#InternationalSolidarityExtraordinaire ~~ BRAZILIANS AIDING PALESTINIAN FARMERS

October 31, 2016 at 10:19 (Activism, Brazil, International Solidarity, Palestine)

The Landless Rural Workers Movement, or Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), sent its yearly delegation to Palestine for the olive harvest in solidarity with farmers in the West Bank.

A delegation from Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement joins the harvest to help Palestinian farmers pick olives and resist Israeli violence.

Brazil’s MST begins solidarity olive harvest

The Landless Rural Workers Movement, or Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), sent its yearly delegation to Palestine for the olive harvest in solidarity with farmers in the West Bank.

MST is a mass social movement in Brazil formed by rural workers and those who want to fight for land reform and against injustice in rural areas.

Members of the delegation are assisting with the physical work of picking olives as well as serving as witnesses to Israeli state or settler violence directed against Palestinian farmers. The hope is to ensure Palestinian farmers, even in high-risk areas, are able to harvest their olives.

The olive oil industry constitutes 25% of Palestine’s agricultural income and supports the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 Palestinian families. The constant threat of Israeli state and settler violence and upsets the olive harvest in Palestine each year.

The MST activists have already taken part in olive harvests across the West Bank, mainly in areas targeted by Israeli settlers. As a part of the 20-day olive picking delegation, MST representatives are also meeting with Palestinian civil society organizations, unions, and politicians.

On Monday, MST met with the Alternative Information Center (AIC) in Beit Sahour. AIC Director Nassar Ibrahim provided an overview of the Palestinian national movement, stressing the importance of mobilizing democratic forces against the occupation in both Palestinian and Israeli societies. AIC Senior Project Coordinator Ahmad Jaradat discussed the relationship of the Palestinian struggle for liberation to other international social justice movements.

MST has acted in support of the Palestinian national movement for years. It is one of the largest social movements in the world, with a membership of 1.5 million.

Source

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HOW DID TRUMP OVERLOOK THIS ONE?

October 31, 2016 at 07:51 (Corporate Crime, Irony, Israel)

Gur’s U.S. operations started in about 2005. Beginning in 2011, Gur and his associates began hiring Israeli nationals on tourist visas in violation of U.S. immigration law. He employed about 340 during those six years, including more than 250 who were in the country on tourist visas, and brought in $14 million, according to the Pilot Ledger.

Man convicted for illegally employing Israelis in US

Israeli man operated shops across US malls selling Dead Sea products using illegal Israeli workers.

An Israeli man who owns kiosks in shopping malls in seven states was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in jail for illegally employing Israeli nationals to sell Dead Sea beauty products.

Omer Gur was sentenced Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, the Virginia Pilot-Ledger reported.

Gur, 36, pleaded guilty on July 6 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to launder money.

The kiosks located in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Missouri operated under names including Premier Skincare, Orogold and Seacret Spa.

Gur’s businesses also were part of a larger venture called Rasko, which reportedly recruited Israelis to work in the U.S. kiosks, helping the Israeli nationals obtain travel visas, or B-2 visitor visas, in order to enter the country.

The young Israeli salespeople are known to be aggressive in their sales pitch. They generally use their commissions and earnings to fund post-army treks or university studies.

Gur, a former member of the Israeli Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit, also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and forfeit several properties he owned in North Carolina, a 2011 Audi Q5 SUV and $300,000 in cash, according to the newspaper. He will be deported when released from prison.

Gur most recently resided in North Carolina, in a house valued at $1.3 million. Prosecutors claim he entered into a sham marriage with a U.S. citizen in 2005 to become a legal permanent resident of the country.

Source

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60th ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF PALESTINE

October 30, 2016 at 07:56 (Associate Post, Collective Punishment, Genocide, In Memoriam, Israel's Shame, Ongoing Nakba, Palestine)

Sixty years is a long time to mourn a death, even a cold-blooded murder. It is even longer when you must live among those, and under the system of those, who murdered your loved ones. Had this been merely an isolated incident of the Israeli military machine killing Palestinians, one may have already regulated it to the history books. But it was and is not.

Photographs of the victims are displayed at the Kafr Qassem Massacre Museum. (Photo credit: Dylan Collins)

The Almighty Military Order

Forty-eight civilians, 1 fetus and 10 pennies

By Sam Bahour

If your Palestinian neighbors and friends seem slightly on edge today, please excuse them. October 29th brings back horrific memories to Palestinians everywhere, young and old. It was 60 years ago today that a scene of cold-blooded murder fell upon the hill-top Palestinian village of Kafr Qassem (also written Kfar Kassim), located in Israel about 20 km east of Tel Aviv, near the Green Line (1949 Armistice Agreement’s demarcation line) separating Israel and the West Bank. It was in Kafr Qassem on this day in 1956 where the Israeli military literally mowed down in cold blood 48 innocent civilians, one being a pregnant woman whose fetus is counted as the 49th victim. It was said that all of this was done in the service of the almighty Israeli “military order,” which no one dared to challenge.

There were other massacres prior to Kafr Qasssem, such as the case of Deir Yassin in 1948. Since that dark day in Kafr Qassem there have been numerous other incidents, too many to list. One that comes to mind is 13-year old Iman al-Homs who, in October 2004, was walking home from school in Gaza when an Israeli soldier emptied his magazine into her after she was wounded and lay on the ground. The soldier was caught on radio communications saying he was “confirming the kill.” The most recent example that comes to mind is the Israeli soldier caught on camera in Hebron this past March as he executed a wounded and immobilized Palestinian man lying on the ground by firing a bullet into his head as his fellow soldiers casually watched on.

Unlike today, decades ago Israel did undertake more serious investigations of actions of its military. This is not to say that justice was ever served—it rarely is. Such a landmark investigation was the Israeli Kahan Commission, established by the Israeli government on September 28, 1982, to investigate the Sabra and Shatila massacre (September 16–18, 1982) where 1,000-3,000 (exact number is disputed) Palestinians were slaughtered over three days.

The Kahan Commission was chaired by the Israeli President of the Supreme Court, Yitzhak Kahan. Its other two members were Israeli Supreme Court Judge Aharon Barak and Major general (res.) Yona Efrat. The Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was found to bear personal responsibility. Sharon’s negligence in protecting the civilian population of Beirut, which had come under Israeli control, resulted in a recommendation that Sharon be dismissed as Defense Minister. Although Sharon grudgingly resigned as Defense Minister, he remained in the Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio. Years later, Sharon would be elected Israel’s Prime Minister.

Back to Kafr Qassem.

The Israeli English newspaper, Haaretz, reported in a story by correspondent Ofer Aderet (60 years after massacre, Kafr Qasem doesn’t want an apology from the Israeli government, October 28, 2016) that, “In the 60 years since the [Kafr Qasem] carnage Israel’s attitude has been complicated. Those involved in it were court martialed, convicted and some sentenced at first to long prison terms [these “long terms” were less than what the law stipulated for premeditated murder]. [Israeli] Judge Benjamin Halevy coined the phrase “a blatantly illegal order” in his verdict. The instruction to Israel Defense Forces soldiers that they are obliged to refuse an order “that has a black flag flying over it” has become part of the Kafr Qasem legacy.”

The Haaretz story goes on, “But the convicted parties’ sentence was soon commuted by the chief of staff, they were pardoned by the president and released from jail. The most senior defendant, Col. Issachar Shadmi, commander of the brigade in charge of the area, was sentenced to a symbolic fine of 10 pennies for exceeding authority. Major Shmuel Malinki, commander of the Border Patrol battalion, testified at the trial that Shadmi had ordered him to enforce the curfew with gunshots. Asked what would happen to those who return to the village after the curfew, Kedmi said Shadmi had said “may God have mercy on their soul.””

And maybe most shocking of all coming from an Israeli newspaper is that, “The comparison between the Kafr Qasem massacre and the Holocaust was first made at the trial, when the [Israeli] judge asked one of the defendants if he would have justified a Nazi soldier who was obeying orders.” The Haaretz correspondent continues, “In 1986, 30 years after the massacre, Shalom Ofer, one of the convicted soldiers, said in an interview to Ha’ir: “We were like the Germans. They stopped trucks, took the Jews off and shot them. What we did is the same. We were obeying orders like a German soldier during the war, when he was ordered to slaughter Jews.””

Many, especially those in the Jewish community in Israel and abroad, will rightfully find the above words hard to swallow. I don’t blame them. This horrendous act was revolting and when undertaken in “your” name it makes one sick to their stomach.

Aderet’s article offers but a glimpse into the legal proceedings surrounding Kafr Qassem. One of the first people to document those proceedings wasattorney Sabri Jiryis in his landmark book, The Arabs in Israel, published in Haifa in Hebrew in 1966. A fuller account of the testimonies recorded by the Israeli commanders and soldiers who took part in this killing spree can be found printed here [with the author’s permission] in English. Warning: it’s a disturbing read.

And this, my friends, is the buried past and not so buried present, of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), “the most moral army in the world.” It is imperative that we all redouble our efforts to not make it its future as well, military order or not.

Originally posted AT

Related Post (Click on link)

Commemorating Kafr Qasim Massacre at its 60th Anniversary

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PRINCIPLES COST MILLIONS

October 30, 2016 at 07:32 (Activism, Boycott Israel, zionist harassment, zionist Slander)

That is if those principles are in support of the BDS Movement …

Roger Waters’ anti-Israel activism has cost the British rock star millions of dollars and an American Express sponsorship, the New York Post reported.

Rocker Roger Waters Loses $4M Over Anti-Israel Activism

Cnaan Liphshiz

Roger Waters’ anti-Israel activism has cost the British rock star millions of dollars and an American Express sponsorship, the New York Post reported.

The credit giant took off the table a $4-million sponsorship of Waters’ 2017 tour in North America following his partisan and anti-Israel rhetoric this month at a festival that American Express sponsored, according to the tabloid’s reportThursday.

“Roger is putting on a huge show. The company was asked to sponsor his tour for $4 million, but pulled out because it did not want to be part of his anti-Israel rhetoric,” an unnamed source from American Express is quoted as saying.

But an official spokesperson for the firm said it never formally offered to sponsor Waters’ 2017 tour. “When we were approached with the options, we passed on making a bid,” the spokesperson said.

At the “Oldchella” festival, Waters used his time on stage to blast the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and to call for a boycott against Israel, according to the Post.

“F - - k Trump and his wall,” Waters said at that event, calling Trump “arrogant, lying, racist, sexist.” He then voiced his solidarity with students protesting for Palestinians. He also urged people to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.

Waters did not reply to requests for a reaction by the Post.

Earlier this year, Waters said during an interview that celebrities are afraid to “speak out against Israel’s policies,” as he termed it, because of what he described as financial consequences attached to doing so.

“I’ve talked to a lot of them, and they are scared s - - tless. If they say something in public, they will no longer have a career. They will be destroyed,” he said.

Waters, the 69-year-old co-founder of the classic rock group Pink Floyd, has been widely criticized for his anti-Israel activities and accused of espousing anti-Semitic symbols, though he has denied doing so.

In a 2013 concert in Brussels, Waters performed on a stage featuring a giant pig balloon emblazoned with a Star of David, among other symbols.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center called Waters “an open hater of Jews.” And the Anti-Defamation League’s then leader, Abraham Foxman, in an open letter to Waters earlier this month, said his “views on Israel are in fact colored by offensive and dangerous undercurrents of anti-Jewish sentiment.”

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FACING LIFE IN PALESTINE ~~ A POEM

October 30, 2016 at 07:17 (Associate Post, Oppression, Palestine, Poverty)

A wonderful and touching poem about facing life in Palestine by Mazin Qumsiyeh

2 Comments

LETTER AND PETITION FROM THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE

October 29, 2016 at 17:01 (Action Alert, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Petition)

If you want to make America great again you MUST sign the petition at the end of this letter

From: Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II

Hi,

I am the Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has long opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline project. The pipeline presents a threat to our lands, our sacred sites, and our water.

Now, thousands of American Indians, from more than 300 tribes spanning the continent, have joined with us to stand against this violation of our tribe’s rights under federal laws and regulations. Twenty-one city and county governments have also joined us to stand in opposition to this pipeline.

We demand that construction of this pipeline be stopped before any further damage is done.

While we engage in the long legal process to curtail construction of the pipeline, Dakota Access is still poised to begin construction. Halting the construction was an unprecedented step in response to our powerful movement—and now President Obama must reject the pipeline’s permit outright.

Current and future generations depend on our rivers and aquifer to live. The Dakota Access pipeline jeopardizes the heath of our water and could affect our people, as well as countless communities who live downstream, as the pipeline would cross four states. The pipeline, as designed, would destroy ancient burial grounds, which is a violation of federal law.

On Saturday, September 5, Dakota Access bulldozed two miles of burial grounds. The company’s private security sicced dogs on and pepper-sprayed those who tried to protect the site. This company cannot be trusted. Urgent action is needed to prevent Dakota Access from continuing to violate federal laws.

Over the past year, I have spent a great deal of time addressing the Tribe’s concerns about this pipeline. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has failed to follow the law and has failed to consider the impacts of the pipeline on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and neighboring communities.

We demand to be heard, and we will continue to stand together for our nation and for all who live with and by the Missouri River, until justice is done.

That’s why I signed a petition to President Barack Obama, which says:

“Reject the Dakota Access Pipeline pipeline and declare this land a cultural district, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, to ensure its protection.”

Will you sign the petition too? Click here to add your name:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-dapl?source=s.fwd&r_by=437677

Thanks!

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THE TERRORISTS THAT WALK AMONG US …. (PART 2 OF PREVIOUS POST)

October 28, 2016 at 14:33 (Activism, Islamophobia, Racism, zionist harassment, zionist Slander)

Be sure not to miss the previous post HERE

LABEL ME A PROUD TERRORIST

Palestinian rights activists on American college campuses have become the target of posters that attempt to smear them as supporters of violence, with a new round of posters calling out students and teachers by name.

New campaign uses racist posters to target Palestinian campus activists by name

Wilson Dizard

“Do you want to show your support for HAMAS TERRORISTS whose stated goal is the elimination of the Jewish state?” one poster asks. Then, posing as the national Palestinian rights group, says “Join us! Students for Justice in Palestine.” The poster drives home its point with a cartoon of a man wearing a kaffiyeh, pointing at the viewer like Uncle Sam.

The posters are the work of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a pro-Israel group that has a history of attempting to intimidate Palestinian activists, especially those in academia. Some of the smears use terms like “Hamas BDS,” smashing together the name of the Palestinian political party and the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which seeks to protest Israel economically and earned the ire of anti-Palestinian groups like Horowitz’s and others.

