Tag: Silwan

“. . . in the street there’s nothing but a beggar . . .” (Samih al-Qasim)

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SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY

Merkel, Abbas Meet for Talks in Berlin

Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper
August 29, 2019
Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany continues to believe a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinian is the only way for both peoples “to live in peace and security.”
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Merkel stressed her support for a two-state solution ahead of talks Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Chancellery in Berlin.   More . . . .

Israeli Forces Close Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim Worshippers

The Middle East Monitor
 August 29, 2019
Israeli forces today closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers for 24 hours, in preparation for a Jewish settlers raid to mark a Jewish holiday, said a Waqf official.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Director of the Hebron Waqf Directorate’s Public Relations Department Raed Maswadeh told WAFA that Israeli soldiers closed the mosque to Muslim worshipers, while they allowed Jewish settlers to access it. Maswadeh added that the settlers also set up tents just outside the mosque.    More . . . .

  • In Hebron, Tlaib and Omar would have seen Israel’s apartheid city

    +972 Magazine
    By Avner Gvaryahu
    August 28, 2019
    Had Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar been allowed to visit Hebron, they would have seen Israel’s official policy of discrimination and segregation for the city’s 215,000 Palestinian residents.
    Outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron lies a beautiful leafy garden. In it stands a large stone with the names of the donors – Chicago Friends of Hebron. Even if U.S. Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib had not been barred from visiting the occupied territories earlier this month, Breaking the Silence, an Israeli organization comprised of former IDF soldiers working to expose the realities of military occupation, would not have been able to take them there. Since Omar and Tlaib are both Muslim, they not only would have been unwelcome — Israeli Border Police soldiers stationed around the park would have stopped them from entering.
    ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Discrimination and segregation are unpalatable wherever they exist, but in Hebron’s city center, they have been the official policy for the 215,000 Palestinian residents – especially since the Tomb of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994, in which a Jewish nationalist fanatic shot dead 29 Palestinians while praying at the holy site.   More . . . .     

Israeli Colonists Invade Archaeological Site Near Nablus

IMEMC-International Middle East Media Center
August 29, 2019
A group of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers, accompanied by many soldiers invaded, on Wednesday evening, the archeological area in al-Mas’udiyya, north of Nablus, in northern West Bank, and prevented the Palestinians from entering it.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israel’s illegal colonialist activities in northern West Bank, said dozens of colonists and soldiers invaded the archeological area, and its park, in al- Mas’udiyya.   More. . . .

Israeli Troops Abduct Two Married Couples, Journalist in Early Morning Raids

IMEMC-International Middle East Media Center
August 29, 2019
Early Thursday morning before dawn, Israeli troops invaded several parts of the West Bank and abducted five Palestinians — two married couples from Jerusalem, and a photojournalist from the village of Ni’lin.
˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, Israeli forces abducted on Thursday two Palestinian citizens and their wives from the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. More . . . .

POEM OF THE DAY

“A HOMELAND,” BY SAMIH AL-QASIM

So what,
When in my homeland
The sparrow dies of starvation,
In exile, without a shroud,
While the earthworm is satiated,
Devouring God’s food!

So what,
When the yellow fields
Yield no more to their tillers
Than memories of weariness,
While their rich harvest pours
Into the granaries of the usurper.

So what,
If the cement has diverted
The ancient springs,
Causing them to forget their natural course,
When their owner calls,
They cry in his face: “Who are you?”

So what,
When the almond and the olive tree have turned to timber
Adorning tavern doorways,
And monuments
Whose nude loveliness beautifies halls and bars,
And is carried by tourists
To the farthest corners of the earth,
While nothing remains before my eyes
But dry leaves and tinder!

So what,
When my people’s tragedy
Has turned to farce in others’ eyes,
And my face is a poor bargain
That even the slave-trader gleefully disdains!

So what,
When in barren space the satellites spin,
And in the street there’s nothing but a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!
Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive!

From A LOVER FROM PALESTINE AND OTHER POEMS, An Anthology of Palestinian Poetry. ed. Abdul Wahab al-Messiri, Free Palestine Press, Washington D.C. 1970.

“. . . lay back against the shoulder of familiar habits . . .” (Walid Khazindar)

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Homes seen from main street in Shufat. (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 5, 2015)

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .
| EU  CONDEMNS  ISRAELI  DEMOLITIONS  IN  SHUAFAT  REFUGEE  CAMP
The  EUROPEAN  UNION  on Saturday evening condemned Israel’s demolition of around 20 structures in Shuafat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday, as well as the continued Israeli settlement expansion in the city.    ___The demolitions were part of the Israeli municipality’s new policy of extending the reach of municipal enforcement to refugee camps in Jerusalem.    ___“The policy of settlement construction and expansion in East Jerusalem continues to undermine the possibility of a viable two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states, which is the only realistic way to achieve a just and lasting peace,” said Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of EU’s High Representative Federica Mogherini.    More . . .
. . . . Related  JORDANIAN  initiative launched to highlight Gaza siege
. . . . Related  Al-Malki meets  JAPANESE  counterpart at the Mediterranean Dialogues
. . . . Related  Palestine and  TURKEY  sign agreement on women’s empowerment
.  .  .  .  .  Istanbul summit  seeks to empower family in age of self
. . . . Related RUSSIA  offers to mediate between Palestinians and Israel
|   COMMISSION  SOUNDS  ALARM  OVER  ISRAEL’S  JUDAIZATION  SCHEMES  AROUND  AQSA 
The Commission of Scholars and Preachers in Occupied Jerusalem has warned of the repercussions of Israel’s violations and Judaization schemes beneath and around holy al-Aqsa Mosque.    ___The commission said in a statement that Israel’s so-called “biblical gardens”, “Holy Basin”, and “Biblical Paths” have dangerous upshots on Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque.    ___The statement warned of an Israeli scheme of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians living in Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, in Silwan, south of al-Aqsa Mosque, as part of the so-called “Biblical gardens” project.    More . . .

