Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Jewish settlers savagely attack Palestinians in Hawara
NABLUS, (PIC)– Hundreds of armed Jewish settlers attacked at midnight Saturday Palestinian homes in Hawara village, south of Nablus city.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the settlers went on the rampage through the villages damaging property, assaulting residents, burning cars and throwing stones at everything.
Consequently, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) closed road 60 between Ramallah and Nablus.
The PIC reporter said the villagers in Hawara and nearby villages used the speakers of mosques to urge the Palestinians to defend their homes and property against settlers’ attacks, which were described as the most violent since a long time.
Hundreds of villagers stood up for themselves using stones and sticks to confront the armed settlers who were escorted by some Israeli troops. The size of damage and injuries is still unknown.
Source
This type of aggression is very common in the occupied areas. Even children going and coming from school are constantly harassed.
Settlers attacking Palestinians and peace activist during an olive harvest
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Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the settlers went on the rampage through the villages damaging property, assaulting residents, burning cars and throwing stones at everything.
Consequently, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) closed road 60 between Ramallah and Nablus.
The PIC reporter said the villagers in Hawara and nearby villages used the speakers of mosques to urge the Palestinians to defend their homes and property against settlers’ attacks, which were described as the most violent since a long time.
Hundreds of villagers stood up for themselves using stones and sticks to confront the armed settlers who were escorted by some Israeli troops. The size of damage and injuries is still unknown.
Source
This type of aggression is very common in the occupied areas. Even children going and coming from school are constantly harassed.
Settlers attacking Palestinians and peace activist during an olive harvest
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Tear down this Israeli wall
The Palestinian advocates of a boycott asked that I visit the occupied Palestinian territory to see the wall for myself before I made up my mind. I agreed.
Under the protection of the United Nations I visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw that day. The wall is an appalling edifice to behold. It is policed by young Israeli soldiers who treated me, a casual observer from another world, with disdainful aggression.
If it could be like that for me, a foreigner, a visitor, imagine what it must be like for the Palestinians, for the underclass, for the passbook carriers. I knew then that my conscience would not allow me to walk away from that wall, from the fate of the Palestinians I met: people whose lives are crushed daily by Israel's occupation. In solidarity, and somewhat impotently, I wrote on their wall that day: "We don't need no thought control."
Realising at that point that my presence on a Tel Aviv stage would inadvertently legitimise the oppression I had seen, I cancelled my gig at the stadium in Tel Aviv and moved it to Neve Shalom, an agricultural community devoted to growing chick peas and also, admirably, to co-operation between different faiths, where Muslim, Christian and Jew work side by side in harmony.
Against all expectations it was to become the biggest music event in the short history of Israel. Some 60,000 fans battled traffic jams to attend. It was extraordinarily moving for us, and at the end of the gig I was moved to exhort the young people gathered there to demand of their government that they attempt to make peace with their neighbours and respect the civil rights of Palestinians living in Israel.
Sadly, in the intervening years the Israeli government has made no attempt to implement legislation that would grant rights to Israeli Arabs equal to those enjoyed by Israeli Jews, and the wall has grown, inexorably, illegally annexing more and more of the West Bank.
For the people of Gaza, locked in a virtual prison behind the wall of Israel's illegal blockade, it means another set of injustices. It means that children go to sleep hungry, many chronically malnourished. It means that fathers and mothers, unable to work in a decimated economy, have no means to support their families. It means that university students with scholarships to study abroad must watch the opportunity of a lifetime slip away because they are not allowed to travel.
Full Story at Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/cultural-boycott-west-bank-wall
Under the protection of the United Nations I visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw that day. The wall is an appalling edifice to behold. It is policed by young Israeli soldiers who treated me, a casual observer from another world, with disdainful aggression.
If it could be like that for me, a foreigner, a visitor, imagine what it must be like for the Palestinians, for the underclass, for the passbook carriers. I knew then that my conscience would not allow me to walk away from that wall, from the fate of the Palestinians I met: people whose lives are crushed daily by Israel's occupation. In solidarity, and somewhat impotently, I wrote on their wall that day: "We don't need no thought control."
Realising at that point that my presence on a Tel Aviv stage would inadvertently legitimise the oppression I had seen, I cancelled my gig at the stadium in Tel Aviv and moved it to Neve Shalom, an agricultural community devoted to growing chick peas and also, admirably, to co-operation between different faiths, where Muslim, Christian and Jew work side by side in harmony.
