Israeli forces attempt to arrest 2-year-old Palestinian child

As published on Electronic Intifada on Wednesday

Mo’men Shtayeh probably owns a John Cena shirt, the WWE wrestler who the Palestinian kids hero worship, their shrill voices echoing in neighborhood streets of Cena’s catchphrase, “You can’t see me!” accompanied with waving a hand in front of their faces.

Mo’men Shtayeh has seen and knows too much. There is a chance — nay, a probability — that due to witnessing the Israeli army’s brutality and severe oppression in his village of Kufr Qaddoum, Mo’men might have grown up to be a warmongering Islamist (or perversely, a Tea Partier).

Mo’men Shtayeh represents a threat to the security of the Israeli racist occupying state. Apparently, it is well known that due to his savvy nature, Mo’men has been involved in drawing up specialized blueprints to attack enemy bases.

So it all makes perfect sense that the most moral army in the world, the Israeli Defense Forces, the fourth strongest army, the upholders of the beacon of democracy and godly light, tried to arrest Mo’men on Monday, 2 April.

The thing is, Mo’men is two-and-a-half years old.

Murad Shtayeh, the coordinator of the popular resistance committeee in Kufr Qaddoum and the father of little Mo’men, told The Electronic Intifada that heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided his house on Monday at 5:30pm. Two soldiers remained outside, two others went in the house, shouting they were going to arrest Mo’men.

“Mo’men was going inside the house,” Murad said, “when the soldiers suddenly took off from where they had been standing. They came running to the house like they were in a marathon, very fast and urgent, like a bunch of crazies.”

The soldiers claimed that Mo’men had not a nuclear warhead, or a submachine gun, but the most dangerous item in the world — a slingshot.

“Of course Mo’men didn’t have a slingshot in his hands!” scoffed Murad. “And even if he did, so what? He’s a kid.” For crying out loud.

The soldiers were adamant that Mo’men hand over his slingshot (which he doesn’t own) because he was using it to aim at the soldiers. What’s more, they wanted Mo’men to hand himself over to them too.

Bashar Shtayeh, Murad’s cousin, was also present at the scene. “The soldiers in the house drew their weapons and pointed them at the family,” he said, “threatening them that they would not leave unless Mo’men was handed over to them.”

A loud, angry arugment persisted for half an hour between Murad, other villagers who had come to see what the commotion was all about, and the soldiers. The soldiers then left, having cemented yet another moral meltdown in the occupation’s history. Not that they had morals in the first place.

But what of the toddler? Needless to say, Mo’men was terrified by what was going on around him.

“What can I say, of course he’s affected by this,” Murad said. “He was very scared. He’s doing slightly better now.”

Kufr Qaddoum began its weekly popular resistance protests in June 2011, against the encroaching illegal settlement of Qedumim that is built on the village’s land and to open the main village road that leads directly to Nablus.

The Israeli oppression against Kufr Qaddoum doesn’t just happen on Fridays. It occurs on a daily basis.

“Obviously, they thought this stunt — whether carried through or not — would serve as a punishment for us, but the truth is that it will not deter us from our protests,” Murad declared.

“Every day and night we have five to seven soldiers in the village harrassing us. Sometimes they come in with their dogs and fetch cars and houses. Yesterday [Tuesday] at 9:30pm the soldiers set up a checkpoint on one of the inner streets of the village.”

Mo’men Shtayeh, your little two-and-a-half-year-old self highlighted the absurdity, the idiocy, the shameful nature of the Israeli occupying army. May the force of John Cena be with you.

Editor’s Note: The family’s name is Shteiwi, not Shtayeh.

Israel’s interrogation of Islam Dar Ayyoub Tamimi, age 14: video reveals rights abuses

As posted on Electronic Intifada

A year ago on January 23, 14-year-old Islam Dar Ayoub Tamimi was arrested at gunpoint after the Israeli army surrounded his house at around 1:30am. A few days before, on January 17, Islam’s house was one of many in the village of Nabi Saleh that were raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), where the soldiers then proceeded to take pictures of all males over the age of 12.

A month later, Islam’s younger brother eleven year old Kareem was chased down and hauled off by the Israeli police where he was illegally interrogated for two hours before getting released.

During his arrest, Islam was taken out of bed at gunpoint and violently taken to a military jeep, handcuffed and blindfolded. His brother Omar (who remains in detention after getting arrested during the West Bank car protest on Israeli only roads earlier this month) was beaten up as he tried to help Islam.

According to an email interview with Israeli anti-occupation activist Jonathan Pollak:

Islam was then taken to a military base in the nearby Jewish-only settlement of Halamish, where he was kept outside in the cold, still blindfolded and handcuffed, and was not allowed any sleep. He was then taken to a police station in the Mishor Edomim settlement for questioning, where he arrived at around 8:00 in the morning.

He was asked to sign a document in Hebrew, but it was a (flawed) summery of his interrogation. This happened after he was finally allowed to see his lawyer, and he refused to sign it. The video shows that the Hebrew document was read to him in Arabic before he was asked to sign it.

After his interrogation he was taken to Ofer, and then, a few days after to Rimonim prison (which is part of Hasharon prison complex), which is a detention center for minors. To the best of my knowledge, he was imprisoned together with other Palestinians, not Israel criminal prisoners.

The judge didn’t admit Islam was under psychological pressure and felt threatened per se, but rather wrote that indeed his rights were violated (which in some cases, would have rendered his testimony inadmissible) but that in this specific case, from looking at the tape, it seems he was treated well during the interrogation and spoke of his own free will. [In other words] she believes that the impact of the violations on him, in this specific case, was not severe enough.

Islam was released on 4 April 2011, after 71 days in detention, but remained under full house arrest. The conditions of his house arrest were changed at the beginning of the school year (in September) so that he is allowed to go to school. He still remains under partial house arrest.