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Homes just outside wall of Shufat Refugee Camp (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 5, 2015)

|  IN  VIDEO  –  ISRAELI  FORCES  DETAIN  JERUSALEM  GOVERNOR  FOR  2ND  TIME
Israeli forces detained the Palestinian Governor of Jerusalem, Adnan Ghaith, on Sunday morning, after raiding his home in the Silwan neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem.    ___Local sources confirmed that following Ghaith’s detention, Israeli forces transferred him to an interrogation center in Jerusalem City.    ___It is noteworthy that this is Ghaith’s  second detention  in less than a month.    More . . .
. . . . Related  Minors among 9  detained by Israeli forces
. . . . Related  Israeli forces surround, attack high school in East Jerusalem
. . . . Related  Israeli settlers uproot dozens of olive trees in West Bank village
. . . . Related  IOF causes damages to shops near Nablus

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  ‘I  THOUGHT  I  KNEW  ABOUT  PALESTINE,  UNTIL  I  SAW  THE  OCCUPATION  FIRST  HAND’ 
Film director Toomas Järvet discusses  Rough  Stage  ahead of its screening at the London Palestine Film Festival on 27 November.    [. . . .] As far as director Järvet is concerned, the essence of the film is very simple; how to stay true to what you believe in and what you want to achieve no matter what the obstacles are in life. “The ideas and problems the film talks about are very common and universal,” he insists.    More . . .

NOTICES  FROM  ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
| THE  JERUSALEM  FUND  –  PALESTINE  DIABETES  INSTITUTE  APPEAL
[. . . .] Now that the US administration has withheld financial support to the Palestinian Authority, to Jerusalem hospitals, and to UNRWA, it has made an already tough situation much worse. The vulnerable diabetic patients may be facing more complications. Your donation at this time will ensure that the PDI will continue to provide valuable services to these patients.    ___Life in the West Bank and Gaza is challenging at every turn, and things have reached a crisis point. With the new developments, it is certain to get worse. Your contribution targeted to the PDI program will make a difference in the lives of these patients. Please contribute generously to the extent that you can, as your donation will help Palestinians stay healthier and productive.   Donate . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . .

“HOUSES,”  BY  WALID  KHAZINDAR

The cloud of migrations in his eyes,
and in the leather briefcase the book, the pencil, the family photograph
The rust of benches on his hands, the rust of bannisters and doorknobs,
the rust of handshakes on his hands.
The briefcase propped against the wall—
will he take out his souvenirs first, or will he
Like a magician take out a country:
a house,
a street,
a capital.
He closed his eye, lay back against the shoulder of familiar habits.
He will not make friends with another vase,
he will not confess to a bed that will blow up in the next war,
he will not make tea or sing,
He will pace back and forth for a long time between the porch and the kitchen
and he will listen hard for a sound coming from the garden gate.
But there is only the crunching of leaves under feet
passing
then
going on;
there is nothing but the hum of talk in the houses next door.

–Translated by Lena Jayyusi and W.S. Merwin

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

“. . . Rise, throw off the veil of shame none can justify . . .” (Diab Rabie)

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(Note: Today’s posting responds to the Israeli court ruling in “Context” and presents background on the history and progress of removal of Palestinians from Jerusalem.)
w-mugrabi-051713-1425653865Palestinians Mourn Neighborhood Razed by Israel in Shadow of Western Wall
after 1967 Six-Day War.  Forward . . .

. . . . Context  Israeli  court  approves  eviction  of  100  Palestinian  families  from  Silwan
. . . . Context  Experts:  Occupation  seeks  to  establish  a  50km  settlement  belt  in  Jerusalem

COMMENTARY    AND    OPINION. . . .
|  JEWISH  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  ISRAELI  OCCUPIED  STATE  OF  PALESTINE  UNDERMINING  AUTHENTIC  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  ISRAELI  PALESTINIAN  CONFLICT  
By Jad Isaac (general director of the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem)
A tour of the West Bank or a look at its geopolitical map reveals the extent of Israel’s colonization strategy and how the settlements regime is undermining the two-state solution. The ongoing fragmentation of Palestinian land and communities . . . house demolitions and the confiscation of private property, are making the two-state solution far-fetched, if not impossible.   ___When the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) engaged the peace process with Israel with the signing of the first Oslo Accord on Sept. 13, 1993, the Palestinian people assumed that a Palestinian state would emerge within five years’ time on the land occupied by Israel on June 5, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.      More . . .
. . . . Related Israeli  Settlements—  Interactive  Map  (The Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
. . . . Related Israel’s  settlements:  50  years  of  land  theft  explained
|  NAKBA  MEMORICIDE:  GENOCIDE  STUDIES  AND  THE  ZIONIST/ISRAELI  GENOCIDE  OF  PALESTINE  – Journal  of  Holy  Land  and  Palestine  Studies
By Rashed, Haifa;  Short, Damien; Docker, John
ABSTRACT: This essay furthers the debate on the Palestinian case as it relates to Genocide Studies, questioning the lack of substantive discussion of this case to date in traditional Genocide Studies fora. It reemphasises the importance of the settler-colonial dimension to Zionist settlement in Palestine, which, it argues, has so far not been explored sufficiently. The paper suggests that the ‘Nakba’ of 1948, which was based on appropriation of the land of Palestine without its people, comprising massacres, physical destruction of villages, appropriation of land, property and culture, can be seen as an ongoing process and not merely a historical event.    More . . .
|  NEO-ZIONISM  AND  PALESTINE:  THE  UNVEILING  OF  SETTLER-COLONIAL  PRACTICES  IN  MAINSTREAM  ZIONISM  – Journal  of  Holy  Land  and  Palestine  Studies
By  Amal Jamal  (Department of Political Science Tel Aviv University)
ABSTRACT: This article examines the rise and key characteristics of Neo-Zionist political thought in Israel and its relationship with mainstream Zionist thought. It argues that despite the radical and repulsive discourses of Neo-Zionism and the critique expressed by liberal Zionists towards it, the former has always been embodied in classical Zionism. The justifications provided by Neo-Zionists are based on principles propagated by central leaders of mainstream Zionism. Utilising new perspectives in Settler-Colonial Studies, the article demonstrates how both strands encapsulate the Zionist continuum and continuous expansionist drive for new settlements in Palestine based on ‘Biblical right’ of Jews over the land of Palestine. Both advocate supremacist, exclusivist, and volkish rights for Jews with disastrous consequences for the indigenous people of Palestine. The convictions and practices of the Neo-Zionists in the post 1967 period help unveil the camouflaged motivations, justifications and practices of mainstream expansionist Zionism.   More . . .
. . . . Related  Israel’s  Treatment  of  the  Arabs  in  the  Occupied  Territories (1976/77)
| PLO  ASHRAWI  CONDEMNS  ISRAEL’S  DEMOLITION  OF  SHOPS  IN  SHU’FAT
Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hanan Ashrawi, condemned on Thursday the demolition by Israeli authorities of at least twenty Palestinian-owned shops and structures in the Shu’fat refugee camp in occupied East Jerusalem.   ___“Israel’s strategy of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem has become an official policy,” Ashrawi said in a press release.    ___She continued, “With its deliberate intent of illegally eradicating the Palestinian identity, presence, narrative and history from the occupied city and replacing the indigenous population with extremist Jewish settlers, Israel has escalated its efforts to carry out the demolitions of Palestinian homes, businesses and structures throughout occupied Jerusalem.”   More . . .
|    (History)  MAMLUK  BUILDINGS  BEARING  THE  NAMES  OF  FAMILIES  OF  JERUSALEM
The Old City of Jerusalem is characterized by its distinctive architecture since the Ayyubid period, during which dozens of unique buildings were built, including the so-called “Al-Hawsh”, a Mamluk residential complex with several families residing in.    ___The researcher in the history of Jerusalem, Robin Abu Shamsieh, told the Palestinian Information Center that Al-Hawshs in Jerusalem were characterized by a distinctive architectural style, called palaces, and a number of them still exist until today, carrying the names of the families of Jerusalem such as Shihabi, Danf, and Al-Hilou. They were also characterized by arches, domes and long corridors.   More . . .
. . . . Related  A  familiar  invasion:  Settlers  take  another  mountain  top,  soldiers  follow,  and  Palestinians  demonstrate  for  their  rights

