Friday, December 25, 2015
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Tourists, political leaders, activists and
residents of Bethlehem gathered in the city-center on Thursday, right in
front of the Nativity Church with an unusual message this year. While
December is usually a time for cheerful Christmas celebrations at the
Nativity, the people of Bethlehem have been unable to put aside the
political turmoil for the sake of the holiday.
With Christmas
just days away, the city of Bethlehem erected what they call a
"Resistance Tree." The tree, an olive tree which was recently uprooted
by Israeli forces from a nearby neighborhood, was placed in the center
of the main square, overlooking the towering Christmas tree and
historical Nativity church. Instead of baubles and tinsel, the
Resistance Tree was decorated with tear gas canisters clinking together
like bells, photos of Palestinians recently killed or detained,
Palestinian national scarves and sling shots.
At the "lighting
ceremony," the Mayor of Bethlehem, Vera Baboun spoke to the crowd, "This
tree is our message," Baboun said. "We plant our roots and we are
rooted to this land. Olive trees are the trees of life. We see our
people's eyes and the hopes of our women and the dreams of our men
reflected off this tree."
Around the tree, activists laid tear
gas canisters in the shape of a star, lighting candles from the metal
cylinders which were collected after protests in the city with Israeli
forces.
"Even with the Israelis speaking a language of death, we speak a language of life," the mayor proclaimed.
Video: Sheren Khalel and Abed al-Qaisi
Every morning, hours before dawn, around 30,000 Palestinian laborers
make their way from the occupied West Bank, where they live, and enter
Israel. These workers, desperate to keep their jobs, arrive at the
checkpoints hours early, sleeping on concrete on the Israeli side of the
checkpoint they make it through with time to spare.
Workers say
they work in Israel for a variety of reason, but most point to a lack
of opportunity, high unemployment and low wages in the occupied West
Bank. West Bank Palestinian workers in Israel make an average of around
$65 a day, more than double the average daily wage in the West Bank.
However,
with a high demand for work permits, which are only granted to a
fraction of applicants, workers have no job security, creating
dangerously helpless situations for thousands. With the onslaught of
recent violence, things have only gotten worse for these men urgently
trying to make a living for their families.
Abed Abu Shierra
knows the men who cross through the Bethlehem 300 checkpoint well,
getting to know thousands of faces as he serves them coffee on their way
through every morning.
"It started to get worse for people
being stuck like this at the start of this new Intifada," Abu Shierra
explains to Mondoweiss. "Before the situation was a little bit better."
Video by Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi
Friday, December 18, 2015
Here's Peter Beinart's delusional and supremacist view in 30 seconds:
"To continue to pay people to move from democratic Israel across the
green line in to non-democratic Israel. That is a threat to Israel's
survival because it makes it so much easier for those people who don't
want Israel to exist to say that Zionism and democracy are incompatible,
to say that Israel is an apartheid state, to say that it is
fundamentally a racist enterprise. To defeat them we have to struggle
for Israeli democracy. That's why I write what I do."
But what if
the Zionism and democracy ARE INDEED incompatible? What if Israel IS an
apartheid state? What if the Zionist project in Palestine IS
fundamentally a racist enterprise?
The State of Israel is not
even remotely democratic - it is founded on the exact opposite of
democratic values. "The Jewish & Democratic State", even in its
smaller territory (aka Israel proper/Palestine48), couldn't be any less
democratic. It is no more democratic than, say, "The People's Democratic
Republic of North Korea" even though both have 'democratic' in their
name. Yet no one in their right mind would treat North Korea as a
democracy, right? The only reason that Israel is being treated
differently is because of the sheer propaganda which is being propagated
by the likes of Beinart.
Today is International Human Rights Day, commemorating 10 December 1948,
the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by
the UN. The declaration, composed in the wake of the horrors of World
War II, states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights and, as such, are all deserving of life, security, liberty,
equality and dignity. On the other side of the Green Line (the 1949
Armistice Line), a line essentially invisible to Israelis, millions of
people – Palestinian residents of the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip - are being deprived of their rights. The
West Bank city of Hebron is one of the places where these rights are
violated particularly blatantly. To mark International Human Rights Day,
we’ve put together a short clip that gives a brief explanation of the
background to current events in Hebron, and the daily oppression in the
city that has become a flashpoint for violent flare-ups.
