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VIDEO : A community to be destroyed
AIC 17 June — Israeli authorities distributed demolition orders on Tuesday to Palestinian residents of Susiya, in the South Hebron Hills. According to the orders, 50 residential structures, 8 fences for herds, a solar power system, a kindergarten and a health clinic will be demolished to protect « the security of Israeli settlers. »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oebhhbAio7A

VIDEO : Susya by Moriel Rothman — another spoken word poem
19 June — Last week, the entire village of Susya, located in the South Hebron Hills, received demolition orders. I wrote this piece as a small sliver of protest. Susya / is screaming softly / through small shards of sharp stones / and little puddles of water that crawl / out of broken wells chanting let us / exist let us exist chanting let us exist / and then evaporate into sunlight ... Susya is far more Jewish than you are
http://thelefternwall.com/2012/06/19/susya-by-moriel-rothman-another-spoken-word-poem/

EU diplomats concerned by Hebron village demolition threat
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 June — European Union diplomats on Friday visited a village in the south Hebron hills under threat of demolition by Israeli authorities. The envoys toured Susiya to « show their concerns over the humanitarian impact and political implications of the recent demolition orders, » an EU statement said ... The EU called on Israel to meet its obligations to Palestinians living under Israeli military control in the occupied West Bank « including halting forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure, simplifying administrative procedures to obtain building permits, ensuring access to water and addressing humanitarian needs. »
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496293

Israeli forces issue 35 demolition orders in Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israeli forces on Monday handed multiple demolition orders to homes near the settlement of Karmi Zur in Beit Ummar, a local committee spokesman said. Muhammad Ayyad Awad, from the popular committee against the wall, told Ma‘an that Israeli forces raided the Hebron village and handed out 35 demolition orders to residents.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496498

Israeli forces demolish tents, shelters in Bethlehem area
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israeli forces demolished several domestic buildings in a Bethlehem town on Monday, local officials said. Al-Ubeidiya municipal deputy Mohammad Matar Radaydeh said soldiers deployed to the al-Harma area of the town, to the east of Bethlehem, and tore down tents and sheds belonging to Muhammad Salameh Abu Sarhan and Nayef Ali Saleh Abu Sarhan. Radaydeh warned that the demolitions aimed to transfer local residents from the area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496422

Confiscations and arrests in North Valleys
JORDAN VALLEY (PIC) 19 June — Israeli occupation forces stormed on Tuesday evening, Buqei’a plain in the northern Jordan Valley and arrested three citizens and handed other citizens demolition notifications and confiscated citizens’ properties. Local sources said that Israeli soldiers surrounded the area of Ras Ahmar in the plain near Tamoun and arrested three citizens, Muhammad Salmi, Muhammad Alsodi Hazza, and Ahmed Yousef Daraghmeh and took them to an unknown destination.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israel orders demolition of homes, solar panel near Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 19 June — Israeli authorities handed demolition orders on Monday for four homes and a solar panel in a south Hebron village, official media said. Popular committee spokesman Rateb Jabour told PA news agency Wafa that the orders were given to four members of the Abu Jundiya family in Tuba village. They warn of Israel’s intention to demolish a solar and wind power system used by the village for electricity, as well as four residential tents, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496660

Israel eyes landfill site for Bedouin nomads (Reuters)
AL-KHAN AL-AHMAR (Reuters) 20 June — Bedouin tents and wandering goats dot the barren hills on the drive from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea, giving residents and visitors a glimpse of how the Holy Land must have looked in ancient times. With their corrals, water cisterns and tractors the camps look more like rudimentary homesteads. But the Bedouin tradition is slowly dying out as Israel clears the camps to make way for expanding Jewish urban settlements ... The stench of garbage floats over the Palestinian Bedouin village of al Jabal on the fringes of the Abu Dis landfill. Noisy rubbish trucks carrying waste from nearby Jerusalem incessantly dump their contents. Around 1,050 Palestinian Jahalin Bedouins were forcibly moved here in the late 1990s from land now annexed to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim ... In 2006 Israel approved another plan to relocate some 20 other Bedouin communities — about 2,400 Jahalin — from the nearby rocky hills to a site even closer to the landfill.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497190

Official : Settlers erect homes, level land by Nablus outposts
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 20 June — Israeli settlers have brought 45 caravans to expand settler outposts near Nablus, a local official said Wednesday. Construction began on Monday on three settler outposts adjacent to Eli and Shilo settlements in the northern West Bank, PA official monitoring settler activities Ghassan Daghlas told Ma‘an. Bulldozers have razed more than 60,000 square meters of agricultural land near Palestinian villages Jalud, Qaryut and Jurish, he said, noting that settlers had constructed several cement homes and brought in caravans. The settler homes lie just 300 meters from Palestinian houses in Jalud village, Daghlas said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497070

Toiling for a pittance on Israeli settler farms
JERICHO (IRIN) 18 June — Some 10,000 Palestinian labourers are being exploited on Israeli-owned farms in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, according to Abed Dari, coordinator of the Palestinian workers’ project at Kav LaOved, an Israeli NGO protecting labour rights. Despite a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court in October 2007 that every Palestinian working for Israeli employers in the West Bank should be given the work benefits provided by Israeli law, this is not happening, Dari told IRIN ... Palestinians have few options for independent economic activity in the Jordan Valley, where they are prohibited from using about 87 percent of the area’s land, which falls within Israeli-controlled Area C and is made available for the use of Israeli settlements and the Israeli military.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95675/OPT-Toiling-for-a-pittance-on-Israeli-settler-farms

Maskiyyot settlers steal a donkey
JVS 18 June — The ongoing harassment of Bedouins in communities near Maskiyyot settlement continued today, 18th June 2012, when a group of settlers attempted to steal a donkey from Al Farisiya. Living under military occupation, Palestinians in the Jordan Valley have no way of defending themselves, or no legal recourse, when subjected to this harassment time and time again. Therefore, their only option on this occasion, was to ask the local Mayor, Arif Daraghme, to appeal to the settlers to return the donkey. Since the hard line Zionist settlers from Shirat Hayam settlement outpost in Gaza came to colonise this area of the Jordan Valley, life for the local Palestinian communities has been horrendous. They have expanded an old disused army base into a base for colonial aggression against the Palestinians in all the surrounding villages.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445

