Friday, February 22, 2019

Main News

  • Three months of struggle against Jewish outpost | December 11, 2018
    Ongoing since September, residents of Kafr Ni‘ma, Kharbata and Ras Karkar have been protesting the set up of an illegal Israeli outpost on their land, in which the settlers are protected by the Israeli army and Palestinians are met with guns and tear gas. .....
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  • Children of a shekel | December 11, 2018
    The last two decades has seen an increase in child labor in Palestine due to the extent of poverty in the country reaching unprecedented levels. .....
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  • UNRWA’s deficit reduced to $21 million | November 20, 2018
    At the beginning of 2018 UNRWA forecasted a $140 million budget deficit thanks to the US cuts, though now with increased financial contributions from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, the deficit is only $21 million. .....
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  • The issue of accessing energy in Palestine | October 29, 2018
    As 90% of the energy in Palestine is bought from Israel, and over 4% of Palestinian communities are off grid, local NGO‘s are providing sustainable energy systems for people wishing to access electricity or wanting to diversify their sources. .....
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  • Existence is Resistance | October 23, 2018
    As 31 new settlement units have been approved to be built in the old city of Hebron, two Palestinian brothers who have a family ceramic business tell their story of resistance against ongoing occupation of the city. .....
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  • Palestine to chair the UN G77 | October 22, 2018
    While Palestine only holds observer status at the UN, a resolution has been passed to allow the nation to chair the G77 in 2019, after the agency voted last month for their presidency. .....
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  • PLO calls on UN to blacklist Israel | October 10, 2018
    The PLO Secretary-General has called on the UN to add Israel to the list of countries which violate children’s rights since nearly 100 Palestinian children have been injured or killed by Israeli forces in this year alone. .....
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  • No job for a skilled woman | October 08, 2018
    As the unemployment rate for women in Palestine is more than double that of men, the gender inequality in the workforce limits the country’s potential economic growth. .....
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  • Palestine sues US over Embassy move to Jerusalem | October 02, 2018
    Palestine has filed a complaint to the International Court of Justice against the US for violating the Vienna Convention by moving its embassy to Jerusalem, though the case hinges on whether the Court deems Palestine a nation state. .....
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  • IDF loses their Waze, again | September 27, 2018
    Clashes escalated in Qalandia as an IDF truck entered the camp on the weekend after following the navigation application Waze instead of knowing military routes. .....
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  • US shuts down PLO office | September 13, 2018
    The Trump administration has closed the PLO office in Washington as Palestine urges the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli war crimes in its plan to demolish Bedouin village Khan al Ahmar. .....
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  • Palestine‘s British safeguard under pressure | September 03, 2018
    British Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has been under fire by Jewish groups for anti-semitism leading human rights activists to request documents from Israel about the state’s ongoing disinformation campaign against Corbyn. .....
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  • FIFA bans Palestinian soccer chief for inciting hatred | August 28, 2018
    Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub has been handed a US$20,000 fine and year-long match suspension by FIFA after he urged fans to burn pictures of Argentina football player Lionel Messi in protest of his team playing against Israel in Jerusalem. .....
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  • Palestine’s Irish connection | August 27, 2018
    The Palestinian town of Beit Sahour and Tralee in Ireland have become twin cities over a common demographic of Christians coupled with both towns experiencing the effects of occupation. .....
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  • Wave of settler violence weekend before Eid | August 25, 2018
    In the lead up to the Muslim Eid al-Ahda holiday, illegal settlers in the West Bank have attacked Palestinian drivers with stones, punctured car tyres, spray painted abusive messages and destroyed olive groves. .....
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  • Ashtar Theatre: self-love and resistance through performance | August 13, 2018
    Ashtar was the first theatre organisation to open in Palestine, and while the outside world constantly tries to politicise Palestinian art, the students more greatly appreciate the tools they can take from theatre to use in their every day lives; such as confidence, friendship building and expression of self. .....
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  • Flotilla for Gaza prevented to dock in Paris | June 26, 2018
    A Flotilla destined for Gaza, aiming to bring attention to the dire living conditions and struggle for Gazan fishermen to work under the blockade, has been prevented from docking in Paris due to pressure from the Israeli Embassy in France. .....
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  • Democracy in Israel: What it is and what it isn’t | March 25, 2018
    Knesset and Joint List Member Yousef Jabareen being restricted from travelling to the US to give speeches on Israeli democracy can be seen as a prime example of the targeting of Arab Knesset members and the clamping freedom of speech within Israel. .....
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  • Future of Gaza discussed by international journalists in Jerusalem | March 15, 2018
    International correspondents, Donald Macintyre and Stephen Farrell have come together in discussion over the situation in Gaza, for an audience in Jerusalem, covering the possible failure of reconciliation talks and the responsibility of the international community to put pressure on ending the blockade. .....
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  • Arbitrary Rules Force Palestinians to Choose: In or Out | March 10, 2018
    With the aim to Judaise Jerusalem, Israel has revoked the residency status of 14,500 Palestinians since 1967. For some Palestinians who have been denied renewal of their residency, they are forced to remain in the State of Israel, often giving up opportunities to see family overseas, for fear of not being allowed back into the country on return. .....
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  • Israel lifts ban on Palestinian 3G | January 25, 2018
    This week a Palestinian telecom company was allowed to provide 3G data service for the first time. This makes Palestine one of the last places on earth to receive 3G coverage. .....
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  • Palestinians boycott Pence’s visit | January 23, 2018
    Palestinian leaders across the board have boycotted US Vice President Mike Pence’s visit on January 22 and 23 in protest at Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last month. .....
