Israeli security forces have forcibly evicted two Palestinian families from a contested East Jerusalem neighbourhood.
The families have lived in Sheikh Jarrah since 1956 but an Israeli court ruled that the homes belonged to Jewish families.
Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros reports from occupied East Jerusalem.
During the Viva Palestina Convoy to Gaza, we met a young-man named Arafat, a patient with several visible cancerous tumors in his forehead. His case was especially desperate, as doctor’s informed us that Arafat’s treatment is readily available just an hour away in Jerusalem; however, Israel has continually delayed his travel documents without any explanation, making his situation far worse than it needs to be.
Jul 24
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Jul 23
Excuse the bad quality and shooting.
JERUSALEM, July 22 (Reuters) – Israel will remove from school textbooks an Arabic term that describes the 1948 creation of the Jewish state as a “catastrophe”, the Education Ministry said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when he was opposition leader two years ago the word “nakba” in Israeli Arab schools was tantamount to spreading propaganda against Israel.
The term, which is not part of the curriculum in schools in Jewish communities, was introduced into a book for use in Arab schools in 2007 when the Education Ministry was run by Yuli Tamir of the centre-left Labour party.
The book was aimed at children, aged 8 and 9.
Jul 19
Allowed only 24 hours in Gaza under threat of not being allowed to return to Egypt, the Viva Palestina convoy has been a whirlwind of activity since crossing the border at Rafah Wednesday night. Organizers have attempted to compress 3 days of planned activities into a single day.
Thursday started by watching a press conference featuring Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh with members of the Neturei Karta, an organization of anti-Zionist Rabbis from Munsey, New York, who traveled with the caravan. Haniyeh emphasized that the government and the people of Gaza take no issue with Jews, but rather with Zionism and the ongoing oppression and blockade by Israel. Rabbi Dovid Weissman concurred that Jews, Christians and Muslims had coexisted peacefully in Muslim countries for centuries prior to the birth of Zionism, and asked for the people of Gaza to join him in praying for the peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel.
The group then drove around the Gaza Strip in buses to see the aftermath of the bombing onslaught 6 months ago before attending another press conference at the Legislative Assembly and traveling to Shafa Hospital in Gaza City to deliver the medical aid which was brought from the United States and gathered in Cairo. Finally, delegates met with families of some of the 11,000 prisoners being held in Israel at the Ministry of Prisoners in Tel Alhwa, where children of parents killed in December and January also addressed the group.
Fraser Gaspard of Denver, Colorado, said of seeing the devastation firsthand, “It really shows how effective the American weapons we give Israel are, and how deliberate Israel was in its attack from the spots that were hit, schools, hospitals, a cement factory, homes in refugee camps. You could see it was a war of terror against the Gazan people.”
For Mahmoud Elayan from New Jersey, the most impressive visit was the meeting at the Ministry of Prisoners. Elayan shared, “Three little girls spoke about losing 29 other immediate family members. I have 2 little kids, and I can’t imagine them going through anything like that. To see them still keeping hope like that when they’ve suffered so much, it was touching. I had to leave the room.”
Bringing medical aid was only one of Viva Palestina’s stated purposes. The convoy also sought to learn and share the stories of the Gazans who have lived under 61 years of occupation and the severe assault from December to January. Nour Mattar, a Palestinian born within the borders of Israel who now resides in Orange County, California, said of his experiences, “With all the blockade and all the pressure, if you drive around and talk to people you find they still have great spirit. They‘re not willing to give up or stand down, even though Israel has used every possible weapon they could, militarily, economically and politically.”
Having lived in Gaza for most of the years between 1997 and 2005, the journey was a homecoming for Bethany Gonzalez of Kansas City, Kansas. “Today I realized how much I really miss living in Gaza,” said Gonzalez. “The city and the people, everyone is so kind and hospitable, even with all they’ve been through.” She intends to return with the second Viva Palestina convoy from the U.S. in December, scheduled to coincide with the first anniversary of the attacks.
Mohamad, a recent graduate from the Islamic University, volunteered to serve as an interpreter for the delegates. Asked about the current state of the people of Gaza, he said, “The children now are still suffering from psychological pain and suffering. Whenever they hear any sound they say ‘Bomb! Bomb’ and start crying. For adults it is almost the same.” Mohamad expressed excitement about the past Viva Palestina convoy from London and the plans for future caravans from Venezuela, Moscow, Beijing, and the next from the U.S. “They decrease the suffering among the Gazans. The convoys break the siege and bring us medical aid. The people of Gaza feel really grateful and proud. These convoys uplift our spirits and help us feel stronger and more steadfast.”
Asked what he hopes for himself and all Gazans, Mohamad states simply, “We hope that we will have enough to live, and be able to live in peace, just as the other people of the world.”
Soozy Duncan
http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/
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Jul 17
7/16/2009, 8pm (local time Gaza): We are currently on our way back to the Rafah border heading towards Egypt from Gaza City. Our sadness to leave the people of Gaza after such a short period of time is indescribable. The Egyptian government has tortured our hearts to have only allowed us 24 hours with our brothers and sisters in Gaza. We are EVERMORE determined to return to Gaza in the near future inshaAllah/God-willing! AlHamdulilah/Thank God today we accomplished a lot with the help of our host “NGO’s”. BRIEFLY: We first attended a press conference with the Prime Minister of Palestine. We were then given a tour of the Gaza Strip and witnessed first-hand it’s destruction at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. During the tour we visited the American International School which was literally demolished to rubble and it is simply INCONCEIVABLE that this building was destroyed by mistake/accident. Such a building could not have been destroyed to such a condition with just one missile strike. Throughout Gaza it was MORE than evident that the destruction of homes, schools, and hospitals were deliberate acts of war crimes. We then saw the demolished parliament building in Gaza. Followed by a visit to the patients of Shifa Hospital. Some of us including myself had the opportunity to get a tour of the hospital and meet some of the patients. I am warning you now some of the images/videos from within this hospital will be very disturbing. Lastly we met families at the Ministry of Prisoner Detainees (the title is a bit misleading, it’s the ministry for the support of Palestinian’s who have family members in Israeli prisons: 11,000 as of now) who lost family members during the Gaza War, as well as those who currently have family members in Israeli prisons. All in all, there is SO much to say, so many pictures to share, so many stories to reveal… I hope to do all that and more once I get back home to Southern California tomorrow iA!
Jul 15
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Assalamu alaikum/peace be upon you all!
So I created a page to constantly upload photos/videos of the convoy as long as we have internet connection.
Convoy members from the United States will be flying from JFK, New York on July 4th arriving in Cairo evening of July 5th. I’ll be leaving for Cairo from Ramallah, Palestine on Monday.
Please keep us and the people of Gaza in your prayers!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEJ_WNQq6mQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&autoplay=1]
So yesterday Huwaida Arraf, one of the founders of the Free Gaza Movement, showed up to Ramallah and our student delegation meeting. She informed us that 2 civilians (the Israeli citizens) of the 21 civilians on the Spirit of Humanity aid boat were released, and the other 19 are awaiting deportation to their national origins in Israel’s Ben Gurion Prison.
Here’s a brief summary of events, as narrated by Huwaida, about Israel’s arrest of the Spirit of Humanity sailors.
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