aqsa news, issue 51, february 2013

A Q S A N E W SQUARTERLY FREE WWW.FOA.ORG.UK ISSUE 51 FEBRUARY 2013

Friends of Al-Aqsa newspaper since 1997

Israel’s relentless drive to ‘Judaise’ Jerusalem and strip it of its centuries of Islamic and Christian herit-age has escalated in the last year. In early 2013, a project commenced 50 meters away from the Sanctuary Walls

close to the Western Wall. Here, Israeli diggers have stripped away buildings dating back to the Mamluk era over 600 years ago. The plan is to build a synagogue in its place.

Stripping Jerusalem of Palestinian heritage

Water crisis in Gaza

Page 3

Review - The Gatekeepers Special Feature

Operation Pillar of Cloud

Page 7

240 Israeli military assaults, no charges

2

Recipe

14 0

Inside...

In recent months, under the cover of turmoil in the Middle East, the Al-Aqsa Association for Waqf and Heritage have reported an increase in the number of occasions Israeli troops and extremist settlers have intruded upon the sacred al-Aqsa Sanctuary. These at-tacks are becoming increas-ingly fanatical, and they are intended to undermine the centuries old Palestin-ian heritage within the holy Sanctuary. The grave fear is that Israel will obstruct Pal-estinian access to this pivot-al place of worship entirely, before implementing plans to demolish the historic, UNESCO protected sites on the plaza and replace it with a Temple.

On 7 February 2013, over one hundred Israeli soldiers stormed the Sanc-tuary in a threatening show of strength against Palestin-

ians. Since then, incursions have been reported at least twice a week. It is feared that this will set a prece-dence and lead to attacks on the sanctuary grounds and the Palestinian worshippers becoming a norm.

Ismail Patel, Chair of FOA stated: “Such trespass-es can be likened in Britain to a mosque being stormed by the EDL who show open hostility towards Muslim worshipper. The illegal set-tlers are aggressive and violent and dismiss rightful Palestinian claims to the holy Sanctuary, although centuries old. The rule of law is irrelevant as far as these extremists are concerned.”

Israeli soldiers kidnapped

900 childrenin 2012

Ex-Ambassador

condemnsIsrael

The need to

boycott Israelis growingPage 2 Page 4 Page 19

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Art exhibitionGaza refugee

campsBy Sarah Irving • Page 6

Israel steps up pressure on Al-Aqsa SanctuaryPalestinians call for Solidarity amid increasing attacks and trespasses.

Israeli elections have ushered in openly hostile agendas against Al-Aqsa.

Israel continues to strip Palestinian architectural heritage from the surrounding area.

Jerusalem Awqaf trust reports serious concerns about future safety of Al-Aqsa.

Daily updates on the situation within the al-Aqsa sanctuary are available on the FOA website: www.foa.org.uk

INSIDE PALESTINE

02 AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 51 / FEBRUARY 2013

Israeli soldiers kidnapped 900 children in 2012

The Palestinian Ministry Of Detainees reported that 900 Palestinian children were kidnapped by Israeli soldiers in 2012, compared with 700 in the previous year. Israel applies Military Order 132 to justify the appalling kidnap and inter-rogation of Palestinian chil-dren from the age of 12.

Similar to detained adults, Palestinian children are deprived of their basic and internationally guaran-teed rights; their families and lawyers are not granted any information about their location and in most cases not given the reason behind their arrest.

Israel also treats the kid-napped Palestinian children as “terrorist to be” and uses illegal measures, torture and abuse against them, including sleep deprivation, depriving them from family and lawyer visits, food and water deprivation and sexu-al harassment. Children are also coerced into becoming Israeli spies through such illegal and condemnable measures.

Despite the documenta-tion of such widespread il-legal detention and torture of Palestinian children, the international community has failed to intervene.

Israel withholds vital tax revenues to punish Palestinians

Israel has withheld vi-tal tax revenues due to the Palestinian Authority to the value of $120 million, fol-lowing the granting of ‘non observer status’ to Palestine at the UN General Assembly. This step was intended to punish Palestinians for their victory at the UN. The funds seized will have a huge im-pact on an already precari-ous financial situation in the West Bank, which is endur-ing a severe economic crisis.

240 Israeli military assaults, no charges

A human rights group based in Israel has docu-mented 240 cases of abuse against Palestinians perpe-trated by Israeli soldiers, yet not one single complaint resulted in a prosecutable charge.

‘Yesh Din’ accused the

Israeli military of civilian abuse and detailed 240 complaints it had received in 2012 alone. It conducted 103 probes related to the complaints and found that not one single indictment was made of a single soldier. The military response to the

report stated that not all of the probes have concluded, so it is possible there may be a charge at some point. However, this seems unlike-ly based on past practice.

Meanwhile, Israeli vio-lence against Palestinians remains a daily occurrence,

even within cities such as Ramallah which is under full Palestinian administra-tive and security control. Israeli forces regularly carry out raids in the city and its surroundings areas.

Britain tells Israel: West Bank settlements are

illegal and unacceptableThe Israeli ambassador

to Britain was summoned to a meeting with Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. At the meeting, Mr Burt expressed opposition to the Israeli decision to implement the E1 plan for

further illegal settlement buildings in the West Bank. A Foreign Office spokesman has said “We have told the Israeli government that if they go ahead with their decision, then there will be a strong reaction.”

Fatah and Hamas meet in Egypt

President Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Meshaal met face-to-face in Egypt for the first time in over a year to discuss how to imple-ment their 2011 deal for a unified Palestinian effort. An Egyptian official said discussions to find ways to do so had been held in a “positive spirit”.

The opposing political parties have drawn closer since Israel’s assault on Gaza in November, in which Hamas claimed victory, and a diplomatic win by Abbas

the same month in which the United Nations voted to recognise Palestine as a “non-member state”.

In January 2013, Fatah supporters held a rally in the Gaza Strip to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Fatah. The month before, supporters of Hamas celebrated their movement’s founding with a rally in the West Bank and Fatah was present in Gaza for Hamas’s 25 year anni-versary celebrations.

INSIDE PALESTINE

ISSUE 51 / FEBRUARY 2013 | AQSA NEWS 03

Palestinian protest village destroyed within 48 hours

A make-shift ‘village’ encampment was erected by Palestinian protesters in the West Bank in order to impede Israeli efforts to expand its illegal set-tlements. The creation of Bab al-Shams followed six weeks after Netanyahu announced plans to press ahead with the develop-ment of the E1 illegal set-tlements, which drew in-ternational condemnation.

The area, measur-ing around 12 sq km, lies between Jerusalem and the vast West Bank settle-ment of Ma’ale Adumim. An Israeli Supreme Court injunction prohibited the removal of the protestors, who were on the land with permission of the Palestinian landowners.

Netanyahu demanded that the court over turn its in-junction, and then ordered nearly a thousand troops to enter the site in the early hours of the morning. The troops attacked the 200 Palestinian protestors and removed them from the Palestinian land. The land has now been stolen from the landowners, labelled as a ‘closed military zone’. This is the usual step taken by Israel before it begins illegal settlement building on stolen land.

