Category: Israel

Israel

What we’re doing to protect your privacy: +972 and HTTPS | +972 Magazine

As part of our commitment to promoting freedom of information and fighting censorship, we recently added an important layer of encryption to our website. Here’s why we did it, and what it means for you. Over the past year we at +972 Magazine have dedicated significant resources into expanding our journalistic focus on censorship, freedom of information, and online free speech issues in Israel and Palestine. [tmwinpost] We have covered attempts to impose military censorship on Israeli bloggers and social media users, the expanding use of gag orders, we’ve exposed the previously uknown scope of censorship in Israel, the arbitrary…

Source: What we’re doing to protect your privacy: +972 and HTTPS | +972 Magazine

Israel

Report: Sharp spike in repression of Palestinian journalists | +972 Magazine

Two new reports document the growing repression of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces last year. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel is currently imprisoning the same number of journalists as the Syrian regime. By Oren Persico Palestinian journalists have been subject to a severe increase in violations by Israeli security forces over the past several months, according to a report published by MADA — Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms last week. MADA, a Ramallah-based Palestinian NGO that tracks violations against Palestinian journalists, found 27 cases in which the rights of Palestinian journalists were violated by Israeli forces in November, as…

Source: Report: Sharp spike in repression of Palestinian journalists | +972 Magazine

Israel

What were the top 10 BDS victories of 2016? | The Electronic Intifada

The year will be “remembered as the year of Israel’s spectacular failure” as BDS continued to grow.

Source: What were the top 10 BDS victories of 2016? | The Electronic Intifada

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Israel

Diana Buttu & Gideon Levy on Israeli Settlements, Kerry, Military Aid & End of Two-State Solution | Democracy Now!

Secretary of State John Kerry has blasted Israel’s government, saying in a major address on Wednesday that the relentless expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank threatens Israel’s democracy and has all but ended the prospect of a two-state solution with the Palestinians. “If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or Democratic; it cannot be both,” Kerry said. “And it won’t ever really be at peace.” Kerry’s speech followed intense Israeli criticism of the U.S. for refusing to veto a Security Council resolution last week. The measure condemns Israel’s expansion of settlements as a flagrant violation of international law. The resolution passed in a 14-0 vote. The U.S. abstained. We speak to Palestinian attorney Diana Buttu and Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, a Haaretz columnist.

Source: Diana Buttu & Gideon Levy on Israeli Settlements, Kerry, Military Aid & End of Two-State Solution | Democracy Now!

Israel

The annexation of Palestine could be closer than you think | +972 Magazine

A perfect storm of domestic Israeli politics combined with the changing of the guard in Washington could create an opportunity for those advocating annexation to finally make their move. Senior Israeli government minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that he will introduce legislation to effectively annex Israel’s third-largest settlement in the West Bank, Ma’ale Adumim, by the end of January. It is safe to assume, that when Bennett says “by the end of January,” he means after the January 21 inauguration of Donald Trump. [tmwinpost] Bennett’s desire to incrementally annex parts of the West Bank are neither new nor secret.…

Source: The annexation of Palestine could be closer than you think | +972 Magazine

Israel

» DCI Report: Children in West Bank Face Deadliest Year of Past Decade– IMEMC News

Source: » DCI Report: Children in West Bank Face Deadliest Year of Past Decade– IMEMC News

Israel

Israeli soldiers who beat journalists escape punishment | The Electronic Intifada

It took the military three years to conduct disciplinary proceedings against commanding officers who ordered soldiers to attack journalists with clubs.

Source: Israeli soldiers who beat journalists escape punishment | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

+972’s Person of the Year: The women standing up to sexual harassment | +972 Magazine

By Dahlia Scheindlin Ofer Buchris is a barrel-chested 48 year old with a heavy brow and war wounds. Until recently he was also a venerated general in the IDF. “A.” was a young female soldier under his command in the legendary Golani combat brigade. She accused him of sexual assault, rape, and sodomy between 2010 and 2012. She sent him a letter saying he had ruined her life and began psychological treatment. Meanwhile he was slated for a major promotion (other Golani commanders have gone on to become IDF chief of staff). In late February 2016, A. made a formal…

Source: +972’s Person of the Year: The women standing up to sexual harassment | +972 Magazine

Israel

When Jews light the Hanukkah candles, they should remember their own history and stand up to Israel over illegal settlements | The Independent

 

netanyahu-hanukkah-.jpg

 

Christmas may be over, but for Jews celebrating the festival of Hanukkah festivities still are in full swing. Though the story of the Maccabees fighting their oppressors took place thousands of years ago, disputes over who should control swathes of land in Israel and Palestine are pressing and pertinent to this day.