Against all expectations it was to become the biggest music event in the short history of Israel. Some 60,000 fans battled traffic jams to attend. It was extraordinarily moving for us, and at the end of the gig I was moved to exhort the young people gathered there to demand of their government that they attempt to make peace with their neighbours and respect the civil rights of Palestinians living in Israel.
Sadly, in the intervening years the Israeli government has made no attempt to implement legislation that would grant rights to Israeli Arabs equal to those enjoyed by Israeli Jews, and the wall has grown, inexorably, illegally annexing more and more of the West Bank.
For the people of Gaza, locked in a virtual prison behind the wall of Israel's illegal blockade, it means another set of injustices. It means that children go to sleep hungry, many chronically malnourished. It means that fathers and mothers, unable to work in a decimated economy, have no means to support their families. It means that university students with scholarships to study abroad must watch the opportunity of a lifetime slip away because they are not allowed to travel.
Full Story at Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/cultural-boycott-west-bank-wall
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Israeli navy shells Palestinian fishing boat in Gaza
Gaza Strip, (Pal Telegraph)-As occupation military offensive continues, Israeli gunboats near the shore of Rafah city in the south part of Gaza Strip targeted Tuesday evening a Palestinian fishing boat causing damage with one boat.
Local sources reported that Israeli navy opened massive fire at Palestinian fishermen, while they were practicing their job.
Israeli gunboats regularly attack Palestinian fishing boats leaving many families without support since more than 3500 residents of Gaza Strip depend on fishing as a source of their income.
On 17th February, three Palestinian fishermen were killed by Israeli shells fired from the northern coast .
Source
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Local sources reported that Israeli navy opened massive fire at Palestinian fishermen, while they were practicing their job.
Israeli gunboats regularly attack Palestinian fishing boats leaving many families without support since more than 3500 residents of Gaza Strip depend on fishing as a source of their income.
On 17th February, three Palestinian fishermen were killed by Israeli shells fired from the northern coast .
Source
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011
AYMAN QWAIDER: HEROISM IN PALESTINIAN CULTURE
Among the Arab world, the Palestinian people have become icons and heroes in a particular way. Listening to some Palestinian national songs generates intense reminiscence of Gaza and the ongoing Israeli’s government violence in that territory. It also paints a portrait of the Palestinian struggle and how this contributes to the culture of resistance.
The Palestinian people brought up in an unstable environment dominated by all manner of violence for decades. Regularly different areas in the Gaza Strip are exposed to Israeli invasion resulting in the killing of people and demolishing of homes. Palestinian people always show struggle and patience against invasions. After invasion, people keep speaking about the consequences of the invasion for a long time and how resistance and non-violent resistance highly highlight the violence of these military operations. Obviously, this has ensured that resistance has become a culture within the Palestinian society.
In the Islamic world, there are two special occasions “Eid” where people celebrate and enjoy. From the very early part of my life, I noticed that gun game is unfortunately the main and favorite game for little children even during these moments of celebrations. I still remember how little kids named this game “let’s play Yahood & Arab” that means “let’s play Arab against Jewish”. This abnormal environment has a crucial role to play in drawing attention to the culture of resistance inside the Palestinian community.
A Culture Sprung from Occupation and Resistance
Palestine was placed under the British control after the First World War by the League of the United Nations. The Balfour Declaration[1] (1917) proclaimed Palestine as a national home for Jewish settlers (Allain, 2004: 80-84). The British mandate facilitated the Jewish occupation and settlement in Palestine. As a result of repeated colonisations, Palestine has a long history of being occupied. Accordingly, this has often compelled Palestinians to revolt against these despotic occupations. Palestinians, since the occupation of their land in 1948, have never stopped resisting.
Resistance under the British Mandate
The Palestinian resistance did not start with the establishment of the State of Israel but dates back to the British mandate period, starting in 1917. The British mandate and the establishment of Israel are both strongly integrated in the Palestinian history where the British mandate is considered the root of the conflict in Palestine.
The 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine came up as an example of uprising in protest against the British mandate and their role in bringing more Jewish immigrants to Palestine. In 1936, a general strike marked the start of the great Palestinian revolt.