The military judge, Major Sharon Livnin, ruled that Islam’s confession despite his unlawful interrogation was legitimate enough to be used as evidence in the trial of Bassem Tamimi:

“In my opinion, the infringement on the defendant’s rights in this concrete case, did not amount to a violation of his right in a way that will sufficiently endanger his right to a fair trial […].”

The Popular Struggle website outlies some of the ways Islam’s rights were violated:

• The boy was arrested at gunpoint in the dead of night, during a violent military raid on his house.
• Despite being a minor, he was denied sleep in the period between his arrest and questioning, which began the following morning and lasted over 5 hours.
• Despite being told he would be allowed to see a lawyer, he was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
• He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning. The testimony of one of his interrogators before the court suggests that he believes Palestinian minors do not enjoy this right.
• He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he “must tell of everything that happened.”
• Only one of four interrogators who participated in the questioning was a qualified youth interrogator.

At the beginning of a video documenting Islam’s interrogation in the presence of two interrogators (uploaded by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee’s youtube channel), the boy asks if he will be allowed to go home soon. One of the interrogators barks at him, “Wait, we’re doing an interrogation here.” The one at the computer types in “student” as the other affirms that Islam is a reporter’s assistant. At 43 seconds, Islam asks again if he’s going to go home that night, explaining that he has an exam the next day.

At 1:15, one of the interrogators accuses Islam that he along with other youth were throwing stones at Israeli army jeeps and participating in protests, which are “against the law” and (at 2:30) a “breach of public security.” The same interrogator (at 2:58) then proceeds to tell Islam that he has a right to see a lawyer, but that if he chooses not to answer any questions, that can be further used as solidified evidence against him in court. At 3:29 the interrogator says, “You’re a little boy. Inshallah [God willing] we’ll finish with the interrogation soon, but we want you to tell us all the right things. Understand? We’ll show you pictures of people throwing rocks, including you.”

Almost half an hour later, a third interrogator joins the room. Islam is in the middle of explaining an injury to his leg sustained during one of the protests.

At 4:40 Islam gives the name and age of one of the youths in the village. The third interrogator punches his hand into his fist. The video goes to another interval, where one of the interrogators cuts off Islam, who is in the middle of describing how the youth hide in houses when the army surrounds them, by calling them as mice. The third interrogator says in his rolling accent, “Like Tom and Jerry.” He then suddenly shouts, “Those poor things! Those unfortunates!”

At 5:59, the same interrogator snaps at Islam not to breathe in his face. Islam replies that he hasn’t slept. At 6:39 the interrogator asks Islam what the job of the first “brigade” was, before snickering that he was going to catch the flu from Islam.

At 7:05, another interrogator enters the room. At 7:30 Islam announces he wants to go home because of his school exams.

At 7:50 one of the interrogators asks Islam how many people were in each brigade.

At 8:28 Islam asks if the latest interrogator is the one responsible for taking him home.

At 9:18, after almost three hours (2 hours and 42 minutes to be exact) of interrogation, the psychological stress becomes all too evident as Islam breaks down into tears. When asked why he’s crying, Islam replies that he’s afraid he’s going to fail his school year. He elaborates, “If I fail then the school won’t let me come back to repeat the year.”

At 11:08 The interrogator asks, “What did he tell them?” Islam replies, his voice wobbling, “He told us to wait at the intersection and to take the cardboards to the shrine. We’d take them to Uncle Naji and Uncle Bassem without knowing what was in them. Motasem wanted to know what was in them so once he opened one and found gas masks.”

At 11:39, a new addition is in the room: the only qualified female youth interrogator.

At 12:43, the interrogator that rolls his R’s slaps Islam’s shoulders, saying “You’re happy that the officers got hit by stones, right?”

At 13:35 the interrogators order Islam to raise his head and to sit up straight, telling him that it will all be over soon. Islam’s been in interrogation for more than four hours at this point.

At 13:55 Islam asks when the interrogation will be over. One of the interrogators replies, “In half an hour. We have to first check if what you said is all true, and then we’ll see what will happen. I don’t want to see you here again.”

At 14:35 the interrogator flicks Islam’s arms, which are resting his head, and tells him to raise his head up. “When the interrogator is in the room, raise your head up. Yell at him. And if possible, you beat him up!”

The other interrogator shows Islam a photograph and asks him who the person in it is.

After more than five hours of interrogation, Islam yawns and asks for the time. It’s 2:30 pm, answers the interrogator. Islam turns to the stoic female interrogator and tells her he hasn’t slept since yesterday.

At 15:12, Islam is left alone with the female interrogator. He asks if it’s over yet. She replies, “in a little bit.” Islam then asks her if she’s Israeli or an Arab. She answers, “What do you think? I speak Arabic. I’m an Arab.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I work.”

“You work as what?”

“Just work.”

At 16:52, Islam yawns, “Please God, take me home. I am so tired.”

Islam’s unlawful interrogation was used to incriminate and arrest Bassem and Naji Tamimi, who are actively involved in Nabi Saleh’s weekly popular resistance protests, a couple of months later in March. Nabi Saleh began its protest back in December 2009, after settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish built upon the village’s land further expropriated the village’s main water supply and spring, Al-Kaws. Naji agreed to a plea bargain, and was subsequently sentenced to a year in prison plus a 20,000 shekel fine. Bassem refused to do the same, and has still not been sentenced, despite spending ten months behind bars since his arrest. When Islam was put on the stand in court in November 2011, he admitted that he had given false testimony due to the immense pressure he was under before and during his interrogation.

