The residents of Gaza are not waiting on the Goldstone Report to take action. The Defense Ministry and the Tel Aviv Prosecution have reportedly received some 1,500 notices of future civil lawsuits against the IDF over damage caused during Operation Cast Lead. (full article…)

Human rights group Amnesty International said in a report published Tuesday that Israeli restrictions prevented Palestinians from receiving enough water in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The report said Israel’s daily water consumption per capita was four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories. (full article…)

Israeli authorities demolished two Palestinian homes near east Jerusalem on Tuesday, ignoring international concern about the practice. (full article…)

The Temple Mount, revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples and by Muslims as the site of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque, has been the focus of simmering unrest recently. The compound sits in contested territory that Israel took from Jordan in the 1967 war. (full article…)

“Took” is a euphemism for “conquered” when it comes to coverage of Israel in the New York Times.

With the 2009-2010 academic year under way, 838 Palestinian university students are still waiting for the authorization that will enable them to leave the Gaza Strip in favor of overseas universities. (full article…)

I mean, I read the article [by HRW founder Richard Bernstein]. The word “occupation” does not appear there even one time. He says that Israel is a democracy of seven-million-point-something Israeli citizens. He forgets four million Palestinians, who have to be registered in the Israeli population registry in order to exist. All the Palestinians are registered. He forgot the four million. So what kind of democracy it is, where four million who are in the Israeli Ministry of Interior have to be registered and Israel decides if they are – if they exist? How can you call it a democracy, when half of – when one-third, not to mention the one million Israeli Palestinians, don’t have rights, the same rights? What kind of democracy it is? (full article…)

During a previous harvest she had to be taken to hospital after she was hit over the head with an iron bar by an Israeli security guard from one of the nearby settlements. On another occasion settlers threw stones and human excreta at her and other volunteers, while shooting into the air. (full article…)

The State Prosecutor’s Office has decided to close a criminal investigation against Border Guard officers documented beating Palestinians. (full article…)

While the IDF has expressed objection to the formation of an external inquiry committee to probe Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, a top General Staff official told Ynet on Wednesday that more could be done on the PR front. (full article…)

Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s military offensive against the Gaza Strip, had an impact on the press. As regards its internal situation, Israel sank 47 places in the index to 93rd position. This nose-dive means it has lost its place at the head of the Middle Eastern countries, falling behind Kuwait (60th), United Arab Emirates (86th) and Lebanon (61st). (full article…)

A Palestinian taken by ambulance to a Jerusalem hospital was denied entry by hospital security, which may have been a factor in his death, according to a suit filed last week in the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court. (full article…)

The vandals came at night from Adei Ad, a Jewish settlers’ outpost deemed “illegal” even by the Israeli government, near Shvut Rachel, an established West Bank settlement that is judged illegal in international but not Israeli law. Working fast, unnoticed by Palestinian landowners in the nearby Arab village of al-Mughayir, the settlers cut down nearly 200 olive trees, of which 70 belonged to Mr Abu Awad. As a result, he reckons to have lost income worth around $3,400 that he would have earned from this year’s harvest. But that is not all. “I planted these trees with my own hands 35 years ago”, he says, wistfully touching the stumps, now wrapped in sackcloth to protect them from the sun. Mr Abu Awad hopes his trees will recover and one day bear fruit again. . . . Mr Abu Awad says he is determined to fight to keep his land. “I’ll sleep on my land to protect it,” he says. “I tell my children: if I die, they should bury me where my blood was spilled. I’m in love with my land.” (full article…)

A wonderful war. (full article…)

Gaza has managed to replenish its fuel supply by using smuggling tunnels from Egypt, and residents of the Strip rejoiced as benzene prices hit a low of just NIS 1.5 (around 40 cents) per liter, after having previously paid up to NIS 7 (around $1.9). (full article…)