Occupied Palestinian territories face serious water problem
MEMO 18 June — The water supply in the occupied Palestinian territories is becoming uncertain and unsafe due to the punitive measures adopted by the Israeli occupation authorities, claims a report prepared by Fadel Ka’osh, the ex-chairman of the Palestinian water authority. The inhumane Israeli policies regarding water have resulted in a huge shortage of water needed by Palestinians for normal daily life, the report says. According to Mr Ka’osh, each Palestinian receives only 62 litres of clean water a day. « This is only 50 per cent of one person’s daily requirement according to World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. » The Israelis control most of the natural water sources in Palestine. They only give licences for Palestinians to dig superficial wells that do not reach the truly fresh underground supplies ... More than 50 per cent of the water consumed by Palestinians is bought from the Israelis ... The report also suggests that climate change over the past 15 years has reduced natural water supplies in the occupied West Bank by more than 65 per cent. « This puts extra pressure on the natural water resources, with the supply decreasing while the demand is increasing. » The report gave the examples of Al Farea, Al Oja and Fasayel water springs where demand exceeds supply.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/3891-occupied-palestinian-territories-face-serious-water-problem

A Palestinian plan to attract Muslims back to Al-Aqsa
Jerusalem (Reuters) 19 June — The grand mosques in Mecca and Medina, the two holiest in Islam, draw millions of pilgrims annually. Al-Aqsa, the last of the three sacred sites the Prophet Mohammad urged Muslims to visit, sees only a few thousand foreign worshipers a year. The difference is political, not religious. The first two mosques are in Saudi Arabia, a proudly Muslim kingdom, while Al-Aqsa stands on Israeli-controlled land that may be the most disputed religious spot on earth ... Muslims have kept up an informal boycott of the walled esplanade since Israel seized East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in a 1967 war, saying visits would amount to recognition of Jewish occupation of Palestinian territory. Palestinian [Authority] and Jordanian officials now want to reverse that ... Hamas, Abbas’s Brotherhood-linked Palestinian rivals in Gaza, denounced the plan as « a gift to the (Israeli) occupation by legitimizing its presence »
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/us-palestinians-israel-al-aqsa-idUSBRE85I0TY20120619

Ulpana evacuation deal : Beit El to get 10 apartment buildings
Ynet 19 June — Beit El’s rabbi says settler reps, government close to finalizing deal on voluntary evacuation of five homes built on Palestinian land ; according to deal, 10 apartment buildings will be constructed in settlement — It appears that a confrontation between Jewish settlers and security forces will be avoided
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4244210,00.html

The law, ass or donkey ? / Amira Hass
Haaretz 18 June — The interpretation of Israeli law depends where you built your illegal dwelling.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-law-ass-or-donkey.premium-1.437023?localLinksEnabled=false

Violence / Raids / Arrests

West Bank mosque torched, settlers suspected
JABA‘, Ramallah (Reuters) 18 June — A mosque in the village of Jaba‘ in the central West Bank was vandalized and set on fire early on Tuesday, in a suspected attack by Israeli settlers. Scrawled on the outside walls in Hebrew were the words « Ulpana War » — referring to the Ulpana outpost in the Beit El settlement where the Israeli government is preparing to remove five disputed apartment buildings. — as well as « The war has started » and « Pay the price. »
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496560

VIDEO : Tensions rise as West Bank mosque vandalized
19 June — An attack on a mosque in the occupied West Bank was left scorched and vandalised with the words « the war has begun » scrawled on the wall in Hebrew ... Al Jazeera’s Jane Ferguson reports from the Occupied West Bank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QhPOMRmVBK4#!

WATCH : IDF night raids on two Palestinian villages in West Bank
972mag 18 June by Mairav Zonszein — The Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh was raided last night (Sunday) by the IDF. Nabi Saleh, which has been conducting weekly nonviolent demonstrations since the end of 2009 against Israel’s occupation and the encroaching settlement of Halamish, has been the target of repeated night raids over the last two years. In the video below, uploaded by Bilal Tamimi, you can hear the IDF shooting stun grenades into the village and see the flashes of light they give off. Towards the end of the video, you can clearly see the IDF jeeps parked in the village, some soldiers firing shots, and then they all drive away. While it is difficult to see in the dark, it seems as if the soldiers are shooting in every direction around them, nearly a full 360-degree circle. If the soldiers were being attacked in some way, it is unlikely it would be from literally all sides and besides, if they were really being threatened, they would be probably also use tear gas, not just stun grenades. It is hard to understanding this as anything other than the IDF terrorizing the village, punishing it for holding weekly demonstrations that call attention to Israel’s occupation..
http://972mag.com/watch-idf-night-raids-on-two-palestinian-villages-in-the-west-bank/48669/

Following B’Tselem’s documentation : Israeli army decides to stop using dogs to disperse West Bank demonstrations
B’Tselem 18 June — ...B’Tselem lauds this decision, but calls on the army to completely cease the unacceptable policy of using dogs to attack civilians. During 2011-2012, B’Tselem documented the use of dogs not only at demonstrations but also in other circumstances. For example, dogs were used during the arrest of Palestinians who tried to enter Israel without valid work permits, and during a search inside a home in which civilians were present. The use of attack dogs is threatening, dangerous, and uncontrollable, and could result in severe and disproportionate harm to unarmed civilians. Insofar as is known to B’Tselem, the civilians attacked by army dogs in the cases documented were not endangering the soldiers and could have been detained nonviolently.
http://www.btselem.org/beating_and_abuse/20120618_military_use_of_dogs

Israeli forces arrest 18 across West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israeli forces arrested 18 Palestinians across the West Bank overnight Sunday, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. Five people were detained in the Tulkarem area, four in Jericho, four in Hebron, three in Ramallah and two in the East Jerusalem village of al-Eizariya.
A total of 3,312 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli authorities in 2011. Since 1967, Israel has detained more than 750,000 Palestinians, including women and children, Palestinian Authority reports say.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496358

Israel detains 5 in West Bank ; clashes in Bethlehem
JENIN (Ma‘an) 20 June — Israeli forces detained five Palestinians across the West Bank overnight Monday, an army spokesman said. Troops raided Qabatiya, south of Jenin, at dawn and detained Mohammad Talal Zakarneh, 21, and Mohammad Ameen Nazzal, 20, residents told Ma‘an.
Israeli forces clashed with residents of Duheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem during an arrest raid, witnesses told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496614

Israeli forces search Ramallah home of detained sheikh
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israeli forces raided a town near Ramallah on Monday and searched the home of a detained sheikh, witnesses said. Sheikh Mohammad al-Dahleh was detained from his Beituniya home by an Israeli intelligence force in civilian clothing on Thursday. Several others — including former prisoners affiliated with Hamas — who were holding a meeting at the sheikh’s home were also detained, Palestinian security officials told Ma‘an. The forces searched the other detainees’ homes in Beituniya and al-Tireh at the time and confiscated large sums of cash. On Monday, Israeli forces raided the sheikh’s home again and were searching for money, Palestinian security sources said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496267

