26 june 2016
Sgt. D., who was present when Hebron soldier Cpl. Elor Azaria shot Abed al Fatah a-Sharif, a neutralized terrorist, will be put on trial himself for writing a Facebook post accusing Kfir Brigade company commander Tom Na'aman of giving false testimony against Azaria; IDF responded to the accuation, saying Cpl. D. 'did not see the incident.'
Cpl. D., who came out in defense of Sgt. Elor Azaria, the Hebron soldier filmed shooting and killing a neutralized and disarmed Palestinian terrorist, Abed al Fatah a-Sharif after he had already been neutralized and disarmed, is set to stand trial for writing a Facebook post accusing Kfir Brigade company commander, Major Tom Na'aman of providing false testimony during Azaria’s trial.
Na'aman’s said that Azaria had shot a-Sharif in the head after it was clear he was no longer a threat. But while Na'aman claims that at first he did not understand what was going on, Cpl. D. claimed to the contrary, despite an IDF spokesperson having rejected Cpl.D.'s claims.
“You stood 2 – 3 meters from the terrorist. Elor was standing in front of you, saying he’s going to shoot while cocking his gun, aiming, while my platoon commander pulled you back to protect you from getting hurt. But you still didn’t understand that he was shot. Interesting.”
While Na'aman now faces new criticism, he recenty received a great deal of support from top military and political offcials.
Cpl. D also denied Na'aman’s claims that a-Sharif did not pose a threat after being neutralized. Moreover, he cast doubt over previous claims that Azaria ever told Na'aman that, “The terrorist is alive and he should be dead.” Addressing Na'aman, Cpl. D. said, “the video clearly shows that Elor wasn’t near you when you stood next to the terrorist. I have no idea how he could have told you that he needed to die.”
Cpl. D went on to rebut Na'aman’s various claims. “You said you were angry at (Azaria)? That’s strange. You told him to step aside? The way I remember it, after the shooting Elor went into the Palestinian area beyond the blockade with me and the rest of my platoon, to make sure there wasn’t a crowd gathering."
Going directly on the offesnive, Cpl. D said, "You said you weren’t concerned about an explosive device? You didn’t even bother checking for one, despite the fact that civilians and paramedics warned us about it. It’s good that you weren’t concerned, though.”
Cpl. D. concluded his testimony by launching a scathing summary of Na'aman's character. “Every word that left his mouth only highlighted his own self interest, of looking to advance in rank, to the point of praising himself and presenting himself as a responsible, quick-thinking leader, despite the fact that anyone who has seen the video can attest that this just isn’t true. I never imagined he would betray his own soldier like this.”
An IDF spokesperson released a statement, saying that “Cpl. D. gave his testimony during the investigation. He did not see the shooting performed by Elor Azaria, since at the time he was on another mission.”
The IDF rejected Cpl. D.’s request for a military trial, fearing it would draw further media attention. Cpl. D. is due to stand trial before a senior officer, while Azaria’s trial is set to continue on Sunday.
Cpl. D., who came out in defense of Sgt. Elor Azaria, the Hebron soldier filmed shooting and killing a neutralized and disarmed Palestinian terrorist, Abed al Fatah a-Sharif after he had already been neutralized and disarmed, is set to stand trial for writing a Facebook post accusing Kfir Brigade company commander, Major Tom Na'aman of providing false testimony during Azaria’s trial.
Na'aman’s said that Azaria had shot a-Sharif in the head after it was clear he was no longer a threat. But while Na'aman claims that at first he did not understand what was going on, Cpl. D. claimed to the contrary, despite an IDF spokesperson having rejected Cpl.D.'s claims.
“You stood 2 – 3 meters from the terrorist. Elor was standing in front of you, saying he’s going to shoot while cocking his gun, aiming, while my platoon commander pulled you back to protect you from getting hurt. But you still didn’t understand that he was shot. Interesting.”
While Na'aman now faces new criticism, he recenty received a great deal of support from top military and political offcials.
