Marwan Barghouti: There will be no peace until Israel’s occupation of Palestine ends / Erich Fried: Was es ist

October 11, 2015, 8:57 pm

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A Palestinian woman carries her crying daughter after rainwater flooded their house that witnesses said was damaged by Israeli shelling during the 50-day war in the summer of 2014, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 7, 2015.

A Palestinian woman carries her crying daughter after rainwater flooded their house that was damaged by Israeli shelling during the 50-day war in the summer of 2014, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip: photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters, 7 October 2015

Marwan Barghouti: There will be no peace until Israel’s occupation of Palestine ends

We have tried to be patient, but the international community has failed us. Freedom for Palestinian people is long overdue killing of two Israeli settlers: Marwan Barghouti, The Guardian, 11 October 2011

The current escalation in violence did not start with the killing of two Israeli settlers, it started a long while ago and has been going on for years. Every day Palestinians are killed, wounded, arrested. Every day colonialism advances, the siege on our people in Gaza continues, oppression persists. As many today want us to be overwhelmed by the potential consequences of a new spiral of violence, I will plead, as I did in 2002, to deal with its root causes: the denial of Palestinian freedom.

Some have suggested the reason why a peace deal could not be reached was President Yasser Arafat’s unwillingness or President Mahmoud Abbas's inability, but both of them were ready and able to sign a peace agreement. The real problem is that Israel has chosen occupation over peace, and used negotiations as a smokescreen to advance its colonial project. Every government across the globe knows this simple fact and yet so many of them pretend that returning to the failed recipes of the past could achieve freedom and peace. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

There can be no negotiations without a clear Israeli commitment to fully withdraw from the Palestinian territory it occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem; a complete end to all colonial policies; a recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including their right to self-determination and return; and the release of all Palestinian prisoners. We cannot coexist with the occupation, and we will not surrender to it.

Palestinians carry a wounded protester, during clashes near the Gaza border fence last week: photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto, 9 October 2015

We were called upon to be patient, and we were, giving chance after chance to reach a peace agreement. Maybe it is useful to remind the world that our dispossession, forced exile and transfer, and oppression have now lasted for nearly 70 years. We are the only item to have stood on the UN’s agenda since its inception. We were told that by resorting to peaceful means and to diplomatic channels we would garner the support of the international community to end the occupation. And yet, as in 1999 at the close of the interim period, that community failed yet again to undertake any meaningful steps, neither setting up an international framework to implement international law and UN resolutions, nor enacting measures to ensure accountability, including boycott, divestment and sanctions, which played a crucial role in ridding the world of the apartheid regime.

La Intifada 2.0 'recluta' a las mujeres Foto: @TomCOEX / @AFPphoto: image via El Mundo Fotografia @ElMundoFoto, 8 October 2015

So, in the absence of international action to end Israeli occupation and impunity or even provide protection, what are we asked to do? Stand by and wait for the next Palestinian family to be burned, for the next Palestinian child to be killed or arrested, for the next settlement to be built? The entire world knows that Jerusalem is the flame that can inspire peace and ignite war. Why then does the world stand still while the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people in the city and in Muslim and Christian holy sites, notably Al-Haram al-Sharif, continue unabated? Israel’s actions and crimes not only destroy the two-state solution on 1967 borders and violate international law, they threaten to transform a solvable political conflict into a never-ending religious war that will undermine stability in a region already experiencing unprecedented turmoil.

Small amount of rain that fell on #Gaza revealed extent of problems of houses destroyed in the last war. #SaveGaza: image via Dr. Bazem Naim @basemn63, 8 October 2015

No people on the globe would accept to coexist with oppression. By nature, humans yearn for freedom, struggle for freedom, sacrifice for freedom, and the freedom of the Palestinian people is long overdue. During the first intifada, the Israeli government launched a “break their bones to break their will” policy, but for generation after generation the Palestinian people have proven their will is unbreakable and needs not to be tested.

Small amount of rain that fell on #Gaza revealed extent of problems of houses destroyed in the last war. #SaveGaza: image via Dr. Bazem Naim @basemn63, 8 October 2015

This new Palestinian generation has not awaited reconciliation talks to embody a national unity that political parties have failed to achieve, but has risen above political divides and geographic fragmentation. It has not awaited instructions to uphold its right, and its duty, to resist this occupation. It is doing so unarmed, while being confronted by one of the biggest military powers in the world. And yet, we remain convinced that freedom and dignity shall triumph, and we shall overcome. The flag that we raised with pride at the UN will one day fly over the walls of the old city of Jerusalem to signal our independence.

I joined the struggle for Palestinian independence 40 years ago, and was first imprisoned at the age of 15. This did not prevent me from pleading for peace in accordance with international law and UN resolutions. But Israel, the occupying power, has methodically destroyed this perspective year after year. I have spent 20 years of my life in Israeli jails, including the past 13 years, and these years have made me even more certain of this unalterable truth: the last day of occupation will be the first day of peace. Those who seek the latter need to act, and act now, to precipitate the former.

Palestinian stone throwers clash with Israeli security forces (unseen) in Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramalla: photo via FT Photo Diary, 9 October 2015

A Palestinian man wears a mask to protect his face from the dust as he walks past the Dome of the Rock mosque in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, during a sandstorm in the old city of Jerusalem: photo by Ahmad Gharabi/AFP, 8 September 2015

Heavy Sandstorm Swept across Middle East

A Palestinian stands inside the remains of a house, that witnesses said was destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war in 2014 summer, during a sandstorm in Gaza: photo by Suhaib Salem/Reuters, 8 September 2015

Palestinians ride donkey-carts during a sandstorm at the al-Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. The buildings were destroyed in Israeli attacks during last year’s 50-day siege of Gaza: photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via The Guardian, 13 February 2015

The atrocious shooting of Asra’a Abed in Afula

Euro-Med Monitor Calls on International Community to Halt #Israel's Extra-Judicial Executions: image via Euro-Med Monitor @EuroMedHR, 10 October 2015

Euro-Med Monitor Calls on International Community to Halt Israel’s Extra-Judicial Executions: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, 10 October 2015

Israel is escalating its use of extrajudicial execution, warns the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem are deploying firearms against civilians who pose no threat and could be detained instead.

Video recordings from surveillance cameras in the central train station of the city of Afula documented Israel's reckless disregard for lives as its soldiers shot a Palestinian woman holding an Israeli ID, claiming she attempted to stab a guard working in the station. However, the recordings clearly showed that the woman did not attempt to attack anybody.

Eyewitnesses told a Euro-Med Monitor team that Israa' Abed, 29, was very scared and panicked when she found herself surrounded by Israeli soldiers pointing their weapons at her. The soldiers shouted at her to take off her headscarf and drop her bag. The woman refused to remove her hijab, but raised her hands and begged the officers not to shoot.

"Even if the woman tried to attack someone, the Israeli police could have detained her instead of shooting with four live bullets," said Ihsan Adel, Euro-Med Monitor legal adviser.

The moment he carried out the attack. #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

Gideon Levy: rough justice, buoyed by the cheers of the masses

Israel's Lawless Death Penalty Without Trial Buoyed by Cheers of the Masses: The people of Israel see these pictures and most of them are filled with delight and pleasure, as the media inflames their animal urges: Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 11 October 2015

A spree of extrajudicial killings is sweeping over the land. It’s sickening, barbaric and lawless –- and it is buoyed by the cheers of the masses, media incitement and the authorities’ encouragement.

Now add to the wave of terror attacks the worst kind of damage -– Israeli society is losing its image. This society has had savage periods before, but not like this one, in which every stabber or anyone who threatens with a knife, screwdriver or vegetable peeler is executed, even after he has thrown down his weapon, while the killer becomes a hero of the nation.

Those who wanted the death penalty for terrorists are now receiving a more ignominious version -– a death penalty without trial. Fourteen Palestinians have been killed this way in the past week, most of them would not be liable for a death sentence in a state of law. The blood lust, the likes of which is not remembered in these parts, wants more and more blood.

In some of the attacks, the security forces and civilians acted appropriately and neutralized the assailants. Sometimes, there is no choice but to shoot and kill. But in other cases, they carried out an execution, there is no other way to describe it. The video clips prove it indisputably.

It’s enough to watch the atrocious shooting of Asra’a Abed in Afula, who stood still with a knife in her hand, surrounded by armed policemen who drew closer and closer to her, one of them licking an ice-lolly, until they finally fired several bullets into her from short range, instead of taking control of her and disarming her. It looks like murder. Those policemen were too cowardly or revenge-thirsty and for that they deserve to go on trial, not a citation.

Even more ghoulish appears the execution of Fadi Alon in Jerusalem. After he threw down the knife with which he had stabbed and injured a Jewish youth, he tried to flee from the angry rabble toward the policemen, while the mob incited the policemen with gutter language to kill him. Responding to the riff raff’s request, the policemen shot the youngster to death, for no reason, then rolled his body into the road.

The grotesque element was provided by the attack in Tel Aviv. A Palestinian with a tiny screwdriver, who had stabbed and very slightly injured a number of Israelis, was shot to death by an IDF officer. Second Lieutenant Daniel became the hero of the day. Entire pages in the media were written about him, hailing him as a “combatant in an air defense unit who did what is expected of a combatant.” The stabber’s body, which nobody bothered to cover, the tiny screwdriver beside it, is Daniel’s citation. “Heroism at the Kirya’s gate,” screamed the headlines. These are your heroes, Israel, taking out desperate youngsters with a screwdriver who could and should have been arrested.

The people of Israel see these pictures and most of them are filled with delight and pleasure, as the media inflames their animal urges. That’s the real incitement. Adults and children see how Arabs are shot like stray dogs at the roadside and learn the lesson. In this way, one of the main reasons for this uprising’s eruption is demonstrated -- the dehumanization of the Palestinians, whose life and death are worthless to the Israelis.

Nobody dreams of killing Yishai Shlisel or the murderer of teenager Maor Almakayas in Kiryat Gat, but killing a Palestinian is applauded and cheered by the incited mob. And we haven’t yet mentioned the shooting of demonstrators on the Gaza border for no reason, shooting that killed seven civilians including a child. Nor have we mentioned the lynching attempt in Afula, or the Jewish stabber in Dimona, whom no one thought of executing, never mind destroying his house. He came from a background of “distress” so was forgiven, as though the Palestinian stabbers didn’t come from a background of “distress” ten times deeper.

One of this barbarism’s advocates, Dan Margalit, provided the justification for it on Friday. “It’s highly advisable to shoot all terrorists… the more terrorists that are struck down, the fewer of them there’ll be,” he said. To this Hottentot morality, which fails the test of reality, one might add: the more rapists, muggers, dangerous drivers, sexual perverts, leftists and Arabs that are struck down -– the fewer of them we’ll have. Death to the Arabs –- it’s time to storm the next target.

Gideon Levy, Haaretz Correspondent

Israeli citizen launched a stabbing attack injuring four in Israel's Negev region: image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

Courage! #Intifada: image via Abbas Hamideh @Resistance48, 10 October 2015

Armed Israeli terrorists storm Al-Muqased Hospital in Jerusalem. Palestinian civilian tries to talk sense into them: image via Gaza Writes Back @ThisIsGaZa, 10 October 2015

Armed Israeli criminals storm two Palestinian hospitals and kidnap injured Palestinians... @Pales601: image via Gaza Writes Back @ThisIsGaZa, 10 October 2015

Armed israeli Armed Israeli criminals storm two Palestinian hospitals and kidnap injured Palestinians...@Pales601: image via Gaza Writes Back @ThisIsGaZa, 10 October 2015

West Bank

Young Palestinians launch hashtag intifada: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 8 October 2015

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian boy near KiryatArba settlement in #Hebron today. #IntifadaAlAqsa #Palestine: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 9 October 2015

Continued clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the RasElGorah, in #Hebron these moments.. . #IntifadaAlAqsa #Palestine: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 9 October 2015

Clashes with Israeli Forces near BeirEel Settlement near #AlBeria city shortly before .. #Intifada #Palestine: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 8 October 2015

Clashes with Israeli Forces near BeirEel Settlement near #AlBeria city shortly before ..#Intifada #Palestine: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 8 October 2015

Clashes with Israeli Forces near BeirEel Settlement near #AlBeria city shortly before .. #Intifada #Palestine: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 8 October 2015

Israeli Forces spraying WasteWater towards the demonstrators near the Beit Eel Settlement / #Ramallah #IntifadaAlAqsa: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 8 October 2015

Happend in #WestBank yesterday .. !! The most moral army in the world !!: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 8 October 2015

Palestinian protesters took cover during clashes with Israeli security forces on Thursday in Beit El, West Bank. Disputes over Jerusalem have added to tensions: photo by Ilia Yefimovich via New York Times, 8 October 2015

#Palestinians carry the body of Amjad Hatem Al-Jundi during his funeral in Yatta, West Bank. By @hazemjbader #AFP: image via AFPphoto, 10 October 2015

Jerusalem

JERUSALEM - Israeli police use stun grenades against Palestinian demonstrators. By @TomCOEX#AFP : image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 September 2015

Israeli police disperse Palestinian demonstrators in the Muslim quarter in Jerusalem. #AFP @TomCOEX: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 15 September 2015

Israeli security forces escort Jewish worshippers as they cross the Muslim quarter in Jerusalem. #AFP @TomCOEX: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 15 September 2015

Israeli flags on homes occupied by Israeli in the Palestinian Silwan neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. #AFP @TomCOEX: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 17 September 2015

Jewish people escorted by Israeli police visit the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem #AFP @TomCOEX: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 22 September 2015

Israeli security forces keep position on the roof and around the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. #AFP @TomCOEX: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 28 September 2015

A Palestinian man stands by a door at the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. By @TomCOEX#AFP : image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 29 September 2015

JERUSALEM : A Palestinian man stands by a door at the Dome of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. By @TomCOEX#AFP : image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 29 September 2015

Fierce clashes in Shu'fat. #Jerusalem #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

Irony: extreme right Kahanists shout "Arabs r sons of whores" shouting by "museum of tolerance" location #Jerusalem: image via Seth Frantzman @sfrantzman, 8 October 2015

March for Zionist Settlers near the Wailing Wall in #Jerusalem calling for killing Palestinians.. #IsraeliTerrorism: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 9 October 2015

Good morning from #Jerusalem #Israel - The city of David and Solomon and the eternal Capital of Israel: image via Zvi Lando @zlando, 9 October 2015

Additional police barricades heading towards the Old City. #Jerusalem: image via Molly Hunter @mollymhunter, 9 October 2015

'We have to carry out this intifada given the recent rising number of child martyrs': image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

"Once it was possible to make peace with Israel, but now see the number of martyred children": image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

"The PA must cease all security cooperation with Israel," says Palestinian lawmaker: image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

"Settlers and their ideological allies are taking over Israel’s security services": image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

Israeli mayors call on citizens to carry guns for their own protection: Report: image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

Muslims barred from entry to Al Aqsa and Old City do Friday prayers at barricade. Heavy security today.: image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 9 October 2015

Israeli police stand guard in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s old city: photo by UPI /Landov / Barcroft Media, 8 October 2015

Good morning from the old city. I'm going to be monitoring the situation in #Jerusalem today for @AmnestyOnline.: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

A heavy police presence this morning in #Jerusalem, and access to #alAqsa is restricted to Palestinians aged 50+.: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

Haroon al Rashid st also closed off. This checkpoint just turned away a boy of about 11 from passing #Jerusalem: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

Young Palestinian in striped shirt detained at Damascus Gate checkpoint for about 10 minutes now, not sure why: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

Palestinian arrested amid a media scrum #Jerusalem: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

Police waiting in the wings...: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 9 October 2015

Israeli police stop Palestinians from entering the Noble Sanctuary, or the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem on Friday: photo by Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency via New York Times, 8 October 2015

Erich Fried: Was es ist

JERUSALEM : Palestinian demonstraters gather a pile of stones to throw towards Israeli security forces during clashes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, on October 9, 2015. A week of violence between Israelis and Palestinians spread to the Gaza Strip, with Israeli troops killing five people in clashes on the border and Islamist movement Hamas calling for more unrest: photo by Thomas Coex / AFP, 9 October 2015

Es ist Unsinn
sagt die Vernunft
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

Es ist Unglück
sagt die Berechnung
Es ist nichts als Schmerz
sagt die Angst
Es ist aussichtslos
sagt die Einsicht
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

Es ist lächerlich
sagt der Stolz
Es ist leichtsinnig
sagt die Vorsicht
Es ist unmöglich
sagt die Erfahrung
Es ist was es ist
sagt die Liebe

Erich Fried(1921-1988): Es ist was es ist, 1983

Together as ONE! #Intifada: image via Abbas Hamideh @Resistance48, 10 October 2015

what it is

it is madness
says reason
it is what it is
says love

it is unhappiness
says caution
it is nothing but pain
says fear
it has no future
says insight
it is what it is says love

it is ridiculous
says pride
it is foolish
says caution
it is impossible
says experience
it is what it is says love

translation by Stephen Mitchell

La Intifada 2.0 'recluta' a las mujeres Foto: @TomCOEX / @AFPphoto: image via El Mundo Fotografia @ElMundoFoto, 8 October 2015

Funeral in Gaza

Funeral procession for Mohannad Halabi in Al-Bireh. #Gaza: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

One of the biggest funeral processions in Palestinian history. Martyr, #MuhannadHalabi #Palestine #Intifada: image via Abbas Hamideh @Resistance48, 10 October 2015

Attack on our women @#AlAqsa isn't just on our holy shrines, but on our mothers, sisters - Muhannad Halabi #Intifada: image via Abbas Hamideh @Resistance48, 10 October 2015

Gaza: Indiscriminate firing at the border

Israeli-Palestinian violence reaches #Gaza as troops shot and killed six protesters: image via Al Arabiya English @Al Arabiya_Eng, 10 October 201

Five killed in #Gaza as Israeli-Palestinian violence fuels talk of a new uprising: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 9 October 2015

On their way to protest on a donkey cart today east of #Gaza fence with #Israel: image via Mohammed Omer @Mogaza, 10 October 2015

Unrest spreads to Gaza as Israeli troops kill 6 Palestinians: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 9 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in #Gaza: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

#Israeli Forces resort to indiscriminate firing in #Gaza, killing at least 3 Palestinians and injuring several: image via Times of Islamabad @TimesofIslamabad, 9 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in #Gaza: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

Pray for #Gaza Israel killed 4 Palestinians in less than one hour and 10s of injuries so far Clashes still taking place: image via Dr Abu Rayan Ziara @Medo4Gaza, 9 October 2015

Pray for #Gaza Israel killed 4 Palestinians in less than one hour & 10s of injuries so far Clashes still taking place: image via Dr Abu Rayan Ziara @Medo4Gaza, 9 October 2015

Pray for #Gaza Israel killed 4 Palestinians in less than one hour and 10s of injuries so far Clashes still taking place: image via Dr Abu Rayan Ziara @Medo4Gaza, 9 October 2015

Jihad al-Ubeid, 22, passed away today after being shot by Zionist Terrorist in #Gaza yesterday: image via Abbs Winston @AbbsWinston, 10 October 2015

13 year old Marwan Hisham Barbakh shot and killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis. #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

15 year old Khaleel Omar Othman shot and killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis. #Gaza: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

13-yrs old kid, one of six Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces today in #Gaza #SaveAlAqsa: image via Motasem A Dalloul @AbujomaaGaza, 9 October 2015

One more martyr by #Israeli_occupation forces from #Gaza.. Total becomes #seven #SaveAlAqsa: image via Motasem A Dalloul @AbujomaaGaza, 10 October 2015

The father of Ziad Sharaf, who was killed by Israeli security forces, mourns at al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza city: image via Omar Qattaa (Sniper) @OmarElQatta, 9 October 2015

6 martyrs at least in clashes with the Israeli occupation military forces in the east of #Gaza. October 09, 2015: image via El-Masri, Toufic @elmasriT, 9 October 2015

alternative to ambulances today in #Gaza?: image via Mohammed Omer @Mogaza, 10 October 2015

I remind you, no ambulances were allowed into the south of #Gaza Strip today during Gaza youth protest ...: image via Mohammed Omer @Mogaza, 10 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in #Gaza: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 9 October 2015

#Gaza Number of deaths has reached 5 so far...: image via Dr. Bassel AbuWarda @DrBaselAbuwarda, 9 October 2015

At least 5 Palestinians killed, 30 wounded in heavy clashes with Israeli forces near Nahal Oz, e-#Gaza border: image via Sakir Khader @Sakirthader, 9 October 2015

At least 5 Palestinians killed, 30 wounded in heavy clashes with Israeli forces near Nahal Oz, e-#Gaza border: image via Sakir Khader @SakirKhader, 9 October 2015

Mona Mahmood has spoken to Hadeel Tareq, a 22-year-old from Gaza who said her family took part in today’s protests, where four people have reportedly been killed [the interview was before the fourth death was confirmed] after being shot by the Israel Defence Forces. Tareq said:

My family and all our neighbours took part in the demonstrations today which marched after Friday prayers. Most of the young men went on demonstrations from all the mosques in Gaza in solidarity with the West Bank and al-Aqsa mosque and toured the streets in Gaza. Then, they headed to the nearest checkpoint of the Israeli army in a district called Nahel Auz. It is a military site.

...

It was a message of protest to the Israelis in which the protesters were throwing stones at the Israeli army. There was a massive return of fire by the Israeli army, which led to the killing of three young men and 20 more injured. The ambulances are so busy in my district now transferring the victims to the hospitals in Shuja’ayia district.

The confrontations are still going on and the situation is tense. We are all in a state of alert and we expect an escalation of violence in Gaza within coming days. Last year, the war was in the West Bank but soon it reached Gaza and it was so difficult to contain it. It is not clear what the reaction will be when the martyrs are received by their families from the hospital, as most of the people are so upset now.

-- The Guardian, 9 October 2015

Mohammad AlRaqab, 15 y o, shot dead by #Israeli Forces at the eastern borders of #Gaza. #IntifadaAlAqsa: image via Said Shoaib / Gaza @saidshouib, 9 October 2015

UPDATE: Gaza Ministry of Health identifies 15-year-old Muhammad al-Raqeb as one of the 4 killed in #Gaza: image via Ma'an News Agency @Ma'an News Agency, 9 October 2015

Gaza stands with Jerusalem. 9 injuries reported so far in clashes with IOF east of #Gaza's Shujaiya: image via Belal Dabour - Gaza @Belalmd12, 9 October 2015

saying goodbye

Yahia Hassan says goodbye to 2-y-o daughter Rahaf, killed along w/ his pregnant wife Nur in Israeli airstrike #Gaza: image via Ben White @benabyad, 11 October 2015

2 deaths "Noor Hassan and her little child" in 1st hours of morning as a result of Israeli warplanes bombing on #Gaza: image via Dr. Bassel AbuWarda @DrBaselAbuwarda, 11 October 2015

Rahaf Hassan, 3, Bombed to her death by Zionist Terrorist. Family has laid her so she can fly to the heavens #Gaza: image via Abbs Winston @ Abbs Winston, 11 October 2015

↧

What is the value of a stone? / Erich Fried: Ertrag

October 12, 2015, 10:29 pm

≫ Next: Self-Immolation / Erich Fried: Angst und Zweifel (Anxiety and Doubt)

≪ Previous: Marwan Barghouti: There will be no peace until Israel’s occupation of Palestine ends / Erich Fried: Was es ist

Relatives of Uygar Coskun, who was killed the previous day in a twin blast in Ankara, mourn over his coffin during a funeral ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, 12 October 2015. Mourners anxiously began to gather to commemorate the 95 people killed in twin blasts the previous day at a pro-Kurdish peace rally, the worst attack in Turkey's modern history. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which came three weeks before snap general elections set for 01 November and the G20 heads-of-government summit later next month, raising security concerns.

Relatives of Uygar Coskun, who was killed in a twin blast in Ankara, mourn over his coffin during a funeral ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, on Monday. Mourners anxiously began to gather to commemorate the 95 people killed in twin blasts the previous day at a pro-Kurdish peace rally, the worst attack in Turkey’s modern history: photo by Sedat Suna/EPA, 12 October 2015

earn and bear

to collect hope
out of solvable problems
out of possibilities
out of everything
which promises something

to reserve
the powers
for that
which really
should be done

that way grows
quiet
the stock
of unspent
despair

Relatives mourn near the grave of a victim of the #AnkaraBombing during funeral in Istanbul. #AFP @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 12 October 2015

Ertrag

Hoffnung sammeln
aus lösbaren Problemen
aus Möglichkeiten
aus allem
was etwas verspricht

Die Kräfte
sparen
für das
was wirklich
zu tun ist

So wächst
im stillen
der Vorrat
an unverbrauchter
Verzweiflung

Erich Fried (1921-1988): Ertrag (Earn and Bear), from Anfechtungen (Contentions), 1967; English version by Inga Janzens

Palestinian protestors take cover during clashes with Israeli security forces near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on October 12, 2015. Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki accused Israel of seeking to spark "a third intifada", as violence again flared in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian protesters take cover during clashes with Israeli security forces near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, just north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Monday: photo by Abbas Momani/AFP, 12 October 2015

What is the value of a stone?

Life on the rubble Aleppo: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 11 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Al-Bireh #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

She knows that this stone worths a lotỊỊ this picture from clashing today in #Nablus #SaveAlAqsa: image via MasterShake @Moeedi, 12 October 2015

Israeli forces shot and injured at least 50 during clashes at a protest in #Nablus today. Photo by @AhmadTalatH: image via Sheren Khalel @SherenK, 11 October 2015

Palestinians helping a protester who was shot by Israeli forces in #Nablus today. (photo/ @AhmadTalatH): image via Sheren Khalel @SherenK, 12 October 2015

Youth throws a Molotov at Israeli military jeep today in el-Bireh #Ramallah #WestBank #Palestine (photo/@samnazzal): image via Sheren Khalel @SherenK, 12 October 2015

From AlBirah RIGHT NOW. #IntifadaAlAqsa #FreePalestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians & Israeli forces in Al-Bireh #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

Girls and boys together are fighting one Israeli occupation. Picture from clashing in #Nablus today #SaveAlAqsa: image via Razan Tobasi / Nablus @Razan_Tobasi, 12 October 2015

From the clashes in Nablus today #IntifadaAlAqsa #FreePalestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

#IntifadaAlAqsa #FreePalestine From today in AlQuds: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians an; Israeli forces in Al-Bireh #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Al-Bireh #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

From AlQuds today, taking down the apartheid wall. #FreePalestine #IntifadaAlAqsa: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

From the clashes in Nablus today #IntifadaAlAqsa #FreePalestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

TODAY: Hysterical settler claims 15 year old Marah attempted to stab him, 10 Israelis shoot her on scene! #Palestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

13 year old Ahmad Manasra was shot by an Israeli settler and left to bleed to death. #Palestine: image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

Friends of 13 year old Ahmad Sharakeh react to the news of his death. This picture says it all. (Photo: IssamRimawi) : image via Aiman @AimanofArabia, 11 October 2015

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot dead a 13-year-old boy during clashes south of al-Bireh in Ramallah district, medics said. The child, identified as 13-year-old Ahmad Sharaka, was shot in the neck with a live round, medics said. He was rushed to the Palestinian Medical Complex in Ramallah where doctors operated on him, before he succumbed to his wounds. Sharaka's death brings the total number of Palestinians killed to 24 since the beginning of October. He is also the third 13-year-old to be shot dead by Israeli forces in the same time period. Another Palestinian was shot in his leg with a live round during the protest in the al-Balu area of southern Bireh, while another was injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet.Two others reportedly suffered excessive tear gas inhalation at the protest. Israeli bulldozers have reportedly removed large objects in the area, in order to remove cover for Palestinian protesters. An Israeli army spokeswoman had no immediate comment. In clashes across the occupied Palestinian territory, the Palestinian Red Crescent counted at least 55 Palestinians shot and injured with live fire, and 77 injured by rubber-coated steel bullets.

-- Ma'an News Service, 11 October 2015

The 13 year martyr burial now. #IntifadaAlAqsa #Free #Palestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @iFalasteen, 12 October 2015

Mourners gathered around the body of a Palestinian boy, Ahmed Sharaka, 13, who was killed by Israeli troops during clashes on Sunday: photo by Mohamad Torokman/Reuters, 12 October 2015

Israeli security forces guarded the body of a suspected attacker in the settlement of Pisgat Zeev in East Jerusalem, where two Israelis were stabbed: photo by Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse, 12 October 2015

Police in #Diyarbakir use tear gas and water cannon to disperse people (Reuters) #HelinSen: image via Federica Seneghini @fedesene, 12 October 2015

Relatives mourned near the grave of a victim of the bombings in Ankara, Turkey. At least 95 people were killed at a peace rally of pro-Kurdish activists in the capital on Saturday: photo by Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse, 12 October 2015

#Turkey explosions - At least 86 dead in #Ankara blasts by @AdemAltan #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 10 October 2015

Who carried out the Ankara attacks? AFP looks at groups cited as possible suspects: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 11 October 2015

İşte bu insanların çocuklarını, eşlerini, kardeşlerini, dostlarini öldürdüler...: image via Yadigar Anli @yadigaranli, 12 October 2015

Relatives mourn near the grave of a victim of the #AnkaraBombing during funeral in Istanbul. #AFP @Kilicbil: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 12 October 2015

Thousands rally in #Ankara as #Turkey mourns worst ever attack. @Kilicbil: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 12 October 2015

A Turkish police officer questions a Kurdish boy about an attack on fellow officers that left one dead and another wounded. The attack occurred in Diyarbakir, Turkey, a predominantly Kurdish town, and came several days after violence that began with a suicide bombing that killed 32 along the Turkey-Syria border: photo by Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse, 23 July 2015

A Turkish police officer questions a Kurdish boy after one Turkish policeman was shot dead in Diyarbakir [photo Bulent Kilic]: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 23 July 2015

Protests, clashes in Istanbul's Gazi district: photo by @ozzyozann: image via Agence France-Presse @ AFP, 26 July 2015

Protests, clashes in Istanbul's Gazi district: photo by @ozzyozann: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 26 July 2015

Turkey accused of shelling Kurdish-held village in Syria (protest in Istanbul: photo by @Kilicbil): image via Kaycee Nightfire @KcNightfire, 27 July 2015

Protests, clashes in Istanbul's Gazi district: photo by @Kilicbil: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 26 July 2015

Turkey: Istanbul police, protesters clash in flashpoint district. Photo @Kilicbil: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 26 July 2015

Protests, clashes in Istanbul's Gazi district: photo by @Kilicbil: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 26 July 2015

Turkish President Says Can’t Continue Peace Talks with #Kurds #TwitterKurds #Turkey #PKK #HDP: image by Mewan DolamariHans Solo @thandojo, 28 July 2015

During clashes with riot police at a demonstration against the death of Gunay Ozarslan, in #Istanbul's Gazi, #Turkey: image by Hans Solo @thandojo, 28 July 2015

Diyarbakir, Turkey. Boys play football in Dagkapi Square during a duststorm: photo by: Ilyas Akengin/AFP, 10 April 2015

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Self-Immolation / Erich Fried: Angst und Zweifel (Anxiety and Doubt)

October 14, 2015, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Erich Fried: A Jew to Zionist Fighters ("I want to be a new Jew with these new Jews...")

