Category: Ibrahimi Mosque Hebron

“. . . You may take the last strip of my land. . .” (Samih al-Qasim)

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SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY

Anticipating Netanyahu’s visit, Israeli forces close down Hebron’s Old City

WAFA
September 4, 2019
Israeli forces today morning closed down Palestinian stores and ordered Palestinian students vacate their schools in Hebron’s Old City in anticipation of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Jamal Sa’afin, an activist with the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, confirmed that Israeli forces tightened restrictions in Hebron’s old city, closing Palestinian stores along the area from al-Salaymeh to Tel Rumeida besides to Wadi al-Husayn and Jaber neighborhoods.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ He added that soldier ordered Palestinian students out of their schools in the old city, including Qurtuba School purportedly in preparation for the visit.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Netanyahu is set to deliver a speech at the Ibrahimi Mosque, which Jews refer to as the Cave of the Patriarchs, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1919 al-Buraq Uprising. The city of Hebron, which houses the Ibrahimi Mosque, is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers who live in compounds heavily guarded by Israeli troops.  More . . . . 

  • Netanyahu’s ‘visit’ to Hebron will not change its fact as an Arab Palestinian city
    WAFA
    By Bilal Ghaith
    September 03, 2019
    Palestinian activists called for receiving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Hebron on Wednesday night with black flags on homes near the Ibrahimi mosque as observers, politicians and historians dismissed all allegations regarding the “visit” describing it as a provocation.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ According to Maarive newspaper, Netanyahu will take part in a ritual in the Jewish settlement in the city on the steps of the Ibrahimi Mosque where the Palestinians were massacred in 1994 that left dozens dead at the hands of an extremist named Baruch Goldstein. An official ceremony will be held at the site to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1929 al-Buraq uprising. These rituals will be held in the presence of Netanyahu, government ministers and Likud Knesset members, on his first official visit to Hebron in 13 years.   More . . . .

Palestinian refugee students must not be incidental to humanitarian endeavours

Al-Hourriah
Ramona Wadi
September 4, 2019
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Despite financial setbacks caused by political agendas and misconduct allegations, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) ensured that its schools opened on time for the new academic year. Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl described education as central to UNRWA’s mandate, yet the agency is not past attaching importance to symbolism and, despite its work, normalise the violence inherent in Israel’s settler-colonial project.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The opening of the new school year in Silwan, for example, publicised due to renovation works carried out during the summer recess, was lauded by Krähenbühl. “This return to school is also a symbol of preserving normalcy and a safe learning environment,” he remarked.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The safe learning environment rhetoric, favoured by international organisations, is replete with discrepancies, and can have severe repercussions. A joint statement published by UNICEF in January 2019 focuses on the impact of Israeli state and settler colonial violence as regards access to education and safety for Palestinian students. If there is still need for UN statements to remind us that children “should never be the target of violence and must not be exposed to any form of violence,” it stands to reason that Israel is not facing any deterrent to its destabilisation of Palestinian education.  More . . . .

West Bank village courts tourists with eggplant, stone terraces

Al-Monitor (Palestinian Pulse)
Ahmad Abu Amer
September 3, 2019
Locally grown eggplants have earned a significant place in the Palestinian cuisine, heritage and economy and is celebrated every summer in Battir, a historical village in the West Bank, 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) west of Bethlehem. Light purple, large or small but always fragrant, eggplants make up an essential part of the Palestinian kitchen from makdous, a pickled stuffed eggplant dish, to maqluba, a traditional dish with chicken, rice and eggplant.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The annual Battir Eggplant Festival, which took place on Aug. 17-19, is not just an occasion to celebrate the popular crop; it highlights just how this historical village — known for its 4,000 years of terraced cultivation of vines and olives — has suffered, first by plans of an Israeli separation barrier that could have been built right across the historical terraces, then under the restriction of movement and nearby Israeli settlers.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Battir, located on the Green Line, won the 2011 UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes. The site was recognized for aesthetic and symbolic value . . . .   In June 2014, the village was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in Danger. The UN cultural body described the village as “a major Palestinian cultural landscape,” due to its complex and unique irrigation system.  More . . . .

Israel Confiscates Palestinian Lands To Expand Illegal Colonies In Bethlehem 

IMEMC News
September 4, 2019
The Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank, issued three orders for the illegal annexation of Palestinian lands in Beit Jala city, Teqoua’ and Rashayda towns, in Bethlehem governorate, south of occupied Jerusalem in the West Bank.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Hasan Breijiyya, the coordinator of the Wall and Colonization Commission in Bethlehem, said the first Israeli order targets Palestinian lands in Basin 2 of the al-Makhrour area Beit Jala, west of Bethlehem, and are owned by residents from Beit Jala and al-Khader.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Breijiyya added that Israel wants to confiscate lands in that area to expand colonialist bypass road #60, linking between occupied Jerusalem and Gush Etzion colony, south of Bethlehem, which effectively means annexing hundreds of Dunams of Palestinian agricultural lands.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The second order targets lands in the Rashayda village, east of Bethlehem, and aims at expanding Maali Amos illegal colony.  More . . . .

POEM OF THE DAY

“ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

I may―if you wish―lose my livelihood
I may sell my shirt and bed.
I may work as a stone cutter,
A street sweeper, a porter.
I may clean your stores
Or rummage your garbage for food.
I may lie down hungry,
O enemy of the sun,
But
I shall not compromise
And to the last pulse in my veins
I shall resist.

You may take the last strip of my land,
Feed my youth to prison cells.
You may plunder my heritage.
|You may burn my books, my poems,
Or feed my flesh to the dogs.
You may spread a web of terror
On the roofs of my village.
O enemy of the sun,
But
I shall not compromise
And to the last pulse in my veins
I shall resist.

You may put out the light in my eyes
You may deprive me of my mother’s kisses.
You may curse my father, my people.
You may distort my history.
You may deprive my children of a smile
And of life’s necessities.
You may fool my friends with a borrowed face.
You may build walls of hatred around me.
You may glue my eyes to humiliations,
O enemy of the sun,
But
I shall not compromise
And to the last pulse in my veins
I shall resist.
O enemy of the sun
The decorations are raised at the port,
The ejaculations fill the air,
A glow in the hearts,
And in the horizon
A sail is seen
Challenging the wind
And the depths.
It is Ulysses
Returning home
From the sea of loss

It is the return of the sun,
Of my exiled ones
And for her sake, and his
I swear
I shall not compromise
And to the last pulse in my veins
I shall resist.
Resist―and resist.

From: Aruri, Naseer and Edmund Ghareeb, eds. ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN:  POETRY  OF  THE  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE. Washington, DC: Drum and Spear Press, 1970.

 

 

“. . . in the street there’s nothing but a beggar . . .” (Samih al-Qasim)

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SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY

Merkel, Abbas Meet for Talks in Berlin

Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper
August 29, 2019
Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany continues to believe a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinian is the only way for both peoples “to live in peace and security.”
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Merkel stressed her support for a two-state solution ahead of talks Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Chancellery in Berlin.   More . . . .

