AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 58 | RAMADHAN 2015
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AQSA NEWS 2
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Boycott Israeli Dates www.checkthelabel.org.uk Page 10
Friends of Al-Aqsa newspaper since 1997
War crimes action against Israel
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No work in Gaza
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Israel’s crimes are ‘infinitely worse’ than Apartheid in SA
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The inhumanity of the Israeli army “If you shoot someone in Gaza, it’s cool, no big deal” “The rules of engagement for soldiers advancing on the ground were: open fire, open fire everywhere, first thing when you go in”
“If you spot someone, shoot.”
IDF Soldiers who took part in Israel’s bloody and violent attack on Gaza in July/August 2014 break their silence and tell the world of their loss of morality during the assault. Israeli NGO called Breaking the Silence has collected testimonies from soldiers
News
Seeking a normal childhood in Palestine
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who describe how the army systematically attacked civilians, treating anyone they came across as a terrorist. The testimonies described how there were no real rules of engagement and soldiers were told to shoot at anyone they saw, that all civilians were to be
treated as terrorists and that they should ‘shoot to kill’. The lack of humanity, morality and ethics is clear and apparent from the repeated testimonies which have been reported. The large number of civilian deaths caused global anger,
and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed it was due to Hamas’ use of human shields. However, these testimonies reveal that the army was sent in with clear instructions to maximise the death toll. Breaking the Silence has
Travel to Palestine
Recipe
In History
Palestinian Refugees face full horror of war
Reaching the fatal tipping point
Denied Entry
Lets bake... Stuffed Date Maamoul
Remembering the Israeli terror on board the Mavi Marmara
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News
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Special Feature
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collated the testimonies of 60 soldiers and officers, and its report questions the ethics of the Israeli army. For a detailed update on the situation in Gaza, see our Special Report on page 6 and 7.
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2 INSIDE PALESTINE War Crimes action against Israel Palestine may be on the verge of historic legal action against Israel after the PA submitted official requests to the International Criminal Court. The two specific cases, which the court is being asked to consider, are the attack on Gaza in 2014 where Israeli soldiers killed over 2,200 Palestinians, and the continued building of illegal settlements. The Palestinian Foreign Minister submitted a request to the court to set a date for the PA to present their case files. A response from the court could take some time. The ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda recognised “the state of Palestine” in January. At present, Bensouda is merely reviewing the Gaza material to determine the possibility of a criminal investigation. However, She was cautious in how long the procedure could take. She has suggested it may be months before any action will be taken. The US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, has predictably said they will oppose any such move, calling it ‘one-sided’. Given the failure of negotiations, and Israel’s history of one-sided moves, the PA is unlikely to be swayed.
6 year old boy arrested
Israeli Police arrested and detained a 6 years old Palestinian boy from Wadi Joz in East Jerusalem. The little boy was accused of throwing stones at a moving bus. The boy was detained in a squad car and interrogated. He was later taken to a police station and quizzed with questions such as whether he wanted to be a ‘martyr’. His parents were refused contact with him until very late the following morning.
Throughout this time, the young boy was shockingly without legal care and given the same treatment as violent offenders. The boy’s older brother was also arrested on the same charges. By law, someone who is a minor (under the age of twelve) cannot be arrested or detained without charge. The police brought the older brother to court to be charged for a three day remand but the judge re-
fused and released the boy with restrictions. As part of what appeared to be collective punishment, the police then arrested the children’s cousins aged 13 and 15 on the same charges. This treatment of Palestinian children is a shocking yet ritual practice used by Israeli police to strip Palestinian families of all sense of security. The children are often left with irreparable psychological scars.
Seeking a normal childhood in Palestine
A project to build a skatepark in Bethlehem was launched to give a taste of a normal childhood to those children most affected by the Israeli occupation. A dedicated group of volunteers from all around the world have been employed to help build this project in Bethlehem. Children in Palestine face bleak prospects. There is no career path with higher education for the majority living in Bethlehem, especially following Israel’s building of the
separation wall. Only 14% of high school students graduate with diplomas. The skatepark intends to help these teenagers build social skills and interact with other members of their community, whether Muslim or Christian. The project is located in the most vulnerable part of the city, and many of the children using it are from one parent households, or orphaned. The project aims to help support these families to care for their children. This project is part
of a wider network that operates in 130 countries. Chief executive of skateaid, Torben Oberhellman, runs skating projects in conflict zones and hopes the children will be able to look pass their religious differences and become friends based on their common love for skateboarding. He hopes one day to bring children from Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities together and get them to focus on the sport and recreational activities rather than religion and war.
800 olive trees stolen
800 Palestinian–owned olive trees were uprooted and stolen by Israeli settlers near the town of Shuyukh, east of Hebron. A Palestinian resident reported that violent Israeli settlers barged into the orchard and ransacked the place, which belongs to the local Palestinians. Unfortunately, this is far from an isolated incident and thousands of Palestinian olive trees have similarly been stolen by illegal Israeli settlers. Witnesses reported that Israeli forces did not intervene, and allowed the theft to occur. Despite being well informed in advance about a crime in progress, no action was taken to prevent it from happening. Israeli NGO B’tselem has noted that Israeli security forces do nothing to protect Palestinians from Israeli attacks. In most circumstances, they ignore calls and appear much later at the scene, after the incident has occurred. In some cases the Israeli forces place restrictions on Palestinian victims instead of the perpetrators.
