Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.

Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.

Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.

The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.

The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.

What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.

Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.

The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.

That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.

The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.

My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.

Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.

Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.

That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.

This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.

It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.

But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.

We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

Israel’s unexpected aggressive bombardment of military sites near the Syrian capital last week has complicated matters both regionally and internationally, raising serious doubts about the intentions of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, immediately after the raids on Friday and Sunday, left directly for Beijing for talks with new Chinese leaders.

Netanyahu’s trip followed immediately after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had concluded his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who revealed a four-point proposal for settling the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The proposal endorsed full Palestinian sovereignty on the basis of the 1967 armistice lines and occupied East Jerusalem serving as the Palestinian capital, underlying the fact that this “is an alienable right of the Palestinian people and the key to the settlement of the Palestinian Question”. At the same time, the four-point proposal said: “Israel’s right to exist and its legitimate security concerns should be fully respected.”

Whether the Chinese proposal that has also endorsed the amended 2002 Arab Peace Initiative will be a catalyst in the anticipated negotiations remains to be seen. The amendments were revealed in Washington during a visit by an Arab League delegation in order to placate the Israelis.

However, the motive behind Israel’s aggressive actions in Syria, which the Obama administration said was undertaken without prior consultation with the White House, had been seen as an attempt by the Netanyahu government to shelve any talks about a resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and focus all attention on the bloody upheaval in Syria.

The Israeli prime minister was reported earlier this month to be worried that the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who seemed determined to focus immediately on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has been “drifting” towards the Arab League stance on the two-state solution.

“The prime minister’s advisers are not keen about the Arab League’s announcement,” the Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported. “Netanyahu and his advisers believe it would have been better had this announcement not been made.”

Israel has reportedly been dissatisfied with the Arab announcement underlying the new amendment that revealed Arab willingness to make “small shifts” in Israel’s 1967 armistice lines. In other words, “minimal” land swaps. At present, there are more than 500,000 Israelis who settled illegally in the West Bank.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, now Justice Minister in the Netanyahu cabinet in charge of the peace process, had, in the past, accepted land swaps of 6-10 per cent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank area. The Palestinians were reportedly ready to exchange 1.9 per cent of the West Bank’s area in the past. Haaretz reported: “The fact that Kerry stood beside Qatar’s prime minister while he was reading the announcement (about the ”small shifts” in the 1967 Israeli armistice line) increased Netanyahu’s aides’ suspicions toward Kerry.”

The Arab League officials who were in Washington had assured Kerry and Vice-President Joe Biden that the League was still committed to the plan it first proposed more than 10 years ago in 2002. Once the agreement is signed, all Arab states are committed to normalise relations with Israel. This position was reported to President Barack Obama during his visit to Ramallah last month.

Israel’s public dissatisfaction with the amended Arab League initiative prompted it to launch its attacks on Syria in a bid to divert international attention to the presence in Syria of caches of Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah, the fighter group that controls the Lebanese-Israeli armistice lines. Israeli leaders have apparently forgotten that Hezbollah has not had any confrontation with Israel since the 2006 war; hence their exaggeration should be dismissed outright.

Although the Obama administration is still uncertain about its next step towards Syria, Israel’s blatant raids last week carry enormous risks. “Instead of prodding Russia into calling for Al Assad’s ouster, it can bring greater Arab sympathy for Al Assad and prompt deeper involvement from Iran and Hezbollah,” the Associated Press acknowledged in a dispatch from Moscow. In fact, the Arab League has already denounced the two Israeli airstrikes.

In an obvious attempt to improve the political atmosphere, the Israeli Army radio station claimed that Netanyahu has this week ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank colony homes to avoid hampering US efforts to renew peace talks. However, a quick response from Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran exposed the farce. “This is not a settlement [colony] freeze because construction in the settlements [colonies] is continuing, but you could say it is a show of restraint by Benjamin Netanyahu who does not want to be accused by the Americans of being responsible for the failure of their efforts to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.”

The tragic Boston bombing that killed three and wounded more than 250 others has, unsurprisingly, resonated worldwide, driving some, including hundreds of Palestinian and international runners who were about to launch the Bethlehem Marathon in the small Palestinian town where Jesus Christ was believed to have been born to observe one minute of silence in tribute to the American victims of this horrifying act.

This reflects the feelings of many Palestinians who are usually sympathetic with others, since they, too, have been victims of the merciless Israeli usurpation of their homeland and continued victimisation.

The Bethlehem marathon circles around the ancient biblical city four times on a course that was limited by the confines of Israel’s sprawling and illegal apartheid wall that divides Israel from the occupied Palestinian territories.

The two suspects in the Boston bombing, who are of Chechen origin, were reportedly motivated by the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their act came on the heels of a deadly attack last week in Afghanistan that killed 17 civilians, including 12 children.

