Israel’s interest continues to dominate Iran discussion: Washington Senator Patty Murray mentioned Israel more often than the United States in her statement supporting the Iran deal, while J Street’s petition backing Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s support for the deal only mentions Israel.
Mahmoud Abbas, the 80-year old chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) whose rule over the post-Oslo post-Intifada years has come under increasing criticism for stalemate in ending Israel’s occupation, and a glaring lack of elections for more than ten years, will resign next month. Yet the move may be a gambit, aimed at reshuffling top positions in his government so as to oust his chief rivals.
Mamilla cemetery does not exist anymore. What exists now is a hotel, a school, a parking lot, a public garden, a nightclub and the US consulate. Also a museum to celebrate tolerance. But the meaning of tolerance in West Jerusalem, a few steps away from the Old City, is surreal. To build the story of a new Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities are erasing its past. Mamilla cemetery is a prominent cornerstone of the Arab, Islamic and Palestinian identity of the city. And thanks to Israel, today it’s a forgotten place.
Bruce Shipman lost his chaplaincy at Yale a year ago after saying that Israel’s actions in Gaza fostered anti-Semitism worldwide. Since then several Jews have made the same connection, without damage to their careers
Nearly 1,200 Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers were released from Israel’s Holot detention center on Tuesday and Wednesday after the High Court ruled that asylum seekers could not be held for more than one year. Interior Minister Silvan Shalom barred the released asylum seekers from living or working in Tel Aviv and Eilat where their communities are based, effectively leaving them without a place to sleep and slim chances of earning income. Though the Ministry of Interior offered no explanation for the decision, it is the latest move to make life intolerable in order to coerce African refugees to leave Israel.
Federal law bars aid to countries trafficking in technology outside the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Shouldn’t this bar US aid to Israel? The federal government has a gag order on such information, even as media pressure builds to discuss Israeli nukes
Ma’an and MEMO report: The healthcare system in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of collapse, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said Monday, warning that hospitals could stop operating within hours due to the territory’s energy crisis. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the ministry, said that “Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan hospital, the European Gaza Hospital, and Rantisi Hospital could stop offering services because they are about to run out of fuel.” The Ministry holds the national unity government accountable for any harm that may befall their patients due to “the government’s lack of responsibility.”
PACBI is convinced that the pressure campaign waged by human rights activists in Spain to cancel this bigoted artist’s performance at this progressive festival is a well justified “common sense” boycott campaign, even though it falls outside the realm of the BDS institutional boycott guidelines.
Robert Ross reports from a recent trip to Gaza: “Indeed, despite 12 months of relative peace, Gazans are still enduring the aftermath of three Israeli wars in the past six years, an ongoing Israeli and Egyptian imposed blockade, a crippled economy, and internal political strife. “Everyone here—100 percent of the people—are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,” Hamza said. Just moments earlier, he and his brother instinctively ducked their heads upon hearing a nearby firework explode. This sentiment was echoed numerous times by the doctors, public health officials, journalists, artists, and aid workers I spoke with throughout my visit to Gaza.”
Israeli writer Etgar Keret’s new memoir, The Seven Good Years, has been almost universally lauded in the U.S. Claire Paddock finds it to be a justification of Jewish privilege and state violence with a self-indulgent manner, reminiscent of the French aristocracy before the deluge