Issue no 15

Issue No: 15 1st April, 2012

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15


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Contents

News Tour

Osama Hamdan meets with Dato' Seri Dr. Hamidi ............................................................................. 3

PCOM Holds a Public Talk by Brother Osama Hamdan ...................................................................... 4

10,000 Malaysians join Global March to Jerusalem ........................................................................... 5

Tens of thousands participate in Jerusalem march in Gaza ............................................................... 6

Tens of thousands of Jordanians participate in Jerusalem march ...................................................... 7

Hundreds participate in the "Global March to Jerusalem" in London................................................ 8

Activists take part in Global March to al-Quds in Australia ................................................................ 8

Palestinian youth killed and dozens, including journalist injured in Gaza ........................................ 10

150 Palestinians injured in protests in occupied Jerusalem .............................................................. 10

Commentary

Jerusalem globalises Palestine Land Day .......................................................................................... 11

Photos Tour

Global March to Jerusalem (30th March 2012) ................................................................................. 13

Palestinian Weekly Report is a periodical insight into the latest developments of the

Palestinian Issue. It’s issued by The Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia and it

focuses on the most important news and analysis about the happenings of the

Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation in the Holy Lands of Palestine. The

views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect PCOM's editorial policy.


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News Tour

During a visit hosted by "PCOM"

Osama Hamdan meets with Dato' Seri Dr. Hamidi

Kuala Lumpur - The Palestinian Cultural

Organization Malaysia (PCOM) has

hosted a leading delegation from the

Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas” to

Malaysia last week (14-19 March 2012).

The delegation was led by the head of

international relations in the movement

Mr. Osama Hamdan.

The delegation has met with Dato‟ Seri Dr.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister of

Defence Malaysia who affirmed the full

support and commitment of the Malaysian

government and people towards the issue

of Palestine. For his part, Mr. Hamdan has

expressed his movement‟s appreciation for

the role of Malaysia in adopting supportive

stances towards the Palestinian issue,

moreover, he has updated the Minister on

the latest developments in the Palestinian

arena with regards to the reconciliation

agreement signed by the Palestinian

factions, the recent Israeli escalations in

Gaza and the continuous Israeli

aggressions against the holy city of

Jerusalem.

On the other hand, the delegation has met

with the leadership of the main Malaysian

political parties, where they met with the

secretary general of "UMNO” Dato‟

Tengku adnan Tengku Mansor and

President of "PAS” Haji Abdul Hadi

Awang and discussed the potential

cooperation aspects between the

movement and the mentioned parties.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Hamdan

has also met with several NGOs, Islamic

associations and organizations, such as;

ABIM, Ikram, Yayasan Restu and Aman

Palestin. Moreover, PCOM has organized

a discussion session for the delegation

with researchers and experts from the

Institute of Strategic and International

Studies “ISIS”, where they had a fruitful

discussion on the future of the Palestinian

issue, besides, the Malaysian-Palestinian

relationships.


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PCOM Holds a Public Talk by Brother Osama Hamdan

Kuala Lumpur - The Palestinian Cultural

Organization Malaysia (PCOM) has

invited the head of international relations

of Hamas, brother "Osama Hamdan” to

deliver a public talk in De Palma Hotel last

Friday (16th

March 2012).

In his talk, brother Hamdan has

highlighted the latest developments in the

Palestinian arena with regards to the

reconciliation agreement signed by the

Palestinian factions, the recent Israeli

escalations in Gaza and the continuous

Israeli aggressions against the holy city of

Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, brother Hamdan has stressed

on the great influence of the Arab spring

on the future of the Palestinian issue, and

concluded his talk by touching on the

nature of his visit to Malaysia and its

fruits.

It is worth mentioning that the talk was

held under the auspices of Dato‟ Seri Dr.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and it was attended

by his representatives besides the

representatives of the Malaysian political

parties, NGOs and media.


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10,000 Malaysians join Global March to Jerusalem

Shah Alam – On March 30th, 2012,

MyGMJ organizers had held a massive

assembly to gather all the Malaysians to

support the Global March to Jerusalem at

Stadium Malawati Shah Alam. A number

of more than 10 000 people from all over

Malaysia came to give their support from

all types of races and religion. Not to leave

behind, there were also foreigners from the

Palestine Land came to show that they care

and will never give up to free their country

from Zionist Israel.

