Showing posts with label Israel/Palestine Conflict. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel/Palestine Conflict. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2021
Saturday, November 14, 2015
What is the Israel/Palestine conflict? ...Imagine a SEGREGATED road system where the color of your license plate dictates which roads you can drive on.
Understand the Israeli – Palestinian Apartheid In 11 Images
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
"...Kerry told the Senate panel that leaders on both sides said they want the negotiations to continue, and U.S. mediators are talking to them. “I’m not going to suggest anything is imminent, but one always has to remain hopeful in this very difficult, complicated process,” Kerry said. "
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| U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry changed his travel plans today to squeeze in a last-minute visit to Israel and the West Bank.Photographer: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP via Getty Images |
Israeli Ministers Cut Off Meetings With Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered cabinet ministers to stop meeting with their Palestinian counterparts, a government official said, hours after the U.S. blamed Israel for the breakdown of peace talks.Israeli government officials have been told to refrain from meeting their Palestinian counterparts because the Palestinians violated commitments made under the peace talks, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss diplomacy for the record.
Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry charged that the announcement of 708 new Jewish homes in east Jerusalem derailed eight months of Mideast peace talks. Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said the sides were closer to resolving differences over a delayed Israeli release of Palestinian prisoners when “700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof, that was sort of the moment.”
While Kerry said both sides took “unhelpful actions,” some Israeli officials fumed at his suggestion that Israel’s April 1 announcement of settlement construction brought the talks to collapse....READ MORE
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Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Israel confiscates private Palestinian land near Nablus
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NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities confiscated ten dunams and restricted access to 500 dunams of private agricultural Palestinian land in the village of Qusra south of Nablus on Tuesday, an official said.
Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that the Israeli liaison department in Nablus officially notified its Palestinian counterpart of the confiscation order.
The land, he added, is located between the village and an illegal Israeli settlement outpost called Esh Kodesh.
Daghlas added that the Israelis told their Palestinian counterparts that farmers were not allowed access to an area of more than 500 dunams around the confiscated land.
"This means," he said, "they are confiscating 500 more dunams."
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Zochrot ... Peter Betts' London Review of Books letter: "Tel Aviv was in fact built around and over the top of Palestinian villages, largely destroyed in 1948."
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http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n24/letters
Zochrot
Richard J. Evans in his review of War and Town Planning refers to cities ‘built on virgin soil, like Patrick Geddes’s Tel Aviv’ (LRB, 5 December).
Tel Aviv was in fact built around and over the top of Palestinian
villages, largely destroyed in 1948. The villages are now areas in Tel
Aviv – Abu Kabir, Summayl, Shaykh Muwannis and Salama – and can be seen
on a map published online by the Israeli organisation Zochrot (Hebrew
for ‘remembering’).
Peter Betts
Liverpool
Practical thoughts
Zochrot supports the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their country. Return is fundamental to resolving the conflict and implementation of return need not cause injustice to Jewish people who live in Israel. Return does not mean expelling Jews from their homes, but the very opposite: The mutual existence of Palestinians and Jews in the country.
Until today, most discussions on the return of Palestinian refugees have centered on the right of return as a legal principle. Zochrot seeks to advance this discussion from principle to practice. What might return actually look like on the ground? What needs will have to be met for the refugees to be reabsorbed? How would major social institutions be reorganized to prepare for return?
Planning return requires appreciating the diverse questions that might come up in different parts of the country. For example, return to a Palestinian village that is today the site of an Israeli city will be different from return to a Palestinian village whose lands are used for grazing cattle or public recreation. Return to a village that was afforested will present different challenges than return to a village whose buildings now house Jewish residents.
Thinking practically about these questions can help free Israeli society from the intense fear posed by the idea of return, and can foster true civic relations between Jews and Palestinians. For Palestinians, planning return can bring closer the actualization of their rights in their country. Return can release the two societies from the relationship of occupier-occupied, expeller-expelled.
