TODAY in PALESTINE

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

Trailer : The Village under the Forest documentary

Unfolding as a personal meditation from the Jewish Diaspora, The Village Under The Forest explores the hidden remains of the destroyed Palestinian village of Lubya, which lies under a purposefully cultivated forest plantation called South Africa Forest.
link to www.youtube.com

No shortcut through the graveyard forest

Mail&Guardian (South Africa) 7 June — Every Friday Naiff Hujjo, a Palestinian resident of Deir Hanna village in ­Galilee, makes a pilgrimage by tractor, not to mosque, but to a well that has not yet been choked by the roots of a tree in the surrounding pine forest. In this forbidden zone, he performs his pre-prayer cleansing rite above the obliterated village of Nubya, where he was born. Hujjo is not an ideologue. He possesses none of the intellectual polish of a polemicist. He is simply a farmer and a son of the soil from which he has been exiled in the land of his birth. It is here, among a forest of symbols, that award-winning South African filmmaker Mark Kaplan and author Heidi Grunebaum embarked on a three-year-long odyssey, unearthing detritus that memory cannot erase. The fruit of their research is a documentary called The Village Under the Forest, which traces the greening of the Promised Land by the Jewish National Fund. Through the endearing blue-and-white moneyboxes of the Keren Kayemet, Jews throughout the diaspora were entreated to fund the cultivation of forests and recreational parks — one of them called the South African Forest — which, as its namesake suggests, was sponsored by South African Jewry. But much of the Jewish National Fund’s quest to « make the wilderness bloom » was accomplished literally on the gravesites of Palestinian villages after the Israeli War of Independence in May 1948. [From the film’s Facebook page, 11 June : Last night’s Encounters South African International Documentary Festival screening sold-out and received a standing ovation, so we couldn’t be happier with how it went. ].
link to mg.co.za

Israeli forces issue 8 demolition orders in Silwan

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli forces on Monday handed down eight demolition orders to homes and commercial properties in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, a local community center said. Director of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Jawad Siyam, told Ma‘an that a total of eight demolition orders were affixed to homes belonging to the Sarafandi, al-Bana and Siyam families, as well as a car wash. The municipality staff were accompanied by Israeli police. The residential properties handed demolition orders are home to dozens of people, Siyam added. According to the UN, 33 percent of all Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem lack Israeli-issued building permits, potentially placing at least 93,100 residents at risk of displacement.
link to www.maannews.net

Wadi Hilwa residents (Occupied Jerusalem) bar workmen from closing residential alley.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 11 June — The residents of Silwan district in east Jerusalem managed on Monday to prevent workmen sent by the Israeli antiquities authority from closing a residential alley in Wadi Hilwa neighborhood in order to carry out diggings. Senior official of Wadi Hilwa information center Ahmed Qara‘ein said that the workmen brought with them tin sheets and wires as a prelude to closing part of the entrance to a residential alley in Wadi Hilwa and carry out diggings. Qara‘ein noted that the workmen did not state the reason for their diggings and how long they would be taking place. He affirmed that there are more than 25 homes inside this alley and its partial closure would restrict the movement of the residents and make it impossible for them to bring any piece of furniture into their houses because the passage is too narrow, noting that the tin sheets, if installed, would block the sunlight from getting to the alley. He also noted that some people with special needs uses wheelchairs and could not leave their homes if the works started. Qara‘ein said that the workmen refused to show any work permits and got involved in a verbal altercation with the residents before they left without initiating the works.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Jerusalemite ordered to pay 13,000 dollars to compensate a usurping settler

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 11 June — Israeli forces’ Judaization campaigns and brutal practices against Jerusalemites aiming to displace them from the holy city continue. The Israeli Magistrate’s Court imposed a 13-thousand-dollar sum against the Jerusalemite Daoud Siam, 35, for his alleged attack on an Israeli settler who tried to confiscate the house of Siam’s grandfather, Wadi Hilweh Information Center revealed. Siam told the center that the court issued a decision in absentia on Sunday asking him to pay a 13-thousand-dollar sum to the Israeli settler who claimed to have been assaulted by Siam. The case dates back over four years, Siam said
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Israeli forces prevent Hebron farmers from accessing their land

HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 June — Israeli forces on Monday prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their land in northern Hebron, a local committee said. Muhammad Awad, spokesman for the popular committee against the wall, told Ma’an that Israeli forces prevented farmers from the Sabarneh, Sulaibi, Abu Maria, and Akel families from accessing land located near the illegal Karmi Zur settlement, north of Halhul. The farmers had previously coordinated with Palestinian and Israeli officials to access their land. A settlement guard reportedly threatened to shoot one of the farmers if he didn’t leave the area, the farmers added.
link to www.maannews.net