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  • Second Friday of rage leads to another Saturday of mourning | December 19, 2017
    As the second Friday of Rage after Trump’s Jerusalem announcement came and passed, so too did another four Palestinian lives. Amin Mahmoud Aqell was shot dead at a protest in Ramallah after stabbing and lightly wounding an Israeli soldier. His death left a number of questions unanswered. .....
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  • Jerusalem first, second and last | December 16, 2017
    America’s so-called ‘Deal of the Century’ apparently seeks to exclude Jerusalem from a future Palestinian state. However, any such efforts are based on illusions and will ultimately fail. .....
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  • A week of protests against Trump’s Jerusalem move | December 14, 2017
    It has now been a week since Trump announced the US recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and will be moving its embassy there from Tel Aviv, setting off protests around the world and protests-turn-clashes with Israeli forces in Palestine. .....
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  • When victory is worse than defeat | December 01, 2017
    Netanyahu’s claim during the Knesset’s Balfour Declaration celebration that the Zionist movement triumphed is far from true. Instead, Zionism has gone down the path of moral and political breakdown while Palestinians have remained steadfast and have gained international recognition for their cause, writes Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. .....
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  • What is driving Palestine’s tourism boom? | October 30, 2017
    Palestine topped the UN list for the fastest-growing tourism industry, a recent report by the UN World Tourism Organisation revealed. What is driving the increase in foreign tourists, and what activities are on offer to visitors despite Israel’s occupation? .....
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  • Australian graffiti artist to hold workshop in Bethlehem | October 15, 2017
    The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem will host a graffiti master class with ‘the world’s most entertaining vandal,’ LushSux, at the end of October. The graffiti artist from Melbourne, Australia is well known for his large, provocative, street murals and more recently his painting on the Israeli – West Bank wall in Bethlehem. .....
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  • What do Palestinians want from reconciliation? | October 12, 2017
    Q&A: Reconciliation should be about more than just re-organising an authority under occupation, argues Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. Palestinians demand elections, democracy and a unified strategy when it comes to the their national struggle. .....
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  • The world is not blind | October 05, 2017
    World governments know about Israeli crimes. But it seems they fear Israel, or deem it untouchable. Hence the world’s people must speak out, writes Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. .....
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  • Formalising apartheid in Hebron | September 10, 2017
    Activists and local residents fear a decision of Israel’s defense ministry to expand the municipal powers of settlers living in the Old City of Hebron will put Palestinian families at risk of eviction. .....
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  • Israel turns the lights off on West Bank school | August 19, 2017
    As the school break ends, 80 children will go back to classrooms without electricity after solar panels were confiscated from a school in the Bedouin village of Abu Nuwar. It’s the third time this summer Israel confiscates solar panels, paid for by European donors, from Palestinian communities in Area C. .....
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  • How the Al-Aqsa protests united Palestinians | August 12, 2017
    Mass prayers outside the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem to protest Israel’s proposed security measures became the largest non-violent demonstrations in the Occupied Territories in recent years, uniting Palestinians without the intermediation of political parties. .....
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  • Jerusalem protests "a turning point for non-violence" | August 06, 2017
    We spoke with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti about the mass prayers held over security measures at the Al Aqsa compound in Jerusalem, which turned out to be the largest spontaneous protest by Palestinians in years. They were more about national unity than religion, and served to remind Palestinians what non-violence can achieve. .....
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  • Activists remain steadfast at ‘sumud’ protest camp | June 10, 2017
    Despite raids and arrests, activists continue their protest at the Sumud Freedom Camp. The Palestinian-led coalition, which aims to establish a new model for Israeli and international solidarity, symbolically rebuilt a village to reclaim the Palestinian residents’ right to live on their land. .....
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  • Why is child labour on the rise in Gaza? | June 04, 2017
    Child labour has doubled in the Gaza Strip in the past six years. Today, it affects more than 10,000 Palestinian minors. Children are seen working in restaurants, at the port, in the fields. Why is the problem so endemic? .....
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  • Nablus rap: self-expression as resistance | May 10, 2017
    Bahaa Jper, a young artist from Nablus, told us how living under occupation got in the way of his passion for music. But he does not absolve his own society of criticism: “Freedom of movement is just a right, and the people of Palestine have stopped dreaming about what they want to do with that right.” .....
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  • Turning waste into everyday art | May 09, 2017
    ReSign for Recycling Design, an "upcycling" initiative, is committed to transforming trash into functional items with aesthetic appeal. The project is at the forefront of Palestine’s environmental movement. .....
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  • Ramallah dance festival explores the theme of exile | May 02, 2017
    The 2017 Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival opened on April 20 with a symbolic ‘Welcoming the Stranger’ dance. The festival spanned 10 days and consisted of a repertoire of fascinating and international shows from Indonesia to Norway and Palestine. .....
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  • The crisis in capitalist globalisation and the alternative | April 23, 2017
    Twenty-seven years have passed since Francis Fukuyama hastily described the triumph of capitalism as "the end of history", but now capitalist globalisation is in deep crisis. This crisis manifests as four sub-crises: in economics, democracy, ethics and the rise of racist populism, writes Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. .....
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  • Against a hard surface | April 21, 2017
    To coincide with the opening of the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival, Palestine Monitor went backstage with one of the participating dance companies, the Yaa Samar! Dance Theater (YSDT). Their piece uses "walls" as a metaphor for the barriers people impose on themselves, as well as those inflicted by the occupation. .....
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  • Palestinian prisoners launch open-ended hunger strike | April 18, 2017
    Around 1,600 Palestinian political prisoners in Israel initiated an open-ended hunger strike on Prisoners Day. Their demands include increased visitation rights and that Israel comply with international law in its treatment of Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli government has so far refused to negotiate. .....
