Category: BDS Palestinian boycott

“Have you forgotten your shame. . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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dpaphotostwo334330
Esther Bejarano, Auschwitz survivor, 2015. (Photo: Uwe Zucchi DPA- German News Agency)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|  TENTS,  SCHOOL  FURNITURE  SEIZED  IN  SOUTH  OF  WEST  BANK
Israeli soldiers raided a village in the south Hebron hills on Monday and seized tents and furniture brought for a local school the Israeli army had demolished last week, according to the local education department.    ___The Israeli army demolished the school built near the town of Samou, south of the West Bank, on Wednesday and seized its furniture after destroying the grounds.    ___Residents, along with the Ministry of Education and solidarity groups, brought tents and furniture to rebuild it, but an army force broke into the area during the night and seized everything.    [. . . .] The school, referred to as Challenge School 13, serves 35 students up to grade six from two Palestinian communities living in that area. Its construction had cost 40,000 euros.    More . . .
. . . . Related  IOF raids homes, kidnaps citizens in different W. Bank areas
. . . . Related  Thousands of settlers storm different West Bank sites for rituals
. . . . Related  Israeli settlers break into Palestinian archaeological site [Beita Town, Nablus]
. . . . Related  Israeli forces raid outskirts of Ramallah, seize surveillance cameras
. . . . Related  Farmer Mansour Marayta mourns his stolen land
. . . . Related  IOF storm Ramallah villages after shooting of Ofra settlers
|  SCORES  OF  AMPUTATIONS  IN  GAZA  AS  ISRAELI  TROOPS  AIM  AT  LEGS
Israeli forces deployed along the fence that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip have fired live rounds at rock-throwing Palestinian protesters ever since demonstrations demanding the right to return began in March.    ___And for eight months, Israeli snipers have targeted one part of the body more than any other – the legs.    ___The Israeli army says it is responding to weekly assaults on its frontier by Palestinians armed with stones, grenades and firebombs. It says it opens fire only as a last resort and considers firing at the lower limbs an act of restraint.    More . . .
. . . . Related  Report: Palestinian Prisoners In Israel Jails Suffer Medical Negligence
. . . . Related  Palestinians injured after Israeli settlers break into Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus
|  SENIOR  ISRAELI  LAWMAKER  CALLS  FOR  KILLING  ALL  PALESTINIANS
Chair of the Defence Committee at the Israeli Parliament Avi Dichter has called for killing all the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.    ___As he was commenting on the peaceful protests of the Great March of Return taking place along the eastern fence of the Gaza Strip, he said: “The Israeli army has enough bullets for every Palestinian.”    ___Dichter is a senior member of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, which is a right wing one. [. . . .] He later added: “The number [of peaceful Palestinian protesters] killed does not mean anything because they are just Nazis anyhow.”    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  WHY  AUSCHWITZ  SURVIVOR  ESTHER  BEJARANO  SUPPORTS  BDS
Esther Bejarano learned to love music from her father Rudolf Loewy, a cantor in the Jewish community of the southwest German town of Saarlouis, where she was born in 1924.  That was lucky for her, because music literally saved her life.     ___Bejarano recently spoke to The Electronic Intifada at her home in Hamburg.  [. . . .] After the war, Bejarano emigrated to Palestine, but her aversion to Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians eventually led her to return to Germany.  [. . . .] But Bejarano knows no fear and continues to raise her voice, calling Israel’s government “fascist” and saying she supports BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions – if it helps challenge Israel’s persecution of Palestinians.   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
| MEDICAL  AID  FOR  PALESTINIANS
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees.  We provide immediate medical aid to those in great need, while also developing local capacity and skills to ensure the long-term development of the Palestinian healthcare system.  Donate

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.

 

“. . . Soldiers stalk a pharmacy: big guns, little pills . . .” (Naomi Shihab Nye)

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SELECTED  NEWS  OF  THE  DAY. . .

ISRAEL  ORDERS  KHAN  AL-AHMAR  RESIDENTS  TO  EVACUATE  BEFORE  OCTOBER
The Israeli Civil Administration ordered on Sunday the Bedouin residents of Khan al-Ahmar village, east of Jerusalem, to demolish their homes and to evacuate the area before the start of October.  ___According to local sources, staff members of the Israeli Civil Administration under the protection of Israeli forces stormed Khan al-Ahmar and handed evacuation notices to the residents, ordering them to demolish their homes and evacuate the village within the given timeframe.   ___Sources said that Israeli forces threatened the residents in case of non-implementation of the notices, the Israeli army would demolish the village.   More .
Related . . .  ISRAEL  NOTIFIES  TO  DEMOLISH  7  HOMES  NEAR  JERICHO

34  [U.S.]  SENATE  DEMOCRATS  URGE  TRUMP  TO  RESTORE  AID  TO  THE  PALESTINIANS     Lawmakers warn president’s ‘strategy of forcing PA to negotiating table by withholding humanitarian assistance from women and children is misguided and destined to backfire.’
Two-thirds of Democrats in the Senate and a third of the entire body signed a letter to US President Donald Trump urging him to reinstate assistance to the Palestinians. . .   ___“Eliminating funds for programs that provide clean water, food, education, and medical services for Palestinians will exacerbate poverty, fuel extremism, further reduce the chance of a future peace agreement and threaten Israel’s security,” said the letter sent Friday [. . . .] The letter was initiated by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Diane Feinstein and Chris Coons.  JEWISH  SIGNATORIES  include Feinstein, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Brian Schatz.   More . . .

IOF  PREVENT  MINISTER  OF  EDUCATION  FROM  PASSING  THROUGH  CHECKPOINT
Israeli occupation authorities on Sunday morning prevented Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Sabri Saidam from entering Beit Iksa checkpoint to inspect the educational process in the town.   ___The Ministry of Education said in a press statement that the minister and his delegation . . . considering that this prohibition comes as part of a deliberate campaign against Minister Siddam and the educational leadership.    More .

COMMENTARY  AND  OPINION. . . .

