put a spell on you

theorthodoxbrit:

News is coming in about Israeli Police and Soldiers setting up barriers & checkpoints on the entrance of the Holy Sepluchre church in and Old City Jerusalem and denying local Christian believers the right enter their church.
I am still waiting for further confirmation but a few sources are claiming they have been stopped and a few people have had their taxi drivers telling them they can’t go further because of army checkpoints preventing it.
We know that they usually prevent thousands from attending the services but this would be a new low. If anyone has independent confirmation (I have 4 sources but want more) it would be appreciated.

You can find more pictures here and here and also videos via this page. Most people are accustomed to seeing Muslim worshipers being denied entry to the Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers in Jerusalem but our Christian brothers and sisters also undergo the same, sickening treatment by the “the only democracy in the Middle East.”
[Palestinian Christians] [Twitter] [theorthodoxbrit]

News is coming in about Israeli Police and Soldiers setting up barriers & checkpoints on the entrance of the Holy Sepluchre church in and Old City Jerusalem and denying local Christian believers the right enter their church.

I am still waiting for further confirmation but a few sources are claiming they have been stopped and a few people have had their taxi drivers telling them they can’t go further because of army checkpoints preventing it.

We know that they usually prevent thousands from attending the services but this would be a new low. If anyone has independent confirmation (I have 4 sources but want more) it would be appreciated.

You can find more pictures here and here and also videos via this page. Most people are accustomed to seeing Muslim worshipers being denied entry to the Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers in Jerusalem but our Christian brothers and sisters also undergo the same, sickening treatment by the “the only democracy in the Middle East.”

[Palestinian Christians] [Twitter] [theorthodoxbrit]

israelfacts:

Hundreds of anti-AIPAC billboards have been posted across central subway stations in downtown Washington D.C. proclaiming that “AIPAC does not speak for me”.

Sponsored by the left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace and the Avaaz global advocacy group, the posters were highly visible to many of the 13,000 delegates attending the pro-Israel lobby’s annual conference.

“AIPAC does not speak for me. Most Jewish Americans are propeace. AIPAC is not,” the billboards say.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said: “AIPAC is the NRA of foreign policy lobbies, pushing a rightwing agenda that does not represent the majority of Jewish Americans: Its support for military buildup and endless settlement expansion makes peace impossible. It cannot claim to speak for all American Jews.”

The posters are part of a concerted effort by left-wing groups outside the Jewish establishment to get their voices heard during the three-day AIPAC conference. Protesters from various radical Jewish and Palestinian groups have held vigils outside the entrances to the Washington Convention Center, where the conference is being held, leading to some scuffles with police and AIPAC delegates.

Haaretz

(via doyayoda)

A waitress had her tip docked by a member of The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) because she wore a t-shirt opposing occupation which says “Occupation isn’t Pretty” whilst serving. The waitress who works at the Busboys and Poets café was left with only a 10% tip, a brochure and a condescending note which says “Displaying your political beliefs on your shirt cost you a % of your tip.”

(via fattysaid)

stay-human:

Pictures (top to bottom, left to right): 1) From twitter account of Osher Maman of the Israeli Golani Brigade. 2) A montage posted by Osher Maman which includes a dehumanizing picture of a blindfolded Palestinian. 3) Hebrew over Gaza says “Soon to be a giant theme part” 4) Also from Osher Maman’s instagram. 5) Maman violating Israeli laws about mishandling weaponry.

This is “the most moral army in the world,” everybody.

As Mor Ostrovski’s now infamous Instagram image of a Palestinian child in the crosshairs of a sniper rifle generated disgust around the world, the Israeli army claimed that the photograph was “a severe incident which doesn’t accord with the IDF’s spirit and values.”

It is understandable that an occupation army that markets itself as the “most moral army in the world” would attempt such damage control.

Those who follow matters closely know that the photograph was an apt symbol for the Israeli army’s contempt for the lives of Palestinian children, as well as for the total impunity soldiers accused of crimes against Palestinian civilians enjoy. Even in terms of “misuse” of social media, it was no isolated incident.

Israeli soldiers’ use of social media has given a unique insight into an “army” that functions more like a rabble – with soldiers misusing weapons, breaking laws, and expressing violent and extreme views and posting images of themselves doing it online.

Electronic Intifada

thepeoplesrecord:

palestinianliberator:

I decided to make this to try and shed light on the Israeli-enforced segregation of roads within the West Bank.

In the images of the map, the town on the right is my hometown of Deir Dibwan. On the left is Ramallah, the de facto capital of Palestine. The two are a little less than two miles apart. Two miles, not that far, right? Hell, there’s even a direct road joining the two!

Using the road joining the two cities, outlines in blue in the first picture, it’s a little over 5 minutes driving to get from one to the other.

