Palestine - News

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On 5/12/2022 at 5:21 PM, ummtaalib said:

Israel is trying to evade the assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh however new field evidence disputes the claim by Israeli occupation forces that they didn't kill the Palestinian Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

An aerial photo shows the location of where the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was shot was far away from the Palestinian resistance fighter in the video circulated by the Israeli occupation forces after the shooting.



Watch this report of the investigator walking from one spot to the other:
www.instagram.com/p/CdbrqVYl57c/

 Wednesday, May 25, 2022 (WAFA) – Two major American media outlets confirmed in two separate reports that Palestinian iconic journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli army gunfire, and one even suggested that she was deliberately targeted.

CNN said that an investigation it has carried into the incident “offers new evidence — including two videos of the scene of the shooting — that there was no active combat, nor any Palestinian militants, near Abu Akleh in the moments leading up to her death.”

It said that videos obtained by CNN, “corroborated by testimony from eight eyewitnesses, an audio forensic analyst and an explosive weapons expert, suggest that Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces.”

Abu Akleh, an American citizen who has been working with Al Jazeera for more than two decades, was covering an Israeli army raid on Jenin refugee camp on May 11 when she was killed and a colleague, Ali Samudi, was injured, after being shot by Israeli soldiers.

The Associated Press meanwhile said that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh came from an Israeli gun.

“Almost two weeks after the death of the veteran Palestinian-American reporter for Al Jazeera, a reconstruction by The Associated Press lends support to assertions from both Palestinian authorities and Abu Akleh’s colleagues that the bullet that cut her down came from an Israeli gun.”

The Palestinian Authority is expected to publish its official investigation into the Israeli murder of Abu Akleh in the near future and submit the evidence to the International Criminal Court to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories, specifically the targeted murder of journalists.
Eddie DiFruscia.Free.Palestine (@eddied77) • Instagram photos and videos

[ummtaalib]

Iraq passes law to criminalise relations with Israel
Violators of the anti-Israel law could face penalties including life imprisonment or even the death sentence.

26 May 2022
Iraq’s parliament has passed a law that makes it a crime to normalise ties with Israel, and violations of the law can be punishable with a death sentence or life imprisonment.

The law, titled “Criminalising Normalisation and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity”, was approved on Thursday with 275 legislators voting in favour of it in Iraq’s 329-seat assembly.

More on Al-Jazeera

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What is the "Flag March" taking place on May 29?

 

[ummtaalib]

Whats behind the recent crackdown on the Palestinian flag?

The Palestinian flag remains the most popular way to express Palestinian solidarity, even when the Israeli occupation criminalises raising or waving it.

As the question of sovereignty becomes the talking point for weeks not only in Jerusalem but also within Israel and in the occupied West Bank however, a crackdown on the Palestinian flag has manifest.

During the funeral of Abu Akleh on 13 May, Israeli police issued a ban on waving the Palestinian flag. Mourners were assaulted and dragged aside every time a Palestinian flag was seen fluttering among the crowds.

A couple of days later, during Nakba commemorations and other pro-Palestine rallies inside Israeli cities, the raising of the Palestinian flag quickly became a matter of political wrangling in the government.

Lawmaker Israel Katz warned Palestinians on Tuesday of another Nakba if they fly the Palestinian flag in Israeli universities.

Last week, an Israeli settler, protected by soldiers, took a Palestinian flag down from an electricity pole on a busy road in Huwara town near Nablus. The incident has since led to tense confrontations with Palestinians attempting to erect the flag again and facing off with soldiers and settlers.

This crackdown on the Palestinian flag is nothing new, Palestinian heritage researcher Hamza al-Aqrabawi said, adding that it is part of a decades-old policy to erase Palestinian identity.

"The occupation has since 1967 outlawed the Palestinian flag... used excessive force on the ground and deployed various legal measures to criminalise people for carrying the Palestinian flag, by arresting and detaining some," Aqrabawi told MEE.

In this context, Aqrabawi argues that the Flag March has become an important event to Israelis but simultaneously draws out more anger and frustration from the Palestinians.

"How can you ban the Palestinian flag at a funeral and attack it, causing [the casket] to almost fall, just because it's draped in a Palestinian flag? Meanwhile, allow this flag march to pass through Damascus Gate which is a Palestinian monument?"


Middle East Eye

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News on day of the "flag march" (29 May 2022)
Source

*The Israeli occupation forces blocked the doors of Al Qibli Prayer Hall at Al Aqsa mosque and besieged worshippers inside it.

