vjp-global

 http:/ www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/12/09/senior-israel-jordanian-palestinian-representatives-water-sharing-agreement   A milestone regional cooperation agreement was signed today at the World Bank Headquarters by senior Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian representatives. This agreement will support the management of scarce water resources and the joint development and use of new water resources through sea water desalination. The agreement, in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), was signed by the ministers responsible for water in the three cooperating governments: H.E. Minister Silvan Shalom for Israel, H.E. Minister Hazim El-Naser for Jordan and H.E. Minister Shaddad Attili for the Palestinian Authority.   [On 2-25-201 at the Center for Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations,   Gaith al-Omari, executive director of the American Palestinian Task Force, talked about this agreement as...

  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.576247   The Knesset on Monday passed a controversial bill into law that distinguishes between Muslim and Christian Arab citizens for the first time and increases the involvement of Christians in Israeli society.   The bill…was sponsored by coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu). Critics slammed the law as an effort to “divide and conquer” Israel’s Arab population – an allegation Levin seemed to confirm in a recent interview with the newspaper Maariv.   “This is an important historic move that can balance Israel and bring us closer to the Christians, and I am careful not to call them Arabs, because they’re not Arabs." He added that Christians “are our natural allies, a counter-balance against the Muslims who want to destroy the state from within.”   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member ...

http://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/2014/02/an-open-letter-to-naftali-bennett-haaretz/ Unlike you, and most Israelis, water is not something I take for granted. It is a daily existential struggle.  [This is an open letter to Haaretz, which requires a paid subscription to view full articles. However, it was also published in the blog http://mideastenvironment.apps01.yorku.ca/.] Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-bletter/guess-whos-valedictorian_b_3602610.html Guess who graduated first in this year's medical school class at the Technion, Israel's version of M.I.T.? The answer will surprise you. It's a 27-year-old stereotype-buster: a charming, feminist, smart, open-minded and observant Islamic woman named Mais Ali-Saleh who grew up in a small village outside of Nazareth, in Israel's Galilee.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2014/02/another-world-is-possible.html   …we have positive signs all around us: 1) more and more Israelis are joining the struggle for environmental and political justice, 2) more and more global civil societies are adopting the boycotts, divestment, and sanctions movement, 3) the Palestinian generation of Oslo is passing on and a new generation is coming up that is taking matters into their own hands.  Examples are many: from the bus freedom riders to successful challenge to the Prawer-Begin plan designed to finish ethnically cleansing the Naqab (Negev) to Kufr Qaddoum to Majd el Krooum to Sakhnin.  An example of resistance in the footsteps of Land Day of 1976 is the return to the two villages of Iqrit and Biram.  These were Christian villages which were ethnically cleansed and the houses destroyed leaving only the village churches.  This did not happen in war but by a process long after th...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/opinion/the-case-for-the-israel-boycott.html?src=rechp&_r=0 These letters respond to Omar Bargouti’s 1-31 “ Why Israel Fears the Boycott,” Roger Cohen’s 2-11 “The B.D.S. Threat,” and 2/12 Jodi Rudoren story about commentators who claim that the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement echoes the anti-Semitic boycotts of Nazi Germany.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Excerpt: "The  Times  is careful to write around the facts in connecting Palestinians to the land. Reporters avoid talk of international law and the fact that Palestinians are the indigenous inhabitants of the West Bank (and all of Israel). Instead, the newspaper has placed them in a shadowy role as outsiders longing for a land of their own." For full article go to http://mondoweiss.net/2014/02/disenfranchised-status-palestinian.html This article is a rebuttal of "Israeli Water, Mideast Peace?" - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/opinion/israeli-water-mideast-peace.html?_r=1 Posted by Sam Bryan, suggested by Rev. Mark Davidson, AIME members