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“SWEARING  BY  YOUR  JERUSALEM,”  BY  DIAB  RABIE
The nightingale stopped singing and mourned the lost land;
It wandered into spaces where winds held command.
Tired by many nights of flight, it took its rest,
But not at wondrous sites or near a female breast.
It once rejoiced in singing, now it merely cries
All night till morning, and it will not shut its eyes.
Memories with bleeding wounds cried out in disgust:
How could you leave the country and abandon your trust.
Your trees shade strangers who oppress and occupy.
Rise, throw off the veil of shame none can justify.
Can the oppressed despise sharp swords and keep their pride?
Face daily insults silently and step aside?
You will regain your land only by sword and spear;
With their help people will see justice reappear.
Youth came into this world to battle with their hands;
Brook no pollution in this holiest of lands.
I swear by “Your Jerusalem,” maimed Palestine,
That Arab flags will wave above you for all time.

Translated by George Khoury and Edward Morin. This poem was published in the Arabic language newspaper, Sameer, in New York City one month after the UN resolution in 1947 to divide Palestine.

Diab Rabie (1922-2010), born in Palestine, was a newspaperman assigned to New York. He was prevented by the Israelis from reentering his homeland and settled in North Carolina. His poems were published in major Arabic newspapers and magazines around the world throughout his life. His collected poems, Shetharat El-Rabie were edited by George Khoury and published before his death (The Birzeit Society, 2010).
From BEFORE  THERE  IS  NOWHERE  TO  STAND.  PALESTINE/ISRAEL  POETS  RESPOND  TO  THE  STRUGGLE.  Ed. Joan Dobbie & Grace Beeler. Sandport, Idaho: Lost Horse Press, 2012.)  Available from Barnes and Noble.

“. . . 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.

“. . . When the almond and the olive have turned to timber . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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THE VILLAGE OF BURIN. PHOTO BY SALMA A-DEB’I. B’Tselem Website, March 27,2018.

SELECTED   NEWS   OF   THE   DAY. . .

|  IN  VIDEO  –  ISRAELI  SETTLERS  ATTACK  PALESTINIAN  FARMERS  IN  NABLUS       Video footage showed how several Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers, on Saturday, while they were harvesting olive harvest on Palestinians lands belonging to the residents of the Burin village, south of the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus.    ___According to local sources, Israeli settlers from the illegal Givat Ronin settlement attacked two Palestinian farmers by throwing rocks at them and chased them out of their own lands.    ___The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reported that “Settler violence and vandalism takes place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part in the assault; at other times, they stand idly by.    More . . .
|  VIDEO:  AS  THE  OLIVE  HARVEST  BEGINS,  SO  DO  THE  SETTLER  ATTACKS     The time had finally come: the residents of Turmusayya, a lush Palestinian village nestled in a valley between Ramallah and Nablus in the central occupied West Bank, had gotten permission from Israeli authorities to go harvest their olive trees. This chance only came twice a year: two days in the spring to cultivate their land, and two days in the fall to harvest the olives.     ___When they arrived, they were devastated to find dozens of trees chopped down, uprooted, and rotting.     More . . .
. . . . Related  Israeli forces chase Palestinian herders out of grazing land
. . . . Related  Settlers chop off olive, grape trees near Bethlehem
. . . . Related  Settlers attack civilians in Hebron
. . . . Related  Israeli army destroys water pipeline in Kafr Qaddoum
. . . . Related  Israeli Soldiers And Settlers Uproot Trees In Silwan
. . . . Related  PHOTOS: Israeli bulldozers demolish homes in West Bank villages
. . . . Related  Israeli fanatics break into Aqsa Mosque
|  ISRAEL ORDERS IMMEDIATE HALT OF FUEL DELIVERIES TO GAZA    Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered an immediate halt to fuel deliveries headed to besieged Gaza in response to what he claimed attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.    ___The announcement on Friday follows the killing  of  seven  Palestinians  by  Israeli  forces  during the ongoing March of Return protests.   ___”Israel will not tolerate a situation in which fuel tankers are allowed to enter Gaza on the one hand, while terror and violence are used against [Israeli] soldiers and Israeli citizens on the other,” the statement from Lieberman’s office read.    More . . .

