Jew World Order

Violence — West Bank, Jerusalem

16-year-old Palestinian girl shot after alleged stab attempt in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stabbing attempt, locals and the Israeli army said. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma‘an “a Palestinian armed with knife attempted to stab a pedestrian in Hebron, when forces on site responded to the threat and shot the assailant.” The Palestinian was evacuated by an Israeli ambulance to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem in West Jerusalem, the spokesperson added. Local sources in Hebron identified the teenage girl as 16-year-old Lama Munthir Hafith al-Bakri.The attack reportedly took place near the western entrance of the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement, which lies northwest of Hebron’s Old City. According to Israeli media, the teenager attempted to stab an Israeli settler near the Givat Ramot neighborhood of the illegal settlement before being shot near a car repair shop in the area.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769326

Israeli forces shoot 20 Palestinians in West Bank clashes
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 12 Dec — Israeli forces shot and injured 20 Palestinians during demonstrations held in the occupied Palestinian territory on Saturday, locals and medics said. In the northern al-Bireh area of Ramallah, three Palestinians were hit by live fire and 16 by rubber-coated steel bullets when clashes erupted between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces. Locals told Ma‘an that university students had organized a peaceful march which came under heavy Israeli fire when demonstrators approached the northern entrance of al-Bireh.
Separately, in the Qalqiliya district town of Kafr Qaddum, Israeli forces shot and injured a 17-year-old Palestinian in the thigh. A coordinator of a popular committee in the town, Murad Ishteiwi, said that several Israeli snipers had deployed across the area, “shooting at anyone who moved.” The teen was identified as Raed Hussam, who was taken to the Rafidiya Hospital for treatment.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769313

Jordan Valley: Settlers unleash dogs on shepherd
IMEMC/Agencies 14 Dec — Israeli settlers, Sunday, unleashed dogs on a Palestinian shepherd in the northern Jordan Valley, causing him a serious injury in his foot, according to local sources. Aref Daraghmeh, who monitors settlement activities in the Jordan Valley, said settlers from the illegal settlement of Maskiyaot unleashed dogs at 18-year-old Rami Daraghmeh, causing him a serious injury in his left foot. He was transferred to the Turkish hospital in nearby Tubas city. Doctors at the hospital informed Rami that his recovery requires long-term physical therapy. Rami is the main provider for his family, according to WAFA.
Daraghmeh said various similar incidents occurred during the past few years, noting that many cases have been filed to the Israeli judiciary; but many were in vain. In July 2012, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain (AOHR) revealed that illegal Jewish settlers and the Israeli forces in the West Bank release wild pigs on Palestinian farmlands. The organization noted that this was part of the settlers’ efforts to drive the Palestinians from their land in an act of “ethnic cleansing”. According to the human rights group, the pigs generally begin their ‘task’ at sunset; Palestinian residents living near the illegal settlements are usually taken by surprise when they are attacked by groups of the pigs, which go on to damage their crops and terrorize their children.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74214

Rights group urges end to Dutch sale of ‘attack dogs’ to Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — A Palestinian animal rights group has called on the international community to pressure the Dutch government to halt the sale of “attack dogs” to Israel. Said Ahmad Safi, Executive Director of the Palestinian Animal League, said in a statement that dogs exported by European countries — especially the Netherlands — have long been used by the Israeli military as “living, breathing weapons — leading to devastating injuries on many civilians.” Palestinian human rights organization, Al Haq, has reportedly carried out attempts to sway the Dutch government to place a ban on the export of the dogs for such use. “As a result of communication between Al Haq and the Dutch government, officials in the Netherlands have suggested that they will consider placing restrictions on the export of dogs to Israel, but no firm decision has been reached, nor has any action been taken to date,” PAL said in a statement.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769324

Israeli forces raid Ramallah scientific library, seize contents
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 12 Dec — Israeli forces early Saturday raided and confiscated computers and other items from a scientific library in the central West Bank city of Ramallah. WAFA reported witnesses as saying that Israeli troops stormed and tampered with the contents of a library in Rukab Street, after blowing up its doors. They reportedly confiscated a number of computers and other contents. Clashes consequently broke out between local Palestinian youths and Israeli troops who deployed in Rukab Street, ‘Ein Misbah and the vicinity of the post office. Troops fired stun grenades, tear gas canisters and live ammunition at youths.
This came a day after Israeli forces raided the Ramallah neighborhood of ʻEin Misbah, where they proceeded to confiscate the surveillance cameras installed at the bookshop building and stores. During a Friday predawn raid, troops shot and injured five Palestinians, including one by a live round in his left hand, and detained another.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli forces stormed and wreaked havoc into a medical clinic in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=30127

Israel attacks West Bank college twice in one week
EI 11 Dec by Charlotte Silver — The Israeli army attacked the Palestine Technical University in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem twice this week. Nine Palestinians were shot Thursday as Israeli soldiers tried to suppress a protest on the campus. On Monday, five students had to be hospitalized for gunshot wounds. Known as Kadoorie, the university has been subject to a series of such attacks since early October, when students began organizing marches against the Israeli occupation. Live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas have all been fired by Israel during the attacks. Twenty students have been detained so far, the International Solidarity Movement stated last week. None of the students has been released. -Military camp- The university is located next to the massive wall that Israel is building in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, Israel confiscated 200 dunums (50 acres) from Kadoorie to build the wall and another 23 dunums (5.5 acres) for a military training camp within the campus. Israel has also established a military checkpoint at the university’s entrance. The attacks have been so severe that the university has had to close on occasions. Students have also reported that Israeli soldiers have pointed their guns directly at them, giving the impression that the soldiers were about to open fire. When a number of students responded to such threatening behavior in October by throwing stones and fireworks at the military training area, the Israeli soldiers fired large quantities of tear gas into the university. Al-Haq has produced a VIDEO about the attacks (see above). The group contends that the Israeli army’s presence in Kadoorie amounts to a violation of the 1993 Oslo accords.
ttps://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/israel-attacks-west-bank-college-twice-one-week