Friday, December 11, 2015
ا
Oh god. Shut down the sound on the first 11 seconds. Palestinian journalist documents the shut down of a border crossing near Jenin.
In November 2015 head chefs from nine famous restaurants in New York,
Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome and Athens spent
a week cooking in Tel Aviv as part of a PR initiative to bring
international prestige to Israel’s culinary scene. The Round Tables
culinary show is sponsored by Israeli government ministries, the Tel
Aviv Municipality and businesses operating in illegal Israeli
settlements.
Over 130 civil society groups wrote to the
restaurant chefs calling on them to cancel participation from this
complicit initiative that whitewashes Israel’s oppression of
Palestinians.
The initiative is even more tasteless as it comes
on the heels of brutal Israeli repression against Palestinians
protesting for their rights and freedom in the Occupied Territories and
inside Israel. Racist incitement by Israeli officials and public against
Palestinians has reached shocking and unprecedented levels.
During
the Round Tables in apartheid Tel Aviv, concerned citizens from around
the world have expressed their dismay to those restaurateurs who have
been participating in this effort of whitewashing Israeli crimes.
BETHLEHEM -- Mutaz Zawahra was having the time of his life in France on a
youth program with two other friends when he got the news that his
oldest brother had fallen dangerously ill. His brother, Ghassan, was on
hunger strike in Israeli prison protesting his internment without trial
or charge, and family members told Mutaz that his older brother may not
make it through his strike alive.
Mutaz returned home
immediately to be with his family, just in time for the start of the
unrest that was about to erupt. Not long after, on Sept. 29, Israeli
authorities announced that they would release Ghassan, 40 days into his
hunger strike. Ghassan ended his strike and began to look forward to
home. Exactly two weeks later, his brother was shot dead.
Israeli
forces shot and killed Mutaz during a particularly intense bout of
clashes coined "A Day of Rage." He was the 30th Palestinian to be shot
dead that month.
Mutaz, a well-known supporter of the left-wing
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was loved by his
community -- a fact that was apparent at his funeral, as thousands of
mourners flooded the streets of Bethlehem.
His brother Ghassan, was not one of them.
When Ghassan was finally released on Nov. 30, he went straight to his brother's gravesite before even thinking to go home.
Two
days later he was giving a speech at a commemoration ceremony, which
should have marked the 40-day anniversary of his brother's death, as
Islamic tradition. The commemoration was held for several days however,
so Ghassan could at least have the honor of paying his respects to his
brother on a special day just for him.
During his speech,
Ghassan is flanked by three other younger brothers, giving him the
strength to continue when tears threaten to break his voice.
hat tip to Mondoweiss.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Hebron-H2, November 26, 2015 at 2 pm, an Israeli military skunkwater
truck went on the main street of Qaitun, a Palestine Neighborhood and
emptied its chemical container in the streets, also targeting houses and
rooftops alongside the street.
They did it without any security
reason - just to make life hard and unpleasant in this Palestinian
neighborhood of Hebron H2 (Israeli controlled).
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely was an invited speaker at
the Zionism 3.0 conference in Palo Alto, California on November 22.
Hotovely is a member of the right-wing Likud party and has called for
assassination of Palestinian leaders and annexation by Israel of all the
land "between the [Jordan] River and the [Mediterranean] Sea." As she
began to speak, five activists rose from the audience to declare her
under citizen's arrest, in keeping with warrants recently issued for
Israeli officials in Spain, South Africa and Turkey.
Friday, November 27, 2015
Palestinian schoolchildren were prevented from accessing their school after Israeli forces covered [them] with teargas.
Some Israeli soldiers reportedly suffered from tear gas inhalation and one soldier was assisted by an ambulance.