Cpl. D also denied Na'aman’s claims that a-Sharif did not pose a threat after being neutralized. Moreover, he cast doubt over previous claims that Azaria ever told Na'aman that, “The terrorist is alive and he should be dead.” Addressing Na'aman, Cpl. D. said, “the video clearly shows that Elor wasn’t near you when you stood next to the terrorist. I have no idea how he could have told you that he needed to die.”
Cpl. D went on to rebut Na'aman’s various claims. “You said you were angry at (Azaria)? That’s strange. You told him to step aside? The way I remember it, after the shooting Elor went into the Palestinian area beyond the blockade with me and the rest of my platoon, to make sure there wasn’t a crowd gathering."
Going directly on the offesnive, Cpl. D said, "You said you weren’t concerned about an explosive device? You didn’t even bother checking for one, despite the fact that civilians and paramedics warned us about it. It’s good that you weren’t concerned, though.”
Cpl. D. concluded his testimony by launching a scathing summary of Na'aman's character. “Every word that left his mouth only highlighted his own self interest, of looking to advance in rank, to the point of praising himself and presenting himself as a responsible, quick-thinking leader, despite the fact that anyone who has seen the video can attest that this just isn’t true. I never imagined he would betray his own soldier like this.”
An IDF spokesperson released a statement, saying that “Cpl. D. gave his testimony during the investigation. He did not see the shooting performed by Elor Azaria, since at the time he was on another mission.”
The IDF rejected Cpl. D.’s request for a military trial, fearing it would draw further media attention. Cpl. D. is due to stand trial before a senior officer, while Azaria’s trial is set to continue on Sunday.
24 june 2016
A Palestinian lady has been held in Israeli custody and subjected to exhaustive questioning over a song posted on her Facebook account.
A PIC journalist said Sabah Feraoun was arrested from her family home some four days ago as she was wanted by the Israeli occupation authorities allegedly over her intent to carry out an anti-occupation attack.
The Israeli occupation forces stormed Sabah’s family home, in Jerusalem’s Alezariya town, at the crack of dawn the day of the arrest and wreaked havoc on the home before they aggressively attacked Sabeh and handcuffed her in the presence of her four children.
An Israeli military court extended Sabah’s remand pending further investigation. A special unit has been assigned by the Israeli intelligence to keep tabs on social media networks as part of Israeli intents to quell freedom of speech and suppress anti-occupation activism.
A PIC journalist said Sabah Feraoun was arrested from her family home some four days ago as she was wanted by the Israeli occupation authorities allegedly over her intent to carry out an anti-occupation attack.
The Israeli occupation forces stormed Sabah’s family home, in Jerusalem’s Alezariya town, at the crack of dawn the day of the arrest and wreaked havoc on the home before they aggressively attacked Sabeh and handcuffed her in the presence of her four children.
An Israeli military court extended Sabah’s remand pending further investigation. A special unit has been assigned by the Israeli intelligence to keep tabs on social media networks as part of Israeli intents to quell freedom of speech and suppress anti-occupation activism.
23 june 2016
Justice Minister Ayelet Shake
Lawmakers move to formulate legislation enabling them to order websites to remove content of incitement to violence; Justice Minister Shaked: 'We will focus on removing terrorist content.'
Israel's Justice Ministry is drafting legislation that would enable it to order Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media to remove online postings it deems to be inciting terrorism.
"We are working on draft legislation, similar to what is being done in other countries; one law that would allow for a judicial injunction to order the removal of certain content, such as websites that incite to terrorism," Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said.
"There should be some measure of accountability for Internet companies regarding the illegal activities and content that is published through their services," Shaked told a cybersecurity conference in Tel Aviv this week.
Israel blames a wave of Palestinian attacks which erupted in October last year on incitement to violence by the Palestinian leadership and on social media. Palestinian leaders claim many attackers have acted out of desperation in the absence of movement towards creating an independent Palestinian state.
