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Today in Palestine! ~ Headlines ~ |
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Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
UNESCO censures Israel over Mughrabi Bridge
Ynet
28 June -- World Heritage Committee calls on Israel to stop
archaeological excavations in Old City. Jerusalem 'shocked, furious'
over Jordan's involvement -- UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee decided
to accept a petition by Jordan and issued an official censure of Israel
over the archaeological excavations near the Mughrabi Gate in the
Jerusalem's Old City ... Jordan's petition was also signed
by Egypt, Iraq and Bahrain. The decision was carried with a unanimous
vote by UNESCO 21-member nations. Australia, Switzerland, Brazil and
Mexico voiced their reservations over the strong anti-Israel language
used in the resolution, but did not oppose it in the vote.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088221,00.html
Knesset to vote on law forcing Palestinians to pay demolition costs
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM (PIC) 27 June -- The Israeli Knesset’s Law Constitution and
Justice Committee has passed a draft law forcing Palestinians to cover
the costs of home demolitions issued against them without recourse to
the courts. Israeli Radio reported that the committee agreed not to
empower the West Bank regional commander to apply the law there, in
opposition to the government. The draft will be brought to the Knesset
for a second and third reading.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
French court decision on Jerusalem light rail must be challenged
EI
27 June -- A French court ruling on the construction of a light rail network to service illegal Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem
betrays a lack of understanding about how the project abets the
Israeli occupation. On 30 May, the High Court of Nanterre dismissed a
petition by the France-Palestine Solidarity Association (known by the
acronym AFPS) to nullify under French law contracts signed by French transport giants Veolia and Alstom for building a light rail system in Jerusalem. AFPS has until 30 June to appeal the decision. In its petition, AFPS asserted that the Jerusalem light rail project will connect West Jerusalem with Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, normalizing the illegal situation on the ground.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/
french-court-decision-jerusalem-light-rail-must-be-challenged/10115
IOA bulldozes land in Silwan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 28 June -- The Israeli occupation authority
(IOA) bulldozers leveled land in Wadi Al-Rababa in Silwan near to Bustan
suburb south of the Aqsa Mosque. The spokesman for the committee to
defend Silwan town, Fakhri Abu Diyab, said that the IOA bulldozers have
been working since Monday morning, noting that landmarks in the area
along with old trees were all being wiped out in preparation for opening
a Talmudic garden and Judaizing the entire area.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
IOF soldiers destroy tens of Palestinian olive trees
SALFIT
(PIC) 28 June -- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bulldozed tens of
Palestinian olive trees in Deir Estiya village west of Salfit city on
Tuesday. Nazmi Salman, the village’s mayor, said that the bulldozing
took place west of the village and damaged trees that have been planted
there for five years. Noting that the land was in the proximity of
Revava settlement, Salman said that the step is aimed at evicting the
inhabitants then grab their land.
In another area, IOF soldiers
started to bulldoze a land lot, which they seized from its owner, south
of Al-Khalil city on Monday, local sources said, adding that the land
was being prepared to serve as a landing pad for IOF military choppers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2
Israeli soldiers uproot 300 olive trees in Salfit
SALFIT
(WAFA) 28 June -- Israeli soldiers Tuesday razed a large area
of land and uprooted 300 olive trees in Deir Istiya, a village in Salfit
north of the West Bank, according to the village mayor, Nathmi Salman.
