The Palestine thread

[seafoid]

Whatever the reason for Hamas' rocket attack on Israel Thursday, says the attack's victim, Israel needs to prevent any future rocket attacks

http://cdnet.myxer.com/tn/c/566700/big/?t=20081219200946

[Ball DeBeaver]

Obama downplays settlements as main obstacle to peace
Published today (updated) 21/03/2013 16:40






US President Barack Obama and President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands
at a news conference in Ramallah, March 21. (Reuters/Larry Downing)

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US President Barack Obama on Thursday downplayed continued Israeli settlement building as an obstacle to the peace process, and he called on the Palestinians to resume talks.

In a joint news conference in Ramallah, Obama said both sides should overcome their respective concerns about one another's commitment to the peace process.

"That's not to say settlements aren't important, that's to say if we resolve the (main) problems, then settlements will be resolved," Obama said, referring to the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate while Israel continues to build on Palestinian land.

"If to begin the conversation we have to get everything right from the outset ... then we're never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do you structure a state of Palestine," Obama said.

President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking directly after Obama, responded defiantly that the Palestinian position on settlements had not changed.

"It isn't just our perception that settlements are illegal. It is a global perspective. Everybody views settlements not only as a hurdle, but more than a hurdle to a two-state solution," he said.

"We are asking for nothing outside the international legitimacy. It is the responsibility of the Israeli government to halt settlement activities so we can at least speak."

He added: "We hope that the Israeli government understands this. We hope they listen to the many opinions inside Israel itself speaking of the illegality of settlements."

Neither side directly referenced a report in The New York Times on Thursday suggesting Abbas would ask Obama for help securing an unannounced settlement freeze from Israel's prime minister.

But Abbas said that during his meeting with Obama, "We spoke about (settlements) with Mr President (Obama) and we clarified our point of view about how we can reach a solution."

He also said that "We never gave up our vision, whether now or previously."

But Abbas described the meeting with Obama as positive, saying he left the room with "renewed confidence that the United States ... will help remove obstacles to achieving a just peace.

In Obama's opening remarks in Ramallah, the president said that the United States was "deeply committed to the creation of an independent sovereign state of Palestine."

He praised Abbas' work along with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to build the necessary institutions for a Palestinian state and acknowledged the peaceful, popular resistance against Israel's wall.

"I think of the villages that hold peaceful protests because they understand the importance of nonviolence," Obama said.

He also condemned Hamas' refusal to renounce violence and the firing of rockets from Gaza hours earlier, and said "some people" opposed an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal because "they benefit from the current conflict."
Obama was to remain in Ramallah for the afternoon to meet with Palestinian young people at a youth center in Al-Bireh, a Palestinian town near Ramallah.

He was scheduled to speak in Jerusalem Thursday evening and visit Bethlehem on Friday before ending his three-day visit to the region with a visit to the Jordanian capital and Petra.

Palestinian analysts had not predicted any progress from the visit.

Muhammad Jadallah, a Palestinian leader in Jerusalem, told Ma'an that "We are a nation that welcomes all visitors but it looks like the Palestinians are not satisfied with Mr Obama's visit."

"They don't respect him, and he is the worst US president. He used the (UN Security Council) veto to help the settlements and used it again against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"For these reasons we can't welcome the president, and we can't consider him a peacemaker just because he got a Nobel prize for peace -- he didn't bring any peace during his presidency."

He added: "After every visit of a US president to our land, we watch peace slip further away."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=577421

[seafoid]

Obama downplays settlements as main obstacle to peace
Published today (updated) 21/03/2013 16:40






US President Barack Obama and President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands
at a news conference in Ramallah, March 21. (Reuters/Larry Downing)

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US President Barack Obama on Thursday downplayed continued Israeli settlement building as an obstacle to the peace process, and he called on the Palestinians to resume talks.

In a joint news conference in Ramallah, Obama said both sides should overcome their respective concerns about one another's commitment to the peace process.

"That's not to say settlements aren't important, that's to say if we resolve the (main) problems, then settlements will be resolved," Obama said, referring to the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate while Israel continues to build on Palestinian land.

