Jerusalem Post: The Gush Etzion Charade. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . . | ISRAELI SUPREME COURT RULES SETTLEMENT OWNERSHIP OF A 500-DUNUM LAND IN WEST BANK The Israeli Supreme Court issued a ruling on the ownership of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of more than 500 dunums of Palestinian land in the Gush Etzion settlement area, south of Bethlehem, Israel Hayom newspaper reported. ___The newspaper said the judges of the Israeli Supreme Court rejected this week an appeal filed by Palestinians against a previous decision by the Central Court in Jerusalem stating that the ownership of the land by the JNF. ___The new ruling enables settlers to start work on confiscated land and build hundreds of settlement units there. More. . .
. . . . RelatedNetanyahu: “No Settlement Will be Evacuated” in His Time . . . . RelatedCatholic Lands to be Seized in Jordan Valley
. . . . Related Israeli bulldozers demolish house in Jerusalem | | SAUDI ARABIA TO CONTRIBUTE $50 MILLION TO UNRWA Saudi Arabia announced, on Wednesday, it will contribute $50 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). ___During a press conference, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Rabiah, the Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), told the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl, about the contribution. __UNRWA has faced a financial crisis this past year after the United States announced in mid-January the reduction of financial support . . . More. . .
. . . . RelatedTrump: ‘US troops will remain in Middle East for Israel’ . . . . RelatedSouth African academic conference cancels participation of Israelis |IOF BESIEGE SCHOOL IN BETHLEHEM TO ARREST A STUDENT Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Wednesday besieged Minya Secondary School, east of Bethlehem, in an attempt to break into the school and arrest a student. More . . .
. . . . RelatedIsraeli undercover units nab youth after beating him and his father
. . . . RelatedIsraeli forces detain 20 Palestinians, including minor
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . . | WHEN YARA MET FADI: GAZANS HELP COUPLE PICK UP THE PIECES AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE
By Ali Adam
“We thought our love was hopeless, but we continued nonetheless,” Fadi al-Ghazali told Al-Monitor, standing in his heavily damaged apartment in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City. As he and his mother went about clearing the rubble in their apartment from the Nov. 12 Israeli airstrike, on the wall hung a wedding gown, an object that has dominated social media as the symbol of the touching love story of Fadi and Yara, a young woman from Syria. [. . . .] In late September, the Egyptian Embassy finally contacted Yara to tell her that she had been granted permission to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. After three years of trying, Yara finally arrived in Gaza, on Nov. 8. As Fadi describes it, they can’t remember what their first conversations were about, because when they first met in person, they both “blacked out” from extreme joy and excitement. More . . .
I plant my poetry
in the streets,
in every quarter
and every alley,
a poem…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my fingers
in the streets,
in every hole,
in every flower pot:
a finger…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my blood
in the streets,
on every sidewalk,
on every roadsign:
a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my dreams
in the streets,
in the heads of passers-by:
an infant dream…resisting the conquerors!
I plant the names of my loved ones
in the streets,
on every tree, on every wall:
the name of a martyr resisting the conquerors!
I plant the colors of the flag
in the streets,
on every house,
and every window and door:
a color…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my children’s luggage
in the streets
at every roadblock,
at every checkpoint:
a suitcase…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my hands
in the streets,
on every corner:
a firm hand resisting the conquerors!
|ISRAELI SETTLERS STEAL PALESTINIAN OLIVE HARVEST IN NABLUS
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and olive harvesters in the Burin village, in southern Nablus City of the northern occupied West Bank, on Saturday. ____Wafa News Agency reported that a group of Israeli settlers threw rocks at Palestinian farmers while they were olive-picking in their lands in an attempt to force them to leave. [. . . .] During the past week, Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian farmer while harvesting his olive trees in the Deir al-Hattab village in Nablus, and other farmers in Burin; settlers also uprooted dozens of olive trees and stole harvest in the Tell village. ____For hundreds of Palestinian families, olive trees are the main source of income. . . More . . . |130 PALESTINIANS INJURED DURING GAZA PROTESTS
At least 130 Palestinians were injured with live Israeli ammunition, tear-gas suffocation and in airstrikes during protests along the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip under “The Great March of Return,” on Friday. ____The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed that 130 Palestinians were injured during protests, including two critical injuries; one of whom is a 70-year-old woman. ____The ministry added that a Palestinian journalist was among those injured. ____A Ma’an reporter that Israeli forces heavily and randomly opened fire at protesters as several of them were able to cut through the Israeli security fence at the borders of the northern Gaza Strip. More . . .
. . . . RelatedPalestinians injured, arrested in Khan al-Ahmar protests . . . . RelatedArrests reported as clashes erupt in West Bank . . . . RelatedIsraeli navy kidnaps two fishermen off Gaza shore |JERUSALEM’S CHURCH LEADERS ACCUSE ISRAEL OF RENEGING ON PREVIOUS TAXATION AGREEMENT
Leaders of the largest three churches in Jerusalem have accused Israel of reneging on a previous agreement reached between them regarding taxing church property. ____The French news agency, AFP, said on Friday that leaders of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches as well as a senior Latin Church official sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to block a draft legislation a ministerial committee is going to discuss on Sunday that aims at expropriating their property. More. . .
. . . . RelatedJerusalem: Christian cemetery vandalized, graves destroyed
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
|ISRAEL’S DEFIANCE OF HISTORY, MORALITY AND LAW
Jeremy Salt
No state established on land seized by force from the people living on that land can claim moral legitimacy and a ‘right’ to exist. ____A purported ‘right’ to exist is not central to the existence of states anyway, let alone colonial settler states established amidst the wreckage of the genuine rights of another people. [. . . .] Israel understands this as well as anyone. It makes a lot of noise about its right to exist and its legitimacy but this is bluster. It knows why it exists and why it believes it will continue to exist. It has a strong military. It has nuclear weapons. It can destroy anyone who threatens to destroy it. These are the constituent elements of its existence, not morality and the ‘rights’ of which it endlessly talks. More . . .
. . . . RelatedThe Apartheid State of Israel and the Palestinian Resistance . . . . Related B’Tselem: World can no longer stand idly by regarding Israeli crimes
POEM FOR THE DAY. . . .
“RETURNING,” BY MAJID ABU GHOUSH
the woman was dragging her feet
and what remained of her children
towards what remained of her home
towards what remained
of the sea
towards what remained
of the heart
towards what remained of the heart
she raised her hand softly
wiped a tear which rolled down her cheek
and smiled when the beautiful one
she met on the way asked her:
why are you going back?
to water the jasmine tree
to shade the names of the martyrs
—translated by Magi Gibson
MAJID ABU GHOUSH was born in Amwas. He is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Barnes and Noble.
