Category: Israel

Israel

Why proposed new Israeli PM, extreme-right Naftali “I’ve Killed a Lot of Arabs” Bennett, is even worse for Palestinians than far right Netanyahu

In a prime time address on Sunday evening, right wing extremist Israeli politician Naftali Bennett announced that he intended to join a government of national unity, including left wing and centrist parties, which would unseat long-serving Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The coalition was mainly put together by Yair Lapid of “There’s a Future” (Yesh Atid) Party, but Lapid is willing to have a rotating prime ministership and is willing to let Naftali take the first turn, for two years. Netanyahu himself went on an unhinged Trump-like rant on television calling Bennett a sham for being willing to go into coalition with the Left (which Netanyahu has often done). The move would allow Israel to avoid a fifth election in a little over two years this summer.

Source: Why proposed new Israeli PM, extreme-right Naftali “I’ve Killed a Lot of Arabs” Bennett, is even worse for Palestinians than far right Netanyahu

Israel

Gaza Reconstruction Will Again Run Up Against Israel Siege

BEIT HANOUN, GAZA - MAY 24: A Palestinian girl stands amid the rubble of her destroyed home on May 24, 2021 in Beit Hanoun, Gaza. Gaza residents continue clean up operations as they return to damaged and destroyed homes as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding into a fourth day. The ceasefire brings to an end 11 days of fighting which left dead more than 250 Palestinians - many of them women and children - and 13 Israelis. The conflict began on May 10 after rising tensions in East Jerusalem and clashes at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images)

“What the Israelis call ‘defense’ is not defense! We need the world to help us defend our families and homes against the occupation,” Ghabayne said. “We have been enduring this siege and occupation for a long time. We just wish that we Palestinians can finally live with a little peace. We don’t want wars, we don’t want occupation, we just want our families to live in a free Palestine.”

Source: Gaza Reconstruction Will Again Run Up Against Israel Siege

Israel

Former Israeli war minister confuses Pakistan for Palestine | The Electronic Intifada

Man speaks on screen with photo of building inset

Speaking with his supposed authority “as Israel’s former defense minister,” Bennett purports to “explain why innocent people are sometimes caught in the crossfire in our just war against terrorism.” “Ever hear of the Shifa hospital?” Bennett asks. “It’s the largest medical complex in Gaza. It’s also where Hamas’ headquarter is located, while they are conducting terror actions against Israel.”

Source: Former Israeli war minister confuses Pakistan for Palestine | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Jewish and Palestinian Mobs Dueled in Israeli Towns — but Crackdown Came for One Side

JERUSALEM - MAY 18: Israeli forces take a Palestinian into custody as Palestinians gathered in front of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate to protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip, in East Jerusalem on May 18, 2021. Israeli forces assaulted and arrested Palestinians. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Mixed Israeli cities and towns saw the worst intercommunal violence in decades — but Israeli police raids swept up almost exclusively Palestinians. Dalia Hatuqa

Source: Jewish and Palestinian Mobs Dueled in Israeli Towns — but Crackdown Came for One Side

Israel

The Iron Dome System Is a Monument to Israel’s Hubris

Israeli officials depict Iron Dome as a near-infallible shield against Hamas rockets. But the system’s real purpose is to sustain the illusion that Israel can rule over the Palestinians while pretending they don’t exist.

Source: The Iron Dome System Is a Monument to Israel’s Hubris

Israel

If you cheer for Hamas, you should understand it wants Israel wiped from the map

A protest in support of Palestinians in London last Saturday.

There is one Israel and there is 15mill Jews every Jew different. Here are two very different opinions one from Sydney and one from Israel.

