A new friction point: settlement in Arab Musrara
Ir Amim June -- Like all the other settler enclaves in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, the emerging enclave in Arab Musrara is situated in a strategically important location. Arab Musrara is a small Palestinian neighborhood east of Highway No. 1 -- the 1949 armistice line -- and near Damascus Gate, which is the most important entrance into the Old City leading to Temple Mount. Arab Musrara actually constitutes only a single block
on the east end of Haneviim (The Prophets) Street. It begins with the restaurant-café complex opposite Damascus gate and ends at the intersection of the street with Highway No. 1. It includes 15-20 stores, behind which stands a small block of houses that are home to 20-25 Palestinian families. The strategic importance of this neighborhood stems not only from its proximity to the Old City and Temple Mount but mainly from the fact that it is at the heart of what can be called the main business center of East Jerusalem.http://www.ir-amim.org.il/Eng/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/musrara.pdf
VIDEO: Trespassers only
[with map] B'Tselem June -- Dispossession and Exploitation: Tourism and Minerals -- The Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area contains the largest land reserves in the West Bank. The area covers 1.6 million dunams, which constitute 28.8 percent of the West Bank. Sixty-five thousand Palestinians, live in 29 communities, and an estimated additional 15,000 Palestinians reside in dozens of small Bedouin communities. Some 9,400 settlers live in the 37 settlements (including seven outposts) in the area. Israel has instituted in this area a regime that intensively exploits its resources, to an extent greater than elsewhere in the West Bank, and which demonstrates its intention: de facto annexation of the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area to the State of Israel.
http://www.btselem.org/video/2011/06/trespassers-only
Israeli army destroys nine water tanks in Palestinian village
ICN (CPT) 6 July -- Yesterday morning, (Tuesday) around 11.30, a convoy of Israeli Army, civil administration, and border police arrived in the Palestinian village of Amniyr accompanying a flat bed truck with a front end loader and a backhoe. Israeli settlers having a picnic at the settlement outpost next to the Susiya archaeological site looked on as the army destroyed nine large tanks of water and a tent. Amniyr is a small village of 11 families in the South Hebron Hills, just northeast of the Palestinian village of Susiya and the Israeli settlement of the same name. The village of shepherds and farmers, like most villages in the area, is totally dependent in the summer on tanks of water. Nor does that water come cheap. Costs of transportation, due to the poor infrastructure in the area - Palestinians are normally not permitted to build roads in Area C of the West Bank and have restricted access to Israeli roads - mean the cost of water is much higher than normal. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18566
Israeli army, settlers attack Palestinian property
WEST BANK (WAFA) 5 July – Israeli army bulldozers Tuesday demolished a water well belonging to a Palestinian farmer in Al-Khader, a town south of Bethlehem, on land near the Jewish settlement of Efrat, according to Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Awad Abu Sawy. Abu Sawy said that these escalated Israeli measures aim to displace the owners of the land and seize it for the purpose of settlement expansion.http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=16627
Proposal to remove Arabic, English names rejected
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 July -- An Israeli government committee has rejected a proposal to cancel Arabic and English road sign names and replace them with the transliterated Hebrew versions. Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz saw his proposal to change all names on road signs to the literal Hebrew translation rejected on Wednesday, according to Israeli daily Haaretz. The proposal was widely criticized by members of the Government Names Committee, a professional group part of the Israeli government who have been responsible for naming cities and towns in Israel since 1950. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=403046
AIC Culture is Resistance Week opens in West Bank
6 July -- The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is profoundly cultural,” explained Nassar Ibrahim, Director of the Alternative Information Center at the opening ceremony of the AIC’s Culture is Resistance! Week on Tuesday evening. "It is the clash of two narratives. The Israelis are occupying not just our land, but our language, our space, confiscating the memory of our stones. Confiscating our culture and adapting it for their own. Our political work would be missing something if we didn’t also work in culture," Ibrahim added. Held under the auspices of the Palestinian Ministry of Culture and the Beit Sahour Municipality, the AIC Culture is Resistance! Week explores through theatre, art, music, photography, poetry, literature and cinema, the dimensions and connections between culture and resistance to Israeli colonialism.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/11-aic-projects/3696-aic-culture-is-resistance-week-opens-in-west-bank-
