Sunday, 27 February 2011
Samouni family, Gaza
Ken O'Keefe, our man in Gaza, reports back on the family two years after the mass-murder by the Israeli military:
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Gaza: shades of Calvinism
Harriet Sherwood of The Guardian Newspaper has just reported (24th February) on Hamas’ continuing freezing of social life in Gaza. Their basic premise is that if it feels good, it can't be right. This latest manifestation of their ‘purification’ effort is typically unyielding: a Mr Hatem Ghoul found a police message at the hairdresser’s where he works - his presence was requested at the local station.
He was called into a room where another detainee happened to be chained to a wall by his wrists, and told to sign a pledge that he would cease cutting women’s hair or face a 20,000 shekel (£3,400) fine.
Hamas not only have it in for hairdressers; they believe that men and women must dance in separate rooms (I'm not making this up), female lawyers must wear scarves and women must not smoke. Okay for that last one, but also there is a ban on men selling women’s underwear. Hamas is seriously into treating women as fetish objects.
Writing as an expatriate who is old enough to remember how Scotland was before the 1970s, when the law forced on us by the Scottish Church, the veto poll, allowing just one party-pooper to keep a whole borough pub-free, was abolished, I find the build-up of evidence against the ‘boring men in beards with guns’ sadly familiar.
The Free Church of Scotland was often laughingly described as the nearest thing the Christians could get in modern times to the Taliban. Another throwback we could thank the Men In Black for was a by-law in Glasgow forbidding standing up in pubs where music was played - in case perhaps that foot-tapping would lead to dancing. John Knox and his inspiration, Calvin, would be well at home in Gaza today.
According to the Associated Press at http://www.hometownstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=14139396 the secular life of Gaza as far as it constitutes a ‘community’ has been chopped away by ten per cent. On my one successful attempt to reach Gaza, when I told my hosts that I would vote for Hamas if I was living with them, I was a little surprised at their reaction: a politely disguised distain; a distain of the kind you might use when someone gave you a teaset instead of a turntable for your birthday. Now I understand why my young friends felt that way, and why they preferred the Palestine Peoples’ Party although it was unlikely to rise to power.
Their recent manifesto demanding change and freedom within Gaza finished with this address for further information: http://www.blogger.com/freegazayouth@hotmail.com - Scotland has changed; Gaza could, too.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Jets bomb Gaza
Israeli jets have launched several airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, but no casualties have been reported, according to Press TV, whose report follows:
The attack took place in the early hours on Thursday, AFP reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters carried out multiple airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
In June 2007, Israel and Egypt placed the territory under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the coastal sliver.
Poverty, unemployment, lack of medicine and medical equipment are the main issues in the Gaza Strip, while most Palestinian children are physically stunted from malnutrition.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a crisis for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Even human rights groups have criticized the international community for its silence on the siege on the Gaza Strip and the 22-day Israeli war shattering the stagnant economy of the territory.
With poverty rate at almost 70 percent and unemployment hovering around 50 percent, many Gazans live on handouts from relatives and local aid agencies as they spend most of their dwindling monthly income on food.
Experts say the blockade will further deteriorate besieged Gaza's economy and will increase unemployment and poverty rates.
The attack took place in the early hours on Thursday, AFP reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters carried out multiple airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
In June 2007, Israel and Egypt placed the territory under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the coastal sliver.
Poverty, unemployment, lack of medicine and medical equipment are the main issues in the Gaza Strip, while most Palestinian children are physically stunted from malnutrition.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a crisis for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
Even human rights groups have criticized the international community for its silence on the siege on the Gaza Strip and the 22-day Israeli war shattering the stagnant economy of the territory.
With poverty rate at almost 70 percent and unemployment hovering around 50 percent, many Gazans live on handouts from relatives and local aid agencies as they spend most of their dwindling monthly income on food.
Experts say the blockade will further deteriorate besieged Gaza's economy and will increase unemployment and poverty rates.