IOF soldiers arrest Hamas supported shortly after his release from PA jails
TULKAREM, (PIC)— Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested Assad Badran, a Hamas supporter, from his village of Deir Al-Ghusoon near Tulkarem, shortly after his release form Palestinian Authority jails. Local sources said that the IOF soldiers raided the village on Monday and took away Badran, a newly-wed, after searching his house and confiscating his personal computer ... The detention of Badran brings the number of those arrested from that same village to four in the course of one week including the director of the Tulkarem MPs’ office.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli forces raid Dheisheh refugee camp, arrest student
PNN 20 June — On Tuesday, 19th June, Israeli forces raided Dheisheh refugee camp and confrontations launched between Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers. A force from Israeli army raided the camp at dawn, and broke into the house of Mohammad Yousef Zghari, 20, a student in al-Quds University. The soldiers searched the house, rummaged through the contents and then arrested Mohammad and took him to an unknown location.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/1983-israeli-forces-raid-dheisheh-refugee-camp-arrest-student

IOF soldiers round up 4 Palestinians
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 20 June — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up four Palestinian citizens in Al-Khalil and occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, local sources said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

included (late) because of the last sentences here :
Memorial protests for Ziad Jilani, murdered by Israel’s border police
Tikun Olam by Richard Silverstein 11 June — Today, June 11th marks the second anniversary of the murder of East Jerusalem Palestinian Ziad Jilani. He was killed execution-style by Maxim Vinogradov of the Israeli Border Police on June 11, 2010 as he was driving home from Friday prayers to treat his American-born wife, Moira and his three children to dinner out... The only IDF soldiers who’s ever been held accountable for killing a Palestinian have been non-Jewish (Druze in particular). No Jewish soldier has ever been charged in such crimes.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/06/11/memorial-protests-for-ziad-jilani-murdered-by-israels-border-police/

Israeli navy detains Palestinian fishermen
MEMO 18 June EXCLUSIVE PICTURES — The Israeli navy has detained four Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast, capturing their boat and taking them to an undisclosed location [Sunday evening]. Witnesses said that the Israeli gunships encircled the fishing boat offshore from Al-Shat’e refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said that the fishermen were interrogated on board a gunship where one of them suffered shortness of breath. He was taken to Israel’s Barzalai Hospital for treatment. Niza Abu Ayyash, the head of the Palestinian Fishermen’s Union, named the detained men as brothers Ashraf and Mohammed Sobhi Sa’dallah, 32 and 28 ; Mahmoud Ahmed Matar, 27 ; and Mohammed Al Sory, 25. He said that although the Israeli gunships fired live ammunition towards other fishing boats in the vicinity, no casualties were reported.
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/3889-israeli-navy-detains-palestinian-fishermen

Tourists venture to West Bank to ’shoot terrorists’
[appalling photo of 5-year-old girl with a gun] Ynet 18 June — Gush Etzion has become a hot destination in recent months for tourists seeking an Israeli experience like no other : The opportunity to pretend-shoot a terror operative. Residents of the nearby settlements, who run the site, offer day-trippers a chance to hear stories from the battleground, watch a simulated assassination of terrorists by guards, and fire weapons at the range.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4243882,00.html

Cross-border attacks Israel-Gaza

Monday attack claimed : Al Qaeda-linked group claims responsibility for deadly Israel attack (AP)
GAZA CITY (AP) 20 June - A shadowy group claiming ties to al Qa‘eda said Tuesday that it carried out a deadly cross-border attack in Israel, the strongest evidence to date to back Israeli claims that the global terror network is operating on its doorstep. While the claim of responsibility, made in a video obtained by The Associated Press in the Gaza Strip, could not be independently verified, it was accompanied by a separate statement with additional details on the attack posted on a website affiliated with al Qa‘eda.
Israel blames Hamas for all violence from Gaza. Following Monday’s attack, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on militant targets in Gaza, drawing retaliatory rocket fire.
In Monday’s attack, two gunmen infiltrated Israel from Egypt’s Sinai desert, killing a[n ’Israeli Arab’] civilian worker who was part of a team building a border fence to prevent such attacks. The two gunmen were later killed by Israeli forces. The short video said the attack was carried out by the Mujahedeen Shura Council of Jerusalem, a murky group that was formed in April. It identifies two men, one Egyptian and one Saudi, as the perpetrators of Monday’s attack. [but see 20 June Reuters article, below]
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57456647/al-qaeda-linked-group-claims-responsibility-for-deadly-israel-attack/

Monday : Report : Israel moves tanks to Egypt border
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israel’s army moved military tanks towards the country’s border with Egypt on Monday, after an earlier cross-border attack killed a man working on Israel’s barrier on the frontier, Israeli media reported. Israeli news site Ynet said the unusual move to deploy tanks on the border was in breach of the Camp David peace treaty between the countries, which requires the area to remain demilitarized. The tanks were later withdrawn from the area
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496369

Monday : Medics : Israeli forces shell northern Gaza, 2 killed
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 June — Two Palestinian men were killed on Monday when Israeli military forces shelled the northern Gaza Strip, medics said. Witnesses told Ma‘an the men were riding a motorcycle in a field near Beit Hanoun when Israeli forces bombed the area. Four others were injured and taken to Beit Hanoun hospital, they said ... A Ma’an correspondent said the men were identified as Muhammad Shabat and Ismael Abu Ouda in their 20s. They were members of Islamic Jihad’s military wing the Al-Quds Brigades, the group said, adding that they were en route to take part in a militant operation after Israeli troops entered the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, witnesses told Ma‘an that seven Israeli military vehicles entered the Gaza Strip near the Erez crossing. Forces fired on local farmers, but no injuries were reported, they said.
Overnight Sunday, five people including a woman and a child were injured when Israel bombed a blacksmith’s workshop in Rafah in southern Gaza, emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said.
Earlier Sunday evening, Israel bombed a military site south of Gaza City used by the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. That attack caused no injuries, Abu Salmiya said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496290

