Tag: Jordan

“. . . It doesn’t matter what you had planned . . .” (Lena Khalif Tuffaha)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
holy-land-1-139-003
The Sea of Galilee, photo taken by Harold Knight in 2008. The beauty, like that of Palestine itself, is fragile and deceptively calm.

A (too) personal note from the blogger: 

As you can see from the dates on the news items, I meant this post for yesterday. However, I could not continue. The news is simply too horrendous day after day. If I am overwhelmed from this distance, it is impossible to imagine what the Palestinian people experience and feel every day, even though I have traveled to Palestine three times.
___Americans especially, and most citizens of Western nations, do not understand that this situation is not a matter of politics (no matter what Hillary and Donald say). It is not a matter of religion (no matter what Bibi says). And it most certainly is not a “conflict.” It is a simple matter of morality and of the so-called American dreams of freedom, equality, and self-determination.
___So I am back after three days of being distressed by the news. These postings simply have to be done, no matter who does or does not read them. This bungling record of events with supplementary scholarly and poetic works must be here in cyberspace.
___My friend Samia Khoury in Jerusalem brought me back by emailing me today’s poem for which I am grateful.

Harold Knight, Dallas, Texas, USA

❶ Killing Jordanian an act of terror by Israel, Jordan says
❷ Democratic front condemns adding Hammad to [United States] terrorist list
. . . ❷― (ᴀ) [United States] Florida mosque arsonist shared extreme pro-Israel propaganda
❸― (ᴀ) Army Kidnaps Four Palestinians In Hebron
. . . ❸― (ᴃ) Israeli Soldiers Kidnap Four Palestinians in Tulkarem And Nablus
. . . ❸― (ᴄ) Israeli Soldiers Kidnap Three Young Men In Jerusalem
. . . ❸― (ᴆ) Israeli Soldiers Kidnap A [13-year-old] Child In Jericho
❹ Poetry by Lena Khalif Tuffaha
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ KILLING  JORDANIAN  AN  ACT  OF  TERROR  BY  ISRAEL,  JORDAN  SAYS
Days of Palestine
Sep 18, 2016
Jordanian foreign ministry described on Saturday Israeli murder of Jordanian citizen in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday “an act of terror,” a statement said.
___The Israeli occupation police murdered on Friday the Jordanian national Sayid Amro in at the Damascus Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City.
___Israeli media reported Israeli officials claiming that the Jordanian citizen had two knives and attempted to stab an Israeli policeman.
___However, the Jordanian foreign ministry did not believe the Israeli claims, stressing that the deceased citizen had no extremist views and he travelled to Palestine just to perform prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque.      MORE . . .

❷ DEMOCRATIC  FRONT  CONDEMNS  ADDING  HAMMAD  TO  TERRORIST  LIST
Alray-Palestinian Media Agency
Sept. 18, 2016
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemned Sunday the US administration step of adding senior Hamas official, the former interior minister Fathi Hamad, to its “global terrorist” list.
___The Democratic front explained in a statement that US administration decision is a creator of terrorism in the region, denouncing its deafening silence towards Israeli violations of human rights.
___It called the free world to condemn such decisions and to stand by the just Palestinian rights. It stressed that Palestinian people will go on with their struggle against Israeli occupation and for regaining the right of return, self-determination and their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.      MORE . . .   
. . . ❷― (ᴀ) [UNITED STATES]  FLORIDA  MOSQUE  ARSONIST  SHARED  EXTREME  PRO-ISRAEL  PROPAGANDA
The Electronic Intifada
Rania Khalek
Sept. 18,2016
[. . . .]
[American] Media outlets were quick to publicize Schreiber’s anti-Muslim postings, but few mentioned his promotion of pro-Israel propaganda or his admiration for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, two great champions of the anti-Muslim far right.        MORE . . .    

❸― (ᴀ) ARMY  KIDNAPS  FOUR  PALESTINIANS  IN  HEBRON
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Sept. 19, 2016
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday at dawn, Beit Ummar and Ethna towns, in the southern West Bank district of Hebron, searched homes and kidnapped four Palestinians. One of the invaded homes belongs to the family of a teen who was killed by the army on November 27, 2015.     MORE . . .  
. . . ❸― (ᴃ) ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  KIDNAP  FOUR  PALESTINIANS  IN  TULKAREM  AND  NABLUS
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Sept. 19, 2016
Many Israeli military vehicles invaded, earlier Monday, Kufur Abboush village, south of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, in addition to Tal village and Balata refugee camp, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped four Palestinians.      MORE . . .
. . . ❸― (ᴄ) ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  KIDNAP  THREE  YOUNG  MEN  IN  JERUSALEM
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Sept. 19, 2016
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Sunday evening, a number of neighborhoods, in the Old City other parts of occupied East Jerusalem, and kidnapped three young men. The soldiers also invaded a home in Bethlehem.       MORE . . .
. . . ❸― (ᴆ) ISRAELI  SOLDIERS  KIDNAP  A  [13-YEAR-OLD] CHILD  IN  JERICHO
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Sept. 19, 2016
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Sunday evening, the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, southwest of Jericho city, in the occupied West Bank, kidnapped a child, and took him to a detention and interrogation center, near Jerusalem. The army also invaded Marda village, near Salfit.
___The WAFA Palestinian News Agency has reported that the soldiers kidnapped Mohammad Ahmad Maharma, 13, after stopping him at the southern entrance of Jericho.     MORE . . .

