Mondoweiss.net

Restriction of movement

Gaza woman told to coordinate wedding date with Israeli army

Haaretz 3 Mar by Amira Hass — IDF implies that close family members can leave for the wedding, but not the bride — Residents of Gaza who want to marry overseas are supposed to receive a permit in advance of the wedding date from the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces. That seems to be the message of a letter from the legal advisor to the District Coordination and Liaison Office in Gaza. The letter concerns a young woman who wants to leave Gaza and travel to Turkey via Israel and the West Bank in order to get married there. “There is something improper in that your clients have already made arrangements and set dates for the event, without receiving a permit from the proper authorities,” the legal advisor — an IDF captain whose name is being withheld by Haaretz — wrote to the lawyer of the bride-to-be …  The 23-year-old woman met her future husband — a businessman from Gaza who lives in Turkey — when she visited family in that country. She returned to Gaza alone. In November 2014 the couple signed a marriage contract, with her husband represented by a power of attorney, and set a wedding date for December last year. Since the Gaza-Egypt border crossing is seldom open, the woman and her parents filed a request to leave for Turkey via the Erez checkpoint and the Allenby Bridge to Jordan. The request was filed with the DCL through the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, a body under the authority of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. In early February, after not receiving a response, she turned to Gisha: Legal Center for the Freedom of Movement. On February 5 the DCL’s rejection was received. In his response, the legal advisor not only criticized the woman and her fiancé for setting a wedding date before they had received a permit. He also maintained that the request for an exit permit to travel to Turkey did not meet the exceptional humanitarian criteria set by COGAT for the movement of people between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.645035

Israel denies PLO officials entry to West Bank from Gaza

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Mar — Israeli officials on Tuesday prevented ten PLO officials from entering the West Bank via the Erez crossing with Gaza, officials said. Walid al-Awad, a senior official with the Palestinian People’s Party, said he and nine other officials were denied entry to the West Bank at the Erez crossing. PFLP officials Rabah Muhanna, Kayid al-Ghoul, Mariam Abu Daqqa and Jamil Majdalawi were also denied entry. The group was scheduled to attend the PLO’s Central Council meeting on Wednesday. The reason for their denial was unclear. Twenty other Palestinian officials were allowed to travel to the West Bank from Gaza to attend the meeting. The Central Council of the PLO is a body of 124 members selected from the Palestine National Council. The last Central Council Meeting took place in April 2014.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=759708

PFLP prevented by IOA from attending PLO meetings

GAZA (PIC) 3 Mar — The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) prevented Tuesday the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) delegation from leaving Gaza to attend the PLO central council meetings in Ramallah in the West Bank. The member of PFLP political bureau Kaid al-Ghoul revealed that the IOA refused to grant permission for his Front’s delegation to leave Gaza Strip via Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing. The PFLP delegation was consisting of MP Jamil Majdalawi and members of its political bureau including al-Ghoul, Rabah Mihana and Mariam Abu Dakka.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70453

Watar Bank concert canceled

3 Mar — “Once again the ‪#‎Gaza based music group Watar Band is forced to cancel its concert in the West Bank because Israel won’t allow them the necessary permit to cross from one Palestinian area or bantustan into another.” (Samah Sabawi)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=884246084960708&set=a.151157408269583.44958.100001259741619&type=1&theater

Court orders Airports Authority to compensate humiliated Arab professor

Haaretz 4 Mar by Jack Khoury — The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court ordered the Israel Airports Authority to pay compensation to an Arab professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, eight and a half years after she underwent a humiliating security check at the Ben-Gurion International Airport. The court ordered the payment of 7,500 ($1,880) shekels to Prof. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian in a ruling handed down about two weeks ago. The court ruled only partially in favor of the plaintiff, without seriously addressing the issue of the security inspection at the airport. Criminologist Shalhoub-Kevorkian, an Israeli citizen who lives in East Jerusalem, and a leading activist in the field of human rights and women’s rights, arrived at Ben-Gurion in November 2006 on her way to an academic conference in Tunis, where she was scheduled to deliver a lecture. While at the airport she was delayed for over three hours for the purpose of an investigation and a preliminary security inquiry by IAA inspectors. In its decision, the court’s deputy president, Judge Delia Avi-Guy, wrote that the inspection and the comprehensive search of the plaintiff upon her entry into the airport and before boarding the plane, were authorized. But later the judge stated: “I have been convinced that there is a kernel of truth in the words of the plaintiff and a story that describes the humiliation she endured, beyond the security check itself, from which we can also conclude that the accused violated their duty to respect the plaintiff and to safeguard her privacy.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.645144

A costly divide: Economic repercussions of separating Gaza and the West Bank – February 2015

Gisha 28 Feb – In the first seven years of the closure, many decisions the security establishment made were informed by the concept of the separation policy. What the policy means is open for interpretation, as its details were never published, and it was never subjected to open debate. Minor changes in the policy, made over the years, have been reversible, and indeed were revoked as punitive measures whenever the Israeli defense ministry saw fit to do so. The substance of the policy, however, has not changed, and it remains the prevention of movement between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank … Now is the time to substantiate the claim that if Palestinian society is to have social, economic and cultural ties, residents of the Palestinian territory must have uninterrupted access between its two parts, and particularly the claim that Gaza cannot sustain a functioning economy without a connection to the West Bank.
http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/costly-divide-economic-repercussions-separating-gaza-and-west

