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https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestine-youth-orchestras-triumphant-uk-debut/17531 …When listening to this skilled orchestra, it's easy to forget that the musicians' ages range from 26 to just 14, and that their very presence in one concert hall, on one night, involves overcoming huge political and logistical challenges.   Although the Palestine Youth Orchestra has sprung from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, which has branches in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the orchestra's members are spread across historic Palestine, including within the State of Israel.   Indeed, two musicians were unable to join this tour, despite being scheduled to perform: from Gaza, they were denied exit by Israel… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

  http://www.aaiusa.org/american_attitudes_toward_the_israeli_palestinian   Key Findings Overall, nearly half (49%) of Americans view Israelis favorably, and nearly half (49%) view Palestinians unfavorably. Despite this, American voters believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal rights by a margin of 65% to 14%. There is a strong partisan divide on U.S. policy toward Israel. Republicans are more likely to perceive current policies as favoring the Palestinians, and more likely to believe the next administration should favor the Israelis in forming policy. At the same time, Democrats are more likely to perceive current policy as favoring the Israelis while believing the next administration should attempt to strike a balance between the two. Pluralities of both parties agree that the U.S. spends too much on military aid to Israel. Of note is the h...

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/07/27-obama-exit-strategy-peace-process-yerkes   …The party conventions have solidified the deep divides—both between and within the parties—regarding the U.S. approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this campaign season. This divide, combined with a renewed international focus on the conflict, virtually guarantees that the administration will keep the conflict on the back burner before November. The election, therefore, will not only determine our next president but also the fate of the "Obama/Kerry Parameters".     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/fatah-hamas-to-hold-talks-in-bid-to-bury-hatchet/   Fatah and Hamas, the two leading Palestinian factions, are to hold another round of reconciliation talks in the coming weeks in a bid to mend fences after nearly a decade of hostility, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday.   In an interview with a Sudanese television station, Abbas said the two parties will hold a new round of negotiations to discuss measures for general elections to select a president and members of parliament, and the establishment of a unity government. .. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

  http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21702716-palestinians-go-thirsty-despite-sitting-over-underground-ocean-nor-yet-drop   Palestinians go thirsty, despite sitting on an underground ocean …Israel's water authority sells the Palestinians 64m cubic metres of water each year. It says they cause their own shortages, because up to a third of the West Bank's water supply leaks out of rusting Palestinian pipes. A joint water committee is supposed to resolve these issues, but it has not met for five years. Predictably, each side accuses the other of causing the deadlock. Palestinians also find their own government neglectful: the administrative capital Ramallah is well-supplied as the hinterlands go thirsty. Blame is never in short supply, even if water is. "When you don't have water, it destroys everything," says Mr Habib, sipping on a cup of the stuff—bottled, of course. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://www.timesofisrael.com/activists-say-11-palestinian-buildings-razed-near-jerusalem/ Rights group says demolition of Qalandiya structures leaves dozens homeless; rioters injured by IDF at protest over action.. "These efforts to break the contiguity of Palestinian East Jerusalem with the West Bank pose a severe threat to the two-state solution," [Ir Amin] added.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-26/israel-s-culture-war-is-getting-ugly   …   Israel is in the grips of a renewed battle between an increasingly hard-line, anti-Western and extremist rabbinate, arrayed against Israeli liberal society, the army and even American Jews… What Israelis have to decide is whether they are ready — under the leadership of those moderate figures — to wage the painful social and political battle with the religious right now.   They can defer the conflict, but then they risk the possibility that the Israeli society that emerges will be one that most American Jews will find undeserving of their support. Even more dangerous, those in the secular and moderate religious camps could find themselves in an unrecognizable country, and with peace nowhere in sight, might begin to ask themselves whether a society so ugly is one in which they want to raise their children. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-preparing-to-sue-uk-over-balfour-declaration/ The Palestinian Authority is preparing a lawsuit against the British government over the issuing of the 1917 Balfour Declaration that paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/israel-anti-ngo-law-btselem-palestinian-workers.html   Palestinians working with B'Tselem and other human rights organizations are worried that the new Knesset law will restrict their work. ..   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/opinion/israels-looming-demographic-crisis.html?_r=0   On Israel's Independence Day this year, newspaper headlines noted that the country's population had grown by a factor of 10 during the country's 68 years. Once a sparsely settled land of about 800,000 people, Israel today is home to 8.5 million. Regrettably, the news media's celebration was misguided. Given that Israel has the highest birthrate in the developed world, those who care about its future should realize that demographic growth is no longer a blessing but a threat to the quality of life in the Jewish state. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/new-israeli-law-seeks-to-expel-misbehaved-arab-parliamentarians/120752/ Plenty of democratic countries have mechanisms for de-seating elected representatives, but those countries don't have rich histories of trying to ban politicians of one ethnic group. And their laws weren't designed to target specific unpopular politicians. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/theres-a-vicious-fight-in-our-community-simone-zimmerman-talks-bernie-for-the-first-time/120888/ Earlier this year, the Jewish American world was up in arms over the hiring, or firing — depending on where you stand politically — of Bernie Sanders' Jewish outreach coordinator. For the first time, she talks about what happened in the campaign, the growing anti-occupation movement among U.S. Jews, and why the Jewish establishment lost touch with its youth. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/atlanta-mayor-rejects-demand-end-israel-police-training Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed rejected a demand from groups affiliated with the movement for Black lives to halt Israel's training relationship with local police departments.   Following a resurgence of street protests over the gruesome police slayings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile , two Black men killed on film in Louisiana and Minnesota, Reed held a meeting with a collective of protesters calling themselves #ATLisREADY to discuss their list of demands .   The first demand calls for "a complete overhaul of Atlanta Police Department's (APD) training institutions," including "a termination to APD's involvement in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) program, that trains our officers in Apartheid Israel…"   "There was a demand that I stop allowing the Atlanta Police Department to train with the Israeli pol...

