vjp-global

http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-05-30/why-critics-complain-one-palestinian-university-condones-violent-demonstrations   A Palestinian professor took Palestinian university students on an unprecedented trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial in March, in an effort to break Palestinian taboos surrounding the Holocaust….   [Afterwards, many other students' demonstrated their disapproval.   Dozens of joint Israeli/Palestinian academic programs have been canceled since Cast Lead, Israel's attack on Gaza in 2008.   Many Palestinians are now more wary about such cooperation, which is sometimes called "normalization," working with Israeli institutions as if there were no conflict.   Prof. Dajani broke no rule by taking students to Auschwitz, but it won't be clear until Sunday whether he will stay at Al Quds University.   You can listen to the full radio report at the PRI website.]   Posted by Judit...

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/05/uri-ariel-jerusalem-day-two-state-solution-division.html   The day commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel has announced further construction in East Jerusalem, driving closer the danger of a binational state.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/jerusalem-by-the-numbers-poverty-segregation-and-discrimination/91425/     While Jewish Israelis celebrate the "reunification" of Jerusalem, data shows that the city is anything but unified. From concrete walls that separate to budgets that discriminate, East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem — despite being a part of the same municipality — are hardly the same, let alone a unified city. Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are just that – residents; they were not granted Israeli citizenship and do not have the right to vote in national elections, do not hold Israeli passports and if they spend a number of years abroad, they are regularly barred from returning. The following figures were taken from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics ( CBS – Heb ), the Association for Civil Rights in Israel ( ACRI ) and Ir Amim ( IA – Heb )….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://complyordeny.org/ This meme was created in response to the misuse of the phrase "delegitimize Israel" by the many pro-Israeli government propagandists. A good example is Moshe Arens's saying "The real goal of BDS: Delegitimizing Israel" in an article in the 2-10-2014 issue of Haaretz. www.haaretz.com Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/05/university-occupation-referendum.html   Following two months of campaigning at DePaul University, student coalition DePaul Divest has declared victory in a campaign to divest from corporations that profit off of human rights violations perpetrated against Palestinians via the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. While a majority of campus divestment campaigns across the country have been carried out through student government resolutions, DePaul Divest opted to pose the question of divestment to the entire DePaul student body through a Student Government Association (SGA) referendum this week. With a majority of 1575 votes in favor and 1333 against, it is clear that Palestinian human rights, the rights of minorities within Israel, and ethical investment are issues that concern the DePaul student body….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/water-in-gaza-what-the-analysts-are-saying/#.U4KNjXbyRGY   A power crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) has reduced the availability of running water in most households, according to a fact sheet produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with more than 30 percent of homes in Gaza receiving running water for just 6-8 hours every four days….   At least 90 percent of the water supply in Gaza is contaminated with a combination of nitrate (NO3) or chloride (Cl), according to PWA, which says water quantity is also an issue, with average consumption of 90 litres per person per day, below recommended guidelines for minimum health requirements say EWASH.   …In a press release issued in February, the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem said the Israeli government was largely responsible for this discrimination due its water policy: "...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/world/middleeast/palestinian-teaches-tolerance-via-holocaust.html?_r=0   … Mr. Dajani, now the library director and a professor of American studies at Al-Quds University, in East Jerusalem, has become a prominent activist for tolerance.   …"It is my role as a professor to open the minds of my students to knowledge and to learning without any restriction or prohibition," Mr. Dajani said. "I would like Palestinians to explore the unexplored and to meet these challenges, even though you might find that within their community there will be a lot of pressure on them not to do it."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/israel-declares-war-on-palestinian-banks   One such measure is that Israel informed the Palestinian side that it would no longer allow Palestinian banks to transport their surplus Israeli currency to the Israeli Central Bank, an act that is unheard of in the world of banking. Israel is refusing to serve its own currency. In effect, Israel is declaring war on the Palestinian economy, risking the collapse of the thriving Palestinian banking sector, and disrupting the flow of basic goods such as electricity, petroleum, and natural gas into Palestine…. … The international community is starting to wake up to the three-dimensional reality of the Israeli military occupation. For those who prefer to remain in their deep slumber, Palestinians, acting in their capacity as a state, will be reminding them of their obligations under international law to not allow Israel to continue to act in the rogue fashion th...

