"Israelis and Palestinians throw stones in clash in West Bank; Settlers reportedly set fields on fire" September 21, 2011|By Dalia Nammari, Associated Press
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers threw stones at each other yesterday, a day after Palestinian officials said settlers burned dozens of acres of agricultural land and cut down several hundred olive, fig, and almond trees.
This is the sort of thing Palestinians have to put up with all the time.
The latest friction came at a sensitive time, with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, saying he is determined to seek UN recognition this week of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in 1967. Israeli security forces fear the UN bid could spark violence in the West Bank. Many settlers are adamantly opposed to Palestinian statehood, and some settler activists planned protest marches in three West Bank locations later yesterday.
Settler activists as opposed to Zionist militants.
“This is our land and no Palestinian state will be [established] here,’’ said organizer Boaz Haetzni, a resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron, the West Bank’s largest Palestinian city....
However, there have been few signs of enthusiasm in the West Bank. Students and civil servants were to be bused to rallies planned yesterday in Ramallah, in an apparent attempt by authorities to ensure a high turnout.
Only about two dozen people watched yesterday as Palestinian activists unveiled a 20-foot chair, painted in the UN’s signature baby blue, in the main square of the city of Ramallah. The chair, with the inscription “Palestine’s right - Full membership in the United Nations,’’ symbolizes the quest for recognition.
Abbas’s West Bank-based Palestinian Authority said yesterday that there have been more than 40 reports of settler violence in the past month and that the rate doubled in the past year.
Yesterday, residents of the militant settlement of Yitzhar in the northern West Bank gathered on a hilltop overlooking several Palestinian communities and shouted slogans, said Qassem Saleh, a resident of the village of Assira al-Kibliya.
Why obfuscate the bullying?
--more--"
"Radical Jews suspected of burning mosque in Israel" by Amy Teibel Associated Press / October 4, 2011
JERUSALEM - Arsonists torched a mosque in an Arab village in northern Israel yesterday, setting off protests by residents who clashed with police. Graffiti sprayed at the site suggested Jewish radicals, suspected in other recent mosque fires, were involved....
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said security was heightened across northern Israel to prevent further disturbances and police met with village leaders in an effort to defuse tensions.
Israel forces look the other way if not outright enable them because they are them.
--more--"
"Hanan Porat; Israeli leader led settlement of West Bank" October 05, 2011|Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Hanan Porat, a driving force behind Israel’s settlement of the West Bank, died of cancer Monday. He was 67.
Mr. Porat, a former Israeli lawmaker, was a founder of the now-defunct movement Gush Emunim, Hebrew for “the bloc of the faithful,’’ a messianic movement committed to settling land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Followers believe God promised the West Bank to the Jewish people, and they set out to cement Israeli sovereignty there by creating a large-scale civilian presence.
But even before Gush Emunim was founded in 1974, Mr. Porat was a leading figure in the settlement movement launched after Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in 1967. He helped establish the first settlement in the West Bank, Kfar Etzion, on the site of a kibbutz that had been captured by the Jordanian Army in 1948.
He later helped create the Jewish enclave in the biblical city of Hebron, currently one of the most radical settlements. Hebron’s ancient Jewish community was driven out in 1929.
Porat later turned to politics, and was elected to Israel’s Parliament in 1981, serving, except for a four-year hiatus, through 1999.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his sorrow over Mr. Porat’s passing.
“Hanan Porat dedicated his life to building up the land of Israel, and to educating generations of students about religious Zionism and loving the land of Israel and the Jewish people,’’ Netanyahu said in a statement.
“I first met Hanan almost 40 years ago and was immediately impressed by his Zionist fervor and his deep commitment to restoring the Jewish people to its land,’’ Netanyahu said. “This fervor did not lessen and accompanied him until his last day.’’
Today, about half a million Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, a move Mr. Porat strongly opposed.
Israeli settlements, built on land the Palestinians claim for a future state, have been denounced internationally. Continued construction there has been the latest wedge in relations with the Palestinians, who refuse to negotiate peace until the building stops.
--more--"
"Extremist attacks on mosques, farms reach Israel" October 10, 2011|By Josef Federman, Associated Press
JERUSALEM - A new rogue element has emerged in the Israeli-Palestinian gallery: Unknown assailants, widely assumed to be Jewish extremists, have vandalized Muslim cemeteries, mosques, and farmlands in a spate of attacks that have put the country on edge.
