Category: Israel

Israel

Russia’s Annexation of Part of Ukraine Drew Western Sanctions, but UK’s Liz Truss is rewarding Israel’s Annexation by moving British Embassy to Jerusalem

Considering this British history of inflicting suffering on the Palestinians, it would have been more appropriate for a British Prim Minister to apologize to the Palestinians for Britain’s crucial role in causing the endless suffering. Instead, Truss chose to support illegal occupation and annexation and gave history another episode of western hypocrisy, double standards and violation of human rights. My conversation with the former British soldier shows that those who know the truth are less likely to side with injustice which demonstrates the importance of raising awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people and their history.

Source: Russia’s Annexation of Part of Ukraine Drew Western Sanctions, but UK’s Liz Truss is rewarding Israel’s Annexation by moving British Embassy to Jerusalem

Israel

‘Refusing is the minimum’: Why these Israeli teens are objecting to army service

Left to right: Evyatar Moshe Rubin, Einat Gerlitz, Nave Shabtay Levin, and Shahar Schwartz, conscientious objectors refusing to enlist in the Israeli army, August 2022. (Oren Ziv)

Ahead of imprisonment, four conscientious objectors share their reasons for refusing conscription and their hopes of inspiring opposition to apartheid.

Source: ‘Refusing is the minimum’: Why these Israeli teens are objecting to army service

Israel

Alleged recruiters for Israeli military face criminal charges in Canada | The Electronic Intifada

A woman in a white t-shirt stands in front of an Israeli army jeep

Nora Barrows-Friedman Lobby Watch 6 October 2022 A woman in a white t-shirt stands in front of an Israeli army jeep Sar-El Canada must respond to allegations that it acts as an intermediary to recruit Canadians to volunteer in a non-combatant role with the Israeli military. (Sar-El promotional video)

For the first time, criminal charges have been pursued in a Canadian court over alleged recruitment for the Israeli military.

On 22 September, a judge issued a summons order to Sar-El Canada on allegations that the organization has encouraged or enticed Canadians to volunteer with Israel’s army. Legal experts say that is in violation of Canada’s Foreign Enlistment Act (FEA).

Source: Alleged recruiters for Israeli military face criminal charges in Canada | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Opinion | The Draconian Silencing of Those Who Call Out ‘Israeli Apartheid’ | Mitchell Plitnick

gaza

They’re doing it because the facts, which have never been on their side, are becoming more widely understood, so they have no other tactics to turn to.

Source: Opinion | The Draconian Silencing of Those Who Call Out ‘Israeli Apartheid’ | Mitchell Plitnick

Israel

New Israeli Policy of Targeted Assassination of Palestinians . . . by Drone

The Americans have been doing it for years despite killing the wrong people. If it goes reported the chances of repercussions to those reporting it run higher than those committing such crimes. Oop! is simply not good enough.

Extending not only the use of drones but also the targeted killings of Palestinians, should prompt us all to question Israel and its accomplices, including the PA. Just months ago, an Israeli sniper murdered Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who posed no threat to the Israeli army at the time of her killing. The absence of on the ground contact in Israel’s new page of aggression against the Palestinians will take targeted killings like that of Akleh to a new level. In the past, such killings made headlines due to the involvement of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet. The Israeli plan to normalise such violence within the occupied Palestinian territories using the latest technology is upping the ante against Palestinian refugees, while extending the boundaries of what constitutes normalised and acceptable violence, as long as Palestinians are the victims.

Source: New Israeli Policy of Targeted Assassination of Palestinians . . . by Drone

Israel

JOHN KIRIAKOU: A Depressing Journey – Consortium News

The above artist was shot and killed by occupation forces

The author came away from a trip to Britain and Israel last month deeply concerned about human rights, Julian Assange and the Palestinian people.

I asked a senior Israeli elected official if he thought there was a place for Arabs and Muslims in the Knesset. His response capped my trip. “The thing about you Americans is that you think we’re enemies with the Palestinians. We’re not. It’s not possible to be enemies with animals, only with humans. And the Palestinians are animals.”

