NOVANEWS
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Brooklyn-Jenin: Happy Birthday, Juliano Mer Khamis
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Stories from the continuing Nakba
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Voices that are resisting
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Our fundamentalists
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Israelis defy Nakba law on Independence Day
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Mitchell resignation makes Obama the Mubarak of the Palestinian spring
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How the peace process became a ‘cruel enterprise’
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Wiesenfeld speaks truth for power
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Maria Shriver stopped believing in the Great American Family
Brooklyn-Jenin: Happy Birthday, Juliano Mer Khamis
May 15, 2011
Udi Aloni
Juliano was born on Nakbah Day and murdered on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Juliano Mer Khamis (left) and Udi Aloni (right).
Forty days have passed since the murder of Juliano Mer Khamis. Juliano –freedom fighter, cultural hero, actor, director, clown, teacher, husband, lover, tyrant, servant, father, (something of a mother), provocateur, gourmet, wild intellectual, and more than all that and encompassing all that – a soul-friend. Demons chased Juliano for years, until he taught them to bow to his will. He caught and tamed them like wild horses and harnessed them to the chariot of freedom, on which he galloped to far, inspired realms. He rode off in search of liberty and the meaning of its boundaries, and generously took us along on his fascinating journey.
Forty days have passed and I could not write a word. What language does one choose to say Kadish for a Shahid who came from a Christian family and was, himself, a Communist. So I was moved in the funeral when, in lieu of Kadish, a harmonica played the traditional tune of that song which seemingly was written for and about Jule: “What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?” So I wrote nothing for forty days, but I did function. I functioned like a man possessed, as though the spirit of Jule had come into me – and there was no one like Jule for functioning in a crisis. There is much to say about the days following the murder: about the loneliness, the melancholy, the tensions. About the family, bereft of a father, husband, and friend, that will have to have to shoulder the unbearable burden.
But I spent the days after the murder with Jule’s students, the students whom I had learned to know and love over the past year. I could tell stories about the students’ feelings of persecution, about their sense of being the disciples carrying forward his legacy, about the sense of helplessness before the faceless violence that took him from our small world. Two days after the murder we decided, the students and I, to go to Ramallah, to find a space where we could cry, mourn, remember, and become reenergized. We sought refuge far away from the place of the trauma, from the place where he, this man who turned a group of outcasts into a troupe of talented actors, was murdered. Now the students walk the streets of Ramallah and Jenin with their wounds exposed, for all to see. Sometimes they are fragile, sometimes powerful, seeking a healing balm or a holy rage to pacify their pain. My friend Adi Khalifa, a Palestinian stand-up artist from Haifa, gave a workshop on how to laugh at Jule. And so we sat there, a grieving troupe, and we could not stop laughing and crying for seven days and seven nights.
Truth be told, we became refugees from a refugee camp, and then were expelled from the hospice that had given us refuge in Ramallah. We were expelled by an administrator with a German accent, because I am an Israeli Jew. But there – faced with expulsion – twelve young Palestinians from the Jenin Refugee Camp stood angrily against the Christian-European administrator, shouting in unison that if she would not respect an Israeli Jew who came to support the struggle for equality and justice she was a racist… Hallelujah! What an amazing education Juliano gave them; he was truly ahead of his time. He brought the spirit of the Arab Spring and of Tahrir Square to his students. He kept challenging and re-challenging them, in a sort of ongoing pop-quiz about the spirit of freedom – beyond religion, beyond nationality, and beyond gender.
Hard work and unending talent turned Jule into an artist-leader, who began to create real change with revolutionary power in the whole space between the Jordan river and the sea. Unlike the project run by his mother, Arna, he was not only there to help the children in the camp. He chose to establish a professional theater in the most impossible place, the place that seemed most unprepared, to produce an atomic-dialectic explosion of uncompromising ideologies. In Jule’s world, universal values and particular tradition clash swords with fundamentalism and decadence. In the Freedom Theatre we thought that only a true ideological explosion would manage to ignite the engine of Palestinian culture. Only from this position could we expose the fact that Muslim fundamentalism and the decadence of Ramallah are both on the side of the failure of the revolution. In the same spirit, Jewish fundamentalism and the decadence of Tel Aviv are both on the side of the occupation.
I have great contempt for those journalists who were in such a hurry to rejoice about the fact that he was probably murdered by a Palestinian. Their mantra was “here is this wonderful man, come to help the natives, and they murdered him.” Strange, I do not remember those same journalists rejoicing when a Jew murdered Yitzchak Rabin in the name of the ideology which today rules our country. An ideology served by those same journalists.
Today it is Nakbah Day, and I mourn alone the never-again-to-be-celebrated birthday of Juliano. Jule came to the Nakbah refugees in Jenin to share their struggle and their fate. He tried to offer a nonviolent means of resistance. Zakaria Zubeidi had faith in him and lay down his arms to help develop the Freedom Theater. Zakaria knew that by taking this path he could lose his own life, but he did not imagine that he would lose the life of his beloved friend. After the murder I got a middle-of-the-night SMS from Zakaria: “It’s really hard without Jule” – and tears filled my eyes. People liked to say that Juliano was a Jew in Palestine and a Palestinian in Israel. But Jule was a Jewish-Palestinian everywhere and a human everywhere. He wanted to free the Palestinians from the Israelis, the women from the men, the poor from the rich, and people, in general, from their internal bonds.
