23 oct 2016
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) closed Sunday evening all entrances to Deir Jarir village northeast of Ramallah and declared it a closed military zone.
Local sources affirmed that Israeli forces restricted the people’s movement in both directions which led to the outbreak of violent clashes.
The sources pointed out that Israeli forces deployed in large numbers throughout the town and erected a number of military checkpoints northeast of Ramallah.
Similar measures were taken in Silwad and Nabi Salah villages in Ramallah, restricting the locals’ movement.
Local sources affirmed that Israeli forces restricted the people’s movement in both directions which led to the outbreak of violent clashes.
The sources pointed out that Israeli forces deployed in large numbers throughout the town and erected a number of military checkpoints northeast of Ramallah.
Similar measures were taken in Silwad and Nabi Salah villages in Ramallah, restricting the locals’ movement.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday stormed Bab al-Rahma Cemetery adjacent to the holy al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem.
A PIC news correspondent said the IOF, escorted by the Antiquity Authority staff members, broke into the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery, smashed several tombs, and exhumed others.
The occupation soldiers detained the member of the of the al-Aqsa personnel Samed Asila and released him sometime later.
Israeli attacks on Muslims’ cemeteries and mosques, among other holy sites, have seen a striking upsurge over the past few years.
A PIC news correspondent said the IOF, escorted by the Antiquity Authority staff members, broke into the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery, smashed several tombs, and exhumed others.
The occupation soldiers detained the member of the of the al-Aqsa personnel Samed Asila and released him sometime later.
Israeli attacks on Muslims’ cemeteries and mosques, among other holy sites, have seen a striking upsurge over the past few years.
The Israeli occupation army on Saturday evening slapped a total closure on the West Bank and Gaza, which will last until Monday night, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers will not be able to enter/exit the occupied territories as a result of the measure, which will be in place from midnight Saturday until midnight Monday.
Similar closures have been placed on the West Bank in the past during Jewish holidays, particularly Yom Kippur and Passover. Those holidays are often associated with increased terrorism and break-ins by Israeli fanatic settlers at Islamic holy sites, particularly the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The crossings on the Gaza border have also been closed off for the holiday period.
During such holidays the occupation army seals off border crossings into Gaza and partially opens the Karem Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun crossings. Hundreds of fixed and makeshift checkpoints have also been pitched to block Palestinians’ movement in and out.
Sukkot is a week-long Jewish festival which falls shortly after Yom Kippur. Sukkot in Israel is a time of vacation – the first and last days are national holidays.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian workers will not be able to enter/exit the occupied territories as a result of the measure, which will be in place from midnight Saturday until midnight Monday.
Similar closures have been placed on the West Bank in the past during Jewish holidays, particularly Yom Kippur and Passover. Those holidays are often associated with increased terrorism and break-ins by Israeli fanatic settlers at Islamic holy sites, particularly the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The crossings on the Gaza border have also been closed off for the holiday period.
During such holidays the occupation army seals off border crossings into Gaza and partially opens the Karem Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun crossings. Hundreds of fixed and makeshift checkpoints have also been pitched to block Palestinians’ movement in and out.
Sukkot is a week-long Jewish festival which falls shortly after Yom Kippur. Sukkot in Israel is a time of vacation – the first and last days are national holidays.
22 oct 2016
Coalition chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) said Friday that he had called on the authorities to examine the legal possibility of stripping B’Tselem chief Hagai El-Ad of his citizenship as punishment for his recent remarks against Israel at a UN session.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 2, Bitan stated that El-Ad’s recent speech at a Security Council meeting, in which he called for working to end the occupation in the West Bank, was a “blatant breach of trust by an Israeli citizen to the state, and as such, he should find another nationality.”
Bitan added that he had asked interior minister Aryeh Deri to look into the possibility of revoking El-Ad’s citizenship, stressing that he was determined to take action even if there were legal impediments preventing that.
Responding to Bitan’s comments, B’Tselem said, "For almost 50 years the Palestinians have had no nationality and no rights. Now the chairman of the coalition, the emissary of the prime minister, wants to revoke the citizenship of those who speak out against this reality."
"These threats will not deter B'Tselem and the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who oppose the occupation,” the human rights group underscored.
