The REAL Al-Aqsa Mosque

Many people don't know what Al-Aqsa mosque is because of the media; incorrectly identifying Al-Aqsa mosque with the Dome of the Rock and vice versa. Please do read this, and teach it to your sons and daughters.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Blessed: It must be emphasized that the whole area enclosed by the wall, including both The dome of the Rock and The Qibly prayer hall.

Al-Aqsa mosque is the name for the whole area enclosed by the wall in southeast Old Jerusalem. It houses nearly 200 archaeological buildings, foremost among which are the Dome of the Rock (with the golden dome) at its heart, and Al-Qibly Prayer Hall (with the lead dome) at its southernmost part, nearer to the Qiblah at Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Other buildings include minor prayer halls, domes, mihrabs (=chambers for prayer), schools, corridors, mastabas (=slightly raised grounds constructed for several uses including education), fountains, trees, minbars (=pulpits), gates, wells, libraries, among other buildings, in addition to the open yards enclosed by the wall.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is a semi rectangle of 144 donums (=144,000 square meters); that is about 1/6 of the walled old city of Jerusalem. Its western wall is 491 meters long, its eastern wall is 462m, its northern wall is 310m, and its southern wall is 281m.

*Information was taken from Activists around the world for Palestine (facebook page). You can visit their page here: http://www.facebook.com/activists.palestine*

Myths Debunked about Hamas Rockets

Things you should know about rockets from Gaza:

• They are homemade. No, really. They cost about $800 to make, which makes them incredibly primitive. They do not use any advanced technology and cannot be guided, directed, or controlled. They are largely ineffective and have a very limited range (up to a maximum of 20 km/12.4 mi). See this video from Current TV for a demonstration of how they are made.

• In the past 9 years, about 6,000 homemade Qassam rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel by various groups. Of those, over 90% landed in uninhabited areas, causing no injuries or damage. Seriously. Did I mention these things are really ineffective?

• Israel’s missile/rocket defense system, called the Iron Dome, is set up to intercept rockets/missiles fired into Israel, primarily from Gaza and Lebanon. They don’t stop every projectile that crosses the border—only those that, according to trajectory models calculated by sophisticated computer programs using data from radar, are likely to land in populated areas (or, more specifically, militarily significant areas). If a rocket is projected to land in a populated area, a $40,000, highly sophisticated guided-missile is launched to intercept and destroy said $800 Qassam rocket. If the rocket is projected to land in an uninhabited area, the system does not respond and the rocket completes it path, landing in the middle of nowhere and hurting no one. This means that very few rockets from Gaza ever land in civilian populated areas, and thus rarely cause any lasting damage. (Source)

• Qassam rockets fired from Gaza have resulted in fewer than 25 deaths in the last 9 years, including the most recent rocket attacks. (Note: Qassams do not account for all deaths on the Israeli side. Over the last nine years, another 20-25 were killed by mortar fire, and 2 were killed by anti-tank missiles. See B’Tselem for more). For comparison, the IDF killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians in less than one month during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/2009. More than half of the dead were deemed to have taken no part in the conflict. Another 5,300 Palestinians were wounded in these attacks. More than 3,500 residential dwellings were destroyed and more than 20,000 people were left homeless. And all of this was done over the span of a single month. (For more, read this).

• Groups in Gaza that rely on Qassam rockets do so because they are the only available options. They do not have access to $40,000 guided missiles like the IDF. They use crudely made, ineffective, and unreliable homemade rockets because that is simply all they have access to.

• The fact that Hamas has killed fewer Israelis than the IDF has killed Palestinians does not reflect a moral superiority on the part of Hamas. If they had more effective and deadly weapons, they would use them. The death toll difference is more a reflection of the grave disparity in resources and technology, not a difference of morality. That being said, nothing can justify Israel’s clearly disproportionate response. No matter how you look at it, the IDF is still clearly in violation of both the Geneva Conventions and Just War Theory. They are recklessly targeting civilian populated areas and, as a result, killing civilians. They are relying on extra-judicial executions. They are using unnecessary and disproportionate force. And they are attacking an occupied population. What the IDF is doing could very easily be argued to amount to genocide.