Most observers includ-ing western diplomats say the development of E1 set-tlement plan will damage the prospects of a viable Palestinian state by cut-ting the West Bank off from East Jerusalem, which is in-

tended to be the future cap-ital of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, who was among those arrested, said the eviction was “proof that the Israeli government operates an apartheid sys-tem. Firstly, it decided that Supreme Court decisions do not apply to Palestin-ians. And secondly, there are more than 120 Israeli Jewish only outposts in the West Bank that are illegal even under Israeli law. Not only are they still there, but they are expanding and they are being legal-ised one after another. We were there for less than 48 hours, and the state used violent force against a non-violent peaceful resistance movement.”

Israel is continuing on all fronts with the Judaisa-tion of Jerusalem. The latest steps include imposing new Hebrew names for streets and historical places in the old city of Jerusalem, which have for centuries been known by their original Arabic names.

The old Christian and Islamic names of streets and historical sites, which reflect their heritage, are being replaced with new Hebrew names in order to

create confusion in people’s minds about the rightful claims to the area. By tak-ing these deliberate steps, Israel hopes to create a new and fabricated heritage and sovereignty over east Jeru-salem.

Both Muslim and Chris-tian authorities in Jerusa-lem are alarmed at these latest Israeli actions. They are calling on international bodies including UNESCO to intervene.

Illegal raid on Palestinian human rights NGOIsrael has stormed and

ransacked the offices in Ramallah of the Palestinian human rights association Addameer. In the raid, Israel stole four laptops, one hard disk and a video camera from Addameer’s office. Is-raeli soldiers also raided the offices of the Agricultural Work Committees and the Union of Palestinian Wom-

en’s Committees, located in Qaddura refugee camp.

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association is a Palestin-ian non-governmental, civil institution that works to support Palestinian politi-cal prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. Established in 1992 by a group of activists interested

in human rights, the centre offers free legal aid to po-litical prisoners, advocates their rights at the national and international level, and works to end torture and other violations of prison-ers’ rights through monitor-ing, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns.

Judaisation of Jerusalem continues unabated

In an important report written by Sawsan Ramahi called ‘the Health Risks Posed by Water Pollution in the Gaza Strip’, a num-ber of worrying facts have emerged:

As a result of Operation Cast Lead, $6million of dam-age was caused to the water sector. Three water wells were completely destroyed, ten others were partially damaged, components of the water network system in areas east of the Jabali-yah Refugee Camp and in the south of the Strip were destroyed alongside treat-ment plants in the Sheikh

Ajleen area to the south west of Gaza City.

The amount of water consumed in Gaza per per-son is approximately 80 litres a day, far below the recommended 150 litres per person per day as an absolute minimum advised by the World Health Organi-sation.

The majority of the available drinking water is salty and contaminated to varying degrees with toxic organic and inorganic substances. Residents are obliged to purchase de-salinated water from small desalination plants admin-

istered by merchants and contractors. The majority of these do not meet health standards, while the vast majority of residents show-er with salt water.

It is believed that 50% of diseases in the Gaza Strip are the result of contaminat-ed water. Amongst the ill-nesses and diseases caused by contaminated water are cancer, skin disease, acute diarrhoea, viral hepatitis, haemorrhagic gastroenteri-tis, acute kidney poisoning and various degrees of liver and heart damage.

Water crisis in Gaza

GLOBAL NEWS


Israeli hardliners advocate destruction of Al-Aqsa

Hardline Israeli politi-cian Moshe Feiglin recently gave a speech in which he supported threats to de-stroy the Al-Aqsa sanctuary. The comments were made in a keynote speech at the Temple Institute, an organi-sation whose openly hostile intent against al-Aqsa raise concerns.

On its website, the Tem-ple Institute declares that it is: ‘dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical com-mandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem...The major focus of the Institute is its efforts towards the beginning of the actual re-building of the Holy Temple. Towards this end, the Insti-tute has begun to restore and construct the sacred vessels for the service of the

Holy Temple.’Feiglin is banned

from entering the United Kingdom due to a deci-sion by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, made public in March 2008, excluding Feiglin on the grounds that his presence in the country “would not be conducive to the public good.” A letter to Feiglin from the Home Of-fice said that Smith justified her decision as his activities “foment or justify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs; seek to provoke others to terrorist acts; foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts and foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.”

Ex-Ambassador condemns Israel

Respected and influ-ential British diplomat Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles has condemned the Israeli oc-cupation of Palestine. Sir Sherard made his comments in a speech to the Conserva-tive Middle East Council.

‘I say this as a Hebrew speaking, former ambassa-dor to Israel, someone who has deep affection for the

Jewish people. I believe pas-sionately that Israel on its present course, is embarked on a pathway to assisted suicide: suicide assisted by the Congress of the United States. The idea that this problem can be solved by walling up the Palestinians in the Middle Eastern equiv-alent of the Bantustans, which the South African

government embarked on in the 1940s, is not only of-fensive morally, it is deeply out of keeping with every-thing we know of human history. It will not work, it cannot work, it should not work. And anyone who has a real affection for the Jew-ish people will want to help them avoid this looming disaster.’

The Conservative party enjoys a close relationship with Israel (80% of Con-servative MPs are members of Conservative Friends of Israel). Sir Sherard’s com-ments are hugely significant as they reflect how even those who are sympathetic to Israel’s cause are now speaking out against Israel.

Following the admis-sion of Palestine as a non-Member observer state at the UN, the US congress has stopped the transfer of $495 million in aid prom-ised to Palestine. While this figure is only a fraction of the aid given to Israel, it is significant to the Palestin-ians. The block on transfer is seen as a ‘punishment’ for Palestine’s unilateral steps at the UN.

A spokeswoman for the US State Department has made it clear that there are people within the Depart-ment who are working hard to ensure the funds are transferred as soon as possi-ble. However, it is clear that pro-Israeli Members of Con-gress are seeking to make this as difficult as possible.

US Aid to Palestine stalled at Congress

The UN General Assem-bly has overwhelming ap-proved a resolution which calls on Israel to open its nuclear programme for in-spection “without further delay” by the International

Atomic Energy Agency. Is-rael’s stockpiling of nuclear weapons is an open secret which has long been cited by experts as a serious cause of concern and tension in the Middle East.

UN calls on Israel to open up nuclear arsenal for inspection

The government in Sri Lanka has announced that a replica of the al-Aqsa Masjid will be built in the province of Kattankudy. The project was announced on 10th February 2013, as part of a

plan to promote the equal-ity of all major Sri Lankan faiths, and will include the building of three other places of worship - a Tem-ple, a Kovil and a Church.

Al-Aqsa replica to be built in Sri Lanka

Following an announce-ment that Cliff Richard would be performing in Israel again, campaigners have written an open letter asking him to reconsider. The letter outlines the rea-sons why, as a Christian, he should reconsider playing in Israel, including Israel’s racist actions which are op-posed by numerous church leaders all over the world. They drew Sir Cliff ’s at-tention to a letter written by fifteen senior Christian leaders in the US telling Congress: ‘As leaders of churches and religious or-ganisations committed to seeking a just peace for Is-raelis and Palestinians...it is our moral responsibility to question the continuance of unconditional U.S. financial assistance to the govern-ment of Israel’.

Cliff Richard to perform in Israel

GLOBAL NEWS


The prospects of a two-state solution are almost dead because of expanding Jewish settlement in occu-pied territory, Britain has said and also warned Israel it was losing international support. The comments were made on the day of the Israeli elections. Although Netanyahu’s votes dimin-ished somewhat from the previous elections, there is still substantial support in Israeli to continue ille-gal settlement building on Palestinian land which Pal-estinians need to establish statehood.