Israeli Forces Close Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim Worshippers

The Middle East Monitor
 August 29, 2019
Israeli forces today closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers for 24 hours, in preparation for a Jewish settlers raid to mark a Jewish holiday, said a Waqf official.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Director of the Hebron Waqf Directorate’s Public Relations Department Raed Maswadeh told WAFA that Israeli soldiers closed the mosque to Muslim worshipers, while they allowed Jewish settlers to access it. Maswadeh added that the settlers also set up tents just outside the mosque.    More . . . .

  • In Hebron, Tlaib and Omar would have seen Israel’s apartheid city

    +972 Magazine
    By Avner Gvaryahu
    August 28, 2019
    Had Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar been allowed to visit Hebron, they would have seen Israel’s official policy of discrimination and segregation for the city’s 215,000 Palestinian residents.
    Outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron lies a beautiful leafy garden. In it stands a large stone with the names of the donors – Chicago Friends of Hebron. Even if U.S. Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib had not been barred from visiting the occupied territories earlier this month, Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization comprised of former IDF soldiers working to expose the realities of military occupation, would not have been able to take them there. Since Omar and Tlaib are both Muslim, they not only would have been unwelcome — Israeli Border Police soldiers stationed around the park would have stopped them from entering.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Discrimination and segregation are unpalatable wherever they exist, but in Hebron’s city center, they have been the official policy for the 215,000 Palestinian residents – especially since the Tomb of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994, in which a Jewish nationalist fanatic shot dead 29 Palestinians while praying at the holy site.   More . . . .     

Israeli Colonists Invade Archaeological Site Near Nablus

IMEMC-International Middle East Media Center
August 29, 2019
A group of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers, accompanied by many soldiers invaded, on Wednesday evening, the archeological area in al-Mas’udiyya, north of Nablus, in northern West Bank, and prevented the Palestinians from entering it.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israel’s illegal colonialist activities in northern West Bank, said dozens of colonists and soldiers invaded the archeological area, and its park, in al- Mas’udiyya.   More. . . .

Israeli Troops Abduct Two Married Couples, Journalist in Early Morning Raids

IMEMC-International Middle East Media Center
August 29, 2019
Early Thursday morning before dawn, Israeli troops invaded several parts of the West Bank and abducted five Palestinians — two married couples from Jerusalem, and a photojournalist from the village of Ni’lin.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, Israeli forces abducted on Thursday two Palestinian citizens and their wives from the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. More . . . .

POEM OF 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 tree 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 street there’s nothing but a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!
Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive!

From A LOVER FROM PALESTINE AND OTHER POEMS, An Anthology of Palestinian Poetry. ed. Abdul Wahab al-Messiri, Free Palestine Press, Washington D.C. 1970.

“. . . a saddening symptom of the demise of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] . . .” (Ali Qleibo)

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image00006-e1543739918460 - Copy
Bethlehem Christmas Tree lighting (Photo: Ma’an News Agency, Dec. 2, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
| JERUSALEM  ANNOUNCED  PERMANENT  CAPITAL  OF  ISLAMIC  CULTURE
The Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, at the conclusion of its emergency session in the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Thursday, announced Jerusalem a permanent capital of the Islamic culture.    ___The conference adopted a document on a draft program of action on enhancing Islamic and international support for the preservation of the cultural heritage of Jerusalem.    More . . .
. . . . Related  Hordes of Israeli settlers break into al-Aqsa Mosque
. . . . Related  Father Hanna warns of conspiracy targeting J’lem real estate
. . . . Related  New cameras set up by Israeli occupation around Aqsa Mosque
. . . . Related  Israel prevented Muslim call for prayer [Hebron] 47 times in November
|  THOUSANDS  CELEBRATE  CHRISTMAS  TREE  LIGHTING  IN  BETHLEHEM
Only meters away from where baby Jesus is said to be born, thousands of people made their way to Manger Square and gathered around the gigantic Christmas tree, to welcome in the holiest month of the Christian year – December.   ___Locals and foreigners, wrapped up in their coats and beanies, listened to speeches from the likes of the Mayor of Bethlehem, and the Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, with others including top officials from the Catholic church, such as Father Francesco Patton.    More . . .
|  NEW  SETTLEMENTS  PLANNED  IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  WEST  BANK
The Israeli government on Sunday approved a map of “national priority” areas, including a number of settlements in the heart of the occupied West Bank.    ___The map aims to promote Israeli migration to the towns on the map, as well as to grant larger budgets for building. The National Law will increase budgets to “strengthen the Jewish character of Israel.”    ___The settlements referred to are: Magron, Shvut Rahal and Kerem Re’em, usually referred to as “isolated settlements” because they are built outside major settlement blocs in the West Bank.  More . . .
. . . . Related  IOA resumes settlement expansion activities west of Salfit
. . . . Related  Israeli settlers spray paint ‘Death to Arabs’ in Palestinian village

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  JERUSALEM,  TWENTY  YEARS  LATER
By Ali Qleibo
More than twenty years after the Oslo Agreement, it has become evident that the slogan “Gaza and Jericho First” was a euphemism, preparing the ground for the Israeli takeover of our city. The Israeli Judaization of Jerusalem has escalated to an unprecedented level. In the systematic takeover of Jerusalem, most institutional Palestinian offices in Jerusalem have been driven out. The checkpoints and the arbitrary inclusion, or exclusion, of major Arab “suburbs” have created a great demographic change, leading to the total isolation of Jerusalem and of Jerusalemites. Through Israeli-manipulated bureaucratic procedures and unsurpassable barriers, families are broken apart. And as one walks the streets of the Old City, the blatant scarcity of rural peddlers in their colorful embroidered garments and of people in general is a saddening symptom of the demise of Al-Quds.    More . . .
. . . .  Related  Al-Quds: The Indigenous Jerusalem: Palestinian Tourism Organizations during the Past 20 Years, By Raed Saadeh
.  .  .  .  .  Also by Raed Saadeh
|  INTERNATIONAL  MEDIA  WATCH  FROM  ALRAY  PALESTINIAN  MEDIA  AGENCY (Dec. 2, 2018)

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“WE  TRAVEL  LIKE  OTHER  PEOPLE,”  BY  MAHMOUD  DARWISH

We travel like other people, but we return to nowhere. As if travelling
Is the way of the clouds. We have buried our loved ones in the
darkness of the clouds, between the roots of the trees.
And we said to our wives: go on giving birth to people like us
for hundreds of years so we can complete this journey
To the hour of a country, to a metre of the impossible.
We travel in the carriages of the psalms, sleep in the tent of the
prophets and come out of the speech of the gypsies.
We measure space with a hoopee’s beak or sing to while away the
distance and cleanse the light of the moon.
Your path is long so dream of seven women to bear this long path
On your shoulders. Shake for them palm trees so as to know their
names and who’ll be the mother of the boy of Galilee.
We have a country of words. Speak speak so I can put my road on the
stone of a stone.
We have a country of words. Speak speak so we may know the end of
this travel.

From: Adonis; Mahmud Darwish; and Samih al-Qasim. VICTIMS  OF  A  MAP:  A  BILINGUAL  ANTHOLOGY  OF  ARABIC  POETRY. Trans. Abdullah al-Udhari. London: Saqi Books. 2008.

