Posted on December 31st, 2010 by Marian Houk
Doing what few other Palestinian high-ranking officials and politicians bother to do, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad joined the regular Bil’in Friday demonstration against the Wall today, in the rain, on New Year’s eve. A photo of Salam Fayyad marching in Bilin in the rain, taken by Joseph Dana (Ibn Ezra) is posted on a Twitpic [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 29th, 2010 by Marian Houk
Jonathan Pollak, the Israeli anti-occupation activist who has just been sentenced to three months in jail for participating in a demonstration against tightened IDF-administered sanctions that affect over 1.5 million people in the closed Gaza Strip, has spoken to Haaretz’s Amira Hass about his conviction, and his convictions. The interview is published today, here. Pollak [...]
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Filed under: Academic studies and research, Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 27th, 2010 by Marian Houk
Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack was sentenced today in a Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court to serve two, concurrent, three-month prison terms for protesting the Israeli military-administered sanctions against Gaza and the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Pollak’s jail term is to start on 11 January. An earlier three-month prison sentence was imposed [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, Sanctions
Posted on December 27th, 2010 by Marian Houk
“It’s a shame and a disgrace that we have to travel in bulletproof vehicles inside of Jerusalem, the holy city, because of a few auto mechanics who are throwing rocks”. Today’s quote comes from Israeli MK [Knesset Member] Ya’acov Katz, one of four members of the National Union Party who are presently serving in the [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 27th, 2010 by Marian Houk
In commemoration of what happened in Gaza two years ago today, as Operation Cast Lead was launched in unprecedented ferocity at about 11:30 am on 27 December 2008. This should never happen again — but, many already feel another operation is in the air… Haaretz is reporting that Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai just [...]
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Filed under: Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel
Posted on December 26th, 2010 by Marian Houk
This morning, messages began to arrive about a “demonstration” being held at Qalandia checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Nine people, including a journalist, were reportedly detained. This evening, the IDF spokespersons office sent around this message: “Approximately 90 Palestinians attempted on Sunday morning (Dec. 26) to breach the Qalandiya crossing, hurling rocks at security forces [...]
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Filed under: Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 26th, 2010 by Marian Houk
Israeli Border Police in large numbers were deployed in and around the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today, as a constellation of pending events portended possible grave troubles ahead. In the morning, the Police delivered a military notification to Silwan community activist Adnan Gheith that an order to expel him from his home for four [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 26th, 2010 by Marian Houk
The Mavi Marmara ship belonging to the Turkish relief organization IHH, part of the “Freedom Flotilla” headed to “break the blockade of Gaza” when it was assaulted at sea in the eastern Mediterranean by Israeli Naval forces on 31 May, returned to Turkey today. During the Israeli Naval operation, 9 men (8 Turkish + one [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, Human Rights, Israel
Posted on December 25th, 2010 by Marian Houk
A confession: I never understood why the Pope’s activities deserve so much media coverage. Maybe the main benefit is that such coverage permits the expression of facts or thoughts that might otherwise not be spoken, because the Pope, and certain other global figures [the UN Secretary-General??], are piously thought to have some kind of “moral [...]
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Filed under: Israel, Palestine & Palestinians
Posted on December 24th, 2010 by Marian Houk
There was a “nothing prepared me” exchange on Mondoweiss this week –for example, see this post here, and an earlier one here. Friends I know and other people who come here also have the same reaction — “I had no idea”, and “nothing prepared me” — despite the millions of words and hundreds of thousands [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Palestine & Palestinians