The 1936 Palestinian general strike and the armed revolt that followed were momentous events for the Palestinians, the Region, and the British Empire. The six-month general strike, which ran from April until October and involved work stoppages and boycotts of the British- and Zionist–controlled parts of the economy was the longest anti -colonial strike of its kind until that point in history, and perhaps the longest ever (Khalidi, 2006:106).
From Nakba (Catastrophe) to Naksa (Tragedy)
The history of Palestine became a long chain of losses, feelings of being outdone, dispossessed. From the partition plan (1947) to the numerous massacres and mass expulsions, Palestinians suffer to the chore the lack of a real Hero able to transcend an overwhelming situation. To survive the Creation of Israel’s State in 1948 to the “Tragedy” of 1967, survival in itself becomes heroic, and this explains too, the importance of the Hero, the love of heroic acts in Palestinian culture.
The First Intifada: Mass Mobilization
The first Intifada began in December 1987 when a military Israeli truck killed Palestinian workers awaiting permission to cross into Israel to work. It is important to realize that the intifada was a strong example of a mass mobilization uprising but not a politically-based discussion (Holt, 1996:28).
Due to the aggression of the Israeli military over the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians revolted against this subjugation. Evidently, it had become a crucial part of the Palestinian daily life as it mobilized all population, including women, children and the elderly to participate. The first Intifada took the form of civil resistance where all population was participating to protest against the Israeli occupation (Ben-Ami, 2006:188). It also took the form of boycotts of the occupation’s institutions and goods. Further, the Palestinian people at that time disobeyed the occupation and regularly organized general strikes around all villages. At the same time, there were the stone demonstrations where young people threw stones against the aggressive Israeli armed occupation troops (Beinin and Hajjar). In contrast, the Israeli army always responded with violence against unarmed vulnerable Palestinians. It was obvious that the Palestinian youths battled the Israeli tanks and soldiers with their bodies without any means of violence (Rosen, 2005:116). Palestinian youth considered that the days of fighting with the Israeli soldiers were regarded as the glorious days of the Palestinian resistance.
Manal who was thirteen years old when the Intifada broke out and she was shot at her chest at the age of fifteen. I miss those days a lot. They were the most beautiful days of my life. True, everyone was scared of the soldiers and their guns but we had dignity and it was our dignity that made us so defiant (Rosen, 2005:118).
It is interestingly attractive when I read a story that happened in refugee camp “Al Bureij Camp”, where I received my primary education, which shows how the Palestinian women importantly participated during the first Intifada. For example, a woman spoke of routine raids by the Israeli soldiers. “The soldiers come,” she says:
Enter some houses without knocking and take the men and the boys away. We try to be quicker than the army and as soon as we hear the warning whistles from the guarding shabab (young men) at the edge of the camp, we women go out into the roofs and give signs to the shabab in our area that they have to run away. We signal to them from which direction the soldiers are coming. This is one of the roles of women during the uprising (Augustine, 1993:124).
The culture of resistance in the first intifada happened to be relatively non-violent. Further, it was dominated by the population through their disobedience of the Israeli occupation regarding their everyday life affairs. It’s an interesting case of “mass-heroism”.
The Second Intifada
The second Intifada is remarkably considered to be a religious uprising. It erupted as a reaction to the accumulation of the daily Israel oppression and violence. The visit of Ariel Sharon[2] to the Dome of the Rock[3] ”Al Aqsa Mosque” in Jerusalem in late September 2000 was the start of the Intifada. Therefore, Palestinians give this Intifada the name of “Intifada AL Aqsa” so as to keep it linked with most religious places in Palestine. This visit was provocative for the Palestinian Muslim people as Sharon violated their holiest mosque. Israelis consequently fired upon the Palestinian worshipers and demonstrators sparking the second Intifada.
The resistance during the Intifada as it is characterized with the increase of Israeli violence toward Palestinians was more brutal than the first Intifada. According B’Tselem organization, in the first intifada around 100 Israelis were killed, about two-fifths of those security forces, and 1000 Palestinians were killed, the majority were civilians. The second Intifada was much more aggressive and bloody as around 5050 were killed, tens of thousands injured, and approximately 5113 houses were demolished (Palestinian Center for Human Rights: 2010).
It is believed that occupied people have to right to resist and International Law guarantees this right. In this respect, the Palestinian people have all possible right to resist either violently or non-violently. The violent resistance in Palestine always emerged as a reaction of the daily Israeli oppression on the Palestinians which is characterized by brutality.