Source: When Jews light the Hanukkah candles, they should remember their own history and stand up to Israel over illegal settlements | The Independent

Israel

Julie Bishop backs Israel rather than the US over UN resolution

Australia has broken ranks with the United States and New Zealand over Israel, indicating that it would most likely have opposed the UN Security Council resolution condemning its settlements on Palestinian land.

Source: Julie Bishop backs Israel rather than the US over UN resolution

Israel

Israel warned New Zealand that UN resolution was ‘declaration of war’: report

Israeli leader personally phoned New Zealand’s foreign minister to warn him that Wellington’s co-sponsorship of a UN resolution was a “declaration of war”.

Source: Israel warned New Zealand that UN resolution was ‘declaration of war’: report

Israel

The cruel experiments of Israel’s arms industry | The Electronic Intifada

The occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli weapons manufacturers’ laboratories, and Palestinians are their subjects.

Source: The cruel experiments of Israel’s arms industry | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel punishes the world after UN vote | The Electronic Intifada

UN resolution may boost BDS movement, Israel fears.

Source: Israel punishes the world after UN vote | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Palestine documentary stirs controversy in Germany | The Electronic Intifada

Film by anti-Zionist Israeli challenges dominant German narrative.

Source: Palestine documentary stirs controversy in Germany | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Video: Israeli soldiers tear gas Santa | The Electronic Intifada

Christmas protest called for freedom of movement between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Source: Video: Israeli soldiers tear gas Santa | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

‘On Contact’ Discussion: ‘Israeli Weapons Are Tested on Palestinians, Then Sold to the World’ – Truthdig

Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges and independent journalist Rania Khalek analyze the Israeli arms industry, which was involved in global contracts worth $5.7 billion last year.

Source: ‘On Contact’ Discussion: ‘Israeli Weapons Are Tested on Palestinians, Then Sold to the World’ – Truthdig

Israel

Ideologues in Charge in Israel: What Can Palestinians and Israeli Arabs Expect Next? : ISLAMiCommentary

by SHALOM GOLDMAN for ISLAMiCommentary on JUNE 6, 2016: What does the latest political shift to the Right within Israel’s ruling coalition portend for

Source: Ideologues in Charge in Israel: What Can Palestinians and Israeli Arabs Expect Next? : ISLAMiCommentary

Israel

Stifling the debate on Israel | Informed Comment

By Ramzy Baroud | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – The British government of Theresa May officially adopted on Dec. …

Source: Stifling the debate on Israel | Informed Comment

Israel

News | +972 Magazine

News from Israel

IDF soldiers who killed unarmed Palestinian set for community service | +972 Magazine

 

Israel

» 265 Palestinians Slain since October 2015– IMEMC News

Source: » 265 Palestinians Slain since October 2015– IMEMC News

Israel

Group headed by Trump’s Israel envoy pick sued for war crimes | The Electronic Intifada

David Friedman is president of organization that raises money for militant Beit El colony.

Source: Group headed by Trump’s Israel envoy pick sued for war crimes | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel among world’s worst jailers of journalists | The Electronic Intifada

Palestinian reporters imprisoned for live reporting on Israeli raids, playing songs.

Source: Israel among world’s worst jailers of journalists | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Palestinian East Jerusalem Vanishing: Israeli Strategy Exposed in New Video | Informed Comment

By IMEMC | – – A new video released by the Negotiations Affairs Department, titled “East Jerusalem: Israel’s Colonial Project …

Source: Palestinian East Jerusalem Vanishing: Israeli Strategy Exposed in New Video | Informed Comment

Israel

Will Israeli soldier get away with videotaped killing of teen? | The Electronic Intifada

Plea bargain in killing of Nadim Nuwara would confirm impunity for Israeli soldiers.

Source: Will Israeli soldier get away with videotaped killing of teen? | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Former IDF ethicist tapped to censor ‘political speech’ in Israeli universities | +972 Magazine

Professor Asa Kasher, whose code of ethics for the IDF found expression in the devastation of the 2014 Gaza war, is set to decide what lecturers at Israel’s universities and colleges can and can’t say. Education Minister Naftali Bennett intends to lay down new “ethical rules” for what lecturers at Israel’s centers of higher learning can and can’t say regarding politics, Haaretz reported on Thursday. The move is the latest in a long line of Bennett initiatives aimed at making Israel’s academic institutions more right-wing, more Zionist and more — as he would see it — loyal to the state. Israeli lecturers, spooked by the prospect of…

