The international press is not much interested in Israel lately. Oh there is here and there some small article or letter to the editor, mainly about the Goldstone retraction, but not much worth reading beyond that. Israel can’t compete with what is happening in Libya and Syria and to Mubarak, etc.
Below, therefore, are a few tidbits from Haaretz—3, actually—followed by the ‘Today in Palestine’ compilation. Interestingly, I wanted just to give you the link, but when I checked the online compilation, it was for the 11th rather than for the 12th. So I copied today’s below. A few of the items in it I sent out yesterday. You can skip them if you wish. But don’t skip the summaries and definitely not “The Rachel Corrie Case Revisited”—longish but a well written and accurate depiction and analysis of what is happening. I thoroughly agree with the writer that the verdict has long ago been decided, not in favor of the Corries. The witnesses show what a typical ‘transparent’ investigation Israel is capable of. The trial is, unfortunately, a farce.
All the best,
Dorothy
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1. Haaretz,
April 12, 2011
IDF to close probe into killing of Gazans carrying white flags
Sources in the military advocate general’s office claim after collecting all the testimonies, no evidence was found that IDF soldiers fired against orders, and therefore the file is to be closed without any charges being brought forward.
The Israel Defense Forces military advocate general is expected to close its investigation into the killing of four Palestinians carrying white flags during Operation Cast Lead.
The probable closure of the probe came to light yesterday during Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit’s testimony before the Turkel committee, which is examining the naval raid last May on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
As the panel is authorized to conduct more general examinations of how the IDF probes incidents that show a divergence from orders during combat, Mendelblit was testifying about the procedures for launching criminal investigations following combat-related incidents.
He described the case in which Muhammad Hajji (37 ), Mahmad Hajji (15 ), Ola Arafat (27 ) and 3-year-old Shahd Hajji were killed, during the early phases of the ground incursion during Operation Cast Lead. Nine members of their family, including a 9-month-old baby, were wounded in the same incident, which took place on January 5, 2009 in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
The case was mentioned in the Goldstone Report, and was brought to the attention of the military advocate general by the Red Cross before the Goldstone Report was published.
According to information gathered by the human rights group B’Tselem, the Hajji family was attempting to flee their home during the early hours of January 5. The father, Muhammad Hajji, was killed and two other family members were wounded when a tank shell struck their house.
Soldiers who took over the house shortly thereafter ordered the family to move to a nearby home where 30 people had been placed in a single room, with the men bound and blindfolded. The soldiers subsequently ordered the family to leave that second house in the afternoon and head for Rafah. They were joined by the Arafat family along the way. All together, some 50 Palestinians were walking, holding white flags.
As the group was walking it was reportedly fired on by Israeli troops; Ola Arafat was killed and seven others were wounded. They contacted the Red Cross, which told them that it was unable to reach the area. Mahmad Hajji and Shahd Hajji subsequently died of their injuries.
The group eventually took shelter in another house in the neighborhood, which was also shelled, wounding some occupants.
About six months after Operation Cast Lead, following queries by the Red Cross and the publication of the Goldstone Report, the IDF opened its own criminal investigation of the case.
Mendelblit – who was testifying yesterday for the second time before the Turkel committee – said that because of the nature of the incident, which had occurred in stages, it had taken two years to question the soldiers, officers and Palestinian civilians involved, and that the investigation was about to end.
Sources in the military advocate general’s office said that after collecting all the testimonies, no evidence was found that IDF soldiers had fired against orders, and therefore the file was to be closed without any charges being brought forward.
Before Mendelblit’s testimony, attorney Michael Sfard, legal counsel to the human rights group Yesh Din, told the committee: “Complaints by Palestinians against the security forces must undergo immediate criminal investigation. Operational investigation is no less than a disaster. It is not only bankrupt, it causes major damage to both the State of Israel and the victims.”
Mendelblit told the panel that criminal investigations had been launched in 30 out of 267 probes by the military advocate general’s office involving cases in which Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were harmed.