Israel has, however, restricted access to the road for Palestinians in order to “protect” the illegal and racist Israeli settlement of Psagot, established on Palestinian-owned land, yet completely restricted to all Palestinians. The road is now exclusively reserved for Israeli settlers only, and any Palestinian vehicles found driving on the road are subject to arrest, or target practice by the settlers.

Because of this closure, Palestinians are forced to use a very complicated series of unmarked roads to reach Ramallah, which have been highlighted in green in the second picture.

In order for a Palestinian from Deir Dibwan [or any of the surrounding regions, including every town and city to the East and South of Deir Dibwan] to reach Ramallah now, they must drive through the Palestinian towns of Baytein, Ein Yabrud, Dura al-Qare, Jifna, Beir Zeit, Abu Qash, Surda, and Al-Bireh.

The road connecting Deir Dibwan to Ramallah is approximately 2 miles in length. The length of road Palestinians must now drive instead totals approximately 22 miles. What was originally a 5 minutes trip is now almost an hour long.

Ramallah houses most of the regions schools, as well as serving as a hub of jobs for those living within the Ramallah Governate. My brothers and I would drive an hour each way to get to school everyday, with frequent checkpoints often doubling that time. My brothers, as well as every other Palestinian in the region who goes to school in Ramallah, to this day continue to follow this same route to school daily.

Palestinians have, however, established a sort of “shortcut”, which I have highlighted in red in the second picture that cuts from Dura, through Jalazon, and into Al-Bireh.

This road has managed to cut down on the time it takes to get to Ramallah, making it around a 35 minute trip. The issue with this road, however, is that Israel deems it as an “illegal road”, and subjects it to frequent closures, despite the fact that it avoids any Israeli Settlement and is completely on Palestinian land, meaning that by taking this road, it may cut down on the amount of time it takes to get to Ramallah, or it may greatly increase it if the IDF happen to be in the area and turn cars around.

This is just one of countless segregated roads in the West Bank, with every road showin in yellow on the maps being off-limits to Palestinians. Israeli settlements have completely cut off Palestinian towns from one another. The cut-off is so severe that towns with historical ties have now grown so far apart to the point that they have developed their own dialects and accents.

“How does Israel know if a Palestinian is driving on an Israeli-only road?”

Israeli cars have yellow license plates

While Palestinian cars have green ones

So a green-plated car seen driving on an Israeli road is subject to being stopped and arrested, or simply shot at by Israeli settlers, while Israeli vehicles are allowed to drive on any roads they choose. They are allowed to enter Palestinian villages, while Palestinians are absolutely forbidden from even approaching Israeli settlements without the threat of being shot.

Israel: The only ~~country left practicing such a barbaric system of apartheid~~ democracy in the Middle East!

The US provides Israel with $8.4 million in military aid every day.

Israel has the been the largest total recipient since World War II, amounting to more than $115 billion since 1949.

In July 2012, President Obama approved an extra $70 million to expand Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense program.

Obama’s 2013FY budget requests $3.1 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Israel to be used for weapons & military training.

(via doyayoda)

israelfacts:

Palestinian Christians and Muslims jointly celebrate the lighting ceremony of the Christmas tree, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestine, December 2012

More than 170,000 Palestinian Christians live under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, without proper political representation, freedom of travel, equality before the law, and many other civil and human rights. The occupation does not discriminate between Christians and Muslims — they both suffer the same.

See also: For the first time in the 2,000 year history of Christianity, Bethlehem and Jerusalem will be completely cut off by illegal Israeli settlements after Israel authorized the construction of more than 2,600 homes in Givat Hamatos. Bethlehem is now surrounded by 22 settlements, all built on stolen Palestinian land.

(Photographs: WAFA)

On the receiving end of Israeli 'impunity' →

In light of a recent ruling by an Israeli court that the death of 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was a “regrettable accident”, Maath Musleh looks back at other victims who, like Rachel Corrie, came under Israeli attack and were then deprived of justice.

An Egyptian man cries on the coffin of his brother, a soldier killed during an attack at a checkpoint along the Sinai border with Israel by unknown gunmen, at a military funeral in Omar Makram mosque, Cairo August 7, 2012. An Egyptian official said insurgents crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip before attacking the border station on Sunday, killing 16 police officers.

Photo by: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

aaaakh ya alby </3 Rest in peace heroes, heaven is lucky to have you!

(via mohamad-ashraf)

theegyptianpenguin:

OLIVER Cazard interrupted the women’s football match between France & Israel wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ shirt at the Olympics today.