Back in late November last year, I sat with Bassem’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, who talked about her husband’s trial, the baseless charges against him, why Naji accepted the deal and Bassem didn’t, and the weekly protests in Nabi Saleh in the video below. She rejects labeling her husband or Naji as “leaders of the protests”, maintaining that this was the characterization given to them by the Israeli authorities in order to accuse them of the charges, as any child participating in the protests is capable of leading. She contents that she doesn’t “recognize the occupier’s right to exist to recognize the legitimacy of their courts” and that she attends the trials because she wants to see her husband who “is my best friend and partner.” When asked about Bassem’s morale, Nariman replies, “He’s always been so strong and optimistic. His spirits are so high and make you stronger, instead of the opposite.”



Thanks to Jan Beddegenoodts for the video

Open Letter from Taiseer Khatib: Raise Your Voice Against Apartheid

I’m bringing here a letter written and distributed by Taiseer Khatib, from Akka (Acre).Taiseer, his wife Lana and two children, Yusra (3) and Adnan (4), are one of the thousands families that will have to live apart, after the approval of Israel high court’s approval to the racist Citizenship Law. They face now a real and ‘legalized’ threat of deportation of Lana back to Jenin.

Dear friends,

Those who are here and those who are spread all over the world, those in academic institutions, political parties, theatres, human rights organisations, students, workers, and everyone of You, please consider this email addressed to you personally.

Some of you might be aware of the latest racist Israeli supreme court decision from yesterday, that threatens to separate tens of thousands of Palestinian family members apart. This decision in addition to 25 laws and laws proposals are designed to segregate and discriminate against the Palestinian minority inside Israel. These racist laws have one goal: to bring to a situation where this state, should be only for a Pure race: Jewish! The deportation can start with Palestinian spouses today who are married to Palestinians inside Israel, but tomorrow it will be the overwhelming majority of Palestinians in Israel, if not all !

Yes, i feel very pessimistic! Yes i feel that a deportation of my wife and its separation from me and from my children is real ! It is a black day in my life and the life of tens of thousands of people in my situation! Deportation had not only become real but legalized!

I am writing to ask you to act in the name of humanity and human rights, which the Israeli supreme court had legalized a war against them, as it declared the war against us, we the “other”, it gave the green light for all security services to act in the name of LAW! The supreme court was the last shelter for defending human rights in Israel, and now it had shut its doors to Rights, and kept the Humans (Palestinians) out without any protection.

Below you will find some articles explaining the current racist law and also some articles or interviews with me and my family, there is also the TV interview (in Hebrew). Please contribute your part in fighting Israeli racism and spread the word, articles, and all what you find in regard of this law to ALL your friends in your Email, social networks, facebeook, twiter, and others, in order to raise the awareness mainly in Europe and in US to what is going on inside the so called “Democratic” state of Israel. Please do not let it stop by your email, spread and make the voice loud against this racist and discriminative actions!

To all of you who sent me emails, called, and express their solidarity with our case, i would like to say thank you, (especially my Israeli friends who denounced the law and told me, that the law doesn’t speak in their name, and that they feel ashamed of such a decision, for expressing solidarity with yourselves in the first level, and with me and my family on the second level, Racism against the Palestinians inside Israel, will not stop by them, it will continue further to the Jewish Israeli society, as it is becoming clear in the last period.

I will end my email with a citation from the great intellectual Said:

Remember the solidarity shown to Palestine here and everywhere… and remember also that there is a cause to which many people have committed themselves, difficulties and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a just cause, a notable ideal, a moral quest for equality and human rights.”

Edward Said

I hope this just cause can get to as much as people as you can, as it is one of the last ways of fighting fascist decisions, raise your voice against the Apartheid!

Yours

Taiseer

http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Channel-2-Newscast/Article-71da7677c33d431017.htm

http://www.adalah.org/eng/

http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=451877

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/12/10142284-israeli-high-court-keeps-israeli-palestinian-spouses-apart

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/supreme-court-thrusts-israel-down-the-slope-of-apartheid-1.407056

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DBCE686F-A556-42C4-9E2C-3696981F07AA.htm?GoogleStatID=21


http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/law/1.1615220

http://www.mideastyouth.com/2012/01/13/israeli-court-ruling-heightens-fears-for-palestinian-spouses-of-arab-citizens/

http://www.arabhra.org/hraadmin/ProjectSpecific/NewsletterEmailContent.aspx?articles=1065&SelectedLanguage=1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2012/01/120112_israel_palestine_citizenship.shtml
http://arabs48.com/?mod=articles&ID=88434

h/t to @AbirKopty

The Nabi Saleh Children

UPDATE: A more politer version of this article is found over at Electronic Intifada.

Prologue:

[Freedom in Colors. I sent the link to my dad, adding "I know I'm pushing my luck here but can I please go?" The reply was unexpected and sweetly succint: "Yes, you may go, but please take your sister with you." I was ecstatic. All the doom and gloom from the past week disappeared in a puff of smoke. I was going to Nabi Saleh again. I was going to see the other activists. I was going to hug and squeeze and smother my little Spiderman with kisses again.]

Jana, Dana, Rand, 'Ahd. Salam, Areej, Mahmoud, Ahmad. Ranin, Hamada, Osama, Shatha. And of course, Samer aka Spiderman, and Hisham aka Batman.

Ask each child about what happens every Friday and you'll be left reeling at their solemn impassivity. They sound mechanical, a bit put off at having to repeat what they no doubt have already done to other activists. Some look at you, others fiddle with the bracelet you're wearing.

Spiderman doing what he does best

Lara, called by her pet name Lulu. She's two and a half years old, has chubby cheeks (plenty of room to draw on!), and her hair is twirled into pigtails. She doesn't talk and stares either at the ground or past your shoulder. Last year her mother threw her out of the window from the second floor of the house. The IOF were firing tear gas inside the house and everyone inside was suffocating. Lulu, along with the others who managed to escape outside, had to flatten themselves on the ground as the tear gas whistled and exploded over their heads. The incident certainly has its traumatic and psychological scars; for a while Lulu hated her mother, thinking that she threw her out of the window on purpose.

