Tag: Al-Aqsa

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

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

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

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

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“WE  TRAVEL  LIKE  OTHER  PEOPLE,”  BY  MAHMOUD  DARWISH

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

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

 

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

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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.

“. . . I plant the names of my loved ones in the streets . . .” (Majid Abu Ghoush)

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SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . . .   

PALESTINIAN  SUCCUMBS  TO  WOUNDS  SUSTAINED  DURING  GAZA  PROTESTS      A 19-year-old Palestinian succumbed to his wounds, on Friday morning, that he had sustained several weeks ago during  “The Great March of Return”  protests in the besieged Gaza Strip.    ___Medical sources identified the Palestinian as Amjad Fayez Hamduna, 19, and confirmed that he had succumbed to his wounds.    ___Hamduna was wounded by Israeli forces’ live fire during protests on July 14th in northern Gaza.   More . . .
Related . . . ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE INJURES 2 PALESTINIANS IN GAZA
Related . . . ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  FIVE  PALESTINIANS  NEAR  RAMALLAH

PALESTINIANS  PREVENT  ISRAELI  SETTLERS’  RAID  OF  KHAN  AL-AHMAR   
A group of Palestinians prevented a group of Israeli settlers from raiding the Khan al-Ahmar village east of occupied Jerusalem City, on Friday morning.    ___Locals said that Israeli settlers attempted to raid the Bedouin village, threatened with demolition that is expected to take place in less than a week, to provoke residents and activists carrying out a sit-in at the village.    ___Palestinian youths prevented Israeli settlers from raiding the village and forced them to leave back to the nearby main street.   [. . . . ] Earlier this week, the Israeli High Court had rejected an appeal against the demolition of the village . . .    More . . .

ISRAEL  ORDERS  FIVE  JERUSALEMITES  TO  STAY  AWAY  FROM  JERUSALEM
An Israeli court ordered five Palestinian youth from occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday to stay away from the city and its holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for one month, as a precondition for their release from Israeli custody.   More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .

THE  TWO-STATE  SOLUTION:  DECLINE  OR  DEATH?  [MINISTER]  OF  THE  RIGHT-WING  LIKUD  PARTY  SAID,  “THE  TWO-STATE  SOLUTION  IS  DEAD”.
This is the latest of a slew of Israeli statements related surrounding the revival of the so-called Confederacy solution with Jordan.     ___This statement also refers somehow to the development of this solution, as it comes over a decade after another announcement was made, i.e. the “decline of the two-state solution”, which was reiterated after the Palestinian division in 2007 . . .   More . . .

SHUBLAQ:  ELECTRICITY  CRISIS  IN  GAZA  LEADS  TO  WATER,  SEWAGE  CRISES  (VIDEO)      General Director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) Munther Shublaq warned yesterday of a near water and sewage crises in Gaza due to the continuous electricity crisis, Safa news agency reported.   ___In a press release, Shublaq said that the situation in Gaza deteriorated as the fuel offered by OCHA, which is needed to run the water and sewage plants, is running out.   More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .

KINDERUSA – DALLAS:  DR.  MADS  GILBERT:  A  RETURN  VISIT  TO  GAZA.
A  FUND  RAISING  EVENT
Dr. Mads Gilbert, Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway, gives his first hand account of the horrors that took place during 51 day war in Gaza. Dr. Gilbert has authored two books about the last two wars in Gaza. Both will be available for purchase at the close of the program.
Sunday, October 21, 2018, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Angelika Film Center, Plano, TX, USA
Admission: $45  Register . . .

“RESISTANCE,”  MAJID  ABU  GHOUSH
I plant my poetry
in the streets,
in every quarter
and every alley,
a poem…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my fingers
in the streets,
in every hole,
in every flower pot:
a finger…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my blood
in the streets,
on every sidewalk,
on every roadsign:
a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my dreams
in the streets,
in the heads of passers-by:
an infant dream…resisting the conquerors!
I plant the names of my loved ones
in the streets,
on every tree, on every wall:
the name of a martyr resisting the conquerors!
I plant the colors of the flag
in the streets,
on every house,
and every window and door:
a color…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my children’s luggage
in the streets
at every roadblock,
at every checkpoint:
a suitcase…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my hands
in the streets,
on every corner:
a firm hand resisting the conquerors!

Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine. Abu Ghoush reading one of his own poems.
From: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Middle East Affairs
Special Programs, Commemorating the Intifada’s Tenth Year, April 10, 1998
Prof. Naseer Aruri

“. . . a land that can fit, with wilderness to spare, in the Panhandle of Texas . . .” (Lahab Assef Al-Jundi)

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❶ Abu Rudeineh responding to US ambassador: Occupation is reason for violence
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Amid rising tensions, US troops in Israel for missile defense drill
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) 44 Settlers, 33 US soldiers storm al-Aqsa Mosque plaza

  • Background: “The Gold Standard: U.S.–Israel Military Relations.” American Foreign Policy Interests.

❷ Israeli forces shower Palestinian school with tear gas, sending several students to hospital
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Israeli forces detain father of slain Palestinian teen from Halhul, clash with locals
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) Teen critically injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers north of Jerusalem
❸ PCHR: IOF continue systematic crimes in the oPT
❹ POETRY by Lahab Assef Al-Jundi
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ABU  RUDEINEH  RESPONDING  TO  US  AMBASSADOR:  OCCUPATION  IS  REASON  FOR  VIOLENCE
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Feb. 8, 2018 ― Responding to statements by the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman criticizing the Palestinian Authority, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said on Wednesday that the Israeli occupation and the settlement policy are the main reason for violence in the region.
___Friedman, a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements and settlers who regularly donates money and support for the illegal Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, which are in violation of international law, lashed out at what he said in a tweet as “Palestinian leader” not speaking out against the killing of  settlers in the West Bank.
___“The statements by the US ambassador lead us to wonder about the ambassador’s relationship with the occupation: Does he represent the US or Israel?” wondered Abu Rudeineh.     MORE . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ❶  ―  (ᴀ)  AMID  RISING  TENSIONS,  US  TROOPS  IN  ISRAEL  FOR  MISSILE  DEFENSE  DRILL
The Jerusalem Post
Feb. 4, 2018 ― With tensions high on both the northern and southern fronts, US troops are in Israel and have deployed anti-missile defense systems across the country ahead of the biennial Juniper Cobra military exercise.
___The large-scale, five-day drill will simulate a massive missile attack on Israel from both fronts and will be led by the Israel Air Force, the IDF confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.    MORE . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ❶  ―  (ᴃ)    44  SETTLERS,  33  US  SOLDIERS  STORM  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE  PLAZA
The Palestinian Information Center
Feb. 8, 2018 ―  Some 44 Jewish settlers escorted by 33 American soldiers on Thursday broke into al-Aqsa Mosque’s plazas amid protection by Israeli police.
___Islamic Endowment Department in Jerusalem, said the American soldiers stormed the holy site in civilian uniform with the company of an Israeli officer.  MORE . . .