"If to begin the conversation we have to get everything right from the outset ... then we're never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do you structure a state of Palestine," Obama said.

President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking directly after Obama, responded defiantly that the Palestinian position on settlements had not changed.

"It isn't just our perception that settlements are illegal. It is a global perspective. Everybody views settlements not only as a hurdle, but more than a hurdle to a two-state solution," he said.

"We are asking for nothing outside the international legitimacy. It is the responsibility of the Israeli government to halt settlement activities so we can at least speak."

He added: "We hope that the Israeli government understands this. We hope they listen to the many opinions inside Israel itself speaking of the illegality of settlements."

Neither side directly referenced a report in The New York Times on Thursday suggesting Abbas would ask Obama for help securing an unannounced settlement freeze from Israel's prime minister.

But Abbas said that during his meeting with Obama, "We spoke about (settlements) with Mr President (Obama) and we clarified our point of view about how we can reach a solution."

He also said that "We never gave up our vision, whether now or previously."

But Abbas described the meeting with Obama as positive, saying he left the room with "renewed confidence that the United States ... will help remove obstacles to achieving a just peace.

In Obama's opening remarks in Ramallah, the president said that the United States was "deeply committed to the creation of an independent sovereign state of Palestine."

He praised Abbas' work along with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to build the necessary institutions for a Palestinian state and acknowledged the peaceful, popular resistance against Israel's wall.

"I think of the villages that hold peaceful protests because they understand the importance of nonviolence," Obama said.

He also condemned Hamas' refusal to renounce violence and the firing of rockets from Gaza hours earlier, and said "some people" opposed an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal because "they benefit from the current conflict."
Obama was to remain in Ramallah for the afternoon to meet with Palestinian young people at a youth center in Al-Bireh, a Palestinian town near Ramallah.

He was scheduled to speak in Jerusalem Thursday evening and visit Bethlehem on Friday before ending his three-day visit to the region with a visit to the Jordanian capital and Petra.

Palestinian analysts had not predicted any progress from the visit.

Muhammad Jadallah, a Palestinian leader in Jerusalem, told Ma'an that "We are a nation that welcomes all visitors but it looks like the Palestinians are not satisfied with Mr Obama's visit."

"They don't respect him, and he is the worst US president. He used the (UN Security Council) veto to help the settlements and used it again against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"For these reasons we can't welcome the president, and we can't consider him a peacemaker just because he got a Nobel prize for peace -- he didn't bring any peace during his presidency."

He added: "After every visit of a US president to our land, we watch peace slip further away."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=577421

Israel will just continue with the status quo until it falls apart.
Jewish land- try selling that to the people of the region in perpetuity. It's a crock of shit.

50% of Israeli Jews acknowledge that their country runs apartheid in the West Bank.


http://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/harpers-index-347/


Let's see how long they can pull that off for. 

[Ball DeBeaver]

Obama downplays settlements as main obstacle to peace
Published today (updated) 21/03/2013 16:40






US President Barack Obama and President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands
at a news conference in Ramallah, March 21. (Reuters/Larry Downing)

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- US President Barack Obama on Thursday downplayed continued Israeli settlement building as an obstacle to the peace process, and he called on the Palestinians to resume talks.

In a joint news conference in Ramallah, Obama said both sides should overcome their respective concerns about one another's commitment to the peace process.

"That's not to say settlements aren't important, that's to say if we resolve the (main) problems, then settlements will be resolved," Obama said, referring to the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate while Israel continues to build on Palestinian land.

"If to begin the conversation we have to get everything right from the outset ... then we're never going to get to the broader issue, which is how do you structure a state of Palestine," Obama said.

President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking directly after Obama, responded defiantly that the Palestinian position on settlements had not changed.

"It isn't just our perception that settlements are illegal. It is a global perspective. Everybody views settlements not only as a hurdle, but more than a hurdle to a two-state solution," he said.

"We are asking for nothing outside the international legitimacy. It is the responsibility of the Israeli government to halt settlement activities so we can at least speak."

