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The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Commentary

TitleDescriptionDate
Israel: plenty of bread but no butterMordechai Goldman - Al Monitor "While the price of butter increased 140% on the international market in 2017, Israeli importers were required to sell butter locally at a controlled price (3.94 Israeli shekels per 100 grams, or $1.14), meaning that imports were not worthwhile economically. At the same time, dairy products manufacturer Tara cut its production of butter by 50% in 2018, and by another 80% in the first half of 2019 alone. What this means is that while Tara produced 416 metric tons of butter in 2017, in 2019 it produced just 28 metric tons." ca 29/11/2019
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Dr. Ashrawi: Trump administration is a threat to international peace and securityDr. Hanan Ashrawi - PLO Dept pf Public Diplomacy - The announcement made by US Secretary of State has no legal validity. The US neither has the right nor agency to rewrite international law and deface the rules-based international order based on its perverse ideological leanings. Israeli settlements are a grave violation of international law, including international humanitarian law. They also constitute a war crime according to the Rome Statute. These are solid facts that the Trump administration cannot alter or unravel. This announcement reaffirms Palestine’s assessment that the Trump administration is a threat to international peace and security because it is a partner in Israeli crimes and provides political cover for its pervasive violations.[ak]19/11/2019
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Israeli Intelligence Is Doomed to Err – Because It Doesn’t See HumansAmira Hass - Haaretz - As told by neighbors, the A-Sawarkah family were “A very simple, poor family... herding sheep and goats” and living in tin-shack homes at Dir el Balah in the central Gaza Strip. But the IDF Intelligence believed that "the head of an Islamic Jihad rocket unit" was living there. Accordingly, four Israeli missiles were shot - killing eight family members, including five children, and wounding 12 others. Even after the army had to admit that they had made a mistake, an Israeli defense official was still wondering: “The IDF still doesn’t understand why the family was in the compound”. The army finds it difficult to accept that the family was simply living there, and had been living there for a long time. “Compound” is a term used by bureaucrats and military commanders — who are equipped with aerial images that at high resolution would have shown the tin shacks. Had the anonymous defense official said “tin shacks,” he would have exposed the absurdity of using fighter jets and smart bombs to hit these miserable structures. [ak]19/11/2019
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With Gaza behind him, Netanyahu puts Israel`s Palestinians in the crosshairsEdo Konrad - +972 - With corruption indictments closing in, Netanyahu hopes his scorched earth campaign against Palestinians, whether in Gaza or in Israel, will give Israelis the sense that they live in a state of emergency and cannot afford change [ry] 18/11/2019
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Lies, damned lies and the Gaza StripShimon Shiffer - Ynet - Despite Netanyahu`s proclamations of victory following the latest round of cross-border fighting, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are still there, and only long-term ceasefire arrangement with the Palestinian factions will bring about a significant period of relative quiet [ry] 18/11/2019
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Why did Israel bomb Gaza? Because it canOmar Karmi - EI - "Israel tells a tale full of monsters. But fairy tales resist rational thinking. We can speculate as much as we like about why Israel acted as it did and why now. The answer would seem simply to be: why not? Israel bombs Gaza because it can" [ry] 18/11/2019
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A Genuine State of EmergencyHaaretz Editorial - It’s hard to exaggerate the gravity of such statements by Netanyahu, who, by virtue of his job, is supposed to serve all Israelis, including the country’s Arab citizens. Netanyahu is appealing to the lowest common denominator, inflaming the Jewish community against the Arab community and inciting the entire Israeli public. (...) The appropriate response to the gutter politics of this national inciter, who, as the years passed, has merely expanded his circle of incitement, is to form a government together with the Arab parties’ Joint List, or alternatively one supported by it from the outside, in defiance of the man who seeks to turn Israel’s Arab citizens into enemies. We must hope enough decent lawmakers will be found to support such a move, and that they’ll join together to put an end to Netanyahu’s era of hatred. [bz]19/11/2019
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In ceasefire breach, rockets fired at Beersheba; IDF hits Hamas targets in GazaTOI staff - "The Israel Defense Forces attacked Hamas terror targets in Gaza on Saturday morning after rockets were fired from the Strip into Israel several hours earlier, the army said in a statement. Significantly, the army said it was targeting Hamas in the latest strike. During the this week’s fighting, Israel traded blows with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, while the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group sat on the sidelines." ca 16/11/2019
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Killing of Islamic Jihad senior: Gantz falls into Netanyahu`s trap Yossi Beilin - Al-Monitor "There’s no need to attribute any cynical or dark motives to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to conclude that Israel’s assassination of Islamic Jihad senior Baha Abu al-Ata on Nov. 12 would make the possibility of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz forming a narrow government much less likely than it was on the eve of this targeted assassination...Netanyahu achieved his objective as soon as his political opponents positioned themselves squarely by his side, with the most vociferous opposition to the move coming from the Arab Joint List. The objection of the Israeli-Arab Knesset members offered Netanyahu an opportunity to lash back at them..." ca 16/11/2019
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To save himself, Netanyahu is going to war with GazaEdo Konrad - +972 "Even as Israel becomes chronically unable to form a government, the ‘Gaza consensus’ — the endless pounding of the strip into oblivion — persists. It could tip the scales in Netanyahu’s favor." ca16/11/2019
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Why Hamas is staying out of Israel’s fight with Islamic JihadMenachem Klein - +972 "Israeli security and political coordination with Hamas has served mutual interests for many years. Now Hamas is hoping to stay out of the current fighting in order to potentially expand its political power in the West Bank." ca16/11/2019
