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.
Ban Ki-moon and the detention of Palestinian children
(
story at +972mag)
According to the report, the UN has obtained 122 affidavits from children detained by the Israeli military in 2014. The report confirms that the information “has been documented, vetted and verified for accuracy by the United Nations.” According to the secretary-general, the children reported being subjected to “ill-treatment, such as beatings, being hit with sticks, being blindfolded, being kicked and being subjected to verbal abuse and threats of sexual violence.”
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Israel’s military rule over the West Bank, it is worth considering these allegations in the wider context. According to UN sources, since June 1967, approximately 760,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been detained by Israeli forces. Some of these individuals were released within hours or days, while others continue to be prosecuted in military courts and imprisoned. The military authorities acknowledge that around 1,000 Palestinian children from the West Bank are currently detained each year, of which those 12 years and above, can be prosecuted in military courts. Most are accused of throwing stones.
While these allegations are not new, few ask the question – why? One recent report released by a group of lawyers does ask this question and concludes that there is a clear link between the detention of Palestinians and the policy of successive Israeli governments of transferring parts of its own civilian population into West Bank settlements.
It is no coincidence that in 200 cases recently submitted to the UN involving Palestinian children detained in the West Bank, every child lived within a few thousand meters of an Israeli settlement or road used by settlers. Further, it is apparent from the evidence that not only are the settlements a primary driving force behind why children find themselves in military detention; the settlements also provide a network of holding facilities and interrogation centers used to process the children once they are taken into custody.
Deputy minister: I’ll seek to revoke Arab MKs’ citizenship
(
story in Times of Israel)
Deputy Interior Minister Yaron Mazuz (Likud) on Wednesday said he would act to revoke the citizenship of Knesset members who support protest flotillas to Gaza and said Israel was doing Arabs a “favor” by allowing them to serve in the Knesset. He said firebrand MK Hanin Zoabi should be the first to “return” her identity card over her participation in a flotilla to Gaza.
The statements, which were made during a debate on canceling the restrictions on so-called family reunification — the granting of Israeli citizenship to Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs — sparked an uproar in the Knesset plenum.
“Ms. Zoabi, you are the first of those who should hand back their identity card,” Mazuz said. “We are doing you a favor that you are even sitting here. Terrorists don’t sit here. You are in a democratic state — respect the state. Anyone who acts against the state through terror has no right to be here. It is unacceptable for members of this institution to take part in terror flotillas against the State of Israel.”
Poll finds fading support for two-state solution between Israelis, Palestinians
(
story in Jerusalem Post)
Support for two-state solution is fading amongst both Palestinians and Israelis, a poll released Thursday found.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy Research published findings of a recent poll they conducted together in an effort to gauge the sentiments of those on both sides of the conflict. The research showed that 51 percent of Israeli respondents favored the two-state solution, down from 62% last June, according to AFP.
Palestinian support for the two-state also rested at 51%, deflated from 54% a year ago.
After wife’s Obama joke, minister lauds US president
(
story in Times of Israel)
Interior Minister Silvan Shalom on Monday praised US President Barack Obama’s security support for Israel, a day after his wife’s tweet about the US leader’s skin color drew accusations of racism.
Speaking at an event in London, the minister, who is also tasked with managing a strategic dialogue with the US, said firmly: “I can tell you very, very clear and sharp, that President Obama is standing with Israel in the most intimate and important issues for the safety and security of people of the State of Israel.”
A day earlier, Shalom’s spouse, Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, tweeted: “Do u know what Obama coffee is? Black and weak.” The TV presenter quickly deleted the tweet and apologized, but not before a firestorm erupted, with hundreds of commenters calling Nir-Mozes “arrogant,” a “disgrace” and “explicitly racist.”
Settlers under the protection of Israeli forces prevent Palestinian shops from opening
(
story at Int'l Solidarity Movement)
Around 8:30 this morning on Shuhada street in Hebron, Israeli settlers, soldiers, and border police arrived and put up a breakfast tent right outside of two shops owned by a Palestinian man. The settlers remained in front of his shops for around three and a half hours under Israeli police and army protection.
