6 aug 2019
A new Palestinian-developed mobile driving app helps Palestinian drivers uncover routes to towns and villages and avoid new checkpoints in the West Bank, services that the mainstream providers like Google Maps and Waze often fail to offer in an occupied region scattered with the regime’s settlements and military bases.
Launched in June, the app, called Doroob Navigator, is the brainchild of 39-year-old Mohammad Abdel Haleem, the CEO of Doroob Technologies, which is funded by Ramallah-based software firm Ideal, also controlled by Abdel Haleem.
“We had to design our maps completely from scratch. The wall, checkpoints, settlements … existing mapping software could never account for the complexity here,” said Abdel Haleem.
The app has garnered 22,000 users in just two months, and according to its developer, it might be monetized in the future in part via a delivery feature.
As with mainstream platforms like Waze and Google Maps, Doroob Navigator allows users to report traffic trouble, but its advantage over the two commonly-used apps is that it also enables users to include pop-up Israeli police and military checkpoints or road closures.
With this enormously helpful feature, Doroob Navigator creates a more precise picture of the traffic reality for Palestinian drivers.
The newly-developed app combines reports from its users with manual inputs by its engineering staff in an attempt to help drivers avoid crippling checkpoint traffic and circumvent Israeli settlements.
Some three million Palestinians live in the West Bank along with some 450,000 Israeli settlers, who can generally drive in the region without major restriction using the so-called “bypass roads” built to avoid Palestinian towns. Most Palestinians cannot enter and drive through Israeli settlements.
“Other apps might say the only way to drive between certain Palestinian cities is to cut through a settlement,” Abdel Haleem said, adding, “We’re trying to change that.”
He said the app is also available in the besieged Gaza Strip, though most active users are in the occupied West Bank.
“We need applications like this that help us move within Palestine,” said Nicolas Harami, 31, who uses the app while driving from his home in East Jerusalem to Ramallah and other West Bank cities. “Other applications do not understand our situation,” he added.
About 600,000 Israeli settlers live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian lands.
Settlements are illegal under international law and are a stumbling block to the resolution of the Palestine issue.
Launched in June, the app, called Doroob Navigator, is the brainchild of 39-year-old Mohammad Abdel Haleem, the CEO of Doroob Technologies, which is funded by Ramallah-based software firm Ideal, also controlled by Abdel Haleem.
“We had to design our maps completely from scratch. The wall, checkpoints, settlements … existing mapping software could never account for the complexity here,” said Abdel Haleem.
The app has garnered 22,000 users in just two months, and according to its developer, it might be monetized in the future in part via a delivery feature.
As with mainstream platforms like Waze and Google Maps, Doroob Navigator allows users to report traffic trouble, but its advantage over the two commonly-used apps is that it also enables users to include pop-up Israeli police and military checkpoints or road closures.
With this enormously helpful feature, Doroob Navigator creates a more precise picture of the traffic reality for Palestinian drivers.
The newly-developed app combines reports from its users with manual inputs by its engineering staff in an attempt to help drivers avoid crippling checkpoint traffic and circumvent Israeli settlements.
Some three million Palestinians live in the West Bank along with some 450,000 Israeli settlers, who can generally drive in the region without major restriction using the so-called “bypass roads” built to avoid Palestinian towns. Most Palestinians cannot enter and drive through Israeli settlements.
“Other apps might say the only way to drive between certain Palestinian cities is to cut through a settlement,” Abdel Haleem said, adding, “We’re trying to change that.”
He said the app is also available in the besieged Gaza Strip, though most active users are in the occupied West Bank.
“We need applications like this that help us move within Palestine,” said Nicolas Harami, 31, who uses the app while driving from his home in East Jerusalem to Ramallah and other West Bank cities. “Other applications do not understand our situation,” he added.
About 600,000 Israeli settlers live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian lands.
Settlements are illegal under international law and are a stumbling block to the resolution of the Palestine issue.
5 aug 2019
Israel boasted that it prevented these boots from being smuggled into Gaza for “terrorist purposes.”
Most of the tweets posted by COGAT, the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation, are frankly ridiculous.
Their Twitter posts attempt to portray Israeli soldiers controlling the movement of millions of Palestinians as benevolent humanitarians providing accommodation to travelers: all tweets
A video recently tweeted by COGAT features a soldier belonging to the Druze religious minority describing the segregated H2 area of Hebron, site of the infamous Ibrahimi mosque massacre, as a bastion of coexistence:
Most of COGAT’s bland English-language tweets disappear into the Internet ether, lacking resonance, sophistication and quality. Crude propaganda and outright threats undermine the humanitarian image the military body is trying to project.
