Tag: Birzeit University

“. . . tomorrow looms over us, nearer and nearer . . .” (‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud)

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“Have you come to visit the Aqsa mosque or to bid it farewell . . . .” ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud (Photo: H.Knight, Nov. 13, 2015)

❶ Cabinet Condemns Execution of Pregnant Mother, Brother at Qalandia Checkpoint
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman and brother, armed with knives: police
❷ CHAOS  CONTINUES  AT  AL-AQSA,  5 Israelis evacuated
❸ Israeli Soldiers Injure Palestinian Teen after SETTLERS  BREAK  INTO  HISTORICAL  SITE
❹ Hamas bloc wins over student vote in Birzeit University elections
❺ Opinion/Analysis: DID  THE  ARABS  BETRAY  PALESTINE?
❻ POETRY by ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ CABINET  CONDEMNS  EXECUTION  OF  PREGNANT  MOTHER,  BROTHER  AT  QALANDIA  CHECKPOINT
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 28, 2016
The Palestinian cabinet Thursday condemned the international silence towards the execution of the Taha siblings, and the reaction towards Israel’s violations, including arrests, raids and harassment.
___The government’s spokesperson Yousef Mahmoud said in a press release that the execution of siblings Maram and Ibrahim Taha at Qalandia military checkpoint Wednesday is just another crime to be added to a long Israeli record.      MORE . . .  
. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) ISRAELI  FORCES  KILL  PALESTINIAN  WOMAN  AND  BROTHER,  ARMED  WITH  KNIVES:  POLICE
Reuters
Jeffrey Heller
April 27, 2016
Israeli police shot dead a Palestinian woman and her teenage brother on Wednesday, saying they were armed with knives and tried to carry out an attack at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.
___Police said the woman, holding a knife, and a man walked rapidly towards police and other Israeli security guards in a vehicles-only lane at the Qalandia checkpoint outside Jerusalem.      MORE . . .

❷ CHAOS  CONTINUES  AT  AL-AQSA,  5  ISRAELIS  EVACUATED
Ma’an News Agency
April 27, 2016
Chaos continued at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem Wednesday when five Israelis were evacuated for violating visitation rules as hundreds toured the area for Passover.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that a group of over a hundred right-wing Israelis entered the mosque compound via Dung Gate, four of whom performed religious rituals in violation of longstanding agreements regarding worship at the site.      MORE . . .

❸ ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  INJURE  PALESTINIAN  TEEN  AFTER  SETTLERS  BREAK  INTO  HISTORICAL  SITE  
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 28, 2016
Israeli soldiers Thursday shot a Palestinian teen during confrontations that erupted with Palestinians youth near Joseph tomb east of Nablus, said security sources.
___The teen, identified as Ahmad Masoud, 17, from Balata refugee camp was hit with a live bullet in the hip area after confrontations erupted when Israeli settlers broke into the area.      MORE . . .    

Elia ME Hamas student election Bizreit
Birzeit University Election results announced by Dr. Ahmad Al-Ahmad, chairman of student affairs at Birzeit University (Photo: Middle East Eye/Elia Ghorbiah)

❹ HAMAS  BLOC  WINS  OVER  STUDENT  VOTE  IN  BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY  ELECTIONS
Ma’an News Agency
April 28, 2016
___A student bloc of the Hamas movement on Wednesday came out on top in the closely-followed elections at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
___Following debates between factions vying for the student vote, the pro-Hamas al-Wafaa Islamic bloc claimed victory after gaining 25 seats, with the Yasser Arafat bloc of the Fatah movement trailing behind with 21 seats.
___The bloc representing Leftist movement Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine for its part came out with five seats.     MORE . . .   

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  DID  THE  ARABS  BETRAY  PALESTINE?
Palestine Chronicle
Ramzy Baroud
Apr 27 2016
At the age of 21 [1993], I crossed Gaza into Egypt to pursue a degree in political science. The timing could have not been worse [. . . .]
___It was then [after the 1967 War] that some Arab countries’ relations with Palestine began changing. Israel’s victory and the US-West’s unremitting support convinced some Arab governments to downgrade their expectations, and expected the Palestinians to do so, as well.
___So, did the Arabs betray Palestine? The question is heard often, and it is often followed with the affirmative, ‘yes, they did’ [. . . .]
___I beg to differ.      MORE . . .

