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Nov. 12, 2013
Daily summary - Tuesday, November 12, 2013
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Main News
The Palestinian people commemorate the ninth anniversary of the death of Arafat… Clashes in Jerusalem and other areas of the West Bank; Hamas arrest Gaza journalists
Our people in Palestine and the diaspora commemorated yesterday the ninth anniversary of the death of President Yasser Arafat, amid the Palestinian political scene divided with regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.Hamas movement did not allow commemorating the anniversary because of differences with Fatah in Gaza. An unknown movement calling itself "Tamarroud" called for demonstrations against Hamas on this occasion inspired by the Egyptian movement which led to the isolation of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, but this attempt was not successful in Gaza, where there was a heavy security forces.Also in Gaza, security forces have detained several journalists for a short time, including a videographer working for AFP who was holding interviews with citizens.In the West Bank, including Jerusalem, many events to commemorate the late leader took place, while confrontations with the occupation forces occurred in many locations. In the Jerusalem occupation forces prevented a concert scheduled at the Silwan sports club, where the forces intervened to stop the event leading to clashes between youths and the occupation forces in the neighborhood of Ras al-Amud.In Hebron, clashes erupted yesterday between youths and occupation soldiers in Bab Al-Zawyeh in the center of Hebron and at the entrance to Beit Ummar village, north of the city. Political factions, the public service workers' Unionand various institutions of Jenin held a central festival to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the martyrdom of Abu Ammar in front of the Governorate building. Many cities and capitals around the world also held events to commemorate the ninth anniversary, in Beirut, the PLO and Fateh held a public festival, in addition to festivals in Turkey, Doha, Paris and Al-Baqa’ refugee camp near Amman. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
According to eyewitnesses, large Israeli forces raided the club in Silwan, and citizens were forced to leave immediately, and then handed an order signed by the Minister of internal security, Yitzhak Ahronovich preventingthe event from taking place. The prohibition order included: "after I was informed that on 11-11-13 there is an intention to hold a celebration to commemorate the death of Yasser Arafat in the Silwan Club, sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and without permit or any written agreement according to law 3 (a), I order to prevent the event in the club, and anywhere else in Jerusalem."(Al-Ayyam)
Shtayyeh: not reaching a peace is better than a bad agreement
Member of the Palestinian negotiations team, Muhammad Shtayyeh, said that failure to reach a peace agreement with Israel would be better that reaching an agreement allowing Israel to continue settlement construction. Shtayyeh said in a statement that "in the absence of Israeli political will to take the negotiations seriously, we believe it is better not to reach an agreement than having a bad agreement". Shtayyeh’s statements came days after Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region in an attempt to save the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians three months after its resumption. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Al-Kidwa: we should condemn Israel's assassination of Arafat at the General Assembly
Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Chairman of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, and his nephew, renewed yesterday his accusing to Israel of assassinating "Abu Ammar", mentioning the "non-natural death to Arafat" and that "it's a political assassination that was likely committed by Israel."Al-Kidwa said: “from the outset we talked about evidences that Israeli is responsible, for example, it is a fact that Israel imposed a directblockade on Yasser Arafat for years, threatened his life directly, in addition to the many statements by Israeli officials that spoke repeatedly about Arafat the enemy who must be severely punished, then Israeli Government official's decision to "remove Arafat", followed by the mysterious and unclear circumstances of his death, in addition to the French medical report indicating that Arafat's death was not natural, so as to ensure signs of death by poison, the Palestinian people believe that what happened with "Abu Amar" is nothing but a political assassination.”Al-Kidwa said it is more useful to go to the General Assembly for greater international condemnation on the assassination of Yasser Arafat, we can hold Israel responsible and force it to recognize this and to bring the perpetrators to justiceand thiswill open the door to further action later. (Al-Ayyam)
After an intervention of the journalists' Syndicate from the moment of his arrest: journalist Qanawati released my bail pending trial
After an intervention of the Palestinian journalists syndicate has Palestinian General Prosecutor released Manager of radio Bethlehem 2000 journalist George Qanawati until his trial.The decision came after an intervention of the Palestinian journalists’ syndicate which acted since the early hours of the arrest on Sunday night until the early morning of today.Members of the Administrative Board of the journalists Union, Hassan Abdel Jawad and Mousa Al-Sha’er received Qanawati upon his release at the headquarters of the Palestinian police after they met with the Director of the provincial police lieutenant Alaa Al-Shalabi, while president of the Syndicate Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar and head of the freedoms Committee Mohammad Allaham and vice-President of the Syndicate Nasser Abu Baker continued with their efforts with the various actors to release Qanawati.The Syndicate said it reaffirmed to various officials at the General Prosecutor and the Ministry of the Interior, represented by Interior Minister Musa Abu Ali its rejection of police detention of journalists and the condemnation of Qanawati’s arrest.(http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/local/72369-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84-%D9%86%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B0-%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%82%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%83%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9-%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A9)
Qanawati said Monday while on his way to the general prosecutor in Bethlehem that he was beaten when interrogated following his detention late Sunday. Qanawati’s relatives confirmed that "while attending to the public prosecutor's Office they saw traces of beating in one of his eyes.” Dozens of Palestinian journalists called Monday for the resignation of the Syndicate in the West Bank and for the immediate resignation of its President Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar "for their failure and their weakness to protect journalists from attacks and, arrests and practice of the security services." (http://paltimes.net/details/news/52466/%D8%A2%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B6%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%82%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%88-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B6%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86.html)