Obviously, the second Intifada also took the form of non-violent resistance. This kind of resistance has powerfully sustained and empowered the second Intifada through exploring non-violence to control the Israeli power. For instance, there is a one weekly demonstration taking place in two of the Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank (Ba’leen and Ni’lin). In these demonstrations, there is a popular participation including Palestinians, Israeli peace activists and foreigners who struggle none violently. This includes the desire to halt Israeli’s illegal confiscation of land for its notorious separation wall which Palestinians refer to as “Apartheid wall”. This wall paralyzes the Palestinian daily life as it cuts them off from their villages and their neighbors (Dowty, 2005:172). The International Court of Justice describes the construction of the Separation Wall as illegal and gravely infringes on Palestinian rights. Additionally, the court considered the wall constitutes violation of the International Law (International Court of Justice, 2004).
Such non-violent conquests as demonstrated by the two intifadas produce different forms of heroism: At individual level and at the collective level. At the collective level, it is remarkable to observe that the Palestinian people, who in the face of comparative weakness and disadvantage, have demonstrated courage and the will power to fight non-violently for what legitimately belongs to them: their land. Such-non violent resistance also indicates the sacrifices of Palestinians which aims at producing a better good for its people. Such collective heroism is also demonstrated by the international awareness which the Palestinian people are able to create regarding the occupation of their land and their self determination.
At the individual level, Palestinians as a people have learnt to live non-violently. Suffice it to mention that as recently as February, 2010 one student, Ayman Qwaider, gallantly demonstrated heroism by exploring exhaustive non violent campaigns to achieve his right and noble objective of studying outside his country (McIntyre:2010).
Throughout the quick overview of the two Palestinian Intifadas, we would easily realize these Intifadas have created a real Palestinian heroism. Regarding the culture of resistance, the Palestinian heroism would be defined as the ability of Palestinians to dedicate their lives to struggling and resisting the occupation their land. Moving to discuss the hero in the Palestinian constitution would actually illustrate the Palestinian perspective about the occupation as both heroes have been influenced by the occupation.
[1]On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Author Balfour, in a letter to a leading British Zionist Lord Rothschild wrote: “His Majesty’s Government views with the favour the establishment in Palestine of a national Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. It is being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jewish any other country.
[2] Sharon is an Israeli general and politician, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He is currently in a permanent vegetative state after suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006.
[3]Al-Aqsa Mosque is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Ka’ba inMecca, and is third in holiness and importance after the mosques in Meccaand Medina. It is great stature in Muslim and Palestinians’ heart.
I am Ayman Talal Quader. I’m a Palestinian born and raised in Gaza. I’m 23 years old. I have a bachelor degree in English Language and Education. I have worked in several different fields’ pre and post of my university studies for almost 4 years. I have worked as volunteer in civil societies where I practiced tasks to help people and educate children. i always try to bring the suffering of Palestinian to the whole world.I Do Love Gaza and its people, its land, its the breezes. i believe that justice and freedom should prevail one day.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/01/ayman-qwaider-heroism-in-palestinian-culture/
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
The Palestinian people brought up in an unstable environment dominated by all manner of violence for decades. Regularly different areas in the Gaza Strip are exposed to Israeli invasion resulting in the killing of people and demolishing of homes. Palestinian people always show struggle and patience against invasions. After invasion, people keep speaking about the consequences of the invasion for a long time and how resistance and non-violent resistance highly highlight the violence of these military operations. Obviously, this has ensured that resistance has become a culture within the Palestinian society.
In the Islamic world, there are two special occasions “Eid” where people celebrate and enjoy. From the very early part of my life, I noticed that gun game is unfortunately the main and favorite game for little children even during these moments of celebrations. I still remember how little kids named this game “let’s play Yahood & Arab” that means “let’s play Arab against Jewish”. This abnormal environment has a crucial role to play in drawing attention to the culture of resistance inside the Palestinian community.
A Culture Sprung from Occupation and Resistance
Palestine was placed under the British control after the First World War by the League of the United Nations. The Balfour Declaration[1] (1917) proclaimed Palestine as a national home for Jewish settlers (Allain, 2004: 80-84). The British mandate facilitated the Jewish occupation and settlement in Palestine. As a result of repeated colonisations, Palestine has a long history of being occupied. Accordingly, this has often compelled Palestinians to revolt against these despotic occupations. Palestinians, since the occupation of their land in 1948, have never stopped resisting.