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INSIDE PALESTINE 3
No work in Gaza
Unemployment has reached new heights in Gaza, and now 44 per cent of the population have no jobs making it one of the most unstable economies in the world, as reported by the UN. The situation is so desperate that more than 27,000 applicants applied for two hundred teaching jobs for the forthcoming academic year in Gaza. “The resilience of Palestine refugees is legendary,
but not inexhaustible,” said Chris Gunness, from UNRWA, who deliver assistance and work programmes to more than five million refugees in the region. The UNRWA commissioner stated that Palestinian refugees need an answer to their problems not charity or hand-outs. The recent recruitment of two hundred teachers is proof of how desperate Palestinians are to be independent
The momentum for recognising Palestine as an independent state is not abating. The latest European state expected to announce recognition is Greece. “Palestine is a country that is in our hearts, in our minds,” said the Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Kotziaas in Athens. He went on to explain how Greeks wanted Palestinians to have the freedom, rights and democracy like any other group of people in the world.
Greeceis clear that it wants to strengthen its ties with the Palestinian people, and create a ‘Friends of Palestine’ in Europe. The Greek government will begin with improving communication between the Greek and Palestinian foreign ministries. Mr Maliki has said “there are steps that will be undertaken in order to solidify, to strengthen, to deepen and to widen our bilateral relations in different aspects.”
Palestine in the hearts and minds of the Greek
and rebuild their lives. They don’t want to live at the mercy of others. Many applicants were overqualified for the jobs. The blockade of Gaza and ceaseless Israeli attacks has pushed the population into aid dependency programmes. Almost 65 per cent of the population is dependent on food programmes. Mr Gunness does not believe things will improve in Gaza for some time.
Fast and furious in Palestinian
Five Palestinian women are looking to have a ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise of their own. All five women are successful in their own rights as racing drivers, and struggle in the man’s world of motor racing while also facing the oppressive occupation policies which places extra burdens on them.
The women call themselves ‘Speed Sisters’ and have been working with a local Filmmaker Amber Fares who has been documenting their success over the last few years. Speed Sister were formed in 2005 and the women are quite competitive with each other. One woman, Noor Daoud, is a sport ath-
lete, boxer, weightlifter and Olympic swimmer who entered the 2012 Olympics and won most competitions. All the women are sensitive about their conservative upbringing and have won the support of their local communities. On the race track the women put on a unified front
but once inside the car they will race against each other fiercely. All of these women are grateful of fans especially their female admirers. They want to help as many young women as possible to follow their dreams.
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4 GLOBAL NEWS
Israel’s crimes are ‘infinitely worse’ than Apartheid in South Africa Former UN Special Repertoire John Dugard has spoken about his views on Apartheid, Israel and a possible case with the International Criminal Court. In a recent interview, he stated “I’m a South African who lived through Apartheid. I have no hesitation in saying that Israel’s crimes are infinitely worse than those committed by the Apartheid regime of South Africa.” He criticised Israeli and US policy which allows talks to continue without end, while Israel uses the time to steal and annex more and more Palestinian land. John Dugard visited the occupied territories for seven years and also conducted a fact finding mission following the Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2008-2009. He described a sense of déjà vu on each visit, reminding him of
his work as a human rights lawyer in South Africa. He went on to say, “what has happened in the West Bank is that the creation of a settlement enterprise has resulted in a situation that closely resembles that of Apartheid, in which the settlers are the equivalent of white South Africans. They enjoy superior rights over Palestinians, and they do oppress Palestinians. So, one does have a system of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory. And I might mention that apartheid is also a crime within the competence of the International Criminal Court.” He calls the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza worse than apartheid South Africa’s crimes, and something to be investigated by the ICC.
Palestine FA drops Israeli suspension bid
Blair resigns as Mid-East envoy after 8 failed years
Tony Blair has resigned as the Middle-East Envoy representing the quartet following 8 years during which he achieved very little. Many commentators have called his efforts a ‘waste of time’ as he failed to bring the peace process any further forward, leading to many questioning how he managed to last so long in the role. During his time as envoy, Israel unleashed no less than five
deadly assaults on the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians are happy to see Blair depart as his role was considered severely biased in Israel’s favour. A Palestinian negotiator, Mohammad Shtayyeh commented, “He did nothing for the Palestinian cause but was used by Israel to justify its occupation and settlement policy.”
Venezuela’s diplomatic representation in Palestine will be increased to a full embassy following recognition of the state of Palestine. 18 cooperation agreements have been signed between the states related to trade, energy, agriculture, health, education, defence and security. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez stated:
“Following instructions from President Nicolas Maduro, we will raise our representation in the heroic Palestinian states to embassy level.” He further said: “The people of Bolivar and Chavez are ready to accompany the Palestinian people in their struggle for independence and reclamation of territory, which has been violently stripped away by Israel.”
Venezuelan Embassy in Palestine
In a move that deeply disappointed boycott activists, the Palestine FA president Jibril Rajoub announced that they were dropping the call for Israel’s suspension from FIFA. He insisted that the move “does not mean that I give up the resistance.” The move to boycott Israel gained international momentum over the preceding
months and was instigated as a way to make Israel culpable for the massive restrictions placed on Palestinian footballers and sports participation in general. Players are routinely denied free movement and training is made almost impossible by the lack of infrastructure and deliberate Israeli policies which restrict movement in
the West Bank and Gaza. “While Israel seeks to keep its own participation in football outside of the political arena, it has failed to afford Palestinians the same luxury. We call on the PFA to renew its bid for Israel’s suspension, as nothing will change for Palestinians until Israel feels international pressure,” said Shamiul
Joarded, Head of PR at FOA. It was apparent that pressure was exerted at every level by FIFA to convince the PFA to drop the bid, which many officials called ‘painful’ for the global sporting family. Instead of the vote, FIFA has called for a committee to monitor the situation in Palestine.
