Tag: Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah

“. . .hate is not love and love is freedom . . .” (Ramzy Baroud)

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Sunrise, The Great March of Return. (Photo: Palestinian Information Center, December 7, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|   ON  37TH    FRIDAY  OF  GREAT  MARCH  OF  RETURN  AND  BREAKING  SIEGE,  ISRAELI  FORCES  WOUND  72  CIVILIANS,  INCLUDING  11  CHILDREN,  1  WOMAN  AND  2  PARAMEDICS
On Friday evening, 07 December 2018, Israeli forces wounded 72 Palestinian civilians, including 11 children, 1 woman and 2 paramedics in the peaceful demonstrations in the eastern Gaza Strip despite the decreasing intensity of the demonstrations there for the sixth week consecutively and absence of most means usually used during the demonstrations since the beginning of the Return and Breaking the Siege March 7 months ago.    ___According to observations by PCHR’s fieldworkers, for the fifth week since the beginning of the Return March on 30 March 2018, the demonstrators abstained from burning tires while the attempts to cross the border fence and throw stones and incendiary balloons were completely absent.     More . . .
. . . . Related   Palestinian Forced to Demolish his Home in East Jerusalem
. . . . Related   Child injured in settler attack on Palestinian family
. . . . Related   Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (29 November – 05 December 2018)
. . . . Related   41 violations committed against Palestinian content on social media
| PALESTINE  SIGNS  10  COOPERATION  AGREEMENTS  WITH  FRANCE;  PREMIER  APPRECIATES  FRENCH  SUPPORT
Palestine and France signed 10 cooperation agreements on Friday during a visit for Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to Paris and his meeting with his French counterpart Edouard Philippe.    ___Hamdallah thanked France during a joint press conference with Philippe for its support for Palestine on all levels and its support for the two-state solution.    ___”As I expressed in our discussions with Prime Minister Philippe today, we are grateful for the French positions which demonstrate strong commitments to deepen and develop our partnership and cooperation and I would like to emphasize that this is also our commitment,” said Hamdallah.    More . . .
. . . . Related  FM Malki: France agreed in principle to cooperate in opening of the Paris Economic Protocol …
. . . . Related  One year on: The political and human impact of Trump’s Jerusalem decision
|  DECEMBER  9  MARKS  31ST  ANNIVERSARY  FOR  OUTBREAK  OF  FIRST  UPRISING  –  THE  STONES  INTIFADA
On DECEMBER 8, 1987, an Israeli settler identified as Herzel Boukiza rammed his vehicle into Palestinian workers returning home through Erez/Beit Hanoun checkpoint between Israel and Gaza. Four workers from Jabalya and Maghazi in Gaza were killed.    ___The next day, and following the funerals of the four, angry Palestinians took to the streets in Jabalya to protest the premeditated attack. The protests then quickly spread to the rest of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank where thousands of Palestinians took to the streets and engaged the heavily armed Israeli soldiers with stones in what has become to be known as the stones uprising or Intifada.   [. . . .] a total of 1550 Palestinians were killed, over 70,000 injured more than half of them suffered permanent disabilities, between 100,000 to 200,000 were detained. . .      More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
| ISRAEL  DISPLACES,  LOCKS  UP  AND  KILLS  PALESTINIAN  CHILDREN
By Mohammad Balawi
What does it take to make someone wield a screwdriver and attack a fully armed, well-trained, well-protected soldier, knowing that if he got injured no ambulance would take him to hospital, and if he is lucky he will spend the best years of his life behind bars?    [. . . .] Consider a 16-year-old who has lived all his life under occupation. . . Given how he has grown up, would it make sense for him to attack a fully grown man armed to his teeth with a screwdriver or a kitchen knife, or throw a stone at his tormentors?    ___Israeli occupiers have a peculiar way of explaining this situation. These teens, according to them, are no more than terrorists . . .  lured by money, instigated by terror organisations and encouraged by the leniency of Israeli democracy and the judiciary system, even though Israeli authorities demolish the attacker’s family home and in many cases leave him on the ground bleeding to death.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .   

“MY  NAME  IS  HERMAN  WALLACE,”  BY  RAMZY  BAROUD

I am a black Palestinian,
South African,
Vietnamese . . .
My name is Mohammed,
Fatima,
Wallace,
Mandela,
Durra,
King . . .
Resistance is my creed.
Prophets found their sanctuary when
they were shot on my soil.
By Israeli bullets
In the Battle of Dien Bien Phu
And just when you think I am defeated,
My fist will rise from the charred earth,
In a painting by Naji Ali,
Through the thick walls of Louisiana State Penitentiary
In the streets of Hanoi,
Amid the rubble of a Gaza mosque.
Even on my dying bed.
I speak many tongues,
And have many names.
But my face is always my face.
On my forehead stitched the memory of pain.
I smile still.
And teach my son never to hate
Because hate is not love
And love is freedom.
I am a Palestinian.
My name is Herman Wallace
And I will always die free.

From: I  REMEMBER  MY  NAME:  POETRY  BY  SAMAH  SABAWI,  RAMZY  BAROUD,  JEHAN  BSEISO.  Vacy Vlazna, editor. London: Novum Publishing, 2016. Available from publisher.

“. . . imagine eleven thousand people in one square kilometer . . .” (Rabbi Rachel Barenblat)

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Bethlehem by night (Photo: Harold Knight, November 5, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|  PALESTINIANS  CHEER  AS  TOURISTS  THRONG  BETHLEHEM
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, is experiencing a record flow of tourists. Israel says October figures were record-breaking.    ___The holy city is located in the occupied West Bank and the ongoing political tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have a direct effect on the tourism industry.   More . . .
. . . . Related  Where to Go? A House Worth Seeing
. . . . Related  A Day in Nablus
. . . . Related  How the tourism industry underpins illegal Israeli settlements
|  UNGA  ADOPTS  FIVE  RESOLUTIONS  IN  FAVOR  OF  PALESTINE
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted in favor of five resolutions regarding Palestine and a sixth resolution on the Golan Heights, on Friday evening.    __One of the most important resolutions adopted called upon member states not to recognize any measures taken by Israel in Jerusalem and to maintain the current status-quo in the holy city.    __Palestine’s Permanent Observer to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said that “by voting in favor of the five resolutions, the international community affirms its support of our national cause, despite the efforts made by the US administration in international forums to resist this.”    More . . .
. . . . Related  PM Hamdallah: The UN Should Recognize Palestine as A Full- Member State and Endorse President Abbas Peace Initiative
. . . . Related  Palestine  thwarts  efforts  by  US  to  question  its  membership  in  OPCW
. . . . Related  Hamas  politicos  make  rounds  internationally  to  gain  backing
|  ISRAEL  KILLS  345  PALESTINIANS  SINCE  TRUMP’S  JERUSALEM  ANNOUNCEMENT
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have killed 345 Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories since US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital in October 2017, the Jerusalem Centre for Studies of Palestinian and Israeli Affairs revealed.    ___The body said 71 children and nine women were among the Palestinians killed, seven died in detention, 43 were killed in airstrikes and one – engineer Fadi Al-Batsh- was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad in Malaysia.    More . . .
. . . .  Related  28  Palestinians  injured  in  Gaza  border  protest