Let there be no doubt about what these words mean to the people who coined them. They do not represent a call by everyday Palestinians against what they view as unjust policies of Israel. Nor is it an appeal for a Palestinian homeland to be established as part of a two-state settlement. The slogan is an aspirational bid for the state of Israel, which lies between the Jordan river on the east and the Mediterranean to the west, to be wiped off the map of the world. (One Man’s opinion)

Source: If you cheer for Hamas, you should understand it wants Israel wiped from the map

and

Human rights advocates and journalists applauded the Israeli newspaper Haaretz for its “unprecedented” cover story Thursday—one featuring the photos and stories of 67 Palestinian children killed in the latest bombardment campaign by the Israel Defense Forces. “This is the price of war,” the headline read. The article came a day after the New York Times published its own extensive account of the youngest victims of Israel’s most recent 11-day offensive, in which the IDF frequently targeted residential areas of Gaza, known as the world’s largest open-air prison. Haaretz’s focus on the children killed in Gaza was especially noteworthy, said author and Brooklyn College professor Louis Fishman, considering the newspaper’s “readers also send their children to fight in Israel’s wars.” “This is unprecedented,” Fishman tweeted.

‘This Is the Price of War’: Israeli Newspaper Publishes Photos of All 67 Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza Onslaught | Common Dreams News

Israel

‘This Is the Price of War’: Israeli Newspaper Publishes Photos of All 67 Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza Onslaught | Common Dreams News

Human rights advocates and journalists applauded the Israeli newspaper Haaretz for its “unprecedented” cover story Thursday—one featuring the photos and stories of 67 Palestinian children killed in the latest bombardment campaign by the Israel Defense Forces. “This is the price of war,” the headline read. The article came a day after the New York Times published its own extensive account of the youngest victims of Israel’s most recent 11-day offensive, in which the IDF frequently targeted residential areas of Gaza, known as the world’s largest open-air prison. Haaretz’s focus on the children killed in Gaza was especially noteworthy, said author and Brooklyn College professor Louis Fishman, considering the newspaper’s “readers also send their children to fight in Israel’s wars.” “This is unprecedented,” Fishman tweeted.

Source: ‘This Is the Price of War’: Israeli Newspaper Publishes Photos of All 67 Palestinian Children Killed in Gaza Onslaught | Common Dreams News

Israel

Freedom of speech helping to fade the Israeli narrative

Journalistic integrity is helping to diminish support for Israel and encourage a global human rights movement, writes Bilal Cleland.

Source: Freedom of speech helping to fade the Israeli narrative

Israel

Israel Police Target Palestinian Journalists at Al Aqsa Mosque

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site of Islam, on May 21, 2021. - Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound today, in the latest unrest at the sensitive religious site, AFP journalists and police said. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said officers were targeted by Palestinians who threw stones and had begun "riot" suppressing measures. AFP reporters said fierce clashes were ongoing at the site between police and Palestinians. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Journalists at the Jerusalem holy site documented police arbitrarily denying access, delivering beatings, and firing on reporters with rubber-coated bullets.

Source: Israel Police Target Palestinian Journalists at Al Aqsa Mosque

Israel

Stop pretending Jewish anti-Zionists don’t exist

From New York to Bristol, Jewish communities have organised globally in protest over Israel’s brutal and ongoing displacement of Palestinian people. A look at American activist group Jewish Voice for Peace’s site shows a map of rallies and campaigns across all of the U.S.; many of them are organised by Jewish groups outright, or in concert with Palestinian-led groups. Jews are showing up en masse. Anyone surprised by this is not paying enough attention.

Source: Stop pretending Jewish anti-Zionists don’t exist

Israel

Stop comparing Israel to Apartheid South Africa; it is worse

It is common these days to compare the institutional racism in Israel, and its occupation of Palestine, to Apartheid South Africa. Up to a point, it’s a reasonable comparison. Up to a point. For all its horrors and brutality, the apartheid regime in South Africa never used fighter jets and artillery to bomb the oppressed people living in the townships. Israel has, and continues to do so. Indeed, this has now become almost routine, and thus “acceptable” to the international community, allowing Israel to act with impunity. The effects are appalling.

