Labor minister: PA unable to pay July salaries

PA Labor Minister Ahmad Majdalani said Saturday public sector salaries for July will not be paid on time.

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority labor minister said Saturday that due to the government’s worsening financial crisis, public sector salaries will not be paid on time for July.

Ahmad Majdalani urged Arab nations to fulfill their financial pledges to the PA in order to allow salary payments.

He said cabinet ministers had tasked the finance minister with preparing a report on the PA’s financial crisis and potential solutions, which will be presented at the government’s weekly meeting on Tuesday.

Economic analyst Naser Abdul Kareem told Ma’an there are two main factors in the PA’s financial problems — the failure of international aid to arrive, and the increased cost of loans to the government by Palestinian banks.

The PA has built up considerable debts from the bank sector, he said.

The head of the Palestine Monetary Authority said earlier in June that the government in Ramallah had reached the maximum limit of borrowing from Palestinian banks.

Jihad Al-Wazir said in a statement that banks in Palestine increased lending to the government by over $300 million in the last two months, and cannot lend more unless repayments from donor countries come through.

(www.maannews.net / 30.06.2012)

Church Of Nativity Sanctuary Seekers In Exile After 10 Years

The election of Egypt’s president Muhammad Mursi momentarily threw a spotlight on the long-forgotten Palestinians exiled to Gaza after the Israelis’ infamous siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank 10 years ago.

Still kicking their heels in Gaza the exiles called on Mursi to continue efforts to end the squabble between political rivals Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank. They were optimistic that the new Egyptian president would work towards easing Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip and press for Palestinians rights, including the right of exiles to return home.

It is expected Mursi will at least allow greater freedom to travel across Gaza’s Rafah crossing into Egypt, the besieged enclave’s only door to the outside world.

How did the exiles find themselves in the prison Gaza has become? In 2002 a young girl from a refugee camp triggered events that led to a 40-day siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This is probably the oldest Christian church in the world, built by Constantine the Great and dating from AD330. A member of the girl’s family had been killed by Israeli occupation troops. Grief-stricken, she took revenge by turning herself into a suicide bomber.

The Israelis responded by sending 250 tanks and armoured personnel carriers, F-16 fighter jets, Apache gunships and hundreds of soldiers into West Bank towns like Nablus, Jenin and Bethlehem late at night. In Bethlehem they cut the electricity supply and invaded the old township with helicopter gunships and occupied all key points around Manger Square. Many innocent Palestinians were killed by shelling and army snipers, and the market and some shops were set on fire as troops tried to hunt down suspected ‘fighters’. Civilians tried desperately to hide from the troops and a large number of people took refuge or arrived for other reasons at the Church and found themselves trapped, unable to leave.

A few years ago I interviewed one of the survivors, who recalled that “248 took refuge there. They included 1 Islamic Jihad, 28 Hamas, 50 to 60 Al-Aqsa Martyrs. The remainder were ordinary townsfolk and included 100 uniformed Palestinian Authority workers, also 26 children and 8 to10 women and girls. The Israeli soldiers would not allow them to leave, but they escaped in the first week by a back door.”

Priests and nuns – Armenian, Greek and Catholic – from the adjoining monasteries brought the number to over 300 at the beginning. “Some of them went back to the monasteries but some stayed with us every day for the 40 days.”

‘Armchair Slaughter’

The Vatican was outraged. The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem called on Christians worldwide to make the upcoming Sunday a “solidarity day” for the people in the Church and the Church itself, and urged immediate intervention to stop what it called the “inhuman measures against the people and the stone of the Church”.

The Israelis set up cranes on which were mounted robotic machine-guns under video control. According to eye-witnesses eight defenders, including the bell-ringer, were murdered, some by the armchair button-pushers playing with their video joysticks and some by regular snipers.

From the start, said my survivor, the Israeli troops used psychological warfare methods – for example, disorienting noise to deprive them of sleep, bright lights and concussion grenades. They paraded the families of the besieged in front of the Church to pressure them to surrender. They also used illegal dum-dum bullets which cause horrendous wounds and trauma. “Most of those who were killed… it was because of the dum-dums… so much bleeding, and it took so long to arrange to send them to a hospital.”

He said the soldiers fired tracer rounds into two of the monasteries and set the ancient fabric of the buildings alight.