 

“. . . who has always striven, sir, for freedom . . .” (Fouzi El-Asmar)

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IMG_3723 - Copy - Copy
In the desert east of Jerusalem: Rev. Naim Ateek of Sabeel (center) leader with Fall Witness Visitors, 2015 (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 10, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|    JAPAN  FUNDS  NEW  CLASSROOMS,  SOLAR  ENERGY  SYSTEM  PROJECTS  IN  RAMALLAH
The Japanese Ambassador for the Palestinian Affairs and Representative of Japan to Palestine, Takeshi Okubo, signed grant contracts for three Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) with representatives of Nilin town, al-Tira village, and Franciscan Sisters’ School for a total amount of $234,526, at the Representative Office of Japan, in the central occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on Monday.    ___The Nilin Municipality in the Ramallah district, will use a fund of $85,215 for constructing three new classrooms and a toilet unit in Nilin’s Girl School to provide 100 students from 6th grade to 12th grade with new class rooms and appropriate and healthy educational environment.    ___Meanwhile, the al-Tira village council will use a fund of $88,936 for reconstructing new four classrooms. . . .   More . . .
. . . . Related  INVESTMENT  IN  EDUCATION  –  INVESTMENT  IN  THE  FUTURE
. . . . Related  VIDEO:  AREA  C  “EUROPEAN  UNION  AND  THE  PALESTINIANS”
|    ISRAELI  SETTLERS  ATTACK  PALESTINIANS  NEAR  IBRAHIMI  MOSQUE
On Wednesday, a group of Israeli settlers gathers outside the Ibrahimi Mosque and assaulted Palestinian citizens, in protest against the Adan (Muslim call for prayers) via loudspeakers used in the mosque.    ___Palestinian citizen, Yacoub Abu Jihad, said that the settlers beat him and held him for several hours. One of them threatened to kill him sooner or later and held him in a nearby shop for several hours before he was released.    More . . .
. . . . Related  ISRAELI  SETTLERS  ATTACK  PALESTINIAN  OLIVE-PICKERS  IN  HEBRON
. . . . Related  SCORES  OF  SETTLERS  DEFILE  AQSA  MOSQUE
. . . . Background  TRANSFORMING  “TRESTIA”  MILITARY  CAMP  INTO  A  NEW [settler] OUTPOST/TUBAS
|   IOF  DETAINS  6  PALESTINIANS  FROM  WB
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained on Wednesday at daybreak six Palestinian people during multiple raids across the occupied West Bank towns and cities.    ___Israeli Walla news site claimed that the detainees are wanted by the IOF on suspicion of involvement in security activities, indicating that they were transferred to police interrogation centers.    More . . .
. . . . Related  IOF  DEPORTS  4  JERUSALEMITES  FROM  SOUR  BAHER,  JABAL  AL-MOKABER

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|    THE  ISRAELI  GOVERNMENT  IS  EXPLOITING  THE  PITTSBURGH  MURDERS  TO  TRY  TO  DEMONIZE  PALESTINE  SOLIDARITY
Yesterday during an interview on MSNBC, Ron Dermer, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, placed the blame for the attack on both white supremacists and the “radical left,” which is clearly code for BDS activists.    ___Dermer said: “One of the big forces in college campuses today is anti-Semitism. And those anti-Semites are usually not neo-Nazis, on college campuses. They’re coming from the radical left. We have to stand against anti-Semitism whether it comes from the right or whether it comes from the left.”    ___This is a disgusting lie. But it is part and parcel with the recent push by the Israeli government and its supporters in the West to redefine the meaning of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel.    More . . .
|    ASHRAWI  AFFIRMS  NEED  FOR  URGENT  THIRD-PARTY  INTERVENTION  IN  LIGHT  OF  RECENT  US  STANCES
PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi stated that, ‘since the current American administration does not have a real vision for a just and genuine peace and with Israel willfully working to destroy the foundations for a two-state solution, it is imperative that there is an urgent intervention of a third-party like Europe, in particular France.’    ___This came during a meeting with Deputy Diplomatic Counselor at the French Presidency Aurélien Lechevallier at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah, where both parties  discussed the latest political and regional developments and the current crisis as a result of Israel’s serious escalations and egregious violations of international law.    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
|    SABEEL  ECUMENICAL  LIBERATION  THEOLOGY  CENTER,  JERUSALEM 
Mission: To strive towards theological liberation through instilling the Christian faith in the daily lives of those who suffer under occupation, violence, injustice, and discrimination.    Wave of Prayer, November 1, 2018;    . . . . Fall Witness Visit, 2018

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“BECAUSE  I  AM  AN  ARAB,”  BY  FOUZI  EL-ASMAR
I sit in preventive detention.
The reason, see, is that I am an Arab.
An Arab who has refused to sell his soul
who has always striven, sir, for freedom.
An Arab who has protested at the suffering
of his people
Who has carried with him the hope
of a just peace
Who has spoken out against death
at every corner
Who has called for and has lived
a life of brotherhood.
That is why I sit in preventive detention
Because I carried on the struggle
And because I am an Arab.

El-Asmar, Fouzi. THE  WIND-DRIVEN  REED  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1979.
Available from Lynne Rienner Publishers

“. . . a crushed glass under the feet still shines. . .” (Naomi Shihab Nye)

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Items purchased in Hebron glass blowing shop. (Photo by Harold Knight – see ** below)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

|    ISRAEL  CANCELS  ENTRY  OF  GOODS  INTO  GAZA
The Israeli army cancelled entry of dozens of trucks carrying goods into the besieged Gaza Strip, on late Monday, according to Palestinian official sources.    ____Sources confirmed that the Israeli side cancelled entry of dozens of trucks scheduled to arrive into Gaza on Tuesday; reasons of the cancellation were unknown.    ___It is noteworthy that in addition to these cancelled truckloads of goods, Qatari-funded fuel was also not allowed entry into Gaza for Gaza’s only power plant.    More . . .
. . . . Related   Egyptian  security  delegation  arrives  in  Gaza  to  complete  talks
|    IOF  DISMANTLE  SCHOOL  CARAVANS  NORTH  OF  TUBAS    On Tuesday morning, Israeli occupation forces dismantled caravans belonging to the school of the Late Marwan Majali, AKA “Tahadi (10)”, located in Khirbat “Ibiziq” area north of Tubas, northern West Bank.    ____The Director of Education Tubas Sa’ed Qabha told WAFA that the occupation dismantled two caravans as they detain the educational staff, ministry of education and students, while preventing students from entering the school.    More . . .
|    REPORT:  ISRAEL  CONTINUING  JUDAIZATION  PLANS  IN  HEBRON
Plans to Judaize the Old City of Hebron are proceeding step by step amid international silence and the American support that encourages the occupation authorities to continue their policy. Following the Ibrahimi Mosque’s massacre, the occupation authorities divided the Mosque between the Palestinians and the settlers. More than one site inside the Ibrahimi Mosque can’t be accessed by Palestinian worshipers, while settlers are allowed to use the whole place at any time.     ____For years, plans have been made to link the settlement of Qiryat Arba with other settlement blocs surrounding the Old City through demolishing and removing the Palestinian buildings from the area for a comprehensive judaization of the area extending from the settlement of Kiryat Arba to the entire Old City and Tel Rumeida.   More . . . .
. . . . Related  Palestinian  shot  dead  in  al-Khalil  [HEBRON]  over  alleged  stabbing  attack
. . . . Related  Palestinian  official:  87%  of  BETHLEHEM  lands  under  Israeli  control
. . . . Related  NGO  warns  of  property  diversion  in  occupied  JERUSALEM
. . . . Related  Ariel  settlement  guards  obstruct  traffic  at  main  entrance  to  SALFIT
. . . . Related  Israel  Army  Rolls  Into  West  Bank  [QALQILIYA]  Cracks  Down  On  Civilians