Holt, Blaine D.
“THE  GOLD  STANDARD:  U.S.–ISRAEL  MILITARY  RELATIONS.”
AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY INTERESTS, vol. 36, no. 2, Mar/Apr2014, pp. 111-118. ‘‘The Gold Standard’’ may well be one of the most cliche´d and overused phrases used to communicate any field’s leading program or effort. However, in considering the military-to-military relationship between the United States and Israel, this trite descriptor may be more than appropriate. . . .
[. . . .] At present, the bilateral relationship in the military sphere is the envy of strategists and planners around the world. Joint and combined exercises, staff colleges and fellowships, interoperability training, and joint research and development are some of the jewels in the crown that suits both countries well. . . .   Today’s relationship boasts robust intelligence cooperation in addition to all the measures that yield two very capable, ready forces that have confidence in their ability to meet the bilateral challenges posed by leaders in Washington and Tel Aviv. And, while U.S.–Israeli bonds at the political level have ebbed and flowed, military-to-military relations have grown steadily, while remaining pragmatic and professional, over the last 50 years.
[. . . .] Irrespective of the level at which U.S. foreign aid settles as the political leadership in both countries engage in dialogue and debate domestically, the relationship between militaries forged over five decades is valuable. A way to safely shepherd this evolving and dynamic military alliance through any political, economic, or diplomatic climate is to deepen the roots of the existing programs while looking at innovative options to form new initiatives. In other words, rather than looking for ways to sustain the status quo, the timing is optimal to move the relationship to the next level . . . version 2.0.     SOURCE . . .  

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  SHOWER  PALESTINIAN  SCHOOL  WITH  TEAR  GAS,  SENDING  SEVERAL  STUDENTS  TO  HOSPITAL 
Ma’an News Agency
Feb. 8, 2018 ― Dozens of Palestinian school students in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron were exposed to high levels of tear gas on Thursday morning as Israeli forces showered their school with tear gas canisters.
___Several students were transferred to the Muhammad Ali al-Muhtaseb Hospital for treatment.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴀ)  ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  FATHER  OF  SLAIN  PALESTINIAN  TEEN  FROM  HALHUL,  CLASH  WITH  LOCALS
Ma’an News Agency
Feb. 8, 2018 ― Clashes erupted in the Hebron-area town of Halhul in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron on Wednesday during an Israeli raid into the town, just shortly after an Israeli security guard had shot and killed Halhul resident Hamzeh Youssif Zamaareh, 19.
[. . . .] After the alleged attack, Israeli forces raided Zamaareh’s family house and detained his father, Youssif.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❷―  (ᴃ)  TEEN  CRITICALLY  INJURED  IN  CLASHES  WITH  ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  NORTH  OF  JERUSALEM
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Feb. 8, 2018 ― Israeli soldiers Wednesday critically injured a 16-year-old Palestinian in Kafr ‘Aqab, north of Jerusalem, said medical sources.
___The Palestinian Red Crescent told WAFA the teen, who remains unidentified until the moment, was hit in the face, chest, and thigh areas during clashes that erupted with Israeli soldiers.     MORE . . .  
❸  PCHR:  IOF  CONTINUE  SYSTEMATIC  CRIMES  IN  THE  OPT
Palestine News Network – PNN
Feb. 7, 2018 ― The Gaza based Palestinian Center for Human Rights in its weekly report during the reporting period of (01 – 07 Feb. 2018) has recorded ongoing systematic crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, which include:

  • Israeli forces continued to use excessive force in the oPt
  • Two Palestinian civilians were killed in peaceful protests that did not pose any threat to the Israeli soldiers’ life.
  • Israeli forces killed Ahmed Jarar in a crime of extra-judicial execution.
  • [. . . .] Israeli forces conducted 74 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 7 into Jerusalem.    MORE . . . 

“HOLY  LANDERS,”  BY  LAHAB  ASSEF  AL-JUNDI
Listen!
You are fighting over a land that can fit,
with wilderness to spare,
in the Panhandle of Texas.

You are building walls to segregate,
splitting wholes till little is left,
killing and dying for pieces of sky
in the same window.

The olive trees are dying
of embarrassment.
They have enough fruits
and pits for all of you.
All they want is for you to stop
uprooting them.
Sending your children to die
in their names.

Listen!
Your land is no holier than my backyard.
None of you is any more chosen
than the homeless veteran panhandling
with a God Bless cardboard sign
at the light of Mecca
and San Pedro.
Draw a borderline around the place.
Call it home for all the living,
all the dead
all the tired exiles with its dust
gummed on their tongues.

There are no heroes left.

Lahab Assef Al-Jundi was born, and grew up, in Damascus, Syria. He attended The University of Texas in Austin, where he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Not long after graduation, he discovered his passion for writing. He published his first poetry collection, “A Long Way”, in 1985. His poetry has appeared in numerous literary publications,

“. . . How will the prison guard Feed his children? . . .” (Rashid Hussein)

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❶ Army Invades a School in Jerusalem, Abduct Principal and Three Teachers

  • Background: “Textbooks as a Vehicle for Segregation and Domination: State Efforts to Shape Palestinian Israelis’ Identities as Citizens.” Journal of Curriculum Studies.

. . . . .  ❶ ― (ᴀ) Israeli Soldiers Abduct At Least Twenty-One Palestinians
❷ Israel holds the bodies of 5 Palestinian Militants killed in the tunnel bombing
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) International humanitarian law forbids holding bodies as bargaining chips, say groups
❸ Cameras to monitor Palestinians installed at Al-Aqsa Mosque
❹ POETRY by Rashid Hussein
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ARMY INVADES A SCHOOL IN JERUSALEM, ABDUCT PRINCIPAL AND THREE TEACHERS
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC    
Nov. 6, 2017 ― Israeli soldiers invaded, Monday, a Palestinian school in Beit Hanina neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem, abducted the principal along with three female teachers, and shut the school down.     ___The Union of Parents Committees in East Jerusalem Schools said many soldiers invaded Zahwat al-Quds School, in Beit Hanina, causing anxiety attacks among many children, and abducted the principal, Mona al-Karawi, and two teachers, before taking the three women to an interrogation center.     ___The school later announced receiving an order issue by the City Council, shutting the school down, and informing the families that they needed to transfer their children to other schools.   MORE . . .   ..