15 days into the siege those inside managed to recharge their cellphones using the mains that supplied the Church towers and call for help. The Israelis had overlooked the fact that this was a separate supply coming from the Bethlehem municipality. Friends responded by sending food to the medical centre. From there it went by ambulance, along with authentic casualties, and was delivered to houses near the Church. At night young girls carried the food in plastic bags from house to house until supplies reached the dwellings nextdoor to the Church. The bags were then thrown from roof to roof. This went on for 6 days until one girl dropped a bag, which the soldiers found. The Israelis, now alerted, shot and paralysed another young man. It put an end to the food operation.

“Inside the Church we vowed not to harm the soldiers unless they actually broke in. When soldiers did gain access and killed one of the resisters, 4 of them were shot.”

Those trapped inside the Church were surprised to discover an old lady living within the complex. She had a small horde of olives and wheat, with which they made bread. So they managed to eke out the food for 28 days.

The Governor of Bethlehem and the Director of the Catholic Society were among those holding out in the Church. According to my survivor’s first-hand account, those inside only opened the door if someone died or was injured. He recalled watching through a peephole and seeing people approaching across the forecourt. “They were from the Peace Movement, 28 of them. By now the world media were watching. 17 were arrested but 11 took a big risk, managing to bluff their way in and bringing food in their rucksacks, which lasted another 4 days, and basic medicines.

The worst time, he said, was the final week – no food and only dirty water from the well. They resorted to boiling leaves and old chicken legs into a soup. He ate only lemons and salt for 5 or 6 days. “Many were so ill by this time that they were passing blood.”

Outside some 15 civilians had been indiscriminately shot in the street or in their homes. The Israelis refused to allow the dead in the Church to be removed for decent burial. “In the end, the Governor decided it was better to be in jail than die. So we opened the door and surrendered on the 40th day. 148 had survived. We were promptly arrested and interrogated.

“13 were exiled to the EU, 26 were exiled to Gaza, 26 were wounded, 26 had surrendered because they were under-age. 8 were killed inside the Church, and with Samir (the bellringer) makes 9. They shot Samir in front of the Church as he came out to surrender.”

The rest were allowed home, including my survivor. “The Israelis said to me, ‘Do you know why you are going home? Because America wants it’.” The adverse publicity had prodded the CIA and EU into taking a hand in deciding the fate of the survivors.

The whole disgraceful episode would no doubt have ended in more carnage if the world’s media hadn’t tuned in and ten international activists, including members of the International Solidarity Movement, hadn’t managed to enter the Church.

I hear that the exiles have not been allowed to work since or receive visits from their families. According to some reports they were not even allowed to say goodbye to their loved ones before being packed off.

What exactly were they guilty of? They may have been Palestinian gunmen but the last time I checked it was perfectly OK to put up armed resistance against an illegal military occupation. Israel’s gunmen happen to wear uniform and are equipped with the best weaponry American tax dollars can buy. They are fond of saying, “We have a right to defend ourselves.” So do the Palestinians. Obviously.

So why did America and the EU lend themselves to this shameful act of exiling… a helpful little boost to Israel’s ongoing programme of ethnic cleansing of the West Bank?

And having got their hands dirty isn’t it time, after 10 years, they cleaned up and insisted that these forgotten men be re-united with their families?

A few weeks ago the Israeli press was practising their usual distortions and telling readers that “the terrorists took shelter in the famous church, and used about 40 priests and nuns as a shield, knowing Israel would not take a chance on inadvertently hurting priests and nuns”.

But for Israel’s gunslingers it had been open season on bellringers and other innocents.

(Stuart Littlewood / www.eurasiareview.com / 30.06.2012)

Our time and life is for the sake of “Freedom to Palestine”

It is the time to lose a hunger strike!

!

Yaa, it’s! Silence means a wretched death and waiting is a miserable death too!

Wondering why the whole world is still soundless, noiseless, and nothingness!

Isn’t it the dot to commence a new sentence and make international campaigns calling for their immediate unconditional release?

AKRAM RIKHAWI from Gaza was arrested by Israeli occupation forces in 2004 and sentenced to 9 years’ imprisonment by a military court.

He has five little innocent daughters who haven’t seen him since his detention!

