Israeli Occupation Forces bunker and watchtower in Central Hebron. (Photo: Harold Knight, November 7, 2015)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY | ISRAEL DEMOLISHES HOME IN JERUSALEM – 143 DEMOLISHED IN 2018
Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian-owned house in Qalandiya north of occupied East Jerusalem in the central West Bank, on Wednesday morning. ___Owner Hamzeh al-Mughrabi told Ma’an that Israeli police forces escorted municipality staff into Qalandiya, where they surrounded the house, emptied and evacuated residents before starting the demolition. ___Al-Mughrabi added that the Shweiki family of 6 members, including a man with disability, live in the 100-square meter house. More . . . ~~ Jerusalem mayor plans to reduce the sound of mosque loudspeakersMore . . . | WEEKLY REPORT ON ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (20–26 DECEMBER 2018) Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against the peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip. ___4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, and a person with mobility impairment were killed. 142 civilians, including 30 children, 2 women, 2 journalists, and a paramedic, were wounded; the injury of 2 of them was reported serious. ___A child was killed and 5 civilians were wounded, including a Journalist, in the West Bank. ___Israeli forces conducted 66 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited incursions into the northern Gaza Strip. More . . . ~~ Scores of Palestinians injured by Israeli bullet fireMore . . . ~~ Civilians kidnapped, homes ransacked by Israeli armyMore . . . | ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES FORMALLY QUIT UNESCO More than a year after announcing their withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Israel and the United States’ decision officially went into effect at the last second of December 31, 2018. ___UNESCO was the first UN body to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011, which led the Obama administration to stop paying its annual contributions. In 2017, the UN heritage agency passed a resolution designating the Tomb of Patriarchs in Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site. The decision was opposed by the Jewish community because of the holy cave’s significance in Judaism. More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION | NOT WELCOME IN HEBRON: ITS ORIGINAL RESIDENTS AND BREAKING THE SILENCE Jonathan Cook Ido Even-Paz switched on his body camera as his tour group decamped from the bus in Hebron. The former Israeli soldier wanted to document any trouble we might encounter in this, the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank. ___It was not Hebron’s Palestinian residents who concerned him, however. He was worried about fellow Israelis—Jewish religious extremists and the soldiers there to guard them—who have seized control of much of the city center [. . . .] ___For more than 15 years, Israel has forbidden entry for Palestinians to what was once Hebron’s main throroughfare and central shopping area along Shuhada Street. Now it has been rebranded in Hebrew as King David Street, and declared what the army terms a “sterilized area.” The closure severs the main transport routes for Palestinians between north and south Hebron. ___Most of the Palestinian inhabitants have been driven from the city center by endless harassment and attacks by settlers, bolstered by arrests and night raids conducted by the army, says Even-Paz. More . . . ~~ Gaza march leader to conscientious objectors: ‘Turn your words into weapons’More . . .
POEM FOR THE DAY
“STORY OF A CITY,” BY SAMIH AL-QASIM
There was a blue city
that dreamt of foreigners wandering
Around and spending their money
day after day.
But it became a black city
despising strangers
with their rifles’ muzzles
making the rounds of its cafés.
From: Al-Qasim, Samih. SADDER THAN WATER. New and Selected Poems. Trans. Nazih Kasis and Adina Hoffman. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2008. Available from Barnes and Noble.
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . . |US WARNS OF ‘CONSEQUENCES’ AS PALESTINE JOINS INTERNATIONAL BODIES
The United States has threatened “consequences” as Palestinians step up efforts for statehood demanding accession to almost a dozen international bodies and conventions. ___The threat came after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the documents on Thursday to join the Universal Postal Union, a UN agency that coordinates international postage, and 10 international protocols and conventions. ___The move infuriated the US, Israel’s staunch ally, with a State Department official claiming that the Palestinian efforts to join international institutions were “premature” and “counterproductive.” More . . . |ISRAEL RAZES LAND, CONFISCATES VEHICLES IN EAST JERUSALEM The staff members of the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority and the Jerusalem Municipality stormed the Silwan neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem, under the heavy protection of Israeli forces, on Monday. ___A Ma’an reporter said Israeli bulldozers razed a land in the SILWAN NEIGHBORHOOD, which belonged to Palestinian resident, Khaled al-Zir. ___ [. . . .] Israeli forces also confiscated several vehicles in the neighborhood under the pretext that the owners did not obtain an Israeli license. ___The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution in July 2017 reaffirming the international body’s non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and condemned Israeli policies in the Old City. More . . .
. . . . RelatedPalestinian family forced at gunpoint [from] their land in BETHLEHEM . . . . RelatedIsraeli Army Launches Limited Incursion into GAZA
. . . . RelatedIOF attacks schoolchildren, settlers vandalize property in URIF [NABLUS]
. . . . RelatedDozens of Palestinian students injured in IOF attack [HEBRON] |ISRAELI OCCUPATION FORCES ARREST 22 PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK
The Israeli occupation forces arrested 22 Palestinian citizens from the West Bank on Monday morning. ___IOF arrested the head of the student union council, Yahya Aqel Rabie at Birzeit University during raids in the village of Mazra’a al-Gharbiya, northwest of RAMALLAH, the center of the occupied West Bank. ___Local sources report that military patrols stormed the village and began to raid houses. The Israeli occupation forces arrested Rabie during a raid on his family’s house and was taken to an unknown destination. More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . . | THE NEW NEW ANTI-SEMITISM
By Richard Falk I along with many others am being victimized these days. They are being labeled anti-Semites, and in some instances, self-hating Jews as well. This is a Zionist and Israeli effort to shut down our voices and punish our non-violent activism, with special venom directed at the BDS Campaign because it has become so effective in recent years. This negative branding of the opposition is being called ‘the new anti-Semitism.’ The old anti-Semitism was simply hatred of Jews as expressed through negative images and attitudes. . . The new anti-Semitism is criticism of Israel and Zionism. . . The false premise is equating Zionism with Jews, automatically making criticism and opposition to the Zionist state of Israel as anti-Semitism. . . [. . . .] we who are attacked as new anti-Semites are really trying to honor our human identity, and to reject tribalist loyalties or geopolitical alignments, in our commitment to the realization of Palestinian rights. . . As Jews to hold Israel accountable under standards that were used to condemn Nazi surviving political and military leaders is to honor the legacy of the Holocaust, not to defile it.More . . . |‘WE HOPE THE REGIME LASTS’: WHEN ISRAEL ENJOYED COZY TIES WITH BRAZIL’S MILITARY DICTATORSHIP
Just under a month ago, following an especially tumultuous election season, Brazilians elected Jair Bolsonaro as president of their country. Bolsonaro has been a member of the National Congress, Brazil’s parliament, since 1990, where he was part of a group of vocal, extreme-right backbenchers who longed for the days of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 until 1985. ___His election was welcomed by the Israeli right, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu going so far as to announce he would attend Bolsonaro’s swearing-in ceremony in January. More . . .