Salman said the land belongs to Kamal Abdul-Rahman, a middle-aged
Palestinian suffering from heart disease. Israeli soldiers assaulted
Abdul-Rahman and prevented him from reaching his land, which
necessitated bringing a doctor immediately to treat him.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16570
Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron reports increase in raids
IMEMC
27 June -- Christian Peace Maker Team in Hebron have reported in
increase in house raids with the arrival of a new brigade of Israeli
soldiers in the West Bank city. The team have stated that night time
raids have become a common occurrence in the city "as Palestinians try
to live some semblance of a normal life and Israeli Defense Forces
prepare for war". The Team have reported two instances of night time
raids on local Palestinian families they say is indicative of the
increase in Israeli raids with the change of brigades
http://www.imemc.org/article/61558
Activism / Solidarity
Bil‘in's next battle: Settlement
Ynet
28
June -- Palestinian village decides to build illegally on land
'liberated' by successful anti-fence battle -- Following the IDF's
dismantling of a separation fence running through Bil‘in, residents of
the West Bank village have decided to adopt a new battle. Ynet learned
Tuesday that the Popular Committee of Bil‘in will replace its weekly
anti-fence protests, which take place Fridays, with the construction of
new structures on the land added to the village when the fence was
dismantled Sunday. Around 170 acres of land were added
[returned!] to the village with the removal of the fence, 130 of which
are privately owned Palestinian lands. It is
on this land that the residents plan to
construct a new neighborhood, called West Bil‘in. Organizers of the
protests against the fence are still fuming, however, at the fact that
some 330 acres belonging to the village remain inaccessible, because
they lie to the west of the wall that surrounds nearby Israeli towns
such as Modi'in.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088553,00.html
Meanwhile in Nabi Saleh: Reflections on the physical and legal assault on nonviolent protesters / Rae Abileah
Mondo
28 June -- From the chambers of Congress to the shores of the
Mediterranean, non-violent protesters are rising up against the Israeli
occupation ... the small West Bank village of Nabi Saleh has been
struggling without the attention it deserves. ...between January 2010
and April 2011, the Israeli Army carried out 73 protest-related arrests,
rounding up men, women and children. Two of the
arrested are cousins Bassem and Naji Tamimi, main organizers and members
of the local Popular Committee. The Tamimis are key organizers in the
Nabi Saleh resistance and have been arrested under the blanketed charge
of ‘incitement’, similarly to the case last of Abdallah Abu Rahmah of Bil‘in
who was convicted in an unfair trial and served 16 months in jail.
Bassem and Naji were scheduled to appear before a judge yesterday,
Monday, June 27th at the Ofer Military Court. Naji Tamimi took a plea
bargain and will be jailed for 12 months, and is barred from organizing
protests for five years after his release ... Bassem's court date was
postponed until late August because a witness didn't show up and it
looks like he is determined not to take a plea bargain. Present in
court were diplomatic representatives of the UK, the EU and France.
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/meanwhile-
in-nabi-saleh-reflections-on-the-physical-and-legal-assault-on-nonviolent-protesters.html
US government moves to criminalize Palestinian solidarity / Maureen
EI 27 June -- In an op-ed, published by Al Jazeera English today, I write about the US
government’s attempts to criminalize the Palestine solidarity activists
— including the State Department’s threats to prosecute activists involved with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. I also appeared on
Al
Jazeera English's The Stream today to discuss FBI raids and subpoenas
targeting activists ... The use of counterterrorism tools against social
justice acts is nothing
new. But it poses a special threat to the growing Palestine solidarity
movement in the US, which is increasingly challenging the US government’s military aid to Israel and its diplomatic cover for Israeli war crimes and apartheid.
http://electronicintifada.net/blog/maureen/us-government-moves-criminalize-palestine-solidarity
Settlers
'Mohammed is dead' sprayed on home
Ynet
28 June -- Unknown persons sprayed racial slurs and a Star of David on a
Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Beit Ilu ... Mohammed Raduan, head of the village council,
told Ynet that the graffiti was found Tuesday morning. He added that it
was not the first time Beit Ilu had been targeted in such a fashion. "They
wrote, 'Mohammed is a pig' and 'Mohammed is dead', as well as 'Revenge'
and 'Settlement 18'," he said. The latter may have been in reference to
a recently evacuated settlement
near Beit El. g
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088476,00.html
Detention
Army kidnaps several Palestinians including legislator, journalist, human rights activist
IMEMC 28 June -- In Salfit, in the central part of the West Bank, soldiers broke into the
home of Dr. Nasser Abdul-Jawad, 46, of the Hamas Change and Reform Parliamentarian Bloc, and kidnapped the elected official.
Furthermore,
soldiers kidnapped a journalist in Kufr Qalil village, near the
northern West Bank city of Nablus. Nawwaf Al Amer works with the Al Quds
Satellite TV; he was repeatedly kidnapped and imprisoned during the
first and the second Palestinian uprisings. He was previously deported
to southern Lebanon along with dozens of Hamas political leaders.
In
Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, the army kidnapped human
rights and detainees' rights activist, Fuad Al Khuffash, head of the
Ahrar Center for Detainees' Studies and Human Rights. Al Khuffash is
originally from Marda village, near the central West bank city of
Salfit.
Troops also kidnapped Firas Jarrar after breaking into his
home in Nablus. Jarrar is a human rights activist who spent 16 years in
Israeli prisons.