Shot with a live round in the head, east of Gaza city, Emad Daoud Eshteiwi, 21. Sept. 24, 2018. (Photo: IMEMCNews.)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . .
REPORT: SETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES ESCALATED, PARTICULARLY IN JERUSALEM AND JORDAN VALLEY
In his weekly report on Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank, the National Office for the Defending Land and Resisting Settlements (NBPRS) reported, that Israel’s settlement activities cover all the West Bank governorates encouraged by the US, and the absence of the international accountability. The Netanyahu government continues its grave violations of international law that amount to war crimes through demolishing and displacing the Palestinians, and at the same time legitimizing settlement outposts and confiscating Palestinian land the last of which a plan no 3/515, which aims to expand the settlement of Tina by building 135 new settlement units on 260 dunums of the lands of the Dahiriya town. More . . .
ISRAEL IMPOSES 8 DAY CLOSURE ON WEST BANK, GAZA
The Israeli authorities declared an 8-day closure on the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip starting late Sunday until next Monday, the first of October, for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. ___The Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that the closure will be lifted off the West Bank on Monday, September 24th night but would be imposed again on Thursday night until October 1st. ___Crossings with the Gaza Strip would remain closed until October 1st. ___This is the third closure imposed on the West Bank and Gaza in the month of September. . . More. . .
ISRAELI SOLDIERS KILL A PALESTINIAN IN GAZA
The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that Israeli soldiers killed, on Sunday evening, a young Palestinian man, and injured at least 20 others, including one medic, along the eastern part of the besieged Gaza Strip. ___Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza, said the soldiers shot Emad Daoud Eshteiwi, 21, with a live round in the head, east of Gaza city, and moderately injured a medic in the leg. ___He added that the soldiers also shot twenty Palestinians with live rounds . . . More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
ABBAS ARRIVES IN NEW YORK FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived Sunday to New York, in the United States, to participate in the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, amidst calls from pro-Israel lobbying organizations that the U.S. should deny Abbas entry into the US. ___President Abbas will be delivering a speech this coming Thursday, and also intends to hold many meetings with world leaders and international delegations participating in the General Assembly sessions. ___He is accompanied by the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Ziad Abu Amro, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki . . . More . . . Related . . . Premier to tell AHLC meeting ending Israeli occupation answer to economic growth Related . . . Italian motorcycle rally in solidarity with Palestinians Related . . . Japan funds project for additional classrooms in Salfit village Related . . . Jordan takes steps to support Jerusalem’s Palestinians
EXPLOITING GAZA TOPS THE UN’S HUMANITARIAN AGENDA
What would prompt the UN to assert, without reservations or calculated statements, that Gaza has collapsed in terms of humanitarian necessities? So far, the international organization has relied on projecting extended time frames; the result being that Gaza was forced into a currently irreversible situation while the UN saves face, or believes it does, by stepping in at its designated intervals. ___On Monday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory announced through a press release that it was releasing $1 million “to prevent the collapse of life-saving services in the Gaza Strip”. [. . . .] The funding crisis exacerbates the humanitarian situation because the political intent is to maintain the continuation of violating human rights. In its previous warning of the impending collapse in services, there is no mention of Israel. More . . . Related . . . LACK OF MEDICATIONS THREATENS LIVES OF 425 KIDNEY PATIENTS [GAZA]
NOTICES FROM ORGANIZATIONS . . .
THE PALESTINIAN ASSOCIATION FOR EMPOWERMENT AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT-REFORM REFORM strives for a society where everyone has the capacity to participate effectively, individual and collective rights are respected, and pluralism is ensured in an independent Palestinian state. Donate . . .
Strange days cast dour shadows Dusk. The fragrance of death on a windowsill. In the lingering heat an impossible burden weighs down on eyelids and chest; the throat aches, the spine throbs.
Rose petals all tarnished with foul dust from the poisoned world. Black limousines sail past, flying the skull and crossbones. The grave yawns open early, nightmares never leave. Death squads. Detention camps.
Somewhere, an oud pronounces its sad chords. The invaders smile; tap their feet.
―Translated by John Glenday
Majid Abu Ghoush is prolific poet and novelist, a member of the secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders, Palestine.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY. Ed. by Henry Bell and Sarah Irving. (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014).
PALESTINIAN SUCCUMBS TO WOUNDS SUSTAINED DURING GAZA PROTESTS A 19-year-old Palestinian succumbed to his wounds, on Friday morning, that he had sustained several weeks ago during “The Great March of Return” protests in the besieged Gaza Strip. ___Medical sources identified the Palestinian as Amjad Fayez Hamduna, 19, and confirmed that he had succumbed to his wounds. ___Hamduna was wounded by Israeli forces’ live fire during protests on July 14th in northern Gaza. More. . . Related . . . ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE INJURES 2 PALESTINIANS IN GAZA Related. . . ISRAELI FORCES INJURE FIVE PALESTINIANS NEAR RAMALLAH
PALESTINIANS PREVENT ISRAELI SETTLERS’ RAID OF KHAN AL-AHMAR
A group of Palestinians prevented a group of Israeli settlers from raiding the Khan al-Ahmar village east of occupied Jerusalem City, on Friday morning. ___Locals said that Israeli settlers attempted to raid the Bedouin village, threatened with demolition that is expected to take place in less than a week, to provoke residents and activists carrying out a sit-in at the village. ___Palestinian youths prevented Israeli settlers from raiding the village and forced them to leave back to the nearby main street. [. . . . ] Earlier this week, the Israeli High Court had rejectedan appeal against the demolition of the village . . . More. . .
ISRAEL ORDERS FIVE JERUSALEMITES TO STAY AWAY FROM JERUSALEM
An Israeli court ordered five Palestinian youth from occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday to stay away from the city and its holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for one month, as a precondition for their release from Israeli custody. More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION: DECLINE OR DEATH? [MINISTER] OF THE RIGHT-WING LIKUD PARTY SAID, “THE TWO-STATE SOLUTION IS DEAD”.
This is the latest of a slew of Israeli statements related surrounding the revival of the so-called Confederacy solution with Jordan. ___This statement also refers somehow to the development of this solution, as it comes over a decade after another announcement was made, i.e. the “decline of the two-state solution”, which was reiterated after the Palestinian division in 2007 . . . More . . .
SHUBLAQ: ELECTRICITY CRISIS IN GAZA LEADS TO WATER, SEWAGE CRISES (VIDEO)General Director of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) Munther Shublaq warned yesterday of a near water and sewage crises in Gaza due to the continuous electricity crisis, Safa news agency reported. ___In a press release, Shublaq said that the situation in Gaza deteriorated as the fuel offered by OCHA, which is needed to run the water and sewage plants, is running out. More. . .