“THE  AQSA  MOSQUE,”  BY  ‘ABD  AL-RAHEEM  MAHMOUD  (1913-1948)
(A salute to Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abd al’Aziz when he visited the poet’s town, ‘Anabta, on August 14, 1935.)

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 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.
About Prince Saud Ibn ‘Abd al’Aziz
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“. . . I have not seen a dragon in the land . . .” (Mourid Barghouti)

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Birzeit University Cast of "The House of Bernarda Alba,” a play written by Spanish Dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca and directed by Fathi Abdul Rahman. (Photo: Birzeit.edu)
Birzeit University Cast of “The House of Bernarda Alba,” a play written by Spanish Dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca and directed by Fathi Abdul Rahman. (Photo: Birzeit.edu)

❶ Birzeit University Theatre Wins Five Theatre Festival Awards
❷ Netanyahu: Israeli army to continue incursions in Area A
❸ Israeli Soldiers Beat up Palestinian near Nablus
❹ HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH report slams ‘discriminatory’ Israeli closure of Palestinian quarries
❺ Opinion/Analysis: WHY NETANYAHU IS DOUBLING DOWN ON THE GOLAN HEIGHTS
❻ POETRY by Mourid Barghouti
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ BIRZEIT  UNIVERSITY  THEATRE  WINS  FIVE  THEATRE  FESTIVAL  AWARDS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 21, 2016
Birzeit University’s Theatre Group, Mawasem Masrahyeh, have won five awards for their performance in “The House of Bernarda Alba” play in the 12th Philadelphia Arab Universities Theater Festival, held in Philadelphia University- Amman, Jordan.
___Produced by the Deanship of Students Affairs at Birzeit University and directed by Fathi Abdel Rahman, the play “The House of Bernarda Alba”, was inspired by the work of the Spanish writer and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, which displayed the plight of women in their societies.      MORE . . . 

❷ NETANYAHU:  ISRAELI  ARMY  TO  CONTINUE  INCURSIONS  IN  AREA  A
Ma’an News Agency
April 21, 2016
In spite of recent talks with Palestinian officials, Israeli armed forces will continue to intervene in parts of the occupied West Bank under full Palestinian Authority (PA) control, high-ranking Israeli officials said on Wednesday.
___During a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, and Israeli army Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot “made it clear that the IDF (Israeli army) maintains the possibility of entering Area A, and anywhere necessary, according to operational needs,” a statement read.      MORE . . .  

❸ ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  BEAT  UP  PALESTINIAN  NEAR  NABLUS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 21, 2016
Israeli soldiers last night assaulted and beat up a Palestinian youth . . . .  Ahmad Bassam Mohammad, 21 years old from the village of Asira al-Qibilia in Nablus district, while he was attempting to enter Israel for work. [He] was transferred to Rafidia public hospital in Nablus for medical treatment [. . . .]
___According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, “Most cases involve a “small dose” of ill-treatment . . .  or degrading treatment. These acts have become an integral part of Palestinian life in the Occupied Territories. From time to time, however, cases of severe brutality occur,” the group has remarked.       MORE . . . 

A quarry in the southern West Bank town of Beit Fajjar stands empty on April 5, 2016, after Israeli forces shut it down. (Photo: Human Rights Watch)
A quarry in the southern West Bank town of Beit Fajjar stands empty on April 5, 2016, after Israeli forces shut it down. (Photo: Human Rights Watch)