POEM  FOR  THE  DAY. . . . 

“A  HOMELAND,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
So what,
When in my homeland
The sparrow dies of starvation,
In exile, without a shroud,
While the earthworm is satiated, devouring God’s food!

So what,
When the yellow fields
Yield no more to their tillers
Than memories of weariness,
While their rich harvest pours
Into the granaries of the usurper!

So what,
If the cement has diverted
The ancient springs
Causing them to forget their natural course,
When their owner calls,
They cry in his face: “Who are you?”

So what,
When the almond and the olive have turned to timber
Adorning tavern doorways,
And monuments
Whose nude loveliness beautifies halls and bars,
And is carried by tourists
To the farthest corners of the earth,
While nothing remains before my eyes
But dry leaves and tinder!

So what,
When my people’s tragedy
Has turned to farce in others’ eyes,
And my face is a poor bargain
That even the slave-trader gleefully disdains!

So what,
When in barren space the satellites spin,
And in the streets walks a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!
Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive.

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

“. . . my people’s tragedy Has turned to farce . . .” (Samih Al-Qasim)

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❶ Japan deplores Israel’s approval of 3000 settlement units in West Bank

  • Background: “The Last Colonialist: Israel In The Occupied Territories Since 1967.” Independent Review

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Germany Warns of ‘One-state Reality’, Slams Israel Settlement Expansion
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Grants to Israeli settlements could breach UK law, Charity Commission warns
❷ Extremist settlers attack residents in Hebron’s Tel Rumeida, threaten to close [YOUTH AGAINST SETTLEMENTS] office
❸ Israel to demolish homes in Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood
❹ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ JAPAN  DEPLORES  ISRAEL’S  APPROVAL  OF  3000  SETTLEMENT  UNITS  IN  WEST  BANK  NEIGHBORHOOD
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA    
Oct. 22, 2017   The Government of Japan deeply deplored Israel’s approval of plans for the construction of about 3,000 housing units in settlements in the West Bank despite repeated calls from the international community including Japan for freezing such activities, foreign Press Secretary Norio Maruyama said in a press release.
___The release was issued following reports that Israel has stepped up plans to build almost 3000 new housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.   MORE . . .

Reuveny, Rafael.
“The Last Colonialist: Israel In The Occupied Territories Since 1967.”
Independent Review 12.3 (2008): 325-374.
During the past five hundred years, three primary types of colonies have been established: colonies of exploitation, colonies of settlement, and colonies of contested settlement. Colonies of exploitation, the large majority, overworked natives in labor intensive sectors and did not include many settlers. In colonies of settlement, the settlers became the majority and gained full control. In Spanish America, for example, settlers intermarried with the local elites, killed many natives, and enslaved others, and in British North America and Australia, settlers ousted the natives and decimated them demographically, turning them into a small minority in the land they had previously inhabited. Some of these settler societies also imported slaves from Africa. In colonies of contested settlement in Africa and Asia, many settlers went to live in the colonized lands, but they remained a minority rejected by the natives.
[. . . .] Recent settler actions in the West Bank city of Hebron and the former settlement of Homesh provide additional insight. Seeking to gain control over Hebron’s old city, settlers have attacked Palestinians since 2001, playing a key role in driving out 15,000 to 20,000 Palestinian residents and 1,500 to 1,700 Palestinian businesses from the city. Settlers also have often attacked verbally and physically the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel sent to enforce order. In early 2007, settlers took over a large Palestinian house in Hebron and returned to Homesh, from which the government had removed them during 2005.
[. . . .]  In line with historical colonial examples, Israeli settlers have often built settlements, so-called outposts, without state approval. By 2007, some two thousand settlers lived in about one hundred outposts, seizing 75 percent of their lands from Palestinians. Some Israeli governments have promised to remove outposts and have even removed a few, but all the governments have essentially accepted them after the fact.  FULL ARTICLE.

. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ)  GERMANY  WARNS  OF  ‘ONE-STATE  REALITY’,  SLAMS  ISRAEL  SETTLEMENT  EXPANSION
The Palestine Chronicle
Oct 20 2017   The German government has condemned the latest steps taken by Israeli authorities to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
___In a statement released by the German Foreign Office yesterday, Berlin noted how “plans to construct almost 3,000 additional housing units in the West Bank were adopted this week”.
___The German government stated it “would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the fact that it will not recognize any changes to the June 4, 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations”.   MORE . . .
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) GRANTS  TO  ISRAELI  SETTLEMENTS  COULD  BREACH  UK  LAW,  CHARITY  COMMISSION  WARNS 
Al Hourriah Magazine (Freedom) 
Ben White
Oct. 22, 2017   The Charity Commission has warned that making grants to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) could potentially constitute a breach of the Geneva Conventions Act of 1957, in a significant hardening of the Commission’s approach to the issue.
___It is understood to be the first time that the Charity Commission has specifically cited the 1957 Act in communication with a charity regarding Israel and oPt.
___The new statement from the Commission comes in response to questions about UK Toremet, a charity which, as revealed by Middle East Monitor in September 2015, is acting as a conduit for donations to Israeli settlements in the oPt.
___Settlements are considered a serious violation of international law, a position held by the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the British government, among others.   MORE . . .
❷ EXTREMIST  SETTLERS  ATTACK  RESIDENTS  IN  HEBRON’S  TEL  RUMEIDA,  THREATEN  TO  CLOSE  YAS  OFFICE  
Palestine News Network – PNN
Oct. 22, 2017   Israeli settlers on Sunday attacked the neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida in the old city of Hebron, where they raided Palestinian’s properties under claims that an Israeli settler was injured last night by a stone.
___The settlers attacked residents of the neighborhood, destroyed the property of the citizens and their homes, where they threw rocks, broke the windows, threatened residents and were cussing them.
___The settlers renewed demands to close the YOUTH AGAINST SETTLEMENTS HEADQUARTERS in the area, accusing the movement of being the main instigator of the attacks on settlers [. . . .] Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian journalists from the Palestinian and international media from covering settler attacks. A group of Israeli soldiers prevented journalists and threatened them to make them leave the area.   MORE . . .
❸ ISRAEL  TO  DEMOLISH  HOMES  IN  JERUSALEM’S  SILWAN  NEIGHBORHOOD      Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Oct. 22, 2017 Israeli forces on Sunday notified a number of Palestinians from Silwan neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem, about their intention to demolish their homes, according to local sources.
___WAFA correspondent said staff from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem backed by a police escort broke into Silwan and handed over notices to a number of local citizens informing them about the municipality’s intent to demolish their homes, under the pretext of construction without a permit.
___Over the years, the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem has demolished hundreds of Palestinian-owned homes in the city for lack of a construction permit. The municipality claims that compared to the Jewish population, it receives a disproportionately low number of permit applications from Palestinian communities.   MORE . . .

