vjp-global

https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/palestinian-human-rights-activist-bassem-tamimi-speaks-to-the-ithaca-third-grade-class/   …internationally renowned Palestinian nonviolent human rights activist, Bassem Tamimi, was an honored guest speaker as part of the human rights curriculum in the third grade classroom of Beverly J. Martin (BJM) Elementary school. Unfortunately, the school has received undeserved backlash from community members who objected to Mr. Tamimi's human rights activism. Mr. Tamimi is from the West Bank farming village of Nabi Saleh, which organizes weekly nonviolent demonstrations to protest Israel's military occupation, illegal Israeli settlement construction and land confiscation... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

  http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767748   …The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research, found that 51 percent of Palestinians now oppose a two-state solution -- up from 48 percent in June -- while 48 percent still support it. Moreover, 65 percent of Palestinians said that they no longer believe a two-state solution is a practical possibility due to the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

9-15-2015 How Obama Can Save The Two-State Solution Before He Leaves Office – Sam Bahour TPM Café   http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/obama-must-recognize-palestine-independent-state     President Obama promised that as soon as the Iran nuclear deal is closed he will refocus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Given this shift of focus is now in sight, Obama should grant U.S. recognition of Palestine as an independent state, albeit a militarily occupied one. Such an elementary step is long overdue and may be the sole act that saves the two-state solution...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/interaction-with-israel-has-moderated-jerusalem-arabs-expert-says/ Palestinians living in city concede Jewish right to land, support 2-state formula, far more than their West Bank and Gaza peers Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.lobelog.com/the-iran-deal-and-american-jews/?can_id=a05c6a1d47f94b5dd757429fc0e1a440&source=email-what-were-reading-what-the-iran-deals-success-means-for-israel-2&email_referrer=what-were-reading-what-the-iran-deals-success-means-for-israel-2   …We are entering a new era. In the post-Iran deal era, it will be increasingly difficult for loud and well-financed conservative voices in the American Jewish community to convince people that they represent a Jewish consensus opinion. I can only hope that the public spotlight on this wedge will help put more pressure on Israel to change.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767500   Israeli military vehicles on Tuesday morning crossed the border into the southern Gaza Strip and leveled Palestinian land, witnesses told Ma'an. Witnesses said that four bulldozers leveled land on the Palestinian side of the border fence in the eastern outskirts of Khuzaa town east of Khan Younis.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-unfazed-by-pa-threat-to-end-oslo-accords-declare-palestine-occupied-state/ Palestinian Authority always warning it will 'jump off a cliff,' says official, accusing Abbas of engaging in 'brinkmanship' while refusing to negotiate. …Is it even possible for Palestine to become a "state under occupation"? In his speech in New York later this month, Abbas will point to the General Assembly's 2012 decision to accept "Palestine" as a non-member observer state and argue that Israel refuses to end the occupation of his state. However, some argue that only existing states can be considered occupied, such as France during World War II or, more recently, Ukraine's Crimea, which was occupied by Russia… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/world/middleeast/netanyahu-rejects-calls-to-accept-syrian-refugees.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 …Israel, a state of about eight million people that was largely founded by refugees, has long been torn between the humanitarian demands of taking in non-Jews in need and its fears about maintaining its Jewish character and security in a hostile and increasingly chaotic region. It is still grappling with the presence of tens of thousands of African migrants and asylum seekers who surreptitiously crossed the border from Egypt in recent years. The issue of Arab asylum seekers is further complicated by the unresolved and politically loaded question of the fate of the Palestinian refugees who fled or were expelled during the war over Israel's creation in 1948 and their millions of descendants who demand the right of return to their former homes.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/endless-war-terror-we-are-all-doomed-become-palestinians-1441741137   Halper's new book sheds light on the arms industry, arguing that Israel is now the go-to nation for armies and police forces around the world.   Israel's arms industry isn't just aimed at making money. "It puts Israel at the table with NATO countries." Israel conducts military exercises with NATO, and helps develop Watchkeeper drones for the Europeans. It also has increasingly close ties, says Halper, with regimes that are ostensibly its enemy, such as Saudi Arabia. "The Saudis are funding ISIS [Islamic State], so how does one explain their alliance with Israel? The common denominator is 'security politics'. No two countries have interests more alike than Israel and Saudi Arabia..." Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

9-4-2015 Israel lets Mordechai Vanunu discuss its nuclear program on primetime TV - David Horovitz Times of Isreal http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-lets-mordechai-vanunu-detail-its-nuclear-program-on-primetime-tv/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=be611218ab-2015_09_05&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-be611218ab-54446197 In remarkable departure from decades of 'nuclear ambiguity,' man convicted of treason for leaking details of Israel's nuclear arsenal is allowed to warn of the 'danger' posed by 'Dimona powder keg.' ..To this day, Israel has never acknowledged that it has a nuclear arsenal, instead maintaining a policy of "nuclear ambiguity" while vowing that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East … ...he pleaded that he be allowed to leave Israel and live abroad with his new Norwegian wife. (He married Professor Kristin Joachimsen at a church ceremony

http://www.timesofisrael.com/whose-green-line-is-it-anyway/   In [Israeli newspaper ] Israel Hayom, the lead story is an "Are you smarter than a fifth grader"-style quiz given to teachers, many of whom fail to correctly answer basic – really basic — Israeli history and Judaic studies questions. ..  57% did not know what the Green Line is… the most original answer was 'the line that determines environmental quality.'" Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.674049   J Street summary: The Palestinian public has very little faith in its political leadership, the trust in the Fatah movement is higher than that for Hamas, and the great majority of Palestinians support keeping the Palestinian Authority. These are the main results of a public opinion poll released on Monday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. Other major findings showed that Abbas has no clear successor if he chooses not to run again, and a lack of any sympathy or support for ISIS or its sister movements, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.674149   The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel lobbying groups in the United States are losing their influence in Washington as a result of their all-out fight against the Iran nuclear agreement, according to former Democratic senator Mike Gravel of Alaska.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member