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
| THIS  IS  HOW  TO  FIGHT  ISRAEL’S  JEWISH  NATION-STATE  LAW
By Said Zeedani
The Jewish Nation-State Law, a new law with the force of a constitutional amendment, enshrined Israel as the exclusive nation-state of the Jewish people, demoted the official status of the Arabic language, and gave the right of self-determination in Israel to Jews alone. Palestinian political leaders, Israeli opposition politicians, and dovish Jewish-American groups all lambasted the passage of the law earlier this year, with some saying the law amounted to apartheid and promoting Jewish supremacy.    [. . . .] a serious struggle . . . will need to take place both locally and internationally; it should be waged by civil society, in the legal system, and legislatively. There are many Israeli Jews, as well as many proponents of democracy and human rights worldwide, who are potential partners in such a struggle.    ___But the struggle must also acknowledge that Israel’s regime of racial superiority and discrimination, created in and sustained since 1948, will not end with the abolishment of the Jewish Nation-State Law.   More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“FIRST  VISIT  TO  THE  CAMP  D’HAISHA,  BETHLEHEM,”
BY  RABBI  RACHEL  BARENBLAT
There are no canvas tents.
The buildings don’t look
so bad, standard issue
developing-world
cement block structures

until I try to imagine
eleven thousand people
in one square kilometer,
one in every minyan
an angry alumnus

of the Israeli jails.
What do I know
about settlers or rock-throwers,
one state, two state
impossibilities?

But our grandparents
didn’t escape the ghettos
of Europe’s worst era
only to create new ones
for somebody else.

When we depart
I’m saddened, troubled
but perfectly able
to order a cold beer
and make conversation.

The sorrow and the fury
dormant overnight
explode the next day.
Even Shabbat can’t soothe
my lacerated heart.

From BEFORE THERE IS NOWHERE TO STAND: PALESTINE ISREL POETS RESPOND TO THE STRUGGLE. Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012.  Available from B&N.
Rachel Barenblat was ordained a rabbi in January 2011 through the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and is the author of 4 chapbooks of poetry. Her poems have appeared in a variety of journals including The Texas Observer. She lives in western Massachusetts.

“. . . the stones of your streets grow sad, the towers of mosques downcast . . .” (Nizar Qabbani)

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Al Ahli Arab Hospital has been ministering in Gaza City since 1882. The institution was founded by the Church of England’s Church Mission Society. (Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .  
|   ISRAEL  TO  EVICT  700  PALESTINIANS  FROM  SILWAN
The Israeli Supreme Court yesterday rejected a petition submitted by 104 Palestinians against claims by a right-wing Israeli organization paving the way for 700 Palestinians to be forced from their homes, Haaretz reported.    ___The 700 Palestinians, who make up 70 families, have been going through a legal battle to protect their right to remain in their homes since 2002. Last June, lawyers for the occupation admitted that the process by which settlers organization Ateret Cohanim received rights to the land was flawed. In spite of this, the judge ruled in favor of the settlers’ rights to siege the area.    ___Ateret Cohanim aims to take over Palestinian properties in occupied East Jerusalem and transfer then to Israeli settlers. The ownership claims were based on arguments of the properties’ situation before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Palestinian house deeds were transferred to the Benvenisti Trust by Israel’s Justice Ministry in 2002 claiming it purchased the land in the late 1800s to settle Jews arriving in Palestine from Yemen.    More . . .
. . . . Related  Experts:  Occupation  seeks  to  establish  a  50km  settlement  belt  in  JERUSALEM
. . . . Related  Palestinian family left homeless after demolition in LOD CITY
. . . . Related  Israel demolishes Palestinian family home in NEGEV
. . . . Related  Israeli forces demolish Palestinian carwash in HEBRON
|   CABINET  CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  DECISION  TO  EXPEL  PALESTINIANS  FROM  THEIR  HOMES  IN  JERUSALEM     The Palestinian cabinet condemned on Thursday the Israeli decision to evacuate 28 dunums of Palestinian land in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, home to more than 500 Palestinians, despite all documents proving the Palestinian ownership of these lands.    ___It said in a statement issued at the conclusion of the weekly cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah that the government also condemned the Israeli Supreme Court’s approval of the demolition of the  TAHADI  FIVE  SCHOOL  IN  BEI T TA’MUR  VILLAGE, near BETHLEHEM, the demolition of shops in SHUFAT  REFUGEE  CAMP  IN  JERUSALEM  and the forced break-in into dozens of houses and shops in DEIR  AL-GHUSOUN  TOWN,  NORTH  OF  TULKARM  in the north of the West Bank.    ___“The Cabinet emphasized that all such decisions are clear attempts to undermine the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and the role of the Palestinian Government,” said the statement.    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  HOW  CAN  GAZA’S  CONTAMINATED  WATER  CATASTROPHE  BE  SOLVED?
By Sandy Tolan
[. . . .] if the Gaza Strip truly becomes “uninhabitable” by 2020, as the UN and humanitarian groups warn, it will be largely because of the utter collapse of the system for delivering safe drinking water and properly disposing of disease-causing sewage.    ___Because of Gaza’s water and sewage catastrophe, medical experts are now seeing sharp increases in waterborne and foodborne diseases . . .  [. . . .] And doctors in Gaza’s hospitals now report increased cases of paediatric cancer.    ___For years these torments seemed sealed off from the outside world by layers of fences, locked gates, patrolling Israeli drones and warplanes, and international disdain and indifference.    ___Now, finally, from Washington to European capitals, and even to the Israeli security infrastructure in Tel Aviv, alarm bells are going off, warning that something must be done to prevent the water catastrophe in Gaza. . .    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
|  AHLI  ARAB  HOSPITAL  IN  GAZA  CITY
In the midst of a steady stream of news and photos from Gaza over the past ten days – bombed buildings, burning buses, terrified children, fragile cease-fire agreements – there was one story that didn’t get widely reported.    ___On November 9, the 25 year-old hot water system at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City suddenly collapsed. This urgent situation caused an immediate shut down of the water supply to the entire facility.    ___The  result?  No  drinking  water,  no  pressurized  water  for  sterilization  of  medical  equipment  and  surgical  instruments,  no  laundry  services.  No  water,  period.  All  scheduled  surgeries  were  cancelled, and staff continued to treat patients under dire circumstances . . .    Your generosity gets Ahli Hospital through an emergency   Donate . . . 

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“JERUSALEM,”  BY  NIZAR  QABBANI
Oh Jerusalem, luminous city of prophets
The shortest path between heaven and earth!

Jerusalem, you of the myriad minarets,
become a beautiful little girl with burned fingers.
City of the Virgin, your eyes are sad.
Shady oasis where the Prophet passed,
the stones of your streets grow sad,
the towers of mosques downcast.
City swathed in black, who’ll ring the bells
at the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday mornings?
Who will carry toys to children on Christmas Eve?
City of sorrows, a huge tear
trembling on your eyelid,
who’ll save the Bible?
Who’ll save the Qur’an?
Who will save Christ?
Who will save man?

Jerusalem, beloved city of mine,
tomorrow your lemon trees will bloom,
your green stalks and branches rise up joyful,
and your eyes will laugh. Migrant pigeons
will return to your holy roofs
and children will go back to playing.
Parents and children will meet
on your shining streets,
my city, city of olives and peace.
—Translated by Sharif Elmusa and Naomi Shihab Nye

From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND:  PALESTINE  ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE. Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012. Available from Barnes and Noble.

