NOVANEWS
- Obama gets it
- Obama’s heckler asked about Rachel Corrie, not Jonathan Pollard
- ‘NYT’ quietly buries Ben Ehrenreich’s piece
- Yair Lapid, centrist star and Finance Minister, plans 16,000 new settlement units in West Bank
- Geyer says ‘many Americans’ are displeased with special relationship
- Tribalism in the Jerusalem speech
- ‘Decades of a failed peace process’ points to inevitable one state outcome — filmmaker Ungar-Sargon
- What Obama missed: Protests of settler highway that will cut J’lem neighborhood in two
Obama gets it
Mar 23, 2013 12:34 pm | Philip Weiss
The Obama trip to Israel and Palestine will be studied for a long time. The political meanings are layered, and not easily decipherable. And on our site, it falls to me to emphasize the positive, the extent to which Obama’s comments suggest that he has a rich understanding of the causes of the conflict, and of Palestinian conditions, even if he feels largely powerless to rectify those conditions (as he indicated to the Israeli audience on Thursday).
What follows are some of the statements Obama made reflecting his understanding, beginning with his Thursday remarks in Ramallah with President Abbas and his surprising nod to the popular struggle in the West Bank:
I think of the villages that hold peaceful protests because they understand the moral force of nonviolence. …
A repeated theme, identifying his own daughters with Palestinians. Though yes Obama also identified his daughters with Israeli youth, he knows about the segregation in Israeli society and needs to remind Americans of it:
Whenever I meet these young people, whether they’re Palestinian or Israeli, I’m reminded of my own daughters, and I know what hopes and aspirations I have for them. And those of us in the United States understand that change takes time but it is also possible, because there was a time when my daughters could not expect to have the same opportunities in their own country as somebody else’s daughters.
What’s true in the United States can be true here as well. We can make those changes, but we’re going to have to be determined.
Speech to the people of Israel on Thursday included the words justice for Palestinians and asked Israelis and Americans to put themselves in Palestinians’ shoes:
But the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, their right to justice, must also be recognized. (Applause.)
Put yourself in their shoes. Look at the world through their eyes. It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of their own. (Applause.) Living their entire lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements not just of those young people but their parents, their grandparents, every single day. It’s not just when settler violence against Palestinians goes unpunished. (Applause.) It’s not right to prevent Palestinians from farming their lands; or restricting a student’s ability to move around the West Bank; or displace Palestinian families from their homes. (Applause.) Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. (Applause.) Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land. (Applause.)
I’m going off script here for a second, but before I came here, I met with a group of young Palestinians from the age of 15 to 22. And talking to them, they weren’t that different from my daughters. They weren’t that different from your daughters or sons. I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with those kids, they’d say, I want these kids to succeed; I want them to prosper. (Applause.) I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do. I believe that’s what Israeli parents would want for these kids if they had a chance to listen to them and talk to them. (Applause.) I believe that.
In that speech, he alluded to the Israel lobby and its hammerlock on Congress:
Politically, given the strong bipartisan support for Israel in America, the easiest thing for me to do would be to put this issue aside — just express unconditional support for whatever Israel decides to do — that would be the easiest political path. But I want you to know that I speak to you as a friend who is deeply concerned and committed to your future, and I ask you to consider three points.
And he described the power of grassroots movements to shift the conventional political understandings of issues:
And let me say this as a politician — I can promise you this, political leaders will never take risks if the people do not push them to take some risks. You must create the change that you want to see. (Applause.) Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things.
I thought his speech that night at dinner with Shimon Peres was deeply ironical: he kept invoking the U.S. civil rights movement, and mentioned by name three martyrs to the end of Jim Crow, and mentioned Selma and Joshua Heschel, a hero to social justice Jews. Do you think he fails to comprehend that Jim Crow is alive and well in Israel and Palestine? Of course he does:
As I said in my speech earlier today, this [Israeli] story — from slavery to salvation, of overcoming even the most overwhelming odds — is a message that’s inspired the world. And that includes Jewish Americans but also African Americans, who have so often had to deal with their own challenges, but with whom you have stood shoulder to shoulder.
African Americans and Jewish Americans marched together at Selma and Montgomery, with rabbis carrying the Torah as they walked. They boarded buses for freedom rides together. They bled together. They gave their lives together — Jewish Americans like Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner alongside African American, James Chaney.
Because of their sacrifice, because of the struggle of generations in both our countries, we can come together tonight, in freedom and in security. So if I can paraphrase the Psalm — they turned our mourning into dancing; they changed our sack cloths into robes of joy.
And this evening, I’d like to close with the words of two leaders who brought us some of this joy. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was born in Poland and lost his mother and sisters to the Nazis. He came to America. He raised his voice for social justice. He marched with Martin Luther King. And he spoke of the State of Israel in words that could well describe the struggle for equality in America. “Our very existence is a witness that man must live toward redemption,” he said, and “that history is not always made by man alone.”
