18 aug 2015
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday kidnapped four Palestinian civilians from the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil, hours after a Palestinian girl and youth were injured in settler attacks.
Local sources said the IOF rolled into al-Khalil city and wreaked havoc on civilian homes and commercial structures, moments before they kidnapped four Palestinian citizens.
Earlier on Monday evening, a stone attack by Israeli vandals left the Palestinian child Farah Abu Sneina wounded at the same time as youngster Yakoub al-Karmi was heavily beaten and injured by fanatic Israelis in the area.
Over recent months, Israeli settlers stepped up attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank following the burning alive of Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsheh and his family members in an arson attack by Israeli settlers.
Local sources said the IOF rolled into al-Khalil city and wreaked havoc on civilian homes and commercial structures, moments before they kidnapped four Palestinian citizens.
Earlier on Monday evening, a stone attack by Israeli vandals left the Palestinian child Farah Abu Sneina wounded at the same time as youngster Yakoub al-Karmi was heavily beaten and injured by fanatic Israelis in the area.
Over recent months, Israeli settlers stepped up attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank following the burning alive of Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsheh and his family members in an arson attack by Israeli settlers.
Israeli policemen attacked Tuesday morning an employee of the Islamic Endowment Department at al-Aqsa Mosque, Quds Press said.
The employee was suddenly attacked and severely beaten after being prevented from having access into his office in al-Aqsa Mosque, the sources added.
Along the same line, Israeli police forces attacked a group of Palestinian children near Rahma gate under the pretext of protecting settlers’ break-in into the holy shrine.
Israeli police also confiscated the identity cards of several worshipers while trying to enter the mosque and filmed those who protested against the settlers’ presence.
Earlier Tuesday, three settlers groups stormed al-Aqsa Mosque via the Israeli-controlled al-Magaribeh gate under heavy police protection.
The employee was suddenly attacked and severely beaten after being prevented from having access into his office in al-Aqsa Mosque, the sources added.
Along the same line, Israeli police forces attacked a group of Palestinian children near Rahma gate under the pretext of protecting settlers’ break-in into the holy shrine.
Israeli police also confiscated the identity cards of several worshipers while trying to enter the mosque and filmed those who protested against the settlers’ presence.
Earlier Tuesday, three settlers groups stormed al-Aqsa Mosque via the Israeli-controlled al-Magaribeh gate under heavy police protection.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Tuesday eight Palestinian citizens after storming and searching their homes in the West Bank.
Israeli media sources claimed that the eight detainees were “wanted” for Israeli Intelligence Services for being allegedly involved in attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers.
The arrests were mainly carried out in Ramallah and al-Khalil, the sources added.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man was subjected to a brutal attack at the hands of Israeli settlers in Dura town, while a girl was stoned near the Ibrahimi mosque.
Also in al-Khalil, a Palestinian boy was detained after being severely beaten as Israeli forces stormed Aroub refugee camp south of the city.
The detainee was released after few hours of detention. Several local homes were also stormed and searched during the raid.
Israeli media sources claimed that the eight detainees were “wanted” for Israeli Intelligence Services for being allegedly involved in attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers.
The arrests were mainly carried out in Ramallah and al-Khalil, the sources added.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian young man was subjected to a brutal attack at the hands of Israeli settlers in Dura town, while a girl was stoned near the Ibrahimi mosque.
Also in al-Khalil, a Palestinian boy was detained after being severely beaten as Israeli forces stormed Aroub refugee camp south of the city.
The detainee was released after few hours of detention. Several local homes were also stormed and searched during the raid.
A Palestinian young man from occupied Jerusalem suffered injuries on Monday evening when a Jewish settler rammed his car into him in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, east of the city.
Palestinian sources affirmed that a settler deliberately ran over a young man in Sheikh Jarrah and drove away.
The sources added that Israeli policemen asked eyewitnesses at the scene not to tell that a settler was behind the wheels.
They said the young man suffered injuries and bruises in his body, including his head and left leg, and was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Still no information is available about the identity of the victim.
Whereas the Israeli police deal with Jewish settlers driving their cars into Palestinian pedestrians as traffic accidents, it considers similar incidents by Palestinians as terror attacks, upon which shooting and killing orders are easily taken.
Palestinian sources affirmed that a settler deliberately ran over a young man in Sheikh Jarrah and drove away.
The sources added that Israeli policemen asked eyewitnesses at the scene not to tell that a settler was behind the wheels.
They said the young man suffered injuries and bruises in his body, including his head and left leg, and was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Still no information is available about the identity of the victim.
Whereas the Israeli police deal with Jewish settlers driving their cars into Palestinian pedestrians as traffic accidents, it considers similar incidents by Palestinians as terror attacks, upon which shooting and killing orders are easily taken.
17 aug 2015
Israeli police allowed Palestinian women to access the Aqsa Mosque on the condition of submitting their IDs to the Israeli policemen deployed at the gates on Monday morning.
Quds Press revealed that holding the IDs of Palestinian women aimed at identifying the women who stay at the Mosque for long hours for the sake of confronting Jewish settlers’ incursions into the holy site.
It also disclosed that the policemen stationed at al-Asbat gate tried to bar Palestinian children participating in summer camps to access the Mosque for a limited period, but the children crossed the iron barriers and entered its plazas while accompanied with their teachers.