Foreign Secretary Wil-liam Hague said “I condemn recent Israeli decisions to expand settlements. I speak regularly to Israeli lead-ers stressing our profound concern that Israel’s settle-

ment policy is losing it the support of the international community and will make a two-state solution impossi-ble.” Hague also added that “if we do not make progress in the coming year, people will increasingly conclude that a two-state solution has become impossible”.

Palestinians seek justice over illegal settlementsAt Palestine’s first ad-

dress to the UN Security Council since its upgraded status last November, For-eign Minister Riad Malki has indicated that Palestine wishes to pursue legal ac-tion at the International Criminal Court against Israel for illegal settlement building in East Jerusalem.

Israel has announced plans to illegally build 1,500 more homes in East Jerusalem as part of the E1 expansion plan. The notori-ous project was announced by Israel in response to the UN General Assembly’s de-cision to grant non-member observer status to Palestin-ians. The illegal settlement will close off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and further split the West Bank into two cantons.

‘NO’ to UEFA Under-21 Championships in Israel

The UEFA under-21 Championship is sched-uled to be played from June 5-18 in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya and Petach Tikva. Three of the stadiums are built on the sites of former Palestinian villages, which were ethnically cleansed of their Palestinian popula-tions.

The decision to allow Israel to host the champi-onship is being protested as Israel does not allow Palestinian sportsmen and women the freedom to pursue their sporting interests and therefore, it is argued that it should not be allowed to host such a

prestigious championship.Israel bombed the ‘Pal-

estine Stadium’ in Gaza City, on 1 April 2006, and again on 19 November 2012. The bombing of the stadium had no military purpose, and was intended solely to impede Palestin-ian sportsmen from con-tinuing their games. Thus, protestors argue that Is-rael should not be allowed to continue its participa-tion in international sports while simultaneously denying Palestinians the same right.

In November 2012, dozens of leading football-ers signed a statement

protesting UEFA’s decision to hold the tournament in Israel. Sixty-two players, including Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Arsenal’s Abou Diaby and Paris Saint-Germain’s Jeremy Menez, stated that Israel hosting the tournament will be “seen as a reward for ac-tions that are contrary to sporting values.”

FOA strongly opposes UEFA’s decision to allow Israel to host the European Under-21 Championship and calls for everyone to join the ‘red card against Israeli racism’ campaign:http://redcardapart-heid.weebly.com/

Britain says two-state solution almost dead

David Ward MP made to apologise over Holocaust comments

David Ward MP apolo-gised for his use of terminol-ogy when he stated he was “saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Pal-estinians in the new State of Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza”.

The point of contention was the use of the word ‘the Jews’, and he has since apologised unreservedly for any offence caused, stat-

ing: “I never for a moment intended to criticise or of-fend the Jewish people as a whole, either as a race or as a people of faith, and apologise sincerely for the unintended offence which my words caused.”

His apology does not

detract from the sentiment expressed which intended to draw attention to the memory of the Holocaust, which all nations of the world vowed would ‘never again’ occur. This ‘never again’ applies to all people of all races, religions and nationalities, for all time.

David Ward MP reiter-ated that his criticisms “of actions since 1948 in the Palestinian territories in the name of the state of Israel remain as strong as ever”. This is a legitimate position, supported wholly by a large part of the British public.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT


Art Exhibition Gaza refugee camps

“These artists have all the right in the world to be on a platform, to have their work seen with dignity, like any other artists,” said Aser El Saqqa, a curator of an exhibition of Palestinian paintings recently displayed in Britain.

Born and raised in Gaza, El Saqqa is justly proud of Despite, as the exhibition at the Richmix Arts Centre in east London was called. He assembled this collection, along with Nicola Gray and the organization Arts Can-teen.

Despite has been an im-portant exhibition for many reasons. It is probably one

of the largest collections of art from Gaza ever shown, at least outside the Middle East. Nine of the sixteen art-ists represented at the De-cember show are still based in Gaza.

“Yes, getting some of the works here was a challenge,” El Saqqa stated. But it was also imperative that the show included work from painters in the West Bank , the Galilee and Jerusalem. “All parts of Palestine,” he added.

The show has also been significant in displaying the breadth and quality of contemporary Palestin-ian painting. Some of the

best-known Palestinian artists - Emily Jacir, Larissa Sansour - mainly work in photography, installation and conceptual pieces. De-spite illustrated the range of talent - both new, such the youthful Dina Mattar, and established, such as Hani Zurob - using more con-ventional media, but with a great variation of visions and methods.

Palestinian contemporary art shown in LondonGaza refugee camps portrayed as vibrant and vulnerable From Mohammed al-Hawajri’s

“Soul & Fragrance” series. (Image courtesy of Arts Canteen)

Tayseer Barakat’s painting of a Gaza refugee camp. (Image courtesy of Arts Canteen)

Playing with imagesTayseer Barakat and

Raed Issa tackle the subject of refugee camps. Their work draws on their experi-ences of life in Jabaliya and al-Bureij camps in Gaza.

But where Barakat’s camp is portrayed as an ethereal, misty world in pinks and grays, beautiful at a distance but impersonal and anonymous, Issa’s is composed of blocks of strik-ing colour, with clear blue skies above and welcome shade between the houses and, in every image, always a green tree sprouting from the close-packed homes. The arrays of satellite dish-es on the rooftops hint at the electronic means which many Palestinians must resort to for contact with the outside world, while the black plastic water-tanks are both vital for life and a frequent target for Israeli soldiers.

Mohammed Joha’s “Who Am I?” (Image courtesy of Arts Canteen)

Gaza-born Mohammed Joha’s large canvases, mean-while, play with images and references to ask questions about identity and free-

dom. In “Behind the Wall,” a bright blue car with a pink parachute appears to have risen up above the ominous black wall. Or is it prepar-ing to do so? Is it trying to escape, or has it already managed? And are the puffs of white smoke beyond it the remnants of a phospho-rous burst, from one of the slowly-descending bombs which the parachute might also refer to?

Joha’s “Who Am I?” fea-tures a figure with a black hat pulled down low and the shirt collar pulled up; we as-sume from the clothes that it is a man, but the hands brandishing the ID card are slender and beautiful, and the darkness of the figure is juxtaposed against a back-ground of floral patterns, like a mother’s housedress or a little girl’s bedroom. The painting is another point in a long history of artistic representations of the ambiguous, constrain-ing significance of ID cards in Palestinian life, perhaps the best known example being Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “Write Down … I Am An Arab.”

Mohammed Joha’s “Who Am I?”

These artists have all the right in the world to be on a platform, to

have their work seen with dignity, like any other artists

“

“

It is probably one of the largest

collections of art from Gaza ever shown, at least

outside the Middle East.

...but the hands brandishing the ID cards are slender and beautiful, and

the darkness of the figure is juxtaposed against a background of floral patterns,

like a mother’s housedress or a little girl’s bedroom.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT


Stubborn cactusA number of the less

figurative works in the exhi-bition use Arabic script as a motif. Majed Shala’s works in vibrant oranges, red and blues feature vague human forms composed of torn-up pieces of Arabic calligraphy. The titles — “Exposed,” “Dialogue,” “Motherhood under siege” — refer to as-pects of Palestinian life. Na-bil Anani and Mohammed al-Hawajri’s images also take calligraphy, combining it with decorative elements and classical Arabic artistic motifs to situate Palestinian art within the long tradi-tions of the wider Arab world and culture.