Jana spent a few months in the US, so she understands and speaks some English. Ask her where she lived in America, and she'll reply, "West Palm-en Beach." Ask her what goes on every Friday and she'll reply, "We go out to the maseera [protest]." Ask her to elaborate a bit more, and she'll comply. "The soldiers fire tear gas and live ammunition, and the shabab throw rocks. I'm not scared of the soldiers." I wonder, is it not criminal for "live ammunition" to be part of a five year old's vocabulary?

Samer, my special little Spiderman, climbs on your knees, makes himself comfortable and starts talking. He can't pronounce the 'r' sound and substitutes it for 'y'. "The army comes every Friday. When they leave I throw rocks on their jeeps. I'm not scared of them then."

'Ahd on the left, Areej on the right. Both taunting the soldier. "Shoot me! You're scared, look at you hiding behind your gun! Inta majnoon!" And just to make it more clear, they said it in English: You are CRAAAZY!

Izz is eleven years old but acts like he's forty. He dodges my hand. "What do you want to draw on my face for-do I look like a baby?" He puts his hand on his chest before tapping his head once, in the old man gesture of thanks-but-no-thanks. I watch his skinny figure walk away, his shoulders squared, his voice deepening whenever he raises it.

Salam is the youngest child of Basem and Nariman Tamimi. He's a natural Beiber, straight naturally highlighted hair almost covering his eyes. He was initially very reluctant to share in the fun, latching himself onto his mother like a barnacle, burying his face in her leg. Later I saw him running, holding onto a string of balloons, with a sun and a moon painted on each cheek.

Ranin is ten years old. She doesn't take part in the protests themselves but watches them from her rooftop. "When the soldiers get angry, they start shooting tear gas inside the houses. We're worried about my sister Ro'a, she's only nine months old." I asked her about whether she thinks the protests actually mean anything. "Even if you all didn't come, the army will still be here. Today at least, you made us have fun."

This Friday in Nabi Saleh was planned as a day of color and fun. Balloons, clowns, face-painting, kite-flying, the works. It was dubbed as "freedom in colors." It was a day centered on the children, for them to live one day as normal carefree kids, a day to temporarily make them forget about their reality that consists of soldiers, jeeps, and tear gas. The idea was for the children to take their kites, made from plastic bags and newspapers, and fly them at the spot where the Israel jeeps park, before the children then advance over to the neighboring hill. Because the soldiers won't fire at children, right?

We painted faces, mostly flowers and hearts and the flag of Palestine. I took out my artistic prowess on one face as I drew tiger stripes with aplomb. Nearby Manal Tamimi was getting interviewed about her predictions for today: "No, I don't think the army will be better to us this time, or any less dangerous." The hours leading up to noon prayers were filled with kids playing with hula hoops, little girls comparing their body art, the older boys engaged in a game of football. Prayers weren't even over yet when the IOF pulled in with their jeeps and got out to line up in front of the smattering of children who were at the end of the street at the time.

There's a distinct acridness in the air. The villagers are immune to it, but i could feel it tingling on my upper lip and just inside my nostrils, making me sneeze some fifty times.

One of the kids planted a Palestine flag on the jeep. Woot woot!

This time, the border police, more sadistic than the army, were the ones who faced us menacingly. More children came down, a couple holding their kites. Last week, the IOF gave us at least ten minutes of chanting before unleashing the tear gas. This week, without the presence of diplomatic consuls, their true colors didn't hesitate to come out. The older people barely had time to congregate when the sound bombs began. I was inside Manal and Bilal Tamimi's house, and the women were hurriedly closing all the windows because by then the tear gas had already filled the air. Chancing a look outside, I saw two border police violently pushing and shoving Maath Musleh, the guy behind the Nabi Saleh online live streaming, who was decked out in his usual Press vest.

Things calmed down briefly, and everyone went outside. Hamada, Spiderman's older brother, had a kite in his hand but seemed unwilling to go out. Hamada was once hit by a tear gas canister in his side which caused internal bleeding and damage in his liver and kidney. The injury was quite serious, and his family had feared the worst. Thankfully, he is all healed now. I picked up the tail of the kite and we stepped outside together, his mother encouraging him all the way. There was barely any wind. I had to throw the kite up in the air and Hamada would have to shorten and tug at the string while simultaneously running backwards. He couldn't run more than five steps because the border police, with the army behind them, were standing right there. After a few more tries we finally succeeded in keeping the kite aloft for a few seconds.

We then chanted as usual, singing Fairuz's song about kites, and sat down on the burning asphalt. The commander went to his jeep and the loudspeaker on top crackled in urban Arabic, "This is a closed military zone. You have five minutes to disperse or we start shooting." This was met with jeers and cat calls. A chant then started up, "Show us the papers! Show us the papers!" referring to the nonexistent legal document that specifically states whether Nabi Saleh is in fact a closed military zone or not.

There's a difference between the army and the border police. Essentially they're part of the same wrapper, but while the army soldiers look passive and impervious to our actions and slogans, the border police positively drip with malevolence and hostility. Their eyes don't stare blankly ahead, they rove from one face to another, and whisper to each other little first-world jokes and sneer as our chants become more vociferous.

One minute passed. Their stances shifted, grew more aggressive, so we stood up. "This is a closed military zone. This protest is illegal!" the loudspeaker blared out again. How-and I'm struggling with words here-ironic? Paradoxical? Ridiculous? And so much more. Today was supposed to be all about the children. For them to live one Friday not plagued by tear gas or the frightening explosions of the sound bombs or being confined to their houses. The children were to parade their faces and fly their kites. But the IOF can't differentiate between children and armed threatening forces.

