Two boats are scheduled to arrive on the Gaza Strip's coast today, August 23 carrying some 45 international activists in protest of Israel's siege over 1.5 million Palestinians. The two ships are sailing under the slogan of "Breaking the Siege", bringing with them humanitarian goods for the people there. Israel has so far said it would not allow the ships to enter Gaza and would intercept them at sea. The two boats, Liberty and Free Gaza, originally set sail from the Greek island of Crete on August 13 before docking in Larnaca Cyprus, passing through all the necessary security checks and inspections before setting sail again three days ago towards Gaza.
On board is a medley of international activists from all walks of life including Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper, an 81-year old nun, a Holocaust survivor and Tony Blair's sister-in-law. Their aim is to bring international attention to the plight of Gazan's under a crippling Israeli siege since June 2007 after Hamas took control of the Strip. They are reportedly carrying $25,000 worth of basic necessities to bring to the people of Gaza and to show their solidarity with them.
Israel has said it would not allow the boats to enter into the Israeli controlled radius of the sea, which is approximately three miles inward. If the ships do succeed in entering, in spite, they will be met by several Palestinian commandeered boats and supporters who plan to march in solidarity with the internationals in celebration. At press time, the boats were still travelling towards the Gaza coast.
In the West Bank, other battles are being fought. After several appeals by famers from the villages of Abu Dis and Al Sawahreh in east Jerusalem, the Israeli court system decided that the course of the separation wall outside of the Maaleh Adumim settlement bloc would be moved west to avoid cutting Palestinians off from an additional 4,000 dunams of land. The wall, which will completely include this illegal major settlement bloc on the Israeli side, is already built on Palestinian land from several Palestinian Jerusalem villages. The original course of the wall would have expropriated additional land from the villages and caused considerable damage to the livelihood of farmers there given that most of the land is agricultural.
Mayer of Maaleh Adumim Benny Kashriel said he would appeal the court verdict, saying his community would "fight this by all means."
Settlements and Israel's refusal to freeze construction in them is expected to be one of the hottest topics discussed during the visit of US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, who is to arrive in the region on August 24. Rice, who earlier expressed her scepticism over reaching a final agreement by the end of the year, is still optimistic that some understanding can be reached, even if it does not include the ambitious goal of a final settlement.
This scepticism was mirrored in statements made earlier in the week by both Palestinian and Israeli officials. On August 21, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told a group of foreign journalists in Jerusalem that a final agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis was unlikely by the end of 2008, warning that any incomplete agreement could lead to an eruption of violence. She did concede, however, that there are some "expectations" for reaching certain results between the two sides by the end of the year.
Similarly, head of the Palestinian negotiating team Ahmad Qurei said on August 20 that he did not think a final agreement was possible by year's end. He chalked up the failure of the teams' original plan to reach a deal to the "extremely difficult" negotiating process, also putting some of the fault on Israel's internal problems.
Meanwhile, the rift between Fateh and Hamas continues to grow, with both sides claiming they want national conciliation and neither side doing much to make it happen. On August 16, Qatar announced it would lend its hand to mediation efforts between the two rival parties in addition to the Egyptian efforts that have been continuing for months. Furthermore, in spite of the ceasefire ostensibly still in place in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, the random rocket continues to fall on Israeli territory. Last week, two projectiles were shot from Gaza, and landed in empty fields near the Negev desert. Rockets were also shot near two kibbutzim in the Negev earlier in the week. No injuries or damage was reported. Neither has there been any claim of responsibility from Palestinian factions.
Furthermore, UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pasco said on the same day that the ceasefire in place in Gaza has not yet reaped any real positive results for the Palestinians, citing the severe shortage in basic supplies entering the Strip. Pasco explained that even though there was a 75 percent rise in the number of trucks allowed into the Strip following the ceasefire, this is still only 54 percent of the total number of trucks that used to enter Gaza in May 2007 – that is the month preceding the Hamas takeover and Israel's clampdown on the area.
Pasco also outlined the danger the West Bank government was facing in light of the lack of funds. She said by the end of October, the Palestinian Authority was looking at a budget deficit of $400 million, which in practical terms means that come the end of September, civil servants will not be getting paid. In this regard, Pasco urged international donors to honor their commitments to the Palestinians and support the PA's budget.
Palestinians did, however, have a few reasons to rejoice. On August 21, the Israeli army began removing the checkpoint south of Ramallah at the entrance to the village of Bir Nabala. Israel says this is the third checkpoint to be removed this month.
The family of Nader Al Jubeh also had reason to celebrate on August 18 when their son was released from an Israeli prison after 21 years of incarceration. Jubeh, who was arrested in 1988, is one of the longest serving Palestinian political prisoners.
Palestinians are also eagerly awaiting the homecoming of 199 prisoners approved for release by the Israeli cabinet on August 17. Israel says the decision to release the prisoners is a good will gesture offered to President Mahmoud Abbas. While the prisoner list includes two long-term prisoners charged with involvement in the killing of Israelis back in the 1970s, most of the prisoners would have finished their sentences within a matter of months. According to Palestinian sources, four of the prisoners are women and 34 have at least five years left of their sentence. The rest, the overwhelming majority being Fateh-affiliated, would have finished their sentences by the start of next year.
In particular, the families of Saeed Ataba and Abu Ali Yata, are overjoyed by the imminent release of their sons. Ataba, jailed in 1977 and Yata in 1979 are both prisoners Israel considers to have "blood on their hands." Yata, a Fateh member, was also voted into the Legislative Council in 1996 within the quota for Palestinian prisoners. The release is to take place sometime this week.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