Akram has been held in a prison medical centre ever since, as he suffers from a mixture of chronic conditions, including diabetes, osteoporosis and asthma

Feeling of his wife and his little daughters when seeing us not doing a thing to help. Rikhawi launched his hunger strike on April 12^th, demanding that his medical condition be considered during the discussion of his request for an earlier release. It is common in “Israeli prison laws” that every prisoner is entitled to ask to be considered for early release when at least two thirds of the sentence has been served. This is called “Shalashee Court” in “Israel

Rikhawi is now on his 78th day of hunger strike and on his 8^th year on a continuous detention. “Israel” refused to release him although he did end the two thirds of his sentence before 2years! In other word, his detention is unlawful!! His daughters always ask to see him after 8years of no see. Isn’t it a terrorism to forbid their reunite

I always listen to his mother’s voice while calling for “a human” to release his son. She always tells me about her dream of hugging, kissing, or even hearing Akram’s lovely voice for a minute or even a second. She always says that more than 8years of illegal detention is no good; it is instead a symbol of the world’s weakness

Act Now

Daily, Akram’s eldest daughter spends her time sitting in a tent holding to support her father

Before days, she attempts to be in solidarity with her father in a distinguished way. Sitting on sand, she was putting a black piece of clothes around her little eyes and a huge chain around her small hands

When asking her “Why”, she responds, “I want to see my father, to see how he feels now, to bestow him some of my health and love, and to be in solidarity with him” She adds, “My father, I love you; please come back quicklysince I miss you a lot; I can’t live anymore without you”

Cryin’

.Akram is our brother thus it’s our duty to help him to be alive and free before it’s too late

Akram is now dying and living in a hospital cell. All human rights institutions visiting him before state that his death is now very very imminent

It is important to know that Akram is not alone in his strike since Samer Barq, from Hebron, to the north of Palestine, is also on hunger strike for 39^th day asking for ending his unlawful detention. His health is also bad but stable. Besides, Hasan Safadi has an experience of a-77day on a continuous hunger strike. He ended his former strike after “Israeli Prison Forces” promised him to be released around two weeks ago. However, when his day of release came, he hadn’t been released! Consequently, he restarts his strike after his deal with the prison forces was breached! He is now on his 9^th day with neither food nor water! Isn’t it a day to

be

?released

.Free Free Rekhawi, Barq, and Safadi

(malaka383.wordpress.com / 30.06.2012)

Ministry: 1,700 prisoners in Israel have medical conditions

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — There are 1,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails receiving medical treatment, a report by the Palestinian Authority ministry of prisoners affairs said Saturday, calling for improvements to medical care by prison authorities.

The ministry report says 75 of these prisoners are suffering from chronic disease, and 20 are interned in Ramle prison hospital.

It highlighted the case of Ala Ibrahim Ali Al-Hims from Rafah in the Gaza Strip, who has been held since Feb. 24, 2009 in Hadarim prison.

Ministry lawyer Shirin Iraqi said after visiting Al-Hims, who has tuberculosis, that he is constantly vomiting and suffers migraines and severe dizziness.

Iraqi said the Israeli prison administration has denied him access to specialist doctors or hospitalization.

Earlier this week, the ministry quoted a prisoner in Israel’s Eshel jail saying the prison doctor had left to visit his sick mother in Russia, leaving patients without adequate medical attention.

Mohammad Abed Al Kareem Zawahreh told a ministry lawyer that prison authorities had brought in the doctor from nearby Ramon prison every few days, but the backlog in seeing patients meant sick prisoners were not receiving appropriate care.

(www.maannews.net / 30.06.2012)

Why Believe in a Free Palestine?

Stop for a second. Take a minute to close your eyes and rid your mind of every ounce of doubt and hesitation. Breathe in, breath out. Now, with your heart and every fiber of your being, carve this into your mind: Palestine will be free.

If that does not stick, I am not sure you are breathing.

Often times in the Palestinian community we are overwhelmed by the enormity of the occupation, siege of Gaza and the entrenched structures of power surrounding us that are so deeply wrong and oppressive. It becomes very easy to think we are too small to have any impact.

We tend to think that dramatic changes come about by dramatic actions in a dramatic moment. We love this myth so much.

Before us lay two roads: the road of despair and the road of hope. If you take the road of despair, as some have and continue to do, it leads to one thing: inaction. We know with unquestionable certainty what awaits us down this path. On the other hand, traveling down the road of hope, as history has shown us, always leads to action. The outcome of this action is rather unpredictable. We don’t know what will happen, but we know what will happen if we yield to despair.

There is a very famous quote by Vaclav Havel: “Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit.” In other words, hope is not what we think is going to happen but rather a choice that we make. Hope is an indispensable ingredient for change, but hope alone will not bring about the change we all wish to see.