≪ Previous: What is the value of a stone? / Erich Fried: Ertrag

The clothes of a Palestinian student from Hebron University burn after he set himself on fire while throwing a Molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers and border police during clashes after the protesters blocked the main north entrance of the West Bank town of Hebron with stones and tyres on October 13, 2015. The rising tide of unrest, which has seen a series of stabbing attacks and violent protests, has raised fears that a full-scale third Palestinian uprising, or intifada, could erupt. AFP PHOTO / HAZEM BADERHAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images

A Palestinian student from Hebron University sets himself on fire while throwing a Molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers and border police, Hebron: photo by Hazam Badera/AFP, 13 October 2015

Anxiety and Doubt

Don't doubt
the one
who says
he's anxious

but be anxious
about the one
who says
he has no doubt

Palestinian 'Day of Rage' attacks kill three people, Israeli police say: image via Reuters Top News, 13 October 2015

Angst und Zweifel

Zweifle nicht
an dem
der dir sagt
er hat Angst

aber hab Angst
vor dem
der dir sagt
er kennt keinen Zweifel

Erich Fried (1921-1988): Angst und Zweifel (Anxiety and Doubt), from Anfechtungen (Contentions), 1967; English version TC

Ultra orthodox relatives and friends attend the funeral of Isheayahu Krishevsky on Tuesday in Jerusalem, Israel. Krishevsky was stabbed to death by a Palestinian man earlier in the day: photo by Ilia Yefimovich via FT Photo Diary, 13 October 2015

A model displays creations by PLASTICTOKYO designer Keisuke Imazaki during the 2016 Spring/Summer show at Tokyo Fashion Week Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015.

A model displays creations by PLASTICTOKYO designer Keisuke Imazaki during the 2016 Spring/Summer show at Tokyo Fashion Week Tuesday: photo by Shuji Kajiyama/AP, 13 October 2015

A Palestinian uses a slingshot to throw stones at Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday. Seven Israelis and 30 Palestinians, including children and assailants, have been killed in two weeks of bloodshed in Israel, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. The violence has been partly triggered by Palestinians' anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, also revered by Jews as the site of two destroyed Jewish temples.

A Palestinian uses a slingshot to fling stones at Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday. Seven Israelis and 30 Palestinians, including children and assailants, have been killed in two weeks of bloodshed in Israel, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank: photo by Mussa Qawasma/Reuters, 14 October 2015

NO again. There is NOT 2 sides. There is 1 oppressor And 1 oppressed Make the difference and choose side!: image via Bea @Bea4Palestine, 14 October 2015

#Palestine We are superior in our dignity, beautiful in our fighting and great in our determination. #Palestine's Women: image via Samah:Gaza:Palestine @GazaSamah, 13 October 2015

The 15 year boy was executed in front of his dad! He had no weapons! More than 20 bullets in his body! #Palestine: image via Abbas Sarsour @Falasteen, 14 October 2015

Three dead as #Jerusalem sees bloodiest day in rising unrest: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 13 October 2015

A Palestinian student from Hebron University sets himself on fire while throwing a Molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers and border police, Hebron: photo by Hazam Badera/AFP, 13 October 2015

Three dead in Jerusalem's bloodiest day of unrest, clashes in West Bank city of Bethlehem: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 14 October 2015

Chinese tourists walk across a glass-bottomed suspension bridge in the Shinuizhai mountains in Pingjang county, Hunan province some 150 kilometers from Changsha: photo via Johannes Eisele/AFP, 8 October 2015

Cotopaxi volcano spews ash and steam near Quito, Ecuador, on Thursday. The Security Coordinator Ministry, based on reports from the Geophysical Institute (IG) of the National Polytechnic School, said that Cotopaxi volcano 'continues its moderate internal and surface activity with emissions of gases and water vapor containing a burden moderate ash.

Cotopaxi volcano spews ash and steam near Quito, Ecuador, on Thursday: photo by Jose Jacome/EPA, 8 October 2015

#Ecuador volcano #Cotopaxi spews giant 2km-high ash column: image via the Straits Times @STcom, 8 October 2015

Oct 8 - a very attractive photography of volcan #Cotopaxi taken by Nicolas Vega @chematierra @AlertaCotopaxi: image via Leopold Kennedy Adam, 8 October 2015

After 138 years of silence the #Cotopaxi #volcano begins to awaken [photo Rodrigo Buendia/AFP] @photoroco @AFPphoto: image via Sunday Times Pictures #STPictures, 9 October 2015

A passenger walks along the platform after missing a Barcelona bound high-speed train at the Atocha train station in Madrid, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015. High-speed train service throughout the northeastern region of Catalonia bordering France was suspended for hours Thursday after thieves stole fiber-optic cable alongside the tracks that officials said was critical for maintaining train safety

A passenger walks along the platform after missing a Barcelona bound high-speed train at the Atocha train station in Madrid. High-speed train service throughout the northeastern region of Catalonia bordering France was suspended for hours Thursday after thieves stole fiber-optic cable alongside the tracks: photo by Francisco Seco/AP, 8 October 2015

A man opens a drink to a child as they stand before a display board at the entrance to a park in Beijing

A man opens a drink for a child as they stand before a display board at the entrance to a park in Beijing: photo by Ed Jones/AFP, 8 October 2015

A selfie in Beijing. Heads all over China are adorned with plastic sprouts and clover: photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters via NYT 7 October 2015

A woman wore an arrangement in her hair in Beijing. A fashion that started with just a sprout has diversified to include a riot of plastic vegetation: photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters via New York Times 7 October 2015

The 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel, the highest building under construction in North Korea, is seen behind residential buildings in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Friday. North Korea is getting ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Saturday: photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters, 9 October 2009

Team Oracle stunt pilot Sean Tucker flies ahead of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels as part of a practice run for Fleet Week over the bay in San Francisco, California: photo by Josh Edelson/AF, 9 October 2015

Spectators wearing masks watch men’s singles match between David Goffin of Belgium and Andreas Seppi of Italy, on a polluted day at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China on Monday: photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters, 5 October 2015

A general view shows the part of the skyline of Dubai covered in an early morning fog on Monday: photo by Rene Slama/AFP, 5 October 2014

A sniper of the Ukrainian National Guard takes up a position during a training session on the shooting range in the village of Stare, some 80 km from Kiev, Ukraine on Friday: photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA, 2 October 2015

Kashmiri Muslim women wail as they watch the funeral procession of suspected rebels, at Barhama, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday: photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP, 5 October 2015

People walk across Red Square during a snowfall in Moscow on October 9,

People walk across Red Square during a snowfall in Moscow on Friday: photo by Dmitry Serebryakov/AFP, 9 October 2015

Baja presión sobre Moscú, Rusia deja las primeras nevadas. Vía @bbcweather: #snow: image via Geól. Sergio Almazán @chematierra, 14 October 2015

Volcan de #Cotopaxi Photograph of the country of Madrid, this Thursday 8 October: Jose Jacome @chematierra @AlertaCotopaxi: image via Leopold Kennedy Adam, 8 October 2015

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Erich Fried: A Jew to Zionist Fighters ("I want to be a new Jew with these new Jews...")

October 15, 2015, 7:43 pm

≫ Next: In the Harvest Season: Vassilis Zambaras: Stopping by a Grove of Ancient Olive Trees Near Twilight, I Think Myself Fortunate

≪ Previous: Self-Immolation / Erich Fried: Angst und Zweifel (Anxiety and Doubt)

Intimidation in Gaza. Israeli Defense Force soldiers interrogate a Palestinian youth in Gaza with a tear gas launcher. The Palestinians were being forced to open their shops, which were closed in protest against the Israeli invasion into Palestinian territory. "The image is a blow-up of a contact print. I don't have access to the negatives.": image via Robert Croma, 18 November 2012

What do you actually want?

Do you really want to outdo

those who trod you down

a generation ago

into your own blood

and into your own excrement

Do you want to pass on the old torture

to others now

in all its bloody and dirty detail

with all the brutal delight of torturers

as suffered by your fathers?

Do you really want to be the new Gestapo

the new Wehrmacht

the new SA and SS

and turn the Palestinians

into the new Jews?

Well then I too want,

having fifty years ago

myself been tormented for being a Jewboy

by your tormentors,

to be a new Jew with these new Jews

you are making of the Palestinians

And I want to help lead them as a free people

into their own land of Palestine

from whence you have driven them or in which you plague them

you apprentices of the Swastika

you fools and changelings of history

whose Star of David on your flags

turns ever quicker

into that damned symbol with its four feet

that you just do not want to see

but whose path you are following today

Erich Fried (1921-1988): A Jew to Zionist Fighters, 1988, from Unverwundenes - Liebe, Trauer, Widersorüche - Gedichte (Uninjured -Love, Grief, Contradictions - Poems), Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin, 1988; English version by Frank Monahan from Return, March 1990

Enforcing an Occupation #2 | by Robert Croma

Enforcing an Occupation #2. IDF soldiers search the alleyways of the Occupied Territories. "The image is a blow-up of a contact print. I don't have access to the negatives.": image via Robert Croma, 19 November 2012

Israel bristles at U.S. suggestion it used excessive force to confront Palestinian stabbings: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 15 October 2015

U.S. 'excessive force' comment touches nerve in Israel: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 15 October 2015

Israelis invest in firepower as knife attacks rise: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 14 October 2015

#Israeli border guards stand at a roadblock set up on a road close to Jabal Mukaber. #AFP @gharabli_ahmadi: image via AureliaBAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 15 October 2015

Palestinian protesters are seen during clashes with Israeli soldiers near Bureij. #AFP @m55baba: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 15 October 2015

#Palestinians Clashes with Israeli security forces near the Jewish settlement of Beit El: #AFP by Abbas Momani: image via AureliaBAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 12 October 2015

Gideon Levy: Sleeping beauty has awakened

Fed up and angry, Generation Oslo leads Palestinian unrest: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 14 October 2015

Israelis didn't know about the Palestinians' suffering beyond the dark mountains a half an hour away. For the most part, they didn’t want to know: Gideon Levy, Haaretz, 15 October 2015

What did you think, the Palestinians would sit still indefinitely? Did you really think Israel would continue on its course and they’d just bow their heads in submission?

Do you know many historical examples of that? Is there one example of a brutal occupation that persisted without stoking resistance? Apparently that's what you thought, otherwise there would have been public pressure long ago to act, because who wants terror?

But Israel slid into a deathly silence, with darkness over the abyss, and now it’s acting surprised. It voted for the right, for ultra-nationalism, racism and messianism, and now its feelings are hurt.

After all, what did it ask for but some quiet, to be left alone from the occupation to which it’s not even linked, and from the resistance that has fallen on it like a natural disaster. Sleeping beauty has awakened to the sound of stabbings and car-rammings, and through the cobwebs of sleep it’s asking: How did this happen? How can they be doing this to us again?

You can’t blame Israelis -- they were busy doing other things and knew nothing. Bar Refaeli’s wedding weighed heavily on people’s minds, as did events at the Allenby 40 nightclub. Israelis didn’t know exactly what was going on over there, beyond the dark mountains, half an hour’s drive from their homes -- for the most part, they didn’t want to know.

The media gladly succumbed to their wishes. They hid the crimes of the occupation from people’s sight -- such pictures don’t buoy ratings. The image of a Palestinian as a human being doesn’t sell newspapers. The media never reported what those people go through and what they really desire. It sufficed with diversions, incitement and propaganda. That pays better.

Politicians promised that everything would be fine, rabbis incited, settlers torched, the whole world is against us, just leave us alone. Then out of the blue those knife-wielding youngsters with murder in their eyes descended upon us. The quiet dissolved, security fizzled, businesses collapsed, dreams of jeep tours and quick vacations became uncertain.

The government blames the Islamic State and the left blames the lack of “peace talks.” Experts on Arab affairs — the southern branch of the Shin Bet security service and Military Intelligence -- say it’s because of “incitement.” The wise sages of security issues say, as is their wont, that this time the other side must be hit hard. Everyone agrees that the Arabs are to blame because they were born to kill. Through this stupefying haze all connection to reality has been lost.

In the meantime, Jerusalem has become the capital of apartheid. No other city so discriminates and dispossesses or is so violent. Gun-toting Mayor Nir Barkat, who’s largely responsible for the discrimination and dispossession in his city, incites against a third of its population -- an unbelievable phenomenon in its own right.

And you thought 300,000 people would acquiesce? That they’d watch settlers invade their homes as city hall denied them minimal services amid maximal property taxes? That they’d look on while the occupier arbitrarily denied them residence status, as if they were migrants in their own city?

That they would put up with Jewish gangs beating them up in full view of policemen and forgive? That a young man growing up in this reality -- with his neighborhood a Soweto -- would spend his life washing dishes and building homes for Jews with no chance of escaping his ghetto?

Did you really think right-wing provocations on the Temple Mount would pass quietly? That the burning of the Dawabsheh family would pass with no response -- even more so the defense minister’s arrogant claims that Israel knew who the perpetrators were but wouldn’t arrest them?

That their children would be burned helplessly with Israel not punishing anyone and they’d remain silent? That the response to all this would be more of the same: We’ll demolish, detain, dispossess, oppress, torture and kill more than ever -- and (Jewish) Zion will be redeemed? Did anyone really believe that?

Gideon Levy

Haaretz Correspondent

View of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City. #AFP Photo by @gharabli_ahmad: image via AureliaBAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 15 October 2015

Palestinian communities and Israeli settlements in#Jerusalem: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 15 October 2015

Israel sets up east Jerusalem checkpoints after violence spikes: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 14 October 2015

Israel sets up checkpoints in Palestinian east Jerusalem: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 14 October 2015

Anne Paq: Funeral in Bethlehem

The clashes lasted until the night. Israeli soldiers also use rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. (Photo: Anne Paq)

Street clashes in Deheishe camp, Bethlehem, between protestors and IOF forces following the October 14 funeral of Mutaz Ibrahim Zawahreh, 27, shot dead by Israeli forces in clashes the day before during a protest in front of the Separation WalI: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

Street clashes in Deheishe camp, Bethlehem, between protestors and IOF forces following the October 14 funeral of Mutaz Ibrahim Zawahreh, 27, shot dead by Israeli forces in clashes the day before during a protest in front of the Separation WalI: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

Thousands attend the funeral. (Photo: Anne Paq)

Thousands attend the funeral: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October

Muntaz was the 30th Palestinian killed during the soaring of tensions and violence in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Israel since October 1st: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

‘We are so sad. He was my friend. The Israeli soldiers do not see us as humans.’, says a young Palestinian who attended the funeral. (Photo: Anne Paq)

‘We are so sad. He was my friend. The Israeli soldiers do not see us as humans’, says a young Palestinian who attended the funeral.: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

The Israeli army used scores of tear gas canisters, at times covering the Al-Azzeh refugee camp with clouds of tear gas. Some of the tear gas were shot directly at the head level of the protesters. (Photo: Anne Paq)

The Israeli army used scores of tear gas canisters, at times covering the Al-Azzeh refugee camp with clouds of tear gas. Some of the tear gas canisters were shot directly at the head level of the protesters.: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

An angry crowd carries the body of Mutaz through the narrow streets of Deheishe. The camp was established in 1949, and is overcrowded, with 13,000 Palestinian refugees.: photo by Anne Paq via Mondoweiss, 15 October 2015

↧

In the Harvest Season: Vassilis Zambaras: Stopping by a Grove of Ancient Olive Trees Near Twilight, I Think Myself Fortunate

October 16, 2015, 9:07 pm

≫ Next: In the Shadows: A 'Mystery' for Mrs. General

≪ Previous: Erich Fried: A Jew to Zionist Fighters ("I want to be a new Jew with these new Jews...")

Olive trees at sunset, Alonnisos, Greece: photo by Darren Waters, 14 September 2005

Lost in recollection
Amidst deep ancient wrinkles,
This is where one should spend
The dying minutes of each wasted day.

Vassilis Zambaras: Stopping by a Grove of Ancient Olive Trees Near Twilight, I Think Myself Fortunate: via Vazambam, 7 October 2015

Starlight above olive tree.... | by Mgpixel

Starlight above olive trees at sunset, Attica: photo by Mgpixel, 4 September 2013

An olive tree, Bi'lin, West Bank: photo by elena martinez, 12 June 2009

Olive trees on Thassos, Greece: photo by Peter Pakandl, 7 September 2006

International volunteers assist in the olive harvest in the occupied territories: photo via Rabbi 4 Human Rights @hreng, 17 October 2015

#Zionist Occupation prevents #Palestinian farmers from picking their olives in #Burin [photo ISM]: image via Abbs Winston @AbbsWinston, 9 October 2015

Fires in #Palestinian olive groves and rock attacks by Israeli settlers injure british monitors #Burin [photo ISM]: image via Fiona Dunlop @ffdunlop, 14 October 2015

Life near the dead syria aleppo: image via baraaalhalabi, 16 October 2015

The #OliveHarvest in the OT has begun! Want to join in on the goodwill? Join us in the groves!: image via Rabbi 4 Human Rights @rhreng, 7 October 2015

Show the power of solidarity and goodwill. Volunteers needed TMRW for Pal olive harvest @RavArik: image via Rabbi 4 Human Rights @rhreng, 7 October 2015

Israeli settlers burn trees and disrupt olive harvest in Burin[photo ISM]: image via Gabriel Helou @GabrielHelou, 14 October 2015

Israeli settlers burn trees and disrupt olive harvest in Burin [photo ISM]: image via Gabriel Helou @GabrielHelou, 14 October 2015

Settlers terrorize Palestinian farmers in Burin: burn trees and disrupt olive harvest

A Palestinian farmer and English human rights defender have been hospitalized and at least 40 olive trees burnt following an attack by illegal Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank town of Burin today: International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Burin, occupied Palestine, 14 October 2015

At 10am this morning, as ISM and other international volunteers accompanied olive farmers who have repeatedly been restricted from accessing their fields, gun shots were heard ringing out across the valley from the settlement above. Approximately thirty masked settlers from the illegal Yizhar settlement then descended the hill and started throwing stones at the group which had peacefully been picking olives for several hours. International human rights defender David Amos, a Quaker from London, was repeatedly attacked with rocks from three meters away, causing two head wounds and copious bleeding. The owner of the land, Abed Musaa, was hit in the front and back with stones and has been treated for lacerations and bruising. The attacking settlers also stole phones, a camera and a bag from the international human rights defenders.

The settlers were then witnessed setting four separate fires to grass on the edge of the olive groves which rapidly grew in dimensions, consuming olive trees and the grasslands between family plots. Two Israeli forces jeeps and two collaborating illegal settler vehicles drove into the valley, took photos of the scene, and then parked alongside each other on the road to Yizhar as more fires were lit by the masked settlers throughout the valley.

Israeli forces then scaled the valley and were witnessed saying to Palestinians, “yes you want peace, we want peace, they want peace,” referring to the settlers. Burin farmer and school teacher Doha and Samir were prohibited from continuing to pick olives on their land, being told they required a permit despite no legal provision to that effect, being within Area B zoning under the Oslo accords.

Palestinian firefighters were prohibited from accessing the fire for three hours, being told that a permit was required to utilize the road to the Yizhar settlement, which has been heavily restricted to Palestinian traffic in recent weeks. Palestinian civil workers, farmers, and international human rights defenders attempted to put out the blaze with sand, shovels, and olive branches but were unable to stop the spread of the fire amid 30 degree heat and rising winds.

Olives are a traditional produce of the Nablus district and constitute 25% of the West Bank’s economy (OCHA 2014).This critical October harvest season falls amid rising tensions in the West Bank, as Israeli forces increase their deployment of soldiers and use of violence in the occupied territories. The Yizhar settlement has also been implicated in the tragic death of 18 month old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents in the Palestinian village of Duma two months ago.

Settlers lighting fires throughout valley

International human rights observer David Amos attacked by settlers

Palestinian civil workers attempt to put out fires while fire truck prohibited entry

Terrorist settlers attack the olive harvest in Burin: photos via ISM, 16 October 2015

BREAKING: #Palestinians report extremists attack, injure Pal and int'l activist near #Huwara: image via Rabbi 4 Human Rights @rhreng, 14 October 2015

Olive Orchards: Bright Blue Sky: Vincent van Gogh, Autumn 1889, Saint-Rémy, oil on canvas, 49 x 63 cm (National Gallery of Scotland)

Olive trees (Olea europaea ssp. europaea), Corfu, Greece: photo by Cezanne, 16 July 2003

Olive grove near Kalamata | by Ed Chadwick

Olive grove near Kalamata: photo by Ed Chadwick, 2 June 2008

↧

In the Shadows: A 'Mystery' for Mrs. General

October 18, 2015, 10:25 pm

≫ Next: no man's land / Vallejo: two poems from Trilce

≪ Previous: In the Harvest Season: Vassilis Zambaras: Stopping by a Grove of Ancient Olive Trees Near Twilight, I Think Myself Fortunate

Video footage showed the moment after an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian youth in Hebron: image via YouTube/ Al Jazeera, 17 October 2015

Palestinians killed after alleged Hebron stabbings: Shootings by Israeli forces and settler in West Bank city and East Jerusalem leave three people dead, including a girl: Al Jazeera, 17 October 2015

Three Palestinians have been shot dead in separate attacks after they allegedly tried to stab Israelis in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the latest incidents in a wave of violence that has escalated this month.

In Hebron, a Jewish settler killed a Palestinian man early on Saturday after the Palestinian allegedly tried to stab him. Israeli police said the man was shot dead before he could harm the Israeli.

Witnesses disputed the Israeli police version of the event, saying the incident looked more like an attack by the settler on the Palestinian.

Video circulated by Palestinian activists showed a young man wearing a kippa brandishing a pistol as shots rang out before Israeli soldiers moved in to pull him away from a body lying on the ground.

Palestinian security sources identified the Palestinian as 18-year-old Fadel al-Kawasmeh.

In the second attack, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead by Israeli forces after she allegedly attempted to stab a female soldier guarding an illegal Jewish settlement in Hebron.

The soldier suffered minor injuries to her hand, according to an Israeli police spokesperson.

Palestinian media identified the Palestinian girl as Bayan Ahmad Aseeleh.

Israeli police sealed off the city by blocking road access after violent clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces following the killings.

Israeli soldiers violently disperse marchers in Hebron: image via AJE News Verified account @AJENews, 18 October 2015

Tit-for-tat attacks

In East Jerusalem, a 16-year-old Palestinian allegedly tried to stab a soldier at a checkpoint at East Talpiot settlement near Jabal al-Mukaber neighbourhood but was shot dead by other soldiers.

The boy was identified as Moutaz Oweisat.

Jabal al-Mukaber was home to three Palestinians who were killed earlier this week after alleged attacks against Israelis.

Amid tit-for-tat attacks between Israelis and Palestinians, the ongoing streak of violence has left dead at least 42 Palestinians -- including suspected attackers, as well as unarmed protesters and bystanders -- and seven Israelis.

Israeli security forces have deployed massively in Jerusalem and on Wednesday began setting up checkpoints in parts of East Jerusalem, including Jabel Mukaber. But it has failed to stop the violence.

The mounting death toll has prompted speculation about a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, like those of 1987-93 and 2000-2005, when thousands were killed in near-daily violence.

Palestinian plea rejected

Saturday's killings came a day after Israel rejected a Palestinian plea to the United Nations for an international force to police the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Tensions boiled over into violence earlier this month as Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa complex -- the third holiest site in Islam -- gave way to protests and clashes that have consumed much of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

"An international presence on the Temple Mount [al-Aqsa Mosque compound] would violate the status quo of the last several decades," Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said on Friday.

"Israel does not think international intervention [in] the Temple Mount would be helpful or contribute to stability," Danon added.

Israeli border guards check Palestinian men heading to the Friday prayers in Jerusalem. #AFP @gharabli_ahmad: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 16 October 2015

Questions over Hebron 'attack' (troubling the sleep of Mrs. General)

"Mrs General had no opinions. Her way of forming a mind was to prevent it from forming opinions. She had a little circular set of mental grooves or rails, on which she started little trains of other people's opinions, which never overtook one another, and never got anywhere. Even her propriety could not dispute that there was impropriety in the world; but Mrs General's way of getting rid of it was to put it out of sight, and make believe that there was no such thing. This was another of her ways of forming a mind -- to cram all articles of difficulty into cupboards, lock them up, and say they had no existence. It was the easiest way, and, beyond all comparison, the properest."

-- Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, 1857

Video image captured by Youth Against Settlements shortly after settler murder of Palestinian youth in al-Khalil (Hebron), 17 October 2015: image via Ma'an News Agency

Video footage raises questions over Hebron 'attack': Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian activist group on Saturday released video footage that may show Israeli soldiers planting a knife next to the body of an 18-year-old Palestinian shot dead by a settler in Hebron earlier in the day. The footage -- released by Youth Against Settlements -- shows an Israeli soldier handing an unidentified object to another soldier, who then bends forward, possibly placing the object next to the Palestinian's body. An Israeli army spokesperson earlier claimed that the Palestinian, identified as Fadil Qawasmi, had attempted to stab the Israeli settler, who then "opened live fire on the assailant," killing him. The settler was not injured during the incident.

Shuhada Street lies at the heart of tensions in Hebron's Old City where Israeli forces have severely restricted Palestinian access for more than two decades.

Local Palestinians are prevented from accessing most of the street in order to "secure" the area for around 600 Jewish settlers who have taken over homes and evicted residents in the area.

Palestinians may only access the street by passing through an Israeli military checkpoint with a metal detector, causing locals to question whether Qawasmi could have been carrying a knife at the time of the alleged attack. Sources told Ma'an that Israeli authorities had agreed to investigate the shooting following a request from the Palestinian liaison department. The liaison department reportedly made the request after they saw the footage. Israeli forces have meanwhile detained the media coordinator for Youth Against Settlements, Ahmad Amr, as well as a Palestinian who witnessed the shooting. On Wednesday, Israeli human rights organizations released a statement arguing that recent calls by Israeli politicians to shoot Palestinian attackers rather than arrest them effectively endorses the killing of Palestinians. The statement added that "in instances when Jews have been suspected of attacks, none of the suspects has been shot." An investigation from Israeli rights group B'Tselem has meanwhile found that two Palestinians shot dead after alleged attacks, Fadi Alloun and Basel Sidr, "were shot while no longer posing danger."

Erasing the footage

Israeli forces detain media coordinator of Youth Against Settlements: photo via MaanImages, 17 October 2015

Israeli forces detain activist over video footage of Hebron shooting: Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Saturday detained and briefly held the media coordinator of a Palestinian activist group after it released video footage that they say contradicts the Israeli army's version of events.

A spokesperson for Youth Against Settlements told Ma'an that Israeli forces held Ahmad Amr for nearly five hours, and confiscated his filming equipment and laptop.

Youth Against Settlements earlier released video footage taken after an Israeli settler shot dead 18-year-old Fadil Qawasmi, who the settler claimed attempted to stab him.

The activist group said the footage showed the soldiers planting a knife on Qawasmi, although due to its low resolution it is not conclusive.

The group's spokesperson said that Israeli forces had "humiliated" their media coordinator, Amr, during his detention, and threatened to arrest him again if he filmed or published any more video footage.

They erased large amounts footage from his equipment and damaged his laptop, the group's spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces also threatened another resident of Hebron and a volunteer with Youth Against Settlements, Mufeed Sharbati, who earlier spoke with Ma'an after witnessing the shooting of Qawasami.

Israeli forces told Sharbati that they would come back later in the night and he would see "what they would do."

"We're used to that," the group's spokesperson said. "We're not afraid."

He said that Israeli forces had repeatedly targeted and "incited" against them.

An Israeli army spokesperson said she was looking into the reports.

Youth Against Settlements often documents incidents on Shuhada Street, where the attack took place. The street lies at the heart of tensions in Hebron's Old City where Israeli forces have severely restricted Palestinian access since 1994. On Friday, Israeli forces also detained Palestinian photojournalist Bilal al-Taweel who captured a photo of a Palestinian man before he stabbed an Israeli soldier in Hebron.

Taweel's brother told Ma'an that Israeli authorities had notified him that Taweel had been taken to the Etzion detention center. After the stabbing attack, Israeli forces reportedly detained a number of other Palestinian journalists for questioning who were later released, except for Jamil Salhab, who captured footage of the Palestinian stabbing the Israeli soldier.

Death of a schoolgirl

Israeli Forces executed the Palestinian girl Bayan Esaili 16 y/o in cold blood in Hebron today. #ThirdIntifada: omage via Said - Palestine @saidshouib, 17 October 2015

3rd Palestinian shot dead after alleged attacks in Hebron, Jerusalem: Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian teenager was shot dead Saturday by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after allegedly stabbing an Israeli border police officer in the third alleged attack of the day.

Palestinian locals said that Israeli forces opened fire at the woman close to the the Wadi al-Ghrus area near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement.

She was identified as 17-year-old Bayan Ayman Abd al-Hadi al-Esseili.

Her family told Ma'an they were informed by Israeli authorities that their daughter had been killed after she stabbed a soldier.

A border police woman sustained light injuries to her hand, according to Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld, who reported that a "female terrorist was shot at the scene."

Fadil Qawasmi, 18, was shot dead by an Israeli settler earlier Saturday morning on Shuhada Street in Hebron's Old City, hours before a 16-year-old Palestinian was shot dead in occupied East Jerusalem.

Both teens are accused of carrying out stabbing attacks, although no Israelis were injured in either incident.

A 17-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead after alleged attack in Hebron: photo via MaanImages, 17 October 2015

Saturday's events bring the total number of Palestinians killed to 40 since the beginning of the month. Seven Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in the same period.

On Friday three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces during demonstrations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and one was killed after stabbing an Israeli soldier in East Jerusalem.

Another Palestinian succumbed to wounds sustained during a Gaza demonstration the week before.

A group of prominent Israeli and international human rights organizations on Wednesday released a joint statement arguing that recent calls by Israeli politicians to shoot Palestinian attackers rather than arrest them effectively endorses the killing of Palestinians.

The statement, which was signed by nine groups including B'Tselem and Amnesty International, added that "in instances when Jews have been suspected of attacks, none of the suspects has been shot."

"Politicians and senior police officers have not only failed to act to calm the public climate of incitement, but on the contrary have openly called for the extrajudicial killing of (Palestinian) suspects," the groups said.

PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat announced last week that the Palestinian leadership would be contacting the High Commissioner for Human Rights to request an investigation into the recent killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces.

Classmates remember her as girl killed in cold blood by #Israel forces in #Hebron - colleagues of 16-y Bayan Assileh in classroom today: image via Fadi Al-Qadi @fqadi, 18 October 2015

Tear gas and tea

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at young school students in #Hebron - Palestine: image via From Palestine. @M7madSmiry, 18 October 2015

Ruthless killing of Palestinian youths in al-Khalil (Hebron): International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine, 17 October 2015

UPDATE 9pm:

No stop to violence, settlers are taking over the streets

The Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of al-Khalil is on lockdown for Palestinians. Palestinian residents and internationals are not allowed to be on the streets, on their own roofs or at the windows of their houses. Israeli forces on the street are yelling and pointing guns at them if they see anyone. Settlers on the other hand are allowed to freely roam the streets.

Hundreds of settlers came to the spot of the killing of 18-year old Fadel al-Qawasmeh, executed by settlers this morning, to celebrate his death. The settlers, armed with machine guns, are intimidating Palestinians living nearby, blocking the streets. Soldiers are not able to protect anyone anymore, a small group of Palestinians wanting to go home from a visit had to run back and lock the door behind them in order not get harmed by the settlers. Two internationals were first stopped by soldiers and ordered not to move and then yelled at to leave as fast as possible as settlers were approaching.

An Israeli ambulance with the dying Palestinian youth shot at Shuhada checkpoint by Israeli forces for allegedly attacking a soldier with a knife, was blocked by the group of settlers. An elderly Palestinian, suffering breathing difficulties had to wait for over an hour to be allowed to be carried away towards an ambulance, as the ambulance was not allowed to pass on segregated Shuhada street.

*******

Today, 17^th October, 2015, Israeli forces and Israeli settlers in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) murdered two Palestinian youth within three hours.

In the morning, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements within al-Khalil, walked past the 18-year old Palestinian youth Fadel al-Qawasmeh in segregated Shuhada street, cursing him as an ‘Arab’ and then pulled a gun shooting him from point blank range. The settler fired four shots at the Palestinian youth from his pistol, one shot directly in the head. This execution was entirely unprovoked. Israeli soldiers rushed to the scene, but prevented a Palestinian ambulance from treating the critically injured Palestinian youth who was lying on the ground bleeding. Whereas the area around the execution was immediately closed for Palestinians and international observers by the Israeli forces, settlers at all times were allowed to freely stroll alongside the scene of the murder, with soldiers taking pictures with their private phones.

