Category: News

The conditions in Gaza are leaving a trail and legacy of trauma and mental health issues for those able to leave.

By Salsabeel H. Hamdan |  +972  |  Nov 5, 2019

‘I have developed a strange belief that things might go wrong. I am afraid that I will be questioned or stopped. I am seriously unable to believe that I have the right to move.’
— Ahmed Almassri, 25, studying in Australia

For a Palestinian, Gaza is a place from which escape is nearly impossible. Israel has, for the past 13 years, denied all but a tiny number of applicants the right to travel outside the congested, blockaded strip of land that is often described as the world’s largest open-air prison. For those fortunate few who manage to attain a permit to depart, the extreme shock of life outside Gaza is almost unbearable. Freedom is painful: it triggers the release of long-suppressed emotions, and the realization that a lifetime of unending psychological trauma has rendered them unable to normalize the understanding that their lives can be free of fear, scarcity, and helplessness.

Continue reading “The unbearable heaviness of finding freedom outside Gaza”

The Israeli government & the ADL, which advocates for Israel, help Facebook executives decide which content to censor and perhaps it’s no coincidence that Palestinians’ Facebook pages are increasingly being removed.

By Alison Weir | If Americans Knew | Oct 30, 2019

While some American organizations that work on the Palestinian issue have largely been able to function on Facebook with relatively small difficulties (including the one I work for), the story for Palestinians living in the occupied Territories has been markedly different.

While Facebook is in the midst of a controversy in which Palestinian journalists are complaining that the company has a different standard for Palestinians than for Israelis, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, publicly pledged $2.5 million to an organization that advocates for Israel.

This action was in line with Sandberg’s life history of connection to Israel. And it coincided with Facebook’s pattern of a double standard for Palestinians vs. Israelis.

While some American organizations that work on the Palestinian issue have largely been able to function on Facebook with relatively small difficulties (including the one I work for), the story for Palestinians living in the occupied Territories has been markedly different.

Continue reading “Facebook COO ignores Palestinian complaints of censorship, pledges $2.5 mill to Israel advocacy group”

Issues of transparency and settlement land purchases by the Israel Jewish National Fund raise issues for the Union of Reformed Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in North America.

By Aiden Pink  | Intercept  | Oct 31, 2019

‘Anybody who is closely watching the activities of KKL in Israel knows they’re deeply enmeshed in’ expanding the settlement enterprise…
— Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

The largest Jewish denomination in the United States is turning down a donation from an iconic Israeli charity, alleging that the charity tricked the movement by buying and then hiding land purchases in the West Bank.

Keren Kayemet LeYisrael-Jewish National Fund is probably best known in the United States for its famous blue tzedakah box and for planting trees in the Holy Land. The quasi-governmental organization is also a major owner and purchaser of land throughout Israel, and the Union of Reform Judaism has long supported it.

Yet on Tuesday, URJ president Rick Jacobs published a series of tweets accusing the charity of “deceiving the board of directors and most senior leaders in the organization.”

Continue reading “Reform movement spurns iconic Israeli charity to protest West Bank land buys”

 

Efforts to privatize settlements could be the next legal expansion in further delaying/denying Palestinian rights.

By Jonathan Cook | Mondoweiss | Oct 28, 2019

Their latest proposal has been described as engineering a ‘revolution’ in the occupation regime. It would let the settlers buy as private property the plots of occupied land their illegal homes currently stand on.

The United Nations’ independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories issued a damning verdict last week on what he termed “the longest belligerent occupation in the modern world”.

Michael Lynk, a Canadian law professor, told the UN’s human rights council that only urgent international action could prevent Israel’s 52-year occupation of the West Bank transforming into de facto annexation.

He warned of a recent surge in violence against Palestinians from settlers, assisted by the Israeli army, and a record number of demolitions this year of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem – evidence of the ways Israel is further pressuring Palestinians to leave their lands.

Continue reading “Israel’s new moves to ‘legalize’ the occupation”

A look into the birth and growth of Zionism in history and context in order to understand its aspirations and contradictions.

By Dr. Alice Rothchild | Brookline Chronicle |  Oct 29, 2019

‘Political Zionism is a recent phenomenon. This is very different from my zayde’s messianic Zionism which was more a belief that the Messiah would come someday and everything would get better, but don’t hold your breath. This was often followed by a fatalistic shrug and more davening.’

Today I’m going to be discussing the recently published book, Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation. The book is a collection of curated essays by rabbis, students, academics, and activists, and includes my chapter titled: Choosing a different path. I am going to start with some definitions that I have gleaned from my own personal research and also from the excellent introduction written by Professor Carolyn Karcher who is the editor of this book.

I would define Judaism as a religion, centered on tikkun olam, on pursuing justice and loving the stranger. It is a body of sacred texts, rituals, and ethical precepts. This is very different from the definition of a Jewish macher (see Yiddish – big shot) in Boston who once said in answer to the question: “Can you be a Jew and not be a Zionist?” “You don’t understand, Israel is the religion.” Clearly I take issue with that.

Continue reading “Can we talk about Zionism?”

Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg make the strongest statements linking human rights concerns to military aid to Israel.

By Jodi Rudoren  | The Forward |  Oct 28, 2019

‘If you want military aid, you’re going to have to fundamentally change your relationship’ to Gaza…adding that some aid money ‘should go right now into humanitarian aid in Gaza.’
— Senator Bernie Sanders

Democratic presidential candidates diverged on Monday over the question of whether to condition United States military aid on Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, which activists at the annual J Street conference here in Washington seem to be trying to make something of a wedge issue in the crowded primary field.

In separate appearances before the conclave, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg said the $3.8 billion a year should indeed come with some strings attached, while Secretary Julian Castro said using the aid as a pressure tactic “wouldn’t be my first move” and Sen. Michael Bennet said he would want to carefully weigh the impact on domestic politics both here and in Israel.

Continue reading “Democratic Candidates Pressed On Cutting Israel Aid”

 

The Executive Council voted to adopt the recommended Global Human Rights Screen with ‘criteria for the Israel//Palestine conflict.’

By Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network | Oct 22, 2019

Adoption of the Global Screen & Criteria puts in place an Episcopal Church Human Rights No Buy List, administered by CCSR, to apply to corporations that resist effective engagement on human rights.

Meeting in Montgomery, Alabama on 18-21 October the Council voted to receive the June 2019 Report of its Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CCSR) on resolution B016 and adopt the recommended Global Human Rights Screen (GHRS) with “criteria for the Israel//Palestine conflict.” The GHRS is modeled on the ELCA’s human rights screen and is consistent with policy adopted by General Convention or Executive Council over the last six decades. PIN lauds the clear criteria established by the GHRS for deciding if a corporation supports or benefits from denial of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). These are,

Continue reading “The Episcopal Church will sell stock in companies profiting from the Occupation”