Occupation bulldozers demolish residential caravans north of Jerusalem
Occupation municipality bulldozers demolished today morning caravans belonging to the Castero family in Beit Hanina, north of Jerusalem.Afif Casterotold “Ma’an” that the family was surprised by the arrival of Israeli forces to the "caravans", accompanied by bulldozers and crews of the occupation municipality, and started to implement the demolition of 3 "caravans" owned by him and his brother Ayman, while handing his third brother Saleh Casteroa demolition order for a residential room built of bricks or paying a fine of 200,000 NIS. Castero said that the family evacuated the caravans yesterday, and already began to demolish parts of it themselves in order to avoid paying the fines, but the demolition crews of the occupation municipality cam today to implement the demolition and will force the family to pay for the demolition. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=646496)
B’tselem: Tazaza’h was shot by the occupation contrary to opening fire orders
B'tselem said that the Israeli occupation forces will conduct a preliminary examination, before deciding whether to open an investigation of the Israeli military police regarding the circumstances of the accident which killed Ahmed Tazazah, during clashes between Palestinian youths and the Israeli army forces during an arrest of a wanted Palestinian in Qabatya. B'tselem said: "This decision was taken following an appeal by B'tselem to military prosecutors to investigate the incident”, the Israeli military spokesman said that "in light of questions raised regarding a relation between the military operation and the death of Ahmed Tazazah, the military prosecutor approached relevant contacts for comment. Results examining the details, including B’tselem’s were transferred to the military prosecutor and were examined; subsequently a decision was made to open a ‘limited investigation’.” (Al-Ayyam)
Number of women imprisoned in Israeli jails reaches 17
"Ahrar" Center for family studies and human rights said that the number of women prisoners in Israeli jails has risen to 17 after Israeli occupation forces arrested yesterday a girl at Za'tara checkpoint, south of Nablus. The center denounced the arrest of University student We’am Samih Asedeh (22 years old) of Tell town, in Nablus district, who is the sister of Qassam martyr Asim Asedeh, and study at the Hisham Hejawi College in Nablus. We’am’s father told "Ahrar" that he lost contact with his daughter since the morning and didn't know she was arrested, and was surprised when the lawyers told him she was arrested, and that he is concerned over his daughter.(http://wattan.tv/ar/news/79701.html)
Annan criticizes settlement: a serious threat to the peace process
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticized Israeli settlement activities on the Palestinian territories on behalf of “the Elders”, stressing that they "represent a serious threat to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process." Annan said "continuing settlement construction is unhelpful at this critical moment in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. These settlements are illegal under international law and constitute a serious threat to achieving the two-State solution, on the basis of viable and contiguousPalestinian territories."The elders stressed that it "strongly opposes the Israeli settlement decisions in recent construction in east Jerusalem,” warning that it“seriously underminespeace negotiations."(Al-Ayyam)
Al-Hamdallah: the Government is committed to providing services to our people in the Gaza Strip
Prime Minister Dr. Rami Al-Hamdallah said that the Government is committed to providing its services to our people in the Gaza Strip, and support them to alleviate their suffering due to the Israeli blockade imposed on the Strip.This came during a meeting of the Prime Minister in Ramallah with United Nations Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi and his entourage, where the two sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation, especially under the UN recognition of Palestine as a non-Member State. Al-Hamdallah commended UNRWA's role in supporting Palestinian refugees through their support in education, health, and development projects, praisingthe Agency's role in alleviating their suffering and particularly in Syria.(http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=646320)
World Bank calls for Palestinians to develop a long-term developmental vision
Executive Director of the World Bank, Joerg Frieden called on Palestinians for developing a to long-term developmental vision based on their needs and priorities, stressing the difficulties facing developmental process in Palestine by Israeli restrictions on movement, lack of control over resources, and border crossings.Frieden said there are difficult to predict in the Palestinian case, particularly with respect to economic and development aspects, indicating that this is problematic for issues related to planning and development.(Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Settler runs over a Palestinian girl in Hebron and escapes
Jewish settler intentionally ran over a Palestinian girl from Beit Ummar, in Hebron district, South West of the West Bank today morning, and fled the scene.Mohammed Awad, Coordinator of the popular Committee to resist the wall and settlement in Beit Ummar said that settler driving a white vehicle traveling in the direction of Bethlehem hit a college student, Zeina Omar Awad, 21 years old. Awad said that the settler did not stop when he saw her and ran over her. (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/32752)
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Headlines
** The President: No Arab and Muslim world without Egypt (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Abu Ammar “occupies” Facebook (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Al-Hamdallah: state institutions continue embody Arafat’s dream (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Reports: Netanyahu declined to shake hands with Kerry (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Lieberman sworn as Foreign Minister; Galon considered his return as a bomb to explode peace (al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Popular Committees threaten to escalate starting from today (Al-Quds)
** Israeli military socialist questions efficiency of missile defense system (Al-Quds)
** Shabak announces alert situation in Israeli embassies in Europe (Al-Quds)
** Security and military discussions in Israel regarding concessions in the Jordan Valley (Al-Quds)
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Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:Nablus – school student raising Arafat’s photos during his ninth anniversary.