Source: Stop comparing Israel to Apartheid South Africa; it is worse

Israel, Israel Crimes

Video: World stands with Palestine | The Electronic Intifada

Huge numbers of people all over the globe have been protesting in solidarity with Palestinians this month as Israel intensified its killing campaign in the Gaza Strip, and a massive uprising swept cities and villages all over historic Palestine. Demonstrations swept Arab capitals, from Rabat to Amman, Beirut to Baghdad, Sanaa to Tunis.

Source: Video: World stands with Palestine | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Jewish Americans are at a turning point with Israel | Arielle Angel | The Guardian

Tension rises during anti-Israel rally in New York City NEW YORK, USA - MAY 11: Almost a thousand of people are gathered in front of the consulate general of Israel to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza and Al-Aqsa mosque and take streets in New York City, United States on May 11, 2021. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On Nakba Day, 15 May, amid the outbreak of war in Israel/Palestine, I attended a rally in Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from the new Israeli state in 1948, and to protest against the oppression of the Palestinian people in the land between the river and the sea. From the signs I saw as part of that crowd – “This Jew will not stand by” or “Another Jew for a Free Palestine” – and from monitoring my social media feeds, it was clear that there were thousands of Jews taking part in these protests in cities all over the country.

Source: Jewish Americans are at a turning point with Israel | Arielle Angel | The Guardian

Israel

Israel should take note: the weight of opinion is turning against it | Jonathan Freedland | The Guardian

A pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin, Germany, 19 May.

It’s not over, because it’s never over. But there is at least the hope of a pause. After less than a fortnight in which nearly 250 people have been killed, both Hamas and Israel agreed late on Thursday to hold their fire, each crafting a victory story to tell the world and themselves.

Source: Israel should take note: the weight of opinion is turning against it | Jonathan Freedland | The Guardian

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Test of Israel-Palestinian ceasefire as clashes erupt at mosque

Mr Netanyahu said the Israeli military had attacked and destroyed Hamas’s extensive tunnel network in Gaza, its rocket factories, weapons laboratories and storage facilities and killed more than 200 militants, including 25 senior operatives.

Source: Test of Israel-Palestinian ceasefire as clashes erupt at mosque

Israel

Israeli radio incites killing, expulsion of Palestinian citizens | The Electronic Intifada

Two mainstream Israeli radio journalists last week incited violence targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel in Lydd – Lydda in English – a city renamed in Hebrew as Lod after its ethnic cleansing in 1948. Readers should be aware that this article will report on profane and violent language, including references to sexual violence. Asked by a Palestinian guest phoning in to their radio show on 13 May if Israeli Jews were “allowed to slaughter us,” host Yinon Magal replied, “Yes, that’s how it will end, correct.” The guest was Sheikh Yusef al-Bazz, the city’s imam, who was explaining why Palestinian youths had come out onto the streets to protest in solidarity with their people in Jerusalem and Gaza. He argued that the responsibility for any rioting lay with the Israeli government. “You forgot the power the Jews hold” in Israel, Magal shouted into the microphone. Magal’s co-host Ben Caspit made similar threats. He told al-Bazz that “you are making a mistake you made in 1947-48.”

Source: Israeli radio incites killing, expulsion of Palestinian citizens | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

With 58K Palestinians Made Homeless in Gaza, AOC and the Squad Resolve to Block Precision Bombs for Israel

The disproportion of the savage Israeli response to the tiny rockets Hamas has sent over the border can be easily seen when we consider that only a handful of Israelis have had their homes damaged and none have been made homeless. The ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths in the current conflict is on the order of 16 to 1. Disproportionate response and deliberately harming civilians are war crimes.

