Latest Update: May 12

The Pillars
of
Palestine

The Palestinians At Home
Photo Book © 2024 / 1974

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CNN Report on Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners

An investigative news report by US broadcaster CNN uncovered the horrors
of a shadowy detention facility where Palestinian prisoners are blindfolded,
handcuffed and forced to wear dirty diapers. [CNN on May 10]

Israeli Attack on Rafah

Independent [US] Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, said Israel shouldn't receive "another nickel" in U.S. military aid despite the findings of a recent State Department report.

"Any objective observer knows Israel has broken international law, it has broken American law, and in my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickel in U.S. military aid," Sanders said in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Look the facts are quite clear. Hamas is a terrible disgusting terrorist organization that began this war. Though what Israel has done over the last seven months has not just gone to war against Hamas, it has gone to war against the entire Palestinian people. And results have been absolutely catastrophic."

[Fox News on May 12]

[The Hill, US political news from Washington DC on May 8]

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Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said Monday that her country will support a resolution to recognize Palestine as a full member of the UN.

"The vote will take place this week, on May 10. It is important that the European Union does not miss this historic moment," Lahbib said as she met with her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki.

She also said that Belgium wants to co-sponsor and support the resolution.

[Yeni Safak, Turkey, on May 7]

More than 100 students set up camps on the Free University of Berlin campus on Tuesday to protest Israel's war on Gaza.

The group erected tents outside the university building and unfurled banners expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, the students shouted slogans such as “Free, free Palestine!”, "Israel is a terrorist state", "Shame on you Germany”.

The university administration said in a statement that the attempt of the students to occupy the campus was “unacceptable” and it has called in the police to evict the protesters.

Since protests started last month at a number of US universities in support of Palestine, the protests have spread worldwide, including in universities across Europe.

[Yeni Safak, Turkey, on May 7]


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Website request from Australia: Israel - German Submarine Delivery (2012)

My trip to Israel started in West-Berlin where I
lived in a part of the American Sector that was
already populated by Turkish families in 1974.

Adage of Reason

Last Update on March 16.
Videos expressing opinion
on the Palestinian issue ...

Opinion on the Palestinian Issue

Sami Al-Arian, director of the Centre for Islamic and Global Affairs, has told Al Jazeera that
it is a “very sad moment” in Gaza as Ramadan begins without a ceasefire and for many on
the brink of famine. - “Unfortunately, Israel doesn't see the Palestinians as human beings;
they say they are ‘human animals’.

US Senator Bernie Sanders: “Netanyahu’s right wing government is blocking the borders
and preventing the massive amount of aid that needs to get through from getting through
and people are dying as a result. That is in violation of American law. We should stop
funding Netanyahu’s war machine.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the
USA, on March 14 for the first time called for the Israeli government to hold an election,
calling it the "only way" to determine Israel's path forward after its war with Hamas.

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara highlights the complicity of
Western leaders, portraying them as "useful idiots" for supporting Netanyahu's
genocidal war in Gaza.

Jews for a Ceasefire - Al-Jazeera looks at whether there is a shift
within the Jewish community against Israel’s actions and policies.

عكس السير
من أوائل المؤسسات الإعلامية الخاصة في سوريا
" قليل من الحيادية ... كثير من المصداقية "

Akas Al-Sir (Reverse Traffic) on March 13:
One of the first privately owned media in Syria, their
adage being: "Some neutrality ..... Much reliability".

Founded in 2006, Akas Al-Sir is currently at the top of the most
followed news sites in Syria, according to international statistics.