“. . .Call it home for all the living. . .” (Lahab Assef Al-Jundi)

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489791CSettlers break into homes in Hebron. Note the wire mesh over the street
installed to catch garbage that illegal Israeli settlers throw at Palestinians.
(Photo: Ma’an News Agency, Oct. 29, 2018)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
|    PCC  DECIDES  TO  SUSPEND  RECOGNITION  OF  ISRAEL 
The Palestinian Central Council (PCC) decided on Monday, a day after meeting in the central occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, to end all commitments in agreements the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has signed with Israel, suspend recognition of Israel until it recognizes the State of Palestine, end security coordination and end the Paris Economic Protocols.    ___The PCC said in a statement “In view of Israel’s continued denial of the signed agreements, the PCC, in confirmation of its previous decision and considering that the transitional phase no longer exists. . .     More . . .

The  wording  from  the  Final  Statement:
. . . . In view of Israel’s continued denial of the signed agreements and the ensuing obligations, the Palestinian Central Council reaffirms its previous decision considering the transitional phase no longer exists, decides to end the obligations of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority towards its agreements with the occupation authority (Israel), mainly suspending recognition of the State of Israel until its recognition of the State of Palestine on the 4 June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, the cessation of security coordination in all its forms, and economic disengagement on the grounds that the transitional phase, including the Paris Protocols, no longer exist, and on the basis for identifying practical pillars and steps to continue the process of transition from the stage of Authority to the embodiment of the independence of a sovereign an independent state. . . Complete . . .

|    PALESTINIAN  KILLED,  DOZENS  INJURED  DURING  GAZA’S  14TH  NAVAL  MARCH  (VIDEOS)
A 27-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces, while dozens of others suffered from tear-gas inhalation, on Monday, during the 14th naval march at the northern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.    ___A Ma’an reporter confirmed that Muhammad Abed Abu Ubada, 27, was killed by Israeli forces during the 14th naval march, which set off from the Gaza seaport, in protest against the 12-year Israeli siege.    More . . .
. . . . Related  JEWISH  SETTLERS  BLOCK  TRUCKS  FROM  ENTERING  GAZA
|      IOF  UPROOT  200  OLIVE  TREES,  RAZE  LANDS  NEAR  HEBRON 
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday uprooted 200 olive trees, and uprooted 13 dunums of agricultural land in the town of Beit Ula, west of Hebron.    ___Head of the Farmers Services Department at the Hebron Agricultural Department Hashim Badarin said that the occupation forces stormed the Khirbet Kharouf area west of the town of Beit Ula, uprooted 200 olive trees planted ten years ago, and destroyed the fence and chains surrounding the targeted land.    ___The farmer and landowner Hijazi al-Tarshan said that the occupation forces are pursuing a policy of uprooting of trees and trying to prevent farmers from working in their lands in this area near the wall of racist expansion in preparation for the seizure.    More . . .
. . . . Related  IN  VIDEO  –  ISRAELI  SETTLERS  SEIZE  PALESTINIAN  HOMES  IN  HEBRON
|    PMA  BUSINESS  CYCLE  INDEX  SHOWS  DECLINE  IN  THE  WEST  BANK  AND  SLIGHT  IMPROVEMENT  IN  GAZA  STRIP
The PMA has released the results of its extended Business Cycle Index (extended PMABCI) for October 2018. The results revealed that the overall index fell during October due to the decline in the West Bank’s index, despite the slight improvement in Gaza Strip’s index. As such, the overall extended PMABCI dropped from -3.2 points in September to around -5.9 points in this October. However, it remained slightly higher than the index of October 2017 (-7.6 points).    More . . .

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|    THE  PALESTINIAN  ECONOMY  IS  A  RESISTING  ECONOMY
By Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Al-Hamdallah
The State of Palestine constantly confronts critical economic and social obstacles due to the policies the Israeli occupation limitlessly imposes on the Palestinian people and their land.  Speaking unconditionally, these policies target all factors of production including land, resources, and labor. Nonetheless, this noble nation has always strived to live and coexist. The creative Palestinian citizen fulfilled significant achievements and left fingerprints on all disciplines and sectors.  In this context, I will present, with numbers and statistics, a series of changes in the economic reality in Palestine.    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
|    BRIGHT  STARS  OF  BETHLEHEM  –  DAR  AL-KALIMA  UNIVERSITY.  2019 Leadership Program in the Holy Land.  March 25-April 8, 2019.
This program offers new and creative ways to understand and respond to the context of the Israel/Palestine conflict. It raises the possibility of different strategies for resisting the power of empire and supporting those who both struggle against it and suffer its daily injustices and violence. This is an in-depth program during which new insights, experiences and strategies will be explored.  Information and Registration.

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

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

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

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

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

There are no heroes left.

From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND:  PALESTINE  ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE. Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012.  Available from B&N.

“. . . they’ve grown, grown more than the years of a normal life . . .” (Fadwa Tuqan)

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❶ UN official deeply concerned by Israeli demolition of classrooms
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Palestinian PM slams Israel for demolition of Bedouin classrooms in E1

  • Background:  “‘In Your Face’ Democracy: Education for Belonging and Its Challenges in Israel.” British Educational Research Journal.
    “Confronting the authority of the Ministry of Education in such a way . . . constructs the Palestinians in Israel as activist citizens who seek to expand their rights of recognition into the field of education.”

❷ Video: Palestinians protest UNRWA cuts and US policies
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Ministry stages protest against US decision to cut aid to UNRWA
❸ IOF prevents Palestinian farmers from entering their lands
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴃ) Israeli bulldozer destroys Palestinian water pipeline in Jordan Valley
❹ POETRY by Fadwa Tuqan
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ UN  OFFICIAL  DEEPLY  CONCERNED  BY  ISRAELI  DEMOLITION  OF  CLASSROOMS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Feb. 5, 2018 ― United Nations acting Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territories, Roberto Valent, said on Sunday that he was deeply concerned by Israel’s destruction of donor-funded classrooms in the Palestinian community of Abu Nuwar, east of Jerusalem.
___”I am deeply concerned by the Israeli authorities’ demolition this morning of two donor-funded classrooms (3rd and 4th grade), serving 26 Palestinian school children in the Bedouin and refugee community of Abu Nuwar, located in Area C on the outskirts of Jerusalem,” Valent said in a statement. “The demolition was carried out on grounds of lack of Israeli-issued permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain.”
___The UN official added: “Abu Nuwar is one of the most vulnerable communities in need of humanitarian assistance in the occupied West Bank. The conditions it faces also represent those of many Palestinian communities, where a combination of Israeli policies and practices –including demolitions and restricted access to basic services, such as education – have created a coercive environment that violates the human rights of residents and generates a risk of forcible transfer.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❶  ―  (ᴀ)  PALESTINIAN  PM  SLAMS  ISRAEL  FOR  DEMOLITION  OF  BEDOUIN  CLASSROOMS  IN  E1
Ma’an News Agency
Feb. 5, 2018 ― Israeli forces demolished two classrooms in the Palestinian Bedouin community of Abu Nuwwar on Sunday, located in the central occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem.
___The school in Abu Nuwwar was built and funded by the European Union in 2017 in order to provide the opportunity for a more accessible education to students in the village, who previously had to travel several kilometers by foot to the nearest school.
___More than 25 students were affected by the demolition of the two classrooms.
___The entire school serves more than 60 students in Abu Nuwwar which is home to 600 Palestinians.
___Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah released a statement on Monday condemning the demolition, saying “besides the fact that such a demolition contravenes international humanitarian law, this latest attack is directed against Palestinian schoolchildren, and is simply immoral.”   MORE . . .