"You have five minutes."

I kept my eyes on the tear gas canister in one of their hands. But I didn't see it getting thrown, and I was suddenly engulfed in white smoke, with the flurry of people moving all around me. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again-big mistake. They immediately began to burn, really burn, and once again I stumbled blindly into one house, down the stairs, eyes glued together and streaming, trying to inhale deeply, a permanent saw against the back of my throat. You think you don't panic when the tear gas hits you because you don't throw your arms up in the air shrieking with fear and pain, but in all honestly I was thinking about not losing my cool too much to actually pay attention to what's happening around me. Later I was told the canister was right between my feet, and guys were yelling at me to move to the side. Downstairs I paced back and forth, counting down the minutes until everything in my body went back to normal, my heart thudding dully. I was trying to figure out what happened, well that was a no-brainer really but did they just fire tear gas into a crowd filled with children? Where does Shakira's laudable work for children fit in here? Oh that's right, it doesn't.

The tear gas got so bad we had to stay in the houses. The children were kept preoccupied with cartoons but after a couple of hours they grew restless. I went upstairs with Manal to help make tea for over twenty people ("Please use plastic cups," I implored her) and the kids followed shortly after, opening the veranda doors inside the kitchen and going outside.

Kids Vs Army

Jana, Rand and Salam making their voices heard at the Israeli jeeps below

The Nabi Saleh children began singing nationalist songs. The oldest couldn't have been more than twelve years old. A bunch of them went around the back of the house and stood in front of the armored jeeps, peace signs at the ready. Spiderman followed them. Without warning, the fucking IOF shot tear gas at them from a close range. The wiser ones skipped away and ran back to the house, poor little Spiderman stayed where he was and got the full blast. He was obviously terrified and in pain. Later, back in his mother Manal's arms, he had finally stopped crying. Manal asked him how the gas had affected him. He answered, "3adi, zay kul muya [murra]." The same, like always.

That's some profoundness for you.

Some soldiers don't want to be in a village firing at civilians using disproportionate force. They are just there to do their "duty". The border police want to be there, they don't exactly garner up sympathy in court cases once they get exposed for beating up an unarmed Palestinian. We went back outside and asked one of the soldiers, why do you shoot at children? The answer we got was mind-blowing and drenched in sadism: "Because I want to." That statement illustrated itself as once again the tear gas started. One canister hit ten year old Areej square in the back. She fell like a sack of bricks.

Every child has a right to a childhood. The Nabi Saleh children are denied this right. Jana and Rand were watching Cartoon Network when the sound bombs went off yet again. Jana barely raised her head, tiredly saying "Khalas. Stop it." After a few minutes Rand got bored and opened the door. She came back to where Jana was curled up on the couch, tapped her shoulder and said, "Yallah, let's go see the army again." It's cute, it's bitterly funny, it's heart-breaking to see them act this way, as if that's completely normal. I wonder how these kids will turn out to be. I wonder if they ever think of Israeli children whether they are innocent, and if later the bitterness and jealousy over these Israeli children living in such relative comfortableness and security will begin to manifest destructively.

Our own heroes, Spiderman and Batman.

"For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could be blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them."

Dear Obama, fuck you.

May 15th and the Third Palestinian Intifada

Every year for the past 62 years, there has always been a Nakba commemoration day. May 15th marks the Israeli "War of Independence Day" at the expense of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that were displaced, expelled, and ethnically cleansed from their cities, villages, and homes in the most brutal manner. Some fled for fear of experiencing the same fate that Deir Yassin underwent, where over one hundred men, women, and children were murdered on the spot. Others were threatened, forcibly evicted, and were either placed on trucks that took them to the Jordanian/Lebanese borders or were told to walk there under the unbearable heat with inadequate food and supplies and no shelter. Many died on the way. Others made their "temporary" homes in the nineteen refugee camps in the West Bank, and the eight in the Gaza Strip.

Every Palestinian is familiar with the Nakba, as it still lives on in the collective memory, passed on from generation to generation, where land deeds and rusty keys are the most prized possessions. 700,000 refugees, over half of the original Palestinian population, have escalated 63 years later into a 6 million problem. Israel continues to systematically deny these facts and figures, disseminating lies through their hasbara machine that these Arabs left on their own accord and free will, but for how long? Especially in such glaring evidence? Writing on newly obtained statistics that show how Israel revoked residency rights of Palestinians (up to 140,000) up until the time of the Oslo Accords, Gideon Levy writes how the spirit of ethnic cleansing is still very much alive and kicking in the democratic state of Israel, all for the purpose of transforming the land into a purely Jewish only state.

"This is an absolute refusal to allow the return of the refugees - something that would "destroy the State of Israel." It's also an absolute refusal to allow the return of the people recently expelled. By next Independence Day we'll probably invent more expulsion regulations, and on the next holiday we'll talk about "the only democracy."

This year, the 63 third commemorative year of the Nakba, is surrounded by so much hype and fanfare. Bolstered by the geopolitical changes in the Arab world, and drawing upon loud support from the resuscitated Egyptians as a result of their spectacular revolution, this Sunday promises to be something memorable. Egyptian youth have called for a million man march to the Rafah border to show their support and solidarity with the Palestinians, and Jordanians and refugees in Lebanon have pledged to do the same on their side. But guess who has the audacity to rain on the Egyptians' parade... Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal. He called for the Egyptian youth to refrain from marching to the border, citing fears of "unwanted military confrontation" and not wanting to place Egypt in direct conflict with Zionism when they have their own problems to sort out. Given that Hamas shot any diaphanous shred of credibility by announcing its favor in the two state solution, Meshaal's comments are seen as nothing less than traitorous. Imagine Mahmoud Abbas or any of his henchmen saying that. Speaking of which, the PA has banned anyone from demonstrating on Sunday next to checkpoints and settlements.