NOTICES FROM ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
KINDERUSA – DALLAS:DR. MADS GILBERT: A RETURN VISIT TO GAZA.
A FUND RAISING EVENT
Dr. Mads Gilbert, Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway, gives his first hand account of the horrors that took place during 51 day war in Gaza. Dr. Gilbert has authored two books about the last two wars in Gaza. Both will be available for purchase at the close of the program. Sunday, October 21, 2018, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Angelika Film Center, Plano, TX, USA
Admission: $45 Register. . .
“RESISTANCE,” MAJID ABU GHOUSH
I plant my poetry
in the streets,
in every quarter
and every alley,
a poem…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my fingers
in the streets,
in every hole,
in every flower pot:
a finger…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my blood
in the streets,
on every sidewalk,
on every roadsign:
a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my dreams
in the streets,
in the heads of passers-by:
an infant dream…resisting the conquerors!
I plant the names of my loved ones
in the streets,
on every tree, on every wall:
the name of a martyr resisting the conquerors!
I plant the colors of the flag
in the streets,
on every house,
and every window and door:
a color…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my children’s luggage
in the streets
at every roadblock,
at every checkpoint:
a suitcase…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my hands
in the streets,
on every corner:
a firm hand resisting the conquerors!
Majid Abu Ghoush(b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine. Abu Ghoush readingone of his own poems. From:University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Middle East Affairs Special Programs,Commemorating the Intifada’s Tenth Year, April 10, 1998 Prof. Naseer Aruri
❶ Erekat : we will put on hold all our communications with this American administration
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Arab league approaches US over PLO’s Washington office closure
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Dr. Ashrawi: U.S. is disqualifying itself as a peace broker in the region
Background: “The Concept of Palestine: The Conception of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period.” Journal of Holy Land & Palestine Studies.
❷ Israel to demolish residential structures near Hebron
❸ Dozens of Jewish settlers defile Aqsa Mosque
❹ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
Special notice: Museum of the Palestinian People(Please make a contribution. Thanks to a generous donor, any gift you make will be matched up to $25,000 by the end of November. This amount will count toward our 2018 budget of $168,000.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ EREKAT : WE WILL PUT ON HOLD ALL OUR COMMUNICATIONS WITH THIS AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION Palestine News Network – PNN
Nov. 19, 2017 ― Saeb Erekat , secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, said that if the American administrations close PLO offices in Washington, D.C., we will put on hold all our communications with this American administration.”
___Erekat added that “the US State Department notified us with an official letter that they cannot certify the continuance opening of the PLO office in Washington D.C. due to the fact that we are pursuing and encouraging the ICC (International Criminal Court).”
___“This is very unfortunate and unacceptable. This is the pressure being exerted on this administration from the Netanyahu government. MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) ARAB LEAGUE APPROACHES US OVER PLO’S WASHINGTON OFFICE CLOSURE Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Nov. 19, 2017 ―The Arab League Sunday announced that its Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has approached the US administration after the latter announced it will close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) office in Washington.
___The league said in a press statement that Aboul Gheit and Minister of foreign affairs Riyad al-Malki met and discussed the latest developments on the ground and possible means to resume the peace process between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
___Al-Malki briefed Aboul Gheit on the official position of the Palestinian Authority regarding the closure of the PLO’s Washington office, saying it will harm the peace process and the role of the US as peace broker.
___Aboul Gheit’s spokesman said the league is working to maintain official communication channels between the Palestinian Authority and the US administration. . . MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) DR. ASHRAWI: U.S. IS DISQUALIFYING ITSELF AS A PEACE BROKER IN THE REGION Palestine News Network – PNN
Nov. 19, 2017 ― In response to media inquiries concerning the U.S. administration’s refusal to extend the waiver of statutory restrictions on the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States in Washington D.C., PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi condemned such a move and said:
___“Instead of holding Israel liable for its persistent violations of international law and conventions, the U.S. administration and Congress are threatening to punish the Palestinian people because of statements made by President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations and other leaders pertaining to ICC accountability for Israel and for its war crimes in Palestine. MORE . . .
Masalha, Nur. “THE CONCEPT OF PALESTINE: THE CONCEPTION OF PALESTINE FROM THE LATE BRONZE AGE TO THE MODERN PERIOD.”
Journal of Holy Land & Palestine Studies, vol. 15, no. 2, Nov. 2016, pp. 143-202.
The celebrated English historian Edward Gibbon, writing in 1776, noted that ‘Phoenicia and Palestine will forever live in the [collective] memory of mankind’. . . Palestine is the collective watan (homeland) of the Palestinian people —the indigenous people of historic Palestine. The Palestinian people have a multi-religious and multicultural ancient heritage and a multi-layered identity deeply rooted in ancient history. Palestinians often speak of Biladuna Filastin: ‘Our Country, Palestine’ (colloquially: Bladna Falastin). The country of Palestine as a distinct political geography-with its own distinct and diverse traditions and a mélange of styles —is deeply rooted in the indigenous psyche and consciousness; the toponym (place-name) of Palestine is deeply rooted in the ancient past from the Late Bronze Age onwards. . . . For a millennium and a half of Classical Antiquity and Byzantine Christianity as well as under Islam in the Middle Ages the term Palestine also acquired official administrative status.
[. . . .] For over 1200 years the name Palestine was used most commonly, consistently and continuously throughout Classical Antiquity, from the highlight of classical Athenian civilisation . . . [until] the occupation of Palestine by the Muslim armies in 637 AD.
___To substitute the vague and semi-mythical term Cana’an for the real historical and official toponym Palaestina for a spectacular classical period lasting over one millennium would be tantamount to the elimination of the actual history of this important region . . . [and] eliminate the possibility of any real historical knowledge of one of the most important periods in the ancient history of the region, namely: early Christianity and Byzantine greater Palaestina. Greek-speaking Byzantine Christianity in Palestine began in the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306—337 AD) and lasted until the beginning of Islamic rule in Palestine in 637 AD.
[. . . .] Furthermore, when referring to the ancient history of this region modern European scholarship (and even early Zionist scholarly societies such as the ‘Jewish Palestine Exploration Society’, founded in 1914) universally and unanimously talk about ‘Palestine’, even when referring to Jewish history. [. . . .] SOURCE . . .
❷ ISRAEL TO DEMOLISH RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES NEAR HEBRON Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Nov. 19, 2017 ― Israeli authorities notified Palestinians about a decision to demolish residential structures and animal barns in Masafer Yatta area, to the south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.
___Rateb Jabour, who monitors settlement activities in the area, said Israeli forces handed a written notice to locals informing them about their intention to demolish a number of residential structures and a barn used for raising livestock in Kherbet Shaab al-Butum, a village in Masafer Yatta area. The barn was built with funding from the European Union. MORE . . .
