This is a roundup of news related to Palestine with a particular focus on grassroots action and peaceful civil disobedience in the Occupied Territories and within the borders of Israel proper.
We use the name Filasṭīn, since that is the pronunciation preferred by Arabic speakers (irrespective of faith) for their homeland.
Carter: Zero Chance for Two-state Solution
(
at Prospect Magazine)
“At this moment, there is zero chance of the two-state solution,” said Jimmy Carter, giving his bleakest pronouncement yet on the Israeli-Palestinian deadlock to which he devoted much effort while President of the United States, and even more time since then.
“These are the worst prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians for years,” he said, adding that he didn’t think that Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, “has any intention” of making progress towards the goal, the thrust of international efforts for decades, of the creation of a separate state for the Palestinians alongside Israel. After John Kerry’s efforts as Secretary of State to broker a deal, which collapsed in the spring last year, the “US has withdrawn” from the problem, he reckoned.
Israel’s Prime Minister “does not now and has never sincerely believed in a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.” “The Netanyahu government decided early on to adopt a one-state solution,” he said—meaning that Israel would retain control of the West Bank—“but without giving them [the Palestinians] equal rights.” Some Palestinians have now begun to demand that Israel give them the vote within that “single state,” one of several tactics they are employing as more come to share Carter’s conclusion that the “two-state solution,” still the professed international goal, is not going to happen. “They will never get equal rights [to Israeli Jews, within that single state],” he said, but adding that he would like a drive to give them “more equal rights.”
Asked whether without a deal Israel was heading for apartheid, he said, “I am reluctant to use that word in a news article” but that there was real force to the argument because of the rising Arab population in the land that Israel controls. Either “Palestinians will have a majority in government”—something the Jewish state would not accept, he suggested, “or you deprive them of equal rights.”
Jimmy Carter grew up in the segregated south, he knows what he's talking about.
Former chief of staff says Ariel Sharon designed Gaza disengagement to save West Bank settlements
(
at Jerusalem Post)
In exchange for pulling out of Gaza, Sharon secured a pledge from former US President George Bush that in any final status agreement for a two-state solution, Palestinian refugees would not return to Israel, but rather to their newly established state, said Weisglass. In that same letter Bush promised Sharon that the settlement blocs would be included within Israel’s final borders, he said.
He referenced the April 2004 letter, in which both pledges were made. In that letter, Bush wrote, “In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion.”
On Thursday in Herzliya, Weisglass said that as a result of the Gaza pullout, the US and indeed the world recognized Israel’s right to the settlement blocs. “We came to a clear understanding with them. Since the US president saw that this territory was Israeli territory, we have build thousands of units in Gush Etzion and Ma’aleh Adumim.”
He added that it was the “single biggest diplomatic achievement since 1948.”
Netanyahu to Appoint Danny Danon as Israel's Next UN Envoy
(
at Haaretz)
Danon is considered of the leading officials of the Likud's far-right wing. He strongly opposes a two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state, and has expressed support for an Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
In recent years, Danon has been one of the most outspoken Likud MKs against U.S. President Barack Obama. He has forged alliances with the conservative, right-wing elements of the Republican Party, headed by Texas Governor Rick Perry.
In September 2011, outside of the UN General Assembly, Danon and Perry held a joint press conference expressing opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state and severely criticized Obama's Middle East policy as dangerous, naive and misguided. Danon called on Obama to "stop the policy of grovelling to the Palestinians."
The Americans Who Aren't Allowed to Visit Israel
(
Opinion in Haaretz -- Gideon Levy)
U.S. citizens of Palestinian origin are routinely humiliated upon entry to Israel, yet representatives of their country refuse to come to their aid.
Susan Abulhawa is a successful American writer. Her first novel, “Mornings in Jenin,” was translated into 30 languages and was an international best seller. Her new book, “The Blue Between Sky and Water,” has already been sold for translation into 19 languages, even before publication in the United States next month. Life is smiling on the 45-year-old. There’s only one problem: Her home is in Pennsylvania, but her heart is in Palestine.
