vjp-global

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/18733/zionism-bds-and-american-muslim-leadership This is an ongoing critique of a program in which Duke chaplain Abdullah Antepli is involved. Posting because of its local connection. Posted by Donna Hicks, AIME member

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/28/professor_ilan_pappe_israel_has_chosen   …Well, the U.S. should apply the basic definitions of democracy to Israel and recognize that it is giving, it's providing an unconditional support for a regime that systematically abuses the human rights and the civil rights of anyone who is not a Jew between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean. If America wants clearly to support such regimes—it had done it in the past—that's OK. But if it feels that it wants to send a different message to the Middle East, then it really has a different agenda of human rights—   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/30/henry_siegman_leading_voice_of_us   Excerpts: …on the face of it, Israel has a right to do what it's doing now, and, of course, it's been affirmed by even president of the United States, repeatedly, that no country would agree to live with that kind of a threat repeatedly hanging over it. But what he doesn't add, and what perverts this principle, undermines the principle, is that no country and no people would live the way Gazans have been made to live. And consequently, this moral equation which puts Israel on top as the victim that has to act to prevent its situation from continuing that way, and the Palestinians in Gaza, or Hamas, the organization responsible for Gaza, who are the attackers, our media rarely ever points out that these are people who have a right to live a decent, normal life, too. And they, too, must think, "What can we do to put an end to this?"… ...

http://www.thenation.com/article/180756/israel-palestine-and-bds-chomsky-replies     Noam Chomsky responds to Yousef Munayyer, MJ Rosenberg, Nadia Ben-Youssef, Ran Greenstein and the Organizing Collective of the US Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel.   [For the original article, see  http://www.thenation.com/article/180492/israel-palestine-and-bds# ] Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/israel-advocates-battle.html?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=640b3cfad8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-640b3cfad8-398495333   Pro-Israel advocates are now at war with the US media, which is showing a decidedly skeptical tone when it comes to Israeli claims in Gaza… Josh Block of the Israel Project is pushing to have NBC remove Ayman Mohyeldin from Gaza– again... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/detained-american-concerned.html?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=640b3cfad8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-640b3cfad8-398495333 On July 3, American  Tariq Abu Khdeir, 15, was brutally beaten and arrested by Israeli police during a protest in occupied East Jerusalem. Well it turns out he was not the only American arrested that day in occupied Shuafat. At the State Department briefing yesterday , State's Jen Psaki says our government is "gravely concerned" about Mohamed Abu Nie's detention for 26 days. The boy is an alleged rock-thrower and leader of protests, his family has been prevented from visiting him more than once, and there are reports "out there that he's been beaten"…. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/assault-disobedience-protest.html?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=640b3cfad8-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-640b3cfad8-398495333 When Israel pounded the Gaza Strip in 2008-09,  activists across North America occupied Israeli consulate buildings in protest of Operation Cast Lead, which killed an estimated 1,400 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. Now, as the death toll reaches Cast Lead-like levels, with over 1,000 Palestinians slain by Israeli forces, activists are once again ramping up their tactics in an attempt to pressure the Jewish establishment and corporations to cease their support for Israeli actions…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/roger-cohen-zionism-and-israels-war-with-hamas-in-gaza.html?action=click&contentCollection=Art%20&%20Design&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article&_r=0   Zionism and Israel's War with Hamas in Gaza   Conclusion:   The Israeli case for the bombardment of Gaza could be foolproof. If Benjamin Netanyahu had made a good-faith effort to find common cause with Palestinian moderates for peace and been rebuffed, it would be. He has not. Hamas is vile. I would happily see it destroyed. But Hamas is also the product of a situation that Israel has reinforced rather than sought to resolve. This corrosive Israeli exercise in the control of another people, breeding the contempt of the powerful for the oppressed, is a betrayal of the Zionism in which I still believe.   [see also Freedland, Liberal Zionists, New York Review of Books http://aimeprojec...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/opinion/roger-cohen-zionism-and-israels-war-with-hamas-in-gaza.html?action=click&contentCollection=Art%20&%20Design&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article&_r=0 Zionism and Israel's War with Hamas in Gaza   Conclusion:   The Israeli case for the bombardment of Gaza could be foolproof. If Benjamin Netanyahu had made a good-faith effort to find common cause with Palestinian moderates for peace and been rebuffed, it would be. He has not. Hamas is vile. I would happily see it destroyed. But Hamas is also the product of a situation that Israel has reinforced rather than sought to resolve. This corrosive Israeli exercise in the control of another people, breeding the contempt of the powerful for the oppressed, is a betrayal of the Zionism in which I still believe.   [see also Freedland, The Liberal Zionists, New York Review of B...