Israel prevents Tulkarem university from building protective wall
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 12 Dec  — Israeli forces prevented the administration of Tulkarem’s Palestine Technical University – Khadoorie from building a wall around the campus intended to both protect students and stop clashes, a university administrator said. A head administrator of the university, Dirar Elayyan, told Ma‘an Saturday that Israeli forces prevented the university from erecting the wall, which administrators hoped would prevent non-students from entering the campus. Following student-organized marches that started in October to protest Israeli violations and raids onto the university campus, campus administrators reported that Israeli forces had positioned themselves at a temporary base on the university’s campus. Non-students then began to enter the campus and throw stones at the Israeli base, prompting violent clashes that have severely interrupted normal campus life and left several students injured. The university reportedly began preparations to build the wall to prevent the entrance of outsiders last month, however Israeli forces stopped the construction and confiscated a bulldozer, assaulting workers, Elayyan said. Violence on the occupied West Bank campus has been near-daily over the past month, with nine students injured by live Israeli fire on Friday alone.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769307

The Palestinian village that refuses to give up on popular struggle
+972 Mag 12 Dec by Haggai Matar — Even after 11 years of struggle, the residents of Bil‘in refuse to forget about the land that was taken from them —  The year was 2006. The village Bil‘in near Ramallah had already marked over a year of weekly protests against the separation barrier that cuts them off from their land. One day, during a hearing at the High Court of Justice over a petitioned against the route of the wall, Justice Aharon Barak wondered aloud: “Why do they protest there so often?” Nearly 11 years have passed since the residents of this small village decided they wanted to oppose the theft of nearly 2,000 dunam of their land by the wall through unarmed, creative, popular protest alongside Israelis and internationals. Nearly 11 years, legal victories, difficult loses, a partial change in the route of the wall — and yet they are still protesting. Every week. The goal remains the same: a struggle against the establishment of the wall on village land, and the annexation of nearly 1,000 dunam of land to the adjacent settlement. The weekly protests have undergone a change recently, following the ongoing violence across the country, and especially in the occupied territories. The Israeli soldiers no longer sit atop the new wall, which was built along the Modi’in Illit settlement bloc after the High Court ruled that the previous route needed to be changed. Now the soldiers stand where the old route used to be, far closer to the village. The demonstrators no longer march all the way from the center of the village in colorful processions with songs and chants. Now they gather together in a small area out of the soldiers’ range (Continued)
http://972mag.com/the-palestinian-village-that-refuses-to-give-up-on-popular-struggle/114703/

Youths from Kiryat Arba suspected of throwing stones and mistakenly hitting Israeli child
Ynet 13 Dec by Elisha Ben Kimon —  Police arrested two youths from Kiryat Arba Saturday night suspected of throwing stones and lightly injuring a four-year-old Israeli child on Route 60 near Kiryat Arba. The two were captured by IDF force was in the area. They intended to hit Palestinian cars and accidentally hit an Israeli car. The detainees were taken to the Hebron police station  for investigation.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4738436,00.html

Undercover Israeli forces detain 2 in Hizma
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Undercover Israeli forces on Sunday detained two Palestinians from the Hizma checkpoint north of Jerusalem, witnesses said. Witnesses told Ma‘an they heard shooting and saw the undercover forces assaulting two Palestinian men. Videos were released on social media showing the undercover forces tying the two men up and taking them from the scene. Witnesses were unable to identify the detainees.
The Palestinian town of Hizma, located adjacent to the Israeli separation wall and one of few entrances out of the West Bank to Jerusalem, has been under heavy Israeli military presence in recent weeks. Undercover Israeli forces — known as “must‘arabin” — are used by Israeli security and military forces to detain Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Reports of undercover forces in Palestinian areas have increased since Oct. 1, coinciding with increased detentions that have taken place across the occupied area. Earlier this week, undercover forces entered the West Bank town of Ramallah and detained a Palestinian from the Al-Wehdeh hotel after breaking into several rooms. Last month the undercover forces received international attention after entering a Hebron hospital in Palestinian dress, detaining a patient and killing the patient’s cousin who was visiting at the time. Undercover groups have also appeared amid demonstrations held by Palestinian youth against Israeli forces, opening fire and detaining participants.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769321

Israeli forces detain Palestinian prisoner released in Shalit exchange
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Israeli forces early Sunday detained a former Palestinian prisoner who was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, according to a local prisoners’ committee. Fahd Sharaya was detained from the Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the coordinator for a local Palestinian prisoners’ committee, Imad al-Din Ishteiwi, told Ma‘an. Sharaya was initially sentenced to 14 years in jail but released in the Shalit exchange in 2011 after serving 10 years. The former prisoner is a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — a military wing of the Fatah movement — and is married with four children, Ishteiwi said, adding that Sharaya was in poor health at the time of his re-arrest . . .
Several Palestinians released during the Shalit deal have since been rearrested or exiled to the Gaza Strip. Over 1,000 Palestinian detainees were released in the Egypt-brokered 2011 agreement between Hamas and Israel in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by Hamas for five years. At least 50 Shalit-deal prisoners were rearrested in the summer of 2014 during a detention campaign referred to as “Operation Brother’s Keeper,” in which Israeli forces detained at least 800 Palestinians without charge or trial and killed nine civilians. At the time of their re-arrest, Shalit-deal prisoners released a statement contesting Israel’s violation of the deal, saying they had demonstrated commitment to its terms.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769318

Gaza

Israeli troops attack funeral for leftist leader killed in Gaza
IMEMC 12 Dec — After shooting to death a leftist leader at a protest on Friday, Israeli forces again invaded Gaza Saturday to attack the man’s funeral in the town of Dir al-Balah. 41-year-old Sami Shawqi Madhi was a leader for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a left wing political party that works for labor rights and against the excesses of capitalism. Israel and the U.S. both consider the PFLP to be a terrorist group, for their role in several attacks against Israelis in the 1990s. In the past decade, the group has employed a non-violent strategy in their struggle against the Israeli military occupation. On Saturday, hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of the slain leftist leader. Israeli troops invaded the Strip with armored vehicles and began firing at mourners. Some young men among the mourners began throwing stones at the invading forces, according to local sources. The demonstration on Friday at which Madhi was killed had been organized in solidarity with the family of a Palestinian teenager [Malik Akram Shahin, 19] who was killed earlier in the week in Bethlehem by an exploding bullet fired at his head by Israeli troops during a demonstration. The teen had been a member of the leftist PFLP political party.
http://www.imemc.org/article/74206