Violence / Raids / Arrests

Young man injured near Jenin; many treated for tear gas inhalation

IMEMC/Agencies 3 Mar by Saed Bannoura — Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Qabatia, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, on Tuesday at dawn. During the invasion, the soldiers shot and injured a young man, while scores of residents suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation. Eyewitnesses said clashes took place in the town after several armored Israeli military vehicles invaded it, and that the soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs and concussion grenades. A young man, identified as Mohammad Saleh Hathnawi, 20 years of age, was shot by a live round in his right leg, and was moved to the Jenin governmental hospital. Medics provided treatment to scores of residents who suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation while in their own homes. One of the residents, Noah Fadel Zakarna, was transported to the Khalil Suleiman governmental hospital due to severe respiratory issues after the soldiers fired gas bombs towards his home.   In addition, soldiers invaded the home of Omar Abu Zeid, and his father’s home, ransacking both homes, causing excessive property damage; the soldiers also interrogated the two families for several hours before withdrawing from the town.

Soldiers also invaded al-‘Arqa and Maraka villages, near Jenin, and conducted military training in a number of neighborhoods.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70774

Firebrand Arab MK Hanin Zoabi attacked during election panel

Ynet 3 Mar by Gilad Morag — An election panel has ended in violence after a firebrand Arab lawmaker was allegedly attacked by an Israeli student in central Israel Tuesday. The incident took place at Ramat Gan College of Law and Business and according to suspicions and a video obtained by Ynet an Israeli student poured a soft drink on MK Hanin Zoabi, known for her polarizing views on Israel and the Palestinians … According to the police, during the event, a 28-year-old man from Ramat Gan was arrested for allegedly throwing a bottle at the lawmaker. A Palestinian flag was also waved and might have triggered the violent protest by radical rightwing activists. The event was also attended by a number of far right activists from the anti-Arab Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, including Baruch Marzel …  Before the event, Marzel wrote on his Facebook page “Zoabi, I’m coming for you”. In the post, the rightwing politician slammed the college for agreeing to host Zoabi. He urged supporters to meet him outside the event and help him “wipe that smile off her face.” After the incident, the party posted an image on their Facebook of Zoabi wiping herself from the liqud thrown at her, with the text “We kept our promise. We wiped her smile away” … Labor MK Michal Biran said that during the chaos, she was elbowed in the stomach and almost knocked off a flight of stairs. “It was violent and shocking,” she said. “Both sides arrived already riled up and did not allow us to restore calm.” The college condemned the incident, saying it was a provocation on part of both Marzel and Zoabi. – History of violence –  This is not the first time an Arab lawmaker has been attacked: In 2012, a young girl spat at MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta’al) was following a political debate at Bar-Ilan University. The incident also took place at an event involving the far right party – then called Otzma LeYisrael (Strength to Israel).
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4633035,00.html

Israeli soldiers set dog on teen – ‘Bite him’ – and rightwing politician cheers

Mondoweiss 3 Mar by Annie Robbins — Last night Israeli TV cut away from reporting on Netanyahu’s Washington fiasco to cover the leak of an outrageous video of Israeli soldiers inciting their trained “elite” dogs to attack and maul a captured Palestinian teen near an illegal West Bank settlement two months ago. The video appeared on the Facebook page of Michael Ben-Ari, a former member of Knesset of the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Strength”) party. And it is big news in Israel. The footage shows a terrified Hamza Abu Hashem, 16, screaming while being mauled by the dogs as two soldiers, reportedly dog handlers from the Oketz unit wearing helmet cameras, record the scene. According to B’tselem, the video was “presumably available to their commanders during the routine debriefing held after such operations.” A translation of the soldiers words by Mairav Zonszein at +972 include “Who’s the coward now?” and “Bite him.” The Times of Israel reports that Ben-Ari praised the attack on his Facebook posting (now removed), describing Hashem as “the little terrorist”:
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/03/soldiers-rightwing-politician

IOF blasts doors, raids homes during drills near al-Khalil

AL-KHALIL (PIC) 3 Mar — The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday blasted open the doors of Palestinian homes and ransacked them in Halhul town as part of military drills that had started two days ago. Local sources said that Israeli soldiers detonated the doors of Palestinian homes belonging to the families of al-Qawasmi and Shahin in al-Hasaka area near Halhul and many of them were deployed in nearby heights. According to the sources, the Israeli occupation army admitted that its raids on Palestinian homes in the area were part of military exercises. The military activities also included helicopter overflights and intensive presence of troops at the entrances to the towns around al-Khalil city.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70452

Israeli soldiers and settlers conduct drills near Jalama village

JENIN (PIC) 3 Mar — Dozens of Jewish settlers last night spread throughout the vicinity of Jalama village, north of Jenin city, and along al-Naserah road in the presence of a large number of Israeli troops in the area. Local sources said that the Israeli occupation army was conducting military exercises in the area in cooperation with a group of settlers. They added that the Israeli troops were training with the help of settlers on how to subdue Palestinian protesters and set up ambushes to arrest them. The sources pointed out the drills also took place in cultivated lands in the area.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70454