THE  HOLOCAUST,  VENGEANCE  AND  THE  PALESTINIANS
Philip Weiss
For Jews 50 and older, there is only one collective memory. It was given to me when I was little, when my mother told me about the Jews hiding . . .   It did not matter that the actual memory was not my mother’s or mine. This had happened to us, the Jews. She’d been a girl when the news had broken in the U.S. The memory was fresh, and ours to carry.   [. . . .] I went to Warsaw. Actually seeing the scene of the boots and the scant memorials to its existence was disturbing; and when I got home I began reading Warsaw memoirs. [. . . .] One surprise of these memoirs was a simple one that probably should have been obvious. The remnant of Jews who survived the ghetto liquidation in 1942 and who undertook the noble doomed uprising in 1943 had an overriding motivation: They wanted revenge.   More . . .

HOW  THE  SPANISH  COURTS  BECAME  A  BATTLEGROUND  FOR  ISRAEL’S  ANTI-BDS  EFFORTS
On 4 September, a Spanish district court annulled a resolution to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The resolution had been put forward by the municipal council of Ayamonte, a small town situated on the border with Portugal, and advocated for a ban on any association with Israeli companies or organisations.    [. . . .]   So why the about-turn? One thread tying the above three cases together is ACOM, or Acción y Comunicación sobre Oriente Medio (Action and Communication on the Middle East). ACOM describes itself as a “non-denominational and independent organization that aims to reinforce the political relationship between Spain and Israel by working with governments, political parties, the media and civil society.” . . .  ACOM has been on the front line of Israel’s efforts to quash support for BDS, embroiling the Spanish courts in a tug of war in the process.   [. . . .] links with right-wing NGOs and the Israeli political elite have placed ACOM at the forefront of Israel’s anti-BDS war.   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .

FRIENDS  OF  SABEEL  NORTH  AMERICA    Prophetic  Action:  Christians  Convening  for  Palestine – September 27, 2018 to September 28, 2018
FOSNA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt Christian ecumenical organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy Land through nonviolent advocacy and education. Sabeel is an international peace movement initiated by Palestinian Christians, who seek a just peace as defined by international law and existing United Nations resolutions. “Join us for Prophetic Action: Christians Convening for Palestine. . . in concert with this year’s US Campaign for Palestinian Rights conference in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prophetic Action will be one of the largest ecumenical gatherings of Christian leaders and activists for Palestinian rights.”  Information . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  NAOMI  SHIHAB  NYE

“Let’s be the same wound if we must bleed.
Let’s fight side by side, even if the enemy
is ourselves: I am yours, you are mine.”
—Tommy Olofsson, Sweden

I’m not interested in
who suffered the most.
I’m interested in
people getting over it.

Once when my father was a boy
a stone hit him on the head.
Hair would never grow there.
Our fingers found the tender spot
and its riddle: the boy who has fallen
stands up. A bucket of pears
in his mother’s doorway welcomes him home.
The pears are not crying.
Later his friend who threw the stone
says he was aiming at a bird.
And my father starts growing wings.

Each carries a tender spot:
something our lives forgot to give us.
A man builds a house and says,
“I am native now.”
A woman speaks to a tree in place
of her son. And olives come.
A child’s poem says,
“I don’t like wars,
they end up with monuments.”
He’s painting a bird with wings
wide enough to cover two roofs at once.

Why are we so monumentally slow?
Soldiers stalk a pharmacy:
big guns, little pills.
If you tilt your head just slightly
it’s ridiculous.

There’s a place in my brain
where hate won’t grow.
I touch its riddle: wind, and seeds.
Something pokes us as we sleep.

It’s late but everything comes next.

—From Naomi Shihab Nye,  THE  RED  SUITCASE.  BOA Editions, Ltd. (1994).

 

 

“You bereaved me from the light . . .” (Fouzi El-Asmar)

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IMG_3055 - Copy
Entrance to Ofer Prison, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 5, 2015.


SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY   

ISRAEL  TO  BUILD  650  NEW  SETTLEMENT  UNITS  IN  WEST  BANK
The Israeli government decided on Tuesday to build 650 new settlement units, for the benefit of expanding the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El, one of the biggest settlements, located in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah.   ___A Hebrew-language news outlet reported that the Israeli government decided to build the 650 new settlement units along with another 296 units, which had been previously approved for Beit El.   ___The Israeli government reportedly justified the illegal Israeli settlement expansion as a “compensation” to Israeli settlers who were removed from their settlement outposts of Olbana in 2012 and Darinov in 2015.   More. . .
AFTER  SLAYING,  ARABS  BLAME  APATHETIC  POLICE  IN  ISRAEL
Rasha Abou Jalal
Protests continue in the Arab city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye in northern Israel, with citizens accusing Israeli police of neglecting their duty to protect citizens there. Demonstrations began Aug. 11 when one or more unidentified assailants killed local businessman Ahmad Athamneh, 40, and wounded another man.     ___Since Athamneh’s shooting, residents demonstrated for the third time Aug. 17 in front of a mosque to protest the prevalence of crime in their city. The protesters demanded that the Israeli police do their job: Arrest the perpetrators and fight violence in the Arab community.    More. . .
CAMPAIGN    FORCES    ISRAEL’S    ZIM    TO    HALT    SHIPMENTS    TO    TUNISIA        Ali Abunimah 
Palestinians are hailing a campaign that has led Israel’s Zim shipping line to halt its routes to Tunisia.   ___“Zim was forced to indefinitely suspend its services to the Tunisian port of Radès following a popular and trade union boycott campaign in Tunisia and the Arab world,” the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) said on Sunday.   ___The BNC is the steering group for the worldwide boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that aims to pressure Israel to end its violations of Palestinian rights.   ___The BNC called this “the first victory of its kind in the Arab world.”   More. . .
PALESTINIAN  PRISONER  STATISTICS,  JULY  2018.
Total number of political prisoners – 5820. Administrative detainees – 446.  Child prisoners – 270.  More. . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION

SAMIDOUN  SOLIDARITY  STATEMENT  WITH  THE  U.S.  NATIONAL  #PRISONSTRIKE
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with the National Prison Strike launching on 21 August in jails across the United States. This important struggle, involving work stoppages, sit-ins, boycotts and even hunger strikes, is a critical confrontation of racism, capitalism and oppression taking place in the center of the U.S. prison system.   ___The dates of the strike are not accidental; instead, they underline the political legacies that have inspired and continue to push forward the movement. August 21 marks the 47th anniversary of the assassination of imprisoned revolutionary and Black Panther George Jackson.  More. . .