Israeli settlers standing right next to the scene of the execution

Israeli settlers standing next to the scene of the execution of Fadel al-Qawasmeh in Shuhada street, al-Khalil (Hebron): photo via ISM, 17 October 2015

Later on, Israeli forces blocked all entrances to a Palestinian house nearby where activists where trying to document. In the meantime, settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, watching from down on the street close by a checkpoint where enjoying tea and biscuits, brought from the settlement, with the soldiers and the police. After Israeli forces washed off the blood from the street, they broke into the house where Palestinians were filming before, with 11 children, the youngest only a year old, present. Heavily armed Israeli soldiers searched the house and confiscated all phones and cameras. Once they left the house, they were checking all the photos and videos taken after the execution of Fadel, and showed them to the settlers nearby.

Israeli settlers and soldiers sharing tea at the scene of the execution of Fadel al-Qawasmeh: photo via ISM, 17 October 2015

Palestinians and international human rights observers trying to document this violent attack on a family home were repeatedly forced by Israeli forces to move away from the incident, whereas the settlers were allowed to freely walk around and curse and hurl insults at them, even threatening them that they will be the next to be killed. One Palestinian man was forced by Israeli soldiers to pass through a checkpoint even though soldiers were throwing stun grenades right outside the checkpoint. 23-year old Abed al-Salaymeh was detained in Tel Rumeida for one and a half hours, after soldiers prevented him from going back to his home in segregated Shuhada Street. Different soldiers repeatedly ordered him and internationals to either move up the hill from the checkpoint, or when further up to move back down, all the time prohibiting him from going back to his house. Once up the hill, he was detained for one and a half hours, with soldiers freely admitting that this is because he ‘annoyed’ them before. Settlers passing by were threatening him and internationals that ‘tomorrow they would be the ones to be killed’.

Israeli soldiers having tea brought by settlers at the scene of the execution in al-Khalil: photo via ISM, 17 October 2015

Only three hours later, Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year old Palestinian teenager Bayan Eiseleh at the Ibrahimi mosque. Her parents, rushing to the scene of her killing, were brutally attacked and beaten by Israeli forces. International human rights observers trying to document this senseless killing were detained by Israeli forces and then one of them was arrested for ‘taking pictures and posting them online’. She is still being held at the police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The Graves of Hebron

The Graves of #Hebron: image via Mario Kaiser @MarioKaiserNYC, 18 October 2015

Fifth Palestinian shot dead by Israel in alleged stabbing incident, in Hebron in occupied WB: image via AJE News Verified account @AJENews, 18 October 2015

At least 43 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed in this month's unrest: photo by Oded Balilty/AP via Al Jazeera, 18 October 2015

Palestinians clash with Israeli forces across West Bank: Soldiers violently disperse marchers in Hebron, day after three Palestinians were killed in the city: Patrick Strickland, Al Jazeera, 18 October 2015

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank as violence continued to grip the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

In the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian demonstrators marched from a local university to an Israeli settlement, where they were confronted by the army on Sunday afternoon.

More protests were held across the West Bank, including in the city of Nablus, and in the Gaza Strip.

"The soldiers [in Hebron] are firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets," Issa Amro, director of the Youth Against Settlements group, told Al Jazeera, adding that at least ten Palestinians have been arrested.

The clashes come just a day after five Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces or settlers during alleged stabbing attacks -- three of them in Hebron.

Triggered by Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound last month, protests against Israel's occupation have increased in frequency across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces have responded with a crackdown on protesters, using tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition.

At least 43 Palestinians -- including suspected attackers, unarmed protesters and bystanders -- have been killed by Israel since October 1.

Seven Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians this month.

In one incident in Hebron, 18-year-old Fadel al-Kawasmeh was killed by a settler on Saturday afternoon. Palestinians dispute the accusation that the teen had tried to stab the settler.

"The situation is very tense after Kawasmeh was assassinated by the settler," Amro said.

"Hundreds of settlers attacked Palestinian homes near the Kiryat Arba settlement overnight. People defended their homes with rocks and molotov cocktails.

"People are very scared here. Parents aren't sending their kids to school and a lot of people aren't going to work," he added. "The settlers are even more violent than the soldiers."

About 500 Jewish settlers live in a heavily guarded enclave in the city centre surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians.

Israeli settlers were extracted by the army in Nablus on Sunday after clashing with local Palestinian residents near the Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site that Palestinian youths set fire to on Friday.

After the Fire #Qalandia #Palestine #Israel: image via Mario Kaiser @MarioKaiserNYC, 18 October 2015

Punitive measures

Israeli soldiers also clashed with armed Palestinians in the Qalandiya refugee camp and delivered a home demolition order to the family of Tareq al-Dweik, a 22-year-old Palestinian who was arrested after allegedly stabbing four Israelis last week.

Soldiers were forced to withdraw from the camp during confrontations with locals, who prevented them from delivering more home demolition orders.

An army spokesperson said they were "still looking into" the incident.

Last week, Israeli ministers approved a package of security measures, including home demolitions as a punitive move against the families of suspected Palestinian attackers.

Since the latest wave of unrest broke out, Israel has delivered a slew of home demolition orders to Palestinian families.

Rights groups have decried Israel's recent measures.

The uptick in punitive home demolitions is "a sort of collective punishment which, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention is strictly forbidden", according to Al-Haq, a Ramallah-based human rights group.

Several Israeli leaders, including the mayor of Jerusalem, have urged Israeli citizens to carry guns. Last month, the government relaxed live fire rules against Palestinian protesters.

Nur Arafeh, a policy fellow at Al-Shabaka policy network, said that the harsh measures "lead to increased Palestinian resistance".

"Israeli measures to legalise the killing of Palestinians or quell their protests fail to suppress a population revolting against injustice," Arafeh told Al Jazeera.

Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party, announced last week that the government will also begin banishing alleged Palestinian attackers and their relatives from Jerusalem.

With neither Israeli nor Palestinian citizenship, Palestinian Jerusalemites carry Israeli-issued residency papers. Shaked said that attackers and their families will be stripped of their residency rights and social security.

Israeli troops have also been deployed across the city throughout the last week and have sealed off Palestinian neighbourhoods with additional road blocks and checkpoints.

According to Rima Awwad, a member of the Coalition for Jerusalem, a Palestinian rights group, the ongoing crackdown "shows the level of desperation".

"Israeli leaders are trying to appease the Israeli public ... by inciting against Palestinians," she told Al Jazeera. "But it will only add to the frustrations of Palestinians living in Jerusalem."

Eastern Hebron: settler terror: firebombing the villages

A Palestinian stands next to a graffiti reading in Hebrew "Revenge" as he looks at the damage after a house was set on fire by suspected Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Duma: photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP, 31 July 2015

200 Israeli settlers attack Palestinian villages with firebombs: Ma'an News Agency, 18 October 2015

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- More than 200 Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Wad al-Haseen and Wad al-Nasara near the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba overnight in the eastern Hebron district of the occupied southern West Bank, locals and medics said.

During the attack, Israeli settlers threw stones and firebombs at Palestinian homes and injured at least three people, two of which were minors, while Israeli forces later shot and injured one Palestinian with live fire.
An Israeli army spokesperson said she did not have reports of any injuries with live fire.

The spokesperson said clashes between Palestinians and Israelis broke out in the area, after which Israeli forces "arrived at the scene and dispersed the clashes using riot dispersal means."

Kayed Daana, one of the residents whose home was attacked, told Ma’an that dozens of Israeli settlers attacked her neighborhood and injured at least three of her neighbors who have been identified as 40-year-old Imad and two minors, Abdullah, 13, and Muhammad, 17.

Muhammad's injuries were the most serious of the three, as he was hit in the chest with one of the fire bombs, medics said.

Daana told Ma'an that she would like to urge the International Red Cross and others in the international community intervene against Israeli violations and attacks on Palestinians. Bassam al-Jabri, one of the residents, said he saw the attacking Israeli settlers cutting the blockade fence that separates the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arab from nearby Palestinian homes, while under the protection of the Israeli troops before they attacked his neighborhood with fire bombs.

Al-Jabri said his house was one of those set ablaze, but that he and his neighbors were able to put the fire out before the fire was able to damage his whole home.

During the attacks, Palestinian villagers fled to their local mosques and used the mosque amplifier to call for help from neighboring Palestinian villages and communities, who responded to their calls.

Israeli forces then got involved, shooting tear gas at Palestinians who showed up to help.

Community member Farid al-Razim told Ma’an that villagers in his area were attacked by Israeli settlers with firebombs, while Israeli forces were shooting tear gas, and that one of the Palestinians from a neighboring village who had come to help was shot and injured with live fire.

While relations between Palestinian residents and Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are normally tense, the situation has been significantly deteriorating since settlers set fire to home belonging to the Duwabsha family in Nablus on July 31. An 18-month-old toddler was burned alive during the attack, while his mother and father succumbed to their burn wounds while being treated at separate hospitals. The family's four-year-old son is the only remaining survivor of the attack.

On Oct. 1, suspected Palestinians shot and killed Eitam and Naama Henkin, two settlers who were driving between the illegal settlements of Itamar and Elon More in an area near Huwwara in Nablus.

Their four children, aged between four months and nine years, were found unharmed in the back of the car.
It is speculated that the shootings were a revenge attack on Israeli settlers, following months of increased restrictions at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and calls from right-wing Jewish groups, urging their supporters to visit the compound, which is venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Following the shooting, hundreds of Israeli settlers rioted across the occupied West Bank, with multiple attacks reported on Palestinian homes and vehicles.

Palestinian towns and villages in the Nablus area are surrounded by Israeli settlements and outposts, many of which are protected by the Israeli military and have gained notoriety for being comprised of the most extremist settlers.

The Palestinian government has no jurisdiction over Israelis in the West Bank, and violent acts carried out by Israeli settlers often occur in the presence of Israeli military forces who rarely act to protect Palestinian residents.

Palestinians are therefore left to fend for themselves as few options for their personal security remain.
While Israeli forces will detain a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank for possessing a knife or gun, Israelis living in the same area are legally able to carry such weapons.

Rights groups have criticized Israel for implementing different legal systems for Palestinians and Israeli settlers living in the same area.

Such practices, they say, protect the expansion of settlements while systematically removing the ability for Palestinians to move freely throughout the occupied territory.

As the shades of evening come down

Barricades and mannequins. Life in #Hebron. #Palestine #Israel: image via Mario Kaiser @MarioKaiserNYC, 14 October 2015

In Al-Khalil (Hebron) the situation grows gravely worse: International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine, 18 October 2015

After a day of intensified violence in al-Khalil the midnight hour brought horrifying screams for help from local mosques, the screaming sirens of ambulances and clouds of teargas drifting through the streets from Bab al-Zawiya. Three young Palestinians in Khalil lay dead from multiple gunshot wounds; two killed by Israeli forces and the other felled by the machine gun blasts of several settlers who shouted, “Arab! Arab!” before unleashing a stream of bullets into his body. The toll of Palestinian deaths has climbed to 43 in just 18 days, along with over 1900 injured.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian youth Fadel al-Qawasmeh walked in the area on Shuhada Street not segregated for the benefit of Israeli settlers. Passing settlers as an Arab, was enough of a ‘crime’ for the point-blank, execution style shooting the 18 year old endured, only to be packaged and stamped as another Arab ‘terrorist’ when officials at the scene determined the boy had a knife.

Fadel’s case would have been the latest in a string of Israeli murders of Palestinians who supposedly had attempted knife attacks if it hadn’t happened just a few hours later just down the street from the site. Also if he actually had a knife, which eye witnesses verified he did not and which video released by the Palestinian organization Youth Against Settlements seemed to corroborate when video taken at the scene shows one Israeli soldier handing something to another soldier standing over the boy’s body and then the soldier placing the object near him.

In the immediate aftermath of the killing, when Israeli forces should have been utilizing photo and video evidence from witnesses at the scene as well as eyewitness testimony, rather, they went on the attack. Palestinians in a home directly near the site of the killing had their home raided, terrifying the families inside and had their phones and computers confiscated only for settlers who were allowed to wander freely on the scene to be given glimpse of the evidence against them.

And while a member of Youth Against Settlements who was filming was detained while his evidence was confiscated and evaluated, settlers were allowed to photograph the boy’s bleeding body who received no immediate first aid; a common obscenity between settlers and soldiers of humiliating Palestinians as they lay dying. Settlers served tea and snacks on the scene.

Just hours later, near the Ibrahimi Mosque, 16-year old Palestinian teenager Bayan Eiseleh was seen and photographed by a witness as she was being screamed at in Hebrew by Israeli soldiers. The photograph shows Bayan with her hands up, holding nothing. The witness reported that Bayan backed away in horror as the shouting continued. Minutes later, she was bleeding on the ground after Israeli forces fired multiple shots into the unarmed woman. And no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary, Bayan joins the numerous others described in headlines across the world as another Palestinian who attempted a stabbing on an Israeli soldier; and as Netanyahu described their deaths, she committed suicide. These are the post death wounds inflicted by those who already inflicted wounds on them across a lifetime of occupation and subjugation.

Just after the sun went down, on Shuhada Street, Israeli forces shot and killed Tarek an-Natseh after he failed to follow their orders to stop. He jumped on one of the soldiers, unarmed according to an eyewitness at the scene, and was then shot, “again and again and again.” This brings up an issue that must be looked at in a very real way before the death toll climbs above the already staggering number of 43 where it currently sits.

Excessive force. Are the countless ways to incapacitate someone you feel is a threat being completely abandoned? Seemingly yes.

Immediately after the shooting, settlers, who were celebrating in a frenzy on Shuhada Street, prevented the ambulance carrying Tarek’s body from leaving the scene. Some even laid on the ground to prevent the emergency vehicle from getting the critically injured and dying man to the hospital. Tarek would die soon after.

Ambulance carrying dying Palestinian prevented from leaving Shuhada Street by frenzied settlers: photo via ISM, 18 October 2015

Into the late night hours, clashes raged in Bab al-Zawiya as the Tel Rumeida neighborhood went on lockdown. No one was allowed to leave their homes and several were threatened at gunpoint to stop looking out of their windows. Meanwhile gunshots blasted periodically outside.

Settlers cut the fence that separates the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arab from nearby Palestinian homes, and nearly two hundred settlers went on a violent rampage, attacking the Palestinian villages of Wad al-Huseen and Wad al-Nasara with firebombs and stones, prompting the mosques desperate yells for assistance for the Daana family, whose home was attacked by dozens of Israeli settlers who then injured at least three of her neighbors who have been identified as 40-year-old Imad and two minors, Abdullah, 13, and Muhammad, 17.

As morning approached, new ‘security measures’ have been enacted, including the deployment of numerous Israeli forces throughout Khalil, who are, alongside settlers, the main aggressors and instigators of violence against Palestinians. The security measures have not meant any change for settlers who are privy to wander like tourists across crime scenes where Palestinian bodies lay dying. Nor have they meant the body and bag searches that every single Palestinian passing through al-Khalil streets have been subjected to, nor the humiliation of dropping your belongings on the ground before a group of sneering Israeli soldiers and backing away with your hands up while they search your personal items and then toss them smugly back at you.

A bag search in al-Khalil: photo via ISM, 18 October 2015

These are the new ‘security measures’ that Netanyahu has called for in al-Khalil. They spell out the furtherance of violence, dehumanization and unbridled terror against an already occupied people.

Palestinian man being body searched this morning in Tel Rumeida as part of new ‘security measures’ in Khalil: photo via ISM, 18 October 2015

As of the writing of this report, Israeli forces have been consistently firing teargas, stun grenades and rubber coated steel bullets for hours from the roofs of Palestinian homes.

Blood in the street

Key witnesses to #Hebron shooting arrested, cameras confiscated via @KhamakarPress: image via paolo for #Gaza @PSogeco, 18 October 2015

Key witnesses to Hebron shooting arrested, cameras confiscated: Henny A.J. Kreeft, Khamakar Press, 17 October 2015

At least three witnesses to the fatal shooting of a Palestinian teenager this morning (Saturday) have been arrested by Israeli forces.

Ma’an news agency have reported that Mufeed Sharbati, an eyewitness and an Arab resident of Hebron where the incident took place, has been detained.

Israeli forces raided his home and confiscated a laptop, a video camera, and a stills camera.

Sources on Facebook also revealed that Ahmad Amr, media coordinator of campaign group Youth Against Settlements, was also arrested.

In the shadows: scene of fatal shooting of Fadil al-Qawasm in Hebron: image via Khamakar Press, 17 October 2015

The group had posted online video footage of soldiers and a settler surrounding 18-year old Fadil al-Qawasm, who was killed after the settler shot him.

And Christian Peacemaker Teams, a charity that escorts Palestinian children to school to ensure their safety, also said that a female member of their team was arrested by IOF troops and her camera was confiscated after she posted a photograph on Instagram.

An Israeli spokesman claimed that Fadil had tried to stab the settler, but social media is teeming with speculation that he was unarmed, with many claiming video footage shows a knife was “planted” on him after his death by Israeli troops.

PNN has inspected the footage, which is blurry and taken from some distance. One soldier is seen being handed an object by another soldier who then turns back towards the body. A third soldier then walks near to them, which blocks the view from the video camera. We have concluded it is impossible to tell what the object is from the footage alone.

Both groups often document incidents on Shuhada Street, where the Hebron attack took place.

The street is a hotbed of tension in the Old City.

Most of the residents are Jewish settlers, numbering around 600. They are allowed to walk freely on the street, whereas Palestinians must pass through an Israeli military checkpoint with a metal detector.

Key witnesses to #Hebron shooting arrested, cameras confiscated via @KhamakarPress: image via paolo for #Gaza @PSogeco, 18 October 2015

Back to work on the mural. Photo: @ObeyClothing #ObeyGiant #Obey #JerseyCity: image via Shepard Fairey @OBEYGIANT, 15 September 2015

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no man's land / Vallejo: two poems from Trilce

October 19, 2015, 10:25 pm

≫ Next: "Let's stay alert": Beatdown of a Black Man in Beersheba, the Daring Dance of the Demon King and other scenes along Refugee Road

≪ Previous: In the Shadows: A 'Mystery' for Mrs. General

Men play chess in front of a damaged building in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Naaman town in Idlib province, Syria...Men play chess in front of a damaged building in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Naaman town in Idlib province, Syria October 19, 2015.

Men play chess in front of a damaged building in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Naaman town in Idlib province, Syria on Monday: photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters, 19 October 2015

US wants to avoid 'total destruction' of Syria: Kerry: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 19 October 2015

Une photo publiée le 5 octobre 2015 par le gouvernement russe montre un bombardier Su-24M larguant une bombe sur la Syrie (AFP / Russian Defence Ministry)

Une photo publiée le 5 octobre 2015 par le gouvernement russe montre un bombardier Su-24M larguant une bombe sur la Syrie: image via Russian Defence Ministry/AFP, 19 October 2015

gas 'n go (view from an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III about to receive fuel from a KX-10A Extender on a training mission above southern Oregon): photo by Robert Couse-Baker (**RCB**), 25 September 2013

A class at a school in a rebel-controlled area of Damascus, Syria. The start of the new school year was postponed several times because of airstrikes.: photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters, 19 October 2015

Migrants jump over a fence as they attempt to cross the Croatian border near the village of Berkasovo, Serbia on Monday. Thousands of migrants clamoured to enter European Union member Croatia from Serbia on Monday after a night spent in the cold and mud of no-man’s land, their passage west slowed by a Slovenian effort to impose limits on the flow to western Europe: Marko Djurica/Reuters, 19 October 2015

An elderly woman is pictured after arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey

An elderly woman is pictured after arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey. More than 400,000 refugees, mostly Syrians and Afghans, arrived in Greece since early January while dozens were drowned trying to make the crossing. In total 710,000 have entered the EU through Greece and Italy during the same period, according to the European Agency Frontex border surveillance. The migration issue has caused deep divisions within the European Union, which is trying to set the distribution of migrants among its member countries or limit the flow: photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP, 16 October 2015

Graffiti from Aleppo : "Aleppo is more beautiful than Europe. Do not emigrate": image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 18 October 2015

César Vallejo: Two Poems from Trilce

(Photo: Over Schiehallion, Perthshire, Scotland. By Ken Prior)

Asperatus clouds, Schiehallion, Perthshire: photo by Ken Prior, 2007

The Vedic Fibre

If it rained tonight, I'd withdraw from here
a thousand years.
No, a hundred, no more.
As if nothing had occurred
I'd believe I were
in a state of becoming, still.

Or without a mother, without
a lover, without
the unending feeling
for a pulse
on a night like this, I'd be
combing the Vedic fibre,
the Vedic wool, diabolical
indication, having pinched
by the nostrils
the two clappers hidden
inside a single bell.

Toting up my life
or claiming I've never been born
won't release me.

What hasn't yet come along won't, but
what's already come and gone,
but what's already come and gone.

Waterspouts in the Bahamas Islands: photo by NOAA, n.d.

Vallejo: Trilce XXXIII

Si lloviera esta noche, retiraríame
de aquí a mil años.
Mejor a cien no más.
Como si nada hubiese ocurrido, haría
la cuenta de que vengo todavía.

      O sin madre, sin amada, sin porfía
de agacharme a aguaitar al fondo, a puro
pulso,
esta noche así, estaría escarmenando
la fibra védica,
la lana védica de mi fin final, hilo
del diantre, traza de haber tenido
por las narices
a dos badajos inacordes de tiempo
                    en una misma campana.

      Haga la cuenta de mi vida
o haga la cuenta de no haber aún nacido
no alcanzaré a librarme.

      No será lo que aún no haya venido, sino
lo que ha llegado y ya se ha ido,
sino lo que ha llegado y ya se ha ido.

César Vallejo (1892-1938): Trilce XXXIII from Trilce (1922), English version TC

Tornado waterspout near Cape Formentor, Mallorca: photo by Julian Kupfer, 2006

Jet

It scares me, Sweet Lord, this brutal jet
of sweetness, it scares
me. This house gives me a perfect
wholeness, a perfect sense of knowing
where not to be.

Let us not go in. It scares me, this
minute by minute retracing
of my steps, over destroyed bridges.
Sweet Lord, I can't
continue. Brave sad skeleton singer.

It's what's inside the haunted house, the deadly
quicksilver, that seals
my veins with lead
in the arid afternoon.

The jet doesn't know how we
can go on. It terrifies me. Valor but
a memory, I do not continue.
Sad ruby red skeleton, just whistle, just whistle.

Trombe marine a rion antirion (Grèce): photo by Bruno Arnaud, 15 December 2007

Vallejo: Trilce XXVII

Me da miedo ese chorro,
buen recuerdo, señor fuerte, implacable
cruel dulzor. Me da miedo.
Esta casa me da entero bien, entero
lugar para este no saber dónde estar.

No entremos. Me da miedo este favor
de tornar por minutos, por puentes volados.
Yo no avanzo, señor dulce,
recuerdo valeroso, triste
esqueleto cantor.

Qué contenido, el de esta casa encantada,
me da muertes de azogue, y obtura
con plomo mis tomas
a la seca actualidad.

El chorro que no sabe a cómo vamos,
dame miedo, pavor.
Recuerdo valeroso, yo no avanzo.
Rubio y triste esqueleto, silba, silba.

César Vallejo (1892-1938): Trilce XXVII from Trilce (1922), English version TC

Waterspout, seen from Clifton, Woolongong, New South Wales: photo by dirtymouse, 22 April 2007

Migrants build a fire to keep themselves warm as they wait to cross the border into Slovenia from Croatia. Some 5,000 migrants reached Slovenia on Monday from Croatia, with an additional 1,200 on their way by train, the Slovenian Interior Ministry said: photo by Antonio Bronic/Reuters, 19 October 2015

Migrants to Europe suffering from cold, wet conditions heralding the arrival of winter: photo by Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times, 19 October 2015

#migrant crisis - Migrants wait to enter Croatia from the Serbia-Croatia border, near Berjasovo. By @iandrej #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 19 October 2015

#Serbia - Migrants wait to enter Croatia from the Serbia-Croatia border. By @iandrej #AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 19 October 2015

Migrants stream into the Balkans, Germany braces for far-right rally: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 19 October 2015

Thousands of migrants defy rain and tightened border controls to stream into the Balkans: image via Agence France-Pressse @AFP, 19 October 2015

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man practices shooting at a range in Jerusalem. The Israeli news media reported an increase in weapon permit applications from Israeli citizens because of the tense security situation and the recent attacks on Israelis.: photo by Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency, 19 October 2015

Ultra-orthodox Jews receive weapons training in Jerusalem: photo by Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency, 19 October 2015

A Palestinian protester threw back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during clashes near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Friday: photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters, 18 October 2015

Violence in Jerusalem is rooted in rage at leaders who offer only impasse: image via The New York Times @nytimes, 19 October 2015

This month, more than 20 Palestinians have been fatally shot by Israelis.: image via The New York Times @nytimes, 19 October 2015

Men play chess in front of a damaged building in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Naaman town in Idlib province, Syria on Monday: photo by Khalil Ashawi/Reuters, 19 October 2015

Une zone d'Alep sous contrôle rebelle, le 24 novembre 2014 (AFP / Baraa Al-Halabi)

Une zone d'Alep sous contrôle rebelle: photo by Baraa Al-Halabi / AFP, 24 November 2014

@ciclotrop @chaac_tlaloc @chematierra @SkyAlertStorm #metmex nubes esta mañaña en culiacan sinaloa: image via jesus arellanes puer @jmap86, 9 October 2015

Así amaneció Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua (México) Lloviendo y con frío: image via Geól. Sergio Almazán, 9 October 2015

#OjosAlCielo Desde Cd de México De @AliciaRiver: Amanecer, calle peatonal @AireMexicoDF image via Geól. Sergio Almazán, 9 October 2015

↧

"Let's stay alert": Beatdown of a Black Man in Beersheba, the Daring Dance of the Demon King and other scenes along Refugee Road

October 21, 2015, 6:25 pm

≫ Next: In a timeless world, as autumn comes

≪ Previous: no man's land / Vallejo: two poems from Trilce

Haftom Zarhum, a 29-year-old Eritrean migrant, was shot by a security guard and kicked by bystanders: photo by AP via Al jazeera, 20 October 2015

Eritrean envoyto Israel calls for arrest of lynch mob: Israeli police have not arrested any of those involved in lynching of Eritrean who died of his wounds in Beersheba:Ali Younes, Al Jazeera, 20 Oct 2015

The Eritrean ambassador to Israel has called for a thorough investigation and subsequent arrest of those who shot and beat an Eritrean migrant who later died of his wounds in southern Israel.

Tesfamariam Tekeste told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he asked the Israeli foreign ministry for a full investigation into the incident in the city of Beersheba after he was notified of it by the Eritrean community.

Haftom Zarhum, a 29-year-old Eritrean migrant, died in a Beersheba hospital on Sunday night after he, mistaken for an accomplice of a suspected attacker that killed an Israeli soldier, was shot by a security guard and kicked by bystanders.

A video published online following the incident showed the Eritrean being kicked by several people as he lay bleeding on the ground.

"I was very saddened when I heard the news." the Eritrean diplomat told Al Jazeera.

No arrests made

Israeli police have not yet made any arrests two days after the incident.

The private security guard who shot the unarmed Eritrean was questioned by the police and later released, Israeli police spokesperson Mickey Rosenfeld said.

“We have arrested no one at this point, but we are still looking for people for questioning over this incident," Rosenfeld told Al Jazeera.

Footage released online from the bus station clearly showed faces of some of those who participated in the lynching, which Al Jazeera’s reporter in Israel Elias Karram said, included two Israeli officers.

Moreover, an Israeli man, in an appearance on Israeli Channel Two on Monday evening, said that he had been one of those who kicked Zarhum.

It remains unclear if Israeli authorities questioned the Israeli man or took any action against him.

Footage from the station showed at least one Israeli soldier kicking Zarhum in the head as he lay bleeding on the floor of the terminal.

Another man lifted a bench and dropped it on Zarhum's head as another tried to protect him by placing a bar stool over his body.

'Victim of racism'

Amnesty International Israel said it was "appalled and in mourning" after learning of the murder, adding that "Zarhum was shot by an Israeli security officer, targeted simply because of the colour of his skin".

“He was a victim of racism and xenophobia who just happened to be at the scene of a terrorist attack,” the organisation said.

Asked whether the gruesome death of Zarhum showed racism within the Israel towards Africans, the Eritrean diplomat said that he could not generalise about Israeli society, but that "racism does exist in Israel."

Tekeste advised Eritrean citizens in Israel to exercise caution when they move around in the country.

He said there were about 20,000 Eritrean citizens working in Israel.

Tekeste said that once the police conclude their investigations, the embassy will repatriate the remains of Zarhum to his family who live in a remote village in the Eritrean countryside.

Asmara, Eritrea: a young man walks outside an abandoned building in central Asmara. On the roof is a poster of Eritrean fighters rising to the top of a hill, in honor those who fought in a 30-year struggle for independence from Ethiopia, which was achieved in 1993: photo by Matina Stevis/The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

Eritrean national killed in Israel "by mistake": Press Statement, Eritrea Ministry of Information, 19 October 2015

Several news agencies have reported today the fatal shooting of an Eritrean citizen by Israeli soldiers in the city of Be’er Sheva.The brutal beating and killing of the Eritrean citizen has been explained as a case of “mistaken identity”. And, condolences have been conveyed to the Eritrean Embassy by Israeli authorities.

Clearly, this incident cannot hide but rather amplify the intensified violence that is being perpetrated against civilians.For the Eritrean people in particular, the tragic incident is a poignant reminder of the hidden and unreported repression routinely committed in Israel against tens of thousands of their compatriots.

The Eritrean national purportedly killed by mistake today is one of the many victims of global organized crime of human trafficking.These Eritreans have been whisked off, as it were, to Israel through illicit arrangements in the past years for political objectives and as a source of cheap, manual, labour.In the circumstances, the people and government of Eritrea express, once again, their utmost indignation at, and condemnation of, the reprehensible acts of human trafficking.

Ministry of Information
Asmara
19 October 2015

An Eritrean woman, left, and a man pray at dawn beside an Orthodox Church at Adi-Harush refugee camp in Ethiopia. The man, 25-year-old Shewit Hadera, arrived after an earlier attempt to flee Eritrea landed him in jail, where he says he was tortured. Eritrea’s information minister said, ‘Torture is not allowed; that does not mean it may not happen here and there.’ : photo by Nichole Sobecki for The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

The killing of Eritrean migrant by Israeli mob has struck a nerve Eritrean Facebook is filled with anger #Eritrea: tweet by Filmon Zerai @EritreaStruggle, 19 October 2015

Eritrean women gather water at a community point in Adi-Harush Camp, one of the refugee camps in Ethiopia where people fleeing Eritrea stay, for months or sometimes years, before paying smugglers to take them to Europe: photo by Nichole Sobecki for The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

Three young Eritreans enjoy the view from the escarpment outside the Eritrean capital of Asmara. The country on the Horn of Africa is a poor land with a secretive government that imposes open-ended military conscription on youths, and about 1 in 50 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe between 2012 and mid-2015, according to the European Union statistics agency Eurostat: photo by Matina Stevis/The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

Eritreans abroad say they are pushed to leave by conscription that enlists every man and woman in the military during their last year of high school. Last week, 10 Eritrean soccer players who were in Botswana for a match defected there. Some Eritrean refugees fled to Israel through the Sinai Desert until Israel erected a fence there. This week, an Eritrean man was killed in Israel when attacked by a mob who mistook him for an assailant at an earlier bus-stop attack.