Abu Ahmed lived through last winter’s Gaza war in a daze. Though the district where he lives was invaded by Israeli ground forces and came under heavy fire, including the use of white phosphorus shells, he felt little fear. For by then, the 45-year-old unemployed father of 10 was popping tablets of the painkiller Tramadol to feed an ever more dangerous habit.”Of course you care about the children but [with the drugs] you forget about yourself,” he explains. “You feel less frightened.” (full article…)

According to the United Nations Relief Web news, 3,900 truckloads entered Gaza from January to May 2007. Over the same period this year, six trucks were allowed in. These carried material for water projects, greatly in need and long awaiting completion. (full article…)

Netanyahu: PA must recognize Israel as Jewish state for there to be peace (full article…)

Didn’t he just say that there weren’t going to be preconditions? It’s not fun exposing Netanyahu’s contradictions, because they occur so frequently.

I have a precondition for you… Since you are infatuated with the whole “right to exist” (something no other state has, by the way) why not recognize the Palestinians’ “right to exist” as a sign of reciprocity. No, of course you won’t.

“We Jewish and Arab teens from throughout Israel hereby announce that we object to Israel’s oppressive policy in the occupied territories and within the state of Israel, and therefore we will refuse to take part in these activities, which are carried out in our name by the Israel Defense Army,” says the letter, signed by 80 students. (full article…)

More than a month into the school year, the Israeli restrictions have caused severe shortages that leave students unable to afford supplies such as notebooks. Students are obliged to share or take turns studying from used textbooks and workbooks. Some did not receive any books for this year’s classes. Supplies smuggled through tunnels underneath Gaza’s southern border with Egypt have failed to make up for the shortages caused by Israel’s arbitrary restrictions on imports of educational materials. (full article…)

One element of the blackmail, which reportedly has been exercised by the Israelis on the Palestinian Authority in order to persuade them not to go forward with consideration of the Goldstone report in Geneva, was a denial of the granting of a license to a second Palestinian cell phone company in the Occupied Territories. (full article…)

Israel had repeatedly warned the PA that if it continued to support Goldstone’s report it would withdraw permission for a second cellular telephone company to be established in the West Bank, an issue of critical economic importance to the PA leadership and to the civilian infrastructure of the West Bank. (full article…)

According to Israeli press reports, Israel is planning a massive new settlement in the vicinity of Jerusalem, on land owned by Palestinians of al-Walajah. The project, expected to be approved by the Israeli ministry of the Interior, could become the single most populous settlement built in the occupied Palestinian territories since 1967 according to the Israeli daily Maariv. The project plans prepared by the ministry of the Interior and the Jerusalem municipality call for 14,000 housing units for 40,000 settlers on 3,000 dunums of land which would require the demolition of al-Walajah residents’ homes, according to the paper. (full article…)

Jewish settlers on Tuesday cut off 250 Palestinian fruitful olive trees in Deir Ammar village, west of Ramallah city, local sources reported. (full article…)

“I am very sorry for all those who were killed in Gaza,” Ms. Malka said, “but I expect my country to defend me no matter how.” (full article…)

A day after the story was published by the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, Ramat Gan Mayor Tzvi Bar announced that he was “shocked to read the story,” adding that “it is an abuse of helpless animals.” (full article…)

Invading Afghanistan was a clear war crime, despite the tendency to term it the “good war” by so-called antiwar voices in the West. Instead of treating the 9/11 attacks as a unique crime and cooperating with the international community to arrest Bin-Laden and his acolytes, Bush launched his Global War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan on flimsy grounds despite the awareness that an invasion of the country would place millions at risk of starvation and widespread suffering. But this mattered little to a country gripped in an rage of narcissistic compassion.