Peter Betts
Liverpool
********
further reading
Zochrot
... For most localities, summaries of its history are in Hebrew only. (To
read summaries in Hebrew, translate the page by clicking "Hebrew" on the
top right corner of the screen).
Practical thoughts
Zochrot supports the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their country. Return is fundamental to resolving the conflict and implementation of return need not cause injustice to Jewish people who live in Israel. Return does not mean expelling Jews from their homes, but the very opposite: The mutual existence of Palestinians and Jews in the country.
Until today, most discussions on the return of Palestinian refugees have centered on the right of return as a legal principle. Zochrot seeks to advance this discussion from principle to practice. What might return actually look like on the ground? What needs will have to be met for the refugees to be reabsorbed? How would major social institutions be reorganized to prepare for return?
Planning return requires appreciating the diverse questions that might come up in different parts of the country. For example, return to a Palestinian village that is today the site of an Israeli city will be different from return to a Palestinian village whose lands are used for grazing cattle or public recreation. Return to a village that was afforested will present different challenges than return to a village whose buildings now house Jewish residents.
Thinking practically about these questions can help free Israeli society from the intense fear posed by the idea of return, and can foster true civic relations between Jews and Palestinians. For Palestinians, planning return can bring closer the actualization of their rights in their country. Return can release the two societies from the relationship of occupier-occupied, expeller-expelled.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
For First Time Since 1948, Christmas Tree Lit In Displaced Village
For the first time since Israel was established in the historic land of
Palestine in 1948, and the destruction and displacement of hundreds of
villages and towns, a group of Palestinians managed to set up a
Christmas Tree in the displaced village of Kufur Birim, in the Galilee.
 |
| Sonara News Agency photo of this year's Christmas Tree in the displaced village of Kufur Birim, in the Galilee |
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http://imemc.org/article/66547
Thursday December 12, 2013 09:06
by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & AgenciesThe Sonara News Agency has reported that, despite the extreme cold and the snowstorm especially in mountain areas, and despite repeated empty promises by Israeli officials including the Minister of Minorities, the remaining displaced villagers were never allowed back.
Four months ago, a group of young Palestinians started sleeping in the village, as part of an extended campaign to affirm their right in their own lands, and recently installed a Christmas tree in the yard of a local church, affirming their Right of Return following 65 years of displacement.
Talking to the Sonara News Agency, Zatam Zahra, a member of one of the displaced families, said that this Christmas tree, the first in 65 years, is a symbol for the Right of Return of all refugees, displaced from their lands, villages and towns.
He added that the tree is also a symbol of hope to the millions of externally displaced refugees living in dozens of refugee camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and several Arab countries.
“We demand a solution to Kufur Birim refugees”, he said, “The Right of Return is a right not only to the living, but also to the dead”.
"Since the resumption of the peace process in July, Israel has destroyed 207 Palestinian homes and property in the occupied West Bank, displacing 311 Palestinians, over half of whom are children," rights groups and charities including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement.
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| Palestine Flag December 3, 2013 AP Photo by Nasser Nasser |
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UN slams Israel demolition of West Bank properties
Jerusalem (AFP) - The United Nations Wednesday slammed Israel's
demolition of 30 Palestinian properties in the West Bank, saying it
displaced some families for the second time in less than two weeks.
"I am concerned about the
destruction of Palestinian structures in the Jordan Valley yesterday
(Tuesday)," UN Humanitarian Coordinator James Rawley said in a
statement.
"The demolitions
resulted in the displacement of 41 people, including 24 children, and
affected another 20. Both refugee and non-refugee families were
affected." the statement said.
Israel's civilian administration of the West Bank had no immediate comment on the demolitions.
A group of 36 NGOs last week urged Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes, hours ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry aimed at revitalising Middle East peace talks.
"Demolitions often occur to facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, with 60 percent of demolitions occurring in Palestinian communities close to settlement zones," rights groups and charities including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement.