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  • Lifta: the struggle over Palestinian memory | April 05, 2017
    2,250 Palestinians lived in Lifta before the entire population was expelled in 1948, during the Nakba. Hundreds of Palestinian villages had a similar story but Lifta is different because it is the only one that was neither destroyed nor inhabited again. .....
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  • Palestine Solidarity Campaign chairman becomes first victim of Israel’s travel ban | March 18, 2017
    Earlier this week, the chairman of the London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Hugh Lanning, became the first foreign activist to fall prey to the controversial “BDS ban” law, just a few days after it was approved. The law, passed by the Knesset on March 7, prohibits the granting of entry visas or residency rights to foreigners who are advocates of the non-violent BDS movement. .....
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  • How Israel slashes the cost of occupation | March 08, 2017
    A report published today by B’Tselem says Israel systematically fails to pay compensation to Palestinians harmed by its security forces in non-combat situations, lowering the price of harming Palestinians while “maintaining a false show of a functioning justice system.” .....
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  • Israel passes law to bar BDS supporters from entering the country | March 07, 2017
    The Knesset passed a law barring foreign nationals who support a boycott of Israel from getting visas or residency permits. Critics say the move violates freedom of expression and will serve to further isolate the country. The law will also apply to Palestinians with temporary residency status in Israel. .....
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  • Struggling to bury their dead | March 06, 2017
    Bab al-Rahma is the second most important Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, lying in the shadow of the Old City. Local Palestinians wishing to bury their dead there have been facing increasing restrictions, which some observers see as part of Israel’s policies aimed at weakening Palestinians’ ongoing connection to Jerusalem. .....
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  • Palestinians mark anniversary of Ibrahimi mosque massacre | February 27, 2017
    Hundreds of Palestinians and internationals took to the streets of the Old City of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank last Friday in a march to commemorate the 23-year anniversary of the Ibrahimi mosque massacre, when far-right Jewish-American settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire on worshippers, killing 29 Palestinians and injuring 125. .....
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  • A story of every prisoner | February 22, 2017
    During the first intifada, Abed Dalbah was arrested a few months before his wedding with his now wife of 26 years, Bassma. The Red Cross would transfer postcard-like letters between prisoners and their loved ones, but these were restricted to 10 lines and moderated by the Israeli authorities. But there was a way to smuggle his love letters. .....
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  • Grassroots organisation works to combat violence against women | February 11, 2017
    Formerly known as Woman Against the Wall, Biddiya-based Women for Life began in 2002 as a group of Palestinian women practising non-violent resistance against the separation wall. Through demonstrations, camp-outs and rallying, the women succeeded in diverting the wall by 3km, and in doing so saved a school from demolition. .....
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  • Israel approves bill to "legally" dispossess Palestinians | February 08, 2017
    The Knesset passed a bill to retroactively legalise thousands of settler homes built on privately owned Palestinian land. While land grabs have gone on for decades through declarations of state land and other means, Palestinian civil society renewed its call for sanctions to rein in Israel‘s flagrant disregard for international law. .....
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  • Final vote looming on settlement legalisation bill | February 04, 2017
    The controversial bill would retroactively legalise 55 outposts, including approximately 4,000 housing units in both settlements and illegal outposts through the expropriation of over 8,000 dunums (about 2,000 acres) of private Palestinian lands. .....
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  • Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: Amona is an act of deceit | February 01, 2017
    Netanyahu is using the issue of Amona to create an impression as if he’s removing settlements. Instead, he’s using that as a cover for the declaration of 3,000 new settlement units today as part of a plan to build 10,000 units that would separate the West Bank into two pieces, and besiege Jerusalem completely. .....
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  • Fighting drug abuse in East Jerusalem | January 31, 2017
    In Shuafat, the only Palestinian refugee camp within the boundaries of the Jerusalem municipality, drug consumption is on the rise among youth. The introduction of synthetic cannabis several years ago has proved to be a major problem in tackling drug abuse for community activists. .....
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  • A lightness of being | January 28, 2017
    Tayseer Barakat is a Gaza-born, Ramallah-based artist who works with a variety of materials to create pieces that reflect a combination of Arab and Palestinian visual art and mythology with contemporary aesthetics of political struggle. His latest solo exhibition, ‘Lightness of Being‘, launched this week at Zawyeh gallery in Ramallah. .....
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  • The Amona stalemate | January 25, 2017
    Settlers from the illegal Israeli outpost in the West Bank have backtracked from an earlier deal to relocate a few metres from their current location, calling for renewed protests. .....
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  • 2017 opens with campaign of arrests | January 10, 2017
    The Palestinian Prisoner‘s Society (PSS) has reported that in the first five days of 2017, Israel carried out a campaign of arrests, detaining at least 100 Palestinians including 18 minors and three women. Additional arrests took place in the following days in the wake of a deadly attack in Jerusalem. .....
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  • Palestinians protest amid Israeli calls to pardon convicted soldier | January 05, 2017
    Israeli soldier who killed motionless Palestinian attacker was found guilty of manslaughter and could face a maximum 20 years in prison. Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians have stated their support for a pardon. But while Azaria is the only soldier undergoing trial for the killing of a Palestinian in 2016, the case is not an isolated incident .....
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  • UNSC resolution a “very powerful base” for advancing BDS efforts | December 27, 2016
    The resolution adopted last Friday by the UN Security Council, reaffirming the illegality of all Israeli settlements and demanding an end to settlement construction, was welcomed by most Palestinian analysts as a good legal base to advance the BDS campaign, take Israel to the ICC and demand sanctions. But words must be translated into action. .....