NO  POWER,  NO  SUPPLIES,  NO  WAY  OUT:  A  YEAR  WITHOUT  THE  RIGHT  TO  HEALTH  IN  THE  GAZA  STRIP  (Mar 02, 2018)
Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP)
[. . . .] Instead of advancing, medical care and access in the Gaza Strip is moving backwards, against time. Ten years of Israel’s air, land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip has played a strong hand in this de-development, bottlenecking the entering stream of both material and human resources into a weak trickle.   ___Current best practice may not even be in reach in the Gaza Strip, where the blockade has seen shelves wiped clean of some pharmaceutical drugs and supply cupboards sit empty. Even during periods of easement, goals often only reach as high as restocking, replacing parts of worn out equipment, or rebuilding bombed buildings.   More. . .

IT TOOK ME THREE DECADES TO DRIVE ONE HOUR FROM GAZA TO JERUSALEM     Abier Almasri
Earlier this year, the Israeli army gave me a permit to leave the 11-by-40 kilometer Gaza Strip for the first time in my life and travel to the United States for work. Last month, I left again – this time, to see the rest of Palestine and Israel. The one-hour trip from the Israel-Gaza crossing to Jerusalem felt like a journey to a distant world.   ___I have always dreamed of smelling Jerusalem’s air and hearing the call to prayer ring from its mosques. When the prospect of traveling there was still a distant dream, I told a colleague, “I just hope to have the chance to pray in al-Aqsa Mosque before I die.”    More. . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS   

EYEWITNESS  PALESTINE:  JOURNEYS  FOR  JUSTICE  WITH  PALESTINIAN  AND  ISRAELI  PEACE-BUILDERS
UPCOMING DELEGATIONS    There’s only one way to truly understand the realities of Palestine/Israel – through the eyes of those who live there. Palestinians and Israelis welcome us into their homes, offices, and places of worship to learn from them about their lives. Are you ready for an unforgettable journey for justice?   More. . .

“I  AM  THE  SON  OF  THE  LAND,”  BY  FOUZI  EL  ASMAR

You may take my hands
and lock them in your chains
You may also blindfold me.

You bereaved me
from the light
and I marched
You robbed me
of the bread
and I ate.
You plundered the land
from me
and I ploughed.

I am the son of the land
and for that
I find goodness in this earth
anywhere I happen to be:
The ants of this land
feed me
The branches of this land
foster me
The eagles of this land
will shield my open revolt

Yes
You may take my hands
And lock them in your chains
You may also blindfold me
But here I will stand tall
And here I shall remain
until the very end. (April 1970)

–From: El Azmar, Fouzi. POEMS  FROM  AN  ISRAELI  PRISON.  KNOW Books, 1973.

“Israelis cannot generally understand that hurting a national minority under their control . . . will damage the very essence of Israel’s social fabric . . .” (Meir Margalit)

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United Nations Human Rights Day,   December 10, 2016  

Stand up for someone’s rights today!    

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1950, the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all States and interested organizations to observe 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day.

230 Palestinian children still kept in Israeli jails
A Palestinian child being brutally detained by Israeli occupation forces, Apr. 5, 2014 (Al-Alam News Network file photo)

❶ . European missions criticize Israel’s administrative detention policy against Palestinians

  • Background:  “Seeking A True Human Rights Agenda.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture

❷ . Israeli forces detain Palestinian youth allegedly crossing Gaza border with weapons

❸ . Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP)
Stop Israeli Military Detention―SIGN THE PETITION

❹ . Video and pictures: Preventing the body of a Jerusalemite woman from being buried in Al-Rahmeh Gate Cemetery…and arresting two of her grandchildren
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ . EUROPEAN  MISSIONS  CRITICIZE  ISRAEL’S  ADMINISTRATIVE  DETENTION  POLICY  AGAINST  PALESTINIANS 
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Dec. 10, 2016
The European Union (EU) Representative, the EU Heads of Mission and the Heads of Mission of Switzerland and Norway in Jerusalem and Ramallah Friday expressed concern regarding Israel’s excessive use of administrative detention against Palestinians.     ___“The Heads of Mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah reiterate their longstanding concern about the extensive use by Israel of administrative detention without formal charge,” they said in a statement.     More . . .

  • Margalit, Meir. “Seeking A True Human Rights Agenda.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 16.2 (2010): 1-6.  ARTICLE.

[. . . .]  Indeed, one difficulty in explaining why people must respect human rights lies in its being not a question of a “need” but of a “value” . . . . Decisions based on values are unconnected to physical and material needs. They are tenuous and, in times of crisis, are the first to vanish. This rule is true of countries with a deeprooted democratic tradition, such as the United States and the United Kingdom after the 9/11 attacks. It is even truer of Israeli society where, since 1967, values have been eroding constantly. Israeli society has developed a mechanism for repressing values that clash with what takes place in the territories . . . The process of denial, which is necessary to preserve the collective mental health, leads to the total disregard of decisions based on values or the debate on questions of human rights.
[. . . .] Because the human rights discourse is identified with the left wing, it has a strong impact on the attitude of alienation that much of Israeli society experiences. In the public imagination, people working for human rights are perceived to be chiefly concerned about Arabs, or homosexuals, or “haters of Israel,” if not worse. . . . Every human rights activist encounters the defiant question, “Why don’t you worry about Jews instead of worrying about Arabs?” — a question with an inherent assumption that concern for human rights undermines Israel’s position. As a result, most of the public shuns the subject.
[. . . .]  Israelis cannot generally understand that hurting a national minority under their control leads to a downhill path which, sooner or later, will damage the very essence of Israel’s social fabric. Perhaps this is because most Israelis were born into a society where their basic human rights were assured and are unaware of the fragility and ease with which they can dissipate and lead a country into dark, undesirable situations. Most Israelis are conformist.   [. . . .]