http://www.thenation.com/article/180492/israel-palestine-and-bds# Those dedicated to the Palestinian cause should think carefully about the tactics they choose.   …there is one comparison to South Africa that is realistic—and significant. In 1958, South Africa's foreign minister informed the US ambassador that it didn't much matter if South Africa became a pariah state. The UN may harshly condemn South Africa, he said, but, as the ambassador put it, "what mattered perhaps more than all other votes put together was that of [the] U.S. in view of its predominant position of leadership in [the] Western world." For forty years, ever since it chose expansion over security, Israel has made essentially the same judgment. For South Africa, the calculation was fairly successful for a long time. A few years… [after 1987], South Africa's last supporters in Washington joined the world consensus, and the apartheid r...

http://sabeel.org/events.php?eventid=374 The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the world-wide Anglican Communion has a statement out today. The Episcopal Church has not spoken since earlier in July and that was in the context of an appeal for funding for Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. Naim Ateek, an Episcopal priest, speaks out from the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. As he says 'Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!" Posted by Donna Hicks, AIME member

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html   When the bodies of three Israeli teenagers, kidnapped in the West Bank, were found late last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words. " Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay ," he said, initiating a campaign that eventually escalated into the present conflict in the region.  But now, Israeli officials admit the kidnappings were not Hamas's handiwork after all. Update: The comments from the Israeli spokesperson in question indicate that the group thought to be responsible, a "lone cell," may not have been under direct orders from Hamas's leadership, but was loosely affiliated with the group.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://mondoweiss.net/israel-palestine     1. Israel can prevent civilian deaths…   2. The three Israeli teens were killed immediately after being kidnapped… 3. Gaza is basically an open-air prison… 4. The Iron Dome isn't protecting Israel from rockets… 5. Israeli forces has killed over 1,500 Palestinian children since 2000… 6. Hamas accepts two states based on the 1967 borders… No, really. The infamous  1982 Charter  was effectively updated in 2006 following Hamas victory in legislative elections and  acknowledged  that Hamas would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 border… 7. Hamas has been provoked by Israel… 8. Unity between Hamas and Fatah is a good thing… 9. Israel isn't a strategic asset [for the U.S.]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://islamicommentary.org/2014/07/looking-beyond-the-safety-of-the-hate-narrative/ "The Facebook posts of my friends this week — both pro-Israeli pro-Palestinian — do reflect a focus on stopping the violence; that is good. But at the same time they are screaming that the other side is entirely to blame. This discourse does not heal the disease. When a cease-fire comes, I'm afraid that most of my American and Israeli Facebook friends will simply continue on with their ordinary lives as if the current conflict had never happened." A personal note: Yakir Englander was a member of a closing interfaith panel during the Abraham course at St. George's College Jerusalem a number of years ago. He was a powerful witness then and is now. Please take the time to read this piece. Donna Hicks AIME member

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/aug/14/libeal-zionists Review of My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel by Ari Shavit Genesis: Truman, American Jews, and the Origins of the Arab/Israeli Conflict by John B. Judis Old Wine, Broken Bottle: Ari Shavit's Promised Land by Norman G. Finkelstein   [conclusion] This, perhaps, is the ultimate role of the much-derided liberal Zionist. They are better placed than most to move Zionist, including Israeli, opinion. Finkelstein concludes his philippic against Shavit with a declaration that, despite the "original sin" of its creation, Israel's fate is not set in stone. It can take a first step toward closure, consigning the past to the past, and perhaps even toward reconciliation, with a "formal acknowledgement of what happened in 1948." For an Israeli patriot such as Shavit, profoundly committed to his country, to have w...

