Tag: Benjamin Netanyahu

“. . . Her name is and always Palestine . . .” (Bisan Abu Khaled)

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Selected News of the Day

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK concerned over Israel’s possible annexation of occupied lands

WAFA
September 13, 2019
In a joint statement today, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom said they were deeply concerned about Israel’s announcement of possible annexation of areas in the West Bank, particularly the Jordan Valley and the northern portion of the Dead Sea.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ “This would, if implemented, constitute a serious breach of international law. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom will continue to call on all parties to refrain from contravention of international law,” the statement said.  More . . . .

Pakistan rejects Israel’s plan to annex parts of West Bank

WAFA
September 13, 2019
Pakistan has rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he will immediately annex the Jordan Valley region in the occupied West Bank if he was re-elected next week.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ “We reject any such move, which would be illegal and a dangerous escalation,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal was quoted as saying by Anadolu Agency.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ “While reaffirming our solidarity with the Palestinians, Pakistan reiterates its support for a viable, independent and contiguous State of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” he added.  More . . . .

Netanyahu, Putin to Meet as Russia Condemns Annexation Pledge (VIDEO)

Palestine Chronicle
September 12, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian coastal city of Sochi for talks on Thursday after Moscow condemned the Israeli leader’s pledge to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Russia’s foreign ministry warned on Wednesday it was concerned over the Israeli leader’s plan, saying its implementation could lead to a “sharp escalation of tensions in the region [and] undermine hopes for the establishment of long-awaited peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors”. More . . . .

Palestinians in Jordan Valley: ‘Our lands are already annexed’

Aljazeera
Arwa Ibrahim
September 12, 2019
In between sprawling arid lands of the Jordan Valley, which stretches north of the Dead Sea and west of the occupied West Bank’s borders with Jordan, lies the small Palestinian village of Ras Ain al-Auja.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ If Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes through with his plan, announced on Tuesday, to annex the Jordan Valley and areas north of the Dead Sea, the village of about 350 residents and its fertile farmlands would become part of Israel.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Observers have dismissed Netanyahu’s plan as a campaign stunt ahead of next week’s general election. But the residents of Ras Ain al-Auja say Netanyahu’s words are threatening as his plan would formalise Israeli control over the area.  More . . . .

Commentary

Palestinian Refugee Students Must Not be Incidental to Humanitarian Endeavors

Palestine Chronicle
Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor
September 11, 2019
Despite financial setbacks caused by political agendas and misconduct allegations, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) ensured that its schools opened on time for the new academic year. Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl described education as central to UNRWA’s mandate, yet the agency is not past attaching importance to symbolism and, despite its work, normalize the violence inherent in Israel’s settler-colonial project.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ The opening of the new school year in Silwan, for example, publicized due to renovation works carried out during the summer recess, was lauded by Krähenbühl. “This return to school is also a symbol of preserving normalcy and a safe learning environment,” he remarked.  More . . . .

Poem of the Day

“WHAT PUSHKIN’S POEMS NEVER SAID,”  BY  BISAN ABU KHALED

Something that will startle Lenin ―
oh, love, confront your destiny ― don’t kill yourself.
Time will not slow down for lovers to tarry
after the first kiss
and the last time they met.

Passing minutes would slit the throats of the women
had they not already drowned themselves in nostalgia.

Shall no one bear witness or know
that the maps of our planet have lied
about the face of our star
which always used to show her name.

Her name is and always Palestine
My song. . . .
my homeland . . . .
my face full of sorrow.
― Translated by Magi Gibson

From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY. Ed. by Henry Bell and Sarah Irving. (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Barnes & Noble.
About the book, with short discussion of Bisan Abu Khaled

“. . . the whole concept of ‘law enforcement’ is highly problematic and misleading when the agents of enforcement are themselves illegitimate . . .” (Michael Dumper)

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❶ Palestinian youths detained for throwing rocks, paint cans at Israeli settlers
. . . ❶― (ᴀ) Israeli forces detain Palestinian at Bethlehem-area checkpoint
. . . ❶― (ᴃ) Israeli forces injure 4 Palestinians, 1 critically, in clashes south of Nablus
. . . ❶― (ᴄ) IOA slaps visit ban on Palestinian detainee

  • Background from journal International Affairs

❷ PCHR Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the oPt (01– 07 September 2016)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PALESTINIAN  YOUTHS  DETAINED  FOR  THROWING  ROCKS,  PAINT  CANS  AT  ISRAELI  SETTLERS
Ma’an News Agency
Sept. 13, 2016
Israeli forces detained three Palestinian youths overnight for allegedly throwing rocks and paint cans at an Israeli settler’s bus that was passing by the al-Arrub refugee camp in northern Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank, while two other rock-throwing incidents were reported in Bethlehem-area villages.    MORE . . .  
. . . ❶― (ᴀ)  ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  PALESTINIAN  AT  BETHLEHEM-AREA  CHECKPOINT
Ma’an News Agency
Sept. 13, 2016
Israeli forces detained a Palestinian man late Monday at the Container checkpoint in northeastern Bethlehem.
____Palestinian security sources told Palestinian state-run Wafa news agency that Israeli forces detained Rafat Nael Shafiq, 28, a resident of the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank, after they stopped the vehicle he was riding and took him to an unknown location.     MORE . . .   
. . . ❶― (ᴃ)  ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  4  PALESTINIANS,  1  CRITICALLY,  IN  CLASHES  SOUTH  OF  NABLUS
Ma’an News Agency
Sept. 12, 2016
Four Palestinians were injured Monday evening during clashes with Israeli forces in the village of Qusra south of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, local sources said.
____Ghassan Doughlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern occupied West Bank, told Ma’an that after Israeli forces stormed the town sparking clashes with locals, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades, and live ammunition at demonstrators.      MORE . . . 
. . . ❶― (ᴄ)  IOA  SLAPS  VISIT  BAN  ON  PALESTINIAN  DETAINEE
The Palestinian Information Center
Sept. 13, 2016
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) denied prisoner Murad Izzedine Fatash the right to family visits in Israeli custody. Family sources said the lawyer saw Fatash in the court hall but was prevented from talking to him. Fatash was kidnapped by the occupation soldiers at the Zaatara checkpoint in southern Nablus on August 28.   MORE . . . 