Israeli forces detain school student on charge of having geometric compass

HEBRON (PNN) 3 Mar — This morning, Israeli forces arrested Ihab Maher Abu Rmeileh, a seventh grader on his way to Al-Ibrahimia school inside the old city of Hebron, charged with having a geometric compass inside his schoolbag. According to the D.G of Field Follow-up in the Ministry, an Israeli force attacked the school child Abu Rmeileh, and dragged him to a military point inside the town after being severely beaten by a group of settlers. In a related context, a number of settlers attacked two students from the same school Nizar Ghalma (eighth grade) and Ahmed Rajaby (seventh grade), and then the Israeli forces arrested the students and took them to a military point there. These incidents come after a visit to this school by a group of international figures including, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Mr. James W. Rawley, together with diplomats from five countries and the European Union, as well as representatives from Save the Children and UNICEF.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/9279-israeli-forces-detain-school-student-on-charge-of-having-geometric-compass

Israeli forces detain 8 Palestinians in East Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 2 Mar — Israeli forces detained eight Palestinians in East Jerusalem, including three teenagers, at dawn on Monday, a prisoner rights group said. A lawyer for Addameer, Muhammad Mahmoud, said Yousuf Abu Jumaah, Mahdi al-Sayyad, Muhannad Gheith, Basil al-Halabi, and Kamal al-Alami were detained in al-Tur, while Khalil al-Shawish, Maamoon Gheith and Masour Salim were arrested in the Old City.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759692

Israeli police arrest 68 West Bank workers without permits in Galilee

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 3 Mar – Israeli police arrested in Galilee in northern Israel overnight Monday 68 Palestinian workers from the West Bank who work and sleep over in Israel without permits, media reported. The Hebrew-language news site Walla reported that Israeli police border guard officers took part in the operation which was part of a major campaign against Palestinian workers. Israeli police claimed, according to Walla, that a vehicle broke through a police checkpoint in Lower Galilee, and officers chased the vehicle to discover that two Palestinians were inside without permits to enter Israel. The two were arrested along with the driver who has an Israeli ID. The detainees were taken to a detention center for questioning and were expected to appear in court in Tiberias to extend their remand.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=759705

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Lack of respect for religions other than Judaism

Israel police destroy Bedouin agricultural crops in Negev

BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 3 Mar — Israeli police on Tuesday destroyed thousands of acres of wheat, barley and other cereal crops in the Palestinian Bedouin village of Rakhama, locals told Ma‘an. Ali Freijat, a local resident, said that 14 tractors escorted by over 50 Israeli police vehicles arrived early Tuesday and began leveling the land. “This is vandalism through which they plan to displace the Bedouins from the Negev so as to create a Jewish state free of Arabs. However, my message to them is that if you turn over the land a million times, and if you demolish our homes a thousand times we will continue to live on this land and won’t allow any body to take it from us.” The land that was leveled was granted by the Israeli state to compensate the loss of land resulting from forced displacement in 1954, Freijat said. “Since 1983, there have been deliberations over our ownership and our right to this land, and in 2007 the supreme court decided that they (Israeli authorities) should reach a settlement with us, but so far they haven’t.” “We are talking about 25,000 dunums (about 6,000 acres) of wheat, barley and other crops. They demand that we rent this land from the Israeli land authority but we definitely oppose that because by doing so we recognize that we have no rights to this land.”
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=759710

Palestinian activists plant olive trees in Hebron

HEBRON (Ma‘an) 3 Mar — Dozens of Palestinians took part in planting olive tree saplings in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron on Tuesday, local activists said. Badie Dweik told Ma‘an that the activity was a “message of Palestinian persistence and that we will keep resisting for our freedom and independence and we are here despite the area having been declared as a closed military zone by the Israeli army.” Muhannad al-Jabari, a student from Al-Quds University, said dozens of Israeli soldiers tried to prevent the activists from reaching the area. Settlers in Hebron had cut down saplings previously planted in the area by local Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=759713

Activists march in threatened land in Bethlehem

IMEMC/Agenciess 2 Mar — Dozens of nonviolent resistance activists gathered, on Monday morning, in Khallet an-Nahla area, southeast of Bethlehem, and marched while raising Palestinian flags to affirm their steadfastness in their own lands amidst Israel’s illegal confiscation of their lands, to build illegal colonies. Mohammad Mheisin, coordinator of the Popular Resistance Committee, said the protesters marched in the area carrying Palestinian flags, and posters containing names of villages Israel destroyed in 1948, and expressed their rejection to Israel’s ongoing violations of International Law. Mheisin said Israel is now trying to build Givat Eitam colony on 1700 dunams (420.07 acres) of Palestinian lands in the area, adding that Tel Aviv initially approved the plan in 2004. The official warned that this plan would block geographical contiguity in the area, and would also lead to further isolation of Palestinian orchards. He added that Israel’s colonialist activities are meant to destroy any chances of a two-state solution, but the Palestinians will continue their popular resistance until liberation and independence.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70762

