Popular Struggle Coordination Committee 19 November 2009

Photo: Valerian Mazataud Palestinian youth maintain popular resistance in Bil’in.

In an escalation of the recent arrest campaign conducted by the Israeli military in attempt to crush the popular struggle against the Wall in the village, an undercover army unit invaded Bil’in this morning and arrested a local youth, 19 year old Mohammad Yassin.

In the morning hours of Thursday, 19 November 2009, a civilian Isuzu pickup with undercover soldiers dressed as Palestinians, drove into the village of Bil’in, searching for residents suspected of organizing and participating in the village’s weekly demonstrations.

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Al Jazeera by Phoebe Greenwood in Hebron, the West Bank.

Photo: Israeli apartheid wall cutting through Palestinian lands in West Bank

A major new road joining Jerusalem to Israeli settlements in Hebron bisects land owned by the Jaber family.

They have farmed these fields for 300 years. They once owned 60 dunums (60,000 square metres) but now have four (4,000 square metres) – the rest has been confiscated by Israeli settlers. The Jabers fight to farm on the land they have left.

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Bianca Zammit Electronic Intifada 6 November 2009

Photo: Ronald de Hommel Israeli military wall in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

In order to find sustainable alternatives to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict a new group calling itself the Justice Makers has been formed across the law departments in Palestinian universities. Two of the founders, Mohammed Eliwa and Yousef al-Nouri, are both fourth-year law students from al-Azhar University in Gaza. “The Justice Makers is about finding new ways within the international justice system to forward our case,” al-Nouri explained. “We have had enough of this conflict and we study law because it is the only way of regaining our rights,” stated Eliwa.

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photos by Elsa Marie Jabre and Anthony Côte

Photo: Elsa Marie Jabre. Seven Arrows performs at Artists Against Apartheid.

Montreal’s groundbreaking concert series Artists Against Apartheid continues to unite artists on stages across the city for major cultural events in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

At the eleventh Artists Against Apartheid hundreds gathered to listen to performances, including a trio featuring Sam Shalabi on oud, Omar Dewachi on oud and Pierre-Guy Blanchard on percussion to open the evening.

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photo essay by Farah Kobaissy in Lebanon

Photo: Farah Kobaissy. Palestinian youth plays football in Nahr el Bared

Nahr al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, center to a major military conflict between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam in 2007, remains destroyed in 2009.

Palestinian civilians in Nahr al-Bared faced massive displacement during the armed conflict in 2007, as the civilian infrastructure in the camp was bombarded by the Lebanese military and dozens of Palestinian civilians killed. Until today the overwhelming majority of the 30,000 Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared remain displaced, living within other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Years after the military conflict in Nahr al-Bared, the refugee camp remains largely rubble, while millions in international aid dollars for reconstruction have equaled little concrete reconstruction on the ground in Nahr al-Bared. Lebanese activist and photographer Farah Kobaissy visited the camp in October 2009 and took these photos.

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Norman Finkelstien in Montreal for premier, presented by Cinema Politica & Tadamon!

Monday November 16, 2009
Screening 19h00
1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec

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New York Times by Jimmy Carter, November 5, 2009

Photo: Zoriah (c) Open sky over the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Judge Richard Goldstone and the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict have issued a report about Gaza that is strongly critical of both Israel and Hamas for their violations of human rights. On Wednesday, a special meeting of the U.N. General Assembly began a debate on whether to refer the report to the Security Council.

In January 2009 rudimentary rockets had been launched from Gaza toward nearby Jewish communities, and Israel had wreaked havoc with bombs, missiles, and ground invading forces. Judge Goldstone’s claim is that they are both guilty of “crimes against humanity.” Predictably, both the accused parties have denounced the report as biased and inaccurate.

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solidarity with Bil’in, the Palestinian village at the heart of the popular resistance!

Friday 27 November, 2009
6pm at Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
1601 de Lorimier
Métro Papineau
Montreal, Quebec

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Al Jazeera Monday, November 09 2009.

Photo: ActiveStills Palestinians in Nil’in break Israeli wall.

Palestinians and foreign activists have torn down segments of Israel’s separation wall in a demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In the town of Qalandiya in the occupied West Bank, a group of masked activists using a lorry pulled down a two-metre cement block before Israeli security forces confronted them with tear gas grenades.

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photo essay and text by Valerian Mazataud

Photo: Valerian Mazataud. Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the West Bank.

Palestine The olive harvest in the West Bank, used to be a joyful time. But now it is defined by burned trees, missing crops, and confrontations. Having become a significant source of strife for Palestinian farmers and Jewish settlers, Israeli media now refers to the harvest as the “Olive War.” Photographer Valerian Mazataud is currently visiting Palestine and documented the Palestinian olive harvest in the Israeli occupied West Bank.

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