Wednesday, August 31, 2016

LIVES SPENT BEHIND OCCUPIERS' BARS: WALID MASALMA AND RAED AL-SAADI

LIVES SPENT BEHIND OCCUPIERS' BARS: WALID MASALMA AND RAED AL-SAADI

WALID MASALMA

Political prisoner Walid Masalma's(41) hunger-strike got relatively little attention and support.

It lasted 38 days from July 18th onwards and he suspended it on August 24th after Israeli occupation's prison services made a deal that would see him moved out from solitary confinement after three more months.

Walid Masalma has been imprisoned in a bug-infested solitary cell since October 26th when he was among group of political prisoners who opened an unlocked window in Israeli occupation's Eshel prison.

Masalma, from Beit Awwa has been a captiove of the Israeli occupation from 2001 or 2002 according to different sources. He was sentenced to life imprisonment

Masalma is another Palestinian whose best years have been lost as a result of Israeli oppression. 458 Palestinian political prisoners are currently imprisoned for life by occupier Israel.

RAED AL-SAADI

30 Palestinian political prisoners currently imprisoned by Israel have been captives for over 23 years, among them is Raed Muhammad al-Saadi(49), who has been captive of Israel since August 28th 1989.

According to the Israeli occupation, al-Saadi took part in armed resistance during the First Intifada. He is from the Jenin district village of Silat al-Harithiya.

We can compare the treatment of Palestinian political prisoners to Nazi war criminals, of which only one(1) spent more than twenty years in prison.

To Israel and the 'West' supporting it opposing the occupation of what remains of Palestinian's lands appears to be a greater crime than participation in the genocide of Jews, Roma and other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.

SOURCES:

Palestinian enters 28th year in Israeli prison

Palestinian Man Enters 28th Year in Israeli Prison

Palestinian prisoner suspends hunger strike after Israel agrees to end solitary confinement

COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT BY ISRAELI OCCUPATION IN DURA BEFORE ACCUSED IS FOUND GUILTY

COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT BY ISRAELI OCCUPATION IN DURA BEFORE ACCUSED IS FOUND GUILTY

Israel's occupation forces used explosives and a bulldozer to destroy the family home of political prisoner Mohamed Amayreh(38) in the town of Dura in the West Bank's Hebron district.

THE BACKGROUND

Amayreh, a member of Palestinian Authority's security forces, was kidnapped on July 4th by Israel's occupation forces and accused of participation in a drive-by shooting three days which killed an illegal Israeli settler Michael Mark and injured three of his family members in the occupied West Bank.

Israel later killed former political prisoner Mohammed al-Faqih, who it claims did the actual shooting, in the village of Surif by using anti-tank missiles and armoured bulldozer to destroy the house he was in.

BEYOND EVEN JIM CROW

For Israel a Palestinian accused by it is already guilty. Everything else is a charade.

Mohamed Amayreh won't be convicted in a show trial for months, yet Israeli occupation with an Israeli court's blessing already blew up the house his relatives were living in.

This is a case of 'pre-emptive collective punishment' where even the shroud of Jim Crow -style 'legality' has been shredded to pieces.

Israeli regime's representatives know how a show trial will end, so collective punishment for an individual's act is done before the individual is even officially found guilty.

'Western' politicians and media take Israel's lead and consider all Palestinians going through this cruel theater of occupation 'law and justice' guilty from the moment they are kidnapped (or killed) by the Israeli occupation.

Ethnicity and nationality of the kidnapped occupied and the kidnapping occupier are enough for them to consider the kidnapped occupied person guilty. Just like they know that "Israel is just defending itself" based on what claims Israel's regimes makes of the Zionist state's identity.

To be a Palestinian living under Israeli occupation and to be kidnapped by it is to be guilty in the eyes of the occupiers and the foreign supporters and facilitators of the occupation. It's Apartheid, but because Israel is doing the brutal racist occupation, 'Western' politicians and media deny the existence of Apartheid.