"Since the resumption of the peace process in July, Israel has destroyed 207 Palestinian homes and property in the occupied West Bank, displacing 311 Palestinians, over half of whom are children," they said.
Israeli settlement building threatens to derail the fragile peace talks, with the Jewish state announcing thousands of new homes in the West Bank on territory the Palestinians want for a future state.
This year, more than 630 Palestinian structures have been demolished in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank that is under full Israeli military control, according to the UN.
Some 1,035 Palestinians have been
displaced by the demolitions, the world body said, adding that more than
80 percent of the displacement occurred in the Jordan Valley.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Now that his three-year world tour for "The Wall" has finally come to an end, Roger Waters wants to set the record straight over criticism he's received from Jewish groups regarding his use of the Star of David symbol in the show and his support for a cultural boycott of Israel.
In its three-year span, "The Wall" show went on to become the highest
grossing tour of all time by a solo artist. Waters next stop is the
Broadway musical version, which begins workshops in January....
Now
that his three-year world tour for "The Wall" has finally come to an
end, Roger Waters wants to set the record straight over criticism he's
received from Jewish groups regarding his use of the Star of David
symbol in the show and his support for a cultural boycott of Israel.
The 70-year old Pink Floyd co-founder says his intention was never to offend the Jewish people. "I worry about it every day. It's a huge concern to me that I would be considered to be a bully," Waters says.
The controversy began with the use of the Star of David, which appears on Israel's flag and is a symbol of its government, in the show as one of the animated symbols dropped from a fighter jet during the song "Goodbye Blue Sky." Other symbols included a crucifix, crescent moon, and the U.S. dollar sign.
"'Goodbye Blue Sky' is all about and how I feel about the fields of the earth being bathed in blood because we're so determined to bombard our fellow man with our bit of ideology, or our bit of this, or our religion, and some took issue with that," Waters says.
Waters communicated with Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman and the rocker agreed to move the Stars of David further away from the dollar signs...READ MORE
 |
| In this April 1, 2011 file photo, Roger Waters performs during his "The Wall Tour 2010/2011" in Milan, Italy. Now that his three-year world tour for “The Wall” has finally come to an end, Waters wants to set the record straight over criticism he’s received from Jewish groups regarding his use of the Star of David symbol in the show and his support for a cultural boycott of Israel. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File) |
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http://www.statesman.com/ap/ap/entertainment/rogers-waters-defends-use-of-religious-symbolism/nb8q7/
Monday, Dec. 2, 2013Rogers Waters defends use of religious symbolism
By JOHN CARUCCI
The Associated Press
NEW YORK —
The 70-year old Pink Floyd co-founder says his intention was never to offend the Jewish people. "I worry about it every day. It's a huge concern to me that I would be considered to be a bully," Waters says.
The controversy began with the use of the Star of David, which appears on Israel's flag and is a symbol of its government, in the show as one of the animated symbols dropped from a fighter jet during the song "Goodbye Blue Sky." Other symbols included a crucifix, crescent moon, and the U.S. dollar sign.
"'Goodbye Blue Sky' is all about and how I feel about the fields of the earth being bathed in blood because we're so determined to bombard our fellow man with our bit of ideology, or our bit of this, or our religion, and some took issue with that," Waters says.
Waters communicated with Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman and the rocker agreed to move the Stars of David further away from the dollar signs...READ MORE
British human rights organization Amnesty International condemns the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip in a statement released on Monday, demanding Israel "immediately lift its blockade" on the besieged coastal enclave
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Amnesty demands Israel 'immediately' lift Gaza blockade
.jpg) |
| Gaza residents wade through sewage after the local wastewater treatment plant failed, flooding their neighborhood, in early November. (MaanImages/Ezz Al Zanoon) |
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- British human rights organization Amnesty International condemned the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip in a statement released on Monday, demanding Israel "immediately lift its blockade" on the besieged coastal enclave "by allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions."
