Monday, July 8, 2013

Video: ‘Anata Bedouin communities caught in crossfire
 Settlers drown land with wastewater in Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (WAFA)  — Jewish settlers from illegal ‘Beitar Illit’ settlement Sunday drowned Palestinian-owned agricultural land with wastewater in the village of Wadi Fukin [or Wadi Fuqin], west of Bethlehem, according to a local source. Head of Wadi Fukin village council Ahmad Sokar told WAFA that settlers pumped wastewater to around 100 dumums of agricultural land belonging to around 50 farmers in the village, drowning it completely. He said that the mentioned land became unfit for agricultural use due to the ongoing pumping of wastewater by settlers.
 Their water supply taken by Israeli settlers, Palestinian villagers depend on donkeys
Mondoweiss …Asira al Qiblia is the poorest and most marginalized of the three villages, a small, dusty, crumbling town. It seems that there are no health councils, paved roads, or water. They suffer from daily settler attacks and attacks on their water system and infrastructure, so the villagers have lots of injuries and a generation of traumatized children. Of the 3,500 villagers, (350 households) approximately 100 families have health insurance. They buy water at exorbitant prices, (a tank of 3,000 liters for 30 shekels which lasts 5 days.) The monthly cost of water per family is more than their total monthly incomes and many have sold their cattle because of the lack of water. In addition there are three nearby stone quarries so there is the issue of dust related respiratory diseases and allergies as well as large trucks loaded with stone. This is where I tend to shake my head in utter despair, but instead we are all invited to one of the women’s homes for a feast. Palestinian resilience is always a source of inspiration for me.
 Specialists: 150 landmarks in J’lem are being Judaized
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC)  — Palestinian researchers and specialists in occupied Jerusalem warned that about 150 landmarks and historical sites are exposed to Judaization and annexation in the holy city. This came in a conference organized on Saturday by scholars and preachers in Jerusalem. The final statement issued by the conferees stressed that the whole Islamic landmarks in Jerusalem is threatened with annexation to the alleged Jewish heritage, either by removing all signs of the Arab and Islamic presence in the city or by tampering with the antiquities and replacing the Arabic inscriptions with Hebrew ones. The statement warned that the coming Israeli step would be directed against the Aqsa Mosque after the Israeli occupation regime prepared itself to raze this Mosque and build the Jewish temple in its place.
 Showing them who’s boss: How Palestinian villages become IDF training grounds
  The IDF could easily build a mock village on some godforsaken dune in the Negev for training purposes. But training in a Palestinian village has another (hidden) goal: to show them who’s boss — The villagers of Imatin were surprised at the end of May 2013, when a large IDF force — evidence shows it seemed to be the size of a company — invaded their village in the evening, with troops spreading amongst the houses, conducting what apparently was combat practice in a populated terrain. The soldiers, armed to the teeth of course, moved from yard to yard throughout the village pretending it were a battlefield. The entire incident was very stressful for the women, the elderly and the children of the village. The next day, the show repeated itself: a convoy of IDF vehicles gathered in the center of the village at sundown, and out of them climbed around 100 heavily armed soldiers, and began roleplaying a battle. Yesh Din’s files document several similar cases. In 2007, a Palestinian from Tel Rumeida in Hebron complained that his house was chosen as a training site. When the soldiers were told that the training would likely scare the man’s little brother, they responded by saying “it’s none of your business.” And why would it be? It’s only his house.

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