Very far from these contemporary takes on ancient Arabic styles are

the still-lifes of Mohammed Abusal. His “lights” series, ranging from wedding lan-terns to domestic lamps, hint at the importance of light, from celebrations to Gaza’s daily power cuts. A huge pink prickly pear cac-tus indicates that the plant is, among other things, a marker of destroyed Pales-tinian villages and a symbol of resilience and stubborn-ness bringing forth sweet fruit even without water.

“I like to think of it as a place where unwanted things like snakes can take refuge,” El Saqqa explained. Abusal grows dozens of these cacti on the roof of his Gaza City home, so that he can observe them through-out the seasons.

SubtleAlso deeply evocative

of Gaza life is Nidal Abu Oun’s “The Fisherman’s Daughter,” with its Salvador Dali-inspired vivid colors and precise brushwork. In classic surrealist style the images are allusive and multi-layered; the daughter is fused into her latticework chair, from which a heavily-pregnant belly protrudes. A basket of fish sits by her, in front of — what? The sea, or water pouring from a cracked wall, from which a dry tap pokes out? The girl and her homely surround-ings have a sense of still-ness and patience, but is it the terrible patience of the

woman who never knows if her men folk will return from their dangerous work?

“One person who came to the launch of the exhibi-tion asked, ‘but where is the Palestinian flag?’” said El Saqqa. Each of these paintings, and the others in the exhibition, echo his response — “it’s in every canvas.”

While the occupation forces every Palestinian to be “political” in some sense by their very insistence on life, Despite has shown that Palestine’s artists can negotiate and explore those politics in a myriad of differ-ent and subtle ways.

Sarah Irving is a freelance writer. She worked with the International Solidarity Movement in the occupied West Bank in 2001-02 and with Olive Co-op, promoting fair trade Palestinian products and solidarity visits, in 2004-06. She is the author of a biography of Leila Khaled, Leila Khaled, Icon of Palestinian Liberation, and the Bradt Guide to Palestine, and she was also co-author, with Sharyn Lock, of Gaza: Beneath the Bombs.

From Mohammed Abusal’s “lights” series.(Image courtesy of Arts Canteen)

“One person who came to the launch

of the exhibition asked, ‘but where is the

Palestinian flag?’” said El Saqqa

it’s in every canvas

“ “

Each of these paintings, and the others in the exhibition,

echo his response —

Nidal Abu Oun’s “The Fisherman’s Daughter”.(Image courtesy of Arts Canteen)

Review The Gatekeepers

Produced in 2012, The Gatekeepers is a docu-mentary film about Israel’s notorious Shin Bet internal secret security branch. Directed by Dror Moreh, it analyses the role of the Shin Bet in Israeli secu-rity and the future of the Zionist state. Despite its frank exposure of Israel’s deep-rooted flaws, it has been nominated for Best Documentary feature at the 2013 Academy Awards.

The central theme in the film is the interviews with six former leaders of the Shin Bet, each of whom headed the organisation for years at a time. A clear message that each of these men sends is that Israel

must end the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank - for its own survival.

The film is divided into seven ‘chapters’ and covers a broad spectrum of events and ideas including the emergence of the shin Bet amid the scattered ashes of the 6 Day War when the oc-cupation of the West Bank and Gaza began. Issues such as assassinations of Palestinian leaders, the use

of torture and the conse-quences of ‘collateral dam-age’ are all covered. Per-sonal confessions from the men responsible for much of the misery the Shin Bet created for Palestinians provides unique access into the mind of Israel’s so called ‘security’ apparatus. What we find there is unex-pected.

Avraham Shalom states, “On the other hand it’s a

brutal occupation force, similar to the Germans in World War II. Similar, not identical.” Yaakov Peri states, “These moments end up etched deep inside you, and when you retire, you become a bit of a left-ist.”

Such frank admissions reflect the depth of the interviews and the open-ness of the men who were charged with fighting Pal-estinian resistance, who have in some ways, come to realise the magnitude of their crimes.

The film utilises ar-chival footage as well as computer-generated im-agery. The Gatekeeper was released in the US in early February and is due for UK release on 13 April 2013.

The GatekeepersFebruary 2013 (US)April 2013 (UK)

Images courtesy of IMDb.com

Raed Issa’s “Satellites.” (Images courtesy of Arts Canteen)

UPDATE FROM FRIENDS OF AL AQSA


There has been a dan-gerous and concerning rise in racism towards Pal-estinians and violations of al-Aqsa Santuary in the past few months. While we continue to compress the Palestinian issue to one of charity, Israeli extrem-ists are continuing with their expansionist pro-gramme. We are failing to understand that the issue of al-Aqsa is a battle for internationally recognised rights, independence and freedom; which requires direct political actions.

We cannot shirk from our moral responsibility to bring freedom to the oc-cupied people of Palestine. Freedom is not a euphe-mism, it is a call to action.

Freedom demands we struggle against the ob-stacles of oppression. Despite all the creation of confusing ‘narratives’ by Israel, we must be certain of the facts and continue to relay them.

Freedom demands that we have a vision; to in-crease the concern for al-Aqsa and bring it to the attention of our families, the great British people and anyone who genuinely strives to seek justice

Freedom demands that we have a strategy; of long-term and short-term projects; boycotting, lob-bying, educating and showing solidarity with the Palestinians by meet-ing their basic as well as long term needs.

Freedom demands we sacrifice; more than our financial resources we must also sacrifice our time in the effort to liber-ate Palestine and Masjid al-Aqsa.

Ismail Patel

“You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor

your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things

girdle your life and yet you rise above them unbound.”

Follow on Twitter:@Ismailadampatel

FOA Anniversary EventCommemorating 15 years of campaigning

In November 2012, FOA marked 15 years of campaigning for peace in Palestine. A 3 course dinner, speeches and an auction were held at the Platinum Suite in Leicester, attended by 600 guests. The event was a huge success and a timely reminder that the struggle must go on until Palestinians are no longer under occupation, and Masjid al-Aqsa is liberated.

Dewsbury & Batley update

The branch held a very successful activity ses-sion for Heckmondwike Ansaar cub scouts. The children were aged 7 to 10 are taking part in a charity event called ‘Gaza Winter Walk’ to raise money for psychosocial and medical support in Gaza. The ac-tivity session as intended to instil in them a greater understanding of the situ-ation in Gaza so that they knew what a difference

they could make. The session helped the

children understand why they were raising funds, and required them to pre-sent the issues effecting people in Gaza and state how we can help. The ses-sion was very beneficial and the children were able to think of different ways to help the Palestinians. This presentation will help the children get their Scouts World Badge.

UPDATE FROM FRIENDS OF AL AQSA


Become a member - Join today!

For just £10 a year, support the Free Palestine campaign. Send an email to [email protected] and we will send you a direct debit form to set up your membership.

DonateYou can make one-off donations:

1. Online - through Paypal to [email protected] (via our web-site)2. By cheque, made payable to ‘Friends of Al-Aqsa’, to PO BOX 5127, Leicester, LE2 0DT3. By direct bank transfer: Friends of Al-Aqsa, Sort Code 08-92-99, Account No. 65158078, The Cooperative Bank, Southway, WN8 6VT

London updateTime Raiser

In early February, FOA London held its inaugu-ral time-raiser dinner at Jungle Braai restaurant in London. This was a unique event, where the purpose was not to raise money, but rather to give an opportunity for people to pledge their time to do something for Palestine.

