vjp-global

Full text: http://forward.com/opinion/306743/congress-backs-israeli-rights-war-on-settlement-boycotts/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The%20Forward%20Today%20%28Monday-Friday%29&utm_campaign=New%20Daily%202015-04-25 Snippet: The finance committees of the House and Senate have approved amendments to a trade bill that equate boycotts of West Bank settlement products with boycotts of Israel, strengthening efforts by the Israeli right to silence opponents of West Bank settlements. Submitted by Ford Chambliss, posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/30/world/middleeast/gaza-protesters-beaten-and-detained-by-hamas-security-officials-witnesses-say.html?mabReward=A1&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine   A rare show of defiance against Hamas , the militant Palestinian group that controls Gaza , was quelled on Wednesday as men who appeared to be Hamas security officials beat some protesters and detained others, witnesses said…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/04/israel-arab-youth-facebook-peace-messages-idf.html#   Youths from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other Arab countries are sending messages via Facebook declaring that they do not hate Israel and expressing hope for better relations. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/israeli-right-renews-its-fight-on-funding-for-human-rights-orgs/105989/ ...Legislative attacks on EU funding of human rights activities could backfire by forcing the Europeans to revisit the basis for its entire economic relationship with Israel — something that not even BDS has succeeded at accomplishing... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/congress-there-is-no-legitimate-form-of-palestinian-resistance/105978/ Congress uses U.S. trade policy to undercut European pressure against Israeli settlements. A new U.S. bill legitimizes Israeli settlements and delegitimizes Palestinian non-violent resistance to the occupation.   …The bill defines such boycott, divestment and sanctions actions as any actions "that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with Israel or persons doing business in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories..." Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/photos-palestinian-journalist-held-in-administrative-detention/105850/ Israel is currently imprisoning and detaining 20 Palestinian journalists, group says...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/israeli-palestinian-normalization-debate-reaches-ny-theater/105864/ Palestinian solidarity groups and pro-Israel Jewish groups both stay away from a theater production that addresses the extremists on both sides of the conflict. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWe5n6aWOZQ&feature=youtu.be   [The other sessions of the conference are also available on YouTube.]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Snippet: As Israel cracks down on protests, Palestinians call for international support to thousands of political prisoners and researchers release a new report detailing corporate complicity in the Israeli prison system. Full text: http://www.mintpressnews.com/on-palestinian-prisoners-day-new-report-shows-corporate-role-in-israeli-prison-torture/204758/ Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

Full test: http://www.imemc.org/article/71293 Protecting Israel's human rights violations from being investigated. Very troubling. Snippet: Despite the tensions with the White House associated with Netanyahu's March speech to Congress, Kerry proudly informed an ABC TV news broadcast: "We have intervened on Israel's behalf..a couple of hundred times in over 75 different fora." ["This Week," Feb. 28, 2015]. And then when addressing the Human Rights Council Kerry included a statement that could just as well been drafted by AIPAC or Israel's ambassador to the UN: "It must be said that the HRC's obsession with Israel actually risks undermining the credibility of the entire organization." And further, "we will oppose any effort by any group or participant in the UN system to arbitrarily and regularly delegitimize or isolate Israel, not just in the HRC but wherever it occurs." [Remarks, Palais des Nations, Geneva, March 2, 2015] Wh...

Full article: http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/20/the-conference-on-the-israel-lobby/ Snippet:  The Conference on the Israel Lobby by RALPH NADER Following the heavy coverage of AIPAC's (the virulently pro-Israeli government lobby) multi-day annual Washington convention in March, the mainstream media might have been interested for once in covering alternative viewpoints like those discussed at the April 10th conference "The Israel Lobby: Is it Good for the US? Is it Good for Israel?" ( Israellobbyus.org ). Fairness and balance in reporting should produce at least some coverage of such an event. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://972mag.com/thousands-in-gaza-plan-intl-protest-its-impossible-to-live-here/105693/ A group of young activists in Gaza are organizing an international day of solidarity to protest against the impossible conditions and human rights violations created by Israel's and Egypt's siege, the occupation, internal Palestinian conflicts and poverty. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/sending-the-palestinians-to-bed-without-dinner/105771/ By withholding the PA's tax revenues, the Israeli government is effectively stealing Palestinian money [and hurting the families of civil servants]. So why won't the international community call it that?   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://english.eastday.com/auto/eastday/world/u1ai8483889.html   …Most of arrested are former prisoners who were released in the last prisoners' swap deal, brokered by Egypt in 2011 between Israel and Hamas movement, the Palestinian security officials said. The Palestinian Prisoner's Club Association in Ramallah said in an emailed press statement that the Israeli army arrests in Nablus area "is an avenge operation aims at restricting the activities of university teachers." …The Shin Bet added that the arrests came amid a growing activity of Hamas in the West Bank. The organization, which already controls the Gaza Strip, has "increased its efforts in the Nablus area in order to carry out terror attacks against Israel," said the Shin Bet… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Encountering-Peace-The-citizens-challenge-from-despair-to-hope-398243 …Ask questions. Try to understand. This is something that every single one of us can do. The Palestinians, like us, are connected, they are online. They use Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. ...Open your Facebook and find some Palestinians and say to them "hi, I am an Israeli and I would like to listen to you." Find them in the West Bank, find them in Gaza – yes even in Gaza they are connected, online and on Facebook. For those who find this challenge too daunting try it with first with Palestinians who are citizens of Israel…. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-invites-arab-party-leader-to-meeting/ ...Ayman Odeh accepts invitation, but accuses prime minister of using it as a publicity stunt…He said his party would use the meeting to object to home demolitions, push for recognition of Bedouin towns in the Negev, and advance his equality plan for Israel's Arab citizens. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/04/episcopal-divestment-june Episcopalians working for a more robust witness against the Occupation propose a different way of looking at divestment. Submitted by Donna Hicks, AIME member