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GLOBAL NEWS 5
Palestinian Refugees face full horror of war
US criticises Israel’s lack of commitment to peace A Senior US State Department official criticised the new Israeli cabinet for its resistance to a two state solution, saying it would prove difficult to continue to protect Israeli interests. Wendy Sherman, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs made these statements at the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism in Washington. Ms Sherman also expressed her concern about the right-wing Israeli cabinet formed under the Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying their politics will make the US position in the International arena more difficult. These comments followed
Netanyahu’s statements that there would be no Palestinian state under his rule. Mr Netanyahu refusal to accept a Palestinian state resulted in the White House claiming that it would reassess the US relationship with Israel. While these words suggest that Israel is accountable for its actions to the US, the reality is that no action has been taken by the White House and this position is unlikely to change. Netanyahu’s position became all the clearer when he appointed Silvan Shalom as his chief negotiator, a man who has repeatedly stressed that he is ‘against a Palestinian state’. The White House did not respond.
Humanitarian effort is being made to deliver relief to those Palestinian refugees caught up in the horrors of the Syrian conflict. UNRWA has set up camp near the Yalda Babila and Beit Saham areas of Syria, to help those coming from the Yarmouk refugee camp. UNRWA has warned that not enough is being done to help those families trapped in the camps there. UNRWA has set up a vaccine campaign, and the medical team is working round the clock to give these families the necessary treatment they need. Almost 300 patients are treated each day and 28 children are being vaccinated to further prevent the outbreak of diseases in the camps. They are also delivering food, water, hygiene kits and blankets to the families but this is not enough as the situation on the ground is critical. The families in these camps are facing daily bombardment and threat of violence from both sides of the conflict. Almost 18,000 Palestinian and Syrian are vulnerable to these attacks everyday. More funding is desperately needed as UNRWA has only received 16% of the fund it needs for 2015.
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6 SPECIAL FEATURE
Reaching the fatal tipping point Gaza The UN has warned that life in Gaza is reaching the fatal tipping point. Israel imposed a siege 8 long years ago, and the human despair that Gazan’s face on a daily basis is only intensifying with each passing week, month and year. Gaza is home to close to 2 million people, half of whom are children. The siege has resulted in a prison life for all of these people. Resources have long been depleted and even the water is not fit for human consumption. The supply of goods into Gaza is nowhere near the proportions needed to meet the demands. Basic health services
are a luxury and education is faltering even at the UN led schools. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the world is witnessing War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza. Yet no action is taken for political reasons. A dismal excuse for allowing children to suffer to this extent.
Destruction of Gaza
Palestinian children walk between the rubble of buildings which were destroyed during the attack on Gaza City.
Gaza is Hell
Crushed, Crushed, Crushed
Alice Su, A Jordan based journalist reporting from Gaza spoke to a young man named Ahmad in Gaza. At age 20, he should be at university or beginning his career. Instead, he spends his days sifting through the rubble of his family’s bombed out home.
“Gaza is hell” he says. “People are only living because they are not dying. If death was nicer, we’d go for it.”
Salvaging parts from their home, Ahmad and his 19 year old brother try to sell what they can. On other days, they try to find possessions in the rubble – photographs, papers and clothes. Their lives, like their home, are in ruins. There is no hope, there are no jobs, and there is no life. Alice spoke to other young men, including a 21 year old nursing student who said, “I don’t support any political party. But when Israel is killing us, Hamas is like our special ops. They’re the only ones doing anything to defend us.”
Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2014 killed over 2,300 people. While the dead were buried, those living with unspeakable injuries suffer in silence. Almost a year on, Gaza is still in ruins. 100,000 are still homeless as the
12,600 homes destroyed are yet to be rebuilt. They cannot be rebuilt as Israel has simply refused to allow materials to be transferred to Gaza despite a flurry of donors waiting at the borders.
The young are torn between resistance and resignation. One young girl explained why resistance was the only option: “We know that if we stopped, Israel would wipe us all out. We are being crushed and crushed and crushed and crushed. So it’s either die for your cause or compromise, but you’ll be killed one way or another.”
Many of these young people have lived through and witnessed the deadly Israeli attacks which have been unleashed since 2007. In their short lives they have witnessed terrible violence, loss and oppression. Worse of all, there appears to be no end in site as Israel continues to tighten the siege.
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SPECIAL FEATURE 7
The Israeli navy continues to fire at fishermen off the coast of Gaza. Here, 5 fisherman barely survived as they jumped out of their boat and swam ashore when it was fired upon.
100 Years to Rebuild Gaza
What can you do to help Gaza? 1. Support FOA campaigns which seek accountability and justice, including the boycott campaigns. 2. Help raise awareness about the situation and call for accountability with your MP. 3. Support the call for an arms embargo on Israel.
Despite agreements during ceasefire talks, Israel has refused to allow building materials to be imported into Gaza to rebuild homes, schools and hospitals. Israel cites its age old ‘security’ reasons and says the supplies will be used to build tunnels. Prior to the military crackdown in Egypt, tunnels were used at the Rafah border to smuggle in desperately needed materials. This was the only way Gazan’s were able to rebuild after the previous deadly assaults. Oxfam has said that the rate at which Israel has allowed a trickle of truckloads to enter Gaza, it will take 100 years to rebuild. 1,661 trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza since August 2014. 800,000 are needed to complete the rebuilding. 71 per cent of the aid pledged to rebuild Gaza is expected to benefit the Israeli economy – thereby rewarding Israel for it’s crimes.
Truckloads of humanitarian aid and commercial goods bottle-necked at the crossing along the Gaza-Israel border.
