Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestine (Weekly Update 23 February- 01 March 2023)

March 2, 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

Three Palestinian civilians were shot dead: two by Israeli Occupation Forces and one by Israeli settlers. Also, a member of Palestinian armed groups succumbed to his pervious injury. Moreover, 16 Palestinians, including 3 children, a woman, and a journalist, were injured, while dozens of others suffocated in IOF attacks in eastern Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 23 February 2023, Mohammed Nabil al-Sabbah (30), from Jenin refugee camp, died at An-Najah Hospiral in Nablus, succumbing to a live bullet injury in the abdomen.  Al-Sabbah who was a member of Palestinian armed groups, was wounded on 12 February 2023 during IOF incursion into the camp.

On 24 February 2023, medical sources at al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron declared the death of Mohammed Isma’il Mohammed Jawabreh (21), a Palestinian police officer from Al-Arroub refugee camp, succumbing to a live bullet injury in the back of his head.  IOF opened fire at him at around 14:00 a day before from a distance of 30 meters while He was with 3 persons on his house roof during clashes that broke out in the camp.

On 26 February 2023, Sameh al-Aqtash (37) was killed after being shot with a live bullet in his abdomen by Israeli settlers during a widescale attack on Za’tara village as part of a series of retaliatory attacks on southern Nablus’s villages. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).

On 01 March 2023, Mahmoud Jamal Hamdan (22) died few hours after being arrested and injured by IOF fire during the latter’s incursion into ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp in Jericho. Also, a Palestinian was shot and another was ran over in addition to 5 others arrested, including 3 brothers and son of one of the latter. According to PCHR’s investigations, an Israeli Special Force sneaked into ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp and cordoned off a house belonging to Shalloun family. Afterwards, Israeli backups arrived shooting and firing teargas canisters as well as threatening to bomb the house. Meanwhile, IOF opened fire at Mahmoud Hamdan while driving his motorcycle out of a nearby wood carpentry shop, wounding him with a live bullet in his abdomen. A Palestine Red Crescent Society medical crew arrived and tried to give him first aid, but IOF arrested him and took him to an unknown destination. Later in the evening, Hamdan’s death was announced. During their withdrawal from the camp, IOF detained a young man and his child and used them as human shields during their raid into the house. IOF also pulled a civilian Hyundai Tucson car to the middle of the street and broke its windows.

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of IOF excessive use of force during their incursions into the Palestinian cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians, and they were as follows:

On 23 February 2023, a Palestinian was shot with  a live bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF near a observation point established at the entrance to Beit Ummar village, north of Hebron.

On the same day, a woman was shot with a live bullet in her lower limbs by IOF at the entrance to “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, which is established on occupied East Jerusalem’s lands, under the pretext that she tried to carry out a stabbing attack. IOF arrested the injured woman and took her to an Israeli hospital in West Jerusalem.

On 24 February 2023, two Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets, and others suffocated due to teargas inhalation during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddoum weekly protest in northern Qalqilya.

On the same day, 4 Palestinians were directly hit with teargas canisters, and others suffocated due to teargas inhalation during clashes with IOF that accompanied the latter’s suppression of a peaceful protest near Bab al-Zawiyia in Hebron, where IOF established an observation point and a military checkpoint particularly at the entrance to al-Shuhada closed street. The peaceful protest was organized to commemorate the 29^th anniversary of al-Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, which was committed by an Israeli settler at the time.

Also, two Palestinians, including a journalist, were directly hit with teargas canisters, and others suffocated due to teargas inhalation after IOF targeted dozens of protestors gathered ten meters away from the barbed wire fence in eastern Khuza’a village, east of Khan Yunis,  against the IOF’s escalating violations in the West Bank.  

On the same day, a 14-year-old child was hit with a teargas canister by IOF during the latter’s suppression of protestors gathered near the border fence, northeast of Jabalia. As a result, the child sustained brain laceration and was referred to al-Shifa Medical Complex, where his health condition was deemed critical.

On 26 February 2023, a Palestinian was hit with a live bullet in his foot in clashes with IOF during their incursion into Teqoa village in Bethlehem. Before withdrawing, IOF arrested a child after they raided his house.

On the same day, two Palestinians were shot with live and rubber bullets after IOF opened fire at persons for approaching the border fence, northeast of Jabalia refugee camp.

In the Gaza Strip, 8 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, and 4 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Western Gaza shores.

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So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 66 Palestinians, including 35 civilians; 11 of them were children and a woman, while the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 5 killed by settlers, and one died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 302 Palestinians, including 42 children, 2 women, and 8 journalists, were injured.

Land razing, demolitions, and notices

IOF displaced 4 families of 20, including 12 children and 4 women, after demolishing 5 houses; 4 of them were self-demolished by their owners. Also, IOF demolished 11 facilities and confiscated two vehicles in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 23 February 2023, IOF demolished 11 facilities, including commercial barracks and vegetable stalls, at the entrance to Jalamah village, north of Jenin.  

On 25 February 2023, IOF confiscated a Burqin and Kafr ad-Dik municipal garbage truck, west of Salfit. They also detained the driver and two workers, threatening them not to put the garbage in that area again, under the pretext that the area is classified as Area “C”.

On the same day, IOF confiscated an excavator working in Qarawat Bani Hassan village lands, under the pretext of working in Area C.

On 26 February 2023, IOF forced a Palestinian to implement the Israeli occupation municipal order and self-demolish his 100-sqm house in Silwan village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering a family of 8, including a woman and 6 children, homeless.

On 27 February 2023, IOF notified to demolish a 120-sqm house sheltering a family of 6, including 4 children, as well as a house concrete slab in eastern Yatta city in Hebron.

On 28 February 2023, IOF forced a Palestinian to self-demolish two small houses built on an area of 120 square meters in Beit Hanina village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. As a result, the Palestinian and his wife have become homeless.

On the same day, IOF forced a Palestinian to implement the Israeli occupation municipal order and self-demolish his 30-sqm house in Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. As a result, a family of 5, including a woman and 3 children, was displaced.

Also, IOF demolished parts of a 120-sqm house in Jabel Mukaber village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. As a result, a family of 4, including a woman and 2 children, were displaced.

Moreover, IOF demolished the remaining parts of two under-construction houses belonging to 2 brothers in’ Issawiya village, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. The owners of the two houses were forced to self-demolish their houses 2 weeks ago. Also, IOF handed them a fine of 100,00 shekels for demolition costs and for the Israeli municipality staff and vehicles.

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Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 52 families homeless, a total of 315 persons, including 64 women and 142 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 54 houses; 16 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 6 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 53 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts:

A Palestinian was killed, and two others were injured by Israeli settlers’ fire in at least 100 attacks carried out by settlers under IOF’s protection. Most of those attacks mainly targeted Huwara village and Nablus’s southern villages, where Israeli settlers burned dozens of houses and vehicles, as part of retaliatory acts. Details are as follows:

On 23 February 2023, two Palestinians were injured: one with a live bullet in his abdomen and the other with a live bullet in his left thigh after Israeli settlers, from “Esh Kodesh” settlement outpost established on Nablus village’s lands, opened fire at them during their attack on the outskirts of Qusra village.  The settlers also threw stones and opened fire at Palestinians and their houses at them.

On 25 February 2023, Israeli settlers, from “al-Ras” settlement outpost established on Salfit village’s lands, attacked a group of Palestinian farmers in the nearby lands and forced them to leave after opening fire in the air. The settlers also damaged a vehicle belonging to the farmers.

On 26 February 2023, hundreds of Israeli settlers conducted widescale violence and retaliatory acts under the protection of IOF in several villages in Nablus. As a result, a Palestinian was killed and another was wounded with bullets, while dozens of houses, facilities and vehicles were set ablaze. ( Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On the same day, settlers set a poultry farm ablaze in Salfit, completely burning it and killing 2500 chicks. Also, the settlers set a vehicle ablaze at the entrance to Yasuf village, east of Salfit, and completely burned it.

Also, two Palestinians were beaten by Israeli settlers who threw stones at Palestinian vehicles and burned one of them in al-Mo’arajat area, north of Jericho.

On the same day, 3 Palestinians sustained bruises after Israeli settlers attacked their vehicles in the outskirts of Jibiya village, north of Ramallah. Also, Israeli settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles and houses in Sinjil and Al-Mughayyir villages and near Umm Safa village in Ramallah.

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Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 139 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 5 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others were injured; most of them after being beaten and thrown with stones/ Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:

 IOF carried out 184 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, at least 50 Palestinians were arrested, including 8 children. In the Gaza Strip, on 25 February 2023, IOF arrested 4 children while trying to infiltrate through the border fence adjacent to Um al-Nasser village and released them the next day. Also, IOF conducted 3 limited incursions in northern Beit Hanoun on 26 February 2033, in northeastern Jabalia on 28 February 2023, and in eastern Khan Yunis on 01 March 2023.

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So far in 2023, IOF conducted 1,765 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 891 Palestinians were arrested, including 16 women and 119 children. Also, IOF arrested 12 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip; 6 were fishermen and 6 were trying to infiltrate into Israel. IOF also conducted 5 incursions.

Israeli closure and restrictions on freedom of movement:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 15-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 126 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Since 26 February 2023, IOF have imposed a cordon on Huwara village in Nablus, place cement cubes on the main street, impede the movement of individuals and vehicles, and prevent the shops’ owners from opening.  This cordon is part of the collective punishment measures following the killing of 2 settlers in a shooting attack near the village.

Since 27 February 2023, IOF have imposed a tight cordon on Jericho following the killing of an Israeli settler in a shooting attack  near the city. IOF closed all checkpoints, main and sub-streets leading to the city and established more military checkpoints, impeding the movement of individuals and vehicles and searching them.

This week, IOF closed military checkpoints in Jerusalem and Bethlehem several times and reopened them later.

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So far in 2023, IOF established 1074 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 50 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Judaizing Jerusalem: Israel’s ‘demographic’ plan to ethnically cleanse the Holy City

The most right-wing government in Israel’s history is committed to advancing the Judaization of Jerusalem, including demolishing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and diminishing the Arab demographic in Al-Quds.

February 21 2023

By The Cradle’s Palestine Correspondent

Jerusalem has been a sticking point in attempts to find a political solution between Palestinians and their occupiers ever since the onset of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Yet, the situation involving the Holy City and its Al-Aqsa Mosque has reached a critical turning point since the recent ascension of ultra-right-wing Zionist parties to power in Israel.

On 3 January, Itamar Ben Gvir, the head of the Otzma Yehudit party, fulfilled his election promises by storming the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque under official Israeli security cover. In doing so, the extremist minister of national security became the first official figure to take such a step since former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s similar action in 2000, which triggered the Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada).

Storming Al-Aqsa, a calculated move

Many political analysts agree that Ben Gvir’s storming of the mosque – which was coordinated by the Israeli police and General Security Agency (Shin Bet), and with the prior knowledge of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – signals the new government’s policy towards the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.