The Israeli policemen could not handle the situation due to the large numbers of Palestinian children, Quds Press pointed out.
The worshipers confronted the incursion of Jewish settler groups in the morning. The policemen took photos for the worshipers who confronted settlers, whereas the Israeli Special Forces secured settlers’ incursion until their way out of the holy site from al-Silsilah gate.
27 settlers broke into the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque on Monday morning amid angry chants by Muslim worshipers and protection of Israeli policemen and Special Forces.
Quds Press revealed that holding the IDs of Palestinian women aimed at identifying the women who stay at the Mosque for long hours for the sake of confronting Jewish settlers’ incursions into the holy site.
It also disclosed that the policemen stationed at al-Asbat gate tried to bar Palestinian children participating in summer camps to access the Mosque for a limited period, but the children crossed the iron barriers and entered its plazas while accompanied with their teachers.
The Israeli policemen could not handle the situation due to the large numbers of Palestinian children, Quds Press pointed out.
The worshipers confronted the incursion of Jewish settler groups in the morning. The policemen took photos for the worshipers who confronted settlers, whereas the Israeli Special Forces secured settlers’ incursion until their way out of the holy site from al-Silsilah gate.
27 settlers broke into the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque on Monday morning amid angry chants by Muslim worshipers and protection of Israeli policemen and Special Forces.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday evening have come down heavily on hundreds of Palestinian protesters calling for the release of Palestinian hunger striker Mohammad Allan near Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
Media sources said Israeli police sealed off the main entrance to Ashkelon and blocked four buses, bearing Palestinian flags and posters depicting Allan, from reaching the hospital.
Over one hundred fanatic Israelis and right-wing extremists also gathered near the hospital and attacked the protesters as soon as they came out of the buses.
The Israeli occupation officers aggressively assaulted the rally-goers, spraying them with waste water in an attempt to disband the vigil.
A number of protesters were chased down by the Israeli police while others were kidnapped in the process.
The demonstrators chanted slogans and lifted banners condemning the Israeli policy of administrative detention and calling for immediately releasing hunger striker Allan after his health status has remarkably gone down.
The activists called for a mass participation in the ongoing pro-Allan rallies so as to push for his release before it is too late.
Media sources said Israeli police sealed off the main entrance to Ashkelon and blocked four buses, bearing Palestinian flags and posters depicting Allan, from reaching the hospital.
Over one hundred fanatic Israelis and right-wing extremists also gathered near the hospital and attacked the protesters as soon as they came out of the buses.
The Israeli occupation officers aggressively assaulted the rally-goers, spraying them with waste water in an attempt to disband the vigil.
A number of protesters were chased down by the Israeli police while others were kidnapped in the process.
The demonstrators chanted slogans and lifted banners condemning the Israeli policy of administrative detention and calling for immediately releasing hunger striker Allan after his health status has remarkably gone down.
The activists called for a mass participation in the ongoing pro-Allan rallies so as to push for his release before it is too late.
Mohammad Allan during transfer to Barzilai hospital in Askalan on Monday (10 August 2015)
The Israeli High Court on Monday is set to discuss the appeal to release Palestinian administrative prisoner and hunger-striker, Mohammad Allan.The 30-year-old prisoner went into coma on Friday, within the second month of strike. He currently lies in the ICU of Barzilai hospital, occupied Askalan (Ashkelon) south of Israel, in critical conditions.
The prisoner’s lawyer, Kamal Nattour, appealed to the court on Saturday for release on medical grounds.
Allan has been held by Israel without trial since November as an administrative prisoner, which means that he was arrested without being told what his charge is. The administrative confinement is 6 months than can be infinitely renewed.
Israeli occupation government says that if Allan wakes up from his coma and still wants to continue with hunger-strike, the internationally forbidden force-feeding procedure will take place, since the Knesset in July passed law that legalized it.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club submitted a request to hospital officials Sunday asking them to wake Allan from the coma in order to check where he stands on his condition, according to Haaretz.
Several demonstrations in support of Allan have been held since his condition began to deteriorate over the past two weeks, and especially over the weekend.
On Sunday, IOF arrested at least 15 people in demonstrations outside the Barzilai Medical Center. Two people were lightly injured.
The Israeli police has thus far repressed the demonstration of some 200 protesters, some of them Israeli. During the protest, Israeli extremist settlers went against the pro-release protesters, causing the erupt of clashes.
The demonstration called by far-right Jewish activists, including prominent lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir, was joined later Sunday evening by some Ashkelon residents. Demonstrators shouted “Death to Arabs.”
Last Monday, Allan was moved to Barzilai medical center in Askalan, in preps to be force-fed. However, the hospital administration and doctors said that they refuse to do it, since it is unethical, violates a peaceful form of protest, and endangers the life of the prisoner.
The Israeli High Court on Monday is set to discuss the appeal to release Palestinian administrative prisoner and hunger-striker, Mohammad Allan.The 30-year-old prisoner went into coma on Friday, within the second month of strike. He currently lies in the ICU of Barzilai hospital, occupied Askalan (Ashkelon) south of Israel, in critical conditions.
The prisoner’s lawyer, Kamal Nattour, appealed to the court on Saturday for release on medical grounds.
Allan has been held by Israel without trial since November as an administrative prisoner, which means that he was arrested without being told what his charge is. The administrative confinement is 6 months than can be infinitely renewed.
