TO DAY IN PALESTINE !

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Land Theft/Destruction

Settler Rabbis call for mutiny against eviction orders
While several Rabbis of settlements in the occupied West Bank gathered at anillegal outpost, slated for evacuation, several settler Rabbis called on the settlers to rebel against eviction orders and called on Israeli soldiers to refuse refrain from implementing such orders.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60580

Yesha Rabbinical Council: Build new settlements in West Bank, J’lem
The Yesha Rabbinical Council called for the construction of new settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, following government plans to evacuate illegal outposts. "All the territories that were freed in the Six Day War should be annexed and our sovereignty on the Temple Mount should be strengthened by Jewish prayers at the site. A government that would dare fight this generation’s pioneers cannot continue to exist for too long," the council said in a statement.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3722681,00.html

Violence against Palestinians

Israel assassinates Palestinian in Hebron
The Israeli military said its forces assassinated a wanted Palestinian fighter in the West Bank town of Dura, south of Hebron, on Thursday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60585

Israeli forces raid Jenin
Jenin – Ma’an – Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Jenin and the nearby towns of Qabatiya and Jab’a, on Thursday.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38141

Human Rights Violations/Discrimination

Testimony: Police detain Palestinian laborers in a meat truck, denying them air & water for over two hours, May 2009
Fathi Hamaeyl - B`Tselem - Time passed, and we were sure they intended to keep us inside until we died. Generally, when they catch workers like us, a large police force arrives and takes us to one of the crossings and lets us return to the West Bank. This time, no additional policemen came. We threatened to break down the door, but the policemen threatened to open fire. Each time one of us said we were suffocating, they responded, “You can all go and die! We don’t want you alive.” They said this a few times.
http://www.btselem.org/english/testimonies/20090509_police_detains_workers_in_meat_truck.asp

Mideast: Israeli checkpoints constrain Palestinians, says UN
New York, 28 May (AKI) - Israel continues to constrain the freedom of movement for Palestinians living in the West Bank, according to a new report released by the United Nations’ humanitarian arm. The UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs said while Israel has introduced measures to ease traffic flow into the Palestinian cities of Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarem and Ramallah, other actions have further restricted Palestinian access.
http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.3368371655

The Carmel Academic Center in Haifa Closes Academic Track As Too Many Palestinian Students Registered
The Carmel Academic Center in Haifa shut down the concentration in accounting within its Department of Business Administration because a majority of the students applying were Palestinian citizens of Israel. This was revealed in a news item reported on Israeli news Channel 10 on 24 May (in Hebrew only). According to this report, just over one week before studies were to commence, the center administration announced that the accountancy concentration would not open. According to a student (S.), “I was told […] that the students for accounting did not pay tuition, and later that there were not enough students.”
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/1950-carmel-academic-center-closes-academic-track-as-too-many-palestinian-students-registered-.html

Israel tries to shut down Palestinian literary festival, but the word about occupation still gets out
The Palestine Festival of Literature is currently taking place in the occupied territories. The Festival received some unexpected attention when the Israeli occupation forces attempted to shut it down on its opening night. Writing in the Guardian, Rory McCarthy reported, "Police brought a letter from the Israeli minister of internal security which said the event could not be held because it was a political activity connected to the Palestinian Authority." The situation was summed up well in the title of a post on the subject over at jews sans frontieres - "Power of Culture v Culture of Power." Check out this video from Festival organizers of that first day[...]
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/israel-tries-to-shut-down-palestinian-literary-festival-but-the-word-about-occuption-still-gets-out.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJU7-9r-pVA

Palestinians and Arabs in the Diaspora banned from entering Strip with humanitarian convoy
Three years into the siege on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian - European activists say they will not give up until it is completely lifted.
Dr. Arafat Madi, Chairman of the European Campaign to Lift the Siege on Gaza, told the press Thursday, “The convoy came to deliver a message of solidarity to the Palestinian people that we will not leave Gaza alone.”
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5505

