SYRIAN WAR REPORT – DECEMBER 2, 2016: GOVT FORCES LIBERATED WESTERN GHOUTA

Source

02.12.2016

Last night, the Syrian army and its allies withdrew from Sheikh Saeed neighborhood of Aleppo city under the pressure by Jaish al-Fatah militants. Government forces remain in control of some points in the southern part of the area where clashes are ongoing. The army is also in control of the recently liberated areas of Sadkop and Ma’saraniyah Youth Housing.

Russian and Syrian engineering units have reportedly demined almost the whole area of Masaken Hanano that had been liberated by pro-government forces from Jaish al-Fatah militants. Civilians will be able to return to their homes as soon as the whole area is secured.

The Russian Aerospace Forces delivered about 12 airstrikes in the Syrian province of Idlib on December 1, according to local sources. Russian warplanes allegedly targeted 3 militant tactical units and a military vehicle on the way to the province of Aleppo.

Earlier this week reports appeared that Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) has been deploying reinforcements to the western countryside of Aleppo city. Russian and Syrian airstrikes are aimed to prevent relaunching of militant attempts to break the government defenses in the area.

The Syrian army set a full control over the Western Ghouta region after militants were transferred from the area under the agreement with the government. Militants had handed over some 2 Shilka self-propelled guns, 7 battle tanks, 11 infantry fighting vehicles, over 600 heavy and general purpose machine guns and other equipment to government forces before withdrawal.

SYRIAN WAR REPORT – DECEMBER 1, 2016: OPERATION IN IDLIB TO BE LAUNCHED AFTER LIBERATION OF ALEPPO

Syrian government forces have liberated from militants 16 neighborhoods of Aleppo city (populated with 90,000 people), the Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday after the Syrian army and its allies seized the Sheikh Sa’eed Neighborhood and the Sadcop Fuel Depot from Jaish al-Fatah militant coalition, led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham terrorist group. According to Chief of the Russian General Staff Main Operational Directorate, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy over 18,000 civilians were able to left militant-controlled areas of the city.

Today, the army and its allies have continued attacks against militants in Karam al-Jazmati, Karam al-Tarab, Amiriyah and Sikarry and in the area of Bustan al-Qasr. Experts say the strategic goal of Syrian military in the current situation is to fully secure Aleppo city and to launch an operation to develop the advance in the direction of Idlib. At the same time, the government will need to contribute efforts to oppose the Turkish military expansion in northern Syria.

The Russian Aerospace Forces continue airstrikes on militant targets in the province of Hama. On November 30, Russian airstrikes were reported in the area of villages of Kafr Zita and Halfaya. In Kafr Zita, they killed 6 members, including a local commander, of the Free Syrian Army’s Central Division that used to shell the Syrian military’s Hama Airbase.

Syrian government forces are clashing with ISIS terrorists in the eastern part of Homs province. On November 30, ISIS units attempted to advance near al-Shaer, al-Mahr and Mustadira oil fields, but failed to achieve any success. On December 1, sporadic fighting continued near al-Shaer. Some 8 ISIS members were reported killed by pro-government sources. Meanwhile, the Syrian Air Fore delivered a series of airstrikes on ISIS targets near Sukhnah, Talat al-Awamid and al-Quaryatayn.

On November 30, pro-Turkey militants, supported by the Turkish Armed Forces, attacked the joint forces of the Syrian army and the Kurdish YPG in the village of Azraq, located about 6 km west of al-Bab. After a series of firefights and artillery duels, pro-government forces were pushed to retreat from the village. On December 1, the army-YPG forces liberated Tell Rahhal from ISIS amid continued reports about the fighting with Turkey-led forces. Pro-Turkey forces also clashed with YPG units in Qert Weran, Oshali and Sheikh Nasir.

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River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

A glimpse into practical outcome of the US and EU “War on News,” by Scott Humor

December 01, 2016

To thesaker.is readers:

I have posed here a wrong video .

The captions for the video: “On November 29th, in Kharkov women’s choir performed one of the most beautiful patriotic Russian songs “Only My Horse and I” [Только мы с конем]”

Should read: “Song “Horse” being performed by Lyube and in Krasnodar in 2015. ”

An Anonymous sent me a message via Moderators. Quoting: “”in reference to your post about singing soviet songs Just wish to inform Scott that caption for the first video is incorrect and thus it doesn’t really fit into the narrative. This particular performance (Конь) is NOT from couple of days ago in Kharkov (Ukraine), but rather a year ago in Krasnodar (RF) performed in front of the Krasnodar theater. Getting these kind of details wrong is not helpful.”

I checked, and it’s true. This video was filmed in Krasnodar in 2015. performed by Lyube.

Lyube is a Russian rock band from Lubertsy, a suburb of Moscow. Lyube’s music is a mixture of several genres, with influences from both Russian folk music, rock, Russian chanson, and Soviet military songs.

I checked at least two different sources before I posted this video, and one of them was REN.tv. REN.TV had already removed their post.

Original link: http://ren.tv/novosti/2016-11-29/video-krasotki-iz-harkova-ispolnili-kon-v-podderzhku-pesennogo-fleshmoba

Since the anonymous reads Russian, they would understand what it says here.  “Beauties from Kharkov perform “Horse” in support of the singing flash mobs. ”

REN.TV is a legitimate TV channel, I had no reason not to trust them.

It just gives you a taste of what enormous amount of research  I have to put into my posts, checking an rechecking every bit of information.

Recently, the EU initiated its East StratCom Task Force –  TEPSA, a “Russian myths busting force,” as they are referred by the European parliament.

“The Task Force works closely with the EU institutions, EU Delegations, Member States, and a wide range of other partners, both governmental and non-governmental, within the EU and in the Eastern Neighbourhood. The aim of this wide international cooperation is to share best practices in strategic communications and access to objective information in the Eastern Partnership region, and to ensure support for independent media in the region.”

Also, recently the US and Germany has declared their “War on fake News” meaning the war on any information coming from Russia and about Russia.

Merkel Declares “War On “Fake News”

Since the Europe started branding Russia’s RT, Sputnik “Dangerous Propaganda”…

We have to understand that this “war on news” means that there will be an avalanche of fake news in Russian language and they will try to get them published in the most trustworthy news sources, to discredit them.

We all should be vigilant. The general rule is to find at least two different sources. This rule, however, is crumbling down, since the Western “war on news” has, in essence, an enormous number of news platforms at their disposal. they instantly replicate the manufactured news using the liberal media in Russia.

The problem is that “manufactured news” look very real, and they actually in tune with the real news.

Why do they do that? To catch Russian media on “a lie” as they say. To discredit it.

This one fake piece of information, will let the Western media and the Western occupational forces in Ukraine to declare that the rest is also “fake.”

