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

Video : 19 years after massacre at Tomb of the Patriarchs, Israel continues to entrench separation policy in Hebron

B’Tselem 5 Mar — Israeli security forces divided a road in the center of Hebron, separating it into a paved road for Jews and a narrow, rough passage for Palestinians — One of the roads prohibited to Palestinian vehicles runs through the neighborhood of a-Salaimeh and leads to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. The road is about 70 meters long and has a checkpoint at either end : the Bakery Checkpoint at the northern end of the road and the Bench Checkpoint at its southern end. Until recently, Israeli security forces permitted Palestinian pedestrians and cyclists on the street. In order to transport supplies through the street, Palestinians were forced to use a horse-drawn wagon or a hand cart. Settlers and Israeli civilians are permitted to walk and drive cars on the street ... Yihya Abu Rajab told B’Tselem about the difficulties he and his neighbors encountered in the days after the fence was erected : "Before the fence was erected I used to transport both raw materials and the shoes I make in a pushcart. After the fence was erected, we were surprised to see that it has no gate and that we have no way to get out to the street. At first, we went around the fence to get to the street, and the Border Police let us to go by without any trouble. But over the past few days the policemen have not been allowing us to go on the paved road. They left us only a narrow lane behind the fence that leads to stone steps. I can’t push the cart through the narrow passage and the steps, and I have to carry the merchandise on my back and get my children to help me. In addition, the Border Police prevent the children from crossing the paved road on their way to and from school. The children used to ride on their bikes in the street and also ride to the grocery shop. Now they have to pick up their bikes and carry both bike and groceries
link to www.btselem.org

Hebron : Separate roads for Jews, Palestinians

Ynet 6 Mar by Elior Levy — The segregated Jewish-Palestinian bus lines offered by the Afikim bus company in the West Bank have caused quite the stir recently, but this division has already been effective in Hebron for years. The city’s Palestinian residents are no strangers to blocked roads, limited movement and restricted passageways. Nineteen years after the massacre at the Cave of the Patriarchs, Israel is expanding the segregation which is now reaching new heights. Security forces have recently tightened restrictions on Palestinian movement in one of the streets in the al-Salaymeh neighborhood leading to the Cave of the Patriarchs which has two barriers, Ynet has learned. Jewish residents are allowed to cross the road by vehicle, but Palestinians are now only permitted to cross by foot or by bicycle.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Transportation in Israel : A paradise for Jews only / Toby Cohen & Hagit Naali-Joseph

972mag 7 Mar — Although Israel’s Transportation Ministry has begun promoting green, sustainable transportation, a closer look at the government’s program reveals tremendous gaps between public transportation in the Jewish communities and the neighboring Arab communities ... The issue is particularly grating when we examine the public transportation situation in the Arab local authorities, home to almost one fifth of Israeli citizens, the vast majority of them in the lowest percentiles. A study by the NGO Sikkuy reveals tremendous gaps between public transportation in the Jewish communities and the neighboring Arab communities. For example, the number of trips per person on public transportation in the Jewish communities is more than three times that in the Arab communities, the number of public transportation destinations in the Jewish communities is up to 14 times greater, and the frequency of bus service in Jewish communities is also far higher. The overall budget for the development of public transportation in the Arab communities in 2012, as part of a five-year plan for the development of Arab local authorities, was only NIS 30 million, compared to the NIS 220 million now being allocated for public transportation in Ashdod alone.
link to 972mag.com

Israeli forces order demolition of southern West Bank hamlet

HEBRON (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Israeli forces on Wednesday handed eviction notices and 26 demolition orders to residents of a hamlet in the southern West Bank, a local official said. Israeli troops ordered the demolition of 10 homes, six wells, four bathrooms, four sheep pens and two traditional ovens in Khallet Athaba, east of Yatta, spokesman for the hamlet Mahmud Hamamdeh said. Residents were ordered to evacuate al-Dabi by April 7, Hamamdeh said, adding that the villagers had 50 acres of olive trees planted over 25 years ago. Around 55 people live in the homes threatened with demolition, he added. [this village is in the notorious ’Firing Zone 918’]
link to www.maannews.net

Aqsa foundation appeals for urgent action to save Mamanullah cemetery

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 7 Mar — Al-Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage called for urgent action to save the Islamic historical cemetery Mamanullah in occupied Jerusalem from destruction and Judaization. This came in an urgent letter addressed to the Arab League, the organization of Islamic cooperation, the Muslim world league, and the international union for Muslim scholars as well as the embassies of Egypt, Turkey and Jordan. « Mamanullah cemetery in occupied Jerusalem is one of the oldest Palestinian burial grounds where a galaxy of the Prophet’s companions, their followers, religious scholars, mujahideen and dignitaries of Jerusalem are buried throughout history,... » ... In a related context, the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage reported on Wednesday that the Israeli municipal council and its construction companies started a few days ago to complete their destruction of the whole cemetery of Mamanullah in order to expand its Judaization projects. It said that the Israeli workmen established infrastructure projects in new areas of the cemetery, including a network of water pipelines
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

IOA blocks entry of women into Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 7 Mar — The Israeli occupation authorities barred the entry of Palestinian women into the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday. Citizens told PIC that Israeli policemen closed Al-Asbat gate, one of the main gates of the Aqsa mosque, and blocked entry of citizens especially women into the site. They said that tension and anger were prevailing in the place as women were insisting on entering the holy site but the police deny them access by force.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Using secret travel ban, Israel prepares to deport activist Adam Shapiro preventing him from being at the birth of his first child