https://al-shabaka.org/roundtables/obamas-last-gasp-palestine-israel/ The Obama administration is in its final few months, and talk of a narrowing "window of opportunity" in which it can act on Palestine-Israel has gathered pace. Speculation on whether President Barack Obama will take any measures has been combined with skepticism that any measure could have a positive impact on the ground.   Policymakers have put forward a number of possible options, including a strongly-worded statement to define the Obama/John Kerry parameters for a solution to the conflict and an abstention on vetoing a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution that reiterates the illegality of settlements. The administration also must factor in the international peace conference that France hosted in early June and that is set to resume between the parties themselves in September. .. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://radio.nuovaresistenza.org/   Live broadcasts Friday and Sunday 7 pm in Palestine ; Italy/Europe time is at 6 pm, and noon time in Montréal for Live transmissions with Dr. Abraham Weizfeld; Programs archived on the website [in English] Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772330 Palestinians have started to use a crane mounted on a truck to lift cars over Israeli blockades, in an inventive new way to bypass numerous Israeli-imposed obstacles to restrict Palestinian movement in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, Israeli media reported. ..The entire district of Hebron has r emained under an Israeli military blockade for nearly three weeks following a series of attacks on Israelis by Hebron district residents, while Israeli authorities additionally revoked Israeli permits for thousands of Palestinians dependent on entering Israel for work. ..   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/skoll-foundation/new-hope-that-water-can-b_b_11064292.html ...[R]ecently there has been some important progress in the form of an Israeli-Turkish agreement to normalize diplomatic relations signed last month. It permits Turkey to lead efforts to build a new seawater desalination plant in Gaza, as well as a power station. The desalination plant could supply urgently needed drinking water, while the power station could help run a World Bank-built sewage treatment plant that has so far been unable to open for lack of electricity...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://nakbafiles.org/2016/07/14/policing-the-nakba/   The transnational solidarity movement between Palestinians and Black, indigenous, and other minority Americans has made significant strides in promoting the struggle of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But in its justified focus on challenging Israel's military regime as an institution of oppression, the movement — like many other outsiders — has sometimes overlooked another such institution that operates inside Israel itself: the national police force…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-brexit-may-be-palestines-gain/17366   There are three reasons why those deeply involved in the struggle should regard the decision as an opportune moment to advance Palestinian freedom… The first reason …[is that] Britain, as an EU member, was one of Israel's main advocates in the discussions of the organization's policy towards Palestine. .. Secondly… the xenophobic, anti-immigrant and ugly mood was not the only impulse leading people to vote leave. that extreme right-wing factions have successfully channeled working class anger away from the ruling classes and towards more vulnerable groups of workers: immigrants and refugees. The vote was also motivated by a justified sense of neglect felt acutely by the disenfranchised society beyond London and other major cities…This is an ongoing historical process that is only in its early stages…The call from below for more transparent, moral and democratic policies...