“A  HOMELAND,”  BY  SAMIH  AL-QASIM
So what,
When in my homeland
The sparrow dies of starvation,
In exile, without a shroud,
While the earthworm is satiated, devouring God’s food!

So what,
When the yellow fields
Yield no more to their tillers
Than memories of weariness,
While their rich harvest pours
Into the granaries of the usurper!

So what,
If the cement has diverted
The ancient springs
Causing them to forget their natural course,
When their owner calls,
They cry in his face: “Who are you?”

So what,
When the almond and the olive have turned to timber
Adorning tavern doorways,
And monuments
Whose nude loveliness beautifies halls and bars,
And is carried by tourists
To the farthest corners of the earth,
While nothing remains before my eyes
But dry leaves and tinder!

So what,
When my people’s tragedy
Has turned to farce in others’ eyes,
And my face is a poor bargain
That even the slave-trader gleefully disdains!

So what,
When in barren space the satellites spin,
And in the streets walks a beggar, holding a hat,
And the song of autumn is heard!

Blow, East winds!
Our roots are still alive.

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

“. . . This special relationship with native lands is critical to formulating the status and rights . . .” (Yousef Jabareen)

Harold KnightLeave a comment
wall-and-church-acre
Wall and church, Acre (Photo source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akko_Walls_%26_Church.jpg ― Arkadi voller)

❶ . Israel is keen to evict Palestinians of Acre

  • Background: “The Arab-Palestinian Community In Israel: A Test Case For Collective Rights Under International Law.” George Washington International Law Review

❷ . Israeli forces deliver 13 demolition notices to Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem
❸ . East Jerusalem: Israeli Strategy Explored in New Video
❹ . West Bank demolitions displace 1,500 Palestinians in 2016
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶. ISRAEL IS KEEN TO EVICT PALESTINIANS OF ACRE
Days of Palestine
Dec 10, 2016
Jenny Nyman
Palestinians of the Old City of Acre in northern Israel face continuous, intensifying struggle against Israeli displacement plans.
___As the Palestinian identity and heritage of the Old City are gradually obscured, local residents are forced to leave in order to make way for wealthy investors and tourism projects.
___Located on the Mediterranean coast in northern Israel, the port city of Acre is one of the oldest in the region, with evidence of continuous settlement dating back as far as 4,000 years.
___Due to its rich history, combining Arab, Crusader and Ottoman heritage, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.   More. . .        Heritage site . . . 
Related: Shoval, Noam. “Street-Naming, Tourism Development And Cultural Conflict: The Case Of The Old City Of Acre/Akko/Akka.” Transactions Of The Institute Of British Geographers 38.4 (2013): 612-626.  Article . . .

  • JABAREEN, YOUSEF T. “The Arab-Palestinian Community In Israel: A Test Case For Collective Rights Under International Law.” George Washington International Law Review 47.3 (2015): 449-480.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 13 September, 2007

[. . . .] Palestinians currently living in historical Palestine . . . live under three different legal and political systems. These groups are: (1) stateless Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza under a mixture of Israeli military rule and self-rule; (2) Palestinian Jerusalemites, or Palestinian residents of Israeli-occupied and annexed East Jerusalem; and (3) Palestinians living in Israel—minority citizens in Israel since the 1948 war. . . .
___Arab-Palestinians . . .  have consistently resided in three main geographical areas within Israel: the Galilee and Triangle regions in the north and center of the country and the Naqab in the south. . . in about seventy towns and villages, which are entirely Arab; the remainder reside in several mixed Arab-Jewish cities, primarily Haifa, Acre, al-Led, Ramleh, and Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Legally, Israel defines itself as a “Jewish and democratic” state. However, nearly one-fifth of Israel’s citizens belong to the Palestinian national group, with their own ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic characteristics.
[. . . .] the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. . . supports . . . preservation and development of the groups’ identity, political participation, the right to autonomy and self-definition, and historical rights. . . . [It] emphasizes the additional need for land rights and similar historical rights. This parallels one of the defining features of indigenous peoples, as opposed to other minorities, in their connection to specific geographic regions. Indeed, they may view their indigenousness through their historical relationship with and attachment to these lands. . . . This special relationship with native lands is critical to formulating the status and rights of such groups, from both a moral and international legal perspective . . . .
___In addition, land use and the right to such lands . . .  are often prerequisites for the fulfillment of other rights including those of a cultural or religious nature. Therefore, one of the key factors motivating indigenous groups to fight for land rights and to gain access to traditional lands is to enable full realization of their group-based rights.
[. . . .] Land rights, as conceptualized by the 2007 Declaration, are closely intertwined with historical rights, past grievances, past compensation, redress, and restorative justice. Accordingly, land is the primary vehicle for addressing all of these issues . . .
[. . . .]  One of the defining features of indigenous peoples, as opposed to other minorities such as immigrants, is their connection to a specific geographic area . . .

