|
Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
|
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlers
Israel 'exploiting Jordan Valley resources'
JERUSALEM (AFP) 12 May -- Israel has systematically exploited the
resources of the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, favoring
settlers over Palestinians, an Israeli rights group said on Thursday. A
report [see below] by B'Tselem said Israel dominated the land, water
resources and even tourist sites along the strip of land which runs
along the eastern flank
of the West Bank, in what appeared to be a prelude to a de facto
annexation of territory ... B'Tselem said the 9,400 Jewish settlers
living there were able to develop intensive agriculture because they
received water allocation equal to one third of the water accessible to
the West Bank's 2.5 million Palestinian residents ... It also accused
Israel of taking control of 77.5 percent of land in the area, including
major tourist attractions like the northern shores of the Dead Sea.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386996
Dispossession and exploitation - Israel's policy in the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea
B'Tselem report -- Israel exploits the natural resources there more than in the rest of the
West Bank and prevents Palestinians from using most of the area's land and water resources.
[3 sections, with video]
http://btselem.org/Campaigns/2011_Jordan_Valley/English/index.html
Demolition warnings to Walaja residents
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 12 May -- Demolition orders were handed out to seven
families
in Al-Walaja, the village closest to the ongoing construction of
Israel's separation wall. Village council member Adel Al-Atrash told
Ma‘an that the orders were handed out on Wednesday night, and residents
were given 72 hours to appeal to the courts to stop the demolition
process ... Residents of the southern West Bank village are
overwhelmingly refugees,
driven from the historic Al-Walaja, located just across the valley from
the current population center. The village was, in 1948, the second
largest land area after Jerusalem, but was cut down to one third the
size when Israel declared statehood that year.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387089
Palestinian home rebuilt by UK volunteers served 72-hour demolition notice
MEMO 12 May -- ... Israel has since 1967 demolished over 25 homes in
the village. This home
was originally demolished seven years ago and three generations of the
Aburizeq family have had to live together in an old damp concrete
portacabin in a nearby refugee camp. As the home was rebuilt in
April, the mother of the family wept as she saw her home rising again
after seven years. She said, "I was dead and you have given me back my
life."
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2345
Palestinian trees destroyed in ongoing settler vandalism
AIC
12 May -- In the early morning of 12 May 2011, Palestinian farmers
discovered that during the night unknown perpetrators had vandalized
ten
olive trees in the Humra valley, near At -Tuwani in the South Hebron
Hills. The trees and the land belong to At-Tuwani resident Salman
Jibrin
Raba‘i ... A spokesperson for the Raba‘i family remarked that, due to
the late spring rains, they had expected a good olive harvest this
year.
One olive tree in the area produces an average of twelve kilos of olive
oil. Therefore, the cumulative loss of these damaged trees' production
is a substantial financial blow to the family. The property owners
called the police in order to lodge a formal complaint. Due to numerous
prior similar incidents in the area, Palestinians suspect that the
perpetrators are likely settlers from the nearby Havat Ma'on settlement
outpost.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/settlers-violence/3585
Video: Israeli army force 6 families out of their land in Amniyr, South Hebron Hills
Christian
Peacemaker Teams -- On Friday, May 6, the Israeli military declared the
area of Amniyr, a Palestinian village south of Yatta, a closed military
zone and chased away the families who own the land, after demolishing
structures and trees on the land the day before. The demolitions
occurred at 5
a.m. on Thursday, May 5, when the military destroyed six shacks and
uprooted 150 olive trees in Amniyr. Photos available at: http://cpt.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=22860
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=tVFzTCKSerI
Nablus checkpoint closed as settlers stone cars
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 12 May -- Israeli forces closed the Nablus-area Huwwara
military
checkpoint Thursday afternoon, following incidents of rock-throwing
that hit Palestinian cars, that local officials said was done by local
settlers. Ghassan Doughlas, the Fatah official charged with monitoring
settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said dozens of
settlers from the nearby Yitzhar settlement threw rocks at Palestinian
cars causing damages, but no injuries ... An Israeli military
spokeswoman said the checkpoint was closed for "routine activity" and