On Palestinian Resistance in the West Bank

On the Rhetoric of Resistance in the West Bank

The first conclusion reached by Israel's security community, namely the army of military analysts and former officials in the security establishment, from the resistance operation carried out near the "leader checkpoint" in Jerusalem on February 22 (*), was to acknowledge that all the so-called "preventive offensive measures" carried out by the Israeli army and security services in the West Bank in recent times had failed miserably. These measures include daily raids across the West Bank, confiscation of weapons, killing of hundreds of Palestinians, arresting thousands, reinforcing IDF forces on the ground, and carrying out punitive steps against families of resistance fighters with a focus on home demolitions.
(*) Editor: Three Palestinians had opened fire at motorists near an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem on February 22, killing one person and wounding five.

According to a former official in the Military Intelligence Division (AMAN), intelligence coverage of the West Bank territory is no longer sufficient. .....................................................

عن بلاغة المقاومة في الضفة الغربية

تمثّل أول استنتاج خلُص إليه الوسط الأمني في إسرائيل، والمقصود جيش المحلّلين العسكريين والمسؤولين السابقين في المؤسّسة الأمنية، من عملية المقاومة التي نفّذت بالقرب من "حاجز الزعيم" العسكري في القدس يوم 22 فبراير/ شباط الحالي، في الإقرار بأن كل ما يوصف بأنه "إجراءات هجومية وقائيّة" يقوم بها الجيش الإسرائيلي والأجهزة الأمنيّة في أراضي الضفة الغربيّة في الآونة الأخيرة قد مُنيت بالفشل الذريع. وتشمل هذه الإجراءات مداهماتٍ يوميةً في شتى أرجاء الضفة، ومصادرة أسلحة، وقتل مئات الفلسطينيين، واعتقال آلاف منهم، وتعزيز قوات الجيش الإسرائيلي في الميدان، وتنفيذ خطوات عقابية بحق أسر المقاومين مع التركيز على هدم المنازل

وبموجب ما يؤكّد مسؤولٌ سابق بشعبة الاستخبارات العسكرية (أمان)، لم تعد التغطية الاستخباراتية لأراضي الضفة كافية ......................................................

In recent years, the term "comfortable occupation" has begun to be used in Israel, and some considered that it may turn into a political reality if two things continue: First, there is no real opposition to this occupation and in general to the rule of the Israeli right, which is in a state of Catholic marriage between the extreme right and the Charedi [i.e. the orthodox Jews], while the dominant element in the performance of parties trying to stand against the policy of that right is [simultaneously] trying to turn into an extension of that right [alliance], an expression of [them] drowning in illusions and deception. This would succeed in attracting the masses of centrist and right-wing parties to their ranks, thanks to their social attitudes associated with an acceptance of the occupation. Second, there is no heavy political and material price for this occupation and its settlement practices. There is no doubt that the rhetoric of the Palestinian resistance in the West Bank now lies in putting an end to the second thing.

بدأ في إسرائيل، في الأعوام الأخيرة، استخدام مصطلح "الاحتلال المريح"، واعتبر بعضهم أنه قد يتحوّل إلى صيرورة في الواقع السياسي في حال استمرار أمرين: الأول، انعدام وجود معارضة حقيقية لهذا الاحتلال وعموماً لحُكم اليمين الإسرائيلي الموجود في حالة زواج كاثوليكي مع اليمين المتطرّف والحريدي، في حين أن العنصر الطاغي على أداء الأحزاب التي تحاول أن تقف على الضدّ من سياسة هذا اليمين محاولة التحوّل إلى ملحق لهذا اليمين، تعبيراً عن الغرق في الأوهام وخداع النفس بأن من شأن ذلك أن ينجح في جذب جماهير أحزاب الوسط واليمين إلى صفوفها، بفضل مواقفها الاجتماعية المترافقة مع قبولها بالاحتلال. الثاني، عدم جباية ثمن باهظ سياسيّاً ومادّياً جرّاء هذا الاحتلال وممارساته الاستيطانية. ولا شك في أن بلاغة المقاومة الفلسطينية في الضفة كامنة الآن في وضعها حدًّا للأمر الثاني

[العربي الجديد on Feb. 28]

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Politically speaking, tribal nationalism [patriotism] always insists that its own people
are surrounded by " a world of enemies " - " one against all " - and that a fundamental
difference exists between this people and all others. It claims its people to be unique,
individual, incompatible with all others, and denies theoretically the very possibility of
a common mankind long before it is used to destroy the humanity of man.

