http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syria-warns-of-more-marches-
on-israeli-border-says-syrian-refugees-will-join-protest/2011/06/07/AG4OF1KH_story.html
IDF on high alert for 'Al-Quds Day'Ynet
7
June -- Palestinians prepare to mark day IDF seized control of east
Jerusalem [today, 7 June]; IDF, police remain on high alert on northern
border, Jerusalem
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4079333,00.htmlIHH publishes second Marmara book
Ynet
7 June -- Turkey's IHH, the group which organized the 2010 Gaza
flotilla, has released a book detailing the story of the aid sail and
its
tragic results,
Ynet learned Tuesday.
The book, titled "Freedom Flotilla
through Language of Global Conscience: Interviews with Passengers,”
follows a previous publication by the IHH, “Mavi Marmara/Gaza Freedom
Flotilla,” and reportedly details
"never before published testimonies" by 39 passengers. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4079460,00.htmlCosmetics firm LUSH endorses "Freedom for Palestine" / Ali Abunimah
EI
4 June -- The UK-based international cosmetics firm LUSH has endorsed a
single aimed at raising awareness of the struggle for human rights in Palestine ... The
LUSH
statement adds, "The catastrophe facing the Palestinian people is one
of the defining global justice issues of our time" and urges, "If
OneWorld are successful at getting the song in the charts, the
mainstream media will find it hard to ignore
it or censor its message."
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/cosmetics-firm-lush-endorses-freedom-palestine
Detention
Hamas legislator detained by Israeli forces
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 May -- ...Ahmad Al-Hajj Ali was taken into Israeli
custody after soldiers entered and searched his home in the Ein Beit
El-Mai refugee camp west of Nablus
in the northern West Bank ...The 73-year-old lawmaker is the fourth
Hamas official to have been detained without charge since the party
signed a unity deal with its former rival party Fatah in early May.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394447Israeli forces detain man in Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 7 June -- Israeli forces detained a Palestinian man in
Jenin on Tuesday morning, after a raid on houses in the city's ancient
center. Palestinian
security sources said Hani Adnan Makhzoum was detained after 15 military
vehicles entered the city, fired sound grenades and raided a number of
houses. Also Tuesday morning, witnesses told Ma'an that the Israeli army
set up a
flying checkpoint to the south of Jenin. Soldiers stopped cars on the
road between villages Meithalun and Sanur, with no detentions reported,
the locals said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394663Hamas: PA detained 4 members in West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 June -- In a statement, Hamas officials in the West
Bank accused Palestinian Authority security forces of arresting four of
the party's members and summoning several others for an appearance in
front of police. The statement, issued on Tuesday, was the first
accusing PA-affiliated security forces of carrying out
politically-motivated arrests since the signing of a unity agreement in
early May.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394621Refugees
Videos: Update on protests, killings in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria / Ali Abunimah
EI
7 June -- More information is emerging about events in Yarmouk
Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, Syria. Yesterday, 6 June, news
emerged of the shooting of a number of people in the camp. According to various reports members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (
PFLP-
GC)
a small faction headed by Ahmad Jibril, opened fire on people protesting
and chant slogans against faction leaders, after some protesters had
set fire to a
PFLP-
GC building. A
shocking video
showed an unarmed young man being shot in the head, although the shooter
is not visible ... New videos show more of the 6 June events in Yarmouk
camp, including a mass protest as what is said to be the
PFLP-
GC
building burns. In the first video, posted above, protesters are
apparently heard shouting "al-sha’ab yurid isqat al-fasa’il" - or "The
people want the fall of the factions." Political factions have a long
history of exercising some governance functions and controlling
resources and patronage within refugee camps.
...
