Tag: Adalah

“. . . what else can the light of heaven be . . .” (Reja-e Busailah)

Harold Knight1 Comment

Lydda_mosque_ii

Lydda (birthplace of Reja-e Busailah) mosque
after Operation Danny, July 1948
(Photo: Palmach archive Yiftach 3rd Battalion vol. 2 album).

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|   EGYPTIAN  SECURITY  DELEGATION  ARRIVES  IN  GAZA  STRIP  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  TRUCE
The Israeli Public Radio said, on Wednesday, that an Egyptian security delegation will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Thursday for talks aimed at stabilizing the ceasefire and discussing ways to improve the living conditions in the Gaza Strip.    ___The radio added that the delegation would be headed by the official of the Palestinian file in the intelligence service, Ahmed Abdelkhaliq, and expected that some Hamas leaders would go to Egypt in the next few days.    ___Egyptian mediation between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation succeeded in reestablishing the cease-fire in Gaza after an unprecedented round of escalation that began on Sunday and lasted about 48 hours.     More . . .
|   ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  AT  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS
Israeli forces opened fire, on Friday, at Palestinian farmers working in their lands, east of the al-Qarrara town in the southern besieged Gaza Strip.    ___Locals told Ma’an that Israeli forces stationed at the Kissufim military site opened fire at Palestinian farmers for unknown reasons.    ___The farmers left their lands in fear for their lives. . .   More . . .
. . . . Related  SUFFOCATION  CASES  AMONG  PROTESTERS  NEAR  RAMALLAH  [RAS  KARKAR  VILLAGE]
. . . . Related  GAZA  FISHERMAN  SHOT,  KILLED  BY  ISRAELI  NAVY
|  UN  SPECIAL  RAPPORTEURS  GIVE  ISRAEL  60  DAYS  TO  RESPOND  TO  ‘DEEP  CONCERNS’  REGARDING  JEWISH  NATION-STATE  LAW
Following a special request for action issued by  ADALAH – THE  LEGAL  CENTER  FOR  ARAB  MINORITY  RIGHTS  IN  ISRAEL, four United Nations special rapporteurs have given Israel a 60-day deadline to respond to their grave concerns regarding the Jewish Nation-State Law, adopted by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, on July 19.    ___The 60-day period began on November 2 when [the four UN officials] sent a communiqué to Israeli authorities expressing deep concerns regarding the impact of the new law.    ___In their letter, special rapporteurs expressed “deep concern” that Israeli Basic Law appears “to be discriminatory in nature and in practice against non-Jewish citizens” . . .   More . . .
. . . . Related  KUWAIT  TRANSFERS  $42  MILLION  TO  UNRWA
. . . . Related  WORLD  BANK  WILL  CONTINUE  TO  PROVIDE  BUDGET  SUPPORT  TO  PA
. . . . Related  DIRECTOR  OF  GENEVA  CENTER  CALLS  FOR  ENDORSEMENT  OF  2018  WORLD  CONFERENCE  DECLARATION
. . . . Related  CZECH  REPUBLIC  TO  CONTRIBUTE  OVER  €200,000  TO  UNRWA

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|   SUSTAINING  CYCLES  OF  ISRAELI  AGGRESSION  IN  GAZA 
Ramona Wadi
It is time, once again, for the hyphenated “Israel-Gaza” paradigm – an invention that suits mainstream narratives. As the media mulls the possibilities of another Israeli military aggression against Palestinians in Gaza . . .   since “Operation Protective Edge”, Israel regularly hinted at another, definite round of violence to eliminate Hamas . . .  inflicting a high percentage of collateral damage.    ___As speculation mounts amid reports of airstrikes and rocket fire; the latter enhanced through numbers that purposely render Israeli violence a purported retaliation, Israel is assured of an audience that is ready to absorb whatever trajectory it decides upon . . .    [. . . .] Yet, in terms of media depiction, there is already a premeditated slant . . .  Rocket fire is the subject of statistics while airstrikes imparted as an acceptable method of containment. The concept of involvement and, as a result, violence, is shifted upon Hamas, as opposed to the Israeli incursion in Gaza which the resistance had every right to disrupt.    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
|   AWARDS  SEASON  LAUNCHED  AT  MEMO’S  PALESTINIAN  LITERARY  EVENT
A packed audience hall gathered in London this evening [November 15, 2018] to listen to some of the  PALESTINE  BOOK  AWARD’S  shortlisted authors discuss their works ahead of the winners’ announcement tomorrow evening.    ___Tonight three of the shortlisted authors: Tareq Baconi, author of “Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance”; Maha Nassar, author of “Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World”; and  REJA-E  BUSAILAH,  author of “In the Land of My Birth: A Palestinian Boyhood”.    ___The evening was chaired by Victoria Brittain and Ibrahim Darwish, two trustees of the Palestine Book Awards. Brittain opened the evening by reflecting on how the Awards are now in their seventh year, adding that when the event started back in 2011 she could not have expected the level of support there has been from publishers, authors and the general public.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“IN  THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  HOLY  HEIGHTS”  BY  REJA-E  BUSAILAH 

  •                 for Haniya Suleiman Zarawneh, killed by the Israelis
    at the age of 25, near Jerusalem, January 4, 1988

The sun came out that day from the depth of winter
like the rare orphan of good luck —
what else can the light of heaven be
on a day rising from the dead of winter?

And she had risen before the sun that day
and like her mother and grandmother before her
she washed by hand and wrung by hand
the linen for spouse and child,

and like mother and grandmother
she walked up the wooden ladder
with the pail onto the roof
into the shadow of the Holy Heights —
so clear was the sky
it almost recalled the sight and the scent of the sea down west.

Faithfully she hung her labors on the rope
article by article
that the good sun might dry them for her,
she clasped each with a wooden pin
as safeguard against the prankish wind —

it was no senseless nature that did it when she was done
just about to come down for other chores,
it was no fiendish Nazi,
it was one of the Chosen
selected her heart for his anointed lead
so that limp went the spring in the covenant
which joined soul and limb —

and the good sun shines
and the sheets and the skirts and the nightgowns
and the small socks
and the outfit for the wooden doll
they toss in the wind
and smell like linen hand-washed and sun-dried
they swing lighthearted on the rope
waiting for mother to collect them

Reja-e Busailah has been blind since infancy. At age 7, he and his family were forced marched by Zionist forces from their home in Lydda into exile. He was educated in Cairo and earned a PhD in English from New York University. He is the author of a collection of poetry, “We Are Human,” (1985). He taught at Indiana University for 30 years and is now retired. He recently published his memoir “In the Land of My Birth: A Palestinian Boyhood.”

