|
|
Dec. 26, 2013
Daily summary - Thursday, December 26, 2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Main News
KERRY RESPONDS POSITIVELY TO PALESTINIAN PRESSURES AND CANCELS HIS PROPOSAL FOR THE PRESENCE OF ISRAELI FORCES IN THE JORDAN VALLEY
Informed sources said US Secretary of State John Kerry had succumbed to Palestinian pressure and cancelled his proposal for an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley, adding that he is no proposing American forces in this area instead. Highly informed American sources told the Israeli website Debkafile, known for its connections with Israeli and international intelligence agencies, that Kerry had also cancelled his former proposal regarding roads inside the West Bank designed to allow Israeli forces to access the Jordan Valley, in addition to the presence of Israeli observers at border crossings between the future Palestinian state and Jordan. The website said, according to the sources, that Kerry is now proposing to place American troops along the border with Jordan and what he called Israeli distance monitoring through high tech methods, to permanently monitor the border region and border crossings. According to the site, the American army would defend Israel’s eastern border and operate, not only the border crossings between Palestine and Jordan but also between Palestine and Israel.
Other points Kerry is planning to propose as part of his framework agreement, according to these sources, is establishing a safe passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a speed train connecting between Gaza and Hebron. The train tracks would be under Israeli sovereignty while the train itself would be under Palestinian sovereignty. The sources said the Palestinians had given their approval of the train idea but with the main station in Ramallah rather than in Hebron, in a Palestinian attempt to infiltrate the settlement bloc of Gush Etzion. Netanyahu has yet to give his approval. (Al Quds)
SAEB EREKAT: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT A TRANSITIONAL AGREEMENT OR THE JEWISH CHARACTER OF ISRAEL
Chief Palestinian negotiator and PLO Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat confirmed yesterday that the Palestinian leadership would not accept a transitional agreement or Israel as a Jewish state. He told Al Quds that President Abbas sent a letter to the American administration a few days ago saying that: “We seek peace and we accept only East Jerusalem as our capital, but we don’t accept any solution at the expense of the refugees. We also cannot accept the presence of any Israeli on our land.” He continued that the leadership would not accept a transitional agreement either. (Al Quds)
NETANYAHU PLANS TO ANNOUNCE SETTLEMENT TENDERS ALONG WITH RELEASE OF PRISONERS
The Hebrew-language news website Haaretz said in yesterday’s addition that the Israeli Netanyahu government refused the request from the United States not to announce new settlement plans in tandem with the release of the third group of pre-Oslo prisoners, slated for release on the 29th of this month. The paper said Netanyahu was planning to announce plans for new construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The EU has also warned Israel against announcing new settlement plans along with the release of prisoners, however Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya’alon said yesterday that it was Israel’s right to build in any place as long as there is an understanding with the American administration (Al Quds)
ISRAELI NEWSPAPER REVEALS SECRET CHANNEL BETWEEN NETANYAHU AND PRESIDENT ABBAS
The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahranoth said in today’s edition that there has been a secret channel of communication between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas for years. The newspaper said Netanyahu’s enjoy Yitzhak Molcho meets in London from time to time with a figure close to Abbas to exchange letters between the two leaders. The goal of this secret channel, according to the newspaper, was to solve everyday problems on the ground and to pave the way for a major political intervention, which they said helped with the decision to return to negotiations. The newspaper added that this channel has lost some of its importance with the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=660274)
LIST OF PRISONER NAMES SLATED FOR RELEASE