❷ PCHR  WEEKLY  REPORT  ON  ISRAELI  HUMAN  RIGHTS  VIOLATIONS  IN  THE  OPT  (01– 07  SEPTEMBER  2016)
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Sept. 11, 2016
Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (01 – 07 September 2016).
Shooting:
Israeli forces have continued to commit crimes, inflicting civilian casualties. They have also continued to use excessive force against Palestinian civilians participating in peaceful protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the majority of whom were youngsters. . .
[Arrests and] Incursions:
During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 78 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 8 ones in occupied East Jerusalem and its suburbs. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 60 Palestinian civilians, including 9 children. Seventeen of them, including 5 children, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem. . .
Creating Jewish Majority in Occupied East Jerusalem [. . . .]
Settlement activities [. . . .]
Restrictions on movement [ . . . .]         MORE . . .   

  • DUMPER, MICHAEL. “Policing Divided Cities: Stabilization And Law Enforcement In Palestinian East Jerusalem.” International Affairs 89.5 (2013): 1247-1264.   SOURCE. 

Despite [many] attempts to control and divide the Palestinian community over 46 years of Israeli rule, and despite their being poorly served by a divided and ineffective political leadership, Palestinian residents . . . have refused to accept the sequestration of their land and property by Israeli bodies, and continue to demand Jerusalem as their putative national capital . . . . policing in Jerusalem, East and West, faces three major challenges. In the first place, this city is the capital of Israel and the location of almost all the key institutions of the state. (Footnote: It should also be noted that not one country has its embassy located in Jerusalem—a sign of international non-recognition of the city as the Israeli capital.) Second, as a religious centre for Muslims, Christians and Jews . . . it attracts the attention of radical fundamentalist groups across the religious spectrum who seek to displace . . .  rival claimants . . . . Third, Jerusalem is a ‘world city’ in that its role in the Arab–Israeli conflict and regional politics makes it a centre for international diplomatic and media activity.
[. . . .]
Israeli policing priorities and objectives in East Jerusalem are directed primarily towards the maintenance of public order rather than law enforcement. To some extent this approach flows from a continued perception of Palestinians as a threat to the Israeli state and to Israeli control over both parts of the city.
[. . . .]
. . .  this approach to policing has been a concentration on constraining dissent and opposition. In the absence of political representation in either the Israeli Municipality or other Israeli institutions that operate in East Jerusalem, Palestinian residents and their supporters are obliged to resort to protests, demonstrations and violent attacks to voice their opposition to Israeli policies. The Israeli authorities’ concern to prevent these activities has led to a blanket suppression of all forms of protest, whether they are political or concern more specific localized grievances, and the employment of militarized forms of policing.
[. . . .]
Indeed, the whole concept of ‘law enforcement’ is highly problematic and misleading when the agents of enforcement are themselves illegitimate in the eyes of both the international community and over one-third of the residents of the city. Unless a political framework is put in place which can build cross-cutting support for a legal system which is designed to protect both political communities in Jerusalem, the security regime in the city will remain one which is an instrument of one community, imposed by force and highly militarized.
[. . . .]

“. . . the bed of her elder son, made for the final time and empty. . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

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HEBRON: Israeli settler Itamar Ben Gvir (right), dressed as a Palestinian prisoner, marches in a parade celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim on Shuhada Street, heavily guarded by Israeli police and military forces, Hebron, West Bank, February 24, 2013. (Photo: ActiveStills, file)
HEBRON: Israeli settler Itamar Ben Gvir (right), dressed as a Palestinian prisoner, marches in a parade celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim on Shuhada Street, heavily guarded by Israeli police and military forces, Hebron, West Bank, February 24, 2013. (Photo: ActiveStills, file)

❶ Israeli Forces Shoot Dead Two Palestinians in Hebron
❷ Israeli forces level large swathe of land, demolish shack near Hebron
❸ Israelis converge on West Bank [Hebron] holy sites in ‘provocative’ visits
❹ On World Water Day, Palestinians in West Bank refugee camps struggle with scarce resource
❺ Opinion/Analysis: DABKA,  NOT  TANGO:  THE  PALESTINIAN  ISSUE  IS  ON  HOLD
❻ Poetry by Mourid Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  FORCES  SHOOT  DEAD  TWO  PALESTINIANS  IN  HEBRON
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
24 Mar. 2016
Israeli forces Thursday morning shot dead two Palestinians in Tal Rumeida neighborhood in the center of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, said the Health Ministry. . . .
___Israeli media reported that the two men were killed after they allegedly stabbed and wounded a soldier at a checkpoint by the neighborhood.      MORE . . . 

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  LEVEL  LARGE  SWATHE  OF  LAND,  DEMOLISH  SHACK  NEAR  HEBRON
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
March 23, 2016
Israeli forces on Tuesday leveled 40 dunams (9.88 acres) of land west of Hebron and demolished a tin shack in the Masafer Yatta area in the southern occupied West Bank, locals said.
___Village spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Tumazi told Ma’an that Israeli troops leveled the lands in the Suba area of the village of Idhna in order to illegaly annex it to a nearby Israeli settlement.      MORE . . .  

❸ ISRAELIS  CONVERGE  ON  WEST  BANK  [HEBRON]  HOLY  SITES  IN  ‘PROVOCATIVE’  VISITS
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
23 Mar. 2016
Hundreds of Israelis, including large numbers of settlers, converged on religious sites across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday morning ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, in visits Palestinians condemned as “provocative.”
___In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli settlers as well as other right-wing Israelis held celebrations in the Old City’s Ibrahimi Mosque. . . . used the mosque’s loudspeakers “to sing racist songs that call for the expulsion of ‘Arabs’ from Hebron.”      MORE . . .