Juliano, I am so lucky that you generously opened wide the doors to your home, made the theatre my home, and made its people my family. You taught me the practice of binationalism, step by measured step. We worked in the theatre night and day to create our cultural bomb, but we were not sufficiently careful, and it went off in our laps and took your life at the height of its bloom. Kafka wrote, and I quote from memory, “martyrdom and suicide do not exist at the same level of consciousness; martyrdom is more like a bridegroom approaching his wedding.” Happy birthday, habibi, Jule. It’s really hard without you.
P.S. A quote from Juliano’s vision document, sent a year ago to Freedom Theater supporters and friends:
“We aim to create a theater of the highest professional level, that will become the leading force in revival of Palestinian culture – not just a local theatre to benefit camp dwellers, but rather a theater that stretches boundaries beyond the very borders. We believe that we can create a joint force that will strengthen the links between advanced technology, women’s rights, and education in promoting nonviolent struggle for culture, justice, and liberty. As a troupe we will advance the theoretical and practical artistic vision of our pathfinders, philosopher Edward Said and creator Mahmud Darwish, to try and create a community that will attempt to free itself from the bonds of the Israeli occupier, simultaneously with the internal bonds of Palestinian Society.”
Translated by Dena Shunra. For more on from Udi Aloni’s Brooklyn-Jenin column about his experience living between New York City and the Jenin refugee camp, where he is teaching a film production class at the Jenin Freedom Theatre see here.
Stories from the continuing Nakba
May 15, 2011
Kate
Video: Al Walajeh: story of continuing Nakba
14 May –The village of al-Walajeh, located to south of Jerusalem, between the city and Bethlehem. Walls, settlements, land annexation, and home destruction, all is being done by Israel in the village of Walajeh. Indeed this village sums up the conflict.
And more news from Today in Palestine:
Campaign warns against legalizing banishment of Palestinian officials
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 14 May — The international campaign to Free PLC Members has sent messages to secretary-general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and president of the European Parliament warning against decisions that could be made by the Israeli supreme court legalizing the banishment of Palestinian public officials. Palestinian Legislative Council members and a former minister from Jerusalem were ordered to appear in court on Tuesday to decide on the validity of the Israeli interior ministry’s decision to revoke their citizenship and banish them from their native city.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Villagers of Jaloud protest their electricity being cut
ISM 13 May — Today the village of Jaloud held a non-violent demonstration against the decision of Israel to cut off the electricity of seven families living on the outskirts of the village. The villagers and several international organisations marched from the village to the aforementioned houses carrying banners protesting the theft of their land and electricity. Jaloud, which is home to nearly 1,000 villagers is, according to the plan of the District Coordinating Office located in area B. However a small number of properties fall into area C outside of this plan, despite being inhabited for over 80 years and have recently been served with notices that they will have their electricity cut off. They have been given a court date of 19th May, where they will be able to object to this decision. Village Mayor Abdullah Haj Mohamd says that he doesn’t know what the families will do if their power is cut as they are reliant on electricity for their everyday life and farm work.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/05/18265/
Israeli army burns Jordan Valley grazing fields
JERICHO, (PIC) 14 May — The Israeli army has burnt hundreds of dunums of rangeland in the Jordan Valley during military training exercises in the area. Military training in the Malih area in the northern Jordan Valley led to the burning of hundreds of dunums of pastoral land, locals reported, adding that the military used heavy equipment and fired several artillery shells. Separately, Palestinian farmers in the region have reported that local settlers let loose herds of wild pigs to get rid of the remaining pastoral and agricultural land in the area. The Israeli army has declared the vast Jordan valley a closed military zone. The valley is home to some 15,000 Bedouin Arabs.
