Defying Israel's naval blockade on Gaza (video)
Israeli forces arrest daughter of Al-Bireh mayor
Izraelske snage uhitile kćer gradonačelnika grada Al-Bireha (6. srpanj 2011.)
Izraelske su snage u srijedu, 6. srpnja, uhitile 18-godišnju kćer gradonačelnika grada Al-Bireh na Zapadnoj obali. Vojnici su upali u njihov obiteljski dom, uhitili djevojku, koja je 2 dana ranije položila maturu, i zaplijenili kompjutere i osobne dokumente. Uhićena je odvedena u Rusku zgradu na ispitivanje. Njen otac, sadašnji gradonačelnik Al-Bireha, Jamal Al-Tawil, bio je uhićen za vrijeme prve Intifade, kada je proveo nekoliko mjeseci u administrativnom pritvoru, bez da je za bilo što optužen ili suđen.
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Soldiers seize Palestinian in raid on Bethlehem camp
Vojnici zarobili Palestinca prilikom upada u izbjeglički logor u Betlehemu (6. srpanj 2011.)
Izraelske su snage zarobile 1 Palestinca u zoru u srijedu, 6. srpnja, u izbjegličkom logoru Duheisheh u Betlehemu, na Zapadnoj obali. Glasnogovornica izraelske vojske potvrdila je da je vojska tijekom noći na području Zapadne obale uhitila 4 Palestinaca.
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Druze sentenced to 8 months in prison for violence on Naksa Day
Druzijac osuđen na 8 mjeseci zatvora zbog nasilja tijekom prosvjeda na obljetnicu izraelske okupacije 1967. (7. srpanj 2011.)
37-godišnji Druzijac, mještanin Majdal Shamsa, na sirijskoj, ilegalno okupiranoj Golanskoj visoravni, osuđen je za ozljeđivanje izraelskog policajca 5. lipnja 2011. kad su stotine prosvjednika prosvjedovale protiv izraelske okupacije. Prosvjednici su iz ostatka Sirije pokušali prijeći na Golansku visoravan pod izraelskom ilegalnom okupacijom. (Ovaj članak u originalu iskrivljuje činjenicu da je Golanska visoravan sirijski teritorij koji Izrael okupira i svojata u suprotnosti s međunarodnim pravom, već se pretvara da je taj sirijski teritorij dio Izraela.) Sud u Nazaretu u Izraelu osudio ga je na 8 mjeseci zatvora i novčanu kaznu od 2500 izraelskih šekela zbog bacanja kamenja na izraelske sigurnosne snage 5. lipnja. Izraelska je vojska tom prilikom, prema sirijskim izvorima, ubila 23 prosvjednika.
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Amira Hass: In dealing with flotilla, Israel is anything but smart
Greece's socialist government is in a fragile situation, as the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are forcing the country to adopt an austerity plan that most of its people oppose. True, the fact that Greece has become a subcontractor of the Israeli army did not bring the masses into the streets, but there is no doubt about it: The sympathy of the Greek soldiers who arrested the Tahrir's passengers and of the bureaucrats who delayed them was with the flotilla and with Gaza, not with their government's orders. That's all we need: another country whose government gets along well with Israel in complete opposition to popular sentiment. The flotilla's organizers added a term from the world of business and globalization to their description of Israel's domination of the Palestinians. Israel, they said, was outsourcing the industry of the blockade on Gaza. In exchange for reward, a foreign government - Greece - took on an active role and adopted a deliberate policy of keeping the Gaza Strip one huge prison.
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Incoming tourists receive flowers
Incoming passengers mainly appeared bewildered by the gesture, some telling the representatives they hoped it would be repeated throughout the summer months and not just on that night, ahead of a pro-Palestinian fly-in scheduled to take place over the weekend.
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Israel Police decrease presence at airport after pro-Palestinian activists stopped abroad
Mađarska aviokompanija Malev na zahtjev izraelskih vlasti aktivistima onemogućila da polete za Tel Aviv (7. srpanj 2011.)
U četvrtak, 7. srpnja, mađarska aviokompanija Malev je desetcima francuskih aktivista onemogućila da u sklopu šire međunarodne akcije više stotina propalestinskih aktivista otputuju iz Pariza u Tel Aviv kako bi mogli posjetiti Palestince na okupiranoj Zapadnoj obali. Aktivisti su željeli svjetskoj javnosti pokazati da Izrael brani okupiranim Palestincima posjete iz inozemstva. Aviokompanija Malev je odbila aktivistima dopustiti da se ukrcaju na let jer joj je izraelsko ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova dostavilo popis s imenima aktivista kojima neće dopustiti ulaz u Izrael.
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Turkmenistan rejects Israeli ambassador, says he is 'Mossad spy'
Turkmenistan has rejected Israel's designated ambassador for the second time, claiming that the proposed envoy is a Mossad operative. The Turkmen Foreign Ministry recently informed Israel that it will not accept the credentials of Haim Koren, who was appointed in August 2010, because his resume indicates that he spent three years as an instructor at the National Security College in Glilot. "We want you to send us an ambassador who will deal with bilateral relations, not a spy to collect intelligence on Iran," a senior Turkmen official reportedly told Israeli officials. This follows Turkmenistan's refusal in late 2009 to accept Israel's first candidate, Reuven Daniel, who had served in the Mossad in the past. After Turkmenistan refused to accept him, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman made Daniel ambassador to Ukraine as a consolation prize.
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Israel bars 300 activists from flying to Israel
Izrael 300 aktivista zabranio let u Izrael (7. srpanj 2011.)