Israel seals Hebron area stone-cutting factory

IMEMC/Agencies 3 Mar — Israeli authorities, on Tuesday, sealed off a stone-cutting factory and seized a lorry in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, according to local sources. Mohammad Awad, spokesperson of the People’s Anti-Settlement Committee, said an Israeli army force, accompanied by staff from the Israeli Civil Administration, broke into the area and ordered the factory’s owner, Jamil Tarwa, and workers to leave. The soldiers and the Civil Administration also seized a stone-loaded truck, which was present at the factory. The workshop was set up and officially licensed in 1971, said Awad, who was also assaulted by the Israeli soldiers while he was taking photos of the incident. WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency further notes that the stone and marble industry is strategically significant to the Palestinian economy and is considered the biggest industry in terms of the number of companies, sales and employment rates. According to the Union of Stone and Marble Industry, the industry supports about 15,000 – 20,000 direct jobs and generates about $60 million of exports annually. It is spread over the West Bank, but is concentrated in the districts of Hebron, Nablus and Jenin.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70783

Israeli army floods sewage into olive fields

BETHLEHEM (WAFA) 2 Mar – The Israeli army flooded sewage into a Palestinian-owned olive-planted land in the village of Tekoa near Bethlehem, according to a local source. The village’s mayor, Tayseer Abu Mfarreh, said army soldiers and settlers broke into an area near the village and proceeded to conduct military exercises, during which they flooded sewage into olive-planted fields.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=27989

Construction of Jerusalem hotel threatens Christian pilgrimage site

Haaretz 3 Mar by Nir Hasson – The construction could divert the flow of water from a spring where the mothers of Jesus and John the Baptist met, according to Christian tradition — Twenty-five years ago, a spring in the Galilee village of Sajur suddenly went dry. It turned out that nearby construction had cracked the underground rock through which the water flowed, diverting it to another spring. Today, hydrologists, church leaders and Jerusalem residents are warning that a similar fate might befall a much more important spring: Mary’s Well, located in the heart of Jerusalem’s Ein Karem neighborhood. The well is a pilgrimage site that attracts hundreds of thousands of Christians a year. According to Christian tradition, Jesus’ mother Mary met there with John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, while both women were pregnant with Christianity’s founders. But a few years ago, plans were approved for a four-story boutique hotel whose construction will require digging into the cliff from which the spring flows. Two months ago, the Supreme Court accepted an appeal by the plan’s opponents and ordered the regional planning and building committee to reconsider it. When the committee met last week, representatives of both the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches attended to voice their concerns about the plan, as did Ein Karem residents …  The risk is that digging beneath the rock layer through which the spring runs could crack the rock and divert the spring … UNESCO’s Israeli chapter recently approved the tentative inclusion of the spring on the World Heritage List. Thus, argued the Ein Karem residents, altering the site could also prevent its inclusion on UNESCO’s list.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.645042

Jerusalemite commission: The Old City of Jerusalem is about to collapse

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 1 Mar — A Jerusalemite commission warned on Sunday of the continued Israeli excavations beneath the Old City in Occupied Jerusalem. They have led to cracks and collapse of walls and floors of two buildings in the town of Silwan south of the Aqsa Mosque.  The Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites said in a statement that the Old City of Jerusalem has many archaeological and historical sites that are threatened with collapse due to the continued Israeli excavations beneath them in addition to the Israeli policy of neglect and prohibition of restoration. The commission urged the international community to oblige Israel to put an end to these excavations and to allow the restoration of the Old City. It also warned of the collapse of more houses over its occupants. “This is not the first collapse of its kind. It was preceded by many other collapses. Furthermore, perennial trees inside the Aqsa Mosque’s plazas had fallen. Many cracks and fissures have been witnessed in walls of dozens of structures in Occupied Jerusalem”, the commission said.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70416

Haaretz editorial: Don’t fund the ‘twilight zone’ that helps settle the West Bank

3 Mar — The State of Israel must regain control of its settlement policy and stop funding transactions outside the framework of the law — The Settlement Division, the arm of the World Zionist Organization to which the state has delegated the authority to deal with developing rural communities in Israel, has for many years managed to operate in the shadows. This is no longer the case. Two problematic incidents have exposed its workings to the public at large … The Settlement Division represents the worst form of privatization in Israel — the privatization of policymaking powers. It is not an executive body, but a policymaking body, and the fact that policy is made by a body that is not supervised and whose very budget is not clear is apparently no coincidence. This is how the state can pretend to have clean hands while the division carries out settlement injustices on its behalf, first and foremost discrimination against the Arabs of the Negev and Galilee and massive construction in the territories. The attorney general this week described the Settlement Division as a “governmental twilight zone,” “the government’s backyard for transactions outside the framework of the law,” and a “built-in pathology.” It’s time for this pathology to be removed from the law books.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.645071

Prisoners / Courts

PA to stop paying fines Israeli courts impose on prisoners

RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 3 Mar – The Palestinian Authority’s official organizations which work in support of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel have decided to stop dealing with fines which Israeli military courts impose on prisoners. The chairman of the PA’s committee of prisoners’ affairs, Issa Qaraqe, said in a statement Tuesday that Israeli military courts had started more than a year ago to impose fines reaching tens of thousands of shekels “in compensation to Israeli soldiers or settlers attacked during Palestinian resistance activities.” All lawyers who work with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody have been notified that they should avoid any plea bargains with the Israeli prosecution that includes payment of fines, added Qaraqe. “This is a dangerous policy and blackmail whose goal is to incriminate the legitimate Palestinian national struggle against occupation.” He added that “victims shouldn’t pay a toll for defending their legal rights, and it’s rather the occupier who should pay a toll for the ongoing occupation and aggression.” The statement added that a meeting would be organized with all lawyers to discuss the policies adopted by Israeli military courts recently.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?id=759707