Israeli occupation government says that if Allan wakes up from his coma and still wants to continue with hunger-strike, the internationally forbidden force-feeding procedure will take place, since the Knesset in July passed law that legalized it.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club submitted a request to hospital officials Sunday asking them to wake Allan from the coma in order to check where he stands on his condition, according to Haaretz.
Several demonstrations in support of Allan have been held since his condition began to deteriorate over the past two weeks, and especially over the weekend.
On Sunday, IOF arrested at least 15 people in demonstrations outside the Barzilai Medical Center. Two people were lightly injured.
The Israeli police has thus far repressed the demonstration of some 200 protesters, some of them Israeli. During the protest, Israeli extremist settlers went against the pro-release protesters, causing the erupt of clashes.
The demonstration called by far-right Jewish activists, including prominent lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir, was joined later Sunday evening by some Ashkelon residents. Demonstrators shouted “Death to Arabs.”
Last Monday, Allan was moved to Barzilai medical center in Askalan, in preps to be force-fed. However, the hospital administration and doctors said that they refuse to do it, since it is unethical, violates a peaceful form of protest, and endangers the life of the prisoner.
Dozens of Jewish settlers stormed al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of Israeli police on Sunday.
Palestinian worshipers at the Mosque revealed that a group of settlers called Trustees for the Temple broke into the plazas of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday morning.
The settlers attempted to reach the Dome of the Rock, but the worshipers along with Jerusalemite children stopped them. The settlers took photos of the holy site as well.
Israeli forces had erected, in the morning, a military barrier at the entrance of al-Issawiyah town to the northwest of Occupied Jerusalem.
The Director of al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar al-Kaswani, told the Anadolu News Agency that about 80 settlers stormed the Muslims’ holy site under the protection of dozens of Israeli policemen. The worshipers confronted settlers with chants of “Allah the Greatest”, he added.
Limited confrontations erupted in the wake of pushing Palestinian worshipers by Israeli policemen, he pointed out.
The worshipers include Palestinians who have been camping inside al-Aqsa Mosque for the sake of defending it from settlers’ repeated incursions.
Al-Aqsa holy site is almost daily being stormed by Jewish settlers, claiming that the Mosque was established over the ruins of the alleged Temple of Solomon.
Palestinian worshipers at the Mosque revealed that a group of settlers called Trustees for the Temple broke into the plazas of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday morning.
The settlers attempted to reach the Dome of the Rock, but the worshipers along with Jerusalemite children stopped them. The settlers took photos of the holy site as well.
Israeli forces had erected, in the morning, a military barrier at the entrance of al-Issawiyah town to the northwest of Occupied Jerusalem.
The Director of al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar al-Kaswani, told the Anadolu News Agency that about 80 settlers stormed the Muslims’ holy site under the protection of dozens of Israeli policemen. The worshipers confronted settlers with chants of “Allah the Greatest”, he added.
Limited confrontations erupted in the wake of pushing Palestinian worshipers by Israeli policemen, he pointed out.
The worshipers include Palestinians who have been camping inside al-Aqsa Mosque for the sake of defending it from settlers’ repeated incursions.
Al-Aqsa holy site is almost daily being stormed by Jewish settlers, claiming that the Mosque was established over the ruins of the alleged Temple of Solomon.
16 aug 2015
A Jewish settler at noon Sunday ran over a 10-year-old Palestinian minor from Yatma village in Nablus city.
Director of the settlement file in the West Bank Ghassan Daghlas told the PIC reporter that the child Muhammad al-Najjar was run over by a settler while he was crossing a main street in the village causing him a fracture in his leg.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and transferred the wounded child to Rafidia hospital to receive treatment, Daghlas said.
Israeli settlers and forces have escalated their attacks against the Palestinians residing in the villages adjacent to the settlements. Most of these assaults resulted in the death and injury of many Palestinian citizens.
Director of the settlement file in the West Bank Ghassan Daghlas told the PIC reporter that the child Muhammad al-Najjar was run over by a settler while he was crossing a main street in the village causing him a fracture in his leg.
Ambulances rushed to the scene and transferred the wounded child to Rafidia hospital to receive treatment, Daghlas said.
Israeli settlers and forces have escalated their attacks against the Palestinians residing in the villages adjacent to the settlements. Most of these assaults resulted in the death and injury of many Palestinian citizens.
Illegal Israeli settlement, Har Homa in East Jersusalem
There is a clear contradiction between Israel's demolition of two houses built by Jewish settlers in Beit El settlement following a judgement by the Supreme Court that they were built on private property belonging to a Palestinian, and the approval of Benjamin Netanyahu's government for the construction of 300 new homes in the same settlement, one of a number of building projects across the occupied West Bank.
Such a contradictory stance was reflected in the Israeli prime minister's condemnation of the arson attack on the home of the Dawabsheh family by Jewish settlers, which killed a Palestinian baby and his father, given that the building programmes approved by the Netanyahu government and a climate of state-sanctioned impunity not only entices settlers to move in but also encourages them to carry out such attacks. We should not, therefore, be deceived by the apparent awakening of Netanyahu's conscience towards the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of settlers and settlements.
It is through the judgements passed by the Israeli courts that the legal system plays a role in expanding settlements and gives them the legitimacy that Israelis crave. If the courts call for what we know will only ever be a temporary removal of some violations (the two Beit El houses, for example) they are only trying to remind settlers that they need to follow official guidance on the best way to confiscate Palestinian land and uproot the Palestinian residents therefrom.
