“Here we shall stay, sing our songs. . . .” (Tawfiq Zayyad)

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Selected News of the Day

Israeli forces seal off main roads west of Ramallah following suspected attack

WAFA
August 23, 2019
Israeli forces today sealed off main roads leading to the western Ramallah district in the West Bank following a suspected attack that resulted in the killing of a settler, confirmed local sources.
· · · · Forces deployed heavily and blocked major roads leading to a cluster of Palestinian villages west of Ramallah, particularly the Wadi al-Dilb Road and Ein Ayyoub junction. They also blocked the roads leading to Kafr Ni’ma and Ras Karkar villages, where they ransacked several homes and stores.
· · · · Soldiers set up roadblocks at the northern entrance to Ramallah city and at Ein Siniya junction, north of Ramallah, inspecting Palestinian vehicles and inspecting the IDs of passengers. They also raided Beituniya and Ein Arik towns, west of Ramallah.
· · · · The closure is conducted as part of a manhunt for a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli settler and wounding two others in an attack at Ein Bunin natural spring near the illegal Israeli settlement of Dolev, near Ras Karkar village.  More . . . .

  • Al-Shoroq: The activist farmers resisting Israeli annexation in Beit Ummar. IMEMC News & Agencies. August 21, 2019. More . . . .
  • Jewish Settlers Rule the Roost in Israel, but at What Cost? The Palestine Chronicle. August 22, 2019. More . . . .   

Displacement In Gaza And Israel’s Demographic Obsession

Days of Palestine
August 22, 2019
The statements made by a senior Israeli political source, which is likely to be Prime Minister Netanyahu himself, published in Israeli media, including Haaretz on 20 August regarding Israel taking practical steps to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, reminds us of what Israel calls the demographic threat. This involves ensuring a Jewish majority in the country, which has been a concern since the establishment of the Zionist colonial settlement project. Why displace Gazans? Why now? Is there a real possibility for its implementation?
· · · · Israel has used all forms of displacement, including ethnic cleansing, in order to reduce the number of Palestinians in Palestine as much as possible and achieve Zionism’s top goal, i.e. imposing a Jewish majority in Palestine, where its indigenous people have been living for many many years. This method on its own did not achieve the desired results, so Israel attracted tens of thousands of Arab and non-Arab Jews in order to successfully establish the state of Israel on the ruins of the Palestinian people in 1948. However, the demographic danger continued to pose a threat to Israel after occupying and controlling the Palestinians in 1967.   More . . . .   

  • Living in fear of the bulldozers. Electronic Intifada, August 22, 2019. More . . . .

Israeli Police Kidnaps Seven Jerusalemites From Bab Al-Rahma

Two young girls and three children among the detainees
Days of Palestine
Aug 22 2019
The Israeli occupation police on Thursday afternoon kidnaped seven Palestinian citizens, including two young girls and three children, from the Bab al-Rahma prayer area of the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
· · · According to eyewitnesses, police forces stormed the Bab al-Rahma area and rounded up Aqsa guard Bader al-Rajbi along with three children, two girls and one young man. More . . . .

Anti-Semitism’ vs. ‘Islamophobia’: How language creates hierarchies of discrimination and whitewashes bigotry

Mondoweiss
Timo Al-Farooq
August 22, 2019
From the ivory towers of academic knowledge production to the lowlands of cracker-barrel Stammtisch-culture, tactical language is omnipresent in everyday political discourse. . . . language manipulation is a key modus operandi for the powers that be in stifling critical thought and thus consolidating their grip on potentially subversive populaces.
· · · One such example of strategic linguistic flexibility, taken straight from our fiction-turned-fact and prophesy-fulfilled Orwellian times: someone who hates Jews is known as an “anti-Semite”, but someone who hates Muslims is merely an “Islamophobe”, a person afraid of Islam? . . . .
· · · · So my question is: why is an anti-Semite not called a “Semitophobe?” And an Islamophobe not an “anti-Muslim?” And what is that even supposed to mean, “afraid of Islam?” As if the heterogeneous beliefs of 1.8 billion people were a Freddy Krueger-like serial killer coming to murder you in your sleep. More . . . .

 Poem of the Day

“HERE WE SHALL STAY” by Tafiq Zayyad

In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain
like a wall upon your chest,
and in your throat
like a shard of glass,
a cactus thorn,
and in your eyes
a sandstorm.

***
We shall remain
a wall upon your chest,
clean dishes in your restaurants,
serve drinks in your bars,
sweep the floors of your kitchens
to snatch a bite for our children
from your blue fangs.

***
Here we shall stay,
sing our songs,
take to the angry streets,
fill prisons with dignity.

***
In Lidda, in Ramla, in the Galilee,
we shall remain,
guard the shade of the fig
and olive trees,
ferment rebellion in our children
as yeast in the dough.

From BEFORE THERE IS NOWHERE TO STAND. ED. Joan Dobbie & Grace Beeler. Lost Horse Press. 2002.