The Forward picked up on this as well.  And Brant Rosen is blogging about the whole trip. Donna On Jul 19, 2016, at 10:59 AM, Judith Ferster < jferster@ncsu.edu > wrote: http://972mag.com/jewish-palestinian-activists-try-to-build-a-cinema-in-hebron/120679/ As soldiers and settlers look on, dozens of foreign Jews join Palestinians in the segregated city of Hebron try 'to make the unbearable a little more bearable.' Police detain six Israelis among the group, prevent others from even joining. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/jewish-palestinian-activists-try-to-build-a-cinema-in-hebron/120679/ As soldiers and settlers look on, dozens of foreign Jews join Palestinians in the segregated city of Hebron try 'to make the unbearable a little more bearable.' Police detain six Israelis among the group, prevent others from even joining. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/idf-releases-longest-serving-female-conscientious-objector/120616/   Tair Kaminer released from military service after spending 150 days in prison for her refusal to serve due to the IDF's policies in the occupied territories. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://jewishcurrents.org/no-palestine-no-problem-42701 …THE NEW GOP PLATFORM thus marks a victory for a wing of the party represented by such figures as Newt Gingrich and casino magnate/megadonor/Netanyahu patron Sheldon Adelson... Even before Gingrich, Huckabee rejected the two-state solution, expressed support for unrestricted Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and stated that "there's … no such thing as a Palestinian."…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.wsj.com/articles/jewish-baby-boom-alters-israeli-palestinian-dynamic-1468499825 The jump has calmed the fears of many Israeli Jews of being outnumbered, writes Yaroslav Trofimov. Israel's peace camp and its international backers have long used one crude but powerful argument: Arabs make more babies than Jews and unless a separate Palestinian state is created, a demographic time bomb will turn Jews into a dwindling minority akin to white South Africans… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=772241   Israeli forces Thursday implemented a military closure on the neighborhood of Issawiya in occupied East Jerusalem, according to locals, as Israeli police forces erected checkpoints at roads leading to the area and searched Palestinian vehicles and passersby. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKTHLNS9nUo&feature=youtu.be [video] Amir Tibon writes that one after the other, Israel's top security chiefs or military leaders have criticized Netanyahu's flagship policies...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/israels-export-occupation-police-tactics/8485   Israel's specialized policing and fighting capacity, which it is currently exporting to other countries, including the US , began to take shape after the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/betrayal-palestinians-arab-leaders-cooperation-security.html   Palestinian senior officials feel that not only are Arab countries preoccupied by the Islamic State threat, but that the countries are also tired of the Palestinian issue and are sidelining the urgency of establishing a Palestinian state… srael's challenge is not a public relations one — proving to the world that the Palestinian issue is not central. For Israel's own interest, conflict resolution with a Palestinian state is of existential importance. The Arab states may betray the Palestinians, but Israel is not allowed to betray itself. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/why-egypts-fm-came-to-israel-and-why-you-shouldnt-get-too-excited/120540/ Recent interest — by all sides — in reviving the Arab Peace Initiative presents a new window of opportunity. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves as long as Benjamin Netanyahu is in charge.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israelis-trust-the-idf-are-skeptical-of-politicians-survey/ Central Bureau of Statistics report finds that political parties, Knesset and cabinet are widely distrusted.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME membe

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/chris_hedges_discusses_iraeli_occupation_with_israeli_journalist_20160627 Chris Hedges goes inside Israel and the occupied territories with Amira Hass in this week's episode of " On Contact ." Hass is the Haaretz correspondent for the occupied territories and author of "Drinking the Sea at Gaza." Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/how-israel-is-turning-anti-occupation-activists-into-dissidents/120425/ Israel is seeing a worrying resurgence of attempts to curtail and suppress dissent, particularly among anti-occupation and human rights activists. That process does not take place in a vacuum… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.salon.com/2016/07/04/we_have_a_right_to_engage_in_non_violent_action_christian_leaders_refuse_to_be_silenced_in_struggle_for_palestinian_rights/   As is well-known by now, the unilateral decision of New York governor Andrew Cuomo to create a blacklist of businesses and organizations abiding by divestment and boycott campaigns related to Israeli human rights abuses has drawn widespread criticism for both its high-handedness and for its violation of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.  As might be expected, the response from civil liberties groups and groups advocating for Palestinian rights was swift and pointed.   However, opposition also took the form of a letter drafted by the Reverend David Gaewski, New York Conference Minister, writing on behalf of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, a judicatory with 260 churches in the state of New York… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/top-israeli-minister-shuts-down-tv-station-for-palestinian-citizens/120238/ Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan orders Musawa, a Ramallah-based television station catering to Israel's Arab citizens, to be shut down for violating Israeli sovereignty.  The satellite station in question, Musawa, was originally launched in March 2015 under the name "Palestine 48,"  is broadcasted through the Egyptian satellite company "Nile-Sat," and receives its funding from the Palestinian Authority. Its broadcasts are based in Ramallah and are catered for Arab citizens of Israel. Today most of its content is produced by Arab producers based in Israel. Last Thursday the Public Security Ministry announced that the closure order would be signed after it became clear that the station functions on behalf of the Palestinian Authority inside Israeli territory without the proper written permit, as is required by the Oslo Accords …It is clear that Israel i...