Source: JOHN KIRIAKOU: A Depressing Journey – Consortium News

Israel, News

Leaked paper proves EU has sidelined Palestinian rights | The Electronic Intifada

A couple of myths have been spread about Israel’s cooperation with the European Union.

One, repeated by gullible reporters with Politico over the past few days, is that the relationship is “often testy.”

Another is that the bonds are not as strong as they could be because bleeding heart liberals in the Brussels bureaucracy constantly complain about the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

A leaked EU paper demolishes those myths – no doubt inadvertently.

The paper was drafted by Brussels officials ahead of an Association Council meeting with Israel next week. It proves that the oppression of the Palestinians and the theft of their homeland are being accorded far less importance than topics regarded as more strategic.

A particularly telling fact – noted in the paper – is that the EU celebrates “the successful counterterrorism dialogues initiated with Israel in 2015.”

While such “dialogues” were still being held as recently as April this year, an “informal” working group on human rights has not met since 2016.

The real nature of the EU’s relationship with Israel can be deduced from these points.

Bloodthirsty Yair Lapid to visit Brussels for revived Association Council.

Source: Leaked paper proves EU has sidelined Palestinian rights | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel’s Got Some Nerve Decrying Russia’s Annexations – scheerpost.com

 

It is pretty rich for the Israeli foreign ministry to say that Russia shouldn’t be annexing land from its neighbors.

Source: Israel’s Got Some Nerve Decrying Russia’s Annexations – scheerpost.com

Israel

Irony Officially declared Dead as Israeli Foreign Ministry Decries Russian Annexation of Others’ Territory

In a further sign that all irony is dead, the Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the annexation of four Ukrainian districts by Russia on Tuesday, saying that Israel “recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and will not recognize the results of the referendums in its eastern districts.”

Source: Irony Officially declared Dead as Israeli Foreign Ministry Decries Russian Annexation of Others’ Territory

Hollywood, Israel

Marvel Heads Revealed to Be Closely Connected to Israeli Intelligence – scheerpost.com

With the “Captain America” franchise, the army supported the Marvel movie, seeing it as “building resiliency” and considering the Captain America character to hold values of a modern U.S. soldier. (The same could be argued was done in Top Gun and the Navy). “Captain Marvel” was the Air Force public relations department’s dream. The film’s release coincided with an Air Force recruitment campaign, using feminism as a way to sugar coat “Captain Marvel’s” obvious militarism. The recruitment effort clearly worked with the Air Force seeing the highest number of female applicants to the Air Force Academy in five years.

With Marvel’s U.S. military propaganda in full swing, it seems the studio is now turning its focus to Israeli nationalism. Whether Sabra will don an Israeli-flag-inspired suit remains to be seen, but what is apparent is Marvel’s close relationship with Israel and the U.S. military is manufacturing a fantasy world dripping in real-world imperialism.

Source: Marvel Heads Revealed to Be Closely Connected to Israeli Intelligence – scheerpost.com

Israel

Rashida Tlaib Is Absolutely Right About Progressives and Israel

Democratic socialist congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is under fire from the Democratic establishment for saying that support for Israel’s apartheid government is incompatible with progressive values. They’re livid that Tlaib is telling the truth.

Source: Rashida Tlaib Is Absolutely Right About Progressives and Israel

Israel

The Israel Files: WikiLeaks Docs Show Top Hollywood Producers Working With Israel To Defend Its War Crimes – scheerpost.com

The Israel Files:

WikiLeaks Docs Show Top Hollywood Producers Working With Israel To Defend Its War Crimes The Israel Files is a new MintPress series exploring and highlighting the many revelations about the Israeli occupation of Palestine that WikiLeaks documents disclosed. It hopes to shed light on many of the most important and underreported revelations the publishing group exposed.