Israeli demolition in Khirbet Jenbeh on March 22, 2016. (Photo Credit: B'Tselem/Nasser Nawaj'a, File)
Israeli demolition in Khirbet Jenbeh on March 22, 2016. (Photo Credit: B’Tselem/Nasser Nawaj’a, File)

❹ ON  WORLD  WATER  DAY,  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK  REFUGEE  CAMPS  STRUGGLE  WITH  SCARCE  RESOURCES
MONDOWEISS
Abed Al Qaisi and Sheren Khalel
22 Mar. 2016
As the world celebrates World Water Day this week, Palestinians in refugee camps across the occupied West Bank are preparing for the summer, when water becomes scarce.
___While the World Health Organization recommends 100 liters of water per person per day, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank use less than 73 liters, with those in refugee camps using even less. In Israel, residents use an average of 183 liters per person, per day.   MORE . . . 

❺ OPINION/ANALYSIS:  DABKA,  NOT  TANGO:  THE  PALESTINIAN  ISSUE  IS  ON  HOLD
PALESTINE CHRONICLE
Yasser Ali
23 Mar. 2016
The Palestinian issue is experiencing paralysis due a number of international, regional, local and personal reasons, all of which have pushed it into a negative status quo. It is no longer moved or activated by major events, such as the Jerusalem Intifada, and no longer has any historical figures, like Yasser Arafat, who can break the mold dramatically, one way or the other.
___. . . .  the process must be like the Palestinian dabka, which needs every participant’s efforts to be made in a unified line, standing shoulder to shoulder for the overall good of everyone involved.       MORE . . .

“HOW  ARE  YOU?”  BY  MOURID  BARGHOUTI

Waiting for the school bus,
watching his breath turn into mist near his nose
in the icy morning,
the schoolboy’s fingers are frozen,
too stiff to make a fist.

On the pillow of regret,
the defeated soldier
lazily tries to get up,
raising his broken toothbrush
to his teeth.

Early or late,
The stranger awakens in his exile, his homeland.
Their clothes, their car number pates, their trees,
their quarrels, their love, their land, their sea
belong to them.
His memories are like rats gathering on his doormat,
new and warm
in front of his closed door.

On a lonely pillow,
the mother throws a quick glance
at the bed of her elder son,
made for the final time
and empty, forever.

A voice from the neighbouring window is heard:
“Hello, good morning, how are you?”
“Hello, good morning, we’re fine,
we’re fine!”

From: Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Trans. By Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, Lancashire, UK: Arc Books, 2008. Available from B&N.
Mourid Barghouti (born July 8, 1944, in Deir Ghassana, near Ramallah, on the West Bank) is a Palestinian poet and writer. While Barghouti was studying at the University of Cairo in 1967, the 6-Day War broke out, and he was unable to return to the West Bank until 1996. He was expelled from Egypt in 1977 and was exiled in Budapest.
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“. . . A night without light where our voices are lost . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

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A Palestinian man holds a placard in front of an Israeli soldier on December 27, 2014 on land near the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar, at the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat, during a protest. (Photo: Agence France‑Presse /Hazem Bader)
A Palestinian man holds a placard in front of an Israeli soldier on December 27, 2014 on land near the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar, at the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat, during a protest. (Photo: Agence France‑Presse /Hazem Bader)

❶ Israeli troops raid West Bank village day after funeral of slain Palestinians
. . . . . ❶―(ᴀ) Israeli forces raze prisoner’s brother’s construction site in Jerusalem
❷ Israel Razes Waqf-Owned Land near Jericho
. . . . . ❷―(ᴀ) Explanatory note regarding the Islamic Waqf tradition
❸ Israel to confiscate 1,200 dunams of land in Nablus governorate
❹ US Congress blocks $159 million in aid to PA
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ISRAEL’S LEGAL WARFARE ON BDS FOSTERS REPRESSION AND MCCARTHYISM ACROSS THE WORLD
❻ Poetry by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  TROOPS  RAID  WEST  BANK  VILLAGE  DAY  AFTER  FUNERAL  OF  SLAIN  PALESTINIANS
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
21 Mar. 2016
Israeli troops raided the village of Beit Fajjar east of Bethlehem early on Monday, storming several houses and detaining two Palestinians.
___The raid took place a day after the funerals of Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Kar Thawabta, 20, and Ali Jamal Muhammad Taqatqa, 19, who were killed by Israeli forces on Thursday . . .
___Local sources said that Israeli troops raided Thawabta’s house and detained his brother Muhammad, 24.      MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶―(ᴀ) ISRAELI  FORCES  RAZE  PRISONER’S  BROTHER’S  CONSTRUCTION  SITE  IN  JERUSALEM
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
21 Mar. 2016
Israeli forces demolished a building under construction in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday for not having a construction permit.
___Muna Jaabis told Ma’an that Israeli troops raided her house in the Jabal al-Mukkabir neighborhood of the Old City early Monday, and demolished the foundations of a building belonging to her brother Suhaib Jaabis.      MORE . . .

Israeli soldiers throw a flash grenade during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar, on October 31, 2015 (Agence France‑Presse Photo/Musa Al-Shaer)
Israeli soldiers throw a flash grenade during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar, on October 31, 2015 (Agence France‑Presse Photo/Musa Al-Shaer)

❷ ISRAEL  RAZES  WAQF-OWNED  LAND  NEAR  JERICHO
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
21 Mar. 2016
Israeli troops on Monday embarked on razing an Islamic Waqf-owned land near Jericho in the West Bank, according to local sources.
___Moayad al-Helou, director of Jericho Islamic Waqf Department, said Israeli army broke into al-Musaqara, an outskirt of Jericho, and embarked on razing some 650 dunums of land owned by the Islamic Waqf Department.      MORE . . . 
. . . . . ❷― (ᴀ) EXPLANATORY  NOTE  REGARDING  THE  ISLAMIC  WAQF  TRADITION
A Waqf, or mortmain property, is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically donating a building or plot of land or even cash for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets may be held by a charitable trust. (Wikipedia)
MORE . . . 
MORE . . . 