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

|    ISRAEL’S  ASSAULT  ON  PALESTINIAN  UNIVERSITIES  IS  A  THREAT  TO  HUMAN  RIGHTS  AND  A  TRAGEDY  FOR  THIS  GENERATION  OF  STUDENTS
The fundamental right to education is enshrined in international law. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to education”. . . . The challenges currently being faced by Palestinian universities mean that this universal right is being severely compromised in the occupied Palestinian territory.     ___As an occupying power, the state of Israel, is obligated to ensure that civilians under occupation are not denied their basic human rights. . .  which includes access to education.    [. . . .] Meanwhile, for decades, the education sector – schools as well as universities – has had to contend with Israel’s systematic obstruction of education, from enforced closures, campus raids, and the oppression of individual students and teachers. . .  According to Sam Bahour, a former board member of Birzeit University and co-founder Right to Enter Campaign . . . it’s important to see this assault on education as part of a broader picture of Israeli oppression of Palestinian lives and a determination to stifle the natural growth of a society.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

(** The glass pieces came from one of the few  Hebron  glass  blower  shops  still operating in 2008. The delicate pieces I purchased, like the one in Nye’s poem,  were broken in shipping. Nye’s poem commemorates the massacre of Muslim worshipers at Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron, 1994.)

“THE  SMALL  VASES  FROM  HEBRON,”  BY  NAOMI  SHIHAB  NYE

Tip their mouths open to the sky.
Turquoise, amber,
the deep green with fluted handle,
pitcher the size of two thumbs,
tiny lip and graceful waist.

Here we place the smallest flower
which could have lived invisibly
in loose soil beside the road,
sprig of succulent rosemary,
bowing mint.

They grow deeper in the center of the table.

Here we entrust the small life,
thread, fragment, breath.
And it bends. It waits all day.
As the bread cools and the children
open their gray copybooks
to shape the letter that looks like
a chimney rising out of a house.

And what do the headlines say?

Nothing of the smaller petal
perfectly arranged inside the larger petal
or the way tinted glass filters light.
Men and boys, praying when they died,
fall out of their skins.
The whole alphabet of living,
heads and tails of words,
sentences, the way they said,
“Ya’Allah!” when astonished,
or “ya’ani” for “I mean”—
a crushed glass under the feet
still shines.

But the child of Hebron sleeps
with the thud of her brothers falling
and the long sorrow of the color red.

“. . . Salaam upon you the day you were killed in the land of peace . . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

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IMG_3219 - CopyHEBRON: Mother and sons climb into back window of their home
because Israel has closed their street to protect illegal settlers.
(Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 7, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

THE  PALESTINIAN  ECONOMY  IN  LIGHT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  SANCTIONS
Several reports will be on the table of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHCL) for coordinating international aid to the Palestinian People, which is chaired by Norway, when it meets in New York on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly meetings later this month.   ___The reports, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Palestinian government, agree that 2018 is the worst for the Palestinian economy since Israel has re-occupied the Palestinian cities in the West Bank 16 years ago.   ___By the beginning of 2018, domestic and international forecasts estimated that growth in the Palestinian economy would range from 2.5% to 3%, reflecting a continuation of the slowdown in the Palestinian economy over the past five years . . .    More . . .
Related . . .   13,000  UNRWA  EMPLOYEES  IN  GAZA  PROTEST  AGAINST  CUTS

PLO  CONDEMNS  ISRAEL’S  MURDER  OF  SIX  PALESTINIANS  IN  THE  LAST  24  HOURS
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) strongly condemned on Wednesday Israel’s murder of six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the last 24 hours, accusing Israeli forces of deliberately targeting the Palestinians.   ___“The deliberate murder of six Palestinians by Israeli forces in the last twenty-four hours is yet another escalation in the Israeli occupation’s brutality and inhumanity,” said PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi.   More . . .
Related . . .  PALESTINIANS  BID  LAST  FAREWELL  TO  2  YOUTHS  MURDERED  BY  ISRAEL  ARMY

ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  DOZENS  OF  PALESTINIAN  STUDENTS  IN  HEBRON
Dozens of Palestinian school students suffered injuries, on Wednesday, during clashes with Israeli forces in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron.   ___Local sources said that Israeli forces provoked Palestinian students as they were on their way to school in Hebron City, resulting in violent clashes between students and Israeli forces. . . .  Israeli forces fired tear-gas bombs at the Palestinian students, causing dozens of students to suffer from tear-gas inhalation.    ___Palestinian students are regularly harassed by Israeli forces and settlers in Hebron City.   More . . .
Related . . .    15,000  JEWS  VISIT  HEBRON’S  IBRAHIMI  MOSQUE  AHEAD  OF  YOM  KIPPUR

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

‘OSLO  SOLD  US  OUT’:  YOUNG  PALESTINIANS  ON  THE  MOMENT  THAT  SHAPED  THEIR  GENERATION
In September 1993 the world celebrated what it thought was the beginning of the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.   ___The Oslo Accords was supposed to lead to a “comprehensive peace agreement” by 1999, and eventually, a Palestinian state . . .  ___Twenty-five years after Oslo. . .  a fair and just peace agreement for the Palestinians remains far out of reach. The dream of an independent Palestinian state even further.   [. . . .] “What does Oslo mean to me? For me, Oslo means that the Palestinian people did not get to decide their fate as a whole.” The words of Yasmin Abu Shakdim, a 22-year-old Sociology student from the city of Hebron, are expressive of a sentiment held by many Palestinian youth.   More . . .

7AMLEH:  GOOGLE  MAPS  ENDANGERING  PALESTINIAN  HUMAN  RIGHTS
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media released a new report entitled, “Mapping Segregation – Google Maps and the Human Rights of Palestinians”.   ___The report reveals new insights about how  Google Maps’ mapping process in the occupied Palestinian territories serves the interests of the Israeli government and contradicts Google’s commitment to international human rights frameworks.   More . . .

REMEMBERING  THE  SABRA  AND  SHATILA  MASSACRE
Between September 16 and 18, 1982, Palestinian refugees in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps were massacred. Estimates vary, but about 3,000 Palestinian refugees, mostly women, children, and the elderly were killed. The attack took place during Lebanon’s civil war, a few months after Israel’s invasion of the country.   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . . 