In two years of my writing for thesaker and doing research, it’s the second time that I know, when I re-posted “fake” news.  The first time, it was when I twitted about an alleged woman officer being in a RuAF medical service helicopter that was shot down in Syria by the US special forces masquerading as Islamic terrorists.

Five minutes after posting the tweet, I was accused in spreading the “fake news” in coordinated attack by a team of very noisy “comrades.” Most of them didn’t even follow me.

I think I saved the screenshots, including the screenshots of the original article, like I normally do.

Come to think of it, it was the same ren.tv that posted this information and a picture of allegedly woman’s “ID.”

I guess, two strikes and they are out.

Dear Anonymous, thank you for taking your valuable time to inform me.

I always appreciate your help with my research.

Hugs,

Scott

The featured image: The UK initiated unprecedented new surveillance law.

As a bonus

“My Horse and I” by Lyube, 1996

P.S. Recently we have seen the most vicious attacks against the Russian musicians, performers, dancers, writers and actors not associated with the liberal neo-fashist ideology.

I am working on a post about this issue.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Why U.S. ‘News’ Media Shouldn’t Be Trusted

ERIC ZUESSE | 02.12.2016 |

Why U.S. ‘News’ Media Shouldn’t Be Trusted

The great metascientist and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb headlined on November 22^nd a devastating takedown of U.S. ‘news’ media and academia, «Syria and the Statistics of War», and he began there by exposing the highly honored Harvard fraud, Dr. Steven Pinker, but then went pretty much through the entire U.S. ‘intellectual’ Establishment, including all of its major ‘news’ media, as being untrustworthy on the part of any intelligent person. (Regarding Professor Pinker specifically, Taleb linked to this scientific paper that Taleb had co-authored, which shredded one of Pinker’s highly honored and biggest-selling books. Taleb and his colleague mentioned there an article that had appeared in Britain’s Guardian raising serious questions about Pinker’s work, and they were here offering statistical proof of the fraudulence of that work.)

The scenario of exposing intellectual fraud is so common: the only reason why it’s not better known among the public is that usually the disproofs of highly honored work have no impact, and fail to dislodge the prejudices that the given established fraud has ‘confirmed’. Another good example of that occurred when the University of Massachusetts graduate student Thomas Herndon issued his proof of the fraudulence of the extremely influential economics paper by Kenneth Rogoff and Carmine Rinehart, «Growth in a Time of Debt», which had been widely cited by congressional Republicans and other conservatives as a main ‘justification’ for imposing draconian economic austerity on the U.S. and other nations during the recovery from the 2008 economic crash. Years later, that graduate student is still a graduate student (i.e., unemployed), while Kenneth Rogoff remains, as he was prior to his having been exposed: one of Harvard’s most prominent professors of economics, and a member of the Group of 30 — the world’s 30 most influential and powerful economists. Carmen Rinehart likewise retains her position also as a Harvard Professor. Previously, the Harvard Economics Department had guided communist Russia into a crony-capitalist (or fascist) ‘democracy’, but then Vladimir Putin took over Russia and got rid of the worst excesses of Harvard’s «capitalism» and so became hated by the U.S. aristocracy and its ‘news’ media — hated for having tried to establish Russia’s national independence, Russia’s independence from the U.S. aristocracy (which expected, and still craves, to control Russia). And now after Donald Trump’s victory against the super-neoconservative hater of Russia, Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Establishment, through its voices such as the Washington Post, is trying to smear — like Joseph R. McCarthy smeared America’s non-fascists back in the 1950s — the tiny independent newsmedia that had been reporting truthfully about U.S.-Russian relations and America’s coups and invasions trying to weaken and ultimately to conquer Russia even if that means nuclear war.

Similarly, when George W. Bush and his stenographic national ‘news’ media pumped Bush’s lies about ‘Saddam’s WMD’ in 2002, and were assisted in that by such scholars as the Brookings Institution’s Kenneth Pollock and Michael O’Hanlon, there was no accountability: Bush was re-elected and all of the corrupt scholars kept their jobs and continued to be retained as ‘experts’ by CNN and other U.S. ’news’ media to comment upon foreign affairs — and CNN and The New York Times and other leading ’news’ media weren’t cancelled by an American public who had had enough of being lied-to; Americans wanted to be lied-to more. The public distrust the ‘news’ media more than ever, but do they distrust it enough to quit subscribing to them? No.

The U.S. public have apparently been responding to the election or selection of Donald Trump as the next President, by soaring numbers of subscriptions to the major U.S. ’news’ media, presumably because this is somehow ‘justified’ on account of (as all of those ’news’ media ‘verified’) Trump was lying even more than Hillary — more than the lying by the candidate whom all of the media-moguls had wanted to become President.

In the immediate wake of the election, there have been all-time-record-high numbers of new subscriptions to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and to ‘non-profit’ ‘news’ media such as Pro-Publica, and to NPR member-stations. CNN reported that, “The New York Times has added 41,000 paid subscriptions across its print and digital platforms in the week since the presidential election, representing the largest subscription increase since it introduced its pay-wall in 2011».

During an earlier era, the U.S. public responded similarly to the ‘news’ media that had lied the U.S. into World War I (a conflict where the rights and wrongs were far less clear than was to be the case regarding WW II, but where the Wall Street banks were vastly more invested in Britain than in Germany and so Wall Street’s position on the matter was far more unified then in favor of Britain, and so the U.S. ‘news’ media’s position likewise was). Americans at that time did not lapse their subscriptions to the propaganda media that had lied their country into war. America’s ‘news’ media used similar tactics to get us into WW I to help Britain’s aristocrats, as they used to help U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush’s regime in 1990 to invade Iraq to help Kuwait’s aristocrats (the Sabah family).

However, America’s ‘news’ media don’t all lie in the same direction. For example, when the Republican George W. Bush was in the White House, the most deluded of all the major-media audiences was that of the Republican Party’s Fox News Channel, which audience gave the highest percentages of false answers, because Republican ‘news’ operations were then spouting Republican propaganda about a Republican President — stenographically pumping out Republican propaganda as ‘news’. But when the Democrat Barack Obama was in the White House, the Democratic Party’s ‘news’ media were lying at least as much as Fox and other Republican media were lying when the President was a Republican. None of the major American ‘news’ media, either mainstream or ‘alt news’, can be at all trusted by an intelligent reader, listener, or viewer. A person needs to go instead to the types of news-sites such as publish articles like the current one — and none of those sites has a very large audience. (Most of them ended up on this list of sites the U.S. aristocracy wants banned.) But, above all, nobody should trust any ‘news’ report without spot-checking its linked sources; and, if the main sources aren’t linked, then an intelligent reader won’t trust the article at all. The only way intelligently to trust any news-report is to spot-check its sources and evaluate their credibility on one’s own; and any ‘news’ report which makes that difficult to do should simply be distrusted — and this includes especially newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and other such ‘news’ media, because they rely upon audiences who have no easy means of verifying or else disproving what they’re alleging. All of the best news-sources are thus small-to-medium-sized online-only ones — and those happen to be the ones that the aristocracy (the billionaires and centi-millionaires) haven’t yet taken control of.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