❸ ISRAEL  TO  CONFISCATE  1,200  DUNAMS  OF  LAND  IN  NABLUS  GOVERNORATE
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
21 Mar. 2016
The Israeli civil administration on Monday has announced it would confiscate 1,200 dunams (296.5 acres) of land from Palestinian villages in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, a Palestinian Authority official said.
___Ghassan Dhaglas, a PA official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that Israeli authorities gave Palestinian residents of the villages of al-Lubban al-Sharqiya, al-Sawiya, and Qaryut an official notice to confiscate 1,200 dunams of land. MORE . . .

❹ US  CONGRESS  BLOCKS  $159  MILLION  IN  AID  TO  PA
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
20 Mar. 2016
Members of the United States Congress are delaying a payment of $159 million in aid allocated for the Palestinian Authority in effort to pressure the PA to relaunch negotiations with Israel, the PLO ambassador to Washington said Saturday.
___Maen Erekat confirmed earlier reports that the US Congress was blocking the payment at the request of House Republican Kay Granger, the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations, under the pretext that the PA supports “terrorism.”        MORE . . . 

❺ OPINION/ANALYSIS: ISRAEL’S   LEGAL   WARFARE   ON   BDS   FOSTERS   REPRESSION   AND   MCCARTHYISM   ACROSS   THE   WORLD
MONDOWEISS
Palestinian BDS National Committee
18 Mar. 2016
The global movement supporting the Palestinian people’s right to freedom, justice and equality has taken impressive steps into the political mainstream in recent years. Efforts by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement . . . are more widely supported and impactful than ever before.
___Israel’s current government, its most racist ever, has dropped all pretences of “enlightenment” and “democracy”. This has helped to expose Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid to world public opinion . . .      MORE . . . 

From the Diary of “―”

  1. (There in Israel, our prisoners
    whom we know nothing about.)

From the ravine pours silent angry darkness
and night spreads its large sails here
the light of the stars and the dawn
cannot sneak in
A night without light
where our voices are lost
and the echo dies
and time cannot move

Time has lost its shoes here
it stood still
turning around the axis of stillness and boredom
confusing days and seasons
Is it the season for planting?
Is it the season for harvest?
Is it―who can say?
No news and the jailer stands, his face a stone
his eye a stone
robbing from us the sun, robbing the moon

About Fadwa Tuqan   
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.
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“. . . there’s still some hope, behind that nearby dune . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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2015: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala celebrated Palm Sunday with palms and flowers before joining the local Catholic Church for a procession through Beit Jala. (Photos: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer Website)
2015: The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala celebrated Palm Sunday with palms and flowers before joining the local Catholic Church for a procession through Beit Jala. (Photos: Lutheran Church of the Redeemer Website)

❶ Unidentified assailants set fire to home of 2015 Duma arson witness
❷ 850 Gaza Christians receive permits to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
❸ Shanti: Gaza suffers from a serious water crisis
❹ Japan Deplores Israel’s Decision to Expropriate Thousands of Dumuns in Jericho
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ECONOMIC POLICIES ENTRENCH ISRAELI OCCUPATION
❻ Poetry by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ UNIDENTIFIED  ASSAILANTS  SET  FIRE  TO  HOME  OF  2015  DUMA  ARSON  WITNESS
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
20 Mar. 2016
Unidentified assailants on Saturday night set fire to a house in the village of Duma in the occupied West Bank, targeting the only witness of an arson attack that killed a Palestinian family last year.
___.  . .  unidentified attackers threw Molotov cocktails at the house of Ibrahim Dawabsha at 2 a.m. and broke a window while he and his family were sleeping. . . .  Dawabsha was the only witness of the deadly arson attack carried out by extremist Israeli settlers on the home of Saad and Riham Dawabsha in the northern West Bank village on July 30 last year.      MORE . . .

❷ 850  GAZA  CHRISTIANS  RECEIVE  PERMITS  TO  CELEBRATE  EASTER  IN  JERUSALEM
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
19 Mar. 2016
Hundreds of Christian Palestinians from the Gaza Strip will travel to celebrate Easter in Bethlehem and occupied East Jerusalem after the Israeli authorities agreed to grant them permits, a Palestinian Authority official said Saturday.
___Muhammad al-Maqadma, a public information officer for the Palestinian Ministry of Civil Affairs, told Ma’an that Israel had granted around 850 permits to Gaza Christians of different ages to travel to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.       MORE . . .
1-18-procession

❸ SHANTI:  GAZA  SUFFERS  FROM  A  SERIOUS  WATER CRISIS
THE PALESTINIAN INFORMATION CENTER
20 Mar. 2016
The water authority in Gaza has warned that the besieged enclave suffers from a severe water shortage in its coastal aquifer, which is the primary source for getting water.
___This came during “an interview with an official,” which was organized on Sunday by the government’s information office in Gaza City in the presence of a reporter from the Palestinian Information Center (PIC). Head of the water authority Yaser al-Shanti described the water situation in Gaza as very dangerous.      MORE . . . 

❹ JAPAN  DEPLORES  ISRAEL’S  DECISION  TO  EXPROPRIATE  THOUSANDS  OF  DUMUNS  IN  JERICHO
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
20 Mar. 2016
The Government of Japan Sunday deplored the Israeli government’s decision to expropriate nearly 2,342 dunums near the West Bank district of Jericho, under the pretext of being classified as ‘state land’.
___“The announcement by the Government of Israel clearly contradicts the ongoing efforts by the international community toward a two-state solution,” said the statement . . . .      MORE . . .

