Category: Palestine information

“. . . standard-issue developing-world cement block structures. . .” (Rabbi Rachel Barenblat)

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200 Couples wed in Gaza
200 Couples wed in Gaza

Contents:

  • 400 Palestinians marry in mass wedding in Gaza
  • Leshem settlers take over Deir Sim’an Roman castle in Salfit
  • Israel seizes thousand dunum of land for settlement expansion in Hebron
  • Israeli forces detain twelve, summon two from West Bank
  • The operational logic behind terrorizing Palestinians
  • Poem by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat

❶ from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
400 PALESTINIANS MARRY IN MASS WEDDING IN GAZA
April 11, 2015
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two hundred Palestinian couples were married in a mass wedding in Gaza City on Saturday, seeing the ceremony through despite poor weather.
__A mother of one of the grooms, Rami Abu Amro, said it was a wonderful ceremony that couldn’t be stopped even by the rainy weather. She said that her son will now be able to have his own independent life and family despite difficult conditions in the coastal enclave.
__Newlyweds Mohammad and Fatima Baraka said they were exuberant to be married in such a traditional and well-organized setting.
(More. . .)
Account from Emirates News Agency

❷ from PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
LESHEM SETTLERS TAKE OVER DEIR SIM’AN ROMAN CASTLE IN SALFIT
12 April 2015
Israeli settlers from Leshem colonial settlement west Salfit today have taken over the historical village, Deir Sim’an, on the lands of Kafr Deek and Rafat.
__Deir Siman castle dates back to the Roman Era and counts as a very important Palestinian landmark. It is located a few kilometers west Kafr Deek village. It has been controlled and isolated by Israeli occupation forces, which now dominate more than 1,000 dunums in the area.
__Eyewitnesses said that Israeli settlers are using bulldozers and working around the clock on making roads to the castle, in addition to erecting walls around the village.
(More. . .)

BACKGROUND ON SETTLEMENT
from +972
IN THE WEST BANK, A NEW SETTLEMENT IS BORN
By Noam Sheizaf
August 26, 2013
Settlers are celebrating ‘the first official settlement in 20 years.’ Housing Minister: ‘There are no two states, and there won’t be two states.’
__The regional council for Jewish settlements in the northern part of the West Bank (Samaria) celebrated on Sunday the construction of a new settlement called Leshem, located in the western part of the occupied Palestinian territories.
__According to a report in Maariv, 72 families have moved into their homes in Leshem, and 70 more are expected to do so in the coming year. The plan is to build around 400 more housing units.
Israel has committed – both in the Oslo Accords and to the Bush administration – not to construct new settlements. . .
(More. . .)

Ancient Roman Castle at Deir Sim'ian - historic Palestinian landmark
Ancient Roman Castle at Deir Sim’ian – historic Palestinian landmark

❸ from PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
ISRAEL SEIZES THOUSAND DUNUM OF LAND FOR SETTLEMENT EXPANSION IN HEBRON
April 8, 2015
HEBRON– Israeli forces Wednesday took over a thousand dunums [about 250 acres] of Palestinian-owned land located between the towns of Beit Ummar and Beit Fajjar in the Hebron district for the benefit of settlement expansion, according to a local activist.
__Anti-settlement activists in Beit Ummar, Yousif Abu Maryya, informed WAFA that Israeli forces along with settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Migdal Oz’, placed a 2,600-meter-long fence around one thousand dunums belonging to Palestinian farmers in the area to expand the aforementioned settlement.
(More. . .)

❹ from PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
ISRAELI FORCES DETAIN TWELVE, SUMMON TWO FROM WEST BANK
February 9, 2015
JERUSALEM – Israeli forces Monday detained twelve Palestinians, including three minors and an official, and summoned two others from various West Bank districts, said security sources and an attorney.
__Israeli police detained five Palestinians, including two minors, from al-Tur neighborhood overlooking the Old City and took them to an interrogation and detention center, said the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) attorney Muhammad Mahmoud.
__Mahmoud identified the detainees as Jamal al-Za‘tari, 16, Ibrahim Abu Jum‘a, 17, Musa, 18, and Muhammad Abu al-Hawwa, 18, as well as Muhammad Abu Ghannam, 18.
(More . . .)

