01/05/2011

Beyond Fear
For an oppressive system to work, it doesn`t need an enormous network of spies, of prisons, of torturers and so on ...it needs just one thing: for the great majority of the people to actually _believe_ that the state is mighty and vicious and to be afraid of it.

Egypt to open Gaza border crossing
Egypt is to permanently open the Rafah border crossing to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza, Nabil al-Arabi, the country`s foreign minister, has said. Arabi said Egypt would take "important steps to help ease the blockade on Gaza in the few days to come"...the minister said Egypt would no longer accept that the Rafah border, Gaza`s only crossing that bypasses Israel, remain blocked, describing the decision to seal it off as "shameful".

The Legal Tsunami is on Its Way
Michael Sfard argues that those focused on the immediate political meaning of a Palestinian UN membership, overlook the important legal aspects. "The significance of a Palestinian state joining the UN is that, for the first time, it will be the Palestinians who will decide what the international legal framework is that is binding in their territory." ao

Factions review unity deal in Gaza
Fatah and Hamas met with factions on Saturday in Gaza on Saturday to discuss the reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo to reunite the Palestinian territories.

Weekly collection of Israel-Palestine VIDEOS
from Friendly Stranger. This week focusing on the Palestinian unity agreement. ao

Israel Prevents Return of Gazan to Gaza: Shabak Punishing a Collaborator Who Said ‘No?’
"...the fact that the Israeli Supreme Court approved this Shabak hocus pocus speaks very poorly for the Court’s upholding of democratic and human rights...the court decision was made under the British Mandate emergency laws now 60+ years old and not even originally established by the State. ...the same types of emergency laws which the Egyptian just overthrew and which the Syrians are attempting to overthrow. What about Israel? Isn’t it time?"

Israeli report: Palestinian reconciliation would ruin US regional ...‎
Ahram Online - Saleh Naami

(Reuters) A confidential Israeli report has warned that Palestinian reconciliation would lead to a collapse in US Middle East policy and deal a substantial ...

ISRAEL – PALESTINE Hamas Fatah deal undermines Israeli Palestinian ...‎ - Spero News
Best of enemies‎ - Baltimore Sun
A nation of martyrs‎ - Ynetnews
Wall Street Journal - Petroleumworld.com

 US House of Representatives' chief calls for cut in aid to the Palestinian Authority

30 April 2011

The President of the Foreign Relations Committee in the US House of Representatives has called for a cut in aid provided by the US to the Palestinian Authority. The announcement was made following the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah. It was argued  that to continue such assistance will violate American law.

Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement: "The agreement between Fatah and Hamas means that a foreign terrorist organization which has called for the destruction of Israel, became part of the Government of the Palestinian Authority. We shouldn't and mustn't use US taxpayers' money to support those who threaten the security of the United States, our interests, and our vital ally Israel."

Read more...

Palestinian factions sign reconciliation agreement in the presence of Meshaal and Abbas

29 April 2011

The Deputy Chairman of the Political Bureau of Hamas has announced that Hamas and Fatah have agreed a reconciliation deal. Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk said that it is now time to turn the page on the damaging split and "open a new era of harmony and struggle to restore Palestinian rights". He added that the factions will meet next week to sign the agreement in a formal ceremony.

Abu Marzouk told a press conference in Cairo that the Fatah and Hamas delegations had signed an initial document of understanding. The agreement provides for the formation of an independent government, the resumption of the work of the Legislative Council and setting a date for the elections.

Read more...

Sri Lankan ambassador meets with the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council

29 April 2011

On Tuesday (26.04.2011), the Sri Lankan ambassador in the Palestinian territories, Jaya Singh, met with the head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Dr Aziz Duweik, along with a number of other Islamic deputies in Ramallah. The two sides discussed a range of issues relating to the Palestinian people and their cause and the relationship between the Palestinians and Sri Lankan people.

Dr Duweik and Mr Singh discussed the issue of internal Palestinian division and the means to achieving national unity. The ambassador asserted his country's willingness to assist in the matter and confirmed its concern that the Palestinian division should not continue.

Read more...

Gaza is still the issue, despite the Arab revolutions

29 April 2011

The revolutions taking place across the Arab world have taken the spotlight away from an ongoing issue which Israel would like the world to forget: the siege of Gaza, which has now been in place for four years. In May last year, Israel's murderous attack on the Freedom Flotilla caused worldwide outrage and it was forced to announce that it would "ease" the siege; a year later it is still in place and continues to affect the lives of 1.5 million Gazans.

Most inhabitants of Gaza have seen little or no improvement in their lives as a result of Israel's "easing" measures, which have been largely cosmetic. Exports from the Gaza Strip remain almost totally prohibited. Gaza's factories, most of which were forced to shut down because of the Israeli siege, have been unable to resume operations because Israel blocks the import of the raw materials they need. These two measures together have crippled the economy. Today, poverty in Gaza is widespread and it has one of the world's highest unemployment rates, at 39%; according to the UN, 80% of its population is dependent on food aid.

Read more...

• Cokie’s in Hadassah, Nelson’s in the Haggadah (and Israel’s in the West Bank)
• Bad timing for ‘WSJ’ author who says Arab spring won’t leap the Sinai
• When will the U.N. observe its own resolutions re borders and states?
• The Reconciliation… and the football match
• It’s like fluoride, in the water (Mario Cuomo narrates Masada oratorio at Temple Emanu-El)
• Mer Khamis will be memorialized by Kushner, Jabara, Aloni, Chalfant, Angelou, el-Ra’ee
• Helen Thomas will cover Move Over AIPAC conference, doesn’t want to speak at it
• Holbrooke couldn’t get a meeting with Obama because he saw Af/Pak surge as sabotaging Middle East policy
• Lawyer at ‘Counterpunch’ validates Palestinian right of armed resistance to occupation
• Egyptian military arrests gender-law scholar, accredited to NY bar and blogger for ‘NYT,’ at Sinai beach resort
• The three sacred words of US-Israeli rejectionism
• Congressmen threaten to cut off $400 million in US aid to Palestinians if PA cuts deal with Hamas
• American journalists want to see the Arab spring happening everywhere but Palestine
• How about banning Israeli politicians for supporting terrorism?
• ‘NYT’ front-pages Egyptian shift in policy re northeastern neighbor

01/05/2011

When Montgomery Comes to Nabi Saleh
Mark Perry--As the nonviolence movement in Palestine continues to be threatened, knowledge of its existence remains minimal at best.

Over 25% of Holocaust Survivors Live in Poverty
Omri Efraim--Report published ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day indicates some 208,000 victims of Nazi atrocities remain in Israel; poll reveals 40% of survivors feel lonely, while half say they are in need of financial aid

Refugees in their own land
Maya Zinshtein--Trade in ancient olive trees is a big business, often across the Green Line. Arab farmers are tempted by the big cash that wealthy Israelis will pay for such a status symbol, and there`s little the law can do about it.

Phony Baloney--Judge Goldstone`s Bogus Test of War Time Culpability
Lynda Brayer--Wikileaks has once again brought attention to the question of Israel`s war crime culpability in the military “Operation Cast Lead” it conducted from 27th Dec 2008 - 18th Jan 2009, a period of twenty three days, against the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip. The American Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, unsuccessfully tried to prevent a commission of inquiry into this war because of an obvious finding of culpability. Now, more that one and a half years later, Justice Goldstone, the head of that UN Commission seeks to introduce a peculiar twist into his original findings by raising the question of Israel`s intentions with respect to the killing of Palestinian civilians during that war.

Surviving the Shoah – and beating Israeli bureaucracy
RUTH EGLASH--Many Holocaust survivors live in severe poverty, unaware of the benefits owed them, and must fight the system to realize their rights.

The ghost town between Palestine`s past and its future
Catrina Stewart--Catrina Stewart visits an abandoned settlement, frozen in time 63 years ago, that may soon become a luxury housing development

Israel’s High Court of Justice Dismisses Petition Filed on Behalf of More Than 1,000 Victims of Operation Cast Lead
PCHR--On Thursday, 28 April 2011, the Israeli High Court of Justice dismissed a petition brought by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and litigated by Attorneys Michael Sfard and Carmel Pomerantz. dn

Today in Palestine
Compilation of events and data from the Occupied Territories and Middle East

Israel freezes cash transfer to Palestinians due to Fatah-Hamas unity deal
The Associated Press--Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz says he will hold up transfer of $89 million in Palestinian tax funds and customs fees until it was clear it would not reach Hamas militants; PA condemns the move.

Egypt warns Israel: Don`t interfere with opening of Gaza border crossing
Haaretz Service--Egypt warns Israel: Don`t interfere with opening of Gaza border crossing Rafah`s opening would be a violation of an agreement reached in 2005 between the U.S., Israel, Egypt, and the EU; Israel official tells the Wall Street Journal developments in Egypt could affect Israel`s national security.

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

The Palestinian Reconciliation Agreement Should Be Supported

James Zogby, 04.30.2011

President, the Arab American Institute; Author, "Arab Voices"

Palestinians shouldn't be asked to choose "reconciliation or peace" especially when the party doing the asking is denying them the chance to have both.

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Panic From The Houses Of Congress And Aipac?
By Franklin Lamb

On April 13, 2011, more than a dozen Israel “First, last and always” US congressional leaders from both houses of Congress held an urgent conference call organized by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Their purpose was to discuss how best to promote Israel during next month’s US visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and more importantly how to confront the rapidly changing Middle East political landscape. One consensus was that no one saw it coming and that it was dangerous for Israel

Uri Avnery
Palestinian Reconciliation

Ramzy Baroud
Back to Regime Change

What Future for the Goldstone Report? Beyond the Name

Ever since it first struck the raw nerve of Israeli political consciousness, I thought it misleading to associate the Goldstone…

Apr 22 2011  Read More »

Gilbert Achcar, Tom Segev: The Arabs and the Holocaust

1 May 2011

Gilbert Achcar and Tom Segev discuss The Arabs and the Holocaust

Catrina Stewart: The ghost town between Palestine’s past and its future

30 April 2011

Ghada Karmi: “On setting up its state in 1948, Israel set about demolishing every vestige of Palestinian life and history in the land… The battle to preserve Lifta must be won – it remains a physical memory of injustice and survival.”

Echoes‎
Jerusalem Post

By JPOST EDITORIAL Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is bad for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and potentially dangerous for the Jewish state. ...

Video: Israel withholds Palestinian cash transfer

Al Jazeera

'Israel's financial piracy targeting Palestinian unity'‎ - Tehran Times
Palestinian unity deal is setback for US-led peace effort‎ - AFP
UPI.com - The National

A “Fresh” Arab Spring Flows Through Auja, Palestine‎
Green Prophet
It starts with water and ends with a Debka dance: Friends of the Earth Middle East, a trilateral Israel-Palestine-Jordan non-profit organization has ...

Deciphering Israel's Political Double Speak‎
MidEastPosts (blog)

This is the discursive framework we use to characterise the history of “negotiations” in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel will bend over backwards to ...

