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TitleDescriptionDate
OCHA Report: West Bank Demolitions and Displacement – July 2020IMEMCnews - "27 inhabited homes demolished since the start of the pandemic, despite announced moratorium. Ten additional structures demolished using expedited procedure (Military Order 1797). Four humanitarian aid structures demolished and another eight placed at risk" [ry] 31/8/2020
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‘Betrayal,’ with a personal touch: Why the PA is so angry at the Israel-UAE dealAVI ISSACHAROFF - The Times of Israel - The Palestinian Authority is fuming, incensed at the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. It is so angry it reminds one of a three-year-old having a tantrum, throwing himself on the floor and screaming for no real reason. Ostensibly this should have been a wonderful week for the PA. Its number one goal in recent months – thwarting Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank – was achieved, with the help of none other than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, backed by the Trump administration. Enormous diplomatic effort, demonstrations prepared weeks in advance, trips abroad to persuade the European Union and Arab countries — all seem to have borne fruit. (rh) 25/8/2020
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Is Trump planning to dispute election results if Biden wins?Rob Reynolds - Aljazeera - For months, US President Donald Trump has sought to create doubts about the legitimacy of November`s election. And, as his Republican convention gets under way, there are questions about what he might do if he is defeated. Al Jazeera`s Rob Reynolds reports from Los Angeles. (rh) 25/8/2020
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Police launch probe as top cop filmed beating protesterGilad Cohen,Yael Freidson - YnetNews - Daniel Lotem, who was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Guetta, told the court in Jerusalem on Sunday that that the senior officer "really choked me." He added: "They kept me down on the ground, they claimed I choked the officer even though that never happened. I have no cause and no reason to attack a police officer. "After that they shoved me into a police car. They beat me while I was handcuffed. They punched me, stood on my throat and screamed at me to calm down and not resist arrest, even though I did not resist at any stage. According to Channel 12, Guetta was being questioned as a suspect.(rh25/8/2020
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The story of Israel’s Ashkenazi supremacy in one riverLihi Yona - +972mag - A river that runs through an Israeli kibbutz has in recent weeks become a seething arena of controversy, violence, and hatred. Interestingly — and unconventionally — the usual suspects in the Israeli political landscape have been turned on their heads in this particular struggle, with prominent Israeli leftists standing in staunch support of gated communities and against equality and distributive justice, all while vocalizing harsh opposition to the enforcement of law. At the risk of recycling a tired cliché: the story of this struggle can teach you everything you need to know about Israeli politics, and the growing irrelevance of the Israeli Zionist left. Nir David is a kibbutz in northern Israel, situated between the working-class, largely Mizrahi cities of Afula and Beit She’an. Like other kibbutzim, it is predominantly made up of Ashkenazim: Jews of European descent who founded the country and dominated its resources — as well as its economic, cultural, and military institutions — primarily through the Labor Zionist Mapai party. The Asi River, a stunning blue waterway with a year-round temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), passes through the kibbutz. According to Israel’s Water Act, waterways are public property that must remain accessible and open to all. Nevertheless, the residents of Nir David decided that access to the Asi River will not be free, and have erected fences and barriers to prevent public access to the river. In recent years, a group of residents from communities around the kibbutz have been waging a struggle to ensure free, public access to the Asi River. They filed a lawsuit against the kibbutz in 2015 that resulted in the kibbutz vowing to open access to sections of the river — a promise they never kept.(rh)25/8/2020
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Biden’s party just crushed Palestinian rights. But it won’t holdPhilip Weiss - Mondoweiss - If you care about Palestinian human rights, the virtual Democratic Convention last week was dispiriting. The issue was never mentioned in any of the primetime speeches; the party leadership crushed the party’s leftwing base on the question. It was all but removed from the platform, per the instructions of Joe Biden himself reportedly… Kamala Harris is an AIPAC-style Israel supporter who famously was dumbfounded when the New York Times asked her about problems with Israel’s human rights record… Joe Biden has been visiting Israel for nearly 50 years and counts every Israeli prime minister including Netanyahu as a dear friend, and he went out of his way to stomp on Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour. The Dems’ message is clear. Joe Biden is the most pro-Israel nominee for president, ever. We will not be out-Israel’d by Donald Trump. Joe Biden is no Barack Obama who is going to be a “troublemaker” on Israel–why he just penned a platform to the right of Likud! Reports that the Democratic Party is fracturing over the issue are the fantasies of a few hotheads on the left, as Ted Deutch and Nancy Pelosi continually assure us. (Or as Pelosi told an Israel lobby group during the last cycle, the Capitol will crumble and fall before the Democrats walk away from Israel.)(rh)25/8/2020