They say that the most right-wing and extreme government in the history of Israel is in the process of strengthening illegal settlements and changing the historical status of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Analyst Ayman al-Rafati tells The Cradle that the storming of the mosque’s courtyard, as well as the prevention of Jordanian Ambassador Ghassan al-Majali from entering the mosque in mid-January, have two implications:

“The first is an attempt to break psychological deterrence that was established after the Battle of Sayf al-Quds (Sword of Jerusalem) in 2021, which erupted due to practices like this; The second is to reduce the margin of Jordanian guardianship over Al-Aqsa.”

The occupation authorities also seek to replicate the Ibrahimi Mosque experience in the West-Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) by dividing Al-Aqsa in time and space between Muslims and Jews.

Israel hopes that the storming of the mosque will pass over without any significant backlash from the occupied-West Bank and Jerusalem, from the resistance fighters of Gaza, or from the Israeli left and center parties who raise concerns about its potential impact on state security and stability.

However, the actions of Ben Gvir and the Israeli police, while dangerous, do not align with the aspirations of the Jewish Temple group extremists who seek to build a structure on the ruins of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Judaizing Al-Aqsa

On the day Ben Gvir assumed office as minister of national security, Aviad Fisoli, the attorney for the new Sanhedrin council (the central rabbinical institution of extremist Temple settler groups) sent a letter to the Israeli police commissioner in Jerusalem requesting an audience with the minister to inform him of their demands and to determine the level of support they could expect from the government and police.

The letter stipulated 11 demands, all of which would lead to the division of Al-Aqsa Mosque. These include:

1. Extending the hours in which the extremists could storm the mosque;
2. Allowing them to perform prayers and religious rituals inside the mosque;
3. Opening the mosque to raids throughout the week; Allowing “sacred tools” into the mosque, including Torah scrolls, the Ark of the Covenant, trumpets, and plant and animal offerings;
4. Establishing a Jewish synagogue inside Al-Aqsa Mosque;
5. Ending police escorting of extremists;
6. Allowing storming from all doors, not just the Mughrabi Gate controlled by the occupation authorities since 1967;
7. Not barring the mosque from intruders during Islamic events;
8. Declaring “equal rights” for all religions at Al-Aqsa;
9. Cancelling the policy of ejecting Jews from the mosque;
10. Opening the door of the synagogue in the historical Tanziah school – which overlooks the Al-Aqsa grounds – and is currently controlled by the Israeli Ministry of Security, to all Jews.

In April 2022, the temple group extremists began a campaign to obtain permission for performing the Passover sacrifice in Al-Aqsa.

The “Returning to the Temple Mount” movement, led by an extremist Jewish settler named Raphael Morris, sent a message to Ben Gvir in early January, asking for his help in facilitating the slaughter of the “Passover offering” in the courtyards of the mosque.

In their letter, the group stated that the formation of a real right-wing government “is a golden opportunity to return the crown to its former glory and to renew the Passover sacrifice for the first time in about two thousand years.” They believe that this act “will be recorded in the pages of history as the beginning of the building of the third Temple.”

‘Development:’ a pretext for demographic engineering

On the ground in Jerusalem, the settlers’ ambitions are being matched by ongoing state-sponsored excavations and the construction of roads and bridges. Mahmoud Abu Arqoub, a Palestinian guard stationed at Al-Aqsa Mosque, reveals to The Cradle that the Israeli police are preventing Jerusalemites and “Mourabitoun” (guards tasked with protecting Islamic holy sites from hostile non-believers) from restoring the dilapidated parts of the mosque.

Meanwhile, multiple projects are being implemented to accommodate the increasing number of settlers who storm the mosque.

According to the Palestine Information Center “Maata,” last year, around 55,000 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, compared to 34,000 in 2021. Abu Arqoub also noted that in 2022, the Israeli government initiated a project to expand the wooden Mughrabi Bridge that connects Mughrabi Gate to Al-Buraq Square, which is used by settlers and “tourists” to enter the mosque courtyards.

Adnan al-Husseini, the head of the Jerusalem Affairs Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), believes that the bridge expansion project aims to increase the number of settler intrusions and paves the way for the implementation of a large settlement project by facilitating access for motorized vehicles.

Abu Arqoub predicts that “major unrest may break out in the month of Ramadan (next March) around the Damascus Gate. The occupation is imposing more restrictions on this region in preparation for its Judaization and annexation.”

Under the guise of developing the transportation network, the Israelis are racing against time to seize more land from Jerusalemites. In mid-January, the local planning and construction committee in the Jerusalem municipality approved plans to build a light-rail transit track connecting east and west Jerusalem.

They claim that the project is part of the “modern transportation revolution in Jerusalem to ease traffic congestion.” However, Jerusalemite researcher Nevine Najeeb posits that the track, set to be completed in 2028, will provide an excuse for the occupation municipality to seize more land and properties belonging to Jerusalemites. As Najeeb explains to The Cradle:

“In the future, the occupation municipality will demand the demolition of homes that Jerusalemites have owned for hundreds of years because they stand in the way of the train, or to strengthen security measures around its track. This scenario was previously implemented by the occupation in the town of Shuafat nine years ago, when dozens were forced to leave their homes under the same pretext.”

In parallel, the occupation authorities and temple groups continue to excavate tunnels beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque. On 10 January, sources in Jerusalem revealed the discovery of a new tunnel that penetrates the wall of the Old City, four meters wide, extending from the town of Silwan to a point near the Mughrabi Gate.

“The goal of the tunnels is to provide conditions for the demolition of Al-Aqsa Mosque as a result of natural factors, such as an earthquake, in order to avoid a comprehensive confrontation with the occupying power,” Najeeb explains.

‘Strangers in Jerusalem’

The most dangerous Israeli development, however, is the implementation of the “Greater Jerusalem” plan, which seeks to change the demographic balance in the Holy City in favor of the Jewish population, as revealed by the Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem (ARIJ).

In a report published in late 2022, the institute indicated that Israel had begun adding four large settlement blocs – Givat Ze’ev, Ma’aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, and Psagot – to Jerusalem. This move is expected to decrease the percentage of Palestinians in the city’s population from 37 percent to 21 percent.

In a press release, ARIJ director Jad Isaac stated that in 2022, the Israeli government approved several settlement projects, including the construction of 4,900 settlement units in Jerusalem, 9,000 units in the Atarot area north of the city, and the “Silicon Valley” settlement project spanning over 710,000 square meters in the Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood.

Additionally, there are plans to transform the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and Silwan town into mixed neighborhoods by increasing the number of settlers residing there and issuing orders to evict Palestinians or demolish their homes.

In 2022, ARIJ documented 138 cases of house demolitions and 273 settler encroachments on the lands of Jerusalemites. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation authorities initiated the “Land Settlement and Registration” project to seize more property, which may result in 80 percent of the land being registered as “absentee property,” making Palestinians “strangers in Jerusalem,” as noted by Isaac.

The existential threat to Al-Quds

Palestinians in the city are facing systematic alienation, with the occupation authorities attempting to prevent Palestinian schools from teaching the Palestinian curriculum. Last year, two schools had their licenses revoked under the pretext of teaching curricula that allegedly included “incitement against the Israeli state and army.”

Approximately 45,500 students in Jerusalem, attending 146 schools affiliated with the Palestinian education system, are at risk of being forced to study the Israeli curriculum, according to the Faisal Husseini Foundation.

Since the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, all Israeli governments, both right and left, have pursued projects to Judaize the city. However, the current Israeli government, described by Israelis themselves as the most right-wing in Israel’s history, poses a greater threat to the city.

There is an unprecedented opportunity for right-wing groups to Judaize the city and demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Such a step is likely to ignite another conflict that may escalate into a major regional war, as leaders of resistance movements in Palestine, Lebanon, and elsewhere have repeatedly warned.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

As Ramadan Ends, Israeli Provocations Seem Aimed at a Religious War

MAY 2, 2022

Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° 

Jessica Buxbaum

“Israel uses this month [of Ramadan] to humiliate Palestinians, as much as they can. Especially at the doors of al-Aqsa Mosque, knowing how much this situation is sensitive for Palestinians.” – Younes Arar, PLO Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission

OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM, PALESTINE — On the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at least 42 Palestinians were injured when Israeli police raided al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said. With nearly 300 Palestininians injured in the last two weeks at al-Aqsa compound, this year’s Ramadan in Palestine has been marked by bloodshed once again.

Since the start of Ramadan on April 2, human rights organizations have monitored a significant increase in violence against Palestinians. Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq has documented a worrying trend “in killings, excessive use of force, settler colonial violence, attacks on holy sites and worshippers, and collective punishment measures against Palestinians, including widespread raids, arbitrary arrests, and movement restrictions.”

According to Al-Haq’s information, the Israeli army has killed 17 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in April. Since Al-Haq’s publication, Israeli forces fatally shot 18-year-old Ahmad Fathi Masad in the head during a raid on the Jenin refugee camp this week.

Uptick in religious violations

Israeli police raids on al-Aqsa compound have become routine this month, with the PRCS noting the majority of injuries were to the upper areas of the body. Israeli forces have used rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, pepper spray and stun grenades against Palestinian worshippers at al-Aqsa.

In recent weeks, Israeli forces have also broken the iconic stained-glass windows of al-Qibli Mosque, the main mosque in the compound, and have attacked Palestinian journalists, children, women and the elderly at the holy site.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister for Religious Endowments Sheikh Hatem al-Bakri told MintPress News that Israel’s actions at al-Aqsa compound are in violation of international regulations, UNESCO resolutions and religious traditions.

In 2016, UNESCO, the UN’s world heritage organization, adopted a resolution decrying Israeli violations at al-Aqsa including restricting access to Muslim worship and storming of the compound by Israeli forces and extremists.

“Israel is not respecting religious treaties at all, instead using their privilege of power to enact these policies,” al-Bakri said, emphasizing how the Jordanian Ministry of Waqf has full jurisdiction over the holy site. “And because of our weaknesses, we cannot run any military confrontation with Israel. We have to just witness what’s happening.”

Israeli police are not the only ones violating the sanctity of al-Aqsa. This month, the Jewish festival of Passover coincided with Ramadan. Jewish extremists used the holiday season to storm the compound and pray at the site more frequently. On April 17, Israeli forces shut Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron to Muslim worshippers for two days. That following Tuesday, hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed the mosque to perform Talmudic rituals in celebration of Passover. The Israeli army also erected military barricades surrounding the area of the mosque to facilitate the settlers’ movement. The director of the mosque, Ghassan Al-Rajabi, said the closure was a continuation of “Zionist authorities’ attempts to dominate and occupy the mosque.”

In 1994, Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslim worshippers at Ibrahimi Mosque during Ramadan. Following the massacre, Israel divided the holy site into Muslim and Jewish sections, with Muslim access cut to 40%.