Mayor : Bedouins forced out of Jordan Valley by water shortages

TUBAS (Ma‘an) 10 June — Bedouin families are being forced out of the Jordan Valley by water shortages after Israeli authorities drained water springs in the area, the mayor of al-Malih said Monday. It takes one person « a whole day to bring three cubic meters of water from Tammun and other areas of the Jordan Valley » to al-Malih, said Mayor Arif Daraghmeh. Dozens of families have left al-Malih to live closer to water resources, the mayor told Ma‘an. Daraghmeh noted that water pipes belonging to Israel’s national water company Mekorot run through al-Malih to supply Israeli settlers and military bases but Palestinians who own the land « can’t get a cubic meter of water for their children. »
link to www.maannews.net

Israel to expel Bedouin families from their homes near Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (WAFA) 11 June– The Israeli authorities Tuesday issued expulsion orders for eight Palestinian families consisting of 53 members from their homes in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, according to local sources. They told WAFA that the Israeli authorities issued several orders to expel the families from the Kaabneh tribe in what appears to be an attempt to seize the land they have set up their tent homes on. Dimitri Diliani, member of Fatah Revolutionary Council from Jerusalem, said the Kaabneh tribe has been suffering for years ever since the establishment of the Atarot industrial area north of Jerusalem and the building of the segregation wall, which divided the tribe’s members and cut off all services to them
link to english.wafa.ps

Bedouin family evicted from Ramat Hasharon residence
Ynet 12 June — The Bedouin Amkatran family filed a complaint Tuesday with the Herzliya police against the Ramat Hasharon Municipality for evacuating them from their home. « We were born and raised on this land and went to schools in the Tel Aviv area, » said Amir Amkatran, a member of the family who was evicted from its residence near the Cinema-City compound in the municipal jurisdiction of Ramat Hasharon ... According to Amir Amkatran, "They tore down the structures with no warning or demolition orders. We’ve been living on these lands before the State was formed. We have many Jewish friends we’ve known for many years. Unfortunately, Ramat Hasharon wants to chase us away from our lands so as to steal them and take control over them. "I still can’t fathom how they can take down houses without demolition orders.
link to www.ynetnews.com

WATCH : The Israeli government’s place to displace Bedouin
Israeli Social TV 11 June — Last month, Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a draft law to regulate Bedouin settlement in the Negev. The committee approved the Prawer Plan, which will bring about the destruction of dozens of Bedouin villages in the Negev, further dispossession of their lands and severe poverty and unemployment.
link to 972mag.com

World Bank, the PA and Israel work together to confiscate Palestinian land for West Bank dump site
Mondoweiss 10 June by Allison Deger — Three West Bank villages are challenging Israeli orders to confiscate their agricultural fields, earmarked for a Palestinian Authority (PA) landfill funded by the German Development Bank (KfW). The proposed 14 million Euro sanitation facility is slated to become first official dump site in the heavily populated Ramallah-district, and the third in the region specifically for Palestinian-use. Yet unlike other landfills, which are in Area A and B, the new site is located in Area C of the West Bank, under Israeli security control. Despite a dire need for sanitation facilities (according to World Bank and PA reports a majority of the West Bank waste is either dumped in illegal sites or burned), villagers affected by the land grab are claiming that Palestinian officials sought out the Israeli authorities to carryout the confiscation, after residents refused to sell their land.
link to mondoweiss.net

Israel PM : Construction in West Bank settlements continues
Reuters 11 June — Netanyahu says wants to resume peace talks, but insists construction will continue ; State must be ’smart’ on issue of settlements, he notes — ...One of Netanyahu’s senior political partners, MK Avigdor Lieberman, told Army Radio Israel was already observing a break in construction in east Jerusalem. « One should view this as a temporary hiatus, » the former foreign minister said, adding : « We have an interest in Kerry succeeding. »
link to www.ynetnews.com

Violence / Raids / Attacks / Clashes / Arrests

Child beaten in custody, admitted to hospital
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 11 June — A 12-year-old child from ‘Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem the Israeli army had arrested on Monday was admitted to Hadassah hospital in Israel after he was beaten by the soldiers, the Prisoner Club said Tuesday. It said one of its lawyers visited Husam Khalifa at his hospital bed who told him that he was beaten before being taken to hospital. Khalifa’s family went to Ofer military court near Ramallah on Monday to attend his court hearing, as they were told, but when they got there they were told he was taken to hospital. Khalifa’s father said he was with his son until after midnight after he was summoned by the army to the Bethlehem checkpoint, where his son was held. He said his son did not require hospitalization or any kind of treatment [at that point]
link to english.wafa.ps