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

“. . . his wounds Proclaim his testament of love and suffering . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold Knight1 Comment

Mitzpe_KramimOn Tuesday, 3 July 2018, the State . . .  informed the court that
it agreed that the land [Mitzpe Kramim] , which is privately
owned by Palestinians, would be transferred to the settlers
who invaded it.  (Photo: Peace Now, July 7, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .Israel

MOH:  93  PALESTINIANS  INJURED  DURING  GAZA  PROTEST 
Almost 100 Palestinians suffered injuries at the northern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip, on Monday, as protesters participated in the naval march setting off from the Gaza seaport against the nearly 12-year Israeli siege.    ___The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that 93 Palestinians were injured, including 37 injured by Israeli live ammunition.    ___Israeli forces opened fire directly targeting medical crews and ambulances that attempted to reach the area to provide aid to those injured.    More . . .
. . . Related  In video – Israeli forces assault, injure Jerusalemite youths
. . . Related  Israeli forces injure Palestinians in Hebron clashes
. . . Related  Israeli forces attack West Bank protests against Israel’s Nation-State Law, injuries reported
. . . Related  ADALAH:  ‘ISRAELI  SNIPERS  CONTINUE  TO  TARGET  UNARMED  PALESTINIANS’
IOF  KIDNAPS  21  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK  CAMPAIGNS
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Tuesday arrested 21 Palestinians during large-scale campaigns in the West Bank.   ___The Israeli occupation army said in a statement that 21 “wanted” Palestinians were arrested on Tuesday for being involved in popular resistance activities against Israeli targets.   ___The IOF at daybreak carried out raid and search campaigns against Palestinian houses in Tulkarem, Occupied Jerusalem, al-Khalil, and Jenin.   More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

IT  IS  NOT  UP  TO  THE  UN  TO  DETERMINE  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE  AND  NARRATIVES       
The Great Return March protests in the Gaza Strip have provided the foundations for Palestinians from which they can articulate their demands, away from the political bickering, opportunism and exploitation which has rendered the people dependent solely on their own determination to survive.    [. . . .] Two recent statements by UN officials testify to the international community’s refusal to recognise the latter.       ___The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA) has diluted the ongoing Palestinian protests to a reflection over “increasing frustration over worsening conditions of daily life . . .      ___To mark the International Day of Non-Violence, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for the implementation of Gandhi’s non-violent approach. “At the United Nations,” he explained, “a world free of violence – and the resolution of differences through non-violent means – is at the core of our work.”    ___Both UN statements are replete with omissions.   More . . .
. . . Related  Israel’s Stranglehold on Area C: Development as Resistance
REPORT:  WIDE  COOPERATION  BETWEEN  ISRAELI  JUDICIAL  SYSTEM  AND  BANKS  IN  FAVOR  OF  SETTLEMENTS 
The National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement said that the Israeli army [is] involved in the crime of forging the Palestinian documents which prove their ownership of the land, but also confiscate and allocate those lands for settlement purposes. The Jerusalem District Court issued a ruling last month alleging that the Mitzpeh Kramim outpost northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank was built on settler land.    ___The occupation authorities claimed before the court at the time that they had handed over the land to the “Settlement Brigade” by mistake. . .  The court decided at the time not to continue construction work in the settlement outpost, but the Supreme Court’s decision did not prevent the “the Brigade” from continuing settlement activities, and providing banks with documentation to enable settlers to obtain housing loans.   More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“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. 

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.

“. . .They work tanks, but we know stones . . .” (Mohammed Al-Kurd)

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hqdefault
Poet Mohammed El-Kurd. (Photo by Dave Leins, from Middle East Eye)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

| 70%  OF  JERUSALEMITES’  SHOPS  WERE  CLOSED  DUE  TO  ACCUMULATED  ISRAELI  TAXES
Director of the Jerusalem Center for Economic and Social Rights Ziad Hamouri said that the occupation authorities continue to impose taxes and accumulating debt to the owners, for the goal of displacing them from their city,  adding that  it has already damaged 70% of shops and real estate in Jerusalem.    ___Over 250 shops were closed in the Old City of Jerusalem because of Israeli taxes on Jerusalem property, as well as the siege, closures and tax evasion of Jerusalemites, Hamouri told Voice of Palestine radio on Sunday.    More . . .
Related . . .   Jerusalem:  25  years  after  Oslo  –  A  UN  perspective
Related . . .   World  Bank:  Cash-Strapped  Gaza  And  An  Economy  In  Collapse  Put  Palestinian  Needs  At  Risk
Related . . .   Israel  confiscates  children’s  clothes  heading  to  Gaza
| ISRAELI  FANATICS  GO  ON  A  RAMPAGE  IN  PALESTINIAN  AREAS  IN  JERUSALEM
Israeli fanatics went on a rampage late Sunday early Monday in Palestinian areas inside and outside Jerusalem’s Old City as they marked the end of the Jewish Succot holiday, according to local Palestinian sources.    ___They said the extremist Israeli went on a hate rampage in Musrara neighborhood, just outside Damascus Gate, one of the main gates to the Old City, resulting in injury to five Palestinians.    ___The extremists assaulted Palestinians inside the Old City as well, smashed parked Palestinian cars and damaged shops as they marched inside the narrow Old City streets in all Palestinian areas.    ___Israeli police forces, which were present in large numbers, did not stop the extremist vigilantes but instead fired stun grenades at the Palestinians who tried to defend themselves, their homes and their property.    More . . .
Related . . .   Hordes  of  Israeli  settlers  break  into  al-Aqsa  Mosque
Related . . .   Turkey  condemns  Israel’s  use  of  excessive  force  against  Gaza  civilians
Related . . .   Palestinian  injured,  seven  arrested  in  West  Bank  campaigns

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

|  ADALAH:  15  YEARS  SINCE  THE  OR  COMMISSION  RESULTS,  ISRAEL  STILL  USING  SNIPERS  TO  DISPERSE  CROWDS
Eighteen years since the October 2000 Israeli police murder of 13 unarmed Palestinian protesters in Israel and the findings of the  Or  Commission  of  Inquiry  in 2003 into the murders which concluded that:  “It should be unequivocally clear that live fire, including by snipers, is not a means for the police to disperse crowds,” the Israeli military continues killing unarmed Palestinian civilian protesters with snipers . . .   Just this past Friday . . .  troops killed seven people, including two boys ages 11 and 14, and wounded another 257 in Gaza, including 163 shot with live ammunition.    ___Adalah demanded in a statement marking 18 years for the murder of the 13 Palestinians in Israel that Israel immediately halts the shooting of civilian protesters with live ammunition.   More . . .
|  PCBS:  5%  OF  PALESTINIAN  POPULATION  ARE  ELDERLY      On the occasion of the World Elderly day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report, on Sunday, that the Palestinian society is considered a young society, where the percentage of young people is high and the percentage of the elderly is relatively low.   ___PCBS confirmed that in 2017, the number of the elderly aged 60 and above reached 233,269 persons (5.0%), with 152,443 persons (5.4%) in the West Bank and 80,826 persons (4.3%) in the Gaza Strip.   ___PCBS said that even though, the percentage of the elderly in Palestine will increase during the coming years, their percentage will stay relatively low . . .   More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“THIS  IS  WHY  WE  DANCE,”  BY  MOHAMMED  EL-KURD
Mohammed El-Kurd is a 20-year-old from East Jerusalem, now living and studying in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
HE READS HIS POEM.

“. . . the globe that’s standing In silence and mourning . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

[Note: Please see the page “Other Sources” for a list of the sources used that are not specifically “news” sites, the location of most opinion pieces here.]  

IMG_3372 - Copy
Early Sunday morning, Beit Jala, Governate of Bethlehem, Nov. 8, 2015. Photo: Harold Knight.

SELECTED  NEWS  OF  THE  DAY    

ISRAEL  APPROVES  NEW  SETTLEMENT  UNITS  NEAR  BETHLEHEM
The Israeli authorities approved the construction of new settlement units in the illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat, in southern Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.   ___Activist Hassan Breijieh said, on Monday, that Israeli settlers of Efrat rejected a plan, previously approved by the Israeli civil Administration’s Higher Planning Council, to construct 40 new housing units in the settlement and demanded the construction of 106 units; their demand has been approved by the council.  More.
ISRAEL’S  INTENTION  TO  ANNEX  THE  WEST  BANK  REVEALED
Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, warned on Monday that the Israeli government’s response to the petition, filed to the Israeli Supreme Court, signals Israel’s intention to proceed with annexation of the occupied West Bank.   ___The Israeli government submitted legal materials to the Israeli Supreme Court declaring that “the Knesset (Israeli parliament) is permitted to legislate laws everywhere in the world and it is authorized to violate the sovereignty of foreign countries via legislation that would be applied to events occurring in their territories.”   ___This statement was declared on August 7th in a written response, which the Israeli government had submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court. . .  More.
URI  AVNERY  –  1923-2018.  HIS  OPPONENTS  WILL  ULTIMATELY  HAVE  TO  FOLLOW  IN  HIS  FOOTSTEPS
Gush Shalom grieves and mourns the passing of its founder, Uri Avnery. Until the last moment he continued the way he had traveled all his life. On Saturday, two weeks ago, he collapsed in his home when he was about to leave for the Rabin Square and attend a demonstration against the “Nation State Law”, a few hours after he wrote a sharp article against that law.     ___Avnery devoted himself entirely to the struggle to achieve peace between the State of Israel and the Palestinian people in their independent state, as well as between Israel and the Arab and Muslim World.   More.