Last year, Israel authorities initiated excavation works at the mosque in order to install an elevator there. A Palestinian petition against the settler project was rejected by Israel’s Supreme Court on the grounds the elevator’s purpose is to ensure greater disability access. However, Palestinans stress the plan isn’t humanitarian in its purpose, instead giving cover for an attempt to confiscate land and further Judaize the mosque.

Sheikh al-Bakri, who is also a preacher at Ibrahimi Mosque, said Israel’s tightened security measures around the religious site suggest a more sinister intention. “Israel has been trying to control that site through converting it from a place for worshipers to a military zone,” al-Bakri said. “All of the events that have been happening around that site make us believe that Israel is trying to turn the Muslim praying side into a synagogue.”

April saw an escalation against Palestinian Muslim and Christian worship as well. According to documentation from the Jerusalem Governorate, on April 23 Israeli forces prevented hundreds of Palestinian Christians from reaching the Church of Holy Sepulcher to celebrate the “Holy Fire” ceremony on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

Minister al-Bakri said Israeli violations against some mosques in Jerusalem have occurred this Ramadan, but emphasized the main offenses against Islam have been at the al-Aqsa and Ibrahimi mosques.

“If Israel is violating these two big sites, then they can violate every site in the country,” al-Bakri said. “And we keep saying that if Israel is violating al-Aqsa, it’s violating every single Palestinian.”

Israel seeking a religious war

As the end of Ramadan nears, Israeli police have banned non-Muslims from entering al-Aqsa compound for the last ten days of Ramadan. According to Jerusalem Governorate statistics, about 3,670 Jewish settlers invaded al-Aqsa Compound during the Passover holiday.

Amid the spike in Jews praying at the site, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid asserted Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo at al-Aqsa Compound.

“Muslims pray on the Temple Mount [what Israel calls al-Aqsa Compound], non-Muslims only visit. There is no change, there will be no change,” Lapid said during a press conference.

Yet Jordan, which has custodianship over the site, disagreed. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry warned in a statement that Israel is taking “targeted steps to change the historical and legal situation in the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif,” specifically condemning Israeli forces for raiding the area and allowing Jews to pray at al-Aqsa Compound.

Jewish extremists often argue that denying Jewish prayer at al-Aqsa Compound is an obstruction of freedom of worship, given the area is deemed the holiest site in Judaism.

“Al-Aqsa is only for Muslims,” PA Deputy Governor of Jerusalem Abdullah Siam told MintPress News, in response to accusations of religious discrimination. He suggested the current status quo has pushed Israel to take the site through force.

Al-Bakri also agreed that al-Aqsa is strictly for Muslim worship.

But Jewish extremists who spout claims of religious discrimination ignore the stark political element at play, Israeli journalist and activist Haggai Matar said. “[T]here are no equals in Israel-Palestine,” Matar wrote in +972 Magazine. “[I]t is Israel that has created a system of apartheid wherein … Jewish supremacy over Palestinians is guaranteed, maintained, and entrenched by law and by force.”

Just before the start of Ramadan, Israeli parliament member and leader of the far-right Jewish Power Party Itamar Ben-Gvir toured al-Aqsa Compound, escorted by police. This wasn’t his first incursion, and Minister al-Bakri said such provocative, politically-charged tours are how the Israeli government attempts to stabilize its fragile coalition. “Through these practices, [the government is] trying to get political acquisitions,” al-Bakri said. “The government of [Prime Minister] Naftali Bennett is weak, and in order for them to keep going, they have to encourage settlers to do more raids so as to win from that situation.”

Yet ultimately, Israel’s ongoing violations against Muslim worship, al-Bakri said, are “leading the area to a religious war between Islam and Judaism.” “We always say that our main problem is not with Judaism as a religion, but with the occupation,” al-Bakri said. “Although Israel has been using Judaism to shape its occupation.”

Ramadan violence on repeat

As they were last year, tensions in Palestine have been at a maximum high during Ramadan.

In May 2021, violence erupted into a war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic faction governing Gaza. Israel’s 10-day assault on the besieged Gaza Strip left 256 Palestinians dead, including 66 children. Media pundits and experts have feared this Ramadan may reach last year’s deadly levels.

For Minister al-Bakri, the atmosphere in Palestine is always volatile during Ramadan because Israel encourages a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. “Three months ago, Israel started talking in the media about a potential escalation, while the Palestinians hoped for a quiet month,” al-Bakri said, highlighting the number of Palestinians killed recently as meeting Israeli predictions. “Israel has been preparing the area for a potential problem by repeating these crisis slogans.”

Younes Arar, director of international and public relations and media for the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, suggested the large number of Palestinians flocking to Jerusalem during Ramadan is part of why the holy month is a tense time — emphasizing how the restrictions on freedom of movement add to the provocations. “Israel uses this month to humiliate Palestinians, as much as they can,” Arar said. “Especially at the doors of al-Aqsa Mosque, knowing how much this situation is sensitive for Palestinians.”

“It Is Fun to Shoot Palestinians”: Six Former Israeli Soldiers Speak Up

Nov 21, 2021

Source: Al Mayadeen

By Rasha Reslan

Six Israeli occupation soldiers recall the atrocities they committed onscreen in a staggering reality that reflects the severity of the situation in al-Khalil from one angle; a reality that amounts to crimes against humanity.

Six ‘former’ soldiers recall the atrocities they committed in al-Khalil

“Soldiers really like shooting rubber bullets.” 

“It is fun.”

“Everyone high fives.”

“You are awesome, you got him”

The New York Times Op-Docs has lately obtained a short documentary “Mission: Hebron” by the Israeli Director and ‘former’ Israeli soldier Rona Segal.

It is the first time in recent years that a documentary film sheds the light on part of the Palestinians’ daily sufferings in occupied al-Khalil “Hebron”; a staggering reality the public has rarely been allowed to see. 

Source: Human Rights Defenders Group

Al-Khalil is considered the largest city in the occupied West Bank and the only one in which Israeli settlers reside so close to the Palestinians, thus exacerbating their sufferings. 

Palestinians face severe movement restrictions as Israeli occupation forces are constantly present and committed to long-standing efforts to expel them notably from the Old City. 

The short documentary in its six chapters frames Israeli atrocities in al-Khalil

Six Israeli occupation soldiers, all of whom joined the army at the age of 18, describe their so-called “mission” in al-Khalil. They were “tasked with protecting and guarding Israeli settlers.” These soldiers, who were barely adults, were given complete control of the Palestinians’ lives in the city.

The six ‘former’ soldiers describe their “mission” in a studio setting based on the “duties defined in their military guidebook”; the Israeli settlers in al-Khalil are “guarded and protected” using a variety of strategies, whilst making the lives of Palestinian civilians unbearable.

Looking back, the soldiers recall their confusion, embarrassment, and hatred.

They told their atrocities onscreen in a renewed perspective of the severity of the situation on the ground in al-Khalil, which amounts to a crime against humanity; a crime of apartheid and persecution.

Main “mission”

“Your only mission is to guard and protect the Israeli settlers in Hebron [al-Khalil].”

With the Israeli soldiers making it clear that their mission was to protect and guard the Israeli settlers, by all means, it becomes clear that the increasing and aggravating Israeli settlers’ violence against Palestinians is done with the explicit support of the Israeli occupation authorities. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers are ordered to turn a blind eye and even guard the perpetrators. 

Settlers’ violence against Palestinians includes damaging private property, stone-throwing, and physical violence, as well as attacks on activists and journalists.

Such attacks have become increasingly common in recent years, and they are carried out with impunity.

One of the Israeli soldiers testified that a security coordinator from among the Israeli settlers is the one who would give them orders, not their military command. In many cases, Israeli occupation soldiers provide the perpetrators with escort and backup. But, when the Israeli soldiers don’t join the attack, “the illegal settlers can turn against the soldiers, thus becoming their enemies”, according to the soldiers’ confessions.

“If you shoot a Palestinian, you get a pizza and a coffee from the settlers;” this is by far one of the most disturbing elements in the “mission”. The settlers’ ‘affection’ can turn into hatred if settlers are prohibited from conducting extreme assaults against Palestinians. At this point, the once cherished soldiers turn into “traitors” and “Nazis”.

“A sterile route free of Palestinians”

 “A sterile route is a route that is free of Palestinians.”

In a racist comment, one of the ‘former’ Israeli soldiers affirms that there are routes that are “sterilized of Palestinians.”

Israeli occupation forces in al-Khalil forbid Palestinians from walking on large sections of what was before the occupation the city’s main thoroughfare, as part of the Israeli army’s policy of making those areas “sterile” of Palestinians.

On his account, the Coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders Group Imad Abu Shamsieh told Al Mayadeen English that the Israeli occupation has placed more than one hundred checkpoints with metal and electrical gates, surveillance cameras, reinforced concrete barriers, and inspection outposts in the “sterile” routes.

He also divulged that around 525 Palestinian shops have been completely closed in 2000 due to an Israeli occupation’s military court decision.

Furthermore, Abu Shamsieh tersely stated that Palestinian vehicles, including ambulances, have been banned from the “H2 area” since October 2000.

The human rights activist went on to say that “the Israeli occupation forces impede local and international journalists from entering the H2 area and sterile routes. Simultaneously, I, along with a group of Palestinians in al-Khalil, decided to document the Israeli war crimes which occur on daily basis targeting Palestinian men, women, and children.”

“Since 2010, we started to film the Israeli occupation’s atrocities against Palestinians under the initiative ‘Capturing Occupation Camera Project in Palestine.'”

“We are a group of around 30 young Palestinian volunteers exposing and documenting human rights and international law violations in Palestine,” Abu Shamsieh told Al Mayadeen English.

Strip searches

One of the Israeli soldiers boldly stated that the strip searches’ official aim is “to stop and search every Palestinian,” but implicitly, the searches are actually aimed at humiliating the Palestinians, with no legal justifications whatsoever.

“When you frisk someone you pick out on the street, it requires touching the person,” one soldier said.

A group of Palestinian men may be targeted for strip searches just because they might have Hollywood’s stereotypical racist image of “terrorists” in the mind of the occupier. The searches are not performed to find guns, but to humiliate the Palestinians or create “friction” among them.

“The idea is to bring the friction to them, so that they’ll keep their heads down.”

Because of the proximity of the Israeli settlements in the city, Palestinians are surrounded by a large military presence and are randomly subjected to routine and offensive searches, harassments, and beatings.

Patrols

“The idea of the patrol is to patrol.”

The ‘former’ Israeli soldiers attested that they walked around Palestinians’ houses, storming them whenever they felt like it.

“Ok, soldiers again.” 

Field Palestinian Researcher Manal al-Jaabari from al-Khalil told Al Mayadeen English that Palestinian children in al-Harika, a district in al-Khalil, are exposed to Israeli terrorism on a daily basis.

“In al-Harika, which is adjacent to “Kiryat Arba”, the Israeli occupation forces break into Palestinian houses whenever a stone is thrown at the fence, and children are interrogated inside their homes. Sometimes the Israeli soldiers drag them to the streets and place them in front of the surveillance cameras,” she added.