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2. Haaretz,
April 12, 2011
IDF judge: Unnecessary extension of Palestinian remands borders on illegal
According to the law, a Palestinian may be detained for up to eight days before being brought before a judge; judge reprimanded police for habitually extending Palestinian suspects’ remands.
A military judge reprimanded the police on Sunday for habitually extending Palestinian suspects’ remands and said such unnecessary remands border, on the face of it, on illegal acts.
The military prosecution asked Judge Major Menachem Lieberman at the Ofer military court to extend the remand of Naji Arar of Bnei Zid village, for the purpose of preparing an indictment.
Arar had been arrested on April 3 at a roadblock at the entrance to the village of Nabi Salah. His attorney, Neri Ramati of the Gaby Lasky law firm, asked to shorten the remand.
Lieberman ruled that “this is one of many cases in which a person has been arrested, interrogated and then held in custody for several days without any investigation carried out in his case.”
The judge said the incriminating evidence had been obtained before the arrest and on April 5, at 10 A.M. the suspect denied all the accusations. As no further action was taken in the case since then, it is not clear why the prosecution wants to extend the suspect’s remand “for investigation,” the judge wrote.
Lieberman wrote: “This appears to be a false document on the [police’s] part…Regrettably, as I noted above, this police practice frequently recurs, and I have already warned that this remand borders on the face of it on illegal detention.”
According to the law, a Palestinian may be detained for up to eight days before being brought before a judge. But attorneys Lasky and Ramati have complained repeatedly to the military court that the police and military prosecution keep detainees in custody for an automatic minimum of eight days.
After scolding the police, the judge extended Arar’s remand by three days for the purpose of preparing an indictment. He wrote in his ruling, however, that the indictment should have been filed before the suspect was brought to court on Sunday.
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3. Haaretz Editorial,
April 12, 2011
Israel’s Arabs are partners, not enemies
Forty-five years after the military regime within the Green Line was revoked, public officials and state authorities continue to treat the Arab minority in Israel as a suspicious group of second-class citizens.
A few weeks after the Knesset passed the Nakba Law, prohibiting state funds from being used to mourn Israel’s establishment in 1948, Jack Khoury reported in Haaretz yesterday that the Education Ministry recently demanded that school principals in Arab communities immediately submit lists of teachers who did not show up for work on Land Day. In keeping with a long-standing tradition, Israel’s Arab population goes on strike every Land Day to protest the loss of Arab lands in the Galilee.
The Education Ministry explained that because Land Day is not listed as one of its official holidays, studies must be conducted as usual on that day.
Forty-five years after the military regime within the Green Line was revoked, public officials and state authorities continue to treat the Arab minority in Israel as a suspicious group of second-class citizens. A clear manifestation of this discrimination can be found in the latest round of WikiLeaks cables published in Haaretz, which exposed a report by the U.S. ambassador in Israel about his conversation with outgoing Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin.
The security-service director apparently told the American official that many Israeli Arabs “take their rights too far.” Diskin noted with satisfaction, however, that the Israeli-Arab political leadership’s attempts “to take the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a new direction and give it a new ‘national color'” were not succeeding. This is because the public “is more concerned with daily life,” he said.
Apart from ongoing discrimination in resource allocation and access to senior public positions, the Arab minority’s “daily life” consists of insensitivity to its identity problem in a state that defines itself as Jewish. Legislative initiatives that reek of racism are further excluding the country’s non-Jewish minority groups and alienating them from their Israeli identity, and driving many young people to nationalist and religious extremism.
It is to be hoped the new Shin Bet director, Yoram Cohen, whose appointment was approved by the cabinet on Sunday, adopts the approach that concluded his predecessor’s conversation with the American diplomat. Diskin said the Shin Bet was pushing the government to integrate Israel’s Arabs into state life and sees this as one of the government’s main challenges.