The President and the imprint الرئيس والبصمة

The President and the imprint

Written by Nasser Kandil,

Every observer of the biography which is full of events, positions, confrontations, and battles of the President General Michael Aoun will know that through his arrival to the presidency, he culminated this rich process. In his biography he has what qualifies him and at the same time beholds him the responsibility to be a different President, because there is no president among the presidents who preceded him had such a biography which its full of sacrifices, positions, confrontations, alliances, major issues, ideological issues and strategic projects and which all of them are filled with an extent of remarkable culture, philosophy, and strategy, so he is not an ordinary president in the history of Lebanon. This means that the president who will administer his responsibilities under the limit of the Constitution on one hand, and in the mid of the multi political minefields internally, regionally, and internationally on the other hand is concerned strongly to search how he will be immortalized by the history, so he is obsessed with the image he will create and which he will associated with it for years, decades, and maybe forthcoming centuries.

The President Bashar Al-Assad who was the subject of the mass media that dominates on the Western and Arab world within a programmed campaign to distort his image says that he does not ask or wish but to be treated fairly by the history, to be remembered as the most prominent fighter of the terrorism, and who have provided a great service to the humanity by preventing the rootedness of this scourge and its control on the fate of the humanity.

It seems from the performance and the behavior of the leader of the resistance Al Sayyed Hassan Nasrollah that he won the status through which he will be immortalized by the history as the maker of the major transformations in the Middle East, whether concerning the balances of the Arab-Israeli conflict or in the balances of the war on terrorism.

It seems as well that the Russian President Vladimir Putin has snatched what he will be described by history as the new Caesar of Russia who has rehabilitated to it as a superpower. While the Turkish President Recep Erdogan seems futile in gaining what he wanted from the history as a new inheritor of the Ottoman Sultanate, as  the US President Barack Obama seems failed in reserving a seat among the historic presidents of his county despite his attempt of imitating Abraham Lincoln and emulating his biography.

Therefore, the success in playing with history is not easy and the good intentions and the good biography are not sufficient, it depends on the good behavior and forethought.

The history did not have a seat for multi-titles figures, because there is no place for luxury. It is just restricted with the distinguished feature which the leaders succeed in determining it carefully and subjecting all the aspects of their performance in its favor, without neglecting these aspects. The imprint is dominant and has a compass of one direction. In the case of the President Aoun who is more qualified than his predecessors to reserve this seat, this depends on his ability of forming the difficult balance in a way full of mines, temptations and risks between the position of the President of the Republic including the opportunity of the winning of the team he leads, in addition to shares, positions, gains, and spoils, and the prestige which he occupies in the heart as a leader who aspires towards history, knowing that the balance between position and the prestige is difficult and complicated as the balance between two successes, the success of the promise of change, and the success of the era due to the considerations of the team, the party, and the popularity, knowing that the requirements of each one of them are incompatible with the requirements of the other, But the balance of the relation between the success of the era which based on settlements and the promise which based on principles  is the most difficult.

In addition to the third direct balance between two allies whom are needed by him in his presidential presence, the presidential alliance which enabled him from ensuring the quorum of the winning although it includes two teams that do not resemble him politically; who are the Lebanese Forces, Al Mustaqbal Movement, and the political alliance, there were allies who caused pain to him and tension and anger to his followers through their positions toward him as a presidential choice, the most prominent of them is his problematic relation with Amal Movement and Marada Movement, the balance here is between non-emotional and non- interest responsibility  and an emotional and an interest responsibility at the same time, so here is the difficult.

The President the General Michael Aoun is concerned with accurate realistic choice of the distinguished feature which he wants to leave and which he wants to achieve, according to him it is possible, and it is the additive value which he leaves to his country, people, history, and region, he has the experiences of those who preceded him and left their imprints as the three presidents the President Bshara El Khouri, the President Fuad Chehab, and the President Emile Lahoud. Each one of them was granted to the imprint which he left in similar conditions till it surpassed the other aspects of his performance.

The President Bshara El Khouri was the maker of the two equations the Charter which whatever the formulas of the Lebanese political regime change on the basis of the sectarian representation, it will not allow anyone to transcend him in two issues;, which are the basis of the Charter. The first one is bartering the independence of France by the abandonment of the unity with Syria and thus the end of the Lebanese entity, the second is a distinguished status of the Christians in the political regime that is embodied by the parliamentary and career structure and the presidential powers together in exchange of a leading position and role for Lebanon in raising the banner of the issues of the Arab and the Muslim worlds.

Whatever it was said that the General Aoun can surpass the limit of Bshara El Khouri’s imprint it would be impossible, because keeping the essence of the Charter along with correcting the defect in the form will be the possible internal limit from a pure Christian position, and the insistence will be on more interference in confrontations that will spoil the era and the promise together.The President Fuad Chehab was able with determination that was not less than the determination of the General Aoun to build the reformist institutions of the state , but he was strong due to three characteristics that are not available for the General Aoun, the first one was the dominant rise of the leadership of  Gamal Abdul Nasser in the Arab World, Second, the full powers given to the President of the Republic as the exclusive responsible for the executive power supported by ministers whom he appointed and among them he chooses a leader for them . Third, his liberation from the obligations of the popular leadership, as an individual leader that has no popular base that owes him allegiance and he owes them presence and strength, as he was liberated from the burdens of  popularity he was liberated from the obligations of the regional and the international considerations and was liberated  from the settlements of the interior to be able to rule, while the President Emile Lahoud has made his central issue supporting the choice of the resistance until victory, a full partner does not pay attention neither to the international nor to the regional nor to the popular relations and nor to the status among the Christian leaders and their political, religious, and partisanship institutions, supported by a rare historical moment of the victory of the resistance in the south along with the arrival of Bashar Al-Assad strongly to the presidency in Syria,  and giving the necessary sources of power to the success of the track of the President Lahoud in playing a role in Lebanon.

When the President Bshara El Khouri tried to go further he failed as the President Fuad Chehab and the President Emile Lahoud. Whatever it was said that the President Michael Aoun is able to surpass one of the three presidents through the imprint which each one of them has left then it is delicacy, adulation and denial of the truth. The presidential track will not allow the President Aoun in Lebanon but only to manage the authority among the difficult regional balances and to manage the authority in the heart of the difficult settlements Christianly. The reformist track of the President Aoun will be doomed with achieving the best possible and the bet on accumulating the slow stable achievement  but the difficult, moreover, the supportive track of the resistance will be the indirect protection and the prevention however not taking the first place in the way which the President Lahoud followed. Thus the question about the imprint becomes whether legitimate and necessary?