-- Thousands flee isolated Eritrea to escape life of conscription and poverty: Matina Stevis and Joe Parkinson: The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

A billboard set up by Ethiopian authorities in Adi-Harush camp for Eritreans who have fled their country warned about human smugglers, saying, ‘Illegal movement is like walking blindfolded. Let’s stay alert.’ The refugees aren’t deterred.: photo by Nichole Sobecki for The Wall Street Journal, 20 October 2015

Gunman in attack in Israel identified as Bedouin, as Kerry says "clarity" needed at holy site: image via New York Times World @nytimesworld, 19 October 2015

Haftom Zarhum was shot by Israeli cops & violently killed by vigilante mob #BlackLivesMatter #Beersheba: image via vimto mami @lunarnomad, 19 October 2015

BREAKING: Photo of the #Eritrean refugee shot and beaten by Israeli police & mob in #Beersheba Israel: image via Anonymous @AnonOps_Eritrea, 19 October 2015

#Stabbing process & shooting in #Beersheba station. 1 zionist dead & 7 injured #PalestineResists #Man4Palestine: image via Dr. Halina @doc_hal, 18 October 2015

#Stabbing process & shooting in in #Beersheba station. 1 zionist dead & 7 injured #PalestineResists #Man4Palestine: image via Dr. Halina @doc_hal, 18 October 2015

Eritrean mistaken for terrorist shot, beaten as #Beersheba attack unfolded: image via Cassandra Vinograd Verified account @CassVinograd, 19 October 2015

Eritrean Envoy Calls for Arrest of Israeli #Beersheba Lynch Mob c @deray @MRN1SA @CornelWest: image via #NoJusticeNoPeace @PalsJustice, 21 October 2015

W.H. Auden: Miranda's Song ("Up jumped the Black Man behind the elder tree")

Malian Tuareg. Tuareg women enjoy equal rights to men, but their main role, as seen here, is looking after their family. When in the company of women, Tuareg men pull up their veils above the nose in a sign of respect: photo by Jean Marc Durou via the Guardian, 26 May 2015

My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely,
As the poor and sad are real to the good king,
And the high green hill sits always by the sea.

Up jumped the Black Man behind the elder tree,
Turned a somersault and ran away waving;
My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely.

The Witch gave a squawk; her venomous body
Melted into light as water leaves a spring,
And the high green hill sits always by the sea.

At his crossroads, too, the Ancient prayed for me;
Down his wasted cheeks tears of joy were running:
My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely.

He kissed me awake, and no one was sorry;
The sun shone on sails, eyes, pebbles, anything,
And the high green hill sits always by the sea.

So, to remember our changing garden, we
Are linked as children in a circle dancing:
My Dear One is mine as mirrors are lonely,
And the high green hill sits always by the sea.

W.H. Auden (1907-1973): Miranda, from The Sea and The Mirror: A Commentary on Shakespeare's The Tempest, 1942-1944, in For the Time Being, 1944

The veil.The origin of the Tuareg’s trademark blue allichu veil is open to debate. In addition to giving protection from dust whipped up by desert winds, the veils are believed to prevent bad spirits from entering the body. The dye bleeds freely onto the skin, giving the wearer a blue-grey complexion: photo by Henrietta Butler via the Guardian, 26 May 2015

Have a beautiful evening Wasatinians ! #Tuareg #Libya: image via Alwasat @alwasatengnews, 3 December 2014

#Future Boo #Tuareg Man! Eyes so damn beautiful smh: image via Fatima Dee @Coco3yoon, 10 May 2015

Outside Timbuktu: photo by Carsen ten Brink, 2 January 2015

Tuareg encampment | by Erik Cleves Kristensen

Tuareg encapment, Mali: photo by Erik Cleves Kristensen, February 2003 (posted 8 October 2005)

Tuareg encapment (near Tombouctou, Mali): photo by Leslie Lewis, 27 January 2011

The ‘desert rock’ music scene may have given Tuareg bands like Tinariwen and Tamikrest an international spotlight, but knowledge of their culture and plight remains limited in the UK: photo by Henrietta Butler via the Guardian, 26 May 2015

#Tuareg/#Tamasheq traditional hairstyle... #Mali #Niger @Algeria #BurkinaFaso #Libya: image via Rougi @futadjalon, 5 October 2014

Un popolo nomade e purtroppo in estinzione. #Tuareg #Mali #Niger #Maghreb #DonneInArte@Algeria #DonneNelMondo @alecoscino: image via Antonella Cantone @AntonellaCanto3, 5 October 2014

Effigies of the Demon King

In #Haryana village, demon-king Ravana aims for #WorldRecord: image via INDIA TRENDING NOW @ITNlive, 21 October 2015

Netanyahu stirs trouble by linking late Muslim leader to the Holocaust: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 21 October 2015

Indian vendor sells effigies of the Hindu demon King Ravana on the roadside in Amritsar. By Narinder Nanu #AFP: image via Sophie Chauveau @s_chauveauAFP, 20 October 2015

Woman drives past #Ravana effigies in #Bhopal: image via Indscribe @indscribe, 21 October 2015

No one will be spared if the Mighty #Ravana doesn't get his cookie back #HappyNavrati: image via Unibic Cookies @UnibicCookie, 20 October 2015

Historians and opposition denounce Netanyahu for saying Palestinian mufti inspired Hitler: image via New York Times World @nytimesworld, 21 October 2015

Anger at Netanyahu claim Palestinian grand mufti inspired Holocaust: Israeli PM accused of trivialising the Holocaust for saying grand mufti of Jerusalem gave Hitler idea of exterminating Europe’s Jews: Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem for The Guardian, 21 October 2015

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has attracted a storm of criticism for an incendiary speech in which he accused the second world war Palestinian grand mufti of Jerusalem of “inspiring the Holocaust”.

The comments in a speech at the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, in the context of the current violence between Israelis and Palestinians, were condemned as incorrect by historians and the Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog for trivialising the Holocaust.

On the Palestinian side, senior official Saeb Erekat described the remarks as absolving Adolf Hitler.

#90YearsOfRSS And now even #Ravana is trying to get away!: Sakshi Nanda @Sakshe13, 20 October 2015

Israel approved construction of the West Bank Barrier in the summer of 2002. Israel describes the structure as a security barrier with no political significance. But some Palestinians view it as a way of protecting settlements and securing areas for expansion: image via AFPgraphics @AFPgraphics, 20 October 2015

UN chief tells Israelis, Palestinians to urgently calm tensions: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 20 October 2015

A Palestinian protester hurls stones towards Israeli troops during clashes at the Israeli Hawara checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus, October 16, 2015. The unrest that has engulfed Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, the most serious in years, has claimed the lives of 34 Palestinians and seven Israelis [photo Ahmad Talat/Reuters]: image via Reuters Opinion @Reuters, 21 October 2015

136 attacks on medics, 47 dead and thousands injured since the start of October: Palestinian Ministry of Health: image via syndicalist @syndicalist, 21 October 2015

#Palestine - How a knife suddenly appears next to a dead Palestinian! #Israel: image via DOAM @doammuslims, 20 October 2015

Rabbis for Human Rights: Like every year, Israeli settlers continue to steal Palestinian #olive fields #Palestine image via Gabriel Helou @GabrielHelou, 20 October 2015

The olive harvest in occupied Palestine can cost them lives.. #Palestine teaches life #PalestineUnderAttackimage via Rosmewarda_Palestine @RosmeWarda, 20 October 2015

#WestBank: 54-year-old Palestinian dies from tear gas inhalation during clashes in Hebron:: image via syndicalist @syndicalist, 21 October 2015

#WesrBank: Confrontations between Israeli occupation forces and youth near Beit El settlement, north of al-Bireh: image via syndicalist @syndicalisms, 20 October 2015

A Palestinian swings a sling during clashes with Israeli troops, near Ramallah, West Bank, Tuesday: photo by Majdi Mohammed/AP, 20 October 2015

Israel razes West Bank home of jailed Palestinian as clashes continue: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 20 October 2015

Palestinian protesters look around a wall during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, 21 October 2015. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he understands Palestinian frustrations, but urges violence will not help achieve statehood. In a surprise emergency visit to the region, Ban urged Palestinians to stop knife attacks and violent protests, and Israel to stop security measures such as demolishing homes and erecting walls, acts that he warned would only add to Palestinian desperation and frustration.

Palestinian protesters look around a wall during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Wednesday: image via Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA, 21 October 2015

On Refugee Road

#Greece: A #Syrian amputee whose prosthetic leg is on his baby's stroller walks with his family at Piraeus port: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 21 October 2015

Mounted police officers escorted hundreds of migrants after they crossed into Dobova, Slovenia, from Croatia. Slovenia has faced a surge of migrants since Saturday, when Hungary sealed its border with Croatia: photo by Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times, 20 October 2015

Slovenia buckles as migrants rush to escape winter, border closures: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 20 October 2015

A child resting with other migrants on a road near the village of Berkasovo, Serbia, near the border with Croatia. Many migrants had been stranded for days in ankle-deep mud and rain: photo by Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press, 20 October 2015

Migrants wear UNHCR plastic bags on their shoes to protect against the rain as they wait to enter Croatia @AFP: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 20 October 2015

People gather for an anti-migrant demonstration in Dresden: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 20 October 2015

The German federal police guided a group of migrants after they crossed the border from Austria in Wegscheid: photo by Matthias Schrader/Associated Press, 20 October 2015

Migrants are entering Europe with little or no screening, leading to fears of unrest: image via New York Times World@nytimesworld, 20 October 2015

Slovenia to ask EU for police back-up to cope with influx of migrants: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 20 October 2015

A man carries his daughter as they walk with other migrants and asylum seekers after crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border near the village of Miratovac on Tuesday: photo by Armend Nimani/AFP, 20 October 2015

Migrants and asylum seekers walk after crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border. By @armend_nimani #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department@AFPphoto, 21 October 2015

#Serbia: A woman carrying her child walks near Miratovac after crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border #migrantcrisis: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 20 October 2015

A child drags a suitcase after crossing the Macedonian-Serbian border, near Miratovac. By @armend_nimani #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department@AFPphoto, 20 October 2015

Refugees and migrants wait to board a bus heading to the Macedonian border after arriving on board the passenger ferries Blue Star Patmos and Eleftherios Venizelos from the islands of Lesbos and Chios at the port of Piraeus on October 21, 2015 in Athens, Greece. Thousands of refugees - mostly fleeing war-torn Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq - attempt daily to cross the Aegean Sea from nearby Turkey on their journey towards Europe

Nowhere to Run

#INFOGRAPHIC 35,000 displaced from Aleppo, Syria following fresh regime offensives, UN said @AFP: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 20 October 2015

A man rests inside a damaged house by what activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syria’s president Bashar Al-Assad in Jabal al-Akrad area in northwestern Syria 31 December: photo by Alaa Khweled/Reuters via the Guardian, 4 January 2015

Over 76,000 people killed in #Syrian war in 2014 – NGO: image via Sputnik @Sputnikint, 1 January 2015

"Eat cats and dogs.." clerics told to the starving #syrian children... @Free Media Hub: image via #happynewSYRIAyear @AejKhalil, 30 December 2014

Pic via @TheSyriaPulse: Rebel fighter moves through wall near frontline against regime forces, #Aleppo #Syria Dec. 28: image via Al-Monitor @AlMonitor, 31 December 2014

The war on doctors. "In Aleppo, #Syria largest city in the country, only 13 surgeons remain": image via Nadim Houry @nadimhoury, 20 November 2014

#Syria war deadliest in 2014 with 76,000 killed: Monitor: image via News Nation @NewsNationTV, 1 January 2014

Syria's Assad promises jobs to relatives of killed soldiers #Syria: image via Middle East Eye @MidleEastEye, 1 January 2015

Syrian conflict has claimed 76,000 lives in deadliest year yet, say monitors #Syria: image via MintPress News @MintPressNews, 1 January 2015

Putin attacks the civilians and the FSA taking them to be ISIS while ISIS is 100 km away from us. #Syria #Kafranbel: image via Hadi Al Abdallah @HadiAlabdallah, 5 October 2015

Russian Air Force Targets Hospitals in #Syria #Assad: image via Syrian Coalition @SyrCoalition, 3 October 2015

Issam Al Saleh died a hero. Killed by Russian dble tap while saving others. Photo shows being carried by colleagues.: image via The White Helmets @SyriaCivilDef, 3 October 2015

[Untitled]: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 3 October 2015

No Russian intervention in Syria: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 7 October 2015

Giuseppe Ungaretti: In Memoria ("he was once alive")

Cinquièmrue 6 (3 rue Basse des Carmes, Paris 5 e.): photo by André Fantelin, 24 August 2012

.......Locvizza il 30 settembre1916

Si chiamava
Moammed Sceab

Discendente
di emiri nomadi
suicida
perchè non aveva più
Patria

Amò la Francia
e mutò nome

Fu Marcel
ma non era Francese
e non sapeva più
vivere
nella tenda dei suoi
dove si ascolta la cantilena
del Corano
gustando un caffè

E non sapeva
sciogliere
il canto
del suo abbandono

L'ho accompagnato
insiema alla padrona dell'albergo
dove abitavamo
a Parigi
dal numero 5 della rue des Carmes
appasito vicolo in discesa

Riposa
nel camposanto d'Ivry
sobborgo che pare
sempre in una giornata
di una
decomposta fiera

E forse io solo
so ancora
che visse

حسن عيد الاضحى / Très bonne fête à tous nos frères musulmans à l'occasion de l'Aïd al-Adha ! / Very good day to all our Muslim friends, day of sacrifice!: street art (collage) by Matlaw, Rue des Carmes, Quartier Panthéon, Paris: photo by Mickaël VO Y PHONG, 26 October 2012

.....Locvizza 30 September 1916

His name was

Mohamed Sceab

Descendant

of emirs of nomadic tribes

took his own life

because he had lost

his Homeland

Loved France
and changed his name

Was Marcel

but wasn't French

had forgot how

to simply live
sipping a coffee

in the tent of his people

where the little singsong

of the Koran is chanted

And didn't know how to

give

his separateness
a voice

I went along with the concierge

from the hotel where we lived

in Paris

following his body

down the dingy alleyway

from number 5 rue des Carmes

His remains

rest

in the cemetery at Ivry

dolorous suburb

that always brings to mind

the day

a fairground comes down

It may be I alone
still know

he was once alive

Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970): In Memoria, 30 September 1916, from ll porto sepolto, 1916; English version TC

Panhard automotive factory, rue Nationale, Ivry, Paris: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by crescendixx, 18 May 2012

Rue des Carmes, Paris: photo by Omar (ahmed1948), 10 October 2009

Bedouin tent, Sharm El Sheik, Egypt: photo by Michele Orsi, 7 May 2007

On the river Nile, Egypt, between Cairo and Luxor, with a slow movement on the water: photo by Absinthias, 19 November 2005

Encampment of Bedouins, on the Nile, Egypt: photo by G. Lédékian and Company, n.d. [c.1891-1895]; image by Boston Public Library, 18 November 2009 (William Vaughn Tupper Scrapbook Collection, Boston Public Library)

↧

In a timeless world, as autumn comes

October 22, 2015, 3:40 pm

≫ Next: Indonesia Is On Fire: A dismal Situation

≪ Previous: "Let's stay alert": Beatdown of a Black Man in Beersheba, the Daring Dance of the Demon King and other scenes along Refugee Road

Pale light hangs in a pine forest during a rainy autumn morning: photo by Patrick Pleul/AFP, 15 October 2015

In a timeless world

the pale light beneath the pines

never changes

In a timeless world

moonlight always scatters

its stars upon the earth

In a timeless world

every sunset is worth

an aurora borealis

In a timeless world

there is no backstory

images have no depth

In a timeless world

the light beneath the pines

will never fade

In a timeless world

the sun will never finish

its slow going down

In a timeless world

the moon will always scatter

its stars upon the earth

Nothing will ever have depth

nothing ever lose its colour

fall apart

or grow old

The Moon shining above a mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky near Salgotarjan, some 100km northeast of Budapest, Hungary

The moon shining above a mountainous landscape under a cloudy sky near Salgotarjan, some 100km northeast of Budapest: photo by Peter Komka/EPA, 22 October 2015

Little lions [Ito-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture]: photo by efo, 1 October 2015

An artist peeps out as he waits backstage to take part in the Ramlila performance, a re-enactment of the life of Hindu Lord Rama, ahead of Dussehra in Ahmedabad...An artist peeps out from behind a curtain as he waits backstage to take part in the Ramlila performance, a re-enactment of the life of Hindu Lord Rama, ahead of Dussehra in Ahmedabad, India, October 19, 2015. Effigies of the 10-headed demon king "Ravana" are burnt on Dussehra, the Hindu festival that commemorates the triumph of Lord Rama over the Ravana, marking the victory of good over evil. Dussehra is celebrated on October 22. Picture taken October 19, 2015. REUTERS/Amit Dave

An artist peeps out from behind a curtain as he waits backstage to take part in the Ramlila performance, a re-enactment of the life of Hindu Lord Rama, ahead of Dussehra in Ahmedabad, India: photo by Amit Dave/Reuters, 20 October 2015

Muslim students wear face masks as they leave school at Muang district in the troubled southern province of Yala, Thailand, October 22, 2015. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Muslim students wear face masks as they leave school, Muang district, Yala, Thailand: photo by Surapan Boonthanom/Reuters, 22 October 2015

A Chinese national flag flies as students practice Taichi on a playground of a high school, during a Guinness World Record attempt of the largest martial arts display, on a hazy day in Jiaozuo, Henan province, China. The city successfully set the record by organizing over 50,000 residents to practise shadow boxing simultaneously at 15 different locations on Sunday morning, local media reported: photo by Stringer/Reuters, 18 October 2015

Jinan, China. A thousand beauticians line up to apply a facial to customers creating a new Guinness World Record for the most people receiving the treatment at the same time: photo by Imaginechina/Corbis via The Guardian, 4 May 2015

Kashmiri Muslim women wail as they watch the funeral procession of suspected rebels, at Barhama, 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Srinagar,

Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday: photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP, 5 October 2015

Indian folk dancers display ornaments during a break while participating in the first night of Navratri in Gandhinagar, some 30 km from Ahmedabad. Navratri festivities, or Dance Festival of Nine Nights, takes place between October 13-21: photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP, 14 October 2015

young Indian boy dressed as Hindu God Shiva walks the banks of the River Ganges looking for alms from devotees on the first day of the nine-day Navratri festival, in Allahabad, India,Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. Navaratri lasts for nine days, with three days each devoted to the worship of the goddess of valor Durga, the goddess of wealth Lakshmi, and the goddess of knowledge Saraswati. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A young Indian boy dressed as the Hindu God Shiva walks the banks of the River Ganges looking for alms from devotees on the first day of the nine-day Navratri festival, in Allahabad, India: photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP, 13 October 2015

Students display the painted liquid embroidery blouses inside their college premises in Chennai, India, on Friday. 3,500 students painted 7000 blouses in an hour on Friday in an attempt to enter the Limca Book of Records: photo by Reuters, 9 October 2015

A man rests in a damaged site from what activists said was barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's president Al-Assad in the southern town of Bosra al-Sham, Deraa province, Syria...A man rests in a damaged site from what activists said was barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad in the historic Syrian southern town of Bosra al-Sham, Deraa

A man rests in a damaged site from barrel bombs dropped by forces loyal to Syria’s president Bashar Al-Assad in the historic Syrian southern town of Bosra al-Sham, Deraa: photo by Alaa Al-Faqir/Reuters, 22 October 2015

Young girl touches riot shield of police officer as she and other migrants walk after crossing border in Rigonce

A young girl touches the riot shield of a police officer as she and other migrants make their way on foot after crossing the border from Croatia, in Rigonce, Slovenia, on Thursday: photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters, 22 October 2015

we can't see the Aurora Borealis here, but look at this sunset today! #Berkeley #Berkeleyside #nature: image via Elizabeth @lillalissu, 8 October 2015

The view from #Berkeley courtesy of @berkeleyscience: image via Berkeleyside@berkeleyside, 19 October 2015

Sweet sunset with pink clouds tonight, @berkeleyside: image via avram goldstein @newsdoc, 19 October 2015

Straight, no chaser, @berkeleyside: image via avram goldstein @newsdoc, 20 October 2015

Pale light hangs in a pine forest during a rainy autumn morning: photo by Patrick Pleul/AFP, 15 October 2015

↧

Indonesia Is On Fire: A dismal Situation

October 24, 2015, 11:07 pm

≫ Next: Hsieh T'iao: Viewing the Three Lakes

≪ Previous: In a timeless world, as autumn comes

Lorries cross a bridge shrouded in haze in Klang, Malaysia, on Wednesday. The thick so-called “haze,” caused by slash-and-burn clearances on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, has pushed air quality to unhealthy levels in Malaysia and neighboring Singapore: photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters, 7 October 2015

At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde,
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'donely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed

With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd

John Milton: Paradise Lost, Book I

Sun in Haze (Singapore): photo by aamanatullah, 24 September 2015

Haze (Singapore): photo by aamanatullah, 24 September 2015

Hazy Singapore. Potong Pasir, Singapore. Taken during record high PSI level of 371: photo by looyah, 20 September 2013

PSI 353 over Tiong Bahru #Singapore | by Charles Collier

PS! 253 over Tiong Bahru, Central Singapore. You could see, smell and taste the haze tonight in Tiong Bahru area. The air is no more fresh and you deeply breathe smoke if you don't wear a proper mask (#N95 at least). Condition worsens a lot today. Massive deforestation (mostly in Sumatra and Borneo) to increase palm oil production is ongoing. To speed up the process, people burning a forest. The heavy and dense smoke is then spreading all over the region from Kuala Lumpur to Palembang: photo Charles Collier, 24 September 2015

Caught in the fires

A male orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in Tanjung Puting National park, Central Kalimantang, Indonesia: photo by CIFOR, 13 August 2010

Widespread forest fires, many set deliberately to clear land for oil palm plantations, have been disastrous for Sumatran orangutans. Thousands are thought to have burned to death, unable to escape the flames both in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The species' range is now severely circumscribed, says WWF in Jakarta. Of nine populations left in Sumatra, only seven are thought viable. "The fate of Sumatran orangutans is inextricably linked to the island's fast-disappearing forests. If we want to save the Sumatran orangutan we have to save their forest home," said Barney Long, WWF's Asian species expert.

John Vidal, The Guardian, 26 May 2015

Orangutan, Sumatra, Indonesia: photo by Carol Mitchell, 12 July 2014

Smoke rises as a fire burns in a forest in Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, a regency of South Sumatra province, Indonesia: photo by Nova Wahyudi/Antara Foto/Reuters, 20 October 2015

Orangutans in the haze shrouding the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation camp: photo by Antara Foto/Reuters, 5 October 2015: image via John R Platt @johnrplatt, 22 October 2015 PORTLAND, OR

Orangutans Are Dying as Indonesia Burns: Thousands of forest fires set by palm oil companies across Sumatra and Borneo threaten not just endangered apes but the global climate:John R. Platt, TakePart, 22 October 2015

Indonesia is on fire.

Right now, tens of thousands of small forest fires are burning across the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the only habitats for orangutans and other rare species. Many of the fires appear to have been intentionally set by palm oil companies, which employ slash-and-burn agriculture to clear land of native trees to plant their cash crop, which is used as an ingredient in everything from food to cosmetics.

Richard Zimmerman, executive director of Orangutan Outreach, calls the conflagrations a disaster for endangered orangutans. Some of the fires are burning in important orangutan habitats, including Borneo’s Sabangau National Park, thought to hold the largest wild population of orangutans. “This is catastrophic,” Zimmerman said. He said he’s worried about how many wild orangutans have died from the flames and resulting smoke.

“The problem with fire and smoke is absolutely dire,” said Lis Key, communications manager for International Animal Rescue, which runs a rehabilitation center for more than 125 injured and orphaned orangutans in Ketapang, Borneo.

“Wild orangutans and orangutans in centers like ours are badly affected by the smoke,” she said. “Some suffer upper respiratory tract infections, which can even prove fatal. Some of the babies we’ve taken in recently have been suffering not only from dehydration and malnourishment through lack of food but also breathing problems from the polluted air.”

No matter where the fires are, they have raged out of control owing to an abnormally dry and windy season caused by El Niño weather patterns. Zimmerman said the situation is similar to that in drought-plagued California, where forest fires have grown in frequency and intensity over the past few years.

Indonesia’s fires are much worse than California’s, however. Not only are they deliberately set, but many of them occur in carbon-rich peat forests. These forests -- which would normally be wet and hard to burn at this time of year -- grow out of several meters’ worth of damp, rich organic matter instead of soil. Zimmerman said the peat forests are so dry this year that “one match or a cigarette would let it all go up in flames.”

Not only does this release more carbon than normal forest fires, but it makes fires harder to control. “Even if things look fine, there are actually fires burning 20 feet below the ground,” Zimmerman said. “You have these teams of people doing their best to extinguish small fires or hot spots, but the fire can come back up 100 meters behind them. It’s a constant vigil.”

Orangutans have more to fear than just the fire. The flames and smoke are pushing them out of their already reduced habitats and closer to human villages, where the adults are killed and the young apes are sold into the pet trade. In the past week, International Animal Rescue saved one such young orangutan, Gito, who had been kept in a cardboard box and left in the sun to die.

Two more young orangutans were repatriated to Indonesia this week after they were rescued from smuggers at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A report last year from the Great Apes Survival Partnership found that many illegally obtained orangutans are being sold to China for display in zoos and other entertainment facilities.

Although most adult orangutans that escape the fires are killed by poachers, a few are luckier. Key reported that her group recently relocated 10 wild orangutans that had been found “stranded close to palm oil concessions or in areas of forest that have been destroyed by fire.”

The fires threaten more than just Indonesia’s wildlife: They have also created a cloud of smoke and haze big enough to be seen from space and are releasing an estimated 15 to 20 million tons of carbon dioxide per day -- more than he emissions from the entire U.S. economy. “This isn’t just one little fire in one little area,” Zimmerman said. “It’s the whole earth.”

And there’s no end in sight. Malaysia’s environment minister this week warned that the Indonesian fires are so bad that human efforts can't control them until the rainy season begins in mid-November, if then.

Still, Zimmerman said his group is collecting funds to help support villagers, firefighters, and local conservation organizations. After that, it will start surveys to see how many orangutans have been lost. “When these fires finally end, that’s when we’ll see the bodies,” he said.

#Indonesia Worst threat in century to people, orangutans, wildlife & Western media's not even mentioning it! #palmoil: image via PeSSouZiX @PeSSouZiX, 23 October 2015

Orang-Utan in Bukit Laweng, Nord Sumatra: photo by Tbachner, January 2006

#Deforestation Drives 80% Of #Indonesia's Emissions, Making It World's 5th Biggest Emitter: image via Assaad Razzouk @Assaad Razzouk, 8 May 2015

Haze

Students walk along a street as they are released from school to return home earlier due to the haze in Jambi, Indonesia’s Jambi province, Tuesday. Indonesia has sent nearly 21,000 personnel to fight forest fires raging in its northern islands: photo by Antara Foto/Wahdi Setiawan/Reuters, 29 September 2015

#Indonesia readies warships for haze evacuations, says gov't minister. #VOAlert: image via Steve Herman Verified Account @W7VOA, 23 October 2015

Forest fires have been burning out of control across Indonesia for months, blanketing Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan province and other parts of South-East Asia in smog: photo by Hugo Hudoyoko/European Pressphoto Agency, 23 October 2015

Muslim students pray for rain to put out the fires which enveloped the region at Palembang 1 senior high school in Palembang, South Sumatra...Muslim students pray for rain to put out the fires which enveloped the region at Palembang 1 senior high school in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, September 17, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. A Malaysian company is among more than 20 firms under investigation by Indonesian authorities in connection with forest fires that have caused a haze to engulf large parts of Southeast Asia, an Indonesian minister said on Wednesday. The worsening smog across northern Indonesia, neighbouring Singapore and parts of Malaysia forced some schools to close and airlines to delay flights this week, while Indonesia ordered a crackdown on lighting fires to clear forested land

Muslim students pray for rain to put out the fires which enveloped the region at Palembang 1 senior high school in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, on Thursday: photo by Feny Selly/Antara Foto/Reuters, 17 September 2015

The dismal Situation waste and wilde

Indonesia moves to stop forest fire pollution as haze grips Singapore #smog #cleanair: image via CECHR @CECHR, 16 September 2014

#Indonesia's Fire Crises: the biggest environmental crime of the 21st century [Jakarta Globe... by @emeijaard]: image via Alessio Fratticcioli @fratticcioli, 24 October 2015

Indonesia readies warships for haze evacuation: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 24 October 2015

Indonesia readies warships for haze evacuation: AFP, 24 October 2015

Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia has put warships on standby to evacuate people affected by acrid haze from forest fires which has killed at least 10 and caused respiratory illnesses in half a million, officials said Saturday.

For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming in Indonesia have choked vast expanses of Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close and scores of flights and some international events to be cancelled.

The government has decided to send ships to haze-affected provinces to evacuate victims, especially children and women, if necessary, with two warships deployed to Kalimantan on Friday and another carrying medical workers and health equipment expected Saturday.

Military spokesman Tatang Sulaiman said the warships, which will be standing by in Banjarmasin, the capital of south Kalimantan, could serve as evacuation centers and hospitals for those affected by the haze.

Tatang said there was no immediate plan to bring people onboard but that could change if hospitals on land reach capacity or become overwhelmed.

"The ships are sent just in case children or pregnant women must be relocated from the local health facilities, it does not mean everyone would be put into the ships," Tatang said.

"So far health facilities on the ground in Kalimantan are still trying their best, we are just getting ready by deploying warships," Tatang said.

Each warship can carry up to 2000 people and has 344 beds onboard.

"For now the ships will be standing by. We will begin evacuation when there is an instruction from the government," navy spokesman Muhammad Zainuddin told AFP.

'Extraordinary crime'

The government has deployed around 30 aircraft to fight the fires and for cloud seeding with 22,000 troops on the ground to combat the blazes.

Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the fires had killed 10 people so far, some fighting the blazes while others died of respiratory illnesses or medical conditions exacerbated by the pollution.

"The impact of the forest fires has caused 10 people in Sumatra and Kalimantan to die, directly and indirectly," Nugroho said.

The figure did not include seven hikers killed in a wildfire on Java last week.

The agency estimated at least half a million people have suffered from respiratory illness since the fires started in July and 43 million people have been affected in the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Nugroho said the figure was likely just the tip of the iceberg because many people did not go to health facilities for treatment.

More than 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land has been burned and six provinces severely affected by the haze, according to Indonesia's forestry ministry.

"This is due to human acts because 99 percent of forest fires were started deliberately. This is an extraordinary crime against humanity," Nugroho said.

Other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Japan have sent assistance to help Indonesia fighting the forest fires.

With Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Thailand already affected, the Philippines Friday said the haze had now spread there, disrupting air traffic and prompting warnings for residents to wear face masks.

Palm oil plantations, such as this one covering thousands of hectares, are causing habitat-loss for many Indonesian species, although pangolins are one of a few that have limited tolerance to palm-oil habitats. The average monthly wage for an Indonesian working full-time on a plantation is $47 and many turn to poaching because they can earn 10 times as much: photo by Paul Hilton for WildAid via the Guardian 10 March 2015

Indonesia's Wildfires Are as Bad as Some of the Planet's Worst Air Polluters: An eye-popping amount of greenhouse gas issues from the thousands of blazes in the Southeast Asian country: Liz Dwyer, TakePart, 22 October 2015

They’ve burned for weeks, producing toxic smoke that has blanketed much of Southeast Asia and caused air quality to plummet. But just how bad is the pollution generated by the wildfires raging across Indonesia?

Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 14, the fires -- which are allegedly being intentionally set by businesses looking to make a buck producing palm oil -- may have produced more air pollution than Germany does in a calendar year.

Although Germany has one of the worst pollution problems in Europe, try this on for size: The pollution generated from the fires is also greater than the single-day emissions of the second-largest producer of greenhouse gases on the planet, the United States.

That’s the startling finding of a team of researchers led by Guido van der Werf, a scientist at VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Van der Werf and his team estimated the amount of air pollution being produced by the fires using data from previous blazes in Indonesia.