The Palestinian Authority: What Obama Is Missing‎ - American Thinker
Itamar Murders: How the Israeli Narrative of Victimization Is Fed‎ - truthout

• Arab spring: Listen to the chants of pride in Egyptian revolution
• Arab winter: Israel has urged US to intervene to prop up Saudi monarchy
• We are part of an amazing movement that recalls Heschel marching with Lewis, King and Shuttlesworth in Selma
• ‘I won’t have children unless this country is free’… We hear you, sister
• The ‘collateral damage’ of a ‘targeted assassination’ attempt
• How can you tell when the Israeli right is lying? When it talks about the 2-state-solution
• AJC debate on Zionism devolves into fear-fest, though Beinart bravely says Jews must confront their political power to dispense violence
• Bacevich, is it good for the gander?
• French court says Israelis shot Mohamed Al-Dorra’s father
• Haniyeh says he is ready to step down as P.M. to further reconciliation
• Cokie’s in Hadassah, Nelson’s in the Haggadah (and Israel’s in the West Bank)
• Bad timing for ‘WSJ’ author who says Arab spring won’t leap the Sinai
• When will the U.N. observe its own resolutions re borders and states?
• The Reconciliation… and the football match
• It’s like fluoride, in the water (Mario Cuomo narrates Masada oratorio at Temple Emanu-El)

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"Mapping Palestine: For its Survival and Destruction"
with  Dr. Salman Abu Sitta
Founder and President, Palestine Land Society

Rafah Crossing to Open: Is Egypt Changing the Rules? (By Richard Lightbown) - 02-may-2011

May 1, 2011 - Egypt’s declared intention to open the crossing into Gaza reflects a radical change from the policy of Hosni Mubarak and promises to provide a lifeline to the moribund Gazan economy that has been deliberately targeted by Israeli policies which are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. In February IRIN reported that the World Bank believed that using Rafah as a trade corridor to the Suez Canal container terminal or Cairo International Airport could be done at a cost equivalent to or less than using Israel’s port or airports. Continuous opening will allow producers to effectively plan their transport arrangements free of the whim of a malignant border control. It will also allow students with overseas placements to take up their studies, and provide an opportunity for the rebuilding of Gaza including the refurbishment and replenishment of its dire medical system. (For as the surgeon Dr Mustafa Yassin told the Turkel Committee on 13 October 2010 "I haven’t seen anything like Gaza in my life, and I hope that I won’t ever see it again.") The question remains whether Egypt will be allowed to carry out this policy or whether it will be prevailed upon to reverse its plans...

Osama bin Laden corpse photo is fake (Amelia Hill) - 02-may-2011

May 2, 2011 - An image apparently showing a dead Osama bin Laden broadcast on Pakistani television and picked up by British newspaper websites is a fake. The bloodied image of a man with matted hair and a blank, half-opened eye has been circulating on the internet for the past two years. It was used on the front pages of the Mail, Times, Telegraph, Sun and Mirror websites, though swiftly removed after the fake was exposed on Twitter. It appears the fake picture was initially published by the Middle East online newspaper themedialine.org on 29 April 2009, with a warning from the editor that it was "unable to ascertain whether the photo is genuine or not"...

02/05/2011

Our freedom is now closer
Azzam Tamimi - The Guardian - The popular revolutions across the Arab world have given Palestinians a new sense of hope

PA could fail to pay salaries if revenues held
Ma`an News Agency - "More than 170,000 Palestinians are employed by the Palestinian Authority in both the West Bank and Gaza, and according to Abu Libdeh, their salaries had been budgeted with some of the $80-100 million in tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA"

60-year old US peace activist hospitalized after Israeli attack on non-violent Mayday action
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - "Israeli forces attacked a non-violent protest near Qalqilia Sunday, injuring several international activists including a 60-year old woman who was hit in the head by shrapnel. Three international peace activists were arrested by Israeli forces and face deportation and probable 10-year bans from the country"

`Hamas ready for peace talks with Israel`
Elior Levy - Ynet - Palestinian billionaire Munib al-Masri, who helped mediate Hamas-Fatah unity pact, says Gaza leadership willing to agree to comprehensive peace deal based on 1967 borders

IN ONE word: Bravo!
Uri Avnery - Gush Shalom - "The emergence of Palestinian unity should be welcomed by Israel, as well as by the European nations and the United States. They should get ready to recognize the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders. They should encourage the holding of free and democratic Palestinian elections and accept their results, whatever they may be. The wind of the Arab Spring is blowing in Palestine too. Bravo!"

Plan for National Park Threatens to Strangle East Jerusalem’s Issawiya Neighbourhood
Dolev Rahat - AIC - "Jerusalem’s District Committee for Planning and Construction recently approved a new plan to establish part of a `national park surrounding the walls of Jerusalem` on lands belonging to the East Jerusalem village of Issawiya. From the residents’ perspective, this eliminates the last remaining land reserves for Issawiya’s development"

Nothing but empty words
Oudeh Basharat - Haaretz - "Nevertheless - and because of `the international situation that has been created` - with amazing generosity, Netanyahu has declared he will give the Palestinians, who turned up out of nowhere, the right to run their own lives, granting them powers equivalent to those of a local council - or at most a regional council"

When Montgomery Comes to Nabi Saleh
Mark Perry--As the nonviolence movement in Palestine continues to be threatened, knowledge of its existence remains minimal at best.

Over 25% of Holocaust Survivors Live in Poverty
Omri Efraim--Report published ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day indicates some 208,000 victims of Nazi atrocities remain in Israel; poll reveals 40% of survivors feel lonely, while half say they are in need of financial aid

Refugees in their own land
Maya Zinshtein--Trade in ancient olive trees is a big business, often across the Green Line. Arab farmers are tempted by the big cash that wealthy Israelis will pay for such a status symbol, and there`s little the law can do about it.

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

Zionists Are Automatons.

By Adri Nieuwhof

Large parts of the Jewish population don’t want to talk about the Palestinians. They cannot get out of their role of the victim. They have forgotten about Jewish ethics as laid down in the Golden Rule by Hillel, “What is hateful to you, do not do unto others.” Continue

Stop Blaming Israel for Every Grievance in the Middle East

By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Humans easily excuse themselves and their own for foul acts they condemn in their enemies. Continue

Palestinian reconciliation may lead to Israel's Palestinian separation‎
Ha'aretz - Amira Hass

Opening the Rafah crossing without providing the Palestinian residents of Gaza freedom of access to the West Bank would play into Israel's hands and its ...

Video: Israel withholds Palestinian cash transfer

Al Jazeera

'Israel's financial piracy targeting Palestinian unity'‎ - Tehran Times
Echoes‎ - Jerusalem Post
AFP - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

• Dare to struggle, dare to win, dare to live together and build a paradise
• OBL/Palestine = Berlin Wall/Apartheid
• America’s self-righteous celebration
• Hamas officials condemn bin Laden killing
• Drink the elixir of nationalism, speak the language of violence
• OBL death turns the page of history
• Egypt regaining its well deserved spot as epicenter of Arab world… and Osama is dead.
• Zionists’ failure to save Jews from Holocaust was spiked 50 years ago, now in the news
• Holocaust Remembrance: There is no nation, no culture, no group that is immune to hatred, racism, persecution and annihilation
• Kaddish in Auschwitz
• She died with her babe that December night but lives in my heart every day
• Abbas: ‘Hamas is a part of the Palestinian people’
• The U.N.’s rogue alliance in Libya
• Finkelstein, Khalidi, Peter Weiss to talk Goldstone tonight
• Monday, Monday

03/05/2011

Army Seals Nabi Saleh Village
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - The local Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, one of dozens of nonviolent committee in the occupied West Bank, said that the army is targeting the village for its legitimate nonviolent resistance, and is practicing collective punishment against the residents.

Encounter beneath Prophet Ibrahim’s tomb - Jews, Muslims discuss common ground in Hebron
Aditi Bhaduri - Silent Heroes/Invisible Bridges - Six Israelis toured the Old City of Hebron (Al-Khalil), along with local Palestinians. The market wore the look of a haunted place, most shop-owners having moved out due to ongoing settler violence and only a few still open, covered with anti-Arab racist graffiti.

Settlers set fire to Huwwara prayer hall
Ma`an - Officials said they feared further settler attacks against Palestinians, as tensions flare amid a possible unity agreement between rival political parties Fatah and Hamas. A single voice would be a diplomatic asset when leaders head to the UN in September to seek recognition of statehood.

Obama must bring his daring to Israeli-Palestinian peace
Haaretz Editorial - First and foremost, bin Laden`s assassination will have an effect on U.S. domestic politics. (...) If Obama becomes stronger domestically, that could - and should - drive his administration to make a more aggressive effort to bring peace to the Middle East. bz

For most Arabs, bin Laden and his views are long-dead
Daoud Kuttab - Washington Post - In fact, nonviolence and the absence of fundamentalist Islamic ideology have been hallmarks of the Arab Spring, [in spite of] dictators’ claims to the contrary. The demographics of the demonstrators across the Middle East also show a turn away from Islamic fundamentalism.

The Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation Agreement
Shlomo Brom - INSS - Participation in the Palestinian government and the holding of elections will create more serious pressure on Hamas to work for quiet in the Gaza Strip, which in turn can help advance the diplomatic process. It appears that the Obama administration has elements that could support this approach; it is doubtful that there are counterparts in the current Israeli government. bz

Seattle billboards on Israel canceled after controversy
By Vanessa Ho - Seattle.Com - The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC) placed at several places in the city billboards reading "Equal rights for Palestinians - Stop funding the Israeli military." After a few days they were taken down by the billboard company, which had "re-evaluated its decision after people complained". "We don`t understand what is objectionable about equal rights..." SeaMAC volunteer Ed Mast said. A.K.

Hamas-Fatah reconciliation: Opportunity or disaster?
Gershon Baskin - Jerusalem Post - The taxes collected by Israel (by agreement) do not belong to Israel. This is Palestinian money. (...) If the US and other Quartet members also freeze donations to the PA, the economic successes which have paved the road of stabilization will collapse. bz

Hamas officials: We`ll honor unofficial truce with Israel
Jerusalem Post staff & Khaled Abu Toameh - Marzouk said that Hamas did not see any connection between recognizing Israel’s right to exist and the establishment of a Palestinian state: “Most of the Arab countries don’t recognize Israel, and yet they continue to deal with the international community.” bz

Deutsche Bahn withdraws from project of new railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
Bernd Kleinschmitt - European Jewish Post - The German Railway (Deutsche Bahn) will no longer participate in building a new rail line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Because the route will pass through occupied Palestinian territory. [A BDS success!-bz]

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective section

Troops Arrest seven Palestinians; Residents Clash with Settlers

Tuesday May 03, 2011 - 12:48

Israeli troops arrested on Tuesday morning seven Palestinian civilians among them two children during invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities. Full Story

Mashal Meets Egypt’s Security Chief

Tuesday May 03, 2011 - 02:32

Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement, Khaled Mashal, met on Monday with Egypt’s Security Chief, Murad Muwafi, and a number of Egyptian security leaders. Full Story

For Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Hamas' pen is mightier than bin ...‎
Jewish Telegraphic Agency - Ron Kampeas

In at least one respect, Sunday's raid in Pakistan could have an indirect consequence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to experts: President ...