Her parents are Jerusalemites from the A-Tur neighborhood of East Jerusalem. They became refugees against their will in 1967, after being barred from returning to their home city. After they separated, their daughter went from place to place – from an orphanage in East Jerusalem to a foster family in South Carolina. A traumatic visit to Jenin after Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 provided the inspiration for her first novel and her political involvement. Abulhawa established a nonprofit, to build playgrounds for children in the occupied territories and Lebanon, and has become an open supporter of the BDS movement. That is her crime.
Last week, she arrived at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and Israel, en route to see her family in Jerusalem, visit the playgrounds she has built and conduct interviews in honor of the publication of her latest novel. Her U.S. passport was in her pocket. After seven hours of waiting, and an exhausting and humiliating interrogation by six security officials, Abulhawa was expelled in disgrace – allegedly because she hadn’t cooperated with her interrogators.
The treatment of US citizens of Palestinian descent is the reason Israel's petition to join the US Visa Waiver Program has been stalled for years (rightfully so).
Infant Mortality Rising in Gaza Strip for First Time in 50 Years, Says UN Agency
(
at Haaretz)
"The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said in a statement over the weekend.
However, "at the last count, in 2013, it had risen to 22.4 per 1,000 live births," UNRWA said. The statement was reported by the Lebanon Daily Star.
The agency added that neonatal mortality in Gaza – the number of babies who die before the age of four weeks – rose from 12 per 1,000 live births in 2008 to 20.3 in 2013.
Court Compensates Palestinian Woman Delayed at IDF Checkpoint With Dying Baby
(
at Haaretz)
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled last month to award 30,000 shekels in compensation to a Palestinian woman who was delayed at an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint with her 9-day-old baby boy dying in her arms.
According to Wakaman’s description, when they arrived at the checkpoint her relative went out to the soldiers to show them the baby’s referral to the hospital, but she was sent back to the car at gunpoint. Afterwards Wakaman’s brother-in-law went out to the soldiers, and when he approached them they began to beat him. As a result of the beating he lost consciousness and was later handcuffed. Only an hour later, when an IDF captain came and spoke to the soldiers, was he released.
She added that the officer ordered a search of the driver and the car, and the soldiers behaved roughly, broke the windows and destroyed the seats. Wakaman claimed that to this day she suffers from fear, and every time she sees soldiers it’s very hard for her.
“How could you be aware that there’s an infant who had no time at all, in the week that he lived, to cause harm to anyone, who could die if he didn’t arrive at the hospital quickly, and simply behave in such a manner,” she wrote in the affidavit.
Palestinian rights group files lawsuit against PA 'torture'
(
at Ma'an News)
A Palestinian rights group filed acivil lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority in request of one million dollars in compensation for a Palestinian that was allegedly tortured while in the custody of a PA detention center, a press release said Thursday. The Civil Authority for the Independence of the Judiciary Body and Rule of Law (ISTIQLAL) said that their client,Ahmad Bilal Abd al-Malak al-Deek, had officially registered the lawsuit inNablus' First Instance Court.
Al-Deek, a student at Al-Quds Open University from the village of Kafr ad-Dik in the region of Salfit in the northern West Bank, was detained for five days in early July after he criticized the local government on his personal social media. During his detention, the plaintiff claims that two Palestinian criminal investigation officers exercised various actions of torture against him, such as depriving him from sleep and beating him with sticks and batons, which at some stages led to broken sticks that were pummeled against his body.
Short Snippets
7 years after his death, republished interview with poet Mahmoud Darwish (at Institute for Palestine Studies)
Gaza football team arrives in West Bank for historic match (at Ma'an News): this is the first time the team has been allowed to travel to the West Bank in 15 years. The travel was permitted as a compromise after Palestinian representatives dropped their proposal to eject Israel from FIFA:
Routine restrictions placed on Palestinian players by Israeli authorities under the pretext of security has long hindered the Palestinian National Football team's ability to play. Current and former players have spoken of hours held at checkpoints, being shot at with live Israeli ammunition, the frequent restriction of their movement, and rampant racist verbal abuse at football matches that the Israel Football Association has ignored.