Netanyahu's justice minister said that it is useful to destroy two houses to make it possible to establish dozens of others in the same place, albeit it is "regrettable" to have to demolish them in order to re-build them. The minister of education explained that the court can decide whatever it wants, for the judicial system has to issue judgements while the government gets to decide about ongoing construction. It is as if they are saying, "We will learn from our mistakes, and we will build settlements in accordance with the legal instructions booklet with which the government overrides some of its formal procedures, so that the courts' task becomes to re-direct the government towards better methods and pretexts for the confiscation of land and expansion of settlements."
The legal process for this is represented by the permissibility of confiscating land from its owners for security reasons, or to establish army bases; later, civilians — Jewish settlers only, of course — are allowed to live there, on the pretext that they are part of the security provision; then these bases are turned into settlements, which are gradually expanded, and they swallow the surrounding areas on the pretext that the settlers themselves need security. The Israeli courts can also provide Palestinian land for the settlers because their presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is a security necessity for the state.
A number of laws are available to the government which allow it to control Palestinian land as it wishes. The Closed Areas Law, for example, allows the military to close any area without giving any reason; the Law of Absentee Property, allows the confiscation of land that belongs to people who are not in residence, for whatever reason (they may just be travelling); and the Law of Fallow Land, which allows for the confiscation of land that has not been cultivated. The latter is one of the most unjust and ridiculous of laws, because the Israeli authorities declare certain areas to be closed and prevent the owners from reaching their land to cultivate it, and then the government confiscates the land on the basis that it is uncultivated.
The Oslo Accords did not address the issue of settlements and allocated more than 60 per cent of the West Bank to what is known as Area C, which is entirely under Israeli military administration. Settlements are the essence of Israel's founding Zionist ideology, and they have expanded many times under peace negotiations; the Palestine Liberation Organisation has failed to extract any Israeli pledge to halt settlement activity or freeze it. The West Bank is filled with settlements housing more than 600,000 settlers — all illegal under international law — with 200,000 in Jerusalem alone. The settlement programme has dismembered the West Bank, making a two-state solution almost impossible to envisage and making it unlikely that Israel will ever withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territory under its control.
In the process, Jewish settler groups and political parties have grown in number and influence; it is impossible to form a government in Israel without their support. Militant extremists amongst the settlers are responsible for attacks against Palestinians and their homes and farms. An estimated 1,000 such attacks take place every year, and include murder, beatings, the burning of crops and trees, arson attacks on buildings and restricting free movement. The latest of these attacks was the arson attack targeting the Dawabsheh family. The incident cannot be separated from the context of all other settler violence. Needless to say, all settlers are heavily armed and are provided with back-up and protection by the Israeli army, and encouragement from the state.
It is no longer a secret that ardent Zionists are talking about the creation of a settler state in what they call "Judea and Samaria" in an effort to thwart any attempt by the government to withdraw from any occupied territory or close settlements as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. This has even been mentioned by Yuval Diskin, the former head of Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet. Such a move would subject the West Bank to the control of the settlers, under the pretext that there is a dispute between residents of the West Bank; any "solution" in the occupied territories must therefore take into account the diversity of the population, even if the settlers have imposed their presence on the Palestinians in their own land.
It is enough for us to get alarmed to know that the proportion of Jewish settlers relative to the Palestinians in the West Bank exceeds the proportion of Jews to Arabs in 1948 when Israel was created. The Jewish settlers have the ability and influence to enable them to declare their own state, leaving the Israeli government free to claim that it is not responsible for what is happening there. That would, of course, be a disingenuous argument, given that it has created the settlements and settler-only access roads, and provided security and infrastructure for the settlers in the first place.
The West Bank is thus undergoing a serious Judaisation process as I write, and a major disaster is about to hit the Palestinians amid the near-complete absence and deadly inaction of the so-called Palestinian Authority. Regional Arab states and the international community are silent about what is happening before their eyes, which leaves the Israeli occupation government free to do what it wishes, and settlers free to declare their own state in the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria. Is anyone going to respond, to stop the disaster before it takes place?
There is a clear contradiction between Israel's demolition of two houses built by Jewish settlers in Beit El settlement following a judgement by the Supreme Court that they were built on private property belonging to a Palestinian, and the approval of Benjamin Netanyahu's government for the construction of 300 new homes in the same settlement, one of a number of building projects across the occupied West Bank.
Such a contradictory stance was reflected in the Israeli prime minister's condemnation of the arson attack on the home of the Dawabsheh family by Jewish settlers, which killed a Palestinian baby and his father, given that the building programmes approved by the Netanyahu government and a climate of state-sanctioned impunity not only entices settlers to move in but also encourages them to carry out such attacks. We should not, therefore, be deceived by the apparent awakening of Netanyahu's conscience towards the suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of settlers and settlements.
It is through the judgements passed by the Israeli courts that the legal system plays a role in expanding settlements and gives them the legitimacy that Israelis crave. If the courts call for what we know will only ever be a temporary removal of some violations (the two Beit El houses, for example) they are only trying to remind settlers that they need to follow official guidance on the best way to confiscate Palestinian land and uproot the Palestinian residents therefrom.