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Deval Patrick has unequivocally supported Israel at the height of its worst human rights abusesMichael Arria - Mondoweiss "Former Massachusetts Governor (and managing director of private equity firm Bain Capital) Deval Patrick has announced that he’s officially entering the race for the Democratic nomination in 2020.Patrick’s connections to the financial industry will presumably anger left-leaning voters, but his foreign policy record should also rankle progressives. Patrick has a long history of support for Israel and no record to show in terms of supporting Palestinian self-determination." ca 16/11/2019
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`Israel’s return to the policy of extrajudicial assassination is reckless and criminal. WAFA - Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, PLO Dept. of Public Diplomacy - "Israel’s return to the illegal and criminal policy of extrajudicial assassination and its wilful disregard for the lives of the Palestinian civilian population is reckless and criminal. Netanyahu is exploiting the culture of impunity to commit unchecked crimes and provoke a grave escalation for petty political and personal gain. On orders from the highest political echelons, the Israeli army is launching an assault on the Palestinian people, providing cover for the cold-blooded extrajudicial killing of a civilian in Hebron on Monday then ordering the assassination of two senior figures in Gaza City and Damascus by bombing their homes and targeting their families. [ak] 12/11/2019
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The Iranian paradoxGush Shalom - A country which secretly produces nuclear arms is committing a grave dangerous act... [bz]12/11/2019
Gaza flareup: What was Netayahu`s motive for a `targeted killing` just seven days before the end of Gantz’s mandate? Raul Wootliff - The Times of Israel - Labor-Gesher MK Omer Bar-Lev told Kan public radio that he was concerned the killing was ordered to prevent Gantz from forming a minority coalition. “There were many opportunities in recent months to carry out targeted killings,” Bar Lev said, but, he claimed, Netanyahu chose not to go ahead. “Therefore, when now of all times, seven days before the end of Gantz’s mandate to form a government, they do a targeted killing — it really, really bothers me.” [ak] 12/11/2019
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For J Street, holding Israel accountable is still a step too farJoshua Leifer - +972 "J Street’s 2019 conference heralded a new willingness to tie military aid to Israel to its human rights record. But the organization was quick to reaffirm a status quo of unconditional aid — despite ongoing abuses." ca8/11/2019
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Bipartisan group of US congresswomen visits to show ‘no daylight’ on IsraelDavid Horovitz - Times of Israel "Asked about concerns in Israel that some high-profile members of the Democratic party have been loudly critical of Israel, and that three Democratic presidential candidates — Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg — have talked of leveraging US military aid in order to compel Israel to change its policies on settlements and the Palestinians, Wasserman Schultz replied: “Quite the contrary: The message given to us, particularly by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is that he does not perceive or believe that there is any erosion of support.” ca8/11/2019
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October: a slight increase in the chances of the Two States Solution The Two-State Index - Geneva Initiative - Throughout October, there were indications of a general shift in opinion within the US Democratic Party on the issue of aid to Israel. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders,as well as Mayor Pete Buttigieg, all hotly contesting the Democratic Primaries, came out in support of aid to Israel conditional on its conduct towards the Palestinians. Fromer Vice president Biden disagreed, but an opinion poll showed roughly 70% of Democrats are in favor of conditioning aid to Israel. At the same time, Trump`s so-called "vision for peace", considered to be damaging to the Two States, remains stuck. The combination of these two trends in October slightly increases the chances for implementation of the Two States Solution, as measured in the Two States Index. [ak] 5/11/2019
There Will Be a One-State Solution - But What Kind of State Will It Be?Yousef Munayyer - For nearly three decades, the so-called two-state solution has dominated discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the idea of two states for two peoples in the territory both occupy was always an illusion, and in recent years, reality has set in. The two-state solution is dead. And good riddance: it never offered a realistic path forward. The time has come for all interested parties to instead consider the only alternative with any chance of delivering lasting peace: equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians in a single shared state. 5/11/2019
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U.S. Jews Treat Israeli Arab Leaders as Equals. Decent Israelis Should Try ItAnat Saragusti - Haaretz - Israel`s political discourse excludes Arab citizens from the governing equation and the public square; the progressive American Jewish scene not only included them, but invited them to take a central place. The gap between the two is both dark and disturbing. It was disturbing because Ayman Odeh gave a highly nuanced speech to the audience of JStreet`s 2019 National Conference. He spoke about his wish, as a representative of Israel`s Arab minority, to be part of the decision-making process. It was disturbing because while most of the Arab leaders speak about a shared society, and their wish to be part of the coalition, to share responsibilities, to work side-by-side with the Jewish Israelis towards a better Israel – most of Israel`s Jewish leaders and politicians are afraid to express any true normalization towards Arabs. On the contrary, the more the Arab leaders speak about a shared society the stronger the pushback from the right – portraying them as enemies of the people, supporters of terror, and fifth-columnists. [bz]5/11/2019
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Jewish-Arab partnership as an antidote to Jewish supremacismMeron Rapoport&Ameer Fakhoury - +972 "We need to redefine Israeli politics. No more left and right, liberal or conservative, religious versus secular. Instead: a new partnership of Arabs and Jews, working side-by-side to combat Jewish supremacism...The only way out of this paralysis is a minority government coalition composed of Blue and White, Labor-Gesher, and the Democratic Camp, with the support of the Joint List — and without Liberman. Blue and White, however, is not quite ready for this move. Nor are its potential political allies prepared to bridge the gaps between their disparate views." ca 1/11/2019
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