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| Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha's book Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear |
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| A Dream of Palestine by illustrated by |
is also the author of
Wafa Shami
By Al-Shabaka
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While international attention has been turned toward Gaza, violence against Palestinians has increased in the West Bank too. Israeli settler attacks have become more frequent.
Settlers are Israeli citizens who live on Palestinian land. In most cases, this happens because Palestinians are prevented from accessing their land and are physically attacked by settlers. In a third of cases, Palestinian property is damaged by settlers. These findings come from a UN report published in September 2023 that showed a years-long rise in settler violence against Palestinians. Because of these numbers, the UN has noted that “settler-driven displacement did not start with Hamas’s deadly attack”.
“Settlers attacked us, destroying our homes, water tanks, solar panels and cars,” Abu Khaled, 43, told the UN after being displaced on 28 October. “I felt the presence of death so tangibly as if I saw it with my own eyes … I made the hardest decision in my life: to leave Zanuta and leave everything behind, as memories. I did this to protect my children.” Those who remain are not safe. “They prevent us from grazing our sheep,” Mohamad Abu Seif, 90, said. He has lived with his family in Ein Shibli, a herding community, for over 40 years. They remain vulnerable to threats and harassment by settlers.
The Israeli government routinely acknowledges these colonies as part of the Israeli state despite the fact that they are illegal under international law.[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
Article 49 of the fourth Geneva convention prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
"The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has found that “as a rule, the military prefers to remove Palestinians from their own farmland or pastureland rather than confront settlers”. This has also been the case in recent months, when Israeli forces have accompanied or supported settler attacks in almost half of all incidents, according to the UN. In over a third of the incidents reported since October, settlers threatened Palestinians with firearms, including by opening fire."
"The thousands of Palestinians who have been forced from their homes have
little recourse to justice. In four out of every five cases, Israeli
police failed in the investigation of Israelis who harmed Palestinians
and their property. This finding comes from Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group that has investigated
the way Israeli law enforcement treats these settler attacks. It found
that between 2005 and 2021, just 3% of ideologically motivated cases
resulted in a conviction."
".... Israel led major donors in January to cut their funding to the agency, the main channel of humanitarian support not only to Palestinians in Gaza but to Palestinian refugee communities across the region.
The funding was cut despite the dire needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza, most of whom have been forced from their homes by the Israeli offensive since 7 October and have been struggling to find water, food, shelter or medical care.
Most of the donor nations have resumed their funding in recent weeks. UK ministers had said they would wait for the Colonna report to make a decision on resuming funding. US financial support of Unrwa has been permanently banned by Congress since the allegations were made...."
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
An independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Cahterine Colonna said that Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence that staff at Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, are members of terrorist organisations such as Hamas.
The Guardian says the report found that Unrwa had had regularly supplies Israel with lists of its employees for vetting, and that "the Israeli government has not informed Unrwa of any concerns relating to any Unrwa staff based on these staff lists since 2011".
Israel's accusations against Unrwa have led to many major donor states suspending their funding of the agency at a time when Palestinians in Gaza are in dire need of aid.
Most of the major donors resumed funding in recent weeks, with the UK saying it would wait for the findings of the Colonna-led report to make a decision. US financial supporting for Unrwa, on the other hand, has been permanently banned by Congress.
Gaza death toll reaches 34,151
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| A Palestinian inspects the damage in the village of Mughayir near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 13 April, 2024, after an attack by Israeli settlers on the village (AFP) |
I can still feel the weight of that moment back in 2015, sitting in Beirut and sharing my concerns with a friend who works in journalism. I spoke of Israel’s extensive arming of settlers, and my deep worry that it would lead to a surge of violence and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank.
My friend looked at me as though I was speaking from some distant, irrational place, and insisted that times had changed - that another Nakba was not within the realm of possibility.
Now, here we are, nine years later, and the very nightmare I feared is unfurling before our eyes.
The recent surge of settler terrorism and violence in the occupied West Bank is the inevitable culmination of years of policy decisions. Over the past decade, successive Israeli governments have unabashedly armed settlers, effectively equipping them to carry out their own brand of intimidation and aggression.... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-settlers-terrorism-palestinians-prisoners-homeland-becoming
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
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April is Arab American Heritage Month! |
April is Arab American Heritage Month! |
Nasser Nasser/AP
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| RAMALLAH, West Bank; and AMMAN, Jordan
After years of scattered pinpoint attacks, Israeli settler violence this week enveloped the West Bank and struck larger communities.