Mondoweiss 6 Mar by Allison Deger — Israel’s deportation policy entered a new phase on Monday when Huwaida Arraf and Adam Shapiro, co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), arrived at Ben Gurion airport and discovered an entry ban on Shapiro, despite inquires made in advance by a lawyer for the couple. Arraf and Shapiro, now expecting their first child, are perhaps the most recognizable pair in the Palestine solidarity movement, and architects for building an international activist presence on the ground since the beginning of the second Intifada. At the airport on Monday afternoon Israeli authorities informed Shapiro that in 2009, unknown to him, the Israeli Ministry of Interior issued a 10-year entry ban for him. Initially the border police « weren’t making much sense, » Arraf told Mondoweiss, but then Shapiro was taken to jail where he remained for two days until he and Arraf were briefly reunited at a court hearing Tuesday
link to mondoweiss.net

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Clashes / Illegal arrests

Palestinian protester shot by Israelis is sixth civilian killed this year
Mondoweiss 7 Mar From Abir Kopty of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee : Palestinian Protester Dies of Injury Sustained on February 22 ... The medical staff of Echilov hospital declared today the death of Muhammad Asfour, 23, resident of the village of Aboud, west of Ramallah, of injury sustained two weeks ago, after he was shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes that erupted during a protest at Aboud in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. Asfour was shot on February 22nd, with a rubber coated steel bullet in the head which settled in the brain. He was evacuated to Salfit hospital and then to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus. Few days later he was transferred to Echilov hospital in Tel Aviv in critical condition ... His funeral will take place tomorrow, March 8th, after Friday’s noon prayer in his village, Aboud. Asfour is the sixth Palestinian to die from Israeli soldiers shooting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, (see B’Tselem report here), in addition to prisoner Arafat Jaradat who died two weeks ago in the Israeli prison « Megiddo », six days after his arrest :
link to mondoweiss.net

Jerusalem : Army attacks students holding vigil in solidarity with Palestinian detainees
IMEMC 7 Mar — Dozens of Israeli soldiers and police officers attacked on Wednesday evening, Palestinian students at the Hebrew University, near Al-Esawiyya town, in occupied East Jerusalem, as they were holding a vigil in support of Palestinian detainees holding hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Three students have been kidnapped .Lawyer Shireen Al-Eesawy, sister of detainee Samer Al-Eesawy who has been on hunger strike since 227 days, stated that the students were holding a weekly vigil in solidarity with the detainees imprisoned by Israel. The Democratic Students’ Assembly organized the vigil. Al-Eesawy added that that the Police kidnapped three students identified as Majd Hamdan, Ali Jasara and Tareq Al-Khateeb. They were moved to an interrogation facility at the Salah Ed-deen Police Station in the center of Jerusalem. Al-Eesawy said that her brother should have been released Wednesday March 6, as ruled by the Israeli District Court in Jerusalem.

link to www.imemc.org

Israeli security forces spray raw sewage at Palestinian homes

MEMO 6 Mar — Israeli forces have sprayed Palestinian homes in the village of Nabi Saleh with raw sewage [or is this the usual ’skunk water’ chemical ?] as a punishment for organising weekly protests against the Apartheid Wall built on occupied West Bank land. Human rights watchdog B’Tselem published a video showing Israel’s armoured tanker trucks fitted with « water cannons » which spray the foul fluid at Palestinian protesters. B’Tselem said in a statement that the Israeli forces also targeted all the houses of the village with the sewage. The powerful jet broke windows and caused a great deal of damage in the houses, said the Israeli organisation. « It also causes environmental damage, » it pointed out. The non-lethal weapon has been added to the Israelis’ armoury for crowd control, said B’Tselem, even though the video shows clearly that it is also used against Palestinian-owned property.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

IOF attacks female students in Al-Aqsa Mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 6 Mar — Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage said in a statement on Wednesday that a student in Al-Aqsa Mosque has been attacked by an Israeli soldier, and was taken to the medical clinic inside Al-Aqsa to receive treatment. According to eyewitnesses, a group of Jewish settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the morning, which angered the female students who tried to chase and expel the settlers, when the occupation policemen intervened and dispersed the girls then tried to arrest one of them. The students and worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque arrived immediately to the place to express their outrage at the Israeli police attack on the girls and women. During the clashes, one of the students Nasser Malhas, from the city of Jerusalem, was wounded in his back after being pushed by a soldier. Nasser was taken to the medical clinic in Al-Aqsa to receive treatment. Meanwhile one of the occupation soldiers attacked one of the female students and took off her veil. A state of extreme tension have recently prevailed at Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Israeli policemen intensified their presence in the Mosque’s yards.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli forces fire tear gas, stun grenades at journalists

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Israeli forces on Thursday fired tear gas and stun grenades at journalists covering a sit-in protest outside Ofer prison near Ramallah. Dozens of protesters held a sit-in outside the detention center to demand the release of prisoners on hunger strike. Israeli forces ordered the demonstrators to move from the prison’s gate, and continued to provoke the protesters even after they moved, a Ma‘an correspondent said. Meanwhile, a heated argument developed between PLO Executive Committee Wasil Abu Yousif and Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti. Israeli forces fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters at journalists filming the argument, injuring two Ma‘an reporters, a reporter for Sky News and a cameraman for Russia Today. Soldiers fired a tear-gas canister at a TV van, and injured two Palestine TV journalists.
link to www.maannews.net