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2014/05/20/3874590/your-letters-may-11.html?sp=/99/586/885/905/908/   Under the aegis of Jews for a Just Peace NC, a multi-faith group handed leaflets to people attending an Israel Philharmonic concert.  The leaflet pointed out that while the Israeli government sends "cultural emissaries" like the orchestra to demonstrate the country's vibrant culture, the occupation of the West Bank makes cultural life more difficult for Palestinians.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/will-boycotting-israel-work-challenges-religion-and-ethnic-nationalism-search-just-peace-—#sthash.7rPoRLpE.dpuf     … [W]hat Israel's leaders and many of Israel's supporters, including peace groups, avoid acknowledging is how the positions of Hamas mirror the presumption of Jewish ethno-religious exclusivity that lies at the core of Zionism in its various permutations. Critics of Hamas and BDS, for example, focus on how both movements negate the legitimacy of Israel as a specifically Jewish state. They ignore how the insistence on exclusive Jewish territorial dominance denies, yet, also reinforces Palestinian narratives of dispossession from and demand for restoration to the  entire  land….   … BDS may not succeed in altering the course of these developments, and the future it envisions may be incapable of resolving powerful and persistent ethnic and religious differences, but by...

http://capwiz.com/pcusa/issues/alert/?alertid=63226931 Peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are at a halt, but human rights violations associated with the Israeli occupation continue. Settlements, in particular, and the infrastructure that supports them, continue to take Palestinian land and obstruct daily life for Palestinians. On the occasion of the talks' collapse, the Israeli peace organization, Peace Now, published a report stating, "During the 9 months of Secretary Kerry's efforts in the region, the Israeli Government promoted plans and tenders for at least 13,851 housing units in the settlements [in the West Bank] and East Jerusalem – an average of 50 units per day and 1,540 units per month." Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.fotonna.org/newsletters/red-alert2.html Dear Friends of Tent of Nations, We are writing this letter to call for action against acts of injustice by the Israeli Military towards the Nassar family farm and their Tent of Nations Peace Project. This farm (known as Daher's Vineyard) is located just six miles southwest of Bethlehem in the Occupied Territories of Palestine (the West Bank). As you know, this family has registration papers for their 100-acre farm dating back to the Ottoman Empire, and they are now in a situation where the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) brought in bulldozers on May 19, 2014 and destroyed between 1,500 and 2,000 mature, fruit-bearing apricot and apple trees and grape vines, all in the lower valley of the farm.

http://www.ebony.com/news-views/why-black-people-must-stand-with-palestine-402#axzz32NW3zKkE Strong Black solidarity with the Palestinian struggle seems necessary and urgent. We must work together to address the effects of money, policing and militarism here and in Israel/Palestine. Submitted by Donna Hicks, AIME member, posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.bdsmovement.net/2014/trade-unions-join-protest-against-sodastream-12069   Members from eight UK trade unions joined the long running weekly picket of SodaStream's only UK shop, EcoStream in Brighton, on Saturday May 3. …   …As Corporate Watch has previously reported, the issues with SodaStream's factory in Mishor Adumim are wide and complex, ranging from complicity in settlement expansion, and hence the ethnic cleansing of the surrounding Bedouin communities, to worker's rights issues. Whilst the company proudly promotes its employment of Palestinians, SodaStream has refused to answer any specific questions about its practices, including whether Palestinians in the factory are allowed to unionise and, if they are, which unions are allowed to operate in the factory. Corporate Watch has yet to come across a single settlement worker properly represented by an Israeli trade union and Palestinian unions do not g...