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Who are the winners and losers in UAE-Israel agreement?Associated Press - YnetNews - Israel and the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday they are establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal that required Israel to halt its contentious plan to annex West Bank land sought by the Palestinians. The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to U.S. President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians. A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the deal amounts to “treason,” and should be reversed. The agreement makes the UAE the third Arab country, after Egypt and Jordan, to have full diplomatic ties with Israel. They announced it in a joint statement, saying deals between Israel and the UAE were expected in the coming weeks in such areas as tourism, direct flights and embassies.(rh)25/8/2020
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Revenge against Palestinians is understandable, Israeli judge says in acquitting two security officers who attacked innocent manJonathan Ofir - Mondoweiss - Yesterday, an unbelievable verdict came down at the Beersheba District Court in Israel: Two Israeli security officers were acquitted in a case involving the lynching of Haftom Zarhum, an Eritrean refugee, although they were filmed beating him and repeatedly dropping a bench on his head. The judge cited “reasonable doubt”. The bloodthirsty mob lynching in October 2015 was part of a string of “mistaken identity” incidents in Israel. A terror attack had in fact taken place earlier at the Beersheba central bus station; a man from an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev opened fire, killing a soldier and wounding 11 others. Zarhum was a passerby, who was mistaken for the shooter by a security guard because he was dark skinned. A police spokesman in the wake of the incident said that it was “not clear if [Zarhum] is involved with the event or if he was shot due to his exterior appearance.” Zarhum was shot 8 times. Though he had been incapacitated, the mob continued to beat him heavily, shouting “terrorist!”, “Kill him!”, “break his head, son of a bitch!”. The two officers were in that mob. The Times of Israel notes: “The indictment said that in the aftermath of the attack, [combat soldier Yaakov] Shimba kicked Zarhum in the head and upper body with force. It said [Prison Services officer Ronen] Cohen threw a bench onto him, and after another man removed the bench he took it and again dropped it on the prone man.” The indictment states that although Zarhum was one of the most seriously wounded in the fracas, he was evacuated to hospital only after all other wounded were evacuated (per Haaretz). The lynchers celebrated the killing on live TV broadcast, when they still believed that Zarhum was the shooter. (rh)18/8/2020
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Two-state solution: The worst and only way to solve Israeli-Palestinian conflictDAVID HOROVITZ - Al-Monitor - From the left, Israel is increasingly being told by opponents, critics and self-styled supporters at home and abroad that it has wrecked its foundational commitment to maintaining both a Jewish majority and a democracy by expanding the settlement enterprise deep and wide across the West Bank. Since it can no longer disentangle itself from the Palestinians, and has thus destroyed the option of the two-state solution on whose basis Jewish statehood was revived, it has no choice now but to consent to a kind of sovereign suicide — and usher in a single binational state between the river and the sea, in which a higher Arab birthrate means Jews will become an increasingly small minority as the decades pass. From the right, here and overseas, by contrast, Israel is loudly encouraged to expand its presence still farther into the biblical Judea and Samaria, to realize its historical rights and connections, punish the Palestinians for their perennial rejectionism, and put an end to the dangerous delusion that a tiny country in a toxic region can ever safely withdraw from an adjacent territory whose residents dream of its destruction. If expanding sovereignty can somehow be presented as according with democratic principles, so much the better, but if not, so be it.(rh)18/8/2020
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Beirut`s tragedy may befall Israel as wellLior El-Hai - YnetNews - The horrendous images of the explosion at Beirut`s port, especially the enormous mushroom cloud enveloping Lebanon`s capital all as it slowly rises, should terrify many around the globe. For the residents of the city of Haifa- where Israel`s largest seaport is located - these sights represent a nightmare that one day might actually come to live. There is hardly a single person living in Haifa, whose body did not tremble at the sight of the footage emerging from Lebanon. The word ammonia is the single most terrifying word for the residents of the cities of Haifa, the Krayot, Neshser and the town of Kiryat Tiv`on, which is connected to Haifa`s port. (rh)18/8/2020
