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25/06/2021
| | A dozen takeaways from the latest Israel-Palestine horrors – and three glimmers of hope
Tony Klug - Palestine-Israel Journal - The conflict cannot be
managed or even contained. Nor should it be, as it would entrench
inequality and injustice. It has to be resolved. There is no
military solution to what, at base, is a political problem.
To be achievable and sustainable, a resolution has to accommodate
the minimum core aspirations of both peoples and allay their maximum
fears. Far from being a “defeated” people, Palestinians are probably
more determined and united than before. The occupation has not
delivered to Israelis the security they yearn for, and it never
will. The prolonged occupation is itself a major source of
insecurity. [bz] | | | Israel`s approach to Gaza needs to change
Gershon Baskin - Jerusalem Post - Gaza is part and parcel of
Palestine and the Palestinian people. Hamas is a homegrown political
movement within Palestinian society. Palestinians in Gaza do
not want to die - but the conditions under which they live in the
past 14 years makes the alternative of fighting until death an
attractive option. The first stepping stone on the path towards a
more rational strategy is understanding that Hamas is the government
in Gaza and Hamas wants legitimacy - which until now, Israel and the
US were determined to deny. To start a new course, the US could
certainly find some non-officials with close administration ties
that are qualified to make the first steps towards engagement with
Hamas - as it is just now engaging with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Israeli government itself could make use of several secret back
channels for the beginning of unofficial dialogue. They have used me
for this in the past.Additionally, Israel should reach out to the
private sector leaders in Gaza, renew their ability to enter Israel,
as in the past and quietly enable the reengagement of these private
sector leaders with the Israeli private sector organizations such as
the Manufacturer’s Association, the Federation of Chambers of
Commerce, and the Histadrut. Israel should invite the directors of
the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company – actually owned and run
by Hamas but has the outward appearance of being a private
sector company – for discussions of plans to extend the Israeli
electricity line from Ashkelon into Gaza. This is the fastest and
cheapest way to bring significant amounts of electricity to Gaza.
This can be done, without ideology as a business-to-business deal.
The same can be done between the Mekorot national water company and
the Gaza Municipality Water Department. The understanding would be
that this is a pretext for actually dealing directly with Hamas but
bypassing Israeli and Hamas knee-jerk rejections of each other [ak]. | | | Poll: Many Democrats want more US support for Palestinians
Ellen Knickmeyer and Emily Swanson - Associated Press - A poll on
U.S. attitudes toward a core conflict in the Middle East finds about
half of Democrats want the country to do more to support the
Palestinians, showing that a growing rift among Democratic lawmakers
is also reflected in the party’s base. Asked about President Biden’s
approach to the conflict, 51% among Democrats say the U.S. is not
supportive enough of the Palestinians; the sentiment jumps to 62%
among Democrats who describe themselves as liberal. On the other
hand, 49% of Republicans say the U.S is not supportive enough of the
Israelis, a number that rises to 61% among those who say they’re
conservative. The poll also shows just 19% of Americans in general
think the U.S. should play a major role in finding a solution to the
conflict, while 50% say it should play a minor role and
28% say it should play no role. Democrats and Republicans are
largely in agreement on this issue. [ak]
| | | Israeli police killed Palestinian who didn`t pose threat - B`Tselem
Jerusalem Post - Security camera footage shows that Israeli police officers killed a Palestinian man in May who didn’t pose a threat to them in a “targeted killing,” claimed the left-wing Israeli NGO B’Tselem on Wednesday.