The imprint which is needed by Lebanon from the President the General, which no one else can provide is to put his political regime outside the circle of the organized ruin which drives it to the civil war every quarter of a century, and keeps it legitimate to the external interventions, the moment is favorable and the balances of the forces are open to them. It forms itself the Christian presence in the East which the authoritarian Christianity will not bring to it but only the unwillingness of the Muslims and their hostility. So the hope of ending this issue is more important than the bid with gains and positions which the others tempt him with. This is the mission of the historic leaders. The modernization of the country and the society is the Christian, the reformist, and the resistant recipe at one time, a modernization which is provided by Lebanon to the entities of the region which will witness similar settlements, a modernization that protects the communities from the partisanship, prevents the sects, and returns the spirit of the thought to the political competition, and returns forming the political scene on the medium and the long extent on the basis of the cross-sectarian  partisanship loyalties rather than the deadly sects and identities which make their followers interest in killing each other. The key word which the President the General knows well and in which he believes so much is the law of the parliamentary elections which depends on the relativity, through it the President will enter the history along with Lebanon.

Translated by Lina Shehadeh,

نوفمبر 24, 2016

الرئيس والبصمة

ناصر قنديل

– يعرف كلّ متابع للمسيرة المليئة بالأحداث والمواقف والمواجهات والمعارك للرئيس العماد ميشال عون، أنه يسجل بوصوله لرئاسة الجمهورية تتويجاً لهذه المسيرة الزاخرة، وأنه يملك في سيرته ما يؤهّله ويلقي عليه مسؤولية في آن، أن يكون رئيساً مختلفاً، وليس بين رؤساء لبنان الذين سبقوه من حمل سيرة كسيرته، أشبعها بالتضحيات والمواقف والمواجهات والتحالفات والعناوين الكبرى والقضايا العقائدية والمشاريع الاستراتيجية، والمسكونة كلها بقدر لا يُخفى من الثقافة ومن الفلسفة ومن الاستراتيجية، ما يمنع الرئيس ميشال عون أن يكون رئيساً عادياً في تاريخ لبنان. وهذا يعني أنّ الرئيس الذي سيدير مسؤولياته تحت سقف الدستور من جهة، وفي قلب حقول ألغام سياسية متعدّدة داخلياً وإقليمياً ودولياً، من جهة مقابلة، معنيّ بقوة من جهة ثالثة بالبحث عن كيف سيذكره التاريخ، ومسكون حكماً بهاجس البصمة التي ستكون صورته مرتبطة بها لسنوات وعقود وربما قرون مقبلة.

– يقول الرئيس بشار الأسد الذي تناولته الآلات العملاقة المهيمنة على الإعلام العالمي الغربي والعربي ضمن حملة ممنهجة لشيطنة صورته، أنه لا يطلب ويتمنّى سوى أن ينصفه التاريخ فيذكره كأحد أبرز الذين قاتلوا الإرهاب وقدّموا خدمة جليلة للإنسانية بتجنيبها تجذّر هذه الآفة وتحكّمها بمصير البشرية. ويبدو من مسار وأداء وسلوك قائد المقاومة السيد حسن نصرالله أنه قد فاز بالمكانة التي يذكره فيها التاريخ كصانع للتحوّلات الكبرى في الشرق الأوسط سواء في موازين الصراع العربي ــ «الإسرائيلي»، أو في موازين الحرب على الإرهاب. ويبدو الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين قد انتزع ما سيقوله عنه التاريخ كقيصر روسيا الجديد الذي ردّ لها الاعتبار كدولة عظمى، في المقابل يبدو الرئيس التركي رجب أردوغان كخائب في نيل ما أراد من التاريخ كوارث مجدّد للسلطنة العثمانية، كما يبدو الرئيس الأميركي باراك أوباما كفاشل في حجز مقعد بين الرؤساء التاريخيين لبلاده رغم محاولته تقليد إبراهام لنكولن والاقتداء بسيرته. والنجاح في اللعب مع التاريخ ليس بالأمر السهل، ولا يكفيه حسن النيات ولا حسن السيرة، بل يتوقف على حسن التصرف والتدبر.

– لا يحجز التاريخ للخالدين كرسياً متعدّد الألقاب، فلا مكان لديه للترف، ولا تتسع الكلمات التي تحفر على الكرسي لأكثر من صفة، تحدّدها البصمة التي ينجح القادة بتحديدها بدقة، وبإخضاع سائر وجوه أدائهم لحسابها، دون إهمال هذه الوجوه. فالبصمة حاكمة، وبوصلة لها وجهة واحدة، وفي حالة الرئيس عون المؤهّل أكثر من كلّ أسلافه لحجز هذا المقعد، يتوقف الأمر على قدرته إقامة التوازن الصعب، في طريق مليء بالألغام والمغريات والمخاطر، بين المكان لرئيس جمهورية وما فيه من فرص فوز للفريق الذي يقوده، وحصص ومناصب ومكاسب ومغانم، والمكانة التي يحتلّها في الوجدان كزعيم يتطلّع نحو التاريخ، وتوازن المكان والمكانة صعب ومعقد مثله التوازن بين نجاحين، نجاح الوعد بالتغيير، ونجاح العهد بحسابات الفريق والحزب والشعبوية، ومقتضيات كلّ منهما تسير بعكس مقتضيات الآخر، وتوازن العلاقة بين نجاح العهد القائم على التسويات والوعد القائم على المبدئيات هي الأشدّ صعوبة، والتوازن الثالث المباشر بين حلفين يحتاجهما في عدّته الرئاسية، الحلف الرئاسي الذي مكّنه من توفير نصاب الفوز وفيه فريقان لا يشبهانه في السياسة هما القوات اللبنانية وتيار المستقبل، والحلف السياسي، وفيه حلفاء تسبّبوا له بالألم ولجمهوره بالتوتر والغضب في مواقفهم منه كخيار رئاسي، الأبرز بينهم إشكالية علاقته بحركة أمل وتيار المردة. والتوازن هنا مسؤولية غير عاطفية وغير مصلحية، وعاطفية ومصلحية في آن واحد، وهنا صعوبتها.