said she was not sure when it would re-open for Palestinian vehicles.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387055
Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, or, democratic Israel at work / Gideon Levy
Haaretz
12 May -- While we are still desperately concealing, denying and
repressing our major ethnic cleansing of 1948 - over 600,000 refugees,
some who fled for fear of the Israel Defense Forces and its
predecessors, some who were expelled by force - it turns out that 1948
never ended, that its spirit is still with us ... My colleague Akiva
Eldar published
what we have always known but for which we lacked the shocking figures
he revealed: By the time of the Oslo Accords, Israel had revoked the
residency of 140,000 Palestinians from the West Bank. In other words,
14 percent of West Bank residents who dared to go abroad had their
right to return to Israel and live here
denied forever. In other words, they were expelled from their land and
their homes. In other words: ethnic cleansing.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
ethnic-cleansing-of-palestinians-or-democratic-israel-at-work-1.361196
Violence
VIDEO: One day when children were children
Pal
Monitor
12 May -- Five buses containing 200 excited children pulled up at
Ramallah’s old Ottoman Court building this Saturday around noon. The
children were from villages where every Friday is devoted to popular
resistance, and the goal was to give them a day of food, fun and games
instead of fears of tear gas, Israeli soldiers, and arrests of family
members ... The kids came from the West Bank villages of Bil‘in,
Ni‘lin,
Nabi Saleh, and Ma‘sara and from the neighborhood of Silwan in
Jerusalem. The three coordinators of the event got the idea for a
children’s day off after seeing what the children go through in the
villages where demonstrations and violent confrontations between their
families and Israeli soldiers are a normal part of their everyday life ... Week
after week, the three friends saw children getting shot at with tear
gas canisters, rubber bullets, and sound grenades and have soldiers
raid their homes.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1806
IDF confirms sets dogs on illegal Palestinian laborers / Gideon Levy
Hundreds
of Palestinian day-laborers who enter Israel without a permit have been
facing a new threat recently - IDF soldiers at the separation fence are
siccing dogs on them. Since the beginning of last month, soldiers with
dogs have been lying in ambush near a breach in the fence, between the
Bedouin refugee village Ramadin and Kibbutz Shoval in the Negev. Every
night hundreds of West Bank Palestinians gather at this point to seek
work the next day in the nearby Jewish and Bedouin communities ... Ala
Hawarin, 22, of Dahariya, was injured in the arm and thigh when a dog
attacked him as he was crossing the fence line. He went to Hebron for
treatment, where the doctors told him two of his fingers would remain
paralyzed. When he went to file a police complaint the following day he
was arrested.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
idf-confirms-sets-dogs-on-illegal-palestinian-laborers-1.361160
Gaza
Worker dies in Rafah tunnel
GAZA
CITY
(Ma‘an) 12 May -- A 17-year-old tunnel worker died Thursday morning,
after sustaining a massive electric shock while he was pulling goods
through a smuggling tunnel underneath the Egyptian border. The incident
occurred in the Rafah area, and police identified the teenager as
Hassan Ash-Sha‘er, 17, from Khan Younis.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386993
Shin Bet: Egypt doing little to stop Gaza arms smugglers
Ynet
12 May -- New security agency report says Cairo's grip on Gaza border
lax; Strip's militant groups' weapon caches pose growing threat to
Israel
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068013,00.html
Gaza crossing open for limited goods import
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 12 May -- An estimated 250-260 truckloads of goods will enter
Gaza via the Strip's sole operating crossing with Israel, officials told Palestinian liaison officer Raed Fattouh.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386982
Nakba
Thousands mark Palestinian Nakba in Galilee
[photos]
AIC
12 May -- Several thousand Palestinians and their supporters gathered
in the Galilee on Israeli Independence Day, 10 May, to mark the
Nakba,the forced exodus of approximately 750,000 Palestinians from
their homes before and during the creation of Israel in 1948. The 14th
annual “March of Return” was held between two Palestinian villages that
were destroyed in 1948, al-Damun and al-Ruways. Participants in the
march waved Palestinian flags, chanted for the Palestinian right of
return and held signs displaying the names of the over 400 Palestinian
villages that were destroyed during the Nakba.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/israeli-society/3587
Video: 63 years of Nakba
To
reply to the Gaza youth Manifesto, and with no additional words to the
ones spoken with true heart on this video, we give you, The Manifesto.
A simple, true, self-explanatory, expression of what we're sick of.