❷. ISRAELI  FORCES  DELIVER  13  DEMOLITION  NOTICES  TO  PALESTINIAN  NEIGHBORHOOD  IN  JERUSALEM
Ma’an News Agency  
Dec. 10, 2016
Israeli Jerusalem municipality crews escorted by armed Israeli forces raided the al-Bustan neighborhood of the village of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday and delivered 13 demolition notices for several residential structures.
___Activist and member of the Committee for the Defense of Silwan Properties Fakhri Abu Diyab told Ma’an that municipality crews handed 13 demolition notices to several families in al-Bustan neighborhood.
___Abu Diyab noted that the houses slated for demolition were built tens of years ago, and are home to more than 100 Palestinians, including women and children.  More . . .

acre-mosque
Al-Jazzar Mosque, Old City and fortified Town of Acre (Photo: UNESCO Heritage Site web page)

❸ . EAST  JERUSALEM:  ISRAELI  STRATEGY  EXPLORED  IN  NEW  VIDEO  
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Dec. 11, 2016
A new video released by the Negotiations Affairs Department, titled “East Jerusalem: Israel’s Colonial Project Unraveled,” declares that Israel’s policy in the city, since the 1967 occupation, is three fold: creating a Jewish majority, reducing Palestinian presence and isolating East Jerusalem and dividing it from its West Bank parts.
___According to WAFA, the 2:43-minute documentary describes the policy as one of “special colonial segregation enforced by Israel’s settlement enterprise.”   More . . .
❹ . WEST  BANK  DEMOLITIONS  DISPLACE  1,500  PALESTINIANS  IN  2016 
+972 Magazine      
Natasha Roth
Dec. 10, 2016
Israel ramped up its practice of demolishing Palestinian structures in the West Bank this year, destroying more than twice as many as it did in 2015.      More . . .  

 

“. . . Under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations, Israel, as the Occupying Power, must ‘restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety’ . . .” (Marya Farah)

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holy-land-1-046
Home demolition in East Jerusalem (Photo: Harold Knight, June, 2008)

❶ . Israeli authorities demolish 3 Palestinian structures in Jerusalem-area neighborhood
❷ . Eviction Orders Delivered to 8 Facilities in the Negev

  • Background:  “Planning In Area C: Discrimination in Law and Practice.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture

❸ . Israeli settlers, forces raze land east of Nablus

` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ . ISRAELI AUTHORITIES DEMOLISH 3 PALESTINIAN STRUCTURES IN JERUSALEM-AREA NEIGHBORHOOD   
Ma’an News Agency     
Dec. 6, 2016
Israeli authorities demolished three Palestinian structures in the neighborhood of Silwan in the central occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, according to the owners.
___Alaa Shweiki told Ma’an that bulldozers arrived on his property early Tuesday morning under armed military protection. The bulldozers then demolished a structure roofed with steel tubes and tin sheets that Shweiki used as a horse stable. He highlighted that the same structures had already been demolished in November.
___Shweiki added that Israeli forces confiscated one of his horses, and that bulldozers leveled some of his land and tore down fences and dry-stone walls.
___In the Karm al-Sheikh area of Silwan, Israeli forces demolished two houses under construction whose owners had previously demolished them on Saturday in compliance with an Israeli court order.     More . . . 

bulldozer3maan
Israeli Settlers Raze Palestinian Lands South of Nablus, April 4, 2016 (Photo: IMEMC)

❷ . EVICTION  ORDERS  DELIVERED  TO  8  FACILITIES  IN  THE  NEGEV     
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC 
December 5, 2016
Israeli authorities, on Sunday, gave eviction notices to eight Palestinian-owned facilities in the Umm al-Hiran village, in the Negev Desert.
___Head of the popular committee in the village, Raed Abu Qei’an, affirmed that Israel Land Administration crews stormed the village on Sunday, escorted by Israeli police forces, and delivered the evacuation orders, Pal Info reported, according to the PNN.     The evacuation orders were delivered against four houses and four sheds in the village, he added.
[. . . .] Israeli authorities seek to demolish the village and to forcibly displace its residents, and for the sole purpose of establishing a new Jewish settlement named “Hiran” over its ruins, in a flagrant violation of international laws and principles.      More . . .  

  • Farah, Marya. “Planning In Area C: Discrimination In Law And Practice.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 21.3 (2016): 39-48.  ARTICLE.

In the first week of March 2016 alone, 64 Palestinians were left homeless by Israeli demolitions in the West Bank. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the month of February 2016 saw the highest number of demolitions in the West Bank since it began documenting them in 2009, with 235 homes and structures destroyed, dismantled or confiscated. This resulted in the displacement of 331 individuals, including 174 children in February.
___Communities targeted for demolition are often some of the most vulnerable, thus creating even more dire living conditions for individuals. In contrast to the visibly dismal and harsh human rights situation is the very sterile, methodical legal system, which “necessitates” the demolitions. At the same time, demolitions, and the coercive environment they create as a whole, cannot be divorced from Israel’s settlement enterprise. Both are part of a broader policy, and are performed under the pretense of legitimate authority.
___Under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations, Israel, as the Occupying Power, must “restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In carrying out this duty, a planning regime should serve the interests of the protected Palestinian population, but instead, the planning regime itself, as part of a larger dual set of laws and practices, obstructs the most basic rights of Palestinians.
[. . . .] Methods used for confiscating Palestinian land by the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) include: requisition for military purposes, public needs (such as roads or nature reserves), and declarations of absentee land and state land.      [. . . .] In total, the Civil Administration, a body within the Israeli Ministry of Defense, is responsible for implementing Israeli government policy in the West Bank, and has authority over zoning, construction, and infrastructure matters in Area C. Within this structure, the Central Planning Bureau is responsible for the High Planning Council, and for all planning in Area C, including Palestinian communities and Israeli settlements. . .   This inevitably creates a situation where one body is examining matters for two conflicting interests: one that is in line with government policy, and the other that is in line with international law.   [. . . .]

❸ . ISRAELI  SETTLERS,  FORCES  RAZE  LAND  EAST  OF  NABLUS 
Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA  
Dec. 6, 2016
Israeli settlers backed by soldiers razed Tuesday large areas of Palestinian-owned land east of Nablus in north of the West Bank, according to a local official.
___Gassan Daghlas, in charge of the settlements file in the Palestinian Authority, told WAFA that settlers and soldiers razed 40 dunums of agricultural land owned by Ahmad Nasser in the village of Jaloud. No reason was given for this act.     More . . .   