“Every time the bombs fall on Gaza I want answers. . .” (Samah Sabawi)

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Selected News of the Day

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

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

50-year-old fire still raging at Aqsa Mosque

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

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

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

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

Israeli Warplanes Bombard Several Places In Gaza

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

Poem of the Day

“A CONFESSION” by Samah Sabawi

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

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

“No matter your sanctions, no matter your rhetoric. . . .” Jehan Bseiso

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Selected News of the Day

Israel to demolish over 20 Palestinian structures north of Jerusalem

(WAFA)
August 21, 2019
Israeli forces and staff of the so-called Israeli Municipality of West Jerusalem today ordered the demolition of over 20 Palestinian structures in al-Matar neighborhood, north of Jerusalem.
· · · · Security sources confirmed that Israeli forces and municipality staff stormed Al-Matar neighborhood, opposite to Qalandiya refugee camp, where they handed demolition orders for over 20 Palestinian structures purportedly for being built without licenses.
· · · · Meanwhile, Israeli police escorted a bulldozer to the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, where heavy machinery demolished a house. The demolished structure belonged to the Rajabi family.  More. . . .

Settlers attack Palestinian farmers, fence off land near Ramallah

(WAFA)
August 20, 2019
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers in the town of Um Safa to the north of Ramallah, and placed barbed wire on land located in area ‘B’ and ‘C’ of the West Bank as a prelude to seize it, said a local official.
· · · · Head of Um Safa village council told WAFA settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish attacked farmers near Um Safa village and released their cows into residents’ land, destroying the crops.
· · · · Settlers further fenced off a land exceeding 150 dunums in area with barbed wires, in an apparent prelude to take over the land.   More. . . .

Israel pushing Palestinians to leave Gaza

(Electronic Intifada)
Maureen Clare Murphy
19 August 2019
Israel is actively encouraging and ready to facilitate mass emigration of Palestinians from Gaza, according to a senior government official.
· · · · “Israel is ready to carry the costs of helping Gazans emigrate,” and would potentially use air force bases in Israel for that purpose, The Times of Israel reported on Monday. The unnamed official, in Kyiv as part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Ukraine, added that more than 35,000 Palestinians left the coastal enclave last year.
· · · · Two million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a punishing Israeli economic blockade for 12 years and repeated military offensives. . . .   Every two in three Palestinians in Gaza is a refugee from lands inside what is now Israel. That government forbids them from exercising their right to return as enshrined in international law because they are not Jews. . . .    No European or Middle Eastern country has agreed to participate in the scheme, according to the publication. The official did not say whether any other governments are cooperating.    More. . . .

70th Great March of Return: 66 Civilians Injured by Israeli forces, including  20 Children, 3 Women and a Volunteer Paramedic

(Palestinian Center for Human Rights)
August 16, 2019
On the 70th Great March of Return, 66 Palestinian civilians were injured due to the Israeli military’s continued use of excessive force against peaceful protests along the Gaza Strip’s eastern border. At least 20 children, 3 women and a volunteer paramedic were among those injured this Friday, 16 August 2019. Twenty-nine civilians were shot with live bullets; 2 of them were deemed in a critical medical condition. . . .
· · · · To this date, PCHR documented 208 killings by Israel since the outbreak of the protests on 30 March 2018, including 44 children, 2 women, 9 persons with disabilities, 4 paramedics, and 2 journalists. Additionally, 13,463 were wounded, including 2,797 children, 415 women, 222 paramedics and 210 journalists, noting that many had sustained multiple wounds on multiple occasions.  Among those wounded, PCHR documented cases where 196 persons have become with disabilities, including 28 children and 5 women: 149 amputees; 21 paralyzed, 26 blind or deaf and 9 sexually disabled.  More. . . .

Poem of the Day

“GAZA, 2009” — JEHAN BSEISO

No matter white flag.

No matter medicine.
No matter civilian.

No matter international community.

No matter your international waters.

No matter your sanctions, no matter your rhetoric and foreign policy.

Only 62 years status quo
Everyday, everyday Nakba,
Subsidized settlements,

Even more walls-

Children on the ICRC bus, visiting their Baba’s in your prisons―
Matter.

Food and medicine rotting at every border―
Matter
From the shadows, the silent majority watch water go on fire.

From I  REMEMBER  MY  NAME, ed. Vacy Vlanza. London: Novum Publishing, 2016.

“. . . you would think the very how and what of being were in doubt.” (Reja-e Busailah)

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Selected reports of the day

Israeli forces detain 17 Palestinians from West Bank

WAFA
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Hebron — Israeli forces dawn Tuesday detained 17 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank, said Palestine Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
· · · · Israeli vehicles raided Beit Kahel town, northwest of Hebron, where soldiers detained six Palestinians, including three brothers of Kassem Asafra, one of two Palestinians suspected of killing an off-duty Israeli soldier outside the settlement of Ofra almost two weeks ago . . . .
· · · · Israeli forces carry out frequent raids across the West Bank—including occupied East Jerusalem—on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.
· · · · These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the Israeli forces go in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.
· · · · According to Palestinian figures, roughly 5,700 Palestinians — including numerous women and children — are currently languishing in Israeli detention facilities.  More . . . .