As these days mark the 63rd memory of the Nakba, our people all around
the world, revolt, and object to the injustice and hatred we are met
with on a day to day basis, just because we're Palestinians and just
because we exist. I urge your humanity and your conscience, to spread
on this video, so the 15th of May 1948, wouldn't ever be forgot, and so
Palestinians would once more have their freedom and rights back;
especially the right of return.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIO4W3nxGaM
Video: Commemorating the Nakba, Alaa from Beit Mahsir, #Nakba survivor series
Watch the other 6 short videos in the series too... 2nd generation Nakba survivors
http://imeu.net/news/article0020883.shtml
Palestinians commemorate 63rd anniversary of the Nakbat
MEMO
12 May EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Islamic University of Gaza hosted an
exhibition commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba [The
Palestinian Catastrophe], with various pictures and cartoons depicting
the forced migration and expulsion of Palestinians from their land and
from thriving villages and bustling cities. The nationwide massacres,
killings and terrorism that Palestinians suffered during the Nakba have
had a lasting effect on the physical and social landscape of Palestine
today. Children opened the exhibition with a symbolic walk from the UN
headquarters in Gaza to the IUG, carrying placards and large keys
signifying the right of return of all Palestinian children to the home
of their parents and grandparents. The placards contained the message
"We are returning to..." and the names of towns their families had
originated from.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2347
I saw the same look in Fatima's face as my grandparents' - the look of the Nakba / Yasmine Moor
Mondoweiss 12 May -- On April 19th of this year, 43 families from Nahr
al Bared, a refugee camp in north Lebanon, moved back to their newly
constructed homes, after four years of displacement ... One woman will
not return, however, Fatima, whose age I never knew but I
guessed as I traced her life through the telling of her stories of
exile from Palestine in '48; to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon which
lead to her 2nd displacement during the war of the camps in the 80's;
and finally to Nahr al Bared, her final resting place where she died,
alone, waiting to return to Palestine. I never discovered her age, and
it was never recorded in any of her UNRWA papers.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/
i-saw-the-same-look-in-fatimas-face-as-my-grandparents-the-look-of-the-nakba.html
Video: Return to Palestine -- Take to the streets on Nakba - May 15, 2011
It
is
true that the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab people resisted the
establishment of a racist regime in Palestine. And they still do. It
is only normal. If anyone comprehends the extent of the injustice that
has been committed against the Palestinian people, they would not even
ask why they are so determined in their pursuit of justice. And if
anyone knows the history of the Palestinian struggle, they would
realize
that this people will continue to resist in every form until they see
the justice they have so longed for restored.
On 15 May 2011, the world is invited to express its understanding, solidarity and support to
a people that has resisted... and continues to do so, for Justice in Palestine.
http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1805
Return to Palestine March May 15
[English after Arabic] In Lebanon the Return to
Palestine March will set
out towards the Palestinian/Lebanese borders on Sunday May 15, 2011, on
the day commemorating the 1948 Nakba. The March will include various
Palestinian and Lebanese civil and popular organizations and
associations, professional associations, federations, NGOs, political
parties and groups, in addition to independent activists from different
regions and refugee camps around Lebanon. This
March
will take place in order to affirm the right of all Palestinians to
return to their homeland and their properties, from which they were
forcibly uprooted in 1948 by Zionist terrorism and violence. This
popular
and peaceful March will include thousands of Returnees from various
refugee camps and their partners and supporters from diverse groups
representing the Lebanese political and social spectra. http://returntopalestine.blogspot.com/
Security forces on high alert ahead of 'Nakba Day'
Ynet
12 May -- Defense establishment reinforces troops deployment in
Jerusalem, West Bank ahead of weekend preceding Palestinian day of
mourning over Israel's inception
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068029,00.html
Activism / Solidarity / BDS -- and opposition
Film Trailer - "The Wanted 18"
Long
trailer
for the Palestinian animated documentary film "The Wanted 18" -- The
most powerful army in the Middle East in the chase of 18 cows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcfJTELmoM&feature=share
Background for the film: The cows of Beit Sahour
Beit Sahour, the town where I live, is famous throughout Palestine for
its fierce devotion to independence and amazing use of nonviolence
during the first intifada. Beit Sahour launched a community-wide tax
strike in protest of the occupation. But more impressively, Beit Sahour
managed to boycott every Israeli produce on the market. Sahouris met
all
their needs without relying on Israeli goods. All of their needs, that
is, except milk, That's where the cows of Beit Sahour come in. Here's
my
friend Helen to tell the story.