NOTICES FROM ORGANIZATIONS. . . . | EYEWITNESS PALESTINE It is our pleasure to share this Annual Report detailing the recent accomplishments of Eyewitness Palestine. In the past year, we have: Dispatched 4 delegations and 96 delegates to meet with peace-builders in Palestine/Israel . . . Rolled out a Racial Justice and Equity curriculum . . . Distributed $161,540 in financial aid . . . Expanded our online network to more than 25,000 people . . . Dramatically increased the diversity of Eyewitness Palestine delegations . . . Information about delegations . . . Donate. . .
POEM FOR THE DAY. . . .
“A DIALOGUE WITH A MAN WHO HATES ME,” BY MAHMOUD DARWISH Rome was burnt, O crazy man ..Rome is more durable than Nero Rome will not grasp your poems ..She can recite them by heart Rome will slice your strings ..My tunes arise from my heart Your voice echoes a miserable past ..My voice echoes a rocket rage Your path is long ..I shall not tire Yehuda** sold you ..I shall not be crucified My ancestors were cremated in Auschwitz
..My heart is with them ..Pull out the wires from my skin
And the wounds of yesterday? ..A shameful scar―in the face of the executioner over there What do you carry in your head ..A little wheat What’s in your chest? ..A picture of a wound Your face reflects a rancor color ..My face reflects the color of the earth Then convert your sword into plowshare ..You did not leave me land to plow You criminal! ..I did not steal―did not kill―didn’t oppress You Arab! You are a dog! ..O man, may God cure your soul ..Why don’t you try the taste of love ..Why don’t you make way for the sun!!
** The Israeli town of Or Yehuda was established in 1950 on the lands of the depopulated Palestinian villages of Saqiya and Kfar ‘Ana. Jews from Iraq and North Africa settled there.
From: Aruri, Naseer and Edmund Ghareeb, eds. ENEMY OF THE SUN: POETRY OF THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE. Washington, DC: Drum and Spear Press, 1970. Available.
Illustrative: Smoke from Gaza City after Israeli aircraft bombed it on November 30, 2017. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . . |ISRAEL CARRIES OUT CAMPAIGN OF AIRSTRIKES ACROSS GAZA
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrikes’ campaign across the besieged Gaza Strip, on predawn Thursday. ___Local sources said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles towards a military site belonging to Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, in Rafah district, in southern Gaza. ___Sources confirmed that Israeli warplanes targeted a site in Khan Younis district, also in southern Gaza. ___Israeli warplanes also targeted a site in al-Shiekh Zayid City, in northern Gaza. ___No injuries were reported, however, the airstrikes led to extensive material damages in the targeted areas. More . . .
. . . . Related Israeli forces shoot, injure 8 Palestinians in Gaza | WEEKLY REPORT ON ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY (18–24 OCTOBER 2018) Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)
Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against unarmed civilians and peaceful protestors in the Gaza Strip: ___A Palestinian youngster was killed in eastern Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. 342 civilians, including 60 children, 4 women, 6 journalists and 3 paramedics, were wounded; 14 of them sustained serious wounds. ___Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 6 others in the West Bank. ___Israeli warplanes launched 2 missiles at the protestors and wounded two of them. More . . . | ISRAEL TO CONFISCATE THOUSANDS OF DUNUMNS THROUGH EXPANDING BYPASS ROAD
Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) on Wednesday approved the expansion of bypass road 60, which runs between Jerusalem and Hebron. ___Head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in Bethlehem, Hassan Breijiya told WAFA news agency that Israeli Minister of Communications Yisrael Katz gave orders to start expanding the street according to a plan to surround Al-Arroub refugee camp. . . More . . .
. . . . RelatedIOF seize house after forcing Palestinian owners to leave at gunpoint
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . . |EMBRACING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION: A STORY OF HOPE, DETERMINATION, AND SUCCESS
Paula Malan
It all started 25 years ago when Mr. Heikki Kokkala, a senior education specialist from Finland, and the late Mr. Khalil Mahshi, then director general of external relations at the Ministry of Education in Palestine, met at a UNESCO conference on education. This was a time when educationists globally had started to pay more attention to the effectiveness of education systems and to the assessment of learning outcomes. ___In Palestine, work had already started on developing the first-ever unified national curriculum which would replace the Jordanian and Egyptian curricula used in the West Bank and Gaza, respectively. [. . . .] At the same time, the Finnish government was looking for ways to support the newly established Palestinian Authority and decided to direct its support to the education sector. ___Thus, Mr. Kokkala and Mr. Mahshi, with their many colleagues, began to design the first cooperation project between Finland and Palestine. More. . .
EDUCATION IN EAST JERUSALEM – There are 87,277 students enrolled in schools, including basic education (grades 1 to 10) and secondary education (grades 11 and 12).
– Approximately 4,300 children are not enrolled in any educational institution.
– Thirty-three percent of children in East Jerusalem fail to complete a full 12 years of schooling.
– Provision of education is fragmented across five different providers: the Palestinian Ministry of Education operating under the Jordanian Islamic Awqaf umbrella, the private sector, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality, and the contractor’s schools that are financed by the Israeli Authorities.
– There is a chronic shortage of classrooms, estimated at around 2,200, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 3 to 4 percent.
– The area available in class for every student is approximately 0.5 square meters, less than the international standards that recommend at least 1.25 square meters.
– Twenty percent of students and teachers and 40 percent of school staff cross a checkpoint on a daily basis to access their schools.
Source: 2016 Jerusalem Directorate of Education Statistics/Geo-mapping Data
“LULLABY,” BY RAMZY BAROUD
I’ll etch your name
on a secret star
we’ll both go there
on frightful nights
when Mother Earth
runs out of room
for you and me
I’ll hold you tight
and sing you songs
of a distant land
beyond the stars
and watch you grow
between my heart
and the highest high
I’ll draw your face
on a single seed
and hold your palm
to face the sun
when you’re awake
and call out my name
don’t moan or cry
I’ll return
to raise your hand
at a shooting star
and with for you
another day
another sun
another world
where Palestine
is a mountain top
of soil and air
and a purple sky
For (Miriam), a refugee child from Palestine
From: I REMEMBER MY NAME: Poetry by Samah Sabawi, Ramzy Baroud, Jehan Bseiso. Vacy Vlanzna, ed. London: Novum Publishing, 2016. Available from Barnes and Noble.
Palestinian farmer from Qaryut village inspects destroyed olive trees. (Photo by AFP, Published Fri Aug 17, 2018 by PressTV)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . .
| ISRAEL RAZES LANDS, UPROOTS OLIVE TREES IN AL-KHADER VILLAGE
Israeli military bulldozers razed Palestinian agricultural lands and uprooted olive trees in the al-Khader village, south of the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, on Thursday. ___Locals said that Israeli bulldozers razed 5 dunams (1.2 acres) of agricultural lands, located between two illegal Israeli settlements of Elazar and Neve Daniel, both built on lands of the al-Khader village, and uprooted olive trees. ___Sources confirmed that the razed and leveled lands belonged to Muhammad Moussa. ___Locals added that razing of Palestinian lands and uprooting of trees is part of an Israeli plan to expand nearby illegal settlements. More. . .
