Rela Mazali, Israeli activist, Huffington Post June 2010.

Photo ActiveStills Olive trees in Palestine covered in tear gas.

What to do when the country I live in totally loses its compass? Totally loses its shame? What to do when the regime that collects my taxes uses them to deploy its high-tech military, armed to the teeth, against activists sailing to oppose a criminal siege? When this country’s politicians authorize soldiers to shoot-to-kill into a deck-bound crowd? And then tell me they are protecting me? What to do when the governments of the world are too deeply implicated to hold this regime, this country accountable?

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David Cronin, Electronic Intifada 21 June 2010

Photo Palestinian kids walk beside Israeli apartheid wall in occupied Palestine.

A leading Israeli supplier of warplanes used to kill and maim civilians in Gaza is in the running for two new scientific research grants from the European Union.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza in late 2008 and 2009 provided its air force with an opportunity to experiment with state-of-the-art pilotless drones such as the Heron. Although human rights groups have calculated that the Heron and other drones killed at least 87 civilians during that three-week war, EU officials have tentatively approved the release of fresh finance to the Heron’s manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).

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Ameer Makhoul, Electronic Intifada, 21 June 2010

Photo Banksy painting on Israel apartheid wall.

Ameer Makhoul is a human rights defender, the director of the Arab nongovernmental organization network Ittijah, a leading voice of the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and a Palestinian citizen of Israel. He has been in Israeli detention since he was arrested from his family home in Haifa in the early morning hours of 6 May. Initially his arrest could not be reported under an Israeli gag order, and he was not allowed to see his lawyers for almost two weeks. Eventually charged with “espionage,” local and international human rights organizations have condemned Israel’s actions against him as politically-motivated persecution intended to crack down on organizing by Palestinian citizens within Israel and international solidarity. On the very day Makhoul was arrested, The Electronic Intifada published an article it had received from him days earlier, titled, “Israel’s repression of its Palestinian citizens unites us in struggle.” He wrote the following letter from Israeli detention on 30 May 2010:

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17 juin 2010 Campagne de solidarité Pologne/Palestine

Photo: Femme palestinienne à Gaza se lamentant.

Ne pas exploiter notre histoire, on ne peut racheter les injustices de l’histoire par de nouvelles injustices continuelles.

Nous observons les développements et les déclarations du gouvernement polonais à propos de l’arrestation de l’agent du Mossad, Uri Brodsky, avec une grande consternation et une grande inquiétude.

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Daily Star by Mohammed Zaatari June 2010

Photo Stefan Christoff Palestinian youth walk on the streets of Burj el-Shemali camp.

Palestinian refugees, Lebanese activists and civil society organizations are gearing up for a demonstration on June 27 to demand civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon.

Activists on Tuesday urged massive participation in the day’s protests in which participants will gather in Sidon, Tripoli, the Bekaa, Mount Lebanon and march toward the Parliament building in Beirut.

The activists were speaking before a Parliament session on Tuesday to discuss the civil rights of Palestinian refugees with the aim of pressuring representatives to amend laws discriminating against Palestinians.

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Aljazeera Wednesday, June 16 2010

Photo: Stefan Christoff Campaign posters for civil rights for Palestinians in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s parliament has tabled a proposal to offer basic rights to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

The proposed legislation – the subject of a heated debate on Tuesday – would allow Palestinian refugees to work and own property in Lebanon. Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, referred the bill to a committee for a one-month review.

Palestinian refugees have long been a controversial subject in Lebanon, and the debate cut across Lebanon’s usual political alliances.

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Geneva/Jerusalem – International Committee of the Red Cross 14-06-2010

Photo: ActiveStills Palestinians held at Israeli military check point.

The hardship faced by Gaza’s 1.5 million people cannot be addressed by providing humanitarian aid. The only sustainable solution is to lift the closure.

The serious incidents that took place on 31 May between Israeli forces and activists on a flotilla heading for Gaza once again put the spotlight on the acute hardship faced by the population in the Gaza Strip.

As the ICRC has stressed repeatedly, the dire situation in Gaza cannot be resolved by providing humanitarian aid. The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development. Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare, while the quality of Gaza’s health care system has reached an all-time low.

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LA Times Saree Makdisi, June 13, 2010

Photo ActiveStills Israeli activists protest Israeli Gaza freedom flotilla massacre.

Unconscionable. Offensive. Hurtful. Bigoted. Terrible. Hateful.

These are the words being used to describe Helen Thomas’ recent comment about Israel and Palestine. Editorialists across the country have condemned her statement that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and “go back” to Europe.

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Adri Nieuwhof, Electronic Intifada, 4 June 2010

Photo Palestinian youth launches stone towards Israeli occupation forces.

Israel’s bloody attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on 31 May killing at least nine and injuring dozens of activists carrying humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, has already intensified global actions for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it respects international law and human rights, including endorsement by major trade unions in several countries.

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla was on an honorable, peaceful mission in solidarity with the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, challenging the Israeli-imposed blockade that has deprived them of basic necessities and the ability to travel outside their densely populated enclave for four years.

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Survivor’s account of Mavi Marmara, by Lubna Masarwa, ISM 7 June 2010

Photo Israeli military ships prepare to raid Mavi Maramara off Gaza coastline.

During the Israeli attack on the Mavi Maramara, deep in international waters, I was inside the body of the ship. We were unarmed civilians ranging in age from a one-year-old child to an 88-year-old priest. We were going to Gaza to break the siege that Israel has imposed on a million-and-a-half people for the last four years. We were carrying a cargo of humanitarian and construction aid as well as letters from Turkish children to the children of Gaza. We were full of hope. When the attack began at 4 AM on the 31/5/10, our ship was transformed into a military target. On the deck, at first there was heavy firing, and then the Israeli occupation’s commandos took control of the ship.

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