Hamas raises $100,000 for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

AL MONITOR -PALESTINE PULSE
Entsar Abu Jahal
August 19, 2019
Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya said in a statement Aug. 6 that Hamas had launched a donation campaign in the Gaza Strip to support Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and collected $100,000 from Gaza’s inhabitants.
· · · He said the contributions will soon be sent to Lebanon and praised Gaza’s citizens for being generous and loyal to their roots despite the blockade and tough circumstances. Haya also said Hamas is launching a campaign to support the inhabitants of Wadi al-Homs in East Jerusalem after Israel destroyed 100 apartments there in July.
· · · While some Gazans praised the campaign to help Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, others wondered about its timing given the tough circumstances Gaza residents are living under. Some residents said that the Gaza Strip should be the priority when it comes to support campaigns and that Hamas should alleviate citizens’ suffering first and foremost . . . .
· · · · He noted that the Gaza Strip, a main target and at the forefront of confrontations with Israel, sought to underline its readiness to support Palestinians in Jerusalem and the diaspora, as it considers itself the core of the Palestinian cause. He said the campaign carries more of a political importance than an economic  said Hamas should have launched a similar campaign to support the resilience of Gaza’s poor citizens. More . . . .

Political upheaval over Tlaib and Omar shows the power of BDS

Mondoweiss
Philip Weiss
August 17, 2019
We are in the middle of a political upheaval on Israel/Palestine in the United States, and Americans who are concerned with Palestinian human rights live for these moments. They are the moments of potential change: When more tarnish is added to Israel’s image, and Americans get a clearer picture of what the Jewish state actually means for non-Jews under its sovereignty.
· · · Since I’ve been covering the issue there have been several such moments. The Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-09. The Israeli assault on Gaza in 2014. Netanyahu’s showdowns with Obama over settlements, the Iran deal (2011, 2015). The move of the embassy last year with Israel’s slaughter of some 60 nonviolent protesters at the Gaza fence. . . .
· · · The story has been a wakeup call in the U.S. to how far right/intolerant Israeli society is. Despite Israel’s apologists’ efforts to blame the US leader for the move (Bari Weiss, MSNBC, the New York Times), a lot of Americans are blaming the country that won’t let our congresspeople in even though we give it more foreign aid than any other country, $3.8 billion a year.   More . . . .

Rashida Tlaib’s Grandmother: ‘I Love Her and I Am So Proud of Her’

PALESTINE CHRONICLE
August 18, 2019
The Palestinian grandmother of Rashida Tlaib [told the Washington Post] she was proud of her granddaughter’s pro-Palestine stance after the US Congresswoman was barred from traveling to Israel. Muftiyah Tlaib, who lives in the family’s village of Beit Ur Al-Foqa in the occupied West Bank. . .  More . . . .

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (01– 07 August 2019)

PALESTINIAN CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
August 8, 2019
· · · Great March of Return in Eastern Gaza Strip: 72 civilians injured, including 30 children, 3 women, one of them is a paramedic, and 2 journalists by Israeli forces.
· · · Occupied East Jerusalem: 2 Civilians Injured.
· · · 91 civilians, including 9 children, arrested during 65 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.   More . . . .

Poem of the Day

REMEMBRANCE OF AN OLD SPRING by  Reja-e Busailah

Rickety is the sun,
the young year’s bones damaged from within,
neither the bright fruit of the grove
nor the air perfumed with its breath
can dispel the apprehension:

behind, the sore feet and buttocks of the mountains,
like a child’s who hasn’t done his lessons,
and still bare and swollen from the whippings of winter,
and the peaks aren’t done smarting
from the screeching and scratching of the winds:

before, the shallow sky, like a boy
who hasn’t yet learned how to interpret scars
hangs over the liquid expanse
where so much is iffy, you would think
the very how and what of being were in doubt.

From Reja-e Busailah. POEMS OF A PALESTINIAN BOYHOOD. Smoke Stack Books, 2019.

“I am the root of a thousand olive trees” (Ramzy Baroud)

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Selected News of the Day

Palestinians foil attempt by US embassy to convene a meeting for youth in Ramallah

WAFA
August 19, 2019
Palestinians foiled an attempt by the US embassy in Israel to hold a meeting for Palestinian youth in the West Bank city of Ramallah after the hotel where the meeting was supposed to take place has informed the embassy that it cannot host it, today said Issam Baker, coordinator of the National Forces in Ramallah. . .   The Palestinians are boycotting all US-sponsored activity after the US recognized Jerusalem as capital of Israel and moved its embassy to the city, closed the Palestinian representative office in Washington, stopped funding Jerusalem hospitals, cut off funding from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and cancelled the term occupied territories from the West Bank, among other anti-Palestinian steps.   More. . . .

