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Group of lawmakers seeking to halt practice of razing of domiciles, enforced against families of suspected attackers and Palestinians who built without permits

By Ron Kampeas | The Times of Israel | Mar 16, 2020

‘My hope is that Israel will stop the home demolitions and will see that there are many supporters of the US-Israel relationship on this letter…’
— U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, California

More than 60 Democrats in the US House of Representatives want the Trump administration to ensure that Israel is using military equipment in compliance with US law, and to press Israel not to use the equipment to demolish Palestinian homes.

The letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, spearheaded by Reps. Ro Khanna and Anna Eshoo of California and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, notes recent demolitions in East Jerusalem and UN reports last year of a 45 percent increase in home demolitions.

“We urge you to press the Israeli government to prevent more families from being forcibly transferred and having their homes destroyed,” said the letter sent Monday.

Continue reading “Democrats press Trump administration on US gear used by Israel to demolish homes”

As part of his ‘war’ on the outbreak, Netanyahu delays his long-awaited trial and announces the mass surveillance of Israelis infected by coronavirus.

By Edo Konrad | +972 Magazine |  Mar 15, 2020

From drones, to Facebook hacking, to biometric facial recognition, to blackmailing Palestinians with private information, to profiling potential Palestinian attackers using algorithms, surveillance is an essential component in the effort to turn Palestinians into obedient subjects of military dictatorship.

Standing at the podium in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem Saturday night, a grave-looking Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel was in a state of emergency. The prime minister, who did not field questions from reporters, announced he would be ramming through a series of emergency directives, including the mass surveillance of Israeli citizens, as part of the fight against the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Netanyahu stated that as part of the “war against an invisible enemy” — which has already infected over 200 Israeli citizens and nearly 40 Palestinians — he would be implementing “technological means” previously used in the “fight against terrorism” to monitor the movement of those who have tested positive for the virus, most likely by actively tracking citizens through geolocating their cellphones and credit cards.

Continue reading “Netanyahu turns surveillance powers on Israelis”

Lack of hygiene products and packed cells leave prisoners fearing continued policy of ‘deliberate medical negligence’

By Akram Al-Waara | Middle East Eye | Mar 13, 2020

Palestinians… are concerned that the Israeli government and prison authorities are not taking the proper measures to prevent the spread of the virus and treat those who may become sick.

Fear and panic have characterised much of the past 10 days in the occupied West Bank, as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb.

By Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of official cases had risen to 35, 34 of them in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.

But just as the measures taken by the government to stop the spread of the virus began to restore some sense of calm, Palestinians woke up to more dreadful news: the coronavirus had reached Israeli prisons, where thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are held.

Continue reading “Coronavirus: Palestinian inmates fear for their lives in filthy and crowded Israeli jails”

An open letter of support and acknowledgement from Palestinian and Arab signatories for leadership that has sought to advance Palestinian rights.

Open Letter |  Mondoweiss  | Mar 10, 2020

…the organization undertook a two-year process launched at their national member meeting in 2017 that resulted in the adoption of a position unequivocally opposing Zionism.

On the occasion of the Jewish Voice for Peace transition to a new leadership, we the undersigned take this opportunity to honor and thank past Executive Director Rebecca Vilkomerson for her dedicated and strategic leadership of an organization that has done so much to advance Palestinian rights to self-determination, freedom, justice, and equality in the U.S. and beyond.

Continue reading “JVP leadership transition: Palestinians honor Rebecca Vilkomerson”

Most tourists have been evacuated from Bethlehem and additional measures may be needed.

By Yumna Patel | Mondoweiss | Mar 10, 2020

Across the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, 2,900 Palestinians were being held in self-quarantine — six of them in Jerusalem, and 605 people in Gaza who had recently returned from performing the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Palestinians are holding their breath as they wait to see if the Palestinian Authority’s desperate attempts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to the city of Bethlehem is working.

Panic grew on Monday after the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that there was one confirmed case of the virus in the northern occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, the first case of the virus outside of Bethlehem.

Local media reported that an unidentified Palestinian man from Tulkarem contracted the virus while he was working in Israel, but that he was quarantined immediately along with his entire family — none of whom tested positive for the virus.