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-restricts-palestinian-banking-electricity/   Power to run at half-strength for an hour each day as part of response to Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.     In addition, Israel is withholding $116 million of Palestinian tax revenue…   The reduction in electricity will take effect on West Bank Palestinians daily between 1 p.m. and 1:30, and 7 p.m. and 7:30. The Israel Electric Company pointed to a $154 million debt owed by the Palestinian Jerusalem District Electric Company as the reason for the measure. With the restriction on shekel transfers, Palestinian banks now will be unable to exchange shekels for foreign currency, a right established in a 1994 Israeli-Palestinian economic agreement.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=697755 Kerry voiced concern after two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces Thursday during a protest outside the Ofer prison near Ramallah, on the West Bank. ["Concern" is better than silence, but "condemnation" would have been more appropriate.] Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=679355 Great video on divestment. Scroll down to video. Remi Kanazi is a Palestinian-American poet and activist and a member of the organizing committee of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. In February, he released a video entitled "This Divestment Bill Hurts my Feelings," focusing on BDS campaigns at universities targeting companies that engage in business with the Israeli occupation. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.alternet.org/world/traveling-through-palestine-while-black-firsthand-look-slow-moving-annexation?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark   Witnessing a brutal occupation, where permanent insecurity and maximum humiliation are the norm.   [An African American delegation reported on racial dynamics within Israel, within Palestine, and between the two communities that haven't gottten much comment.   Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Executive Editor of Black Commentator.com.] Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/photos-nakba-commemorations-from-gaza-to-the-galilee/90959/   Palestinians from Nablus to the Gaza Strip Israel/Palestine marked Nakba Day, to commemorate the events of 1948. Nakba, Arabic for "catastrophe," is the term given to the forced displacement of some 750,000 Palestinian refugees from 500 communities by Zionist forces before, during and after the 1948 War. The commemoration began last week on Israel's Independence Day, when Palestinian citizens of Israel held an annual "march of return" to the destroyed village of Lubye near the Sea of Galilee. Most of the former residents of Lubye currently live in Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/05/following-breakdown-negotiations.html   Is Germany fed up with Israel? Berlin has nixed a deal to give Israel a 30% discount on a $1 billion purchase of German gunboats, allegedly to be used for the  protection of Israeli offshore gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea.  Reportedly Israeli national security adviser Joseph Cohen claimed Chancellor Angela Merkel made an " explicit " promise to subsidize the purchase of the gun boats during a joint meeting between German and Israeli cabinets last February, but his counterpart, Merkel's national security adviser Christoph Heusgen, denied that ever happened. According to Haaretz , Heusgen told Cohen that there was " no chance" Germany's parliament would approve the deal " given the breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks,  which has been blamed at least partly on Israeli settlement construction. "       ...

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/infographic-how-israeli-id-card-system-enforces-apartheid This powerful new infographic from Visualizing Palestine shows how Israel's system of identity cards is used to enforce apartheid on Palestinians. The type of ID one has determines how much of historic Palestine one is allowed to access. Israeli Jewish citizens are free to move and live in virtually the whole country, while at the bottom end Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are restricted to tiny enclaves. Millions of exiled Palestinian refugees have no access to the country at all for one reason alone: they are not Jewish. No wonder many Palestinians compare Israel's ID card regime to apartheid South Africa's notorious  pass laws .     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/whos-scared-of-the-right-of-return/90804/   The thought of six million Palestinian refugees entering Israel can be scary, even terrifying. But it turns out there are real, practical steps that we can take to mitigate those fears, and they don't have to come at the expense of those living here.... …It is common to hear that the Left in Israel offers no alternatives, that it is so focused on opposing the occupation to the point that it cannot offer a positive vision. This is our positive vision. The return of the refugees to their country, from the river until the sea, and a life of cohabitation in a country that is already shared by two nations. The shared state in which Jews, Palestinians and others live already exists. It simply suffers from serious failures when it comes to justice and equality.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.590690 'I think the status quo is not a good idea, I don't want a binational state,' Netanyahu says in interview during Japan visit….   But a number of Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested that Netanyahu may be more interested in placating coalition partners Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid than in genuine movement on the conflict with the Palestinians….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-riddle-of-succession-in-the-palestinian-authority   A cloud of uncertainty hangs over the road to Palestinian succession, and potential candidates will likely have to form ad hoc alliances that result in significant policy compromises on peacemaking and other issues. In private conversations with U.S. officials and other individuals, seventy-nine-year-old Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas has increasingly spoken of his growing "exhaustion," his family's desire for him to abdicate, and his "decision" to step down in the near future or refrain from running in the next Palestinian elections. According to the recent Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, those elections are scheduled for a still-unspecified date early next year, and they will still be held in the PA-controlled West Bank even if reconciliation is once again aborted. The urgency...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jimmy-carter-united-palestinian-government-may-provide-new-opportunities-for-peace/2014/05/12/9e36f4a8-d9dd-11e3-b745-87d39690c5c0_story.html?wprss=rss_opinions   Although intensive Middle East peace efforts by Secretary of State John F. Kerry have not produced an agreement, they have clarified the issues and still can produce significant dividends. His team of negotiators now is much more familiar with the complex disputes and obstacles to be overcome, as are the Israelis and Palestinians who have participated in the discussions….     …Kerry has mentioned the need for better realities on the ground or new leadership as requisites for progress. A united Palestinian government with wider international recognition, newly elected leaders and assured financial support from the Arab world may provide an opportunity for a new round of peace talks, permitting Israel finally to live in peace with...