What occupation looks like for Rashida Tlaib’s village in the West Bank 

By Dror Etkes, +972 Magazine
August 19, 2019
Forty years of land grabs, settlement expansion, and the building of a highway that is off limits to Palestinians. This is what is happening to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib’s village.
The West Bank village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa made headlines over the weekend, after Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib announced she would not accept Israel’s offer for a “humanitarian visit” to see family, and particularly her aging grandmother.
Beyond Tlaib’s personal story, however, is the story of a village that has seen decades of land grabs for the purpose of Israeli settlement expansion and the construction of a bypass road, which Palestinian residents of the West Bank have been banned from using for nearly two decades.  More. . . .

Israel kills three Palestinians in besieged Gaza Strip

Officials say three Palestinians killed, one wounded, after overnight Israeli attacks in northern Gaza.
Al-Jezeera
August 18, 2019
At least three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the north of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials and local media, hours after three rockets were allegedly fired from the blockaded enclave.
Maan news agency said on Sunday at least one other Palestinian suffered “critical” injuries following the overnight attack. . . . In a statement issued late on Saturday, the Israeli army said an attack helicopter and tank had fired at “armed suspects” along the fence that separates Israel from the besieged Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians. . . . Israel has waged three wars on Gaza since 2008. The Gaza Health Ministry said that since the start of the weekly Great March of Return protests last year, the Israeli army has killed more than 300 demonstrators and wounded 17,000 others, who were officially referred to hospitals.   More. . . .

Are Palestinian construction permits Israel’s way to annex Area C?

Tamam Mohsen, Al-Monitor: Palestine Pulse
August 8, 2019
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli Cabinet approved July 30 the construction of 715 houses for Palestinians in Area C. Such a rare step came one day before US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Israel, as part of the US administration’s preparations to announce the details of the peace plan, also known as the “deal of the century,” in the upcoming months.
Nevertheless, the construction plan — which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested and which gives the green light for the construction of 6,000 housing units in the West Bank settlements as well — has been rejected by the Palestinians and has ignited the ire of Israeli’s right wing.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a July 30 statement, “Every day, the Israeli government shows that it deals with the occupied Palestinian territories classified as Area C as a strategic reserve for the settlements.” The ministry warned against any Israeli attempt to turn all settlements and outposts into a single settlement bloc that is grouped geographically “into a Jewish state for the settlers in the West Bank.”   More. . . .

Poem of the Day

“NAKBA,”  BY  RAMZY  BAROUD

The bones of my ancestors are the foundation
On which the mountains of Galilee stand.

Our ruggedness might not suit your taste
But we inherited the language of trees.

I am the root of a thousand olive trees
A legacy that will grow through my children

I will fight to preserve my essence until my son
Is old enough to inherit his grandmother’s Thoub*

She lost her childhood amidst dying peasants
Before walking the beaten road of exile and hope

Pleading at every checkpoint, she was the face in her photo
Searching for a home between Haifa and Eternity.

So, don’t talk to me about the Pharaoh: My
Father’s blood drenched the skin of Jesus

After the Romans caught him at a checkpoint
Hiding a recipe for revolution, and a love poem

And all the love letters of refugee women
Sent to men suspended on crosses

Overlooking the Martyrs Graveyard
Echoing the battle cries of Jaffa.

From I  REMEMBER  MY  NAME, ed. Vacy Vlanza. London: Novum Publishing, 2016.

*Dress, garment

“. . .strangers with their rifles’ muzzles . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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IMG_3215 - edited resized
Israeli Occupation Forces bunker and watchtower in Central Hebron. (Photo: Harold Knight, November 7, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY
|  ISRAEL  DEMOLISHES  HOME  IN  JERUSALEM  –  143  DEMOLISHED  IN  2018  
Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian-owned house in Qalandiya north of occupied East Jerusalem in the central West Bank, on Wednesday morning.    ___Owner Hamzeh al-Mughrabi told Ma’an that Israeli police forces escorted municipality staff into Qalandiya, where they surrounded the house, emptied and evacuated residents before starting the demolition.    ___Al-Mughrabi added that the Shweiki family of 6 members, including a man with disability, live in the 100-square meter house.    More . . .
~~ Jerusalem  mayor  plans  to  reduce  the  sound  of  mosque  loudspeakers     More . . .
|   WEEKLY  REPORT  ON  ISRAELI  HUMAN  RIGHTS  VIOLATIONS  IN  THE  OCCUPIED  PALESTINIAN  TERRITORY  (20–26  DECEMBER  2018)
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against the peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip.     ___4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and a person with mobility impairment were killed.   142 civilians, including 30 children, 2 women, 2 journalists, and a paramedic, were wounded; the injury of 2 of them was reported serious.    ___A child was killed and 5 civilians were wounded, including a Journalist, in the West Bank.    ___Israeli forces conducted 66 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited incursions into the northern Gaza Strip.   More . . .
~~  Scores  of  Palestinians  injured  by  Israeli  bullet  fire     More . . .
~~  Civilians  kidnapped,  homes  ransacked  by  Israeli  army    More . . .
|  ISRAEL  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES  FORMALLY  QUIT  UNESCO
More than a year after announcing their withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Israel and the United States’ decision officially went into effect at the last second of December 31, 2018.   ___UNESCO was the first UN body to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011, which led the Obama administration to stop paying its annual contributions. In 2017, the UN heritage agency passed a resolution designating the Tomb of Patriarchs in  Hebron  as  a  Palestinian  World  Heritage  Site. The decision was opposed by the Jewish community because of the holy cave’s significance in Judaism.     More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION
|  NOT  WELCOME  IN  HEBRON:  ITS  ORIGINAL  RESIDENTS  AND  BREAKING  THE  SILENCE
Jonathan Cook
Ido Even-Paz switched on his body camera as his tour group decamped from the bus in Hebron. The former Israeli soldier wanted to document any trouble we might encounter in this, the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank.    ___It was not Hebron’s Palestinian residents who concerned him, however. He was worried about fellow Israelis—Jewish religious extremists and the soldiers there to guard them—who have seized control of much of the city center [. . . .]  ___For more than 15 years, Israel has forbidden entry for Palestinians to what was once Hebron’s main throroughfare and central shopping area along Shuhada Street. Now it has been rebranded in Hebrew as King David Street, and declared what the army terms a “sterilized area.” The closure severs the main transport routes for Palestinians between north and south Hebron.    ___Most of the Palestinian inhabitants have been driven from the city center by endless harassment and attacks by settlers, bolstered by arrests and night raids conducted by the army, says Even-Paz.    More . . .
~~  Gaza  march  leader  to  conscientious  objectors:  ‘Turn  your  words  into  weapons’    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY

“STORY  OF  A  CITY,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
There was a blue city
that dreamt of foreigners wandering
Around and spending their money
day after day.

But it became a black city
despising strangers
with their rifles’ muzzles
making the rounds of its cafés.

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.

“. . . the day is impudent and selfish. . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Gaza4
Palestinian children at the Great Return March, near  Gaza City, April 10, 2018. (Photo: Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills.org)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY 
|  ILLEGAL  SETTLEMENT  EXPANSION  UNDERWAY  AT  COST  OF  A  NORTHERN  WEST  BANK  VILLAGE
The Israeli army razed land in Dhar al-Maleh village, southwest of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank, in order to expand an illegal Jewish settlement, the village’s head of council Ahmad Khatib said on Tuesday.    ___He told WAFA that bulldozers started to work on 120 dunums of the village land and in the process destroyed a paved road as the military was working on expanding the illegal settlement of Shaked, built on expropriated village land.     More . . .
~~  Israel  plans  new  settlement  units  in  Bethlehem    More . . .
~~  Israeli  settlements  threaten  to  engulf  West  Bank  communities    More . . .
|  QATAR  DEAL  EXPECTED  TO  BOOST  PALESTINIAN  TRADE
Qatar and Palestine are working to boost their bilateral trade, taking steps that one expert says will double their exchange over five years.    ___The Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Palestine Trade Center (PalTrade) to increase partnership efforts between the two countries. During a Dec. 12 meeting in Doha that was also attended by Palestinian Ambassador to Qatar Amir Ghannam as well as Qatari and Palestinian businesspeople, the two sides agreed to allow nine Palestinian food and agriculture companies to export their products to the Qatari market.    More . . .
~~  Palestinian  Poverty  Level  Almost  Double  Israel  Average    More . . .
|   EIGHT  PALESTINIANS  KIDNAPPED  BY  IOF  IN  W.  BANK
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Tuesday kidnapped at least eight Palestinian citizens during campaigns in the West Bank.    ___The Israeli army claimed in a statement that its forces arrested eight wanted Palestinians overnight in the West Bank.    ___According to local sources, the IOF kidnapped a number of citizens in Beit Ummar town. . .    More . . .
~~  Israeli  navy  kidnaps  two  fishermen  in  Gaza  waters    More . . .
~~  Israeli  army  opens  fire  at  Palestinians  south  of  besieged  Gaza    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION
|  THE  GRASSROOTS  MOVEMENTS  IN  ISRAEL-PALESTINE  THAT  WON  2018
Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man
+972 Magazine’s story of the year for 2018 is the protest movements that managed to beat the odds by forcing governments to revisit and even change their policies. The story of African refugees stopping their deportation from Israel, and Gazans using popular protests to make sure the world doesn’t forget about them.   ___The global rise of nationalist and right-wing governments has not been particularly good for progressive movements over the past year. But two grassroots movements in Israel and Palestine, respectively, managed to push back against oppressive policies and, at least temporarily, achieve real victories on the ground. These stories are not only impressive, against-the-odds wins — they are also a reminder that the work of organizers and activists on the ground does stand a chance facing down governments, armies, and immensely powerful economic interests.   More . . .
|  THE  UN’S  VISION  OF  ‘PEACE’  FOR  PALESTINE  EXCLUDES  ORDINARY  PALESTINIANS
Ramona Wadi
The UN is now adamant that the Palestinian Authority should return to govern the Gaza Strip. In the aftermath of Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge, this hypothesis was raised by the US and has seldom been questioned, ostensibly due to other pressing factors such as delivering the necessary humanitarian aid to displaced and injured Palestinians in the besieged enclave.    ___Since the Palestinian cause has become fragmented into separate issues to prevent national unity, the PA — through decisions taken by its leader Mahmoud Abbas — has slowly imposed its own sanctions on Gaza, bizarrely in the name of unity. Ths facade was dropped swiftly, though, to reveal the real reason for the sanctions; the Fatah-led PA wants to force Hamas to relinquish its political power in the enclave. Hamas, remember, won the last Palestinian elections in 2006, but has never been allowed to govern both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.     More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY

Excerpt from “MIDNIGHT,”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI

The new day does not ask your permission to enter,
it does not ask if you are ready to receive it.
The day is impudent and selfish,
it insists on arriving every day.
You hear dawn climbing the stairs
before it breaks into your house,
the same way you hear them coming to arrest you
before they break down the door,
before you rub your eyes,
before you’re asked to have a cup of coffee
with the hyena
with the gold tooth
and heavy makeup.

As for the birds,
don’t they know that this is not the time for singing?
Here they are, singing
as usual,
twittering melodies you do not understand.
May be they echo the refrain:
nothing equals
one more hour with you.

From: Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Trans. By Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, Lancashire, UK: Arc Books, 2008. Available from B&N.

“. . . No quiet place to die, with dignity. . .” (Jehan Bseiso)

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Cyclist Alaa al-Dali’s leg was amputated after being shot at the Great Return March protests, crushing his dream of participating in the 2018 Asia Games. (Photo: Middle East Eye, 27 April 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY
| OCHA:  ISRAELI  FORCES  KILLED  295  PALESTINIANS  IN  2018   
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that a total of 295 Palestinians were killed and over 29,000 others were injured in 2018 by Israeli forces.    ___According to a recent report released by OCHA, 57 of those Palestinian fatalities and about 7,000 of the wounded citizens were under age 18.    ___“This is the highest death toll in a single year since the Gaza conflict of 2014, and the highest number of injuries recorded since OCHA began documenting casualties in the oPt (occupied Palestinian territories) in 2005,” the report said.    More . . .
|  IOF  KIDNAPS  25  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK  RAIDS
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Monday arrested 25 Palestinians during West Bank sweeps.    ___The PIC reporter said that the IOF raided Kobar village, north of Ramallah, and arrested 12 Palestinian citizens.    ___Other Palestinians, including two ex-prisoners and a lawyer, were arrested in campaigns targeting Silwad and Ras Karkar villages, east and west of Ramallah respectively . . .    More . . .
~~  Israeli  forces  demolish  agricultural  structure  in  Masafer  Yatta    More . . .
~~  Israel  seizes  1,200  dunams  of  Palestinian  land  for  new  settlement     More . . .
|  ISRAEL  CONTINUES  TO  DENY  TREATMENT  ABROAD  TO  GAZANS  INJURED  IN  BORDER  PROTESTS
The Israeli authorities continued in November to deny Gazans injured in the border protest access to medical treatment outside the besieged Gaza Strip.    ___In its monthly report on health access barriers for patients in the occupied Palestinian territory for the month of November, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that out of 51 permit applications  in November for people injured during the protests seeking treatment outside Gaza, only four applications were approved, six were denied and 41 delayed.   More . . .
~~  Video:  Israel-Palestine  Tensions:  UN  says  Israel  has  no  justification  for  Gaza  killings      More . . .
~~  Israel  Launches  Aistrikes  on  Gaza      More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION
|  WHO  REPORT:  PALESTINIANS’  ACCESS  TO  HEALTHCARE  AT  MERCY  OF  ISRAEL    
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released its monthly report of the situation patients have been facing in Palestine in November 2018.    ___Due to the impoverished circumstances in Gaza, many residents need to travel outside the confines of the Israeli-Gazan border to receive appropriate health care. However, despite necessity of medical care, access to these hospitals and facilities has been routinely obstructed by Israeli security.    ___In November 2018, there were 2,519 applications to cross the Erez border for health care. 29% were children, 16% of applicants were 60 years plus, 43% female and 92% were medically funded by Palestinian Ministry of Health.    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS
|  A  CHRISTMAS  MESSAGE  FROM  MAP  (MEDICAL  AID  TO  PALESTINIANS)  CEO  AIMEE  SHALAN
This year has been yet another difficult and tragic one for Palestinians.    ___The shocking use of force by Israeli forces against demonstrators in Gaza has killed scores and injured thousands. . .    ___Demolitions continue to be a day-to-day reality for many Palestinians in the West Bank. Not only have individual homes and buildings such as schools been demolished, but entire villages like Khan al Ahmar have been threatened . . .     ___We have also witnessed a dangerous politicisation of humanitarian aid, with the US administration cutting all funding to UNRWA . . . These cuts greatly threaten Palestinian refugees’ access to healthcare, education and emergency food assistance.    __Amid such bleak circumstances, I am incredibly proud of all that MAP has achieved and want to thank our supporters for their generosity and kind support – facilitating our essential and lifesaving work    More . . .    Donate . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY

“RE:  CEMETERIES  IN  PALESTINIAN  CAMPS  SHORT  ON  SPACE/DAILY  STAR/16.06.12,”  BY  JEHAN  BSEISO

And so, the cemeteries are full –
In Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Gaza.
We will soon bury Palestinians above ground.
Nowhere to live and now,
No quiet place to die, with dignity.
Raise high the beams – carpenters, death architects.
Soon, your walls will reach the sky.

