Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.
"... senior Egyptian diplomats say that what Egypt is pursuing “are normal relations—basic normal relations, no less, no more” with Iran, see here. That is exactly what Turkey, under the AKP, has done—pursued normal relations with regional parties from which it had previously been estranged. Turkey has not dropped its relations with the United States, pulled out of NATO, or anything of the sort. It has simply expanded the range of its regional relationships. But that, as we have seen, can have enormous geopolitical consequences.
And that is precisely what potentially could happen with Egypt’s new foreign policy. With regard to Egypt’s relations with Israel, senior Egyptian diplomats say those relations with remain more or less the same—but note that “the immediate willingness of Egypt to accommodate Israeli concerns and demands out of the wish to impress the US is, however, off the table”, see here. If Egypt establishes “basic normal relations” with Iran and other players in the Middle East’s resistance bloc, the geopolitical consequences will be huge, even if Cairo maintains most elements of its relationships with Israel and the United States."
DEMAND EMBASSY CLOSURE IN WAKE OF RENEWED ATTACKS ON GAZA
“ Just when the Palestinians in Gaza thought they were facing this new Israeli attacks alone and with their backs against the wall, they found out they forgot, over the years, that they had brothers in Egypt who are willing not only to accompany them in their struggle against Israel but to protect their backs as well”
Dr. Ashraf Ezzat / Veterans today Exclusive
Editor’s notes: The western press and even Al Jazeera have failed to report today’s demonstrations in Tahir Square, Cairo accurately. Thousands of Egyptians marched from the square to the Israeli Embassy, demanding that the current military government end diplomatic relations with Israel in wake of the recent assault on Gaza by the IDF.
Israel claims that a school bus was attacked with a mortar round this week and it was necessary for the army to respond with tanks, helicopters, rockets and a step-up of the nightly bombing campaign that has gone on for months.
Skeptics doubt Israel’s claim of an attack from Gaza, citing Israel’s propensity for fabricating threats and the bizarre choice of weapons. From an American intelligence source who has worked with Israel for decades:
Israel has been using the “mortar attack” story more and more. Any small explosive charge can be made to look like a mortar attack. even a hand grenade. You only need to throw a few shards of metal around, the cheapest and dirtiest “false flag” possible and Israel has done this dozens of times. Hamas has mortars but they also have thousands of RPGs. That’s the weapon used to go after a vehicle. Saying someone shot a mortar at a bus is simply idiotic. If Gaza has the weapons Israel claims, Russian Kornet and RPG 29s which are capable of destroying Israel’s Merkava tanks quite readily, as Hizbollah proved, the “school bus” story is even more fictional.
Egyptians marching to the Israeli embassy in cairo,
protesting over Israeli strikes of Gaza.
Five bombs and 2 air-to-ground missiles struck the single-floor school. Of the 130 school children who attended the school, 46 were killed, and over 50 wounded, many of them maimed for life. The school itself was completely demolished.
That tragic day marked the first encounter of the Egyptian people with the brutality and the indiscriminate aggression of the Israelis that targeted the innocent and unarmed civilians. This air raid demolished not only the school building but also the remains of any hopes for Israel to be seen as a friendly neighbor state.
From then on Israel was the absolute enemy in the eyes of every average Egyptian.
This terrorist attack on the innocent Egyptian school children has been deeply engraved in the memory of all Egyptians. And to make sure that no one forgot what Israel had done on that day, Egyptians made April 8th a mourning day for the killed school children of Bahr el-Bakar and to be commemorated every year for the last 41 years.
Only this year it was rather different.
Egypt-Israel relations in the last 40 years
Egypt has just emerged from its worldwide celebrated revolution which managed to topple the long lasting in power dictator, Hosni Mubarak.
So many things happened in Egypt since the Israeli raid on April 8th, 1970.
- Egypt retaliated years of Israeli military aggression and political arrogance in the glorious October war 1973 against Israel.
- President Sadat signed – on an individual initiative- a peace treaty with Israel 1979 (based on Camp David accords) that never managed to naturalize relations between Egyptians and Israelis.