Soldiers conducted a large-scale arrest campaign in
the occupied West Bank on Tuesday at dawn, and kidnapped eleven
Palestinians from several villages, towns and refugee camps.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61562
Israeli army detains Tawjihi students in Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM
(WAFA) 28 June -- Israeli army Tuesday detained a number of Palestinian
high school students after they finished Tuesday’s session of the
Tawjihi exam, the final general secondary examination, in
Al Khader, a town south of Bethlehem. Director of Education in Bethlehem
governorate, Abdullah Shakarneh, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers
stopped the students on their way home after leaving the exam halls and
searched them. Shakarneh considered this arbitrary action "a part of the
attack on the educational process." Witnesses said that Israeli
soldiers handed a number of the students notices to report at the
intelligence services in Etzion settlement south of Bethlehem.
Palestinians can be detained for a number of hours or days when they
report to Israeli intelligence. If the students are held and prevented
from attending Thursday’s Tawjihi exams, they will fail their high
school senior year.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16571
Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinians in Azzun
QALQILIYA
(Ma‘an) 28 June -- Israeli forces on Tuesday detained five Palestinians
from the northern West Bank town of Azzun after ransacking their homes,
witnesses said. Locals said troops raided the town at around 1 a.m. They
identified those detained as Samir Sahir Shelo, 13, Ahmad Basim
Shbeita, 17, Othman Samir Shelo, 22, Muath Bilal Sweidan, 19, and Yousif
Hussein Shbeita, 49. ... Israel detained around 20 Palestinians in
Azzun in June, most of whom were aged 14 - 23.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400723
More than a third of Palestinian prisoners denied visitation rights
GAZA
(PIC) 28 June -- Prisoner affairs expert Abdul-Nasser Farwana has said
that more than a third of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons have
been denied the right to family visits. Prisoners from the Gaza Strip
were denied visits as a 'collective punishment' in mid-June of 2007 and
others faced the same restrictions for security reasons, he said. He
added that the families of those allowed visits are harassed, searched,
and treated with brutality ahead of visits, and at times they are even
sexually harassed. Farwana said that the restrictions on visits
contravene international law, which calls for intervention by
international organizations to pressure Israel into restoring visitation
rights.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Palestinian prisoners to go on hunger strike en masse
RAMALLAH
(PIC) 28 June -- More than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli
occupation jails have decided to go on a single day hunger strike on 3rd
of July to protest the Israeli occupation authority’s repressive policy
against them. They said in a statement on Tuesday that the strike would
protest the solitary confinement policy and the deprivation of
education.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46
Center: Israel detains prisoners' rights worker
BETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an)
28 June -- Israeli forces on Tuesday detained a prisoners' rights
worker and confiscated his cell phone and computer, a detainees' center
said. The center said Sami Hussein, an employee in the Bethlehem-based
organization, was detained during a raid on his home. Hussein
has been detained several times and has spent 20 years in Israeli
prisons, the center said, adding that he had three children.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said 11 Palestinians were detained across the West Bank overnight.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400665
Detainee's mother dies without seeing son
BETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an)
28 June -- The mother of a Palestinian detainee died Tuesday without
seeing her son for many years, a rights group said. A prisoners'
association said the dying wish of 80-year-old Wadhah Daamsa was to see
her son Yahya. Yahya Daamsa, 40, is sentenced to two terms of life
imprisonment plus 40 years. Israeli forces detained him on April 7,
2002, and demolished his home in Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. He
was accused of making explosive devices to be used in operations inside
Israel and membership of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400599
IOA isolates oldest serving prisoner in the world
RAMALLAH
(PIC) 28 June -- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) isolated the
oldest [longest] serving Palestinian and Arab prisoner in its jails Nael
Al-Barghouthi for refusing to be strip searched. The Palestinian
prisoner’s association said on Tuesday that Barghouthi, who entered his
34th consecutive year in prison last April and is considered the oldest
serving prisoner in the world, was moved to the isolation ward after
refusing the prison administration’s humiliation of prisoners topped by
strip search. [He's the longest-serving political prisoner in the world
according to this site]
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Protesters urge Abbas to appoint prisoner in new government
GAZA
CITY (Ma‘an) 28 June -- Spokesman for Palestinian deportees Fahmi
Kanaan on
Monday urged President Mahmoud Abbas to appoint a detainee as a minister
in the upcoming unity government. Kanaan called for the appointment
during a speech delivered at a protest
organized by the prisoners' society in Unknown Soldier Square in Gaza
City. The protest was held in response to Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to worsen conditions for Palestinians in
Israeli prisons in order to pressure Hamas to release captured Israel
soldier Gilad Shalit.
