Netanyahu's speech / Cheapening the Holocaust

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cheapened the memory of the Holocaust in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. He did so twice. Once, when he brandished proof of the very existence of the Holocaust, as if it needed any, and again when he compared Hamas to the Nazis.
If Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust, Netanyahu cheapens it. Is there a need of proof, 60 years later? Or, the world might think, is the denier right? (...)

fonte Haaretz, Gideon Levy

Jerusalem Diary: Monday 21 September

"Two pandemics are running wild all over the world," he says. "The first is swine flu, the second is 'settlement psychosis'."

fonte BBC News, Middle East, Tim Franks

Quel sangue del Sud versato per il Paese

Vengo da una terra di reduci e combattenti. E l'ennesima strage di soldati non l'accolgo con la sorpresa di chi, davanti a una notizia particolarmente dolorosa e grave, torna a includere una terra lontana come l'Afghanistan nella propria geografia mentale. Per me quel territorio ha sempre fatto parte della mia geografia, geografia di luoghi dove non c'è pace. Gli italiani partiti per laggiù e quelli che restano in Sicilia, in Calabria o in Campania per me fanno in qualche modo parte di una mappa unica, diversa da quella che abbraccia pure Firenze, Torino o Bolzano.
Dei ventun soldati italiani caduti in Afghanistan la parte maggiore sono meridionali. Meridionali arruolati nelle loro regioni d'origine, o trasferiti altrove o persino figli di meridionali emigrati. A chi in questi anni dal Nord Italia blaterava sul Sud come di un'appendice necrotizzata di cui liberarsi, oggi, nel silenzio che cade sulle città d'origine di questi uomini dilaniati dai Taliban, troverà quella risposta pesantissima che nessuna invocazione del valore nazionale è stato in grado di dargli. Oggi siamo dinanzi all'ennesimo tributo di sangue che le regioni meridionali, le regioni più povere d'Italia, versano all'intero paese. (...)

fonte La Repubblica, Roberto Saviano

Education gap divides Jerusalem

A recent report by an Israeli non-governmental organisation says 5,000 Palestinian children in East Jerusalem will not be able to attend classes this year because there are not enough classrooms.
The Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem lack more than 1,000 classrooms needed to accommodate schoolchildren, according to the report issued by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and Ir Amim, an Israeli nonprofit that promotes coexistence in the city.
The widening gap in education between the Arab East and the predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem is all too obvious.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros visited Shaafat Elementary, a school, and found that it was a converted animal barn.
The ACRI report estimates that more than 5,000 would-be students in East Jerusalem are not enrolled in any school.
According to the report, there is a huge discrepancy in the number of schools and quality of education in the Arab East part of Jerusalem, compared to the predominantly Jewish West of the City.
In fact, while the number of public schools in the West is going up. 30,000 Palestinian students in East Jerusalem this year have been forced to attend private schools due to a shortage of at least 1,000 classrooms.
Over 5,000 will not be going to school at all this year.
"There has been a huge increase in the population in East Jerusalem, and that has not been followed by a huge increase in classroom construction," Sarah Kreimer, associate director of Ir Amim, said.
The Jerusalem municipality rejected the report, saying the numbers were "distorted."
Of the nearly 90,000 children between 5 and 18 years old living in East Jerusalem, fewer than half were enrolled in municipal public schools last year, the report said.
Students who do not make it into public school because of the classroom shortage are forced to consider private schools, often at a steep cost, Kreimer said. Some families get priced out, and many students end up at home.
The report also said many existing classrooms were "small, crowded, unventilated and lacking support classes or playgrounds."
Nisreen Elyan, a lawyer for ACRI, told Al Jazeera that the shortage of schools and poor facilities will likely have a long-term social effect on Palestinian children.
"If they're not in school it means they're usually on the streets and they can get into gangs etc which is dangerous," she said.
"Also, it has been shown that once these children are out of the education system it is difficult for them to come back in."
Israeli officials admit there is a huge gap between education systems in the East and West of Jerusalem. They put it down to bureaucratic reasons and the fact that within the municipality few are lobbying on behalf of Palestinian residents.

At-Tuwani: La scorta militare israeliana non garantisce la sicurezza dei bambini palestinesi

Settembre 2009
In Palestina l'anno scolastico 2009-2010 è cominciato il I° settembre 2009. I bambini che provengono dai vicini villaggi di Tuba e Maghayir-al-Abeed per raggiungere la scuola elementare di At-Tuwani necessitano di una scorta militare che garantisca loro la sicurezza. Durante le prime due settimane del nuovo anno scolastico i soldati israeliani non hanno scortato i bambini in modo appropriato, lasciando che percorressero da soli un'area nella quale sono esposti agli attacchi dei coloni. (...)

fonte Operazione Colomba, l'articolo intero qui

Per il report completo sulle scorte scolastiche nel 2007-2008, incluse mappe, fotografie e interviste ai bambini, consultare "Un viaggio pericoloso".

How does Israel decide who gets a visa to Ramallah?

Haaretz's query as to why some visitors receive regular visas, while others receive "Palestinian Authority only" stamps, went unanswered. (...)
The Interior Ministry said it does not have representatives at the Allenby Bridge crossing.
The Israel Airports Authority said, "Israel Airports Authority employees fulfill their function in keeping with directives while maintaining the dignity of the travelers and insuring a proper level of service. The authority supervises the employees by means of a variety of methods. Stamps are given by border supervisors only (who are not authority employees)."
The Negotiation Support Unit, which advises the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department, prepared an opinion paper on the Israeli visa policy, which was sent to consulates and foreign missions. The opinion stated: "Third states whose nationals are subjected to such illegal policies have an obligation to object once the facts are made known to them and their nationals ask them to respond or to take action. Choosing not to object would imply third states' acceptance of Israel's unlawful acts, in violation of third states' duty of non-recognition [of these acts.]"

fonte Haaretz, Amira Hass, How does Israel decide who gets a visa to Ramallah?

cleaning (and start again)

troppo tempo lontana da questo blog... ma mai lontana da quanto avviene in Medio Oriente, dagli amici in Palestina e Israele, da chi ancora spera in un soluzione di pace.
Adesso ripulisco il blog (dalle cose inutili), provo ad allegerirlo, e si riparte!