SOURCES:

Israeli army detonates house of Palestinian prisoner in Dura town
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=80437

Israeli forces demolish home of Palestinian prisoner accused in drive-by shooting
http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772907

Saturday, August 27, 2016

PALESTINIAN FATHER OF TWO KILLED IN SILWAD


A notorious ultra-Orthodox unit of Israel's occupation forces killed a Palestinian father of two on the occupied West Bank on Friday August 26th near the illegal Israeli colony of Ofra.

THE VICTIM AND HIS DEATH

Iyad Zakariya Hamed(38) was shot to death in occupied West Bank's Silwad moments after after a shop's CCTV camera recorded him buying candy for his children.

According to some accounts, he was deaf. Claim that he was 'mentally ill' seem to be a misunderstanding rising from claim that he was 'a special needs person', which in his case might apparently meant being deaf. 

The construction worker was walking on to a Friday noon prayer at a mosque when he was shot just outside Silwad at an Israeli occupation roadblock by soldiers from the notorious Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade.

Hamad was shot in chest and shoulders and left to bleed for an hour, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm local time. Palestinian medics were not allowed to approach him and he was not given any medical aid by the Israeli occupation forces', which just put his body in a bag after they thought he was dead.

His body was later returned and he was buried at the evening. He left behind a wife and 8- and 2- year old children.

ISRAELI OCCUPATION CAME UP WITH FALSE CLAIMS


Israeli occupation came up with several false claim about his killing before real facts of his death came to light and the occupation was forced to admit that he "most likely did not pose a threat".

At first Israeli occupation claimed that he had been in a car, possibly with a woman and had opened fire with a gun from the inside of the car before being shot.

In the second version was also 'armed', but on feet and had 'opened fire' at Israeli occupation forces at a roadblock which had then shot him.

In the next development the Israeli occupation said it was 'checking' if he was armed.

Then the story was changed yet again and Israeli occupation claimed that he had 'ran' or 'rushed' towards the occupation forces' at a roadblock and that another group of occupation soldiers 'on patrol' had seen this and shot him.

Finally, Israeli occupation admitted that he had 'likely posed no threat'. 

NETZAH YEHUDA BATTALION: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

The Netzah Yehuda Battalion whose soldiers killed Iyad Hamad are drawn solely from ultra-Orthodox recruits and has been connected to several widely publicized cases of violence towards Palestinian civilians.

In one incident the battalion's soldiers filmed themselves shooting another civilian in Silwad and celebrating as he fell to the ground, wounded. The person in question was possibly a 13 y/o boy.
In another occupation soldiers' from the battalion beat up a Palestinian civilian who complained after they threw a tear gas grenade in his home through a window. The civilian was killed by the Israeli occupation half a year later. 

VIDEO: Iyad Hamad captured on CCTV buying candy for his children moments before he was shot and killed:

SOURCES:

Israeli forces kill 'unarmed' Palestinian in West Bank

Israeli Soldiers Kill A Palestinian Man In Silwad

Video: Israelis film themselves shooting unarmed Palestinian

Unarmed Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces at military post near Ramallah

IS ISRAEL PREPARING A NEW LARGE-SCALE ATTACK AGAINST BESIEGED GAZA STRIP?


On Tuesday United States' State Department told US citizens to leave Palestine's besieged Gaza Strip "as soon as possible" while borders remained open (to them, but less for the indigenous population).

Media connected this to Israel's supposedly increased attacks against Gaza Strip, but although the bombing campaign from Sunday to Monday was more extensive than 'normally' its unlikely this was enough to lead to the call by the US' State Department.

Connected with rumours that Egypt would keep the Rafah border crossing open longer than usually there are circling rumours of Israel going to use the coming US presidential election and launch a new large-scale attack on Gaza. 

Not only would global and especially US' attention be in the election, but US' administration and presidential hopefuls would be even more 'supportive' of Israel and far more reluctant to give even mild criticism towards it in fear of Israel Lobby mobilizing against either either party.