Although the era of colonialism has theoretically ended, relations between Western nations and the developing world remain troublesome, if not dangerous, especially if Western military intervention, an expensive venture, seems the only recourse.

It is time that we all find a new way out of this debacle. It is obviously up to the new generation to come up with a more reasonable solution, as is evident in concerns of student groups around the world.

Coinciding with these events was, for example, a “historic decision” of the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) at its annual conference in Seattle last week to support the Palestinian boycott of Israel academic institutions.

The 800 academics at the conference were responding positively to a call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACHI), thus becoming the “first academic organisation in the US to boycott Israeli institutions which are deeply complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights and denial of the right of education and academic freedom to Palestinians,” reported Mondoweiss.net.

It was also noteworthy that while in Turkey last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry unexpectedly saw, much to the disappointment of the Israelis, similarities between the recent Boston bombing and the 2010 Israel commando attack in international waters on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which, loaded with humanitarian aid, was heading to the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed then, and several other pro-Palestinian activists were wounded.

Kerry told a press briefing last Sunday in Istanbul: “I particularly say to the families of (Turkish) people who were lost in the incident that we understand these tragedies completely and we sympathise with them.”

Mentioning the Boston bombing, he noted: “It affects a community, it affects a country. We’re sensitive to that.”

Then Kerry revealed that he had asked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to delay his scheduled trip to Gaza, explaining that it was not the right “point in time”. His suggestion created a Turkish uproar and the prime minister declared later that he was definitely going as scheduled to Gaza, where the Hamas is in full control.

This confrontation came just as the new Hamas politburo in Gaza was reportedly asking European leaders to take Hamas off their terrorism list, promising that there will not be henceforth any “martyrdom attacks inside Israel”.

Hamas officials say that they have not undertaken any such attacks since 2004. It is rather bewildering that the Obama administration, much like its predecessors, shuns any serious bid at twisting Israel’s arms to pave the road to peace in the Middle East. There are many other issues where American officials seem willing to hide their heads under the sand, refusing, for example, to focus on Israel’s nuclear arsenal but willing to confront Iran on the same issue.

More to the point, Israel is a major recipient of US financial and military aid which should be used by the Obama administration to compel Israel to reach a decent settlement with the Palestinians. All agree that time is running out for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Meantime, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, on a “charm offensive” in Israel, took a ride in an Israeli military plane and had a bird’s eye view of the country. If Hagel wants to be fair, he might as well take a tour of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and see its shockingly small area, now occupied by some 350,000 illegal Israeli settlers.

The tragic Boston bombings that killed three and wounded more than 250 have surprisingly resonated worldwide, driving some — including hundreds of Palestinian and international runners who were about to inaugurate the launch of the Bethlehem Marathon in the small Palestinian town where Jesus Christ was believed to have been born — to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the American victims of this horrifying act.

This unprecedented and thoughtful public action reflects the feelings of many Palestinians who are sympathetic towards others, since they too have been victims of the merciless Israeli usurpation of their homeland and continued victimisation. For example, the Bethlehem Marathon circles the ancient biblical city four times on a course that was limited by the confines of Israel’s sprawling and illegal “Apartheid Wall” that divides Israel from the Occupied Territories.

The two suspects in the Boston bombings, who were of Chechen origin, were reportedly motivated by the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It came on the heels of a deadly attack last week in Afghanistan that killed 17 civilians, including 12 children.

Although the era of colonialism has theoretically ended, relations between the western nations and the Third World remain troublesome, if not dangerous; especially if western military intervention, an expensive venture, seems the only recourse. It is time that we all find a way out of this debacle. It is obviously up to the new generation to come up with a more reasonable solution, as is evident from concerns expressed by student groups around the world.

Coinciding with these remarkable events was, for example, a “historic decision” of the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) at its annual conference in Seattle last week in support of a Palestinian boycott of Israeli academic institutions. The 800 academics at the conference were responding positively to a call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACHI), thus becoming the “first academic organisation in the US to boycott Israeli institutions,” reported Mondoweiss.net, “which are deeply complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights and denial of the right of education and academic freedom to Palestinians”.

It was also noteworthy that while in Turkey last week, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, unexpectedly saw, much to the disappointment of Israelis, similarities between the recent Boston bombings and the 2010 Israel commando attack in international waters on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara which was loaded with humanitarian aid for the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed then and several other pro-Palestinian activists were wounded.

Kerry told a press briefing last Sunday in Istanbul: “I particularly say to the families of [the Turkish] people who were lost in the incident that we understand these tragedies completely and we sympathise with them,” and citing the Boston bombing, he further noted: “It affects a community, it affects a country. We’re sensitive to that.”

