Issue No: 29
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM)
23rd Jan, 2013
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Issue No: 29
23rd Jan, 2013
Read in this report:
Settlements have doubled four times over the past year (P.4)
Israel demolishes Bab al-Shams and Al-Karamah villages (P.5)
Israel accelerates plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque (P.5)
Hamas s lams Lieberman defilement of Ibrahimi mosque (P.6)
40 Palestinian martyrs in Syria within a week (P.7)
Malaysian PM visit to Gaza (P.9)
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Issue No: 29
CONTENTS NEWS OF PALESTINE Report: settlements have doubled four times over the past year ............................................... 4 Israel demolishes Bab al-Shams and Al-Karamah villages ....................................................... 4 Raed Salah: Israel accelerates plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque ............................................. 5 Hamas slams Lieberman's defilement of Ibrahimi Mosque....................................................... 6 Israeli soldiers storm Negev prison cells ................................................................................... 6 40 Palestinian martyrs in Syria within a week ........................................................................... 7 Haneyya receives Hamas official Osama Hamdan in Gaza....................................................... 7 ISRAELI INSIDER Netanyahu claims victory in Israel polls .................................................................................... 8 MALAYSIA & PALESTINIAN CAUSE Malaysia's PM visits Gaza and lends support to development and educational projects .......... 9 Ministry proposes friendly Harimau Malaya-Palestine match............................................................. 10 ARTICLES & ANALYSIS What does the election of another Likud-led coalition mean? ................................................ 11 PRESS RELEASE Press statement on the visit of the Malaysian PM to Gaza ………………..……………...…13 PHOTO GALLERY Malaysian PM visit to Gaza ..................................................................................................... 14
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NEWS OF PALESTINE
Report: settlements have doubled four times over the past year
Jerusalem settlements to tender compared with 1772 housing units in 2011 and 569 housing units in 2010. The report stressed that the IOA approved during the past year huge settlement projects in "Gilo "and" Har Homa "and the" Givat Hamatos "south of Jerusalem, and in the" Pisgat Ze'ev "and" Ramat Shlomo "north of the city. It also noted that the occupation continued in implementing this settlement policy at an accelerated pace with the beginning of this year to include plans to build thousands of settlement units in the area known as the "E-1" located between Jerusalem and the settlement of "Ma'ale Adumim".
20/01/2013 Hamas Media Bureau said in a report issued concerning the escalating Israeli settlement schemes over the past year that the settlements have increased four times in 2012 compared with 2011. The report pointed out that during 2012 the Israeli occupation government put 6932 new housing units in West Bank and occupied
The occupation forces started demolishing houses in Jerusalem and imposing expensive fines and handing dozens of demolition notices, and announced the establishment of a new outpost in the Ras al-Amud in Jerusalem, in addition to confiscating lands of the Palestinian village of Beit Iksa. Source: PIC
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Israel demolishes Bab alShams and Al-Karamah villages
21/01/2013 Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished the Palestinian village of Bab al-Shams under the protection of an Israeli large force, after being set up by Palestinian activists on Palestinian land threatened with confiscation through “E1�plan. Meanwhile, Judges of the so-called "Ofer and Magistrate" courts decided on Wednesday evening, to release all detainees of Bab alShams village, who were arrested after they have managed to return to the village. Twenty activists, between 17 and 50 years old, were arrested from the village by the Israeli forces, including a foreign activist, a
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Issue No: 29 Jerusalemite, and the rest were from the West Bank, where they were released on bail after paying a thousand NIS for 15 activists, and being removed from the village of Bab alShams for a whole month, the lawyer Bassam Bahr said in a press release.
"The demolition of Bab al-Karama does not mean the end of our stand. Activists will again occupy the site on which the village was built and they will rebuild their tents when the opportunity arises," activist Nabil Hababa said.
On the other hand, Israeli forces on Monday morning demolished another protest village erected by Palestinian activists last week in northwest Jerusalem to protest Israeli land confiscation.
In a related context, , Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Monday that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak plans to finish building the separation wall around planned Israeli settlement zone E1 which cuts off the West Bank from Jerusalem, Israeli media reported.
Activists told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli troops demolished all the tents and evacuated all the activists in the the Al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa.
The proposal to close a three-kilometer gap in the wall will prevent Palestinian access to E1, where activists erected a tented protest village last week.