Israel Lobby's extensive hold of US' government, its other political organs and politicians is largely based on a myth that is itself anti-semitic, but as long as people of high profile and media don't dare to publicly call Israel Lobby as an Emperor Without Clothes, it will continue to wield very real power and control USA's Middle East policies to a very large extent.

Which leads to a high price being paid in Palestinian blood.

What we are dealing with are with are still rumours, but Israel's mode of operation is well established and the possibility of a coming new, large-scale attack on Gaza is a real possibility.

To oppose it we have only one real tool: To make this threatening possibility as public as possible, make as many people aware as possible and call 'Western' politicians to denounce any possible future large-scale attack and deny support for it before it happens.

Gaza's situation is growing worse, not better, as recent news show and we must make it clear to 'Western' politicians that any new large-scale attack on Gaza would be unlikely to be limited to the tiny coastal enclave and would instead likely have effects way beyond it, including in increase of refugees trying to get to Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.

'Western' politicians must be made to understand one simple fact: The 1.83 million prisoners of Gaza Strip could end up to be the next great wave of refugees if Israel is not stopped.

(Photo from 2014 Gaza war is for illustrative purposes.)

SOURCES:

2 years after the 2014 Gaza war, UN agencies call for increased humanitarean funding

Americans urged to leave Gaza while 'borders are open'

Gaza Power Plant Again Out of Fuel

Thursday, August 25, 2016

ISRAEL KILLS YOUTH, COMES UP WITH A WEAK LIE


Israel's occupation shot 24 y/o Sari Muhammad Abu Ghurab when he was inside his (apparently) crashed car, letting him to bleed until it was too late and he was dead.

The killing happened near the illegal Israeli colony fortress of Ariel on the occupied West Bank.

Afterwards the Israeli occupation came up with an excuse for the killing which - although it will be repeated by the 'Western' media - was hardly a serious attempt to try to show the killing as something else than it was.

The story Israeli occupation came up is:

Palestinians were throwing rocks from inside a car. (We don't remember this "rocks in a car" excuse being used by Israel and its' apologists since the excuse for shooting ambulances during the Second Intifada was that they supposedly 'transported rocks' to be thrown at Israel's occupation forces.)

Israeli occupation 'pursued' the car. The car stopped. A Palestinian exited it and 'stabbed' Israeli occupation soldier, 'lightly injuring' him, after which the soldier shot him.

Throwing rocks from inside a car? The victim, Sari Abu Ghurab exiting the car, 'stabbing' and 'injuring' an occupation soldier, shot yet ending up bleeding to death on the driver's seat insider the car?

What we have here is murder, no less, and an excuse which is not even intended to pass any kind of closer scrutiny. Instead it's Israeli occupation signaling: "See, we don't even care anymore to come up with'decent' excuses."

The blatant lie will be reported as truth, 'Western' media will declare Sari Abu Ghurab was 'an attacker' because Israel says so, and one more young life has been lost forever.

SOURCES:

Israeli forces kill Palestinian near Nablus after alleged stabbing attack

Palestinian man killed after allegedly stabbing Israeli soldier

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

SECURITY CO-OPERATION'S BLOODY HARVEST IN NABLUS [Graphic]


The violent events, shrouded largely in mystery, which last weeks led to the death of 2 Palestinian police officers and 2 'gunmen' in occupied Nablus received more light today as the situation continued to escalate with the death of a resistance commander. 

Today's events reveal that security co-operation with Israel is the prime cause behind recent deadly violence in Nablus between Palestinian security forces and 'gunmen' - now revealed to be members of a nationalist resistance group.

We already provided account of the events through Maan News Agency, here we try to offer a look at the wider context and the implications of Tuesday's events.

DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY

Palestinian Authority's police forces took a leading local member of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, Ahmad Izz Halaweh, into custody and by all accounts lower ranking members of the police forces then beat him into death in police's security compound.

The only good thing that can be said in this episode is that the police and the PA didn't try to hide what happened.