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117730/john-kerrys-stance-transition-doomed-israel-palestine-peace-talks The option adamantly rejected by Secretary of State John Kerry in his quest to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace is the only route remaining to achieve substantial progress toward a gradual resolution of the conflict: a transition agreement that falls short of a comprehensive deal.    The refusal of the American team even to consider this approach ultimately led to the current deadlock in the negotiations for a Final Status deal…   There will have to be guarantees to the Palestinians that, following statehood, negotiations will continue to demarcate final borders and reach an agreed solution to the refugee problem and the status of East Jerusalem and the holy places. The conflict would thus be transformed into a dispute between two states. The Palestinians would get their state without giving up their national objectives, while...

http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/blog/2014/05/12/israeli-supreme-court-to-hear-rachel-corrie-appeal CORRIE FAMILY TO ATTEND JERUSALEM HEARING Nine years after filing a civil suit against the State of Israel for the wrongful death of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, her family will have their appeal heard before the Israeli Supreme Court on May 21 at 11:30 a.m. in Jerusalem. The appeal, which will be argued by attorney Hussein Abu Hussein, challenges the Haifa District Court's August 2012 ruling which concluded that the Israeli military was not responsible for Rachel's death and that it conducted a credible investigation. "During the past nine years, we have sought accountability in the Israeli courts for Rachel's killing but were handed a verdict that showed blind indifference to the rights of the victim and little interest in seeking truth and justice," said Craig Corrie, Rachel's father.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/05/08/rights-group-reports-rise-in-complaints-detainee-abuse-recorded-in-palestinian/ A Palestinian rights group says it has documented nearly 500 complaints of detainee abuse in Palestinian jails in 2013, up by 200 from the previous year. The Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights said Thursday that the increase is due, in part, to better access for its investigators to lockups in the Gaza Strip.... The rights group says it presented the findings to Abbas who last month signed onto 15 international conventions, including one prohibiting torture.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israeli-palestinian-relations/breaking-three-israelis-attacked-in-palestinian-village-5252   The three, who are from Yakir near Ariel, went to travel to Burin village and were attacked by Palestinians, who set the vehicle on fire and took away their weapons. Palestinian police officers who witnessed the incident were able to rescue them and returned their weapons to the IDF. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-unity-govt-to-be-formed-before-deadline-official-says/   Amid signs of warming ties with Gaza, Fatah spokesman announces agreement will be reached in less than 3 weeks...[T] here have been several indications of warming ties between the two parties, such as a decision by Hamas to allow West Bank-based newspapers to be distributed in the Gaza Strip, and a   corresponding decision   by the Palestinian Authority to allow the Hamas newspaper to be distributed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://palestiniantalmud.com/2014/05/08/love-thy-palestinian-neighbor-a-bar-mitzvah-dvar-torah-by-elijah-david-gold/?blogsub=confirming#blog_subscription-2 Elijah David Gold for his Bar Mitzvah: …I believe "love your neighbor" should include all human beings, not just Jews. But even if you do not agree with that, K'doshim also includes the requirement to love the stranger. It says: When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Certainly in this case, it is clear that we are to treat all human beings with dignity, equality, and respect. For this reason, for my D'var Torah I decided to learn more about how Palestinians, and especially Palestinian children, are treated in the state of Israel. .. If the Torah says that you are to love your ...

http://www.newsweek.com/israel-wont-stop-spying-us-249757 "Israel's espionage activities in America are unrivaled and unseemly, counterspies have told members of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, going far beyond activities by other close allies, such as Germany, France, the U.K. and Japan. A congressional staffer familiar with a briefing last January called the testimony "very sobering…alarming…even terrifying." Another staffer called it "damaging."  The Jewish state's primary target: America's industrial and technical secrets." Further down note this parenthetical comment: " (U.S. counterintelligence officials suspect that Israel traded some of the Cold War-era information to Moscow in exchange for the imigration of Russian Jews.)" How galling is that? The Israelis gave our secrets to Russia so Russian immigrantes c...