The spokesman also condemned the treatment of
Palestinians deported to Gaza and Europe after Israel's siege of the
Nativity Church in Bethlehem. Twenty-six Palestinians who took refuge in
the church
were deported to Gaza and 13 were expelled to Europe following Operation
Defensive Shield in 2002, during which Israeli forces besieged
the church and Bethlehem in a bid to locate Palestinian combatants.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400359
PA court sentences 5 Hamas cadres
AL-KHALIL
(PIC) 28 June -- A Fatah-controlled court in Al-Khalil city on Tuesday
passed a one and a half year sentence on five Hamas cadres, including
one still held in Israeli jail, in blatant disregard of the
reconciliation agreement. The committee of relatives of detainees said
on its Facebook page that Nabil Al-Natshe, held in Israeli custody, was
among those sentenced. The PA preventive security apparatus was holding
those detainees in its jails for the past six months
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Gaza - under siege for 1,476 days now
Gaza children send messages to Sderot on kites
GAZA
CITY (Ma‘an) 28 June -- Children in Gaza released kites on Tuesday
carrying
messages to residents of Sderot across the border in Israel. The kites
carried messages urging Israel to end its siege of Gaza.
Fourteen-year-old Einas Naim told Ma'an she hoped residents of Sderot
would understand the messages ... Nine-year-old Muhammad wrote "Gaza is
love" on a kite made of a Palestinian flag. "My message to the Israeli
residents is that our country has suffered enough destruction," he said.
Coordinator
of the initiative Sabir Zaanin said the kites released Sderot were in
response to the messages Israeli children wrote on artillery shells which
killed
dozens of children [Lebanon, 2006]. Sderot was originally built on land
belonging to Beit Hanoun, a town in northern Gaza, Zaanin said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400737
Gaza woman calls on Qatar Emir to save her husband
GAZA
(PIC) 28 June -- The wife of Iyad Ali Hassan Salim has called on the
Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to open the country’s
doors to her husband as he desperately needs treatment ... "Despite the
many treatments he takes, they put him in a constant state of sleep and
have not done away with the convulsions," she said. She also explained
in an appeal that Salim sustained injuries after an Israeli missile
strike on the Gaza Strip in November 2006 that left shrapnel and burns
on his body, especially the head. He has lost his right eye and
sustained fractures and wounds all over the body.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Gazans head to the beach
GAZA
CITY (Ma‘an) 28 June -- Tourism facilities and entertainment sites in
the Gaza Strip are preparing to host and service people from all social
classes in Gaza this summer. The vice-chairman of the council of
the Palestinian association of restaurants, hotels and tourism services
in the Gaza Strip, Samit Skeik, pointed out that Gaza beaches are full
of visitors due to the calm weather. Going to the beach in the summer is
an important tradition for Gazans. The Israeli siege and restrictions
on movement leave Gazans with few options for entertainment; families
spend time at the beach as it is one of few respites.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400330
Limited goods to enter the Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 28 June -- Israeli authorities decided Tuesday to open
the Kerem Shalom crossing and allow limited goods and fuel into the
Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400529
The blockade is illegal no matter what Israel claims
Canadian
Boat to Gaza -- date? -- An expert legal opinion on International
Maritime Law and the Gaza blockade -- Ambassador Craig Murray is a
former Alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the United Nations
Preparatory Commission on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. He
was deputy head of the teams which negotiated the UK's maritime
boundaries with France, Germany, Denmark (Faeroe Islands) and Ireland
... Ambassador Craig Murray is therefore an internationally recognised
authority on maritime jurisdiction and naval boarding issues. His
analysis of the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the right of the Gaza
flotilla to sail: "The legal position is plain. A vessel outwith the
territorial waters (12 mile limit) of a coastal state is on the high
seas under the sole jurisdiction of the flag state of the vessel. The
ship has a positive right of passage on the high seas.
