Can Jewish Liberals Transcend the Wiesel Doctrine? Countering the Israel Lobby’s Dominance by ALAN NASSER “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national [...]
A Bird’s-Eye View by Uri Avnery, May 28, 2012 Print This | Share This On May 15, the anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, its Arab citizens observed a day of mourning for the victims of the Nakba (“catastrophe”) — the mass exodus of half the Palestinian people from the territory that [...]
Palestinian history is now evolving in two opposing directions. (Activestills) Palestine’s Future in Safe Hands By Ramzy Baroud The commemoration of the Nakba needs to be more than a ritualistic event; the remembrance should be integrated into a clear and comprehensive national project aimed at offsetting the harm wrought to generations of Palestinians. There [...]
When West Bank settlers shoot at unarmed Palestinians while Israeli soldiers look on without intervening, that’s a story–especially when one of the Palestinians suffers a head wound. So it’s natural that this weekend’s conflict near the Palestinian village of Asira al-Qibliya has been covered widely–in 972, the Guardian, theWashington Post, Haaretz, the Daily Dish, and elsewhere. Still, it’s important [...]
Nazism, Zionism, and the Arab World Countering the myths spread by pro-Israel ideologues By Annette Herskovits May 21, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — The intricate, sprawling architecture of deception that shapes understanding of the Israel-Palestine conflict in America is probably unique in history. For over six decades, the U.S. Congress, [...]
I do not recall any reference to the refugees in Peace Now publications. Erasing the Nakba By Neve Gordon I first heard about the Nakba in the late 1980s, while I was an undergraduate student of philosophy at Hebrew University. This, I believe, is a revealing fact, particularly since, as a teenager, [...]
The Zionist Scenario: Now And In The Future By Lawrence Davidson May 15, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Over the past month Palestinian leaders have begun to publicly acknowledge that continuing actions by the Israeli government, and corresponding inaction by the “international community,” have destroyed any reasonable hope of a viable and independent Palestinian [...]
A Palestinian, showing solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, stands chained to a cage during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Credit: Abbas Monani / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images) ‘Victory’: Palestinians End Hunger Strike After Israel Agrees to Demands Though deal does not end future use of [...]
Empty Stomachs, Clenched Fists: How Palestinians Are Fighting Israel’s Unaccountable Prison System Israeli policy toward Palestinian prisoners is now facing unprecedented scrutiny due to a mass hunger strike aimed at ending administrative detention and other harsh policies. By Anna Lekas Miller May 13, 2012 “Information Clearing House” – Thaer [...]
Click image to see more: Palestinians attend a mass near Beit Jala to mark Nakba day May 11, 2012 (MaanImages/Jenny Baboun) By Jenny Baboun BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Christians held a mass Friday on the lands of the Cremisan monastery near Bethlehem, which is threatened by construction of Israel‘s separation barrier. Rev. Ibrahim Shomali, the Roman [...]
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The national committee to remember the Nakba is planning a protest in Ramallahon Tuesday to mark Nakba day. Ramallah protest planned for Nakba day BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The national committee to remember the Nakba is planning a protest in Ramallah on Tuesday to mark Nakba day. On May 15, Palestinians commemorate the [...]
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities demolished an under-construction house in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina on Wednesday morning, witnesses said. Forces blocked off the Al-Mouroha district and broke into the house, demolishing its foundations, the owner Waleed Sadeq Idkedek said. Idkedek said the demolition took place without prior warning, and called on [...]
Click for more images RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — A group of protesters blocked the entrance to the United Nations office in Ramallah Wednesday morning, slamming the UN for not intervening to save hunger-striking prisoners. Around 50 Palestinian youth began the sit-in outside the UN compound at 9 a.m., carrying banners accusing the UN of collusion with [...]
Israeli border police are seen patrolling in Hebron (MaanImages/File) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained three Palestinians Tuesday during a raid of their houses in Herodium area east of Bethlehem, locals told Ma’an. Some 20 vehicles raided the village at around 10 a.m., and forces used dogs to conducts searches which damaged furniture and belongings [...]
The Samouni family narrated the horror they lived through in a short movie named ‘Samouni Street’ [AP] Chicago, IL - There is a determined international effort to ensure that Palestinians are shut out of every legal forum where they could pursue justice for Israel’s crimes against them. Nothing illustrates this better than the horrifying case of [...]
Settlement expansion and targeted killings have increased as Palestinians move towards political restraint and away from violence [GALLO/GETTY] Santa Barbara, CA - Can anyone doubt that if there were more than 1,500 prisoners engaged in a hunger strikein any country in the world other than Palestine, the media in the West would be obsessed with the story? [...]