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers Meet on new settlement construction postponed due to pressure from Netanyahu Haaretz 10 Apr 23:51 — Due to pressure from the prime minister’s office, Interior Minister Eli Yishai instructed the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee to postpone discussion on new construction across the Green Line until after the Passover holiday. Because of this, discussion on the controversial project to build 980 housing units in Har Homa and 600 units in Pisgat Ze’ev, which were supposed to take place this week, will not happen until May fifth. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/meet-on-
new-settlement-construction-postponed-due-to-pressure-from-netanyahu-1.355217 Israel demolishes Negev homes on Monday 11 Apr — NAZARETH, (PIC)– Israeli bulldozers demolished Monday morning several homes and other structures in the village of Bir al-Hamam on the road to Dimona city, as well as some structures in a village near Ara‘ara in the Negev desert, said Ibrahim al-Waqili, who heads the council of unrecognized villages.
Separately, the Israel occupation force has arrested three Palestinian men and set up random checkpoints at the entrances of the West Bank city of Al-Khalil [Hebron]. The men were arrested after a large force infiltrated several neighborhoods and searched homes.
The same day, Jewish settlers from Tel Rumeida, Al-Khalil vandalized and assaulted several shops in the Old City as Israeli soldiers stood by and did nothing. They also set fire to one of the shops. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2Bc Palestinian run over by Israeli drivers in Jerusalem following collision Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 11 Apr — A confrontation took place in Jerusalem a few days ago between a Palestinian and two Israeli drivers when the Israeli vehicle collided in to the Palestinian’s near the Old City. The Israeli vehicle, containing Jerusalem residents Ma’er Elad and Natial Golman on their way to the Wailing Wall, drove away immediately after the accident. When stopped by the Palestinian driver, who exited his car, Elad and Golman ran over him. Police arriving on the scene did not arrest Elad and Golman despite their refusal to co-operate with police and racist statements directed at the Palestinian driver. The driver was taken for medical treatment at Hadassa Hospital in ‘Ein Karim neighborhood. http://silwanic.net/?p=14670 Urgent news flash on Fasayil JVS 11 Apr — The Bedouin community located between upper Fasayil and lower Fasayil has been issued with 9 demolition orders. They went to military court in Bet El on the 10th of March and were told they had until the 10th April to leave. This means the demolitions could happen any day from now on. http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=225 News on Al Hadidya JVS 10 Apr — Al Hadidya, in the north of the Jordan Valley, is accessed via two roads. One leads from the community of Mak-hul, and the other passes through the gates of the local settlement Roi. Yesterday, settlers diverted their sewage across the road from Mak-hul, rendering the road unusable for the Palestinians living in Al Hadidya. http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=224 Israeli military demolishes a water well and a farm in Bethlehem IMEMC 11 Apr — Israeli military forces demolished a water well designed to collect rain water and an agricultural structure in Al-Khader village southwest of Bethlehem on Monday. The well and the building belong to Mohammad Dar Issa and his brothers. The Ma‘an News Agency said that the bulldozer put the rubble of the building in the well in order to completely destroy it. This demolition will severely affect Issa’s work and will cause them a financial setback. The Israeli military gave no official warrant. Issa found some papers in Hebrew only near his farm, which turned later to be a demolition order. http://www.imemc.org/article/61034 High Court petition against Israeli revocation of Palestinian right to live in Jerusalem 11 Apr — A petition submitted to Israel’s High Court demands that Israel stop revoking the permanent residency permits of Palestinians in the city. HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) submitted the petition on Thursday 7 April on behalf of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, demanding that the Ministry of Interior stop revoking permanent residency permits. The vast majority of Palestinians in East Jerusalem are permanent residents of Israel, not citizens, and are under constant threat of losing the legal right to reside in their city. According to HaMoked, in recent years, there has been a sharp rise in revocation of residency, and 2008 set a record with 4,577 revocations. Almost 50% of the total revocation of permits since Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem in 1967 occurred between the years 2006 to 2008. Israeli legislation revokes the residential rights of Jerusalemite Palestinians after an absence of seven years, which makes studying abroad or living in the country of a foreign spouse an incredible risk. To make matters work, even living in a place like Bethlehem, just a few kilometers from Jerusalem, is considered immigration by Israeli authorities, and cause for residency revocation. http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/jerusalem/3510 Violence
