Category Archives: Palestine

Israel’s biggest paper ignores anti-Semitism of senior Trump advisor | +972 Magazine

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis will have no idea that a bonafide anti-Semite is going to be the next U.S. president’s left-hand man. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Sunday he will be appointing Stephen K. Bannon, a white nationalist anti-Semite and one of the faces of the pro-Trump alt-right movement, as the new White House chief strategist. But you wouldn’t know any of that if you leafed through Israel Hayom, Israel’s most widely-read newspaper on Monday.

Source: Israel’s biggest paper ignores anti-Semitism of senior Trump advisor | +972 Magazine

Video: Israeli soldiers throw stones at Palestinian children | The Electronic Intifada

This video shows Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank throwing stones at Palestinian schoolchildren in the village of al-Tuwani on 25 October.According to the video’s captions, the Israeli soldiers are supposed to protect the children from attacks by Israeli settlers in the area.

Source: Video: Israeli soldiers throw stones at Palestinian children | The Electronic Intifada

IOF Deported all 13 Zaytouna-Oliva Women Boat – PNN

All 13 of the women on the Women’s Boat to Gaza are currently in the process of deportation after being captured by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and detained in a prison at Ashdod.Wendy Goldsmith, a member of the land team working to secure the release of the women stated that, “the deportation was much quicker than in prior flotillas.While we had a great legal team assisting the women, we suspect that the reason for the quick release was because of all the negative media attention Israel has been receiving for its illegal interception.”According to early reports from the women released, the Zaytouna-Oliva was surrounded by two warships along with four to five smaller naval boats.

Source: IOF Deported all 13 Zaytouna-Oliva Women Boat – PNN

Facebook-Israel agreement could change face of social media – IFEX  – Money before people and freedom

The spectre of violent extremism is being used to repress legitimate dissent. In Israel, the agreement with Facebook appears to legitimize an Israeli policy that in recent months has resulted in an estimated 400 arrests of Palestinians—both in Israel and the Occupied Territories—for “incitement” in social media posts, primarily on Facebook. Posts have included acts as simple as writing a poem. States pressure private companies to engage in such agreements through shaming or “demonizing,” as well as threats of blocking, fines, or even imprisonment of company executives. They often justify this pressure by citing the companies’ own voluntary and proprietary terms of service and community standards, whose definitions of permissible speech are narrower than those encoded in their own constitutions or in the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights (ICCPR). For instance, the Israeli announcement of the agreement with Facebook came amid reports of “proposed legislation that seeks to force social networks to remove content that Israel considers to be incitement.” Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)—to which Israel is a party—permits states to limit an individual’s freedom of expression only under select circumstances, including to protect the rights or reputations of others, national security, public order, public health, or morals. These limits, however, must first meet a three-part test as defined by the ICCPR: the limits must (1) be defined by law, (2) have legitimate aim, and (3) be truly necessary. Not only does strong-arming a social media company to censor its users according to its own policies meet no such test, it also precludes real accountability of either the company or the government to its users or citizens. Israel is not alone; agreements between social media companies and the European Commission and government of Germany have made headlines and have been widely criticized by human and digital rights organizations. Nevertheless, social media companies also have an obligation to stand up to such pressuring and to make public when they are being asked to contravene the law.

Source: Facebook-Israel agreement could change face of social media – IFEX

IOF to temporarily close down Ibrahimi mosque for Muslims, open it for settlers – PNN

Israeli Occupation Authorities on Sunday decided to close down the Ibrahimi mosque for six days during the month of October, and open it only for Jewish Israeli settlers.Local sources in Hebron said that the mosque will be closed down for Muslims during the days (3, 4, 6, 12, 18, 19 October) while Israeli settlers will be given full privilige of entering it.In addition, IOF has been intensely preventing the Muslim call for prayers (Adan), and searching Palestinian worshippers upon entrance.

Source: IOF to temporarily close down Ibrahimi mosque for Muslims, open it for settlers – PNN

1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada

More than 1,000 members of faculty have condemned a website that blacklists students and educators who criticize Israel.“We reject the McCarthyist tactics used by Canary Mission,” the scholars say in a statement initiated by students.“We urge our fellow admissions faculty, as well as university administrators, prospective employers and all others, to join us in … standing against such bullying and attempts to shut down civic engagement and freedom of speech,” the scholars add.The aim of the shadowy website, Canary Mission, is to punish students for their activism by harming their future academic and professional careers.Its anonymous administrators contact potential employers and graduate student admissions committees, claiming that the students are engaged in anti-Semitic bigotry and sympathy towards terrorism.The site is part of an increasing wave of tactics by right-wing groups on US campuses intending to silence criticism of Israel.