Detentions

Israeli army kidnaps 12 Palestinians during overnight raids in the West Bank
The Israeli army has reported that it detained 12 men from several areas in the West Bank on Thursday.
http://www.imemc.org/article/60582

Israeli forces arrest 7 Palestinians in West Bank
Ramallah, May 28, 2009 (Ramattan) – The Israeli forces arrested on Thursday morning seven Palestinian citizens in the cities of Nablus, Hebron and Tubas in West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
http://english.ramattan.net/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=40455

Fourteen Hamas members ’arrested by PA’
Bethlehem – Ma’an – Hamas said that Palestinian Authority (PA) forces detained 14 Palestinians affiliated to the movement in the West Bank on Wednesday night. The movement said in a statement received by Ma’an that PA forces arrested in in the city of Qalqiliya Khaled Slim, Abdel Fattah Shrim, Mu’ayed J’edi, Ibrahim Al-Kharuf, Tareq Nofal, Mahmoud Jaber, Omar Al-Shanti, Muhammad Qanuni and Muhammad G’eidi.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38144

De facto security forces release senior Fatah official
Gaza – Ma’an – Security forces in the Gaza Strip released a senior Fatah official, Ahmad Abu An-Nasser, on Thursday, after he was detained for 11 days.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38153

Palestinian prisoner denied family visitation for two years
The Palestinian prisoner in IOA jails Abdul Rahman Salah, 55, has been deprived of family visits for two years as part of penal measures against him, relatives of the internee reported.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7ZrsLyEDa2cruJikmKnDQwLMlsIEsM7VQ7qsgzTtV9WXuHt7gsYGUM1h%2fbqhA%2byGr3ybM7WdcmI50WsGWAcMMlPq7kpo1t7AH45ckASD5egc%3d

Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2LPNt2UfE0&feature=player_embedded

Administrative Detention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjw5O9kE9MI&feature=player_embedded

Public Trial - not wanted
In the Jerusalem Police Prison we are the only representatives of the public present at the hearings of the remand extension. Family members of the detainees cannot attend, because the Compound is located in Jerusalem and as Palestinians they have no access to Israel. The courtroom is located within a police prison and any unauthorized person has to receive a special permit (which we have). By excluding us, the hearings will be removed from the eyes and ears of any public and the principle of public trial will be overturned.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=33662

War Crimes

Amnesty: Israel repeatedly breached rules of war in Gaza
Amnesty International has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the rules of armed conflict during its recent offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088912.html

Attorneys Report on Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
AMERICAN MUSLIMS for Palestine (AMP) hosted a dinner and presentation by attorneys Reem Salahi and Noura Erakat upon their return from Gaza as members of the National Lawyers Guild fact-finding delegation. Dr. Hatem Bazian, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of California at Berkeley and an AMP founder, introduced the activists, who shared their findings with a rapt audience at Newark’s Chandi Restaurant on March 13.
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2009/0905058.html

Humanitarian Issues/Refugees

Israelis get four-fifths of scarce West Bank water, says World Bank
A deepening drought in the Middle East is aggravating a dispute over water resources after the World Bank found that Israel is taking four times as much water as the Palestinians from a vital shared aquifer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/27/israel-palestinian-water-dispute

OPT: Grim housing, water situation in Gaza
TEL AVIV Thursday, May 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Reports published recently by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Israeli NGO B’Tselem and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) paint a grim picture of life in Gaza more than four months after the 23-day Israeli offensive ended on 18 January.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=84591

Gaza siege also hits disabled people
They worked for years for Israeli companies. For years, they paid their taxes and social insurance contributions in Israel in compliance with Israeli labour and fiscal law. But they also had accidents at work suffering serious and invalidating injuries in Israel’s factories, building sites or fields.
http://palsolidarity.org/2009/05/6854

Gaza banking system on verge of collapse
GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) - A banking and liquidity crisis is affecting the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: Civil servants are struggling to get their salaries, and humanitarian aid is being delayed. Thousands of welfare benefit recipients are not getting their dues.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10555.shtml