❷ . ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  PALESTINIAN  YOUTH  ALLEGEDLY  CROSSING  GAZA  BORDER  WITH  WEAPONS  
Ma’an News Agency
Dec. 9, 2016
Israeli forces Friday at dawn detained a Palestinian youth after allegedly “illegally” crossing the border barriers in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.     ___Several Israeli news outlets claimed that the Palestinian youth was carrying a knife and a grenade when he was detained and taken to interrogation.
___Separately, Israeli forces reportedly detained a Palestinian youth after approaching the Ofer military camp west of Ramallah City in the central occupied West Bank on Thursday.
___Israeli media reported that the youth was “suspicious” which “called for detaining and transferring him for interrogation.”      More . . .

❸ .  STOP  ISRAELI  MILITARY  DETENTION
 Defense For Children International Palestine (DCIP)
Sign the petition
Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes around 700 children in military courts each year.
___Three out of every four of these children endure some form of physical violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers or officers following arrest. In 97 percent of the cases, children are interrogated without legal counsel and without their parents.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE.

Palestinians pray beside a grave in a Muslim cemetery just outside Jerusalem's Old City
Mourners at the Muslim cemetery of Bab Al-Rahma outside the Eastern Wall of Jerusalem. Burial in the area began in the 8th century. (Photo: International Business Times, Nov. 3, 2016)

❹ .  VIDEO  AND  PICTURES:  PREVENTING  THE  BODY  OF  A  JERUSALEMITE  WOMAN  FROM  BEING  BURIED  IN  AL-RAHMEH  GATE  CEMETERY…AND  ARRESTING  TWO  OF  HER  GRANDCHILDREN  
Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Silwan     
Dec. 5, 2016
The occupation authorities prevented on Monday afternoon the family of the deceased Khadijeh Abu Al-Doleh from being buried in Al-Rahmeh Gate Cemetery that is adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque under the pretext of confiscating the land in favor of the Nature and Parks authority.
___Special Forces surrounded the cemetery on Monday afternoon. When the funeral arrived, they prevented the participants from entering the cemetery and informed them that the location of her grave is confiscated and she can’t be buried there.  More . . . 

“. . . an equitable distribution of goods and resources according to pre-agreed criteria of rights. . . .” (Leila Farsakh)

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gaza-fish
Israel Navy attacks Gaza Fishermen, Dec. 3, 2011 (Photo by @rosa_schiano)

❶ . Israeli forces open fire at Gaza fisherman, detain two, confiscate boats
❷ . . Under BDS Pressure, G4S Ends Most Illegal Business with Israel
. . . ❷― (a) Poll shows growing support among Americans for sanctions against Israel

  • Background: “Economic Prospects For A One-State Solution In Palestine-Israel.” Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal

❸ . Opinion/Analysis:  Economic collapse in East Jerusalem: strategies for recovery             ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ . ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  AT  GAZA  FISHERMAN,  DETAIN  TWO,  CONFISCATE  BOATS  
Ma’an News Agency 
Dec. 4, 2016
Israeli forces on Sunday at dawn opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli naval forces opened fire at the fishing boats while at sea in both the northern and southern Gaza Strip.
___No injuries were reported.
___Shortly after the fisherman were shot at, Israeli naval forces detained two fishermen and confiscated their boats off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. . .    More . . .

g4s_3
Subvertising campaign at King’s Cross, London (Photo: Global Exchange, international human rights organization)

❷ . UNDER  BDS  PRESSURE,  G4S  ENDS  MOST  ILLEGAL  BUSINESS  WITH  ISRAEL       International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC   
Dec. 3, 2016
The world’s largest security company,  G4S,  announced today that it is selling most of its Israeli business after an effective campaign against the company, waged by the Palestinian-led, global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights, caused it “reputational damage.”
___. . .  Rafeef Ziadah, speaking for the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), said:   “We have succeeded to push one of the world’s largest corporations into selling its key business in Israel. Our globally coordinated campaign has had a real impact. We will continue campaigning until G4S ends all involvement in violations of Palestinian human rights.”     More . . .  
. . . ❷― (A) POLL  SHOWS  GROWING  SUPPORT  AMONG  AMERICANS  FOR  SANCTIONS  AGAINST  ISRAEL   
Times of Israel
Dec. 2, 2016
The number of Americans supporting sanctions against Israel over its settlement policy grew by 9 percent over the past year and now stands at 46%, according to a new poll released by the Brookings Institution on Friday.
___According to twin surveys conducted by the think tank’s Shibley Telhami before and after the November 8 presidential elections, support for punitive measures against Israel has increased among members of both major parties: 60% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans back economic sanctions and more serious action, compared to 49% and 26% in November 2015.   More . . .

  • Farsakh, Leila. “Economic Prospects For A One-State Solution In Palestine-Israel.” Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal (Edinburgh University Press) 12.2 (2013): 119-140.    SOURCE.

[. . . .]  Although the concept of economic justice can be nebulous, it is generally understood to mean an equitable distribution of goods and resources according to pre-agreed criteria of rights. However, to talk about the notion of economic justice in the Israeli-Palestinian context is particularly difficult, given that we do not have clear criteria on which to base our discussion of economic rights for two peoples fighting over the same piece of land: are we talking about nations or about citizens, about resources confiscated or owned, about consumer or producers, workers or owners? It is all the more challenging given the difficulty of defining the boundaries and content of each of the Palestinian and Israeli economies. The two-state solution . . . is problematic as it violates national boundaries and obfuscates how facts on the ground have eroded [Palestinian] economic and political validity.
[. . . .] The question of economic separation or integration is . . .  intrinsically tied to the nature of the political, sic territorial, solution proposed to the conflict.
[. . . .] Shimon Perez argued that the Oslo peace process ushered a ‘New Middle East’ that would allow the free flow of capital and labour and thereby cause standards of living to rise and violence to fall. However 20 years of the peace process did not bring economic viability or justice to both parties. It rather enabled Israel to grow economically more prosperous and independent of the Palestinians while rendering the latter poorer and aid dependent.
___The contrast between Israeli and Palestinian economic performance under the Oslo peace process could not be more revealing.