COMMENTARY  AND  OPINION    

HUMANITARIAN  AID  AND  RHETORIC  SERVE  INTERESTS  OF  THE  ISRAELI  OPPRESSORS
Ramona Wadi    
There has been yet another instance where the UN has preferred to try to predict the future instead of acknowledging the current deterioration in Gaza with the aim of permanently reversing colonialism. Israel has yet again refused the entry of fuel into the enclave which is needed to power emergency generators and provide some relief for the power cuts suffered by the Palestinian people.   ___The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (OCHAoPt) quoted Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick:   ___“The well-being of two million people, half of whom are children, is at stake. It is unacceptable that Palestinians in Gaza are repeatedly deprived of the most basic elements of a dignified life.”  More.

TRAFFIC  POLICEWOMEN,  A  FIRST  FOR  BETHLEHEM
Entsar Abu Jahal
Female police officers participated Aug. 5 for the first time in organizing traffic in the streets of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank alongside their male peers, to facilitate citizens’ movement.    ___This move comes as part of a program the West Bank police had launched earlier this year to promote women’s participation in the traffic police force and help ease the workload of traffic policemen. Women’s participation in managing traffic on the streets of Bethlehem confirms Palestinian women’s ability to work and confront male social perspective undermining them and prohibiting them from taking positions that men monopolize.  More.

THE  LEGAL  BARRAGE:  GAZANS  AND  THEIR  INDEFINITE  DETENTION
For the eleventh year, Gaza continues to be the world’s largest prison. Imports and entrance to the Strip are restricted; exports and exit permits are dependent on the political climate; and the people of Gaza are the ones who continue to pay the price. Sporadic attacks, and shellings have been ongoing since 2008, with the occupation forces demonstrating a clear disregard for the lives of these already impoverished civilians.[1] In addition to the death of 136 Palestinians in Gaza since March 30, as of 7 July 2018, there have been 81 individuals arrested since the beginning of the year.[2]   More.

ISRAEL  LOBBY  GROUP  J  STREET  WITHDRAWS  RASHIDA  TLAIB  ENDORSEMENT
Ali Abunimah  
The Israel lobby group J Street has withdrawn its endorsement from Rashida Tlaib.   ___“After closely consulting with Rashida Tlaib’s campaign to clarify her most current views on various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we have come to the unfortunate conclusion that a significant divergence in perspectives requires JStreetPAC to withdraw our endorsement of her candidacy,” J Street announced on Friday. . . . Amid mounting controversy, Tlaib at first evaded giving a clear explanation of the J Street endorsement, which she herself had reportedly “sought out”. . .  But on Tuesday, Tlaib made a clear break with the Israel lobby group.  More.

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS

MUSEUM  OF  THE  PALESTINIAN  PEOPLE,  WASHINGTON,  DC
–A Night of Palestinian Hospitality – Fundraising Dinner at the Tabard Inn, September 24
KINDER USA – Donate

“THE GLOBE II”, by SAMIH AL-QASIM

I stand for a moment of silence and mourning
In memory of the globe.
Or is it the globe that’s standing
In silence and mourning in memory of me?
That is the question . . .
So long.

From Sadder Than Water, Ibis Editions, 2006
(Posted to mark the death of Uri Avnery)

“. . . the [Israeli Police Investigations Division] continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel . . .” (Adalah)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
15_38_19_29_12_20174
Palestinians carrying a wounded person during the Friday clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Gaza borders. One person died . . . (WAFA Images, Dec. 30, 2017) NOTE THE LARGE NUMBER OF DEADLY WEAPONS IN PALESTINIAN HANDS.

❶ Probe into killing of math teacher closed, no officer was found responsible
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Palestinian dies of wounds sustained during clashes at Gaza border
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Red Crescent: 200 Palestinian wounded [Friday] by IOF in West Bank and Gaza
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴄ)  QB puts up huge placard of Israeli soldier Shaul Aaron in Gaza

  • Background: “The ‘Never Again’ State of Israel: The Emergence of the Holocaust as a Core Feature of Israeli Identity and Its Four Incongruent Voices.” Journal of Social Issues.  

❷ Israel withdraws from UNESCO
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) On Independence Day, UNESCO okays resolution denying Israeli claims to Jerusalem (May 2, 2017)
❸ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PROBE  INTO  KILLING  OF  MATH  TEACHER  CLOSED,  NO  OFFICER  WAS  FOUND  RESPONSIBLE  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA       
Dec. 30, 2017 ― The Israeli Police Investigations Division (PID) decided to close its probe into the January police killing of Ya’akub Abu-Al-Qi’an and to not hold any officers responsible for his death, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said on Thursday.
___Abu Al-Qi’an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in the Naqab, Israel’s southern desert region, was killed on 18 January after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle as he was driving through the Bedouin village during state preparations for a large-scale home demolition.
___That same day, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
___“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” said Adalah in a statement responding to the PID’s decision to close the investigation without bringing any officers to justice.    MORE . . .
SEE ALSO : Israeli Knesset to vote on ‘death penalty’ for Palestinians (Dec. 27, 2017) 
.  .  .  .  .  ―  (ᴀ)  PALESTINIAN  DIES  OF  WOUNDS  SUSTAINED  DURING  CLASHES  AT  GAZA  BORDER  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Dec. 30, 2017 ― A Palestinian identified as Jamal Mohammed Musleh, 21, from Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, died early Saturday of wounds sustained during clashes with Israeli soldiers the day before at the Gaza border with Israel, according to the Ministry of Health.
___It said Musleh was shot in the stomach by a live bullet and was reported in critical condition since his arrival at hospital in Deir al-Balah until he was pronounced dead hours later.
___The ministry said at least 45 people were shot by live bullets during the Friday confrontations at the Gaza borders, including four who remain in critical condition.    MORE . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ―  (ᴃ)  RED  CRESCENT:  200  PALESTINIAN  WOUNDED  [FRIDAY]  BY  IOF  IN  WEST  BANK  AND  GAZA
Palestine News Network – PNN
Dec. 30, 2017 ― More than 200 Palestinians were injured today Friday in clashes with Israeli occupation army  in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after marching for the fourth consecutive week, denouncing US President Donald Trump’s declaration recognition  Jerusalem as Israel capital .
___According Palestinian Red Crescent more that 130 palestinian were injured in clashes with IOF in the west bank, four of them with live bullets, 45 wounded metal bullets, and 77 inhalation of tear gas.     MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ―  (ᴄ)    QB  PUTS  UP  HUGE  PLACARD  OF  ISRAELI  SOLDIER  SHAUL  AARON  IN  GAZA
The Palestinian Information Center 
Dec. 30, 2017 ― Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has erected a huge poster of Israeli captive soldier Shaul Aaron at al-Saraya junction in Gaza.
___Aaron appears in the poster wearing a brown prison uniform, with remarks in Arabic and Hebrew saying, “As long as our heroes do not see freedom and daylight, this prisoner will never see freedom.”   MORE . . .        CONTEXT . . .  