The statement highlighted that the situation in Gaza had deteriorated significantly in the last month, as "Gaza's 1.7 million residents have been living without power for most of the time and in the shadow of a public health catastrophe, after their sole power plant was forced to shut down, causing the failure of several sewerage and water plants."
"This latest harsh setback has exacerbated the assault on the dignity of Palestinians in Gaza and the massive denial of rights they have experienced for more than six years because of Israel’s blockade, together with restrictions imposed by Egypt," Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International, was quoted as saying in the report.
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly 7 years. However, since the July military coup, Egypt has strictly enforced the blockade and targeted underground tunnels that used to provide the strip with a vital lifeline to the outside world.
The report stressed that the rapid deterioration of the situation in recent weeks was caused by Egypt's post-coup crackdown, but also highlighted that, "as the occupying power, Israel has the primary responsibility for addressing the current crisis by immediately increasing fuel supplies to Gaza."
Amnesty International, however, called on Egypt to "facilitate construction of new power lines" into the southern Gaza Strip, and to negotiate between Israel and Gaza to end the crisis.
In early November, Gaza authorities that there was extremely little fuel available in the strip due to the blockade, leading to widespread disruptions of the functioning of basic services.
The Amnesty International statement highlighted the potentially disastrous implications for public health caused by this lack of fuel, pointing out that "all 291 water and wastewater facilities in the Gaza Strip are now relying on standby generators."
It also noted that a large sewage pumping station had failed south of Gaza City earlier in the month, "allowing more than 35,000 cubic meters of raw sewage to spew into the streets."
Clean-up did not begin until weeks later due to lack of resources, leaving thousands of local residents to wade through sewage in order to leave their homes.
The statement highlighted that water supply was also deeply restricted because of the tightening of the blockade, and 65 percent of Gaza's population only received access to water "every three or four days."
'Fundamental human rights' are being violated
"For each day that the Gaza power plant does not receive fuel, the risk of a massive public health crisis increases. Access to adequate sanitation and drinking water are fundamental human rights. The power plant shutdown should never have been allowed to happen," added Philip Luther.
The statement revealed that the effects of the blockade were also being felt in hospitals and health facilities, as they were relying on generators during power outages. These generators, however, are also effected by the severe lack of fuel, "jeopardizing essential services like kidney dialysis, operating theaters, blood banks, intensive care units, neo-natal care, and laboratories, putting patients` lives at risk."
The statement said that the effects of the crisis were being felt in every aspect of life, as "businesses, construction, and much agricultural work ... ground to a halt amid the power cuts and shortages of fuel and building materials."
This has severely reduced people's access to steady income even further than before.
"Bakeries have reduced production and people are forced to queue to buy bread. Transportation throughout the Strip has been curtailed; carts pulled by donkeys are now being used to collect solid waste," the statement continued.
Israel To Build 3000 New Settlement Units
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[Tuesday December 3, 2013] Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Yaalon, has decided to approve 3000 new units in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and in occupied East Jerusalem. New illegal settlement also to be built in the Negev.
 |
| File - Maan Images |
The decision came despite a statement made by Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who alleged that Tel Aviv “will not rush
new plans” and “will not issue new bids at the current stage.”
Israeli sources said that Yaalon issued several similar decisions, and that most of these decisions were made in July this year, especially when he approved the construction of 2487 units in several settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Peace Now Movement said that Yaalon is waging an extensive campaign to expand various illegal settlements such as Alia Zahav, Shilo, Kedumim, Givat Zeev, and Talmon.
In related news, the Israeli Regional Construction and Planning Committee, has decided to build a new settlement of 250 units for young Israeli couples in the Negev, as part of the Ramat Negev Regional Council of Settlements.
The decision came amidst massive protests against the Prawer-Begin displacement plan in the Negev.
Israel claims the decision is based on a former recommendation made by Israel’s Interior Minister.
