Tag: Aftab Yusuf Shaikh

“. . . the shedding of blood cleanses nothing . . .” (Aftab Yusuf Shaikh)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
PCF-WAFA
Palestine Circus Festival, Ramallah. (Photo courtesy Circus School)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

PALESTINE  CIRCUS  FESTIVAL’S  ‘UNITED  FOR  FREEDOM’  OPENS  IN  RAMALLAH
The second edition of the PALESTINE CIRCUS FESTIVAL, entitled “United for Freedom,” opened over the weekend in the central West Bank district of Ramallah, with the participation of about 200 local and international artists.    ___Palestinian officials, a representative of the European Union, representatives of international and local cultural and artistic organizations . . .   watched the opening ceremony, the Carnival and XY company show, held at the Istiklal Park.    ___The European Union Head of Cooperation, Alessandra Viezzer, said “Circus has long been a strong tool for self-expression, entertainment and storytelling around the world. It brings all people together, whether young or old. In Palestine, the EU is proud of being one of the main supporters of the Palestine Circus: the first to exploit the great potential of Palestinian youngsters in artistic productions.”   More . . .
PALESTINE:  1ST  ARAB  COUNTRY  TO  JOIN  INTERNATIONAL  CITY  ASSOCIATION
The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) signed a partnership and cooperation agreement, on Saturday, with the International City Management Association (ICMA) to be the first Arab association to join the organization.    ___According to a press statement, Abdullah Anati of APLA and Mark Otte of ICMA, signed the partnership and cooperation agreement on the sidelines of the annual ICMA conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.    ___The agreement stated that the two associations will be committed to strengthening the relationship and partnership between them through specific activities, such as participating in the annual conferences of each association, hosting representatives and speakers from each association during the annual conferences . . .   More . . .
PERCENTAGE  OF  ELDERLY  IS  LOW  IN  PALESTINE,  SAYS  STATISTICS  BUREAU  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, said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Sunday on the occasion of the World Elderly Day.    ___In 2017, the number of the elderly aged 60 and above reached 233,269 persons (5.0%), (152,443 persons  (5.4%) in the West Bank and 80,826 persons (4.3%) in Gaza Strip).     __PCBS said even though, the percentage of the elderly will be increasing during the coming years in Palestine, but their percentage will stay relatively low . . .     ___Palestine witnessed improvement in life expectancy . . .  Life expectancy has increased about 6-8 years during the last two decades.    More . . .

circus_081211-269_0
Palestinian Circus School. (Photo: MIDDLE EAST REVISED, 2014)

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

WHAT  VOX  GETS  WRONG  WITH  ITS  “11  BIGGEST  MYTHS  ABOUT  ISRAEL-PALESTINE”
Jeremy R. Hammond
I’ve written an article titled “Top Ten Myths about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” . . .  so when I learned that Vox has a feature called “The 11 biggest myths about Israel-Palestine”, I naturally took an interest. Unfortunately, while Vox gets some things right, what it gets wrong it gets badly wrong.  So, to set the record straight, here’s a quick examination of each of Vox’s eleven supposed myths and corrective for its egregious misinformation.   ___“Myth #1: The conflict is too complex to possibly understand”   Although I don’t include it on my own list of myths, I agree this is indeed false. In fact, I’ve written an article titled “The Simplicity of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” that starts with, “There is a general perception that the reason the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has continued for so long is because it is extremely complex. Nothing could be further from the truth.     More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .

BRIGHT  STARS  OF  BETHLEHEM:  “Room  for  Hope,”  (Dallas,  Austin,  Houston,  Texas,  USA),  Oct.  5-7,  2018.    It’s finally here! Bright Stars is coming to Texas for a multi-city festival of Palestinian culture.  After postponing last year’s festival due to Hurricane Harvey, we are thrilled to be in Texas this fall.   Information . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  AFTAB  YUSUF  SHAIKH
If this city were a woman,
She must have earned a bad name by now,
For the number of swords unsheathed,
For the cauldrons of blood shed,
For the haunting silence that rings in wombs,
For the innocent childhoods weeded,

But, No!
This is a city, and a holy one!
Holy for whom? The ones who heap
unholiness on it.

O children of Abraham!
You are not pagans or witches,
You must remember very sharply,
That the shedding of blood cleanses nothing,
And nothing cleanses the shedding of blood,

Man remembers the Promises of God,
But very casually forgets
The Promise God took from him.

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.   