From Nablus to Jericho to Bethlehem to the edge of Ramallah, deadly attacks by far-right settlers hit towns and villages, killing four Palestinians, wounding dozens, and grinding life in the West Bank to a halt.
The wave of violence, which followed the disappearance and death of a 14-year-old Israeli settler, a shepherd, comes as the Palestinian Authority warns it is struggling to keep the peace.... READ MORE https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2024/0419/israel-west-bank-settlers-palestinians-violence
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
With the world focused on Iran and Gaza, Israeli settlers are stepping up attacks against Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank. Feeling abandoned, many residents believe they should take matters into their own hands.
Dear Biden, Harris...etc... my elected leaders,
Stop funding weapon sales to foreign countries. FULL STOP!
We must stop escalating war worldwide. Start by sending the clear message to Russia that land grabs are wrong by firmly condemning all Israeli land grabs, illegal settlements, and bombing campaigns.
Israel has spent the past 6 months pulverizing Palestinians in Gaza with American made bombs, mainly killing women and children. Israel's war has already killed at least 34,049 Palestinians and wounded another 76,901
Protesters worldwide loudly chant End Apartheid, Free Palestine, Stop the Genocide!
And what do American officials do- our elected leaders force American taxpayers to hand Israel more weapons and more excuses to pulverize more Palestinian homes and families.
Zionists demand that Americans "protect Jews". What they really want is for America to arm and protect Israeli Apartheid.
Columbia U. does what it can to "protect Jews" by trying to silence Human Rights protesters who object to Israel's ongoing war on the indigenous non-Jewish people of historic Palestine.
USC cancels all graduation speakers because their best & brightest student, valedictorian Asna Tabassum, supports Palestinians on her social media accounts. Tabassum's in turn urges everyone "to see past our deepest fears and recognize the need to support justice for all people, including the Palestinian people."
There are enough weapons of war and destruction already on planet earth. The only way to build a just and lasting peace (and to protect Jews plus every one else) is to invest all energies into full respect for Human Rights for ALL human beings, regardless of supposed race or religion. That means one state or two to end the Israel/Palestine conflict, start with FULL RESPECT for every refugee's inalienable legal and moral right to return to original homes and lands.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?
The UN Mediator for Palestine, Count Folke Bernadotte, believed that the Palestinians displaced had a right to return to their homes and wrote several UN reports to that effect.
"It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries."
Bernadotte was assassinated on Friday 17 September 1948 by members of the group Lehi, a Zionist terrorist organization, commonly known in the West as the Stern Gang
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| Basel
Elmaqosui hopes to keep memories alive through drawing and teaching
children art, as Israel's bombs continue to destroy dreams and reality
in Gaza. |
"I search for stores that sell drawing materials," he explains. "I have managed to buy paper and charcoal pencils but cannot paint in colour: everything around me is black, frightening, terrifying and violent.
"This led me to depict scenes of everyday life with a charcoal pencil," Basel tells The New Arab.
"Who will gather the pieces of a child who has lost his parents, of a man who has lost his wife or of a mother who has lost her children and her newborn? During the ethnic cleansing that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, I try to assemble the scattered fragments to create a clear and complete picture"
Fifty-three-year-old Basel lives in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, with his wife, five children and other relatives.
Leaving Gaza is very difficult and expensive. "The cost to organise the journey amounts to $10,000 per person," Basel reminds us.... READ MORE https://www.newarab.com/features/resisting-pencil-art-language-hope-gaza
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
"Everything is fragmented — human beings, buildings, streets, trees, tents and even human rights. Life has become a collection of scattered fragments and shreds.
"Who will gather the pieces of a child who has lost his parents, of a man who has lost his wife or of a mother who has lost her children and her newborn? During the ethnic cleansing that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, I try to assemble the scattered fragments to create a clear and complete picture," Basel explains.
Before the start of the war, Basel lived in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Strip. After October 7, his life, like that of thousands upon thousands of other Palestinians, became a continuous search for shelter, food and water.
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 18 people, including 14 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to its close ally.
Israel has carried out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. It has also vowed to expand its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt despite international calls for restraint, including from the U.S.... READ MORE https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-04-21-2024-8c027f2587c2c433d0fde41b63a0e0c3
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
At least 469 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry
The war has killed at least 34,049 Palestinians and wounded another 76,901, according to the Gaza Health Ministry... at least two-thirds have been children and women.
It also says the real toll is likely higher as many bodies are stuck
beneath the rubble left by airstrikes or are in areas that are
unreachable for medics.