– الرئيس العماد ميشال عون معني باختيار واقعي دقيق للبصمة التي يريد لها أن تشبهه، ويريد لنفسه أن يحققها، ويقينه أنّ ذلك ممكن، وأنها القيمة المضافة التي يتركها لبلده وناسه وتاريخه، ومنطقته، وأمامه فرص مَن سبقوه من الذين تركوا بصمة بين الرؤساء، ثلاثة، الرئيس بشارة الخوري والرئيس فؤاد شهاب، والرئيس إميل لحود، وقد وهب كلّ منهم للبصمة التي تركها، وفي ظروف مناسبة، حتى تغلّبت على وجوه أدائه الأخرى وبقيت هي الذكرى الملاصقة لسيرته، فالرئيس بشارة الخوري صانع معادلتي الميثاق الذي مهما تبدّلت صيغ النظام السياسي اللبناني على قاعدة التمثيل الطائفي فلن تتيح لسواه تخطّيه، في قضيتين هما أساس الميثاق، الأولى مقايضة الاستقلال عن فرنسا بالتخلي عن الوحدة مع سورية، وبينهما نهائية الكيان اللبناني، والثانية مكانة مميّزة للمسيحيين في النظام السياسي تتجسّد بالتركيب النيابي والوظيفي والصلاحيات الرئاسية معاً مقابل موقع ودور ريادي للبنان في رفع لواء قضايا العالمين العربي والإسلامي، ومهما قيل للعماد عون أنه سيستطيع تخطي سقف بشارة الخوري في هذه البصمة سيكون ذلك مستحيلاً، فالحفاظ على جوهر الميثاق مع تصحيح الخلل في الصيغة سيكون السقف الداخلي الممكن من زاوية مسيحية صرفة، وسيكون الإصرار على الأكثر دخولاً في مواجهات تفسد العهد والوعد معاً أما الرئيس فؤاد شهاب فقد تمكّن مزوّداً بعزيمة لا تقلّ عنها عزيمة العماد عون على بناء مؤسسات الدولة الإصلاحية، لكنه جاء مستقوياً بثلاث لا تتوفر للعماد عون، الأولى صعود مهيمن لزعامة جمال عبد الناصر عربياً، والثانية صلاحيات كاملة لرئيس الجمهورية كممسك منفرد بالسلطة التنفيذية يعاونه وزراء يعيّنهم ويختار من بينهم رئيساً لهم، والثالثة تحرّره من موجبات الزعامة الشعبية، كقائد فرد لا قاعدة شعبية تدين له بالولاء ويدين لها بالحضور والقوة. وكما تحرّر من أعباء الشعبية والشعبوية تحرّر من موجبات الحسابات الإقليمية والدولية، وتحرّر من تسويات الداخل للتمكن من ممارسة الحكم، أما الرئيس إميل لحود فقد جعل قضيته المركزية رعاية خيار المقاومة حتى النصر، شريكاً كاملاً يحرق السفن وراءه، لا يعير بالاً للعلاقات الدولية والإقليمية ولا للشعبية، ولا للمكانة بين الزعماء المسيحيين ومؤسساتهم السياسية والدينية والحزبية، مستقوياً بلحظة تاريخية نادرة تزاوج فيها انتصار المقاومة في الجنوب مع صعود الرئيس بشار الأسد بقوة إلى سدة الرئاسة في سورية، وتجيير مصادر القوة اللازمة لنجاح مسار الرئيس لحود بما له ولها من دور في لبنان.

– عندما حاول الرئيس بشارة الخوري الذهاب للأبعد فشل، ومثله الرئيس فؤاد شهاب، ومثلهما الرئيس إميل لحود، ومهما قيل للرئيس ميشال عون أنه قادر على تخطي أيّ من الرؤساء الثلاثة بالبصمة التي ميّزت كلاً منهم ففي ذلك مبالغة ومجاملة ومداهنة، ومجافاة للحقيقة، فالمسار الرئاسي لن يتيح للرئيس العماد عون لبنانياً سوى إدارة دفته بين التوازنات الإقليمية الصعبة، ومسيحياً سوى إدارة الدفة في قلب التسويات الصعبة، والمسار الإصلاحي للرئيس عون سيكون محكوماً بفعل أفضل الممكن، والرهان على مراكمة الإنجاز البطيء والثابت ولكن الصعب، والمسار الداعم للمقاومة ايضاً سيكون حماية ووقاية من الخلف وليس تصدّراً للمشهد بالصدور العارية على الطريق التي سار عليها الرئيس لحود، ليصير السؤال عن البصمة مشروعاً وضرورياً!

– البصمة التي يحتاجها لبنان من الرئيس العماد، ولا يمكن لسواه أن يصنعها، هي وضع نظامه السياسي خارج دورة الخراب المنتظمة التي تأخذه للحرب الأهلية كلّ ربع قرن وتبقيه مشرعاً على التدخلات الخارجية. واللحظة مؤاتية وموازين القوى مفتوحة عليها، وتشكل بذاتها الخدمة الجلى للوجود المسيحي في الشرق الذي لن تجلب له المسيحوية السلطوية إلا نفور المسلمين وعدائيتهم، فرجاء الخلاص هنا أهمّ من بازار المزايدة بالمكاسب والمناصب الذي يفتحه الآخرون بوجهه. وهذه مهمة القادة التاريخيين، عصرنة الدولة والمجتمع هي الوصفة المسيحية والإصلاحية والمقاومة في آن، عصرنة يقدّمها لبنان لكيانات المنطقة المقبلة على تسويات مشابهة، عصرنة تحمي المجتمعات من العصبيات، وتقطع دابر الفتن، وتعيد للتنافس السياسي روح الفكر والبرامج، وتعيد تشكيل المشهد السياسي على المديين المتوسط والطويل على أساس الولاءات الحزبية العابرة للطوائف، بدلاً من العصبيات والهويات القاتلة، التي تقدّم لمريديها وصفة لحس المبرد فيستلذون بطعم دمائهم وهم لا يعلمون. والكلمة المفتاح يعرفها جيداً ويؤمن بها كثيراً الرئيس العماد وهي قانون للانتخابات النيابية يعتمد النسبية، بها يدخل الرئيس التاريخ ويدخل 

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Iran Planning to Resume Nuclear Activity

December 2, 2016

Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) is to mull a three-urgency plan which mandates Iranian government to resume nuclear activities.

The move is made in reaction to the US Senate approval of a legislation which extends the Iran Sanction Act (ISA) for another ten years.

Member of Majlis Presiding Body Akbar Ranjbarzadeh said the US Senate approval of a legislation which extends the ISA for another ten years is in violation of the JCPOA and international law.

Ranjbarzadeh told IRNA, ‘The three-urgency plan on resumption of nuclear activities has been compiled on emergency to counter the US move.’

He said the plan consists an article and five notes in line with the two- and three-urgency plans to counter the Senate approval.
He added that the two- or three-urgency nature of the plan will be decided by Iranian lawmakers, aiming to confront the approval by the US Senate and House of Representatives.

The parliamentarian said the two-urgency plans will be finalized within 72 hours and turn into a law.

He said the reason the plan is three-urgency in nature is the emergency condition arising as a result, justifying taking the course which would let adoption of fundamental and principled measures in reaction to the damage thus far inflicted on Iran and in proportion to explicit action of Americans, especially the approval of the Senate.

Ranjbarzadeh said per Article 160 of Parliament (Majlis), the two-urgency plans are taken on the necessity to avoid damage. This is while damage has been inflicted and “we wish to present the vital plan in three-urgency form to repel the absolute damage inflicted on the country.”