Klar, Yechiel, et al.
“THE  ‘NEVER  AGAIN’  STATE  OF  ISRAEL:  THE  EMERGENCE  OF  THE  HOLOCAUST  AS  A  CORE  FEATURE  OF  ISRAELI  IDENTITY  AND  ITS  FOUR  INCONGRUENT  VOICES.”
JOURNAL  OF  SOCIAL  ISSUES, vol. 69, no. 1, Mar. 2013, pp. 125-143.
[. . . .] . . . despite this common background and misfortune, there was an unbridgeable divide between the veteran Israelis and the survivors. The Holocaust clearly “belonged” to the survivors and was alien to those who lived in Israel when it transpired. The survivors were . . .  were expected to go on with life, rehabilitate themselves, adopt the Israeli identity and become new Israelis. The Holocaust in those days was perceived as something that had happened to the passive and cowardly Jews of the Diaspora who had gone “like sheep to the slaughter.” It was seen as antithetical to the identity of the “new Israeli,” who was active, free, and daring.
[. . . .] Political scientists Liebman and Don-Yihya were among the first to observe the centrality of the Holocaust as the primary political myth of Israeli society, the symbol of Israel’s present condition and the one which provides Israel with legitimacy and the right to its land. Its memory is omnipresent, cutting across differences in age, education and even country of origin. This observation appears even more compelling today. The Holocaust is a predominant issue in all areas of Israeli social and cultural life . . .
[. . . .] How was Holocaust transformed from a Diaspora reality into an Israeli event? And how was it transformed from an event that was irrelevant and even contradictory to the new Israeli identity to one of the major components of the Israel heritage and identity? In the following we first discuss the internalization of the Holocaust, starting with the Eichmann trial, and continue with the impact of the survivors and their offspring on Israeli society.
[. . . .] Israelis (those who did not experience the Holocaust personally) very slowly and reluctantly acknowledged the Holocaust as . . .  the ultimate realization of the tragic Jewish destiny in the Diaspora, the destiny they had sought to break away from. The social and historical processes by which the Holocaust was gradually turned into a core feature in the Israeli identity are complex and multilayered . . .   Time was involved in several processes, such as the growing impact of the survivors on Holocaust awareness, and the role of second and third generations who were born in Israel yet unashamed in their Holocaust heritage. Israel’s difficult geopolitical situation and the recurring wars also had enormous effects on the continued impact of the Holocaust on Israeli collective identity. One dominant voice of the Holocaust is to “Never be a victim again,” which many Israelis learned to identify as a source of resilience and inventiveness. And there are also the other Holocaust voices urging group members to become better human beings and, even more difficult, to refrain from victimizing other groups. These different voices are often incongruent and disharmonic.     SOURCE . . .   ..

❷ ISRAEL  WITHDRAWS  FROM  UNESCO      
Al Jazeera English 
Dec. 30, 2018 ― Israel has filed notice to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) alongside the United States. 
___Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organisation’s criticism of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011.
___UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said on Friday that she deeply regretted Israel’s decision to withdraw.
___”A member of UNESCO since 1949, Israel has a rightful place inside the United Nations agency that is dedicated to education, culture and science,” Azoulay said.    MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ―  (ᴀ)  ON  INDEPENDENCE  DAY,  UNESCO  OKAYS  RESOLUTION  DENYING  ISRAELI  CLAIMS  TO  JERUSALEM  (MAY  2,  2017)    
The Times of Israel 
May 2, 2017 ― The United Nation’s cultural body on Tuesday passed the latest in a series of resolutions that denies Israeli claims to Jerusalem, in a move both forcefully condemned by Israel and touted as a diplomatic feat due to the growing number of countries that opposed it.     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.

“. . . My anger drips oil and honey /my pain bears almonds . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

❶ Israeli authorities demolish Palestinian-owned building in East Jerusalem
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Israeli minister calls for punitive demolition of Jerusalem attackers’ homes

  • Background: “Dangerous Narratives: Politics, Lies and Ghost Stories.” Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.   

❷ Army Abducts Twelve Palestinians In The West Bank
❸ Opinion/Analysis:  The story behind the Jerusalem attack: How Trump and Netanyahu pushed the Palestinians into a corner
❹ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  AUTHORITIES DEMOLISH PALESTINIAN-OWNED BUILDING IN EAST JERUSALEM     
Ma’an News Agency
July 17, 2017.   Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian-owned building on Monday morning in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Zaayyem, according to witnesses.
___Bulldozers escorted by Israeli police forces and employees of Israel’s Jerusalem municipality razed the home to the ground for lack of a building permit.
[. . . .] Construction licenses are very expensive and difficult to obtain for Palestinians, notably in the Jerusalem area, in a bid by Israeli authorities to force Palestinians out and change the demographic balance of the city.
[. . . .] Thirty-three percent of all Palestinian homes in the occupied city lack Israeli-issued building permits, potentially placing at least 93,100 residents at risk of displacement, the United Nations reported in 2012.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  MINISTER  CALLS  FOR  PUNITIVE  DEMOLITION  OF  JERUSALEM  ATTACKERS’  HOMES 
Ma’an News Agency    
July 16, 2017.   As an Israeli minister called for the demolition of the homes of three Palestinian citizens of Israel who were killed on Friday while carrying out a deadly attack in occupied East Jerusalem, rights group Adalah called for an investigation into the police’s killing of the alleged assailants.
___. . . Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan called on Sunday for the Israeli government to consider demolishing the homes of Muhammad Hamid Abd al-Latif Jabarin, 19, Muhammad Ahmad Mufdal Jabarin, 19, and Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Jabarin, 29, the three men who shot and killed two Israeli police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City, before being shot and killed by Israeli forces in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
___The Jabarins are all residents of the Palestinian-majority town of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel. The two slain police officers, Hail Stawi and Kamil Shinan, were also Palestinian citizens of Israel from the Druze minority community, which is subjected to mandatory military services, unlike Muslim citizens of Israel.   MORE . . .   

Katz, Louise. “DANGEROUS  NARRATIVES:  POLITICS,  LIES  AND  GHOST  STORIES.” Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal,
vol. 3, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 20-41.
[. . . .] While Israel’s secular Ashkenazi-dominated culture sidelines certain pietistic Jewish citizens . . .  limits placed on Palestinian citizenship place this cultural group, far more than any other, outside the social mainstream: Israel recognises only Jewish nationality, thus Muslim Arabs are citizens without being nationals.
___ [. . . .] Antony Lowenstein argues that Israel, ‘an insecure nation demanding obedience to an ideology’ continuing to ignore ‘the legitimate rights of the Arab population’ results in both Palestinians and leftist Jews being ‘loathed … smeared and isolated’. Isolation through lack of recognition, according to Bourdieu, cuts one off from ‘access to a socially recognised social being … to humanity’. Palestinians are simultaneously a part, yet apart from the mainstream: a real, yet not real, ghostly presence. Only acknowledgement of social validity will ensure full ‘reality’: the ‘ghosts’ can then manifest themselves as human.
[. . . .] To construct Palestinians and Israelis as one-dimensional heroes and villains . . .  overlooks . . .  the ancient and complex narratival palimspsest that is Israel/Palestine. Nevertheless, the Israeli response to the layered images and stories of which the nation is composed has been largely one of denial of both Israeli culpability and the complexities of the relationship between adversaries. . . . At this point it would not be hard to introduce the spectre of the so-called ‘self-hating’ Jew, which reeks of indulgent guilt; but I would argue that there is less self-hatred at work than despair. Paul McGeough has it that Israel is losing the ‘contest for control of the narrative’, but more than a matter of losing a propaganda fight for the moral high-ground – which is about appearances rather than substance – Israel is failing as a narrative enterprise on an even more profound level. The populace, both Jewish and Palestinian, need true stories to be told, not romances, mysteries or fabrications: indeed, the consequences of unreal or exclusivist narratives have resulted in the creation of a new kind of ghost [. . . .]      FULL TEXT . . .  