Late news: strike injures two
An airstrike targeted southern Gaza late on Thursday, moderately injuring two Palestinians in an attack on a vehicle in the city of Rafah.
The injured were taken by ambulance to the Abu Najjar hospital, said Adham Abu Salmiya, a spokesman for the Gaza medical services.
At least one of the victims was still in the vehicle, which was on fire after sustaining four direct strikes. Residents of Khan Younis confirmed hearing four distinct explosions around the time of the attack.
Witnesses said the vehicle belonged to the government in Gaza. Israel's army, with typically lazy syntax, said the attack targeted "terror operatives" in southern Gaza.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Israel destroys West Bank olive trees to lay 'settlement' waterline
by CIRCARRE PARRHESIA on 23 February 2011, MONDOWEISS
Yesterday, February 22 2011, a number of Palestinian news agencies, including the agency that I work for, published articles on the destruction of olive fields in the West Bank town of Jab’a, found in the greater Bethlehem district.
The details were far from sparse, but cut to heart of the matter. The Israeli military had entered the olive grove of a Palestinian farmer and destroyed between 230 and 250 of his olive trees (reports vary). The military claimed that they were clearing state land, although the land is actually owned by the farmer and he has all legal documents to prove this.
Today I went to meet this man with a Palestinian friend of mine, and a couple of mutual friends, both internationals.
The gentleman in question goes by the name of Abu Taha. He is part of the small community of Jab’a, approximately between 800 and 900 people, and he relies on his olive groves in the area for his livelihood. Although a small town, the population of Jab’a are the legal owners of a large quantity of land in the South Bethlehem district. Fertile land land that is increasingly becoming prime real estate for the growing settler population in the region.
Abu Taha is also a beneficiary of the work of the Joint Advocacy Initiative, a project of the YMCA in Beit Sahour - a town located on the outer edge of the city of Bethlehem. It was in this context that my Palestinian friend visited today, as a representative of the venture, that gives away young olive trees to Palestinian farmers, and helps both plant said trees and harvest them through their campaign to bring internationals to the area to work alongside and learn from Palestinians such as Abu Taha.
The support of the JAI is crucial for farmers like Abu Taha is isolated in his work. Of his nine children, most are abroad, and those who aren’t have no interest in following their father’s footsteps to the olive groves.
Abu Taha’s struggle with the so-called Civilian Administration, i.e. the Israeli military that occupies and controls the West Bank, began when the Israeli water company applied to the Israeli military to build a water pipe on his land.
Without consulting Abu Taha, permission was granted, resulting in the destruction of 60 of his trees, and the paving of part of his field . This water pipe supplies Israeli settlements with water that is, of course, not allowed to be used by the Palestinian population in the area.
The military came back, yesterday, to clear his land, claiming that it was the property of the State of Israel; an action that was averted when a friend of Abu Taha’s saw the attack and alerted him.
Abu Taha arrived at his fields to prove ownership of the agricultural land, at which point the Israeli military was forced to halt their actions, but not before a sizable portion of his trees had been destroyed, the bulk of which were confiscated, and chemicals poured over the stumps to prevent them from regrowing.
Some were fully grown, whilst others were barely saplings.
When the destruction of Abu Taha’s property was partially averted, the Israeli military turned their attention to the neighboring field, who’s owner was unable to attend to prove ownership, resulting in the destruction of approximately 150 more trees. This took yesterday’s total to around 400.
The reason for this act of violence against Palestinian property can only be assumed to be for the aid of settlement expansion. Close to the violated fields, caravan outposts loom ominously on the hillside.
Within reach of the settlement of Beit Ein, these caravans are used when the residents of settlements wish to expand their land grab. They are placed away from the settlement, but within a few kilometres, so that the land between them is effectively annexed. Once the settlement has been expanded the surrounding areas, usually right up to the built up area of local Palestinian towns, are confiscated to the settlement under the auspices of providing a safe buffer zone from the Palestinian communities nearby, robbing Palestinians of their property, their livelihood and their home land.