The posters also come amid rising Islamophobia and attacks on Muslims, both physical and verbal, tied to the rise of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has made suspicion of Muslims a centerpiece of his campaign. Horowitz isn’t doing anything to help, Palestinian activists say.

“Horowitz, a driver of the anti-Muslim movement in the U.S., has taken credit for this and previous campaigns attacking students and faculty. While Horowitz is viewed as an extremist, his tactics are in line with broader efforts by mainstream pro-Israel advocacy organizations and U.S. government officials to suppress speech in support of Palestinian rights,” Palestine Legal said in a statement. “The Horowitz posters fall in line with a pattern of widespread intimidation and censorship of students and faculty in the U.S. who speak out for Palestinian rights, a pattern that Palestine Legal has documented.”

According to Palestine Legal, the schools where the posters have appeared are the following: Brooklyn College (CUNY), San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, Tufts University, University of California Berkeley, University of California Irvine, University of California Los Angeles, University of Chicago, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and Vassar College.

The identities of the individual distributors of the posters remain unknown, but the images, including the hashtag #JewHate list the names of different Palestinian rights activists.

Electronic Intifada reported that San Francisco State University had released a lukewarm response to the incident, which some feel qualifies as a hate crime.

“We do not endorse the message, and consistent with principles of free speech, we believe that the most powerful response to speech that divides or degrades people is more speech which promotes inclusion, advances human dignity, and encourages mutually respectful actions and communications,” SFSU communications officer Elizabeth Smith told the site.

SFSU president Leslie Wong added decried the posters as a “bullying” tactic, but did not name Horowitz’s organization.

“Well-funded groups are trying to undermine us because they know if the discussion happens more and more people are more likely to join the world community in supporting Palestine,” SFSU professor Rabab Abdulhadi, named in the poster, told EI.

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LABEL ME A PROUD TERRORIST

October 28, 2016 at 12:16 (Civil Liberties, Extremism, Islamophobia, Racism, zionist harassment, zionist Slander)

DesertPeace is proud to identify and support the groups named in this post. I guess that makes me a terrorist as well.

A notorious anti-Black and Islamophobic group has launched a national offensive against students and professors associated with the movement for Palestinian rights.

Beginning earlier this month, posters placed by the David Horowitz Freedom Center appeared at San Francisco State University, the University of Tennessee, Tufts University, Vassar College, the University of Chicago, the City University of New York’s Brooklyn College, San Diego State University and the University of California’s Irvine, Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses.

Posters have appeared on campuses nationwide smearing students and teachers as terrorists.

Racist group launches national offensive on US campuses

Charlotte Silver

A notorious anti-Black and Islamophobic group has launched a national offensive against students and professors associated with the movement for Palestinian rights.

The posters feature cartoon portraits of the named students or professors they’re targeting, next to a list of allegations, followed by the hashtag “#JewHatred.”

Though they include some innocuous labels, such as “BDS activist” or “SJP activist,” the posters also include defamatory charges.

For example, Professor Rabab Abdulhadi of San Francisco State University is called “a leader of the Hamas BDS campaign” and a “collaborator with terrorists.”

Hatem Bazian who teaches at UC Berkeley is called a “supporter of Hamas terrorists” and an “Islamophobia alarmist.”

Among the campaign’s unsupported claims is that American Muslims for Palestine, a group founded by Bazian, has been funneling “terrorist dollars” to Students for Justice in Palestine groups to support the “Hamas-sponsored” BDS movement.

Spreading fear and hate

The David Horowitz Freedom Center has claimed credit for the campaign.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups and extremism, says that since the 1980s the group’s founder, David Horowitz, has “become a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-Black movements.”

Horowitz’s organization has also “become the premier financier of anti-Muslim voices and radical ideologies, as well as acting as an exporter of misinformation that seeks to increase popular appeal for Horowitz’s fears and phobias,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Horowitz’s posters credit Canary Mission, a website that blacklists students and teachers who criticize Israel, for information.

Horowitz appears to have piloted his campaign in April when similar posters turned up on the UCLAcampus.

At the time, UCLA vice chancellor Jerry Kangsharply denounced the posters as “a serious escalation” and promised that the university would “deploy all lawful resources to counter any harassment or intimidation.”

Kang has now become a target in Horowitz’s renewed poster campaign.

“Vandalism”

San Francisco State University president Leslie Wong condemned Horowitz’ posters on 14 October, the day they appeared on campus, but some students and faculty say he has not gone far enough.

Wong said he was “angered” by the “vandalism” on campus, calling the posters a “hateful attack.” He blamed “an outside extremist group,” but did not name Horowitz.

“This is not an issue of free speech; this is bullying behavior that is unacceptable and will not be tolerated on our campus,” Wong added.

Campus police have opened an investigation.

“We do not endorse the message, and consistent with principles of free speech, we believe that the most powerful response to speech that divides or degrades people is more speech which promotes inclusion, advances human dignity, and encourages mutually respectful actions and communications,” San Francisco State University spokesperson Elizabeth Smith told The Electronic Intifada.

She said the investigation would review how widespread the activity was and whether any school policies were violated.

But Joanne Barker, a professor of American Indian Studies, believes Wong should have named the Horowitz organization and exposed the racist intentions of the campaign.

“In moments like what happened last week where you have non-response response, it doesn’t make me feel safe as a university employee,” Barker said.

She noted that the FBI defines vandalism as a hate crime when it contains the added element of bias.

Barker said that the university “should be contacting federal and state authorities to investigate this incident as a hate crime.”

After the posters went up, the General Union of Palestine Students called an emergency meeting on campus, attended by representatives of other student organizations and communities.

Rex Halafihi was the first student to see the posters when he arrived on campus at 7:30am on Friday morning.

“It’s funny how media is congratulating Wong. His email is so vague and doesn’t actually condemn David Horowitz or Canary Mission or talk about how they’re anti-Muslim organizations,” Halafihi said. “It’s just so ridiculous.”

Silence at Irvine

The legal defense group Palestine Legal urged UC Irvine chancellor Howard Gillman to publicly condemn the posters.

But administrators have yet to do so. UC Irvine spokesperson Cathy Lawhon told The Electronic Intifada that the posters were removed within two hours of being put up and as a result the school received no complaints from students.

Palestine Legal reminded Gillman that, in contrast to his silence now, he has been quick to propagate what turned out to be false accusations against student activists for Palestinian rights.

“Terrorist campaign”

“Our universities are anti-free speech and they support terrorists,” Horowitz told The Electronic Intifada. “I want people to know that you guys – The Electronic Intifada included – are part of a terrorist campaign to destroy the State of Israel and kill the Jews – and Americans as well.”

When asked for evidence that Students for Justice in Palestine groups were funded by Hamas or “terrorist” groups, Horowitz pointed to a document on his website that purports to connect the dots from SJP to “terrorists” and Hamas.

But the only loose connection Horowitz draws is between American Muslims for Palestine and individuals formerly involved in the Holy Land Foundation.

In a highly politicized trial, the US prosecuted five men who worked for the charity on charges of “material support for terrorism,” even though the US had provided funding to the same organizations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as the Holy Land Foundation.

Horowitz told The Electronic Intifada that Students for Justice in Palestine tells “huge lies,” like “Israel occupies Arab lands.”

“Palestinians are a completely invented nationalism,” he added. “It’s ridiculous. Israel is the only state in the Middle East that’s not apartheid.”

Emboldening harassers?

Abdulhadi, the main target of the posters at San Francisco State University, says that it is past time for Wong’s administration to stand squarely behind those who have been subjected to a long harassment campaign.

Two years ago, anti-Palestinian organizations AMCHA, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, StandWithUs, the Zionist Organization of America and Scholars for Peace in the Middle East accused Abdulhadi of meeting with “terrorists” and asked the university to investigate her.

The university found the allegations had no merit, and that the alleged activity was part of her scholarship.

Nonetheless, Abdulhadi believes the administration’s weak responses have emboldened the groups to escalate their attacks.

Zionist groups are currently targeting the partnership Abdulhadi recently brokered between San Francisco State University and An-Najah National University in Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

For Abdulhadi, the dearth of support amid the mounting intimidation campaign is compounded by what she says is the university’s failure to fulfill its commitments to Muslim and Arab ethnic studies programs.

Following a student hunger strike last spring in response to proposed cuts to the budget for ethnic studies, the administration renewed its promises to hire two more professors.

The ‘real terrorist’ himself ….

David Horowitz has been a driving force of the anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-Black movements since the 1980s. (Gage Skidmore)

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#InGaza ~~ THE ART AND WRITING ON THE WALLS

October 27, 2016 at 10:32 (Activism, Gaza, Nonviolent Resistance, People's Art)

The artwork, “Besieged Childhood,” has garnered renown for its creators. It depicts a child wearing a keffiyehscarf, a melancholy expression on her face, her hands wrapped around two bars, like those of a prison cell.

“Besieged Childhood,” a mural co-created by Belal Khaled, on a Gaza City tower. (Abed Zagout)

The anguish and anger on Gaza’s walls

Sarah Algherbawi

Twenty meters high and 15 meters wide, the mural on a wall of a 12-floor building in Gaza City is unmissable.

The artwork, “Besieged Childhood,” has garnered renown for its creators. It depicts a child wearing a keffiyehscarf, a melancholy expression on her face, her hands wrapped around two bars, like those of a prison cell.

Its location, on the Zafir 9 Tower in an upmarket area of Gaza City, is deliberate. During Israel’s 2014 assault, fighter jets destroyed one of Zafir 9’s sister towers, Zafir 4, in a bombing denounced as a war crime by Amnesty International.

No one was killed, though more than a dozen were injured and the homes of more than 40 families weredestroyed. More than 200 residents were left homeless in what Amnesty described as an operation with “no military justification.”

“Besieged Childhood,” painted in 2015, references this wanton destruction, said one of its four creators, Belal Khaled, 25.

“Zafir Tower bears witness to criminal Israeli acts during wars that targeted a [highly populated] residential tower. The mural is a way for us to communicate this reality to the world outside Gaza,” he explained.

Over the last decade, Gaza has been subjected to enormous destruction.

Three overwhelming Israeli military offensives and a decade-old blockade on goods and people entering and leaving, preventing any kind of recovery, have left thousands dead, tens of thousands injured and homeless, caused widespread psychological trauma and damaged infrastructure so completely that the United Nations has warned the coastal strip may be uninhabitable by 2020.

In this devastation, media coverage has had little ameliorating effect and it is no surprise that a frustrated populace is turning to other means to voice their frustration, anger and pain.

Writing on the wall

It was from a desire to convey Gaza’s suffering that the “Besieged Childhood” mural was born, and it was also a “message,” said Khaled, that artists will not be silenced.

“Gaza may be besieged, but it has artists who are capable of absorbing what is happening in Palestine and conveying this to the outside world in different, creative ways,” said Khaled.

Khaled graduated from Al-Aqsa University’s art college and lives in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. He started out as an artist 10 years ago in photography and sculpture, but he soon moved on to calligraphy art and murals.

Belal Khaled (Abed Zagout)

Graffiti is a well-worn and time-honored path for a Palestinian artist, originating in the years before the first Palestinian revolt against British rule in 1936.

Perhaps the most famous of what could be called “revolutionary graffiti” was what one Palestinian wrote on the walls of his Acre prison cell in black coal, moments before his execution by the British mandatory government in 1936:

To my brother Yusuf:
Look after our mother.
To my sister: Do not grieve.
For the homeland I sacrifice my blood,
And this for your eyes,
O Palestine.

While the identity of the prisoner is unclear, most believe the poem was written by Awad Nabulsi of Nablus. His verses later became a revolutionary song, “From Acre Prison,” which has been passed down from generation to generation.

Some of these cell-wall writings still exist, according to Emad Qassem, 61, who said he was arrested in 1978 and accused of taking part in an attack on three soldiers on patrol in Beach camp in Gaza City, where he lives.

Qassem said he spent six months in solitary confinement in Naqab prison, studying the “drawings and scribblings” of those who came before him.

“When I entered this narrow place, I sat down and studied the walls. I spent most of my time trying to understand the murals drawn by ex-prisoners.”

Some were signed and dated all the way back to British Mandate times, he said.

Qassem joined those who had come before. With stones or coal from the floor, he drew, he said, what he had in his mind. One depicted a mourning mother, one was a freedom logo, and one was a broken chain.

“Once I drew a masked man. When the prison guard saw it, he ordered me to erase it with my tongue. I refused. I was beaten until I lost consciousness.”

The practice has continued and spread. Almost every street corner in Gaza is adorned with some kind of mural or writing. Most of it is openly political, some of it factional. Much of it tells the history of the Palestinian people’s suffering.

Art is politics

During the 2014 assault on Gaza, Khaled combined news photos of Israeli airstrikes and digital tools to create his own kind of graffiti-photography. Adding drawings to photos of bombings gave him the opportunity to infuse some meaning into the destruction.

“The photos of bomb smoke were widely spread [on social media] during the war so I tried to create something unique with them. I drew a weary old man, a woman wearing the keffiyeh, a child playing, a young man raising his hands praying to God and a heart to express Gaza’s hope to live in peace,” Khaled said.

His was a response to violence that built on the examples of artists in the first intifada. It was during those years, 1987-91, that graffiti really took off as an expression of resistance.

Palestinian factions used the medium as a means to convey news, make announcements and simply for bragging rights: competition over which faction had the best artists even began to spring up.

Hassan al-Wali, 54, lives in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza City. During the first intifada, al-Wali, then with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and his friends were some of the most active graffiti artists in the coastal strip.

He remembered his favorites, some of which still adorn the walls of Gaza’s camps. There were the Palestine map drawings, the always-popular key, a reminder of the the homes left behind by refugees during the ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias 1948. He drew assassinated cartoonist Naji Ali’s famous Handala character, the logos of the factions and many more.

“We would split into groups,” al-Wali recalled. “One to paint, one to keep watch and one for protection, should the army surprise us.”

Belal Khaled at work on the “Besieged Childhood” mural in November 2015. Mohammed Talatene/ (APA images)

They covered their faces and moved only in the alleys of the camp. It became, he said, a dangerous task that Israeli soldiers began taking more and more seriously. If caught, it could result in death or arrest.

“The goal of each drawing was to encourage and energize people. We wanted to spark the spirit of resistance by glorifying our fallen, remembering our prisoners and spreading awareness about the injustice and our history,” al-Wali said. “It worked. At least the Israelis began spending more and more time chasing the artists and designers.”

