Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
In Israel, a modern wall is halted by ancient terraces
"Built into the terraced hillside, Batir’s vine-wrapped stone
alleyways give way to the ancient Roman-era pools and tiny canals that
run along pathways down to flood small earthen plots where eggplants
grow. The villagers use stones to control the year-round flow of water,
which is rotated daily among Batir’s eight main clans. The ancient
method is far less lucrative that modern day drip agriculture, but
villagers have stuck with tradition.
"We have learned to appreciate this cultural landscape. We have an interest in preserving these locations," says Yuval Peled, director of the park’s authority planning and development department.....
.......The tens of thousands of acres of ancient terraces straddling the Green Line border in the Jerusalem hills stand as one of many reminders that the West Bank as a separate entity is a recent creation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Indeed, when Israeli and Jordanian military officers first drew the Green Line in 1949, Israel’s Moshe Dayan sought to preserve Batir’s unique tradition by leaving the frontier open and allowing Palestinian villagers access to lands within the newly formed Israeli state.
That 64-year-old recognition and the fact that villagers have refrained from attacks on Israelis despite Batir’s perch above a rail line connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv likely helped the village. Still, the case still isn’t settled."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0519/In-Israel-a-modern-wall-is-halted-by-ancient-terraces?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem
Israel’s high court has issued an injunction against extending the
separation barrier through the Palestinian village of Batir, famed for
its 2,500-year-old terraces and aqueducts.
Battir
"We have learned to appreciate this cultural landscape. We have an interest in preserving these locations," says Yuval Peled, director of the park’s authority planning and development department.....
.......The tens of thousands of acres of ancient terraces straddling the Green Line border in the Jerusalem hills stand as one of many reminders that the West Bank as a separate entity is a recent creation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Indeed, when Israeli and Jordanian military officers first drew the Green Line in 1949, Israel’s Moshe Dayan sought to preserve Batir’s unique tradition by leaving the frontier open and allowing Palestinian villagers access to lands within the newly formed Israeli state.
That 64-year-old recognition and the fact that villagers have refrained from attacks on Israelis despite Batir’s perch above a rail line connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv likely helped the village. Still, the case still isn’t settled."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0519/In-Israel-a-modern-wall-is-halted-by-ancient-terraces?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem
In Israel, a modern wall is halted by ancient terraces
Israel’s high court has issued an injunction against extending the
separation barrier through the Palestinian village of Batir, famed for
its 2,500-year-old terraces and aqueducts.
***
Battir  |
| Palestine Remembered Battir - بتّير : الغزال في بتير ربيع 2013 |
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| Palestine Remembered Battir - بتّير : الغزال الفلسطيني في بتير ربيع 2013 |
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| Battir - بتّير : General View of the Jinan of Battir منظر عام لـ جنان بتير Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Battir spring and water pool Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Battir's Roman Arch Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : beutiful pic...beutiful memories...from abubutma Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Image from the Past Palestine Remembered |
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| Palestine Remembered Battir - بتّير : A constellation of Students of Battir Girls؟ School in 1952 كوكبة من طالبات مدرسة إناث بتير عام |
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| Palestine Remembered Battir - بتّير : عين البلد |
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| Palestine Remembered Battir - بتّير : Half of which were common in Battir Palestineنصفها كان سائداً في بتير |
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| Battir - بتّير : General view #7 Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Lands around the village Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Agriculture area Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : The apples Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : The Roman pool #2 Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : The stairs to the pool Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : The western lands Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Battir's Old Days Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Ain Battir from the Matson Collection 1900-1926 Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : 2008 spring Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Spring in Battir 2011 Palestine Remembered |
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| Battir - بتّير : Battir's Poppies Palestine Remembered |
Saturday, May 18, 2013
AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt village exhibit consequences of 65 years of mass displacement
 |
| In this Friday, May 17, 2013 photo, Palestinian refugee Sulaiman al-Namodi, 92, sits outside of his house in Gezirat al-Fadel village, Sharqiya, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Cairo, Egypt. As... (Associated Press) |
http://www.newser.com/article/da6brsvg1/ap-photos-palestinians-in-egypt-village-exhibit-consequences-of-65-years-of-mass-displacement.html
AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten
In 1948, Suleiman Mamoudi fled by foot with his parents and other families from their village of Bir el-Sabae in Palestine. The 28-year-old and his family walked west for several hundred miles, crossing the Sinai Peninsula before settling in an area around 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Cairo.They had not planned to stay long in Egypt's Sharqiya province, until they found themselves unable to return home after the Jewish takeover of their city, renamed Beersheba.