Al-Ayyam:1) Ramallah – youth praying at Arafat’s grave during the ninth anniversary, 2) Hebron – children holding Arafat’s photos during a march commemorating the ninth anniversary of his death.
Al Hayat Al Jadida:1) Occupation soldier preventing Palestinian children from continuing a march at the anniversary of Arafat, 2)Citizens challenge police in Jerusalem and commemorate the anniversary, 3) The President during his meeting with Al-Azhar Sheikh.
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Voice of Palestine News
Jerusalem: This morning in Beit Hanina Israeli bulldozers removed the remaining mobile homes that three families were living in, after their home was demolished by Israeli authorities three months ago. Last Monday, Israeli municipality teams warned the families to remove the homes and pay the fines. Today they forcefully removed them.
As for Silwan, yesterday, Israeli police broke into the Silwan Club in Ras Amoud, banning a festival marking the anniversary of President Arafat’s passing. Israeli soldiers forced the people out and shut the club by police order under the pretext that the festival was organized by the PA. This prompted confrontations where two men were injured. One, Ala’ Al Qaq was injured in his back by a stun grenade. Four of the club members were summoned to the police station for questioning.
Festivals continued yesterday and today marking Arafat’s death; in Abu Dis a military march was organized; a candlelit vigil was also held at Damascus Gate. Also, over 70 extremist Jews broke into the Aqsa Mosque yesterday, including prayers and religious classes that were held by Jewish groups.
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Voice of Palestine Interviews
Events on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the President Arafat’s passing
Qalqilya: Since yesterday, Qalqilya has been holding festivals and activities on this anniversary. Events began yesterday morning in a boys’ high school, followed by a popular march with all sectors of society towards the governorate; the participants vowed to continue on Arafat’s path until liberation. This year there was a wider youth participation than usual. The activities will continue in the coming days.
**Attorney Jawad Amawi from the Prisoner Affairs Ministry, on the issue of sick prisoners in Israeli jails.
Q: What can you tell us about the circumstances under which these sick prisoners live?
We have warned against this issue many times, in particular the policy of medical negligence adopted by the Israeli prison services. This year, eight prisoners died, the last being Hassan Turabi, which shows the indifference towards the prisoners. We expected that these deaths may have rung alarm bells for the Israeli prison services, warning them that things could explode, but there is clear negligence. The prisoners live under very poor conditions. One prisoner, Yusri Al Masri from Gaza is suffering from thyroid cancer. Last week he had surgery and is now in the Ramleh prison clinic but he is in bad shape. In this case, I think he should be home and not imprisoned like this. Other prisoners such as Naim Shawamreh who has muscular dystrophy and is worsening with each day. We are calling for his release as well. But we have not had a response.
Q: Do you fear for Masri and Shawamreh’s lives?
Most definitely. They are in dire condition. And these are just examples. There are many others who are also in poor condition, such as Dirar Abu Sisi, who has been isolation since his arrest and suffers from several illnesses as a result.
Q: Do you think the lack of a strong response to Israel’s indifference has encouraged them to reject calls for these sick prisoners’ release?
Yes, we think the lack of interest by international organizations towards the prisoners and the lack of pressure on Israel is a main reason for Israel’s continued policies against prisoners. If prison services felt that there was pressure on them by the international community, I think there would be a different position by them. But they know they are not held accountable for their actions.
**Karim Jubran of B’Tselem, on the circumstances surrounding the death of Ahmad Tazaz’a last week in Qabatya
Q: Do the findings which say that the Israeli soldiers had no justification for opening fire mean Tazaz’a was killed in cold blood?
Yes; the first thing is that the youth did not constitute any threat to the lives of the soldiers in the area and therefore opening fire without specific instructions to do so if under threat was a violation of the army’s rules of engagement. The second important point is that there was an attempt by the army to evade responsibility by blaming the Palestinians, saying Ahmad was killed in a family feud. The truth is that they opened fire and killed him. B’Tselem opened an investigation into this event, which proved that the army killed him without reason.
Q: Do you think the Israeli army will open an investigation like you demanded, and even if they do, will there be any punishment for the soldier who shot Ahmad?