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  • Bethlehem gets ready for Christmas | December 21, 2016
    Watch: Despite a lack of funding to restore the world-famous Church of the Nativity and competition from Israeli tour operators, locals are determined to draw visitors and promote Palestine beyond religious sites. .....
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  • The women waging peace | December 12, 2016
    A 30,000-strong non-partisan Israeli women’s movement is trying to influence the country’s leadership to go back to the negotiating table. At least 1,000 Palestinian women joined a two-week march the movement organised last October. But with settlement construction continuing unabated and the Knesset drafting laws that, Palestinians say, are set to bury the two-state solution for good – the movement is not without its critics. .....
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  • Theology professor deported on grounds of support for Israel boycott | December 06, 2016
    On Monday, Israel denied entry to a senior official from the World Council of Churches (WCC) citing her organisation’s involvement in pro-Palestinian activism in the West Bank and alleged support for BDS. It’s the first time Israel deports a foreign national explicitly for involvement with boycott activities. .....
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  • NGO fights to protect victims of settler violence | November 29, 2016
    91 percent of cases against settlers are closed by the Israeli police without an indictment. “The Israeli state colludes with the settlers. They make it a systematic policy to intimidate the Palestinians and get them off their land.”.....
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  • The Sufis of Nablus | November 27, 2016
    In the corkscrew lanes of Nablus’ medieval centre, just a few steps from the austere beauty of the grand mosque, there is a low room with some plastic chairs and rich carpet. At first glance, it looks the same as any other Muslim holy place. But this room is actually a tekyeh, home to the Naqshbandi sect of Sufism. .....
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  • Building a “culture of resistance” in Nabi Saleh | November 12, 2016
    The Nabi Saleh Cultural Committee held its first conference this weekend under the title “Occupation, the enemy of religions and humanity.” The two-day event attracted locals as well as international and Israeli supporters as both audience and speakers. Many of them were familiar faces. The village of 550, located some 20 km north of Ramallah, has been at the centre of the Palestinian non-violent protest movement since it began demonstrating against land annexation by the nearby Israeli settlement of Halamish in December 2009. .....
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  • Arafat museum opens on anniversary of his death | November 10, 2016
    For forty years, Yasser Arafat dominated Palestinian politics. He was there through it all: Black September; the catastrophe in Lebanon; Oslo; the two intifadas. Mahmoud Darwish proclaimed that Arafat shaped “Palestinian national identity.” .....
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  • Orphanage battles to help kids in the face of trauma | November 07, 2016
    At first glance, Jeel El-Amal (‘generation of hope‘) looks like a normal school. But about a quarter of its students are orphans who live on site, many of whom have suffered abuse, spent time on the street, or were exposed to violence. While good quality mental health care is hard to come by in the West Bank, the orphanage offers alternative approaches to helping children affected by trauma. .....
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  • From Beijing to Ramallah: Chinese medicine comes to Palestine | November 02, 2016
    Green tea, Taoism, acupuncture. Where do you expect to find these hallmarks of traditional Chinese medicine? Shanghai? Guangdong? Maybe some bohemian corner of Paris or Berlin? The Palestine Monitor spoke with Chinese-trained Ousama Habiballah, the first practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in Palestine. .....
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  • Traditional oud-maker salvages ancient Palestinian tradition | October 22, 2016
    The Israeli occupation has caused a lot of harm to a lot of people. But at least it got Samer Totah interested in the oud, an Arab stringed instrument similar to the lute. But during the First Intifada, Totah and his cousins would sit in their garden and listen to the old classics of the oud tradition. .....
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  • UNESCO condemns Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem holy sites | October 19, 2016
    UNESCO has affirmed Palestinian claims to holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, condemning the Israeli government’s aggressive attempts to control Al-Aqsa Mosque and its environs. The UNESCO resolution, passed in a contentious vote on Tuesday 17 October, addresses Israeli violations of religious freedoms across the West Bank......
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  • Palestinian refugees starved of clean drinking water by Israeli red tape | October 17, 2016
    Denied access to clean water by the indifference of the Israeli authorities, the residents of Aqabat Jaber refugee camp say their children are suffering permanent health damage. Mohammed is a camp resident and father, and regularly makes a three-kilometre trek to neighbouring Jericho to fill up gallon jugs of clean drinking water. .....
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  • The Qalandiya Festival and the Limits of Artistic Activism | October 10, 2016
    “It has been an adventure to arrive at this moment,” began Aline Khoury, the media coordinator for the third Qalandiya International Festival (QIF). It is easy to see what she means. The event took two years to organise. Exhibits are hundreds of miles apart. One of the venues, the West Bank, is subject to a foreign occupation. .....
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  • West Bank village resists collective punishment | September 27, 2016
    For months, the Israeli army enclosed the West Bank village of Hizma in response to what they accused the residents of inciting violence and stone-throwing against soldiers in the area. The main road was blocked entirely from July 28 for almost one month. Residents had to carry IDs inside the village preparing to be checked by soldiers anytime. .....
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  • Musical kindergarten offers future to Palestinian children | September 27, 2016
    The most striking thing about the school is its educational ethos. As the headmistress, Fida, explains, the kindergarten is not a “music school” in the typical sense. Other schools in Ramallah teach music. But the kindergarten, with its twenty-five pupils, is different: “We have lessons with two teachers, the music teacher and the subject teacher .....