Source: Agencies _______________________________________________________________
Raed Salah: Israel accelerates plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque
16/01/2013 Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian 1948-occupied territories, said that the Israeli occupation is now seeking to escalate its aggression against Jerusalem in general and al-Aqsa Mosque in particular. Sheikh Salah said that the occupation's aims behind this escalation is to achieve an initial goal represented in intensifying the incursions in Al-Aqsa Mosque and performing Talmudic rituals inside it, in order to pave the way for its future calls to divide al-Aqsa Mosque, as it
had imposed such a division on the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil. He added in an interview with the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and heritage that the occupation statements and practices confirm that it aims to build the alleged temple at the expense of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The head of the Islamic movement stated that "according to my studies on the occupation's attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque since 1967, I stress that those who have been calling, since that year, for the division of al-Aqsa and the construction of the alleged temple at the expense of al-Aqsa Mosque, were political military leaders and religious figures in the Zionist community, and here they are renewing their calls." In a related context, The Palestinian Minister of Religious Endowments in Gaza has warned of Israeli threats to Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Ismail Radwan said that this is happening through a deliberate Judaisation policy by the occupation authorities. He stressed that his ministry is taking very seriously the latest threat by the Jewish Home Party to bomb the Dome of the Rock in order to build a temple on its ruins.
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM)
Source: PIC + MEMO
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Hamas slams Lieberman's defilement of Ibrahimi Mosque
regime's attempts to create a new fait accompli at the Aqsa Mosque would not succeed in changing its Islamic identity. Hamas added that Al-Khalil city and its Mosque would remain steadfast in the face of Israel's Judaization schemes. Lieberman decided on Monday to pay a provocative visit to the Ibrahimi Mosque where he performed Jewish rituals and defiled its sanctity. He also visited four illegal Israeli outposts where 400 extremist Jewish settlers are living.
15/01/2013 The Hamas Movement strongly denounced the desecration of the Ibrahimi Mosque on Monday by former Israeli deputy premier and far-right figure Avigdor Lieberman.
Lieberman's visit was part of his ongoing support for the racist Jewish group called Kahane movement who transformed the four outposts in Al-Khalil city into one big settlement from which they launch their daily racist attacks on the Palestinian natives of the city. Source: PIC
Describing him as a terrorist and a racist in a press release, Hamas said that the Israeli _______________________________________________________________
Israeli soldiers storm Negev prison cells
forced out in the freezing weather without allowing them to take heavy clothes or covers. The storming operation was sudden and targeted ward 8, the centre said quoting prisoners, adding that a big number of policemen and Dror forces took part in the operation. It said that tension is still running high in the jail as the quelling and search operation was still ongoing till the noon hours.
21/01/2013 Israeli Special Forces of the Dror unit stormed the Negev prison cells at the early morning hours of Monday and forced prisoners out of their rooms for search. The Palestine prisoners center for studies said that the prisoners were
In a related context, the hunger striker Samer al-Issawi's health condition has seriously deteriorated and his temperature has risen to 39.8 two days ago due to his hunger strike since 181 days, where he was transferred to Assaf Harofeh hospital.
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM)
Source: Agencies
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Issue No: 29
40 Palestinian martyrs in Syria within a week
21/01/2013 The international working group for Palestinian refugees in Syria issued a statistical report documenting the Palestinian martyrs' numbers and names who were martyred in Syria during the past week. The report, which covers the period between 12 January 2013 and 18 January 2013, confirmed that 40 Palestinian refugees were martyred in Syria during a week, including a large number of children, women and elderly.
On Saturday January 12, seven Palestinians were martyred in Syria, including a 3 year old toddler and a Palestinian activist in the Palestinian memory. Moreover, on Sunday 5 Palestinian refugees were martyred in different parts of Palestinian refugee camps in Syria by the regime sniper fire, while 4 other Palestinians were martyred on Monday in the shelling on the Yarmouk and Husseiniya camps. On Tuesday, 3 Palestinians were killed by sniper fire, while 4 others were martyred on Wednesday in light of the stifling living crisis in camps of Khan al-Shih, Neirab, and Husseiniya. Moreover, on Thursday, 13 Palestinian refugees were martyred including 7 children during a terrible massacre in Husseiniya camp by the Syrian regime's warplanes, while on Friday, four Palestinian martyrs were reported in Syria when Syrian warplanes bombed the Faculty of Architecture in Aleppo University, in light of the siege imposed by the Syrian regime on Yarmuk camp for the twenty-seventh day in a row. Source: PIC
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Haneyya receives Hamas official Osama Hamdan in Gaza
21/01/2013 Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya received on Sunday director of Hamas's international affairs Osama Hamdan who visits Gaza for the first time since he left it more than thirty years ago.
During the meeting, premier Haneyya hailed Hamdan as one of the Hamas prominent leaders of the resistance project. Haneyya stated that the successive visits made by Palestinian leaders to Gaza confirm their adherence to the Palestinian right of return. "Gaza's reception of these leaders is part of the divine victory which God has blessed us with, and reflects the unity of the Palestinian people at home and abroad," the premier said. For his part, Osama Hamdan expressed his happiness to visit his homeland and be among his people in Gaza following the victory of the resistance in the last war against the occupation.
Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM)
Source: PIC
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Issue No: 29
ISRAEL INSIDER
Netanyahu claims victory in Israel polls
Exit polls showed the Israeli leader's Likud party, coupled with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, would still be the biggest bloc in the 120-member assembly with 31 seats, 11 fewer than the 42 they held in the previous parliament. Coalition projections The projections showed right-wing parties with a combined strength of 61-62 seats against 58-59 for the centre-left. Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Tel Aviv, said, "It will be interesting to see how he balances the demands of the different parties he'll be entering into coalitions with.
22/01/2013 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has claimed victory in Israel's election, despite unexpected losses to resurgent centre-left challengers. Netanyahu gave a speech to his supporters at the Likud headquarters where he thanked Israelis for the opportunity to govern for a third term. He went on to say this new government will be focusing on five points, the first and foremost being security and Iran. "The first is the strength of security on threats against us, and to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon."
"A lot of people will tell you that those undecided were put off by the idea of far-right wingers dominating politics for the next four years," she said, referring to the drop in figures for Netanyahu. The centrist Yesh Atid party, led by former television talk show host Yair Lapid, came second with 18 or 19 seats, exit polls showed - a stunning result for a newcomer to politics in a field of 32 contending parties. Following the results, Lapid posted just one word on his Facebook page: "Thanks". The once dominant Labour party led by Shelly Yachimovich was projected to take third place with 17 seats. Source: Aljazeera
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MALAYSIA & PALESTINIAN CAUSE
Malaysia's PM visits Gaza and lends support to development and educational projects
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, warmly welcomed the visit of Mohammed Najib, his wife and the accompanying delegation and he thanked them, their country and their king. "Malaysia is a civilised country which is leading in the field of development," Haniyeh said. "This visit personifies the spirit of real support and cooperation between the people of the two nations." Both Prime Ministers alongside the Malaysian delegations and a group of Palestinian senior officials took a tour around the Gaza Strip and looked at the destruction left by the latest Israeli aggression.
22/01/2013 Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib, began a "historic" visit to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and called on prime ministers of other Muslim countries to follow in his footsteps. Mohammad Najib, his wife, a large number of senior Malaysian officials and an information team arrived in Gaza through the PalestinianEgyptian Rafah Crossing this morning. Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, received him and they held a joint press conference outside the arrival gate of the Crossing. The Malaysian Prime Minister described his visit as "historic" since it is the first time that a top Malaysian official has visited the Palestinian territories. "The goal of this visit is to prove truthful solidarity with the Palestinians and their resistance," the Prime Minister said. "It is true that we are thousands of miles away from each other‌ but we believe in the right of the distorted nation to resist."
In the presence of Ismail Haniyeh and a number of other Palestinian officials including the Education Minister, Mohammad Najib set up the cornerstone of a Malaysian funded vocational school in Al-Zahraa city in the centre of the Gaza Strip. "We are continuous in supporting the Palestinians and I hope that this visit will lead to more support," he said. "I hope that we have some of the corporeal spirit that we have seen here in order to push us to do more to support in the everyday issues and in your legitimate conflict towards a fully sovereign state." At the end of his visit, Mohammad Najib praised Palestinian "steadfastness" and said: "We can issue statements while we are there [in Malaysia], but we followed what our hearts dictate. Our hearts told us to come here [to Palestine] in order to salute your steadfastness." Mohammed Najib stressed that the struggle in Palestine is not an exclusively Palestinian struggle, but is "the struggle of the whole Umma." Addressing the Palestinian nation, Mohammad Najib said: "You have achieved a considerable moral victory and this deserves much respect. Your courage and superiority pushes us to
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Issue No: 29 salute you. Therefore, we praise what you have done in facing the aggressive offensive." Mohammed Najib also called for other Muslim leaders across the world to follow in his footsteps and visit the Gaza Strip to "support its steadfastness." Mohammed Najib's political advisor who accompanied him throughout the tour in the Gaza Strip thanked the current Egyptian government for facilitating the visit. He said that this visit "could have not happened if Mubarak was still heading the Egyptian regime." In turn, Ismail Haniyeh called for more cooperation between Malaysia and the Palestinians in the major sectors. "Malaysia
esteems education and we would like more cooperation in this important field. Education is the most successful weapon with which to arm ourselves during our struggle against the enemies of the Ummah," he said. Commenting on the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to the Al-Buraq Wall (known as the Wailing Wall to Jews) which coincided with the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit to the Gaza Strip, Haniyeh said that Netanyahu was trying to convey the message that he is unconcerned with international support for the Palestinians. However, "the visit by this Malaysian delegation is the ultimate response to his useless plans." Source: MEMO
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Ministry proposes friendly Harimau Malaya-Palestine match
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the match with the national squad of Palestine, which is ranked 152nd in the latest ranking by The International Football Federation (FIFA), would give the exposure to and improve the performance of Harimau Malaya. “If we organize it well, it could be a charity friendly match with gate collection which we could contribute to Palestine,� he told reporters after receiving a courtesy call from the Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia (PCOM) representatives.