A number of FOA pro-jects for 2013 were pre-sented to the audience , with guests having the op-portunity to pledge some time to helping complete the project. Tasks people could pledge time towards

ranged from working on social media to organis-ing events. Roselin Uddin attended the time-raiser, and commented on Face-book , ‘I had such a fan-tastic night! It was my first time to such an event, felt so welcomed.. met some very sincere and humble people, very informative.’

FOA’S Shamiul Joarder said ‘We had people from North, East, South and West London at the time-raiser. There was a great energy in the room and everyone had great ideas along with the willingness to deliver them.’

FOA LeicesterUPDATE: Olive Trees

Campaign

With the help of many of our supporters, FOA participated in an olive tree planting project in Palestine. This income gen-erating project involved the planting of tress to provide a sustainable solutions to economic problems faced by Palestinians.

Olive trees are an inte-gral part of Palestinian life. Many of the poorest people rely on the harvest of Olive Trees to supplement their income. Olive trees grow at a rate of 1-2 feet each year and if given the freedom to flourish, they will live an average of 400 years. This means one olive tree can provide a steady income for entire generations, liter-ally benefiting thousands of people.

During a successful harvest the olive industry has the potential of mak-ing around 15-19% of agricultural production in Palestine each year. This equates to around £104-£123 million. As the coun-

try’s main export, olive tree farming has the potential to produce great levels of na-tional income and therefore strengthen local economies lifting poor Palestinian families out of poverty.

The trees are planted at a year old – at 2 years old they will start fruition and at 3 years of they will be ready for cultivation.

Outcomes

With the donation for the people of Leicester we have been able to:• replant olive trees which had previously been up-rooted• provide a source of in-come for local people • help Palestinians to hold onto their land • preserve the land and en-vironment in Palestine

Acres of Land planted: 91No of Trees per farmer: 20No of olive trees distrib-uted: 1815

May Allah swt reward eve-ryone who donated towards the olive tree campaign.

FOA ONLINE SHOPVISIT THE

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Made in Palestine KufiyehAlso available in other colours

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SPECIAL FEATURE


Operation Pillar of CloudIsrael bombs Gaza again, and targets food production

Israel launched “Op-eration Pillar of Cloud” against Gaza on 14 No-vember 2012. The military offensive lasted for seven days before a ceasefire was negotiated. Israel began its attack by killing leading Pal-estinian negotiator Ahmed al-Jaabari. Labelled in the media as a terrorist leader, Al-Jaabari had in fact been pivotal to maintaining the peace between Hamas and Israel, and he was also in-

strumental in securing the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

During the seven day attack, the Israeli forces bombed more than 1,500 sites in the Gaza Strip, most of which were civilian tar-gets.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has said that 158 Palestinians were killed during the operation, of whom 30 were children.

Operation Pillar of Cloud,November 2012

FOA Report

BBC Arabic photo journalist Jihad Masharawi and his baby son Omar, who was killed by an Israeli bomb

Attack on food productionIsraeli policies in Gaza are ensuring that Gazans are gravely concerned about their food security so that any other prospect of economic advancement becomes impossible. Bombing raids attack the food production abilities within the Gaza Strip, and the result has been that Gazans face endemic malnutrition. The siege of Gaza (eased only marginally by the opening of the Rafah crossing, which allows the passage of people but not goods) has meant that Gazans live with the daily battle of getting enough food to feed their families.

The agricultural sector is already deeply troubled after six years of siege, and this is made worse each time a bombing campaign begins. In the first five days of the attack alone, the Minisry of Agriculture in Gaza estimated that a US $50 million loss was sustained by the agriculture and fishing sectors in Gaza.

The attack on Gaza was only an escalation of contin-uing daily attacks by Israeli forces. The daily reality for Palestinians is life with very little security. The killing of Gazans by Israeli fire power is an appalling norm. In November alone, Israeli soldiers shot and killed an unarmed 20-year-old Pal-estinian simply because he was close to a fence near Gaza’s side of the border with Israel.

On 6 November, Israel attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, wounding five people,

including four children. The Israeli strike damaged a mosque and a water tower. On 10 November, the IDF shelled civilian targets in the Sa’ajiya area and four teenagers, aged 16 to 18, were killed by an Israeli air-strike in a sports stadium while they played football. These facts reflect the true nature of Israel’s relation-ship with the Palestinians in Gaza, and go some way to putting the number of rocket attacks coming from Gaza into context.

Attacks on Gaza before November 14

SPECIAL FEATURE


The bombed home of the Al-Dalu family, killing 10 members of the family including five children

The Massacre of the Al-Dalu family

One of the most dreadful incidents that occurred during the Israeli assault on Gaza was the massacre of the Al-Dalu family.

On 18 November 2012, in the Nasser neighbourhood of Gaza, an IDF missile destroyed the civilian family home of Jamal Mahmoud Yassin al-Dalu, 52, killing twelve people: ten of his family members, including five children and an elderly woman, plus two of the family’s neighbours, including another elderly woman. This was the highest death toll of any single strike during the Operation. Several nearby houses were also destroyed in the attack.

Jamal al-Dalu said: “They didn’t give us a warning. They just hit the house with the children in it. My daughters were in their youth. What did they do to them?”

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights called the strike “blatant targeting of civilians”.

Human Rights Watch called the massacre a “disproportionate” use of force and a war crime, and called for the perpetrators of the strike to be punished and the surviving members of victims’ families to be compensated. Israel has made no such move.

CeasefireOn 21 November, Mohamed Kamel Amr, the Egyptian Foreign Minister, and Hilary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, announced a ceasefire that would take effect. Yet a day after the ceasefire, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian farmer and wounded another 19 after they attempted to pray inside the Gazan border. On November 28, Israel opened fire at two fishing boats off the coast of Gaza, and detained nine Gazan fishermen. On November 30, 21-year-old Mahmoud Jaroun, was shot dead by Israeli forces in Rafah.

As of February 9 2013, Israel has violated the truce 90 times but this has been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Israel attacked the Sho-ruq media tower, in which numerous journalists were housed. The attack killed a two year old child, a Pal-estinian cameraman and wounded ten media work-ers. The attack was con-demned by Reporters With-

out Borders. Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of RWB, said “Attacks on ci-vilian targets are war crimes and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions. Those responsible must be identi-fied.”

Attack on Shoruq Media Tower

Solidarity protests were held across the West Bank during the attack and pro-testors were brutally ob-structed by the Israelis. On 18 November, 31-year-old Rushdi al-Tamimi was par-ticipating in a demonstra-tion in Nabi Saleh and was killed by Israeli fire. Thou-sands attended his funeral and were fired upon with rubber bullets and tear gas by Israeli forces.

By 19 November, over 50 Palestinians were re-ported injured during solidarity protests held in East Jerusalem, Ramallah,

Bethlehem, Beit Ummar and Qalandia. Further pro-tests and clashes occurred throughout the West Bank on 21–22 November. The IDF closed the entrance to Bani Naim after clashes be-tween them and the town’s residents. Meanwhile the northern West Bank village of al-Jalama was declared “a closed military zone” af-ter hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators protested at the village checkpoint. Five Palestinians were arrested in house raids by the Israeli military in Ya’bad and Tu-bas.