❷ ARMY  ABDUCTS  TWELVE  PALESTINIANS  IN  THE  WEST  BANK  
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
July 17, 2017.
Israeli soldiers abducted, overnight and on Monday, at least twelve Palestinians, including a father and his son, from their homes, in different parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported.
___The Tulkarem office of the PPS, in the northern part of the West Bank, said the soldiers searched several homes in Anabta town, and abducted three Palestinians [. . . .] In Qalqilia governorate, in the northern part of the West Bank [. . . .] In Nablus governorate, also in northern West Bank [. . . .] In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank [. . . .] In Ramallah, in central West Bank, the soldiers abducted [. . . .] In Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted [. . . .] Soldiers also abducted a woman, identified as ‘Aida Abu Tayeh, 61, while visiting her two sons, Bassel and Yousef, who are imprisoned by Israel in Galboa’ prison.   MORE . . .
❸ Opinion/Analysis:  THE  STORY  BEHIND  THE  JERUSALEM  ATTACK:  HOW  TRUMP  AND  NETANYAHU  PUSHED  THE  PALESTINIANS  INTO  A  CORNER  
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
Ramzy Baroud
July 17, 2017.  Early October 2016, Misbah Abu Sbeih left his wife and five children at home and then drove to an Israeli police station in Occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. The 39-year-old Jerusalemite was scheduled to hand himself over to serve a term of 4 months in jail for, allegedly, trumped up charges of ‘trying to hit an Israeli soldier’.      [. . . .] Last April, the Israeli government announced plans to build 15,000 new housing units in Occupied Jerusalem, contrary to international law. The international community recognizes East Jerusalem as a Palestinian city. The United States, too, accepts international consensus on Jerusalem, and attempts by the US Congress to challenge the White House on this understanding have all failed. That is, until Donald Trump came to power.
[. . . .] Prior to his inauguration in January, Trump had promised to relocate the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The announcement was welcomed by Israeli rightwing politicians and extremists alike.   MORE . . . 

“I  DEFY,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
Talk about exile―I defy
silence my argument with chains
and a foolish prison cell
I defy

Turn plague and sadness against me
I remained defying
cut my wrist
with my bloody chest I defy
cut my leg
I mount the wound and walk
and with my violence I defy
with my forehead I defy
and with my teeth
and the teeth of songs―I defy

and kill me―I defy
I kill death
and come to you a defying God

All that I own of my father’s and grandfather’
inheritance is to defy!

All that I understand from the
wind and the secrets of erased villages
and the songs of springs
on dying grass
a concealed sob
the roots of the tree
memorize it for me
a sob: To defy

All the eyes of children living within me
in bloody exile
All that I live of my absent country
in name and deed
a scream bruising me―to defy!

My anger drips oil and honey
my pain bears almonds, flouts and roses
so jail my piece of bread
I defy

From: Aruri, Naseer and Edmund Ghareeb, eds. ENEMY  OF  THE  SUN:  POETRY  OF  THE  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE. Washington, DC: Drum and Spear Press, 1970.   Available from Amazon.
About Samih Al-Qasim.

“. . . We have, friends, the right to die as we desire . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
bedouin
Israeli policemen stand guard as bulldozers demolish homes in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev desert, on January 18, 2017. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)

“We should transform the Bedouins into an urban proletariat – in industry, services, construction, and agriculture. 88% of the Israeli population are not farmers, let the Bedouin be like them. Indeed, this will be a radical move which means that the Bedouin would not live on his land with his herds, but would become an urban person who comes home in the afternoon and puts his slippers on. His children will get used to a father who wears pants, without a dagger, and who does not pick out their nits in public. They will go to school, their hair combed and parted. This will be a revolution, but it can be achieved in two generations.”  — Israeli General Moshe Dayan to Haaretz, 1963

❶ Israel demolishes Palestinian Bedouin village for 114th time

  • “Contested Indigeneity: The Development of an Indigenous Discourse on the Bedouin of the Negev, Israel.” Israel Studies.

❷ Israel blocks Bedouin road, prevents 100 kids from school

  • “Bedouins’ Politics of Place and Memory: A Case of Unrecognised Villages in the Negev.” Nomadic Peoples.

❸ The Palestinian Bedouins
❹ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAEL  DEMOLISHES  PALESTINIAN  BEDOUIN  VILLAGE  FOR  114TH  TIME    
Ma’an News Agency    
June 14, 2017      Israeli forces demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev region of southern Israel for the 114th time since 2010 on Wednesday morning, and for the sixth time this year, according to Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned WAFA news agency.
___WAFA quoted witnesses as saying that officials from the Israel Land Authority (ILA), accompanied by Israeli police and bulldozers, raided the village and demolished all the tin homes in the area, which were built by the village’s residents following the most recent demolition of raid last month.
[. . . .] Al-Araqib is one of 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the Israeli state. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), more than half of the approximately 160,000 Bedouins in the Negev reside in unrecognized villages.  MORE . . .

Frantzman, Seth J., et al. “Contested Indigeneity: The Development of an Indigenous Discourse on the Bedouin of the Negev, Israel.” Israel Studies, vol. 17, no. 1, Spring2012, pp. 78-104.
From “Conclusion”:  The development of an indigenous Bedouin identity has taken place in three key phases. It began with the initial decision by Abu-Saad, apparently influenced by his comparative work on the United States, to describe the Bedouin as an indigenous community with all the political ramification that this word contained in the 1990s. It was developed by Israeli Jewish academics and then elite Israeli Bedouin academics in the context of the international discussion regarding indigenous peoples, land rights, and ethnocracy. The last phase has seen the campaign by NGOs, academics, activists, and the Bedouin community for international recognition.
___As for the Bedouin themselves—in practice—the elite members of the community were an important instrument in re-designing and re-modeling the public debate and, perhaps also, the community’s self-identification.  The shift from being defined as Bedouin or former nomads living in the Negev, to being recognized as an “Indigenous Palestinian Bedouin” group in the “Naqab”, took place very quickly, over a period of only ten years. For the Bedouin the recognition in theory can help put local and even more important international pressure on Israeli authorities, mainly to accept their demands for land rights. . .    SOURCE . . .

❷ ISRAEL  BLOCKS  BEDOUIN  ROAD,  PREVENTS  100  KIDS  FROM  SCHOOL
Days of Palestine  
Jun 13, 2017       Israeli occupation has installed guardrail on Israeli highway, isolating Palestinian Bedouin community, preventing around 100 children from schools.
___A report issued by the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said that the Israeli occupation effectively sealed off Umm Bidoun, a Palestinian Bedouin community in Al-Naqab, by blocking off the only dirt road connecting the village to Highway 31 with a guardrail.
___The road surface markings on the highway near other passage out of Umm Bidoun have also recently been changed, making it illegal for vehicles to cross the road, Adalah added.
___Recent changes have effectively prevented any vehicles, including school buses, from accessing the village, Adalah said.   MORE . . .

