TO DAY in PALESTINE

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Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid / Restriction of movement

Palestinian cemetery destroyed for new TAU dorms, shopping center
Pal. Chron. 17 July by Patrick O. Strickland, Tel Aviv —

On Monday, student activists examined the remains of a Palestinian cemetery that had been uprooted and mostly destroyed to make space for a shopping center and new student dorms for Tel Aviv University (TAU). A large part of TAU is built on land that used to be a Palestinian village, al-Sheikh Muwanniz, before the 1948 Arab-Israeli war ... The construction of the dorms and shopping center began over eight months ago. The crew has blocked off two graves with plastic netting, one of which holds the remains of the village mukhtar, or leader. Cigarette butts have been tossed in the graves. The activists took photos of the two semi-preserved graves and the bones which were uprooted. Several other bones, including a shattered fragment of a skull, were scattered across the construction site. « There were definitely more than two graves here, » said Jabr, one of the students, as he carefully sifted through mounds of dirt and uncovered more bone shards, photographing each of them. As the students left, two women were denied entrance to the site. « Both of our grandparents are buried here, » one said. « Our families are from al-Sheikh Muwanniz. » They said they had not been notified that their relatives’ graves were being dug up, and that they only found out through Facebook two days ago
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=19418

Israeli Arab activists call on Tel Aviv University to halt construction over Muslim graves

Haaretz 17 July — Israeli Arab activists called on Tel Aviv University to refrain from building new dormitories on graves which likely belong to a Muslim cemetery. The calls came a week after two graves were unearthed and damaged during construction. The activists expressed concern that additional graves, that have yet to be unearthed, will be damaged during construction. Skulls and bones were reportedly visible at the construction site.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-arab-activists-call-on-tel-aviv-university-to-halt-construction-over-muslim-graves.premium-1.451778

Feinstein : Aqsa Mosque inseparable part of the ’land of Israel’

NAZARETH (PIC) 17 July — Yehuda Feinstein, the legal advisor to the Israeli government, has claimed that the Aqsa mosque is part and parcel of Israel. The Hebrew radio on Tuesday quoted Feinstein as saying that the Israeli law applies to the Aqsa mosque especially that of archeology and planning and construction. He said that the law must be implemented on the Aqsa in a very sensitive manner in view of the special nature of that site.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Hamas warns Israel about provoking Muslims and calls for defence of Al-Aqsa

MEMO 18 July — The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has warned the Israelis not to provoke Arabs and Muslims by distorting the facts about Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. A spokesman for Hamas also called on the Palestinian resistance to defend the Islamic sites in the occupied territories. The call was made in response to radio statements by Israel’s Attorney General, Judea Feinstein, who said that Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings are « an integral part of the territory of Israel ». Feinstein claimed that Israeli law applies to Al-Aqsa, in particular the antiquities law and the law of planning and building. Hamas leader Dr. Ismail Radwan told the local Palestinian media, "Feinstein’s comments demonstrate Israel’s aggressive intentions against Al-Aqsa Mosque...
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/4004-hamas-warns-israel-about-provoking-muslims-and-calls-for-defence-of-al-aqsa

Defense ministry hires architect to resume construction of illegal West Bank outpost

Haaretz 17 July — Givat Sal’it is one of 26 communities the Sharon government had promised the United States it would tear down nearly 10 years ago ... In the early days of Netanyahu’s current government, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that it was necessary to keep Sharon’s commitment to tear down the 26 outposts. But defense officials say the Obama administration has lost interest in these commitments and as far as the U.S. president is concerned, there is no difference between an outpost and a settlement.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/defense-ministry-hires-architect-to-resume-construction-of-illegal-west-bank-outpost-1.451552

University in Ariel gets green light

Ynet 17 July — A university beyond the Green Line : The Council for Higher Education in Judea and Samaria took an historic decision Tuesday evening, voting 11:2 to make the Ariel University Center of Samaria (AUCS) into a full-fledged university. The decision could make international waves because of its location.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4256920,00.html