Settlers
Video documentation: Settler sets fire to field in Burin
[with map] B'Tselem 5 July -- On Thursday, 30 June, around noon settlers torched fields surrounding the Yizhar settlement ... The film shows a small group of settlers walking along the access road to Yizhar, on their way from a demonstration that had been held at the Huwarra intersection. One of the settlers walks into the weeds by the roadside and throws some lit matches. As the blaze starts, the settler flees in a waiting vehicle, which drives in the direction of the gate at the entrance to the settlement. The fire rapidly spreads toward the olive orchards on the eastern side of the road. Ha’aretz reported that the police arrested a number of suspects, and that the court released them for lack of evidence. B'Tselem will provide the video footage to the police with a demand to locate the arsonists and bring them to justice ... According to data collected by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in 2011, settlers have damaged more than 3,000 trees belonging to Palestinians. In recent weeks, B'Tselem learned of three other torchings around Yitzhar, on land belonging to residents of Madmahttp://www.btselem.org/press-release/video-documentation-settler-sets-fire-field-burin
West Bank rabbi calls for annexing West Bank to Israel
RAMALLAH (PIC) 6 July -- Fanatic West Bank settler rabbi Dov Lior has called for annexing the West Bank to Israel in order to thwart Palestinian efforts to declare an independent state. Lior was recently arrested on charges of inciting to kill non-Jewish children. He said that when Israel annexes the West Bank there would be peace and security in the region. Meanwhile, Hebron (Al-Khalil) Hills Regional Council head Tzvika Bar-Hai has made calls to attract thousands of Jews to live in the Negev considering its security importance.http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2B
Gaza
Three injured as army bombards Gaza
IMEMC 6 July -- Israeli Air Force bombarded, late on Tuesday at night, an area east Gaza city causing damage to several structures and mildly wounding three residents. Local sources reported an F-16 Israeli fighter-jet fired at least two missiles into some sheds close to the Al Salaam Mosque in Al Shujaeyya neighborhood , east of Gaza City. The sheds were damaged while three residents were moved to the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city suffering mild injuries. The Israeli army claimed that soldiers targeted a siege-busting tunnel in the area, and destroyed it. The army also said that the bombardment comes in retaliation to homemade shells fired into Israeli areas adjacent to Gaza.http://www.imemc.org/article/61620
Israeli air strike kills two in Gaza Strip
AJE 5 July -- Fighter jets open fire on Palestinian town of Deir al-Balah, killing two men and wounding another. Israel's military said the two men were attempting to fire rockets into Israel, while sources told the Reuters news agency that the pair were members of Tawhid, an Islamist group which has challenged the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. But relatives of the men, identified as Kamal Hamdan Muammar and Mohammed Said Abu Jazar, both 28, said they were civilians, the Associated News agency reported.[briefly reported by Ma‘an yesterday also]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/07/20117519560507916.html
Gaza PM: Egypt must improve Rafah crossing
GAZA (Ma’an) 6 July -- The Rafah crossing is still not equipped to deal with the flow of Palestinians crossing into Egypt from the Gaza Strip, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Wednesday. "From the heart of the Rafah crossing, I appeal to the Egyptian leadership to ease the suffering of citizens, and on our part, we will do our best," Haniyeh said following a meeting with Rafah crossing and security officials. The obstacles for travelers are on the Egyptian side of the crossing as the Palestinian side is capable of dealing comfortably with 1000 passengers, Haniyeh added. The Gaza PM also revealed that $4.5 million had been allocated to improve the crossing’s infrastructure. The first stage of refurbishment will start next week.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402993
Egypt approves entry of medical supplies to Gaza
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma‘an) 6 July -- Egyptian authorities approved the entry of five tons of medical supplies into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, authorizing a donation from the Arab Doctors Union. The shipment was delivered to a representative of the Palestinian Red Crescent at the Rafah crossing and taken into the Strip, a Ma‘an correspondent reported.
