
. . . . Related  Settlers attack civilians in Hebron
. . . . Related  Israeli army destroys water pipeline in Kafr Qaddoum
. . . . Related  Israeli Soldiers And Settlers Uproot Trees In Silwan
. . . . Related  PHOTOS: Israeli bulldozers demolish homes in West Bank villages
. . . . Related  Israeli fanatics break into Aqsa Mosque
|  ISRAEL ORDERS IMMEDIATE HALT OF FUEL DELIVERIES TO GAZA    Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered an immediate halt to fuel deliveries headed to besieged Gaza in response to what he claimed attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.    ___The announcement on Friday follows the killing  of  seven  Palestinians  by  Israeli  forces  during the ongoing March of Return protests.   ___”Israel will not tolerate a situation in which fuel tankers are allowed to enter Gaza on the one hand, while terror and violence are used against [Israeli] soldiers and Israeli citizens on the other,” the statement from Lieberman’s office read.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“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 nothing 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.

“. . . We continue to strengthen the Jewish settlement in the West Bank with actions, not words . . .” (Avigdor Lieberman)

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SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

|  LIEBERMAN  TO  APPROVE  31  SETTLEMENT  HOUSING  UNITS  IN  HEBRON  CITY
The Israeli Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, announced on Thursday that he expects the Israeli government to approve the construction of 31 new illegal settlement housing units in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron.    ___Lieberman announced his intention to have the Israeli government approve the construction of 31 news illegal settlement housing units, in Hebron City, on Sunday.     ___He posted a tweet on his official Twitter account that the illegal settlement plan includes new housing units, kindergartens and public parks.     ___”We continue to strengthen the Jewish settlement in the West Bank with actions, not words.”   More . . .
|  ISRAEL  DECLARES  TUBAS-AREA  VILLAGE  CLOSED  MILITARY  ZONE
Israeli forces declared the village of Khirbet al-Hadidiyeh in the northern Jordan Valley a closed military zone and sealed off several roads leading to the village, on Friday.    ___Local activist, Aaref Daraghmeh, said that Israeli forces sealed off entrance roads to Khirbet al-Hadidiyeh and prevented activists from reaching the area, where Israeli forces demolished Palestinian housing structures and steel structures used for housing sheep on Thursday.    ___Israeli forces declared the village a closed military zone . . .    More . . .
. . . . Related   Clashes  break  out  as  IOF  storms  Nablus  villages
. . . . Related   Illegal  Settlers  Attack  Palestinian  Cars  and  High  School  [Nablus  area]
|  283,000  UNEMPLOYED  INDIVIDUALS  IN  GAZA  STRIP 
Gaza unemployment has doubled since Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the Gaza Strip 12 years ago, the General Federation of Palestinian Labor Unions said on Thursday.     ___It said that while unemployment rate has reached 27.2% before the blockade, it has now reached 50%, including 283,000 workers considered unemployed in 2018, which it described as “unprecedented.”     ___The poverty rate has reached 80%, which indicates critical deterioration in the standard of living and economic performance in the Gaza Strip, said the Federation, explaining that Gaza’s two million people have been living difficult and catastrophic conditions for over 12 years.    More . . .
. . . . Related  Thousands  of  Chronically  Ill  Gazans  Deprived  of  Medicine
. . . . Related   Weekly  Report  On  Israeli  Human  Rights  Violations  in  the  Occupied  Palestinian  Territory  (04  –  10  October  2018)

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

|  THE  AUDACITY  OF  UNCHECKED  POWER  IN  KHAN  AL-AHMAR 
An entire Palestinian village is facing destruction. What follows will dictate the fate of Palestinian communities all over the West Bank.
Hagai El-Ad
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s recent op-ed in the Jerusalem Post – designed to whitewash the war crime of the destruction of an entire Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank – is riddled with lies and distortions.    ___ The very premise he posits in his opening sentence is untrue. Lieberman writes of “a judicial ruling for the relocation of a small group of squatters from Khan al-Ahmar.” The High Court of Justice’s ruling, however, actually addressed demolition orders, not “relocation.”     More . . .
|  AS  THE  OLIVE  HARVEST  BEGINS,  SO  DO  THE  SETTLER  ATTACKS
Yumna Patel
The time had finally come: the residents of Turmusayya, a lush Palestinian village nestled in a valley between Ramallah and Nablus in the central occupied West Bank, had gotten permission from Israeli authorities to go harvest their olive trees.   [. . . .]  When they arrived, they were devastated to find dozens of trees chopped down, uprooted, and rotting.   ___The 40 olive trees belonged to 78-year-old Palestinian Mahmoud al-Araj, who had been tending to the trees since he was a boy.    [. . . .]  “I have been cultivating these trees, this land, since I was a boy. We helped our families and tired ourselves on this land so we could provide for our children and the future generations,” he said. “We give everything we have to our land and to these trees, and then the settlers come and destroy it all.”    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“NAME  OF  THE  SOIL,”  BY  ZUHAIR  ABU  SHAIB