SUSIYA – New Standards for US Foreign Policy on Israel? (at Int'l Solidarity Movement)
Susiya, which has been fighting a 20-year legal battle of survival with the state of Israel, is not the only Palestinian village under Israeli military control. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that there are Over 11,000 outstanding demolition orders against Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank, which covers over 60 percent of the West Bank. The lives of approximately 300,000 indigenous Palestinians are impacted. These orders target the most impoverished and vulnerable populations, who are also exposed to daily attacks by Israeli settlers and the army itself, with very little possibility of redress.
Israeli forces demolish homes, structures east of Bethlehem (at Ma'an News)
Palestinians demonstrate against the sale of the Presbyterian church and new settlements near Beit El Baraka (at Int'l Solidarity Movement)
Today was the 16th demonstration against the sale of the church and the threat of a new settlement. Twice a week they march on the road leading from Beit Ummar to Beit el Baraka and the church. The group of protesters consisted of men, women and children explicitly identifying as Palestinian Christians or Palestinian Muslims. They carried banners and Christian crosses and chanted slogans to defend the right of Palestinians to their own land.
There was an excessive army presence and the many soldiers outnumbered the non-violent protesters by far. As the group marched towards the Presbyterian church their passage was blocked by the army.
Israeli MKs attack Palestinian building efforts in Area C (at Ma'an News): Area C accounts for over 60% of the West Bank. All Israeli settlement activity there is illegal.
An Israeli Knesset subcommittee on Tuesday said that Palestinian efforts to build in Area C were aimed at creating "facts on the ground" to prevent the expansion of Jewish communities, a Knesset press release said. MK Mordhay Yogev, who heads an Israeli foreign affairs and defense subcommittee for the occupied West Bank, said that Palestinian building efforts were "aimed at creating facts on the ground and preventing the expansion of Jewish communities such as Ma'ale Adumim."
Yogez is a member of the right-wing Jewish Home party, headed by Nafatali Bennett, who has in the past called for Israel to annex Area C.
Israeli soldiers open fire on 13 year-old boy in Gaza (aat Int'l Solidarity Movement)
Maher Shitat, 13 years old, was shot in the leg on Friday night by the occupation forces. His father sent him to bring his brother from a relative’s home and on the way there the soldiers shot him without previous advice. He was shot in El Zeraa area, in Beit Hanoun, at 8pm. He was walking at 500m from the fence when he was shot, on a frequently used road.
Israel issues administrative detention orders to 33 Palestinians (at Ma'an News): Administrative detention is almost never used against Jewish residents of the West Bank, but in response to the arson attack that killed an 18-month old and his father,
three Jewish extremists are being held.
Palestinians held in administrative detention are often held without charge or trial for months and without access to the evidence that led to their detention, even though international law stipulates this tactic only be used in exceptional circumstances. The law dates back to the British Mandate.
More stories below the orange separation wall:
Catholic Church Heads in Israel File Complaint Against Extremist Group Chief for Incitement
(
at Haaretz)
The heads of the Catholic Church in Israel filed a complaint for incitement with the police against the leader of the far-right group Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, on Friday, after it was reported that he called for churches in Israel to be torched.
The complaint, filed by a committee which includes over 20 bishops and archbishops in Israel, voiced deep concern over the recent increase in hate crime and attacks against Christian holy sites, and noted that while almost no arrests have been made, Gopstein was making public statements in favor of such acts.
Senior officials in the Catholic Church told Haaretz the complaint was filed in coordination with the Vatican, which has been appraised of Gopstein's statements.
The complaint was referring to statements Gopstein made in a panel held for yeshiva students in Jerusalem this week, where in response to a question as to whether he “is in favor of burning churches in the Land of Israel,” Gopstein answered, “Did the Rambam rule to destroy [idol worship] or not? Idol worship must be destroyed. It’s simply yes – what’s the question?”
Palestinian Prisoner Loses Consciousness 60 Days Into Hunger Strike
(
at Haaretz)
Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Allaan, currently on day 60 of a hunger strike, lost consciousness Friday morning at Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center and is currently on a respirator.
According to Palestinian reports, Allaan's health has significantly deteriorated and his life is in immediate danger. The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Allaan had a seizure late Thursday night, and the hospital - currently in touch with the Red Cross - will check in several hours if he has suffered brain damage.