Israeli forces then fired tear gas and foul-smelling skunk water into the surrounding Palestinian area.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Friday, November 13, 2015
Netanyahu to Meet With Obama, Appear at Center for American Progress
Journalist Max Blumenthal explains why presidential candidate Hilary
Clinton would preserve the status quo in the Israel/Palestine conflict
and why a progressive think tank invited the Israeli prime minister to
speak at their organization
https://youtu.be/0JqwTmggWk8
Journalist Max Blumenthal explains why presidential candidate Hilary
Clinton would preserve the status quo in the Israel/Palestine conflict
and why a progressive think tank invited the Israeli prime minister to
speak at their organization
https://youtu.be/0JqwTmggWk8
Friday, November 6, 2015
The person who is being apprehended by the border police in occupied
Jerusalem may have very well carried out a terror attack a few minutes
earlier [see link below]. The issue here, other than the violent arrest,
is the collusion and coordinating of versions among the Israeli police.
November 2nd, 2015.
Video of the attack which may have been carried out by the man apprehended in this video: http://www.kolhazman.co.il/69888
On the 29th October Mahdi Mohtaseb was executed by Israeli forces at the
Salaymeh (160) checkpoint, near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city of
al-Khalil (Hebron). Mahdi, who is survived by five brothers, two
sisters, and many grieving family and loved ones, joins the daily rising
death toll of mostly Palestinian youths gunned down by Israeli forces
and Israeli settlers since October 1st.
Yazan Ikhlayel, 17, was at Aida refugee camp’s local community center
when Israeli forces stormed the camp. He was filming Israeli jeeps
rolling through one of the camp’s main roads shooting off tear gas from
his iPhone when a soldier began issuing a message to residents from one
of the jeep’s loud speakers
Friday, October 30, 2015
Hebron--This afternoon, in the street of occupied Al-Khalil, a mass peaceful
demonstration took place with nearly two thousand people, men, women and
children, to protest against the refusal of occupation authorities to
deliver the bodies of the martyrs assassinated by Israel forces.
In
Shuhada checkpoint, several hundred of people were gathered standing,
with flags and clapping when suddenly, for no reason, Israeli forces
began to shot around fifty teargas and sound grenades against the
peaceful protesters. Many people has been shot by the grenades landed
everywhere.
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/10/lobbyists-palestinian-blumenthal
Yousef Munayyer, Ali Abunimah and Max Blumenthal.talk at a press conference on the Palestinian rebellion.
Yousef Munayyer, Ali Abunimah and Max Blumenthal.talk at a press conference on the Palestinian rebellion.
On the 6.16, while Ansar 'Aasi, 25, was at work at a cleaning products
company in al-Bireh, clashes between soldiers and Palestinian youth took
place in the area. At a certain point, as 'Aasi was standing at the
entrance to the storage room, soldiers spotted him and began to
violently arrest him, kicking and assaulting him with their rifles. The
incident was captured on the company's security cameras. 'Aasi required
medical treatment ans was taken to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital on
7.10.2015.
'Aasi was held in detention for two days before even
being taken for interrogation at the Binyamin police station. Police
interrogators there told him that three soldiers identified him as a
stone thrower. In spite of his denials, the police did not bother to
check his alibi claim, in spite of the existence of footage. Only
following an arrest extension hearing at the Ofer military court, was
the police willing to view the footage, which was brought to them on
Friday, 9.10.2015. 'Aasi was released unconditionally on Sunday, 11.10,
after five days in wrongful detention.
B'Tselem does not know whether
the soldiers who arrested 'Aasi were held accountable for assaulting
him and making up false charges
Friday, October 23, 2015
Israel/Palestine News
Baltimore Rallies in Solidarity with Palestine
TRNN talks to Baltimore-Palestine Solidarity about why they are
protesting Senator Ben Cardin's office and their response to the latest
round of violence in Israel and Palestine
https://youtu.be/zN2if_n9ItI
TRNN talks to Baltimore-Palestine Solidarity about why they are
protesting Senator Ben Cardin's office and their response to the latest
round of violence in Israel and Palestine
https://youtu.be/zN2if_n9ItI
Can Kerry Contain Netanyahu?