Israeli bulldozers demolish facility in Silwan

JERUSALEM, July 18 (WAFA) – Bulldozers of the Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem Wednesday demolished a Palestinian facility in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan under the pretext of building it without a permit, according to Jawad Siyam, director of Wadi Hilweh information center in Silwan. Siyam said the 16-square-meter facility is 100 years old and has been used to house cattle and birds. Israeli municipality staff seized the cattle and birds, and fined the owner.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20288

Israel to demolish Palestinian properties near Hebron

HEBRON, July 18 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Wednesday handed two Palestinians notices to demolish properties used as residents and animal shelters in Khirbet Hawara, east of the town of Yatta in Heron, according to a local activist. Ratib al-Jabour, coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in southern Hebron, told WAFA these Israeli measures aim to displace local residents despite the far distance between the village from the Israeli settlements and the bypass road used by settlers.
On the other hand, Israeli settlers started building a park on Palestinian land in the Old City of Hebron under the protection of the Israeli army, and amid opposition from local and international activists in the city.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20294

Photo Essay : West Bank home demolished by Israel is rebuilt

972mag 18 July by Activestills — Six months after Israeli bulldozers demolished the house of Salim and Arabiya Shawamreh, Palestinian workers, Israeli activists, and international volunteers gathered to celebrate their successful efforts to rebuild it. Dubbed « Beit Arabiya » ("Arabiya’s House"), and used as a peace center by the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) since 2003, it has long been a gathering place for ICAHD’s efforts to resist the Israeli government’s discriminatory housing policies that systematically refuse building permits to Palestinians and then demolish houses that are built regardless.
http://972mag.com/photo-essay-volunteers-celebrate-rebuilding-of-home-repeatedly-demolished-by-israel/51217/

Israeli army destroys trees and land in Nablus

IMEMC 17 July — On Tuesday, the Israeli army of occupation destroyed farmland belonging to a Palestinian family in the village of Qasra near Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank — The Israeli army destroyed land belonging to Mohammad Shahadeh and Saqer Shahadeh on Tuesday. They razed the fields surrounding about 30 olive trees and then proceeded to uproot the trees. The village has come under attack before from settlers living in the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Aish Kodesh. In November 2011 in separate attacks, settlers uprooted trees and pelted Palestinian cars with stones.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63921

Blackout in Jenin behind the separation wall

JENIN (Ma‘an) 17 July — Three hundred Palestinians living in a village on the Israeli side of the separation wall have suffered a total blackout for ten days, after their sole remaining power source broke down. Dhaher al-Malih, to the west of Jenin in the northern West Bank, has been separated from neighboring West Bank villages by Israel’s separation wall. All residents must pass through an Israeli checkpoint to leave the village, and visitors require special permission from military authorities. So while the generator powering the hamlet broke down ten days ago, the village council says it is unable to bring mechanics and equipment to repair it. The village relies on generators despite the Palestinian Authority electricity network lying just 100 meters away on the other side of the wall, local councilor Hussein al-Abed told Ma‘an on Tuesday. Dhaher al-Malih was set to connect to the grid three years ago through a project funded by the US government aid agency, but Israeli authorities blocked its implementation, al-Abed said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505175

Please support this film : They came in the morning

Catholic film maker Leila Sansour has submitted a short (two-minute) film about Bethlehem into a national short film competition run by Virgin. If the film wins, it will be shown for a year in cinemas all over the country and beyond (including on Virgin flights) and will be entitled to a further prize, one of which, will again be selected by the public. The film : ’They came in the morning’ is a very touching true story. It is unusual for a film like this to be out there against other more commercial films. Please support it. The deadline is this Thursday 19 July. Watch the film here : http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/3242/they-came-in-the-morning Every time you share ’They Came in the Morning’, you give the film a vote. The film with the most votes gets shortlisted. [The film shows a farmer displaying the remains of his olive trees, all destroyed by Israel along with more than 25,000 other trees, in order to build the Wall around Bethlehem]
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=20809