Hamas has already strongly attacked his death and PFLP has also offered criticism and made demand of a fact-finding commission to be established, which prime minister Hamdullah has agreed to.

SECURITY CO-OPERATION WITH OCCUPIER ISRAEL UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

In the light of today's events, the campaign in Nablus to confiscate weapons and take into custody 'criminals' seem to be driven by the security co-operation with the Israeli occupation and is mainly targeting members of resistance groups and not real criminals. 

That Halaweh, local commander of a resistance faction affiliated with Fatah itself was 'the most wanted' by the Palestinian Authority makes things look even worse and will erode it's credibility.

Also that according to PA, none of those three killed had ever turned their weapons against the Israeli occupation (an allegation of which we can say nothing) sounds only like a feeble excuse and raises the question why then the need to go after them so aggressively?

On Palestinian Authority's part the main reason for the security co-operation is to show to the 'West' that it's 'behaving well' and 'fulfilling' the demands put on it by the Oslo Accords and later agreements.

Because the security co-operation has brought no political dividends whatsoever to the Palestinians, PA has come to look like a 'sub-contractor' for the Israeli occupation, with Israel's regime taking the benefits while it continues its assault against PA's attempts to seek the realization of the State of Palestine through political means in the global arena.

CHANGING ATMOSPHERE AMONG PUBLIC

In the aftermath of the two police officers' killing, the public's sympathy seemed to lie well with the security forces and it was little changed by the killing of those alleged 'gunmen' taking part in their killing the day after.

But the brutal death of Ahmad Izz Halaweh and his affiliation seems to have changed the situation and put the whole episode of violence in a new light, changing the roles. It's dangerous development for the Palestinian Authority, which has nothing to show politically or economically to the Palestinian people for its policy of moderation and resistance to armed struggle.

A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - AND THE ROLE OF THE SO-CALLED 'WEST'

For that the reason for the current situation and increasing inter-Palestinian violence must lie with the so-called 'West', which remains a staunch supporter of the Israeli occupation with no action against the occupation's drive of increased demolition, illegal colony building and killings while demanding Palestinian Authority and Palestinian people to turn first one cheek and then the another for Israel to beat them.

Those who forced PA to make a deal with the devil in the security co-operation with Israel should finally step forth and show to the Palestinian people that its more than just enforced collaboration with the occupier.

But we can scarcely hope that, and if the PA ends up looking like a Vichy's regime, the blame for that lies mainly with those outside powers who always make demands on the Palestinians and never 'repay' so-called 'good behaviour' because for them Israel becomes first, second and third in their thought and actions.

SOURCES:

Hamas condemns PA's killing Palestinian from Nablus

PM orders investigation committee in Nablus accident

Suspected 'mastermind' behind deadly shooting of PA policemen killed in custody

Suspected 'mastermind' behind deadly shooting of PA policemen killed in custody

UN, Palestinian factions outraged over ‘extrajudicial execution’ by Palestinian police

SHRINE IN ETHNICALLY CLEANSED AL-MAJDAL VILLAGE ATTACKED


A Muslim shrine in the ethnically cleansed village of al-Majdal on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee has been attacked in an apparent attempt to get to a supposed grave inside it.

The shrine has acted as a cenotaph, so there was no grave to be violated in the excavations that have been made inside it.

The village of al-Majdal was ethnically cleansed - in Zionist Orwellian 'newspeak' its population "was persuaded to leave" - in 1948. It still stands near to several Zionist settlements.

At the centre of al-Majdal was a shrine to a local Muslim 'saint' - the maqas of 'Sheikh Musharraf', "The Honoured".

The shrine was build on the ruins of small church, build in the very late East Roman period (6-7th centuries CE) and the church itself was build on the place of a Samaritan synagogue which itself was

build in late antiquity around 400-500 CE.

Parts of previous religious buildings still remain as parts of the current shrine and its immediate neighbourhood. Like all Muslim shrines of this nature in Palestine 1948, it has been given no protection by those who drove away the people whose community was centred around it.

