24 june 2016
The Israeli occupation sent threats to the organizers of the Resistance Festival in Greece over the participation of activist Leila Khaled, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Member of the PFLP political bureau Leila Khaled arrived in Athens on Thursday to take part in the annual Resistance Festival.
A statement by the PFLP said the Tel Aviv Embassy sent official protests over Khaled’s stopover in Athens and exerted pressure to ban the festival.
Residing in Jordan and an icon of anti-occupation activism, activist Leila Khaled took part in hijackings of Israeli warplanes in 1967 with the aim of releasing Palestinian captives.
Member of the PFLP political bureau Leila Khaled arrived in Athens on Thursday to take part in the annual Resistance Festival.
A statement by the PFLP said the Tel Aviv Embassy sent official protests over Khaled’s stopover in Athens and exerted pressure to ban the festival.
Residing in Jordan and an icon of anti-occupation activism, activist Leila Khaled took part in hijackings of Israeli warplanes in 1967 with the aim of releasing Palestinian captives.
The funeral of Fatima Khalil, popularly named as another "Khansa of Palestine," turned into a national event on Thursday, during which Hamas and Islamic Jihad reiterated their adherence to the resistance option as the only means to liberate Palestine.
A galaxy of noted resistance leaders, including deputy head of Hamas's political bureau Ismail Haneyya, participated in the funeral of Fatima Khalil (Umm Radwan).
Speakers during the funeral applauded the great role of the departed in raising a resistance generation, and the patience and resilience she had showed after the martyrdom of five of her sons, three of her grandchildren, and other close relatives.
In a speech ahead of the funeral, Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya hailed Umm Radwan for the admirable sacrifices she had made for Palestine.
"We are bidding farewell to a great woman who struggled, remained steadfast and endured, and was a model of sacrifice and fortitude after she gave away her beloved sons for the liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque," Haneyya stated.
Umm Radwan, a prominent Islamic Jihad figure, passed away last Tuesday in an Egyptian hospital after a sharp decline in her health condition. The Rafah border crossing was opened exceptionally on Thursday morning for the reception of her body.
A galaxy of noted resistance leaders, including deputy head of Hamas's political bureau Ismail Haneyya, participated in the funeral of Fatima Khalil (Umm Radwan).
Speakers during the funeral applauded the great role of the departed in raising a resistance generation, and the patience and resilience she had showed after the martyrdom of five of her sons, three of her grandchildren, and other close relatives.
In a speech ahead of the funeral, Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya hailed Umm Radwan for the admirable sacrifices she had made for Palestine.
"We are bidding farewell to a great woman who struggled, remained steadfast and endured, and was a model of sacrifice and fortitude after she gave away her beloved sons for the liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque," Haneyya stated.
Umm Radwan, a prominent Islamic Jihad figure, passed away last Tuesday in an Egyptian hospital after a sharp decline in her health condition. The Rafah border crossing was opened exceptionally on Thursday morning for the reception of her body.
23 june 2016
Egyptian authorities on Thursday exceptionally opened Rafah border crossing with Gaza to enter the body of Fatma al-Sheikh Khalil, 75, who passed away at an Egyptian hospital last Tuesday.
Sheikh Khalil is called “Khansaa” of Palestine since five of her sons were killed by the Israeli occupation forces.
Palestinians bade her farewell in Rafah amid large attendance of Palestinian factions’ leaders.
The Egyptian authorities have been continuing its complete closure of Rafah crossing since the summer of 2013. 28,000 Palestinians have been deprived of their right of travel. Most of them are patients and students.
Sheikh Khalil is called “Khansaa” of Palestine since five of her sons were killed by the Israeli occupation forces.
Palestinians bade her farewell in Rafah amid large attendance of Palestinian factions’ leaders.
The Egyptian authorities have been continuing its complete closure of Rafah crossing since the summer of 2013. 28,000 Palestinians have been deprived of their right of travel. Most of them are patients and students.
19 june 2016
Zionist Union member of the Israeli parliament of the Knesset, Tzipi Livni, called for a referendum, Saturday afternoon, over what she reduced to a “problem” with Palestinians.
Speaking at an event in the Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, Livni censured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to take what she described as an “opportunity” for the US-backed two-state solution.
“There is a regional window of opportunity,” Livni said, according to Press TV/Al Ray. “But the glass ceiling is rising, and Netanyahu is unable to rise up and seize the opportunity,” she stated.” We need to know in which direction we’re going.”
Settlers at helm in Israel
Livni, a former candidate for the prime minister, said the regime’s policies were driven by those supporting settlement of Israelis beyond borders recognized by the international community.