BACKGROUND ON ISRAELI POLICY
from +972
THE OPERATIONAL LOGIC BEHIND TERRORIZING PALESTINIANS
By Yossi Gurvitz for Yesh Din
April 10, 2015
Four Israeli soldiers carry out a routine procedure of ‘showing presence’ by throwing a smoke grenade into a Palestinian home. Its real purpose? Terrorizing innocent people.
__The incident in question, given the daily routine of the occupation, is relatively minor. On December 3rd, 2007, Adnan Abu Haniyeh, a resident of the West Bank village Yanoun, woke up from the sound of an explosion. Something blew up, the windows of his house were shattered and the house was filled with smoke. His little girl screamed in terror, and for a time the family feared that her hearing was permanently damaged. The walls of the house were covered with soot. Abu Haniyeh then heard the sound of a military Hummer.
__The rest of the incident will be described according to the investigative files of the Military Police Criminal Investigations Division (MPCID).
(More. . .) 

“FIRST VISIT TO THE CAMP D’HAISHA, BETHLEHEM,” by RABBI RACHEL BARENBLAT

There are no canvas tents.
The buildings don’t look
so bad, standard-issue
developing-world
cement block structures

until I try to imagine
eleven thousand people
in one square kilometer,
one in every minyan
an angry alumnus

of the Israeli jails.
What do I know
about settlers or rock-throwers,
one-state, two-state
impossibilities.

But our grandparents
didn’t escape the ghettos
of Europe’s worst era
only to create new ones
for somebody else.

When we depart
I’m saddened, troubled
but perfectly able
to order a cold beer
and make conversation.

The sorrow and the fury
dormant overnight
explode the next day.
Even Shabbat can’t soothe
my lacerated heart.

Rachel Barenblat was ordained a rabbi in January 2011 through the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She hold the MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her first full-length collection of poetry, 70 Faces: Torah poems, was published in 2011. She lives with her husband and son in Western Massachusetts. She serves as the rabbi for Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams, MA

Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, 2012
Dheisheh Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, 2012

Historic photo of Dheisheh Refugee Camp (1952) from approximately the same vantage point. “. . . standard-issue developing-world cement block structures. . .”
1952_web

“The reason, see, is that I am an Arab. . .” (Fouzi El-Asmar)

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Harvesting tomatoes in Gaza
Harvesting tomatoes in Gaza

from DALLAS MORNING NEWS
GAZA EXPORTS FIRST PRODUCE TO ISRAEL SINCE HAMAS TAKEOVER
By Fares Akram, Associated Press
Mar. 12, 2015
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli authorities allowed the import of Gaza produce on Thursday for the first time since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, a move that will aid Gaza’s battered economy and help pious Jews observe a biblical farming sabbatical.

Some 27 tons of tomatoes and five tons of eggplants were cleared to leave Gaza for Israel, Palestinian officials and Gaza merchants said.

“Exporting to Israel is better, but insufficient,” said Gaza merchant Hosni Shehada, who oversaw the preparation of half-ripe tomatoes and large eggplants for export at his warehouse.

Before Hamas took over the seaside territory nearly eight years ago, Gaza merchants used to export hundreds of tons of vegetables to Israel on a daily basis. (More. . .)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
15-YEAR-OLD PALESTINIAN ENTERS 76TH DAY IN ISRAELI CUSTODY
March 12, 2015
Fifteen-year-old Palestinian Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody on Wednesday after he was

Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody
Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh entered his 76th day in Israeli custody

sentenced to four months jail time and given a 2,000 shekel ($495) fine for throwing rocks and burning tires.

Al-Sheikh’s family told the Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights that Khalid was not medically treated by Israel since he was detained on Dec. 25, 2014 despite the fact that he suffers from anemia. (More. . .)

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
ARMY KIDNAPS NINE PALESTINIANS IN JERUSALEM AND NABLUS
by IMEMC & Agencies
March 12, 2015
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday evening, three young Palestinians including a 10-year old child, and four women, in occupied East Jerusalem, in addition two Palestinians near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Amjad Abu ‘Asab, head of the Jerusalem Detainees Committee, said the Police kidnapped Mohammad ‘Awad, 17, and Nour az-Zaghal, 17, from Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood in Silwan. (More. . .)

Funeral of Tawfiq Abu Riyala, Gaza
Funeral of Tawfiq Abu Riyala, Gaza

from MONDOWEISS
ISRAEL SHOT AT GAZA FISHERMEN 5 TIMES IN FIRST 7 DAYS OF MARCH, KILLING 1, INJURING 2
Ben Norton
March 11, 2015
Israeli forces shot at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Gaza on 7 March, killing one, a man by the name of Tawfiq Abu Riyala. Two fishers were also arrested.