what is its name?
what is the name of the soil
that falls from my withered body?
what is its name as it drifts and gathers
under my clothes
while, slowly, I build wall after wall?

I picture a sky full of clouds
I see it as I wish it to be

when night falls, I gulp my fill of springs
in darkness I lift my latch
to wise men

I ask my guests
who imprisoned the soul in rock?
who left prophets spread-eagled on doorsteps?

who risks everything to capture the earth?
a man who does not know his own shadow

what can I call this rug of soil?
is it my country or the source of my exile?
is it my miracle or my cross?

what is its name?

Zuhair Abu Shaib was born in Deir al-Ghusun and studied at Yarmouk University. She has been a teacher and journalist in Yemen, and a book designer. She has also been editor of the journal Awarq.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY. Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014.
House of Poetry in Mafraq launches its fourth meeting in Amman
Under the patronage of the Minister of Culture, the House of Poetry – Mafraq – was opened four years ago on the initiative of the ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. In the presence of the chairman of the cultural authority in Sharjah Abdullah Al Owais with creative contributions by the poet Zuhair Abu Shaib. . .  More . . .

“. . . [our teacher] locates our current colonizers on a continuum of violence . . .” (Lena Khalaf Tuffaha)

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SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

ACTIVISTS  BUILD  ‘WADI  AL-AHMAR’  VILLAGE
Palestinian and international activists built, overnight, wooden and steel houses constructing what they referred to as the “Wadi al-Ahmar” village in the KHAN AL-AHMAR VILLAGE in challenge to the Israeli authorities attempting to uproot Bedouin communities off the area.     ___During night hours, dozens of Palestinian and international activists built substitute homes for residents of Khan al-Ahmar using wood and steel.     __Head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Committee against the Wall and Settlements, Minister Walid Assaf, announced the “birth” of the “Wadi al-Ahmar” village, dozens of meters away from the illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Adumim that is built on lands of Khan al-Ahmar.     ___Assaf stressed that building the village comes as a challenge to Israeli procedures of attacking Palestinian villages and to confirm that Palestinians are ready to keep on building and holding on to their lands.     More . . .
Related . . .  EU:  KHAN  AL-AHMAR  DEMOLITION  COULD  HAVE  SEVERE  CONSEQUENCES
Related . . .  MALAYSIA  LAUNCHES  CAMPAIGN  TO  SUPPORT  PALESTINIAN  REFUGEES
Related . . .  KHAN  AL-AHMAR:  FRANCE,  GERMANY,  ITALY,  SPAIN,  UK  ISSUE  JOINT  STATEMENT
Related . . .  ITALY  APPROVES  ADDITIONAL  FUNDING  TO  UNRWA

ARMY  ABDUCTS  FOUR  PALESTINIANS,  SUMMONS  THREE  OTHERS,  IN  WEST  BANK
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Tuesday at dawn, four young Palestinian men, and summoned three others for interrogation, during extensive and violent military invasions, in the occupied West Bank.    ___The soldiers abducted a young man, identified as Mohammad al-Hilo, from Hizma town, east of Jerusalem, after stopping him near al-Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community, facing Israeli demolition and displacement.    ___Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Safa village, west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, searched several homes and abducted Hasan Karaja, 33, Haitham Siyaj and Saif al-Idrisi.   More . . .