Israeli forces shoot, injure Gazan farmer near Rafah
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Israeli forces on Sunday shot and injured a Palestinian farmer east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, locals and medics said. Locals told Ma‘an that Israeli soldiers stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence near the Kerem Shalom military post opened fire at Palestinian farmers working on their land at the time, hitting a farmer in his twenties. Medics at Abu Yousif al-Najjar hospital said that the victim had been treated for wounds in his left leg.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769328

Israel hits Hamas targets in Gaza after rocket fired at south
Haaretz 14 Dec by Gili Cohen — The Israeli air force has struck two targets affiliated with Hamas in Gaza Strip after a rocket was fired from Gaza at Israel on Sunday. It exploded in an open field resulting in no casualties or damage. An incoming rocket alert sounded in Israeli towns by the Israel-Gaza border. Three weeks ago, a rocket was fired from Gaza and exploded in an open field, resulting in no casualties or damage. A week before that a rocket fired from Gaza exploded on the Gazan side of the fence. After both incidents Israel responded with airstrikes in Gaza.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691608

Gaza deserves an airport of its own, and this is how it can work
+972 Blog 12 Dec by Oren Kroll-Zeldin — Recent wars, a crippling blockade, and poor governance have rendered Gaza an increasingly difficult place to live for its 1.8 million residents. Poverty, lack of access to food and other essential resources, and the inability to move freely create complex conditions of survival for those living in the coastal enclave. A recent World Bank report notes that Gaza has the world’s highest unemployment rate, and youth unemployment specifically is higher than 60 percent. At the present rate, the United Nations estimates that it would require “herculean efforts” for Gaza to remain inhabitable in the year 2020, and if the humanitarian situation is not addressed, the damage will be irreversible. Ahmed Alkhatib, a Palestinian raised in Gaza City who currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, knows the struggle in Gaza all too well. He has a bold humanitarian proposal that will help alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s inhabitants: build an airport in Gaza to be operated and regulated by the United Nations. Building this airport is the mission of Project Unified Assistance (PUA), a new U.S.-based humanitarian nonprofit organization founded by Alkhatib to promote the freedom of movement for the people of Gaza.
http://972mag.com/gaza-deserves-an-airport-of-its-own-and-this-how-it-can-work/114708/

PA arrests Gaza cartoonist for offending Palestinian flag and women
JPost 13 Dec by Khalen Abu Toameh — The Palestinian Authority has issued an arrest warrant against a cartoonist from the Gaza Strip for ridiculing the Palestinian flag and women. The decision to arrest Baha Yassin came following complaints from many Palestinians that his cartoons had offended the flag and women. A Palestinian magistrate’s court in Ramallah ordered the arrest of Yassin when and if he enters any area that is under the control of the PA. When and if the PA regains control over the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Yassin will be arrested and brought to trial before a PA court. Yassin triggered a wave of condemnations four months ago when he published a cartoon featuring a Palestinian woman engaged in a sexual act with a rabbi. The smiling woman is quoted as saying that she would have liked to rise against Israelis, but she doesn’t have an Israeli-issued permit to enter Israel. Critics said that cartoonist was referring to the Palestinians in the West Bank as “prostitutes.” The cartoon, which was published before the beginning of the current wave of terrorist attacks against Israelis, was also meant to criticize continued security coordination between the PA and Israel. The cartoonist later removed the controversial drawing from his Facebook account. Yassin later replaced the cartoon with another one showing the Palestinian woman after she had stabbed the rabbi to death. The woman tells a friend sitting nearby: “I came to extract the right of my children and the right of the disgraceful Palestinian Authority.”  Yassin later apologized for the offensive cartoon, admitted that he had committed a mistake and asked for forgiveness.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/PA-arrests-Gaza-cartoonist-for-offending-Palestinian-flag-and-women-437200

Parents of fallen Israeli soldier appeal to Hamas for info on his whereabouts
Haaretz 14 Dec by Jack Khoury & Noa Shpigel — The parents of Oron Shaul, the Golani Brigade fighter who was declared a fallen soldier whose burial place is unknown during the Gaza war in the summer of 2014, called on the Hamas leadership to give them information about their son’s whereabouts. “I know this has a price,” said Zahava Shaul, at a press conference the family convened at their home in Poriya, near Tiberias, to issue an open call to Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Addressing him directly, Shaul said she would push the state and the world to make a deal “the moment that you provide proof of my son’s true condition.” Hamas has yet to respond. Staff-Sgt. Shaul, 20, was one of the soldiers in the armored personnel carrier that suffered a direct hit from an RPG rocket in the Shujaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City in July 2014. Only six of the seven soldiers killed were identified. Shaul was at first declared missing, but was later declared dead, and the family sat shiva for him. At the press conference the parents called on both Haniyeh and on the State of Israel to clarify what had happened to their son . . . Sources in Gaza said that if Hamas chooses to respond, Haniyeh will do so tomorrow during his address at a rally marking the 28th anniversary of the movement’s founding. In the past, Hamas leaders, among them Khaled Meshaal, said that any information regarding captive soldiers comes at a price. Hamas is also conditioning any negotiations on the release of those who were freed in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in October 2011, but who were rearrested after the kidnapping-murder of the three teens in Gush Etzion in June 2014.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691634

Assassination attempt on leader of Sabirin Resistance Movement likely tied to Gaza Salafi group
SALEM, Oregon (Salem News) 13 Dec — Officials in Gaza say the 09 October 2015 assassination attempt against Hisham Salem, a well known Palestinian political resistance leader, was carried out by mercenaries who are affiliated with a Gaza Salafi group. Salem is the leader of The Sabirin (The Patient) Resistance Movement for the Victory of Palestine, or Hosn by its Arabic acronym, a 2014 article [currently not accessible] by al-Monitor explains. While accompanied by his teenage son in East Shejaiya near the “Nahal Oz” crossing at the Israel Gaza border, Hisham Salem survived the assassination bid when an unidentified person stabbed him in the neck with a knife. After this incident, he went into a coma and people in the region transferred him to Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital. From there he was transferred to another hospital for surgery. Following the incident, authorities of various groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad visited him in the hospital. Based on the evidence obtained, the incident was the work of mercenaries associated with a Salafi group in Gaza. Investigators say they did locate evidence connecting to the perpetrator or perpetrators. The Sabirin resistance movement leader was repeatedly threatened by Salafi & Takfiri groups in the Gaza Strip. A few months ago, a bomb was planted near his house which was defused by Hamas security elements.
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/december112015/salem-assassination-attempt.php