Mamoudi, now 93 years old, is among some 3,000 Palestinians living in the impoverished village of Gezirat al-Fadel. He spends his days sitting on a cushion on the ground outside his sparsely furnished two-bedroom, mud brick home. The dirt roads make it difficult for him to walk with his cane.
He lives with his 13 children and 28 grandchildren. Like his neighbors, they sleep on mats spread in the corridors of the house.
His neighbor, Khadra Mohammed, 52, lives in a 540 sq. foot (50 sq. meter) mud brick house with 19 of her family members...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]
"In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948." Saeb Erekat
 |
| Wednesday marks the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. |
65 years of impunity
By Saeb Erekat
Every May 15, a
nation marks her historic catastrophe. In 1948, the Palestinian people
were condemned to exile, and their homeland, Palestine, disappeared from
the maps. Some 418 villages were destroyed and 70 percent of our people
became refugees.
For 65 years, our people have lived through the vicissitudes and humiliation of being treated as strangers, both in exile and in their own land. Today, we are still struggling to return Palestine to the map and attain justice based on international law for Palestinians everywhere.
This solemn commemoration, which pains the heart of every Palestinian, should be a cause for shame on an international level. After decades of unfulfilled resolutions calling for the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Israel continues to act with impunity.
Twenty-five years after Palestine's historic and painful compromise of recognizing the State of Israel on 78 percent of our historic homeland, Israel has not only failed to recognize the State of Palestine, but continues to expand its colonies throughout our occupied country.
Moreover, Israel benefits from its illegal and oppressive enterprise while maintaining good relations with countries throughout the world.
In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948.
Even more despicably, the State of Israel has legislated to forbid Palestinian citizens of Israel from commemorating their Nakba. But denying the Nakba does not negate its existence. Refusing to assume responsibility for the refugee question does not mean that refugees will disappear. On the contrary, it simply makes it harder to achieve reconciliation and a just and lasting peace.
Today's Nakba is alive in 11 million Palestinians around the world. One example is the Palestinian refugees in Iraq and Syria, suffering the consequences of sectarian violence in conflicts of which they are not a part. This situation shows, once again, that international responsibility for the safety and welfare of the Palestinian people cannot be effective without the Palestinian return to their homeland.
We have made painful compromises to achieve peace. With us we have brought the Arab Peace Initiative, which confirms the Arabs will to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for some small measure of historical justice, meaning the end of the occupation that began in 1967 and a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees based on resolution 194.
Unfortunately, what we are faced with is an occupying power that does not want peace; an extremist government made for and by settlers. A government that each time it has had the opportunity to choose between peace and settlements has chosen the latter; a government whose ministers call for the elimination of the Palestinian state and for the construction of settlements for 1 million settlers in occupied territory.
This is why US Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest initiative should be supported. Sixty-five years after the Nakba, the sole message of the international community must be that enough is enough. It is a shame that 65 years later, we are still listening to statements without actions.
It is time to put things right, to do whatever is needed to allow Palestine to return to the map as a free and sovereign state living side by side with Israel and, most importantly, to fulfill the rights of Palestinians everywhere.
To achieve this, the international community must leave old, failed recipes aside. To call for a resumption of negotiations without terms of reference or without forcing Israel to honor its previous obligations are simply calls for another 20 years of empty dialogue which will allow Israel to continue its policy of colonization with a better cover. This will destroy any remaining prospects for peace.