Wave of mockery
But last week, two of COGAT’s tweets unleashed a wave of mockery.
One of the tweets features a photo of a man holding three lace-up hiking boots. COGAT states that the shoes “were hidden in a shipment of civilian goods, in an attempt to smuggle them into Gaza for terrorist purposes”:
The other tweet shows the shoes on the ground in front of boxes and a shipping palette.
“This is another miserable and failed attempt by terrorist groups in Gaza to hide behind the civilian population, without taking into account how it endangers the economy and trade,” COGAT states.
“The more these attempts continue, the more security and stability are compromised.”
The tweets received dozens of likes and retweets, but some 1,300 replies – they were thoroughly ratioed:
Even those sympathetic to Israel’s rationale for preventing the import of a litany of goods into Gaza found it hard to swallow:
Some Twitter users noted that the boots appeared to be sized for youths:
Some responses riffed on the idea that sturdy boots could undermine security and stability:
Others joked that a fashion crime was thwarted by one of the world’s most powerful militaries:
COGAT and other Israeli military authorities lack any sense of irony or self-awareness.
Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid. Weaponry made in the US, including bunker-buster bombs made by Boeing, based in Chicago, has killed civilians in Gaza.
Palestinians have no state and no army. Israel possesses nuclear weapons but wants people to believe that hiking shoes pose a threat to its security.
Unless those boots are outfitted with spyware to be used against Palestinians.
Earlier this year, Palestinian factions in Gaza accused Israel of embedding tracking devices in shoes imported into Gaza.
One response to COGAT noted that the same army that confiscates shoes allows soldiers to shoot at the legs of unarmed protesters in Gaza, inflicting injuries requiring amputation:
But as many noted – this writer included – COGAT’s propaganda fail demonstrates the profound control it has over the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation:
Israel’s import restrictions – imposed on both the West Bank and Gaza, but the latter more severely – have been disastrous for the Palestinian economy.
“Dual-use” restrictions
Israel’s long list of “dual-use” items – goods that may have military purposes – goes far beyond guidelines established in international treaties.
For Gaza, it includes communications and medical equipment, as well as spare parts, preventing Palestinian manufacturers from repairing and maintaining assembly lines.
The dual-use list is also arbitrary. A good successfully imported by a trader one month may be deemed “dual-use” by Israel later on.
Access to “dual-use” items requires authorization by COGAT, in what the World Bank characterizes as “a long, nontransparent and unpredictable bureaucratic process.”
Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian movement and trade are the primary barriers to economic growth in the West Bank and Gaza.
With 70 percent unemployment among Gazans between the ages of 15 and 29, young people who can are leaving the territory.
Palestinians in Gaza who have protested these conditions have been answered with thousands of Israeli-fired bullets, resulting in more than 200 deaths.
Gaza has seen an increasing number of suicides, as well as higher rates of divorce and abuse of drugs.
There’s an adage about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes:
Most of the tweets posted by COGAT, the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation, are frankly ridiculous.
Their Twitter posts attempt to portray Israeli soldiers controlling the movement of millions of Palestinians as benevolent humanitarians providing accommodation to travelers: all tweets
A video recently tweeted by COGAT features a soldier belonging to the Druze religious minority describing the segregated H2 area of Hebron, site of the infamous Ibrahimi mosque massacre, as a bastion of coexistence:
Most of COGAT’s bland English-language tweets disappear into the Internet ether, lacking resonance, sophistication and quality. Crude propaganda and outright threats undermine the humanitarian image the military body is trying to project.
Wave of mockery
But last week, two of COGAT’s tweets unleashed a wave of mockery.
One of the tweets features a photo of a man holding three lace-up hiking boots. COGAT states that the shoes “were hidden in a shipment of civilian goods, in an attempt to smuggle them into Gaza for terrorist purposes”:
The other tweet shows the shoes on the ground in front of boxes and a shipping palette.
“This is another miserable and failed attempt by terrorist groups in Gaza to hide behind the civilian population, without taking into account how it endangers the economy and trade,” COGAT states.
“The more these attempts continue, the more security and stability are compromised.”
The tweets received dozens of likes and retweets, but some 1,300 replies – they were thoroughly ratioed:
Even those sympathetic to Israel’s rationale for preventing the import of a litany of goods into Gaza found it hard to swallow:
Some Twitter users noted that the boots appeared to be sized for youths:
Some responses riffed on the idea that sturdy boots could undermine security and stability:
Others joked that a fashion crime was thwarted by one of the world’s most powerful militaries:
COGAT and other Israeli military authorities lack any sense of irony or self-awareness.