Separately, Egyptian authorities finalized the unloading of a Malaysian aid vessel Tuesday in El-Arish port. The cargo was transported in seven trucks to the Al-Oja crossing in the central Sinai peninsula. It will then be delivered to Israel through the Nizzana crossing before being unloaded in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority has paid the custom tariffs on the Malaysian aid, which consists of 32 tons of pipes to be used for an 8-kilometer long sewage pipeline.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402971
Protests in Gaza against UNRWA name change
GAZA (Ma‘an) 6 July -- The popular committee for Palestinian refugees intends to organize a sit-in protest in front of Gaza UNRWA offices on Tuesday, after reports said that the organization is changing its name ... UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, is reportedly considering changing its name to the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees. "We demanded from the UNRWA to explain the idea behind the change but we received no response and they keep telling us that the matter is still under consideration," Okal said. The committee insists that changing UNRWA's name would pave the way for relinquishing part of its commitment towards the refugees.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402777
Hamas arrests male hairdresser for Gaza woman's haircut
BBC 6 July -- The Hamas government in Gaza has begun enforcing a law introduced last year banning men from cutting women's hair. Until now, the law had not been enforced, but this week at least one male hairdresser in Gaza was arrested. Male hairdressers for women are regarded by many Muslims as against Islamic tradition. The move is seen as an attempt to bolster Hamas's Islamic credentials against critics who say it has become too moderate ... The reality is in Gaza - with its huge Muslim majority - most women do not want to have their hair cut by men.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14050894
Restriction of movement
IOF bars 8-year-old girl from travel
RAMALLAH (PIC) 6 July -- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) unashamedly banned an eight-year old Palestinian girl named Banan Obeid from traveling to Jordan at the pretext she presented a security threat to Israel. An informed source said the girl was along with her mother on their way to Jordan to visit their relatives there on Monday evening when Israeli troops at King Hussein Bridge detained them for three hours and confiscated their passports. The troops told her mother that there was a ban on their travel abroad for security reasons, according to the source. The father of Banan is a prominent Islamic leader in the West Bank and was one of the deportees to the Marj Al-Zohour area in south Lebanon.http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Detention
IOF soldiers storm village, round up civilians
NABLUS (PIC) 6 July -- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the village of Iraq Burin, southwest of Nablus, at the early hours of Wednesday and rounded up many citizens and released some of them after field interrogation. Abdul Rahim Qadus, the village’s municipality chief, said that the IOF troops burst into the village in 18 armored vehicles and searched the village houses. Reliable sources in the village said that the soldiers in each house they stormed, gathered all family members in one room before searching the house.