Monday : Army : Rocket fired from Gaza lands in Israel

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 June — A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel on Monday, the Israeli military said. The projectile landed in the Hof Ashkelon council, without causing injuries or damage, an army spokeswoman said. Another rocket was fired towards Israel from Gaza overnight Sunday, she added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496415

overnight Monday-Tuesday : Israel fires on Gaza Strip, 2 teens killed
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 June — Two teenagers were killed in an Israeli operation in the central Gaza Strip overnight Monday, medics told Ma‘an. Israel’s army said warplanes « targeted a terrorist squad identified handling an explosive device near the security fence, » adding that a hit was identified.
Locals told Ma‘an that Israeli tanks entered Gaza south of al-Maghazi refugee camp and fired on Palestinians. Red Crescent teams evacuated the bodies of two teenagers on Tuesday morning, after a two-hour search operation. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra identified the victims as Muhammad Bassam Abu Mueliq and Yousif Talbani, both aged 16. Al-Qidra said that their bodies were riddled with bullets.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for firing four rockets at an Israeli military base in Zikim, north of Gaza. An Israeli military spokesman said three rockets hit the Hof Ashkelon regional council, without causing damage or injuries. A Hamas statement said the fire was in response to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in Monday which killed two Islamic Jihad militants and two others affiliated to Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades.
The death of two teenagers overnight Monday brought the death toll on the Gaza borders to six in 24 hours.
Israel bombed a street east of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza on Monday evening, saying it had targeted a terrorist squad attempting to fire a rocket from the northern Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades identified the casualties as Jihad Abu Shabab and Abdullah Zaanin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496546

Tuesday : Two Palestinians killed in Israel-Gaza violence surge
(Reuters) 19 June - An Israeli air strike killed two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday near the border with Israel and the enclave’s ruling Hamas movement fired rockets across the frontier for the first time in more than a year. Palestinian medical officials said the two men were civilians. The Israeli military said aircraft « targeted a terrorist squad identified handling an explosive device » in the central Gaza Strip near Israel’s border fence. The Islamist Hamas group said its Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades fired four rockets into Israel in response. No casualties were reported. Although other militant groups have launched rockets across the border in previous surges of violence, Hamas had held its fire under unofficial truces with Israel.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/us-palestinians-israel-violence-idUSBRE85I0P020120619

Tuesday : Israel strikes central Gaza, 1 injured
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 June — Israeli war planes shelled the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon, injuring one person, medics said. The casualty, who was not identified, was traveling by motorcycle on Salah al-Din road when he was hit by a shell, witnesses told Ma‘an. Doctors said he was evacuated to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Meanwhile the military wing of Hamas said it had fired 10 rockets towards Israeli community Raim near the Gaza border. An Israeli military spokesman said eight projectiles landed in the Eshkol region, without causing damage or injuries.
Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades had earlier said it fired four rockets overnight, and the military said three landed in Israel. The brigades said the fire was in response to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in Monday which killed two of its affiliates and two Islamic Jihad militants.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496786

Tuesday : PRC, PFLP brigades claim rocket fire into Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 June — Two militant groups in Gaza on Tuesday said they fired rockets across the border in response to a barrage of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. An Israeli military spokeswoman said 16 rockets were fired at southern Israel on Tuesday, causing no injuries. The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it fired two mortar shells at Israel’s Kissufim military base shortly before 4 p.m.
PRC’s military wing the Nasser Salah ad-Din Brigades said it fired three projectiles into southern Israel in response to Israeli attacks which have killed six Palestinians since Monday.
Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, on Tuesday fired its first cross-border rockets in more than a year as fighting along the Israel-Gaza frontier flared for a second day. For months, Hamas has stayed on the sidelines and discouraged smaller militant groups from firing rockets into Israel. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said Israel’s barrage of attacks prompted the group’s military wing « to take a firm stance » and launch rockets.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496832

Tuesday : Toddler killed in Gaza explosion
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 19 June — A Palestinian toddler was killed Tuesday evening in an explosion south of Gaza City, medics said. Emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Salmiya said in a statement that Hadil al-Haddad, 2, was killed and her brother was injured in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. A Hamas medical official told Reuters the cause of the child’s death was not clear. Witnesses said she was killed when militants launched a rocket close by.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496884

Tuesday : Israeli aircraft drop warning leaflets, Gaza
PNN 20 June — On Tuesday, 19th June, Palestinian media sources reported that Israeli jets dropped warning leaflets over areas in Gaza district. Eyewitnesses told PNN that the leaflets included requests from Israeli authorities to Gazans to report the locations of rocket launchers ... the leaflet said in Arabic : « Stay safe by following our orders. » "You can call the numbers listed below to inform us about the locations of rocket launchers, warehouses, tunnels and terrorist groups operating in your area," said the leaflet. « promising confidentiality. »
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/1984-israeli-aircrafts-drop-warning-leaflets-gaza

Wednesday : Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian in Gaza
RAFAH (WAFA) 20 June – A Palestinian was killed Wednesday and another was injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a motorcycle in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, said witnesses and medical sources. Witnesses said an Israeli warplane hit the motorcycle with at least one missile, killing a Palestinian on the spot and injuring another who was transferred to the hospital for treatment. This brings the death toll to seven Palestinians since the beginning of the Israeli airstrikes on Friday.
A 14-year old was injured from shrapnel earlier Wednesday in artillery shelling targeting east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
Palestinians retaliated with a number of missiles fired at towns in southern Israel causing several cases of injuries.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20104

Wednesday : Israeli airstrike kills man in south Gaza (Reuters)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 20 June — Israel killed a man in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, as a surge of fighting across the border of the Palestinian enclave entered a third day despite what Egypt said were its efforts to broker a truce. Palestinian medics said the remains of Ghalib Irmeilat, 21, were taken to hospital, and another person was seriously wounded in an airstrike on a motorcycle in southern Rafah, near Gaza’s frontier with the Egyptian Sinai. Israel’s military named the man wounded as Muhammad Rashdan, and said he was a member of Salafi group Tawhid and Jihad in Gaza. An army statement said Rashdan and Irmeilat were involved in a raid on Monday from adjacent Sinai territory on the Israeli border, which killed a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497080

Wednesday : Israeli forces fire on Gaza Strip, 4 injured
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 June — Three Palestinians were injured in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday as Israeli airstrikes continued across the coastal enclave.
Overnight, Israeli jets struck a blacksmith workshop in the Zaitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, leaving one man moderately injured, witnesses said. Nearby, an Israeli helicopter fired on a civilian vehicle near Ali Ibn Abu Talib Mosque. The driver narrowly escaped after his vehicle was damaged, a Ma‘an reporter said. Warplanes also fired on a group of Palestinian militants east of Gaza City. Two were injured and evacuated to hospital.
There were also raids on a military site in al-Sudaniyya, northwest of Gaza City, and an agricultural area in Rafah, south Gaza.
Later Wednesday morning 17-year-old Yahya Hattab was injured by shrapnel, when Israeli forces fired artillery shells at Wadi al-Salqa, south of Deir al-Balah, medics said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she had no record of the incident. Residents said Wednesday morning that Israeli jets continued to hover over the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military tanks also fired several shells across Gaza’s eastern borders, witnesses said.
The flare-up in violence comes after a Palestinian source told Reuters that the sides agreed to cease fire at 11 p.m. Tuesday at the behest of Egypt, which has mediated between the foes in the past. Israel had no immediate comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496950