Samah Sabawi, Palestinian author and playwright says Palestinians are
waking up to the reality of political separation and the system of an
apartheid
https://youtu.be/zcxEbHvyKrw
Samah Sabawi, Palestinian author and playwright says Palestinians are
waking up to the reality of political separation and the system of an
apartheid
https://youtu.be/zcxEbHvyKrw
Netanyahu's Record on Inciting Violence Against Palestinians
Max Blumenthal, author of The 51-Day War: Resistance and Ruin in Gaza,
says Netanyahu absolved Hitler of the final solution by placing the
blame for the Holocaust on the Palestinians.
https://youtu.be/S3D8lLWrsbo
Max Blumenthal, author of The 51-Day War: Resistance and Ruin in Gaza,
says Netanyahu absolved Hitler of the final solution by placing the
blame for the Holocaust on the Palestinians.
https://youtu.be/S3D8lLWrsbo
Footage from Hebron: Israeli military enables 5-day settler attack:
B’Tselem
documented a five-day (6-10 Oct. 2015) campaign of violence by settlers
against Palestinians in Hebron. Settlers repeatedly threw stones and
bottles at Palestinian homes near the Kiryat Arba settlement fence,
while Israeli security forces looked on. Settler violence intensified
after two attacks by Palestinians in Hebron: a settler sustained serious
injuries and a Border Police officer was slightly injured; one
perpetrator fled, the other was shot to death. In another incident, a
confrontation developed with settlers and Palestinians throwing stones
at each other. Soldiers stood by the former and fired tear-gas at the
latter. This glimpse of daily life in Hebron is an extreme example of
the imbalance of power throughout the West Bank, in which Israeli forces
back settler violence targeting Palestinians.
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/10/facing-hecklers-gideon
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy speaks to a meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace, even with pro-Israel hecklers present.
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy speaks to a meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace, even with pro-Israel hecklers present.
A Palestinian woman from Haifa attacked and detained by
[Jewish] Israeli passersby in Tel Aviv. Passers-by are arguing about
whether or not to beat and kill her. One woman claims she saw she had a
knife and screams and demands her execution. Someone kicks her in the
head. If not for the intervention of some of the bystanders who stop the
lynch this would have been reported as another "stabber terrorist" that
was "neutralized" .
British vounteer David Amos described the moment his group was attacked
by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, near the Palestinian village of
Burin, Thursday. The 66-year-old was hospitalised after rocks were
hurled at him during the incident which took place on Wednesday, leaving
him bloodied and with injuries to his head.
Friday, October 16, 2015
https://www.facebook.com/ShehabAgency.MainPage/videos/1207795072596244/
Palestinian attacks police at checkpoint & is gunned down.
Palestinian attacks police at checkpoint & is gunned down.
In response to the attack in which Palestinians killed Eitam and Naama
Henkin, settlers attacked Palestinians and their property in many parts
of the West Bank. Footage shows that soldiers were present at the scene
throughout the incidents, but did not prevent the attack or arrest
perpetrators. On the contrary, the soldiers accompanied settlers on
their rampage, and used crowd-control weapons against Palestinian youth
from the villages, who threw stones at the settlers in order
to push them back. In one of the videos a soldier is helped by a masked
settler who carries his military backpack containing tear-gas
canisters, and even loads the canisters onto the soldier's six-shot
launcher.
Israel Escalates Punitive Measures Against Palestinian Resistance in Jerusalem
Economist Shir Hever says more repression will not subdue anger
resulting from decades of occupation, and this could potentially
undermine Israel's arms exports and its practice of managing the
conflict without political compromise
https://youtu.be/Catv-1jcBD0.
Economist Shir Hever says more repression will not subdue anger
resulting from decades of occupation, and this could potentially
undermine Israel's arms exports and its practice of managing the
conflict without political compromise
https://youtu.be/Catv-1jcBD0.
