5 nov 2016
Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) continued their Judaization and settlement construction policies in Silwan town, south of al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem.
Speaking to a PIC reporter, member of the Committee for the Defense of Jerusalem Properties Fakhri Abu Diab affirmed that Silwan town has been systematically targeted by the IOA as it represents the key to wipe out the Islamic and Arab identity of al-Aqsa Mosque.
More than 4,500 houses in Silwan town are threatened with demolition which means that 40% of its people are threatened with displacement, he pointed out.
More than 13.5 million shekels are yearly paid as taxes from Silwan residents, however; they are not used for the infrastructures, according to him.
Abu Diab underlined that Silwan residents suffer from economic and psychological burdens due to the Israeli daily arrests and house demolitions.
Earlier on Friday, dozens of Palestinians performed Friday prayer in Ein al-Louze neighborhood for the second consecutive week in protest against Israeli demolition of dozens of local houses.
Speaking to a PIC reporter, member of the Committee for the Defense of Jerusalem Properties Fakhri Abu Diab affirmed that Silwan town has been systematically targeted by the IOA as it represents the key to wipe out the Islamic and Arab identity of al-Aqsa Mosque.
More than 4,500 houses in Silwan town are threatened with demolition which means that 40% of its people are threatened with displacement, he pointed out.
More than 13.5 million shekels are yearly paid as taxes from Silwan residents, however; they are not used for the infrastructures, according to him.
Abu Diab underlined that Silwan residents suffer from economic and psychological burdens due to the Israeli daily arrests and house demolitions.
Earlier on Friday, dozens of Palestinians performed Friday prayer in Ein al-Louze neighborhood for the second consecutive week in protest against Israeli demolition of dozens of local houses.
4 nov 2016
By Dr. Daud Abdullah
The UN’s record of standing up to Israel’s bully-boy tactics is littered with failure. Last month, however, that trend was bucked when UNESCO adopted two telling resolutions on Jerusalem. Not only did the organisation reject Israel’s claims of ownership within the occupied city, but, more importantly, it also reaffirmed that all attempts by the self-styled Jewish state to change the demographic and religious character of Jerusalem are illegal, null and void.
Naturally, it would take much more than a UNESCO resolution to deter the Israelis from their attempts to “Judaise” Jerusalem. Scores of similar resolutions have been passed before, all to no avail. Times have changed, though, and a growing number of member states are no longer prepared to be browbeaten into supporting illegal policies that usurp the rights of other people.
As expected, the Netanyahu government reacted to the UNESCO decision in the only way it knows how, with diplomatic tantrums, political threats and state violence. Incredibly, it produced, almost out of thin air, a “unique 2,700-year-old papyrus” which it claims is evidence of a connection between the city of Jerusalem and the period when the Kings of Israel were on their relatively unimportant throne. This was taken immediately as a green light to intensify excavation activities beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque. Yisrael Hasson, Director of the Israeli Authority of Antiquities, announced that it has agreed with the government that it will become mandatory for every Israeli youth to take part in the excavation works.
In what can only be interpreted as retaliation for the UNESCO vote, Israel followed up by razing a number of Muslim graves in the historical Bab Al-Rahmeh Cemetery, east of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and hoisting the Israeli flag over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the occupied Old City. The latter was not only an act of defiance to UNESCO but also an insult to the Russian government, which voted in support of the resolutions; the Orthodox Church plays an important role in the administration of the historic site.
Though depicted by Israel and its allies as “controversial” and “inflammable”, the UNESCO votes were by no means historical oddities. As far back as December 1930 an international commission appointed by the British government and approved by the Council of the League of Nations, and headed by Eliel Lofgren, a former Swedish minister of foreign affairs, ruled unanimously that:
“To the Muslims belong the sole ownership of, and the sole proprietary right to the western wall, as an integral part of al Haram Ash Sharif area.”
“To the Muslims also belongs the pavement in front of the wall and the adjacent Maghribi (Moroccan) Quarter opposite.”
“The Jews shall have free access to the wall for the purpose of devotion at all times” – subject to certain stipulations.
