Israeli police arrest balloon launchers in Jerusalem; stamp out cultural events

Date: 21 / 03 / 2009  Time:  11:27
Jerusalem – Ma’an –

Israeli police stormed a school and community center, and arrested several Palestinian cultural officials in Jerusalem in efforts to quash popular celebration of the Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture kick-off events scheduled for Saturday.

Police stormed the Burj Al-Laqlaq Society buildings in the northern sector of Jerusalem’s Old City and raided the buildings. They detained director Imad Al-Ja’ouni and ordered the employees to cancel plans for the celebration.

The Burj Al-Laqlaq Society had planned to host a small, private ceremony commemorating the start of events in the small gardens within the building’s compound.

Another Israeli police force detained Arij D’eibes, the official translator for the Palestinian President, after storming her home in Beit Hanina in Jerusalem.

Several other community centers, public and private schools were raided, including the Al-Quds Club on Ar-Rashid Street, which was ordered closed until nightfall, and the Al-Ibrahimiyah college in As-Suwwana. Israeli police have arrested several event organizers.

Balloon releasers arrested

In Jabal Az-Zaitoun police surrounded a group of youth releasing balloons on the occasion of Mother’s Day, celebrated on Saturday in the Arab world. Organizers were launching the colored garlands as a gesture to the steadfastness and central role Palestinian women play in preserving the area’s cultural traditions.

Police arrested Hatem Abd Al-Qader, who was organizing the balloon release, while Adnan Al-Husseini, the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, was able to escape the scene.

Earlier in the day Israeli soldiers prevented hundreds of Jerusalemite students from entering the Old City and visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Students prevented from visiting Al-Aqsa

Hundreds of students headed to Damascus Gate, the main entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, to take part in the launch of events despite Israel’s decision to ban the events announced Friday.

Celebrations for the year-long event, supported by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO) under the Arab Cultural Capitals program, were set to take place simultaneously in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Nazareth and the Mar Elias Refugee Camp in Lebanon.

Hatem Abd Al-Qader, consultant for Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said plans to celebrate Palestinian culture and history in the ancient caused the “mercury to rise” in the office of the Israeli interior ministry.

Hundreds of youth set out for the walled city accompanied by their teachers, to take part in traditional children’s games, Palestinian dance, storytelling and poetry recitals.

Planned events for the celebration were informal and community-based since Israel refused to grant event permits to organizers. On Friday the events were declared illegal; Israeli authorities said that because the events were sponsored by the Palestinian Authority (PA), they were not allowed to take place. Israel declared PA activity illegal in Jerusalem following the outbreak of the 2000 Intifada.

Planners have devised creative non-event methods of celebrating the city of Jerusalem. On Saturday afternoon young Jerusalemites plan to release 12,000 balloons from various parts of the holy city marking their belief that they should be free to celebrate their culture.

Other non-systematic events will take place in schools on Saturday along with sport games at local clubs and centers around the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

An official launch of the events will take place in the Convention Palace in Bethlehem, sponsored by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Delegations from across the Arab world will attend the opening events.

**** updated at 4:50pm Bethlehem time

Muhammed Baraka: Israel's attempt to stomp out cultural events effort to quash Palestinian identity

Date: 20 / 03 / 2009  Time:  20:31
Jerusalem - Ma’an -

Cancelling celebrations of Palestinian heritage in Jerusalem and other Arab-majority cities is another Israeli “attempt to eliminate the city’s Palestinian and Arab identity,” Arab member of the Israeli Parliament Mohamad Baraka said Friday.

Israeli police announced Friday that mass numbers of police would be deployed in an effort to stifle the planned cultural events in Jerusalem’s Old City. The events are the kick off to the Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture 2009, which is meant to recognize Jerusalem as a historic and cultural capital for the Arab world.

In a statement Baraka called the decision a “rude assault on the freedom of political and cultural work” noting that “this [Israeli] government is not only against peace but against anything that is human, cultural and modern. It is afraid even of the words, culture and art so considers such activities as threatening.”

Palestinian organizations in Jerusalem have said they plan to continue with plans to host small-scale and community-based events that honor and celebrate Palestinian culture and traditions. Events will include singing, traditional dance, women and men showing examples of handicrafts and storytelling.