Original source Things you should know about rockets from Gaza

Nakba: That's not fair

The following poem is by a Palestinian poet named Iqbal Tamimi

That's not fair

In 1917
A man by the name of Balfour
From a very far land called Britain
Offered total strangers
Across oceans and shores
My homeland as a gift
He was not the owner of my country
Nor they have the right to be there
That was not fair


He said they were oppressed in Europe
And were treated very bad
We had nothing to do with his claims
He did not offer them part of his country
Yet he gave them everything we had
That was not fair


While the Ottomans were leaving Palestine
The British arrived
We were told the British mandate is there
To make sure peace prevail
But the British turned a blind eye
To the Jewish gangsters horrors
They were offered training and arms
By which they massacred our families
Wiping our villages from all the maps
And those who escaped death
The Zionists terrorised them
Forcing them to flee
That was not fair


The United Nations did not ask us what we think
They claimed the intention is to solve the conflict
They segmented my country on a platter
They gave the owners of the land the breadcrumbs
And gave the occupiers the biggest share
That was not fair


We became refugees
In our own home land
Mine fields, barbed wire and road blocks split us apart
My home became a headquarter
For the Israeli police
Total strangers from as far as Poland and Russia
Occupied our homes
Stolen our water and fruits
And imprisoned those who dared to declare
That they are not going to leave
That was not fair


In 1967
We were enjoying a day out
On the other side of the Jordan River
The Israeli army invaded the West Bank
Occupying our homes again
Rearranging our destiny
We were denied the right to go back
Forced to became second time refugees
Carrying on our shoulders
Our plight and despair
That was not fair


The good USA sent its aid
To both sides across the sea
The Israeli occupiers received
Rockets, tankers, planes and bombs
While the Palestinian refugees’ share
Was tents, biscuits and canned sardines
That was not fair


The secular politicians of the democratic West
Suddenly turned religious
When the Palestinian plight was discussed
They endorsed a racist God
Who says some of his children are chosen
And better than the rest
He gave them permission
To kill, maim and steal from their brothers
And use an iron fist
That was not fair


I am one of five million dispersed
People eye them with disgust
Frequently asked:
“why don’t you go home?”
Well…what can I say?
Your government approved kicking me out of my homeland
And forced you
To share your loaf of bread with me
Your media calls the freedom fighters terrorists
And the racist state a democracy
Turning a blind eye to thousands of Palestinians
Rotting inside Israeli jails
Palestinians in Gaza
Were starved to death
While the apartheid wall
And the illegitimate settlements
Are not challenged by the International Community
We are the legitimate owners of the land
Yet we were forced to shelter
In refugee camps for 63 years
Watching across the borders savages
Uprooting our trees
That is not fair


When Mary is forced
To go through 16 check points
Between Nazerath and Bethlehem
And still gives birth on the side of the road
For fabricated reasons of security
While the soldiers stand and stare
That is not fair


When children at schools
Do not know where Palestine is
Because Google forged the facts
Deleting its name from the maps
That is not fair


When I’m denied access to my home
And forced to move 56 times
Carrying my memories in my head
Knowing that I will never sleep
In my own bed
Or hang family pictures on a wall
That I can call mine
That is not fair


When the number of suitcases
Outnumbers the relatives who remained alive
When the number of true facts circulated
Are much less than those of lies
That is not fair


Here I am in exile alone
Lost everything I had
No family weddings to attend
No feasts to celebrate
My belongings are not that much
A mirror
To watch the grey invade my hair
And shreds of newspapers
Attributing the victims of terror
That is not fair

The Committee on Jerusalem: The occupation forces are carrying out a new type of "Judaization"

The news article (La commissione gerosolimitana: le forze di occupazione stanno portando avanti un nuovo tipo di “ebraicizzazione”) was translated from Italian:

The Committee on Jerusalem: the occupation forces are carrying out a new type of "Judaization"

Al-Quds (occupied Jerusalem) - Pal.info. The Muslim-Christian Committee for the defense of the holy places has warned that the Israeli occupation authorities are developing a new type of "Judaization" in occupied Jerusalem.