Resistance under the British Mandate
The Palestinian resistance did not start with the establishment of the State of Israel but dates back to the British mandate period, starting in 1917. The British mandate and the establishment of Israel are both strongly integrated in the Palestinian history where the British mandate is considered the root of the conflict in Palestine.
The 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine came up as an example of uprising in protest against the British mandate and their role in bringing more Jewish immigrants to Palestine. In 1936, a general strike marked the start of the great Palestinian revolt.
The 1936 Palestinian general strike and the armed revolt that followed were momentous events for the Palestinians, the Region, and the British Empire. The six-month general strike, which ran from April until October and involved work stoppages and boycotts of the British- and Zionist–controlled parts of the economy was the longest anti -colonial strike of its kind until that point in history, and perhaps the longest ever (Khalidi, 2006:106).
From Nakba (Catastrophe) to Naksa (Tragedy)
The history of Palestine became a long chain of losses, feelings of being outdone, dispossessed. From the partition plan (1947) to the numerous massacres and mass expulsions, Palestinians suffer to the chore the lack of a real Hero able to transcend an overwhelming situation. To survive the Creation of Israel’s State in 1948 to the “Tragedy” of 1967, survival in itself becomes heroic, and this explains too, the importance of the Hero, the love of heroic acts in Palestinian culture.
The First Intifada: Mass Mobilization
The first Intifada began in December 1987 when a military Israeli truck killed Palestinian workers awaiting permission to cross into Israel to work. It is important to realize that the intifada was a strong example of a mass mobilization uprising but not a politically-based discussion (Holt, 1996:28).
Due to the aggression of the Israeli military over the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Palestinians revolted against this subjugation. Evidently, it had become a crucial part of the Palestinian daily life as it mobilized all population, including women, children and the elderly to participate. The first Intifada took the form of civil resistance where all population was participating to protest against the Israeli occupation (Ben-Ami, 2006:188). It also took the form of boycotts of the occupation’s institutions and goods. Further, the Palestinian people at that time disobeyed the occupation and regularly organized general strikes around all villages. At the same time, there were the stone demonstrations where young people threw stones against the aggressive Israeli armed occupation troops (Beinin and Hajjar). In contrast, the Israeli army always responded with violence against unarmed vulnerable Palestinians. It was obvious that the Palestinian youths battled the Israeli tanks and soldiers with their bodies without any means of violence (Rosen, 2005:116). Palestinian youth considered that the days of fighting with the Israeli soldiers were regarded as the glorious days of the Palestinian resistance.
Manal who was thirteen years old when the Intifada broke out and she was shot at her chest at the age of fifteen. I miss those days a lot. They were the most beautiful days of my life. True, everyone was scared of the soldiers and their guns but we had dignity and it was our dignity that made us so defiant (Rosen, 2005:118).
It is interestingly attractive when I read a story that happened in refugee camp “Al Bureij Camp”, where I received my primary education, which shows how the Palestinian women importantly participated during the first Intifada. For example, a woman spoke of routine raids by the Israeli soldiers. “The soldiers come,” she says:
Enter some houses without knocking and take the men and the boys away. We try to be quicker than the army and as soon as we hear the warning whistles from the guarding shabab (young men) at the edge of the camp, we women go out into the roofs and give signs to the shabab in our area that they have to run away. We signal to them from which direction the soldiers are coming. This is one of the roles of women during the uprising (Augustine, 1993:124).
The culture of resistance in the first intifada happened to be relatively non-violent. Further, it was dominated by the population through their disobedience of the Israeli occupation regarding their everyday life affairs. It’s an interesting case of “mass-heroism”.
The Second Intifada
The second Intifada is remarkably considered to be a religious uprising. It erupted as a reaction to the accumulation of the daily Israel oppression and violence. The visit of Ariel Sharon[2] to the Dome of the Rock[3] ”Al Aqsa Mosque” in Jerusalem in late September 2000 was the start of the Intifada. Therefore, Palestinians give this Intifada the name of “Intifada AL Aqsa” so as to keep it linked with most religious places in Palestine. This visit was provocative for the Palestinian Muslim people as Sharon violated their holiest mosque. Israelis consequently fired upon the Palestinian worshipers and demonstrators sparking the second Intifada.