Ahmad ‘Abdu, 25, was sitting in his car in the Um a-Sharayet neighborhood in the West Bank city of El-Bireh on May 25, when officers from the Israeli Special Police Unit blocked his vehicle, exited their vehicle and immediately opened fire toward ‘Abdu, according to the report at https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20210623_targeted_killing_of_ahmad_abdu [bz] | | | Not an “attempted arrest` - a targeted killing
B`Tselem - In the early morning hours of 25 May 2021, an Israeli Special Police Unit vehicle drove up and blocked a car just after Ahmad ‘Abdu (25) got into it, in the Palestinian neighborhood of Um a-Sharayet next to al Birah, in the West Bank. Today (June 23), B’Tselem published video footage in which officers are seen getting out of the vehicle and immediately firing several shots at the car. [bz] | | | Army Closes All Roads Leading To Abu Sbeih Mountain
Israeli soldiers closed, on Thursday morning, all roads leading to
Abu Sbeih Mountain, in Beita south of Nablus. The soldiers closed
the roads by placing sandhills and installing roadblocks, in an
effort to stop the ongoing processions carried out by the
Palestinians, including nighty protests, which have been ongoing
since Israeli settlers occupied the mountain top and installed an
outpost in early May of this year. The army also confiscated a
bulldozer belonging to the Beita Town Council. On Friday, June 11th,
the soldiers killed a boy, identified as Mohammad Sa’id Hamayel, 15,
after shooting him with a live round in the heart. He was the fourth
Palestinian killed during these protests. [The new settlement
outpost, named "Evyatar", is illegal also under the Israeli
occupation`s very lenient standards. However, removing it requires
the personal approval of the new Israeli PM Naftali Bennet, who in
the past supported and personally participated in creating
settlement outposts of this kind. AK] | | | Coalition scrambles for way to extend ban on Palestinian family reunification
Times of Israel - This law which has yearly to be renewed divides the new government. Though right-wing opposition parties back extending the law in principle, they have refused to step in to do so in the hopes of embarrassing the new government. Critics call the law racist and say it is an attempt by Israel to keep the number of Arab citizens down. Proponents say without the law, tens of thousands and potentially hundreds of thousands of Palestinians could submit requests to become Israeli citizens every year. [bz]. | | | `Silent intifada`: West Bank is at boiling point
Elior Levy - Ynet - Analysis: 34 Palestinians have been killed in
past month - more than during any other month in the last decade -
as tensions persist over Gaza conflict and clashes at al-Aqsa
Mosque; these events and cancelation of parliamentary elections have
left PA weaker and Hamas stronger. There has been a significant
increase in the number of armed attacks, demonstrations,
"disturbances" of various kinds and clashes between West Bank
Palestinians and Israeli security forces, starting with the conflict
in Gaza last month but not ending with the ceasefire there. Close
inspection of these incidents shows that this is not limited to a
particular area, but is occurring across the entire West Bank.[ak]
| | | Families belong together!
Adv. Sharon Abraham-Weiss - ACRI - Earlier this year, a child born
in an Israeli hospital to a mother with Israeli citizenship was
denied a birth certificate because his father is a resident of the
Occupied Palestinian Territories. During the first and most critical
months of his life, the child was denied health services, as his
parents scrambled to receive the proper documentation.
Sadly, this is not an exception, but the rule. The Citizenship and
Entry into Israel Law prohibits the spouse of an Israeli citizen
from acquiring legal status and access to rights in Israel solely
for being from the West Bank or Gaza.
| | | No avoiding of the real issues
Gush Shalom - A law forbidding
Arab citizens of Israel
from marrying
West Bank Palestinians.
Can a law be
more ideological than that
and more controversial? [bz] | | | For previous articles since 2004 go to respective sections | |
Recommended articles
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Bibi and Gantz! End this unnecessary and pointless war!
| | Unsettled :PODCAST: Will this Palestinian matriarch get to keep her Jerusalem home? | | The Times of Israel:Settlers filmed pelting Palestinian man with stones in West Bank | | B`Tselem & Kerem Navot:This Is Ours – And This, Too : Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank | | Raja Shehadeh:Issa Amro`s plight highlights Israel`s intolerance of even nonviolent protest | | Mohammed El-Kurd:Why are Palestinians being forced to prove their humanity? |
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