He noted that from the leadership point of view, the two-urgency plan had been brought to the information of the arrogance.

“We will go our own way so as not to lose time and we will embark on action. The US president has taken the course of confrontation; we will also take our own way and the three-urgency plan is more suitable than the two-urgency plan so as to confront Americans’ plan more speedily.”

“Now too the land of our nuclear and knowledgeable scientists has been invaded and they have taken away considerable portion of what we had already gained; they wish to deprive us of all our nuclear achievements,” said Ranjbarzadeh.

He concluded,

“The ones who have acted in violation of the international regulations and have defied them are the US and the Congress of the country and we are going to condition the plan on rapid launching of our action and taking comprehensive and complete measures in connection with resumption of the nuclear activities. We constantly and round-the-clock inform the world through the (Iranian) diplomatic organ and the media that the US was the initiator of the illegal act and we have no option but reciprocating. Our ways are reciprocation and defensive in nature and are not aimed at intruding into the scientific and ethical borders.”

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Israeli Pine Forests were planted to hide the plunder of Palestine!

November 28, 2016  /  Gilad Atzmon

The Village Under the Forest

The Village Under The Forest explores the hidden remains of the destroyed Palestinian village of Lubya, which lies under a purposefully cultivated forest plantation called South Africa Forest.

The documentary explores themes related to the erasure and persistence of memory and dares to imagine a future in which dignity, acknowledgement and co-habitation become shared possibilities in Israel/Palestine.

The Village Under The Forest is co-directed by Emmy-winner Mark Kaplan and scholar and poet Heidi Grunebaum. If the music sounds familiar to you, it is because you may recognise me in it.

To read more: http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2016/11/25/why-israel-is-burning

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Weekly report on israel’s terrorism against the State of Palestine (24 – 30 November 2016 )

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Israeli forces continue systematic crimes in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) 

(24 – 30 November 2016)

• Israeli forces continued to use excessive force in the oPt
• Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child in northern side of occupied Jerusalem.

• Israeli forces conducted 57 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and one in the southern Gaza Strip.
• 68 civilians, including 19 children, were arrested.
• Twenty of them, including 11 children, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem.
• Dr ‘Azzam Sahlab, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC),was among the arrested civilians.
• Israeli forces arrested a civilian who sneaked via the northern borders of the Gaza Strip.

• Israeli forces continued to target Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip Sea.

• Israeli forces continued their efforts to create Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem.
• Israeli forces demolished parts of a residential house in Silwan and levelled another in al-Mukaber Mount.

• Settlement activities continued in the West Bank.
• Israeli forces issued more demolition notices.

• Israeli forces turned the West Bank into cantons and continued to impose the illegal closure on the Gaza Strip for the 9^th
• Dozens of temporary checkpoints were established in the West Bank and others were re-established to obstruct the movement of Palestinian civilians.
• 5 Palestinian civilians were arrested at military checkpoints.

Summary

Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the oPt continued during the reporting period (24 – 30 November 2016).

Shooting:

Israeli forces have continued to commit crimes, inflicting civilian casualties. They have also continued to use excessive force against Palestinian civilians participating in peaceful protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the majority of whom were youngsters. During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian child in Sho’fat refugee camp, north of occupied Jerusalem.

In occupied Jerusalem, in excessive use of lethal force, Israeli forces stationed at Sho’fat checkpoint, north of occupied Jerusalem killed a Palestinian child. Israeli forces claimed that he attempted to stab an Israeli security officer with a knife he hid under his clothes.  However, PCHR’s investigations refuted this claim.

In the Gaza Strip, in context of targeting Palestinian fishermen in the sea, on 26 November 2016, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Waha shore, northwest of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, heavily opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats and chased them. The shooting recurred on the dame day afternoon in the same area. It should be noted the fishing boats were sailing within 4 nautical miles and no casualties were reported.  Moreover, similar attacks recurred on 27 and 28 November 2016 while fishing boats were sailing within 3 nautical miles.  However, neither casualties nor damages to the boats were reported

Incursions:

During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 57 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 8 others in occupied Jerusalem and its suburbs. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 68 Palestinian civilians, including 19 children. Twenty-one of them, including 11 children, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem.

Among those arrest, Israeli forces arrested Dr ‘Azzam No’aman ‘Abdel Rahman Salhab (60), a PLC Member from the Change and Reform bloc affiliated with Hamas, and Anas Hatem Qafishah, who is the son of another PLC Member and arrested from his family house in Hebron .

In the Gaza Strip on 29 November 2016, Israeli forces conducted a limited incursion in al-Shokah village, east of Rafah City in the southern Gaza Strip.  They levelled and combed the area in addition to establishing sand barriers in the area.  They later redeployed along the border.

Creating Jewish majority in occupied East Jerusalem:

In the context of house demolitions, on 29 November 2016, Israeli municipality demolished with hand tools two rooms and 35-square-meter balcony located in the “Central neighbourhood” in the area in Silwan village, south of occupied Jerusalem’s Old City.  The two rooms are part of a house belonging to al-Shyoukhi family that is comprised of 10 members.  The house was built ten years ago.

On the same day, the Israeli municipality demolished a house in al-Mukaber Mount neighbourhood, southeast of the city, under the pretext of building without a license.  The 110-square-meter house, which belongs to ‘Issam Khalaylah family, shelters 9 members, including 6 children.

Settlement activities and settlers’ attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property:

On 20 November 2016, Israeli forces distributed 12 notices to halt construction works for Palestinian families in Kherbet Um al-Khair, southeast of Yatta, south of Hebron, under the pretext of building without a license from the Israeli authorities.

Restrictions on movement:

Israel continued to impose a tight closure of the oPt, imposing severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007 has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.  The Israeli authorities impose measures to undermine the freedom of trade, including the basic needs for the Gaza Strip population and the agricultural and industrial products to be exported. For 9 consecutive years, Israel has tightened the land and naval closure to isolate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, and other countries around the world. This resulted in grave violations of the economic, social and cultural rights and a deterioration of living conditions for 2 million people.  The Israeli authorities have established Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shaloum) as the sole crossing for imports and exports in order to exercise its control over the Gaza Strip’s economy.  They also aim at imposing a complete ban on the Gaza Strip’s exports. The Israeli closure raised the rate of poverty to 65%. Moreover, the rate of unemployment increased up to 47% and youth constitutes 65% of the unemployed persons.  Moreover, 80% of the Gaza Strip population depends on international aid to secure their minimum daily needs. These rates indicate the unprecedented economic deterioration in the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, Israeli forces continued to suffocate the Palestinian cities and village by imposing military checkpoints around and/or between them. This created “cantons” isolated from each other that hinders the movement of civilians. Moreover, the Palestinian civilians suffering aggravated because of the annexation wall and checkpoints erected on daily basis to catch Palestinians.