Hall, Bogumila. “Bedouins’ Politics of Place and Memory: A Case of Unrecognised Villages in the Negev.” Nomadic Peoples, vol. 18, no. 2, July 2014, pp. 147-164.
[. . . .]  . . . the community’s continuous presence in the Negev, the changing character of its lifestyle and the sense of attachment to the land seem to be ignored both in the Israeli legal framework and the dominant representations of the Bedouins and the region. Since the establishment of the state, Israel has denied the Arab Bedouins their indigenous land rights, depicted them as rootless nomads and characterised the Negev as historically uncultivated and uninhabited land. Today, there are approximately 200,000 Bedouins in the Negev. While half of them live in seven government-planned towns, and eleven villages recognised by Israel, the other half reside in villages not recognized by the state. This means that the Bedouin villages have the status of illegal settlements and thus are not marked on Israeli maps and are denied basic services, such as electricity, running water, public transportation and basic sanitation. . .  The Israeli authorities’ attitude towards the Bedouins was best reflected in the Prawer-Begin Bill . . .  halted in December 2013 after the successful ‘Stop Prawer Plan’ campaign. The law, if fully implemented, was going to displace up to 70,000 Bedouins and destroy all the ‘illegal’ villages. The resettlement scheme was couched in the colonial language of “. . . grant them, and particularly the younger generation the tools necessary to successfully cope with the challenges of the future and help Bedouin children to ‘exploit their talents and realise their natural right to happiness . . .”  However, the Bedouins were under no illusions. As Nasser, a resident of an unrecognised village of al-Sirra put it:
It may be a new law, but not a new policy, we know very well what the
state plans for us. It’s been now fifty years of efforts to give an end to the
Bedouin identity and lifestyle. We are not just going to obey.  [. . . . ]    SOURCE . . .

❸ THE  PALESTINIAN  BEDOUINS     
This Week in Palestine, Issue 112      
Arturo Avendaño
August, 2014        [. . . .]  The Bedouins, with their specific values, codes of behaviour, and livelihood, are a Palestinian community of tribes that have a common history, culture, ancestral bloodline, and lifestyle that link the various tribes together. The tribes, which include the Jahaleen, Ka’abneh, Rashaydeh, Ramadeen, ‘Azazme, Sawarka, Arenat, Ejbarat, Hanajra, and Amareen, share a nomadic past that has been highlighted by Western travellers’ tales of camel breeding and romantic desert images. Bedouins have become famous for their extraordinary survival skills in an extremely hostile environment. . . .       MORE . . .    

“OASIS,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
Behind this dune we have an oasis. Leave me alone.
Leave me to rinse myself off in a bit
of its mirage. I’m tired of running after myself
to catch myself before I die.
Take―old friends and my companions―my body,
the shadow of its body’s shadow,
and hold it for a while,
so I can reach my time in time.
Behind this dune we have an oasis.
Sustain your longing with dates and water,
without despair.
Listen with me to the songs of the girls
beneath the palms, but do not follow
the voice of my silence.
We have, friends, the right to die as we desire.
But there’s still some hope, behind that nearby dune.
And we have the right to make the stranger
a stranger’s friend,
and we have an oasis―
and a bit of rest in the house
of the loved one who left us.
He will come from behind this dune.

  • (Blogger’s personal note: Al-Qasim was not, himself, a Bedouin. I have been unable to find poetry by Bedouins, but this poem seems possibly to treat of the Bedouin experience. If any readers know of Bedouin poetry, I welcome comments identifying it.)

From: Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER THAN WATER. NEW AND SELECTED POEMS.  Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008.  Available from Amazon.
About Samih Al-Qasim.

bedouin camel
Palestinian Bedouins are protesting against discrimination by the Israeli government [GETTY image, from Al Jazeera, April 7, 2010)

“. . . the cement has diverted/ The ancient springs . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
EU HEADS
Visit of EU Heads of Cooperation, May 25, 2017 (Photo: EU and Palestinians‏ @EUpalestinians, Twitter)

❶ [Israeli Education Minister Naftali] Bennett vows to press Netanyahu for more West Bank construction
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) A Palestinian’s first-class seat next to Naftali Bennett
❷ Rights group demands Israel cancel tenders opened in illegal West Bank settlements
❸ Netanyahu: Temple Mount will forever remain under Israel’s control
❹ EU Heads of Cooperation visit Area C projects in Jordan Valley
❺ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ [ISRAELI EDUCATION MINISTER NAFTALI] BENNETT  VOWS  TO  PRESS  NETANYAHU  FOR  MORE  WEST  BANK  CONSTRUCTION    
The Times of Israel
Stuart Winer
May 24, 2017
Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Wednesday that he would urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve more construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank so that Israel can consolidate its hold on the land.
___Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, told Army Radio that Israel should take advantage of the opportunity presented by the Trump administration, which, he claimed, recognized the Jewish claim to the West Bank. . . .
[. . . .] Noting that during his visit Trump did not mention the two-state solution, which has been the accepted formula of previous US administrations, Bennett asserted that “[Trump] also understood that achieving peace won’t necessarily be achieved by establishing a Palestinian state in the heart of [Israel].”      MORE . . . . 
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ)  A  PALESTINIAN’S  FIRST-CLASS  SEAT  NEXT  TO  NAFTALI  BENNETT   
+972 Blog  
Jamil Dakwar
May 25, 2017
Jamil Dakwar is a human rights lawyer and adjunct lecturer at John Jay College, New York.
A free airline upgrade left him sitting next to one of the Israeli government’s most right-wing nationalists — who went on to make some revealing comments about Trump, the peace process and his colleagues in the Knesset.
. . . .  [Dakwar’s comment] For far too long, Palestinian rights have been sacrificed in the name of maintaining Jewish supremacy in access to Israeli political power, land, natural resources, and economic prosperity. As long as Palestinians are denied justice and equality, and until their basic human rights are part of the equation, there will be little chance of reaching any “ultimate deal.” The best that Trump and Netanyahu can hope for is a short-term security and business deal to preserve the status quo, including the role of the Palestinian Authority as security sub-contractor.    MORE. . . .
❷ RIGHTS  GROUP  DEMANDS  ISRAEL  CANCEL  TENDERS  OPENED  IN  ILLEGAL  WEST  BANK  SETTLEMENTS 
Ma’an News Agency     
May 26, 2017
Israeli authorities have been offering land tenders inside Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, in the occupied West Bank, according to Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
___According to Adalah, during 2016 and 2017 the Israel Land Authority (ILA) opened tenders offering “state lands” for available plots in at least seven West Bank settlements. . . .
___Adalah sent a letter to senior Israeli officials on Tuesday, demanding that the open tenders be canceled, as “the Israeli agency responsible for issuing these tenders has no legal authority in the 1967 Occupied Territories”. . . .        MORE . . .

settlement
Houses are seen atop a hill in the Israeli settlement of Givat Ze’ev, Feb. 8, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad)

❸ NETANYAHU:  TEMPLE  MOUNT  WILL  FOREVER  REMAIN  UNDER  ISRAEL’S  CONTROL
The Times of Israel 
Marissa Newman
May 24, 2017
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog went head-to-head in the Knesset on Wednesday over Jerusalem, with the premier saying Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state and its capital in any borders is the root of the conflict, and pledging that the city, including the Temple Mount and Western Wall, will forever remain under Israeli sovereignty. . . .
___During a plenum session marking the passage of 50 years since the Six Day War and the reunification of the city’s western and eastern halves, Netanyahu pointed to the US president’s visit to the Western Wall as having “destroyed UNESCO’s propaganda and lies,” referring to a series of resolutions by the UN cultural body that ignored Jewish ties to the city and Israeli sovereignty.        MORE . . .
❹ EU  HEADS  OF  COOPERATION  VISIT  AREA  C  PROJECTS  IN  JORDAN  VALLEY
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
May 26, 2017
European Union (EU) Heads of Cooperation in Jerusalem and Ramallah visited Thursday different localities and projects in Area C in the Jordan Valley, the Office of the EU Representative said in a press release.
___The Norwegian Head of Cooperation also joined the visit. The group was briefed on various humanitarian and developmental projects funded by the EU and its Member States supporting the Palestinian communities in the area.
___According to the press release, the EU Heads of Cooperation were briefed . . .  on the challenges facing the Jordan Valley area.
___The briefing focused on the obstacles that are blocking a sustainable social and economic development of the Palestinian communities in the area.       MORE. . . .  