Source: With 58K Palestinians Made Homeless in Gaza, AOC and the Squad Resolve to Block Precision Bombs for Israel

Israel

No More False Equivalence: Israel Chooses War Over Peace | The Smirking Chimp

If an oppressed people like the residents of Gaza could support a regular army and had the manpower, training and materiel to construct and protect a military base, they wouldn’t be oppressed or occupied. Israeli troops couldn’t invade them. They could defend their territory from airstrikes and retaliate effectively. If the Palestinians were able to fight “fairly” as the IDF and its allies in the media say they would prefer, they would be full-fledged citizens of a fully-sovereign Republic of Palestine, they would have a seat at the U.N. and none of this would be happening again.

Source: No More False Equivalence: Israel Chooses War Over Peace | The Smirking Chimp

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel Created the Refugees in Gaza That They’re Now Bombing

Israel’s violent founding in 1948 forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee for the cramped coastal strip of Gaza. The expulsion created the “world’s largest refugee camp” — and Israel is now bombing it mercilessly.

Source: Israel Created the Refugees in Gaza That They’re Now Bombing

Israel, Israel Crimes

The slow but systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine

Across the world, there has been deep shock over the actions of the Israeli Government’s military aggression towards the Occupied Territories of Palestine, in particular the Gaza Strip. But these actions are part of a deliberate and systematic ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people writes Dr Rashad Seedeen.

Source: The slow but systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine

Israel, Israel Crimes

Why Does the United States Support Israel?

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine is one of the great crimes of the last century. It has been made possible by Israel’s utility to US imperialism.

Source: Why Does the United States Support Israel?

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel’s Total War on Palestinians: Hospital Crisis Grips Gaza in Deadliest Day of Israeli Airstrikes

In the deadliest single day of the Israeli air campaign on Palestinian Gaza, 42 were killed on Sunday, according to the BBC, including 16 women and 10 children. The BBC reports from the Gaza ministry of health that “The overall death toll in Gaza now stands at 197 people, including 58 children and 34 women, with 1,235 injured.”

Source: Israel’s Total War on Palestinians: Hospital Crisis Grips Gaza in Deadliest Day of Israeli Airstrikes

Israel, Israel Crimes

‘A Huge Loss’: Israel’s Killing of Top Doctors Further Strains Overwhelmed Gaza Health System | Common Dreams News

A Palestinian toddler wounded in an Israeli airstrike receives care at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on May 16, 2021. (Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“I have never seen anything like this in my life. There were body parts collected on hospital beds and unbearable scenes.”

Source: ‘A Huge Loss’: Israel’s Killing of Top Doctors Further Strains Overwhelmed Gaza Health System | Common Dreams News

Israel, Israel Crimes

“Making the enemy blind”: Did Israeli AF destroy Highrise housing AP and Al-Jazeera to Hide War Crimes?

The Associated Press is flatly denying the Israeli military’s cover story for why it bombarded the al-Jala tower in Gaza, which housed media offices of AP and al-Jazeera, and where dozens of journalists were based. Israel maintains that there was a Hamas intelligence unit in the building that was targeting Israel. This Israeli allegation is, of course, ridiculous. Hamas’s attacks on Israel are via little rockets with no guidance systems. A third of the Hamas rockets are so feeble that they actually land inside Gaza and have hurt Palestinians. The rockets fly blind and most land uselessly in the desert. So what would an “intelligence office” in an office building be doing that posed a danger to Israel? If they were on a computer on the internet, they could be anywhere– they didn’t have to be in the al-Jala.

Source: “Making the enemy blind”: Did Israeli AF destroy Highrise housing AP and Al-Jazeera to Hide War Crimes?

Israel

As an Occupier, Israel Has No Right to “Self-Defense”

By invoking self-defense, Israel changes the conversation from its colonial crimes against the Palestinians to the injuries it has itself incurred as a result.