. . . . RelatedIsraeli forces demolish housing structures in Jordan Valley . . . . RelatedPA cabinet to form investigation committee into Jerusalem properties issue . . . . RelatedSalfit: Israel to confiscate 8 dunums of land for military purposes | WHO: 14 GAZANS KILLED, INCLUDING 4 CHILDREN, IN TWO WEEKS
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a special situation report, on Wednesday, in which the latest figures showed that 14 Palestinians, including four children, were killed and 1,434 were injured by the Israeli forces in the past two weeks in the besieged Gaza Strip. ___According to the WHO report, from March 30th, the start of “The Great March of Return” protests along the Gaza borders with Israel, until the 6th of October, 205 Palestinians were killed. ___Out of the total killed, 190 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during the mass protests, while 15 others were killed during various Israeli attacks. More . . .
. . . . RelatedGaza’s unemployment doubled since start of Israeli blockade – labor |UNESCO ADOPTS BY CONSENSUS DECISIONS ON PALESTINE
. . . . (UNESCO) adopted on Wednesday by consensus two resolutions on Occupied Palestine in the framework of its 205th plenary meeting. [. . . .] One resolutionstated that, ”The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls, a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and on the List of World Heritage in Danger, is the sacred city of the three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. . . all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel . . . are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith.” [. . . .] It also deplored “the ongoing Israeli excavations, works, construction of private roads for settlers and of a Wall inside the Old City of Al-Khalil/Hebron which are illegal under international law and harmfully affect the authenticity and integrity of the site, and the subsequent denial of freedom of movement and freedom of access to places of worship.” More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
|WHAT THE CLOSURE OF THE PLO OFFICE IN WASHINGTON REALLY MEANS
Dorgham Abusalim
There have been attempts to shutter the PLO presence in the U.S. ever since it opened a Washington, DC-based Information Office in 1978. But it wasn’t until 1987 that such attempts began to gain steam when Congress adopted the Anti-Terrorism Act, in which it proclaimed the PLO a terrorist organization—this law is in effect to this day . . . In all the commentary on the closure of the PLO office in Washington, little has been said about what it actually means . . . [. . . .] Thirty-six years later, the closure of the PLO office in Washington . . . echoes [Edward] Said’s sobering analysis: “To reduce Palestinian existence as much as possible.” Indeed, the closure of the PLO office is yet another reminder of the long assault by Israel and the U.S., its chief ally, on those elements that constitute the Palestinian narrative: institutions, culture, history, law, and language, to name a few. More . . .
NOTICES FROM ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
| KINDER USA PRESENTS DR. MADS GILBERT: A RETURN VISIT TO GAZA (Dallas, Texas, October 21; Anaheim, California, October 26) For over thirsty years, Dr. Mads Gilbert has worked in conflict zones including volunteering in hospitals under siege in West Beirut, Lebanon during the 80s and Gaza for the last two decades. His perspective as a doctor and activist in such a conflicted time and area makes him the ideal person for our upcoming speaking events. Tickets andInformation . . .
POEM FOR THE DAY. . . .
“IN THE SHADOW OF THE HOLY HEIGHTS” BY REJA-E BUSAILAH
for Haniya Suleiman Zarawneh, killed by the Israelis
at the age of 25, near Jerusalem, January 4, 1988
The sun came out that day from the depth of winter
like the rare orphan of good luck —
what else can the light of heaven be
on a day rising from the dead of winter?
And she had risen before the sun that day
and like her mother and grandmother before her
she washed by hand and wrung by hand
the linen for spouse and child,
and like mother and grandmother
she walked up the wooden ladder
with the pail onto the roof
into the shadow of the Holy Heights —
so clear was the sky
it almost recalled the sight and the scent of the sea down west.
Faithfully she hung her labors on the rope
article by article
that the good sun might dry them for her,
she clasped each with a wooden pin
as safeguard against the prankish wind —
it was no senseless nature that did it when she was done
just about to come down for other chores,
it was no fiendish Nazi,
it was one of the Chosen
selected her heart for his anointed lead
so that limp went the spring in the covenant
which joined soul and limb —
and the good sun shines
and the sheets and the skirts and the nightgowns
and the small socks
and the outfit for the wooden doll
they toss in the wind
and smell like linen hand-washed and sun-dried
they swing lighthearted on the rope
waiting for mother to collect them
* Reja-e Busailah has been blind since infancy. At age 7, he and his family were forced marched by Zionist forces from their home in Lydda into exile. He was educated in Cairo and earned a PhD in English from New York University. He is the author of a collection of poetry, “We Are Human,” (1985). He taught at Indiana University for 30 years and is now retired. He recently published his memoir “In the Land of My Birth: A Palestinian Boyhood.”
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.
Canaanite teacher from a school at the archaeological site Tell Balata
near Nablus asks for his salary in a letter dated to around 1400 BC
(Photo, This Week In Palestine, October 2018)
SELECTED NEWS OF THE DAY. . .
| EMBRACING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION: A STORY OF HOPE, DETERMINATION, AND SUCCESS
It all started 25 years ago when Mr. Heikki Kokkala, a senior education specialist from Finland, and the late Mr. Khalil Mahshi, then director general of external relations at the Ministry of Education in Palestine, met at a UNESCO conference on education. . . . work had already started on developing the first-ever unified national curriculum which would replace the Jordanian and Egyptian curricula used in the West Bank and Gaza, respectively. [. . . .] the Finnish government was looking for ways to support the newly established Palestinian Authority and decided to direct its support to the education sector. ___Thus, Mr. Kokkala and Mr. Mahshi, with their many colleagues, began to design the first cooperation project between Finland and Palestine. More . . . | SPREAD THE WORD: PALESTINE HAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S HIGHEST LITERACY RATES
Palestine ranks among countries with the world’s highest literacy rates, with only 3.3 percent of Palestinians aged 15 and over in the West Bank and Gaza Strip unable to read, according to a Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report released on [September 6, 2018]. ___The report . . . shows that the illiteracy rate in Palestine has fallen by 10 percent over the past decade. This leaves Palestine with one of the lowest rates of illiteracy in the world . . . [. . . .] The figures come despite the difficulties faced by thousands of Palestinian students to reach their schools in the West Bank, including having to cross Israeli military checkpoints or the separation wall that disconnects their hometowns from where they attend school. More. . .