Nasser, Riad and Irene Nasser. “TEXTBOOKS AS A VEHICLE FOR SEGREGATION AND DOMINATION: STATE EFFORTS TO SHAPE PALESTINIAN ISRAELIS’ IDENTITIES AS CITIZENS.”
JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM STUDIES, vol. 40, no. 5, Oct. 2008, pp. 627-650.
. . . Through education, a state’s elite can grant or deny certain individuals or groups membership in a nation, and have the power to produce knowledge that reconstructs their past and collective memory . . . . textbook knowledge, like other forms of knowledge, is not objective or neutral, but a social construction deeply rooted in a nexus of power relations.
[. . . .] the overwhelming majority of textbooks for the Palestinian Israeli system have been published by the Ministry [of Education] itself. The Ministry has employed a ‘chosen’ group of a handful of Palestinian Israeli authors (teachers and superintendents) to write and translate textbooks for all school levels. In most cases, those authors have little freedom to deviate from the strict instructions they receive from the Ministry.
[. . . .]  Arab history in the Arabian Peninsula is portrayed as beginning in 200 BCE, while the textbooks present an elaborate discussion of Jewish history that dates back to 2500 BCE. This sort of sequencing is also evident in portraying the Arab presence in Palestine as beginning with the emergence of Islam in the 7th century CE, whereas Jews are reported to be deeply rooted in the region for a much longer period. . . . The textbooks also describe the land as ‘ruined, abused, and neglected’ when its ‘original owners’ left it, or when others occupied it. In the modern era, Jewish efforts have been to ‘normalize’ their existence by ‘redeeming’ the land . . . .
___The absence of Jews from Canaan makes it a land without history, regardless of the fact that during 2000 years other civilizations arose and declined on that land. The textbooks in both periods refer to Canaan as an ‘empty land’ or as ‘empty-populated.’
[. . . .]  . . . textbooks developed for use by Palestinian Israelis convey messages that privilege the culture and legitimate the political and economic power of the dominant group, while blaming subordinate-group members for their disadvantaged status. To the extent that such messages are perceived in this way, and internalized, unequal inter-group relations are reproduced. To the extent that such messages are either perceived differently, not internalized, and/or rejected, there may be a strengthening of the already existing tensions between the minority and the majority groups in society over the use of national economic and political resources.   SOURCE . . .

. . . . .  ❶ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI SOLDIERS ABDUCT AT LEAST TWENTY-ONE PALESTINIANS    
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC    
Nov. 6, 2017 ― The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers have abducted, earlier Monday, at least twenty-one Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, during extensive and violent searches of homes in the West Bank, and one of them was taken prisoners at the Erez Terminal, in northern Gaza.
___The Bethlehem office of the PPS said the soldiers abducted Moayyad Ghassan Qaisi, 18, Samer Shibli al-Qaisi, 19, from the al-Azza refugee camp, north of the city, in addition to Zeid Taleb al-Badan, 24, from Teqoua’ town, east of Bethlehem, and Abdul-Rahman Shawqi Sheibat, 28, from Beit Sahour city, west of Bethlehem.
___In addition, the soldiers invaded homes in Qalqilia, in northern West Bank, and abducted Amir Emad Nofal.   MORE . . .
❷ ISRAEL HOLDS THE BODIES OF 5 PALESTINIAN MILITANTS KILLED IN THE TUNNEL BOMBING
Palestine News Network
Nov. 6, 2017 ― The Israeli Occupation Forces aid that it is holding the bodies of five Palestinian militants killed last week in the tunnel which Israel blew up in Gaza.
___Last week Israeli Occupation Forces blew up tunnels on the Gaza Strip border near the Kissufim military base and killed 12 militants who were in the tunnel.
___The Israeli military said it would not release the five bodies unless an agreement is made towards releasing the bodies of two Israeli soldiers which have been held by Hamas since 2014, according to Haartez.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW FORBIDS HOLDING BODIES AS BARGAINING CHIPS, SAY GROUPS   
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA    
Nov. 6, 2017 ― Two human rights groups in Haifa and Gaza denounced on Sunday Israeli army holding bodies of five Palestinians retrieved from a tunnel destroyed by the Israeli army last week saying international humanitarian law forbids holding bodies as a bargaining chip.
___The families of the deceased maintain their right to demand the return of the bodies of their sons for burial, they said.     MORE . . .
❸ CAMERAS TO MONITOR PALESTINIANS INSTALLED AT AL-AQSA MOSQUE 
The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
Nov. 6, 2017 ― Israeli police have begun placing new cameras at the Council Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque to monitor Palestinians’ entry and exit, Safa News Agency has reported.
___Director of Al-Aqsa Academy for Science and Heritage Sheikh Najeh Bkeerat said that Israeli police “are placing the cameras to monitor the movement in and out of Al-Aqsa Mosque and to restrict the movement of Jerusalemites, mainly in the Old City”.
___According to Safa, Israeli Interior Minister Gilad Erdan said he was preparing a security plan to prevent “Palestinian attacks” in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.
___The plan includes tightening the security fence in Damascus Gate and the Old City by setting up inspection points similar to military checkpoints.     MORE . . .

“JAIL  AND  CHILDREN,”  BY  RASHID  HUSSEIN
Don’t be sad, Darling!
To put me in prison, as they did, is a very easy thing!
But what can they do about the sun
Shining outside and torturing new rebels?

I should like to be romantic and say to you:
If my being in jail
Did nothing more than bring you to visit me
And cry in my arms ―
Then my arrest was not in vain.

But I’m not feeling romantic right now!
(How can one be romantic with the bedbugs
having such a feast?)
I’m just scratching away, and writing to you,
And asking myself this banal question:
If I and others don’t go to prison,
How will the prison guard
Feed his children?

Darling! I would so like for us
To have a baby!
We spoke of it once,
But I don’t know if
We’ll ever be given the chance.
That is why, for the time being, I give myself
To thoughts about the babies of others
Including my enemies’ babies!
And because they cannot understand this simple feeling
They put me here in prison.   

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.  
Rashid Hussein (1936-1977) was born in Musmus, Palestine. He published his first collection in 1957 and established himself as a major Palestinian poet and orator. He participated in founding the Land Movement in 1959. He left in 1966 and lived in Syria and Lebanon and later in New York City where he died in February, 1977. He was buried a week later in Musmus. His funeral was attended by thousands of Palestinians. 

“. . . The hanged human is an Arab Like me. . .” (Salem Jubran)

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❶ Israeli MKs seek executing Palestinian prisoners

  • Background: “Separate and Unequal: Israel’s Dual Criminal Justice System in the West Bank.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture.

❷ Israeli forces detain 15 more Palestinians for involvement in Al-Aqsa protests
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) 4 minors among 30 Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in overnight raids
❸ Villagers urge action against Israeli orders to demolish 14 homes in Al-Walaja village
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) Israeli army places Yatta village under complete lockdown following attack
❹ POETRY by Salem Jubran
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  MKS  SEEK  EXECUTING  PALESTINIAN  PRISONERS
Days of Palestine
August 3, 2017.   A number of Israeli MKs are planning to present proposal to introduce death penalty against Palestinian prisoners, Israeli TV revealed on Wednesday.
___The proposal aims to amend the Israeli Penal Code and Counterterrorism Law, stating that Palestinians who carry out operations against Israeli occupation forces are the subject of this amendment.
[. . . .] The second amendment stipulates issuing the death penalty against anyone who assists those carrying out operations or organisations working against Israel.
___In addition, two amendments will be made to Article 39 of the Counterterrorism Law, which states that the punishment for an act of mass terrorism, which causes severe bodily harm to a large population, and for an act of terrorism committed using unconventional weapons, even where these acts do not result in death, would be life imprisonment.   MORE . . .