An ISM activist asked the soldier “Just wanted to know, why you are allowing this tent to be here in front of this Palestinian man’s shop? Why are the settlers here and why are they being protected by the army and police?” The Israeli soldier replied “This is your opinion. We are just here to protect the settlers.” ISM activist then states “You know that the New York Times is planning on publishing an article that 70 Palestinian shops on Shuhada street are ‘supposed to be opened’, but the reality is this activist points to the settler tent preventing Palestinian shop from opening you know that this points again at the tent is going to go world-wide, right?” Israeli soldier replied “OK…let me tell you what the Arabs do to us.”
Interview: The Man Behind the BDS Movement
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story at +972mag)
Barghouti explains his choice to not speak with the Israeli media and the logic behind the more general call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel as a whole: “In every other situation of sustained oppression, human rights groups call for punitive measures against the state and its institutions, not just against a narrow component of the state that is directly connected to the injustice at hand. No one called for banning products of Sudanese companies producing in Darfur in response to the Sudanese regime’s war crimes there. Sudan as a whole was targeted.
“The artificial and untenable distinction between Israel and ‘the occupation’ is political and ideological; it is not based on practical, legal or moral considerations. It is Israel that international law regards as the occupying power, and therefore, is the party responsible for the construction and maintenance of not just the colonial settlements, but also the whole occupation regime.
“BDS is a non-violent human rights movement that seeks freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people, based on international law and universal principles of human rights. As such, BDS has consistently and categorically rejected all forms of discrimination and racism, including anti-Semitism as well as dozens of racist laws in Israel.
“Our non-violent struggle has never been against Jews or Israelis as Jews, but against an unjust regime that enslaves our people with occupation, apartheid and denial of the refugees’ UN-stipulated rights. We are proud of the disproportionately high number of Jewish activists in the BDS movement, especially in the U.S.
“We are going mainstream. That is our challenge. We are not begging for charity; we are appealing for effective solidarity. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, boycott on a basic level entails ‘withdrawing cooperation from an evil system.’ When we ask institutions and organizations to divest from companies involved in Israel’s crimes we are not asking for anything heroic. We are merely asking those organizations to fulfill a profound moral obligation. This is the compelling, ethical logic of BDS, and this is a main factor behind the movement’s impressive growth over the last decade.
“The BDS movement is reaching a tipping point mainly because its strategy works — it works well — and because Israel has shifted to the fanatic right with fascist elements in government, dropping the last mask of its deceptive ‘democracy.’ Perhaps our most important achievement is uniting Palestinians from across the political and ideological spectrums on a human rights platform and behind a non-violent form of resistance that is anchored in international law.”
A rare moment of humanity in an Israeli military court
(
Opinion in Haaretz -- Gideon Levy)
It was a one-of-a-kind moment of grace, humanity and compassion in the dominion of injustice and evil known as the military court of Judea, in the West Bank. In a spontaneous decision, Israel Prison Service officer Bassem Kashkush allowed Yafa and Suha Jarrar to approach their mother, Khalida, and embrace her. Even the elders of the court can’t remember anything like it.
The young women walked up to their mother, hugged her long and hard, and the tears flowed unbidden. Mother and daughters cried; the husband and father, Ghassan Jarrar, wept bitterly. The sympathizers and international observers who are attending Jarrar’s trial cried, too, and a tear was even spotted in a female prison guard’s eye. “What’s this, is everyone crying here today?” she blurted out.
Until 2002, which was the last time Ghassan was arrested, their childhood was marked by rough trips to different prisons. But what the daughters remember most vividly is the drum-like steps of the soldiers in the middle of the night, and the crude pounding on the door with rifle butts. They grew up thinking that this was the routine way of life of every child in the world.