http://inpalestine.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html
VIDEO: ISM in Gaza 28 Apr
4 May -- KHOZA‘A, Gaza Strip. A couple weeks after one its members was
killed, the
International Solidarity Movement is back at work in Gaza. Its
activists are little known outside of the strip but inside the enclave
they are very much appreciated by Palestinians, especially those who
live in areas which other organizations do not cater to. By doing so
ISM
members often end up in very dangerous situation as our reporter found
out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a-riv7Q1vU
Stay Human convoy enters Gaza
12 May 2011 | Vik2Gaza After
leaving Cairo this morning at dawn, the 80 activists of the ‘Restiamo
Umani’ convoy have entered Gaza at 4pm after crossing five Egyptian
check-points. The convoy will remain in the Gaza strip until the 17 of
May to meet the Palestinian people who day by day are trying to resist
the Israeli military occupation. The convoy will also join the
commemorations for the thirtieth day of Vittorio’s death and for Nakba,
the day of the Palestinian catastrophe, which will take place between
the 14 and the 15
of May.
Meanwhile, a second convoy, with over 100 buses, will leave
from Tahir square in Cairo, the square that has become the symbol of
recent popular revolutions in the Middle Aast , and will try to cross
the Rafah
pass on the 15 of May. This is a collective movement that wants to show
full support to the fight of the Palestinian people for
self-determination, to their everyday resistance against military
occupation and to the right of all Palestinian refugees to come back to
their land.
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/05/18260/
Egypt urges cancellation of pro-Palestinian march
CAIRO
(AP) 12 May -- Egypt is urging activists to cancel a rally aimed at
crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip to show support for the
Palestinians. In a statement Thursday, authorities called on activists
to give priority to internal issues and "to prevent any repercussions
that might result from this march." ... A Facebook campaign called for
rallies Friday and a march toward the border on Sunday, called the
"Sunday of Liberation."
Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood has come
out in support of a rally in central Cairo on Friday but does not favor
the march on Gaza.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110512/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_palestinians
Rift appears over Gaza flotilla report
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News 12 May -- The U.N. panel investigating
Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid
flotilla faces a major stalemate, with Turkey threatening to drop out
over wording in a draft report that it sees as favoring the Israeli
view. Ankara’s strong reaction to the draft wording, which falls short
of saying Israel violated international law in the raid last year, has
delayed the announcement of the panel’s findings.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=un-probe-to-flotilla-attack-faces-deadlock-2011-05-12
Center-right MEPs come out against new Gaza flotilla
JPost
12
May -- 15 vessels, 1,500 people hope to break blockade at end of month
... LONDON – Plans for a new protest flotilla to Gaza are "an act of
provocation" against the State of Israel and should be strongly
condemned by the European Union, two prominent members of the European
Parliament said on Wednesday ... The proposed flotilla was also
criticized by EU foreign policy chief Ashton. Speaking in Strasbourg on
Wednesday, she said living conditions in Gaza are "awful" in part owing
to the Israeli blockade, but added: "I don’t consider a flotilla to be
the right response."
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=220166
Congress members urge Erdoğan to prevent 2nd flotilla
JPost
12 May -- Letter addressed to Turkish PM says: "If flotilla organizers
carry out confrontational plans, Israelis will have little choice but
to
raid vessel" ... Thirty-six members signed onto the letter, spearheaded
by Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma).
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=220272
Detention / Court action
Brother of female detainee targeted, family home raided
Silwan,
Jerusalem
(SILWANIC) posted 12 May -- A large force of Israeli troops raided the
Shoyoukhi family’s home yesterday [8 May] in Silwan in search
for 14-year old Mohammed Shoyoukhi. When troops failed to capture
Mohammed (having spent the night at his sister’s house), his elder
brother was arrested instead as a means of blackmailing Mohammed to
present himself at the police station. The contents of the family home
were reported to be damaged or even destroyed by raiding forces.