At-Tuwani Urgent Action
CPT Tuwani Team - On Monday, 25 May, members of the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO) – the branch of the Israeli army that administers civilian affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)- entered the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani and ordered villagers to halt construction work on new electricity pylons in the village.
http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=33663

Plight of Palestinian refugees remains ignored - NGO chief
The plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon continues to be largely ignored by the international community, especially in the wake of recent violence in Gaza, the president of a leading non-governmental organization has said. After the 1948 conflict with Israel, thousands of Palestinians fled to neighboring Lebanon.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=102396

Images of Palestine in exile
Images from the Wavel Camp in Baalbeck, Lebanon; here Palestine is always within reach, but the residents of the camp can never grasp it, can never meet it; like night and day-there is a brief time where the two overllap-by way of a visitor from abroad; the spouse of a camp resident, with Palestinian Authority papers, and so on.
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/2009/05/images-of-palestine-in-exile.html

Egyptian Collaboration
Report: Egypt deploys additional forces along Rafah border
Egypt deployed additional security and intelligence personnel along its border with the Gaza Strip over the last three days, shutting down many of the smuggling routes into the besieged Palestinian territory, Israeli television reported on Wednesday evening., The televised report showed footage of intelligence officers wearing civilian clothes in the Rafah border area, searching and confiscating deliveries intended for the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38137

Political Developments
Israel rejects US call for settlement freeze
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said "natural growth" would continue in existing settlements after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a complete halt.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0528/p99s01-duts.html

Israel Hopes for U.S. Settlement Shift
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration reiterated emphatically on Wednesday that it viewed a complete freeze of construction in settlements on the West Bank as a critical step toward a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking of President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “He wants to see a stop to settlements — not some settlements, not outposts, not ‘natural growth’ exceptions.” Talking to reporters after a meeting with the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, she said: “That is our position. That is what we have communicated very clearly.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=1&hpw

U.S. refuses to back down on settlement freeze demand
The American administration shows no signs of backing down from its demands that Israel totally freeze settlement growth in the West Bank and open the Gaza border terminals to allow the rebuilding of the Strip, a Jerusalem official said Wednesday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088799.html

No exceptions to Israeli settlement freeze: Clinton
AFP - US President Barack Obama has told Israel he wants no "natural growth exceptions" to his call for a freeze in West Bank settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090527/pl_afp/mideastdiplomacysettlerisraelusclinton

Canada echose U.S. on opposing Israeli expansion into Palestinian territory
OTTAWA — With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas placing Israeli settlements at the top of his agenda for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, Canada followed Washington’s tough new line on opposing Israeli expansion into the Palestinian territory.
http://www.canada.com/news/Canada+follows+line+opposing+Israeli+expansion+into+Palestinian+territory/1632657/story.html

Poll: Most Palestinians think Hamas-Fatah unity would help peace efforts
Most Palestinians support efforts to forge a unity government as the way to heal an internal rift that has hurt the chances of achieving a peace deal with Israel, an opinion poll published on Wednesday showed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088711.html

Is Abbas still relevant to the peace process?
WASHINGTON - If ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the analysts tried to assess the intensity of the confrontation with U.S. President Barack Obama, the president’s meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House today is raising a completely different query: Is the 74-year old Palestinian leader still relevant?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088800.html

Abbas and the Peace Process: Is This Man Still Relevant?
Time.com - After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Obama must deal with America’s other peace partner, the Palestinian Authority’s politicallyenfeebled leader.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090527/wl_time/08599190095100

Abbas’s Credibility Problem, U.S. Sees Bolstering Palestinian Leader as Key to Mideast Peace
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas heads a fractured government and a fractured political party. His term expired four months ago. His handpicked prime minister, trusted to manage billions of dollars in foreign aid, is reviled by some Palestinians as a U.S. proxy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/26/AR2009052602993.html?hpid=sec-world

The PA’s small window of opportunity
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - While the US appears to be optimistic about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, inter-Palestinian rivalry, a recalcitrant Israeli government, and an international community with its own agenda could well scuttle a settlement. For the first time in decades the US, under President Barack Obama’s new administration, appears to be putting pressure on Israel through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new hard-line and far-right government.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10556.shtml