“. . . She must have earned a bad name by now, For the number of swords unsheathed . . .” (Aftab Yusuf Shaikh)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
bedouin-village1
Dkaika Village, South Hebron Hills (Photo: Hebron International Rehabilitation Network. Dec. 24, 2014)

❶ Al-Aqsa officials reject new Israeli security measures as compound reopens

  • Background: . “From ‘Ethnocracity’ to Urban Apartheid: The Changing Urban Geopolitics of Jerusalem\Al-Quds.” Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) PCHR Strongly Condemns Israeli Authorities’ Measures against Al-Aqsa Mosque in Unprecedented Step
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Knesset bill bans dividing occupied Jerusalem
❷ Israel is expelling 300 Palestinians, to a village it plans to demolish
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) My village is under threat. I’m not giving up hope
❸ POETRY by Aftab Yusuf Shaikh
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ AL-AQSA  OFFICIALS  REJECT   NEW  ISRAELI  SECURITY  MEASURES  AS  COMPOUND  REOPENS   
Ma’an News Agency       
July 16, 2017.  As Israeli officials moved to “gradually reopen” the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday after three days of closure, officials from the Islamic Endowment (Waqf) that runs the holy site expressed their rejection to the new metal detectors installed at compound’s entrances . . .
___The attempt to reopen the compound came upon an order from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after it had been closed following a deadly shooting attack inside the compound that left two Israeli border policemen killed and three Palestinian assailants shot dead on Friday.
___After discussions with “top security leadership,” Netanyahu announced additional security measures at the holy site Saturday evening, including the installation of the metal detectors as well as security cameras outside the compound.
___Meanwhile, Al-Aqsa and the entirety of the Old City has remained shuttered to Palestinians who don’t reside there since Friday, while Israelis and tourists have been allowed to enter the Old City.  MORE . . .

Yacobi, Haim. “FROM  ‘ETHNOCRACITY’  TO  URBAN  APARTHEID:  THE  CHANGING  URBAN  GEOPOLITICS  OF  JERUSALEM\AL-QUDS.” Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 8, no. 3, July 2016, pp. 100-114.
(Haim Yacobi is Professor of Development Planning, University College, London)
[. . . .] ‘Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people, a city reunified so as never again to be divided… Our people’s unparalleled affinity to Jerusalem has spanned thousands of years, and is the basis of our national renaissance. It has united our people, secular and religious alike’. The statement above, by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expresses the mainstream Israeli understanding of the city as ‘unified Jerusalem,’ a fixed urban space, a given subject of Israeli sovereignty and ethno-national aspirations. But in fact, the city of Jerusalem is manufactured continuously by geopolitical practices, which include not merely military occupation but also colonial planning and demographic engineering.
___As widely documented and analyzed, a turning point in Israel’s geopolitical situation occurred in June 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem and other territories. Following this occupation, and despite international objections, the Israeli government issued the Municipalities Ordinance (Amendment No. 6) Law, 5727–1967, applying Israeli law to East Jerusalem. As a result, Israel annexed Palestinian land and declared the city of Jerusalem to be its united capital. This stage in the colonization of East Jerusalem was heavily based on legal measures in the form of expropriation of Palestinian land into (Israeli) state hands.
___The next stage in the process was the rhetorical device of incessantly declaring that Jerusalem is a unified city. In this regard, planning policies have clearly reflected the paradigm of an ethnocracity; both state and city governments have pursued the same general policy, which persistently promoted the Judaization of Jerusalem – i.e. the expansion of Jewish political, territorial, demographic and economic control. More specifically, over the past five decades, Israel has used its military might and economic power to redraw borders and recreate boundaries, to grant or deny rights and resources, and to move populations around for the purpose of ensuring Jewish control. These all served a common goal, which was to construct a new cognitive map for the city and thus normalize its occupation.     FULL ARTICLE . . .