The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahranoth published the list of names of 30 prisoners, of which 26 will be released next week. The list includes the remaining prisoners from the West Bank and Gaza, however four prisoners will not be released in this third group but will be set free during the fourth release, which will include another 22 prisoners from Jerusalem and from inside the ’48 borders. These prisoners need the approval of the Israeli government again. The names of the 30 prisoners are as follows:
1. Ahmad Shehada – Ramallah
2. Mohammed Al Tous – Hebron
3. Mohammed Daoud – Qalqilya
4. Jum’a Adam – Jericho
5. Mahmoud Kharabeesh – Jericho
6. Ibrahim Taqtouk – Nablus
7. Bilal Damra – Salfeet
8. Raed Saadi – Jenin
9. Husni Sawalha – Nablus
10. Mohammed Sabbar – Jenin
11. Fares Baroud – Gaza Strip
12. Faisal Abul Rub – Jenin
13. Jamil Abu Muhsin – Jenin
14. Mahmoud Muamar – Bethlehem
15. Numan Shalabi – Jenin
16. Adnan Al Afandi – Bethlehem
17. Dia’ Falouji – Gaza Strip
18. Mohammed Falani – Ramallah
19. Nasser Abu Srour – Bethlehem
20. Mohammed Abu Srour – Bethlehem
21. Osama Silawi – Jenin
22. Mohammed Afana – Ramallah
23. Ramadan Ya’acoub – Ramallah
24. Ayman Jaradat – Jenin
25. Ahmad Kameel – Jenin
26. Saeed Tamimi – Ramallah
27. Ali Karaki – Hebron
28. Nasser Barhoum – Tulkarm
29. Mohammed Suleiman – Gaza Strip
30. Ibrahim Abu Ali – Gaza Strip (Al Ayyam)
CAIRO: HAMAS IS PART OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Egyptian minister Dr Ahmad Al Bari’e said yesterday that Hamas was part of the Muslim Brotherhood, adding that Egypt would not let them or anyone else interfere in Egyptian affairs. His statements came during a press conference held after the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. (Al Ayyam)
FATAH CALLS ON HAMAS TO BREAK TIES WITH THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
Fatah called on Hamas yesterday to break its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood so that “the Palestinian people and its just cause could be spared the miseries of being affiliated with this group”, which according to Egyptian law is a terrorist organization. Hamas spokesperson Ahmad Assaf said that Hamas’ continued link to the Brotherhood would put millions of Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, in confrontation with Arab countries, most importantly with Egypt. He said this entails dangerous security and economic ramifications for the people and future of the Gazans in particular. He said Hamas should put the interests of its people above factional interests, but also said he was sure that the political leadership in Egypt understood that Hamas represented only a ‘small part” of our people in Gaza. (Al Ayyam)
CAIRO: EXPLOSIVES USED IN MANSURA ATTACK SMUGGLED IN FROM GAZA
Egyptian security sources said yesterday that the types of explosives used in the Mansoura attack were smuggled in from Gaza and work to suck up oxygen from a 500-meter distance, adding that this is the first time such explosives have been used in Egypt. (Al Ayyam)
CONFRONTATIONS IN TULKARM RESULT IN SEVERAL INJURIES; RAIDS AND ARRESTS IN SEVERALWEST BANK AREAS
A child and a youth were injured yesterday by Israeli army troops during confrontations that took place in Tulkarm. According to security sources, Mohammed Haddad, 13, was wounded by shrapnel from a stun grenade causing injuries to his head and hand. Samer Maseye was shot in the foot after which he was arrested. Yesterday morning, Israeli troops also raided the village of Nabi Samuel, arresting six young men. In Essawiyeh, north of Jerusalem, 14-year old Mahdi Miswada was arrested during confrontations in the town while two religious students were arrested from Al Aqsa. Four citizens were arrested in Yabad west of Jenin. This morningseveral men were arrested from the Bethlehem areas(Al Quds)
INFORMED SOURCE: THE PRIME MINISTER IS CONTINUING HIS DISCUSSIONS TO CARRY OUT CABINET RESHUFFLE
Informed sources confirmed that PM Rami Hamdallah was continuing his contacts and discussions to choose new ministers within the framework of an imminent cabinet reshuffle at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014. The source said Hamdallah had met with a number of figures considered “technocrats” who he wants in the government. He also discussed names of candidates to take over posts in the next government. The source however, said the reshuffle would most likely not apply to the economy, Waqf and prisoner affairs ministries. (Al Quds)
UNRWA DENOUNCES DEMOLITION OF PALESTINIAN HOMES AND THE DISPLACEMENT OF 68 PEOPLE
