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| Palestine Chronicle | | The Palestine Chronicle is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the general public by providing a forum that strives to highlight issues of relevance to human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy in the form of daily news, commentary, features, book reviews, photos, art, and more.
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| | | FEATURED/EDITORIAL | At 80, Failed Abbas is Probed, Derided and Scapegoated (Image: Niño Jose Heredia/Gulf News) "We won't act like them, we will not use violence or force, we are peaceful, we believe in peace, in peaceful popular resistance." This was part of a message issued by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in October, only days after a few incidents took place in which Palestinian youth were accused of attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers with knives. The message would have carried some weight were it not laden with contradictions. On one hand, Abbas' supposed 'peace' quest has only entrenched the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, and all but completely isolated illegally occupied and annexed East Jerusalem. Moreover, what 'peaceful popular resistance' is Abbas, 80, referring to? What war of 'peaceful' national liberation has he been leading? And how could a leader, ever so unpopular, be leading a 'popular resistance' anyway? Just two weeks before Abbas made that statement in which he referred to some illusory 'popular resistance' under his command, a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah revealed that a majority of Palestinians, 65% of respondents, want him to resign. Of course, while Abbas continues to prophesize about some non-existent peace - as he has done for most of his lucrative career - Israel continues to wreak havoc on Palestinians, using every means of violence at its disposal. Granted, Israel's propensity to maintain its violent occupation cannot be blamed on Abbas. It is Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his rightwing coalition that should be blamed squarely for the Occupation, the mistreatment and humiliation of Palestinians on a daily basis. However, such truth should not detract from Abbas' terrible legacy and ongoing misconduct. In fact, some urgent questions must be asked in that regard: If Abbas is such a peacenik, why is his military budget so disproportionately large? According to information published by Visualizing Palestine, 31% of the PA budget is spent on the military and policing of the West Bank. Compare this to 18% on education, 13% on health and only 1% on agriculture. The latter percentage is particularly troubling, considering that Palestinian land, orchards and olive groves are the main target for Israel, which usurps the land in order to expand its military zones and illegal settlements. The huge discrepancy between funds allocated to Palestinian security forces - which never confront Israel's military occupation, only Palestinian Resistance - and those spent to assist farmers in their 'sumoud' (steadfastness) while their land is being targeted and confiscated daily, is a testament to the mixed priorities of Abbas and his Authority. Even Israel, which is obsessed with its security, and manages several fronts of war and military occupation spends only 22% of its total budget on the military, which is still quite high by average standards. Abbas' 'peace' is, of course, quite selective. He rules over Occupied Palestinians with an iron fist, rarely tolerates dissent within his party, Fatah's, ranks, and has done his utmost to isolate Gaza and sustain a state of conflict with his enemies in the Hamas movement. More recently, and due to mere criticism levelled at him by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a prominent Palestinian faction and PLO member, Abbas decided to choke them of funds. In Abbas' 'peaceful' world, there is zero room for tolerance. The PFLP criticism was a response to statements he made on Israeli television. In a recent interview, he insisted that security coordination with Israel is a top priority for him. Without such coordination, the PA will find itself "on the brink of collapse," he told Israel Channel 2on March 31. Apart from apprehending suspected Palestinian resisters, the security coordination includes searching school children's bags for knives, according to the Palestinian leader. "Our security forces are entering schools and checking if students are carrying knives. In one school, we found 70 students with knives, and we told them that this was wrong. I told them I do not want you to kill someone and die; I want you to live and for others to live, too." Abbas' statement on life and death does not, in the least, address the context of oppression, the humiliation of military occupation and the prevailing sense of despair that exists among young Palestinians, caught between a belligerent, violent Occupation, and a submissive leadership. Convincing them not to 'kill someone and die, "involved the security forces arresting the students who were found with knives, questioning them, torturing them and threatening their families," wrote Palestinian commentator, Munir Shafiq. "We only need to listen to the experiences of many who were tortured by the Israeli Shabak and the Palestinian security agencies, who said that the Palestinian security agencies are harsher, more barbaric and more brutal than the Shabak," Shafiq wrote in Arabi21. So much for being 'peaceful' and 'believing in peace.' Writing in Rai al-Youm, Kamal Khalf wonders if it is time to look into the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas, a man who has ruled with an expired mandate for years. While refraining from any personal attack on Abbas, Khalf raises the possibility whether the PA President's emotional and psychological well-being in his old age ought to be questioned, especially when one considers some of his latest statements: attacking Palestinian Resistance, searching children's schoolbags and avowing his love for Israeli music. When Abbas Zaki, the well-respected member of Fatah's Central Committee, returned from a recent visit to Tehran, he was attacked by Abbas who "accused him of receiving $50 thousand from the Iranians and he demanded the money be given to him instead", he wrote. The number of Abbas' bizarre actions and strange statements seem to be increasing with age. It is no secret, of course, that there has been much discussion about succession within Fatah and the PA, once Abbas is no longer in the picture. Until then, such eccentricity should be expected. However, it is essential that the discussion does not entirely focus on Abbas, for he is merely representative of a whole class of usurpers who have used the Palestinian cause to advance their own positions, wealth and prestige. There is little evidence to suggest that Abbas' current position - soft on the Occupation, hard on the Palestinians - is new, or motivated by age and mental health. For the sake of fairness, the arbitrator of the Oslo accords has been consistent in this regard. Since Arafat's death in 2004, and his advent to power through a questionable democratic process in 2005, Abbas has worked laboriously to co-exist with the Israeli Occupation but failed to co-exist with his own Palestinian rivals. True, it has been a decade of unmitigated Palestinian leadership failure, but it certainly took more than Abbas to manage that political fiasco. Now, at 80, Abbas seems to have become a scapegoat for a whole class of Palestinians which has worked to manage the Occupation and benefit from it. - Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His books include "Searching Jenin", "The Second Palestinian Intifada" and his latest "My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story". His website is www.ramzybaroud.net.