Agbaria, Ayman K., et al.
“‘IN  YOUR  FACE’  DEMOCRACY:  EDUCATION  FOR  BELONGING  AND  ITS  CHALLENGES  IN  ISRAEL.”
BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL, vol. 41, no. 1, Feb. 2015, pp. 143-175.
[. . . .] As an ethnocratic regime, Israel excludes its Palestinian citizens and treats them as merely an aggregate of individuals entitled to selective individual liberal rights, but deprived of collective rights of self-definition or collective claims over the nature and distribution of public goods in Israel. Controlling the Arab education system that serves this minority is part and parcel of these hierarchical strategies . . .  Despite the fact that Arab schools teach in Arabic [there is an] absence of recognition of the Palestinian collective identity. This lack of recognition is particularly salient in the school curricula and textbooks which were voided of any substantial engagement with Palestinian history and culture. All in all, Arab education was designed by the state to ‘instil feelings of self-disparagement and inferiority in Arab youth; to de-nationalize them, and particularly to de-Palestinize them; and to teach them to glorify the history, culture and achievements of the Jewish majority’ (Mar’i, S. K.).
[. . . .] a common feature of the Israeli education system, as argued by Yossi Yonah, is its commitment to function as a main carrier of the Zionist historiography, while disregarding the Palestinian narrative . . .  misrepresentat[ing] the multicultural and multi-ethnic reality of Israel as a deeply divided society. These attempts . . .  serve the desirable character of the state as a Jewish state, thus ignoring the need for cultural recognition of the non-Jewish student population.
[. . . .] Yet, dialogical as it is, the capacity of “Identity and Belonging” [the Palestinian curriculum] for confrontation, not only compliance and appropriation, remains high, as it directly challenges the laws and regulations of the Ministry of Education and its official knowledge. Confronting the authority of the Ministry of Education in such a way, at such a scale, and within the most natural sites of influence—the schools themselves—constructs the Palestinians in Israel as activist citizens who seek to expand their rights of recognition into the field of education. . .  In this way, “Identity and Belonging” is a citizenship act that challenges the extent . . . content . . . and depth . . .  of Israeli citizenship by presenting a counter-narrative permeated with political, moral and socio-political claims. Ultimately, these claims constitute the Palestinian minority in Israel as an independent political actor in both the Palestinian and Israeli arenas. Therefore, this initiative presents a symbolic challenge, which exposes the fragility of the double marginality of the Palestinians in Israel by reconstructing an integrative meaning of being part of both Israel and the Palestinian people.     SOURCE . . .

❷ VIDEO:  PALESTINIANS  PROTEST  UNRWA  CUTS  AND  US  POLICIES
Palestine News Network – PNN
Feb. 5, 2018 ― The Refugee Youth Movement on Monday held a protest outside the main UNRWA office in Bethlehem against the cuts of the agency’s services after the Trump administration had cut its funding.
___The participants raised banners protesting the UNRWA cuts and recent US resolutions impacting the rights of Palestinian refugees.
___Protesters included students and teachers, and called for improving the education services and halting decisions to lay off teachers, improve classes, and activate the operating system to reduce unemployment among refugee youth, as well as improving the quality of health services.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴀ)  MINISTRY  STAGES  PROTEST  AGAINST  US  DECISION  TO  CUT  AID  TO  UNRWA 
The Palestinian Information Center
Feb. 5, 2018 ― The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education on Monday held a protest against the recent US decisions against UNRWA and its educational institutions.
___Undersecretary of the Ministry, Ziad Thabet, participated in the protest which was held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Gaza in conjunction with a similar protest in Ramallah in the West Bank.
___The protesters raised banners expressing support for UNRWA and calling on the world’s countries to intervene and help the Agency.
___Ziad Thabet affirmed that this protest came in rejection of the US decision to cut aid to UNRWA forcing the UN Agency to reduce its services to the Palestinian refugees.    MORE . . .
❸  IOF  PREVENTS  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS  FROM  ENTERING  THEIR  LANDS
The Palestinian Information Center 
Feb. 5, 2018 ― The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prevented on Monday a group of Palestinian farmers from entering their olive groves located behind the Apartheid Wall.
___The farmers, from Salfit, were stopped by Israelis forces on their way to work in their farm lands, located on the Israeli side of the separation wall, which runs through the farmers’ lands.
___Palestinians living in the areas where Israel’s separation wall cut off their lands, are required to obtain entry permits, and cannot enter their lands for any purpose other than work or residence.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❸  ―  (ᴃ)  ISRAELI  BULLDOZER  DESTROYS  PALESTINIAN  WATER  PIPELINE  IN  JORDAN  VALLEY
Ma’an News Agency  
Feb. 5, 2018 ― Israeli bulldozers destroyed water lines supplying tens of acres of land in the northern Jordan Valley on Monday morning.
___Local activist Aref Daraghmeh told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers destroyed a water pipeline belonging to a Palestinian identified as Bassem Faqha.
___The line feeds some 150 dunams (37 acres) of land planted with watermelons.
___The Jordan Valley forms a third of the occupied West Bank, with 88 percent of its land classified as Area C — under full Israeli military control.
___Demolitions of Palestinian infrastructure and residences occur frequently in Area C, with the Jordan Valley’s Bedouin and herding communities being particularly vulnerable to such policies.   MORE . . .

“SONG  OF  BECOMING,”  BY  FADWA  TUQAN
They’re only boys
who used to frolic and play
launching rainbowed kites
on the western wind,
their blue-and-green kites
whistling, leaping,
trading easy laughter and jokes
dueling with branches, pretending to be
great heroes in history.

Suddenly now they’ve grown,
grown more than the years of a normal life,
merged with secret and passionate words,
carried love’s messages like the Bible or the Quran,
to be read in whispers.
They’ve grown to become trees
plunging deep roots into the earth,
stretching high towards the sun.
Now their voices are ones that reject,
that knock down and build anew.
Anger smouldering on the fringes of a blocked horizon,
invading classrooms, streets, city quarters,
centering on squares,
facing sullen tanks with streams of stones.

Now they shake the gallows of dawn
assailing the night and its flood.
They’ve grown more than the years of a life
to become the worshipped and the worshippers.

When their torn limbs merged with the stuff of our earth
they became legends,
they grew into vaulting bridges,
they grew and grew, becoming
larger than all poetry.
――Translated by Naomi Shihab Nye
ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.
Available from Columbia University Press.
Fadwa Tuqan

“. . . It’s not Kellyanne who invented alternative facts. We’ve been victims of alternative facts all our lives . . .” (Hanan Ashrawi)

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❶ Premier says time is now for EU recognition of Palestine

  • Background: “The Israel Lobby and the “Peace Process” from a Palestinian Perspective.” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

❷ Israel conducts several airstrikes across Gaza Strip
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Army detains 16 Palestinians in West Bank, bringing total to 320 in one week
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴃ) Undercover Israeli forces injure 2 Palestinians, detain 5, in Ramallah clashes
❸ MADA: 26 violations of media freedoms in Palestine during November
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) IOF to raze Palestinian home in Bethlehem
❹ POETRY by ‘Abd al-Raheem Mahmoud
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PREMIER  SAYS  TIME  IS  NOW  FOR  EU  RECOGNITION  OF  PALESTINE          Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Dec. 14, 2017 ― Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah told on Thursday European Union (EU) Representative in Jerusalem Ralph Tarraf that the time is now for EU recognition of the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, pointing out that such a step would strengthen the two-state solution.
___Hamdallah urged the European Union to support the leadership’s efforts to bring the political process back to its proper track based on United Nations resolutions, particularly after the US administration chose to side with Israel by declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and working to move its embassy to Jerusalem thus becoming an ally of Israel rather than an impartial mediator.    MORE . . .

