IOF troops deploy in Silwan to search for weapons, find nothing

[ 17/08/2011 - 01:48 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Israeli troops and special forces backed by choppers stormed the Silwan town, south of occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday and were deployed in Batn Al-Hawa and Ein Bir Ayub suburbs, local sources said. They said that tension ran high in the town as they feared a wave of demolition of local homes in the process. Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the committee defending the land of Silwan, said that Israeli soldiers occupied rooftops of Palestinian homes in Silwan and deployed large numbers of forces at the entrances to the town and inside its suburbs. The Israeli army command claimed that the operation was meant to search for weapons but did not declare finding any. Local sources in Bustan suburb reported that the soldiers barged into the sit-in tent pitched to protest land and property confiscation on part of the Israeli occupation authority and used hounds in searching homes in the company of intelligence elements.

IOF launches arrest sweep, burns down farmland in Jenin vicinity

[ 17/08/2011 - 02:02 PM ]

JENIN, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces launched wide-ranging arrest sweeps around the West Bank city of Jenin, and burned dozens of dunams of farmland west of the city. Witnesses said several patrols raided Kafr Rai village south of Jenin and deployed throughout the streets. The home of 16-year-old Bilal Nabil Jawabira, 16, was searched in the operation. The sources added the soldiers set up ambushes in the local cemetery, in the olive groves, and on the rooftops of nearby homes. IOF troops raided several other villages in the area with patrols that went on until early morning without report of arrest. Meanwhile, IOF soldiers set fire to dozens of dunums (1 Dunum= 1000 square meters) of olive groves and almond fields causing heavy damage in the village of East Barta’a in the southern region of Jenin governorate. Locals said troops posted at the Barta’a checkpoint stopped fire vehicles from Jenin’s civil defense service from arriving to fight the blaze. They said Israel forces had been burning grass piled on the sides of the roads where they were patrolling, when fire spread to nearby olive groves. Meantime, locals reported that a gang of Jewish settlers burned down tens of dunams of farmland in the dismantled Jewish settlement of Homesh and directed verbal insults at Arabs and tried to assault the vehicles of Palestinians who drove along the road between Jenin and Nablus. Witnesses said the settlers set fire to hundreds of olive and almond trees as Israeli military forces remained idle. IOF troops arrived to the region for the protection of the settlers, they said.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk

Russian journalist receives "death threats" for supporting Palestinians

Dr. Hanan Chehata

Monday, 15 August 2011 16:15

Maxim Shevchenko: "I have received anonymous death threats threatening to 'break my skull so that shrapnel from it will take out both eyes of my wife'."

Maxim Shevchenko is an immensely well-respected editor, journalist and presenter on television and radio in Russia. He is a staunch advocate of the Palestinian cause, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and he is also one of the latest targets of the pro-Israel Lobby.


Shevchenko, one of Russia's leading journalists, has a wealth of experience behind him, and over the years he has been very open in his condemnation of Israel for its repeated violations of international law in its dealings with the Palestinians. This has, inevitably, led to him becoming a prime target of Russia's Zionists.

While he may be used to run-ins with Zionists and their repeated efforts to discredit him and anyone else who criticises Israel, the latest burst of condemnation against Shevchenko has been particularly vicious, to the point that he has received numerous death threats. The spark for this latest attack is reportedly a comment he made in which he allegedly compared Israel's actions towards the Palestinians with those of the Nazis towards the Jews. However, while denying all allegations of anti-Semitism Shevchenko points out that the particular statement he is being condemned for was actually a quote from Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein. Eighty-seven year old Ms Epstein is also a vocal critic of Israel and a supporter of the Palestinian cause.

The Jewish Congress of Russia, which has an Israeli at its helm, has been spearheading the campaign against Maxim Shevchenko and threats against his life have, it is alleged, been made by the former president and sitting board member of that congress Yevgeny Satanovsky. According to The Palestinian Journalist Forum: "Yevgeny Satanovsky repeated the death threat in front of Shevchenko's wife, Nadezhda Kifrckova, who is also a journalist, as Satanovsky told her... after her return from covering Freedom Flotilla II, 'I will kill your husband'." According to Shevchenko, "I have received anonymous death threats threatening to 'break my skull so that shrapnel from it will take out both eyes of my wife'."