Israeli gunboats fire at Palestinian fishing boats GAZA, (PIC) 10 Apr 7:54pm — Israeli navy gunboats fired at Palestinian fishing boats off the coasts of the Gaza Strip and chased them to the beach on Sunday evening, local sources reported. Security sources told the PIC reporter that the Israeli gunboats opened their machine guns at the Palestinian boats while fishing in the area allowed for them, but noted that no casualties were reported. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Q Israeli police dog attacks Palestinian in Hebron HEBRON (WAFA) 10 Apr — An Israeli police dog Sunday attacked and injured a Palestinian in Ramadin, a village south of Hebron. Security sources said that Israeli forces detained Mohammed Abu Ka‘oud at the border area which connects the Be’er Sheva area with Ramadin village, when a police dog attacked and injured him. He was transported to ‘Soroka’ Israeli hospital for treatment. http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=15848 Gaza City officials: Weekend strikes targeted water facilities GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr — Officials in the Gaza Strip’s northernmost municipality on Monday accused Israeli forces of striking drinking water sources and infrastructure, during a weekend of violence that saw at least 18 dead in the coastal enclave. Gaza’s municipality released a report cataloging damage to the water infrastructure from artillery shells over the weekend, which included damages to the Al-Mintar water tank in Al-Quba area of Gaza City, which gives water to the eastern areas of Ash-Shuja‘iyeh neighborhood. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377658 Woman and daughter killed in ‘Abasan with propelling projective missile ISM 11 Apr — On April 8th, around noon, the southern villages around Khan Younis were shaken up when four artillery shells were fired from a tank. One of them hit a house located in ‘Abasan village. Najah Harb Qdeih (41) was making bread outside and her daughter Nedal Ibrahim Qdeih (19) was with her, they both instantly died in the blast. The bodies of the victims were riddled with dozens of the sharp projectiles that were contained in the missiles which the Israeli army had ruthlessly fired at their house. Two other daughters, Fidaa’ (15) and Nidaa’ (12) remain in hospital. Nidaa’ is critically injured and is struggling to survive; she has shrapnel in her brain and is currently waiting to be transferred from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to the West Bank to undergo surgery … The missile contained hundreds of small propelling projectiles [flechettes?] , which riddled the bodies of the women and the children, the walls, the doors, the plants and the trees. All are pierced …This missile is a weapon designed to kill as many people as possible, to clear as many lives as possible. There is no justification for this, it is not possible to call it defence. http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17526/ Hamas: We won’t surrender or violate truce GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr 14:21 — Hamas politburo member Salah Al-Bardawil said Sunday that “Israel apparently approved the truce with Palestinian factions,” affirming that “factions will be committed to truce as long as Israel is committed as well.” … He noted that “the Palestinian factions agreed previously on a unilateral truce entitled ‘committed as long as the enemy is’ but the [Israeli] occupation violated this truce by killing children and women, and the resistance responded in a limited way making the occupation hit back much more harshly in its aggression.” http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377484 IDF estimates round of violence over Ynet 11 Apr — Military sources believe relative truce in south will be followed by wide-scale confrontation. ‘Hamas has been busy rebuilding its forces for the past two years, and this can only mean we’re facing an all-out clash,’ says senior officer http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055060,00.html Despite truce, little-known group fires projectile GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr 11:23 — A group calling itself the Marwan Haddad division of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a new Palestinian military group in Gaza, said its fighters had launched a homemade projectile toward Israel late Sunday night … The group said it would not accept truce conditions with Israel, and announced the launch less than an hour before a ceasefire deal was set. On Sunday morning, the group issued its first statement, saying fighters had fired a Grad-style missile at the Israeli city of Ashkelon and two homemade projectiles at the Zikim military base. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377542 Popular Front rejects Israel ceasefire deal GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr 07:27 — The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine came out Sunday against a ceasefire proposal that has the support of Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip. Popular Front leader Jamal Mezher described the truce as a “mistake” because Israel’s army did not stop “its assault, is still committing crimes, and insists on killing and destruction against Palestinians.” Many other Palestinian officials have expressed support for a potential arrangement with Israel after days of rocket fire and Israeli air raids that have killed at least 18 people in Gaza. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377449 Siege Fuel crisis looms as crossing remains closed GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr 12:38 — For the sixth day in a row crossings into the Gaza Strip were closed by Israeli forces maintaining a blockade on the coastal enclave, telling Palestinian liaison officers that the closure was for “security reasons.” Closures began on Tuesday, two days ahead of spike in border violence which saw 18 killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza – including at least six civilians – and two injured in Israel. The closure continues despite an announced ceasefire deal that went into place before midnight on Sunday. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377532 Egypt softens toward Hamas / Adam Morrow & Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani CAIRO, Apr 11, 2011 (IPS) – Two months since the ouster of longstanding president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s new transitional government is turning its attention to unpopular Mubarak-era foreign policies – with the ongoing Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip top of the list. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55205 Hamas-Egyptian relations worry Israel JPost 11 Apr — Egypt has suspended construction of an underground steel wall along the Egypt-Gaza border that it had been building over the past year in an effort to stop smuggling weaponry through tunnels into the Gaza Strip, defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post … Israel has not lodged an official complaint with the new Egyptian government led by Defense Minister Muhammad Tantawi, but has urged Cairo to continue the previous government’s tough position on smuggling and to work to take action to prevent the flow of arms to the Gaza Strip. http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=216043&R=R3 Deconstructing the construction boom GG 11 Apr — Early last week, the Israeli Army Spokesperson’s Unit announced “widespread construction” in the Gaza Strip after the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories approved 121 projects funded by international organizations. According to the report, following the approval, the Gaza economy was expected “to be bolstered.” This is a positive step, but unfortunately there’s nothing new about the news. The projects had already been approved over the course of the last year and in fact, the last time a new project was approved was in early February … Leaving aside the recurring declarations of approval of the same projects, construction is proceeding at a snail’s pace because Israel operates only a single crossing into the Gaza Strip — Kerem Shalom — through which all goods are transferred, leaving little room for building materials. http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/04/de-constructing-the-construction-boom/ Goods: needs vs. supply – March 13 – April 9 http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/04/goods-%E2%80%93-
needs-vs-supply-%E2%80%93-mar-13-%E2%80%93-apr-9/ Industrial fuel: needs vs. supply – March 13 – April 9 http://www.gazagateway.org/2011/04/industrial-fuel-%E2%80%93
-needs-vs-supply-%E2%80%93-mar-13-%E2%80%93-apr-9/ Israeli alternate universe IDF official: Gaza seeing economic growth Ynet 11 Apr — Amid continued rocket fire and retaliatory IDF strikes in the Gaza Strip, the security establishment has been focusing its efforts on humanitarian aid … In a conversation with Ynet, Dangot noted that “despite the security escalation, we avoid as much as possible harming civilians in the Gaza Strip, and continue to operate all the border crossings [all 1 of them, closed now for 6 days in a row] in order to deliver into Gaza equipment and merchandise, even when these crossings are under attack,” he said. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055051,00.html IDF’s Gaza maps now show sensitive sites JPost 10 Apr — The army has updated its maps of the Gaza Strip since Operation Cast Lead with a massive and unprecedented increase in the number of sensitive installations and buildings marked as off limits for IDF attacks. During Operation Cast Lead in January 2009, maps used by commanders operating on the ground in Gaza highlighted some 1,800 buildings and various infrastructure sites that should not be attacked and next to which troops needed to operate with extra sensitivity. http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?ID=215889&R=R1 Incursions Settlers murder investigation turns into collective punishment / Noam Sheizaf 10 Apr — Ever since the terrible murder of five members of the Fogel family in the settlement of Itamar, the nearby village of Awarta is going through what is officially a murder investigation, but looks more like a form of collective punishment — some would say organized revenge — led by the IDF and Israel’s Internal Security Service (Shin Beit). The events have been going on since March 12 … I have contacted the IDF spokesperson unit this morning (Sunday) with a series of questions regarding the mass arrests, forced DNA sampling, searches and other activities against the people of Awarta. Late afternoon, I received the following reply: “Since the Itamar murder investigation is still under way, theses issues are still being checked (which “issues”?). IDF soldiers are present at the outpost due to the high tension in the region.” http://972mag.com/settlers-murder-investigation-turns-into-collective-punishment/ Awarta residents report daily IDF raids Ynet 11 Apr — Israel wants to destroy village, expand nearby settlements, says mayor of Awarta, near Itamar — Palestinians from Awarta are reporting that IDF soldiers have been raiding their village every day recently, humiliating residents and damaging property while maintaining road blocks at the entrance … Yaakov Manor, a left-wing activist who visited the village on Sunday, recounted one such raid in a Palestinian home. “The soldiers entered rooms and broke furniture, broke a washing machine belonging to the family and a refrigerator as well. The soldiers tipped over oil containers and broke closets,” he said … Meanwhile, residents of the nearby Itamar awaited anxiously any news on the capture of the murderers responsible for killing five members of the Fogel family. The details of the case have been placed under gag order. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055526,00.html Rights group calls for monitoring of mass Awarta arrests RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 11 Apr — The Ramallah-based rights group Addameer issued a call Sunday for international observation and intervention over the mass arrest campaigns being carried out in the West Bank village of Awarta by Israeli forces. Sunday morning another nine men and women were detained, bringing to five the number of arrest raids, which rounded up a combined 600-700 residents since 11 March, when five settlers were murdered in their beds, including two children and an infant. Israel’s investigation of the killings appears to be centered on Awarta village residents, though no suspects have been identified and the case remains under a gag order. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377580 VIDEO: Children woken by Israeli army DCI Palestine 7 Apr — The village of An Nabi Saleh is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. Weekly demonstrations protest the illegal seizure of Palestinian land by the illegal Israeli settlement of Hallamish (Neve Zuf), located opposite An Nabi Saleh. The footage shows a new Israeli military method to intimidate the children of Nabi Saleh: soldiers enter homes in the middle of the night, wake the children over the age of 10, photograph them and leave. http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/04/children-woken-by-israeli-army.html Detention
Palestinian Prisoners Day commemorated in Gaza MEMO 11 Apr — EXCLUSIVE PICTURES — From in front of the house of one of the longest serving prison veterans from the Gaza Strip; 57 year old Salim Ali al-Kayal who is serving a life term in the Nafha Desert Prison and has been incarcerated for the last 28 years, Gaza’s Ministry of Prisons announced the start of activities associated with Palestinian Prisoners Day commemorated on the 17th of April each year. Currently there is an estimated 7,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2234 Israel extends isolation sentence on blind Palestinian NABLUS, (PIC) 11 Apr — The Israeli prison administration has extended the isolation term of blind Palestinian prisoner Obada Saeed Bilal for six additional months, Palestinians held in the Israeli prisons have said. According to their statements, a prison officer informed Bilal that the Israeli prison authority was planning to extend his term in solitary confinement after he was placed in isolation on March 20 without apparent reason.