Dar al-Kalima 2017 graduation. (Photo by Ben Gray / ELCJHL)
| ISRAEL TO REMOVE UNRWA TO ‘END LIE OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PROBLEM’
Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, announced on Thursday that he plans to remove the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees from occupied East Jerusalem, which he accused of “operating illegally and promoting incitement against Israel.” ___Following the announcement on Thursday, the Jerusalem Municipality confirmed that UN schools, which serve about 1,800 students enrolled, would be closed . ___[. . . .] He claimed that these schools, clinics and sports centers were “illegal” and “operate without an Israeli license.” . . . the decision . . . was triggered after the United States administration decided to end all funding to UNRWA. More . . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
| ANCIENT SCHOOLS IN PALESTINE
Early forms of writing emerged gradually from pictorial representations of nature and human activities, [. . . including] early alphabets (such as the Proto-Canaanite script, Phoenician consonantal alphabet and Greek alphabet that also indicated vowels). The invention of writing necessitated the obvious need to learn it, and human history consequently witnessed the advent of a new profession: teaching. Palestine and Mesopotamia were among the early showplaces of this emerging skill . . . ___Early sources include . . . a Canaanite teacher from a school at the archeological site Tell Balata near Nablus asks for his salary in a letter dated to around 1400 BC . . . More. . .
NOTICES FROM ORGANIZATIONS. . . .
| JERUSALEM: WHAT MAKES FOR PEACE? Bright Stars of Bethlehem Conference in Houston, Texas, on October 11. Part of the week-long Room for Hope festival. | DAR AL-KALIMA UNIVERSITY. BRIGHT STARS OF BETHLEHEM GROWS HOPE AND HELPS BUILD A FUTURE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS IN PALESTINE.
In a country with limited natural resources, Palestine’s human resources are its most valuable capital. Dar Al-Kalima University, through a comprehensive system of human resource development that reflects Palestine’s emerging needs, equips its students with vital skills for the 21st century job market. Bright Stars of Bethlehem envisions that most of the country’s future artists, musicians, actors, journalists, IT professionals, film-makers and the leaders of tomorrow are alumni of the University. More . . .
Be that as it may,
I must . . .
The poet must have a new toast
And new anthems.
Traversing a tunnel of incense
And pepper and ancient summer,
I carry the key to legends and ruined monuments of slaves.
I see history an old man
Tossing dice and gathering the stars.
Be that as it may,
I must refuse death
Even though my legends die.
In the rubble I rummage for light and new poetry.
Did you realize before today, my love,
That a letter in the dictionary is dull?
How do they live, all these words?
How do they grow? How do they spread?
We still water them with the tears of memories
And metaphors and sugar.
Be that as it may,
I must reject roses that spring
From a dictionary or a diwan.
Roses grow on the arms of a peasant, on the fists of a laborer,
Roses grow over the wounds of a warrior,
And on the face of a rock.
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.
AL-ARAQIB REFUSES TO SURRENDER AFTER 133RD DEMOLITION
Israeli military bulldozers demolished the unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev desert in southern Israel for the 133rd time, on Thursday. ___Despite continuous demolitions of the village by the Israeli authorities, residents insist on rebuilding their homes each time they are demolished to the ground. ___Al-Araqib was demolished for the 132nd time on August 16th; Israeli forces had detained Sheikh of the village, Sayyah al-Turi, and his son Aziz, alongside another resident identified as Salim Abu Ashraf under the pretext of obstructing the work of Israeli authorities and attempting to prevent the demolition. More . . .
ILLITERACY RATE IN PALESTINE AMONG THE LOWEST IN THE WORLD – [UNESCO] STATISTICS BUREAU
Marking International Literacy Day, which coincides on September 8 of every year, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said in a report published on Thursday on illiteracy rate in Palestine that it is one of the lowest in the world and stood at 3.3% in 2017 among persons 15 years of age and above compared to 24.8% in the Arab states and 13.8% in the world in 2016 for the same age group. ___It said that the illiteracy rate in 2017 was 3.3% (7,898 illiterate) in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip refugee camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is currently facing a severe financial crisis after the United States has stopped all of its contributions to the humanitarian agency that may affect its educational program for tens of thousands of Palestinian refugee students, compared to 3.1% (67,324 illiterate) in urban areas and 4.8% (20,228 illiterate) in rural localities. More. . .
ISRAELI SOLDIERS ABDUCT SEVEN PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday at dawn, seven Palestinians in several parts of the occupied West Bank. ___The Bethlehem office PPS said the soldiers abducted three Palestinians, identified as Ziad Naim al-Masri, Zeid Ahmad Sheikh and Bassel Mizhir, in Deheishe refugee camp and Marah Rabah village, and shot a young man. ___During the invasion into Marah Rabah, the soldiers searched the home of Ahmad Sheikh Qassem, who is held by Israel, and summoned his wife for interrogation. More . . . ISRAELI NAVY OPENS FIRE AT PALESTINIAN FISHING BOATS IN GAZAMore . . . VIDEO: AWAD RAJABI .. TORTURE INSIDE ROOM 4More . . . IOF CLOSES WATER LINES FEEDING SCHOOL IN NABLUSMore. . .
COMMENTARY AND OPINION. . . .
ISRAEL’S LACK OF REMORSE Mohamed Mohamed
In an interview with a right-wing Israeli newspaper, Elor Azaria, said he had “no remorse whatsoever” for killing an incapacitated Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in 2016. ___After an alleged stabbing attack against Israeli occupying soldiers, the young Palestinian man, Abd al Fattah Al-Sharif, had already been shot and was seriously wounded. He was lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by many Israeli soldiers. In the videoof the murder documented by the Human Rights Defenders in Hebron and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem (warning: many viewers may find this video and the others below, to be disturbing), two other soldiers were closer to the wounded man, and it is clear they did not see him as a threat anymore. ___Out of nowhere, Azaria cocks his weapon, aims at Al-Sharif, and fires one round into his head. . . More. . . Background . . . ELOR AZARIA . . . SET FREE AFTER NINE MONTHS
PLO: ‘DEMOLITION OF KHAN AL-AHMAR BLATANT ETHNIC CLEANSING’ Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Member, Hanan Ashrawi, said that the demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of the central occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem, is “blatant ethnic cleansing.” ___The Israeli High Court had rejected, on Wednesday, an appeal against the demolition of the village and ruled for its evacuation and for demolition to take place within the next seven days. ___Ashrawi said in a statement “the inhumane and immoral decision by Israel’s High Court of Justice to green light the destruction of the village of Khan al-Ahmar located near occupied Jerusalem reveals Israel’s intent to erase and eradicate the Palestinian presence and continuity on the land.” ___She added that “this is blatant ethnic cleansing and constitutes a cause for serious alarm.” More . . .
ISRAEL TO SELL FREEDOM FLOTILLA BOATS TO SUPPORT SETTLERS
Israel plans to sell four boats seized while sailing towards the besieged Gaza Strip and distribute the funds among two settlers families. ___Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported yesterday that the move came in response to the Israeli Central Court’s decision following a request filed by the families. More . . .
“TO THE READER,” BY MAHMOUD DARWISH
Black tulips in my heart,
flames on my lips:
from which forest did you come to me,
all you crosses of anger?
I have recognized my griefs
and embraced wandering and hunger.
Anger lives in my hands,
anger lives in my mouth
and in the blood of my arteries swims anger.
O reader,
don’t expect whispers from me,
or words of ecstasy;
this is my suffering!
A foolish blow in the sand
and another in the clouds.