Israeli threat to withhold taxes to damage Palestinian economy ...‎ - Xinhua
Hamas unity bid on Netanyahu's Europe agenda‎ - Reuters Canada
Obama must bring his daring to Israeli-Palestinian peace‎ - Ha'aretz
The Guardian - Council on Foreign Relations

Daniel Barenboim conducts 'peace concert' in Gaza Strip‎
Baltimore Sun (blog)

He described the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one "of two peoples who are convinced they have the right to live in the same little piece of land. ...

Children attend Barenboim peace concert in Gaza‎ - SOS Children
Daniel Barenboim brings 'solace and pleasure' to Gaza with Mozart ...‎ - The Guardian
European Orchestra to Perform in Gaza Strip‎ - Wall Street Journal
The Voice of Russia - Ha'aretz

Methodist Leaders to Jews: In the Name of Peace, Forget Your ...‎
Huffington Post (blog)

That stunning contribution to Holocaust revisionism is at the core of "Jewish and Muslim Perspectives on the Land of Israel-Palestine," a document released ...

Video: Israel mourns as it marks Holocaust Day

euronews

Our World: Competing visions of 'Never Again'‎ - Jerusalem Post
Is Israel the best place for Jews to live?‎ - Ha'aretz
St. Louis Jewish Light - Arutz Sheva

Haniyah meets journalists to mark World Press Freedom Day  

03 May 2011

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah yesterday met with journalists in the Gaza Strip to mark World Press Freedom Day during which he discussed efforts to achieve Palestinian national reconciliation.

Mr Haniyah told journalists that this agreement would be unlike the Mecca agreement because it discussed issues related to security.

The prime minister said he expected that the Higher Leadership Committee consisting of factional secretary generals would convene for the first time on the second day of the reconciliation signing in Cairo when discussions about the national consensus government are also due to take place.

Read more...

PLO says no future for the Occupation  

03 May 2011

The Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee has condemned Israeli attempts to 'blackmail' the Palestinian Authority into aborting the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. It also called for international condemnation of Israeli practices.
 
In a press release issued on Monday, May 2nd, the PLO's Executive Committee stated that the political transformations that the Arab region has been witnessing lately, along with the stance taken by the international community at both the popular and official levels, prove that "there is no future for the Occupation and for any force trying to suppress the people's will and aspirations."

Read more...

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood rejects assassination as a tactic and affirms the legitimacy of resistance  

03 May 2011

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has rejected assassination as a tactic in a response to the killing of Osama Bin Laden by US troops. The group also confirmed that while it rejects violence it supports legitimate resistance against foreign occupation of any country.

In an official statement, the Brotherhood called on Western people and governments alike "to stop linking Islam with terrorism" in order to correct "the erroneous image that has been promoted deliberately for several years."

Read more...

America's pyrrhic victory over Bin-Laden  

03 May 2011

The killing of al-Qaeda Chief Osama Bin-Laden by US special forces in Pakistan is likely to have more of a short-term psychological impact than concrete long-lasting political ramifications.
 
While Bin-Laden's death will generate a lot of satisfaction in Washington, the low-intensity war between the America and al-Qaeda will most probably intensify in ferocity.
 
Al-Qaeda has nearly sunk into oblivion having been eclipsed by revolutions across the Arab world; they have demonstrated that overcoming tyrannical regimes and pushing through political and civil reforms is more achievable if peaceful and nonviolent means are used rather than car bombs and terror, which were al-Qaeda's trademark.

Read more...

• Success has a thousand morons
• Gideon Rose of ‘Foreign Affairs’ praises Mubarak in warning Egypt not to make Israel ‘dramatically unhappy’
• In Search of Meaning: Osama Bin Laden and the dancing Americans
• Khalidi says Palestinian humiliation is at the heart of the Arab revolutions
• In defense of Superman
• Osama bin Laden’s death is another leg kicked out from under Israel-US milking stool
• 3 months later: scenes from Anger Friday in Egypt
• Slater: Hamas is pragmatic
• Realistic post on the killing of Osama bin Laden
• Outside the White House, amid the glory of the assassinator
• They can never shut me up
• Dare to struggle, dare to win, dare to live together and build a paradise
• OBL/Palestine = Berlin Wall/Apartheid
• America’s self-righteous celebration
• Hamas officials condemn bin Laden killing

Analysis Part Two: When a Palestinian child becomes an enemy

By Joseph Dana

News Robert Fisk on Osama Bin Laden; Middle East revolutions more important

By Joseph Dana

Hamas condemnation of Bin Laden’s killing: Bad PR

By Mairav Zonszein

The Palestinians have abandoned Oslo

By Yossi Gurvitz

 2 May 2011 11:39 AM By Khaled Elgindy

The U.S. should welcome the Palestinian unity deal

No sooner had reports surfaced of an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas than congressional calls for cutting U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority began. A statement by House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen...

Read More |

Unity deal signed in Cairo

Abbas, Mash'al say Palestinian reconciliation will pave way to statehood. Celebrations in Gaza, Ramallah, where multi-party flags fly. Netanyahu slams deal.

Candidates for the next Palestinian PM

Second Hamas leader detained in 48 hours

Gaza government executes convicted collaborator

Fayyad says unity deal must be implemented swiftly

Unity ushers in swift change in media freedoms

The real challenge of Palestinian unity - Michael Broning

Palestinian writer under administrative detention

Settlers attack Palestinian shepherd in Nablus

Israeli minister doubts change after unity

Netanyahu: Israel won't negotiate with Palestinian version of al-Qaida

Israeli premier attempting to lobby European leaders against Hamas-Fatah reconciliation; 'To Abbas I say - leave the podium and come back to path of peace. To Hamas I don’t say anything', declares Netanyahu.

Hamas says prepared to give peace with Israel 'another chance'

At reconciliation ceremony with Fatah, Hamas leader Meshaal says Israel does not seem ready for peace, urges world to 'stand with us'.

More On This Topic

• Gaps between Hamas, Fatah loom large despite unity deal
• Carter urges West to support Hamas-Fatah unity deal
• Netanyahu: Hamas-Fatah unity pact is a victory for terrorism

Will bin Laden killing pave way for similar moves by Israel?

Former top IDF intel official talks to Haaretz about a gradual change in the rules of confrontation in the framework of the global war on terror.

U.S. to Palestinians: Unity deal must advance prospect of peace with Israel

State Department says U.S. will not drop demand that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist, and that it reject violence abide by interim peace accords.

Outgoing Shin Bet chief apologizes for failing to secure Shalit's release

Father of abducted soldier: Acceptance of responsibility is 'too little, too late'. Hamas leader Meshaal says he hopes to see prisoner swap advance as soon as possible.

Hamas and Fatah plan to begin implementing unity pact next week

Leaders of Islamist movement to meet Abbas to kick-start procedures for reconciliation, after signing deal in Cairo to mend four-year rift.

Human rights groups petition High Court to overthrow 'Nakba Law'

The Nakba Law bars public funding of entities that 'undermine the foundations of the state', and will allow the finance minister to fine anyone who marks Israeli Independence Day as a day of mourning.

Haaretz Editorial

Netanyahu must present new peace initiative in Washington

Sefi Rachlevsky

Israel must choose between peace and a racist state

Uri Avnery on Israel and Palestine

Kathleen Wells, J.D., 05.04.2011

Israeli peace activist, journalist and writer Uri Avnery recently took the time to speak with me about recent developments in Israel-Palestine.

Read Post

05/05/2011

Palestinian reconciliation may lead to Israel`s Palestinian separation
Amira Hass - Haaretz - On yet another hand, we still don`t know what this "opening" implies. Will Gazans not have to request an entry visa into Egypt in advance and be granted one immediately upon arriving at the terminal? Or will the visa be granted easily and swiftly, and not merely to "important people," the sick and the very affluent, as is the case today? Will entire families be able to board a bus in Khan Yunis and travel to Alexandria without coordinating and planning ahead and without enduring the nerve-wracking wait for replies from Egyptian intelligence?

Part Two: When a Palestinian Child Becomes an Enemy
Joseph Dana - +972 - The easy answer is that Israel has crossed a line of absolute racism and now it is beyond our control. It is a war to the end and all are targets. However, the genuine emotion of the brave soldiers who testify in this film (and with Breaking the Silence) makes this answer difficult to swallow. Watching their testimonies, I see that we have not crossed this red line because there is still moral quandary about our treatment of ‘the enemy.’ The reality is that we are simply too afraid to face the truth of our actions.

Abbas, Mash`al meet, agree to swift govt creation
Ma`an News Agency - Following the formation of a transitional government, the leaders said an agreement on a leadership framework would be reached, setting out the agenda for the new cabinet. The agenda is nominally laid out in the Egyptian Unity Paper signed Wednesday, but the document mandates the approval of this agenda by the secretaries-general of all Palestinian political factions. Third on the agenda was an agreement to release all of the political detainees in the West Bank.

Israel’s Campaign Against Palestine
Richard Silverstein - Tikun Olam - Israel is attempting to ratchet up pressure against tomorrow’s historic signing of a reconciliation pact between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo. It has announced it will begin withholding $90-million per month in taxes which it collects on behalf of the PA, which is in violation of international agreements it has signed to pass this revenue directly on to the Palestinians. Israel’s argument that the funds, which now go to the PA, would somehow end up in the hands of Hamas is ridiculous considering that Fatah currently runs the PA, and even the transitional government which will take over for the next year will contain solely independent figures with no formal loyalties to either party.

Bedouin Factsheet
MIFTAH - The Bedouins in the West Bank, like thousands of other Palestinians, were forced from their original homes in 1948. Unlike many other Palestinians, they decided to settle in the more isolated areas in the east so that their livestock would have room to graze. Hoping to continue their traditional way of life, as they had done for thousands of years, the Bedouin people relied on their pastoral ability. However, in the last decade this has proved almost impossible to sustain. There are now 40,000 Bedouin people living in the West Bank comprising of around 5,000 families. Of those, 2,000 are living in refugee camps in Areas A and B. The other 3,000 families live in Area C.

Farewell to Geronimo
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN - The New York Times - To understand that challenge, we need to recall, again, where Bin Ladenism came from. It emerged from a devil’s bargain between oil-consuming countries and Arab dictators. We all — Europe, America, India, China — treated the Arab world as a collection of big gas stations, and all of us sent the same basic message to the petro-dictators: Keep the oil flowing, the prices low and don’t bother Israel too much and you can treat your people however you like, out back, where we won’t look.

A window of opportunity for Israel
Gisha - We at Gisha believe that this moment is an opportunity for the Government of Israel to initiate cooperation with the PA, Egypt and international parties over operation of the border crossings. Such arrangements should guarantee freedom of movement between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under reasonable conditions, while addressing Israel`s security interests recognized by international law.

