Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
Al Arakib: Sixty years and the struggle is just beginning / Adam Keller
http://adam-keller2.blogspot.com/2011/07/al-arakib-sixty-years-and-struggle-is.html
Israel to carry out two new Jewish settlement projects in East Jerusalem
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 23 July — Israel plans on carrying out new settlement projects in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze’ev, Jewish settlements established in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel’s weekly newspaper Kol Ha’ir has revealed. The project in Har Homa, which was erected in Jabal Abu Ghneim, between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, comprises 97 settlement units, seven structures, and a small trading center, with costs at around US $38.3 million. Some of the structures will be built near a park under construction, and among the structures, some will be one unit and some will be made up of 16 units, the source said … The source added that the Pisgat Ze’ev project, in northeast Jerusalem, will include 24 new settlement units and will cost around US $14.7 million.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Sabri: ‘Bitter situation’ in Jerusalem needs urgent action by Arabs, Muslims
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 23 July — …Earlier on Thursday, Al-Aqsa Foundation has reported that units from Israeli intelligence have made repeated ”suspicious” incursions on separate corners of Al-Aqsa Mosque over the past few days. The incursions were made by the director of the Israeli artifacts authority accompanied by Israeli forces, said Al-Aqsa Foundation, who documented the incursions with photographs. The report documents at least three incursions that lasted for several hours each. On one occasion, intelligence elements interrogated students who arrived for lessons.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
Netanyahu may be forced to destroy settlers’ homes
Independent 23 July — The government of Benjamin Netanyahu is on course for its first major clash with Israeli settlers in the West Bank, before a court deadline expires tomorrow to destroy three homes which have been built without permission in a hilltop outpost near Ramallah. Israel’s high court last month ordered the destruction within 45 days of three permanent dwellings in Migron, an outpost of 48 families mostly living in caravans. The dwellings were built illegally on land owned by Palestinians. If the government complies, it will be the first time Israel has destroyed permanent settler buildings since 2006, when the bulldozing of nine houses in the Amona outpost triggered violent clashes with Israeli police. Although illegal, even under Israeli law, Migron was given more than $1m (£612,000) by the Israeli ministry of housing and has a road, water, phone lines, electricity and a permanent army patrol. The high court ordered its closure more than three years ago.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/netanyahu-may-be-forced-to-destroy-settlers-homes-2319062.html
Ariel’s mermaid breeding ground
Haaretz 22 July — A visit to the pool in the West Bank settlement’s country club — financed by U.S. Jews and spearheaded by Mayor Ron Nachman — reveals a small-scale, watery melting pot [of different kinds of Jews, that is] …This is mainstream Israel — in the West Bank … The country club, built three years ago, is open only to Ariel residents who pay a membership fee. It features a 400-square-meter fitness room and a semi-Olympic swimming pool with a sliding roof …The complex is surrounded by one-story homes, situated at the foot of a mountain chain. On the other side of the hills, far from the eye, are Palestinian villages. [Really? Looking at the pool (elevation 1962′) on Google Earth, it would seem that it overlooks the slopes down to the village of Marda (nearest house elev. 1533′) — that part of Ariel is built on 47.5% of Marda’s original land. See view of Ariel from Marda.]
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/ariel-s-mermaid-breeding-ground-1.374677
Settlers
Extremist settlers attack Qasra village
West Bank, (Pal Telegraph) 23 July — Extremist settlers attacked yesterday Qasra village in the south of Nablus and slaughtered cattle owned by Palestinians. Ghassan Douglus, in charge of settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, said that a number of settlers clashed with Palestinian citizens in response to the violent act. He added that the incident was witnessed by Israeli soldiers who finally came to stop the clashes.
http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9688-extremist-settlers-attack-qasra-village.html
Israeli forces
Israeli soldiers uproot 100 olive trees in Jerusalem-area village
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 23 July — Israeli soldiers Saturday uprooted over 100 fully grown olive trees in Beit Iksa, a village northwest of Jerusalem, and took them to an unidentified destination, according to local residents. Nabil Hababeh, a local activist, said that Israeli soldiers leveled the land after uprooting the trees to hide what it had done. He said army bulldozers were also razing large areas of the village farm land under the pretext of digging for water wells and building a barrier between the village and the nearby Jewish settlement of Ramot. He said that Israeli soldiers arrested Mohammad Hababeh, 21, when he protested against Israeli bulldozers uprooting 42 olive trees that belong to his family and which were their only source of livelihood. Israeli soldiers also battered Palestinians who attempted to stop the bulldozers from uprooting more olive trees.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16785
Al-Khalil (Hebron) Nighttime home raids in the Old City / Jessie Smith
[photos] Christian Peacemaker Teams 23 July — In the last month, a new brigade of Israeli soldiers has arrived in Hebron and Palestinians have reported an increase in the number of home invasions. Raheb, mother of five young girls, recounted the hour-long raid of her home describing how they first searched the roof, then entered their home where her girls were asleep. Soldiers proceeded to empty drawers, pull apart bedding and search the kitchen. Raheb questioned the soldiers; “Why are you here?” The only answer she received that evening was another question; “Where are your men?” The men of the household were outside on the street having been detained by the soldiers. Two of Raheb’s five daughters slept through the raid, while the other three watched in terror.