63 years, and Palestinians are not in any way closer to giving up their right of return.


And again, Ben Gurion's "The old will die and the young will forget" couldn't be further away from the truth. IMEU has come up with this great initiative where second or third generation refugees in a one minute video talk about their parents/grandparents' Nakba memories.

This year, Israel passed a law forbidding anyone inside of Israel to commemorate the nakba since apparently it's a criminal offense. This from the Palestine Monitor:

Palestinian schools inside the Green Line have already experienced signs that portend increased censorship. According to an Alternative Information Center report, officials from Israeli Ministry of Education visited Palestinians schools on Land Day, 30 March, requesting that school officials send the Ministry a list of teachers and students that were absent that day.


This act of intimidation was received as a reminder to schools that the Ministry of Education is in fact watching their political activities.


The Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education, an Israeli organization founded in 1984 to advocate for and protect Arab education in Israel, have vocalized their opposition to the law and dedication to Palestinians’ right to observe national days that form cultural and collective memory.


In the past, Palestinian schools have worked with their mayors and local councils to develop lesson plans, activities and video screenings to memorialize the Nakba. Since the passing of the “Nakba Law,” FUCAE is working with legal organizations, Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Adalah, to understand how Palestinian schools will be able to recognize their historical narrative without incurring heavy fines.

On Friday, protests were held in Cairo and Amman and Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli security was tight, and one youth from Silwan died early this morning from a gunshot wound to his stomach. In the areas around East Jerusalem particularly, clashes took place between Palestinians and the Israeli forces, resulting in the arrest of 34 people.

And now onto the Third Palestinian Intifada. It all started on Facebook after getting inspired by the Arab revolutions. Fans numbered almost 300,000 when Facebook decided to pull the page after a couple of whiners were concerned about the anti-Semitic message the page was giving out. In its place, dozens of the Third Palestinian Intifada pages appeared. We don't know how exactly this proposed intifada will pan out, but Mahmoud Abbas is determined that no intifada will happen under his festering reign, stating that anyone who wants to carry out "armed resistance" should do so away from the Palestinian people. Some people just don't know when to stop sinking so low. We checked out the Facebook page for the intifada, and it included a long-winded mission statement in Arabic that outlined the cause and effects of the first two intifadas and and what the aspirations for the youth or anyone partaking should be and how that in turn should develop and shape their personalities with regards to social, economic, political, cultural, organizational, and gender related issues. From a quick skim, we saw no information about how this imminent third intifada will be implemented.

Matthew Cassel clarifies what will happen on May 15th, which looks like the normal procedure for previous May 15ths. The third intifada is a day where:

...Palestinian activists, political factions and non-governmental organizations, are participating in various coordinated actions to protest Israeli occupation and call for the right of return for some six million Palestinian refugees. The significance of this date is that it is Nakba day — the day Palestinians annually commemorate their ethnic cleansing from Palestine as British forces departed in 1948 and Zionist forces took over much of the country to establish Israel.

We really do not want to belittle the events/actions that are going to take place tomorrow. While it was heartening to hear Jordanians from the village of Karameh shouting "The people want the liberation of Palestine"/"A-sha3b yureed ta7reer falasteen" and even more so that the Egyptians are putting together convoys to effectively break the siege of Gaza once and for all, here in the West Bank we can't but help feel that all this hullabaloo will result in crushing disappointment, much like the one experienced on March 15th. In fact, we have already bet that around three thousand people will show up around the Manara square and other landmarks in the West Bank cities, instead of the hundreds of thousands who are participating rigorously in debates on Facebook pages, posting links and pictures and YouTube videos in a frenzied manner.

Here's what we think will go down tomorrow:

• Congregation of disappointing amount of people
• First half hour characterized by emphatic chanting, waving of flags, fist-pumping, etc
• Adrenaline flows as there seems to be genuine feelings of nationalistic pride
• Attempted sabotage by the united political factions
• Blaring loudspeakers play nationalistic songs over and over again as people begin to lose interest and walk away
• Unleashing of Ramallah perverts, who make sardonic and immensely witty jokes about liberation of Palestine
• We cry
• Go home, turn on the news, watch youth who demonstrated at Qalandia checkpoint get tear-gassed and maybe a procession of a martyr or two 

Keep in mind, we made this list not because it's the prototype of what usually goes on in (PA approved) rallies/demonstrations or to be called useless slags who keep on moaning about the incompetence of any type of Palestinian leadership that lacks that stimulating factor, but rather so we can be proved horribly, magnificently wrong. A couple of months ago, there was on article on the al-Jazeera website that asserted that no revolution is likely to take place in Syria anytime soon because of these so and so factors.

We'll be there around the Manara square tomorrow, but this time with no high hopes or expectations. May 15th will be yet another commemorative year, but this won't explode or even ignite the fuse for the Third Intifada. The youth seem to know what they want (an end to division, an end to occupation, liberation of Palestine, calls for democratic elections, etc) but their problem lies in their means to achieve these goals. Again, with March 15th on our minds, copying the tactics of Egypt and Tunisia was not enough. March 15th didn't bring about the reconciliation of Hamas and Fateh. The geopolitical circumstances in surrounding Arab countries did. May 15th will be another year, another day of remembrance, a devastating and amplified reminder that 63 years have gone by, where over 500 villages and 11 urban neighborhoods were completely destroyed and now have thriving Israeli infrastructures built upon the ruins. 