In a separate incident on Friday morning, the Israeli army fired indiscriminately east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, amid excavations and land leveling works. Five military vehicles infiltrated 300 meters east of Al-Qarara and began combing and excavating area amid heavy fire from automatic weapons without report of injury.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Report: Army presents settlement security plan
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 13 May — The Israeli army has presented the Defense Ministry with a comprehensive security plan to fortify illegal settlements, Hebrew press reported Friday. The plan is estimated to cost 1 billion shekels (around $285.6 million) and will prevent any infiltration into Jewish-only communities in the West Bank, according to a report in Hebrew-language daily Maariv.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387340
Nakba commemoration
Haneyya calls for mega dawn prayer tomorrow in all Palestine mosques
GAZA, (PIC) 14 May 4:37pm — Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya invited the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and all the occupied Palestinian lands to perform a mega dawn prayer on Sunday in all mosques of Palestine on the 63 anniversary of the 1948 Nakba. Premier Haneyya intends to lead the congregation at dawn tomorrow in the grand Omari Mosque in central Gaza city, and all will appeal to God to help the Palestinians end the occupation, achieve victory, and return to their homes.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MD
Hundreds mark Nakba Day in Jaffa
[photos] Ynet 14 May — At least 1,000 protesters march on Jaffa’s main street, wave Palestinian flags. ‘Just as is happening in Arab world, one day Israeli-Arab population will explode, go out on streets and protest against government,’ says Jaffa resident … The procession was organized by members of youth movements in Jaffa and Lod. Arab Members of Knesset did not attend the protest, although it is considered one of the main events ahead of “Nakba Day.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068464,00.html
Video: Palestinian villages destroyed during the Nakba 1948
Moshe Dayan: Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist. There is not one single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population. [Lists of 418 villages destroyed according to area, with photos of them and some of their people before the Nakba]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFzmJiBUs_o&feature=channel_video_title
What will you do when Palestine is free? Andrew Dalack & Ryah Aqel
EI 13 May — Palestine is neither a memory nor a dream — it is a homeland to which millions will one day return. From the wrinkled hands of old men and women who spent years harvesting rows of ancient olive groves, to the soft yet determined faces of a younger generation unfazed by decades of dispossession, Palestine remains the birthright of the indigenous Palestinian people … When I Return is an online participatory campaign that features simple notes by Palestinians, Arabs and allies describing what they hope to do when Palestine is free and/or they return to Palestine. It seeks to unleash the internal life of our longing for home, and highlight the imaginative expanse of our dreams.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/what-will-you-do-when-palestine-free/9950
A Bedouin refugee yearns for home in Bir al-Saba / Rami Almeghari
EI 13 May — A shack made of aluminum sheets and wood, and a few cows and chickens are all that Suleiman al-Urjani, 45, owns in this world. It is the kind of dwelling that al-Urjani, his father Auda and their families have lived in since 1948 when the family was first displaced by Zionist forces from their original home in what is now Israel … “Me, my wife, my son and daughter have been living as refugees, just as my father and grandfather did since they were displaced by Israel from their original town of Bir al-Saba [Beersheba],” Suleiman explained as he served coffee beside the house in al-Shuka, Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, a short distance from the boundary with Israel.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/bedouin-refugee-gaza-yearns-home-bir-al-saba/9949
Arab MK to Israeli internal security: Stop playing with fire
NAZARETH, (PIC) 14 May — Arab Knesset member Afu Eghbariye has warned the Israeli police force and other security apparatuses against igniting confrontations with the Arab population in 1948 occupied Palestine on the occasion of Nakba (catastrophe). He described the presence of policemen at junctures in Palestinian towns as “provocative.” … Eghbariye said that the Israeli police had planted disguised policemen in Um Al-Faham last October who assaulted citizens there. “The presence of such gangs in our villages is not acceptable”, he added.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
Video: Israeli Zochrot activists defy Nakba law, face racist outrage and denial
13 May — The video is a recognition of the courage of the organization called Zochrot [Remembrance i.e. Remembrance of the catastrophe of the Palestinians] and highlights the basic psychology of the Israeli public who use the Holocaust to justify their colonization, dispossession, and subjugation of the Palestinians. One woman: “Me, me, I lost three brothers in the Holocaust. I’m a racist and I don’t want Arabs here, and I don’t want you.”
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/israeli-zochrot-activists-defy-nakba.html
Egyptian security block Sinai to stop activists reaching Gaza
M&C 14 May — Al-Arish, Egypt – Egyptian authorities blocked access to the Sinai Peninsula Saturday, in a bid to prevent activists from reaching the town of Rafah in their planned march to the Gaza Strip. Pro-Palestinian activists planned to march to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, which marks what Palestinians refer to as the nakba (catastrophe) – the May 15 anniversary of Israel’s founding. The Egyptian army has warned against rallies at the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip. Organisers, however, remained defiant to the warnings. A convoy left Cairo’s Tahrir square on Saturday to head to Sinai.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1639127.php/Egyptian-security-block-Sinai-to-stop-activists-reaching-Gaza
Jordanian rally in support of Palestinian refugees’ right of return
Xinhua — Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated Friday in the town of Karama, reiterating support for the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their home. The demonstrators, who came from across the country, gathered at the town located at the borders of the West Bank and chanted slogans condemning the settlement of the Palestinians and stressing on the right of return.
http://www.usnewslasvegas.com/foreign/jordanians-rally-in-support-of-right-of-palestinian-refugees-of-return/
Violence / Clashes
Palestinian teen dies of wounds sustained in East Jerusalem clashes
Haaretz 14 May 8:56 — A Palestinian teenager who was shot on Friday during clashes with Israeli security forces near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, succumbed to his wounds on Saturday morning. Expecting further demonstrations, Israeli police have been deployed heavily throughout the city. Milad Said Ayyash, 17, was hospitalized in critical condition in East Jerusalem Al-Mukassad hospital shortly after he was shot in the stomach on Friday. The doctors said he had no pulse when he arrived, and had already lost a great deal of blood. A Palestinian activist told Haaretz that Ayyash was allegedly shot by a security guard near Beit Yonatan in East Jerusalem … Activists added that the bullet removed from his wound during surgery came from a gun and not a rifle, which is predominantly used by security guards, as opposed to Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-teen-dies-of-wounds-sustained-in-east-jerusalem-clashes-1.361622
Violent clashes erupt between police and Palestinians at East Jerusalem funeral
[9 photos] Haaretz 14 May 12:28 — Two Palestinians were wounded Saturday as violent clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security forces during the funeral procession of the teenager who was shot during protests in East Jerusalem on Friday. Police arrested four Palestinians who attempted to break into a settler’s house in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Yonatan, near where Milad Said Ayyash, 17, was shot on Friday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/violent-clashes-erupt-between-police-and-palestinians-at-east-jerusalem-funeral-1.361634
Schools and shops of Silwan disabled
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 14 May 10:08 — Immediately after the confirmation of Milad Ayyash’s death, schools of Silwan have announced a day of mourning. Stores have closed their doors too.
