The coverage of the Palestinian issue in the New York Times is getting better, as reflected by the Marwan Barghouti op-ed calling Israel a “moral failure,” and new Jerusalem bureau chief Ian Fisher’s straightforward reports. Yes the Times hired neocon crank Bret Stephens; but the paper of record is in play.

IMEMC reports: “The Israeli court admits that Bassem was killed, and that it was the soldier’s fault. Despite having one officer and three soldiers called for questioning, the court claims that it had done what it could. But the court has said there is nothing it can do, because they allegedly don’t know the name of the soldier who shot Bassem, or even the name of the officer. Court officials told the family’s lawyer that the file of Bassem Abu Rahma was stolen from the court, and that for that reason, they have an incomplete file on the case.”

Tema Okun shares a poem reflecting on her taxi ride leaving the Jewish Voice for Peace conference in Chicago where her Jewish Israeli taxi driver shouted at her that she is not a Jew.

Responding to international concerns with respect to the recently declared massive hunger strike held by Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs declared: “The Palestinian prisoners are not political prisoners. They are convicted terrorists and murderers. They were brought to justice and are treated properly under international law.” Amitai Ben-Abba counts no less than seven lies in this statement.

Palestinian prisoners declared a mass open-ended hunger strike entitled “Freedom and Dignity” on Monday — Palestinian Prisoners day — eliciting an immediate crackdown from Israeli authorities. Prisoners from across the political spectrum have pledged their allegiance to the strike, with some estimates reporting up to 2,000 participants, the largest mass hunger strike undertaken by Palestinian prisoners in recent years. Following the strike’s launch on Monday, Israeli authorities declared that hunger striking prisoners would be barred from family visits for as long as the strike continues.

Marwan Barghouti op-ed in international edition of NYT says Israel’s history of imprisoning 40 percent of Palestinian male population is typical of colonial occupiers. Why wouldn’t the Times publish this op-ed to the audience that matters most, Americans?

Last week Israeli PM Netanyahu announced that Israel would mark the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War in an illegal settlement, an official celebration of 50 years of occupation and human rights violations. The story has so far gotten no attention in the U.S.

Anas Mohammed Jnena, a writer from Gaza with the WeAreNotNumbers campaign wants the world to know Gaza is like any other place in the world and so are its people: “I want the world to know that Palestine has writers, artists, thinkers and, most importantly, lovers. I want to the world to know that we are humans just like you.”

As more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launch a hunger strike on the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners Day, Tamam Abusalama recalls the combined 15 years her father spent as a prisoner. “Being a former prisoner’s daughter has instilled in me an unstoppable determination to break all borders and limits. I struggle against everything that violates my freedom and that of my people.”

According to a recent New York Times op-ed, Israel today is “nothing like” South African apartheid. Yarden Katz, an Israeli, abandoned the warnings about visiting the West Bank and toured a housed in Bethlehem trapped by the wall, and a ghost town in Hebron, “If we only dare look, we see that there’s apartheid and much more.”