The day after Bin Laden died
Kathleen Kern - CPT AL-KHALIL/HEBRON - The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie nor establish truth. Through violence, you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

New Israeli Discriminatory Laws
Stephen Lendman - Countercurrents - In April, the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel discussed six new laws passed during the Knesset`s 2011 winter term "that directly or indirectly target the rights of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel." Overall, they`re treated like a fifth column, denied equal rights as Jews in a country just as much theirs. More so, in fact, as their forebears lived there for centuries or longer.

Palestinian joy as rivals Fatah and Hamas sign reconciliation pact
Ian Black and Conal Urquhart - The Guardian - Mowayad Aish, an engineering student, was waving a Hamas flag a few metres away. "This is the first step towards ending the occupation of Palestine. It is true there have been difficulties in the past and there will be obstacles in the future but we must remember it is for the people that we want to end the division."

Soldiers Attack Nabi Saleh Procession Celebrating Unity

Thursday May 05, 2011 - 03:44

Israeli soldiers attacked on Wednesday a nonviolent procession in Nabi Saleh village, near the central West Bank city of Nablus, as dozens of residents marched in the streets celebrating the signing of the Palestinian unity agreement. Full Story 

Palestinian Unity And The New Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud

A Palestinian unity in post-revolution Egypt, with the blessing of all Arab countries, Turkey, Iran, and many others, is an extremely worrying prospect for Israel

Egypt And Israel Heading For Crisis
By Jonathan Cook

Mood in Cairo turns against close ties

Journalists Rula Jebreal and Issandr El Amrani on Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Hamas and Palestinian Authority

Democracy Now! hosts a conversation between Palestinian author Rula Jebreal and Egyptian journalist Issandr El Amrani about the continued uprisings in the Middle East and Arab attitudes toward the U.S. Jebreal talks about growing up in Haifa and her autobiographical novel Miral, and El Amrani discusses the effects of the "Arab Spring" on Israel. [includes rush transcript]

Filed under Web Exclusive

An independent homeland or bantustan in disguise?

Haidar Eid

4 May 2011

The induced euphoria that characterizes discussions within the mainstream media around the upcoming declaration of an independent Palestinian state in September, ignores the stark realities on the ground and the warnings of critical commentators.

Read more about An independent homeland or bantustan in disguise?

Breaking down stereotypes: Randa Abdel-Fattah interviewed

Sarah Irving

4 May 2011

The Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving interviews Randa Abdel-Fattah, the author of five novels for young adults and children, about her writing and activism.

Read more about Breaking down stereotypes: Randa Abdel-Fattah interviewed

Tony Kushner Responds to CUNY Board Decision

5 May 2011

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner was to receive an honorary doctorate from CUNY’s John Jay College. Not for critics of the Israeli occupation, said CUNY’s Board of Trustees.

Tony Kushner: I believe that the historical record shows, incontrovertibly, that the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes as part of the creation of the state of Israel was ethnic cleansing, a conclusion I reached mainly by reading the work of Benny Morris, an acclaimed and conservative Israeli historian…

Daniel Barenboim brings ‘solace and pleasure’ to Gaza with Mozart concert

5 May 2011

[Daniel Barenboim] said the Israeli and Palestinian conflict was one between two peoples who believe they are entitled to live on a single piece of land rather than a conflict between two nations about borders, adding that the whole world understood that a Palestinian state should be established on the land that Israel occupied in 1967. “Everyone has to understand that the Palestinian cause is a just cause therefore it can be only given justice if it is achieved without violence. Violence can only weaken the righteousness of the Palestinian cause,” he said.

Palestinian youth rally in Ramallah

06/05/2011

Islamic Bank donates $120 million to PA
Ma`an News Agency - "Palestinian Authority caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad signed a $120 million agreement with the Islamic Bank on Saturday." ca

Norway joins ranks supporting unified Palestine
Ma`an News Agency - "A statement from the PA`s caretaker Minister of Planning and Administrative Development Ali Jarbawi said Wednesday that Norwegian representative in Ramallah Tor Wennesland pledged to continue providing $140 million in annual support to the Palestinian National Authority through to 2012." ca

The purposive destruction of natural Palestine
by Mahmoud Bakr - Al-Ahram Weekly "Over the past decades, the Palestinian territories have faced an array of environmental problems that have polluted and destroyed the environment quickly and severely, primarily because of policies pursued by the Israeli occupation. Increased population also raised pollution, waste and attrition of various natural resources. To protect the Palestinian environment and what resources are left, the Palestinian Authority (PA) created the Environment Quality Authority (EQA) in 1996. This is the government body responsible for strategic planning, legislation, and monitoring and regulating all environment issues. It is also responsible for coordinating among all local, regional and international bodies to protect and develop the Palestinian environment." ca

Palestinians hail rapprochement
Khaled Amayreh - Al-Ahram Weekly "Having been taken by surprise by the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, Israeli leaders nearly lost their composure, threatening the Palestinian Authority (PA) with "grave consequences" if the agreement went through and materialised on the ground." ca

Joyous at reconciliation
Saleh Al-Naami - Al-Ahram Weekly "Indeed, Palestinians across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank expressed jubilation as soon as the deal was announced. In several main squares in Gaza City, residents handed out candy, and the youth set off fireworks to mark the occasion. These scenes were repeated in most cities of the West Bank, which witnessed a number of marches supporting the agreement." ca

Israel must choose between peace and a racist state
By Sefi Rachlevsky - Haaretz "But the question of what Israel wants has a second possible answer: Israel wants a racist messianic state, one in which Jews are citizens and non-Jews are subjects. This second answer is not fantastic. In essence, this has been the Israeli reality for 44 years already. In the territories, and also in Jerusalem, Jews are citizens and non-Jews aren`t. Just this week, the science minister (! ) presented an award to Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu at a ceremony in which the latter advocated cleansing Safed of Arabs." ca

Boycott Israel movement creates ‘sea change`
Alex Kane - The Indypendent "Achievements include the announcement in April that the flagship London outlet of Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company that reportedly manufactures its products in an illegal West Bank settlement, is losing its lease in response to years of protest. In February, legendary folk singer Pete Seeger joined a roster of artists honoring the boycott of Israel, including Elvis Costello, Dustin Hoffman, Gil Scott-Heron, Johnny Depp and the Pixies."

Nokdim Settlement and the JNF establish a Park on Palestinian Tuqu` Lands
Israeli TV - Channel 10 Video (Hebrew w/English subtitles) ca

Extremist Israelis Disrupt Talks for Palestinian Nonviolent Leader In Paris

Friday May 06, 2011 - 22:48

A group of extremist Israeli youths, members of the outlawed Kach Movement, tried to prevent Palestinian nonviolent resistance leader, Abdullah Abu Rahma, from speaking at a forum in Paris, by creating chaos, acting in a violent way and trying to physically attack him. Full Story

Local Leader, Mahmoud Zwahre, Arrested At Weekly Protest Against The Wall At Al Masara

Friday May 06, 2011 - 16:30

Israeli troops attacked on Friday the weekly nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall and settlements, in Bil'in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Troops also attacked similar weekly protests in other parts of the West Bank. Full Story

Hamas And Fatah To Meet Soon Over Unity Government

Friday May 06, 2011 - 14:21

Delegations from the rival Fatah and Hamas parties will meet in the coming few days in Cairo to make final arrangements for the new unity government, Azzam Al-Ahmad, head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc said on Friday. Full Story

Netanyahu Fails In Bid To Lobby Allies Into Rejecting Unity Deal

Friday May 06, 2011 - 11:16

The US, Italy, Britain and France have refused to rule out negotiations with the unity Hamas-Fatah government despite intensive lobbying by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Full Story

Army Demolishes Ten Homes Near Hebron

Friday May 06, 2011 - 06:07

Israeli soldiers demolished on Thursday ten Palestinian homes in the Hebron district, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. Full Story

Russia Welcomes Palestinian Unity Deal

Friday May 06, 2011 - 05:25

In a statement made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian government welcomed the Palestinian national unity and reconciliation agreement which includes forming a transitional government run by technocrats. Full Story

Hamas To Allow Fateh Leaders To Travel To Ramallah

Friday May 06, 2011 - 02:11

The Hamas-led government in Gaza retracted, on Tuesday evening, a previous decision preventing Fateh leaders from leaving the Gaza Strip to attend an official meeting of the Fateh Revolutionary Council in the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Full Story

President Carter: US Support of Unity can Help Palestinian Democracy and Establish a Unified State

Friday May 06, 2011 - 02:04

Ex-Us president Jimmy Carter called for international support to the Palestinian national unity and reconciliation deal signed today in Cairo by Palestinian groups. Full Story

Video: Gazans welcome Palestinian unity deal
AlJazeera.net

May 6, 2011 - Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (28 April – 04 May 2011): Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded seven civilians, including five children and a woman, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Three of the children were wounded in Bil'ein village, west of Ramallah , as two of them were wounded when IOF moved into the village on 28 April 2011 while the third child was wounded in Bil'ein’s weekly protest. The other four Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were wounded in an artillery shelling that targeted a house in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, on 28 April 2011, IOF moved into Bil'ein village, west of Ramallah. Some boys gathered and stoned IOF who immediately responded by firing bullets, rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs. Two children were wounded as a result and many civilians suffered gas inhalation...

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77478 

Hamas: We will consult Fatah on resistance 

Mash'al tells Wall Street Journal that Palestinians will reach consensus on whether to use violence; presidential aide says Hamas chief agreed to adopt non-violent resistance.  

Campaign 'to bring Nativity deportees home alive' 

Soldiers arrest Hamas leader at Jenin checkpoint  

UN chief urges Israel not to withhold tax revenue 

Israel official: Hamas 'weakness' led to unity deal  

Clashes reported in village near Nablus 

Palestinian youth rally in Ramallah 

Israeli forces evacuate Khirbet Umm Nir  

Woman found dead in well near Hebron 

Report: CUNY to rescind decision withholding honor from Kushner over anti-Israel views  

Following backlash, executive committee of CUNY board will nix earlier decision and grant honorary degree to playwright Tony Kushner, the New York Times report

 More On This Topic

CUNY trustee: Kushner must renounce anti-Israel statements to get honorary  

Nuclear whistle-blower Vanunu requests revocation of citizenship  

Mordechai Vanunu sends letter to Interior Minister Eli Yishai asking for his citizenship to be stripped based on new Citizenship Revocation Law.

EU approves $124 million in aid to PA after Israel blocks transfer of Palestinian funds 

The European Union agrees to provide extra money to cover the salaries of essential workers and support families in need; move comes after Israel blocked transfer of 105 million dollars in tax funds to PA due to Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.

Palestinian official calls on EU to continue support for police in wake of reconciliation  

Senior West Bank police official implores European Union to continue program to help Palestinian police forces even after Fatah and Hamas join forces; EU official says must see 'facts on the ground' before details of support can be discussed.

Noam Shalit: Hamas dominates talks to secure Gilad's release 

Father of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit responds to remark by Defense Minister Barak concerning mistakes Israel had made in talks to release his son, says the only one paying the price for those mistakes is Gilad.