The resistance during the Intifada as it is characterized with the increase of Israeli violence toward Palestinians was more brutal than the first Intifada. According B’Tselem organization, in the first intifada around 100 Israelis were killed, about two-fifths of those security forces, and 1000 Palestinians were killed, the majority were civilians. The second Intifada was much more aggressive and bloody as around 5050 were killed, tens of thousands injured, and approximately 5113 houses were demolished (Palestinian Center for Human Rights: 2010).
It is believed that occupied people have to right to resist and International Law guarantees this right. In this respect, the Palestinian people have all possible right to resist either violently or non-violently. The violent resistance in Palestine always emerged as a reaction of the daily Israeli oppression on the Palestinians which is characterized by brutality.
Obviously, the second Intifada also took the form of non-violent resistance. This kind of resistance has powerfully sustained and empowered the second Intifada through exploring non-violence to control the Israeli power. For instance, there is a one weekly demonstration taking place in two of the Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank (Ba’leen and Ni’lin). In these demonstrations, there is a popular participation including Palestinians, Israeli peace activists and foreigners who struggle none violently. This includes the desire to halt Israeli’s illegal confiscation of land for its notorious separation wall which Palestinians refer to as “Apartheid wall”. This wall paralyzes the Palestinian daily life as it cuts them off from their villages and their neighbors (Dowty, 2005:172). The International Court of Justice describes the construction of the Separation Wall as illegal and gravely infringes on Palestinian rights. Additionally, the court considered the wall constitutes violation of the International Law (International Court of Justice, 2004).
Such non-violent conquests as demonstrated by the two intifadas produce different forms of heroism: At individual level and at the collective level. At the collective level, it is remarkable to observe that the Palestinian people, who in the face of comparative weakness and disadvantage, have demonstrated courage and the will power to fight non-violently for what legitimately belongs to them: their land. Such-non violent resistance also indicates the sacrifices of Palestinians which aims at producing a better good for its people. Such collective heroism is also demonstrated by the international awareness which the Palestinian people are able to create regarding the occupation of their land and their self determination.
At the individual level, Palestinians as a people have learnt to live non-violently. Suffice it to mention that as recently as February, 2010 one student, Ayman Qwaider, gallantly demonstrated heroism by exploring exhaustive non violent campaigns to achieve his right and noble objective of studying outside his country (McIntyre:2010).
Throughout the quick overview of the two Palestinian Intifadas, we would easily realize these Intifadas have created a real Palestinian heroism. Regarding the culture of resistance, the Palestinian heroism would be defined as the ability of Palestinians to dedicate their lives to struggling and resisting the occupation their land. Moving to discuss the hero in the Palestinian constitution would actually illustrate the Palestinian perspective about the occupation as both heroes have been influenced by the occupation.
[1]On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Author Balfour, in a letter to a leading British Zionist Lord Rothschild wrote: “His Majesty’s Government views with the favour the establishment in Palestine of a national Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. It is being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jewish any other country.
[2] Sharon is an Israeli general and politician, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He is currently in a permanent vegetative state after suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006.
[3]Al-Aqsa Mosque is the second oldest mosque in Islam after the Ka’ba inMecca, and is third in holiness and importance after the mosques in Meccaand Medina. It is great stature in Muslim and Palestinians’ heart.
I am Ayman Talal Quader. I’m a Palestinian born and raised in Gaza. I’m 23 years old. I have a bachelor degree in English Language and Education. I have worked in several different fields’ pre and post of my university studies for almost 4 years. I have worked as volunteer in civil societies where I practiced tasks to help people and educate children. i always try to bring the suffering of Palestinian to the whole world.I Do Love Gaza and its people, its land, its the breezes. i believe that justice and freedom should prevail one day.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/01/ayman-qwaider-heroism-in-palestinian-culture/
Subscribe to Falestin Under Occupation by Email
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
European Union ready to recognize Palestine
Europe, December 14, (Pal Telegraph-Agencies) – The European Union says it is prepared to recognize a Palestinian state in the wake of a groundswell of international support for the Palestinians.
In a statement issued on Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council said it "reiterates its readiness, when appropriate, to recognize a Palestinian state,".
The EU also said such a state had to be “contiguous and viable.”
Brazil and Argentina recently recognized Palestine, and Uruguay and France have pledged that they will follow suit.
However, Israel continues to construct and expand illegal Jewish settler units on the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv occupied the territories in 1967.
Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on settlement activities in late September, thus stalling the direct talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) that had resumed earlier that month.