Israeli doctors firm in refusal to force-feed Palestinian hunger striker
(
at Yedioth Ahronoth)
The director of Ashkelon's Barzilai Medical Center, Dr Hezi Levy, said on Monday that he would refuse to allow the force-feeding of a Palestinian hunger striker.
Mohammed Allaan went on a hunger strike 55 days ago in protest of his administrative detention. Allaan, of a West Bank village of Einabus, has been detained since November last year on suspicion of involvement in Islamic Jihad terror activity and other charges that, according to his lawyer, are unknown to him.
Last month, the Knesset passed a law allowing force-feeding of hunger strikers provided there is a threat to their life. On June 18, Allaan was hospitalized at Be'er Sheva's Soroka Medical Center as his medical condition deteriorated. Channel 2 reported on Sunday that if Soroka doctors continue to oppose his force-feeding, he will be transferred to Barzilai in the coming days.
Following the report, Barzilai medical staff wrote a letter to Dr Levy, asking him to refuse to admit Allaan. "I will not feed him against his will," Levy said on Monday.
Palestinian prisoner enters 23rd day of hunger strike
(
at Ma'an News)
A Palestinian prisoner serving multiple lifetime sentences in Israeli custody has been on hunger strike for 23 days, the Palestinian Authority’s Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. The committee said Fathi al-Khatib from the village of Qaffin near Qalqiliya in the northwestern West Bank started a hunger strike in protest against mistreatment by the Israeli Prison Service.
The Israeli Prison Service has continuously transferred al-Khatib from one jail to another and prevented his mother and grandchildren from visiting him for around two years, the statement said. Al-Khatib has also reported that he has not received proper medical care for his severe back pain and vitiligo, a chronic skin condition.
West Bank Bedouin Tent Set Ablaze, IDF Suspects Jewish Assailants
(
at Haaretz)
A Bedouin tent was set on fire in the West Bank near Ramallah early on Thursday. The tent was unoccupied and no one was hurt. The Hebrew words for "revenge" and "administrative" (presumably referring to the recent administrative detention of right-wing activists) was spray-painted on a stone nearby.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that the attack took place and that Jewish assailants are suspected. Two teens and an adult man from the Baladim outpost, a satellite outpost of the West Bank's Kochav Hashachar settlement, were arrested and taken to a Shin Bet facility for questioning on suspicion of arson.
"Just last week we left the tent for a place at a nearby hill because of the heat. Fortunately for us, no one was inside the tent when it was set on fire, otherwise the whole family would have burned," Ouday Kaaba, the tent owner's son, told Haaretz.
Israeli forces 'refine' rules of engagement
(
at Ma'an News)
Israel's military has allegedly implemented new rules of engagement requiring soldiers in the occupied Palestinian territory to hold their fire except under instances in which there is a genuine threat to their lives, Israeli media reported. Under previous rules, Israeli soldiers have been permitted by their superiors to use live ammunition in circumstances where their lives are not at imminent risk, including firing warning shots and aiming for lower extremities when engaging with Palestinians on the ground.
According to Israeli news source Haaretz, Israeli commanders in the occupied West Bank were instructed to "refine" procedures relating to open fire laws. Israeli forces will continue the use of warning shots, but live fire will only be permitted if the forces feel their lives are in immediate danger. Under the new rules, if a subject is fleeing the scene and does not pose an imminent threat to life, live fire would no longer be permitted.
It is quite likely the new rules are in response to
Col Israel Shomer shooting 17 year old Mohammed al-Kasbah in the back.
Sources: Netanyahu Seeks Gains From Iran Deal Battle He Knows Is Lost
Opinion at Haaretz -- Chemi Shalev
Netanyahu sees things differently. He believes that passage of the Iran accord by virtue of a Democratic bloc that supports the president will strengthen his hand, not weaken it. According to his view, after the dust settles in Congress, Democrats will be desperate to mend fences with Jewish voters and donors in advance of the 2016 elections and will be pressing the administration to mollify Netanyahu, who will continue to wax indignant for as long as possible. His leverage against an administration that has gotten its way will be far greater than it is against a president who is pulling out all stops to achieve victory, he believes.