Source: As an Occupier, Israel Has No Right to “Self-Defense”

Israel

CBS Host Grills Benjamin Netanyahu: Are You Killing Palestinians As A Plot ‘To Stay In Power’? | Crooks and Liars

Benjamin Netanyahu becomes longest-serving Israeli PM | Benjamin Netanyahu | The Guardian

TRUMP OF ISRAEL: NETANYAHU HAS BEEN ON ON CORRUPTION CHARGES FOR YEARS YET TO BE JUDGED. HE CAN’T FORM A GOVERNMENT AND HE SPITS ON AND DESTROYS- CM- CRITICAL MEDIA

“That’s just hogwash,” Netanyahu added. “But this is a persistent criticism, Mr. Prime Minister,” Dickerson explained. “It persists because I’ve been reelected five times,” Netanyahu remarked. “It persists because I beat every other candidate.”

Source: CBS Host Grills Benjamin Netanyahu: Are You Killing Palestinians As A Plot ‘To Stay In Power’? | Crooks and Liars

Israel, Israel Crimes

Gaza and Israel’s Kidnapper’s Dilemma: Keeping a Million Children Brutalized in its dark Basement

Israel’s staccato bombardment campaigns against Gaza (2008-9, 2014, 2021) are not a war. Israel has an army, Gaza does not. Israel has a sophisticated Air Force with 581 aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The Palestinians in Gaza don’t have a conventional army or navy or air force, don’t have tanks or aircraft or artillery. Most of their rockets are high school science experiments (they have a handful of longer range rockets). The Izzuddin Qassam Brigades have a few tens of thousands of poorly armed and trained volunteer militiamen. If they tried to mount a conventional assault on Israel they would all be killed in an afternoon. The Asian Spa killer in Atlanta killed more people than Hamas has since the beginning of the current hostilities. The two cannot have a war because the Palestinians cannot mount a war. So if it isn’t a military conflict, what is it? It is a performance of Israeli dominance and Palestinian defiance.

Source: Gaza and Israel’s Kidnapper’s Dilemma: Keeping a Million Children Brutalized in its dark Basement

Israel, Israel Crimes

AP President ‘Shocked And Horrified’ At Israel Bombing Of Gaza Media Building | HuffPost

A thick column of smoke rises from the Jala Tower as it is destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday. 

An Israeli airstrike that obliterated a 12-story Gaza City building that housed offices for The Associated Press, Al Jazeera and other media outlets sparked an outcry from international press advocates on Saturday, with AP leadership calling it an “incredibly disturbing” development in the conflict. “We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement. Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, slammed the attack as a “war crime.” “We call on the international community to condemn such barbaric actions and targeting of journalists and we demand an immediate international action to hold Israel accountable for its deliberate targeting of journalists and the media institutions,” Souag said in a statement. He went on to accuse Israel of attempting to “hide the untold carnage and suffering of the people of Gaza.”

Source: AP President ‘Shocked And Horrified’ At Israel Bombing Of Gaza Media Building | HuffPost

 

AP’s Top Editor Calls For Probe Into Israeli Airstrike Of Press Building

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israeli forces destroy media outlets’ Gaza base, says it housed ‘Hamas military intelligence’ – ABC News

The side of a building begins to collapse as smoke bellows all around it.

The 12-storey building housed the offices of The Associated Press and Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera An Israeli military spokesman said the building housed “Hamas military intelligence” The building’s occupants were warned of the strike about an hour before it was targeted

Source: Israeli forces destroy media outlets’ Gaza base, says it housed ‘Hamas military intelligence’ – ABC News

Israel, Israel Crimes

Israel Doesn’t Have a “Right to Exist” — But Israelis and Palestinians Do

We’re often told that creating a single secular democratic state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians would violate Israel’s “right to exist.” But no nation-state has an inviolable right to exist — especially not an ethnostate based on exclusion and ethnic cleansing.

Source: Israel Doesn’t Have a “Right to Exist” — But Israelis and Palestinians Do

Israel

The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal | Yair Wallach | The Guardian

Palestinian medics evacuate a wounded person after clashes in Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound on 10 May 2021.