This assembly was hosted by Ally

Iskandar, a TV3 host and presenter and

Nurul Iman Dzulkefly, a member of The

Wayfarers and host for TV Al-Hijrah.

Furthermore, there were speeches from Dr.

Tahir Abdul Rahman (Chairman of

MyGMJ), Datuk Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin

(Deputy Chairman of MyGMJ), Brother

Ooi Kok Hin (2nd year Political Science

student of Taylors Colledge) and Ustaz Dr.

Maszlee Malik (IIUM Lecturer). Besides

the speeches from the Malaysian

organizers, they showed the video

recording speech by the Prime Minister of

Palestine, Ismail Haniyeh and George

Galloway, the founder of Viva Palestina.

All speeches were very inspiring indeed

and everyone agreed to the fact when Br.

Ooi said that although he is a Buddhist,

this is not a religion issue, but it is a

human right issue and not only a politician

can deal with this issue, but everyone can!

As to give updated news from the

Malaysian Delegation to Amman, Jordan

about the whole wide nation march to

Jerusalem, they had a live telecast by Mr.

Norazmi, Brother Mu‟az Ruslan and

Brother Aiman Mohd Zin.

Mr. Sathira Morgan and Mr. Abdul

Ghaffar Ibrahim also known as Pak AGI


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recited a poem which is very entertaining

and made the audience burst into laughter

but the content of the poem really touched

the audience‟s heart deep. Along with the

speeches, there were performances by

several Malaysian well-known artist such

as Yasin, Mirwana and Muadz Dzulkefly,

also performances by the Music Stomp

team from Architecture students UTM,

Dabka Dance by the Palestinian students

from UIA, Choral Speaking by students of

Sekolah Integrasi Masjid Al-Ehsan and the

assembly ended at 11.40pm with a Flash

Mob performance by the IPT Students

(UIA, Taylors, UiTM) which was the

highlight of the performances of the day.

Tens of thousands participate in Jerusalem march in Gaza

31/03/2012

Tens of thousands of Palestinians marched

on Friday towards the Beit Hanoun

crossing in the northern Gaza Strip from

different parts of the Strip. Different

Palestinian factions participated in the

march.

The popular action committee of Hamas

said that dozens of buses carried protestors

from different parts of the Gaza Strip

amidst huge participation in

demonstrations which also mark Land

Day.

The Prime Minister of the Gaza

government, Ismail Haneyya, participated

in the march accompanied by the Egyptian

parliamentary delegation which is visiting

Gaza.

Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabeyya, member of

the higher national committee for the

Global March to Jerusalem, said that the

large participation in Gaza, the West Bank

and outside Palestine shows that Jerusalem

is a global cause that is supported by all

free people around the world and not only

Palestinians.

He added that he expected a participation

of about 3 million people in 80 different

counties in the world.

Source: PIC


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Tens of thousands of Jordanians participate in Jerusalem march

31/03/2012

Tens of thousands of Jordanians and

foreign and Arab solidarity activists

participated in the Global March to

Jerusalem at the Kafrain area in the

northern Jordan valley near the Jordanian

Palestinian border.

Leader of the Muslim Brotherhood Dr.

Hammam who lead the Friday prayers said

in his sermon: "The liberation of the Aqsa

Mosque is getting closer as the people

started to free themselves from the tyrants

[..] A year on the start of the Arab spring

and after the people got rid of the tyrants,

the Muslim ummah looks forward to

liberating Jerusalem and holy places."

“Aqsa today is in our hearts and this rally

in which participants from all over the

world took part demand an end to

occupation and restoration of Palestinian

rights who sacrificed thousands of martyrs

and thousands of captives.”

Thousands of Jordanians travelled to the

place of the demonstration in an area from

which Palestine can be seen at a distance

to rally for Jerusalem and to mark the

Palestinian Land Day. PIC correspondent

in Amman said that hundreds of buses

from all Jordanian districts transported

participants to Kafrain.

Dr. Yahya Halloum, coordinator of the

Global March said that delegates from 80

countries participated in the march.

He also said that today‟s Global March to

Jerusalem laid the foundation for popular

activities in support of Jerusalem and the

Palestinian people in their struggle for

liberation.

Former Jordanian PM, Dr. Ahmad

Obaidat, said in his speech that Jerusalem

is still a steadfast Arab city that gives

inspiration to free people and that stability

in the region cannot be achieved without

its liberation.