Palestinian protests in Ramon prison set to spread

Al-Monitor 3 Mar by Daoud Kuttab — Throughout history, liberation struggles have been waged inside prisons as much as outside them. When a national struggle stagnates, it is often the prisoners who remind the rest of the nation of the purpose and goals of their fight. February 2015 has proven to be an especially difficult month for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, in Ramon Prison in particular … The security prisoners, that is, the 920 Palestinians being held there, are on the verge of initiating a major protest likely to spread throughout the prison system.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/palestinian-prisoners-ramon-israel-protests-hunger-strike.html

Israeli jailers strike deal with Jihad captives

GAZA (PIC) 4 Mar — The Israeli prison service (IPS) pledged to meet the demands of the Islamic Jihad-affiliated prisoners after the latter joined a series of protest moves initiated in response to the IPS intransigence, the Mohjat Al-Quds foundation for martyrs and prisoners said on Tuesday evening.  The agreement reached stipulates, among other things, the return of the leader of the captive movement Zaid Bseiso to the Israeli Raymond jail after he was transferred to the Nafha lock-up. The IPS further pledged to never carry out inter-prison transfers among the Jihad leaders except after prior coordination with their leadership. Other articles of the agreement included pledges to cancel all sanctions imposed on Islamic Jihad-affiliated detainees.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70470

Court rules state must compensate Temple Mount activist

Haaretz 3 Mar by Nir Hasson — The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Monday ordered the state to pay Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick half a million shekels (slightly over $126,000) for having prohibited him from visiting the holy compound in the Old City from 2011-2013. Judge Malka Aviv also awarded Glick 150,000 shekels in court costs and legal expenses … Glick, who was seriously wounded in an attempted assassination attempt four months ago, had been banned from the Temple Mount after he was shown in a Channel 10 report praying there – an act that contravenes the status quo determined by the police that forbids Jewish prayer in the compound. In recent months Glick has again been banned from the Temple Mount because of charges brought against him for attacking a Muslim woman there about half a year ago. Even after the assassination attempt on his life, the police insisted on maintaining the prohibition, arguing that the publicity Glick had received increased the risk of public disturbances if he were allowed into the Temple Mount site. Glick said in a statement … “Instead of protecting us from violent Islamic elements,” he added, “the police consciously added insult to injury by treating Jews who are law-abiding victims of violence as if they were criminals…” For its part, the Israel Police said that it and the prosecution would study the ruling and consider its next steps.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.645091

Wife of Palestinian prisoner gives birth to twins using smuggled sperm

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 2 Mar — The number of babies born to long-serving Palestinian prisoners using their smuggled sperm rose to 35 on Monday after the wife of a prisoner from Tulkarem in the northern West Bank gave birth to a boy and a girl. The embryo transfer took place at Razan Medical Center for Infertility and In Vitro Fertilization in Nablus in the northern West Bank. Director of the center Dr Salim Abu al-Khayzaran confirmed to Ma‘an that the center does not charge prisoners’ families any fees at all including the delivery. The father, Fadi Matar, is a Palestinian security officer serving 10 and a half years in Israeli jails. His wife Rula, 35, says that “I feel happy and tense today after the delivery because the last delivery was eight years ago and it was a result of natural pregnancy.”  She said she named her twins Majd and Jana.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759697

Gaza

Gaza’s sole power plant to close as funding runs out

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 3 Mar — Gaza’s only power plant is due to shut down by the end of this week as donor funding for fuel in the coastal territory has run out, officials said. The energy and natural resource authority told Ma‘an that the power plant had been using a Qatari grant to pay for diesel fuel to maintain operations. Gaza’s sole power station, which was damaged during the war, is struggling with a severe lack of fuel and is only able to supply the enclave with six hours of power per day. In July, Amnesty International said that there could be no justification for “targeting a civilian structure that provides crucial services to so many civilians.”
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759695

Gaza farmers again targeted by Israeli gunfire

IMEMC/Agencies 3 Mar — Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian farmers, Tuesday, as they were trying to access their borderline farmlands to the east of Gaza City, according to WAFA correspondents. Israeli soldiers, stationed in military watchtowers along the border, opened fire at Palestinian farmers as they were attempting to reach their borderline farmlands, forcing them to leave. There were no reports of casualties. The cross-border attack comes as part of a series of Israeli violations of a ceasefire deal that ended the 51-day 2014 summer aggression on the coastal enclave. Israeli forces routinely open fire on Palestinian farmers and other civilians if they approach their lands adjacent to the borderline.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70787

Confiscating boats entails more suffering for fisherman (report)

PIC 4 Mar — For more than five months, Yousuf Abu Odeh’s boat was confiscated by the Israeli naval forces along with scores of other boats as part of the Israeli punitive policy against Gaza fishermen. Abu Odeh told the PIC reporter: “My 22-meter-long launch trawler boat was confiscated by the Israeli naval forces on 22nd September and the fishermen who were on board were arrested including my son Muhammad. They were released later on and the boat was towed to a port under the Israeli control and remained confiscated until last week.”  – Economic suffering – According to Abu Odeh, confiscating the boat deprived 60 fishermen from their only source of income and worsened their economic conditions already exacerbated by the siege. Abu Odeh was lucky enough to get his boat back, but there are scores of other fishermen still waiting for the release of their only way of making a decent living. Two fishermen, Jihad and Sha’ban, said that the Israeli naval forces chased them, arrested them and confiscated their boats almost a year ago. They were released hours later but their boats are still confiscated until now, they added….
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70471