The young researcher emotionally states that the Israeli soldiers incite young Israeli settlers at Jaber Neighborhood to assault Palestinian children their age.

The Israeli occupation forces claim that they are hit by stones to arrest or detain Palestinian children for hours, al-Jaabari confirmed to Al Mayadeen English.

“Many children in the vicinity of schools, particularly in the southern area near checkpoints, are arrested and detained for long periods. They are sometimes beaten or insulted and left hungry and thirsty before being handed over to the al-Khalil Coordination and Liaison Office if they are under the age of 13.”

Source: Human Rights Defenders Group

Above this age, they are arrested and subjected to an investigation at the Israeli occupation’s police station, then they are transferred to an Israeli court or they are fined at least one thousand shekels before being released.

At checkpoints, it’s all about “eeny, meeny, miny, moe”

While Israeli checkpoints impede the daily life of Palestinians in the city, the ‘former’ Israeli soldiers confess that a checkpoint is a kind of roadblock.

“You spread tire spikes, stop the cars, and cause a huge traffic.” 

“Sometimes it’s for no reason.”

It is just one episode, and what has been documented by the Palestinian Human Rights Defenders Group is far more tragic. 

Abu Shamsieh told Al Mayadeen English that his camera caught the cold-blooded execution of martyr Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in 2016 at one of the Israeli occupation’s checkpoints. 

The human rights defender affirmed that al-Sharif’s case is only one of many Israeli war crimes.

He also disclosed to Al Mayadeen English that Israeli settlers have regularly run over Palestinian children as young as five.

Abu Shamsieh affirmed that he was subjected to acts of harassment, restrictions on his freedom of movement, abductions, long periods of arbitrary detention usually under administrative detention orders, and illegal searches of his home and office, not to mention death threats.

Detentions: “Everyone’s a suspect” 

According to the soldiers’ confessions, every Palestinian is a suspect, and the detention process includes putting any Palestinian “in a post with a soldier and then keep them hanging.”

The ‘former’ soldiers testify that Israeli soldiers blindfold and handcuff the Palestinians who had been arrested randomly.

Source: Human Rights Defenders Group

Like all Palestinian cities and villages, al-Khalil too witnesses random arrests of Palestinians on a daily basis, including children as young as 10.

Israeli occupation forces’ violent repression of protests has also involved the arrest and detention of Palestinian demonstrators.

Another ‘Mission’: Targeting Journalists

On his part, a field Palestinian journalist from al-Khalil Sari Jaradat told Al Mayadeen English that the Israeli occupation forces deliberately prevent Palestinian and international journalists from covering the current events in order to hide their daily crimes that affect all aspects of life in the city.

“About a week ago, an occupation officer told me: ‘if you get shot by our bullets, we will not bear any responsibility.’” 

“They had a prior intention of targeting me in order to prevent me from doing my job, and I sustained a total of five injuries from live bullets while covering their crimes, not to mention the dozens of detentions, arrests, coverage prevention, and obstruction of movement,” Jaradat added.

Jaradat commented on the Blue Wolf program and the installation of face-scanning cameras in al-Khalil, saying that these cameras will lead to the suppression of freedom most notably the freedom of the press, which is already limited.

“The Israeli occupation soldiers will enact any laws they desire to prevent Palestinian journalists from carrying out their work,” he added.

The systematic oppression of Palestinians has been partially mirrored in the “Mission” and utterly manifested in the heartfelt testimonies of Sari, Imad, and Manal. Yet, what is happening in Palestine, and most notably in al-Khalil, cannot be documented or summed up in a film, a chapter, or a shot.

Read More: Olive Harvest Season: Another Palestinian Struggle against “Israel’s” Eco-Terrorism 

فعل قوي واستجابة هزيلة

سعاده مصطفى أرشيد

تفيد الأنباء الواردة من تل أبيب أنّ حزب «أزرق أبيض» قد منح رئيس الحكومة بن يامين نتنياهو تفويضاً كاملاً لضمّ ما يريد ومتى يريد من أراضي الضفة الغربية التي وردت في مشروع ترامب، مع ملاحظة أن يتمّ أخذ الموقف الأردنيّ بالاعتبار وعلى أن لا تضرّ تلك الإجراءات بالعلاقات الأردنية ـ «الإسرائيلية»، باستثناء هذه النقطة التي يراها حزب «أزرق أبيض» فإنّ التحالف الحكومي لا يوجس خيفة أو قلقاً من أية ردة فعل عربية أو إسلامية أو دوليّة أو حتى على ضفتي فلسطين الغربية والجنوبية، الأمر الذي يوحي بأنّ هناك من طمأن الإسرائيلي أو أنه لا يعير كلّ من ذكر أدنى اهتمام ولا تزعجه بياناتهم وضجيجهم.

الرئيس محمود عباس في كلمة له ألقاها في قمة عدم الانحياز عبر الفيديو كونفرانس أكد خلالها أنّ تنفيذ قرار الضمّ يعني أنّ السلطة الفلسطينية ستكون في حلّ من الالتزامات والاتفاقيات والتفاهمات مع «إسرائيل» ومع الإدارة الأميركية. أما وزير الخارجية الفلسطيني فقد أبلغ نظراءه في القاهرة وعلى هامش أعمال اجتماع وزراء الخارجية العرب في جامعة الدول العربية أنه في حال نفذت «إسرائيل» عملية الضمّ، فإنّ الفلسطينيين سيعلنون الدولة، الأمر الذي أعلنه الفلسطينيون أكثر من مرة أوّلها في انعقاد المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني عام 1988 في الجزائر، ويبدو أنّ وزير الخارجية قد اتكأ في قوله هذا على تصريحات صدرت عن البيت الأبيض في وقت سابق: أنّ على «إسرائيل» التعامل مع مشروع صفقة القرن كرزمة واحدة وأنّ عملية الضمّ يجب أن تترافق بالاعتراف بدولة فلسطينية، علماً أنّ عملية الضمّ عندما تنفذ لن تبقي على أرض الضفة الغربية مكاناً يتسع لتلك الدولة. فيما صرّح أحد أعضاء اللجنة المركزية لحركة فتح أنها عقدت اجتماعها مساء الثلاثاء وقرّرت أن تبقى في حالة انعقاد دائم لمواجهة محاولات الاحتلال لتنفيذ مشروع الضمّ، وعن تشكيل لجنة سياسية لوضع السيناريوات للمرحلة المقبلة!

على الضفة الجنوبية فقد أبدى الناطق باسم حماس الأستاذ حازم قاسم إعجابه وتقديره لموقف عدد من أعضاء مجلس العموم البريطاني الذين بعثوا برسالة لرئيس الوزراء بوريس جونسون يعارضون فيها عملية الضمّ، وأضاف أنّ هذه العملية قد عزلت حكومة الاحتلال والإدارة الأميركية.

لكن ذلك كله لم يضعف شهية نتنياهو في التهام أراضٍ حتى لو لم ترد في المشروع الأميركي، فقد أعلن منذ أيام عن الموافقة على إقامة مصعد عملاق على أسوار الحرم الإبراهيمي في الخليل وذلك لتسهيل وصول المصلّين اليهود إلى داخل المسجد، وكما أعلن عن مصادرة عقارات وأراضٍ وبيوت في محيط الحرم، فيما نزعت سلطات الاحتلال صلاحية إصدار تراخيص البناء في المنطقة تلك من بلدية الخليل وإحالتها إلى مجلس التخطيط الأعلى الإسرائيلي، وبهذا يكون نتنياهو قد قام بالضمّ الفعلي لهذا الجزء من مدينة الخليل إلى السيادة الإسرائيلية، ثم ما لبث أن تلقى جرعة إضافية من الدعم من السفير الأميركي دافيد فريدمان الذي قال الأربعاء لصحيفة «إسرائيلية» إن لا شروط للولايات المتحدة إلا ما ورد في صفقة القرن، وإنه عند انتهاء اللجنة الأميركية – الإسرائيلية من عملها في ترسيم حدود الضمّ، كما وردت في صفقة القرن ويوافق رئيس الحكومة الإسرائيلية على التفاوض مع الفلسطينيين وفق رؤية الرئيس ترامب وقد وافق، فإننا سنعترف خلال أسابيع بسيادة «إسرائيل» على تلك المناطق التي ستصبح جزءاً من أراضي دولة «إسرائيل». وقد ذهب السفير فريدمان إلى ما هو أبعد مما ورد في المشروع الأميركي، إذ قال لتلك الصحيفة: إنّ مستوطنة بيت أيل (الملاصقة لرام الله) والبؤر الاستيطانية في الخليل (وهي تشمل الحرم الإبراهيمي والمناطق المحيطة به إضافة إلى حوارٍ أخرى في قلب مدينة الخليل) تمثل القلب التاريخي لـ «إسرائيل» القديمة (وللوعد التوراتي لليهود) وإنّ الطلب من الإسرائيلي ان يتخلى عنها يماثل الطلب من الأميركي التخلي عن تمثال الحرية. ولم يزد الردّ شعبياً ورسمياً على هذا الإجراء عن بيانات مكرّرة.

فما هو سبب هذا السكون والهدوء تجاه ما جرى في الخليل. وهو الأمر الذي سينسحب على ما قد يجري في الضفة الغربية عند تنفيذ الضمّ الكبير؟ وقد ذكرت في مقال سابق أنّ القدس وما جرى ويجري بها وهي ما هي قداسة وسياسة لم يحرك المياه الراكدة فهل تحركها أحداث دونها وجاهة وأهمية؟ باحث يعمل في مركز ديان التابع لجامعة تل أبيب تساءل عن سرّ الهدوء في الضفة الغربية، بالرغم من التوترات التي تمرّ بها العلاقة بين السلطة الفلسطينية والحكومة الإسرائيلية، فمسارات السلام متوقفة والحروب بين غزة و»إسرائيل» تتمّ بشكل دوري وتمّ تركيب بوابات الكترونية على مداخل المسجد الأقصى والقدس تهوّد وعقاراتها القديمة تُباع وتنقل إليها سفارة الولايات المتحدة وأخيراً المشروع الأميركي (صفقة القرن) وتفاصيلها، يورد الباحث أسباب عدة منها:

1-

أن القيادة الفلسطينية ترفض اللجوء إلى العنف (المقاومة) بشكل قاطع.

2-

العقل الجمعي الفلسطيني لا زال تحت تأثير الصدمة (الهزيمة) التي أحدثتها عملية السور الواقي عام 2002 والتي أدّت إلى قتل عدد كبير من الفلسطينيين وتدمير مدن وبلدات ومخيمات ومشاريع إنتاجيّة، ثم قادت إلى انهيار الأمن وانتشار الفوضى والعنف الداخلي.

3 –

الغربة بين الشعب الفلسطيني وقيادته، الأمر الذي يجعل القيادة عاجزة عن دعوة الشعب لتقديم تضحيات جديدة.

