Israel/ Palestine

(Via AFP) Palestinians mull handing territory ‘keys’ back to Israel (via AFP) Palestinian negotiators have warned they may pass responsiblity for their territory back to occupying power Israel if peace talks remain stalled, a senior Palestinian official said on Sunday. The official said the Palestinians told US peace envoy Martin… —– Related video: PressTV […]

Featured

Despite being Barred from Jerusalem Easter is a Symbol of hope for Palestinians

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Palestinian Christians in the West Bank say that they have been denied permits to visit Jerusalem in record numbers this year, despite their living just over the green line not far from the holy city. Hanan Ashrawi, the prominent Palestinian human rights activist, maintained that Palestinians only received 30% to 40% of […]

Featured

Thousands of Palestinians Rally for Release of 5,000 in Israeli Jails, Including 200 Children

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) As talks between Israel and Palestine falter, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated Thursday on behalf of nearly 5,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israeli Occupation authorities in 22 Israeli jails, many of them arbitrarily. They include 184 minors and 175 persons being held without any due process. Many prisoners are subject to “moderate physical pressure,” […]

Christianity

On Eve of Pope’s visit to Israel, Radical Israeli Settlers attack Christian Village

Juan Cole

(By Quinn Coffey) Just weeks before Pope Francis’ first official visit to the Holy Land, a number of Christian holy sites in Israel and Palestine have been targeted in ‘price tag’ attacks by the radical Israeli settler movement. These attacks have been increasing since 2008. Just weeks before Pope Francis’ first official visit to the […]

Human Rights

Jazz legend John McLaughlin Plays Ramallah, Palestine to counteract Palestinian “Isolation”

Juan Cole

Jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin plays for Palestine (via AFP) The Palestinian territories are rarely a destination for jazz musicians let alone stars of an art form that is more at home in big cities such as New York and Chicago. Which makes the performance of jazz guitar legend John McLaughlin before a packed… […]

Human Rights

Military Occupation as Bullying: The Palestinian Struggle for Dignity in Hebron

Juan Cole

(By Johannes A. Makar) Eyewitness Hebron: Follow young Badr in his city of bullies This February, after crossing the Taba-Eliat border from Egypt, less than 36 hours before the deplorable bomb attack there, I arrived in Jerusalem. After spending a couple of days in the city, I hopped on the bus to Hebron from the […]

Human Rights

Made Homeless by Israel, defiant Bedouin vow to stay in Jordan Valley

Juan Cole

Homeless but defiant, Bedouin to stay in Jordan Valley (via AFP) Two weeks after their fragile tin shacks were destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, Atiya Bani Minna and his family are still sleeping under the stars, struggling to resume some semblance of normal life. For this 50-year-old Bedouin shepherd, it is the third… ——- Related […]

Featured

Poof! John Kerry Blames Israeli Squatting in E. Jerusalem for breakdown in Peace Talks; Bennett: It’s Just Zionism

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) You heard it first here. I had argued on Sunday that that the actions and statements of the far rightwing Israeli Likud government had sunk the peace negotiations with Palestine. Secretary of State John Kerry gave a similar narrative [my points 9 & 10] on Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee […]

Featured

Top Ten Ways in which it was Actually the Israeli Gov’t that Derailed the Peace Talks

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Right wing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday blamed the Palestinians for the collapse of peace negotiations that began last August under the auspices of Secretary of State John Kerry. In fact, the Palestinians took no Israeli land whatsoever since August, whereas the Israelis doubled their pace of building squatter settlements […]