One in five of Gaza’s herders ceases farming amid Israel’s attacks, siege

GAZA CITY (Electronic Intifada) 2 Mar by Patrick O. Strickland — Muhammad Abu Safiyya lost everything during Israel’s 51-day attack on Gaza during the summer of 2014. Most of the thirty-six homes in his village, also called Abu Safiyya, were completely destroyed after Israeli forces invaded … “There aren’t any water wells left and [Israel] destroyed the mosque,” Abu Safiyya said. Abu Safiyya is unable to calculate how much it will cost him to repair the damage. “It’s impossible to know exactly how much we lost,” he said, explaining that “much of our land was destroyed by tanks and we’ve had trouble getting the lentils to grow.” Some fifty of his cows and a dozen sheep died because of the attack. As he walked down the dirt road from his home, patches of sheep skin could be seen on the ground. “Some were shot, others starved when we were gone,” he said. He is just one of thousands of farmers and agricultural workers throughout Gaza whose land was damaged and whose livestock were killed. According to statistics provided to The Electronic Intifada by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Gaza’s total livestock population decreased by 13 percent between 2010 and 2014. Nearly 10,000 goats and sheep died in that four-year span, during which Gaza endured two major Israeli attacks.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/one-five-gazas-herders-ceases-farming-amid-israels-attacks-siege/14311

Abu Sabha: No news on opening Rafah crossing

GAZA (PIC) 3 Mar — Director General of Gaza border crossings, Maher Abu Sabha, said there are no news on a specific date for opening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. He stressed that he will be the first to abide by any agreement regarding the Gaza crossings. He revealed, in a statement to the PIC on Tuesday, that “Many Gazans blame us for their suffering. Thus, I say, very clearly, we will not be the cause of the anguish of our people. We have always been servants to them and we will continue to be.” “We have no information about efforts for reopening the Rafah crossing,” he added … Meanwhile, the Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt and in Arab countries appealed to the Arab and international authorities along with the Secretary General of Islamic Jihad, who is in Cairo at the moment, to intervene to open Rafah crossing in order to be able to go back to their homes in Gaza Strip. “We have been stranded for 40 days. We are out of money and got exhausted due to the long wait and false promises which all went in vein”, one of the stranded said.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70457

French convoy for lifting the siege on way to blockaded Gaza

GAZA (PIC) 1 Mar — A French solidarity convoy, carrying medicines and food  parcels, is expected to have arrived in Gaza Saturday via the Beit Hanoun border crossing after having been stuck for several months in the Egyptian territories. Coordinator of the French Barakacity association, Rami Abu Sultan, said the envoy has been stranded in Egypt for several months due to the closure of the Rafah crossing. Having been denied access into Gaza for over three months, the EU-licensed delegation was obliged to shift the course and head to Jordan so as to change all the expired medicines and food items and deliver them to the West Bank in an attempt to transfer them to Gaza at the soonest time possible. The dispatched trucks are loaded with medical kit, food packages, heating equipment, solar-energy devices, and warm clothes, all expected to be handed to the Palestinian health ministry soon.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70403

UNRWA: Reconstruction of damaged houses in Gaza beyond our control

GAZA (PIC) 3 Mar — UNRWA Director of Operations in Gaza Robert Turner expressed his solidarity with the Palestinian refugees in the besieged Gaza Strip in light of the tragic living conditions they are forced to experience. This came during his meeting with representatives of Refugees Popular Committees and NGOs in addition to other key figures in the camps of Central Gaza on Monday in the UNRWA headquarters in Nusairat camp. Turner disclosed that the rebuilding of the damaged houses in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip in full is beyond the control of UNRWA. He underlined that the agency has suspended cash assistance for tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip due to a lack of funds. He pointed out that the UNRWA continues asking the donors to abide by their pledges for Gaza reconstruction which they undertook in the latest Cairo conference.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70461

Video: Gaza man builds beautiful, creative house out of sandbags

PCAS Palestine 28 Feb — English translation by Samah Sabawi: “Hashim ElFarra who lives in Khan Yunis in South of Gaza was forced to build his home out of sand bags. The land is on land 200 meters is a mix of modernity and tradition. ‘This home was built in the shadow of the oppressive siege of the Israeli authority, the lack of cement and building material. It is constructed on an area 200 meters. It has two bedrooms, a formal living room and a family living room. It was an effort I consider a defiance of the siege and the imposed conditions on Gaza. To be able to build something that I consider is aesthetically pleasant ‘ The villa is built on the seashore and used up nearly 40 truck loads of sand filled into strong bags. The sandbags were piled up on top of each other as walls for the house. Inside the house, you can’t see the sandbags. It is hidden behind wood boards. It looks beautiful and adds to the design in separating the rooms. The roof is made up of wood and roof tiles. ‘it was built with sandbags designed to withstand weather elements in winter and summer. It took six months to build’ The people of Gaza, especially those whose homes were destroyed by Israel during the last aggression in 2014, try to find new ways to build their homes with sandbags, clay, wood and other creative solutions.”
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=771725606238210