“FROM GAZA,”  BY  LENA  KHALIF  TUFFAHA

They call us now.
Before they drop the bombs.
The phone rings
and someone who knows my first name
calls and says in perfect Arabic
“This is David”.
And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies
still smashing around in my head
I think “Do I know any Davids in Gaza?”
They call us now to say
Run.
You have 58 seconds from the end of this message.
Your house is next.
They think of it as some kind of
war time courtesy.
It doesn’t matter that
there is nowhere to run to.
It means nothing that the borders are closed
and your papers are worthless
and mark you only for a life sentence
in this prison by the sea
and the alleyways are narrow
and there are more human lives
packed one against the other
more than any other place on earth
Just run.
We aren’t trying to kill you.
It doesn’t matter that
you can’t call us back to tell us
the people we claim to want aren’t in your house
that there’s no one here
except you and your children
who were cheering for Argentina
sharing the last loaf of bread for this week
counting candles left in case the power goes out.
It doesn’t matter that you have children.
You live in the wrong place
and now is your chance to run
to nowhere.
It doesn’t matter
that 58 seconds isn’t long enough
to find your wedding album
or your son’s favorite blanket
or your daughter’s almost completed college application
or your shoes
or to gather everyone in the house.
It doesn’t matter what you had planned.
It doesn’t matter who you are
Prove you’re human.
Prove you stand on two legs.
Run.

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha  

 

 

“. . . is it my country or the source of my exile? . . .” (Zuhair Abu Shaib)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
1-Pic-of-Wall-in-Bethlehem
Wall in Bethlehem (Photo: By Michaela Whitten, Nov. 26, 2014)

❶ PLO condemns international complicity on 12th anniversary of ICJ ruling on Israel’s separation wall

  • background from Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture

❷ Jordanian Government Rejects Israeli Settlement Policies in Occupied West Bank
❸ Palestinians, International Peace Activists, Hold Weekly Protest In Bil’in

  • background from Social Movement Studies

❹ POETRY by Zuhair Abu Shaib
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PLO  CONDEMNS  INTERNATIONAL  COMPLICITY  ON  12TH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  ICJ  RULING  ON  ISRAEL’S  SEPARATION  WALL
Ma’an News Agency
July 9, 2016
The 12th anniversary of a decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that deemed Israel’s separation wall illegal under international law was marked on Saturday, as the PLO released a statement criticizing the international community for their complicity in Israel’s continued annexation of the Palestinian territory.
___The ICJ issued an advisory opinion in 2004 stating that the wall was illegal under international law and its construction must stop immediately, adding that reparations should be paid to Palestinians whose properties were damaged as a result of the construction.
___Twelve years later, the construction of the wall has continued unabated . . . MORE . .

From Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture
The Wall powerfully reveals the current geopolitics in the West Bank as it has created a Kafkaesque reality that challenges the sustainability of its natural and built environment. It is a constituent part of “the matrix of control” that established enduring “facts on the ground”. The “matrix of control” extends under, on and above ground, constituting “a vertical occupation.” This “politics of verticality” has fragmented the Palestinian environment, giving Israel control not only of large parts of West Bank territories (while the Palestinian Authority controls only isolated territorial islands), but of the air space above and the subterranean sphere beneath, including water aquifers. The Wall is also part of an extensive “Western Segregation Zone” that extends beyond the Green Line — the 1949 armistice line   and penetrates up to 22 kilometers into the West Bank. This “seam zone   the area trapped between the Green Line and the wall — represents 9.9% of the West Bank territory. The “Western Segregation Zone” is mirrored on the Eastern side of the West Bank, where an “Eastern Segregation Zone” is de facto established through a web of military checkpoints and physical obstructions, which include 29.4% of the West Bank.