Wednesday : Ministry : Boy killed as Israel bombs Gaza City
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 June — A 14-year-old boy was killed Wednesday afternoon as Israel bombed Gaza City in the third day of strikes on the enclave, Gaza’s health ministry said. Momen al-Adam was killed and two people were injured, including Momen’s father, in the strike east of the Zaitoun neighborhood, ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israeli forces had hit the area. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli warplanes targeted a group of civilians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497138

Wednesday : Hamas wing says targeting Israeli military sites
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 June — Hamas’ armed wing said it fired a barrage of rockets, missiles and mortars at Israeli military targets on Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The Al-Qassam Brigades said it fired 24 rockets, 10 missiles and nine mortars at Israeli army bases since dawn Wednesday.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said at least 20 rockets were fired into southern Israel on Wednesday, without causing injuries. A border policeman was wounded by a rocket on Tuesday night, she said. A rocket fired from Gaza had exploded inside a border police base in south Israel. Israel has killed eight Palestinians in airstrikes and tank shelling on the Gaza Strip since Monday, including two Hamas militants.
Hamas joined in the hostilities on Tuesday, for the first time in over a year. The Al-Qassam Brigades usually holds its fire under an unofficial truce and Hamas in the past has discouraged smaller militant groups from firing at Israel. Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497167

Wednesday evening : Israel bombs Hamas military sites in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 June — Israel bombed two sites used by Hamas’ military wing in Gaza on Wednesday evening. Israeli airstrikes hit sites in Nuseirat and east of Jabalia used by the Al-Qassam Brigades, a Ma‘an reporter said. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said two children were lightly injured in the attack near Jabalia.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497220

Envoy : Egypt working to calm Gaza fighting
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 20 June — The Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that Egypt is working to restore calm to the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Since Monday, Israeli airstrikes have killed seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and Gaza brigades, including Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, have fired a barrage of rockets into Israel. Amb. Yasser Othman said Egyptian authorities are in contact with all parties in order to quell the fighting. Egypt is calling on Israel to stop attacks on Gaza in order for Palestinian factions to also halt fire, he said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497041

Gaza blockade

Majority of Gaza patients got permits, yet 5 were denied, says WHO
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 19 June– While the Israeli authorities gave 849 out of 883 patients who requested permits to leave the Gaza Strip to get medical treatment elsewhere, five patients were denied permits and 29, including six children, were not able to attend treatment on time due to delays in getting permit, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. In its monthly report on Gaza patients who needed permit to cross Beit Hanoun (Erez) checkpoint with Israel to seek treatment not available in Gaza hospitals, WHO said approval rate reached 96% in May, the highest ever...
The report said nine female and 10 male patients were called for interrogation by the Israeli General Security Services (GSS). Following their interrogation, seven patients were still waiting for a GSS response, eight were approved, three were asked to submit a new request, and one was denied. WHO said of the total referral cases made by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 63% were destined for treatment in Palestinian hospitals in the occupied territories. The rest would go to hospitals in Israel, Jordan or abroad.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20088

Rafah crossing to open Tuesday after Hamas, Egypt deal
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 June — Hamas and Egyptian authorities have reached a deal to re-open the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, a Hamas statement from Gaza said. The Rafah crossing in the south of Gaza has been closed since Thursday while Egypt votes in presidential elections, a Ma‘an correspondent said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496404

Saudi campaign gives $5 million to Gaza food program
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 19 June — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday donated $5 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees for food aid in the Gaza Strip. The contribution was made by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Campaign for the Relief of the Palestinian People of Gaza, a national initiative to provide humanitarian support to Gaza, started in 2009. The funds will support UNRWA’s provision of basic foods to the poorest families in the Gaza Strip, the UN agency said it a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496697

Israel and Turkey : Deep state of distrust needs to end
Haaretz 18 June by Soli Ozel — The Turkish government felt so sure that there was a water-tight deal with Israel over peacefully handling the Gaza flotilla that its most senior figures stayed abroad during the lead-up to the fateful period of violent confrontation on the Mavi Marmara. Did Israel’s most senior figures break a Turkish deal as well as subvert its own checks and balances ? ...On a number of occasions, key Turkish government officials informed journalists and analysts anonymously that they believed a deal had been reached between the two sides to secure a face-saving solution to the unfolding crisis ... The Turkish side believed that by Friday, May 28, 2011, three days before the confrontation on the Mavi Marmara, they had an agreement with the Israeli side that when, as expected, IDF forces came to stop the vessel, the captain of the ship would turn and head towards Al-Arish in Egypt ... However, nobody that I spoke with who was privy to the Israeli side of this story would confirm the existence of this quiet deal, the Al-Arish option, or any part of it. In fact they steadfastly deny that there was such an agreement.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israel-and-turkey-deep-state-of-distrust-needs-to-end.premium-1.437155

Hunger strikers / Detainees

Israel to free footballer Mahmoud Sarsak after epic 3-month hunger strike, lawyer says
EI 18 June by Ali Abunimah — Mahmoud Sarsak, the Palestinian national footballer player who gathered worldwide attention with a three-month hunger strike that brought him to the brink of death, is to be freed by Israel on 10 July, the Associated Press quoted his lawyer as saying today ... If the reported deal is implemented, it would mark a major victory for Sarsak, who despite never being charged with any crime, has been maligned in the media as a « terrorist » by Israeli officials. There are reasons for caution, however. Even if a deal has been struck, Israel has been reneging on an agreement [that] ended a month-long mass Palestinian hunger strike in May.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-free-footballer-mahmoud-sarsak-after-epic-3-month-hunger-strike-lawyer

Sarsak’s willingness to die gains him freedom after 92 days of hunger strike
Mondoweiss 18 June by Allison Deger — After a 92-day battle between Mahmoud Sarsak’s empty stomach and Israeli imprisonment without charge, today the Palestinian soccer star ended his hunger strike by biting into a morsel of chocolate. Sarsak’s attorney, Mohammad Jaberein confirmed this afternoon the footballer from Gaza had reached a deal with prison authorities for a July 10, 2012 release ... The Nation’s sports correspondent, Dave Zirin, points to the head of FIFPro, Sepp Blatter, as a driving force behind Sarsak’s release. But Zirin contends Blatter’s agitation was a result of arm-twisting and not political principles : "It’s safe to say that if Sarsak had died, and Blatter had done nothing, the outrage could have ended his tenure at the top of the sport. It also could have imperiled not only the 2013 UEFA tournament in Israel, already targeted by Europe’s ’Red Card Israeli Apartheid’ movement, but the 2022 World Cup in Qatar ... Now that Sarsak’s release has been announced, Israel has said to the press that they believed him to be in the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad. These accusations are news to Sarsak’s lawyer, his family, and his friends. This is someone whose only crime was attempting to cross a border to play soccer.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/sarsaks-willingness-to-die-gains-him-freedom-after-92-days-of-hunger-strike.html