Solidarity Movement in West Bank

As a result of the Israeli aggression on Gaza protests, demonstra-tions and solidarity marches were arranged all over the West Bank

FUN AND GAMES


Cartoon by Carlos Latuff

‘Palestinian right to exist’

To see more of Carlos Latuff’s work, visit ‘latuff2.deviantart.com’ and ‘latuffcartoons.wordpress.com’

You can also follow him on Twitter, @CarlosLatuff

FUN AND GAMES


Prophets of Palestine

Sulayman (as) achieved many amazing things during his life. The one thing he loved the most was Masjid al-Aqsa.

Masjid Al-Aqsa was first built by Adam (as) and after hundreds of years it fell apart and it was re-built by Prophet Ibrahim (as). After many years, it fell to ruins again.

When Prophet Dawud (as) became king of Jerusalem, he began to rebuild it but he died before it was complete.

Sulayman (as) and his army of helpers finished rebuilding the blessed Masjid.

An extract from The story of Sulayman (AS)

While he was rebuilding Masjid al-Aqsa, Sulayman (as) made a special dua to Allah (swt) and asked for three things:

First, he asked to be wise so that whatever decision he made between people who were arguing, Allah (swt) would be happy with it.

The second thing he asked for was a kingdom that no one before or after him would have.

Finally, he asked Allah (swt) to forgive the sins of any person who visits Masjid Al-Aqsa and to make that person as pure as the day he or she was born.

We know Allah (swt) accepted the first two prayers and we hope that Allah (swt) also accepted the last prayer of Sulayman (as). This is a good reason for every Muslim to love Masjid al-Aqsa and try to visit it regularly.

Sulayman (as) knew that he would die soon. However, the building of Masjid al-Aqsa was not complete yet and he was very worried.

He stood leaning on his walking stick and watched the workers complete the building. While he was stood there, Sulayman (as) passed away. However, because he was still standing no one realised and they continued to build, until Masjid al-Aqsa was complete!

While the building was being complete, ants began to eat the bottom part of Sulayman’s (as) walking stick. The stick could not hold Sulayman (as) up anymore and he fell down. Everyone rushed to him and realised that they had been working while Sulayman (as) had passed away! But in that time they had finished all of the building work.

This shows us how Allah (swt) answered the prayer of Sulay-man (as) and ensured that the building of Masjid al-Aqsa was completed.

To purchase this book, and others in the set, please visit, www.foa.org.uk/shop

NEW STATESMANFRIENDS OF AL-AQSA ESSAY COMPETITION 2012

We are pleased to announce that Dr Jacob Huntley was the winner of the 2012 Essay Competition. An excerpt of his essay is produced below.

Pipe dreamsThe Ideological Dimension in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

By Dr. Jacob Huntley

As the conclusion to his book Palestinian Walks, Raja Shehadeh chooses to record his encounter with a young Israeli settler whilst walking near Wadi Dalb in the West Bank. He describes how the young Israeli settler and the Palestinian intellectual are able to share a smoke, despite not being able to share the land. Although pleasantly convivial enough, it carries a bleak implication in terms of the positions they represent. Both appreciate the land with a commitment that the other can understand when it is articulated, yet neither can accept that very articulation. Silence, amicable and mutually acceptable, is all that can prevail.

In this small encounter, where holding one’s peace relies upon holding one’s tongue, the larger conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians appears to be intractable and irresolvable so long as dialogue and negotiation remain deadlocked. Of course, an absence of dialogue, the suspension of speech, is never any sort of solution. As Yevgeny Yevtushenko reminds us, “When the truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.”

Nur and Abdelwahab Elmessiri note; “Conversation, unless willingly undertaken as such by both parties concerned, leads, so the narrator of ‘A Conversation’ learns, to forgetting about the whole point, namely, the desire to negotiate for a shared commonplace or ground.” It is a salutary reminder that even the plainest speaking can hide the same persuasive undercurrents as the most dazzling rhetoric. Any conversation between the Israelis and the Palestinians as part of a genuine effort to achieve reconciliation must always balance ideology and the desire for that shared commonplace otherwise peace can only ever be a pipe-dream.

WINNER

COMPETITIONEnter now for your

chance to win a £20 Argos voucher!

Email your answers to us at:

[email protected] ‘Competition’ in the subject box, and remem-ber to include your name, address and age and the answer.

Good Luck!

Question:What is

al-Buraq?

UNDER 16’s

● A MEDITERRANEAN INSPIRED RECIPE OF SPICY FISH AND DELICIOUS TOMATO SAUCE

Tagliatelle with Sea Bass and Harissa Sauce

INGREDIENTS3 garlic cloves 8 shallots, peeled and diced 2 tablespoons olive oil 30g butter 1½ table spoon harissa paste1 teaspoon ground cumin 4 fillets of sea bass, skin off, cut into 2cm cubes 250ml fish stock 4 tomatoes, skin-off, cubedZest of a lemon Juice of half a lemon 350g fresh tagliatelle

METHOD● Sauté the shallots with the butter and oil for 5 minutes on a low heat. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for a further 5 minutes. ● Add the harissa paste, cumin powder and half a tea-spoon of salt, and stir. Cook for 2 minutes. Then add the fish, stir, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Put the mixture to one side in a dish. ● Using the same pan, add the stock and boil until slightly reduced. Add chopped tomatoes, half a teaspoon of salt, juice of half a lemon, half a teaspoon of salt, and lemon zest. ● Simmer for 5 minutes, and then remove from the heat. ● Boil the taglietelle accord-ing to the cooking instruc-tions. Drain and mix with the tomato sauce.● Pour in a serving dish, and add the fish mixture on top, stirring through.

RECIPES


Sea Bass with Tagliatelle | try this delicious Mediterranean recipe

Ar-Razi Medical Centre specializes in circumcision for babies from

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The procedure is carried out withanaesthetic for the comfort of the child

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CircumcisionCircumcision

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“The service was brilliant...We highly recommend, we’ll come again from Glasgow” - Mrs Lutfa Ali Hussein, Glasgow.

“Excellent service, very informative, would highly recommend...Very happy with the outcome both times.”

- Mrs Nurjahan Aziz, Leicester.

ITIKAF IN MASJID AL-AQSA DURING THE LAST 10 DAYS OF RAMADHAN

23 July - Depart from London25 July - Cross boarder to Palestine

28 July - Itikaf Begins7/8 August - Itikaf Ends8/9 August - Eid in Aqsa 11 August - Return to Jordan and fly back to London

2 Nights in Jordan14 Nights in Palestine - 10 nights being Nafil Itikaf

Dates to fly

--- Depart ---London Gatwick to AmmanDep Tuesday 23 July 2013 12:50Arr Tuesday 23 July 2013 20:00Flight 8909

--- Return ---Amman to London GatwickDep Sunday 11 August 2013 20:45Arr Monday 12 August 2013 00:15Flight 8910

Cost of flight not included.

As of 17.02.2013 the ticket price is £283.98, but this is expected to increase significantly the later you leave it.