“. . . Since 1967, the Israeli government has treated these Jerusalemites as foreign immigrants . . .” (Tariq S. Nassar)

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Ras al-Amoud in East Jerusalem on October 21, 2014. (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

❶ Pro-settler group returns to court to evict 9 Palestinian families in Jerusalem
. . . ❶ ― (a) After Amona ruling, Jerusalem asks court to approve demolition of Palestinian homes

  • Background:  “Israelization Of East Jerusalem, Land Through Identity And The Question Of Citizenship.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture

❷ Army Invades Silwan, Al-‘Eesawiyya And Hizma, In Jerusalem, Kidnaps One Palestinian
❸ Israeli forces attack citizens in Jenin
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ PRO-SETTLER  GROUP  RETURNS  TO  COURT  TO  EVICT  9  PALESTINIAN  FAMILIES  IN  JERUSALEM 
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 16, 2016
Ateret Cohanim, a pro-settler Israeli organization, has asked the Israeli courts to begin the evictions of nine Palestinian families in the neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media.
___Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the total number of Palestinian families the settler group has attempted to evict has risen to 72, all of whom live in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan.
___Ateret Cohanim is an Israeli pro-settlement nonprofit organization — receiving tax-deductible donations from the United States through their financial intermediary American Friends of Ateret Cohanim — which focuses on “Judaizing” East Jerusalem through a Jewish reclamation project working to expand illegal settlements and facilitate Jewish takeover of Palestinian properties across the Green Line into Palestinian territory.
___The Wadi Hilweh Information Center obtained a map last year that detailed the group’s plans of confiscating 5,200 square meters of land in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan under claims that the properties were owned by Jews from Yemen since 1881.     More . . .
. . . ❶ ― (a) AFTER  AMONA  RULING,  JERUSALEM  ASKS  COURT  TO  APPROVE  DEMOLITION  OF  PALESTINIAN  HOMES   
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 16, 2016
In response to the Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling to evacuate the illegal Israeli outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank by the year’s end, the Jerusalem Municipality has reportedly demanded that the court in turn approve the immediate demolition of more than a dozen Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.
___Leading up to a court session regarding a petition by the state to postpone the evacuation of Amona, the implementation of which has faced almost a decade of delays amid widespread backlash from Israel’s right-wing government, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat threatened last week that dismantling the outpost would be met with the mass demolition of Palestinian homes lacking Israeli-issued building permits in occupied East Jerusalem.      More . . .

  • Nassar, Tariq S. “Israelization Of East Jerusalem, Land Through Identity And The Question Of Citizenship.” Palestine-Israel Journal Of Politics, Economics & Culture 21.2 (2015): 5-11.  Full article.  

After Israel occupied the West Bank following the 1967 War, it annexed around 70.5 square kilometers of the West Bank into the Jerusalem municipality boundary and claimed Jerusalem as an open city. The Palestinians who remained in Jerusalem were protected by the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), since the annexation conflicted with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.
___The Israeli government at that time granted the Palestinian Jerusalemites a permanent residency status and offered them the right to apply for Israeli citizenship, but Palestinians refused to apply for it. [. . . .] The different strategies and policies in East Jerusalem include planning practices, combined with laws and regulations restricting Palestinians with permanent residency status from entering their city or changing their identity. In the past decade the number of Palestinians acquiring Israeli citizenship has increased substantially.
[. . . .]   Approximately 360,000 Palestinians have Jerusalem IDs, which means that they have permanent residency status, which allows them to live in and enter the city. The status of this permanent residency depends on the holder’s actual staying in Jerusalem and is less secure than citizenship. Since 1967, the Israeli government has treated these Jerusalemites as foreign immigrants who have freely chosen to go and work in Israel and can apply for Israeli citizenship.
[. . . .]    The Israeli urban planners in Jerusalem aimed to enlarge the municipality boundaries as much as possible by using both hidden and clear planning tools in order to weaken and segregate the Palestinians communities in Jerusalem. . . . In 2004, when the Jerusalem municipality officially declared the first comprehensive master plan for Jerusalem, the “Jerusalem Master Plan 2000,” they had a clear, written ethno-demographic policy goal of keeping Jerusalem “30% Arab and 70% Jewish”. The current demographic ratio is around 40% Arabs and 60% Jewish, despite all the Israeli policies trying to keep it around 30% to 70%.
[. . . .]  For more than 45 years, the municipality of Jerusalem has neglected to allow Arab rural villages to become dense urban areas by failing to provide them with a proper planning process or even an outline plan in some areas. The constraints against obtaining a building permit are one of the municipal policies that aim to limit the Arab expansion in Jerusalem. This restriction often leads to illegal buildings and, consequently, the eventual use of house demolition policy, another means used to dominate the Palestinian Jerusalemite population.
___Another planning tool used by the Israeli government to try to ensure the 30% Arab and 70% Jewish ratio is the building of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem along with the confiscation of Palestinian land. In addition to this building and confiscating, the Israeli government has also managed to declare many areas in East Jerusalem to be national parks, thus transferring the responsibility of these lands from the municipality to the National Parks Authority (NPA), a national authority. According to the “Jerusalem Master Plan 2000,” most of the areas that were declared national parks in East Jerusalem were areas where Palestinian Jerusalemites lived and owned land.

❷ ARMY  INVADES  SILWAN,  AL-‘EESAWIYYA  AND  HIZMA,  IN  JERUSALEM,  KIDNAPS  ONE  PALESTINIAN  
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC      
November 16, 2016
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday evening, Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood, in Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and kidnapped a young Palestinian man. The army also invaded Hizma and al-‘Eesawiyya towns, in Jerusalem, and clashed with dozens of youngsters.
___Several army jeeps invaded Ras al-‘Amoud, searched homes and kidnapped a former political prisoner, identified as Abed Ez Barbar.        More . . .   

slderzslwan
Army Invades Al-‘Eesawiyya And Silwan In Jerusalem. Feb. 15 2013 (Photo: IMEMC)

❸ ISRAELI  FORCES  ATTACK  CITIZENS  IN  JENIN    
Alray-Palestinian Media Agency   
Nov. 16, 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF0 stormed at dawn on Wednesday Zaboba at western city of Jenin in the northern West Bank and attacked Palestinian citizens.
___Locals said that the IOF stormed the town at dawn, raided houses, and attacked the citizens.
___They stormed the houses of Mahmoud Jaradat, Thaer Jaradat, Ashraf Zoqsaq, and Wahed Zoqsaq.      More . . .