The army first said there was no need for an investigation, saying this was an internal Palestinian killing. But after we confronted them with our investigation, they backtracked and said they would carry out a “limited’ investigation. Of course this is not enough. There should be a comprehensive investigation, and experience has taught us that the Israel army’s investigations do not result in anything positive because they always try to evade responsibility and hold the victim responsible instead.
**Member of the journalists’ syndicate, Fares Sarafandi, on yesterday’s arrest of journalist George Qanawati in Bethlehem
Q: Qanawati was released on bail until trial, correct?
Yes, a charge sheet was presented to him and he will stand trial. So we are clear, there is no one who is above the law. All Palestinians must abide by the law. But what we always call for is that no journalist should be arrested based on his exercise of freedom of opinion. This right is supposed to be guaranteed. President Abbas has always said that the ceiling of freedoms in Palestine should be the sky. So far, we have not seen this. The ceiling is much lower in many cases.
At the same time, we also have a problem. Until today, there is no code of conduct for the journalists’ syndicate so that journalists and the union can exercise discipline, because even freedom needs discipline.
**Fatah official, Sultan Abul Enein, on the investigation committee conclusions on the case of Arafat’s death
Q: The investigation committee is indicating that they are close to uncovering President Arafat’s killer; what is this based on?
The investigation has put forth tremendous efforts to get to the bottom of this. When we say that we are in the last stages, we mean it. There are no names or methods but we are very close. But we have to reach the bottom of this so that everyone can finally have some peace, including President Arafat in the hereafter. But for this to happen, I think there should not be a lot of chatter in the media on the subject so that the investigation is not harmed. Let me just say that we are under a despicable occupation and one that is directly responsible for the assassination of Yasser Arafat.
Q: So you are sure Israel is responsible?
Well I don’t think that any collaborator – regardless of who they are – would be able to make polonium.
Q: So, is the team now trying to uncover the method or tool used to carry out the crime?
No, right now we are in the stage of analysis of the information and listening to testimonies; there are hundreds. This will take time. But I am sure that the team will finish what should take four years, in two.
Q: Are any international moves linked to the findings of the investigation team or have the findings already pointed to Israel, which would be enough to move on this track?
Let me just say that we want to go to the ICC with evidence and documents in our hands; that is why we are not in a hurry. We will take it step by step. Going to the UN is an inevitable step but all in good time.
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More Headlines
"Human Rights Watch": Egypt detains Palestinian refugees in inhumane conditions
Uncovered human rights watch revealed that "Egyptian authorities detained hundreds of Palestinian refugees from Syria indefinitely and inhumane conditions." The organization said in a press release that "Egyptian authorities detained more than 1,500 refugees from Syria, including at least 400 Palestinians and 250 children aged up to two months." The organization called on Egypt to release those detainees immediately and allow the UNHCR to give them what they deserve of protection under international law. The statement quoted Egyptian security officials said that the refugees’ detention would be extended indefinitely until they leave the country, noting that the position of the Palestinian refugees from Syria is weak, because Egypt prevents them from requesting protection of UNHCR. The organization said that "the Egyptians say to Palestinian detainees that the only alternative to indefinite detention is going to Lebanon, where they are allowed to enter only with a 48-hour transit visa or return to war-ravaged Syria." (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/32765)
Occupation extends administrative detention of 43 Palestinian prisoners
According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, the Israeli military court extended the administrative detention of 43 Palestinian prisoners under the pretext of "completing investigation and judicial proceedings,” in addition to issuing judgments against others. The club said in a statement yesterday that that the occupation extended detention of a number of prisoners who have been detained for periods of time, for the third and fourth time now. The statement also said that Israeli courts sentenced Ahmed Shubeiri for 80 days imprisonment and a fine of for NIS 1000, and Hayaty Zain Addin for 31 days and a fine of NIS 750. (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/32747)
Ma’ariv reveals steps of Palestinian security forces to prevent a third intifada
Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv published a report describing the efforts and actions undertaken by the Palestinian security services in the West Bank to prevent a third Intifada, or at least prevent evolution of events towards extreme violence. Ma’ariv said on its website today that Palestinian security forces stand in the way events that can lead to a third intifada and that it does everything it can do to prevent it from taking place. Ma’ariv quoted an official of Palestinian security sources as saying that “the indifference of the Palestinian public is due to economic hardship experienced by the people who barely try to raise their heads, so they don't rush out to the streets to rise up against the occupation," he said. The newspaper added that "Palestinian security forces will coordinate its steps with the Israeli military, and they don't want anything that might eventually end in violence against Israelis." (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/32762)
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Arab Press
Israeli bugs and tomato scares for Lebanese but don’t mention the Syrians
By Michael Karam
Anyone wondering why Lebanon is a failed state need look no further than the two instances of high melodrama that occurred last week.
