On May 17th, 2019 the German Parliament (Bundestag) has passed a resolution against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) condemning it as anti-Semitic. On June 28th, 2019, Palästina Spricht – Palestine Speaks, a coalition for Palestinian rights and against racism based in Berlin, will be protesting against the shameful resolution and against delegitimizing the BDS movement as a Palestinian non-violent, civil based struggle against Israel’s occupation and apartheid.
Palestinians activists are protesting this weekend at storefronts and offices for the German athletic wear manufacturer Puma. The reason? Puma sponsors the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes six teams in settlements in the West Bank.
When J Street advocates for “Israel’s future as a democratic and Jewish homeland,” it is supporting a concept that has been a contradiction-in-terms since Israel’s establishment. Abba Solomon argues that J Street and Bernie Sanders too cannot face the fact that political Zionism means perpetual Jewish domination, or at best custody, of Palestinian lives.
At the end of June the Trump administration will unveil an economic package to bolster its peace plan for the Israelis and Palestinians at a conference in Bahrain. Nur Arafeh writes, “The economic workshop in Bahrain is thus another U.S. attempt to manage the political situation, rather than resolve it, and pacify Palestinians by offering them economic incentives to distract them from political issues.”
South Bend Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg says he would block U.S. taxpayer money from being used for Israel’s potential annexation of the West Bank.
On June 6, five Democratic Senators introduced a resolution denouncing Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign pledge to annex the West Bank. Two of those Senators, Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, are currently running for the Democratic nomination for president.
After US Ambassador David Friedman said Israel has a right to annex parts of the West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it may file a complaint with the International Criminal Court. “What reasoning could justify Friedman’s logic? International law prohibits the annexation of a land by force,” it said.
The New York Times published a splendid article today about young Jews walking off the free ten-day Birthright trips to Israel, rejecting them as propaganda, under the headline, “Birthright Trips, a Rite of Passage for Many Jews, Are Now a Target of Protests.” The article quotes young Jews saying they were fed lies about the occupation by the program, which has sent 700,000 young Jews to Israel.
A House amendment that would have required some individuals who boycott Israel to report as much to the IRS and potentially be penalized for it was narrowly defeated in the House, as 12 Democrats joined in support, including Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, who is running for president.
On May 21st, Amina Salah’s 14-year-old brother Mahmoud was shot by Israeli forces near Bethlehem in the West Bank and imprisoned, where he remains today. Salah writes, “Look at Mahmoud’s face in these pictures, and help to make sure that Mahmoud is soon back again with his family, in his home, where he belongs.”