Palestinian artists have been invited to show their work in Jordan. This means an interminable journey through checkpoints and over the Bridge. For details, see: Palestinian artists invited to present their work across the bridge that both connects and separates them from Jordan Since the second Intifada, Atarot Airport between Jerusalem and Ramallah has
been closed and the Israeli authorities have prohibited Palestinians from using
Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. This leaves the King Hussein Bridge as the only
international exit from the occupied West Bank for Palestinians ... Sadly,
crossing back over to the occupied Palestinian territories is a luxury reserved
for people with Palestinian identity documents. Yet another deterrent to
undertaking the journey across the Jordan is the effort it actually takes to
cross the bridge. It should only take about two hours to get to the other side,
but lengthy delays are routine. Repeated passport and baggage checks and
seemingly endless orders to get into and out of buses are inevitable. In the
summer, the heat and flies make the journey very unpleasant.
The growing
distance between Palestinians living on either side of the river, an issue
exacerbated by what happens on the bridge, is the issue that a new curatorial
project, "The River has two Banks", will address. The idea behind the project is
to bring two communities together who share history and culture, but have been
divided by political circumstances.http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/culture/4202-
Source: Today in Palestine!
As a Palestinian family is firebombed in their car, the US State has announced that it will now recognise ‘settler’ violence as terrorism.
More:
Arsonists attempt to burn down home in Far’a
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=282086&JerusalemPost22August
Police have begun an investigation into the attempted arson of a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Far‘ataon 20th August. They said the investigation is examining all possible angles, including the possibility that the act was a 'price tag' attack on Palestinians by Jewish extremists. Police said no arrests have been made so far in connection with the attempted arson, which charred the entryway of a family's home. The IDF said following the attack that they had launched a search of the area to no avail, and then turned the investigation over to police. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Tuesday it is assisting police in the investigation. Itidal Tawil and her three children were in their house in the village when unknown assailants tried to set the house on fire at 12:10 a.m. Tuesday morning. "I was watching TV and it was very noisy when my brother-in-law called me to warn us about the fire."
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=282086&R=R1
The concrete skin continues to spread over Palestine/Israel in a grim contrast with the Israeli promo films, mostly crafted in a digital 'studio', while greenery shrinks and homes are flattened. Here are two recent examples, from f_shadi's news round-up:
Palestinian villages struggle as Israeli settlement waste
contaminates the environment
Mondoweiss 7 Aug by Marta Fortunato --
"The bad odor is constant here and nowadays it has become normal to find rodents
and insects in this area," Ahmed, a resident of Burin, tells staring at the
smelly polluted water flowing less than 10 meters from the houses of his village
located between Salfit and Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank --
"It's not only about the smell. In the village a lot of people suffer from skin
diseases, asthmas, and other illnesses." The waste water stemming from Ariel
settlement has played a major role in the contamination of water and in the
pollution of the environment in the Salfit area. Due to the concentration of
pollutant elements in this zone, many agricultural fields have been destroyed
and many animals and plants have been killed. Moreover, many infectious
waterborne diseases, like diarrhoea, have broken out especially among
children.http://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/palestinian-villages-struggle-as-israeli-settlement-waste-contaminates-the-environment.html
Settlers inaugurate park built on seized Palestinian
land
BETHLEHEM, August 9, 2012 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Thursday
announced the opening of a park built on land seized from Palestinians from the
town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the committee against the Apartheid Wall, Ahmad Salah, told WAFA
that Efrat settlers announced the opening of the new park during a big ceremony.
The settlers first started working on the project in 2000, taking advantage of
al-Aqsa Intifada and unstable political conditions, and took over large area of
land. Salah said that they took over a well that was used to water crops and
feed Solomon's Pools.http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20436
