Mondoweiss Online Newsletter

NOVANEWS

 
Posted By: Sammi Ibrahem
Chair of West Midland Palestine Solidarity Campaign
 
 

• After Abu Sisi’s rendition, his father cried for a day, knowing he might never see his son again

• Arrigoni, son of Palestine, and Italy

• Today in Bil’in

• The fruits of revolution: Parties must present equal numbers of male and female candidates in Tunisia’s July vote

• Two cheers for Palestinian statehood-recognition

• A question for our pro-Israel visitors . . .

• ‘The Palestine Cables’: Obama administration killed off independent U.N. investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza

• Tearful April mornings

• Ketziot Prison, redux

• 500 people wearing white shirts claim another hill in the West Bank to defy any peace deal

After Abu Sisi’s rendition, his father cried for a day, knowing he might never see his son again

Apr 22, 2011

Kate

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Settlers 
Interview: Hamas lawmaker defies order to leave Jerusalem / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
EI 20 Apr — JKD:What will happen if you and your colleagues are deported from Jerusalem? Muhammad Totah: It means deporting thousands of people from East Jerusalem for disloyalty. This word does not have any dimensions or any measures, so they can claim that anybody living in East Jerusalem … is disloyal to the Israeli occupation and then deport him. We know that it is one of the main objectives of the Israeli plan to empty East Jerusalem of the Palestinian people.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/interview-hamas-lawmaker-defies-order-leave-jerusalem/9858
Settlers determined to rebuild demolished outpost
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — A group of settlers is determined to rebuild an illegal outpost destroyed Thursday, hours after its establishment in an event attended by hundreds in the northern West Bank.  “Regev” was built 200 meters from a home in the illegal Itamar settlement where an Israeli family was found murdered in March … Officials from the neighboring Palestinian village of Awarta say the land is privately owned.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381067
Palestinian Festival of Literature Outro: poems, flames, tears, and rap
[photos] 21 Apr — Violence erupted in Silwan last night [Wed], interrupting but not stopping the final day of the Palestine Festival of Literature …”The problems in Silwan tonight are a summary of what Palestinians have experienced for many years,” said Ahdaf Soueif, the Palestine Literature Festival emcee. During poetry readings, Israeli forces threw stones at the tent from the top of the hill across the street. The festival continued and was topped by [the rap group] DAM, partly breaking into a capella.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1767
Photos from Silwanic album
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 22 Apr
http://silwanic.net/?p=15089
Violence
Medics: Farmer shot in northern Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — A farmer was hospitalized Thursday after Israeli soldiers shot him as he worked on his land in northern Gaza, medics said. The 45-year-old man was shot in his stomach in the Abu Safieyah area of Beit Lahiya … Israel unilaterally imposes a no-go zone along the border inside the Gaza Strip, and soldiers frequently shoot at Palestinians inside the area. In Oxfam’s latest report, the international organization said “In practice, Israel restricts access to agricultural land up to 1,000-1,500 metres from the fence, which accounts for more than 30% of Gaza’s agricultural land and a significant number of water wells. Most of the Gaza Strip’s animal production is also concentrated in this area.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381100
Medics: 3 injured as Israeli tanks shell Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Apr 15:19 — Three Palestinians were injured Friday in Israeli tank shelling east of Gaza City, medics said. Palestinian medics said three factory workers sustained multiple injuries in Ash-Shuja‘yeh and were transferred to the Ash-Shifa Hospital. An Israeli military spokesman said no tanks had opened fire in the area on Friday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381136
Israeli version:
Three people wounded near UN compound in Gaza by Palestinian mortar fire
Haaretz 22 Apr 14:28 — The wounded were not UN workers, as had been previously reported; IDF says the three were injured by an errant mortar bomb launched by Gaza militants … According to an IDF spokesperson, the three were wounded by a mortar bomb fired by Gaza militants from the area of the Sajaia refugee camp. Hamas claimed, however, that the three were wounded by an IDF tank shell.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/three-people-wounded-near-un-compound-in-gaza-by-palestinian-mortar-fire-1.357635
PCHR weekly report: Civilian dies, 7 injured from Israeli attacks this week (14-20 2011)
In its Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 14 – 20 April 2011, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) found that a Palestinian civilian from the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah died of his wounds. In addition, a Palestinian civilian was wounded by Israeli settlers in the south of Nablus. Responding to that incident, Israeli soldiers wounded three civilians, including two journalists. Also this week, …
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/pchr-weekly-report-civilian-dies-7-injured-from-israeli-attacks-this-week/
Siege
Video: 250 children of Gaza spell out ‘No Fly Zone over Palestine” with their bodies on beach / Ken O’Keefe
We demand that the good people of the world acknowledge that Israeli planes simply flying over Palestine is anintentional source of panic and fear, of state sponsored terrorism, for countless people in Gaza, especially the children. There are kids in Gaza that wet themselves at night for fear of being bombed again when they hear Israeli aircraft overhead. And this is a nearly daily occurrence.
http://salem-news.com/articles/april212011/human-chain-gaza.php
Video: More than 40 international and local organizations launch Civil Peace Service Gaza
22 Apr — On Wednesday 20th of April, at 11:30 (local time), more than 40 international and local organizations launched a human rights monitoring mission to report potential violations in Palestinian waters … The Oliva will start its mission next week. It will have an international crew, trained in human rights monitoring and international law, and will be equipped with video cameras and radios to maintain permanent contact with the land team.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/04/17934/
Bring surfing to the people of the Gaza Strip / Tim King & Ken O’Keefe
20 Apr – with video “Thoughts on Vittorio Arrigoni and surfing in Gaza” … In spite of the violence and constant threat from Israel that completely surrounds Gaza, with walls, fences, soldiers and navy boats that are always quick to fire, Ken reminds us that it is an amazing coast with beautiful beaches, and there are great waves that break all day without bringing joy to people. I’ve always believed that surfing is God’s single most natural sport. As Ken says, it is time for the surfing community to come together and gather supplies to deliver to Gaza. Imagine the difference it could make, surfers understand this. What surfers can do: Whether it is kayaks, surfboards, inflatable boats, outboard motors, boogie boards, you name it, anything to enhance the ability of the children to interact with the sea.
http://salem-news.com/articles/april212011/gaza-surfing-ko.php
Egyptian government to ease siege on Gaza
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — The Egyptian government will apply new procedures at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to ease travel for residents of the besieged coastal enclave, officials said Thursday. During a meeting in Cairo, Baha Ad-Dusuqi, head of Palestinian affairs in the Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed Gaza government spokesman Taher An-Nunu that new measures would be in place at the terminal soon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381040
Brought to you by the IDF website
Red Cross official: Gaza isn’t experiencing a humanitarian crisis
IDF website quoted deputy Gaza Red Cross chief as saying that the issue in Gaza is of infrastructure and access to goods such as concrete … In an interview conducted by Rotem Caro-Weizman and published on the IDF website, Mathilde Redmatn, deputy director of the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, said that there “is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” adding: “If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/red-cross-official-gaza-isn-t-experiencing-a-humanitarian-crisis-1.357268
Israel opens 1 crossing for limited goods
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Apr …Israel usually closes the crossing on a Friday, but Palestinian liaison officials said around 70 truckloads of goods would enter the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381103
Restrictions on movement
Pilgrims gather in Jerusalem for Good Friday
JERUSALEM (AFP) 22 Apr — Thousands of Christian pilgrims braved storms, hail and heavy security in Jerusalem’s Old City to pray along the route tradition holds Jesus took to his crucifixion on Good Friday … The procession ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the sites where Christians believe Christ was crucified and buried. However, heavy Israeli security — with police setting up road blocks and metal barriers — prevented many from reaching the sacred shrine.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381186
Video: Good Friday in Jerusalem
Pal. Mon. 22 Apr — It was a day of song and prayer in the streets of Jerusalem as religious tourists and pilgrims from all over the world swarmed the Holy City to mourn the sacrificial crucifixion of Jesus. French, Italian, South American, and Filipino Catholics joined the Russian, Greek, and Armenian Orthodox with Protestants and Chinese, Japanese, Palestinian, and Swiss pilgrims in a day of procession down the Via Dolorosa … The final and thirteenth point is the Holy Sepulchre, the iconic church central to 2.2 billion Christians. The massed pilgrims were shepherded along by vast amounts of armed Israeli soldiers and police.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1770
Hebron: ‘Let them walk three miles’; Passover brings further restrictions on Palestinians
CPT 21 Apr — The Jewish Passover/Pesach holiday has imposed further restrictions on the residents of Hebron. All of the gates allowing entrance to and exit from the Old City souq on its east side were locked or barred shut to Palestinian residents and non-Jewish international visitors. The closure caused significant difficulties for teachers and pupils.  A woman — widely known as the “ladder lady” — whose house is on Shuhada Street, along which the Jewish worshippers walk, allowed Palestinians to use her house for getting in and out of the souq (market).  In the morning, they rang her bell, and walked through her house and down the stairway into Shuhada Street. The Israeli police on duty in the morning allowed the children and teachers then to cross Shuhada Street on their way to school. However, when school ended for the day and the children and teachers tried to make the return trip, Israeli soldiers and police initially refused to allow them to cross Shuhada Street, saying that the Old City souq was closed. Teachers, a local community leader, and CPTers asked the police to let the children cross. They pointed out to a senior Israeli policeman that if he did not allow the children to cross Shuhada Street they would have to take a detour of at least three miles. ‘Let them walk three miles,’ he responded … Passover continues through next Tuesday.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/04/21/hebron-let-them-walk-three-miles%E2%80%9D-passover-brings-further-restrictions-palestinian
Detention
Lawyer Essawi freed along with her two brothers from Israeli jails
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 22 Apr — The Israeli occupation authorities has released Thursday Palestinian lawyer Sherien Essawi and her two brothers from jail after the Israeli prosecution failed to prove any charges against them. The IOA charged the three siblings with passing Hamas money to Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were denied family visits for years now. The Israeli central court decided to release the three Palestinians after their lawyer filed a petition urging their immediate release after the prosecutor failed to prove the charges against them despite the passage of one year since they were arrested.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Qabaha urges Abbas to release Natsheh from jail
RAMALLAH, (PIC) 22 Apr — Former minister of the prisoners and ex-prisoners Wasfi Qabaha has urged Thursday Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to immediately release Palestinian businessman Nabil Al-Natsheh from PA jails. According to Qabaha, the persistent detention of Palestinian leaders and prominent figures in the Palestinian community in PA jails contradicts the allegations of Fatah Movement of being keen on ending the Palestinian internal rift … “Indeed, I expected that Abbas would order the release of all Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated in his jails across the West Bank on the Palestinian Prisoner Day, but sad to say it didn’t happen,” Qabaha said in a statement he issued on Thursday.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Palestinian security arrest a number of suspected collaborators
RAFAH, (PIC) 22 A[r — Palestinian internal security sources in the Rafah district revealed that a number of suspected collaborators with the Israeli occupation were arrested over the past few days. The sources added in a statement that was conveyed by the Hamas information office in Rafah on Thursday said that the  internal security intensified their pursuit of possible collaborators after the assassination of Qassam commanders Tayseer Abu Selmeyyah and Muhammad Awajah.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
War crimes
Mean street / Shay Fogelman
Haaretz 22 Apr — Four mortar shells fired by the IDF ‘at a military target’ in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead landed on a busy Al-Fakhoura Street and killed dozens of civilians. An investigation by Haaretz finds that the army’s answers are not consistent with its own reports about the day of the shelling and that there are also major contradictions with facts made public here for the first time.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/mean-street-1.357617
International kidnapping
Israel, extraordinary rendition, and the strange case of Dirar Abu Sisi / Richard Silverstein
Truthout 21 Apr — …Among the heartbreaking things Yousef told me was the account of his brother’s six children, who remain in Gaza without either father or mother. They are being cared for by his sister, Suzanne, who has six children of her own. He also recounted the suffering of his elderly father in Jordan when Yousef told him that Dirar had been arrested by the Israeli security apparatus. The man cried for almost a day without stopping, knowing that he might never again see his son, given his advanced age … The case of Abu Sisi seems yet another in a long line of extraordinary renditions. But the question for Israel is — at what gain for what cost? Nabbing someone perhaps proves the Mossad’s power to get its man anywhere, at any time — a possible plus if the goal is to intimidate your enemy. However, the cost is proving that as a nation, you respect neither national sovereignty, due process nor international law. You prove the claims of your enemies that you are a rogue state rather than an upstanding member of the international community … We are left to speculate regarding the reasons for Abu Sisi’s detention. The number of possibilities includes the fact that, as Gaza’s senior civil engineer, he would be a prize for Israel in its ongoing efforts to disrupt daily life in Hamas-dominated Gaza.
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/richard-silverstein-israel-extraordinary-rendition-and-the-strange-case-of-dirar-abu-sisi-%E2%80%94-israeli-occupation-archive/
Activism / Solidarity
Today in Bil‘in / Hamde Abu Rahme
[photos] 22 Apr — On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma and within the activities of the International Conference on Popular Resistance, Bil‘in renews the covenant of the martyrs to continue the struggle until they achieve independence. One citizen of the village of Bil‘in was seriously injured as well as five demonstrators and four others who were injured as a result of abuse by the occupying forces, in addition to dozens of other cases of people choking on poison gas.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/04/today-in-bilin-7.html
Videos: 6th annual Bil‘in conference on popular resistance: Luisa Morgantini and Cindy Corrie
poster 21 Apr, conference 20 Apr
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/conferences/conference2011/8599-6th-Annual-Bilin-Conference-on-Popular-Resistance:-Luisa-Morgantini-and-Cindy-Corrie-20-04-2011
Freedom Coalition: No request from Fatah to participate in Flotilla
LONDON, (PIC) 22 Apr — The Freedom Coalition has denied Thursday it received any request from Fatah faction to participate in the Freedom Flotilla 2 that it plans to send to Gaza next month. A spokesman of the Coalition said to the Quds Press that his group didn’t receive any request from Fatah faction in this regard, opining that the fact Fatah was willing to partake in the Flotilla indicates that the movement started to correct its position regarding the Flotilla. In the past Fatah Movement undermined and described the Freedom Flotilla 1 that sailed to Gaza last year but blocked by the Israeli occupation as a “ridiculous game”.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Penticton couple return from peace mission to Palestine