❺ OPINION/ANALYSIS:   ECONOMIC  POLICIES  ENTRENCH  ISRAELI  OCCUPATION
ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)
Nassar Ibrahim
20 Mar. 2016
The Palestinian economy has not been independent in centuries. Like the economies of other Arab countries, the Palestinian economy was subject to foreign control and looting for four centuries under Ottoman rule. Next, British colonial rule lorded over Palestine, until the Nakba uprooted Palestinians from their land in 1948. Following Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Israeli colonial powers took control of the Palestinian economy. All of this made the already weak Palestinian economy an easy target for manipulation and destruction. Israeli management of the Palestinian economy has created deep structural disparities in Palestinian society.       MORE . . .

“OASIS,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM

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

From Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER  THAN  WATER.  NEW  AND  SELECTED  POEMS.  Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008. Available from Amazon
Samih al-Qasim Obituary, August 20, 2014
1-17-procession-and-church

“. . . Sorrow crawled naked in my city . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
zzzold city
A Palestinian woman passing through gates erected by Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Oct. 4, 2015. (MaanImages/Emily Mulder)

❶ Old problems in Jerusalem’s Old City
❷ WATCH: How the far-right glorifies killing of Palestinians
❸ Arrests…extensions of arrests…prison sentence…and releases [in Jerusalem]
❹ Palestinian Rights Organisations Deliver Submission to ICC
❺ Opinion/Analysis:  Jerusalem:  A  city  governed  by  fear
❻ Poetry by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
OLD  PROBLEMS  IN  JERUSALEM’S  OLD  CITY
Nov. 24, 2015
JERUSALEM ― Faten Ghosheh, a 33-year-old Palestinian mother of five, stands on the roof of her partially demolished home in Jerusalem’s Old City, the Al-Aqsa Mosque visible behind her.
___She recalls the moment five years ago when Israeli forces arrived at 5 a.m. to tear down the two rooms and bathroom that her husband had built with their life savings of 700,000 shekels ($180,000).
___To avoid the fine that the Jerusalem municipality would charge for the demolition, the Ghoshehs called on the men in their family to come and tear down the walls.
More . . .
Related . . . US  FOREIGN  POLICY  FAILURE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  EAST
❷ +972 MAGAZINE
WATCH:  HOW  THE  FAR-RIGHT  GLORIFIES  KILLING  OF  PALESTINIANS
Mairav Zonszein
Nov. 24, 2015
Benzi Gopstein, the head of Lehava, posted a video on his Facebook page Monday glorifying the killing of Palestinians. Lehava is a popular Jewish supremacist group dedicated to preventing Arab-Jewish relations . . . .
___The video itself is CCTV footage of an incident in Jerusalem on Monday in which two Palestinian girls, 14 and 16, stabbed an elderly Palestinian man with scissors (presumably mistaking him for a Jewish Israeli) before they were shot several times, and even after they lay still on the ground. One was killed, the other is in critical condition.
___Crappy electronic music was added to the CCTV footage with synthesized lyrics: “She just wants to stab, put a bullet in her head.” Gopstein shared it on Facebook . . . .
More . . .

search
Israeli soldiers stop, search, question lone Palestinian young man at Damascus Gate for no apparent reason as one of our group looks on. (Photo Nov. 4, 2015, Harold knight)

❸ WADI HILWEH INFORMATION CENTER – SILWAN
ARRESTS… EXTENSIONS  OF  ARRESTS… PRISON SENTENCE… AND  RELEASES
The occupation forces arrested on Monday 6 Jerusalemites and extended the arrest of several others.
___Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the occupation forces arrested on Monday the 16-year old Abdullah Maswadeh, 15-year old Mohammad Khaled Al-Qaq and the child Amir Al-Bibi from the neighborhood of Al-Shayah, and Obada Dandis and Louai Dandis from the neighborhood of Ras Al-Amoud in Silwan, and Mohammad Zakaria Abu Khdeir from Shu’fat north of Jerusalem.
___The Israeli police called the Jerusalemite activist and member of follow-up committee in the village of Esawyeh, Mohammad Abu Hummos, for interrogation for two hours on charges of incitement.
Nov. 24, 2015
More . . .
❹ IMEMC-INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
PALESTINIAN  RIGHTS  ORGANISATIONS  DELIVER  SUBMISSION  TO  ICC
Nov. 23, 2015
Today, in a historic moment in Palestinian pursuit of accountability, four Palestinian human rights organisations delivered a confidential communication to Madam Prosecutor Bensouda of the International Criminal Court on behalf of themselves and Palestinian victims of Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge”. The communication, which was submitted by Al-Haq, Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Aldameer and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute, contains information on crimes jointly documented during Israel’s 2014 offensive against the Gaza Strip.
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
JERUSALEM:  A  CITY  GOVERNED  BY  FEAR
Oct. 27, 2015
More . . .
Related . . . FEAR  AND  LOATHING  IN  JERUSALEM

“MY SAD CITY,” BY FADWA TUQAN
(The day of Zionist Occupation, June 27, 1967)

The day we saw death and betrayal,
The tide ebbed,
The windows of the sky closed,
And the city held its breath.
The day the waves were vanquished, the day
The ugliness of the abyss revealed its true face,
Hope turned to ashes,
And gagging on disaster,
My sad city choked.

Gone were the children and the songs,
There was no shadow, no echo.
Sorrow crawled naked in my city,
With bloodied footsteps,
Silence reigned in the city,
Silence like crouching mountains,
Mysterious like the night, tragic silence,
Burdened,
Weighed down with death and defeat.
Alas! My sad and silent city.
Can it be true that in the season of harvest,
Grain and fruit have turned to ashes?
Alas! That this should be the fruit of all the journeying!
―Translated by A.M. Elmesseri

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

jaffa gate
Ubiquitous Israeli military presence, lurking in shops at the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem. (Photo Nov. 4, 2015, Harold Knight)

“. . . But have you pondered the cause behind my tears . . .” (Ahmad Hussein)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Israeli soldiers on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip. (Agence France‑Presse /File Menahem Kahana)
Israeli soldiers on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip. (Agence France‑Presse /File Menahem Kahana)

❶ 2 killed, 19 injured as Israeli forces open fire at Gaza demo
❷ Israeli settlers assault PA minister of communications
❸ Two Palestinians Shot, While Dozens Suffocate during Jericho Clashes
❹ Analysis: The Dogs Not Barking: Netanyahu and Harper Muzzled
❺ Opinion/Analysis: The next Intifada should be a Palestinian revolution until the occupation ends
❻ Poetry by Ahmad Hussein
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
(Please read “Purpose” above. Thank you for clicking on “follow.”)

❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
2  KILLED,  19  INJURED  AS  ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  AT  GAZA  DEMO
Oct. 9, 2015
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Two Palestinians were killed and 19 others injured as Israeli military forces opened fire at a demonstration by the border fence east of Gaza City, medics said.
____Medical sources told Ma’an that Ahmad al-Harbawi and Hussam Dawla were shot and killed during the clashes east of the al-Shujaiyeh neighborhood east of Gaza City.
____At least 19 Palestinians were injured.
More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  SETTLERS  ASSAULT  PA  MINISTER  OF  COMMUNICATIONS
Oct. 8, 2015
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers assaulted the Palestinian Authority Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Alam Moussa, in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus on Thursday, smashing his car windows during the attack, PA officials said.
____Palestinian officials condemned the attack, noting that the assault against the PA minister is evidence of settlers indiscriminately targeting Palestinians.
____Government officials called upon institutions of the international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, to intervene in Israeli violations against Palestinians.
More . . .
❸ PALESTINE NEWS & INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
TWO  PALESTINIANS  SHOT,  WHILE  DOZENS  SUFFOCATE  DURING  JERICHO  CLASHES
Oct. 7, 2015
JERICHO – Two Palestinian youth were shot while dozens others suffocated on Wednesday during clashes with Israeli army forces at the southern entrance of Jericho.
____Israeli forces stationed at the military checkpoint at the southern entrance of Jericho opened fire on Palestinians who marched to express their solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque and denunciation of settlers’ attacks against Palestinians.
____Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets at demonstrators, hitting and injuring Rami Abu Qamar and Mohammad Barahma. Forces also fired tear gas canisters at demonstrators, causing dozens of them to suffocate from excessive tear gas inhalation.
More . . .

It may be entirely coincidental, but why are they so silent now? (Palestine Chronicle Photo)
It may be entirely coincidental, but why are they so silent now? (Palestine Chronicle Photo)

❹ Opinion/Analysis
PALESTINE CHRONICLE
THE  DOGS  NOT  BARKING:  NETANYAHU  AND  HARPER  MUZZLED
Jim Miles
Oct 8 2015
Most people know the now cliché passage from Sherlock Holmes:

Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”

____Two days after Putin made his historic speech at the UN indicating that the new world order was not necessarily that of the U.S., Russia has vigorously entered into the war against the terrorists in Syria/Iraq. Caught off guard and unawares, the U.S. and its allies, notably the U.K., pounced on Russia’s actions.
____It would appear that Putin and his advisors have the upper hand. [. . . . .]
____The western mainstream media has made a significant outcry from this [. . . . .]
____ Where there has been a deafening silence is from two surprising sources, Canada and Israel.
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEM)
THE  NEXT  INTIFADA  SHOULD  BE  A  PALESTINIAN  REVOLUTION  UNTIL  THE  OCCUPATION  ENDS
Samah Jabr
Oct. 8, 2015
President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN, which had been preceded by inflated propaganda claiming that it would be a “bombshell”, turned out to be no more than a litany of well-worn complaints and appeals to the international community. The speech certainly failed to raise any new challenges, offer new strategies or inspire hope among the Palestinians burning under Israeli occupation. . . .
____Palestinian youths had hoped that the announcement would mean that the PA would stop acting like Israel’s subcontractor in the effort to crush Palestinian resistance. They then stood up to fight the Israeli appropriation of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, to resist the closing of the city to its own people and to oppose the relentless attacks by settlers on villagers in the West Bank. . . .
____ . . . they are blamed in accordance with the typical dynamics of abuse: “They brought all that suffering upon themselves and their families!” We have heard similar comments about women who have been raped: “She asked for it; she provoked it; she is the one to blame for it.” Israel has ordered the shooting of any Palestinian child who is seen throwing stones.
More . . .

“THE  WAILING  SONG,”  BY  AHMAD  HUSSEIN
I found you in grief
Which was ever present,
Whence the promises,
The clouds,
And the rain,
And whence the dust that turned into tears
In my eyes.
Say, where did you hide the trees?

I found you in grief,
And long was our meeting!
Thirty partings,
Thirty captivities
Thirty dishonors.
I found you between what I left behind me and what I must face.
Waiting is ahead of me,
Waiting is behind me.

Looking at you I became hooked, coiled
Around an almond twig like a woman’s hair.
Should you release me, I’ll still be part of you.
Praised be your face,
Your bosom,
Praised be your lap so warm!

You read me! How time rolled by,
I became the etching, you the stone;
And, as you know, I was the singer,
And I was . . .
But have you pondered the cause behind my tears
A long, long time ago?
Can words precede images?
Then, listen to me, hear me
A song, a bower, over the lands,
Whenever you recall the sound of my voice, it pours.
I am love, and you will never lose me
So long as the soil in you lives,
And Jericho is surrounded by trees.

From THE  PALESTINIAN  WEDDING:  A BILINGUAL  ANTHOLOGY  OF  CONTEMPORARY  PALESTINIAN  RESISTANCE  POETRY.  Ed. and Trans. A. M. Elmessiri. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. Reprint from Three Continents Press, Inc., 1982. Available from Palestine Online Store.
____Born in 1939 in Haifa, Ahmad Hussein received his education in the local Arab schools of Haifa, Umm al-Fahm, and Nazareth. He has published short stories and poems in the local daily al-Yawn, in the bi-weekly al-Ittihad, and in the periodicals al-Mujtama, al-Jahid, and al-Fajr. His first collection of poems, Zaman al-Khawf (Time of Fear) was published in 1977 after the tragic death of his celebrated  brother,  Rashid  Hussein.  His poetry often uses romantic love as imagery for love of Palestine.