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/05/07/3435137/eci-walter-jones/     Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) survived a tough primary battle on Tuesday — beating former Bush administration official and Sarah Palin-endorsed Taylor Griffin by just a few thousand votes — despite a massive influx of funds from outside groups , such as the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), in an effort to defeat Jones….   ECI — a neoconservative group co-founded by Bill Kristol — spent more than $300,000 on the race and released an ad last month attacking Jones for opposing sanctions on Iran and being "endorsed by an anti-Israel group" (the group in question is liberal pro-Israel group J Street).   [Jones tends to follow the lead of David Price, D-NC, in votes that are critical of Israel or pro-Palestinian.]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/abbas-generous-offer-to-israel/90589/     The details of the unprecedented offer Israel got from the Palestinian leadership have been revealed – along with the Israeli response. Still, if you only listen to the Israeli media, you might think it was Abbas who got cold feet.   Abbas' offers to Netanyahu were based on previous ideas like the Clinton Parameters and the informal Geneva Accord . Yet the fact that they were raised in a formal way, in final-status negotiations by the leader of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, is extremely meaningful. Even more meaningful is the fact that Hamas was willing to recognize and join a leadership that made such offers…. If you add the Arab Peace Initiative to Abbas' offer, one must conclude that Israel has never before faced such an opportunity to achieve regional and international legitimacy for its military and political achievements in the last century. ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/06/us-israel-palestinian-salary-idUSBREA450MH20140506?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews Palestinian public sector workers received their salaries on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, in a sign that Israel had backed down from a threat to impose sanctions as peace talks began to collapse last month….   Palestinian officials said the payment reflected Israel's decision to transfer more than $100 million in customs duties it collects on goods headed to Palestinian-run areas through border crossings it controls. The money accounts for about two-thirds of the Palestinian budget and is key to keeping its large public sector functioning and maintaining stability in the Israeli-occupied West Bank….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/peres-netanyahu-torpedoed-peace-deal-3-years-ago/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter   President Shimon Peres said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu torpedoed a peace deal reached covertly in 2011 with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In Channel 2 interview, president says he reached a comprehensive agreement in 2011 with Abbas which PM rejected…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://wesleyanargus.com/2014/05/06/in-light-of-divestment-a-call-for-accountability/     We are writing this piece in our capacity as student activists, dedicated to an end to the Israeli occupation, and in recognition that the greater cause of peace is not served by another campus debate mired in polarization, which frames the debate in terms of absolute rights and absolute wrongs. In the last week, as negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, brokered by our Secretary of State, John Kerry, came to an end, the Wesleyan Student Assembly voted to divest their holdings in companies that materially profit from the occupation. This concurrent timing is not coincidental….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.rollcall.com/news/to_stand_with_israel_give_aid_to_the_palestinian_authority_commentary-232720-1.html?pos=lopilr   Any doubts surrounding Sen. Rand Paul 's presidential ambitions were cleared up this past week when he proposed the "Stand With Israel Act" (S. 2265). However, the bill's good ideas are not new, and its new ideas are not good.   The legislation calls for all U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to be suspended until it publicly recognizes Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state…   Breaking off foreign aid to the PA may lead to its collapse or dissolution….     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2014/05/03/former-security-chiefs-say-israel-doesnt-want-to-stop-hate-crimes/   Israel is unable to solve the problem of anti-Arab hate crimes – known as "price tag" attacks – because it doesn't want to solve them, former Shin Bet head Carmi Gillon said on Saturday at a cultural event in Be'er Sheva…. Speaking at the same event, former Mossad head Shabtai Shavit also crtiticized the government over the handling of the attacks, saying "Israel is a lawful country that does not enforce its laws."   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-officially-join-5-un-treaties/   PA becomes signatory to conventions banning racial discrimination, protecting human rights.   …In the face of fierce Israeli opposition, Palestine won observer status at the United Nations in November 2012... ...The Palestinians had pledged to freeze all moves to seek membership in UN organizations and international conventions — a stepping stone to recognition of their hoped-for state — during peace talks in return for Israel's release of veteran Arab prisoners…. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=4997#.U2c9aSglYqd During the 9 months of Secretary Kerry's efforts in the region, the Israeli Government promoted plans and tenders for at least 13,851 housing units in the settlements and East Jerusalem - an average of 50 units per day and 1,540 units per month. [The report lists them settlement by settlement.]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-officials-even-if-israel-doesnt-like-it-palestinians-will-get-state/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=c2be1a8301-2014_05_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-c2be1a8301-54586237     Members of Kerry's team slam Netanyahu, empathize with Abbas, warn Palestine will rise 'whether through violence or via int'l organizations'             American officials directly involved in the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the last nine months gave a leading Israeli columnist a withering assessment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the negotiations, indicated that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has completely given up on the prospect of a negotiated solution, and warned Israel that the Palestinians will achieve statehood come what may —     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/30/us-palestinian-hamas-rally-idUSBREA3T0JH20140430?