  • Leuenberger, Christine, and Ahmad El-Atrash. “Mosquitoes Don’t Carry Visas:Walls, Environments And The Hope For Cooperation In Palestine/Israel.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 19/20.4/1 (2014): 68-78.

❷ JORDANIAN  GOVERNMENT  REJECTS  ISRAELI  SETTLEMENT  POLICIES  IN  OCCUPIED  WEST  BANK
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
July 8, 2016
The Jordanian government expressed its utmost rejection to the Israeli government’s settlement policies and repetitive decisions to build and expand [illegal] settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Jordan’s news agency, Petra.
___The Jordanian government’s spokesperson, Mohammad al-Momani, said these Israeli policies Constitute an assault on the Palestinian territories and the rights of the Palestinian people.      MORE . . .    

❸ PALESTINIANS,  INTERNATIONAL  PEACE  ACTIVISTS,  HOLD  WEEKLY  PROTEST  IN  BIL’IN
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
July 9, 2016
Dozens of Palestinians, Israeli and international peace activist participated, Friday, in the weekly nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli Annexation Wall and colonies, in the village of Bil’in, west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
___Members of the Italian Parliament and activists from The Netherlands visited the village and participated in the weekly nonviolent protest.
___The Popular Committee against the Wall and Colonies in Bil’in has reported that the protesters raised Palestinian flags and marched chanting for national unity, steadfastness, the liberation of Palestine and the release of all political prisoners.     MORE . . .   

From Social Movement Studies
This was, and still is to the Palestinians involved, about the survival of their communities and their way of life, it is a social struggle as much as apolitical one. . . It is of course linked into the wider struggle against the occupation more generally in the rhetoric used by many Palestinians from the villages, yet what is clear is the primary goal of saving their land from the bulldozers and the route of the separation Wall. It is also of fundamental importance that the struggle is led by the Palestinians and predicated on practices of solidarity . . . .  Also what was, and remains most notable, is the lack of institutionalisation of the struggle. While the villagers appeal to the authorities to stop building the Wall, they know that this is futile. They have been radicalised by years of being ignored, therefore, they have decided to undertake direct action facilitated by the presence of the Israelis . . . to force the authorities to stop building the separation Wall. They also undertake this direct action as they know that the authorities to whom they would appeal in a traditional hegemonic, hierarchical relationship are manifold. This is especially true in the village of Bil’in, the villagers have been struggling for three years against the Wall in a situation that is inextricably linked with the expansion of the neighbouring settlement Modi’in Illit. Thus, other interests . . .  are all involved in the subjugation and oppression of the people of Bil’in. Claims cannot be made to all of these interests and so direct action becomes the tactical choice.

  • Pallister-Wilkins, Polly. “Radical Ground: Israeli And Palestinian Activists And Joint Protest Against The Wall.” Social Movement Studies 8.4 (2009): 393-407.
1-bilin
Weekly demonstration  in Bil’in West of Ramallah continued on April 20, 2014. (Photo: hamde abu rahma)

“NAME  OF  THE  SOIL,”  BY  ZUHAIR  ABU  SHAIB
what is its name?
what is the name of the soil
that falls from my withered body?
what is its name as it drifts and gathers
under my clothes
while, slowly, I build wall after wall?

I picture a sky full of clouds
I see it as I wish it to be

when night falls, I gulp my fill of springs
in darkness I lift my latch
to wise men

I ask my guests
who imprisoned the soul in rock?
who left prophets spread-eagled on doorsteps?

who risks everything to capture the earth?
a man who does not know his own shadow

what can I call this rug of soil?
is it my country or the source of my exile?
is it my miracle or my cross?

what is its name?
――Translated by Tom Pow

Zuhair Abu Shaib was born in Deir al-Ghusun, a town near the city of Tulkarm in the northern West Bank. and studied at Yarmouk University. He was a teacher and journalist in Yemen, and a book designer. He was also editor of the journal Awraq.
From A  BIRD  IS  NOT  A  STONE:  AN  ANTHOLOGY  OF  CONTEMPORARY  PALESTINIAN  POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Barnes & Noble.