CHRISTIAN  PEACEMAKER  TEAMS  PALESTINE
Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine is a faith-based organization that supports Palestinian-led, non-violent, grassroots resistance to the Israeli occupation and the unjust structures that uphold it. By collaborating with local Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers and educating people in our home communities we strive to help create a space for justice and peace.   More . . .    Donate . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“I  DIDN’T  APOLOGIZE  TO  THE  WELL,”  MAHMOUD  DARWISH

I didn’t apologize to the well when I passed the well,
I borrowed from the ancient pine tree a cloud
and squeezed it like an orange, then waited for a gazelle
white and legendary. And I ordered my heart to be patient:
Be neutral as if you were not of me! Right here
the kind shepherds stood on air and evolved
their flutes, then persuaded the mountain quail toward
the snare. And right here I saddled a horse for flying toward
my planets, then flew. And right here the priestess
told me: Beware of the asphalt road and the cars
and walk upon your exhalation. Right here
I slackened my shadow and waited, I picked the tiniest
rock and stayed up late. I broke the myth and I broke.
And I circled the well until I flew from myself
to what isn’t of it. A deep voice shouted at me:
This grave isn’t your grave. So I apologized.
I read verses from the wise holy book, and said
to the unknown one in the well: Salaam upon you the day
you were killed in the land of peace, and the day you rise
from the darkness of the well alive!

—From THE  BUTTERFLY’S  BURDEN, by Mahmoud Darwish, Trans. Fady Joudah. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press. 2007.

“. . . We have buried our loved ones in the darkness of the clouds . . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
hebron-mospque
Sanctuary of Abraham or Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron; staircase representing how teachers spread the word of the Prophet Muhammad. Rare original from the 11th century made of inlaid wood and no nails. (Photo: Rick Steves Blog)

❶ Netanyahu OKs UN funding cuts, creation of settlement museum over UNESCO vote
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Analysis/Opinion. There’s nothing anti-Semitic about UNESCO’s Hebron vote
❷ South Africa ruling party votes to downgrade diplomatic ties with Israel
❸ Dutch gov’t condemns Israeli confiscation of donated solar panels
❹ POETRY by Mahmoud Darwish
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ NETANYAHU  OKS  UN  FUNDING  CUTS,  CREATION  OF  SETTLEMENT  MUSEUM  OVER  UNESCO  VOTE     
Ma’an News Agency        
July 9, 2017.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed during a security cabinet meeting on Sunday his decision to withhold a further $1 million in Israel’s membership dues to the United Nations and invest this money in a settlement museum, in protest of a recent UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) vote to inscribe Hebron’s Old City and Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank on the World Heritage in Danger list.
___Friday’s resolution, filed by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Tourism, the Hebron municipality, and the Hebron rehabilitation committee, argued that Hebron’s Old City urgently needed protection from Israeli violations in the area that harmed the exceptional international value of the site.
___Friday’s vote asserted that Hebron’s Old City and the mosque would be registered in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. . .      MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) ANALYSIS/OPINION.  THERE’S  NOTHING  ANTI-SEMITIC   ABOUT  UNESCO’S  HEBRON  VOTE  
+972 Magazine
Orly Noy
July 9, 2017.   UNESCO’s resolution to recognize the Tomb of the Patriarchs/Ibrahimi Tomb and Hebron’s Old City as Palestinian World Heritage Sites brought on, as expected, knee-jerk cries of anti-Semitism by Israeli politicians. . .   Even Labor’s Merav Michaeli, known for her dovish views, called the resolution “insane.”
___. . . As opposed to what Israel is attempting to portray, UNESCO does not comment on the religious aspects of heritage sites, or to whom they are or are not considered holy. . .   UNESCO deals with two questions: whether a site is worth being included in the list of World Heritage Site, and which national entity it falls under.
___As Yonathan Mizrahi wrote last week, since UNESCO recognized Palestine as a state in 2011, the Palestinians have had the opportunity to submit nominations for World Heritage Sites. The fact that the Tomb of the Patriarchs should be included in that list is undisputed. Even Israel doesn’t dispute that fact.
___What UNESCO has established, however, is that the Tomb of the Patriarchs is located in Palestine. That’s it. In no way does the resolution deny the Jewish connection to Hebron or the Tomb of the Patriarchs — on the contrary. In fact, every time a resolution about Hebron comes up, it uses the city’s Hebrew name before its Arabic name (“Al-Khalil”), and recognizes the fact that the city is holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Palestinian resolution openly states this fact.   MORE . . .
❷ SOUTH  AFRICA  RULING  PARTY  VOTES  TO  DOWNGRADE  DIPLOMATIC  TIES  WITH  ISRAEL    
Ma’an News Agency
July 5, 2017.   The African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party of South Africa, voted on Tuesday in favor of downgrading South Africa’s diplomatic representation in Israel in protest of the occupation.
___The decision, made during ANC’s National Policy Conference, was hailed as a “major victory for human rights and for the people of Palestine,” according to a statement released by the Western Cape branch of the ANC on Wednesday.
___The Oliver Tambo Resolution — named after the prominent anti-apartheid figure who served as president of the ANC between 1967 and 1991 — states that the aim of downgrading South Africa’s embassy to Israel was to “send a strong message about Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestine and the continued human rights abuses against the peoples of Palestine.”   MORE . . .

solar
Solar panels in Palestinian village of Jibbet Addeeb’s hybrid power system stolen by Israeli Occupation Forces (Photo: Palestine News Network, July 5, 2017)

❸ DUTCH  GOV’T   CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  CONFISCATION  OF  DONATED  SOLAR  PANELS     
Palestine News Network – PNN      
July 5, 2017.   The Dutch government has lodged a protest with Israel over the confiscation of equipment donated to the Palestinian village of Jibbet Addeeb’s hybrid power system (diesel and solar powered), according to a written statement of the Dutch foreign ministry, sent to Haaretz by the Netherlands’ office in Ramallah.
___The Dutch government donated 500,000 euros to the electrification project south west of Bethlehem in the West Bank, 350 thousand euro of which went to the electrification of Jibbet Addeeb. The Dutch Foreign ministry had requested Israel return the equipment and is “currently assessing what next steps can be taken,” it said.
___A source close to Dutch diplomats in the West Bank told Haaretz that these softly worded statements cover the anger brewing in the government of the Netherlands, a close friend of Israel’s, at the damage to the humanitarian project.   MORE . . .

“WE TRAVEL LIKE OTHER PEOPLE,” BY MAHMOUD DARWISH

We travel like other people, but we return to nowhere. As if traveling
Is the way of the clouds. We have buried our loved ones in the
darkness of the clouds, between the roots of the trees.
And we said to our wives: go on giving birth to people like us
for hundreds of years so we can complete this journey
To the hour of a country, to a metre of the impossible.
We travel in the carriages of the psalms, sleep in the tent of the
distance and come out of the speech of the gypsies.
We measure space with a hoopoe’s beak or sing to while away the
distance and cleanse the light of the moon.
Your path is long so dream of seven women to bear this long path
On your shoulders. Shake for them palm trees so as to know their
names and who’ll be the mother of the boy of Galilee.
We have a country of words. Speak Speak so I can put my road on the
stone of a stone.
We have a country of words. Speak Speak so we may know the end of this travel.