Prisoners / Court actions

Five Palestinian teens blackmailed into accepting 15 years prison term and exorbitant ‘fines’ for a crime that never happened
Free the Hares Boys Campaign Press Release 12 Dec — It is with great sadness and anger that we hereby inform you of the outcome of the Hares Boys case: the five teenagers are being sentenced to 15 years in prison and are to pay a total of NIS 150,000 (~US $39,000 or €35,000) to the Israeli authorities. Failure to provide the exorbitant sum would, it is implied, result in more years of prison added to the boys’ sentences. Ali Shamlawi, Mohammed Kleib, Mohammed Suleiman, Ammar Souf, and Tamer Souf have been kept in prison for 2 years and 8 months and are now being sentenced for a crime that never happened.
https://www.facebook.com/FreeTheHaresBoys/?fref=nf

Palestinian protester shot by Israeli border policeman awarded $40,200 in damages
Haaretz 12 Dec by Chaim Levinson — A Palestinian from the West Bank village of Bil‘in has been awarded 155,000 shekels ($40,200) in damages by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court after a member of the Border Police shot him in the arm with a sponge-tipped bullet without justification and later falsely claimed that he had been throwing stones at police. The incident in question occurred in 2005, in the course of weekly demonstrations against construction of Israel’s West Bank separation barrier between the village of Bil‘in and its agricultural land. The Palestinian, Rateb Abu Rahmeh, a lecturer at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem who has also been involved in the Seeds of Peace intercultural program, led demonstrations by dozens of village residents against the security fence. On the date in question, when they approached Israeli army concertina wire, border policemen used crowd dispersal equipment against them, and one of the policeman shot Abu Rameh in the leg with a sponge-tipped bullet. Abu Rahmeh was arrested and criminal charges were filed against him. The policeman, Wahel Sabit [note Arabic name], testified that Abu Rahmeh had moved the fence and had thrown stones from short range at him, but a video clip of the incident proved the policeman’s account to be false, that the demonstrators were not unruly and that they began to disperse when a sound cannon projecting shrill noise was deployed. After a military court judge viewed the video, he ordered Abu Rahmeh released immediately, after 14 days in custody.
Sabit was put on trial for his false account of events. In a plea agreement, he said this was his first operational mission that he had been assigned and he had been afraid of his commander. He was sentenced to seven months in prison by a magistrate’s court, but on appeal to the district court, it was reduced to six months of community service. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691440

An unsettling moment of justice under occupation
+972 Mag 13 Dec by Amjad Iraqi — Did a Palestinian activist see justice only because the soldier who shot him was an Arab? — In a rare piece of positive news, Haaretz reported Saturday that the Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court decided that 155,000 shekels ($40,200) should be paid in compensation to Rateb Abu Rahmeh, a Palestinian activist and university lecturer from the West Bank village of Bil‘in. The decision was made after Abu Rahmeh filed a lawsuit against a Border Policeman who, in 2005, shot him in the leg with a sponge-tipped bullet during a weekly demonstration in Bil‘in. The court found that the policeman had given a false account of the events when he claimed that Abu Rahmeh threw stones during the demonstration; a video of the incident showed that the protesters “were not unruly,” and that the officer fired the bullet while his unit used stun grenades to disperse the demonstration. The officer was sentenced to seven months in prison (reduced to six months community service), and the judge ruled that he — rather than the state or the security forces unit — was personally liable for the compensation payment. The case marks a modicum of justice for Rateb Abu Rahmeh. Although it has been 10 years since the incident, the fact that the court acknowledged the truth of the shooting, and ruled that monetary compensation should be paid, is a rare accomplishment for any Palestinian demanding accountability for abuses committed by members of the Israeli security forces. However, there is one detail that doesn’t sit quite right: the Border Policeman was Arab . . . What is strange is that out of the countless violent incidents that occur every year (let alone every week) in the occupied territories, one of the few to actually result in an admittance of guilt by the authorities (with a decision to provide compensation for an offense) is a case where the perpetrator was Arab and not Jewish . . . Bil‘in alone has witnessed nearly 11 years of brutality at every one of their weekly demonstrations, which feature tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets, night raids and other violent methods by the Israeli army. Even when evidence is provided, including visual documentation and eye-witness testimonies, they are almost always ignored or dismissed by the Israeli authorities. In 2009, Bassem Abu Rahmeh was killed after a soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at his chest. Two years later in 2011, his sister Jawaher Abu Rahmeh died from tear gas inhalation. None of the officers responsible were investigated, put on trial, or reprimanded. (Continued)
http://972mag.com/an-unsettling-moment-of-justice-under-occupation/114730/

Policeman who shot ‘scissor terrorists’ under investigation
Ynet 13 Dec by Yael Friendson — The investigation was approved by the Attorney General, and seeks to determine whether the officer shot the terrorist after she was neutralized — Israel’s Justice Ministry said on Sunday that a Jerusalem district police officer was being investigated by internal affairs regarding the circumstances surrounding the shooting a 16-year-old female terrorist, who attempted to stab civilians near Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market last month. In the Nov. 23 incident, the 16-year-old girl [Hadeel Wajeeh ‘Awwad], along with a 14-year-old girl [Norhan ‘Awwad], stabbed a 70-year-old man with scissors before they were shot. The younger girl was wounded [and died at the scene]. The Ministry’s statement said the officer was questioned over claims that he shot the older girl again after she had been neutralized. The police officer ad said that he believed the girl still posed a threat, and explained his reasoning. The investigation was opened at the urging of the State Prosecutor, and with the approval of the Attorney General.
The [16-year-old] girl was charged on Friday with attempted murder and one count of possession of a knife.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4738857,00.html