ISRAELI  POLICE  ARREST  SENIOR  PALESTINIAN  OFFICIAL
Israeli police on Tuesday arrested a senior Palestinian official in the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories after searching his house and confiscating some of his belongings.    ___According to his family, Raja Eghbariya, member of the political bureau of Abnaa el-Balad Movement, was arrested from his house in Umm al-Fahm on Tuesday morning.    ___The family said in a press statement that Israeli police seized all computers in the house as well as Eghbariya’s cell phone.    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

US  DECISION  TO  SHUT  PLO  OFFICE  ‘DENIES  PALESTINIANS  AS  PEOPLE’
Ola Salem
The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) office in Washington, DC, is “denying the Palestinians as people” and further jeopardising the peace process, analysts warn.   ___White House National Security Advisor John Bolton announced the administration’s decision in a speech on Monday, saying the PLO had “not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel”.   [. . . .] Palestinian officials have described the decision as a “declaration of war on efforts to bring peace … to the region”.   ___PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said the decision was “yet another affirmation of the Trump administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people”.   More . . .

THE  VEILED  DANGER  OF  THE  ‘DEAD’  OSLO  ACCORDS
Ramzy Baroud
Yossi Beilin is back. This unrepentant Israeli “peacemaker” is like the mythical phoenix, constantly resurrecting from its own ashes.    ___In a recent article in Al-Monitor, Beilin wrote in support of the idea of a confederation between Israel and Palestine.    ___A confederation “could prevent the need to evacuate settlers and allow those interested to live in Palestine as Israeli citizens, just as a similar number of Palestinian citizens could live in Israel,” he wrote.    ___Bizarrely, Beilin is promoting a version of an idea that was promoted by Israel’s extremist Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman. [. . . .] Oslo is not a specific legal document that can be implemented or rejected. It is a spectrum in which the likes of Beilin, Lieberman and Pipes have more in common than they think, and in which the fate of the Palestinian people is left to inept leaders, incapable of thinking outside the permissible space allocated to them by Israelis and the Americans.   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .

BRIGHT  STARS  OF  BETHLEHEM  JERUSALEM  CONFERENCE—HOUSTON,  TEXAS
As part of the Room for Hope festival, The Jerusalem Conference is a one-day conference on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 that brings together scholars, ecumenical theologians, and peace-doers around the topic JERUSALEM: WHAT MAKES FOR PEACE?  Register. . .

POEM FOR THE DAY. . . . 

“GLORIA,”  BY  LENA  KHALAF  TUFFAHA

In the late eighties, in the middle
· · · of middle school we break from studying our ancestors,
pass on the Phoenicians for a while, leave the terraced fields

of Canaan and the hanging gardens of Babylon
· · · for European History. Miss Magda
is our guide and she contextualizes

the continent, intertwines it with our own lives, the shapes
· · · of our maps, the narrowing of our family names. She has
no patience for girls who are charmed by France,

even though a veil of Chanel No 5 unfurls
· · · over our heads as she enters the room, nor for adults
who praise London’s museums. She narrates

a list of our possessions housed there. Miss Magda speaks
· · · many languages: the queen’s English, impeccable
French, some Greek, maybe others? Her Arabic

an elegant Cairene, her eyeliner distinctly Cleopatran. She speaks
· · ·
مش فارقة معها
her mind, she names conquerors, and the servile
regimes they birthed. She liberates the word احتلال

from its quotidian presentation, locates our current colonizers
· · · on a continuum of violence, sends us asking
our grandparents for stories. She enacts her name

as she towers over our desks and asks rhetorical questions
· · ·
كثر خير العرب
who translated Aristotle? Who filled libraries
with books that would later make الرينيساس بتاعهم possible?

In the middle of middle school we are devotees
· · · of American pop songs, they trickle into our lives
months after they top the charts, our childhoods are museums

housing the no-longer hits of the Reagan era. Miss Magda’s
· · · class coincides with our Laura Branigan phase.
Miss Magda barely tolerates our tastes. When she cannot find

a way to escape playground duty and we are perfecting
· · · our hair flips, passing the Walkman around and singing
“Gloria,” she raises a perfect eyebrow and turns toward us

and I think maybe even smiles. In class, ever the historian,
· · · she remarks على فكرة that’s originally an Italian song.
و كانت مش بطالة بس خربوها الأمريكان

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha is an American poet of Palestinian, Jordanian and Syrian heritage. Her poems have been published in American and international journals including Blackbird, The Boiler, and Borderlands. She is the author of Water & Salt (Red Hen Press, 2017). She lives in Redmond, Washington.

