Israel/ Palestine

By Commondreams Staff: “‘It is very disturbing and shameful that U.S. military commanders believe that what Israel did in Gaza is something to be applauded,’ says Ramah Kudaimi of US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.” Critics say it is “shameful” that a high-ranking U.S. military official suggested the Pentagon can learn lessons from Israel’s […]

Apartheid

Israel’s Exclusion of Palestinians from Area C Costs Pals. $2.2 bn a Year

contributors

World Bank “If businesses and farms were permitted to develop on Area C land, 61 percent of the West Bank, it would add as much as 35% to the Palestinian gross domestic product.” World Bank: “Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy

Apartheid

Israeli Forces open fire on Palestinian Qalandia Demonstrators, Wounding 8

contributors

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Eight Palestinians were injured on Friday after Israeli forces opened fire on demonstrators during clashes following Friday prayers near the Qalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem. Several Palestinians were also injured by rubber-coated steel bullets and dozens suffered from suffocation from inhaling tear gas as Israeli soldiers fired large number of tear-gas grenades […]

Israel

Unprecedented Damage to Gaza & its People can’t be repaired with Just more Aid

contributors

By Sara Roy, Harvard University In the near three decades that I have been involved with Gaza and her people, I have never seen the kind of physical and psychological destruction that I see there today. In all Gaza’s long and tormented history, there is no precedent for its extraordinarily dangerous position in 2014. The […]

Apartheid

“Pilot Program” of Segregated Buses banning Palestinians in Israel

contributors

AJ+ “The defense minister [Moshe Ya’alon] … hasn’t issued a blanket ban but believes integrated buses are “a recipe for a terror attack.” So he’s launched a pilot program of segregated buses between Israel and the West Bank for “security considerations.” AJ+ “Israel Bans Palestinians From Riding Buses”

Featured

Far Right Extremist Avigdor Lieberman says Swedish Recognition of Palestine will Strengthen Extremists

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole There was a time when people like Avigdor Lieberman were not welcome in Israeli politics, or, indeed, in Jewish circles in the United States. Dogged by accusations of corruption (though acquitted in the Israeli courts) and widely considered a racist and flamethrower, Lieberman has emerged as Foreign Minister, a powerful cabinet post. […]

Islam

Jerusalem tensions over al-Aqsa Mosque turn bloody as Far Right-winger is Shot

contributors

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick was shot and injured at a rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, Israeli police and medical sources said. Glick was reportedly shot in his upper body at “close range” at an event outside the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, where a number of Israeli members of […]

BDS Occupied Territories

BDS Success: Israeli Firm Sodastream Leaves Palestinian West Bank after Boycott

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole AJ+ SodaStream Leaving West Bank After Boycotts AJ+ : “Facing an intensive boycott campaign, the controversial Israeli company that makes home soda machines is leaving the West Bank. Bye, Sodastream!” Background: Informed Comment wrote on this issue last January: “The determination of the Likud Party to annex the Palestinian West Bank is […]

Apartheid

Israeli restrictions on movement strangle Palestinian life

contributors

By Daoud Kuttab “My homeland is not a suitcase and I am not a traveler,” wrote Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. But for many Palestinians living in the besieged homeland, the right to movement guaranteed in the University Declaration of Human Rights (Article 13) is just ink on paper. I met last week in Beirut a […]