First we were briefly convinced the Israelis were trying to kill us with tomatoes deliberately stuffed with carcinogens. That was until Ali Haj Hassan, the agriculture minister and a member of Hizbollah, told us all to calm down and reminded us of the stringent monitoring his ministry, along with the security forces, makes on a regular basis on all incoming produce.
That said, he might have not been entirely unhappy that the Israeli bogeyman had once again worked its way into our collective consciousness.
Because if you hang around this part of the Middle East for more than a few days, you will soon understand that Israel, as the Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy aptly pointed out, is the “opium of the [Arab] people”. Most of our problems are its fault, somehow.
It doesn’t take much to light the embers of panic and paranoia.
Businesses can fail, unemployment among those under 25 can be a staggering 25 per cent and the Beirut Stock Exchange can witness a drop in trading volume of 30 per cent but all this is means nothing if spectre of Israel is invoked.
The tomato scare, however, was small potatoes compared to the news broken earlier in the week by the parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri who revealed to MPs that … wait for it … the Israelis had installed surveillance posts along its southern border with Lebanon. And guess what? They were doing all this to spy on us, listen in on our phone calls, text messages and what have you.
This was enough to stir the state from its coma.
The parliamentary telecommunications committee that broke the “news”, said it would hold an emergency meeting on Monday to deal with the matter and raise hell at the United Nations.
The caretaker telecoms minister – Lebanon has had no government since April – Nicolas Sehnaoui declared it a “violation of the country’s sovereignty”, while the defence minister Fayez Ghosn waded in with his five cents worth, urging the Lebanese “unite and set aside their differences to confront the Israeli plot against Lebanon”. Ah yes, of course. It’s all our fault the country’s in such a mess.
The reaction of most of the people I spoke to was a mix of disgust and laughter about the cynical way in which attention was diverted away from the state’s spectacular ineptitude.
I mean let’s face it everyone listens in on everyone these days; just ask Germany’s Angela Merkel or the British actor Hugh Grant. And it is lunacy to assume that, until this month, Israel has not been monitoring its prickly northern neighbour.
Hizbollah’s military machine, arguably the most efficient non-state army in the world, sits just over the fence. Since the mid-1980s, one of the pillars of its core policy has been to retake Jerusalem and kick the Israelis into the sea.
So after nearly 30 years of tension and conflict, Israel suddenly decides it had better try to listen to what those pesky Lebanese are up to. It’s nonsense.
Then there is the small matter of violating a country’s sovereignty as Mr. Sehnaoui so dramatically put it. Well here’s a news flash Nicolas. For nearly two years the Syrian military has been violating Lebanese sovereignty on a daily basis, bombing our land and in many cases murdering our citizens.
But Syria doesn’t count does it?
Then again, while we are on the subject of non-stories, my initial declaration of Lebanon as a failed state may be even staler.
Writing in 1870 in his book The Land and the Book, the American writer William Thomson, described what is now Lebanon as a society with “no continuous strata underlying it, which can be opened and worked for the general benefit of all, but an endless number of dislocated fragments, faults, and dikes, by which the masses are tilted up in hopeless confusion, and lie at every conceivable angle of antagonism to each other.”
Sound familiar?(http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/the-life/israeli-bugs-and-tomato-scares-for-lebanese-but-dont-mention-the-syrians)
In search of a winning Palestinian narrative
By Ramzy Baroud
In an initially pointless exercise that lasted nearly an hour, I flipped between two Palestinian television channels, Al Aqsa TV of Hamas in Gaza and Palestine TV of Fatah in the West Bank. While both purported to represent Palestine and the Palestinians, each seemed to represent some other place and some other people. It was all very disappointing.
Hamas’ world is fixated on their hate of Fatah and other factional personal business. Fatah TV is stuck between several worlds of archaic language of phony revolutions, factional rivalry and unmatched self-adoration. The two narratives are growingly alien and will unlikely ever move beyond their immediate sense of self-gratification and utter absurdity.
It is no wonder why Palestinians are still struggling to tell the world such a simple, straightforward and truthful story. Perhaps it is now out of desperation that they expect Israel’s New Historians, international experts who make occasional visits to Palestine or an unexceptionally fair western journalist to tell it.
But what about the Palestinians themselves? This is rare because factionalism in Palestine and among Palestinians in the Diaspora is also destroying the very idea of having a common narrative through which they can tell one cohesive story, untainted by the tribal political mentality which is devouring Palestinian identity the same way Israeli bulldozers are devouring whatever remains of their land.
Even if such a narrative were to finally exist, it would likely be an uphill battle, for Israel’s official narrative, albeit a forgery is rooted in history. On May 16, Shay Hazkani, described in a detailed Haaretz article the intricate and purposeful process through which Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion rewrote history. “Catastrophic thinking: Did Ben-Gurion try to rewrite history?” was largely based on a single file (number GL-18/17028) in the State Archives that seemed to have escaped censorship. The rest of the files were whisked away after Israel’s New Historians — Benny Morris, Avi Shlaim, Tom Segev, Ilan Pappe and others — got their hands on numerous documents that violently negated Israel’s official story of its birth.