Finally, in an effort to turn people against the artists, the Israeli army forced the occupants of the houses with graffiti to erase the paintings that had clearly “got on their nerves.”

“Wall murals, graffiti, whatever you call it — it is the art of resistance,” said al-Wali.

Khaled agreed.

“Graffiti can spark a revolution. One phrase can energize people. One drawing can move them to demand their rights.”

Sarah Algherbawi is a freelance writer and translator from Gaza.

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#InNorthDakota ~~ PALESTINIANS STAND WITH THE SIOUX

October 26, 2016 at 12:53 (Activism, International Solidarity)

Palestinians know too well the threat to their own water supply ….

As Native communities face an ongoing genocide and continue to resist the imperialist settler-colonial regime of the United States, Palestinians are too experiencing a genocide and ethnocide within our homelands from the settler-colonial state of Israel.”

Image by Carlos Latuff

“Water is life for all of us”: Palestinian activists join Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protest DAPL

Palestinians join Standing Rock Sioux to protest Dakota Access Pipeline

Nadya Raja Tannous

“Perhaps only in North Dakota, where oil tycoons wine and dine elected officials, and where the governor, Jack Dalrymple, serves as an adviser to the Trump campaign, would state and county governments act as the armed enforcement for corporate interests. In recent weeks, the state has militarized my reservation, with road blocks and license-plate checks, low-flying aircraft and racial profiling of Indians. The local sheriff and the pipeline company have both called our protest “unlawful,” and Gov. Dalrymple has declared a state of emergency.

It’s a familiar story in Indian Country. This is the third time that the Sioux Nation’s lands and resources have been taken without regard for tribal interests. The Sioux peoples signed treaties in 1851 and 1868. The government broke them before the ink was dry.

When the Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Missouri River in 1958, it took our riverfront forests, fruit orchards and most fertile farmland to create Lake Oahe. Now the Corps is taking our clean water and sacred places by approving this river crossing.”

– Dave Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, opinion piece in the NY Times

The Bakken formation in the northern United States and southern Canada is listed by US energy companies as one of the most promising options for national oil extraction, only surpassed in size by the oil fields in Alaska. The fields in North Dakota have beenincreasingly targeted for Bakken shale oil resources over the past years and they are quite familiar with public controversy: many of us remember the proposal of the infamousKeystone XL pipeline from 2008-2015, which was held in starkly low public opinion andstruck down twice by the Obama administration. The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is not so different from its failed counterpart. It is mapped out for the same length of 1,172 miles as the Keystone XL and is targeting the same Bakken shale reserves for carry across the upper Midwest. The proposed $3.8 billion dollar DAPL would transport 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day across four states and cross the Missouri River itself. Parent company, Energy Transfer Partners is selling the pipeline as an economic booster, job creator, and sure investment for the future of the American people. Yet, who exactly are they referring to and who did they consult?

In the hills outside of Bismarck, North Dakota is the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, sitting along the banks of the Cannonball River, a tributary to the Missouri River. The pipeline construction sites can now be seen from the reservation, but many people here saw the pipeline coming before it even arrived. Just as Energy Transfer Partners and TransCanada failed to consult Native Tribes who live along the planned pipeline route and whose sacred lands, ancestral lands, and main water sources will be compromised by construction, there has not been a single tribal consultation around the proposed DAPL.

On April 1st , Sacred Stone Spirit Camp was erected on the bank of the Cannonball as a residence for water protectors, many whom came from within and off the reservation to stand against pipeline construction, call for water preservation, and call for recognition of the Federal treat ies held with the Great Sioux Nation. What started out as a few hundred people quickly increased into the thousands, stemming the creation of the Oceti Sakowin and Red Warrior Camps on the other side of the Cannonball.

Protectors, support, and solidarity with Standing Rock are arriving from all edges of the world, many of them representing Indigenous Nations. My own caravan set out from California the 2nd week of September, preceding the Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Caravan that arrived soon after. As a contingent of Indigenous peoples in diaspora and recent settlers on Turtle Island, we attest that those standing at Standing Rock are standing for our present and future as well. We must in turn stand for each other against the present, future, and historical supremacies of erasure, the active legacy of settler-colonialism, and the viciousness of greed.

The pipeline company seems to remain unconcerned by the risk of polluting the reservation’s main water source, the highly probable degradation of land and sacred sights, and their trespass against a series of federal laws, and they are becoming increasingly reactionary to the flow of protectors in and out of the protector camps and surrounding areas. Just a few weeks ago, on September 28th, alarming images and video were released of armed police and military-style vehicles cornering protectors holding a prayer ceremony at a North Dakota construction site. The video portrayed the intensity on the ground and just how vulnerable the protector camps are without the gaze of the public eye:

“They are moving in”
“They won’t let us leave. They have locked us in on both sides”
“They’ve got their weapons drawn”
“They’ve got snipers on top of the hill”
“They’re blocking me on Facebook”
“They are arresting everyone now. Everyone is running”
“Share this far and wide”

– Transcript of LiveStream video via Unicorn Riot

The militarized forces blocked the only exit from the site to the public road before arresting 21 protectors. Other attendees posted photos of a crop dusting plane releasing a gas or chemical over the crowd. There has been little clarity thereafter of the makeup of the compound or the purpose of the spray.

The participation and planning of direct actions against DAPL construction, however, are continuing, with over 100 cars caravanning out to 5 construction sites the week of October 3rd and successfully halting construction for the day. Local authorities, private security hires, and the National Guard are seemingly disturbed by the presence of protectors as well, and are going out of their way to restrict access in and out of the protector camp area and intimidate newcomers. Indeed my own caravan coming from California was discouraged from approaching the reservation on the main road running from Bismarck, ND due to the checkpoints erected by North Dakota authorities. Our longwinded encounter with the highway patrol on our way to North Dakota — who insisted on not only checking all of our IDs followed by standing on the side of the highway outside of the car for an hour but also “passed our information down the line to the authorities higher-up” including suspicions of illegal activity — seemed to be motivated to dissuade an influx of supporters into the area. Stories of license plate checks, racial profiling of Native and ethnic drivers and/or car passengers, as well as arrests at roadblocks, circulated through the camps. Democracy Now, The New York Times, Huffington Post, and many independent news sources also reported these same tactics.

Why did I go in the first place? Because somewhere in the awkward power dynamic of being a US citizen, a non-native inhabitant of Turtle Island, and a Palestinian in the Diaspora, I saw the struggle for livelihood and culture, the struggle against settler-colonialism, the struggle to protect the sacred and maintain your own legitimacy, and the ever ominous force of erasure and historical amnesia. What I later saw at Standing Rock both embodied this and became bigger than it; as a Mohawk Elder said to me, “Without water, we [humans] are infertile dust”.

At a council fire in Oceti Sakowin during my stay, 280 Indigenous Nations were thanked for their support and representation at the camps. Movement leaders at Sacred Stone Spirit Camp have repeatedly stated that the gatherings of different Indigenous Nations near Cannonball, ND is the largest in the past 150 years on the North American continent.

The council fire sits at the mouth of the main entrance of Oceti Sakowin Camp, outlined by rows of flags representing many of the Indigenous Nations who have come to stand with Standing Rock. At the end of one of the rows is the Palestinian flag. Seeing it filled me equally with joy and sadness because it confirmed two things that I had pondered throughout the long drive from California to North Dakota: the first thought is that the power of collective resistance against greed and settler-colonialism is a mighty force. That thought was embodied by my joy to see a representation of will by the presently unseen Palestinian siblings who had come to take a stand against destructive powers. The second thought was embodied by sadness for, if the struggle for protection of water, culture, land, heritage, and livelihood is truly mirrored in Standing Rock and Palestine, then the struggle ahead is both vast and uncompromising.

I spoke with many inspiring protectors from the Maori in New Zealand, indigenous representatives from Ecuador, Canadian representatives from the Blackfoot Nation who were longtime activists in the “Idle No More” mobilizations, and Dakota/Lakota/Nakota from Standing Rock and the neighboring reservations among so many others.

From a variety of perspectives and personal stories, the same foundational message was repeated back to me: this stand isn’t just about standing for Native rights, it is about protecting the water, protecting our earth and securing the livelihood of our next generations. Water is life for all of us.

Myself and fellow members of the Palestinian Youth Movement–United States Branch had reflected on the latter thought when we authored our statement of solidarity “with the Standing Rock Sioux, the Great Sioux Nation and our other native sisters, brothers and siblings in the fight against the DAPL”, circulated on September 7th. Segments read:

“We condemn all forms of state violence against our First Nation siblings and denote that the undermining of their sovereignty and livelihood is a part of the continuing dialectic of settler-colonialism transnationally.

Since the arrival of settlers on Turtle Island, First Nations have resisted genocide and displacement. From seizure of land to reservations, from boarding schools to massacres, the state has done everything in its power to erase and eradicate First Nation peoples. Yet, they are still with us today and they continue to resist. Protecting their land, people, and future generations from the DAPL is a testament to their strength and resilience.

….

As Native communities face an ongoing genocide and continue to resist the imperialist settler-colonial regime of the United States, Palestinians are too experiencing a genocide and ethnocide within our homelands from the settler-colonial state of Israel.”

The comparisons are uncanny. I had spent most of the hours on the road to North Dakota contemplating the connections between the obstacles and oppressions facing those in Standing Rock and the obstacles and oppressions facing we Palestinians under occupation and apartheid. However, upon arriving at Standing Rock, I no longer just thought about the similarities, I felt them in my bones.

When protectors at Standing Rock asked me about what Palestinians experience in our own fight against settler-colonialism, oppression, and greed, I answered sometimes through the language of statistics. Yet, more often, I told them narratives of genocide, exile, delegimitzation, broken promises, and resounding resilience.

Sitting around a fire, burning sage and cedar wood, Darlene Meguinis of the Blackfoot Nation in Canada reflected on the beginnings of the Idle No More movement, in which she is still an active organizer. She told me: “Everything must start with prayer and ceremony, especially organizing.” She reminded me that the founders ofIdle No More, elders Nina Waste, Jessica Gordon, Sheelah Mcleen, and Sylvia McAdams, had rooted the movement in ceremony. The result of doing so, Meguinis maintained, was to center the focus of the collective actions for change.

Native youth in the #NoDAPL Youth Council at Standing Rock reiterated similar ideas about DAPL actions. Two youth leaders recounted to me, “we are striving for the results that we want to see but are being directed by our ancestors. We are here, acting now, for our children.”

Intention and prayer surrounded much of the daily camp life and easily dispersed the tensions outside, even as the DAPL Company and National Guard helicopters flew low over the camps each morning, afternoon and night (something that pointedly reminded me of life in Palestine).

Some mornings along the bend of the Cannonball River, which delineates Oceti Sakowin/Red Warrior Camp from Sacred Stone Spirit Camp, Native artists reflected the beauty around them in paintings and art installations. One of the organizers was Albuquerque artist Monty Singer, whose picture is shown below.

The time set out to create art and music, to gather around fires and drum circles, toparticipate in prayer and ceremony with each other uplifted the vibrant energy of the camps and the people within them. We cheered, prayed and supported the direct actions as best we could every day; donations from across the U.S. and internationally flooded into the main entrance in the afternoons and community kitchens and donation booths ran 24/7 to maintain the swelling of protector numbers. Hundreds of people ebbed and flowed into the camps every single day.

The sheer power required to uphold the movement is sobering: in light of the failed injunction by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe against the US Army Corps of Engineers at the lower court level, a Federal Appeals court officially halted construction of the pipeline, underlining the same temporary hold parameters as the decree proposed on September 9th by the Department of Justice (DOJ). That hold applies solely within 20 miles on either side of Lake Oahe near the Missouri River.

Other locations on the planned pipeline route are still open for construction and, though direct actions at sites of DAPL construction have not wavered, they are increasingly receiving less and less media attention with increasingly severe charges being applied to protectors. For example, the 5 protectors who strapped themselves to bulldozers at an active DAPL construction site 100 miles down Hwy 94 from the reservation during my stay at Oceti Sakowin Camp were slapped with felony charges for “criminal trespassing”, the same charges outlined against Amy Goodman in her arrest warrant as a result of her coverage of the DAPL in early September (although her charges at the time constituted a misdemeanor and were thankfully dropped October 17th after a court hearing). Some of those arrested were even extradited back to their home states to face their charges from North Dakota in addition to preexisting protest charges in other states.

My last night in Standing Rock, I spoke with a woman by the name of “Terry”, a resident of Bismarck, ND. I asked her why I had met so few non-natives from the local area at Standing Rock. Her response was direct and had very little to do with the sheriff’s implemented checkpoints and roadblocks: “It is because of the media propaganda. For example, during the dog attacks, Bismarck news covered a worker’s injury at the site and the hospitalization of a guard. No one gave popular air time or writing space to cover the effects of the dog attacks on protectors.” She mentioned that an article in the conservative paper, Town Hall, soon after the attacks read: “So dogs were unleashed on these protestors. Good”. She and a few others from Bismarck came to the camps because they saw past the media pressure. “We understand that the fight for clean water and recognition of Native sovereignty affects everyone in the surrounding area”, she told me, which would become increasingly apparent if oil leakage wells up in the Bakken region.

In Geneva, on September 20th, Dave Archambault II, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, urged the UN Human Rights Council to stand with the tribe in opposing the DAPL project and advocate for the recognition of their sovereign rights, including the protection of water and sacred places. Protectors are remaining vigilant on and off site, many walking to pay respects to the graves of the Dakota/Lakota/Nakota ancestors that have been disturbed by construction.

Martina Looking Horse, a longtime writer from Cheyenne River Reservation, has been camping at Standing Rock for over a month. She told me that she and her family plan to stay until the pipeline is defeated but stressed that the conditions at camp are not easy to live under. The torrential rainstorms, the swings of hot and cold, and the impending North Dakota winter discourage many from staying longer than a few weeks. Yet, Looking Horse affirmed her belief that she and many others will carry on, with or without the support of mainstream media. The hope, she reaffirmed, is that the national and international people of conscience will continue to support in all the ways that they can, hold the US government accountable to their promises, and not forget that the protectors are still there taking a stand.

The day that I left, the PYM-United States Branch’s official caravan came into Oceti Sakowin, bringing supplies, people power, and small gifts for the tribal council as visitors to the land. They also read our statement at the tribal council fire and met many people, as I had, who stated how glad they were to see Palestinians supporting the front lines against movement suppression. The solidarity with Palestine for all of us who participated in caravans from PYM was overwhelming. What was supposed to be a few-day trip was extended into a week.