Mohammed presented himself at the station later that day, accompanied
by
his mother. He was then subjected to a gruelling investigation alone
after his mother was expelled from the room.
http://silwanic.net/?p=15722
Israeli troops kidnap Hamas official Abu Tabana
Al-KHALIL,
(PIC) 12 May -- A large number of Israeli troops stormed the home of
senior Hamas official Adnan Abu Tabana in Azzeitoun suburb southwest of
Al-Khalil city and took him to an unknown destination after ransacking
the house, Ahrar center for prisoners' studies said on Thursday.
Director of the center Fouad Al-Khafsh stated that Abu Tabana, one of
the most prominent national figures in Al-Khalil city, gave a speech
during a march he led a few days ago calling for bridging the rift in
the Palestinian arena and releasing political detainees.
The
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Thursday nine
Palestinian citizens at least in different West Bank areas. Local
sources said the IOF stormed at an early hour today many villages and
towns in the West Bank and forced children, women and everyone inside
some homes to stay outdoors as they were ransacking them.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
IOF kidnap three Palestinians from Bil‘in village
RAMALLAH,
(PIC) 11 May -- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Tuesday
evening Bil'in village near Ramallah city and kidnapped three young
men.
Local sources said the troops entered the village through the gate of
the eastern segregation wall and fired flash and smoke grenades during
the raid. They broke into the house of Abdulfattah Bernat and rounded
up
his two sons, Mohamed and Ahmed, in addition to his brother-in-law
Ahmed Betillow. The soldiers took the three young men blindfolded and
in
chains into the area behind the wall, according to the sources.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7
Bethlehem man marks 20 years in prison
GAZA
CITY
(Ma‘an) 12 May -- The Gaza City detainees center announced Thursday the
upcoming 20th anniversary of a Bethlehem man in Israeli custody. Adnan
Al-Afandy, 40, from the Ad-Duheisheh refugee camp, was detained on May
13, 1992. He has another 10 years to serve on his sentence, on charges
of belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement and of stabbing two settlers
during the First Intifada. His first 70 days of detention were spent in
interrogation, during which period he was kept in solitary confinement
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386988
State drops charges against rightist
Ynet 12 May -- The State Prosecutor's Office withdrew the charges it pressed against the extreme right-wing activist
Noam Federman "for a lack of evidence" on Thursday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067797,00.html
Political / Diplomatic / International
Source: Abbas new PM, Fayyad, Haniyeh deputies
NABLUS
(Ma‘an) 12 May -- President Mahmoud Abbas will hold the post of prime
minister in the coming technocrat transitional government, sources
close
to the matter have told Ma‘an. Current caretaker Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad, and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh - or an alternate Hamas
figure chosen by the party - will
both act as deputies to Abbas, the source revealed Wednesday night,
adding that Fayyad will also assume the role of Minister of Finance.
Formerly
rival factions Hamas and Fatah have reportedly agreed to the
appointments, with the proviso that both former prime ministers will
hold the same political weight within the new cabinet.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386957
Abbas determined to retain Fayyad as PM of Fatah-Hamas cabinet, report says
Haaretz 12 May -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told Egyptian
officials that incumbent Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is his only
candidate to head the burgeoning Palestinian unity cabinet, the
London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported on Thursday.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
abbas-determined-to-retain-fayyad-as-pm-of-fatah-hamas-cabinet-report-says-1.361257
Hamas adviser: PM should be Gaza-based
GAZA
CITY (Ma‘an) 12 May -- The prime minister of the new transitional
Palestinian government should be based in the Gaza Strip, an adviser to
Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday. After confirming
reports that a meeting between Fatah and Hamas would take place next
week to agree the members of the transitional government, Yousef Rizqa
went on to say that the seat of government should not be solely in
Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387077
Abbas: I won't run for president again
RAMALLAH
(Ma‘an) 12 May -- President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated Tuesday that he
would not run for president again, telling the PLO leadership in
Ramallah that he was "serious" about his decision ... Abbas also said
he
was serious about the reconciliation deal with Hamas despite doubts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386850
Palestinian official: Stalled peace talks would make intifada hard to stop
Haaretz
12 May -- Speaking with Army Radio ahead of planned Nakba day protests
across West Bank, Fatah man Abbas Zaki says the Palestinian street will
act according to how hopeful it is of achieving peace.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
palestinian-official-stalled-peace-talks-would-make-intifada-hard-to-stop-1.361277
Turkey's Erdoğan: Hamas is a political party, not a terrorist group
Haaretz
12 May -- Hamas is not a terror organization, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in an interview with U.S. television late
Wednesday,
saying he felt the recently penned Palestinian reconciliation agreement
was an essential step toward Mideast peace. Erdoğan's comments came one
day after Hamas Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar said that while his
organization would accept a Palestinian state within 1967 borders, it would never recognize Israel, as a result of the damage such a move would do to Palestinian refugees in the "diaspora."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
turkey-s-erdogan-hamas-is-a-political-party-not-a-terrorist-group-1.361230
Berlusconi: No to unilateral PA bid
Ynet
12
May -- Congratulating Israel on 63 Independence Day, Italian PM
emphasizes support, says unilateral recognition wrong way to strike
agreements between nations
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067510,00.html
Other news
Israeli Arab sector has fastest growth potential says Bank Hapoalim CEO
Haaretz 12 May -- The Israeli business community is paying increasing
attention to the potential of business development among Israel's Arab
population ... Bank Hapoalim currently has 19 branches in Arab
population centers and plans to open five more in the coming year.