Shmolik Rifman, head of the Ramat Negev Council, “welcomed” the decision, and asserted that the settlement would include secular and religious young Jewish couples, and that he hopes construction will begin within two years.
----
The Prawer-Begin Plan aims at illegally confiscating nearly a million Dunams of Arab – Bedouin land in the Negev, and the total destruction and removal of nearly 36 “unrecognized villages”, an issue that would lead to the displacement of about 100,000 persons.
By forcing out the Arabs from the Negev, and the construction of malls and “Jewish-only” areas, Israel will be blocking any geographical contiguity between the Negev, Gaza and Sinai.
The plan, which passed following the first reading, would also lead to the illegal annexation of more than 800,000 Dunams of Arab lands in the Negev.
Israeli sources said that Yaalon issued several similar decisions, and that most of these decisions were made in July this year, especially when he approved the construction of 2487 units in several settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Peace Now Movement said that Yaalon is waging an extensive campaign to expand various illegal settlements such as Alia Zahav, Shilo, Kedumim, Givat Zeev, and Talmon.
In related news, the Israeli Regional Construction and Planning Committee, has decided to build a new settlement of 250 units for young Israeli couples in the Negev, as part of the Ramat Negev Regional Council of Settlements.
The decision came amidst massive protests against the Prawer-Begin displacement plan in the Negev.
Israel claims the decision is based on a former recommendation made by Israel’s Interior Minister.
Shmolik Rifman, head of the Ramat Negev Council, “welcomed” the decision, and asserted that the settlement would include secular and religious young Jewish couples, and that he hopes construction will begin within two years.
----
The Prawer-Begin Plan aims at illegally confiscating nearly a million Dunams of Arab – Bedouin land in the Negev, and the total destruction and removal of nearly 36 “unrecognized villages”, an issue that would lead to the displacement of about 100,000 persons.
By forcing out the Arabs from the Negev, and the construction of malls and “Jewish-only” areas, Israel will be blocking any geographical contiguity between the Negev, Gaza and Sinai.
The plan, which passed following the first reading, would also lead to the illegal annexation of more than 800,000 Dunams of Arab lands in the Negev.
west bank |
israeli settlement |
news report
Palestinian Forced To Demolish His Home In Jerusalem
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[Saturday, November 30, 2013] Adel Ameera, a Palestinian man from
occupied East Jerusalem, was forced to demolish his own home in Sur
Baher, south of the city, after an Israeli court deemed his home
“illegal”.
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| IMEMC Image - Radio Bethlehem 2000 |
He built the two-story structure a year ago, so that he and his family could live on one floor, and his son on another. Ameera stated that the land where his home is built is owned by the family, and was classified by Israel as area C, where Palestinians are not allowed to build, so that Tel Aviv can build and expand its illegitimate settlements.
He further stated that he received official notification from the Jerusalem City Council informing him that, should he fail to demolish his building, the city would demolish it and force him to pay at least 200,000 New Israeli Shekels in fines.
Ameera told reporters that his family does not have financial resources, and voiced an appeal to human rights groups to help his family, who was rendered homeless by Israel’s illegitimate policies.
The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) has reported that, following the six-day war in June, 1967, Israel started practicing a range of policies leading to the displacement of more than 160,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The year 2011 witnessed the largest number of home demolitions as Israeli soldiers demolished nearly 622 structures, leaving at least 222 families (roughly 1094 Palestinians) homeless.
Israeli Army Demolishes Homes, Structures In Northern Plains
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http://www.imemc.org/article/66492?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter [Tuesday at dawn December 3, 2013] A number of armored Israeli military jeeps invaded various Palestinian communities, in the West Bank’s Northern Plains, demolished two homes, agricultural structures and wells.
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| IMEMC File - Home Demolished Bethlehem TV |
Aref Daraghma, head of the Wadi Al-Maleh and Bedouin
Tribes Local Council in Tubas, in central West Bank, stated that the
soldiers invaded the Al-Bqei’a and Al-Adasa areas, demolished two homes,
and some water wells.