The Palestinians say that the settlement construction activities are being carried out to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The EU foreign ministers, who were meeting in Brussels, "noted with regret" Tel Aviv's failure to prolong the moratorium.
The settlements “are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace," the EU ministers said in a statement.
Source-http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7720:EU-ready-to-recognize-Palestine&catid=81:world-news&Itemid=128
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In a statement issued on Monday, the EU Foreign Affairs Council said it "reiterates its readiness, when appropriate, to recognize a Palestinian state,".
The EU also said such a state had to be “contiguous and viable.”
Brazil and Argentina recently recognized Palestine, and Uruguay and France have pledged that they will follow suit.
However, Israel continues to construct and expand illegal Jewish settler units on the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East of Jerusalem. Tel Aviv occupied the territories in 1967.
Israel refused to extend a partial freeze on settlement activities in late September, thus stalling the direct talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) that had resumed earlier that month.
The Palestinians say that the settlement construction activities are being carried out to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The EU foreign ministers, who were meeting in Brussels, "noted with regret" Tel Aviv's failure to prolong the moratorium.
The settlements “are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace," the EU ministers said in a statement.
Source-http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7720:EU-ready-to-recognize-Palestine&catid=81:world-news&Itemid=128
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Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Last kaffiyeh factory struggles to stay afloat in Palestinian territories
The kaffiyeh became a symbol of resistance because of its most famous exponent, Yasser Arafat. Its popularity as a fashion item came later. Photograph: AFP
In a rundown office to the side of a gloomy and deserted breeze-block factory, 76-year-old Yasser Hirbawi is hunched on a low couch turning his life's work over and over between his fingers.
In his lap – and on his head – are specimens of what has become the internationally recognised symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, the kaffiyeh, the chequered headscarf worn by politicians and militants alike and adopted not just by their supporters but by fashionistas across the globe.
But the kaffiyeh's ubiquity is of small comfort to Hirbawi, his two sons and the sole employee left in the last factory making the headscarves in the Palestinian territories. After almost 50 years, the family business is struggling to keep afloat amid a flood of cheap Chinese imports.
"The Chinese kaffiyehs are like a cigarette paper," says Jouda Hirbawi, 44. "They are cheaper, but the quality is lower."
According to the Hirbawis, the Chinese manufacturers use polyester and poor-quality cotton in their kaffiyehs. In contrast, a Hirbawi kaffiyeh is laboriously produced with high-quality material and – just as importantly – a sense of history.
But the Chinese products sell at less than two-thirds the price of the Palestinian scarves. "We sell a dozen for 100 shekels (£17). The Chinese sell a dozen for 60 shekels (£10)," says Jouda. "The people who are importing this garbage from China are killing the local product."
Hirbawi Textiles once employed 15 men in the factory, plus perhaps another 25 women finishing the scarves in their homes, between them supporting about 300 people and producing hundreds of kaffiyehs daily. "We were working 17 or 18 hours a day, supplying the local market. It's very intensive and tedious work."
Now one loyal employee is left working alongside the Hirbawi brothers. All but one of the looms was idle today, its clacking echoing around the factory floor. A low-wattage fluorescent strip casts a pool of light over the machine in the factory gloom.
The change in fortunes followed the signing of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s, after which the newly formed Palestinian Authority opened up its market to imports. In 1995, Hirbawi Textiles closed down. "There was no demand," says Jouda. "We shut for five years. Then we said, 'This is the only thing we know how to do', so we decided to try again."
The family is bitter at the PA's refusal to protect Palestinian businesses and what it describes as a "national product".
"There should be high taxes imposed on outside products," says Yasser Hirbawi. "They should not be helping outside products against local products. A falafel stand makes more money than this factory."
He is dismissive of the Palestinian businessmen importing Chinese kaffiyehs. "They are merchants, they just want to make a profit."
The factory's main source of income now is from foreign visitors, without whom "we would have closed a long time ago," says Jouda. "A lot of foreigners wear kaffiyehs to show their support for the Palestinians."
In the factory office, a small boy is rearranging bagged kaffiyehs on banks of shelves awaiting the next group of foreigners to descend with shekels to spend. On the wall is a poster of Palestinian icon Yasser Arafat, sporting, as always, a kaffiyeh. Is it one from the factory? "Yes," says Yasser Hirbawi. "Maybe," says his son more realistically.