❹ HRW  REPORT  SLAMS  ‘DISCRIMINATORY’  ISRAELI  CLOSURE  OF  PALESTINIAN  QUARRIES
Ma’an News Agency
April 21, 2016
Israeli authorities’ closure of 35 Palestinian quarries in the occupied West Bank since March is threatening the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and may constitute “collective punishment,” a HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT revealed on Thursday.
___The Civil Administration, a subsection of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) . . .  closed down the quarries in late March and confiscated millions of dollars’ worth of equipment, a move which HRW said highlighted “the discriminatory nature of Israeli rules for Palestinian quarries.”      MORE . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  WHY  NETANYAHU  IS  DOUBLING  DOWN  ON  THE  GOLAN  HEIGHTS
+972 Blog
Shemuel Meir
April 21, 2016
What led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to wake up one fine day and declare, during a highly publicized but insignificant reserve duty exercise in the Golan Heights (and without the army Chief of Staff present, as is customary) that “we struck Syria dozens of times” . . . . __Despite the military terminology and context of Netanyahu’s performance in the Golan, the answer to this riddle can be found on the diplomatic front [. . . .]
___ It appears Netanyahu was trying to take advantage of the civil war and disintegration of Syria in order to gain international recognition for redefining Israel’s borders.      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.

*a legendary sea monster of large proportions

Interview with Mourid Barghouti  
From Barghouti, Mourid. MIDNIGHT  AND  OTHER  POEMS. Trans. Radwa Ashour. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2008.  Available from Amazon.   
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“. . . drank from the cup of a slain dream . . .” (Ibrahim Nasrallah)

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1-nuclear plant
Israel’s Dimona nuclear power plant, in the Negev desert, started the country’s nuclear program when it was built in the 1950s with French help. (Thomas Coex/Getty Images). SEE #5 BELOW.

❶ Israeli soldiers kill 15-year-old Palestinian near Beita checkpoint
❷ Army Kidnaps 17 Palestinians in the West Bank
❸ Israeli forces attack protest in Hebron
❹ Why is Israel raiding Palestinian universities?
❺ Opinion/Analysis: EUROPE  IS  FOLLOWING  OBAMA – WASHING  ITS  HANDS  OF  PALESTINE  AND  WHY
❻ Poetry by Ibrahim Nasrallah
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  KILL  15-YEAR-OLD  PALESTINIAN NEAR  BEITA  CHECKPOINT
Feb. 21, 2016
Israeli forces on Sunday killed a 15-year-old Palestinian after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
___An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma’an that a Palestinian attempted to stab a soldier near the Beita checkpoint in the northern West Bank, and that Israeli forces then fired at the man. . . .
___Over 170 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since a wave of unrest spread across the occupied Palestinian territory in October.    More . . .
❷ IMEMC-INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE EAST MEDIA CENTER
ARMY  KIDNAPS  17  PALESTINIANS  IN  THE  WEST  BANK
Feb. 21, 2016
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported, Sunday, that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped, overnight and on Sunday, at least 17 Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank, and that among that kidnapped are two teenage girls.    More . . .
❸ ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)
ISRAELI  FORCES  ATTACK  PROTEST  IN  HEBRON
Ahmad Jaradat
Feb. 21, 2016
The Hebron Defense Committee, Tarabout and the Alternative Information Center (AIC) held a demonstration on Saturday in Hebron under the slogan “Dismantle the Ghetto, Take the Settlers Out of Hebron.”
___When the protest reached the Beit Romano settlement checkpoint, Israeli soldiers shot tear gas and stun grenades at demonstrators.     More . . .

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Israeli forces responded to a joint Palestinian-Israeli protest against the occupation with tear gas, stun grenades, and violent arrests. (Photo: Hebron Defense Committee)

❹ AL-MONITOR (PALESTINE PULSE)
WHY  IS  ISRAEL  RAIDING  PALESTINIAN  UNIVERSITIES?
Ahmad Melhem
Feb. 19, 2016
During the current uprising in the West Bank, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stormed two Palestinian universities: Birzeit University near Ramallah on Jan. 11 and Al-Quds University at Abu Dis in East Jerusalem on Jan. 29.
___The IDF attacked the Birzeit student council building . . . . At Al-Quds University, the IDF raided the student blocs’ offices . . . the Dawa and Fundamentals of Religion Faculty building . . . .
___“The Israeli army is attacking universities within the scope of an Israeli systematic scheme designed to eradicate the Palestinian identity and tame the Palestinian young generation’s libertarianism by disrupting the educational process,” Palestinian Minister of Education and Higher Education Sabri Saidam said.   More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
PALESTINE CHRONICLE
EUROPE  IS  FOLLOWING  OBAMA  –  WASHING  ITS  HANDS  OF  PALESTINE  AND  WHY
Alan Hart
Feb. 20, 2016
My headline is a response to recent comments made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . . . .
___The possession of nuclear weapons is Zionism’s ultimate blackmail card. . . .
___At a point I said to Dayan, “What you seem to be saying is . . . ‘Don’t push us too far or we’ll use these things.’”
___Dayan gave me a big smile and replied, “You’re understanding me.”    More . . .
BACKGROUND . . . BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS
Related . . . . Washington Post
Related . . . New York Times
Related . . . Middle East Monitor 