After well over half a century, this is the first anniversary of the Nakba whereby Palestine is a recognized state in the United Nations. Though we are under occupation, we have taken a concrete and positive step in the right direction. We will continue following the same path toward exercising our legitimate and inalienable rights.
We must end 65 years of impunity. The international community cannot continue marking commemorations without taking any real action. Israel must become aware that the price for denying the rights of the Palestinian people is higher than the price of making peace. In Israel’s mind, this equation is the other way around.
Saeb Erekat is the chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
For 65 years, our people have lived through the vicissitudes and humiliation of being treated as strangers, both in exile and in their own land. Today, we are still struggling to return Palestine to the map and attain justice based on international law for Palestinians everywhere.
This solemn commemoration, which pains the heart of every Palestinian, should be a cause for shame on an international level. After decades of unfulfilled resolutions calling for the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Israel continues to act with impunity.
Twenty-five years after Palestine's historic and painful compromise of recognizing the State of Israel on 78 percent of our historic homeland, Israel has not only failed to recognize the State of Palestine, but continues to expand its colonies throughout our occupied country.
Moreover, Israel benefits from its illegal and oppressive enterprise while maintaining good relations with countries throughout the world.
In 1949, the international community accepted Israel's UN membership upon two conditions: That they respect resolutions 181 (two states) and 194 (refugee rights). Neither has been honored. In fact, 65 years later, Israel has not even acknowledged what it did in 1948.
Even more despicably, the State of Israel has legislated to forbid Palestinian citizens of Israel from commemorating their Nakba. But denying the Nakba does not negate its existence. Refusing to assume responsibility for the refugee question does not mean that refugees will disappear. On the contrary, it simply makes it harder to achieve reconciliation and a just and lasting peace.
Today's Nakba is alive in 11 million Palestinians around the world. One example is the Palestinian refugees in Iraq and Syria, suffering the consequences of sectarian violence in conflicts of which they are not a part. This situation shows, once again, that international responsibility for the safety and welfare of the Palestinian people cannot be effective without the Palestinian return to their homeland.
We have made painful compromises to achieve peace. With us we have brought the Arab Peace Initiative, which confirms the Arabs will to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for some small measure of historical justice, meaning the end of the occupation that began in 1967 and a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees based on resolution 194.
Unfortunately, what we are faced with is an occupying power that does not want peace; an extremist government made for and by settlers. A government that each time it has had the opportunity to choose between peace and settlements has chosen the latter; a government whose ministers call for the elimination of the Palestinian state and for the construction of settlements for 1 million settlers in occupied territory.
This is why US Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest initiative should be supported. Sixty-five years after the Nakba, the sole message of the international community must be that enough is enough. It is a shame that 65 years later, we are still listening to statements without actions.
It is time to put things right, to do whatever is needed to allow Palestine to return to the map as a free and sovereign state living side by side with Israel and, most importantly, to fulfill the rights of Palestinians everywhere.
To achieve this, the international community must leave old, failed recipes aside. To call for a resumption of negotiations without terms of reference or without forcing Israel to honor its previous obligations are simply calls for another 20 years of empty dialogue which will allow Israel to continue its policy of colonization with a better cover. This will destroy any remaining prospects for peace.
After well over half a century, this is the first anniversary of the Nakba whereby Palestine is a recognized state in the United Nations. Though we are under occupation, we have taken a concrete and positive step in the right direction. We will continue following the same path toward exercising our legitimate and inalienable rights.
We must end 65 years of impunity. The international community cannot continue marking commemorations without taking any real action. Israel must become aware that the price for denying the rights of the Palestinian people is higher than the price of making peace. In Israel’s mind, this equation is the other way around.
Saeb Erekat is the chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Arab and Islamic countries and organizations pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support Jerusalem during conferences and summits, but that only a small portion of the pledged money was sent.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=596597
Abbas urges Muslims, Christians to visit Palestine
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday urged Muslim and Christian Arabs to visit Palestine to show support for the Palestinian people.