“. . . until every door is opened . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
al aqsa
The struggle over Al-Aqsa Mosque is a colonial and not a religious one, Palestinian experts say. (Photo: Al Jazeera Staff, 21 Sep 2015)

❶ Jordan: Israel’s Provocations in Jerusalem Lead to Grave Consequences
❷ Massive collective punishment: homes of 149 Palestinians suspected of no wrongdoing demolished since Oct. 2015; hundreds more under threat
❸ Israeli Forces Detain Three Palestinians, Steal Money, Jewelry from Hebron, Jerusalem
❹Gleam of hope in gold trade fades in Gaza
❺ Opinion/Analysis: INDIGNITY, GRIEF AND MOURNING ON THE GAZA BORDER
❻ POETRY by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ JORDAN:  ISRAEL’S  PROVOCATIONS  IN  JERUSALEM  LEAD  TO  GRAVE  CONSEQUENCES
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 25, 2016
The government of Jordan warned on Monday that Israel’s repeated violations in Jerusalem, mainly provocative visits by Israeli settlers to al-Aqsa Mosque, could lead to disastrous consequences.
___Jordan’s State Minister for Media Affairs, Mohammad al-Mumini, told Jordan News Agency (Petra) that provocative visits by Israeli settlers and soldiers to al-Aqsa Mosque represent a violation of international law and conventions.      MORE . . .

❷ MASSIVE  COLLECTIVE  PUNISHMENT:  HOMES  OF  149  PALESTINIANS   SUSPECTED  OF  NO  WRONGDOING  DEMOLISHED  SINCE  OCT.  2015;  HUNDREDS  MORE  UNDER  THREAT
B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
April 21, 2016
Since October 2015, Israel has stepped up use of house demolitions as a way to punish the families of Palestinians who perpetrated attacks against Israelis or are suspected of perpetrating or aiding such attacks. Since then, the authorities have demolished or fully or partially sealed 37 apartments. Fourteen of these apartments were not under demolition orders and were damaged simply because of their proximity to apartments slated for demolition. As a result of this large-scale punitive action, 149 people, 65 of them minors, have lost their homes.      MORE . . .

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  THREE  PALESTINIANS,  STEAL  MONEY,  JEWELRY  FROM  HEBRON,  JERUSALEM
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 25, 2016
Israeli forces detained early Monday three Palestinians and stole money and jewelry during raids into Hebron and Jerusalem districts, said security sources and a local activist.
___Forces detained Baraka Taha, 33, after storming and ransacking his family house in Hebron city in the southern West Bank [. . . .]
___He added that troops had stolen 1.5 kilo of Jewelry, worth of about $60,000, belonging to Ahmad’s wife and three of her married daughters, INS 3,000 ($800) and 150 Jordanian Dinars (about $211) before withdrawing to the nearby settlement of Karmei Zur.
___Ahmad’s son, Ibrahim, 27, had been shot dead by Israeli forces during clashes in the town on October 10.      MORE . . .  

gaza gold
People shop for gold in Gaza City’s gold market on March 29, 2016 in Gaza City. Israeli authorities on Tuesday banned imports and exports of gold from and into the Gaza Strip. (Photo: Getty Images/ NurPhoto/Contributor)

❹ GLEAM  OF  HOPE  IN  GOLD  TRADE  FADES  IN  GAZA
Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Adnan Abu Amer
April 24, 2016
The Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip has variously affected the territory’s economic, business and financial sectors. Now, it is the gold market’s turn. Nazmi Muhanna, general director of the Palestinian Crossing and Borders Authority, announced March 29 that Israeli officials had informed him that they were halting the movement of gold, in all forms, into and out of Gaza.      MORE . . .  

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  INDIGNITY,  GRIEF  AND  MOURNING  ON  THE  GAZA  BORDER
+972 Blog
First published in Hebrew on Local Call
Nomi Heger
April 22, 2016
A woman from Gaza is told during a visit to Israel that she must terminate her advanced pregnancy. The Israeli army and courts effectively refuse to allow her to mourn with her husband by her side.      MORE . . .

(A portion  of this poem was posted in this blog on September 17, 2015)

“MY  LIBERTY,”  BY  FADWA  TUQAN

My liberty―my liberty―my liberty,
a sound I repeat
with angry lips
under the exchange of fire
and flames
I run after it
despite my chains
and follow its tracks
despite the night
and struggle ardently
for my liberty
My liberty
My liberty

And the Holy River
and Bridge repeat:
my liberty
and the two banks reiterate:
my liberty
and the raging wind and thunder,
tornadoes and rain
echo the sound:
my liberty

I shall carve its name
while I resist
on the land
by the walls and the doors
in the Temple of the Virgin
in the altar
and in the field,
on every hill
and every valley
and every curve
and road
in prison
in the torture rooms
and on the gallows
Despite the chains
and the house demolition
I shall carve its name
until I see it again
extending to my Homeland
and flourish
and flourish
until every inch of the land is covered
until every door is opened
by red liberty.
And the night vanishes
and the day breaks
My liberty―my liberty―my liberty

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.
Fadwa Tuqan

 