In the media we are quick to ignore the human side of this de-humanizing occupation. When reporting on destruction of property, on abduction, on injury and even on murder, we tell ourselves we must remain detached to keep a grip on our objectivity.
How can you remain objective when faced with words such as these:
“When I saw them cutting down the trees I felt as if somebody is uprooting my heart from between my lungs.”
When you come to Palestine, please come meet Abu Taha.
Circarre Parrhesia is an editor and writer for the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, based in the West Bank town of Beit Sahour.
A RESIDENT OF JAB'A STANDS NEXT TO DESTROYED OLIVE TREES.
(PHOTO: PALESTINE SOLIDARITY PROJECT)
Yesterday, February 22 2011, a number of Palestinian news agencies, including the agency that I work for, published articles on the destruction of olive fields in the West Bank town of Jab’a, found in the greater Bethlehem district.
The details were far from sparse, but cut to heart of the matter. The Israeli military had entered the olive grove of a Palestinian farmer and destroyed between 230 and 250 of his olive trees (reports vary). The military claimed that they were clearing state land, although the land is actually owned by the farmer and he has all legal documents to prove this.
Today I went to meet this man with a Palestinian friend of mine, and a couple of mutual friends, both internationals.
The gentleman in question goes by the name of Abu Taha. He is part of the small community of Jab’a, approximately between 800 and 900 people, and he relies on his olive groves in the area for his livelihood. Although a small town, the population of Jab’a are the legal owners of a large quantity of land in the South Bethlehem district. Fertile land land that is increasingly becoming prime real estate for the growing settler population in the region.
Abu Taha is also a beneficiary of the work of the Joint Advocacy Initiative, a project of the YMCA in Beit Sahour - a town located on the outer edge of the city of Bethlehem. It was in this context that my Palestinian friend visited today, as a representative of the venture, that gives away young olive trees to Palestinian farmers, and helps both plant said trees and harvest them through their campaign to bring internationals to the area to work alongside and learn from Palestinians such as Abu Taha.
The support of the JAI is crucial for farmers like Abu Taha is isolated in his work. Of his nine children, most are abroad, and those who aren’t have no interest in following their father’s footsteps to the olive groves.
Abu Taha’s struggle with the so-called Civilian Administration, i.e. the Israeli military that occupies and controls the West Bank, began when the Israeli water company applied to the Israeli military to build a water pipe on his land.
Without consulting Abu Taha, permission was granted, resulting in the destruction of 60 of his trees, and the paving of part of his field . This water pipe supplies Israeli settlements with water that is, of course, not allowed to be used by the Palestinian population in the area.
The military came back, yesterday, to clear his land, claiming that it was the property of the State of Israel; an action that was averted when a friend of Abu Taha’s saw the attack and alerted him.
Abu Taha arrived at his fields to prove ownership of the agricultural land, at which point the Israeli military was forced to halt their actions, but not before a sizable portion of his trees had been destroyed, the bulk of which were confiscated, and chemicals poured over the stumps to prevent them from regrowing.
Some were fully grown, whilst others were barely saplings.
When the destruction of Abu Taha’s property was partially averted, the Israeli military turned their attention to the neighboring field, who’s owner was unable to attend to prove ownership, resulting in the destruction of approximately 150 more trees. This took yesterday’s total to around 400.
The reason for this act of violence against Palestinian property can only be assumed to be for the aid of settlement expansion. Close to the violated fields, caravan outposts loom ominously on the hillside.
Within reach of the settlement of Beit Ein, these caravans are used when the residents of settlements wish to expand their land grab. They are placed away from the settlement, but within a few kilometres, so that the land between them is effectively annexed. Once the settlement has been expanded the surrounding areas, usually right up to the built up area of local Palestinian towns, are confiscated to the settlement under the auspices of providing a safe buffer zone from the Palestinian communities nearby, robbing Palestinians of their property, their livelihood and their home land.