Total cost = £500 + Cost of Flight

For full details: http://www.alomaryhajjandumrah.co.uk/ramadhan-itikaf-in-masjid-al-aqsa.html

TRAVEL TO PALESTINE


Muslims without Borders Dental Relief

I travelled with a group of ten dental colleagues, and we arrived in Amman, Jordan late at night after an exhausting flight. The excitement about the forthcoming journey was palpable, how-ever, and we knew we were nearly there. Coming into Amman for the first time, we were in awe of the hospitality of the local people. We were hosted by the gracious folks at Qibla Institute who welcomed us and gave us a seminar on everything about Al Quds. They then treated us to an amazing traditional Jorda-nian dinner called “Mansaf”.

By Asid KhanIn December 2012, I joined the Muslims without Bor-ders Dental Relief team on a trip to Palestine to offer dental aid to those in need. We came together from all over the world with a vision of providing restorative care to pediatric patients ages 6 to 16. This was an opportunity I had hoped for and dreamed of, since the time I qualified as a dentist over 10 years ago.

*Dental Relief was inspired by the international humanitarian efforts of Muslim Without Borders. A group of American Muslim dentists and dental students came together to create a dental humanitarian organization. Dental Relief was established in 2012 to address the lack of access to quality dental care.

The experience was unforgettable. Touching the lives of these children - who are disadvantaged in so many ways, was incredible and I felt blessed to have been granted the opportunity to offer them some relief. All the faculties we take for granted - speech, sight and hearing, are in one way or another, a major challenge for many of these young peo-ple. Meeting them served as a reminder of the ease which many of us take for granted.

The experience left me with innumerable fond memories of the children I met. I will never forget the deaf and mute chil-dren whom I treated in Qalqilya, who used sign language to say “I love you”; or the fourteen year old boy who calmly said that, under the occupation, he would probably not sur-vive the next 20 years. Despite their severe medical condi-tions and trauma, these children were the most amenable pediatric patients our dental team has ever experienced.

Seeing the smiles on their faces was one of the most enrich-ing experiences witnessed by the dental relief team, and I am truly honored to have been a part of it.

Our journey into the Occupied West Bank, Palestine; began on the second day. Our team arrived in Nablus following a 6 hour wait at the border. We each prepared our supplies, ready to head out to three different dental clinics and begin our much anticipated work.

From Day 2 onwards, the Muslims Without Borders - Den-tal Relief Branch treated over 200 patients, 150 of whom were Palestinian children with special needs. Some of these youngsters had cerebral palsy; some were deaf and some had down’s syndrome. Amongst the children were orphans who also had special needs. When we met the children, we dis-tributed toys as well as providing the vital dental treatment.


The Gaza Kitchen

Laila El-Haddad’s new book The Gaza Kitchen (co-authored by Maggie Schmitt), celebrates Gaza’s culture and cuisine at a time when this heritage is being threatened by years of siege and blockade. Gaza enjoys a vibrant culture and in recent years this has been eclipsed by bombs and pov-erty, intended to destroy the people’s way of life.

These facts make this book vitally important, as it serves as a reminder of what Gaza symbolises. Gazans have traditionally cooked using an abundance of fresh fruits and vegeta-bles, with wild greens be-ing used frequently in local dishes. Seafood is a pivotal part of the diet and spices are used generously.

Laila El-Haddad is a Gazan living in the USA and her book is intended to cele-brate a culture that is under daily threat.

Israel to demolish home of Grand Sheikh

in Jerusalem

Israeli occupation au-thorities have issued evic-tion and demolition notices on an apartment block in Jerusalem in which the city’s Grand Sheikh lives. The families living within sixteen apartments will be left homeless by the move. Sheikh Ikrama Sabri is one of the Imams at Al-Aqsa Mosque.


Palestinians face water crisis as Israel denies fair access to water sources

Palestinians continue to face a water crisis as Israel controls every major water source and uses discrimina-tory policies against Pales-tinians. In the Gaza Strip, the situation is quickly be-coming critical.

Amnesty International previously commented that “Israel allows the Palestin-ians access to only a frac-tion of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank, while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies. In Gaza the Israeli blockade has made an already dire situation worse.” (Onatella Rovera, Amnesty Interna-tional’s researcher on Israel and the OPT)

Reports by both the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have

found that the water crisis in Gaza is critical and the damage could be irrevers-ible by 2020. Gaza is almost completely dependent on the coastal aquifer which is now filled by inconsumable sea water. The high levels of salt make 90 per cent of the water from the aquifer unsafe without treatment.

An EDM has been tabled in Parliament to bring the issue of the water crisis to the attention of the Brit-ish government, asking for intervention. Early Day Mo-tion 1062 calls on the Gov-ernment to recognise the dire water situation faced by Palestinians in Gaza and to lobby Israel to ensure adequate water sources and supplies are restored.

TAKE ACTION - ask your MP to sign this EDM.

On this day in history - February 25, 1994

The Ibrahimi Mosque is a sacred site for Muslims as it is the final resting place of Ibrahim (AS), the second most important prophet in Islam. For many years now, Palestinian access to the site has been hampered by Israeli occupation policies.

On February 25 1994, the 15th day of Ramadan that year; an extremist named Baruch Goldstein entered the mosque while the dawn Fajr prayers were underway and began a murderous attack on the congregation. Using live

fire, he indiscriminately shot and killed 29 Palestin-ians and wounded another 125. Over 40 eyewitnesses confirmed that three Is-raeli guards opened fire as the worshippers fled the mosque following the attack. In the Palestin-ian demonstrations which ensued following the mas-sacre, a further 25 Palestin-ians were brutally killed by the occupation forces and many hundreds were left injured.

The international com-munity condemned the

attack and the UN Security Council passed Resolution 904 condemning the mas-sacre and calling for meas-ures to protect Palestinian civilians.

Baruch Goldstein was a member of several terror-ist organisations, includ-ing the U.S based Jewish Defence League and Kach which was founded by the maniacal Zionist Rabbi Meir Kahane. In many tes-timonies after the massa-cre, it emerged that Israeli authorities were aware of Goldstein’s anti-Palestinian

sentiments and activities but failed to stop him.

At Goldstein’s funeral, Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba stated that “since Goldstein did what he did in God’s name, he is to be regarded as a Righteous Man” and asserted that Goldstein was “a martyr of God”; “His hands are inno-cent, and his heart is pure.” This reflects the degree of hatred towards Palestini-ans which exists in extreme elements of Israeli society.

Shaykh Raed Salah honoured with King

Faisal Award for ‘Service to Islam’

The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, has won the International King Faisal Award for services to Islam.

The International King Faisal Awarding Body said that, “Sheikh Salah won the award for being one of the most prominent personali-

ties in the formation of the Islamic Movement in the Palestinians territories oc-cupied in 1948; the Presi-dent of the al-Aqsa Founda-tion for Islamic Sanctuaries; and the first to have discov-ered the clandestine tunnel digging taking place under the al-Aqsa Mosque.”

First organ transplant in Gaza

A team from the Royal Liverpool Hospital travelled to Gaza to train staff at the Shifa hospital to undertake organ transplants. The Gaza hospital comes under intense pressure each time Israel drops bombs maim-ing and injuring scores of civilians. The project com-menced after a doctor at Shifa hospital pleaded for assistance to help the dire situation faced by staff and patients there.

The British volunteer medical team conducted two life-changing kidney transplants. Ziad Matouk and Mohammed Duhair both received kidneys do-nated by family members.