Associated Press implied that it was not a purposeful attack on the part of Israel, and that the innocent fisherman was to blame for his own death, writing: “It was not clear how the fisherman ended up in the line of fire.” Such an attack on defenseless, unsuspecting fishermen is not uncommon, however. Not by any means.

According to the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, since the summer 2014 ceasefire agreement, in at least 10 incidents, Israel has injured 17 Palestinian fishers and detained 49 more. (More. . .)

from MONDOWEISS (Opinion)
BY BUSTING UP PEACE EFFORTS, AIPAC MAY HAVE BURST ITS OWN BUBBLE
Medea Benjamin
March 11, 2015
Early in the morning of March 3, on AIPAC’s national lobby day and just hours before Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was set to address the joint session of Congress, AIPAC President Robert Cohen, along with the group’s Policy Director and two associates, briskly approached the Congressional office of Speaker of the House John Boehner. To their horror, they found the office locked and surrounded by crowd of CODEPINK activists staging a sit-in to protest the Netanyahu speech. . .

When finally cornered after seeking refuge in the office of Congressman Steve Stivers, the policy director agreed to talk to the CODEPINK group. But he kept repeating the mantra that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and as such, cannot be trusted in a nuclear deal.

This is the AIPAC line, and its strategy is to sabotage the negotiations . . . there is speculation that AIPAC was behind the letter by 47 Republican senators to the Iran government . . . AIPAC’s underhanded efforts to scuttle talks with Iran threaten to move us down a dangerous path towards war. But it’s not just AIPAC’s position on Iran that poses a threat to peace. AIPAC tries to undermine any attempts by the Palestinians to take their grievances to the international community. (More . . .)

“Because I Am an Arab,” 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.

Born in Haifa, Palestine, Dr. El-Asmar grew up in a Palestinian area of Israel. In 1958, he became a member of the editorial board of the literary monthly, Al-Fajr, and in 1966 he became editor of the Arabic magazine, Hadha-al-Alam. He attended Central Connecticut State University (then Central Connecticut State College) and received his B.A. degree there with honors in 1975. He subsequently earned a Ph.D. from the University of Exeter in England.Then in 1979, he became the managing editor of the London-based international newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat.

Dr. El-Asmar lectured and taught at a number of universities, including St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and Bradford University in England, and the American University in Washington, D.C. He held dual Israeli and U.S. citizenship and resided in Bethesda, Maryland.

“. . .hotels for wishes that never give birth. . .” (Rashid Hussein)

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Has the Pilgrimage been hijacked?
Has the Pilgrimage been hijacked?

from THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE
ISRAEL’S ARAB POLITICAL PARTIES UNITED FOR FIRST TIME
March 11, 2015
A coalition of once fractious Arab parties is suddenly emerging as Israel’s newest power bloc, forcing the Jewish state to pay attention to its large Arab minority as never before.

If polls taken ahead of next week’s general election are accurate, Arab Israelis could end up heading the third-largest political faction in Israel’s next parliament, giving a voice to the often-sidelined Arab population.

It’s a remarkable of twist of fate for Israel’s 1.7 million Arabs, who make up roughly 20 percent of the country’s population and have never had much political clout. (More. . .)

from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
THE FRAT BOYS WHO SLANDER PALESTINE SOLIDARITY
Rania Khalek and Nora Barrows-Friedman
March 10, 2015
Last month the student court at the University of California at Davis overturned a recently approved resolution to divest from companies that profit from Israeli violations of Palestinians’ rights.

Determining that the resolution was “unconstitutional,” the student court’s ruling was based on a complaint made by Jonathan Mitchell, a former student body senator and former board member of the campus chapter of a right-wing Jewish fraternity.

The fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), has close ties to Israel lobby groups intent on crushing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. (More. . .)

from MONDOWEISS
ISRAEL’S FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR BEHEADING ARAB CITIZENS AND IT’S NOT ANYWHERE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Scott Roth and Phil Weiss
March 10, 2015

Two days ago Israel’s foreign minister called for beheading Arab citizens of Israel who are “against us.” Haaretz did the story yesterday. So did Newsweek.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that Arab citizens who are not loyal to the state of Israel should have their heads “chopped off with an axe”.

The minister, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and an outspoken critic of Israel’s Arab population, made the controversial remarks on Sunday in a speech to an election rally held in the western Israeli city of Herzliya ahead of the March 17 vote.