Obama’s heckler asked about Rachel Corrie, not Jonathan Pollard
Mar 23, 2013
Philip Weiss
Dana Milbank’s latest Washington Post column on Obama’s trip mentions that heckler during the Thursday speech:
“Even a heckler demanding the release of Jonathan Pollard, a spy for Israel, didn’t interfere with Obama’s friendly spirit. “I have to say, we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home,” he told the crowd.
The claim apparently originated in a White House press pool report which we also propagated:
There was a heckler about 15 minutes into remarks. Man standing to Obama’s left back near center press platform began shouting in Hebrew. A reliable Hebrew speaker seated near pool says the shouting was about Pollard. We presume calling for his release. Pool couldn’t see what happened to the heckler. “This is part of the lively debate that we talked about,” Obama said after pausing for the interruption. The crowd seemed to boo the heckler then began applauding. Eventually most in the audience rose to their feet, giving the president a standing ovation. The friendly response seemed to be unanimous or nearly so.
Linah Alsaafin reported at EI:
Twenty-five-year-old Rabeea Eid, a student activist and member of the National Democratic Assembly, had heard and had enough. He stood up in the middle of Obama’s speech and called him out on three issues that summarized the flaccid nature and flagrant inefficacy of Obama’s visit to occupied Palestine.
“Did you really come here for peace or to give Israel more weapons to kill and destroy the Palestinian people? Did you happen to see the apartheid wall on your way here?”
“There are Palestinians sitting in this hall. This state should be for all of its citizens, not a Jewish state only.”
“Who killed Rachel Corrie? Rachel Corrie was killed by your money and weapons!”
The Washington Post has itself corrected the error. “Obama heckled in Jerusalem,” by Rachel Weiner:
The man was shouting in Hebrew. He later identified himself as Rabeea Eid, an Arab-Israeli student activist from Haifa University. He questioned whether President Obama really supported peace and asked about the death of Rachel Corrie, an American activist who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003. In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Eid called Obama’s speech “extremist and Zionist.”
‘NYT’ quietly buries Ben Ehrenreich’s piece
Mar 23, 2013
Donald Johnson
As far as I can tell Ben Ehrenreich’s NYT Magazine cover story last Sunday (about popular resistance in the occupied village of Nabi Saleh) has vanished into the ether. It was studiously ignored, not least by the NYT, which wrote no editorial about it, and was then overshadowed by Obama’s trip.
This Sunday there is an interview with Mary Robinson in the magazine and several of the questions deal with the anti-semitism of Iran–the reporter informs us that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map. Maybe in a week or two there will be letters in the Magazine about Ehrenreich’s story, and then it will be as though it was never written.
On the editorial page today the NYT writes about the Turkey/Israel lovefest, and tells us that a UN commission found that the Gaza blockade was legal–nothing about the politics behind that or the lack of logic in the reasoning. I remember Mondoweiss dissecting that issue and I participated and even I’ve forgotten most of the details. If someone asked I wouldn’t be able to do more than stutter a little about why the NYT is being disingenuous.
Yair Lapid, centrist star and Finance Minister, plans 16,000 new settlement units in West Bank
Mar 23, 2013
Kate
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing
Farm land and trees destroyed for expansion of Israeli military checkpoint
MEMO 21 Mar — Israeli occupation forces have started to expand the Dotan military checkpoint near Jenin. The work entails the destruction of Palestinian farm land and olive groves owned by the Abu Bakr family from the town of Ya‘bod. Local sources said that Israeli bulldozers are levelling the land next to the roadblock, which is located at the entrance of the illegal Dotan settlement. Israel has intensified the procedures at Mapudtan checkpoint recently, which is causing local residents a great deal of additional hardship. In fact, the Israelis have taken a number of punitive measures against the people of Ya‘bod, including levelling the road between Ya‘bod and Amriha, and the closure of the area to the east of the town, resulting in a lot of tension between residents and the occupation forces.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com
IOF bulldozes cultivated land in Salfit to build watchtower
SALFIT (PIC) 21 Mar — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bulldozed cultivated land lots in Haresvillage near Salfit city to prepare for building a military watchtower. Omar Samara, the head of the village’s municipal council, told Quds Press that the IOF bulldozers started working on Wednesday in the fields to the east of the village. He said that the soldiers built a fence of barbed wire around the targeted land, adding that they intend to monitor the main highway passing near that land.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Palestinian Bedouin community battles eviction
WADI ABU HINDI, West Bank (Al-Monitor) 12 Mar by Jihan Abdalla — To get to the Palestinian Bedouin village of Wadi Abu Hindi, you would have to drive 4 km through an unnamed dirt road, past a large landfill leachate pool and under a narrow bridge. Living in makeshift tents and raising livestock, Jahalin Bedouins have inhabited the barren hills lining both sides of the road from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea for decades. But their ancient lifestyle is slowly dying, as Israel increasingly tries to evict them from the land.