“. . . “States must each protect minorities, their national or ethnic identity and their linguistic, cultural and religious identity. . . .” (UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights)

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super-moon
#Photo of The #SuperMoon from the capital of #Palestine, #Jerusalem (Widely posted on Facebook, Nov. 13, 2016)

❶ US slams Israeli plan to ‘legalise’ settlement outposts

  • Background: “The Palestinians In Israel: The Challenge Of The Indigenous Group Politics In The ‘Jewish State’.” Journal Of Muslim Minority Affairs

❷ Israel moves forward with bill to ban Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers
❸ PCHR Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the oPt (03 – 09 November 2016)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `
❶ US  SLAMS  ISRAELI  PLAN  TO  ‘LEGALISE’  SETTLEMENT  OUTPOSTS
Al Jazeera English   
Nov. 15, 2016
The US has described as “troubling” an Israeli bill supported by a ministerial committee allowing settlers in the occupied West Bank to remain in homes built on private Palestinian land, additing it hoped the law does not pass.
___”We are deeply concerned about the advancement of legislation that would allow for the legalisation of illegal Israeli outposts located on private Palestinian land,” State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told a briefing on Monday.
___While most of Israel’s settlements in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank – all of which are illegal under international law – are constructed under the auspices of the Israeli government, outposts are built without authorisation and technically illegal under Israeli law.      More . . .       Background . . .  Israel to legalise Jewish outposts in occupied territories

jewish-settlement-_3153184b
A file photograph of Adei Ad, the illegal settlement outpost in the West Bank (Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias, Jan. 2, 2015)

. . . ❶― (a) ISRAELI  AUTHORITIES  DEMOLISH  3  STRUCTURES  IN  JERUSALEM  DISTRICT  AMID  SPATE  OF  DEMOLITIONS       
Ma’an News Agency  
Nov. 15, 2016
Israeli authorities demolished three agricultural structures in the Jerusalem district neighborhoods of Silwan and Jabal al-Mukabbir on Tuesday morning, according to witnesses.
___Alaa Shweiki, a resident of the al-Thuri area in Silwan, told Ma’an Israeli police and Jerusalem municipality inspectors stormed the area around his home and escorted bulldozers onto his property.
___The bulldozers then demolished one structure roofed with steel tubes and tin sheets that he uses as horse stable, as well as a shack he uses to store agricultural equipment.     More . . .     Related . . . Israeli forces demolish residential structures south of Hebron

  • Ghanem, As’ad, and Mohanad Mustafa. “The Palestinians In Israel: The Challenge Of The Indigenous Group Politics In The ‘Jewish State’.” Journal Of Muslim Minority Affairs 31.2 (2011): 177-196.    Source.  

The Palestinians . . .  live in a state that was forced on them and does not represent them. A striking example of the attitude of the ruling majority towards the Palestinian minority in Israel is in the statements . . .  that as part of the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the Palestinian side should accept Israel as a “Jewish state.”
[. . . .]  According to the definition of . . .  the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities a “minority” is a governed group, with citizenship from the state in which it lives. Its unique ethnic, religious and linguistic attributes separate it from the rest of the people in the nation in which it lives. The term “Indigenous Minority” . . .  refers to the remaining minority of a group that resides in its own homeland, despite other immigrant groups occupying it or founding a new state on its lands. . .  The Palestinian minority in Israel meets most of the criteria to be considered indigenous. These criteria were enumerated by the United Nations . . .  early presence, voluntary conservation of cultural uniqueness, self-definition as an indigenous people, refusal to be subjugated, trivialized, marginalized, expelled or discriminated against by the hegemonic society. . . the presence of a group of people as a society, and their attachment to a specific area.
[. . . .]   The first section of the declaration on persons belonging to national or ethnic minorities, or those belonging to religious and linguistic minorities reads: “States must each protect minorities, their national or ethnic identity and their linguistic, cultural and religious identity. States must also lay the groundwork to facilitate the cultivation of the various identities”.
[. . . .]  The foundation of the Judaization idea is far from being an integral part of the democratic system. Oren Yiftachel calls these practices “ethnocracy”, therefore, the ethnocratic regime is founded on a national project that imposes ethnic national hegemony on the domain through the processes of expansion and settlement. In the case of Zionism, the Judaization of the domain and the land produces an ethnocratic regime. Spatial control is one of the important pillars of the ethnocratic regime. Its goal is the “creation of a new ethno-political geography”. The process of “ethnicizing” a disputed region evolves in the following stages: separation of settlements is used to propagate the control of the majority over the land. In this process the minority is labeled a threat to the ethnic control of land. Subsequently, land planning—which enables the ethnic control of the land. Finally, structural discrimination against the minority, denying it access to development projects and access to the distribution of resources. [. . . .]

❷ ISRAEL  MOVES  FORWARD  WITH  BILL  TO  BAN  MUSLIM  CALL  TO  PRAYER  OVER  LOUDSPEAKERS
Ma’an News Agency
Nov. 14, 2016
The Israeli Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved on Sunday draft legislation which could ban the use of loudspeakers to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer in Israel.     ___The bill, which calls for barring the use of loudspeakers for any religious or “inciting” messages as part of the call to prayer, would need to go through several readings in the Knesset — Israel’s parliament — before making it into law, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday.
___The call to prayer — also known as the adhan — is broadcast five times a day from mosques or Islamic centers.     More . . . 

Call to prayer from area of Masjid al-Aqsa; the first Qiblah of the believers.
May Allah bring liberation to the people of Palestine. Aameen

❸ PCHR  WEEKLY  REPORT  ON  ISRAELI  HUMAN  RIGHTS  VIOLATIONS  IN  THE  OPT  (03 – 09  NOVEMBER  2016)
International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
Nov. 14, 2016
During the week of 03 – 09 November 2016, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian at the entrance to the “Ofra” settlement, northeast of Ramallah and al-Bireh. Additionally, 6 Palestinian civilians, including a child and a photojournalist, were wounded in the occupied West Bank.
___Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt), during the reporting period, were as follows:   More . .