❸ .  Opinion/Analysis:  ECONOMIC  COLLAPSE  IN  EAST  JERUSALEM:  STRATEGIES  FOR  RECOVERY 
Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network
by Nur Arafeh
Nov. 30, 2016
Overview     In an unusual move, and after years of neglect, American and European delegations and development agencies have recently been visiting East Jerusalem and showing an increased interest in “doing something” about its deteriorating socioeconomic conditions. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is, after a prolonged silence, working on updating the Strategic Multi-Sector Development Plan for East Jerusalem 2011-2013.     ___There are fears that the election of Donald Trump might put a damper on these welcome and long overdue initiatives. It is also problematic that these delegations focus on economic development when the reality is that real economic development is not possible without progress on the political front to free the Occupied Palestinian Territory and fulfill Palestinian rights in the context of a just and comprehensive peace.     ___This brief by Al-Shabaka Policy Fellow Nur Arafeh focuses on Israel’s deliberately engineered economic collapse of East Jerusalem, which renders the city essentially unlivable for Palestinians so as to ensure Jewish control over it.      More . . .  

 

“. . . waiting has become an inevitable part of our lives . . .” (Sani P. Meo)

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insurance
At the offices of the National Insurance Institute. Apr. 15, 2015 (Photo: Nir Kafri/Haaretz)

❶ When Waiting Becomes an Identity

  • Background:  “Freedom Of Movement V. Restrictions On Movement Under The Two Legal Systems.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture
  • Background:  The Chicago Hearing. American Friends Service Committee.

❷ EU guarantees right to boycott Israel
. . . ❷― (a) Qatar University: Student Council Votes for Boycott of Israel
. . . ❷― (b) War on Roger Waters due to supporting Palestine
❸ Why Palestinians are unfazed by calls to cut off US aid
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ WHEN  WAITING  BECOMES  AN  IDENTITY  
This Week in Palestine  
Sani P. Meo
November 2016
For decades now, I’ve seen the queues of Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem . . . Whether you need to renew your identity card, register your marriage or the birth of your child, or submit an address change, for example, the Ministry of Interior is your Mecca! True, all civilized countries need to keep track of their citizens . . .  but it is no secret that the scene is different in West Jerusalem for Israeli citizens . . .  waiting has become an inevitable part of our lives. Whether it’s at red traffic lights, in checkout lines, or in doctors’ clinics, we all wait; however, I dare say that in Palestine, waiting has a special flare to it that has become an integral part of Palestinian identity.    More . . .  

  • Sela, Ronit. “Freedom Of Movement V. Restrictions On Movement Under The Two Legal Systems.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 21.3 (2016): 31-38.   Full article.  

The evolvement of two separate legal regimes in the West Bank is one of the most prominent and troublesome characteristics of the Israeli occupation. This separation is premised on an ethno-national basis, reflected in every aspect of life, and severely infringes upon the rights of the Palestinian residents. . . .
[. . . .] Restriction of movement infringes not only upon the right to freedom of movement but rather violates a range of rights. For Palestinians, those restrictions impact where a person can live, whether family members will be able to come and visit, how fast one can reach a hospital, which opportunities for studies and employment are available, and much more.
[. . . .] This occurs in spite of the fact that international humanitarian law . . . places numerous obligations on Israel to protect the Palestinian population over whom it occupies. Moreover, international law clearly and unambiguously forbids the creation of settlements in the heart of the occupied land. . .  As a consequence of the expansion of the settlement blocs, the human rights violations against the Palestinian people have increased and become more entrenched. Three aspects of limitations on the freedom of movement of Palestinians . . .  physical restrictions on movement, limits on choosing one‘s place of residency, and traffic law enforcement that hinders on movement. . . .The Israeli authorities routinely justify this discrimination against Palestinians by stating security considerations, both for national security and tor the sake of providing protection to settlers.
[. . . .] These and other hardships are the result of the systematic separation that exists on the ground and within the legal framework of the dual legal system. The separation essentially exists between Palestinians on the one hand, and all those who are not Palestinian on the other hand, be it settlers, Israeli visitors or international visitors. The basic principles of international humanitarian law, meant to protect residents of the occupied territory, are routinely ignored, leaving Palestinians exposed and highly vulnerable.

  • The Chicago Hearing: Does U.S. Policy on Israel and Palestine Uphold Our Values? An Initiative of the American Friends Service Committee, Chicago Sunday, April 18, 2010 from 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM University of Chicago, Ida Noyes Hall     Website
    General Overview [Map of checkpoints and other information]
    In the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), nearly every facet of life is controlled by Israeli military policies. These policies not only restrict movement, but also isolate and harass the civilian population.
qalandia
Palestinian women walking among cement blocks towards the main checkpoint to enter Jerusalem city. Qalandia checkpoint, June 24, 2016 (Photo by Mohammad Alhaj/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

❷ EU  GUARANTEES  RIGHT  TO  BOYCOTT  ISRAEL 
Days of Palestine
Nov. 15, 2016
In answer to a parliamentary question on whether the EU commission will commit to defending BDS activists’ right to exercise their democratic freedom of expression, [EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica] Mogherini was clear: “The EU stands firm in protecting freedom of expression and freedom of association, including BDS actions.”
___She also noted that the European Court of Human Rights has affirmed that freedom of expression applies to ideas “that offend, shock or disturb the state or any sector of the population.”    More . . .
. . . ❷― (A) QATAR  UNIVERSITY:  STUDENT  COUNCIL  VOTES  FOR  BOYCOTT  OF  ISRAEL 
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC 
November 18, 2016
The representative council of Qatar University students voted for the provincial movement and the refusal of normalization with the Israeli occupation, in a new victory of the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) in the Arabian Gulf.
___ . . . the council stressed the importance of the Arab role in countering normalization, boycott and divestment from Israel in order to strengthen the resistance of the Palestinians amid escalating Israeli crimes.     More . . .   
. . . ❷― (B) WAR  ON  ROGER  WATERS  DUE  TO  SUPPORTING  PALESTINE
Days of Palestine
Nov 16, 2016
Co-founder, ex-lead singer for rock music giant Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, found himself amidst fierce war after supporting pro-Palestine activists    [. . . .]
___According to Page Six, the credit card giant [AMEX] has baulked on its plans to put up $4m (£3.2m) for his 2017 solo tour in North America following his comments at Oldchella festival – an event the company sponsored – earlier this month.
___“I am going to send out all of my most heartfelt love and support to all those young people on the campuses of the universities of California who are standing up for their brothers and sisters in Palestine and supporting the BDS movement,” he said.    More . . .

