Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
QALQILIYA (Ma’an) — Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Shaare Tikva dumped their sewage into a Palestinian school in the Azzun Atma village in the northern occupied West Bank district of Qalqilia, on Thursday.
Azzun Beit Amin School principal Alaa Marabeh said that the school’s playground was flooded by sewage causing a foul smell inside the school.
The principal added that this is the second time in a period of two months that Israeli settlers dump their sewage on the school property.Marabeh pointed out that it takes over 10 days for the sewage water to dry, causing health issues for students and community at large.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
The Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by Israeli settlers often occur in the presence of Israeli military forces who rarely act to protect Palestinian residents.The majority of settler attacks committed against Palestinians are met with impunity, with Israelis rarely facing consequences for such attacks
Member of the PLO Executive Committee, and the DFLP’s Political Bureau, Tayseer Khaled in a statement on Wednesday saluted the Palestinian Jerusalemites, as they have boycotted the municipal elections in the occupied East Jerusalem, which he said emphasizes their solid position on the city despite all the maneuvers exerted by the Israel Government and the occupation Municipality in Jerusalem headed by Nir Barakt over the last months to break the boycott campaigns led by the PLO and other political, national and social organizations as well as the Islamic and Christian figures.
Electors didn’t appear at the polling centers, and the electoral map showed that the percent of voting was drawing to zero as was the case over the last years.
Khaled added that boycotting of the Israeli Municipal Elections Is a clear message to the American Administration, and the Israeli government on the Palestinians rejection of Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied Holy City. Boycotting the elections is a referendum on the rejection of the Israeli occupation of the city and that Jerusalem is an integral part of the Palestinian territories that was occupied in the June 1967’s aggression and affirmed the Palestinians’ attachment to Jerusalem being their eternal capital.
Khaled renewed his call for unifying all the references in Jerusalem in a single national one as was agreed upon among the national forces, and the PLO’s parties and the Executive Committee. He reiterated his call for the Palestinian government to allocate sufficient and necessary budgets to the city, especially to the educational and health institutions. He called on the Arab sister and Islamic countries to cut their relations with those countries that recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the occupying State and/or intend to transfer their embassies to the city. He urged them to support the steadfastness of the Palestinian citizens in Jerusalem to enable them to defend the city of the Judaization, racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing practiced by the Israeli government in Jerusalem.
Palestinians in Jerusalem have boycotted the Municipal elections on Tuesday since the municipality is affiliated to the Israeli government and works in pressuring the Palestinians in Jerusalem through implementing deportation and demolition orders, in addition to other anti-Palestinian regulations in Israel. The boycott also comes as a way to affirm an Arab Jerusalem, which is considered the eternal and historic capital of Palestine.
Israeli anthem was played at a judo tournament in Abu Dhabi on Sunday for the first time, after one of its athletes won gold medal in the Judo Grand Competition.
A visibly moved Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, who was at the contest, presented the medals and hung the gold medallion around the neck of the winning judoka.
The playing of the Israeli national anthem and Regev’s attendance at the tournament were the latest milestones in some Arab states normalization with the Zionist entity.
Israeli officials said Regev’s presence in the United Arab Emirates capital marked the first time a minister from Israel attended a sports event in the Gulf.
It was also the first time an Israeli delegation participated there under its flag, after the International Judo Federation warned UAE organizers the competition would be canceled unless all athletes were allowed to participate “on an equal footing”.
Regev’s trip to the UAE, which began on Thursday, coincided with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to neighboring Oman, the first for an Israeli leader since 1996.
On the same day, an Israeli gymnastics delegation was in Qatar for the beginning of the world championships being held in Doha.
And on Monday, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara was to travel to Dubai to represent the Zionist entity at an international internet security conference, his office said.