A spokeswoman for Shaked said it was too early to say what measures or sanctions might be included in the law, which would need parliamentary approval, but that it was likely to be similar to those introduced in France.
France has made far-reaching changes to surveillance laws since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo last year. It has taken steps to blacklist jihadi sites that "apologise for terrorism", but stopped short of using such laws to censor major Internet services.
"The legislation ... will focus on removing prohibited content, with an emphasis on terrorist content, or blocking access to prohibited content," Shaked's spokeswoman said.
Governments around the world have been grappling with how to block online incitement to criminal activity, while major Internet services have stepped up campaigns to identify and remove Web postings that incite violence.
Facebook, Google and Twitter are working more aggressively to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants while trying to avoid the perception they are helping the authorities police the Web.
Turkey has regularly censored YouTube, Facebook and Twitter in domestic political disputes. In 2015, more than 90 percent of all court orders for Twitter to remove illegal content worldwide came from Turkey, the company has reported.
Russia has used anti-terrorist laws to censor independent web sites, media organizations and global Internet sites, while China's tightly controlled Internet blocks what it considers terrorist propaganda under general laws against incitement to criminal activity.
Shaked said governments and Internet services need to find ways to cooperate so that companies can quickly take down content deemed criminal that has been published on their platform.
"We are promoting cooperation with content providers, sensitizing them as to content that violates Israeli law or the provider's terms of service," Shaked said.
A spokesman for Facebook in Israel declined to comment.
Google's YouTube subsidiary has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts, a company spokesman said.
"We remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users. We also terminate any account registered by a member of a designated 'foreign terrorist organisation'," he said.
Lawmakers move to formulate legislation enabling them to order websites to remove content of incitement to violence; Justice Minister Shaked: 'We will focus on removing terrorist content.'
Israel's Justice Ministry is drafting legislation that would enable it to order Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media to remove online postings it deems to be inciting terrorism.
"We are working on draft legislation, similar to what is being done in other countries; one law that would allow for a judicial injunction to order the removal of certain content, such as websites that incite to terrorism," Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said.
"There should be some measure of accountability for Internet companies regarding the illegal activities and content that is published through their services," Shaked told a cybersecurity conference in Tel Aviv this week.
Israel blames a wave of Palestinian attacks which erupted in October last year on incitement to violence by the Palestinian leadership and on social media. Palestinian leaders claim many attackers have acted out of desperation in the absence of movement towards creating an independent Palestinian state.
A spokeswoman for Shaked said it was too early to say what measures or sanctions might be included in the law, which would need parliamentary approval, but that it was likely to be similar to those introduced in France.
France has made far-reaching changes to surveillance laws since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo last year. It has taken steps to blacklist jihadi sites that "apologise for terrorism", but stopped short of using such laws to censor major Internet services.
"The legislation ... will focus on removing prohibited content, with an emphasis on terrorist content, or blocking access to prohibited content," Shaked's spokeswoman said.
Governments around the world have been grappling with how to block online incitement to criminal activity, while major Internet services have stepped up campaigns to identify and remove Web postings that incite violence.
Facebook, Google and Twitter are working more aggressively to combat online propaganda and recruiting by Islamic militants while trying to avoid the perception they are helping the authorities police the Web.
Turkey has regularly censored YouTube, Facebook and Twitter in domestic political disputes. In 2015, more than 90 percent of all court orders for Twitter to remove illegal content worldwide came from Turkey, the company has reported.
Russia has used anti-terrorist laws to censor independent web sites, media organizations and global Internet sites, while China's tightly controlled Internet blocks what it considers terrorist propaganda under general laws against incitement to criminal activity.
Shaked said governments and Internet services need to find ways to cooperate so that companies can quickly take down content deemed criminal that has been published on their platform.
"We are promoting cooperation with content providers, sensitizing them as to content that violates Israeli law or the provider's terms of service," Shaked said.
A spokesman for Facebook in Israel declined to comment.