Settlement guard shoots, injures Palestinian worker
QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 11 June — A Palestinian worker was shot and injured by a settlement security guard in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, locals said. Witnesses told Ma‘an that a security guard at the illegal Oranit settlement [IMEMC : built on lands that belong to residents of Azzoun Al-‘Atma village] opened fire at a number of Palestinian laborers as they headed to work in Israel. Abdullah al-Birri, 20, was shot in the leg and taken to Darwish Nazzal hospital in Qalqiliya. Medics said he suffered moderate injuries.
link to www.maannews.net

Palestinian injured in Hebron
IMEMC [Tuesday June 11 2013] Palestinian medical sources have reported that a Palestinian man was shot by Israeli army fire, when Israeli soldiers attacked a funeral procession of a child in Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Spokesperson of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar, Mohammad Awad, stated that a number of soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs at the residents while heading towards the town’s graveyard.
Awad said that soldiers, based on a military tower at the entrance of Beit Ummar, fired rubber-coated metal bullets, and that one resident identified as Ahmad Mohammad Sleiby, 45, was shot and injured in his back.
link to www.imemc.org

The wave of night time invasions and arrests by the Israeli military continues in the village of Ni‘lin
Ni‘lin Sons 11 June — A wave of night time invasions and arrests by the Israeli military continues in the village of Ni‘lin. At 3am on the 10th of June Ahmad Daood, 26 years old, was arrested in his home. Six military jeeps and more than thirty soldiers invaded the village in the night and tore down the gate to the Daood house. Ahmad was awakened from his sleep and brutally dragged out of bed. He was handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten in front of his family before being taken away in one of the jeeps. Ahmed was taken to Ofer Military Prison but it is still unclear whether or not he has received any medical treatment for the wounds that he sustained during the arrest. Witnesses stated he was bleeding as he was taken away by the soldiers.
Nighttime incursions in Ni‘lin are still a very common occurrence and on the night of Ahmad Daood’s arrest the village was invaded twice ; the first time around 1:30 am where no arrests were made. As the villagers just settled back to bed, thinking that the soldiers had left for the night, Ni‘lin was invaded yet again. On an average week the village is targeted for nightly invasions two or three times and since last month 29 people have been arrested during these incursions. Most of those arrested are likely to face sentences of more than a year in prison for their participation in peaceful demonstrations against the annexation wall separating Ni‘lin farmers from their land.
link to palsolidarity.org

Palestinian injured in intifada dies in Jordan
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 11 June — A 27-year-old man who was shot in the head by Israeli forces during the second intifada died in Jordan on Tuesday. Khalid Jamal Kharboush was paralyzed by the shooting on April 4, 2004. He was treated in several hospitals in the Arab world, his family said. Hamas sent its condolences to Kharboush’s family, and said he had survived several assassination attempts by Israel before he was shot and paralyzed. He will be buried in his hometown of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank.
link to www.maannews.net

School’s out ; harassment continues in Hebron
[with photos] Hebron, Occupied Palestine (ISM) 11 June by Khalil Team — The Hebron street where the Israeli army and Police have recently been regularly intimidating schoolchildren and teachers was today the scene of harassment of a different nature. Tareq Bin Ziyad Street in Hebron was the scene of a mass arrest of schoolchildren earlier this year and intimidation continued until the end of the school year. Now that school’s out for summer, soldiers have found another way to harass the local Palestinian population – using a large military presence to check for cars that, as one soldier said, ’might have been stolen from Israel.’ Today, four jeeps and a dozen soldiers stopped cars, demanded to see IDs, and chased one driver down the street menacing him with their guns. Children playing in the street were ordered to clear the area around where soldiers were harassing drivers. After a couple of hours, the Israeli army and police removed one vehicle from the street ’for further investigation’.
link to palsolidarity.org

3 injured in clashes as settlers visit Nablus tomb
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 10 June — Three Palestinians were injured overnight Monday during clashes in Nablus as dozens of settlers visited Joseph’s tomb, PA security officials said. Mohammad Munieb Awies, 11, Mohammad Samir Hashash, 14, and Mohammad Khalil Idres, 23, were injured in clashes with Israeli troops and transferred to hospital. At least 15 buses carrying settlers were seen by the tomb amid a heavy Israeli military presence.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli troops raid Jaba‘ village, no arrests
JENIN (Ma‘an) 10 June – Israeli forces raided several houses in Jaba‘ village southwest of Jenin and withdrew without making arrests, residents said. Locals told Ma‘an that six military jeeps entered the village about 3 a.m., breaking into houses and searching residents. They said jeeps stationed at the main entrance stopped cars and checked IDs. No arrests were reported.
link to www.maannews.net