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America’s death march: Even beating Trump won’t stop the empire’s terminal declineChris Hedges - Alter Net - The terminal decline of the United States will not be solved by elections. The political rot and depravity will continue to eat away at the soul of the nation, spawning what anthropologists call crisis cults — movements led by demagogues that prey on an unbearable psychological and financial distress. These crisis cults, already well established among followers of the Christian Right and Donald Trump, peddle magical thinking and an infantilism that promises — in exchange for all autonomy — prosperity, a return to a mythical past, order and security. The dark yearnings among the white working class for vengeance and moral renewal through violence, the unchecked greed and corruption of the corporate oligarchs and billionaires who manage our failed democracy, which has already instituted wholesale government surveillance and revoked most civil liberties, are part of the twisted pathologies that infect all civilizations sputtering towards oblivion. I witnessed the deaths of other nations during the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and later in the former Yugoslavia. I have smelled this stench before.(rh)18/8/2020
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Erekat: I never expected this poison dagger to come from an Arab countryJOSEF FEDERMAN - The Times of Israel - AP — Israel’s agreement to establish diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates marks a watershed moment in its relations with Arab countries, but the Palestinians say it puts a just resolution of the Middle East conflict even farther out of reach. The UAE presented its decision to upgrade longstanding ties to Israel as a way of encouraging peace efforts by taking Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank off the table, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly rebuffed by insisting the pause was “temporary.” From the Palestinian perspective, the UAE not only failed to stop annexation, which would dash any remaining hopes of establishing a viable, independent state (rh)18/8/2020
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Attention UAE Leaders: Israel Is Advancing De Facto AnnexationAmira Hass - HAARETZ - So there’s no official annexation. However, one should bring to the attention of Hend al-Otaiba, spokeswoman of the UAE Foreign Ministry, and Yousef al-Otaiba, the country’s ambassador to the U.S., who are so proud of their diplomatic achievement, that at any given moment Israel is advancing de facto annexation. You didn’t know? When you come visiting, members of the Otaiba family, drive eastward towards the West Bank (including East Jerusalem). You’ll see that it’s hard to tell where sovereign Israel ends and where the West Bank begins. Route 443, the Shiloh valley, the western and eastern Etzion blocs, the “tunnel road,” the Binyamin district, the “sovereignty road,” the Jordan Valley, the Trans- Samaria highway, the Givat Ze’ev bloc, the Adumim bloc, the Talmonim bloc, the Gilo bloc, the Karnei Shomron bloc and its environs, the City of David, the Har Homa neighborhood, the seam line area, etc. etc. All of these are emblematic of the way Israel has encroached on Palestinian space that was intended to be part of their state under a peace agreement. All of these have become ever-expanding Israeli- Jewish areas – arrogant, imperious, enclosing Palestinian enclaves that are becoming less and less visible.(rh)18/8/2020
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Shalom, Abu Dhabi! Why the Israel-UAE agreement changes (almost) everythingDAVID HOROVITZ - The Times of Israel - It was always widely believed in Israel that much of the Arab world, and certainly many in the Gulf, were fairly indifferent to the plight of the Palestinians, and, at worst, not particularly ill-willed toward Israel. My trip in 2016 anecdotally indicated the same, though I stress it was a brief visit, I was speaking with local citizens as opposed to foreign workers, and I know other Israelis have had less pleasant interactions. It was also widely believed in Israel that much of the Arab world, including the Gulf, would nonetheless not overtly partner with Israel, much less fully normalize relations with Israel, so long as the Israel- Palestinian conflict went unresolved. And so it proved. Until Thursday. The UAE-Israel deal has not yet even formally been consummated, but we have already entered the honeymoon period. After endless domestic political deadlock, and months of a pandemic and a collapsing economy, Israeli media is understandably delighted to be reporting some good news, and the coverage is downright giddy — thanks, in great part, to interviewees in the UAE itself mirroring the Israeli delight.///A complex process led to Thursday’s extraordinary diplomatic bombshell. In the mix was the Gulf’s shared concern with Israel at the ongoing strengthening of Iran, and the awareness that Israel simply cannot and will not allow itself to be cowed by an Islamist regime aiming for our demise and bent on achieving nuclear weapon capability. Somewhere in the mix, too, was that indifference to the Palestinians, or at least impatience with them, and ultimately a decision no longer to be constricted by the Palestinian conflict in their dealings with Israel.(rh) 18/8/2020