Abbas to urge Obama: Push pan-Arab peace plan
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be pushing United States President Barack Obama on Thursday to facilitate peace with Israel through a larger solution to the Middle East conflict.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088940.html

Clinton: U.S. working to jumpstart Israel-PA talks
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Washington was working toward bringing Israel and the Palestinians into peace negotiations, emphasizing that regardless of external assistance a solution is "up to the two parties."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088717.html

Congressmen Call for Gaza Crossings To Be Opened
THE NEW AMERICA Foundation, a centrist think tank in Washington, DC, hosted a March 5 event on Capitol Hill featuring Reps. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Brian Baird (D-WA), who discussed their recent trip to Gaza and Israel and called for the immediate opening of the crossings into Gaza. Baird and Ellison showed clips from a video they took which included conversations they’d had with everyday Gazans, including a shopkeeper in Jabalya refugee camp and children.
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2009/0905069b.html

Hamas chief likely to ink reconciliation deal in July
Exiled Hamas movement’s chief Khaled Meshaal will be invited to visit Cairo on July 7, when an inter-reconciliation agreement is expected to be signed, a Saudi Arabia-based daily reported Thursday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-05/28/content_11449850.htm

Gabi Ashkenazi on Hamas
Israel’s Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, reported on Hamas’ recent behavior and said, "Since Operation Cast Lead, Hamas has not taken any action against Israel, and is a restraining factor. There is a significant decrease in the fire. It is true that there is activity by rogue organizations along the fence, but Hamas tries to stop them."
http://israelpolicyforum.ngphost.com/blog/gabi-ashkenazi-hamas

Radwan: Shalit would be released only in honorable deal
Gilad Shalit would be set free only in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli occupation jails in an honorable exchange deal, Ismail Radwan, a Hamas political leader, said.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7NH4BrL6%2fVwyqerY0tVZLttRPXCGzGa4yG5OFfUYOgyw7uMzsvvyN20N1t2Rutx2cqCEqxiG7U4DOyjJ%2by4sj4BLoAFvl809jL3DXJemWjFQ%3d

Other News

Finnish-Israeli arms trade flaunts EU regulations
Contrary to the heavily-hyped image according to which the policy output of Finland is even-handed and neutral in the Israel/Palestine conflict, Finland is actually a major arms trading partner with Israel. Recent reports by the Committee of 100 in Finland, Amnesty International, as well as an article in Finland’s biggest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, all revealed Finland’s deeply troubling attitude towards the actions of the State of Israel. Bruno Jäntti comments for The Electronic Intifada.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10557.shtml

Loans for Palestinian mobile operator in doubt
JERUSALEM, May 27 (Reuters) - Western-backed loans to support the launch of a new Palestinian mobile phone operator are in jeopardy because Israel has yet to release needed radio frequencies, the company told Middle East Envoy Tony Blair. In a letter to the former British prime minister obtained by Reuters on Wednesday, Wataniya Palestine said some $85 million in loans to help build the network could be "cancelled". An arm of the World Bank said in a separate letter that it was concerned about the company’s ability to meet its obligations because of the withheld frequencies.
http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSLR33866020090527

Israeli enters Ramallah; extracted safely
An Israeli who inadvertently entered the West Bank city of Ramallah, was safely escorted out by Palestinian security forces and Civil Administration officers. He was turned over to the Israeli Police.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3719598,00.html

Palestinian bourse takes to the road
The Palestinian Securities Exchange has launched a drive to attract more capital from foreign investors and raise the international profile of what remains one of the smallest stock markets in the Arab world. The campaign is aimed primarily at Palestinian diaspora communities around the world and Gulf investors.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da9ff164-4acd-11de-87c2-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Hip Hop Literature Inspiring Urban America and Palestinian Resistance
In an increasingly common act of defiance, young Palestinians have painted graffiti on the "apartheid" wall separating Israel and Palestine. However, this incident is different. It is both an act of rebellion and a show of support for an unlikely source of inspiration for the youth. Author Supreme Understanding’s book "Rap, Race, and Revolution: Solutions for Our Struggle" may have been written to empower members of America’s Hip Hop generation, but today it is clear that its message reaches much further.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/20090527/bs_prweb/prweb2455134_1;_ylc=X3oDMTB0Nml0MGVzBF9TAzIxNTExMDUEZW1haWxJZAMxMjQzNDQ1NDQz