Palestine grows heroes and heroines. That troubled and storied land grows them strong and many. Unfortunately it has to. In Gaza, the people fight for their dignity. They fight for their rights. They fight for their lives. The press are there to document this war for survival as citizens struggle to counter the fascist aggression of the rogue state of Israel. In those records, many images emerge that both thrill and shock. Children standing in defiance of a tank. Teenagers waving their national flag in face of Zionist bullets and gas. Men and women who are undaunted as they challenge the dark might of the forces of Israel.
Now, one image has gone viral. It is that of a young man clutching a Palestinian flag as he fires a stone from a sling at his enemies. Ironically, there is something almost biblical about the scene. It also demonstrates perfectly the passion and courage with which the people of Palestine oppose their oppressors. May they be victorious always.
za protester draws online fame, prompting comparisons with iconic French Revolution painting.
Oman says it will not act as a “mediator” between Israelis and Palestinians, playing down an earlier visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The sultanate was only offering ideas to help Israel and Palestinians to come together, Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah told a security summit in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Saturday.
The remarks came a day after Netanyahu visited Oman in a rare visit, while accompanied by other senior Israeli officials, including the head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad.
“We are not saying road is now easy and paved with flowers, but our priority is to put an end to the conflict and move to a new world,” Reuters cited Abdullah as saying.
Despite apparently trying to sound impartial, Abdullah said Oman relied on the United States and efforts by US President Donald Trump in working towards the “deal of the century.”
The Trump administration has targeted the plan at the situation in the Palestinian territories.
Details are yet to emerge, but reports say it envisages a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty across about half of Israel-occupied West Bank and all the Gaza Strip. The deal also reportedly foresees potential disarming of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, and does not find Palestinians entitled to the eastern part of Jerusalem al-Quds as their capital.
This is while Abbas, who visited Oman before Netanyahu for three days, has renounced the plan, saying it has been devised without consulting the Palestinians. He also spurned any intermediary role by the US late last year after Washington recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”
In June, however, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan assured the US of their support for the plan during visits to those countries by Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Jason Greenblatt, the US envoy to the region.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the Manama gathering on Saturday that the kingdom believed the key to “normalizing” relations with Israel was the “peace process.”
The Omani minister also claimed Israel was “present in the region, and we all understand this, the world is also aware of this fact and maybe it is time for Israel to be treated the same and also bear the same obligations.”
Observers say Muscat has come to accommodate the US plan under pressure from Washington and Riyadh, the strongest US ally in the Persian Gulf region, which has been inching towards Tel Aviv over the past years.
Palestinian groups, however, condemned the Israeli prime minister’s visit to Oman, urging Arab countries to support the oppressed people of Palestine, instead.
A handout picture released by the Omani Royal Palace on October 26, 2018 shows Oman’s Sultan Qaboos (R) meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the latter’s unannounced visit to the Persian Gulf country. (Via AFP)
Hamas warned about the dangerous consequences of Netanyahu’s visit for the people of Palestine. The Islamic Jihad movement also censured the visit, saying Oman acquitted Netanyahu of the crimes committed against innocent Palestinians by welcoming him to the country.
Commenting on Netanyahu’s visit, Paul Larudee, with the Free Palestine Movement, told PressTV, “What in the world would Netanyahu know about peace and stability, when his objectives and objectives of Israel have always been war and instability?”
“The importance is what their objectives are not. They are not about Arab unity, not about solidarity with Arabs who are suffering namely the Palestinians,” he said.
“These other countries realize that sooner or later they are potential targets of Israel…that they can be in the same place that the Palestinians are now,” Larudee said.
القصة ليست قلّة احترام لمن قتله آل سعود بما بقي عندهم من دم بارد. القصة ليست تمرّداً على المشهد العام المنقسم بين تمنيات بأن «يضرب الله الظالمين بالظالمين» انتقاماً لقهرهم شعوب الأرض، وبين وقائع تقول بأن أهل الجريمة، وإن اختلفوا، فذلك على طريقة القيام بالقتل فقط. كاد دونالد ترامب أن يقول لآل سعود: ما هكذا تكون عمليات التخلّص من المعارضين… كان يمكن أن تكونوا أقل غباءً وأكثر فطنة في التستّر على فعلتكم!