Netanyahu's justice minister said that it is useful to destroy two houses to make it possible to establish dozens of others in the same place, albeit it is "regrettable" to have to demolish them in order to re-build them. The minister of education explained that the court can decide whatever it wants, for the judicial system has to issue judgements while the government gets to decide about ongoing construction. It is as if they are saying, "We will learn from our mistakes, and we will build settlements in accordance with the legal instructions booklet with which the government overrides some of its formal procedures, so that the courts' task becomes to re-direct the government towards better methods and pretexts for the confiscation of land and expansion of settlements."
The legal process for this is represented by the permissibility of confiscating land from its owners for security reasons, or to establish army bases; later, civilians — Jewish settlers only, of course — are allowed to live there, on the pretext that they are part of the security provision; then these bases are turned into settlements, which are gradually expanded, and they swallow the surrounding areas on the pretext that the settlers themselves need security. The Israeli courts can also provide Palestinian land for the settlers because their presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is a security necessity for the state.
A number of laws are available to the government which allow it to control Palestinian land as it wishes. The Closed Areas Law, for example, allows the military to close any area without giving any reason; the Law of Absentee Property, allows the confiscation of land that belongs to people who are not in residence, for whatever reason (they may just be travelling); and the Law of Fallow Land, which allows for the confiscation of land that has not been cultivated. The latter is one of the most unjust and ridiculous of laws, because the Israeli authorities declare certain areas to be closed and prevent the owners from reaching their land to cultivate it, and then the government confiscates the land on the basis that it is uncultivated.
The Oslo Accords did not address the issue of settlements and allocated more than 60 per cent of the West Bank to what is known as Area C, which is entirely under Israeli military administration. Settlements are the essence of Israel's founding Zionist ideology, and they have expanded many times under peace negotiations; the Palestine Liberation Organisation has failed to extract any Israeli pledge to halt settlement activity or freeze it. The West Bank is filled with settlements housing more than 600,000 settlers — all illegal under international law — with 200,000 in Jerusalem alone. The settlement programme has dismembered the West Bank, making a two-state solution almost impossible to envisage and making it unlikely that Israel will ever withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territory under its control.
In the process, Jewish settler groups and political parties have grown in number and influence; it is impossible to form a government in Israel without their support. Militant extremists amongst the settlers are responsible for attacks against Palestinians and their homes and farms. An estimated 1,000 such attacks take place every year, and include murder, beatings, the burning of crops and trees, arson attacks on buildings and restricting free movement. The latest of these attacks was the arson attack targeting the Dawabsheh family. The incident cannot be separated from the context of all other settler violence. Needless to say, all settlers are heavily armed and are provided with back-up and protection by the Israeli army, and encouragement from the state.
It is no longer a secret that ardent Zionists are talking about the creation of a settler state in what they call "Judea and Samaria" in an effort to thwart any attempt by the government to withdraw from any occupied territory or close settlements as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians. This has even been mentioned by Yuval Diskin, the former head of Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet. Such a move would subject the West Bank to the control of the settlers, under the pretext that there is a dispute between residents of the West Bank; any "solution" in the occupied territories must therefore take into account the diversity of the population, even if the settlers have imposed their presence on the Palestinians in their own land.
It is enough for us to get alarmed to know that the proportion of Jewish settlers relative to the Palestinians in the West Bank exceeds the proportion of Jews to Arabs in 1948 when Israel was created. The Jewish settlers have the ability and influence to enable them to declare their own state, leaving the Israeli government free to claim that it is not responsible for what is happening there. That would, of course, be a disingenuous argument, given that it has created the settlements and settler-only access roads, and provided security and infrastructure for the settlers in the first place.
The West Bank is thus undergoing a serious Judaisation process as I write, and a major disaster is about to hit the Palestinians amid the near-complete absence and deadly inaction of the so-called Palestinian Authority. Regional Arab states and the international community are silent about what is happening before their eyes, which leaves the Israeli occupation government free to do what it wishes, and settlers free to declare their own state in the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria. Is anyone going to respond, to stop the disaster before it takes place?
For two months, concerned Palestinians have demonstrated against the sale of the Presbyterian church in Beit el Baraka to right-wing activist Aryeh King.
Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp.
Aryeh King is said to be "refurbishing" the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.
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. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army sped to further block the movement of the demonstrators.
No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.
Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp.
Aryeh King is said to be "refurbishing" the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.
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. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army sped to further block the movement of the demonstrators.
No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.
15 aug 2015
Bezalel Smotrich
Bezalel Smotrich, who organized the 'beast parade' in protest of the pride parade, says LGBT community uses control of the media to get public sympathy and silence those who share his views.
Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, who just recently angered many by referring to the gay pride parade as the "abomination parade," has once again made a controversial comment about the LGBT community.
Earlier this week, Smotrich claimed during an interview with Galey Israel Radio that the gay community was influencing public opinion by using its alleged control over the media. Smotrich specifically avoided using the terms "homosexual," or "gay," and instead referred to members of the gay community as "they" and "those."
"There are a whole lot of prominent figures in the Israeli media, those who have the microphone, and they determine for all of us what to think and what to say," he said.
He asserted that public sympathy for the gay community and the legitimization it has came thanks to their "control" of the media. "For many years I asked myself, 'how could it be that suddenly everyone...' What, has everyone gotten lost? After all, I'm convinced that 95 percent of Israeli citizens would very much want their children to start wonderful families and give them grandchildren.