"Settlers and Soldiers at Iraq Burin" originally posted to Flickr as Settlers and Soldiers attacking demonstrators in Iraq Burin, 2009. (International Solidarity Movement photo)
“Settlers and Soldiers at Iraq Burin” originally posted to Flickr as Settlers and Soldiers attacking demonstrators in Iraq Burin, 2009. (International Solidarity Movement photo)

“. . . my son doesn’t walk this path with me. . .” (Mohammed Lafi)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Nov. 1, 2014. Israeli soldiers escort a group of Palestinian school children as they walk through the Israeli settlement of Havat Ma'on in West Bank. The students’ journey takes them through a legal and political maze as they pass between a legal and an illegal Israeli settlement on their way to school. (Max Becherer/Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post)
Nov. 1, 2014. Israeli soldiers escort a group of Palestinian school children as they walk through the Israeli settlement of Havat Ma’on in West Bank. The students’ journey takes them through a legal and political maze as they pass between a legal and an illegal Israeli settlement on their way to school. (Max Becherer/Max Becherer/Polaris Images For The Washington Post)

from MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
SCHOOL STUDENTS USE SEWAGE CHANNELS TO REACH SCHOOL
March 24, 2015
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinian students are being forced to cross through sewage channels to reach a high school in western Ramallah district after a settlement road cut off the only other means of access, residents told Ma’an.
Up to 200 students from the villages of al-Tira and Beit Ur al-Fuqa now reach the school using a four kilometer route that runs along the separation wall, where armed settlers, as well as Israeli soldiers, almost daily interrupt their commute.
The route passes through sewage channels and regularly takes students up to 40 minutes to reach their school,
(More. . .)

◊◊◊◊◊
from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
DCI-PALESTINE: 30 CHILDREN SHOT BY ISRAELI FORCES IN 2015
by IMEMC News & Agencies
March 24, 2015
Israeli forces shot and injured at least 30 children across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year, according to Defense for Children International- Palestine (DCIP).
DCIP reported that, while Israeli military regulation permits the use of live ammunition when a direct mortal threat exists, the organization found no evidence that any of the children injured in 2015 posed such a threat to Israeli forces or settlers.
“The pace at which we are documenting injuries from live ammunition in 2015 shows no sign of slowing down,” DCIP advocacy officer Olivia Watson told Ma’an News Agency.
(More. . . )

Feb. 14, 2015. Nasser Murad Safi, 15, was shot by Israeli soldiers with live ammunition breaking his leg.
Feb. 14, 2015. Nasser Murad Safi, 15, was shot by Israeli soldiers with live ammunition breaking his leg.

from INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
TEL AVIV U: 850 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR GAZA ATTACK SERVICE
by Alternative Information Center
March 25, 2015
Tel Aviv University (TAU) recently awarded scholarships to 850 students who took part in Israel’s military attack on the Gaza Strip last summer.
The “President’s Scholarship for Service in Operation Protective Edge”, up to NIS 2,000 per student, was awarded as tuition credit to the winners.
Already during the attack. . . University President Joseph Klafter announced that such scholarships would be made available. . .
(More. . . )

◊◊◊◊◊
from HAARETZ
OBAMA SAYS ‘REAL POLICY DIFFERENCE’ BETWEEN ISRAEL, U.S.
U.S. president says Netanyahu has ‘different approach,’ and that his administration still believes two-state solution is ‘best way to preserve Israel’s security.’
Barak Ravid
March 24, 2015
The crisis between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that broke out anew after the Israeli election, worsens from day to day. At a press conference on Tuesday Obama said that there is “real policy difference” between himself and Netanyahu when it comes to the need to establish a Palestinian state. This dispute, Obama added, will have ramifications for U.S. policy
(More. . . )

◊◊◊◊◊
From HUFFINGTON POST
ISRAEL CANNOT REFORM ITSELF AND NEEDS SOME TOUGH LOVE
Bob Herbst
March 24, 2015
There is a silver lining in the black cloud of the recent Israeli election. The pretense at the base of Israel’s pious public pronouncements about its desire for peace with the Palestinians has been stripped away. Netanyahu revealed himself as unalterably opposed to the end of the occupation of the West Bank, to the creation of a viable state for the Palestinians, and thus to a lasting peace and just end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite all the talk we have heard for the last decade and more about Israel’s lacking a Palestinian partner for peace, it turns out to be the Palestinians who don’t have an Israeli partner really willing to make peace. And Netanyahu’s rant in the closing days of the campaign about the Arabs flocking to the polls “in droves” to vote betrayed an ugly racism truly disgusting to behold in the political leader of the Jewish state who purports to represent Jewry worldwide.
(More. . . )
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-herbst/israel-cannot-reform-itself-and-needs-some-tough-love_b_6918806.html

◊◊◊◊◊
MY OTHER SELF AND I, BY MOHAMMED LAFI
my son doesn’t walk this path with me
nor my father or brother or a friend
but I sense his presence as I walk
and I sense his absence as I walk
and whenever past misfortunes camp at the door
I sense his presence more
Calling out in whispers and shouts
Whenever our steps seem lost on the edge of the war:
Stop! Mohammed!
If your innocent conscience is violated even once
It will turn to fire

On the path I am not a son for him nor a father
A brother or a friend yet he remains with me
that last faithful survivor from the family of the wolf
watching guard over me at night
following me through the day
and he howls when I step off
of the grass that leads the way:
Stop! Mohammed!
open your ears and listen hard O Mohammed!
the virginity of your conscience once sullied
will burn
and the ashes on your path will never be reborn
—translated by Jim Ferguson
Mohammed Lafi is a Lecturer in English and Translation at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, and he works as a freelance translator for local and international organizations.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Amazon.com.

