INSIDE: - Palestine Solidarity Campaign

22 palestine NEWS IN BRIEF
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PROTEST ABOUT QUIZ GAME
A new quiz game produced in the UK states that the
capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Please complain to: The Happy Puzzle
Company, PO Box 586, Elsetree, Herts WD6 3XY
Email: info@happypuzzle.co.uk or ring 0844 848 2822
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NEW ISRAELI “HERITAGE” SITES
NAMED IN WEST BANK
Israel added two key West Bank holy shrines to its list of “national
heritage” sites in February. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said
they were late additions to the 150-strong list, reflecting pressure
from settlers and other nationalists to widen the heritage category to
include Old Testament sites in the West Bank.
Palestinians showing ID to get access to Ibrahimi mosque
Both sites are highly sensitive. They are the Ibrahimi mosque in
Hebron, which Jews call the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Bible
says the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried along
with three of their wives. Muslims revere Abraham as the father of
both Islam and Judaism.
Rachel’s tomb hidden behind Israeli walls
The other site is the traditional tomb of the biblical Rachel on the
outskirts of Bethlehem which is now surrounded by the 12-metre
high Wall which juts into Bethlehem to put the site under Israeli
control and bar access to it for Palestinian Christians.
Netanyahu said the two sites showed Israel’s ancient ties to
the land. “Our existence here doesn’t just depend on the might
of the military or our economic and technological strength. It is
anchored first and foremost in our national and emotional legacy,”
he said.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib condemned
the decision. He said: “We believe that this particular violation is
very dangerous because it might add to the religious nature of the
conflict.”
spring2010
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PLANTING TREES TO CLAIM
LAND
Villagers from Jinba in
South Hebron planted
450 almond trees in
nearby Umm Mraiga
to claim the right of
Palestinians to access
their privately owned
land.
At the end of the 90s
much of this area was
declared by the Israeli
Army a “closed military
area” to be used for
training. Since then, the
Palestinians of Jinba
have not been able to
access and cultivate
their fields but in
January, accompanied
by internationals, they
were able to plant the
trees in two days.
A similar action was
organised in At-Tuwani,
also in Hebron, where
the villagers planted 20 olive trees to replace ones damaged by
settlers. This attack followed a month of Israeli settler violence and
harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from ploughing
their fields. In addition, in recent months, Israeli military have
consistently used closed military zone orders to prevent Palestinians
from working their lands.
Both actions were organised by the South Hebron Popular
Committee, as part of the nonviolent resistance strategy to the
Israeli occupation, and supported by Operation Dove.
www.operationdove.org
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IDF COULD HAVE AVOIDED
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
New nuggets of
hard information
on the Goldstone
Report don’t
come easily, now
overshadowed by
the smoke screen
billowing from
Zionist bloggers.
However, the
military advisor for
the Report, Colonel
Desmond Travers,
spoke at a House
of Lords meeting of
UN fact finding mission to Gaza —
Travers far right
Jews for Justice for Palestinians in March.
When asked what could have been a proportionate military
response to the Hamas rockets, his reply indicated that the Israelis
did not use all their smart technology against the rockets. Yes, we all
knew the IDF concentrated instead on targeting the Gaza population
and destroying its infrastructure. But it’s hard to prove.
It looks as if the IDF had enough drones in the sky with enough
smart technology to snoop in on any Hamas preparations to fire
rockets. The drones and radar would also have been smart enough
to respond within split seconds to any rocket site after firing. That
the IDF did not do this seems to blow the propaganda that Cast
Lead was the only possible response to the rockets ‘raining down
on Sderot.’
Instead, Israel could allow the rockets to go on being fired —
useful political cover. Does Executive Summary para 61 now need a
new sub-paragraph?
Bernard Kilroy