In the media we are quick to ignore the human side of this de-humanizing occupation. When reporting on destruction of property, on abduction, on injury and even on murder, we tell ourselves we must remain detached to keep a grip on our objectivity.
How can you remain objective when faced with words such as these:
“When I saw them cutting down the trees I felt as if somebody is uprooting my heart from between my lungs.”
When you come to Palestine, please come meet Abu Taha.
Circarre Parrhesia is an editor and writer for the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, based in the West Bank town of Beit Sahour.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Rafah crossing to open for visits to Egypt
Despite the leanings of the stand-in regime in Egypt, starting on Tuesday 22nd February the Rafah crossing will be open for Gaza residents to enter the country, Palestinian crossings officials reported to Ma'an News Agency.Around 300 Palestinians will be allowed to cross to Egypt every day.
Egypt reopened the Rafah crossing on Friday evening for Palestinians stranded in Egypt to return to Gaza. The terminal had been closed for over three weeks during the uprising in Egypt.
Since Friday, around 850 Gaza residents have returned home, according to crossings staff. Barakat Al-Farra, the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo, said Egyptian officials had been very cooperative and made serious efforts to "facilitate the smooth passage of travellers".
This follows the good news on the 19th, that the crossing had been opened for Palestinians in Egypt to visit Gaza, daily and with no time limit. It is possible that this is the result of the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in the opposition's talks with Vice-President Omar Suleiman, although it might just be that the US administration will be looking for ways to pull out of spending on its empirical spread, and that maintaining the blockade on Egypt's border is one area it could afford to compromise in.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Between the lines at the BBC
If you were only half-awake you could hardly have missed the wildly fictional slanting being given to reality by the guest on Radio Four's Today programme earlier this week.
But the positive outcome of this is that it prompted the following letter, a flawlessly succinct description of 63 years in the history of Palestine and the scenario as it stands:
Dear Editor, 16 February 2011
Yesterday, whilst listening to John Humphreys interview Israeli deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, on the Today programme, I had a distinct feeling of living in a parallel universe. Danny Ayalon's shameless comments bore no resemblance to the facts on the ground. Mubarak was a principal collaborator in the Israeli suppression of the Palestinian people and his downfall represents the loss of one of Israel's key aides in the incarceration and economic ruination of Gazans. A real democracy in Egypt will challenge the maintenance of Israel's military occupation of Palestine. So Israel and USA will be doing what they can to prevent a genuine democratic election in Egypt. If they fail to get their own candidate elected (so much for their love of democracy...) will sanctions will be applied to Egypt as they have been in the case of the democratic Gazan elections?
One would never have guessed from Mr Ayalon's dulcet tones that Israel has been illegally occupying Palestine for the last 63 yrs., building large towns and industrial complexes on stolen Palestinian land, imprisoning Palestinians behind a monstrous wall and prohibiting their movement through the use of military checkpoints. Not a hint that Israel is cleansing the Bedouin from their historic villages and lands, illegally detaining and torturing Palestinian minors inside Israeli jails, enacting racist laws against their Arab citizens,refusing millions of Palestinian refugees their legitimate right to return to their own lands, dragging Arab families out of their homes in E.Jerusalem to house Jews from E. Europe and USA.
As for assisting the Palestinian economy - take an investigative team and ask the Palestinians how prosperous they are under Israeli occupation. Children in the West Bank are as malnourished as the children of Gaza.
To crush people to this degree and then expect them to come to the negotiating table without pre-conditions is cruelty indeed. Innocent listeners could never have guessed that the seductive tones of Ayalon concealed oceans of Israeli inhumanity and criminality. What is disturbing is the complicity of the BBC and John Humphreys in this monumental dissemblance.
