The Electronic Intifada 4 June 2012
In May 2012, Palestinian political prisoners ended a historic 28-day mass hunger strike that began on 17 April — Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. Demonstrations in support of the hunger strike took place throughout historic Palestine. Several political prisoners maintained their hunger strike after the agreement was struck with Israeli prison authorities; Mahmoud Sarsak and Akram Rikhawi have been on hunger strike for 79 and 60 days, respectively.
The annual Nakba commemorations, which mark the ethnic cleansing of Palestine with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, take place each May. Israeli authorities responded to annual Nakba commemorations and counter-demonstrations to nationalist Israeli celebrations with violence. May 2012 also witnessed a wave of attacks on African refugees and asylum-seekers; a right-wing rally in Tel Aviv on 23 May turned into a violent anti-African pogrom incited by members of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.
A woman in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah mourns prior to the funeral of 91 Palestinians whose remains were returned by Israel, 31 May.
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Palestinians carry an injured man during clashes between Israeli settlers from the Jewish settlement of Yitzhar and Palestinians from the village of Asira al-Qibiliya, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, 19 May.
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Israeli police detain a Palestinian man in the Issawiya neighborhood of East Jerusalem during clashes on Nakba Day, the annual commemoration of the forced dispossession of Palestine, 15 May.
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Israeli police confront demonstrators protesting Jerusalem Day, which marks Israel’s capture of the eastern part of the city during the 1967 War, 20 May.
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An Israeli border policeman chases a Palestinian boy during a violent dispersal of a peaceful vigil organized by Palestinian and Israeli activists near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, 20 May. The demonstrators were protesting against the ultra-nationalist March of the Flags, the culimination of Jerusalem Day, on which Israelis celebrate the conquest of East Jerusalem during the 1967 War.
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Israeli border police use pepper spray against Palestinians demonstrating in solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian political prisoners outside Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah, 1 May.
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Eritrean refugees clean their damaged shop after it was attacked by a mob following a protest against African refugees and asylum-seekers in Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, 23 May. The shop, opened two months prior, was destroyed and looted without any police intervention.
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Palestinians in Gaza closely follow the news on the second day of Egyptian presidential elections, 24 May.
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Palestinian medics receive a man wounded during Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip which which injured seven persons, two critically, 17 May.
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Farmers harvest wheat in Khirbet Um al-Kheir near the West Bank city of Hebron, with the Jewish settlement of Karmel in the background, 20 May.
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Farmers from Tuqu village near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank attempt to work their lands for the first time in five years, 25 May. As soon as farmers along with activists arrived to their lands, Israeli settlers, army and police attempted to stop their work. Two hours later, the Israeli army presented a closed military zone order and forced Palestinians to leave the area.
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Samouni family children protest after the Israeli military cleared itself of wrongdoing following an investigation into the shelling of a home in the Zaytoun neighborhood south of Gaza City, killing 21 members of the Samouni family and injuring 19, during the 2008-09 attacks on Gaza.
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Women confront appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at a solidarity tent erected in support of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank city of Nablus, 6 May.
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A Palestinian woman attends a rally in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners during the mass hunger strike, 7 May.
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Jaffa resident Hafez Qundos is greeted upon his release from prison, 14 May. Qundos was one of the longest-serving Palestinian political prisoners, arrested on 15 May 1984 and sentenced to 28 years on charges of membership to the Fatah party.
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Relatives of Palestinian political prisoners celebrate in Gaza City after a deal was reached between hunger striking prisoners and Israeli prison authorities, 14 May.
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Hundreds of workers demonstrate in front of the offices of appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of Ramallah, calling for minimum wage and jobs and an end to corruption, 20 May.
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Workers call on the Palestinian Authority to improve labor conditions and create jobs during a protest in the West Bank city of Nablus on 1 May, International Workers’ Day.
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Palestinian writer Salameh Kaileh follows news from Syria on TV at his house in Amman, 17 May. Kaileh, 57, who holds a Jordanian passport, told AFP that the Syrian authorities had deported him to Jordan after three weeks of detention and torture over his anti-regime writings.
AFP Photo
Israeli soldiers destroy a cow shed in the West Bank city of Hebron, 1 May.
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A boy in the West Bank village of Beit Ommar rests after his father was arrested during a weekly protest against the Israeli occupation, 11 May. Two of the boy’s older brothers are already in Israeli prison; dozens of residents from the village have been arrested as Israel attempts to repress the village’s resistance against the wall and settlements.
Palestinian girls participate in a weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, 18 May.
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A newly-painted mural in Gaza City commemorates the 64th anniversary of the Nakba, what Palestinians call the forced dispossession of historic Palestine.
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Palestinians in Gaza City mark the Nakba by carrying a 300-meter-long flag, 15 May.
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Palestinian children take part in a rally in Gaza City commemorating the Nakba, 9 May 2012.
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The Samaritan community mark Passover in a traditional ritual in Mount Gerizim near the West Bank city of Nablus, 4 May.
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A beekeeper inspects hives near Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, 8 May.
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Farmers harvest watermelons near Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, 21 May.
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Children play in Rafah refugee camp near Gaza’s border with Egypt, 19 May.
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A baker prepares the famous knafe sweet, a local specialty, in the West Bank city of Nablus, 24 May.
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Youths enjoy the beach at a newly-opened resort in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, 12 May.
APA imagesThe Electronic Intifada welcomes photographic contributions from readers. If you have high-quality images for consideration for the next edition of the Month in Photos, email info A T electronicintifada D O T net.
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