The circumstances which led to the 1930 commission were very similar to those that exist today. Back then, it was the Zionist claims to the Western Wall that led to the 1929 uprising in which more than 133 Jews and 116 Palestinians were killed. Indeed, in a letter dated 30 May 1918, Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann wrote to Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, demanding:
"... the handing over of the Wailing Wall as the only one [holy place] which is… left to us… our most sacred monument, in our most sacred city, is in the hands of some Maghreb religious community…"
The latest round of unrest in Jerusalem has come in the wake of heightened Israeli attempts to create new facts on the ground in the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa. Around 275 Palestinians have been killed by the occupation forces since October 2015. It was within this context that the UNESCO resolutions were drafted and voted on.
Although the UNESCO votes signal a welcome development, they do not go far enough to be regarded as a game changer. However, this is not a lost cause. The UNESCO resolutions can be given real teeth if the organisation goes one step further and calls for a cultural boycott of Israel in support of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This would isolate Israel, just as apartheid South Africa was banished from cultural and sporting activities around the world. The South African anti-Apartheid movement succeeded, in part, because it managed to develop a coalition of committed governments and people who were able to effect both domestic and international policy in institutions like the UN and its agencies.
Similarly, the BDS movement against Israeli apartheid must forge similar alliances and secure the support of governments in the global north and south. Some will, inevitably, be reluctant and even try to be obstructive (this has already been seen in Britain). In the long run, though, they will have to accept that the tide of history is moving towards the restoration of law and human rights for all of the people in and of Palestine.
Dr Daud Abdullah
MEMO Director
This article was published in the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) website.
The UN’s record of standing up to Israel’s bully-boy tactics is littered with failure. Last month, however, that trend was bucked when UNESCO adopted two telling resolutions on Jerusalem. Not only did the organisation reject Israel’s claims of ownership within the occupied city, but, more importantly, it also reaffirmed that all attempts by the self-styled Jewish state to change the demographic and religious character of Jerusalem are illegal, null and void.
Naturally, it would take much more than a UNESCO resolution to deter the Israelis from their attempts to “Judaise” Jerusalem. Scores of similar resolutions have been passed before, all to no avail. Times have changed, though, and a growing number of member states are no longer prepared to be browbeaten into supporting illegal policies that usurp the rights of other people.
As expected, the Netanyahu government reacted to the UNESCO decision in the only way it knows how, with diplomatic tantrums, political threats and state violence. Incredibly, it produced, almost out of thin air, a “unique 2,700-year-old papyrus” which it claims is evidence of a connection between the city of Jerusalem and the period when the Kings of Israel were on their relatively unimportant throne. This was taken immediately as a green light to intensify excavation activities beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque. Yisrael Hasson, Director of the Israeli Authority of Antiquities, announced that it has agreed with the government that it will become mandatory for every Israeli youth to take part in the excavation works.
In what can only be interpreted as retaliation for the UNESCO vote, Israel followed up by razing a number of Muslim graves in the historical Bab Al-Rahmeh Cemetery, east of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and hoisting the Israeli flag over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the occupied Old City. The latter was not only an act of defiance to UNESCO but also an insult to the Russian government, which voted in support of the resolutions; the Orthodox Church plays an important role in the administration of the historic site.
Though depicted by Israel and its allies as “controversial” and “inflammable”, the UNESCO votes were by no means historical oddities. As far back as December 1930 an international commission appointed by the British government and approved by the Council of the League of Nations, and headed by Eliel Lofgren, a former Swedish minister of foreign affairs, ruled unanimously that:
“To the Muslims belong the sole ownership of, and the sole proprietary right to the western wall, as an integral part of al Haram Ash Sharif area.”
“To the Muslims also belongs the pavement in front of the wall and the adjacent Maghribi (Moroccan) Quarter opposite.”
“The Jews shall have free access to the wall for the purpose of devotion at all times” – subject to certain stipulations.