Until 2002, which was the last time Ghassan was arrested, their childhood was marked by rough trips to different prisons. But what the daughters remember most vividly is the drum-like steps of the soldiers in the middle of the night, and the crude pounding on the door with rifle butts. They grew up thinking that this was the routine way of life of every child in the world.
Jailed Palestinian lawmaker pleads innocence
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story in +972mag)
[Palestinian lawmaker Khalida] Jarrar, who serves in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has been charged with 12 counts relating to her membership in the party, which is defined by Israel as an illegal organization. Nearly all the charges have to do with Jarrar’s participation in demonstrations, interviews, speeches and visits to solidarity tents for Palestinian prisoners. Only one charge relates to incitement to kidnap Israeli soldiers, despite the fact that the witness to this charge admit that he is not sure he heard Jarrar say anything to that extent.
Jarrar’s close friends believe that her criticism of the PA as well as the ICC bid are at the root of her expulsion order from Ramallah to Jericho last August, as well as her arrest in March, since several of the charges against her relate to events that occurred several years ago.
Jarrar is one of 12 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council who are currently being held in Israeli prisons. Several of them, including Hamas member Aziz Duwaik, are in administrative detention, which means they are being held indefinitely without being sentenced
US Congress passes rare law targeting boycotts of Israel
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story in the Jerusalem Post)
TPA, which passed through the Senate and landed on the president’s desk, includes roughly 150 trade negotiating objectives – requirements of the president, as mandated by Congress, to raise specific US priorities in its negotiations.
One of those objectives is to push back against efforts within the EU to sponsor the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
“Something this significant only comes around when TPA comes around,” Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Illinois) said in an interview at his office in the Rayburn House Office Building.
Skeptics also feared the implications of injecting foreign policy into a free-trade agreement. But proponents noted that, in Washington’s trade negotiations with Bahrain and Oman in the mid-2000s, the topic was on the table and both nations dropped their boycotts of Israel as a result.
Perhaps most controversial, however, was how the bill would define the territories under threat of boycott.
In its final language, the TPA legislation defines the BDS movement as “actions by states, nonmember states of the United Nations, international organizations or affiliated agencies of international organizations that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with Israel or persons doing business in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories.”
Israeli settlers use chainsaw to destroy over 60 olive trees near Nablus
(
story at Int'l Solidarity Movement)
On Sunday, 21st of June, residents of the Jamma’in village in the Nablus region discovered that Israeli settlers had cut down over 60 Palestinian owned olive trees. They suspect that the trees had been destroyed the previous day with a chain saw. The trees were owned by farmers from both Jamma’in and Yasuf, both villages are situated close to each other just south of Nablus.
The olive trees were said to be over 150 years old and have been harvested by generations of the Zeiden family, as well as others from the Yasuf village. 40 of these trees belonged to three brothers from the Zeiden family, who when witnessed the destruction to their land said, ‘We have lost our livelihood’. With the olive harvest only a few months away, this year the family will lose a major portion of their income from the production of olives and oil.
Analysis: PA war crimes charges aren’t really about Gaza
(
story in Jerusalem Post)
The separate issue is whether the Palestinians can convince Bensouda to go after the settlement enterprise since June 2014 – and possibly since November 29, 2012, when the UN General Assembly declared "Palestine" a state – as an ongoing war crime.
There is no agreement as to what Bensouda will do with the settlements-as-war-crime allegations, particularly since no one has ever been prosecuted by any war crimes tribunal for establishing settlements.
But many experts believe, given her decision to recognize "Palestine" as a state without a full hearing of Israel’s objections, that she could find legal interpretations to resolve each problem if she were committed to the issue as a whole.
Also, unlike with the 2014 Gaza war, where Bensouda needs Israel’s cooperation to enter Gaza to gather evidence or to obtain privileged documents from the IDF, experts have pointed out that information about the settlement enterprise is publicly available.