Rights groups : Israel detains Gaza patient at Erez crossing

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 July — Israeli authorities detained a Palestinian patient due to travel from the Gaza Strip for hospital treatment in Jerusalem, Palestinian and Israeli rights groups said Monday. Rawhi Fouad Kerkz 43, from Jabaliya, never returned from Israel’s Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip after he went to meet intelligence officials to discuss his permit on Sunday, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights - Israel said. Kerkez had an appointment in Al Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem for May 31, and while his appointment passed, Israeli intelligence summoned him to Erez to review his application. After he left early Sunday, later in the evening an Israeli official telephoned the family to tell them he was being held in Ashkelon jail.
The groups said Israel’s detention of Palestinian patients trying to leave the coastal enclave had escalated, with Kerkez’s arrest the third such case in a month.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505181

Violence / Raids / Arrests / Provocations

PMG Daily Situation Report 8:00 16 July - 8:00 17 July
http://www.nad-plo.org/userfiles/file/pmg-reports/dailyr/PMG.Daily.Sitrep.17.07.12.pdf

PMG Daily Situation Report 8:00 17 July - 8:00 18 July
http://www.nad-plo.org/userfiles/file/pmg-reports/dailyr/PMG.Daily.Sitrep.18.07.12.pdf

Shin Bet goes on Palestinian arrest spree / Richard Silverstein

Tikun Olam 18 July — The Shin Bet appears to have gone on a tear in arresting Israeli Palestinians over the past few weeks. There are now at least four who’ve been arrested, the last three under gag. I reported on the first arrest, of Dr. Eyad Jawhari of Majdal Shams earlier this month. He is still imprisoned at Kishon prison after being moved from there to Shikma and back again. Though he was arrested at the end of June, the security services have refused to allow him to consult either with his attorney or to speak with his family. He has been incommunicado for three weeks, standard operating procedure for the Israeli secret police. Though there was an initial gag concerning his arrest, shortly after I broke the story the Shin Bet partially removed the gag. Now they may report the detainee’s name, though there is no official word on the charges against him. In the short space of the past few days, three more Israeli Palestinians have been secretly detained.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/07/18/shin-bet-goes-on-palestinian-arrest-spree/

Video : Israeli army raids Nabi Saleh, registers and photographs residents

PSCC 17 July — At 1:30 past midnight last night, large forces of Israeli army raided many of the houses in the village of Nabi Saleh including of Bassem, Naji, Bilal Tamimi, without having any warrant. Soldiers also attacked Bilal Tamimi, the local photojournalist, took his camera and deleted its memory and handcuffed him for a while. In addition soldiers attempted to arrest Bassem Tamimi’s wife, Nariman, who documented the night raid to their house with her camera.
http://mondoweiss.net/2012/07/israeli-army-raids-nabi-saleh-registers-and-photographs-residents.html

At least 9 detained overnight in the West Bank

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 17 July — Nine people were arrested overnight Monday, according to the Israeli army and witnesses. Israeli forces raided the al-Bahar bakery in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and seized 17-year-old Muhammad Yoused Bahar, before driving to his home and detaining his 14-year-old brother Abed Al-Rahman, a Ma’an correspondent said. Local anti-settlement committee spokesman Muhammad Awad said soldiers also detained Rasheed Ali Awad, 15, from his Beit Ummar home.
In Bethlehem, soldiers seized Iyad Ulayyan from Duheisha refugee camp in the early hours, the Association of Freed Prisoners in the camp said. Ulayyan’s 16-year-old son Said has been in Israeli custody for 50 days, the center noted.
Locals told Ma‘an that Israeli forces also raided the northern town of Ya‘bad, Jenin, and arrested three men...
Around 40 percent of Palestinian men living in the occupied territories have been detained by Israel at some point in their lives.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505250

IOF soldiers nab two Palestinians, beat up teenager

AL-KHALIL (PIC) 18 July — Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up two Palestinians in Al-Khalil and Bethlehem at dawn Wednesday, a Palestinian security source said. The source said that Mohammed Abu Fara was taken from his home in Sourif village, to the north west of Al-Khalil, after searching his home while Mohammed Abu Harthiya was arrested form his home in Battir village west of Bethlehem.
Meanwhile, a detained Palestinian teen said that he was brutally beaten by IOF soldiers on his arrest from his home in Taku village in Bethlehem. He said that ten IOF soldiers beat him with their rifle butts on his face and shoulders.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Lama Khater : My husband hospitalized after PA detention