UNRWA denounced Israel’s demolition of Palestinian buildings in the West Bank on the eve of Christmas, calling for an ‘immediate halt’ to these measures. UNRWA spokesperson Chriss Gunness said in a statement that the agency condemned the demolitions and the displacement of 67 people, the last of which happened on Christmas Eve. The statement said that in 2013, at least 1,103 Palestinians had been displaced because of home demolitions and that 663 buildings had been demolished. he called on Israel to ‘immediately halt” these administrative demolition orders. (Al Ayyam)
NETANYAHU SAYS ‘UNFORTUNATE’ THAT PRESIDENT ABBAS DID NOT DENOUNCE ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that it was ‘unfortunate’ that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had not condemned the latest attacks on Israelis from the Gaza Strip. In a statement, Netanyahu said the most recent “terror” attacks on Israelis were a direct result of the incitement towards hatred in Palestinian schools and newspapers. He said he was ‘disappointed’ that Abbas had not condemned these ‘terror acts’ saying he expected a ‘negotiating partner’ to work towards peace. (Al Ayyam)
LIEBERMAN CALLS FOR RE-ARRESTING ISSAWI
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman called yesterday for the re-arrest of Samer Issawi, who was released just day ago, after statements he made to the Aqsa Satellite Channel in which he called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. According to the Israeli daily Maariv, o his Facebook page, Lieberman called for sending Issawi back to jail because of his statements. “The day he was released, Issawi called for the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and swapping them with Palestinians, saying this was the only way prisoners would be released.” Lieberman said Issawi should be returned to jail to finish the rest of his original sentence, adding that if he wanted to go back on hunger strike “let him do whatever he wants”, citing British minister Humphrey Atkins during the 1981 Irish hunger strike who said “whoever wants to commit suicide is welcome to do so.” (Al Ayyam)
ROCKET ON ASKALAN; IRON DOME SET UP IN BEER SABA’
Israeli media sources said a rocket was shot this morning into an open area within the Ashkelon regional council into an open area on the shore. The sources also said that the Iron Dome system was not able to intercept the rocket, which caused no damages or injuries. In related news, Israel set up an Iron Dome battery last night in Beer Sheva in the southern part of the county. The battery was installed for fear of more rockets from Gaza in response to the Israeli air raids on the strip, which resulted in the death of a child and the injury of several others. (http://safa.ps/details/news/119008/صاروخ-على-عسقلان-ونصب-القبة-الحديدية-ببئر-السبع.html)
|
Headlines
*Egyptian government declares the Muslim Brotherhood a ‘terrorist organization” (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Cold front with rain and storms at beginning of the week (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*B’Tselem calls on Israeli army to investigate into the shelling that led to the death of child Hala Abu Sbeikha (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Factions agree to form a delegation to negotiate with armed elements in Yarmouk camp (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Ya’alon continues to send threats (Al Ayyam)
*Abed Rabbo: America can give Israel area in California or Washington, but not from our land (Al Ayyam)
*Hamas appoints a deported prisoner to Qatar as its spokesperson (Al Ayyam)
*Knesset committee calls for halt to maintenance works in Al Aqsa (Al Ayyam)
*25 buildings to be built on privately-owned Palestinian land in Ofra in spite of Israel’s promise of the opposite (Al Quds)
*Mass in Bethlehem and candlelit march in Beit Sahour entitled “light a candle for the right to self-determination.” (Al Quds)
*Maariv: Molcho held a secret meeting with Egyptian figure in a European capital (Al Quds)
|
Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:Gaza: a child in the home of martyr Hala Abu Sbeikha after Israeli raids on it
Al-Ayyam:1) Gaza: a child in the home of martyr Hala Abu Sbeikha in Maghazi camp after Israeli raids on it; 2) Halab: destroyed bus in the Salah Eddin neighborhood from regime shelling
Al Hayat Al Jadida:Citizens bury the martyr child, Hala’ Abu Sbeikha
|
Voice of Palestine News
Jerusalem: Arrests were made yesterday in Essawiyeh and in the Old City. Israeli police arrested a restaurant owner in the Dabaghah market of the Old City, who got into a scuffle with Jewish tourists who argued with him over the price of their meal. The tourists refused to pay for the meal, which led to a confrontation between them until the police came and arrested the owner and one of his employees in addition to the owner of a neighboring store.