Details

1. Incursions into Palestinian Areas, and Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

Thursday, 24 November 2016

• At approximately 01:00, Israeli forces moved into Beit Fajjar village, south of Bethlehem. They raided and searched a house belonging to Ezzat Hassan Abdul Karim Deriyah (50) and arrested him.

• At approximately 02:50, Israeli forces moved into Nablus and stationed in al-Ma’ajin neighborhood, west of the city. The soldiers surrounded building no. (9) in Najah National University housing. They raided and searched an apartment belonging to professor Esam Rashed Hasan al-Ashaqer (58), a physics lecturer in the above-mentioned university, and questioned him on the spot. They then arrested him and confiscated his car. It should be noted that Esam suffered a stroke in addition to many diseases such as kidney impairment, high blood pressure and liver disorder.

• At approximately 03:30, Israeli forces moved into ‘Anin village, west of Jenin. They raided and searched several houses. At approximately 04:30, they arrested Abdul Naser Mohammed Yasin (42) and at approximately 04:30 withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 21:00, Israeli forces moved into Betin village, east of Ramallah. They raided and searched a house belonging to Sayel Mohammed Darwish Jarab’ah (55) and then arrested him. It should be noted that the arrested person is father of Saji Jarab’ah, who was killed in March 2014 after a settler shot him near his house. It should be mentioned that the house is adjacent to Bypass Road (60), east of the village.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (4) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Dura, Yatta, Tarqumiyah and Taffouh villages in Hebron.

Friday, 25 November 2016

• At approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into Husan village, west of Bethlehem. They raided and searched a house belonging to the family of Malek Naser Hamamrah (10) and then arrested him.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (3) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Kafer Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqilyah, al-Aroub refugee camp and al-Kum village in

Saturday, 26 November 2016

• At approximately 00:15, Israeli forces moved into ‘Oyuon Qana Valley, northwest of Salfit. They arrested ‘Abdullah Mahmud Ahmed al-Khuli (32) from ‘Azzoun village, east of Qalqiliyah. It should be noted that ‘Abdullah and his family live in the abovementioned area in a farm that is threatened to be confiscated by the Israeli authorities. The abovementioned civilian was arrested before his arrival to a barrack inside the farm as he was coming from Azzoun village.

• At approximately 09:00, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Wahah shore, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats. At approximately 16:00, the shooting towards the Palestinian fishing boats sailing within 4 nautical miles recurred. As a result, fishermen were forced to flee for fear of being arrested or wounded, so no casualties were reported.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (4) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Kafer al-Deek village, west of Salfit, Dura, al-Kum and Beit Oula village in Hebron.

Sunday, 27 November 2016

• At approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into Nahalin village, west of Bethlehem. They raided and searched a number of houses and then arrested Omran Yusuf Najahrah (16) and Abdul Karim Mohammed Shakarnah (18).

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into al-Fawar refugee camp, south of Hebron. They raided and searched a house belonging to Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Najar (35). They locked the family members in one room and then arrested Mohammed. After visiting Mohammed, who was detained in Ofer prison, lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Club said to PCHR’s fieldworker that the Israeli forces severely beat him on his waist and face and walked him for an hour from his house to “Hagai” settlement. While Mohammed was walking, he felt dizzy and vomited blood. Although he asked them to put him on a litter, they refused and dragged him from his cuffed hands. They then took him to “‘Etzion” prison, south of Bethlehem where he was detained for an hour and a half. He was then transferred to ‘Ofer prison, west of Ramallah. The lawyer added that Mohammed was detained from 09:00 until 18:00 in a cold room though he informed the Israeli authorities that he suffers from health problems in the stomach, spine and cartilage so he cannot handle cold. However, the Israeli soldiers deliberately kept him in the cold room. The lawyer also emphasized that signs of beatings are still clear.

• At approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into Jenin and its camp, west of the city. They raided and searched several houses. They then arrested Tareq Mohammed Ouais (23) and Akram Mowafaq Malahmah (24) and at approximately 04:45 withdrew taking them to an unknown destination.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into Barta’ah village, southwest of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses. They arrested Sami Ahmed Saleh al-Haj Saed (29) and at approximately 04:00 withdrew taking them to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 03:30, Israeli forces moved into Beit Fourik village, east of Nablus. They raided and searched a house belonging to Ahmed Jamil Hamad Khatatbah (29) in the eastern neighbourhood of the village. They then arrested the aforementioned civilian and later withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into Barqin village, southwest of Jenin. They raided and searched several houses. They arrested Mohammed Zaidan al-Jadaa’ (24) and at approximately 04:30 withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 07:30, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Wahah shore, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing within 4 nautical miles and chased them. At approximately 16:00, the shooting recurred. As a result, fishermen were forced to flee for fear of being arrested or wounded, so no casualties were reported.

• In the evening, Israeli forces stationed at the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, north of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, arrested Bilal Zuhair Mustafa al-Razaynah (24) from Beit Lahia Housing Project after he crossed the borders in the abovementioned area. Bilal’s father said to PCHR’s fieldworker that his son disappeared on the same day evening and they searched for him in hospitals and informed the police about his absence. After 2 days of searching, Bilal’s father could not find him, so he went to the International Committee of Red Crescent (ICRC) and human rights organisations to contact the Israeli side in order to know their son’s place. After that, he was informed that Bilal was arrested by the Israeli authorities in al-Majdal prison. He added that Bilal suffers from mental disorders and takes medicine for this.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (6) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Ethna, al-Samou’ , al-Hejrah villages and al-Aroub refugee camp in Hebron, Kafer Thuluth and Azzoun villages, east of Qalqiliyah .

Monday, 28 November 2016

• At approximately 01:00, Israeli forces moved into Nemrah neighbourhood, north of Hebron. They raided and searched a house belonging to ‘Asem Maher ‘Obaid (22) and then arrested him. Following this, the military jeeps moved into Abu Katilah area, west of the city. They raided and searched a house belonging to Ayman Abdullah al-Qawasmah (25) and then arrested him.

• At approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into Aydah refugee camp, north of Bethlehem. They raided and searched a house belonging to Hamdi Ibrahim Malash (23) and then arrested him.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into Hebron. They raided and searched a house belonging to Dr Azzam No’man Abdul Rahman Salhab (60), a PLC Member of the Change and Reform Bloc affiliated with Hamas and then arrested him.

It should be noted that Salhab was arrested 9 times before by the Israeli forces, including 4 times since he became a PLC Member in 2006.  The last time he was released in July 2015 after being under administrative detention. Salhab, who served 12 years in the Israeli jails, holds a PhD in Sharia from the Islamic University in Medina in Saudi Arabia. On 17 December 1992 He was also deported to Marj al-Zuhour, south of Lebanon, and returned to Palestine on 15 December 1993.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into al-Hariyah Valley area in Hebron. They raided and searched a house belonging to Hatem Qafisha, a PLC Member representing the Change and Reform Bloc of Hamas movement. They then arrested his son Anas (24).