“Archived Israeli documents that reported the expulsion of Palestinians, massacres or rapes perpetrated by Israeli soldiers, along with other events considered embarrassing by the establishment, were reclassified as ‘top secret,’” Hazkani wrote in the Israeli paper. But GL-18/17028 somehow survived the official onslaught on history.
The lone document spoke of the “evolution of the Israeli version of the Palestinian Nakba(The Catastrophe) of 1948.” That evolution took place under the auspices of Ben-Gurion himself between the years 1960-1964, where he assigned one scholar after another to basically fabricate history, which they surely did. Zionist leaders were at least astute enough to understand the power of collective memory, and its possible impact on international public opinion. So they tailored their own versions of history very early on as to counter future generations of Palestinians.
Salman Abu Sitta is one of Palestine’s foremost historians. The man has done more to preserve and document Palestinian historical records than any other historian alive. In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper on Aug. 5, 2012, Abu Sitta was, of course, fully aware of the Israeli attempts at restyling history. “The Israeli maps of the 1950s were nothing more than the British survey of Palestine maps overwritten in Hebrew,” he said. “From 1960 onwards, the survey of Israel department started to issue maps devoid of all these original Palestinian names, and replaced with Hebrew ones.”
The reference to 1960 retrospectively corroborates Hazkani’s story based on the enduring file GL-18/17028.
Six and a half decades later that fight continues, between Israel’s attempts to erase the history of Palestine, while Palestinians, through independent efforts (no thanks to the warring factions) try to preserve their own. “The war runs along several fronts, not only militarily, but it is also a battle over the minds of people…We are not trying to obliterate any other’s history — we are trying to say that we will not allow you (Israel) to erase ours,” Abu Sitta said.
Yet Israel’s effort at abolishing Palestinian history never ceased, starting with the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian villages and expelling their populations in 1947-48, to rewriting maps, to changing names of towns and streets, to manufacturing alternate histories, to more recently, outlawing Palestinian memory. Yes, precisely that.
In March 2011, the Israeli Knesset passed what is known as the “Nakba Bill.” It financially penalizes any organization or institution that perceives and commemorates Israel’s founding as a day of mourning for Palestinians. The law, officially known as “Budget Principles Law (Amendment 39) — Reducing Budgetary Support for Activities Contrary to the Principles of the State,” was as a continuation of Ben-Gurion’s project of physically erasing Palestinians, severing their rapport with their own land, and presenting a construct of history to the rest of the world — a history that was deliberately misconstrued by few individuals following official instructions.
Alas, a largely invented history that is so focused and well-funded seems to trump genuine history that is mostly distorted by the incompetence of its owners. True, there are many Abu Sitta type historians, who see Palestinians through the transparency of the collective, not the distorted prisms of individuals or factions. However, their voices are muffled and trounced by overwhelming odds — the Hamas versus Fatah versus the rest, the division of the national identity based on geography, politics and funds, among other factors.
The current generation of Palestinians is yet to have a fully comprehensive, well-funded, long-term national Palestinian project that spans limited group interests and geography; one that is manned by qualified, well-trained Palestinian historians, spokespersons and scholars, so that a broad and unswerving Palestinian narrative can be presented throughout the world. All such efforts remain the responsibility of single individuals and small organizations with limited means, thus with narrowed outreach. But without such a unifying platform, it will be immensely difficult for the Palestinian narrative to reach the critical mass needed to overpower the fictitious Israeli version of Palestinian history which continues to define mainstream thinking in many parts of the world, especially in the West.
The work of Israel’s New Historians has been immensely valuable, although one cannot compare the compassion of such historians as Pappe, with the harshness of Morris. The hundreds of other accounts offered by outsiders are also important, for they help in creating frames of references to which their specific audiences around the world can relate. But without a unified Palestinian narrative, massive in its magnitude, striking in its consistency, and all-inclusive in its presentation, the Israeli story, as fallacious as it is, will continue to define the mainstream understanding of history for years to come.(http://www.arabnews.com/news/476021)
Just who killed Arafat?
By Marwan Asmar | Special to Gulf News
Just as when he was alive, his death is sending renewed reverberations among the Palestinians, Israelis and the world. Almost everyone — except the Israelis — have been involved in unravelling the mysterious death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on that gloomy 11th day of November in 2004.
For odd reasons, when he died, and despite the fact his demise was full of suspicion, everybody wanted to get the funeral over and done with as quickly as possible. Arafat was seen as an old man who probably died of fatigue and old age and what everyone was looking for was a new era in Palestinian-Israeli politics. Nobody even bothered to call for a biopsy and for no logical reason, the French military hospital were Arafat died, destroyed many of the tests soon after.