High Court authorizes Shin Bet to bar West Bank arson suspects from meeting lawyers
Haaretz 13 Dec by Chaim Levinson — Security service says severity of the deeds warrants preventing suspects from consulting their representation — The High Court of Justice on Sunday authorized the Shin Bet security service to continue preventing three suspects in a fatal arson attack in the West Bank this summer from meeting with their lawyers. The three, who are suspected of involvement in the July fire bomb attack in the Palestinian village of Duma that killed three members of the Dawabsheh family, have been in custody since late November and have yet to meet with their attorneys. By law, the head of a Shin Bet investigative team can prevent a suspect from meeting with a lawyer for up to 10 days. A district court judge can extend the period to 21 days, after which there is no legal basis for prohibiting a meeting. The detainees’ lawyers petitioned the High Court, demanding that they be allowed to meet with their clients. They argued that the suspects do not constitute an immediate threat, a “ticking bomb,” as they put it. The Shin Bet, in turn, stressed the “great importance” of preventing the meetings “in light of the seriousness of the offenses attributed to the appellants.” The court accepted the security service’s argument.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691571

Tel Aviv terrorist indicted
Ynet 13 Dec by Gilad Morag — The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday morning issued an indictment against Raed Khalil, the 36-year-old Palestinian from Dura village in the West Bank who carried out a terror attack in south Tel Aviv last month. Khalil stabbed to death Aharon Yisayev, 32, and Reuven Aviram, 51, to death at the Panorama building on November 19. According to the indictment he took a 23cm-long knife from a kebab restaurant nearby and from there went to carry out the murderous attack. The indictment also revealed that Khalil had an entry permit to Israel and four days prior to the attack had moved into an apartment with his brother in the Panorama building . . . Last week it was reported that Khalil told police investigators that he wanted to die as a martyr and that he’d thought the police would kill him. “It was my own idea, no one sent me,” he told his interrogators.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4738536,00.html

Israeli court sends Jerusalem resident to house arrest in Nazareth
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 12 Dec — Israeli authorities on Friday released a Palestinian man from occupied East Jerusalem on house arrest after he was charged with stone-throwing, locals told Ma‘an. Rushdi Amin Shweiki, 20, from the neighborhood of Beit Hanina, was jailed for two months after Israeli police said he took part in a demonstration against Israeli forces. Spokesperson for a local committee representing families of Palestinian prisoners, Amjad Abu Asab, told Ma‘an that Shweiki was released on house arrest outside of Jerusalem in Nazareth, a city north of the West Bank. Abu Asab said that Shweiki’s family paid a bail of 1500 shekels ($390), while his uncle signed a document confirming that Shweiki would adhere to his terms of release. Abu Asab added that Shweiki had studied at a university in Cyprus and was detained during a short visit to his family.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769304

Israel sees rise in indictments for online incitement, but mostly against Arabs
Haaretz 14 Dec by Sharon Pulwer — On Friday, October 15, Hamas declared a day of rage. On that day an IDF soldier was moderately injured in a stabbing attack in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. That night, when things calmed down, Anas Khateeb, 19, of Shfar’am praised the terrorists in a Facebook post . . .The next day, at 4 P.M., Khateeb posted again on Facebook: “I’m on the waiting list.” A few hours later, the police arrested him and five days later he was indicted for incitement to violence and terror. Figures obtained by Haaretz show that since the wave of terror began, the number of investigations and indictments for incitement to racism and violence has shot up: Over the past three months, 105 files were opened for these offenses (and 27 indictments issued), mostly for incitement on social media, as opposed to 50 files during the first part of 2015. In all of 2013, only three indictments were served for incitement. Of the files opened, 55 were against Arabs who expressed support on social media for terrorists, and although in the 50 remaining files ethnic origin was not stated in the figures, officials involved in the matter said that without doubt most of them were Arabs. When it comes to Arabs, enforcement is “close, speedy and focused,” according to attorney Aram Mahamid of the legal rights group Adalah, who is representing Khateeb. When it comes to Jews, he said, the authorities turn a blind eye. Surfing Facebook, Mahamid says, reveals posts by Jews containing incitement, “but no indictments are served and they are not even investigated.” (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691452

Guess which of these soldiers is in jail right now?
+972 Mag 14 Dec by Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man — An elite IDF soldier shoots an unarmed Palestinian man point blank in the leg while he’s restrained and in custody. Another soldier from the same elite unit shoots a camel in a drive-by. Which of the two do you think is in jail right now? — In early October, undercover soldiers from the IDF’s elite “Duvdevan” (“cherry”) unit infiltrated a crowd of Palestinian stone throwers at a protest in northern Ramallah. Soon after arriving, the undercover soldiers began trying to arrest some of the “central agitators,” as the army later described them. Three soldiers tackled and started beating one of the young Palestinian men. Two held him down while a third soldier pulled out his pistol, pressed it into the man’s thigh, and shot him point blank in the leg. The army’s response to that incident was to argue that shooting the already detained, restrained and unarmed man in the leg — point blank — was a justifiable “special tactic” intended to enable the troops to retreat as quickly as possible. In other words, it was expedient. Needless to say, none of the soldiers were arrested. Fast forward a month and a bit and soldiers from the same elite commando unit are caught on camera in another controversial shooting. This time, two IDF soldiers from Duvdevan are filmed — well, actually, this time they filmed themselves — carrying out a drive-by shooting of … a camel. Needless to say, the two soldiers were arrested immediately after the video came to light, and have had their remands extended three times thus far. “This was a serious incident that does not meet the standards expected from IDF soldiers,” the army said in a statement.
http://972mag.com/guess-which-of-these-soldiers-is-in-jail-right-now/114753/

Palestinian prisoners on 4th day of hunger strike
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s detention center in Huwarra near Nablus on Sunday entered the fourth day of a hunger strike, a prisoner’s’ society said. The Palestinian Prisoner’s’ Society said that prisoners in the detention center launched the strike in protest of violations carried out by Israel’s prison service. Violations included strip searches and poor living conditions. A lawyer from the prisoners’ society who visited the Huwarra detention center said that detainees planned to continue the stroke until their demands for better conditions were met. Hunger striking — one of the only means at their disposal — is regularly used by Palestinian detainees to protest violations carried out inside of Israeli jails and arbitrary detention. The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, approved a law in July allowing the Israel’s prison service to force feed hunger strikers if their condition becomes life-threatening.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769323