“THE  CELEBRATION,”  BY  IBRAHIM  NASRALLAH
Flowers, songs, chants. . .
A memory from antiquity. . .
Saturday’s dawning sun. . .
An orphan is late. . .
A widow comes by embracing another widow. . .
A singer. . .
Verses from the Qur’an. . .
A flute on the outskirts of a neglected village. . .
Ancient soldiers. . .
Battles, defeated ages. . .
Thirty wars announced by daylight. . .
Another still hidden in their sheaths. . .
Little ones dressed up for a feast. . .
Horses filled with the joy of their riders. . .
A procession coming from far away. . .
Ululations reaching across the sky, a commotion. . .
Men emerging from darkness. . .
from yesterday’s newspapers, from the inkwell.
All of them came,
took pictures,
cursed the end of life and memory,
drank from the cup of a slain dream,
before their leader stepped forward
to cut the silk ribbon
and open the graveyard.

About Ibrahim Nasrallah
From Nasrallah, Ibrahim. RAIN  INSIDE:  SELECTED  POEMS.  Trans. Omnia Amin and Rick London. Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 2009. Available from Amazon.

“. . . They stripped me of everything except a heart . . .” (Tawfiq Zayyad)

Harold Knight2 Comments

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Israeli soldiers arrest Birzeit student on December 21. Birzeit students continue to protest, despite the arrests [EPA] (Photo: Al Jazeera)
❶ Army Raids, Wreaks Havoc into Birzeit University near Ramallah
. . . ❶―(ᴀ) Birzeit University rises up against Israel’s arrests
❷ Israeli forces detain 60 Palestinian workers without permits
❸ Locals raise funds to rebuild demolished home of Palestinian attacker
❹ Aerial Photography of Palestine: A spying mission produced valuable documentation
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Knesset anti-BDS meeting reveals Israeli fear of isolation
❻ Poetry by Tawfiq Zayyad
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
ARMY  RAIDS,  WREAKS  HAVOC  INTO  BIRZEIT  UNIVERSITY  NEAR  RAMALLAH
Jan. 11, 2016
Israeli troops Monday raided the campus of Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, where they destroyed some of the contents and seized other belongings, according to the university’s administration.
___The university, in a press release, said that at early dawn Monday, an Israeli army force of about 15 vehicles broke into the university’s headquarters after breaking down the university’s western gate, and turned it into a military outpost.
___Soldiers reportedly raided the offices of the student s, in addition to the office of the Students’ Council, where they seized flags, banners, loud speakers, audio devices and computers belonging to students. More . . .
. . . ❶―(ᴀ) AL JAZEERA
BIRZEIT  UNIVERSITY  RISES  UP  AGAINST  ISRAEL’S  ARRESTS
Jan. 11, 2016   More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  60  PALESTINIAN  WORKERS  WITHOUT  PERMITS
Jan. 11, 2016
Israeli police on Sunday detained 60 Palestinian workers who they said had entered northern Israel from the occupied West Bank without the necessary work permits . . . .
___The contractors that hired the Palestinians were also reportedly detained.
___According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, tens of thousands of Palestinian workers are forced to seek a living by working in Israel as the growth of an independent Palestinian economy has been stifled by the ongoing Israeli military occupation.   More . . .

