Category Archives: Palestine

Shabbat morning in Hebron | “And you shall teach this to your children”

The soldiers are bad here, but the settlers are worse. There is a Jewish woman who is notorious for trying to run over internationals and Palestinians with her car and a Jewish man who pretends to be a paramedic. He drives an ambulance but has no medical training or skills and arrives at scenes of injury to Palestinians for the purpose of impeding real medical assistance and causing further harm.While here, I have come to associate tzizit, kippah, and the star of David as synonymous with rifles, machine guns; harassment and/or impending injury. I have somewhat adjusted to this association, but this Shabbat morning it is more difficult. I find a part of myself wanting to forget that the soldiers and Jewish settlers call me a whore and traitor. I find myself wanting to follow the tallit wearing youth down the hill, wanting to hear the morning prayers. Quietly, under my breath I say the Sh’ma and feel tears well up in my eyes. I wonder what has become, and what will become, of Judaism?

Source: Shabbat morning in Hebron | “And you shall teach this to your children”

“Death to Arabs” sprayed on Palestinian houses by israeli settlers. | PNN

Overnight this last Thursday, Israeli settlers raided the Palestinian village of al-Mazraa al-Qabalia northwest of Ramallah area and vandalized two Palestinian houses.The israeli settlers sprayed racist graffiti saying “Death to Arabs”in Hebrew on the houses walls and broke several windows, according to the israeli news website The Times of Israel. Israeli police have said that they are investigating the attack.According to the israeli media, “the vandalism may have been part of a series of so-called price tag hate-crime attacks, usually arson and graffiti, which are used by Jewish extremists to target non-Jews — including homes, churches and mosques — as revenge for actions by Israeli officials and for Palestinian terror attacks”.

Source: “Death to Arabs” sprayed on Palestinian houses by israeli settlers. | PNN

Netanyahu: Muslims are “dangerous animals” | PNN

During the international conference in Occupied Jerusalem with the French Ambassador, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu described Muslims as “animals”  who need to be defeated. According to Israel Hayom daily, Netanyahu made this statement during the foreign diplomats conference, tackling last week’s attacks on France.Referring to Muslims as “dangerous animals,” Netanyahu also said that there were a lot of them in [Israel], adding that the world needs to understand the seriousness of the problem, indicating the need to “defeat these animals.”“The beasts increasingly have a name — it is radical Islam. That is what is doing the killing, the murder, the rape, the burning, the beheading.A day before, the Israeli minister of Education, MK Naftali Bennett said that “[Israel] should have killed more [Arabs] because anyone who lifts a hand against Israel must die.”

Source: Netanyahu: Muslims are “dangerous animals” | PNN

Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

“If you get one step closer to me I’ll detain you,” a soldier shouts at Amirah in Hebrew, and yanks the boy backwards. The soldiers then attack Amirah while continuing to detain the child.Ajarma said that the boy’s mother, father and grandfather came to the scene.The soldiers ordered the mother and father to go and tell local youths to stop throwing stones if they wanted their son to be released, Ajarma said.They arrested Amirah and let the boy go after holding him for several hours.Ajarma said that he visited the family on Wednesday morning and that Abdallah was traumatized by the experience.Ajarma said that the Israeli soldiers looked little older than teenagers.“You’re young, but you must have a family. What you’re doing to a young child isn’t right,” Ajarma recalled telling one of the gunmen holding the child.“I feel that if this soldier was a father, he wouldn’t be able to carry on this way,” Ajarma told The Electronic Intifada.“The one thing that made the army act in a slightly less violent way is that I was filming everything,” Ajarma said.

Source: Video: Israeli soldiers arrest young child | The Electronic Intifada

When Solidarity Only Goes So Far | Dame Magazine

As news of the attacks spread, dozens of my Syrian friends, most of whom I have met while they are living as refugees in Lebanon, were changing their profile pictures to the French flag, expressing genuine sympathy—and solidarity—with the people of Paris.One friend, a former tour guide in Palmyra—the oasis of ancient ruins in the Syrian desert that was a UNESCO world heritage site and popular tourist destination before it was recently plundered by the Islamic State—changed his profile picture to an image of the French tricolor superimposed over the ancient city that he once called home.“We had to flee ISIS in Tadmur,” he says, using the Arabic name for Palmyra. “Now France has a taste of how we felt.”Just the day before, I had been having coffee near the memorial at Republique with Bashar, a Syrian refugee who sought asylum in Paris around a year and a half ago. We were talking about whether or not the recent attacks would affect refugee policy in Paris when suddenly, a panicked crowd started running for the café, toppling tables and frantically diving down the stairwell, startled by what turned out to be fireworks, set off at the wrong time.“I felt so bad for the people of Paris,” said Bashar, as we waited inside of the restaurant’s basement kitchen to find out what was going on, and whether or not the coast was clear.“I know how it feels because we had to face so much of this in Syria.”