Committee condemns conditions of solitary confinement in Israeli jail
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — A committee for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday condemned the conditions of a prisoner being held in solitary confinement in Israeli jail. Palestinian prisoner Noor ad-Din Emar, 37, is being held by Israel’s prison service in solitary confinement in the Ayalon jail, according to a committee for Palestinian prisoners and former prisoners. The committee said in a report that Emar’s solitary confinement cell is infested with insects and that the detainee has been denied family visits. Emar has been detained since Sept. 20, 2013 and is serving a 30-year sentence. The committee urged the Red Crescent to arrange a visit to Ayalon in order to evaluate Emar’s condition . . . At least 6,700 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli jails, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer. The group has documented extensive use of both solitary confinement and isolation by Israel’s prison service, under circumstances the group says are violations of international law.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769320

Closures

Israeli authorities expand closed military zone in Hebron’s Old City
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Israeli authorities early Sunday expanded a closed military zone in the area of Hebron’s Old City Sunday, preventing access to the headquarters of an activist group, a local activist said. Issa Amr, head of the Youth Against Settlements group, told Ma‘an that Israeli officials handed him a notification banning the presence or arrival of any persons to the area of the headquarters, excluding Palestinian residents. The building — known as Sumoud and Tahaddi (steadfastness and challenge) center — lies in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of central Hebron, and borders one of the city’s illegal Israeli settlements. Foreign volunteers of the Youth Against Settlements group frequently document abuse by Israeli forces and settlers in the area, often filing complaints with the Israeli police. “This step shows Israeli authorities are caving to the demands of the settlers, who are demanding the closure of the center,” Amro told Ma‘an. Amr said that the prevention of foreign activists from the area would enable Israeli settlers to freely carry out attacks on the local Palestinian community. “This will unleash the settlers to attack the residents in the neighborhood,” Amro told Ma’an . . . The ban is expected to be in place until the new year, Amro added.
Hours later on Sunday, locals told Ma‘an that Israeli forces detained a human rights activist during the day on Sunday at a military checkpoint near the Old City’s Ibrahimi Mosque. The detainee was identified as Raed Abu Rmeila, a photographer for Israeli rights group B’Tselem who regularly documents violations by Israeli military and settlers around the mosque.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769317

Palestinian movement prevented in or out of Tulkarem for 3rd day
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 12 Dec — Israeli forces on Saturday maintained for the third day in a row a complete closure of the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, Israel’s army said. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma‘an that Tulkarem remained closed to all movement in or out of the city “except for humanitarian cases.” The Tulkarem governorate was initially raided by Israeli forces Wednesday night in a search for a gunman who injured a former member of a Jewish terror group, Shaul Nir, and his wife in a drive-by shooting in the area. By Thursday morning, locals told Ma‘an that entrances leading in and out of the city were sealed with cement blocks and mounds of earth. Surrounding areas were also sealed, including Tulkarem’s eastern entrance near Noor Shams refugee camp, the entrances of Kafa and Dhinnaba villages, as well as the main road between the villages of Shufa and Ezbet Shufa, locals told Ma‘an at the time . . . Well over 50,000 Palestinians live inside Tulkarem city limits, and the continued closures are likely to affect the movement of the nearly 200,000 Palestinians living in the Tulkarem governorate.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769309

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing

Demolished, rebuilt and razed again: a Bedouin community left without shelter
Haaretz 11 Dec by Gideon Levy & Alex Levac — Israeli officials visit the tiny Jordan Valley village of Al Hadidya almost daily to destroy anything that can be used as protection against the cold – including tents donated by relief organizations — Dozens of pigeons, white and gray, now flock together on a small tin roof, pressed up against one another, as though protecting each other. They survived by flying off before the demolition, but their chicks were crushed alive by the bulldozers that razed this hamlet. The pigeons’ lofts, made from plastic olive oil containers, are now scattered on the ground, like the living survivors in Al Hadidya. The local mukhtar, or headman, 65-year-old Abu Saker – whose full name is Abdel Rahim Basharat – says he hears the pigeons crying. With his toothless mouth, he too cries for his pigeons, his home, his three wives, 24 children and multitude of grandchildren, some of whom remain here after the demolition, without a roof over their heads, unsheltered in the biting cold of the Jordan Rift Valley’s nights. When the villagers had the temerity to cover their infants with strips of plastic sheeting, personnel from the Israeli Civil Administration arrived and burned the sheeting. The sheer inhumanity of it is breathtaking. Civil Administration staff showed up in Al Hadidya while we were visiting there, too, swooping down on the little enclave in a white jeep that generally bodes ill. They come nearly every day, to check on overnight developments: Was a small tent erected? Did someone cover himself with plastic sheeting or a blanket? The truth is that it’s hard to imagine what this community of shepherds endures at night. Earlier in the week, the nights were freezing cold, with means to keep warm almost nonexistent. Everything was demolished here, and the Civil Administration also confiscated the tents of salvation and compassion that were brought by relief organizations. One of the babies, 1-year-old Izz a-Din, a grandson of the mukhtar, crawled across the ground this week, his cheeks pocked with sores from the cold. This is the province of Israeli demolition and expulsion, the district of ethnic cleansing. As in the South Hebron Hills, here, too, in the occupied rift valley, Israel is trying to expel everyone it can in order to facilitate future annexation. (Continued)
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.691212

Settlers storm private Palestinian land near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 13 Dec — Dozens of Israeli settlers accompanied by Israeli military forces on Sunday began refurbishments on a historic home located on Palestinian land near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian Authority official said. A PA official who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told Ma‘an that settlers from a number of illegal settlements in the area arrived at the property, “claiming the property belonged to them.” The historic home was located in al-Masudiyya on privately owned Palestinian land on the outskirts of the village of Burqa, north of Nablus. The PA had previously built a recreational park for children in the same area after Israeli authorities evacuated an illegal settlement outpost located on the land, which Israeli settlers have raided several times before, Daghlas added. No further information was given regarding what kind of refurbishments the settlers carried out on the property.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769327