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8 FOA UPDATES Branch Updates
A Message Each year, at FOA we seek to widen the parameters of our engagement with people at all levels, and since last Ramadhan, we have increased the number of active volunteers we have, the number of branches across the country and have continued with our engagement with politicians and civil society. Our campaigns continue to grow in dynamism and to keep the work up, we need more concerned people like you to help move things forward. One of the greatest successes over the past 5 years in BDS has been our #checkthelabel campaign. Whether focussed on Israeli dates or produce, shoppers who support Palestinian freedom are now making an ethical choice and not buying Israeli produce. But this freedom to campaign is coming under threat. The Conservative government, a long time friend of Israel has made it clear that boycotting Israel for its human rights abuses, illegal occupation and war crimes, is not something it will tolerate. At FOA we fully expect our work to become more difficult in the coming months and years, and we hope that those
who support the cause and work in solidarity with Palestinians will be ready to campaign against any such limits to our fundamental freedoms in such a way. Challenges are nothing new to those fighting for justice, and for those who are Muslim and entering the month of Ramadhan, we see it as a period of training in resilience, patience and determination. Long days mean going without food for 20 hours at a stretch, each day for a whole month. This is an immense sacrifice for many of us, yet we live in relative comfort and peace. Each year we reflect on the hardship faced by so many around the world, including those facing war and poverty. For Palestinians, the month of Ramadhan will bring back memories of a year ago, when Israel unleashed its arsenal of bombs on a civilian population in Gaza. The suffering was tremendous and it continues in many forms today. This fact is one which spurs us all on, to continue to strive and work to free Masjid al-Aqsa and Palestine.
In each edition of Aqsa News, we try to bring you a updates from some of our branches. In this edition we have FoA London and Coventry.
London
Al Isra Wa al Miraj Palestine is significant to Muslims for a number of reasons, and one of the most significant is the ‘night journey’ or ‘al Isra wa al Miraj’. In order to commemorate the heavenly journey of the
FOA London supported the March Against Racism demo which attracted about 10k people. We built a mock wall, the #WallOfShame which was covered with key facts about Israel’s
separation wall and distributed literature regarding the wall. We encouraged people to sign messages of support and take pictures while breaking the wall.
Around the time of the To mark the 67 years going occupation using #Naon from the Nakba we led a kba 67. As ever, social media May General Elections, FOA London helped promote the twitter campaign where we users responded positively. voter registration drive by tweeted facts about the on-
distributing material outside mosques and shopping centres, to get people politically active and engaged.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we hosted a large gathering in East London where hundreds of people came together to listen to the story of this incredible night.
67 Years of al-Nakba
Ismail Patel
Follow on Twitter: @Ismailadampatel
#CheckTheLabel Launch This year, the #CheckTheLabel campaign was launched on May 29th and we reached hundreds of thousands of people across the country. To build towards the launch
March Against Racism
of #CheckTheLabel we had a street action day in East and West London. We visited shops and mosques and put up posters whilst engaging with the public.
Launch Day On the day of the launch we tweeted reasons to Boycott Israeli Dates using #CheckTheLabel. These ranged from water issues to facts about settlements, child labour and exploitation and misleading labelling of illegal settlement produce as ‘Produce of Israel’. On this day, hundreds of volunteers across the UK handed out leaflets encouraging people to #CheckTheLabel and social media engagement was unparalleled.
Get Voting!
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9 Coventry
Huddersfield FOA Launches
Literature
To get involved, please email: info@foa.org.uk
FOA Freedom Walk 2015
Working with Coventry Friends of Palestine, FOA has been distributing information leaflets in the locality over the past few months, to raise awareness. The partnership is going from strength to strength and we look forward to continuing the work.
It was a fantastic day in the Peak District for this year’s annual Freedom Walk. Over 300 If you wish to order our free people joined the walk, and helped to raise funds for FoA’s campaigns. literature, please check out our website for more info: www.foa.org.uk.
Special Sermon
In May, We held a special sermon on the Blessings of the Night of the Miraj, and also distributed the 40 Hadith on Al Aqsa Booklet. This was a great event in which we engaged numerous people and helped them to link Islamic religious texts to the holy al-Aqsa sanctuary.
Nakba Event
FoA supported the Coventry Friends of Palestine’s special Nakba Event. It was a celebration of Palestinian Culture and a reminder of the problems that still exist today as a result of the Nakba.
“
This is the first year I have done the walk and I am with my mummy. It has been an awesome day and I really wanted to do something to help Palestinians. I didn’t think I would be able to walk 8KM but I did it and in the end I was told we walked 10KM actually! So I am very happy.
“
Hanifa
“
I have always participated in the walk but this year my knees aren’t up to it! But I have still come out to support the group and had a lovely lunch break while they all went off on the walk. There is a great atmosphere here so I did not want to miss it.
“
Ibrahim
“
I loved helping to organise the walk again this year. It is always a wonderful day out and seeing the number of people who are passionate about this cause makes it all worthwhile. The walk was followed by a picnic with lots of cake - what more could you ask for??
“
Zubeda
AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 58 | RAMADHAN 2015
10 FOA LEICESTER UPDATE
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AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 55 | RAMADHAN 2014
MERCHANDISE 11
AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 58 | RAMADHAN 2015
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12 FUN AND GAMES COMPETITION! Can you come up with a design for this prayer mat? Our judges will pick one winning design. The winner will receive a £20 gift card and a FOA goody bag!! Entries must be received by Wednesday 15th July Send them to: Friends of Al-Aqsa, P.O. Box 5127, Leicester, LE2 0DT TIP: To save costs, why not ask a grown up to take a picture of your design and send it to us by email to info@foa.org.uk Don’t forget to include you details!
CARTOON BY CARLOS LATUFF SEE MORE AT https://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/
WORDSEARCH
DATES EID FASTING ISLAM MUHAMMAD
MUSLIM PRAYERS QURAN RAMADAN SAUM
TARAWEE WORSHIP LAILAH TUL QADR
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FUN AND GAMES 13
SUDOKU
CAN YOU SOLVE THE PUZZLE?
MAZE
IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR SALAAH, CAN YOU HELP ME FIND MY WAY TO THE MASJID?