Hannah Arendt, a Jewish activist who became famous for her
book describing the Elements and Reasons of Totalitarianism.

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HISTORY - The Punic Wars

For centuries during the pre-Christian era, two major powers in the Mediterranean Sea area vied for supremacy – the Roman Republic, with its capital in Rome, Italy, and the city of Carthage located in what is now Tunisia. The so-called Punic Wars in 264, 218 and 149 BC between Rome and Carthage involved a total of 43 years of warfare, leading to the final victory of Rome and the total destruction of Carthage.

"The great Carthage fought three wars. It was still mighty after the first, still habitable after the second. It was no longer to be found after the third."

- Bertolt Brecht - (1898-1956), a famous German playwright and anti-fascist, in an open letter to German artists and writers, published in 1951 and distributed at a large scale. From there, his stance on the Punic Wars became often quoted at a time when memories of World War II were still fresh.

Netanyahu Planning to Expatriate the Palestinians

نتنياهو: «حماس» لم تقدم أي مقترح جدي

و"كالات" : في وقت يسعى الاتحاد الأوروبي خلال مباحثاته لإنشاء دولة فلسطينية على أساس أنها السبيل الوحيد الموثوق لتحقيق السلام في الشرق الأوسط، فوجئ المشاركون باقتراح اسرائيل بناء جزيرة للفلسطينيين في عرض البحر الأبيض

وكان الاتحاد الأوروبي أعرب فعلا عن قلقه إزاء الرفض الواضح لرئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو لفكرة إنشاء الدولة الفلسطينية سابقا

وبحسب مصادر، فإن وزير الخارجية الاسرائيلي تجاهل المقاربة الأوروبية التي شرحها عدد من الوزراء في جلسة تحولت الى مشهد سريالي

ولم تتردد اسرائيل بعرض مقترحها بناء جزيرة في عرض البحر الأبيض حيث ينقل اليها سكان قطاع غزة، في موقف أثار استغرابا واسعا في القاعة وانتقادات من دول عدة منها بلجيكا والبرتغال

وقال دبلوماسي أوروبي إن النقاشات مع الجانب الاسرائيلي كانت بمثابة حوار الطرشان

من جهة أخرى فند رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو أمس الاثنين فيما يبدو تكهنات إعلامية ذكرت أن جهودا تجري لإبرام اتفاق هدنة جديد في غزة

Netanyahu: Hamas has not made any serious proposal

[According to News] "Agencies": At a time when the European Union seeks during its talks to establish a Palestinian state on the basis that it is the only reliable way to achieve peace in the Middle East, participants were surprised by Israel's proposal to build an island for Palestinians in the Mediterranean.

The European Union has already expressed concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apparent rejection of the idea of founding a Palestinian state.

According to sources, the Israeli foreign minister ignored the European approach explained by a number of ministers in a session that turned into a surreal scene.

Israel did not hesitate to present its proposal to build an island in the Mediterranean, where residents of the Gaza Strip would be transferred, a position that raised wide eyebrows in the hall and criticism from several countries, including Belgium and Portugal.

A European diplomat said the discussions with the Israeli side were tantamount to a dialogue between two deaf.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday appeared to have refuted media speculation that efforts were underway to conclude a new truce agreement in Gaza.

[The Morning السباح, Kuwait, early morning edition on January 23 (local date)]


Israel-E.U. Meeting on Gaza’s Future
Yields Division and Confusion
Europeans, insisting on Palestinian statehood, are frustrated by Israel’s opposition and lack of a postwar plan for the devastated Gaza Strip. [New York Times on late Jan. 22 (local time)]

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