An Israeli own goal / Adam Keller
Gush Shalom press release 19 June — It took three months of hunger strike before the decision was reached to release the Palestinians soccer player held without trial and without charges. It is good that the decision makers came to their senses at the last moment and agreed to set free soccer player Mahmoud Sarsak, member of the Palestinian National Team – averting his imminent death in the Israeli prison. It is a pity that it took three months of hunger strike, which might leave its marks on his health for life. The fact that it was now agreed to release him casts grave doubts on the secret and unknowable ’security considerations’ which had led to Sarsak’s detention in the first place and which have now suddenly evaporated and disappeared. Those responsible for this detention have clearly scored an Israeli own goal ... The State of Israel exposed itself to sharp protests by such renowned soccer players as Eric Cantona, who just a few years ago held a friendly visit to Israel and participated in a tournament at Netanya and has now become a harsh critic of Israeli policies. The International Football Federation felt obliged to speak up and use its influence to save a Palestinian soccer player whose life was in danger. It is worth remembering that the global sports boycott on Apartheid South Africa began when it became clear that the policy of oppression and discrimination against Blacks had direct and tangible effects in sports.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/press_releases/1340108131/

Lawyer : Hunger striker al-Rekhawi briefly hospitalized
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Akram al-Rekhawi, a diabetic prisoner on his 64th day of hunger strike, was briefly hospitalized Tuesday, a lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoner Society said. Al-Rekhawi and Samer al-Barq, who is also on hunger strike, were taken to the Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Their hands and legs were cuffed to the bed throughout their examinations and they were returned to the Ramle prison clinic after undergoing medical tests, Jawad Boulus said in a statement.Boulus visited the prisoners in Ramle jail, and both men said Israeli prison guards had raided their cells and confiscated all their belongings while they were in hospital.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496795

Sick prisoner announces open hunger strike
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 19 June — A sick detainee is on open hunger strike in protest over medical neglect by the Israeli prison service, a prisoner representative said Tuesday. Ismail Radaida, who represents detainees at Ramle prison clinic, told Palestinian Prisoner Society lawyer Jawad Boulus that Reyad al-Amour decided to go on hunger strike out of despair over Israeli prison doctors’ refusal to treat him. Al-Amour, from Bethlehem, has been requesting that Israeli doctors replace a broken device needed to treat his heart disease for two years, Boulus said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496878

40 detainees wounded in Eshil Israeli prison
IMEMC 19 June — Israeli soldiers stormed, Tuesday, sections of the Eshil Israeli detention facility, in Be’er as-Sabe’ (Bir Shiva), wounding at least forty detainees, after forcing approximately 200 detainees under the sun for several hours. The soldiers attacked, kicked and clubbed the detainees, and searched their rooms and beds while damaging their property. The soldiers also used dogs while searching the rooms and property of the detainees. The Prison Authority also forced 16 detainees into solitary confinement
http://www.imemc.org/article/63756

Activism / Solidarity / BDS

Alice Walker refuses to publish ’The Color Purple’ in Israel due to ’apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people’
Mondoweiss 19 June by Anni Robbins — Shining light human rights activist Alice Walker has refused to have her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple published in Israel. In a letter to the prospective publisher she writes : ... As you may know, last Fall in South Africa the Russell Tribunal on Palestine met and determined that Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories. The testimony we heard, both from Israelis and Palestinians (I was a jurist) was devastating. I grew up under American apartheid and this was far worse. Indeed, many South Africans who attended, including Desmond Tutu, felt the Israeli version of these crimes is worse even than what they suffered under the white supremacist regimes that dominated South Africa for so long. It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/alice-walker-refuses-to-publish-the-color-purple-in-israel-due-to-apartheid-and-persecution-of-the-palestinian-people.html

Protests against racist group’s participation in ’Earth Summit’
PNN 20 June — The inclusion of a workshop, on 20th June, led by the Jewish National Fund, an organisation which has been implicated in human rights abuses in Israel / Palestine, has led to protests at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit, Rio+20). The Jewish National Fund (JNF) exists for the purpose of obtaining Palestinian land for exclusive use by Jews ... At the UN conference, the JNF, along with the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, is offering a workshop on water conservation and land management in arid regions, as part of the 20 year anniversary of the first ’Earth Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 ... Sara Kershnar of International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network said : « it is ironic that the Israeli government is lobbying to exclude the Palestinian Authority from the summit whilst at the same time contributing workshops on how they manage Palestinian land and water which they have stolen. » .
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/nonviolence/1978-protests-against-racist-groups-participation-in-earth-summit

Letter to Presbyterians : Investing in Palestine without divesting from occupation only underwrites the status quo / Sam Bahour
Mondoweiss 19 June — ...I write you wearing two hats, that of an Ohio-born and educated American, and that of a Palestinian businessman who relocated with his family to his father’s birthplace, Al-Bireh/Ramallah, after the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords and who has lived under Israeli military occupation ever since. It has been brought to my attention that the Church has come under extreme pressure from the Israel lobby to invest in Palestine rather than to divest from American companies that are profiting from the violent Israeli military occupation of Palestinians. As a Palestinian businessman, I urge you to resist that pressure. It is sadly ironic that this Israel lobby is now enthusiastically interested in supporting the Palestinian economy.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/letter-to-presbyterians-investing-in-palestine-without-divesting-from-occupation-only-underwrites-the-status-quo.html

PA fines date traders for selling settlement produce
JERICHO (Ma‘an) 20 June — PA consumer protection officials fined two traders in the West Bank for selling dates from Israeli settlements in violation of the government’s boycott, a press statement said Wednesday. The dealers, from Jericho and Tulkarem, were ordered to pay $11,900 shekels ($3,000) and sign a commitment not to sell settlement goods, the consumer protection unit of the national economy ministry said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=497056

Video : Will kittens eat Sabra and Tribe hummus ?
Mondoweiss 19 June by Phil Weiss — Our creative friends at Philadelphia BDS have come up with yet another way to publicize the issue. Warning, it involves a lab coat and has all four feet in the Cute genre.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/06/video-will-kittens-eat-sabra-and-tribe-hummus.html