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  • Ramallah Fun Run Raises Awareness for Palestinian Children | September 24, 2016
    On September 23, the Palestine Medical Relief Society (PMRS) hosted a fun run for children as part of its Lost Childhood campaign, with the support of Right To Movement, Ramallah. About 400 children, aged 5-14, were bussed into Ramallah from all over the West Bank, including several refugee camps. .....
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  • No Respite for Susya | September 22, 2016
    The Palestinian village of Susya, in the South Hebron Hills, is still at risk of being erased from the map by Israel. This is despite an international campaign to save it last year. The most recent threat came after several Israeli MPs visited Susya on September 19, and some of the settlers accompanying them allegedly attacked local Palestinians. .....
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  • First-ever professional skateboard tour hits Palestine | September 22, 2016
    ‘Radical Islam’, reads a graffiti tag in Nablus skate-park. Sketched below it is a bearded Imam, a broad grin on his face and a skateboard in his hand. On Saturday, September 10, he watched the park being put through its paces by the Isle skate team. Isle were in town for the first professional skateboarding tour in Palestinian history. .....
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  • Innocent Palestinians punished as lethal violence flares in Hebron | September 22, 2016
    Following a spate of lethal clashes between the Israeli Army and Palestinian youths, innocent civilians are being denied the right to work, leave their home villages or retrieve the bodies of their dead children. At least 230 Palestinians and 32 Israelis have died in internecine conflict since unrest began to rumble across the West Bank in October.....
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  • Hunger Strikers Defiant as Administrative Detention Continues | September 20, 2016
    The condition of three Palestinian hunger strikers, held under Israel‘s administrative detention laws, has become critical, the Palestinian Detainees Affairs Commission has said. In a statement of September 17, reported by WAFA, the Commission‘s lawyers claimed that the three men had reached a “critical stage”. .....
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  • Inside the Palestinian refugee camp backed by Celtic football fans | September 16, 2016
    Glasgow Celtic Football Club played Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva on August 17. A section of the crowd waved Palestinian banners in an act of solidarity. UEFA are set to hit Celtics fans with a £15,000 fine for displaying “illicit banners”. Instead, Celtic set up an online fundraiser,appealing for donations for MAP and Aida Refugee Camp. .....
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  • Here’s what pro-Trump Israeli campaigners think about Palestine | September 07, 2016
    The Palestine Monitor spoke to ROI co-chairman Marc Zell to find out what motivated the Israeli pro-Trump lobby, and what a Trump victory would mean for Palestine. As an American-born lawyer who now lives in the illegal settlement Alon Shvut in the Southern West Bank, Marc repeatedly used the term ‘Judea-Samaria’ to refer to the area, and made it.......
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  • West Bank settlers to build 463 new houses despite UN, USA condemnation | September 03, 2016
    Settlements in the West Bank will be hosting another 463 housing units, after permission for several major building projects was granted by the Israeli Civil Administration on August 31. Four illegal settlements in the central West Bank - Elkana, Ofarim, Beit Arye and Giva‘t Ze‘ev - are to expand. Over 2500 new builds have been approved. .....
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  • Abu Sakha : Appeal Against Administrative Detention Rejected | August 31, 2016
    According to the Palestinian NGO Addameer, defending Abu Sakha, an appeal against the administrative detention order has been rejected on August 25. It was submitted by Addameer attorney to the military court of appeals in Ofer four days earlier. Abu Sakha was arrested at Zaatara checkpoint, south of the city of Nablus, while on his way to work .....
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  • Gaza children return after a 10-day football trip in Ireland | August 15, 2016
    "It was an amazing trip; a dream come true. I have learned so much and Irish people were so friendly with us," told Muhannad Abu Ouda. Muhannad is one of the 14 children from the Gaza Strip who have just returned from a 10-day visit to Ireland to play football. Aged 10 to 14 years old, the young team of Al Helal football club toured seven cities .....
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  • Press release: No visa to Canada for PLC member Dr. Mustafa Barghouti | August 09, 2016
    Invited by Canadian political party Quebec Solidaire to participate in the Parliamentarian and Local Councillors’ Forum on August 10 2016 in Montreal within the framework of the World Social Forum, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian MP and chairman of the Palestinian National Initiative movement, was not granted a visa by the Canadian authorities. .....
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  • Rawabi, Palestine’s first planned city, enters new phase | August 01, 2016
    As the summer draws to a close, Rawabi seems to be entering a new stage in its development. The first school is set to open in September, and hundreds of new residents will move in by November. And last month, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited the site for the first time. .....
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  • Web documentary tells stories of Gaza‘s obliterated families | July 17, 2016
    In commemoration of the second anniversary of the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza, photojournalists Anne Paq and Ala Qandil released a multimedia web project. Obliterated Families offers a deep and intimate journey into the lives of those who survived; it transcribes their pain, and their struggle for existence in the aftermath. .....
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  • Water shortages in Salfit enter fourth week as Ramadan draws to a close | July 01, 2016
    As the month of Ramadan draws to a close, Palestinians are looking forward to the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which will mark an end to their month of abstaining from food and drink. But for residents of Salfit, north of Ramallah, the end of Ramadan won’t bring a relief from thirst. These residents have been without water for the entire holy month......
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  • Umm al-Hiran: Chronicle of a disappearance | March 14, 2016
    Located eight kilometers northeast of the recognized township of Hura, Umm al-Hiran is among the Bedouin villages in the Negev desert at the risk of being demolished. Named after the valley that passes by the village, Umm al-Hiran is home to about 500 residents of the Abu al-Qian tribe. .....