AL-KHALIL (PIC) 18 July — Palestinian writer Lama Khater said that her husband Hazem Al-Fakhuri was hospitalized after his release from PA security jails where he was beaten and tortured. Khater told the PIC that PA intelligence agents arrested her husband on Monday night and beat and tortured him while in detention that same night. She added that the intelligence delivered him to the preventive security apparatus on Tuesday morning after which he was questioned then released on condition that he would be back on Wednesday. She pointed out that her husband went on hunger strike immediately on his detention. Khater said that relatives carried Fakhuri to hospital where medical teams recommended retaining him there under observation. She said that the director of Al-Khalil intelligence kept threatening her husband of arrest and transfer to Jericho jail, « where he will be left to rot, » he said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

IDF holds urban warfare drill in Meah Shearim

Ynet 17 July — Residents of ultra-Orthodox neighborhood stunned to see armed soldiers ’raid’ streets. Military says area has great similarity to Palestinian villages — According to a Tuesday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the unit chose to hold the drill in Meah Shearim due to the urban similarities it has with none other than the Qasbah in the West Bank city of Nablus ... A Duvdevan officer explained that navigation in Arab towns and villages is complex and dangerous and that the military would rather hold drills in Jerusalem’s narrow alleyways, which are very similar to those found in the West Bank.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4256631,00.html

Mayor : Salfit village flooded by settlement sewage

SALFIT (Ma‘an) — Waste water from an Israeli settlement has flowed into agricultural lands in a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank, a local official said Tuesday. Deir Istiya village mayor Nathmi Salman said waste pipes from Yaqir settlement are faulty and have flooded the village’s land, causing the formation of waste water pools. The sewage is nearing the main water spring of the Qana valley by Salfit, he said, noting that livestock drink from natural springs in the area. Salman said it was not the first time the village was contaminated by settlement waste, and charged Israeli authorities with procrastinating over fixing the sewage system.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505234

Witness : Settlers abduct 4 at gunpoint, later released

TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 18 July — A group of Israeli settlers abducted four Palestinians at gunpoint in the northern West Bank on Tuesday evening, before later releasing them, witnesses said. The group, who work for an advertising company in Ramallah, were stopped outside the evacuated Israeli outpost Homesh near Nablus by an Israeli-plated car, and a group of settlers ordered them at gunpoint to walk to a neighboring hill. Noman Jalali, 32, from nearby Anabta town, said they were forced to walk behind the vehicle while surrounded by dozens of settlers, two of whom carried small weapons and another carrying a machine gun. Jalali said they were beaten and verbally abused by the group while they held them for over an hour.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505523

Israeli settlers break into Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus

NABLUS, July 18 (WAFA) – Hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers Wednesday broke into Joseph’s Tomb, east of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to local sources. They told WAFA that several buses carrying the settlers broke into the tomb and performed rituals and prayers under the heavy protection of Israeli soldiers.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=20285

Death of Palestinian woman at Bil‘in protest goes to High Court

Haaretz 18 July — The High Court of Justice on Wednesday will hear a petition demanding an IDF criminal investigation into the January 1, 2011 death of a Palestinian woman while a demonstration was taking place in the West Bank village of Bil‘in. Jawaher Abu Rahmah died after having inhaled tear gas fired the previous day to disperse a demonstration staged in Bil‘in to protest the separation fence in the village area. Conflicting accounts of the cause of her death quickly surfaced : Family members insisted she died in a Ramallah hospital from tear gas inhalation, while the Israel Defense Forces alleged she never took part in the demonstration and died of a form of cancer.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/death-of-palestinian-woman-at-bil-in-protest-goes-to-high-court-1.451798

Gaza

Witnesses : Military vehicles level Gaza lands

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 July — Israeli military vehicles crossed into the northern Gaza Strip to level land on Wednesday, witnesses said, after reporting artillery fire in southern Gaza. Locals told Ma‘an several military vehicles were flattening land near the al-Zaitoun neighborhood west of Gaza City. In south Gaza, witnesses said Israeli artillery fired several shells at lands east of Khan Younis. No injuries or damage were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505594