The Only Democracy

Netanyahu, being the suave cavalier he is, made his position pretty clear on the recent revolutions in the Arab world (IRAN! RADICAL ISLAM! WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF ISRAEL!) and openly opposed unity between Fateh and Hamas. His interview with flaky Piers Morgan is riddled with falsities and lies, and is quite telling of his opinion to the Palestinians. Basically, Palestinians should thank the lord every day for not bearing the full military brunt of Israel because of their refusal to accept it. An interim Palestinian state built on 60 percent of the West Bank is a major concession. Gaza has been growing economically at the rate of 17% or some other horseshit (we can't be bothered to read the whole thing again) and Palestinian society is represented by two halves: those who want to see the annihilation of Israel and those who are too scared to confront these would be annihilators. Jews are entitled to build settlements on their God given Jewish homeland, like please, the audacity of the international world to even consider settlements as illegal and obstructive to peace! And would somebody PLEASE stop with automatically racially profiling Palestinians as the villains of the Etmar murders and the Jerusalem bombing. Last time we heard, no one has come forward, yet that hasn't stopped the implications of dozens of Palestinians just because they're the other. Etc etc etc.

Just to showcase how Israel is the best thing in the Middle East and its flawless democratic nature, the Knesset passed a couple of controversial bills.

The Nakba Bill. Any organization that dares to even pay lip service to the Nakba violates the democratic pillars of Israel.

The "Admission Committees Law" Bill. Anyone not Jewish Israeli is not allowed to settle in the Negev. Or as Roi Moar says,"Palestinian Israelis are not allowed to live in Jewish localities built on land confiscated from them."

Other democratic bills include this one that prohibits any form of BDS activism or solidarity.

Israel has its back against the wall, which explains its increasing repressiveness and open racism. The end is nigh. Imagine ten years from now. Or five. Coexistence. Equal rights. Oooh we're all in a dither now.

Israel is a DEMOCRACY dammit!

Which is why hundreds of state appointed rabbis have signed a democratic letter and called on Jewish Israelis to refrain, nay to adamantly refuse renting real estate-either living or work accommodations- to Palestinians. Armed with religious nonsense, the rabbis have justified this act as a Jewish one, with biblical references mentioning the decrease of property values as a result of Mr Jew renting to Mr Arab. Wonder what else these Dan Brownesque biblical references include, something about the predictability of current stock markets?

International reaction? Zero. But if it were whites refusing to sell/rent property to blacks as was the case a few decades ago in the great US, then yes an uproar would be the least type of acknowledgement.

So, no really, we are trying to understand this belligerence. Ok, getting in the zone. Beards, bowler hats, long fingernails. Hello. We are rabid rabbis. No, not rabid, but something more euphemistic. Uh..um..zealous? Zealous rabbis. Who believe in some religious doctrine that dictates the superiority of one people over all other humans in the world. And that to defend that special feeling, we must...be even more zealous. And make up laws and rules to suit our self interests, because it's all for the greater good. We cannot blame people for not being who we are, so we must rid their infiltrating presence because it serves to remind us that we did not settle on a land without a people. We are merely acting out God's will. God came to us in the form of a dogmatist enrobed in a white rose tinged flowing material and ordered us to do so. The Jews must feel protected and secure, therefore we must keep our promise to our brethren by...disregarding humanity and basic rights concerning the unchosen brown people? Sounds about right.

That was exhausting. How do these rabbis manage to live like that? Note, we are not lumping all Jews into one xenophobic spoon, we're way too educated for that. And of course these rabbis (which we have just spelt rabies accidentally for the 4th time) do not represent nor reflect the moral values of other humane Jews and rabbis. Every religion has its own batch of extremist wing nuts, but these rabies DAMMIT rabbis are municipal chief rabbis, not some comforting harmless religious figures. Oh, a few rabbis that have held on to reason refused to sign rabid letter yay, stating:

"There are things that should not be done; what if there would be a similar call in Berlin against renting properties to Jews? Where is the public conscience? What will this do to Jews around the world? We must act responsibly."

and

"This ruling is a serious distortion of the Torah, and contradicts basic human morality."

and

"...despite the Biblical prohibition 'Thou shalt not give them respite,' in a democratic state you cannot discriminate between citizens. What's more, it will cause discrimination against Jews in other countries."

Racist rabbis, this is for you-ka bam!

Overall, this is khrazy. And not too surprising. Because that's the only way Israel can be a Jewish democracy. And now our brains hurt for that incompatible sentence.

Ethnic Cleansing Alive and Kicking

In honor of Israel's security, defense, and criminality, the village of Abul-Ajaj in the northern Jordanian valley has been eradicated to make way for future expansion of the Metsuwah settlement (already established on Palestinian land).

Poof, gone, just like that.

Those families who will want to stay close to their military seized land will probably live in tents before their pathetic clustering will later emerge into what, either a refugee camp or a destitute slum?

WHAT
THE
FUCK.

In this world, in these days, economic technological medical etc developments mean absolutely nothing when human conscience still can not function tolerantly, healthily, humanely.

Boycott. Anyone with any shred of humanity will Boycott.

10.10.10

Lightening will strike all famous monuments in the world! Cupid's arrows will be flying everywhere! Rainbow fish are frying themselves!

It's ten ten ten. And that makes for such cute wedding anniversaries. Like three years ago when it was seven seven seven, the amount of couples getting married on that day actually made the news. Anyhow, since weddings are overrated, let's see what REAL news we have for today.

Today in Ramallah, it was announced that henceforth from now, every tenth of October will be Palestinian Forgiveness Day. What utter bullshit, how about we focus on erm ridding ourselves from the occupiers first? Well doesn't that sound grand.

Israel has passed a new law to illustrate just how thoughtfully democratic it really is. Israeli non-Jewish citizens must take an oath of Jewish loyalty to the state. Well, that's not going to sit down too well with the '48 Palestinians in 'Israel', who make up 20 percent of the population. But how dare we be so presumptuous as to enlighten the racist Zionuts what democracy is! Take this from Bibi: "No one can preach democracy or enlightenment to us.There is no other democracy in the Middle East."