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  • Dr. Mustafa Barghouti: G4S withdrawal, "a great victory for BDS" | March 11, 2016
    The withdrawal of the G4S company from Israel is a great victory for BDS. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that the withdrawal of the British company, G4S, from Israel and the closing of their offices represents another great victory that is crucial to the BDS movement against Israel......
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  • "It’s not an Intifada, at least not yet" | February 25, 2016
    Since Oct. 2015, over 170 Palestinians and 27 Israelis have been killed in a wave of unrest across occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Five months after its beginning, the question remains whether we’re witnessing a Third Intifada. .....
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  • West Bank violence spikes | November 23, 2015
    A Palestinian woman has been shot and killed by Israeli forces following an alleged stabbing attempt Monday morning. Another Palestinian woman was wounded and apprehended. .....
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  • EU announces guidelines for labelling Israeli settlement products | November 13, 2015
    The European Commission announced new guidelines Wednesday on labelling products sold in the EU which are manufactured on illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian and Syrian land. The guidelines state that the EU “does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967.” .....
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  • Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Allan to be released | November 04, 2015
    Israel is set to release Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Allan, 31, Wednesday. Allan has been held in administrative detention for one year. During his imprisonment, Allan undertook a 66 day hunger strike to protest his arrest without trial. .....
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  • The Problem is the Occupation of Palestine | November 03, 2015
    After 22 years of negotiations, Palestinians realized that the road to peace is completely blocked by Israel, and that Israeli governments are using peace negotiations as a cover for the expansion of settlements. .....
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  • Assassination attempt on Dr. Mustafa Barghouti | October 26, 2015
    Late Saturday evening two men attacked Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, outside his home in Ramallah. The assailant cut an eight-centimeter wound from his left ear down to his cheek with a knife or sharp object. .....
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  • LIVE UPDATES: 13.10.2015 | October 13, 2015
    Tuesday sees violent tensions escalate across the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, as protests against the occupation sweep the West Bank East Jerusalem, and Gaza. Since Oct. 1, 29 Palestinians have been killed, at least 55 Palestinians injured with live fire, and 77 injured by rubber-coated steel bullets. .....
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  • Palestinian shot dead after alleged stabbing attack in Jerusalem | October 10, 2015
    Palestinian shot and killed next to the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem after he allegedly stabbed an Israeli police officer. A group of nearby Israeli officers saw the incident take place, and opened fire, killing the attacker, and wounding two Israeli officers in the process, including the officer who had been stabbed. .....
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  • Thousands March for Funeral of Mohammed Halabi | October 09, 2015
    Thousands gathered in Ramallah today for the funeral of Mohammed Halabi, 19, who was shot dead by Israeli police after killing two Israelis in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti sees the latest swell in protests and violent clashes as a critical moment in the current political situation between Israel and Palestine. .....
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  • Israeli Police Close off Jerusalem’s Old City | October 04, 2015
    Israeli police have closed off the Old City of Jerusalem to Palestinians for 48 hours after two Israelis were killed and three injured in one confirmed and one alleged stabbing attack. The Israeli army announced that only Israeli citizens, residents of the area, tourists, business people and students of the Old City are permitted to enter. .....
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  • Aqsa clashes continue into second day | September 14, 2015
    Israeli police were reported as saying that a group of Palestinian youths inside al-Aqsa had blocked entrance to the mosque, and were organising to prevent Jews from entering the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews. .....
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  • Gazans, Hamas protest UNRWA cuts | August 03, 2015
    Palestinian refugees gathered in front of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency’s (UNRWA) headquarters in Gaza City Sunday in protest against its recent decision to reduce education and support services .....
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  • Khader Adnan‘s hunger strike enters 36th day | June 09, 2015
    Khader Adnan’s condition is deteriorating as he enters the 36 day of hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention. He is currently being held at Israel’s Ramle prison clinic having been transferred from Israel’s Hadarim prison in central Israel. .....
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  • From Aida to Shoufat, Part 4 | May 23, 2015
    This is the fourth and last segment in a series of articles to be published by the Palestine Monitor focused on the plight of Palestinian refugees throughout occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank .....
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  • 10 arrested at Jerusalem Day demonstration | May 18, 2015
    Israeli nationalists and police clashed with Palestinians in Jerusalem Sunday during controversial Jerusalem Day commemorations, marking when during the 1967 Six Day war Israel seized and later annexed East Jerusalem. .....
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  • BDS: Lauryn Hill cancels Israel show | May 05, 2015
    American R&B and hip hop star Lauryn Hill on Monday canceled an upcoming concert in Israel, saying she had been unsuccessful in her attempts to schedule a similar show in the occupied Palestinian territories. .....
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  • Israeli army vets slam policy used in Gaza war | May 04, 2015
    Breaking the Silence has harshly criticized the Israeli army for its operational policy during last summer’s aggression in the Gaza Strip, arguing that it lead to “immense and unprecedented harm to the civilian population and infrastructures in the Gaza Strip.” .....
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  • Israeli army uses Birzeit to conduct military exercise | April 17, 2015
    As an integral part of the Israeli occupation policy, house searches are not uncommon in the occupied Palestinian territories. However, the incidents that occurred the night of Wednesday 25 March were out of the ordinary. They were part of a training campaign conducted by the Israeli army throughout the month of March... .....
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  • From Aida to Shuafat, Part 3 | April 11, 2015
    This is the third segment in a series of articles to be published by the Palestine Monitor focused on the plight of Palestinian refugees throughout occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. Our correspondent, Ruairi Henchy, will be visiting a handful of camps in order to give voice to their grievances and to highlight the distinctly unique... .....