Interesting that this should surface now. This actually did take place but NOT in the Olympics - Israel didn’t even qualify to compete in the Women’s competition! This was part of a campaign launched by pro-Palestinian groups last year to persuade European football’s governing body to reverse its decision to grant Israel the junior final in 2013. The incident with Oliver Cazard took place on the 26/10/2011 by the French campaigning group EuroPalestine who staged a pitch invasion in a match between France and Israel in the city of Troyes north of France. Five girls and boys wearing green boycott Israel T-shirts or carrying Palestinian flags ran onto the pitch during the second half of the France-Israel match at Troyes. The last young woman suffered a cracked rib while being roughly handled by ground staff.

Guys, please, please, please check the source before sharing!

Sources: [Jews4BIG] [EuroPalestine] [Video of Incident] [Qualifying Teams]

The Pan-Arabia Enquirer: Hardline Israeli settlers unveil rebranding

Hebron’s Divine Inhabitants of Choice are hoping to sway international opinion with the image change

HEBRON: A group of hard-line Israeli settlers living in the West Bank town of Hebron are looking to rebrand themselves because of what they claim is the stigma connected with the word ‘settler’. The group, which say they have faced “extreme prejudice and discrimination from the international community” due to the term, are hoping that the move will help sway opinion in their favour.

“For too long the world’s liberal, anti-Semitic media has been attempting to dirty the word ‘settler’, linking it with negative thoughts and associations,” said group spokesman Abraham Sterwheel, a Brooklyn-born settler who moved to the Occupied Territories two years ago.

“Every day we hear one-sided news reports about settlers taking over Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, or settlers arming themselves to the teeth with automatic weapons and attacking Palestinian villagers, or settlers building illegal developments inside Palestinian territory under the absurd justification that its theirs because of some biblical birthright. But they never speak of the good things settlers do, such as wear nice hats or grow luxuriant beards.”

The group have been working on a new brand identity with international public relations and marketing company Bell Pottingshed – whose other clients include Bashar Al-Assad, Joseph Kony and Bowel Cancer. This revamped image is set to be rolled out across the whole West Bank over the coming weeks.

“We’ve decided to discontinue the term settler because of the unfair connotations that have been attached with the word,” said the group’s marketing officer Shlomo Shun.

“Our new identity, which we will soon be using across all marketing material and shall be urging all journalists to use, is Divine Inhabitant of Choice.”

According to Shun, a series of internet videos is in the pipeline showing various Divine Inhabitants of Choice – or DICs – engaged in “positive” activities, such as playing football with children, running slowly along sandy beaches and cradling cute kittens.

“And of course, they’ll be doing all this wearing nice hats and having luxuriant beards,” he added.

‘A typical journey to school as a child in Palestine.’

lifeisliterallylimited:

Rachel Corrie; April 10, 1979 – March 16, 2003.

American peace activist Rachel Corrie being interviewed in the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza Strip a few days before she was killed by a bulldozer.

Photograph: Getty Images

findingpeacewithin:

youcantoccupyasmile:

This is the advertisement for a car in Israel.. This is the incident when a settler ran into these children.. in Hebrew it says “We’ll see who stands in your way”.

Press TV

(Thanks Muna for sharing)

This looks fake…

It’s not fake, well at least the incident isn’t but the advertisement is i.e. no one actually knows who made the advert and it certainly wasn’t the company because a spokeswoman for Japan Auto said that the company had nothing to do with the advertisement; “We strongly condemn these elements that are trying to harm the good name of the company.” She added that the company did not plan to take any action over the advertisement, as it has no idea where it originated from.

The incident took place last year in 2010 when a settler struck two Palestinian children with his Subaru car. The settler, known to the Israeli police, fled the scene after injuring the two children. The attack was captured on video. The victims were two Palestinian children aged 10 and 12. The 10-year-old child suffered a broken leg. The settler is at large, and is not even wanted for his crime.

The settler who rammed the children with his car was identified as David Be’eri, Director-General of the Elad settlement organization, an extremist settler real estate corporation that heavily encourages Jewish settlers to move into Palestinian neighbourhoods in occupied East Jerusalem, and provides them with financial support.

Artist Larissa Sansour Speaks Out About Her Ejection From the Lacoste Art Prize for Being "Too Pro-Palestinian" →

“Olive Tree,” from Larissa Sansour’s “Nation Estate” project

israelfacts:

Israeli army fires tear gas, beats mourners after Mustafa Tamimi’s funeral

On Sunday morning, thousands of mourners lined Ramallah’s streets for the funeral procession of Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian who was killed by the Israeli army this weekend. The procession continued to Nabi Saleh, where hundreds attended Tamimi’s burial. The army reportedly fired tear gas on some of the mourners, beat unarmed demonstrators, and arrested seven activists.

Continue reading (Photos: Activestills / AP)