He added: "We hope that the Israeli government understands this. We hope they listen to the many opinions inside Israel itself speaking of the illegality of settlements."

Neither side directly referenced a report in The New York Times on Thursday suggesting Abbas would ask Obama for help securing an unannounced settlement freeze from Israel's prime minister.

But Abbas said that during his meeting with Obama, "We spoke about (settlements) with Mr President (Obama) and we clarified our point of view about how we can reach a solution."

He also said that "We never gave up our vision, whether now or previously."

But Abbas described the meeting with Obama as positive, saying he left the room with "renewed confidence that the United States ... will help remove obstacles to achieving a just peace.

In Obama's opening remarks in Ramallah, the president said that the United States was "deeply committed to the creation of an independent sovereign state of Palestine."

He praised Abbas' work along with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to build the necessary institutions for a Palestinian state and acknowledged the peaceful, popular resistance against Israel's wall.

"I think of the villages that hold peaceful protests because they understand the importance of nonviolence," Obama said.

He also condemned Hamas' refusal to renounce violence and the firing of rockets from Gaza hours earlier, and said "some people" opposed an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal because "they benefit from the current conflict."
Obama was to remain in Ramallah for the afternoon to meet with Palestinian young people at a youth center in Al-Bireh, a Palestinian town near Ramallah.

He was scheduled to speak in Jerusalem Thursday evening and visit Bethlehem on Friday before ending his three-day visit to the region with a visit to the Jordanian capital and Petra.

Palestinian analysts had not predicted any progress from the visit.

Muhammad Jadallah, a Palestinian leader in Jerusalem, told Ma'an that "We are a nation that welcomes all visitors but it looks like the Palestinians are not satisfied with Mr Obama's visit."

"They don't respect him, and he is the worst US president. He used the (UN Security Council) veto to help the settlements and used it again against the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"For these reasons we can't welcome the president, and we can't consider him a peacemaker just because he got a Nobel prize for peace -- he didn't bring any peace during his presidency."

He added: "After every visit of a US president to our land, we watch peace slip further away."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=577421

Israel will just continue with the status quo until it falls apart.
Jewish land- try selling that to the people of the region in perpetuity. It's a crock of shit.

50% of Israeli Jews acknowledge that their country runs apartheid in the West Bank.


http://harpers.org/archive/2013/02/harpers-index-347/


Let's see how long they can pull that off for.

Please stop it, I'm gonna wet myself. 

[stew]

Israel detains more than 30 school children

Israeli occupation forces have entered three Palestinian primary schools in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and detained more than 30 children, local sources have told MEMO. A bus was used to take the children away. Israeli sources claim that they are carrying out a campaign against "popular terrorists" who throw stones at occupation soldiers.

Hebron's Director of Education, Nisreeen Amr, said that the Israelis are still searching for specific pupils in Tariq bin-Ziad, Al-Khalil and Al-Ibrahimiyya Primary Schools. Witnesses said that any pupil crossing Tariq bin-Ziad Street in the city is being arrested.

A spokesman for the Israeli security forces, Avichay Adraee, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening that the phenomenon of throwing stones is widening in the West Bank. "This is a dangerous phenomenon which comes within the definition of popular terrorism," he wrote. "These incidents [throwing stones] take place almost every day and the media ignores them."

Meanwhile, a group of illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on the streets around the illegal Yitzhar settlement. Witnesses said that the windscreens and windows of 18 vehicles were smashed by the settlers.

A number of Palestinians were arrested by Israel's occupation forces on Wednesday morning in other West Bank cities.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5527-israel-detains-more-than-30-school-children

GHD, when Hamas commit an atrocity do you ever post about that or is it just one way that you write about on here, I am not trying to be funny here, I am serious!

[Ball DeBeaver]

He won't. In the extremely unlikely event he did, he wouldn't be allowed back in to Gaza with goodies for his mates in Hamas.

He also knows what happens to anyone that criticises Hamas in the media. Many journalists have made that mistake, but not all of them have lived to tell the tale.