COLOUR THE PICTURE COLOUR IN THIS PICTURE OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK AND DOME OF THE CHAIN
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14 uwt_UK
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15 Mahmoud Abbas visits the Vatican Freedom Theatre tours the world
Pope Francis met Mahmoud Abbas at an official visit to the Vatican, where he called on the Pal-
Palestine, much to the chagrin of Israel. The occupying state called the move ‘disappointing’. The Vatican recognised Palestine 2 years ago and is now acting on that recognition with a treaty to help the Palestinians to establish an independent, sovereign and democratic state of Palestine. The contents of the accords are not yet clear. President Abbas had a twenty minute private audience with the Pontiff where they discussed numerous issues including two Palestinian nuns. Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem and Mariam Bawardy of Galilee will become the first Palesestinian president to be “an tinian Arabs to gain saintangel of peace” against war. hood. A Palestinian drama The Vatican is on the verge of group made up of refugees signing its first accord with from the Jenin refugee camp started a month long UK tour in May. The group runs an acting school at the refugee camp and has toured the world performing plays. This
Boycott movement impacting on Israeli Academics
The boycott movement has become wider in recent years, and there have been calls for an academic boycott of Israel in response to the occupation policies which deny Palestinian students and teachers the freedom to pursue their careers. It is argued that until Palestinians are given the same freedoms Israeli academics enjoy, Isra-
el should be forced to feel the same restrictions from the international community. Israeli universities are reporting a tangible impact of the boycott movement on the ease with which they are able to access international institutions. They report that there are clear signs that an unofficial boycott is growing stronger, although it is still
only starting to grow now. The types of behaviours being reported include academics from other countries refusing to travel to Israel for conferences. In addition, the failure to write recommendation letters for Israeli academics and rejecting submissions from Israeli academics in peer-reviewed journals.
Palestinian children achieve above average against all odds
The World Bank has reported that Palestinian children at UN run schools for refugee children are achieving higher than average results despite the levels of hardship they face. UNRWA students perform better than their peers in public schools despite their socio-economic disadvantages and parents’ education, which seems to be compensated by students’ self-confidence, parental support and involvement in school activities. The report cites high job satisfaction among teachers as a strong factor associated with student performance. At UNRWA schools, 75 per cent of teachers are either satisfied or highly satisfied with their jobs. UNRWA selects, prepares and supports its education staff to pursue high learning goals, and the proportion of time spent on learning activities in UNRWA schools
form of art allows Palestinians to express their views without joining a political party, and the plays are very much linked to life under occupation. The theatre group have faced a great struggle to keep
working. Their founder was killed in 2011 and several members have faced harassment and arrest by Israeli soldiers. They are performing ‘The Siege’ in the UK, focussing on the 39 day siege in Bethlehem in 2002.
this culture alive, each year, the Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival is held. Performances and workshops
were held in Ramallah and Jerusalem, attracting international performers and audiences.
Dancing in Palestine
The dabke is a Palestinian dance which has long been a symbol of Palestinian cultural identity. To keep
Palestine to chair UNESCO meeting
compares with successful systems in developed countries. UNRWA teachers are Palestinian, so they act as role models for their students, providing them with emotional support in addition to academic guidance.
UNRWA manages nearly 700 schools and educates more than 500,000 refugee students each year. The agency operates in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Palestine was elected to chair the third Meeting of States Parties to the UNESCO 1970 Convention on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property for the first time earlier this week. Palestine became the 195th full member of UNESCO in 2011 with the support of a large majority of countries. Chairing a meeting of nearly 130 state parties has “both symbolic and practical” significance for Palestine. The meeting mainly aims to recover embezzled cultural property and is a significant legal tool for Palestine that saw its own property “illegally exported or even stolen”, particularly because of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
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16 TRAVEL TO PALESTINE
DENIED ENTRY Visiting Palestine is a dream come true for many travelers. However, it is never an easy journey, and the unpredictability is usually due to Israel’s treatment of tourists wishing to visit the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Not everyone makes it to their destination.
I signed up to go to Palestine for one week in November By Anon with an organisation called Zaytoun. The trip involved going to Palestine to take part in the olive harvest, meet PalestinThen I was treated as a common criminal - they took my ian farmers, tourism and visit refugee camps. The trip would start in Jerusalem, then go to Bethlehem, Jenin and Nablus. picture, my fingerprints, and told me they were denying me and the couple I was travelling with entry and would put me on the next flight home, which was the next day. I was transferred to a detention facility and kept overnight, in a dark room, locked, with bunk beds and a toilet. My belongings were not returned to me. Some of the other women in the facility were in a far far worse situation, some were African refugees, who didn’t want to go back to Africa. The time in the detention center was dreadful. Time went by slowly. We were taken outside supervised for about 15 minutes and I was seen by a doctor who checked my blood pressure then asked me to sign a document that stated I was in good health. The document was in Hebrew. Surely, everyone who comes to the detention center is unable to understand Hebrew?
However, to my dismay, I noticed a familiar face sitting two rows in front of me. I realized he was one of the Israelis who interrogated me at the airport.I thought to myself, “I’m tired, and just being paranoid, why would he be on the flight back with me?” He had strange mannerisms, he would stare at me, he would walk past me, and he would sometimes sit, look at me and take notes. When the plane landed, and after I got my passport back from the air steward I told the couple, about the Israeli who I recognized. They also stated that two rows behind them, they recognized the man who interrogated them.
Israel never let me take this journey. After landing, I was interrogated for hours. The couple I was travelling with who also hoped to join the tour were held back with me too. I was asked so many questions. They asked me about my family, why I had been to Pakistan and Dubai, what I do, who my family is in Pakistan, how often I speak to them, who my parents are. They said they didn’t believe me. All of my belongings were confiscated. My phone was taken and thoroughly searched. As I had deleted It was not me being paranoid. Israeli’s were on the flight Even when we boarded the flight home, we were denied all the memory, there was nothing to see other than names our passports. At that point I cared little -I was on the way back, keeping an eye on us. What on earth did they expect and numbers of my friends and family. us to do? home, and so happy to be away from Tel-Aviv.