Bitan’s remarks were blasted by Meretz chairwoman MK Zehava Galon. "These calls are dangerous. In a democratic country, citizenship is a basic right. It is not a gift granted to those who are favorable in the eyes of the chairman of the coalition.”
During the UN Security Council meeting that was held on October 14, the B'Tselem head called on the international community to take action after 50 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine. El-Ad said that the Israeli government had used the peace process to play for time to take over more areas of the West Bank and build more settlements.
“After so many years, one has to draw certain conclusions…Israel will not cease being an oppressor simply by waking up one morning and realizing the brutality of its policies,” he told the Security Council. “So far the world refuses to take effective action… We need your help. The rights of the Palestinians must be realized; the occupation must end, the UN Security Council must act; the time is now.”
Following his speech, El-Ad was severely attacked by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who called B'Tselem a "fleeting and bizarre" group. “What these organizations cannot achieve through democratic elections in Israel, they try to achieve by international coercion,” he said.
Netanyahu also threatened to take measures against B’Tselem.
The US administration recently criticized Netanyahu's remarks and said it values the information published by B'Tselem about the situation in the West Bank.
“I am not going to comment on everything that has been said," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "In general, we believe that a free and unfettered civil society is a critical component of democracy. As we have said many times, we believe it is important that governments protect the freedoms of expression, and create an atmosphere where all voices can be heard."
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 2, Bitan stated that El-Ad’s recent speech at a Security Council meeting, in which he called for working to end the occupation in the West Bank, was a “blatant breach of trust by an Israeli citizen to the state, and as such, he should find another nationality.”
Bitan added that he had asked interior minister Aryeh Deri to look into the possibility of revoking El-Ad’s citizenship, stressing that he was determined to take action even if there were legal impediments preventing that.
Responding to Bitan’s comments, B’Tselem said, "For almost 50 years the Palestinians have had no nationality and no rights. Now the chairman of the coalition, the emissary of the prime minister, wants to revoke the citizenship of those who speak out against this reality."
"These threats will not deter B'Tselem and the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who oppose the occupation,” the human rights group underscored.
Bitan’s remarks were blasted by Meretz chairwoman MK Zehava Galon. "These calls are dangerous. In a democratic country, citizenship is a basic right. It is not a gift granted to those who are favorable in the eyes of the chairman of the coalition.”
During the UN Security Council meeting that was held on October 14, the B'Tselem head called on the international community to take action after 50 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine. El-Ad said that the Israeli government had used the peace process to play for time to take over more areas of the West Bank and build more settlements.
“After so many years, one has to draw certain conclusions…Israel will not cease being an oppressor simply by waking up one morning and realizing the brutality of its policies,” he told the Security Council. “So far the world refuses to take effective action… We need your help. The rights of the Palestinians must be realized; the occupation must end, the UN Security Council must act; the time is now.”
Following his speech, El-Ad was severely attacked by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, who called B'Tselem a "fleeting and bizarre" group. “What these organizations cannot achieve through democratic elections in Israel, they try to achieve by international coercion,” he said.
Netanyahu also threatened to take measures against B’Tselem.
The US administration recently criticized Netanyahu's remarks and said it values the information published by B'Tselem about the situation in the West Bank.
“I am not going to comment on everything that has been said," State Department spokesman John Kirby said. "In general, we believe that a free and unfettered civil society is a critical component of democracy. As we have said many times, we believe it is important that governments protect the freedoms of expression, and create an atmosphere where all voices can be heard."
Palestinian national forces in Khuder town strongly condemned offering congratulations to Israeli settlers by a number of local residents on the occasion of Jewish holiday.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement on Saturday denouncing the act and considering it a betrayal to the Palestinian people’s sacrifices and resistance against settlement expansion at the expense of their lands.
Khuder municipality also condemned the act, denying the participation of any of its crews in the visit to Efrat settlement to offer congratulations.
The PA Preventive Service has earlier summoned four people for investigation over their participation in the visit.
Bethlehem’s deputy governor Mohamed Taha, for his part, considered the act as a violation to the Palestinian constitution that prevents any sort of normalization with Israeli settlers due to their illegal presence in Palestinian territories.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement on Saturday denouncing the act and considering it a betrayal to the Palestinian people’s sacrifices and resistance against settlement expansion at the expense of their lands.
Khuder municipality also condemned the act, denying the participation of any of its crews in the visit to Efrat settlement to offer congratulations.