This week Judith Keshet, an Israeli Jewish woman, founder of Machsom Watch, is visiting the UK to speak of her work supporting Bedouin whose villages in the Negev have been illegally destroyed 11 times in the last few years . Why not interview her? There are honest Israelis who are willing to tell the truth about their government's scandalous inhumanity.
Anne Candlin
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Al Araqib razed for 18th time for 'Peace Forest'
The Bedouin village of Al Araqib was attacked by Israeli forces and destroyed for the 18th time on Thursday morning.
Previous destruction of Al Araqib (Negev Coexistence Forum)
Israeli police, special forces, and riot police entered the village very early Thursday morning, before the residents had awakened. The police and Jewish National Fund, armed with bulldozers and weapons, destroyed the few buildings that were constructed Wednesday, following the 17th demolition, and surrounded the cemetery where the residents of Al Araqib were sleeping, so they were not able to get out.
While the residents were barricaded inside, the Jewish National Fund again worked on preparing the land for the planting of God TV’s “Peace Forest.”
In the later hours of the morning, around 100 residents of the nearby Bedouin city Rahat, some formerly of El Araqib, arrived at the village to show support and solidarity.
Israeli forces, however, blocked them from entering. The men and women sat on the road, waiting for admission to the cemetery to spend time with their friends and relatives.
While plain clothes Israeli police officers were negotiating with the visitors from Rahat, the riot police decided that they needed to leave and began shooting men, women and children with rubber bullets.
Because the people were blocked from entered the village, they were forced to flee on the road. The police chased after them for around two kilometers, and shot tear gas at them. Seven people were arrested, two of them underage. One of those arrested is Dr. Awad Abu Frieh, the Al Araqib village spokesperson.
During this time the highway, Route 40, was blocked by the police in both directions. Once the people from Rahat had left, and the police were finished making arrests, the JNF continued working.
On Wednesday, Israeli forces arrived in the early hours of the morning and shot at the residents with rubber bullets and paint ball guns. When the first round of shooting subsided, the special forces pushed people from their homes and began demolishing the village for the 17th time.
The residents of Al Araqib have barricaded themselves inside the village cemetery for protection and to prevent the destruction of the historic burial ground as well. Yesterday, all of the exits to the cemetery were closed by Israeli forces, and JNF bulldozers spent much of the day circling the site.
On Friday, 18 February, at noon there was planned an inter-religious prayer in what remains of Al Araqib; Muslims and Jews praying alongside each other.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
B'Tselem video project captures I"D"F child abuse
14 Feb.2011: B’Tselem volunteers film soldiers waking children in Nabi Saleh to take their photographs
Israeli Channel 10 TV aired yesterday footage filmed by Nariman and Bilal a-Tamimi, volunteers in B’Tselem’s video project and residents of Nabi Saleh, offering a rare glimpse into a new method employed by the army: soldiers enter homes at night to photograph youngsters from the village. The soldiers enter the homes and demand that every child and youth over the age of 10 be wakened. They then photograph the minors and leave. B’Tselem knows of at least four incursions of this kind during January 2011.
The army uses the photographs to identify minors who throw stones during the regular Friday demonstrations in the village. Soldiers then return to their homes at night and arrest them.
The footage also shows the arrest of a 14-year-old youth on 23 Jan.'11. The soldiers refused to enable his parents to accompany him and treated them roughly. The youth was interrogated without his parents present and is still under arrest, more than three weeks later.
Israeli Channel 10 TV aired yesterday footage filmed by Nariman and Bilal a-Tamimi, volunteers in B’Tselem’s video project and residents of Nabi Saleh, offering a rare glimpse into a new method employed by the army: soldiers enter homes at night to photograph youngsters from the village. The soldiers enter the homes and demand that every child and youth over the age of 10 be wakened. They then photograph the minors and leave. B’Tselem knows of at least four incursions of this kind during January 2011.
The army uses the photographs to identify minors who throw stones during the regular Friday demonstrations in the village. Soldiers then return to their homes at night and arrest them.