Inspired by the stories, the people, the call to our moral responsibility to protect each other and the water that keeps us alive, we hope to return back to Standing Rock and bring supplies for winter.

Friends of Sabeel North America also sent forward a statement of solidarity, in part remarking:

“we know that settler colonialism depends on the exploitation of land and natural resources to the detriment of indigenous communities…Today, we see you, the Sioux nation and members of the other 280 Native American tribes who have joined you to protect the water of the Missouri River and stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, taking a stand for all life, the embodiment of resilience. As the Israeli occupation continues, Palestinian land is stolen, ancient olive trees are uprooted, and blood is shed, your struggle inspires our work and we redouble our efforts to witness and nonviolently resist. We stand in full support of indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.”

The light of hope in Standing Rock is not fizzling out. Upon returning to the Bay Area, I came across many art builds and donation efforts, and have been seeing many more events publicized by friends and family in New York State, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona.

Thanks to Caleb Duarte and the wonderful youth from Fremont High School in Oakland (recently arrived unaccompanied youth from Chimeltenango, Guatemala) who made this solidarity banner:

Art build in Oakland, CA : Recent unaccompanied minors from Guatemala write “Water is Life” in Maya. (Photo: Nadya Tannous)

Dignidad Rebelde woodblock print at the Oakland Art Build for Standing Rock. (Photo: Nadya Tannous)

I remember thinking as I left Standing Rock to return to California: peoples suppressed by power and greed have strength when they rise together. There is a poignant uniting force through something as important as the world that sustains us.

The river was quiet when I left, with lots of green and tall grass on its banks. The river flats lay muddy and fertile, the slow current reflecting the sky day and night, the water turning pink and orange by sunset.

A water protector strapped to heavy machinery down the Hwy 94 shouted out, before being removed to jail,

“This pipeline is a pipeline to the past. We need to be building sustainable infrastructure for the future, not destructive unsustainable industries that hurt land, that hurt water, that hurt people. Everything is wrong about this pipeline… We’re here standing in solidarity with millions of people from around the world that are against this pipeline.” (via Unicorn Riot)

The collective call for justice is ringing loud and clear. Mni Wiconi –Water is life.

Please support Standing Rock. Donate here to Sacred Stone Spirit Camp.

Donate here to the Sacred Stone Camp Legal Defense Fund.

Donate here to the next PYM caravan to Standing Rock.

Source and more photos HERE

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AT WALMART ~~ NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T

October 25, 2016 at 14:38 (Holidays, Irony)

The Israeli soldier costume Walmart pulled last year was back on sale this Halloween till we asked why. Then, like a ghost, it vanished…

Gazan writer and editor Refaat Alareer commented to the Electronic Intifada in the following terms: “I am sure my orphan niece and nephew would be terrorized seeing the kid wearing the Israeli khaki uniform which is the reason for the death of their beloved dad.” Alareer’s family lost several members during the summer 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza. Potential online customers slammed Walmart in the review section for the costume. “Your little one can now go to his friend’s house, and take over their bedroom, and all of their toys and claim that God has given him/her the right to take it,” commented one.

Walmart retailed the costume, supplied by the New Jersey company Wholesale Halloween Costume, whose own product description says: “Defend your Jewish heritage proudly by wearing the Israeli Soldier Boy’s Costume! The Israeli Defense Forces have a mission to protect the land and the people of Israel from outside threats with low casualties, and to avoid waging war if at all possible.”

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IN PHOTOS ~~ PROTESTING U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM [THAAD] IN SOUTH KOREA

October 25, 2016 at 12:37 (Activism, Associate Post, DesertPeace Exclusive, International Solidarity, Korea, Photography, War Crimes)

Over one hundred people gathered in Manhattan’s Korean business on October 21st to protest the American missile “defense” system [THAAD] in South Korea.

Photos © by Bud Korotzer

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#InPalestine ~~ DEATH IN NUMBERS (AND NAMES)

October 25, 2016 at 12:04 (Assassinations, Insanity, Israel, Palestine)

These are the results of the Israeli/Palestinian ‘Peace’ Process …. a record year of deaths on both sides

*

Death In Numbers: A year of violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel

By: Chloe Benoist

In October 2015 began what has been in turn called a wave of unrest, a Palestinian upheaval, or even the “Jerusalem Intifada.” Whatever the name, the past year has seen an intensification of deadly violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

Over the course of the year, Ma’an has collected data regarding every person who has died as part of this latest chapter in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In total, Ma’an has recorded the death of 274 individuals from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. Of these dead, 235 were Palestinians (85.8 percent of deaths), 34 were Israeli (12.4 percent), and five (1.8 percent) were foreign nationals — two Americans, one Eritrean, one Sudanese, and one Jordanian.

The first six months — from October 2015 to March 2016 — saw the vast majority of deaths, followingclashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. With 234 people dying in these first six months, the rate of casualties has since drastically slowed down, although a spate of killings in September have led to fears that violence could once again surge.

Looking at Palestinian casualties

After a year, a clearer picture has emerged of the Palestinians who have died in that time span. Of these 235 Palestinians, 231 were killed by Israelis, two by other Palestinians during attacks against Israelis, and two others killed themselves while carrying out or attempting to carry out attacks.

Drawing from statistics, a general portrait emerges of the average Palestinian to have died during this time: a young man in his late teens or early twenties from the West Bank district of Hebron, killed by Israeli security forces.

According to Ma’an’s records, the average age of slain Palestinians was 23. However, the most frequent age of death was 19 years old, with 22 Palestinian youth of that age losing their lives in the past year.

Minors comprised a quarter of the victims of Israeli violence, with 60 slain Palestinians under the age of 18, the youngest being an eight-month old baby killed by excessive tear gas inhalation during clashes. In total, 11 Palestinian children under the age of 14 were killed, and another 49 between the ages of 15 and 17.

Another 118 Palestinians between the ages of 18 and 24 were killed, making a total of 178 Palestinian casualties in the past year to have been born around or after the signature of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

Three quarters of those who have been killed since October 2015 have never known anything other than Oslo — seemingly corroborating links made between the rise in violence and the frustrations regarding the agreement’s failure to establish a Palestinian state, amid a worsening situation in the occupied Palestinian territory marked by home demolitions, violent night raids, and staggering settlement expansion.

While a number of Palestinian women and girls were killed — 17 of whom while allegedly or actually carrying out attacks — during this time period, their numbers paled in comparison to Palestinian men and boys. Of the 235 Palestinians killed, 213 were male and 22 were female — just under one in 10 of the casualties.

Geographically speaking, the majority of Palestinian deaths — 161 to be exact — took place in the West Bank, while 36 occurred in the city of Jerusalem, 29 in the besieged Gaza Strip, and nine in Israel.

Meanwhile, 182 were originally from the West Bank, 20 were residents of occupied East Jerusalem, 29 were from Gaza, and three were Palestinian citizens of Israel. Residents of the Hebron district, amounting to 73 of the dead, constituted 31 percent of the slain Palestinians, confirming the southern West Bank district’s status as the epicenter of the wave of unrest.

Trying to quantify the circumstances in which Palestinians have died, meanwhile, has proved to be a tricky question. While a majority of cases were straightforward, with video footage or eyewitnesses able to corroborate the facts, in many instances, the official Israeli version of events when Palestinians were killed at the hands of Israeli security forces or settlers was strongly contested. In a number of cases, eyewitnesses maintained that the slain Palestinians did not constitute a threat at the time of their death, or that Israeli forces planted knives or otherwise manipulated the scene of the crime.

Due to the difficulty of ascertaining the exact circumstances of each case, Ma’an has classified attacks as “alleged” in instances when the official Israeli version of events recorded no injuries to Israelis and there were either no outside witnesses, or those witnesses contested the Israeli version of events.

Meanwhile, situations in which there were no records of outside witnesses, but where there were reports of Israeli injuries, were classified as actual attacks. This imperfect system of classification is a reflection of the murkiness which continues to permeate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a daily basis.

Given these caveats, Ma’an’s records show the following:- 69 Palestinians killed while committing or attempting to commit stabbing attacks- 48 Palestinians killed while allegedly attempting to commit stabbing attack- 62 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during clashes, police and/or army raids- 13 Palestinians killed while committing vehicular attacks- 8 Palestinians killed while allegedly committing vehicular attacks- 8 Palestinians killed while committing shooting attacks- 4 Palestinians killed while allegedly committing or attempting to commit shooting attacks- 5 Palestinians killed while committing simultaneous shooting and stabbing attacks- 3 Palestinians killed while committing simultaneous shooting and vehicular attacks- 1 Palestinian killed while committing simultaneous stabbing and vehicular attack- 2 Palestinians killed while committing attacks with incendiary or explosive devices- 2 Palestinians killed while allegedly committing attacks with incendiary or explosive devices- 5 Palestinians killed by airstrikes and shelling- 5 Palestinians killed while bystanders of violence.

Looking at Israeli casualties

Meanwhile, the demographic profile of Israeli victims of violence painted a different picture.

While for Israeli casualties the average age was 37, with the youngest victim being 13-year-old Hallel Ariel, the only Israeli minor killed in the wave of unrest. The most frequent ages were 19 and 21 — an unsurprising fact given that a very large proportion of Palestinian attacks targeted soldiers, who typically begin their military service at 18 years old.

However, soldiers and police officers accounted for only seven of the dead, which could be explained by the high levels of armor and protective gear worn while on duty, which most likely prevented deadly injuries from occurring in a number of attacks.

Meanwhile, 18 of the slain Israelis resided in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Settlers being less armed or armored than soldiers made them more vulnerable targets for attacks, while the restrictions on Palestinian movement outside of the occupied Palestinian territory have made Israelis living in these areas more accessible targets for Palestinians seeking to commit attacks against Israelis.

Some 24 Israelis were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while ten others were killed in Israel. Within Israel, the coastal city of Tel Aviv was by far the most targeted, with three separate attacks killing eight Israelis — as well as one Palestinian citizen of Israel.

Gender-wise, eight of the slain Israelis were female, making 23.5 percent of casualties, with only one of them being a member of security forces.

Regarding the circumstances of death, according to Ma’an records:

16 Israelis were killed in stabbing attacks- 12 Israelis were killed in shooting attacks-

2 Israelis were killed in confirmed or alleged vehicular attacks-

2 Israeli were killed in a simultaneous shooting and stabbing attack-

and 2 Israelis were killed by friendly fire.

While 32 Israelis were killed by Palestinians, two others were killed by Israeli forces who were trying to shoot at alleged Palestinian attackers.

While the pace of violence has significant slowed down since October 2015, the past month has seen a distinct uptick in casualties. The latest casualty, 28-year-old Naseem Abu Meizar, was killed by Israeli forces on Sept. 30, while seven Palestinians and one Jordanian were killed by Israelis in the span of five days.

Almost one year after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a warning tying the violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel to the social and political impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, a resurgence of deadly violence remains a real possibility.

“We cannot ignore the sense of desperation that comes with the slow evaporation of hope,” Ban said at the time. “We must stop the endless, needless, and mindless cycle of suffering, and begin the hard work necessary to restore the belief that genuine progress towards peace is possible. A failure to do so will only embolden the advocates of violence and division.”

Please find above Ma’an’s charts compiling Palestinians killed by Israelis, Israelis killed by Palestinians, and other casualties of violence from Oct. 1, 2015, to Sept. 30, 2016. A PDF version of the charts can be found here.