4 –

شيوع اللامبالاة في المجتمع الفلسطيني وسقوط الايدولوجيا لصالح ازدهار ثقافة السوق والاستهلاك وتآكل الاهتمام بالقضايا التي لطالما اعتبرت أساسية ومصيرية.

5 –

نجاح «إسرائيل» في الفصل بين المسار السياسيّ والمسار المدنيّ، ففي حين تعطّلت المفاوضات فإنّ التنسيق الأمني والعلاقات الاقتصادية بقيت على ازدهارها.

بغضّ النظر عن أنّ الباحث المذكور موجود في الجانب الآخر من معادلة الصراع، إلا أنه قد أصاب في بعض أسبابه، تضاف إلى ذلك أسباب تجعل «الإسرئيلي» مطمئناً لعدم وجود ردّ.

*سياسي فلسطيني مقيم في الضفة الغربية.

Are tensions at al-Aqsa reaching another boiling point?

21 February 2019 13:08 UTC

A new conflict has emerged amid intensifying efforts by Israeli authorities and settlers to change the status quo at the holy site

Israeli police detain a Palestinian demonstrator at al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on 18 February (AFP)

Below the Western media’s radar, tensions have been escalating in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem.

In the last week, a new confrontation has emerged over al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in the context of intensifying efforts by Israeli authorities and settlers to change the status quo and take over Palestinian properties in and around the Old City.

The Jordanian government recently decided to expand the composition of the Waqf – the body charged with managing al-Aqsa Mosque compound – to include a number of high-ranking Palestinians, alongside the long-standing Jordanian members.

Gates shuttered

The move came in response to what International Crisis Group’s Ofer Zalzberg described to Haaretz as “the erosion of the status quo” at the site, including the tolerance by Israeli occupation forces of “quiet worship” by Jews in the compound – “a relatively new development”, the paper noted.

Last Thursday, the newly expanded council inspected, and prayed at, a building located at the Gate of Mercy (Bab al-Rahma), shuttered by Israeli occupation authorities since 2003. At the time, the closure was justified on the grounds of alleged political activities and links to Hamas – but the building has remained closed ever since.

What is taking place in Jerusalem is ‘an organised and systematic campaign of settlers, with the assistance of government agencies, to expel entire communities in East Jerusalem’

Overnight on Sunday, Israeli forces put new locks on metal gates that lead to the building. When Palestinian worshippers attempted to open the gates, clashes broke out, and a number of Palestinians were arrested by Israeli police.

Tuesday night saw renewed confrontations and arrests, while an Israeli court on Wednesday banned a dozen or so Palestinians from entering the compound. Both the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas have condemned the developments, and warned of the “volatility” of the situation.

New facts on the ground

Events in the compound cannot be viewed in isolation from the bigger picture in Jerusalem, and in particular, what Israeli NGO Ir Amim has called an “accelerated, intensifying chain of new facts on the ground”, including “a mounting number of state-sponsored settlement campaigns inside Palestinian neighbourhoods”.

One expression of such campaigns is the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes so that settlers can take possession of the properties. Last Sunday, the Abu Assab family was expelled from their home in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, a fate facing hundreds more Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem.

What is taking place in Jerusalem is “an organised and systematic campaign of settlers, with the assistance of government agencies, to expel entire communities in East Jerusalem and to establish settlements in their stead”, in the words of an Israeli settlements’ monitor.

A Muslim man checks a gate closed by Israeli police at al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City on 18 February (AFP)

“It is very clear what they want: a Jewish majority here and in East Jerusalem,” Silwan-based activist Jawad Siyam told the Independent recently. His community is blighted by the presence of the settler-run “City of David” compound, which is set to receive a further boost from Israeli occupation authorities in the form of a planned cable-car station.

Jerusalem has largely been out of the headlines for awhile, with most attention – understandably – being paid to the Great March of Return protests in the Gaza Strip and the bogged-down efforts to secure relief from the blockade. Israeli elections are also on the horizon, and speculation continues over what precisely the Trump administration has got in store by way of a “peace plan”.

In the background, however, accelerated Israeli colonial policies in occupied East Jerusalem could be leading to a new boiling point.

Grassroots activism

The Waqf has stated that it seeks the opening of the Bab al-Rahma site, a demand that has the potential to become a focus for the kinds of mass protests witnessed in the summer of 2017. Then, metal detectors introduced by Israeli occupation authorities outside al-Aqsa Mosque compound sparked spontaneous demonstrations, with the devices ultimately removed.

Whether or not the Waqf chooses such a path, it could also find its hand forced by the pressure of grassroots activism; there is considerable concern among Palestinians that the Israeli government – along with the so-called “Temple movement” activists – are ultimately working towards a spatial division of, and establishment of formalised Jewish prayers within, al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

How Israel is ‘cleansing’ Palestinians from Greater Jerusalem

Read More »

Meanwhile, the United States is proceeding with the closure of its consulate in East Jerusalem, and relocation of Palestinian “affairs” to an office within the new embassy – a potent symbol, were one needed, that the Trump administration’s vision will be a stark departure from even the pretence of a “two-state solution”, and a rubber-stamp for Israel’s de-facto, single state.

This week’s events – however they develop – are a reminder, however, that while Israel and the US see Jerusalem as fair game for an accelerated process of colonisation and deepening imposition of Israeli sovereignty, the city’s Palestinian residents are experienced spoilers of Israeli designs, and may well soon reprise such a role.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Ben White

Update on Israeli Feud with UNESCO

Posted on July 9, 2017 

by Richard Edmondson

As I reported in a post yesterday, the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has in the past week adopted a couple of resolutions that have aroused Israeli indignation. One of the resolutions–the one which seems to have sparked the most fury–recognizes the old city of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage site.

According to the video in the embedded tweet below, Israel has now announced a cut of $1 million in UN funding, apparently in retaliation.

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Abbs Winston @AbbsWinston

#UNESCO declared the obvious, #Hebron is . Why is Israel even in the UN? They’ve broken so many laws —  needs to be shunned & boycotted!

4:33 PM – 9 Jul 2017

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 As I reported in yesterday’s post–and as the video above also mentions–the World Heritage committee, in addition to designating the site as Palestinian, also declared it to be endangered. Reportedly the concern here, or at least one of the concerns, is the threat from vandalism. Given that Hebron is inhabited by Israeli settlers, who seem to be free to commit crimes against the Palestinian population with impunity, the apprehension is probably justified. But of course this aspect to the resolution’s passage in all probability had the effect of arousing Israeli anger all the more.

The Israeli official in the video I posted yesterday–the man who interrupted the proceedings by calling for a moment of silence for “six million murdered Jews” and who was accused by the representative from Cuba of turning the meeting into a “politicized circus” by way of response–this man’s name, apparently, is Carmel Shama-Hacohen, and he reportedly is Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO. According to a report here, shortly after the Hebron resolution was passed, he declared that fixing his “toilet” was more important than the vote just taken:

Israel isn’t known for its fondness of the United Nations and its institutions, but a resolution passed on Friday questioning Israel’s continued occupation of the ancient West Bank city of Hebron and the damage it might be causing to holy sites there drew an unusual response.

“Sorry … I have a very urgent … sorry, Mr Chairman … it’s my plumber in my apartment in Paris,” Carmel Shama-Hacohen, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), said sarcastically while addressing the forum’s annual gathering.

“There is a huge problem in my toilet, and it’s more important than the decision you just adopted, thank you.”

Also in yesterday’s post I made an offhand observation regarding the impression that comments by Israeli officials often leave with me. Specifically, I said:

From turning a meeting into a circus sideshow by calling for a moment of silence for “six million murdered Jews,” to accusing a people living under a brutal occupation of being responsible for their own misery and suffering–there is something about the behavior of Israeli officials that somehow always seems to remind me of the proverbial rude guest who showed up for a party uninvited.

When I wrote those words yesterday, little did I know that Israel does not even hold a seat on World Heritage Committee–which would seem to lend a sort of special significance to my comment about the rude guest showing up uninvited. But indeed, I made that discovery today.

If you go to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website, you can find a PDF document that lists the current members of the World Heritage Committee. There are 21 of them in all. Here is a screen shot from the document (click to enlarge):

As you can see, Israel is not on the list. In other words, Hacohen, who spent part of the meeting talking about his toilet and importuning silence on behalf of “six million murdered Jews,” is not even a member of the committee. But yet, according to Israelis, it is the committee members who are guilty of bad behavior.

By the way, the World Heritage Committee’s deliberations are taking place in Krakow, Poland, and they are not over yet. The session is supposed to continue through Wednesday, so there may be more to come.

Israel Turns UNESCO Meeting into ‘Politicized Circus’

Posted on July 8, 2017 

by Richard Edmondson

Israel, not for the first time, is royally P.O.’ed at UNESCO. The UN organization’s World Heritage Committee has been holding a meeting in Krakow, Poland–and in a session on July 4, the body passed a resolution naming Israel as an “occupying power” while at the same time condemning its tunneling and underground excavation activities in the old city of Jerusalem.

Said excavations, presumably for archaeological purposes, started up several years ago. I first put up a post about them back in 2014 after it was reported that they were causing structural problems with Palestinian homes in the area, so it’s good that UNESCO is addressing the issue. But the resolution angered the Israeli representative, who threw a temper tantrum by calling for a moment of silence for “six million murdered Jews.” And this is what we see in the video below:

As you can see, the representative from Cuba charged the Israeli–rightfully in my opinion–with turning the meeting into a “politicized circus.” She then reciprocated by calling for a moment of silence for Palestinians who have died. As the video shows, the overwhelming majority of people in the auditorium rose to their feet. It did not sit well with the Israelis.

According to a report here, one Israeli official accused the UNESCO committee of being “detached from reality,” while the Zionist state’s Foreign Ministry is quoted as saying, “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people, and no decision by UNESCO can change that reality.”

That all was, as I say, on July 4.

Three days later, on July 7, Israel again had a hissy fit over a resolution–passed by the same committee. This time the measure had to do with Hebron, specifically recognizing its old city as an endangered World Heritage site. Hebron’s old city includes a site known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque (or Mosque of Abraham) and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs. In that regard it has significance to both religions. But the committee voted to recognize the old city of Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage site–rather than an Israeli one. This of course makes perfectly logical sense because Hebron is in the West Bank and the West Bank is internationally recognized as rightfully belonging to the Palestinians. But again Israelis resorted to tantrums.

“Not a Jewish site?!” thundered Netanyahu. “Who is buried there? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah – our patriarchs and matriarchs!”

Of course, the committee didn’t say it wasn’t a Jewish site; they just said it was a Palestinian site–because the site is, after all, in Occupied Palestine. In fact, according to a report here, the resolution–which passed by a vote of 12-3 with six abstentions–“emphasized the importance of the site to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.”

But Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotoveli charged the committee with attempting to “appropriate the national symbols of the Jewish people,” and she went on to further accuse the UNESCO delegates of maliciously spreading lies.

