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Military Trial of 17-year old Amal Hamamdeh from Mufakarah. Charge: Spilling Water on Soldier

Military Trial of 17-year old Amal Hamamdeh from Mufakarah. Charge: Spilling Water on Soldier

As reported here, during home demolitions in the cave-dweller village of Mufakarah, two young women who resisted nonviolently were arrested and charged with “assaulting soldiers” under the Israeli Occupation’s draconian martial law. The older of the two, Sausan Hamamdeh, reached a plea bargain in December resulting in a fine. When reporting on that development, we were fairly confident that her 17-year-old cousin Amal Hamamdeh would see her charges dropped. After all, she just tried to … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

Six Common Misconceptions About Gaza That Are So 2011

Reposted with permission from www.gazagateway.org In sixth place: “The civilian closure has been lifted and only security restrictions remain”. Gaza is not as isolated from the rest of the world as it was a few years ago, but it is still cut off from the West Bank and it’s hard to find convincing security reasons why. For example, Israel prohibits students from traveling from Gaza to the West Bank – individual security checks are not even an option because the ban is sweeping. Israel does not allow goods from Gaza to be sold in the West Bank or Israel, while at the same time allowing exports from Gaza to Europe to be transferred through its own airports and seaports. It also imposes restrictions on the import of building materials into … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured

Update about Sausan and Amal, 2 Palestinian Girls Arrested as their Home was Demolished

Update about Sausan and Amal, 2 Palestinian Girls Arrested as their Home was Demolished

Our last Villages Group post reported the demolition of structures, including homes and a mosque, in the Palestinian village of Al-Mufaqara (also known as Umm-Faqra) in southern West Bank. The destruction was perpetrated on November 24 by Israeli civilian contractors (see here for a brief report in Ha’aretz). They were hired by the deceptively named “Civil Administration” – an arm of Israel’s military Occupation apparatus which poses as a legitimate governing body. The name “Civil Administration” … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Featured, On The Ground Reports

“Law Enforcement” Destroys Prayer House, Homes, School – Just Because They’re for Arabs

“Law Enforcement” Destroys Prayer House, Homes, School – Just Because They’re for Arabs

Last Thursday, November 24, employees of the Israeli company “E.T. Legal Services”, hired by the deceptively named “Civil Administration” arm of Israel’s military Occupation regime in the West Bank, demolished a mosque. Among other things. To add insult to injury, Occupation forces arrested two young women for passive nonviolent resistance (see the video below). This is not your vanilla American “Occupy” arrest-and-release, get lawyer-and-defendant-rights arrest. The girls were entered into a sealed military vehicle … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Featured, On The Ground Reports

Villages Group: South Hebron Hills Update

Villages Group: South Hebron Hills Update

Dear friends and supporters, About one month ago we reported to you on the state of the local schoolhouse in Palestinian Susiya as its second school year opened. Visiting the school on Thursday November 2nd, 2011, we witnessed an impressive development in the construction of the school’s permanent building. These works are undertaken as a joint initiative of the NGO Action Against Hunger/ ACF International, and the Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees. For our modest … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports

World-Class American Jazz Harpist Conducts Workshop at Salem Music Center

World-Class American Jazz Harpist Conducts Workshop at Salem Music Center

On Saturday, October 15th, 2011, American master jazz harpist Park Stickney visited the Salem village Music Center near Nablus. Stickney was in Israel-Palestine to give the opening concert for the new Jaffa Harp Festival. The Festival organizer, harpist Sunita Staneslow and her spouse Fred Schlomka informed Park about the Salem center, and he decided to include it in this – his first – visit to the country. During his visit at the Center, Park held a … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports

Shalit Deal – A Teaching Moment [1] DEATH OF THE “NO PARTNER” LIE

Israeli POW Gilad Shalit is finally back home after 5+ years in illegal solitary confinement. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were also released, with hundreds more to follow. Many of them will not be able to return home like Shalit, and probably none of them are really free — being, still, under Occupation — but my best wishes and congratulations go to their families and to the Shalit family. To those released prisoners who still believe in violence, I wish them to come to their senses before they hurt others or be killed themselves. You will probably be shocked to discover that the MSM, in Israel too but especially in the US, is focusing on the wrong aspects of this prisoner-release deal, right? Right?! Duh. In this particular instance, we are fed … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured

Please Help Palestinian Community Organizer Follow His Dreams

Please Help Palestinian Community Organizer Follow His Dreams

From David and Ehud at the Villages Group: Hi friends I am happy to tell you that Ibrahim Nawaja, who has run the Susiya creative and learning center, with great success , for almost a year (see also video below), has been accepted to Dar Al Kalima college (Arabic link) to study Documentary Film Making. This is a great opportunity for him. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OoXxBrqA4&w=640&h=360] For those who know Ibrahim, you know what an exceptional, creative and sensitive person … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports

Israel’s Tahrir[3]: Ripple Effect on Politicians, Financiers Continues…

In late August, after first sending proxies to defame Israel’s social-justice protesters as “radical lefties” – a move that backfired spectacularly; then trying the silent treatment, hoping that the Israeli public known for its short attention span will lose interest – only to get served with repeated bouts of unprecedented nationwide protests; Prime minister “Bibi” Netanyahu tried a third trick: appoint a committee. The move won him a partial reprieve, mostly from the mainstream media. And using the quiet and the back-to-school period, local governments began dismantling the tent cities one by one. Now the committee, headed by Prof. Manuel Trachtenberg – a well-meaning, former-Argentine-radical, but nevertheless neoliberal economist – has submitted its conclusions. They include partial restoration of some of the social safety net that Bibi has worked so hard … Read entire article »

Filed under: Victories for Democracy

UPDATED with Video and more Commentary: Israel Settlers Nearly Lynch Activists with Police Looking on.

I was waiting a few days as the disturbing emails piled my inbox, trying to wrap my head around them and think what angle to bring this story from. To Hell with my angle. These are activists who’ve seen a lot over the years, staring down police brutality in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem), and enduring settler and military violence all across the West Bank. But this time, they say, was different. A palpable fear of death. So let’s hear it from them: (note: in Israeli discourse the word “lynch” has a different connotation, and denotes any violent mob assault) Were you ever at a lynching? Were you ever someplace where an unbridled mob was beating you and your friends and then chasing you to beat you again? Were you ever the victim of … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, On The Ground Reports