A healthy person, a normal person, this is what he wants," he said. He went on to claim that the members of the gay community were using the media to advance their own agenda and to silence others.
"These people possess an immense power in the ability to shape our perceptions," he said. "When you look at the list today, it has many dozens of the most dominant figures. So naturally they couldn't listen to an opinion like mine and they cut me off after a quarter of a sentence, and I come out looking bad because I can't explain myself."
Smotrich didn't stop with the gay community, and wasn't afraid to criticize his party leader, Naftali Bennett, as well. He said about Bennett's decision to support the gay community that "if the chairman of my party wants to censor Torah, then good for him. Because I don't censor the Torah."
Bennett's office was quick to distance itself from Smotrich's comments. "Bennett is everyone's education minister: Religious, secular, haredim, Arabs, Jews, and the gay community as well," a statement from Bennett's office said. "The minister believes every person, no matter who they are, deserves respect, and this is the way of Judaism: Respect, and not scorn. The minister rejects any form of debasement of a person based on his beliefs, identity, or orientation."
Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud) also slammed Smotrich: "There is no place in Israel for such closed-minded and racist comments."
Members of the opposition also responded with anger. Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon said that "the cry of the robbed Cossack Smotrich, who accuses the gay community of taking over the media while those who took over were actually from the extremist right wing, is borderline paranoia and impertinence."
MK Stav Shaffir (Zionist Union), meanwhile, has already filed a request to remove Smotrich of his position as the deputy Knesset speaker. "His comments remind me, in a sickening way, of comments made by the worst of our enemies. He's not the first to claim an entire group was ruling the media - many anti-Semites said that about our people," she said.
"Only two weeks have passed since the horrible murder at the pride parade, and an MK serving as the deputy Knesset speaker dares making such closed-minded comments."
Smotrich's homophobic comments are not new. In 2006, he organized what he called "The Beast Parade" in protest of the gay pride parade in Jerusalem.
Bezalel Smotrich, who organized the 'beast parade' in protest of the pride parade, says LGBT community uses control of the media to get public sympathy and silence those who share his views.
Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich, who just recently angered many by referring to the gay pride parade as the "abomination parade," has once again made a controversial comment about the LGBT community.
Earlier this week, Smotrich claimed during an interview with Galey Israel Radio that the gay community was influencing public opinion by using its alleged control over the media. Smotrich specifically avoided using the terms "homosexual," or "gay," and instead referred to members of the gay community as "they" and "those."
"There are a whole lot of prominent figures in the Israeli media, those who have the microphone, and they determine for all of us what to think and what to say," he said.
He asserted that public sympathy for the gay community and the legitimization it has came thanks to their "control" of the media. "For many years I asked myself, 'how could it be that suddenly everyone...' What, has everyone gotten lost? After all, I'm convinced that 95 percent of Israeli citizens would very much want their children to start wonderful families and give them grandchildren.
A healthy person, a normal person, this is what he wants," he said. He went on to claim that the members of the gay community were using the media to advance their own agenda and to silence others.
"These people possess an immense power in the ability to shape our perceptions," he said. "When you look at the list today, it has many dozens of the most dominant figures. So naturally they couldn't listen to an opinion like mine and they cut me off after a quarter of a sentence, and I come out looking bad because I can't explain myself."
Smotrich didn't stop with the gay community, and wasn't afraid to criticize his party leader, Naftali Bennett, as well. He said about Bennett's decision to support the gay community that "if the chairman of my party wants to censor Torah, then good for him. Because I don't censor the Torah."
Bennett's office was quick to distance itself from Smotrich's comments. "Bennett is everyone's education minister: Religious, secular, haredim, Arabs, Jews, and the gay community as well," a statement from Bennett's office said. "The minister believes every person, no matter who they are, deserves respect, and this is the way of Judaism: Respect, and not scorn. The minister rejects any form of debasement of a person based on his beliefs, identity, or orientation."
Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud) also slammed Smotrich: "There is no place in Israel for such closed-minded and racist comments."
Members of the opposition also responded with anger. Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon said that "the cry of the robbed Cossack Smotrich, who accuses the gay community of taking over the media while those who took over were actually from the extremist right wing, is borderline paranoia and impertinence."
MK Stav Shaffir (Zionist Union), meanwhile, has already filed a request to remove Smotrich of his position as the deputy Knesset speaker. "His comments remind me, in a sickening way, of comments made by the worst of our enemies. He's not the first to claim an entire group was ruling the media - many anti-Semites said that about our people," she said.
"Only two weeks have passed since the horrible murder at the pride parade, and an MK serving as the deputy Knesset speaker dares making such closed-minded comments."
Smotrich's homophobic comments are not new. In 2006, he organized what he called "The Beast Parade" in protest of the gay pride parade in Jerusalem.
Jewish man armed with knife and Molotov cocktail arrested in Beit Shemesh
A Jewish man armed with a knife and a Molotov cocktail was arrested on Saturday at a commercial center in Beit Shemesh. The suspect pulled out a knife at police forces that arrived at the scene following reports of an armed man.
A police officer drew out his weapon, causing the suspect to lower his knife.
A Jewish man armed with a knife and a Molotov cocktail was arrested on Saturday at a commercial center in Beit Shemesh. The suspect pulled out a knife at police forces that arrived at the scene following reports of an armed man.