Families see hope for justice in Palestinian membership of ICC

GAZA CITY (IPS) 3 Mar by Khaled Alashqar — “I have lost all meaning in life after the death of my child, I will never forgive anyone who caused the tearing apart of his little body.  I appeal to all who can help and stand with us to achieve justice and punish those who killed my child.” As the tears rolled down her cheeks and with a rattle in her voice, 47-year-old Sahar Baker recalled the last moments of her ten-year-old son Ismail, who was killed along with three of his cousins after being targeted by Israeli gunboats while they were playing football on the beach during the Israeli attacks on Gaza last summer. Sahar’s plea for justice may soon be one step nearer now that the Palestine Government is set to formally join the International Criminal Court (ICC), which deals with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/03/families-see-hope-for-justice-in-palestinian-membership-of-icc/

Thousands rally in Gaza against Egypt ‘terrorism’ ruling

GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 2 Mar — Thousands of Hamas supporters rallied in Khan Younis and Gaza City on Sunday to protest Egypt’s decision to label the political party as a “terrorist” organization. Senior Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil told supporters at the rally that Hamas “will not allow Egyptian authorities to hurt our children, and will resist them like we resisted the (Israeli) occupation.” “Our patience has run out, and we call on Arab nations to pressure Egyptian authorities,” he added. Another senior leader, Ismail Radwan, told demonstrators that the decision by an Egyptian court is a “service to the Israeli occupation that does not represent the will of the Egyptian people.”
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759689

Murder holes and hooligan chants: images of Israel’s war crimes

Electronic Intifada 3 Mar by Dan Cohen — As well as killing more than 2,200 Palestinians and causing huge economic and environmental damage, the Israeli military left messages on the walls of Palestinian homes they occupied along Gaza’s boundary with Israel last summer. On 20 July, at the height of the 51-day assault, Israel launched a ground invasion into Gaza’s boundary areas that lasted fifteen days. A massive bombing campaign reduced to rubble wide swaths of the Shujaiya district of Gaza City. Israeli forces occupied Shujaiya homes, transforming bedrooms and kitchens into military outposts from which snipers carried out killings of Palestinian civilians … During subsequent ceasefires, thousands of Palestinians who had fled returned to their bombed-out neighborhoods. Amid the mass destruction, numerous homes that stood after the bombing campaign were littered with evidence of the presence of Israeli soldiers. Discarded food rations, used medical supplies, sandbags and hundreds of bullet casings of various calibers were scattered about. The following photographs were taken in August 2014. Hebrew-language translation by Dena Shunra.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/murder-holes-and-hooligan-chants-images-israels-war-crimes/14320

Can music help to de-stigmatise disability in Gaza?

GAZA CITY (BBC) 1 Mar by Rushdi Abu Alouf — The songs blasting from the windows at the National Centre for Community Rehabilitation in Gaza City don’t sound like an average musical concert. Children clap along to the music, and adults can be heard encouraging them to keep time. These songs form the backbone of therapy sessions for children with physical disabilities and severe learning difficulties in this impoverished part of the Palestinian Territories … It’s estimated that between 126,000 and 270,000 members of the population in Gaza are disabled, according to a 2012 report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and the 50-day conflict last summer has left many more with a long-term or permanent impairment. Yet despite the high prevalence of people with disabilities in the territory, disabled children are still shrouded in social stigma, and many parents choose to hide their offspring from the prying public eye,
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-ouch-31519210

Beleaguered Hamas struggles to mend damaged Iran ties

JERUSALEM (AFP) 2 Mar by John Davison — After years of strained relations over the Syrian conflict, Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is looking to mend ties with its traditional backer Iran. But reconciliation is proving far from simple. The outbreak of Syria’s civil war nearly four years ago provoked a rupture between Hamas and Iran, after the movement threw its support behind rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Tehran. Wrongly banking on Assad’s overthrow, Hamas’s exiled leader Khaled Meshaal in 2012 abandoned host Damascus to move his base to Qatar. And after reports that Hamas’s military wing was helping Sunni rebels fighting the Assad regime, financial support from Shiite Iran soon began to dry up. With Hamas now in dire straits after a destructive war last year with Israel in the Gaza Strip, officials have begun making overtures to Iran and its allies, seeking to return to the axis that links Tehran, Damascus and Hezbollah, Lebanon’s powerful Shiite movement. “In terms of logistics and training, Iran has done more than any other country in supporting the resistance,” Hamas official Ahmad Yusef told AFP.
http://news.yahoo.com/beleaguered-hamas-struggles-mend-damaged-iran-ties-154154314.html

Hamas says it’s rearming but doesn’t seek clash with Israel now

Haaretz 2 Mar by Jack Khoury — Hamas does not seek a clash with Israel at this time but is striving to double its strength for future conflicts, the leader of Hamas’ military wing said late Sunday. Marwan Issa made a rare appearance Sunday at a conference at Gaza’s Islamic College entitled “Palestine, reasons for the conflict and conditions for victory.” According to Issa, Hamas’ military wing continues to manufacture rockets regardless of Israel’s opinion, and the group is trying to obtain more weapons and ammunition. Hamas will also continue military training for teenagers so that the idea of “resistance” trickles down throughout Palestinian society, Issa said. But the main focus in Gaza these days is the relationship with Cairo; Hamas and other factions fear that the Egyptian army might attack.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.644989