Palestinians killed by Israelis

#	Date of attack	Name	Age	Gender	Place of death/injury leading to death	Cause of death	Circumstances	Place of residence
1	October 3, 2015	Mohannad Shafiq Halabi	19	M	East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Surda, Ramallah district
2	October 3, 2015	Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun	19	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Issawiya, East Jerusalem
3	October 4, 2015	Huthayfa Othman Suleiman	18	M	Tulkarem, Tulkarem district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Balaa, Tulkarem district
4	October 4, 2015	Abd al-Rahman Ubeidallah	13	M	Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem district
5	October 7, 2015	Amjad Hatem al-Jundi	20	M	Kiryat Gat, Israel	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Yatta, Hebron district
6	October 8, 2015	Wissam Faraj	20	M	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district	Shot by border police	Clashes	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district
7	October 8, 2015	Thaer Abu Ghazaleh	19	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Old City, East Jerusalem
8	October 8, 2015	Ibrahim Ahmad Mustafa Aoud	27	M	Beit Ummar, Hebron district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Beit Ummar, Hebron district
9	October 9, 2015	Muhammad Fares Abdullah al-Jaabari	19	M	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
10	October 9, 2015	Shadi Hussam Dawla	20	M	Al-Shujayya, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Shujayya, Gaza
11	October 9, 2015	Ahmad al-Harbawi	20	M	Al-Shujayya, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza
12	October 9, 2015	Abed al-Wahidi	20	M	Al-Shujayya, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Shujayya, Gaza
13	October 9, 2015	Muhammad al-Raqeb	15	M	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Bani Suheila, Gaza
14	October 9, 2015	Ziad Nabil Sharaf	20	M	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
15	October 9, 2015	Adnan Moussa Abu Elayyan	22	M	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Bani Suheila, Gaza
16	October 9, 2015	Jihad Salim al-Ubeid	22	M	Abasan al-Kabirah, Gaza	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Wadi al-Salqa, Gaza
17	October 10, 2015	Ishaq Badran	16	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Kafr Aqab, East Jerusalem
18	October 10, 2015	Muhammad Saed Ali	19	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district
19	October 10, 2015	Marwan Barbakh	13	M	Abasan al-Kabirah, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
20	October 10, 2015	Khalil Othman	15	M	Abasan al-Kabirah, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
21	October 10, 2015	Ahmad Salah	24	M	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district
22	October 11, 2015	Ahmad Sharaka	13	M	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	al-Jalazun refugee camp, Ramallah district
23	October 11, 2015	Nour Rasmi Hassan	25	F	Gaza City, Gaza	Home collapsed	Airstrike	Gaza City, Gaza
24	October 11, 2015	Rahaf Yahya Hassan	2	F	Gaza City, Gaza	Home collapsed	Airstrike	Gaza City, Gaza
25	October 11, 2015	Khalil Hassan Abu Ubeid	25	M	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza	Hit by army tear gas grenade, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
26	October 12, 2015	Mustafa Adel al-Khatib	18	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem
27	October 12, 2015	Hassan Khalid al-Manasra	15	M	Pisgat Zeev settlement, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem
28	October 12, 2015	Mohammed Nazmi Elayyan Shamasma	23	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Attempted stabbing attack	Qatanna, Jerusalem district
29	October 13, 2015	Bahaa Elayyan	22	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing, shooting attack	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem
30	October 13, 2015	Alaa Daoud Ali Abu Jamal	33	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by civilian	Stabbing, shooting attack	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem
31	October 13, 2015	Mutaz Ibrahim Zawahreh	27	M	Bethlehem, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Duheisha refugee camp, Bethlehem district
32	October 14, 2015	Basil Bassam Ragheb Sidr	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
33	October 14, 2015	Ahmad Shaaban	23	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Ras al-Amoud, East Jerusalem
34	October 16, 2015	Yahya Karira	20	M	Gaza City, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Gaza City, Gaza
35	October 16, 2015	Eyad Khalil Awawdeh	26	M	Halhul, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Al-Muwarraq, Hebron district
36	October 16, 2015	Ihab Jihad Hanani	19	M	Beit Furik, Nablus district	Shot by army	Clashes	Beit Furik, Nablus district
37	October 16, 2015	Yahiya Abd al-Qader Farhat	24	M	Erez checkpoint, Gaza	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Al-Shati, Gaza
38	October 16, 2015	Mahmoud Hatim Hmeid	22	M	Gaza City, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Gaza City, Gaza
39	October 16, 2015	Shawiq Jamal Jabr Ubeid	37	M	Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Jabaliya, Gaza
40	October 17, 2015	Fadil Muhammad Awad al-Qawasmi	18	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by settler	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
41	October 17, 2015	Tareq al-Natsheh	16	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
42	October 17, 2015	Omar al-Faqih	23	M	Qalandiya checkpoint, Ramallah district	Shot by border police	Stabbing attack	Qatanna, Jerusalem district
43	October 17, 2015	Muataz Ahmad Hajis Uweisat	16	M	Armon Hanatziv settlement, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem
44	October 17, 2015	Bayan Ayman Abd al-Hadi al-Esseili	17	F	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
45	October 18, 2015	Muhannad al-Aqabi	21	M	Beersheba, Israel	Shot by army	Shooting attack	Hura, Israel
46	October 20, 2015	Uday Hashim al-Masalma	24	M	Beit Awwa, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Beit Awwa, Hebron district
47	October 20, 2015	Bashar Nidal al-Jabari	15	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
48	October 20, 2015	Hussam Ismail al-Jabari	17	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
49	October 20, 2015	Hamzeh Moussa al-Imla	25	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Beit Ula, Hebron district
50	October 20, 2015	Ahmad al-Sarhi	27	M	near al-Bureij, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Deir al-Balah, Gaza
51	October 21, 2015	Mutaz Atallah Qassem	22	M	near Adam settlement, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Al-Eizariya, Jerusalem district
52	October 21, 2015	Hashem al-Azzeh	54	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Excessive tear gas	Clashes	Hebron, Hebron district
53	October 22, 2015	Mahmoud Khalid Ghneimat	20	M	Beit Shemesh, Israel	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Surif, Hebron district
54	October 24, 2015	Ahmad Muhammad Said Kamil	16	M	Al-Jalama checkpoint, Jenin district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
55	October 25, 2015	Dania Irsheid	17	F	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
56	October 26, 2015	Raed Saket Abdul-Rahim Jaradat	22	M	Beit Einun junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
57	October 26, 2015	Saad Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash	19	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
58	October 26, 2015	Iyad Rawhi Jaradat	17	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	Sair, Hebron district
59	October 27, 2015	Shabaan Abu Shkeidem	17	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
60	October 27, 2015	Shadi Nabil Abd al-Muti al-Qudsi	22	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
61	October 27, 2015	Hammam Said	23	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
62	October 28, 2015	Islam Rafiq Hammad Ibeido	23	M	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
63	October 29, 2015	Mahdi Mohammad Ramadan al-Muhtasib	23	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
64	October 29, 2015	Farouq Abd al-Qader Omar Sidr	19	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
65	October 30, 2015	Qassem Mahmoud Sabaneh	19	M	Zaatara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
66	October 30, 2015	Ramadan Mohammad Faisal Thawabta	8 months	M	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district	Excessive tear gas	Clashes	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
67	October 30, 2015	Ahmad Hamada Qneibi	24	M	Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Kafr Aqab, East Jerusalem
68	October 31, 2015	Mahmoud Talal Mahmoud Nazzal	18	M	Al-Jalama checkpoint, Jenin district	Shot by security guard	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
69	November 1, 2015	Fadi Hasan al-Faroukh	27	M	Beit Einun, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
70	November 2, 2015	Ahmed Awad Abu al-Rub	16	M	Al-Jalameh, Jenin district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
71	November 4, 2015	Ibrahim Skafi	22	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Tulkarem, Tulkarem district
72	November 5, 2015	Malik Talal al-Sharif	25	M	Gush Etzion, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
73	November 6, 2015	Tharwat al-Sharawi	72	F	Halhul, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Hebron, Hebron district
74	November 6, 2015	Salameh Musa Abu Jame	23	M	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Bani Suheila, Gaza
75	November 8, 2015	Sulaiman Aqel Muhammad Shahin	22	M	Zaatara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district
76	November 9, 2015	Rasha Muhammad Oweisi	24	F	Eliyahu checkpoint near Alfei Menashe settlement, Qalqiliya district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qalqiliya, Qalqiliya district
77	November 10, 2015	Sadeq Ziad Gharbiyeh	16	M	Al-Sawahrah al-Sharqiyah, Jerusalem district	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sanur, Jenin district
78	November 10, 2015	Muhammad Nimr	37	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by security guard	Attempted stabbing attack	Al-Issawiya, East Jerusalem
79	November 11, 2015	Ibrahim Abd al-Halim Yousif Dawood	16	M	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Deir Ghassan, Ramallah district
80	November 11, 2015	Mahmoud Said Elayyan	20	M	Ramallah, Ramallah district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Anata, Jerusalem district
81	November 12, 2015	Abdullah Azzam Shalaldah	28	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by undercover soldiers	Army raid	Sair, Hebron district
82	November 12, 2015	Issa al-Shalaldah	22	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Sair, Hebron district
83	November 13, 2015	Hassan Jihad al-Baw	23	M	Halhul, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	Halhul, Hebron district
84	November 13, 2015	Lafi Yousif Mustafa Awad	22	M	Budrus, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Budrus, Ramallah district
85	November 16, 2015	Laith Assad Manasra	21	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
86	November 16, 2015	Ahmad Abu al-Aish	28	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
87	November 17, 2015	Muhammad Munir Hassan Saleh	24	M	Turmusayya, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Shooting attack	Arura, Ramallah district
88	November 22, 2015	Issa Thawabta	34	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
89	November 22, 2015	Ashraqat Taha Ahmad Qatanani	16	F	Huwwara, Nablus district	Run over, shot by settler	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Nablus, Nablus district
90	November 22, 2015	Shadi Khasib	32	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by settler	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district
91	November 23, 2015	Hadeel Wajih Awwad	14	F	West Jerusalem	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
92	November 23, 2015	Ahmad Jamal Taha	16	M	Route 443, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qutna, Ramallah district
93	November 23, 2015	Alaa Khalil Sabah Hashash	16	M	Huwwara, Nablus district	Shot by army	Attempted stabbing attack	Nablus, Nablus district
94	November 23, 2015	Samah Abd al-Mumen Ahmad	18	F	Huwwara, Nablus district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Bystander in attempted stabbing attack	Amuriyya, Nablus district
95	November 25, 2015	Muhammad Ismail Shubaki	19	M	near al-Fawwar refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district
96	November 26, 2015	Yahya Yusri Taha	21	M	Qatanna, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Qatanna, Jerusalem district
97	November 26, 2015	Samer Hassan Mbadda Sarisi	51	M	Zaatara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Jenin, Jenin district
98	November 26, 2015	Khalid Mahmoud al-Jawabreh	19	M	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district
99	November 27, 2015	Fadi Muhammad Mahmoud Khasib	25	M	near Kfar Adumim settlement, Jerusalem district	Shot by settler	Vehicular attack	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district
100	November 27, 2015	Omar Arafat Issa al-Zaaqiq	19	M	Beit Ummar, Hebron district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Beit Ummar, Hebron district
101	November 29, 2015	Baseem Abd al-Rahman Mustafa Salah	38	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Nablus, Nablus district
102	November 29, 2015	Ayman Samih al-Abbasi	17	M	Silwan, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Clashes	Silwan, East Jerusalem
103	December 1, 2015	Mamoun al-Khatib	16	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Doha, Bethlehem district
104	December 1, 2015	Maram Ramiz Hassouna	19	F	Enav checkpoint, Tulkarem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Rafidia, Nablus district
105	December 3, 2015	Mazin Hasan Ureiba	35	M	Hizma checkpoint, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Shooting attack	Abu Dis, Jerusalem district
106	December 3, 2015	Izz al-Din Abdallah Muhammad Raddad	21	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Saida, Tulkarem district
107	December 4, 2015	Taher Faysal Fannoun	19	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
108	December 4, 2015	Mustafa Fadhil Fannoun	15	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
109	December 4, 2015	Anas Bassam Hammad	21	M	near Ofar settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Silwad, Ramallah district
110	December 4, 2015	Abd al-Rahman Barghouthi	26	M	Abud, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Abud, Ramallah district
111	December 6, 2015	Omar Skafi	21	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Vehicular and stabbing attack	Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem
112	December 7, 2015	Ihab Fathi Miswadi	21	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
113	December 8, 2015	Malik Akram Shahin	19	M	Al-Duheisha refugee camp, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Army raid	Al-Duheisha refugee camp, Bethlehem district
114	December 9, 2015	Abd al-Rahman Miswadeh	21	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
115	December 11, 2015	Omar al-Hroub	55	M	Halhul, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted vehicular attack	Deir Samit, Hebron district
116	December 11, 2015	Uday Irsheid	24	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	Hebron, Hebron district
117	December 11, 2015	Sami Shawqi Madhi	41	M	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza
118	December 14, 2015	Abd al-Muhsen Hassuneh	21	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Vehicular attack	Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem
119	December 16, 2015	Ahmad Jahajha	20	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
120	December 16, 2015	Hikmat Hamdan	29	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Al-Bireh, Ramallah district
121	December 17, 2015	Abdullah Hussein Nasasra	15	M	Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Beit Furik, Nablus district
122	December 18, 2015	Muhammad Abd al-Rahman Ayyad	21	M	Silwad, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Silwad, Ramallah district
123	December 18, 2015	Nashaat Asfour	34	M	Sinjil, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Sinjil, Ramallah district
124	December 18, 2015	Mahmoud Muhammad Saed al-Agha	20	M	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
125	December 23, 2015	Issa Assaf	21	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
126	December 23, 2015	Anan Abu Habsa	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
127	December 24, 2015	Wisam Abu Ghwaila	22	M	near Geva Binyamin settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
128	December 24, 2015	Iyad Jamal Issa Ideis	25	M	Ari checkpoint, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Yatta, Hebron district
129	December 24, 2015	Muhammad Zahran Abdul-Halim Zahran	22	M	Ariel settlement, Salfit district	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Kafr al-Dik, Salfit district
130	December 24, 2015	Bilal Zayid	23	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
131	December 25, 2015	Hani Rafiq Wahdan	22	M	Shujayya, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Shujayya, Gaza
132	December 25, 2015	Mahdia Mohammad Ibrahim Hammad	39	F	Silwad, Ramallah district	Shot by police	Alleged vehicular attack	Silwad, Ramallah district
133	December 25, 2015	Yousif Abu Sbeikha al-Buheiri	48	M	Al-Maghazi refugee camp, Gaza	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Al-Maghazi refugee camp, Gaza
134	December 26, 2015	Maher al-Jabi	56	M	Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Nablus, Nablus district
135	December 26, 2015	Musab Mahmoud al-Ghazali	26	M	West Jerusalem	Shot by police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Silwan, East Jerusalem
136	December 27, 2015	Muhammad Rafiq Hussein Sabana	17	M	Huwwara, Nablus district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
137	December 27, 2015	Nour al-Deen Muhammad Abdul-Qadir Sabana	23	M	Huwwara, Nablus district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
138	December 31, 2015	Hassan Ali Hassan Bozor	22	M	Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Raba, Jenin district
139	January 5, 2016	Ahmad Younis Kawazba	17	M	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
140	January 7, 2016	Ahmad Salim Abd al-Majid Kawazba	21	M	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
141	January 7, 2016	Alaa Abed Muhammad Kawazba	17	M	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
142	January 7, 2016	Muhannad Ziyad Kawazba	20	M	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
143	January 7, 2016	Khalil Muhammad al-Shalaldah	16	M	Beit Einun junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
144	January 8, 2016	Nashat Melhem	29	M	Arara, Israel	Shot by police	Standoff following deadly shooting in Tel Aviv	Arara, Israel
145	January 9, 2016	Ali Abu Maryam	26	M	Al-Hamra checkpoint, Tubas district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Al-Judeida, Jenin district
146	January 9, 2016	Said Abu al-Wafa	38	M	Al-Hamra checkpoint, Tubas district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Al-Zawiya, Jenin district
147	January 12, 2016	Srour Ahmad Abu Srour	21	M	Beit Jala, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem district
148	January 12, 2016	Muhammad Ahmad Khalil Kawazba	23	M	Beit Einun junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
149	January 12, 2016	Adnan Hamid al-Mashni	17	M	Beit Einun junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Accomplice in alleged attempted stabbing attack	Al-Shuyukh, Hebron district
150	January 13, 2016	Mousa Zaiter	23	M	Beit Lahiya, Gaza	Shot by army	Alleged attempted explosive attack	Jabaliya, Gaza
151	January 14, 2016	Muayyad Awni Jabbarin	20	M	Beit Einun junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Sair, Hebron district
152	January 14, 2016	Haitham Mahmoud Abd al-Jalil	31	M	Checkpoint near Asira al-Shamaliya, Nablus district	Shot by army	Alleged stabbing attack	Asira al-Shamaliya, Nablus district
153	January 15, 2016	Muhammad Abu Zayed	19	M	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza
154	January 15, 2016	Muhammad Majdi Qaita	26	M	Al-Bureij refugee camp, Gaza	Shot by army	Clashes	Khan Yunis, Gaza
155	January 17, 2016	Wissam Marwan Qasrawa	21	M	Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Misliya, Nablus district
156	January 23, 2016	Ruqayya Eid Abu Eid	13	F	Almon settlement, Jerusalem district	Shot by security guard	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Anata, Jerusalem district
157	January 25, 2016	Hussein Muhammad Abu Ghush	17	M	Beit Horon settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
158	January 25, 2016	Osama Youssef Allan	23	M	Beit Horon settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Beit Ur al-Tahta, Ramallah district
159	January 31, 2016	Amjad Jaser Sukkari	34	M	Checkpoint near Beit El settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Shooting attack	Nablus, Nablus district
160	February 1, 2016	Ahmad Hassan Tuba	19	M	near Salit settlement, Tulkarem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Kafr Jammal, Tulkarem district
161	February 3, 2016	Ahmad Rajeh Ismail Zakarneh	19	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Shooting, stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
162	February 3, 2016	Muhammad Ahmad Hilmi Kamil	19	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Shooting, stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
163	February 3, 2016	Najeh Ibrahim Abu al-Rub	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Shooting, stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
164	February 5, 2016	Haitham Ismail Muhammad al-Baw	14	M	near Halhul, Hebron district	Shot by army	Allegedly attempting to throw Molotov cocktails	Halhul, Hebron district
165	February 10, 2016	Omar Yousef Madi al-Jawabreh	16	M	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district
166	February 13, 2016	Kilzar Muhammad Abd al-Halim Azmi al-Uweiwi	18	F	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
167	February 14, 2016	Nihad Raed Muhammad Waqed	15	M	near al-Araqa, Jenin district	Shot by army	Alleged shooting attack	Al-Araqa, Jenin district
168	February 14, 2016	Fuad Marwan Khalid Waqed	15	M	near al-Araqa, Jenin district	Shot by army	Alleged shooting attack	Al-Araqa, Jenin district
169	February 14, 2016	Naim Ahmad Yousif Safi	17	M	Mazmoria checkpoint, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Al-Ubeidiya, Bethlehem district
170	February 14, 2016	Mansour Yasser Abdul-Aziz Shawamrah	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Alleged shooting attack	Al-Qubeiba, Jerusalem district
171	February 14, 2016	Omar Muhammad Amro	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Alleged shooting attack	Al-Qubeiba, Jerusalem district
172	February 19, 2016	Muhammad Abu Khalaf	20	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Kafr Aqab, East Jerusalem
173	February 19, 2016	Abed Raed Abdullah Hamad	20	M	Silwad, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Silwad, Ramallah district
174	February 19, 2016	Khaled Yousif Taqatqa	21	M	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
175	February 20, 2016	Qusay Diab Abu al-Rub	15	M	Beita checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
176	February 26, 2016	Mahmoud Muhammad Ali Shaalan	17	M	Beit El checkpoint, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Deir Dibwan, Ramallah district
177	March 1, 2016	Iyad Omar Sajadiyya	22	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Clashes	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
178	March 1, 2016	Nahid Fawzi Muteir	24	M	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
179	March 2, 2016	Labib Khaldoon Anwar Azzam	17	M	Eli settlement, Nablus district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qaryut, Nablus district
180	March 2, 2016	Muhammad Hisham Ali Zaghlawan	17	M	Eli settlement, Nablus district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qaryut, Nablus district
181	March 4, 2016	Amani Husni Sabatin	34	F	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Husan, Bethlehem district
182	March 8, 2016	Fadwa Ahmad Abu Teir	50	F	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Umm Tuba, Jerusalem district
183	March 8, 2016	Fouad Abu Rajab al-Tamimi	21	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by border police	Shooting attack	Issawiya, East Jerusalem
184	March 8, 2016	Bashar Masalha	22	M	Jaffa, Israel	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Al-Hajja, Qalqiliya district
185	March 8, 2016	Abd al-Rahman Radad	17	M	Petah Tikva, Israel	Shot by police	Stabbing attack	Al-Zawiya, Salfit district
186	March 9, 2016	Abd al-Malak Saleh Abu Kharoub	19	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Shooting attack	Kafr Aqab, East Jerusalem
187	March 9, 2016	Muhammad Jamal al-Kalouti	21	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shot by police	Shooting attack	Kafr Aqab, East Jerusalem
188	March 9, 2016	Ahmad Yousef Amer	16	M	Al-Zawiya, Salfit district	Shot by army	Attempted stabbing attack	Masha, Salfit district
189	March 12, 2016	Yasin Suleiman Abu Khusah	9	M	Beit Lahiya, Gaza	Army rockets on home	Airstrike	Beit Lahiya, Gaza
190	March 12, 2016	Israa Suleiman Abu Khusah	6	F	Beit Lahiya, Gaza	Army rockets on home	Airstrike	Beit Lahiya, Gaza
191	March 14, 2016	Qasem Farid Jaber	31	M	near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Shooting, vehicular attack	Hebron, Hebron district
192	March 14, 2016	Ameer Fuad al-Junaidi	22	M	near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Shooting, vehicular attack	Hebron, Hebron district
193	March 14, 2016	Yousef Mustafa Tarayra	18	M	near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Shooting, vehicular attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
194	March 17, 2016	Ali Jamal Muhammad Taqatqa	19	M	near Ariel settlement, Salfit district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
195	March 17, 2016	Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Kar Thawabta	20	M	near Ariel settlement, Salfit district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
196	March 18, 2016	Mahmud Ahmad Abu Fanunah	21	M	Gush Etzion settlement junction, Bethlehem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
197	March 19, 2016	Abdullah Muhammad al-Ajlouni	18	M	Abu Rish checkpoint near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
198	March 24, 2016	Abd al-Fattah Yusri al-Sharif	21	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
199	March 24, 2016	Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi	21	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
200	April 14, 2016	Ibrahim Baradiya	54	M	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district
201	April 27, 2016	Maram Salih Hassan Abu Ismail	23	F	Qalandiya checkpoint, Ramallah district	Shot by security guard	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qatanna, Jerusalem district
202	April 27, 2016	Ibrahim Salih Hassan Taha	16	M	Qalandiya checkpoint, Ramallah district	Shot by security guard	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qatanna, Jerusalem district
203	May 3, 2016	Ahmed Riyad Abd al-Aziz Shehada	36	M	near Dolev settlement, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Qalandiya refugee camp, Ramallah district
204	May 4, 2016	Arif Sharif Jaradat	22	M	Sair, Hebron district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Clashes	Sair, Hebron district
205	May 5, 2016	Jana Aytah al-Amur	59	F	Khan Yunis, Gaza	Army shelling	Army offensive	Khan Yunis, Gaza
206	May 23, 2016	Sawsan Ali Dawud Mansur	17	F	Ras Biddu checkpoint, Jerusalem district	Shot by police	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Biddu, Jerusalem district
207	June 2, 2016	Ansar Hussam Harasha	25	F	Innab checkpoint, Tulkarem district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Qaffin, Tulkarem district
208	June 21, 2016	Mahmoud Raafat Badran	15	M	near Beit Ur al-Tahta, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Bystander in stone throwing	Beit Ur al-Tahta, Ramallah district
209	June 24, 2016	Majd al-Khadour	18	F	near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Vehicular attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
210	June 30, 2016	Muhammad Nasser Tarayra	17	M	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by security guard	Stabbing attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
211	June 30, 2016	Wael Abu Saleh	46	M	Netanya, Israel	Shot by civilian	Stabbing attack	Shweika, Tulkarem district
212	July 1, 2016	Sarah Tarayra	27	F	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
213	July 1, 2016	Muhammad Mustafa Habash	63	M	Qalandiya checkpoint, Ramallah district	Tear gas	Clashes	Asira al-Shamaliya, Nablus district
214	July 13, 2016	Anwar al-Salaymeh	22	M	Al-Ram, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Army raid	Anata, Jerusalem district
215	July 18, 2016	Mustafa Baradiya	51	M	near Al-Arrub refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Beit Fajjar, Bethlehem district
216	July 19, 2016	Muhyee Sidqi al-Tibakhi	12	M	Al-Ram, Jerusalem district	Shot by army	Clashes	Al-Ram, Jerusalem district
217	July 29, 2016	Muhammad Faqih	29	M	Surif, Hebron district	Killed by army	Army raid	Dura, Hebron district
218	July 31, 2016	Rami Muhammad Zaim Awartani	31	M	Huwwara checkpoint, Nablus district	Shot by army	Attempted stabbing attack	Nablus, Nablus district
219	August 16, 2016	Muhammad Abu Hashhash	17	M	al-Fawwar refugee camp, Hebron district	Shot by army	Clashes	al-Fawwar refugee camp, Hebron district
220	August 24, 2016	Sari Muhammad Abu Ghurab	24	M	near Ariel settlement, Salfit district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Qabatiya, Jenin district
221	August 26, 2016	Iyad Zakariya Hamed	38	M	near Silwad, Ramallah district	Shot by army	Bystander near military site	Silwad, Ramallah district
222	September 5, 2016	Mustafa Nimr	27	M	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district	Shot by border police	Clashes	Shufat refugee camp, Jerusalem district
223	September 9, 2016	Abd al-Rahman Ahmad al-Dabbagh	15	M	near Bureij refugee camp, Gaza	Allegedly shot by army	Clashes	Bureij refugee camp, Gaza
224	September 15, 2016	Muhammad Ahmad Abd al-Fattah al-Sarrahin	30	M	Beit Ula, Hebron district	Shot by army, later succumbed to injuries	Army raid	Beit Ula, Hebron district
225	September 16, 2016	Fares Moussa Muhammad Khaddour	18	M	near Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged vehicular attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
226	September 16, 2016	Muhammad Thalji Kayid Thalji al-Rajabi	15	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
227	September 17, 2016	Hatim Abd al-Hafeeth Shaludi	25	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by army	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
228	September 19, 2016	Muhannad Jameel al-Rajabi	21	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
229	September 19, 2016	Ameer Jamal al-Rajabi	17	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Shot by border police	Stabbing attack	Hebron, Hebron district
230	September 20, 2016	Issa Salim Mahmoud Tarayra	16	M	Wadi al-Joz junction, Hebron district	Shot by army	Alleged attempted stabbing attack	Bani Naim, Hebron district
231	September 30, 2016	Nasim Abu Meizar	28	M	Qalandiya checkpoint, Ramallah district	Shot by army	stabbing attack	Kafr Aqab, Jerusalem