These men will now be able to provide for their families once more. However, over 500 patients including 40 children, remain in need to transplants and they rely on dialysis two or three times each week to survive.

The Shifa hospital suf-fers daily power cuts and so relies heavily on generators. Spare parts for its dialysis machines are difficult to import due to the block-ade. Other supplies such as blood lines, filters and saline, are also scarce. This initiative provided a lifeline for the men involved, and more funding is required to continue the project.


Please Donate

0800 4 0800 11www.uwt.org

Charity Reg. No. 1000851

£150 can provide a family withan Emergency Relief Pack

SYRIAEMERGENCYAPPEAL

Allah will remain committed to helping His servant as long as the servant remains committed to helping his brother. -Sahih Muslim

Allah is our witness; we must continue on this path of nusrah. Ummah Welfare Trust is making a renewed appeal for your donations in order to continue supporting Muslims in Syria.

When we stand in front of Allah, Glory be to Him, we will not regret the help and money we rendered to the suffering Muslims of Bilaad al Shaam inshaAllah.

Please continue to donate.

Report Condemns EU

Trade with Israeli

Settlements

A report produced by 22 leading international organ-isations and NGOs including Christian Aid, the Church of Sweden and the Method-ist Church of Norway, has highlighted how European trade policies with Israel are helping to sustain illegal settlements. Titled 'Trading Away Peace: How Europe Helps Sustain Illegal Israeli Settlements’, it reiterates the fact that settlements are “illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible”

The report outlines how the EU imports approxi-mately fifteen times more from the illegal settlements than from the Palestinians themselves. Most European countries import settlement products labelled “Made in Israel”, thus denying customers the right under existing EU consumer pro-tection legislation to make informed decisions when they shop. Some European-owned companies have invested in settlements and related infrastructure or are providing services to them. Cases that have been reported include G4S (UK/Denmark), Alstom (France), Veolia (France), and Heidel-berg Cement (Germany).

A number of recom-mendations were also made in the report including the need for correct consumer labelling of all settlement products as a minimum measure, as already done by the UK and Denmark. This labelling should also be extended to manufactured products. A further meas-ure would be to discourage businesses from purchasing settlement goods and from all other commercial and in-vestment links with settle-ments, by means of formal government advice.

BOYCOTT


The need to boycott Israel is growing

The call for boycotting Israel has grown sig-nificantly in recent years. The main purpose of this global campaign is to bring Israel to account for its human rights violations against Palestinians. The reason such civil action is necessary is because governments around the world with the power to intervene have repeatedly failed to utilise interna-tional legal apparatus to hold Israel to account for its crimes.

Full instructions including ‘what to

bring?’, training and fundraising, can be

found on our website: www.foa.org.uk/walk

REGISTER TODAY FOA.ORG.UK/WALK

Power of the peopleSuccessful boycott cam-

paigns have revealed that ordinary people do have the power to act and respond to Palestinian calls for inter-vention. The destruction of Palestinian infrastructure through Israeli military as-saults, routine demolitions of essential resources such as water wells, and blocking access to farmlands; means that Palestinians are unable to freely harvest their lands and bring their produce onto the markets. It is well documented that farmers are attacked by extremist settlers, and shot at by army personnel. Entire initiatives such as the Olive Coopera-

tive have been built in re-sponse to these attacks, so that international solidarity activists can go to Palestine simply to help farmers har-vest their crops and docu-ment the violent assaults some face on a daily basis.

Peaceful farming is a luxury for Palestinians, yet Israel is exporting its own produce globally and reap-ing the financial rewards for it. Produce from Israel's ex-ploitation of stolen Palestin-ian lands in the West Bank illegal settlements should not be allowed to enter European markets, and the boycott campaigns seek to highlight this.

Is it really the 'Produce

of Israel'?Recently, there has also

been a move to boycott Is-raeli produce too, as Israeli companies have been found to breach EU food labelling regulations by labelling set-tlements goods as ‘Produce of Israel’. By doing this, they mislead consumers into believing that the goods are legitimately farmed in Isra-el, instead of illegitimately farmed on stolen Palestin-ian land, often exploiting Palestinian labour.

Settlement ProfitsRecent statistics reveal

that illegal settlements profit from exporting their produce to Europe to the tune of 230 million Euros a year. When compared to Palestinian exports, this is fifteen times greater in value. Thus, the EU imports 100 times more produce per illegal Israeli settler than it does per legitimate

Palestinian resident of the West Bank.

The success of the boy-cott campaigns reflects the feeling on the ground. Ordi-nary Brits do not want to be a part of Israel’s racist and illegal occupation policies, and they do not wish to sup-port the illegal settlements by buying their produce.

British Politicians Oppose BoycottBoth the Conservatives

and the Labour Party have both come out against boycott of Israel.

David Cameron stated in October 2012: "And to those in Britain’s universi-ties and trades unions who want to boycott Israel and consign it to an interna-tional ghetto, I say not only will this Government nev-er allow you to shut down 60 years worth of vibrant exchange and partner-ship that does so much to make both our countries

stronger but I also say this: we know what you are do-ing – trying to delegitimise the State of Israel - and we will not have it."

The Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, recently stated ''it is not Labour policy to support boycotts. We would like to see even stronger economic ties with Israel'. His comments were reported on twitter following a London meet-ing on 7 February 2013.

European Consumer Labelling lawsThe EU is considering

making it illegal for Israel to sell produce from the illegal settlements labelled as ‘pro-duce of Israel’. This would

be a marked step towards obstructing settlements from profiting from the land they have stolen.

Produce to BoycottProducts to look out for

are: dates, citrus fruits and herbs, and manufactured products including cosmet-ics, carbonation devices, plastics, textile products and toys.

Recently, Morrisons supermarket was found to be selling medjoul dates la-belled as ‘Produce of Israel’ but which were in fact from illegal settlements.

AQSA NEWS 20 | ISSUE 51 / FEBRUARY 2013

Violent protests at Israeli football match following signing of

Muslim players

Violent protests were seen at an Israeli football match when Chechen Muslim footballer Gabriel Kadiev made his debut for Beitar Jerusalem FC. Fans responded with aggressive racist chants and set the team’s clubhouse on fire. The fans routinely wave huge flags of the outlawed racist Kach party and chant racist slogans toward Arab players.

Violence in football has been an ongoing problem

for Israel, and there has been a campaign to portray it as the work of a minor-ity. However, these events reflect how deep the issue runs. Despite the presence of such overt and vitriolic racism in Israel, UEFA has still decided to make Israel the host of the European U-21 Championship in June. FOA strongly opposes UE-FA’s decision and calls upon people to protest by joining the ‘red card against Israeli racism’ campaign.

Power shortages in Gaza continue

The shortage in power supplies in Gaza is becoming increasingly unbearable for residents. Gazans are with-out power for over 8 hours every day. The power supply is being rationed as there is a shortage of fuel result-ing from Israel’s blockade.

Reports of numerous house fires in which small children or entire families

have been killed are in-creasing. Due to power cuts, families are forced to rely on candles for lighting and this has increased the number of accidents occurring. Gazan’s blame Israel for these avoid-able deaths, which result di-rectly from Israel’s inhuman blockade. Hundreds of Pal-estinian lives have already been lost as a result of it.

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FREEDOM WALK 2013

Sunday 26th May 2013

Peak District • Derbyshire

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aqsa news, issue 51, february 2013

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