He said that the soldiers declared the two areas closed military zones, and prevented residents, and journalists from entering.
Daraghma added that the owners of the destroyed properties did not even receive official orders or previous warnings.
“These violations are part on ongoing violations against the people, their homes and property”, he said, “They are targeting the residents and their livelihood, they want the people out of their homes and lands, they want to build and expand their illegal settlements”.
On Monday invaded the Najada area, in Al-‘Oja in the West Bank district of Jericho, and demolished two homes and four sheds. Soldiers also surrounded a number of homes and tents in the area.
He said that the soldiers declared the two areas closed military zones, and prevented residents, and journalists from entering.
Daraghma added that the owners of the destroyed properties did not even receive official orders or previous warnings.
“These violations are part on ongoing violations against the people, their homes and property”, he said, “They are targeting the residents and their livelihood, they want the people out of their homes and lands, they want to build and expand their illegal settlements”.
On Monday invaded the Najada area, in Al-‘Oja in the West Bank district of Jericho, and demolished two homes and four sheds. Soldiers also surrounded a number of homes and tents in the area.
jordan valley |
israeli attacks |
news report
Monday, December 2, 2013
Last week, the United Nations warned that a blockade on the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt was making Gaza ‘uninhabitable’.
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News
>
World
>
Middle East
Life in Gaza: ‘We wake up to terrifying sonic booms and try to sleep while Israelis are shelling’
Last week, the United Nations warned that a blockade on the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt was making Gaza ‘uninhabitable’. The following is a personal account of what life is like for one resident, Sally Idwedar, in Gaza City
 |
| Palestinian workers in Gaza City use a donkey cart to collect the piles of rubbish due to the severe fuel shortage |
In protest of the Prawer-Begin Plan, which if implemented, will result in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Bedouin in the Negev desert, Bedouin and other activists organized a ‘day of rage.’
 |
| Bedouins and other activists shout slogans during a protest against the Israeli government’s Prawer Plan, on road 31 near Hura, on November 30, 2013. |
By Activestills
PHOTOS: 'Day of rage' against the Prawer Plan in five cities
Photos: Yotam Ronen, Oren Ziv, Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Keren Manor, Mareike Lauken, Tali Mayer, Shiraz Grinbaum / Activestills.org
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS PLEASE GO TO THE ORIGINAL LINK
*******
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Saturday, November 9, 2013
U.S. 'working tirelessly' to restore UNESCO funding... UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova: "This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development,"
PARIS (Reuters) - The U.S. government is working hard to get Congress to restore its UNESCO funding, Washington's ambassador to the U.N. cultural arm said on Saturday, after its voting rights were suspended over failure to pay up.
UNESCO's granting the Palestinians membership two years ago led to the United States stopping its dues and, on Friday, the organization suspended U.S. voting rights as well as Israel's.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have made grim assessments of the lack of progress in peace talks, which the United States helped revive last July after a three-year gap, and the UNESCO funding furor has not helped.
U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion told delegates at UNESCO's biennial general conference in Paris, after the suspension was announced officially, that Washington was "working tirelessly" to restore funding.
Also addressing the conference, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova voiced regret at the loss of the U.S. voting rights, insisting that Washington had a vital role to play in the organization.
"This is not only about financing. This is about values. This is the 'smart power' that is in such need today, to lay the foundations for lasting peace and sustainable development," she said.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, is responsible for designating World Heritage sites, promoting global education and supporting press freedom, among other tasks.
The withdrawal of U.S. funding - which totaled about $240 million, or some 22 percent of UNESCO's budget - has plunged it into a funding crisis and forced it to cut programs.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Washington Post 2013: Israeli hard-liners eye West Bank
Peace accords divided the West Bank into three areas controlled by
Israel, the Palestinians or the Palestinian civil authority with Israeli
military control. Some in the Israeli government have advocated plans
for Israel to unilaterally annex Area C and leave areas A and B to be
administered by the Palestinian Authority, with oversight by Israeli
security forces. Read related article.