British Columbia, Canada 21 Apr — Welch … along with husband Mark recently returned from a three-week peace mission to West Bank with the Christian Peacemakers Team … Mark vividly recalled the incredible feeling of oppression and pending violence that lasted throughout the trip … “I think that sort of day-to-day, minute-to-minute grind is a constant reminder that you’re under somebody else’s thumb,” said Twilla. “It was heart-breaking really, really heartbreaking. “It’s shocking and I don’t think anybody who experienced what we did could not be moved or changed in some way, as well as angry and hurt and concerned for the future.” However, what surprised them even more was the graciousness of the Palestinian people in spite of the oppression and their resolve to maybe one day live again in peace with their neighbours. Also their adaptability. Twilla remembered watching from her apartment window as an elderly woman carrying a small child and groceries could only access her home by a two-storey ladder from the rear of the building because her house — its front door welded shut — fronted on a street she was not allowed to use. [must have been Hebron]
http://www.bclocalnews.com/lifestyles/120365184.html
Marrickville Council votes against BDS but in favor of the 3 tenets of the BDS call / Sonja Karkar
22 Apr — The Australians for Palestine team arrived in Sydney on Monday to give support to Marrickville BDS and the Marrickville councillors.  It was, we felt, an historic occasion for BDS in Australia … Labor Councillor Mary O’Sullivan foreshadowed a motion that resolved ““not to pursue BDS against Israel in any shape or form” and Greens Councillor Peter Olive proposed that a motherhood statement be inserted.  This ended up maintaining the three tenets of the BDS call — to end the occupation of all Arab lands and dismantle the Wall, to ensure full equality for Palestinians living in Israel and to support the right of Palestinian refugees to return home. This was carried 8 votes to 4 against. None of the councillors who had opposed the BDS resolution seemed aware of the incongruity of now voting for a motion that included the very demands that BDS seeks, while refusing to do anything about it.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/marrickville-votes-bds-6613
Racism / Discrimination / Sectarianism
Poster calling to boycott stores where Arabs work with Jewish women spotted in Jerusalem
“Do you want your grandson to be named Ahmed ben Sarah?” a street poster slapped on the walls of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods inquires, in a not-so-subtle dig at the Yesh retail chain. The problem the authors of the broadside (pashkevil, in Hebrew ) have is that Yesh, the Haredi arm of the Super-Sol supermarket chain, allows Arab men to work alongside Jewish women.
http://english.themarker.com/poster-calling-to-boycott-stores-where-arabs-work-with-jewish-women-spotted-in-jerusalem-1.357509
NGO slams policy putting Ethiopian olim in specific areas
JPost 21 Apr — Government creating ‘new ghettos’ by restricting where immigrants can buy homes with public aid, claims Ethiopian advocacy group.
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=217341&R=R1
Rabbis slam attack on Reform synagogue
Ynet 22 Apr — A number of rabbis and public figures from the city of Raanana have signed a letter strongly condemning the desecration of a local Reform synagogue. “This act, like other acts of violence, saddens all of us,” the letter said. “We stress that the Torah condemns any act of violence and harm to our fellowman.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4058163,00.html
Political/Diplomatic/International news
Gilmore says Israeli blockade of Gaza ‘absolutely unacceptable’
22 Apr — IRELAND WANTS the EU to take a more active and urgent interest in the situation in Gaza, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has told the Dáil. The Minister for Foreign Affairs said he had made this “clear to my colleagues and the European Union foreign affairs council”.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0422/1224295253536.html
Abbas in Paris as France mulls recognizing Palestine
AFP 22 Apr — President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in Paris on Thursday as France told the United Nations that Europe was considering giving formal recognition to a Palestinian state. “Recognition of the state of Palestine is one of the options which France is considering, with its European partners, with a view to creating a political horizon for relaunching the peace process,” French ambassador Gerard Araud told a UN Security Council debate on the Middle East.
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/abbas-paris-france-mulls-recognising-palestine-165619541.html
Abbas: UN rejection of statehood could be dangerous
PARIS (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — President Mahmoud Abbas warned Thursday that there could be serious ramifications if the UN rejected recognition of a Palestinian state in September. The president told France 24 that rejecting Palestinian statehood could be a dangerous move, and that he did not want a third Palestinian uprising to erupt, in an interview broadcast Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381154
‘Merkel to press Abbas on state declaration’
AFP 22 Apr — Der Spiegel says German chancellor will explain to Palestinian president why she thinks it ill-advised for him to push for recognition of Palestinian state at UN General Assembly meeting in September
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059839,00.html
UN political chief urges ‘bold and decisive’ steps to revive Middle East peace talks
UN 21 Apr — …”Both parties should be concerned that the political track is falling behind the significant progress being made by the Palestinian Authority in its state-building agenda,” said B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in a briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East. “The international community is rightly concerned at the protracted stalemate in the peace process…”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38165&Cr=palestin&Cr1=
Egypt detains ex-energy minister over gas deal with Israel
Reuters 21 Apr — Egypt’s public prosecutor on Thursday ordered former Energy Minister Sameh Fahmy and five other senior energy officials detained for questioning over a natural gas deal with Israel that the government is reviewing. Israel gets 40% of its natural gas from Egypt under an arrangement put in place after a 1979 peace deal. Opposition groups have long complained the gas was being sold at preferential prices and that East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company which supplies it, violated bureaucratic regulations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059621,00.html
Other news
Palestinian Authority threatens to block international mail
JPost 21 Apr — The Palestinian Authority will stop sending and receiving international mail beginning next month, a Palestinian minister has warned, asserting that Israel has failed to implement a 2008 agreement that would let the PA have direct postal relations with the rest of the world. Speaking to journalists in Ramallah on Tuesday, Communications Minister Mashhour Abu-Daqqa charged that Israel is deliberately disrupting Palestinian mail services, causing Palestinian postal services losses of over $200,000 a month. Israel’s failure to comply with tax deduction and clearing mechanisms has shaken the confidence of Palestinians in their postal services, he told the Palestinian daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=217470&R=R3
Body of Arrigoni suspect to be returned to Jordan
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — The body of a Jordanian charged with murdering an Italian activist left Gaza on Friday through the Erez crossing on Israel’s border, officials said. The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated with the Gaza government to return Abdul-Rahman Al-Breizat’s body to Jordan via Israel, sources in the Palestinian liaison office told Ma‘an. Al-Breizat died Tuesday during a raid on a building in the Gaza Strip suspected of housing the killers of Vittorio Arrigoni. The Hamas-run interior ministry said that Al-Breizat shot himself during the raid, after throwing a grenade at two others also suspected of killing Arrigoni.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381126
Tech diplomacy: Israeli CEO hires Palestinian programmers
CSM 22 Apr — The last time chief executive officer Eyal Waldman had been to the Israeli-occupied West Bank was as a soldier. But when he needed to outsource some work for his fast-growing Israeli technology company, he chose an unconventional solution: hiring Palestinian programmers from Ramallah. The year-old experiment has worked so well that the firm, Mellanox Technologies, expects to establish a research and development center in Ramallah. Even if it costs more than a similar operation in Eastern Europe, Mr. Waldman says there’s an intangible upside: boosting political stability by employing Israel’s neighbors.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0422/Tech-diplomacy-Israeli-CEO-hires-Palestinian-programmers
Hebron village waiting for promised water repairs
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Apr — Residents of Deir Al-Asal area in Dura village in Hebron are still suffering from the shortage of water for two years and they received many promises to solve their case. Resident Raed Al-Shawamreh said, “The officials of this region promised eight months ago to repair and fix the water canals and system but nothing was done.” He is afraid that summer will come and no water will be available. An official at the water department in the region, Walid Abu Sharar, said that the old network was undergoing repairs. The new one will reach Deir Al-Asal in Dura and 14 other villages, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=380304
Subaru: We have no link to ad showing kids hit by car
JPost 22 Apr — Japan Auto, carmaker Subaru’s importer in Israel, says it has no idea who is behind the creation of an advertisement attributed to it which uses a picture of two Palestinian children being hit by a car driven by a prominent right-wing activist … A Subaru logo sits in the bottom right-hand corner of the ad, accompanied by the sentence, “Let’s see who will stand in your way.”
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=217515&R=R1
Israel air force prepping for air terrorism with real-life scenarios
Haaretz 22 Apr — To defend the country’s airspace, endless surveillance of the air traffic in neighboring countries is required, using a quick warning system and permanent readiness of interceptors … Much of the exercise was carried out at the control center on Mount Meron. At 1,200 meters, it is one of the highest peaks in Israel, but the controllers work deep underground, in a facility capable of withstanding air attacks.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-air-force-prepping-for-air-terrorism-with-real-life-scenarios-1.357492
Culture / Human interest
Nablus The Culture
22 Apr — “I look at culture as a way of resistance,” Hammad said, smoking cigarette after cigarette beneath the two-story marble columns of his music and events center, Nablus The Culture. “You can arrest anybody but you can’t arrest a soul.” The singers are a diverse mix of Palestinians and internationals from Spain, the U.S. and Europe. A crowd of fifty or so, mostly Palestinian, showed up in suits and dresses to listen to songs of merriment, locomotion, revolution and love. Hammad started Nablus The Culture in 2005, focusing on arranging concerts and teaching local music students. But it took four years before he really got it off the ground.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1769
Interview: Clay Carson’s Martin Luther King play goes to East Jerusalem, West Bank
21 Apr — Stanford’s Martin Luther King scholar Clay Carson took his play, Passages of Martin Luther King, to the Palestinian National Theatre in East Jerusalem and West Bank communities in March and early April. The production, translated into Arabic and directed by Kamel El Basha, featured eight Palestinian actors, along with six African American singers who depicted King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church choir and civil rights freedom fighters.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/april/carson-king-palestine-042111.html
Analysis / Opinion
Staying human — a heroic legacy / Ramzy Baroud
22 Apr — Vittorio Arrigoni’s murder was an opportunity for Israel’s supporters. Most notorious amongst them was Daniel Pipes. He wrote, in a brief entry in the National Review Online: “Note the pattern of Palestinians who murder the groupies and apologists who join them to aid in their dream of eliminating Israel.”  Pipes named three individuals, including the Palestinian-Israeli filmmaker, Juliano Mer-Khamis, and Arrigoni himself, and then proceeded to invite readers to “send in further examples that I may have missed.”  Pipes’ list, however, will have no space for such names as Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall and James Miller, for these individuals were all murdered by Israeli forces. Pipes will also fail to mention the nine Turkish activists murdered aboard the Mavi Marmara ship on its way to break the siege on Gaza in May 2010, and the nine activists abroad Irene (the Jewish Boat to Gaza) who were intercepted, kidnapped and humiliated by Israeli troops before being deported outside the country in September 2010.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381138
Juliano Mer-Khamis — a killing inspired by drama, not politics / Conal Urquhart in Jenin
Guardian 21 Apr — Jenin residents claim public opinion turned on director for performing plays that went against Islamic conservative values — The murder earlier this month of Juliano Mer-Khamis was condemned all over the world but met with a grim silence by the residents of the Jenin refugee camp where he founded his Freedom Theatre. It has emerged that the residents of the camp had serious grievances against the actor-director that may have provided the excuses for an unknown gunman to kill him … Meanwhile, at the theatre staff remain determined to continue the work of Mer-Khamis despite a sense of paranoia that the killer had a connection to the theatre.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/21/jenin-grievances-death-juliano-mer-khamis
Hebron Reflection: a call to let go of fear for the sake of justice / Paulette Schroeder
CPT 22 Apr — I recently finished reading the Kairos Palestine Document, a text full of faith and hope put out by the shrinking Palestinian Christian community in Israel/Palestine, which now amounts to just 1.5% of the total population. Now into my third year as a member of the Christian Peacemaker team in Hebron, West Bank, I daily encounter Palestinians whose freedom has been taken from them. The separation wall has turned their towns and villages into prisons, separating them from one another. Israeli settlements control their water and natural resources and their ability to raise their crops. The military checkpoints subject their brothers, their uncles, and their fathers to daily humiliations. Like one young Palestinian businessman recently said to me at a checkpoint: “I’m living in quicksand.  I’m trapped.”  I wonder if any Palestinian neighbor of mine thinks about all the creative possibilities within him/herself.  I worry, too, whether more than forty years of military occupation may have smashed such hopeful thinking. But the cries of hope ring out loudly from the Kairos Document:
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/04/22/hebron-reflection-call-let-go-fear-sake-justice
Bieber’s empty pop can’t drown out Palestinians’ cry / Alexander Billett
EI 21 Apr — The same evening that Justin Bieber played a concert in Tel Aviv, Palestinian solidarity activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped. Next morning, Arrigoni’s body was found in an abandoned house in Gaza, and the biggest story in the Israeli media was Bieber’s tweet of thanks to the nation’s people. Arrigoni’s death could have been an opportunity for Israel’s media to discuss the affects of the blockade on Gaza, and to once again place that debate on an international stage. Bieber ran interception on this possibility. Yet another stark, tragic argument for the artistic and cultural boycott of Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/biebers-empty-pop-cant-drown-out-palestines-cry/9860
Video interview: Jonathan Cook on Nazareth, Israeli citizenship laws, and the Arabic language
posted 20 Apr — Nazareth-based journalist Jonathan Cook interviewed by Jon Dillingham
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2011-04-20/jonathan-cook-on-nazareth-israeli-citizenship-laws-and-the-arabic-language/
‘Transcript’ of the Itamar investigation / Gabriel
20 Apr — Ynet: “Shin Bet, IDF and police have arrested two Palestinians, both residents of the village of Awarta, in connection to the Fogel family massacre in Itamar in March.” Now, YNET doesn’t mention the method of investigation. But, luckily, I have the partial transcript: Shin Bet Investigator 1 (David): So, Hakim, I was told that the last week you spent in our four stars hotel convinced you to cooperate with the investigation? Hakim: (trying to move his broke arm) yes. Shin Bet Investigator 2 (Shlomo): Good! Good! Yalla David, let’s finish this. Let’s finish it and call it a day. David: (taking a file from a pile on his desk, opening it). So, Hakim, do you confess that you were in the room with Hitler when he gave the order to exterminate all the Jews of Europe? Hakim: I do. I do.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/2011/04/transcript-of-itamar-investigation.html
Israel ‘supplied arms to Argentina during Falklands war’ / Robin Yapp, São Paulo
Telegraph 20 Apr — Israel secretly supplied arms and equipment to Argentina during the Falklands War due to Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s personal hatred of the British, a new book discloses.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/falklandislands/8463934/Israel-supplied-arms-to-Argentina-during-Falklands-War.html
Iraq
Thursday: 8 Iraqis killed, 17 wounded
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with Admiral Michael Mullen in Baghdad and reiterated his belief that Iraq’s military is prepared to take over when the last U.S. soldier leaves at the end of the year. Meanwhile, at least eight Iraqis were killed and 17 more were wounded. Six decomposed bodies were found in Samarra. A roadside bomb blast targeting a judgekilled a child and wounded four people. In Baghdad, gunmen wounded a police major in Adhamiya. A bomb in central Baghdad wounded three people….
http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2011/04/21/thursday-8-iraqis-killed-17-wounded-2/

