Young British Jews are facing a torrent of hatred from their own community for expressing solidarity with Gaza. And yet, more British Jews are struggling to see the values they hold reflected in the Israeli government.
via The British Jewish community won’t silence our solidarity with Gaza | +972 Magazine
“The occupation directly targets journalists because it finds that the truth is bitter,” photojournalist Ibrahim Zanoun told The Electronic Intifada. Israeli snipers shot Zanoun in the arm while he was covering the march.
“Those who carry cameras with long-focus lenses are especially targeted,” said photojournalist Abdulrahman al-Kahlout, who was shot in the foot with live ammunition. “So that what’s happening on the ground remains hidden.”
via Video: Israel targets journalists in Gaza | The Electronic Intifada
Palestine has submitted a formal referral to the International Criminal Court in the Hague over Israeli sniping with live fire at peaceful Gaza protesters this spring, which killed some 60 persons and literally wounded thousands.
Palestine, which is a cautious and timid government, had earlier declined to go to the ICC, in hopes instead of reaching a negotiated settlement. The Trump decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, however, forestalled a negotiated settlement on that issue. Israel’s illegal flooding of its citizens onto Palestinian property in the West Bank and refusal to negotiate any freeze in squatter settlements has also convinced Palestine that the US-Israeli “peace process” is a cover for slow genocide. Ironically, it was Trump’s lack of diplomatic grace that in large part impelled this step.
via Palestine takes Israel to Int’l Criminal Court at Hague over Gaza Massacre
The UN human rights chief has slammed Israel’s deadly reaction to protests along the Gaza border as “wholly disproportionate”, backing calls for an international investigation.
Opening a special session of the UN Human Rights Council that could set up a commission of inquiry into recent Israeli violence that has resulted in deaths of more than 100 Palestinians in six weeks, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein warned that “killing resulting from the unlawful use of force by an occupying power may also constitute wilful killings, a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
He went on to say that Israel has systematically deprived Palestinians of their human rights, with 1.9 million in Gaza “caged in a toxic slum from birth to death”.
via UN rights chief backs calls for inquiry over Gaza killings | News | Al Jazeera
As Israel slaughtered dozens of unarmed Palestinians in Gaza this week, prominent media outlets employed innocuous headlines to obscure the horrific reality.
In the video above, RT correspondent Anya Parampil points to some examples of what she calls “an almost across the board obfuscation of Israel’s responsibility for the violence.”
A BBC headline read for instance, “Gaza’s deadliest day of violence in years,” while The Guardian ran with “Fatal clashes in Gaza after opening of US embassy.”
The word “clashes,” Parampil observes, “would lead you to believe there are casualties or injuries on the Israeli side.”
In fact after seven weeks in which Israel has killed some 100 Palestinians and injured 12,600 others, Israel has reported one minor injury to a soldier.
via Passive media whitewash Israel’s massacre in Gaza | The Electronic Intifada
Over 7,000 Palestinians took part in Friday’s demonstrations in five different locations along the Gaza-Israel border. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, over 43 protesters were wounded, including three critically, in the clashes with Israeli forces. A total of 45 Palestinians have been killed on the border since the march began.
via Israeli army opens fire on Gaza protesters sixth week in a row | +972 Magazine
More than 40 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli fire in the March of Return protests.
Israel says many of the dead and wounded have links to the military wing of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.
But the ongoing deaths in Gaza did not dominate debate in Israel this week.
What many were talking about was the decision of Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman.
The US State Department doesn’t know whether there are civilians in Gaza or not.
This is terrifying – a new low for a department that may soon be led by CIA director Mike Pompeo – a supporter of torture.
The State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert was questioned by Said Arikat of the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds on 10 April: “Today, the Israeli minister of defense, [Avigdor] Lieberman, said – told The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper, that there are no civilians in Gaza. Do you have any comment on that?”
In one of the most disturbing responses given in recent memory by a State Department spokesperson, Nauert responded by saying, “I do not. I do not.”
Asked to look into whether there are civilians in Gaza, Nauert responded, “If I have an answer, I will give it to you, certainly.”
For the record, children comprise roughly half of Gaza’s population.
via US fails to acknowledge Gaza has civilians | The Electronic Intifada
Israel issues the Death Penalty for Civil Disobedience
It is impossible to know what will happen along the border with Gaza in the coming weeks. But one thing is certain: Israel will continue to respond with brutality and arrogance in the face of Palestinian nonviolent civil disobedience.
via Brutality is the only answer Israel has to Gaza’s civil disobedience | +972 Magazine
Salem Muhammad Sabah, 17, and Abdallah Ayman Armelat, 15, were fired on by Israeli soldiers as they approached Gaza’s southeastern boundary with Israel on Saturday night.
Israeli soldiers operate under an apparent shoot-to-kill policy in Gaza’s boundary areas. The exact range of the zone is undeclared but is generally understood to be within 300 meters of the Gaza-Israel boundary.
Israeli forces prevented medical teams from recovering the teens’ bodies until the following morning, according to Al Mezan, a human rights group based in Gaza.
Al Mezan stated that the children “posed no imminent threat of death or serious injury” to soldiers.
Two additional children sustained minor injuries during the same incident.
via Israeli forces kill two boys in Gaza boundary area | The Electronic Intifada
Sewage has left half of Gaza’s beaches unfit for swimming.
Politicians from any parliament or government which supports or chooses to ignore the cruelties dished out by the government of Israel should be held accountable.In their defence, such politicians might say they did not know about the extent of the slaughter and destruction in Gaza, the continued stealing of Palestinian homes by settlers in East Jerusalem, more demolitions of houses throughout the West Bank or the destruction of Bedouin camps.
Source: Will Violence Against Bedouins Shift Opinion On Israel? | newmatilda.com
![The largest demonstrations coincided with the move of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem on Monday, which saw Israeli forces kill at least 60 Palestinians [AFP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2018/5/15/21741b99731c4cf3854b5344de5114e9_18.jpg "UN rights chief backs calls for inquiry over Gaza killings")
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