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An Israeli police spokesperson was only able to confirm “general operations” against Palestinians working illegally in Israel, and had no immediate information on Sunday night’s arrests. (Photo: Ma’an News Agency, Jan. 11, 2016)

❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
LOCALS  RAISE  FUNDS  TO  REBUILD  DEMOLISHED  HOME  OF  PALESTINIAN  ATTACKER
Jan. 10, 2016
A group of activists on Sunday began a campaign to raise funds for the reconstruction of a home demolished by Israel belonging to a Palestinian who killed two Israelis in October.
___Israeli forces demolished the family home of Muhannad al-Halabi on Saturday in the village of Surda north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.   More . . .
Related . . .
❹ THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
AERIAL  PHOTOGRAPHY  OF  PALESTINE:  A  SPYING  MISSION  PRODUCED  VALUABLE  DOCUMENTATION
Tamara Hodali
January, 2016
During World War I, during the operations of the German-Ottoman alliance the German air force had a number of aircraft in Palestine. Early in 1916 . . . exploratory military flights were performed in the region by these squadrons, as the Germans were aiming to obstruct communications between England and India. . . .
___These photographs . . . document the existence and conditions of the majority of towns and villages at the end of the Ottoman period.  More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
MONDOWEISS
KNESSET  ANTI-BDS  MEETING  REVEALS  ISRAELI  FEAR  OF  ISOLATION
Omar Barghouti
Jan. 7, 2016
Despair is not always easy to detect, let alone smell.
___But recent Israeli efforts to fight BDS smell of deep despair, which is giving rise to hopeless aggression, even worse bullying and patently irrational measures that can only help BDS to grow in the coming few years.
___Particularly noteworthy are reports on the Knesset’s anti-BDS caucus meeting which convey the universal sense in Israel of failure to stem the BDS movement’s growth and the admission that the impact of BDS may be growing beyond control.  More . . .

“A MILLION SUNS IN MY BLOOD,” BY TAWFIQ ZAYYAD

They stripped me of water and oil
And the salt of bread
The shining sun, the warm sea
The taste of knowledge
And a loved one who―twenty years ago―went off
Whom I wish (if only for an instant) to embrace.
They striped me of everything
The threshold of my home
The flowerpots on the balcony.
They stripped me of everything
Except
A heart
A conscience
And a tongue!

In their chains, my pride
Is fiercer than all arrogant delirium.
In my blood a million suns
Defy a multitude of cruelties.
My love for you
You people of boundless tragedy
Lets me storm the seven heavens
For I am you son . . .
Your offspring
In heart
Conscience
And tongue!

Our hands are steady and enduring.
The hands of the oppressor
However hard
Tremble!

――Translated by Sharif Elmusa and Jack Collom

About Tawfiq Zayyad
From ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.

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Jerusalem, the Old City with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. German spy photo, WWI.

“. . . Bound his hands to the rock of the dead and said: Murderer!. . .” (Mahmoud Darwish)

Harold Knight1 Comment
A Palestinian youth reacts during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Hebron on October 4, 2015. (Agence France‑Presse/Photo)
A Palestinian youth reacts during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Hebron on October 4, 2015. (Agence France‑Presse/Photo)