“. . . We’ll make you forget Palestine . . .” (Nizar Qabbani)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Israeli navy ships opened fire, on Monday at dawn, on a number of Palestinian fishing boats near the Sudaniyya shore, northwest of Gaza city, Feb. 2, 2015 (Photo: File – Felesteen – Gaza newspaper)
Israeli navy ships opened fire, on Monday at dawn, on a number of Palestinian fishing boats near the Sudaniyya shore, northwest of Gaza city, Feb. 2, 2015 (Photo: File – Felesteen – Gaza newspaper)

❶ Israeli Navy Opens Fire at Gaza Fishermen, Sinks Boat
❷ Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian in Gaza clashes
❸ Secondhand boom for Gaza traders with no alternative
❹ Jordan prepares to install surveillance cameras at Al-Aqsa
❺ Opinion/Analysis: WHY  THIS  HAMAS  LEADER  WILL  NOT  TELL  YOU  WHAT  YOU  WANT  TO  HEAR
❻ Poetry by Nizar Qabbani
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  NAVY  OPENS  FIRE  AT  GAZA  FISHERMEN,  SINKS  BOAT
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
April 2, 2016
Israeli navy early Saturday opened fire at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, setting fire to a boat and causing it to sink.
___. . . . No injuries were reported among the fishermen, who apparently fled the sea for fear of being detained, injured, or killed.
___This came as Israeli forces stationed at borderline watchtowers opened fire at farmers as they attempted to access their farmlands to the east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, causing them to flee fearing for their lives.      MORE . . .
MORE . . .  (The Jerusalem Post slant on the sinking) ISRAELI  NAVY  SINKS  SUSPECTED  SMUGGLING  BOAT  OFF  OF  GAZA  COAST  

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  SHOOT,  INJURE  PALESTINIAN  IN  GAZA  CLASHES
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
April 2, 2016
Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian with live fire when clashes broke out east of al-Buriej refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip Friday, medics said.
___Medical sources told Ma’an that a Palestinian youth was shot and taken to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah for treatment, without specifying the youth’s condition.
___. . . . Palestinians in the Gaza Strip crowd near the borders with Israel every Friday to show solidarity with what Palestinians in besieged coastal enclave have termed the “Jerusalem Intifada” taking place in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.      MORE . . . 

❸ SECONDHAND  BOOM  FOR  GAZA  TRADERS  WITH  NO  ALTERNATIVE
THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
Isra Saleh el-Namey
March 28, 2016
Samer Abu Ziada’s secondhand clothes shop in al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip attracts a lot of customers. . . .
___People in the impoverished strip are increasingly turning to shops like Abu Ziada’s. It is a response, said the merchant, whose store has been open six years, to need. Most Palestinians in Gaza, he told The Electronic Intifada, can no longer afford luxuries — and new clothes are now a luxury.      MORE . . .

The increasing popularity of secondhand shops is an “inevitable result” of Gaza’s growing poverty, says a government minister. (Photo: Electronic Intifada, Majdi Fathi)
The increasing popularity of secondhand shops is an “inevitable result” of Gaza’s growing poverty, says a government minister. (Photo: Electronic Intifada, Majdi Fathi)

❹ JORDAN  PREPARES  TO  INSTALL  SURVEILLANCE  CAMERAS  AT  AL-AQSA
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
April 2, 2016
Jordan has begun preparations to install 55 cameras at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, after months of contentious arguments over their installation appeared to be resolved. . . .
___The cameras are expected to be mounted on walls around the compound in order to document violations and raids carried out by the Israeli authorities, [Jordanian Minister of Endowment Hayil] Daoud said.
___The minister said the cameras would help Jordan politically, diplomatically and legally by providing material documentation of Israeli violations that could potentially be presented in court.      MORE . . .
RELATED . . . .  WHY  JORDAN  IS  INSTALLING  CAMERAS  AT  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  WHY  THIS  HAMAS  LEADER  WILL  NOT  TELL  YOU  WHAT  YOU  WANT  TO  HEAR
AL-MONITOR (PALESTINE PULSE)
Asmaa al-Ghoul
March 30, 2016
Ahmed Yousef, a member of Hamas’ Shura Council and former political adviser to former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, has always sung a different tune, owing to his honesty and moderate positions on political and social issues. His academic background includes a master’s degree in media and a doctorate in political science. . . .
___Yousef regularly writes articles for local websites criticizing Hamas’ performance, such as his piece published in 2014 headlined, “Have mercy on Gaza and return favor to its residents.” In this article, Yousef held both Fatah and Hamas responsible for the ongoing Palestinian division . . . .      MORE . . .