[give her dixie]

Israel detains more than 30 school children

Israeli occupation forces have entered three Palestinian primary schools in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and detained more than 30 children, local sources have told MEMO. A bus was used to take the children away. Israeli sources claim that they are carrying out a campaign against "popular terrorists" who throw stones at occupation soldiers.

Hebron's Director of Education, Nisreeen Amr, said that the Israelis are still searching for specific pupils in Tariq bin-Ziad, Al-Khalil and Al-Ibrahimiyya Primary Schools. Witnesses said that any pupil crossing Tariq bin-Ziad Street in the city is being arrested.

A spokesman for the Israeli security forces, Avichay Adraee, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening that the phenomenon of throwing stones is widening in the West Bank. "This is a dangerous phenomenon which comes within the definition of popular terrorism," he wrote. "These incidents [throwing stones] take place almost every day and the media ignores them."

Meanwhile, a group of illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on the streets around the illegal Yitzhar settlement. Witnesses said that the windscreens and windows of 18 vehicles were smashed by the settlers.

A number of Palestinians were arrested by Israel's occupation forces on Wednesday morning in other West Bank cities.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5527-israel-detains-more-than-30-school-children

GHD, when Hamas commit an atrocity do you ever post about that or is it just one way that you write about on here, I am not trying to be funny here, I am serious!

Have you any recent atrocity in mind that you want me to condemn?

Here is some video footage from the arrests at the school by the illegal occupation soldiers. Well worth watching Stew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PDaMlJVcMkA

[stew]

Israel detains more than 30 school children

Israeli occupation forces have entered three Palestinian primary schools in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron and detained more than 30 children, local sources have told MEMO. A bus was used to take the children away. Israeli sources claim that they are carrying out a campaign against "popular terrorists" who throw stones at occupation soldiers.

Hebron's Director of Education, Nisreeen Amr, said that the Israelis are still searching for specific pupils in Tariq bin-Ziad, Al-Khalil and Al-Ibrahimiyya Primary Schools. Witnesses said that any pupil crossing Tariq bin-Ziad Street in the city is being arrested.

A spokesman for the Israeli security forces, Avichay Adraee, wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening that the phenomenon of throwing stones is widening in the West Bank. "This is a dangerous phenomenon which comes within the definition of popular terrorism," he wrote. "These incidents [throwing stones] take place almost every day and the media ignores them."

Meanwhile, a group of illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles on the streets around the illegal Yitzhar settlement. Witnesses said that the windscreens and windows of 18 vehicles were smashed by the settlers.

A number of Palestinians were arrested by Israel's occupation forces on Wednesday morning in other West Bank cities.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/5527-israel-detains-more-than-30-school-children

GHD, when Hamas commit an atrocity do you ever post about that or is it just one way that you write about on here, I am not trying to be funny here, I am serious!

Have you any recent atrocity in mind that you want me to condemn?

Here is some video footage from the arrests at the school by the illegal occupation soldiers. Well worth watching Stew.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PDaMlJVcMkA

I will watch it GHD, I did not have an atrocity in mind, i just wanted an answer to the question I posed, and by the way, I have done a 180 on the Israeli's and am disgusted by the way they treat these people.

[stew]

Those fcukers learned nothing from the brits!

[give her dixie]

On Tuesday, 3 women and 2 men left the Libyan / Egyptian border to travel to Benghazi in order to get a flight home. They were part of an aid convoy that for nearly 2 weeks have been prevented from entering Egypt in order to travel to Gaza.

Close to the city, they were stopped and held by Government soldiers. Both men were assualted, and then the women were taken and raped. 2 of the girls are sisters, and one of the men was their father. Apparently he witnessed the rapes of his daughters. The other man is a very good friend, and I can't imagine what they all had to go through.

I still can't get my head around this. Benghazi, where the so called revolution started, has become a completely lawless society, and no one seems to be safe there. And these are the b**tards that the west supported and armed in the over throw of Gadaffi.

As you would expect, the girls are in a bad way, and have been emotionally and physically scarred for life. Add the fact that as muslim girls, they are no somehow "Damaged". So sad, and so cruel at the same time.