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/
update-protests-killings-yarmouk-palestinian-refugee-camp-syria
Racism / Discrimination / Repression of dissentWAFA monitors incitement and racism in Israeli media May 27-June 2
RAMALLAH
(WAFA) June -- Mordechai Kedar, an Israeli researcher and lecturer at
Bar-Ilan University, published a racist article on NFC website under the
title "Arabs Can’t Live Without War and Arms." He said that Netanyahu’s
demand
of a demilitarized Palestinian state is absurd and unacceptable for the
Arabs, who live by the law of the gun, adding "perpetual conflicts are
the core of an Arab’s existence." ... . M. Shalom wrote an instigating
article against Abbas in 'Hamodia' newspaper, accusing him of being a
racist. ... Shalom also attacked Islam, saying that deception and lying
are Arabs’ main traits and solid characteristics of Mohammad’s religion.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16384
Can equality exist in the Jewish state? Kieron Monks
AJ 4 June -- As right-wingers dominate the Knesset, Arab citizens of Israel say institutional discrimination is getting worse.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/06/2011648192849821.html
Israel's treatment of gay Palestinian asylum seekers / Caroline Esser
WashNote 6 June -- ...Israel advocacy groups like the ADL and the Jewish
Federations have latched on to LGBT rights in Israel as a means of
combating negative press and demonstrating Israel's dedication to equal
rights and democracy ... Sadly, when the ADL wrote in small print that
Israel supports civil rights for "
all its citizens" it meant exactly what it said--basic human rights are strictly for Israelis. In their 2008
study,
"Nowhere to Run: Gay Palestinian Asylum-Seekers in Israel," Michael
Kagan and Anat Ben-Dor describe in detail Israel's unsympathetic and
unbending policy towards gay Palestinians. In stark contrast to the
vibrant gay culture within Israel, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Palestinians face intense discrimination and often brutal violence if
they are discovered to be gay ... However, despite their desperation,
Israel refuses to even review gay Palestinian applications for asylum
(those who have successfully received asylum have had to submit their
cases directly to the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva). Moreover, gay
Palestinians who have illegally entered Israel have been arrested and
promptly deported
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2011/06/israels_treatme/
Journalist and activist Gideon Spiro arrested for 'incitement'
978mag 7 June -- A Tel Aviv Police investigator arrested Monday Gideon
Spiro, a veteran leftist activist aged 76, for suspected incitement
relating to an article he had written. Spiro was discharged two hours
later, after his attorneys – from the office of Michael Sfard –
intervened on his behalf.
http://972mag.com/a-leftist-activist-is-arrested-for-%E2%80%9Cincitement%E2%80%9D/
Political / Diplomatic / International newsPalestinians in Washington deny indirect talks with Israel
Haaretz 6 June -- Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday
denied that a Palestinian delegation to Washington exchanged messages
with an Israeli official, who is also in the United States for meetings
with the White House, saying that he did not know the Israelis would be
there.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
palestinians-in-washington-deny-indirect-talks-with-israel-1.366355
Obama: Palestinians should avoid seeking UN recognition for statehood
Reuters
7 June -- U.S. president meets German Chancellor Merkel, who says
'unilateral measures are not helping at all' to bring about a two-state
solution.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
obama-palestinians-should-avoid-seeking-un-recognition-for-statehood-1.366569
France: Israel considering Paris peace talksWASHINGTON
(Ma‘an) 7 June -- Israel is considering a French proposal to resume
peace talks with Palestine in Paris before the end of June, France's
foreign minister told reporters in the United Sates on Wednesday.
Speaking
alongside the minister, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the
two discussed Paris' plan, "will be certainly working together," she
said, adding that both nations believed the "status quo is
unsustainable."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394555Blair open to French Mideast peace talks
OSLO, Norway (AFP) 7 June -- Tony Blair, the envoy of the Quartet group
of world powers seeking an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, said Tuesday
he was open to a French proposal to host a Middle East peace conference.
"What the French foreign minister has been saying is absolutely right
in
the sense that you need to put together not just the support for
Palestinian statehood and institutions building, but some political
momentum has to be injected back into this," he said on a visit to Oslo.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=394592
US delegation visits Cairo to study Egypt's new foreign policy
MEMO
7 June -- A US delegation of members of both Houses of Congress has been
touring the Middle East, beginning with Cairo to identify new aspects
of Egypt's
foreign policy. The delegation met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil
Al-Araby, who briefed them on the most important characteristics of the
policy and its impact on various regional issues. Paramount is how Egypt
is going to manage its role in the Israel-Palestine conflict; the
American delegation is also going to visit Tel Aviv. The meeting
included a discussion of the latest regional political and social
developments ... The delegation's visit, headed by Democrat John
Yarmouth, was arranged by Jewish-American organisation J Street.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/americas/2438
J Street: PM refuses to meet delegationYnet
6
June -- Despite enjoying a hearty welcome at the US Congress
recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to meet with a
delegation of representatives organized by J Street, the liberal Jewish
lobby said Sunday ...