Omer-Man, Emily Schaeffer.
“SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL: ISRAEL’S DUAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THE WEST BANK.”
Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 21, no. 3, Jan. 2016, pp. 16-21.
[. . . .] The Knesset passed a law granting Israeli courts and authorities jurisdiction over any Israeli national accused of committing a crime that violates Israeli law, even if the alleged crime was committed within the OPT. The law was passed as an emergency regulation, but it is periodically renewed and in force to this day. Technically speaking, Israeli military and civilian courts hold concurrent jurisdiction to try Israelis for offenses related to security. The policy for the last four decades, however, has been to refrain from prosecuting Israeli civilians in the military system, despite critiques that doing so constitutes partial annexation of occupied territory. Various attempts by Israeli officials to advocate for the exercise of military court jurisdiction over Israeli settlers have been obstructed by the military or political echelons.
[. . . .] In addition to these structural discrepancies, which have significant bearing on the relative due process protections afforded under each system, the two systems are also distinguished by severe substantive disparities. As such, an Israeli citizen and a Palestinian — both of whom are accused of manslaughter, the Israeli residing in the settlement of Ma’on and the Palestinian in the adjacent village of Al-Tuwani — will be tried before different legal systems. The settler will be processed according to the Israeli Penal Code, which requires he be brought before a judge within 24 hours of arrest, and whose arrest may be extended for a maximum of 30 days. The Palestinian will be processed according to military order, which allows a suspect to be detained for up to four days after arrest before being brought before a judge, followed by 30-day extensions for up to three months. They will be tried before different courts: the Israeli by fellow Israeli judges and prosecutors; the Palestinian by uniformed prosecutors and judges, commissioned by the occupying army. If convicted of manslaughter, the Israeli may be sentenced to up to 20 years’ imprisonment; the Palestinian may be sentenced to up to life imprisonment.
[. . . .] Israel is under strict obligation to protect Palestinians and their property from harm and to uphold their basic due process rights. Instead, it has established and maintained for nearly a half-century a dual criminal system under which the West Bank Palestinian population is unequal under the law, while the settler population is granted virtual carte blanche to carry out acts that directly translate into dispossessing Palestinians of their land, making way for the constant expansion of the settlement enterprise.   FULL ARTICLE . . .

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  15  MORE  PALESTINIANS  FOR  INVOLVEMENT  IN  AL-AQSA  PROTESTS
Ma’an News Agency
Aug. 3, 2017.   Israeli forces detained 15 Palestinians in several neighborhoods of occupied East Jerusalem during overnight raids between Wednesday and Thursday, as Israeli forces continued to crack down on Palestinians in the wake of large-scale protests over Israeli restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque, bringing the number of Palestinians detained this week over Al-Aqsa protests to almost 50.
[. . . .] Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri confirmed the detentions, and said that the Palestinians were detained over “violence and disturbing the order in Jerusalem,” which she said included rock-throwing, and blocking and closing roads — which was done during each Muslim prayer during the protests, as thousands of Palestinian performed prayers on the streets of Jerusalem in an act of mass civil disobedience against Israeli policies.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) 4 MINORS  AMONG  30  PALESTINIANS  DETAINED  BY  ISRAELI  FORCES  IN  OVERNIGHT  RAIDS 
Ma’an News Agency
Aug. 3, 2017.    Israeli forces detained 30 Palestinians, including four minors, across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, during overnight raids between Wednesday and Thursday, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
___Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said in a statement that Israeli forces detained Mousa Bulbul, Mutlaq al-Sadi, and Alaa Abahra from the Jenin district in the northern West Bank. An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that two Palestinians were detained from Jenin city.     Israeli forces also detained . . . .    MORE . . .
❸ VILLAGERS  URGE  ACTION  AGAINST  ISRAELI  ORDERS  TO  DEMOLISH  14  HOMES  IN  AL-WALAJA  VILLAGE
Palestine News Network – PNN   
August 3, 2017.   Last week, Israeli Occupation Authorities handed out demolition threats for 14 Palestinian homes in AL-Walaja village, under the pretext of having no building permit, and refuses to give them any permits at the same time.
___The families, whose homes would be demolished by 9 August, live in an ongoing state of fear and anxiety for their future, especially that they have built these houses themselves and over the years.
___Ahmed al-Atrash said that the Israeli authorities handed over the decision to demolish his house, which he built on top of his parent’s home.  MORE . . .
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  ARMY  PLACES  YATTA  VILLAGE  UNDER  COMPLETE  LOCKDOWN  FOLLOWING  ATTACK    
Ma’an News Agency
Aug. 3, 2017.   Israeli forces implemented a closure on the village of Yatta in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron on Wednesday, and raided the village again early Thursday after a 19-year-old resident allegedly carried out a stabbing attack at a supermarket in the Israeli city of Yavne, leaving an Israeli man seriously injured.
___On Wednesday, a Palestinian teenager, identified as Ismail Ibrahim Abu Aram was detained by Israeli forces after allegedly stabbing a 42-year-old Israeli man at the Shufersal supermarket in Yavne, where the Palestinian teenager and Israeli reportedly worked. On Thursday, Israeli media reported that the injured Israeli was in stable condition after sustaining multiple stab wounds during the attack.  MORE . . .

“A  HANGING  HUMAN  1964,”  BY  SALEM  JUBRAN
One of the toys that appeared on the Israeli market was that of a “hanged Arab.”

A hanging human body
The prettiest of toys
The sweetest recreation for children
Displayed on the market!
No, it is not there anymore
It has been sold out for days
Don’t search for it, tell your child
It’s sold out for days!

Oh, souls of those
Dead in Nazi concentration camps―
The hanged human
Is not a Jew in Berlin.
The hanged human is an Arab
Like me, of my people
Hanged by your brothers―
Forgive me, hanged by the crypto Nazis
In Zion!

Souls of the victims
Of Nazi camps―
If only you knew!
If only you knew!

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 Second Story Books.
About Salem Jubran

“The Temple Mount is under Israeli sovereignty, period . . .” (Avi Dichter, Likud member of Israeli Knessett)

Harold Knight2 Comments

❶ Video: Israel attacks Jerusalem worshippers
❷ Netanyahu orders searching all worshipers entering al- Aqsa
❸ In alleged first, Jewish BDS activists prevented from boarding flight to Israel

  • Background: “No Space for Apartheid: Toward an Academic Boycott of Israel among Geographers.” Geographical Review