Google's YouTube subsidiary has clear policies that prohibit content like gratuitous violence, hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts, a company spokesman said.
"We remove videos violating these policies when flagged by our users. We also terminate any account registered by a member of a designated 'foreign terrorist organisation'," he said.
21 june 2016
It seems that we are standing in front an intensified zionist strategy to poison the wells of the Palestinians to commit genocide against them and force them out again from their homes and villages, like what they have already done for long as it was explained by the jewish historian Ilan Pappe.
This is not a new zionist technique but they have been using it since the inception of the zionist state as a mean to kill and ethnically cleanse the natives, as the zionists were the first to introduce and use the chemical weapons in the Middle East .In May 1948 the Zionist gangs besieged the well-fortified Palestinian city of Acre, which could stand the siege for a long time.
The city water supply came from a nearby village name Kabri through an aqueduct. To shorten the siege and to enter the city, the Zionist gangs injected typhoid in the aqueduct. Many Palestinians and some 55 British soldiers, who were in the city, got infected. This crime was called operation “Shlach Lachmecha” as described by the Israeli military historian Urin Milstein [Wendy Barnaby’s “The Plague Makers: The Secret World of Biological Warfare”, London, Vision Paperbacks, 1997, pp 114-116]
During the Ethnic cleansing of Palestine 1947-1948, this technique of poisoning the wells was used in different villages in Palestine- which was documented by both the International Red Cross and the British Mandate authorities- in a systematic way to cause panic and force the Palestinians out of their villages for the zionist settlers.
This was not the only case……….. on the 6th May of the same year, many cases of typhoid erupted suddenly in the area. The British Army and Red Cross medics found 70 cases of the disease. It was clear that the disease was coming from the water source and was not being caused by poor sanitation, as the Israelis claimed. A week before the British left Palestine, the British Mandate Authorities instructed the Arab residents of Israel to drink water only from the city’s wells. They started to chlorinate the aqueduct. The Zionists’ claim that poor sanitation caused the epidemic was dismissed when 55 British soldiers were also infected and rushed to the Royal Hospital in Port Said Egypt….
This didnt happen only during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1947-8, but it followed for long after that. As an integral part of the ethnic cleansing process, the zionists used to raze the native villages and poison the wells to prevent any expelled native from coming back as an Israeli historian explained:
Israeli military historian, Uri Milstein, eclaims that during this period, “in many conquered Arab villages, the water supply was poisoned to prevent the inhabitants from coming back.” According to Milstein, the typhoid epidemic that occurred in the Palestinian village Acre before it fell to Jewish terrorists was a deliberate biological attack and not just a coincidence of war.
However, the criminal zionists continued, and are still continuing their criminality while the world is turning a blind eye, hoping for the beast to be tamed.
Sara Leibovitz-Dar is a persistent investigative journalist. The trauma experienced by her parents in their native Lithuania left an indelible mark on her. She abhorred injustice and, particularly, the meek acceptance of it. She investigated the Gaza and Acre poisoning and shooting down of the civilian Libyan aircraft. The Israeli military historian, Uri Milstein, identified for her the names of the officers responsible for biological crimes.
In the recent years, the zionist settlers have repeatedly poisoned the wells of the Palestinian villages in reported news killing hundreds of goats, sheep and cows where the the Palestinians herd their cattle, and the surprise is that none of the zionist settlers was arrested or accused in any crime.
This is not a new zionist technique but they have been using it since the inception of the zionist state as a mean to kill and ethnically cleanse the natives, as the zionists were the first to introduce and use the chemical weapons in the Middle East .In May 1948 the Zionist gangs besieged the well-fortified Palestinian city of Acre, which could stand the siege for a long time.