❸ DOZENS OF JEWISH SETTLERS DEFILE AQSA MOSQUE The Palestinian Information Center
Nov. 19, 2017 ― Dozens of Jewish settlers broke into the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem on Sunday morning under Israeli security protection provided by special police forces. ___The PIC reporter said that 86 settlers entered the holy Islamic site via the Maghareba Gate in six separate groups and roamed its plazas. ___He added that 35 Israeli students toured the Aqsa Mosque compound along with guides, who explained to the students the history of the alleged Jewish Temple. MORE . . .
“RESISTANCE,” MAJID ABU GHOUSH
I plant my poetry
in the streets,
in every quarter
and every alley,
a poem…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my fingers
in the streets,
in every hole,
in every flower pot:
a finger…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my blood
in the streets,
on every sidewalk,
on every roadsign:
a drop of blood…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my dreams
in the streets,
in the heads of passers-by:
an infant dream…resisting the conquerors!
I plant the names of my loved ones
in the streets,
on every tree, on every wall:
the name of a martyr resisting the conquerors!
I plant the colors of the flag
in the streets,
on every house,
and every window and door:
a color…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my children’s luggage
in the streets
at every roadblock,
at every checkpoint:
a suitcase…resisting the conquerors!
I plant my hands
in the streets,
on every corner:
a firm hand resisting the conquerors!
Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine. Abu Ghoush reading one of his own poems. See also. From:University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Middle East Affairs
Special Programs, Commemorating the Intifada’s Tenth Year, April 10, 1998 Prof. Naseer Aruri
❶ Major initiative launched to support human rights in Palestine
❷ Israeli Violations’ Activities in the oPt
Background: “Settler-Colonialism, Memoricide and Indigenous Toponymic Memory: The Appropriation of Palestinian Place Names by the Israeli State.” Journal of Holy Land & Palestine Studies
❸ Analysis: Pessoptimistic reflections from besieged Gaza
❹ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ MAJOR INITIATIVE LAUNCHED TO SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS IN PALESTINE Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Oct. 21, 2017 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, together with the European Union (EU) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), launched on Thursday a project which aims at making the rights contained in the human rights treaties acceded by the State of Palestine in 2014 a reality for all Palestinians, according to a joint statement by the three groups.
___The commitments under these treaties complement and enhance the Government’s political obligations within the National Policy Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
___The project will provide capacity building to assist the Palestinian government in promoting and protecting all human rights for all Palestinians. The project will also work with the Independent Commission for Human Rights and selected civil society organizations to strengthen their ability to promote accountable governance through national dialogue and advocacy. It will empower Palestinians as rights-holders to better understand and claim their rights. MORE . . . ❷ ISRAELI VIOLATIONS’ ACTIVITIES IN THE OPT POICA – Monitoring Israeli Colonization Activities in the Palestinian Territories
Oct. 17, 2017 (NOTE: these daily reports become available as they are translated.)
The daily report highlights the violations behind Israeli home demolitions and demolition threats in the occupied Palestinian territory, the confiscation and razing of lands, the uprooting and destruction of fruit trees, the expansion of settlements and erection of outposts, the brutality of the Israeli Occupation Army, the Israeli settlers violence against Palestinian civilians and properties, the erection of checkpoints, the construction of the Israeli segregation wall and the issuance of military orders for the various Israeli purposes. MORE . . .
Masalha, Nur. “SETTLER-COLONIALISM, MEMORICIDE AND INDIGENOUS TOPONYMIC MEMORY: THE APPROPRIATION OF PALESTINIAN PLACE NAMES BY THE ISRAELI STATE.” Journal of Holy Land & Palestine Studies, vol. 14, no. 1, May 2015, pp. 3-57.
[. . . .] Since the rise of the Zionist settler movement in the late nineteenth century, and especially since the establishment of Israel in 1948, the struggle over toponymic memory and the renaming of sites has developed as an integral part of the political conflict in Palestine. The indigenous Palestinians have insisted on their own comprehensive set of Arabic place names through which they see their own social memory and deep-rootedness in the land of Palestine. On the other hand, since the ethnic cleansing of the 1948 Nakba and the creation of the Israeli state . . . the Israeli army and Israeli state have sought to rename systematically Palestinian Arabic place names, claiming priority in chronology and using modern archaeology, map-making, and place names as their proofs of Jewish roots in ‘the land of Israel’. In Israel the significance of place names lies in their potential to legitimize ‘historical claims’ asserted by the Zionist settler-colonial movement.
[. . . .] The social and cultural importance of toponymic memory and geographical rendering of sites and terms in historical writing is evident in many histories from antiquity, medieval and modern Palestine. One classical example of listing place-nations of ancient Palestine in ‘Histories’ (or The History, 1987) of Herodotus, written from the 450s to the 420s BC. Herodotus is believed to have visited Palestine in the fifth decade of the fifth century B.C. The ‘Father of History’ refers to ‘Palaistine’, Syria, or simply ‘Palaistine’ five times, an area comprising the region between Phoenicia and Egypt. . . . Although Herodotus’s Histories is now considered a founding work of history in Western literature, and serve as a key record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various powers that were known in Greece, Western Asia and North Africa, when it comes to Palestine and toponymic memory Western Christian writing relies not on Herodotus’ Histories but on the myth-narratives of the Bible. Interestingly however the Greek toponym for Palestine and Ascalan were preserved in indigenous Palestinian Arab tradition and by medieval Arab historians and travellers . . . . SOURCE. (Available through libraries with EBSCO databases.)
❸ ANALYSIS: PESSOPTIMISTIC REFLECTIONS FROM BESIEGED GAZA Mondoweiss
Haidar Eid
Oct. 20, 2017 One cannot understand the deadly, medieval siege imposed on Gaza apart from Israel’s settler-colonialism in Palestine. The horror inflicted on Gaza is, in fact, rooted in the political fragmentation caused by Apartheid Israel, reinforced by the Oslo authority, and sparked by factional struggles over access to power in a Bantustan turned into a concentration camp.
___The rationale behind this genocidal blockade imposed by Apartheid Israel, and supported by a complicit ME Quartet is that we, 2 million Gazans, are expected to recognize Israel’s right to exist on our ethnically cleansed villages from where we were expelled in 1948 and renounce our resistance as a form of violence. This is how this Crime of Collective Punishment is justified! The international community is basically telling us that we must collaborate with the occupiers in order to be accepted, that we must normalize apartheid and settler colonialism. If we don’t do that, we are doomed then and must pay a heavy price with the lives of our children. MORE . . . .
OCCUPATION,” BY MAJID ABU GHOUSH Occupied Ramallah 17/11/06
Strange days cast dour shadows Dusk. The fragrance of death on a windowsill. In the lingering heat an impossible burden weighs down on eyelids and chest; the throat aches, the spine throbs.