The PA Preventive Service has earlier summoned four people for investigation over their participation in the visit.
Bethlehem’s deputy governor Mohamed Taha, for his part, considered the act as a violation to the Palestinian constitution that prevents any sort of normalization with Israeli settlers due to their illegal presence in Palestinian territories.
Violent clashes broke out at dawn Saturday in Jenin refugee camp when PA security forces stormed the camp amid heavy fire of live ammunition and tear gas bombs.
Local sources told PIC reporter that teargas bombs have been extensively used during the raid, which led to the outbreak of the clashes.
Local youths closed the entrance to the camp in an attempt to prevent any planned arrests, the sources added.
Similar clashes broke out more than once over the past week as PA forces tried to carry out arrest campaigns.
Local sources told PIC reporter that teargas bombs have been extensively used during the raid, which led to the outbreak of the clashes.
Local youths closed the entrance to the camp in an attempt to prevent any planned arrests, the sources added.
Similar clashes broke out more than once over the past week as PA forces tried to carry out arrest campaigns.
By: Refaat Alareer
Facebook continues to disable Palestinian pages, as several administration accounts and two pages have been deleted recently, according to Palestinian activists.
Last week, administrators from the Palestinian Information Centre (PIC) Facebook page in Arabic reported that at least 10 accounts were suspended, seven permanently and three temporarily. The PIC has more than two million followers.
When contacted for an explanation, Facebook responded by saying: "Your account has been permanently disabled for not following Facebook Community Standards. We will not reactivate it for any reason."
But according to PIC's general director, Yahya Abu Hassan, the Facebook Community Standards are just a pretext. "Whatever these standards are, they remain loose, arbitrary and moody. However, Facebook clearly uses them as a sword to delete whichever material gets reported to them by the Israelis, thus reminding us of the worst censorship by dictators across time and place."
On Monday, PIC's Facebook page in English, which has more than 200,000 likes, had one of its videos removed by Facebook under the pretext that it had "nudity".
"[The page] posts news stories, reports, features, pictures, cartoons and videos exclusively about Palestine and Palestinians," said Rami Salaam, the page's main administrator.
"The video is motivational. It's about a Palestinian college graduate who is defying the Israeli siege and unemployment by selling flowers. It sends a message to occupied and besieged Palestinians that there is still a ray of hope," Salaam told Al Jazeera. "I have had my accounted temporarily suspended for no reason a number of times before. It's frustrating and, worse, it is distracting."
Last September, Facebook disabled several Palestinian accounts on the basis that they breached community standards. Four editors from the Shehab News Agency, which has more than 6.3 million likes on Facebook, and three executives from the Quds News Network, with about 5.1 million likes, reported they could not access their personal accounts. Both agencies cover daily news in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists tried to counter the crackdown with a campaign on social media using the hashtag #FBcensorsPalestine. Thousands interacted with the campaign, generating tens of thousands of tweets and posts.
Coming under pressure, Facebook apologised and reactivated the accounts. However, the social media giant has been singling out Palestinian pages one at a time, say activists, who allege that the crackdown is the result of an agreement between Facebook and Israel.
Last September, a Facebook delegation met Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to "improve cooperation against incitement to terror and murder", according to a statement from the prime minister's office. Shaked, of the right-wing, settler-supported Jewish Home party, hailed the meeting as a success.
Several Israeli press reports suggested that Facebook and the Israeli government would set up "joint teams" to counter online incitement, but no further details were provided.
A spokesperson for the social network told Al Jazeera in a statement at the time that the visit was "part of an ongoing dialogue with policymakers and experts around the world to keep terrorist content off our platform and support counter-speech initiatives".
While Palestinian activists say they are frustrated about being silenced by Facebook, some are still determined to pursue their activism for Palestine on the service.
"Facebook is an important platform. We can't just leave it because of its repressive policies against Palestinians," said Bayan Mohammed, PIC's main Arabic page administrator, whose account was permanently disabled.
"We will continue posting. We will create more accounts and pages to make sure Palestine's voice is heard loud and clear," he told Al Jazeera.
Other activists say that they are working on finding another platform that guarantees freedom of speech to all, to put an end to what renowned Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa referred to as "digital dictatorship".