They calculated that the more than 100,000 blazes that have burned Indonesia’s carbon-rich peatlands this year generated more than 1,102 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. To put that into perspective, in 2013, the entire United States generated 6,673 million metric tons, according to the EPA.

Thanks to the suffocating haze created by these fires, schools across Indonesia -- and its neighboring nations, Malaysia and Singapore -- are closing intermittently when pollution levels spike. Battling the blazes has been exceptionally difficult for firefighters this year because the island nation is a tinderbox. While El Niño creates wetter conditions on the West Coast of the United States, it leads to drought in Southeast Asia.

Indeed, the arrival of the monsoon in the region has been significantly delayed by El Niño, and Indonesia has been hard hit by the lack of rain. Farmers have suffered extreme crop losses, and in the ultimate irony, given the role the industry allegedly plays in setting the fires, palm oil production is expected to drop.

Van der Werf’s team found that more than 4,700 fires were burning in Indonesia on Oct. 14 alone. It seems an improvement in air quality shouldn't be expected anytime soon.

"Unless there is rain, there is no way human intervention can put out the fires," Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the natural resources and environment minister in neighboring Malaysia, warned on Monday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Sun in Haze (Singapore): photo by aamanatullah, 24 September 2015

NOT your (Singapore): photo by katushau, 17 January 2015

↧

Hsieh T'iao: Viewing the Three Lakes

October 29, 2015, 1:23 pm

≫ Next: Guarding the Endeared Homelandscape: Wallace Stevens: Late Hymn from the Myrrh-Mountain / Eudora Welty: Place / Rogue Blimp

≪ Previous: Indonesia Is On Fire: A dismal Situation

island in Lake Vuoksa, on the Karelian Isthmus separating Russia and Finland: photo by Dmitry A. Mottl, 2009

Red clouds mirrored where the waters meet.

From the red terrace -- birds returning,

the encircling plains, mosaic of river isles.

Inklings of spring's luxuriance

as autumn's last yellows fade.

Dusk falling, and sadness

over friends. No ending

to this connectedness.

Hsieh T'iao (464-499): Viewing the Three Lakes, English version by Barry Taylor, 2015

Small island in Lower Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains: photo by Mwanner, 2007

Panoramic View of the Seven Rila Lakes, Rila Mountains, Bulgaria: photo by Anthony Ganev, 1 July 2007; image by Fir0002, 13 October 2008

The first turn of the Yangtze (Changjiang = Yangzi Kiang), at Shigu, Yunnan Province: photo by Jialiang Gao, 2003

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Pogled_kum_ezerata_ot_biloto.JPG

View towards four of the Seven Rila Lakes -- Dolnoto, Ribnoto, Trilistnika and Bliznaka -- in the Rila Mountains of Bulgaria: photo by Ivelin Minkov, 17 September 2006

↧

Guarding the Endeared Homelandscape: Wallace Stevens: Late Hymn from the Myrrh-Mountain / Eudora Welty: Place / Rogue Blimp

October 30, 2015, 7:25 pm

≫ Next: Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

≪ Previous: Hsieh T'iao: Viewing the Three Lakes

THE RUNAWAY BLIMP NEAR MUNCY PA... | by ironcity707

THE RUNAWAY BLIMP NEAR MUNCY PA...: image by Carl McDaniel, 29 October 2014

Unsnack your snood, madonna, for the stars

Are shining on all brows of Neversink.

Already the green bird of summer has flown

Away. The night-flies acknowledge these planets,

Predestined to this night, this noise and the place

Of summer. Tomorrow will look like today,

Will appear like it. But it will be an appearance,

A shape left behind, with like wings spreading out,

Brightly empowered with like colors, swarmingly,

But not quite molten, not quite the fluid thing,

A little changed by tips of artifice, changed

By the glints of sound from the grass. These are not

The early constellations, from which came the first

Illustrious intimations -- uncertain love,

The knowledge of being, sense without sense of time.

Take the diamonds from your hair and lay them down.

The deer-grass is thin. The timothy is brown.

The shadow of an external world comes near.

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955): Late Hymn from the Myrrh-Mountain, 1946,from Transport to Summer, 1947

The runaway military #blimp went down near Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, and it looked like this: image via Mashable Verified account @mashable, 28 October 2015

More Frightening Than Halloween | by mcnod

More Frightening Than Halloween. Every day I seem to notice more of these objects in the sky. Big Brother protecting us or is something sinister happening here?: photo by mcnod, 26 October 2015

365: Day 121 - Tethered vs Free Flight | by rclatter

365: Day 121 -- Tethered vs Free Flight. Olympus Digital camera.: photo by Rob Clatterbuck, 28 August 2015

365: Day 238: Aerostat-ic. Phone camera loooking through binoculars (so technically monocular) [Belcamp, Maryland]: photo by Rob Clatterbuck, 28 August 2015

Bald eagle and eyrie. Montour Preserve at Lake Chillisquaqua. Near Exchange, Pennsylvania.: photo by fishhawk, 24 October 2015

Eudora Welty: Place

Place can be transparent, or translucent: not people. In real life we have to express the things plainest and closest to our minds by the clumsy word and the half-finished

gesture; the chances are our most usual behavior makes sense only in a kind of daily way, because it has become familiar to our nearest and dearest, and still demands

their constant indulgence and understanding. It is our describable outside that defines us, willy-nilly, to others; that may save us, or destroy us, in the world; it may be

our shield against chaos, our mask against exposure; but whatever it is, the move we make in the place we live has to signify our intent and meaning.

Surely place induces poetry, and when the poet is extremely attentive to what is there, a meaning may even attach to his poem out of the spot on earth where it is

spoken, and the poem signify the more because it does spring so wholly out of its place, and the sap has run up into it as into a tree.

There may come to be new places in our lives that are second spiritual homes closer to us in some ways, perhaps, than our original homes. But the home tie is the blood

tie. And had it meant nothing to us, any other place thereafter would have meant less, and we would carry no compass inside ourselves to find home ever, anywhere at

all. We would not even guess what we had missed.
 
Eudora Welty (1909-2001): from Place in Fiction, in The Eye of The Story and Other Essays, 1959

BLIMP DOWN: State Police report #blimp is down in Montour county near Muncy. We got this photo from viewer there.: image via John Meyer Verified account @JohnMeyerWNEP, 28 October 2015

Favorites today, #blimplivesmatter, and headline 'Fled Zeppelin.' photo by Carrie Littlewood: image via Michael K. Dakota @DakotaLDN, 28 October 2015

#foundblimp #bloomsburg #blimp shot by Susan Switzer & Rhame Eyer @LDNews: image via Michael K. Dakota @DakotaLDN, 28 October 2015

#foundblimp #bloomsburg #blimp shot by Susan Switzer & Rhame Eyer @LDNews: image via Michael K. Dakota @DakotaLDN, 28 October 2015

#blimp #BlimpOnTheLoose #BlimpLife #looseblimp She's down in #Millsville: image via Michael K. Dakota @DakotaLDN, 28 October 2015

Another photo of what is believed to be the #blimp via Holly Starr near Bloomsburg, PA: image via CampusWeatherService @PSUWeather, 28 October 2015 State College, PA

A viewer just sent us this photo from Bloomsburg. We are getting numerous reports of sightings in that area. #Blimp: image via John Meyer Verified account @JohnMeyerWNEP, 28 October 2015

State Police used shotguns to deflate #blimpontheloose #blimp: image via WJZ / CBS Baltimore Verified account @cbsbaltimore, 28 October 2015

Runaway U.S. military blimp wreaks havoc in Pennsylvania: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 28 October 2015

Runaway U.S. military blimp wreaks havoc in Pennsylvania: Joe McDonald and Phil Stewart, Reuters, 28 October 2015 (updated 29 October 2015)

A high-tech U.S. military blimp designed to detect a missile attack came loose on Wednesday and wreaked havoc as it floated from Maryland into Pennsylvania while dragging more than a mile of cable and knocking out power to thousands.

The U.S. military scrambled two armed F-16 fighter jets to keep watch as the massive blimp traveled into civilian airspace after coming untethered from its base at Aberdeen Proving Ground, a U.S. Army facility 40 miles (65 km) northeast of Baltimore.

Pentagon officials said they were unsure why the 242-foot-long blimp broke free at 12:20 p.m. Military officials wrestled for hours over the best way to bring it down safely, but eventually it deflated on its own.

Technically speaking, JLENS is an aerostat, which means tethered airship. It’s anchored to the ground by a 11/8 inch thick super-strong cable. The tether is strong enough to withstand 100 mph winds… and during testing, it accidentally was exposed to a 106 mph storm and did just fine. Electricity runs up the cable and powers JLENS’ radar, and ones-and-zeroes from the radar run down fiber optic wires to a computer processing station on the ground. In fact, a lot of the things which makes JLENS work are on the ground… including the people who operate the system: photo via Raytheon, 2015

The blimp, part of a $2.8 billion Army program, landed in a rural, wooded area in Exchange, Pennsylvania, a community outside Bloomsburg, about 150 miles (240 km) north of the Aberdeen Proving Ground.

John Thomas, a spokesman for Columbia County emergency management agency, said there were no reports of injuries but had no more details about the landing.

Pennsylvania police and military officials guarded a wide safety perimeter around the blimp, which settled amid farmland in the remote area. Residents, including members of an Amish community, watched them work under steady rainfall.

A high-tech U.S. military blimp designed to detect a missile attack is pictured coming to the ground in Montour County, Pennsylvania, October 28, 2015. REUTERS/SECV8, a segment of Service Electric Cablevision

A high-tech U.S. military blimp designed to detect a missile attack is pictured coming to the ground in Montour County, Pennsylvania: photo via Reuters/SECV8, a segment of Service Electric Cablevision, 28 October 2015

The blimp's travels caused widespread damage, officials said. At one point, 30,000 Pennsylvania residents were without power, the governor's office said.

"The tether attached to the aircraft caused widespread power outages across Pennsylvania," said a statement from Governor Tom Wolf's office.

JLENS doesn’t have any weapons, so if it detects an inbound threat like a cruise missile or drone, it will pass that information on to the National Capital Region’s Integrated Air Defense System. Another cool feature is that JLENS works with other air defense systems, like the AMRAAM air-to-air missile, the U.S. Navy’s Standard Missile-6, the U.S. Army’s Patriot air defense system and the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, which is currently defending the Washington, D.C. area.: photo via Raytheon, 2015

The blimp's travels were a sensation on social media, with hashtags like #Blimpflood and #Blimpmemes ranking among the top trending topics. At least two Twitter parody accounts sprung up, gaining nearly 2,000 followers in just under two hours.

The attention was unlikely to be welcomed by the Army, which calls the program the Joint Land-Attack Cruise Missile Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS. The program was restructured after it overran cost estimates, the Government Accountability Office said in 2014.

JLENS by jay ta.: photo by total annihilation, 4 November 2006

The program is comprised of two blimps, each 242 feet long. The second blimp will be grounded until the military inspects it and finishes an investigation into the unmooring, said Navy Captain Scott Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. military's North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.

The system itself is still in a testing phase. Manufacturer Raytheon Co's website says it would become part of the defenses that help protect the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.

There’s a good reason senior military leaders are concerned about cruise missiles. They fly low, making them really hard for a ground-based radar to spot; there are lots of them out there; and some of them can even be launched from innocent-looking cargo containers.
Cruise missile defense is literally JLENS’s middle name. When the system is operational at Aberdeen Proving Ground, it will become part of the defenses that help protect the National Capital Region -- the federal government's name for the metro Washington, D.C. area.: photo via Raytheon, 2015

Raytheon's website says the blimps are meant to be tethered to the ground by a "11/8 inch thick super-strong cable," which should withstand 100 mile-per-hour (160 kph) winds. Electricity runs up the cable and powers the radar, the website says.

NORAD said the blimp became untethered while at an altitude of 6,600 feet, far below its maximum recommended altitude of up to 10,000 feet.

By early afternoon, it had climbed to 16,000 feet as it traveled into Pennsylvania.

NORAD said the system was designed to defend against threats beyond cruise missiles, to include drone aircraft and "surface moving targets" such as swarming boats and tanks.

NORAD Blimp Becomes Loose From Mooring: image via WMAL News Verified account @wmalnews, 28 October 2015

DETAILS: The 243-foot long helium-filled NORAD Surveillance #blimp broke loose in Maryland: image via Sputnik Verified account @Sputnikint, 28 October 2015

U.S. military #blimp escapes, joins @twitter: image via Reuters TV @ReutersTV, 28 October 2015

Twitter gets carried away over loose #blimp, no shortage of hot air escapes, joins @twitter: image via CNN Verified account @CNN, 28 October 2015

So, how'd that #blimp get loose yesterday?: image via CNN Verified account @CNN, 29 October 2015

Here is the #blimp well part of it...in a tree near Muncy @WNEP: image via Nikki Krize Verified account @NikkiKrize, 28 October 2015 Pennsylvania, USA

Hay day. Making hay while the sun shines. (Cooper, Pennsylvania.): photo by fishhawk, 29 August 2015

Covered Bridge Road (I): Farm along Covered Bridge Road, Moreland Township, Lycoming County: photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli, 14 September 2014

Frazier Covered Bridge (1) | by Nicholas_T

Frazier Covered Bridge (I). Moreland Townaship, Lycoming County. The bridge was built in 1888 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It crosses Little Muncy Creek in a quiet, secluded farming valley: photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli, 14 September 2014

Covered Bridge Road (I): Farm along Covered Bridge Road, Moreland Township, Lycoming County: photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli, 14 September 2014

Farming near Klingerstown, Pennsylvania: photo by Scott Bauer, 2005 (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture)

Evening. Sky patterns. (Danville, Pennsylvania.): photo by fishhawk, 29 August 2015

Silent Spring

Though the clouds suggest spraying the trees indicate autumn

THE RUNAWAY BLIMP DOWN NEAR MUNCY PA............ | by ironcity707

THE RUNAWAY BLIMP DOWN NEAR MUNCY PA........These are not my pictures.......I went out to the scene from the restaurant in Turbotville only to be stopped by the Pa State Police about a mile from the blimp.......: image by Carl McDaniel, 29 October 2014

THE RUNAWAY BLIMP: image by Carl McDaniel, 29 October 2015

Lunar eclipse. Peak. (Danville, Pennsylvania.): photo by fishhawk, 27 September 2015

JLENS. We won't spy on you. Trust us.: image by Richard Thompson, 29 October 2015

JLENS_028: photo by Aberdeen Proving Grounds, 18 August 2014

Ridgelines and valleys at sunset | by fishhawk

Ridgelines and valleys at sunset. Evening ridgeline landscape. (Danville, Pennsylvania.): photo by fishhawk, 12 October 2015

↧

Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

November 1, 2015, 9:05 pm

≫ Next: Ezra Pound: Canto CXIII: preparation for sky burial

≪ Previous: Guarding the Endeared Homelandscape: Wallace Stevens: Late Hymn from the Myrrh-Mountain / Eudora Welty: Place / Rogue Blimp

Douma: image via Orient @OrientNews, 31 October 2015

Joseph Ceravolo: Street Wise Romantic

......................December 7, 1984

The streets are empty and still,
between the red time,
then start again.
The farms are disappearing as I noticed
years ago along this old route.
Now the farms lie beneath
hotels, office complexes whose beauty
is beyond the senses
in some economic power fortified
by the delusions of power and inequity.
But the farms are lying beneath
and large poisonous plants
fusing the electrical circuits beneath.
Now there's no death to evil,
it rises again, now in war, now in bucks

now in land, now in power,

it rises up forever until the end,

when the light may intercede and remain.

Seek refuge in the fantasy

into one other fantasy.

We see violence done on subways on streets

but we don't see violence done

in a new class system or economic twist.

Does it murder just as well?

Nothing can be done.

It will go on and on

until the intercessions of the sun.

Everything has failed, and will,
but the innocence of youth

and the momentum of dawn.

Joeph Ceravolo (1934-1988): Street Wise Romantic (December 7, 1984), from Collected Poems, 2012

Doctors and paramedics try to revive a child, after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk, in Lesbos: image via Angelos Tzortzinis @atzortzinis, 29 October 2015

image - 02: photo by J Perez, 17 October 2015

Reality and fiction (Stockholm): photo by Jimmy Dovholt, 25 November 2010

Electricity (El Cerrito, California): photo by efo, 8 February 2014

#newark #nj #blackandwhite #grainy #gritty #streetphotography #mobilephotography #blackberryq10 | by StrangeGoodness

#newark #nj #blackandwhite #grainy #gritty #streetphotography #mobilephotography #blackberry10: photo by J Perez, 15 August 2015

IMG_20150820_161546_1_edit1 | by StrangeGoodness

IMG_20150820_161546_1_edit1: photo by J Perez, 20 August 2015

Now there's no death to evil

U.S. to put first boots on the ground in #Syria: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 30 October 2015

The nullification of humanity! #Douma #Syria: image via AEJ @AEJKhalil, 1 November 2015

#Douma massacred again: At least 70 killed; 550 injured in air strike on marketplace #Syria: image via Fadi Al-Qadi @fqadi, 31 October 2015

Standing tall and facing it all... #PutinAssadCrimes #Syria: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

Syrians are fighting a fierce battle for truth, freedom & justice against so many enemies inside & outside #Syria: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

A Syrian man buys boiled corn in the rebel-held area of Douma on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria: photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA via The Guardian, 1 November 2015

SYRIA - A family sits inside their underground shelter in Aleppo. By Karam Al-Masri #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 30 October 2015

Dead comet with skull face to hurtle by Earth on Halloween: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 31 October 2015

via MSF Sea @MSF_Sea, 31 October 2015:

MSF Sea Retweeted Jason Cone

In #Syria not only are civilians shelled but rescuers are attacked. Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

MSF Sea added,

Jason Cone @jtcone1977

Devastation caused by #Douma market bombing worsened by further shelling of rescue teams who were treating wounded. #Syria #EvenWarHasRules

Smoke billows from a building early on Friday, following reported shelling by Syrian government forces in the rebel-controlled area of Douma, east of Damascus: photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP, 30 October 2015 [image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 30 October 2015]

Life does not resemble life

A Syrian man mourns the death of a loved one following a reported airstrike by Syrian government forces Friday on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern edges of the capital Damascus. Anti-government activists said at least 40 were killed: photo by Sameer Al-Doumy?AFP, 30 October 2015

Rainbow coffins of the dead syria: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 30 October 2015

Life does not resemble life: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 24 October 2015

Angel Ritaj Ali Al Abdullah Al Saleh, 10 months old from #AlQuoriyeh, drowned on the way to Greece October 28 #Syria: image via AEJ @AEJKhalil, 1 November 2015

#Raqqa sky warplanes flying in Circles #IS #ISIL #ISIS: image via Raqqa_SL, 1 November 2015

#Raqqa sky when the #Russian warplanes are flying in the sky of #Raqqa: image via Raqqa_SL 1 November 2015

#Douma: image via Revolution Syria @RevolutionSyria, 31 October 2015

Syrians walk through debris following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held town of Douma, east of the capital Damascus. Syrian government air strikes on a market and a hospital killed several civilians in Douma, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor and activists said. Dozens more were wounded, several seriously, and the toll is likely to rise: photo by Abd Doumany/AFP, 29 October 2015

Some children will grow up and some won't

#MigrantCrisis Migrants and refugees wait to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border in Sentilj on November 1, 2015 #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPhoto, 1 November 2015

#MigrantCrisis A man waits with other migrants and refugees to cross the Slovenian-Austrian border in Sentilj. #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 1 November 2015

#Macedonia: Migrants & asylum seekers look out of a train heading to #Serbia from the Greek-Macedonian border: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 28 October 2015

More bodies of #refugees and #migrants washed up at beaches of #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015

#Refugees and #migrants at Moria HOT Spot in #Lesbos island after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 23 October 2015

#UPDATE 11 migrants, including 6 children, drown off Greece, say coastguards: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 1 November 2015

#Refugees and #migrants Some children will grow up and some won't.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 1 November 2015

Rescue operation at #refugees and #migrants in #Lesbos island from Greek fishermen and Spanish lifeguards.: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

The body of a baby washed up on the shore of #Lesbos as #refugees and #migrants try to cross the Aegean sea: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

A woman holds the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

A woman grieves over the body of a dead baby found on the beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via Stéphane Arnaud @StephaneArnaud, 30 October 2015

#MigrantCrisis 13 children among 22 migrants drowned off Greece. Photo @ArisMessinis #AFP: image via Stephanie Beauge @sbeaugeAFP, 30 October 2015

Boat carrying #migrants sinks off coast of Lesbos (photo Aris Messinis AFP): image via Telegraph Pictures @TelegraphPics, 30 October 2015

Refugees call for help as their boat sinks off the island of Lesbos. Photo @ArisMessinis: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 30 October 2015

#Refugees and #migrants struggle. #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 30 October 2015

#Turkey: Migrants & asylum seekers travel on a dinghy to the Greek island of Chios from Cesme #migrantcrisis: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 31 October 2015

One more boat with #refugees sunk in #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 28 October 2015

A boat with more than 240 #Refugees and #migrants sunk while trying to arrive at #Lesbos: image via Aris Messinis @arismessinis, 28 October 2015

A refugee hands over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos...A refugee hands over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 30, 2015. There were no casaulties amongst the refugees who were travelling on the catamaran, according to a Reuters witness. The death toll from drownings at sea has mounted recently as weather in the Aegean has taken a turn for the worse, turning wind-whipped sea corridors into deadly passages for thousands of refugees crossing from Turkey to Greece. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis

A refugee prepares to hand over a toddler to a volunteer lifeguard as a half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees, most of them Syrians, arrives after crossing part of the Aegean sea from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos: photo by Giorgos Moutafis/Reuters, 30 October 2015

A man holds a child after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey, on October 28, 2015. At least five migrants including three children, died on October 28, 2015 after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said. The new accidents brought to 34 the number of migrants found dead in Greek waters this month, according to an AFP tally based on data from Greek port police. Since the start of the year, 560,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece by sea, out of over 700,000 who have reached Europe via the Mediterranean, according to the International Office for Migration (IOM). AFP PHOTO / ANGELOS TZORTZINISANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/Getty Images

A man holds a child after a boat with refugees and migrants sunk while attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on Thursday. At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece: photo by Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP, 29 October 2015

[untitled]: photo by J Perez, 17 October 2015

↧

Ezra Pound: Canto CXIII: preparation for sky burial

November 3, 2015, 9:40 pm

≫ Next: After Sidney (cloud tsunami)

≪ Previous: Now do you understand why they choose the sea?

Vultures come from skies over ethnic Tibetans gathering for a sky burial near the Larung valley located some 3700 to 4000 metres above the sea level in Sertar county, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province...Vultures come from skies over ethnic Tibetans gathering for a sky burial near the Larung valley located some 3700 to 4000 metres above the sea level in Sertar county, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China October 31, 2015. In early afternoons, on a hill near famous Larung Wuming Buddhist Institute, relatives and onlookers gather for sky burials in which bodies of deceased people are offered to vultures to prey upon it. Such burials are practiced by some Tibetans and Mongolian in China as an extreme type of Buddhist's "self-sacrifice almsgiving". It is believed that feeding vultures with decomposed corpse of relatives on top of a mountain is a respectful to pay tribute to their passed-away beloved ones. Picture taken October 31, 2015. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Vultures flock overhead as ethnic Tibetans gather for a sky burial near the Larung valley, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. Relatives and onlookers gather for sky burials in which bodies of deceased people are offered to vultures. Such burials are practiced by some Tibetans and Mongolians in China as an extreme type of Buddhist “self-sacrifice almsgiving”. It is believed that feeding vultures with decomposed corpses of relatives on top of a mountain is a respectful way to pay tribute to passed-away beloved ones: photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters, 3 November 2015

Thru the 12 Houses of Heaven
                   seeing the just and the unjust,
                   tasting the sweet and the sorry,
Pater Helios turning.  
“Mortal praise has no sound in her ears”
                                                  (Fortuna’s)
θρήνος
And who no longer make gods out of of beauty
θρήνος     this is a dying
Yet to walk with Mozart, Agassiz and Linnaeus
‘neath overhanging air under sun-beat
Here take thy mind’s space
And to this garden, Marcella, ever seeking by petal, by leaf-vein
                 out of dark, and toward half-light

And over Li Chiang, the snow range is turquoise
Rock’s world that he saved us for memory
                   a thin trace in high air
And with them Paré (Ambroise) and the Men against Death
Twedell, Donnelly,
                         old Pumpelly crossed Gobi
“no horse, no dog, and no goat.”

“I’d eat his liver, told that son of...
and now bigod I have done it”                   
                                            17 Maggio,
                                                            why not spirits?
But for the sun and serenitas
                                   (19th May ’59)
H.D. once said “serenitas"
                                      (Atthis, etc.)
                     at Dieudonné’s
                                            in pre-history.
No dog, no horse, and no goat,
The long flank, the firm breast
                             and to know beauty and death and despair
and to think that what has been shall be,
                              flowing, ever unstill.

Then a partridge-shaped cloud over dust storm.
The hells move in cycles,
                               No man can see his own end.
The Gods have not returned. “They have never left us.”
                                They have not returned.
Cloud’s processional and the air moves with their living.
Pride, jealousy and possessiveness              
                      3 pains of hell
and a clear wind over garofani
                      over Portofino 3 lights in triangulation
Or apples from Hesperides fall in their lap
                      from phantom trees.
The old Countess remembered (say 1928)
                      that ball in St. Petersburg
and as to how Stef got out of Poland...
                      Sir Ian told ‘em help
                                          would come via the sea
(the black one, the Black Sea)
                                          Pétain warned ‘em.
And the road under apple-boughs
                      mostly grass-covered
And the olives to windward
                                Kalenda Maja.
Li Sao, Li Sao, for sorrow
            but there is something intelligent in the cherry-stone
Canals, bridges, and house walls
                                             orange in sunlight
But to hitch sensibility to efficiency:
                      grass versus granite,
For the little light and more harmony
Oh God of all men, none excluded
and howls for Schwundgeld in the Convention
                                                    (our Constitutional
                                                      17...whichwhat)
Nothing new but their ignorance,
                              ever perennial
Parsley used in the sacrifice
           and (calling Paul Peter) 12%
           does not mean one, oh, four, 104%
Error of chaos. Justification is from kindness of heart
            and from her hands floweth mercy.
As for who demand belief rather than justice.
And the host of Egypt, the pyramid builder,
                      waiting there to be born.
No more the pseudo-gothic sprawled house
                          out over the bridge there
                                   (Washington Bridge, N.Y.C.)
                             but everything boxed for economy.
That the body is inside the soul --
                            the lifting and folding brightness       
                                    the darkness shattered,
                                             the fragment,
That Yeats noted the symbol over that portico
                                                              (Paris)
And the bull by the force that is in him --
                  not lord of it,
                           mastered.
And to know interest from usura
(Sac. Cairoli, prezzo giusto)
                  In this sphere is Giustizia.
In mountain air the grass frozen emerald
                    and with the mind set on that light
                                 saffron, emerald,
                                                      seeping.
“but that kind of ignorance” said the old priest to Yeats
    (in a railway train) “is spreading every day from the schools” --
    to say nothing of other varieties.
Article X for example -- put over, and 100 years to get back
                                                           to the awareness of
                                         (what’s his name in that Convention)
And in thy mind beauty,
                                        O Artemis.
As to sin, they invented it -- eh?
                                         to implement domination
eh? largely.
                  There remain grumpiness,
                  malvagità
Sea, over roofs, but still the sea and headland.
And in every woman, somewhere in the snarl is a tenderness.
                                                 A blue light under stars.
The ruined orchards, trees rotting. Empty frames at Limone.
And for a little magnanimity somewhere,
And to know the share from the charge
                                  (scala altrui)
God’s eye art ‘ou, do not surrender perception.
And in thy mind beauty, O Artemis
                Daphne afoot in vain speed.
When the Syrian onyx is broken.
             Out of dark, thou, Father Helios, leadest,
but the mind as Ixion, unstill, ever turning.

Ezra Pound (1885-1972: Canto CXIII, May 1959

Vultures flock overhead as ethnic Tibetans gather for a sky burial near the Larung valley, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. Relatives and onlookers gather for sky burials in which bodies of deceased people are offered to vultures. Such burials are practiced by some Tibetans and Mongolian in China as an extreme type of Buddhist’s “self-sacrifice almsgiving”. It is believed that feeding vultures with decomposed corpse of relatives on top of a mountain is a respectful to pay tribute to their passed-away beloved ones: photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters, 3 November 2015

Image from page 362 of "The Bible hand-book: an introduction to the study of Sacred Scripture" (1883) | by Internet Archive Book Images

Syrian onyx: an Ammonite, or Fossil shell (from a photograph). These curious shells are found embedded in the cream-colored chalk, or limestone cliffs of Palestine. This specimen was found among the mountains of Galilee. It is apparently A. Syriacus, with a Nerinea Syr. turretted shell on the side and a Natica Syr. or Turritella Syr. on the end: Image from page 362 of The Bible hand-book: an introduction to the study of Sacred Scripture (1883): image by Internet Book Archive Images

Mezquita de Córdoba, España: photo by Jim Gordonl, 30 October 2008

Ammonite shell under cross polarized light: photo by Captain Tenneal, 8 November 2008

Vultures in Africa and Europe could face extinction within our lifetime, conservationists have warned. Veterinary drug diclofenac that wiped out 99% of vultures in India, Pakistan and Nepal, has been commercially available in at least two European countries. And in Africa they are facing increasing threats mainly due to poisoning.:photo by Ramon Elosegui/BirdLife International via The Guardian, 12 September 2014

Beautiful Egyptian #Vulture in #Greece. Thanks to @Birdwingeu for photo: image via WildHils @WildHils, 29 October 2015

Aerial view of Turkey Vulture gliding over forested area, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas: photo by Wing-Chi Poon, 12 April 2008

CONSERVATION: 11 of #Africa's #Vulture species are flying towards extinction @Ken_Birdlife: image via Wako Joel @WajoJoel, 29 October 2015

Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), beak sideview: photo by Thermos, 2006

Traditional Tibetan Sky Burial in which vultures pick clean the bones of the dead: photo by Alistair Coombs via Ancient Origins. 27 October 2015

The Vulture Stone, Göbekli Tepe archeological site, southeast Turkey. The vulture pictogram is one of the most graphically charged and complex reliefs so far excavated at the site. Müslüm Ercan describes the scene as a sky burial, in which the ‘soul’, sometimes symbolized as a head, is figuratively carried up to the sky world.: photo by Alistair Coombs via Ancient Origins, 27 October 2015

In Rock's World: A lovers' sky burial

http://international.loc.gov/service/asian/asnaxi/nza/nza079/0003v.jpg

http://international.loc.gov/service/asian/asnaxi/nza/nza079t/0001v.jpg

http://international.loc.gov/service/asian/asnaxi/nza/nza079t/0002v.jpg

http://international.loc.gov/service/asian/asnaxi/nza/nza079t/0003v.jpg

Panel from Naxi pictographic manuscript containing myths detailing Sacrifices to the Highest Deity (lovers' suicide ritual): [Yunnan Sheng][1500?-1934]; transliteration and translation by Joseph F. Rock (Naxi Collection, Asian Division, Library of Congress)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/DSCN1728.JPG

And over Li Chiang, the snow range is turquoise. Yulong Xueshan on the left, rising above Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China: photo by ZiCheng Xu, 28 December 2006

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/280714

House where Joseph Rock lived in old Lijiang, Yunnan, China: photographer unknown, 29 July 1998, from Joseph Rock's Images, Harvard University (via Pratyeka)

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/245407

Rock's World that he saved us for memory / a thin trace in high air: Joseph F. Rock with some of his Naxi assistants: photographer unknown, 14 November 1928, from Joseph Rock's Images, Harvard University (via Pratyeka)

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/243954

Cloud's processional and the air moves with their living: The backbone of the Min Shan Range, Gansu, China: photo by Joseph F. Rock, 18 October 1926, from Joseph Rock's Images, Harvard University (via Pratyeka)

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/243123

Cloud's processional and the air moves with their living: The Snow Peaks of the Liang-chow Nan Shan, Gansu, China: photo by Joseph F. Rock, 11 November 1925, from Joseph Rock's Images, Harvard University (via Pratyeka)

http://ids.lib.harvard.edu/ids/view/243212

Cloud's processional and the air moves with their living: The Ta-pan Shan Range, Gansu, China: photo by Joseph F. Rock, 9 October 1925, from Joseph Rock's Images, Harvard University (via Pratyeka)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5c/Lijiang_Snow_Mountain_Summit.JPG

And over Li Chiang, the snow range is turquoise: Lijiang Snow Mountain summit, Yunnan, China:photo by Corymgrenier, 22 October 2009

↧

After Sidney (cloud tsunami)

November 6, 2015, 8:55 pm

≫ Next: In a time of poisoned horses: Thomas Wyatt: If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour

≪ Previous: Ezra Pound: Canto CXIII: preparation for sky burial

First #tornados in Melbourne, now cloud #tsunamis in Sydney. Australian weather: you are terrifying! #sydneystorm: image by Robbi Bishop-Taylor @robbibt, 6 November 2015

the cold peach smudge sunset

no red sails

she had rather a wife be

in the blood

audible automotive rumble

tail lights

gears grinding down

rushing up the hill

winter nights enlarge

in winds or waters streams

require to be writ

cloud tsunamis

unto no body
these be her woordes

Frightening. #Cloudtsunami: image by Cameron Christensen @Cameron7S, 6 November 2015

#BondiBeach #cloudtsunami #Bondi #australia #cloud #rain #weather: image via Proto Thema English @eprotothema, 6 November 2015

Spot the @Qantas plane flying through heavy rain? #Cloudtsunami Photo: David Gray/@Reuters: image by The Times Pictures @Times Pictures, 6 November 2015

Haven't you seen #Cloudtsunami yet #Australia #BondiBeach #sydneystorm #Sydney: image by Gosur Maps @gosur_maps, 6 November 2015

BEWARE: A huge storm is coming... #ShelfStorm #cloudtsunami: image by Daily Star @Daily Star, 6 November 2015

WATCH: #Cloudtsunami forms off Bondi Beach in Sydney: image by Newstalk 106-108fm @NewstalkFM, 6 November 2015

Day 88 of 365. Looking west from hills above Berkeley at sunset: image via Eugene Chan, 15 September 2015

Peaceful pastels tonight, @berkeleyside: image via Avram Goldstein @newsdoc, 28 October 2015

A river gull flies over reflection of a Gazela (Gazelle) bridge on the Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Weather forecasts predict good weather conditions in Serbia for upcoming days

A river gull flies over reflection of a Gazela (Gazelle) bridge on the Sava river in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday: photo by Darko Vojinovic/AP, 6 November 2015

↧

In a time of poisoned horses: Thomas Wyatt: If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour

November 8, 2015, 7:21 pm

≫ Next: Dirty Water

≪ Previous: After Sidney (cloud tsunami)

Horses struggle in the mud in the small town of Bento Rodrigues after an iron mine tailings dam burst in Minas Gerais state, in southeastern Brazil. Union officials representing workers at the mine said they feared that as many as 15 people might have died.: photo by Felipe Dana/AP, 5 November 2015

If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour
If many sighes with litle speche to playne
Now ioy, now woo, if they my chere disdayne
For hope of smalle if muche to fere therfore
To hast to slak my pase lesse or more
Be signe of love then do I love agayne.

Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542): from If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour: Egerton Ms. 2711, f.66v (British Library)

Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542): If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour: Egerton Ms. 2711, f.66v (British Library)

Horses struggles in the mud at the small town of Bento Rodrigues after a dam burst in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. Brazilian rescuers searched feverishly Friday for possible survivors after two dams burst at an iron ore mine in a southeastern mountainous area

Horses struggle in the mud at the small town of Bento Rodrigues after a tailings dam burst at an iron mine in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Friday: photo by Felipe Dana/AP, 5 November 2015

25 minutes to escape: Brazilian village destroyed in dam deluge: Stephen Eisenhammer, Reuters, 6 November 2015 10:26pm EST

BENTO RODRIGUES, Brazil |

From when the first warnings were heard, the Brazilian village of Bento Rodrigues had about 25 minutes to escape.

The water from a broken dam holding waste water from the nearby Samarco mine in Minas Gerais state moved fast down the valley. A flood believed to be some 20 meters (65 feet) high swept through the village of 600, destroying homes and livelihoods within minutes.

Apart from a few houses spared by being on higher ground, homes are little more than bare walls now. A thick sludge of water and iron ore tore off the roofs and settled over the village like hardening wax, leaving twisted cars perched awkwardly in its wake. Helicopters buzzed overhead, searching for the lost 24 hours after the deluge.

One person has been confirmed dead, 13 are reported missing and many more remain unaccounted for after two tailings dams burst on Thursday at the Samarco mine owned by two of the world's largest miners, Vale SA and BHP Billiton.

A school in the line of the advancing water was hastily evacuated by teachers, an act which is thought to have saved dozens of lives. "There are heroes in this tragedy," the local mayor Duarte Júnior said in acknowledgement of their actions.

Six villages were hit by the flood as 60 million cubic meters of waste water swamped the region. Residents were evacuated to a gymnasium in the nearby town of Mariana, where hundreds of mattresses lined the floor and medical staff bustled in white coats attending to the injured. Donations of water, clothes and blankets poured in from well-wishers with many taking the day off work to help those who have lost everything.

"There's nothing left in my village. Just memories," Soraia Souza, 24, from the village of Paracatu de Baixo, told Reuters while holding an 18-month-old baby wearing just a diaper.

At the site of the worst devastation, twenty rescue workers sweated in the humid Brazilian heat, trying to rescue a horse trapped in the thick, heavy mud. With a rope wrapped around it, twenty men and women tugged to exhaustion, but the animal wouldn’t budge. As dusk turned to dark, hopes the horse could be saved wavered.

"We've tried everything, there's nothing more we can do," said Maximiliano Inacio, a local firefighter.

Horses struggle in the mud at the small town of Bento Rodrigues after a tailings dam burst at an iron mine in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, Friday: photo by Felipe Dana/AP, 5 November 2015

Video by the broadcaster TV Globo showed the sludgy flooding that resulted from a burst tailings dam in southeast Brazil on Thursday: photo by TV screengrab/Agence France-Presse, 5 November 2015

Search ongoing for missing in Brazil mine disaster, death toll uncertain: Stephen Eisenhammer, Reuters, 6 November 2015 8:12pm EST

BENTO RODRIGUES, Brazil |

Rescue teams searched through mud and debris on Friday for people still missing from a village devastated by the collapse of two dams at a Brazilian mine owned by the world's largest mining company, BHP Billiton.

While only one worker has been confirmed dead, the local governor said the mining disaster caused the most environmental damage of any in the state's history. It could cost the mine's owners a fortune to clean up and repair
.

25 minutes to escape: Brazilian village destroyed in dam deluge: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 6 November 2015

Walls of water filled with mining waste cascaded downhill when the dams burst on Thursday, engulfing the village of Bento Rodrigues and its 600 residents in a sea of mud while also flooding others far removed from the open-pit mine.

Little remains of the village but ruined walls and cars lying twisted in sludge. Search helicopters buzzed overhead as rescuers tried to save a horse trapped in the mud.

Região atingida por barragens da mineradora Samarco | by Agência Brasil

Regiâo atingida por Barragens da mineradora Samarco. Mariana (MG) -- area afetada pelo rompimento barragem no distrito do Bento Rodrigues, zona rural de Mariana, em Minas Gerais: photo by Antonio Cruz/Agencia Brasil Fotografia. 7 November 2015

"I heard screaming and saw the water coming fast, about 15 to 20 meters high (49-66 feet)," said survivor Antonio Santos, a construction worker who was at home when the dams broke. Bento Rodrigues is about 93 miles (150 km) southeast of Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third-largest city and the capital of the mining state of Minas Gerais.

"Within 10 minutes the whole lower part of the village was destroyed, about 80 percent of it," he said in a gymnasium crowded with survivors in the nearby city of Mariana.

VIDEO: Brazil dam burst buries town: image via Reuters Top New @Reuters, 6 November 2015

Santos said he knew of four people who were swept away, including two children and two adults in their 50s.

Mine operator Samarco's chief executive officer said a tremor in the vicinity of the mine may have caused the dams to burst, but that it was too early to establish the exact cause.

The company said one worker died and 13 were missing.

Firefighters initially put the death toll at two but later said they could not immediately confirm more than one fatality connected to the mine disaster.

They said the count could rise because many people were still unaccounted for in six villages hit by floods unleashed by the successive bursting of the two dams holding waste, or iron ore tailings, from the mine.

Scores missing as deadly mudslide flattens Brazil village: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 6 November 2015

Samarco is a 50-50 venture between BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner. The company said it had set no date to restart the mine, which produces about 30 million tons of iron ore annually. Output is shipped to Brazil's coast and converted into pellets for export to steel mills.

The cleanup bill and potential environmental lawsuits could be more costly than the loss of output and come at a bad time for BHP Billiton and Vale, with iron ore prices at their lowest in a decade and one quarter of their 2011 level.

A lawyer specializing in environmental and mining cases said it was too early to estimate the financial setback for the mining companies, since the cause of the disaster was still unknown.

"It impossible to calculate now, but it is not going to be cheap," said Danilo Miranda, of the Marcelo Tostes law firm.

The head of the local miners union, Ronaldo Bento, said it was too early to say whether the company had been negligent.

MG: 5 preguntas sem resposta sobre rompimento de barragens #BentoRodrigues #Mariana: image via Terra Noticias Verified account @TerraNoticias, 6 November 2015

Shares of Vale closed down 5.7 percent in Sao Paulo trading and BHP Billiton also dropped 5.7 percent in New York.

A Minas Gerais state prosecutor in charge of environmental crimes, Carlos Ferreira Pinto, said he would seek a temporary suspension of Samarco's license on Monday.

Samarco CEO Ricardo Vescovi said the company had been working on the drainage system for the dams. But both had valid licenses from environmental authorities, who last inspected them in July, according to Samarco.

The University of Sao Paulo's seismic center reported four weak tremors in the general area of the mine in the hour before the disaster. But Vescovi said there had been no sign of any breach in the dams immediately after the tremors occurred.

Analysts at Clarksons Platou Securities said the likelihood of a lengthy stoppage at the Samarco mine, which accounts for about one-fifth of the world's seaborne pellet market, could lift iron ore prices. Prices were not immediately affected, however, and continued to fall on Friday.

Pellet prices have plunged by one-third this year to their lowest in six years amid a global glut and waning Chinese demand.

Search ongoing for missing in Brazil mine disaster, death toll uncertain: image via Reuters Top New @Reuters, 6 November 2015

So-called tailings ponds, masses of finely ground waste rock mixed with water left over from extracting more valuable minerals, can contain harmful chemicals, adding to fears of potential contamination from the Samarco dam bursts.

The company sought to play down those fears, saying there were no chemical elements that posed health risks when the accident occurred.

It was the second major tailings dam disaster in Minas Gerais in 12 years. In 2003, 1.2 billion liters of waste from a tailings dam at a closed cellulose mill broke, flooding local rivers, cutting off fresh water to more than 600,000 people, and killing fish all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

(Additional reporting by Ricardo Moraes in Mariana and Davide Scigliuzzo in New York; writing by Brad Haynes and Anthony Boadle, editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Tom Brown and Ken Wills)

Desperate search for Brazil mudslide survivors: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 6 November 2015

David Beckham waves toward his fans while on his way back after playing a charity match to collect funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal on Friday: photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters, 6 November 2015

↧

Dirty Water

November 9, 2015, 10:10 pm

≫ Next: The Domestic Life of Elmer O'Fydd Briefly Considered As An Aspect of the Neverending Cosmic Spectacle of Uncaring

≪ Previous: In a time of poisoned horses: Thomas Wyatt: If waker care, if sodayne pale Coulour

Enxurrada de lama atinge a cidade de Barra Longa | by Agência Brasil

Barra Longa (MG) - A cidade de Barra Longa/MG, atingida pela enxurrada de lama tóxica proveniente do rompimento da barragem tenta se recuperar dos transtornos causados pelo incidente: photo by Antonio Cruz / Agencia Brasil, 8 November 2015

William Empson: Missing Dates

Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
It is not the effort nor the failure tires.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.

It is not your system or clear sight that mills
Down small to the consequence a life requires;
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

They bled an old dog dry yet the exchange rills
Of young dog blood gave but a month’s desires.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.

It is the Chinese tombs and the slag hills
Usurp the soil, and not the soil retires.
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.

Not to have fire is to be a skin that shrills.
The complete fire is death. From partial fires
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.

It is the poems you have lost, the ills
From missing dates, at which the heart expires.
Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills.
The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.

William Empson (1906-1984): Missing Dates, 1937

1 Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills

Escombros da vila de Bento Rodrigues, destruída por uma enxurrada de lama após rompimento de barragens nos município de Mariana (MG): photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Grupo de socorristas trabalham nas buscas e resgate às vítimas do rompimento da barragem de rejeitos, no distrito de Bento Rodrigues, nos municípios de Ouro Preto e Mariana (MG): photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Escombros da vila de Bento Rodrigues, destruída por uma enxurrada de lama após rompimento de barragens nos município de Mariana (MG): photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Galinha se refugia da lama no alto dos escombros da vila de Bento Rodrigues, destruída por uma enxurrada de lama após rompimento de barragens nos município de Mariana (MG)

Galinha se refugia de lama no alto dos encombres da vila de bento Rodrigues, destruída por uma enxurrada de lama após rompimento de barragens nos município de Mariana (MG): photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Escombros da vila de Bento Rodrigues, destruída por uma enxurrada de lama após rompimento de barragens nos município de Mariana (MG): photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Marcas de lama do povoado de Gesteira, que foi arrasada pelo mar de lama, próximo a Barra Longa; a cidade está isolada porque as pontes caíram: photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 8 November 2015

Voluntários tentam ajudam vaca a sair de atoleiro após enxurrada de lama que invadiu a cidade de Barra Longa, em Minas Gerais, devido ao rompimento das barragens de uma mineradora em Mariana

Voluntários tentam aiudam vaca a sair de atoleiro após enxurrada de lama que invadiu a cidade de Barra Longa, em Minas Gerais, devido ao rompimento das barragens de uma mineradora em Mariana: photo by Moacyr Lopes Junior / Folha, 7 November 2015

1 Load Every Rift With Ore (Global Extraction Pimpology)

Banjima native title group signs historic mining deal with BHP Billiton: image via The Australian @australian, 4 November 2015

I work with 600+ people driving productivity in our world-class iron ore business: Ellie Coates #ILookLikeAnEngineer: image via BHP Billiton @bhpbilliton, 26 September 2015

Meet Dennis Robeck. Learn about his 44-year career in our Iron Ore Business #OurHistory: image via BHP Billiton @bhpbilliton, 29 September 2015

Learn how we sustainability [sic] manage water resources at Iron Ore in Western Australia: image via BHP Billiton @bhpbilliton, 17 October 2015

Developing new approaches to water resource management in our Iron Ore business in Australia: image via BHP Billiton @bhpbilliton, 17 October 2015

Seeing first hand @bhpbilliton operations centre in Perth controlling mining activities 1,500km away: image via Josh Frydenberg @JoshFrydenberg, 4 November 2015

I work with 600+ people driving productivity in our world-class iron ore business: Ellie Coates #ILookLikeAnEngineer: image via BHP Billiton @bhpbilliton, 26 September 2015

3 Dirty Water

28 remain missing two days after dams burst disaster in Brazil's #MinasGerais: image via China Xinhua News Verified account @XHNews, 7 November 2015

Local atingido por rompimento de Barragem em #Mariana. Com. de Meio Ambiente reuniu-se c/#Samarco e @governomg: image via Assembleia de Minas @assemblleiamg, 6 November 2015

Rescue workers search for victims after a dam owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd burst, in #Mariana, #Brazil: image via Tamer Yazar @tameryazar, 9 November 2015

A fireman rescues a dog trapped in the mud that swept through the village of Bento Rodrigues, Brazi!: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 9 November 2015

Bombeiro resgata cadela na cidade de #Mariana, após rompimento da barragem, em Minas Gerais, 2015. Que foto!: image via fotos de tafos @FotosDeFatos, 9 November 2015

A fireman rescues a dog trapped in the mud that swept through the village of Bento Rodrigues, Brazi!: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 9 November 2015

#Brazil: A fireman rescues a dog trapped in mud following a deadly mudslide in the village of #BentoRodrigues: image via Talar Kalajian @TalarKala, 9 November 2015

A fireman rescues a dog trapped in the mud that swept through the village of Bento Rodrigues, Brazi!: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 9 November 2015

Sea mud. The city affected by the dam failure is Mariana. [photo Douglas Magno AFP]: image by Silvio Paimel, 9 November 2015

foi tragica a situação em Barra Longa, rompimento da Barragem em Mariana #Mariana #barraLonga #Minas Gerais: image via Gleycinha55 @Gleici, 7 November 2015

Brésil: la "situation désespérante" du village sous la boue #AFP #Brésil: image via AFP Brazil @AFP Brazil, 7 November 2015

Three days after avalanche of mud and mining sludge buried town of Bento Rodrigues. By @tofsimon #AFP: image via AFP Photo Department @AFPphoto, 9 November 2015

Brésil: les secours sauvent un poulain de la coulée de boue #AFP #Brésil: image via AFP Brazil @AFP Brazil, 7 November 2015

Hopes fade for missing in #Brazil toxic mudslide #AFP #Brésil: image via AFP Brazil @AFP Brazil, 9 November 2015

↧

The Domestic Life of Elmer O'Fydd Briefly Considered As An Aspect of the Neverending Cosmic Spectacle of Uncaring

November 10, 2015, 8:56 pm

≫ Next: The Night Visitors

≪ Previous: Dirty Water

"Reelan Bridge, Lifford" is actually the "Dry Arch" in Straboy, Co Donegal | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

The "Dry Arch" (bridge over the Shallogan River), Straboy, County Donegal: photo by Robert French, c. 1890s (The Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland)

"It was a subject of regret and absurd as well on the face of it, and no small blame to our vaunted society, that your man in the street, when the system really needed toning up, for the matter of a couple of paltry dollars was debarred from seeing more of the world he lived in instead of being always and ever cooped up since my old stick-in-the-mud took me for a wife," said she, speaking as if to herself, or no one in particular.

He never stirred upon the utterance of these words, if indeed he heard them, in which event, had he heard, and she known he did, she might have pressed on, playing the advantage, but for the sound of the telephone device, which had been installed just the previous Thursday, and produced a penetrating tone audible to anyone in range of their hut, covered as it was with sod and straw, straw and sod, during that whole period, or at least the greater part of it, so far as is known.

"The finespun weft it is then," he told his left shoe, having for a moment looked down and away from the bright frail thread of stars drawn through the dense warp of the night, remembering the shutter and the picking stick going stiff in the knobbled hand after a time, "the pitiful industry of the weaver that never ceases, wearying, growing always older, going slowly from weft to wight in the straw and the sod, or beneath, perhaps beneath the mud and clay in which it was all going to be stuck, in any case, my dear," sighed he, as the heavy stone gate to the smallholding beyond slowly groaned to a close once again.

Bugs Bunny could find no apt rejoinder and so, gathering her skirts about her as protection against the filth of the public ways, she re-entered by the narrow passage through which she had first come, so many years before, and once safely within, resumed her waiting and counting, counting and waiting, as it was not yet Tuesday, when the delivery wagon had been expected.

Main Street, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Main Street, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo: photo by Robert French, c. 1890s (The Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland)

Castletownshend, Co. Cork! | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Castletownshend, County Cork: photo by Fergus O'Connor, c. 1910 (Fergus O'Connor Collection, National Library of Ireland)

Rebuilding Castlebar, Co. Mayo | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Castlebar, County Mayo: photo by Robert French, between 1895 and 1900 (The Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland)

McGuinness's Shop, Nobber, Co. Meath | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

McGuinness's shop, Nobber, County Meath: photo by Robert French, c, 1901-1911 (The Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland)

Twomey's Machine Bakery | by National Library of Ireland on The Commons

Twomey's Machine Bakery, Shandon Street, Cork: photo by Fergus O'Connor, c. 1910 (Fergus O'Connor Collection, National Library of Ireland)

↧

The Night Visitors

November 12, 2015, 10:26 pm

≫ Next: Mario Vargas Llosa: The horror that is called Hebron / Hashem Azzeh: Holdout in H2

≪ Previous: The Domestic Life of Elmer O'Fydd Briefly Considered As An Aspect of the Neverending Cosmic Spectacle of Uncaring

Israeli forces raid West Bank hospital...epa05021437 Palestinian hospital security checks the room where Israeli special forces killed 27 years old Abdallah Shalaldeh and arrested his cousin at the Al-Ahli hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron 12 November 2015. Shalaldeh was shot dead by Israeli special forces during a raid to arrest his cousin Azzam Shalaldeh. An undercover Israeli unit raided a southern West Bank hospital early 12 November, killing one Palestinian and seizing another, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said that security forces had sought to apprehend a Palestinian accused of stabbing an Israeli outside a settlement bloc south of Jerusalem on 25 October 2015. The alleged Palestinian assailant, Azzam Shalaldeh, 20, had been shot by the Israeli victim. The Israeli was, in turn, severely injured with a stab wound to the chest. EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN ATTENTION EDITORS PICTURE CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT

Palestinian hospital security guard checks the room where Israeli special forces killed 27 year old Abdallah Shalaldeh and arrested his cousin at the Al-Ahli hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron. Shalaldeh was shot dead by Israeli special forces during a raid to arrest his cousin Azzam

Shalaldeh: photo by Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA, 12 November 2015

Wolf in Sheep's clothing | by ~Christopher Lucas~

Wolf in Sheep's clothing: photo by Christopher Lucas, 24 March 2015

Israeli undercover forces raid hospital in West Bank, kill Palestinian: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters, 12 November 2015

Israel/OPT: Investigate apparent extrajudicial execution at Hebron hospital: Press Release, Amnesty International, 12 November 2015

The killing of a 28-year-old Palestinian man by Israeli forces during a raid on al-Ahli hospital in Hebron in the early hours of Thursday morning may amount to an extrajudicial execution, Amnesty International said today.

Eyewitnesses report that a large group of Israeli soldiers and police entered the hospital at 2.43am disguised as Palestinian civilians, with some wearing keffiyehs and fake beards and another being pushed in a wheelchair dressed as a pregnant woman. According to two witnesses Amnesty International spoke to, they entered a room on the third floor of the hospital where 20-year-old Azzam Azmi Shalaldah was a patient, to arrest him on suspicion of stabbing an Israeli civilian on 25 October.

When they entered the room where the patient was in bed, they immediately shot his cousin, Abdullah Azzam Shalaldah, at least three times, including in the head and upper body.

“The fact that Abdullah Shalaldah was shot in the head and upper body suggests this was an extrajudicial execution, adding to a disturbing pattern of similar recent incidents by Israeli forces in the West Bank which warrant urgent investigation,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

“Israeli forces must immediately cease their use of intentional lethal force against people who are not posing an imminent threat to life.”

A witness said that Abdullah Shalaldah, who had been accompanying his cousin in the hospital and sleeping in the room, had gone to the bathroom and had just come out when Israeli forces burst into the room and shot him. The Israeli forces then threatened another patient at gunpoint, handcuffed another relative to a bed and then left the hospital with Azzam Shalaldah in a wheelchair.

Unlawful and deliberate killings carried out by order of government or military officials, or with their complicity or acquiescence, amount to extrajudicial executions, which are prohibited at all times and are crimes under international law.

The Israeli military released a statement saying that Abdullah Shalaldah had attacked Israeli forces, but did not specify whether he was armed. Witnesses report that he was not armed, was some metres away from the soldiers and police and had not attempted to attack them. There was no attempt to arrest Abdullah Shalaldah, according to the witnesses, or to use non-lethal alternatives before shooting him dead.

The killing of Abdullah Shalaldah is the latest in a pattern of killings by Israeli forces which Amnesty International considers to have been unlawful. Since the beginning of October there has been a dramatic increase in the number of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians, soldiers and police. Attacks on civilians are never justified, but Israeli forces have responded with intentional lethal use of force in many cases where it was not warranted. The Israeli military’s own regulations allow soldiers in the occupied West Bank to open fire only when their lives are in imminent danger. It appears that this was not the case in the shooting of Abdullah Shalaldah, as he was unarmed.

Israeli forces have killed at least 18 Palestinians in and around the city of Hebron in recent weeks, including in cases that appear to be extrajudicial executions, and accordingly should be the subject of prompt, thorough and impartial investigations with a view to prosecution as criminal offences.

On 6 November Israeli forces shot and killed 72-year-old Tharwat al-Sharawi, alleging that she intended to ram them with her car. A video of the incident shows the car which she was driving heading towards the soldiers at a speed slow enough to allow the soldiers to jump out of the way and then begin shooting heavily at the car. Tharwat al-Sharawi’s son has said that his mother was on her way to lunch when she was killed. Amnesty International considers that even if Tharwat-al-Sharami did intend to carry out a ramming attack, the military has itself acknowledged that soldiers only began firing after jumping out of the way of the car. This means that the imminent danger had passed and accordingly that the use of lethal force was unlawful.

On 29 October Mahdi al-Muhtasib, 23, was shot by Israeli forces after reportedly lightly wounding an Israeli soldier in a stabbing attack in Hebron. Video of the aftermath of the incident shows Mahdi al-Muhtasib writhing in pain on the ground before an Israeli soldier, standing a distance of some metres away, shoots him again. The video shows that Mahdi al-Muhtasib was plainly wounded, and posed no threat whatsoever to the soldier.

Moreover, shooting a wounded person is a wilful killing in grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

“Israeli forces have a long history of carrying out unlawful killings in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including extrajudicial executions,” said Philip Luther.

“While the number of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians, soldiers and police has increased significantly since the beginning of October, there is never any excuse for the Israeli military and police forces using lethal force where it is not warranted.”

Abdallah Shaladeh SHOT DEAD IN THE HEAD by Israeli undercover soldiers inside A Hospital. He was visiting a relative: image via Dr Basel - Palestine @DrBaselAbuwarda, 12 November 2015

Mourners at the funeral of a man killed by Israeli undercover forces in a raid at Al-Ahli hospital, in the West Bank: photo by Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters, 12 November 2015

Abdullah was shot in his temple his chest & x3 in the arm and shoulder #Hebron #hospital: image via Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye, 12 November 2015

Undercover Israeli forces kill Palestinian inside West Bank hospital: Israeli forces were filmed raiding the hospital in disguise before taking away a patient and killing his cousin: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi, Middle East Eye, 12 November 2015

HEBRON, West Bank - Dressed in an array of Palestinian disguises, undercover Israeli forces stormed Ahli Hospital during the early hours of Thursday morning and arrested Azaam Shalaalda from his bed, shooting his cousin dead in the process.

Part of the incident was caught on a security camera in one of the main halls of the hospital. The footage, released online by hospital employees, shows at least 20 agents rush through the hospital halls with handguns drawn.

Azaam, the young man who was arrested, was in the hospital getting treatment for an attack that happened around a month previously. Locals said he was shot nine times by Israeli settlers while picking olives on his family farm in his village of Saeer in northern Hebron last month.

According to witnesses, Azaal’s cousins, Abdullah and Bilal Shalaalda, were staying overnight at the hospital, when the undercover forces barged into the room.

Bilal was sleeping when the forces stormed the hospital room, but his cousin Abdullah, 20, was in the bathroom washing up before early morning prayers.

"I just saw 10 people barge into the room, it was kind of chaos, it all happened in a matter of seconds, Abdullah, my cousin, came out of the bathroom to see what was going on and they shot him immediately, the second the door opened," Bilal said.

Abdullah was shot once in his temple, once near his chest, and three times in the arm and shoulder. At the same time forces had rushed to Bilal and Azaam, restraining both of them.

"They put a cloth around my mouth so I couldn't speak, and handcuffed me to the bed while the whole thing happened," Bilal said. “Abdullah was still alive, bleeding on the ground but there was nothing I could do, they didn’t call for a doctor, he just laid there bleeding out while I was handcuffed and gagged.”

The forces moved to take Azaal, who was receiving treatment at the hospital, out of his bed and into a wheelchair to be taken away.

Bilal at his cousin's funeral: photo by Abed al-Qaisi / Middle East Eye, 12 November 2015

Bilal told Middle East Eye that he was still in shock from what happened, and described it as “like something from a film”.

"They were so professional, they knew exactly where they were going and what they were doing," Bilal said. "There is zero doubt in my mind about what happened, these were undercover Israeli agents committing a well-planned operation. They didn't plan for my cousin to come out of that bathroom, but they immediately shot him, they used silencers, they were trained soldiers."

Bilal swears he has no idea why Israeli forces came to arrest his cousin in the first place.

Doctor Jihad Shaoor, the director of Ahli hospital, told MEE that Azaal had been in critical condition when he was admitted last month and that he had since undergone a series of surgeries to remove nine bullets and reconstruct his windpipe and that he had been in hospital recovering at the time of his abduction.

Shaoor said he believed taking Azaal out of the hospital could have serious effects on his health and recovery.

“First, Azaal was in no way ready to leave the hospital,” the doctor said. “And second, it is insane that these men are allowed to come in and just do whatever they want. This is a hospital, it is against the law to bring guns into the hospital here, even our security does not have guns, a hospital is a place for healing, and that has to be respected, but it is not.”

While Shaoor said there was a Palestinian Authority police officer standing guard, in addition to the hospital’s private security, the family of Abdullah claim the PA police had intentionally not been guarding the hospital that night.

The hospital is in Area A. According to the Oslo Accords this means that it is under the full security coordination of the PA, and any Israeli incursion into the area needs to be carried out with the approval of the PA. However, it is unknown if such coordination through the proper channels was made.

Shaoor said the undercover agents entered the hospital dressed as Palestinians with what looked like a pregnant woman who was in labour and another man in a wheelchair.

Once the agents gained access to the main hall, near the ward where Azaal was being treated, the doctor said that they drew their guns and dropped their cover.

Just hours after the incident, Abdullah was laid to rest following midday prayers in Saeer village. Hundreds of people filled the streets to march for their "martyr" and to pay their respects to the family.

Mourners chanted slogans against the occupation, while walking with the body of Abdullah, tightly wrapped in a green Hamas flag and traditional Palestinian scarf. While his death was sudden and unexpected, people from villages miles away made it in time to attend the young man’s funeral.

The incident at Ahli hospital is the second of its kind in the last two months. In early October, Israeli forces raided al-Arabi hospital in the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian news agency Maan News reported at the time.

During the undercover raid, another Palestinian man was arrested from his hospital room.

Um Abdullah, Abdullah's mother, speaks to MEE after her son's funeral: photo by Abed al-Qaisi / Middle East Eye, 12 November 2015

The agency has also reported multiple incidents of Israeli forces raiding al-Makkasad hospital in occupied East Jerusalem, one of which involved undercover forces attempting to obtain medical records of young men shot and injured during clashes in the city.

Um Abdullah, Abdullah's mother, told MEE that she feels now that Palestinians have nowhere to feel safe.

“They killed my son, they shot my son dead inside a hospital,” she said through tears.

“What kind of people bring something like this to a hospital? If we aren't safe in a hospital then there is no place in all of Palestine we can be safe.”

Abdullah Shalaalda, 20, was shot and killed by Israeli forces on Thursday: photo by Abed al-Qaisi / Middle East Eye, 12 November 2015

Palestinian shot dead in Israeli undercover raid on West Bank hospital: Peter Beaumont in Hebron for The Guardian, 12 November 2015

Israeli forces disguised in Palestinian clothes -– including one impersonating a pregnant woman in a wheelchair -– have raided a hospital in the flashpoint city of Hebron, shooting dead a relative of a man suspected of carrying out a stabbing attack.

