Jerusalem mayor unveils demolition plan: at least 22 Palestinian homes demolished for park, tourism

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Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem

Published: 02 March 2010 02 March 2010

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Jerusalem mayor unveils demolition plan

Israeli prime minister tells mayor to delay redevelopment and hold discussions with the Palestinian residents under threat

Jerusalem's mayor today unveiled a sweeping plan for an area of East Jerusalem that would see at least 22 Palestinian homes demolished to make way for a public park and tourist site.

But in a sign of the criticism the plan has already brought, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told the mayor to delay demolitions and hold more discussions with the Palestinian residents of the area.

Nir Barkat, the mayor, said Palestinians who lost their homes would be offered homes in the area, but it is not clear who would pay for the new houses.

"The plan is for the benefit of the residents," he said. "We have to make sure the plan is successful because the alternatives are much, much worse."

The proposal centres on an area called Bustan, part of Silwan in East Jerusalem, close to the walls of the Old City. There are 88 Palestinian homes on a site which the municipality says is an open area: none of the homes have planning permission and all have demolition orders against them.

Nearby is a building owned by Jewish settlers, known as Beit Yonatan, which the authorities have ordered be evacuated and sealed. But there is a strong movement now under way to keep the settlers in their home.

Since Israel captured and occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 war it has been difficult for the Palestinian residents of the east to obtain planning permits. Thousands of Palestinians live with the threat of demolition.

Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli human rights lawyer, said Barkat was playing into the hands of right-wing Jewish settlers, who are increasing their influence in East Jerusalem. "He is doing the bidding of extreme settlers," Seidemann said. "These are partial demolitions and replacing Palestinian families in order to allow for a construction of a settler-inspired pseudo-Biblical park. He is making genuine public needs subservient to the ideology of the settlers."

Tensions have risen in Jerusalem over the past week since Netanyahu announced he intended to include two holy sites, revered by Jews and Muslims, in the West Bank in a separate Jewish heritage plan.

Palestinians say they are concerned the heritage project could impinge on Muslim freedom of worship. Netanyahu has said those fears are misplaced and the project was aimed only at making renovations at holy places in need of maintenance.

On Monday, an Israeli security guard was wounded by gunfire in Silwan. A day earlier, Israeli police scuffled with dozens of rock-throwing Palestinians outside al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Sign a petition against efforts to silence dissent in Canada

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Written by AUPHR AUPHR

Published: 26 February 2010 26 February 2010

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[The Canadian organization Alternatives is threatened with significant defunding by the Canadian goverment because of Alternatives' support of Palestinian rights.  Please consider following the link and signing their petition.]

Since December 5th, 2009, Alternatives, an organization in operation since 1994, has been uncertain of the renewal of the funding it is accorded by the Canadian International Development Agency. This funding is vital to support projects targeting climate change (Haiti), women’s rights (Irak), access and right to information (Republic of the Congo), rural development (Afghanistan) and worker’s rights (Central America). The latter project is scheduled to take place over the period 2010 to 2013, in cooperation with the Confederation of National Unions (CSN). A component of Alternatives’ core funding also goes to public awareness programming and activities.

UN: 346 Afghan children killed in 2009, more than half by NATO

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Written by Earh Times Earh Times

Published: 24 February 2010 24 February 2010

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Kabul - The United Nations said Wednesday that 346 children were killed in Afghanistan last year, more than half of them by NATO forces, mostly in airstrikes.

"In 2009, 346 children were killed," Radhika Coomaraswamy, the special representative of the UN secretary general for children and armed conflict, said in Kabul after a seven-day visit the country. She said 131 children were killed in airstrikes, while 22 were killed in nighttime raids by international special forces. Taliban militants were responsible for the deaths of 128 children last year, with seven of the children used by militants as suicide bombers, she said. In 38 cases, it was not possible to determine who had killed the children.

More than 2,400 civilians were killed last year, the deadliest for Afghan civilians since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, according to the UN. Coomaraswamy said she met with NATO commander in Afghanistan US General Stanley McChrystal, who assured her that troops "will work with the UN to ensure better protection for children."But she noted that "recent events in the past months are cause of concern."

About 50 civilians have been killed since the NATO forces began their biggest-ever operation in the southern province of Helmand nearly two weeks ago. At least 27 of the casualties were caused by a NATO airstrike, and 12 others were killed by NATO rockets. McChrystal said he has put protecting civilians at centre of his war strategy and has ordered the 113,000 international troops to limit the use of airstrikes. Attacks by Taliban on schools reached their highest level in 2009, with more than 600 incidents recorded, Coomaraswamy said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinian books destroyed after Israel's establishment, researcher says

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Written by Ynet Ynet

Published: 23 February 2010 23 February 2010

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Researcher: Israel destroyed Palestinian books

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3841252,00.html
Ynet

Published:

01.28.10, 20:59

Tens of thousands of Palestinian books destroyed after Israel's establishment, Ben-Gurion University researcher says



Israel plundered and destroyed tens of thousands of Palestinian books in the years after the State's establishment, according to a doctoral thesis to be submitted next month by a Ben-Gurion University researcher. In an interview with the researcher published on al-Jazeera's website Thursday, he claimed that Israel destroyed the Palestinian books in the framework of its plan to "Judaize the country" and cut off its Arab residents from their nation and culture.

 

According to the doctoral dissertation, Israeli authorities collected tens of thousands of Arab books in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Safed, and other towns that were home to Arabs. Israeli officials proceeded to hand out about half the books, while destroying the second half, characterizing them as a "security threat," the researcher said.

 

In his al-Jazeera interview, the researcher claimed that, based on Israeli archives, IDF troops plundered the books from the homes of Palestinians expelled during the "Nakba" and handed them over to authorities. The State proceeded to establish a library in Jaffa and other towns for the books, he said.

 

'Cultural massacre'

The researcher told al-Jazeera that according to documents he possesses, Israel destroyed 27,000 books in 1958, claiming that they were useless and threatened the State. Authorities sold the books, most of them textbooks, to a paper plant, he said.

 

"This was a cultural massacre undertaken in a manner that was worse than European colonialism, which safeguarded the items it stole in libraries and museums," the researcher charged.

 

He added that some books were sold at discounted prices to Arab schools, while the others were transferred to the Hebrew University's library in Jerusalem.

 

The researcher estimated that about 6,000 Palestinian books are currently available at the National Library at Hebrew University. However, he claimed that many other books in Arabic, English, and French were not recorded, charging that most of them are being held in the library's warehouses and cannot be accessed.