Palestinian factions pushed together by regional events
Michael Young  

The Palestinians at the Cross Road of History Must Take the Right Path 

Robert K. Lifton, 05.05.2011

Former President, The American Jewish Congress 

One path for the Palestinians leads to a serious opportunity to create a successful state for the Palestinian people. The other path leads to destroying any present hope for a viable Palestinian state. The choice lies in their hands. 

Read Post  

Laura Flanders:

Tony Kushner Denied Honors Over Palestine  

Palestinian Trade Union Movement Forms
Historic BDS Coalition
By Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS 

The first ever Palestinian trade union conference for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel was held in Ramallah last week on 30 April. A historic formation was made at the conference with the establishment of the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) — the largest coalition of the Palestinian trade union movement 

My Reaction To Osama bin Laden’s Death
By Noam Chomsky  

We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bush’s compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic 

NPR crunches its Israel/Palestine conflict story numbers

‎
Radio Survivor - Matthew Lasar

NPR has released an exhaustive audit of its Israel/Palestine dispute coverage for the first quarter of this year. Since NPR doesn't do public audits of its ...

Reconciliation and the End of Bin Laden [May 1- May 7]
May 07, 2011
By MIFTAH

It has been a week to remember. The Palestinians will mark May 4, 2011 as the day the division was laid to rest. In a ceremony in Cairo, the leaders of Fateh and Hamas came together to sign a reconciliation deal, which they both said would end the division forever. Other than President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas politburo head, Khaled Mashal and heads of Palestinian factions, several other high ranking people attended the ceremony including UN envoy Robert Serry and Amr Mousa, Arab League Secretary General. “We have turned the page of division forever,” Abbas said during his speech in which he also reiterated that Hamas and Fateh have much more in common than not. Abbas took the opportunity to lay out his political positions such as a rejection of violence and temporary borders. He said he also said the Palestinians would not accept any outside intervention and that a temporary government “would be born soon” until elections could be held.

Full Week in Review    More Week in Reviews

The weight of nationalism in Nabi Saleh

By Joseph Dana

Young Mizrahi Israelis' Open Letter to Arab Peers 

Chana Morgenstern | +972 | Op-Ed

Young Mizrahi Israelis' Open Letter to Arab Peers 

Chana Morgenstern | +972 | Op-Ed

Ghassan Bannoura – PNN Exclusive – PNN Arabic Department News Editor, Hiba Lama was the only female journalist to hold the third possession in a competition organized by the Palestinian Journalists Union this week.

Young Mizrahi Israelis' Open Letter to Arab Peers 

Chana Morgenstern | +972 | Op-Ed

08/05/2011

Susya and Lasefer, May 7, 2011
David Shulman in another of his reports, sending his personal testimony from the fields of Susya and Lasefer in south Mt. Hebron.

The Weight of Nationalism in Nabi Saleh
Joseph Dana--Military might against defensless peoples dn

House Team Report April-May 2011
IWPS--The IWPS house team has been very active for the past couple weeks. There are few internationals in the West Bank at the time and we are working together in an attempt to cover the many needs of Palestinian villages under attack from settlers and the Israeli Occupation Forces. It must also be noted with sadness that the Michigan Peace Team suffered a major loss when one of their members was brutally attacked by soldiers in Izbet at Tabib, resulting in both her wrists being broken. Their team, being only 2 on the ground at the time, has had to leave Palestine.

Palestinian unity agreement only first step in long-term movement, according to Palestinian youth.
Noura Erakat--Palestinian youth in the West Bank, Gaza and the diaspora are looking to unify and strengthen their identity

Defense officials weigh after ex-Mossad chief brands Iran strike `stupid idea`
Haaretz Service--Two other former Mossad chiefs back Meir Dagan for expressing his opinion to the public, while other senior officials say not all points of view need to be expressed.

EU approves $124 million in aid to PA after Israel blocks transfer of Palestinian funds
Reuters and Haaretz Service--The European Union agrees to provide extra money to cover the salaries of essential workers and support families in need; move comes after Israel blocked transfer of 105 million dollars in tax funds to PA due to Hamas-Fatah reconciliation.

Seeing the West Bank for the first time, in a tour bus
The Associated Press--Settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state.

Press Release
Gideon Spiro--The Israeli Committee for A Middle East Free of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms-- Morderchai Vanunu demands to apply a recently passed law and revoke his Israeli citizenship. "I have no interest in Israeli citizenship, I don`t want to go on living here".

Drive for Palestinian Unity Exposes Fractured Society
ISABEL KERSHNER--The unity deal is intended, among other things, to strengthen the Palestinian leadership that is pursuing recognition for a Palestinian state — not half a state or two separate states — at the United Nations in September. But the quest for unity has exposed a fractured society that remains geographically separated and still largely controlled by Israel.

America --The malaise behind CUNY`s affront to Tony Kushner
Sarah Wildman--[Since this report, CUNY has decided after all, and after severe pressure, to award Tony Kushner his honorary degree from City University of NY -- http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/report-cuny-to-rescind-decision-withholding-honor-from-kushner-over-anti-Israel-views-1.360375 Nevertheless, the arguments below are worth our attention. DN]

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

The Cairo Agreement and Palestinian statehood
Omar Radwan

Statehood Declaration or Anti-apartheid Struggle?
By Issa Khalaf

09/05/2011

Budrus: A West Bank village`s emblematic struggle for its land
Harriet Sherwood - The Guardian - Powerful movie about Palestinian protests against Israel`s separation barrier is now available on DVD

Government quietly funds KKK-like organizations
Yossi Gurvitz - +972 - The government funds an ultra-racist organization, which campaigns against “miscegenation” and assimilation

Beit Ummar: Residents celebrating unity say attacked by soldiers
Ma`an News Agency - "Israeli forces violently shut down a rally celebrating Palestinian national unity in Beit Ummar near Hebron on Saturday, injuring several protesters, locals said"

Israel Plans More Settlement Construction In Occupied East Jerusalem
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - "The Islamic-Christian Committee for Defending Jerusalem and the Holy Sites warned on Sunday of a new Israeli plan to build 386 units for Jewish` settlers in Sheikh Jarrah"

Paradigm Shift - Palestinian Unity and a New Middle East
Ramzy Baroud - CounterPunch - "The greatest Israeli gain of the Camp David agreement (1979) was not of bringing peace to the region - for no regional peace truly followed. It was the total marginalization of Egypt as a powerful Arab party from virtually all Arab affairs of concern to Israel. […] Now Egypt is back - not merely in terms of a return to the `Arab fold` - but as the party that will increasingly define the new Arab reality. The signing of the Hamas-Fatah deal [...] was really a predictable consequence in a chain of events that signaled the remaking of a region"

Palestinian unity has cast Netanyahu adrift
Zvi Bar`el - Haaretz - Premier doesn`t care whether the two sides of the Palestinian state manage to merge, nor does he care who will be their leader. As far as he is concerned, this is neither a Palestinian nor an Arab story - it`s all about Israel or, more precisely, it`s all against Israel

Susya and Lasefer, May 7, 2011
David Shulman in another of his reports, sending his personal testimony from the fields of Susya and Lasefer in south Mt. Hebron.

The Weight of Nationalism in Nabi Saleh
Joseph Dana--Military might against defensless peoples dn

House Team Report April-May 2011
IWPS--The IWPS house team has been very active for the past couple weeks. There are few internationals in the West Bank at the time and we are working together in an attempt to cover the many needs of Palestinian villages under attack from settlers and the Israeli Occupation Forces. It must also be noted with sadness that the Michigan Peace Team suffered a major loss when one of their members was brutally attacked by soldiers in Izbet at Tabib, resulting in both her wrists being broken. Their team, being only 2 on the ground at the time, has had to leave Palestine.

Palestinian unity agreement only first step in long-term movement, according to Palestinian youth.
Noura Erakat--Palestinian youth in the West Bank, Gaza and the diaspora are looking to unify and strengthen their identity

For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections

Decision To Hold Criminologists Conference In Israeli Settlement Criticized

Monday May 09, 2011 - 17:38

The Israeli peace group, Gush Shalom, has sharply criticized a decision to hold a criminologists' conference in the settlement of Ariel, deep inside the West Bank.
Full Story

EU Undermines Israeli Government Efforts To Drain Palestinian Finances

Monday May 09, 2011 - 11:15

The EU has undermined efforts by Israel to stop the flow of money into the Palestinian Authority’s budget through an 85 million euro payment to the Palestinian administration. The payment is in addition to the 100 million euro payment approved earlier this year as part of funding for Palestinian state building efforts. Full Story

Mashal: “Recognizing Israel Cannot Be Done Before The Palestinians Establish Their State”

Monday May 09, 2011 - 10:48

Head of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement, Khaled Mashal, urged the United States and the European Union to support the Palestinian Unity Agreement, and added that a Palestinian recognition of Israel cannot be conducted before an independent state is established. Full Story

Sarkozy Proposes A Peace Conference To End the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Monday May 09, 2011 - 10:18

Israeli paper, Maariv, reported that French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, presented during his last week meeting with Israeli prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a proposal for a peace conference in France aiming at signing a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of this month. Full Story

Israel Plans More Settlement Construction In Occupied East Jerusalem

Monday May 09, 2011 - 06:01

The Islamic-Christian Committee for Defending Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, warned on Sunday of a new Israeli plan to build 386 units for Jewish` settlers in Sheikh Jarrah Palestinian neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. Full Story

Detained Legislator Receives Extended Administrative Detention Order

Monday May 09, 2011 - 02:23

The Israeli Prison Authorities decided to renew the administrative detention order against elected legislator, Dr. Mahmoud Al Ramahi, for additional six months. Al Ramahi was placed under administrative detention, without charges, six months ago and was supposed to be released on Monday. Full Story

Settlers Attack Wadi Al Hilwa, Demand Bedouin Residents To Leave

Monday May 09, 2011 - 02:01

A group of extremist armed Israeli settlers attacked, on Sunday evening, Wadi Al Hilwa area in the northern plains of the West Bank, and demanding local Bedouins to leave the area. Full Story

Academic Freedom Under Attack In Israel
By Dahlia Scheindlin

Interview with Prof. Neve Gordon

Third Intifada Underway

Rallies to Kick Israel’s Ambassador out of Egypt

by Ashraf Ezzat / May 9th, 2011

“The Arab world is experiencing an earthquake,” commented Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minster, on the power of popular uprisings sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa.

Passing that quick judgment, Netanyahu overlooked the fact that that mighty earthquake was actually taking place next door and that Israel was bound to feel the aftershocks sooner or later.
It is very true that the whole Arab spring with revolutions erupting almost all over the Arab world has nothing to do with Israel as far as motivation is concerned, but that doesn’t mean that Israel is immune from its ripple effect.

Arabs set …

(Full article …)

Coming home to Hebron, looking forward to Palestine
Ha'aretz
What do you think about the “electronic Intifada”, the BDS movement? People like Ali Abunimah from the “Electronic Intafida”, they don't really represent me ...

Viva Palestina: The Ongoing Journey

Video

Full Documentary Film of the 5th Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza. Continue

Israel to invest $1 billion in Iron Dome missile defense system

9 May 2011

Israeli Defense Ministry director general: Five countries interested in Iron Dome, Israel’s anti-missile system.