Army kidnaps 19 Palestinians in West Bank

IMEMC Wednesday at dawn March 6 2013 ; Israeli soldiers invaded several Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, and kidnapped 19 Palestinians, including children, after breaking into their homes and searching them.
Local sources reported that the army invaded the ‘Aida refugee camp, in Bethlehem city, and kidnapped two Palestinians identified as Ghassan Fuad, a former political prisoner, and Ra‘fat Darweesh.
Soldiers also invaded Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, and kidnapped five Palestinians in a search campaign that targeted several homes.
One resident, identified as Rami Hmeidat, 20, was kidnapped in Surif town, west of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Furthermore, the army invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped several Palestinians. One of the kidnapped has been identified as Baker Ateely, a local reporter and a member of the Journalists Syndicate.
Soldiers also invaded the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, broke into and searched several homes, leading to clashes with local youths.
A similar invasion targeted Bazaria village, near Nablus, as the soldiers broke into and searched several homes, and kidnapped two Palestinians identified as Abdullah Sami Hussein, 26, and Hasan Saleh Hussein, 22.
The invasions and arrests are part of an escalating Israeli military campaign that led to the kidnapping of dozens of Palestinians over the last few days.
link to www.imemc.org

Israel arrests 2 Palestinians in West Bank raids
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — ... [Wednesday] Soldiers raided the house of 20-year-old Walid Mohammed Ajouli in the village of Qaffin north of Tulkarem, detaining him on the scene. The detainee’s family said Walid had heart problems.
Meanwhile an Israeli unit attacked dozens of Palestinians protesting against Israel’s dumping waste in a landfill in the city of Nablus. Soldiers arrived at the landfill and forced a complete evacuation of the area, before firing stun grenades and tear gas against protesters, and arresting 13-year-old Mohammad Munther Solaiman. Protesters were demanding Israel shut down the site because the waste comes from Israeli territory and its contents are unknown. Protesters said it risked harming the environment.
link to www.maannews.net

IOF launches raid and arrest campaign in West Bank
WEST BANK (PIC) 7 Mar — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed at dawn on Thursday Namira neighborhood in al-Khalil [Hebron], where they searched several houses. IOF arrested the youths Mekdad Arqam Ahmar, 17, and Majd Banan Ahmar, 18, after raiding and searching their homes, where they took them to the Etzion detention center, north of al-Khalil, local sources confirmed. [Ma‘an : An army spokeswoman confirmed those arrests and said three others were detained in separate raids on Beit Fajjar southwest of Bethlehem and the Ramallah-area villages of Beit ‘Ur al-Tahta and Beit Sira.]
Meanwhile, the IOF raided at dawn today the town of Beit Fajjar in Bethlehem and arrested the youths Munther Akram Abu Hayyan, 22, and took him to an unknown destination, and the disabled boy Omar Anwar Murshid Thawabteh, 16, for the second time in less than a month.
The occupation forces summoned at dawn today four citizens after raiding eight houses in the towns of Jaba‘ and Sanur, south of Jenin, where they interrogated the houses’ residents for long hours.
On Wednesday evening occupation soldiers attacked three youths in the town of Qasra south of Nablus, causing them several injuries, where they were taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus for treatment, the Palestinian official in charge of the Settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, Ghassan Daglas, said. Daglas explained that the soldiers stopped the three youths near the junction of the nearby town of Yatma, where they checked their personal identities, and when they discovered they were from the town of Qasra they beat them severely. Qasra town is continuously subjected to Israeli attacks and raids.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Palestinians clash with soldiers near Jenin
JENIN (Ma‘an) 7 Feb — Israeli forces on Thursday installed a flying checkpoint at a village in the northern West Bank, leading to clashes with locals. Soldiers erected a checkpoint at the entrance to Yamun, west of Jenin, and stopped dozens of vehicles. Local youth threw stones and bottles at the checkpoint and soldiers fired large amounts of tear gas at the protesters, a Ma‘an reporter said ... Israeli forces deployed in heavy numbers in the area, around villages Silat al-Harithiya, Ti‘nnik, Zububa and Rummana on Thursday, witnesses told Ma‘an.
link to www.maannews.net

Family : Israeli forces arrest brother of jailed cartoonist
JENIN (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — Israeli forces arrested the brother of a jailed cartoonist on Wednesday in a pre-dawn raid on his home near Jenin in the northern West Bank, his wife said. Israeli troops raided the home of Thamer Sabaana, 37, in Qabatiya at around 2.30 a.m. and detained him. They also confiscated his laptop and cell phone, his wife told Ma‘an ... Thamer Sabaana is a teacher and an activist for prisoners’ rights. He has previously served three years in Israeli jails. His brother, the cartoonist Mohamed Sabaana, was detained on Feb. 16 as he returned to the West Bank from Jordan. The media watchdog Mada has demanded the 34-year-old’s release.
link to www.maannews.net

DFLP : Israel arrests party leader at flying checkpoint
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Israeli forces on Wednesday detained a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine at a flying checkpoint near Jericho, the movement said. Nader Jafal, 40, was returning home to Abu Dis from Jericho when Israeli forces stopped his car at a flying checkpoint, the DFLP said in a statement. They confiscated his cell phone and took him to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. Jafal, a political science student at Al-Quds University, was released from Israeli jail in 2009 after serving nine years of a 15-year sentence.
link to www.maannews.net

Hamas says PA detained 8 affiliates
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — Hamas on Wednesday said Palestinian Authority security forces detained eight party members across the West Bank. Forces of the Fatah-led PA detained Hamas members in Tulkarem, Nablus, Hebron and Qalqiliya, Hamas said in a statement. Fatah and Hamas agreed to stop political arrests in the reconciliation deal signed in Cairo in May 2011.
link to www.maannews.net