As Gilbert Achcar wrote within months of 9/11:

[W]hat was so truly extraordinary about the terrorism of mass destruction that took 3,300 lives … on September 11? On the scale of carnage for which the US government is directly responsible, and has never expressed the least regret for, it was all in all a pretty ordinary massacre. (Clash of Barbarisms, 2002, p. 19)

Nothing really changed on 9/11 – the canard that so many continue to repeat – despite what was justified in its aftermath. In fact, the only thing unusual about 9/11 was that Americans experienced a tiny fraction of the terror they have exported abroad for the better part of the last century – and continue to export in places like Afghanistan.

So as the US entered the ninth year of occupation in Afghanistan yesterday, what has been accomplished apart from mass suffering? The US-led forces have not been able to expel the reactionary fundamentalist organization it tacitly supported during the mid-1990s: the Taliban. Obama has now spread the war to Pakistan, a move that will potentially push the North-Western tribal region into an alliance with the Taliban. 90% of the hundreds killed in unmanned drone attacks have been civilians, yet these attacks have increased under Obama’s watch. Meanwhile, women continue to be subjected to widespread repression and violence, outside of the militarized bubble that is Kabul. And the puppet Karzai regime is powerless and corrupt, apparently capable only of rigging elections and granting legal immunity against warlords and rapists.

This is not the “good war”. It is a continuation of an illegal and unjustified invasion.

Israeli youth who refuse to cooperate with Israel’s military occupation are sent into a lengthy and relentless labyrinth of court martials and consecutive jail terms in what Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard, representing Shministim, calls a “price tag” meant to deter other young Israelis from non-participation. “Otherwise,” he says, “[the Israeli government's] argument says, everyone — of ideological or personal reasons — will refuse to serve.” (full article…)

According to the latest figures compiled by DCI-Palestine from sources including the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) and temporary Israeli army detention facilities, the number of Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons and detention centres inside Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the end of September, was 326. (full article…)

Israel should consider ousting Norwegian monitors from Hebron due to Oslo’s “hostility” toward Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the cabinet Thursday. (full article…)

“We need to ask you some questions,” she said. She took me aside. I was so nervous. She clarified my name and email, then she asked me about my time in Beirut. I told her it was a study program, organized by a translation service.She frowned. “Why do you like Arabs?” I didn’t know what to say. Is it a crime in Israel to love Arabs? Is it a crime to study Palestinian art?

“Palestinian art?” she said, “like what?” “Lots of stuff,” I said, ” Plays, movies, books; everywhere, all over the world.” (full article…)

At 8:00 am, on 22 September 2009, Mohammad arrived at the Allenby Bridge Crossing. He was returning home, to the West Bank, via Jordan, from his travels in Norway where he attended several speaking events and advocacy meetings. At the Israeli border control, Mohammad’s passport was taken away, and he was asked to wait on the side. Mohammad waited until 10pm at the Allenby Bridge Border Crossing without any information for the reasons of his detention. At 10pm, he was arrested and transferred to Huwwara provisional detention center, located on the outskirts of Nablus. Two days later, on 24 September, he received a visit from an International Committee of the Red Cross delegate and was allowed to see a lawyer. Since the moment of his arrest, he has not been either questioned or interrogated once. Mohammad is due to appear before the military court on Tuesday, 29 September 2009. (full article…)

President Barack Obama is considering VP Joe Biden’s idea to scale back the troop presence in Afghanistan. (full article…)

The real question is why the image of an Israeli soldier, agonizing and crying, is so appealing to festival curators and audiences of the western world? When we find the answer to this question, we will be able to comprehend the unreasonable, international sympathy that the state of Israel is awarded, regardless of its actions, which are perceived by the same West itself as violent. (full article…)

A new organization of several Israeli and Jewish student groups is working to help young people who are thousands of kilometers away — in Iran. Ahead of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming address at the United Nations General Assembly, Israelis have increased their PR activity in favor of Iranians being oppressed by their regime. (full article…)

“We want to create facts on the ground,” he said. (full article…)

“Thus, he is interested in allowing them to rule themselves, provided they are not given any authority that would endanger the security of Israel.” (full article…)

Coupled with this was a requirement for new tactics, like training more Nato troops in local languages so they would be “seen as guests of the Afghan people and their government, not an occupying army”. (full article…)

For most Palestinians in Gaza, there is no escaping the constraints of a suffocating Israeli-imposed siege that, with the complicity of the Egyptian government and the international community, has tightened since June 2007 when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip. The siege goes further back from that time two years ago to shortly after Hamas was elected in early 2006. Since then, Palestinians have lived under increasingly choking restrictions on what can enter and leave Gaza.