Yet many, including Arafat’s wife Suha, continued to believe the Palestine Liberation Organisaton (PLO) chairman and the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was poisoned and it was this that killed him. Nine years later, her suspicions were confirmed. Last week’s report by a Swiss team from the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne brought her as near to the truth as she can possibly get. Its scientists said they had 83 per cent proof that Arafat was lethally poisoned by polonium-210 — a deadly substance that is a product of uranium and made in nuclear reactors.
After re-examination of his ribs and pelvis, they found the level of polonium 18 times higher than the normal levels and it was this that “moderately supports”, as the scientists termed, the belief he was killed with such a highly dangerous substance.
The journey to this final conclusion had been long and arduous. It first started with Al Jazeera approaching Suha in 2011 to do a documentary on the death of her late husband. At the time, she handed the television station all his final possessions in a duffel bag, which they passed on to the Swiss Centre where, after examination of the various items Arafat wore, found they were infected with polonium-210. This increased suspicion, but the scientists needed more proof, which was gained when his wife was persuaded to grant permission to exhume his body, which was laid to rest in a mausoleum outside the PNA headquarters in Ramallah. She got permission from the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and in November 2012, his body was exhumed and 60 samples were taken.
At the time, after the Al Jazeera documentary aired on July 3, 2012, France decided to open a criminal investigation into his death in August 2012, persuading Abbas to exhume the body of the late president.
Three teams — French, Swiss and Russian — took tissues from the body to analyse in their laboratories.
It was the results of the Lausanne team that created the shock, reverberations and indeed denunciations mainly from Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, who branded the report as “ ... more soap opera than science”. As expected, the Israelis will say so about the report — that was cautious in its wording — from a reputable institute, which is regarded highly at the international level. It does not blame anyone, but merely says that the death of Arafat — who had taken ill after dinner on October 12, 2004, went into a coma on November 3 and never recovered — was probably the result of polonium poisoning, ingested into his system.
Quite baffling
Whether one likes it or not, it was Israel that may have finally done the unthinkable and slipped the deadly silver powder, seen as “perfect poison” that is hard to detect. The Ariel Sharon government, which was then in power, had put Arafat under siege for two and a half years until his illness in October 2004. He was not allowed to move, was kept confined in his quarters with Israeli bulldozers chipping away at his Muqata residence.
t was certainly not true what some Israeli officials were saying about Arafat becoming “irrelevant” — a view emphasised by Dov Weissglass, a top Sharon aide, who pointed out that “Arafat’s control over Palestinian life was minimal ...” and that Israel had no interest in harming him. This actually contradicts what Sharon said at the time — the commitment he had made to the then American president, George W. Bush, to not kill Arafat. Sharon said: “I released myself from the commitment ...”, and added that he should have killed Arafat back in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon.
Israeli journalist Danny Rubinstein, who wrote a book on the Palestinian leader, says Sharon and his inner circle were obsessed with how to get rid of Arafat and openly talked about expelling him, killing him or bombing his headquarters. Such voices came from leading Likud figures like Ehud Olmert, who was vice-premier and minister of communication, as well as defence minister Shaul Mofaz. They made it clear they would get rid of Arafat at the right time.
It is really quite baffling to hear of such talk at cabinet level. Looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, this was part of the logical developments leading up to Arafat’s death. It was part of a grand design by Israel and its intelligence agencies, which had been picking up and executing high-profile Palestinian leaders since the early 1970s.
Further, Israeli intelligence had no qualms about going into different Arab countries like Lebanon, Jordan, the UAE or even Italy and other European countries to “liquidate” Palestinians — as Sharon termed it — or in faking other countries’ passports for their own murderous aims.
If you put all these things together, Israel emerges as the prime suspect and the culprit in the murder of Arafat. This is precisely because Israel had the required sophisticated technology — with no compunction in using it, as when it tried to assassinate Hamas leader Khalid Mesha’al in Jordan in broad daylight in 1997, by injecting a lethal poison in his ears. If it was not for the intervention of the late King Hussain — who called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded the antidote for the poison — Mesha’al would have been dead.
And so history repeats itself. Israel has an impressive record of assassinations and no doubt its politicians and prime ministers will continue to use this form of political murder in the way they see fit to guard what they perceive as a threat to Israel’s existence, while feeling free to ride roughshod on Palestinians whom they occupy.
Regardless of how one sees this, the latest findings of the Swiss report show a way forward to unravel the mystery behind Arafat’s death. Now that such a fact has been established, the next thing is to find out who are the actual killers. What everyone is waiting for is the current French investigation and its report, that is expected to corroborate what the Swiss have concluded, and enforce the view that the Palestinian leader was indeed poisoned and throw light on just who poisoned him. This should be a political bombshell in its own right.(http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/just-who-killed-arafat-1.1253989)
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Opinions
Um Hayran – the legal and the illegal
Al Khaleej Editorial
Israel’s decision to demolish the Palestinian village of Um Hayran in the Negev in order to build a Jewish colony in its place is a continuation of the decision to Judaize all of Palestinian land and uproot its people.