http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/docs/GvirtzmanWP180112.pdf This… new study by [hydologist] Prof. Haim Gvirtzman, based on previously classified data, refutes Palestinian claims that Israel is denying West Bank Palestinians water rights negotiated under the Oslo Accords. The study also proposes a practical plan for Israeli-Palestinian water sharing in the future.   Full report http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/MSPS94.pdf   Compare 16-2014 Thirsting for Justice [in Palestine] - Various authors and sources Facebook & 2-4-2014 How “historic” Israel-Jordan water deal leaves Palestinians high and dry -   Clemens Messerschmid and Muna Dajani Electronic Intifada   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.facebook.com/ThirstingForJustice   Examples of inadequate sources of clean fresh water in Palestine: --Israel doesn’t give water to the Palestinians. Rather, it sells it to them at full price. The Palestinians would not have been forced to buy water from Israel if it were not an occupying power which controls their natural resource…   --Life in Gaza in becoming more difficult than ever with the blockade and unavailability of essential services such as water, - writes a Palestinian student advocating for Palestinians rights to water and sanitation in the occupied Palestinian Territory…   --Water crisis in Gaza: Over 90% of the water is unfit for drinking.   Gaza has been suffering a severe water crisis for years, due to contamination of its main water source – the coastal aquifer – by over-pumping and lack of proper sewage treatment.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AI...

http://electronicintifada.net/content/how-historic-israel-jordan-water-deal-leaves-palestinians-high-and-dry/13139   World media recently lauded a new project, backed by the World Bank , that will allegedly “save” the Dead Sea and prove that peace is possible through cooperation to manage natural resources. But the scheme only threatens to make an already disastrous situation worse, as well as robbing Palestinians of their right to water.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/02/israels_waiver_to_discriminate.html   [Summary by Ronen Zvulun Associated Press] “Sam Bahour writes that Israel's inclusion in the visa waiver program with ‘special ally’ privileges and exemptions to the rules of entry to the program, the US would give Israel the green light to continue to mistreat American citizens legally under the pretense of ‘security.’”   ...The so-called visa waiver bill would reward Israel by allowing Israelis to travel to the United States without a visa — a privilege that is supposed to hinge on Israel reciprocating the gesture.     A key provision of the bill… would allow Israel to continue discriminating against U.S. citizens. The provision…gives Israel a green light to deny entry — on its own terms and for its own reasons — to any Americans whom it deems as “jeopardizing...

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/02/hamas-gaza-rockets-israel-izz-al-din-al-qassam.html##ixzz2t4wT0m1L …A recent round of rocket fire from Gaza and IDF air strikes was followed by an exchange of messages between the two sides and reaffirmation of a commitment by Hamas to try to prevent future rocket fire.   Seeking to maintain the status quo with Israel and thereby avoid another military confrontation, Hamas has a vested interest in stanching the firing of al-Qassam rockets and mortar shells at Israel…Now, a so-called Restraining Force has been formed to this end. It is a police force fashioned after the Israeli Border Police, but à la Gaza. The military wing kept its distance from it, but gave its blessings and guidance from the top.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

  http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059994202?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=e09db66a44-2014_02_09_SUI2_9_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-e09db66a44-54607145 …For the first time in its history, Israel is on track to experience a water surplus [through desalination]. water may improve diplomacy with Arab "In my opinion, it's a big future also for our neighbors," Shlomo Wald, chief scientist at the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, said of the desalination boom in an interview. "I think Israel is willing to assist Jordan, Egypt and even the Gaza Strip ... and hopefully in the future Syria and Lebanon….Mekorot, Israel's water utility, will also sell up to 30 million cubic meters of desalinated water each year to the West Bank. It's in Israel's interest to work with the Palestinians, "because morally it's not healthy to have a thirsty neighbor and politically it's no...

http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/bill-fletcher-jr-traveling-through-palestine/   Last month, a small delegation of African American artists traveled through Israel and Palestine to get a firsthand look at the daily lives of Palestinians. What they saw shocked and angered them, and their eyewitness accounts are sure to spark debate here as heated as any confrontation in the Middle East. Bill Fletcher Jr., senior scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, led the delegation and shares his perspective on the region. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