In the Rimal shopping area, a growing number of Palestinians have resorted to begging. Among them are widows trying to provide for their children, and children themselves begging to contribute to family income. (full article…)

Tel Aviv is, in fact, the most politically liberal city in Israel and offers a sharp contrast to the spirit of religious conservatism that informs Jerusalem. It votes to the left and looks to Europe. Many inhabitants yearn for nothing more than to live the life of a hot Mediterranean city, to be, say, the Barcelona of the Middle East and forget the conflict a dozen miles away. (full article…)

The difference between an Israeli dove and an Israeli hawk is the amount of “anguish” they feel when they kill 1,400 Palestinians in the course of a few days.

The two were immediately taken into custody and for four days whisked from hideout to hideout, in an effort to avoid detection. However, coalition forces were monitoring their cell-phone conversations and a helicopter-borne rescue operation was soon mounted by British commandos.

The commandos stormed the hideout and Munadi, dressed in Afghan clothes, came out shouting “Journalist, Journalist.” He was immediately shot. (full article…)

I am not a hero. But I have a point of view. I have a stance. It humiliated me to see my country humiliated; and to see my Baghdad burned, my people killed. Thousands of tragic pictures remained in my head, pushing me towards the path of confrontation. The scandal of Abu Ghraib. The massacre of Falluja, Najaf, Haditha, Sadr City, Basra, Diyala, Mosul, Tal Afar, and every inch of our wounded land. I travelled through my burning land and saw with my own eyes the pain of the victims, and heard with my own ears the screams of the orphans and the bereaved. And a feeling of shame haunted me like an ugly name because I was powerless.

As soon as I finished my professional duties in reporting the daily tragedies, while I washed away the remains of the debris of the ruined Iraqi houses, or the blood that stained my clothes, I would clench my teeth and make a pledge to our victims, a pledge of vengeance.

The opportunity came, and I took it. (full article…)

Israel’s hermetic sealing of the strip, as part of its blockade against Hamas, has prevented most supplies of paper, textbooks, notebooks, ink cartridges, stationery, school uniforms, school bags, and computers and their spare parts. (full article…)

“The mandate of the Goldstone Commission was one-sided from the outset. The initiative to establish the commission came from the UN Human Rights Council which is known for its routine condemnation of Israel.” (full article…)

On the second anniversary of the single worst massacre of Iraqi civilians committed by a private force since the US invasion, President Obama should be forced to explain to the American people and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan why he continues to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to this company and why he permits them to remain on the ground, representing the United States in these countries. At a recent hearing of the bipartisan Wartime Contracting Commission, commissioner Linda Gustitus asserted that in not canceling Blackwater’s contracts after Nisour Square, the State Department “helped to send a message to other contractors that you can do a lot and not have your contract terminated.” (full article…)

My Lords, I think it is important and is a reflection of the fact that there are people of good will on all sides of this who, whatever their views about the conflict and its origins or long-term peace, recognise that in today%u2019s world these kinds of crimes, whether they occur in Gaza, northern Sri Lanka, or Darfur, must be subject to international accountability. (full article…)

“The Israeli investigations have been conducted secretly by the military,” which “relied only on the evidence given to them by their own soldiers,” he said, comparing that strategy to a “domestic police force in Manhattan investigating murders by only speaking to murderers.” (full article…)