IOA Editor: There’s no business like arms business… The Occupation has been very good to Israel’s arms industry, serving as a live shooting range, practice killing fields for the high tech systems Israel is marketing to countries around the world. As Amira Hass wrote in 2009, Israel knows that peace just doesn’t pay. For more on the economic benefits of the Occupation, see the Shir Hever interview series The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation.

Protest by relatives of political prisoners outside Juneid Prison  

09 May 2011

On Saturday, 7th March, a group representing the families of political prisoners in the West Bank held a demonstration in front of the Juneid Central Prison in the city of Nablus to demand the release of their sons being detained on political grounds within the prisons run by the Authority in the West Bank. They also demanded the implementation of the terms of the Palestinians reconciliation agreement signed recently which provides for the release of all political prisoners.

Read more...

Democrat senators call for end of financial aid to the Palestinian Authority  

09 May 2011

Twenty-nine senators from President Obama's Democrat Party have called on his Administration to cut off financial aid given to the Palestinian Authority in response to the signing of the reconciliation agreement with Hamas. The call was initiated by Senators Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania; a message written to President Obama was signed by a number of leading Democrat senators and heads of Senate committees.

The message was published in the Israeli media on 8th May: "The decision by the Palestinian Authority's head Mahmoud Abbas to form a government that includes the terrorist organisation Hamas - a designated terrorist group - threatens to derail the Middle East peace effort for the foreseeable future and to undermine the Palestinian Authority's relationship with the United States."

Read more...

Fatah calls Israeli incitement against the reconciliation deal "political terrorism"  

09 May 2011

A spokesman for Fatah has described as "political terrorism" the incitement by Israel against the Palestinian reconciliation agreement and national unity. In a press statement, Fayez Abu Eita said: "The incitement campaign, statements by rogue Israeli officials, calls for the reoccupation of the West Bank and demands to cut-off aid to the Palestinian people emphasise that the extremists in Israel do not like to see the Palestinians united. They seek to destroy the peace process and the legitimate struggle for a Palestinian state."

Read more...

Meshaal told to choose between committing to Quartet's conditions and Bin Laden's fate  

09 May 2011

In a startling statement, the chairman of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee has threatened to assassinate the head of the political bureau of Hamas. Shaul Mofaz, MK, said that Khalid Meshaal should declare his organisation's commitment to the conditions set by the International Quartet, including the recognition of Israel, "or become a target for assassination in the way that Bin Laden was dealt with".

Speaking to Radio Israel on 8th May, Mofaz said, "I know the Hamas movement very well, and I believe that it is one of the most difficult terrorist movements that Israel has known. And our records for Hamas are long and bitter because of the many operations that the movement has carried out against us."

Read more...

Israel's mendacious Prime Minister  

09 May 2011

Israel's Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, has been stirring-up Western governments, including Britain's, against the reconciliation agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas. Although the agreement brings to an end four years of bitterness between the two largest Palestinian political groups, it has caused Israeli leaders to lose their normal composure.

Netanyahu claimed that the Egyptian-brokered agreement made peace in Palestine less likely. He repeated the stale and largely discredited mantra that Israel couldn't negotiate with a "terrorist group" - an allusion to Hamas - which most Muslims the world over view as a legitimate national liberation movement, struggling to rid the Palestinian people of decades of Israel's brutal military occupation. The Israeli PM's arguments, however, are devoid of veracity, especially when subjected to objective scrutiny. His mendacious discourse was exposed by honest and open-minded Israelis, including experts and junior officials, who have argued that the Palestinian reconciliation agreement ought to be treated by the Zionist state as an opportunity, not a threat.

Read more...

Week 7: Othman Musleh - Palestinian political prisoner  

09 May 2011

There are people in prisons who resisted the Israeli occupation of their land and paid with their freedom and youth. Such people grew up in prison teaching other prisoners to cope with life behind bars, encouraging them to challenge the occupation and helping them to learn and follow the right path. They are the doyens of the Palestinian prisoners who deserve to be in the spotlight as they go through life with dedication and hard work.

Othman Ali Hamdan Musleh - Abu Naji - is one of those men. Born on 13th June 1952 in the village of Azawya, near Salfit, he grew to become a Palestinian hero and father to seven boys and one girl who live with their mother, deprived of their father's presence.

Read more...

• As Nakba Day approaches, Israeli troops ‘conquer’ a simulated Arab village
• Palestinian state could pose legal tsunami to occupier
• And they scream when a street is named after Yihia Ayash in Gaza
• As a writer’s family waits all night outside prison gates, his detention is extended 6 months, without evidence
• The invisible blacklist: Why does MOMA exhibit of Francis Alys’s work not feature his Jerusalem piece?
• Naomi Klein on Kushner: ‘The invisible blacklisting has been made momentarily visible… it has to stop’
• Lobbying for Syrian dictatorship, Israel leaves no doubt about its support for counterrevolution in Arab world
• Israeli gov’t funds group fighting ‘miscegenation marriages’
• My Sharia
• Patinkin and friends take on ‘nerve center of fear’ in Jewish community
• Awakening: Liberal American rabbinical students are turning away from Zionism, sometimes with disgust
• ‘It will start coming at us like a glacier, from all corners’ –Barak on global campaign
• ‘Geronimo EKIA’– as Indian wars continue in Palestine
• Obama’s to-do list: Free Pollard in May so he can travel safely to Israel in June
• Former Mossad chief says ‘Atlantic Magazine’ Iran scenario is stupidest idea he ever heard

May 15, 2011: the beginning of the end (Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD) - 10-may-2011

May 9, 2011 - ...There is the argument that these people assassinated are bad guys and should be killed. My friend and I certainly do not have sympathy for Bin Laden and people like him. But violating laws is not the way to go (two wrongs do not make a right). My friend points out that some two million Iraqis, half of them children, perished by the unjust US/UK led blockade, sanctions, and war. Millions suffered and over 60,000 were murdered by the Israeli policies of land theft, ethnic cleansing, regular massacres of civilians, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity. These are all acts of state terrorism in whole sale as opposed to the retail terror acts of Al-Qaeda. Yet imagine if Afghani commandoes (or Chinese or Irish for that matter) landed in a clandestine way in the US, Britain, or Israel and "took-out" one of the masterminds of such mass terrorism...

Comrade Sa'adat expresses hope for a new era of Palestinian democracy and unity (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) - 10-may-2011

May 9, 2011 - Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement on May 6, 2011, from his isolation cell in the occupation prisons, that he hoped the signing of a reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas would lead to a comprehensive agreement among all factions and political and social forces to conclusively turn the page on division and lack of democracy forever. Comrade Sa'adat greeted his daughter Sumoud on her birthday in the message, saying that her birthday comes at a time of great change and celebration in the Arab world and near International Workers' Day.

Settlers attack a school in northern West Bank (Palestine News Network) - 10-may-2011

Mau 9, 2011 - A group of Israeli settlers attacked on Monday morning a Palestinian school in the southern part of Nablus, northern West Bank. Witnesses told local media that the settlers smashed windows and put-up a banner and wrote slogans on the outer wall of the school calling for the killing of Arabs. Israeli soldiers were providing protection for the settlers and did not do anything to stop the attack in the school, the Palestinian Education Ministry announced on Monday...

Israel's blockade of Gaza is cracking (AlJazeera.net) - 10-may-2011

May 9, 2011 - Egypt has announced that it will open its border crossing with Gaza on a permanent basis, thereby reversing Egypt's collusion with Israel's blockade regime. The interim Foreign Minister, Nabil al-Arabi, has described support for the blockade by the previous Egyptian regime as "disgraceful". While Israeli officials have responded to this announcement with alarm, they have limited capacity to undermine the new Egyptian government's prerogative. Since the capture of Israeli soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit in June 2006, the Rafah crossing has been closed to Palestinians in Gaza, except for "extraordinary humanitarian cases". In June 2007, after Hamas' ousting of Fatah, Israel imposed a naval blockade on Gaza and sealed its five border crossings with the territory. Egypt's closure of Rafah made the siege comprehensive, and effectively cut off the 360sq mile Strip from the rest of the world...

10/05/2011

IMEMC May 10 headlines
***France Extends Further Aid As Palestinian Government Wages Remain Unpaid ***Army Starts Wall Construction Around Palestinian Town North of Jerusalem ***Army Invades A Village Near Jericho ***Soldiers Kidnap Four Palestinians In the West Bank ***Army Invades Jenin

Grief should not be used for peace or war
Motty Fogel/translation Didi Reimer - +972 Magazine - Motty Fogel, an Israeli journalist who lost his brother, sister-in-law, nephews and niece in the terror attack on the settlement of Itamar, spoke yesterday at the joint Palestinian and Israeli memorial ceremony organized by Combatants for Peace.

The indigenous become squatters
Jillian Kestler-D’Amours - IPS - In 2004, the Southern District Planning Committee unveiled its master plan, which involved completely demolishing the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hieran – forcibly evicting 150 families and approximately 1,000 residents – and building the Jewish community of Hiran in its place. Six years later, villagers are still struggling for the bare right to get a hearing in court

Independence Day and the ‘Nakba Law’
Issa E. Boursheh - Jerusalem Post - MY PARLIAMENT recently passed the “Nakba Law,” prohibiting state funds from being used to commemorate the Nakba. How does that fit into full citizenship? If Israel is to embrace its Palestinian-Israeli citizens, telling the Nakba story is a vital starting point for full civil participation and greater feelings of belonging.

What kind of independence is this?
Merav Michaeli - Haaretz - Thanks to the Nakba Law, this will be my first Independence Day during which I think more about the Nakba than about Independence Day.

Shalit`s brother interrupts torch-lighting event (includes video)
Omri Efraim - Ynet - "On Independence Day we demand the independence of Gilad."

UN chief presses Israel to release Palestinian funds
Harriet Sherwood - guardian.co.uk - Ban Ki-moon and Norway lead calls for Israel to hand over tax revenues withheld over Palestinian reconciliation agreement

In depth interview: Kathleen Wells talks with Uri Avnery about Israel and Palestine
"[To have the Palestinian people recognize Israel as a Jewish state] is complete nonsense. It’s like demanding that one makes an agreement with Mexico on the condition that Mexico recognize the United States as a white Anglo-Saxon protestant country. It`s nonsense. It does not concern the Palestinians. Whether we want to be a Jewish state or a Buddhist state or an atheist state or whatever does not concern the Palestinians. It’s our choice. We Israelis must decide what kind of state we want to have. And there is a discussion in Israel about it.

Scotland: two students face `racism` charge for criticism of Israel
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign - An Israeli fellow student, whom the two until then considered a personal friend despite divergent political opinions, had lodged a complaint which led to police coming late at night to arrest them.

Abbas meets J Street reps in Ramallah
Elior Levy - Ynet - Although part of the Jewish lobby in the US, the group is considered fiercely leftist.