The operation, involving two dozen undercover soldiers and Shin Bet agents – some wearing fake beards -– took place in the early hours of Thursday morning.

During the raid, patients on the third floor of the al-Ahly hospital were confined to their wards. Hospitals are customarily regarded in conflicts as protected locations, even for enemy combatants.

The armed swoop –- the second by Israeli forces on a Palestinian hospital this year -– saw 27-year-old Abdallah Shalaldeh killed as he emerged from a bathroom in the ward where his cousin, Azzam, a Hamas member, was being treated for gunshot wounds.

The Israeli army confirmed the raid and shooting. It said Azzam Shalaldeh was suspected of stabbing an Israeli settler two weeks ago in the West Bank.

Hospital staff and eyewitnesses –- including another relative of the two men –- said troops had entered the hospital with guns hidden beneath the person pretending to be pregnant.
Jihad Shawar, the hospital’s director, said: “The undercover forces arrived at about 2.50 in the morning. There were 20-30 of them. They came to the main door pretending to be relatives of a woman going into labour and wanted to take her to surgery.

“When they got into the reception area the woman stood up and they produced guns, including some hidden underneath her on the wheel chair. They went straight to the room on the third floor where Azzam Shalaldeh, who had been treated here since 25 October, was staying.

“They handcuffed his brother [Bilal Shalaldeh] with a belt. But when his cousin Abdallah came out of a bathroom on the ward they shot him five times before taking Azzam in the wheelchair they had brought. This is an outright crime. No one should violate hospitals.”

According to the Israeli authorities, Azzam Shalaldeh was being treated at the hospital for gunshot wounds, which the military said were sustained when the Israeli he allegedly stabbed last month shot him.

It said he was about 20 and from a family of “known Hamas operatives”.

Israel said Abdallah Shalaldeh was shot dead after grappling with soldiers -- a claim denied by some Palestinian witnesses, who said he was shot as he left the bathroom. Others quoted anonymously in the Israeli media said there had been a scuffle.

Video footage of the incident shows about a dozen men walking down a hospital corridor, pushing someone covered in a blanket in a wheelchair. The person in the wheelchair flings the blanket off, stands up and, with the others, draws a gun and continues walking.

On the ward where Abdallah Shalaldeh was shot, a large pool of blood was visible on Thursday.

Mohammad Mayata was in a neighbouring room when he heard the shots. “I looked out the door and saw two people, one had a pistol and the other an M16,” he said. “When he saw me he said get inside or I’ll shoot you. When they had gone I came out and found a man lying in a pool of blood.”

Nidal Abdul Mutalib, 48, was also on the third floor when the soldiers entered. “I heard terrifying shots and panicked. I went outside. There was a man with a white beard and prayer cap shouting ‘Army! Army! Go back inside!’. The whole thing took eight to 10 minutes. I peeked out again and saw them taking away an injured man in a wheelchair with something covering his head.”

The footage also show the Israeli forces pushing a man in a wheelchair, apparently the suspect, back down the hall, as perplexed nurses look on.

Speaking at Abdallah Shalaldeh’s funeral in the village of Sair outside Hebron later in the day, his cousin Bilal Shalaldeh described the raid. “It was around 3am and I was asleep when a large number of undercover soldiers arrived. They put the other patients in the corner and tied my hands with a belt. When Abdallah came out of the bathroom where he was washing his hands in preparation for morning prayers they shot him and left him to bleed on the floor.”

Last month, a group of men posing as Palestinian protesters and mingling with rock throwers in the West Bank were filmed suddenly drawing their weapons and arresting a protester.

The raid came amid ongoing violence that has lasted nearly two months. Twelve Israelis have been killed in a spate of attacks by Palestinians, while 78 Palestinians -- 50 of them said by Israel to be attackers -- have been killed.

The recent violence first erupted in Jerusalem over tensions surrounding a holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims and quickly spread throughout Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Hebron, the largest West Bank city, has been a particular flashpoint. Several hundred Jewish settlers live in fortified enclaves in the city, amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In a statement defending, Shin Bet said it would “not permit terror operatives to hide in any places of refuge”.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, a non-profit rights group, accused Israeli forces of repeatedly violating the special protection afforded to hospital and medical facilities. “By doing so they are putting patients, hospital staff and visitors at risk,” it added.

Containing the threat of the righteous innocents

Israeli medics evacuate a wounded Palestinian minor, who police said stabbed an Israeli security guard, in Pisgat Zeev, which lies on occupied land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war, November 10, 2015. An Israeli police spokeswoman said two Palestinians, who she said were aged 12 to 13, stabbed a security guard on the Jerusalem light-rail train in Pisgat Zeev. The guard shot back at them wounding one: photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters, 10 November 2015

Palestinian protester tries to hammer a hole through the Israeli barrier that separates the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem, as others wave Palestinian flags during clashes with Israeli troops: Ammar Awad/Reuters, 28 October 2015

Israeli police lead away a Palestinian minor in Pisgat Zeev

Israeli police lead away a Palestinian minor (C) they said stabbed an Israeli security guard in Pisgat Zeev, which lies on occupied land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war, November 10, 2015. An Israeli police spokeswoman said two Palestinians, who she said were aged 12 to 13, stabbed a security guard on the Jerusalem light-rail train in Pisgat Zeev, a Jewish settlement north of Jerusalem. The guard shot back at them wounding one: photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters, 10 November 2015

Israeli forces arrested a child in alleged attempt to stab a soldier in #Jerusalem #palestineresists: image via Dr. Halina Kruk Razan-Palestine @doc_hal, 10 November 2015

Muawya Alqam 13 y/o Palestinian child was shot and arrested by Israeli Forces today in #Jerusalem #thirdintifada: image via Razan-Palestine @Razan_Tobasi, 10 November 2015

Tear gas falafel (we will gas you until you all die)

Welcome to #Hebron: image via Hazem Balousha @iHaZeMi, 31 October 2015

Palestinian stone throwers clash with Israeli security forces (unseen) in the West Bank town of Hebron, following a demonstration to demand Israeli authorities to return the bodies of Palestinians who have been killed during attacks on Israelis: photo by Hazem Bader /AFP, 10 November 2015

Rabbis pose for a group photo at Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn: image via Reuters Top News @Reuters 9 November 2015

New research has revealed that 15 percent of the total Jewish settler population in the occupied West Bank are American nationals: photo by Newsweek, 1 September 2015

Study: 60,000 Israeli West Bank Settlers Are American: While it is unclear whether this figure represents a distinct rise or fall in the number of American Jews living in the occupied West Bank, the number of West Bank settlers has risen from 110,000 to around 400,000 since the Oslo Peace Accords were signed in 1993, a 264% increase: Newswek, 1 September 2015

In a presentation to promote a forthcoming book, Oxford University scholar Sara Yael Hirschhorn revealed that approximately 60,000 Americans Jews live in Jewish outposts out of a total population of approximately 400,000 settlers in occupied territory, excluding East Jerusalem. The figure for the number of American nationals living in the West Bank was previously unknown.

“This provides hard evidence that this constituency is strikingly over-represented, both within the settler population itself and within the total population of Jewish American immigrants in Israel,” she said at the Limmud conference in Jerusalem, reported Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.

While it is unclear whether this figure represents a distinct rise or fall in the number of American Jews living in the occupied West Bank, due to a lack of statistics, the number of West Bank settlers has risen from 110,000 to around 400,000 since the Oslo Peace Accords were signed in 1993, a 264% increase.

Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said that the new figures revealed that the settlement enterprise in the West Bank was not only an internal issue but “an international problem.”

“Unfortunately, while the Obama administration has been persistently vocal against settlement developments, some 60,000 American citizens are taking an active part in an attempt to make the two state solution impossible,” says Anat Ben Nun, Peace Now’s director of development and external relations.

“With no possibility for real bilateral negotiations in sight, the American administration must be actively involved in promoting a solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict through the international arena,” she adds.

A section of American Christians, both conservative and fundamentalist, hold close links to Israel’s settlement enterprise, with a number of American Christian charities shown to be bank-rolling the expansion of West Bank settlements. Right-wing Christians in America and Israeli settlers have similar interpretations of biblical history -- in 2006, the evangelical Rev. John Hagee of San Antonio said that American Christian support for Israel was “God’s foreign policy.”

Tear gas #falafel ... only in #Palestine #Hebron: image via Lazar Simeonov @LazSim, 31 October 2015

Israeli forces launch manhunt in Hebron: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 7 November 2015

Palestinians to bury their dead in flashpoint Hebron: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 31 October 2015

Five simultaneous funerals in #Hebron #Palestine: image via Lazar Simeonov @LazSim, 31 October 2015

AN ISRAELI SOLDIER IS TRYING TO STOP THE JOURNALISTS FROM COVERING THEIR CRIMES YOUUUU WILLL NEVEERRR SUCCEEEEEEED: image via Dr. Basel - Palestine @DrBaselAbuwarda, 30 October 2015

#Palestinians in #Hebron required to register in preparation of restrictions @KhamakarPress: image via paolo for #Gaza @PSogeco, 30 October 2015

#Hebron today, marvelous scene of a massive funeral for the 5 Martyrs, #Israel detained their bodies for 2 weeks: image via Popular Struggle CC @PSCC_Palestine, 31 October 2015

#Hebron today. Massive turnout for funeral of 5 Palestinians killed by Israel, who returned their bodies yesterday: image via Linah Alsaafin @Linah Alsaafin. 31 October 2015

Thousands rally in #Hebron funeral procession for 5 Palestinians ‘killed by IDF’: image via RT verified account @RT_com. 31 October 2015

Palestinian baby dies from tear gas as clashes grip West Bank: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP. 30 October 2015

Palestinians run from Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron after a protest demanding that Israel return the dead bodies of Palestinians who allegedly stabbed Israelis: photo by Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters, 1 November 2015

A relative of Palestinian Khalil Obied, who died of wounds suffered during clashes with Israeli forces, mourns during his funeral at Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. More than 80 people were wounded in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip during a ‘day of rage’ called by Palestinian movements: photo by Said Khatib/AFP, 1 November 2015

we will hit you with gas until you all die

Watch shocking moment Israeli soldiers driving through refugee camp threaten by megaphone to gas Palestinians to death: screenshot via Middle East Eye, 30 October 2015

Israeli forces threaten Palestinian refugees over loudspeaker: Soldiers announced to Aida refugee camp: 'If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die -- the youth, the children, the old people'

"They said ‘we are the occupation army’. It is proof, this is an apartheid country, it is not democratic at all.”

An Israeli military jeep rolls through Aida refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem late on 29 October 2015: screenshot via Middle East Eye, 30 October 2015

Israeli forces threaten Palestinian refugees over loudspeaker: Soldiers announced to Aida refugee camp: 'If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die -- the youth, the children, the old people: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi, Middle East Eye, 30 October 2015

BETHLEHEM, Occupied Palestinian Territories - Yazan Ikhlayel, 17, was at a community centre in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem when Israeli forces stormed the camp. Ikhlayel was using his iPhone to film as Israeli jeeps rolled by on one of the camp’s main roads, shooting off tear gas, when a soldier began issuing a message to residents from one of the jeep’s loudspeakers.

“People of Aida refugee camp, we are the occupation army,” the message began.

“If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die -- the youth, the children, the old people, you will all die.”

The soldier continued, speaking in Arabic and issuing more threats and insults to the people of Aida camp. But Ikhlayel says it was the first line that really shocked people.

“The most important thing I want people to see when they watch this video is to realise what the Israeli ‘democracy’ really is,” Ikhlayel told Middle East Eye.

“They have said it for us now, they are an occupation -- they said ‘we are the occupation army’. It is proof, this is an apartheid country, it is not democratic at all.”

“This is the first time I heard them say something like that over a speaker for everyone to hear,” Ikhlayel continued.

“The young people aren’t accepting what the soldiers are doing particularly now. They’re going to the streets [to protest] everyday, and they aren’t stopping. They aren’t scared of them.”

When asked if he thinks the soldier’s message would scare the youth enough to stop the protests, Ikhlayel shook his head adamantly.

“This will not stop until the occupation ends,” he insisted.

Yazan Ikhlayel speaks to MEE: photo by MEE/Abed al-Qaisi, 30 October 2015

Mohammed al-Azza is a freelance journalist from Aida refugee camp. He was in the streets taking photos during the raid on the camp on Thursday.

“What happened today wasn’t normal. The way they attacked the camp was crazy. There were protesters in the streets, yeah, but the soldiers weren’t focused on shooting tear gas at the kids protesting,” al-Azza said.

“The main thing today was to hurt the people who live in the camp more than to try and stop the protesters in the street.”

Al-Azza said he believed Israeli forces were attempting to get the community to pressure the youth to stop the protests, instead of attacking the protesters back and forth in the cat-and-mouse game between youth and Israeli forces that has been going on daily since 2 October.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the soldiers get on a speaker like that,” al-Azza said.

“But really we were surprised by one word -- usually they call themselves the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), they don’t say the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) like we do, but that is something good for us, and for people outside the country to hear. They said it to us, ‘we are the occupation.’”

Al-Azza said he hopes people watch the video and think about what the daily reality is for Palestinians living under a military occupation.

“Usually when we talk about Palestine we are telling people abroad what happened, and it’s usually after the Israelis have done whatever they did, but now it’s good that the people can hear it from the soldiers. They said ‘we are going to kill you and we are going to do this and that’ in their message. It’s very important for international people to hear this sort of stuff that we are hearing all the time from them.”

Mohammed al-Azza speaks to MEE: photo by MEE/Abed al-Qaisi, 30 October 2015

Akkram Huessni and a handful of his friends were wearing gas masks, going through Aida refugee camp and helping others get to safety when the Israeli soldiers came on the loud speaker. Huessni still cannot believe what he heard, he said.

“Everyone in the camp tonight is sitting around talking about this, no one is talking about anything else tonight but what the [Israeli] soldiers said and what they did here,” Huessni said.

“It really shocked us, it is still hard for me to believe what I heard, that’s what everyone is saying too. We are really really shocked, not that they would say these things, but that they said it loud and in public,” Huessni said.

“But the really scary thing is they aren’t just saying that -- we saw today and we believe them: they want to kill people here.”

Huessni said he and his friends rescued dozens of people on Thursday who had gotten trapped in clouds of gas. At some points all he could see was white around him, he said.

“Today was the first day we really felt like we needed to get a group together to have people on the ground in every neighbourhood of the camp to make sure everyone was safe. They were shooting the gas right into homes. There was a two-month-old baby that got gassed today, he is in the hospital now with his parents,” Huessni said.

“The entire thing was shocking, yeah, what they said was crazy, but what the soldiers did too -- we are really convinced they meant what they said in that video.”

Akkram Huessni speaks to MEE: photo by MEE/Abed al-Qaisi, 30 October 2015

Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem: photo via International Middle East Media Centre, 30 October 2015

Hugging her baby for the last time, was born dead after tear gas inhalation in # Bethlehem #IsraelCrimes: image via Dr. Basem Naim @basemn63, 31 October 2015

Hebron

#Hebron [photo Menahem Kahana]: image via Agence France-Presse @AFP, 29 October 2015

innocent man executed in front of witnesses in cold blood in #occupied #hebron: ISM Palestine @ISMPalestine, 28 October 2015

#spot the difference the difference btw pics planted knife after executing a #Palestinian in #Hebron #PalestineResists: image via Dr. Halina Kruk @doc_hal, 28 October 2015

Unarmed youth was just shot to death, with hands in air in #Hebron near Gilbert checkpoint then a knife planted: image via Anonymous Palestine @PalAnonymous, 28 October 2015

Colonial

Israeli military in the old city of al Khalil / Hebron: image via Jacob Burns @JacobTBurns, 28 October 2015

#Hebron: image via JacobTBurns @JacobTBurns, 28 October 2015

Army vehicles rushing now, people near heard 15-20 shots. Sirens, soldiers putting on their helmets #Hebron: image via JacobTBurns @JacobTBurns, 28 October 2015

Armed settlers in the streets along with lots of army, civilians standing around #Hebron: image via JacobTBurns @JacobTBurns, 28 October 2015

Soldiers gathering on Shuhada Street #Hebron: image via JacobTBurns @JacobTBurns, 28 October 2015

Palestinian stone throwers clash with Israeli security forces following Friday prayers on Friday, in the West Bank town of Hebron. Israel lifted age restrictions for the main weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in an apparent bid to ease tensions over the site that sparked a surge in Israel-Palestinian violence: photo by Hazem Bader/AFP, 23 October 2015

Death in Hebron

Palestinian Girl Killed by Israeli Police in Hebron: image via IMEMC News @imemcnews, 25 October 2015

Another daughter of Palestine killed in cold blood: 26th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine, 26 October 2015

Yesterday afternoon, Dania Arsheid, 17, was gunned down in cold blood and killed by Israeli forces in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

Dania was still wearing her school-uniform and school-bag, coming from school in the afternoon. Just twenty minutes before the incident, at a checkpoint leading to the Ibrahimi mosque, a female soldier was heard on the army-radio by passers-by announcing that she wanted “to kill a Palestinian person that day’.

Dania passed through the checkpoint leading from the Palestinian market to the Ibrahimi mosque, and a few meters further to the next checkpoint. She passed through the metal detector and gave her bag to the soldiers at the checkpoint. An eyewitness explains: “I saw with my own eyes, there was no knife -– nothing.” According to eye-witnesses, soldiers then shot at her feet -– at which point she immediately stepped back and raised her hands. That is when soldiers started shot her, according to witnesses, seven to eight times. While she lay on the ground bleeding from her neck, no first aid was given, not even the Israeli ambulance that arrived after about twenty minutes gave any medical help. A Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was denied entry to the scene and ordered by soldiers to leave.

While the Israeli army claims that Dania had a knife and was thus a threat to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint, all eye-witness accounts refute this. Regardless of that claim, shooting a child numerous times into the upper body and neck, while she is moving back with her hands in the air, clearly scared and not a threat, will never be justifiable under any circumstances. Denying first aid and access of medical personnel to critically injured persons can not be excused.

Sadly, episodes where Palestinian youth are extra-judicially executed by Israeli forces and then denied medical aid are not an exception anymore. Dania is already the third girl killed by Israeli soldiers in al-Khalil within a month. It is hard to imagine the pain of the parents and the family of these victims learning about the pointless, tragic death of their loved ones. A witness to already more than one of the heinous murders states: “What can we do? They are not human!”

Palestinian ambulance denied access to critically injured Dania: photo via ISM, 25 October 2015

Israeli Soldiers Kill Schoolgirl in Hebron: WAFA Palestinian News and Information Agency, 5 October 2015

HEBRON, October 25, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Sunday killed a schoolgirl in Hebron, raising the death toll among Palestinians since the beginning of October 2015 to 58, according to the media spokesman of the Ministry of Health.

Palestinians who were present when the incident took place said soldiers opened fire at the girl, who was not identified yet by the ministry, near the Ibrahimi mosque in the Old City quarter.

Until the moment of publishing the story, the girl is reportedly still lying on the ground, while Israeli soldiers continue to prevent medical crews from providing her with medical treatment.

Shortly after the incident, Israeli forces shut down the mosque and denied the access of worshipers and Islamic Waqf personnel.

According to the Ministry of Health, at least 58 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of October 2015, including 13 children and a pregnant woman.

At least 2,000 Palestinians have been injured this month, most of them with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets, and many others were beaten or suffered burns due to Israeli gas bombs and the use of concussion grenades.

Among the wounded are 450 children and women, while the approximate number of Palestinians who suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation is more than 4,000.

M.N/M.H

Israeli police said a Palestinian woman was shot after approaching border police with a knife: photo via CNN, 25 October 2015

Palestinian woman shot dead; Israelis say she was armed, witness disputes it: Kareem Khadder and Michael Schwartz, CNN, 25 October 2015

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli police said they fatally shot a knife-wielding Palestinian woman at a border checkpoint Sunday, but a Palestinian witness disputed that she was armed, saying she was a "terrified" schoolgirl.

The woman aroused the suspicion of border police at a checkpoint beside the Cave of the Patriarchs (known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque) in the West Bank city of Hebron, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

"They asked her to identify herself and she suddenly took out a knife, started to approach them while shouting at them. The police fired accurately and neutralized her," he said.

"There are no injuries to the Border Police force."

'I don't have a knife'

A Hebron resident, who asked not to be identified, told CNN he was next in line at the checkpoint -- some 4 meters away -- when the incident occurred.

"There were seven or eight soldiers around her. The soldiers checked her belongings in a school bag. She looked like she was around 14 years old," he said.

"She went through a metal detector. In the school bag they found nothing and asked her, 'Where's the knife?' She said, 'I don't have a knife.' Then they fired between her legs. She was terrified and moved back half a meter or a meter.

"She raised her arms in the air saying 'I don't have a knife.' Then they shot eight to 10 bullets, but I don't know exactly who was shooting. Then she fell on the ground."

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA also described the woman as a schoolgirl, quoting witnesses as saying Israeli soldiers had prevented medics from reaching her.

Issa Amer, director of Youth Against Settlements, a Palestinian nonprofit that monitors and documents settler violence and military activity in Hebron, said the group had no information on this specific incident, but "the woman had to go through two metal detectors and revolving doors. This means that her belongings were checked. Also, we call on the military to release video of the incident because there are several CCTV surveillance cameras that record everything in that area."

Palestinian girl murdered shot by Israeli forces and left to bleed on the concrete @Ibrahimi mosque #AlKhalil: image via Kajsa Anckarström @K_Anckarstrom

La tristesse des camarades de classe de la martyre Dayna Jihad Irchid tuée de 10 balles à @Alkhalil #FreePalestine: image via Mohamed Nathmaza @nathmaza, 26 October 2015

Again happened today in #Hebron city, Zionist forces killed 17 age girl in cold blood :'( :-(: image via Yousef Mema @Joo_Gaza, 25 October 2015

Israeli forces shot a young Palestinian female student in Hebron and left her bleeding on the ground: image via From Palestine @ M7madSmiry, 25 October 2015

She raised her arms & said, "I don’t have a knife” before being shot 8 times #Palestine: image via CJ Werleman @cjwerleman, 26 October 2015

↧

Mario Vargas Llosa: The horror that is called Hebron / Hashem Azzeh: Holdout in H2

November 13, 2015, 11:11 pm

≫ Next: Desperation (Where Go the Boats?)

≪ Previous: The Night Visitors

"Gas the Arabs" painted on the gate outside a Palestinian home in Hebron by Israeli settlers. It is signed "JDL" (Jewish Defence League): photo by Magne Hagesaeter, 29 June 2008

Hebron is the image of desolation and pain. I'm talking of the H-2 sector, the oldest part of this ancient city, which is under Israeli military control and where some 500 colonos -- settlers -- live in four settlements. It is one of the holiest places of Judaism and Islam, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where in February 1994, the settler Baruch Goldstein machine-gunned Muslims at prayer, killing 29 and wounding dozens.

To protect these settlers, the zone bristles with barriers, camps and military posts, and is overrun by Israeli patrols. But such mobilisation will soon be unnecessary because this part of Hebron, subject to ethnic and religious cleansing, will soon have no Arab residents.

Its centuries-old market, which was once as multi-coloured, varied and bustling as that of Jerusalem, is now empty and the doors of all the shops are sealed. Travelling around, you feel in limbo. So too when you walk through the surrounding deserted streets, with shopfronts shuttered with metal sheets and on whose roofs you glimpse military posts. The walls of this entire semi-empty neighbourhood are filled with racist inscriptions: "Death to the Arabs".

Some 25,000 residents have been cleared from their homes in H-2 zone in five years. In the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood alone, where there is a settlement of the same name, barely 50 out of 500 Arab families remain.

The extraordinary thing is that they haven't already gone, subjected as they are to systematic and ferocious harassment by settlers, who stone them, throw rubbish and excrement at their houses, invade and destroy their homes, and attack their children when they return from school, to the absolute indifference of Israeli soldiers who witness these atrocities.

No one told me this: I saw it with my own eyes and heard with my own ears from the victims themselves. I have a video of the hair-raising scene of children from Tel Rumeida settlement stoning and kicking Arab schoolchildren and their teachers who, to protect themselves, returned home in groups instead of individually. When I told Israeli friends this, some looked at me with incredulity and I saw they suspected I exaggerated or lied, as novelists often do. It turned out that none had ever set foot in Hebron.

Mario Vargas Llosa: extract from the chapter El horror se llama Hebrón (The horror thatis called Hebron), in Israel / Palestina: Paz o guerra santa (Israel / Palestine: peace or holy war), El País, 5 October 2005; abridged and translated by Elizabeth Nash as How the Arabs have been driven out of Hebron, The Independent, 23 October 2011

#IsraeliForces continue to arbitrarily declare ‘closed military zones’ around #Hebron: image via ISM Palestine @ISMPalestine, 10 November 2015

El horror se llama Hebrón (from Israel / Palestina: Paz o guerra santa): Mario Vargas Llosa, El País, 5 October 2005

El acoso permanente que padecen los árabes en Hebrón por parte de los colonos judíos ha convertido esta ciudad en la imagen de la desolación y el dolor. Mario Vargas Llosa narra en este nuevo capítulo las penalidades de los palestinos que, a pesar de todo, permanecen en este lugar cargado de historia.

Hebrón, ciudad palestina de unos 130.000 habitantes árabes y 500 colonos judíos, está sólo a 36 kilómetros de Jerusalén, pero llegar a ella es una aventura de contornos kafkianos, que puede durar muchas horas. El mapa indica que hay varias entradas posibles a Hebrón, pero, en la realidad, muchas de esas entradas están clausuradas con grandes piedras o altos de basura o con barreras militares, en las que, como en el juego infantil de "el paraíso" ("¿Es aquí el paraíso?". "No, en la otra esquina") los soldados de guardia, muy amables, despachan al automovilista a otro checkpoint diez o veinte kilómetros más allá que, por supuesto, resulta también cerrado. Después de un par de horas de este juego deprimente optamos por intentar algo que parecía improbable: llegar a la ciudad cruzando por el asentamiento de Kiryat Arba.
Los asentamientos son el meollo del problema palestino-israelí.

El asentamiento de Kiryat Arba, con sus elegantes edificios y avenidas arboladas, almacenes, farmacias, jardines y casitas primorosas, todo de una limpieza inmaculada, da la impresión de ser uno de esos suburbios estadounidenses para gente muy próspera y no un lugar que está en el corazón del más tenso y conflictivo rincón del Medio Oriente. Hebrón, en cambio, es la imagen de la desolación y el dolor. Hablo del llamado sector H-2, la parte más antigua de esta antiquísima ciudad -- una quinta parte del total --, que está aún bajo control militar de Israel y donde se hallan incrustados los cuatro asentamientos donde viven unos quinientos colonos. En esta zona se halla uno de los lugares más santos para el Judaísmo y el Islam, la llamada Tumba de los Patriarcas, donde, en febrero de 1994, el colono Baruch Goldstein ametralló a los musulmanes que allí oraban, matando a 29 e hiriendo a varias docenas más.

Es para proteger a estos colonos que toda la zona está erizada de barreras, campamentos y puestos militares y recorrida por patrullas israelíes. Pero, tal como van las cosas, esa movilización será dentro de poco bastante innecesaria porque ese sector de Hebrón, donde se lleva a cabo una sistemática limpieza étnica o religiosa, quedará sin vecinos árabes. Su mercado es varias veces centenario y, al parecer, cuando las tiendas estaban abiertas y acudían compradores era tan multicolor, variado y atestado como el de Jerusalén. Ahora está vacío y con las puertas de todos los comercios selladas.

Recorriéndolo, uno se siente en el limbo. Y también cuando camina por las desiertas calles de los contornos, con todas las fachadas clausuradas con placas metálicas y en cuyos techos se divisan de tanto en tanto puestos militares. Las paredes de todo este barrio semivacío están llenas de inscripciones racistas "Muerte a los árabes" y también de insultos y amenazas a Sharon, por la desactivación de Gaza. Frente al cementerio hay una inscripción homicida: "Sharon: Rabin te espera aquí".

El periodista Gideon Levy, del diario Haaretz -- un magnífico periodista y un excelente diario, por lo demás -- a quien conocí mientras recorría Hebrón, señala en un artículo del 11 de septiembre que en los últimos cinco años unos 25.000 residentes han sido erradicados de sus hogares en la zona H-2 de la ciudad. Y sólo en el barrio de Tel Rumeida, donde está el asentamiento de este nombre, de las 500 familias árabes que allí residían quedan apenas 50. Lo extraordinario es que éstas no se hayan marchado todavía, sometidas como están a un acoso sistemático y feroz de parte de los colonos, que las apedrean, arrojan basuras y excrementos a sus casas, montan expediciones para invadir sus viviendas y destrozarlas, y atacan a sus niños cuando regresan de la escuela, ante la absoluta indiferencia de los soldados israelíes que presencian estas atrocidades. Nadie me lo ha contado: yo lo he visto con mis propios ojos y lo he oído con mis propios oídos de boca de las mismas víctimas. Y tengo en mi poder un vídeo donde se ve la espeluznante escena de niños y niñas del asentamiento de Tel Rumeida apedreando y pateando a los escolares árabes y sus maestras de la escuela "Córdoba" (Qurtaba), del barrio, quienes, para protegerse unos a otros, regresan a sus hogares en grupo en vez de hacerlo de manera individual. Cuando comenté esto con amigos israelíes, algunos me miraron con incredulidad y vi en sus ojos la sospecha de que yo exageraba o mentía, como suelen hacer los novelistas. Ocurre que ninguno de ellos pisa jamás Hebrón ni tampoco lee a Gideon Levy, a quien consideran el típico judío "judeófobo y antisemita".