“It wasn’t easy [for him],” Nicole Goldstone said. “My father did not expect to see and hear what he saw and heard.” (full article…)

The United Nations’ investigation into Israel’s recent massacre in Gaza has now concluded. In general I think the release of their 500+ page report is an important step forward in the process of holding Israel accountable for its horrendous actions earlier this year. Judge Richard Goldstone (whom I met at a talk in San Diego years ago) is a principled man; his South African background makes him acutely aware of racial oppression and his prosecution of war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia must have prepared him for his work in the Middle East. Despite Israeli obstruction and opposition every step of the way, Goldstone pushed ahead and attempted to conduct a professionally thorough investigation.

The report concludes in rather strong terms:

From the facts gathered, the Mission found that the following grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention were committed by Israeli forces in Gaza: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly. As grave breaches these acts give rise to individual criminal responsibility. The Mission notes that the use of human shields also constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. (par. 1732)

They go on to make some minor criticism of the treatment of Palestinian detainees by the Israeli military as well as the suppression of critical media outlets within Israel.

More importantly, the team rejects Israeli accusations that Hamas members were “hiding” in civilian areas.

The Mission found no evidence to suggest that Palestinian armed groups either directed civilians to areas where attacks were being launched or that they forced civilians to remain within the vicinity of the attacks. The Mission also found no evidence that members of Palestinian armed groups engaged in combat in civilian dress. Although in the one incident of an Israeli attack on a mosque it investigated the Mission found that there was no indication that that mosque was used for military purposes or to shield military activities, the Mission cannot exclude that this might have occurred in other cases. (par. 1750)

Although Judge Goldstone has predicted that no prosecutions will take place for Israeli crimes, one hopes that if Israel refuses to investigate the allegations this report makes, that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will press ahead with their own investigation. There is a possibility this may happen… which would be a sign of great progress for that body. Although Israel is not a member of the ICC, I think it would be an important step towards greater jurisdiction for the court. Rather than punishing only the petty dictators or génocidaires of various 3rd world countries, the ICC could demonstrate that the leaders of the rich world are not entirely immune from the repercussions of their murderous romps. And Zionists are afraid of this:

Attorney Michael Sefarad, who specializes in human rights international law, was more cautious: “The Goldstone report is highly unusual, since it states Israel’s inquests into the operation were unworthy. The bottom line is that this report brings us one step closer to seeing foreign courts hear war crimes cases involving Israeli officials.” (more…)

On a final note, it should be said that while the report does criticize Palestinian rocket attacks targeting civilian areas, this issue takes a very minor role in the report. Not in this case, but I think too often the United Nations (and the Western media) attempts to apply flimsy standards of parity between Israeli and Palestinian actions. Sure, rocket attacks are war crimes… but there can be no serious comparison between the crimes of the occupant and the crimes of the occupied [Norman Finkelstein discussed the matter with Amy Goodman the other day]. Besides the clear disparity in economic and infrastructural terms, the occupation is the single greatest source of violence relevant to the conflict. Israel’s ongoing economic/military siege and the near-daily invasion of Palestinian land does not excuse rocket attacks, but neither does it put them on equal footing. I understand the need for this universality under international law, but realistically we would never dream of arguing that the participants in the Warsaw ghetto uprising were equally culpable for war crimes as were the Nazis during WWII.

Download the full report here.

During Monday’s discussion, Education Ministry representative, Shai Rimsky, said, “Because the Defense Ministry does not recognize certain settlements, the Education Ministry cannot allocate funds for the building of educational institutions. Ultimately, the children suffer.” (more…)

Still, nineteen demonstrators have been killed by the Israeli army in these nonviolent demonstrations against the wall. Many have been injured, including Israeli and international activists protesting with us. Here in Bil’in we recently lost our friend Bassem Abu Rahme, who was fatally shot by soldiers in April while he was imploring them to stop shooting at demonstrators. (more…)

Israeli authorities reportedly claimed that “suspicious Palestinians approached the fence” and troops responded by “firing into the air.” But the shot to Ghazi al-Zaneen’s head and the two bullet holes in Maher al-Zaneen’s car suggest otherwise. (more…)

PCHR and B’Tselem based their tallies on painstaking field research. (There are some small discrepancies between them. But most can be explained by differences in the definitions used.)