Separately, Israeli occupation authorities have sentenced Hamas leader Awadallah Ishtyeh to six months in administrative detention after they failed to pin an indictment on him. Detained in the Megiddo prison, he had been questioned several times by Israeli police and intelligence, but accusations have yet to be placed against him, sources told the PIC. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO Activism / Solidarity
The Rachel Corrie case revisited / Dr. Hatim Kataane …As I rejoined the courtroom proceedings, the soldier was speaking from behind his curtain and seemed quite convinced of his own gravitas, or so the casual observer may surmise from the quality of his voice. To me he sounded like he could benefit from an adenoidectomy. He indicated that on that specific day he sat in his command post some five kilometers from the site of the ‘incident.’ He kept track of what happened all along the fifty-kilometer length of the Philadelphi Axis through the watchful eyes and ears of a series of women soldiers, each in charge of tracking electronically what happened along a certain length of the axis. He admitted to having observed from the safety of his lair the forced evacuation of the same pesky foreign crowd of ten to fifteen activists from the roof of what his soldiers came to refer to as “the yellow house” before they proceeded to ‘level the ground’ on which it stood. http://a-doctor-in-galilee.blogspot.com/2011/04/rachel-corrie-case-revisited.html UN panel to hear Turkey on deadly Israel flotilla raid 11 Apr — A UN panel set up to investigate an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla on May 31, 2010 will hear Turkey’s oral presentation on April 26, and Israel’s on April 27, Ambassador Mithat Rende, Ankara’s contact point for the panel who will make the presentation in New York, told reporters on Monday. http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=72391 Athens — Freedom Flotilla 2 Press release — We will not be intimidated Athens 11 Apr — The Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee met in Athens 9 and 10 April to continue preparations for the upcoming flotilla. Since the last meeting in Amsterdam, Israel has launched an international campaign of incitement against the Flotilla and its coalition members who are participating from around the world. The Greek Ship to Gaza hosted this international meeting and emphasized that the Greek government has failed until now to pressure Israel to release the two Greek boats hijacked from international waters and held in Israel since 31st May 2010. The Greek Ship to Gaza has complied with all of the roadblocks put into place by Israel in order to bring back its ships, but our efforts have been to no avail. http://irishshiptogaza.org/?p=430 Politics / Diplomacy / International
US to support Iron Dome funding Ynet 11 Apr — Democrats, Republicans slated to approve 2011 budget this week enabling Obama to increase security aid to Israel, transfer $205 million for development of anti-missile system http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055093,00.html Israel claims Russian missile hit school bus Ynet 11 Apr — A diplomatic crisis is threatening Israel-Russia relations after the Kornet, a Russian-made anti-tank missile, hit an Israeli school bus driving near Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council last Thursday … “The missile was smuggled into the Gaza Strip with the help of external elements such as Syria and Iran, who constantly try to arm Hamas with improved and advanced weapons for attacks,” a State official said. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055355,00.html Israel urges Europe to stop Freedom Flotilla 2 from sailing to Gaza Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Europe on Monday to do what it can to prevent its nationals from taking part in a flotilla scheduled to depart for Gaza in late May. “This flotilla must be stopped,” Netanyahu told European ambassadors in Jerusalem http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
israel-urges-europe-to-stop-freedom-flotilla-2-from-sailing-to-gaza-1.355367 Lieberman: Israel should topple Hamas JERUSALEM (AFP) 11 Apr — Israel should not settle for a truce with Hamas in Gaza, and should instead seek to topple the Islamist rulers of the coastal strip, Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday … “The objective must be to force Hamas out of power,” said Lieberman, who heads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party. “To return to calm accepts a war of attrition in which Hamas can determine when there is a lull and when the front is heating up,” he said. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377585 PA: State will be ready by September RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 11 Apr — The Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Planning and Development announced Monday the government’s “national readiness to establish an independent Palestinian state during September.” Minister Ali Al-Jerbawi said the announcement came in line with the successful implementation of the 13th government’s plan, “Ending the Occupation, Establishing a State,” put out by the now caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in August 2009. A report outlining the status of preparations for statehood, and outlining the success of the plan thus far, will be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee in Brussels on Wednesday. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377583 Other news