The footage also shows the arrest of a 14-year-old youth on 23 Jan.'11. The soldiers refused to enable his parents to accompany him and treated them roughly. The youth was interrogated without his parents present and is still under arrest, more than three weeks later.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Israel bombs medical supplies building
Ken O'Keefe sends this from Gaza, dated the 8th February. Israeli forces have deliberately bombed a building containing medical supplies. (New report, updated, 10th February)
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Ten Palestinians were injured on Wednesday morning in Israeli air strikes which started after midnight and hit in a series of explosions running from the northern end of the Strip to the south.
Spokesman of the higher committee of ambulance and emergency services Adham Abu Salmiya said that eight were lightly injured including two children and three women. The injured were transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital north of Gaza City.
Abu Salmiya said one strike targeted the medicine warehouse east of Gaza City. The strike obliterated the warehouse and damaged a carpenters workshop next door.
The Israeli warplanes dropped another two missiles on an empty area east of Gaza City with no injuries reported.
Further south, two Palestinians were injured when missiles hit a training ground used by Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades.
Medical sources said the injured were civilians who lived adjacent to the site.
Additional strikes hit near the tunnel area of the Gaza-Egypt border, where no injuries were reported.
An Israeli military statement said the last strike targeted a "terror tunnel," which was "intended to be used by terrorists to infiltrate into Israel and to carry out 'terror' attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."
The earlier bombings a "terror activity site" in the central Gaza Strip, in addition to a "second terror activity site" in the north.
The statement noted that "direct hits were confirmed," and that in two of the sites "secondary blasts were identified."
According to the military, the sites were targeted "in response to intensive rocket fire into Israeli territory over the course of the day." during which the military said five military-use projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip landing in southern Israel.
Hours after the strikes, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said militants fired a projectile on an Israeli military jeep east of Gaza City's Ash-Shujayiya neighbourhood.
The brigades said they would remain steadfast to the option of resistance and would continue to confront "the crimes of the Israeli occupation."
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Ten Palestinians were injured on Wednesday morning in Israeli air strikes which started after midnight and hit in a series of explosions running from the northern end of the Strip to the south.
Spokesman of the higher committee of ambulance and emergency services Adham Abu Salmiya said that eight were lightly injured including two children and three women. The injured were transferred to the Kamal Odwan Hospital north of Gaza City.
Abu Salmiya said one strike targeted the medicine warehouse east of Gaza City. The strike obliterated the warehouse and damaged a carpenters workshop next door.
The Israeli warplanes dropped another two missiles on an empty area east of Gaza City with no injuries reported.
Further south, two Palestinians were injured when missiles hit a training ground used by Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades.
Medical sources said the injured were civilians who lived adjacent to the site.
Additional strikes hit near the tunnel area of the Gaza-Egypt border, where no injuries were reported.
An Israeli military statement said the last strike targeted a "terror tunnel," which was "intended to be used by terrorists to infiltrate into Israel and to carry out 'terror' attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers."
The earlier bombings a "terror activity site" in the central Gaza Strip, in addition to a "second terror activity site" in the north.
The statement noted that "direct hits were confirmed," and that in two of the sites "secondary blasts were identified."
According to the military, the sites were targeted "in response to intensive rocket fire into Israeli territory over the course of the day." during which the military said five military-use projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip landing in southern Israel.
Hours after the strikes, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, said militants fired a projectile on an Israeli military jeep east of Gaza City's Ash-Shujayiya neighbourhood.
The brigades said they would remain steadfast to the option of resistance and would continue to confront "the crimes of the Israeli occupation."