Events will be held simultaneously in Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza, Nazareth, and the Mar Elias Refugee Camp in Lebanon.

Hundreds of Hebronites rally for Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture

Date: 21 / 03 / 2009  Time:  17:41
Hebron – Ma'an –

Hundreds rallied at the Al-Hussein Ibn Ali playground in Hebron in honor of Al-Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic) as the chosen Capital of Arab Culture for 2009.

Prevented from entering the capital city, Hebronites were treated to performances of traditional dance, poetry and exhibitions of handicrafts and ancient artifacts of Palestinian history.

Hebron governor Hussein Al-A’raj and mayor Khaled Al-Useili spoke to the crowds, recalling the beauty of the occupied city, and reasserting the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem as capital of the future Palestinian state. Local figures also announced the events that will be held in Hebron to celebrate Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture during 2009.

Jerusalem's mayor determined to raze homes

Date: 20 / 03 / 2009  Time:  12:23
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

The Israeli mayor of Jerusalem said he would press forward with a plan to raze an entire Palestinian neighborhood and “relocate” more than 1,000 residents to make way for a park on Thursday.

Mayor Nir Barkat told the Israeli Jerusalem Post newspaper that the Bustan area near Jerusalem’s Old City “must be an open public area." The Israeli-controlled municipality has handed down demolition orders to 88 houses in the neighborhood.

“It is very fair to assume that [in the end] there will not be residential housing," in the Bustan area, Barkat said.

According to the Post, Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the committee organizing opposition to the demolitions, said that he had been approached by a member of the Jerusalem municipal council with an offer to move Bustan’s inhabitants en masse to another area of East Jerusalem.

Residents of Bustan say that they are not going to give up their land. Many homeowners in the area have documents dating back decades that prove ownership of their land.

Meanwhile the United Nations expressed concern about ongoing house demolitions in the city.

“We are very concerned about continuing actions by Israel in East Jerusalem, including threats of further evictions and house demolitions in several Palestinian neighborhoods in the city,” said Richard Miron spokesman for the UN Special Coordinator's Office in Jerusalem.

“These actions harm ordinary Palestinians, heighten tensions in the city, undermine efforts to build trust and promote negotiations, and are contrary to international law and Israel’s commitments. We urge Israel to heed the calls of the international community to halt these unacceptable actions,” added Miron.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed the area as part of its “eternal undivided capital.” Palestinians and the international community do not recognize Israeli control over the area.

Shaikh Salah: IOA plans to displace 17,000 Palestinians in Occupied Jerusalem

[ 21/03/2009 - 03:55 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Shaikh Ra'ed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, reiterated Friday that the IOA plans to demolish and evacuate 1,700 Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem during this year, which means the displacement of about 17,000 Jerusalemites.

In a speech delivered in a protest tent in the Ras Khamis neighborhood, Shaikh Salah said that that the Israeli occupation would commit 17,000 crimes against Jerusalemites when demolishing hundreds of homes in different areas of Jerusalem, 60 of them would be torn down in Ras Khamis.

The head of the Islamic Movement noted that Israel deceives the world when alleging that it demolishes Palestinian homes at the pretext of unlicensed construction, stressing that the Israeli occupation does not have a license to be in Palestine and is supposed to be demolished rather than the Palestinian homes because it is unlicensed occupation.

He warned that Israel wants Jerusalem to be fully Jewish without any Muslim or Arab right to it which may give it the opportunity to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build its alleged temple on its ruins, adding that Israel tries to create the appropriate climate to materialize its "black dreams" through falsifying the Islamic and Arab history and civilization of Jerusalem.

Shaikh Salah underlined that Israel intends to build a police station adjacent to the Aqsa Mosque from the Western side, other than the previous police stations established inside and around the Mosque which confirms that the official Zionist regime is the party which targets the holy city and Mosque.

He pointed out that Israel announced that it earmarked $150,000,000 for continuing to judaize old Jerusalem in particular, increase the number of Jewish synagogues around the Aqsa Mosque and intensify all-night rave parties in the holy city.