Source: The Israel Files: WikiLeaks Docs Show Top Hollywood Producers Working With Israel To Defend Its War Crimes – scheerpost.com

Israel

New bombshell film exposes Israel lobby role in UK Labour Party

Israel lobbyists protected

A new cache of leaked Labour documents shows how Israel lobby operatives worked against former leader Jeremy Corbyn from within the UK’s main opposition party.

Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst intervened to help save suspended right-wing Labour activist Luke Stanger from expulsion – despite a series of complaints of harassment and intimidation.

The leaked files also detail how Palestine solidarity activists and left-wingers were investigated, suspended and expelled from the party, while right-wing pro-Israel members were protected by senior party figures.

The documents were revealed on Thursday in the first episode of The Labour Files, a new three-part series by Al Jazeera’s investigative unit – the same team behind the 2017 series The Lobby and the censored 2018 series The Lobby – USA.

The Qatar-based satellite channel describes the trove of internal Labour Party materials as “the largest leak of documents in British political history.”

During the Corbyn years, the files show, the generally left-voting city of Brighton became a focus of clashes between the party’s left and right wings.

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israeli Forces Deliberately Killed Shireen Abu Akleh

Flowers, flags and other memorabilia create a makeshift memorial at the site where veteran Palestinian-American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed, in the West Bank city of Jenin, May 19, 2022. Almost two weeks after the death of Abu Akleh, a reconstruction by The Associated Press lends support to assertions from both Palestinian authorities and Abu Akleh's colleagues that the bullet that cut her down came from an Israeli gun. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

A new forensic analysis proves that an Israeli sniper could see that Shireen Abu Akleh was a journalist before firing the bullet that killed her.

Source: Israeli Forces Deliberately Killed Shireen Abu Akleh

Israel

German Jews file war crimes charges against Israeli leaders | The Electronic Intifada

A man leans towards another and whispers into his ear

A Jewish group in Germany has filed criminal charges against Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and defense minister Benny Gantz over the bombardment they ordered in Gaza this summer.

The Israeli surprise attack from 5-8 August left some 50 Palestinians dead, including 17 children. At least 360 people were injured.

“This was a supposed preemptive strike that was carried out without a concrete threat,” Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East said on Sunday.

“Israel must be held accountable for war crimes like any other state.”

Source: German Jews file war crimes charges against Israeli leaders | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel indicts Palestinian journalist over ‘incitement’ in Facebook posts

Palestinian journalist Lama Ghosheh is led into a hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, accused of identification with a terrorist organization and incitement to violence because of Facebook posts, September 12, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

An Israeli court indicted a Palestinian journalist on Monday for identifying with a terrorist organization and incitement to violence, based on 11 posts taken from her personal Facebook profile. The indictment claims that in some of her posts, Lama Ghosheh praised the activities of Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza, after they were killed by the Israeli army.

Source: Israel indicts Palestinian journalist over ‘incitement’ in Facebook posts

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israeli military attacks are an affront to human rights

Israeli attacks on Palestinians have received widespread condemnation while also inspiring unity and solidarity, writes Dr Ibrahim Natil.

Israel is not worried about accountability before the international community and it believes it is protected and above international law. Israel targets journalists, reporters and human rights in a systematic policy to frighten and terrify them to hide the expanding Israeli apartheid system every day in Palestine.

Source: Israeli military attacks are an affront to human rights

Israel

Redefining Antisemitism to Protect Israel From Scrutiny Won’t Make Jews Safer

Israel’s supporters have sought to redefine antisemitism so that the term primarily refers to criticism of the Israeli state. This effort has been a great boon for Israel’s diplomatic propaganda — but a disaster for anti-racist struggles in Europe and the US.

Source: Redefining Antisemitism to Protect Israel From Scrutiny Won’t Make Jews Safer

Israel

German broadcaster requires employees to ‘support Israel’s right to exist’

The Deutsche Welle office in Bonn, Germany, September 1, 2014. (Christian Wolf/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

Israel’s global influence diminishes democracies and supports autocracies for it’s right to maintain a fascist state

On Sept. 1, Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW) updated its Code of Conduct to require all employees, when speaking either on behalf of the organization or in a personal capacity, to “support the right of Israel to exist” or face consequences, such as dismissal.