Full text: http://www.amec.org.za/articles-presentations/151-israel/495-obama-between-israel-iran-and-the-palestinians-where-is-black-america US President Barack Obama, in his struggle to fashion a transformative foreign policy by reshaping the balance of America's relationships in the Middle East, aces formidable resistance from Israel's right-wing Likud government allied with the most reactionary Republican-controlled US Congress in recent memory. There are, however, two missing dimensions that must be inserted into Obama's equations regarding Iran and Israel within the context of the framework accord between Tehran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany): the Palestinians, and the level of black support for Obama's Middle East policy. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://972mag.com/high-court-upholds-controversial-boycott-law/105528/   The High Court rejected a petition by human rights organizations, upholding the controversial "boycott law" on Wednesday. The law allows individuals to sue those who call for a boycott of Israel, or areas under its control. The court struck down only one section of the law, which establishes that one may seek punitive damages for a deliberate call to boycott without needing to prove actual damages…     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/14/8410089/israel-naomi-paiss When I wrote this week that Israel appears increasingly bound for  a future of authoritarianism and international isolation , as Israelis continue to trade away their democracy to maintain their occupation of the Palestinians, I received two broad categories of counterarguments…   [includes an interesting chart on growing tension in Israelis between Jewish ID and democratic ID] Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/1430/2015/en/     As the Israeli High Court of Justice is due to consider again a petition on the planning rights and institutions of Palestinian communities in Area C of the occupied West Bank, Amnesty International urges the Israeli authorities to seize the opportunity presented by this case to transfer planning powers to the local Palestinian communities...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Full text: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Netanyahu-preferred-settlements-over-joining-forces-with-Obama-396675 Snippet: Abe Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, rejected criticism against the Iran deal. He has also expressed his doubts about  the effectiveness of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public lobbying against the agreement. "The Jews have a tendency to go overboard when reacting negatively and to minimize when reacting positively," he said. "When  President Obama reacted negatively to the prime minister's statements that he had backtracked on a two-state solution,  the Jews were furious. But when Obama profusely expressed his admiration for Israel and concern for its security during an interview with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, the Jews kept quiet." Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME me...

Full text: http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/04/cornel_west_urges_princeton_university_to_divest_f.html Snippet: PRINCETON — Princeton University has a moral obligation to divest from Israel and its systematic injustices, activist Cornel West told an audience on campus Wednesday, comparing the current divestment movement on campus to the anti-apartheid movement in the 1970s. "The Israeli occupation of my Palestinian brothers and sisters is a crime against humanity," West said. "They are killing hundreds daily — but where are the voices?" Posted by San Bryan, AIME member

1-7-2015 Full article: http://afsc.org/friends/unnatural-disaster-what-i-saw-gaza | Acting in Faith (AFSC publication) | Aura Kanegis Snippet: Note: Several US staff visited Gaza recently. Aura Kanegis, AFSC's Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, was among them. This was her first trip to Gaza. These are her reflections and photographs from the trip witnessing the recent devastation of Operation Protective Edge, just the latest round of violence against a people under siege. You can read many more reflections on Gaza and Israel & Palestine here. - Lucy Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.thenation.com/blog/202129/its-official-pentagon-finally-admitted-israel-has-nuclear-weapons-too   …After five decades of pretending otherwise, the Pentagon has reluctantly confirmed that Israel does indeed possess nuclear bombs, as well as awesome weapons technology similar to America's. …Yet Washington pushed other nations to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires international inspections to discourage the spread of nuclear arms. Israel has never signed the NPT and therefore does not have to submit to inspections. ...Furthermore, as far back as the 1960s, the US Foreign Assistance Act was amended by concerned senators to prohibit any foreign aid for countries developing their own nukes. Smith asserts that the exception made for Israel was a violation of the US law but it was shrouded by the official secrecy. Since Israel is a major recipient of US aid, American presidents had good reason not to reveal the...

http://www.juancole.com/2015/04/sanctioned-israel-nukes.html   There is a lot of talk about nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and the ways in which an Iranian bomb would provoke Saudi Arabia and others to acquire nuclear warheads of their own… But for decades, the primary impetus to a nuclear arms race in the region has been Israel, which probably had an atom bomb by about 1970. .. Ideally, the whole Middle East should be an atomic bomb- free region. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/apr/23/bibi-hidden-consequences-his-victory/?pagination=false   …the now seemingly impregnable rule of the right has at least four likely consequences for the near and mid-term future. First, the notion that there will someday be two states in historical Palestine has been savagely undermined… Second, we may see the emergence in the West Bank of a situation like that in Gaza, with Hamas or other extremist groups assuming power… Third, Palestinians will rightly turn to the International Criminal Court in The Hague (as early as April 1)… Fourth, and most important, the moral fiber of the country will continue to unravel.   Is there a way out of the impasse we've constructed? In the long term, yes…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/watch-idf-reinstates-policy-of-segregating-hebron/105236/ IDF re-segregates main road leading to Cave of the Patriarchs, two years after it ostensibly put an end to the policy.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/watch-the-case-for-recognizing-palestinian-statehood-in-europe/105081/ Former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, Alon Liel, discusses the growing number of European countries recognizing the State of Palestine, and a petition by thousands of Israelis calling on more states to do the same. Watch the full interview here . Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member