أما السلطان أردوغان، فيريد إدخالنا في لعبة أحجية تخفي كلمات سر تخصّ مصالح دولته وحكمه وديكتاتوريته وجرائمه بحق معارضيه، والصحافيين منهم على وجه الخصوص. لعبة تؤدي الوظيفة ذاتها، أي إسكاتهم بألف طريقة، وإيذاءهم بما يثبت القول إنّ الصمت أشد إيلاماً من القتل!
في أوروبا الغارقة في كهولةٍ تأتي على كل شيء فيها، يرتفع الصوت «احتراماً» لمزاج عام لا أكثر. لكن الجمهور نفسه صار يريد الدولارات والأعمال، ولا يأبه كيف السبيل إلى ذلك. أليست فرنسا وبريطانيا وإيطاليا وإسبانيا هم أهل الاستعمار الأصليين؟ ألم تُبنَ المدن الساحرة في هذه الدول على أكتاف المقهورين، وبخيرات المستعمرات القريبة والبعيدة؟
ولأن الحكاية الأصلية هي حكايتنا نحن. حكاية القهر التي تُمثّل الظلم بعينه والقتل بعينه، فلا شيء مهما كبر أو جرى تكبيره، ومهما أُبرز أو تمّ تلميعه، يحجب الشمس عن فلسطين. أليست هي أم البدايات وأم النهايات؟
لو اهتم العالم بفلسطين، ونطق وكتب وغرّد وعلّق بعُشر ما قام به خلال الأسابيع الثلاثة، لكان العدو المجبول بفكرة القتل تراجع قليلاً. لَكان أنين الناس خفّ ولو قليلاً، لكان المحاربون أخذوا استراحة قبل استئناف أكبر وأطول عملية تحرّر وطني في تاريخنا المعاصر…
لكن، اللسان الوحيد الذي ينطق والصوت الوحيد الذي يرفع اسم فلسطين وعلمها ولفظها، يأتي من أهل الأرض نفسها، من الشباب الذين يمتهنون الاستشهاد جيلاً بعد جيل!
شارك حشد كبير في تشييع الشهيد بشارات أمس في بلدة طمّون، شمالي الضفة المحتلة (الأناضول)
الخميس 25 تشرين الأول 2018
لم تنجح المحاولات الإسرائيلية لعزل الضفة عن واقع المواجهة المستمرة، تماماً كما لم تنجح في عزل غزة أو المقدسيين. صحيح أن الكلّ يواجه بما أمكن، لكن المعادلة الثابتة أن الفلسطينيين لم تتوقف مقاومتهم، وأن العدوّ لا ينعم بالهدوء… ولعل مشاهد تشييع الشهيد محمد بشارات أمس، والاحتضان للمطارد أشرف نعالوة، ومشاهد البطولة المتوالية في غزة، خير دليل على ذلك
رام الله: يمكن الحديث بإحباط كبير عن الواقع الفلسطيني حالياً: سلطتا أمر واقع تتنازعان، واحدة لا تملك قرارها، والأخرى محاصرة. مقدسيون يخسرون بلدتهم القديمة بسبب غياب رادع لمسربي العقارات. غزة تئنّ تحت حصار شديد لم يُخفَّف منه شيء رغم كل الوعود. والضفة ساحة مفتوحة لجيش ينظّم ألوية للبحث عن مطلوب مختفٍ في كيلومترات محدودة منذ ثلاثة أسابيع. رغم ما سبق وأكثر، ثمة من يقرر أن يحمل سكينه ويطعن جندياً مدججاً بالسلاح، وآخر يصبر سبعة أشهر وهو يعمل تحت إدارة المستوطنين في أحد المصانع ليخطط لعمليته بنجاح، ويختفي بعدها.
