Author: HolyLandJustice.org

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Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians at US embassy protests

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Palestinians carry a demonstrator injured during the clashes. (photo: Mahmud Hams / AFP / Getty Images)

Deadliest day in Gaza since 2014 war as US holds ceremony to mark opening of diplomatic mission in Jerusalem.

By Oliver Holmes and Hazem Balousha | The Guardian | May 14, 2018

“I’m here because of our land that we want back. We have nothing to lose. Nobody cares about us. Why should we wait to die slowly?”
— 25-year-old Mohammed Nabieh, a descendant of refugees from a village near the Israeli city of Ashdod

Israeli forces have killed 41 Palestinians and wounded at least 900 in Gaza, health officials said, as troops fired bullets at residents protesting against the Monday opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Tens of thousands turned out across the coastal enclave in what soon became the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war. Close to 40 of the casualties were critically injured and the dead included a 14-year-old boy, medics said.

The sky along the frontier was blackened with thick smoke as protesters lit tyres. Intermittent sniper fire was heard and crowds of protesters were seen rushing towards the fence.

Around 60 miles away in an affluent neighborhood of Jerusalem, Washington’s ambassador, David Friedman, stood on a stage painted with the US flag and welcomed a delegation of US and Israeli VIPs, including the president’s daughter, Ivanka.

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LIVE BLOG: Israeli troops open fire on Gaza protesters

Medics evacuate a Palestinian protester who was shot by Israeli snipers during protests inside the Gaza Strip, May 14, 2018. (photo: Mohammed Zaanoun / Activestills.org)

Read continuous updates from this blog written by independent Israeli and Palestinian journalists.

By +972 Magazine | May 14, 2018

Prior to Monday, Israeli snipers had killed 49 Palestinians and wounded nearly 10,000 Palestinian protesters since the protests began. Among the wounded and killed were at least half a dozen journalists, including Yaser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein — both of whom were wearing jackets clearly marked “PRESS” when they were shot. There have been zero Israeli casualties.

7:10 pm

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says that that the number of Palestinians killed by Israel on the Gaza border has risen to 52.

5:30 pm

Gaza’s Ministry of Health is reporting that the number of Palestinians killed today by Israeli forces in Gaza has risen to 43.

4:40 pm

Israeli soldiers have killed 41 Palestinians and wounded 1,960, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

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LIVE UPDATES: Israeli troops kill dozens of Palestinians in protests as US embassy opens in Jerusalem

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Palestinian women wave national flags and chant slogans near the Israeli border fence. (photo: Adel Hana / AP)

52 Palestinians killed and over 2,400 wounded in protests in Gaza and West Bank over moving US embassy to Jerusalem.

By Amanda Holpuch and Matthew Weaver | The Guardian | May 14, 2018

“We condemn unreservedly the Israeli government for their brutal, lethal and utterly unjustified actions on the Gaza border, and our thoughts are with all those Palestinians in Gaza whose loved ones have been killed or injured as a result.
“These actions are made all the worse because they come not as the result of a disproportionate over-reaction to one day’s protests, but as the culmination of six weeks of an apparently systemic and deliberate policy of killing and maiming unarmed protestors and bystanders who pose no threat to the forces at the Gaza border, many of them shot in the back, many of them shot hundreds of meters from the border, and many of them children.”
— Emily Thornberry MP, Britain’s Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary

Follow latest developments from The Guardian in this continuously updated page.

Read the full article here →

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Israel thanks Trump by naming a Jerusalem roundabout in his honor

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Trump announced in December that the US embassy would be moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. (photo: Sergey Orlov / Tass)

“Jerusalem returns the love to Trump,” writes Jerusalem Mayor Nir Bakat before official opening of new US embassy.

By Oliver Holmes | The Guardian | May 8, 2018

“Naming this square in honor of the president is our way of showing our love and respect for the president and the American people, who always stand by the side of Israel.”
— Jerusalem Mayor Nir Bakat

So thrilled was the mayor of Jerusalem that Donald Trump had recognized the city as the capital of Israel that he decided a fitting tribute of thanks –—naming a roundabout in honor of the US president.

“Jerusalem returns the love to Trump,” Nir Barkat wrote on Facebook on Tuesday, showing a picture of the traffic circle at the site where the new American embassy is due to be opened next week.

“We have decided that the square adjacent to the embassy in the capital will be called ‘United States Square — in honor of President Trump’,” he said in the Hebrew-language post.

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Donald Trump just put Israel in immediate danger

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak to reporters before their meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017. (photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)

Netanyahu has convinced Trump that leaving the Iran deal protects Israel. But the US walk-out means a full-on Israel-Iran war in Syria now becomes far more likely.

By Michael Koplow | Haaretz | May 9, 2018

The largest and most imminent threat to Israel’s security right now is not a nuclear Iran, but Iranian activity in Syria.

The entire world watched as President Donald Trump announced America’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal, and his re-imposition of the full range of sanctions on Iran.

While the British, French, and German governments made clear their strong preference that the US maintain the JCPOA, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not shy in his efforts to convince the White House of the wisdom of his opposite position.

Netanyahu’s unusual English-language prime time presentation on Israeli television last week of the intelligence collected by Israel about Iran’s previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon was almost certainly aimed at Trump, either in an effort to convince him to exit the deal, or to provide cover for him to do so.

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Human Rights Watch director says Israel booting him to “muzzle dissent”

Human Rights Watch Israel and Palestine Director Omar Shakir. (photo: Human Rights Watch)

The human rights organization has written several reports critical of the military occupation of the Palestinian territories.

