Category Archives: Viva!

Heartbreaking video of reunited mother trying to hug her toddler. Look what happens.

Marisa Treviño

LatinaLista

Regular readers of Latina Lista have kindly noticed that I’ve been taking a little break. After 14 years of chronicling social injustices, I felt drained, even more so since Trump took office. Like many of you, I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around how a man so insecure, petty and full of hate could have hijacked his way into the one position in the country most of us thought was beyond breach.

The last entry I posted was about Trump finally relenting and signing an executive order to stop separating families captured at the border. At the time, I was concerned about how his administration planned to reunite the children already separated from their parents. Little did I foresee that the bigger problem for these parents would be after they reunited with their children.

The ACLU released a video of one mother reuniting with her toddler son. The images are heartbreaking and fill me with shame, extreme sadness — and anger!

As a citizen, I’m ashamed that my country perpetrated this humanitarian crime against innocent people who saw the US as a refuge from unspeakable violence in their home countries. As a mother, grandmother and human, I am chilled to my bones with sadness for this mother whose own son appears so traumatized he can’t even look at her.

As a voter, I’m angry that there is a president/administration and a party that not only endorsed this policy but have shown no empathy or concern for the consequences that are now surfacing from this inhumane act against children.

The following video only underscores the fact that the only way to eradicate this evil that exists in the highest offices in our country is to vote out any and all Republicans who stand with Trump. Reinstate a Democratic majority in Congress who will stand in his way as he takes joy in creating misery for too many.

Reminder: The consequences of family separation will far out-last this administration.

Watch one family’s reunion after months of separation. #FamiliesBelongTogether pic.twitter.com/ECahAhgOtG

— ACLU (@ACLU) August 24, 2018

‘Spilling enemy blood is allowed’: After settler attack, Israeli activists speak out

Four left-wing Israeli activists were taken to a hospital after being violently attacked by settlers in the West Bank on Saturday. Violence by settlers against activists has grown more common over the past few months, yet it seems the authorities are doing very little to stop it.

A Ta'ayush activist is evacuated after being attacked by settlers in the illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair, south Hebron Hills, August 25, 2018. (Nasser Nawaja/B'Tselem)

A Ta’ayush activist is evacuated after being attacked by settlers in the illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair, south Hebron Hills, August 25, 2018. (Nasser Nawaja/B’Tselem)

When I heard the initial reports that settlers from the illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair, in the south Hebron Hills, violently attacked a group of left-wing Israeli activists, I remembered the briefing I underwent in that exact same spot two years ago. “Be very careful,” one of the activists told me. “The settlers can come out of nowhere, and they are not afraid to use violence. They are always ready.” On Saturday, that same activist was one of six who were attacked and hospitalized.

[tmwinpost]

Pepe Goldman, 66, was also among the six who were attacked. “Now I am okay,” he told me a few hours after the incident. “It hurts a bit, but it is okay. I was hit in my ribcage, but luckily nothing was broken.” As for the other activists, Goldman said, one needed stitches for a deep wound on his arm, another may have a fractured pelvis, another had his foot dislocated, and an activist who was thrown to the ground needed medical treatment in Jerusalem.

Goldman has been active with Ta’ayush, a left-wing Israeli organization, which has been documenting settlement expansion and protecting Palestinian shepherds from settler violence, for two years. “We left as we do every Saturday morning at 6 a.m. to accompany shepherds. Sometimes when we notice illegal settlement construction on our drive we stop to take photos and pass on the documentation to the Civil Administration. Most of the time nothing happens, maybe some cursing or shoving. Usually when we arrive, the army declares the area a closed military zone — closed off to us, that is. Not to the settlers.”

“Today, after we were done accompanying the shepherds, as we were heading back to Jerusalem, we heard that the army had entered a Palestinian home in the area and confiscated phones, work tools, etc. without a warrant. We came, wrote down the information, and headed to Mitzpe Yair, where we wanted to photograph new, illegal construction. When we reached the site, the IDF asked us to leave, but did not prevent us from taking photos.”