Gaza journalist barred from travel abroad RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 11 Apr — Gaza government security officers at the Rafah crossing barred Sunday the travel of a local journalist en route to Cairo, from where she was set to travel to a meeting in Morocco. Amal Touman was to attend a conference of the International Federation of Journalists in Casablanca. Its Gaza representative is the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, which called the move a “dangerous violation.” [End] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377504 Hamas cracks down on suspected collaborators GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 Apr — The interior security department in Gaza said Sunday that its investigators seized an unspecified number of collaborators operating on behalf of Israel “working to disturb security in Gaza.” An official said at a news conference that “all of the affiliates are gearing up in the field to protect the internal front and to monitor all of the suspects’ movements,” warning that “not a single traitor who collaborates with the occupation will escape pursuit.” http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377470 Education ministry hunting for Arab teachers absent on Land Day Haaretz 11 Apr — The government is trying to track down Arab teachers who took a day off on Land Day this year to protest Israel’s treatment of the Arab population. Critics have denounced such a move as being tantamount to persecuting the teachers for acting within their civil and democratic rights. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
education-ministry-hunting-for-arab-teachers-absent-on-land-day-1.355220 No pride at Berlin gay pride festival Ynet 11 Apr — Tel Aviv Municipality’s stand at Europe’s largest gay pride parade, set to take place in Berlin in June, won’t include any Israeli symbols or markers in an attempt to blur the connection between the city and the state – a problematic brand to market, especially these days. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4055361,00.html Analysis / Opinion
Israel wouldn’t need propaganda if it changed its policies / Gideon Levy Haaretz 10 Apr — What do Israel and Syria have in common? Not much, but both have ministries of hasbara. No such thing exists in the West. No such thing exists in democracies. But in Israel, we have falafel and a minister of hasbara, who is known as the minister of public diplomacy and diaspora affairs. The Israeli president, prime minister, cabinet members and MKs fly all over the world on useless hasbara missions. Israeli diplomats deal with hasbara from dawn to dusk. But how many times have you seen a foreign diplomat in Israel explaining how right his country is? Who would listen to him? http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
israel-wouldn-t-need-propaganda-if-it-changed-its-policies-1.355052 Supreme Court is on wrong side of West Bank separation fence / Amira Hass Haaretz 11 Apr — Anyone who suspects the Supreme Court and its judges of leftism should read the latest ruling on “The Israeli Seam Zone Permit Regime.” In plain language, this is the bureaucratic machinery that the Defense Ministry and the Civil Administration have created to restrict to the absolute minimum Palestinians’ entry, time spent, and ability to live and work on lands in the West Bank that are west of the separation fence. To be more exact, it refers to Israel’s annexation of 184,868 dunams (about 45,682 acres), for now, of Palestinian land trapped between the fence and the Green Line. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/
supreme-court-is-on-wrong-side-of-west-bank-separation-fence-1.355251 Time for disengagement No. 2 / Akiva Eldar Haaretz 11 Apr — As long as the government does not evacuate Dayan’s colleagues from Kfar Tapuah and Sheikh Jarrah, the children of Sderot and Ashdod will not be safe. Nor will the residents of Kfar Sava and Netanya … No country in the world can relate seriously to the claim that the Gush Katif disengagement proves that the settlements in “Judea and Samaria” are not an obstacle to peace … The lesson to be learned from the Gaza disengagement is that the time has come to start evacuating the West Bank settlements. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/time-for-disengagement-no-2-1.355253 Israel should recognize Palestinian statehood / Zvi Bar’el Haaretz 10 Apr — Instead of fearing a declaration of Palestinian statehood, Israel could join the international community and accept it, ceasing to view it as an enemy and existential threat. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
israel-should-recognize-palestinian-statehood-1.355051 The sharp end of Hebron / Issa Amro 11 Apr — Hebron’s problems began after 1967. The Israeli army worked hard to create the Kiryat Arba settlement, and after that the settlers and soldiers started living inside Hebron, transforming it into an occupied city. We started to feel it when they created settlements in the heart of the city. In the early 1980s settlers started to come from all over the world, moving into our houses and markets. They treated Palestinians as slaves and animals, fourth-class humans, only there to be taken advantage of. All this was not so obvious until 1994 and the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when a fanatic settler killed 29 Muslims. After that we were punished. The apartheid policy was employed more obviously, with the closure of Shuhada Street and many local businesses. The army divided Ibrahimi Mosque and confiscated the gardens. My resistance efforts began in 2003. The army had closed Palestine polytechnic University when I was a student there. They locked the gates and told us to “go to the streets. You will have no future here.” http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17521/ Haaretz WikiLeaks Exclusives