Mahmoud Darwish.
From VICTIMS  OF  A  MAP:  A  BILINGUAL  ANTHOLOGY  OF  ARABIC  POETRY.  Trans. Abdullah al-Udhari. London: Saqi Books, 2008. Available from Goodreads.

“. . . You who fear death, I fear it not; Take me to my home . . .” (Samih al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
poster
Poster of four young men from occupied Palestinian village, Sa’ir, killed by Israeli Occupation Force on one day in January, 2016. (Photo: Adam Horowitz)

❶ The Martyrs are not for Bargaining

  • Background: “Lack of Security for Palestinians.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture.

❷ Palestinian ‘attacks’ Israeli officer after refusing stop-and-frisk search in Jerusalem
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Lawyers boycott Israeli court over ‘humiliating’ search procedures
❸ UNESCO declares Hebron Old City as Palestinian heritage site
❹ Poetry by Samih al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THE  MARTYRS  ARE  NOT  FOR  BARGAINING
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Group 194)    
Mohammad Al-Sahli
July 6, 2017.   “The American envoy wants to know the positions of the Palestinian and Israeli sides, toward the key issues of the negotiations.”
___With these sentences, the American Administration paved the way for the visit of Jason Greenblatt last week, where he met President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
[. . . .] . . . Greenblatt proposed on the PA leadership the importance of “developing” the role of the security services and raising the level of security coordination with Israel to reach a level of full cooperation.
[. . . .]  But the most dangerous of the American-Israeli attempts is the seek for doing a comprehensive “brainwashing” for the Palestinians, so that, they forget their sons heroic sacrifices in their long battles against the occupation. This was clear in Greenblatt’s request, to remove the names of the martyrs from the streets of Palestinian cities and towns, and to press to stop the salaries of families of martyrs and prisoners . . . MORE . . .

Elrahim, Amira Abd. “LACK OF SECURITY FOR PALESTINIANS.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 21, no. 2, Nov. 2015, pp. 28-35.
[. . . .] Israelis have a government and weapons. They are protected by an army that stands behind them. Recently the Israeli government set up metal detectors at the entrances of the Old City of Jerusalem so that Palestinians aren’t allowed to go through with any metal objects, while Israeli settlers pass through with their guns!! The Israelis are asked to keep their weapons with them at all times!!! Could you think for yourself what do Palestinians have, who is there to protect them or care about their lost livelihoods. They are paralyzed and fed up with injustice, racism, the denial of rights practiced by the Israeli government and the ignorance of the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians are the only people on this earth who are asked to guarantee the security of their occupier, while Israel is the only country that calls for defense from its victims.
[. . . .]  Muhannad Halabi was bom in a wealthy family in al-Bireh, Ramallah [Died Oct. 3, 2015].   He was an active student who wanted to be a lawyer. . .  [On his Facebook page] He also had another photo of the Palestinian map covered in a kefiyye. Next to it he wrote: “The only wish which I have is to be buried in Palestine when I die, so that you could write on my grave he is no longer a refugee.” He also expressed his anger about happenings in al-Haram al-Sharif and about the Muslim women and elders who are provoked and humiliated each day. So he said: “What is happening to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and what is happening to the women there, to our mothers and sisters, I do not think our people should be subjugated to humiliation. The people will rise; no, they have actually risen.”   FULL ARTICLE . . . 

❷ PALESTINIAN  ‘ATTACKS’  ISRAELI  OFFICER  AFTER  REFUSING  STOP-AND-FRISK  SEARCH  IN  JERUSALEM  
Ma’an News Agency  
July 6, 2017.   A Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem allegedly “attacked” an Israeli police officer near Damascus Gate on Thursday after refusing to allow Israeli forces to search him.
___Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that Israeli forces stationed at Damascus Gate in the Old City had stopped a Palestinian and demanded to carry out a stop-and-frisk search.
___However, the Palestinian rejected to the search and “attacked” the Israeli border officer, causing the officer to sustain injuries that necessitated a trip to the hospital, according to al-Samri.
[. . . .] Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have long expressed frustration over Israel’s frequent stop-and-frisk searches routinely carried out on Palestinian passersby, with Israeli forces especially targeting Palestinian teenagers and young men.   MORE . . .
.

IMG_2845
Palestinian young man being stopped and searched by Israeli soldiers at Damascus Gate (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 6, 2015)


. . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) LAWYERS  BOYCOTT  ISRAELI  COURT  OVER  ‘HUMILIATING’  SEARCH  PROCEDURES   
Al Hourriah Magazine (Freedom)
July 6, 2017.   Lawyers representing Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel refused to appear in the Salem court in northern Israel on Monday, the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs said.
___The committee said that the lawyers were protesting the “humiliating” search procedures undertaken against them by the Israel Prison Service (IPS)   MORE . . .
❸ UNESCO  DECLARES  HEBRON  OLD  CITY  AS  PALESTINIAN  HERITAGE  SITE 
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
July 7, 2017.   UNESCO has voted to recognise Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque as Palestinian heritage sites despite diplomatic pressures by the US and Israel to recruit the support of enough member states to vote against the move.
___In a secret ballot, 12 countries voted in favour of the move whilst three voted against it and six abstained.
___The resolution was brought forward by Jordan and included two main clauses: the first states that Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque are Palestinian heritage sites and should be registered as such in UNESCO’s World Heritage List; and the second asserts that the two sites are to be recognised as being in danger which would force UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to convene to discuss their case.   MORE . . .

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

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

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

Samih al-Qasim 
From THE PALESTINIAN WEDDING: A BILINGUAL ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE POETRY. Ed. and Trans. A. M. Elmessiri. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. Reprint from Three Continents Press, Inc., 1982. Available from Palestine Online Store.

 

“. . . Hebron, historically centered around the Cave of the Patriarchs, is a microcosm of military occupation in the West Bank . . .” (Sarah Stern)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
urine-and-diapers
A used diaper and bag or urine thrown from the settlement above hang on a fence in the occupied city of Hebron. (Photo: Sarah Stern)

❶ Hebron area residents face multiple demolitions within a week

  • Background: “The Last Colonialist: Israel In The Occupied Territories Since 1967.” Independent Review

❷ Lawyers of Israeli soldier Elor Azarya call for acquittal in Hebron shooting trial
❸ Opinion/Analysis: In Hebron, a namesake falls short

  • Background: “Abraham The Settler, Jesus The Refugee: Contemporary Conflict And Christianity On The Road To Bethlehem.” History & Memory

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ HEBRON  AREA  RESIDENTS  FACE  MULTIPLE  DEMOLITIONS  WITHIN  A  WEEK     
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 21, 2016
Israeli forces on Sunday delivered 20 demolition notices in the Um al-Kher village in the southern occupied West Bank Hebron district, according to locals.
___Ratib al-Jabour, coordinator of a local committee that resists settlement activity, said that Israeli Civil Administration workers escorted by armed Israeli forces delivered the demolition notices to Suleiman al-Hathalin and Shuab al-Hathalin.
___The notices ordered demolitions on both Suleiman and Shuab’s homes, barns, barracks and residential caves.
___Al-Jabour added that Israeli forces “took Suleiman to a depopulated area and assaulted him,” resulting in injuries and bruises all over his body.     More . . .   