Prisoners / Hunger strikers / Court actions

Palestinian minors receive prison sentences for throwing stones
MEMO 6 Mar — An Israeli military court has given prison sentences to two Palestinian minors from the occupied West Bank after finding them guilty of « throwing stones » at Israeli soldiers. Waleed Shoqeer, aged 16, was given a two-year sentence, while his co-defendant and cousin Khalil Shoqeer, 17, was sent to prison for 18 months. AHRAR research centre, which specialises in prisoners’ issues, called the sentences a « violation of international human rights ».
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Lawyer : Sharawne adamant on hunger strike despite serious health problems
RAMALLAH (PIC) 6 Mar — Lawyer Jawad Bulous has said that detained hunger striker Ayman Sharawne was adamant on maintaining his hunger strike despite his serious health condition. Bulous, the head of the legal section at the Palestinian prisoner’s society, said after visiting Sharawne, from Al-Khalil, in Soroka hospital in Beersheba that the hunger striker was in a very feeble condition ... Bulous quoted Sharawne as saying that he lost 50 kilograms of his weight and that he feels pain all over his body. Doctors told the hunger striker that both his kidneys were hurt beyond repair.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Ministry : Prisoner suspends hunger strike
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — A prisoner detained in Israel for 31 years has suspended his hunger strike, the PA Ministry of Detainee Affairs said Wednesday. Maher Younis, a 54-year-old from a town in Israel, went on hunger strike on Feb. 24 but ended the protest at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas, the ministry said in a statement. According to the Ahrar center for prisoner rights, Younis started the strike to send a message to the Palestinian leadership and draw attention to long-serving prisoners who have been neglected in prisoner swap deals.
link to www.maannews.net

Palestinians hold candle vigil in Bethlehem
IMEMC 7 Mar — Wednesday evening, March 6, 2013, dozens of Palestinians held a candle vigil at the Manger Square in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to express solidarity with Palestinian detainees held by Israel, especially those holding extended hunger strikes protesting their illegal imprisonment by Israel ... Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) in Bethlehem, Abdul-Fattah Ekhlayyil, stated that this vigil is an act of solidarity from Bethlehem city, the birthplace of the prophet of peace, Jesus Christ, and added that the Palestinians are united in their legitimate struggle for liberation and independence.
link to www.imemc.org

Students join hunger strike in solidarity with prisoners
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — Pupils at a school in Tulkarem went on hunger strike on Wednesday in solidarity with Palestinians in Israeli jails. Some 120 students at Faroun boys school spent their lunch break holding banners of detainees’ names, and listening to national songs and poetry. The headmaster said students were affected by the struggle of prisoners and decided to strike to support them, so the school canteen closed for the day.
link to www.maannews.net

Ex-detainee hospitalized after release from jail
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — A 27-year-old ex-prisoner was taken to hospital Tuesday within hours of his release from Israeli prison, an official from Balata refugee camp said. Jihad Abu Musallam, 27, from Balata refugee camp, was taken to Rafidia hospital shortly after his release from jail, where he spent nine years, said Yehya al-Jammal, the head of refugee affairs in the camp. Medics reported that Musallam’s situation was stable, but he suffers from a nerve disorder. The head of the detainees center in Nablus, Raed Amer, said the hospitalization underscored the need for Palestinian and international doctors in Israeli prisons. « Our son was neglected at prison and he was never provided the needed treatment, » a relative said.
link to www.maannews.net

Israel accused of abusing detained children
[with VIDEO] Al Jazeera 6 Mar — Palestinian children detained by Israeli authorities face systematic abuse that violates international law, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said in a report. UNICEF estimated that 700 Palestinian children aged between 12 and 17 were arrested by Israeli security forces every year in the occupied West Bank.The world organisation said it had identified some examples of practices that « amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention against Torture » ... Ill-treatment of Palestinian minors typically begins with the arrest itself, often carried out in the middle of the night by heavily armed soldiers, and continues all the way through prosecution and sentencing, according to the report."The pattern of ill-treatment includes ... the practice of blindfolding children and tying their hands with plastic ties, physical and verbal abuse during transfer to an interrogation site, including the use of painful restraints," the report said. It said minors suffered physical violence and threats during their interrogation, were coerced into confession and not given immediate access to a lawyer or family during questioning.
link to www.aljazeera.com

UNICEF report reveals Israel’s ’institutionalised’ ill-treatment of Palestinian children
MEMO 7 Mar by Samira Shackle — Israel imposes two parallel legal systems across the occupied West Bank. Illegal Jewish settlers who commit a crime face the mainstream Israeli courts, with in-built legal rights and safeguards. Palestinians, on the other hand, are channelled through a military court system, with none of the legal protections enjoyed by Jews. This is true for adults and children alike. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) sets out a range of rules to safeguard the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. Although Israel has ratified the convention, a UNICEF report this week found evidence of « widespread, systematic and institutionalised » ill-treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli officials.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Palestinian street boils at plight of prisoners
OFER PRISON, West Bank (Reuters/Ma‘an) 7 Mar — In a sprawling Israeli prison, Palestinian activist Hassan Karajeh sat through a hurried court hearing in a language he didn’t understand under the authority of a military occupation he and his people reject. The translator in the cramped portacabin-turned-courtroom seldom bothered to relay the military judge’s words, and the tall, bearded detainee spent most of the time whispering to his family and blowing kisses to his young fiancée. Outside Ofer Prison’s walls and throughout the West Bank, Israeli troops have clashed in recent weeks with Palestinian protesters fed up with Israeli detention policies, an emblem of what they see as Israel’s unjust rule over their lives. The violence raised concern in Israel that it could snowball into a third mass Palestinian uprising if either of two detainees on a months-long hunger strike dies, further burying hopes of reviving a long-stalled peace process. Some 4,800 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails and are feted at home as political prisoners or freedom fighters. Israel says the majority are « terrorists » with blood on their hands, and some have pleaded guilty to killing Israeli civilians. But the arrests have netted 15 members of parliament, a football player, a political cartoonist, hundreds of stone-throwing youths and a handful of what Amnesty International calls human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.
link to www.maannews.net