By AFP via CBS | May 9, 2018

“Human Rights Watch is a credible human rights organization. Even though we do not agree with all of their assertions or conclusions, given the seriousness of their efforts, we support the importance of the work they do.”
— Mark Toner, US State Department spokesman

Israel has given a Human Rights Watch director two weeks to leave the country, accusing him of promoting a boycott, in a move the rights group said sought to muzzle criticism. The interior ministry said Tuesday it had terminated the residency permit of HRW’s Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir, a US citizen, over accusations that he supported a boycott of Israel.

“Following the recommendations of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, containing information that Shakir has been a BDS activist for years supporting the boycott of Israel in an active way, the ministry has decided to terminate (his) residence permit,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

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Why is the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem?

FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a road sign directing to the U.S. embassy, in the area of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem
A worker holds a road sign directing to the US embassy in Jerusalem, May 7, 2081. (photo: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)

The United States opens its new embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, a move that has delighted Israel and infuriated Palestinians.

By Stephen Farrell | Farrell | May 7, 2018

In 1947 the UN recognized that Jerusalem had special status and proposed international rule for the city, along with nearby Bethlehem, as a “corpus separatum” to be administered by the United Nations. That never happened.

On Monday, road signs directing traffic there went up around the neighborhood where the US Embassy will be situated, and next week’s opening ceremony is timed to coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary. The initiative was driven by President Donald Trump, after he broke last year with decades of US policy by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Trump said his administration has a peace proposal in the works, and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of America’s closest ally had “taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table.”

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, celebrated Trump’s decision, but the move upset the Arab world and Western allies. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a “slap in the face” and said Washington could no longer be regarded as an honest broker in any peace talks with Israel.

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Netanyahu serves Japan’s Abe dessert in a shoe

Celebrity Israeli chef Segev Moshe leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth with his culinary creativity run amok.

By Ruth Eglash | The Washington Post | May 7, 2018

“There’s no culture in the world in which you put shoes on the table. What was the distinguished chef thinking? If it was humor, we don’t think it is funny; we were offended on behalf of our prime minister.”
— Anonymous Japanese diplomat

There aren’t that many cultures where putting a shoe on the dining room table is acceptable behavior, but for the Japanese there is clear etiquette against allowing outdoor shoes inside.

That might explain the furor following a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie Abe, to Israel last week.

After a day of high-level meetings on May 2, the Japanese leader was treated to a festive meal at the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara Netanyahu. It was their second time in Israel, and the visiting couple were served a top-notch meal by celebrity Israeli chef Segev Moshe.

But then came dessert. A selection of delectable chocolate pralines — artistically arranged inside a shiny leather shoe.

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Israel reportedly testing new weapons in Gaza — “exploding” bullets

An example of an “exploding” bullet that expands on impact, creating a massive exit wound. (photo: Black Butterfly Ammunition / Clark Armory)

Demonstrators suffer wounds of “unusual severity” as Israeli forces introduce deadlier weapons in Gaza protests.

By Mersiha Gadzo | Al Jazeera | May 3, 2018

“Normally, a regular bullet breaks the leg [upon impact]. But these bullets create massive wounds, indicating that an explosion happened inside the body. It’s an expanding bullet. It pulverizes the leg, and the leg gets cut off [as a result].”
— Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman

“Half of the more than 500 patients we have admitted in our clinics have injuries where the bullet has literally destroyed tissue after having pulverized the bone.”
— Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, Head of Mission of MSF in Palestine

When he was hit by a bullet fired by Israeli forces during demonstrations in Gaza on April 6, Mohammed al-Zaieem lost so much blood, and his left leg was so deformed, he feared he wouldn’t survive. His arteries, veins and a large piece of bone were destroyed. His right leg wasn’t spared either as the round created a massive exit wound and then hit it as well.

By the time he was transferred to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah after undergoing seven surgeries in Gaza, there was nothing doctors could do to save his left leg. It had to be amputated, unbeknown to al-Zaieem, 22, who was unconscious at the time.

“No one dared to tell him [when he woke up from the surgery]. I couldn’t,” said his cousin of the same name, who lives in the occupied West Bank.

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As Israel turns 70, young American Jews turn away

A member of Jewish Voice for Peace wears “another Jew supporting divestment” shirt. (photo: Jewish Voice for Peace)

For many, the problem with Israel is not just its prime minister, its policies, or its occupation of the West Bank — it is also its identity as a Jewish state.

By Dov Waxman | Mint Press News | May 4, 2018

If, in their eyes, a Jewish state is discriminatory and no longer really necessary, then many younger American Jews struggle with supporting it. They feel ambivalent about Israel, if not altogether alienated from it. This is particularly true for the children of interfaith marriages — now almost half the population of young American Jews — whose Jewish identities tend to be less ethnic and more cultural.

Natalie Portman, the Oscar-winning actress, recently kicked off a massive storm of controversy when she pulled out of a prestigious award ceremony in Israel because, she said, she “did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu.”

The response to Portman’s refusal to appear alongside Israel’s prime minister was intense. She was denounced by right-wing Israeli politicians. One labeled Portman’s decision as borderline anti-Semitic. Another suggested that her Israeli citizenship should be stripped. Born in Israel, Portman is a dual American-Israeli citizen.

The reaction within the American Jewish community was more divided. Some assailed her for being disloyal, deluded, or, at best, misguided. Others hailed her as a hero for publicly voicing her opposition to Netanyahu and his government’s hard-line policies.

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