Source: When Solidarity Only Goes So Far | Dame Magazine

Video: Undercover soldiers invade hospital, execute patient, kidnap another | PNN

Israeli soldiers dressed as Palestinian civilians (Musta’ribeen) Thursday overnight broke into Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, and executed a patient and kidnapped another. The group of 21 armed Musta’ribeen (AKA Death Unit), invaded the hallways of the hospital, terrorized the nurses, stormed the room of Abdullah Shalaldeh (27) in surgery section, shot him with four bullets in the chest and the head and inside his ear, causing his immediate death.Abdullah Shalaldeh (27) who was executed by Musta’ribeen unitThe agents also reportedly opened fire on his cousin, Azzam Shalaldeh, injured and kidnapped him from the hospital.

Source: Video: Undercover soldiers invade hospital, execute patient, kidnap another | PNN

Adel Termos: The Lebanese Hero Of the Borj el Barajneh Terrorist Attacks | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

Tonight, Haidar lost his mother and father. Shawki Droubi and Khodr Aleddine, a nurse, were lost to their families. Hussein Mostapha passed away with his wife, leaving their son behind. Samer, a Syrian father of two who fled horrors in his country, was killed in what he had feared back home, and Hussein, a Palestinian man whose family sought refuge here, also passed away. Alaa Awad, a third year law student, was also among the victims. Rawan Awad was a school teacher. Hanady Joumaa, Bilal Hammoud, Ahmad Awwada, Rawan Atwi were among the victims too.

Source: Adel Termos: The Lebanese Hero Of the Borj el Barajneh Terrorist Attacks | A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares

france 24 – Deadly explosions rock Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut – France 24

{No mention of fact this is a huge Palestinian refugee community that has taken in thousands of Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Syria}

Local media said that the attacks occurred just outside a Shiite centre in the Borj al-Barajneh area.This southern suburb of the Lebanese capital – popularly known as “Dahieh” – is a stronghold of the Shiite militant Hezbollah group and has been hit by several deadly bombings since the 2011 Syrian uprising began.Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV says there were two explosions, about seven minutes apart, in the neighborhood of Burj al-Barajneh.

Source: france 24 – Deadly explosions rock Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut – France 24

france 24 – Undercover Israeli agents stage raid on Palestinian hospital – France 24

Bilal Shalaldeh, Shalaldeh’s brother, told the AFP news agency that he was in the room at the time of the raid, which occurred around 3 a.m.”They arrested my brother and tied me up,” he was quoted as saying. “My cousin was in the bathroom and when he opened the bathroom door, and without any warning or any words, they shot at him five times.”Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security agency confirmed the incident in a statement, but claimed the man who was shot dead tried to attack the troops, and would not say if undercover forces were behind the deadly raid.

Source: france 24 – Undercover Israeli agents stage raid on Palestinian hospital – France 24

Lebanon: Life for Palestinian refugees in Bourj el-Barajneh | OCHA

In the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut lies Bourj el-Barajneh, a cramped refugee camp which is home to an estimated 28,000 Palestinian refugees. At least 3,000 people have arrived in the past year, fleeing the violence in Syria. Their arrival has stretched the limited resources available in the camp, leaving many without adequate access to even the most basic public services.The narrow alleys of Bourjel-Barajneh run between numerous buildings – old, new, mostly unfinished or poorly maintained. Most Palestinian refugees living there are completely dependent on organizations like the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other humanitarian partners.“Over 90 per cent of the Palestinians here are unemployed so they either depend on assistance or they have to borrow,” says Dima Zayat Shehab, a health manager from the American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), an international NGO that works with OCHA and UNRWA. “We have found that food and shelter are the two biggest concerns.”

Source: Lebanon: Life for Palestinian refugees in Bourj el-Barajneh | OCHA