Refugees

PCBS releases figures for World Refugee Day
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 June — There are currently 5.1 million Palestinian registered refugees, according to figures released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday to mark World Refugee Day. Of these, 40 percent live in Jordan, 23.8 percent in the Gaza Strip, 17.1 percent in the West Bank, 10 percent in Syria and 9.1 percent in Lebanon. Palestinian refugees account for nearly half of the population in the occupied Palestinian territory, the report said, comprising 30 percent of the population in the West Bank and 67 percent in the Gaza Strip. The refugee population in the Palestinian territory is generally younger than Palestinian refugees elsewhere, the study said, noting that according to latest figures 41.7 percent of refugees in Palestine were under the age of 15, and the average birth rate was 4.3 births per women.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496935

The third conference for Palestinian refugees in Europe kicks off
LONDON (PIC) 18 June — The third conference for Palestinian refugees in Europe kicked off in the British capital on Monday in the presence of politicians, parliamentarians, and academicians from various European countries. The weeklong event is hosted by the Palestinian Return Center (PRC) and would include political, academic, and informational activities to be concurrently launched in London, Brussels, and Geneva.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

PLO official says Israel is accountable for refugee problem
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 20 June — PLO Executive Committee member and lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi Wednesday said Israel should be held accountable for creating and the continuation of the Palestinian refugee problem. She said in a statement marking World Refugee Day that while the United Nations was asking the world to honor and to support the millions of men, women and children who have been driven from their homes and many from their homelands by violence, Israel and its supporters in the United States Congress are working to deny the Palestinian refugees their rights.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20103

Report : 2 Palestinians killed, 10 injured, in Lebanon camp
BEIRUT (Ma‘an) updated 20 June — At least two Palestinians were killed in Lebanon on Monday as clashes broke out between the army and residents of a refugee camp, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported. A funeral procession was taking place in Nahr al-Bared camp when some residents began to throw Molotov cocktails and stones at an army post, injuring three soldiers, the Lebanese daily said. Soldiers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, before firing live ammunition. Amin Ghoneim and Foudad Muhieddine Loubaneh were killed and 10 other Palestinians wounded.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496484

Palestinian camps in Lebanon : enough humiliation !
Al-Akhbar 19 June by Qassem Qassem — ...Yesterday, Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon rose in a semi-intifada, from the far north to the deep south. They were outraged by the killing of a young man yesterday during the funeral in Nahr al-Bared of another young man killed by Lebanese army bullets a few days ago in the same camp. The protests showed the pent-up anger of the refugees due to the Lebanese army’s practices at Nahr al-Bared’s entrance. They are enraged by the policy of stopping and searching anyone who passes through and sending back those who do not have a permit to enter the camp.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinian-camps-lebanon-enough-humiliation

Palestinians in Lebanon struggling for neutrality
Al-Akhbar 20 June by Qassem Qassem — After the deaths of two Palestinians in North Lebanon at the hands of the Lebanese army, the Palestinian factions are struggling to keep the camps away from Lebanon’s combustible internal disputes. Five years have passed since Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp was destroyed. For the last few years, the camp has been in an abysmal state, with only 20 percent of it having been rebuilt. Its inhabitants live under harsh restrictions.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinians-lebanon-struggling-neutrality

Political news

Leaders urge Palestinians to register for PNC elections
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) updated 19 June — Palestinian political and civil society leaders on Monday called on the Palestinian Diaspora and residents of the Palestinian territory to register for the first elections of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s parliament. A statement signed by 36 senior figures, including representatives from Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, DFLP and universities and civil society organizations, urges all Palestinians to register for the Palestinian National Council vote, slated for 2012.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496348

Hamas says West Bank detentions breach reconciliation
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) updated 19 June — Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Monday that Palestinian Authority security services in the West Bank are detaining members of its party in the West Bank, breaking the terms of a reconciliation deal between the factions. Forces are detaining and handing summons to Hamas members, particularly in the northern district of Nablus, including university students and freed prisoners affiliated to the movement, Barhoum said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496344

Vatican to Palestinians : Stance regarding Israeli occupation has not changed / Amira Hass
Haaretz 19 June — Palestinian delegation set to depart for Rome to discuss agreement between Vatican and Israel, amid fears the accord would indirectly recognize the annexation of East Jerusalem ... Following a Haaretz report, some Vatican City spokespersons declared in the media that the Holy See’s position regarding the Israeli occupation has not changed. However, a source with the PLO said the statements were not enough – therefore a meeting between Palestinian and Vatican officials is necessary. Ramallah expects the delegation to depart by next month, prior to Abbas’ scheduled visit in Rome.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/vatican-to-palestinians-stance-regarding-israeli-occupation-not-changed.premium-1.437411

Israeli Racism / Sexism / Discrimination

Israeli racism is embedded in daily politics of every state body
Haaretz Opinion 17 June by Yitzhak Laor — It would behoove those who are shocked by the barbaric expulsion of the Africans to take even one hour to examine the statistics about the lives of the Arab minority in Israel ... Israeli state racism is not typical western racism, meaning hostility to the dark-skinned or an irrational fear of them. Israeli racism and its famous weapon - demographic statistics - assume that Arab natural growth is « a cancer in the body of the nation. » It posits that educating Arab children is dangerous, which is why they receive a lot less education than Jewish children get ; it’s why Arabs are discriminated against regarding water quotas for agriculture ; it assumes that the higher infant mortality rate among Arabs is because « they’re slow, » and this « slowness » of theirs hasn’t changed in 64 years, because « that’s the way it is. »
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israeli-racism-is-embedded-in-daily-politics-of-every-state-body.premium-1.437020

’Bedouin president will turn college into Israeli school’
Ynet 20 June — Professor Alean al-Krenawi, a resident of the Bedouin town Rahat, was officially named Tuesday as the new president of the Achva Academic College of Education. According to the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, his appointment was approved last week by the college’s board of directors despite the objection of a number of senior faculty members. « How can a Muslim continue instilling the values related to love for the land and army service, which the college has been instilling for years ? » One of the critics said. « His appointment will turn the college into an Islamic academic institution, and Jewish students will not want to enroll, » the faculty member argued.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4244928,00.html

Dozens of African migrants denied request to convert to Judaism
Haaretz 18 June — All requests from refugees and illegal migrants from Africa to convert to Judaism have been rejected over the past year, according to a source in the Prime Minister’s Office. The source could not provide exact figures but said « many dozens » of such requests were rejected. Conversion falls under the auspices of the PMO.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/dozens-of-african-migrants-denied-request-to-convert-to-judaism.premium-1.436992

Petition : Don’t deport abused migrant children
Ynet 20 June — Human rights activists file High Court petition to stop deportation of 20 migrant children who were removed from their parents’ custody after Israeli authorities determined they were victims of abuse
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4245162,00.html

Israel moves to deport Ivorians in migrant crackdown
JERUSALEM (Reuters) 18 June — Israel signaled on Monday it would deport migrants from Ivory Coast as part of a crackdown on foreigners without permits that has focused on Africans who enter across the porous desert border with Egypt.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496427

