Jerusalem: No room for the prophet

In Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday 19th April, Israeli troops and police blocked all entrances to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to journalists and foreign pilgrims, preventing thousands of Christians from participating in the annual ceremonies

MaanImages/Alex Shams

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In recent years, Christian celebrations in Jerusalem have been subject to intense Israeli restrictions, as extra checkpoints have been erected through the Old City and worshipers have been subjected to police brutality during their gatherings.

In 2013, Israel even issued an official apology to Egypt after video footage captured a Coptic priest being attacked by Israeli police.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=691301

Deir Yassin Remembered

Palestine Museum, Bristol

In Bristol, England, the destruction of the village of Deir Yassin was marked by a day of remembrance, with a film, introduced as Adam's Documentary, made by Adam Ibrahem, who was a Palestinian schoolboy of eleven years when he put it together. He was present at the Palestine Museum for the day, along with visiting choirs the Red Notes and Côr Cochion Caerdydd (Cardiff). Another highlight of the day was a Skype video conference with a West Bank man,Faraa al Wahaydi, whose family died in Deir Yassin. Despite his advanced years he gave a lively performance.                       

Extremist Israelis versus Israel's own army

Rioting settlers, Israeli soldiers clash in West
Bank <http://www.jta.org/2014/04/08/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/settlers-attack-israeli-security-forces-in-yitzhar>
JERUSALEM (JTA) 8 Apr -- Six Israeli Border Police officers were hurt in
clashes between Israeli security forces and settlers in the West Bank Jewish settlement of *Yitzhar*. Hundreds of supporters of the settlement located deep in the West Bank near Nablus rallied to the settlement late on Tuesday night after Israeli security forces arrived to demolish several "illegal" structures. People were living in two of the structures; at least two other structures were under construction. One structure was removed. The settlers threw stones, burned tires and blocked roads, according to the Israel Defense Forces. They also attacked a nearby IDF guard post responsible for the security of the 'settlement'. Two settlers were injured and eight arrested. About 200 families live in Yitzhar.
On Sunday, the tires of the IDF commander of the Samaria Brigade, Col. Yoav Yarom, were slashed while he was visiting Yitzhar. A teenage resident of Yitzhar was arrested for the crime. On Monday, the tires of a jeep on routine IDF patrol in Yitzhar also were slashed. There have been increasing numbers of attacks on security forces in the West Bank by
settlers in recent weeks, according to the IDF.

Archaeology and tourism - the twin horsemen

Israel has given the go-ahead to a controversial archaeological project in annexed east Jerusalem,
project<http://news.yahoo.com/israel-okays-disputed-e-jerusalem-archaeology-project-092655792.html>
Jerusalem (AFP) Fri 4 Apr -   the interior ministry said on Friday, in a move likely to spoil peace talks with the Palestinians. The ministry "heard objections" from the Palestinians and from residents to the plans to build a visitor centre just outside Jerusalem's Old City walls in the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan, a statement said. It approved the project on the grounds that it will show important archaeological discoveries to the public. "As a tourist attraction, this will contribute to the development of the city of Jerusalem," the ministry added.  Sami Ershid, a lawyer representing Silwan residents, accused Israel of trying to void Silwan of its Palestinian population by denying them construction permits. He told AFP the new complex would be a multi-level building of some 16,000 square metres (172,160 square feet). The decision came as Israel looked for ways to punish the Palestinians for applying to adhere to 15 international treaties after the Jewish state reneged on its agreement to release Palestinian prisoners.The so-called Kedem complex is to be built on a plot of land currently being used as a car park opposite the Dung Gate, the main entrance to the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It would be managed by Elad, a hardline "settler" organisation which seeks to increase Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem and which runs the nearby City of David archaeological site. The Silwan neighbourhood is already home to dozens of Jewish insurgent families who live under heavy guard among their Arab neighbours.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-okays-disputed-e-jerusalem-archaeology-project-092655792.html

West bank tourism takeover continues; more Gaza fundamentalism

Yet more Palestinian homes and property are being destroyed to make room for a planned increase in tourism by the Israeli regime:http://www.imemc.org/article/67098


Meanwhile in Gaza, there are signs that fundamentalism is on the increase with the apparent 'honour killing' of two teenage girls:
http://news.yahoo.com/relatives-arrested-over-suspected-39-honour-39-killing-140027191.html

Israelis push for West Bank splice

Rightists march at Maale Adumim pushing for new settlements

<http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=673431>

MAALE ADUMIM (AFP) 14 Feb -- Thousands of young Zionist hardliners marched on Thursday to demand the government build new "settler" homes in E1, a highly sensitive strip of West Bank land near Jerusalem. Police said more than 6,000 people, including major Israeli political figures but mostly teenagers, joined the march which began in the Maale Adumim colony in the occupied West Bank and ended at E1 -- an undeveloped stretch of land just to the west, which borders the already stolen East Jerusalem territory. "Kerry = persona non grata," read one of the signs, referring to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been trying to coax the Israelis and Palestinians towards a peace agreement. The Israelis have been planning construction in E1 since the early 1990s but nothing has ever been built there due to heavy international pressure. Plans for building 1,200 units unveiled in December 2012 were quickly put on hold after the announcement triggered a major diplomatic backlash. The Palestinians say construction in E1 would effectively cut the West Bank in two and prevent the restoration of a contiguous Palestinian state. "We will keep (the) promise to build in E1," Housing Minister Uri Ariel told a crowd consisting almost entirely of high-schoolers. The demonstration came hours after a Palestinian protest on the site in opposition to Israeli settlement construction in E1. That protest was held in anticipation of the Israeli right wing protest, and Israeli forces detained one activist during the demonstration.

Renewed violence by army and colonisers in The Occupied Territories

Over the last week there have been several instances of violence both by colonisers and the army against Palestinian citizens. Here is one example: an attack against villagers near Hebron:
  <http://www.imemc.org/article/66884>

IMEMC Sat 1 Feb -- A number of Israeli 'settlers' attacked several
Palestinian villagers working on their own lands in Wad Abu ar-Reesh
Khirbit Safa area -- in Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Mohammad Awad, spokesperson of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar, said that several of the colonisers invaded Palestinian farmland and orchards, close to the illegal Beit Ayen colony. He added that the 'settlers' assaulted the villagers, and pushed them out of their lands while threatening and cursing at them. The attack comes just a few days after the colonisers attacked local villagers in the same area.