❸  WHY  PALESTINIANS  ARE  UNFAZED  BY  CALLS  TO  CUT  OFF  US  AID      Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Daoud Kuttab
Nov. 17, 2016
Mustafa Barghouti, an elected Palestinian legislator, told Al-Monitor that the United States has already reduced aid to the Palestinian government. “In the past two years, we have seen a steady decline in financial support coming from Washington to the Palestinian government. . . ” US funding, which goes straight to the Palestinian government’s creditors, “has dropped from about $100 million in 2014 to roughly $75 million in 2015.”            More . . .

“. . . I am the first of the homeless . . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

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1-bulldozers-001
A child sits next to a shack demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the village of Fasayil in the occupied West Bank’s Jordan Valley on 10 February. (Photo: Oren Ziv / ActiveStills)

❶ Israeli forces demolish homes of 2 Palestinians in Hebron area
❷ When Israel’s bulldozers escape our attention
❸ SodaStream admits bowing to boycott pressure
❹ ‘NYT’ article on roots of recent violence in Israel/Palestine fails to use the word ‘occupation’
❺ Opinion/Analysis: WHY IT’S DANGEROUS TO CONFLATE HAMAS AND DAESH
❻ Poetry by Mourid Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  DEMOLISH  HOMES  OF  2  PALESTINIANS  IN  HEBRON  AREA
Feb. 23, 2016
Israeli forces raided two Palestinian towns in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron overnight Monday, where they demolished the homes of two young men who carried out attacks against Israelis.
___A video shared online by an Israeli army spokesperson showed excavators demolishing two houses in the middle of the night.      More . . .
❷ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
WHEN  ISRAEL’S  BULLDOZERS  ESCAPE  OUR  ATTENTION
Barbara Erickson
Feb. 22, 2016
Last autumn, when word came that the unpaved road to al-Hadidiya would be repaired, villagers in this Jordan Valley herding community looked forward to a winter of less hardship.
___Now, even when the rains arrived and turned the track into muck, supplies could get through, children could walk to school and the sick could reach clinics. . . .
___ . . . an attorney had won an injunction, and the work, supported by aid from donors, went forward.
___Nevertheless, Israeli bulldozers arrived before dawn on 25 November and began to destroy what had been accomplished, piling gravel in heaps.     More . . .

1-bedouin school
February 21, 2016: Israeli forces demolished a Bedouin school in the Abu al-Nuwaar community near the town of al-Eizariya in the occupied West Bank, a spokesperson for the al-Jahalin Bedouin community said. (Photo: Ma’an News)

❸ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
SODASTREAM  ADMITS  BOWING  TO  BOYCOTT  PRESSURE
Ryan Rodrick Beiler
Feb. 22, 2016
SodaStream, the maker of fizzy drink machines, has confirmed that pressure from an international boycott campaign prompted it to withdraw from the occupied West Bank. . . .
___ SodaStream’s CEO Daniel Birnbaum said that his firm had planned to eventually close its factory in Mishor Adumim, an industrial park adjoining an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
___The shutdown was accelerated by pressure from the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, he confirmed.      More . . .
❹ MONDOWEISS
‘NYT’  ARTICLE  ON  ROOTS  OF  RECENT  VIOLENCE  IN  ISRAEL/PALESTINE  FAILS  TO  USE  THE  WORD  ‘OCCUPATION’
Dan Cohen
Feb. 22, 2016
The New York Times published an aesthetically engaging interactive titled “Roots of the Recent Violence Between Israelis and Palestinians” that attempts to explain the situation since October 1st. Rife with clichés and pro-Israel talking points, the piece fails to use the word “occupation” and tacitly lends support to Israel’s policy of land grabs and ghettoizing Palestinians behind walls.     More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
AL-SHABAKA, THE PALESTINIAN POLICY NETWORK
WHY  IT’S  DANGEROUS  TO  CONFLATE  HAMAS  AND  DAESH
Belal Shobaki
Feb. 22, 2016
While Israel’s efforts to link Palestinian resistance to its military occupation to global terrorism are not new, it has expanded its propaganda to address Arab as well as Western audiences. By so doing, it is clearly seeking to exploit the global aversion to movements that have drifted towards extremism and terrorism while claiming to represent Islam. “Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the United Nations in 2014. Yet better than anyone else, Netanyahu and the Israeli political establishment know that Hamas and Daesh are not related, as do those Arab regimes that also tar all Islamic movements with the same brush to serve their own ends.
___ Belal Shobaki is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Hebron University, Palestine.     More . . .

“THE  STAB,”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI
The moonlight said:
I am the first of the homeless,
the eternal wanderer;
you find me on the breakwaters,
on the soldier’s helmet,
on the false teeth of the party’s general secretary,
in the begging of the willow and in the river’ obstinacy,
on the woman’s brow when pleasure lifts it,
on the executioner’s fingernails and the robber’s key-ring,
on parliament’s oppressive dome,
on a deserter’s medals,
on the tilted surface of a bomber,
on the marble steps,
on a knife blade
which a friend takes from the front of his cloak
and points at your backbone.
And in my moment of agony,
I beg the clouds:
“Hide me!”

About Mourid Barghouti
From Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT AND OTHER POEMS. Trans. Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2008. Available from Amazon.

“. . . It’s fine to have an undustful death . . .” (Mourid al-Barghouti)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
WASHINGTON POST, Jan. 17, 2016: The parents of Mohanad Halabi, who killed two Israelis and wounded two more in October, walk through the debris of their home in the West Bank village of Surda after it was demolished by the Israeli army. The 19-year-old was shot dead by police at the scene. (Abbas Momani/ Agence France‑Presse /Getty Images).
WASHINGTON POST, Jan. 17, 2016: The parents of Mohanad Halabi, who killed two Israelis and wounded two more in October, walk through the debris of their home in the West Bank village of Surda after it was demolished by the Israeli army. The 19-year-old was shot dead by police at the scene. (Abbas Momani/ Agence France‑Presse /Getty Images).