Other news

Palestinians to file ICC case against Israel in April

AFP 2 Mar — The Palestinians are to lodge their first complaint against Israel for alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court on April 1, a senior official told AFP on Monday. “One of the first important steps will be filing a complaint against Israel at the ICC on April 1 over the (2014) Gaza war and settlement activity,” said Mohammed Shtayyeh, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). On January 2, the Palestinians moved to formally join the Hague-based court in a process which is due to take effect on April 1, setting the scene for potential legal action against Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. Israel reacted furiously, and quickly moved to cut off millions of dollars in monthly tax payments it collects on behalf of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, exacerbating an already severe financial crisis.There was no immediate response from Israel, with foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon refusing to react to a declaration which he described as “speculative and hypothetical”.
https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/palestinians-file-icc-case-against-israel-april-164400177.html

Abu Marzouk urges Abbas to set up election dates, boost up reconciliation

GAZA (PIC) 4 Mar — Political bureau member of Hamas, Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, Tuesday afternoon called on the Palestinian Authority Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, to issue an edict setting up election dates. Abu Marzouk urged, in statements posted on his Facebook page, the central council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to call for a meeting between all the factions who signed the reconciliation accord as means to heal the rift once and for all.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=70465

PA ministries drop Nablus archaeological site from school trip list

NABLUS (Ma‘an) 2 Mar – The Palestinian ministries of tourism and education have dropped the archaeological sites in the village of Sebastia west of Nablus from the list of destinations recommended during school trips, the mayor of Sebastia said. Nael al-Shaer told Ma’an on Monday that “We obtained a list of recommended sites which the Ministry of Education released recently, and the list doesn’t include Sebastia.” He added that he contacted officials in the ministries of tourism and education as well as the civil defense services, but couldn’t get a conclusive answer.  “Every side was putting the blame on others,” he said. The mayor threatened to start protective procedures if the archaeological sites in his village are not included in the list. Sebastia is located some 12 kilometers northwest of Nablus. It is home to a number of important archaeological sites. The ancient site of Samaria-Sebaste is located just above the built up area of the modern-day village on the eastern slope of the hill. The ruins dominate the hillside and comprise remains from successive cultures dating back thousands of years.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759693

Norwegian kids visit al-Khader for friendly soccer match

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 2 Mar – A group of confirmants from the Norwegian church on Wednesday visited Bethlehem and played a friendly football match with juniors of the al-Kahder Sports Club. The group included nine teenage boys and girls from the local community Haegebostad who spent a week in Palestine and Israel escorted by their pastor Bernt Rune Sandrib. Seven parents and youth workers also visited as part of a program of visits to the Holy Land their church organizes … the Norwegian and Palestinian kids along with the parents and youth workers formed two mixed teams and enjoyed a short friendly match … “It is the third time my church organizes this trip, but this time we asked in advance if it would be possible to meet with a group of Palestinian youth for some conversation and maybe a ballgame,” the group’s pastor told Ma‘an.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759667

UN envoy says resolution of Gaza crisis key to achieving regional peace

UN News Service 2 Mar — Peace in the Middle East hinges on resolving the ongoing crisis in Gaza, where reconstruction efforts are faltering and the blockade continues, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, Robert Serry, said today during his final visit to the war-ravaged enclave … “Gaza is a political problem which must be addressed as part of ending the occupation and achieving a two-state solution,” Mr. Serry’s statement concluded. “I am convinced that there can be no peace without addressing Gaza’s needs first.” Last month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Nickolay Mladenov of Bulgaria as Mr. Serry’s replacement.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50216#.VPanMi7LokJ

PA: Kerry’s remarks at UN contradict Human Rights Council

Jerusalem Post 3 Mar by Khaled Abu Toameh — The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry for defending Israel at the United Nations Human Rights Council. On Monday, Kerry accused the Council of being obsessed by allegations of Israeli abuses and said the US would defend Israel against efforts to isolate it. Kerry’s remarks came during a speech to the Council in Geneva. In response, the PA Foreign Ministry called on Kerry to stop dealing with Israel as if it were a state “above the law.” The ministry said that Kerry’s remarks contradicted the principles and mission of the Human Rights Council.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/PA-Kerrys-remarks-at-UN-contradict-Human-Rights-Council-392791

Israel detains three Syrians in occupied Golan Heights

Al-Akhbar 3 Mar — The Syrian Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ministry urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to enforce its resolutions concerning Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Golan Heights after the Zionist state detained three Syrians in the past week, state-run news agency SANA reported on Monday. “In a new proof on Israel’s violations of all international conventions and laws, particularly international human rights law, and in continuation of its aggressive and provocative policies against our citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan, and several days after arresting the Syrian freedom fighter Sidqi al-Makt … the Israeli occupation’s authorities detained today Sheikh Atef Darwish from Baka’ata and Fidaa Majed al-Shaer from Majdal Shams village, confiscating their personal properties, including mobile phones and PC computers in a new violation of the 4th Geneva convention of 1949,” the ministry said in a letter made public by SANA … The Syrian government “calls on S