From: I  REMEMBER  MY  NAME:  POETRY  BY  SAMAH  SABAWI,  RAMZY  BAROUD,  JEHAN  BSEISO.  Vacy Vlazna, editor. London: Novum Publishing, 2016. Available from publisher.

“. . . My endurance is as limitless as the horizon . . .” (Tawfiq Zayyad)

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BETHLEHEM: Palestinian family takes photo in front of the Christmas tree. (Photo: Institute for Middle East Understanding, Dec. 20, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY
|  AFTER  KILLING  DISABLED  YOUTH,  ISRAELI  FIGHTER  JET  STRIKES  GAZA
An Israeli warplane carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip following, causing horror among women and children, Palestinian security sources said.    ___In a statement, the Israeli military spokesman recognised the attack and claimed it targeted a Palestinian resistance post in the southern Gaza Strip.    ___Palestinian medical sources reported no injuries, but reiterated that airstrike caused repulsive horror among tens of children and women living in the vicinity of the targeted place.    More . . .
|  BIBLICAL  CITY  OF  BETHLEHEM  BOASTS  LARGEST  CHRISTMAS  IN  YEARS
Pilgrims from around the world flocked to Bethlehem on Monday for what was believed to be the biblical West Bank city’s largest Christmas celebrations in years.    ___Hundreds of locals and foreign visitors milled in Manger Square as bagpipe-playing Palestinian Scouts paraded past a giant Christmas tree. Crowds flooded the Church of the Nativity, venerated as the traditional site of Jesus’s birth, and waited to descend into the ancient grotto.    ___Palestinian Tourism Minister Rula Maaya said all Bethlehem hotels were fully booked, and the city was preparing to host an “astounding” 10,000 tourists overnight.     More . . .
|  GDP  ‘UP’  IN  WEST  BANK,  ‘DOWN’  IN  GAZA  DURING  1ST  THREE  QUARTERS  OF  2018
The gross domestic product increased by 2.3% in the West Bank and decreased by 7.9% in Gaza Strip  during the first three quarters of the year 2018 compared to the same quarters of the year 2017, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).    ___PCBS said a sharp decrease in GDP at constant prices in the Gaza Strip during the first three quarters of the year 2018 led to slowing down in the growth of the Palestinian economy compared to the parallel quarters of the year 2017.     More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION
| ISRAEL’S  ARREST  OF  MOTHERS  SHOWS  ITS  CONTEMPT  FOR  PALESTINIAN  WOMEN   
Dr. Mohammad Makram Balawi
On 16 December 2018, an Israeli court . . .  sentenced Suzan Abu Ghannaam – the mother of 20-year-old Palestinian martyr Muhammad Abu Ghannaam – to eleven months in prison on account of “incitement” in a Facebook post. Her son had been killed while protesting against the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on Muslim worshippers . . . .   On the same day Yair Netanyahu, the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed that Facebook had banned him from posting for 24 hours. In a series of tweets, Yair had called for the expulsion of Palestinians and Muslims from the region . . .   Unlike mother-of-four Suzan Abu Ghannam, Yair Netanyahu was not jailed for two months, summoned to court and sentenced to 11 months in prison. Instead, he brags about his actions . . .   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS
| KinderUSA  A  NEW  YEAR  FOR  GAZA
As 2018 comes to an end, we are sad to report that living conditions in Gaza continue to get worse, taking an unfathomable toll on the population.  Unemployment is over 55%, with youth unemployment at 75%, while most who do get paid receive only half their wages.  Many families live on $1 a day, at best. Over 95% of the water supply is now undrinkable due to the persistent lack of electricity limited to about 4 hours per day. The land, sea, and air blockade is now in its 12th year, sealing Gaza off from the rest of the world.    ___Children in Gaza are caged in a toxic slum from birth to death . . .    More . . .   DONATE . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY

“THE  FIRE  OF  THE  MAGI,  BY  TAWFIQ  ZAYYAD
I take my time!
I take my time!
I draw the first thread of light
From the deep darkness of night;
I tend the nursery of dreams
At the source of the torrent,
And dry the tears of loved ones
With a kerchief of jasmine.
I plant the most verdant oases
Amidst the scorched sands,
And shape a life for the outlaws
From fragrance, plenty, and justice.
If someday, on the road, my foot should stumble,
My roots will uphold and support me.