“. . . A thousand eyes for an eye . . .” (Lahab Assef Al-Jundi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
vicmensa
“Vic Mensa has been nothing less than courageous speaking out and singing for the Freedom of Palestinians.” (Photo: Social Media, from Palestine Chronicle)

❶ Israel: Gaza economy on the verge of collapsing
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) On the border of Gaza Israel destroys the hopes of farmers
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Vic Mensa’s searing piece in ‘Time’ on Israeli oppression is prefaced by clunky disclaimer re anti-Semitism

  • Background: “Apartheid, Settler Colonialism and the Palestinian State 50 Years on.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture.

❷ Abu Rudeineh: Strength of Palestinian position foiled free normalization
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Abbas at Central Council calls for revision of agreements with Israel
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) Lieberman attacks Abbas: He had “lost his senses”
❸ Opinion/Analysis: Decades of failed peace talks: How Israel negotiates with itself
❹ POETRY by Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAEL:  GAZA  ECONOMY  ON  THE  VERGE  OF  COLLAPSING
Palestine News Network – PNN     
Jan. 15, 2018 ― The Israeli daily, Haaretz on Monday reported that Israeli  military officials said the Palestinian situation is deteriorating, and that the economy and infrastructure  in Gaza was “from zero to below zero.”
___Haaretz said Israeli politicians were acting as if military pressure can continue on Gaza, ignoring the worsening economic situation in the strip.
___“In the long term, continually deteriorating infrastructure brings the risk of an uncontrollable blow-up in the Strip,” the daily said.    MORE . . .  
.  .  .  .  . ❶  ―  (ᴀ)  ON  THE  BORDER  OF  GAZA  ISRAEL  DESTROYS  THE  HOPES  OF  FARMERS
The Palestinian Information Center
Jan. 15, 2018 ― Farmer Mohammad Rashad Abu Ezzar, 30 years old, checks up the land and plants of his family, estimated at 40 dunums, which was burned by the poisonous gas recently sprayed by Israeli planes .
___Abo Ezzar spoke to the PIC of the devastation of their crops, which is the only source of income for his family in light of the high rate of unemployment in the Gaza Strip.
[. . . .] He feels like shouting out loud: “World, what happened is a sin. These are God’s blessings for us to live and eat.” He appealed to the world to intervene in order to stop this crime against all agricultural lands.     MORE . . .  
.  .  .  .  .  ❶  ―  (ᴃ)  VIC  MENSA’S  SEARING  PIECE  IN  ‘TIME’  ON  ISRAELI  OPPRESSION  IS  PREFACED  BY  CLUNKY  DISCLAIMER  RE  ANTI-SEMITISM    ___Mondoweiss
By Philip Weiss
Jan. 14, 2018 ― Rapper Vic Mensa has published a wrenching piece in Time Magazine about “oppression and abuse” in Palestine. He saw elderly women being “punched in the face” by Israeli soldiers, saw hundreds of children being harassed and detained, and felt a solemn obligation to bear witness. But check out two of the opening sentences in the article:    “I am not anti-Semitic, and the views expressed in this essay are in no way an attack on people of the Jewish faith.”
[. . . .] Those words are an insult to the essay itself . . .  the article has nothing to do with Jewishness.   Vic Mensa went to Palestine last summer “with a group of African-American artists, scholars and activists organized by Dream Defenders.”   MORE . . . 

Salem, Walid.
“APARTHEID,  SETTLER  COLONIALISM  AND  THE  PALESTINIAN  STATE  50  YEARS  ON.”
PALESTINE-ISRAEL JOURNAL OF POLITICS, ECONOMICS & CULTURE, vol. 22, no. 2/3, July 2017, pp. 112-118.
After 50 years of the Israeli occupation . . .  the situation on the ground cannot be described as being any less than catastrophic for the Palestinians. This is a situation that can reasonably be described as a continuation of the 1948 Nakba.
___The aspects and ramifications of this ongoing Nakba can be seen everywhere: First, the Palestinians in East Jerusalem are losing their residency rights . . .  Second, the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza live under constant attacks, imprisoned in their tiny 360 km2 strip . . . Third, in the West Bank, Area C‘ Bedouins and farmers are subjected to ongoing processes of evacuation . . .    Fourth, the Palestinians in Hebron are subjected to daily settler attacks and the division of their city . . .   Fifth, the Palestinians in Area A and B”‘ are being subjected to Israeli Army “hot incursions” . . .  Sixth, and finally, the plight of the Palestinian refugees continues almost 70 years after 1948 and 50 years after the displacement of persons in 1967.
___In brief, an Israeli one-state solution in all the historical land of Palestine is in the making, while the Palestinians are facing a growing ignorance of their right to self-determination in an independent state on the 1967 borders. The PLO has accepted this compromise in 1988, a two-state solution to live side-by-side in peace and security with Israel. However, Israel is no longer interested in the two-state solution.  FULL ARTICLE . . .  