IDF soldiers may face indictment over death of Palestinian laborer
Haaretz 7 Mar by Gili Cohen — The military prosecution is preparing an indictment against an IDF soldier and an officer who were involved in an incident that caused the death of Uday Darwish, a 21-year-old Palestinian from the village of Dura. Darwish was shot on January 12 as he was trying to enter Israel through a gap in the separation fence in the southern Hebron Hills, en route to his place of work in Rahat. The Military Police investigation department recently completed its probe of the incident and found unacceptable violations of the instructions and orders issued to the soldiers. The suspicions that arose during the investigation regarding one of the soldiers involved in the incident and his company commander are grave. The indications are that the military prosecution will file an extraordinary indictment against the two in the wake of Darwish’s death.
link to www.haaretz.com

B’Tselem appeals decision not to indict in wounding of Eran Cohen at demonstration in Bil‘in, 14 March 2008
7 Mar 2013 — On 3 March 2013 Attorney Gaby Lasky filed an appeal on behalf of B’Tselem to the Military Advocate General (MAG) against the decision by the Military Advocate for Operational Matters not to indict anyone for shooting a rubber-coated metal bullet at Israeli Eran Cohen during a demonstration in Bil‘in on 14 March 2018. On 14 March 2008, during a demonstration against the Separation Barrier, an Israeli military officer fired a rubber-coated metal bullet from very close range at a demonstrator, Cohen, who was 18 at the time. The incident was filmed by two separate photographers, an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man. The footage clearly shows that Cohen was doing nothing that posed any danger whatsoever to the soldiers.
link to www.btselem.org

Gaza siege

Army carries out a limited invasion into Khan Younis
IMEMC 7 Mar — Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday morning, an area east of the al-Qarara town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and bulldozed Palestinian farmlands. Local sources reported that several armored Israeli military vehicles, including an armored bulldozer, advanced 200 meters into lands that belong to residents of the al-Qarara, and uprooted them. The tanks came from the nearby Kissufim military base, across the border.
link to www.imemc.org

Gaza fishermen protest as Israel breaks pledge to stop attacks
Gaza City (EI) 5 Mar by Joe Catron — « The situation for fishermen is very bad, » Mos’ad Baker said in the Gaza seaport Sunday. « We still face the Israeli navy daily. » He had just returned from a flotilla that spent the morning sailing the Mediterranean coast of the Gaza Strip from the seaport to Beit Lahiya and back. With more than 50 boats, the flotilla was part of a campaign against the Israeli navy’s attacks on Palestinian fishermen and to demand that Israel return 36 fishing boats it has seized ... For the several hundred fishermen who spent their mornings in the seaborne rally, accompanied by international activists and television cameras, it offered a rare window of relative safety at sea.
link to electronicintifada.net

Egypt’s tunnel closures hit Gaza builders
GAZA CITY (Reuters) 7 Mar by Nidal al-Mughrabi — Business was booming for Gaza brick-maker Yasser Qreqea, until neighboring Egypt shut down smuggling tunnels across its border that were funneling arms to militants in the territory and cement and other basic goods to everyone else. Overnight the price of building materials soared in the Gaza Strip, hitting Qreqea’s key customers and, industry sources said, slowing the construction of apartments, roads and houses across the enclave run by Hamas. « Business is dead and we are the ones losing out, » the businessman told Reuters in his factory in the densely-populated Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City.
link to www.maannews.net

Egypt officers at Rafah crossing join strike
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Egyptian officers at the Rafah crossing on the Gaza border went on strike briefly on Thursday. Sami Mitwali, director of the Egyptian side of the crossing, said officers were joining a wider strike calling for the dismissal of Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohamad Ibrahim. Following negotiations, the officers agreed to resume work after half an hour out of consideration for Palestinian passengers, Mitwali told Ma‘an. For most Palestinians in Gaza, the Rafah crossing is the only way out of the enclave due to Israel’s blockade.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza looks to export upholstery foam
MEMO 6 Mar — EXCLUSIVE PICTURES — Efforts are being made to develop the export market for upholstery foam produced in the Gaza Strip. This growing industry is now producing high quality sponge foam and the government is optimistic that Palestinian companies are satisfying local demand, with exports then being the logical option in the very near future. During a tour of a sponge foam factory, where modern methods of manufacturing have been adopted, officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs expressed their pleasure at the quality of the product on offer. It is noteworthy that the same factory was attacked by Israel during its November offensive against the people of the Gaza Strip.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Video : Palestinian children in Gaza start to learn Hebrew
BBC 21 Feb — For the first time in decades, Palestinian children in Gaza are being taught Hebrew. The Hamas government says it is encouraging pupils to learn what it calls « the language of the enemy. » The BBC’s Jon Donnison reports
link to www.bbc.co.uk