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Poems What’s the worth of a man Without a homeland, Without a flag, Without an address? What is the worth of such a man?’ Mahmoud Darwish
We are the leaves of tree, the words of a shattered time, we are the moon light sonata, we are the other river bank that lies between the voice and the stone, we are what we produced in the land that was ours, we are what’s left of us in exile, we are what’s left of us in exile, we are the plants of broken vase, we are what we are but who are we? Al-Udhar
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18 RECIPE
Lets Bake… Stuffed Date Maamoul *If you can't find date paste in stores, place some dates in a food processor and you will get homemade date paste. That easy!
Ingredients Dough: • 250g all purpose flour • 1/2 cup olive oil • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds • 1 tablespoon anise seeds • 1 tablespoon anise, powdered • 1 tablespoon black seeds • 1 teaspoon instant yeast Date Filling: • 200g date paste* • 1 teaspoon anise seeds • 1 teaspoon anise, powdered • 1 teaspoon cardamom, crushed
Method • For the dough: place flour, olive oil, sesame seeds, anise, black seeds and instant yeast in a medium-size bowl. Rub the mixture using both hands and knead the dough until oil is well combined into the flour. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for a while. (In some recipes, it's left in the refrigerator for overnight. I only leave it for half an hour). • Add 1/3 cup of water gradually to the mixture while kneading. Keep kneading the dough until it's well combined. (Add more water if the dough is too dry or flour if it is too
sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic bag and leave it for about an hour to rest. • For the stuffing: combine date paste, anise, and cardamom and mix very well. Cut the dough into several pieces and roll them into snake shape (roughly half cm). Leave aside. • For rolling and filling: cut the dough into ten pieces. Gently roll each of dough pieces into a snake shape, then make it flat with your hands (roughly 1 cm thickness). Fill it with date paste pieces (as in pictures). Fold the dough and seal the edges very well. Using a knife, cut the stuffed
dough into 2 cm pieces. Bring both corners of each filled-dough piece together in order to make the final form of maamoul. • Place them in an oven tray and put it in a preheated oven (180 degrees Celsius in the middle level rack) for a total of 15 minutes, 10 minutes for the bottom and 5 for the top or until they barely start getting golden. (Do not over cook them). Take them out of the oven, let them cool and then place them in a closed container.
Shortcut! If you lose patience forming those maamouls/cookies or run out of time, have a look at the lazy version of making them. It's super awesome, easy, and relatively quick. Use a layer of thin maamoul dough, a thin layer of date paste, and another layer of dough. Placed one over the other in an oven-proof tray, and cut into small square pieces. Then simply bake in the oven.
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Israel’s obsession with hummus is about more than stealing Palestine’s food By Ben White When Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their villages and homes in 1948, many left with little more than the clothes on their back. Food was left on the stove. Crops were left unharvested. But the land emptied of its inhabitants was soon occupied by new residents. From 1948 to 1953, almost all new Jewish settlements were established on refugees’ property. The myth of making the desert bloom is belied by the facts: in mid-1949, two-thirds of all land sowed with grain in Israel was Palestinian land. In 1951, “abandoned” land accounted for nearly 95 per cent of all Israel’s olive groves and almost 10,000 acres of vineyards. During these early years, many Palestinian refugees attempted to return to their lands. By 1956, as many as 5,000 so-called “infiltra-
Book Review
tors” had been killed by Israeli armed forces, the vast majority of them looking to return home, recover possessions, or search for loved ones. Palestinian women and children who crossed the frontier to gather crops were murdered. The Nakba in 1948 was the settler colonial conquest of land and the displacement of its owners, a dual act of erasure and appropriation. Citing “reasons of state”, Israel’s first premier David Ben-Gurion appointed a Negev Names Committee to remove Arabic names from the map. By 1951, the Jewish National Fund’s “Naming Committee” had “assigned 200 new names”. But it did not stop with dynamite and new maps. The Zionist colonisation of Palestine has also included culture, notably cuisine. This is the context for the so-called “hummus wars”:
it is not about petty claims and counterclaims, rather, the story is one of colonial, cultural appropriation and resistance to those attempts. In the decades since the establishment of the State of Israel on the ruins and ethnically cleansed lands of Palestine, various elements of the indigenous cuisine have been targeted for appropriation: falafel, knafeh, sahlab and, of course, hummus. Though these dishes are common to a number of communities across the Mediterranean and Middle East, Israel claims them as its own: falafel is the “national snack”, while hummus, according to Israeli food writer Janna Gur, is “a religion”. In a 2002 article on recipes, the Israeli embassy in Washington acknowledged that “Israel lacks a longstanding culinary heritage”, adding that “only a few years ago, Israelis even doubted
the existence of their own authentic cuisine”. Such an admission is hard to find these days, as appropriation has become propaganda. In 2011, Jerusalembased chef Michael Katz visited Australia and told a local newspaper how the Israeli government had “decided, through culture, to start improving Israel’s image”. “They started sending artists, singers, painters, filmmakers and then the idea came of sending chefs.” In 2010, the Israeli government decided to distribute pamphlets at Tel Aviv airport, to equip Israelis who go abroad with, in the words of then-public diplomacy minister Yuli Edelstein, the “tools and tips to help them deal with the attacks on Israel in their conversations with people”. Included in the literature was the claim that “Israel developed the famous
cherry tomato.” Now, as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency put it earlier this year, “Israel has been on the culinary ascent of late, with dozens of food blogs, new high-end restaurants, cooking shows and celebrity chefs, and a fascination with everything foodie”. It is not just food that is enlisted in Israel’s global PR initiatives. A few year ago, pro-Israel students at Brandeis University, in Massachusetts, held a “hookah night” with the help of cam-
pus-based “hasbara fellows”, professional Israel advocates who noted without any irony that “hookah is not specifically an Israeli cultural facet”. In addition to smoking and snacks, the “cultural” evening also included belly dancers. Explaining the rationale for the event, a member of the Brandeis Zionist Alliance said they had found that “students are more receptive to Israel-related education when we use a cultural lens”.
