Author: KPSC

With no accountability, there is no punishment for Israeli actions; accountability is key and requires that there will be a price to pay.

By Jonathan Ofir | Mondoweiss | June 9, 2020

‘What’s infuriating, is that Palestinians are being chided for not participating in this process, which is akin to a patient who is being forced to undergo, against his will, an amputation, being asked to hold the scalpel while the doctor begins to cut.’
—James Zogby, founder and President of the Arab American Institute

Last Thursday the UN held a video forum on “The Question of Palestine: Threats of Annexation and the Prospects for Peace”, hosted by the UN Palestinian Rights Committee. There were three panelists: Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the PLO Executive Committee and former member of the Palestinian team in the Middle East Peace Process; Yossi Beilin, former Israeli Cabinet Minister and participant in the 1993 Oslo Accord negotiations; and James Zogby, founder and President of the Arab American Institute.

While Ashrawi outlined the injustices against Palestinians, Beilin suggested that Palestinians accept the Trump plan, if only to stall the coming annexation. Zogby, who spoke last, put an “exclamation mark” under Ashrawi’s astute comments, yet had “questions” for Beilin’s pitch. Those questions were more rhetorical and indirect. Zogby’s 10-minute presentation was astounding, crystal clear, cutting through orthodox nonsense and accentuating the colonialist paradigm that all this falls under.

Continue reading “James Zogby: Palestinians are ‘being asked to hold the scalpel’ for their own amputation”

Officials in the West Bank say they are willing to let the Palestinian Authority collapse if Israel applies its sovereignty over occupied territory.

By David M. Halbfinger and Adam Rasgon | The New York Times | June 8, 2020

‘We are pragmatic…We don’t want things to reach a point of no return. Annexation means no return in the relationship with Israel.’
— Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian official in charge of relations with Israel

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority says it will cut the salaries of tens of thousands of its own clerks and police officers. It will slash vital funding to the impoverished Gaza Strip. And it will try any Israeli citizens or Arab residents of Jerusalem arrested on the West Bank in Palestinian courts instead of handing them over to Israel.

Desperate to deter Israel from annexing occupied territory, the Palestinians are taking a number of provocative steps to break off cooperation with Israel and force it to shoulder full responsibility, as a military occupier, for the lives of more than two million Palestinians on the West Bank.

Continue reading “The Palestinian plan to stop annexation: Remind Israel what occupation means”

There is renewed scrutiny over program where thousands of American law enforcement officers have gotten Israeli training which promotes military occupation as a positive model for community policing.

By Philip Weiss | Mondoweiss | June 4, 2020

Thirty Georgia human rights and racial justice organizations last December came out in opposition of a program sponsored by fervent Israel supporters in which state law enforcement agencies send officers to Israel for training.

George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police on May 25 has prompted some to liken American policing methods to Israeli occupation policing, and to point out that many US police officers have gotten training from Israeli officials under the sponsorship of Israel lobby organizations.

For instance, the Morning Star published an article saying that the Minneapolis police force once received training from Israelis. The training was eight years ago and there is no evidence that the officers who killed Floyd got the training.

Continue reading “George Floyd killing highlights issue of US police training in Israel”

A statement from the Palestine Liberation Organization with affirmation to continue to demand and work for justice and accountability because they are the cornerstones of peace.

By Dr. Hanan Ashrawi | The Palestine Liberation Organization | June 5, 2020

The community of nations must choose between the relevance of the international order and the continuation of Israeli exceptionalism.

Fifty-three years ago, Israel usurped control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. This illegal military occupation has defied all legal parameters, with Israel entrenching its colonial control over Palestinian land and rights through a systematic policy of displacement, replacement, and land grab.

For over half a century, Israel has been able to consistently and brazenly defy international law and inalienable Palestinian rights because the international community unduly afforded the occupation exceptional treatment and protection from accountability. Contrary to the legal, political, and moral obligations of states to uphold international law, they persisted in rewarding lawless Israeli behavior while demanding Palestinian acquiescence and docility. The result has been a toxic culture of impunity and the normalization of racial discrimination and brutal oppression.

Continue reading “Accountability and justice are the path to peace”

Many questions arise at the failure of the press to cover the the killing of an unarmed autistic man.

By James North | Mondoweiss | June 2, 2020

Halbfinger’s refusal to say the name of Eyad Al-Halaq even extended to his Twitter feed; not a word.

At a time when headlines are dominated by the protests over the murder of an unarmed black man in the United States, the New York Times is ignoring a similar police killing in Israel. Palestine’s counterpart to George Floyd is Eyad Al-Halaq, the 32-year-old autistic man who Israeli police shot dead on May 30 inside occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City — 3 days ago. His killing is big news in Israel/Palestine, and worldwide. Some of the reports cite the slogan that echoes the nationwide upheaval in America: “Palestinian Lives Matter.”

