Vandals daubed “Death to Christianity” on a Jerusalem church Monday in the second such attack in the holy city this month, police said. The words “Price Tag,” a slogan used by ultranationalist Jewish settlers, were also scrawled on the walls of the Baptist Narkis Street Congregation in a quiet residential neighborhood in Jewish west Jerusalem.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/20/us-israel-church-vandals-idUSTRE81J0CU20120220
Tagged: jerusalem Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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aziz
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aziz
CBS’ 60 Minutes had a fantastic segment on how the Israeli occupation is driving Christians out of the Holy Land. The report has earned CBS the ire of the Israeli government – even before it aired.
There’s a petition setup to thank CBS for their courageous reporting, as well.
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aziz
A Palestinian Christian group, Kairos Palestine, has denounced Amb. Oren’s attempt to silence CBS:
http://www.kairospalestine.ps/?q=node/1
In this inaccurate and manipulative text, Oren… blames the plight of Palestinian Christians on oppression at the hands of Palestinian Muslims — rather than at the hands of the illegal Israeli occupation itself, as is our reality.
We add our voices to several other recently published responses that have emphasized this reality and the ways in which Oren’s op-ed attempts to mask it. Indeed, contrary to his assertions, Christian persecution is caused mainly by the occupation that systematically degrades all Palestinians, restricts our movement, confiscates our land, devastates our economy, and violates our rights — including the very basic right to a decent life.
We are particularly troubled by Oren’s attribution of migration within the Palestinian Christian community to ill-treatment by Palestinian Muslims. This damaging analysis wilfully ignores the underlying political oppression that afflicts Christians and Muslims alike. In the case of Bethlehem, for instance, it is in fact the rampant construction of Israeli settlements, the chokehold imposed by the separation wall, and the Israeli government’s confiscation of Palestinian land — largely Christian-owned land in the Bethlehem area — that has driven many Christians to leave.
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aziz
Piece in Ha’aretz about Oren’s continuing efforts at propaganda and using teh Christian community as a political prop:
In 2006, Qassis conducted a survey of Christians who live in the occupied Palestinian territories, and, he says, the vast majority said their desire to emigrate was linked to the lack of security and stability they feel under Israeli rule. Less than 1 percent spoke about being afraid of Muslims.
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thabet
“Taking risks for peace”:
The eviction came after a long legal battle between the Qarsh family and settlers who say they bought the building from its owners, another Palestinian family who emigrated to the United States decades ago.
An Israeli court later ordered the settlers to leave and said it would consider the case next week, according to the lawyer.
The influx of hardline settlers into crowded neighbourhoods in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed in 1967, has raised tensions in the Holy City and hindered efforts to relaunch peace talks.
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Lawrence of Arabia
Did the settlers follow the court order or not?
“My husband is 67 years old, and he needs his medicine, which is inside the house,” Munnawar Qirrish said. “I cannot even enter the house to get the medicine. All my personal belongings are inside and I do not know what the settlers are doing to them. I do not know if they are sleeping in my bed or what they are doing inside.”
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Matt
An oddly truncated timeline. As usual, the truth is far more complex.
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thabet
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aziz
good news for middle east peace: PM Abbas proposes Israeli control over Jerusalem, and Israel eases the Gaza blockade.
Also, check out the former Palestinian beauty queen who now races cars in the desert! cool
Cue the cynics, of course. Still worth highlighting.
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aziz
also, Israel’s war crimes self-investiation from the Gaza War is out. Mostly what you’d expect.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/world/middleeast/07mideast.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes
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Lawrence of Arabia
The remnant of an Orthodox Jewish left protesting the settlements in East Jerusalem (though several of those interviewed have become “secular”).
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thabet
Also came across this:
The New Orthodox Jewish Left in Israel
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aziz
Jews march in Jerusalem, to throw Palestinians into the sea.
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mirelle
At least they’re being honest about it, as opposed to using euphemisms like “transfer”.
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aziz
Amongst all the commentary about the Israeli-US flap over 1600 settlements in East Jerusalem, Roger Cohen’s in the NYT stands out.
This is a watershed moment. Palestinian violence, Palestinian anti-Semitic incitement and jihadist infiltration of the Palestinian national movement all undermine peace efforts. They are unacceptable; Biden was right to “ironclad” the U.S. commitment to Israeli security. But it’s past time that Palestinian failings cease to serve as an excuse for Israel’s remorseless, cynical scattering of the Palestinian people into enclaves that make a farce of statehood. That is “an affront” to America.
In this sense, Biden’s foray has been salutary. It brought U.S. “vital interests” to the surface. It challenged Israel’s ostrich-like burrowing into polices that, over time, will make one divided, undemocratic state more likely than “two states for two peoples.” It asked again the question posed recently by David Shulman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Are Israelis, cocooned, still able “to see, to imagine, and to acknowledge the suffering of other human beings, including those aspects of their suffering for which we are directly responsible?”
Also, Richard has been awesome, as usual.
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johnpi
‘US architect withdraws from Jerusalem museum project.’
Leading US architect Frank O. Gehri has announced he is withdrawing from the Museum of Tolerance project in Jerusalem which detractors say is being built over an ancient Muslim graveyard, the Haaretz newspaper said on Friday.
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AA
This may be the other way around.
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johnpi
Al Qaeda airline attack, sectarian hirabah against Shiites, provide media diversion while Israel announces its plans to build 700 new homes in East Jerusalem.
Israel said Monday that it will build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States, which denounced the plan as an obstacle to peacemaking.
“We make a distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is our capital and remains such,” said government spokesman Mark Regev.
Also, here’s a report from the AP about the Institute of Hope, the only orphanage in Gaza. It is home to many of the 1,720 new orphans that were created by last year’s Gaza masssacre.
No wonder Hamas has kicked Al Qaeda and the caliphate utopians out the Gaza Strip. No doubt they would make short work of sacrificing the Palestinians on the caliphate altar.
Of course, there are other huge differences between Hamas and Hezbollah and Al Qaeda and the militant groups of South Asia that it colonized.
thabet is discussing. 
mirelle is discussing. 
AA is discussing. 
Matthew 1:38 pm on May 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
http://dsadevil.blogspot.com/2012/04/cracking-down-on-terrorists-reduces.html
This is not the first time, however, that the Shin Bet has cracked down on far-right settlers. Certainly, it’s not often enough, but then neither has PA actions against terrorism been often enough. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/palestinian-tv-airs-show-praising-fogel-family-murderer-1.409858
So how do we talk about it in a way that isn’t one-sided and demonizing? That focuses more on the peace-minded segments of both communities? Is that desirable to you?