I take my time
For I am unlike the match
That flickers once, then dies.
I am more like the fire of the magi, burning bright
From my cradle to my grave.
And from my forebears to my offspring.
My endurance is as limitless as the horizon,
And the skill of the ant I’ve mastered.

I take my time,
For it is the function of history
To follow our dictates.
We have prepared for the downfall of the giants of the earth,
We will pay them back in kind;
We will give them enough rope, not that they may live longer,
But that they might have enough to hang themselves.

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.

“. . . And your children will play again . . .” (Nizar Qabbani)

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Children of Rawdat El-Zuhur School (Photo: Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ, Nov. 2014)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY    
|  GAZA  –  4  PALESTINIANS  KILLED,  DOZENS  INJURED  INCLUDING  JOURNALISTS,  PARAMEDICS
Four Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces during weekly protests across the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip since Friday afternoon.    [. . . .] The ministry pointed out that two journalists and four paramedic were among those injured.    ___At least 47 others were injured with live bullets and rubber-coated steel bullets, while dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation as Israeli forces suppressed the 39th Friday of the return marches.    More . . .
~~ Photojournalist  among  4  injured  in  Kafr  Qaddum  weekly  march    More . . .
~~ Factions  call  protest  at  Australia’s  representative  office  in  Ramallah  against  Jerusalem  decision   More . . .
|  UN  ADOPTS  RESOLUTION  ON  PALESTINIAN  SOVEREIGNTY  OVER  NATURAL  RESOURCES
The United Nations General Assembly adopted, by an overwhelming majority, a resolution that affirms the right of the Palestinian people to sovereignty over their natural resources.    ___The resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 159 in favour to 7 against (Canada, Israel, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, United States), with 13 abstentions.    ___The resolution stresses permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources.    More . . .
| [THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  ISLAMIC  COOPERATION]  OIC  INTENDS  TO  SET  UP  FUND  FOR  SUPPORT  OF  PALESTINIAN  REFUGEES
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced its intention to establish a fund to support the Palestinian refugees.    ___According to a press release issued by the organization, a committee of experts from the OIC member states held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the draft statute of the waqf fund for support of the Palestinian Refugees at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah.    ___OIC secretary-general Yousef al-Othaimeen stated that the meeting came in light of the worsening financial crisis of UNRWA and its impact on the humanitarian, social, and economic situation of the Palestinian refugees, especially after the US suspended its contributions.    More . . .      
~~ Health  ministry,  with  support  from  WHO,  UNICEF,  succeeds  in  bringing  in  children  vaccines  More . . .
~~ EU  increases  financial  support  for  UNRWA      More . . .
~~ Distribution  of  Palestinian  refugees  registered  by  UNRWA     More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION
| HUMANITARIAN  AID  IS  OVERTLY  POLITICIZED,  JUST  NOT  IN  FAVOR  OF  THE  PALESTINIANS
By Ramona Wadi
The 2019 humanitarian plan for Palestinians in the occupied territories will allocate $350 million for aid intervention, according to Ramallah’s Minister of Social Development Ibrahim Al-Shaer and UN envoy Jamie McGoldrick. The people of Palestine remain divested of their legitimate human and civil rights in order to retain the imposed status of near-total aid dependency.    ___Despite decades of humanitarian aid sent their way since 1948, the Palestinians have still not recovered from the immediate deprivation of basic necessities created by the Nakba. This paradox could have been resolved if their rights had been fulfilled with equal enthusiasm.     [. . . .] Human rights, it seems, are official opportunities for personal advancement at the UN. Is that not a means of the politicization of humanitarian aid? According to Ma’an news agency, Al-Shaer “reaffirmed the danger of politicizing humanitarian aid because that would undermine and threaten human rights.”   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS
|  RAWDAT EL ZUHUR SCHOOL
Rawdat El-Zuhur is a Palestinian non governmental non-profit women’s organization in East Jerusalem. It supervises  Rawdat  El-Zuhur  elementary  coeducational  school  and  kindergarten  which serves mainly the lower income community.   December Newsletter. . .           Donate . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  NIZAR  QABBANI
Oh Jerusalem, the luminous city of prophets
The shortest path between earth and sky

Oh Jerusalem, the citadel of laws
A beautiful child with fingers charred
and downcast eyes
You are the shady oasis passed by the Prophet
Your streets are melancholy
Your minarets are mourning
You, the young maiden dressed in black
Who rings the bells in the Nativity
On Saturday morning?
Who brings toys for the children
On Christmas eve?
The city of sorrow
A huge tear trembling on your eyelid
Who will halt the aggression
On you, the pearl of religions?
Who will wash your bloody walls?
Who will safeguard the Bible?
Who will rescue the Quran?
Who will save Christ?
Who will save man?
Oh Jerusalem my town
Oh Jerusalem my love
Tomorrow the lemon trees will blossom
And the olive trees will rejoice
Your eyes will dance
The migrant pigeons will return
To your sacred roofs
And your children will play again
And fathers and sons will meet
On your rosy hills
My city, city of peace and olives.
—Translated by Sharif Elmusa and Naomi Shihab Nye

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