link to www.al-monitor.com
Israel’s High Court rejects Arab village’s bid to stop construction of highway
Haaretz 20 Mar by Zafrir Rinat — The High Court of Justice Wednesday rejected a petition by the residents of the Arab village of Beit Safafa to order work stopped on a highway that will cut through the community. Residents of Beit Safafa, which is within Jerusalem’s city limits, say the dust and noise from the work on the six-lane road is damaging their quality of life. The artery will connect the Begin Highway to the road to Gush Etzion. The High Court, however, ordered the Jerusalem District Court to quickly hear an appeal already under way to stop the highway. Justice Edna Arbel ruled that the residents had not proved that the construction work was damaging the village, but that there would be clear damage to the state if construction were delayed. The Jerusalem municipality says the road will improve traffic in the capital and access to its southern neighborhoods.
link to www.haaretz.com
Israel plans 16,000 more illegal settlement units in West Bank and Jerusalem
MEMO 21 Mar — The leader of Yesh Atid Party and new Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, has launched a major settlement plan for the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Ministry staff are working on the scheme in cooperation with the so-called Israel Land Administration (ILA) to build an additional 16,000 illegal settlement housing units. The plan includes extra public facilities to encourage settlers to buy homes in the occupied Palestinian territories. Under Lapid’s proposal, four-room housing units will be available for sale at a price of $230,000 alongside homes for rent at “reasonable” rates for the average Israeli Jew to afford; they will not be available for Israel’s Arab citizens. It is expected that Lapid will submit his plans for the government’s approval once his staff have finished the preparation work. The first phase will see 7,000 new homes in Kiryat Gat settlement, 1,600 in the Tel HaShomer area, as well as 1,000 in the settlement of Modi’in, west of Ramallah.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com
Infographic: Obama — welcome to occupied Jerusalem
Mondoweiss 20 Mar by Adam Horowitz — In anticipation of President Obama’s arrival today in Jerusalem, the International Campaign to Protect Palestinian Residency in Jerusalem published the following infographic detailing rights violations against Palestinians living in East Jerusalem:
link to mondoweiss.net
Palestinians tire of Israeli ‘games’ on settlements
Al-Monitor 20 Mar by Daoud Kuttab — One thing is clear before, during and after the visit of President Barack Obama to the region: When it comes to the issue of Jewish settlements in Palestine, it is all a game.A few weeks before the visit of the US president, Israelis were rushing to build as many housing units as possible because they were worried that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will agree to some kind of freeze. Israeli media was full of statements alluding to the ‘demand’ that Netanyahu has made not to be embarrassed during the Obama visit … The media was also welcomed to film the dismantling of six outposts in the Ramallah area. Why the Ramallah area? Is it because the President is planning to visit the Palestinian town? … The de facto freeze for a couple days coupled with the exhibitionist destruction of a few outposts is nothing more than a game. No need to look any further than the biographies of the new cabinet ministers and the deputy head of Knesset to realize that Israel has just voted in one of the most pro-settlement governments in its history. The third biggest party in government, the far-right Jewish Home — whose representatives will run the Ministry of Housing — ran on a platform that calls for the annexation of 60% of the West Bank to Israel.
link to www.al-monitor.com
UN urges Israel to withdraw settlers from West Bank
Press TV 22 Mar — The United Nations Human Rights Council has urged Israel to withdraw all settlers from the occupied West Bank and compensate Palestinians affected by its settlement policy. The top human rights body also called on Israel to end human rights violations associated with settlement construction, DPA reported. It also called on Israel to stop settler violence against Palestinians and prosecute settlers who attack Palestinians. Israel’s arbitrary arrests of Palestinians were also condemned during the debate of the council in Geneva on Friday. The UN’s top human rights body passed five resolutions critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The US was the only member of the 47-nation council to vote against the resolutions.
link to www.presstv.ir
US shuns UN debate on Israeli settlers ahead of Obama visit
DPA 18 Mar — UN Human Rights Council concludes that Israel’s ‘creeping annexation’ of West Bank violates many rights; U.S. ambassador says Washington is ‘extremely troubled’ by UN council’s ‘biased and disproportionate focus on Israel.’ — The United States refused to take part Monday in a UN Human Rights Council debate on Israeli settlements and their effects on Palestinians. The Geneva-based council, which has been accused of being biased by Washington, was discussing a January report by a panel of UN investigators.