Israeli police seized computers and detained 25 Palestinians because of Facebook posts in East Jerusalem on Thursday
 |
| File photo of a Palestinian protester by Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem.(MaanImages/file) |
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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=645448Israel detains 25 Palestinian activists over Facebook posts
09/11/2013
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) --
Israeli police detained 25 Palestinian social media activists in East
Jerusalem on Thursday, a prisoners rights group said.
Nasser Qous, head of the Jerusalem branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told official news agency Wafa that Israeli forces raided the homes of 25 Palestinian activists and detained them on charges of "incitement" due to their posts on Facebook.
Israeli police also seized their computers.
Fifteen of the activists were later released and 10 will be brought before an Israeli court, Qous said.
In October, Haifa resident Razi al-Nabulsi, 23, was arrested and kept under house arrest for a week as a result of Facebook posts Israeli authorities argued constituted "incitement."
Lawyer Aram Mahameed explained that the charges stemmed from "a number of comments on al-Nabulsi's Facebook page concerning issues like normalization (with the State of Israel), as well as the Prawer Plan," a proposed Israeli plan that if carried out with displace 40,000 Bedouins from the southern Negev.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel 112th in the world for press freedom in its 2013 report, arguing that while Israeli journalists enjoy freedom of expression, there are major structural barriers related to military control and security issues that prevent a free press more generally.
Nasser Qous, head of the Jerusalem branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told official news agency Wafa that Israeli forces raided the homes of 25 Palestinian activists and detained them on charges of "incitement" due to their posts on Facebook.
Israeli police also seized their computers.
Fifteen of the activists were later released and 10 will be brought before an Israeli court, Qous said.
In October, Haifa resident Razi al-Nabulsi, 23, was arrested and kept under house arrest for a week as a result of Facebook posts Israeli authorities argued constituted "incitement."
Lawyer Aram Mahameed explained that the charges stemmed from "a number of comments on al-Nabulsi's Facebook page concerning issues like normalization (with the State of Israel), as well as the Prawer Plan," a proposed Israeli plan that if carried out with displace 40,000 Bedouins from the southern Negev.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Israel 112th in the world for press freedom in its 2013 report, arguing that while Israeli journalists enjoy freedom of expression, there are major structural barriers related to military control and security issues that prevent a free press more generally.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
NYTimes News October 30, 2013: 1,500 Units to Be Added in Settlement, Israel Says
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine
Liberation Organization, said that with the new moves toward
construction, “Israel is willfully and flagrantly violating
international law and the requirements of peace.” She called the
announcements “an affront” to Mr. Kerry’s efforts and warned that they
could “provoke parallel violence and extremism throughout the region.”
“The Israeli occupation is exposing its true intentions of creating
‘greater Israel’ rather than a two-state solution,” Ms. Ashrawi said in a
statement. “The Israeli government has proven once again that it is not
a partner for peace nor a member of the international community that
respects the global rule of law.”
 |
Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency
A Palestinian construction worker at a building site on Wednesday in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in East Jerusalem.
|
Saturday, October 19, 2013
A new report says Israeli settlement construction on the Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank has increased by about 70 percent.
- Published on Thursday, 17 October 2013 12:11
A new report says Israeli settlement construction on the
Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank has increased by about 70
percent.
The organization also stated that the new illegal settlement activities were “drastic,” and that some 50 percent of the new construction projects were started in “isolated settlements.”
Most of the settlement projects were carried out within the 1967 borders, the organization added.
“Since the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Israeli population in Judea and Samaria has tripled, with a majority of settlers residing in the so-called settlement blocs,” Peace Now also said.
The Israeli regime has been under fire from the international community, including its own allies, over its expansionist policies.
However, the Tel Aviv regime defies calls to abandon its illegal settlement activities.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.
