Israel/Palestine News

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has selected right-wing,
ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman as his new defense minister. Here
are five things to know about him.

 

The Tutanji family woke up in the middle of the night to find their home
being demolished. They weren't given any time to collect their clothes
or belongings. Israel wants to turn the land that their home is on into a
state park, despite the fact that the Tutanjis and other Palestinian
families and their ancestors have owned the land for 270 years. Israel
denies 93% of requests from Palestinians for building permits in East
Jerusalem, forcing them to build illegally. Israel then demolishes homes
for being built without a permit when the state wants to confiscate the
land.

 

"My leg was bleeding. That's how I knew there was bombing." -Ameer al-Amour, 16

Israeli
shelling in Gaza this month killed Ameer's 54-year-old grandmother,
Zaina Attia al-Amour. Following the assault on Gaza in 2014 that killed
over 2,200 Palestinians, Israel has broken the ceasefire numerous times.
The assault on Gaza has never ended: Over the last year, Israel has
killed 30 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded over 800. Israeli tanks have
rolled into Gaza nearly 50 times.

 

On 28 Jan. 2009, soldiers who had mounted an ambush happened upon Sharif
Abu Hayah, 66, as he grazed his flock near his village. The soldiers
assaulted him, handcuffed him, covered his face, and dragged him on the
ground. On 17 Feb. 2009 B’Tselem applied to the Military Advocacy for
Operational Affairs demanding an investigation. An investigation was
opened that very day, yet three years later it was closed with no
measures taken against anyone involved in the assault. Like so many
other cases, the system operated as a whitewash mechanism, as described
in our report The Occupation’s Fig Leaf.

 

On 23 Jan. 2013 a soldier shot and killed Lubna al-Hanash as she
strolled in a park near Rt. 60 with a relative, who was injured by the
gunfire. B’Tselem found that the two women posed no danger and that
firing at them was unwarranted. The shooter did not take any precautions
to ensure the safety of passersby. On 10 June 2014, a year and a half
after al-Hanash was killed, the MAG Corps closed the case without
prosecuting the shooter or the senior officer involved in the incident.
Like so many other cases, the system operated as a whitewash mechanism,
as described in our report The Occupation’s Fig Leaf.

The Occupation of the American Mind - RAI with Pink Floyd's Roger Waters







On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay, legendary musician Roger Waters
and Sut Jhally discuss their new film about the Israeli public
relations campaign to influence U.S. public opinion





https://youtu.be/TDoQAhMpFJc



https://youtu.be/vHxDNa1GwUk



https://youtu.be/DTwGGmFy96w

 

On May 7, 2016, fire broke out in the Abu al-Hindi home in Gaza’s Shati
(Beach) refugee camp. Started by a tipped candle, the flames grew
quickly grew out of control.

Three children, Yusra, 3, Rahaf, 2,
and Nasser, 6 months, perished in the burning house, and Muhannad, 8,
was severely burned. Ali, 6, is the only survivor without physical
injuries but lives with deep psychological trauma.

The fire is a
direct result of severe electricity shortages due to the ongoing and
tightening Israeli/Egyptian since and repeated Israeli military
assaults.

In April, Gaza’s sole power plant ran out of fuel.
Prior to that, the power plant was working at partial capacity due to
repeated Israeli military attacks since 2006.

 



Activists Like Baby Animals:  activists watch goats & kids feed at trough.

 

12-year-old Mohamed al-Shaikh has a unique spine that allows him to bend
his body into unbelievable shapes. Unfortunately the blockade by Israel
makes it difficult for him to showcase his talent.

Israeli Police Documented Savagely Beating Arab in Central Tel Aviv
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.720952

 

a 2-part interview with Conservative Rabbi Reuven Hammer at this home in Jerusalem on 11 May 2016

  

Citizens from around the world ask Airbnb to stop listing and profiting from stolen, illegally occupied, Palestinian land.

Take action at StolenHomes.org

 

Friday May 20h 2016 protest by the village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied
West Bank against the theft of their land and their spring by the
neighboring settlement Halamish, against the Israeli occupation and
against apartheid.