“Those who are with us deserve everything, but those who are against us deserve to have their heads chopped off with an axe,” the ultra-nationalist politician said. (More. . .)

from THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
HAS THE PILGRIMAGE BEEN HIJACKED?
Richard LeSueur
March 2015
The travel industry has discovered a new word, “pilgrimage.” What was commonly marketed in previous years as a “Tour to the Holy Land” is today promoted as a “Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.” Has anything changed? Not really. The itineraries read the same: the frenetic pace, glossy hotels, air conditioned coaches, sumptuous meals, ample shopping opportunities, and the blur of sites. One might ask then, what do these tours have to do with the ancient practice of pilgrimage? Is this simply a marketing scheme to add sticker value and appeal to religious clients? Has the pilgrimage been hijacked for consumerist ends? Is there a difference between tourism and pilgrimage?

For more than twenty-five years I have been facilitating programs of Christian pilgrimage primarily in the Middle East. Pilgrimage is not tourism. Pilgrimage may involve elements of tourism common to all travel, but it is an ancient, soulful way of approaching a land, its peoples, and its story. Pilgrimage is different from tourism in its intention, design, collective rituals, and the principles that underlie the day-to-day experience. (More. . .)

Print
INTRODUCING THE BDS MOVEMENT
The global movement for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights was initiated by Palestinian civil society in 2005, and is coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), established in 2007. BDS is a strategy that allows people of conscience to play an effective role in the Palestinian struggle for justice.

. . . On July 9 2005, a year after the International Court of Justice’s historic advisory opinion on the illegality of Israel’s Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), a clear majority of Palestinian civil society called upon their counterparts and people of conscience all over the world to launch broad boycotts, implement divestment initiatives, and to demand sanctions against Israel, until Palestinian rights are recognized in full compliance with international law. (More. . .)

“WITHOUT A PASSPORT,” BY RASHID HUSSEIN

I was born without a passport
I grew up
and saw my country
become prisons
without a passport

So I raised a country
a sun
and wheat
in every house
I tended to the trees therein
I learned how to write poetry
to make the people of my village happy
without a passport

I learned that he whose land is stolen
does not like the rain
If he were ever to return to it, he will
without a passport

But I am tired of minds
that have become hotels
for wishes that never give birth
except with a passport

Without a passport
I came to you
and revolted against you
so slaughter me
perhaps I will then feel that I am dying
without a passport

Translated by Sinan Antoon. From Rashid Hussein, Al-A`mal al-Shi`riyya (al-Taybe: Markaz Ihya’ al-Turath al-`Arabi, 1990)
Rashid Hussein (1936-1977) was born in Musmus, Palestine. He published his first collection in 1957 and established himself as a major Palestinian poet and orator. He participated in founding the Land Movement in 1959. He left in 1966 and lived in Syria and Lebanon and later in New York City where he died in February, 1977. He was buried a week later in Musmus. His funeral was attended by thousands of Palestinians.

A view "Pilgrims" never see.
A view “Pilgrims” never see.

“Subside, tempests! Abashed by his boldness. . . ” (Ibrahim Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
18 Kidnapped overnight
18 Kidnapped overnight

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
ARMY KIDNAPS 18 PALESTINIANS NEAR BETHLEHEM
Tuesday March 10, 2015

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, Teqoua’ town, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and kidnapped eighteen Palestinian youths, including several siblings, after storming dozens of homes and detonating the front doors of some of them, and assaulted many residents. (More. . .)

from WASHINGTON REPORT ON MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
PALESTINIANS PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR JUSTICE
By Rachelle Marshall
March/April 2015

Only in a Kafka-esque world would it be a punishable offense to seek justice before a court of law. Yet that is the world that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live in. For nearly half a century Israel has controlled their land and water, restricted their every movement, and taken steps to cripple their economy. For years they were forbidden to hold political gatherings.

Today, Palestinians in the West Bank live at the mercy of trigger-happy soldiers. The U.N. reported that Israeli forces killed 50 Palestinians in the West Bank in 2014, including a 55-year-old Palestinian official, Ziad Abu Ein, who was grabbed around the neck and butted in the chest by a helmeted Israeli soldier while taking part in a peaceful demonstration. Scores of Palestinians were wounded last year by gunfire, including several members of the International Solidarity movement, who are pledged to nonviolence.