They are now home, and hopefully with time and help they can somehow recover. Lets hope the attackers go to jail for a very long time, although I somehow doubt it.

On another note, the 2 men from Derry who are part of this convoy are safe and well at the Egyptian border.



Libyans held for 'sex attack' on Britons in Benghazi

Two Libyans have been arrested over claims they sexually assaulted three British aid workers earlier this week.

The workers were apparently abducted at a checkpoint near the city of Benghazi and held for hours before being freed on Wednesday.

The women were in a convoy travelling overland to Gaza.

Defence official Abdul Salam Barghathi told the BBC the arrested men were soldiers. He described their behaviour as "an individual, isolated act".

Officials quoted earlier said four people had been arrested and two women had been assaulted.

But Mr Barghathi, who is based in Benghazi, said three women had been attacked.

He said two suspects had been arrested, but two were still on the run.

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says Friday prayer sermons in some mosques began with condemnations of the assault.

The women were in a convoy driving from Morocco to Gaza.

They reached the Egyptian border, where officials refused permission for them to cross.

Five members of the convoy, including the women, took a taxi to Benghazi in the hope of catching a flight back to the UK.

They were stopped at a checkpoint, abducted and the women were allegedly sexually assaulted.

UK ambassador Michael Aron told the BBC that the incident was horrific and the Libyan authorities were investigating.

The group of aid workers were taken to the Turkish consulate in Benghazi after their release. British officials said they had now returned to the UK.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21976801

[give her dixie]

Irish cameraman hurt after being shot by Israeli soldier

An Irish cameraman was shot in the arm earlier today by the Israeli military while filming a protest in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank.
Tommy Donnellan from Galway, who travelled to the West Bank last month, said he sustained a wound from a rubber-coated steel bullet which punctured his upper right arm.

Mr Donnellan said he had been filming the protest when he was shot in the arm by an Israeli soldier almost 40ft away. Nabi Saleh is a village with a population of 550, 20km northwest of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"I think I was deliberately targeted as a journalist, as my video camera was plainly visible and there was no stone-throwing going on anywhere near me. After being hit I remonstrated with the soldier who fired on me. He then went back down on to his knee adopting a firing position; luckily I was able to run to the cover of a nearby wall."

Mr Donnellan said Palestinians were injured by these bullets "almost every day" and many had been killed by "so called non-lethal weapons".

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv had been in contact with Mr Donnellan to see if he required any consular assistance.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irish-cameraman-hurt-after-being-shot-by-israeli-soldier-1.1343631

[give her dixie]

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails stage hunger strike after inmate dies

A Palestinian prisoner has died of cancer after claims of medical negligence by the Israeli authorities, triggering unrest in the West Bank and among Palestinian inmates in Israeli jails. A three-day hunger strike by Palestinian security prisoners has been announced.

Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, 64, died on Tuesday morning, three days after being transferred to Soroka hospital in the city of Be'er Sheva. Following news of his death, Israeli prison guards used teargas in response to protests by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, who banged on cell doors and threw objects. Three prisoners and six guards needed medical treatment, according to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

There were clashes in the tense West Bank city of Hebron, where Abu Hamdiyeh lived. Demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs, according to reports.

Abu Hamdiyeh, who was sentenced to life in 2002 for attempted murder, was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus several months after complaining of ill health. By the time he was transferred to hospital, the cancer had spread from his throat to his spinal cord. According to his lawyer, he had lost significant weight and, until his admission to hospital, had been treated only with painkillers.

Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Authority prisoners minister, said Abu Hamdiyeh's cancer spread because he did not receive treatment earlier. "The prison administration knew that he was suffering from cancer and they didn't release him and medically neglected him," Qaraqe told the Palestinian news agency Ma'an.

Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the IPS, said it had initiated moves to get Abu Hamdiyeh released on compassionate grounds after his cancer was diagnosed as terminal last week. "Usually it takes a few weeks to complete," she said.

An earlier statement from the IPS said: "The prisoner was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in February and was under the medical supervision of experts at the hospital. About a week ago, after being diagnosed as terminal, the ISP appealed to the release committee to secure his early release, a process which had been started but not yet concluded."