Ghassan Daghlas, the head of the settlement monitoring committee in Nablus, said that the IOF operation was meant to terrorize the village inhabitants into giving up their weekly anti settlement march.http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
Troops kidnap six Palestinians in the West Bank
IMEMC 6 July -- Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Wednesday at dawn six Palestinians in several parts of the occupied West Bank. Two Palestinians were kidnapped on Tuesday at night. Israeli army Radio claimed that the six "are wanted by the Israeli security forces," and that they were rounded up and taken to interrogation centers. The six residents are from Jenin, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron. http://www.imemc.org/article/61621
Heated debate over Palestinian prisoners in Israel
BBC 6 July -- The Israeli government's plans to make conditions tougher for Palestinian prisoners in its jails is drawing attention to a highly sensitive issue, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem. The entrance to the Abu Jihad Museum for the Prisoners' Movement closely resembles a jail. Step inside the revolving steel door topped by barbed wire and you stand behind bars that surround the ticket desk. Exhibits at the site, in the West Bank town of Abu Dis near Jerusalem, tell the stories of Palestinian political prisoners from the British Mandate period to modern-day Israel. Palestinians have come to view their experience of detention, for actions that oppose the occupation of their land, as part of their national identity. "It was important to establish this museum. Prison is a crucial part of the Palestinian struggle," says curator, Fahid Abu al-Haj. "The museum contains the suffering of more than 800,000 prisoners."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13989989
68 Hamas members arrested since unity deal
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 July -- Palestinian security forces have been cracking down on Hamas members in the West Bank despite the implementation of a reconciliation deal, Hamas leaders said Wednesday. Hundreds of supporters of the party and Hamas leaders have been summoned by Palestinian Authority forces and 68 members have been arrested, a statement by Hamas said. "Thirty-nine of those who were arrested were ex-prisoners freed from Israeli jails, while seven political prisoners were brought to military trials." The Palestinian Authority has also violated reconciliation principles by dismissing four teachers from Jenin and Nablus schools and by closing down charities in the West Bank, the statement added.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402967
Flotillas
Juliano ship heads for Gaza
Ynet 6 July -- Flotilla vessel departs from Greece after massive delays, to rendezvous with French boat at sea -- The Gaza-bound Juliano ship left Greece Wednesday afternoon, after suffering huge delays due in part to a ban set by Athens on the departure of flotilla ships from its ports. On board the ship are 20 activists. Last week flotilla organizers claimed that Israel had sabotaged the ship in an attempt to prevent it from sailing. "We are at sea," former Israeli Dror Feiler, one of the organizers, told Ynet. "All roads lead to Gaza. It will be a small but high-quality flotilla." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4092013,00.html
July 6th update from the US Boat to Gaza
...Last night our group’s activities in Athens ended and here’s a description from one of our people there: "We all went to Syntagma Square which looks much like Tahrir where there is an encampment and thousands of people gather each night. On Sundays there may be upwards of 50,000 and on big nights hundreds of thousands. We unfurled to drum beats 22 flags sewn together representing the countries participating in the Flotilla. Our black and white signs were in Greek, Arabic and English. It was a beautiful sight. Then we marched to the Spanish Embassy where our Spanish partners were occupying its embassy demanding the release of their boat. We arrived at about 9 pm with drummers leading the way. They came out on balconies and we sang to each other. It was quite the sight."
Now our folks are beginning the journey home ... They will share their stories and talk about their experiences in communities everywhere. And they will use this incredible time they shared in Athens as a springboard for further activism and organizing.http://ustogaza.org/latest/july-6th-update-from-the-u-s-boat-to-gaza/
Allow Gaza ships [to] proceed
IrishTimes 6 July --TWO SHIPS from the Gaza flotilla are still at sea in international waters and must be allowed reach their destination, a press conference in the European Parliament fronted by Irish MEP Paul Murphy was told yesterday. He was one of three MEPs who failed to make it to Gaza when it was alleged that the Irish boat was sabotaged by Israeli agents in Turkey and then Greece imposed a ban on boats sailing there ... The MEPs announced that they had demanded support for the flotilla in letters to the presidents of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, and European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and Baroness Catherine Ashton, who represents the EU on external relations ... "We demand an independent and impartial inquiry into these acts of sabotage and we also expect a condemnation of these acts of sabotage by the Israeli authorities," the letter added.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0706/1224300157672.html
Swiss company cancels deal to sell cement to Gaza flotilla organizers / Amira Hass