“This is a badge of shame for UNESCO, who time after time chooses to stand on the side of lies,” she is quoted as saying.

You might recall I put up a post about Hotoveli a week ago.  This was after she did an interview with 60 Minutes Australia in which she expressed the view that “it’s not because of the Israelis” that Palestinians live under such abject conditions. No, “it’s really dependent on them,” she insisted, adding that “their leadership doesn’t give them the ability to live under democratic values.”

From turning a meeting into a circus sideshow by calling for a moment of silence for “six million murdered Jews,” to accusing a people living under a brutal occupation of being responsible for their own misery and suffering–there is something about the behavior of Israeli officials that somehow always seems to remind me of the proverbial rude guest who showed up for a party uninvited.

By the way, in case you missed it, Israel recently confiscated an array of solar panels that had been donated by the Dutch government to a Palestinian village in the West Bank. Despite being surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements, the village in question, Jubbet al-Dhib, is not connected to the national electric grid. The Dutch government has called the action “unacceptable,” and Holland’s prime minister, Mark Rutte, has reportedly now lodged a formal protest. The solar panels cost approximately $600,000.

Thousands of settlers (jewish terrorists) storm the Ibrahimi Mosque

Source

Click to Enlarge

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Thousands of Israeli settlers stormed at dawn Friday the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil and performed Talmudic rituals under the protection of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

The Israeli settlers have intensified during the past two days their break-ins into the Mosque in coincidence with the Jewish New Year.

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) imposed tough security restrictions on Palestinian movement in al-Khalil’s Old City.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) warned that the Israeli Occupation Forces aim to impose further control over the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil by changing its features under the pretext of security.

According to the council, the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) is a major Palestinian historical, architectural, and archaeological site. Al-Khalil Rehabilitation Committee has helped preserve the site since 1996. Moreover, the old town of the city, including the Ibrahimi Mosque, is registered on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage sites in Palestine.

On February 25, 1994, an Israeli settler known as Baruch Goldstein, wearing his army uniform and carrying his army-issued assault rifle, walked past Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint and into the Ibrahimi Mosque. It was the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims and there were 400 or 500 Palestinian men praying.

According to reports, once inside, Goldstein observed the scene and waited until those present knelt to pray before opening fire.

Twenty-nine Palestinians were killed and some 150 wounded before Goldstein’s victims subdued him and beat him to death.

Following the massacre, the Israeli government imposed a series of security measures across al-Khalil. The Ibrahimi Mosque itself was divided, with Muslim access reduced from the entire space to around 40 percent of the site. The other 60 percent was allocated to Jewish worshippers, who accessed the site from a separate entrance.

Instead of offering a hand to those who were killed and injured, the Israelis gave the settlers more space and access to the mosque. It was as if they were rewarding the murderers.

israel wipes Muslim, Christian holy sites off the map and invents new Jewish ones

Press TV

This file photo shows the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The Israeli tourism ministry has published a map of the occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem), which omits significant Muslim and Christian holy sites and entire neighborhoods in the area.

The so-called Old City map, which is distributed free of charge at tourist information centers across the city, does not refer to the venerated 14-hectare compound that comprises al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third holiest site — and the Dome of the Rock, as “al-Haram al-Sharif,” and simply refers to it by its Jewish name of the Temple Mount, Al Jazeera reported.

Moreover, the map makes no reference to the Church of St. Anne, which is a Roman Catholic church located near the Lions’ Gate and churches of the Flagellation and Condemnation in East al-Quds.

The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, the second Protestant church in Quds, is also shown on the map with a tiny and hard-to-find name.

The map, however, highlights dozens of sites whose historical importance is disputed, and a large number of them are indeed illegal settlements constructed in the Muslim and Christian quarters of the Old City of al-Quds.

Among 57 numbered sites, almost half are buildings occupied by illegal settlers in East Jerusalem and are largely unknown to licensed tour guides.

This photo shows the so-called Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) map published by the Israeli tourism ministry.

One such tour guide, requesting anonymity, said the map favors Jewish sites regardless of their touristic value and appears religiously flawed.

“When I saw it, I thought it was a map for only Jewish tour groups. The narrative it shows is quite exclusive to one religious group,” the tour guide said.

Aziz Abu Sarah, a resident of al-Quds, said, “The St. Anne’s Church, which I think is one of the most amazing places, is not on the map. There are many Christians coming to Jerusalem, and they are going to get a map that doesn’t identify their holy sites. It’s not a smart decision.”

He further suggested that the inclusion of certain sites within the boundaries of the Old City of al-Quds is aimed at promoting a one-sided Jewish representation of East Jerusalem and ignoring its Christian and Muslim identities.

“Politically speaking, it adds sites that are controversial, like the settlements in East Jerusalem, and I think that makes it political and one-sided,” Abu Sarah said.

This file photo shows the St. Anne’s Church in al-Quds (Jerusalem).

“There are a bunch of sites that are not only historically unimportant, but that are run by settlers,” said Betty Herschman, the director of international relations at Ir Amim, an Israeli human rights NGO that gives tours of East al-Quds to diplomats and others.

She added, “That is to the detriment of historically relevant Christian and Muslim sites, which you would think would be far more prioritized on a map of the Old City, the hub of the three major monotheistic religions.”

“This map, in addition to erasing important Muslim and Christian holy sites in the Old City, completely erases entire neighborhoods around the historic basin, supplanting them not only with Hebrew names but with the names of settlements,” Herschman argued.

She stressed that the settlements, for example Bet Orot, are built by radical and illegal settlers within the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods.

“The map is legitimizing private settlement around the historic basin,” Herschman said.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East al-Quds.

 

UNESCO Slams ’Israeli’ Continuous Aggressions against Al-Aqsa

Local Editor

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning “Israeli” violations in the handling of al-Aqsa mosque.

The resolution adopted “strongly condemns “Israeli” aggression and illegal measures restricting freedom of worship and access to the holy Muslim site of the al-Aqsa Mosque.”

It also “strongly deplores” among other things “persistent outbreaks of “Israeli” right-wing extremists on the site” and “urges “Israel”” to “take the necessary steps to prevent provocative actions that violate the site’s sanctity.”

After last-minute changes, however, the resolution approved by UNESCO’s executive board dropped a more firm clause.
That clause, which was proposed by several Muslim countries would have stated that the Western Wall was an integral part of the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The resolution was adopted with 26 votes in favor and six against. The countries that voted against it were The United States, Germany, The United Kingdom, Holland, the Czech Republic and Estonia. There were 25 abstentions including France, diplomats said.

The UNESCO text also stated that the “Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi and the Bilal Ibn Rabah mosque” were an integral part of Palestine.

The Palestinians won full membership of UNESCO in October 2011 in what was seen a major step forward for their efforts to achieve recognition as an independent state.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

22-10-2015 | 09:55

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian 

  

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

PALESTINIAN SHOT DEAD AFTER STABBING ISRAELI SOLDIER IN AL-KHALIL

APRIL 25, 2015 MADDCOLDSONOFKUFA LEAVE A COMMENT

Al-Khalil (Ma’an) — A Palestinian man was shot dead after stabbing an Israeli soldier at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the southern West Bank city of Al-Khalil.

The mosque’s director Munther Abu al-Failat told Ma’an he had been told by witnesses that the soldier was stabbed about three times before he shot back at the Palestinian. Early reports in Israeli and Palestinian media named the Palestinian as Assad al-Salayma, although local sources told Ma’an the man, believed to be in his 20s, had not yet been identified. AFP reported that Israeli soldiers had been preventing Palestinians from accessing the mosque when the incident took place. Both the Israeli soldier and the Palestinian were moved from the mosque by ambulance, although the Palestinian was confirmed dead before he arrived at the hospital.

Israeli police said that the Israeli soldier received stab wounds in his head and chest, and described his condition as moderate. They said he is now in a Jerusalem hospital. The incident comes less than a week after Israeli settlers raised the Israeli flag over the roof of the mosque in a bid to provoke local Palestinians. The Ibrahimi Mosque, which is believed to be the burial place of the prophet Abraham, is of religious significance to both Muslims and Jews, and has historically been a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israelis, particularly after a Brooklyn-born Jewish settler massacred 29 Palestinians inside the mosque in 1994. Around 700 settlers live in 80 homes in the city center of Al-Khalil, surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians.

The settlements — illegal under international law — are protected by the Israeli army in the tightly controlled city, where many streets are off limits to Palestinians. Saturday’s incident comes a day after a 17-year-old Palestinian was killed in East Jerusalem when he allegedly ran towards Israeli police officers “wielding” a knife.

There have been a spate of attacks on Israeli military and civilians in recent months, largely in the wake of Israeli activities across the occupied Palestinian Territories, including last summer’s offensive on Gaza which left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead. In the six months to the end of February, the UN reported that 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while 10 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks. Thousands of Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in the same period.

 

UK Baroness Warsi irks Jewish Lobby again!

REHMAT

Posted on November 19, 2014

In August 2014, Baroness Sayeeda Hussain Warsi resigned from David Cameron’s government over its Israeli butt-licking policy against Palestinians. Tuesday, on a Twitter post she likened the killing of four Jew worshippers in occupied East Jerusalem synagogue to the Jew extremists storming Islam’s third most sacred building, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Grant Shapps, the Jewish president of the ruling Conservative couldn’t take Warsi’s comparison sitting-down. He called her statement “racist” and said she doesn’t speak for the Tory party.

On Tuesday, two young Palestinian cousins carrying knives and a pistol attacked a group of Zionist worshipers who were allegedly among the Jewish extremists calling for the demolition of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of Rock over the so-called Holy Wailing Wall.

The cousins killed four Jews while wounding another eight before they were shot dead by Israeli soldiers protecting the synagogue. One of the soldiers later died of his wounds.

Some Israeli sources suspect that the attack was in response to the murder of Yusuf Hassan al-Ramouni, 32, Egged bus driver on Sunday. The bruises on his body show that he was killed by Jew settlers before hanged to look like a suicide case.

As a usual collateral punishment, Israeli police used “skunk” trucks to spray putrid water in Jabel Mukabar neighborhood where the cousins lived. Police also arrested 12 relatives of the attackers while wounding a dozen other residents who protested against the arrests.

According to UK’s Jewish Mail Online, among the four dead was one British rabbi and three American rabbis – all carrying dual Israeli passports.

I bet these rabbis were incarnation of American Rabbi Bruch Goldstein who butchered 50 Muslim worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately issued a statement blaming Peres’ Palestinian Gandhi Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas for the attack. Netanyahu made a similar accusation against Abbas and Hamas to justify Israel’s 50-day war on Gaza in July this year. Mahmoud Abbas immediately denied the accusation.

