Israelisk nolltolerans mot kulturtillställningar i Jerusalem

Israelisk polis har attackerat en kulturfestival i Jerusalem, rapporterar SvD och The Guardian. Bland de närvarande fanns bl.a. den svenske succéförfattaren Henning Mankell. På senare tid har israelisk polis infört en nolltoleranspolicy mot kulturevenemang i östra Jerusalem, som man hävdar kan vara finansierade av palestinska källor.

Mankell jämförde stormningen av festivalen med situationen i Sydafrika under apartheid, och manade mötesdeltagarna att inte förlora hoppet.

Arrangörer för kulturfestivalen var bl.a. British Council och FN-organet Unesco. Festivalen kommer att försätta på Västbanken, i städer som Ramallah och Jenin.

Festivalen kan följas på twitter.

Bloggat: PGS, INput, Paolo, Motbilder, Kristen Vänster, Esbati, Bröder

F**k Veolia

There are unconfirmed reports that the Galway City council has voted 12 to 2 to adopt a motion against utilizing the illegal-settlement-profiteering company Veolia for its city transport services. Veolia has now lost Stockholm metro (a 3.5 billion Euro contract) and Bordeaux contracts. In short, taking part in the occupation doesn't pay off.

IPSC press statement on the Galway City vote.

Trailer: Checkpoint Rock

Video of a trailer for 'Checkpoint Rock', a new documentary by Fermin Muguruza about the lives of artists and musicians in Palestine. The documentary will have its premiere in Donostia (San Sebastian) on April 30, 2009.

State-sponsored ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem

Copy-pasted from Maan;

Jerusalem – Ma’an – Dozens of Israeli settlers backed by police took over a Palestinian house in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Ma'an’s correspondent observed settlers raiding the house of Naser Jaber, in the As-Sa'diyeh neighborhood of the Old City. A scuffle took place between the owner and the settlers before police intervened, allowing the settlers to take control of the house and sending the owner away.

Israeli police then imposed a neighborhood lock down, prohibiting residents from entering or leaving their homes. Several youth were seized during ensuing clashes in the tense half hour between the arrival of the settlers and the total-closure of the area.

Jaber went immediately to the court to put forward his case, saying he was going to demand the removal of the settlers from his residence, which is home to eight. Jaber noted that the small area of the Old City is home to seven other families and said there had been a repeated settler presence in the area over the past months.

Blogs: Kildén & Åsman

Breaking news: IOF blocks East Jerusalem streets in preparation for demolitions of Palestinian homes

Ethnic cleansing, in progress. News link at Maan News Agency.

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Update: Detentions of Palestinian leaders in the West Bank by IOF

Fida states that Israeli excarvations are to blame for school's collapse, calls on Israeli authorities to halt excarvations around al-Aqsa mosque

According to a statement issued on Monday by the Palestinian Democratic Union, Fida, the collapse of an UNRWA school is a result of the careless and extensive digging and excavations that Israel is conducting beneath occupied East Jerusalem. The floor of the UNRWA school had collapsed on Sunday, injuring 17 young girls in their classroom. Fida has called upon Israeli authorities to freeze the excarvations underneath the al-Aqsa Mosque. The party also called upon Israeli authorities to cease the expansion of settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, arguing that the settlements constructions stood in the way of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Source: Maan News Agency