*The Israeli occupation forces restrict the entry of worshippers and journalists to Al Aqsa mosque

*Dozens of Israeli settlers break into Al Aqsa mosque under the protection of occupation forces, including far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir who waved the victory sign

*Israeli settlers dance and perform rituals provoking worshippers in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

[ummtaalib]

What happened at Al-Aqsa this morning?

With chanting and Takbir, Palestinians confronted Israeli settlers waving the Occupation’s flag in the heart of Al-Aqsa Mosque and raised the Palestinian flag while being suppressed by the Occupation Forces.

🔻Since early dawn, the Occupation Forces have stricly prevented Palestinian youths from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque and limited the entry of women, thoroughly checking their IDs.

07:00 a.m.
🔻Israeli settlers started storming Al-Aqsa Mosque in large numbers per group, performing talmudic rituals and reciting Zionist songs.

🔻Throughout the incursions, Israeli settlers celebrated and danced, recited their prayers loudly and tens performed full prostration next to the eastern wall of the mosque.

🔻A small number of Palestinian youths kept their ground all night in Al-Qibli Prayer Hall and fortified inside it. As the incursions started, they confronted by throwing rocks and fireworks towards the Occupation Forces and knocked heavily on the mosque doors to disrupt with noise.

🔻The Occupation detained a number of Palestinian youths and forced them out of Al-Aqsa, limited their movement within the mosque and prevented them from getting close to Al-Qibli Prayer Hall.

🔻Since 2019, this is the first time Israeli settlers storm Al-Aqsa on what they call “Jerusalem day”. In 2020, they couldn’t due to COVID restrictions and in 2021, they were stopped by prayers during Ramadan.

🔻Last week, Israeli Occupation Forces arrested tens of youths in Al-Quds and Umm Al-Fahm in a proactive action to prevent Palestinians from resisting the settler attacks during “Jerusalem Day”, and a number of youths were given expulsion orders by the Occupation authorities to prevent them from entering Al-Quds.

Metras Global

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Reporters attacked during Israeli "Flag March" on Sunday 19 May 2022

The New Arab Staff — May 30, 2022

BBC reporters were assaulted during an extremist Israeli ‘Flag March’ in Jerusalem on Sunday, a journalist for the broadcaster said on social media.

Tom Bateman, a Middle East correspondent for the British broadcasting giant, said the BBC team had their equipment broken during an attack by Israelis participating in the far-right march.

He added that one individual spat at them, and said: “Go and be with Shireen.”

Shireen Abu Akleh was a veteran Al Jazeera reporter killed by Israeli forces when they stormed the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Her death sparked global outrage over the crisis of impunity emboldening Israeli forces to undermine fundamental rights such as a free press.

On Sunday, when thousands of Israelis surged through the streets of Jerusalem and chanted “Death to Arabs”, several other attacks on journalists were reported.

Iyad Harb, the police correspondent for the Kan public broadcaster’s Arabic station, was taken to hospital after he was assaulted by masked men in Sheikh Jarrah, according to the Times of Israel.

Harb said the men who beat him were speaking Hebrew and police officers did not assist him despite his appeals for help, reported the Hebrew website.

At least 40 Palestinians were injured on Sunday by Israeli forces and settlers using rubber bullets, truncheons and pepper spray, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Israeli marchers were seen assaulting a France 24 reporter on camera.

The journalist, who was standing in front of men wearing Israeli flags, was seen clutching her forehead while reporting after being hit on the head with a bottle.

Videos shared on social media show Israelis harassing and assaulting local Palestinians, including the elderly.

Source
 

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US 'negotiating deal between Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt'
The agreement to finalise transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands from Cairo to Riyadh could create warm ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel

The United States is secretly brokering talks between Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt over the transfer of two strategic Red Sea islands to Riyadh, Israeli news outlet Walla reported on Wednesday.

Talks are ongoing to finalise the deal, which could see security arrangements agreed upon between Israel and Saudi Arabia and create warm ties between the two countries for the first time ever, sources told Walla.

Saudi Arabia has historically refused to set up diplomatic ties with Israel before a just resolution is found for Palestinians.

The negotiations, spearheaded by White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, aim to formalise the transfer of Tiran and Sanafir islands - strategically located at the sea passage to the ports of Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel - from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

The islands were occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six Day War, before being handed back to Egyptian control in 1982 when the two sides signed the Camp David peace accords.

Saudi Arabia has long claimed ownership of the islands and said Egypt controlled them since 1950 for protection at the request of Riyadh.

Full report on middleeasteye

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On 4/13/2022 at 12:30 PM, ummtaalib said:

Today all eyes are on Ahmad Manasra’s re-trial after being tortured and imprisoned by Israeli forces since the age of 13 years old, back in 2015.