link to www.haaretz.com
Israel controls renewable water resources, says Statistics Bureau
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 21 Mar – Israel controls the renewable water resources, restricts access to it and imposes obstacles on the drilling of new water wells, Palestinian central bureau of statistics (PCBS) and the Palestinian water authority (PWA) said Thursday. PCBC and PWA, in a press release issued on the occasion of the world water day March 22, 2013 presenting the key indicators related to water in Palestine, said that Israel controls the majority of renewable water resources totaling 750 MCM, while Palestinians receive only about 120 MCM. hey added that Israel is the one to be blamed for the shortage in water in Palestine, whereas 75 MCM of water supplied to the settlements, of which 44 MCM was obtained from wells controlled by Israel in the West Bank.
link to english.wafa.ps
VIDEO: West Bank plagued by travel troubles
22 Mar — Hundreds of checkpoints, political trouble and stones thrown at Palestinian truck drivers working in the occupied West Bank contribute to many difficult and delayed journeys. The United Nations says Israel has set up 543 obstacles on roads, hindering travel for Palestinians who can never guarantee how long each trip will take.Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston reports from the West Bank.
link to www.aljazeera.com
Violence / Raids / Clashes / Suppression of nonviolent protests / Arrests
PCHR Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (14-20 March 2013)
21 Mar — A Palestinian civilian from al-Ram village, north of occupied Jerusalem, died from earlier tear gas inhalation. A Palestinian boy was seriously wounded in the west of Tulkarm. The Israeli forces continued to fire at Palestinian civilians in border area in the Gaza Strip; no casualties were reported. The Israeli forces continued to use excessive force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. The Israeli forces conducted 52 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 67 Palestinian civilians, including 41 children and a woman, were arrested. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the oPt and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. The Israeli forces established dozens of checkpoints in the West Bank. A Palestinian child was arrested at checkpoints. Israel continued its efforts to create a Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem. 45 dunums of land in Shu‘fat village were confiscated in favor of settlement expansion in Jerusalem. The Israeli forces have continued settlement activities in the West Bank, and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property. Israeli forces continued their arbitrary measures against Palestinian civilians and their property Area C under full Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords. 3 shepherds sustained fractures due to the Israeli settlers’ attack on them in Yasouf village, east of Salfit. 5 dunums of agricultural land and an old house in Bethlehem were seized. [Details of these and other violations follow]
link to www.pchrgaza.org
Video: Israeli soldiers round up children in Hebron
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Mar — Israeli rights group B’Tselem on Wednesday said Israel’s mass arrest of children in Hebron was “unacceptable,” and released a video of the detentions. The video shows soldiers forcefully arresting schoolchildren, one of whom is dragged along the ground by a group of soldiers, as the children’s relatives protest. “This type of mass arrest of a group of minors, not on the basis of individual suspicions is unacceptable, even if the minors are formally over the age of criminal responsibility,” B’Tselem said in a statement. Israeli forces on Wednesday detained some 30 students who were on their way to school in the southern area of Hebron, locals said. Locals told Ma‘an that the students were transferred to Kiryat Arba police station, and that Israeli forces were detaining every student passing Tareq Bin Zeyad street.
link to www.maannews.net
Palestinian officials secure release of Hebron brothers
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 Mar – A security source told Ma‘an on Thursday that the Palestinian district liaison office intervened for the release of two 13-year-old twins arrested a day earlier. The twins, Ahmad and Muhammad Abdul Mo’ti, were arrested by Israeli troops in Hebron’s Old City the night before because they were too close to a military camp.
link to www.maannews.net
While the occupier is occupied, Palestinians reclaim a protest village
Mondoweiss 21 Mar by Alison Deger — While Barack Obama is making headlines in his first visit to Israel and the West Bank as president, in the hills of Jerusalem, Palestinian activists have quietly rebuilt a protest encampment that was raided and demolished in January. Bab al-Shams, Gates of the Sun, was built on privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank targeted for Jewish settlement; and in its first incarnation it ushered in a wave of protest involving the creation of other Palestinian villages on Palestinian land, often ending in demolitions, arrests and even settler violence. Constructed in regions delineated to Israeli security control under the Oslo Accords, these protest villages defied strict planning regulations and sought to allow Palestinians the ability to build and live on their own land, on their own terms. With President Obama poised to be in Ramallah on Thursday, Palestinian activists are banking on the distraction of all the fanfare to give them time in order to make headway on this new form of political dissent.