Izrael je stranim aviokompanijama, uoči leta stotina propalestinskih aktivista u Tel Aviv s ciljem da posjete okupirana palestinska područja u sklopu misije „Dobro došli u Palestinu“, izdao crnu listu s imenima 300 aktivista kojima neće dopustiti da uđu u Izrael. Aviokompanije su putem elektroničke pošte putnicima otkazivale letove „prema instrukcijama izraelskih vlasti“. Izraelska policija tvrdi da od oko 500 aktivista koji su trebali sudjelovati, zna za njih 342. 180 aktivista s crnog popisa nije moglo poletjeti jer su im let otkazale aviokompanije. Policija je najavila da će ostale uhititi po njihovom dolasku u zračnu luku u Tel Avivu, ako se uspiju ukrcati na svoje avione. Aktivisti su se u zračnoj luci u Parizu žalili policiji jer nekim aktivistima nije bilo dopušteno da za Tel Aviv polete avionom mađarske aviokompanije Malev. Bivši pravni savjetnik izraelskog ministarstva vanjskih poslova, Ruby Seibel, tvrdi da prema međunarodnim pravilima aviokompanije moraju o vlastitom trošku vratiti putnike kojima zemlja odredišta odbije dopustiti ulaz, te da zato nepoželjnim osobama radije otkazuju letove.
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MADA Reports 13 Violations Against Journalists in Occupied Territories Last Month
MADA-in izvještaj navodi 13 slučajeva kršenja prava novinara na okupiranom palestinskom području tijekom lipnja (7. srpanj 2011.)
Palestinski centar za razvoj i slobodu medija (MADA) izvijestio je o 13 slučaja kršenja prava novinara koji su zabilježeni tijekom mjeseca lipnja 2011. Glavni počinitelj bila je izraelska okupacijska vojska, no prava novinara kršile su i palestinske sigurnosne snage. Izraelske okupacijske snage uhićivale su, pritvarale, napadale i onemogućavale putovanje novinara, čime je znatno opstruirana mogućnost obavljanja njihova posla. Između ostalog, jedan je izraelski vojnik namjerno u fotografa Europske agencije ispalio patronu suzavca tijekom prosvjeda protiv ilegalnih kolonističkih naselja, nakon čega je napadnuti fotograf hospitaliziran zbog zadobivenih kontuzija i opeklina. Neka od kršenja prava novinara od strane palestinskih sigurnosnih snaga uključuju slijedeće incidente: službe unutarnje sigurnosti Hamasove vlade u Gazi nekoliko su puta pozivale na ispitivanje dopisnika France 24 TV-a koji istražuje naoružanu fundamentalističku skupinu „Taliban Palestina“; novinarku Srednjoistočnog centra za studije brutalno je pretukla skupina policajki dok je pratila prosvjed protiv političkih uhićenja u Nablusu na Zapadnoj obali; ista je skupina policajki od jednog drugog novinara zaplijenila snimku tog prosvjeda održanog 13. lipnja.
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East Jerusalem suffers heroin plague
Unlike neighbouring Egypt and Lebanon, Palestine has no historic connection with the drugs trade. Its arrival has been sudden and spectacular, with heroin in particular spreading like wildfire. Al Quds University estimates there are over 6,000 addicts in East Jerusalem today, compared with 300 in 1986. In the town of Al Ram, pressed up against Israel's Separation Barrier, degradation has set in. Once a lively suburb of Jerusalem, since 2006 it has been locked out by the Barrier, which surrounds it on three sides. The effect of this sudden disconnection from the city has been devastating. One-third of all businesses have been forced to close, 75 per cent of youths under 24 are unemployed, and around half of the town's 62,000 residents have been denied the ID they require to enter Jerusalem. Al Ram, like neighbouring Abu Dis and Al Ezzariya, has been left in limbo. It is now classified as a mixture of Area B and C, under the terms of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which stipulates Israeli security control with some Palestinian Authority administration. Palestinian police are forbidden from operating here without permission, so residents live with anarchy. "There is no authority, no security and no police", says Dr Ajman Afghani of al Maqdese, a social development NGO. "It is easy to steal cars and rob houses, and it has become like a supermarket for drugs".
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Rashid Khalidi: Human Dignity in Jerusalem
In 1860 the Ottoman authorities built a wall surrounding the cemetery, clearly defining its limits. It was not encroached upon for a century, throughout the Ottoman period, the British Mandate, and beyond the first decade of Israeli rule. The British Mandatory government declared the cemetery an antiquities site in 1944. Throughout this period, the cemetery was under the control of the local Muslim religious authorities, as is attested by a Mandatory government deed issued to them for the entire thirty-three-acre plot in 1938. The cemetery was in continual use until the incorporation of the Western part of Jerusalem into Israel in 1948. The indignities began soon thereafter. The authorities of the new Israeli state initially pledged to maintain the sanctity and integrity of the Mamilla Cemetery: Israel’s Religious Affairs Ministry in 1948 proclaimed it to be “one of the most prominent Muslim cemeteries…” adding that “Israel will always know to protect and respect this site.” Sixteen years later, in 1964, Israel formally designated the cemetery as an antiquities site. This designation proved meaningless; that same year a parking lot was built in the northern quadrant of the cemetery. A northwestern section was built upon shortly thereafter. The western area of the cemetery was turned into an “Independence Park.” Needless to say, these encroachments on the cemetery constituted desecrations, and diminished its extent. But none of them involved extensive excavations, and thus the disturbance of graves in most cases was limited. Nevertheless, human remains were turned up during the paving of the parking lot in the 1960s and during other similar, subsequent operations, sparking public protests. Before 1966 such protests were muted due to the strict surveillance and control that military rule imposed on Palestinian life in Israel.
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