  • Reuveny, Rafael. “The Last Colonialist: Israel In The Occupied Territories Since 1967.” Independent Review 12.3 (2008): 325-374.   Source.  

[. . . .] Recent setter actions in the West Bank city of Hebron . . .  Seeking to gain control over Hebron’s old city, settlers have attacked Palestinians since 2001, playing a key role in driving out 15,000 to 20,000 Palestinian residents and 1,500 to 1,700 Palestinian businesses from the city. Settlers also have often attacked verbally and physically the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel sent to enforce order. In early 2007, settlers took over a large Palestinian house in Hebron . . .  Defense Minister Amir Peretz from the Labor Party sought to evacuate them, but the World Council tor Saving the People and the Land of Israel, a settler body, warned him not to intervene. . .  In Hebron, the settlers reportedly presented forged documents to prove their ownership of the house and have refused to leave.
[. . . .]  Yet this concession [in the Oslo accords] did not placate the settlers, who viewed the Oslo process as a sin against God that must be stopped. With this goal in mind, Baruch Goldstein, a religious settler and physician, killed twenty-nine Palestinian worshipers in Hebron in 1994. After the massacre, PM Rabin sought to remove settlers from the Tel Rumeida hill in Hebron (their presence there had long promoted strife), but he backed down after settlers said the order negated Jewish law and urged the IDF to reject it. Some settlers called Baruch Goldstein a holy martyr who had rushed to prevent Israel from falling into gentile hands. Nevertheless, the Oslo process continued, and settlers began to debate openly whether Jewish law allowed the killing of Rabin on the grounds that he planned to surrender Jewish land. Rabin was killed on November 4, 1995; his killer, an admirer of Baruch Goldstein, believed that God wanted Rabin killed in order to stop the Oslo process. After the massacre, Palestinians attacked Israelis, and Israel turned to the harsh methods that other colonial rulers used to suppress rebellion.

❷ LAWYERS  OF  ISRAELI  SOLDIER  ELOR  AZARYA  CALL  FOR  ACQUITTAL  IN  HEBRON  SHOOTING  TRIAL     
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 20, 2016
The defense team of Elor Azarya called for the Israeli soldier to be exonerated of all charges for shooting a prone Palestinian in the head in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in March, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
___According to the Jerusalem Post, Azarya’s lawyers argued that the trial had confirmed the soldier’s version of events, which stated that Azarya shot Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif at point-blank range after the Palestinian had already been shot and severely wounded after allegedly attempting to stab another Israeli soldier, because Azarya believed al-Sharif could have reached for a knife or had been concealing explosive underneath his jacket.     ___However, Azarya’s version has been thoroughly contradicted during the duration of the trial by his commanders and experts, who stated that al-Sharif did not constitute a threat at the time of his death, and that him wearing a jacket was not suspicious given the weather that day.       More . . .  
The killing  (with video) . . .

20160301_hebron_full
A-Sahla St. in Hebron, now another ghost street. Photo by Musa Abu Hashhash, B’Tselem, 3 Jan. 2016

❸ Opinion/Analysis:  IN  HEBRON,  A  NAMESAKE  FALLS  SHORT 
+972 Blog       
By Sarah Stern
Nov. 16, 2016
What it means to be named Sarah in Hebron — where the streets are segregated and occupation manifests itself in the ugliest of ways.
[. . . .]   Hebron, historically centered around the Cave of the Patriarchs, is a microcosm of military occupation in the West Bank. Near the Cave of the Patriarchs, Palestinians are not permitted to even walk on the streets, and must instead walk along rooftops to get from place to place. Only recently, a low cement block wall was removed from the street leading to the tomb. . . .    ___On the day we visited Hebron with Encounter, I saw a “Shoko Besakit”, a chocolate milk bag, dangling from a fence separating a new Jewish settlement complex from shops in the Palestinian old city of Hebron. These chocolate milk bags are a favorite for IDF soldiers as quick calories after military workouts . . .  When I drew closer with my camera, however, I realized I wasn’t looking at my favorite sweet, but at a bag of urine. It was thrown down from the heavens in the settlements above.      More . . .

  • Feldman, Jackie. “Abraham The Settler, Jesus The Refugee: Contemporary Conflict And Christianity On The Road To Bethlehem.” History & Memory 23.1 (2011): 62-95.   Source. 

[. . . .] . . . in Hebron and Jerusalem, the scene is often one of sophisticated, often wily, ideologically committed guides who become “soldiers in the national struggle,” generating and manipulating images for a generally uncommitted, under-informed, malleable and curious tour. One Christian Zionist tour outlines the Bethlehem day of their “Feast of Tabernacles Tour” itinerary as follows:
Day 8 – Hebron – Jerusalem
Today we will head south into Judea. The Kfar Etzion sound and
light show will give you a picture of the price the Jews have paid to
hold on to their land. Driving past Bethelem [sic], down the path
taken by Abraham to the burial place of the patriarchs in Hebron
and the Cave of Machpelah as well as the first capital of King David.
We will meet some residents of the old city of Hebron and walk to
the ancient neighborhoods and museum. Return to Jerusalem for
dinner and the Feast Celebration.
Note that Abraham and David are mentioned here, but not Jesus. The tour bypasses Bethlehem completely, to make its first stop in a sound-and-light show at a Jewish West Bank settlement. This corresponds with the major emphasis in Christian Zionist tours: “it’s not about where Jesus walked, it’s about where he’s going to walk.” The remainder of the program includes encounters with the Jewish settlers in Hebron, while the museum there frames the Muslim hostility toward the settlers . . .  as endemic, drawing parallels with the Holocaust. Clearly, it is only the Jewish “residents of the old city” who are linked with the Patriarchs—the “old city” and “ancient neighborhoods.” This corresponds to the Christian Zionist ideology in which “Eretz Israel [the Land of Israel] is given under the Abrahamic covenant to Jews alone . . .