The head of the Indian delegation, San

Aghnash, for his part said that the

delegation came from the land of Gandhi

to express the support of the Indian people

for the Palestinian cause, support which he

said goes back in history to the time of

Gandhi who said: France is for the French,

Britain is for the British and Palestine is

for the Palestinians.

Other heads of delegations, such as the

Moroccan delegation, the Indonesian

delegation and Malaysian delegation

delivered messages of support.

Source: PIC


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Hundreds participate in the "Global March to Jerusalem" in London

31/03/2012

Hundreds of people participated in in a

demonstration outside the Israeli embassy

in London as part of the activities of the

"Global March to Jerusalem", which took

place in about 80 cities around the world.

The rally was organised by the Palestinian

Forum in Britain, the Association of the

Palestinian Community in the UK, the

Muslim Association of Britain, Palestine

Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War

Coalition, Islamic Forum of Europe,

British Muslim Initiative, Viva Palestina

and Friends of Al-Aqsa. Many other

organisations supported the demonstration.

Speakers at the rally emphasised the

dangers engulfing Jerusalem in terms of

ethnically cleansing the holy city of its

indigenous population and trying to

obliterate its character. They also talked of

Jerusalem as being central to the

Palestinian cause.

People of different faiths, different

political persuasions and different

ethnicities participated in the

demonstration and called for an end to

occupation of Jerusalem and other

Palestinian lands. Participants chanted

"free, free Palestine”, “from the river to

the sea, Palestine will be free", "1,2,3,4

occupation no more.. 5,6,7,8 Israel is a

terrorist state", "Zionism .. Terrorism".

Participant raised Palestinian flags and

placards supporting Jerusalem and the

Palestinian cause and called for boycotting

Israeli goods as a way of supporting the

Palestinian cause.

About two dozen Zionists, probably

embassy employees, raising large Israeli

flags mounted a counter demonstration for

about an hour. Source: PIC

__________________________________________________________________________________

Activists take part in Global March to al-Quds in Australia

A protest took place on Friday, Mar 30 2012

in Sydney as part of the global day of action in

support of international activists attempting to

enter Jerusalem/Al Quds which remains a

closed city. The Global March to al-Quds is an

international peaceful movement that also

condemns the Israeli occupation of the holy

Palestinian city.

A protest took place in Sydney on Friday in

solidarity with international activists that are

taking part in the Global March to Jerusalem

al-Quds, or GMJ.

The GMJ was organized to coincide with

Palestinian Land Day on March 30. The GMJ

is an international event, bringing activists

from around the globe who will attempt to

peacefully March to Jerusalem al-Quds and

demand that the city becomes an open city and

that the Israeli occupying forces put an end to

what they call the apartheid, ethnic cleansing

and Judaisation policies affecting the people

http://gm2j.com/main/blog/2012/03/30/activists-take-part-in-global-march-to-al-quds-in-australia/


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and land of Jerusalem al-Quds. Same protest

were taking place in cities all around the world

in support of the GMJ.

The protesters marched to one of the Israeli

owned franchise cafes, Max Brenner which

has been the target of the Boycott, Divestment

and Sanctions campaign, or BDS protests

across the country. Max Brenner is 100%

owned by an Israeli company, the Strauss

Group, one of Israel‟s largest food and

beverage companies. The Strauss Group

boasts of the support it gives to the Israeli

army saying it wants to “sweeten their special

moment”, particularly the Golani and Givati

brigades of the Israeli Occupation Forces.

While this content has been removed from the

Strauss Group‟s English website, it can be

found on the Hebrew version of the site.

Both the Sydney and Melbourne branches of

Students for Justice in Palestine say they have

been the targets of a very heavy-handed

approach by the police who arrested 19 people

in Melbourne and 2 in Sydney. According to

organisers, the Victorian police, violently

attacked a Max Brenner protest on July 1,

2011, and arrested 19 people, known as the

Boycott Israel 19, in what was one of the

largest political arrests in a decade.

