Palestine Theater

PFLP, DFLP announce initiative for united Palestinian left front

From the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, June 5:

On May 29, 2008, three Palestinian Left organizations, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Palestine People's Party, announced the inception of a Palestinian Left Front.

Israel detains anti-wall protesters at Ni'lin

Israeli forces raided the village of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, early May 29, storming houses and detaining four men. The mayor of Ni'lin, Aiman Nafe, said the incursion and detentions aimed to suppress activities scheduled for that day against construction of the separation wall through the southern lands of the village.

Hamas condemns Holocaust —Israel threatens a new one

Breaking ranks with the loopiness of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ilk, Bassem Naeem, health and information minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian administration in Gaza, explicitly acknowledges the historical fact of the Holocaust—while calling out Israel's manipulation thereof. From The Guardian's Comment is Free, May 12:

Lebanon: "civil war by any standard"

Lebanon's polarized politicians appealed to Qatar May 17 to come up with a proposal on the question of Hezbollah's weapons during Arab-brokered talks in Doha. 65 people were killed in nearly a week of fighting, in which Hezbollah and its allies temporarily took control of a large part of west Beirut. (AFP, May 17) BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut May 16 that the violence already reached the level of civil war:

Israel demands UN strike "Nakba" from lexicon

<em />Ramallah: black balloons commemorate NakbaRamallah: black balloons commemorate NakbaIsrael is demanding that the UN strike the word "Nakba" from its lexicon after an official statement released by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made specific reference to the Arab word meaning catastrophe—especially in reference to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands with Israel's inception in 1948. Israeli Radio quoted a Ban spokesperson as saying the secretary-general "phoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stress his support for the Palestinian people on Nakba Day." Danny Carmon, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, told the radio that the term "Nakba is a tool of Arab propaganda used to undermine the legitimacy of the establishment of the State of Israel, and it must not be part of the lexicon of the UN."

Palestinians get repression at Nakba commemoration

Israeli troops attacked a peaceful march commemorating the 60th year of the Nakba in the West Bank city of Tulkarm May 10, injuring ten, including a journalist who was hit with a bullet in his hand. Participants, including international activists, raised Palestinian flags and wrote graffiti on the face of the separation wall protesting the enclosure of village lands at Shofa. Soldiers opened fire and threw tear gas. (WAFA, May 10) Four were injured two days later in a similar scene at Na'lein village, west of Ramallah. (WAFA, May 12)

Lebanon: Hezbollah warns of "war"

Clashes continues for a second day in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley May 8, pitting Hezbollah against the Sunni and pro-government Future Movement. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah charged the government with crossing a "red line" by challenging the independence of the resistance movement.

West Bank: Israel re-occupies Jenin

On May 6, 480 Palestinian Authority police entered the city of Jenin to crack down on criminal gangs and Islamic Jihad cells, under the rubric of the Israeli-approved and fashionably euphemistic "Operation Smile and Hope." Clashes with presumed Islamic militants broke out in the outlying town of Qabatiyah. (LAT, May 7) The following day, Israeli forces occupied the city and refugee camp of Jenin. Major General Diab Al-Ali (AKA Abul Fatah), commander of the PA's National Security service in the northern governates of the West Bank, said the Israeli incursion is meant to obstruct the Palestinian security services' plan to impose law and order, and is a provocation against the Palestinian government and people. (Ma'an News Agency, May 7)

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