- Mubarak ruled in Egypt in 1980 and to begin a long era of not only observing the terms of the peace treaty but to act as the closest friend of Israel and the white house in the Middle East.
- Mubarak through his corrupt reign helped Israel to tighten its shameful siege on Gaza and he even supplied Tel Aviv with the natural gas they needed for power and electricity production with prices way under the world rates. But his most appreciated contribution to the Zionist regime in Israel was the complete Egyptian withdrawal from actively participating into the hot issues of the Arab- Israeli conflict.
Gaza under fire again
Lately, the unrest began to resurface again at the border line between Gaza and Israel. On Friday April 8th Five Palestinians have been killed and around 45 wounded in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip following an offer of a ceasefire from Hamas after a surge in cross-border violence that was dramatically reduced by Israel and sold to the world as the usual selective Palestinian attack, by their most primitive handmade rockets, on a school bus – an area of specialty long mastered by the Israelis since Bahr el-Bakar school massacre.
Thus began another expected scenario of disproportionate Israeli attacks on the civilians and children in Gaza with the civilized world muted and turning a blind eye as usual.
The world has grown numb and painfully insensitive to the crimes of Israel against the Arab Palestinians in Gaza and the west bank.
And with judge Richard Goldstone bowing out and going back on his indictment of the Israeli crimes committed during the war on Gaza 2009; the world seems like a barren place for the Palestinians devoid of any free voices left to stand up against the Israeli insolence.
And just when the Palestinians in Gaza thought they were facing this new Israeli attacks alone and with their backs against the wall, they found out they forgot, over the years, that they had brothers in Egypt who are willing not only to accompany them in their struggle against Israel but to protect their backs as well.
Embassy under siege
On the very same day of April 8th and as Egyptians were protesting in Tahrir square demanding that Mubarak and his inner circle of aids to be put on trial and as the news of the Israeli attacks on Gaza made its way to the square at the heart of Cairo, thousands immediately took to the district where the Israeli embassy in Cairo is located.
Egyptians held back – by the military forces- from advancing into the building where the embassy lies practically surrounded the embassy in what seemed like a gigantic human shield. The angry protesters held flags of both Egypt and Palestine and raised big posters of al Aqsa mosque- temple mount in Jerusalem. On a live coverage by Aljazeera of the march to the Israeli embassy some of the protesters expressed their anger at the recent unjust Israeli attacks on Gaza and they made it clear they expected nothing less than the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador out of Egypt and taking the Israeli flag off the embassy building.
Some of the protesters went far as to demand the immediate ending of the siege imposed on Gaza from the Egyptian side and the freeze of the Egyptian supply of natural gas to Israel. But the most daring request came by many protesters who called for a public referendum to allow the Egyptian people to have their say about the peace treaty president Sadat had signed 30 years ago.
Amidst that overwhelming atmosphere of antagonism to Israel and its unacceptable and inhuman war of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians the Israeli embassy at the top floor of the building on the other side of the Nile opposite to Tahrir square found no other option than to dim out the lights and keep its staff hiding inside.
While the Egyptian crowd down in the streets were still swelling in great numbers around the embassy with the intensity of their enthusiasm rising high as they chanted for eternal solidarity with Palestinians the Israeli embassy’s lights were almost turned off with the Israeli flag kept as unapparent and way out of sight as possible.
On this April 8th night, and on the very same day that witnessed the massacre of Bahr el-Bakar the Israeli embassy with all the Israeli diplomatic mission in Cairo seemed under siege.
It must have been a terrible night for the Israeli diplomats in Cairo but at least they have experienced, even it was for few hours how it feels to be vulnerable, threatened and under relentless siege.
This public display of the Egyptian anger and dissatisfaction of the Israeli aggressive policy against the Palestinians may pass unreported by the main stream media but never unnoticed by the analysts of the Arab- Israeli conflict especially in the post-Mubarak era in Egypt for what happened on that night of April 8th, 2011 might well depict the scene of the coming Egyptian-Israeli state of affairs.
On this day of commemoration, May the souls of innocent Egyptian and Palestinian children, massacred by the Israeli criminal forces, rest in peace.
For more articles by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat visit his website.
NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Former artillery General Oded Tira said Israel's military confrontation with Hamas Movement is inevitable as long as it refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.
In an article published by strategic studies center, Tira advised the Israeli army to necessarily carry out its activities covertly and away from the media and train its troops how to sharpen their senses and be patient in the war against Hamas.
The former General called for eliminating Hamas because it wants to remove Israel from the map.
There is no halfway solution, either Hamas recognizes Israel, and this is impossible, or Israel eliminates Hamas, he emphasized.
In another context, Palestinian eyewitnesses said the antimissile system called the iron dome set up by the Israeli army to intercept the resistance's homemade rockets failed on Friday evening to stop a number of projectiles fired from Gaza in retaliation to Israeli attacks.
Citizens affirmed that six Israeli missiles were fired in the air to destroy a Palestinian rocket launched from Gaza, but they failed to hit the target and the rocket continued its way to Ashkelon city.
Israeli sources also talked on Thursday that the iron dome system had intercepted only one rocket out of 20 others fired from Gaza at the western Negev region and Ashkelon city.
For its part, Salahuddin Brigades, the armed wing of the popular resistance committees, said the unilateral ceasefire in Gaza cannot be accepted as long as Israel is persistent in escalating its military attacks against the Palestinian people there.
Spokesman for the Brigades Abu Mujahed stressed that the Palestinian resistance cannot abide by the calm while Israel does not respect it and keeps shedding the Palestinian blood everywhere in Gaza.
Damascus– The Ministry of Interior issued on Friday the following statement…
"Fellow citizens,
"In recent weeks, groups of citizens gathered in demonstrations in several areas in Syria, particularly on Fridays, making a number of demands that were met with immediate response from the leadership. Several procedures and decrees were announced in response to these demands, with decrees continuing to be issued and the necessary steps being taken in the framework of the process of development and modernization witnessed in Syria today.
"However, there are some spiteful individuals, outsiders and those who were compelled by known foreign parties, accompanied by blatant instigation by satellite channels and internet sites, that didn't like the initiatives and the responses to the citizens' just demands that are being carried out; the responses which the great Syrian people showed support for with demonstrations across all Syrian governorates and cities.
"It became obvious that these people do not want reform and are not concerned with popular demand or prohibiting the use of weapons, taking advantage of the latter and infiltrating demonstrators or people seeing off martyrs. They began to open fire randomly in order to cause a schism between citizens and security personnel.
"They burned official and services establishments, prompted some to assault military and security personnel who are still committed to not opening fire, which led to the martyring and injuring of high numbers of these personnel.
"The Ministry of Interior appeals to fellow citizens to understand and realize the reality of what is happening and the hidden aspects of the plot, and to uncover those criminals and isolate them and report them wherever they are so that they may be held accountable and brought to justice, thus revealing their intentions and the intentions of those who compelled them and paid them.
"The Syrian authorities, in order to preserve the security of the country, citizens and the governmental and services establishments, will confront these people and those behind them according to the law which specifies the conditions for using weapons.
"The Ministry of Interior affirms that there is no more room for leniency or tolerance in enforcing law, preserving security of country and citizens and protecting general order under the pretext of demonstration, which we still consider a healthy state. However, we will not allow for deliberately confusing peaceful demonstration with vandalism, sowing discord, undermining the strong national unity, and attacking the basis of Syrian policy which is based on defending national standards and the people's interests."
NABLUS, (PIC)-- Tens of Jewish settlers attacked the village of Assira Al-Qabalia, south of Nablus, on Saturday injuring two citizens and causing material damage, locals reported.
Husni Al-Saleh, the chairman of the village's municipal council, said that the settlers threw stones at the citizens' homes at the outskirts of the village.
He added that they threw a firebomb at one of the houses and its owner's feet were hurt as a result.
Another citizen was injured in his chest as a result of the flying rocks thrown by those settlers, Saleh said, adding that the man was hospitalized.
He noted that the settlers then headed to the nearby village of Urif and burnt a citizen's car.
Meanwhile in Salfit, armed Jewish settlers were spotted visting an archaeological site west of the city near the town of Brukin. According to locals, Jews claim the land belongs to their forefathers.