Jew extremist groups lead by Rabbi Yahuda Glick, a follower of Rabbi Meir Kahane, are carrying out violent demonstrations, shouting “the mosque will burn, the temple rebuilt” at the so-called Temple Mount, which, historically, is remains of an old Roman castle. Glick was shot a week ago and is still in a hospital recovering from his injuries while his attacker, allegedly a Palestinian, was killed at the spot by Glick’s security guards.

Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has condemned the demonstrators saying they have no right to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Archbishop Attallah Hanna, of the Greek Orthodox Church in Palestine and Jerusalem, strongly denounced the Israeli military and fanatic Israeli groups who attacked and invaded the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

King Abdullah II, the strongest Arab ally of the Zionist entity has recalled his ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest to Zionist regimes’ support for the Jewish hooligans demonstrating at the Al-Aqsa compound.

Read more here.

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Occupied Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil

Netanyahu: The Mouth that Roars

<img class=”alignright size-full wp-image-221764″ title=”Netanyahu” src=”http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Netanyahu.jpg” alt=”” width=”342″ height=”256″ />by Stephen Lendman

His bluster long ago wore thin. Iranian/Israeli/Middle East analyst Meir Javedanfar said he put himself up a tree and wants Obama to bring him down. “It’s come down to threats, threats, threats, but we are at a saturation point.”

Growing numbers of Israelis reject him for good reason. He menaces them like others. Attacking Iran assures retaliation most Israelis fear. It’ll mean widespread destruction, radiation contamination, and large numbers killed or injured.

Gush Shalom founder Uri Avnery asked if he and Barak are mad or crazy? Netanyahu “may be crazy, but he is not mad. (Barak) may be mad, but he is not crazy.”

They’re an incendiary duo, but won’t attack Iran. Avnery quoted the film line: “If you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.” He calls Netanyahu/Barak “beyond rational thinking.”

Israeli political analyst Yossi Alpher called Netanyahu’s antics “overkill. The US establishment is fed up with him. The Israeli public is fed up with him.” He created a “public controversy” and doesn’t know how to get out of it.

His vow to go it alone is bluster, not bite. Instead of calming things down, inflammatory comments follow earlier ones. On August 2, the Jerusalem Post headlined “Winograd: Striking Iran may endanger Israel’s future,” saying:

Former Supreme Court Justice Eliyahu Winograd opposes attacking Iran for good reason. In 2006, he headed the Committee of Inquiry on why Israel’s Lebanon war failed. He said:

“I am not convinced that the decision-makers will implement the findings of that report. If that is the case, we are all in big trouble.”

He denounced Netanyahu/Barak hawkishness on Iran despite strong opposition by senior Israeli past and current officials.

“All the heads of the defense establishment, the Shin Bet, the Mossad, both former and current, and military intelligence, everyone is saying ‘Don’t attack!’ ”

“(O)nly Barak and Netanyahu have decided yes,” or have they? Bluster often hides intentions. Bullies usually back down when confronted.

Winograd’s committee called Israel’s Lebanon war a failure. Political leaders didn’t sufficiently consult with military officials before attacking. They left before they looked.

Home Front preparedness was also inadequate. Little attention was given then and again now. A “rain of missiles” may follow attacking Iran. Israel is woefully unprepared. How many Israelis will die for Netanyahu/Barak’s folly? Why should any when peace avoids bloodshed.

How much longer will they put up with their bluster? Winograd criticized Netanyahu for complaining about former officials expressing views publicly. He’s more vocal than anyone.

“You intend to act. Sit down and shut up. Decide secretly if you’re attacking, and if you decide to attack, attack. But what are you talking for? So that the Iranians will be even more prepared and ready their missiles to target us?”

“You are going to endanger our entire country, everything we have built. Both the country physically and the economy.”

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz echoed his comments, saying:

“Israel cannot act alone to prevent the Iranian nuclear program at this time. Such action might bring us into a very difficult war.”

Days earlier, Mofaz called Netanyahu “confused, stressed out and unfocused. (He) lost the trust of the security chiefs,” Obama and Shimon Peres. Former Mossad head Efraim Halevy fears a generation of war if Israel attacks Iran.

“We have to take into account the possibility that if we attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, there will no longer be a political horizon in regard to Iran or sanctions against Iran.”

“We have to deploy for the possibility that while the immediate result of the operation will be Israel’s glorification in the Sunni Arab world, the later result will be a sharp anti-Israeli public wave in the spirit of the Arab Spring.”

“We need to understand that after the attack, a deep Israeli complex will develop in Iran, one that crosses parties and opinions and communities, because we will become the symbol of those that humiliated Iran and prevented it from restoring its greatness.”

“We need to remember that we are very much dependent on the United States and not utter boastful slogans that we are sovereign and therefore will take our fate into our hands.”

Weeks ago, former Mossad head Meir Dagan said Israel faces no existential threat. He criticized inflammatory warmongering and urged changing Israeli’s system.

“(W)e need a prime minister,” he said,” who will not be subject to political pressures when deciding on such issues as an attack on Iran or a peace agreement.”

“The State of Israel is at a critical point in time of great challenges both foreign and domestic. Minority groups are controlling the state and the majority is not being heard.”

Former Military Intelligence head Major General (ret.) Uri Saguy also believes Netanyahu/Barak are heading Israel over a cliff. He expressed outrage over their dangerous warmongering. He called it “orchestrated and purposely timed hysteria that puts the country into a state of anxiety, artificial or not.”

His bottom line is that Netanyahu/Barak can’t be trusted. How can they be by putting Israelis and others in danger. IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz and Mossad head Tamir Pardo also oppose war.
So do Air Force head Amir Eshel, Military Intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi, Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen, and other top Israeli officials. Netanyahu/Barak are increasingly isolated.

On September 4, Haaretz headlined “In the Iranian poker game, Netanyahu and Barak have overplayed their hand,” saying:

The Israeli Hayom daily has close ties to Netanyahu. In recent weeks, it’s featured a barrage of worrying reports on Iran’s alleged nuclear progress and Washington’s failure to halt it.

In the last few days, something changed. On August 31, it highlighted Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey’s comments about America’s unwillingness to be complicit if Israel goes it alone.

The strategically timed IAEA report got second billing. On September 1, Iran got back page coverage. On September 3, it again made headlines, “but only in the form of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz’s vague statement that the IDF can act ‘anywhere, anytime.’ ”

In other words, the daily out in front echoing inflammatory Netanyahu comments now backed off. “Does this indicate that (he’s) seeking a ladder to climb down from” his perch high up in a tree and very much out on a limb?

Perhaps he overplayed his hand. Crying wolf enough times begins falling on deaf ears. Growing Netanyahu/Barak public disapproval also matters. So does disagreement with Washington. It’s over timing, not policy.

Key is that Netanyahu/Barak talk is bluster. Without Washington’s support, attacking Iran won’t happen. Haaretz thinks inflammatory Israeli comments damaged US/Israeli relations. Perhaps eventually but not now.

Key is what major media reports don’t say. Their common theme is suppressing truth and full disclosure. On Iran, Haaretz is no different. The Islamic Republic poses no Israeli or regional threat. Its nuclear program is peaceful.

Top world leaders know it. Over 100 NAM countries support it. They oppose US/Israeli warmongering. Their agenda is peace, not conflict. They respect national sovereignty inviolability.
They know international law prohibits interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. It’s also unequivocal against attacking another one except in self-defense.

These issues are ignored in America’s media, what’s seen and read across Europe, and what Israeli broadcast and print media report. They’re key above all others. Failure to discuss them advances the ball for war.

Doing so is reckless, irresponsible, and complicit. It puts culpable journalists in the same category as propagandists. Blood will be on their hands if it’s shed.

Apologies won’t be forthcoming for being on the wrong side of rule of law principles, support for what should be condemned, and failure to do what good journalists should – their job.

A Final Comment

On September 4, Israeli intelligence officials briefed Netanyahu and security cabinet members. They do it annually or when special occasions arise.

They focused on Iran, Syria, Egypt, and US/Israeli relations. The meeting was closed. Ministerial aides and advisors weren’t invited. Military intelligence, Mossad and Shin Bet participated. So did Foreign Ministry representatives.

A follow-up meeting is likely. Hopefully opposition to inflammatory rhetoric was stressed. Honest talk about no existential threat needs highlighting and repetition. Truth needs to be separated from what’s not. Above all, avoiding potentially catastrophic war is vital.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is no peacenik. He’s hardline for direct Western intervention against Syria. His no-fly zone/safe haven advocacy means war if either or both are instituted.
At the same time, he warns about attacking Iran. “I think that if there were an Israeli attack, unfortunately it could come back to haunt Israel,” he said.

“I am absolutely opposed to the idea that Iran would gain nuclear weapons,” he said, “but I think if there was an Israeli attack,” Tehran will be victimized and gain legitimacy.

Britain’s defense establishment Royal United Services Institute director Michael Clarke says there’s “no basis in international law for preventative, rather than preemptive, war.”

There’s no basis for either except when clear evidence shows foreign forces mobilized for attack.
Israeli borders aren’t threatened. Iran supports peace, not war. Its nuclear program is legal and non-military. It fully complies with NPT provisions.

Those issues deserve daily headlines. Don’t expect warmongering media to feature them.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

 

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

The Hebron massacre: 18 years on

The Hebron massacre: 18 years on

[ 25/02/2012 – 07:13 PM ]

By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Palestine

On the 25th of February, 1994, as hundreds of Muslim worshipers were performing the dawn prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in downtown Hebron, a Jewish-American terrorist by the name of Baruch Goldstein descended onto the mosque from the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arbaa, spraying the worshipers with machinegun bullets, killing at least 29 people and injuring many others.

The terrorist, who used his army-issued Galilion rifle, wanted to kill as many innocent people as possible in order to create mass terror throughout the city, the largest in the West Bank. His motive was to thoroughly terrorize the Arabs, who constitute 99.5% of the city’s population.

The Israeli occupation authorities, who had to tackle a public relations disaster, denied any complicity or collusion with the perpetrator.

Israeli officials, including then Prime Minister Isaac Rabin claimed the massacre was thunder on a clear day. However, it was hard to believe that the terrorist could not have reached the heavily-protected premises of the huge compound without some connivance with the strong Israeli army garrison at the site.

Goldstein himself was eventually overpowered and killed by survivors, fearing he would still kill more worshipers. Many settler leaders had the audacity to demand the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for Goldstein’s death.

Many Jewish religious leaders praised the mass murderer, calling him a great saint and hero. Eventually, a monument perpetuating his memory was erected in Kiryat Arbaa and Jewish pilgrims from as far as California came to pay their respects to and be blessed by the tomb.

Goldstein was also eulogized by many rabbis and Torah sages who heaped praise on him, arguing that a thousand Gentile or Goyem were not worth a Jew’s fingernail.

One rabbi, when asked about the religious admissibility of murdering innocent non-Jewish people, said he was not only sorry about the death of innocent Arabs but that he was also sorry about the death of innocent flies!!!

Following the bloodbath, the Israeli government carried out a huge public relations campaign aimed at convincing western especially American public opinion that the Israeli government played no part in the carnage.