❶ THIS  UPRISING  IS  ABOUT  MORE  THAN  KNIVES
❷ Jerusalem municipality carries out demolition of 2 Palestinian homes
. . . . . ❷―(ᴀ) Israeli forces demolish 4 Bedouin homes, leaving 22 homeless
❸ Undercover forces shoot Palestinian, detain 19 in West Bank raids
❹ Academic boycott of Israel takes off in Italy
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ‘AN  ARAB  IS  AN  ARAB’
❻ Poetry by Mourid al-Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
THIS  UPRISING  IS  ABOUT  MORE  THAN  KNIVES
Budour Youssef Hassan
Jan. 29, 2016
When the “intifada of the knives” set off in October last year, Western reporters flooded in to Jerusalem to cover the new “escalation” . . . .
___Inevitably, the journalists left once a massive crackdown significantly reduced the number of deadly attacks against Israelis in the city. It is an all too familiar pattern for Palestinians, who know by now that it’s only “escalation” when there are dead or wounded Israelis. Deaths, injuries, arrests and home demolitions inflicted on Palestinians by Israel are deemed . . . too routine to be considered newsworthy.   More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
JERUSALEM  MUNICIPALITY  CARRIES  OUT  DEMOLITION  OF  2  PALESTINIAN  HOMES
Feb. 2, 2016
Israeli forces on Tuesday morning demolished two Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem reportedly built without proper permits from the Jerusalem municipality, locals said.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that large numbers of Israeli soldiers and police officers raided the village of Sur Bahir, surrounding a home in the Wadi Abu al-Hummus area of the village and closing off nearby roads before carrying out its demolition.    More . . .
. . . . . ❷―(ᴀ)  MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  DEMOLISH  4  BEDOUIN  HOMES,  LEAVING  22  HOMELESS
Feb. 1, 2016
Israeli forces demolished four corrugated iron Bedouin homes in the occupied West Bank district of Ramallah on Monday, leaving 22 people homeless, locals said.
___The four homes were located in the Ein Ayub area between the villages of Ras Karkar and Deir Ammar, northwest of Ramallah city.
___Locals said Israeli military vehicles stormed the area from a bypass road near the homes leading to illegal Israeli settlements. . . .
___Locals added that Israeli forces did not give the families enough time to evacuate their belongings before they destroyed the dwellings.   More . . .
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
UNDERCOVER  FORCES  SHOOT  PALESTINIAN,  DETAIN  19  IN  WEST  BANK  RAIDS
Feb. 2, 2016
Undercover Israeli forces shot and injured a young Palestinian man and detained 19 throughout the occupied West Bank during predawn military raids on Tuesday.
___ . . . a squad of six undercover Israeli officers stormed a mobile phone shop in the village of Qabalan near Nablus and confiscated a desktop computer and a tablet.
___During the raid, the forces shot a Palestinian identified as Yousif Shahrour in the foot before detaining him and two others . . . .    More . . .

The prototype of the Oblijet supersonic drone lifts off on its maiden flight under the gaze of ITS TECHNION UNIVERSITY DEVELOPERS. (Photo: REUTERS)
The prototype of the Oblijet supersonic drone lifts off on its maiden flight under the gaze of ITS TECHNION UNIVERSITY DEVELOPERS. (Photo: REUTERS)

❹ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
ACADEMIC  BOYCOTT  OF  ISRAEL  TAKES  OFF  IN  ITALY
Stephanie Westbrook, Rome
Jan. 31 2016
There have been major breakthroughs in Italy for the campaign to boycott Israeli academic institutions.
___More than 200 academics from 50 Italian universities have signed a call for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions until Israel complies with international law.
___This is the first time a significant number of Italian academics have taken a public stand in support of the Palestinian-led campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).    More . . .
Related . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
MONDOWEISS
‘AN  ARAB  IS  AN  ARAB’
Jonathan Ofir
Jan. 31, 2016
“An Arab is an Arab,” said my close acquaintance. . . .
___The sentence might seem neutral at first. And yet it holds a myriad of insinuations, prejudice and ideological supremacy which deserves to be analysed in historical perspective. . . .
___For Israel to be the state of all Jews worldwide, it must reserve their supposedly “ethnic” privilege under a “nationality” which is separate to the citizenship definition. Not doing so would imply that Israel is the state of its citizens. But it is not. It is self declared as the state of the Jews – the Jewish State.     More . . .

“IT’S  ALSO  FINE,”  BY  MOURID  AL-BARGHOUTI
It’s also fine to die in our beds
on a clean pillow
and among our friends.

It’s fine to die, once,
our hands crossed on our chests
empty and pale
with no scratches, no chains, no banners,
and no petitions.

It’s fine to have an undustful death,
no holes in our shirts,
and no evidence in our ribs.

It’s fine to die
with a white pillow, not the pavement, under our cheeks,
our hands resting in those of our loved ones
surrounded by desperate doctors and nurses,
with nothing left but a graceful farewell,
paying no attention to history,
leaving this world as it is,
hoping that, someday, someone else
will change it.
–From PEOPLE  IN  THEIR  NIGHTS, 1999

Online: Contemporary Palestinian Poetry
Mourid al-Barghouti was born in 1944 in the village of Deir Ghassaneh near Ramallah, and lived most of his life in exile. He has a BA in English literature from Cairo University. He worked as a teacher in Kuwait and Cairo, in Budapest as PLO representative and in Cairo as a radio journalist with “Palestine Radio”. He has published 13 collections of poetry, and his collected works. He won the AUC 1997 Naguib Mahfouz Literature Prize for his autobiographical novel Ra’aytu Ramallah (I Saw Ramallah), and in 2000 the Palestine Award for Poetry. He lives in Cairo.   On Facebook
On Wikipedia

‘ . . . “Does this rock have a story?” . . .” (Ghassan Kanafani)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Several large eagles inhabit the Middle East. This is the White-tailed Eagle, a fairly common eagle in Palestine. (Photo: Birding Is Fun Blog.) See short story excerpt below.
Several large eagles inhabit the Middle East. This is the White-tailed Eagle, a fairly common eagle in Palestine. (Photo: Birding Is Fun Blog.) See short story excerpt below.