So then the question before us is, how do things change on a large scale? Superheroes? Magic? Being in the right place at the right time?

No.

Change comes from movements.

In elementary school we were taught the story of Rosa Parks, the courageous African American lady who supposedly, with one spontaneous move, ignited the civil rights movement in the United States. At least, that’s what they taught us.

Rosa Parks was not an old lady who made a spur-of-the-moment decision. She was 42 years old and had been the secretary for the NAACP for 12 years before she was arrested on December 1st, 1955. She was trained in nonviolent resistance in Tennessee the summer before she was arrested. Parks’s background drastically changes the lessons we infer from her story.

If we ignore Rosa Parks’s background, we learn that step one in civil disobedience and resistance is to wait. Wait for the right time, wait until the masses approve of your actions, wait for a more pragmatic time and wait until change and progress come knocking on your door. After waiting, do something dramatic, and everything will change in the blink of the eye.

Upon becoming aware of her background the lesson is entirely different. From Rosa Parks’s history we learn that step one of civil disobedience and resistance is to get to work.

There is no alternative. Unless we join together and push forward towards justice and equality we can’t expect to ever see a free Palestine. That is what a movement is, a bunch of people making a small shift. Not every small change we make will lead to a big one, but every big change is made up of a bunch of small ones. The small changes are integral to the big changes.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem. The only way to approach it is through millions of small changes. Don’t be immobilized. Don’t be mesmerized.

Many in our community might believe that this work is naïve, that we are unrealistic and that we don’t understand the real world.  The truth is the Palestinian cause was born the moment the first refugee was forced from her home, but that is no excuse to give up hope. Many before us have dedicated their lives to the Palestinian cause. Many of their efforts have been successful, others not as much. Many yield to this frustration and begin to question the cause and lose hope. This is a detrimental mistake we cannot afford to make.

We are on the verge of a free Palestine and we have to believe that. Belief is the difference between oppression and justice. Belief is the difference between devastation and freedom. Belief is the difference between apartheid and liberation. Belief is the difference between quiet desperation and victory.  Our beliefs will govern our actions allowing us to mold the future.

It seemingly follows that the next question to ask is what we can we do. This is a mistake all too common in our activism circles. Before we start thinking about what we can do, let us first ask what works.

Currently in Palestine we find a system of oppression that is, among many things, very profitable for the oppressor. And in this case, the term oppressor is not limited to Israel but also to the collaborationist Palestinian Authority (PA). The Palestinian Authority is nothing but an extension of the oppressive Zionist regime and has become the biggest contractor and preserver of the occupation and apartheid policy. The PA and Israel benefit tremendously from the suffering of our people. The only way forward is to turn this beneficial and profitable system into a detrimental and negative one. How can we do this? The answer three words long.

Boycott. Divest. Sanction.

The BDS campaign was launched by a call from Palestinian civil society. The goal is to put economic pressure on Israel, shift the power dynamic and compel it to respect Palestinian rights. BDS is a tool of resistance that we all can use.

BDS works. It worked in South Africa, and it will work in Palestine. It does not require large drastic actions. In fact, the most effective activism is that which takes place at the local level. If your school cafeteria sells products made on stolen Palestinian land, speak up! If the retirement options for your university professors include investments in companies that profit off of our suffering, speak up! When your university invites Israeli war criminals to your campus, speak up!

If Palestine could be freed on empathy alone, it would have been liberated long ago. Reality is that without effective action taken collectively, we doom ourselves to an endless cycle of oppression. We know the truth and we have the tools. The rest is up to us.

(beyondcompromise.com / Adam Akkad / 30.06.2012)

Israel making false allegations against Palestinian youths

A Family of two Palestinian detainees accuse Israeli secret service of entrapment.

The two Palestinian detainees, are brothers and are believed to have been lured by a mysterious online character on Facebook to consent on carrying out a certain action against Israel.

Amir and Mohammad are two brothers who come from a small town called Kufor Kana, near the city of Nazareth. Both live with considerable disabilities that keeps them home and in constant need of assistance.

According to their family, Amir and Mohammad would rarely venture out of the house as a result of their disabilities. So the two brothers would spend most of their time online. But Little did they know that they would be arrested by the Israeli police in early December of last year. The Israeli police claim the two brothers are a security threat.

In an apparent case of entrapment the two young men were detained on allegations of threatening public security. Israeli Police claim the alleged plot was weaved on the social networks.