She specifically pointed at the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization dealing with the regime’s illegal settlements.
“They know from their time in office that the Israeli government carries out the desires of a minority, the Yesha Council, which dictates the agenda,” she said.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
“They must be stopped… The minority has taken control with the help of collaborators in government.”
Israel stuck in daydream
The former Israeli foreign minister also boasted about “democracy” in Israel, saying it was being endangered with Bibi and his allies at helm.
Livni said the regime is ”disintegrating with the loss of its democratic values,” referring to other Israeli officials who have recently attacked Bibi, namely former minister of Military affairs Moshe Ya’alon and former premier Ehud Barak.
“There is a strong cry here from people who see what is happening,” she said. “You can’t address democracy in Israel while tip-toeing around the main issue.”
She concluded that a referendum should be held in Israel “now,” noting, “Israel is stuck in a daydream, moving aimlessly.”
Livni’s remarks came as severe crackdown of Palestinians continued unabated in the occupied lands, with Muslim youth placed behind bars, and Zionist expansive policies raging on.
Speaking at an event in the Israeli city of Rishon LeZion, south of Tel Aviv, Livni censured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to take what she described as an “opportunity” for the US-backed two-state solution.
“There is a regional window of opportunity,” Livni said, according to Press TV/Al Ray. “But the glass ceiling is rising, and Netanyahu is unable to rise up and seize the opportunity,” she stated.” We need to know in which direction we’re going.”
Settlers at helm in Israel
Livni, a former candidate for the prime minister, said the regime’s policies were driven by those supporting settlement of Israelis beyond borders recognized by the international community.
She specifically pointed at the Yesha Council, an umbrella organization dealing with the regime’s illegal settlements.
“They know from their time in office that the Israeli government carries out the desires of a minority, the Yesha Council, which dictates the agenda,” she said.
Over half a million Israelis live in more than 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
“They must be stopped… The minority has taken control with the help of collaborators in government.”
Israel stuck in daydream
The former Israeli foreign minister also boasted about “democracy” in Israel, saying it was being endangered with Bibi and his allies at helm.
Livni said the regime is ”disintegrating with the loss of its democratic values,” referring to other Israeli officials who have recently attacked Bibi, namely former minister of Military affairs Moshe Ya’alon and former premier Ehud Barak.
“There is a strong cry here from people who see what is happening,” she said. “You can’t address democracy in Israel while tip-toeing around the main issue.”
She concluded that a referendum should be held in Israel “now,” noting, “Israel is stuck in a daydream, moving aimlessly.”
Livni’s remarks came as severe crackdown of Palestinians continued unabated in the occupied lands, with Muslim youth placed behind bars, and Zionist expansive policies raging on.
18 june 2016
A committee of the Israeli Knesset is discussing the extension, for another year, of a 13-year old law that has been extended each year as a ‘temporary’ measure. The law prohibits nearly 10,000 Palestinian residents of Israel, including 247 children, from having a legal residency status.
The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) passed in 2003, and renewed every year since, prevents Palestinian families from living together if one spouse is from present-day Israel and the other is from the West Bank.
Numerous human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have declared the law discriminatory.
Despite challenges from Israeli human rights groups, including a legal challenge that made it to the Israeli High Court in 2006, the Court decided to allow the law to continue to be enforced, stripping thousands of Palestinians of legal residency in their homes.
According to a report by B’Tselem earlier this year, the Israeli laws dividing families date back to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. In 1993, a law was passed confirming this discrimination and separation. Families affected by this law, unable to obtain residency permits, “were compelled to settle for short, broken visits and repeatedly face separation between visits.
These visits depended on the Israeli authorities’ granting a visitor’s permit, which was generally given during the summer for a period of up to three months. When the permit expired, the visitor was required to leave the Occupied Territories. Children who entered with their visiting parent were required to leave with them. Once the visitor left, he or she had to wait at least three months before being allowed to visit again. In many instances, the authorities did not approve a new visitor’s permit even after the waiting period had passed.
The “center of life” criterion was also applied in determining whether to grant permits to visit in the Occupied Territories: residents living outside the Occupied Territories with a non-resident spouse were denied visitor’s permits for their spouse, the officials alleging that “they had transferred their center of life” to another location and that they do not live in the Occupied Territories.”
An Israeli attorney who represents some of the families affected by this law, Adi Lustigman, was quoted in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz as saying, “It means that in the same family if there’s a child who doesn’t feel well they take him to the health clinic, but if his sibling doesn’t feel well they can’t take him because they fear having to pay thousands of shekels if he needs to be hospitalized”.