Soldiers make no distinction between Palestinian children and adults. More than a thousand children in the West Bank were injured last year, among them 5-year-old Muhammed Ubeid and 11-year-old Saleh Mahmoud, both of whom were shot in the face with rubber-coated steel bullets. Saleh was permanently blinded. Amira Hass concluded in her Dec. 15 Haaretz column: “The violence of the Israel Defense Forces has become normal, an obvious routine.” (More. . .)

(NOTE: A subscription to WRMEA is necessary in order to read the full article. WRMEA is one of the most reliable sources of information about Palestine/Israel and is well worth the subscription. Contact me for a “fair-use” copy of this article.)

from MONDOWEISS
THE NAKBA DAY DENIAL
Eyal Weizman, Nick Axel, Steffen Kraemer, Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Jacob Burns
March 10, 2015

Denial is an important and often underemphasized dimension of Israel’s violence toward Palestinians. Israel equally denies historical crimes and daily incidents. Denial has become, in fact, a constant and almost instinctual official reaction to any accusation of wrongdoing. This is not only an offence against truth, but also enables the ongoing perpetration of crimes. If one has done no wrong, one may, of course, continue doing it.

Israel’s denial of the Nakba—the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948—has been legally sanctioned since 2011. The “Nakba law” now imposes harsh fines on public organizations that refer to Israel’s official Independence Day on the 15th of May as a day of mourning. The Nakba is, however, not just a historical fact: it is a daily reality for many Palestinians living under Israeli domination. Despite Israel’s attempt to expunge the Palestinian disaster from memory, every May 15th in the West Bank Nakba denial is countered by protests that often lead to clashes with Israeli security forces. (More. . . )


from MONDOWEISS
PALESTINIAN LEADERS VOTE TO END SECURITY COORDINATION WITH ISRAEL, A CORNERSTONE OF OSLO AND THE OCCUPATION
Allison Deger
March 8, 2015

Palestinian leaders decided Thursday night they will “end all forms of security coordination with Israel,” a much-criticized practice of shared policing across the West Bank and a staple of Israeli-Palestinian relations over the last two decades. The announcement included one loophole that would allow Israel to salvage the security arrangement, a signal that the Palestinian leaders could be seeking to leverage Israel’s security concerns in order to get funds due to the Palestinian Authority that Israel has frozen.

In their statement, Palestinian leaders left open the possibility that security coordination could continue so long as Israel enforces all “signed agreements” with the Palestinians. Moreover, ending security coordination would not go into effect until at least three months from now, said Xavier Abu Eid, spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). (More. . .)


from THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
THE MONTH IN PICTURES: FEBRUARY 2015
March 6, 2015

Israeli forces fired on Palestinians in Gaza every day during the month of February, particularly in the so-called Access Restricted Areas along the Gaza-Israel boundary, the United Nations monitoring group OCHA reported.

Raeda al-Abeed mourns her four-year-old son Jihad, who suffered from quadriplegia, in their shack in Gaza City on 2 February. The child died after his family was unable to travel for medical treatment due to the closure of Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Raeda al-Abeed mourns her four-year-old son Jihad, who suffered from quadriplegia, in their shack in Gaza City on 2 February. The child died after his family was unable to travel for medical treatment due to the closure of Rafah crossing with Egypt.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt — the sole exit and entry point for the vast majority of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents — remained closed throughout the month. According to OCHA, an estimated 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza were waiting to cross into Egypt, including medical patients and students. (More. . .)

“COMMANDO,” BY IBRAHIM TUQAN (1905-1941)

Do not consider his safety—
He bares his life on the palms of his hands.
Worries have substituted
A pillow for his shroud
As he waits for that hour
That ushers in the terrible hour of his death.
His bowed head disturbs
All who glance his way.
Within his breast there is
A throbbing heart afire with its purpose.
Who has not seen night’s charcoal blackness
Set on fire by his spark
Hell itself has touched
His message with its fire.

There he stands at the door:
Death is afraid of him.
Subside, tempests!
Abashed by his boldness.

Silent he is, but should he speak
He would unite fire with blood.
Tell whoever faults with his silence
Resolution was born mute
And in the man of resolution
The hand is quicker that the word.
Rebuke him not for he has seen
The path of righteousness darkened
The foundations of a country
He loves demolished
And enemies at whose injustice
Heaven and earth cry out!
There was a time when despair
Almost killed him… but

There he stands at the door
And death is afraid of him.
Subside tempest!
Abashed at his boldness!
——Translated by Lena Jayyusi and John Heath-Stubbs

Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature. New York: Columbia University Press (1992) 317-318.