In the last few years, Jewish supremacism has emerged as a hegemonic ideology that legitimises Israeli control over the entire country, from the river to the sea. For the Israeli radical right, Israel’s inability or unwillingness to take complete control over the Haram is a symptom of “weak sovereignty”. This frustration accentuates the theological insufficiency of the Wall – as the site of permanent ruin and absence – and turns the attention to the Temple Mount.

Source: The violence that began at Jerusalem’s ancient holy sites is driven by a distinctly modern zeal | Yair Wallach | The Guardian

Israel, Israel Crimes

With diplomacy all but abandoned, Israel and the Palestinians are teetering on another war

In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers have been trying to seize control of Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah, a historic part of the city. They have resorted to the Israeli Supreme Court, which usually supports the government and settler line in matters relating to the occupied Palestinian territories. The court’s judgement was expected this week, but was deferred. Palestinians have also been complaining about draconian restrictions imposed on worshippers during Ramadan at the Haram al-Sharif, the area including the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock (which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount).

Source: With diplomacy all but abandoned, Israel and the Palestinians are teetering on another war

Israel, Israel Crimes

This time it’s different | The Electronic Intifada

A streak of light from a rocket blazes through a dark sky

The escalation began in Jerusalem during the month of Ramadan, in a series of provocations carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities. The first in this series was the decision to prevent Palestinians from gathering at Bab al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) in Jerusalem in late April. This sparked a series of protests which eventually forced Israel to rescind the order. Another – ongoing – provocation, which drew some international attention, is the expulsion orders pending against Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah that Israeli courts have granted to Israeli settlers. A third Israeli provocation was the storming of al-Aqsa mosque during prayers on the morning of Friday, 7 May. Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets onto worshippers, resulting in over 200 injuries. In a fourth provocation, settlers announced that on 10 May they would march through Jerusalem to celebrate what they term Jerusalem Day. The intention was to march near al-Aqsa mosque. This march escalated into a fifth provocation on the morning of 10 May as, for the second time in a week, Israeli forces stormed al-Aqsa, attacking worshippers praying inside and ransacking the

Source: This time it’s different | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

How Israeli police are colluding with settlers against Palestinian citizens

A right-wing Israeli seen standing in front of Israeli Border Police officers during attacks by security forces, rightists, and settlers on Palestinians in the city of Lyd, central Israel, May 13, 2021. (Oren Ziv)

The Palestinian residents who I interviewed on Wednesday repeated what I was told by youth participating in the riots. Their problem isn’t with Jewish people, but with the settlers who have been coming in and taking over the city over the past several years with the mayor’s blessing, they said. “We have been living here for decades with religious and Jewish people, there are good neighborly relations, but they [the settlers] are coming for war,” said one of the Palestinian residents.

Source: How Israeli police are colluding with settlers against Palestinian citizens

Israel, Israel Crimes

East Jerusalem Settlement Push Shows Israel “Apartheid”

07 May 2021, Israel, Jerusalem: An Israeli officer confronts a man during a demonstration near the Damascus gate of Jerusalem's old city against the planned eviction process for the Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“It’s remarkable that a term like Nakba, that discussion of issues like settler colonialism and what Zionism really means are finally entering global, and especially American Western, public discourse.”

Source: East Jerusalem Settlement Push Shows Israel “Apartheid”

Israel, Israel Crimes

Palestinians Have a Right to Defend Themselves

Everywhere in the media and in the halls of power, we hear that Israel has a right to self-defense. But when it comes to the question of whether Palestinians suffering under brutal occupation have the right to defend themselves, those same voices are conspicuously silent.

Source: Palestinians Have a Right to Defend Themselves

Israel, Israel Crimes

Did Israel Exacerbate the situation in Gaza to shift attention from its Sheikh Jarrah evictions?