17/01/2013 The Youth and Sports Ministry is proposing to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to organize a friendly football match against the Palestinian national squad.
A delegation of 10 PCOM and two Egyptian representatives led by PCOM chairman Muslim Abu-Umar called on Shabery, who is also the chairman of Umno Overseas Clubs. In the meeting today, Shabery also invited PCOM to participate in the 2013 Putrajaya Youth Festival which would be held here in May. Source: BERNAMA
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ARTICLES & ANALYSIS
What does the election of another Likud-led coalition mean? By: Samira Shackle Israel's general election will take place on Tuesday 22 January. It has long been forecast that Binyamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister, will win a comfortable majority. Opinion polls have varied in recent months, but the consensus remains that the next government will be another Likud-led coalition. The party joined forces with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, previously run by settler Avigdor Lieberman, in October and they'll run on a single list. This Likud-Beitenu pairing is likely to win a comfortable majority. However, given Israel's proportional representation system, there have been some surprise contenders. Likud-Beitenu has lost some votes to Bayit Yehudi, a new ultra-religious nationalist party headed by Naftali Bennett, a former adviser to Netanyahu. It looks like this party will come in at third place (after Labor), more or less guaranteeing it a significant role in the new coalition. All of this leads to the conclusion that come next week, Israel's government will be its most right-wing and hawkish ever. What does this mean for the peace process? It goes without saying that it is unlikely that talks will resume any time soon with Netanyahu at the helm. While he has nominally pledged his support to a two-state solution in 2009, he has done little towards creating it - indeed, quite the opposite. During his last term, Netanyahu oversaw the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, which are widely considered to be the biggest obstacle to peace. Around 500,000 Jewish settlers live in constructions on Israelioccupied land in the West Bank. The continued expansion of these settlements makes the possibility of a viable Palestinian state along those borders ever less likely. And it does not look like the trend will be reversing any time soon. Speaking to Israeli newspaper Maariv this week, Netanyahu said that if he was re-elected, not a single settlement would
be removed. "We haven't uprooted any settlements, we have expanded them," he said. "Nobody has any lessons to give me about love for the Land of Israel or commitment to Zionism and the settlements." Palestinian negotiating teams have made it a condition of talks that settlement construction must stop. If Likud, Netanyahu's right-wing party, has been intransigent in past dealings with Palestinians, the new party and likely coalition partner, Bayit Yehudi, could take it to a new level. Going a step further than settlement building, the party is in favour of annexing parts of the West Bank. Some analysts have suggested that Netanyahu and Likud are being forced to step up their hawkish rhetoric to prevent Bayit Yehudi from eating into their share of the vote too much. The presence of these far-right and ultra-nationalist elements in the election campaign have steered the tone of the debate drastically to the right. Their presence in a future government will make it very difficult for Likud to offer any concessions to the Palestinians at all (and given how few and far between those concessions were even in the last government, this is a bleak outlook). Indeed, if the forecasts are borne out and this super right wing government formed, it is difficult to see how Netanyahu will retain even his lukewarm commitment to a Palestinian state, without watering it down further. The new government looks set to include several ministers who explicitly oppose Palestinian sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza under any circumstances. The Labor party, the main opposition, has mainly fought its election campaign on domestic socio-economic issues, and so noone has made the case for the alternative approach: diplomacy and a commitment to human rights. Within Israel, a movement called Real Democracy has been established, to allow Israeli citizens to donate their vote to
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Issue No: 29 a Palestinian, in protest that they are denied the vote. The organisers hope that thousands will sign up by election day. While this may register objection with the system, of course it is unlikely to change the outcome. And the outcome should be of serious concern to anyone concerned with the peace process. The longer peace talks are stalled, the more settlements are built, and the more reactionary the Israeli government
becomes, the less likely the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is. Many Palestinians and supporters of Palestine now advocate a single state, with equal rights for all citizens. But this would undermine Israel's fundamental identity as a Jewish state, and it is difficult to envision that happening. The outlook for movement on the stalled peace process was already bleak. But it seems that after Tuesday, it will be significantly worse.
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PRESS RELEASE
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PHOTO GALLERY
Malaysian PM visit to Gaza
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