Here, Kerry dropped a bombshell when he revealed that he had asked the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to delay his scheduled trip to Gaza, saying that it was not the right “point in time”. His suggestion created an uproar and the prime minister declared later that he was definitely going as scheduled to Gaza, where the Palestinian fighter group, Hamas, is in full control.

Unfortunately, this confrontation came at a time when the new Hamas politburo in Gaza was reportedly cajoling European leaders to take Hamas off their terror list — promising that there will not be henceforth any “martyrdom attacks inside Israel”. Hamas officials insist that they have not undertaken any such attacks since 2004.

It is rather bewildering that the Obama administration, much like its predecessors, shuns any serious bid at twisting Israel’s arms to pave the road to peace in Middle East. There are many other issues where American officials seem willing to hide their heads under the blanket, refusing, for example, to focus on Israel’s nuclear arsenal, but willing to confront Iran on the same issue. Israel is a major recipient of US financial and military aid, which should give the Obama administration more political ammunition to compel Israel to reach a decent settlement with the Palestinians. All agree that time is running out for a two-state solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Meanwhile, it was amazing to see Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, on a “charm offensive” in Israel last Sunday and willing to take a ride in an Israeli military plane the next day to have a bird’s eye view of the country — to see how small Israel is! If Hagel wanted to be fair, he might as well have taken a tour of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and seen its shockingly small area, now occupied by more than 350,000 illegal Israeli colonists. That is, if Israel allowed the Palestinians to take him aboard a plane to view the tiny West Bank. He could have told Kerry all about it.

It was noticeable that US President Barack Obama and, a few days later, Secretary of State John Kerry were both wearing blue neckties and white shirts when they met with Israel leaders, the former on his visit to last month and the latter in the past few days, in an obvious gesture of support to Israel, whose flag has blue and white colours.

This nauseating pandering to Israel, notable among some US officials and legislators, was again highlighted this week in a report in the London Guardian, which revealed that the pro-Israel California Democrat, Sen. Barbara Boxer, has been in league with AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) to introduce a Senate bill that would in essence seek “to codify Israel’s right to discriminate” against Arab-Americans should they want to visit Israel.

For the United States to allow foreigners to enter the US without a visa, the visitor’s country must abide by some conditions, chiefly reciprocity. Should Israel be admitted to the American “visa waiver” programme, which includes 37 other countries, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports one serious impediment: Israel has a practice of routinely refusing to allow Americans of Arab ethnicity or Muslim background to enter their country or the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

The bill, formally named the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013, introduced by Boxer, which is also supported by Republican Roy Blunt, would allow Israel the right to exclude selected Americans from this right to visa-free entrance.

Moreover, Obama’s newly released 2014 budget request includes $3.1 billion in military aid to Israel and an additional $316 million for joint US-Israeli anti-missile systems. And the popular American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) says “this is just the tip of the iceberg”.

The American president, during his visit to Israel last month, pledged to extend US military aid to Israel well-beyond his presidency, with one report noting that his administration “is opening negotiations to give Israel up to $40 billion in US taxpayer-financed weapons through 2028”.

This year, the average US taxpayers will be giving Israel $21.29, ADC explained, insisting that “we should not be funding Israel’s occupation and oppression of the Palestinians”.

The ADC announcement is part of a national campaign to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and oppose giving Israel additional military funding. Other groups joining ADC include American Muslims for Palestine, Code Pink and Jewish Voice for Peace.

One other complication that may cast its long shadow on Kerry’s efforts in the Middle East has been the sudden resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the highly respected World Bank official who apparently put the Palestinian fiscal house in order.

Jonas Gahr Store, the foreign minister of Norway, had indirectly praised Fayyad for being “remarkably successful in building Palestinian public institutions”.

His upcoming absence from the Palestinian scene is bound to disappoint many a Palestinian and a Westerner, but in no way should this move curtail the international efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

The hope, of course, is that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas can now join forces to reach a peaceful accord with the Israelis who should drop their objection to Hamas.

If this seems unlikely in the immediately future, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ alternative course should be to form a Cabinet of technocrats that will supervise national elections. The results will determine the next steps.

All these national and international activities are bound to divert, though partially, Kerry’s seemingly well-intentioned peace efforts in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, that have raised high hopes in the region.

Last Tuesday’s meeting between Kerry and visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Feisal in Washington was a headline grabber. The Saudi minister reportedly pled with the secretary of state to accelerate his efforts towards a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, especially that Kerry has shown a belated US interest in the Arab Peace Initiative.

What Kerry has to be mindful of in the days ahead is how to remain evenhanded and not be sidetracked by the petty fights in the region.