http://cpt.org/cptnet/2011/07/23/al-khalil-hebron-nighttime-home-raids-old-city
Gaza
VIDEO: Escalation of attacks by the Israeli navy on the CPS Gaza boat
ISM 23 July — Footage of the second water-cannon attack by the Israeli navy against the Civil Peace Service Gaza boat ‘Oliva’ on Thursday, July 14, 2011. The camera used was lost in the sea when the crew evacuated the ‘Oliva’, recovered in a fishing net, and returned on Wednesday, July 20.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/07/19595/
Gaza health official: PA failing to send medicine
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 July — Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qedra on Saturday accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to obstruct national unity by failing to send sufficient medicine to the Gaza Strip. Al-Qedra said the Hamas-run health ministry sent lists of Gaza’s medical needs to the PA but that the Ramallah-based government still did not send enough medicine. The Hamas spokesman said the health sector had been in crisis since early June due to severe shortages of 163 medicines and 149 items of medical equipment. One-third of the patients in Gaza’s hospital were affected, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=407845
In Gaza: Gaza reality
[photos] 21 July — After reading so many reports (for years) on Gaza’s failing health system and economy, I became a bit numb to the reality of what zero-stock drugs and supplies, and over 45% unemployment of the working age actually means. I know it means people with serious diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, psychological disease, kidney failure… suffer for want of treatment, and that the thousands of new university and college graduates sit jobless, parents sit jobless and line for food aid, families suffer. But the words ‘shortage’ or ‘suffer’ or ‘crisis’ don’t suffice. Nor even the numbers or facts which should shock, especially considering that these are long-term shortages, increasing by the year:
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/gaza-reality/
Activism / Solidarity
Video: Beit Ommar demonstrates against settlement expansion, 23 July 2011
PSP 23 July — Demonstrators were assaulted in Beit Ommar today, as Israeli military forces attacked the village’s demonstration against the recent rapid expansion of building work in the illegal Karmei Tsur settlement … Even as the demonstration began to leave the area, around 40 soldiers continued to harass and assault the protesters. The soldiers present were part of a unit whose conduct in the area of Beit Ommar has recently been the subject of complaints by human rights groups. One such example is a video recently released by B’Tselem which shows a soldier cocking a loaded gun and pointing it to the face of an unarmed Palestinian.
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2011/07/23/3355/
Videos: Ni‘lin Village – struggle against the Apartheid Wall – 15 & 22 July
http://palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2011/07/nilin-village-struggle-against.html
Community leader: Israel is hunting down international supporters
Bethlehem – PNN Exclusive — 23 July — Sami Awad, director of Holy Land Trust, a local NGO that works in developing nonviolent resistance in Palestine, warned on Saturday that Israel is targeting international supporters of Palestinians and is attempting to illegalize their work. Awad’s statement came after Israel deported five French solidarity activists to Jordan on Friday. A group of French activists were crossing an Israeli military checkpoint between Jenin and Tulkarem, soldiers then detained the five and arrested them. The French activists were later taken to a military detention facility before they were deported to Jordan.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10500&Itemid=56
Political / Diplomatic / International
Abbas says UN Resolution 181 gave Palestinians right to a state
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 23 July — …Abbas, on a visit to Turkey, said that the UN resolution 181, which divided Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state, talked about both an Israeli and a Palestinian state, thus “the establishment of the Israeli state is still conditional on the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to resolution 181.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16782
Fatah official urges release of affiliates detained in Ramallah
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 23 July — Fatah Revolutionary Council member Sufian Abu Zaidah on Saturday urged President Mahmoud Abbas to order the release of Fatah affiliates detained in Ramallah on Thursday. Abu Zaidah said Fatah affiliates were detained by security forces from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority. He said they were arrested because they were originally from Gaza, and noted that the detentions followed the dismissal of former Fatah strongman in Gaza Muhammad Dahlan from the party’s leadership. Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language news site reported that those detained were supporters of Dahlan, who was accused of plotting a takeover.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=407813
Egypt military leader: We will respect all previously signed agreements
Haaretz 23 July — Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi says Egypt will keep working to achieve a stable and sustainable peace in the Middle East; vows to strengthen ties with all Arab states … Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/egypt-military-leader-we-will-respect-all-previously-signed-agreements-1.374838
Turkish PM: No normalization with Israel without apology and end of Gaza blockade
Haaretz 23 July — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan said on Saturday that his country will not normalize its relations with Israel as long as Israel does not apologize for the killing of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists during the takeover of the Mavi Marmara ship last year. Erdoǧan, who spoke at the “Palestinian Ambassadors’ Conference” in Istanbul, added Israel should compensate the families of those killed and end the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkish-pm-no-normalization-with-israel-without-apology-end-of-gaza-blockade-1.374822