Much of the details and circumstances surrounding the case remain vague and the court has imposed a gag order on what goes on behind closed sessions.

But what is being said and alleged is that the two young men were involved in online discussions with an enemy. What is also being said that the two brothers were apparently approached online by a character posing to be from an Islamic organization that has an anti Israel agenda. This character remains a mystery till today and is suspected of baiting the two brothers into consenting to carry out a certain action against Israel.

The defense lawyer confirms the speculation on the nature of this interesting case.

The case appears to be entirely built on online discussions.

Despite their poor health and constant need of medical attention the court was reluctant to release Amir and Mohammad. The defense says the Police wants to demonstrate to Palestinians inside Israel that they’re being watched and what is said online would be taken seriously.

(www.presstv.ir / 30.06.2012)

Mofaz-Abbas meeting postponed indefinitely, Palestinian official says

Fatah official tells Ma’an news agency that the postponement is due to public pressure on Abbas not to meet with Mofaz.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

A meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that was scheduled for Sunday has been postponed, a Fatah official told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency.

A new date for the meeting, which was to have been held in Ramallah, has not been set.

According to the official, the meeting was delayed in response to public pressure on Abbas to not meet with Mofaz.

The official said that given the current conditions Abbas must respect the will of the people.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled since the fall of 2010.

On Thursday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the upcoming Mofaz-Abbas meeting did not signal a renewal of negotiations.

(www.haaretz.com / 30.06.2012)

Report: IOF arrested 53 citizens including 9 children in one week

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested 53 citizens over the course of the past week including nine children and four liberated prisoners. The Palestine prisoners’ center for studies said in a press release on Saturday that the arrest campaigns targeted the cities of Jerusalem, Al-Khalil, Nablus, Tulkarem, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. The statement noted that the youngest in the detained nine children was 14-year-old Mohammed Baydon from Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem. It pointed that two foreign activists were nabbed in Beit Ummar village near Al-Khalil for participating in the weekly anti-wall and anti-settlement march. The human rights groups said that the IOF soldiers daily raid various West Bank cities, villages, and refugee camps and arrest citizens for interrogation, some of whom are held in administrative custody or serve imprisonment terms. (www.palestine-info.co.uk / 30.06.2012)

World powers agree on Syria unity government

Kofi Annan (R) Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria speaks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a meeting of the Action Group for Syria in Geneva on June 30, 2012.

GENEVA (Reuters) — International powers agreed on Saturday that a national unity government should be set up in Syria to resolve the conflict between President Bashar Assad and opposition forces trying to oust him.

Peace envoy Kofi Annan said after the talks in Geneva that the government should include members of Assad’s administration and the opposition. But it was not immediately clear what role, if any, was envisaged for Assad.

“It is for the people to come to a political agreement but time is running out,” Annan said. “We need rapid steps to reach agreement. The conflict must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and negotiations.”

The parties must put forward interlocutors to help him work towards a settlement, he added.

The Geneva talks were billed as a last-ditch effort to halt the worsening bloodshed in Syria but hit obstacles as Russia, Assad’s most powerful ally, opposed Western and Arab insistence that the Syrian strongman must quit the scene.

(www.maannews.net / 30.06.2012)

PLO urges Security Council meeting on settlements

File photo of the PLO Executive Committee meeting in Ramallah.

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian leadership agreed Saturday to call on the UN Security Council for an urgent meeting on Israel’s settlement expansion on Palestinian land.

The meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee in Ramallah, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, agreed to begin international contacts and consultations on the issue, a statement said.

Amid the impasse over negotiations with Israel, the committee said the situation requires a meaningful intervention from the international community.

The current situation is a real threat to the national project and two-state solution, the PLO governing body said.

PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo also warned at the Saturday meeting that the Palestinian Authority would face difficulties paying employees next month and during Muslim holy month Ramadan, calling on Arab states to help stave off the government’s financial crisis.

Negotiations between Israel and the PLO broke down in late 2010 after Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land.

In February 2011, the PA sought a UN resolution declaring Israeli settlement building illegal. Fourteen members of the 15-member Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, but it was vetoed by the US.

The text of the resolution was based on Washington’s own statements on the illegality of Israeli settlements. After vetoing the resolution, the US maintained that it considered Israeli settlements to be illegal and a threat to prospects for peace.

(www.maannews.net / 30.06.2012)