❹ POETRY by Al-Raheem Mahmoud (1913-1948)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ VIDEO:  ISRAEL  ATTACKS  JERUSALEM  WORSHIPPERS   
The Electronic Intifada
Maureen Clare Murphy
July 26, 2017.   Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian worshippers at the Lions Gate entrance to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Tuesday night.
___The Palestinian Quds news outlet reported that Israeli forces fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters, wounding dozens, and prevented ambulances from reaching the area.
___Palestinian worshippers had continued to keep vigil outside the mosque compound on Tuesday. The Waqf religious trust that administers the site had called for continuation of a boycott as it evaluated the situation after Israel removed metal detectors the night before.
[. . . . ]  Meanwhile Avi Dichter, a senior Israeli lawmaker from Netanyahu’s Likud party who formerly headed the country’s secret police, told Israeli television that the government had decided “to turn the Temple Mount into a sterile area – with all that this entails,” employing the term Israel uses for the mosque compound.
___“The Temple Mount is under Israeli sovereignty, period,” he said.     MORE . . .
❷ NETANYAHU  ORDERS  SEARCHING  ALL  WORSHIPERS  ENTERING  AL- AQSA
Alray-Palestinian Media Agency
July 26, 2017.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the police to search worshipers entering the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, a day after the removal of the electronic gates and replace it by smart cameras system, which will be completed within six months.
___According to the Walla website, the decision was taken following a telephone call between Netanyahu and Israeli Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan, they agreed to search worshipers entering the Aqsa Mosque individually and through hand-held metal checks, because of  the security sensitivity of the location, according to the Israeli appeals.
___According to a poll made by Hebrew channel 2, 77% of the Israelis believes that the removal of the electronic gate is a retreat by the Israeli government, 17% does not think that it is a retreat, while just 6% has no idea.       MORE . . .
❸ IN  ALLEGED  FIRST,  JEWISH  BDS  ACTIVISTS  PREVENTED  FROM  BOARDING  FLIGHT  TO  ISRAEL  
Ma’an News Agency
July 25, 2017.  The Israeli government and its international supporters continued to crack down on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as five members of an American interfaith delegation to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory were prevented from boarding their flight from Washington D.C. to Tel Aviv on Monday.
___US-based organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) released a report saying five members of the delegation were denied entry to Israel, allegedly due to their activism with the BDS movement, which targets companies that act in compliance with Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
[. . . .] JVP identified the five members that were denied entry on the flight as JVP Deputy Director Rabbi Alissa Wise, Alana Krivo-Kaufman and Noah Habeeb, both members of JVP, Rick Ufford Chase of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, and Shakeel Syed, a national board member with American Muslims for Palestine.     MORE . . .

Ross, Robert B. “NO  SPACE  FOR  APARTHEID:  TOWARD  AN  ACADEMIC  BOYCOTT  OF  ISRAEL  AMONG  GEOGRAPHERS.”
Geographical Review, vol. 106, no. 2, Apr. 2016, pp. 276-282.
[. . . .]  Against this backdrop of inequality, bloodshed, and institutionalized racism, Palestinian civil society has called upon the international community to engage in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions in order to put political and economic pressure on Israel until Palestinians have their full slate of human rights.
[. . . .] Israeli universities have been deeply embedded in the Israeli state’s efforts to attack, invade, ethnically cleanse, and occupy Palestine And as Lisa Taraki writes, “[g]enerally, there have never been any protests by professional and academic associations of physicists, physicians, geographers, mathematicians, political scientists, architects, and others in Israel regarding the moral and professional implications of collaboration with the [Israeli] army.”
___Palestinian academics and intellectuals have therefore called upon the international community to boycott Israeli academic institutions as a key part of the broader BDS movement.
[. . . .] Collaboration and connections between academic institutions and militaries are not, of course, unique to Israel. Many universities in the United States, for example, receive research funding from the Pentagon . . .   The GI Bill enables former American soldiers to attend college free of charge. The prevalence of ties between universities and the military, in America and elsewhere, has led some opponents of the academic boycott of Israel to reply, “why are you not calling for a boycott of American universities? After all, the United States engages in gross human rights abuses too.” The difference is quite simple: the people oppressed by American policies are not calling for an academic boycott of American universities. But Palestinian civil society is calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. To boycott Israeli academic institutions is thus to respond to a call from Palestinian civil society. It is a principled act of solidarity.      SOURCE . . .

(The poem is a salute to Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abd al’Aziz when he visited the poet’s town, ‘Anabta, on August 14, 1935.)

“THE  AQSA  MOSQUE,”  BY  ‘ABD  AL-RAHEEM  MAHMOUD  (1913-1948)
Honorable Prince! Before you stands a poet
whose heart harbors bitter complaint.
Have you come to visit the Aqsa mosque
or to bid it farewell before its loss?
This land, this holy land, is being sold to all intruders
and stabbed by its own people!
And tomorrow looms over us, nearer and nearer!
Nothing shall remain for us but our streaming tears,
our deep regrets.

Oh, Prince, shout, shout! Your voice
might shake people awake!
Ask the guards of the Aqsa: are they all agreed to struggle
as one body and mind?
Ask the guards of the Aqsa: can a covenant with God
be offered to someone, then lost?
Forgive the complaint, but a grieving heart needs to complain
to the Prince, even if it makes him weep.
(This poem gained great fame later on because of its prophetic words about the imminent loss of Palestine.)

About ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud
ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.

 

“. . . thieves have not broken down the door of my life . . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

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  • “In terms of what it aimed to achieve, the [Oslo] Agreement is geared at transforming Palestinian factions into amiable partners in negotiations, concerned with the governing and policing of the Palestinian territories  . . .  while posing a minimal military/security threat to the Jewish state” (Somdeep Sen).

❶ Abbas suspends all contacts with Israel over Al-Aqsa Mosque

  • Background: “It’s Nakba, Not a Party”: Re-Stating the (Continued) Legacy of the Oslo Accords.” Arab Studies Quarterly.

❷ 3 Palestinians killed in Al-Aqsa clashes in Jerusalem, West Bank
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Scores of Palestinians wounded in Jerusalem in protest against Israeli measures at Al-Aqsa
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) Israeli forces violently suppress Al-Aqsa protests in West Bank, Gaza
❸ UN chief deplores Israeli killing of Palestinians in Jerusalem
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) Syndicate, ministry protest Israeli treatment of Palestinian journalist in the field
❹ POETRY by Mourid Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ABBAS  SUSPENDS  ALL  CONTACTS  WITH  ISRAEL  OVER  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE
Palestine News Network – PNN 
July 22, 2017.   President Mahmoud Abbas said last night that he has decided to suspend all contacts with Israel until the latter cancels all measures it has implemented against Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
___According WAFA official news agency Abbas, who cut short a trip to China and returned home following the deterioration in the situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque, headed an urgent joint meeting for the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah Central Committee to discuss strategy in confronting the Israeli measures.
[. . . .] “In the name of the Palestinian leadership, I declare the suspension of all contacts with the occupying country on all levels until Israel revokes all its measures against our Palestinian people and Jerusalem, particularly at Al-Aqsa Mosque, and preserve the historic status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Abbas said at the end of the leadership meeting held in Ramallah.   MORE . . .