Right, now they are rouges. Puh-leeze.
"Settlements are typically guarded by soldiers and residents armed by the military. Many settlers carry firearms, and clashes between settlers and Palestinians are common"
These attacks, which in recent days have spread from the West Bank into Israel proper, have stoked fears of heightened violence and sparked increasingly agitated calls to find and punish the assailants. Yesterday, Israeli leaders chimed in with condemnations, and police said they were stepping up efforts to halt the violence.
Pfffffffftt!! They enable the s***.
“It’s against everything that the Jewish people stand for, as a country and as a democracy,’’ said President Shimon Peres, a Nobel peace laureate. “I am sure that our police will apprehend all the people who did this, the criminals, and we shall not let them walk free.’’
I haven't seen anything since.
In the latest instance, vandals sprayed-painted “Death to the Arabs’’ in Muslim and Christian cemeteries in the Jaffa section of Tel Aviv. The rampage, discovered late Saturday after Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, followed a mosque burning last week in an Arab village in northern Israel. The torching set off violent clashes between residents and police in a town that has historically been a model of coexistence.
The two incidents were among the first to take place inside Israel, where Arab residents, in contrast with their Palestinian brethren in the neighboring West Bank, are citizens.
For several years, Israeli settlers have frequently attacked Palestinian targets in the West Bank, vandalizing mosques and uprooting olive trees.
And yet my paper is full of Islamic terrorists all over the place every single day.
These attacks are meant to protest Israeli government policies seen as sympathetic to the Palestinians, who hope to make the West Bank part of an independent state. Nationalist settlers oppose a Palestinian state on what they say is land promised to the Jews in the Bible.
If they were Arab and Muslim they would be called insurgent Islamic militants.
Yesterday, some 100 settlers attacked a group of Palestinian villagers in their olive groves near Nablus in the northern West Bank with sticks and stones, witnesses said. The army said it rushed to the scene and broke up the clash, allowing the farmers to harvest their crop.
At times, the Israeli Army has become a target of the settlers, with vandals stoning or slashing the tires of military vehicles.
The Israeli military is on the Palestinians' side?
The latest bouts of violence appear to be connected to Israel’s decision last month to demolish several illegally built structures in the unauthorized West Bank settler outpost of Migron. Settlers are also furious over the death of an Israeli settler and his infant son in a car accident caused by Palestinian stone throwers.
--more--"
"11 killed in renewed violence in Gaza" October 31, 2011|Associated Press
GAZA CITY - A new round of violence between Israel and Gaza militants killed 11 people over the weekend, casting doubts on hopes that the recent prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas might improve relations between the bitter foes.
Related: The Schalit Swap
An Israeli airstrike hit two militants in Gaza yesterday as they prepared to fire a rocket into Israel, the military said. Gaza’s Health Ministry said one man was killed and a second was wounded.
Just before nightfall, Gaza militants fired another rocket into southern Israel, which landed in an open area and caused no injuries or damage, the army said.
Oh, the ABSOLUTE STENCH of SETTLERS FIRING OFF a FALSE FLAG!
A day earlier, eight Palestinian militants and an Israeli civilian were killed in cross-border fighting.
The clashes took place as Egyptian mediators were trying to arrange a truce. Egypt, which borders Gaza to the south, brokered this months’ prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas.
That deal has raised speculation that the two enemies might somehow create a working relationship despite their rejection of each other, perhaps with Israel easing its blockade on Gaza.
That would be a good first step.
Israel says the closure - which enables basic goods to get in through Israel’s border and does not affect Gaza’s border with Egypt - is needed to halt arms smuggling.
And how many pieces of AmeriKan military hardware did Israel import last year?
Despite the worst bloodshed in months, both sides have indicated they are interested in restoring calm.
--more--"
This isn't going to restore calm:
"Israeli army gets OK to halt Gaza rockets; But gives Egypt pledge to hold fire during truce talks" November 02, 2011|By Ian Deitch, Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Israel has authorized its military to take all necessary steps to stop rocket fire from Gaza, including a ground operation, an Israeli military official said yesterday, as Egypt worked on a truce and said Israel had agreed to delay stepping up its response.