http://www.tahrir.ca/content/blockade-illegal-no-matter-what-israel-claims
Flotilla
Israel to cope with 'hardcore terror activists' on flotilla
JERUSALEM
(AFP)
28 June -- Israel will be able to handle any violence from "hardcore
activists" on board a new Gaza-bound flotilla, the foreign minister said
Tuesday, amid
claims some were planning attacks with chemicals. "The moderate elements
who were planning to join the flotilla... know that for everyone who
wants to help people in Gaza, that there is a legal way to do it,"
Avigdor Lieberman told public radio in a telephone interview from
Zagreb. "It is clear that those who are still participating in the
flotilla are the hardcore terror activists," he said ... Some 350
pro-Palestinian activists from 22 countries including Canada, France,
Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain are set to join "Freedom Flotilla II"
-- among them a good number of middle-aged and even elderly
Americans and Europeans.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400703
Gaza flotilla organizer: We have no intention of attacking IDF soldiers
AP/Haaretz
28 June -- Israeli officials say passengers may be stowing chemicals on
ships to be used against IDF soldiers and have threatened to 'spill
their blood.' -- The organizer of the Gaza-bound flotilla dismissed
Tuesday Israeli allegations that extremists aboard the ships plan to
harm Israeli soldiers who would be dispatched to stop them. Dror Feiler
says the hundreds of people planning to sail soon in a bid to break
Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territory have signed a
declaration of nonviolence. Feiler told Army Radio on Tuesday that if
Israel has information about specific suspects, it should pass it along
to flotilla's organizers.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
gaza-flotilla-organizer-we-have-no-intention-of-attacking-idf-soldiers-1.370027
US boat rejects Israeli Army allegation of violence
UStoGaza
28
June -- Passengers on the U.S. boat to Gaza rejected as ludicrous and
provocative an unsubstantiated accusation by the Israeli Army that
passengers in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla plan to kill IDF soldiers with
chemical weapons. The Jerusalem Post reported on Tuesday an Israeli
Defense Forces allegation that some passengers on the flotilla had
prepared sacks of sulfur which they planned to pour on Israeli soldiers
... "These spurious claims are merely an attempt to establish a
justification to attack us,” said Brad Taylor, another passenger on the
U.S. boat. “Instead of fabricating horror stories about the hundreds of
unarmed civilians in the flotilla, Israel should come clean about what
it is they have in store for us. It is safe to conclude that the only
chemical weapons, including tear gas and smoke bombs, that will ever be
brought on board our ships to Gaza are those that the Israeli military
apparently intends to fire at us."
http://ustogaza.org/latest/u-s-boat-rejects-israeli-army-allegation-of-violence/
Israel's defense ministry proposes confiscating boats that breach Gaza blockade
Haaretz 28 June -- Government warns of two passengers' alleged ties to Hamas, claims others have smuggled 'chemicals' aboard --
Israel's defense Ministry has proposed setting up a special naval court
that could confiscate ships that attempt to break through Israel's
naval blockade on Gaza, a move aimed at deterring future flotillas to
the Strip ... Noting that the Justice Ministry had looked into setting
up the naval courts, called prize courts, a few years ago, Barak urged
Neeman to bring the matter to the cabinet for approval in the near
future. Defense
sources said that ship seizures would make it harder for pro-Palestinian
activists to rent ships for future flotillas. They also said a prize
court could be established very quickly, enabling even ships in the
current flotilla to be impounded.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
israel-s-defense-ministry-proposes-confiscating-boats-that-breach-gaza-blockade-1.370007
US, Israel escalate threats against flotilla, including US citizens
Salon 27 June -- ...That type of uncontroversial statement -- you shouldn't shoot our unarmed citizens
-- is inconceivable when it comes to the U.S. and Israel. So devoted is
the U.S. Government to defending the actions of Israel's that it will
even preemptively justify violent attacks on its own citizens, threaten
Americans protesting Israel's policies with prosecution for aiding
Terrorism, and isolate itself from the world to defend them.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/06/27/israel/index.html
International solidarity and history in the making / Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
28 June -- Today we had a great international press conference. [photos]
There were representatives from Greece, Sweden, France, Norway, Canada,
Spain, Turkey and of course, the U.S. The room was packed with press and
passengers; there was really a feeling that we are part of something
historic. Our US speakers were Ann Wright and Alice Walker, as well as
Huwaida Araf, who was not representing the U.S. boat but the
international flotilla. Ann talked about the efforts of the Israeli
government to stop our boat, the bogus complaint against us launched by
the Israeli legal center. (This is the same center, by the way, that has
been suing us, trying to get insurance companies not to insure and
pushing satellite companies not to help us get wired on the boat.)