Rose petals all tarnished with foul dust from the poisoned world. Black limousines sail past, flying the skull and crossbones. The grave yawns open early, nightmares never leave. Death squads. Detention camps.
Somewhere, an oud pronounces its sad chords. The invaders smile; tap their feet.
―Translated by John Glenday
Majid Abu Ghoush is a prolific poet, a member of the secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders, Palestine.
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 and Noble.
❶ Worshippers clash with Israeli police outside Al-Aqsa Mosque following noon prayer
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Military wings in Gaza warn Israel Al-Aqsa policies will ‘explode in the region’
Background: “Between Religion and Nationalism in the Palestinian Diaspora.”Nations & Nationalism
❷ Activist imprisoned for defending Palestinian children
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Israeli parliament advances law to keep fight against BDS secret from public
❸ Israeli forces shoot young Palestinian in East Jerusalem, raid hospital where he is treated
❹ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ WORSHIPERS CLASH WITH ISRAELI POLICE OUTSIDE AL-AQSA MOSQUE FOLLOWING NOON PRAYER Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
July 19, 2017. Dozens of Palestinian worshipers Wednesday clashed with Israeli police outside Al-Aqsa Mosque following the noon prayer, according to witnesses.
___They said police attacked the worshipers at the end of the prayer held outside Lions’ Gate where people have been holding prayers five times a day, as required by Islam.
___Police used clubs and tear gas to disperse the worshipers. A number of people suffered from gas inhalation and beating and were treated on location. Police arrested two Palestinians.
___Worshipers have been holding the prayers outside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound since Sunday after Israel erected metal detectors at the gates to the compound and demanded that people had to go through them first before entering the compound. Muslim leaders have rejected this new measure and vowed to fight it. They also called on people not to enter Al-Aqsa going through the metal detectors. MORE . . . . . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) MILITARY WINGS IN GAZA WARN ISRAEL AL-AQSA POLICIES WILL ‘EXPLODE IN THE REGION’ Ma’an News Agency
July 18, 2017. Military wings of various political factions in the besieged Gaza Strip warned Israel against continuing its restrictive policies at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem during a press conference on Tuesday, saying that Israel’s “offensive” on Al-Aqsa represents a “spark that will explode in the region.”
___“We will have our strong and supreme word if Zionist plans against Al-Aqsa continue,” the groups warned in the press conference. “We will not allow our enemy to invade our Al-Aqsa, our holy sites, and our people in Jerusalem.”
___The military wings then saluted the people of Jerusalem and called upon all Palestinians to support Al-Aqsa. MORE . . .
Vicente Pèrez, Michael. “BETWEEN RELIGION AND NATIONALISM IN THE PALESTINIAN DIASPORA.”
Nations & Nationalism, vol. 20, no. 4, Oct. 2014, pp. 801-820.
[. . . .] Since its founding, Hamas has proved to be a flexible and dynamic organization. At times reformist, at others militant, its essential character as a sociopolitical movement has been difficult to define in any certain terms. Perhaps the movement’s shifting positions on the question of religion and nationalism. While some scholars have prioritized Hamas’s religious dimensions and thus located it within broader trends of what has been called ‘political Islam’ or ‘Islamism’, I believe there are several factors that suggest the organization’s religious hue is insufficient for fully negating its nationalist character. First, while Hamas employs a discourse saturated with religious references to the Quran, hadith and the concept of jihad, the target audience of this discourse is nonetheless confined to the Palestinian people. Put simply, Hamas is not speaking to the Muslim umma; rather, it is speaking particularly to Palestinian Muslims and more generally to the Palestinian nation. It wants to put Muslim Palestinians at the forefront of the national movement. Palestinian Muslims thus represent a vanguard of the nation who, in virtue of their invented religious tradition and identification, have a critical role to play in the liberation of Palestine from Israel. In pragmatic terms, Hamas has also confined its efforts to the geography of the national context.
[. . . .] Hamas’s reformist and military approach to the struggle against Israel has also been defined within the limits of the Palestinian territories. It does not work for a transnational reformation of the Muslim world in preparation for a global jihad against Israel and its allies. Rather, it works through a diverse network of charitable institutions in Palestine to support all Palestinians while promoting an Islamic reformation within Palestinian society. . . . Hamas locates the Islamic reformation of Palestinian society within a greater program of national liberation. Thus turning Palestinian Muslims toward a more pious (Islamic) lifestyle is inextricably linked to the struggle against Israeli occupation and the Palestinian nationalist cause. . . . In this sense, religious reformation is understood as an essential step toward succeeding in the national struggle where secular organizations have failed. Finally, even the very distinction between what is definitively Islamic and what is definitively national about Hamas remains unclear. An analysis of Hamas’s discourse suggests that it is appropriating religious concepts in Islam for nationalist purposes.
[. . . .] To the extent that religious ideology can be distinguished from nationalism in Hamas’s discourse and practice, it is clear that neither is sufficient for trumping the other [ . . . .] SOURCE . . .
❷ ACTIVIST IMPRISONED FOR DEFENDING PALESTINIAN CHILDREN Palestine News Network – PNN
July 19, 2017. The Ofer military court has sentenced the activist of the Popular Resistance Movement and human rights defender Ahmad Odeh to six months in prison with a fee of NIS 6,000 due to accusations of throwing rocks. He was arrested at the northern entrance to Bethlehem during his attempt to defend a group of children who were barbaric beaten by Israeli special units.
___Munther Amira, head of the High Coordination Committee for the Resistance against the Wall and Settlements in the West Bank, said that the ruling was unjust and unfair to a Popular Resistance activist who is also considered a human rights defender. Amira said that it is part of the occupation campaign to put popular resistance activists who have been able to expose the practices of the occupation for trial.
___“It is barbarism against our people on more than one level” Amira stated. MORE . . . . . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) ISRAELI PARLIAMENT ADVANCES LAW TO KEEP FIGHT AGAINST BDS SECRET FROM PUBLIC Ma’an News Agency
July 18, 2017.
An Israeli bill aimed at exempting Israel’s attempts at combating the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and efforts to “delegitimize Israel” from Israel’s Freedom of Information Law, which allows Israeli citizens to obtain information from the government, passed its first reading in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Monday. ___According to a statement released by the Knesset, 25 Members of the Knesset (MKs) supported the bill, while 12 MKs voted against it and one abstained from the vote. ___Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan from the right-wing Likud party, who is in charge of combating the boycott movement, said that the “boycott organizations are spread out geographically and act in different areas. The organizations built a network of activity and act in coordination with the Palestinian Authority,” he said. MORE . . . ❸ ISRAELI FORCES SHOOT YOUNG PALESTINIAN IN EAST JERUSALEM, RAID HOSPITAL WHERE HE IS TREATED Ma’an News Agency
July 18, 2017. Israeli forces shot and injured a young Palestinian man on Monday evening in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, a local watchdog organization reported, before raiding the hospital where the wounded Palestinian was being treated.