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews   Over a thousand supporters of the Islamist group Hamas marched through the streets of a West Bank stronghold of its rival Fatah party on Wednesday, testing a surprise Palestinian unity pact the two signed last week.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/kerry-apartheid-lobbyists-aipac-israeli-right-palestine.html   Some 66 years after the establishment of the State of Israel, whose Declaration of Independence promises absolute equality of rights for all the country's citizens, there is a noticeable gap between Jews and Arabs. There is no need to exhaust one's self reading the abundant data about the increase in systematic discrimination against Israeli Arabs , as detailed on the website of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel . It is sufficient to hear the testimony of the leader of the HaBayit HaYehudi Party, Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett, who is hardly suspected of having leftist sentiments. Last October, he complained that only 2% of Arabs who studied computer programming work for Jewish employers. "It is simply bizarre," said Bennett at a conference organized by the PA to Develop the Arab S...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/02-5 Concluding paragraphs: For Palestinians, who have been fragmented and exiled all over the world, BDS gives us a way to unify and use our tragedy of dislocation to multiply the avenues available to us. It's an opportunity to welcome and reciprocate the solidarity of people of conscience. It's a realm to celebrate our native roots and to exercise our talent for hope. This global street is where a defenseless oppressed indigenous people have a chance at justice. There is nothing for us in negotiations with the powerful elite. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME Member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-rebuffed-bid-to-find-mutually-acceptable-wording-on-jewish-state/   Israel suggested describing Jewish people's and Palestinian people's rights to self-determination in precisely equivalent terms; Palestinians refused to discuss idea…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.588672 The Israeli embassy in London has condemned a Methodist Church report on the case for and against boycotting Israel, according to the Church Times website. While the briefing paper does not recommend that the Methodist Church join the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement, it was condemned by the embassy as an attempt to "legitimize the extremist BDS political campaign." Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/john_kerry_admits_israeli_apartheid_and_5_ways_he_is_understating_it_201404/ 1.  South Africa created Bantustans as a way of denaturalizing Blacks, ensuring that they could not vote for the national government and were assigned citizenship only in their weak Bantustan. 2.     South Africa instituted a "pass" system to control the movement of Blacks. … 3.     In Apartheid South Africa, 80% of the land was set aside for white settlers…. 4.      In Apartheid South Africa, Blacks from the Bantustans could not attend universities designated for whites…. 5. South African Apartheid forbade marriages between people of different ethnicities….   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=693090   Diana Buttu is a Canadian-Palestinian lawyer. From 2000-2005, she served in the PLO's Negotiations Support Unit as a legal and communications adviser.   Ma'an recently interviewed Buttu to discuss the recent reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, the Israeli decision to end the peace negotiations, and the way forward for the Palestinian national movement.                 Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/may/22/occupation-finest-israeli-documentary/?insrc=toc     A review of three works: The Law in These Parts a film directed by Ra'anan Alexandrowicz (2011) My Neighbourhood a film directed by Julia Bacha and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi (2012) Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel by Max Blumenthal Nation Books, 496 pp., $27.99   Review of three works on Palestinian and Israeli protesters and Israeli courts by Shulman, "Renne Lang Professor of Humanistic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an activist in Ta'ayush, Arab-Jewish Partnership."   …How did the Israeli legal system as a whole come effectively to collude, passively or actively, with the ongoing project of Israeli settlement in the occupied territories? Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's film, The Law in These Parts , arguably the finest Israeli d...

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/features/economy-of-the-occupation/7999-uk-national-union-of-teachers-passes-bds-resolution Conference notes the ongoing oppressive and unjust regime imposed by the state of Israel on the Palestinian people and is especially concerned at the impact on young people and their families. Conference endorses the following demands and calls on the British Government to actively pursue these objectives: ... Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17221     Left-leaning Jewish lobby group J Street was rejected for admission to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Wednesday….According to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency report, 17 conference members voted in favor of admitting the group, 22 voted against and three abstained…. Among the votes in favor of J Street's joining was the Anti-Defamation League. ADL National Director Abraham Foxman told JTA on Wednesday that "we will support the admission of J Street not because we agree with them, not because we support their views, but in order to ensure the integrity and credibility of American Jewish advocacy and of the Conference of Presidents."…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member