Uprooting Trees and Lives by Abby Zimet The latest lofty move by the Middle East‘s self-professed only democracy: Israel has orderedPalestinian farmers in Deir Istiya, a major West Bank olive producing village, to uproot at least 1,400 trees they have tended for generations because…..umm. Petition to halt the largest of years of such actions, currently at a stand-off thanks to protests by residents and [...]
Israel is plotting its version of the endgame in Palestine. Illegal Settlements Bonanza: Israel Plots an Endgame By Ramzy Baroud Israel’s colonization policies are entering an alarming new phase, comparable in historic magnitude to the original plans to colonize Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem following the war of 1967. On April 24, [...]
Israel often builds or relocates its most enviromentally harmful factories to the occupied West Bank [GALLO/GETTY] Ramallah, West Bank - Nowhere is the relationship between environmental protection and social justice displayed more clearly than between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPT). The Israeli government takes great care to guarantee that its citizens enjoy the benefits [...]
‘We’ve gone beyond the occupation. The Palestinians have been pacified’, says Jeff Halper [GALLO/GETTY] I caught up with Jeff Halper, long time Israeli peace activist, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and author of numerous books, while he was on a European speaking tour. Here is what he had to say about [...]
64 Years of Racism By Jamal Kanj Much has been written on Israeli policies seizing Palestinian land and building illegal ‘Jewish only’ colonies in the West Bank. However the discrimination against the original natives, the non-Jewish Israeli citizens, has gone unnoticed for 64 years. The creation of Israel in May [...]
Bassam Diab sits next to posters depicting his brother Palestinian prisoner Bilal Diab at his home in Kafr Rai near the West Bank town of Jenin on April 30, 2012. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — After 63 days on hunger-strike, two Palestinian prisoners face severe health deterioration and are at risk of death, lawyers [...]
(MaanImages/File) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli military vehicles opened fire on a border area in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, trapping journalists at the scene, witnesses said. Ten military vehicles crossed several hundred meters into Gaza, east of Khan Younis, firing towards houses and farmlands, residents said. A crew of journalists took cover for [...]
UK Supermarket Chain to Boycott Israeli Produce from Settlements – Common Dreams staff One of the largest supermarket chains in Britain has announced that it intends to boycott Israeli agricultural exporters that market produce from the West Bank settlements. One of the largest supermarket chains in Britain has announced that it intends to boycott Israeli [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli military vehicles crossed into the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses told Ma’an. Seven army vehicles including bulldozers entered Gaza north of Beit Hanoun and dug up lands in the border area, they said, adding that gunshots were heard in the area. Meanwhile, four Israeli vehicles crossed the border east [...]
Palestinian women attend a rally to show solidarity with Palestinians prisoners held in Israeli jails, in Gaza City, on April 30, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem) GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called on Monday for a new intifada to support Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who started a mass hunger-strike two weeks ago. [...]
The Ibrahimi Mosque is considered the fourth holiest site in Islam. HEBRON (Ma’an) — Settlers raised the Israeli flag on top of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron on Friday, in the first incident of its kind since 1967, a local official said. Zaid Jaabari, director of the Islamic Endowment, or Waqf, in Hebron slammed the [...]
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A special UN committee on Palestinian rights says it is “deeply troubled” by Israel’s cabinet decision to “legalize” three outposts in the occupied West Bank. The bureau says Israel “has blatantly supported and engaged in the expansion of illegal settlements … these brazen actions amount to the first official establishment of new [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinian prisoners continued their hunger strike for the 11th consecutive day in protest of Israeli policy. A mass march went out in Gaza City, which was called by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to support the prisoners. Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh affirmed his government’s support of the prisoners. He added [...]
Settler attacks are common and rarely prosecuted. NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers in the northern West Bank set up a roadblock and attacked a Nablus village on Thursday, a PA official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, said that settlers blocked a main road that links the West Bank town [...]
Stone-throwers take cover behind a garbage bin during clashes with Israeli troops after a protest in support of Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike in Israeli jails outside Ofer prison near Ramallah. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman) RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Four Palestinians were injured Thursday when clashes erupted at a demonstration outside Israel’s Ofer detention center near Ramallah, [...]
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities on Wednesday ordered villagers in Wadi Qana in the northern West Bank to uproot 1,070 olive trees, a local official said. The mayor of Deir Istiya Nathmi Salman told Ma’an that Israeli forces delivered the orders to Abdul Mansour, Qasem Mansour and Muqbel Awad, who own the trees. The trees [...]
Sheikh Jarrah, My Neighbourhood The story of a Palestinian boy coming of age amid profound upheaval in one of the world’s most contested cities. Filmmakers: Julia Bacha and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi Sheikh Jarrah, My Neighbourhood follows the story of Mohammad al-Kurd, a Palestinian teenager growing up in the midst of a remarkable nonviolent struggle [...]
Palestine and Its People: Understanding the Past By William James Martin linkhttp://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19252 It is impossible to understand the present Palestinian/Israeli conflict without understanding the past, in particular, the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, who are not Semitic people, but indigenous to Eastern Europe. [...]