Anger is all I am –
anger, the tinder
of fire.
– – From WHEN THE WORDS BURN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN ARABIC POETRY: 1945-1987. Translated and edited by John Mikhail Asfour. Dunvegan, Ontario, Canada. Cormorant Books, 1988
Palestinians carrying a wounded person during the Friday clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Gaza borders. One person died . . . (WAFA Images, Dec. 30, 2017) NOTE THE LARGE NUMBER OF DEADLY WEAPONS IN PALESTINIAN HANDS.
❶ Probe into killing of math teacher closed, no officer was found responsible
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) Palestinian dies of wounds sustained during clashes at Gaza border
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴃ) Red Crescent: 200 Palestinian wounded [Friday] by IOF in West Bank and Gaza
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴄ) QB puts up huge placard of Israeli soldier Shaul Aaron in Gaza
Background: “The ‘Never Again’ State of Israel: The Emergence of the Holocaust as a Core Feature of Israeli Identity and Its Four Incongruent Voices.” Journal of Social Issues.
❷ Israel withdraws from UNESCO
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) On Independence Day, UNESCO okays resolution denying Israeli claims to Jerusalem (May 2, 2017)
❸ POETRY by Samih Al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ PROBE INTO KILLING OF MATH TEACHER CLOSED, NO OFFICER WAS FOUND RESPONSIBLE Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Dec. 30, 2017 ― The Israeli Police Investigations Division (PID) decided to close its probe into the January police killing of Ya’akub Abu-Al-Qi’an and to not hold any officers responsible for his death, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said on Thursday.
___Abu Al-Qi’an, a 50-year-old math teacher from Atir-Umm al-Hiran in the Naqab, Israel’s southern desert region, was killed on 18 January after Israeli police opened fire on his vehicle as he was driving through the Bedouin village during state preparations for a large-scale home demolition.
___That same day, Adalah filed a request demanding the PID open an investigation into the killing.
___“The closure of this investigation means the PID continues to grant legitimacy to deadly police violence against Arab citizens of Israel,” said Adalah in a statement responding to the PID’s decision to close the investigation without bringing any officers to justice. MORE . . . SEE ALSO:Israeli Knesset to vote on ‘death penalty’ for Palestinians (Dec. 27, 2017) . . . . . ― (ᴀ) PALESTINIAN DIES OF WOUNDS SUSTAINED DURING CLASHES AT GAZA BORDER Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Dec. 30, 2017 ― A Palestinian identified as Jamal Mohammed Musleh, 21, from Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, died early Saturday of wounds sustained during clashes with Israeli soldiers the day before at the Gaza border with Israel, according to the Ministry of Health.
___It said Musleh was shot in the stomach by a live bullet and was reported in critical condition since his arrival at hospital in Deir al-Balah until he was pronounced dead hours later.
___The ministry said at least 45 people were shot by live bullets during the Friday confrontations at the Gaza borders, including four who remain in critical condition. MORE . . . . . . . . ― (ᴃ) RED CRESCENT: 200 PALESTINIAN WOUNDED [FRIDAY] BY IOF IN WEST BANK AND GAZA Palestine News Network – PNN
Dec. 30, 2017 ― More than 200 Palestinians were injured today Friday in clashes with Israeli occupation army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after marching for the fourth consecutive week, denouncing US President Donald Trump’s declaration recognition Jerusalem as Israel capital .
___According Palestinian Red Crescent more that 130 palestinian were injured in clashes with IOF in the west bank, four of them with live bullets, 45 wounded metal bullets, and 77 inhalation of tear gas. MORE . . . . . . . . ― (ᴄ) QB PUTS UP HUGE PLACARD OF ISRAELI SOLDIER SHAUL AARON IN GAZA The Palestinian Information Center
Dec. 30, 2017 ― Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has erected a huge poster of Israeli captive soldier Shaul Aaron at al-Saraya junction in Gaza.
___Aaron appears in the poster wearing a brown prison uniform, with remarks in Arabic and Hebrew saying, “As long as our heroes do not see freedom and daylight, this prisoner will never see freedom.” MORE . . .CONTEXT . . .
Klar, Yechiel, et al. “THE ‘NEVER AGAIN’ STATE OF ISRAEL: THE EMERGENCE OF THE HOLOCAUST AS A CORE FEATURE OF ISRAELI IDENTITY AND ITS FOUR INCONGRUENT VOICES.”
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES, vol. 69, no. 1, Mar. 2013, pp. 125-143.
[. . . .] . . . despite this common background and misfortune, there was an unbridgeable divide between the veteran Israelis and the survivors. The Holocaust clearly “belonged” to the survivors and was alien to those who lived in Israel when it transpired. The survivors were . . . were expected to go on with life, rehabilitate themselves, adopt the Israeli identity and become new Israelis. The Holocaust in those days was perceived as something that had happened to the passive and cowardly Jews of the Diaspora who had gone “like sheep to the slaughter.” It was seen as antithetical to the identity of the “new Israeli,” who was active, free, and daring.
[. . . .] Political scientists Liebman and Don-Yihya were among the first to observe the centrality of the Holocaust as the primary political myth of Israeli society, the symbol of Israel’s present condition and the one which provides Israel with legitimacy and the right to its land. Its memory is omnipresent, cutting across differences in age, education and even country of origin. This observation appears even more compelling today. The Holocaust is a predominant issue in all areas of Israeli social and cultural life . . .
[. . . .] How was Holocaust transformed from a Diaspora reality into an Israeli event? And how was it transformed from an event that was irrelevant and even contradictory to the new Israeli identity to one of the major components of the Israel heritage and identity? In the following we first discuss the internalization of the Holocaust, starting with the Eichmann trial, and continue with the impact of the survivors and their offspring on Israeli society.
[. . . .] Israelis (those who did not experience the Holocaust personally) very slowly and reluctantly acknowledged the Holocaust as . . . the ultimate realization of the tragic Jewish destiny in the Diaspora, the destiny they had sought to break away from. The social and historical processes by which the Holocaust was gradually turned into a core feature in the Israeli identity are complex and multilayered . . . Time was involved in several processes, such as the growing impact of the survivors on Holocaust awareness, and the role of second and third generations who were born in Israel yet unashamed in their Holocaust heritage. Israel’s difficult geopolitical situation and the recurring wars also had enormous effects on the continued impact of the Holocaust on Israeli collective identity. One dominant voice of the Holocaust is to “Never be a victim again,” which many Israelis learned to identify as a source of resilience and inventiveness. And there are also the other Holocaust voices urging group members to become better human beings and, even more difficult, to refrain from victimizing other groups. These different voices are often incongruent and disharmonic. SOURCE . . . ..
❷ ISRAEL WITHDRAWS FROM UNESCO Al Jazeera English
Dec. 30, 2018 ― Israel has filed notice to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) alongside the United States.
___Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organisation’s criticism of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011.
___UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said on Friday that she deeply regretted Israel’s decision to withdraw.