The decision is nothing new. Before Um Hayran, the village of Araqeeb, also in the Negev was demolished 50 times and each time it was torn down, its residents would rebuild it all over again to prove that they are the real landowners and will never forfeit one grain of sand of it. This is an example of the lengthy conflict between the Zionist occupier and the Palestinians over all of the land occupied since the first moment “Israel” came into existence.
The policy of expulsion and uprooting is part of Israel’s racist strategy based on Judaizing Palestinian land and emptying it of its inhabitants. It is continuing with this strategy in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Negev through passing legislation approved by the Knesset to this effect, including the racist Prawer Law. This law entails the demolition of dozens of villages in the Negev, the displacement of tens of thousands of Arab Bedouin and the confiscation of 800,000 dunams of their land.
Should the “Ehud Prawer Law”, for which the initiator currently holds the post of political planning director in Netanyahu’s office, be implemented, this would mean the uprooting of 70,000 people from their homes and land, all native inhabitants of the Negev and who are historically linked to the land of their ancestors.
The Israeli government claims that the Negev Bedouin are not the owners of the land even though these Bedouin filed over 3,000 lawsuits in Israeli courts, attached with documents and historical evidence and proof that this land belongs to them since they are the children, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the original landowners for thousands of years. Still, the Israeli courts have rejected these cases, basically because the Israeli judiciary is merely a part of the racist system on which the “Zionist entity” is founded.
But if the Negev Arabs are not the original landowners, then who are?
Surely not the Polish, German, Russian, American or French Jews who were imported to Palestine basically to continue with the plans to take over the land and Judaize it.
The people of the Negev are just like those in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Galilee and all of historical Palestine – they are victims of Zionism and of the blinded international community.
Israel claims that the villages in the Negev are illegal. But is Israel’s existence legal or legitimate? Does someone with no legitimacy have the right to speak about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of another? (http://www.alkhaleej.ae/portal/baac4553-c53d-4913-96e2-ddf26444b04b.aspx)
What a disgrace for the split to continue while settlements and Judaization are in full force
Al Quds Editorial
The Palestinian people were hoping that the current situation and the commemoration of President Yasser Arafat’s death would be ample reason to come together and ease up on the political split and tension, perhaps even achieving national unity. Instead, the Gaza authority banned any celebrations marking the ninth anniversary of Arafat’s passing, this leader who was the ultimate example of unity and was in alliance with Sheikh Ahmad Yassin for the sake of the national cause. But with this ban, the exchange of accusations grew even worse and the split has deepened even further.
The Gaza Strip, much like the West Bank, is suffering from a difficult economic crisis, electricity cuts and shortage of fuel supplies, making the daily life of its citizens extremely hard. The situation necessitates looking for a way to come together and alleviate these circumstances, however, unfortunately, almost the complete opposite is happening.
Over and above all of this, the settlement and judaization campaign has not stopped in various parts of the West Bank, Jerusalem in particular. Yesterday’s news headlines are enough to offer the grim picture of what is happening and what Israel is planning: the Israeli housing minister has presented tenders for the construction of thousands of settlement units and in Silwan, directly adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque from the southern end, they are paving the way to establish a ‘tourist center’ over 16,000 square meters. Israeli authorities informed the residents of this area about the plan and gave them 60 days to appeal. No appeal will be enough, however, because the project is practically a done deal.
Also in Jerusalem, the group “Women for the Temple” has called for repeated break-ins into the Aqsa Mosque Compound, thus continuing what others have already started, including parliamentarians, heads of parties and organizations and senior rabbis who have carried out almost daily break-ins.
Demolition orders and actual demolitions are nonstop; Israeli authorities recently distributed demolition orders to a number of homes in the Jerusalem-area town of Essawiyeh; they demolished a number of others, thus completing the picture between settlements and judaization on the one hand and demolitions and expulsions on the other.
What has already happened is huge and what is coming is even bigger in terms of these measures. And despite having seen all of this and having paid a heavy price, in spite of the threats to the land, to the future, the homeland, to our history and our present, we still see that there are those still interested in continuing with the split. These people have not made one real step towards achieving reconciliation, at a time when the tone of rhetoric and speeches and empty shows of bravado continue to rise about the unity of the homeland and the cause.
No one – not from the Arab, Islamic or international worlds – will respect us if we don’t respect ourselves and our cause in actions and not only words. The first sign of respect is to achieve reconciliation so that we can stand together and forever as one for the sake of our one cause and to forsake narrow factional interests for the sake of our higher national interests.
Calls for this have been repeated time and again but have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, the rate of settlements and Judaization has intensified and is not sparing anyone. Today, with all of the Arab and regional developments happening around us, it seems as though no one is willing to comprehend what is going on or to change their positions. Here, we would like to say again that the solution is not to drown in details and parts of parts, but that the only path to unity and reconciliation is resorting back to the people through the ballot boxes so that the people can choose their leaders and their destiny on their own. Is there anyone listening? Anyone willing to answer? (http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/472425)
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