❶ Palestinian prisoners have the will to persevere in the face of the oppressor
❷ VIEW! Israeli occupation of Hebron
❸ Israeli exports hit hard by Palestinian boycott, World Bank says
❹ Solar power pays off for enterprising Palestinians
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Oslo has become a tool for Israeli expansionism — it’s time to let go
❻ Short story excerpt by Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
PALESTINIAN  PRISONERS  HAVE  THE  WILL  TO PERSEVERE  IN  THE  FACE  OF  THE  OPPRESSOR
Dr Fayez Rasheed
Oct. 2, 2015
There are 17 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Altogether, almost 5,000 Palestinians are being held by Israel, including 20 women, 230 children and a number of elderly men. They are all subject to the worst types of cruelty and torture in prison. According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society in Ramallah, 95 per cent of Palestinian prisoners are suffering from a form of torture . . . . Over 1,000 of the Palestinians in Israeli jails are ill; 160 have chronic illnesses, including cancer. Eighty are being held under arbitrary administrative detention, based on a law left over from British Mandate days.
____Israel is still holding 30 “old prisoners”, the term describing those who were imprisoned prior to the Oslo agreement . . . .
More . . .
❷ CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS
VIEW!  ISRAELI  OCCUPATION  OF  HEBRON
Oct. 1, 2015
See a week of Israeli occupation in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. [Weekly series of photographs from Christian Peacemakers Teams.]
More . . .
❸ ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
ISRAELI  EXPORTS  HIT  HARD  BY  PALESTINIAN  BOYCOTT,  WORLD  BANK  SAYS
Maureen Clare Murphy
Oct. 2, 2015
The Palestinian campaign to boycott Israeli goods has exacted a major cost on Israel’s exports to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
____This victory is quietly acknowledged in a World Bank report released this week.
____Palestinian imports from Israel dropped by 24 percent during the first quarter of 2015, the report states.
____The World Bank explains that the drop “is the result of reduced economic activity, but also a growing trend among Palestinian consumers to substitute products imported from Israel by those from other countries, as a result of which non-Israeli imports were up 22 percent.”
More . . .
❹ AL-MONITOR (PALESTINE PULSE)
SOLAR  POWER  PAYS  OFF  FOR  ENTERPRISING  PALESTINIANS
Aziza Nofal
October 2, 2015
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Three years ago, Rabia al-Rabi stopped purchasing electricity from the Jerusalem Electricity Company, the official power provider in the city of Ramallah.
____The Palestinian woman actually started selling electricity to the very same company for 800 shekels (about $200) per month after she started a renewable energy generation project at her home.
____Rabi had carefully studied the economic feasibility of the project. Despite the high cost of installing the solar cells, she decided to run the risk and make her house one of the first in Ramallah to generate electricity from solar energy. Solar cells are installed on rooftops. . . .
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
+972 MAGAZINE
OSLO  HAS  BECOME  A  TOOL  FOR  ISRAELI  EXPANSIONISM — IT’S  TIME  TO  LET  GO
Nathan Hersh
Oct. 3, 2015
(Nathan Hersh served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2009 to 2011. He has an MA in Conflict Resolution from Tel Aviv University. He was managing director of Partners for Progressive Israel.)
The Oslo Accords are the banner accomplishment of the Israeli peace movement. But their impact on the West Bank is no longer to orchestrate a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces, which they intended to do. Instead, the leadership in Israel has become increasingly populated by settlers and their sympathizers, and it has used the Oslo Accords for its own ideological pursuits.
____The lasting accomplishments of the Oslo Accords—the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B and C; the cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces and the creation of the Palestinian Authority—have different uses under Netanyahu’s premiership. . . . The Oslo Accords have been manipulated to strengthen the occupation, not dismantle it.
More . . .

(Note: The following departure from poetry is intended to spotlight more of the vast tradition of Palestinian literature. These excerpts will appear with regularity.)

FROM  “SIX  EAGLES  AND  A  CHILD,”  A  SHORT  STORY  BY  GHASSAN  KANAFANI
. . . I put up with all of this grudgingly. . . but the one thing that could really break down all my dignified reserve, was when a peasant would give me a nudge in that old car rocking and hurtling over the rough mountain road. . . then I was expected to take part in the conversation and show interest for the rest of the way.
____“Do you see that rock, professor?” said an old peasant one day, pointing through the window to a tall tapering stone standing on a small hill. . .
____“Yes, in fact I see it three times a week.”
____His fingers remained extended in the direction of the rock and he asked again: “Do you know its story?”
____“Does this rock have a story?” I asked out of curiosity, since even though I knew full well that everything in the villages had a story, I didn’t know that this rock, way out here on this desolate road, had its story too. Nonetheless, my question had a certain grumbling to it, and raising the newspaper in front of my eyes, I began to read it desultorily.
____“It began a long time ago . . .”
____I ignored him and went on reading, certain that the old peasant wasn’t looking at me, but was gazing at the rock as it slowly disappeared from the window’s range of vision.
____“I used to travel this way every other day . . . and always when I passed this rock I would see a grey eagle perched on top of it as if it were some kind of stuffed eagle . . . it was in the morning . . . spreading its enormous wings, it would fly to the top of the rock and then alight quietly. It remained there like that until evening when it would fly off again to return to the mountains . . .”
[ . . . . ]
____“Love . . . love does that to everyone . . . .”
[ . . . . ]

Kanafani, Ghassan. PALESTINE’S  CHILDREN:  RETURNING  TO  HAIFA  AND  OTHER  STORIES. Trans. Barbara Harlow and Karen E. Riley. Boulder, CO: Lynne Riener, 2000.
Available from Amazon.
About Ghassan Kanafani
(From the introduction to the collection: “There is, in addition, a certain dissonance in Kanafani’s imagery that serves to highlight no only the violence of 1948, but also its brutal abruptness and the powerlessness felt by the Palestinians in the face of it” (Riley and Harlow)).

A Palestinian laborer installs solar panels at a photovoltaic plant in the West Bank city of Jericho, March 27, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
A Palestinian laborer installs solar panels at a photovoltaic plant in the West Bank city of Jericho, March 27, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)