It seems it is the fate of Palestinians to face the worst of apartheid policies under Israel’s military occupation. Denial of rights, dispossessions, expulsions, evictions, ID confiscations, house demolitions, land grabs, airstrikes, tank shelling, targeted assassinations, warships, refugees, military occupation. These are terms among many others that Palestinians are used to hearing and using. The events at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood that happened in the past few days in the occupied holy city of Jerusalem is a reminder of the ethnic cleansing that has never stopped since 1948. Over 300 peaceful worshipers were injured by Israeli rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas canisters. Anger was high as Israeli attacks and violations took place during the holy month of Ramadan while worshippers were praying.

Source: Did Israel Exacerbate the situation in Gaza to shift attention from its Sheikh Jarrah evictions?

Israel, Israel-Body Count, Palestinian Israelis

Israel-Palestine conflict: Gaza Strip attacked as IDF deployed

Rockets launched towards Israel from the northern Gaza Strip and response from the Israeli missile defence system streaks through the sky.

At least 109 people were killed in Gaza, including 29 children, over the previous four days, Palestinian medical officials said. On Thursday alone, 52 Palestinians were killed in the enclave, the highest single-day figure since Monday.

Source: Israel-Palestine conflict: Gaza Strip attacked as IDF deployed

Israel

Civil War? Palestinian-Israelis Join Protests en Masse for First time in Decades, as Squatter Militias Attack

The big surprise of the past week in Israel has been the outbreak of protests and solidarity with the Palestinian cause on the part of the Palestinian-Israelis in the country’s mixed cities such as Lod, Ramla and Acre. Sometimes called the “Arabs of 1948,” these are persons of Palestinian heritage with Israeli citizenship who were not ethnically cleansed in israel’s war for independence, and who make of 20% of the Israeli population. The Center for Palestinian Information writes that Israeli police have been shocked and dismayed as the usually docile population has taken to the streets, throwing stones and in some cases setting fires, in several Israeli cities. They are protesting in solidarity with the Palestinians of Jerusalem, and more recently, Gaza.

Source: Civil War? Palestinian-Israelis Join Protests en Masse for First time in Decades, as Squatter Militias Attack

Israel, Israel Crimes

What Kind of Democracy Kills Children?

Israel claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East. Yet its wanton, murderous bombing campaign in Gaza is slaughtering not just civilians, but scores of children.

Source: What Kind of Democracy Kills Children?

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Israelis

States Can’t Control the Narrative on Israel and Palestine

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MAY 11: Palestinians evacuate a building targeted by Israeli warplanes conducting airstrikes in various parts of Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 11, 2021. Israeli fighters bomb apartment in western Gaza City, kill 3 civilians, several others. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Since the first two Palestinian intifadas, camera phones and social media have changed the landscape of global outrage. Murtaza Hussain

Source: States Can’t Control the Narrative on Israel and Palestine

Israel

There’s Nothing Complicated About What’s Happening in Palestine

We should be absolutely clear about what’s going on in Jerusalem: one of the most militarized nations in the world, Israel, is carrying out its brutal occupation using racist violence and ethnic cleansing.

Source: There’s Nothing Complicated About What’s Happening in Palestine

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

It’s Obvious — Israel Is an Apartheid State

There are no “clashes” occurring in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians. What we’re seeing is the brutal reality of an occupying power exercising its military might over a people stripped of their human rights.

Source: It’s Obvious — Israel Is an Apartheid State

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Unsettling Video of an Ultranationalist Frenzy in Jerusalem

Weeks of protests in Jerusalem, where Palestinians are resisting an effort by Israeli settlers to force them from their homes and challenging Israeli police restrictions on their freedom to worship at Al Aqsa Mosque, spiraled into armed conflict on Monday, as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed 24 Palestinians, nine of them children, health officials said, after Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel.