The city water supply came from a nearby village name Kabri through an aqueduct. To shorten the siege and to enter the city, the Zionist gangs injected typhoid in the aqueduct. Many Palestinians and some 55 British soldiers, who were in the city, got infected. This crime was called operation “Shlach Lachmecha” as described by the Israeli military historian Urin Milstein [Wendy Barnaby’s “The Plague Makers: The Secret World of Biological Warfare”, London, Vision Paperbacks, 1997, pp 114-116]
During the Ethnic cleansing of Palestine 1947-1948, this technique of poisoning the wells was used in different villages in Palestine- which was documented by both the International Red Cross and the British Mandate authorities- in a systematic way to cause panic and force the Palestinians out of their villages for the zionist settlers.
This was not the only case……….. on the 6th May of the same year, many cases of typhoid erupted suddenly in the area. The British Army and Red Cross medics found 70 cases of the disease. It was clear that the disease was coming from the water source and was not being caused by poor sanitation, as the Israelis claimed. A week before the British left Palestine, the British Mandate Authorities instructed the Arab residents of Israel to drink water only from the city’s wells. They started to chlorinate the aqueduct. The Zionists’ claim that poor sanitation caused the epidemic was dismissed when 55 British soldiers were also infected and rushed to the Royal Hospital in Port Said Egypt….
This didnt happen only during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1947-8, but it followed for long after that. As an integral part of the ethnic cleansing process, the zionists used to raze the native villages and poison the wells to prevent any expelled native from coming back as an Israeli historian explained:
Israeli military historian, Uri Milstein, eclaims that during this period, “in many conquered Arab villages, the water supply was poisoned to prevent the inhabitants from coming back.” According to Milstein, the typhoid epidemic that occurred in the Palestinian village Acre before it fell to Jewish terrorists was a deliberate biological attack and not just a coincidence of war.
However, the criminal zionists continued, and are still continuing their criminality while the world is turning a blind eye, hoping for the beast to be tamed.
Sara Leibovitz-Dar is a persistent investigative journalist. The trauma experienced by her parents in their native Lithuania left an indelible mark on her. She abhorred injustice and, particularly, the meek acceptance of it. She investigated the Gaza and Acre poisoning and shooting down of the civilian Libyan aircraft. The Israeli military historian, Uri Milstein, identified for her the names of the officers responsible for biological crimes.
In the recent years, the zionist settlers have repeatedly poisoned the wells of the Palestinian villages in reported news killing hundreds of goats, sheep and cows where the the Palestinians herd their cattle, and the surprise is that none of the zionist settlers was arrested or accused in any crime.
20 june 2016
Facebook, in present-day Israel, has hired Jordana Cutler as its head of Policy and Communications. Cutler is a longtime senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and chief of staff to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer.
According to the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, Israeli Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Information Minister Gilad Erdan congratulated Cutler on her appointment, last week, at the Hezliya conference, an Israeli security and national policy meeting.
“There has been an advance in dialogue between the State of Israel and Facebook,” he acknowledged. He added, “Facebook realizes that it has a responsibility to monitor its platform and remove content. I hope it will be regulated for good.”
Cutler’s appointment indicates a burgeoning partnership between the Israeli government and Facebook. Considering Israel’s propensity to arrest Palestinians for Facebook posts and its endeavors to silence the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, such collaboration is cause for concern.
Since the popular uprising started in October 2015, Israel has arrested at least 150 Palestinians over Facebook posts it labeled as “incitement.”
The Israeli government allocated $26 million for 2016 to launch cyber warfare to “dismantle the infrastructure” of the BDS movement. The BDS National Committee surmises that Israel is be behind cyber attacks meant to shut down its website.
According to the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, Israeli Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Information Minister Gilad Erdan congratulated Cutler on her appointment, last week, at the Hezliya conference, an Israeli security and national policy meeting.
“There has been an advance in dialogue between the State of Israel and Facebook,” he acknowledged. He added, “Facebook realizes that it has a responsibility to monitor its platform and remove content. I hope it will be regulated for good.”
Cutler’s appointment indicates a burgeoning partnership between the Israeli government and Facebook. Considering Israel’s propensity to arrest Palestinians for Facebook posts and its endeavors to silence the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, such collaboration is cause for concern.