The Israeli government, by contrast, has not revealed the methodology by which – without having any access at all to surviving family members or local officials on the ground – it felt able to compile its much lower tally. (more…)

“I am not ashamed of what I did. It’s part of our military operations,” he said. “I have no problem telling the cameras that I hit a Palestinian when I was searching for a weapon. If I need to be the scapegoat, then I’m proud to be it.” (more…)

GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IRIN) – Some 1,200 students at al-Karmel High School for boys in Gaza City returned to class on 25 August without history and English textbooks, or notebooks and pens — all unavailable on the local market.

Severe damage to the school, caused during the 23-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on 18 January, has yet to be repaired. Al-Karmel’s principal, Majed Yasin, has had to cover scores of broken windows with plastic sheeting. (more…)

The concept of “a year in Israel, a love for a lifetime,” as the MASA slogan says, is misleading. Isn’t there a single tourist, either Jewish or non-Jewish, who after visiting here swore never to set foot in this place again? The violence, the crudeness, the materialism, the nationalism, the militarism, the aggressiveness and the occupation don’t suit everyone.
(more…)

According to the B’Tselem data, 773 of those killed did not take part in the hostilities, 320 of whom were minors under the age of 18 and 109 were women (above the age of 18). The rest of those killed were 330 armed combatants, 245 Palestinian policemen – most of whom were killed in aerial bombings of the police station – and 38 others whose participation in the hostilities could not be determined. (more…)

Every crime recorded… though when the organization I used to work for (the Palestinian Center for Human Rights) published similar figures within weeks of the massacre, it was shrugged off by the international community. This was the single bloodiest episode in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, apart from Israel’s 1982 invasion and aerial bombardment of Lebanon.

The first detailed casualty figures from an Israeli human rights organisation since the war ended puts the number of children under 16 killed in the offensive at 252 as opposed to the 89 cited by the military. B’Tselem says its fieldworkers gathered death certificates, photos, and testimonies relating to all 252 of the children. (more…)

“An Israeli navy boat approached them and opened fire. It was chaos. The firing was intense; it lasted 15 or 20 minutes. The fishing boat stopped, but the Israelis kept shooting. Finally, the Israelis shot a mortar at the boat. All the fishermen jumped into the water.” (more…)

Unidentified armed arsonists set fire to the Shopping Festival main stage under the watch of Israeli troops patrolling Nablus’ city center Monday before dawn. (more…)

During the 22-day war that Israel launched on December 27, 280 schools were damaged, including 18 that were completely destroyed. “Today, one month before the start of the new school year, more than six months after the ceasefires, none of these schools have been properly rebuilt or rehabilitated due to lack of construction materials,” the agencies said. (more…)

Three years after being shot by a Border Guard officer during an anti-security fence rally in the West Bank village of Bil’in, Limor Goldstein was awarded damages in the amount of NIS 3.25 million (about $860,000). (more…)

“Israelis aren’t paying any price for the injustice of occupation,” says columnist Gideon Levy, a vigorous critic of Israeli policy. “Life in Israel is just peachy. Cafes are bustling. Restaurants are packed. People are vacationing. Who wants to think about peace, negotiations, withdrawals – the ‘price’ we might have to pay. The summer of 2009 is wonderful. Why change anything?” (more…)

Israeli forces at the Erez crossing stopped a 5-month old baby from crossing into Israel. His mother and five-year old sister both had a permission to leave the Strip, so the 5-year old girl could receive medical treatment in Israel. (more…)

The problem with Goldstone (more…)

The Defense Ministry has recommended a partial lifting of the embargo on the Gaza Strip as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinians to spur talks to free a long-held captive soldier, Israeli media reported Friday. (more…)

If only I could laugh. Israel mulls loosening its death grip on Gaza and they dare to refer to it as a goodwill gesture? I cannot even begin to comment on the staggering arrogance of this notion. Disgusting.