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But then came the settlers. “The settlers demanded the soldiers remove us, and at a certain point they became verbally violent toward the soldiers. Suddenly there were 20 of them, cursing at us and throwing us off a 1.5-meter-high structure that we were standing on, into an area full of construction waste. As we laid there, they continued throwing stones at us. They stole six of our cameras and rummaged through our bags.”

What were the soldiers doing?

The soldiers gently tried to convince them to stop, but it did not help. The settlers kept chasing us, even when we had withdrawn, even when we were already in the ambulance, they continued to curse us.

“The soldiers get their orders from Mitzpe Yair’s security coordinator. They really obey him. This is a phenomenon you see across the occupied territories — the settlers are in charge. I can count on one hand the number of soldiers who have refused orders by settlers — out of sympathy or out of fear. They make sure to kick us out using closed military orders, which is often not accurate.

“I want to emphasize: media outlets tend to refer to this kind of thing as a ‘confrontation,’ but there was not confrontation here. This was a one-sided attack. We came to photograph, there is no law preventing that, and we were attacked.”

How did you respond?

“We tried to stop them from throwing us off the structure. We never respond with violence. We defend ourselves, but we never attack. We demanded the soldiers protect us, since it was clear who was the attacker and who was the attacked. We made sure to fall as safely as possible, but when we fell, all our supplies got scattered and they stole everything.”

How long did the attack last?

“The most violent part lasted half an hour. That is a long time.”

From your experience, is this kind of violence rare?

There are violent encounters all the time. A few months ago, the settlers from Havat Maon in the South Hebron Hills threw huge rocks at us, and it took security forces a long time to arrive. A year ago, settlers from the Baladim outposts attacked us in al-Auja, north of Jericho. These were the worst examples, but cursing and shoving is routine. Sometimes a settler will come with a Pitbull who will attack the herd, or settlers will come with tractors and ram into the sheep. It is rare for security forces to try and prevent all this. Usually they kick us, the activists, out.

Masked settlers attack Ta'ayush activists near al-Auja, West Bank, April 21, 2017. (Screenshot)

Masked settlers attack Ta’ayush activists near al-Auja, West Bank, April 21, 2017. (Screenshot)

Are you planning on lodging a complaint?

We discussed the issue. At first we thought about lodging a complaint, since I managed to photograph the man who threw me off the structure. But we eventually decided that we have no trust in the system. In our experience, every attempt at filing a complaint ended with closed cases, either because of lack of evidence, witnesses, or public interest – you name it.

So we decided not to play the game. Suffice it to say, not a single person has been taken in for questioning. The authorities are not interested in investigating or punishing when the crimes are committed by the Israeli side. When it comes to the Palestinian side, however, they are extremely effective.

There is nothing surprising in this. After all, there is legitimacy from on high to label anyone who opposes the occupation an enemy, and spilling enemy blood is allowed. If this is the message from the top, why should we be surprised when things are not properly taken care of by the policeman in the field? This is the spirit of things in Israeli society today.

Are you going to go back to this kind of activism?

Of course. It is dangerous and scary, but if we surrender to our fears, then the little we do will matter even less.

The IDF Spokesperson provided the following to the incident: “This morning, a number of Ta’ayush activists came to an area where illegal Palestinian construction was taking place near Mitzpe Yair in the Judea and Samaria area. After the tools used for construction were confiscated, the activists went up to the settlement in order to provoke, leading to friction between them and the settlers living in the area. IDF soldiers in the area declared a closed military zone in order to prevent further friction, but some of the organization’s activists refused to evacuate and violated the order. The activists eventually left and the confrontation came to an end.”

This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here.

من قميص ميسي الى الحاج الذي لا يؤمن بالقضاء والقدر

من قميص ميسي الى الحاج الذي لا يؤمن بالقضاء والقدر

موضوعان تصدرا الأخبار المحلية الفلسطينية بينما تغمر فرحة عيد الأضحى البيوت العامرة المتعطشة للفرحة.

