The Muslim Student Association @ UConn

By Bessy Reyna, at The Hartford Courant on May 16, 2008

Early this month, I attended a panel dealing with the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It was organized by the group "We Refuse To Be Enemies," composed of Jews, Muslims and Christians. This group's main goal is the promotion of a peaceful and just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In light of Israel's 60th anniversary, and the lack of progress in resolving the conflict, this is an ever more urgent issue.

The crater is two meters in length and 1.5 meters in width. (Al-Aqsa Online Photo)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A landslide at part of Al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade has sounded the alarm over the ongoing Israeli excavations near Islam's third holiest shrine.

Worshippers witnessed a crater at the esplanade as they were en route to the Friday prayer, Al-Aqsa Online reported Saturday, February 16.

The crater is two meters in length and 1.5 meters in width.

"I was cleaning the mosque's esplanade for the Friday prayers," said Ashraf Al-Sharyati, the driver of the mosque's cleaning vehicle.

"Suddenly, some bricks fell down at 10:00 a.m., creating a crater. We covered the big hole with wooden plans for worshippers' safety."

The landslide occurred near Al-Selsela (Chain) Gate and Qatibai Water Fountain at the mosque's western side.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad's Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.

If the Israeli newspaper Haaretz enjoys the freedom to discuss the Israeli terrorism inflicted upon the Palestinian people 60 years ago and to keep the history of 500 Palestinian villages that were destroyed as a result of Israeli terrorism, why is Israel still portrayed by American media as in a state of self-defense?! How many Jewish villages did the Palestinians destroy? None!

JNF to erect signs in parks, citing destroyed Palestinian villages

During the War of Independence in 1948, some 500 Palestinian villages in the young State of Israel were destroyed. Many residents fled their homes out of fear of the Israel Defense Forces and other Jewish elements active in the area; others were actively expelled from their villages. Today, only a few of these destroyed villages are publicly mentioned in connection with their original locations.

New communities have been built on some sites; the ruins of others have been covered over by parks and nature reserves.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C., 01/21/08) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on American Muslims and other people of conscience to urge their elected officials to immediately intervene to put an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

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GENEVA (AFP) - Israel's targeting of a Hamas government office which caused serious casualties at a nearby wedding party was a "war crime" and those responsible should be punished, a United Nations official said Saturday.

The Sunday Morning Herald: THE Israeli Government has told a court that it does not want to reveal the true extent of Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories because the information would damage its image abroad, a local newspaper has reported.

By: Gabriel Kolko, Source: antiwar.com

One of the many quirks of the nineteenth century's intellectual heritage was the great intensification of nationalism and – to quote one expert – the creation of "nation-ness," the consequences of which have varied dramatically all the way from the negligible to the crucial (as in the case of Israel) to war and peace in a vast strategic region. There was, of course, often a basis for various nationalisms to build upon, but the essentially artificial function of forming nations from very little or nothing was common.

Bloodied victims were dragged from the wreckage of the multi-storey structure. (Reuters)

GAZA CITY — At least six Palestinians were killed and scores others injured on Thursday, May 17, in a barrage of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, drawing threats of reprisal inside Israel.

Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a car in the Sufa area, one of the crossing points between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip, killing three people inside, a Palestinian security official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The latest air strike, the fourth, brought to six the number of Palestinian killed by Israel Thursday.

The first raid destroyed a Hamas-run Executive Force compound in the heart of Gaza, killing one Palestinian.

As bloodied victims were dragged from the wreckage of the multi-storey structure, medical officials said at least 45 people, including two women, were wounded.

Shortly after, another strike targeted a car carrying Hamas activists, killing a senior commander.

A house was hit in later strikes also killing on Hamas resistance fighter.

"We are going to hit all those who are implicated in the firings and the production of rockets," Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told the army radio shortly before the air strikes began.

On Wednesday, May 16, Israeli air strikes on Hamas facilities in Gaza killed five people.

Meanwhile, about 15 Israeli tanks advanced into the Gaza Strip Thursday and deployed a battery of 155mm artillery along the strip border.

"Israeli tanks advanced between one and two kilometers inside the Gaza Strip in the area of the former settlement of Dugit," a Palestinian security official said.

By Omar Ahmad, on Wednesday, April 11, 2007. Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Imagine if Iran decided to build a museum on the site of a 1,000-year-old Jewish cemetery, or if the Egyptian government threatened to destroy an ancient Jewish temple. Both scenarios would likely be met with outrage. Members of Congress might make indignant speeches decrying anti-Semitism. They might even threaten to tighten the spigot on aid to Egypt. They would be right to protest such acts.

Yet both offenses against another religion are being committed today -- by Israel. And the outrage is conspicuously missing.