Israel is the largest recipient of US military aid. Weaponry made in the US, including bunker-buster bombs made by Boeing, based in Chicago, has killed civilians in Gaza.
Palestinians have no state and no army. Israel possesses nuclear weapons but wants people to believe that hiking shoes pose a threat to its security.
Unless those boots are outfitted with spyware to be used against Palestinians.
Earlier this year, Palestinian factions in Gaza accused Israel of embedding tracking devices in shoes imported into Gaza.
One response to COGAT noted that the same army that confiscates shoes allows soldiers to shoot at the legs of unarmed protesters in Gaza, inflicting injuries requiring amputation:
But as many noted – this writer included – COGAT’s propaganda fail demonstrates the profound control it has over the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation:
Israel’s import restrictions – imposed on both the West Bank and Gaza, but the latter more severely – have been disastrous for the Palestinian economy.
“Dual-use” restrictions
Israel’s long list of “dual-use” items – goods that may have military purposes – goes far beyond guidelines established in international treaties.
For Gaza, it includes communications and medical equipment, as well as spare parts, preventing Palestinian manufacturers from repairing and maintaining assembly lines.
The dual-use list is also arbitrary. A good successfully imported by a trader one month may be deemed “dual-use” by Israel later on.
Access to “dual-use” items requires authorization by COGAT, in what the World Bank characterizes as “a long, nontransparent and unpredictable bureaucratic process.”
Israel’s restrictions on Palestinian movement and trade are the primary barriers to economic growth in the West Bank and Gaza.
With 70 percent unemployment among Gazans between the ages of 15 and 29, young people who can are leaving the territory.
Palestinians in Gaza who have protested these conditions have been answered with thousands of Israeli-fired bullets, resulting in more than 200 deaths.
Gaza has seen an increasing number of suicides, as well as higher rates of divorce and abuse of drugs.
There’s an adage about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes:
Israeli forces installed a metal gate at the entrance connecting the town of Jabaa’, to the southwest of Bethlehem, and the town of Surif, to the north of Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank, said security sources.
Sources told WAFA correspondence that Israeli forces removed the earth mounds that had been closing the entrance for years and installed a metal gate there, further restricting movement, in violation of international law.
Sources told WAFA correspondence that Israeli forces removed the earth mounds that had been closing the entrance for years and installed a metal gate there, further restricting movement, in violation of international law.
1 aug 2019
A right-wing Israeli NGO filed, on Wednesday, a petition to have US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar barred from entering Israel, when she arrives for an upcoming tour, because she supports the international boycott of Israel (BDS).
The organization, Shurat HaDin, asked the Israeli Jerusalem District Court, on Tuesday, to demand that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri exercise his power to deny Omar entry.
Omar expressed, during recent weeks, her desire to visit occupied Palestine, along with Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, stated, according to Al Ray, that Israel will not prevent Omar Tlaib from entering Israel, when they arrive for a planned tour, in August.
Shuran HaDin said that its petition included proof of Omar’s activities supporting the BDS movement, including her sponsorship of a bill to allow the boycotting of Israel, earlier this month.
The NGO also cited a recent tweet by US President Donald Trump, calling on Omar and Tlaib to apologize to Israel, the White House and the American people, due to their “horrible statements.
It is noteworthy that the movement of BDS is quite active in the United States, especially in American universities.
Israel considers any anti- Israeli occupation activity as anti-Semitic, although many American Jews are involved in the activity of the boycott movement, because of their opposition to Israeli policies.
The organization, Shurat HaDin, asked the Israeli Jerusalem District Court, on Tuesday, to demand that Interior Minister Aryeh Deri exercise his power to deny Omar entry.
Omar expressed, during recent weeks, her desire to visit occupied Palestine, along with Palestinian-American Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, stated, according to Al Ray, that Israel will not prevent Omar Tlaib from entering Israel, when they arrive for a planned tour, in August.
Shuran HaDin said that its petition included proof of Omar’s activities supporting the BDS movement, including her sponsorship of a bill to allow the boycotting of Israel, earlier this month.
The NGO also cited a recent tweet by US President Donald Trump, calling on Omar and Tlaib to apologize to Israel, the White House and the American people, due to their “horrible statements.
It is noteworthy that the movement of BDS is quite active in the United States, especially in American universities.
Israel considers any anti- Israeli occupation activity as anti-Semitic, although many American Jews are involved in the activity of the boycott movement, because of their opposition to Israeli policies.