Army Starts Wall Construction Around Palestinian Town North of Jerusalem

Tuesday May 10, 2011 - 03:23

Local sources reported that the Israeli Authorities started the construction of a segment of the illegal Israeli Annexation Wall, around Qalandia Palestinian town, north of occupied East Jerusalem. Full Story

Army Invades A Village Near Jericho

Tuesday May 10, 2011 - 03:15

Israeli soldiers invaded on Monday the Fasayel village, north of the West Bank city of Jericho, broke into a home and installed a roadblock. Full Story

Soldiers Kidnap Four Palestinians In the West Bank

Tuesday May 10, 2011 - 02:49

Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday at dawn, four Palestinians during a number of invasions and attacks targeting several areas in the occupied West Bank. Full Story

Army Invades Jenin

Tuesday May 10, 2011 - 02:27

Israeli soldiers invaded on Monday afternoon the southern area of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and surrounded the Jenin branch of the Al Quds Open University. Full Story

The Hamas-Fatah Agreement

By Rashid Khalidi

Palestine Studies TV, spoke with Rashid Khalidi, professor at Columbia University . He discussed the deal between Hamas and Fatah that is aimed at reconciliation after the state of division since 2007. Continue

Danny Schechter: Is Tony Kushner the new Helen Thomas?

10 May 2011

The problem, of course, is that Kushner’s status earned him reconsideration; other less well-known personages critical of Israel, including academic and political analysts, are often targeted in ways that generate less attention and debate. Many conclude it’s just not worth it to speak up about Israeli policy, less they became targeted and smeared – and even lose their jobs.

Egyptians to mark Nakba with a march to Palestine

10 May 2011

Following Egypt’s January 25 Revolution, Egyptians are pushing for some of the country’s foreign relations policies to change, especially those related to Israel and Palestine. Aid or protest convoys to Gaza were frequently stopped or arrested during the Mubarak era by the ousted president’s regime, and now for the first time since the revolution thousands of activists are planning to march to the Rafah border town.

Deutsche Bahn pulls out of Israel project

10 May 2011

“Who Profits” activist Merav Emir: “I want to congratulate the German government for making such a clear and bold statement about the illegality of this train route under international law. We call on other European governments to follow suit in making sure that companies in their countries abide by international law.”

On Israel's Independence Day, plenty of questions‎
TheChronicleHerald.ca - Paul Schneidereit

Could these huge changes also be signalling that the elusive breakthrough in the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict might be at hand? ...

Overboard for Israel‎ - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog)
Profile: Hamas Palestinian movement‎ - BBC News
Obama: Mideast turmoil creates an opening for peace‎ - Jerusalem Post
FrontPage Magazine - EUobserver.com

MEMO Statement  

10 May 2011

It is clear that a co-ordinated campaign has been launched to try to get Amnesty International to withdraw the use of its premises for an event to be hosted by MEMO and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign later this month. Ironically, the programme in question is discussing whether or not the pro-Israel lobby has influence over the media leading to the latter's complicity in Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.

Some very serious accusations have been made against MEMO and its contributors in the course of this campaign; some by people who really should know better.

Read more...

April 2011 Monthly Media Digest  

10 May 2011

On Friday April 1st, Judge Richard Goldstone wrote an op-ed article in the Washington Post in which he gave a whitewashed apology to Israel for publishing the UN-commissioned report in 2009; he wrote, "If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone report would have been a different document."

Read More 

Read more...

Israeli general claims that Arab revolutions threaten security and stability  

10 May 2011

The people's revolutions sweeping the Arab world "undermine stability and add possible threats" to the state of Israel, according to the Zionist state's Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz. The stability of the wider region is also at risk, he claimed.

Speaking during a Remembrance Day Ceremony on 8th May, General Gantz said that although "the events erupted out of repression and desperation and raise hope... the Israel Defence Forces must be ready to address a growing variety of challenges on every front and possibly all fronts".

Read more...

Israeli Arabs invited to take part in Nakba march  

10 May 2011

The Palestinian Arab community in Israel has been invited to take part in a march to commemorate the Nakba (Catastrophe) as the 63rd anniversary of the founding of the Zionist state approaches. The invitation has been issued by the Committee for Defending the Rights of the Displaced, which has called upon the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel to take part in what will be the 14th such demonstration. The villages of Al-Ruwais and Al-Damoun will provide the backdrop for this year's march on 10th May.

Read more...

Peres claims that Palestinian declaration of independence will continue, not end, conflict  

10 May 2011

The President of Israel has claimed that a move by the Palestinian Authority to seek UN recognition of an independent Palestinian state will "continue, not bring an end to, the conflict with the Zionist state. According to the Jerusalem Post, Shimon Peres believes that seeking statehood "without answering Israel's security concerns" will not lead to peace.

"I'm in favour of recognizing [a Palestinian state] provided that the Palestinians recognise Israel's security needs," said Mr Peres. He stressed the need for the two sides to reach an agreement on the exchange of land so that Israel can retain the large Jewish settlement blocs and preserve Israeli security.

• For 40 years Israel practiced deceit in its purported plans for Palestinian autonomy (and that deceit required a partner)
• Kushner says he will accept honorary degree
• Big victory for BDS movement
• Kushner effect: Beinart calls for an American conversation re Israel that includes anti-Zionists
• Bin Laden’s death is a distraction (intervention is the root of the problem)
• Kushner’s ‘It was a mistake’ quote, and its context
• The community of fear and the community of hope (Choose)
• a proposal to change the name of this website
• Bin Laden’s last tape said America will have no security till Palestinians do
• CUNY trustees vote to give Kushner award after all, as faculty union calls for Wiesenfeld’s resignation
• Egyptian FM: George Washington & Mandela were also considered terrorists and Iran is not our enemy…
• Shoe is now on Wiesenfeld’s foot
• Suicide, fratricide, accidents are top causes of Israeli soldier deaths
• Gaza blockade seems to be cracking, and Egypt plans Nakba Day march from Tahrir to Rafah
• Go Palestine!

11/05/2011

More mainstream than mainstream
Gisha - Gisha is not alone. Over the last year, a growing number of voices in the Israeli media have called for an end to the closure of the Gaza Strip. The speakers – foremost among them Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – represent a broad spectrum of opinion in the Israeli public.

Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians
Akiva Eldar - Haaretz - "..."mass withdrawal of residency rights from tens of thousands of West Bank residents, tantamount to permanent exile from their homeland, remains an illegitimate demographic policy and a grave violation of international law."" id

Blue and white axes and black balloons
Adam Keller - Crazy Country - "...anyone who dares mention after sixty-three years the painful price paid by the Palestinians for the creation of Israel may be punished by severe cutting of funds."

Israel`s new laws promote repression
Neve Gordon - Aljazeera - "...in this so-called free and democratic country, there are in fact two books of laws, one liberal for its own citizenry and the other for Palestinians under its occupation."

Report: Israel freezes West Bank separation fence near major settlement bloc
Breaking News - Haaretz - "The existing gap in the fence`s route extends for about 12 kilometers, from southern Jerusalem to the village of Jaba, south of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc." id

Palestinian writer detained without charge by Israeli authorities
Amnesty International - "“We fear that Ahmad Qatamesh may be behind bars for no reason other than the peaceful expression of his political views.”"

Uncertain road ahead for Fatah-Hamas pact
Mel Frykberg - EI - "There is disagreement over the identity of the unity government’s next prime minister, who will belong to neither faction. Hamas wants somebody from Gaza to fill the position, while Fatah wants somebody from the West Bank."

Tony Kushner: an angel in America
Amy Goodman - Guardian - "The future of peace in the Middle East depends on dissent. Those, like Tony Kushner, with the courage to speak out are the true angels in America."

Israel`s blockade of Gaza is cracking
Noura Erakat - Aljazeera - "...it is neither likely that Israel can mobilise significant political opposition to Egypt`s new policy, nor use force to respond to opening of the Rafah crossing."

FM: Israel will talk with PA, but won’t freeze settlements
TOVAH LAZAROFF HILARY LEILA KREIGER AND GREER - J-Post - ""...there will be no new moratorium in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria. Not for three months, not for three days and not even for three hours.”"

East Jerusalem Residents:
Lawlessly Revoking Their Status
By Stephen Lendman

East Jerusalem residents endure repeated investigations and inquiries to keep proving their legitimacy, letting authorities arbitrarily deny it. In addition, time and expense are involved, including for services and applications that can take months or years to be considered

Commemorating Palestine's Nakba
By Stephen Lendman

In 1948 systematic terror expelled about 800,000 Palestinians, killed many others, and destroyed 531 villages and 11 urban neighborhoods in cities like Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. It was genocidal ethnic cleansing, what international law today calls a crime of war and against humanity for which convicted Nazis at Nuremberg were hanged

East Jerusalem Palestinians
Bay Area Indymedia
He told the Electronic Intifada publication: "People feel that they are under siege. I cannot do anything to risk the possibility of not coming back (home). ...

Resistance conference: videos and pictures
Green Left Weekly
Matthew Cassel, former editor of Electronic Intifada, speaks on activist media and the Arab Spring. Independent journalist and blogger Antony Loewenstein on ...

Craig And Cindy Corrie Give Talk At Alternative Information Center In Beit Sahour

Wednesday May 11, 2011 - 15:08

Parents of killed American activist Rachel Corrie last night recounted their efforts to bring to justice those whom they believe murdered their daughter in 2000 to an audience of international activists in Beit Sahour, West Bank. Full Story

Israel Admits To Cancelling Residency Rights For 140,000 Palestinians

Wednesday May 11, 2011 - 11:45

Haartz has today revealed files showing that Israel cancelled the residency of up to 140,000 Palestinians between 1967 and 1994. Full Story

A Decade Later The Death Of Muhammad Al-durrah Refuses To Be Laid To Rest

Wednesday May 11, 2011 - 10:15

Over a decade after his death, Muhammed al-Durrah continues to ignite passions on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Full Story

Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians

11 May 2011

Israel has used a covert procedure to cancel the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians between 1967 and 1994, the legal advisor for the Judea and Samaria Justice Ministry’s office admits, in a new document obtained by Haaretz. The document was written after the Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a request under the Freedom of Information Law.

IOA Editor: This important story sheds light on just one instance of many that is part of a far larger, planned and coordinated effort by the Israeli government to replace Palestine’s Arab population with Israeli Jewish population: in other words, opportunistic Ethnic Cleansing, in small steps incrementally leading towards the desired result – reducing one population and increasing the other. Amira Hass has written on this extensively, as have others.

UPDATE Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat: “This policy should not only be seen as a war crime as it is under international law; it also has a humanitarian dimension: we are talking about people who left Palestine to study or work temporarily but who could not return to resume their lives in their country with their families.”