The Israeli government decision stopped well short of ordering tanks to roll into Gaza, and it appeared unlikely that would happen, as rocket fire all but stopped over the past day. The official said the decision authorized the military to act in accordance with the severity of Palestinian attacks, meaning that a ground offensive would be ordered only after massive rocket fire....
The sudden increase in violence began when militants in Gaza started firing salvos at Israel late last week, and Israeli retaliated with airstrikes. One Israeli civilian and at least 10 Palestinian militants were killed in the worst violence on that front in months.
The confrontation threatened to spiral into a larger conflict, and Egypt stepped in to try to restore calm.
“In the past few hours, Egypt saved Gaza from severe destruction and succeeded in securing Israeli restraint to give Egyptians time to reach a cease-fire agreement with Palestinian factions,’’ Yasser Othman, Egypt’s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, said yesterday.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned from the podium of the Israeli parliament that Israel would operate “vigorously and resolutely’’ against those who would threaten its security.
“A security philosophy cannot rely on defense alone,’’ Netanyahu said. “It must also include offensive capabilities, the very foundation of deterrence.’’
Ever notice every couple of years Israel gets the itch to invade or attack someone?
The military said there have been no Israeli airstrikes since around midnight Monday. Two rockets were fired from Gaza during that time. The relative calm prevailed through yesterday afternoon.
The rocket attacks have disrupted life in southern Israel, forcing schools to close. About 1 million Israelis live within range of rockets from Gaza.
The Islamic Jihad faction was behind the initial rocket attacks. On Sunday, the militant faction agreed to stop the violence if Israel also did. Rocket fire that drew retaliatory Israeli airstrikes persisted afterward, but it was claimed by a different militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in past violence, has not directly been involved in the attacks. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence from the territory.
And I hold Israel responsible for their zany and zealous zettlers.
In another development, Israel announced late yesterday that it has ordered accelerated construction for Israelis in East Jerusalem, the section claimed by the Palestinians as their capital, and nearby West Bank settlements.
Yeah, that is just an afterthought to the AmeriKan media.
--more--"
"Israel police: New attack on Palestinian property" November 09, 2011|Associated Press
Israeli police say they are investigating a new attack on Palestinian property in the West Bank.
Evidence at the scene on Wednesday suggests Jewish extremists burned three cars and defaced a house.
The words “price tag’’ were spray-painted on the house in Beit Ummar, a town near the West Bank city of Hebron. The phrase refers to a Jewish settler tactic of attacking Palestinian targets to protest government activities against settlements.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says police are investigating the overnight attack.
There has been a surge in violence in recent months against Palestinian property in the West Bank and in Israel, with mosques attacked, Arab cemeteries desecrated and hundreds of olive trees uprooted.
--more--"
Never made my printed paper.
Related:
"Moshe Katsav, the former president of Israel, is expected to enter prison Dec. 7 to begin a seven-year term for rape after the country’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal of his conviction and sentence yesterday....
--more--"
Next Day Update:
"Israeli airstrike kills 2 suspected militants; Group in Gaza vows retaliation" by Ibrahim Barzak Associated Press / December 9, 2011
An Israeli airstrike on a car near a crowded park in downtown Gaza City killed two militants yesterday, the second missile strike this week after a period of relative calm.
Similar flare-ups have in the past escalated into a wider confrontations between Israel and Hamas-ruled Gaza. After yesterday’s strike, Israel’s military alleged the two men in the car had planned to infiltrate to attack soldiers and civilians, but provided no details.
No, and apparently they never need any in the mouthpiece media.
For more from BostonGlobe.com, sign up or log in below
To continue, please sign up or log in to BostonGlobe.com
Access the full articles and quality reporting of The Boston Globe at BostonGlobe.com
Sign up
Unlimited Access to BostonGlobe.com for 4 weeks for only 99¢.
Are you a Boston Globe home delivery subscriber?
Get FREE access as part of your print subscription.
--NOMORE--"
More (as presented by my printed Globe):
JERUSALEM (AP) — Jerusalem municipal officials said they will shut down a walkway to a contested shrine at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a move liable to touch off a new round of violence between Muslims and Jews.
The municipality says the wooden walkway leading to one of the hilltop site's gates — built as a temporary structure after a centuries-old ramp was damaged in a 2004 snowstorm — is a fire hazard and structurally unsound and must be replaced.