The delegation, composed of Democratic
Congress members, was set to arrive in Israel on Monday. The trip was
initiated by J Street, considered a controversial group known for its
fierce criticism of Israel, particularly over the issue of West Bank
settlements. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4078936,00.html
Other newsIsraeli towns' new line of defense from Gaza rockets: trees
Haaretz
7 June -- Israel has spent no less than NIS 1.6 billion on defenses for
the townships around the Gaza Strip in the last five years, Udi Shani,
Defense Ministry director general, said yesterday. "We view the present
state of quiet as transient," said Shani, speaking during a tour of the
boundary between Israel and the Strip ... One [defense] is afforestation
-- planting rows of trees by the towns located along
the Gaza Strip. The idea is that the trees will prevent precise mortar
fire on Israeli targets and camouflage Israeli troops. [Just give Gaza
justice and freedom and you won't have to spend anything....]
http://english.themarker.com/israeli-towns-new-line-of-defense-from-gaza-rockets-trees-1.366450
OPT: Huge demand for hearing aidsTULKAREM,
WEST BANK (IRIN) 7 June -- Hearing impairments are common
among Palestinians mainly due to inherited genetic mutations and lack of
access to adequate medical services which allows minor infections to
develop into major problems, according to Rafi Walden, a surgeon at
Sheba medical centre in Israel ... "Hearing aids are not funded by
Palestinian public health providers and are out of reach for nearly all
Palestinians," said Salah Haj Yihyeh, who recently coordinated a
donation of hearing aids by the
Starkey Hearing Foundation
to 1,000 Palestinians in Tulkarem. Before this, speech therapists and
experts from the Sheba medical centre had visited the area in April.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92923
Analysis / Opinion / Human interestFinding the Israel lobby on the map / Yusuf Munayyer
7
June -- How can you see the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on a map?
... You could, I suppose, look up the address of AIPAC headquarters, but
that wouldn't be nearly as illustrative as this ... [W]hen you study
a conflict over land, the precise location of every square meter is
important. For years, Israel's
continued colonization of Palestinian territory has happened one
settlement or one settlement home at a time. Hilltops, aquifers,
valleys, walls, checkpoints, distances, locations are all vital for
understanding the intricacies of this conflict. So, as with just about
every field, technology has revolutionized the study of Palestinian
geography, especially with the advent of widely available satellite
imagery (e.g. Google Maps) which allows anyone with a computer to see
how big illegal settlements around Jerusalem are, just how deep Ariel
protrudes into the West Bank or how tiny Gaza really is .... Take a look
at this image, for example. What you are looking at, at Google Maps'
highest available resolution, is Military Aircraft parked at Area 51,
the secret U.S. military base in Nevada's desert used to test and
develop state of the art weapons and planes. Go ahead, zoom in and out.
But if we were to look at any random location in Israel at Google Maps'
highest resolution, not say a top-secret military facility, we get this:
[blurs] This image is supposed to be of the Dahmash village outside of
my ancestral hometown of Al-Lyd. Dahmash is an Arab village unrecognized
by
the state and thus homes there do not receive permits and they are
subject to demolition. Hardly a sensitive military location, in fact, it
is more like a shanty town. If you zoom out you can see it. But you
won't be able to see it, or any other area under Israeli state control
(including in the Occupied Territories) at the highest resolution. Why
is that? Well, it's because Congress passed a law which stipulated that
Israel and any territory it controls deserve more privacy than the USA's
most secret military installations.