 

#FreeAhmadManasra
#Unchilding

 

 

A few hours left before Ahmad's trial. Pray for Ahmad sincerely. We all love #AhmadManasra dearly. We all want him to be released immediately from the occcupation prisons.

[ummtaalib]

6 hours ago, ummtaalib said:

 

 

A few hours left before Ahmad's trial. Pray for Ahmad sincerely. We all love #AhmadManasra dearly. We all want him to be released immediately from the occcupation prisons.

[ummtaalib]

Is-rahe-lli oppression continues

Al-Aqsa
Israeli settlers break into Al Aqsa mosque under the protection of occupation forces. 5.7.2022


Masafer Yatta
The Israeli occupation forces demolish a water well in the Zatoot community, East of the Bweeb area in Masafer Yata, southern Hebron. 4.7.2022

The occupation forces raided Masafer Yatta, destroyed water tanks, a garden fence in addition of cutting and uprooting more than 30 trees. Via Alliance For Human Rights 5.7.2022

Khallat Al Dabea village
Bullets pierced the roofs of a Palestinian home in the Khallat Al Dabea village during the military training of the Israeli occupation forces in Masafer Yatta, southern Hebron. 6.7.2022

Birien village
The occupation forces raided Birien village in Masafer Yatta, destroyed water tanks, a garden fence in addition to cutt and uproot more than 30 trees. Via Alliance For Human Rights 5.7.2022

Hebron
The Israeli occupation forces demolish parts of the closed old market in the old city of Hebron for the expansion of illegal settlements in the city. 6.7.2022

Silwad village
The Israeli occupation forces detained dozens of Palestinians in Sliwad village this morning. 6.7.2022

Jenin
It has been announced that Rafiq Ghannam (20) has died of his wounds sustained by the Israeli occupation forces in the village of Jaba, southern Jenin. 6.7.2022

As for USA in the Shireen Abu Akleh case:
The U.S. State Dep. announces that it could not reach a definitive conclusion regarding the origin of the bullet that killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

"Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion,” the U.S embassy says in a statement, on Monday.

[ummtaalib]

Egypt, UAE and Morocco have normalized relations with the Israeli occupation entity. Recently, Israeli military reports went live from Saudi Arabia talking about normalization changes.

Is Saudi Arabia next?
www.instagram.com/p/CfoevLMlFZz/

 

 

Ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East next week, 'Israel' is going to push a deal with Riyadh over the use of Saudi Arabia's airspace for commercial flights.

'Israel' is currently trying to establish direct flights to Japan and seeks use of Saudi airspace to make this happen, Israeli news outlet Ynet reported.
www.instagram.com/p/CftQPKEsInd/
 

In return for Riyadh allowing Israeli planes to use its airspace, 'Israel' will agree to transfer Sanafir and Tiran islands from Egypt to Saudi Arabia during US President Joe Biden's visit this month, Israel's Hayom reported.

'Israel' and Suadi Arabia have not officially normalized ties. Will they do so by Biden's visit?
www.instagram.com/p/CftYAmVsLG5/

[ummtaalib]

From Palestine

[ummtaalib]

Why Biden must cancel his trip to Israel
Joe Biden should put people over oppression by cancelling his planned trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia

From July 13 to 16, President Joe Biden will visit the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia, deepening his complicity in their human rights abuses.

As Black and Palestinian organizers in the U.S. who visited Palestine last week, we see President Biden’s widely criticized trip for what it is: a war crimes tour. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have used U.S.-funded weapons to brutally murder people, from Israel’s killing of 260 Palestinians in Gaza just last year, to Saudi Arabia’s horrific seven-year war that has killed nearly 400,000 Yemenis. President Biden is cozying up to these apartheid and authoritarian governments, while failing to hold them accountable.

If Biden cares about human rights at all, he should #CancelTheTrip—as thousands of grassroots activists have demanded—and stop funding the weapons behind their war crimes.

The Saudi Arabia leg of his visit has already caused an uproar amongst some U.S. lawmakers, given Saudi Arabia’s egregious human rights record and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Biden himself previously asserted Saudi Arabia should therefore be rendered a “pariah.” Yet now, Biden is going against his own policy as he brushes Saudi Arabia’s war crimes under the rug.

What is most interesting is what’s missing from Biden’s trip.

Nowhere on his agenda will the president be meeting with Palestinian people who are resisting ethnic cleansing, as Israel attempts to violently force Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, the Naqab, Jerusalem, and more out of their homes—a war crime.