Source: 1,000 scholars condemn pro-Israel blacklist site | The Electronic Intifada

Video: Israeli sniper shoots youth during assault on refugee camp | The Electronic Intifada

 

This video shows part of an incident in which an Israeli military sniper severely wounded 22-year-old Palestinian Muhammad al-Amsi during a massive army raid on al-Fawwar refugee camp in the southern West Bank city of Hebron in mid-August.Al-Amsi was standing on his roof talking on the telephone when the sniper shot him four times.It was filmed by Mahmoud Abu Yousef, a videographer with the Ma’an News Agency, and published on Friday by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as part of a report into the Israeli raid in which another youth, 19-year-old Muhammad Abu Hashhash, was shot dead by Israeli forces.A separate B’Tselem investigation has found that Abu Hashhash was killed as he posed no danger to anyone.Meanwhile, two Palestinians and a Jordanian citizen – one reportedly 15 years old – were shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday in separate incidents. Another Palestinian was shot dead on Saturday morning. On Thursday, a person died from wounds he received when Israeli forces shot him during a raid on his village. Last week, a Palestinian youth was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Source: Video: Israeli sniper shoots youth during assault on refugee camp | The Electronic Intifada

A Holiday in Palestine? An Indian Woman Travels through Guns, Graffiti and the Strange Denial of Stamps – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

We walked through the souk, the market in the old city, and took a turn towards the entry of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Three Israeli soldiers stood at the corner. Overhearing us talking in English, they approached to ask us where we were going. This, because there are two entrances to the Al-Aqsa mosque, one for Muslims, and another for non-Muslims, which sort of translates into one for locals and the other for foreign tourists.We were headed to the Muslim entrance. Assuming we were tourists, they probably wanted to tell us we weren’t allowed entry from this side. As they approached us, AK retorted, “why?” They asked us where we were going. Why are you asking us, she snapped back. Where are you from, they insisted. It’s none of your business. We are trying to help you, they responded. We didn’t ask for your help. We walked away. One of them walked ahead of us and into the mosque. We stopped to look at an Afro-Palestinian neighbourhood. We then walked over to the entrance of the mosque where we were stopped and asked if we were Muslim. We were asked to recite a verse from the Quran. Neither of us could. After a short altercation we returned.As we approached the same corner again, one of the two remaining soldiers called out to us. AK snapped back again. He stopped us and asked where she was from. I’m Palestinian, she answered back. Can I see your ID, he responded. AK has a Blue ID because she resides in Jerusalem. Those living in West Bank and Gaza have a Green ID. She handed over her ID in anger and told him to keep it because she wasn’t going to sit around and be made to wait for hours as they harassed her. She had broken no law and there was simply no need for her to be stopped, she snapped and walk off. I followed her silently, wondering what would happen next. Don’t you need your ID to cross the checkpoint to go to work tomorrow, I asked. Yes I do. She called her cousin who ran a juice shop in the same market and turned around to get her ID back before the soldier disappeared with it. When we returned to the corner he told her she needed to stay there until he was done with her. She asked what his problem was again. So hurt simply because I wouldn’t listen to you? As she carried on, enraged, he snapped back, “Ok you need to shut up now.” At this point she lost all cool that she had left and demanded to see his captain.

Source: A Holiday in Palestine? An Indian Woman Travels through Guns, Graffiti and the Strange Denial of Stamps – The Ladies FingerThe Ladies Finger

In the West Bank, even calling the fire dept. has an ethnic dimension | +972 Magazine

In 2004, under the cover of the Second Intifada, Sil’it’s security fence was expanded to includes S.’s land. Now there is both a fence and gate between him and his land, meaning he can no longer reach his land – no one disputes the land is his – unless he receives prior permission from the military commander. In 2009 his land was set ablaze; he believes Israeli civilians were responsible. During last year’s olive harvest, S. managed to obtain permission for his workers for three workdays – yet the IDF prevented them from accessing the land. S. kept trying to get them permits to work the land, but the IDF bureaucracy is slow, and in the meantime the harvest season passed.Half a year later S. was standing and watching his land burning from across a locked gate. He called the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO), which in turn summoned Palestinian firefighters. But the IDF did not allow them to enter the land; it is unlikely we will ever know the reason for the refusal.But the wind, damn it, the wind — it does not discriminate between Palestinian or Israeli property; it is indifferent to land documents and ethnicity. The wind blew the fire toward Sil’it. The distance, you will remember, is only 150 meters.And then S. beheld a wondrous sight: as the flames consumed his land while Palestinian firetrucks were prohibited from aiding him, Israeli firetrucks swiftly reached the other side of his plot and quickly began dowsing the flames. The firetrucks weren’t sufficient, so a short time afterward two firefighting planes flew overhead and extinguished the fire, which nearly reached the gates of Sil’it.Unlike the wind, Israeli soldiers can perfectly discriminate between land owned by a Palestinian and land seized by Israelis. And there you have it, the whole occupation in a nutshell.Written by Yossi Gurvitz in his capacity as a blogger for Yesh Din, Volunteers for Human Rights. This post was first published on Yesh Din’s blog.

Source: In the West Bank, even calling the fire dept. has an ethnic dimension | +972 Magazine