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/07/24/the_transformation_of_shimon_peres_israel_labor_party   How the last of Israel's founding fathers went from "Mr. Security" to become his country's most prominent dove…   [concludion] So, after an almost seven-decade-long political and military career, who is Shimon Peres? He is a wise man who is able to shift his positions when he comes to the conclusion that such a change is consistent with the interests of the State of Israel. He is a curious person, a believer in scientific progress, and a man of reconciliation. He has taught those who are willing to listen that our Arab and Palestinian neighbors are human beings. Shimon Peres, a man once untrusting of Israel's neighbors, will be remembered for his most recent face -- one of relentless optimism in the pursuit of peace.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/174110/americans-reaction-middle-east-situation-similar-past.aspx?utm_source=add_this&utm_medium=addthis.com&utm_campaign=sharing#.U9F59B8t1Tc.twitter …Americans are divided in their views of whether Israel's actions against the Palestinian group Hamas is "mostly justified" or "mostly unjustified," but they widely view Hamas' actions as mostly unjustified. Those results are similar to what Gallup measured 12 years ago during another period of heightened Israeli-Palestinian violence, and they are consistent with Americans' generally more positive views of the Israelis than of the Palestinians …   [For example] Other subgroup differences may stem from the basic party divisions. Men, older Americans, and whites are more likely than women, younger Americans, and nonwhites to say Israel's actions are justified. Although Americans with postgraduate education tend to be poli...

http://www.thenation.com/article/180783/five-israeli-talking-points-gaza-debunked# Israel claims that it is merely exercising its right to self-defense and that Gaza is no longer occupied. Here's what you need to know about these talking points and more. 1) Israel is exercising its right to self-defense... 2) Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005... 3) This Israeli operation, among others, was caused by rocket fire from Gaza... 4) Israel avoids civilian casualties, but Hamas aims to kill civilians... 5) Hamas hides its weapons in homes, mosques and schools and uses human shields... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://chasfreeman.net/obamas-foreign-policy-and-the-future-of-the-middle-east/ A while back, the United States set out to reconfigure the Middle East.  The result is that the region and our position in it are both in shambles.  Much of what has happened seems irreversible.  In the short time allotted to me, I want to talk about the region's dynamics.  I will conclude with a few thoughts about what might be done but probably won't be…. In April, our four-decade-long effort to broker a secure and accepted place for a Jewish state in the Middle East sputtered to a disgraceful end.  In the tragicomic final phase of the so-called "peace process," instead of mediating, the United States negotiated with Israel about the terms of Palestinian capitulation, not with the Palestinians about self-determination.  The U.S. effort to broker peace for Israel is now not just dead but so putrid it can't be shown at a wake.  Israel...

http://972mag.com/the-largest-west-bank-protest-in-decades/94280/   Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem march in solidarity with Gaza, in the largest such protest in years. At least two were killed…   Earlier Thursday, Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshaal said Hamas was prepared to sign a ceasefire agreement with Israel, as long as Israel's siege of Gaza is lifted. In comments made from Qatar, Meshaal underlined that he also wants Gaza's border with Egypt to be opened. "We want an international airport, we want a seaport, we want an opening to the outside world, and not the situation where we are controlled by a few border crossings that turn Gaza into a huge prison, where no one can leave even for medical treatment or to work […] When we get a clearly worded drafting that guarantees these things, and the international community gives its backing to this draft – than the fire can be st...