The circumstances which led to the 1930 commission were very similar to those that exist today. Back then, it was the Zionist claims to the Western Wall that led to the 1929 uprising in which more than 133 Jews and 116 Palestinians were killed. Indeed, in a letter dated 30 May 1918, Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann wrote to Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, demanding:
"... the handing over of the Wailing Wall as the only one [holy place] which is… left to us… our most sacred monument, in our most sacred city, is in the hands of some Maghreb religious community…"
The latest round of unrest in Jerusalem has come in the wake of heightened Israeli attempts to create new facts on the ground in the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa. Around 275 Palestinians have been killed by the occupation forces since October 2015. It was within this context that the UNESCO resolutions were drafted and voted on.
Although the UNESCO votes signal a welcome development, they do not go far enough to be regarded as a game changer. However, this is not a lost cause. The UNESCO resolutions can be given real teeth if the organisation goes one step further and calls for a cultural boycott of Israel in support of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This would isolate Israel, just as apartheid South Africa was banished from cultural and sporting activities around the world. The South African anti-Apartheid movement succeeded, in part, because it managed to develop a coalition of committed governments and people who were able to effect both domestic and international policy in institutions like the UN and its agencies.
Similarly, the BDS movement against Israeli apartheid must forge similar alliances and secure the support of governments in the global north and south. Some will, inevitably, be reluctant and even try to be obstructive (this has already been seen in Britain). In the long run, though, they will have to accept that the tide of history is moving towards the restoration of law and human rights for all of the people in and of Palestine.
Dr Daud Abdullah
MEMO Director
This article was published in the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) website.
By Jonathan Cook
Israel has just emerged from its extended, three-week high holidays, a period that in recent years has been marked by extremist religious Jews making provocative visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
Many go to pray, in violation of Israel’s international obligations. Most belong to groups that seek the mosque’s destruction and replacement with a Jewish temple – and now enjoy support from within the parliament, including from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party.
A rash of such visits last autumn outraged Palestinians and triggered a wave of so-called “lone-wolf” attacks on Israelis. The attacks only recently abated.
Taking advantage of the renewed quiet, Israel allowed a record number of ultra-nationalists to visit the mosque, figures released last week show. Parties of Israeli soldiers are also now entering the site.
The police, whose recently appointed commander is himself from the extremist settler community, has recommended too that restrictions be ended on visits by Jewish legislators who demand Israel’s sovereignty over the mosque.
Israel’s treatment of this supremely important Islamic holy site symbolizes for Palestinians their powerlessness, oppression and routine humiliation. Conversely, a sense of impunity has left Israel greedy for even more control over Palestinians.
The gaping power imbalance was detailed last month at special hearing of the United Nations security council. Hagai El-Ad, head of B’tselem, which monitors the occupation, termed Israel’s abuses as “invisible, bureaucratic, daily violence” against Palestinians exercised from “cradle to grave”.
He appealed to the international community to end its five decades of inaction. “We need your help. … The occupation must end. The UN Security Council must act. And the time is now,” he said.
Israeli politicians were incensed. El-Ad had broken one of Israel’s cardinal rules: you do not wash the country’s dirty linen abroad. Most Israelis consider the occupation and Palestinian suffering as purely an internal matter, to be decided by them alone.
Netanyahu accused B’tselem’s director of conspiring with outsiders to subject Israel to “international coercion”.
With the US limply defending El-Ad’s freedom of speech, Netanyahu found a proxy to relaunch the attack.David Bitan, chair of his party, both demanded that El-Ad be stripped of his citizenship and proposed legislation to outlaw calls for sanctions against Israel in international forums.
Unsurprisingly, El-Ad has faced a flood of death threats.
Meanwhile, another UN forum has been considering Israel’s occupation. Its educational, scientific, and cultural body, UNESCO, passed last month a resolution condemning Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian holy sites, and especially al-Aqsa.
Again, Israelis were enraged at this brief disturbance of their well-oiled machinery of oppression. The abuses documented by UNESCO were overshadowed by Israeli protests that its own narrative, one based on security paranoia and Biblical entitlement, was not the focus.