Haaretz 6 July -- The Swiss company that had sold cement to Swedish activists planning to sail to Gaza as part of an international aid flotilla said Wednesday that due to "force majeure," it had decided to cancel the deal. Interbulk has sold the Swedish delegation some 3,000 tons of cement, which were meant to be transferred to Gaza as aid on the Swedish-Greek-Norwegian ship, Free Mediterranean, as part of a Gaza flotilla
[See her other 'diaries' from the flotilla: http://www.haaretz.com/news/flotilla-diary]http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/swiss-company-cancels-deal-to-sell-cement-to-gaza-flotilla-organizers-1.371740
Sources: Flotilla report says blockade legal
Ynet 6 July -- Palmer report on 2010 flotilla, delayed over disagreements between Turkey, Israel, says IDF used excess force in raid but authorizes Gaza blockade. Report also accuses Turkey of ties with IHH, involvement in flotillahttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4092023,00.html
Fly-in / Flytilla / Flightilla
600 Internationals to challenge Israel's blockade of West Bank on 8 July
AIC 6 July -- Approximately 600 European and American citizens, including numerous families with children, will land at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport this Friday, 8 July, in response to an impassioned 'call to action' by some 15 Palestinian civil society organizations. Upon arrival, the activists will openly declare their wish to visit the occupied Palestinian territory and demand that Israel and the international community recognize the basic human right of entry to the occupied Palestinian territory. Under the project title Welcome to Palestine, Mission from 8-16 July 2011, Palestinian civil society organisations have planned a week-long schedule of peaceful solidarity activities all throughout the West Bank, including a solidarity visit with the Al-Rowwad Centre of the Aïda refugee camp in Bethlehem, a tour of Hebron’s occupied and divided Old City and olive tree planting around Ramallah. Insidiously dubbed 'the flightilla' by several Israeli media outlets, the planned solidarity visit is different from the thousands of visits by international solidarity activists since 2002 in only one respect: the plan to be open about the purpose of their visit with Israeli authorities, who control entry into the occupied Palestinian territory. Instead, the landmark event constitutes a unique international effort to promote the core idea that Israel and the international community "must recognize the basic human right of entering to Palestine by those who want to visit the Palestinian people".
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3698-600-internationals-to-challenge-israeli-blockade-of-west-bank-on-8-july-
Israel reacts hysterically to Welcome to Palestine initiative / Sergio Yahni
AIC 6 July -- Representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Aviation Authority, the Internal Security Ministry, police representatives, Prime Minister's Office officials and others will be present in the operations room, which will work nonstop until the last of the international activists has landed. All incoming passengers will be checked in advance for their potential participation in the fly-in. Activists identified as such will be personally escorted out of the planes. Police plan to place officers on all aircraft. Additionally the Israeli authorities are considering the isolation of planes coming from Europe in a secluded area at the airport’s Terminal 1, where passengers will be extensively checked before they reach passport control. This reaction may be seen irrational, and it is indeed irrational considering that at the end of the day, nothing new will happen on Friday. http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3697-israel-reacts-hysterically-to-welcome-to-palestine-initiative-
Israel deports five ahead of anticipated influx of pro-Palestinian activists
Haaretz 6 July -- Israeli police have deported five pro-Palestinian activists in the past two days. The activists were sent back to their home countries, France and Begium. Dozens of Israeli security forces deployed at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, following reports that hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists planned to fly into the country as a counterpart to the Gaza-bound aid flotilla ...
Yet the organizers of the flights denied their intention. One of them, Lubna Masarawa, told Haaretz in a phone call from London that the reports are overblown and do not reflect the activists' plans. "The main mistake is the attempt to tie the flights to the flotilla," she said. "There is no connection between the two." The organizers say the idea is to send hundreds of civil society activists to visit the Palestinian Authority. The planning began about a year ago. "The activists will arrive as tourists and ask to pass through border control like any other tourists," Masarawa said. "There is no plan to confront anyone, but a true will to visit Palestinian cities and then the Negev." http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-deports-five-ahead-of-anticipated-influx-of-pro-palestinian-activists-1.371776
Israel gears for pro-Palestinian fly-in
Ynet 6 July -- Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from around the world, though mainly from Europe, are expected to arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport on Friday. They say their aim is to visit Bethlehem and allow visitors into Palestinian villages where entry is restricted. A special status evaluation held Tuesday surveyed the various steps government agencies will take to prevent provocations at the airport. Jerusalem is treating the fly-in with a great deal of caution. "Everyone here is in hysterics," sources in Jerusalem said when commenting on the preparation in Israel. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091564,00.html
Activism / Solidarity
VIDEO: New flashmob in NYC asking TIAA-CREF to divest!