Protesters say they were also the targets of

slander in the mainstream press. A media

inquiry by the Australian Press Council in

November last year, found that articles

published in the Australian newspaper relating

to boycott Israel protests, were in breach of the

council‟s standards of practice. A number of

articles published for the paper portrayed the

BDS campaign as anti-Semitic which angered

BDS activists who say it was as an inaccurate

portrayal of their campaign which they say is

aimed at pressuring Israel to comply with

international law and end its human rights

abuses. Politicians and other high profile

people in Australia have also publicly

condemned the protests and likened the

protesters to Nazis, some of them even

organised „sit-ins‟ at the cafe together, to show

their opposition to the protests. Organisers say

they will not be intimidated by the neither the

police brutality nor the slander from the press

and politicians and say they will not be

silenced in their opposition to Israel‟s crimes.

Protesters expressed the need to maintain the

BDS campaign in Australia saying that like the

boycott of South Africa, the campaign is an

important tool to pressure Israel to comply

with international law and end its war crimes

against the Palestinian people. They say

boycotts become necessary when governments

like Australia do nothing to stop Israel‟s

crimes adding that BDS is about ordinary

people exercising the power that is theirs.

Source: Press TV


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Palestinian youth killed and dozens, including journalist injured in Gaza

31/03/2012

A young Palestinian man was killed on Friday

afternoon after participating in the Global

March to Jerusalem at the Gaza borders near

the Beith Hanoun crossing into 1948 occupied

Palestine.

Dozens of Palestinian young men managed to

draw close to the border fence at the Beit

Hanoun border crossing in the north and

Kissufim military post in the south and threw

stones at IOF soldiers stationed at the two

positions. The IOF troops responded by firing

live bullets.

Adham Abu Selmeyyah, spokesman for

Emergency Services, said that Mahmoud

Zakout, 20 years, was killed by IOF fire at the

Beit Hanoun crossing in the northern Gaza

Strip.

He added that the number of wounded people

rose to 37, mostly from the northern Gaza

Strip.

Eyewitnesses also said that amongst the

wounded is journalist Yousef Hammad, who

works as a correspondent for al-Watan local

radio station, And who was wounded in his

foot as he covered the events at Beit Hanoun

crossing.

__________________________________________________________________________________

150 Palestinians injured in protests in occupied Jerusalem

31/03/2012

Protests to mark Land Day and express

support for Jerusalem took place in occupied

Jerusalem and around on Friday after the

Friday prayers.

The IOF tried to supress the central

demonstration in Jerusalem injuring 23

participants and arrested 45 young men who

were not allowed to reach the Aqsa Mosque to

attend the Friday prayers. Eighteen of those

injured were taken to Jerusalem hospitals, 6 of

them to Makased hospital.

Amongst those injured was MP Hatem Abdel-

Qader the Jerusalem minister in Salam

Fayyad's government.

The IOF troops interrupted the speech of the

Palestinian governor of Jerusalem, Adnan al-

Husaini, and moved in to disperse the

protestors outside Bab al-Amoud near the

walls of the old city were demonstrators


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gathered. 11 of the participants were arrested

using IOF soldiers disguised as Palestinians

who mingled with the crowd.

Clashes with the IOF broke out in Tur and

Wadi al-Jouz suburbs of Jerusalem were youth

belted IOF soldiers with stones and empty

bottles. In Silwan and Shafat refugee camp the

IOF was present in force but it did not stop

youth from throwing stones at IOF soldiers

and settlers.

At the Qalandia roadblock to the north of

Jerusalem which West Bank Palestinians are

not allowed to cross into Jerusalem, IOF

troops dispersed protestors by firing teargas

and rubber-coated bullets injuring 120

Palestinians, 23 of them were taken to

hospitals in Ramallah. The IOF also arrested

17 participants in the march.

The IOF had declared a 24 hour closure of the

West Bank and declared a state of alert

amongst its armed forces to deal with the Land

Day protests.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Commentary

Jerusalem globalises Palestine Land Day

By: MEMO

Palestinians have observed Land Day on 30

March every year since 1976. It was then that

Palestinians in Israel organised a general strike

to protest against the seizure of their land by

the state. The Israeli government responded

with characteristic colonial brutality,

unleashing military force against peaceful

demonstrators; six Palestinian youths were

killed by the Israelis that day, and scores more

were wounded. This year, because of Israel's

escalated assault on occupied Jerusalem and

its inhabitants, Land Day 2012 is a global

event of enormous significance.

The organisers of the Global March to

Jerusalem could not have chosen a better date

on which to highlight the troubles of the Holy

City. Two million people are expected to take

to the streets in 30 countries to send a message

to the Israeli establishment; that its illegal

occupation of Jerusalem has gone on too long

and its twin policies of ethnic cleansing and

Judaisation must end.