Israeli racism

Two women assaulted in Jerusalem
Ynet 6 Mar — Two female teachers on their way to a shiva in Jerusalem were assaulted by haredi youths who pelted their car with stones and shattered one of its windows. One assailant was identified by one of the teachers and was promptly arrested. Later, the two were attacked again when the tires on their car had been punctured. The two teachers from the Alumim school in Ramat Hasharon, one of them an Arab, had arrived in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon to offer their condolences to the school’s principal who had lost her mother. « When we stepped out of the vehicle, they began pelting it with stones and throwing oranges at us, » Revital Volkov said. She further added that the two were also subjected to spitting and cursing. « I was called a bitch and named names, » Volkov recounted. The teacher filed a complaint with the police and returned to the scene together with officers in an attempt to trace the assailants. One of them was identified and arrested and according to the police confessed to the act.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Police chief : Wave of attacks on Arabs ’despicable’
Ynet 7 Mar — Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino called the wave of nationalistically-motivated assaults across Israel a « despicable and criminal » phenomenon. During an assessment meeting at the Tel Aviv District Police headquarters on Thursday, Danino instructed officers to prioritize the treatment of such attacks, adding that the suspects would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A senior police official said the recent attacks on Arab citizens « heighten the tension between the sectors, even if not all the attacks are nationalistically motivated. »
On Wednesday two female teachers, and Arab and a Jew, were attacked by young ultra-Orthodox as they were making their way to a shiva in Jerusalem ... One of the assailants was arrested after he was identified by one of the teachers. The Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court extended the 16-year-old detainee’s remand by one day, and he is expected to be released on Friday.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Police : Indict girls who attacked Arab woman
Ynet 7 Mar — Jerusalem Police District has transferred to the State Prosecutor’s Office the findings of the investigation into the attack on an Arab woman on the light rail a week and a half ago. Police recommended that the State Prosecutor’s Office file charges against the three teenage girls who are suspected of attacking the woman.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Activism / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions

Video — Druze teen to Netanyahu : I will not be a soldier in your army
Israel Social TV 6 Mar — Omar Saad, a young Druze from the town of Maghar in northern Israel declared his refusal to serve in the IDF in late 2012. Although the Druze are considered to be an ethnic group that has assimilated well in the Israeli community, the voices of refusal within the community are becoming stronger. In an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saad writes that he opposes the idea of conscription by law for members of the Druze community, as it forces them to fight against their Arab brothers.
link to 972mag.com

Holland to label settlement goods ?
Ynet 7 Mar — The Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday that it has obtained unofficial information regarding a Dutch directive instructing retail chains in Holland to state the origin of products from settlements. The government has yet to be officially notified about the plan and it is yet unclear who is behind the initiative — the Dutch cabinet or Holland’s agricultural or finance ministries. State officials however believe the information relates to the branding of wines, food products and cosmetics. The Foreign Ministry said in response, « If the purpose of labeling settlement goods is to inform the public that the origin of the product is from a disputed area, then all products from all disputed areas in the world must be marked. Otherwise, it is blatant discrimination against Israel. » ... The plan could be another step in an international trend that is a source of major concern in Israel.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Yesha Council : Product marking leads to Palestinian unemployment
Ynet 8 Mar — The Yesha Council has responded to the decision by the Dutch government to mark products originating from the West Bank, saying : « Industry in Judea and Samaria accounts for almost 10% of Palestinian employment. The marking of these products hinders the region’s economical coexistence and will lead to lay-offs among Palestinian workers. The Dutch government would do better to promote these products, as they serve as a bridge of coexistence in an unstable Mideast. »
link to www.ynetnews.com

Political, other news

Official : Egypt never asked Hamas to quit armed struggle
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Egypt has not asked Hamas to abandon its armed struggle against Israel, a spokesman for the party said Thursday. « Hamas will not leave the armed struggle, and will not respond to this fabricated news, » Salah al-Bardawil told Ma‘an. Israel’s Ynet news reported Thursday that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood leadership had asked Hamas to « implement jihad in other ways » in order to gain international legitimacy. « The Egyptian leadership knows quite well that it is unacceptable to ask the Palestinian people to abandon their key tool to defeat the occupation, » al-Bardawil said.
link to www.maannews.net

PA approves plan to register UNESCO sites
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — The Palestinian Authority cabinet on Tuesday decided to form a committee to prepare applications to register sites on UNESCO’s world heritage list ... Each ministry has been asked to cooperate with the UNESCO committee, and will prepare the files. « For example, the Ministry of Culture will present the Palestinian narrative to register it as intangible cultural heritage, » while a different department would be charged to register the Dead Sea as a body of water. In January, Palestinian experts finalized Palestine’s 2013 submission to the World Heritage Committee, proposing the ancient Bethlehem village of Battir as a heritage site. The committee will vote on whether Battir takes World Heritage status at the June general conference. Palestine was admitted to the UN cultural agency in 2011, and last June UNESCO designated Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and the nearby pilgrimage route as a World Heritage site.
link to www.maannews.net

PA to raise taxes on imports
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 6 Mar - The Palestinian Authority will raise import taxes to encourage consumers to buy local produce, the economy minister said Tuesday. Starting next week, extra taxes will be applied to foreign goods, particularly those imported from China, Jawad Naji told Ma‘an TV.
link to www.maannews.net

Union, ministry clash over classes on Saturdays
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 Mar — The Palestinian Authority education ministry on Wednesday insisted that teachers must make up classes missed due to strike action on Saturdays, after their union refused. Teachers’ union spokesman Bassem Naim on Wednesday said staff would « clearly and unequivocally » refuse to teach extra classes on the weekend until a final agreement was signed with the PA.
link to www.maannews.net

Hamas government to pay salaries next week
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — The government in Gaza will pay February salaries to public sector staff early next week, the deputy finance minister said Thursday.
link to www.maannews.net