___The Wadi Hilweh Information Center said that Israeli troops stormed the area of Ein al-Luza and fired stun grenades and live fire haphazardly, while young residents threw Molotov cocktails and fireworks in response.
___One Palestinian was seriously injured during the raid, according to the information center, and taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery.
___The center added that Israeli police raided the al-Makassed Hospital east of the Old City of Jerusalem, seeking to detain the injured Palestinian. MORE . . .
“RETURNING,” BY AMJID ABU GHOUSH
the woman was dragging her feet
and what remained of her children
towards what remained of her home
towards what remained
of the sea
towards what remained
of the heart
towards what remained of the heart
she raised her hand softly
wiped a tear which rolled down her cheek
and smiled when the beautiful one
she met on the way asked her:
why are you going back?
to water the jasmine tree
to shade the names of the martyrs
—translated by Magi Gibson
MAJID ABU GHOUSH was born in Amwas. He is a prolific poet, a member of the Secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and a founding member of Poets Without Borders Palestine.
From A BIRD IS NOT A STONE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY PALESTINIAN POETRY (Glasgow: Freight Books, 2014) –available from Amazon.com.
“Jewish terrorism is different from Arab terrorism,” Israeli Supreme Court in case of Muhammad Abu Khdeir—see below. (Photo: IMEMC, July 5, 2017)
❶ Israeli settlers assault Palestinian in Hebron’s Old City as Israeli forces watch
❷ Abu Khdeir family: ‘We never had high hopes for Israel’s legal system’
Background: Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
❸ Residency Revocation: Israel’s Forcible Transfer of Palestinians from Jerusalem
❹ Opinion/Analysis: “The One-State as a Demand of International Law: Jus Cogens, Challenging Apartheid and the Legal Validity of Israel.”
❺ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ ISRAELI SETTLERS ASSAULT PALESTINIAN IN HEBRON’S OLD CITY AS ISRAELI FORCES WATCH Ma’an News Agency
July 5, 2017. A group of Israeli settlers “violently beat” a Palestinian on al-Shuhada Street in the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank Tuesday night, according to a local activist.
___Palestinian activist Badi Dweik, a member of Human Rights Defenders, said that a group of Israeli settlers violently attacked and beat 22-year-old Hisham Raghib Abu Isha on al-Shuhada Street, while Israeli forces stood by watching.
___Dweik added that after a while of watching the assault take place, Israeli forces tied Abu Isha up, placed him a military jeep, and transferred him to an unknown location. [. . . .] Some 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers live under the protection of the Israeli military in the Old City, surrounded by more than 30,000 Palestinians. MORE . . .RELATED . . . ❷ ABU KHDEIR FAMILY: ‘WE NEVER HAD HIGH HOPES FOR ISRAEL’S LEGAL SYSTEM’ Ma’an News Agency
July 5, 2017. After Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition to demolish the homes of three Israelis convicted of brutally killing 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir in 2014, Abu Khdeir’s family told Palestinian lawyer Muhannad Jibara on Wednesday that they “never had high hopes” that Israel’s legal system would actually order the demolitions.
___The Abu Khdeir family had presented the petition to the Israeli courts demanding that Yosef Haim Ben-David and two minors, who were convicted of kidnapping and burning the Palestinian teenager alive three years ago, have their homes demolished, in line with an official Israeli policy carried out overwhelmingly against Palestinians who have killed Israelis.
___Jibara said that the Abu Khdeir family had submitted the petition in the Israeli courts in order to expose the “racism” of the Israeli government against Palestinians in their policies of punitive home demolitions and to “cause embarrassment” to the Israeli courts. MORE . . .BACKGROUND . . .
“ISRAELI PRACTICES TOWARDS THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND THE QUESTION OF APARTHEID. Palestine and the Israeli Occupation.” United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). By Richard Falk and Virginia Tilley. Global Research, March 19, 2017
(The report has been removed from the UN website. It is available at link below.) [. . . .] Since 1967, Palestinians as a people have lived in what the report refers to as four “domains”, in which the fragments of the Palestinian population are ostensibly treated differently but share in common the racial oppression that results from the apartheid regime. Those domains are: Civil law, with special restrictions, governing Palestinians who live as citizens of Israel; Permanent residency law governing Palestinians living in the city of Jerusalem; Military law governing Palestinians, including those in refugee camps, living since 1967 under conditions of belligerent occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Policy to preclude the return of Palestinians, whether refugees or exiles, living outside territory under Israel’s control. [. . . .] This report finds that, taken together, the four domains constitute one comprehensive regime developed for the purpose of ensuring the enduring domination over non-Jews in all land exclusively under Israeli control in whatever category. To some degree, the differences in treatment accorded to Palestinians have been provisionally treated as valid by the United Nations, in the absence of an assessment of whether they constitute a form of apartheid. In the light of this report’s findings, this long-standing fragmented international approach may require review. [. . . .] The report concludes that the weight of the evidence supports beyond a reasonable doubt the proposition that Israel is guilty of imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people, which amounts to the commission of a crime against humanity, the prohibition of which is considered jus cogens in international customary law. The international community, especially the United Nations and its agencies, and Member States, have a legal obligation to act within the limits of their capabilities to prevent and punish instances of apartheid that are responsibly brought to their attention . . . . FULL REPORT . . .
❸ RESIDENCY REVOCATION: ISRAEL’S FORCIBLE TRANSFER OF PALESTINIANS FROM JERUSALEM Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network
July 3, 2017. Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered an occupied territory and the de facto annexation of the city by the Israeli government is considered illegal. Throughout its occupation, Israel has enacted discriminatory laws and policies to diminish the presence of the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. By granting Palestinians a “permanent” residency status to live in Jerusalem, entry into and residency in Jerusalem becomes a revocable privilege, instead of an inherent right.
___The second infographic focuses on the unlawful Israeli policy of residency revocation targeting Palestinians from Jerusalem. The revocation of permanent residency status is the most direct tool used to forcibly transfer Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem, so that a Jewish-Israeli majority can be maintained in the city. 1 Since 1967, Israel created and consistently expanded the criteria for revoking the residency status of Palestinians, leading to the revocation of the residency rights of more than 14,500 Palestinians from Jerusalem to date. MORE . . .