Arrigoni, son of Palestine, and Italy

Apr 22, 2011

Annie and Phil

At Corriere di Bologna, a slideshow of the arrival in Italy of the body of Vittorio Arrigoni, who dedicated his life to Palestine. Many people were on that overpass; more images at the link.

Today in Bil’in

Apr 22, 2011

Hamde Abu Rahme

Israeli soldiers in Bil’in (All photos: Hamde Abu Rahme)

On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma and within the activities of the International Conference on Popular Resistance, Bil’in renews the covenant of the martyrs to continue the struggle until they achieve independence.
One citizen of the village of Bil’in was seriously injured as well as five demonstrators and four others who were injured as a result of abuse by the occupying forces, in addition to dozens of other cases of people choking on poison gas.

An injured protester in Bil’in.

Today a woman of Bil’in was seriously injured whilst five demonstrators and four citizens received dozens of bruises, there were also many cases of severe asphyxia as a result of inhalation of tear gas, many people suffered due to the waste water and chemicals fired by the Israeli Army. This was due to the clashes that took place after the suppression of the Israeli occupation forces with the creation of the wall and settlements. On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma there was a march organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in and the National and Islamic Forces. It began after Friday prayers from the center of the village and was attended by the people of Bil’in, dozens of Palestinians and internationals. Palestinian factions, including the wife prisoner Marwan Barghouti, Fadwa Barghouti, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the initiative and leader of Fatah, The Palestinian People’s Party, The Popular Struggle Front and the Palestinian Ambassador in Australia, Izzat Ibrahim, along with dozens of peace activists, Israelis and foreigners in solidarity.

The Participants of the march waved many Palestinian flags, flags of Palestinian factions and pictures of martyrs Jawaher and Bassem Abu Rahma. There were also yellow banners with a picture of the leader Marwan Barghouti who is a prisoner of the occupation. This started the participants chanting national anthems calling for unity and rejection of differences, to unite in the face of the occupation and its plans and to end the division and occupation as quickly as possible.

Mohammad Al Khatib being treated for injuries.

The march headed towards the wall, where Israeli forces intercepted the march by storming the village from the west side. They fired bursts of gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, lead Toto and live bullets toward the participants in an attempt to prevent the demonstration from getting to the area. This resulted in a injury to citizen Isra’ Bornat, 20 years old. He received serious injuries as a result of inhaled poison gas and was transferred to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah. Mohamed Hesham Bornat 28 years old was hit by a soldier’s baton in the head, Jasser Ash’al, 22 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the hand, Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Rahma, 38 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the leg, Mohammed Shawkat, 18 years old was shot with a rubber bullet in the leg, and Simon Krieger 22 years old was hit with a tear gas canister in the arm. The occupation forces severely beat all of Iyad Bornat, 38, and Mohammad Al Khatib, 36, as well as two people from London showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, all of whom were severely bruised.