“AN  INVITATION  FOR  THE  FIFTH  OF  JUNE,”  BY  NIZAR  QABBANI 
(On the fifth anniversary of the Arab defeat in June, 1967)

I 
For the fifth year you come to us
lugging a burlap sack on your back, barefoot,
on your face the sadness of heavens
and the pain of Hussein.
We’ll receive you at every airport
with flower bouquets,
and drink — to your health — rivers of wine.
We’ll sing
and recite insincere poems in your presence,
and you’ll get used to us
and we to you.

II
We ask you to spend here your summer vacation,
like a tourist,
and we’ll offer you a royal suite
we’ve prepared — for you.
You may enjoy the night and the neon lights
and the rock and roll and the porno and the jazz —
here we know of no grief, nor the ones who grieve.
You’ll find in my country all that pleases you,
furnished flats for lovers,
liquor for drinkers,
and harem for the caliph.
Why are you so broken-winged?
Sad-faced guest,
we have water streams and gross and fair maidens —
why are you so diffident?
We’ll make you forget Palestine
and from your eyes pluck the tree of tears,
and from the Qur’an erase the verses,
the Compassionate and the Conquest,
and we’ll assassinate Jesus Christ and grant you an Arab passport
that has no exit visa.

III 
Fifth year
sixth
seventh
eighth
ninth
tenth year
what do the years count for?
All our grand cities, from the Euphrates to the Nile,
are bereft of memory, of remembrance.
We’ve forgotten the men lost in the Sinai
and our dead are dead.
What do the years count for?
We’ve prepared wreaths and the scarfs
and composed all the speeches
and carved, a week before you arrive,
the marble of the tombstones.
O Orient that feeds on the paper of communiqués
and walks — like a lamb — behind all banners.
O Orient that writes the names of its fallen men
on the faces of mirrors on the waists of belly dancers —
what do the years count for?
what do the years count for?
— —Translated by Sharif Elmusa

From MIDDLE  EAST  RESEARCH  AND  INFORMATION  PROJECT  17  (May/June 1987). Web.
About Nizar Qabbani

 

 

“. . . Have you forgotten your shame at . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

Harold Knight1 Comment
Hashem al-Azzeh harvests his family’s olives directly beneath the Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida in the West Bank city of Hebron in October 2012. (Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler ActiveStills.)
Hashem al-Azzeh harvests his family’s olives  in Hebron in October 2012. (Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler- ActiveStills.)

❶ Israel, Jordan Agree Deal for Al-Aqsa Mosque
❷ Palestinian shot, killed near Hebron after stabbing Israeli
❸ Settlers attack Palestinian farmers picking olives near Nablus
❹ [Deceased] Hebron activist showed Israel’s crimes to the world
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Israeli Self-inflicted Hate
❺―A: Can Netanyahu say just what he likes?
❻ Poetry by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ MIDDLE EAST MONITOR (MEMO)
ISRAEL,  JORDAN  AGREE  DEAL  FOR  AL-AQSA  MOSQUE
Oct. 25, 2015
Jordan and Israel have agreed to install 24-hour surveillance in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in a bid to reduce recent tensions over Islam’s third holiest site, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced in Jordanian capital Amman on Saturday.
____” I am also very pleased to announce today that [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has agreed to what I think is an excellent suggestion by [Jordanian] King Abdullah to provide 24-hour video coverage of all sites on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif”, Kerry said during a press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh.
More . . .
❷ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
PALESTINIAN  SHOT,  KILLED  NEAR  HEBRON  AFTER  STABBING  ISRAELI
Oct. 26, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian suspect was shot and killed after stabbing an Israeli in Hebron on Monday, Israel’s army and media reported.
____An Israeli army spokesperson said a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli in the neck near Beit Einun junction north of Hebron and was shot and killed at the scene.
____The Israeli, who is reportedly 19-years-old, was taken for medical treatment at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem with serious injuries.
____Israel’s army could not confirm whether the Israeli victim was a soldier or a settler, after conflicting reports in Hebrew-language media.
More . . .
❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
SETTLERS  ATTACK  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS  PICKING  OLIVES  NEAR  NABLUS
Oct. 26, 2015
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives on their land east of Nablus on Monday, a local monitor told Ma’an.
____Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the norther West Bank, told Ma’an that a group of settlers from Elon Moreh threw rocks at farmers in the Azmut and Deir al-Hatab areas east of Nablus.
____The farmers were forced to leave their land despite having organized access to their fields through the Palestinian and Israeli liaison offices.
____Settlers also attacked a 66-year-old man, identified as Hajj Tawfiq, moderately injuring him, Daghlas said.
More . . .
❹ THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
HEBRON  ACTIVIST  SHOWED  ISRAEL’S  CRIMES  TO  THE  WORLD
Ryan Rodrick Beiler
Oct. 23, 2015
Hebron resident and anti-occupation activist Hashem al-Azzeh died Wednesday after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces.
____According to Palestinian media reports, al-Azzeh, who suffered from a heart condition, began feeling chest pains while in his home in the Israeli-controlled Tel Rumeida neighborhood of the occupied West Bank city.
____“There was no chance to get an ambulance there,” Hisham Sharabati, coordinator of the Hebron Defense Committee and a field worker for the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, told The Electronic Intifada. Israeli forces do not allow Palestinian vehicles to drive on the streets near his home, which are reserved for Jewish motorists.
More . . .
❺ Opinion/Analysis
PALESTINE CHRONICLE
ISRAELI  SELF- INFLICTED  HATE
Jamal Kanj
Oct. 25 2015
Haftom Zarhum, a 29-year-old Eritrean, was lynched by Jewish Israelis simply because he looked different. After being shot in the legs, a mob circled him like hyenas over a bleeding prey throwing a bench over his head and chanting the unofficial Zionist’s anthem of hate: “Death to Arabs, Arabs out!” and “Am Israel Hai”.
____Disowning culpability and playing the traditional victim, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nashon blamed the incident on the “terrible situation we are in.” [. . . . .]
____Screaming at an injured Palestinian child soaked in blood, a racist mob lynching Zarhum, or killing a Jew who was mistaken for a Palestinian were further manifestations of Israel’s culture of hate. It was espoused by no less than Israeli minister of culture, and supported by the majority of Israelis.
More . . .
❺―A:  THE GUARDIAN
CAN  NETANYAHU  SAY  JUST  WHAT  HE  LIKES?
Dahlia Scheindlin
Oct. 23, 2015
More . . . 