Israeli Occupation Force guard tower in Hebron where 800 illegal settlers hold 30,000 Palestinian citizens at bay. (Photo: Harold Knight, November 10, 2015)
❹ Opinion/Analysis: “THE ONE-STATE AS A DEMAND OF INTERNATIONAL LAW: JUS COGENS, CHALLENGING APARTHEID AND THE LEGAL VALIDITY OF ISRAEL.”
Ben-Dor, Oren. Holy Land Studies: A Multidisciplinary Journal (Edinburgh University Press), vol. 12, no. 2, Nov. 2013, pp. 181-205
[. . . .] However, on closer look, apartheid in Israel is as constitutionally inbuilt as it was in South Africa and structurally limits, directly or indirectly, the ambit of possible egalitarian reforms. Central governmental investment turns out to be inherently biased in favour of the country’s Jewish population, and official property law regimes and land policies push towards the ‘Judaisation’ of the land, meaning the transfer to Jewish citizens or institutions of lands expropriated from non-Jewish Arab citizens and/or institutions while discouraging, or even actually forbidding, non-Jewish Arabs from taking up residence in Jewish areas. . . . ‘Emergency’ Regulations caused many cases of uprootedness and internal displacements. Many housing projects in new development towns are not open to non-Jewish Arabs. Arab municipalities are given far less investment than their Jewish counterparts. Many welfare benefits such as higher education places, preferential loans, have purposely been made conditional upon army service so as to exclude non-Jewish Arabs who are generally barred from serving, and, of course, cannot be expected to have any great wish to serve, in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). ‘Non-Jewish Arab second class ‘citizens’ are not entitled to compete for university scholarships that are given by the Jewish Agency. . . Tax benefits are open to ‘returning’ Israeli Jews or to Israeli Jewish citizens who have spent a long time abroad thus tempting them to emigrate to Israel, while these are not open to non-Jewish Arabs. FULL ARTICLE (begin page 4) . . .
OCCUPATION,” BY MAJID ABU GHOUSH Occupied Ramallah 17/11/06
Strange days cast dour shadows Dusk. The fragrance of death on a windowsill. In the lingering heat an impossible burden weighs down on eyelids and chest; the throat aches, the spine throbs.
Rose petals all tarnished with foul dust from the poisoned world. Black limousines sail past, flying the skull and crossbones. The grave yawns open early, nightmares never leave. Death squads. Detention camps.
Somewhere, an oud pronounces its sad chords. The invaders smile; tap their feet.
―Translated by John Glenday
Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders, Palestine.
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 and Noble.
A Palestinian family eats dinner by candlelight at their makeshift home in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip, during a power outage on June 12, 2017. Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/ Flash90
“. . . Palestinians should not be counted simply because they are not citizens anyway, and they cannot be citizens because they are not Jews . . . this has become the fault line between the two major political camps in Israel; their basic disagreement is about how not to count, or be accountable for the colonized Palestinians. . . “ (Adi Ophir)
❶ On world refugee day, estimates show 66% of Palestinians became refugees in 1948
Background: “On the Structural Role and Coming End of ‘The Occupation’.” Arab Studies Quarterly
❷ Israel begins work on first settlement in 25 years as Jared Kushner flies in
❸ Hamas calls for mobilization at Gaza border on Friday
. . . . . ❸― (ᴀ) Gaza crisis: Israel slashes electricity supplies for 3rd day as Egypt provides fuel
❹ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ ON WORLD REFUGEE DAY, ESTIMATES SHOW 66% OF PALESTINIANS BECAME REFUGEES IN 1948 Ma’an News Agency
June 20, 2017. On the anniversary of World Refugee Day, and one month after the 69th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, or “catastrophe,” it is estimated that 66 percent of Palestinians who were living in British-Mandate Palestine in 1948 were expelled from historic Palestine and displaced, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
___“The human plight and tragedy that has befallen on the Palestinian people” resulted in approximately 957,000 Palestinian refugees — 66 percent of the total population of Palestinian who were living in historic Palestine on the eve of the war in 1948, PCBS said in a statement Tuesday. MORE . . . RELATED . ..
Ophir, Adi. “ON THE STRUCTURAL ROLE AND COMING END OF ‘THE OCCUPATION’.”Arab Studies Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 4, Fall2016, pp. 688-693.
[. . . .] Some of them, like Netanyahu think that it is enough to proclaim the temporariness of the occupation while dragging any form of negotiation; others, like Harel, think that even this is not necessary, and that Palestinians should not be counted simply because they are not citizens anyway, and they cannot be citizens because they are not Jews. With the Jewish public in Israel moving further to the right in the last decade, this has become the fault line between the two major political camps in Israel; their basic disagreement is about how not to count, or be accountable for the colonized Palestinians. SOURCE . . .
❷ ISRAEL BEGINS WORK ON FIRST SETTLEMENT IN 25 YEARS AS JARED KUSHNER FLIES IN Alray-Palestinian Media Agency (from The Guardian)
June 21, 2017. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced the beginning of building work on the first new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in 25 years, a day before a visit by Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, aimed at reinvigorating the stalled peace process.
___The new settlement, known as Amichai, is being built to house about 300 hardline residents of the illegal West Bank Jewish outpost of Amona who were evicted by police in February after a court ruled their houses were on privately owned Palestinian land.
___The timing of the announcement was condemned by a Palestinian official who suggested it was designed to undermine peace efforts.
___Announcing the beginning of ground-breaking work at the new settlement, Netanyahu wrote on his Twitter feed: “Work began today on-site, as I promised, to establish the new settlement,” with a photograph of a mechanical digger working at the site north of Ramallah. MORE . . .
Israel breaks ground on new illegal settlement (Source: The Israeli prime minister’s official Twitter page, June 20, 2017)
❸ HAMAS CALLS FOR MOBILIZATION AT GAZA BORDER ON FRIDAY The Palestinian Information Center
June 20, 2017. Hamas Movement called for mobilization next Friday on the Gaza border to mark the occasion of International Quds Day in protest at Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people and holy places.
___In a press statement on Tuesday, Hamas asked Arabs and Muslims to support Occupied Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the Palestinian besieged people on International Quds Day which coincides on Friday. MORE . . . . . . . . ❸― (ᴀ) GAZA CRISIS: ISRAEL SLASHES ELECTRICITY SUPPLIES FOR 3RD DAY AS EGYPT PROVIDES FUEL Ma’an News Agency
June 21, 2017. Israeli authorities implemented a third round of electricity supply cuts to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday — honoring a request from the Palestinian Authority (PA) that announced last month it would drastically reduce its payments to fund the Hamas-run territory’s electricity bill — as the Egypt government started to deliver diesel fuel to operate Gaza’s only power plant.
[. . . .] The 12-megawatt cuts came after output was reduced by 6 megawatts on Monday and 12 additional megawatts on Tuesday, meaning that the total output of Israeli electricity grids feeding the small Palestinian territory has been reduced from 120 to 88 megawatts in the last three days.