A police officer drew out his weapon, causing the suspect to lower his knife.
14 aug 2015
Protest over decision to open new cinema multiplex on Shabbat leads to confrontation in the streets, as crowds throw stones at police.
Hundreds of Orthodox Jews protested on Friday evening the opening of a new cinema multiplex in Jerusalem that will be open on Saturday.
Protestors threw stones at police and smashed windows. Following the incident, most of the protestors left the area.
The protests occurred in neighborhoods far away from the new theater.
Following the official opening of the theater earlier, Moshe Greidinger, CEO of Yes Planet's parent company Cineworld PLC, said he was aware of the possibility that haredi groups might protest.
"I believe in live and let live, anytime it doesn't hurt someone else," said Greidinger. "I grew up with the Jerusalem 'Shabbat wars' – in the end you reach a status quo and I believe it will be that way this time as well."
Hundreds of Orthodox Jews protested on Friday evening the opening of a new cinema multiplex in Jerusalem that will be open on Saturday.
Protestors threw stones at police and smashed windows. Following the incident, most of the protestors left the area.
The protests occurred in neighborhoods far away from the new theater.
Following the official opening of the theater earlier, Moshe Greidinger, CEO of Yes Planet's parent company Cineworld PLC, said he was aware of the possibility that haredi groups might protest.
"I believe in live and let live, anytime it doesn't hurt someone else," said Greidinger. "I grew up with the Jerusalem 'Shabbat wars' – in the end you reach a status quo and I believe it will be that way this time as well."
Security increased for Rabbi David Stav after intelligence that radicals view him as a target over formation of alternative conversions court.
Police placed security on the house of Tzohar chairman Rabbi David Stav on Thursday night following intelligence that radicals were planning to hurt him over the formation of an alternative conversion courts.
A police vehicle will be patrolling around Stav's home until further notice. The municipality of Shoham, where Stav serves as the chief rabbi, has also decided to add to his security.
Earlier this week, Religious Zionist rabbis and liberal religious organizations announced the formation of a system of courts independent from the Chief Rabbinate, which will work to convert the non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are living in Israel.
The Foreign Ministry and Chief Rabbinate do not recognize alternative conversions in Israel, even if they were done according to Halacha, but the founders of the new courts system hope that if many converters choose this alternative track, the public pressure on the Rabbinate will increase and this policy will change.
Rabbis Yaaqov Medan, Re'em Ha'Cohen, Shlomo Riskin, David Stav and others have joined with Itim (the Right to Live Jewish), the Harry Oscar Triguboff Institute and Beit Morasha of Jerusalem to form these alternative conversion courts.
They promise potential converts a friendly process and leniency. The move is supported by the Jewish Agency. The court will be led by Rabbi Nahum Eliezer Rabinovitch, a leader in Religious Zionism movement.
Meanwhile, Israel's chief rabbis strongly criticized the courts and the more liberal allies. At the first convention of the B'noam organization, a lobby group working to strengthen the chief rabbinate, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that the rabbis were acting out of improper motives, for personal reasons, and not in the service of God.
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau accused the rabbis of fighting against the Torah. He said the rabbinical leadership has always fought attempts to damage the Torah and Jewish law.
"We will not give up the Torah of Israel, the halacha passed to us from generation to generation," said Rabbi Lau. "This Torah will not be replaced and there will be no other Torah. According to it we will act with a soft heart, with caring and love towards all the created."
Police placed security on the house of Tzohar chairman Rabbi David Stav on Thursday night following intelligence that radicals were planning to hurt him over the formation of an alternative conversion courts.
A police vehicle will be patrolling around Stav's home until further notice. The municipality of Shoham, where Stav serves as the chief rabbi, has also decided to add to his security.
Earlier this week, Religious Zionist rabbis and liberal religious organizations announced the formation of a system of courts independent from the Chief Rabbinate, which will work to convert the non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are living in Israel.
The Foreign Ministry and Chief Rabbinate do not recognize alternative conversions in Israel, even if they were done according to Halacha, but the founders of the new courts system hope that if many converters choose this alternative track, the public pressure on the Rabbinate will increase and this policy will change.
Rabbis Yaaqov Medan, Re'em Ha'Cohen, Shlomo Riskin, David Stav and others have joined with Itim (the Right to Live Jewish), the Harry Oscar Triguboff Institute and Beit Morasha of Jerusalem to form these alternative conversion courts.
They promise potential converts a friendly process and leniency. The move is supported by the Jewish Agency. The court will be led by Rabbi Nahum Eliezer Rabinovitch, a leader in Religious Zionism movement.
Meanwhile, Israel's chief rabbis strongly criticized the courts and the more liberal allies. At the first convention of the B'noam organization, a lobby group working to strengthen the chief rabbinate, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that the rabbis were acting out of improper motives, for personal reasons, and not in the service of God.
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau accused the rabbis of fighting against the Torah. He said the rabbinical leadership has always fought attempts to damage the Torah and Jewish law.
"We will not give up the Torah of Israel, the halacha passed to us from generation to generation," said Rabbi Lau. "This Torah will not be replaced and there will be no other Torah. According to it we will act with a soft heart, with caring and love towards all the created."
Israeli forces demolish buildings in West Bank in order to construct new settlements
A pro-settler group is continuing with its efforts to spread illegal Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. Ateret Cohanim, reported Haaretz on Thursday, has obtained a court order to evict a Palestinian family from a building that the organisation now controls in Silwan, near to the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa.