US Campaign to End the Occupation 6 July -- New York City activists performed an inspiring flash mob in Times Square to promote the We Divest Campaign, calling on financial TIAA-CREF to divest from the Israeli Occupation. Activists nationwide are preparing actions for July 19th, when TIAA-CREF is holding its annual shareholders meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the first year TIAA-CREF is holding their meeting outside of New York City, prompting questions as to why they've moved. Perhaps to avoid We Divest activism? But like Caterpillar, they can run but they can't hide! This blog has other recent coverage of the BDS Flash Mob phenomenon. Also see our BDS Flash Mob How-To Kit to plan a flash mob in your own community!http://blog.endtheoccupation.org/2011/07/tiaa-cref-wedivest-flashmob-in-nyc.html
UN 'slams Israel' over Nakba Day bloodshed
JERUSALEM (AFP) 5 July -- A UN report into the bloodshed along the Israel-Lebanon border in May has slammed the Israeli army for using unnecessary force when firing on protesters, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The report was released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this week and passed on to the 15 members of the Security Council, with a copy also passed on to Israel's Haaretz newspaper ... The report found that Israeli troops "used direct live fire against unarmed demonstrators" and urged the army to avoid doing so in situations where there was no immediate threat to life. "Other than firing initial warning shots, the Israel Defense Forces did not use conventional crowd control methods or any other method than lethal weapons against the demonstrators," it says. In his concluding remarks, Ban urges the Israeli military to act only with the level of force appropriate to the threat facing its troops.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402867
Racism / Discrimination / Incitement
Western Wall rabbi targeted
Ynet 6 July -- ... "There are radical groups of settlers and haredim which are trying to hurt the rabbi," says a source involved in the affair. "They opposed his activity at Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's tomb on Mount Meron, when he tried to find a solution for the control struggles around the complex, and the renovation of Joseph's Tomb by Arabs, which the rabbi was responsible for. "Settlers have been making statements against the rabbi, like 'If you harm the Land of Israel – you'll be harmed." http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091519,00.html
Peres: Rabbis must shun extremism
Ynet 6 July -- President, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar agree to work together to settle rift over 'King's Torah'http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091939,00.html
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Fayyad: PA to pay debts, statehood not undermined
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 July -- Ramallah Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday that it is unacceptable to use the current financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority as a means to discredit the campaign for statehood. All states face financial troubles and need the correct procedures and oversight to overcome such problems, he said in a weekly public radio address. "Civil servants will receive today half of their monthly salaries, and the other half will be paid when cash is available," he added.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402957
Security Council to discuss Palestine bid in July
Reuters 6 July -- Open Security Council debate on Mideast scheduled for July 26; Quartet to meet in Washington next weekhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091622,00.html
Report: Iceland backs recognition of Palestinian state
AMMAN, Jordan (Ma‘an) 6 July -- Iceland's foreign minister on Tuesday indicated that his country would support a Palestinian initiative to gain recognition of statehood, a Jordanian news service reported. Petra news quoted Ossur Skarphedinsson as telling an Arab League official charged with Palestinian affairs that Iceland supported recognition "in view of expected changes in this regard in the future." http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402842
Israel gets backing of Romania ahead of UN vote on Palestinian statehood
Haaretz 6 July -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu continues to Bulgaria in effort to drum up opposition to Palestinian plan; FM Lieberman: A unilateral move will force Israel to retaliate ... Lieberman said that Israel had already garnered the support of the U.S., Canada, Italy and Germany and was working on convincing other like-minded nations to side with it in September. Most of the developing world, including Arab and Muslim countries, can be counted on to back the Palestinians - leaving very few countries that might still go either way at the UN ... The Palestinians aim to win two-thirds support in the 192-member General Assembly at the United Nations - or 129 countries - and are now about 13 countries short of their target. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gets-backing-of-romania-ahead-of-un-vote-on-palestinian-statehood-1.371801