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Al Araqib village destroyed for 12th time
7th February 2011
Bulldozers of the 'Israeli interior ministry', escorted by big numbers of Israeli police and army forces, on Monday razed all houses in the village of Araqib in the Negev for the 12th consecutive time, Palestinian sources report. Dr. Awad Abu Freih, the spokesman for the committee in defence of Araqib, said that the bulldozers of the so-called 'Israel land administration' and of the interior ministry demolished all constructions in the Bedouin village and left women and children in the open, cold weather without shelter. He told the Quds Press that police and army forces encircled the village's graveyard and assaulted the inhabitants who resorted to the cemetery for sanctuary.
The villagers are adamant on remaining in their village and would not be deterred by Israeli bulldozers, said Abu Freih, adding that the Israeli authorities wanted to pave the way for construction of Jewish farms on the land of the village.
The situation in the village is "tragic" as the Israeli authorities knocked down the homes on the furniture, clothes, and other property while leaving the inhabitants, mostly women and children, in the open, cold weather.
Jerusalem
Meanwhile, the slow destruction of Jerusalem proceeds, in the on-going Nakba.
Several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah district are to be evicted to make way for two new buildings meant to comprise 13 apartments.
The Jerusalem Municipal Committee for Planning and Building was expected to approve on Monday the construction of two buildings that will include 13 apartments for Jewish residents in Sheikh Jarrah.
Backing the plan are settler organizations who currently occupy three homes in the district. Following the plan's approval, a number of Palestinian families will be evicted from the site to allow construction to start.
The planning committee was also expected to approve a new Jews-only access road south of Har Homa, which will enable the expansion of the colony.
According to the plan, two buildings will be razed in the western part of the neighbourhood where, until now, nearly no Jews lived. In its place, two new buildings will be built. One will have 10 apartments and the other, three.
Both schemes have been proposed by Chaim Silverstein, a well known figure in right-wing circles in Jerusalem. The companies behind the project are registered in the United States, and may well be front companies set up by right-wing activists in order to transfer funds for the purchase of land and housing in Israel/Palestine.
Silverstein has power of attorney rights in both companies involved, Debril and Velpin.
For the past 18 months there has been a struggle between Arabs and Jews over the activities of settlers in Sheikh Jarrah and against efforts to evict Palestinian families from the district.
The 'settlers' have been able to expand their hold there because before 1948 there were Jews living in Sheikh Jarrah. The court recognized the right of Jews who inherited properties to reclaim their properties. Since then, the immigrants are working hard to convince the owners of the properties to sell them the rights so that they could evict the Palestinians and populate the area with Jewish families.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Film: The Shooting of Tom Hurndall
Film review by Tim King, Salem-News.com
"...I want to look up to myself and when I die, I want to smile because of the things I have done, not cry for the things I haven't done" —Tom Hurndall
I am familiar with his story, as I am with Rachel Corrie's; both were humanitarian activists killed by Israeli military forces while rallying to the aid of Palestinian people.
In the case of Tom Hurndall, I understand this tragedy much more clearly now thanks to Simon Block who wrote the film, and also to the gracious family who made sure Tom's story was told.
Tom was from England; he was 23 years old. His story is tragic as any could be and like many brave people before him, Tom died fulfilling the role of a hero in the most genuine, unarguable way; rescuing young children under fire from a sniper in a guard tower who claimed he was being fired at, when it would later be proven that he was only shooting civilians.
This is life in Gaza.
In the occupied zones Israel views the period following the second Intifada as a war that has never ended. They shoot people nearly every day. Almost all Palestinians have laid down their arms, and it has done them little good. Of course the horror for many is that Americans support these acts that stand in stark violation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, with their tax dollars that are routinely shipped to Israel.
In the film you learn that there are Gaza residents in Rafah whose homes are full of hundreds of bullet holes from Israeli soldiers' rifles.
I know they are part of war, but snipers are people who don't confront their 'enemies'. They just blast their lives to hell through a scope attached, in this case, almost certainly to a weapon provided by US taxpayer revenue.