Half the story : what @IDFSpokesperson leaves out about #Gaza / Yousef Munayyer

Permission to Narrate Feb 2012 — If a rocket from Gaza falls in the middle of the desert, does it make a sound ? It does if you are on Twitter. Regular updates on just about every projectile fired from Gaza is reported by the Israeli military’s official twitter account @IDFSpokesperson as well as from the accounts of other Israeli military figures like that of spokesperson @AvitalLeibovich. But what about projectiles fired by Israel into Gaza ? You’d think that since this is actual Israeli military activity the spokespeople from the Israeli military would provide this information....
http://blog.thejerusalemfund.org/2012/02/half-story-what-idfspokesperson-leaves.html

Gaza church claims Christians kidnapped, forced to convert

Ynet 17 July — Tiny Christian community in Strip protests over what they say was ’kidnapping’ of five Christians to force them to convert ; Hamas denies allegations, says a family fight caused police to intervene, and the boy had already converted to Islam voluntarily — A religious war, Gaza-style : The Orthodox Christian Church in the Gaza Strip is claiming that a group of armed Islamists kidnapped five Christian Palestinians, a young man and a mother and her three daughters, to force them to convert to Islam. In a statement, the church said that « the dangerous Islamist movement is trying to convince Christian men and women to convert to Islam, destroying Christian families and the Christian presence in the Gaza Strip. » The church refused to divulge the name of the Islamist group it accused of these attempts.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4256992,00.html

Human rights group : All the 5 Christians converted to Islam of their free will

GAZA (PIC) 18 July — The Palestinian Center for Human Rights on Tuesday denied that a Muslim group kidnapped five Christians or coerced them into being Muslims, affirming that they converted to Islam of their free will. Director of the legal unit at the center Iyad Al-Alimi said that at the request of two Christian families, we held two separate meetings, one with Ramez Al-Amash and another with Hiba Abu Dawoud and her three daughters in the headquarters of the center in Gaza. Alimi affirmed that the officials at the center made sure that the five Palestinian citizens converted to Islam of their free will without coercion and the accusations about their kidnapping were unfounded.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Gaza to make alms giving compulsory

AFP 17 July — The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas ruling Gaza said on Tuesday is to begin deducting the previously optional ’zakat’, or alms, from firms and individuals during Ramadan. The Zakat Foundation created by Hamas will begin deducting the money during the Muslim holy fasting month that begins on Thursday or Friday « from the taxes on firms, » its chief Rami al-Khatib told AFP. « This will begin as an optional measure before becoming obligatory, » he said, adding that the authorities would strive « not to increase the amounts » to be deducted from individuals. Khatib said the aim was to « collect funds for zakat and distribute it to the poor. »
ttp ://news.yahoo.com/gaza-alms-giving-compulsory-194153808.html

Army : Second rocket fired in Gaza lands in Israel

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 16 July — A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel Monday evening, causing no known injuries or damage, Israel’s army said. A military spokeswoman said the projectile was the second to land in the Shar Negev regional council on Monday.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505112

Israeli blockade takes its toll on mental health in Gaza

Guardian 11 July by Angela Robson — Stress-related and mental health disorders are on the increase in the Gaza Strip, brought on by loss of jobs and dignity, and lack of freedom under Israel’s blockade — For as long as Farah can remember, her father has never worked. Nor, in recent years, has she particularly wanted to spend time with him. She and her three younger siblings love Abu Shawareb, insists their mother, Naima, but they have grown wary of him, particularly of his mood swings and violent outbursts. « It was like a part of me had gone for ever, » says Shawareb, recalling the day five years ago when he suddenly lost his job. « I kept thinking, how am I going to feed my family ? How will we live ? » Since the Israeli blockade of Gaza in June 2007, Shawareb has been unable to find another job. « We’ve been left to die slowly here, » he says. "I am just 40 but I feel as if my working life is over."He has been diagnosed with chronic depression and is on medication.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/jul/11/israeli-blockade-mental-health-gaza

Gaza teen murdered in ’honour killing’