Israelis killed by Palestinians

#	Date of attack	Name	Age	Gender	Place of death/injury leading to death	Cause of death	Soldier/police	Place of residence
1	October 1, 2015	Naama Henkin	30	F	near Beit Furik, Nablus district	Drive-by shooting	No	Nerya settlement, Ramallah district
2	October 1, 2015	Eitam Henkin	31	M	near Beit Furik, Nablus district	Drive-by shooting	No	Nerya settlement, Ramallah district
3	October 3, 2015	Aharon Banita	21	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	Yes	Beitar Illit settlement, Bethlehem district
4	October 3, 2015	Nehemia Lavi	41	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	No	Old City, East Jerusalem
5	October 13, 2015	Richard Lakin	76	M	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem	Shooting and stabbing attack, later succumbed to injuries	No	West Jerusalem
6	October 13, 2015	Haim Haviv	78	M	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	No	East Talpiot settlement, East Jerusalem
7	October 13, 2015	Alon Govberg	51	M	Jabal al-Mukabbir, East Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	No	East Talpiot settlement, East Jerusalem
8	October 13, 2015	Yeshayahu Krishevsky	59	M	West Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	No	West Jerusalem
9	October 18, 2015	Omri Levi	19	M	Beersheba, Israel	Shooting	Yes	Sdei Hemed, Israel
10	October 20, 2015	Avraham Hasno	54	M	near al-Fawwar, Hebron district	Run over by vehicle in apparent accident	No	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district
11	November 4, 2015	Binyamin Yakobovitch	19	M	near Halhul, Hebron district	Run over by vehicle, later succumbed to injuries	Yes	Kiryat Ata, Israel
12	November 13, 2015	Yaakov Litman	40	M	near Otniel settlement, Hebron district	Shooting	No	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district
13	November 13, 2015	Natanel Litman	18	M	near Otniel settlement, Hebron district	Shooting	No	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district
14	November 19, 2015	Yaakov Don	48	M	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Shooting	No	Alon Shvut settlement, Bethlehem district
15	November 19, 2015	Aharon Yesayev	32	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Stabbing attack	No	Holon, Israel
16	November 19, 2015	Reuven Aviram	51	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Stabbing attack	No	Ramle, Israel
17	November 22, 2015	Hadar Buchris	21	F	Gush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem district	Stabbing attack	No	Safed, Israel
18	November 23, 2015	Ziv Mizrahi	18	M	near Beit Ur al-Tahta, Ramallah district	Stabbing attack	Yes	Givat Zeev settlement, Jerusalem district
19	December 7, 2015	Gennady Kaufman	41	M	Hebron, Hebron district	Stabbing attack, later succumbed to injuries	No	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district
20	December 23, 2015	Reuven Birmajer	45	M	Old City, East Jerusalem	Stabbing attack	No	Kiryat Yearim, Israel
21	January 1, 2016	Shimon Ruimi	30	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Ofakim, Israel
22	January 1, 2016	Alon Bakal	26	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Karmiel, Israel
23	January 17, 2016	Dafna Meir	38	F	Otniel settlement, Hebron district	Stabbing attack	No	Otniel settlement, Hebron district
24	January 25, 2016	Shlomit Krigman	23	F	Bet Horon settlement, Jerusalem district	Stabbing attack, later succumbed to injuries	No	Shadmot Mehola settlement, Tubas district
25	February 3, 2016	Hadar Cohen	19	F	Old City, East Jerusalem	Shooting stabbing attack	Yes	Or Yehuda, Israel
26	February 18, 2016	Tuvia Yanai Wissman	21	M	Shaare Benyamin settlement, Ramallah district	Stabbing attack	Yes	Maale Mikhmas settlement, Jerusalem district
27	June 7, 2016	Eido Ben Aryeh	42	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Ramat Gan, Israel
28	June 7, 2016	Elana Nave	39	F	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Tel Aviv, Israel
29	June 7, 2016	Michael Fayge	58	M	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Midreshet Ben Gurion, Israel
30	June 7, 2016	Mila Mishayiv	33	F	Tel Aviv, Israel	Shooting	No	Rishon LeZion, Israel
31	June 30, 2016	Hallel Yafa Ariel	13	F	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district	Stabbing attack	No	Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron district
32	July 1, 2016	Michael Mark	48	M	Route 60, Hebron district	Shooting	No	Otniel settlement, Hebron district

Other casualties of violence

#Date of attackNameAgeGenderPlace of death/injury leading to deathCause of deathNationalityKilled byPlace of residence

1October 18, 2015Haftom Zarhum29MBeersheba, IsraelShot after wrongfully suspected in attackEritreanIsraeli security guardIsrael

2November 19, 2015Shadi Zuhdi Ratib Arafa24MGush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem districtShootingPalestinianPalestinian shooterHebron, Hebron district

3November 19, 2015Ezra Schwartz18MAlon Shvut settlement, Bethlehem districtShootingAmericanPalestinian shooterUnited States

4December 23, 2015Ofer Ben Ari46MOld City, East JerusalemFriendly fireIsraeliIsraeli border policeWest Jerusalem

5January 1, 2016Amin Shaaban42MTel Aviv, IsraelShootingPalestinian with Israeli citizenshipPalestinian with Israeli citizenshipLyd, Israel

6January 23, 2016Muhammad Nabil Halabiya17MEast JerusalemHolding pipe bomb which exploded prematurelyPalestinianSelfAbu Dis, East Jerusalem

7February7, 2016Kamil Hassan32MAshkelon, IsraelCommitted stabbing attack on Israeli soldierSudaneseIsraeli soldierIsrael

8February 24, 2016Eliav Gelman31MGush Etzion settlement, Bethlehem districtFriendly fireIsraeliIsraeli soldierKarmi Tzur settlement, Hebron district9March 8, 2016Taylor Force29MJaffa, IsraelStabbingAmericanPalestinian shooterUnited States

10April 18, 2016Abd al-Hamid Abu Srour19MJerusalemCarrying out bus explosion, later succumbed to injuriesPalestinianSelfAida refugee camp, Bethlehem district

11September 16, 2016Said al-Amr28MOld City, East JerusalemAlleged attempted stabbing attackJordanianIsraeli border policeJordan

Source

1 Comment

WHEN BOYCOTTING THE OCCUPATION ISN’T ENOUGH

October 23, 2016 at 12:21 (Activism, Boycott Israel, Israel, Palestine)

“BDS could turn from something “untouchable by European and American officials and liberal academics and activists – who understood its ultimate goal as one that not only refuses to guarantee the survival of Israel as a racist state, but also aims specifically to dismantle all its racist structures – to something increasingly safe to adopt by most of them, as it now can be used to secure Israel’s survival.”