The children who are living without legal status face many other problems, including inability to get an education, harassment by police and military at checkpoints, temporary and longer-term separation from parents, and the continuous stress of living without knowing if their residency will be revoked at any time.
The Knesset committee considering the extension of the resolution made the claim that ’18 Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis over the last 15 years had temporary residency permits’, but that claim has been disputed, and legal experts in Israel say there is no actual data to confirm it.
In the case challenging the law in 2006, Human Rights Watch said that the government failed to explain why other more targeted security measures, applied on a case-by-case basis, could not adequately address this threat without stripping thousands of families of their rights on the basis of their nationality.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak, in his opinion for the minority, wrote that “the law is a violation of the right of Arab citizens in Israel to equality.”
The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law (Temporary Order) passed in 2003, and renewed every year since, prevents Palestinian families from living together if one spouse is from present-day Israel and the other is from the West Bank.
Numerous human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have declared the law discriminatory.
Despite challenges from Israeli human rights groups, including a legal challenge that made it to the Israeli High Court in 2006, the Court decided to allow the law to continue to be enforced, stripping thousands of Palestinians of legal residency in their homes.
According to a report by B’Tselem earlier this year, the Israeli laws dividing families date back to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. In 1993, a law was passed confirming this discrimination and separation. Families affected by this law, unable to obtain residency permits, “were compelled to settle for short, broken visits and repeatedly face separation between visits.
These visits depended on the Israeli authorities’ granting a visitor’s permit, which was generally given during the summer for a period of up to three months. When the permit expired, the visitor was required to leave the Occupied Territories. Children who entered with their visiting parent were required to leave with them. Once the visitor left, he or she had to wait at least three months before being allowed to visit again. In many instances, the authorities did not approve a new visitor’s permit even after the waiting period had passed.
The “center of life” criterion was also applied in determining whether to grant permits to visit in the Occupied Territories: residents living outside the Occupied Territories with a non-resident spouse were denied visitor’s permits for their spouse, the officials alleging that “they had transferred their center of life” to another location and that they do not live in the Occupied Territories.”
An Israeli attorney who represents some of the families affected by this law, Adi Lustigman, was quoted in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz as saying, “It means that in the same family if there’s a child who doesn’t feel well they take him to the health clinic, but if his sibling doesn’t feel well they can’t take him because they fear having to pay thousands of shekels if he needs to be hospitalized”.
The children who are living without legal status face many other problems, including inability to get an education, harassment by police and military at checkpoints, temporary and longer-term separation from parents, and the continuous stress of living without knowing if their residency will be revoked at any time.
The Knesset committee considering the extension of the resolution made the claim that ’18 Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israelis over the last 15 years had temporary residency permits’, but that claim has been disputed, and legal experts in Israel say there is no actual data to confirm it.
In the case challenging the law in 2006, Human Rights Watch said that the government failed to explain why other more targeted security measures, applied on a case-by-case basis, could not adequately address this threat without stripping thousands of families of their rights on the basis of their nationality.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak, in his opinion for the minority, wrote that “the law is a violation of the right of Arab citizens in Israel to equality.”
16 june 2016
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) slammed on Thursday the participation of the member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Ahmad Majdalani, in the 16th Israeli Herzliya Conference, dubbing it a stab in Palestinians’ back.
In a press statement, PFLP leader Khaled Barakat said the monopolistic leadership of the PLO not only approved of the participation of Majdalani and others in the conference but also promoted an approach of negotiations and normalization that has brought the national cause to a point of retreat.
“Majdalani accomplished nothing from this participation except to add his name to a list of shame of those who have participated in the Herzliya Conference since 2000 until today,” added Barakat.
“How on earth can Majdalani and his ilk attend such conferences and claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people, especially in a conference designed to study the most effective strategies for protecting the racist Israeli regime,” said Barakat.
He further called on the Palestinian factions to expose the Palestinian Authority’s policies of double standards and half-positions.
In a press statement, PFLP leader Khaled Barakat said the monopolistic leadership of the PLO not only approved of the participation of Majdalani and others in the conference but also promoted an approach of negotiations and normalization that has brought the national cause to a point of retreat.
“Majdalani accomplished nothing from this participation except to add his name to a list of shame of those who have participated in the Herzliya Conference since 2000 until today,” added Barakat.
“How on earth can Majdalani and his ilk attend such conferences and claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people, especially in a conference designed to study the most effective strategies for protecting the racist Israeli regime,” said Barakat.
He further called on the Palestinian factions to expose the Palestinian Authority’s policies of double standards and half-positions.
12 june 2016
The Hamas Movement has launched a relief campaign worth four million shekels to support poor families in the southern areas of the Gaza Strip during the holy month of Ramadan.