Nineteen foreign activists of the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement were being held in Israel awaiting deportation on Thursday, two days after the Israeli Navy seized control of their boat off Gaza. (more…)

After ransacking three homes Israeli forces blasted into a fourth through the back door. They threw rocks at the door and windows, report witnesses. A 16 year old high school student had begun a summer job with his father as an apprentice carpenter. Israeli soldiers took the teen from his bed: no shoes and in his underpants. The boy’s parents pleaded with the Israeli soldiers that their child be allowed to dress. Soldiers claimed they were only taking the 16 year old for a “minute or two.” His family has not seen him since, reports the International Women’s Peace Service, a humanitarian mission based in the West Bank’s Salfit. (more…)

Israel has pledged to pay compensation for material damage it caused by shelling UN property during its Gaza offensive more than six months ago, a UN official said on Friday. (more…)

“They told us ‘go west or we will shoot you,’” says Ashraf Sadallah. “Initially, we refused, so they began shooting very close all around our boat.” (more…)

Those steps would probably include permitting Israeli airplanes to fly in Arab airspace and establishing limited ties. (more…)

Of course, as the New York Times well knows… controlling Palestinian air space is hardly a new idea. The Israeli terrorist military has controlled Palestinian skies since before 1967. What I’m sure the Times intended to report was that Israel wants to continue its mechanisms of control… And don’t even discuss the near daily illegal flights over Lebanese and Syrian airspace. Regional bully?

Gaza Civilians Killed by Israeli Drone-Launched Missiles

The security company also dictates the quantity of items allowed: Five pitas, one container of hummus and canned tuna, one small bottle or can of beverage, one or two slices of cheese, a few spoonfuls of sugar, and 5 to 10 olives. Workers are also not allowed to carry cooking utensils and work tools. (more…)

A 17-year-old Palestinian girl has been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire.
After initial denials, Israeli army officials said the girl was killed by Israeli troops during a clash with Palestinian militants on Thursday. (more…)

The aim of these laws is to impose the Israeli nationalist creed by coercion. It’s really that simple. Over the last decade, the Knesset has experienced several bursts of legislative activity seeking to restrict freedom of opinion and expression on the questions of the Jewishness of the state and the right to resist occupation. The advocates of these laws are indefatigable. If the proposals fail to pass through any of the necessary stages, they are resubmitted over and over again in the hope of wearing out their opponents. (more…)

Israel’s defence ministry has proposed legalising 60 existing homes at a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, and building another 240 homes at the site, despite US calls for a halt to settlement growth. (more…)

It apparently takes American pressure to get the Israeli military to allow 350 cows into Gaza today — the first in nine months. This, it should be noted, is for 1.5 million human beings. (more…)

When US President Barack Obama called on Palestinians to practice nonviolence, I laughed just like Mahmoud. Palestinians like Mahmoud have never needed to be told about nonviolence. The English word may be unfamiliar but the steadfast, daily acts of resistance known as nonviolence are nothing new. In the south Hebron hills, Palestinians face Israeli soldiers and violent Israeli settlers who are illegally expanding their settlements and attacking Palestinians, including children walking to school. In response to this profound injustice, Palestinians are organizing demonstrations, refusing to comply with military orders, filing complaints against settlers, and courageously working their land despite the risk of arrest and attack. They don’t need President Obama to tell them to practice nonviolence. (more…)

Activists campaigning for an end to Gaza’s blockade by Israel will sail to the Hamas-run enclave from Cyprus despite the presence of the Israeli navy, they said on Thursday. (more…)