Group : Son of Hamas leader detained at Jordan border
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 11 June — Israeli authorities on Monday detained the son of a prominent Hamas leader at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, a human rights groups said. Husan Harb, 24, was detained late Monday, said researcher Ahmad al-Bitawi of the Tadamun ("Solidarity") Foundation for Human Rights. Husan’s father, Sheikh Hussam Harb, was detained days earlier in an arrest raid on Salfit in the northern West Bank, according to the group. It described the son’s arrest as a means to pressure the father. The elder Harb was released from Israeli custody after 30 months in prison nearly a year earlier, the group said. He was re-arrested on June 4.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli occupation forces kidnap 15 Palestinians in West Bank
RAMALLAH (PIC) 11 June – The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Tuesday 15 Palestinians from different West Bank areas, most of them from Nablus. According to local sources, the IOF stormed Orif village south of Nablus and kidnapped nine Palestinian citizens from their homes. The other six citizens were taken prisoners during raids on other areas in Nablus, Al-Khalil and Jenin. [Ma‘an : an Israeli army spokeswoman said eight people were detained in Urif, one in the Tulkarem village of ‘Anabta, one in Jayyous, Qalqiliya, and one in Madama, south of Nablus]
In earlier incidents, the IOF kidnapped on Monday a young man named Haitham Dabaya at a makeshift checkpoint on the road between Jenin and Ramallah. They also kidnapped yesterday another young man named Jawad Otairi, from Yatta town in Al-Khalil, at another makeshift checkpoint in Ziv area in Yatta.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

WATCH : Former female Israeli soldiers break their silence
972mag 10 June by Mairav Zonszein — On May 10th, Breaking the Silence – an organization of veteran IDF soldiers who collect testimonies from soldiers about their past service in the occupied Palestinian territories – released a series of new video testimonies by former female soldiers who testify on camera to the harsh reality of the occupation they participated in and witnessed. This campaign is of special significance to me because it gives voice to the women who comprise Israel’s army and its mechanism for continued occupation and oppression, happening within a society (local and global) in which, as women, they already exist in a gender power dynamic of systematic discrimination and violence.
link to 972mag.com

Detainees / Court actions

Israel sentences 2 teens to 3 months
JENIN (Ma‘an) 11 June — An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced two Palestinian teenagers to three months in prison, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said. Ahmad Khalaf, 13, and Yasser Subih, 14, from Bruqin near Jenin were sentenced to three months and ordered to pay 2,000 shekels ($548) each in fines, the PPS said in a statement.
link to www.maannews.net

2 Jerusalemites are deported after being attacked by settler
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC) 11 June — The Israeli police has released on Monday two Jerusalemite youths on deportation order for 3 days from their houses and work places. Muhammad Ghaith, 23, and his friend Ali Kiresh, 21, have submitted a complaint in a police station against an Israeli settler who threatened them with a knife, however they were surprised that the Israeli settler has complained against them claiming that they tried to hit him with a metal object. Ghaith said that the Israeli settler belongs to the Israeli settlement Assembly Elad where he hit him and tried to stab him with a knife but the neighborhood residents intervened. The Israeli police released Ghaith and his friend on fine of 3 thousand shekels and a deportation order for 3 days.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

Hebron activist speaks at UN Human Rights Council
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 10 June — A human rights activist from Hebron on Monday discussed the plight of Palestinian prisoners at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. « I was detained 20 times in 2012 alone despite the fact that I am a human rights activist and non-violence advocate, » Amr told the council. Amr, who founded the Youth Against Settlements group in Hebron, was invited to speak by UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk and addressed the council as well as representatives of dozens of international human rights groups. He discussed the oppression and humiliation Palestinian prisoners face in Israeli custody, and spoke about Israeli efforts to force Palestinians from Hebron and replace them with Jewish settlers.
link to www.maannews.net

Detainee on hunger strike ’until freedom’
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 10 June — Jerusalem detainee Hussam Matar, 30, continued a hunger strike for the ninth day on Monday to protest his detention in an Israeli jail. Matar’s wife told Ma‘an that her husband would not give up his strike until Israel agrees to his release. He was moved to an isolation cell at Nafha prison, she said. She called on the Palestinian Authority to stand by the detainee, who was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to life. He has two children, she said.
Meanwhile an official at the Palestinian detainees’ center for studies said that administrative detainees will start a hunger strike protesting against this kind of detention. Riyad Al-Ashqar said in a statement that four detainees will start food strike Monday and then the number will increase to include all 200 administrative detainees, most of them at Negev prison.
link to www.maannews.net