Any work in the area around the Old City compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary draws fierce condemnation and sometimes violence from Palestinians, many of whom suspect Israel wants to harm Muslim shrines.
In a letter released Thursday, Jerusalem city engineer Shlomo Eshkol informed authorities of his plan to block access to the walkway to all but security forces. The shutdown could take place immediately after a one-week public comment period.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu halted a plan to demolish the walkway last month, fearing a backlash. A spokesman for Netanyahu had no comment on the Jerusalem municipality's decision.
Yusuf Natsheh, director of the Waqf administration, said the Waqf was not consulted about the plan to shut down the walkway, which he called a "disastrous" policy liable to touch off protests.
"This is a very sensitive issue," he said. "It is so close to the mosque, and Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims ... all over the world will be unhappy." They think Israelis are "eradicating their historic road, they are eradicating their heritage" under the guise of security concerns, he said.
Nearly five years ago, hundreds of Israeli police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of Muslim worshippers who hurled stones, bottles and trash in outrage over earlier Israeli repair work in the area.
That's where my Globe ended it's piece. Sorry I couldn't find more on the airstrike, but it was all rewritten.
Maybe this will make up for it:
"Rockets hit Israel after fighting flares in Gaza" by MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press | December 9, 2011
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants fired at least 11 rockets into Israel on Friday after an airstrike against a Hamas target in Gaza that killed a Palestinian civilian and his 12-year-old son.
The rockets landed in Israeli territory but caused no casualties, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Air-raid sirens and bomb shelters have helped keep civilian casualties low in southern Israel over years of rocket fire from Gaza.
Okay, put aside my accusations of false flags for a moment; if they truly are Palestinian rocket fire their aim is either bad or the puny bottle-rocket s*** they are able to cobble together are so ineffectual it doesn't merit missile strikes.
The latest exchange followed several days of violence in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Earlier Friday, Israel carried out multiple airstrikes against Hamas facilities. One damaged a house next to a targeted site, killing 42-year-old civilian Bahajat Zaalan and wounding several members of his family, according to Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia. One of the wounded, Zaalan's son Ramadan, died of his injuries later Friday, the official said.
Other houses were damaged by fire or shrapnel and a total of 25 people were wounded, Abu Salmia said.
Israel's military released a statement Friday expressing regret for harm to bystanders but blaming Hamas for choosing "to operate while embedded within a civilian population, using them as a human shield to protect their actions."
Considering the Israeli blockade and all I was just wondering WHERE ELSE are they GOING TO GO?! We heard the SAME THING coming from war-criminal lips during Cast Lead!
Related: The Israeli Human Shield
Also see: Israeli using Palestinian Kids as Human Shields
The military said the civilians were not directly harmed by the airstrikes but by the explosion of rockets stored at the sites that were hit.
I'm tired of Israel blaming its victims.
On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike hit a group of militants in Gaza, killing one and wounding two others. Israel said it targeted militant squads preparing to fire rockets into southern Israel.
And on Thursday, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a car near a crowded park in Gaza City, killing two militants, including a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and wounding five bystanders. Israel says the militants were planning to infiltrate Israel to carry out attacks.
Al Aqsa Martyrs is a FATAH-related organization! Abbas really pissed off his USraeli masters -- so much so that they released prisoners to Hamas and now airmail a missile to one of thier operatives.
The strikes Thursday touched off rocket fire from Gaza on southern Israel.
In Gaza, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned what he called an "unjustified and serious escalation by the Zionist enemy."
I don't see that word in my newspaper very often. Say the word to most Americans and they have not a clue what you mean.
Speaking Friday at a Gaza City mosque, he said Egypt was helping to mediate an end to the latest round of fighting.
In the West Bank Friday, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at a weekly demonstration of about 100 Palestinians, hitting one protester in the head with a gas canister, said Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist who joined the rally.
Isn't it amazing how the AmeriKan focuses on certain protests or aspects of them while consistently ignoring others?
He identified the protester as Mustafa Tamimi and said he was severely injured.
The weekly rallies in the village of Nabi Saleh are in protest of Jewish settlement activity in the area.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said soldiers treated the Palestinian man at the scene before taking him to an Israeli hospital for further treatment.
--MORE--"