"Compassionate Hearts" is the name of its campaign that aims to distribute 12,000 food parcels and 2,000 vouchers among deprived families.
The Movement will also provide 1,000 homes with safe lighting and give away 700 vegetable baskets.
Walid Awaidah, head of Hamas's relief committee in southern Gaza, has described the campaign as part of the Movement's social responsibility. He affirmed his Movement's keenness on supporting the poor families and alleviating some of their suffering during the holy month.
"Compassionate Hearts" is the name of its campaign that aims to distribute 12,000 food parcels and 2,000 vouchers among deprived families.
The Movement will also provide 1,000 homes with safe lighting and give away 700 vegetable baskets.
Walid Awaidah, head of Hamas's relief committee in southern Gaza, has described the campaign as part of the Movement's social responsibility. He affirmed his Movement's keenness on supporting the poor families and alleviating some of their suffering during the holy month.
7 june 2016
Secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Saeb Erekat, denounced Tuesday the visit of Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin to illegal colonies, built on Palestinian lands, east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and said the visit constitutes a direct support to apartheid, and a violation of every related international agreement.
“Rivlin knows very well that settlements are not only illegal, but constitute war crimes,” Erekat said, “The visit is yet another proof that Israel, and its government are interested in keeping and strengthening their apartheid regime, instead of seeking real peace.”
He also called on international community to hold Israel accountable for its constant and escalating violations, instead of allowing it to remain above all laws, committing crimes with impunity.
The official added that this visit, the first of a sitting Israeli president to colonies in the occupied West Bank, comes as a deadly strike to the French peace initiative, and all international efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement.
Israeli media sources said Rivlin visited the Benjamin Regional Council of Settlements after he was invited by its head Avi Roeh, who also chairs the Regional Council of Settlements in the occupied West Bank.
After being welcomed by various officials, especially heads of Israel’s illegal colonies who confirmed the strong ties with him, Rivlin said that all of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are part of the “Land of Israel,” and called on all Israelis to visit the settlements.
Rivlin is a member of the Likud Party headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Rivlin knows very well that settlements are not only illegal, but constitute war crimes,” Erekat said, “The visit is yet another proof that Israel, and its government are interested in keeping and strengthening their apartheid regime, instead of seeking real peace.”
He also called on international community to hold Israel accountable for its constant and escalating violations, instead of allowing it to remain above all laws, committing crimes with impunity.
The official added that this visit, the first of a sitting Israeli president to colonies in the occupied West Bank, comes as a deadly strike to the French peace initiative, and all international efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement.
Israeli media sources said Rivlin visited the Benjamin Regional Council of Settlements after he was invited by its head Avi Roeh, who also chairs the Regional Council of Settlements in the occupied West Bank.
After being welcomed by various officials, especially heads of Israel’s illegal colonies who confirmed the strong ties with him, Rivlin said that all of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are part of the “Land of Israel,” and called on all Israelis to visit the settlements.
Rivlin is a member of the Likud Party headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
2 june 2016
A 15-year-old British-Palestinian schoolgirl faced backlash after a prominent public speaking competition for youth in the United Kingdom for fervently speaking up for the Palestinian cause.
Leanne Mohamed recently won the Redbridge Regional Final of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge in London with a moving speech about the injustices Palestinians are forced to endure as a result of Israeli occupation.
“I am Palestinian and I am human, I shouldn’t have to remind the world of that,” Mohamed said in the speech that ended with an earnest call to “free Palestine,” accompanied by her waving a Palestinian flag.
Following her win, the video of Mohamed’s speech, which went viral and attracted both online support and abuse, was temporarily removed from both the competition’s official website and the official YouTube channel of the organization that runs it.
In addition, the organizations that run the competition, Speakers Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation, did not choose Mohamed as one of the 15 winning regional finalists who will progress to the Grand Final, the national stage of the competition.
In a joint statement they released Tuesday following a whirlwind of online uproar, which included the launch of an online petition and the trending hashtag “Let Leanne Speak,” both organizations refuted the claims that their actions were because of Mohamed’s topic.
They claimed that the video was removed “following vile and hateful comments posted online” in order to “protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional videos,” saying that Speakers Trust is “a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day.”
All 37 talented Regional Final champions were entered into the semi-final on Saturday 21st May. Only 15 of these can reach the Grand Final stage.
A panel of judges selected the top 15 speeches without any external influence or input and prior to any of the issues that emerged this weekend,” the statement added, saying that each speech was “judged on its own merits.”