After the Israeli soldiers broke out with such violence the protestors managed to make the army of occupation retreat to the back wall.

The fruits of revolution: Parties must present equal numbers of male and female candidates in Tunisia’s July vote

Apr 22, 2011

Seham

and other news from the Arab uprisings:

Bahrain
Bahrain security forces ‘tortured patients’
Bahrain’s security forces stole ambulances and posed as medics to round up injured protesters during a ferocious crackdown on unarmed demonstrators calling for reform of the monarchy, an investigation by a rights group reveals today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bahrain-security-forces-tortured-patients-2272618.html 
American Physicians Protest Bahrain Crackdown on Medical Staff
An American human rights group said on Friday that the number of physicians missing in Bahrain has risen to more than 30.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=4bff7ca260230421b83a60033211804a
Physicians for Human Rights, “Bahrain, Free the Docs! Bahraini Government Continues to Abduct Physicians”
According to reports from Bahrain, doctors are disappearing as part of a systematic attack on medical staff. Many physicians are missing following interrogations by unknown security forces at Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama. Although families have tried to contact administration officials, the administration denies any knowledge of their whereabouts. According to family members, the physicians are being held incommunicado in unknown locations. . . . Click here to tell Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa that Bahrain needs to free all healthcare workers who have been illegally arrested or detained.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/php210411.html
Bahrain Rights TV, “Arrested in Bahrain” (Video)
Among the arrested are human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, Wa’ad Secretary General Ebrahim Sharif, Haq Secretary General Hassan Mushaima.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/bahrain210411.html
In Bahrain, first, they came for the athletes
The counter-revolution is being televised, with witch trials played out on Bahrani talkshows. On April 4, Bahrain state television ran a chatshow segment in which prosecutor-journalists grilled Ala’a Hubail, a member of the national football team and winner of the 2004 Golden Boot. This public interrogation and shaming was a result of his repeated appearances at demonstrations during the Bahraini uprising which began on February 14. The next day Hubail – a trained paramedic who reportedly worked as a medic at demonstrations – and his brother Mohamed (also a member of the national football team) were detained by the authorities and have remained in custody since.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/22/bahrain-counter-revolution-televised-athletes
Free Ebrahim Sharif Campaign, “Free Ebrahim Sharif, a Political Prisoner in Bahrain”
Ebrahim Sharif is a 53-year-old Bahraini politician, businessman, husband, father — and now, a political prisoner. He serves as the secretary general of the National Democratic Action Society (also known as Waad). . . . At around 2 AM, on Thursday, March 17, 2011 Ebrahim was arrested at his home by the Bahrain government. His only crime was calling for genuine democratic reforms in Bahrain. He was not allowed to contact his family for over a week, and even then he was only allowed a few seconds to talk on the phone. His lawyer is called upon by military authorities to attend interrogation sessions only, which has been twice so far since Ebrahim’s arrest. Beyond that there has been no other communication. We believe he may be at risk of torture or abuse under detention, as on April 10 he was reported to have been hospitalized for traumatic injuries. This unconfirmed tragic news reached his wife a week later. Since the beginning of April, four political detainees have died in police custody in Bahrain, their bodies showing significant bruises and other telltale signs of torture.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/freesharif220411.html
Sadr Front launches “Munasiroun” project in support of Bahraini people
The Sadr Front in Basra launched on Thursday the project of Munasiroun (Supporters) with the participation of tens thousands of Basra residents. During a march organized by the Sadr Front, the project supervisor affirmed that the project will be launched in Kurdistan provinces within the coming days. The project aims mainly to support the Bahraini people, head of Ahrar bloc in Basra said.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-63317-Sadr-Front-launches-%E2%80%9CMunasiroun%E2%80%9D-project-in-support-of-Bahraini-people.html
Bahraini government rag: can you imagine if this threat to diplomats is printed in a Syrian daily? The UNSC would have held a special emergency session
“As our country returns to normal, it would be very abnormal if we did not highlight and question the role of a diplomat. I hope that we do not need to say that a diplomat is a decent man sent abroad to lie on behalf of his country.  In a world where immorality is becoming the norm, should we maintain a protocol of immunity for the Diplomatic Corp when they seem to be licensed to harm without any accountability?”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/bahraini-government-rag-can-you-imagine.html
Lies of the Bahraini royal family
R sent me this:  “Foreign Affairs Ministry says: “U.N Secretary General, for his part, emphasized the world organization’s support for measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to maintain security and stability. He also praised the political reforms led by His Majesty the King and Bahrain’s progress and prosperity at all levels.” vs. U(seless)N says: “Ban Ki-moon today voiced his concern to Bahrain’s Foreign Minister about the violence in the country in which demonstrators have been killed or injured, and called for maximum restraint and caution.”  Previously UN says: “The office of the human UN rights chief said Tuesday it appeared to have been targeted by an orchestrated e-mail campaign after it condemned a takeover of Bahrain hospitals by security forces. “Since last Thurday, we’ve been inundated with e-mails telling us we got it back to front and that the protesters are the ones completely at fault,” said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Many of these e-mails are very similar in content, suggesting an orchestrated campaign. That said, some or even many of these e-mails may be genuine,” he added.” vs.  GDN (pro-gov rag) says: “UN ‘got it wrong’ during protests”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/lies-of-bahraini-royal-family.html
Iran and Bahrain exchange threats of embassy closure
Kuwait confirms expulsion of Iranian diplomats: Mehr News Agency quotes Hossein Sobhaninia of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, saying Bahrain will have committed “an irreparable error” if it shuts down the Iranian embassy “under pressure from the U.S. and Western governments.”
http://www.payvand.com/news/11/apr/1201.html
Egypt
Mubarak detained for further 15 days
Egypt’s state prosecutor renews detention of ousted leader amid probe into deadly crackdown on protesters and corruption, MENA news agency says.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4059799,00.html
Egyptian government to ease siege on Gaza
CAIRO (Ma’an) — The Egyptian government will apply new procedures at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to ease travel for residents of the besieged coastal enclave, officials said Thursday. During a meeting in Cairo, Baha Ad-Dusuqi, head of Palestinian affairs in the Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed Gaza government spokesman Taher An-Nunu that new measures would be in place at the terminal soon.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381040
Protecting Mubarak in the Western Press

Notice that the US press is ignoring the details of Mubarak’s wealth.  It is now clear, based on what is being released in the Egyptian press, that Mubrak’s wealth and corruption far exceeds that of Saddam Husayn, who had oil wealth at his disposal.  I guess the information is embarrassing about a favorite US/Israeli client.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/protecting-mubarak-in-western-press.html 
Iraq
Iraq: Widening Crackdown on Protests
(New York) – Kurdistan authorities should end their widening crackdown on peaceful protests in northern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should hold accountable those responsible for attacking protesters and journalists in Arbil and Sulaimaniya since April 17, 2011, including opening fire on demonstrators and beating them severely, Human Rights Watch said.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/21/iraq-widening-crackdown-protests
Iraqi security disperse protesters rallying against US presence
Mosul, Iraq – Iraqi police and military forces fired shots in the air to disperse hundreds of people in a northern Iraqi city who gathered Friday to protest against the US presence in the country, witnesses said.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1634680.php/Iraqi-security-disperse-protesters-rallying-against-US-presence
Libya
Civilians killed in Misurata fighting
At least five civilians have been killed in a day of fierce clashes between pro-government troops and rebel forces in the western city of Misurata.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/04/20114202007911902.html
U.S. begins using Predator drones in Libya
The decision announced by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates marks a resumption of a direct combat role for U.S. aircraft in Libya and represents a shift for the White House. President Obama has approved the use of armed Predator drone aircraft to launch airstrikes against ground targets in Libya, the latest sign of mounting concern in Washington that the NATO-led air campaign has failed to stop Moammar Kadafi’s forces from shelling the besieged city of Misurata and other populated areas.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/2eKiNAew36g/la-fg-gates-libya-20110422,0,338013.story
Libyan ground forces degraded by up to 40 pct-U.S.
BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) – Coalition air strikes have degraded Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s main ground forces by 30 to 40 percent, but the conflict is becoming deadlocked, the top U.S. military officer said on Friday. “It’s certainly moving towards a stalemate,” said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military’s joint chiefs of staff, addressing U.S. troops during a visit to Baghdad.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-ground-forces-degraded-by-up-to-40-pct-us
Libya rebels seize border post
Footage has emerged of armed fighters opposed to the continuing 42-year-rule of Muammar Gaddafi seizing a border post along Libya’s national boundary with Tunisia. Gaddafi’s troops initially fled into Tunisia, but later returned to Libya, said Tunisian state TV. Waheed Burshan, a Tunis-based political activist, tells Al Jazeera’s Nick Clark about the scene at the Wazin border crossing.

Libya rebels show off arms captured at border post
TUNISIA-LIBYA BORDER, April 22 (Reuters) – Libyan rebels showed off weapons captured from Muammar Gaddafi’s fleeing soldiers on Friday, a day after seizing a remote border crossing with Tunisia. Thousands of people have fled worsening violence in Libya’s Western Mountains region over the last week through the border crossing near the southern Tunisian town of Dehiba.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-rebels-show-off-arms-captured-at-border-post
Libyan rival forces face-off in Misurata
Fierce fighting continues for the centre of Misurata, the only significant western Libyan city in the hands of the opposition. Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have been pounding it with shells and rockets in recent weeks. But rebel fighters say they are making gains, according to footage from an organisation connected to the National Transitional Council. Al Jazeera’s Nick Toksvig reports.

Free Libyan fighters exult in small Victories, as US begins Drone Strikes
In the west on the Tunisian border, Berber rebel troops have taken a checkpoint and chased away 200 Qaddafi loyalists, who took refuge in Tunisia. The checkpoint is on a road that can be used to supply the Western Mountain Region of Berber towns who are in revolt against Qaddafi and who are under siege, including Zintain. Libyan rebels in Misrata say that they have taken back portions of Tripoli Street, including some key tall buildings from which Qaddafi loyalists had been sniping at anyone walking below.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/04/free-libyan-fighters-exult-in-small-victories-as-us-begins-drone-strikes.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
The deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Misurata.
Ahmad Hassan, a pro-democracy activist from Misurata, talks to Al Jazeera about the worsening humanitarian crisis there.

For Misrata ambulances, every run is life or death
MISRATA, Libya, April 22 (Reuters) – Driving an ambulance in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata is always a matter of life or death these days — not only for the injured passenger in the back, but also for the luckless driver in the front. Drivers say snipers and mortar operators loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, waging a bitter street-by-street war of attrition against rebels across Misrata, regard an ambulance as a juicy target.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/for-misrata-ambulances-every-run-is-life-or-death
What more can the opposition do in Libya?
Shashank Joshi, from the Royal United Services institute, talks to Al Jazeera about what more can be done from the opposition in Libya.