Source: German broadcaster requires employees to ‘support Israel’s right to exist’

Israel

More Ukraine-Palestine Hypocrisy: US slams Russia for Deporting Residents from Occupied Territory, which Israel does all the Time

 On Wednesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield castigated Russia for having deported large numbers of Ukrainians from the parts of Ukraine that the Russian military had occupied, referring to these as ‘filtration operations.’ She said, ‘Of course, I need not remind this Council that the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons from occupied territories, to the territory of the occupier, is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians, and constitutes a war crime.’ She asked, ‘So why are they doing this?’ and answered her own

Source: More Ukraine-Palestine Hypocrisy: US slams Russia for Deporting Residents from Occupied Territory, which Israel does all the Time

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Israel admits it’s gaslighting the world on Shireen’s killing – +972 Magazine

The conclusion of Israeli culpability is hardly news. What makes the announcement infuriating, however, is the way in which the Israeli army has casually confessed to the crime, knowing full well that the shooter will never be punished for the killing, nor will his superiors in government or the military pay a price for peddling falsehoods for months.

Israel admits it’s gaslighting the world on Shireen’s killing – +972 Magazine
Israel

Despite Israeli Whitewash, Its Killing of US Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was a War Crime

The Israeli military issued a brazen whitewash of its killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and its shooting of her colleague Al Jazeera producer Ali al-Samoudi, on May 11 of this year. Using weasel words, the report admitted that it was “likely” that an Israeli sniper shot her dead. Since extensive video and eyewitness evidence proves that there were no militants in the area at the time of her killing, CNN had already concluded after an extensive investigation that the Israeli military killed Shireen “in a targeted attack.”

Source: Despite Israeli Whitewash, Its Killing of US Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was a War Crime

Israel

Now Israel is Occupying the Hearts of Lovers in the Palestinian West Bank

 In a creepy policy out of a Kafka or Joseph Heller novel, Israeli Intrusian, Individual authorities have decreed that if a foreign visitor to the Palestinian West Bank develops a romantic relationship with a local Palestinian, they must report the relationship to the military Occupation authorities within 30 days. So reports the BBC, based on official Israeli documents.

It was inevitable that the day would come when the massive Israeli colonial apparatus, which journalist Michael Jansen called “the stalker state,” would finally occupy the human heart itself.

Source: Now Israel is Occupying the Hearts of Lovers in the Palestinian West Bank

Israel, Israel Crimes

6-year-old Palestinian dies after Israel denies him Access to Treatment outside Gaza

The family presented documents to the Israeli occupation authorities to obtain permits to leave the besieged enclave through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) Crossing. Their request was denied after the occupation said it had carried out an “investigation” and determined there were “security reasons” why the child could not leave Gaza for treatment.

Farouq’s father holds a permit allowing him to leave Gaza each day to access work in Israel, however this did not afford the family any protection from the arbitrary accusations of “security threats”.

6-year-old Palestinian dies after Israel denies him Access to Treatment outside Gaza

Israel, Israel Crimes

Residents of Misafer Yatta being — Slowly Ethnically Cleansed by Israel — take Refuge in Caves

Residents of Misafer Yatta being — Slowly Ethnically Cleansed by Israel — take Refuge in Caves

Residents of Misafer Yatta being — Slowly Ethnically Cleansed by Israel — take Refuge in Caves
Israel

Feeling less than human: The hell of crossing into Gaza

It is all but impossible, if you are a tourist, to enter Gaza. Entry via Israel is prohibited to everyone except Gaza residents, international aid workers, journalists, and diplomats; so too, under Israel’s watchful eye, is entry via Egypt. If you do not have a Gaza hawiyya (ID), do not expect to be allowed in.