Israel/Palestine News

Ultra-Nationalist Avigdor Lieberman Accepts Post as Defense Minister of Israel





Michel Warschawski of the Alternative Information Center says
Netanyahu's decision to appoint Avigdor Lieberman is a concession to
far-right and religious pressure.







https://youtu.be/wfsMyjkbpx8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.liyla.war

http://boingboing.net/2016/05/19/apple-rejects-game-about-pales.html#more-462735

Liyla and the Shadows of War (Google Play link) is a game about a child's struggles living in the Gaza strip, and Apple says it is ineligible for consideration for inclusion in the Ios App Store because it would be "more appropriate to categorize your app in News or Reference for example."
The rejection from Apple is consistent with the company's very vague guidelines, which says that apps can't be critical or describe sex, because apps are "different than books or songs."
But these guidelines are unevenly applied. For example, the App Store contains an Angry Birds clone called Israeli Heroes that lets you hurl cartoon missiles at vaguely Arabic-looking adversaries.

 

Pro-Israel groups Charm City Tribe and IMPACT celebrated Israel's 68th
anniversary at a bar in Fells Point while protesters outside mourned for
the Palestinians killed and displaced during the land grab.

 

This tour in Jerusalem shows the city as experienced by Palestinian communities under occupation.

 

68 years after the Nakba, when most Palestinians were forced out of
their homes during the creation of Israel, those who stayed behind are
struggling to hold on to their homes. For residents like Basma, that
means living with the constant threat of demolition, without sewage,
electricity, paved roads or playgrounds.

 

In 1948, around 80% of Palestinians were forced out of their homes
during the creation of Israel. That event is known as the Nakba, or “the
Catastrophe.” So where did they go? And how many Palestinians are there
around the world now?

 

Caught on Camera: Video evidence of the Israeli soldier who shot and
killed 17-year-old Nadeem Nowarah on Nakba Day in 2014. Two years later,
the family of Nadeem is still looking for justice. Early this month,
the first hearing of charges being pressed against Nadeem's killer took
place. #Nakba

[Video created by Defence for Children International - Palestine]

 

What do you do when there’s no electricity or access to advanced
technology? Enterprise, innovation and ingenuity try to fill the void.
Khaled al-‘Azayzeh, a B’Tselem field researcher in the Gaza Strip,
brings us a portrait of Gaza as seen through his own eyes. A third
installment in a series.

 

Thousands of Palestinians mainly citizens of Israel, participated in the
annual "March of Return" for the Nakba commemoration on Thursday, May
12.

This event which coincides with Israeli Independence Day,
calls for the right of return for Palestinians who were expelled from
their land in 1948.

For the first time the Association for the
Defense of the Rights of the Internally Displaced organized the march in
the Naqab. The location on the lands of the destroyed village of Wadi
Zabala is symbolic, and highlights the on-going Nakba of the
Palestinians.

Wadi Zabala is symbolic because, in 1948 its
people were expelled and ended up in the village of Umm al Hiran. Today,
Umm al Hiran is under ongoing destruction to be replace by the Jewish
town of Al Hiran.

Israeli forces continue to displace people and
destroy villages in the Naqab. Approximately 160,000 Bedouins residing
in villages not recognized by the state of Israel are threatened.

The
aim of the march was to highlight the internationally-recognized right
of Palestinians to return to their homes and villages in Israel, a right
which was recognized with the adoption of United Nations Resolution
194, and also to highlight and fight against "the continuing Nakba."

 

In the Active Aging House of Burj Barajneh, a Palestinian refugee camp
in Beirut, the Nakba is still a vivid memory. Some of the center-goers
were in their childhood when, in 1948, the ‘catastrophe’ had befell the
Palestinians and more than 750,000 were ousted from their homelands.
Around 110,000 took refuge in Lebanon that. Marian, 68 years old, still
remembers those keys to her house. Her parents were holding them in
their hands while telling her about al Safsaf, the village in Galilee
they used to live in before the Nakba.