Libyans complain arms embargo hits trade, fishing
TRIPOLI, April 22 (Reuters) – Only two ships have docked at Tripoli’s once-bustling port since mid-March and a NATO-enforced arms embargo is strangling trade and stopping fishermen from putting to sea, Libya’s coast guard and port officials say. NATO ships and planes in the Mediterranean are helping enforce a United Nations arms embargo against Muammar Gaddafi’s government, monitoring, searching and — if they see fit — diverting vessels suspected of carrying arms or mercenaries.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyans-complain-arms-embargo-hits-trade-fishing
Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, R.I.P.
Two of the world’s best photojournalists, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, were killed Wednesday in Misurata. They were part of a group of six photographers reporting on the Libyan conflict in a particularly dangerous part of the besieged city.
Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, R.I.P.
Libyan royal family waits in wings for Gaddafi ouster
Mohammed al-Senussi has lived in exile for more than 20 years, ever since his family relinquished their claim to Libya’s throne in the wake of a military coup led by Moamer Gaddafi.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1634404.php/Libyan-royal-family-waits-in-wings-for-Gaddafi-ouster
Syria
Syria: Rein in Security Services
(New York) – President Bashar al-Asad’s decision to lift the state of emergency should be accompanied by concrete measures to halt the grave daily human rights violations being committed by Syria’s security forces, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to permit Syrians to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on April 22, 2011.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/04/21/syria-rein-security-services
Syrians hold ‘Great Friday’ protests
Protests come as activists demand an end to Baath Party monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic system.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/04/201142203815205988.html
Deaths reported in Friday protests in Syria
Security forces said to have killed 20 protesters as anti-government demonstrations rock the country.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/04/201142212452973755.html
Syrian information ministry spokeswoman speaks to Al Jazeera.
Reem Haddad questions claims by rights groups that more than 220 protesters have been killed since anti-government demonstrations erupted in March.

Al Jazeera correspondent reports from Damascus
Rula Amin reports from Damascus, as anti-government protests rock the country.

Loyal, secretive security forces keep Syria leader in power
Unlike in Tunisia and Egypt, there have been few defections in the armed forces despite a burgeoning protest movement. Unable to stem a growing popular uprising with promises of reform, ceaseless propaganda and restrictions on the news media, Syria’s government still retains one powerful weapon: the solid support of a secretive web of security forces that so far show no signs of abandoning President Bashar Assad and his Baath Party.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/zemXJcvT40s/la-fg-syria-security-forces-20110422,0,6078528.story
Syria activists issue joint statement on democracy
AMMAN, April 22 (Reuters) – Syrian activists coordinating mass protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian rule demanded on Friday the abolition of Baath Party monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic political system. In the first joint statement since protests erupted five weeks ago, the Local Coordination Committees, representing provinces across Syria, said “freedom and dignity slogans cannot be achieved except through peaceful democratic change”. “All prisoners of conscience must be freed. The existing security apparatus has to be dismantled and replaced by one with with specific jurisdiction and which operates according to law,” said the joint statement, which was sent to Reuters.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/syria-activists-issue-joint-statement-on-democracy
The Government Draws a Line in the Sand
The Syrian government has drawn a line in the sand. Now that it has made concessions — canceled the special National Security Court, lifted the emergency law, fired governors of Banyas and Deraa governates, named a new Prime Minister and cabinet and promised a new party law — the president has stated that there is no longer reason to demonstrate. He has called the on-going uprising a rebellion. The Baath Party has stated that there will be no tolerance with “terrorists” in the Arab country.
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=9214&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Syriacomment+%28Syria+Comment%29
US seeks to exploit anti-Assad movement in Syria
According to cables published by WikiLeaks, the State Department provided $6 million to an Islamic group, the Movement for Justice and Development, similar to Turkey’s ruling party of the same name, set up by Syrian exiles in London.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/apr2011/syri-a21.shtml
Tunisia
Tunisian gender-parity ‘revolution’ hailed
In a regional breakthrough, parties must present equal numbers of male and female candidates in Tunisia’s July vote.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/africa/2011/04/2011421161714335465.html
Problems linger in Sidi Bouzid
It was the self-immolation of a young Tunisian man that sparked the uprising that has spread across the Arab world. However, months after the revolution that brought down 23 years of authoritarian rule, the struggle there in Tunisia is far from over, as Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri reports from Sidi Bouzid. Mohamed Bouazizi’s desperate gesture might have ignited the uprising. But it was years of state oppression – poverty and unemployment that really inspired people to protest — President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is gone – but this remains one of the poorest parts of Tunisia.

Yemen
Massive Protests Reported In Yemen As Government Moves On Military
SANAA, Yemen — Authorities in Yemen have moved against military figures who defected from the camp of the country’s embattled president to join the opposition, arresting several officers on Friday, according to a military official. The detentions reflect President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s defiance in the face of two months of protests demanding he relinquish power and growing defections by loyalists, tribal allies, ranking government officials and military figures.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/22/yemen-protests-saleh_n_852445.html
Other & Analysis, Op-ed
Saudi Shi’ite protesters demand human rights reform
JEDDAH, April 22 (Reuters) – Some 200 Shi’ites protested in Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing east on Friday, calling for human rights reform and denouncing the demolition of Shi’ite mosques in nearby Bahrain, two activists told Reuters. The gathering in the town of Awwamiya defied a call by leading Shi’ite clerics a day earlier for an end to two months of protests in the conservative kingdom’s Eastern Province, in an apparent bow to government pressure. Shi’ite activists said they were protesting against the destruction of Shi’ite mosques in Bahrain by the Sunni-led government, after its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in the country led mostly by Shi’ites.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/saudi-shiite-protesters-demand-human-rights-reform
Iran and the Arab world
Watching developments in the Arab world and the intensification of protests in Syria only confirms this impression: the repressive Iranian regime was only able to preserve the regime in the face of protests last year purely because the regime has real basis of support, unlike all other Arab regimes (Gulf regimes don’t have social bases but they have populations susceptible to mass bribes by the royal families.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/iran-and-arab-world.html
Zionist fanatics are in awe of House of Saud
“Who would have thought that we would find ourselves agreeing with the Saudi approach to events in the Middle East, while thinking our own government needs a “reset”?    National Security Council Advisor Tom Donilon visited Saudi Arabia and Saudi King Abdullah brought three of his advisors to the meeting: Director of General Intelligence Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz; Secretary-General of the National Security Council Prince Bandar bin Sultan; and Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel Jubeir. David V. Dafinoiu of the Global Intelligence Center describes Muqrin as focused on Iran, Yemen, Libya and al Qaeda; Bandar on foreign military relations other than the United States; and Jubeir having the U.S. portfolio. All, according to the Dafinoiu, are “Hawks and live wires.”  That looks about right – Iran, Yemen, Libya and al Qaeda are where the action is; Saudi Arabia is buying military equipment from China as well as the United States; and well, it was an American envoy, so Jubeir was there. Notice what did not appear to be on the agenda – Israel, Israeli occupation, Palestinians or Palestinian independence.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/04/zionist-fanatics-are-in-awe-of-house-of.html
Is the Tide Turning Against Arab Freedom?, PATRICK COCKBURN
Is a counter-revolutionary tide beginning to favour the “strongmen” of the Arab world, whose regimes appeared a couple of months ago to be faltering under the impact of the Arab Awakening? From Libya to Bahrain and Syria to Yemen, leaders are clinging on to power despite intense pressure from pro-democracy protesters. And the counter-revolution has so far had one undoubted success: the Bahraini monarchy, backed by troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, has brutally but effectively crushed the protesters in the island kingdom. Pro-democracy leaders are in jail or have fled abroad. The majority Shia population is being terroriZed by arbitrary arrests, torture, killings, disappearances, sackings, and the destruction of its mosques and religious places.
http://www.counterpunch.com/patrick04222011.html

Two cheers for Palestinian statehood-recognition

Apr 22, 2011

Issa Khalaf

It’s true that the nauseatingly labeled state building endeavor, measured by institutional, economic and security functions and “performance” criteria that the “international community” demands of the Palestinians while coercing them into a fictitious “peace process,” long ago became little more than delaying tactics allowing ever more time for Israeli expansion/colonization. It’s true too that the Palestinian security and police forces will more likely be used to oppress rather than defend their people. The PA leadership and the socio-economic elite, increasingly one and the same, are captive to outside interests and whose self-enrichment depends on the American imposed neo-liberal political economy. And it requires no great leap of insight or understanding to conclude that a declaration of statehood will not result in Israeli withdrawal from the OPT and Palestinian self-determination. No territorial continuity, no sovereignty, no control over the entire occupied territories– all make the idea of declaring a state apparently absurd.

For Palestinians and other supporters of Palestine who argue that seeking, much less declaring, statehood is a mirage and farce, their agenda is a single democratic or bi-national state and the Palestinian refugees’ right of return, which, to be sure, is at the heart of the meaning and spirit of Palestinian self-determination. Declaring a state in 1967 borders, they fear, will have the effect of legally reconfirming that the Palestinians have no claims on their historic rights including return of refugees. For others, including liberal Jews who anxiously support such a move, their agenda’s logic is that support of Palestinian political-legal claims and statehood in the 1967 lines saves Israel from itself, maintains it as a “Jewish state,” and leads to end of conflict including dropping the demand of refugee return.

What if we think of a multifaceted strategy that includes declaration of statehood in pursuit of a sovereign state in the 1967 borders, already legally supported; a campaign of non-violent resistance calling for freedom, rights, equality; and acceptance, in principle, of a negotiated settlement? After all, the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for BDS declared the following principles:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

By demanding an end to the occupation and equality for Palestino-Israelis and the right of return, the civil society call neither affirms nor denies a Palestinian state but certainly implies it, as it does its logical concomitant, two states.

The question is, Must Palestinian strategy consist of either a state declaration or a non-violent campaign that demands freedom, human rights, and equality complemented by and contextualized in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement?

My answer is a contingent no, especially now that negotiations are moribund and Abbas/Fayyad are not adhering to the US-Israeli scheme of coercing the Palestinian people into a settlement of surrender. Before explaining, let me say this: statehood declaration, as a goal by itself or embedded in a more inclusive strategic context as I will suggest, is dependent on one critical element: it is meaningless if not accompanied by de jure UN recognition/membership.

Broadly speaking, years ago the PA leadership should have pulled out from negotiations, unified its people, insisted on an end to the occupation and colonial expansion based on international law and UN resolutions, demanded Palestinian rights, freedom, equality, self-determination, pursued a political and diplomatic offensive, gone to the UN/declared a state. In the abstract, such a strategy would be inclusive, not merely to manage conflict nor a permanent, comprehensive solution; not a temporary, provisional, transitional or partial solution, nor a one- or two-state solution. It is all of them and none of them. The Palestinians must play by their own rules and be flexibly prepared. What would it tangibly look like?