Solidarity/Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment

Lecturers vote to boycott Israeli universities-Protest vote immediately declared void by university union
Lecturers voted overwhelmingly to boycott Israeli universities and colleges today. Delegates said Israeli academics were complicit in their government’s acts against Palestinians. But as soon as the vote was carried, the leadership of the University and College Union declared it void. Lawyers had advised the union to rule the vote null and void if passed, to avoid legal action against the union.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/may/27/lecturers-vote-boycott

British academic union deals one more blow to business-as-usual with the Israeli academy
Once again, the membership of the University and College Union (UCU) has not let Palestinians down. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes our British colleagues for their steadfast and principled support for the cause of justice and peace in Palestine and for adopting, at the UCU’s annual congress on 27 May 2009, significant steps in the direction of applying effective pressure on Israel and holding it accountable for its colonial and apartheid policies which violate international law and fundamental human rights. Coming four months after the end of Israel’s brutal war of aggression on the occupied Gaza Strip, the UCU motions on Palestine could not be more appropriate or relevant, emphasizing the need to end Israel’s criminal impunity through pressure on it and on institutions complicit in its violation of international law and fundamental human rights.
http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1017

San Francisco: Anarchist Show of Support to End the Siege of Gaza (A) We Are With You! Saturday June 06
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/05/21/18596520.php

Leonard Cohen: Don’t Play Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjU_zdfX9Eg

Analysis/Op-ed

Game-Changer? American Jews Reaching a Tipping Point on Israel
Those who want peace in the Middle East must find the right words to help move American Jews towards a more balanced view of the conflict.
http://www.alternet.org/politics/140251/game-changer_american_jews_reaching_a_tipping_point_on_israel/

Is this getting stabbed in the back or the front?
I guess it should maybe come as no surprise, but criticism of President Obama’s Middle East policy has come from an unlikely source - one of his special envoys tasked with carrying it out. Ha’aretz is reporting that in his new book, Dennis Ross opposes a comprehensive view of bringing peace to the Middle East. From the article "Dennis Ross vs. Obama: No link between Iran, Mideast peace."
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/is-this-getting-stabbed-in-the-back-or-the-front.html

This is beginning to look like panic - Israeli Knesset considers bill making it illegal to criticize Israel as a Jewish state
First there was the Nakba law, then the loyalty oath, now the Israeli Knesset is considering a bill that would institute a one year jail sentence for anyone who speaks "against Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state." According to Ynet, the act of criticizing Israel as a Jewish state becomes illegal when "it may lead to acts of hatred, scorn or lack of loyalty to the State or its government authorities or law systems which have been established legally." The bill, which just passed its first reading in the Knesset, was introduced by MK Zevulun Orlev from the right wing Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party. Orlev is chairman of the Knesset’s Education Committee.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/this-is-beginning-to-look-like-panic-israeli-knesset-considering-bill-making-it-illegal-to-criticize.html

Israel’s ’Existential Threats’

The last few days have witnessed an inflection point in the history of Israel. It has effectively shed its democratic veneer and blatantly embraced its racist, fascist and colonialist ideology. I am referring to the passage of three bills in the Knesset. One would require loyalty oaths to maintain citizenship. A second states that citizens must recognize Israel as a Jewish state or else face up to one year in prison. And the third makes commemoration of the Nakba (Catastrophe – referring to the creation of Israel in 1948) a crime. (1) These come on the heels of PM Netanyahu’s demands that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a State for the Jewish People in return for “economic development.”
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15144