31 july 2019
The Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday closed the main entrances to Azzun town in Qalqilya and kidnaped a Palestinian young man at a makeshift checkpoint.
According to local sources, the IOF closed the northern and western entrances to the town with road barriers, leading to heavy build-ups of traffic.
Meanwhile, the IOF kidnaped a young man identified as Anas Maskawi at a makeshift checkpoint near Qalqilya city.
According to local sources, the IOF closed the northern and western entrances to the town with road barriers, leading to heavy build-ups of traffic.
Meanwhile, the IOF kidnaped a young man identified as Anas Maskawi at a makeshift checkpoint near Qalqilya city.
30 july 2019
The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza has warned of dangers threatening the lives of many patients suffering from thalassemia and hemophilia due to the severe shortage of medicines used to treat their conditions.
In a news conference held at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, health official Hani Ayyash, a hematologist, appealed to all concerned parties and those interested in helping Gaza to intervene and provide such patients with the medicines they need to survive.
Ayyash affirmed that the lack of medications for patients with such blood disorders would make them suffer serious health complications that would lead them to death.
In a news conference held at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, health official Hani Ayyash, a hematologist, appealed to all concerned parties and those interested in helping Gaza to intervene and provide such patients with the medicines they need to survive.
Ayyash affirmed that the lack of medications for patients with such blood disorders would make them suffer serious health complications that would lead them to death.
29 july 2019
Movement interrupted as Israeli army closes gate on West Bank road connecting villages with Ramallah
Movement of thousands of Palestinian residents living in villages west of Ramallah was interrupted today when the Israeli army closed a metal gates placed on a main road connecting these villages with the city of Ramallah, said local sources.
They said that they were surprised to see that the metal gate the Israeli army had set up in March near the villages of Deir Ibzi and Kufr Nimeh was closed when they reached it and therefore were forced to turn around and look for alternate and very long routes to reach area villages, towns and the city of Ramallah.
No reason was given for closing the gate, said the residents.
In a similar act, the Israeli army set up road blocks at the entrance to the village of Hizma, southeast of Ramallah, and interrupted movement of residents in and out of the village, said sources.
Soldiers inspected identity papers of commuters, some of whom had to take dirt roads to get in and out of the village.
They said that they were surprised to see that the metal gate the Israeli army had set up in March near the villages of Deir Ibzi and Kufr Nimeh was closed when they reached it and therefore were forced to turn around and look for alternate and very long routes to reach area villages, towns and the city of Ramallah.
No reason was given for closing the gate, said the residents.
In a similar act, the Israeli army set up road blocks at the entrance to the village of Hizma, southeast of Ramallah, and interrupted movement of residents in and out of the village, said sources.
Soldiers inspected identity papers of commuters, some of whom had to take dirt roads to get in and out of the village.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday blocked the Jayyous-Nabi Ilyas road in the east of Qalqilya, north of the West Bank, obstructing the movement of local residents.
According to local sources, Israeli forces blocked off the road with mounds of dirt and rocks, which prevented Palestinian residents from using it. The road connects the towns of Jayyous and Nabi Ilyas with each other.
The local resident uses this road to reach nearby areas because of the repeated Israeli closure of the main road that leads to Azzun town and Qalqilya city.
According to local sources, Israeli forces blocked off the road with mounds of dirt and rocks, which prevented Palestinian residents from using it. The road connects the towns of Jayyous and Nabi Ilyas with each other.
The local resident uses this road to reach nearby areas because of the repeated Israeli closure of the main road that leads to Azzun town and Qalqilya city.
26 july 2019
The first group of Palestinian pilgrims from the Gaza Strip left the Cairo International Airport today, en route to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage of Hajj.
Diab al-Louh, Palestine’s ambassador to Egypt, said that these 795 pilgrims, who left Gaza yesterday, are the first in nine groups comprising 2,900 pilgrims, in total, heading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
He further stated, according to WAFA, that 11 international flights from Cairo, during the coming four days, are allocated for the next batches of Gaza pilgrims leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Video update 29 july: We spent 14 hours on the Saudi border without moving the buses
Diab al-Louh, Palestine’s ambassador to Egypt, said that these 795 pilgrims, who left Gaza yesterday, are the first in nine groups comprising 2,900 pilgrims, in total, heading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
He further stated, according to WAFA, that 11 international flights from Cairo, during the coming four days, are allocated for the next batches of Gaza pilgrims leaving for Saudi Arabia.
Video update 29 july: We spent 14 hours on the Saudi border without moving the buses
17 july 2019
The Palestinian health ministry has said that the hospitals in the Gaza Strip suffer from an acute shortage of medicines and essential medical consumables, describing it as “the most difficult crisis during the years of the Israeli blockade.”
Spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra stated on Tuesday that the ministry’s annual needs of medical supplies are worth $40 million, but it received during the first half of the current year only a $10 million worth of medicines and medical consumables from different parties.
Qudra added that the failure to meet the needs of patients deprived 50 percent of them of receiving medical treatment.
He urged the concerned parties and donors to urgently provide Gaza with its needs of medical supplies.
Spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra stated on Tuesday that the ministry’s annual needs of medical supplies are worth $40 million, but it received during the first half of the current year only a $10 million worth of medicines and medical consumables from different parties.
Qudra added that the failure to meet the needs of patients deprived 50 percent of them of receiving medical treatment.
He urged the concerned parties and donors to urgently provide Gaza with its needs of medical supplies.
Palestinians lose about 60 million hours of work per year, due to check points and restrictions imposed, by the Israeli occupation, on Palestinian movement between the towns and villages of the West Bank, the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ) reported Monday, according to Al Ray.
ARIJ estimated the loss at about $ 270 million per year, according to the wage of workers per hour, in addition to extra fuel consumption at about 80 million liters per year, estimated at $ 135 million.
The consumption of the vehicle, which runs at a very low speed for long periods (1 – 10 km / h), according to certain calibrations, is about 0.049 liters / minute and 0.035 liters / minute for diesel engines and gasoline, according to the Institute.
The consumption of this amount of fuel leads to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions, by about 196 thousand tons per year.
According to some scientific studies, the consumption of one liter of fuel leads to the emission of 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide.
The study includes monitoring and documenting the movement of Palestinians at 15 major Israeli military checkpoints between the cities of the West Bank and 11 checkpoints which have restricted the movement of Palestinians through Jerusalem and the occupied territories since 1948.
The study used GPS technology to monitor and document the movements at the checkpoints.
He pointed out that 70 GPS tracking devices were installed on Palestinian vehicles (public transport vehicles, buses, commercial transport, in addition to private vehicles). These vehicles were chosen according to their daily route and movement between the Palestinian cities.
Each tracking device monitors the location, time and speed of the vehicle every 10 seconds, which allowed to calculate the time spent by the vehicle at the military checkpoint accurately.
It noted that it collected data from the beginning of January to the end of July 2018, and during this period it collected more than 18 million readings of tracking devices.
The fieldwork team conducted a traffic count at the checkpoints, where all vehicles passing through these checkpoints were registered within one day from 6 am to 6 pm.
It also used the questioner at the checkpoints separating the West Bank cities from Jerusalem and the occupied territories of 1948, in order to know the time spent by the Palestinian worker at these barriers.
It pointed out that a questionnaire was prepared and a random sample (600 questionnaires) were distributed to 11 barriers used by workers.
ARIJ estimated the loss at about $ 270 million per year, according to the wage of workers per hour, in addition to extra fuel consumption at about 80 million liters per year, estimated at $ 135 million.
The consumption of the vehicle, which runs at a very low speed for long periods (1 – 10 km / h), according to certain calibrations, is about 0.049 liters / minute and 0.035 liters / minute for diesel engines and gasoline, according to the Institute.
The consumption of this amount of fuel leads to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions, by about 196 thousand tons per year.
According to some scientific studies, the consumption of one liter of fuel leads to the emission of 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide.
The study includes monitoring and documenting the movement of Palestinians at 15 major Israeli military checkpoints between the cities of the West Bank and 11 checkpoints which have restricted the movement of Palestinians through Jerusalem and the occupied territories since 1948.
The study used GPS technology to monitor and document the movements at the checkpoints.
He pointed out that 70 GPS tracking devices were installed on Palestinian vehicles (public transport vehicles, buses, commercial transport, in addition to private vehicles). These vehicles were chosen according to their daily route and movement between the Palestinian cities.
Each tracking device monitors the location, time and speed of the vehicle every 10 seconds, which allowed to calculate the time spent by the vehicle at the military checkpoint accurately.
It noted that it collected data from the beginning of January to the end of July 2018, and during this period it collected more than 18 million readings of tracking devices.
The fieldwork team conducted a traffic count at the checkpoints, where all vehicles passing through these checkpoints were registered within one day from 6 am to 6 pm.
It also used the questioner at the checkpoints separating the West Bank cities from Jerusalem and the occupied territories of 1948, in order to know the time spent by the Palestinian worker at these barriers.
It pointed out that a questionnaire was prepared and a random sample (600 questionnaires) were distributed to 11 barriers used by workers.