Another bigger problem for Israel regarding the settlements than with Gaza war crimes allegations is that Israel is investigating the Gaza war allegations but not settlement issues, as it does not regard the settlements as illegal.
More stories below the fold:
- Two stories, one death: family rejects Israel's 'accidental' killing
- Israel releases MP after year of administrative detention
- Thousands of Christians attend protest rally at burned Galilee church
- Gaza flotilla ship 'sabotaged' days before expected arrival
- The oppression of Israeli culture begins with the occupation
- Israel prevents hundreds of Gazans from entering Jerusalem
- Israel invites you to ‘like’ the occupation on Facebook
- Defense Ministry gives in to rabbis' request, nixes female performers at IDF event
- Vatican and Palestine sign historic accord
- Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken: Israel’s settlers have won
- Israel largest state user of explosive weapons in 2014 due to Gaza war
- In the West Bank, a single state of mind
- Alitalia pilot stuns passengers landing in Tel Aviv
Two stories, one death: family rejects Israel's 'accidental' killing
(
story in Ma'an News)
Abdullah Iyad Ghuneimat was returning at dawn from work at a nearby poultry farm on June 14 when he was shot by Israeli forces, run over, and left under a military vehicle for nearly three hours before he died, witnesses say.
The army vehicle struck Abdullah before it hit a rut in the pavement and overturned on top of him, slamming the 21-year-old into a wall on the other side of the narrow road that leads down to his family home and trapping him underneath.
Israel releases MP after year of administrative detention
(
story in Ma'an News)
Israeli authorities released Palestinian parliament member Sheikh Hassan Youssef, 60, on Thursday as he ended his administrative detention period that was extended three times while being held in prison.
Youssef was detained in mid June of 2014 during a detention campaign carried out by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank and held in the Ofer jail near Ramallah, the Ahrar Center for Prisoners and Human Rights said. He was one of hundreds of Palestinians to be detained by Israel during the campaign known as "Operation Brother's Keeper," which was allegedly carried out in search of three missing teenage settlers last summer, lasting until June 30 when their bodies were found.
The majority of Palestinian political organizations are considered illegal by Israel, including those that make up the PLO, and association with such parties is often used as grounds for imprisonment, according to prisoners' rights group Addameer.
Thousands of Christians attend protest rally at burned Galilee church
(
story in Haaretz)
Thousands of Christians held a protest rally in the Galilee on Sunday, near the Christian church that suffered serious damage following a suspected arson attack last week.
The event was held in the compound of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, in Tabgha, near Tiberias. Although it had been planned as a quiet prayer rally, the mood quickly became more aggressive.
Hundreds of youths carrying crosses of various sizes and waving Vatican flags blocked the access road to the church and chanted in honor of Jesus and Mary. Inside the church, a mass was led by former Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah and Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo.
U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission William Grant attended the mass, telling Haaretz he wanted to express his condemnation and disgust with the alleged attack, which he described as a hate crime like last week’s attack on the church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine African Americans dead.
Gaza flotilla ship 'sabotaged' days before expected arrival
(
story at Ma'an News)
One of the ships taking part in a flotilla headed towards the Gaza Strip was sabotaged south of Crete, an activist aboard one of the ships said Thursday. Israeli-born Swedish activist Dror Feiler told Nazareth-based al-Shams radio that the ship had been sabotaged by professionals, and would have sunk if sailed at sea. "Somebody went underneath the ship at night and sabotaged its propellers, just like they sabotaged the same ship in 2011,” Fieler said referring to similar damage that was inflicted upon a ship participating in a previous flotilla.
Despite the sabotage, the remainder of the flotilla convoy will move as planned with the ships expected arrive in Gaza in succession within three days, Feiler said. The flotilla is the third of it's kind to attempt to access the Gaza Strip by sea since 2010, aiming break the nearly nine-year Israeli blockade causing what is termed by rights organizations as a humanitarian crisis for the strip's 1.8 million residents.