link to mondoweiss.net
Israeli forces surround new ‘village’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 Mar — Israeli forces on Wednesday surrounded a new tent village erected by Palestinian activists in Eizariya east of Jerusalem. An Israeli military spokeswoman said hundreds of Palestinians established “an illegal settlement” and that security forces were in the area “to maintain order.” She said soldiers arrested the driver of a truck loaded with equipment including tents. Mohammad Khatib, a spokesman for the activists, said soldiers handed protesters a document declaring the area a closed military zone. “We are staying. We are Palestinians, and we will stay here. They will have to evacuate us. They will have to use their power to do it, but we will not do it by ourselves,” Khatib told Ma‘an. “We are staying here because this is Palestinian land. This is our land, and no one has a right to evacuate us.” As US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel, activists set up 15 tents on a hillside near the site of the Bab al-Shams protest village that Israeli forces tore down in January. They have named the new neighborhood Ahfad Younis, after the main character in the novel Bab al-Shams.
link to www.maannews.net
Hebron child hit by settler vehicle
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 20 Mar – A Palestinian child was accidentally struck by an Israeli settler’s vehicle in the Old City of Hebron Wednesday. Medical sources at Hebron’s public hospital told Ma‘an that the child, identified as 4-year-old Muhammad Abdul-Ghani Qafisha, sustained moderate wounds. He is expected to be discharged Wednesday after receiving the needed medical treatment.
link to www.maannews.net
Settlers throw stones at car carrying Ramallah governor
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 22 Mar — Settlers threw stones at a car carrying the governor of Ramallah on Friday, Ma‘an’s correspondent said. Laila Ghannam was unharmed in the incident, which took place near Beit El settlement north of Ramallah.
link to www.maannews.net
Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 19 Mar — Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces on Tuesday at the entrance to a Bethlehem village. Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at residents ofTuqu‘, a Ma‘an reporter said. Palestinians frequently clash with Israeli forces in Tuqu‘, often leading to violent confrontations.
link to www.maannews.net
Israel arrests Jerusalem governorate official
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 20 Mar — Israeli forces on Wednesday detained the director general of public affairs in the Jerusalem governorate as he drove through the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem, an official said. Ahmad Syam, spokesman for the governorate office, told Ma‘an that Hamdi al-Rajabi was detained while he was driving through the Qalandiya checkpoint.
link to www.maannews.net
Israeli forces detain PA security officer
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 19 Mar– Israeli forces on Tuesday detained a Palestinian Authority security officer near a refugee camp south of Hebron. Odai al-Khatib, who works for the PA national security, was detained while farming his land near al-Fawwar camp, a Ma’an reporter said.
link to www.maannews.net
Israeli forces detain Palestinian in Hebron
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 22 Mar — Israeli forces on Thursday detained a Palestinian and assaulted two others in Hebron, a Ma‘an reporter said. Israeli forces assaulted Karam Maswadeh and detained his brother Anwar Maswadeh, 24, near the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron. Israeli forces also assaulted Muhannad Hussien al-Natsheh, 11.
link to www.maannews.net
Prisoners / Hunger strikers
Lawyer: Issawi too sick to attend hearing
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 Mar — Samer Issawi is too sick to attend a hearing at Israel’s Ofer military detention center after 232 days on hunger strike, his lawyer said Thursday. Jawad Boulus said in a statement that Issawi’s doctors informed the court that Issawi’s medical condition was too serious for him to attend the hearing. Issawi was hospitalized in late February and stopped drinking water earlier in March. He has serious heart problems and is using a respirator, Boulus said. The hearing will go ahead without Issawi, the lawyer said.
link to www.maannews.net
Sharawna’s mother, brothers arrive in Gaza via Egypt
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Mar — … Sharawna’s mother and two brothers, Salameh and Zuheir arrived Wednesday afternoon in Gaza City via Rafah crossing to meet Ayman who was released from Israel’s custody Sunday and deported to the Gaza Strip after a long hunger strike. Speaking to a Ma‘an reporter in Gaza City, Salameh Sharawna said the family’s happiness was incomplete because Israeli forces detained his brother Jihad and his nephew Ismail. “The Israeli occupation wouldn’t allow us to travel to the Gaza Strip via Erez crossing, so we traveled to Jordan, then to Egypt then to Gaza via Rafah crossing,” he added.
link to www.maannews.net
Prisoner Saidi refuses to apologize to Israeli officer
GAZA (PIC) 21 Mar — Israeli court has offered the isolated prisoner Awad Saidi to reduce his sentence that would be issued in the coming weeks if he apologizes to an Israeli officer, who has attacked him earlier, human rights sources revealed. Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights’ lawyer, Muhammad Abid, said, in a press statement on Wednesday following his visit to the isolated prisoner Saidi in Beersheba prison, that the Israeli court has suggested to him about two weeks ago to apologize to the Israeli officer who has attacked him nearly a year ago in return of reducing his sentence. Saidi has rejected the court’s offer, saying that “if the Nahacon forces apologize to the prisoner Abbas Al-sayed for their assault on him, I’m ready to apologize to the officer in return.”