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/meretz-leftwing-party-zehava-gal-on-ground-operation-gaza.html Israeli ground troops had already entered Gaza when Meretz Party Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On was asked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu what she would do in his place. She immediately answered that she would never have gotten into this situation in the first place, because she would have given the  Palestinian unity government a chance. She believes that if that had happened, the current escalation could have been avoided…   Gal-On [said] Even at this particular point in time, I would declare a unilateral cease-fire. Let's start with the fact that I would never have sent in IDF [Israel Defense Forces] ground troops in the first place. They should have thought of other ways to deal with the tunnels. I would have promoted a diplomatic process involving Mahmoud Abbas and Egypt , in which Hamas gets a financial incentive...

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/21/4020699/beseeching-israel-no-more-killings.html?sp=/99/108/   …I am a Jew represented by a state engaged in unspeakable acts of inhumanity in my name. And I am filled with an anger that has not dissipated since my first visit to Palestine in 2002 where I witnessed firsthand the devastating realities of unending occupation. I'm angry because Israel used the horrific killing of three young Israelis to justify a new round of state-sanctioned violence. I'm angry because dropping bombs on Gaza, one of the most densely populated geographies in the world, is like dropping grenades into a prison yard, ensuring that civilians, including children, will be killed. While Hamas launches rockets into Israel, Israel devastates with the firepower of one of the most powerful militaries on the planet. The difference in fatalities is staggering evidence that this is no war but actually a unilateral lethal barrage focused on an area ...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.606681 Doctor, nurse and two municipal employees fired or suspended; Lod worker expresses joy over death of 13 soldiers… … After firing Gara, a resident of the Haifa-area town of Jatt, Revivo, a member of the ruling Likud party, wrote on his Facebook page that she was dismissed because of "disloyalty to the state." But the Lod municipality said in a statement that she was fired for "a disciplinary offense bordering on the criminal and behavior unbecoming a public servant."… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/25080-israels-grinding-ground-war-in-gaza   …Egypt proposed a ceasefire endorsed by Israel. The plan merely called for a cessation of hostilities on both sides, but didn't address Israel's (and Egypt's) ongoing siege against Gaza, which is illegal under international law. It didn't provide any assurance that Israel would respect Gaza's borders or sovereignty. Nor did it provide any path for Hamas to become a legitimate Palestinian political force in the international arena. All of these would be necessary to resolve the long-term issues underlying the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Egyptians didn't bother to consult Hamas, which naturally rejected the ceasefire. My own Israeli source, who was consulted during the negotiation process, told me that the ceasefire proposal wasn't devised by Egypt at all,  but rather by Israel, which used Egypt as a front-man, mak...

http://cbfblog.com/2014/07/22/water-in-the-desert-n-c-church-starts-project-to-provide-clean-water-to-gaza-children/ Snippet: My wife, Emily and I are members of Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. In November, 2012, we had the unique opportunity to visit Gaza with a delegation of Interfaith Peace Builders. This was an opportunity practically no Americans have had in the past decade. A single portal that connected Gaza with the rest of the world was opened for a very brief moment in time permitting our entry. There, we saw what life was like for the 1.7 million residents. We saw the wall that surrounds this most densely populated area of the world. We walked through the rubble of homes and buildings — the remains of an assault four years earlier. These were homes that could not be rebuilt. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/israeli-professor-rape-hamas-militiants-mothers-sisters-deter-terrorist-attacks-1457836 An Israeli academic has claimed that raping wives and mothers of Palestinian Hamas militants is the only thing that could deter further terrorist attacks. The remarks by renowned Middle East scholar Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University were made three weeks ago after the grim discovery of the bodies of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers, but the recording was published online (in Hebrew)  on Monday. "The only thing that could deter a suicide bomber is knowing that if caught, his sister or his mother would be raped," said Kedar on Israel Radio Bet Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