Feeling less than human: The hell of crossing into Gaza
Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel convicts World Vision official despite evidence he’s innocent – – IMEMC News

Israel found Mohammed El Halabi guilty of diverting $50 million from World Vision charity, ignoring compelling facts: the total budget for 10 years was under $23 million; El Halabi’s alleged ‘confession’ was directed by Israeli authorities; independent audits showed Israeli charges were unfounded; and both the Australian government (a major donor to World Vision) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted special reviews and found no wrongdoing.

In violation of international law, Israel kept Mohammed El Halabi in prison for weeks before he was allowed access to an attorney, and before informing his family of his whereabouts. He reported that his Israeli interrogators beat him – the UN says his treatment “may amount to torture.”

Israel’s reliance on highly questionable “secret evidence” to convict El Halabi (and thousands of other Palestinians) indicates a deeply flawed judicial system.

Israel convicts World Vision official despite evidence he’s innocent – – IMEMC News
Israel

Why is the world so indifferent to Gaza? | The Electronic Intifada

The Gazan Ghetto

Why is the world so indifferent to Gaza? | The Electronic Intifada

Why is the world so indifferent to Gaza? | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Why Benny Gantz is one of Israel’s most dangerous leaders – +972 Magazine

Gantz’s politics, like those of the wider Israeli “center,” mimic many of Likud’s right-wing policies in all but name; his new alliance with Gideon Sa’ar, a former rival of Netanyahu within Likud, reaffirms that ideological kinship. And when it comes to the Palestinians, Gantz — like his coalition partner Yair Lapid — has promised to deliver more of the same: a regime that has no qualms with waging constant violence to keep Palestinians under Israeli control, from fighter jets over Khan Younis to bulldozers in Masafer Yatta.

The second truth is that the defense minister, while clearly emboldened by his impunity, is also hounded by insecurities. It is no coincidence that the Palestinian NGOs targeted by Gantz’s order have listed his name as a key suspect for the International Criminal Court to investigate as a war criminal, and are on the frontlines of exposing his crimes and turning international opinion against Israeli apartheid. Even as Gantz rides on his power trip, Palestinians and their allies are still fighting to make sure he does not sleep soundly at night.

Why Benny Gantz is one of Israel’s most dangerous leaders – +972 Magazine
Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel storms Palestinian NGO offices after months-long failure to discredit them

The Gastapo worked within and outside the laws too

Seven NGOs denounce raids as message of impunity against Palestinians and foreign governments, after army seizes equipment and welds office doors shut.

The Israeli army raided this morning the Ramallah offices of seven prominent Palestinian NGOs that have been designated as “terror organizations” by the Defense Ministry. In a concerted operation, soldiers simultaneously broke into the groups’ headquarters across the occupied West Bank city just before dawn, seized files and equipment from some of them, and welded the doors shut. At the entrance to each office, the army left copies of military orders declaring that the organizations were illegal.

Israel storms Palestinian NGO offices after months-long failure to discredit them
Israel, Israel Crimes

Amid death and destruction, the latest conflict in Gaza highlights the depths of its humanitarian crisis

three days of intense conflict have extracted a very heavy civilian toll in Gaza. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports at least 44 dead and over 350 civilians wounded. Reportedly among the dead were 15 Palestinian children, including five boys killed by a missile strike as they visited their grandfather’s grave.

Amid death and destruction, the latest conflict in Gaza highlights the depths of its humanitarian crisis
Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel bombs Civilian Apt. Bldg. in Gaza City, Killing 10, Wounding 55; When Russia does it, it is a War Crime

Israel bombs Civilian Apt. Bldg. in Gaza City, Killing 10, Wounding 55; When Russia does it, it is a War Crime

Israel bombs Civilian Apt. Bldg. in Gaza City, Killing 10, Wounding 55; When Russia does it, it is a War Crime
Israel, Israel Crimes

Young girl among the dead as Israel launches wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip | The New Daily

Young girl among the dead as Israel launches wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip | The New Daily

A narrow strip of land where 2.3 million people live on a patch of 365 square kilometres, Gaza has been a constant point of conflict ever since Hamas took control.