Detainee appeals for eye surgery
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 10 June — A Palestinian jailed in Israel on Monday appealed for eye surgery to the Palestinian Authority and human rights organizations. Muhammad Barash lost one eye when he was shot in clashes during the first intifada. He is losing sight in his other eye after he was attacked by Israeli prison guards, he told his lawyer, and needs urgent surgery to save his sight. Barash is being held in Israel’s Ashkelon prison. He also has hearing problems and has lost a leg.
link to www.maannews.net

Torture : Israeli interrogators break the skull of Palestinian captive
JENIN (PIC) 10 June – Palestinian detainee Mohammed Zakarne was cruelly interrogated by Israeli intelligence and suffered fractured skull as a result. Kamel Zakarne, Mohammed’s brother, said on Monday that Mohammed suffered other injuries during interrogation in Jalama detention center. He pointed out that Mohammed was already suffering a serious condition as a result of his solitary confinement. He held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the life of his brother, adding that an Israeli court had extended his custody, which started a month ago. Zakarne, a former member of Fatah’s armed group the Aqsa brigades, was « pardoned » by the IOA, but was arrested in an ambush at the entrance to Jenin city a month ago.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Liberated prisoner Jamal Fahal dies of kidney failure contracted during detention
RAMALLAH (PIC) 10 June – The Palestinian prisoner’s society in Ramallah said that liberated prisoner Jamal Fahal, 42, died on Monday of kidney failure. It said in a statement that Fahal, from Kuber village to the north of Ramallah, was detained in Israeli occupation jails on six occasions in the first and second intifadas. The society pointed out that Fahal suffered kidney failure and his condition exacerbated due to medical neglect while in custody.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

PFLP leader calls for release of sick prisoners
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 11 June — Jailed PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat on Tuesday said that sick detainees must be given priority in any future prisoner release deals. The PFLP secretary-general said in a statement via his lawyer that there is an urgent need to free severely sick prisoners and those with cancer.
link to www.maannews.net

Israel’s occupation ’authority’ renews house arrest of an elderly patient
JENIN (PIC) 10 June – The Israeli court has extended today the house arrest of the elderly lady Fethiye Khanfar, from Jenin, till next September at a house in Rahat in 1948-occupied Palestine for the 6th time in a row ... PPS said that Hajja Fethiye, 58, was detained for 18 days in Israeli jails after visiting her son who is serving a 15-year sentence. She was then released and placed under house arrest in Rahat in 1948-occupied Palestine ... [Her husband] pointed out that the court’s decision forced her to live with a guarantor from 1948-occupied territories and to sign twice a week, Sundays and Wednesdays, at the nearest Israeli police station despite her difficult health condition. Khanfar said that these Israeli measures came in light the Israeli harassments against the Palestinian prisoners’ families.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Comrade Riad Issa freed from occupation prisons
PFLP 9 June — Comrade Riad Said Abdulaziz Issa was released from occupation prisons after 20 years behind bars on Sunday, June 9, returning to Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah, Gaza, Palestine. A rally and march in Rafah welcomed him, including a number of cadres and members of the Front, his family and friends, and family members of other prisoners, who carried Palestinian flags and PFLP banners. Participants chanted for the freedom of all prisoners, and for soldiers to be captured in order to liberate prisoners. Comrade Issa was arrested on June 10, 1993, accused of belonging to the Front and its military organizations and being part of military operations during the first Intifada. His mother and father died while he was a prisoner in Israeli jails, both of whom were prohibited from visiting their son by the occupation authorities. Issa participated in various protests and strikes inside the occupation prisons, and was subject to isolation on multiple occasions.
link to pflp.ps

Gaza relatives visit detainees at Israeli jail
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 June – Detainees’ relatives from the Gaza Strip headed on Monday morning to the Erez crossing to visit their relatives at Israel’s Eshel prison, a Red Cross official said. Nasser al-Najjar told Ma’an that 37 relatives including nine children took the trip. He said the Israeli side was allowing the visits to take place weekly without incident.
link to www.maannews.net

