Palestine - ancient but the newest nation yet?

Over 120 countries have endorsed Palestine's right to be recognised by the UN as a legitimate nation, with key countries such as the USA abstaining. Much of Europe is yet to join the group too. here is a PETITION you can sign to push this forward.

DrDavid Halpin: new interview - 'Blair is a psychopath'

http://youtu.be/P_JujCkrcXo

Laura Emmett talks to leading UK anti-war activist Dr David Halpin. He describes Israel as the de-stabilising eement in the Middle East, repeats the assertion that David Kelly was killed and his accusation that Tony Blair is a psychopath and a war criminal. When America got its oblique hold on Palestine, the ancient country must have looked like the major prize in the nascent US empire, but there can be no doubt that, to mix a metaphor, the tail is wagging the dog.

New Flotilla under threat (Updated)

Kathy Kelly, vcnv.org
Coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Kelly just wrote the piece “Staying Human: Preparing to Sail to Gaza,” which states: “Last week, newly-arrived in Athens as part of the U.S. Boat to Gaza project, our team of activists gathered for nonviolence training. We are here to sail to Gaza, in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade, in our ship, ‘The Audacity of Hope.’ Our team, and nine other ships’ crews from countries around the world, want Israel to end its lethal blockade of Gaza by letting our crews through to shore to meet with Gazans. The U.S. ship will bring over 3,000 letters of support to a population suffering its fifth continuous decade of de facto occupation, now in the form of a military blockade controlling Gaza’s sea and sky, punctuated by frequent deadly military incursions, that has starved Gaza’s economy and people to the exact level of cruelty considered acceptable to the domestic population of our own United States, Israel’s staunchest ally. …
“Israel Defense Forces are reportedly training for a fierce assault intended to ‘secure’ each boat in the flotilla, the ‘Freedom Flotilla 2.’ As passengers specifically on the U.S. boat, we may be spared the most violent responses, although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has not ruled out such violent responses and has preemptively certified any response we may ‘provoke’ (in sailing from international waters to a coastline that is not part of Israel) is an expression of Israel’s ‘right to defend themselves.’ Israel says it is prepared for a number of scenarios, ranging ‘from no violence’ (which it knows full well to expect) to “extreme violence.” We are preparing ourselves not to panic, and to practice disciplined nonviolence whatever scenario Israel decides to enact.”
AMJAD SHAWA, pngo at palnet.com
Coordinator of PNGO, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, Shawa said today: “We had a demonstration of several hundred people in front of the UN headquarters here, civil society groups in Gaza calling for the protection of the flotilla and action for an immediate end of the siege and suffering of people in Gaza.”

update 2nd July: click here to help the boats sail!

Picture: One previous Gaza sailing - the Jewish Boat To Gaza

Soldiers order Palestinian farmers to stop work

28 June

NABLUS (Ma'an News Agency) -- Israeli forces on Monday stopped Palestinian farmers working on their land in villages in the northern West Bank, a local agricultural committee reports.

Farmers were working in Jurish and Aqraba villages as part of a land reclamation project but soldiers said the farmland had been confiscated and now belonged to Israel, committee coordinator Yousif Deiriyya said.While active,members of the forces stole a backhoe.

The committee for the union of agricultural workers said Friday that Israeli forces stole a vehicle from farmers and ordered them to stop work in the same area.

Land reclamation projects aim to improve the source of income for families which rely on agriculture and also serve to protect vulnerable land from Israeli confiscation.

The project is carried out by the committee for the union of agricultural workers in partnership with Palestinian non-governmental organizations under the management of agricultural relief committees. It is funded by the Dutch government.

Freedom For Palestine!

Listen to this truly excellent new single!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V28HnPTYz-I&feature=player_embedded

Zionist rebuilding destroys economy and tourism in Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights has declared a "disaster" in the Old City's commercial and tourism sectors after Israel used hefty taxes and other pressures to shut down 250 shops in the past few years. JCSER director Ziyad al-Hammouri expected the situation to worsen as the campaign to Judaize the Old City thrives. "What is taking place is designed to promote the presence of Jewish settlements inside the city walls and the entire area surrounding the Old City, especially in Silwan, Ras al-Amud, and Sheikh Jarrah, which are neighbourhoods geographically connected to the Old City. There is also a plan to erect shopping centres and hotels in the area similar to those built near the Gate of Al-Khalil," Hammouri added.

Jerusalem On Tuesday 31st May, Mayor Nir Barakat on said the municipality would continue to build Jewish-only housing in the occupied city. he told Israel Radio that all construction plans would be completed regardless of "political issues."

Passover - living history

As children, we were told at school about the festival of Passover, and it sank in as a fairly benign kind of celebration, for all that it evokes a dark event in Jewish mythology. Simply because the uninitiated were bowing to the ‘wrong’ god and hadn’t heard about the magic trick of eating unleavened bread, they were killed off by the dark angel. But it was in The Bible, so to our unworldly primary-school lady teachers it was ‘good’. Anyway, it was all past history, and just celebrating it must be harmless.

Harmless no doubt, for most Jews in the world, but like the Battle of the Boyne in Belfast and Glasgow, it is living history in Palestine. The army of occupation announced a "general closure" of the West Bank during the Passover holiday, which began on Sunday 17th April (Palestinian Prisoners’ Day) at 11:50 p.m. and continues for ten days.
The closure will affect Palestinians with work permits, barring them from access to Israel and Jerusalem until 11:50 p.m. on 26 April.

A perfectly incoherent statement from military authorities said the decision came "In accordance with the directives of the Minister of Defence and as part of the situation assessments adopted by the defence establishment."

A hearing was held in the Israeli Central Court on Sunday: a young man and 3 children from Silwan were arrested on charges of throwing a bottle at Israeli troops during clashes in the previous week. 
Palestinian residents of Silwan speculate that Israeli forces’ recent campaign of arrests in the village may be part of an attempt to establish a “quiet atmosphere” in the lead-up to Passover, thus allowing Jewish ‘settlers’ and visitors to Silwan a “trouble-free” festive period.

http://silwanic.net/?p=14913

Exceptions to the closure might include those in need of medical attention, humanitarian aid or exceptional assistance and Christian Palestinians "holding the relevant permits," for Easter holiday celebrations - although this is the official statement and not a binding guarantee. For instance, Egypt's Rafah crossing will be opened on Monday only for Gaza residents registered as pilgrims on the Ummrah pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Speaking on behalf of Palestinian Christians, the Kairos Palestine group called for unfettered access to holy sites and an overhaul of Israel's permit system, which the group called an "obvious violation of the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants and treaties to which Israel is a signatory."

Officials said on radio that there were warnings of possible soldier abductions, following a Hamas call on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, to capture soldiers in order to ensure the release of Palestinian political prisoners. Israeli officials announced heightened “security” measures around Jerusalem. Israel's police department told the radio station that extra officers would be deployed around areas where Christian pilgrims (with permits) might gather for the upcoming Easter holiday.

A member of a Silwan family stated that “an overwhelming number of Silwan’s youth have been seized and their detention extended recently. We take this as a precautionary tactic employed by Israeli authorities in the lead-up to their holiday of Passover. We, meanwhile, must suffer the closure of roads, acts of provocation and the arrest of our children – throughout every Jewish holiday.”

Photo: Greek Orthodox Priests wait for the arrival of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of

Jerusalem Theophilos III, outside the Church of the Nativity.

[MaanImages/Luay Sababa]