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  • From Aida to Shuafat, Part 2 | March 26, 2015
    This is the second segment in a series of articles to be published by the Palestine Monitor focused on the plight of Palestinian refugees throughout occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. Our correspondent, Ruairi Henchy, will be visiting a handful of camps in order to give voice to their grievances and to highlight the distinctly unique character .....
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  • From Aida to Shuafat, Part One | March 11, 2015
    Wandering back through the squalor of Aza’s winding alleyways toward the main road leading back into Bethlehem, it seemed hard not to share in Shadi’s pessimism. “Give me a call if you ever need any more information about Aza – I’ll still be here,” he said as he bade farewell. .....
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  • BDS in West Bank grows stronger | February 10, 2015
    The head of a higher Palestinian Authority committee in charge of confronting Israeli practices against the Palestinians announced Monday that they will prohibit the entry of merchandise from six large Israeli companies into the West Bank as of February 11. .....
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  • The view from Settlement Hill | February 10, 2015
    The settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of Hebron grabbed headlines in Israel and further afield with the controversial visit of Israeli president Reuven Rivlin. Rivlin’s visit to Hebron and Kiryat Arba came just days after the Israeli government announced the construction of 450 new settlement units in the West Bank, including... .....
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  • Homelessness still rife in Gaza | February 03, 2015
    Almost six months after Israel’s Operation Protective Edge ended, living conditions for the vast majority of the approximately 108,000 Palestinians left homeless are still appalling. .....
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  • Uncovering the truth in Khuza’a | January 27, 2015
    As one of the coldest winters in recent history across Palestine and the Middle East starts to break, and people begin to look toward the spring, the inhabitants of Khuza’a in the Gaza Strip are still reeling from the effects of the July-August 2014 war. The approximately one and a half month conflict left 2,205 Palestinians dead, mostly unarmed... .....
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  • Is the West Bank boycott beginning to turn the corner? | January 22, 2015
    Bravo supermarkets grabbed headlines last autumn when the company announced that it was initiating a complete boycott of Israeli produce. Bravo is the first Palestinian supermarket chain to do so, a significant step given that it is the largest chain in the West Bank. .....
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  • Barghouti: Go immediately to the ICC | December 31, 2014
    In light of the failure on Tuesday of a Palestinian draft resolution calling for peace with Israel within a year and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories by late 2017, the Palestinian leadership should go directly to the International Criminal Court, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti said Tuesday evening. .....
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  • Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli forces near Nablus | December 29, 2014
    Israeli forces shot a young Palestinian man dead on Monday near the Tappuah checkpoint south of Nablus Israeli troops opened fire at two young Palestinian men around noon on Monday in the Jabal Sbeih area of the village of Beita near the Tappuah checkpoint. It is still unclear as to why the two young men were fired upon. .....
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  • Amnesty International accuses Israel of war crimes | December 09, 2014
    Israeli air strikes on landmark buildings toward the tail end of this summer‘s Operation Protective Edge amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday, calling for an immediate independent and impartial investigation. .....
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  • Ireland to Consider Recognizing Palestine | November 10, 2014
    In the wake of Sweden’s recent decision to formally recognize the independent state of Palestine and the decision of the British House of Commons to pass a non-binding resolution to the same effect, Ireland may be moving towards a similar change in position. The upper house of the Irish Parliament recently passed a motion calling on the ... .....
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  • Why We Need International Recognition of the State of Palestine | October 20, 2014
    Sweden’s recent responsible decision to officially recognize the State of Palestine was quickly followed by the British Parliament’s vote for similar recognition. The Swedish and British moves, clearly grounded in a desire for peace, are a last-ditch effort to save the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. .....
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  • Dr. Mustafa Barghouti on the destruction of Gaza | September 13, 2014
    On Tuesday 9th September, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, the Palestinian MP, member of the PLO’s Central Council, and General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, addressed Palestine Solidarity Campaign activists in London. .....
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  • As the school year starts in the West Bank, Gazan schools remain closed | September 11, 2014
    “I hope that we can lead a normal life (…) and can go to our schools in safety and security. We did not do anything wrong and on this day we should have been sitting at school desks,” says Bisan, who is supposed to start eighth grade this year, but now lives in an elementary school in Gaza City that is used as a shelter. .....
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  • Israel to expand settlement bloc in West Bank ‘in response to terrorism’ | September 10, 2014
    “Building is our answer to murder,” said Naftali Bennett during his visit to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the West Bank on 1 September. Bennett, the Israeli Minister of Economy and Trade, was referring to a government proposal to annex 400 hectares of land south of Bethlehem which was presented the day before. He linked the land-grab to ... .....
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  • Beloved Palestinian Druze Poet Samih al-Qasim Dies age 75 | August 26, 2014
    Al-Qasim remained a powerful voice against Israeli oppression, both in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and also against Palestinians living within the State of Israel. As a result of his political beliefs and activism, al-Qasim was subjected to periods of house arrest, imprisonment, harassment and censorship. .....
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  • The unlawful sacking of Arab-American Professor Steven Salaita | August 18, 2014
    Steven Salaita, an Arab-American Professor of American Indian Studies, was recently fired from his position as associate professor in the American Indian Studies program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Although the University asserts that his contract was merely “rescinded,” many believe that Salaita was sacked for ... .....
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  • Hebron: a hotbed of tension and human rights abuses | August 13, 2014
    “The Israeli military is responsible not only for reckless and deliberate unlawful killings in Gaza, but also for unlawfully killing Palestinian protesters in the West Bank,” according to Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. .....