Israeli forces take a next step in threatening 3 families from Deir Istiya
DEIR ISTIYA, Occupied Palestine 9 Dec by ISM, Huwwara Team — In the end of November we told the story of three families, living in the outskirts of Deir Istiya who were under daily threats and harassment from the Israeli forces.  Now the threatening from the IOF has reached another level for these 3 families. Last week the soldiers cut both the electricity ground cable to the house and a couple of days later the power line; one of the families was therefore without electricity for 7 hours. The family waited an hour and a half before they dared going out to see what happened and why the electricity went off. When they went out, the soldiers started shooting teargas towards them and their house, while shouting that they should leave the area. The Israeli forces also threw stones at the houses. We visited the families twice last week. Both parents and children were traumatized after repeated attacks. We realized how Israeli Defence Forces are threatening vulnerable families to take over their houses and land that have been theirs for decades. One of the families who used to live there moved into the village of Deir Istyia last year. Now the army is trying to make these three families’ lives so unbearable that they too would decide to move out.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/12/israeli-forces-take-a-next-step-in-threatening-3-families-from-deir-istyia/

Other news, analysis

PA to face ‘extreme difficulty’ in surviving current political climate
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 11 Dec — The Palestinian Authority will face “extreme difficulty” in surviving the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory for much longer, a member of the PLO Central Council and Fatah Central Committee said Thursday. Speaking to journalists and local PLO officials in Beit Jala, Muhammad Shtayyeh said: “The question for us in leadership and for president Mahmoud Abbas: for how long can we maintain this situation?”  “If Israel is intending to kill teenagers everyday, who have a lack of means for living…with all of the aggression that Israel is employing, how long can the Palestinian leadership maintain this reality?” Shtayyeh continued. The PLO official referred to the continuation of the PA as “unsustainable” amid the “political impasse” between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, as well as a lack of a political horizon among the Palestinian leadership itself. “It is extremely difficult that the Palestinian Authority can survive this,” he said. The council member said that while extremist groups have yet to take hold in the popular Palestinian public like they have in neighboring countries, such a reality could not be guaranteed if both the Israeli occupation and Palestinian political woes were not addressed. “If today there is not one single Palestinian with Daesh or Al-Qaeda, can we really maintain this situation? I put this as a question mark and as a warning, this situation is very fragile,” Eshtayyeh said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769290

ICC delegation to visit occupied Palestinian territory in February
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 14 Dec — A delegation from the International Criminal Court is expected to visit the occupied Palestinian territory in February, a Palestinian Authority official said. A member of a national committee in charge of follow-up with the ICC, Wasel Abu Yusif, told Ma‘an that the visit will include ongoing investigations into cases raised to the international court by Palestinian leadership against Israel. The ICC is currently conducting a preliminary probe on possible Israeli war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory. The probe, which was opened in January of this year, is not a full investigation, but an examination of available information to decide whether there is a “reasonable basis” to proceed with a full investigation. The turn by Palestinian leadership to the ICC has been referred to by Israeli officials as “diplomatic terrorism.”
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=769329

IDF to send four more backup battalions to West Bank
JPost 13 Dec by Yaakov Lappin — The IDF announced Sunday it would send four additional battalions to the West Bank, following an evaluation of the security situation. The announcement comes two months after the IDF ordered four battalions to join existing military forces in the West Bank in the wake of ongoing Palestinian terrorism and rioting. The violence is not expected to abate anytime soon. Two reserves battalion will be drafted as planned at the start of 2016 and be deployed to Judea and Samaria, and two conscripted battalions will enter the area as well, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said. More steps to beef up security forces may occur in line with future evaluations, the military added. By late October, it was clear to senior IDF commanders that Palestinian attacks are set to continue for a lengthy period, and they began making preparations accordingly.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-to-send-four-more-back-up-battalions-to-West-Bank-437229

Civilian security guards deployed at Jerusalem bus stations
JPost 13 Dec by Sharon Udasin — Aiming to prevent terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, Transportation Minister Israel Katz launched a civilian security unit on Sunday that will be stationed along public transportation routes around the capital. In its first phase, the 300-person unit includes security guards, former combat soldiers and dozens of special security vehicles, which will operate along traffic arteries and between public transportation stops during all bus operation hours, the Transportation Ministry said. The guards have been equipped with uniforms, handguns, walkie-talkies and certificates issued by the Israel Police – authorizing them to conduct body and luggage searches as well as detain suspicious parties, the ministry added . . . The unit, which was established with the approval of the security cabinet, will be conducting both undercover operations and activities out in the open, according to the ministry. Members of the unit were specially recruited, and all have passed rigorous screening exams and have undergone specialized professional training in shooting, krav maga self-defense, identifying suspects and first aid.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Civilian-security-guards-deployed-at-Jerusalem-bus-stations-437193

Meir Ettinger: The face of Jewish terrorism
Ynet 12 Dec by Oded Shalom & Yifat Erlich — The Shin Bet describes him as a central figure in Jewish terrorism, ‘a violent and dangerous ideological criminal,’ while his friends tell of a quiet and pleasant young man who became a leader merely because of his writing skills; somewhere on the way, between the outposts he’s been living in since he was 15, to his administrative detention following the Duma murders, Rabbi Meir Kahane’s grandson has formed a radical and anti-Zionist ideology — … Two weeks have passed since a “dramatic development” was announced in the investigation of the murder in Duma. It is still unclear what the results of the investigation led by the Shin Bet and the Nationalistically-Motivated Crimes Unit at the Judea and Samaria Police Department will be, but Ettinger’s fingerprints are all over this affair. Ettinger, 24, the grandson of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Kach movement, has been in administrative detention since August. He has never given any interviews to the media. Instead, he lays out his ideology on his blog on “The Jewish Voice” website, which is run from Yitzhar in the Samaria district of the West Bank. His family and friends claim he has never been involved in any terror activity, but if the Shin Bet’s claims are true – then Ettinger is the undisputed leader of the hilltop youth and “price tag” criminals . . .
In early August of this year, after the arson at the Dawabsheh family home in Duma, Ettinger was arrested again and put on a six-month administrative detention. In the arrest order he is described as “the philosopher and director of the terror group behind the arson of Palestinian homes and of churches.” The arrest order further stated that Ettinger’s organization’s goal is to overthrow the government of the State of Israel by means of a violent revolt and form an alternative rule, expel from Israel anyone who is not Jewish, eradicate idol worship, and violate the Temple Mount. The decision to put him on administrative detention is based on confidential Shin Bet documents, according to which if Ettinger is not put on administrative detention, he would continue working to realize his goals.  [long and interesting article]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4738049,00.html