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| FEATURED NEWS | Over 80 US Senators Push Obama to Increase Military Aid to Israel
More than 80 percent of American senators signed a letter addressed to US President Barack Obama urging him to reach an agreement on an increased military aid package to Israel. "In light of Israel's dramatically rising defense challenges, we stand ready to support a substantially enhanced new long-term agreement to help provide Israel the resources it requires to defend itself and preserve its qualitative military edge," news agency Reuters quoted the letter as saying. A reported 83 of the 100 Senators in US Congress signed the letter, including aspiring Republican presidential nominee Ted Cruz, but excluding Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running in the Democratic presidential primaries. Discussions regarding a new aid agreement have been ongoing for the past several months. Israel reportedly requested at least $5 billion in annual military aid from the US that would be fixed for the ten years to follow, far surpassing the $3 billion per year currently received by Israel through a military aid agreement set to end by 2018. After the terms of the agreement became unclear in February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting that he would wait for the next US president to sign a deal, if the current administration was "unable to meet Israel's security needs." Earlier this month, Netanyahu reportedly backtracked, telling Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who led the letter, that he would prefer to have a deal signed before Obama leaves office. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the United States government has offered up two possible ten-year military aid packages for when the current one expires: one which would increase the total amount of aid given between 2018 and 2028 to $40 billion, on the condition that Israel not lobby the US Congress for more money during that time period; and another in which the US commits to giving $34 billion over ten years, but without the aforementioned lobbying restrictions. The Israeli government has reportedly been unhappy with both options, despite them representing a $4 to $6 billion increase from the previous ten-year deal. While US-Israel relations have seen a series of diplomatic disputes during Obama's administration, Israel remains the number one long-time recipient of US military aid, and US representatives have largely neglected efforts to hold Israel accountable for violations of Palestinian rights and international law. More than 90 percent of the United States House of Representatives signed earlier this month letter urging Obama to veto "any resolution at the United Nations that sets parameters for Israeli-Palestinian talks."
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| SELECTED ARTICLES |  By Clive Hambidge The ship carrying the precious cargo of a Palestinian Statehood bid, intended for late 2017, navigates through the choppy waters of Israel's polluted sea of propaganda, US obduracy and a forever abstaining UK, complicit to a universally recognized, unlawful and brutal Israeli occupation. This must not deter we the people, in our duty [...]  By Dr. Adnan Abu Amer Palestinians and Israelis are experiencing a conflict over the Israeli army's "pursuit" of wanted Palestinians in Area A. Meanwhile, Palestinian security agencies are asking Israelis to hand over security information in order for them to arrest and pursue wanted Palestinians themselves, but Israel is refusing and demands to do it [...]  Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its condolences to the Salah family and the broader Palestinian community of Chicago and the United States on the passing of Muhammad Salah, prominent Palestinian activist and community leader in the Chicago area, former political prisoner in Israeli jails, survivor of Israeli torture, and subject of extensive U.S. state repression. [...]  By Adnan Abu Amer Palestinians are dependent on banks and currency exchange offices in their financial transactions, such as receiving cash transfers from employers and relatives, and perhaps even for financial transfers sent by factions based abroad to their members inside Palestine. Such transactions sometimes face harsh policies imposed by the Palestinian Authority on banks and [...]  By Dr. Samah Jabr When Hillary Clinton wrote a letter to the Israeli-American donor Haim Saban against the popular and peaceful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, she described "the Jewish state" as a "vibrant democracy in a region dominated by autocracy... a modern day miracle - a vibrant bloom in the middle of a [...]  In a world first, British surgeon Dr. Shafi Ahmed live-streamed an operation using Google glasses allowing students around the world to get a doctor's view of the procedure last Thursday. Medical students and staff in Gaza were among some 13,000 viewers who watched the doctor remove cancerous tissue from a 78-year-old patient with colon cancer [...]  By Hasan Afif El-Hasan In their attempt to win the Jewish vote and money, the presidential candidates from the US major parties typically pledge their affection and support for Israel. While Israel is the one that has been dismantling Palestine, demolishing the Palestinians' homes and destroying their lives, the political Presidential contenders constantly intone that [...]  By Ramzy Baroud "We won't act like them, we will not use violence or force, we are peaceful, we believe in peace, in peaceful popular resistance." This was part of a message issued by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in October, only days after a few incidents took place in which Palestinian youth were [...]