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  • Psychological damage of Gazan children will have long-term consequences | August 13, 2014
    Hassan al-Zeyada, 50, works as a psychologist at the Gaza Community Mental Health Program’s center in Gaza City. He treats several residents who suffer from psychological trauma due to Israeli military operations in the coastal enclave. When his own home was shelled on 20 July, killing six of his family members, he found himself with difficult ... .....
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  • New 72-hour Gaza ceasefire to start at midnight | August 10, 2014
    As ‘Operation Protective Edge’ enters its 32nd day, a new 72-hour halt to hostilities in Gaza has been agreed upon. It is hoped that this ceasefire, starting at midnight Sunday, will pave the way for a more lasting truce between Hamas and Israel. .....
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  • Resistance from Azzeh refugee camp: “We are here” | August 09, 2014
    "The third intifada is not now, but if it comes, we know. It is a matter of feeling,” 23-year-old Osama from Al-Azzeh refugee camp in Bethlehem told Palestine Monitor. Osama lives right by the street where demonstrations have taken place almost every night since ‘Operation Protective Edge’ began. .....
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  • What’s happening in Gaza is a colonial confrontation, not a conflict | August 03, 2014
    I use the word ‘conflict’ to describe the confrontation between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement that governs the Gaza strip, with hesitation. In fact, I probably shouldn’t use it at all. This is because the word ‘conflict’ inadequately conveys the full measure of inequality between the two sides: occupier and occupied. .....
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  • The world must intervene to restrain the Israeli army | July 10, 2014
    The world watches but does nothing as yet another crisis unfolds. The tragedy of the disappearance and killing of three Israeli teenagers last month has provoked a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinian citizens across the occupied territories. Mass arrests have been carried out, whose victims include Palestinian parliamentarians. .....
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  • Propaganda or careless journalism - the BBC investigated | July 10, 2014
    Nowhere is it more important to disseminate accurate and unbiased information to news audiences than in reference to Palestine and Israel. For many the situation is both confusing and multifaceted, and the sensitivities surrounding the status of Jerusalem in particular are deep-seated and long standing. .....
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  • Clashes carry on in Palestinian cities across Israel for 5th consecutive day | July 08, 2014
    Clashes between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Israeli police forces reignited Sunday afternoon and continued into the night for the fifth straight day, following confirmation by Israel’s secret police—the Shin Bet—that several Jewish suspects had been arrested for the brutal murder of 16-year-old Mohammad Abu Khdeir in East Jerusalem last... .....
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  • Israeli cabinet makes move to strengthen hold on Jerusalem | July 03, 2014
    The Israeli Cabinet approved an $87 million (NIS 300 million) plan for enhanced Israeli security, economic development, infrastructure and education in East Jerusalem. The plan‘s stated purpose is to thwart "any possibility that the city would be divided as part of a future accord," and echoes Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennet‘s plan to ... .....
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  • Know thy heritage, and share it with the world | June 27, 2014
    While the Bethlehem Marching Band’s music echoed in the narrow streets of the town’s Old City, forty young Palestinians made their way to Manger Square. None of them grew up in Palestine, and most of them were seeing the country for the first time. On Sunday the 15 June they where welcomed to their homeland with speeches, music and dance... .....
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  • 2 Palestinians killed during overnight raids in Ramallah and Nablus | June 23, 2014
    In a serious escalation of the military crackdown currently gripping the West Bank, Israeli troops invaded central Ramallah last night. As the sound of live ammunition echoed through the city’s streets, youth in Ramallah made the Palestinian Authority the target of furious protest, marking what could be seen as a turning point in events. .....
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  • Israeli troops raid Birzeit University | June 19, 2014
    The crackdown in the West Bank took a troubling turn last night, as the Israeli military raided Birzeit University, invoking invoking bitter memories of the harsh educational crackdowns throughout the First and Second Intifada. .....
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  • Israel enacts widespread crackdown after 3 teens go missing | June 16, 2014
    On Thursday night, three Israeli boys aged between 16 and 19 were travelling home from their Jewish religious schools, based in the illegal settlements of Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank. The teenagers, Gilad Shaer, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Ifrach, were reportedly hitchhiking. They didn’t make it home. .....
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  • Israel evicts Palestinian returnees from their village | June 16, 2014
    The Israel Land Authority demolished a camp on Wednesday that was set up by activists in the destroyed village of Kufr Bir’im, in the Galilee region of Israel. The activists are all descendants of Palestinian refugees from the village, who where expelled from the village in the 1948 war. Last August approximately 10 young Palestinians ... .....
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  • Breaking the Silence commemorates 10 years | June 10, 2014
    They all served in the Israeli military, but none of them agree with the things they witnessed while serving. Those are the two traits that all speakers had in common at the 10-year anniversary of Breaking the Silence this weekend in Tel Aviv. .....
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  • As prison protest escalates, troubling testimony from inside | June 08, 2014
    For families, activists and observers in Palestine, the passing of time has come to be loaded with a grave significance. Each 24 hours represents another day of hunger for hundreds of prisoners protesting administrative detention in Israeli jails: a new mark in an increasingly morbid tally that takes the situation of inmates closer to the brink. .....
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  • A Zionist response to the new Palestinian unity government | June 05, 2014
    Israel’s Housing Ministry has invited bids for 1,500 new homes in Jewish settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, reports said on Thursday. The release of the tenders come as a direct response to the formation of the Palestinian unity government on Monday. .....
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  • Promising opening for PalFest 2014 | June 04, 2014
    The unexpected cold wind on Saturday didn’t stop people from flocking to the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah for the opening of Palfest 2014—the seventh annual edition of The Palestinian Festival of Literature. The list of well-known authors set to read their poetry and prose made sure of that. .....
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