The issue of prisoners' rights has widespread resonance in Palestinian society, where most families have experience of relatives in jail.

There are at least three prisoners on long-term hunger strike. Samer al-Issawi has been refusing food for long periods since August after he was arrested for allegedly transgressing the terms of his release from a 30-year sentence in October 2011 under the prisoner-swap deal that saw Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit freed after more than five years in captivity.

Issawi's weight has halved to 45kg and he is reported to be in a critical condition in Kaplan hospital in Tel Aviv.

According to Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners' rights group, the Israeli authorities are pressuring him to accept a deal under which he will be released but deported to Gaza, which it says is forcible transfer and illegal under international law.

"Samer's life is in danger and I am told that at any minute his heart could stop," his mother, Laila, 65, told the Guardian. "He has become a symbol of defiance."

Younis al-Hroub has been on total hunger strike since 19 February in protest over his "administrative detention" without charge or trial since July. He is in Soroka hospital, shackled to a bed, according to Addameer.

Another administrative detainee, Samer al-Barq, has been refusing food since the end of February.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/02/palestinian-prisoners-israel-hunger-strike

[Ball DeBeaver]

Maybe those fiendish Israelis gave him cancer. 

Maybe some deaths in custody are more worthy of protest than others.

Detainee dies of heart attack at Gaza prison


Published yesterday (updated) 02/04/2013 17:35


GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Sami Hamdan Qishta, 50, died on Monday of a heart attack in a prison in southern Gaza, the Hamas government in control of the enclave announced.

Qishta was detained in a Rafah jail on charges related to financial crimes, the Gaza ministry of interior said in a statement.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I demand an independent public enquiry to get to the bottom of allegations that this man was tortured by Israeli Hamas thugs.

[Ball DeBeaver]

Settlers deserve it, don't they?


Conviction in Terror Murder of Father and Son

PA resident convicted of the murder of Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan.


AAFont Size
By Maayana Miskin
First Publish: 4/2/2013, 6:42 PM




Asher and Yonatan Palmer



Courtesy of Palmer family


Palestinian Authority resident terrorist Wael Salaman Mohammed el-Arjeh, of Hevron, has been convicted of two counts of murder in the deaths of Asher and Yonatan Palmer.

He will be sentenced in the upcoming days. Arjeh is facing life in prison.

Arjeh took part in an attack in which large stones were hurled at the Palmers' car. A stone hit Asher Palmer, who was driving, in the face.

The injured Palmer lost control of the car, possibly after losing consciousness, resulting in a crash in which both he and baby Yonatan were killed. Yonatan was two days shy of his first birthday.

Asher had been on his way to pick up his pregnant wife, Pua, from her job in Jerusalem. Pua gave birth to a baby girl five months after the murders, and named her daughter Orit, meaning "light."

The trial was attended by United States representatives due to the fact that Asher had U.S. citizenship.

Asher's father Michael expressed satisfaction with the verdict, telling Arutz Sheva, "Justice has come to light. This has been one of the hardest times of my life, as I fought to ensure my son and grandson's murderers would be punished."

Military court judges will give a verdict next month in the case of a second PA resident terrorist accused of taking part in the attack.


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166701

The "man" convicted of this attack was not a member of any organisation and is what can only be described as a civilian, so please spare me the outrage when any of these "civilians" are injured or killed by Israeli gunfire the next time they throw rocks at cars. They are trying to murder children and deserve all they get. RATS.

[Ball DeBeaver]

5 Signs of Deteriorating Palestinian Press Freedom
April 2, 2013 10:54by Pesach Benson

Western correspondents rely heavily on Palestinian reporters, photographers, cameramen and a range of other helpers to cover the West Bank and Gaza. So when the Palestinian Authority and Hamas crack down on media freedom, it's a direct assault on free expression and the public's right to know.

In recent days, media freedom has deteriorated in both the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian journalists are complicit in some of these disturbing developments. Seen together, they point to a hostile attempt to control information.