Published early this year, Baddawi is the first graphic novel from 22 year old Chicago based Palestinian artist Leila Abdelrazaq. This is the coming-of-age story of Leila’s father Ahmad who grew up as a Palestinian refugee between Tripoli’s Baddawi refugee camp and West Beirut in 1960s and 70s wartorn Lebanon. The story is divided into three short chapters through which the reader gets insight into the dilemmas Ahmad faces as a Palestinian refugee as well as getting glimpses into his everyday life. With a sense of light hearted hu-
mour the story is very down to earth and one can still relate to Ahmed’s character as a youngster getting up to all sorts of adventures with his friends. The story is not necessarily politically in depth, but it gives a brief understanding of the historical aspect of the Palestinian refugee crisis through a few historical facts. The story also gives an insight into Palestinian culture and food. Therefore the book works well as an introduction to the plight of the Palestinians. In terms of the visuals, the simple, bold, black and
white illustrations are engaging and in parts, emphasise the surreal feelings of chaos and turmoil that surround young children in war zones. There is a clever use of tatreez designs running throughout the book, marking the story as Palestinian. If you have an interest in political art and have read graphic novels such as Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco or are an artist yourself, this book is definitely for you and will make you want to draw! Baddawi is clearly a very personal story from a person who is proud of her heritage, who is inspired by Palestin-
ian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali and wants to preserve the essence of Palestine. As a first graphic novel from such a young artist it is an incredible achievement. With more experience it is very likely that Leila Abdelrazaq will be creating even better works and will be making an impact on the world of political art as she continues to tell the stories of Palestine through her illustrations.
Baddawi Baddawi Leila Abdelrazaq Price: £13 (Paperback) £20 Hardback (Amazon.co.uk)
Reviewed by Ghazala Caratella
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10 years in prison for stone throwing children Israel’s abuse of Palestinian children has been widely reported and Israel’s impunity continues as it takes additional steps to increase it’s powers to imprison stone throwers for up to 10 years. The parameters of the new legislation would mean “throwing stones or other objects at travelling vehicles in a manner that could endanger the passenger’s safety” or harm the vehicle, will incur the sentence. If existing practice is anything to go by, many are concerned the harsh punishment will be implemented more often than not with little regard for due process or evidence. Stone throwing is common in the West Bank, and this is a merely symbolic response by children and teenagers to the aggressive violence they face from Israeli soldiers and settlers on a daily basis. Stones are no match for the advanced weaponry used by the army, which often result in death and severe injury to Palestinians.
The false indictment of Khalida Jarrar
Israel has long masqueraded as a just state obeying the rule of law. In a recent article by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, he exposes the extent of this fabrication by referring to the case of Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian parliament, who has been under arrest for two months already. Israel attempted to deport Khalida to Jericho for six months. This failed and so she was placed under administrative detention, in other words, imprisoned without charge. This defies international law, and Israel’s concern for international opinion led to 12 charges being made against her so that a trial could ensue. Gideon Levy argues that the indictment “ought to be studied in every law school: This is how you slap together false accusations and fabricate an indictment. This is how the system that dares to call itself a “legal system,” with “judges” and “prosecutors,” “verdicts” and “hearings,” actually behaves. Everyone plays along with this ridiculous costume party and takes their senseless roles seriously. And this is
the result.” Khalida is a well known political activist but has never before faced any criminal charge. Palestinians elected her democratically. She fights for women’s rights and prisoner’s rights. The charges against her are descrbied by Levy as “grotesque,” “parody” and “farce”, but even then he argues that these words are too kind. So what is Khalida charged with? Levy describes it as: “The fact that she opposed the occupation, visited a released prisoner and called for the release of the leader of her movement (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); that she participated in a book fair and even “asked about the welfare of the activists and the success of the books at the fair”; that she gave interviews, speeches and lectures; that she participated in marches; and that maybe – it’s doubtful even according to the indictment – she once incited to the kidnapping of soldiers in order to bring about the release of Palestinian prisoners.” Levy goes on to describe the indictment as “one of the
most ridiculous legal documents ever written here [Israel], even by the military legal system. A system where the judge salutes the prosecutor, who outranks him militarily, and both are skullcap-wearing Orthodox Jews, perhaps even settlers – purely by chance, of course; it would never influence their worldview, never affect their conduct. A legal system that doesn’t even bother to translate the judge’s words for the
defendant, and in which the judge delays his decision to free her for 72 hours, which somehow turns into another week (!) of detention. But who’s counting?” Khalida Jarrar is the latest of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have faced the injustice of Israel’s military and judicial systems. They are not treated fairly and they are not treated as equal citizens by the state of Israel.
Palestinian female prisoner being held in inhumane conditions
35 year old Shereen AlIssawi was detained in June 2014 and has been imprisoned for a year in inhumane conditions. Since May, she has been held in solitary confinement with family visits being denied. Sherenn is at the Neve Tirza prison and is being held in a room that lacks even the minimum requirements for healthy living conditions. It is closed from all sides, and
has a gate with a closed-glass window which prison officers recently removed after she suffered from breathing problems and threatened to go on strike. The room is all the more unbearable due to the hot weather. Shereen is the sister of Medhat and Samer Al-Issawi, who participated in hunger strikes while being held in Israeli jails.