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) PCHR  STRONGLY  CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  AUTHORITIES’  MEASURES  AGAINST  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE  IN  UNPRECEDENTED  STEP  
Palestine News Network – PNN     
July 16, 2017.   The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the measures taken by the Israeli Government against al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.
___These measures included closing the Mosque; banning prayers; and arresting and investigating with dozens of Islamic Endowments (Awqaf) Department’s officers, Mosque’s guards and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.
___PCHR emphasizes that these measures are part of Israeli policies applied to create a Jewish majority in the City and part of the Israeli collective punishment policy in the Palestinian territory . . .
___PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the Permanent Member States of the UN Security Council and High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention . . .  to take all deterrent measures against the Israeli government’s serious violations in the oPt.        MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) KNESSET  BILL  BANS  DIVIDING  OCCUPIED  JERUSALEM
Alray-Palestinian Media Agency
July 16, 2017.   Israeli ministerial committee for legislation approved Sunday Unified Jerusalem Bill that bans dividing occupied Jerusalem in any future settlement.
___A bill spearheaded by . . .  Education Minister Naftali Bennett designed to make dividing Jerusalem virtually impossible was vetoed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon after the former made clear his intentions to put the so-called ‘Unified Jerusalem Bill’ to the vote without proper prior coalition consultations.
___According to the proposed legislation, any decision taken on Jerusalem’s fate would require the consent of eighty MKs in the Knesset.   MORE . . .
❷ ISRAEL  IS  EXPELLING  300  PALESTINIANS,  TO  A  VILLAGE  IT  PLANS  TO  DEMOLISH    
+972 Blog
By Eli Bitan
July 13, 2017.   Dkaika, a tiny Bedouin-Palestinian village in the south Hebron Hills, is under threat of demolition. The state hopes to expel its residents to a nearby village — which is also under threat of destruction.
Israel’s High Court of Justice is set to decide the future of a small Palestinian village in the West Bank next week. Dkaika, located on the edge of the South Hebron Hills in Area C, is living under the shadow of demolition . . .  The village’s 300 residents are to be expelled to the nearby village Hamida — which is also under threat of demolition.
___The High Court is set to hear the case on July 17.
___Out of Dkaika’s 140 structures, 114 are slated for demolition. In order to prevent the expulsion, the village submitted a detailed plan, put together by Professor Rasem Khamaisi, to the state. . . .
___Should the petition be rejected, or should the High Court refuse to intervene and defend the residents from expulsion, the state may completely or partially demolish the village.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ)   MY  VILLAGE  IS  UNDER  THREAT.  I’M  NOT  GIVING  UP  HOPE    
+972 Magazine 
By Awdah al-Hathalean
July 16, 2017.  My name is Awdah Mohammed al-Hathalean. I’m 23 years old and I live in Umm al-Khair, a village in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank. My story is bittersweet.
___When I was seven months old, I fell into a fire in my home, and my father was not able to move fast enough to rescue me because of his disability.
[. . . .] I have now finished my studies at university, and have returned to live in my village . . .    sometimes I feel that I have overcome many obstacles in my life.
___I believe, like my father did, that we have the right to live without the constant threat of demolition, to have enough clean water, to have good houses that we can live in during all seasons, to have a community center for our children, and for all of us to continue learning and growing, to live without fear, and to do what we want as autonomous humans.   MORE . . . 

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  AFTAB  YUSUF  SHAIKH
If this city were a woman,
She must have earned a bad name by now,
For the number of swords unsheathed,
For the cauldrons of blood shed,
For the haunting silence that rings in wombs,
For the innocent childhoods weeded,

But, No!
This is a city, and a holy one!
Holy for whom? The ones who heap
unholiness on it.

O children of Abraham!
You are not pagans or witches,
You must remember very sharply,
That the shedding of blood cleanses nothing,
And nothing cleanses the shedding of blood,

Man remembers the Promises of God,
But very casually forgets
The Promise God took from him.

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 Barnes and Noble.
About Aftab Yusuf Shaikh

“. . . children of Abraham! You are not pagans or witches . . .” (Aftab Yusuf Shaikh)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
An Israeli man shows his son how to work a machine gun. (AFP PHOTO/GALI. Photo via Newscom.)
An Israeli man shows his son how to work a machine gun. (AFP PHOTO/GALI. Photo via Newscom.)

