Tuesday, 11 May 2010 The Independent by Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem

Photo: Israeli settler graffiti in the Palestinian city Hebron

The Israeli authorities finally revealed yesterday that they had been holding a prominent Israeli-Arab human rights activist for several days and had accused him of spying for Lebanon’s Hizbollah guerrillas.

Israel appeared to buckle under intense domestic pressure to release details of the case against Amir Makhoul after a gagging order issued by the courts had prevented the media from reporting details of the case. The order, which covered details including his identity, riled democracy advocates in Israel after a similar case last month involving the secret house arrest of an Israeli journalist.

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United Nations Development Program May 9th, 2010

Photo: Palestinian farmers prepare harvest materials under Israeli occupation.

Until Palestinians are afforded economic and environmental control, specifically control over macro-economic policy, trade, livelihoods, water resources and borders, sustained development will remain elusive, according to the latest Palestinian Human Development Report, released today by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Representative of the Administrator, Mr. Jens Toyberg-Frandzen.

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report from the International Solidarity Movement May 2010

Photo: Jordan Valley hills in historic Palestine.

“Israel will never cede the Jordan Valley” Benjamin Netanyahu, March 2010

The Jordan Valley is an area under urgent threat of annexation, and during the last few weeks Israel has considerably tightened its grip on the indigenous Palestinian population. On the 11th of April the Israeli military shut of the main water source to Bardala – jeopardizing the village’s viability as a farming community – , on the 12th of April they declared Al Maleh a closed military zone, which prevented shepherds from grassing their animals, and on the 15th of April the Israeli military raided Al Farisiya and stole four water pumps in a further attempt to control all water resources in the area.

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Friday, 7 May 2010 Independent by Ben Lynfield

Photo: ISM Rachel Corrie standing in front of Israeli bulldozer March 2003, Gaza

Seven years after the American activist Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, evidence has emerged which appears to implicate Israel’s Gaza commander at the time, in an attempt to obstruct the official investigation into her death.

The alleged intervention of Major-General Doron Almog, then head of Israel’s southern command, is documented in testimony taken by Israeli military police a day after Ms Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003. The hand written affidavit, seen by The Independent, was submitted as evidence during a civil law suit being pursued by the Corrie family against the state of Israel.

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Mel Frykberg, Electronic Intifada 7 May 2010, Ramallah

Photo: Ahmed Sabah was deported to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

Several Palestinians have set up a protest tent in no-man’s land in the northern Gaza Strip, near the Erez border crossing into Israel, as they protest their deportation from the Israeli occupied West Bank into Gaza where Hamas authorities have refused them entry.

Tens of thousands of other Palestinians face a possibly similar predicament in the near future. This follows a sweeping new Israeli military order which allows for the expulsion of Palestinians or foreigners whom Israel considers to be in the West Bank illegally as “infiltrators.”

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By Fadi Eyadat Haartez May 2010.

Photo Nazareth skyline, a historic city in Palestine.

For years government officials have been blaming economic distress in Arab towns on their local authorities’ shortcomings and failure to collect taxes. It has emerged, though, that Arab authorities receive only 0.2 percent of the taxes on government property on their land, while the majority of the money goes to Jewish local authorities, a civil rights group says.

In addition, the state has not built industrial areas and infrastructure facilities, which yield considerable taxes, in Arab communities. Other industrial areas were built on lands they say were confiscated from them, such as in Tziporit, Teradion and Afek.

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Commemoration of the 62nd Anniversary of the Nakba in Montreal

Sunday May 16, 2010, 12h-16h
Lafontaine Park
avenues Lafontaine and Rachel east
vicinity of north-west corner of the park
metro Mont-Royal or Sherbrooke

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A selection of documentaries about the Nakba and its aftermath.

Remembering the Nakba (1948)
Two film screenings: May 11-12 2010
Cinéma du Parc – cinemaduparc.com
3575 av. du Parc

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Independent by Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem, May 5 2010

Photo: Palestinian youth play football in along apartheid wall in occupied Palestine.

Two Israeli soldiers were charged in a military court yesterday with forcing a 10-year-old Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip to handle objects they suspected of being rigged to explode.

The soldiers were indicted for “ordering the boy to open cases that they thought were explosives”, Major Dorit Toval, the prosecutor, said. The alleged crime took place during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military onslaught waged more than a year ago with the aim of halting Hamas rocket fire at southern Israel. A gag order was placed barring publication of the names of the soldiers.

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May 2010 Open letter to Margaret Atwood from Tadamon! collective and Art Threat

Dear Ms. Margaret Atwood,

Today, as systematic human rights violations continue to be committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people, we are appealing to you on behalf of the Montreal-based collective Tadamon! and Art Threat concerning your planned visit to Tel Aviv.

We have learned that you have been offered the Dan David Prize from the Tel Aviv University for your outstanding literary work. First, we want to openly recognize your work, renowned not only for literary excellence but also for the humanistic message it portrays. Beyond literature your sincere advocacy for social justice, from the struggle for women’s liberation to environmental protection, has made you an international role model who people respect and admire.

(…اكثر)