Beit Shemesh : Woman attacked for dressing ’immodestly’
Ynet 20 June — Haredim hurl stone at woman’s car, smash vehicle’s windowpane, police confirm. Woman emerges unscathed — ....Beit Shemesh became notorious earlier this year after numerous reports of humiliation and violence against women in the city began to surface. Earlier this month, it was reported that a local supermarket had instructed its customers to dress in a modest manner and provided them with black gowns. The Osher Ad supermarket later removed the signs.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4245127,00.html

Female officers warn of mass haredi draft
Ynet 18 June — Some 20 female officers, including high ranking reservists, sent a letter to the Plesner Committee, tasked with finding alternatives to Tal Law and regulating haredim’s military service, warning that the mass recruitment of ultra-Orthodox soldiers will have an adverse effect on women serving in Israel’s armed forces.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4243759,00.html

Israel : New law targets migrant care workers
TEL AVIV (IRIN) 19 Jun — It took Sherima Cramer two years to earn enough money to pay back the debts she incurred when she decided to leave her native Sri Lanka for better job opportunities in Israel ... She is one of about 55,000 migrant caregivers currently working in Israel, pushed into dependency, rights activists say, by controversial new legislation and by pressure to send money back home while repaying debts to recruitment agencies ... Cramer’s situation is likely to get even more difficult, as a new law on foreign caregivers’ labour rights - passed in May 2011 and dubbed by some NGOs the « slavery law » - starts to be put into practice.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95690/ISRAEL-New-law-targets-migrant-care-workers

Freedom of speech / Journalism

MADA condemns recent investigation of one journalist, attack on another journalist’s office
PNN 20 June — The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns the unfounded investigation carried out upon the journalist Yahya Almadhoun by the internal security services in the Gaza Strip, as well as the recent attack on the journalist Najib Farraj’s office in Bethlehem.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/human-rights/1986-mada-condemns-recent-investigation-of-one-journalist-attack-on-another-journalists-office

UN free speech expert criticizes censorship by Israel, Palestinians
GENEVA (AP) 19 June — The government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are all unduly limiting free speech through restrictive laws, intimidation and censorship, a U.N. human rights expert said Tuesday. The global body’s independent investigator on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, said the measures have had a chilling effect on the work of journalists and peaceful activists, and urged Israel and the Palestinians to uphold international standards on free speech.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-eu--un-israel-freespeech,0,7132408.story

Other news

Cisco CEO hopes to create jobs for Israeli Arabs
AP 20 June — Cisco Systems Inc. CEO and Chairman John Chambers on Wednesday introduced a campaign to help create 12,000 high-tech jobs in Israel’s distressed Arab sector over the next four years. Chambers said the initiative represents an expansion of « Maantech, » a year-old project launched by high-tech companies that aims to reduce economic gaps between Israel’s Arabs and Jews.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4245283,00.html

Multinational buys stake in Palestinian advertising company
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 19 June — Multinational communications company Publicis Groupe on Monday announced its purchase of an equity stake in Ramallah-based advertising agency Zoom. The Palestinian company will be renamed Publicis Zoom, and join the French group’s global network of communications subsidiaries, a press statement said. Zoom Board Chairman Bashar Masri said the deal is a « key step towards the goal of fostering an enabling business environment for private sector growth and development. »
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496491

Jericho business park aims to inch Palestinians toward sustainability
Guardian 18 June — Japan’s aid agency is investing heavily — and riskily — in a ’corridor for peace and prosperity’ in the West Bank — On a slab of dusty land near the city of Jericho, rows of solar panels are being installed and tested. Eventually, there will be 2,600 of them in the 11.5 hectare (28 acre) area, providing around 300kW a day to help power the Jericho Agro-Industrial Park (Jaip), a public-private enterprise designed to boost the economic fortunes of the Palestinian territories.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/jun/18/jericho-business-park-palestine-sustainability

Report : US, Israel developed Flame computer virus
WASHINGTON (Reuters) 20 June — The United States and Israel jointly developed the Flame computer virus that collected intelligence to help slow Iran’s nuclear program, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing anonymous Western officials.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=496979

Hackers hit Israeli government sites
Al-Akhbar 20 June — A number of Israeli government websites were taken offline on Wednesday after an alleged wide-scale hacking campaign. The website for the Prime Minister’s Office, Finance Ministry, Interior Ministry, and the Israeli Defense Force were among those taken down. The website of the notorious intelligence agency Mossad was also inaccessible on Wednesday afternoon.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hackers-hit-israeli-government-sites

Opinion / Analysis

A view of Palestine question you may not have heard : the Palestinian one / Hani Hamdan
MPR 20 June — ...To many Americans, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a tedious and frustrating affair to which there seems to be no solution. Unfortunately, Sarsak’s story is part of a Palestinian narrative that is all but completely ignored in U.S. media, which is unfair to Americans since they are heavily invested in the conflict with billions of tax dollars in addition to American military and diplomatic efforts in the region. So I’d like to describe what goes through a Palestinian person’s mind when thinking about the Palestine problem ... Imagine how you’d feel if one day someone forcefully removed you from your house and farm and turned you and your family into penniless refugees because that person’s ancestors, 3,000 years ago, used to live on your land. To Palestinians, that’s the whole crux of the matter : An entire population was removed from its home country and its homes and farms were simply confiscated. To them, it is particularly outrageous that in the modern world one population can simply replace another. Contrary to what many in the West believe, the root of the Palestinian side of the struggle is not a religious one. Palestinians would be just as unhappy if their occupiers were Russian Jews or Moroccan Muslims. The conflict, to Palestinians, is about land and justice, first and foremost. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/06/20/hamdan/

A loyal Israeli citizen is a threatened citizen / Zvi Bar’el
Haaretz 20 June — ...If all these threats were so dire, most sane people would have already packed and left. A responsible government at the very least would have called on all its citizens to leave immediately, as Israelis in Sinai are often called on to do. This isn’t happening because living under threat is the oxygen of Israel, which adopted the slogan « a small state surrounded by enemies » as an integral part of the attitude one must adopt to truly belong here. A true and loyal citizen is one who is constantly threatened. One who knows that even if he won’t be saved by the state, led by leaders whose shortcomings and failures are as blatant as can be - he can always rely on that glue that connects him to his fellow citizen. All citizens are constantly, mortally threatened, either by an external enemy - or by their very own government. I do not mean to imply that there are no real threats. But there is absolutely no need to tie them into a terrifying bundle with the sole purpose of enlarging the public’s fear.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/a-loyal-israeli-citizen-is-a-threatened-citizen.premium-1.439774?localLinksEnabled=false#

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