❶ West Jerusalem mayor tells settlers to ‘come out with their guns’
❷ Palestinian detained after Israeli man stabbed, injured in Jerusalem
❸ Palestinian traders stay put in Jerusalem’s Old City, despite intimidation
❹ Raed Salah blames Netanyahu for escalation in Palestinian territories
❺ Opinion/Analysis: In Israel/Palestine we are witnessing the end of a colonial regime
❻ Poetry by Aftab Yusuf Shaikh
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
(Please read “purpose” above. And thank you for “following.”)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
WEST  JERUSALEM  MAYOR  TELLS  SETTLERS  TO  ‘COME  OUT  WITH  THEIR  GUNS’
Oct. 8, 2015
Jerusalem―The Israeli mayor of West Jerusalem, Nir Barkat on Thursday delivered a message to the settlers to ‘come out with their guns.”
____“Come out today with your licensed guns, for those who know how to use it, that’s what needed right now. In a way, this is like reserve duty,” Barkat said on the Israeli GLZRadio.
____Barkat also said that the Palestinians groups “harassing” settlers in general have to be prevented from going up to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
More . . .
Related . . . 
Related . . .
Related . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS ANGENCY
PALESTINIAN  DETAINED  AFTER  ISRAELI  MAN  STABBED,  INJURED  IN  JERUSALEM
Oct. 8, 2015
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian suspect was detained after an Israeli man was stabbed and injured Thursday near a main road in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Israeli police said.
____Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an the Palestinian suspect was apprehended and the Israeli man was left with light injuries.
____Israeli media reported that the victim, a 25-year-old Haredi man, was seriously injured in the attack and taken for treatment at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
____The attack took place near Highway 1, a main thoroughfare cutting West to East across northern Jerusalem and crossing through areas currently site to high tensions after ongoing attacks.
More . . .
❸ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEM)
PALESTINIAN  TRADERS  STAY  PUT  IN  JERUSALEM’S  OLD  CITY,  DESPITE  INTIMIDATION
Lydia Noon
Oct. 7 2015
The entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City is partially blocked by police vans.
____“Where are you from?” barks one of several Israeli police officers at a makeshift checkpoint near Damascus Gate.
____“Britain,” I reply. He looks confused. “UK… England.” He’s not happy.
____“Are you Muslim?” I shake my head.
____He passes my passport on to his colleague who asks if I am a tourist. I reply to the affirmative and I am finally let through. At the bottom of the steps is another checkpoint and I count around 25 within the 0.9 square kilometre of the walled city. Palestinians are stopped at these smaller checkpoints; tourists are waved through.
More . . .
❹ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEM)
RAED  SALAH  BLAMES  NETANYAHU  FOR  ESCALATION  IN  PALESTINIAN  TERRITORIES
Oct. 7, 2015
The head of the Islamic Movement in Israel has blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the ongoing escalation of tension and violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, Anadolu has reported
____“Netanyahu thought that the weakness in the Arab region would give him a chance to partition Al-Aqsa, but this will not happen,” said Shaikh Raed Salah. “This uprising is going to turn into a massive intifada if Netanyahu does not recognise his mistake.”
____Regarding the Israeli government’s claim that his movement is behind the uprising, the veteran Palestinian rights campaigner said that it is a “laughable” accusation. “The people in Jerusalem are Palestinians who see and hear what is happening. The violations of the Israeli occupation are increasing and fuelling the escalation.”
More . . .
Related . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis:
MONDOWEISS
IN  ISRAEL/PALESTINE  WE  ARE  WITNESSING  THE  END  OF  A  COLONIAL  REGIME
Ilene Cohen
Oct. 7, 2015
What is happening in Israel today and what happened last week, last month, last year, and for the past almost fifty years is about cementing sovereignty over land that the international community agrees does not belong to Israel and over a subject people, the Palestinians—all in contravention of international law.
____I’m in Israel now, taking a break from the inanity and horrors of American politics, and watching the situation in Israel/Palestine heating up. Frequent topic in the Israeli press: is this or isn’t this the start of the third intifada? And, if it is, the discussion goes, how can Israel tweak the occupation so as to pacify the Palestinians? As for, how can Israel address the root cause—the very fact of the occupation—by decolonizing, well, that’s not part of the discourse.
More . . .

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  AFTAB  YUSUF  SHAIKH
If this city were a woman,
She must have earned a bad name by now,
For the number of swords unsheathed,
For the cauldrons of blood shed,
For the haunting silence that rings in wombs,
For the innocent childhoods weeded,

But, No!
This is a city, and a holy one!
Holy for whom? The ones who heap
unholiness on it.

O children of Abraham!
You are not pagans or witches,
You must remember very sharply,
That the shedding of blood cleanses nothing,
And nothing cleanses the shedding of blood,

Man remembers the Promises of God,
But very casually forgets
The Promise God took from him.

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 Barnes and Noble.
About Aftab Yusuf Shaikh

A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Oct. 6, 2015. (Photo: Xinhua/Luay Sababa)
A Palestinian protester hurls stones at Israeli soldiers during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Oct. 6, 2015. (Photo: Xinhua/Luay Sababa)

“. . . the shedding of blood cleanses nothing. . .” (Aftab Yusuf Shaikh)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
The press conference announcing the launch of a new Arab-speaking station, Palestine 48, in Nazareth on Wednesday, June 17 2015. (Screen capture: Ynet)
The press conference announcing the launch of a new Arab-speaking station, Palestine 48, in Nazareth on Wednesday, June 17 2015. (Screen capture: Ynet)