Two additional contributions have been added since the last notice: from Rania Masri and Dr. Ralph McCoy.  Go to www.aimeproject.org - See first item under "Special Notices" Remarks on the Steps of the State Capitol Building Emergency Protest for Gaza RALEIGH, N.C. July 19, 2014 Palestinian supporters in Raleigh gathered Saturday to renew a call for peace in the Middle East. The crowd gathered for a "Free Gaza" rally at the State Capitol.   Protesters gathered with the goal of seeking an end to violence in the Middle East.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/rula-jebreal-msnbc-palestinians-airtime_n_5606673.html MSNBC contributor Rula Jebreal took issue with the network's coverage of the conflict in the Middle East on Monday. Speaking on Ronan Farrow's show, she accused MSNBC of covering the Israeli perspective far more than the Palestinian side. "We are disgustingly biased when it comes to this issue," said Jebreal, an Italian-Palestinian journalist with dual Italian and Israeli citizenship. "Look how [much] air time Netanyahu and his folks have on air on a daily basis — Andrea Mitchell and others. I never see one Palestinian being interviewed on these same issues —" Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_15881a3c-1093-11e4-b084-001a4bcf6878.html About 200 people lined Fayetteville Street in front of the state Capital Building Saturday to protest the $3.15 billion in aid Israel receives from the U.S. government annually, claiming money is being used to fund violent crimes against humanity in Gaza. Rania Masri, N.C. State alum and spokeswoman for the coalition of different organizations involved in the protest, said the goal of the demonstrations was to raise awareness about the violence and human rights violations that are continuing to unfold throughout Gaza and the West Bank…   Israel occupied Gaza in 2005 after an illegal military siege and has been present in the area ever since, according to Masri. "We are having literally hundreds of Palestinians being killed in their neighborhoods with no place to them to go for shelter to evacuate," Masri said. "And there are ...

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/7/21/israeli_peace_demo_violently_disrupted_dozens   Video Interviews with Rann Bar-On and Max Blunenthal [Goliath]   We look at the increasingly dangerous political climate inside Israel where several peace protests have recently come under attack. On Saturday, right-wing activists burned a Palestinian flag, chanted racial slurs, and threw stones at an antiwar protest in Haifa of Arabs and Israelis opposed to the bombardment of Gaza. Haifa's deputy mayor, Dr. Suhail Assad, and his son were beaten. On Sunday, the captain of a youth soccer team in Be'er Sheva wrote on his facebook page: "send left-wing voters to the gas chambers and clean this country of leftists." The week before the Gaza invasion began, gangs were reportedly seen roaming the streets of Jerusalem and other towns shouting, "death to Arabs." We go to Israel to speak with Rann Bar-On, an Israeli peace activ...

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/handful-israeli-academics-responds-call-condemn-gaza-slaughter "The signatories to this statement, all academics at Israeli universities, wish it to be known that they utterly deplore the aggressive military strategy being deployed by the Israeli government. The slaughter of large numbers of wholly innocent people, is placing yet more barriers of blood in the way of the negotiated agreement which is the only alternative to the occupation and endless oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel must agree to an immediate ceasefire, and start negotiating in good faith for the end of the occupation and settlements, through a just peace agreement." [signatures follow]    Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2014/07/pain-in-gaza.html   It is hard not to cry watching the unfolding horror in Gaza, children with heads blown off, pregnant woman with body torn by a shell, babies with missing limbs, targeting of playing children, targeting hospitals, targeting ambulances, and even a handicap center killing two handicap children.  Israeli forces then ratcheted up their attacks committing large scale massacres in places like Shujaia and Beit Hanoun. 80% of the victims are elderly, women and Children (over 110 children so far). Though mainstream western media self-sensors to comply with the Zionist lobby, the truth is coming out and the videos and pictures are horrific. Our friends in Gaza issue desperate calls to us. Israel cannot absolve itself by saying we asked people to evacuate (110,000 are homeless already). Forcing people out of their homes is a crime against humanity let alone bombing those who remain....