___According to Thabet, Gaza’s some 2 million residents face just two to three hours of electricity every 24 hours as a result of the cuts. MORE . . .
“OCCUPATION,” BY MAJID ABU GHOUSH Occupied Ramallah 17/11/06
Strange days cast dour shadows Dusk. The fragrance of death on a windowsill. In the lingering heat an impossible burden weighs down on eyelids and chest; the throat aches, the spine throbs.
Rose petals all tarnished with foul dust from the poisoned world. Black limousines sail past, flying the skull and crossbones. The grave yawns open early, nightmares never leave. Death squads. Detention camps.
Somewhere, an oud pronounces its sad chords. The invaders smile; tap their feet.
―Translated by John Glenday
Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders, Palestine.
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 and Noble
Palestinian men seen in front of a fire raging at the Gaza’s main power plant following an overnight Israeli airstrike, south of Gaza City, July 29, 2014. (Emad Nassar/Flash90, from +972 Magazine)
Mohammad Ghadir Palestinian player of Maccabi Haifa runs with the ball during the UEFA Championship game in Munich, Germany. (Photo: Getty Images, Nov. 25, 2009)
❶ Israel’s Supreme Court orders demolition of settler outpost in Bethlehem by March
Background: “After 50 Years: Save Israel, Stop the Occupation.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture. “. . . the occupation became a fundamental catalyst of far-reaching impacts on Israeli society. The state of Israel becomes more Jewish and less democratic . . .”
❷ Prime Minister Hamdallah: U.S. Appeals Court’s Decision is Just
❸ The metamorphosis of a Jewish supremacist
❹ POETRY by Majid Abu Ghoush
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ ISRAEL’S SUPREME COURT ORDERS DEMOLITION OF SETTLER OUTPOST IN BETHLEHEM BY MARCH Ma’an News Agency
Sept. 2, 2016
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that an illegal Israeli settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem be demolished by March 2018, sparking condemnation from right-wing Israeli parliament members who blamed the decision on left-wing groups aiming to “exploit the judicial system” for the benefit of a minority.
___The court ordered the removal of 17 homes, comprising of some 40 Israeli families, in the Israeli settler outpost of Derech HaAvot established in 2001 near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc after ruling that the outpost was built on privately held Palestinian land, according to a statement released by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now.
___ The Jerusalem Post reported that the outpost was established with 300,000 shekels ($79,562) from the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing. Soon after its establishment, the outpost was challenged in the courts by Palestinians from the town al-Khader who claimed they owned the land. MORE . . .
Schnell, Izhak, and Daniel Bar-Tal. “After 50 Years: Save Israel, Stop The Occupation.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 21.3 (2016): 72-80. FULL ARTICLE.
(NOTE: Izhak Schnell is professor in the Department of Geography and Human Environment at Tel Aviv University. Daniel Bar-Tal is Professor Emeritus at the School of Education at Tel Aviv University. He was co-editor of the Palestine-Israel Journal (2001-05) and president of the International Society of Political Psychology.)
[Three] mechanisms stabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and avoiding the adoption of peace policies. . . The third mechanism relates to the institutionalization of a bureaucratic inertia that maintains and feeds the occupation regardless of declared policies. This mechanism acts at a governmental level when, for example, a senior clerk in the Ministry of Justice announces a regulation that the government does not have to prove ownership of lands in cases of land disputes. Instead, the Palestinians who claim ownership have to prove their ownership of the land in question, and, as a result, this regulation means that many Palestinians lost their lands due to the settlement process. . . . The military was also forced to serve the settlers’ interests by guarding unauthorized settlements that were ordered to evacuate based on the law and Supreme Court decisions. Finally, the settlers’ council represents a population of an estimated 500,000 settlers who have relatives and ideological support among the religious sections, allowing the movement to become a powerful lobby in Israeli politics. The fact that they are more motivated and better organized than other political lobbies in Israel makes them even more powerful.
___ . . . the occupation became a fundamental catalyst of far-reaching impacts on Israeli society. The state of Israel becomes more Jewish and less democratic in the delicate balance between these two aspects. Jewishness is defined in a combination of religious and nationalist terms, promoting a particularistic identity that turns its back on the Hebrew identity that emphasized universal and humanistic values. By defining the OPT as the core of the Jewish state and identity, the new Israel antagonizes the Palestinians, the Arab world and, indirectly, Western societies, which in turn, strengthen particularistic aspects of Israel’s identity bringing new life to slogans such as “People who live unto themselves.”
❷ PRIME MINISTER HAMDALLAH: U.S. APPEALS COURT’S DECISION IS JUST Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Sep. 1, 2016
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah commended Thursday the decision by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to dismiss a $655 million verdict against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), finding that U.S. courts should not have exercised jurisdiction, according to a statement issued by Hamdallah’s office.
___A number of American families had filed a multimillion dollar law suit in a New York federal court in 2004 against the Palestinian Authority and the PLO holding them responsible for the death of family members in attacks by Palestinians in the occupied territories and Israel between the years 2000 and 2002. MORE . . .
A Permanent home in the illegal outpost of Derech Ha’avot. (Photo: Peace Now, Jan. 13, 2013)
❸ THE METAMORPHOSIS OF A JEWISH SUPREMACIST +972 Magazine
Orly Noy
Aug. 31, 2016
David Mizrahi was once a prominent member of La Familia, a notorious Jewish supremacist chapter of the Beitar Jerusalem fan club.
___Three years ago, he famously refused to shake hands with Arab footballer Mohammed Ghadir. But on Sunday, he published the following on Facebook: [. . . .] ___”And today, three years on, I’m coming full circle. I’m going to meet with Mohammed Ghadir, shake his hand talk to him. I’m the happiest man alive.
___I’ve recently started speaking against racism and for love and tolerance. Many eyebrows were raised. I was harassed along the way, and many are still annoyed with me.” MORE . . .
OCCUPATION,” BY MAJID ABU GHOUSH Occupied Ramallah 17/11/06
Strange days cast dour shadows Dusk. The fragrance of death on a windowsill. In the lingering heat an impossible burden weighs down on eyelids and chest; the throat aches, the spine throbs.
Rose petals all tarnished with foul dust from the poisoned world. Black limousines sail past, flying the skull and crossbones. The grave yawns open early, nightmares never leave. Death squads. Detention camps.
Somewhere, an oud pronounces its sad chords. The invaders smile; tap their feet.
―Translated by John Glenday
Majid Abu Ghoush (b. Amwas) is a prolific poet, a member of the secretariat of the General Union of Palestinian Writers, and a founding member of Poets Without Borders, Palestine.
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 Amazon.com.
Palestine InSight 