Blockaded Gaza

Man wounded by Israeli gunfire in the southern Gaza Strip
Gaza (ISM) 11 June by Rosa Schiano — On the morning of Monday, 10th June, a Palestinian man was injured by Israeli army fire while working in the area of Sufa, southern Gaza Strip, near the barrier with Israel. Hadayed Abu Amer, 20, was picking up rocks and stones to be sold as building material along with his brothers Yasser and Saher. The three had gone to work at 6:00 am aboard a tuk-tuk. An Israeli military jeep approached them so they left the area, but returned soon after to continue working. At this point the soldiers started shooting in their direction. At about 7:00am the three men, who were about 30 meters from the barrier that separates Israel from the Gaza Strip, tried to flee to avoid being hurt, but Amer was hit in the shoulder by one of the bullets. Amer and one of his brothers fled while the third followed them with the tuk-tuk. Amer was subsequently transported to the hospital. The three men earn 80 shekels for a day’s work, of which 15 shekels usually goes to the driver of the tuk-tuk. In practice the men earn about six euros each daily, working every day in an area of extreme danger. Amer is still in the intensive care unit of the European hospital just south of Khan Younis.
[Ma‘an : Last week, Ahmad Hamdin, 21, was shot by Israeli soldiers east of Jabalia, northern Gaza, while picking watermelons]
link to palsolidarity.org

Israeli tanks cross into central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 11 June — Israeli military vehicles on Tuesday crossed 10 meters into the Gaza Strip east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Six military vehicles along with bulldozers started digging near the Palestinian city, while onlookers reported gunfire. There were no reports of injury. An Israeli army spokesman said there was « routine activity » in the area, without providing further details.
link to www.maannews.net

Israeli warplanes launch mock raids on Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 10 June – Israeli warplanes launched a number of mock raids on the Gaza Strip afternoon Monday, a PIC reporter said. He said that Israeli F16s dropped bombs off the coast of Gaza causing big bangs that resounded in all areas of the coastal enclave.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Gaza’s ark is different
Montreal (Palestine Chronicle) 8 Juneby Ehab Lotayef — November 2011 : Two boats sail out of Turkey quietly heading to Gaza : the Tahrir and the Saoirse. Once in international waters they announce their destination and their challenge to the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. The two boats are attacked, boarded and seized by the Israeli Navy in international waters, just 45 nautical miles from Gaza. October 2012 : After a four-month trip in solidarity with the people of Gaza and against the Israeli blockade imposed on the tiny coastal strip, a trip during which it spread awareness and gathered public support in numerous European ports, the sailing vessel Estelle is attacked, boarded and seized by the Israeli Navy. It too, was in international waters, in this case 38 nautical miles from the port of Gaza ... Although it is a continuation of those non-violent direct actions against the blockade, Gaza’s Ark is different. In May 2013, our international solidarity campaign purchased a large fishing vessel in Gaza and work started immediately to convert it into a cargo ship that will carry products made in Palestine to buyers all over the world. This is the idea behind Gaza’s Ark. Palestinian workers in the port of Gaza are rebuilding a vessel with the help of international experts to challenge the blockade from the inside out. The work in the port of Gaza is helping to revive a boat building industry that has nearly disappeared due to the devastating effect the blockade had on fishing and shipping in Gaza. The work is planned to take a few months with the goal of having the Ark ready to sail this fall.
link to palestinechronicle.com

Video : ’Gaza Ark’ to sail through embargo
AFP 10 June — An old fishing trawler is being revamped by the « Freedom Flotilla Coalition » into « Gaza’s Ark » - a cargo vessel to export Palestinian products from the port of Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade on Palestinian exports from Gaza. Duration : 00:44
link to www.youtube.com

Gaza’s viability at stake, UN rights envoy says
GENEVA (Reuters) 10 June — (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator accused Israel on Monday of imposing collective punishment on 1.75 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and said that the enclave’s viability was at stake. Both Israel and its close ally the United States boycotted the debate at the Human Rights Council where Richard Falk presented his latest report. It also calls for an inquiry into alleged torture of Palestinian detainees in Israel’s custody.
link to www.reuters.com

A young woman in Gaza realizes her goal to become a sports reporter
Internews 11 June — Taghreed Emoor has had a dream since childhood. « I’ve always wanted to be an international sports anchor, » she told Internews in a recent interview. « My entire family is passionate about sport. My brother is even a soccer player on the Palestinian national team ! » The odds were against this young Palestinian woman : competition for radio reporting jobs is fierce, and Gaza has very few female sports anchors. Yet she was determined ... Taghreed was recently chosen by Al Jazeera Sports to receive an in-depth training in sports reporting. The program has yet to take place due to difficulties for the trainers to get into Gaza for classes, but Taghreed remains hopeful. She said, « My ambition goes beyond Palestine ! »
link to www.internews.org

PLC welcomes Saudi activists in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an)10 June — The Legislative Council in the Gaza Strip on Monday welcomed a delegation of activists from Saudi Arabia. The group arrived in Gaza as part of a « Miles of Smiles » convoy. Jamal Dahdah, head of the delegation, told Ma’an that the group aimed to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
link to www.maannews.net