The Palestinians would develop a multifaceted strategy that includes three elements: seeking de jure UN membership, accepting in principle two states based on international law and UNSC resolutions, and struggling for freedom, human rights, equality in a non-violent campaign of resistance to end the occupation and that affirms peace, coexistence, and life. Each strategy will have its own constituent tactical elements (one at UN, the other peace conference/negotiations, the third mass organizing). Together they have a better chance of ending the occupation than the current state of collaboration with the occupiers in an interminable “peace process.”

The Palestinians will make clear their acceptance of negotiations in principle but insist on an UN-internationally sponsored conference. If the US gets its way against the Europeans and Arab states and obstructs this option, then maintain a reserve option that accepts bilateral negotiations in principle but formulate a set of clear conditions only under which negotiations can resume. Taking a leaf from the Israeli book, the Palestinians can manage the “peace process” indefinitely without capitulation to Israel’s expansionist fait accompli while also engaging the UN.

Yes, a multi-pronged strategy, because of its diffuseness and ambiguity contains potential complexity, contradiction, and unpredictability. But it is predicated on pragmatism and flexibility: change tactics and emphases as events unfold. The Israelis have done little else for decades.

The insistence by some on mutual exclusivity of Palestinian strategies—no two states, no UN statehood, yes non-violent one state campaign—is scary if one thinks of Palestinian history. Palestinian leaders, beginning in the Mandate, seem forever mired in factional and personal struggles for power, their political goals thwarted by their divisions, swinging between principle and pragmatism and unable to find a balance between the two. Progressive shrinkage of Palestine, loss of Palestinian freedom, and remoteness of Palestinian self-determination are the ineluctable consequences. Historically, the lack of a state or its acceptance until 1988 contributed to Palestinian legal/sovereign weakness, for a powerful argument in support of a UN membership is its legal insulation against others’ claims and aggressions. Albeit, as colonists, they were compromising nothing because they were not Palestine’s owners, and strategically used a state as a springboard for further territorial expansion, the Zionists understood the paramount importance of obtaining de jure international recognition and legitimacy.

US money may stop, perhaps also European, though this is unlikely if the Palestinians insist they accept in principle a negotiated settlement. Israel may escalate its violence, and the American press may generally vilify the Palestinians, who must focus, through the BDS structures, on mobilizing NGOs, global civil society, Arab and Western public opinion.

A Palestinian state that acquires de jure recognition by admission into the UN as a full member powerfully reaffirms the principle and reality that Israel is an illegal trespasser in the OPT. As I previously wrote, such a state can proceed to ask for protection, exercise its right to defense, request UN supervision, initiate an international peace conference, etc. Actually, the US-Israeli position is legally and morally false, for withdrawing from the occupied territories is a precondition to a negotiated solution, not the other way round. Why not have a legally recognized state in place?

Declaration of statehood/UN membership can potentially reposition the way a negotiated solution is approached. Palestine would be negotiating as an already established legal fact whose lawful and moral goal is the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all of the OPT. Furthermore, declaring a state will allow the Palestinians to postpone, hence not forfeit, the right of return and Jerusalem, including if they subsequently (or ever) achieve a negotiated settlement for two states.

Just as with the comparison between the South African and Palestine realities, the comparison of a state in the West Bank and Gaza to the South African Bantustan experience is overstated, certainly if it actually means complete Israeli withdrawal from the OPT and leads to authentic sovereignty. Also, just because a government, i.e., the PA, is needed to declare statehood and seek UN membership, the current government and leadership are not destined for permanency; they can be changed and Palestinian institutions democratically reformed with time.

Israelis’ and Americans’ scurrying and warnings against state declaration and Netanyahu’s coming scheme to preempt, and blame, the Palestinians, tells us they see it as a real “threat” to their plans for unchallenged hegemony in support of the status quo. Netanyahu’s violence in Gaza, supported by the US, is of course a (US-Israeli) attempt to prevent Hamas-PA reconciliation. The last thing they want is true Palestinian democracy and unity. So I suppose, judging by this measure, a Palestinian state cannot be the worst thing that can happen, and it may test how far the American-imposed regional order has weakened. The EU seems to be encouraging the Palestinians and committing more aid.

I am not delusional over the PA elite’s determination to stay in power, about its authoritarianism-light and American-inspired “securitization.” Yet, the Palestinian public in the OPT is relatively quiet, almost lethargic, permitting the PA to continue with business as usual including plans for a declared state. Perhaps, like the Syrians, they fear widespread disorder and more hardship. Perhaps it’s because they are watching to see how matters unfold, for there seems to actually be an expectation, a desire, of achieving de jure statehood and on whose success the PA’s public support hangs.

Ideally, national reconciliation and unity through any mechanism, including elections (but not before agreement with Hamas), national manifesto, or national congress would first, before declaration, take place. Abbas may yet salvage what’s left of the PNA by cleaning house and immediately calling a conference of all factions and civil society groups in Palestinian society. Regardless, even if the Fatah dominated PA forges ahead without first achieving national reconciliation and unity, just declaring/seeking de jure statehood puts it more on the side of the Palestinians and not on that of the US and Israel, and may even push it, whether it likes it or not and for the sake of survival, into national unity.

At one time, before the Oslo process and the arrival of Arafat in the OPT corrupted, divided and dispossessed the Palestinians even more, the goal of self-determination through two states as a pragmatic option in place of a secular democratic state, seemed a positive thing, based on the vision of coexistence, equality and sharing of historic Palestine. Why not resurrect this vision and use statehood as the absolute beginning in fulfilling it? We know the Zionists’/Israelis’ century old master plan is eradicating the Palestinian national presence in Palestine, that Israel’s annexations/colonization are virtually irreversible, and that they will not withdraw from even half of the West Bank, much less every inch of the OPT. We know, too, that, even with Palestine membership, effective UN action to protect the Palestinians or realize their rights will be blocked. This does not mean, however, that a multifaceted plan that includes de jure statehood to deal with this dismal reality constitutes escapism or nonsensical or wishful thinking; instead, it may begin a rejuvenation of Palestinian energies towards a new vision, unity, leaders, and program.

In the end, the hubbub may be much ado about nothing for military power determines outcomes, and it’s unclear who or what can pry loose and eject the morally bankrupt Israeli albatross. In that case, why the concern, for nothing changes except one important thing: the UN would have reaffirmed that all the OPT are Palestine’s. Israel and its US partner in duplicity will have come under international pressure and embarrassment—that’s assuming the PA, soon to be under immense US-induced stress and Congressional threats as Netanyahu hits the Washington circuit, goes through with it and, secondly, actually succeeds in gaining UN membership.

For those deeply concerned that statehood may undermine historic rights and the vision of a single state, one must remember that the PLO already recognized Israel in its pre-1967 borders. In any case, little is set in stone, certainly for the Zionists. Technically speaking, pre-1967 Israel is illegal, having expanded through aggression beyond the UN partition resolution of 1947, and it still, by design, refuses to define its borders. Once de jure status is actually achieved—far from a guaranteed outcome—and even if Netanyahu, in response, executes a semblance of withdrawal and declares unilateral borders (not a certainty because of Zionist greed), these expanded borders will remain illegal, as they are in Syria and Lebanon, and thus, really, little changes. The occupation remains an occupation. Perhaps it makes sense, then, that the powerless Palestinians at this historical juncture legally protect their last remaining territory (the OPT) from Israeli claims based on nothing more than power and violence. It’s like a Palestinian guarantee of claim and right in an uncertain, dangerous future.

(15 April 2011)

A question for our pro-Israel visitors . . .

Apr 22, 2011

James North

. . . Do you really think, if a 2-state solution is agreed on, that the Israeli military will do whatever it takes to remove the 500,000 Israeli settlers/colonists from the West Bank to back behind the green line, to the pre-1967 borders of Israel?

Let’s not forget: the settler/colonists are people who murdered their own prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and who continue to boast about it.  These are people who produced the mass killer, Dr. Baruch Goldstein.  These are people who are armed and who do not hesitate to use violence.

In other words, would a genuine 2-state solution provoke a civil war?  Would the Israeli army split?  Would a well-trained and committed section break away?  In Algeria in the early 1960s, the far right-wing OAS (Secret Army Organization), composed of French colonists and soldiers, split off, and waged a ferocious terrorist campaign in both Algeria and France itself. Is there any reason to believe the same thing would not happen in Israel?

Would the United Nations, or other foreign military forces, have to be called in?  How long would such a civil war last?

And why do those of you who support the 2-state solution think it is self-evidently more practical, less utopian, then the 1-state solution?

‘The Palestine Cables’: Obama administration killed off independent U.N. investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Apr 22, 2011

Alex Kane

It was a shocking event in a twenty-two day assault filled with them:  the Israeli military shelled a United Nations compound in Gaza City January 15, where humanitarian aid like fuel and water pumping stations were stationed as well as hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment.  John Ging, the Gaza Director of Operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) described the scene on Democracy Now!

This morning, there were three rounds of white phosphorus which landed in our compound in Gaza. That set ablaze the main warehouse and the big workshop we have there for vehicles. At the time, there were 700, also, people displaced from the fighting. There were full fuel tankers there. The Israeli army have been given all the coordinates of all our facilities, including this one. They also knew that there were fuel tankers laden with fuel in the compound, and they would have known that there were hundreds of people who had taken refuge.

It was one of a number of incidents during “Operation Cast Lead” where the Israeli military attacked United Nations facilities.  But the possibility of an further inquiry that would investigate violations of international law during these attacks was killed following intense U.S. lobbying, according to newly published State Department cables released by WikiLeaks and reported on by Foreign Policy‘s Colum Lynch.  The efforts by the Obama administration to scuttle any investigation is similar to their efforts on the Goldstone report, and shows in detail how the U.S. uses its muscle in international forums to protect Israel.

A report was published in May 2009 on nine incidents where U.N. facilities were attacked by Israel.  The full report was never published, although a summary of the U.N. report stated that the “Government of Israel is responsible for the deaths and injuries that occurred within the United Nations premises” in seven of the nine incidents investigated.

A number of recommendations were made for further follow-up, which included seeking compensation from Israel and seeking public statements from Israel that allegations of Palestinian fighters firing from within UNRWA facilities were unfounded. The most controversial recommendation included in the report was the call for an “impartial inquiry” into violations of international humanitarian law.  But the possibility of that inquiry was quashed in the cover letter to the summary of the report, written by Ki-Moon.  “As for the Board’s recommendations numbers 10 and 11 [which called for further inquiries], which relate to matters that did not largely fall within the Board of Inquiry’s Terms of Reference, I do not plan any further Inquiry,” Ki-Moon wrote.