Graffiti such as "Die Arab Sand-Niggers!" is often sprayed on Palestinian houses by Israeli settlers, Hebron, West Bank, Palestine: photo by Christian Peacemaker Teams, 3 May 2002

Baruch Goldstein, b. 1956 Brooklyn, New York, Israeli terrorist settler and perpetrator of the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, killing 29 Muslim worshippers and wounding another 125: photo via Falafel Cafe, 2 March 2010

Tombstone of Baruch Goldstein, Meir Kahane Tourist Park, Kiryat Arba, Palestinian Occupied Territories

Gravestone text (very rough translation; Hebrew Jewish acronyms are translated with dashes separating the words):

Here-is-buried
The Holy
The physician Mr. Barukh Kappel Goldstein
Blessed-be-the-memory-of-Tzadik-and-Holy one, May-the-L-rd-avenge-his-blood
Son of Mr. Israel, who, in contrast is still alive, and should continue to a long and good life, Amen Seventh generation of Rebbe The Old "Master of the Tanya"
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Gave his life for the nation of Israel, its Torah and its land
"Clean of hands and pure of heart"
Born 5th of Tevet, 5717
Murdered over making the Lord holy
14th of Adar, Purim 5754
May-his-soul-be-listed-among-the-living

photo by Itai, 12 June 2009

Graffiti of the Kach Party logo, taken by me in Hebron. An Israeli friend of mine told me that the word for Kach below the logo is spelt in an irregular way to make it look like the Hebrew word for "force" or "violence" -- a sort of double meaning.: photo by Asa Winstanley, 20 July 2008

IDF break shop in Hebron: photo محمد الفلسطيني08 October 2015

Hebron: photo by eman, 28 March 2007

IDF soldier patrolling in Hebron old city: photo by Christian Peacemaker Teams, 6 October 2012

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Golani soldiers checking school-girls in Tel Rumeida, by Gilbert checkpoint: photo by Friends123, 16 January 2012

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Golani soldiers searching a Palestinian in Tel Rumeida, by Gilbert checkpoint. Palestinians are routinely searched or detained.: photo by Friends123, 16 January 2012

Golani soldiers searching Palestinians in Tel Rumeida, by Gilbert checkpoint. Palestinians are routinely searched or detained.: photo by Friends123, 22 January 2012

Palestinian men detained at a checkpoint in the old city: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

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Jewish settler tour of the old city in Hebron. This takes place every Saturday, with massive military escort. All other activity in the old city must stop until the settlers have passed.: photo by Friends123, 21 January 2012

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Soldiers detaining children in Hebron: photo by Friends123, 4 February 2012

Soldiers detaining children in Hebron: photo by Friends123, 4 February 2012

Abandoned shops in Hebron old city: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

Abandoned shops in Hebron old city: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

Street with closed Palestinian shops in the Old City of Hebron, guarded by Israeli soldiers: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 5 May 2010

PalFest 2010 Day 5: al Khalil / Hebron | by PalFest

A watchtower stands above a square in al Khalil/Hebron: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 6 May 2010

Deserted streets in Hebron old city: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 6 May 2010

Soldiers in the old city of Hebron: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 6 May 2010

Rubbish, urine -- even acid -- is regularly thrown down on Palestinians from settlers living above: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 5 May 2010

Sandbag placed to avoid raising of wires. Wires were raised to prevent objects thrown from apartment building occupied by Israeli Jews.: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

PalFest 2010: al Khalil / Hebron | by PalFest

Wire ceilings have been put up over the market to protect Palestinians from rubbish thrown on them by settlers living in the colonized houses above: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 15 May 2010

A net is put up in the old city of Hebron to separate the Palestinian and settler part. As you can see, the net is full of garbage which settlers have thrown down from their settlements on the second floor.: photo by ISM Palestine, 13 June 2010

Shuhada Street in Hebron with closed Palestinian shops. Forbidden for Palestinians. Only Israeli settlers and tourists are allowed: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 28 July 2009

Shuhada Street apartheid. Shuhada Street in Hebron with closed Palestinian shops. Forbidden for Palestinians. Only Israeli settlers and tourists are allowed: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 15 May 2010

A watchtower stands over the ruined vegetable market: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 5 May 2010

Shuhada street -- once the commercial spine of the city. Now all the shops have been forced to close: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 5 May 2010

Roads cemented off by the military: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 15 May 2010

Cement blocks close off several roads in the old city: photo by Palestinian Festival of Literature, 15 May 2010

Road barrier on Palestinian street: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

Palestinians car are denied access on road leading to the Kiryat Arba [settlement], even if it is in the Palestinian neighborhood of Wadi Al-Husain, in Hebron: photo by Stella via ISM Palestine, 31 October 2010

Israeli forces violently disperse Hebron demonstration | by ISM Palestine

11:30am on Saturday, the 28th of March, Israeli forces violently dispersed a Hebron demonstration, firing tear gas and sound bombs and arresting one German solidarity activist: photo by ISM Palestine, 28 March 2007

Palestinian water tanks destroyed by settlers in Hebron | by ISM Palestine

Palestinian water tanks destroyed by settlers in Hebron. At about 3 PM the 14th of April in the old city of Hebron, 5 Israeli settlers trespassed onto the roof of a Palestinian house, puncturing the 5 water tanks owned by the family and draining all of their water supply, in addition the settlers smashed the cage of the family's doves and the doves escaped. One of the 5 settlers was armed and he went down the stairs from the the rooftop and smashed a potted plant and threatened the father of the family with his weapon.: photo by ISM Palestine, 15 April 2009

Our reign of terror in Hebron, by the Israeli army

Our reign of terror, by the Israeli army: In shocking testimonies that reveal abductions, beatings and torture, Israeli soldiers confess the horror they have visited on Hebron: Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem for The Independent, 23 October 2011

The dark-haired 22-year-old in black T-shirt, blue jeans and red Crocs is understandably hesitant as he sits at a picnic table in the incongruous setting of a beauty spot somewhere in Israel. We know his name and if we used it he would face a criminal investigation and a probable prison sentence.

The birds are singing as he describes in detail some of what he did and saw others do as an enlisted soldier in Hebron. And they are certainly criminal: the incidents in which Palestinian vehicles are stopped for no good reason, the windows smashed and the occupants beaten up for talking back -- for saying, for example, they are on the way to hospital; the theft of tobacco from a Palestinian shopkeeper who is then beaten "to a pulp" when he complains; the throwing of stun grenades through the windows of mosques as people prayed. And worse.

The young man left the army only at the end of last year, and his decision to speak is part of a concerted effort to expose the moral price paid by young Israeli conscripts in what is probably the most problematic posting there is in the occupied territories. Not least because Hebron is the only Palestinian city whose centre is directly controlled by the military, 24/7, to protect the notably hardline Jewish settlers there. He says firmly that he now regrets what repeatedly took place during his tour of duty.

But his frequent, if nervous, grins and giggles occasionally show just a hint of the bravado he might have displayed if boasting of his exploits to his mates in a bar. Repeatedly he turns to the older former soldier who has persuaded him to speak to us, and says as if seeking reassurance: "You know how it is in Hebron."

The older ex-soldier is Yehuda Shaul, who does indeed "know how it is in Hebron", having served in the city in a combat unit at the peak of the intifada, and is a founder of Shovrim Shtika, or Breaking the Silence, which will publish tomorrow the disturbing testimonies of 39 Israelis – including this young man –- who served in the army in Hebron between 2005 and 2007. They cover a range of experiences, from anger and powerlessness in the face of often violent abuse of Arabs by hardline Jewish settlers, through petty harassment by soldiers, to soldiers beating up Palestinian residents without provocation, looting homes and shops, and opening fire on unarmed demonstrators.

The maltreatment of civilians under occupation is common to many armies in the world -- including Britain's, from Northern Ireland to Iraq.

But, paradoxically, few if any countries apart from Israel have an NGO like Breaking the Silence, which seeks -- through the experiences of the soldiers themselves -- as its website puts it "to force Israeli society to address the reality which it created" in the occupied territories.

The Israeli public was given an unflattering glimpse of military life in Hebron this year when a young lieutenant in the Kfir Brigade called Yaakov Gigi was given a 15-month jail sentence for taking five soldiers with him to hijack a Palestinian taxi, conduct what the Israeli media called a "rampage" in which one of the soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian civilian who just happened to be in the wrong place, and then tried to lie his way out of it.

In a confessional interview with the Israeli Channel Two investigative programme Uvda, Gigi, who had previously been in many ways a model soldier, talked of "losing the human condition" in Hebron. Asked what he meant, he replied: "To lose the human condition is to become an animal."

The Israeli military did not prosecute the soldier who had fired on the Palestinian, as opposed to Gigi. But the military insists "that the events that occurred within the Kfir Brigade are highly unusual".

But as the 22-year-old soldier, also in the Kfir Brigade, confirms in his testimony to Breaking the Silence, it seems that the event may not have been exceptional. Certainly, our interview tells us, he was "many times" in groups that commandeered taxis, seated the driver in the back, and told him to direct them to places "where they hate the Jews" in order to "make a balagan" -- Hebrew for "big mess".

Then there is the inter-clan Palestinian fight: "We were told to go over there and find out what was happening. Our [platoon] commander was a bit screwed in the head. So anyway, we would locate houses, and he'd tell us: 'OK, anyone you see armed with stones or whatever, I don't care what –- shoot.' Everyone would think it's the clan fight..." Did the company commander know? "No one knew. Platoon's private initiative, these actions."

Did you hit them? "Sure, not just them. Anyone who came close ... Particularly legs and arms. Some people also sustained abdominal hits ... I think at some point they realised it was soldiers, but they were not sure. Because they could not believe soldiers would do this, you know."

Or using a 10-year-old child to locate and punish a 15-year-old stone-thrower: "So we got hold of just some Palestinian kid nearby, we knew that he knew who it had been. Let's say we beat him a little, to put it mildly, until he told us. You know, the way it goes when your mind's already screwed up, and you have no more patience for Hebron and Arabs and Jews there.

"The kid was really scared, realising we were on to him. We had a commander with us who was a bit of a fanatic. We gave the boy over to this commander, and he really beat the shit out of him ... He showed him all kinds of holes in the ground along the way, asking him: 'Is it here you want to die? Or here?' The kid goes, 'No, no!'

"Anyway, the kid was stood up, and couldn't stay standing on his own two feet. He was already crying ... And the commander continues, 'Don't pretend' and kicks him some more. And then [name withheld], who always had a hard time with such things, went in, caught the squad commander and said, 'Don't touch him any more, that's it.' The commander goes, 'You've become a leftie, what?' And he answers, 'No, I just don't want to see such things.'

"We were right next to this, but did nothing. We were indifferent, you know. OK. Only after the fact you start thinking. Not right away. We were doing such things every day ... It had become a habit...

"And the parents saw it. The commander ordered [the mother], 'Don't get any closer.' He cocked his weapon, already had a bullet inside. She was frightened. He put his weapon literally inside the kid's mouth. 'Anyone gets close, I kill him. Don't bug me. I kill. I have no mercy.' So the father ... got hold of the mother and said, 'Calm down, let them be, so they'll leave him alone.'"

Not every soldier serving in Hebron becomes an "animal". Iftach Arbel, 23, from an upper-middle class, left-of-centre home in Herzylia, served in Hebron as a commander just before the withdrawal from Gaza, when he thinks the army wanted to show it could be tough with settlers, too. And many of the testimonies, including Mr Arbel's, describe how the settlers educate children as young as four to throw stones at Palestinians, attack their homes and even steal their possessions. To Mr Arbel, the Hebron settlers are "pure evil" and the only solution is "to remove the settlers".

He believes it would be possible even within these constraints to treat Palestinians better. He adds: "We did night activity. Choose a house at random, on the aerial photo, so as to practise combat routine and all, which is instructive for the soldiers, I mean, I'm all for it. But then at midnight you wake someone up and turn his whole house upside down with everyone sleeping on the mattresses and all."

But Mr Arbel says that most soldiers are some way between his own extreme and that of the most violent. From just two of his fellow testifiers, you can see what he means.

As one said: "We did all kinds of experiments to see who could do the best split in Abu Snena. We would put [Palestinians] against the wall, make like we were checking them, and ask them to spread their legs. Spread, spread, spread, it was a game to see who could do it best. Or we would check who can hold his breath for longest.

"Choke them. One guy would come, make like he was checking them, and suddenly start yelling like they said something and choke them ... Block their airways; you have to press the adams apple. It's not pleasant. Look at the watch as you're doing it, until he passes out. The one who takes longest to faint wins."

And theft as well as violence. "There's this car accessory shop there. Every time, soldiers would take a tape-disc player, other stuff. This guy, if you go ask him, will tell you plenty of things that soldiers did to him.

"A whole scroll-full ... They would raid his shop regularly. 'Listen, if you tell on us, we'll confiscate your whole store, we'll break everything.' You know, he was afraid to tell. He was already making deals, 'Listen guys, you're damaging me financially.' I personally never took a thing, but I'm telling you, people used to take speakers from him, whole sound systems.

"He'd go, 'Please, give me 500 shekels, I'm losing money here.''Listen, if you go on – we'll pick up your whole shop.''OK, OK, take it, but listen, don't take more than 10 systems a month.' Something like this.

"'I'm already going bankrupt.' He was so miserable. Guys in our unit used to sell these things back home, make deals with people. People are so stupid."

Hebron: photo by emanI, 28 March 2007

The writings on the boarded-up shop, made by unknown vandals, read as follows:
- Officer, soldier, I hate you
- Evil cop, death to the evil!!!
- Same verdict to Sharon and Rabin the traitors
- Death to betrayers
- The Gaza strip for the Jews
- Rabbi Kahane was right!!!

An Israeli military tower over Hebron: photo by Justin McIntosh, August 2004

Hashem Azzeh: Holdout in H2

Hashem al-Azzeh: photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler / ActiveStills. October 2012

Hebron activist showed Israel’s crimes to the world: Ryan Rodrick Beiler, The Electronic Intifada,23 October 2015

Hebron resident and anti-occupation activist Hashem al-Azzeh died Wednesday after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces.

According to Palestinian media reports, al-Azzeh, who suffered from a heart condition, began feeling chest pains while in his home in the Israeli-controlled Tel Rumeida neighborhood of the occupied West Bank city.

“There was no chance to get an ambulance there,” Hisham Sharabati, coordinator of the Hebron Defense Committee and a field worker for the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, told The Electronic Intifada. Israeli forces do not allow Palestinian vehicles to drive on the streets near his home, which are reserved for Jewish motorists.

Neighbors had to carry al-Azzeh down the hill to the nearest military checkpoint, where there were clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth.

“There was tear gas there and the army kept them [al-Azzeh and his neighbors] for 10 minutes,” said Sharabati. “He had heart problems from before, but his situation deteriorated because the tear gas made it worse and then the checkpoint delay.”

When al-Azzeh was eventually brought to a hospital, he was pronounced dead upon arrival. He leaves behind his wife Nisreen and four children, the oldest of whom is 16.

Hashem al-Azzeh harvests his family’s olives directly beneath the Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida in the West Bank city of Hebron: photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler / ActiveStills. October 2012

Al-Azzeh lived in a part of Hebron that was frequently attacked by Israeli settlers.

“Hashem lived in a hilly area where the settlers’ homes are higher than his,” said Sharabati.

Like all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Tel Rumeida settlement is illegal under international law. But this particular enclave, comprised of stacks of trailers flanked by Israeli army checkpoints, houses some of the most fanatical and violent settlers in the West Bank.

Al-Azzeh and his family endured sustained harassment from these extremists, including an attack in which settlers assaulted his nephew, then aged 9. The settlers forced a rock into the boy’s mouth to crush his teeth, al-Azzeh had said in a video recording:

In another incident, al-Azzeh’s own teeth were smashed when settlers attacked his home, ransacking it and destroying the furniture. Al-Azzeh’s wife was assaulted by settlers twice while she was pregnant in her first and second trimesters. She miscarried both times.

“Hashem had a big role in showing the world, showing the press, showing solidarity groups, showing any visitor the details of the harassment by the Israeli colonizers in the city of Hebron,” said Sharabati. “The settlers practice all these crimes in the presence of the Israeli army who do not do anything to stop them.”

“Everybody who knew him loved him for his method of giving the point of view of the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida and Hebron who are suffering from the settlements,” said journalist and Hebron Defense Committee member Bassam Shweiki.

“The settlers of Hebron are the most fanatic settlers in the West Bank,” he added.

One of the Tel Rumeida settlement’s founding residents is the US-born Baruch Marzel, who has been arrested dozens of times by the Israeli authorities and whose criminal record includes acts of violence against Palestinians and Israeli police. Marzel has told The Times of Israel, “We need to remove from here all our enemies.”

Graffiti spray-painted on the side of a Palestinian school near the al-Azzeh home reads “Gas the Arabs/JDL.”

“Gas the Arabs! JDL” spray-painted on an exterior wall of the Cordoba School near Shuhada Street in Hebron: photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler / ActiveStills, October 2012

JDL is the acronym for the Jewish Defense League, which was founded by the right-wing settler Meir Kahane. Kahane founded Kach -- an organization so racist and extreme that even in Israel it was outlawed and classified as a terrorist group.

Baruch Marzel, who joined the JDL during his teenage years, is a vociferous supporter of Kahane.

Another infamous JDL member was Brooklyn, New York-born settler Baruch Goldstein. In 1994, Goldstein killed 29 Palestinians and injured 125 inside Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque before he was beaten to death by survivors.

Following the massacre, the Israeli authorities divided the mosque into Muslim and Jewish sections. The killings also precipitated the closure of Shuhada Street and other areas of Hebron’s Old City -- collectively punishing Palestinian residents for the actions of an extremist settler.

For al-Azzeh, simply remaining in his home was an act of resistance. While many of his immediate neighbors left as closures choked off virtually all economic activity in the area, he and his family stayed, often hosting international visitors and sharing his stories of struggle with them.

This reporter witnessed a typical episode of Israeli repression three years ago during the olive harvest. It was the first time al-Azzeh had been able to harvest his olives in five years.

Accompanied by a handful of International Solidarity Movement volunteers, al-Azzeh made relatively short work of his few trees as many of the olives had already been picked by the settlers.

As the work was finishing, settlers barged into the small grove, claiming that not only were the olive trees theirs, but that the entire land had been given to them by God.

When soldiers arrived on the scene, they separated the two groups and in the process arrested a volunteer and two Palestinians -- one al-Azzeh’s next-door neighbor and the other a videographer for the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

Even though an Israeli officer eventually acknowledged al-Azzeh’s ownership of the land, the officer ordered him and his supporters to leave the area for the rest of the day. Baruch Marzel stood among the settlers watching the scene unfold from above.

Israeli settlers, among them Baruch Marzel, stand at the entrance to Tel Rumeida neighborhood: photo by Keren Manor / ActiveStills, April 2014

That incident of settler belligerence facilitated by the Israeli army is typical of the harassment and abuse endured by the al-Azzeh family and many other Palestinians in Hebron.

More than 50 Palestinians have been killed in shootings and clashes with Israeli forces since the beginning of October, during which time 10 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians.

“There are many Palestinians who are involved in resisting the occupation,” said Sharabati. “It’s true that maybe some try to stab an Israeli settler or an Israeli soldier. But we believe that in many other cases the soldiers and the settlers just invented these excuses after shooting.”

A Palestinian woman passes an Israeli checkpoint off Shuhada Street: photo by Ahmad Al-Bazz/ ActiveStills, February 2015

Hashem al-Azzeh’s form of resistance was “social struggle,” according to Shweiki: “Struggle by words -- by giving every moment of his time whenever possible to explain what’s happening.”

“He was a simple man in his character, but he was solid,” Shweiki added. “He called for peace all over the world. He didn’t call for any violence. But he wanted to live in peace in his own land in his home.”

“He wanted to face the settlers”

IDF kills #Hebron peace activist, Hashem Azzeh: image via Muftah @MuftahOrg, 21 October 2015

After years of peaceful protest, Hebron activist dies in tear gas: Killian Redden, Ma'an News Agency, 22 October 2015

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Dr. Hashem al-Azzeh, who died on Wednesday after suffering excessive tear gas inhalation in Hebron’s Old City, was the latest victim of the Israeli settlement policies he spent most of his life struggling against. The 54-year-old activist and medical doctor was one of a few Palestinians who chose to remain with his family in Tel Rumeida, a neighborhood in central Hebron that over the course of decades has seen most of its Palestinian residents pushed out by aggressive Israeli settlers. On Wednesday, after experiencing chest pains in his home, he found himself trapped. His family called an ambulance, but it was unable to reach him due to a series of Israeli army checkpoints along the nearby Shuhada Street, his niece Sundus al-Azzeh told Ma’an. Hashem began to walk toward the checkpoint at Bab al-Zawiya, where fierce clashes were underway as Palestinians protested the death of two Palestinian teenagers shot dead the night before. Once there, however, Sundus said that Israeli soldiers stopped him from moving on, and he soon found himself engulfed by tear gas. Unable to breath, he collapsed. He was rushed to Hebron’s governmental hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. A doctor told Ma’an that Hashem had a history of cardiovascular disease, but it was tear gas inhalation that killed him. Sundus said she was at his side when he passed away -- it was the first time she had seen someone die.

Hashem Azzeh and his wife, Nisreen (date unknown)

Hashem Azzeh and his wife, Nisreen: photographer unknown, n.d., via Muftah, 21 October 2015

‘Daily attacks’

Palestinians’ freedom of movement in Tel Rumeida was severely restricted in 1994, after an American-born Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, massacred 29 Palestinians in the Old City’s Ibrahimi Mosque. While most Palestinians chose to leave the neighborhood, Hashem chose to remain, at one point even refusing an Israeli offer to buy his home. “He wanted to face the settlers,” said Jawad Abu Aisheh, who works in the nearby Youth Against Settlements activist group. It was Hashem’s belief that if every Palestinian were to leave, nothing would stop the settlers from taking all their land. He began to guide foreigners through the divided city, showing them Hebron’s illegal settlements, the military checkpoints, and the streets entirely closed to Palestinians. Abu Aisheh said that Hashem viewed these tours as “non-violent means to defend himself.” However, life in the neighborhood was a constant struggle. “You could say that the attacks were daily,” said Abu Aisheh, adding that when the settlers did not physically assault Hashem and his family, they would swear at them, demanding that they leave for Jordan. Sometimes, the soldiers refused him entry through the Shuhada Street checkpoint, and he would have to take a dangerous back-route through olive trees and fences, where he risked arrest by Israeli forces. In footage filmed before his death, Hashem said that his wife had suffered two miscarriages after settler attacks, while a stone was used to destroy the teeth of his nine-year-old nephew. “Later on, they came and attacked us inside our houses,” Hashem said, describing how they destroyed the furniture, and smashed his head and teeth with the butts of their guns.

Clashes have broken out in Hebron nearly every day this month: photo by AFP/Hazem Bader/File via Ma'an News Agency, 25 October 2015

‘Abuse of powers’

The settlers that have taken over Hebron’s Old City are widely known to be among the most aggressive in the occupied West Bank. They began arriving in the late 1970s, using armed force to evict Palestinians from their homes. There are now some 500 of them living among nearly 200,000 Palestinians and protected by the Israeli army. Israeli rights group B’Tselem has reported that Israel’s “legal and physical segregation between the Israeli settlers and the Palestinian majority” has led to more than 1,000 Palestinian homes being vacated in Hebron’s center, and the closure of up to 1,829 Palestinian businesses. While settlers “routinely” use violence again Hebron’s Palestinian residents, B'Tselem reported that “the increased presence of soldiers and police … brings with it violence, excessive and unjustified use of force, and abuse of the powers granted by law.” Hashem's niece, Sundus, said that her uncle had always remained hopeful, despite the extreme changes he witnessed throughout his life. She said that while their family was “less strong now,” Hashem's death would ultimately leave them stronger. She could not be sure whether Hashem’s wife and four children, the eldest 17 years old, the youngest only five, would choose to remain in Tel Rumeida following his death. While Hashem’s wife has relatives in Jordan, Sundus said that her family would take care of them if they stayed.“We have to be here -- it’s our home, it’s our land,” she said. “We have to be patient. We have to be strong.” Abu Aisheh agreed: “Anyone who lives in that area must be very patient.”

West Bank mourns death of veteran Palestinian activist. Olive farmer and medical doctor Hashem Azzeh died after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers in Hebron. Azzeh was known by activists for the tours he gave of Hebron in the occupied West Bank: photo by EPA via Al Jazeera, 22 October 2015

I'm sad to learn of the death of great man & friend, Hashem al-Azzeh, suffocated by gas in #Hebron by #Israeli army: image via Alexandra Halaby @iskandrah, 21 October 2015

"At this time we need to control all the territory for the foreseeable future"

Progressives tell Center for American Progress re #Netanyahu visit: "You've made a mistake.": image via JewishVoiceForPeace @jvplive, 9 November 2015

Benjamin Netanyahu Ignores Roots of Palestinian Violence — and Betrays His Party's Founders: J.J. Goldberg, The Forward, 6 November 2015

At a November 1 top-secret Israeli Cabinet meeting, the tension between Likud lawmakers and the country’s intelligence chiefs finally exploded.

The chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Herzl Halevi, had come to deliver the Israel Defense Forces’ analysis of the terror wave plaguing Israel for the past month. The main causes, he reported, are tension over the Temple Mount; anger over the unsolved July 31 murder of the Dawabsheh family in the West Bank; and rage and despair among Palestinian youth who see no future and feel they have “nothing to lose.” Other factors include copycat activity and social-network influence, plus the declining influence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is attempting with limited success to halt the mostly teenage violence.

According to several attendees who spoke to reporters, the mood at the meeting was tense. Likud up-and-comer Ze’ev Elkin, the Ukrainian-born immigrant affairs minister, spoke for many present when he accused Halevi of “blaming Israel” and “acting as a spokesman for the Palestinians.” Elkin lectured Halevi that he’d ignored the role of Palestinian incitement. Halevi’s response: “Yes, there is incitement.” Put differently: Yes, sir, I’ll tell you what you want to hear.

Privately, security officials use barnyard terminology when discussing the government’s Abbas-incitement charge. Behind the derision, though, they’re afraid. The nature of Israel’s political debate has changed. Likud ministers, once the ultimate hard-nosed realists, now treat intelligence professionals in much the same way that congressional Republicans treat climate scientists: as alien beings from an alternate reality.

To see just how dramatically the Likud line has morphed in a few short decades, consider this passage from an early Zionist writer:

“No indigenous population anywhere at any time has ever been able to accept the colonization of its country. Every indigenous people, whether developed or developing, views its country as its national home, in which it wishes to remain absolute master forever. It will never willingly grant entry to new masters, nor even to cohabitants or managerial partners.

“This is true of the Arabs as well.… They may differ from us in culture, in endurance or determination, but there the difference between us ends.… They relate to Palestine with an instinctive love and passion that’s at least equal to what the Aztecs felt toward their Mexico or the Sioux toward their prairies.…”

Indigenous populations, the author wrote, will resist the newcomers forcefully unless and until they conclude that the influx cannot be stopped. At that point, “influence will pass to moderate groups, and these moderates will come to us with proposals for mutual concessions, and negotiations can then begin in earnest over practical questions.…”

The words are those of Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky, founder of the right-wing Zionist Revisionist movement, forerunner of today’s Likud. They’re from his seminal essay, "The Iron Wall," written in 1923 -- six years after Great Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, calling for a Jewish national home in Palestine, and three years after the first organized Palestinian revolt against Zionist immigration.

Jabotinsky argued that the Palestinian violence of 1920–21 was neither banditry nor anti-Semitism nor an Arab misunderstanding of Zionist intentions, as many Zionists maintained, but rather natural resistance by one nation fearing another nation taking over its country. Accordingly, he wrote, it was pointless to try negotiating or buying off Palestinian leaders. Rather, Zionism should dig in behind a metaphorical “iron wall” until the Palestinians accepted the inevitable.

Jabotinsky was reviled in his day as a racist and a warmonger by the mainstream Zionist leadership under Chaim Weizmann and later David Ben-Gurion. The “iron wall” thesis was a key point of disagreement, but not the only one. Most notably, Jabotinsky insisted the Jewish state must encompass all of historic Palestine, including what became Jordan. But on the Palestinian conflict he proved prophetic. He became a political pariah, but his iron wall thesis became a staple of Israeli defense doctrine.

That is, until 1993, when the Palestine Liberation Organization formally agreed in Oslo to recognize Israel and negotiate those “mutual concessions” that Jabotinsky anticipated. To the Israeli military, an IDF deputy chief of staff once told me, the Oslo Accords were the Palestinians’ “surrender document.” The next step was supposed to be negotiating the terms.

That year, 1993, was a watershed for Jabotinsky’s heirs in the Likud. If Israel’s military and intelligence communities considered the Oslo Accords a turning point in the Palestinian stance toward Israel, then the Likud now had to choose between Jabotinsky’s iron wall thesis and his commitment to the Greater Land of Israel. If the Palestinians were giving up their claim to exclusive ownership of the land, then it was time for mutual concessions. If concessions were impossible because Israeli territorial claims were inviolable, then a way to disregard the Palestinians’ new stance had to be found.

Most of the Likud chose the Greater Land of Israel. Jabotinsky’s view of Palestinian anti-Zionism as fundamentally about land was abandoned in favor of a metaphysical, almost mystical vision of Palestinian opposition rooted in timeless, immutable hatred of Jews.

As the Likud has morphed from realism to metaphysics, traditional Jabotinskyites like Dan Meridor and Reuven Rivlin have been marginalized or forced out. A growing proportion of the party’s younger generation consists of religious nationalists who don’t hide the mystical roots of their vision. And, as the retooled Likud has become entrenched in power, relations with the security services -- the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Mossad -- have grown steadily more strained.

The new Likud version of reality has been evolving slowly over the decades since Oslo. In the past few weeks, with the terror wave as a backdrop, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been rolling it out, piece by piece, and it’s beginning to emerge as a coherent whole: Nazi roots of Palestinian nationalism; violence as a product of incitement from above rather than conditions on the ground; the need for full Israeli control of “all the territories for the foreseeable future,” despite the threat of binationalism; and finally, the October 26 announcement, at a stormy session of the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee that Israelis “will forever live by the sword.”

Zionism, which first arose to end the Jews’ international pariah status, now promises to trap them there forever.

*PETITION:**#Netanyahu Asking POTUS Obama for $45m to buy weapons! No $ to #warcriminal*: image via Starseed @Starseed52, 8 November 2015

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Marwan Barghouti: There will be no peace until Israel’s occupation of Palestine ends

Questions over Hebron 'attack' (troubling the sleep of Mrs. General)

Video footage raises questions over Hebron 'attack': Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

Erasing the footage

Israeli forces detain activist over video footage of Hebron shooting: Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

Death of a schoolgirl

3rd Palestinian shot dead after alleged attacks in Hebron, Jerusalem: Ma'an News Agency, 17 October 2015

Ruthless killing of Palestinian youths in al-Khalil (Hebron): International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine, 17 October 2015

Eastern Hebron: settler terror: firebombing the villages

200 Israeli settlers attack Palestinian villages with firebombs: Ma'an News Agency, 18 October 2015

Eritrean envoyto Israel calls for arrest of lynch mob: Israeli police have not arrested any of those involved in lynching of Eritrean who died of his wounds in Beersheba:Ali Younes, Al Jazeera, 20 Oct 2015

The killing of Eritrean migrant by Israeli mob has struck a nerve Eritrean Facebook is filled with anger #Eritrea: tweet by Filmon Zerai @EritreaStruggle, 19 October 2015

Anger at Netanyahu claim Palestinian grand mufti inspired Holocaust: Israeli PM accused of trivialising the Holocaust for saying grand mufti of Jerusalem gave Hitler idea of exterminating Europe’s Jews: Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem for The Guardian, 21 October 2015

حسن عيد الاضحى / Très bonne fête à tous nos frères musulmans à l'occasion de l'Aïd al-Adha ! / Very good day to all our Muslim friends, day of sacrifice!: street art (collage) by Matlaw, Rue des Carmes, Quartier Panthéon, Paris: photo by Mickaël VO Y PHONG, 26 October 2012

Indonesia readies warships for haze evacuation: AFP, 24 October 2015

Indonesia's Wildfires Are as Bad as Some of the Planet's Worst Air Polluters: An eye-popping amount of greenhouse gas issues from the thousands of blazes in the Southeast Asian country: Liz Dwyer, TakePart, 22 October 2015

Runaway U.S. military blimp wreaks havoc in Pennsylvania: Joe McDonald and Phil Stewart, Reuters, 28 October 2015 (updated 29 October 2015)

25 minutes to escape: Brazilian village destroyed in dam deluge: Stephen Eisenhammer, Reuters, 6 November 2015 10:26pm EST

Search ongoing for missing in Brazil mine disaster, death toll uncertain: Stephen Eisenhammer, Reuters, 6 November 2015 8:12pm EST

Israel/OPT: Investigate apparent extrajudicial execution at Hebron hospital: Press Release, Amnesty International, 12 November 2015

Undercover Israeli forces kill Palestinian inside West Bank hospital: Israeli forces were filmed raiding the hospital in disguise before taking away a patient and killing his cousin: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi, Middle East Eye, 12 November 2015

Palestinian shot dead in Israeli undercover raid on West Bank hospital: Peter Beaumont in Hebron for The Guardian, 12 November 2015

we will hit you with gas until you all die

Israeli forces threaten Palestinian refugees over loudspeaker: Soldiers announced to Aida refugee camp: 'If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die -- the youth, the children, the old people'

Israeli forces threaten Palestinian refugees over loudspeaker: Soldiers announced to Aida refugee camp: 'If you throw stones, we will hit you with gas until you all die -- the youth, the children, the old people: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi, Middle East Eye, 30 October 2015

Another daughter of Palestine killed in cold blood: 26th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine, 26 October 2015

'I don't have a knife'

PETITION:#Netanyahu Asking POTUS Obama for $45m to buy weapons! No $ to #warcriminal: image via Starseed @Starseed52, 8 November 2015

*PETITION:**#Netanyahu Asking POTUS Obama for $45m to buy weapons! No $ to #warcriminal*: image via Starseed @Starseed52, 8 November 2015