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Israel will have to reckon with the occupation one way or anotherHenry Siegman - Responsible Statecraft - Far from being an unprecedented breakthrough, the UAE initiative is a pale repeat of an initiative by the Saudis and by the entire Arab League already in 2002. The difference between the two is that the earlier one required Israel to accept UN decisions and international law regarding Palestinian rights, and that negotiations between the parties begin at the pre 1967 armistice internationally recognized borders, while the UAE’s offer was made contemporaneously with Netanyahu’s defiant declaration that Israel intends to annex parts of the West Bank whenever it chooses to do so. Saudi Arabia and the Arab League were in constant consultation with the Palestinians, but the UAE never even bothered to inform the Palestinians of their intentions. Consequently, the self-righteous indignation of Beinart’s critics, most of whom are also outraged by any proposed punishment of Israel for its transgressions, are entirely hypocritical. For his critics know that no future Israeli government is prepared to agree to a Palestinian state that would end Israel’s current de facto apartheid rule in the West Bank. (rh)18/8/2020
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10,000 maniacs: What the press is talking about on August 2JOSHUA DAVIDOVICH - The Times of Israel - 1. Bibi, I got your numbers: Ten thousand people at a protest is not an especially impressive turnout in normal times. But pack those 10,000 into central Jerusalem — where there are no big squares like in Tel Aviv or any other world capital — amid a raging pandemic that keeps many at home, sprinkle a few thousand more at ancillary rallies around the country and mix in a press many of whose members (let’s face it) share at least some of the protesters’ amorphous goals, and you have a media landscape that regards the 10,000 the same way it might a rally 40 times its size.(rh)4/8/2020
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Naftali Bennett wants to be the right’s anti-Netanyahu — and it’s workingHAVIV RETTIG GUR - The Times of Israel - It’s been obvious for months that the right-wing Yamina party would benefit from spending some time in the opposition. But no one imagined just how much. The last four months have been the first time Yamina leader Naftali Bennett — or any Yamina MK, for that matter — has actually sat in the opposition. And support for the party has more than doubled.(rh) 4/8/2020
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Israeli artist takes aim at Netanyahu with life-size statueAssociated Press - Ynetnews - Installation, depicting a disheveled premier in a mock re-enactment of the Last Supper and in Tel Aviv Rabin Square, is the latest twist in a summer of protests against the PM and his conduct. The installation, displayed in the city`s central Rabin Square, is the latest twist in a summer of demonstrations against Netanyahu. In recent weeks, thousands of people have taken to the streets, calling on Netanyahu to resign, angry over what they say is his bungled response to an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus and depicting him as a hedonist out of touch with common people. (rh)4/8/2020
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Can Israelis broaden their protests beyond Netanyahu?Jonathan Cook - Countercurrents - Demonstrations have yet to draw a connection between Netanyahu’s personal abuses of office and the systemic corruption of Israeli politics, with the occupation its beating heart. The target of the anger and frustration is decidedly personal at this stage – focused on the figure of Netanyahu, who is now Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Protesters have renamed him Israel’s “crime minister”. But also fuelling the protests is a larger mood of disenchantment as doubts grow about the state’s competence to deal with multiple crises unfolding in Israel. The virus has caused untold social and economic misery for many, with as much as one fifth of the labour force out of work. Netanyahu’s supporters in the lower middle-classes have been hit hardest.(rh) 4/8/2020
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Netanyahu’s annexation effort stalls /// Fatah and Hamas jointly oppose annexation /// Israelis, Palestinians and COVID-19 second wave /// New US Democratic Party platform on Israel-Palestine:Two-State Index - Geneva Initiative - Netanyahu’s annexation effort stalls: The resurgence of coronavirus cases and shifting US political dynamics put Israelimoves on hold as international community continues push-back. /// Second wave of COVID-19 met by little Israeli-Palestinian cooperation: The effects of Israel’s push for annexation and the Palestinian response take a toll on efforts to combat the pandemic in the West Bank. /// Fatah and Hamas announce plans to jointly fight annexation: Press conference with leaders from both factions signals possible thawing of relations. /// US Democratic Party adopts new platform language on Israel- Palestine: While not seen as a radical shift, platform now goes further on policies related to advancing and preserving the option of a two-state solution. /// The above developments led to a slight rise in the Geneva Initiative`s painstakingly researched Two-State Index. [ak]4/8/2020
Palestine in Pictures: July 2020EI - "One Palestinian was killed by Israeli occupation forces during the month of July. Ibrahim Abu Yaqoub, 29, was shot in the neck by soldiers, who claimed that the slain man and a companion were throwing Molotov cocktails at an army post" [ry] 3/8/2020
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