Source: Former IDF ethicist tapped to censor ‘political speech’ in Israeli universities | +972 Magazine

Israel

Lessons from Israel on how to build resistance in the U.S. | +972 Magazine

American liberals in despair over the presidential election would do well to look at Israel, where setbacks at the ballot box brought left-wingers together and drove them to think bigger. By Matt Duss and Dahlia Scheindlin As the initial shock of the presidential election fades, American progressives are left struggling with disturbing implications beyond the mere fact of being on the losing side. We ponder the apparent declaration that America rejects its religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ community, the immigrants who have made this country great, its independent women, and even its equality-supporting men. What looked like a historic march toward…

Source: Lessons from Israel on how to build resistance in the U.S. | +972 Magazine

Israel

Meet the radical Israeli looking to lead Britain’s Jewish students | +972 Magazine

A radical, left-wing British-Israeli has shaken up the race for the next president of the U.K.’s Union of Jewish students, and drawn international media attention. Eran Cohen talks BDS, diasporism, and being wounded by unfriendly IDF fire. By Matan Kaminer The election campaign for president of the U.K.’s Union of Jewish Students is not the kind of story you’d expect to be picked up by the international media. But Eran Cohen, a British-Israeli and a radical leftist, is not your usual kind of candidate, and his campaign has generated headlines in Jewish outlets in the U.S. and Israel. [tmwinpost] With political…

Source: Meet the radical Israeli looking to lead Britain’s Jewish students | +972 Magazine

Israel

I’ve Never Seen the Israel / Palestine Conflict Illustrated More Uniquely Than This

Source: I’ve Never Seen the Israel / Palestine Conflict Illustrated More Uniquely Than This

Israel

From Palestine to South Carolina, justice is scarce for victims of police violence | +972 Magazine

The trials of two police officers in Israel-Palestine and the U.S. collapsed within hours of each other on Monday. Both cases prove how difficult it is to secure justice for Palestinian and African-American victims of state violence. On May 15, 2014, three Palestinian teenagers were shot by Israeli security forces with live ammunition as they attended a Nakba Day protest in the West Bank town of Beitunia. Nadim Nawara, 17, and Muhammed Abu al-Thahir, 16, were both killed. Fifteen-year-old Muhammed Azzeh survived, despite having been shot in the lung. Just under a year later, over 6,000 miles away, a police officer…

Source: From Palestine to South Carolina, justice is scarce for victims of police violence | +972 Magazine

Israel

Israeli teens charged for brutally beating asylum seeker to death | +972 Magazine

Darfuri asylum seeker Babikir Adham-Uvdo was beaten to death by two teenagers after he was allegedly seen speaking to a group of young women. Why aren’t more Israelis talking about it? By John Brown* Emmett Till was an African-American teenager from Mississippi who was lynched on August 14, 1955 during a visit to his relatives. His murderers mutilated him and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River after he reportedly flirted with 21-year-old white woman by the name of Carolyn Bryant. [tmwinpost] After they were were acquitted, Till’s killers admitted to the crime in an interview, claiming that they did not believe there…

Source: Israeli teens charged for brutally beating asylum seeker to death | +972 Magazine

Israel

Nearly half of Americans support sanctions on Israel, poll finds | +972 Magazine

As the Democratic party regroups ahead of the next election cycle, it would be wise for its leadership to examine areas where the Clinton campaign diverged from the party’s base. Israel-Palestine is one of those issues. The number of Americans who support imposing sanctions on Israel over its defiant settlement policies has shot up to 46 percent, the same percentage of Americans who voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election. [tmwinpost] That number has shot up nearly 10 percentage points over the past year, according to a national poll published by the Brookings Institute on Friday, on the sidelines…

Source: Nearly half of Americans support sanctions on Israel, poll finds | +972 Magazine

Israel

Meet the Palestinian man arrested for being sarcastic | +972 Magazine

Anas Abudaabes, arrested for publishing satirical Facebook posts about people celebrating the wildfires in Israel, talks about how Israeli police tried to humiliate him, and explains why he insists on criticizing Arab society in Israel. Like Ludvik, the protagonist in Milan Kundera’s novel “The Joke,” Anas Abudaabes has discovered firsthand the problems that arise when a regime lacks a sense of humor or irony. Yet Abudaabes, unlike Ludvik, has not lost his own sense of humor, even following his Kafkaesque arrest last week for writing an ironic Facebook post lampooning those who celebrated the fires that were raging across Israel.…

Source: Meet the Palestinian man arrested for being sarcastic | +972 Magazine

Israel, Israel Crimes

Australian lawmakers urge end to Israeli abuses of Palestinian children | The Electronic Intifada

Initiative is successful result of international cooperation among activists.