"We welcome any Arab Muslim and Christian visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem," Abbas said in a meeting with Egyptian journalists and intellectuals at the end of his 3-day visit to Cairo.
"Coming to this country does not mean normalization between the visitors' countries and Israel, but rather a visit to imprisoned people not to those who imprison them."
Abbas criticized the Islamic world's indifference to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and blamed some Islamic intellectuals for "issuing Fatwa suggesting that visiting al-Aqsa Mosque and offering support is prohibited according to the Islamic regulations.
"Prophet Muhammad, though, mentioned al-Aqsa Mosque as one of the few mosques Muslims should set out to," the president said.
Influential Muslim cleric Yousef al-Qaradawi recently said that visiting the mosque while it remains under Israeli occupation would be a breach of religious regulations.
Al-Qaradawi visited the Hamas-run Gaza Strip earlier in May, a step that was strongly denounced by Palestinian Authority officials who said such visits had political implications and maintained disunity between the Palestinians.
Abbas said that Arab and Islamic countries and organizations had pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support Jerusalem during conferences and summits, but that only a small portion of the pledged money was sent.
During the Arab League summit in Libya the conveners agreed to allocate $500 million to Jerusalem, but in reality only $37 million was delivered, Abbas said.
At another Arab League summit in Doha, Arab countries agreed to allocate $1 billion to Jerusalem, but that was "just a number," the president said.
Abbas urges Muslims, Christians to visit Palestine
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday urged Muslim and Christian Arabs to visit Palestine to show support for the Palestinian people.
"We welcome any Arab Muslim and Christian visiting Jerusalem and Bethlehem," Abbas said in a meeting with Egyptian journalists and intellectuals at the end of his 3-day visit to Cairo.
"Coming to this country does not mean normalization between the visitors' countries and Israel, but rather a visit to imprisoned people not to those who imprison them."
Abbas criticized the Islamic world's indifference to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and blamed some Islamic intellectuals for "issuing Fatwa suggesting that visiting al-Aqsa Mosque and offering support is prohibited according to the Islamic regulations.
"Prophet Muhammad, though, mentioned al-Aqsa Mosque as one of the few mosques Muslims should set out to," the president said.
Influential Muslim cleric Yousef al-Qaradawi recently said that visiting the mosque while it remains under Israeli occupation would be a breach of religious regulations.
Al-Qaradawi visited the Hamas-run Gaza Strip earlier in May, a step that was strongly denounced by Palestinian Authority officials who said such visits had political implications and maintained disunity between the Palestinians.
Abbas said that Arab and Islamic countries and organizations had pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to support Jerusalem during conferences and summits, but that only a small portion of the pledged money was sent.
During the Arab League summit in Libya the conveners agreed to allocate $500 million to Jerusalem, but in reality only $37 million was delivered, Abbas said.
At another Arab League summit in Doha, Arab countries agreed to allocate $1 billion to Jerusalem, but that was "just a number," the president said.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Repercussions... a poem
Repercussions
Thucydides noticed
“Ignorance is bold..."
ALL CAPS SCREAMING
social media bellows
WAR IS TERRORISM
WITH A BIGGER BUDGET
forwarded over and over
by naive wives, mothers
little sisters
college students
and myopic Islamists near and far.
No budgets are needed
enlisting pawns- puppets- tools
bridges to beyond reason
bolstering bomb builders
and bullies world wide fueling
bigotry and bad attitudes
creating Hell for random strangers
and religious tyranny for Palestine.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal...
Peace Based on Two States: End the conflict in the Middle East through a negotiated agreement that
provides for two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in
peace and security.
What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda?