___”A member of UNESCO since 1949, Israel has a rightful place inside the United Nations agency that is dedicated to education, culture and science,” Azoulay said. MORE . . . . . . . . ― (ᴀ) ON INDEPENDENCE DAY, UNESCO OKAYS RESOLUTION DENYING ISRAELI CLAIMS TO JERUSALEM (MAY 2, 2017) The Times of Israel
May 2, 2017 ― The United Nation’s cultural body on Tuesday passed the latest in a series of resolutions that denies Israeli claims to Jerusalem, in a move both forcefully condemned by Israel and touted as a diplomatic feat due to the growing number of countries that opposed it. MORE . . .
“THE MAN WHO VISITED DEATH,” BY SAMIH AL-QASIM Leave the martyr shrouded in his garments,
Lay him at the foot of the mountain: for it knows his sorrow.
Do not bury him, while his wounds
Proclaim his testament of love and suffering.
Do you hear?
Let him take leave of his friends,
A bleeding eagle among the rocks.
Lay him in the sun; his face caressed
By the winds, redolent with the fragrance of the land of his youth.
Do not close his eyes; a final
Red glimmer still shines in them.
His call reverberates in the golden valleys:
“You who fear death, I fear it not;
Take me to my home
To rest my cheek upon its threshold,
To kiss the doorknob,
Take me to my vineyard, I would die, with the pangs of my love in my heart,
If my eyes do not feast once more on the sight of its soil.
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.
❶ Israel advances more than 2,000 settlement housing units in one week
“Apartheid, SETTLER COLONIALISM and the Palestinian State 50 Years On.” The Palestine-Israel Journal.
❷ Israeli forces demolish structures in Masafer Yatta
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Germany says settlement construction a path to one state devoid of Palestinian rights
❸ Analysis: The real reasons Trump is quitting UNESCO
❹ POETRY by Tawfiq Zayyad
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ ISRAEL ADVANCES MORE THAN 2,000 SETTLEMENT HOUSING UNITS IN ONE WEEK. Ma’an News Agency
Oct. 18, 2017 The Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee convened on Tuesday and Thursday, and advanced plans for 2,615 housing units in illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.
___Peace Now released a statement on Thursday detailing the committee’s decisions, saying that over the course of two days of meetings, the civil administration promoted 2,615 housing units, bringing the total number of units promoted through plans this week to 2,646, after 31 construction permits were approved for settlers in Hebron on October 16th.
___Of the 2,615 housing units promoted, 1,508 were approved for depositing, while 1,323 were approved for validation. MORE . . .
Salem, Walid. “APARTHEID, SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE PALESTINIAN STATE 50 YEARS ON.” The Palestine-Israel Journal Vol.22 No.2 & 3, 2017.
[. . . .] The Israeli researcher Ariel Handel described these processes as creating a “geography of catastrophe”, while the Palestinian scholar Sari Hanafi gives it the name “spacio-cide”. The latter of these descriptions reflects the elimination of both the space and the people who populate it. This is exemplified in the external dispossession of refugees and the internal dispossession of the occupants of Area C and East Jerusalem, both of which will be considered.
___A further problem is that these dispossessions of the Palestinians are followed by the establishment of military camps and, in most cases, Israeli settlements. In the literature of political science and international relations, this combined process of displacement and replacement is called “Settler Colonialism.” In the Israeli-Palestinian case, this process is also planned and supported by the Israeli governments, while being protected by the Israeli occupying Army. What complicated such a situation even more is the denial of such a process at both the official and public levels of the State of Israel [. . . .] SOURCE.
❷ ISRAELI FORCES DEMOLISH STRUCTURES IN MASAFER YATTA Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Oct. 19, 2017 Israeli forces demolished on Thursday several residential structures and tents in Khirbet Halaweh, in Masafer Yatta area to the south of Hebron in the West Bank, according Rateb Jabour, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Commission.
___He told WAFA that staff from the Israeli so-called Civil Administration, an arm of the military government, accompanied by soldiers raided the Bedouin village and demolished structures and tents used to shelter the residents.
___Israeli authorities have demolished dozens of residential structures and animal barns in the area, citing construction without a permit as a pretext.
___Many of the structures were donated by the European Union (EU). . . . MORE . . . . . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) GERMANY SAYS SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION A PATH TO ONE STATE DEVOID OF PALESTINIAN RIGHTS Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA
Oct. 19, 2017 Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territory is going to lead to a one-state solution where Palestinians will be deprived of political rights, a statement by the German Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
___The statement 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.
___“The Federal Government takes this opportunity to reaffirm that it will recognize only such changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, which all the parties have agreed on through negotiations,” said a spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry.
___“Settlement construction, illegal under international law, is not the only obstacle to a two-state solution, but each new housing unit consolidates a one-state reality in which the Palestinians are denied the full exercise of their political rights.” MORE . . . ❸ ANALYSIS: THE REAL REASONS TRUMP IS QUITTING UNESCO Mondoweiss
Jonathan Cook
Oct. 17, 2017 At first glance, the decision last week by the Trump administration, followed immediately by Israel, to quit the United Nation’s cultural agency seems strange. Why penalise a body that promotes clean water, literacy, heritage preservation and women’s rights?
___Washington’s claim that the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is biased against Israel obscures the real crimes the agency has committed in US eyes.
___The first is that in 2011 UNESCO became the first UN agency to accept Palestine as a member. That set the Palestinians on the path to upgrading their status at the General Assembly a year later.
___It should be recalled that in 1993, as Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo accords on the White House lawn, the watching world assumed the aim was to create a Palestinian state.
___But it seems most US politicians never received that memo. Under pressure from Israel’s powerful lobbyists, the US Congress hurriedly passed legislation to pre-empt the peace process. One such law compels the United States to cancel funding to any UN body that admits the Palestinians. . . .
___The agency’s second crime relates to its role selecting world heritage sites. That power has proved more than an irritant to Israel and the US. MORE . . .
“I CLASP YOUR HANDS,” BY TAWFIQ ZAYYAD
I call upon you
And clasp your hands.
I kiss the dust under your shoe
And say: I’ll lay down my life for you,
Grant you the gift of eyesight in my eyes.
The warm love in my heart I give to you,
For the tragedy I live
Is but my share in your larger tragedy.
I call upon you
And clasp your hands.
I never stooped in my country
Nor will I ever be humbled.
Orphaned, naked and barefoot
I confronted my oppressors,
Carrying my blood in my palms.
I have never lowered my flags,
And have always tended the grass over my ancestors’ graves.
I call upon you, and clasp your hands!
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. Tawfik Zayyad (Tawfiq Ziad) was a Palestinian poet, writer, scholar and politician. He was born in Nazareth in 1929 and died on July 5, 1994, in a dreadful car crash while on his way to meet Yasser Arafat in Jericho after the Oslo agreements. He participated in Palestinian political life in occupied Palestine, was elected mayor of Nazareth, and served as a member of the Israeli Knesset. (More. . .)
Poster of four young men from occupied Palestinian village, Sa’ir, killed by Israeli Occupation Force on one day in January, 2016. (Photo: Adam Horowitz)
❶ The Martyrs are not for Bargaining
Background: “Lack of Security for Palestinians.” Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture.