Source: Australian lawmakers urge end to Israeli abuses of Palestinian children | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

If you’re Palestinian in Israel, satire can land you in jail | Andrew Bolt would have been jailed long ago for vilification

Anas Abudaabes was arrested last week for publishing a satirical Facebook post criticizing Arabs who celebrated the wildfires raging across Israel. Three separate judges claimed he was inciting to violence. By John Brown* The Be’er Sheva District Court rejected an appeal on the detention of Bedouin journalist Anas Abudaabes on Sunday, after he was arrested last week over a Facebook post. The police, which claimed the post incited people to commit arson in the wake of the current wildfires blazing across Israel, decided to release Abudaabes from detention under restrictive bail conditions. [tmwinpost] Despite the stated reasons for his arrest, Abudaabes’…

Source: If you’re Palestinian in Israel, satire can land you in jail | +972 Magazine

Israel

US “concerned” over Israeli slaying of Palestinian American teen | The Electronic Intifada

Amnesty International says boy’s death should be investigated as possible extrajudicial execution.

Source: US “concerned” over Israeli slaying of Palestinian American teen | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel deems comatose Gaza man a security threat | +972 Magazine

Abed al-Karim Abu Haloub has been in a coma in Gaza for over 40 days, requiring treatment in the West Bank. Israel repeatedly refused to allow him to leave. Israeli authorities repeatedly refused to allow a Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment in the West Bank, denying his travel permit on security grounds, despite the fact that he has been in a coma for over a month. [tmwinpost] Physicians for Human Rights—Israel (PHR) attempted to intervene on the Abed al-Karim Abu Haloub’s behalf, twice appealing the decision to reject his permit request to no avail. The fact that…

Source: Israel deems comatose Gaza man a security threat | +972 Magazine

Israel

WATCH: Israeli tours teach about the Nakba | +972 Magazine

Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled from their homes in the 1948 war that led to Israel’s establishment. One organization is taking Israelis to visit the ruins of the abandoned villages, to learn about the Palestinian ‘Nakba,’ or tragedy. Read more about Nakba remembrance: Turning entire Palestinian villages invisible How we learned to forget the villages we destroyed For Israelis, Palestinian refugees are a constant, lurking threat

Source: WATCH: Israeli tours teach about the Nakba | +972 Magazine

Israel

Israel’s sliding definition of anti-Semitism in the Trump era | Informed Comment

By Heike Schotten | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – You would think that support for Israel is fundamentally at …

Source: Israel’s sliding definition of anti-Semitism in the Trump era | Informed Comment

Israel

Pro-Israel and racist? Palestinians aren’t surprised in the slightest | +972 Magazine

Though it may have sparked debate in the Jewish-American community, the idea that Israel can be a cause célèbre for white nationalists is hardly news to Palestinians, whose very existence vies with a state steeped in European, colonial racism. Since his appointment last week as chief White House strategist, sensationalist media maven Steve Bannon—whose editorial sensibilities have spawned such haute headlines as “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy”—has become something of a lightning rod in the mainstream Jewish-American community. The Anti-Defamation League’s Jonathan Greenblatt said his group opposed Bannon on grounds that the alt-right hero is “so hostile to core American values” while…

Source: Pro-Israel and racist? Palestinians aren’t surprised in the slightest | +972 Magazine

Israel

Conservative Israel Advocacy Groups Pass On Bannon Criticism As J Street And Other Jewish Groups Condemn “Horrifying” Hiring

Conservative-leaning Israel advocacy groups are defending or refusing to condemn President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Stephen Bannon for a senior White House role despite his history of promoting anti-Semitism. Their behavior is in stark contrast to leaders of other Jewish and civil rights groups, who are criticizing the move as

Source: Conservative Israel Advocacy Groups Pass On Bannon Criticism As J Street And Other Jewish Groups Condemn “Horrifying” Hiring

Israel

The oldest trick in the book, and we’re still falling for it | +972 Magazine

While Netanyahu distracts the Left with attacks on the media, his right-wing coalition partners are taking far more dangerous steps. By Ilan Manor Like many on the Israeli left, my Facebook feed last week was swarming with images of veteran journalist Ilana Dayan trouncing Prime Minister Netanyahu. Friends from all over country felt certain that Netanyahu’s long, violent, personal, and erratic public rebuke of Dayan would be his undoing, that the prime minister had finally gone too far in his war on the media. Soon, journalists joined the choir berating Netanyahu for labelling Dayan a left-wing saboteur and propagandist. [tmwinpost]…

Source: The oldest trick in the book, and we’re still falling for it | +972 Magazine

Israel

Israel consolidates grip on Golan under cover of Syria’s chaos | The Electronic Intifada

Israel raises specter of Islamic State in bid for international recognition of its annexation of the occupied territory.