SOURCE: @PalinfoAr

BACKGROUND:
6. Maqams. Sharon Plain and Carmel
http://borisfenus.blogspot.fi/2013/01/6-maqams-sharon-plain-and-carmel.html

MATCH FINE FOR PALESTINE: CELTIC FANS CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN FOR PALESTINE CHARITIES


THE CAMPAIGN

The Green Brigades group of Celtic fans are running a crowdfunding campaign for two Palestinian charities intended to match (approximately) the fines their club is expected to from UEFA.

The campaign is run over the hashtag ‪#‎matchfineforpalestine‬ and the crowdfunding page can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/matchfinepalestine
The target charities are Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP, http://www.map-uk.org/) and the Lajee Centre for children in the Aida refugee camp in occupied West Bank's Bethlehem. The donations will be split between them 50/50.

The target of the campaign was originally 15 000 £, but after far outdoing expectations its currently set at 80 000 £ and is now at 75 274 £.

BACKGROUND:

The fines - and possibly a closure of their stadium from audience for one or two more matches - is a result of some of the audience holding and waving flags of Palestine in an Champions League match against a team from ethnically cleansed Palestine 1948.

The opposing team, Hapoel Be'er Sheva FC, was founded in the immediate aftermath of the Nakba in 1949. It's situated in the ethnically cleansed town of Beersheba, whose Grand Mosque - build as a result of a crowdfunding campaign of the time by local communities and finished in 1906 - has been turned into a museum by Israel, in which it has organized wine festivals.

Various authorities - both football ones and Scotland's police - had demanded that no Palestinian flags would be brought to the stadium for the match. Israel's embassy had also made a similar demand.

Afterwards Israeli lobby has demanded criminal punishment for the fans, for which there is no basis in law according to the Scotland's police forces.

UEFA IS TRYING TO ERASE PALESTINE

According to UEFA the flag of Palestine, whose football association is a member of FIFA, is banned as a "political statement". Somehow it has gotten past UEFA that the act of banning flags is also a political statement - in this case in favour of the occupier Israel.

Not to speak of the very political statement of accepting Israel, situated in Asia, into an European football organization and its contests.

UEFA, like Google with its maps, is trying to erase Palestine - which played official football matches already during the British mandate era - from existence. In this case from existence in the global football family in benefit of Israel.

SOURCES:

“A club like no other” Match the Fine for Palestine goes viral

Celtic fans vow to cover UEFA disciplinary fine & match it for Palestinian charities

Dispute over wine festival in Be'er Sheva mosque: 'Muslim rage' or Israeli hypocrisy?

IOA turns Grand Mosque of Beersheba into museum

Match the Fine for Palestine

Friday, August 19, 2016

IPNOT PICTURE OF THE DAY August 18: Double fratricide in Nablus


IPNOT PICTURE OF THE DAY August 18: Double fratricide in Nablus

Palestinian Authority's security services have been increasingly experiencing armed confrontations with armed groups, of whose nature the PA treats in an obliquely manner with the Palestinian media following, and perhaps feeling it has to follow, this obscuration.

On August 18th Palestinian Authority's security forces exchanged fire in a group of armed men in occupied Nablus' Old City during an attempt to arresta man on wanted list. Two officers were seriously wounded and died later of their wounds, with one source claiming they were shot with exploding bullets; one in head and the other one in chest.

Of the gunmen we have only the official and press claims that they were 'criminals', or in one source, 'militants', and the social media speculation of people "with agendas and interests" who have "emerged to take advantage of this situation to pass their projects."

Whatever the truth, we know that the only beneficiary of this bloodshed where arms are turned by Palestinians against fellow Palestinians is the occupier Israel. We are reminded of the sporadic violence in some of the Lebanese refugee camps recently, where factionalism has made Palestinian hands to shed Palestinian blood.

SOURCES:

2 members of Palestinian security forces killed, 2 injured after clashes with wanted Palestinians



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