In Essawiyeh, a young boy was arrested by Israeli forces on claims that he had thrown rocks at Israeli cars. There has been a heavy presence of plain-clothed Israeli forces around Essawiyeh following the release of Samer Issawi.
In Qufr Aqab, several youths were arrested in addition to other areas of Jerusalem. Two men, one from Jerusalem and another from Acca were arrested in the Aqsa mosque compound when they tried to face off with extremist settlers who were trying to pray on the grounds. They have been banned from entering the Aqsa grounds for periods ranging from two weeks to two months.
Gaza Strip: there has been more than one Israeli statement about attacking Gaza even though they have sometimes been muddled. Yesterday they talked about containing the situation, but the Israeli defense minister has a completely different stance, calling for more escalation and continuing the aggression. Yuval Steinetz told the Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv that if things do not change, Israel would prepare for a wide scale war against Gaza. Israel of course, is trying to put the blame squarely on Palestinians, saying they encourage violence and incitement.
This morning, Palestinians are tensely waiting to see what will happen, especially after Israel installed an Iron Dome battery. They are worried about a military escalation. This is the second day the Karem Abu Salem crossing has been closed, which is the only commercial crossing for the Strip. Civil society institutions are condemning the closure of this crossing, because it is collective punishment and can cause major damage to the lives of people.
|
Voice of Palestine Interviews
**Abdel ‘Al Anani, director general of the Prisoner Club, on the condition of prisoner Naim Shawamreh
Q:What efforts are being made to secure the release of Shawamreh including Israeli promises to release him?
Let me first say that there really has been a sharp deterioration in his health. We visited him yesterday in the Ramleh hospital after doing tests in the Barzalai hospital. He has muscular dystrophy; according to several lawyers who visit with him, he is not even strong enough to hold up the telephone receiver; he cannot talk. His lung muscles have weakened so he cannot breathe correctly on his own.
We have knocked on all the doors to pressure Israel into releasing Shawarmreh.
Q: But his family says they have been given promises from Saeb Erekat for his release as part of the third group of prisoners. Is this possible?
There are intense efforts at the political level, namely Erekat, not only for the release of Naim but for all sick prisoners, because they are all at risk of death in light of Israel’s intentional medical negligence towards them.
Q: But his name is not on the list of the prisoners’ names published in Yedioth Ahranoth
This is a list published by Israeli press sources, it is not an official Israeli source. Usually, Israel announces the names of prisoners 48 hours before they are released. So this is not an official announcement.
**Yousef Abu Mayaleh, spokesperson for the anti-settlement campaign in Hebron, on the stop-work orders handed to homeowners in the city
Q: What are the Israeli claims behind this order to halt work?
It is nothing new for the Israeli occupation to prevent people from building or continuing construction on their lands, especially when the claims are that the construction is in Area C or interferes with bypass roads. The occupation is always trying to expel the people from their land. Yesterday, the Israeli civil administration came to Beit Ummar and prevented homeowners from continuing work on five houses, even though the houses were originally built during the Jordanian rule. Some have been banned from working in their land, which is planted with olive trees. Israel is always finding ways of expelling the Palestinians in one way or another.
** Financial expert Tareq Al Haj, on cabinet discussions over the PA budget deficit
Q: discussions over the budget deficit will no doubt continue into 2014 to find ways to close this deficit and end the crisis. Do you think this is possible?