(MaanImages/File) NEGEV (Ma’an) — Israeli forces demolished the Bedouin village Al-Araqib village on Monday for the 37th time, a political official who witnessed the demolition said. The Palestinian residents began to immediately rebuild the site, after forces left just a mosque and cemetery standing, PFLP official Ayman Odeh said on return from the village. [...]
Boys stand near a banner depicting hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners during a protest supporting the prisoners, in Jerusalem April 20, 2012. (Reuters/Ammar Awad) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court on Monday refused an appeal by long-term hunger-strikers Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diyab to end their detention without charge, prisoners groups said. Muhjat al-Quds society for [...]
An overview of the southern West Bank town of Yatta. (MaanImages/File) HEBRON (Ma’an) — A teenage boy was injured Sunday after a gunman opened fire near his school in Yatta in the southern West Bank, a Ma’an reporter said. The unidentified assailant shot at Ismail Bheis, 17, and then fled the scene, a Ma’an correspondent [...]
(MaanImages/Screenshot) BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli military court released a Palestinian journalist on bail after seeing a video showing him rushing to the aid of his wife at a West Bank demonstration, a popular committee said on Sunday. Bilal Tamimi, an independent journalist, was detained by Israeli forces at a popular protest in Ramallah-district village [...]
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israel’s Civil Administration on Wednesday handed a demolition order to an electricity company in the southern West Bank, the Land Research Center said. The power company, in Umm Sidra near al-Ramadin village in the Hebron district, has supplied electricity since 2006 to 25 homes in the neighborhood, which is close to Israel’s [...]
Collectively Punishing Palestinian Prisoners and Families By Stephen Lendman - Posted on 19 April 2012 Collectively Punishing Palestinian Prisoners and Families by Stephen Lendman William Blum once called the holocaust the worst thing ever to happen to Jews. The second worse thing, he said, “is the state of Israel.” [...]
By Daoud Kuttab I knew, separately, Suheir Ismael and Najeeb Farraj before they became a couple. I knew Najeeb as a colleague working with AFP and Al Quds daily, and an avid reader of the political scene in Palestine. I worked with Suheir when we produced the documentary Palestinian Diaries during the first Intifada. In [...]
(MaanImages/File) NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces detained at least 13 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight Tuesday, including a group of youth in a Nablus village, officials said. Ten youth were seized in the Burin village, south of Nablus, PA official Ghassan Daghlas said. He identified them as Walid Mursi, 15, Muhammad Suheil Najjar, 16, [...]
By Sherwood Ross (about the author) By Sherwood Ross The U.S. should end all aid to Israel if it attacks Iran, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk says. It should “tell Israel outright that both American money and American political and military support will end should it decide to drag America into another Middle [...]
Israel Criminalizes Travel Flytilla activists denied their right to visit the West Bank. by Stephen Lendman Israel systematically wages war on rule of law principles, truth, equity, justice, and other democratic values. Even Jews aren’t safe. Anyone challenging Netanyahu’s regime and earlier ones becomes vulnerable. Travelers beware. Israel criminalized [...]
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Palestinians and two internationals were injured during a weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh, activists said. Usama Bilal Tamimi, 16, was injured near his eye while the unidentified internationals were injured in the hand and one of them in the back. They were taken to the Palestine medical complex. The demonstration was to [...]
Israel, Palestine and the Human Rights Council By Robert FantinaWith the ever-present backing of the hypocritical United States, Israel has once more thrown a temper tantrum on the world stage. The latest move by the United Nations that has outraged apartheid Israel, is that organization’s decision [...]
(Image Credit: Illustration: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News) Who Owns the Palestine Solidarity Movement? By Ramzy Baroud A few years ago, after I spoke at a conference in South Africa, Ronnie Kasrils, then the country’s Minister for Intelligence Services, leaned towards me and said, “I agree with everything you said, but in order for the [...]
Members of the so-called Quartet of Middle East peacemakers meets in Amman, Jordan in January (Reuters/Jordan News Agency, File) By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Middle East peace mediators on Wednesday criticized Israeli settlement building and called on donors to meet aid pledges to the Palestinians as they sought to revive moribund peace talks. The [...]
New Israel Plans to Grab More Palestinian Lands By Jean ShaoulRecently released documents show that Israel’s Civil Administration, part of the Defence Ministry, has long earmarked up to 10 percent of the West Bank for new settlements or the expansion of existing ones. This is in contravention of international law, which [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Palestinians and international activists went out in a demonstration organized by a local initiative in Beit Hanoun north of Gaza to protest the buffer zone on Tuesday. Coordinator Saber Zaaneen said the demonstration arrived to the zone, which Israel imposed on the borders of Gaza. It prevent hundreds of farmers from [...]