The commission, in press, has announced that the Israeli occupation is planning to build a cemetery of six floors, which can hold 35 thousand well-tombs in Jerusalem, adding that the intention part of the plan of "Judaization" of whole area.

The committee felt this decision would be the implementation of a new type of politics "Judaization" of Jerusalem, in addition to those already in place, and providing for the construction of numeroussynagogues and all around them, Jewish settlements.

The committee also highlighted the Israeli intention to build 11 new railroads in the West Bank, to ensure the connections between the various settlements scattered throughout the region.

It is therefore clear design pursued by Tel Aviv, which at first had expropriated thousands of acres of Palestinian land, then build the wall of annexation and settlements that now going to connect with new railroad.

The commission has therefore appealed to Islamic countries and the international community to become aware of such "crimes", also increasing rapidly.

February 2012: 145 Israeli attacks against Palestinian people and property

The news article (Febbraio 2012: 145 attacchi israeliani contro persone e proprietà palestinesi) was translated from Italian:

February 2012: 145 Israeli attacks against Palestinian people and property

Ramallah - InfoPal. A Palestinian report exposes 145 attacks by Israeli (occupation soldiers and settlers) which took place in February.

The attacks are meant to people and Palestinian property and Tala'at Ramiyah mentions the killing of 26 Palestinians and wounded.

The paper shows the extent of demolition and unilateral seizures of land scarred, Judaization of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the attacks on demonstrators and the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

February 2012

54 demolition operations. Half of the building demolitions have invested al-Khalil (Hebron). Nablus followed with 12 demolitions and same amount was recorded in Jerusalem and Toubas (houses and stables). Three wells have been killed by Israelis in al-Khalil (Hebron) and one in Jenin.

88 Notification of demolition, including two against mosques and against a school (Hebron and Jenin).

Specifically, the demolitions have hit Hebron in 24 cases. Here are the 22 events in Jerusalem (Silwan, Sur Baher and Bethany), 17 in Bethlehem, 15 in Jenin, Salfit, and 2 to 8 in Qalqiliya.

The Palestinian land confiscated under these operations covers a total area of ​​4.931 hectares.

Trees uprooted: 1.169. The greatest damage has been made at Sourif and Beit Omar, and Tarmas'ia Mikhmas.



Judaization of Jerusalem.

The Judaization project is conducted without discrimination by institutions, the executive (police and army) and Israeli settlers and intends to disfigure, to destroy the historical-religious Arab Muslim and Christian of Palestine, through demolitions, expulsions, unsustainable tax burden the Palestinian community in Jerusalem.


In this regard, we list here some of the most striking facts dating back to February 2012:

- It covers about 4 thousand square meters an ambitious Israeli project that threatens the mosque of al-Aqsa. Israel plans to build here the Jewish center "Aliya Bet";

- 1.500 square feet will occupy the western side of the door-Mugaribah. On the north side a three-storey building will cover 3.722 square meters, with a plan to build underground excavations;

- The "center of the Past" in Wadi al-Helwe (Silwan) adjacent centers and car parks;

- Tunnels and underground tunnels in the basement of the Old City of Jerusalem.


Reactions to non-violent demonstrations. 

The repression has characterized, once again, the action of Israel against Palestinians and international riuscono a weekly protest against colonization and the Wall of Apartheid. The Palestinian villages of an-Nabi Saleh, Bil'in, Ni'lin, Kfar Qaddoum, Beit Omar, Qalandiya, 'Iraq Bourin and Kfar Deik suffered the injury of 22 demonstrators, five are journalists.


He then mentions the burning of the mosque an-Nabi Saleh (Ramallah) and the mosque Haloul an-Nabi Younes (Hebron).


Israeli settlements in Palestine: the projects. 

Extension and construction have also received approval in February the Israeli government.

- The colony of Shilo (between Ramallah and Nablus) will expand with 500 new housing units;

- The colony of Shevat Rachel (Nablus) will host 101 new housing units;

- Itamar (Nablus) will host a Jewish religious school;

- Settlement of Gush Etzion (Bethlehem). Here confisctaa confiscating Palestinian land to create military areas to protect the settlement;

- The outpost of Migron (Ramallah) extends even;

- 18 new colonial furniture units were placed between Ramallah and Nablus.