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Obama refuses to meet delegation of prisoners’ families
RAMALLAH (PIC) 21 Mar — Director of Palestinian Prisoners Society Qaddoura Fares confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to meet a delegation from families of prisoners in Israeli jails. Fares pointed out in a press statement that there is a talk about the release of a number of prisoners at Obama’s visit to the region, but he denied that the PA has received any formal promises for that.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Gaza siege
Israel to limit Gaza fishing zone after rocket fire
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Mar — Israel will reduce the Gaza fishing zone as punishment for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip following a rocket attack, the Israeli military announced Thursday. “In response to the rocket fire earlier this morning … the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Minister of Defense, Mr. Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon, have instructed the IDF to narrow the permitted fishing zone for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from six to three miles,” the army said. “Additionally, Kerem Shalom crossing will be closed. These changes will continue until the IDF is otherwise instructed by the political echelon. “The IDF considers this incident with great severity and holds the Hamas terror organization responsible for any hostile activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.” The Palestinian minister of civil affairs Hussein al-Sheikh confirmed the measure. [as if the Israelis didn’t attack boats inside the 6-mile limit anyway]
link to www.maannews.net
Hamas appeals to Egypt after Israel halves fishing zone
GAZA (Reuters) 22 Mar — Hamas complained to Egypt on Friday after Israel suspended part of a Cairo-brokered truce agreement by halving Palestinian access to fishing waters in response to a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Thursday’s salvo at the Israeli border town of Sderot, which caused no casualties, coincided with a visit to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank by U.S. President Barack Obama. It was claimed by a small al Qaeda-linked faction that has challenged the Islamist Hamas group’s rule in the Gaza Strip … The zone had been extended to 11 km (6 miles) as part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in November, in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. “We have informed Cairo of this violation and we are waiting to hear a clear position from Egyptian mediators on this,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said, giving no indication that Hamas wanted to abandon the ceasefire arrangement. An Egyptian official confirmed that the Hamas complaint had been received, saying Israel had complained separately about the rocket attack – the second of its kind since November. The official said Cairo would contact both sides to “restore their commitment to the truce”. Israel said on Thursday its new Gaza restrictions would be in place until further notice.
link to news.yahoo.com
Video: The prolonged Israeli naval blockade has destroyed Gaza’s fishing industry and marine sports
[with transcript] RealNews 22 Mar with Michael Coleman — The number of Gaza fishermen has dropped from about 10,000 in the year 2000 to about 3500 today due to Israeli imposed restrictions on fishing limit — Under years of Israeli blockade, the Gaza fishing industry has become the hardest hit sector, leaving thousands of fishermen struggling to make ends meet, especially in light of the restrictions imposed by the Israeli navy on fishing maritime areas and frequent harassments, that prevent Palestinian fishermen from practicing their right to fish freely along Gaza’s 40km coastline in the Mediterranean Sea. The naval blockade was imposed following the second Palestinian uprising which broke out in September 2000 and was tightened in mid 2006, since then fishermen have been forced to fish in shallow waters.
link to therealnews.com
Islamist group says it fired rockets at Israel from Gaza
DUBAI (Reuters) 21 Mar — A small Islamist group claimed responsibility for firing rockets from the Gaza Strip at an Israeli border town during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the region. The small Salafi group called Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin said in an internet statement that it fired the rockets to show that Israeli air defenses could not stop attacks during Obama’s visit. [from an earlier Reuters report: Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed on Thursday in a southern Israeli border town that US President Barack Obama mentioned in a speech on his arrival in Israel a day earlier. Police said there were no casualties but some damage in the attack on Sderot near the Gaza frontier … The president was in Jerusalem, some 80 km from Sderot, when the rockets struck several hours before his visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Hamas’s rival, Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas.
link to www.maannews.net
IOF soldiers open gunfire at citizens in southern Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS (PIC) 20 Mar — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened machine gunfire at Palestinian homes and property east of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that IOF soldiers in army jeeps and in military watchtowers opened random fire at Fakhari suburb east of Khan Younis city. No casualties were reported. The witnesses said that IOF armored vehicles and bulldozers were seen roaming near to the area, which point to plans to damage land lots.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israel closes Karem Shalom crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Mar — Israeli authorities on Thursday decided to close the Karem Shalom crossing a few hours after opening it on Thursday morning, officials said. Nathmi Muhana, the director general of crossings, told Ma‘an that Israel informed the Palestinian side that the crossing would be closed. He noted that dozens of trucks were supposed to enter the Gaza Strip. Muhana said the Palestinian side received no official explanation but it was likely that the decision was related to rockets fired into southern Israel early Thursday.