More than two thousand couples tied the knot during a mass wedding ceremony organized by the Turkish government at the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza in June. The just-married couples marked the occasion with traditional songs and dances, waved Turkish and Palestinian flags
as well as posters, portraying Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Celebrating a wedding in Gaza has become a near impossibility due to the harsh poverty faced by the majority of residents there, as a direct result of Israeli policies.
2,000 couples marry in mass wedding ceremony in Gaza
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21 Comment
Conservative Business Secretary promises closer ties with Israel, as BDS grows Value of UK/ Israel trade and services estimated at £4.5 billion Sajid Javid MP addressed the UK Israel business annual dinner in June, to tell the audience of the ‘danger’ of boycott. He used the event to gush over Israel’s ability to make the barren Palestinian desert bloom with business over the past 67, completely ignoring the reality of the occupation, ethnic cleansing, and annihilation of all Palestinian business in their far from barren desert. He went on to tell the audience that he shared Israel’s ‘love for freedom and democracy’, a comment which many a Palestinian administrative detainee would no doubt argue against, having been denied their freedom for months on end and been imprisoned without charge or trial. Hardly the actions of
a democratic country! He further took issue with the growing boycott campaign in the UK, saying he had no time for boycott campaigns, as for him, ‘freedom is an absolute concept’. No doubt Palestinians would agree, which is why they call for boycotting Israel, a country denying them all manner of freedoms, until they begin to act like a state which respects human rights and international laws. It is clear that Sajid Javid and the Conservative government are not willing to put Palestinian human rights above their business interests, and this makes it essential for campaigners to continue to press for accountability. Fatema Bronson
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In history...
Remembering the Israeli terror on board the Mavi Marmara The end of May each year is a significant time for the families of 9 Turkish aid workers who were killed by Israeli commandoes on board the Mavi Marmara as they attempted to sail to Gaza in 2010. The Flotilla consisted of 6 boats, of which the Mavi Marmara was the largest with over 500 passengers. The events of that night were reported across the world, as Israel embarked on piracy in the High Seas. The attack on the aid ship was unprecedented and what followed was a series
of attempts by Israel to justify it’s attack on the unarmed ship. It tool Israel three years to issue an apology for the murders. Israel still claims that it’s commandos were attacked by the aid workers, while it deliberately destroyed all video footage from the ship. A UN enquiry found that Israeli actions were ‘unreasonable and excessive’. Most of the victims were shot multiple times at close range, including in the back. Those on board who were not shot or killed were also
found to be significantly mistreated by Israel. They were harassed, intimidated and there possessions were stolen. The Mavi Marmara was stripped of all its fixtures by Israel and painted to cover all signs of the attack, then returned to Turkey. This was to ensure that the ship did not become symbolic. Despite the international outcry, the purpose of the Flotilla has still not been achieved 5 years later – to lift the siege on Gaza.
$173 billion for a Two-State solution
Israel has been warned it cannot survive as a Jewish democratic state unless its ends the occupation of Palestine. A new report by the RAND Corporation suggests that both the Israeli and Palestinian economies could stand to gain more financially if Palestine was to become an independent state. The prize for peace would be $173 billion. The report further suggests that another intifada on the other hand would be fatal for both Palestinian and Israeli populations and economies. While many have focussed on the toll of Israel’s attacks on the Pal-
estinian economy, which are insurmountable, they have also left a huge dent in the Israeli economy. The Israeli military budget is now double the US military budget. This coupled with the possibility of a reduction of US military aid to Israel means a downward spiral for Israel. According to RAND, the solution is for Israel to accept Palestine as an independent state, withdraw from illegal settlements and come to an agreement on land issues. In essence, basically all Israel needs to do is abide by international law.
Israeli pressure means no Palestine passport The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has decided to withdraw from the idea of issuing Palestinian passports clearly marked as ‘State of Palestine’ following threats made by Israel that it would not allow holders of such passport into Israel. This would create numerous
problems for Palestinians who are forced to depend on Israel due to the occupation. For Palestine to be truly independent, official documents would be a natural next step. However, Israel appears determined to block this move.
Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki officially visited Malta in May as the two states draw closer ties to each other. A Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between small and mid-sized businesses was
signed, and two post-graduate scholarships to Palestinian students wishing to study in Malta were also offered. Malta is one of several nations seeking stronger ties with Palestine.
Palestine and Malta share closer ties
Independence of Charities Commission comes under question The independence of the Charities Commission came into question when reports were circulated on the internet stating that William Shawcross, Chairman of the Charities Commission was to attend and speak at an event titled ‘Islam and BDS in Europe: A Strategic Threat?’ The Charities Commission tweeted that Shawcross was invited but he ‘politely declined’, however, he is still listed on the programme. Many have coupled this with reports of Muslim Charities being massively disproportionately targeted for investigation by the Charities Commission, and a number of questions are now being raised.
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Saudi football team can’t play in Palestine
Palestine was due to play the World Cup Qualifier match against Saudi Arabia at home but the match was moved to take place in Jeddah, as otherwise the Saudi team would have to travel through checkpoints to reach the playing ground. Saudi cited the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of the occupation and checkpoints as reasons for why the Palestine team would have to relinquish their home advantage and play the match abroad. The teams agreed that a further match in October
should be played in Palestine, but whether this materialises remains to be seen. The Palestine FA has said that they want foreign teams to support their struggle to keep participating in international matches by playing in Palestine. “This is a stark example of the oppressive policies faced by Palestinian footballers which prevents them from participating the way Israeli footballers do on the world stage. This is why we call for a boycott of Israel in football,” said Shamiul Joarder of FOA.
The UN Relief and Works agency which provides desperately needed food, shelter and schooling to Palestinian refugees has faced a massive funding shortfall. This has forced the agency to suspend its monthly cash assistance
for housing needs of Palestinian Refugees from Syria and Lebanon. This funding is vital to 95% of these people and the shortfall will have a massive impact on their lives.
UNRWA faces funding shortfall
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