http://palsolidarity.org/2011/06/19112/
Video: One of Freedom Flotilla II boats sabotaged in Greek port
A passenger boat aiming to participate in the Freedom Flotilla II - Stay
Human mission, was sabotaged on Monday, June 27. In this video, Captain
Thodoris Boukas explains [in Greek] about the discovery of the sabotage,
and also footage from the examination by diver Yorgos Vardakas can be
seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o32Xg72FAVY&feature=player_embedded
In Athens, flotilla organizers shake off threats / Mya Guarnieri
ATHENS,
Greece
(Ma‘an) 28 June -- Organizers and participants of the second Freedom
Flotilla announced in Athens Monday that recent events have not weakened
their resolve to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. At a
spirited news conference, they also called into question American
foreign policy. While
organizers remain reluctant to give an exact exit date -- saying only
that the flotilla will set sail for Gaza in the next few days -- a
departure seems imminent.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400463
Fewer than 300 join flotilla
Ynet
28 June -- Major blow to organizers with number of activists failing to
meet expectations, more may cancel -- An internal flotilla memorandum
which reached Ynet reveals that the flotilla is expected sail with fewer
than 300 participants and a few dozen journalists, assuming that no
further delays or incidents occur before the flotilla sets sail.
According to the memorandum the Italian ship Stefano Chiarim is expected
to have 65 people on board – the largest number of passengers in the
flotilla. The Canadian ship "Tahrir" will have 48 passengers and the
American ship Audacity of Hope, which is currently being held at port by
Greek authorities, is set to have 40 passengers. There are an additional
seven ships from Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Greece and Norway which are
expected to set sail. The organizers' most optimistic scenario
is that there will be 292 passengers with an additional 36 journalists.
But it is highly likely that some of the ships will be declared unfit to sail.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088464,00.html
German activists hold 'solidarity flotilla' in Berlin canals
IMEMC
27 June -- in Germany, several dozen activists sailed down Berlin's
canals with banner-covered boats, waving Palestinian flags in support of
the Freedom
Flotilla. The boats were draped with banners saying, 'Fishing Under
Fire', 'No Occupation', and 'Free Palestine'. One fishing boat was made
to look like a Palestinian fishing boat, the type used by Palestinian
fishermen for their livelihood. These boats are frequently attacked by
Israeli naval vessels stationed just off the coast of Gaza, and dozens
of fishermen have been killed and wounded, and their boats confiscated,
by the Israeli navy.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61561
Unlikely sailors: an inside look at the people on the Canadian boat to Gaza
27
June -- Tomas Urbina gets up close and personal with five members of the
Canadian Boat to Gaza's crew -- Today, Forget the Box presents the
story of five of Canada’s 32 delegates, their motivations and their
state of mind as they prepare for a humanitarian mission with the
highest of stakes.
http://www.forgetthebox.net/mag/
unlikely-sailors-an-inside-look-at-the-people-on-the-canadian-boat-to-gaza.php
Video: Gabriel Schivone, US Boat to Gaza passenger
27
June -- Passenger Gabriel Schivone talks about why he is going aboard
the US Boat to Gaza with the Stay Human Flotilla at the end of the
month. Bio:
Gabriel Matthew Schivone is a Chicano-Jewish American and undergraduate
student who was born in Tucson, Arizona. He is a volunteer with the
humanitarian/migrant-rights organization, No More Deaths/No Más Muertes,
which works to end death and suffering on the US/Mexico border and
throughout Arizona. [See videos from other passengers/crew on same
YouTube page]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr3do2NJBHE
Racism / Discrimination
Report: Schools discriminate against Ethiopians
Ynet
28
June -- New survey presented to Knesset's Immigration Committee reveals
Ethiopian student body 'forced' into specific schools ... The
percentage of Ethiopian student to successfully graduate from high
school has risen from 32.7% to 42.1% between 2007 and 2010, but it is
still significantly lower than the percentage noted in the general
Jewish student body -- 64.6%.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088147,00.html
Israel refuses citizenship for gay man married to Jewish immigrant
Haaretz 28 June -- The Law of Return is being put to the test by couple from United States -- The
Interior Ministry is refusing citizenship and new immigrant status to a
homosexual married to a Jewish new immigrant, despite the law's
stipulation that the child, grandchild and partner of a Jew are entitled
to Jewish immigrant rights.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
israel-refuses-citizenship-for-gay-man-married-to-jewish-immigrant-1.369936
Israel's chief clergy decry arrest of top rabbi who called for killing Gentiles
Haaretz
28 June -- Hundreds of right-wing activists attempted to storm the
Supreme Court yesterday to protest the detention of Kiryat Arba Chief
Rabbi Dov Lior earlier in the day. Protesters also blocked the entrance
to Jerusalem and other streets in the capital ... Lior was wanted for
questioning after he endorsed the controversial book
"Torat Hamelech," which justifies the killing of non-Jews.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
israel-s-chief-clergy-decries-arrest-of-top-rabbi-who-called-for-killing-gentiles-1.369935
Rule of law bolstered following Rabbi Lior riots - [and 'King's Torah' sales boom]
JPost
28 June -- As politicians speak about equality before the law following
arrest of Kiryat Arba chief rabbi, controversial book’s sales boom ...The
2009 book by Yizhar Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira gives Jews permission to
preemptively kill gentiles under certain conditions in wartime.