link to www.maannews.net
Heavy construction equipment enters Gaza for the first time
GAZA (PIC) 22 Mar — Minister of Public Works and Housing Yousef Subhi al-Ghareez declared the entry of heavy construction equipment to Gaza through Rafah crossing for the first time, pointing out that this equipment came within the Qatar-fund reconstruction operations in the strip. The Minister thanked both Qatar and Egypt for their efforts in getting the construction machinery and equipment into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Mother’s Day in Gaza: A time for sorrow
Al-Monitor 21 Mar by Asmaa al-Ghoul — On Mother’s Day last year, 5-year-old Ronan Arafat picked a rose on her way back from the nursery and offered it to her mother. This year, however, Ronan will not offer her mother a rose. She will not grow another year; she was killed by Israeli warplanes as they bombed their house in the south of the Zeitun neighborhood in Gaza City on Nov. 14, 2012. Her mother, Nisreen, says, “My daughter was martyred on the first day of the war. Our house is located in a big agricultural area. I remember hearing that day news about the assassination of Ahmed Jabari, so I brought my children together and got ready to go to the house of my family. And the moment my son Jalal and two daughters Maria and Ronan came to me to help them get dressed, the house disintegrated under heavy shelling.” … As they talked about Ronan’s mischievousness and other memories, both her parents burst into tears … Najat Naeem is another mother who feels sorrow instead of happiness on Mother’s Day. Despite having five other children, she cannot forget her youngest, Abboud. He was 2½ when he was killed by shrapnel from an Israeli missile that struck a building next to them in the Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City. Naeem told Al-Monitor, “Throughout the war I would put my son in my lap. I could feel that something was about to happen to him and I told the people around me that I was afraid for Abboud.
link to www.al-monitor.com
Egyptian bride smuggled into Gaza through underground ‘tunnel of love’
[with photos] NYDailyNews 22 Mar by Carol Kuruvilla with Reuters — This love knows no boundaries. An Egyptian bride had to pass through an underground tunnel in her billowing white wedding dress on Thursday to tie the knot with her Palestinian fiancé in Gaza. 17-year-old Manal Abu Shanar had been living in the Egyptian city of Rafah, located right next to Egypt’s border with Palestine. Her fiancé Emad al-Malalha, 21, lived in Gaza. The couple got engaged six months ago. They were using a telephone to communicate throughout that time. But when it came time to say their vows, the Egyptian administration wouldn’t let Abu Shanar enter Gaza through the border gate.
link to www.nydailynews.com
Racism / Discrimination
The main findings of the 2013 Racism in Israel report
Coalition against Racism in Israel 21 Mar — The annual Racism in Israel report … collects, reviews, and documents racist incidents that occur in Israel during a defined 12 month period from March to February … The report presents the various events that reach and are published by the media, as well as events that never reach the media that are documented by organizations who are members of the Coalition and others … Principal findings: 20 Cases of Discriminatory Legislation The 18th Knesset was noted as the most racist in the history of the State, inter alia, due to dozens of racist and anti-democratic draft bills mainly directed at the persecution of the Arab minority in Israel…. 107 Cases of Incitement by Elected Representatives and Public Leaders A significant increase in racist statements made by elected persons is documented in the report, which recorded 107 incidents of incitement this year compared with 59 recorded last year…. 22 Cases of Infringement on the Basic Freedoms of Arab Political Leadership This year’s report happily records a decline in incidents of infringement of basic freedoms of Arab political leadership, 22 incidents this year compared with 37 in the previous year…. 24 Cases of Harmful Religious Sentiments In this area the number of cases this year is almost double that of last year – 24 incidents were recorded compared with 13 in the previous report, including vandalism in Muslim, Christian and Jewish cemeteries and sacred places…. 213 Cases of Racism in Government Institutions, Private Businesses, and Public and Private Organizations Institutional racism is on the rise, including by businesses and service providers in the private sector – 213 incidents compared with 155 last year…. 114 Cases of Racism among Citizens 114 incidents were recorded in this year’s report compared with 54 in the previous year, with a tripling of events on the part of Jewish citizens against Arab citizens (63 cases compared with 20 in the preceding year) [as well as other categories]
link to www.fightracism.org
More than 60 Israeli laws discriminate against Palestinians
MEMO 2 Mar — The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) has revealed that the Israeli authorities have drafted more than 60 laws which discriminate against their Palestinian citizens. The laws cover areas such as education, the national budget, public services, civil rights and even prisons and prisoners. “Some of these laws also violate the rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories and Palestinian refugees,” said the Adala website. To mark the International Day against Racism and the swearing in of the new Israeli government on Friday, Adala said that it is going to launch a computerised database of all discriminatory laws in Israel. As well as analytical studies and petitions filed to the Israeli Supreme Court against such laws, the database is going to include briefs in Arabic, Hebrew and English. Draft bills waiting to be proposed in the Knesset will also be included.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com
Suspected: 2 youths hurl stones at Arab youth in Jerusalem
Ynet 20 Mar — Two youths were arrested in Jerusalem’s Old City, the two are suspected of hurling stones at an Arab youth, lightly injuring him in his head.