“. . . a boy sets out to inherit the ocean . . .” (Bei Dao)

Harold KnightLeave a comment

(A blog linking to information about PALESTINE not available in mainstream media.
“Online Resources” above lists helpful sites. Works by Palestinian poets close all posts.)

haaretz.

NETANYAHU’S REAL VICTIM? THE AMERICAN JEWISH ESTABLISHMENT
A new, GOP-centered Jewish alliance powered by Sheldon Adelson is gradually taking its place.
By Peter Beinart,  February 11, 2015

Who are Benjamin Netanyahu’s American victims? Not Barack Obama. Despite Bibi’s best efforts, he’s still in office, and

Casino Billionaire, Patron-at-large
Casino Billionaire, Patron-at-large

retains the affections of most American Jews. Not the left-wing activists who oppose a Jewish state within any borders: Bibi’s settlement mania has been a bonanza for them. “We’ve got to give credit to. . .
. . . Bibi’s longtime patron, Sheldon Adelson. If the old American Jewish establishment tries to combine support for Israeli policy with domestic tolerance, the new American Jewish establishment is nakedly Islamophobic. Adelson, for instance, is on record as saying that “the Muslims…want to kill all Jews.” The ZOA sponsors talks by anti-Muslim bigot Pamela Geller.
(Full article)

fmepTHE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL AT A CROSSROADS – Report/Resource
February 19, 2015
Today, the U.S-Israel bilateral relationship stands at a crossroads.
Increasingly the national interests of the two countries – and in particular its current leaders — are diverging. While the latest crisis is focused on the nuclear talks with Iran, on no issue does this divide have greater long-term implications for U.S. interests in the region than the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. For the United States, this is an imperative; for the current Israeli government it is not.
(Full story)

new yorkerLetter from Jerusalem
“THE ONE-STATE REALITY.” ISRAEL’S CONSERVATIVE PRESIDENT SPEAKS UP FOR CIVILITY, AND PAYS A PRICE
By David Remnick, November 17, 2014
Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin, the new President of Israel, is ardently opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state. He is instead a proponent of Greater Israel, one Jewish state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. He professes to be mystified that anyone should object to the continued construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank: “It can’t be ‘occupied territory’ if the land is your own.”
. . . since Rivlin was elected President, in June, he has become Israel’s most unlikely moralist. Rivlin. . . has emerged as the most prominent critic of racist rhetoric, jingoism, fundamentalism, and sectarian violence, the highest-ranking advocate among Jewish Israelis for the civil rights of the Palestinians both in Israel and in the occupied territories. Last month, he told an academic conference in Jerusalem, “It is time to honestly admit that Israel is sick, and it is our duty to treat this illness.” (Full story)

eiISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER ON FACEBOOK: PALESTINIAN PRISONERS SHOULD BE EXECUTED
Patrick Strickland, Thursday 02/19/2015
Israel’s hardline right-wing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman plans to introduce a bill into the country’s parliament, the Knesset, which would implement the death penalty for Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli lockup. (Full story)

PALESTINIANS FIGHT BACK AGAINST ISRAEL’S LAWLESSNESS.wrmeaorgbannerlogo7
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (2015).
By Rachelle Marshall
For nearly 70 years, Palestinians under Israeli occupation have endured expulsion from their homes, theft of their land, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, humiliation and devastating bombing attacks with remarkable forbearance. Since taking office in 2005 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has tested that forbearance to the limit. But as recent events suggest, their patience may be exhausted.

With an Israeli government openly opposed to an independent Palestinian state, the massacre of 2,200 Gazans in Operation Protective Edge, the burning to death by Israelis of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and thousands more Jewish settlers scheduled to move into Arab East Jerusalem, angry Palestinians took action using the only means they had—stone throwing and knife attacks. Netanyahu’s response was a pledge to “use an iron fist” against the mostly teenage protesters.

Between July and early November, 800 young Palestinians were arrested, scores of them under 18. Police didn’t hesitate to shoot children. Among the victims were Fatima Panjabi, 11, and her 4-year-old cousin Ahmad. Another child, Saleh Mahmoud, 11, was blinded in one eye when he was shot in the face. Bahaa Mousa Bader, 13, Orwah Abdel Hammad, 14, and 15-year-old Mohamed Sinokrot were killed by police bullets. The slain children were among the 53 Palestinians. . .
(Full story)

monitorCOULD OFFICIAL’S DEATH MEAN THE END OF PALESTINIAN SECURITY TIES WITH ISRAEL?
By Christa Case Bryant, December 10, 2014
Jerusalem — “If anyone asks about the Palestinian Gandhi, he is dead.”
That’s how one Palestinian on Twitter summed up the events of Wednesday, in which Ziad Abu

Ziad Abu Ein, the late Palestinian Ghandi
Ziad Abu Ein, the late Palestinian Ghandi

Ein, a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official and a fiery leader of protests against Israeli settlement activity, died shortly after a clash with Israeli soldiers at a West Bank demonstration. (Full story)

“RAMALLAH,” by Bei Dao, 1949

in Ramallah
the ancients play chess in the starry sky
the endgame flickers
a bird locked in a clock
jumps out to tell the time

in Ramallah
the sun climbs over the wall like an old man
and goes through the market
throwing mirror light on
a rusted copper plate”=

in Ramallah
gods drink water from earthen jars
a bow asks a string for directions
a boy sets out to inherit the ocean
from the edge of the sky

in Ramallah
seeds sown along the high noon
death blossoms outside my window
resisting, the tree takes on a hurricane’s
violent original shape

On August 2, 1949, Zhao Zhenkai was born in Beijing. His pseudonym Bei Dao literally means “North Island,” and was suggested by a friend as a reference to the poet’s provenance from Northern China as well as his typical solitude. . . At the request of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, he traveled to Palestine as part of a delegation for the International Parliament of Writers.