Continue reading “With 29 cases in Palestine, government steps up efforts to contain coronavirus”

Permanently disabled Palestinians are a casualty of a purposeful war.

By Gideon Levy | Information Clearing House | Mar 9, 2020

If they are feeling at all apologetic it’s because they didn’t spill more blood.

They’re the best of our boys. One is a “musician from a good high school,” another a “boy scout” who majored in theater.” They’re the snipers who have shot thousands of unarmed protesters along the Gaza border fence.

In the Gaza Strip there are 8,000 permanently disabled young men as a result of the snipers’ actions. Some are leg amputees, and the shooters are very proud of that. None of the snipers interviewed for Hilo Glazer’s frightening story in Haaretz (March 6) has any regrets. If they are feeling at all apologetic it’s because they didn’t spill more blood. One was mocked in his battalion with “here comes the killer.” They all act like murderers. If their actions don’t show it – more than 200 dead as a result of them – then their statements prove that these young men have lost their moral compass. They are lost. They will go on to study, to have careers and to raise families – and will never recover from their blindness. They disabled their victims physically, but their own disabilities are more severe. Their souls were completely twisted. They will never again be moral individuals. They are a danger to society. They lost their humanity, if they ever had it, on the shooting berms facing the Gaza Strip. They are the sons of our friends and the friends of our sons, the young people from the apartment across the hall. Look how they talk.

Continue reading “The Israeli army doesn’t have snipers on the Gaza border. It has hunters”

 

A request from Jewish Voice for Peace to sign a petition supporting those who are holding 24-hour vigils to protect their land from being seized by settlers and soldiers.

By Granate Kim | Jewish Voice for Peace | Mar 6, 2020

We can’t physically link arms and sit down with the Palestinians of Beita, but we can use our grassroots power to work against Trump’s “peace plan.”

Emboldened by Trump and Netanyahu, violent settlers are once again trying to seize Mount Al-Urma, one of the highest mountains in the occupied West Bank and a strategic position for Israelis.

But the people of nearby town Beita aren’t going anywhere. They’re holding 24-hour vigils to protect the mountain amidst threatening social media calls for its takeover.

We can’t physically link arms and sit down with the Palestinians of Beita, but we can use our grassroots power to work against Trump’s “peace plan.”

Continue reading “Stand with the Palestinians of Beita as they protect their land”

Large numbers of Palestinians are staging a sit-in atop Mount Al-Urma in the West Bank amid settlers’ attempts to seize it.

By Shatha Hammad | Middle East Eye | Mar 5, 2020

‘I am here 24 hours a day, I don’t get tired nor do I feel bored… I will stay here to protect our lands, whatever it costs.’
—19-year-old Adham Zuhair

Around the stove, about 30 Palestinians gather inside a big tent on top of Mount Al-Urma, east of the town of Beita in the occupied West Bank, taking a rest and preparing for the latest confrontation with Israeli soldiers and settlers.

Hours earlier on Monday, settlers had tried for a second time to reach the top of the mountain, but the residents of Beita, which lies south of Nablus, had quickly gathered to defend their lands.

Clashes erupted, during which the Israeli army opened fire, wounding two Palestinians with live ammunition and 10 others with rubber bullets.

Continue reading “‘This is our mountain’: Palestinians repel settlers emboldened by Netanyahu’s words”

Joint List alliance capitalizes on backlash against Netanyahu by taking 15 seats in Knesset.

By Oliver Holmes | The Guardian | Mar 4, 2020

In Monday’s vote, Arab turnout surged to 64.7%, according to estimates from the Israel Democracy Institute think tank.

Arab politicians are set to make historic gains in the Israeli election, taking more seats than ever before and solidifying their position as the third-largest force in the Knesset, the country’s parliament.

After 99% of the votes were counted, the Joint List alliance, a merger of politicians predominantly representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, had 15 out of 120 Knesset seats.

Boosted by a backlash to racist campaigning by Benjamin Netanyahu, Arab candidates also capitalised on anger towards the prime minister’s ally, Donald Trump. The US president’s recently-released “peace plan” included a highly-controversial clause that could strip some Arab-Israelis of their citizenship.

Continue reading “Israel’s Arab parties make historic gains as election support surges”