Yes, if the reasons behind the accumulation of this debt are taken away, then we can reach a solution. One of the most important reasons for this deficit is the inability to open the international markets to Palestinian products and the inability to attract Palestinian and non-Palestinian capital to Palestine for investment because of the lack of full sovereignty over the land. This is a major obstacle. The second reason, is the lack of control over expenditures in Gaza, which occupied over 50% of the PA’s budget. We are not calling for a halt of this money to Gaza but we need to think of mechanisms to better control the spending of this money. We also have to find ways to bring in revenues. Because what is happening now is financial piracy, being carried out by the government in Gaza.
If we do this diligently, I think we can decrease the deficit in the budget, along with resorting to Arab and Muslim countries, to take the place of foreign countries that offer us assistance as a way to politically blackmail us. If these countries fill that place, I think we can cover the deficit.
**PLO Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat, on political developments, Gaza and Kerry’s efforts
What took place in Gaza was a war crime against Palestinian civilians. This is a bloody escalation for which we hold the Israeli government fully responsible. Israel proves with each day that it is interested in war, not peace. We sent letters to the EU, Russia, the US, etc, to move quickly to stop these crimes. We take Israel’s threats very seriously.
Q: In light of all of these Israeli measures, why are the negotiations still ongoing?
As for the negotiations, for the past month, there have been no sessions. There are Palestinian-American negotiations and American-Israeli negotiations, nothing more. President Abbas also sent a letter to President Obama and the administration clarifying the Palestinian position: no transitional agreements, no Jewish state, release of prisoners, etc. Also we will not extend negotiations after the nine-month period is over.
|
More Headlines
Hamas appoints a freed prisoner deported to Qatar as its spokesperson
Hamas announced last night that it had appointed freed prisoner Hussam Badran who was deported to Qatar, as its spokesperson. In a short statement to the press, Hamas said they should follow up with Badran from now on as its official spokesperson. Badran, 47 is from Nablus, and is married with two children. He was released in the Shalit deal in 2011, but on condition of deportation. He first went to Damascus, but after relations between the Syrian regime and Hamas deteriorated, he left Syria to Qatar. He was originally sentenced to 18 years. (Al Ayyam)
B’Tselem calls on Israeli army to investigate into the shelling that resulted in the death of child Hala Abu Sbeikha
The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem said yesterday that the ‘deliberate firing at an inhabited house without giving its inhabitants any warning, or without the army ensuring that it is empty, like what happened with the Abu Sbeikha family and which led to child Hala Abu Sbeikha’s death, is illegal.” The organization called on the army to immediately investigate the incident and with the officers who ordered the shelling. (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
Israeli stun grenade burns house in Hebron
A stun grenade thrown by Israeli occupation forces this morning caused a fire to break out a Hebron home. According to local sources, the fire broke out in the home of Mohammed Al Karaki in the “Talat Hadid” area of southern Hebron. Hebron municipality teams helped to put out the fire. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=660327)
Israel demolishes Al Araqeeb for the 63rd time
Israeli bulldozers demolished this morning the village of Araqeeb for the 63rd time in a row. Around 25 police cars from the “Yoav” unit, which was set up exclusively for demolishing homes in the Negev, stormed the village at 9 this morning and begin demolishing the homes. The residents have been left without shelter in the winter cold. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=660342)
|
Arab Press
Prawer shows limits of Israel’s strategy to divide and rule
By Jesse Rosenfeld
It’s rare when Arab citizens of Israel can claim victory in their struggle against the government’s systemic discrimination, but signs that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet is backing away from its plan to displace 30,000 Bedouins in the Negev desert is one of those fleeting moments.
Since its first election in 2008, Mr Netanyahu’s coalition governments has led an uncompromising and escalating campaign to restrict the rights and marginalise the Arab minority in Israel. From laws against commemorating the Nakba – Israel’s 1948 dispossession of 800,000 Palestinians – to the creation of loyalty oaths to Israel as a Jewish state, the drastic shift to the right has largely been based on defining Arab citizens as an enemy from within.