AFP 18 July — A 19-year-old girl was murdered overnight in a refugee camp in Gaza City by her brother and father in an apparent « honour killing, » a Palestinian rights groups said on Wednesday. In a statement, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said that the body of the girl, identified only by the initials « WMQ, » arrived at the city’s Shifa hospital at approximately 2:00 am (2300 GMT on Tuesday). The group said the girl was killed in Beach Camp in western Gaza City. « Medical sources in the hospital’s forensic medicine department said the citizen was killed by strangulation, » PCHR said. « Palestinian police spokesman Major Ayman Batniji told PCHR that police opened an investigation immediately and arrested her father and her brother who both confessed to committing the crime in the context of ’family honour’, » it said.
http://news.yahoo.com/gaza-teen-murdered-honour-killing-145313069.html

Refugees

Letter from Jerash, Jordan : A visit to the Gaza Refugee Camp
972mag 16 July by Munir Atalla — The writer shares snippets of life from the Palestinians living in the refugee camp in Jordan – from the longing for a home unknown, to reservations about the ’Arab Spring’ reaching them — Last month I worked at the Gaza Refugee Camp in Jerash, Jordan. The camp is home to about 24,000 Palestinian refugees who left the Gaza Strip in 1968. Most of the families living there were also displaced in 1948, meaning that they have lost their homes twice in one lifetime. The majority live on less than $2 a day. About a quarter live on less than one.
The camp starts unexpectedly. After the stone ruins of Jerash, one turns left into a valley. The streets become narrower and the pedestrians more numerous. Like a punch in the gut, the air begins to smell of hot sewage and rotting fruit. Sweaty and dusty from walking through the camp in the scorching summer, the one word that wouldn’t leave my mind was « hellish. »
http://972mag.com/letter-from-jerash-jordan-a-visit-to-the-gaza-refugee-camp/51165/

Palestinian camps in Syria pulled into the fray

Al Akhbar 17 July by Anas Zarzar — Although « Palestinian neutrality » in the Syrian crisis was maintained for months, Palestinian refugee camps finally entered the conflict after 17 conscripts in the Palestinian Liberation Army were killed. Yarmouk Refugee Camp, Syria - « The camp flared up... Its streets turned into an explosive human volcano. » That is how Abu Nidal, a street vendor, summarized events in the Yarmouk refugee camp over the past few days and the repercussions of the ongoing violent confrontations that took place there.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/palestinian-camps-syria-pulled-fray

Palestinian camp shelters 2,000 displaced Syrians

DAMASCUS (Ma‘an) 18 July — Palestinians in a refugee camp near Damascus on Wednesday welcomed more than 2,000 displaced Syrians fleeing fighting that has spread to the Syrian capital. The Syrians came to al-Yarmouk camp from neighborhoods throughout the area, but many are from Al Tadamon which locals say has been bombed heavily by the Syrian army. Sources in the camp said Palestinians have organized into civil teams to organize shelter for those displaced, housing people in family homes, mosques and schools. They also formed medical teams to treat those who are injured. Al-Yarmouk is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria as the home of 200,000 Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505522

Four Palestinians linked with Fatah al-Islam released on bail

Al-Manar 16 July — A Lebanese judge ordered on Monday the release of four Palestinians arrested for ties with Fatah al-Islam. Investigative Judge Ghassan Ouweidat approved the release on 500,000 LL bail of the four. The Palestinians had been jailed for involvement in the clashes that took place in the summer of 2007 in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army. The released detainees will be handed over to Lebanese General Security.
http://www4.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=61709&cid=23&fromval=1

Political / Economic / Diplomatic News

Mashaal visits Cairo during Abbas-Mursi meeting

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 18 July — Hamas politburo chief Khalid Mashaal arrived in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday morning, a visit which coincides with President Mahmoud Abbas’ meeting with the newly-elected Egyptian president. Mashaal will spend two days in Cairo to discuss the situation in Palestine and the reconciliation process with Abbas’ Fatah faction, a statement from Hamas said ... It was not immediately clear if Mashaal and Abbas would meet during their visits.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505648