The area has since been under blockade, with Israel and Egypt tightly restricting movement of people and goods in and out.

“We have not yet been able to reconstruct what Israel had destroyed a year ago. People didn’t have the chance to breathe, and here Israel is attacking again without any reason,” said Mansour Mohammad-Ahmed, 43, a farmer from central Gaza.

Young girl among the dead as Israel launches wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip | The New Daily
Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel tightens Gaza chokehold | The Electronic Intifada

Medical patients denied travel. Jeremy Corbyn was vilified for not supporting Israel.

Israel tightens Gaza chokehold | The Electronic Intifada
Israel

Despite Biden’s Rejection of Israeli ‘Apartheid’ Characterization, 60% of Israeli Jews support Segregation of Palestinian-Israelis

When President Biden met with caretaker Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid, the two issued a joint statement that rejected ‘Apartheid’ as a descriptor for Israel. In contrast, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, and the UN Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, have all concluded in the past year or so, despite a previous reluctance, that the situation in Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories fits the definition of Apartheid in international law (such as the Rome Statute that underpins the International Criminal Court). The allegation is not that the situation precisely resembles that in Apartheid South Africa in all particulars. The word is now a term of art in international law and refers to the systematic disadvantaging of one ethnic group, on the basis of their ethnicity, by another.

One of the hallmarks of regimes of Apartheid (including Jim Crow in the United States) is coercive residential segregation.

So it is ominous that according to Or Kashti at Haaretz, a poll by the Israeli Institute for Democracy this spring found that 60% of Israeli Jews believe that Jews and “Arabs” (i.e. Israelis of Palestinian heritage, what I call Palestinian-Israelis) should “live apart.”

Despite Biden’s Rejection of Israeli ‘Apartheid’ Characterization, 60% of Israeli Jews support Segregation of Palestinian-Israelis

Despite Biden’s Rejection of Israeli ‘Apartheid’ Characterization, 60% of Israeli Jews support Segregation of Palestinian-Israelis
Israel, Uncategorized

How this Tunisian Island brings Muslims and Jews Together

Home to Africa’s oldest synagogue, Djerba celebrates its Jewish roots annually

To this day, and despite their not very large number, Jewish Tunisians continue to hold an important place in Djerbian society and are, like their non-Jewish neighbors, active in the island’s tourism industry.

How this Tunisian Island brings Muslims and Jews Together
Israel

EU: In 2021, Israel planned or built 20,030 New Squatter-Settlements In Palestinian Territories, with Massive Spike in E. Jerusalem

three squatter-settlements are so strategically placed, in other words, to serve as a sword to decapitate Palestinian East Jerusalem from the body of the Palestinian West Bank, forever sinking any hope of a two-state solution (which in any case is already virtually impossible).

Source: EU: In 2021, Israel planned or built 20,030 New Squatter-Settlements In Palestinian Territories, with Massive Spike in E. Jerusalem

Israel

Google Is Selling Advanced AI to Israel, Documents Reveal

In 2021, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International formally accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity by maintaining an apartheid system against Palestinians. While the Israeli military and security services already rely on a sophisticated system of computerized surveillance, the sophistication of Google’s data analysis offerings could worsen the increasingly data-driven military occupation.

Source: Google Is Selling Advanced AI to Israel, Documents Reveal

Israel

Is it Apartheid Yet? Israeli Supreme Court Allows stripping of Citizenship

It is ironic that Israel, which was supposed to be the solution to Jewish statelessness in Europe, has become itself a major cause of statelessness, keeping millions of Palestinians in that condition. It should be remembered that charges of “treason” and “terrorism” have been leveled at Palestinian-Israeli legislators for not supporting Israeli colonial settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, which the UN views as itself a violation of the Geneva Conventions. So, ironically, this decision could set people up to become stateless for adhering to international law.