❷ Palestinian ‘attacks’ Israeli officer after refusing stop-and-frisk search in Jerusalem
. . . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) Lawyers boycott Israeli court over ‘humiliating’ search procedures
❸ UNESCO declares Hebron Old City as Palestinian heritage site
❹ Poetry by Samih al-Qasim
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ THE MARTYRS ARE NOT FOR BARGAINING Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Group 194)
Mohammad Al-Sahli
July 6, 2017. “The American envoy wants to know the positions of the Palestinian and Israeli sides, toward the key issues of the negotiations.”
___With these sentences, the American Administration paved the way for the visit of Jason Greenblatt last week, where he met President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
[. . . .] . . . Greenblatt proposed on the PA leadership the importance of “developing” the role of the security services and raising the level of security coordination with Israel to reach a level of full cooperation.
[. . . .] But the most dangerous of the American-Israeli attempts is the seek for doing a comprehensive “brainwashing” for the Palestinians, so that, they forget their sons heroic sacrifices in their long battles against the occupation. This was clear in Greenblatt’s request, to remove the names of the martyrs from the streets of Palestinian cities and towns, and to press to stop the salaries of families of martyrs and prisoners . . . MORE . . .
Elrahim, Amira Abd. “LACK OF SECURITY FOR PALESTINIANS.”Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics & Culture, vol. 21, no. 2, Nov. 2015, pp. 28-35.
[. . . .] Israelis have a government and weapons. They are protected by an army that stands behind them. Recently the Israeli government set up metal detectors at the entrances of the Old City of Jerusalem so that Palestinians aren’t allowed to go through with any metal objects, while Israeli settlers pass through with their guns!! The Israelis are asked to keep their weapons with them at all times!!! Could you think for yourself what do Palestinians have, who is there to protect them or care about their lost livelihoods. They are paralyzed and fed up with injustice, racism, the denial of rights practiced by the Israeli government and the ignorance of the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians are the only people on this earth who are asked to guarantee the security of their occupier, while Israel is the only country that calls for defense from its victims.
[. . . .] Muhannad Halabi was bom in a wealthy family in al-Bireh, Ramallah [Died Oct. 3, 2015]. He was an active student who wanted to be a lawyer. . . [On his Facebook page] He also had another photo of the Palestinian map covered in a kefiyye. Next to it he wrote: “The only wish which I have is to be buried in Palestine when I die, so that you could write on my grave he is no longer a refugee.” He also expressed his anger about happenings in al-Haram al-Sharif and about the Muslim women and elders who are provoked and humiliated each day. So he said: “What is happening to Al-Aqsa Mosque, and what is happening to the women there, to our mothers and sisters, I do not think our people should be subjugated to humiliation. The people will rise; no, they have actually risen.” FULL ARTICLE . . .
❷ PALESTINIAN ‘ATTACKS’ ISRAELI OFFICER AFTER REFUSING STOP-AND-FRISK SEARCH IN JERUSALEM Ma’an News Agency
July 6, 2017. A Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem allegedly “attacked” an Israeli police officer near Damascus Gate on Thursday after refusing to allow Israeli forces to search him.
___Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that Israeli forces stationed at Damascus Gate in the Old City had stopped a Palestinian and demanded to carry out a stop-and-frisk search.
___However, the Palestinian rejected to the search and “attacked” the Israeli border officer, causing the officer to sustain injuries that necessitated a trip to the hospital, according to al-Samri.
[. . . .] Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have long expressed frustration over Israel’s frequent stop-and-frisk searches routinely carried out on Palestinian passersby, with Israeli forces especially targeting Palestinian teenagers and young men. MORE . . . .
Palestinian young man being stopped and searched by Israeli soldiers at Damascus Gate (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 6, 2015)
. . . . ❷ ― (ᴀ) LAWYERS BOYCOTT ISRAELI COURT OVER ‘HUMILIATING’ SEARCH PROCEDURES Al Hourriah Magazine (Freedom)
July 6, 2017. Lawyers representing Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel refused to appear in the Salem court in northern Israel on Monday, the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs said.
___The committee said that the lawyers were protesting the “humiliating” search procedures undertaken against them by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) MORE . . . ❸ UNESCO DECLARES HEBRON OLD CITY AS PALESTINIAN HERITAGE SITE The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
July 7, 2017. UNESCO has voted to recognise Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque as Palestinian heritage sites despite diplomatic pressures by the US and Israel to recruit the support of enough member states to vote against the move.
___In a secret ballot, 12 countries voted in favour of the move whilst three voted against it and six abstained.
___The resolution was brought forward by Jordan and included two main clauses: the first states that Hebron’s Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque are Palestinian heritage sites and should be registered as such in UNESCO’s World Heritage List; and the second asserts that the two sites are to be recognised as being in danger which would force UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to convene to discuss their case. MORE . . .
“THE MAN WHO VISITED DEATH,” BY SAMIH AL-QASIM Leave the martyr shrouded in his garments,
Lay him at the foot of the mountain: for it knows his sorrow.
Do not bury him, while his wounds
Proclaim his testament of love and suffering.
Do you hear?
Let him take leave of his friends,
A bleeding eagle among the rocks.
Lay him in the sun; his face caressed
By the winds, redolent with the fragrance of the land of his youth.
Do not close his eyes; a final
Red glimmer still shines in them.
His call reverberates in the golden valleys:
“You who fear death, I fear it not;
Take me to my home
To rest my cheek upon its threshold,
To kiss the doorknob,
Take me to my vineyard, I would die, with the pangs of my love in my heart,
If my eyes do not feast once more on the sight of its soil.
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.
“.. . Elad . . . seeks to increase Jewish settlement in the Silwan area by purchasing existing homes on behalf of Jewish families. . . [with funds] from fundraising efforts . . . possibly also from the donations of wealthy Russian Jewish oligarchs who support the settlement movement in East Jerusalem . . . archaeologist Israel Finkelstein sees a serious problem here. ‘The official state institutions abandoned the management of the City of David site to a [private] foundation with clear political inclinations,’ he says.”
The Golden Gate, Eastern Wall, constructed during the Umayyad period atop the ancient footings, with Muslim cemetery at its base. (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 7, 2015)
❶ UNESCO Adopts Resolution Reaffirming Israel’s Lack of Sovereignty over Jerusalem
. . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) UNESCO Resolution ‘Sad, Unnecessary, and Pathetic,’ According to Israeli Foreign Ministry
❷ Israel puts its occupation on display in East Jerusalem
Background: “No Saints in Jerusalem.” Archaeology.
❸ Israeli forces reportedly beat, pepper-spray Palestinians in Silwan raids
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) Arrests in Al-Sowaneh and Esawyehn
❹ POETRY by Mahmoud Darwish
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ❶ UNESCO ADOPTS RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING ISRAEL’S LACK OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER JERUSALEM International Middle East Media Center – IMEMC
July 6, 2017. The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted, on Tuesday, a resolution which confirms Israel’s lack of sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem.
