Because of a 30-minute wait in the broiling sun and baking heat today, I arrived less than five minutes too late to get to the bank — and it was Thursday, normally the last day of the working week here in Jerusalem, Israel. Luckily, my bank — which is in East Jerusalem — will be [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians
You could get the impression, from some of the statements made by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Defense Forces, that Israel’s checkpoints in the West Bank are monitored by attractive and polite young people in crisp uniforms and maybe even wearing white gloves, holding baskets of hard candies (it is too hot [...]
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Filed under: Human Rights, International Law, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Uncategorized
I wrote this before, but seeing is believing. And, a picture is worth a thousand words. Ladies and gentlemen, anyone entering my little neighborhood is putting his/her life at risk. The sign reads: MORTAL DANGER – MILITARY ZONE ANY PERSON WHO ENTERS OR DAMAGES THE FENCE ENDANGERS HIS LIFE A lawyer might say this sign [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall
It is Monday, and The Wall is still open. Workers are, however, busy stringing a second strand of razor barbed-wire on the Jerusalem side of The Wall. The work seems to be taking some time — it has been going on for nearly two weeks already. There are not even any Israeli Border Police or [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall
It was a quiet sunny afternoon — not too hot — in East Jerusalem. Then, a total of five large U.S. made IDF helicopters flew, rather low, over East Jerusalem, heading west. They are, I was told, capable of carrying many weapons, and about 20 troops:
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Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General
The Associated Press has just posted this photo of the present situation in my neighborhood: This photo is interesting for several reasons: (1) the main intrigue is that the woman is rather exposed. My next door neighbor puts on her scarf and robe to hang out her laundry. It is rare to see this state [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, International Law, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall, Uncategorized
In his weekly article, circulated today by email, Uri Avnery speaks about the abysmal situation in Jerusalem — and in East Jerusalem. He starts just before the creation of the State of Israel: “Thus I became acquainted with the Arab neighborhoods, among them elegant quarters like Talbieh and Bakaa, which became the centers of Jewish [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians
I went to Bethlehem Thursday afternoon, and was held at the checkpoint for TWO HOURS waiting to get INTO the West Bank. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) liaison office in Tel Aviv, which is supposed to coordinate and facilitate access for foreign press, spent all that time negotiating with the Israeli Border police in order [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, International Law, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall
This morning, I decided I would make a good try to buy some kaak – a delicious foot-long oval of chewy white bread (maybe it could be described as a cross between a bagel and a French baguette) completely covered with toasted sesame seeds. The man who sells the kaak in our Twilight Zone used [...]
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Filed under: Human Rights, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall
The first word painted on the side of the private jet that brought Obama into Ben Gurion airport last night was: CHANGE. Yes, Obama as the candidate of change — that is what much of the world hopes for. Disclaimer: the title of this post was written before I even saw this Jerusalem Post article [...]
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Filed under: Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, USA