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) targeted journalists and paramedics during clashes that broke out with Palestinians after Friday prayers in the Al-Bustan community in the Jerusalem district of Silwan, the Wadi al-Halwa information center reported.
The IOF troops fired random and tear gas near Shahid Samer Sarhan Street prompting civilians to respond with rocks and Molotov cocktails.
At least one man was injured after being hit by a rubber bullet, while dozens suffered the effects of breathing tear gas.
In a separate incident, Israeli bulldozers demolished two water wells and a shed belonging to Palestinians in Al-Khader village south of Bethlehem, said village councilman Mahmoud Abdullah.
Israeli authorities claimed the structures were built without permits, but Israeli courts had made a precautionary decision that they should not be destroyed without warning.
(Reuters) - "... NATO leaders acknowledged the limits of their air power, which has caused rather than broken a military stalemate, and analysts predicted a long-drawn out conflict that could end in the partition of the North African oil producer. ...... The head of U.S. Africa Command, General Carter Ham, said the conflict was entering stalemate and it was very unlikely the rebels would be able to fight their way into Tripoli..... Early hopes that air attacks on Gaddafi forces would tip the balance in favor of the rebels have now evaporated and Western leaders are emphasizing a political solution. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen took a similar line to Ham on Friday. "There is no military solution only. We need a political solution," ..."
"... His disappearance remained a mystery until the United Nations High Commission for Refugees told the Associated Press that Sissi had been kidnapped by Israeli operatives and had been secretly transported to a prison in Israel. His whereabouts were later confirmed in a report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. But some observers now suspect that the Israelis did not act alone during the abduction operation. Dirar’s brother, Yousef Abu Sissi, has spoken to American journalist Richard Silverstein about his brother’s trip from the Gaza Strip to Ukraine, prior to his abduction. He told Silverstein that Dirar’s trip involved an initial flight from Egypt to Jordan. It was there, according to Dirar’s brother, that the Gaza resident was detained by Jordanian intelligence. The latter confiscated his passport, refused to allow him to board his flight to Ukraine, and held him at the airport through the night. They then forced him to remain in Amman for six days, during which he was required to report daily to a “Jordanian intelligence office”. On the sixth day he was allowed to board a flight for Ukraine, but only under the watchful eye of Jordanian intelligence officers..."
DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- Political bureau member of Hamas Sami Khater affirmed that the Palestinian national reconciliation should be comprehensive and should tackle all issues.
He told the PIC on Thursday that concerned parties were acting toward reactivating the stalled reconciliation efforts, and that his movement welcomed such moves.
Khater revealed that contacts were made between Cairo and Hamas over the past few days in a bid to resume the reconciliation efforts.
Hamas welcomed the new Egyptian "positive" approach, which dealt with all Palestinian factions on equal footing, the Hamas leader underlined.
He pointed out that Fatah and its authority in the West Bank had asked Arab and regional parties to mediate in the issue based on the initiative of Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader and de facto Palestinian president.
Khater noted, however, that Abbas's initiative ignored key issues.
"We have intensive dialogue with Egyptian authorities and they are doing their best to rise to the challenges," he said. Indeed Gilad was downright ebullient about the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, referring admiringly to its "sophisticated use of power" and singling out Field Marshal Mohamad Hussain Tantawi, a close adviser to Mubarak. Israel's quite public worries about the course Egypt might take after Tahrir Square seemed a thing of the past, at least for now. "I must say I'm very much impressed by the stability of the Supreme Council," Gilad said. "I think they embody the best of Egypt."