Jewish settlers do martial arts training
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 13 Dec — Israeli media sources revealed that settlers of Maale ah-Zeitim are doing martial arts training in light of the escalating Jerusalem Intifada. The Hebrew Jerusalem weekly newspaper disclosed that training sessions are being held in the settlement which is close to Ras al-Amoud and al-Tour districts in Occupied Jerusalem. Aryeh King, a member of Jerusalem Municipality, along with settlers in Maale ha-Zeitim settlement has worked on collecting donations estimated at tens of thousand dollars for funding training sessions which began just a week ago.  Analysts have always criticized the fact that Jewish settlers have always been given all sorts of resources, protection, impunity and weapons by Israel while Palestinians are left unarmed and unprotected, which enables them to terrorize and attack Palestinians.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=75520

IDF reserve officer briefly detained in UK for war crimes
Ynet 13 Dec by Yoav Zitun & Itamar Eichner — An IDF officer in reserves who fought in Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014 was detained upon landing in the UK a few weeks ago due to a complaint made against him that he was involved in war crimes, Ynet has learned.  Any soldier who fought in the 50-day war, whose details or photos were posted online, may find himself on the blacklist of pro-Palestinian organizations who filed and are still filing complaints at European police stations. The officer, who came to Britain on a business trip, was released a few hours after being detained, thanks to the intervention of the Foreign Ministry with the assistance of the IDF’s Operations Directorate and the IDF’s international law division. British authorities apologized to Israel following the incident. The defense establishment believes that the name of the reserve officer, who served on the home front during the operation, got mixed up in the lists of soldiers and officers which pro-Palestinian organizations drew up.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4738408,00.html

UN delegation visits H2 area of Hebron
AL-KHALIL, Occupied Palestine 12 Dec by ISM, al-Khalil Team — On Tuesday, 8^th December 2015, a delegation from the United Nations visited the H2 area of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), ahead of the international Human Rights Day on 10th December. The UN-delegation visited the H2 area, under full Israeli control, to understand the situation and get first-hand accounts of the life under Israeli occupation and the daily fight of Palestinian residents and human rights defenders. During their visit, they talked to various local and international human rights defenders and visited flashpoint areas in al-Khalil, such as the ‘closed military zone‘ in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. The delegation also went to two areas where school-children have to struggle each day to get to school past checkpoints, the Israeli army shooting tear gas, illegal settlers attacking them; trying to take their right to education . . . After the visit, the UN-delegation came up with a statement stressing the importance and praising the work of human rights defenders that are non-violently struggling to achieve the universal human rights for Palestinians, particularly in the environment of Israeli occupation. They are voicing their great concern about the Israeli forces crackdown on human rights defenders work and their attempts to silence them completely. Read the full UN-statement.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/12/un-delegation-visits-h2-area-of-hebron/

Opinion: When Palestinian women take up arms / Khaled Diab
Al Jazeera 9 Dec — Random stabbing attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians have become a defining feature of the current wave of violence and protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The overwhelming majority of these attacks were carried out by people under the age of 25. One aspect that has triggered a great deal of confusion and shock – both among Palestinians and abroad – is that a high number of attacks were carried out by young women. A fifth of attackers or alleged attackers were women, according to one estimate   But is this surprise justified? In my view, the incredulity these attacks have evoked is due to the intersection between sexism and orientalism. It is remarkable just how much the stereotypes of the Arab and Muslim women entertained by the local patriarchy and orientalists overlap. For both, the Arab woman is passive, weak and submissive, but the reality is very different. Although it tends not to stick enough in the collective memory, Palestinian women have been involved in their national struggle since its very inception. An old black-and-white photo from the 1920s featuring Palestinian women protesting outside the British high commissioner’s office in Jerusalem illustrates this reality eloquently. Even though the involvement of Palestinian women has largely been in the peaceful aspects of the struggle, their participation in armed resistance and other forms of political violence – including terrorism – goes back decades, from the hijackings of the 1960s and 1970s to the suicide bombers of the second Intifada.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/12/palestinian-women-arms-151208122333108.html

Otherwise Occupied: A Palestinian’s gift to an Israeli soldier / Amira Hass
Haaretz 13 Dec — Artist Khaled Jarrar wants to reach the soldier who forgot something in his house during last Tuesday’s raid on Bir Zeit — To the Israeli soldier who, on Tuesday, December 8 at around 2:30 A.M., participated in the raid on the town of Bir Zeit near Ramallah, you should know that Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar is preparing something for you in return for the tear gas grenade you threw into the stairwell of his apartment building, the grenade he found after he recovered from the burning clouds that spread in the enclosed space of his apartment on the second and top floor, and choked him until he thought he was about to die . . . As a poor 20-year-old who wanted to pay for his art studies, he joined the police in 1997, and after that Yasser Arafat’s presidential guard. Jarrar was among the troops blockaded with Arafat in the Muqata‘a in Ramallah in 2002. On March 30 of that year he was wounded from two bullets fired by IDF soldiers. The bullets exploded inside his leg. To this day there are some 20 metal fragments left in his leg: In the winter, when they get cold, it hurts him particularly. Also during physical effort. So it is impossible to say that Jarrar – painter, sculptor and filmmaker – lacks experience in the ways of the occupation and its soldiers. Nonetheless, he says: “I was afraid to open the door since you didn’t ask me to open and you were trying to get in like a thief, and I was afraid of the M-16 in your hand and afraid you would claim later I tried to stab you. So please tell me who you are so I can bring back your gift to you.” . . . He was woken up: “Before I knew it their heavy boots were trying to kick in the door downstairs. The sound of shattered glass broke the silence of the calm night – when up until minutes before, families and students slept in the safety of their beds, quietly dreaming of something better than the scene before me.“
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.691599

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