❷ ABU  RUDEINEH:  STRENGTH  OF  PALESTINIAN  POSITION  FOILED  FREE  NORMALIZATION   
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Jan. 15, 2018 ― Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Monday that the strength of the Palestinian position towards Jerusalem has succeeded in foiling the biased US policy, exposed the conspiracy against Jerusalem, the core and title of the Palestinian cause, and foiled free normalization, which goes against the Arab Peace Initiative.
___“Everyone is now required to stand united in the face of the attack on the Palestinian cause, particularly Jerusalem with its Islamic and Christian holy places, which necessitated the convening of the Central Council to take decisions that live up to the seriousness of the period,” Abu Rudeineh.   MORE . . .      RELATED . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴀ)  ABBAS  AT  CENTRAL  COUNCIL  CALLS  FOR  REVISION  OF  AGREEMENTS  WITH  ISRAEL
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Jan. 14, 2018 ― President Mahmoud Abbas called on the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) meeting in Ramallah on Sunday for a revision of the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel.
___“I call on the Central Council to revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” he said, adding that “we are going to take this decision even though we know in advance what it will bring to us.”     MORE . . .  
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴃ)  LIEBERMAN  ATTACKS  ABBAS:  HE  HAD  “LOST  HIS  SENSES” 
Palestine News Network – PNN
Jan. 15, 2018 ― The Israeli minister of army, Avigdor Lieberman in response to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech said that he had “lost his senses”  for criticizing the US administration and its bias towards Israel.
___Lieberman told Israeli Army Radio that Abbas’ address conveyed his give up on the negotiations, failure of relations with the US, and having narrow political horizons.
___Criticism came not only from right wing Israeli leaders, but also from the Israeli opposition parties.    MORE . . .  
❸ Opinion/Analysis: DECADES  OF  FAILED  PEACE  TALKS:  HOW  ISRAEL  NEGOTIATES  WITH  ITSELF
+972 Magazine   
By Noam Sheizaf
June 28, 2017 ― Why have Israeli-Palestinian negotiations failed?  . . . .
[. . . .] What does this reality look like on the ground? The Jewish and Palestinian populations are mixed together throughout the territory. Jews and Arabs live alongside one another in the West Bank . . .  in each one of these areas, the State of Israel is sovereign. It controls every land and sea border, all of the airspace, the primary currency and the population registry . . .    Israel also exercises perhaps the most important ingredient of sovereignty — it enjoys a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence in the entire territory.
[. . . .] Let’s put it another way: ALTHOUGH  WE  LOVE  ARGUING  ONE  STATE  VS.  TWO  STATES,  IN  REALITY  WE  HAVE  BEEN  LIVING  IN  A  SINGLE  STATE  FOR  SOME  DECADES  NOW — one in which half the population (Jews) holds almost all of the political power and controls all the resources, while enjoying full rights throughout the entire land.   MORE . . .  

COLLATERAL  SAVAGE,”  BY  LAHAB  ASSEF  AL-JUNDI
Survivors of The Holocaust please
Talk to me. Help me understand―
Do you sanction what’s being done
In your names?

I thought your spirits
grew more gentle
having lived through the unspeakable.

Bombs are not less lethal or evil―
Stop being so deathly afraid of the other.

A thousand eyes for an eye?
Children of the Holocaust
please do not lash out
as if you lost your sight.

Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
Lahab Assef Al-Jundi was born of Palestinian refugee parents and grew up in Damascus, Syria. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Not long after graduation, he discovered his passion for writing. He published his first poetry collection, A Long Way, in 1985. His poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications, and many anthologies including Inclined to Speak, An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Poetry, edited by Hayan Charara, and Between Heaven and Texas, edited by Naomi Shihab Nye.
From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND:  PALESTINE  ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE.  Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012. Available from Barnes & Noble.