It would be surprising that Biden is shunning the Palestinian people most impacted by Israel’s violence, if not for the U.S.’s decades-long complicity. The U.S. gives Israel a minimum of $3.8 billion in military funding every year.

This is what impunity looks like: funding Israel’s violence against Palestinians with no accountability.

This is what impunity looks like: funding Israel’s violence against Palestinians with no accountability. What else is the president avoiding?

Could it be the worldwide cries for justice for Israel’s murder of Palestinian journalist (and U.S. citizen) Shireen Abu Akleh? Could it be the two million Palestinians living under Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, cut off from the world and basic human necessities? Or could it be the native Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, who every day resist brutal violence and expulsion from their homes at the hands of the Israeli military and in the name of Israeli settlers?

About 1,300 Palestinians in Masafer Yatta could be violently forced out of their homes at any moment, in Israel’s largest expulsion of Palestinians since 1967. Masafer Yatta activist Sami Huraini, the coordinator of the Youth of Sumud center known for leading protests, demanded Biden cancel his trip on Instagram Live.

“We do not want his visit and he is not welcome at all,” Huraini said. “The United States is the first one responsible that Israel has not been held accountable up until this moment.”

So why has there been no public outcry from the American political establishment? Where U.S. politicians admonish Saudi Arabia, they heap praise on the Israeli government. The hypocrisy knows no bounds. Even with Israel’s decades-long record of human rights abuses, interim Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid claimed the ties between Israel and the U.S. are “unbreakable,” based on “shared values and a common vision.”

And what are these shared ideologies?

We, as Black and Palestinian organizers who were just in Palestine, know the answer.

We have witnessed an elderly Palestinian mother brought to tears, recalling how she was brutally beaten by Israeli settlers set on stealing the home that she built. We have witnessed displaced Palestinian families stuffed into refugee camps without basic water and electricity. We have traversed dozens of checkpoints—built between Palestinian towns, families, and even homes, to restrict Palestinians’ movement.

The leadership in both countries back the incarceration, segregation, and brutal violence against those who it deems disposable. In Israel, that is Palestinian people. In the United States, it is Black folks.

The leadership in both countries back the incarceration, segregation, and brutal violence against those who it deems disposable. In Israel, that is Palestinian people. In the United States, it is Black folks.

Look at the racist police killings of Black Americans here in the U.S., such as the recent killing of Jayland Walker in Akron, Ohio, who police brutally shot more than 60 times. The connections between the policies of the U.S. and the Israeli government are obvious. U.S. police often get trained in Israel, where they learn racist and repressive tactics from Israeli forces.

After our many trips sitting with the Palestinian communities struggling against Israel’s violent colonialism, there arises another reason why Biden’s visit completely ignores Palestinian rights—because freedom and human rights can’t be compromised.

Palestinian people are not defeated. They’re demanding accountability: for murdered Palestinian journalists and for millions of Palestinians displaced within Palestine and in the diaspora. They are rebelling, resisting, and flourishing under the most inhumane conditions.

Just like we and other activists are fighting for Black liberation from the U.S. militarized police state.

So of course Biden dodges Palestinians in Palestine. As he dodges Black Americans in the U.S.

In the end, no matter what becomes of Biden’s trip, one thing is for sure: that the shared values and vision of the People are cooperation and liberation. Anyone who cares about human rights will join the struggle for collective liberation, until we’re all free.

Source

[ummtaalib]

[ummtaalib]

23 hours ago, ummtaalib said:

Why Biden must cancel his trip to Israel
Joe Biden should put people over oppression by cancelling his planned trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia

From July 13 to 16, President Joe Biden will visit the governments of Israel and Saudi Arabia, deepening his complicity in their human rights abuses.

As Black and Palestinian organizers in the U.S. who visited Palestine last week, we see President Biden’s widely criticized trip for what it is: a war crimes tour. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have used U.S.-funded weapons to brutally murder people, from Israel’s killing of 260 Palestinians in Gaza just last year, to Saudi Arabia’s horrific seven-year war that has killed nearly 400,000 Yemenis. President Biden is cozying up to these apartheid and authoritarian governments, while failing to hold them accountable.

If Biden cares about human rights at all, he should #CancelTheTrip—as thousands of grassroots activists have demanded—and stop funding the weapons behind their war crimes.

The Saudi Arabia leg of his visit has already caused an uproar amongst some U.S. lawmakers, given Saudi Arabia’s egregious human rights record and killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Biden himself previously asserted Saudi Arabia should therefore be rendered a “pariah.” Yet now, Biden is going against his own policy as he brushes Saudi Arabia’s war crimes under the rug.

What is most interesting is what’s missing from Biden’s trip.

Nowhere on his agenda will the president be meeting with Palestinian people who are resisting ethnic cleansing, as Israel attempts to violently force Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, the Naqab, Jerusalem, and more out of their homes—a war crime.

It would be surprising that Biden is shunning the Palestinian people most impacted by Israel’s violence, if not for the U.S.’s decades-long complicity. The U.S. gives Israel a minimum of $3.8 billion in military funding every year.

This is what impunity looks like: funding Israel’s violence against Palestinians with no accountability.

This is what impunity looks like: funding Israel’s violence against Palestinians with no accountability. What else is the president avoiding?

Could it be the worldwide cries for justice for Israel’s murder of Palestinian journalist (and U.S. citizen) Shireen Abu Akleh? Could it be the two million Palestinians living under Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, cut off from the world and basic human necessities? Or could it be the native Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, who every day resist brutal violence and expulsion from their homes at the hands of the Israeli military and in the name of Israeli settlers?

About 1,300 Palestinians in Masafer Yatta could be violently forced out of their homes at any moment, in Israel’s largest expulsion of Palestinians since 1967. Masafer Yatta activist Sami Huraini, the coordinator of the Youth of Sumud center known for leading protests, demanded Biden cancel his trip on Instagram Live.

“We do not want his visit and he is not welcome at all,” Huraini said. “The United States is the first one responsible that Israel has not been held accountable up until this moment.”

So why has there been no public outcry from the American political establishment? Where U.S. politicians admonish Saudi Arabia, they heap praise on the Israeli government. The hypocrisy knows no bounds. Even with Israel’s decades-long record of human rights abuses, interim Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid claimed the ties between Israel and the U.S. are “unbreakable,” based on “shared values and a common vision.”

And what are these shared ideologies?

We, as Black and Palestinian organizers who were just in Palestine, know the answer.

We have witnessed an elderly Palestinian mother brought to tears, recalling how she was brutally beaten by Israeli settlers set on stealing the home that she built. We have witnessed displaced Palestinian families stuffed into refugee camps without basic water and electricity. We have traversed dozens of checkpoints—built between Palestinian towns, families, and even homes, to restrict Palestinians’ movement.

The leadership in both countries back the incarceration, segregation, and brutal violence against those who it deems disposable. In Israel, that is Palestinian people. In the United States, it is Black folks.

The leadership in both countries back the incarceration, segregation, and brutal violence against those who it deems disposable. In Israel, that is Palestinian people. In the United States, it is Black folks.

Look at the racist police killings of Black Americans here in the U.S., such as the recent killing of Jayland Walker in Akron, Ohio, who police brutally shot more than 60 times. The connections between the policies of the U.S. and the Israeli government are obvious. U.S. police often get trained in Israel, where they learn racist and repressive tactics from Israeli forces.

After our many trips sitting with the Palestinian communities struggling against Israel’s violent colonialism, there arises another reason why Biden’s visit completely ignores Palestinian rights—because freedom and human rights can’t be compromised.

Palestinian people are not defeated. They’re demanding accountability: for murdered Palestinian journalists and for millions of Palestinians displaced within Palestine and in the diaspora. They are rebelling, resisting, and flourishing under the most inhumane conditions.

Just like we and other activists are fighting for Black liberation from the U.S. militarized police state.

So of course Biden dodges Palestinians in Palestine. As he dodges Black Americans in the U.S.

In the end, no matter what becomes of Biden’s trip, one thing is for sure: that the shared values and vision of the People are cooperation and liberation. Anyone who cares about human rights will join the struggle for collective liberation, until we’re all free.

Source

 

[ummtaalib]

US President Joe Biden at his arrival ceremony yesterday:

“You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist” and added, "And I am a Zionist"




@adnan_barq says, "Thank you Joe Biden for stating facts and ending confusion"
www.instagram.com/p/Cf-F1P2odVf/

[ummtaalib]

On 6/28/2022 at 3:56 PM, ummtaalib said:

[ummtaalib]

 

The Biden administration is facing pressure to scrap plans to build a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem after a Palestinian legal group revealed the proposed embassy is located on land that was illegally confiscated by Israel from Palestinians in 1948. The historical documents were made public by the Palestinian legal group Adalah ahead of President Biden’s trip this week to Israel and the occupied West Bank. The group’s legal director, Suhad Bishara, said, “This plan is a serious escalation in U.S. legitimization of Israeli expropriation of land from Palestinians. If the Biden administration doesn’t abandon it, then there is no other way to interpret the move than siding with Israel’s racist policies.”

[ummtaalib]