Reacting to this increasing similarity in treatment to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, Arab citizens have cultivated an increasingly strong sense of Palestinian identity. After the Prawer plan proposal to evict Bedouins from most of their 33 unrecognised villages, ghettoising them into a handful of townships, this polarisation has come to a head.
Bedouins have had a complicated relationship with Israel – they have been denied basic civil infrastructure in the unrecognised villages, and have been impoverished and repeatedly displaced since 1948. Although one of the most disadvantaged groups, even among Arab citizens, many in the Bedouin community have volunteered to serve in the Israeli army in a bid to elevate their social status.
For many Bedouin, the assertion of their Israeli citizenship has been seen as their last recourse to preserving their rights. Even as the Negev village of Al Arakib was knocked down by Israel more than 60 times over the past three years to plant a forest, many have avoided comparing their situation with occupied Palestinians.
But the Prawer plan changed that. It ignited a sense of Palestinian national affinity in line with the political shift that the Arab community started to experience in northern Israel and the mixed Jewish-Arab cities during the first Gaza war.
On the “Day of rage” protests on November 30, thousands of Bedouin, Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians in the occupied territories protested in unity against the Prawer plan, as international supporters rallied in 30 countries. Two weeks later, the government stalled and announced that the plan would be shelved. The announcement has been followed by public cabinet infighting where Miri Regev, a far right parliamentarian chairing the committee on the plan, has criticised the idea.
“Israel wants to turn the Negev into another West Bank,” said Hasan Masri, an organiser in the anti-Prawer campaign, referring to the intent to uproot and confine the Bedouin residents so it can expand Jewish settlement. “At the same time they are putting hundreds of millions of shekels into policing the area,” he added standing on the edge of Hura, a village facing eviction and the location for the main protest of the day.
Originally from the Negev, Mr Masri is Palestinian who now lives in Jaffa. He is emblematic of the political shift that is taking place – both among the Bedouin community and the wider Arab community in Israel. For him, the Prawer plan is just the latest step in the continuing habit of Israel forcing Palestinians from their homes and land.
As the demonstration got underway more than 1,000 people carried Palestinian flags and appropriated slogans from the Arab revolutions. It quickly descended into clashes as Israeli security forces charged with horses, and used tear gas and rubber bullets while young protesters responded with rocks as they retreated to the entrance of Hura to set up tyre fire barricades.
Amid the dust and tear gas, the distinction between Israel’s treatment of its own citizens and occupied Palestinians seemed to vanish. As rights groups condemned the government and images of the crackdown beamed around the world, the similarity with Israeli security forces’ repression of young Palestinians fighting dispossession and ghettoisation in the West Bank became too powerful to ignore. This reality was only accentuated by the fact that young Bedouins arrested during the clashes still remain in Israeli custody weeks after.
The escalation in repression coupled with the government’s paralysis on how to proceed is the clearest indication that Mr Netanyahu is worried about the fallout from his escalating campaign against Israel’s Palestinians. Relying on a divided Arab community, attacks against them have traditionally been a politically risk-free way to seize more land for Jewish settlement, stoke Jewish nationalism and push the country further to the right.
But in its attempt to push through the Prawer plan, the Israeli government has broadened the sense of a common identity and struggle between its Arab community and Palestinians in the occupied territories. Simultaneously, it has focused international attention to the commonality of its oppression of Palestinians regardless of their citizenship.
This latest stumble won’t stop Israel’s practice of allotting rights based on ethnicity but it is a clear sign that its divide-and-rule strategy is showing cracks. As Bedouins join Israel’s Arab community in adopting a common Palestinian political identity with those in the occupied territories, they have forced Israel’s most unrelentingly ethno-nationalist government to pause.(http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/prawer-shows-limits-of-israels-strategy-to-divide-and-rule#full)
Al Issawi a symbol of non-violent resistance
Gulf News Editorial
Palestinian hunger striker Samer Al Issawi has become the embodiment of the Israeli regime’s deepest insecurities, its injustice and the supremacist values on which it was founded. By going on hunger strike, he has become a formidable force of nonviolent resistance, shaking the occupation regime to its core.