“BUCHENWALD,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
Have you forgotten your shame at Buchenwald?
Do you remember your flames at Buchenwald?
Have you forgotten your love in the lexicon
of silence? Do you remember your panic―
at the reign of death, in the nightmare of time―
that the whole world
would become a Buchenwald?
Whether you’ve forgotten or not,
the dead’s images linger
among the wreaths of flowers,
and from the dismembered corpses
a hand emerges,
a nail in the palm and tattoo on the wrist―
a sign for the planet.
Do you remember? Or not?
Buchenwald― whether or not you’ve forgotten,
the images of the murdered
remain among the wreaths of flowers . . .

From Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER  THAN  WATER.  New  and  Selected  Poems.  Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008.
Available from Amazon
About Samih Al-Qasim. Obituary, August 20, 2014.

Muslims gathered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem for the Eid al-Adha prayers. Image Source: Getty / AHMAD GHARABLI
Muslims gathered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem for the Eid al-Adha prayers.
Image Source: Getty / AHMAD GHARABLI

“. . . whose planes bombard children’s dreams who breaks rainbows. . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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The main components of Ibrahim Jawabrah’s artistic works are the tiny wooden or metal cars made of wires and wheels, the patterns of the traditional Palestinian dress and the fabrics used in Palestinian villages. (Photo, This Week in Palestine)
The main components of Ibrahim Jawabrah’s artistic works are the tiny wooden or metal cars made of wires and wheels, the patterns of the traditional Palestinian dress and the fabrics used in Palestinian villages. (Photo, This Week in Palestine)

(Please read “Purpose” above. Thank you.)

❶ Netanyahu Asks Attorney General to Authorize Sniper Fire against Stone-throwers
❷ Artist of the Month: Ibrahim Jawabrah: Searching through Childhood
❸ Rights group: More than 1,991 Palestinian children killed since 2000
❹ The Fires of Religious War Rage over Al-Aqsa
❺ Opinion/Analysis: Gazan refugees denied rights in Jordan for over 45 years
❻ Poetry by Samih Al-Qasim

◊  ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊

❶ PALESTINE NEWS NETWORK
ISRAEL  AUTHORIZES  SNIPERS  FIRE  AGAINST  ROCK-THROWERS
Sept. 16, 2015
Israel has approved the use of sniper rifles against stone throwers in Jerusalem, Channel 10 reports on Thursday morning. Netanyahu asked the Attorney General to authorize sniper to target the stone throwers as part of his declared “war” on stone throwers in Jerusalem.
More . . .
Related . . .
Related . . . 

❷ THIS WEEK IN PALESTINE
ARTIST  OF  THE  MONTH:  IBRAHIM  JAWABRAH:  SEARCHING  THROUGH  CHILDHOOD
Mohammad Al Amiri
September, 2015
Born in 1985, Ibrahim Jawabrah is still searching for the child in himself. As he was following his passion for art, he explored the depth of his inner self and found himself in the area of his childhood, which gave his art a special trait and flavor. He discovered a new language with which to argue with himself and clarify many issues about art that would fulfill his vision and respond to his passion and emotions.
____Jawabrah chose the path to heal his pain. His mission in art is purely humanitarian.
More . . .

