The Palestine Chronology

Israel makes an air strike on a car in Gaza City, assassinating 3 senior Hamas mbrs. (Muhammad Mahdi al-Dayah, Abdullah Lobbad, and Isma‘il Lobbad) and injuring 1 bystander. Israel claims the Hamas mbrs. were plotting to kidnap Israelis in Israel and Egypt during Passover later in 4/2011; Hamas denies that it operates outside the borders of historic Palestine but says the 3 were senior weapons developers. The DFLP says it will no longer observe a cease-fire toward Israel. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts late-night searches in Qalqilya, summoning 1 Palestinian for questioning. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and Nabi Salih. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, causing no serious injuries; 3 Palestinians (including 2 children) are arrested. Jewish settlers fr. Beit Hadassah settlement in Hebron set fire to the awnings of several Palestinian stores. (NYT 4/2, 4/3; JTA 4/4; PCHR 4/7; OCHA 4/15)

In a Washington Post op-ed online (in print on 4/3), South African judge Richard Goldstone, head of the UN committee that investigated possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during OCL, says that “if I had known then what I know now,” he would have concluded that Gazan “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of [Israeli] policy” and would have given more weight to crimes perpetrated by Hamas. (WP 4/1; IFM, NYT, WP 4/3; NYT 4/6; JTA, NYT, YA 4/7; NYT, 4/20)

Social/Economic/Political

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Bethlehem & Bir Zeit U.s closed in mourning for death of Sharif Taibe (killed 1 1/21). Proceedings of PNC mtg. broadcast in Palestine via Jordanian TV.

Arab World: Chrmn. Arafat convenes 17th PNC with 257 delegates [251 needed for quorum] in Amman, evoking theme of "eternal continuity"; King Hussein gives opening speech urging Palestinian-jordanian initiative for peace talks based on "territory for peace." 41st anniversary of Lebanese Republic.

Military Action

Occupied Palestine/Israel: Israeli soldiers shoot & kill Ramallah demonstrator Bakr Abdullah, wound another during stonethrowing incident there; officers refuse ambulance. Other stone-throwing incidents reported in Nablus & Jelaila camp (Gaza).