Dutch unblock charity assets after Hamas accusation
Ynet 21 July — An Amsterdam court overturned on Thursday a government freeze on assets of a charity accused of funneling funds to Palestinian militant group Hamas, citing a lack of evidence.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4098648,00.html
Fatah Youth condemns Norway attacks
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 July — …”It is with consternation that we have received the dramatic news of an awful terrorist attack against a summer camp ran by our comrades of Norwegian Labor Youth ‘AUF,'” the statement said. The Fatah Youth group had taken part in the summer camp in the past on the Island of Utoya, near Oslo … “Fatah Youth has participated for almost 15 years in the same summer camp and our youth has benefited by learning and sharing experiences on democracy and advocacy for peace and justice…
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=407665
UN envoy to Lebanon says ceasefire with Israel holding up ‘very well’
dpa 22 July — Michael Williams says while Resolution 1701 that ended hostilities between IDF and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon being upheld, he has no way of knowing if Hezbollah has been receiving massive military aid.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-envoy-to-lebanon-says-ceasefire-with-israel-holding-up-very-well-1.374560
Iran: Nuclear scientist shot dead in Tehran
AP 23 July — Gunmen on a motorcycle assassinated an Iranian nuclear physicist on Saturday, Iranian media reports said, in a killing that bore similarities to other slayings of scientists involved in the country’s nuclear work in recent years.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/iran-nuclear-scientist-shot-dead-in-tehran-1.374847
Foreign press fed up with PM’s office?
Ynet 23 July — Foreign Press Association threatens to stop covering Prime Minister’s Office’s events over ‘continued harassment’ of its members … “In the past two days, three female reporters in separate incidents were forced to undress, remove their bras and have them placed through an X-ray machine in front of a group of colleagues. In addition, pocketbooks were emptied in public, with personal items also put on display and X-rayed for everyone to see. This type of treatment is unnecessary, humiliating and counterproductive…”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4098691,00.html
Other news
Dutch band brings music to Palestinian streets
PNN 23 July –– Dutch band, De Fanfare van de Eerste Lief des Nacht (the First Night of Love Brass Band) performed in the streets of Beit Sehour Saturday night, surprising and delighting passersby and shop owners as they played music specially composed for the people there. The band which has performed in Romania, Turkey, Cuba and many places in between has been enjoying their first trip to Palestine. Touring bedouin villages and refugee camps, as well as performing for locals at the Alternative Information Center, the trip has had a deep impact not only on the people who hear them but the band members themselves. … The tour is designed to be interactive, working with children from a refugee camp in the east of Bethlehem and having them play along with the band and dancing in the streets together.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10501
Day of fury: Housing protesters converge on Tel Aviv
Ynet 23 July — Nationwide protesters gather in Tel Aviv: Tens of thousands of Israelis angry over skyrocketing housing prices hit Tel Aviv’s streets Saturday evening for a march and rally, as part of the “middle class’ day of fury.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4099043,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Everything in this land is about real estate: Understanding the tent protests / Noam Sheizaf
987mag 22 July — The protest that sprang up out of the blue against rising rent costs, not started by or backed by any political power, is now described as the greatest challenge PM Netanyahu faces on the home front [The Republic of Singapore has 5.1 million people living in a state with an area of 268 sq miles or 694 sq km. Compare Israel’s est. 7,746,000 people on 22,072 sq km, not counting the West Bank. Space does not have to determine everything.]
http://972mag.com/understanding-the-tent-protest/
Fighting for Israel’s soul
Haaretz 22 July — The president of the New Israel Fund, Naomi Chazan, who has been vilified by the right, refuses to surrender, saying the current battle is for the very soul of Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/fighting-for-israel-s-soul-1.374700
Canada clamps down on criticism of Israel / Jillian Kestler-D’Amours
AJ 22 July — In an affront to free speech, Canadian committee declares that criticism of Israel should be considered anti-Semitic — Nearly two years after the first hearings were held in Ottawa, the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) released a detailed report on July 7 that found that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Canada, especially on university campuses. While the CPCCA’s final report does contain some cases of real anti-Semitism, the committee has provided little evidence that anti-Semitism has actually increased in Canada in recent years. Instead, it has focused a disproportionate amount of effort and resources on what it calls a so-called “new anti-Semitism”: criticism of Israel. Indeed, the real purpose of the CPCCA coalition seems to be to stifle critiques of Israeli policy and disrupt pro-Palestinian solidarity organizing in Canada, including, most notably, Israeli Apartheid Week events.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/20117206368409551.html
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