http://www.jta.org/2014/07/11/news-opinion/united-states/protests-blame-israel-for-escalating-violence-call-for-boycotts#ixzz37nmsnIJy   Protests against Israel organized by Jewish Voice for Peace drew 1,000 demonstrators in 15 cities, organizers said.   Protests took place in Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco, among other cities, according to Rabbi Alissa Wise, a amember of the group's rabbinic council...     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/07/why_i_object_to_israel_s_military_campaign_in_gaza_israel_turned_the_occupied.html Even today, when  rockets are exploding above the city I love most  in the world, even when we rush into our apartment building's stairwell and march downstairs along with the neighbors to the bicycle room that has been turned into a makeshift bomb shelter. Even now, I oppose this  military operation  wholeheartedly…  I would still like to believe that this whole thing is a misunderstanding, and that if my own people would only give some more thought to the reality in the occupied territories, they would change their minds overnight. I want to believe that they don't fully grasp the  nature of the occupation , which is why they are so enraged by whatever the Palestinians do. This mindset leads to yet  another  violent Israeli response , which only paves the way for the next escalation. ...

http://imeu.org/article/faq-on-failed-effort-to-arrange-ceasefire-between-israel-and-hamas   Snippet:   NE:   "Within two days of Israel's aerial assault on the population of the Gaza Strip, Hamas announced five conditions for a ceasefire: 1) stop the airstrikes; 2) observe terms of 2012 ceasefire; 3) release the Palestinians released during the Shalit prisoner exchange who were recently re-arrested; 4) lift the siege; and 5) don't interfere with Palestinian unity government. What little is known about the proposed ceasefire agreement is that it demands a cessation of violence with no conditions thus reverting to conditions that are even worse than the status quo ante."   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.alternet.org/world/netanyahu-government-knew-teens-were-dead-it-whipped-racist-frenzy   A toxic blend of propaganda, subterfuge and incitement inflamed a precarious situation...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/calling-presbyterians-anti-semitic-a-tactic-to-silence-israel-critics-21638/ More complete coverage than usual of the PCUSA divestment issue. Goes into why the 3 particular companies were singled out for divestment. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=18749 Concert organizers try unsuccessfully to get permission for the concert, but it was determined unsafe to have thousands of people gathered together given the security situation • Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters had already asked Young to cancel [for the sake of the cultural boycott.]… Waters wrote a letter to Young on his Facebook page last week.   "I find it hard to believe that you would turn your back on the indigenous people of Palestine," the letter read, "That you would lend support to, and encourage and legitimize, with your presence, a colonial apartheid regime."   Waters, a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, also unsuccessfully petitioned the Rolling Stones not to perform in Israel earlier this summer.       Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME membe...

http://972mag.com/the-night-it-became-dangerous-to-demonstrate-in-tel-aviv/93524/   The fascists attacked. Police didn't respond in time and ran away when the sirens wailed. We were lucky to get away with only three injured, one in the hospital and many traumatized.   When the sirens wailed in Tel Aviv last night one thing was clear to us: the fascists in front of us were more dangerous than the rapidly approaching rockets. One by one, the police ran to bomb shelters and left us face to face. Only one brave and wise officer remained in the middle and attempted to separate us. Only when the Iron Dome rockets lit up the sky with their golden blazes and intercepted a rocket right over us did the two groups stop their shouts for a moment, mesmerized by the sight, from the boom, and then once again: "Death to Arabs!", "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!"...     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME memb...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4542059,00.html     ‪‪ UK, US, France and Germany foreign ministers to meet on sideline of Iran nuclear talks to discuss international ceasefire push; Egypt also pushes ceasefire.‬‬ ‪   The cease-fire draft is divided into two sections: security and socioeconomic.     The security aspect includes among other items the demands by Hamas for the release of 56 prisoners who were freed as part of the 2011 Shalit swap deal, but rearrested by Israel during the IDF operation followed the abduction and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last month. They are also demanding the release of the senior Hamas members in the West Bank who were also detained during the same operation, known as Brother's Keeper.   The socioeconomic aspect includes principles reached after the end of Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, including the expansion of the fishing area ...