Erekat writes to consulates calling to reexamine Israel relations

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 July — PLO official Saeb Erekat on Wednesday sent letters to international representatives to the Palestinian Authority calling for their countries to reexamine their relations with Israel. The official, who leads negotiation efforts with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian leadership, called on the international community to « examine their bilateral engagements with Israel to ensure that they are not unwittingly supporting Israel’s occupation. » The letter also reiterated his request to « extend bilateral recognition to the State of Palestine on the 1967 border. »
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505775

Gaza Fatah leaders resign in protest against corruption

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 July — A group of Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip resigned on Tuesday in protest against corruption in the selection system for party leaders in the coastal enclave, a statement said. The group of around 10 leaders said that the « method and mechanisms » for issuing orders and the « injustice and selectivity » of choosing leaders in Gaza, were the reasons behind their resignation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505241

Israeli Racism / Discrimination

The antisemitism that goes unreported / Amira Hass

Haaretz 18 July — Tens of thousands of people live in the shadow of terror — Here’s a statistic that you won’t see in research on anti-Semitism, no matter how meticulous the study is. In the first six months of the year, 154 anti-Semitic assaults have been recorded, 45 of them around one village alone. Some fear that last year’s record high of 411 attacks – significantly more than the 312 attacks in 2010 and 168 in 2009 – could be broken this year. Fifty-eight incidents were recorded in June alone ... It’s no accident that the diligent anti-Semitism researchers have left out this data. That’s because they don’t see it as relevant, since the Semites who were attacked live in villages with names like Jalud, Mughayer and At-Tuwani, Yanun and Beitilu ... The day our grandparents feared was Sunday, the Christian Sabbath ; the Semites, who are not of interest to the researchers monitoring anti-Semitism, fear Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. Our grandparents knew that the order-enforcement authorities wouldn’t intervene to help a Jewish family under attack ; we know that the Israel Defense Forces, the Israel Police, the Civil Administration, the Border Police and the courts all stand on the sidelines.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2012-07-18/amira-hass-the-anti-semitism-that-goes-unreported/

Keeping the rent down / Neve Gordon

LRB blog 12 July — A few weeks ago I told the story of my friend Hussein, who had to advertise his flat under the pseudonym Rami in order to rent it out. The other day, my neighbor Yifat, who owns two flats in our block – she lives in one with her two children and rents the other out – told me about her attempt to raise the rent from 4000 to 4500 shekels a month. The tenant, she said, tried to haggle, offering her 4100 shekels. Yifat was willing to come down to 4400 ... The tenant didn’t yield. She said she was willing to meet halfway, but no more. ’4250 shekels is a hefty price,’ she said, ’particularly if one takes into account the new circumstances in the neighbourhood.’ ’What new circumstances ?’ Yifat asked. ’Didn’t you hear ?’ the tenant said. ’Neve is going away for a year and has rented his flat to an Arab.’
http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2012/07/12/neve-gordon/keeping-the-rent-down/

With refugees, suspicion of error is not grounds for deportation

Haaretz 18 July by Yuval Livnat — By deporting refugees who are merely suspected of committing crimes, Israel violates the UN Refugee Convention and its own laws.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/ipad/with-refugees-suspicion-of-error-is-not-grounds-for-deportation.premium-1.451864#

Other news

Stateless Palestinians face indefinite detention in Cairo airport after being deported from US

Elect. Int. 11 July by Maureen Clare Murphy — Two Palestinian brothers were deported to Egypt by the US government despite their stateless status, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee stated today : The brothers, originally from Gaza, were taken by ICE and the U.S. Air Marshals from their children in Texas and sent to Egypt. The brothers do not have permission to stay in Egypt. Further, due to the blockade of Gaza and Israeli polices they cannot enter Palestine. The brothers are currently detained at the airport in Cairo, and appear likely to be detained indefinitely.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/stateless-palestinians-face-indefinite-detention-cairo-airport-after