Sen, Somdeep.
“IT’S  NAKBA,  NOT  A  PARTY”:  RE-STATING  THE  (CONTINUED)  LEGACY  OF  THE  OSLO  ACCORDS.”
Arab Studies Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 2, Spring2015, pp. 162-176.
[. . . .] . . . the least discussed effect of Oslo is in fact rooted not in what it failed to do but in what it aimed to achieve. . .  the Accords created a realm of “official politics” that incentivizes a certain brand of Palestinian liberation factions (that are unarmed and recognize Israel) . . .  it continually influences and affects the brand of Palestinian political organizations that are able to operate, uninhibited, within the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). On the basis of these legacies, one could then assert that the Oslo Accords features prominently in the Palestinian political  consciousness today not only through its failures but also the continued influence it has on the manner in which Palestinian politics can be conducted.
[. . . .] The most tangible manifestation of this aspect of the Accords is evident in its creation of a realm of official Palestinian politics. At the very outset, entrance into this realm is limited to Palestinian organizations that have publicly renounced an armed struggle and recognized Israel. Subsequently, the faction would be deemed a “legitimate” representative of the Palestinian populace and granted a permanent seat in negotiations with Israel and Western stakeholders. Once a Palestinian faction abides by this pre-condition, it is given the responsibility of governing the Palestinian territories and would subsequently have access to the financial resources earmarked for the PA. As the PA is responsible for key sectors such as education, culture, health, social welfare, direct taxation, and tourism, the resultant expectation would be that the recognized Palestinian faction, through its entrance into official politics, would be socialized into the reasoning of the state and out of the logic of resistance. Finally, in keeping with the “statist logic” of Oslo-mandated official politics . . .  the recognized Palestinian faction would also be responsible for ensuring the primacy of the mandate of the state-like PA (evocative of the logic of “official politics”) through the Palestinian internal security forces.
[. . . .] In terms of what it aimed to achieve, the Interim Agreement is geared at transforming Palestinian factions into amiable partners in negotiations, concerned with the governing and policing of the Palestinian territories (than militarily engaging with Israel), while posing a minimal military/security to the Jewish state. Then, in addition to its failures, the agreement today can be characterized as an institutional embodiment and framework geared at changing the foundational characteristics and subjective identity of Palestinian liberation factions. (Somdeep Sen is a postdoctoral researcher at Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. His current research focuses on spatial politics in Palestine.)    SOURCE . . .

❷ 3  PALESTINIANS  KILLED  IN  AL-AQSA  CLASHES  IN  JERUSALEM,  WEST  BANK    
Ma’an News Agency  
July 21, 2017.  Three Palestinians were reportedly shot and killed during clashes in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Friday, amid large-scale clashes across the occupied Palestinian territory over new Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.  The deaths comes amid a large-scale demonstration across East Jerusalem on Friday to denounce new Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following a deadly attack last week.     MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) SCORES  OF  PALESTINIANS  WOUNDED  IN  JERUSALEM  IN  PROTEST  AGAINST  ISRAELI  MEASURES  AT  AL-AQSA
Ma’an News Agency
July 21, 2017.   Tensions were running high in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday as thousands of Palestinians were marching towards the Old City to denounce increased Israeli security measures in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Israeli authorities decided to maintain early on Friday, despite recommendations from Israel’s own security agencies.
___A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson told Ma’an that at least 72 Palestinians had been injured in East Jerusalem, and at least 390 had been injured in East Jerusalem and the West Bank in total.     MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) ISRAELI  FORCES  VIOLENTLY  SUPPRESS  AL-AQSA  PROTESTS  IN  WEST  BANK,  GAZA    
Ma’an News Agency
July 21, 2017.   Israeli forces violently suppressed demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Friday, injuring scores who had gathered in solidarity with a massive protest in occupied East Jerusalem to denounce increasing Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa compound.
___Palestinian demonstrators performed prayers outdoors across the occupied Palestinian territory in solidarity with Al-Aqsa, to denounce the installation of metal detectors, turnstiles, and additional security cameras in the compound after a deadly shooting attack took place there on July 14.     MORE . . .
❸ UN  CHIEF  DEPLORES  ISRAELI  KILLING  OF  PALESTINIANS  IN  JERUSALEM
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
July 22, 2017.   United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “deeply deplores” Israeli police killing of three young Palestinians in clashes that raged in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday calling for these incidents to be fully investigated, according to a statement by Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the Secretary-General.
___“His (Guterres) thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims,” said the deputy spokesman.    MORE . . .
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) SYNDICATE,  MINISTRY  PROTEST  ISRAELI  TREATMENT  OF  PALESTINIAN  JOURNALIST  IN  THE  FIELD 
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
July 22, 2017.   The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) and the Ministry of Information denounced in two separate press releases on Saturday treatment by the Israeli security forces of Palestinian journalists doing their work in the field.
___The two organizations accused Israeli security of intentionally targeting Palestinian journalist, some of whom were hit by rubber bullets or tear gas canisters.
___They said WAFA photographers Afif Amira was shot by a rubber bullet in the chest while covering the Jerusalem clashes and Mashhour Wahwah was hit by a concussion bomb in his foot while covering the clashes in Hebron.
___Maan news agency reporter Mirna Atrash was intentionally hit by a stun grenade in the face during her coverage of the clashes at Bethlehem’s northern outskirts.    MORE . . .

“NORMAL  JOURNEY,”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI
I have not seen any horrors,
I have not seen a dragon in the land,
I have not seen the Kraken* in the sea,
nor a witch or a policeman
at the outset of my day.
Pirates have not overtaken mu desires,
thieves have not broken down the door of my life,
my absence has not been long,
it only took me one lifetime.

How come you saw scars
on my face, sorrow in my eyes,
and bruises in my bones and in my heart?
These are only illusions.
I have not seen any horrors,
everything was extremely normal.
Don’t worry,
your son is still in his grave, murdered,
and he’s fine.

About Mourid Barghouti.
From Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT AND OTHER POEMS. Trans. Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2008. Available from Barnes and Noble.

*a legendary sea monster of large proportions

 

“. . . My roots have gripped this soil since time began . . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
  • Umm_al-Fahm_2014
    Umm al-Fahm (Photo: Wikipedia, 2014)

    Umm al-Fahm is located 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In 2015 its population was 52,500, nearly all of whom are Arab citizens of Israel. “The people of Um Al-Fahm are proud of their long history of resistance and rejection of colonialism and occupation, during which the city continued to breed revolutionaries in defense of Palestine” (Palestinian Information Center). Umm al-Fahm was the home of the three Palestinians killed in the attack on/by Israeli police in Jerusalem on July 14, 2017.

❶ Thousands of Palestinians march towards Al-Aqsa to denounce Israeli measures

  • Background: “Resisting ‘Israelization’: The Islamic Movement in Israel and the Realization of Islamization, Palestinization and Arabization.” Journal of Islamic Studies

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Israeli forces violently suppress Al-Aqsa protests in West Bank, Gaza
❷ President asks US to intervene over Al-Aqsa Mosque tensions
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Israeli forces detain 10 Palestinians, including Fatah officials from Jerusalem
❸ Opinion/Analysis: Um Al-Fahm: Always in defense of Al-Aqsa, Palestine
❹ POETRY by Mahmoud Darwish
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ THOUSANDS  OF  PALESTINIANS  MARCH  TOWARDS  AL-AQSA  TO  DENOUNCE  ISRAELI  MEASURES     
Ma’an News Agency
July 21, 2017.  Tensions were running high in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday as thousands of Palestinians were marching towards the Old City to denounce increased Israeli security measures in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Israeli authorities decided to maintain early on Friday, despite recommendations from Israel’s own security agencies.
___The Waqf, the Islamic endowment administering Al-Aqsa, called earlier this week on all mosques in Jerusalem to be closed on Friday and for all Muslim worshipers in the city to head towards Al-Aqsa to denounce the installation of metal detectors, turnstiles, and additional security cameras in the compound after a shooting attack on July 14 left the assailants, three Palestinian citizens of Israel, and two Israeli border police officers killed.   MORE . . .