Sweden upgrades Palestine mission to embassy status
IMEMC/Agencies 8 Mar — Thursday March 7, 2013 ; with an overwhelming vote of 299 to 20, the Swedish Parliament upgraded the status of the Palestinian representative office in the country to a full status granting the mission the title of embassy. The parliament failed to recognize a Palestinian State [however] ... The Thursday vote in Sweden follows similar decisions made by Hungary, Poland, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Malta, Bulgaria and many other countries in Europe that granted the Palestinian missions embassy status.
link to www.imemc.org

Release of Arafat poisoning probe delayed
Times of Israel 7 Mar — Results still two months away, says Swiss lab testing whether Palestinian leader was killed by radioactive substance
link to www.timesofisrael.com

US aid to Israel cut by $150M, not $250M as expected
Ynet 7 Mar — Sources in Washington updated Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and told him that the across-the-board cut in the US budget will be decreased from 8% to 5%. As a result, the security aid granted to Israel will be cut by $150 million in the upcoming year and not by $250 million as expected. In addition, the cut will have immediate repercussions on Israeli companies providing products and services to the American government, including the military industries.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Canada to cut aid if PA pursues Israel at International Criminal Court
MEMO 7 Mar — Canada’s Foreign Minister has told North America’s main pro-Israel lobby group that if the Palestinian Authority takes legal action against Israel at the International Criminal Court his country will block aid payments to Palestine. Speaking at the AIPAC conference, John Baird warned the PA that it will « deal strongly » with the Authority if it takes such steps.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

The PA refuses talks on non-contiguous Palestinian state
MEMO 6 Mar — The London based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper on Monday quoted its correspondent in Ramallah, Waleed Awad, as saying, « While US president Barak Obama is attempting to end his second term with the establishment of a Palestinian state confined in the West Bank - far away from Gaza Strip - as an historical achievement that he is offering to the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Authority expressed its absolute refusal of the American approach. » The political adviser to president Abbas, Nemer Hammad, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi on Monday that the Palestinian stance was conveyed to the US during the visit of Saeb Erekat and Mohamed Eshtialast last week. The same position was reiterated during the meeting with John Kerry.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Hamas : Obama can visit Gaza
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 Mar — Hamas would not oppose a visit by US President Barack Obama to the Gaza Strip, a party leader said Wednesday. « Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel, but wouldn’t oppose Obama visiting Gaza with the hope that the US attitude to reality will change, » said Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Obama is expected to visit Israel and the West Bank in March.
link to www.maannews.net

Obama says wants to connect directly with Israelis
Ynet 8 Mar — In meeting with Jewish leaders at White House, president lists goals for upcoming Israel visit, says will not deliver ’grand peace plan’ but will urge sides to enter into dialogue — WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama said Thursday that his upcoming trip to Israel will serve to illustrate the United States’ unshakable commitment to Israel in the backdrop of the turmoil in the Middle East.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Israel to hand PA 700 firearms ahead of Obama visit
MEMO 6 Mar — The Israeli government has announced plans to hand the Palestinian Authority (PA) 700 firearms ahead of US President, Barack Obama’s upcoming visit, Israeli Radio said on Wednesday. The firearms are to be handed over to the PA in a bid to enhance its control over cities in the West Bank following the recent popular uprising set off by Israeli violations against Palestinian prisoner rights.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Israel, US and Greece begin annual naval exercise
Times of Israel 7 Mar — Noble Dina, which replaced joint operation with Turkey, gives IDF an ‘opportunity for strengthening cooperation with allies’ ... As was the case in Noble Dina in 2012, the exercise will include defending offshore natural gas platforms, as well as simulated air-to-air combat and anti-submarine warfare.
link to www.timesofisrael.com

Palestinian refugees in Syria

12 Palestinian refugees killed in Syria within 24 hours
DAMASCUS (PIC) 7 Mar — Activists in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria said on Thursday that 12 Palestinians were killed in those camps as a result of shelling and attacks over the past 24 hours. The workgroup for Palestinians in Syria said in a statement that ten Palestinians were killed and 17 others were wounded when shells slammed into the southeastern areas of Sabbina refugee camp. It said that the shells fell on houses and a main market in the refugee camp on Wednesday. They said that two others were killed in separate incidents.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Eight Palestinians including disabled, woman killed in Syria
DAMASCUS (PIC) 6 Mar — Eight Palestinian refugees were killed in Syria on Tuesday in the ongoing armed strife that did not spare camps for Palestinian refugees. Refugee sources said that five were killed in Sabbina refugee camp in rural Damascus including a woman and a disabled man due to shelling on the camp. A young man was killed in Yarmouk refugee camp’s main street after a number of shells blasted in it, the sources said. They added that the bodies of two Palestinians were found in Palestine street in the same camp and were buried after long hours without being identified.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Syria’s Palestinian refugees twice displaced
AMMAN (PIC) 6 Mar — The Syrian tragedy has deepened the Palestinian refugees’ suffering, especially that they have been exiled from their home, and then displaced from Syria to Jordan due to the Syrian crisis that has also affected the Palestinian refugee camps. The historical irony is that the Palestinian refugees have suffered the bitterness of asylum twice during half a century, facing very difficult humanitarian situation and Arab, Islamic and international betrayal. The Jordanian authorities have prevented the entry of Palestinian refugees from Syria to the Jordanian cities which is allowed to the Syrian refugees, for fear that Jordan, which is already the host to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, becomes an alternative homeland, with Jordanian officials stressing the Jordanian inability to shelter the Palestinian refugees.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

