vjp-global

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/israelis-palestinians-imperil-state-solution-41722205 Political leaders on both sides of the Israeli Palestinian conflict continue to shy away from the steps needed for peace, further eroding the prospect of a two-state solution, the United Nations ' Mideast envoy said Monday…Nicolay Mladenov told the Security Council that illegal settlement expansion by Israelis and the lack of Palestinian Authority control in Gaza remain among the biggest obstacles to peace…Mladenov called for a "radical overhaul of how we deal with the problems of Gaza," and said the area "remains in the grip of militants, and dependent on aid and humanitarian assistance." … one positive development has been the signing of an electoral code of conduct to which all parties must adhere ahead of the Palestinian local council elections scheduled for October 8…"Conducting local elections in line with established international standards can co...

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/israel-opt-secret-trial-of-gaza-aid-worker-will-not-deliver-justice/   …The Israeli authorities must ensure that the trial of a detained humanitarian worker employed by the charity World Vision is fair and open, said Amnesty International on the eve of his trial, amid reports that the proceedings are due to take place in secret.  Mohammed al-Halabi, the manager of Gaza operations for the child-focused global development NGO, is facing 12 charges including being a member of a "terrorist organization" and siphoning off the charity's funds for "terrorism" purposes.  He was initially denied access to a lawyer and, when she was eventually allowed to meet him, he alleged he had been seriously mistreated in custody… "Secret trials are the most flagrant violation of the right to a public hearing. Holding these court proceedings behind closed doors would render any convictions obtained unsound,...

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2016/08/25/match-fine-palestine-higher-you-build-your-barriers-taller-we-become In what one admirer calls "a brilliant generous gesture... telling Palestinians they have not been forgotten," activist fans of Scotland's Celtics soccer team - the working-class, historically progressive community already facing punishment for flying Palestinian flags at a recent game against Israel to protest the Occupation - have launched a defiant fundraiser to match their likely upcoming fine, thus "hugging tighter" an oppressed population with which they've long felt a kinship. The Celtics plan to give the proceeds - their original goal of $20,000 quickly grew to a flood of about $200,000 - to two Palestinian charitable groups… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/eu-logo-no-shield-israels-bulldozers/17681 150 donor-funded structures demolished ...This month France condemned Israel's demolition of buildings in Nabi Samuel village funded by French humanitarian aid. Israel has destroyed or confiscated French-funded structures, including a school, three times in the village so far this year. In the past, these large stickers bearing the EU logo offered a modicum of protection from demolitions. But this year, at least 150 European-funded structures in the West Bank were demolished by Israeli bulldozers in the first three months of 2016. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/learning-enemys-language/17661 …Alhammami supports the principle of having a single state in historic Palestine — the territory now divided into Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip — that would guarantee equality between Muslims, Jews, Christians and non-believers. To properly analyze the idea, he felt it was necessary to understand what various Jewish scholars and political figures had written on the subject in Hebrew.   He argues that to defeat Israel's state ideology of Zionism, it is first vital to understand it. A good knowledge of Hebrew can help in doing so….. Now in his early 60s, Wishah [another Hebrew teacher in Gaza] learned the language during the 1980s. He and other prisoners effectively set up their own school behind Israeli bars... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/122952-160817-israeli-defense-minister-unveils-carrot-and-stick-palestinian-policy   …Lieberman explained that the approach is designed to demonstrate that Israel intends to provide benefits to Palestinians pursuing coexistence, while punishing anyone instigating violence…."These are a few dozen of prominent, influential figures, people who want coexistence and to live together," said the minister…The plan is to give "green" towns a number of rewards, such as infrastructure improvement and an increase permits to work in Israel. Punitive measures to be imposed on "red" towns are to include revocation of work permits and increased arrests, Mako said… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/how-israel-is-drying-out-palestinians-in-the-jordan-valley/121402/ Next door to the plush Israeli settlements of the Jordan Valley live small Bedouin communities who must struggle for even the smallest bit of water…  Today a large part of the Jordan Valley has been declared "open-fire zones," nature reserves, Israeli settlements, and state land. Palestinians, who constitute the majority population in the area, are allocated less than 15 percent of the territory (which the state is also trying to slowly take away). At the end of 2014 and 2015, respectively, not a single construction permit was granted in Area C, where the Bedouin communities live, and where there is natural growth and living needs. On the other hand, the pace of home demolitions is only growing … Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-gaza-reconstruction-adv-snap-story.html   ...The rebuilding task is daunting. Gaza's power lines and the territory's sole power plant were hit during the war, leading to rolling   power cuts of 12 to 18 hours a day on an electricity grid capable of supplying only half of the territory's needs. The power shortage has hobbled Gaza's sewage treatment plant, sending about 24 million gallons of raw sewage into the sea daily and creating a stifling stench along the coast.   Schools, businesses, farms and medical centers also sustained tens of millions of dollars in damage.  There are multiple headwinds holding up the massive project: ..  The biggest problem, according to the United Nations, is funding shortfalls. .. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/oslo-accords-area-c-annexation-economic-development-settlers.html   Israel is actively pursuing a strategy of economic expansionism in Area C, making the Oslo Accord's plan for a future Palestinian state not feasible.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member  