http://silwanic.net/?p=16200
Clashes renewal
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 14 May 13:07 — Clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli troops in Bab Hutta, Bab al-Amoud, Essawiya and different districts of Silwan. Clashes have spread near the settlement located in Ras al-Amoud district. Dozens of Israeli police are storming the area. Part of a garden has caught fire.
http://silwanic.net/?p=16263
Palestinian home torched by gas grenades in Silwan
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 13 May 23:51 — A Palestinian home in Silwan was set ablaze tonight when three tear gas grenades were fired into the house by Israeli forces. Neighbors of Yaseen Abu Madi managed to assist in extinguishing the blaze before it engulfed the entire property. Israeli forces prevented fire trucks from accessing the area to quell the fire. Abu Madi and his wife were transferred to hospital, suffering from smoke and tear gas inhalation. Eyewitnesses state that a military officer ordered troops to fire gas grenades upon Palestinian houses. Abu Madi’s home is only the most recent in several cases of arson due to gas attacks.
http://silwanic.net/?p=16109
11-year-old boy injured by a land mine
JVS 13 May — Today a land mine exploded in Al Borj, between Tayyaseer and Al Maleh, injuring an 11 year-old Palestinian boy, Uhsein E’kab Abu Alaya. Uhsein was walking in the mountains on his day off from school, with his friend Yazan Azzahi Abu Alaya, 12, when the land mine exploded. Shrapnel from the land mine penetrating Uhsein’s skin and entered into his chest and thigh. The boys are now in the Naplus hospital, Uhsein is currently under going operation for his injuries and Yazan is being treated for shock. Al Borj is a military training area, like 83% of the Jordan Valley. More than 10 children have been killed by land mines in the Jordan Valley since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1967.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=265:11-year-old-boy-injured-by-a-land-mine&catid=15:2010&Itemid=21
Restriction of movement
Video: Denial of sanctity: Palestinians prevented from prayer in Al Aqsa Mosque
Fajr [dawn] prayer 13 May — Denial of Sanctity rights. Besides the continuous destruction of mosques and holy sites, turning some into animal barns and even night clubs, every Friday, Palestinians under 45 years of age (for men) and 40 years (for women) are prevented from Prayer in the third Holiest Site for Muslims in the world, which site is located in Jerusalem and called Al Aqsa Mosque. People are forced to pray in the Streets. Here’s a short clip.
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/denial-of-sanctity-palestinians.html
Gaza
Watch: Welcome to Gaza: Gaza’s official PR video / Noam Sheizaf
High production value and the general sense of the commercials for the traveling businessman you get to see on CNN International: [interesting, gives a good sense of the many good points of the place, its history, etc. For some beautiful photos of Gaza, see this page and for videos of sea scenes, see this one ]
http://972mag.com/watch-gazas-official-pr-video/
Davutoglu: Turkey to assist in Gaza reconstruction
ISTANBUL, (PIC) 12 May — Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that his country supports Palestinian reconciliation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, adding that Ankara would contribute to the Gaza reconstruction effort as soon as it kicks off.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46
Activism / Solidarity
Videos: Nabi Saleh weekly protest 13 May – many injured by the IOF
Israeli army particularly violent on this occasion, watch both videos
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/nabi-saleh-weekly-protest-many-injured.html
Video: Arrests and injuries during weekly Al Ma‘asara demonstration
Pop. Struggle 13 May — The weekly demonstration in Al Ma‘asara was held to commemorate the Nakba. During the demonstration Israeli soldiers arrested the coordinator of the national committee against the wall along with an Israeli peace activist.
http://popularstruggle.org/content/arrests-and-injuries-during-weekly-al-ma%25E2%2580%2599asara-demonstration
Video: Weekly protest against the apartheid-annexation wall in Ni‘lin 13 May
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/weekly-protest-against-apartheid.html
Video: Al ‘Aysawiyeh, Jerusalem youth confront the Israeli Occupation Forces 13 May
[al-Esawiah, Issawiya العيساوية ]– See this AIC video for an explanation of this Jerusalem neighborhood’s problems: Circling around you see the Israeli military base, the tower of Hebrew University, the Jewish settlement of French Hill, and an Israeli military detention center. Next to the detention center is the Ring Road, vast land appropriated from Issawiya to build the E-1 settlement bloc, and in the distance, the imposing Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim. In the middle of all this, cramped and constricted, lies Issawiya.