“A  HOMELAND,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

So what,
When in my homeland
The sparrow dies of starvation,
In exile, without a shroud,
While the earthworm is satiated, devouring God’s food!

So what,
When the yellow fields
Yield no more to their tillers
Than memories of weariness,
While their rich harvest pours
Into the granaries of the usurper!

So what,
If the cement has diverted
The ancient springs
Causing them to forget their natural course,
When their owner calls,
They cry in his face: “Who are you?”

So what,
When the almond and the olive have turned to timber
Adorning tavern doorways,
And monuments
Whose nude loveliness beautifies halls and bars,
And is carried by tourists
To the farthest corners of the earth,
While nothing remains before my eyes
But dry leaves and tinder!

So what,
When my people’s tragedy
Has turned to farce in others’ eyes,
And my face is a poor bargain
That even the slave-trader gleefully disdains!

So what,
When in barren space the satellites spin,
And in the streets walks a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!

Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive.

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

“. . . In the framework of international law . . . Palestinians are virtually nowhere . . .” (Laurie King-Irani)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
palestino
Jan, 15, 2014. A sports uniform is accused of “fomenting terrorism” and inspiring “violence and hatred”. The team is a Chilean soccer club called CLUB DEPORTIVO PALESTINO, and their offense was incorporating an image of historic Palestine on their jerseys. (Photo: Portside.org)

❶ . Chile-based court files war crimes lawsuit against Israeli Supreme Court justices
❷ . Human Rights Watch: Arabs face imminent displacement in Israel
❸ . IOF closes main road in Ramallah

  • Background: “Exiled To A Liminal Legal Zone: Are We All Palestinians Now?” Third World Quarterly

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ . CHILE-BASED  COURT  FILES  WAR  CRIMES  LAWSUIT  AGAINST  ISRAELI  SUPREME  COURT  JUSTICES     
Ma’an News Agency     
Nov. 29, 2016
A Santiago-based court in Chile on Monday filed a war crimes lawsuit against three Israeli Supreme Court justices for approving the construction of the Israeli separation wall, declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2004.
___According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the lawsuit was filed by six Palestinian landowners in Beit Jala in the occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem and alleged war crimes, including crimes against humanity, against former chief Justice Asher Grunis, and Justices Neal Hendel and Uzi Vogelman.
___The claimants reportedly own the land that is expected to be cut off from their village by the separation wall, while five of the plaintiffs are Chilean nationals, Haaretz reported.
___Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians migrated to Chile over the last century, resulting in a large Palestinian diaspora community in the South American country, while many Palestinians with Chilean nationality also reside in the West Bank, particularly in Beit Jala.      More . . .

❷ . HUMAN  RIGHTS  WATCH:  ARABS  FACE  IMMINENT  DISPLACEMENT  IN  ISRAEL     
Days of Palestine
Nov. 30, 2016
More than 80,000 Palestinians in Negev are currently under Israeli threat of displacement Israeli occupation authorities should revoke plans to forcibly displace Arab residents from the Negev village of Umm al-Hiran, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
___The American human rights group said that the Israeli occupation is planning to force the Arabs, the indigenous Palestinian resident who remained home after the Israeli occupation of Palestine, in the village to build a new Jewish community in its place.     ___According to a statement by HRW, the Israeli Execution and Collection Authority on November 20, 2016, approved a request by the Israeli Land Authority to forcibly demolish two homes and approximately eight surrounding structures at the entrance of Umm al-Hiran.
[. . . .] Adalah, a nongovernmental legal centre that advocates for Arab minority rights in Israel and represents Umm al-Hiran residents, fears that the evictions will take place before the November 30 deadline.
___In a statement to Human Rights Watch, the lead Adalah attorney on the case, Suhad Bishara, said they would continue to “seek all available legal channels” to halt the displacement and support the “existential, moral and legitimate right” of the villagers to “continue living on their land.”
___In conditions similar to those in Umm al-Hiran, about 80,000 Arabs live under constant threat of home demolitions in 35 villages that Israel does not recognise in the Negev.     More . . .    Related . . .    ETHNIC  CLEANSING:  NEGEV  IS  A  BATTLEFIELD  FOR  A  VERY  FIERCE  STRUGGLE    Palestine Chronicle    Nov 29 2016

umm-al-hiram
May 06, 2015. Court rules that Umm al-Hiran in the northern Negev is built on state land, paving way for construction of Jewish community of Hiran. (Photo: Ha’aretz)

❸ . IOF  CLOSES  MAIN  ROAD  IN  RAMALLAH  
Alray-Palestinian Media Agency 
Nov. 30, 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) closed on Wednesday morning the main road between Silwad town and Ain Yabrod village east of Ramallah city in the center of the West Bank with cement cubes.
___Local sources said that the IOF closed the bridge connecting Ain Yabrod village with Silwad town and forced Palestinian citizens to take other long alternative roads. More . . .

(Note: While the article below is 10 years old and some of the legal issues it discusses have been decided, it is still an insightful and compelling study of the Palestinian Diaspora. I have included a much longer quotation than I usually do. Unfortunately the article is available online only through EBSCO databases or Research Gate.)   

  • King-Irani, Laurie. “Exiled To A Liminal Legal Zone: Are We All Palestinians Now?” Third World Quarterly 27.5 (2006): 923-936.   SOURCE. 

As a diaspora of over nine million people, Palestinians are everywhere: second-class citizens of Israel, stateless residents of fragmented and walled-in Bantustans in the occupied West Bank, refugees residing inside and outside of camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan; and immigrants, students, professionals and nationalised citizens in virtually every country in the world. Palestinians dwell in the ‘First’ as well as the ‘Third’ worlds, economically speaking. Among the far-flung Palestinian diaspora are some of the poorest as well as some of the wealthiest people in the world. In the framework of international law, however, Palestinians are virtually nowhere. As stateless persons they occupy a liminal and interstitial space in the international legal and political order, an order that (contemporary discourses of cosmopolitanism, globalisation and emergent transnational organisations aside) remains founded upon and grounded in the interests of sovereign nation-states rather than in the claims of sub- or transnational actors, whether individuals or groups.
___Palestinians reaped few if any benefits from the late 20th century florescence of international humanitarian law (IHL), an era that witnessed a serious international focus on human rights and ‘policing the past’, as well as the establishment of the first ad hoc international criminal tribunals in half a century to address massive human rights violations (including genocide) in Africa and Europe. The defining event of the 1990s for Palestinians was the signing of the Oslo Accords and the now-famous handshake  between PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli Prime Minster Yitzhak Rabin in 1993.
___Oslo, however, was not founded on international law or treaties but, rather, constituted a negotiated agreement between unequal partners. It was an agreement that side-stepped the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (concerning the rights of Palestinian refugees), UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 (censuring Israel’s acquisition of territory by force), the Fourth Geneva Convention’s limitations on the actions of an occupying power, and a bevy of annual reports, issued by such bodies as the UN Human Rights Commission, the International Jurists Commission, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, emphasising Israel’s duty to uphold IHL and to abide by all of international treaties it has signed.
___The Oslo Accords (the Declaration of Principles— DOP) did not represent a legally binding, international document, but a slippery ‘deal’ or ‘understanding’ brokered by the USA, a superpower actor with a long record of supporting Israel regardless of its failure to comply with international humanitarian norms. Rather than being empowering, conciliatory, or liberating the Palestinians from a chronic state of legal and political liminality, the Oslo process ultimately proved to be a coercive set of mechanisms that further entrenched Israeli control over Palestinian land. It also set precedents for a dangerous attenuation of IHL’s relevance to the overall Israeli – Palestinian conflict.
___Following the Al-Qaida attacks on New York City and Washington, DC on 11 September 2001, IHL’s growing focus on the needs of individual victims was eclipsed once again by the interests of sovereign states, or, as Hajjar terms them, hyper-sovereign states.10 The USA and its ally, Israel, are the chief embodiments of hyper-sovereignty, a political and military stance characterised by pre-emptive policies, a distaste for multilateral legal frameworks to counter emerging extra-state threats, and a pronounced reliance on overwhelming unilateral force that often violates IHL, international human rights law (IHRL) and UN resolutions, while rendering international diplomacy beside the point. The travails of the Palestinian people since 1948 offer a disturbing, though highly instructive, reverse-image view of the contours and limitations—as well as the possibilities—of an international legal order. The ongoing Palestinian tragedy also illuminates serious contradictions in prevailing discourses of human and civil rights, exposing ambiguities in prevailing legal definitions of, and guarantees for, human beings.
[. . . .]