However, prior to the statement’s release, an email Speakers Trust CEO Julie Holness sent to an infamous anti-Palestinian blogger, who had contacted the organization complaining about Mohamed’s speech, was made public and told a different story.
In the email, Holness said that the speech violated two fundamental rules of the competition: “The speech must have a positive and uplifting message,” and that “a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.”
Titled “Birds not Bombs,” Mohamed’s speech, which was re-uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by a variety of sources, started by comparing the children’s game hide and seek to the “life or death” alternative of the game that Palestinian children must play.
Mohamed said: “How would you feel if you were awoken every morning by bombs and not birds? How would you feel if you didn’t even feel safe in your own home? How would you feel if you witnessed your own family die in front of you?
If for 68 years they bombarded your land, took away your genuine human rights and killed your families and children, how would you react?”
“Palestine is my country, my land and my home, their pain is my pain, and their freedom is my freedom,” she said, concluding her speech with a famous Nelson Mandela quote, in which he spoke of Palestinian freedom.
Leanne Mohamed recently won the Redbridge Regional Final of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge in London with a moving speech about the injustices Palestinians are forced to endure as a result of Israeli occupation.
“I am Palestinian and I am human, I shouldn’t have to remind the world of that,” Mohamed said in the speech that ended with an earnest call to “free Palestine,” accompanied by her waving a Palestinian flag.
Following her win, the video of Mohamed’s speech, which went viral and attracted both online support and abuse, was temporarily removed from both the competition’s official website and the official YouTube channel of the organization that runs it.
In addition, the organizations that run the competition, Speakers Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation, did not choose Mohamed as one of the 15 winning regional finalists who will progress to the Grand Final, the national stage of the competition.
In a joint statement they released Tuesday following a whirlwind of online uproar, which included the launch of an online petition and the trending hashtag “Let Leanne Speak,” both organizations refuted the claims that their actions were because of Mohamed’s topic.
They claimed that the video was removed “following vile and hateful comments posted online” in order to “protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional videos,” saying that Speakers Trust is “a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day.”
All 37 talented Regional Final champions were entered into the semi-final on Saturday 21st May. Only 15 of these can reach the Grand Final stage.
A panel of judges selected the top 15 speeches without any external influence or input and prior to any of the issues that emerged this weekend,” the statement added, saying that each speech was “judged on its own merits.”
However, prior to the statement’s release, an email Speakers Trust CEO Julie Holness sent to an infamous anti-Palestinian blogger, who had contacted the organization complaining about Mohamed’s speech, was made public and told a different story.
In the email, Holness said that the speech violated two fundamental rules of the competition: “The speech must have a positive and uplifting message,” and that “a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.”
Titled “Birds not Bombs,” Mohamed’s speech, which was re-uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by a variety of sources, started by comparing the children’s game hide and seek to the “life or death” alternative of the game that Palestinian children must play.
Mohamed said: “How would you feel if you were awoken every morning by bombs and not birds? How would you feel if you didn’t even feel safe in your own home? How would you feel if you witnessed your own family die in front of you?
If for 68 years they bombarded your land, took away your genuine human rights and killed your families and children, how would you react?”
“Palestine is my country, my land and my home, their pain is my pain, and their freedom is my freedom,” she said, concluding her speech with a famous Nelson Mandela quote, in which he spoke of Palestinian freedom.
1 june 2016
Israeli president Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday vowed the illegal settlement of Ariel would remain forever under Israeli control, despite its location deep inside the West Bank.
Rivlin made his remarks during his meeting with representatives of Ariel University in his office in Occupied Jerusalem, hailing a plan to build a medical center in the settlement near the Palestinian city of Salfit.
"It is obvious to everyone that Ariel would be an inseparable part of Israel in any future accord," he said.
He spoke a day after his premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday partially expressed his support for the Arab Peace Initiative, offering to negotiate with the Arab world the parameters of the plan.
Ariel had already been described as the capital of Samaria and an indisputable part of Israel by Netanyahu during a visit in 2010 to the settlement, which is considered one of the largest entities for Jewish settlers in the heart of the West Bank.
Rivlin made his remarks during his meeting with representatives of Ariel University in his office in Occupied Jerusalem, hailing a plan to build a medical center in the settlement near the Palestinian city of Salfit.
"It is obvious to everyone that Ariel would be an inseparable part of Israel in any future accord," he said.
He spoke a day after his premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday partially expressed his support for the Arab Peace Initiative, offering to negotiate with the Arab world the parameters of the plan.
Ariel had already been described as the capital of Samaria and an indisputable part of Israel by Netanyahu during a visit in 2010 to the settlement, which is considered one of the largest entities for Jewish settlers in the heart of the West Bank.