FM won't apologize to Turkey
Ynet 6 July -- Avigdor Lieberman says extending official apology to Ankara over tragic events of first Gaza flotilla humiliating to Jerusalemhttp://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091818,00.html
Other news
Peretz evades UK arrest warrant
Ynet 6 July -- MK Amir Peretz narrowly managed to escape an arrest warrant issued for him in London this past weekend on suspicion of committing war crimes during the Lebanon War, Yedioth Ahronoth has learned. The Justice and Foreign ministries were aware of the arrest warrant ahead of time, and advised Peretz, who was in New York last week, to cancel his trip to the UK.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091748,00.html
Arabs oppose plan to install Sunday day of rest
Ynet 6 July -- The Arab sector in Israel is up in arms over the proposed plan to declare Sunday as an additional day of rest, saying that the initiative would hurt Muslims who pray in Mosques on Fridays, as well as cause it financial damage. According to the proposal, Saturday and Sunday will be official days of rest while Friday will become a half day, work-wise. An Arab teacher from northern Israel said: "I won't work on Friday because it is our holy day. We will not allow the Israeli government to put this plan into action because it is detrimental to the Muslim religion. Moves like this disrupt relations and are a danger."http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091586,00.html
Arab Spring's songbird brings 'Liberty' to the West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank, July 6 (Reuters Life!) - Three months after Algerian singer Souad Massi released her latest album "O Houria" (Liberty), revolution was sweeping the Arab world. The songwriter and guitarist acclaimed for her extraordinary voice predicts no quick end to the popular uprisings that are reshaping the Middle East. And she thinks it is only matter of time before the Arab Spring reaches Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, where she performed at a sell-out concert on Tuesday. "What would have been a miracle in the past, can today happen," said Massi Souad Massi - Houria (clip officiel)
http://af.reuters.com/article/tunisiaNews/idAFLDE7640OG20110706
Analysis / Opinion
Israel's body transfer debacle likely to damage Palestinian trust / Amod Harel & Barak Ravid
Haaretz 6 July -- Confused handling by the Prime Minister's Office, the defense minister's office and the Israel Defense Forces over Israel's proposed transfer of the bodies of Palestinian terrorists has turned an attempt to make a gesture toward the Palestinians into an embarrassing incident. The foul-up will apparently also damage whatever trust remains between Israel and the Palestinians.http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-s-body-transfer-debacle-likely-to-damage-palestinian-trust-1.371635
Analysis: Alliance shifts behind Greece Gaza stand / Elena Becatoros
ATHENS, Greece (AP) 7 July -- Greece's decision last week to block activists from trying to sail to Gaza with an aid shipment in defiance of Israel's sea blockade took many by surprise. After all, Athens has been a traditional ally of the Palestinians and Arab states, and only established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1990. But Greece has quietly been building economic and political bridges to Israel for years. And now that Turkey -- Greece's traditional rival -- has cooled to its role as the Jewish state's best friend in the Muslim world, the debt-wracked Greeks have an even greater incentive to cozy up to its rich Mediterranean neighbor.http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-alliance-shifts-behind-greece-gaza-stand-115516587.html
Salvation under Gaza's sea / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 5 July -- The price of electricity is about to jump 20 percent, but will the cottage-cheese revolutionaries boycott the politicians who foiled a plan to develop Gaza's gas field? ... In Israel, however, no one is demanding an accounting from the politicians who thwarted the initiative to develop a large gas field off Gaza's beaches, thus forgoing another potential energy source. Had the politicians acted otherwise, the Israel Electric Corporation would have started receiving that gas this year, thus reducing dependence on Egyptian gas and pushing down the price of electricity and products dependent on it. Were former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon able to tell us what motivated him not to cut the deal with the Palestinian Authority, he would without a doubt have explained that he feared the income would help finance terror. Sharon was not alone.http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/border-control-salvation-under-gaza-s-sea-1.371512
-- www.TheHeadlines.org
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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