Liberal Zionists are attempting to co-opt BDS to preserve Israeli apartheid. (Ryan Rodrick Beiler/ActiveStills)

Boycotting “the occupation” is not enough

Ali Abunimah

Earlier this month, The New York Review of Books published a call for “a targeted boycott of all goods and services from all Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and any investments that promote the occupation, until such time as a peace settlement is negotiated between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.”

That call, signed by Peter Beinart, Todd Gitlin, Michael Walzer and more than 70 other liberal Zionist writers and luminaries, states that the so-called Green Line – the 1949 Armistice Line separating the occupied West Bank from present-day Israel – “should be the starting point for negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian parties on future boundaries between two states.”

Co-opting BDS

This is precisely the kind of attempt to co-opt the success of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that Columbia University professor Joseph Massad cautions about in a 2014 article for The Electronic Intifada: liberal Zionists aim to redefine and redirect the movement’s strength and efforts towards preserving, instead of challenging, Israel as a racist, apartheid and colonial state.

Massad warns that BDS could turn from something “untouchable by European and American officials and liberal academics and activists – who understood its ultimate goal as one that not only refuses to guarantee the survival of Israel as a racist state, but also aims specifically to dismantle all its racist structures – to something increasingly safe to adopt by most of them, as it now can be used to secure Israel’s survival.”

Palestinians must insist, Massad writes, that those in solidarity with them adopt BDS with an explicit commitment to its goals, “to bring about an end to Israel’s racism and colonialism in all its forms inside and outside the 1948 boundaries” – the whole of present-day Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Opening

In the current issue of The New York Review of Books, more than 100 activists, scholars and artists from Palestine and around the world – including BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti, activist and scholarAngela Davis, historian Joan Scott, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, writer Alice Walker and South African freedom fighter Ronnie Kasrils – have responded.

The new letter – of which I am one the signers – says that it defies “common sense” to call only for “boycotting settlements while letting Israel, the state that has illegally built and maintained those settlements for decades, off the hook.”

“By omitting Israel’s other serious violations of international law, the statement fails the moral consistency test,” the letter adds. “Aren’t Palestinian refugees, the majority of Palestinians, entitled to their UN-stipulated rights? Shouldn’t Palestinian citizens of Israel enjoy equal rights by repealing Israel’s dozens of laws that racially discriminate against them?”

It emphasizes that the Palestinian call for BDS is aimed at “all entities, Israeli or international, that are complicit in denying Palestinians everywhere their rights.”

Like The Nation and The London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books has rarely opened its pages to Palestinian writers, and has been a bastion of liberal Zionist orthodoxy.

So in that sense, its publication of the letter represents a small opening in the wall of exclusion.

2 Comments

A POEM OF RESISTANCE FROM AND FOR PALESTINE

October 22, 2016 at 17:33 (Associate Post, Palestine, Poetry)

During travels, one gets little sleep and much time to catch-up on
emails, read, grade student papers, and even to think and reflect.
Last week in Palestine was very hectic, harvest of olives, teachings,
meeting with bureaucrats, research, mentoring students, receiving many
international and local delegations plus many local ones including
students from 4 schools) and much thus meaning a second night with
little sleep. We also lost a close friend of us and of Palestine:
Vincenzo Tradardi of Parma. We will really miss him. Other setbacks
happen daily but we are gratified by the goodness of people around us.
Volunteers, staff, students, and dedicated activists for peace and
justice. Most are struggling to grow amid the madness. I really do not
like to travel and I already miss Palestine where I feel much more
alive than anywhere else on earth. The poem below is written in
reflection.

The Struggle Within

By Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD

Facing life’s challenges and insecurity
The heart yearns for serenity

How can we ignore the oppressor’s meanness
And simply understand his weakness

With so much deception
What is to change perception?

We struggle to see the positives
Even as we are flooded with negatives

A child hungers amid flies and vultures
While billionaires invest in ventures

Zionists steal our lands
And profit from our raised hands

Tossing and turning in their dreary night
Their biggest fear is truth coming to light

The corrupt rule in Ramallah
The weak put faith in Allah

Within you feed the good wolf more
If you do not want the bad one to score

Does the struggle within have winners
Or is it only in the case of the sinners?

The righteous are also struggling
Their caring hardly a blessing

In darkness, creating, and sheltering light
Is not a life of ease or of delight

burden hard to carry in sickness or in health
the (good) struggle goes on till the last breath

“joyful participation in the sorrows of world”
Buddhists had it right – participation a key word

From good will and good deeds
We are counseled that joy springs seeds

We are advised to take time
To appreciate the sublime

For us Palestinians, it is harder to reason
After decades of colonization and treason

though words easy to say, we still struggle to understand
and even harder to plan: How we continue to withstand?

How we have resilience
How we create persistence

Perhaps what sustains us is goodness all around
And the beauty of this hallowed ground

Perhaps we see divine in all of us
not just Palestinian baby Jesus

we see it in birds singing early mornings
even bats hunting insects evenings

we see it in poor honest unemployed
in families and children when joyed

we see it in smiles and stretched hands
in the rythm of seasons in ancient lands

we see it in memories of Karameh victory
and all those who are symbols of bravery

we see it in forgotten graves of massacred
and in the hunger strikes of the incarcerated

we see it in a smile of dabka girls who carry genes
of their ancestral Canaanitic queens

we hear it in the rhythm of tabla and oud *
 the call of the athan**, church bells, and even silent sumoud

we smell it aroma of tabboun za’atar ***
taste it apricots, guava, figs, and loz akhdar****

we taste it in zibda baladiya***** with mountain honey
and in herbal medicines curing the worst agony

Countless generations passed in the arms of mother Palestine
babies from Issa to the Ahmed of maddonnas divine

Our clock will end soon and we are no more
As we join all those departed who struggled before

We bequeeth to our children beauty and burden
Thoughts pass as the plants leave their seeds in the garden

the secret to life is love and suffer grandfather told us
yet, the dust of billions of forgotten ancestors remind us

as we breathe it and eat it that we mortals must have humility
and that humility added to struggle and love equals serenity

the old country song says: in the end matters only kindness
this old country man says: humility and love can conquer our madness

*tabla and oud: eastern musical instruments corresponding to drum and guitar
**athan: muslim call to prayer
***tabboun za’atar: bread of traditional kiln with thyme
****loz akhdar: green almonds
*****Zibda baladiya: A country butter made from goat milk

2 Comments

ZION’S LATEST WAR WITH THE WORLD

October 21, 2016 at 08:14 (Cartoons, Corrupt Politics, Israel, Palestine, Status of Jerusalem, United Nations)

Israel is clashing with a United Nations body tasked with honoring heritage sites after it passed a draft resolution harshly critical of Israel as the “occupying power” over Jerusalem, and both US presidential campaigns joined in rejection.

Image by Carlos Latuff

Israel is clashing with UNESCO for passing resolution critical of Israel as “occupying power” over Jerusalem

Trump and Clinton blast UNESCO statement on Jerusalem

Allison Deger

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed especially harsh words yesterday, dubbing the document submitted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as “delusional.” The group failed to mention by name the Temple Mount, a sacred site in Judaism believed to be located inside of the walls of the Noble Sanctuary, a religious plaza in the Old City that shelters the al-Aqsa mosque.

“To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids,” Netanyahu said.

Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs released the type of barb it has frequently employed in recent months when faced with a political scuffle: a tongue and cheek video, in this case blasting the United Nations. In the clip a man with an English accent reads aloud from the Christian bible, replacing the words “Temple court” with “Haram al-Sharif/al-Aqsa mosque,” and wincing with each mention.

To an outsider, the messaging may seem confused. The video’s intended audience, American Christians, would recognize it as a jab at the United Nations for using the preferred Arabic or Muslim jargon to describe the religious complex in the Old City in their resolution, and not the terms favored by the Israeli government or many streams of Christianity, the “Temple Mount.”

While none of the phrases used by UNESCO innately negates the heritage of other religions to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, Israel views it as a word torpedo aimed at Judaism’s connection to Jerusalem. So do the Trump and Clinton camps, and the U.S. government, which voted against it.

The Trump campaign said, “The United Nations’ attempt to disconnect the State of Israel from Jerusalem is a one-sided attempt to ignore Israel’s 3,000-year bond to its capital city, and is further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias of the U.N.”

“It’s outrageous that UNESCO would deny the deep, historic connection between Judaism and the Temple Mount,” Clinton advisor Laura Rosenberger told the JTA.

The two-page document submitted yesterday by UNESCO’s board outlined a series of allegations against Israel, charging it for destruction to the ancient plaza. The brief narrowed in on Israeli programs that harm Muslim holy sites, including construction and excavations in areas of Muslim shrines, army damage to mosques in the religious complex, tourism ventures in East Jerusalem, “segregated roads” in the West Bank and the denial of a visa for a UN monitor.

The text was not without mentions of Judaism and Christianity, the areas of contention for Israel, Trump, and Clinton.

UNESCO included a paragraph stating the “importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions.” In a later section it stated the Christian and Jewish connection to heritage sites in the Bethlehem area. There is no specific mention of the Temple Mount or any explicit note of unique Jewish ties to the Old City.

However, UNESCO was quick to reply that the resolution is a rough draft and will likely be significantly altered come Tuesday, according to an official with the body in Paris. The official then directed Mondoweiss to a video statement by Michael Worbs, the chairperson of UNESCO, who said he does understand the Israeli frustration. “I understand this perception,” he said, but Jewish and Christian considerations were made.

“[B]ut [we] have also to admit for the first time, the Arab group added a paragraph saying at the beginning of the decision, saying, Jerusalem is a place of the three monotheistic religions so there is a recognition [of Judaism], although I do admit it was not balanced all over the text,” Worbs said, referencing the drafters, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.

The resolution passed the first vote yesterday by 24-6, with 26 abstentions. It will be finalized in another vote on Tuesday.

Not included in the flurry of condemnations today was the Palestinian government, which was busy holding a conference inside of the United Nations Security Council on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. If the Palestinians move forward, this will be their second attempt to seek Security Council intervention to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The roster of speakers at headquarters in New York included the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and the organization American for Peace Now.

“After almost half a century of Israeli military control over millions of people, the occupation is only deepening, while the settlements – one of the main reasons for daily violations of Palestinians’ human rights – continue to expand,” B’Tselem said in advance of its presentation. “Under these circumstances, it would be unreasonable to consider the occupation temporary or to believe that Israel intends to change this reality in the foreseeable future.”

3 Comments

CARTOONS OF THE DAY ~~ COLD WAR IN SYRIA AND DEMOCRACY IN TURKEY

October 20, 2016 at 16:52 (Associate Post, Cartoons, Cold War, Syria, Turkey)

Images by Carlos Latuff

The “Cold War” in Syria

Meanwhile in Turkey ….

Democracy? InTurkey?
Turkish govt threats Twitter with legal actions due one of my cartoons about Erdogan and ISIS, published in 2015.

The cartoon in question

This is the cartoon that Sultan Erdogan doesn’t want you to see, making pressure on Twitter to remove it from social media.

2 Comments

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE AMSEL OF DESERT PEACE

October 20, 2016 at 14:39 (Blogging, DesertPeace Exclusive, Interview, Israel, Palestine)

Steve Amsel: Peace is the only alternative for Israelis and Palestinians

The video about our interview with Steve Amsel of Desert Peace about peace as the only alternative for Palestine and Israel. Anti-Zionism means opposition to apartheid and oppression, not Anti-Semitism.

The interview can be seen HERE in German ….

And HERE in English

HERE in Italian

3 Comments

THE NOBEL PRIZE IS ‘BLOWIN IN THE WIND’

October 19, 2016 at 10:29 (Irony, Israel)

The Nobel ‘Peace’ Prize has become an annual joke …. now the Prize for Literature joins the frenzy …

A post from 5 years ago by Nima Shirazi

The Call Bob Dylan Won’t Heed:
BDS, Bullies, and Blowing Wind

A recent letter by the Israeli peace and justice group “Boycott From Within” (BfW) implores legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan to heed the Palestinian call for BDS and therefore not perform in Israel. The letter follows reports of Dylan’s 2011 summer tour, during which he will perform at Ramat Gan Stadium on June 20th.

The BfW letter hits all the right notes and speaks truth. It asks Dylan “not to perform in Israel until it respects Palestinian human rights,” explaining that “a performance in Israel, today, is a vote of support for its policies of oppression.” The letter speaks of ethnic cleansing, land theft, martial law, air strikes, and massacres. It beseeches the folk legend, who has “been part of a civil rights movement,” to stand with the oppressed against the aggressor. BfW writes that “BDS is a powerful and united civil initiative in the face of a brutal military occupation and apartheid. It’s a nonviolent alternative to a waning armed struggle and it has reaped many successes and instilled much hope, in the past six years.”