JUNE 13, 2006 06BEIRUT1915: Jeffrey Feltman describes Saad Hariri:
... Hariri, according to Feltman, " is prone to quick anger, especially when it is exposed to criticism. When angry, he frowns and interrupt the conversation... Hariri could not focus long on a single topic. He skims from one discussion to another ... It is rare for Hariri, to stick to one subject for more than minutes, he multitasks by flipping television channels on the flat screen (which is like properties owned by Hariri, huge), cuts a cigar, buzzes an aide, .... all while having a serious dialogue with his interlocutors. ... Some accuse him of excessive self-confidence, while others point out that the claim of self-confidence is nothing but a mask that hides behind Hariri and his sense of insecurity... Feltman notes in his report that Hariri 'loses patience with him' when he brings up the subject of his relationship with other Sunni figures ... or when talking about Christian concerns... . Feltman says Hariri ignores the U.S. Embassy' tips on 'consulting with its Sunni allies in Tripoli such as Mosbah Ahdab and Mohammad Safadi. When Feltman raised his concern that should Hariri 'continues to ignore Tripoli', Syria's allies were going to 'fill the vacuum'. Hariri replied: 'I am THE Sunni leader of Tripoli'..... Feltman allocated a full paragraph of the report to 'rumors surrounding Hariri's personal life': 'several mistresses, impropriety in his drinking habits, childish & reckless behavior' ..... Feltman said he did not 'coraborate any evidence' of these rumors but noted that, Samir Geagea told that during a 'dry' banquet in Quraytem, Hariri served rice wine (Sake). Feltman noted that Hariri's private plane contained 'an impressive collection of Cheval Blanc....
'The good old days at Trattu, Washington, DC'
.... Feltman sees Hani Hammoud as the 'engine' of the Future Movement and believes that Hammoud is jealous of Amal Mudallali ... As for the Wissam Hassan, Feltman recalled that he was responsible for the security of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and noted with suspicion that he was 'absent from the Hariri motorcade... allowing all kinds of conspiracy theories'. The report also notes that Wissam Hassah is 'unreliable, and hated by the other Lebanese figures, including the leaders of the March 14, most notably, Walid Jumblatt'. However, Hariri 'claims that he tested Hassan's loyalty' ...
The 'tense relationship' between Hariri and Siniora,haunted Feltman. He describes it as a question of 'dignity'. Siniora often complained to Feltman that Hariri 'dealt with him as an employee', when Hariri complained that Siniora treated him 'like a child'. Feltman relays the accounts of a number of Lebanese leaders participating in the national dialogue, that when Hariri 'haughtingly' addresses Siniora by his first name 'Fuad' he adds laughing 'I mean Your Excellency'. March14 leaders are unanimous in saying that Hariri 'envious' of the international attention that Siniora gets, concluding that 'maybe Nazik poisoned the relationship between Saad and Siniora'. After that, Feltman quotes Saad's displeasure with Butros Harb & Nayla Mouawad, as 'too Christian to be good for Lebanon'. As for Michel Aoun, he is the worst in Hariri's view. As for the Shi'as, and although they are Lebanese, Hariri sees them as 'different, and a potential threat'..."
I am back in Palestine after a long 40 day book tour in which I visited 3 countries, 16 US states, gave talks 67 times and interviewed on TV and Radio extensively. Over 3000 wonderful contacts were made. I thank all who helped make this possible and all who attended my talks. My apologies for my poor name-face association with older age.Yet, the sweet home coming occurred on 9 April, 2011 the anniversary of the massacre at Deir Yassin and, just in the past three days, 18 Palestinians were murdered in Gaza by the same occupation army; including a man and his grand-daughter. I penned a poem along the way:
April 9, 1948 to April 9, 2011: Deir Yassin to Gaza
(by Mazin Qumsiyeh, Written on the way back home, dedicated to Juliano*)
As everybody is busy with Arab revolutions, and while Egypt trying to bring Hamas and Fateh together, Armed with Goldston's U-Turn paving the path for a second Gaza war, IOF used white phosphorus bombs in its latest aggression
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation aggression on the Gaza Strip continued on Friday evening resulting in the death of a Palestinian child and a resistance fighter affiliated with the Quds Brigades and the wounding of ten others including six children and a paramedic.
The bodies of the two martyrs, 10-year-old Mahmoud al-Jarew and resistance fighter Bilal al-Ar’eer, were badly mutilated.
Israeli occupation aircraft carried out four further attacks Friday night resulting in the wounding of a number of people; a drone fired a missile at a group of people near the Khazendar station resulting in casualties, the same place was targeted again by the drone.