 

 

“. . . Kill Palestinians to get closer to God . . .” (Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
rabbi
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of the city of Safed and a member of the council of the Chief Rabbinate (Photo: T.O.T. Private Consulting, December 27, 2013)

❶ ‘Kill Palestinians to get closer to God,’ Israeli rabbi says

  • background from Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies

❷ Israeli forces injure 15 Palestinians in Dura with live fire, rubber bullets
❸ Police allowed to shoot stone throwers: Botched redaction reveals rules of engagement

  • background from Journal Of Community Psychology

❹ “We’ll never give up”
❺ POETRY by  Dalia Taha
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ‘KILL  PALESTINIANS  TO  GET  CLOSER  TO  GOD,’  ISRAELI  RABBI  SAYS
Days of Palestine
July 5, 2016
An Israeli Jewish rabbi described on Sunday the Palestinians as “monsters,” calling for slaughtering them to “get closer to God.”
___Chief Rabbi of Safed and Member of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate Council Shmuel Eliyahu said: “The Palestinians are monsters and killing them is a religious duty.”     MORE . . .

from Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies
. . . .  The restraint policy regarding inciting rabbis was sustained up until 2006. Then the Legal Advisor to the Government, Menachem Mazuz, ordered pressing charges against Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of the city of Safed.
[. . . .]  Eliyahu published statements on the internet site Moriah. . .  saying that the members of the Jewish terror underground that was operating during the 1980s and that had killed Arabs were “completely righteous.” He also said, “I don’t think they are lowly murderers. Heaven forbid! They have already paid their price to society.”
[. . . .]  Rabbi Eliyahu made a plea bargain with the state to avoid trial on incitement to racism charges, and promised to make a public announcement refuting a number of previous slanderous statements made against Israeli Arabs.
[. . . .] Rabbi Eliyahu had no reason to change his views. . . .  In 2008, Rabbi Eliyahu called on the government to carry out “state-sanctioned revenge” against Arabs in order to, in his words, “restore Israel’s deterrence.” . . . . Rabbi Eliyahu wrote: “It’s time to call the child by its name: Revenge, revenge, revenge. We mustn’t forget. We have to take horrible revenge . . .”
[. . . .] The Eliyahu saga continues at the time of this writing [2013]. In November of 2011, Legal Advisor to the Government Yehuda Weinstein ordered the opening of a criminal investigation against Rabbi Eliyahu as he continues with his racist and inflammatory diatribes against Arabs.

  • Cohen-Almagor, Raphael. “Religious, Hateful, And Racist Speech In Israel.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies 31.2 (2013): 95-117.    ARTICLE.

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  15  PALESTINIANS  IN  DURA  WITH  LIVE  FIRE,  RUBBER  BULLETS
Ma’an New Agency
July 6, 2016
Five Palestinians were injured with live fire and ten others with rubber-coated steel bullets, while several more suffered from tear gas inhalation on Wednesday as Israeli forces raided the city of Dura after midnight in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron.
___Sources at the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma’an that ambulances carried dozens of Palestinians to hospitals in the Hebron area who suffered from light to medium injuries, with one sustaining critical injuries.      MORE . . .   

1-Kafr Qaddum
Escalating violence at Friday Demonstration in Kafr Qaddum, 10th April 2015 (Photo: International Solidarity Movement)

❸ POLICE  ALLOWED  TO  SHOOT  STONE  THROWERS:  BOTCHED  REDACTION  REVEALS  RULES  OF  ENGAGEMENT
+972 Magazine
July 5, 2016
Israel Police revealed its live-fire rules of engagement Monday in response to a court petition filed by civil rights group Adalah. Parts of the document were redacted with a black marker, but was done so sloppily that large parts of the redaction is still readable.
___The Israel Police’s rules of engagement and escalation of force regulations, which were secret until Monday, were written and implemented last December, coinciding with increased violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The document dictates when a police officer can draw his or her weapon, when he or she can fire it, and in what manner.  MORE . . .

From Journal Of Community Psychology
This is a classic “limit situation.” As noted, there is resistance, and although this has in part been armed, it is overwhelmingly nonviolent. Most Palestinians have never handled a gun. The two intifadas (uprisings) used economic boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience as well as the more widely reported violent tactics. However, in certain areas there is a celebration of martyrs of the struggle that emphasizes military prowess, for example, with photomontages that add heavy calibre weapons to their photographs. At the same time there is a rich use of other imagery, for example, the keys that symbolize return, and the murals depicting villages from which people were expelled or fled. One consequence is the overwhelming definition of Palestinian identity in terms of the collective struggle. Although this has its valuable side, there is also a cost in terms of positive personal narratives. . .
[. . . .]   . . . there is no real boundary between political and community psychology. The political is ultimately about community and the community is itself political, both internally and in its external relations that are reflected in the social psychological life of its members. Community psychological praxis is different in different contexts, but is always concerned with questions of power, belonging, amelioration, and transformation.

  • Burton, Mark. “Community Psychology Under Colonial Occupation: The Case Of Palestine.” Journal Of Community Psychology 43.1 (2015): 119-123.  SOURCE.

❹ “WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP”
The Electronic Intifada
Patricia de Blas
1 July 2016
“We love our land and we will fight.”
___So reads a mural painted on a wall in Kafr Qaddum, a Palestinian village in the northern occupied West Bank.
___The slogan, adorned with butterflies in the color of the Palestinian flag flying over a barbed wire fence, is the backdrop to the regular demonstrations against the Israeli occupation held in the village since July 2011.
___For five years now, villagers have protested every week, demanding access to the main road leading to the city of Nablus and other nearby towns.
___The Israeli military closed that road in 2003 during the height of the second intifada under the pretext of providing security to the approximately 4,000 settlers living in nearby Kedumim.     MORE . . . 

“FACE,” BY DALIA TAHA
A sky fell into
the braid
of the little girl who was killed.
Her face
is a wind in the shadows
of the garden,
blowing without colour
or blushing
when the air rushes through.

As if she knew,
when the jackals emerged
from her shadow and the river widened
in the disappointment
of whiteness.

As if she knew, when the sparrows
ate her eyes
and the sidewalk walked
in her blood.

The woman treads on dead
jasmine, searching
the minutes
for her hand.
She hides half her face,
and the air is filled with
the fingers of nothingness.

She pokes a hole in the poem
so the sidewalks can
wander into it.

The little girl’s hand withers and her blood
slumbers in
the lake.
When God passed over
her name,
she buried her hands in the heights of the jasmine
and covered her nakedness
with the corpses of the invaders.
―Translated by Allison Blecker

From Banipal 45: Magazine of Modern Arab Literature. Winter 2012. WWW.banipal.co.uk
Dalia Taha is a Palestinian poet and playwright. She was born in Berlin 1986 but grew up in Ramallah-Palestine. Her first play “Keffiyeh/Made in China” was produced by the Flemish Royal Theater [and] was premiered in Brussels in 2012, then brought to Palestine where it toured 7 Palestinian cities across the west bank.  (More. . .)
An Interview with Dalia Taha