  



Feminist Israeli women hold a Slut Walk in Jerusalem.

 

Demonstration by the people of the village of Bil'in on Friday, May 13
2016 to mark Nakba Day. Bicycle race disrupted by Israeli army,
Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against
the Wall, violently arrested, Israeli activist arrested.

 



David Shulman won the 2016 Israel Prize for his research on the literature and culture of southern India. 

He has donated the cash prize to Ta'ayush.

Israel/Palestine News

 

75% of Palestinian children interviewed reported enduring physical violence by Israeli forces after being arrested.
See
our new video highlighting their testimonies based on a recently
released report by Defence for Children International Palestine.

 

On
4 May 2016 Raed Abu a-Rmeileh, a former B’Tselem camera volunteer,
tried to film settlers using a dog to harass Palestinian girls. One
settler hit Abu a-Rmeileh on the head, knocking him down. Before
fleeing, the settlers assaulted two Palestinians who were with Abu
a-Rmeileh. Soldiers present there did nothing to stop the assault,
apprehend the settlers, or help Abu a-Rmeileh, who was taken to hospital
and kept overnight for a light head injury. He was then called in to
the Kiryat Arba Police station, where he provided footage of the
assault, filed a complaint, and identified photos of the assailants.

 

This is a segment of Rabbi Basch' speech in front of the Waldorf Astoria
New York, as he was demonstrating against the Friends of the IDF (FIDF)
annual fundraiser dinner in support of Israeli terror.

 

Rahaf, Yousra and Nasser, three siblings between the ages of one and
four, died after candles set fire to their home in the Gaza strip. Many
people are saying their deaths is the result of the ongoing electricity
shortage in Gaza.

Israel’s General Golan Compares Modern Israel to 1930s Germany





Shir Hever of the Alternative Information Center says Golan is an elite
member of the military and his statements on Holocaust Remembrance Day
is sparking a national debate.





https://youtu.be/zUXNcWWlEcE

 



Activist interview a 13 year old Palestinian about her life in Hebron.

 



2-part interview with activist Orly Feldheim, co-founder of Lewinsky Soup Kitchen

Israel/Palestine News

 

The Eurovision Song Contest has banned the Palestinian flag, putting it on the same list as the ISIS logo.

  

The right to work and make a decent living are both basic human rights.

Allegations of Anti-Semitism Fired up Ahead of Pivotal UK Local Elections





 Max Blumenthal and John Weeks agree that the charges of anti-semitism
against the Labour Party in the UK are part of an orchestrated effort
from the Right.





https://youtu.be/89xvp0n_kr8

 

On April 19, 2016, thousands rallied at Tel Aviv City Hall in support of
an Israeli soldier who had been filmed executing an immobilized
Palestinian man. As I filmed the gathering crowd, I was attacked by one
rally-goer, then by a mob of rally-goers.

 

A video by Dan Cohen and David Sheen, with Ronnie Barkan.

Thousands
converged on Tel Aviv's city hall on 19 April 2016 to register their
support for an Israeli soldier who was filmed executing a Palestinian
youth.

On 24 March, Sergeant Elor Azarya, 19, had aimed his rifle
and fired at the head of 21-year-old Palestinian Abd al-Fattah
al-Sharif as he lay on the ground, wounded and immobile, in the occupied
West Bank city of Hebron.

From across the country, Israelis
descended upon Rabin Square, Tel Aviv's premier venue for large public
protests, to express their indignation over the army's charges of
manslaughter against Azarya.

The rally featured speeches by
Azarya's mother, father and sister and a number of musical performances
by popular Israeli artists.

This film documents some of the rally's most poignant and frightening moments.

Produced with suppport from The Electronic Intifada.

This video is associated with this story on The Electronic Intifada:
https://electronicintifada.net/conten...

 

The ringleader of extremist Jews who burned to death a Palestinian
teenager in Jerusalem in 2014 was convicted of murder on Tuesday.