While Israel exercises ever more physical control over Palestinians, its moral credit is rapidly running out with foreign audiences, who have come to understand that the occupation is neither benign nor temporary.
The rise of social media has accelerated that awakening, which in turn has bolstered grassroots reactions like the boycott (BDS) movement.
Aware of the dangers, Israel has been aggressively targeting all forms of popular activism. Facebook and Youtube are under relentless pressure to censor sites critical of Israel.
Western governments – which joined the chorus of “Je suis Charlie” after ISIL’s lethal attack on the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine last year – have cracked down on the boycott movement. Paradoxically, France has led the way by outlawing such activism, echoing Israeli claims that it constitutes “incitement”.
And left-wing social movements emerging in Europe face loud accusations that any criticism of Israel is tantamount to an attack on all Jews. Notably, a British parliamentary committee last month characterized as anti-semitic parts of the opposition Labor party under its new leader Jeremy Corbyn, a champion of Palestinian rights.
In these ways, European governments – fearful of upsetting Israel’s patron in Washington – have been trying to hold in check popular anger at a belligerent and unrepentant Israel.
Illustrating that caution, UNESCO was forced last week to vote a second time on its resolution, this time removing the word “occupation” and, against normal practice, giving equal status to the occupier’s names for the sites under threat from its occupation.
Even with the resolution neutered, UNESCO’s usual consensus could not be reached. The resolution – pushed by the Palestinians and Arab states – passed by a wafer-thin majority, with European and other governments abstaining.
Israel and its enablers have successfully engineered a hollowing out of official discourse about Israel to blunt even the mildest criticism.
Gradually, as the UNESCO vote and Corbyn’s experiences in the UK highlight, western powers are accepting Netanyahu’s doubly illogical premises: that criticizing the occupation is anti-Israel, and criticizing Israel is anti-semitic.
Incrementally, Western leaders are conceding that any criticism of Netanyahu’s policies – even as he tries to ensure the occupation becomes permanent – is off-limits.
El-Ad called for courage from the UN security council. But his words have fallen on deaf ears.
(A version of this article first appeared in the National Abu Dhabi.)
– Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Israel has just emerged from its extended, three-week high holidays, a period that in recent years has been marked by extremist religious Jews making provocative visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
Many go to pray, in violation of Israel’s international obligations. Most belong to groups that seek the mosque’s destruction and replacement with a Jewish temple – and now enjoy support from within the parliament, including from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party.
A rash of such visits last autumn outraged Palestinians and triggered a wave of so-called “lone-wolf” attacks on Israelis. The attacks only recently abated.
Taking advantage of the renewed quiet, Israel allowed a record number of ultra-nationalists to visit the mosque, figures released last week show. Parties of Israeli soldiers are also now entering the site.
The police, whose recently appointed commander is himself from the extremist settler community, has recommended too that restrictions be ended on visits by Jewish legislators who demand Israel’s sovereignty over the mosque.
Israel’s treatment of this supremely important Islamic holy site symbolizes for Palestinians their powerlessness, oppression and routine humiliation. Conversely, a sense of impunity has left Israel greedy for even more control over Palestinians.
The gaping power imbalance was detailed last month at special hearing of the United Nations security council. Hagai El-Ad, head of B’tselem, which monitors the occupation, termed Israel’s abuses as “invisible, bureaucratic, daily violence” against Palestinians exercised from “cradle to grave”.
He appealed to the international community to end its five decades of inaction. “We need your help. … The occupation must end. The UN Security Council must act. And the time is now,” he said.
Israeli politicians were incensed. El-Ad had broken one of Israel’s cardinal rules: you do not wash the country’s dirty linen abroad. Most Israelis consider the occupation and Palestinian suffering as purely an internal matter, to be decided by them alone.
Netanyahu accused B’tselem’s director of conspiring with outsiders to subject Israel to “international coercion”.
With the US limply defending El-Ad’s freedom of speech, Netanyahu found a proxy to relaunch the attack.David Bitan, chair of his party, both demanded that El-Ad be stripped of his citizenship and proposed legislation to outlaw calls for sanctions against Israel in international forums.