❸ MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
RIGHTS  GROUP:  MORE  THAN  1,991  PALESTINIAN  CHILDREN  KILLED  SINCE  2000
Sept. 17, 2015
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — More than 1,991 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces and extremists since 2000, according to figures released by an international rights group Thursday.
____Ongoing settlement building in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank are wedging Palestinian children and their families against “expanding and often violent Israeli settler communities,” Defense for Children International- Palestine (DCIP) research reported.
____Such expansion is increasingly placing Palestinian children in a “hyper-militarized environment,” where they are facing higher frequencies of disproportionate violence . . .
More . . .

Palestinian children look at the rubble of a destroyed mosque following an Israeli military strike in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on July 12, 2014. (AFP/Thomas Coex, File)
Palestinian children look at the rubble of a destroyed mosque following an Israeli military strike in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on July 12, 2014. (AFP/Thomas Coex, File)

❹ PALESTINE CHRONICLE
THE  FIRES  OF  RELIGIOUS  WAR  RAGE  OVER  AL-AQSA
Dr. Yousef Rezqa
Sep 16 2015
Israeli media sources have recently published the following statement: “Netanyahu’s government . . . decision to divide Al-Aqsa mosque in two phases: the first phase is to limit the presence of Palestinians by targeting and arresting religious scholars and students. . . The second phase will include the enforcement of daily hours where Jews can enter Al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinians will be forbidden to enter Al-Aqsa mosque during this time. The same regulations have been previously applied to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.”
____If we are to abide by the Netanyahu government’s policy, we will find ourselves in the midst of a new fait accompli that deprives Muslims of their basic right to worship in Al-Aqsa Mosque at any hour of the day.
More . . .
Related . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
GAZAN  REFUGEES  DENIED  RIGHTS  IN  JORDAN  FOR  OVER  45  YEARS
Aaron Magid
(Aaron Magid is an Amman-based journalist. He graduated from Harvard University with a masters in Middle Eastern studies.)
Sept. 17, 2015
JERASH REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan (Ma’an) — Born in Jordan, 27-year-old Muhammad’s life hardly resembles a typical Jordanian’s. Lacking any political or civil rights . . . because his parents fled to Jordan from Gaza following the 1967 War.
____“Compared to other Jordanian citizens, I am nothing,” explained Muhammad . . . Approximately 140,000 Palestinian refugees from Gaza live in a similar limbo as Muhammad in Jordan: denied most rights and often forced into a life of harsh poverty.
____Nearly 2.1 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 350,000 Palestinians fled to Jordan . . . The Nationality Law of 1954 provided Palestinian residents of the West Bank with full Jordanian citizenship after King Abdullah I annexed the West Bank on April 24, 1950. However, when the new wave of Palestinian refugees arrived in Jordan escaping from Gaza in the 1967 War, Amman treated them differently than their West Bank countrymen, refusing to provide them with Jordanian nationality or civil rights.
More . . .

EXCERPTED  FROM  “THE  CHILDREN  OF  RAFAH,”  BY  SAMI  AL-QASIM  (1970)
To him who digs his path
in the wounds of millions
whose tanks crush the garden’s roses
To him who breaks at night the houses’ windows
who burns a field and a museum
and sings to the fire
who rips the hair of sad women
and bombs grape fields
who executes the nightingale of feasts in the square
whose planes bombard children’s dreams who breaks rainbows
The children of deep rooted ancestors tonight declare
the children of Rafah tonight declare:
We did not knit blankets from hair braids
we did not spit on the face of murdered women
after plucking the golden teeth
Why do take the candy
and give us bombs?
why make Arab children orphans?
And thanks?

Sadness turned us into men
we must fight

[. . . .]

At the corner of the street
at the outskirts of town
the children of long histories
were gathering books, wood, and orphanage
frames and tent pegs
to build a barricade,
to block the path of darkness
and disturb the troops of hate
until peace washes their eyes
from the dust and hate of war!
And with books, wood, and orphanage
frames and tent pegs
his idol gave the barricade a nervous silence
and his hand was ready with the ink pot―
And the day the security doors of the conquerors closed
he was among the arrested
the son of the man whose residence was unknown

Footnote:
His age nine years―

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

Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian during clashes between protesters and police after authorities limited access for Muslim worshipers to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on July 26, 2015. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)
Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian during clashes between protesters and police after authorities limited access for Muslim worshipers to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on July 26, 2015. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)