موضوعان نغصا الهدوء وأخذوا الانسان الفلسطيني المستكين الى مرحلة متجددة من التآمر العالمي عليه من جهة، وتكفير من يخرج عن طاعة الولاة من جهة أخرى.

لنبدأ بالموضوع الأكثر سخونة، لأنه يتعلق بعلاقتنا مع الله. في نهاية الأمر إن التكفير من أسوز ما يمكن أن يصيب المرء المؤمن. فبيان وزارة الأوقاف ولديانات او من هو مسؤول عن الحج، أنزل علينا بيانا يخلي طرفه من مسؤولية عطب احدى حافلات الحج وسط صحراء السعودية وعدم وصول المساعدة لساعات. فالرجل الحاج الذي تذمر بالغ في فضح التقصير ونسي بينما هو راجع وقد اكتمل دينه وايمانه وغفر الله ما تقدم وما تأخر من ذنوبه أن الايمان بالقضاء والقدر من أركان الإيمان. فماذا يعني أن ينعت البيان الحاج بأنه لا يؤمن بالقضاء والقدر غير الكفر؟

ولم يتوقف الامر هنا، فسارعت الشركة المسؤولة عن الحافلات وأعمال الحج بالدفاع عن نفسها واتهام الحاج بأنه غير مؤمن بالقضاء والقدر…

الحقيقة أن الموضوع هزلي لدرجة لا يمكن الرد عليه….

ولكن، لأن موقفي من الحج الى السعودية لا يزال نفسه، في ظل مساهمة المسلمين بقتل أبناء اليمن ودعم النظام السعودي والامريكي والصهيوني بطريقة لم تعد غير مباشرة، بينما تكشف امر ال سعود ولم يعد سريا علاقتهم مع الكيان الصهيوني وولائهم السامي نحو أمريكا وما تريده من تفتيت وتشتيت للشعوب الإسلامية ونهب وسلب خيرات وموارد البلاد وسحق الشعوب وقتلها من خلال تشغيل مصانع السلاح الامريكية وغيرها من امبراطوريات الحروب.

لربما اتعظ حجاج هذا العام أن الله بالفعل غير راضي عما يجري. والله تعالى أكبر من أن ينتظرنا في بيته الحرام ولقد استباحه الطغاة. فما جري من سيول وأمطار وفيضانات كان أبلغ الرسائل الإلهية. وامتعاض الحجاج من دول مختلفة مما حصل من مشاكل واساءات كان جليا.

استوقفتني احدى العبارات في أحد البيانين تشيد بنجاح رحلة الحج لهذا العام واعتبار ما يبدو انه امرا عاديا جدا، موضوع الطريق الصعب على الحدود السعودية. فكرت قليلا وتساءلت، الا يستحق الحجاج ان تعبد لهم طرقات محترمة من اجل موسم كهذا، في وقت يكون الحديث فيه عن أغنى دول العالم السلامي وأكثرها بذخا. هل تحتاج السعودية مثلا تخصيص جزءا من رسوم الحجيج لتعبيد الطرقات؟ تخيلت ان الحجيج يحدث في الصومال زمن المجاعة!!!!!

ولكن ما الذي يمكن ان يقال في زمن الاستبهام المتعدد الوجوه؟

اما الموضوع الساخن ولم يصل الى درجة الحريق الحقيقي لقميص ميسي ولكنه احرق رئيس الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم ولسع الشعب الفلسطيني المحب لكرة القدم، كان العقاب الذي قررته الفيفا بحق رئيس الاتحاد اللواء القائد جبريل الرجوب، بتغريمه ٢٠ ألف فرانك وتوقيفه عن المشاركة والدخول الى الملاعب لمدة عام. على حسب لوائح وقوانين الفيفا، فرن ما قام به رئيس الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم يندرج تحت طائلة عقوبات المنظمة الكروية، وهو زمر لا يمكن ان يكون قد خفي عن رئيس الاتحاد. أن تأخذ إسرائيل او أي جهة صهيونية ما صرح به اللواء جبريل الرجوب على هذا المحمل من الدعاوي ليس بغريب كذلك. بل عادي.