Unsurprisingly, El-Ad has faced a flood of death threats.
Meanwhile, another UN forum has been considering Israel’s occupation. Its educational, scientific, and cultural body, UNESCO, passed last month a resolution condemning Israel’s systematic violations of Palestinian holy sites, and especially al-Aqsa.
Again, Israelis were enraged at this brief disturbance of their well-oiled machinery of oppression. The abuses documented by UNESCO were overshadowed by Israeli protests that its own narrative, one based on security paranoia and Biblical entitlement, was not the focus.
While Israel exercises ever more physical control over Palestinians, its moral credit is rapidly running out with foreign audiences, who have come to understand that the occupation is neither benign nor temporary.
The rise of social media has accelerated that awakening, which in turn has bolstered grassroots reactions like the boycott (BDS) movement.
Aware of the dangers, Israel has been aggressively targeting all forms of popular activism. Facebook and Youtube are under relentless pressure to censor sites critical of Israel.
Western governments – which joined the chorus of “Je suis Charlie” after ISIL’s lethal attack on the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine last year – have cracked down on the boycott movement. Paradoxically, France has led the way by outlawing such activism, echoing Israeli claims that it constitutes “incitement”.
And left-wing social movements emerging in Europe face loud accusations that any criticism of Israel is tantamount to an attack on all Jews. Notably, a British parliamentary committee last month characterized as anti-semitic parts of the opposition Labor party under its new leader Jeremy Corbyn, a champion of Palestinian rights.
In these ways, European governments – fearful of upsetting Israel’s patron in Washington – have been trying to hold in check popular anger at a belligerent and unrepentant Israel.
Illustrating that caution, UNESCO was forced last week to vote a second time on its resolution, this time removing the word “occupation” and, against normal practice, giving equal status to the occupier’s names for the sites under threat from its occupation.
Even with the resolution neutered, UNESCO’s usual consensus could not be reached. The resolution – pushed by the Palestinians and Arab states – passed by a wafer-thin majority, with European and other governments abstaining.
Israel and its enablers have successfully engineered a hollowing out of official discourse about Israel to blunt even the mildest criticism.
Gradually, as the UNESCO vote and Corbyn’s experiences in the UK highlight, western powers are accepting Netanyahu’s doubly illogical premises: that criticizing the occupation is anti-Israel, and criticizing Israel is anti-semitic.
Incrementally, Western leaders are conceding that any criticism of Netanyahu’s policies – even as he tries to ensure the occupation becomes permanent – is off-limits.
El-Ad called for courage from the UN security council. But his words have fallen on deaf ears.
(A version of this article first appeared in the National Abu Dhabi.)
– Jonathan Cook won the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) closed Friday evening the entrance to Beit Umar town as part of its military restrictions against al-Khalil city south of West Bank.
Israeli forces also erected a military checkpoint near Ras Joura town north of al-Khalil.
Several vehicles were stopped and searched at the checkpoint.
A second checkpoint was erected at the entrance to Seir town.
Israeli forces also erected a military checkpoint near Ras Joura town north of al-Khalil.
Several vehicles were stopped and searched at the checkpoint.
A second checkpoint was erected at the entrance to Seir town.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) closed Friday afternoon the entrances to Palestinian towns in al-Khalil and Ramallah.
Local sources affirmed that Israeli forces closed all main entrances to Dura town, west of al-Khalil, with concrete blocks.
Two other neighboring towns’ entrances were closed following an alleged anti-occupation attack against Israeli forces in the area.
In Ramallah, Israeli soldiers blocked the entrances to both towns of al-Jania and Silwad.
Palestinian residents’ movement was denied in both directions.
Local sources affirmed that Israeli forces closed all main entrances to Dura town, west of al-Khalil, with concrete blocks.
Two other neighboring towns’ entrances were closed following an alleged anti-occupation attack against Israeli forces in the area.
In Ramallah, Israeli soldiers blocked the entrances to both towns of al-Jania and Silwad.
Palestinian residents’ movement was denied in both directions.