The oppression of Israeli culture begins with the occupation
(
Opinion in Haaretz -- Avshalom Halutz)
Infringement on freedom of expression and creation has been at the center of Israeli discourse over the past two weeks, but only a few of the theater artists and filmmakers who were upset by the actions of Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev dared to see the connection between the situation in the occupied territories and the harming of their creative freedom. But those who choose to ignore the stark contrast between the creative freedom they enjoy and the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people should not be surprised if that same oppression shows up one day on the doorsteps of theater auditoriums and movie houses, and they are left alone to contend with politicians’ reckless and arbitrary whims.
Israel prevents hundreds of Gazans from entering Jerusalem
(
story in Ma'an News)
Hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were prevented from reaching Jerusalem to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday. Israeli authorities revoked this week’s permits for Gazans to visit the holy site after a rocket fired from the territory hit an open area near the town of Ashkelon in the western Negev early Wednesday, sources at the Palestinian liaison told Ma'an.
Israel invites you to ‘like’ the occupation on Facebook
(
story on +972mag)
In addition to its regular posts on activities at the crossings, COGAT released a video this week of Israeli Major General Yoav Mordechai delivering Ramadan greetings in Arabic. In it, Mordechai said that he had “personally instructed” steps to “strengthen the local [Palestinian] economies,” and that he has “decided to increase entry of Palestinians” into Israel for prayers and family visits — as if the Israeli authorities were making a generous choice by providing these services.
"#Ramadan Kareem from Major General Yoav ‘Poli’ Mordechai Posted by COGAT – Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories on Tuesday, June 16, 2015"
The video does not mention, of course, that Israel is actually obliged to facilitate these activities as an occupying power under international law, and has had to be repeatedly pressured into fulfilling even part of those obligations by the international community. Moreover, those services are not supposed to be privileges or gifts bestowed upon the Palestinian people; they are their basic human rights.
Defense Ministry gives in to rabbis' request, nixes female performers at IDF event
(
story in Haaretz)
A group of pre-army students blasted the Defense Ministry for its decision to stop women performing at a prestigious military ceremony last week.
The ministry acceded to rabbis’ requests that no woman be allowed to sing at the event, which honored hundreds of students finishing pre-army preparatory programs. It replaced the Israel Defense Forces’ mixed military band with an all-male ensemble. Also, the only speakers to address the crowd were men.
In response, students from BINA – a secular pre-army preparatory program – signed a joint letter condemning the decision.
Vatican and Palestine sign historic accord
(
story in Ma'an News)
"For the first time, the agreement includes an official recognition by the Holy See of Palestine as a State, in recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom and dignity in an independent state of their own, free from the shackles of occupation," PA Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said.
"It would not have been possible without the blessing of his Holiness Pope Francis for our efforts to reach it," he added. Al-Maliki said the "historic" accord enshrined Palestine's special status as the birthplace of Christianity and the cradle of the monotheistic religions -- Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken: Israel’s settlers have won
(
interview in Haaretz)
Was the evacuation of Gush Katif [Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip] justified in the way in was carried out?
"Yes, every evacuation is justified. Settlement in the occupied territories is like theft – you come, take territory that isn't yours and settle there. It's not recognized by international law, but they look for all kinds of ways to make this theft kosher."
About two years ago, at a panel discussion, you said that the settlers have won. Do you still believe that?
"When Ayelet Shaked [Habayit Hayehudi] is appointed justice minister – there's no greater victory than that. It's clear that the settlers have won; the settlers are running the country. They are only a handful. Count all the people who live in the territories – they are not a significant percentage of the country's inhabitants. But their influence is not insignificant at all."
The right's main accusation against Haaretz is that you have abandoned the Zionist consensus and become anti-Zionist.