Since the popular uprising started in October 2015, Israel has arrested at least 150 Palestinians over Facebook posts it labeled as “incitement.”
The Israeli government allocated $26 million for 2016 to launch cyber warfare to “dismantle the infrastructure” of the BDS movement. The BDS National Committee surmises that Israel is be behind cyber attacks meant to shut down its website.
3 june 2016
An Israeli occupation court indicted three Palestinian boys in their 17’s of age of carrying out an anti-occupation stabbing last month.
The Israeli general prosecutor charged three Palestinian anti-occupation youths with involvement in a stabbing attack in May in the Armon Hanatziv illegal settlement, in Occupied Jerusalem.
The three youngsters were also accused of planning an attack on a bus.
The Israeli attorney general claimed that a conversation on Facebook showed the three Palestinian boys were seeking Israeli targets and planning to kill Jews.
The Israeli general prosecutor charged three Palestinian anti-occupation youths with involvement in a stabbing attack in May in the Armon Hanatziv illegal settlement, in Occupied Jerusalem.
The three youngsters were also accused of planning an attack on a bus.
The Israeli attorney general claimed that a conversation on Facebook showed the three Palestinian boys were seeking Israeli targets and planning to kill Jews.
2 june 2016
A 15-year-old British-Palestinian schoolgirl faced backlash after a prominent public speaking competition for youth in the United Kingdom for fervently speaking up for the Palestinian cause.
Leanne Mohamed recently won the Redbridge Regional Final of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge in London with a moving speech about the injustices Palestinians are forced to endure as a result of Israeli occupation.
“I am Palestinian and I am human, I shouldn’t have to remind the world of that,” Mohamed said in the speech that ended with an earnest call to “free Palestine,” accompanied by her waving a Palestinian flag.
Following her win, the video of Mohamed’s speech, which went viral and attracted both online support and abuse, was temporarily removed from both the competition’s official website and the official YouTube channel of the organization that runs it.
In addition, the organizations that run the competition, Speakers Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation, did not choose Mohamed as one of the 15 winning regional finalists who will progress to the Grand Final, the national stage of the competition.
In a joint statement they released Tuesday following a whirlwind of online uproar, which included the launch of an online petition and the trending hashtag “Let Leanne Speak,” both organizations refuted the claims that their actions were because of Mohamed’s topic.
They claimed that the video was removed “following vile and hateful comments posted online” in order to “protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional videos,” saying that Speakers Trust is “a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day.”
All 37 talented Regional Final champions were entered into the semi-final on Saturday 21st May. Only 15 of these can reach the Grand Final stage.
A panel of judges selected the top 15 speeches without any external influence or input and prior to any of the issues that emerged this weekend,” the statement added, saying that each speech was “judged on its own merits.”
However, prior to the statement’s release, an email Speakers Trust CEO Julie Holness sent to an infamous anti-Palestinian blogger, who had contacted the organization complaining about Mohamed’s speech, was made public and told a different story.
In the email, Holness said that the speech violated two fundamental rules of the competition: “The speech must have a positive and uplifting message,” and that “a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.”
Titled “Birds not Bombs,” Mohamed’s speech, which was re-uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by a variety of sources, started by comparing the children’s game hide and seek to the “life or death” alternative of the game that Palestinian children must play.
Mohamed said: “How would you feel if you were awoken every morning by bombs and not birds? How would you feel if you didn’t even feel safe in your own home? How would you feel if you witnessed your own family die in front of you?
If for 68 years they bombarded your land, took away your genuine human rights and killed your families and children, how would you react?”
“Palestine is my country, my land and my home, their pain is my pain, and their freedom is my freedom,” she said, concluding her speech with a famous Nelson Mandela quote, in which he spoke of Palestinian freedom.
Leanne Mohamed recently won the Redbridge Regional Final of Jack Petchey’s Speak Out Challenge in London with a moving speech about the injustices Palestinians are forced to endure as a result of Israeli occupation.