Report : Palestinian MK tears up Kahane photo

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 18 July — Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, ripped up a photo of far-right Rabbi Meir Kahane during a parliamentary session on Wednesday, Israeli media reported. Israeli news site Ynet said Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin removed Tibi from the parliament’s stand, but also condemned a right-wing MK who tore up a Hebrew Christian Bible a day earlier, prompting Tibi’s outburst.
Michael Ben-Ari, who shredded and binned the Bible sent by a Christian group to parliament members, is a known supporter of Kahane, who founded the far-right Kach party now banned under Israeli anti-terrorism laws.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505773

Dabke group to represent Palestine in Bulgarian dance festival

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 17 July — A Palestinian dance group will compete in an international festival due to be held in Bulgaria in mid-July, a statement from the group said. ’Fononyat’, a Dabke group, will represent Palestine in the festival, which will see 45 other countries compete in the dance competition. Palestinian participation in the festival is another step towards protecting Palestinian history and cultural heritage, head of the group Iyad Dahadha said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=505228

Analysis / Opinion

In Israel, the language in which you read determines what you know

972mag 17 July by Sol Salbe — The fact that a newspaper has both a Hebrew and an English edition doesn’t mean readers are getting the same story. Translations are selective and emphasize different aspects of the same story – and the implications for reader knowledge is great. The image you have of Israel depends on what you read. That’s fairly obvious : the most conservative Palestinian media is still more supportive of the Palestinian cause than the most liberal Israel media. And there is a huge range of opinion within each sector. But with the popularity in recent years of English-language versions of Hebrew newspapers, most people may not realize that they may be getting rather different content and perspective, depending on the language in which they read – even regarding the same item within the same media source. Having monitored the Israeli media in both languages on a full-time basis for 13 years, I have become used to this, but the differences between the two accounts of a recent court sentencing in the English and Hebrew editions of Haaretz even had me stunned.
http://972mag.com/in-israel-the-language-in-which-you-read-determines-what-you-know/51256/

Endgame / Noam Sheizaf

Haaretz 15 July — It’s an idea for solving the conflict that sounds like a vision of the end of days : Grant Israeli citizenship and equal rights to all the Palestinians in the West Bank. And who is proposing the one-state solution ? Right-wingers and settlers
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/endgame-1.302128

Israel’s annexation plan / Jonathan Cook

I-O 18 July — What really lies behind Israel’s ‘No occupation’ report : Way cleared for annexation — The recently published report by an Israeli judge concluding that Israel is not in fact occupying the Palestinian territories — despite a well-established international consensus to the contrary — has provoked mostly incredulity or mirth in Israel and abroad ... Downplaying the Levy report’s significance may prove unwise, however. If Netanyahu is embarrassed, it is only because of the timing of the report’s publication rather than its substance.
http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2012-07-18/jonathan-cook-israels-annexation-plan/

Resurrecting Begin’s Jewish vision for the West Bank

Haaretz 17 July by Chaim Levinson — The Levy committee has brought back to life the legendary prime minister’s ideas about allowing Jews to buy land in the West Bank. In his new report on the outposts, former Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy reached back all the way to the Balfour Declaration to conclude that Jews have the right to settle in the Land of Israel, and that this doesn’t constitute an occupation. Levy didn’t invent this claim ; the right wing has been asserting it for years, though without much success abroad. The man who waged a major diplomatic battle over the legality of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was Menachem Begin.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/resurrecting-begin-s-jewish-vision-for-the-west-bank.premium-1.451578

Abbas : Israel’s man in Ramallah / Larry Derfner

972mag 18 July — Since his bid for statehood ended at the UN last September, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, has become strictly an enforcer of the occupation ... I write this as somebody who, until this year, saw Abbas and Fayyad as the long-awaited answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as the Palestinian leadership Israel always claimed to be dreaming of - one that demonstrably turned away from terror and thereby proved the sincerity of its peaceful intentions. Abbas has done this for eight years. His troops have been working with, or shall we say under, the IDF and Shin Bet, they’ve arrested thousands of Hamasniks (and tortured many of them), they’ve physically prevented mass « people power » demonstrations against the IDF, the wall and the settlements. A prime example of the PA’s diligence came during Operation Cast Lead, when the West Bank was the only place in the world where Muslims weren’t protesting.
http://972mag.com/israels-man-in-ramallah/50773/
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