Source: Israel consolidates grip on Golan under cover of Syria’s chaos | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Israel’s biggest paper ignores anti-Semitism of senior Trump advisor | +972 Magazine

U.S. president elect Donald Trump. (Michael Candelori/CC-by-2.0)

News of white supremacist Stephen Bannon’s appointment to a top job in the next White House has been roiling much of the Jewish press and anti-hate groups, including the ADL. Israel’s most-read newspaper, ‘Israel Hayom,’ decided its readers don’t need to know. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis will have no idea that a bonafide anti-Semite is going to be the next U.S. president’s left-hand man. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Sunday he will be appointing Stephen K. Bannon, a white nationalist anti-Semite and one of the faces of the pro-Trump alt-right movement, as the new White House chief strategist. But you wouldn’t know…

Source: Israel’s biggest paper ignores anti-Semitism of senior Trump advisor | +972 Magazine

Israel

The ‘ultimate deal’: Trump’s coming obsession with Palestine | +972 Magazine

Many fear that a Trump presidency will, by default, favor Netanyahu and his policies. But if Trump’s past statements on Israel are precedent, what will matter more is whether the ‘dealmaker’ gets to broker the ultimate deal. We’re not even a week in, and the panic is palpable. “Trump Election Already Bad News for Palestinians,” reads one headline. Settlement construction will surely spike. “The era of the Palestinian state is over.” But for even the most casual observer of the Middle East, these pronouncements are nothing new. And despite the official statements from Jerusalem and Ramallah, the leaders of Israel…

Source: The ‘ultimate deal’: Trump’s coming obsession with Palestine | +972 Magazine

Israel

The war that cemented Israel’s place in the Middle East | +972 Magazine

The 1956 Sinai War was Israel’s first war as an established state, and followed eight years of hints at the possibility of peace. In the eyes of its Arab neighbors, the ’56 war aligned Israel with the former colonial powers, setting the stage for decades of hostility and war. “The military attack on Egypt caused Israel unfathomable damage to its international status and security. The operation presented Israel to the entire world as an aggressor. It also presented Israel at the forefront of international colonialism in the Middle East. The attack on Egypt blocked the road to peace with the Arab…

Source: The war that cemented Israel’s place in the Middle East | +972 Magazine

Israel

Violence, abuse by Israel supporters caught on video at London college | The Electronic Intifada

Palestine activists were protesting appearance by former Israeli officer at UCL.

Source: Violence, abuse by Israel supporters caught on video at London college | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

Palestinians aren’t counting on Trump or Hillary for their liberation | +972 Magazine

Americans will still have a long way to go before they can decide what their country represents. Once they do, Palestinians can begin to care again about what happens in Washington. As a Palestinian contributor to +972, I have been struggling these past weeks with how to write about the US presidential election. Part of the problem is that this year’s nominees have hardly touched on our part of the world. Beyond the shock-jock antics of the Republican candidate or the very real resurgence of hate among the American electorate, this election has revealed America’s distinct lack of awareness about…

Source: Palestinians aren’t counting on Trump or Hillary for their liberation | +972 Magazine

Israel

UNESCO dared say Jerusalem is Sacred to *3* Faiths & So Netanyahu Smeared It

By: Ramzy Baroud | (Ma’an News Agency) | – – Did Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi actually read the UNESCO …

Source: UNESCO dared say Jerusalem is Sacred to *3* Faiths & So Netanyahu Smeared It

Israel

Will ICC see through Israel’s sham justice? | The Electronic Intifada

Israel goes through motions of internal investigation to avoid international prosecution.

Source: Will ICC see through Israel’s sham justice? | The Electronic Intifada

Israel

How thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women are waging peace | +972 Magazine

The thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women who marched in Jerusalem and Jericho this month are not only demanding peace from their societies, they are reaching through stereotypes and artificial boundaries to find true partners. By Riman Barakat Less than a year ago a group of Palestinian and Israeli women spent a weekend in Tantur, situated between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, brainstorming what we could possibly do to break the cycle of violence and political stagnation. Everyone had their own personal reason for being there, whether it was the Israeli mothers who had to send their children to war or the…

Source: How thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women are waging peace | +972 Magazine