بعبارة أخرى: إنها معركة الإرادة التي قرر الفلسطينيون أن يخوضوها، والمستمرة يومياً بدلالة العمليات الفدائية الفردية التي لم يستطع أي أمني أو عسكري أو سياسي إسرائيلي تحمّل شجاعة القرار والقول إنها انتهت. أكثر من ذلك، لا يزال هناك من يعرف أنه رغم الضريبة العالية التي يمكن أن يدفعها، هو وذووه، يصرّ على المقاومة. حتى حينما تتخلى السلطة والفصائل عن دورها، يتصدى الشبان للجنود والقوات الخاصة المتسللين في جنح الليل، بل يحاصرونهم ويضطرونهم إلى طلب التعزيزات والنجدة.
في الجهة المقابلة، يتواصل النزف البشري في غزة، حيث قرر المحاصَرون أن ينقلوا معركة الاستنزاف إلى الجهة الثانية من الحدود، بعدما ابتكروا وسائل لم تكن لتخطر ببال عدو، أو حتى مقاوم. وبينما تنبئ الساعات المقبلة بأن اتفاقاً ما يُصاغ ويُعدّل منذ أكثر من سنتين، فإن المقاومة لا تزال تستشعر رائحة غدر إسرائيلي، مقررة مواصلة الاستنفار والاستعداد لأي مواجهة، في وقت لم تخفض فيه الجماهير مشاركتها على الحدود، ضاربة نماذج تعجز الكاميرات عن ملاحقتها.
شهيد في استنفار شعبي
بالعودة إلى الضفة، شهدت الساعات الأربع والعشرون الأخيرة استشهاد شاب برصاص العدو خلال مواجهات في طوباس (شمال) بحثاً عن أحد المطلوبين، علماً أنه على بُعد نحو 45 كيلومتراً، كانت قوات العدو تواصل في الوقت نفسه البحث عن مطلوب آخر منذ ثلاثة أسابيع، وتحديداً داخل المنطقة الشرقية في طولكرم. وخلال هذه الاقتحامات، يُصّر الفلسطينيون على مواجهتها بأدوات المقاومة التقليدية، كما أعلن العدو ليلة أمس أن مركبة مسرعة تجاوزت حاجزاً قرب مدينة حلحول (شمال الخليل) وأطلقت النار على مجموعة من الجنود.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed on Friday that the axis-of-resistance avoided commenting on the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi for several reasons, adding all the attempts to cover up the royal involvement have failed.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that Saudi, after falling ion Khashoggi quagmire, started losing the international support to its war on Yemen, advising KSA royals to take a decision to stop this aggression at this “suitable time.”
Hezbollah leader commented on the escalation in Gaza, stressing that the Palestinians have no other choice, but to resist the Zionist threats and aggressions.
His eminence pointed out that the Palestinian protests on Gaza border would continue till breaking the Israeli blockade on the Strip.
Domestically, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that Iran does not interfere in the Lebanese politics, adding that what is delaying the cabinet formation is the conflicting governmental demands made by the various political parties.
Sayyed Nasrallah warned against excessive optimism and identification of time limits for the cabinet formation, callingon all the parties to cooperate in order to facilitate the governmental process.
Sayyed Nasrallah also highlighted the importance of building up the character of the students and providing them with the needed moral values.
His eminence also warned against the anti-Islam claims which accuse the religion for being responsible for all the social and economic vices witnessed in the Arab and Muslim countries, adding that the wrong practices made by the terrorist groups do not reflect the real Islamic values.
Sayyed Nasrallah also called on pursuing the scientific development, adding that science must serve the humanity, not to humiliate people and destroy societies via wars. “Billions of dollars are paid to the US for the sake of seizing power in certain countries.”