Ashrawi, Hanan.
“THE  ISRAEL  LOBBY  AND  THE  “PEACE  PROCESS”  FROM  A  PALESTINIAN  PERSPECTIVE.”
WASHINGTON  REPORT  ON  MIDDLE  EAST  AFFAIRS , vol. 36, no. 3, May 2017, pp. 34-64.
[. . . .]  I’m asked to talk about the Israel lobby and the peace process. . . .  They play a major role in shaping and influencing U.S. policy, particularly the peace process.  Since its inception, there’s a sense of ownership, that the peace process is owned by the Israeli lobby in many ways, because they’re looking out for the interests of Israel all the time.
___There are various components of the lobby.  As you all know, they’re not monolithic.  They all have their impact here and there.  But the most significant impact is for the lobby groups, the special interest groups that are closest to the Israeli government in particular.  And that tends to be the more hard-line extremist groups. . . .  The most influential, of course, is AIPAC and its Washington Institute for Near East Policy—as you know, a think tank that has probably had the most direct say in terms of the peace process itself—and other organizations–the Heritage Foundation and so on.
[. . . .] Now we have people in the White House who are not only lobbyists and advocates, but who are active supporters of settlements.  So it’s not enough to have settlers in the Israeli coalition government.  Now you have settlers in the White House. This is incredible.  So they don’t need to lobby.  They are decision makers. . . .  It’s interchangeable.  Either they are influencing policy or they are making policy.  That’s why American policy was so distorted, because they played a significant role in framing and defining the discourse and perceptions, but went beyond that to manipulating the verbal public space, anything related to the peace process.  And they generated a narrative based on myths, and provided alternative facts.  It’s not Kellyanne [Conway] who invented alternative facts.  We’ve been victims of alternative facts all our lives, alternative realities.  [. . . .] SOURCE . . .

❷ ISRAEL  CONDUCTS  SEVERAL  AIRSTRIKES  ACROSS  GAZA  STRIP    
Ma’an News Agency
Dec. 14, 2017 ― Israeli air forces conducted airstrikes targeting several sites in the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday around dawn, according to local sources.
___Locals told Ma’an that the airstrikes targeted at least five sites across the coastal enclave.
___Airstrikes hit sites in northwestern and southern Gaza City, as well as near the Deir al-Balah beach in the central Gaza Strip.
___Another site in the al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, while forces targeted another in western Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.   MORE . . . 
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴀ)  ARMY  DETAINS  16  PALESTINIANS  IN  WEST  BANK,  BRINGING  TOTAL  TO  320  IN  ONE  WEEK
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA      Dec. 14, 2017 ― The Israeli army detained 16 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinians detained since the outbreak of the recent wave of protests to 320, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) said on Thursday.   MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❷  ―  (ᴃ)  UNDERCOVER  ISRAELI  FORCES  INJURE  2  PALESTINIANS,  DETAIN  5,  IN  RAMALLAH  CLASHES 
Ma’an News Agency    
Dec. 13, 2017 ― Israeli special forces disguised as Palestinian protesters arrested five Palestinian youths, including a young woman and two injured young men, during clashes near the illegal Beit El settlement in the central West Bank district of Ramallah.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that a group of undercover Israeli forces, known as ‘mustaaribeen’ in Arabi, infiltrated crowds of protesters and journalists when they took out their guns and “attacked the youths,” assaulting, shooting and injuring two of them before detaining five.   MORE . . .  
❸ MADA:  26  VIOLATIONS  OF  MEDIA  FREEDOMS  IN  PALESTINE  DURING  NOVEMBER  
Palestine News Network – PNN
Dec. 14, 2017 ― November 2017, witnessed a number of violations against media freedoms in Palestine, almost identical to those recorded in the previous few months, in September and October, a total of 26 and 28 violations against media freedoms were monitored by MADA, 26 attacks last November. The Israeli occupation carried out 16 attacks, while Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip committed a total of 10 violations.
___The Israeli occupation has committed a total of 16 attacks against media freedoms during last November, some of which fall under serious violations. The most prominent of these is the decision by an Israeli military court to imprison the broadcasters of  the “Sanabel” radio from the city of Hebron: Muntasir Abdel-Karim Nassar, Nidal Amro were sentenced to 22 months in prison and a fine of 5,000 NIS and Mr. Omran was sentenced to 16 months.    MORE . . .
.  .  .  .  .  ❸  ―  (ᴀ)  IOF  TO  RAZE  PALESTINIAN  HOME  IN  BETHLEHEM
The Palestinian Information Center
Dec. 14, 2017 ― Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) handed a home-demolition order to a Palestinian family in al-Walajeh town west of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.
___Local sources said that IOF troops raided Ain al-Juwaizah area north of the town and handed Khaled Abu Kheyara a notice that stipulates the demolition of his home which is built on an area of about 120 square meters. He was given a 15-day period to appeal the order.   MORE . . .

“THE  MARTYR,”  BY  ‘ABD  AL-RAHEEM  MAHMOUD  (1913-1948)

I shall carry my soul on the palm of my hand,
tossing it into the cavern of death!
Either a life to gladden the hearts of friends
or a death to torture the hearts of foes!
An honorable man’ spirit has two aims:
to die fighting, or to achieve victory.
Otherwise, what is life? I want no life
if we’re not respected in our land;
if our response is not feared,
if our words are not heard
echoing in the world.

By your life, I see my own death,
but I hasten my footsteps.
No greater wish than to die defending stolen rights
and my country,
My ears love the clashing of swords,
my soul is proud of martyrs’ blood.
Behold the martyr’s body
sprawled on sands, attacked by vultures,
his blood tinting the earth crimson,
haunting northern breezes with its scent.
His radiant brow covered with dust
only seems more luminous.
The smile on his lips
mocks this earthly life,
and his dreams of eternity,
shape blissful visions.

I swear this is how men should die
for how can I tolerate the harm of my enemy’s malice,
how can I endure his aggression?
Would fear stop me if it is easy to sacrifice my life?
Am I humble? I simply can endure no scorn!
With my own heart I’ll fight the enemy;
my heart of steel, my ravenous flames,
I’ll stalk my land with the blade of this sword
so my people know I’m their defender.
――Translated by Sharif Elmusa and Naomi Shihab Nye

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

PALESTINE PRISONERS’ DAY. “. . . what of the chains chafing my wrists. . .” (Fouzi El-Azmar)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
Palestinian prisoner in chains (Photo: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)
Palestinian prisoner in chains (Photo: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)

❶ Report: 7,896 PALESTINIANS inside Israeli jails
. . . . . ❶―(ᴀ) Report: “Israeli Army Kidnapped and Imprisoned 1.000.000 Palestinians Since 1967”
❷ Premier Urges Int’l Community to Protect Rights of Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails
❸ Take Action for Palestinian Prisoner’s Day
❹ Report: “509 JERUSALEMITE Palestinians, including 15 Women and 10 Children, Imprisoned by Israel”
❺ Opinion/Analysis: ON  PALESTINIAN  PRISONERS’  DAY,  ANTI-PRISON,  LABOR,  ACADEMIC  DELEGATION  TAKES  STAND  AGAINST  ISRAELI  STATE  VIOLENCE,  AFFIRMS  SOLIDARITY  WITH  PALESTINIAN  PEOPLE
❻ POETRY by Fouzi El-Azmar
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ REPORT:  7,896  PALESTINIANS  INSIDE  ISRAELI  JAILS
Days of Palestine
MILITARY COURT WATCH
April 16, 2016
MCW reported Israeli Prison Service (IPS)’s statistics showing that there were 6,204 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip held as “security prisoners” in Israeli detention facilities by the end of last month.
___It said that this number included 438 children.
___Regarding children, the MCW said that there was an 8 per cent increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual increase of 94 per cent compared with 2015.
___These figures include seven children held under administrative detention. A further 1,692 Palestinians were held as “criminal prisoners” including 15 children.       MORE . . .