http://epfnational.org/PIN/a-contextual-reflection-on-the-assault-on-gaza/ Snippet: One thing is certain. As with previous assaults by Israel on Gaza, there is no proportionality in either the firepower of the two sides, nor its devastating consequences. So far, over 100 Palestinians have died, mostly civilians, including women and children, but not one Israeli. Diane Sawyer of ABC news committed a gaffe in reporting on the conflict, showing a displaced family among the rubble of what was their home, referring to it as an Israeli family. But it was actually a Palestinian family in Gaza. No Israeli homes have been destroyed. Brian Williams of NBC news, on the other hand, accurately reported on the "lopsided" nature of the attacks. He noted most of the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are shot down by a largely U.S. taxpayer funded Iron Dome which intercepts incoming missiles. But Israel's bombs are the most sophisticated money can buy and Gaza has no defense against the...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10959506/How-Israel-should-deal-with-Hamas.html   Hamas can't be defeated by military action alone – Israel must outflank the movement by taking other steps including embracing the Arab peace offer   …In order for the dialogue and the process to succeed, Israel's government should present a vision of peace that truly addresses not only our security and other needs but also the needs and the future of the Palestinian people. To defeat Hamas, Israel should be more accurate and sophisticated than yet another IDF smart bomb. It is possible to undermine Hamas; the question is just how and if we have the patience, courage and political wisdom necessary to do it properly. And yes, we also need vision and leadership, but, admittedly, that is something of a luxury in the crazy neighbourhood in which we live.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

ttp:// electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-signposts-road-liberation/13554     …The end of this genocidal war must necessarily mean the end of Oslo because, simply put, the Oslo accords are the equivalent of slavery as there is nothing to lose but our chains and our refugee tents.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/watch-a-voice-of-peace-on-the-gaza-border/93278/     For 14 years, the Israeli communities in the Gaza vicinity have dealt with regular rocket and mortar attacks. But not everyone shares the hardline views most often heard when news cameras show up. As 'Operation Protective Edge' began this past week, Social TV went to the area and found some different voices.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-peace-conference/1.600293   We believe that no just and lasting peace can be achieved without respecting the rights of everyone, including both Palestinians and Israelis… … We ask that the international community stop hiding behind calls for "resumption of talks," without holding the Israeli government accountable to its obligations. The international community has the responsibility to protect our defenseless people living under the terror of settlers, an occupying army and a painful siege. Decisive action must be taken in order to ensure that Israeli settlers, illegally residing on and exploiting the territory and natural resources of our state, do not enjoy the same benefits as Israelis living in Israel. The attitude of the international community toward the Israeli government must be related to its respect for international law and human rights… Posted by Judith...

http://972mag.com/why-isnt-the-west-bank-rioting-too/93056/ And why doesn't anyone in Israel seem to notice this? Answer: for the same reason that the Palestinian riots started in the first place. With Palestinians protesting violently in East Jerusalem and the Israeli north, and with Palestinians in Gaza, or some of them anyway, firing rockets into Israel's south, who are the only Palestinians in this land who are not raising hell these days? The Palestinians of the West Bank.. . Even in the last few days, following the discovery of Mohammed Abu Khdeir's burnt body, when Palestinian violence has spread through East Jerusalem and Israel's "Arab Triangle," when we're on the verge of war with Gaza again, there's little news from the West Bank….   We didn't notice then, like we don't notice the relative quiet in the West Bank today. And it's because we didn't notice what Abbas...