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/al-aysawiyah-jerusalem-youth-confront.html
Video: Jerusalem Light Rail: enforcing apartheid, occupation, and theft of land
AIC 11 May — In 2006 the construction for the Jerusalem Light Rail began. By June 2010 the rail track for the 23 stations of Line 1, which is supposed to start working in August 2011, was laid. The Line leads from Mount Herzl in West Jerusalem to Pisgat Ze’ev, the largest Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, thus silently crossing the Green Line and contributing to the normalization of the occupation of East Jerusalem.Derail Veolia and Alstrom
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/jerusalem-light-rail-enforcing.html
Detention
Israel extends administrative detention term of Hamas leader
NABLUS, (PIC) 14 May — Israel has extended the term of administrative detention of Hamas spokesman in Nablus, northern West Bank, Adnan Asfour. The term was extended for four months just days before his last term of administrative detention came to an end. It was the fifth extension since his arrest in March 2009 without charges.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Hamas protesters in the West Bank call for release of political prisoners
WEST BANK, (PIC) 13 May — Hamas has organised a number of rallies in the West Bank cities of al-Khalil, Ramallah and Qalqilia to call for the release of political prisoners from PA jails. PIC correspondent said that hundreds of Hamas supporters participated in the protest in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil in a march that started after the Friday prayers from the Husain mosque to Manarah Square in the city centre. The march was led by the PLC speaker Dr. Aziz Dweik, a number of Islamic MP’s representing the district and a number of community leaders.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
Amnesty: Palestinians torture ‘collaborators’
Ynet 13 May — Amnesty International’s annual report on the state of the world’s human rights criticized the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel for various violations of human rights. The report indicated that three Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel were executed in the Gaza Strip whereas in the West Bank various suspects were tortured.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068090,00.html
Political / Diplomatic / International
Abbas says may step down once Palestinian state established
Reuters 14 May — Palestinian president says if he achieves all his political goals, including establishing independent state, he will go into retirement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/abbas-says-may-step-down-once-palestinian-state-established-1.361662
Hamas: We’ll punish those who threaten unity
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 13 May — Hamas will punish anyone who tries to thwart its recent reconciliation with Fatah, a movement leader said Friday. Imad Nofel, a Hamas member of the PLC, said the Islamist movement was committed to the unity agreement it signed with Palestinian factions in Cairo in early May.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387384
Islamic Jihad to take part in local elections
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 May — Islamic Jihad will participate in local elections, but not in presidential or legislative elections, movement leader Nafeth Azzam said Thursday. Azzam told Ma‘an that Islamic Jihad would take part in National Council elections, as it included Palestinians from the occupied territories and abroad, and the council was not involved in agreements signed with Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387236
Palestinians made your peace efforts difficult , Netanyahu tells Mitchell
Haaretz 14 May — PM thanks resigning U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace for his work, saying he regrets the Palestinians’ refusal to attend peace talks.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinians-made-your-peace-efforts-difficult-netanyahu-tells-mitchell-1.361682
US official: No shortcuts to peace
Ynet 14 May — WASHINGTON – US National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon said Friday that the Obama administration will no longer remain satisfied with the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. “An enduring two state solution can only be achieved through negotiations. There are no short-cuts. But no one should take comfort in the status quo. As we have learned in the Middle East, the status quo is never static. There are demographic and technological clocks that keep ticking,” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068328,00.html
Turkey demands names of soldiers involved in flotilla raid
Ynet 14 May — Ankara Prosecution sends Justice Ministry letter demanding to receive names of all Naval, military and ministerial officials involved in decision to raid Marmara in May 2010 … The demand was reportedly based on the testimonies of over 500 activists who were aboard the Marmara and claimed they were “grossly mistreated” by the Israeli soldiers.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068368,00.html
Other news
Nablus celebrates wedding for disabled
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 14 May — Nablus residents celebrated a public wedding for 23 couples with disabilities on Saturday night. Hundreds of locals attended the celebration, which was sponsored by a charitable committee from the United Arab Emirates and President Mahmoud Abbas … Groom Nidal Saleh, 30, said that he could never have married without the support. “This is my best day in my entire life,” he said. Another groom, Muhammad Mustafa from Jenin, said he was overjoyed with the ceremony which was very special for him and his bride. Mustapha Al-Johari, 27, said his wedding day was the first time that he felt part of the community.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387321
Abbas orders amendment to ‘honor killing’ law
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 14 May — President Mahmoud Abbas has directed the judiciary to award the “utmost punishment” to perpetrators of honor killings, his secretary-general said Friday. The announcement was made during a talk show on satellite channel Palestine TV to discuss the murder of 20-year-old Ayah Barad‘iyya by her uncle … A live transmission from Surif village, where Ayah Barad‘iyya was drowned by her uncle in April 2010, showed thousands of residents applauding the decision. Many also burst into tears … Some Jordanian laws passed between 1948 and 1967 still operate in the West Bank. A Jordanian penal code from 1960, which commutes sentences for men who kill or attack female relatives accused or suspected of “dishonoring” their families, has never been repealed by the Palestinian Legislative Council. The PLC has been defunct since 2007 — following the internal Palestinian division — but rights groups have requested the penal code’s repeal by presidential decree.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387466
Hamas launches official website
GAZA, (PIC) 14 May — The information office of Hamas announced on Saturday that an official website for the movement would be launched on Sunday to coincide with the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba. It said that the site would serve as a reference for all those interested in following up the Palestinian affair and would publish news and official statements of the movement … It added that the site would include a video library and photos of the movement’s activities. The site’s address is www.hamasinfo.net [Arabic; English version under construction]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd8
French lawyer reveals himself as ‘Palestine Papers’ source
Haaretz 14 May — Ziyad Clot, a lawyer of Palestinian descent involved in 2008 Annapolis negotiations between Israel and PA, says in Guardian op-ed that ‘Israel’s attack on Gaza and the disastrous ‘peace talks’ compelled me to leak what I knew.’