Source: Unsettling Video of an Ultranationalist Frenzy in Jerusalem

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

What if Israelis attacked the Basilica of St. Peter on Easter? That’s how Muslims feel about Assault on al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

One of the most outrageous Israeli actions against the Palestinians of East Jerusalem during the past week has been the repeated Israeli assaults on worshipers in the al-Aqsa Mosque complex, which is sacred to 1.8 billion Muslims, a fourth of humankind.

Source: What if Israelis attacked the Basilica of St. Peter on Easter? That’s how Muslims feel about Assault on al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Israeli air strike collapses 13-storey housing block in Gaza

An Israeli air strike has destroyed a 13-storey residential block in the Gaza Strip, triggering a Hamas threat to fire 130 rockets into Tel Aviv and its suburbs. Israel threatened yet more air strikes and has tanks massed on the border of Gaza in the worst escalation in violence since 2019. Israel last invaded Gaza in 2014 to stop rocket attacks. Video footage showed three plumes of thick, black smoke rising from the tower, its upper storeys still intact as they fell. The tower houses an office used by the political leadership of Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Electricity in the area around the building went out and residents were using flashlights.

Source: Israeli air strike collapses 13-storey housing block in Gaza

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Israeli Repression and Land Grabs, and the Palestinian Protests in Jerusalem

Violence has become a permanent feature of Ramadan for the people of occupied Palestine. The first day of the fasting month this year began with the Israeli army breaking locks and cutting the wires to the loudspeakers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to silence the evening calls to prayer. In yet another provocative move, Israel allowed only 10,000 Palestinians to enter Jerusalem from the West Bank. On the first Friday in the month, only 70,000 Muslims were able to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque; on one Friday in 2019, there were 200,000 worshippers in the Noble Sanctuary. That was not unusual.

Source: Israeli Repression and Land Grabs, and the Palestinian Protests in Jerusalem

Israel

Israeli police are determined to escalate the violence in Jerusalem

Palestinian demonstrators flee after Israeli security forces fire tear gas outside Damascus Gate, Jerusalem, May 8, 2021. (Oren Ziv)

For four straight days last week, Israeli police dispersed young Palestinians who had come to Sheikh Jarrah to show support for families facing forcible expulsion by settlers in the East Jerusalem neighborhood. The police labeled the nightly vigils “clashes” and “riots.” In reality, however, it was the police that had resorted to violence.

Source: Israeli police are determined to escalate the violence in Jerusalem

Israel, Israel Crimes, Israel-Body Count

Three Children Reported Among Those Killed by IDF in Gaza as Netanyahu Threatens ‘Great Force’ | Common Dreams News

Fire billows from Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on May 10, 2021.

The Palestinian health ministry said Monday that Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed nine people including three children—an attack that came the same day Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque and injured hundreds of Palestinians.

Source: Three Children Reported Among Those Killed by IDF in Gaza as Netanyahu Threatens ‘Great Force’ | Common Dreams News

Israel

Warnings of Israeli fascism should be heeded, not condemned | The Electronic Intifada

Woman and children walk past wall spray painted with graffiti reading Death to the Arabs!

Israel lobby groups are pushing to codify into law worldwide a controversial definition of anti-Semitism with the intent of suppressing criticism of Israel. The definition has been rightly criticized for conflating criticism of a state and its political ideology with anti-Jewish bigotry. What has received less scrutiny is how it would also brand as anti-Semitic critiques of Zionism and Israeli policy expressed by Jews, including Israelis, for decades. This definition of anti-Semitism, adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), provides what it says are 11 examples of anti-Semitism. One of the examples – “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” – implicitly condemns as anti-Semitic the statements of Jewish critics, especially Jewish Israelis, who have made precisely that comparison. One of the most famous of these comparisons came as early as 1948 when Jewish Americans, among them the scientist Albert Einstein and scholars such as Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook and Seymour Melman, published a letter in The New York Times protesting the planned visit of Menachem Begin, then the leader of Israel’s Freedom Party, to the US. The

Source: Warnings of Israeli fascism should be heeded, not condemned | The Electronic Intifada