Source: Is it Apartheid Yet? Israeli Supreme Court Allows stripping of Citizenship

Israel

WATCH: Why don’t Israelis ever hear about Republican antisemitism?

Noam Shuster.

I spoke to Israeli television host Guy Zohar on his show “The Other Side” last week to try and understand why the Israeli mainstream is cutting the far right slack, particularly at a time when it is primarily responsible for much of the homegrown antisemitism in the United States.

Source: WATCH: Why don’t Israelis ever hear about Republican antisemitism?

Israel

Don’t single out Jews in the fight against bigotry | The Electronic Intifada

Portrait of a man from chest up

He’s extremely generous in not mentioning Dutch participation in “Judeocide” as more aggressive than even German. Only 16% of Dutch Jews survived. Aalsmeer was famous for being the most anti-Jewish town in Europe and from where Andrew Bolt’s family originated. Bolt never speaks of his roots in those terms.

Hamburger notes that Zionism started as a form of emancipation for Jews in central and eastern Europe, especially Ukraine and Russia. But the moment that movement came to Palestine to colonize it – and perhaps from its inception – Zionism became a movement of oppression.“It all strengthens my belief that there is something terribly rotten in the state of Israel,”

Source: Don’t single out Jews in the fight against bigotry | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

An Israeli home for America’s New Right

Amiad Cohen, the director general of the Tikvah Fund in Israel, delivers a speech during the Israeli Conservatism Conference, Jerusalem, May 26, 2022. (Fabian Koldorff)

A Jerusalem conference showcases the Israeli right’s embrace of American-style culture wars, nationalist populism, and cults of personality.

While diplomats, politicians, and think tank experts make empty platitudes about some future Palestinian state, the binational reality on the ground continues to take shape, and the right has correctly identified that whatever gains Jews make in this moment can and will be used as leverage in any future arrangement, or simply kept in Jewish hands. Contemporary American right-wing thought — manifested by different forms of anti-wokeism, irony, and so-called freedom of thought, undergirded by white nationalism, and translated and adjusted to the Israeli context — seems like the perfect vehicle for this project.

Source: An Israeli home for America’s New Right

Israel

An American sledgehammer in Jerusalem

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman poses for a portrait in Jerusalem, November 10, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Friedman’s overarching theme, though not presented as such, is to narrate the accelerated expulsion, dispossession, and violent repression of Palestinians as an extended moment of American, Israeli, and Jewish self-actualization. And in that, “Sledgehammer” — both by omission and inclusion — says as much about the administration Friedman officially represented, and its still-unfolding legacy, as it does about the man himself

Friedman’s hyperbolic recounting of his exploits in biblical terms take on their true significance: yes, the egotism and disconnection from reality they display are ripe for ridicule, but their absurdity does not diminish the callousness and violence inherent in casting racist repression as mythos..

Source: An American sledgehammer in Jerusalem

Israel

In Biden World, Palestinians are not an Occupied Nation-in-Waiting but a mere Charity Case

( Middle East Monitor ) – When the Palestinian Authority leader jumped on the US bandwagon spouting status quo rhetoric, he should have remembered President Joe Biden’s dedication to Zionism and colonial Israel. Upon arriving in Israel yesterday for a two day visit during which he will also go to the occupied West Bank, Biden said, ‘I realised that I had the great honour to be part of the great history of this country. I’ll say it again, you need not be a Jew to be a Zionist.’ That ‘great history’, remember, is built upon a distorted narrative and the

Source: In Biden World, Palestinians are not an Occupied Nation-in-Waiting but a mere Charity Case

Israel

As Israel Keeps Killing Americans, U.S. Officials Give It a Pass

Rachel Corrie stands in front of an Israeli bulldozer to protest the destruction of Palestinian homes along the Rafah-Egypt border on March 16, 2003. Corrie was killed later the same day.

Source: As Israel Keeps Killing Americans, U.S. Officials Give It a Pass

Filed under:
Israel

Rep. Sean Casten Returns $50,000 in Pro-Israel Donations

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., is seen at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Congress about the Russian invasion on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.