But the New York Times has not published a single word about him.

Continue reading “Israeli police killing of Eyad Al-Halaq is ignored by the ‘New York Times’”

 

Palestinian activists are drawing parallels between Israel’s slaying of Palestinians and the rampant killings of unarmed black men in the U.S at the hands of the police.

By Yumna Patel | Mondoweiss | May 31, 2020

‘The latest execution-style killing brings, to at least 21, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces in such senseless acts of violence since January,’
— Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian leader and legislator

Palestinians are reeling after Israeli police shot dead an unarmed autistic Palestinian man inside the occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, where Israeli authorities have a history of using racial profiling and excessive force against Palestinians, specifically young men.

Eyad al-Halaq, 32, was on his way to a school for children and adults with disabilities where he was a student when Israeli police ordered him to stop for a search when they spotted a “suspicious object that looked like a pistol.”

Al-Halaq, who according to statements from his family has the “mental age of a six-year-old child,” was reportedly spooked by the police and began rushing away from them.

Continue reading “Killing of unarmed, autistic Palestinian in Jerusalem sparks outrage”

Prayers and resources that can be shared with church members and personal, pilgrim stories from Diocese of Jerusalem leaders that highlight stories from  the Holy Land.

By American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem | May 29, 2020

‘Jerusalem Sunday and the season of Pentecost offer the perfect opportunity to move beyond the headlines and to help Episcopalians across the Church learn more about the lives and ministries of Christians in the Holy Land.’
— Bishop Greg Rickel, AFEDJ Chair and Bishop of the Diocese of Olympia

Each year, on June 22, the Anglican Cycle of Prayer calls for prayers for the Diocese of Jerusalem.

This year American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ) is naming the third Sunday of Pentecost, June 21 – the Sunday closest to the appointed day – as “Jerusalem Sunday” to encourage Episcopalians to remember the Holy Land Christians and the transformative humanitarian ministries they freely offer their neighbors across Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon.

As Christians enter the season of Pentecost, we mark and remember the first Christians who were present when the gift of the Holy Spirit moved among the followers of Jesus.

Continue reading “June 21 is Jerusalem Sunday – remember our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land”

The fight against antisemitism must begin by campaigning against racism and nationalism.

By Sivan Tal | Mondoweiss | May 28, 2020

Because Zionism is seen as the ‘new Judaism,’ opposition to it is labeled the ‘new antisemitism’ – and a new expression was born…

The Likud election campaign for the 23rd Knesset claimed that the Blue and White party aims to form a government supported by the Joint List, and this led Benny Gantz to declare that he “will set up a government with a Jewish majority” that will not depend on Arab parties. Yair Lapid continued in a similar vein, arguing that “we are just a few mandates away from forming a coalition of a Jewish majority.” The term “a Jewish majority” is used by those centrist politicians to refer to a coalition consisting solely of Jewish parties. Later, after being criticized by the entire political spectrum, they both regretted the use of the term “Jewish majority.” Lapid refined the claim by stating “We need a majority of Zionist parties that believe in a Jewish and democratic state,” meaning that “we are by no means racists, we are simply Zionists who believe the state must be Jewish (and of course – democratic).”

Continue reading “On the racial basis of Zionism”

Health protocols and regulations have largely not been enforced for the last month, but some restrictions will remain.

By Yumna Patel |  Mondoweiss | May 26, 2020

The announcement to reopen the country comes after a turbulent Eid weekend, filled with protests and violent interactions with Palestinian security forces in several cities across the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority officially declared an end to the coronavirus lockdown in the occupied West Bank on Monday, nearly three months after the first state of emergency was declared.

During a press conference in Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced that the 3 million Palestinian residents of the West Bank could expect a return to normal life, albeit with some restrictions, once the current Eid holidays are over.

Banks, government ministries, courts, shops, and public transportation networks are set to reopen on Wednesday morning, while mosques and churches will be opened beginning at dawn prayers on Tuesday morning.

Continue reading “Palestinian Authority ends West Bank COVID-19 lockdown”

Truth telling about the objective of the peace process.

By Philip Weiss | Mondoweiss | May 22, 2020

We should be grateful to Cook for saying that the point of the peace process was to fail; and that failure was all for Israel’s interest.

Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations has an article at Foreign Policy saying that the U.S. should phase out aid to Israel and “end the special relationship” because the peace process has attained its real objective: Israel is established as a secure country with a standard of living rivaling the UK and France, and no real military threat.

The piece is shocking because it strips the mask from the peace process, saying just what Edward Said, Rashid Khalidi and Ali Abunimah said decades ago, it was intended to fail, never producing Palestinian sovereignty.

Continue reading “Peace process was never intended to give Palestinians a state — true confessions from Council on Foreign Relations”