A Ha’aretz article proudly notes that the Dylan concert will be held “where Leonard Cohen and Elton John recently performed,” and is being promoted by “Marcel Avraham, the promoter who organized the Leonard Cohen and Elton John concerts – as well as the upcoming Justin Bieber concert that will be held over Passover.”

So, will Bob Dylan – the man who wrote “Masters of War” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” in 1963 – heed the call? Of course not. Although Dylan would appear to be the perfect political ally, his human and civil rights bona fides have faded over time – to the point of non-existence.

In 1971, Time Magazine reported that Dylan was “returning to his Jewishness” and “getting into this ethnic Jewish thing.” A friend of his told the magazine, “He’s reading all kinds of books on Judaism, books about the Jewish resistance like the Warsaw ghetto. He took a trip to Israel last year that no one was supposed to know about and even, it is rumored, gave a large donation to the Israeli government.” The article continues:

Dylan denied giving money to Israel or to the fanatical Jewish Defense League, but he confesses great admiration for that “Never again” action group and its reckless leader Rabbi Meir Kahane. “He’s a really sincere guy,” says Bob. “He’s really put it all together.”

Yes, you read that right. Bob Dylan said Meir Kahane, who favored the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland and whose racist Kach party has since been banned from Israeli politics, is “a really sincere guy” who’s “really put it all together.”

Over the past couple decades, Dylan has become a supporter of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, which holds a firm Eretz Israel line regarding the ongoing occupation of the West Bank.

In 1983, twenty years after he sang, “you don’t count the dead” and “you never ask questions, when God’s on your side,” Dylan penned a song in response to the international outrage over the devastating Israeli assault on Lebanon in 1982, which took the lives of nearly 18,000 Lebanese civilians and wounded about 30,000 others. The song did not mention the Sabra and Shatila Massacre, in which between 800 and 2,000Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were murdered. The Israeli Kahan Commission, published in February 1983, found that Israel bore “indirect responsibility” and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon “bears personal responsibility” for the massacre.

Rather, Dylan’s song, entitled “Neighborhood Bully” and featured on his Infidelsalbum (which incidentally also contains the songs “Man of Peace” and “License to Kill“), is a bitter and indignant defense of Israel’s actions, an exercise in Zionist mythology, eternal victimization, and bogus “right to self-defense” hasbara, that sounds like it was written collectively by Alan Dershowitz, Abe Foxman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Anthony Weiner, and Golda Meir.

Dylan sings of a nameless (though obvious) “neighborhood bully,” labeled such by “his enemies” who “say he’s on their land” and have him “outnumbered about a million to one” with “no place to escape to, no place to run.” And that’s just the first verse.

The hasbara escalates as the song continues. Dylan sings of exile (“The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land”) and bigotry (“He’s always on trial for just being born”), of lonely survival and attempts at delegitization (“He’s criticized and condemned for being alive”), of the Osirak bombing, of deserts blooming. The only way to believe how thick the Zionist talking points are laid on is to listen to the whole song, or read the complete lyrics (here).

Unfortunately for the BDS community and the courageous activists of BfW, Bob Dylan will not be an ally in the fight for justice or international law. He made his choice decades ago. It is Dylan who can apparently no longer see “where the people are many and their hands are all empty, where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters, where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison, where the executioner’s face is always well hidden, where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten, where black is the color, where none is the number.”

And, although Dylan once claimed that he’d “tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it, and reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,” he has decided to stand with those who aggress and oppress, with those who starve and deprive, with those who surround and fly-over and bomb hospitals and deny, with those who steal land and resources, with those who reinvent and erase history, with those who criminalize memory and prioritize ethnicity and religion. He stands with those who erect walls and watchtowers. He seems not to care that he has been talking falsely for some time now and that the hour has never been more late. Dylan seems to have become tangled up in tribalism.

By ignoring the call to boycott and by performing in Israel this summer, Dylan is solidifying his reputation as one who – when it counted most – didn’t stand for morality and humanity. Dylan once asked, “how many years can some people exist, before they’re allowed to be free?” It seems that Dylan’s own answer to the Palestinians would be, “A while longer and don’t ask me to help.” He has become his own rhetorical character: the man who turns his head, pretending he just doesn’t see.

So, the questions remain. “How many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take ’til he knows that too many people have died?” The answers are no longer simply blowing in the wind, however. They are in discourse and education, flash mobs and rallies, sit-ins and walk-outs. The answers are international law and humanitarian justice. The answer is promoting basic morality and common decency. The answer is raising public awareness. The answer is opposing settler-colonialism, military aggression, collective punishment, air strikes and assassinations, drone attacks and white phosphorous, tear gas and torture, ethnic cleansing, diplomatic immunity, war crime impunity, ethnocentrism and supremacism, racism and discrimination, apartheid and occupation. The answer is BDS.

And, as Bob Dylan told us himself, the times they are a-changing‘.

Sadly, this time around, however, it seems Dylan does need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

*****

Neighborhood Bully

Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man
His enemies say he’s on their land
They got him outnumbered about a million to one
He got no place to escape to, no place to run
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully just lives to survive
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin
He’s supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in
He’s the neighborhood bully

The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land
He’s wandered the earth an exiled man
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn
He’s always on trial for just being born
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad
The bombs were meant for him. He was supposed to feel bad
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he’ll live by the rules that the world makes for him
’Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac
He’s the neighborhood bully

He got no allies to really speak of
What he gets he must pay for, he don’t get it out of love
He buys obsolete weapons and he won’t be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side
He’s the neighborhood bully

Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease
Now, they wouldn’t hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep
He’s the neighborhood bully

Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon
He’s made a garden of paradise in the desert sand
In bed with nobody, under no one’s command
He’s the neighborhood bully

Now his holiest books have been trampled upon
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health
He’s the neighborhood bully

What’s anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin’, they say. He just likes to cause war
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed
He’s the neighborhood bully

What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill
Running out the clock, time standing still
Neighborhood bully

*****

This article originally appeared on Mondoweiss under the headline “No Surprise Dylan is Visiting the Neighborhood Bully.”

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THE PSEUDO-ZIONISTS AND THEIR DIRTY WAR AGAINST TRUTH!

October 18, 2016 at 07:57 (Guest Post, Israel, Palestine, zionist created anti_Semitism)

“Beware of anti-Semitism and all other forms of racism, but also beware of all what tries to make you silent and of those who want to put all people criticising the oppressing Israeli politics as anti-Semites into pigeonholes.”

by Evelyn Hecht-Galinski

Who are the real anti-Semites and what do philo-Semites and anti-Semites have in common? Is it not anti-Semitism when Jewish organisation consultants and Sayanim, their covert political and media helpers, subject them to enforced censorship? Which raises the question of whether the Central Council of Jews in Germany is being anti-Semitic and racist when it does everything to prohibit all kinds of projects, conferences, and events including those with Jewish speakers or to deny them public financial support? All of which culminates in censorship and event cancellations which result in the general public being denied the right to have an informed opinion.

So by exploiting false and unjustified accusations of anti-Semitism — which are particularly sensitive in Germany — against upright people who refuse to be cowed, pseudo-Zionists nonetheless manage to get favourable media coverage while the critics of Israeli policies are pilloried and denied their democratic right for freedom of speech. It is patently evident that the pro-Israel lobbies try to prohibit any conferences or events that engage in factual documentation of what Israel is really doing in the occupied Palestinian territories. Even in Germany, discourse within the media and politics has been restricted to an unimaginable level.

My old friend Walter Herrmann, who has since unfortunately passed away, and his unforgettable and groundbreaking Kölner Klagemauer (Cologne Wailing Wall) always felt the effect of this. While constantly criticising the injustice and criminality of the “Jewish State”, he was inundated with lawsuits and slanders. Even after his death, his legacy was still portrayed in a negative and hateful light by different lobbyists and Israel understanders such as the olive-green politician Volker Beck. While the photos of murdered children of the “Genocide in Gaza” which he displayed on the “Wailing Wall in Cologne” elicited outrage and demands that they should not be shown, politically driven prime time media broadcasts, showed photos of mutilated and starving children from Syria or Africa, thereby in effect censoring and selecting the news and images that are put before us!

In the meantime, the phenomenon of the selection of “good” and “bad“ Jews and “good” and “bad” Muslims is the measure of all things. All criticism against the racist, Apartheid state of Israel is immediately branded as “hate against Jews” and “Anti-Semitism.” And all that the “Jewish State” does for its “security” is presented to us as a shining example and model. The strategy of concepts, the war of words is alarming. The Zionist “word creators” have been a political project of enormous significance since the foundation of the “Jewish State” from which time propaganda had a most important role with a board which served as the department of the Prime Minister and worked to complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine also on a linguistic level! (1)

In fact, for dictatorships and “ethnocentric systems” it is particularly important to hide their crimes with linguistic distortions and inventions of words. In the meantime this variant about how to make politics by language is sold to the citizens so that by complicated linguistic creations almost nobody understands the real facts of the case.

While politics in Germany become more and more “remote from citizens,” people are surprised if parties like the right-wing AfD attract certain voters and sympathisers with their “simple” words like rat catchers. While “ethnic pipe dreamers and race theorist” such as Thilo Sarrazin are positively reviewed in German over-regional media and can stay in the German Socialist Party without any consequences, critics of Israel are subject to completely different treatment. The powerful Israel lobby has ensured that they can neither talk in parties nor in feuillotons or talk shows. And while the self-appointed critics of Islam have enjoyed prosperity and become favoured amongst the “media Gods,” critics of the “Jewish State” have become outcasts whose voices are to be avoided.

While the secret war against the BDS movement and its activists was started on a global scale that was financed by U.S. $45 million from the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs, critics of Israel encountered the implications directly (2).

In Germany, the government and its close media representatives do their best to make political concepts more and more incomprehensible. Did we not have a similar propaganda ministry in the past working almost in the same way? Already at that time there was fertile ground for many propaganda concepts. What is alarming in this context, is the constant level loss, beginning with the widely read newspaper Bildto which even governing politicians make reference to explain their political orientation. In fact, we are concerned with a dangerous political education programme. This is the shape of national dulling in Germany! Of course, in this context we have avoided mentioning that the newspaper Bild is in the frontline of this linguistic war for the “Jewish State” and extends the “long arm of Netanyahu” to Germany through the media.

So it is not surprising that the newspaper Bild pulls out of its hat a Jewish journalist by letting him compare Aleppo with the Holocaust … this relativization is left to certain Jews.

And what happens in Syria, is a war that was planned long ago with the aim of a “regime change,” an intriguing and proven method employed by USA and its henchmen. While jihadists are armed and supported by the Western Alliance, Russia comes to help Assad. And the well-known patterns are repeated: Russia is the mass murderer, while the upright USA just wants the best for the people (this is exactly what we can observe in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya).

In view of the fact that Israel supports the Nusra front, we should ask: Who benefits from this? The answer is of course the “Jewish State,” because a weakened Assad Regime helps to maintain the annexation of the Golan Heights with shameless violations of international law and crimes against humanity.

This is not just a case of a Holocaust and genocide of people, but also of a brutal proxy war shamelessly manipulated by an Israeli journalist who compared the Holocaust with Aleppo. Instead of such a heinous diversionary tactic, it would have been more appropriate and timely for an “Appeal from Israel“ to stop the illegal Judiazing and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. (3)

As soon as the hate campaigns of Springer and Bild started, the Sayanim occupied themselves by completely supporting this struggle. In Germany it is a shame that political parties and political leaders are more concerned with the dubious, inexistent “right of existence” of the “Jewish State” than with freedom of expression.

Jewish German or foreign citizens are not allowed to express their opinion. They are defamed as anti-Semites and denigrated only because they show civil courage and are opposed to Israel’s illegal occupation policies; support the BDS campaign; or openly identify themselves as “anti-Zionists.”

So who are the real Anti-Semites? The real anti-Semites are the political representatives who want to prevent Jewish citizens in Germany from speaking out or expressing their opinions. In this context it is interesting that in particular again and again German citizens whose parents or grandparents were deeply involved in the Nazi crimes persist in this deviation. Because of guilty feelings and their compensation, a philo-semitic exaggerated love towards Jews has become a very particular, second anti-Semitism.

The manipulation of the holocaust, shamelessly exploited by Jewish organisations and the “Jewish State”, is the most awful phenomenon after the shoah, which in the long run does not support either the murdered Jews or the “Jewish State.”

It is anti-Semitic if the suffering of the murdered Jews in Germany is misused to whitewash actual crimes of the Israeli State. It is totally immoral for Jewish officials to brand Jewish citizens as anti-Semites; and promote prejudice against Muslim immigrants and citizens by accusing them of anti-Semitic ideas and hate against Jews (like Charlotte Knobloch! does). But do Jewish officials not have a particular duty of care with concepts and language? In reality, it is exactly the opposite: they promote prejudice and make islamophobia socially acceptable and oppose freedom of speech. While DITIB is denigrated as anti-Semitic, and while Jewish critics of Israel have to endure hate speeches, Jewish organisations and the “Jewish State” – in spite of their international law violations against the Palestinian people – have been rewarded. While Amnesty International has just produced a well-documented accusatory report about the pattern of illegal murders and about the shocking disrespect for human lives, universities and conferences and their speakers who talk about these awful conditions are portrayed as “Jews‘ haters” which in Germany is like an employment ban. (4)

If we do not stop this trend, I am very pessimistic about the freedom of speech in Germany. All that is not suitable is hushed up. The fatal reality is that the German media has increasingly become an instrument of the U.S. whose continuous propaganda constitutes brainwashing. And it is a fact that by constant repetition the person gets more and more indifferent and memorises what should be questioned.

However, in the constant rabble-rousing against Russia, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon because the Germans – unlike most politicians and media pundits – are not stupid and want good relations with their Russian neighbours. Even more shocking is the behaviour of the Green and Conservative Parties with the infamous Marieluise Beck and Göring-Eckart constantly promoting the right-wing trend of the Green Party. While they kowtow to the “Jewish State” and U.S. war crimes, they oppose Putin, Erdogan and Assad. In future, these awful hawkish policies must defeated at the ballot box!

Therefore, I would like to conclude this article with the following quotation by Bishop Desmond Tutu which all democratic forces in Germany, the media, and political leaders should carefully consider:

Originally appeared in German AT

English translation by Milena Rampoldi, ProMosaik, edited by William Hanna

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