Shavuot 2011: Obscenities as words of Torah / Yossi Sarid7
June -- This isn't the Torah we received. Since that time, Israel has
been swallowed up by the Land of Israel and disappeared inside its maw
-- Go to your computer right now and watch the frightening video clip
posted on YouTube as a memento of Jerusalem Day (it's called "Yom Yeru
2011" ). Not a handful, but hundreds of young people high on hard-core
nationalism wave blue-and-white flags; may their eyes grow dim. "Death
to the Arabs, death to the leftists,"
they chanted. "The Temple will be rebuilt, the mosque will be
destroyed." "Kahane lives, Mohammed is dead." "Itbach al-Arab" ("Death
to the Arabs" in Arabic ). Thus they elevate Jerusalem as their chief
sin: May their tongues cleave to their palates. While I was roaming
Jerusalem's streets, another mob was gathering at the city's Mercaz
Harav Yeshiva, with rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed and
Dov Lior of Hebron among the guests. The former demands Israel be purged
of Arabs, while the latter endorses a book that justifies killing
gentiles, urges soldiers to disobey orders and refuses to show up for
questioning by the police. Nowadays, every obscenity is treated as
'words of Torah.' A bill was even submitted for discussion to the
cabinet that would permit incitement by rabbis, and rabbis only. And MK
Michael Ben Ari (National Union ) was also among the guests. The guest
of honor was the prime minister; lift up your heads, O ye gates. "I see
you as an elite Torah combat unit," the king of glory - and of shame -
said fawningly. Now the Torah,
too, has its own elite combat unit.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/shavuot-2011-obscenities-as-words-of-torah-1.366422
Israel-Palestinian conflict is in the eye of the beholder / Amira Hass
Haaretz
6 June -- Israel is fighting against the memory of the Nakba, whereas
others are searching for ways to give the Nakba its rightful place in
teaching and education -- Some six months ago, 54 Israeli and
Palestinian students received a series of photos and were asked to
describe them and jot down their impressions and the feelings stirred by
them in two stages - before seeing the caption explaining them and then
afterwards ... Some 32 such photos from 1948, along with the
impressions of the Palestinian and Israeli students, appear in a book
called "Zoom In, Palestinian Refugees of 1948, Remembrances." The book
was issued by the Holland-based Institute for Historical Justice and
Reconciliation, which
"seeks to dispel public myths about historic legacies in societies
divided by ethnic conflict."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/
israel-palestinian-conflict-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-1.366212
Haaretz editorial: Readiness and blindness in the Golan Heights7
June -- The IDF proved this week that it does a good job preparing for
the previous war. ... On Sunday, Naksa Day, the Israel Defense Forces
succeeded in blocking hundreds of demonstrators who, surrounded by
cameras, stormed the border
fences in the Golan Heights, carrying flags, posters and loudspeakers
... The Palestinians reckoned they would have casualties. They too have
learned lessons from May 15. It did not deter them, and there are no
grounds to assume it will deter others on other fronts, especially when
the regimes or organizations holding the Arab side of the border have no
interest in acting against the demonstrators. The incidents have also
shown that 30 years of forced annexation and naturalization have not
turned the Golan Druze into devoted Israeli citizens.
This has become routine in the Israeli-Arab conflict -- the IDF scores a
tactical victory, which shrinks in contrast
to the strategic failure.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
readiness-and-blindness-in-the-golan-heights-1.366418
Revealed: the untold story of the deal that shocked the Middle East / Robert Fisk
Independent
7 June -- Secret meetings between Palestinian intermediaries, Egyptian
intelligence officials, the Turkish foreign minister, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal – the latter
requiring a covert journey to Damascus with a detour round the
rebellious city of Deraa – brought about the Palestinian unity which has
so disturbed both Israelis and the American government. Fatah and Hamas
ended four years of conflict in May with an agreement that is crucial to
the Palestinian demand for a state. A series of detailed letters,
accepted by all sides, of which The Independent has copies, show just
how complex the negotiations were
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
revealed-the-untold-story-of-the-deal-that-shocked-the-middle-east-2293879.html
the open-minded:
Between warm and fuzzy and dangerous in the West Bank / Olivia Snaije
Haaretz
7 June -- Refugee camps, desert moonscapes, checkpoints and monasteries
- all were part of an eye-opening bike trip around the West Bank,
organized by a nonprofit Palestinian rights organization -- We left
Jenin early on our first day of cycling through Palestine. After
an inaugural hill, we crossed a main thoroughfare where the terrain
flattened, and whizzed along under a brilliant sun, the road lined with
olive trees as well as multicolored fields of thistles, poppies,
marigolds and daisies.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/
between-warm-and-fuzzy-and-dangerous-in-the-west-bank-1.366516
and the very fearful:
Israel needs northern wall / Yosef ArgamanYnet 6 June -- Op-ed: In face of new Arab invasion strategy on Golan, Israel must build new cement wall --
Not
transparent fences that can be cut, not a
series of new outposts, and not a system of fortifications that can be
circumvented. We need a contiguous, high and deterring cement wall like
the security fence in Judea and Samaria or the Great Wall of China.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4079282,00.html 