Israeli officials argued that Israel and most Jews were dismayed by the criminal act as much as anyone else.

However, polls in Israel and abroad showed that a majority of Jews, including Israeli high school students, enthusiastically supported the evil deed. Moreover, subsequent measures taken against the Palestinians as well as the excessive leniency toward settlers, who hailed the massacre, suggested the government was indifferent toward the massacre and behaved as if the lives of non-Jews were worthless.
No thunder on clear day
The claim that the massacre surprised the Israeli government was too fabulous and disingenuous to be believed. In truth, the massacre was preceded by a poisoned campaign of incitement against the Palestinians by Talmudic circles.

Goldstein was affiliated with the religious Zionist school of thought as taught by Abraham Kook.

According to the authors of “Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel,” Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsky (Pluto Press, 1999), Kook is quoted as saying that “the differences between a Jewish soul and souls of non-Jews -all of them in all different levels- is greater and deeper than the differences between a human soul and the souls of cattle.”

And, according to some torah sages, the difference between Jews and Gentiles is not religious or political. It is rather racial, genetic, and scientifically unalterable.

One group is at its very root and by its very nature “totally evil.” While the other is “totally good.” Some rabbinic circles with which the killer Goldstein was closely affiliated would quote heavily from the Talmud and Old Testament, justifying genocidal treatment of non-Jews in general and Palestinians in particular.

Goldstein was a follower of the manifestly racist rabbi Meir Kahana, who believed in the necessity of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean. In 1978, he wrote a book entitled “They Must Go.” Fourteen years later, following a speech in a New York City hotel, in which he called for uprooting all Palestinians from Palestine-Israel, Kahana was assassinated.

Today, 18 years later, While Goldstein himself no longer exists, “Goldsteinism”, e.g. anti-Palestinian hatred and vindictiveness, is alive and well among the settlers.

A few years ago, Daniella Weiss, a settler leader, visited Hebron to encourage settler squatters, who had taken over an Arab property in the city, to resist government efforts to vacate them.

Weiss, a former mayor of a northern West Bank settlement, quoted extensively from the Old Testament verses urging the ancient Israelites to slaughter every man, woman and child and not leave a breathing thing. According to Weiss, “this is the only way to deal with the Arabs.”

Following the massacre, the Israeli occupation army put, all of Hebron, the Arabs, not the settlers, under the harshest and longest curfew ever imposed since the onset of the occupation in 1967.

So cruel was it that several residents succumbed to their illness because they were denied access to local hospitals. Israeli officials argued rather dishonestly that the curfew was justified by “the security situation.” However, it was clear, at least from the Palestinian view point that the main purpose behind the extended lockdown was to push as many Palestinians in the Old Town as possible to leave their homes in order to facilitate the coveted takeover of these homes by Jewish settlers.

Needless to say, these fears and suspicions have since been validated and thoroughly vindicated.

The Shamgar commission, a board of inquiry appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the massacre, concluded that the Israeli occupation authorities had consistently failed to investigate let alone prosecute crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians.

But perhaps it was a local military commander Noam Tivon who said it most honestly when he told the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz: “Let there be no mistake about it. I am not from the U.N., I am from the IDF and I didn’t come here to seek people to drink tea with, but first of all to ensure the security of the Jewish settlers.”

It is probably safe to say that the overall situation in Hebron as well the rest of the occupied territories is very much similar to what was the situation on the eve of the Ibrahimi mosque massacre 18 years ago.

Jewish terrorists, otherwise called settlers, routinely vandalize Muslim and to a lesser extent Christian houses of worship and scrawl racist graffiti on their walls, insulting religious symbols of both religions,

In addition, the settlers regularly storm the Aqsa Mosque with heavy protection from the Israeli army and police. This gives the fanatical settlers a feeling of empowerment, which emboldens them to commit acts of terror, vandalism, and even murder against the Palestinians, without risking arrest and prosecution by an inherently unfair justice system that ipso facto discriminates against non-Jews.

Had the Ibrahimi Mosque carnage been committed in any other country, the government would have at the very least vacated the harmful settlers.

However, far from doing such a step, the Israeli government actually acted to strengthen the settler presence in Hebron while doing everything possible to harass the native Palestinians and push them to leave.

More importantly, the Israeli occupation authorities resorted to draconian measures against the Palestinians very presence in the old town. This brings us to the Shuhada Street where Palestinian traffic and even Palestinian individuals are off limit to the central thoroughfare which links the Bab El Zawiya district, the commercial heart of the city, to the eastern and southern suburbs as well as the neighboring smaller towns such as Yatta and Dura.

Some of the buildings abutting the street on both sides go back to the British and Ottoman eras. In recent years, efforts were made to rehabilitate the street. However, Jewish settlers fought the project, breaking street lights and the paving stones, as well as hurling stones at the workers.

Today Shuhada Street is a ghost scene. Only Israeli settlers, soldiers and foreign tourists are allowed to access it. And what they see is anti-Arab graffiti sprayed or scrawled across the streets. Some of this graffiti is particularly ugly, such as “kill the Arabs” and “Arabs to the gas chambers.”

More bizarre are the metal mesh cages that enclose the balconies of houses where Palestinians continue to live. For these Palestinians to exit their homes -the Israelis have bolted their outside doors- they have to use dangerous ladders, or crawl out the windows in the back of their apartments and go from roof to roof.

Needless to say, the impact of all this harassment is calculated by both the settlers and the Israeli political-security establishment to make the daily life of Palestinians living in Old Hebron, especially along Shuhada Street, an enduring nightmare. And it has.
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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

"Mossad chief Pardo visited New Delhi days before attacks"

“Mossad chief Tamir Pardo visited New Delhi just days before an attack on Israeli officials in the Indian capital …

Citing Indian officials, a report in the Times of India on Thursday placed Pardo’s visit a week ago, saying he met with the heads of local intelligence…. Pardo reportedly led a delegation of top Mossad officials, who discussed the possibility of Iranian counter attacks against Israeli targets…. However, the letter did not detail any specific intelligence regarding the possibility of an attack taking place on Indian soil.

Indian intelligence officials were quoted as saying they feared increased use of magnetic bombs such as that used in the New Delhi attack.

One source indicated to the newspaper that an Indian intelligence agency had intercepted a phone call mentioning that Pakistani terrorists could make use of such explosive devices…”

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:35 AM

Wouldn’t you know it: Days after report that India is Iranian oil number 1 importer, Israeli Minister comments on “terror cells”

“… “The incident (attack on an Israeli diplomat in Delhi on Monday) makes it clear that there are terrorist cells in India. They have targeted recently us but in the past they have also targeted Indian citizens and others.
What one can see here is a growing joint interest of India and Israel, who are both exposed to terror threats”, Israel’s Minister for Energy and Water Resources, Uzi Landau, told PTI …”

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:30 AM

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The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

"As Mossad works closely with British & American counterparts, the Iranians, not surprisingly, will conclude that British agents are also engaged in targeting Iran!"

Via FLC

“… Britain has a long and undistinguished history of intrigue in Iranian affairs, dating from the 19th century when British gunboats regularly shelled Persian ports to persuade the Shah to toe the line. More recently, in 1953, British intelligence masterminded the plot to overthrow Mohammed Mossadegh – arguably Iran’s last democratically elected prime minister – after he sought to nationalise the British-owned Anglo-Iranian oil company.

Given this history of skulduggery, it is hardly surprising that most Iranians believe Britain is involved in the carefully coordinated campaign of assassinations, bombings and acts of computer sabotage that are clearly designed to disrupt Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. In the most recent incident, a mysterious explosion appears to have caused significant damage to the uranium enrichment complex at Isfahan, a vital feature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
If, as seems likely, this was the result of sabotage, then the finger of suspicion will inevitably point towards Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. As Mossad works closely with its British and American counterparts, the Iranians, not surprisingly, will conclude that British agents are also engaged in targeting its nuclear facilities.
Only last month, a senior Iranian military officer claimed the British Embassy was a centre of “conspiracy and espionage” that should be dealt with by the Iranian people. The likelihood that the embassy was about to be attacked by a hostile mob was so strong that the Foreign Office took the unusual step of releasing a statement calling on the Iranian authorities to ensure that it was adequately protected. The request fell on deaf ears….”

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 11:23 AM

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Hezbollah Discloses Israeli Collaborators ..

Eslam al-Rihani

The Kuwaiti “Al-Rai” newspaper said on Sunday that intelligence war between Hezbollah and “Israel” has been significantly developed as Hezbollah discovered an unprecedented Israeli violation within its ranks. The Kuwaiti daily revealed – from its private sources – that the news was a shock to the Israelis for their network being detected. “The number of those discovered linked to “Israel” at various posts within Hezbollah’s ranks is more than 10 collaborators,” the newspaper noted. “Leaking false information to Israel in order to measure its reaction, was behind the “first string” in discovering those collaborating with Israel,” same sources disclosed for Al-Rai. Al-Rai indicated that Hezbollah senior leadership had deliberately and intentionally passed very crucial information for the Israelis, and put the suspects under close monitor, in parallel with waiting for the Israeli response. “Israel did not succeed in this kind of “war of minds” to hide or avoid reaction, which contributed to the occurrence of its collaborators in the trap,” the sources added to the Kuwaiti Al-Rai. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:War of intelligence between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies

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Jewish settlers revel in Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil

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[ 07/03/2011 – 12:01 PM ]

Al-KHALIL, (PIC)– Extremist Jewish settlers held earlier this week a boisterous party in the courtyards of the Ibrahimi Mosque of Al-Khalil city in which they used fireworks, played loud music and hysterically danced.

The settlers also attacked Palestinians and verbally abused them in different areas of Al-Khalil.

Last Saturday, hundreds of settlers gathered outside Abraham Obinwa settlement outpost in the heart of Al-Khalil and started to dance, sing, laugh and throw stones at the Palestinians amid racist slurs.

The settlers marched the streets of Sahla, Shuhada and Ikhwan Muslmoun while chanting racist slogans and threatening the Palestinians with death.

Right-winger and Jewish extremist Baruch Marzel, students of extremist rabbi Anat Cohen and other fanatic figures participated in the marches and attacks on Palestinians.

During the marches, the settlers attacked several Palestinian neighborhoods in the old city and hurled stones and empty bottles at Palestinian homes and residents.

They also smashed the windows of Palestinian homes and cars in these neighborhoods and spread terror among children and women.

Similar attacks were reported on a daily basis in the areas of Bab Azzawiya, Shalala and Beersheba, and in the vicinity of Tel Rumeida settlement.

In addition to the settlers’ attacks, the Israeli occupation forces demolished Palestinian property, including water wells in Wadi Gharos and Baqa’h areas east of Al-Khalil, bulldozed agricultural lands in Atwanah areas and around Susya settlement east of Yatta, and kidnapped many Palestinians from the towns of Beit Omar, Seir, Halhoul in the north of Al-Khalil.

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