Fadi Alloun, a 19 year-old resident of occupied Jerusalem, was shot by
Israeli police with at least 7 bullets even though it does not seem that
he was posing a threat to anyone at that point.
The official claim
against him, which is yet to be proven, is that he had stabbed 15
year-old Moshe Malka moments earlier. It is also claimed that he was
carrying a knife at the moment of the shooting.
A settler named Ben Goldstein makes a video asking for money for 'our brave IDF warriors' while toting an assault rifle
https://www.facebook.com/avimessikapage/videos/1497151963917332/
Friday, October 9, 2015
A Palestinian man is summarily shot in this video. Richard Silverstein describes the action on his website:
. . . a mob of mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews pursuing a lone
Palestinian man and shouting repeatedly, “shoot him, shoot him.” Then
police sirens are heard. The video clearly shows the police car, the
officer exiting it pointing his weapon and killing the Palestinian. The
officer never says anything to the victim beforehand. He doesn’t tell
him to stop. He doesn’t identify himself. He shoots first and then
asks the crowd whether the dead boy stabbed someone. Another Israeli
responds: “He hadn’t yet succeeded [in doing so].” . . .
Reports Expose Zionists Stifling Dissent on US Campuses
Judith Butler and Dima Khalidi speak with TRNN’s Sharmini Peries, about
two reports released this week, on how Israel’s defenders use false
charges of anti-semitisim, law suits, and official denunciations to
limit debate on US Campuses.
https://youtu.be/KHqou7SP9wI
Judith Butler and Dima Khalidi speak with TRNN’s Sharmini Peries, about
two reports released this week, on how Israel’s defenders use false
charges of anti-semitisim, law suits, and official denunciations to
limit debate on US Campuses.
https://youtu.be/KHqou7SP9wI
Israir and the Israel Airports Authorities have lost a legal suit
concerning ethnic-based discrimination. While the official racist claim
was that: "We have a security directive prohibiting the flying of five
minorities together", it was soon realized that the rationale behind it
was to disembark an Arab/cousin/Ishmaelite passenger for the sake of a
Jewish one.
On Saturday, October 3, members of Boston Students for Justice in
Palestine attended the Bernie Sanders rally with a sign that read “Will
Ya #FeelTheBern 4 Palestine?”. We held our sign quietly and
respectfully in the overflow area, and did not block any of the rally
screenings or walkways. We received a warm welcome from surrounding
Bernie supporters and rally participants, many of whom also carried
signs.
Within minutes of arriving, we were approached by police
and venue staff and told that the Bernie Sanders campaign team requested
we take down our sign (see video). To our knowledge, no other
individuals were asked to do the same. After we were told to take our
sign down, we began filming our interaction with police and staff. We
were immediately given a verbal trespass order and threatened with
arrest.
We understand that in American politics, the mere mention
of “Palestine” often stirs controversy, but polls show that a growing
and increasingly diverse segment of the American population sympathizes
with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. This is
especially true of young people like us. These numbers will only grow as
more Americans become aware of Israeli human rights abuses and
discriminatory policies and recognize that supporting Palestinian
freedom, justice and equality is a progressive value.
We have
discussed the incident with Sanders’s campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, who
expressed regret about how we were treated and acknowledged that our
sign was “appropriate” and “in the spirit of many other signs there.” We
are eager to engage in a dialogue about inclusivity and the elevation
of under-represented voices. Sanders speaks up for those hurt by low
wages, gender inequality, school tuition, corporate power, and climate
change. Recently, he released a broad policy platform to address
systemic racism. We want him to also speak up for those hurt by US
foreign policy and military aid: we want him to speak up on Palestine.
We hope that Sanders and other presidential candidates will seriously
consider our government’s role in Israel's human rights abuses as they
shape their foreign policy platform.
Friday, October 2, 2015
40-year-old Nidal Alareer's three houses were destroyed during the
51-day war on Gaza in the summer of 2014. While the threat of another
Israeli mega-assault looms, Alareer is slowly rebuilding one his homes. I
sat down with him to ask about the Eid holiday this year.
Hat tip to Mondoweiss
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