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/french-lawyer-reveals-himself-as-palestine-papers-source-1.361679
Analysis / Opinion
‘Israel’s 9/11 coming in September’ / Mya Guarnieri
14 May — As though Israeli leaders aren’t doing enough to scare their citizens about Palestinian reunification and statehood, another “warning” has recently popped up on the streets of Tel Aviv. The walls, rather. It’s right-wing graffiti — a blue Star of David with the date “9/0/11” below. The meaning is clear. Israel’s 9/11, Israel’s catastrophe, is coming in September. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was part of a governmental campaign. After all, this is the message Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has peddling to anyone who will listen.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387570
Hamas and Europe in the wake of Palestinian reconciliation / Ali Badwan
MEMO 13 May — The Palestinian reconciliation agreement has brought the issue of European recognition of Hamas and its political role back to the fore. Given that Hamas is such a decisive force with influence and presence within Palestinian ranks, it is impossible to disregard it. Europe’s position on relations with Hamas has been divided over the past five years or so and there has never been complete agreement on how to have contact or relations with the movement.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/arab-media/2352-hamas-and-europe-in-the-wake-of-palestinian-reconciliation
A bad decision? / Amir Hetsroni
Haaretz 13 May — …Independence Day this week was, for me, a time to consider the wisdom of establishing Israel where we did − in proximity to hostile neighbors; in a place where water would be in such short supply; where hundreds of thousands of freeloaders would eventually refrain from working in the name of religion; with inferior public transportation infrastructure, ugly modern architecture and horrible Mediterranean pop music. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to establish Israel, instead, in a civilized location offering an efficient rail system, beautiful baroque buildings, and citizens for whom hard work is a destiny? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a country situated somewhere between Germany and Estonia? … The long lines of young Israelis who now flock to the embassies of such European B-class nations as Lithuania, Latvia or Bulgaria, pleading for recognition of their grandparents’ 70-year-old passports so they can become EU residents attest to the mistake of the grandparents.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/a-bad-decision-1.361426
U.S.
Video: AIPAC 101 — What every American should know
Question: How do you make the United States Congress do what you want it to do? Answer: Buy it. — The AIPAC circus is coming to town, Washington, May 22nd to May 24th, 2011.
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-13-aipac-101-what-every-american.html
Bankrolling the occupation — Catching AIPAC off guard / Omar Barghouti
CP 13-15 May — The Arab democratic spring, striving to end authoritarian rule and establish freedoms and social justice, has not been welcome by all. Israel and its main lobby in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), for instance, appear to have been caught off guard and visibly disturbed by the seemingly irreversible transformations that these uprisings promise to bring about in the Arab world and, to an extent, the world at large.
http://www.counterpunch.org/barghouti05132011.html
www.the headlines.org (archive)
Voices that are resisting
May 15, 2011
Stay Human Convoy
Children in Gaza greeting the convoy. (Photo: Stay Human Convoy)
We are getting to know Gaza
In the north-eastern zone of the city, Palestinian youths tell us stories about those infamous days in December 2008, when the Israeli army began its Operation ‘Cast Lead’. The landscape in front of us bears witness to the devastation the Operation left in its wake: buildings turned rubble, destroyed houses, fields which the locals try cultivating, now become arid and contaminated with white phosphorus bombs. Only a few kilometres away lies the frontier that separates the occupied territory from Israel; between the inhabited zones and the actual frontier is an area called the ‘buffer zone’, stretches of arable land which the Palestinians do not have access to. When they try working on the land, they risk being attacked by the Israeli army posted on the towers spaced out along the frontier, either at the hand of snipers -positioned in some of these towers-, or automatic machine guns.
Often, during harvest time, Israeli soldiers break in with tanks whilst shooting at the locals who find themselves within the ‘buffer zone’. These incursions also have a devastating effect on the fields and the harvest- in fact, this happened again this morning. High up in the sky, one of the young men points out a kind of zeppelin: this is how Israel controls all of Gaza City, for inside the air-born structure is a powerful satellite camera, a kind of ultra-modern Panopticon. The only difference is that this time, there is no mystery as to who controls it.
We also get to meet the inhabitants of this part of the city. The first to come and meet us are children who greet us with radiant smiles- smiles that the ravages of war have not been able to erode. Stories about these infamous bombings continue to pour. This time, it is a woman who speaks: a husband lost; her children buried beneath the rubble; a daughter shot in the face; and a trip to Germany to get her operated.
Then, comes the story of the Al Samoni family: thirty people who took refuge inside a house whilst following instructions from the Israeli army; and then the bombs rained down upon the house, whilst the very soldiers who told them to take refuge there, were now preventing ambulances and emergency health workers from reaching the house. The neighbourhood was one of the first to be targeted by the bombings and used to be called Al Zaytoon. Today, it has been renamed to honour the Al Samoni family. We then hear more devastating tales of inhuman behaviour: of soldiers who knock on doors telling the women they wish to speak with their husbands, whilst the rifleman shoots and kills even before the husband has had a chance to come out.
