On April 16, the international Cartoons on the Bay animation festival will kick off in Venice, Italy. The festival and will be awarding Israel the Pulcinella Award 2015 as a tribute to the country’s ability to produce “interesting, original and innovative” animated cartoons despite its “delicate geopolitical context.” In an open letter to festival organizers, BDS Italy asked what criteria was used to select Israel as “guest country” to a festival of animation for children “when it has shown that it has absolutely no regard or respect for Palestinian youth and children?”

A storm erupted on Rand Paul’s announcement day for the presidential nomination when Chris Matthews decried the neocon opposition to Paul, “piggish money” that is against him because he’s against another Middle East war.

Ahmad Jaradat writes for the AIC: “The southern West Bank city of Hebron is under what local Palestinians are calling a siege to enable tens of thousands of Israelis to celebrate the holiday of Passover this week by invading the city. “

“We stand united in our commitment to see the liberation of all oppressed peoples around the world.” These words highlight the statement, released last week, of the 2014 African Heritage Delegation to Palestine/Israel. Kamilah Moore writes: “As a member of the delegation, this commitment carries me forward in my work in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Palestinian civil society activists have heralded the decision by French corporate giant Veolia to sell off nearly all of its business activity in Israel as a huge victory for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The sale follows a worldwide campaign against the company’s role in illegal Israeli settlements that cost the firm billions of dollars of lost contracts.

Jewish orgs need to be liberated from the power of conservative donors’ money over their political positions. Eric Fingerhut of Hillel boycotted J Street because “millions of dollars” were on the line, an anonymous Hillel director says.

Israeli settlers, on Saturday, opened pepper spray on 11-year-old Qamar Qafisha, from Hebron, on Shuhada street in the city.

Netanyahu put out Islamophobic ideas on US TV yesterday, calling Iran a “militant Islamic power bent on world domination” and given to “congenital cheating.” Does Iran get the ability to rebut these claims?

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Asked about Alan Dershowitz’s recent troubles, Norman Finkelstein cracked, It’s caused me to doubt my atheism.