Valentine-Palestine

BBC Trust airbrushes out Palestine

BBC Trust rules in favour of censoring 'Palestine'

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The BBC has denied it was wrong to edit the word 'Palestine' from an artist's performance on Radio 1Xtra, but has said its producers may have been 'overcautious'. This final ruling issued at the end of January, marks the end of an eight month campaign by PSC to hold the BBC to account for its bias in censoring the lyrics 'I can scream Free Palestine for my pride/still pray for peace' from a rap performed by the artist, Mic Righteous, on 1Xtra. In an extraordinary exchange of correspondence, during which the BBC's excuses for cutting out 'Palestine' grew ever more bizarre, one producer wrote: 'Referencing Palestine is fine, but implying that it is not free is the contentious issue'. This was originally published by PSC, who would like to thank all  members who wrote to the BBC on this issue, and especially those who carried on the campaign for eight months. Photo: BB Bristol after the appeal for aid for victims of 'Cast Lead' was not broadcast

Life under occupation: numbers

Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property

24 hours to 8am 02 January 2012

Main source of statistics: Palestinian Monitoring Group (PMG) http://www.nad-plo.org/dailyreports.php

Israeli Navy opens fire on fishing boats off Rafah

Rafah incursion: Israeli Army opens fire on homes – bulldozes crops

2:40am: home invasions and Israeli Army vandalism

2:30am raid – Israeli soldiers abduct youth

Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in 5 towns and villages 4 attacks – 11 raids including home invasions

3 acts of economic sabotage – 7 taken prisoner – 12 detained – 91 restrictions of movement

Home invasions and occupations: 02:40-05:20, Salim.

Peace disruption raids: 23:30, Al Tabeh - midnight, Ramana - 02:30, Azzun - 11:50, Deir Hatab - 11:50, Salim - 12:20, Aqraba - 18:30, Kifl Hares - 13:45, Hebron - 22:15, Hebron - 18:30, Yatta.

Palestinian attack: Northern Gaza – evening, a number of missiles fired towards the Green Line.

Israeli attack – incursion – agricultural sabotage: Rafah – evening, Israeli forces with bulldozers shot their way in to the area , opening fire on homes and farms and bulldozing crops.

Israeli attack – economic sabotage: Rafah – dawn, Israeli gunboats opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the city.

Israeli attack – agricultural sabotage: Rafah – evening, the Israeli Army opened fire on homes and farms.

Israeli attack: Jerusalem – Israeli troops fired tear gas and stun grenades at people in the Bab Al Amoud neighbourhood.

Raids: Jenin – midnight, Israeli troops firing stun grenades raided Ramana village. Raid – abduction: Qalqilya – 02:30, Israeli soldiers raided Azzun and abducted one 17-year-old youth: Mahmoud Radwan. Home invasions and vandalism: Nablus – 02:40-05:20, the Israeli Army raided Salim village and searched six homes, vandalising the interior of one of them. Two people were taken prisoner.

Occupation settler road incident: Nablus – 15:05, an Israeli settler vehicle overran and killed two sheep owned by a Palestinian villager, Mahmoud Idiyas.

Recent news updates:

Turkey demands lifting of the Gaza blockade. Turkey's Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made the statement in a meeting with his Gaza counterpart, Ismail Haniyeh, who is visiting Turkey. According to Mr Al-Nunu, Prime Minister Erdogan stressed that the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is not a "terrorist" organisation but a movement that was elected by the Palestinian people. The will of the Palestinian people must be respected, he added.

picture: neighbours, Hebron

'The Wall of Hate' - why we should care

This film lays out the bare facts of reality today in Palestine. If you didn't know before, learn. If you did, polish up your memory. There is something here for us all generally, and for some in particular: the last voice-over being"... and welcome to Your tax dollars at work."

Palestinian Christians speak out

Newt Gingrich, the eminince gris of Washington whose name and opinions could feasibly have been invented by, say, Evelyn Waugh or Joseph Heller, has claimed that the Palestinians are an invented people. Well - the same charge could be levelled at any nationality; but the venerable Palestinian Christians have their own answer.

Is Palestine the last muse?

We've had the Last Prophet (pboh), the Last Poets and now... Is Palestine the "last muse"? If you follow the careers of several high-profile artists and musicians since they got hit by the middle east meatball you may well see it that way.Here are two for a start:

Joe Fallisi, popular Italian tenor, is more well-known in some international circles as the hyper-active Palestine blogger and activist; Gilad Atzmon, hard-working saxophonist, composer and author, dances across the crossover points between music, cultural history and entertainment, with his proseletysing always buried deep in the sound, although he always has plenty to say on the subject given half a chance.

It happens. Anyone who goes to see Palestine for themselves is almost bound to return knowing they must act. Artists are in the business of making noise, and making their work into life. So you will hear about it.

Picture: Joe Fallisi - from the diaphram

Miri Weingarten on the Negev Bedouin

As the exchange of prisoners between Zionists and Palestinians hits headlines over the world, heavy discrimination against non-Jewish Israelis continues, notably among the Bedouin of the Negev. Miri Weingarten reports:

http://youtu.be/SaDcN0p2gqQ