“. . . Those cities we love. Hanged with the noose by the blue guards. . . .” (Izz al-Din al-Manasra)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
hebron-mospque
Sanctuary of Abraham or Ibrahimi Mosque, Hebron; staircase representing how teachers spread the word of the Prophet Muhammad. Rare original from the 11th century made of inlaid wood and no nails. (Photo: Rick Steves Blog)

❶ Israeli forces deliver stop-construction notices to residents of Hebron-area village

  • Background: “The Occupation: A Powerful And Self- Regulating Mechanism Of Organized Cruelty.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture

❷ Muslim Call to Prayer Stopped 86 Times at Ibrahimi Mosque [Hebron] in October
. . . ❷ ― (a) Israeli Soldiers Hurl Stones at Palestinian Primary School Children (VIDEO)
❸ Israel sentences Palestinian [Hebron] minor to life in prison, $500 thousand fine for killing Israeli
❹ Poetry by Izz al-Din al-Manasra
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  FORCES  DELIVER  STOP-CONSTRUCTION  NOTICES  TO  RESIDENTS  OF  HEBRON-AREA  VILLAGE     
Ma’an News Agency    
Nov. 2, 2016  Israeli forces delivered notices earlier this week to several families in the southern occupied West Bank village of Idhna ordering the halt of construction on several homes.
___The public relations department of the Idhna municipality said that resident Abdullah Suleiman al-Masri received a stop construction notice . . .   The municipality added that Muhammad Yunis Tmeizeh also received a stop construction notice . . .
___Israeli forces regularly issue notices and leave them near houses without their owners’ knowledge, the Idhna municipality said, adding that it would provide its services to targeted residents and follow up on these notices with the appropriate parties.    More . . .     Related:   GOLDMAN   SACHS   IS   FUNDING   HEBRON   SETTLERS

  • Shulman, David. “The Occupation: A Powerful And Self- Regulating Mechanism Of Organized Cruelty.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 19.3 (2014): 88-93.   Source.  

The phrase “Obstacles to Successful Negotiations” has a somewhat distant ring to it. . . .  It’s an abstraction, and far too hopeful at that. Obstacles could, in theory, be removed. Maybe someday they will be. But, for now, anyone who knows the reality of what is happening on the ground in the south Hebron hills isn’t likely to think in terms of “obstacles.” There exists a system that is self-sustaining, multi-leveled, with overlapping feedback mechanisms and upheld by overwhelming brute force, and this system has one and only one rationale. We can defy it, and  sometimes we do achieve minor, though meaningful, victories in the micro-struggle for every inch of land; but we have no chance of undermining the system itself or satisfying its endless hunger.
___Let’s begin at Umm al-Ara’is, wholly typical of that reality. The village lands once extended over a large area in the southern Hebron hills, not far from Palestinian Susya. Most have been lost to the settlers, including a particularly fertile wadi that is today just under the settlement — technically, the illegal outpost — of Mitzpeh Yair. The settlers simply took over these fields and have been cultivating them, as if they were theirs, for over two years. It’s a case, in no way unusual here, of out-and-out theft. As in other such cases, the Civil Administration, that is, the Occupation authority, has declared these fields “in dispute” — a legal category that means, in effect, that they are out of bounds to the Palestinian owners, though the settlers have free access to them at any time. A ruling on the question of ownership will probably be made, eventually, by one or more of the relevant authorities, possibly the Ministry of Defense.
___Members of the large ‘ Awad family have the title deeds to these lands.
[. . . .]  The Occupation works on automatic pilot, like other self-regulating systems. It is by now far bigger and infinitely more malevolent than any individual, or group of individuals, operating within it. Still, within the system, there is ample room for individual acts of wickedness. We see them in south Hebron every week.
[. . . .]  “Crazy,” in this case, points both to the fundamental absurdity of what passes for reality in the south Hebron hills and to the utterly arbitrary nature of the rules the soldiers are sent to enforce, as the officer’s words clearly reveal.
___ Yet both “absurd” and “arbitrary” are here synonyms for “wicked,” framed by the wider goal of taking the land. Quite often that wider goal spills over into acts that are truly sadistic . . . .

❷ MUSLIM  CALL  TO  PRAYER  STOPPED  86  TIMES  AT  IBRAHIMI  MOSQUE [Hebron] IN OCTOBER 
Palestine Chronicle     
Nov. 2, 2016  The Israeli occupation authorities prevented the call to prayer from being made at Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque 86 times last month with the excuse given was that the call to prayer “annoyed” illegal Jewish settlers during holiday periods, a Palestinian Authority report has revealed.
___The Israeli occupation authorities “ignore the feelings of the Muslims and well as international laws and conventions which guarantee the protection of holy sites and free access to them,” the PA explained.
___The Ibrahimi Mosque was divided into two parts after a US-born Jewish settler entered the prayer hall at dawn on Friday, February 25, 1994 and shot dead 29 Palestinians and wounded 150 others while they were praying.       More . . .   
. . . ❷ ― (A) ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  HURL  STONES  AT  PALESTINIAN  PRIMARY  SCHOOL  CHILDREN  (VIDEO) 
Palestine Chronicle
Nov. 2, 2016  Israeli soldiers used slingshots to hurl stones at Palestinian school children they are deployed to protect, footage posted on YouTube shows.
___The video taken on 25 October at 13:05 and uploaded by AtTuwaniProject, shows Israeli soldiers using slingshots to throw stones at Palestinian primary school children who are on their way home from school between the villages of Tuba and Twaneh in the South Hebron Hills.       More . . .    

p1010109
Al Shuhada Street, once the main market street of Hebron, is today a ghost town with businesses boarded up and soldiers and a few tourists walking around. (Photo: Katie Duffus Blog)

❸ ISRAELI  SENTENCES  PALESTINIAN  [Hebron]  MINOR  TO  LIFE  IN  PRISON,  $500  MILLION  FINE  FOR  KILLING  ISRAELI 
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 3, 2016  An Israeli court sentenced 16 year-old Palestinian Murad Badr Ideis to life in prison and a nearly $500,000 fine on Wednesday for carrying out a deadly stabbing attack in January.
___Ideis, a resident of the village of Beit Amra in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, received the life sentence and a 1.75 million-shekel ($458,875) fine after being convicted of carrying a stabbing attack on Jan. 17, killing Dafna Meir, a 38-year-old Israeli woman living in the illegal settlement of Otniel.
[. . . .] The head of the Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs in Hebron, Ibrahim Najajra, called the sentencing unjust and said the sentence, as well as the huge fine, was part of an Israeli policy of revenge on the Palestinian people.
___Israeli forces demolished Ideis’ family home in Beit Amra in June.       More . . .

“AT  NIGHT,”  BY  IZZIDDIN  AL-DIN  AL-MANASRA

At night I come to you,
at night I tempt you,
and your memory wounds me.
I weep for you
traveling toward your vineyards in my dream,
towards your mountain paths.
I slide onto your sandy roads like a snake,
leaving my traces before I die.

At night I speak, bringing the sea
to the mountain, reconciling thorns with lilies
and night guards
with people awaiting seaborne barbarians
or desert strangers, coming from oil wells, coming.
I yearn for you at night but green cities do not merge
with cities of flame; you never leave your exile
and I never enter it.
How can I reconcile our exiles with the
cities of green? Those cities we love.
Hanged with the noose by the blue guards.
Guarded by rubies, oil, and gold.
―Translated by May Jayyusi and Naomi Shihab Nye

IZZ  AL-DIN  AL-MANASRA was born in Hebron in 1946. He has been the Director of cultural programs in Jordanian radio, editor of Palestinian Affairs magazine, and worked as a professor of comparative literature in Constantine University in Algeria. He has published more than ten collections of poetry sine his first one, Ya Inab al-Khalil (O grapes of Hebron, 1968) ―all in an earthy and very direct language rich in alluisions to symbolic features of the homeland. . .  He has received several literary awards. In 2003 he was invited to represent Palestine at the Poetry International held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, were he read some of his poems in Arabic, with simultaneous Dutch and English translation.
From:  ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.