. . . . . ❶― (ᴀ) REPORT:  “ISRAELI  ARMY  KIDNAPPED  AND  IMPRISONED  1.000.000  PALESTINIANS  SINCE  1967”
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
April 17, 2016
The Palestinian Detainees’ Committee and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) have reported that Israeli soldiers have kidnapped around 1.000.000 Palestinians, including tens of thousands of women and children, since occupying the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in 1967. Two detainees died in 2015 due to being denied access to specialized medical treatment.
___In their joint report marking April 17, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, the Detainees’ Committee and the PPS said the Israeli army has kidnapped, since the beginning of “Al-Aqsa Intifada,” in late September 2000, until this day, more than 90.000 Palestinians, including 11.000 children, 1.300 women and girls, and 65 elected legislators and government ministers.       MORE . . .

❷ PREMIER  URGES  INT’L  COMMUNITY  TO  PROTECT  RIGHTS  OF  PALESTINIAN  PRISONERS  IN  ISRAELI  JAILS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 17, 2016
On the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged the international community to protect the human rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, especially the children who are subject to psychological and physical harm, said a statement issued on Sunday by the Premier’s office.
___”Israel’s policies of detention and imprisonment violate all international legal standards, and  are intended to obstruct the daily lives of Palestinians, in order to oppress an entire population,” the Prime Minister added.      MORE . . .

Twelve Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest of administrative detention, jail conditions. (Photo: Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Jan.18, 2016)
Twelve Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest of administrative detention, jail conditions.
(Photo: Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Jan.18, 2016)

❸ TAKE  ACTION  FOR  PALESTINIAN  PRISONER’S  DAY
Alternative Information Center – AIC
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
April 14, 2016
As Palestinians prepare to mark Prisoners’ Day on April 17, a day to be in solidarity with thousands of Palestinian political prisoners by demanding their freedom from Israeli jails, the US Campaign to End the Occupation launched a new website G4S Facts highlighting the various injustices perpetrated by G4S, the world’s largest private security company, in the United States, Palestine, and beyond.     MORE . . .  

❹ REPORT:  “509  JERUSALEMITE  PALESTINIANS,  INCLUDING  15  WOMEN  AND  10  CHILDREN,  IMPRISONED  BY  ISRAEL” 
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC 
April 17, 2016
The Jerusalem Detainees’ Parents Committee has reported, Sunday, that as the Palestinians mark the Prisoners Day on April 17, at least 509 Jerusalemite Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel, among them are 10 women, and 18 children.
___The committee provided the following information regarding Jerusalemite political prisoners, held by Israel.

    10 children under the age of 14.

118 children, above the age of 14, and below the age of 18.

MORE . . .

❺ Opinion/Analysis: ON  PALESTINIAN  PRISONERS’  DAY,  ANTI-PRISON,  LABOR,  ACADEMIC  DELEGATION  TAKES  STAND  AGAINST  ISRAELI  STATE  VIOLENCE,  AFFIRMS  SOLIDARITY  WITH  PALESTINIAN  PEOPLE
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
April 16, 2016
Recently returned from a ten-day trip to the Israeli-colonized Palestine, a US delegation of anti-prison, labor, and scholar-activists has issued the following statement to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day 2016.  The delegation included three former US-held political prisoners, and a formerly incarcerated activist, two former Black Panther Party members, university professors, prison abolition organizers, and trade unionists. . . .
___In recognition of International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners, the US Anti-Prison, Labor, and Academic Delegation is demanding freedom for the 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently held in Israeli jails and all those fighting for justice everywhere, including political prisoners in U.S. prisons.      MORE . . .

(Blogger’s note: This poem was written 45 years ago. Its timeliness today cannot be disputed.)

“TWENTY  COMRADES,”  BY  FOUZI  EL ASMAR

Beloved, you ask me
Of life in this prison, this cell
what of the chains
chafing my wrists
what of my food and drink
and the comrades of my cell?

Beloved, let me tell you:
Our clouds are indeed heavy
But our being here
is a smile of spring,
The shock of thunder
in autumn, after drought.
We are not defeated
Like our jailers.

Life in this prison, this cell
is a palm tree impregnated
at the dawn.
My chains are the round
echo of a muezzin,
Their clank is the ringing
of my people’s bells.

Beloved, you ask me
of the meaning of my food
Here beloved
we grow like the wild flowers.

And what of
my comrades
in this cell? You ask
They are the twenty candles
lighting the darkness of this cell
The twenty songs
shaking the walls of this cell
The twenty revolutions
that will eternalize this cell
And we, beloved
we shall not be stopped.  (June, 1970)

About Fouzi El Asmar.
El Asmar, Fouzi. POEMS  FROM  AN  ISRAELI  PRISON. Intro. By Israel Shahak. New York: KNOW Books, 1973.
Available from Amazon.
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“. . . a theater of sounds on the west bank of our ancient river . . .” (Fawaz Turki)

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Israel Demolishes Three Homes in Bethlehem Village April 12, 2016 (Photo: WAFA)
Israel Demolishes Three Homes in Bethlehem Village April 12, 2016 (Photo: WAFA)

❶ Israeli Forces Detain Six Palestinians from West Bank
Israeli Forces Detain Nine Palestinians, Karate Team Coach from West Bank, Gaza
❷ Israeli Army Destroys Playground near Nablus
Israel Demolishes Three Homes in Bethlehem Village
❸ Palestinian PM says he is ‘bitterly disappointed’ in US
❹ Analysis: Would pre-state Zionist militias be terrorists by today’s standards
❺ Opinion/Analysis: AS  THREATS  AGAINST  BDS  GROW,  IT  IS  TIME  FOR  ‘SUMOUD’ [RESOLVE]  IN  ACTIVIST  COMMUNITIES
❻ POETRY by Fawaz Turki
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  SIX  PALESTINIANS  FROM  WEST  BANK
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 12, 2016
Israeli forces detained early Tuesday six Palestinians from the West Bank, bringing the total number of detainees to 17, said WAFA correspondent.
___Israeli forces detained three Palestinians during a raid into Qalandia Youth Center in Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.
MORE . . .
RELATED . . .  ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  NINE  PALESTINIANS,  KARATE  TEAM  COACH  FROM  WEST  BANK,  GAZA

❷ ISRAELI  ARMY  DESTROYS  PLAYGROUND  NEAR  NABLUS
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
April 12, 2016
Israeli army on Tuesday destroyed a playground in Za’tara, a small village to the south of Nablus, according to local sources.
___Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlement activities in northern West Bank, told WAFA that Israeli military bulldozers broke into the village and demolished playground, which was used a children’s park.      MORE . . . 
RELATED . . .    ISRAEL  DEMOLISHES  THREE  HOMES  IN  BETHLEHEM  VILLAGE 

❸ PALESTINIAN  PM  SAYS  HE  IS  ‘BITTERLY  DISAPPOINTED’  IN  US
Al-Monitor (Palestine Pulse)
Daoud Kuttab
April 11, 2016
Since being appointed Palestinian prime minister in June 2013, Rami Hamdallah has run a tight economic ship, earning him praise from Christoph Duenwald, the local representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) . . . .
___Praise from the IMF aside, Hamdallah said, “As prime minister I am bitterly disappointed when it comes to the US. . .  Hamdallah explained that although US support in 2010 reached $1.45 billion, in 2015 Washington pledged to provide $290 million but only delivered $130 million. The remaining $160 million was frozen by Congress.      MORE . . .