link to www.ynetnews.com
Political and economic news
Report: Abbas willing to accept secret settlement freeze
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 Mar — President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to accept an unannounced settlement freeze in order to renew peace talks with Israel, The New York Times reportedThursday. Citing the talking points of an internal PLO document ahead of Abbas’ meeting with US President Barack Obama on Thursday, the report quoted Abbas as saying he wished to return to peace talks but only on the condition that Israel froze settlements, publicly or not. “He can pledge to you secretly that he will stop settlement activities during the period of negotiations,” one line of the document said, apparently referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “(He does not have to announce it.)” The Times said it obtained an electronic copy of the document, whose author was listed as an aide to PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat in the negotiations affairs department. Other items in the document urge Obama to encourage Netanyahu to say he is willing to accept a two-state solution on the 1967 borders: “He never said it … I hope one day he will put his Map on the table as I did.” Another talking point is a warning that Abbas is prepared to begin scaling back the Palestinian Authority’s control of certain areas in the event Israel’s occupation fails to come to an end. “I am not threatening, I am sharing a fact with you,” Abbas was expected to say. “If this situation continues I will be forced to ask Prime Minister (Netanyahu) to resume his responsibilities.”
link to www.maannews.net
US Senate warns Palestine against prosecuting Israel
MEMO 20 Mar — A letter signed by three quarters of the members of the US Senate has warned the Palestinian Authority against filing a complaint against Israel at the International Criminal Court, and threatened that such a step would impact on relations between the PA and the US.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com
US unblocks $481 million for Palestinians
Australian 23 Mar — THE United States has quietly unblocked almost $US500 million ($A481.46 million) in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months. The news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank this week.”To date, we have moved $US295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money … and $US200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday. The Obama administration also notified Congress in late February that it was seeking a further $US200 million to fund US Agency for International Development (USAID) programs for the Palestinians, she said.
link to www.theaustralian.com.au
Israel PM apologizes for flotilla deaths
Al Jazeera 22 Mar — Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said he “expressed apology” to Turkey for any error that led to the death of nine Turkish nationals in 2010 in the Gaza flotilla incident. Netanyahu also said on Friday that Israel has also agreed to compensate the families of the victims. In a phone call between Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the “two men agreed to restore normalisation between Israel and Turkey, including the dispatch of ambassadors and the cancellation of legal steps against IDF soldiers,” the statement said. “In light of Israel’s investigation into the incident which pointed to a number of operational mistakes, the Prime Minister expressed Israel’s apology to the Turkish people for any mistakes that might have led to the loss of life or injury and agreed to conclude an agreement on compensation/nonliability.”… At a joint press conference with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, President Barack Obama said his administration has worked for months to reach the deal. Obama said that the “moment was right” for Israel and Turkey to resume diplomatic relations … Meanwhile, Al Jazeera’s Elif Ural, reporting from Istanbul, said that Hamas has sent a message expressing disappointment that Turkey has accepted the apology.
link to www.aljazeera.com
Obama’s grand bargain? Israel apologizes to Turkey, promises Mavi Marmara compensation
22 Mar by Richard Silverstein — In a remarkable about-face after three years of adamant refusal, Bibi Netanyahu has apologized to Turkey’s premier for Israel’s 2010 massacre on the Mavi Marmara. He’s also promised financial compensation to the families of the nine Turkish citizens murdered during the attack. Reports also indicate an Israeli agreement to ease the Gaza blockade, though the provisions are uncertain. This is such a strange and sudden development that it begs speculation about what caused it. First, earlier refusals were grounded in Avigdor Lieberman’s rejection of an apology. Given that Lieberman immediately attacked the apology, it seems he hasn’t changed his mind. Contrition lies with Bibi. Given that Pres. Obama left Israel today one can’t deny the critical role that he played in brokering the deal. But given that Obama had tried and failed before, something more must’ve been offered to Bibi. This is where I fear what transpired during this visit. What could Obama offer Bibi that would move the latter from rejection to acceptance of a development that surely rankles the pride the any red-blooded Israeli nationalist … Given that Iran was at the top of the mutual Israeli-U.S. agenda on this trip. And given that Bibi didn’t object when Obama told the world that Iran was at least a year away from the nuclear threshold, despite the fact that Bibi placed that date right around now when he broached the subject in his fall UN speech; this leads to the sneaking suspicion that there was a Grand Bargain made that involved anAmerican commitment to attack Iran with or without Israel in the coming year.
link to www.richardsilverstein.com
A few articles about the Obama visit