• At approximately 02:30, Israeli forces moved into Artas village, southwest of Bethlehem. They raided and searched a house belonging to Qasem Mahmoud ‘Ayesh (18) and then arrested him.

• At approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah. They raided and searched a house belonging to Nour Fayeq Sha’ban Ghazawi (23) and then arrested him.

• At approximately 06:45, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Wahah shore, northwest of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing within 4 nautical miles and chased them. At approximately 16:00, the shooting recurred. As a result, fishermen were forced to flee for fear of being arrested or wounded, so no casualties were reported.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (3) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Beit Kafel Hares village, north of Salfit, Beit Kahel and Hadab al-‘Alaqah villages in Hebron.

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

• At approximately 01:30, Israeli forces moved into Beit Awa village, southwest of Dura, southwest of Hebron. They raided and searched 3 houses and then arrested 3 civilians. The arrested civilians were identified as Bahaa’ Mohammed al-Masalmah (22), Khaled Mohammed Ezzat al-Masalmah (24) and Bahaa’ Husam al-Masalmah (22).

• At approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into Qarawet Bani Hassan village, northwest of Salfit. They raided and searched a number of houses and then arrested 6 civilians. The arrested civilians were identified as Mustafa ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Mer’ie (32), Bilal ‘Ali ‘Asi (24), Momen Jamal Mer’ie (23), Othman Mahmud Asi (27), Ahmed Harb Rayan (27) and Baraa’ Saed ‘Asi (23).

• At approximately 02:30, Israeli forces moved into ‘Orif village, south of Nablus. They raided and searched a house belonging to Obadah Mohammed Khalil Shehadah (20) and then arrested him. It should be noted that the arrested civilian is a student in Najah National University in Nablus.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into Beit Ummer village, north of Hebron, and stationed in Khelet al-Ein area. They raided and searched a house belonging to Muntaser Wajih Shehdah Abu ‘Ayash (25). They arrested him in his underwear without allowing him to wear his clothes. In the meanwhile, another force raided and searched a house belonging to the family of prisoner Wajih abu Ayash, but no arrests were reported.

• At approximately 05:00, Israeli forces moved into Silwad village, northeast of Ramallah. They raided and searched 2 houses belonging to Mohammed Rezeq Hamed (20) and Mahmud Ali Hamed (24) and then arrested them.

• At approximately 08:00, Israeli forces stationed along the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israeli moved about 100 meters into the eastern side of al-Shawkah village, east of Rafah City, south of the Gaza Strip, near Sufa Israeli military site. They levelled and combed the area and established sand barriers. At approximately 11:00 next day, the Israeli forces redeployed along the abovementioned border fence.

• At approximately 14:30, Israeli forces moved into Deir Netham village, northwest of Ramallah, amidst firing live bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the Palestinian civilians. They raided and searched a number of houses and then arrested 5 civilians, including 3 children. The arrested civilians were identified as Mohammed Jamal Ibrahim Yahiya (23), Mohamemd Nassaer Ahmed al-Amir (12), Rami Omer theeb Saleh (12), Loai Theeb Saleh (12) and Khader Abdul Hafiz al-Tamimi (19).

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (4) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Dura, Beit Marsam and Kharsa villages in Hebron.

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

• At approximately 02:00, Israeli forces moved into the southern area of Hebron. They raided and searched 2 houses and then arrested 2 brothers namely Ramadan (53) and Sha’ban Saed Abu Rumoz (50).

• At approximately 02:30, Israeli forces moved into Hebron and stationed in al-Salam neighbourhood. They raided and searched a house belonging to Yahiya Mohammed Salhab (23) and arrested him.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into al-‘Aroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. They raided and searched 4 houses and then arrested 4 children. The arrested children were identified as Raouf Wael Mohammed al-Balasi (15), Hamzah Khaled Khader al-Balasi (15), Saif Mohammed Khader al-Balasi (15) and Malek Khader Mekbel (16).

• At approximately 03:00, Israeli forces moved into Tulkarm. They raided and searched a number of houses. They arrested Bahaa’ Eden Nathmi Helmi Jayosi and at approximately 04:30 withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• Around the same time, Israeli forces moved into Tulkarm and. They raided and searched several houses. They arrested Sami Ahmed Saleh al-Haj Saed (29) and at approximately 04:00 withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• At approximately 03:30, Israeli forces moved into Barqin village, southwest of Jenin. They raided and searched a number of houses. They arrested Mohammed Zaidan al-Jadaa’ (24) and at approximately 04:30 withdrew taking him to an unknown destination.

• Note: During the aforementioned day, Israeli forces conducted (4) incursions in the following areas and no arrests were reported: Halhoul, al-Thaheriyah, al-Samou’ and Karisah villages in Hebron.

• Use of excessive force against peaceful demonstrations protesting settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall

West Bank:

• Following the Friday prayer on Friday, 25 November 2016, dozens of Palestinian civilians and Israeli and international human rights defenders organized demonstrations in Bil’in and Ni’lin villages, west of Ramallah; al-Nabi Saleh village, northwest of the city and Kafer Qadoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyah, protesting against the annexation wall and settlement activities. Israeli forces forcibly dispersed the protests, firing live and metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs. They also chased the protesters into olive fields and houses.  As a result, many of the protesters suffered tear gas inhalation while others sustained bruises as Israeli soldiers beat them up.

2. Continued closure of the oPt

Israel continued to impose a tight closure on the oPt, imposing severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Gaza Strip

Israeli forces continuously tighten the closure of the Gaza Strip and close all commercial crossings, making the Karm Abu Salem crossing the sole commercial crossing of the Gaza Strip, although it is not suitable for commercial purposes in terms of its operational capacity and distance from markets.

Israeli forces have continued to apply the policy, which is aimed to tighten the closure on all commercial crossings, by imposing total control over the flow of imports and exports.

Israeli forces have continued to impose a total ban on the delivery of raw materials to the Gaza Strip, except for very limited items and quantities. The limited quantities of raw materials allowed into Gaza do not meet the minimal needs of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces also continued to impose an almost total ban on the Gaza Strip exports, including agricultural and industrial products, except for light-weighted products such as flowers, strawberries, and spices. However, they lately allowed the exportation of some vegetables such as cucumber and tomatoes, furniture and fish.

Israel has continued to close the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing for the majority of Palestinian citizens from the Gaza Strip. Israel only allows the movement of a limited number of groups, with many hours of waiting in the majority of cases. Israel has continued to adopt a policy aimed at reducing the number of Palestinian patients allowed to move via the Beit Hanoun crossing to receive medical treatment in hospitals in Israel or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel also continued applying the policy of making certain civilian traveling via the crossing interviewed by the Israeli intelligence service to be questioned, blackmailed or arrested.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   

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