❹ Analysis:  WOULD  PRE-STATE  ZIONIST  MILITIAS  BE  TERRORISTS  BY  TODAY’S  STANDARDS?
+972 Blog
Tomer Persico
April 10, 2016
Labor MK Zohair Bahloul in recent days raised the ire of Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum, including members of his own party, for his unwillingness to label Palestinians who attack Israeli soldiers “terrorists.”      MORE . . . 

.
American comedian and actress Roseann Barr seen at the opening of “Yedioth Aharonots” conference “Fighting the Boycott” discussing issues and ways to fight the BDS movement, at the Jerusalem Convention Center, on March 28, 2016. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90

❺ Opinion/Analysis:  AS  THREATS  AGAINST  BDS  GROW,  IT  IS  TIME  FOR  ‘SUMOUD’  [RESOLVE]   IN  ACTIVIST  COMMUNITIES
Mondoweisss
Nada Elia
April 11, 2016
The attacks on BDS, and BDS organizers, are intensifying globally.  “The BDS organizations will have no rest,” warned Gilad Erdan at the recent “Stop BDS” conference in Occupied Jerusalem.
___One of the better-known BDS organizers, Omar Barghouti, has been directly named as a target of “civil assassination.”  [. . . . ]
___And historically, Palestinians have given the world many terms.  “Nakba,” our catastrophe, which started before the day of its commemoration, May 15, 1948, and is ongoing today . . . .  “Intifada,” the “shaking off” of an oppressive system intent on our total annihilation . . . .  And “SUMOUD.”  Sumoud is the persistence of the Palestinian people . . . .        MORE . . .

“DUSK IN GALILEE,” BY Fawaz Turki
(on request)

A feast of colors
is the sunset in Galilee,
a silent orgy
in the horizon of our
West Bank,
silver grey stars
quivering in the sky
speeding to hug one another
body and soul
like erotic grapes of sorrow
the wind
and the desolate music
of the oud
are a theater of sounds
on the west bank
of our ancient river
and the evening will unfurl
exquisite delights
in Galilee.
The military governor
tells his guests
all this has come to pass
because he issued an edict
and his soldiers used their guns
to make it so.

Fawaz Turki (b. 1940) was born in Haifa, Palestine. He is a poet and the author of prose accounts of his life as a Palestinian in exile. He has published several books in English. He was writer-in-residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a professor at the State University of New York in Buffalo, and a frequent speaker at conferences on the Middle East.   About Fawaz Turki.
From ANTHOLOGY  OF  MODERN  PALESTINIAN  LITERATURE.  Ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992. Available from Columbia University Press.
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“. . . earth is the hell prepared for refugees. . .” (Ashraf Fayadh)

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THE PALESTINIAN POET ASHRAF FAYADH, whose death sentence in Saudi Arabia was commuted to 8 years in prison after international pressure, has been a key figure in taking Saudi contemporary art to a global audience. (Photo: BBC, 14 January 2016)
THE PALESTINIAN POET ASHRAF FAYADH, whose death sentence in Saudi Arabia was commuted to 8 years in prison after international pressure, has been a key figure in taking Saudi contemporary art to a global audience. (Photo: BBC, 14 January 2016)

❶ Israeli Army Raids, Wreaks Havoc into Arab American University in Jenin
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Premier Condemns Israeli Raid on Arab American University in Jenin
❷ Jerusalem family rejects son’s [frozen] body after Israeli handover, another buried
❸ Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian shepherds, level land in Gaza
❹ ON  WORLD  POETRY  DAY,  GAZA  ACTIVISTS  HONOR  DETAINED  POET  ASHRAF  FAYADH
❺ Opinion/Analysis:  AMERICAN  JEWS  SHOULD  PROTEST  AIPAC,  NOT  TRUMP
❻ Poetry by Ashraf Fayadh
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ ISRAELI  ARMY  RAIDS,  WREAKS  HAVOC  INTO  ARAB  AMERICAN  UNIVERSITY  IN  JENIN
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
22 Mar. 2016
Large Israeli military forces Tuesday raided and wreaked havoc into the headquarters of the Arab American University in Jenin, said security and official sources.
___The university’s vice president of financial and administrative affairs, Faleh Abu Erra, informed WAFA large Israeli armed forces broke into the headquarters and buildings of the university during the predawn hours, after breaking down its doors.
___ Forces wreaked havoc into the headquarters and buildings, and seized computers, in addition to  files, banners and flags of student blocs.      MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) PREMIER  CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  RAID  ON  ARAB  AMERICAN  UNIVERSITY  IN  JENIN
PALESTINE NEWS AND INFORMATION AGENCY – WAFA
22 Mar. 2016
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah Tuesday condemned Israel’s raid on the Arab American University, located in the West Bank Governorate of Jenin, said a statement issued by the premier’s office.
___”I reiterate our call for international protection; Israel should not be allowed to continue to act above the law.  The international community witnesses yet another violation of the sanctity of Palestinian educational institutions, and it should not remain silent.”  MORE . . .

ISRAEL AND FREEDOM OF EDUCATION: Israeli military forces on the campus of Palestine Technical Institute in Tulkarem, Dec. 10, 2015. (MaanImages/File)
ISRAEL AND FREEDOM OF EDUCATION: Israeli military forces on the campus of Palestine Technical Institute in Tulkarem, Dec. 10, 2015. (MaanImages/File)

❷ JERUSALEM  FAMILY  REJECTS  SON’S  [frozen] BODY  AFTER  ISRAELI  HANDOVER,  ANOTHER  BURIED
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
March 22, 2016
The Israeli authorities late Monday returned the bodies of two Jerusalemite Palestinians who were shot dead after allegedly carrying out attacks, one of which was rejected by family members.
___Witnesses said the Lions’ Gate area . . .  “looked like a military barracks” as Israeli forces heightened their presence for the return of the bodies of 15-year-old Hassan Khalid Manasra and Omar Skafi, 21.
___Outrage erupted when the family of 15-year-old Mansara found their son’s body frozen, in violation of a mutual agreement set up between the Israeli authorities and family members.      MORE . . .

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  OPEN  FIRE  ON  PALESTINIAN  SHEPHERDS,  LEVEL  LAND  IN  GAZA
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
March 22, 2016
Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian shepherds and several Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers entered the Palestinian side of the borderline between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Tuesday, locals said.
___Locals told Ma’an that soldiers fired live ammunition at a group of shepherds . . . .
___Northwest of Beit Lahiya in the north of the strip, witnesses said five large armored bulldozers leveled Palestinian lands near the border fence.
___Witnesses also said four bulldozers entered through the border fence from Kissufim military post onto Palestinian land east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.      MORE . . . 

❹ ON  WORLD  POETRY  DAY,  GAZA  ACTIVISTS  HONOR  DETAINED  POET  ASHRAF  FAYADH
MONDOWEISS
Haidar Eid
21 Mar. 2016
On the Occasion of World Poetry Day, Gaza-based human rights activists released an amateur video-clip in support of the Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh, who has been detained in a Saudi prison since January 1, 2014, without access to a lawyer since then. He was initially sentenced to death for “apostasy” by a regional court in Saudi Arabia on November 17, 2015. Due to international pressure and campaigns the sentence has recently been reduced to 8 years imprisonment and 800 lashes!       MORE . . .

