Palestinian children laugh as they watch a performance by a group of clowns in the West Bank city of Qalqilia. (Khaleel Reash, Maan Images)
Another side of Middle East terrorism Gary Fields, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Apr 7, 2007  |
| A Palestinian man looks on as Israeli soldiers patrol near a settlement in the West Bank. (Maan Images) |
The art of political language, as George Orwell observed, is to make falsehoods sound truthful and to deny voice to those without power. There are few practitioners of this art more highly skilled than the government of Israel.
As the military occupier of the Palestinian territories for the past 40 years, Israel has managed to represent itself as the beleaguered victim of terrorism in its conflict with the Palestinian people. At the same time, the Israeli government, through its influence in America, has discredited and even silenced those voices inside the Palestinian territories with a far different story about terrorism and its victims. Truth, however, is sometimes able to prevail despite the efforts of those with power to prevent truth from gaining voice.
Last August on these pages, I was able to tell such a story about a Palestinian farmer, Mohammed Abdel Aziz Sabatin. What had been happening to Sabatin, in facing daily harassment from Israeli settlers from Bettar Illit, I insisted, went to the essence of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians.
Contrary to popular mythology, this conflict is not a clash of civilizations. It is a conflict about land – and the power of one group of people to seize and control the land of another. Sabatin personifies this conflict, while at the same time his situation gives a very different set of meanings to the idea of terrorism and its purveyors.
Sabatin owns land directly next to the Jewish settlement of Bettar Illit, a town built on land confiscated in 1989 from the Sabatin family and from numerous other Palestinian families from the town of Husan. All told, about 5,000 dunums (1,250 acres) was forcibly taken from farmers in Husan to build the settlement.
After construction, Sabatin was left with a small portion of his former property and has since tried to cultivate olives, figs and almonds on this land. In order to access his farmland, however, Sabatin now has to get a permit from the Israeli military authorities who administer the Occupied Territory of Palestine, and he must pass though the security gate of Betar Illit even though his family has owned this land for 200 years. In owning land in the shadow of the settlement, Sabatin is in a precarious predicament.
Last year, Sabatin took me on a tour of his land and told me how settlers from Bettar Illit burn and vandalize his remaining olive and fruit trees on a daily basis. As we walked through his fields, I was able to see olive and fig tree branches shorn from their trunks and scattered on the ground. I also saw several still-smoldering piles of ash, olive trees burned just that morning. “What can I do” Sabatin asked me repeatedly. I never knew what to say.
These settlers from Bettar Illit actually want Sabatin to take flight from his land. They are trying to force him to make a “choice” about whether it is worth it to remain. With enough pressure, perhaps he will finally relent and give it up.
To read the full article please visit The San Diego Union-Tribune. Complicity when the dam breaks Mark Zeitoun, International Herald Tribune (Apr 7, 2007)
This tragedy was due to a number of factors - limited Palestinian capacity, Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods, Palestinian infighting and - last but not least - donor politics.
But blame ultimately lies with those who would pen in too many people in too tight a spot. To this day, Israel besieges the territory in the name of security. The international community ignores the disaster that has encroached on all fronts in the Gaza Strip.
British football team begins West Bank tour Maan News (Apr 7, 2007) The team is formed of a group of British youth who have come to the occupied Palestinian territories to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The 'Easton Cowboys' wish to raise political awareness about the Palestinian issue, Al-Qawasmi explained. The team is concerned about social injustice worldwide and has previously visited Mexico, Morocco and Germany, amongst other countries.
Bearing responsibility for the refugee problem Daoud Kuttab, The Jordan Times (Apr 7, 2007) Israeli researcher Ilan Pape details what happened throughout historic Palestine in his book “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine”. Furthermore, since its establishment, the state of Israel has totally refused to implement successive UN resolutions demanding that it give permission to refugees to return.
Israel launches Gaza raid, one Palestinian killed Reuters (Apr 7, 2007) 
Russia calls for end to Palestinian sanctions Agence France Presse (Apr 7, 2007) Christians gather in Jerusalem to follow in Christs' footsteps The Guardian (Apr 7, 2007) For the Passover holiday, which this year coincides with the Christian Holy Week, the Israeli military declared a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, severely limiting the number of Palestinians allowed across checkpoints. Permits were issued for Palestinian Christians - according to a UN report around 8,000, although they were said to be scarce.
Shopkeepers in the Old City said tourist numbers were still low. Farange Nashashibi, from one of the oldest Palestinian families in Jerusalem and owner of a souvenir shop, was particularly bitter. "Before there wasn't even room to breathe, the streets were so crowded," he said. He blamed the conflict with Israel. "There should be peace. There is no need to fight. The Israelis need to change their minds about us."
Many of those walking through the Old City said they knew or cared little about the vexed politics of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Others were torn by their visit. Nessa O'Byrne-Healy, 64, an Irish woman resting inside a chapel at the Fifth Station of the Cross, had been troubled by Nazareth, close to the vast West Bank barrier, and Hebron, a Palestinian city in the West Bank which is divided by the presence of a few hundred Jewish settlers. "People have no idea what's going on. ...
Children mark Palestinian Child's Day with marches and shows Maan News (Apr 6, 2007) This article was originally published by Maan News and is republished with permission. The Palestinian Child's Week festival opened on Thursday afternoon in the Abu Ammar hall in Bethlehem in the southern West Bank. The festival began with sport shows and theatre acts.
The shows, which were presented by Ibda' institution in Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, were transmitted live on Al-Jazeera satellite television.
Thousands of children from Bethlehem and Hebron marched from the "Statue of the Martyrs" in Deheisheh refugee camp to Abu Ammar hall.
While in Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank, nearly 500 children participated in a march marking Palestinian Child's Day. The demonstration was organized by the Al-Qastal scout group and Al-'Oja river association; it was held in Balata refugee camp in southern Nablus.
The participants held signs calling for the restoration of children's rights, stripped from them by the Israeli occupation.
They demanded the concerned parties to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to end its practices against children. At the end of the march the children staged a sit-in opposite the offices of the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.
Haniya says US pressuring banks Al Jazeera (Apr 6, 2007) Under US law any foreign bank that refuses to co-operate with America in cutting off funding to Hamas could have its US assets frozen and lose its access to the coutry's financial markets. Sneh: Settlers to be removed from Hebron building within two weeks Haaretz (Apr 6, 2007)
In a text message sent to journalists, the Yesha Council of Settlements, which represents the settlers, said it would fight the decision.
Hebron, a frequent flashpoint for tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, is home to about 500 Jewish settlers living in heavily-guarded enclaves among some 160,000 Palestinians
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