“I am Palestinian and I am human, I shouldn’t have to remind the world of that,” Mohamed said in the speech that ended with an earnest call to “free Palestine,” accompanied by her waving a Palestinian flag.
Following her win, the video of Mohamed’s speech, which went viral and attracted both online support and abuse, was temporarily removed from both the competition’s official website and the official YouTube channel of the organization that runs it.
In addition, the organizations that run the competition, Speakers Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation, did not choose Mohamed as one of the 15 winning regional finalists who will progress to the Grand Final, the national stage of the competition.
In a joint statement they released Tuesday following a whirlwind of online uproar, which included the launch of an online petition and the trending hashtag “Let Leanne Speak,” both organizations refuted the claims that their actions were because of Mohamed’s topic.
They claimed that the video was removed “following vile and hateful comments posted online” in order to “protect Leanne by temporarily suspending the regional videos,” saying that Speakers Trust is “a small charity without the capacity to moderate comments 24 hours a day.”
All 37 talented Regional Final champions were entered into the semi-final on Saturday 21st May. Only 15 of these can reach the Grand Final stage.
A panel of judges selected the top 15 speeches without any external influence or input and prior to any of the issues that emerged this weekend,” the statement added, saying that each speech was “judged on its own merits.”
However, prior to the statement’s release, an email Speakers Trust CEO Julie Holness sent to an infamous anti-Palestinian blogger, who had contacted the organization complaining about Mohamed’s speech, was made public and told a different story.
In the email, Holness said that the speech violated two fundamental rules of the competition: “The speech must have a positive and uplifting message,” and that “a speaker should never inflame or offend the audience or insult others and this, by definition, means that propaganda is ruled out absolutely from the outset.”
Titled “Birds not Bombs,” Mohamed’s speech, which was re-uploaded to YouTube and Vimeo by a variety of sources, started by comparing the children’s game hide and seek to the “life or death” alternative of the game that Palestinian children must play.
Mohamed said: “How would you feel if you were awoken every morning by bombs and not birds? How would you feel if you didn’t even feel safe in your own home? How would you feel if you witnessed your own family die in front of you?
If for 68 years they bombarded your land, took away your genuine human rights and killed your families and children, how would you react?”
“Palestine is my country, my land and my home, their pain is my pain, and their freedom is my freedom,” she said, concluding her speech with a famous Nelson Mandela quote, in which he spoke of Palestinian freedom.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Wednesday afternoon arrested two Palestinian citizens, one of them after he tried to prevent soldiers from detaining a child in Occupied Jerusalem.
According to Quds Press, plain-clothes policemen and border soldiers stormed Attur neighborhood in east Jerusalem and kidnapped Khaled Khuwais, a school doorkeeper, after he intervened to prevent the arrest of a child.
The Israeli forces also assaulted a female teacher who also tried to save the boy from arrest.
There is still no information if the boy was detained or not.
Earlier on the same day, the Israeli police had carried out dawn raids on homes in the neighborhoods of Attur and Suwanna in Jerusalem and kidnapped more than 33 Palestinians, including teenagers and children.
In another incident, the Israeli police said yesterday it had arrested a 43-year-old Palestinian from northern Palestine on allegations of inciting violence on his Facebook page. An Israeli magistrate court extended his detention until next Sunday at the request of the police.
According to Quds Press, plain-clothes policemen and border soldiers stormed Attur neighborhood in east Jerusalem and kidnapped Khaled Khuwais, a school doorkeeper, after he intervened to prevent the arrest of a child.
The Israeli forces also assaulted a female teacher who also tried to save the boy from arrest.
There is still no information if the boy was detained or not.
Earlier on the same day, the Israeli police had carried out dawn raids on homes in the neighborhoods of Attur and Suwanna in Jerusalem and kidnapped more than 33 Palestinians, including teenagers and children.