❺ OPINION/ANALYSIS:  AMERICAN  JEWS  SHOULD  PROTEST  AIPAC,  NOT  TRUMP
+972 MAGAZINE
Mairav Zonszein
18 Mar. 2016
AIPAC has never cared about Israel’s disregard for civil and human rights. So why should it care about Trump’s?      MORE . . .

ASHRAF  FAYADH’S  “DISPUTED”  POEMS,  IN  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION

8
prophets have retired
so do not wait for yours to come to you

and for you,
for you the monitors bring their daily reports
and get their high salaries..

how important money is
for a life of dignity

9
my grandfather stands naked everyday,
without banishment, without divine creation..
I have already been resuscitated without a godly blow in my image.
I am the experience of hell on earth..

earth
is the hell prepared for refugees.

10
your mute blood will not speak up
as long as you pride yourself in death
as long as you keep announcing -secretly- that you have put your soul
at the hands of those who do not know much..

losing your soul will cost time,
much longer than what it takes to calm
your eyes that have cried tears of oil

Ashraf Fayadh’s “Disputed” Poems, in English Translation: From MONA KAREEM’S BLOG
Nov 23, 2015
Mona Kareem is a poet, translator, and journalist based in New York. She published two collections of [Arabic] poetry in 2002 and 2004.  Mona is a doctoral candidate in the Comparative Literature program at Binghamton University.
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“. . . Time has grown up on its own without me . . .” (Yousef El Qedra)

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Palestinian youths in Aida refugee camp list the names of the children killed in the Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip, on July 28, 2014. (Photo: Agence France Presse/Musa al-Shaer, File)
Palestinian youths in Aida refugee camp list the names of the children killed in the Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip, on July 28, 2014. (Photo: Agence France Presse/Musa al-Shaer, File)

❶ PMO: Israel acted ‘above the law’ in killing of Gazan children
❷ Israeli forces level lands in southeastern Gaza Strip
❸ Israel’s new political and military offensive
❹ Billionaire donor using British Council to combat Israel boycott
❺ Analysis: TOO  DANGEROUS  TO  PLAY:  THE  WEST  BANK  CHILDREN  SHOT  DEAD  BY  ISRAELI  SOLDIERS
❻ Poetry by Yousef El Qedra

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PMO:  ISRAEL  ACTED  ‘ABOVE  THE  LAW’  IN  KILLING  OF  GAZAN  CHILDREN
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
March 15, 2016
The Palestinian Prime Minister’s office on Tuesday slammed Israel for “acting above the law” and called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for the deaths of two children killed in an airstrike on Gaza last week. . . .
___Addressing the incident, Jamal Dajani, Director of Strategic Communications and Media for Prime Minister Hamdallah said: “Israel continues to act above the law and murder children.”
___”Israeli leaders have blood on their hands, how do they justify the killing of innocent children?” Dajani said.     MORE . . .

❷ ISRAELI  FORCES  LEVEL  LANDS  IN  SOUTHEASTERN  GAZA  STRIP
MA’AN NEWS AGENCY
15 Mar. 2016
Israeli bulldozers on Tuesday entered the Palestinian side of the Gaza borderline under military protection near Khuzza village in the southeastern Gaza Strip.
___Witnesses told Ma’an that five bulldozers stormed an agricultural area east of Khuzza and leveled lands. No gunfire or injuries were reported.
___Israeli military forces routinely enter the Gaza Strip near the “buffer zone” which lies on the borderline between the besieged enclave and Israel.     MORE . . . 

❸ ISRAEL’S  NEW  POLITICAL  AND  MILITARY  OFFENSIVE
ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)
14 Mar. 2016
A 6-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother were killed near the town of Beit Lahiya . . .  in their house at the time of the airstrike.
___The strike is part of a new Israeli political and military offensive against Palestinians that includes incursions into areas controlled by the Palestinian government, closing media outlets and negotiating with foreign governments to increase the international isolation of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
___On Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, successfully urged the French President, Francois Hollande, to shut down Al Aqsa TV broadcasts on French satellite provider Eutelsat . . . .      MORE . . . 

❹ BILLIONAIRE  DONOR  USING  BRITISH  COUNCIL  TO  COMBAT  ISRAEL  BOYCOTT
THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADA
Hilary Aked
14 Mar. 2016
New documents seen by The Electronic Intifada . . . show that the British Council has been quietly working to thwart the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in support of Palestinian rights.
___The revelations about the government-funded program come as the UK attempts to ban local government from boycotting companies complicit in Israeli human rights abuses.
___. . . Nathan Kirsh, a billionaire businessman profiting directly from Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank, is a donor to the British Council’s little-known anti-boycott project.
___The British Council is a quasi-governmental body which describes itself as making an important “contribution to UK soft power.” It gets approximately 20 percent of its funding from the UK Foreign Office.     MORE . . .

Luaiy al-Baw said his nephew Haitham who was shot in the back and killed by an Israeli soldier was more interested in animals and football than politics (Photo: Abed al-Qaisi)
Luaiy al-Baw said his nephew Haitham who was shot in the back and killed by an Israeli soldier was more interested in animals and football than politics (Photo: Abed al-Qaisi)

❺ ANALYSIS:  TOO  DANGEROUS  TO  PLAY:  THE  WEST  BANK  CHILDREN  SHOT  DEAD  BY  ISRAELI  SOLDIERS
MIDDLE EAST EYE
Sheren Khalel
13 Mar. 2016
Parents in the occupied West Bank say they can no longer allow their children to play outside because of fears that they could be shot dead by Israeli forces.
___A report published this month by a children’s rights group said that 41 children had been shot dead during six months of upheaval in which Israeli forces have often responded with lethal force to scores of stabbing and shooting attacks by Palestinians.
___Nasreen al-Baw, the mother of 14-year-old Haitham al-Baw who was killed by Israeli soldiers on 5 February, told Middle East Eye that her son had died instantly after being shot in the back while playing on a hillside with his cousin and another teenager and his two new dogs.     MORE . . .

    “I  HAVE  NO  HOME,”  BY  YOUSEF  EL  QEDRA

I saw clouds running away from the hurt.
I have no language.
Its weight is lighter than a feather.
The quill does not write.
The ink of the spirit burns on the shore of meaning.
The clouds are tears, filled with escape and lacking definition.
A cloud realizes the beauty she forms—
beauty which contains all good things,
for whom trees, gardens, and tired young women wait.

I have no home.
I have a night overripe with sweats caused by numbness all over.
Time has grown up on its own without me.
In my dream, I asked him what he looks like.
My small defeats answered me.
So I asked him again, What did he mean?
Then I found myself suspended in nothingness,
Stretched like a string that doesn’t belong to an instrument.
The wind played me. So did irresistible gravity.
I was a run of lost notes that have a sad, strong desire to live.
―Translated by Yasmin Snounu and Edward Morin

Yousef El Qedra is a young poet and playwright living in Gaza. He has his BA degree in Arabic Literature from Azhar University, Gaza. Since 2006 he has worked as a project coordinator of theater and youth groups for the Cultural Free Thought Association in Gaza City. He has written several books and plays and published four volumes of poetry, translated into French and Spanish.
From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND:  PALESTINE  ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE.  Ed. By Joan Dobbie and Grace Beeler. Sandpoint ID: Lost Horse Press, 2012. Available from Amazon.
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