vjp-global

http://972mag.com/when-will-israel-stop-seeing-palestinians-as-a-demographic-threat/107304/ Israel's political and social outlook, rooted in its desire to be a 'Jewish state,' makes it impossible to view the Palestinians as anything but an existential problem, even those it accepts as citizens. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/making-it-explicit-in-israel/?_r=2   …The government that will be formed this week is the most clearly articulated, narrowest, most right-wing, most religious and most nationalistic government ever assembled in Israel……Making the norms that rule in Israel explicit might, beyond shocking the conscience of mankind, open up a conversation that has been sorely lacking…Perhaps such reasoning, now in explicit political contexts, might even lead to the power of changing them.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/28/aipac-israel-settlements_n_7461038.html " When the Senate passed a high-profile piece of trade legislation last Friday, lawmakers simultaneously approved a little-noticed amendment described by its authors as "pro-Israel." In doing so, the Senate moved to protect Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories from international sanction -- directly contradicting what has been U.S. policy in the region since 1967. " An excellent summary of significance of those amendments around trading with Israel and how it might affect BDS work. Submitted by Donna Hicks, AIME member

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/suffering-palestinians_b_7336858.html Snippet: AMMAN -- Sometimes it is difficult to remember the daily suffering of Palestinians living under occupation. The wars and turmoil all around us tend to divert our attention from genuinely terrible issues that might seem mundane when compared to t he wars in Syria or Yemen. But the human tragedy in Palestine is real, even if it is not headline news. Submitted by Ford Chambliss, posted by Sam Bryan, AIME members

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/05/23/israel-seeks-international-law-rewrite/ Israel and its supporters [including the US] are leading a charge to rewrite how international law defines crimes against humanity to create more leeway for military attacks that kill large numbers of civilians, a bitterly ironic development, says Lawrence Davidson.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/21/israel-tzipi-hotovely_n_7392222.html Snippet: Israel's new deputy foreign minister on Thursday delivered a defiant message to the international community, saying that Israel owes no apologies for its policies in the Holy Land and citing religious texts to back her belief that it belongs to the Jewish people. The speech by Tzipi Hotovely illustrated the influence of hardliners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government, and the challenges he will face as he tries to persuade the world that he is serious about pursuing peace with the Palestinians. Submitted by Ford Chambliss, posted by Sam Bryan, AIME members

Full text: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/12/gaza-economy-israel_n_7258154.html Snippet: But despite the hoops his company has to jump through, he says they make ends meet because they have to. People are counting on them. Instead of working seven days a week, they only work three. Instead of 100 full-time employees (compared to 350 before the blockade), they have 100 employees working part time for half the pay. That way, more families get money to survive, he says, even if it's not very much. "If you make a thousand dollars in Gaza, you'd make a million outside," he joked. "I say: If you survive in Gaza, then they should make a statue for you. If you survive in Gaza, it's a miracle." Submitted by Ford Chambliss, posted by Sam Bryan, AIME members

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/an-initiative-worth-supporting_b_7247712.html …AVPE [Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy] is inviting American businesses to partner with and/or invest in small and medium sized Palestinian businesses -- to provide them with needed capital, to give them support, and to assist them in finding markets for their products. Their website -- www.a4vpe.org - provides information on how potential investors and partners can be supportive. The AVPE effort is not a substitute for Palestinian independence... Sam and his pioneering team recognize that they are inviting businesses to take a risk, but they believe that these are risks that promise high rewards for peace and prosperity. The AVPE is an initiative worth supporting. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Full text: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/parallels-baltimore-palestine Snippet: The struggle for social justice on the streets of Baltimore was likened to the struggle of the Palestinian people by two speakers at a recent conference exploring ways that black Christians and the African-American church can respond to the suffering and discrimination experienced by Palestinians living in Israel/ Palestine. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-battle-shame-israel-over-abuse-children-1128947296 Attack on Gaza last year raises pressure on Ban Ki-moon to put Israeli army on same list as Islamic State and Taliban… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Full text: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30131-against-the-occupation-ten-years-of-grassroots-resistance# Snippet: In the US, Dr. Martin Luther King showed that nonviolent protest works. His Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 inspired passage of the Voting Rights Act that year, a landmark for US civil rights. In Palestine, Iyad Burnat, head of both the Bilin Popular Committee against the Wall and the Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bilin, has followed Dr. King's example. Bilin is a village of 2,000 residents, some 12 kilometers from the West Bank city of Ramallah. Since 2005, Iyad and his fellow villagers have organized weekly demonstrations to protest repeated Israeli assaults on village assets, in particular the building of a wall that separates farmers from their lands; the destruction of olive trees; the placing of a settlement less than 100 meters from ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/world/middleeast/israel-detains-palestinian-boys-7-and-12-for-throwing-stones.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-1&actio   …The detention of the boys, Ahmad Zaatari and his cousin Mohammed Zaatari, was the latest example of Israel 's crackdown on children, even the very young, accused of stone-throwing and other provocative activities…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/ethiopian-brutality-jerusalem?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=d88e866d8f-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-d88e866d8f-398516477   Ethiopian Israelis took to the streets of Jerusalem on the evening of April 30 to protest police brutality and systemic racism. Haaretz reports that approximately 1,000 protesters gathered, principally from the Ethiopian Jewish community... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member