❶ From INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER (IMEMC)
NETANYAHU ORDERS NEW PALESTINIAN TV SHUT, P.A PLANS TO APPEAL DECISION
June 18, 2015
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as the Communication Minister, has instructed the head of the Communications Ministry, to begin shutting down a new Palestinian TV station, funded by the Palestinian Authority, in Israel.
____The official launch of the new TV was scheduled for today, Thursday, and all official preparations were concluded Wednesday for the historic launch of the new Palestine 48 TV Station. . . .
Al-Hasan said the Netanyahu decision to shut down the new TV station was illegal, and that the TV Channel will pursue all legal means to counter the move. . . .
____Netanyahu gave the order to Director General Shlomo Filber, just a few hours after a press conference was held during the inauguration of the Palestine 48 Arabic-language Channel. . . .
____Netanyahu’s main argument was that the new TV “receives funding from the Palestinian Authority, which is considered a foreign entity in Israel”.
(More. . .)

❷ From MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
HAMAS REJECTS UNILATERAL DISSOLUTION OF PALESTINIAN UNITY GOVT
June 17, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Hamas rejected any unilateral dissolution of the Palestinian unity government on Wednesday, hours before Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah was expected to meet President Mahmoud Abbas to present his government’s resignation and discuss the formation of a new government.
____The rejection comes as senior Fatah officials reported Tuesday night that Abbas announced during a Fatah council meeting that the government would be dissolved and entirely reformed.
____”Hamas rejects any one-sided change in the government without the agreement of all parties,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
(More. . .)

❸ From +972 MAGAZINE
OCCUPATION IS THE PROBLEM, NOT THE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT IT
Israel’s Foreign Ministry is going after Israeli human rights and anti-occupation activists overseas. Doing so will only make things worse for Israel.
Ilan Baruch
June 16, 2015
It’s been less than a month since Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely instructed Israeli embassies abroad to explain to the nations of the world that the land of Israel is ours in its entirety. Global hostility toward Israel, she insisted, does not stem from the occupation or settlements.
____Now, we have learned that she instructed the Israeli embassy in Switzerland to attempt to cancel a “Breaking the Silence” exhibition in Zurich. The exhibition presents soldiers’ testimonies on their experiences during their military service regarding the daily reality in the occupied territories.
(More. . .)

❹ From INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER (IMEMC)
TWO INJURED IN NABLUS, TWO KIDNAPPED IN BETA NEARBY TOWN
June 18, 2015
Israeli soldiers shot and injured, on Thursday at dawn, two Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped two brothers in an invasion into Beta town, south of the city.
____Media sources in Nablus said several military vehicles, a number of settlers’ buses, and a military bulldozer, invaded the Eastern Area in Nablus, leading to clashes with local Palestinian youths.
____Medical sources said resident Eyad Ma’in Kalbouna, 23, was shot with a live round in his left leg, while Mohammad Ghassan Hashshash, 24, from the Balata refugee camp, was shot with two live rounds in the chest and thigh.
(More. . .)

Al-Wafah Hospital, Gaza
Al-Wafah Hospital, Gaza

❺ From PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: ISRAEL DENIES RIGHT TO MEDICAL TREATMENT IN GAZA
June 16, 2015
A report compiled by the organisation Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said that during 2014 Israel refused half of the applications made by residents to leave Gaza for medical treatment. Two of those who talked to PHR about the refusal of their applications died during the year.
____“The results point to the abuse of the Palestinian population”.
____The report revealed PHR’s findings that approximately half (47.5%) of the applications for permits to leave Gaza were denied by the Israeli border control. . . . in many cases applicants were seeking potentially life-saving treatment.
____PHR found that during the year, 246 requests from ill Palestinians were denied or postponed by Israeli authorities. All applicants had obtained the appropriate travel documents and knew of the obligation to pay medical fees
(More. . .)

“JERUSALEM,” BY AFTAB YUSUF SHAIKH
If this city were a woman,
She must have earned a bad name by now,
For the number of swords unsheathed,
For the cauldrons of blood shed,
For the haunting silence that rings in wombs,
For the innocent childhoods weeded,

But, No!
This is a city, and a holy one!
Holy for whom? The ones who heap
unholiness on it.

O children of Abraham!
You are not pagans or witches,
You must remember very sharply,
That the shedding of blood cleanses nothing,
And nothing cleanses the shedding of blood,

Man remembers the Promises of God,
But very casually forgets
The Promise God took from him.

About Aftab Yusuf Shaikh
http://aftabyusufshaikh.weebly.com/
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.

Old City from the Mount of the Olives.
Old City from the Mount of the Olives. “Holy for whom? The ones who heap
unholiness on it.”