The Palestinian Authority and the international community made a PR spectacle out of Khan Al-Ahmar and its impending demolition. Suffice to say that when facing human rights violations which are listed as war crimes, protocol is given precedence and the media follows suit. Two recent statements testify to this collective experimentation upon the Palestinian people.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor warned that Khan Al-Ahmar’s demolition would constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute. Fatou Bensouda will, she added, “continue to keep a close eye on the developments on the ground.” It is worth noting that the situation in Palestine has been under preliminary investigation at the ICC since 2015 and the rhetoric remains stagnant in concordance with the bureaucratic procedures that allow war crimes to be committed rather than prevented.
Meanwhile, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah paid a so-called “solidarity visit” to the threatened village in which verbal distinction between the people and the politicians was blurred. “Our presence here today in Khan Al-Ahmar carries a message that says we are going to fight to defeat the deal of the century,” Hamdallah declared.
Whose presence was he referring to? The PA’s presence is a symbol devoid of any symbolism, diplomatic or otherwise; it’s an authority without authority. There will be no official PA presence in Khan Al-Ahmar when the Israeli bulldozers roll in and rhetoric about fighting the deal of the century will be spouted forth at another opportune time and place.
While the fate of the Bedouin village has indeed attracted international attention, there is a constant failure to note that all such forced displacements from 1948 onwards are part of Israel’s plan to colonize all of historic Palestine. The insistence on framing this eviction as detrimental only to the two-state compromise is not only inaccurate but also dangerous.
To what extent is Khan Al-Ahmar important to the international community? Is it because there is a commitment to uphold human rights — if so, why are they not being upheld? — or is there some value to be derived from maintaining the clearly obsolete two-state rhetoric? It is not difficult to guess that human rights have little to do with what is happening. This should prompt collective outrage at the international community’s own abuse and exploitation of Palestinian rights depending on whether they concur with the accepted paradigm.
The PA and the international community have tethered Palestinians to future hypothetical support. Furthermore, there is an adamant refusal to view Khan Al-Ahmar’s demolition as another macabre chapter in a long history of forced displacement of the Palestinian people. Historically, the villagers’ struggle is not unique, yet we are forced to view it as an isolated incident.
The difference lies beneath the perception. Palestinian communities targeted with forced displacement are aware of their solitary predicament in relation to the political unraveling of their cause. The PA’s alignment to Israel and the international community, on the other hand, leaves it with little choice other than to continue the charade of allegedly protecting Palestinian rights while failing, more than ever, to find a foothold for its survival beyond what is dictated to, and implemented by, itself as an institution created to defend Israel. Like the international community, PA officials have attempted to tie Khan Al-Ahmar to the two-state delusion in vain, while the community has persisted in its resistance within the framework of historic Palestine.
– Ramona Wadi is a staff writer for Middle East Monitor, where this article was originally published. She contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Israel has reportedly deployed the biggest number of armoured forces on the Gaza border since the 2014 war.
Around 60 tanks and armoured personnel carriers were seen at a deployment area near the border, according to a Reuters photographer, who said the show of force was clearly visible from Israeli roads near the border with the strip.
The ramped up military presence comes a day after Israel launched air strikes across Gaza, killing one Palestinian, after a rocket was fired from the besieged enclave at an Israeli city.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who convened his security cabinet on Wednesday after the rocket hit a home in the city of Beersheba, pledged to take "very strong action" against Palestinians.
Israel's defence minister warned on Tuesday that Gaza border protests could not be allowed to go on.
"The situation as it is today cannot continue," Avigdor Lieberman told troops and commanders at Reim army base, near southern Israel's border with Hamas-ruled Gaza. "We are not prepared to accept the level of violence we see week after week".
"We must strike Hamas a hard blow, this is the only way to bring the situation back to what is was before and to reduce the level of violence," Lieberman said in Hebrew, adding it must be a collective decision of the 12-member security cabinet.
Palestinians have staged regular protests along the Gaza separation fence since 30 March, demanding the right to return to homes their families fled or were expelled from during the creation of Israel in 1948.