ROSMER, TILDE. “RESISTING  ‘ISRAELIZATION’:  THE  ISLAMIC  MOVEMENT  IN  ISRAEL  AND  THE  REALIZATION  OF  ISLAMIZATION,  PALESTINIZATION  AND  ARABIZATION.”
JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC STUDIES, vol. 23, no. 3, Sept. 2012, pp. 325-358.
Since the 1970s the Islamic Movement in Israel has sought to (re)create and promote an Arab Palestinian Muslim identity among its constituency of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Through educational and religious institutions the Movement aims to teach Palestinians in Israel about Islam and ancient and modern Palestinian history, as well as their current predicament as indigenous non-Jewish citizens of the Jewish state; and to improve their level of Arabic. These aims are vocalized in many of the religious and political speeches by the Movement’s leaders; reiterated in the content of the material distributed by the pupil and student organizations; and demonstrably present in the Movement’s social and political activities around the country.
___Established by shaykhs educated in religious institutions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Islamic Movement in Israel grew from a movement of grass-roots activism into a player on the local political field during the mid-1980s
. . .  [the movement bases] their activism on the inter-related agendas of Islamization, Palestinization and Arabization, which are formed and disseminated via the Movement’s state-wide network of mosques, educational and social institutions and organizations.
[. . . .] In order to educate new local religious leaders the Movement now runs an Islamic College in Umm al-Fahm and it also sends students abroad, mainly to Jordan.
[. . . .] According to Dumper and Larkin, it is widely believed among the Muslim Palestinian community in Israel that al-Aqsa is under threat from settler groups, right-wing Israeli politicians, and aggressive military forces. The settler groups are understood to be the main propagators behind the controversial archaeological excavations near and/or under the site. This fear is the motivational force behind the organization of an annual event called ‘al-Aqsa is in danger’ hosted by the Northern branch in Umm al-Fahm. The festival attracts tens of thousands of Muslims from all over the country. At this festival the leaders of the Movement give emotional speeches about liberating al-Aqsa, which are loaded with religious content and strong statements. For example, Khatib has stated at the festival that, ‘ . . . the sweep of the sword will start a fire that will burn the enemies of al-Aqsa.’    SOURCE . . .

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  FORCES  VIOLENTLY  SUPPRESS  AL-AQSA  PROTESTS  IN  WEST  BANK,  GAZA   
Ma’an News Agency
July 21, 2017.   Israeli forces violently suppressed demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza on Friday, injuring scores who had gathered in solidarity with a massive protest in occupied East Jerusalem to denounce increasing Israeli security measures at the Al-Aqsa compound.
[. . . .] The witness said that some 300 demonstrators had gathered in front of an Israeli military base set behind Israel’s illegal separation wall in northern Bethlehem to pray, with a dozen of protesters chanting slogans.
___As the majority of demonstrators began walking away from the separation wall, Israeli forces began spraying skunk water — a strong, foul smelling liquid — towards the crowd, and shot tear gas.   MORE . . .
❷ PRESIDENT  ASKS  U.S.  TO  INTERVENE  OVER  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE  TENSIONS  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
July 21, 2017.  President Mahmoud Abbas Friday asked the US administration to intervene to compel Israel to back down from its measures in East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
___Abbas discussed the spiraling tensions in East Jerusalem in a phone call with US President Donald Trump’s top advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
___He asked the US administration to immediately intervene in order to compel Israel to back down from its recent measures in East Jerusalem and the mosque compound.  MORE . . .
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  10  PALESTINIANS,  INCLUDING  FATAH  OFFICIALS  FROM  JERUSALEM 
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA  
July 21, 2017.   Israeli forces Friday detained at least 10 Palestinians, including Fatah officials and activists, during multiple raids across East Jerusalem.
___Israeli police detained former Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and member of Fatah Revolutionary Council after storming his home in the city.
___Police also detained Fatah movement’s Jerusalem Secretary-General Adnan Ghaith and his brother, Hani, after storming their homes in Silwan.   MORE . . .
RELATED: Father Musleh [Spokesman of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]: “What is happening at Aqsa premeditated plan.”
❸ OPINION/ANALYSIS:  UM  AL-FAHM:  ALWAYS  IN  DEFENSE  OF  AL-AQSA,  PALESTINE  
The Palestinian Information Center   
July 18, 2017.   At the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, three Palestinians from Um Al-Fahm city carried out a shooting attack on Friday morning, July 14, killing two Israeli occupation officers, before they were killed at the hands of Israeli policemen. This shooting was only the latest manifestation of a revolutionary spirit of an Arab-Muslim thought in the hearts of the people of this [Um Al-Fahm], located in the heart of the northern 1948 occupied Palestine, which for nine decades had shown outstanding courage in defense of Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
[. . . .] [At the time of the Nakba] Um Al-Fahm was the largest city in Palestine, with an area of 150,000 dunums, of which only 22,000 dunums remain today. An estimated number of 52,000 Palestinians live there today. The city has the second largest Palestinian population in the 1948 Occupied Territories after Nazareth.
[. . . .] Following its occupation by Israel, the city remained a hotbed of constant tension that disturbed the occupation and its security apparatuses, because of the strong national spirit and its people’s refusal of subjugation to the occupiers. [. . . .]   MORE . . .

[Note: Mahmoud Darwish wrote this poem in 1964 when he was 22 years old. He was imprisoned for it―his first imprisonment. The poem became rallying words for the Palestinians. Note, it was written before the 1967 War and before the First and Second Intifadas and remains germane in today’s Palestine.]

“IDENTITY  CARD,”  BY MAHMOUD  DARWISH  (1964)
Write down:
I am an Arab
my I.D. number, 50,000
my children, eight
and the ninth due next summer
―Does that anger you?

Write down:
Arab.
I work with my struggling friends in a quarry
and my children are eight.
I chip a loaf of bread for them,
clothes and notebooks
from the rocks.
I will not beg for a handout at your
door nor humble myself
on your threshold
―Does that anger you?

Write down:
Arab,
a name with no friendly diminutive.
A patient man, in a country
brimming with anger.
My roots have gripped this soil
since time began,
before the opening of ages
before the cypress and the olive,
before the grasses flourished.
My father came from a line of plowmen,
and my grandfather was a peasant
who taught me about the sun’s glory
before teaching me to read.
My home is a watchman’s shack
made of reeds and sticks―
Does my condition anger you?

There is no gentle name,
write down:
Arab.
The colour of my hair, jet black―
eyes, brown―
trademarks, a headband over a keffiyeh
and a hand whose touch grates
rough as a rock.
My address is a weaponless village
with nameless streets.
All its men are in the field and quarry
―Does that anger you?