A history of discrimination
Behind the blindness always lurked cynicism: We will discriminate against them in every possible field - education, health, water, infrastructure, employment - and they in turn will kiss the national flag across their 200 villages and towns. If they protest against discrimination, we’ll cry "disorder." With the state’s founding, three percent of its land was allocated to Arabs, of which only two percent was slated for housing, and only after the major expropriations of the 1950s and a series of convoluted land and property laws essentially prohibiting Arabs from acquiring land.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088490.html

Growing understanding of the Nakba in Israel is sign of ’deepening fissures in the Iron Wall’
Today, Eitan Bronstein has an oped on Ynet (hebrew site only) responding to the proposed legislation in the Knesset to ban commemorations of the Nakba. Bronstein is Director of Zochrot, a Tel Aviv-based organization which directs education and advocacy campaigns to build knowledge about the Nakba among Jewish Israelis.
http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/05/a-response-to-the-proposal-to-ban-commemoration-of-the-nakba-on-independence-day.html

Is Dennis Ross Poisoning the Well?
As President Barack Obama continues this week his diplomatic mission toward a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, Iran looms as the wild card. Also looming is the puzzling presence of Dennis Ross, who has been alternately described as "out of the loop" and the administration’s "point man on Iran."
http://original.antiwar.com/vlahos/2009/05/27/is-dennis-ross/

Obama Should Lay the Parameters Down, By George S. Hishmeh
The inconclusive meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, has confused rather than assuaged their audiences in the US and overseas. The interpretations have been varied, ranging from one end of the political spectrum to the other. It was surprising, but probably intentional, that the meeting which lasted two-and-a-half hours, more than double the originally allotted time and a good part of it limited to the two leaders, had no joint statement.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15142

Combatants for Peace End Cycle of Violence
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were on a routine errand throwing hand grenades at three o’clock in the morning in one of the most populated areas in Gaza. Their faces were camouflaged in brown and green paint. They were wearing anti-bullet vests, special hats, and armed with M16’s. IDF instructions were clear: “Let them know Golanis (known to be brutal) are here.” And this meant they could break into Palestinian homes through doors and windows at any time looking for terrorists and weapons.
http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15141

The racism of Israeli liberals: Amos Elon
When you encounter Israeli liberals in the US or in Europe, they present a different face. They never reveal what they actually had written in their books. This is very true of Amos Oz but also true of Amos Elon. You need to read the books of those Zionist liberals to realize that when it comes to the fundamental racism at the heart of the movement that founded the usurping entity, the left-right divide is rather meaningless. Obituaries of Amos Elon now fill the US newspapers and he is being presented as a humane and compassionate writer. Here is a sample from Elon’s book Herzl: "There was no symmetry between Arab and Jewish grievances. The Jews were always ready for a compromise; the Arabs have not yet contemplated the possibility of accomodation. The Palestinian dispersion was largely self-inflicted; unlike the Jews, they could live full Arab lives in any of a dozen other Arab countries." (p. 407) So Elon had a long career of outright lies and fabrication. Read his biography of Herzl and you know what I mean.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/05/racism-of-israeli-liberals-amos-elon.html

Nothing to be Done
The recent announcement that Barack Obama will deliver a major address to the Muslim world from Cairo in early June has further heightened expectations that the new American administration is determined to achieve a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As Obama met with Benjamin Netanyahu this week, the emerging consensus among politicians and pundits alike was that the new president is prepared to invest the resources required to translate ambitious rhetoric into concrete reality.
http://www.counterpunch.com/rabbani05282009.html

Suheir Hammad at Palestinian literary festival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6NbJAtQPI0

Egypt-Gaza Border-Crossing A Soap Opera Filming Set
The Egyptians are world famous for their soap operas. As a student in Cairo nine years ago, I remember seeing glitzy billboards all over town and trying to make out the drama of the background noise they provided in almost every household I visited. This Monday, I accidentally ran into one of these productions in full swing. It turned out to be a soap opera within a soap opera.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/salena-tramel/egypt-gaza-border-crossin_b_208247.html