الغريب في الامر هو المغالاة في الاستياء والاستغراب وتحويل الموضوع الى أزمة ومبايعة وغيرها من العادات القبلية في تقديم الولاءات، في حين ان الموضوع يبدأ وينتهي بتحمل رئيس الاتحاد لما قاله في حينه.

كان، ومع الأسف التصريح بالتهديد لدعوة لحرق صور ميسي إذا ما لعبت الارجنتين أمام إسرائيل في القدس، مجحف ومحزن بحق اللواء جبريل الرجوب الذي يمثل أعلى هيئة رياضية بالإضافة الى كونه من اهم قياديي السلطة في فتح، وكان من البديهي ان يتم استغلاله، ولم يكن غريب أن تقوم الفيفا بقبول الطلب والدعوى وإصدار قرار هو بالفعل مجحف.

المفارقة هنا، ولربما لتكون عبرة لنا للمستقبل، لكيفية تعاطينا وتعاطيهم في هذه الأمور.

عندما حارب اللواء الرجوب الانتهاكات الإسرائيلية للرياضة الفلسطينية من خلال الفيفا، تقدم وبلا شك خطوات في ساحة الصراع ضد إسرائيل من خلال استخدام أوراق القوة المتاحة من خلال المنظمة الكروية. ذات المنظمة هي التي وصلت الى مراحل متقدمة بتعليق عضوية إسرائيل من الفيفا ومنعها من اقتراف انتهاكات أكثر، ولم يترك الاتحاد فرصة الا واستخدمها، وكانت اخر مشاهد محاكمة إسرائيل لدي الفيفا عندما أخرج اللواء جبريل الرجوب قبل سنوات قليلة البطاقة الحمراء مطالبا بتعليق عضوية إسرائيل وتجريمها وتحميلها مسؤولية انتهاكاتها. وكان اللواء جبريل نفسه من أعاد البطاقة الحمراء الى جيبه وتنازل عن حقنا في تجريم إسرائيل بعد لحظات…

هنا يكمن الفرق بيننا وبينهم…..

هم لا يراغون ولا يلعبون ولا يستخدمون البطاقات من اجل التهديد خصوصا إذا ما كانت حمراء. قد تكون سخرية القدر هنا، بأن البطاقة الحمراء قد استخدمت بالفعل واخرجت الرجوب من اللعبة.

أضحكني بعض التعليقات التي دعت من اجل دفع الناس للمبلغ الذي تم تغريمه للواء الرجوب… وابكاني أصوات شجبت وردحت ونددت وطالبت …. لا اعرف بصراحة بماذا ستتم المطالبة … ولكننا طالما برعنا في التنديد والوعيد….

مع الأسف ما جري كان انتصارا آخر للاحتلال …. هذه المرة كان إخراج البطاقة الحمراء فيها مستحقا، على الرغم من معرفتنا التامة بأن الحكم منحاز بالأصل للفريق الاخر…http://www.wattan.tv/ar/news/262594.html

US set to announce its rejection of Palestinians’ right of return

US to support occupation and stealing land.

PNN/ Bethlehem/

Israeli media reports on Sunday said that the US is set to announce its rejection of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to Palestine.

According to Israel’s Hadashot News on Saturday, the Trump administration will make the announcement over the next few days, in which it will claim that only around one million Palestinians are eligible for refugee status.

The claim will contradict UN statistics which classify over five million Palestinians as refugees.

Earlier this month, the American magazine Foreign Policy obtained emails written by Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, to senior US officials in which he pressured Jordan to remove the refugee status of millions of Palestinians in a bid to disrupt UNRWA’s work.

Washington has on multiple occasions voiced opposition over treating the descendants of Palestinian refugees as refugees themselves.

In January, the US government announced that it would withhold $65 million of a $125 million aid installment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

On Friday, the United States also canceled over $200 million in funds for the Palestinian Authority, who in turn described the cuts as political blackmail.

According to the definition of UNRWA, Palestine refugees are defined as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” When the Agency began operations in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees. Today, some 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services.