"I think that the opposite is true: The right has changed the definition of Zionism. My definition of Zionism is a viewpoint or an ideology that sees the establishment of a national home in the Land of Israel, in the context of a Jewish and democratic state, as a solution for the Jewish people. That is Haaretz's viewpoint. The viewpoint of those who call themselves 'Zionists' today, and whom I consider anti-Zionists, is 'the Land of Israel for the Jewish people.' While the establishment of a Jewish home for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel doesn't eliminate the possibility of an Arab living anywhere in the country, and does not preclude a Palestinian state, the Zionism of the settlers is the Land of Israel for the Jewish people – and there are no Arabs."
Are you in despair?
"Not in despair, we're in battle. I think that if this government lasts and advances its programs, this step of undermining freedom of speech will progress to other things. "You can't have an apartheid regime, a discriminatory regime, an oppressive regime, without controlling the media."
Israel largest state user of explosive weapons in 2014 due to Gaza war
(
story at Ma'an News)
Israel was the single largest user of explosive weapons among international states in 2014 as a result of its war on Gaza, a London-based NGO said this week, providing further testimony to its devastating use of force on the coastal territory last summer.
In a report entitled ‘Explosive States: Monitoring explosive violence in 2014,’ Action on Armed Violence said that Gaza -- together with Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- saw one of the highest number of global casualties from explosive weapons as a result of Israel’s use of military force during Operation Protective Edge.
Rob Perkins, a senior weapons researcher at AOAV, told Ma’an that Gaza experienced the third highest number of civilian casualties from explosive violence in 2014 – surpassed only by Iraq and Syria.
In the West Bank, a single state of mind
(
story in Times of Israel)
One senior Palestinian Authority official with whom I met told me that 10, 20, 30 years ago, he and the members of his generation talked about the struggle against Israel, the Palestinian homeland and Fatah. “Today they have Facebook, and everybody wants to make money quickly,” he said. “They don’t care as much about the ‘collective.’ They focus on the ‘I.’”
One young man in the Deheishe refugee camp near Bethlehem explained these things to me simply. “Look at what is happening with the settlements,” he said. “How can we talk about a Palestinian state? So we will wait. In the end, we will be part of one state. Israelis and Palestinians. You will have to give us rights. And do you know what? I don’t even want to vote for your Knesset. But let me fly abroad from Ben-Gurion Airport.”
Alitalia pilot stuns passengers landing in Tel Aviv
(
story in Haaretz)
"Welcome to Palestine," said an Alitalia pilot as he landed in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, causing a stir among passengers and the airline's Israeli employees, a spokesman for the company said.
Alitalia CEO sent a letter of apology to Israel's ambassador on Tuesday. The company said that the pilot would no longer fly to Israel. A similar incident took place recently with the pilot of an Air France aircraft.
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 bi-weekly update on the non-violent resistance movement.
Diplomatic negotiations and actions by armed resistance groups are covered quite widely by the mainstream press and in other diaries on DKos so they will rarely be included.
We use the name Filasṭīn, 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. Filasṭīn 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.
Prior diaries:
June 21, 2015: Prisoner's hunger strike enters 48th day; Vandals torch Church of Loaves and Fish
June 14, 2015: Soldiers remove Palestinians from pool in Area A so Settlers can bathe undisturbed
June 7, 2015: French Telecom Executive’s Remarks on Israel Incite Furor.
May 31, 2015: Online database "exposes" pro-Palestinian college students to "damage their careers".
May 24, 2015: Soldier pays the price for criticizing the Israel army
May 17, 2015: Despite literal "smoking gun", settlers cleared of charges for shooting
May 10, 2015: "Palestinians are beasts, they are not human" - new head of West Bank civil administration
May 3, 2015: 6 year old child arrested in Jerusalem; The Death of Compassion
April 26, 2015: No Arabs Allowed; Christian cemetery vandalized; Annual March of Return
April 19, 2015: Shooting kids in the back, segregating female soldiers, state-sanctioned theft
April 12, 2015: Yarmouk refugees, NYU divestment letter, Terrorizing Children
April 5, 2015: Segregated Streets in Hebron, Palestinians observe Land Day