They are also calling for an end to the decade-long Israeli blockade that the UN says will make Gaza "unlivable" by 2020.
At least 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the March protests began.
Over the same period, one Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper.
Much has been written about the segregation wall that the rogue state of Israel has erected across Palestine. Not only is the wall in of itself an abomination, it is also illegal under international law. Not that Israel cares about any laws, other than the Apartheidones that it creates for its own benefit.
As international observers document the harm that this supremacist barrier does to the indigenous people of Palestine, the construction continues. Israel is effectively annexing land which does not belong to it, and is building a wall around it. The Zioniststate has repeatedly thumbed it’s nose at the international community as well as any idea of human rights. The lives of yet more Palestinians are being destroyed by this crime against humanity.
The following article looks at the myths that Israel has created to try to justify its Apartheid, Zionist wall. It’s well worth having a look to see exactly the kind of liesthe Zioniststate will peddle in a pathetic attempt to win over western opinion. But the truth will be the end of Israel’s Apartheid, and may set the Palestinians free.
GAZA CITY — The chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Gadi Eisenkot, awarded the IDF’s Gaza Division with a “certificate of appreciation” for contributing to “Israel’s security” by brutally suppressing protests, ongoing since March in the Palestinian enclave.
The controversial award was given as the number of unarmed Gazan demonstrators wounded by the IDF since March 30 surpassed 22,000 while the number of those killed by the IDF over that same time frame reached 198. Since “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014, the IDF’s Gaza Division has sustained one single fatality.
A statement released by the IDF spokesperson on Wednesday stated:
The Gaza Division is dealing with a variety of threats, against which it stands strong, while showing determination, creativity and wisdom. It is working night and day to defend the residents of the South.”
During the award ceremony, which took place at the Gaza Division’s headquarters in Re’im, Eisenkot told those assembled:
Over the past six months you have dealt with terror attacks, attempts to violate our sovereignty and various terror activities under the guise of popular protests involving women, children and adults.”
Eisenkot added that the division had “acted responsibly and professionally in a complex reality” and deserved “international recognition” for its efforts.
Though commonly described by the corporate Western media as “clashes,” the protests in Gaza involve heavily-armed Israeli snipers firing into crowds of unarmed young Palestinians. Those killed by IDF fire include journalists, medics and children. IDF soldiers are under orders to shoot protesters who get “too close” to the border fence.
“No innocent people”
A photo of 11-year-old Nasser Musabeh, shot and killed by Israeli troops at a protest in Gaza, is displayed in a school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Sept. 29, 2018. Sanad Abu Latifa | AP
The brutal nature of the repression led Israel Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman to assert that there are no “innocent people” in Gaza, despite the Strip being home to one million adolescents and children; and Israel Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to claimthat the only way for the Gaza border to be “completely quiet” would be for Israel “to conquer the Strip.”
Warnings have emerged periodically over the past year that the IDF is preparing to “conquer” Gaza. Earlier this year in July, the IDF stated that if “incendiary balloons” and similar objects continue to cross the Gaza-Israel border, Israel may decide it has “no choice” but to embark on a military campaign intended to “conquer all of Gaza,” according to a report that aired on Israel’s Channel 10 News on Tuesday and was cited by the Times of Israel. This warning was followed by a major IDF drill practicing “securing control” over Gaza.
In February, Eisenkot stated that another Israeli invasion of Gaza was “likely” to occur this year. Eisenkot ironically framed the imminent invasion as a way to “prevent a humanitarian collapse” in Gaza, suggesting that military action against Gazan civilians and infrastructure would somehow improve the daily lives of the Strip’s inhabitants.
The dire situation in Gaza is widely believed to be nearing a dangerous climax, with the vast majority of Gazan drinking water being non-potable and the UN warning that the entire Strip will be uninhabitable in less than two years. The increasingly troubling humanitarian situation in Gaza is largely the result of Israel’s blockade of the enclave, now in its 11th year.
Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
ابراهيم الأمين