As they show their visitors out, they shut down the one working loom and switch off the overhead light. It's lunchtime and perhaps production is over for the day.
Jouda Hirbawi insists the family will not give up its struggle to keep the factory going. "We will continue. This is the fruit of 50 years of continuous work – it's more than a business. We are trying to be competitive but we want to manufacture a high-quality kaffiyeh."
The family finds it hard to believe that the item they have been producing for almost half a century is in such global demand yet their business is on its knees.
"All over the world the kaffiyeh has become a symbol of resistance – even on protests that have nothing to do with the Palestinian people, you see people wearing them," says Jouda.
His father, weary and bitter, adds: "Everyone all over the world is benefiting from this symbol – except us."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/last-kaffiyeh-factory-palestinian-territories
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In a rundown office to the side of a gloomy and deserted breeze-block factory, 76-year-old Yasser Hirbawi is hunched on a low couch turning his life's work over and over between his fingers.
In his lap – and on his head – are specimens of what has become the internationally recognised symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, the kaffiyeh, the chequered headscarf worn by politicians and militants alike and adopted not just by their supporters but by fashionistas across the globe.
But the kaffiyeh's ubiquity is of small comfort to Hirbawi, his two sons and the sole employee left in the last factory making the headscarves in the Palestinian territories. After almost 50 years, the family business is struggling to keep afloat amid a flood of cheap Chinese imports.
"The Chinese kaffiyehs are like a cigarette paper," says Jouda Hirbawi, 44. "They are cheaper, but the quality is lower."
According to the Hirbawis, the Chinese manufacturers use polyester and poor-quality cotton in their kaffiyehs. In contrast, a Hirbawi kaffiyeh is laboriously produced with high-quality material and – just as importantly – a sense of history.
But the Chinese products sell at less than two-thirds the price of the Palestinian scarves. "We sell a dozen for 100 shekels (£17). The Chinese sell a dozen for 60 shekels (£10)," says Jouda. "The people who are importing this garbage from China are killing the local product."
Hirbawi Textiles once employed 15 men in the factory, plus perhaps another 25 women finishing the scarves in their homes, between them supporting about 300 people and producing hundreds of kaffiyehs daily. "We were working 17 or 18 hours a day, supplying the local market. It's very intensive and tedious work."
Now one loyal employee is left working alongside the Hirbawi brothers. All but one of the looms was idle today, its clacking echoing around the factory floor. A low-wattage fluorescent strip casts a pool of light over the machine in the factory gloom.
The change in fortunes followed the signing of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s, after which the newly formed Palestinian Authority opened up its market to imports. In 1995, Hirbawi Textiles closed down. "There was no demand," says Jouda. "We shut for five years. Then we said, 'This is the only thing we know how to do', so we decided to try again."
The family is bitter at the PA's refusal to protect Palestinian businesses and what it describes as a "national product".
"There should be high taxes imposed on outside products," says Yasser Hirbawi. "They should not be helping outside products against local products. A falafel stand makes more money than this factory."
He is dismissive of the Palestinian businessmen importing Chinese kaffiyehs. "They are merchants, they just want to make a profit."
The factory's main source of income now is from foreign visitors, without whom "we would have closed a long time ago," says Jouda. "A lot of foreigners wear kaffiyehs to show their support for the Palestinians."
In the factory office, a small boy is rearranging bagged kaffiyehs on banks of shelves awaiting the next group of foreigners to descend with shekels to spend. On the wall is a poster of Palestinian icon Yasser Arafat, sporting, as always, a kaffiyeh. Is it one from the factory? "Yes," says Yasser Hirbawi. "Maybe," says his son more realistically.
As they show their visitors out, they shut down the one working loom and switch off the overhead light. It's lunchtime and perhaps production is over for the day.
Jouda Hirbawi insists the family will not give up its struggle to keep the factory going. "We will continue. This is the fruit of 50 years of continuous work – it's more than a business. We are trying to be competitive but we want to manufacture a high-quality kaffiyeh."
The family finds it hard to believe that the item they have been producing for almost half a century is in such global demand yet their business is on its knees.
"All over the world the kaffiyeh has become a symbol of resistance – even on protests that have nothing to do with the Palestinian people, you see people wearing them," says Jouda.
His father, weary and bitter, adds: "Everyone all over the world is benefiting from this symbol – except us."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/last-kaffiyeh-factory-palestinian-territories
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