The inhabitants of this neighbourhood, seeking to rebuild the area and reinvent for themselves a life outside of war, have built a shelter with the support of the community, which they have named Al Samuni as a tribute to the murdered family. This shelter is the only streak of colour here, a patch of yellow amidst the grey of the rubble and the monochrome of a landscape that is being rebuilt slowly and with a lot of difficulty. The next Convoy which will leave for Gaza will also be called Al Samuni.
Operation ‘Cast Lead’: over thirty days of bombings, and more than 1400 civilians killed. Months of isolation, with no access to health facilities, or schooling for the young. The local cement factory was completely destroyed. Two and half tons of bombs –curtsey of a ‘democratic’ Israel- fell indiscriminately, creating devastation everywhere: the area hosting the ministries was attacked at least six times. By the end of the military intervention, the fields destined for agriculture were covered in concrete.
Meeting with media activists
In the afternoon, we have our first meeting with media activists, bringing together journalists, bloggers, media activists and independent artists, both from the Convoy and from Gaza. The underlying connecting thread is the will to continue the incredibly valuable work which Vittorio never ceased to forward and generate. The drive to consolidate these projects comes from these young men and women from Gaza who knew Vittorio and worked with him. The first priority is how to coordinate and organize the huge quantity of self-generated communication material which is the beating pulse of the alternative information movement within the Gaza Strip. Indeed, the only portrayal of Gaza in the mainstream media is of a land that is solely made of tears and blood, as mainstream outlets are only on the look-out for sensationalist one-off scoops, and ever reluctant to give Gaza any kind of serious and in-depth coverage.
These young men and women from Gaza want to tell the world about their daily life under siege- hard, sad realities, that are sombre, but not without light either. For this reason, we are committed to the necessity of creating an international network, which will enable us to relay Gaza- as it is and in its own voice(s)- to the world, but also relay the world into Gaza.
Meeting with El Shaab Voice Radio.
Also in the afternoon, a delegation from the ‘Stay Human’ Convoy is received by the Radio Station El Shaab. During the bombings, and from the tenth storey of the building which hosts the studio, the radio ended up acting as a de-facto look-out for the ambulances, signalling the places where they should intervene. We give a live interview at the radio, and explain the reasons which brought the ‘Stay Human’ Convoy to Gaza, a month after Vittorio’s murder.
Free Free Palestine!
Follow the Stay Human Convoy via:
Web site: http://vik2gaza.org/en/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/vik2gaza
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002318810069&sk=wall
Our fundamentalists
May 14, 2011
Mark Wauck
I read two articles this morning that make an interesting contrast–or, rather, there’s not that much contrast in the mindsets exhibited.
1. At NRO: An Ill Season: The Arab spring unleashes Islamists on Egyptian Christians by Andy McCarthy.
2. At The American Prospect: The Strange Alchemy of the Settlements by Gershom Gorenberg.
From one of the settlement’s veteran residents, I’d acquired a copy of The Law of the King, written by two of the academy’s rabbis, Yitzhak Shapira and Yosef Elitzur. The book purports to elucidate Jewish religious law about when it is forbidden or permitted for a Jew to kill a gentile. The book’s themes are that a Jew’s life is worth more than a gentile’s and that for a Jew to kill a gentile is a lesser sin than killing another Jew. In a war between Jews and non-Jews, Shapira and Elitzur assert, Jews may kill anyone from the opposing side who poses the most indirect threat — even enemy civilians who show emotional support for their troops. There is no moral problem, the authors state, with causing the death of civilians who live near an army base or weapons plant, because they stand in the way of a legitimate target.
It would be easy enough to locate an account of some delusional Christians, even Catholics, but these two articles jumped out at me this morning. The difference, of course, is that these settlement people are wagging the US dog and all politically involved Americans should be aware of the facts of what’s going on. And for those like McCarthy who are concerned about an Islamist threat, it’s time they woke up to the reality that the mindset of Zionists is not fundamentally (!) different from that of Islamists/Salafists. The US is playing with fire in its foreign policy.
Yossi Gurvitz makes the comparison very explicit: Nobody mentions the Jewish Brotherhood.
While Israelis pay plenty of attention to the fear of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, they steadfastly ignore the rise of the Jewish brotherhood in their own country.
He could have gone into more historical detail at the beginning, as the parallels are rather interesting. It was interesting to learn, toward the end, that there is a Jewish version of the blood libel–thank God it’s only rabbit’s blood!
Israelis defy Nakba law on Independence Day
May 14, 2011
annie
Zochrot (“Remembering”) seeks to raise public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba, especially among Jews in Israel, who bear a special responsibility to remember and amend the legacy of 1948. The principal victims of the Nakba were the Palestinians, especially the refugees, who lost their entire world. But Jews in Israel also pay a price for their conquest of the land in 1948, living in constant fear and without hope.
This video represents just one of many actions taking place to educate Israelis and commemorate the Nakba this season. Check out their calendar for May.
Thank you Zochrot, moral giants.
Mitchell resignation makes Obama the Mubarak of the Palestinian spring
May 14, 2011
Philip Weiss
Below are two analyses of the George Mitchell resignation, a Daily Beast piece saying that Obama’s demand for an end to settlements has now devolved into a demand that Israel “halve the settlements.” Shocking. And then Daniel Levy’s analysis that Obama might have orchestrated the Mitchell resignation to send an angry signal to Netanyahu, because, face it, Obama is hogtied by “domestic political concerns” and the U.S.’s only policy for many years has been to provide “practical backing and diplomatic cover” to whatever Israel wants to do. In a word, the lobby rules.