And despite Moon’s insistence at a press conference that the work of the board of inquiry was “completely independent,” State Department cables tell a much different story of U.S. pressure on Moon to kill off the possibility of an independent investigation.

Lynch reports:

The most controversial part of the probe involved recommendations by Martin that the U.N. conduct a far-reaching investigation into violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces, Hamas, and other Palestinian militants. On May 4, 2009, the day before Martin’s findings were presented to the media, Rice caught wind of the recommendations and phoned Ban to complain that the inquiry had gone beyond the scope of its mandate by recommending a sweeping investigation.

“Given that those recommendations were outside the scope of the Board’s terms of reference, she asked that those two recommendations not be included in the summary of the report that would be transmitted to the membership,” according to an account contained in the May 4 cable. Ban initially resisted. “The Secretary-General said he was constrained in what he could do since the Board of Inquiry is independent; it was their report and recommendations and he could not alter them, he said,” according to the cable.

But Rice persisted, insisting in a subsequent call that Ban should at least “make clear in his cover letter when he transmits the summary to the Security Council that those recommendations exceeded the scope of the terms of reference and no further action is needed.” Ban offered no initial promise. She subsequently drove the point home again, underlining the “importance of having a strong cover letter that made clear that no further action was needed and would close out this issue.”

Ban began to relent, assuring Rice that “his staff was working with an Israeli delegation on the text of the cover letter.”

After completing the cover letter, Ban phoned back Rice to report that he believed “they had arrived at a satisfactory cover letter. Rice thanked the Secretary-General for his exceptional efforts on such a sensitive issue.”

At the following day’s news conference, Ban flat-out rejected Martin’s recommendation for an investigation. While underscoring the board’s independent nature, he made it clear that “it is not my intention to establish any further inquiry.” Although he acknowledged publicly that he had consulted with Israel on the findings, he did not say it had been involved in the preparation of the cover letter killing off the call for an investigation. Instead, he only made a request to the Israelis to pay the U.N. more than $11 million in financial compensation for the damage done to U.N. facilities.

Alex Kane blogs on Israel/Palestine and Islamophobia in the United States at alexbkane.wordpress.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexbkane. Read all of ‘The Palestine Cables’ reports here.

Tearful April mornings

Apr 22, 2011

Hatim Kanaaneh

“April is the cruelest month.”
T. S. Eliot.

In rural Palestine we belittle men who cry. Only women let their tears flow freely. It is considered less than manly. Real men are stoic and conceal their pain, physical as well as emotional. At least in public, I try to conform to the dictates of village culture in matters that do not impinge greatly on my personal freedom. Perhaps that is why I rarely attend funerals in Arrabeh. But also I attend few weddings. Now that the village is large enough for weddings and/or funerals to be daily occurrences I avoid both extremes of village social interactions. Instead I celebrate and grieve privately on YouTube, enjoying a daily portion of Arabic song and dance on or commiserating with fellow peace and justice seekers on our various cyberspace powwows.

A rural tradition I have come to observe recently is early rising: I am up each morning at the crack of dawn, just as the seven youthful muezzins commence blaring their cacophonous calls for prayer from the loudspeakers atop their minarets, strategically dispersed around the village to reach its every bedroom. Not that I have anything against praising the good Lord early in the morning. In fact on occasion I enjoy a visit on my tape recorder with Sheik Kaid, the old village muezzin and my former Arabic language teacher who used to dock me points for not appearing at the mosque for the Friday noon group prayer. After I came back from my studies in the States and before he went on his mosque building spree resulting eventually in six additional mosques in the village, I took the trouble of making my own recording of his beautiful call for the dawn prayer. I did it one early calm summer morning when there was nothing to disturb the village peace. It was when the sheik still did not have a loudspeaker; he sang his praise of God and call of the faithful to the mosque from the lofty balcony of the old minaret in the center of Arrabeh in the serene calm of Galilee. Only an occasional rooster would crow, a dog bark or a donkey bray. It was before the advent of electricity, the innovation that threw the roosters’ timing off and made them crow every time an electric light is switched on in the village.

Once the muezzin’s morning competition in praising God is over calm returns except for the melodious singing of blackbirds in my garden. By then I have prepared my morning cup of coffee and switched my computer on. I start with a quick glance at my email inbox for any special messages, loaf around cyberspace for a few minutes, and then proceed with the morning’s writing assignment for the next few hours.

On Saturday, April, 09, 2011 I connected to The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice to check if the website had acknowledged the piece of bitter sarcasm I had just added on my blog about the last two sessions of the Corries’ court case against the State of Israel. Bam! Rachel’s glorious smile went right through to my heart. I was devastated. How could I have such emotional crush, fatherly as it was, on a young woman I never met in person? I craved for a hug from that beautiful woman to quench my longing for her. It was two months since the last time I had held Rhoda, my daughter, in my arms. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Here was Rhoda being run over by the blade of that D-9 Caterpillar. Oh, my God! How can they do that to my sweetheart? I held Rachel closer to my heart to protect her from the biblical cruelty she sacrificed herself to protect other humans from. I squeezed hard and broke out crying. I was afraid I might wake my wife. I gulped silently for air and let my tears flow quietly down my unshaven face. What kind of man was I? I had to take control of myself. I gave Rhoda a tight hug and kissed Rachel on the cheek before I opened my eyes and walked over to the washbasin to splash some cold water on my face. I refilled my coffee cup, went back to my computer and wrote a couple of emotional pages in my novel about Galilee, Palestine and Israel.

After a breakfast of fresh citrus fruits and fried eggs from my two surviving free-range chickens I puttered around in the garden for a while. By now I felt exhausted. I took a rest. [How did He manage to slug at it for six days straight before taking a rest? Perhaps He didn’t have much on His mind. Bad thoughts are more exhausting than ditch digging; take it from one who practices both regularly. It must have been before the Internet and all its disturbing tidings.] Soon I was up again with my laptop. I saw another video, this one posted by Kate on Mondoweiss, the online periodical that proclaims itself as the locus for “The war of ideas in the Middle East” and hence the place where I occasionally give expression to my frustration and bitter protesting. April 9th is the memorial day of the Deir Yassin massacre. [He simply couldn’t have seen this video and kept quiet. Please, don’t be upset with me. I am giving Him the benefit of the Doubt. After all, He must have slept on the job and didn’t see the actual event in 1948, just as he did earlier when the holocaust was in progress. But at least, later on, when He found out about the holocaust He tried to do something about it; He compensated His favorite children politically and financially. Never mind that He screwed us, the Palestinians, in the process.] Here is the link for it should you want to rid your body of excess salt and accumulated fluid. I for one cried my eyes out.

The over-half-an-hour-long video opens and ends with the saddest o‘ud music. In between it maintains a balance between Arab and Jewish narrators and covers a range of relevant information, from the three existing Deir Yassin memorials in New York, Scotland, and Wales to the orphanage and school established by the grand Palestinian philanthropist, Hind el-Hussainy for Deir Yassin’s children. In an entry in her diary she specifies 138 Palestinian liras as her total savings at the time. But she had the goodwill and the moral reserve to make a go of it after she found the 55 lost children let loose by the Irgun and the Stern gangs at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.

I am pleased that Hiam Hussein, the proud daughter of the neighboring Galilee Palestinian village of Deir Hanna, has done Hind justice in playing her role in Julian Schnabel’s controversial new film, Miral. It is a film based on the autobiographical novel by the same name written by his girlfriend and former Dar el-Tifl el-Arabi resident, Rula Jebreal, another proud Palestinian with local roots, Haifa to be exact. Also I noted with displeasure that the video producers gave no credit to my own brother, Prof. Sharif Kanaana of Beir Zeit University, to the best of my knowledge the first researcher to document the actual number of Deir Yassin Palestinian residents murdered by the Zionist armed gangs and the Haganah and to stipulate that the numbers previously quoted were inflated by both sides of the conflict for their own convenient ends: by the crime perpetrators to sow panic among Palestinians and by the victims to maximize the blame for the crime.

Mind you, I am beating around the bush here. I am speaking of tangential issues to avoid crying again: The mere sight of the serene stone homes, now housing the Givat Shaul Mental Health Center, released a flood of tears. When I got to the part where a former Deir Yassin resident, likely the wife, the daughter and the sister of the village’s stonecutters of old and the descendent of seven centuries worth of stonecutting toil and sweat, was aided to walk next to her villages current barbwire perimeter and she reached to touch a tree branch to her face, I nearly collapsed stifling my urge to sob and to scream out my pain.

The next morning, Sunday, April 10, I rose before the muezzins. By the time the village regained its morning quiet I was scouting the Internet for fresh news. A mailing from a friend contained a title that piqued my curiosity: “Juliano Mer Khamis Predicted His Assassination,” it said. I clicked and followed the link to a half-minute long English language You Tube video that said it all exactly as it would actually happen to him. Here is that link. See for yourself what raw courage is:

For some ten minutes I shook with silent tears of outrage and disappointment. How could someone be so stupidly misguided? And to kill such an enlightened bright promise presumably in the name of Islam! Seven guys in Arrabeh alone had just finished noisily shouting the praises of God’s mercy and justice to be totally discredited by the bullet of a “fucked-up Palestinian” as Juliano had put it! . And the guy is not only insightful. He is a good actor; you can see it even in the half-minute video. And his blonde wife is reportedly pregnant with twins. Oh God! Now I am sobbing for the orphaned unborn twins.

That indeed was the ultimate conspiracy. Juliano was literally the embodiment of integration and understanding, himself the product of interracial love and idealism. I had met his parents, the Russian Jewess Arna and the Christian Palestinian Saliba, both protesting commitment to higher ideals of revolutionary justice, humanitarianism, and internationalism, all under their communist convictions before that pipedream turned sour. And I had met Juliano on more than one occasion. I remember him informing an audience in New York that, as a parachute trooper in the IDF before he discovered peaceful resistance, he took it for granted to carry an extra handgun in his backpack to plant on any civilian Palestinian he may kill. He was an acquaintance, not close enough for me to claim him as a friend. Now I was crying for having failed to open my heart wider for this former soldier, this brave comrade in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

The weekend before his senseless murder my wife and I had planned to travel to Jenin to see his adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland performed at the Freedom Theater, his life’s unique project and answer the world’s barbarity, to occupation and to apartheid. Alas, a friend dissuaded us from taking the trip with the explanation that on Saturdays it would take several hours to clear the checkpoint at the border. There were that many Palestinian shoppers from Galilee making the trip on their day off to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the depressed economy of the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Now I was crying for the poor Palestinian brothers and sisters who toil endless hours to wind up with worthless produce, not intrinsically worthless but rendered so by the imposed boundaries and regulations. That was what Juliano tried to tear down. Why didn’t I bother to know him more closely? Why had I never hugged him or kissed his handsome face? I had to hear him posthumously on You Tube to fall in love with him! What a rotten deal we both have had.