This article was originally posted on PressTV.*
*Peace Now
*Press TV
*Palestine
Monday, September 30, 2013
CSM: Israel increases rate of home demolitions as peace talks chug along- Human rights activists say home demolitions show that protection for Palestinian human rights is missing from the peace process.
By
, Correspondent /
September 29, 2013
Burhan Bisharat lost his home last week to an Israeli army
bulldozer, but he retains the Palestinian ethos of hospitality, pressing
his interviewer to drink more tea as he recounts how he has slept amid
the ruins of the dwellings of this tiny village in the occupied West
Bank.
''Living on the ground with no cover is hard,'' says the father of eight who, like a dozen other men from Makhul, has been sleeping out in the open because the army blocked them from receiving humanitarian relief tents after the demolition. On a scorching summer day, Makhul's men crowded under the only tree in sight for shade, while a group of Israeli soldiers stood guard nearby to ensure they did not attempt to rebuild shelter.
Israeli defense ministry officials say the demolition of Makhul was a necessary law enforcement measure against unlicensed construction and stress that the Israeli Supreme Court last month rejected a petition against the order.
But human rights groups are condemning the demolition, the latest of operations in which hundreds of residential and other structures were destroyed this year in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They say the Army's handling of Makhul, as well as repeated settler attacks on Palestinian property, highlight that the US-brokered peace process launched earlier this year fails to protect Palestinians from Israeli abuses.
United Nations statistics show that the rate of demolitions rose in the last year, many of them occurring as US Secretary of State John Kerry prodded Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiation table. In August, a month after peace talks resumed, Israel leveled another small Palestinian community in East Jerusalem, Tel al-Adassa, forcing its residents to leave to the West Bank. They lacked Israeli identity papers, but dated their stay in the vicinity to the 1950s.
Three other small Palestinian communities near here – Ras al-Akhmar, Hadidya and Khumsa – now face the imminent threat of being leveled like Makhul.
''There is always talk of a settlement freeze but it is not just building new homes for settlers but destruction of homes for Palestinians that have nowhere else to go that needs to be front and center during peace negotiations,''....READ MORE
[AS
ALWAYS
PLEASE GO TO THE LINK
TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN
FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
 |
| A tractor demolishes a road at the unauthorized Israeli settlement outpost of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah, West Bank, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. Sebastian Scheiner/AP |
Makhul, West Bank
''Living on the ground with no cover is hard,'' says the father of eight who, like a dozen other men from Makhul, has been sleeping out in the open because the army blocked them from receiving humanitarian relief tents after the demolition. On a scorching summer day, Makhul's men crowded under the only tree in sight for shade, while a group of Israeli soldiers stood guard nearby to ensure they did not attempt to rebuild shelter.
Israeli defense ministry officials say the demolition of Makhul was a necessary law enforcement measure against unlicensed construction and stress that the Israeli Supreme Court last month rejected a petition against the order.
But human rights groups are condemning the demolition, the latest of operations in which hundreds of residential and other structures were destroyed this year in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They say the Army's handling of Makhul, as well as repeated settler attacks on Palestinian property, highlight that the US-brokered peace process launched earlier this year fails to protect Palestinians from Israeli abuses.
United Nations statistics show that the rate of demolitions rose in the last year, many of them occurring as US Secretary of State John Kerry prodded Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiation table. In August, a month after peace talks resumed, Israel leveled another small Palestinian community in East Jerusalem, Tel al-Adassa, forcing its residents to leave to the West Bank. They lacked Israeli identity papers, but dated their stay in the vicinity to the 1950s.
Three other small Palestinian communities near here – Ras al-Akhmar, Hadidya and Khumsa – now face the imminent threat of being leveled like Makhul.
''There is always talk of a settlement freeze but it is not just building new homes for settlers but destruction of homes for Palestinians that have nowhere else to go that needs to be front and center during peace negotiations,''....READ MORE
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