Since its inception, Land Day has united

Palestinians of all faiths and political

persuasions across historic Palestine and in

every corner of the world. When the final

chapter of Palestinian history is written, 30

March will, inevitably, occupy a distinguished

position. Without minimising the importance

of other landmark events, this day symbolises

more than any other the true nature of the

conflict in Palestine, which resolves around

the fact that Palestine was never "a land

without a people", as Israel's founding myths

insist, and its real owners have never

relinquished their sovereign rights to the

ownership of their land.

Israel's objectives are clear: [1] to change the

demographic balance in Palestine in favour of

Jews; [2] to provide land for illegal Jewish

settlers and investors; and [3] to procure a

cheap source of labour for Jewish-owned

businesses. Nevertheless, more than 100 years

since their first encounter with Zionist

colonialism, Palestinians remain rooted in

their land. From the Galilee in the north to Bir

Saba'a in the south, and to Jerusalem in the


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centre, their aim is one and the same: to

overcome the scourge of Israeli policies such

as home demolitions, land grabbing and

indefinite incarceration.

Six decades after the creation of the Zionist

state of Israel, scores of Arab villages remain

classified as "unrecognised", the legal device

used to deny them basic services such as

water, electricity, health and education.

Meanwhile, the conquest of the land continues

at an alarming speed in the Galilee and Negev,

often accompanied by the colonisers'

customary tactic of changing place names. The

fact that this process of land-grabbing has

continued for so long is a testimony to the

determination of the Palestinian people, but

this begs a somewhat obvious question: if the

Palestinians in Israel are truly equal citizens of

a democratic state, why does the government

deem it necessary to dispossess them of their

land?

Today, the Israeli government has put in

motion 14 separate proposals to build

settlements on both sides of the 1949

Armistice Line. The undeclared aim is to

prevent any geographic contiguity between

Palestinians villages and towns and thwart the

future demarcation of a border between the

State of Israel and an independent Palestinian

state.

When Land Day comes around next year, a

new reality will be in place on the ground.

Israel will have completed the construction of

its 700 kilometre –long apartheid wall across

the West Bank and around Jerusalem. In 2013

it will be almost ten years since the

International Court of Justice ruled that the

wall is illegal and should be dismantled.

Eighty-five per cent of this hideous structure

runs through the occupied West Bank; leaving

200,000 Palestinians isolated from the West

Bank and marooned between the wall to the

east and the Armistice Line to the west.

Land Day 2012 is thus extremely significant.

The tragedy of Jerusalem has transformed it

into a global event. Far from being an occasion

of localised civil protest, Land Day has

become the focus of a global campaign to save

Jerusalem from the ravages of Judaisation. The

Holy City is not the unique preserve of the

Palestinians; it is the collective heritage of all

mankind. Israel ignores this and its relentless

campaign to change the city's religious and

demographic character has gone too far. This

is why people across the world have decided

to stand up and march today.

Israel's deluded leaders prefer the reductionist

approach to Jerusalem; they want to confine it

to elusive "final status negotiations" between

themselves and the PLO, while they continue

to do their worst. Jerusalem's stakeholders,

however, belong to much more than the PLO

or its dominant faction, Fatah; they belong to

humankind. This is why the Global March to

Jerusalem marks a major step in the right

direction in seeking to return Jerusalem to its

natural and rightful position in the consciences

of people who love justice and believe in the

rule of law, wherever they may live.

This year's Land Day marks the beginning of a

new era; the era of silence is over. People

around the world have woken up to the mortal

dangers confronting Jerusalem; their own

historic and religious connection to the city is

threatened. The Global March will not end the

occupation, that's for sure, but it will certainly

raise the awareness of the threats to Jerusalem.

Israel's ethnic cleaning and military conquest

of the Palestinians has created awareness

instead of confusion, resolve instead of apathy

and hope instead of despair. Everything points

to the fact that neither the Palestinians nor the

free people of the world will ever surrender

their rights to and in Jerusalem. No injustice

lasts forever, and Israel's occupation and

desecration of the Holy City of Jerusalem is

not and must not be an exception to that basic

rule of humanity.


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Photos Tour

Global March to Jerusalem (30th March 2012)

Documents

Issue no 15