Saturday, the 16th of April I slept late. The night before I had stayed up past midnight at a nephew’s wedding celebration. Juliano would have felt at home at the banquet hall: a mix of village locals and communists from across the land, Arabs and Jews. The groom is one. My sister, mother of the groom, had spent the better part of a week dancing the local feminine style, alternatively clapping her hands and twirling them over her head. Finally her rheumatism kicked in and her wrist swelled up with an acute flare of inflammation. We call that “repetitive motion injury.” Doctors are striking. I had to rush over at three in the morning to put her arm in a splint and give her a painkiller. Was she crying in physical pain or for her last gosling abandoning the nest?

By sunrise I was up but not fully alert, still dazed and in a contemplative mood. A dove was romancing another on the red bougainvillea bough sweeping across the full width of my view through the window of my study. I opened the window to hear their melodic chatter. An announcement on the mosque’s loudspeaker lamented the death of a young man in another car accident. It ruined my joyous repose and I decided to check the news. Quickly I reached the news of Vittorio Arrigoni’s death. Another stab in the heart of solidarity, freedom and moderation. I read and reread all the standard platitudes: “One of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine.” “Full of the joy of life.” “The man with the big smile and gentle nature.” I never met Vittorio Arrigoni, but he had a cause: “Stay Human,” he was known to admonish all concerned. Why would anyone kill such a refreshing soul? And why the torture and willful cruelty?. Who stands to gain from this or from the murder of Juliano Mer Khamis? Or from the murder of the settler family in the outpost next to Awarta in the occupied West Bank for that matter? Not who the press reports say it is, I am sure. Check with me in fifty years when the secret documents are released and I will score another I-told-you-so point, I am sure. Or else join me in signing the appeal to keep the Wikileaks founder free.

I run the video, a collection of photos of the Italian freedom fighter set to music: He is handsome, muscular and imposing with a disarming smile and a big tattoo. Just like my son, Ty, nearly of the same age. I haven’t seen my boy for four months. What keeps me away from him and his kids, God damn it? Then I reach Carlo Latuff’s cartoon portrait of Vik holding the hand of Hanthala, Naji El-Ali’s immortal symbol of Palestinian diaspora, dispossession, resistance and survival against all odds. The floodgates open again and I cry my eyes out, not only for Vik but also for Hanthala who lost another friend and protector and for all those among us who have not learned to heed those two friends’ admonition to “Stay Human.”

I wanted a fruit. I headed to the citrus side of my garden. On the way I walked over with the key and opened the cage for my dozen new chickens. I had learned a lesson: Freedom may cost a chicken its life. Only in the security of the full light of day can my chickens be safe from the murderous mongooses. I rummaged through the navel orange branches for the last fruits of the season. The perfumed scent of the flowers was overwhelmingly pleasant. Still, picking the very last orange of the season on my tree saddened me. Unexpectedly, the pleasure of admiring my citrus trees in full bloom in the rays of the rising sun evoked sadness in my heart. And my flowering apple trees and ripening kumquats and all the red poppies underneath them. How long will I have the pleasure of connecting to my chickens and trees and to the poppies in my field? Avigdor Lieberman and his fascist followers claim them as their sacred property. After all, geographically, I live in Israel and he thinks it is his exclusive property: “Israel Beitainu –Israel is our home,” he proclaims victoriously.

How many times must I repeat: “Stay Human!”
“Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.”

This post originally appeared on Hatim Kanaaneh’s blog A Doctor in Galilee.

Ketziot Prison, redux

Apr 22, 2011

annie

Let’s revisit the Israeli raid on Ketziot Prison, please. Two days ago we ran the 2:24 minute Al Jazeera report of Israel’s Channel 2 coverage; but later it came to my attention that a fuller 15:22 minute version of the original video was available thanks to Kate’s List and Noam Sheizaf @ +927.

(For English subtitles, press arrow, then “CC” on the lower-right corner of the player)

This ‘operation’ was intended to be a morale-booster for the elite Israel Prisons Service unit Masada, to “increase morale and motivation” among prison guards. Yet a spokesperson for the Prison Service, Yaron Zamir, later categorized it as “a riot by hundreds of security prisoners…a riot that included the burning of the compound, endangering the lives of the warders”.

I urge everyone to watch the entire episode.

Vile humiliating language including degrading laughter paints a shockingly vivid portrait of a mind frame one may find hard to otherwise conceptualize without seeing and hearing it yourself. And when you’re done, read excerpts of Gideon Levy’s ’07 Haaretz article (yes, Levy was way ahead of others, as usual) below about the violent attack on Mohammed Ashkar that took place during that operation, and my own comments/questions about his killing.

Mohammed Ashkar, severely wounded, was transferred unconscious to a hospital where he was handcuffed to his bed and died, still manacled to his bedpost. His father Sati and his brother Lo’ai, himself half paralyzed as a result of torture at the hands of Shin Bet, would not ever see Mohammed alive again because they were not allowed to enter Israel. Mohammed’s mother and his wife reached the hospital after being delayed for two hours at the checkpoint. Levy reports:

The door of Mohammed’s room in the hospital was closed; two policemen stood guard next to it. Each relative was given five minutes to visit. Mohammed’s mother went in first. She relates that her son was unconscious and on life-support. His head and one hand were bandaged, and both hands and both feet were in iron handcuffs. Hijer says she started to tremble and shout: “Why is he handcuffed? Do you really think he will get up and attack you?”

The police, she says, told her she was doing her son harm. After time ran out, she begged to be allowed to stay – “Maybe he will wake up” – but the policemen told her to leave. An hour after they left, the phone call came: Mohammed is dead.

While Yamir from the prison service implies this was a ‘riot’ initiated by the prisoners the video released supports the reports from the prisoners as reported by Levy.

What happened on the night of October 22 in Ketziot prison? Lo’ai has taken testimony from prisoners who have since been released and visited him at home. “Suddenly, at two in the morning, we heard people shouting and sounds of gunfire, and we went out into the yard to see what was going on,” one of the prisoners, Omar Salah, relates. “Everyone who went into the yard was shot at from across the fence. Afterward the forces opened the gate and went through it, shooting at everyone in their way.” “They threw stun grenades at the prison wing,” another prisoner, Majid Salit, says. “When they saw us, they told us to get into the wing. We refused, and they jumped us … When they opened fire at us, we started to throw things at the forces … They kept on shooting until they pushed us into a corner … We all came out crawling on the ground. We were not allowed to look at the forces. Our heads were in the ground. “They chose a group of 10 every time and started to hit them with big truncheons and they got us back into the prison wings. When they got to me, I said I was wounded … They took me to the side and started to hit me with truncheons. They put me into the visitors’ wing, where there were 400 prisoners … We sat there for two hours, bleeding … On the way to the ambulance they hit us, and they also hit us with truncheons when we were in the ambulance.” According to the prisoners, the tents caught fire in the wake of the warders’ gunfire. There was no air in the grossly overcrowded visiting room, Omar Salah relates, and the inmates broke a window so they could breathe. “The forces arrived and started to shoot into the room,” he says. Prisoner Sufian Jamjoum describes the ammunition: “From a distance of one meter a warder shot me in the leg as I was talking to him. His weapon looked like a hunting rifle. It was the first time I ever saw this type of bullet. It was a bullet the size of an egg and there were about 200 small iron bullets inside it … I was left in the tent even though I was bleeding, and afterward I was taken to the visiting room, wounded and bleeding, with another 400 prisoners in a small, closed room.” Salah explained the circumstances of Mohammed Ashkar’s death. “The shahid [martyr] ran and entered his tent. The soldiers went into the tents. Mohammed was next to the door of tent No. 3, on the inside, and the soldier was about one meter away … When the shahid was shot and fell, he was opposite the soldier. I saw him.” Salit: “[Mohammed] stood by the door of our wing and watched what was going on. A masked man from the security forces arrived. He aimed his pistol at his head and shot him. Mohammed collapsed. The other prisoners shouted that he had to be taken to the hospital. They took him only after the tents burned.” .

There is nothing in this just released horrifying video contradicting the depiction of events as related by these prisoners. A later report from Hareetz reported the commander of Ketziot, Shlomi Cohen claimed “I am glad this operation fell to me in Ketziot…..If we manage to surprise the prisoners, all the better. If it is uncovered [beforehand], there will be shouting…..the population is expected to respond in any case.”

This was an attack on prisoners.

The Masada unit, since its founding in 2003 to replace the army and police who previously were called in to quell prison riots, has built an international reputation for riot control. It has developed a variety of controversial, so-called “no-kill” weapons such as the firing of salt pellets that burn the skin and cloth bags with metal balls, intended to injure rioters but not kill them.

Is this a prison, or a laboratory?

After Mohammed’s death the family requested he be returned to them and attempted to prevent the autopsy, but “it quickly turned out that it had already been performed”. What kind of experimental weapons were being used on these prisoners? Why did a witness report he saw the guard lift a pistol and shoot it into Mohammed’s head? Levy reports his brother Lo’ai has a video on his laptop showing “two wounds on the front skull area, a wound on his hand, eyes and mouth wide open”. Why did the guards instigate this raid in the middle of the night armed with lethal weapons? What are the chances the MSM in the US will ever report this story and give it the attention it deserves? Zilch. Mohammed was about to be released. His crime? Being a member of ‘Islamic Jihad’. Well I guess that settles it.

Mohammed Ashkar, 30, from the village of Tzaida, was jailed most recently on January 18, 2006 after being convicted of membership in Islamic Jihad. His father, Seti Ashkar, told Haaretz yesterday that the authorities first told the family Ashkar had been shot while trying to escape but shortly thereafter changed their story and said he had been accidentally shot while fire was aimed at the legs of other prisoners during the riot.The father also said the family had been told by Physicians for Human Rights that a team of doctors from abroad had investigated the circumstances of Ashkar’s death and had carried out an autopsy. The autopsy revealed that Ashkar had been killed by a live bullet from a distance of half a meter to three meters, his father said

Thank you Bijou

500 people wearing white shirts claim another hill in the West Bank to defy any peace deal

Apr 22, 2011

Kate

and other news from Today in Palestine:

Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers 
Jerusalem
PLO denounces move to seize Jerusalem homes
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Apr — The PLO has denounced indications that Israel will confiscate 27 Palestinian homes and expel their residents from a neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem. “This move is carried out within a plan of racist ethnic cleansing by the rightist Israeli government against Jerusalem,” the PLO said in a statement condemning the settlement initiative in Sheikh Jarrah, which came to light Tuesday … The PLO urged the Quartet and its member states to immediately intervene in order to prevent Israel from committing “this racist and terrorist act.” It will also request an urgent Security Council session. The strong reaction from the PLO followed reports that an extremist settler organization on Tuesday handed eviction notices to 10 Jerusalem families in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem.