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Content about Palestine

January 23, 2024

The genocide case brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice charges that "Israel has damaged and destroyed numerous centres of Palestinian learning and culture" in the Gaza Strip, including schools, libraries, religious sites and places of historical importance. The United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that in the two-and-a-half months of bombardment, more than 200 schools have been damaged—around 40% of the total number in the Strip, about 40 of them seriously. UNESCO is also attempting to monitor damage to heritage sites using satellite data and sources on the ground. The agency has especially expressed concern over the ruins of fourth-century Saint Hilarion Monastery, which has been placed under "provisional enhanced protection." The oldest mosque in Gaza, the Omari Mosque, has been severely damaged in Israeli bombardment.

The genocide case brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice charges that "Israel has damaged and destroyed numerous centres of Palestinian learning and culture" in the Gaza Strip, including schools, libraries, religio

September 6, 2023

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with the crown prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, at Gudaibiya Palace in the capital Manama, to discuss boosting trade and diplomatic ties, which were first established in 2020 as part of the so-called Abraham Accords. Cohen said he hoped this would be a precedent for "normalization" of Israel's relations with other Arab states. Tellingly, the meeting came as Israel and Bahrain are each facing hunger strikes in their prisons, with political detainees protesting harsh conditions and restrictions on their basic rights.

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met Sept.

June 23, 2023

Israel's right-wing nationalist government announced new plans to approve the construction of thousands of new buildings in the occupied West Bank, despite pressure from both the US and EU to halt settlement expansion. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has just been granted authority over approval of West Bank settlement construction in a cabinet decision, tweeted in explicitly annexationist language: "The construction boom in Judea and Samaria and all over our country continues." The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for US and international action to press the Israeli government to backtrack on the decision.

Israel’s right-wing nationalist government announced new plans June 18 to approve the construction of thousands of new buildings in the occupied West Bank, despite pressure from both 

January 2, 2023

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution referring Israel's 55-year occupation of Palestinian territories to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a legal advisory. The vote, which followed approval of a draft resolution by the Special Committee on Decolonization, was 87-26, with 53 abstentions. The Palestinian Authority welcomed the vote, saying in a statement: "The time has come for Israel to be a state subject to law, and to be held accountable for its ongoing crimes against our people." But the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power just two days before the vote, makes clear his government's annexationist agenda. He stated: "The Jewish people is not occupying its land and is not occupying its eternal capital Jerusalem. No UN resolution can distort this historical truth." The far-right coalition that now takes power has pledged to expand Israeli settlement of the West Bank. 

The UN General Assembly on Dec.

December 26, 2022

Chile is planning to open an embassy in Palestine, President Gabriel Boric has announced. Speaking at a private ceremony hosted by the local Palestinian community in the capital Santiago, Boric acknowledged that he is "taking a risk" with the move, but added: "We are going to raise our official representation in Palestine from having a charge d'affaires. Now we are going to open an embassy." The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately commended the decision, saying it "affirms the principled position of Chile and its president in support of international law and the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state."

Chile is planning to open an embassy in Palestine, President Gabriel Boric announced Dec. 23. Speaking at a private ceremony hosted by the local Palestinian community in the capital Santiago, Boric acknowledged that he is "taking a risk" with the move, but added: "We are going to raise our official representation in Palestine from having a charge d'affaires.

October 22, 2022

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, released its second report, stating there are "reasonable grounds to conclude that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is now unlawful under international law due to its permanence and the Israeli Government's de-facto annexation policies." The commission called for the UN Security Council to bring to an end the "illegal situation resulting from the permanent occupation imposed by Israel" and require Israel to bring "its permanent occupation to an end immediately." 

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, on Oct.

October 28, 2021

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared six Palestinian human rights groups to be terrorist organizations, claiming they are "secretly linked" to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)–a leftist resistance group that Israel has long designated a "terrorist organization." The groups on Gantz's list are Addameer, al-Haq, the Bisan Center, Defense for Children Palestine (DCIP), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC). International rights groups Humans Rights Watch and Amnesty International released a joint statement calling the announcement a "brazen attack on human rights." The Israeli rights group B'Tselem called the declaration "an act characteristic of totalitarian regimes, with the clear purpose of shutting down these organizations." 

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Oct. 19 declared six Palestinian human rights groups to be "terrorist organizations," effectively outlawing their activities.

April 29, 2021

Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing Israeli authorities of crimes against humanity, specifically those of apartheid and persecution, targeting the Palestinian people. The report charges that there is "an overarching Israeli government policy" to mitigate what authorities have openly described as a "demographic threat" from Palestinians. The 213-page report, A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution, cites definitions in the 1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Human Rights Watch on April 27 issued a report accusing Israeli authorities of crimes against humanity, specifically those of apartheid and persecution, targeting the Palestinian people.

September 20, 2020

An Israeli court sentenced a Jewish settler to life in prison plus 20 years for murdering a Palestinian family in a 2015 firebomb attack on their home in the occupied West Bank. The district court determined that Amiram Ben-Uliel led a racially-motivated attack on the Dawabsheh home in Duma village, and spray-painted the terms "Revenge" and "Long Live the Messiah" on the home's walls in Hebrew alongside a depiction of the Star of David. The attack killed Saad Dawabsheh, 32, and Riham Dawabsheh, 27, along with their 18-month-old son, Ali. Then four–year–old Ahmed Dawabsheh was the only family member to survive the attack, with severe burns. Judge Ruth Lorch stated that Ben-Uliel did not commit "a reckless act" in "a spontaneous manner," but acted in a "meticulously planned" manner "stemm[ing] from racism and an extremist ideology."

An Israeli court sentenced a Jewish settler to life in prison plus 20 years on Sept. 14 for murdering a Palestinian family in a 2015 firebomb attack on their home in the occupied West Bank.

September 1, 2020

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled that a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank had been built on land that was privately owned by Palestinians, and as a result, the settlement must be removed. The case involved the settlement of Mitzpe Kramim, an outpost in the Jordan Valley built 20 years ago. The settlers claimed they had been granted authority to build there by the Israeli government. Palestinian plaintiffs filed suit in 2011, arguing that they were the legal owners of the land and the construction undertaken by the settlers was illegal. The court has given the government 36 months to arrange for the removal of the settlers to alternative housing. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded that his government will "exhaust all processes in order to leave the residents in their place."

The Supreme Court of Israel ruled Aug. 27 that a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank had been built on land that was privately owned by Palestinians, and as a result, the settlement had to be removed.

May 11, 2019

Two Israeli ex-prime ministers are now involved in the cannabis industry, and legalization became a key issue in this month's elections. But in a case of strange bedfellows, legalization was aggressively taken up as a campaign plank by the far right.

Two Israeli ex-prime ministers are now involved in the cannabis industry, and legalization became a key issue in this month's elections. But in a case of strange bedfellows, legalization was aggressively taken up as a campaign plank by the far right.

May 17, 2015

Several Palestinians including a journalist were injured when Israeli forces opened fire on a march in the eastern Nablus village of Huwwara commemorating the Nakba.

Several Palestinians including a journalist were injured when Israeli forces opened fire on a march in the eastern Nablus village of Huwwara commemorating the Nakba on May 16.

December 17, 2014

The European Parliament passed a resolution supporting recognition of Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The European Parliament on Dec. 17 passed a resolution supporting recognition of Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The resolution also launches a "Parliamentarians for Peace" initiative to bring together MEPs and MPs from the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments. The resolution passed by 498 votes to 88, with 111 abstentions.

January 13, 2014

Israel's pressure on Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state constitutes an attempt to legalize "racism," PLO official Hanan Ashrawi charged.

Israel's pressure on Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state is an attempt to legalize "racism," a PLO official said Jan.

July 1, 2012

Some anti-Zionists seem to think having Neturei Karta on their side inoculates them against charges of anti-Semitism. Hopefully, after the latest incident at Israel's Holocaust museum, they are disabused of such illusions.

Every other day on my Facebook wall, some earnest anti-Zionist posts a photo like the one above of Neturei Karta in their ultra-orthodox garb wielding anti-Israel placards. The posters think that having these guys with their beards and peyas on their side inoculates them against charges of anti-Semitism.

May 15, 2012

When "Zionism" is blamed for the ills of the global capitalist system, you know the writer is taking his cue from the Protocols—even if he is ostensibly coming from the "left." Pointing this out is not a defense of Zionism.

We have, of course, repeatedly pointed out that—however much Zionists may propagandistically abuse the charge—anti-Semitism (veiled, barely veiled, or plain old blatant) really is evidenced in much ostensibly "leftist" discourse these days.

February 2, 2012

Three months after Tunisia's first post-revolutionary elections brought the  moderate-Islamist Ennahda party to power, the country's Jewish leaders say they have no intention of making aliyah—despite the urgings of Israel.

Three months after Tunisia's first post-revolutionary elections brought the  moderate-Islamist Ennahda party to power, the country's Jewish leaders told the BBC (in comments picked up by Israel's YNet Jan. 31) that they have no intention of making aliyah.

November 3, 2011

The Israeli government said it will move ahead with "sensitive housing projects" in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as a rebuttal to UNESCO's decision to grant Palestine full-member status. The US meanwhile cut funds to UNESCO.

The Israeli government immediately said it would move ahead with "sensitive housing projects" as a rebuttal to UNESCO's Oct. 31 decision to grant Palestine full-member status. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a forum of eight senior ministers formally decided the next day to initiate a new wave of settlement construction on the West Bank.

October 7, 2011

Members of U.S. Congress move to impose severe economic penalties on Palestine if it continues to seek statehood. This is an offense against the "democratic" values that both the U.S. and Israel purport to uphold.

Enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as fundamental human prerogatives are "the right of the people peaceablyto assemble, and to petition...for a redress of grievances." The amendment expressly banned Congress from abridging that right.

September 26, 2011

The right-wing blogosphere is having a field day with claims that Palestinian ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat called for a "Jew-free Palestinian state." But Areikat responds that it's "a total fabrication" and a "total set-up" by conservo-bloggers.

The right-wing blogosphere is having a field day with this one. The Daily Call started it all with a Sept.

August 12, 2011

Is there a formal boycott of Whole Foods? And if there is, is there a dichotomy between boycotting it and the boycott-divestment-sanctions movement for Palestinian  self-determination?

Let’s be real: A boycott is a nuisance. It has to be, if it’s going to be effective—that is, if it doesn’t involve not doing something you and lot of other people have been doing, it’s not going to have an impact.

August 2, 2011

Twelve Israeli settlers accused of setting fire to Palestinian mosques, property and vehicles have been slapped with restraining orders limiting their movement in the West Bank, the military announced on the recommendation of Shin Bet.

Twelve Israeli settlers accused of setting fire to Palestinian mosques, property and vehicles have been slapped with restraining orders limiting their movement in the West Bank, the Israeli military said Aug. 2. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had signed off on the restraining orders based on recommendations from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

July 16, 2011

Jews and Palestinians march hand-in-hand from West Jerusalem to East Jerusalem to show support for the upcoming declaration of independnce in September.

The movement Sheikh Jarah Solidarity organized a high-profile march in Jerusalem to demand an independent Palestine in the 1967 borders.

June 29, 2011

Jello Biafra, legendary lead singer of the Dead Kennadys, has finally agreed to cancel a scheduled gig in Tel Aviv, making the announcement in a slightly petulant face-saving statement.

After weeks of sustained pressure by boycott campaigners and his own fans in organizations like Punks Against Apartheid, famed rocker Jello Biafra on June 29 announced in a message posted to his