International Women’s Day

Woman’s Day 2013 : Manal speaks about empowerment through video
B’Tselem 6 Mar — As part of International Women’s Day, which here at B’Tselem we’ve extended into International Women’s Week, we’d like to introduce you to Manal Ja‘bri, coordinator of our video camera project in Hebron. Manal, who supports and guides the project’s volunteers, also serves as a B’Tselem field research for the Hebron District together with a male colleague, Musa Abu Hashhash. Impressively, she finds time to do all this while also raising her seven children... About B’Tselem’s Camera Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGXj1-x871A

Women’s Day finds [Israeli] Arab women in grim state / Hassan Shaalan
Ynet 7 Mar — The International Women’s Day to be marked on Friday emphasized feelings of discrimination among Arab women, who see little improvement in their social, political and employment standing According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, only 21.5% of Arab women were employed in 2011, compared to 68% of Jewish women. About half of working Arab women are part-time workers. Contrary to popular belief, reports show the reasons for the low employment rates are not linked to tradition or mentality, but to far more prosaic factors, Place of residence, type of community, education levels, job experience, the local Arab job market’s limited range, lack of proper public transportation and no day-care facilities are the major factors listed in several studies.Low levels of Hebrew proficiency have also been cited as a factor preventing Arab women from integrating in the work force.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Females share of Palestinian population of 2012 is 49.2%, says Statistics Bureau
RAMALLAH, March 7, 2013 (WAFA) - The estimated population of Palestine at the end of 2012 was 4.35 million of whom 2.21 million were males and 2.14 million females. Males comprise 50.8 percent of the total population compared to 49.2 percent for females. In other words, for every 100 persons there were 49 females, a sex ratio of 103.2, said Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) Thursday on the occasion of International Woman’s Day. It said more than half of females aged 15 years and above are married ; six out of every 10 females aged 15 years and above were married, while three women out of 10 were never married. In addition, 5.8 percent were widowed, 1.5 percent divorced, 2.2 percent engaged for the first time, and 0.2 percent were separated. he statistics showed that violence against women remained in existence ; according to women’s centre for legal aid counseling, 13 women were killed in Palestine in 2012 for different reasons....
link to english.wafa.ps

Analysis / Opinion / Human interest

The Month in Pictures : February 2013
Electronic Intifada 4 March
link to electronicintifada.net

Hugo Chávez and the Palestinian resistance / Ramona Wadi
MEMO 7 Mar — Well known for his anti-imperialist stance and support for oppressed people, Hugo Chávez’s death has provoked a worldwide lament. In Palestine, activists participating in demonstrations against Israeli administrative detention wore Che Guevara t-shirts and carried Venezuelan flags — emblems of a continuous struggle for freedom which has been transformed into decades of reality for Palestinian. President Mahmoud Abbas stated that « The Palestinian people will remain loyal to Chávez and his memory will remain engraved in recognition of his courage and conscience in supporting the right to establish our independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital ». Hamas declared Chávez ’an activist and supporter of the Palestinian cause’ and a defender of freedom who opposed Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Sa‘adat, Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, reiterated these declarations and evoked similarities between the struggle for freedom in Palestine and Latin America saying that Chávez’s ’heroic stand against the aggression and tyranny of the occupation’ would never be forgotten by the Palestinian people. Venezuela’s expulsion of the Israeli ambassador in 2009 was followed with a statement in which Chávez declared that the presidents of both Israel and the US should be tried at the International Criminal Court. His anti-Zionist stance was again emphasised in the aftermath of the massacre on board the Mavi Marmara in May 2010, with Chávez asserting that the attack was ’an act of war undertaken by the Israeli army against defenceless civilians’.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.com

Keeping things quiet in the West Bank for Obama’s visit / Anna Lekas Miller
Daily Beast 7 Mar — On Wednesday, Israeli Radio reported that the Israeli government plans to give the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces 700 firearms to « keep the peace » ahead of President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit. « The aim is to boost the PA security service against lawbreakers and terrorists, » a source from the Israeli Ministerial Council commented to Israeli Radio ... Now the PA will be further equipped to carry out the work of the IDF. This collaboration between the PA and the Israeli occupation is hardly new. Earlier this year, the PA security forces raided Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, shooting live rounds of ammunition at refugees protesting against Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Seven people were shot with live fire, with three sustaining critical injuries ; it was the PA’s most violent confrontation with West Bank Palestinian civilians to date.
link to www.thedailybeast.com

Arab-Israeli in Haifa uses art to help Palestinian refugee sister / Gideon Levy & Alex Levacr
Haaretz 22 Feb — The struggle to save Lutfia, an 84 year-old Palestinian refugee, is being conducted by her brother Abed Abdi, a respected Palestinian artist who resides in Haifa — A childhood memory documented in a photo : A little boy is holding his mother’s hand ; his four siblings stand alongside them. The place is a refugee camp near Damascus. The year is 1950. This is where the Abdi family eventually fled to after escaping from their home in Haifa, which had been captured by the Haganah during the War of Independence. Here is another photo, from a much later period : All of the siblings, now much older, are standing around their sister, Lutfia - an old woman leaning on a cane and wearing a white kerchief that almost completely envelops her face. This second photograph was taken in Amman, on one of the rare occasions when the family’s members, who were torn apart in 1951, were reunited. At the time, Israel allowed them to return to their homeland, while - due to her marital status - Lutfia was forced to continue leading the life of a refugee in the al-Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus, cut off for the rest of her life from her homeland, her city, the landscape of her childhood, and from her sisters and brothers.
link to www.haaretz.com
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