___The organization condemned, in a meeting in Krakov, southern Poland, the excavations carried out by the Israeli Antiquities Department, in Jerusalem.
___According to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, the Arab Group of Arab States submitted the wording of the resolution . . . MORE . . . . . . . . ❶ ― (ᴀ) UNESCO RESOLUTION ‘SAD, UNNECESSARY, AND PATHETIC,’ ACCORDING TO ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY Palestine Chronicle
Jul 5 2017. The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution on Tuesday reaffirming the international body’s non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in occupied East Jerusalem. . . [. . . .] The Israeli Foreign Ministry slammed the resolution as “sad, unnecessary, and pathetic.”
___“This is another absurd and irrelevant UNESCO decision, which serves only the enemies of history and truth,” the ministry said in a statement. It went on to reiterate the Israeli claim that Jerusalem was “the eternal capital of the Jewish people” and of Israel – a claim not recognized by the international community. . . MORE . . .RELATED: “Israel fears endangered World Heritage status could thwart Hebron takeover.” ❷ ISRAEL PUTS ITS OCCUPATION ON DISPLAY IN EAST JERUSALEM The Middle East Monitor – MEMO
July 6, 2017. Israeli occupation forces projected images from its Judaisation project in East Jerusalem on the walls of Damascus Gate yesterday.
___Part of its annual “Festival of Lights”, the display showed pictures which depicted specific historical periods or which were linked to religious beliefs.
___This year’s event was used as part of the municipality’s efforts to Judaise the city and eradicate its Islamic history replacing it with the Zionist narrative.
___According to Adnan Al- Husayni, minister of Jerusalem affairs, the Umayyad palaces that are targeted by the festival include mostly Islamic Umayyad monuments . . . MORE . . .
Milstein, Mati. “NO SAINTS IN JERUSALEM.”Archaeology, vol. 63, no. 5, Sep/Oct2010, pp. 18-66. How religion, politics, and archaeology clash on–and under–the streets of Jerusalem
In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, some of the 50,000 Palestinian residents can hear digging under their homes. Silwan is partially situated atop the popular tourist attraction known to Israelis as the City of David, the oldest part of historic Jerusalem, directly south of the Temple Mount. During the biblical and Roman periods, the Temple Mount was home to the First and Second Jewish temples (which are believed to have stood between 832 and 422 B.C. and 516 B.C. and A.D. 70, respectively), and was the center of Jewish ritual and spiritual life for millennia. Following the Muslim conquest of the city in A.D. 638, the Umayyad rulers erected the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, two structures that are focal points for Palestinian and Muslim religious identity. There are few, if any, more valued and contested places on earth.
[. . . .] Excavations and explorations across Israel and the West Bank, many of them located a stone’s throw from key Jewish and Islamic holy sites, lie at the heart of the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. And artifacts recovered from Jerusalem’s soil are being used as ammunition in the escalating–and often violent–conflict. Each nation forges its identity from common mythology, religion, and a sense of shared history. Especially in the Holy Land, where people’s historical identity affects every aspect of their lives, there is an eagerness to back up these histories with physical evidence.
[. . . .] According to Hamdan Taha, archaeological and cultural heritage expert at the Palestinian Authority’s Tourism Ministry, “The sort of archaeology being carried out in Jerusalem, specifically in East Jerusalem and the Silwan area, is motivated by hidden agendas and has nothing to do with scientific objectives. It is done secretly, without taking into consideration international standards, and casts great doubts on the objectives of these excavations.” [. . . .] ___Mahdi Abdul Hadi, chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs, agrees. “People are totally ignorant about where they are from, what they are doing, about their identity.” But he warns that empty slogans, rhetoric, and religion, rather than real education, are filling this gap. “Nobody will look at archaeology in good faith today. Everything is exploited now, because the hatred is deepening,” he says . . . . SOURCE . . .
❸ ISRAELI FORCES REPORTEDLY BEAT, PEPPER-SPRAY PALESTINIANS IN SILWAN RAIDS Ma’an News Agency
July 6, 2017. Israeli forces assaulted Palestinian residents during a raid in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Wednesday evening, as two Palestinians were detained.
___The Wadi Hilweh Information Center reported that six Palestinians sustained bruises and suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation during a raid targeting the home of one Muhammad al-Abbasi in the area of Ein al-Luza, during which residents said they were assaulted by Israeli police officers.
___The center added that no reason was given for the raid in the al-Abbasi home, during which Israeli pushed and pepper-sprayed women, children, and elderly Palestinians, pointing their weapons at youth.
[. . . .] Clashes erupted in the neighborhood following the home raid, during which Israeli forces reportedly fired rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades in an haphazard fashion, before detaining Muhammad Ibrahim Ruweidi, 20, and Muhammad Imad Taha, 19. MORE . . .
Jerusalem: North side of the Tower of David, inside the old city, near Jaffa Gate, built by the Crusaders. (Photo: Harold Knight, Nov. 7, 2015)
. . . . . ❸ ― (ᴀ) ARRESTS IN AL-SOWANEH AND ESAWYEHN Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Silwan
July 4, 2017. The occupation forces arrested seven young Jerusalemite men on Tuesday early morning after raiding their homes in the neighborhood of Al-Sowaneh in Jerusalem.
___Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the occupation forces along with intelligence personnel raided the neighborhood of Al-Sowaneh and stormed into several houses and arrested 7 young men . . . .
___Lawyer Mohammad Mahmoud explained that the arrests were made under the pretext of “participating in the funeral of Ali Abu Gharbieh who was drowned in Tiberius Lake last Friday; the body was found last Sunday. MORE . . .BACKGROUND . . .
“IN JERUSALEM,” BY MAHMOUD DARWISH (1941 – 2008)
In Jerusalem, and I mean within the ancient walls,
I walk from one epoch to another without a memory
to guide me. The prophets over there are sharing
the history of the holy . . . ascending to heaven
and returning less discouraged and melancholy, because love
and peace are holy and are coming to town.
I was walking down a slope and thinking to myself: How
do the narrators disagree over what light said about a stone?
Is it from a dimly lit stone that wars flare up?
I walk in my sleep. I stare in my sleep. I see
no one behind me. I see no one ahead of me.
All this light is for me. I walk. I become lighter. I fly
then I become another. Transfigured. Words
sprout like grass from Isaiah’s messenger
mouth: “If you don’t believe you won’t believe.”
I walk as if I were another. And my wound a white
biblical rose. And my hands like two doves
on the cross hovering and carrying the earth.
I don’t walk, I fly, I become another,
transfigured. No place and no time. So who am I?
I am no I in ascension’s presence. But I
think to myself: Alone, the prophet Mohammad
spoke classical Arabic. “And then what?”
Then what? A woman soldier shouted:
Is that you again? Didn’t I kill you?
I said: You killed me . . . and I forgot, like you, to die.
—About Mahmoud Darwish —Published by the Academy of American Poets.
Palestine InSight 