The message to me of the George Mitchell resignation is that Obama has become the Mubarak of the Palestinian spring. He is in the way of any fair political reconciliation between parties, he supports the oppressor. I don’t care for this paradigm, as it suggests the only natural outcome is revolution, but it does reflect these realities: the U.S. does nothing to support nonviolent Palestinian protest (even as it supports demonstrators across the Arab world this side of Bahrain), the U.S. quashes international-legal responses to Israeli violence (compare to the Libyan intervention), the U.S. steadfastly supports Jim Crow conditions in Palestine (as it calls for democracy in the Arab world).
From the Daily Beast on the Mitchell resignation.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, one senior Israeli official said Mitchell often would say one thing about the direction the U.S. was taking with the two sides, only to be contradicted by Dennis Ross, Clinton’s special adviser to the region. The official, who did not want to be quoted by name, said it seemed as if Mitchell had abdicated his role completely in recent months. Indeed, Mitchell’s frequent visits to Israel and the West Bank slowed to a trickle; his last visit to the region was in December….
Mitchell’s resignation letter set off a small panic inside the West Wing earlier in the week. Senior advisers, as well as Obama himself, could sense the increasing difficulty of the job: Administration officials had been unable to convince Israel to halve new settlements in the West Bank, alienating Palestinians…
Daniel Levy at Foreign Policy:
In the over two years of this administration, there have been 30 days in which Israelis and Palestinians were in negotiation mode and 813 days in which they have not been.
The PLO has reached the conclusion, and yes it took a while, that conducting negotiations — absent terms of reference and against the backdrop of relentless settlement construction — was not working so well. Israel was far chirpier with the existing negotiating modality, rejecting the change in formula as an unwarranted attempt to impose preconditions…
The third, more unexpected explanation for this resignation has the administration utilizing Mitchell’s final act as envoy, namely his stepping down, as a way of sending a message mainly to the Israeli prime minister that if he was not willing to step up his game in a serious way then the U.S. too could step back…
Going forward, the administration essentially has four options for approaching the Israeli-Palestinian file:
1. Lead — A bold U.S. move to advance a solution or at least to agree a border on the ’67 lines allowing for equal land swaps, creating a two-state reality. That would probably require a U.S. plan, U.S. cajoling, and a recalibration of how the U.S. applies incentives and disincentives to the parties, requiring a degree of patience and commitment over time to allow internal debates to play out in both publics.
2. “Lead from behind” (as it is now known, courtesy of an unnamed official viaRyan Lizza) — The administration acknowledges its own limited wiggle space on this issue, given its reading of domestic politics, and allows for a more multilateral approach to achieving de-occupation and security for all. That might include an enhanced role for the Quartet and for the United Nations.
3. Follow Israel — The administration gives practical backing and diplomatic cover to whatever conflict management approach is pursued by Israel. This is the de-facto reality that has prevailed for very many years.
4. Strategic withdrawal — The U.S. downgrades its active involvement in the “peace process” in gradually calibrated ways. The parties are therefore less able to take cover behind the U.S., a loss that is more likely to be felt on the Israeli than the Palestinian side.
The “leading” and “leading from behind” options suffer from similar domestic political shortcomings while the price for “following Israel” continues to accumulate on the side of the ledger marked damaging America’s national security interests.
How the peace process became a ‘cruel enterprise’
May 14, 2011
Philip Weiss
Ziyad Clot, former Palestinian negotiator, writes in the Guardian on why he leaked some of the Palestine papers to Al Jazeera.
The “peace negotiations” were a deceptive farce whereby biased terms were unilaterally imposed by Israel and systematically endorsed by the US and EU. Far from enabling a negotiated and fair end to the conflict, the pursuit of the Oslo process deepened Israeli segregationist policies and justified the tightening of the security control imposed on the Palestinian population, as well as its geographical fragmentation. Far from preserving the land on which to build a state, it has tolerated the intensification of the colonisation of the Palestinian territory. Far from maintaining a national cohesion, the process I participated in, albeit briefly, was instrumental in creating and aggravating divisions among Palestinians. In its most recent developments, it became a cruel enterprise from which the Palestinians of Gaza have suffered the most. Last but not least, these negotiations excluded for the most part the great majority of the Palestinian people: the seven million Palestinian refugees. My experience over those 11 months in Ramallah confirmed that the PLO, given its structure, was not in a position to represent all Palestinian rights and interests.
Tragically, the Palestinians were left uninformed of the fate of their individual and collective rights in the negotiations, and their divided political leaderships were not held accountable for their decisions or inaction. After I resigned, I believed I had a duty to inform the public.
Wiesenfeld speaks truth for power
May 14, 2011
Philip Weiss
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, the heavy in the Tony Kushner saga, is interviewed by the Jewish Press:
“We also have to force administrations and use our alumni. Jews are the predominant [financial] givers in so many places. You hold back your money and say, ‘If you’re not going to provide security for events that also project another point of view, we won’t donate.’
“We have the power to do that; we have major Jewish donors across the country.”