Ah, the Honorable IDF

The answer to that question would be Saudi Arabia.

Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy won't work here.

What's the big deal with not allowing gay people to serve in an army?

But then, gay people are so much more smarter and know better than to serve in a terrorist army. No to the pinkwashing of the IOF!

See groups such as: Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Toronto; Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism; LGBTQ (lesbians gays bisexuals trans-gendered and queers).

PS...are Palestinian queers allowed to join the army? According to the ad they should be..the only democracy is so thoughtful...but wait, what's this? Suckers!

This hilarious (not) video shows that the IDF have got HUMOR! How refreshing to see! After all the hardships they've been through, it's amazing that they still know how to entertain themselves and others. The bastards are in Hebron, Shuhada street which prohibits Palestinians from using that road and is open exclusively to the deranged settlers, which make up one percent of Hebron's population. Please dear viewers, don't stop here, check out other videos that depict just how funny life for Palestinians in Hebron really is.

State Terrorism, Flotilla Under Attack

What poor, victimized Israel has done today is in the words of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan "state terrorism." What they have done constitutes terror. They murdered civilians aboard a humanitarian ship. Those filthy criminals, assailants, murderers, barbarians. What they have done in the early hours of today is unfathomable. It is senseless. It is horrific, unnecessary, and brutal. Much like Operation Cast Lead. This time, instead of attacking, killing, and injuring a few thousand lowly Palestinians whose lives aren't worth that much anyway (pure sarcasm for the drain-brained) they've opened fire, wounded, and killed civilians and activists from so many different countries. So far, there are confirmed reports that 19 are killed, ten who are from Turkey. Yeah that's right, the quickest way to self-destruction is to jeopardize already troubled relations with the only country in the region that had an amicable relationship with it. We are beyond disgusted. We are beyond horrified. This, we did not expect. This, with the whole world watching, we did not see coming.

Under cover of the darkness before dawn, Israeli troops descended onto the main ship, Mavi Marmara, carrying 600 passengers in international waters (read it twice, international waters) and began shooting. This military action came with the full approval of Benjamin fucking Netanyahu, after speaking on Monday from Canada to top Israeli diplomats and officials. When we first heard about the news, we went numb. This is not even outlandish anymore, there are no extremities that Israel has not reached with such brazen impunity, allowing aggressive and destructive behavior to rule at the cost of innocent lives. Heard about the Israeli bombing of the USS Liberty ship back in 1967? 34 were killed.

We can't even collect our train of thoughts right now. Let's start with the Israeli version of how things went, if only to provide some harrowing comedic effect.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs played Russian Roulette with itself, packing the single most absurd preposterous bullet. When that bullet was fired, the extremity of the bull shittedness was enough to cause a lot more innocent people to brain hemorrhage. The bullet read as:

During the interception of the ships, the demonstrators on board attacked the IDF navy personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.

Ok, so they use the victim card. They've been using it for more than 62 years. It never gets old! But, as Azmi Bshara derisively and correctly assessed, what kind of elite commando unit does Israel have if it allows a civilian to get close to him and intercept his weapon? We shouldn't even be doing this, humoring Israel's claims. No one with half a brain believes this nonsensical blabber above. And anyone with that half a brain is smart enough to know the deep bottomless well of Israel's stupidity. What the hell kind of people were on board this flotilla anyway? Hmm, maybe an underground selective inter-European guerrilla army. Don't be fooled by those women on the ships! They were trained at Qaddafi's special training school for his female bodyguards. And those parliamentarians? They are haters of Israel, not necessarily the crazy "Islamo-fascists" but just obsolete Roman emperors who have taken it upon themselves to single-handedly oversee the demise of Israel. This isn't far-fetched at all! No more than a heavily armed troop being attacked with knives and clubs!

The Free Gaza Movement have stated their own CORRECT* version of events. (*This is unbiased reporting from us.)

Under darkness of night, Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto the Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara, and began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck. They fired directly into the crowd of civilians asleep. Streaming videos shows Israeli soldiers shooting at civilians. This attack has happened 75 miles off the coast of Israel, in direct violation of international law.

When will Israel's impunity end? When will it be held accountable to its atrocious war crimes? When will its perpetrators and leaders be tried (and hanged...or shot at by a firing squad made up of families that have lived off the injustice and occupation) as war criminals in international hearing courts? Damn you USA for your superpower-ness.

Turkey has 10,000 protesters in the capital, voicing their anger in front of the Israeli embassy, making their way to the city square and demanding justice.

400 people turned out in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where one of the ships carrying construction materials set off from.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, 200 people are starting out the protest.

London's protest has a massive turn-out!

Amman, Jordan has a 1000 people protesting.

Associated Press reports that smaller protests have broken out in Kirachi (Pakistan) and Sarajevo (Bosnia), and Thessaloníki (Greece).

Turkey, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Greece have all summoned their Israeli ambassadors for a meeting. France backs growing support for a thorough investigation of Israel's attack.

Citizens from all of these countries mentioned were aboard the flotilla.

Old man Abbas has politely heeded Israel's demand that no protests in Ramallah or the West Bank should be held. He has as compensation for his lack of balls issued a 3 day mourning period.

Sheik Raed Saleh of the Islamic Movement in Al-Quds and 1948 region is between life and death after sustaining an injury/getting shot at by a bullet on his head.

The worst feeling is that of desolate hopelessness, knowing that you can't do anything, while these good souls on the flotilla have suffered death and injury and terrorizing at the hands of mentally challenged state.

UPDATE: New day brings with it new clarifications, Sheik Raed Saleh is unhurt, in one piece, and detained at Be'er Sheva prison. There was a gathering of people around the Manara square in Ramallah but to us, that does not make up a protest. Protests should be of at least 1000 people, with their voices ringing loud and clear. See Cairo, Ankara, and London.