With the topic of this year’s Israeli election focused heavily on annexation, the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians living in Area C — the more than 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control — are hanging in the balance. Mondoweiss spoke to three Palestinians living in areas of the West Bank– in close proximity to settlements, Area C, and the Jordan Valley — that would likely be the first ones affected if Netanyahu sees his plans through.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming under fire again for anti-Arab comments made by his campaign, this time for a message on his official Facebook page telling voters “Arabs want to annihilate us all – women, children and men.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to install cameras at Israeli voting stations failed on Monday after a parliamentary committee voted down his party’s proposed bill, which rights groups warned was aimed at lowering Palestinian turnout in next week’s elections. Palestinian MK Ayman Odeh took to Twitter on Monday to celebrate the failure, saying “Netanyahu is fighting a battle against Arab society, the judiciary, and the entire democratic space.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he would annex all Israeli settlements, the Jordan Valley, and the northern Dead Sea area of the occupied West Bank if he wins Israel’s general elections next week.
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Israeli government can withhold the bodies of 13 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and use their bodies as bargaining chips in future negotiations with Palestinian political factions. It is estimated that Israel is withholding the bodies of more than 300 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since 1967, as part of a policy that rights groups says violates international law.
In a new report, Amnesty International details how Palestinian members of Knesset face systemic discrimination: “Despite being democratically elected like their Jewish Israeli counterparts, Israeli Arabic MKs are the target of deep-rooted discrimination and undue restrictions that hamstring their ability to speak out in defence of the rights of the Israeli Arabic people,” the report says.
Thousands of Palestinians have been shot while protesting in Gaza’s great March of Return. Médecins Sans Frontières reports that an estimated 1,000 Gazan victims are suffering from “severe infections” from their wounds, with many cases of antibiotic-resistant infections.
Benjamin Netanyahu made an unprecedented visit to the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday, sparking angry reactions from Palestinian leaders and citizens. The visit was the first time a sitting Prime Minister gave an address in the flashpoint city, and it was largely seen as an attempt to appease Netanyahu’s right-wing base ahead of this month’s elections.
US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, along with several Palestinian human rights groups, jumped to the defense of queer Palestinians in the wake of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ban on an LGBTQ group in the occupied West Bank.
In the wake of Israel’s ban on Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, the media has jumped on the supposed ‘radical’ dealings of MIFTAH, the local sponsor for the planned delegation to Palestine. In Palestine, the group maintains a relatively a-political, non-controversial presence with a focus on female empowerment and self-sustainability projects.