❶ Protest called in Hebron as Israel withholds 11 Palestinians’ bodies
❷ Israeli Army Detains 46 Palestinians in West Bank, Jerusalem
❸ UN: Israel should not take unilateral steps in Jerusalem
❹ Personality of the Month: Albert Aghazarian
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Ramzy  Baroud:  Palestine  Remains  the  Core  Struggle  in  the  Middle  East
❻ Poetry by Mahmoud Darwish
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PROTEST  CALLED  IN  HEBRON  AS  ISRAEL  WITHHOLDS  11  PALESTINIANS’  BODIES
Oct. 27, 2015
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Palestinians across the southern West Bank district of Hebron are set to rally on Tuesday in protest against Israel’s decision to withhold the bodies of 11 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces this month.
____Palestinian factions across Hebron called for the “rally of anger” to march from al-Haras mosque in Hebron’s city center to Ibn Rush Square.
____In a joint statement, Hebron’s factional leaders urged residents of Hebron district to join the rally in solidarity with the families of Hebron’s “martyrs.”
More . . .
❷ PALESTINE NEWS & INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
ISRAELI  ARMY  DETAINS  46  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK,  JERUSALEM
Oct. 27, 2015
Israeli forces late Monday and early Tuesday detained 46 Palestinians, including minors, from across the West Bank districts, including Jerusalem, bringing the total number of Palestinians detained since the beginning of violent unrest in October 1, 2015, to 1085, according to local and security sources.
____Forces detained nine Palestinians during a raid and search campaign conducted across the Hebron area.
____In Hebron city, army soldiers detained four Palestinians after raiding and wreaking havoc into their homes.
More . . .
❸ THE MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
UN:  ISRAEL  SHOULD  NOT  TAKE  UNILATERAL  STEPS  IN  JERUSALEM
Oct. 27, 2015
Israel must refrain from taking any unilateral steps in Jerusalem; Anadolu Agency reported a UN spokesperson as saying yesterday.
____UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric’s comment came after Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to revoke the residencies of Palestinians living in the East Jerusalem side of the Separation Wall.
More . . . 
Related . . . ‘MOST-READ’  ARTICLE  AT  WASHINGTON  POST  CALLS  ISRAEL  ‘SAVAGE,  UNREPAIRABLE  SOCIETY’ 

Albert-Aghazarian
Albert-Aghazarian

❹ THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
PERSONALITY  OF  THE  MONTH  ALBERT  AGHAZARIAN
[. . . . .] “But of course, Albert Aghazarian!” The mere utterance of his name usually precipitates numerous stories about Al-Ustaz, the teacher… the Old City’s walking encyclopedia who knows the history of Jerusalem up to its each and every stone.
____Albert Aghazarian may be known mostly as a historian, a teacher, and a storyteller, but if you were to ask him, he might say that he is first and foremost an interpreter, because everything in this life is up for interpretation. A fluent speaker of Arabic, English, French, Armenian, Hebrew, Turkish, and some Spanish, Albert would say that he only speaks “one language,” before he pauses and adds… “at a time.”
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
PALESTINE CHRONICLE
RAMZY  BAROUD:  PALESTINE  REMAINS THE  CORE  STRUGGLE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  EAST
Oct 26 2015
[. . . . .]
Historically, chaos, whether that managed by or provoked in its entirety by Israel and its Zionist and neoconservative supporters, has largely served the objectives of successive Israeli governments. Whatever benefits Israel reaped from conflicts, tend to serve it in the short term only. In the long term, agitated conflicts often backfire.
____This has caused Israel an unsolvable dilemma: it is a state that engenders perpetual conflict, yet invariably seeks normalization, security and stability, all at the same time. In reality, however, the position that Israel managed to carve for itself is that of a warring, barbarous nation – a scenario that explains its rise, but also its inevitable downfall [. . . . .]
____So naturally, the Arab world cannot be ‘okay’ if Palestine is not ‘okay’.
More . . . 

“ABOUT  A  MAN,”  BY  MAHMOUD  DARWISH
They gagged his mouth,
Bound his hands to the rock of the dead
And said: Murderer!
They took his food, clothes and banners,
Cast him into the condemned cell
And said: Thief!
They drove him away from every port,
Took his young sweetheart,
Then said: Refugee!

O you with bloodshot eyes and bloody hands,
Night is short-lived,
The detention room lasts not forever,
Nor yet the links of chains.
Nero died, Rome did not:
With her very eyes she fights.
And seeds from a withered ear
With wheat shall fill the valley.

From Poem Hunter. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-man/  Web. 26 Jun 2015.
A conversation with Mahmoud Darwish

CPT members escort children to school in Hebron. Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine supports Palestinian-led, non-violent, grassroots resistance to the Israeli occupation. By collaborating with local Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers and educating people in our home communities we strive to help create a space for justice and peace. (Photo: CPT)
CPT members escort children to school in Hebron. Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine supports Palestinian-led, non-violent, grassroots resistance to the Israeli occupation. By collaborating with local Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers and educating people in our home communities we strive to help create a space for justice and peace. (Photo: CPT)