In another incident, the Israeli police said yesterday it had arrested a 43-year-old Palestinian from northern Palestine on allegations of inciting violence on his Facebook page. An Israeli magistrate court extended his detention until next Sunday at the request of the police.
1 june 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday kidnapped an elderly Palestinian lady from her own home in Occupied Jerusalem and sentenced a Palestinian girl to five months in jail.
Palestinian citizen Lubna al-Sayad said Israeli intelligence officers, escorted by special forces, stormed the family home of her 64-year-old mother Na’ima Karawi in al-Tur neighborhood, in eastern Occupied Jerusalem, and wreaked havoc on the building before they dragged the mother to the Mascoubiya detention center for questioning.
The daughter sounded the alarm over her mother’s exacerbated psycho-physical status due to the abrupt home break-in and abduction carried out by the occupation soldiers with no consideration for the woman’s age.
Na’ima Karawi, an activist in the prisoners’ affairs and the Palestinian cause, has been subjected to several arrests on earlier occasions.
The Israeli intelligence further summoned the female Palestinian instructor Hanadi Helwani for interrogation in the Mascoubiya center, a couple of days after she was released on conditions of a ten-day-house-arrest and a one-month-travel-ban.
Mrs Helwani, a sit-inner at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, was released on Sunday from the Mascoubiya detention center, where she had been interrogated for one week over her anti-occupation activism.
In a related development, the Israeli Magistrate’s Court ruled for sentencing 16-year-old Sundus Sameer Abeid to five months in jail on allegations of holding a knife, lawyer Muhammad Mahmoud said.
Sundus was arrested by the occupation soldiers near al-Issawiya town on March 25 allegedly after she attempted to stab a soldier.
The Israeli Ofer military court also sentenced prisoner Othman Abeidou to 10 months in jail and a bail of 550 U.S. dollars on charges of incitement on Facebook.
The same court further sentenced prisoner Yazen Harahsheh to nine months in prison and Ahmad al-Jamal and Salah Hamad to seven months.
Earlier, on Monday, Israeli occupation courts issued harsh sentences, amounting to nine-year-prison-terms, against Palestinian protestors on charges of stone-hurling.
Palestinian citizen Lubna al-Sayad said Israeli intelligence officers, escorted by special forces, stormed the family home of her 64-year-old mother Na’ima Karawi in al-Tur neighborhood, in eastern Occupied Jerusalem, and wreaked havoc on the building before they dragged the mother to the Mascoubiya detention center for questioning.
The daughter sounded the alarm over her mother’s exacerbated psycho-physical status due to the abrupt home break-in and abduction carried out by the occupation soldiers with no consideration for the woman’s age.
Na’ima Karawi, an activist in the prisoners’ affairs and the Palestinian cause, has been subjected to several arrests on earlier occasions.
The Israeli intelligence further summoned the female Palestinian instructor Hanadi Helwani for interrogation in the Mascoubiya center, a couple of days after she was released on conditions of a ten-day-house-arrest and a one-month-travel-ban.
Mrs Helwani, a sit-inner at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, was released on Sunday from the Mascoubiya detention center, where she had been interrogated for one week over her anti-occupation activism.
In a related development, the Israeli Magistrate’s Court ruled for sentencing 16-year-old Sundus Sameer Abeid to five months in jail on allegations of holding a knife, lawyer Muhammad Mahmoud said.
Sundus was arrested by the occupation soldiers near al-Issawiya town on March 25 allegedly after she attempted to stab a soldier.
The Israeli Ofer military court also sentenced prisoner Othman Abeidou to 10 months in jail and a bail of 550 U.S. dollars on charges of incitement on Facebook.
The same court further sentenced prisoner Yazen Harahsheh to nine months in prison and Ahmad al-Jamal and Salah Hamad to seven months.
Earlier, on Monday, Israeli occupation courts issued harsh sentences, amounting to nine-year-prison-terms, against Palestinian protestors on charges of stone-hurling.