Write down:
Arab.
You have stolen my ancestors’ vineyards
and the land I once ploughed
with my children
leaving my grandchildren nothing but rocks.
Will your government take those too,
as the rumour goes?

Write down, then
at the top of Page One:
I do not hate
and do not steal
but starve me, and I will eat
my assailant’s flesh.
Beware of my hunger
and of my anger.

About Mahmoud Darwish
From WHEN  THE  WORDS  BURN:  AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  ARABIC  POETRY:  1945-1987.  Translated and edited by John Mikhail Asfour. Dunvegan, Ontario, Canada. Cormorant Books, 1988.

“. . . For the tragedy I live Is but my share in your larger tragedy . . .” (Tawfiq Zayyad)

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❶ Israeli bill aimed at preventing Jerusalem’s division passes reading in Knesset

  • Background: “A National or Religious Conflict? The Dispute over the Temple Mount/Al-Haram Al-Sharif in Jerusalem.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) PM Hamdallah to European diplomats: Stop Israel now
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) President Abbas discusses Israeli measures with Turkish counterpart
❷ Israeli soldiers shoot, kill Palestinian after alleged stabbing attempt, sparking clashes
❸ POETRY by Tawfiq Zayyad
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  BILL  AIMED  AT  PREVENTING  JERUSALEM’S  DIVISION  PASSES  READING  IN  KNESSET
Ma’an News Agency 
July 19, 2017.   A bill aimed at preventing any future divisions of Jerusalem, by requiring a two-third majority in Israel’s parliament in order to do so, passed its preliminary reading in the Knesset on Wednesday.
___The bill, titled “Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel,” passed with 58 Members of Knesset (MKs) voting in favor, 48 voting against it, and one MK abstaining from the vote, according to a statement released by the Knesset.
___The bill aims to mend Israel’s Basic Law on Jerusalem to necessitate the approval of 80 of the 120 Knesset members to make any changes to the law, instead of the regular majority vote.
___According to the statement, the proposal explains that the bill has a “security purpose.”
___“Since the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon [in 2000] and the disengagement from the Gaza Strip [in 2005] proved that wherever Israel withdraws from, terrorist factors enter, threatening the security of citizens of Israel,” the bill reportedly states, insinuating that if Israel withdrew from occupied East Jerusalem, it would be taken over by “terrorist” factions.   MORE . . .   

Ma’oz, Moshe. “A  NATIONAL  OR  RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT?  THE  DISPUTE  OVER  THE  TEMPLE  MOUNT/AL-HARAM  AL-SHARIF  IN  JERUSALEM.”
Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 20/21, no. 4/1, Dec. 2015, pp. 25-32.
Arabs and Jews, the children of Abraham, are becoming increasingly engaged in a religious war. The major focus of this conflict is the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif and East Jerusalem/al-Quds Al-Sharif. Amalgamated with nationalist and political components of the Arab-Israeli dispute, this religious war also derives from two opposed processes: growing Islamic Judeophobia in the Arab and Muslim world, on one hand; and accelerated Jewish Islamophobia in Israel and the Diaspora, on the other.
[. . . .] Moderate Israeli and Palestinian personalities — religious and secular — have been warning for years that the Jewish-Muslim conflict over the Temple Mount could trigger a worldwide religious war.
[. . . .] Despite these warnings, top Israeli and Palestinian leaders continue to perpetuate this phenomenon to score political gains. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, must politically ride his people’s anger and frustration regarding alleged Jewish intentions to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other right-wing Israeli leaders continue to use the Jewish sanctity of the Temple Mount to gamer public support.
___Netanyahu has also done very little to change the desire of Jewish citizens to rebuild the third Temple (approx. 40%), control and pray on the Temple Mount (approx. 65%), and keep a united Jerusalem under eternal Israeli sovereignty (80%). In fact, on Jerusalem Day, May 2014, Netanyahu proclaimed that “Jerusalem was unified 47 years ago. It will never be redivided: We will never divide our heart — the heart of the Nation. Jerusalem is also Mount Zion and Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount), the Western Wall — Israel’s eternal.” [. . . .]  SOURCE . . .

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) PM  HAMDALLAH  TO  EUROPEAN  DIPLOMATS:  STOP  ISRAEL  NOW
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA      
July 20, 2017.   Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah Thursday urged the European Union to take immediate action to pressure Israel to stop its violations against Palestinian rights and holy places.
___Hamdallah discussed during a meeting at  his Ramallah office with EU diplomats the recent developments in Jerusalem, particularly Israel’s measures at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the heightened settlement activities in and around Jerusalem.
___He warned of deterioration in the security situation if Israel persists in efforts to change the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) PRESIDENT  ABBAS  DISCUSSES  ISRAELI  MEASURES  WITH  TURKISH  COUNTERPART    
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA      
July 20, 2017.   President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday discussed over phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the recent Israeli measures around flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
___Abbas and Erdoğan reportedly discussed the Israeli installation of metal detectors at the gates leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque, assaults against Muslim worshippers and the attempt to change the long-standing status quo at the mosque.
___Abbas called upon Erdoğan to help de-escalate tensions through asking the US administration to oblige Israel to retract its serious measures and also through his contacts with Israel.   MORE . . . 
❷ ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  SHOOT,  KILL  PALESTINIAN  AFTER  ALLEGED  STABBING  ATTEMPT,  SPARKING  CLASHES
Ma’an News Agency
July 20, 2017.  Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the southern occupied West Bank village of Tuqu on Thursday afternoon, sparking clashes in which at least one Palestinian was injured.
___An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at an Israeli military checkpoint near Tuqu, adding that “responding to the immediate threat,” soldiers shot and killed the man. They added that no Israelis were injured in the case.
___A Ma’an reporter present at the scene said that Israeli soldiers fired four shots towards the Palestinian near Tuqu’s school, while eyewitnesses said that an Israeli military vehicle then run over the man.   MORE . . .

“I  CLASP  YOUR  HANDS,” BY  TAWFIQ  ZAYYAD
I call upon you
And clasp your hands.
I kiss the dust under your shoe
And say: I’ll lay down my life for you,
Grant you the gift of eyesight in my eyes.
The warm love in my heart I give to you,
For the tragedy I live
Is but my share in your larger tragedy.

I call upon you
And clasp your hands.
I never stooped in my country
Nor will I ever be humbled.
Orphaned, naked and barefoot
I confronted my oppressors,
Carrying my blood in my palms.
I have never lowered my flags,
And have always tended the grass over my ancestors’ graves.
I call upon you, and clasp your hands!

From THE PALSESTINIAN 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.
Tawfik Zayyad (Tawfiq Ziad) was a Palestinian poet, writer, scholar and politician. He was born in Nazareth in 1929 and died on July 5, 1994, in a dreadful car crash while on his way to meet Yasser Arafat in Jericho after the Oslo agreements. He participated in Palestinian political life in occupied Palestine, was elected mayor of Nazareth, and served as a member of the Israeli Knesset.     (More. . .)