This regime holds thousands of Palestinian prisoners, many of them youths, without charge or due process. For years, its rulings against Palestinians have been arbitrary. Keeping such a large percentage of the youth population serves many purposes for the regime. It ensures that Palestinian streets are emptied of protesters and that its civil society is starved of a leadership that will demand change. But more importantly, it controls the growth of Palestinian population. Unable to marry or receive conjugal visits in prison, many of these men remain without children that may threaten the “Jewish nature” of Israel.
This is why the hunger strike by Al Issawi, which was emulated by others, shook Israel and will continue to do so. Israel cannot paint the prisoners as terrorists or punish them further. Having realised this, the regime saw it within its narrow interests to release him before his actions turned into a movement that would spread into a rebellion from within its prisons.
Israel may have acted in time to free Al Issawi and end his protest, but Al Issawi is just the start of an avalanche that Israel faces.(http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/al-issawi-a-symbol-of-non-violent-resistance-1.1270779)
|
Opinions
Why the constant targeting of the Gaza Strip?
Al Quds Editorial
Israel is continuing its aggression on the Gaza Strip, threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians with the excuse that Israel always uses to justify tis military operations, which is that its borders are subjected to primitive rockets; rockets, which most of the time, do not damage or harm.
In return, Israel unilaterally imposed a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip. Now, whoever comes near this area or enters it is immediately met with Israeli gunfire. This area is within agricultural lands from which thousands of Gazans benefit, people who do not have any other sources of livelihood. Hence, they face death or injury when the enter their own farms, with no other intention than to cultivate their land or harvest their crops.
Israeli authorities are aware that the area of the agricultural plot, even the area of the entire Strip, is scarce. They also know that whoever owns a piece of this land, however tiny, cannot afford to give it up because its cultivation and harvesting its produce is a matter of life and death, at least for people whose lands are in this buffer zone, which is the area between the Green Line and the Gaza Strip.
The buffer zone cuts deep into the Gaza Strip by hundreds of meters. Hence, its overall area exceeds tens of thousands of dunams, the agricultural value of which cannot even measured.
Add to this the siege, which is suffocating the Strip because it is a siege that includes basic commodities and people at the same time. The siege can be added to the list of things considered crimes against humanity because of its violation of international law and basic human rights.
The question is: what right does anyone have to deprive the people of Gaza who have nothing to do with politics and are not affiliated with Hamas, from practicing their right to travel to and from the Strip? This travel ban is unprecedented in history, not just contemporary but even to back in the dark ages!
One and a half million civilians live in a huge prison while the world remains silent towards their suffering. No one is pushing to end the siege or to open the land, air and sea crossings, so they could live in dignity like other people in the world.
And as if all this were not enough, Israel wages airstrikes that kill innocent children, spreading terror and panic among innocent people, the elderly, women, and ordinary citizens. Israel continues to threaten to broaden the attacks and turn them into an invasion; the people who will pay the price for such a war are the civilians, the unarmed population who are not involved in politics. On the contrary, many of them are opposed to Hamas and who want to end the political split and achieve Palestinian national unity.
Dealing with Hamas is an internal Palestinian issue and should not be through subjecting innocent civilians to the danger of being killed, besieged or to the drums of war. The world should stop the suffering of the Gazans; they deserve a life of freedom, dignity and worth, for they are a dear part of our Palestinian people, struggling for liberty, national sovereignty and human dignity. (Al Quds)
|
|
WHAT'S NEW
BACKGROUND
POLLS
WAYS TO GET JMCC
CONTACT US
|
To subscribe to free newsletter submit your email |
|
|
|