http://english.themarker.com/
israeli-arab-sector-has-fastest-growth-potential-says-bank-hapoalim-ceo-1.361183
Video: 'Let's pull Shalit out of Gaza ourselves'
Ynet
12
May -- Ultimatum issued to Israel, Hamas in video uploaded to internet.
Group of four ad men threaten to break through Erez crossing if no
prisoner swap seal is struck by June 21
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067831,00.html
60% of Israelis satisfied with State
Ynet
12 May -- Most secular, traditional and religious Jews believe State
fits their values, but only 21% of haredim feel the same way,
Ynet-Gesher poll shows. Fifty-five percent of population say
maintaining
Jewish majority is most important thing ... Each of the four sectors ranked "securing a Jewish majority" first. This was the response of 52% of seculars, 64% of
traditional Jews, 58% of religious Jews and 42% of haredim.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4067492,00.html
US Christian group warns Palestinians of apocalypse
[photos]
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 May -- At least half a dozen billboards recently
went up across the West Bank warning Palestinians of an impending
judgment day, slated according to the signs, for May 21. At the
entrance to Birzeit, and several roads leading into the West Bank
cities of Ramallah and Jericho, the signs -- some in English, some in
Arabic -- advise travelers to "cry unto God" and are directed to the
website of the US-based religious group.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=386765
Analysis / Opinion
Israel's security elite joins the opposition / J.J. Goldberg
Forward,
11
May -- It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the leaders of
Israel’s security establishment, the people who’ve led the fight
against
the state’s enemies for decades, are more frightened now than they’ve
been in a long time. You might be shocked, though, to hear what’s got
them in a panic ... What scares them most is their prime minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu. How do I know? Because they’re saying so, right out
in public, some in broad hints, others in just so many words ... There
are 18 living ex-chiefs: seven Mossad, six IDF and five Shin Bet. No
fewer than eight of them are actively working against Netanyahu in one
way or another. Another four have made their alarm publicly clear,
though they aren’t aggressively campaigning right now. That’s 12, if
you’re keeping score. Two of them have openly called Netanyahu’s
policies and leadership a threat to Israel’s future -- just in the past
few weeks.
http://www.forward.com/articles/137697/
All Netanyahu needs is to say one magic number: 1967 / Ari Shavit
Haaretz
12 May -- The international community is tensely waiting to hear Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's words to the U.S. Congress in 12 days'
time. Yet it will not be words that determine how the speech is
received, but rather a number. If Netanyahu does not specifically
mention the number 1967, the world will reject his speech from the
outset. Israel's future hangs today on the prime minister's ability to
utter the four digits he has not yet uttered - one, nine, six, seven:
1967. Netanyahu? 1967? Not a chance - unless he realizes the
seriousness
of the situation. Unless he realizes that our backs are to the wall and
we must change direction. Unless he rises above himself and becomes a
statesman and a leader.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/
all-netanyahu-needs-is-to-say-one-magic-number-1967-1.361194 |
| For further information contact Shadi Fadda |
|
|