2/10/2014  " IN West Bank Settlements, Israeli Settlements are a Double Edged Sword"  NY Times by Jodi  Rudoren http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/world/middleeast/palestinians-work-in-west-bank-for-israeli-industry-they-oppose.html?hp         The Occupation and colonization of the West Bank includes a very high unemployment rate for the Palestinian population.  Much is explained in this article probably in the news due to BDS initiatives/ Soda Stream /Scarlett Johannson/ Oxfam.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/2014/01/28/palestinians-earn-degrees-while-israeli-jail/06yhKMjMKF0Sa18uqZ6gLI/singlepage.html   This is a report on the Israeli policy of allowing Palestinian prisoners, often convicted of killing Israeli Jews, often in retaliation for the killing of Palestinian protesters, to earn degrees from Israeli universities.   The program waxes and wanes with current events.   It   began in the 1990s as a response to a mass hunger strike protesting   harsh conditions in the prisons. Courses were offered by Israeli universities in Hebrew, and were taken by hundreds of prisoners, some of whom studied languages, history, writing, economics, Israel, and Zionism.     A former Israeli commissioner of prisoners says that the program is an example of Israeli humanity, but also it was intended to give them Israeli language and perspectives if, upon release, they went on to important positions in Palesti...

http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/51-phyllis/1959-states-of-the-union-states-of-war-states-of-the-middle-east--challenging-all  In the section on Israel and Palestine, Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., goes through important provisions of the “framework, noting how bad the consequences would be for Palestinians, both those in Israel and those in the territories and the diaspora.  Furthermore, both sides can sign with reservations, so what does the agreement mean?  Bennis concludes that the process aims to burnish Obama and Kerry’s “legacies” more than making a just and lasting peace. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

mondoweiss.net/2014/02/targeting-boycotters-introduced.html The New York measure aimed at academic groups boycotting Israel is stalled for now , but a similar bill has emerged in Maryland. …The Maryland bill  bars public universities from providing funds to academic organizations that support boycotts of Israel. The purpose of both…bills is to cut off state university-subsidized travel expenses to conventions organized by the American Studies Association (ASA) and department membership fees to the ASA.  It would also apply to other academic groups that support boycotts of Israel. The legislation does not mention Israel. But it applies to state universities that have cooperation with institutions abroad, and Israeli universities maintain relationships with the University of Maryland , the main public institution in the state. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Excerpt from conclusion: So if you are considering bold, conscience-driven public witness toward a just peace in Israel-Palestine but are worried that it will damage your interfaith friendships with our Jewish friends and colleagues, I urge you to take the risk and trust the depth of the friendship. Sparks will certainly fly, but you'll be surprised what wonders the Spirit can work through your moral courage. Full article: http://justiceunbound.org/carousel/how-our-churchs-witness-for-a-just-peace-strengthened-our-relationships-within-the-jewish-community/ Posted by Sam Bryan

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595948-israels-politicians-sound-rattled-campaign-isolate-their-country Noteworthy because this is mainstream media. "ONCE derided as the scheming of crackpots, the campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, widely known as BDS, is turning mainstream. That, at any rate, is the fear of a growing number of Israelis. Some European pension funds have withdrawn investments; some large corporations have cancelled contracts; and the American secretary of state, John Kerry, rarely misses a chance to warn Israel that efforts to "delegitimise" and boycott it will increase if its government spurns his efforts to conclude a two-state settlement of its conflict with the Palestinians. Israel, says Yair Lapid, Israel's finance minister, is approaching the same "tipping point" where South Africa found itself in opposition to the rest of the world in the dying days of apartheid. "Let's not ...

Palestinian refugees still under siege in Yarmouk, Syria. Granting relief groups access to an estimated 250,000 people trapped by fighting across Syria was one of the goals of the peace talks held last week in Switzerland, which adjourned Friday with no substantial results. Despite lengthy discussions, the sides could not agree on passage for an aid convoy to reach 2,500 people trapped in the old city of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, with no access to food or medicine. Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Article.aspx?id=246170#ixzz2sUrbilXX (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb )

http://www.juancole.com/2014/02/business-boycotts-pressure.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29 Israeli government and business leaders are alarmed by a growing international boycott movement and the likely effect of EU measures against exports from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank . Cabinet ministers are to meet next week to hammer out a strategy against a growing international campaign to boycott trade linked to settlements, Haaretz newspaper reported Friday. Posted by Sam Bryan

http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12353(1988 ) (UN Doc) [Mahmoud Darwish] UNITED NATIONS
 Security Council
 General Assembly A/43/827
S/20278
 Declaration of Independence On the same terrain as God's apostolic missions to mankind and in the land of Palestine was the Palestinian Arab people brought forth. There it grew and developed, and there it created its unique human and national mode of existence in an organic, indissoluble and unbroken relationship among people, land and history. With epic tenaciousness in terms of place and time, the people of Palestine fashioned its national identity. Its steadfast endurance in its own defence rose to preternatural levels, for despite the ambitions, covetousness and armed invasions which deprived that people of an opportunity to achieve political independence, and which were prompted by the allure of this ancient land and its crucial position on t...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/02/israel-kerry-us-boycott/5151551/     A small but growing number of European businesses and pension funds have begun to drop investments or limit trade with Israeli firms involved in the West Bank settlements. At a security conference in Germany this weekend, Kerry warned that a breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian talks would accelerate this trend and could threaten Israel's economic prosperity and its safety….At the opening of his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said international pressure on Israel would backfire.... Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid recently said that even in the case of a limited boycott that reduces Israeli exports to the European Union by 20 percent, the damage would amount to about 20 billion shekels ($5.7 billion) in exports annually. In a related development, Lapid also ordered that all payments to settlements be stopped until ...

http://972mag.com/author/noams/       “Scarlett for Israel” was the headline in Yedioth Ahronoth , whose Friday edition is the most widely read paper in Israel…. International coverage of the affair, however, told a slightly different story, repeatedly referring to the settlements as illegal and highlighting the damage to Johansson’s image. Here are my takeaways:   1. The difference between opposing the settlements and “opposing” the settlements. 2. The latest Orwellian Newspeak is about an occupation that benefits Palestinians. 3. This was a major triumph for anti-occupation activists. 4. Activists and alternative media are able to change the narrative of the mainstream media. 5. Celebrities bring web traffic.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

             http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/opinion/israel-needs-to-learn-some-manners.html?src=rechp  On Jan. 14, the Israeli defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, told the daily Yediot Aharonot, “Secretary of State John Kerry — who arrived here determined, who operates from an incomprehensible obsession and a sense of messianism — can’t teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians.” Even by Israeli standards, Mr. Yaalon’s comments were rather rude. Mr. Kerry’s crime was to try to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that began last July and to stipulate a nine-month deadline. This is the kind of talk that gives chutzpah a bad name…. Blind support for the Jewish state does not advance the cause of peace. America is going nowhere in the Middle East until it makes the provision of money and arms conditional on good manners and, more importantly, on Israeli respect for its advice. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/world/middleeast/israel.html?src=rechp&_r=0   Simmering tension between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and one of his right-wing political partners boiled into open hostility on Wednesday, threatening to reshape Israel’s governing coalition at a critical juncture of the American-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians. The prime minister’s office issued a warning on Wednesday morning to Naftali Bennett, the leader of the religious-nationalist Jewish Home party, that if Mr. Bennett did not apologize for his harsh criticism of Mr. Netanyahu’s positions in recent days, he could lose his seat in the cabinet.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://law-journals-books.vlex.com/vid/israeli-conference-palestinian-ways-479030038   In October, the first international conference of its kind staged in Israel not only addressed the theoretical right of millions of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, but examined practical measures for implementing that right. The two-day conference, held in the heart of Tel Aviv, highlighted the growing polarization in Israeli society between a left more prepared than ever to demand serious concessions for the sake of peace, and an Israeli right, including the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, trying to stifle all dissent. The conference, entitled From Truth to Redress: Realizing the Return of the Palestinian Refugees, was organized by Zochrot. Most Israeli Jews vehemently oppose the right of return for Palestinians because they see it as resulting in the end of their state's Jewishness. Since its founding a decade ago, Zochrot ha...