• Schoolgirls and doctors beaten and tortured in Bahrain raids, ‘They beat and slapped me and called me whore and dirty Shia’
• The Neverending Story: Updates on the fantasies, falsehoods, and fear-mongering about Iran’s nuclear program
• Pizzarotti should follow in Deutsche Bahn’s footsteps
• Lupe Fiasco raps about Gaza, discusses Obama and the War on Terror on the Colbert Report
• Israel admits to forcing 140,000 Palestinians from the West Bank using administrative trick
• Money for Mondoweiss: The Chicago challenge
• Exhibit C(UNY): How the lobby works
• How the ‘temporary weave’ of Zionism is starting to fray at the edges
• Jeffrey Wiesenfeld’s political nexus
• AIPAC to gather rightwingers, including supporter of English Defence League
• Mezvinsky: It’s one state now and smart Israelis must cast away their Zionism and work for equal rights
• The subject is not moral Israel’s relation to immoral Israel
• When you’re 64
• Erakat says Gaza siege is cracking (and she’ll be speaking in New York next week)
• Kushner says his reputation in the Jewish community has been damaged

• What pushed Hamas and Fatah into each others arms?
• Fatah-Hamas reconciliation key for Palestinian strategy to end the occupation
• Erekat on unity: respect our democracy

AUSTRALIAN EVENTS BELOW

MEBOURNE DEBATE: “Should the Left support
the BDS campaign against Israel?”
TONIGHT 7.00pm

New International Bookshop, Trades Hall
54 Victoria Street, Carlton

Kim Bullimore for Global BDS
Sol Salbe for a more selective approach
with former trade union activist Bill Deller to chair


MELBOURNE CANDLELIGHT VIGIL FOR NAKBA
Friday 13 May 5.30pm

State Library of Victoria
Cnr Swanston & La Trobe Streets, Melbourne City


SYDNEY RALLY AGAINST ARMS TRADE WITH ISRAEL
Friday 13 May 4.30pm

Outside Defence Department, 270 Pitt Street, Sydney


SYDNEY PUBLIC MEETING “Boycotting Israel is the
right thing to do”
Friday 13 May 6.30 for 7.00pm

Holy Trinity Church Hall
11 Herbert Street
Dulwich Hill, NSW

Samah Sabawi, Australians for Palestine
Antony Loewenstein, author of My Israel Question
Sylvia Hale, former NSW Greens MP


SYDNEY CONFERENCE “Temperatures Rising”
Sat 4 & Sun 15 May

University of Technology, Broadway – Sydney
To register: http://www.sydpalconf.wordpress.org


CANBERRA DINNER COMMEMORATING NAKBA
Sunday 15 May 7.00pm

Paprika Asian Restaurant, Unit 2, 6-8 Weedon Close

Address by Mr Robert Newton, former Australian Ambassador to Egypt, Libya,
Syria, Tunisia and Sudan

Inquiries: 0406 376 878


ADELAIDE AL NAKBA EVENT
Sunday 15 May, 2.00pm

Fullarton Park Community Centre
Corner of Fisher Street and Fullarton Road
Fullarton

Speakers:
Ms Bek Christensen, Dr Francis Nathan,
Dr Jon Jureidini & Ms Merlin Nathan


Details of these events can obtained from our website
http://australiansforpalestine.com under “Events in your State”
in the righthand column (scroll down)

There are upcoming events as well that you should note,
especially next week all in Melbourne
17 May: Sarah Irving in conversation with Raimond Gaita on Gaza
18 May: Samah Sabawi and Mick Bull on Challenging Israeli Apartheid
22 May: Film screening “Return to Gaza” at ACMI

13/05/2011

Sources: Israel’s Army Gears up to Suppress Nakba Events
Palestine News Network & Agencies - IMEMC News - The annual `Nakba Day` will be marked on May 15. Israeli Security chiefs have been closely monitoring the situation in advance, and as of Wednesday the Israeli troop deployment throughout many areas in the West Bank and close to the Gaza strip will increase significantly, the army announced.

Activists preparing for `third intifada`
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani - The Electronic Intifada - It began with the appearance of a Facebook page in early March calling for a “Third Intifada” against the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. The page, reportedly founded by Arab pro-Palestinian groups, set the launch date for 15 May — the day on which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes in 1948 to make way for the nascent State of Israel.

B’Tselem: “Israel Exploits Water Resources From The Palestinians”
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - Yet, Israel took over most of the wells drawing 32 million m3 from the area every year and is allocating most of this water to 37 Israeli settlements built by Israel in the area. The settlements are mainly agricultural with less than 10.000 settlers living in them. They are granted 45 million m3 every year.

Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, or, democratic Israel at work
Gideon Levy - Haaretz - While we are still desperately concealing, denying and repressing our major ethnic cleansing of 1948 - over 600,000 refugees, some who fled for fear of the Israel Defense Forces and its predecessors, some who were expelled by force - it turns out that 1948 never ended, that its spirit is still with us.

Alternative Independence Day Ceremony : Lighten a Beacon in Jerusalem
Daphne Banai - Machsomwatch - All Israeli governments have tried to annex the Palestinian Jordan Valley in order to isolate the West Bank from the outside world. The Jordan Valley is vitally essential to Palestine because it is the bridge to Jordan. Without it, the West Bank will be stifled and sealed like Gaza and entirely dependent on Israel. For this very reason – Israel fights to keep and deepen its grip of the Jordan Valley

My Reaction To Osama bin Laden’s Death
Noam Chomsky - Guernica Magazine - It’s increasingly clear that the operation was a planned assassination, multiply violating elementary norms of international law. There appears to have been no attempt to apprehend the unarmed victim, as presumably could have been done by 80 commandos facing virtually no opposition—except, they claim, from his wife, who lunged towards them. In societies that profess some respect for law, suspects are apprehended and brought to fair trial.

For Hamas, United is so much Better
Joharah Baker - MIFTAH - In all of the vicious propaganda swirling around the Palestinians’ newly found reconciliation, there is one point that needs to be emphasized if the propaganda is ever to be dismissed, especially about Hamas. While Israel, the United States and pretty much the entire western world is more than comfortable with designating Hamas as an irreversible terrorist organization, the fact remains that Hamas is first and foremost a political movement.

Israel is getting away with robbing Palestinian taxes
Amira Hass - Haaretz - Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz instructed Israeli treasury officials to freeze the transfer of the money because of the reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas. Ostensibly, the goal is to ensure that the money does not reach terrorist hands. This is not merely robbery; it is also a false pretext.

Image is Everything: The Importance of Public Diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Harriet Straughen - MIFTAH - the global image of a country is significant in other, more politically-driven, ways. This essay will look at how Israel understands the importance of its’ image in shaping other countries’ foreign policy towards it and how it manipulates the media in order to refine and justify the actions of the military in news reports, focusing particularly on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid coverage.

May 11, 2011 - ...They celebrate the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. They celebrate expelling 80% of the indigenous population of Palestine from their homes and making refugees out of them. They celebrate usurping Palestinian homes, occupying them and claiming them their own. They celebrate stealing Palestinian culture, stealing the thob, the dabkeh, the dal’ouna, the falafel and the zaatar and zeit. They celebrate massacring Palestinian literature, stran gling Palestinian poems and deleting Palestinian thoughts. They celebrate oppressing the Palestinians who remain steadfast in their ancestral homes, on their ancestral lands. They celebrate treating the Palestinians like slaves in their own homeland, on their own land. They call it "independence" … and they celebrate erasing everything that is Palestinian. We remember those who were expelled from their homes. We remember those who died in exile dreaming of their home, dreaming of Palestine, dreaming of the day they return....

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77641 

How the ‘temporary weave’ of Zionism is starting to fray at the edges
Max Ajl

Legalizing Outposts in the West Bank
Editor Palestine Monitor

May 12, 2011 - The prime minister of the new transitional Palestinian government should be based in the Gaza Strip, an adviser to Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday. After confirming reports that a meeting between Fatah and Hamas would take place next week to agree the members of the transitional government, Yousef Rizqa went on to say that the seat of government should not be solely in Ramallah...

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77659 

May 12, 2011 - The extreme rightwing government of Israel is carrying out threats to financially scuttle the Palestinian Authority (PA) for daring to restore national unity with Hamas. Israeli leaders are worried Palestinian national unity will strengthen the overall Palestinian stance vis-à-vis Israel and might expedite international recognition of a prospective Palestinian state. Israel has refused to transfer to PA coffers an estimated $100 milli on in tax and customs revenue, which Israel collects on the Palestinians' behalf. Israel receives administration and other fees for collecting the money that the PA government uses to pay salaries for tens of thousands of civil servants....

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77653

Clashes in East Jerusalem ahead of Nakba day

Arrests as Palestinians prepare to mark "day of catastrophe" on anniversary of Israel's 1948 declaration of statehood.

Israel's neighboring Arab states prepare to mark Nakba Day

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Lebanon to march down to border with Israel and call for right of return of Palestinians; Israeli police on high alert throughout country and along borders.

Palestinians made your peace efforts difficult, Netanyahu tells Mitchell

PM thanks resigning U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace for his work, saying he regrets the Palestinians' refusal to attend peace talks.

More On This Topic

• Abbas says may step down once Palestinian state established
• Mitchell quits as U.S. Mideast envoy, but backs Obama's mission for peace
• U.S. official: Mideast envoy George Mitchell to resign Friday

French lawyer reveals himself as 'Palestine papers' source

Ziyad Clot, a lawyer of Palestinian descent involved in 2008 Annapolis negotiations between Israel and PA, says in Guardian op-ed that 'Israel's attack on Gaza and the disastrous 'peace talks' compelled me to leak what I knew.'

Hundreds in Jaffa take to the streets to mark Nakba Day

Israeli Arabs participate in protests to mark Palestinian day of mourning of establishment of Israel; some 2,000 people carry Palestinian flags and call out, 'the Israeli government - a terror government.'

Robert Naiman:

Why We Must Sail To Gaza

Egyptians Remember Nakba, Gather in Tahrir 

May 12, 2011 - Since leaving Palestine five days ago, I have been asked over and over again, 'How was it?’ That is rather a vague question and I am yet to have come up with a succinct and adequately descriptive answer. The questioner looks at me hopefully, waiting to hear exotic tales of my very own 'Arab spring’. And I guess it was, but not in the way they are thinking - not with guns and protests and sweeping civil movements. My own 'awakening’ was a smaller and more subt le movement. I was awakened to the injustices heaped on the Palestinian people on a daily basis. But more than that, I was able to see, first hand, the spirit that characterises the people of the West Bank...

Read the full article / Leggi l'articolo completo: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=77669

Human Trafficking in Israel
by Stephen Lendman

What an appalling example of political skulduggery in support of apartheid and murderous Israel.  How can anyone sane (Julie Bishop) claim Israel is democratic and law-abiding when, for example, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, announced a new report documenting 1300 Palestinian children killed by Israel since 2000.(http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/un-special-rapporteur-prof-em-richard-falk-Israel-killed-1300-palestinian-children-since-2000/)

TheAustralian

Fury at Rhiannon talk to Palestine forum

From: TheAustralian
May 12, 2011
GREENS senator-elect Lee Rhiannon has again been accused of pushing an anti-Israel agenda after accepting an invitation to speak at a "Palestine solidarity" conference, while the Senate yesterday condemned the Greens' support of a boycott against the Jewish state.
Alternatively, you can copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/fury-at-lee-rhiannon-talk-to-palestine-forum/story-fn59niix-1226054258496

Ghada Karmi
Obama and the Palestinians