Source: Al Jazeera
Facebook continues to disable Palestinian pages, as several administration accounts and two pages have been deleted recently, according to Palestinian activists.
Last week, administrators from the Palestinian Information Centre (PIC) Facebook page in Arabic reported that at least 10 accounts were suspended, seven permanently and three temporarily. The PIC has more than two million followers.
When contacted for an explanation, Facebook responded by saying: "Your account has been permanently disabled for not following Facebook Community Standards. We will not reactivate it for any reason."
But according to PIC's general director, Yahya Abu Hassan, the Facebook Community Standards are just a pretext. "Whatever these standards are, they remain loose, arbitrary and moody. However, Facebook clearly uses them as a sword to delete whichever material gets reported to them by the Israelis, thus reminding us of the worst censorship by dictators across time and place."
On Monday, PIC's Facebook page in English, which has more than 200,000 likes, had one of its videos removed by Facebook under the pretext that it had "nudity".
"[The page] posts news stories, reports, features, pictures, cartoons and videos exclusively about Palestine and Palestinians," said Rami Salaam, the page's main administrator.
"The video is motivational. It's about a Palestinian college graduate who is defying the Israeli siege and unemployment by selling flowers. It sends a message to occupied and besieged Palestinians that there is still a ray of hope," Salaam told Al Jazeera. "I have had my accounted temporarily suspended for no reason a number of times before. It's frustrating and, worse, it is distracting."
Last September, Facebook disabled several Palestinian accounts on the basis that they breached community standards. Four editors from the Shehab News Agency, which has more than 6.3 million likes on Facebook, and three executives from the Quds News Network, with about 5.1 million likes, reported they could not access their personal accounts. Both agencies cover daily news in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists tried to counter the crackdown with a campaign on social media using the hashtag #FBcensorsPalestine. Thousands interacted with the campaign, generating tens of thousands of tweets and posts.
Coming under pressure, Facebook apologised and reactivated the accounts. However, the social media giant has been singling out Palestinian pages one at a time, say activists, who allege that the crackdown is the result of an agreement between Facebook and Israel.
Last September, a Facebook delegation met Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to "improve cooperation against incitement to terror and murder", according to a statement from the prime minister's office. Shaked, of the right-wing, settler-supported Jewish Home party, hailed the meeting as a success.
Several Israeli press reports suggested that Facebook and the Israeli government would set up "joint teams" to counter online incitement, but no further details were provided.
A spokesperson for the social network told Al Jazeera in a statement at the time that the visit was "part of an ongoing dialogue with policymakers and experts around the world to keep terrorist content off our platform and support counter-speech initiatives".
While Palestinian activists say they are frustrated about being silenced by Facebook, some are still determined to pursue their activism for Palestine on the service.
"Facebook is an important platform. We can't just leave it because of its repressive policies against Palestinians," said Bayan Mohammed, PIC's main Arabic page administrator, whose account was permanently disabled.
"We will continue posting. We will create more accounts and pages to make sure Palestine's voice is heard loud and clear," he told Al Jazeera.
Other activists say that they are working on finding another platform that guarantees freedom of speech to all, to put an end to what renowned Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa referred to as "digital dictatorship".
Source: Al Jazeera
21 oct 2016
The Hamas Movement has appealed to the international community to pressure Israel to recognize the UNESCO’s resolution on the Aqsa Mosque and stop its violations against it.
This came during a sit-in organized Thursday by the Islamic Bloc outside the UNESCO headquarters in Gaza.
“It is time for the international community and the UN organizations to pressure the occupation state to recognize the UNESCO’s resolution and implement it practically on the ground at the Aqsa Mosque,” Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif al-Qanua said during the sit-in.
Qanua also slammed outgoing UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon for criticizing the UNESCO’s resolution on the Aqsa Mosque, describing his remarks in this regard as a blatant bias in favor of the Israeli occupation.
This came during a sit-in organized Thursday by the Islamic Bloc outside the UNESCO headquarters in Gaza.
“It is time for the international community and the UN organizations to pressure the occupation state to recognize the UNESCO’s resolution and implement it practically on the ground at the Aqsa Mosque,” Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latif al-Qanua said during the sit-in.
Qanua also slammed outgoing UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon for criticizing the UNESCO’s resolution on the Aqsa Mosque, describing his remarks in this regard as a blatant bias in favor of the Israeli occupation.