Netanyahu also sees fringe benefits in his strategy, according to people who have heard him. He believes that the fight over the Iran deal will weaken the Democrats not only with Jews but also with the American public overall. Win or lose in Congress, Americans view the agreement with Tehran’s ayatollahs as an accord with terrorists if not a deal with the devil. For those who aren’t convinced, Netanyahu will gladly provide both proof and argumentation.
in other news, Mitt Romney is advising his good friend Netanyahu on the mood of the nation, or is it the mood of the 1%?
Why Did Palestinian Jaffa Fall More Quickly Than Jerusalem in 1948?
(
at Haaretz)
A review of "A Tale of Two Cities: The Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1947-1948" written by Dr. Itamar Radai, who teaches at Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (in Hebrew). The book takes a close look at the structure of Palestinian society leading up to 1948.
On all sides, the extensive literature dealing with the defeat of the Palestinian Arabs in their war against the Jewish community and the State of Israel in 1947-1948 excels in controversy, accusations, self-righteousness and often the denial of the other side’s legitimacy. This is characteristic of writing focusing on conflicts between two national movements. What’s sometimes missing in our case is an analysis of Arab society and the reasons for its collapse in the face of the challenges it faced.
The book goes into detail about the general causes of the weakness of Arab society in Palestine, notably the absence of an efficient organizational infrastructure, the lack of a political leadership in control of military means, and competition over command and resources between the Arab Higher Committee (the nominal institution representing Palestinian Arabs), led by the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, then resident in Cairo, and the Arab League’s military committees. As a result, violent clashes erupted and tensions ran high between the local population and the Arab Army of Salvation recruited by the Arab League, which consisted of Syrian, Iraqi and other volunteers, if not mercenaries. The situation was compounded by the early flight of large segments of the Palestinian elite to Lebanon and Egypt.
The general picture is one of chaos descending on Jaffa. The municipality and its institutions ceased to function, the foreign Salvation troops were largely alienated from the residents, and military actions were not coordinated with the local leadership. As a result, flight from the city intensified, by both land and sea. It turns out that Jaffa’s modernization processes were instrumental in causing its collapse. With its rapid development and massive migration from the surrounding villages, it lacked the cohesive strength of extensive, traditional family and clan networks, which could have afforded security and protection.
This is a roundup of news related to Palestine with a particular focus on grassroots action and peaceful civil disobedience in the Occupied Territories and within the borders of Israel proper. The goal is to provide a weekly update on the non-violent resistance movement and the challenges confronting it.
Diplomatic negotiations and actions by armed resistance groups are covered quite widely by the mainstream press and in other diaries on DKos so they are rarely included.
We use the name Filastin, since this is the pronunciation used by Arabic speakers (irrespective of faith) for their homeland. The more familiar Palestine is the Hellenic or Roman variant. Filastin refers to the geographic entity roughly encompassing Israel and Palestine. It is a likely cognate of "Philistine", the name used in the Hebrew bible to describe a rival of the Jewish kingdom of that era.
XX) August 9, 2015: Father of toddler dies of injuries sustained in arson attack
XIX) August 2, 2015: Palestinian infant dies in arson attack, nine prior attacks went unprosecuted by Israel.
XVIII) July 26, 2015: Filastin: "Do you know what Obama coffee is?"
XVII) July 19, 2015: Israeli military judge says a Palestinian can defend his home, too
XVI) July 12, 2015: Citizen Odeh: The Arab leader who feels the Jews' pain
XV) July 5, 2015: Israel losing Democrats, "can't claim bipartisan US support," top pollster warns
XIV) June 28, 2015: Israel's Deputy Interior Minister: I'll seek to revoke Arab MKs' citizenship
XIII) June 21, 2015: Prisoner's hunger strike enters 48th day; Vandals torch Church of Loaves and Fish
XII) June 14, 2015: Soldiers remove Palestinians from pool in Area A so Settlers can bathe undisturbed
XI) June 7, 2015: French Telecom Executive's Remarks on Israel Incite Furor.
X) May 31, 2015: Online database "exposes" pro-Palestinian college students to "damage their careers".
IX) May 24, 2015: Soldier pays the price for criticizing the Israel army
VIII) May 17, 2015: Despite literal "smoking gun", settlers cleared of charges for shooting
VII) May 10, 2015: "Palestinians are beasts, they are not human" - new head of West Bank civil administration