..
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?ID=226985&R=R1
Israel's justice ministry: No one is above the law, even rabbis
Haaretz
28 June -- Officials respond firmly to the attacks on Deputy State
Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, following the arrest of Chief Rabbi Dov Lior
Monday on suspicion of incitement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/
israel-s-justice-ministry-no-one-is-above-the-law-even-rabbis-1.370066
Deputy prosecutor fears rightist attacks
Ynet 28 June -- Deputy
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan, who is responsible for cases of freedom
of speech violations at the State Prosecutor's Office, is said to be
fearing for his life as rightists continue to threaten him and his
family over the arrest of Rabbi Dov Lior for incitement ... The source added that rightists had attempted to force entry into Nitzan's home while he is abroad.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088512,00.html
Human trafficking report ranks Israel with 3rd world nations
Ynet
28
June -- US State Department annual Trafficking in Persons report paints
grim picture of phenomenon, states 'Israel is destination country
for men, women subjected to forced labor, sex trafficking'
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088190,00.html
Hasbara
Hasbarapocalypse -- pinkwashing hoax gone berserk / Annie
Mondo 28 June -- This story has more legs than a centipede. Robert Mackey, on his NYT blog, further unfurls a hoax Benjamin Doherty @EI first exposed on Thursday and that Max Blumenthal and Doherty discovered was linked to Netanyahu's office on Friday (a connection Ali Abunimah @ EI confirmed later that same day). But before we continue, check out the video, and read Mackey's take:
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/hasbarapocalypse-pinkwashing-hoax-gone-berzerk.html
Did Netanyahu's office distribute a fake video against Gaza flotilla?
Haaretz
28 June -- ...This is exactly what some American bloggers have been
claiming, after probing a video that was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday.
The video, nearly three minutes long, featured a young man who called
himself Marc and claimed to be a gay and
human rights activist. The man recounted a story in which he asked the
organizers of the upcoming Gaza flotilla to join their mission, and
claimed that his request was allegedly denied on the grounds that
participation of the gay and lesbian group with which he was affiliated
would not serve the flotilla’s "interests."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
did-netanyahu-s-office-distribute-a-fake-video-against-gaza-flotilla-1.370030
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Netanyahu to Abbas: Accept Israel as Jewish state -- it's a basic demand for peace
Haaretz
28 June -- Prime minister tells Jewish Agency trustees that he has
already declared readiness to accept the creation of a Palestinian
state, but now it is the Palestinian president's turn to voice
compromise.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
netanyahu-to-abbas-accept-israel-as-jewish-state-it-s-a-basic-demand-for-peace-1.370061
US, EU to present Mideast peace plan in last push to prevent Palestinian UN bid
Haaretz 28 June -- In a last-minute effort to stop the Palestinians from
seeking unilateral recognition at the United Nations in September, the
Mideast Quartet is planning to present a new international peace plan at
a summit in Washington on July 11, senior Israeli and European
officials said Tuesday. The Quartet's envoys - representing the United
States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia – will
be mapping out a peace plan based on U.S. President Barack Obama's
Mideast speech on May 19, which is supposed to present an alternative to
the Palestinian move at the UN.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/
u-s-eu-to-present-mideast-peace-plan-in-last-push-to-prevent-palestinian-un-bid-1.370082
Sha‘ath: PA optimistic about statehood bid
RAMALLAH
(Ma‘an)
28 June -- The Palestinian leadership is to step up efforts to
consolidate a UN statehood bid this September, Fatah Central Committee
member Nabil Sha‘ath told local media in Ramallah on Tuesday ... "There
is no return or retreat from the UN step in September; the efforts from
now until September will focus on maintaining the countries
that recognized the Palestinian state and consolidating their positions
in the face of Israeli and American pressure, and recruit an additional
number of countries that support the Palestinian step at the UN,"
Sha‘ath told reporters.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400519
AP interview: PM Fayyad skeptical of UN bid, says declarations don't change reality
28 June -- U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state would largely be a