http://www.jta.org/2016/08/14/news-opinion/united-states/evangelical-lutheran-church-in-america-stop-us-aid-to-israel-if-settlements-allowed-to-stay   The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America approved a resolution calling on the U.S. government to end all aid to Israel if Israel does not stop building settlements and "enable an independent Palestinian state." Voting at its triennial assembly in New Orleans that ended Saturday, the church also sought a halt to all investment in companies that profit from Israel's occupation and called on the president of the United States to recognize the State of Palestine… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/347585/france-slams-israel-s-razing-of-west-bank-structure-it-funded/?attribution=home France condemned Israel's demolition of buildings constructed with French funding in a Palestinian village in the West Bank.   The demolition of agricultural installations in Nebi Samuel last week was the third time this year that buildings funded by French humanitarian aid were demolished or confiscated by Israeli authorities, Reuters quoted a French foreign ministry spokesman as saying Thursday… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Jewish-activists-lead-global-protest-in-Palestinian-village-of-Sussiya-464056 …While the small village has gained a lot of international attention, the activists hope that their distinctly Jewish voices will help the Palestinian village in its dialogue with the government to resolve the dispute… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/07/188881/most-progressive-dem-platform-history-hawkish-foreign-policy ...Clinton and her representatives in the platform committee defeated a measure calling for an end of Israel's occupation and illegal settlements. Indeed, the platform pegs challenges to the occupation and settlements by the United Nations and others as efforts to "delegitimize Israel." This is particularly problematic language since, under Clinton's leadership, the State Department formally listed efforts to "delegitimize" Israel as part of its  definition of anti-Semitism … the platform states that Jerusalem "should remain the capital of Israel." It says nothing about Palestinian aspirations that it serve as the capital of their country as well... The platform praises Israel's supposed "democracy, equality, tolerance, and pluralism"—which would be news for the country's Palestinian minority and those Palestin...

https://electronicintifada.net/content/bds-game-changer-germany/17581   …In Germany, activism for Palestinian rights has been largely ignored for decades. Demonstrations, talks, pamphlets, books highlighting the Palestinian plight — all were pushed under the carpet.   The Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions — or BDS — has been a total game changer in this respect… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/the-black-lives-matter-platform-how-the-jewish-community-got-distracted-by-one-word/121177/ …In the policy brief on the need to cut military expenditures — both to end American-funded injustices overseas, but also to redirect billions of dollars to "domestic infrastructure and social programs to meet the needs of Black people and working class communities within the U.S." — the MBL document states that the United States government, through its funding of the Israeli military and arms industry, "is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people."   A number of Jewish and Israel-related individuals and organizations in the U.S. responded with everything from outrage to disappointment to silence… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/author/yaelm/ After three months in prison and six months under house arrest, Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour is finally allowed to return home… The main clause of her indictment was based on a poem that she had allegedly posted on YouTube under the title: " Qawem ya sha'abi, qawemhum " (Resist my people, resist them). Another main clause in the indictment relates to a news item, cited in a post on Tatour's Facebook page, according to which "The Islamic Jihad movement calls for continuing the Intifada all over the [West] Bank…" The same post calls for a "comprehensive intifada… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://972mag.com/after-fifa-complaint-israel-lets-gaza-soccer-players-travel-to-championship-game-in-hebron/121093/ The Palestine Cup final, which was originally scheduled to take place Saturday, was delayed due to an Israeli-imposed travel ban on 11 players from Gaza. Petition to boot Israeli settlement teams collects 150,000 signatures… Seventy-two hours after Israel refused to allow 11 Palestinian soccer players travel from Gaza to the West Bank to participate in the Palestine Cup, Israeli authorities reversed a travel ban on six of the players on Monday.   The approval, which followed a Palestinian complaint to FIFA , international soccer's governing body, paves the way for the final game to go forward on Tuesday. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000225 EndHTML:0000005747 StartFragment:0000003848 EndFragment:0000005711 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/jferster/My%20Documents/Peace%20Israel%20Palestine/%20%20%20%20%20%20AIMEblog%207.doc http://972mag.com/watch-border-cop-confiscates-palestinian-girls-bicycle-in-hebron/121110/ Video shows Border Police officer taking away eight-year-old Anwar Burqan's bicycle and throwing it into the nearby bushes. .. Over the past decades Hebron has turned into one of the most heavily guarded areas under Israeli control. At least 650 IDF soldiers are stationed in the city on any given day. Since an Israeli settler massacred 29 Muslim worshippers in the city in 1994 , hundreds of Palestinian shops have been shut down, and on Shuhada Street, a main thoroughfare, doors to Palestinian homes have been welded shut , preventing the residents from walking onto the street on which they live... Posted by Judith Ferster...

Yuli Edelstein praises bill to apply Israeli sovereignty over Ma'ale Adumim… Israel must condition "every future accord on the total cessation of terror and incitement, but also, we need to remove from the discourse the futile equation that any agreement needs to include on our part uprooting, evacuation and destruction," he said.   "We must declare clearly that the era of evacuations and giving up land is over," said Edelstein.   "In a place where there is destruction, no peace will flourish," he argued. "From a place where people were expelled from their homes, no good will sprout."… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member