The refunds indicate the Illinois House member has a strained relationship with pro-Israel groups that supported his reelection.

Source: Rep. Sean Casten Returns $50,000 in Pro-Israel Donations

Israel

A whole life under Israeli siege | The Electronic Intifada

Joud al-Amarin, age 6, who was diagnosed with leukemia, stands hear her mother and father.

Despair sets in among youths born under Israel’s 15-year siege on the Gaza Strip.

Joud al-Amarin, 6, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in July 2020.

Before her diagnosis, she had lost weight, her limbs were swollen and she was tired all the time.

Doctors in the Gaza Strip, where Joud and her family live, said she would have to seek treatment at An-Najah Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Joud’s mother, Tahani, applied for Israeli travel permits to accompany her daughter, and the first three times, the approval process was relatively quick.

Yet the family’s most recent application – needed for Joud’s fourth appointment on 2 April – was different.

Tahani waited almost three months for approval only to be informed that her application was under review by Israel for security reasons.

“We are a poor family whose ultimate goal is to treat our daughter and get our daily livelihood, nothing else,” she said.

“Neither I nor my husband have done anything wrong. We don’t have any political interests. Why was I denied? Our life has turned into hell because of Joud’s condition.”

Source: A whole life under Israeli siege | The Electronic Intifada

Israel, Israel Crimes

In Letter to Biden, Shireen Abu Akleh’s Family Demands Justice

The late journalist's brother Anton Abu Akleh (R) attends a mass held for slain al-Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh at the the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank biblical city of Bethlehem on May 16, 2022. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

We saw what happened when Kashoggi was killed by the Saudis why is Israel the exception. When Putin ordered the assassination of those he regarded as enemies we heard the outcry and saw the all-out effort to show his guilt. In the case of Israel, the effort seems reversed.

The family of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh has asked to meet President Joe Biden during his upcoming visit to Jerusalem, accusing the White House of an “abject response” to the apparent killing of a U.S. citizen by Israeli forces.

“Dear Mr. President,” the family’s letter, sent to Biden on Friday morning, began, “We, the family of Shireen Abu Akleh, write to express our grief, outrage and sense of betrayal concerning your administration’s abject response to the extrajudicial killing of our sister and aunt by Israeli forces on May 11, 2022, while on assignment in the occupied Palestinian city of Jenin in the West Bank.”

 

Source: In Letter to Biden, Shireen Abu Akleh’s Family Demands Justice

Israel

Israel’s impunity is boosted by the US whitewash of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

Israel’s narrative is that Shireen Abu Akleh was one of many disposable Palestinians which the state has killed since the 1948 Nakba. Eliminate the word disposable, and the enormity of Israel’s culpability looms large. Had the Palestinian leadership, along with the international community, refused to isolate Israel’s atrocities into separate incidents, its impunity would by now have been considered a legitimate target for justice. Instead, it has been boosted by the US whitewash of Abu Akleh’s killing.

Source: Israel’s impunity is boosted by the US whitewash of Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

Israel

In Sea Change, US Presbyterian Committee brands Israel’s Occupation of Palestinians Apartheid, calls for end to Collective Punishment in Gaza for

 Last week, the International Engagement Committee of the 1.2-million-strong Presbyterian Church passed a resolution entitled, ‘On Recognition That Israel’s Laws, Policies, and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against the Palestinian People.’ There are roughly 75 million Presbyterians around the world, and it has a strong presence in Africa, with 3.4 million members there. The development came in the same month that the seven million US Lutherans came to a similar conclusion. Eric Ledermann and Greg Brekke writing in the Presbyterian Outlook quote commissioner Leslie Latham as saying that she was initially reluctant to use the word Apartheid,

Source: In Sea Change, US Presbyterian Committee brands Israel’s Occupation of Palestinians Apartheid, calls for end to Collective Punishment in Gaza for