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| NEWS ROUNDUP .. | Palestinian shop owners were forced to close their storefronts in Hebron (Al-Khalil) Tuesday as Israeli politicians called for the annexation of the occupied city during visits by thousands of right-wing Israelis for Passover. Hebron local and prominent activist Issa Amro told Ma'an that Israeli forces instructed shopkeepers in both the H1 and H2 areas of [...]  Palestinian girl Dima al-Wawi, 12, is living in a state of fear and shock after she was released from an Israeli jail on Sunday. The minor spent 75 days in jail after being charged with attempting to stab an Israeli soldier, theAnadolu Agency reported. While staying with her family at her house in the West [...] More than 80 percent of American senators signed a letter addressed to US President Barack Obama urging him to reach an agreement on an increased military aid package to Israel. "In light of Israel's dramatically rising defense challenges, we stand ready to support a substantially enhanced new long-term agreement to help provide Israel the resources [...] The Israeli authorities on Sunday released 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi to her family after she spent two-and-a-half months in Israeli prison for an alleged attempted manslaughter carried out at an illegal Israeli settlement. Believed to have been the youngest female Palestinian to be incarcerated by Israel, al-Wawi's parent filed requests for her release and Israel agreed [...] In the rocky hills of the Palestinian West Bank, farmers learned long ago how to adapt to extremes of climate that make spring the shortest season. In a part of the world where agriculture was first practised, they found crops that could survive even if watered only by the occasional rain storm. But a form [...]  The Israeli authorities on Saturday delivered notices to the Palestinian village of Jalud in the northern occupied West Bank, alerting residents that 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of private land were slated for confiscation in what appeared to be the retroactive legalization of illegal outposts in the area. Officials from Jalud's local council told Ma'an that [...] Amnesty International on Friday demanded the Hamas movement to condemn attacks on civilians after the group claimed a Jerusalem bus bombing that took place earlier this week. The international rights group said in a statement that "deliberate attacks on civilians" could never be justified, calling on Hamas to reject rather than support such attacks. Hamas [...]  The Gaza Ministry of Interior and National Security redeployed forces along the frontier with Egypt in a plan to increase control over the border area. Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Bazm said that the deployment was a confirmation of Egypt's security and of the stability of the border zone. Al-Bazm added that the deployment coincided with a [...]  Latin America sent three quarters of the world's rescuers to Ecuador, Europe the second-highest amount, and the United States zero. Latin America far surpasses any region in sending humanitarian aid and rescue experts to Ecuador for earthquake relief, with Venezuela sending almost a third of all rescue specialists and Palestine sending 19 - 19 more [...] In a world first, British surgeon Dr. Shafi Ahmed live-streamed an operation using Google glasses allowing students around the world to get a doctor's view of the procedure last Thursday. Medical students and staff in Gaza were among some 13,000 viewers who watched the doctor remove cancerous tissue from a 78-year-old patient with colon cancer [...] Israeli authorities' closure of 35 Palestinian quarries in the occupied West Bank since March is threatening the livelihoods of 3,500 workers and may constitute "collective punishment," a Human Rights Watch report revealed on Thursday. The Civil Administration, a subsection of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) that handles Israeli bureaucratic functions in [...]  Some 15 per cent of the Jews who moved to Israel from the former Soviet Union have now left the country, Israel's Channel 10 revealed yesterday. They moved to many countries with the majority now living in Canada. Many had lived in Israel for 25 years however they did not feel they integrated into society, [...] A Palestinian man severely wounded in an explosion on a Jerusalem bus on Monday evening has succumbed to his wounds, a spokesperson for the Shaare Zedek hospital told Ma'an on Wednesday evening. The spokesperson said the man has lost both of his legs and been severely burned in the blast which injured 20 other people. [...] |
| SONG: Ma Lkit |
Emel Mathlouthi is a Tunisian musician who often sings for freedom, thus the cause of Palestine became close to her heart. This song, Ma Lkit, "I could not find a single word," was written and performed after the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, which killed over 2,200 Palestinians including 531 children.
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The Palestine Chronicle is an independent online newspaper that provides daily news, commentary, features, book reviews, photos, art, etc, on a variety of subjects. However, it's largely focused on Palestine, Israel, and the Middle East region. The Palestine Chronicle is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. To contact the editor, submit an article or any other material, please write to: editor@palestinechronicle.com. For other inquiries write to: info@palestinechronicle.com. |
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