symbolic victory and would not change the reality of Israeli occupation,
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday .Fayyad's
skepticism, voiced in an interview with The Associated Press, set him
apart from the rest of the Palestinian leadership.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-palestinian-pm-fayyad-skeptical-un-bid-145047013.html
Hamas' Zahar says Fatah to blame for talks delay
BETHLEHEM
(Ma‘an) 28 June -- Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar has reportedly
blamed Fatah for the delay in reconciliation talks, confirming reports
that talks reached a dead end. "After we signed the agreement, Fatah on
the ground worked against it," Al-Zahar told the Jordanian newspaper
Al-Dustur on Tuesday. He added that Fatah were linking the whole
reconciliation process to the
position of prime minster, an approach which was damaging unity efforts.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400552
Bahar says arrest of West Bank MP aimed at disrupting unity deal
GAZA
(PIC) 28 June -- Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Ahmed Bahar has called Israel’s arrest of PLC member Nasser Abdul-Jawwad
(Nablus) a bid to disrupt the PLC, which was reactivated after the
signing of the national unity deal. Bahar said that Israel’s foiling
the unity deal by breaking down the PLC and ridding the West Bank of its
elected members "will only reap failure and loss, and will only lead to
more determination and steadfastness until Palestinian national rights
are restored".
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Israel furious with Jordan over condemnation of Jerusalem's Old City renovation
Haaretz
28 June -- Ambassador Barkan says Israel is upset over the Jordanian
about-face concerning the Mughrabi renovations near the Western Wall in
Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/
israel-furious-with-jordan-over-condemnation-of-jerusalem-s-old-city-renovation-1.369943
Report: Egypt forms Palestine Administration
CAIRO,
Egypt (Ma‘an) 28 June -- Newly appointed Egyptian Foreign Minister
Muhammad Al-Urabi announced Tuesday that his ministry would form a new
department to handle Palestinian affairs, the Egyptian newspaper
Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat reported. The Palestine Administration was created
one day after the new foreign minister took office. After
he was sworn in Monday, Al-Urabi told reporters that "a new strategic
situation emerged and it necessitates a united Arab stance towards the
question of Palestine.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=400818
Israel threatens invasion of southern Lebanon
IMEMC
27 June -- The Israeli Radio reported that a number of Israeli security
and military officials threatened that Israel could invade southern
Lebanon should the security situation in villages there continue to
deteriorate.
The officials claimed that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party
"transformed villages in southern Lebanon into explosive areas," and
that the party deployed combat materials and weapons in the villages and
installed bases and headquarters.
http://www.imemc.org/article/61556
Other news / analysis
Knesset targeted by hackers
Ynet
28 June -- "While Israel has allegedly been happy to dispense hack
attacks in the past… we doubt it will be as happy to be seen on the
receiving end of decentralized computer warfare," was the announcement
that appeared Tuesday on the AnonOps blog which is known to be connected
to the Anonymous group. The announcement went on to state that their
latest target was "none other than the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset"
and that the expected attack would be "over the next 24 hours".
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4088515,00.html
Half of young Israelis are not convinced they should stay in the long run / Philip Weiss
Mondo 28 June -- The "reverse aliyah" story is in the news, all the
Israelis seeking passports, just in case. First there's Russia Today
[video] segment, shown below. Gideon Levy: "Israel was established to
become a shelter for the Jewish people. Now Europe becomes the shelter
for the Jews living in Israel." ... The Russia Today segment just
underlines what Ian Lustick reports in an important recent political science paper
on the ideological problems surrounding the emigration discussion:
"...In dozens of interviews conducted in Israel in November 2010,
Israelis
from political positions across the spectrum found themselves unable to
describe a future for the country that they found appealing and believed
was possible."
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/06/
half-of-young-israelis-are-not-convinced-they-should-stay-in-the-long-run.html |
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