Israeli occupation aircraft also fired a rocket at a car in the Radwan neighbourhood in north Gaza City, however the passangers of the car managed to escape just before it was hit and completely destroyed.
A drone fired a rocket at the home of Abu Jalal al-amour to the north east of Rafah causing a number of casualties.
The Qassam Brigades announced earlier the death of one of its field commanders at the Shati refugee camp on Friday afternoon, who was followed by another fighter who succumbed to wounds he sustained in an earlier attack on Friday, bringing the number of martyrs since Thursday to 14 and the number of wounded to at least 60 people.
Spokesman for the emergency services, Adham Abu Selmeyyah told PIC on Friday afternoon that there were 11 martyrs since Thursday, including two elderly men and a woman and her daughter. He also said that there were 45 civilians wounded, 10 of them in serious condition.
GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA interior ministry in Gaza Strip has confirmed Thursday the martyrdom of five Palestinian citizens, including a teacher, in a series of Israeli raids on the densely populated Gaza strip.
According to a communiqué issued by the ministry, the Israeli warplanes, including F-16 and copters, and tanks shelled the many areas in the Strip in the north, the center, and the south, leaving five citizens killed and injuring 39 others, many of them children in critical conditions.
The teacher was identified as Mahmoud Al-Manasrah, 50, and a native of the shejaeyya suburb northeast of the Strip. He was killed in his home while sitting with his children and grandchildren in a weekly family gathering.
The southern city of Rafah sustained the bulk of the Strike as 17 citizens including a cameraman who is reportedly in critical condition were wounded.
The Israeli warplanes also bombarded Palestinian greenhouses in the city of Khan Younis.
In Abasan village, east of Khan Younis, the Israeli tanks fired three projectiles at the four-story home of Kudaih family destroying it and wounding the owner of the house.
In Rafah city, south of Gaza Strip, the IOF troops were reportedly cordoning a Palestinian family near the borderline and used them as human shields as they advanced deep into the Strip.
In retaliation to the persistent Israeli aggression on the Palestinian civilians, the Palestinian resistance factions fired a number of home-made rockets and mortars against Israeli targets inside the 1948-occupied Palestinian territories. The Israeli occupation acknowledged the Palestinian retaliation.
The Israeli military escalation against the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip came immediately after Ehud Barak, the Israeli war minister, gave orders to do so despite the Palestinian factions efforts to calm down the tension.
In a retaliatory attack an RPG fired by Palestinian resistance hit an Israeli bus wounding two.
GAZA, (PIC)-- Two Qassam fighters were killed Friday morning in an Israeli occupation airstrike that targeted them to the east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Five others were killed on Thursday in a number of occupation airstrikes.
The Qassam Brigades and medical sources confirmed to PIC that Abdullah al-Farra and Mu’taz Abu Jame’ were killed by an occupation drone at the entrance of Khuza’a to the east of Khan Younis.
Local sources also said that two civilians were wounded in the attack and taken to the European hospital.
Three other civilians were wounded in artillery fire to the east of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.
Israeli occupation aircraft carried out a number of airstrikes at dawn Friday, according to local sources which informed PIC that occupation aircraft fired two rockets at a deserted house to the east of Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City belonging to the Hasaneen family and targeted a sentry position to the east of Shejaeyyah, but no casualties were reported.
Five Palestinians, including an elderly man were killed on Thursday in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian factions had agreed not to initiate attacks against the Israeli occupation but for the past several weeks the Israeli occupation have been escalating attacks against the Gaza Strip provoking Palestinian factions into responding to those attacks.
".... In the past two months, Israeli operatives have intercepted a German ship in international waters, fired a missile at a suspected Hamas leader in Sudan, and captured a Hamas engineer in the Ukraine, .... the effort to cripple Hamas' military capabilities is no longer confined to the Gaza Strip alone, but to the entire Hamas global network and that of its allies.".... "This is a policy of intelligence-based prevention, which has stepped up in recent months," an Israeli national security official, who asked not to be named, told The Washington Times. "One part of the strategy is prevention."... Because the covert campaign targets leaders and is often done in secret, the diplomatic damage to Israel for these actions tends to be muted..."
Uprooted Palestinian