1. Mahmoud Abbas  imposed dramatic restrictions on foreign reporters working in the West Bank. Khaled Abu Toameh explains:

The new decision is directed primarily against Israeli journalists who cover Palestinian affairs. Recently, many Palestinian journalists complained that it was unacceptable that their Israeli colleagues were being allowed to operate freely in Palestinian territories while they did not have permission to enter Israel. They also complained that the Israeli Government Press Office was refusing to issue them press credentials.

The Palestinian journalists demanded that the Palestinian Authority impose restrictions on the work of both Israeli and international reporters . . .

So while the Palestinian journalists are promoting a boycott of Israel, they are also demanding that the Israeli government issue them with press cards so they can enter Israel . . .

Particularly disturbing is that representatives of the international media have not protested against the Palestinian Authority's threat to restrict the journalists' work and even arrest them. One can only imagine the response of the international media had the Israeli authorities issued a similar ban or threat.

Indeed, the silence of the Foreign Press Association in Israel and the Committee to Protect Journalists is deafening.

2. The PA jailed a journalist for "insulting" Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook.

A PA court convicted Bethlehem-based journalist Mamdouh Hamamreh for a Facebook post comparing Abbas to a villain in a popular Syrian TV show. Hamamreh was sentenced to one year in prison. But the bad publicity spread, picked up by AP, and the NY Times, and the next day, Abbas pardoned  Hamamreh, saying he was "disturbed" to learn of the charges. But I'll give the last word to a former Palestinian mover and shaker who told AP:

"It's a good cop, bad cop routine. The bad cops are the security services, and the good cop is the benevolent president," said Diana Buttu, a former Palestinian Authority insider. They want to send a chilling message, she said, "and it works."


The image posted on Facebook for which Mamdouh Hamamreh was jailed. Mahmoud Abbas is compared to a villain in a popular Syrian TV drama who collaborated with French colonial forces. The caption says "Similar in every way."

Commenting on the blow-up, Elliott Abrams raises another reason Abbas backed down:

The PA is perennially short of funds and reliant on American and European aid. Turning the PA back into the kind of dictatorship we saw under Arafat will endanger that aid, as it should. Punishing people for the "crime" of "insulting the president" will appear to European and American legislators to be particularly repellent to their democratic traditions– as it is to international human rights laws.

3. Hamas is drafting media "regulations" of its own. Al-Monitor says a lot of Gaza journalists boycotted a Hamas-run forum to discuss the laws:

The 17-page, detailed draft included regulations for both print and broadcast media, and insisted on the right of freedom of expression in its first chapter but continued with many restrictions in later pages.

"Mass media are banned to publish or broadcast sacrilegious materials, secretive information about the security apparatus, inciting reports that aim to create state of chaos and all what might harm the state's icons," one of the most controversial articles read.

The new law also banned bringing in any publications that don't meet these restrictions.

4. The Palestinian Authority banned news coverage from Hebron when anti-US protests ahead of President Obama's visit were too embarrassing. Moreover, when President Obama visited the Muqata, a number of accredited journalists planning to cover the meeting received last-minute cancellations from the PA's Preventive Security Services:

After a quick look at the list of journalists blocked from access, however, one realizes they all at one time or another had written or said something critical of the Palestinian leadership . . .

What undermines the idea that the 18 banned journalists posed a security threat is that they have covered high-profile visits to Palestine for years, including by US officials.



5. A report on Palestinian press freedom in 2012 documented a lot of violations by Fatah and Hamas — 74 in all. According to the report published Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (MADA):

Most notable types of violations were: prevention from travel, raiding of media institutions, preventing journalists from coverage, arrests, detentions, physical abuse, interrogations, trails, threats, and closing and blocking media sites.

Mr. Alruri pointed that detention is still the most prominent violations that have been monitored as it recorded during 2012 12 cases in comparison to 5 cases in 2011, in addition to the continued policy of calling journalists for investigation and interrogation with 13 violation reported, in addition to closing and blocking media sites, and prevention of travel.


http://honestreporting.com/5-ominous-signs-of-deteriorating-palestinian-press-freedom/