Why Ending the Occupation and Peace with Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goalby ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish
In
this new book, Dr. Ibish examines the arguments generally put forward
by Palestinian and other Arab American proponents of abandoning the goal
of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state and
instead seeking to promote a single, democratic state in all of Israel
and the occupied Palestinian territories. The book also looks at
differences between the deployment of the one-state idea by some
Palestinian figures in the occupied territories as a diplomatic "threat"
intended to spur greater Israeli seriousness about a negotiated
agreement and the diasporic discourse that drives most one-state
rhetoric. Finally, Dr. Ibish explains in some detail why ending the
occupation and peace with Israel, while difficult to achieve and thus
far elusive, are the only plausible and practicable Palestinian national
strategy. The book also includes a preface by ATFP President Ziad J. Asali.
The 138-page book can be read or downloaded in the following formats:
HTML | EBook | PDF
Hard copies can be ordered from ATFP for $10 per copy, inclusive of shipping, by clicking here
***
ATFP is strictly opposed to all acts of violence against civilians no
matter the cause and no matter who the victims or perpetrators may be.
The Task Force advocates the development of a Palestinian state that is
democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
“Were you really shot in a fight over water?” He winces out his answer: “It wasn’t about politics. It wasn’t about the Muslim Brotherhood. It was about water.”
"The great American environmentalist Dana Meadows, when asked if
it was too late to do anything about climate change, used to
say, “We have exactly enough time — starting now.” The Arab
world has exactly enough time — starting now. If people do not
stop fighting with each other over dead ideologies and sectarian
differences and focus instead on overcoming their deficits of
knowledge, freedom and women’s empowerment — as the U.N. Arab
Human Development Report urged — there is no hope. As Qaid
suggested, in Yemen those old ideologies are luxuries now. It is
just about water." Postcard From Yemen By Thomas L. Friedman May 7, 2013
Former Palestinian fighter now battles for a middle path: Palestinian Mohammed Dajani, from a prominent Jerusalem family, has become a vocal advocate for pragmatism and peace.
 |
Palestinian
Mohammed Dajani's staircase in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit
Hanina is a literal paper trail of his family and career, from an
Ottoman sultan's decree that gave his relatives custodianship of David's
tomb to the photos just behind him of then-Senator Barack Obama
visiting his Al Quds University classroom.
Christa Case Bryant/TCSM
|
Wasatia: Quranic term for “moderation” or “balance,” aims to give a voice to
what Dajani considers a majority of Palestinians who want to work for
statehood through nonviolent means but get drowned out by increasing
radicalization on both sides.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/Olive-Press/2013/0508/Former-Palestinian-fighter-now-battles-for-a-middle-path?nav=107-csm_subcategory-leadStory
By , Staff writer / May 8, 2013 East Jerusalem
By his own admission, Mohammed Dajani was “extremely radical” as a young man working for the Palestinian militant group Fatah in Lebanon.
His family was forced to leave their stately Jerusalem home during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Following the example set by his grandfather, who ripped up the refugee card given to his wife, Mr. Dajani has refused to label himself a refugee: “We are citizens and human beings and we have to earn our way,” he says.
But as a young man he saw no other solution than taking back all of historic Palestine from the Israelis.
“I believed that it was us or them and that the only solution was to liberate our land,” he says. “And if we did not have the power to do that, we should do what Samson did and bring down the temple on everyone’s head,” he says, referring to the biblical story of a Hebrew prisoner who killed 3,000 people, including himself, when he removed the central pillars of a Philistine temple.
After that, however, he went to the US to get a PhD; getting some distance from the conflict changed his outlook dramatically and he began working for peace.
Those efforts crystallized into a new initiative after he witnessed a standoff at an Israeli checkpoint near his home. Palestinians who wanted to pray in Jerusalem amassed at the checkpoint, but Israeli guards initially refused to let them pass. Eventually they worked out a deal – the Palestinians were allowed to pass...READ MORE
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Palestine now recognised by greater power than US or Israel – Google
3 May 2013:
Internet giant follows UN in recognising statehood, changing home page tagline from 'Palestinian territories' to 'Palestine'
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