This movie is extremely well produced, I suspect that had a whole lot to do with Tom's parents, Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, who are, along with his siblings, among the film's main characters.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and who his friends are
Well-placed Israeli sources have disclosed that the Zionist state has offered to place "all its capabilities" at the disposal of General Omar Suleiman, the recently appointed Vice President of Egypt, for the "protection of the regime in Egypt". This offer includes the implementation of "various operations to end the popular revolution". Israel has also asked Suleiman to work on preventing arms being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
An official in Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called Suleiman, who is also the director of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, and expressed his concern about the situation in Egypt. Netanyahu apparently suggested the possibility of Israeli intelligence personnel undertaking various specialist operations to bring an end to the demonstrations. The source added that Netanyahu and Suleiman also discussed ways of securing the border between Israel and Egypt.
The Hebrew newspaper Ma'ariv revealed that in recent days highly placed individuals in Netanyahu's office have conducted a series of telephone conversations with Suleiman to impress on the Vice President the necessity of coordinating on security with Israel. The telephone conversations were described as "urgent" and were designed to alert the Egyptians about the consequences of losing control of the tunnels described by many as Gaza's "lifeline" during the Israeli blockade. Israel is, claims Ma'ariv, concerned about increased activity in the tunnels "given the developments in progress inside Egypt" which have seen the Egyptian army "softening its anti-smuggling activities". In addition, it is claimed that there has been an increase in the number of illegal (i.e. non-Jewish) immigrants entering Israel from Egyptian territory.
Sources inside the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel does not rule out General Suleiman "sacrificing his ties to Israel in order to satisfy the Egyptian street and bestow a measure of legitimacy on his appointment in the general opinion of the public". Suleiman maintains strong ties with Israeli officials and was responsible for several files linked to the Zionist state, including those relating to the ceasefire and a possible prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Inside Palestine, this week the Palestinian Authority broke up a demonstration supporting anti-government protesters in Egypt, while permitting a smaller protest backing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - showing unmistakeable bias in the face of the Egyptian uprising. The PA also prevented two other demonstrations, in recent weeks, in support of anti-government protesters in both Tunisia and Egypt.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2009-israel-places-resources-at-suleimans-disposal-qto-protect-the-egyptian-regimeq
An official in Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called Suleiman, who is also the director of Egypt's General Intelligence Service, and expressed his concern about the situation in Egypt. Netanyahu apparently suggested the possibility of Israeli intelligence personnel undertaking various specialist operations to bring an end to the demonstrations. The source added that Netanyahu and Suleiman also discussed ways of securing the border between Israel and Egypt.
The Hebrew newspaper Ma'ariv revealed that in recent days highly placed individuals in Netanyahu's office have conducted a series of telephone conversations with Suleiman to impress on the Vice President the necessity of coordinating on security with Israel. The telephone conversations were described as "urgent" and were designed to alert the Egyptians about the consequences of losing control of the tunnels described by many as Gaza's "lifeline" during the Israeli blockade. Israel is, claims Ma'ariv, concerned about increased activity in the tunnels "given the developments in progress inside Egypt" which have seen the Egyptian army "softening its anti-smuggling activities". In addition, it is claimed that there has been an increase in the number of illegal (i.e. non-Jewish) immigrants entering Israel from Egyptian territory.
Sources inside the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel does not rule out General Suleiman "sacrificing his ties to Israel in order to satisfy the Egyptian street and bestow a measure of legitimacy on his appointment in the general opinion of the public". Suleiman maintains strong ties with Israeli officials and was responsible for several files linked to the Zionist state, including those relating to the ceasefire and a possible prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Inside Palestine, this week the Palestinian Authority broke up a demonstration supporting anti-government protesters in Egypt, while permitting a smaller protest backing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - showing unmistakeable bias in the face of the Egyptian uprising. The PA also prevented two other demonstrations, in recent weeks, in support of anti-government protesters in both Tunisia and Egypt.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2009-israel-places-resources-at-suleimans-disposal-qto-protect-the-egyptian-regimeq
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