On hearing of the reported threats against his life, MEMO contacted Shevchenko directly and spoke to him and his wife both of whom confirmed the threats made against his life. Shevchenko's wife stated that the threats made against her husband's life were made openly and publicly by Satanovsky in the middle of a public conference on the heritage of the USSR in June. She explained that her husband's pro-Palestinian stance has been the key reason for the targeting of her husband. She told us that one other catalyst for the attacks against him was that he had organised the first televised discussion between a member of Hamas (Osama Hamdan - who is the Hamas representative in Lebanon) and a top member of the Likud party in Israel. It was aired on the political talk show "Judge it" which is aired on one of the most popular television channels in Russia, Channel One. In journalistic terms, this should not have been a problem at all. On the contrary this was a unique opportunity to hear both sides. Hamas is not outlawed in Russia, as it is in many other countries, and members of Hamas have been invited to Russia on several occasions before, including by Prime Minister Vladamir Putin. Therefore having a Hamas representative on a political television programme hosted by Shevchenko should not have been a matter worthy of putting him in the firing line for such heavy criticism. However, as Shevchenko's wife pointed out to us, there are around one million Russian speaking Jews living in Israel and so this programme became something of a scandal in Israel to all those who did not want to hear dialogue between the two sides and who did not want the Palestinian voice to be heard.
Threats against people who condemn the aggression of the state of Israel are part of a global Zionist campaign to put fear into the hearts and minds of those who dare to stand against Zionism and its violations of human rights and international law. It is something faced by all critics of Israel at some time or other. Israeli newspaper Haaretz has referred to Israel's "global diplomatic intimidation campaign" and it is clear that such bullying takes place on many levels; it is unacceptable wherever and whenever it takes place.

MEMO condemns the targeting of courageous journalists like Maxim Shevchenko in the strongest possible terms. The ability to criticise the policies of any country freely is the right of all people; neither Israel nor its allies should consider it to be above criticism. Death threats and the slander of those who speak up for the human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people and who in doing so criticise Israel must stop. Such threats should be investigated fully in the most robust manner by the relevant authorities, and suitable action taken against the perpetrators.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/europe/2725-russian-journalist-receives-qdeath-threatsq-for-supporting-palestinians

Palestinian journalists hold rally in solidarity with Shevchenko

Wednesday, 17 August 2011 15:00

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES

Palestinian journalists organised a rally yesterday, 16 August under the theme 'Don't silence the media' in solidarity with Russian journalist, Maxim Shevchenko, following death threats against him as a result of his vocal support for the Palestinian Cause.

The sit-in was held in front of the Gaza headquarters of UNESCO where participants raised placards calling on human rights organisations to follow up and advocate on the issue. Others called on the Russian government to ensure full protection for Mr Shevchenko who has reaffirmed his support for the Palestinian people until their usurped rights are restored.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2732-palestinian-journalists-hold-rally-in-solidarity-with-shevchenko

PA condemns conference hosted by hard-line Rabbi

Published yesterday (updated) 17/08/2011 20:54

 

A Palestinian shows the damage to his family house which was firebombed by
Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Huwwara near Nablus.
[AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh]

 

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli government on Wednesday for allowing a conference hosted by a hard-line Rabbi to take place Tuesday in the Pisgat Zeev settlement in East Jerusalem.

"The Israeli authorities’ ongoing and consistent tolerance towards hate speech and incitement against Palestinians leads to actions," director of the PA's media center Ghassan Khatib said Wednesday.

The conference was hosted by Rabbi Yitzshak Shapiro, a co-author of the notoriously racist "King's Torah", and called for halting construction of a Palestinian school in between Pisgat Zeev and Nabi Taakov settlements in East Jerusalem, as well as preventing Jewish girls from dating Arab men.

In addition, the conference demanded that the Jerusalem light railway project should be banned from passing through Palestinian neighborhoods, a PA statement said.

"In the name of freedom of speech, settlers are given freedom of incitement and freedom to use violence against Palestinians," Khatib added.

The Palestinian Government Media Center "calls upon the Israeli authorities and the government to take serious actions to prevent continuing settler incitement and violations.

"We, also, call upon the international community to hold the Israeli government accountable for permitting incitement and violence of settlers to go unpunished."

The "King's Torah", which has been banned from sale in Israel, reportedly says babies and children of Israel's enemies may be killed in certain circumstances since "it is clear that they will grow to harm us."

"Anywhere where the influence of gentiles constitutes a threat to the life of Israel, it is permissible to kill them," the authors wrote.

 

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=413931