Several weeks ago, the organisation filed a request to evacuate other Palestinian families living in the area as it tries to seize more Palestinian homes. More recently, it applied for licences to build a three-story building in Silwan and widen the road leading to a Jewish settlement inside the neighbourhood, Haaretz explained.
Ateret Cohanim has been active for years, making provision for Jewish settlers in Jerusalem and Silwan neighbourhood. Its activities revolve around taking control of the area of Batan Al-Hawa in Silwan, which it claims was home to Jews of Yemeni origin more than a hundred years ago. In this context the group seized the Beit Yonatan building, which was built without a licence and is now inhabited by 10 Jewish families. It has also placed another family of Jewish settlers in the Bait Hadvash building, according to Haaretz.
"About two months ago," added the newspaper, "Ateret Cohanim took over half of the so-called Abu Nab building, named for the extended family that lived in it, and which once housed a synagogue for the Yemenite community."
This settlement effort complements that of the Ir David Foundation (aka Elad), which focuses its activities in the so-called "City of David" near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Critics have asked why the Israeli government and the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality say that it is illegal for Palestinians to live in "unlicensed" buildings but acceptable for Jews to be there.
Israel is engaged in the Judaisation of Jerusalem. Evicting long-term Palestinian residents and revoking their residence permits is part of the ethnic cleansing process that has been ongoing since the state of Israel was created on Palestinian land in 1948.
A pro-settler group is continuing with its efforts to spread illegal Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem. Ateret Cohanim, reported Haaretz on Thursday, has obtained a court order to evict a Palestinian family from a building that the organisation now controls in Silwan, near to the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa.
Several weeks ago, the organisation filed a request to evacuate other Palestinian families living in the area as it tries to seize more Palestinian homes. More recently, it applied for licences to build a three-story building in Silwan and widen the road leading to a Jewish settlement inside the neighbourhood, Haaretz explained.
Ateret Cohanim has been active for years, making provision for Jewish settlers in Jerusalem and Silwan neighbourhood. Its activities revolve around taking control of the area of Batan Al-Hawa in Silwan, which it claims was home to Jews of Yemeni origin more than a hundred years ago. In this context the group seized the Beit Yonatan building, which was built without a licence and is now inhabited by 10 Jewish families. It has also placed another family of Jewish settlers in the Bait Hadvash building, according to Haaretz.
"About two months ago," added the newspaper, "Ateret Cohanim took over half of the so-called Abu Nab building, named for the extended family that lived in it, and which once housed a synagogue for the Yemenite community."
This settlement effort complements that of the Ir David Foundation (aka Elad), which focuses its activities in the so-called "City of David" near the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Critics have asked why the Israeli government and the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality say that it is illegal for Palestinians to live in "unlicensed" buildings but acceptable for Jews to be there.
Israel is engaged in the Judaisation of Jerusalem. Evicting long-term Palestinian residents and revoking their residence permits is part of the ethnic cleansing process that has been ongoing since the state of Israel was created on Palestinian land in 1948.
Loav Bakri, 31
A gang of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian worker who was repairing a traffic light in an illegal Israeli settlement near Jerusalem Thursday, landing the worker in the hospital with a broken hand and a number of other injuries, according to local sources.
The worker, Loav Bakri, 31, works as an electrical contractor, and was sent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev to fix a broken traffic light.
When he arrived on the worksite, he was attacked by a gang of six extremist settler youth who beat him severely with metal rods, fists and boots.
Bakri suffered multiple injuries in the attack, and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.
This attack follows a series of escalating attacks on Palestinian civilians by armed Israeli paramilitary forces, who have burned churches, vandalized mosques, beaten numerous civilians including children, and firebombed homes.
The most serious of the recent attacks was the firebombing of a home in the northern West Bank village of Douma, in which an 18-month old baby was burned to death. The rest of the family suffered critical burns all over their bodies - the father died a week later, while the mother remains comatose, along with the four-year old brother of the baby.
No Israeli settlers have been charged with the burning of the family in Douma.
As for the beating of the worker in Pisgat Ze'ev Thursday, two Israeli settler youth were detained, but have not been charged with any crime.
A gang of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian worker who was repairing a traffic light in an illegal Israeli settlement near Jerusalem Thursday, landing the worker in the hospital with a broken hand and a number of other injuries, according to local sources.
The worker, Loav Bakri, 31, works as an electrical contractor, and was sent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Pisgat Ze'ev to fix a broken traffic light.
When he arrived on the worksite, he was attacked by a gang of six extremist settler youth who beat him severely with metal rods, fists and boots.
Bakri suffered multiple injuries in the attack, and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.
This attack follows a series of escalating attacks on Palestinian civilians by armed Israeli paramilitary forces, who have burned churches, vandalized mosques, beaten numerous civilians including children, and firebombed homes.
The most serious of the recent attacks was the firebombing of a home in the northern West Bank village of Douma, in which an 18-month old baby was burned to death. The rest of the family suffered critical burns all over their bodies - the father died a week later, while the mother remains comatose, along with the four-year old brother of the baby.
No Israeli settlers have been charged with the burning of the family in Douma.
As for the beating of the worker in Pisgat Ze'ev Thursday, two Israeli settler youth were detained, but have not been charged with any crime.