Gaza govt plans to execute more collaborators
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 10 June — The Hamas-run government in Gaza plans to execute a number of collaborators with Israel in an attempt to « eradicate » collaboration this year, a security official said Monday. Salah Addin Abu Sharkh, director of internal security at the Interior Ministry, said the government had « a clear goal and several means to eradicate this dangerous epidemic, » including executing convicted collaborators. Abu Sharkh said the anti-collaboration campaign, which ran from March 12 to May 12, achieved most of its goals and resulted in a number of arrests. He said legal procedures against the suspects were ongoing, in an interview on the ministry’s website.
link to www.maannews.net

Political, other news

New Palestinian government holds its first meeting
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 11 June — The new Palestinian government headed by Rami Hamdallah and which was sworn in on Thursday held its first meeting in Ramallah Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Muhammad Mustafa, who is also acting as government spokesman for a temporary period, told a press conference that the government agenda included discussion of current and future financial, economic, political and social issues. He said each of the ministers was asked to prepare a plan for his or her ministry for the next 100 days in order for the government to present its 100-day plan ... On the political level, Mustafa said the government will follow the program of President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO, which he said « we are committed to it and will do our best to support it and implement its program. »....
link to english.wafa.ps

PA official warns of worsening financial crisis
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 11 June — The Palestinian Authority deputy prime minister for economic affairs said Tuesday that the financial crisis is getting worse, as the new PA cabinet met for the first time. « There is a major financial crisis and the PA is $4.2 billion in internal and external debt, » Muhammad Mustafa said during a news conference following the cabinet meeting. « We will start looking for sources of financial funds and will examine spending and collect taxes to pay our debts on time. » The PA official also warned of a growing job crisis, with over 250,000 Palestinians currently unemployed, young people particularly affected.
link to www.maannews.net

Resheq : Hamas did not ask Fatah to delay the formation of the national govt
BEIRUT (PIC) 11 June — Member of Hamas’s political bureau Ezzat Al-Resheq denied claims made by Fatah faction that Mahmoud Abbas postponed the formation of an interim consensus government at the request of Hamas. In a press statement to the Jordanian newspaper Assabil on Monday, Resheq said that the formation of the consensus government has always been in the hands of Abbas since the emergence of the Doha agreement, but he shelved it for some reasons. He said Hamas had showed flexibility and agreed to let Abbas lead the consensus government, but the latter was always reluctant to form it and Hamas criticized him for that. The Hamas official pointed out that at the time, there were pressures on the Palestinian authority and threats to halt the financial support for it if it reconciled with Hamas.
link to occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com

Embattled UN rights envoy for Palestinian areas vows to stay on
(Reuters) 11 June - - The United Nations human rights investigator for the Palestinian territories said on Tuesday he would not resign and accused critics of calling him anti-Semitic to divert attention from his scrutiny of Israeli policies. Richard Falk said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had « joined in the attacks ». UN Watch, an activist group that Falk labels as a « pro-Israel lobbying organisation », and Israel’s main ally the United States have called for him to quit. U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe described him as « unfit to serve in his role as a UN special rapporteur ». « I don’t intend to resign and there doesn’t seem to be any formal initiative that is seeking my dismissal, » he told a news briefing a day after addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council.
link to uk.reuters.com

Kerry postpones Mideast visit amid Syria talks
WASHINGTON (AFP) 10 June — US Secretary of State John Kerry has postponed a trip to Israel and Palestinian territories this week to attend White House talks on Syria, US officials told AFP on Monday. « Secretary Kerry has postponed (his) trip to attend meetings in Washington, » a State Department official said in an email, asking not to be identified. Instead Kerry will attend White House talks on the Syrian conflict, in which thousands of Hezbollah fighters are helping President Bashar al-Assad gain ground against opposition forces, another US official said.
link to www.channelnewsasia.com

PCHR : Assault during boycott talk must be investigated
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 10 June — The Palestinian Center for Human Rights on Monday urged the Palestinian Authority attorney-general to investigate the assault of a man during a recent Boycott talk in Bethlehem. « Nizar Khalil Banat, 34, from Hebron, was violently beaten by a number of persons after he left the Fourth National Conference to Boycott Israel, held in Bethlehem » on Saturday, PCHR said in a statement. Banat told the rights group that he identified two of his attackers as accompanying the PA Minister of National Economy Jawad al-Naji, who spoke at the event. The incident occurred after Banat, during a question and answer session, accused the Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas of coordinating with Israel. Naji quickly interrupted by saying « We do not want to hear howling, » PCHR said, as other participants demanded that he apologize or leave the conference. The minister stormed out of the conference. Banat said he sustained bruises to his head and legs in the attack, and went to hospital for treatment.
link to www.maannews.net

Britain refused Israel military equipment for fear it would add to ’internal repression’
Haaretz 12 June by Aluf Benn — From January 2008 to December 2012, Britain rejected 52 Israeli requests to buy military equipment, citing concerns it could contribute to Arab-Israeli conflict, damage regional stability ... Britain is not the only country that has refused to supply Israel with military equipment out of fears it will be used for repression or aggravate the regional conflict. The Dutch government, which sells only a small amount of military equipment to Israel, rejected a request to purchase night vision systems for the Israel Prisons Service and the police’s rescue unit in 2010.
link to www.haaretz.com

FIFA’s Blatter to visit Palestine in July
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 11 June – Sepp Blatter, president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), is expected to visit Palestine in July to help alleviate the problems facing Palestinian athletes from the Israeli occupation, Jibril Rjoub, head of the Palestinian Football Association, said Tuesday. He said in a press conference that five main issues will be tackled by Blatter during his visit : First, the Israeli restrictions on movement of Palestinian athletes and administrators ; second, Israeli interference in the construction of football fields on the claim they are being built near settlements ; third, inability to bring in equipment donated by FIFA for the Palestinian association ; fourth, obstacles Israel puts in the way of international athletes coming to play in Palestine ; and, fifth, Israel telling countries bringing athletes to Palestine not to come under all kinds of pretexts.
link to english.wafa.ps

Cuba condemns increase of Israeli aggression toward Palestine
GENEVA (Granma) 11 June — Addressing the Human Rights Council, Cuba condemned continued Israeli acts of aggression against the Palestinian people and the illegal construction of new settlements in the occupied territories. « Acts of violence and provocation against the Palestinian civilian population on the part of colonizers have increased without the occupying power taking any steps to prevent them, or appropriate legal measures to try those responsible, » stated Vilma Thomas, the Cuban representative.
link to www.granma.cu

Colombia’s president arrives in Ramallah
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 11 June – President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday received in Ramallah his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos, who started his first visit to Palestine.Following official ceremonies during which the Colombian and Palestinian national anthems were played and after inspecting the National Guard and meeting delegations from both sides, the two leaders started official talks. Abbas visited Colombia in October.
link to english.wafa.ps

Livni : Extremism mustn’t define our discourse
Ynet 10 June by Moran Azulay — Justice Minister Tzipi Livni discussed the government’s attitude towards the peace process with the Palestinians on Monday. Commenting on Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon’s remarks regarding the two-state solution, she said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must decide whether to let such extremist rhetoric dominate the discourse or to allow those who realize that a settlement is in Israel’s interest to make the decisions.
link to www.ynetnews.com

Special delivery to Arab sector : 10,000 gas masks
Ynet 11 June by Yoav Zitun — In first of its kind, on Wednesday, Home Front Command will distribute thousands of gas mask kits in villages of Wadi Ara, instead of its residents having to travel to another city to obtain a kit. Additionally, training focusing on what to do in emergency situations will be expanded : ’There is a thirst for knowledge’ [compare this to the last Lebanon-Israel war, where most ’Arabs’ had no gas masks and no shelters, unlike Jewish Israelis. Ten thousand masks won’t go far though]
link to www.ynetnews.com

Boulder council rejects Nablus as sister city
BOULDER, Colorado (AP) 11 June — Boulder officials have rejected a proposal to make the West Bank town of Nablus the city’s eighth sister city. Opponents said Monday that Nablus would be an inappropriate sister-city partner because of alleged human rights violations under the Palestinian Authority, including reports of honor killings of women and an alleged lack of respect for press freedom. Palestinian officials have declined comment. Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Scott Levin says a group promoting the sister-city relationship has political motivations, and the city should not take sides in an international dispute.
link to www.gjsentinel.com

And saved for the last, a treat for our readers :
I’ve got Mohammed Assaf fever
[with several great videos] Mondoweiss 11 June by Annie Robbins — It’s easy to understand why everyone loves Mohammed Assaf— his gorgeous smile, honey voice and love for his country, Palestine. But the phenomenon of his popularity tells us as much about Palestinian society as it does about a young man who lives in a Gaza refugee camp. When one magnificent artist can unify people the way Assaf has, it shows us the essence of Palestinian culture— and its universal appeal, because so many of the rest of us adore him, too. Assaf is now among the final four contestants, and the final is June 21. Take a look at Al-Manara Square in downtown Ramallah where hundreds of people converged last Friday and Saturday nights to watch and cheer on their local hero performing as he heads into the latest round of Arab Idol. From Palestine’s Wattan TV :
link to mondoweiss.net
— 
www.TheHeadlines.org
www.Mondoweiss.net
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