vjp-global

http://www.nlginternational.org/2017/04/letter-of-support-for-palestinian-hunger-strikers-from-lawyers-legal-workers-law-students-and-legal-organizations/ Over 200 lawyers, law students, legal workers and legal organizations have come together to sign the following letter in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Additional signatures are welcome – you may sign on at the form , or send your signature to international@nlg.org :   We, the undersigned lawyers, legal organizations, law students and legal workers, express our solidarity with Palestinian lawyers currently boycotting Israeli military courts. This boycott was launched on April 18 in response to Israeli authorities' denial of legal visits to Palestinian prisoners participating in a hunger strike launched on April 17 and involving approximately 1,500 detainees. (1) In addition, we declare our support and solidarity for the demands of the Palestinian hunger strike

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill-news/chn-opinion/article146880344.html   …This idea about Israel as a democracy is the heart of the matter for many arguments about Israel, its role in the Middle East, and its relationship to the United States. Let's put aside the occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, as well as the siege of Gaza, which many Zionists agree are not good for Israel so that we can focus on whether Israel protects the rights of all its citizens, of whom more than one and a half million people (according to Israeli government statistics) are Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Druze.   They can vote in Israeli elections, and serve in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), hold civil service jobs, and represent Israel as diplomats. Nevertheless, they are discriminated against in many ways… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/dismantling-distortion-about-israel/20026   The historian Ilan Pappe's latest work, Ten Myths About Israel , is a useful primer for people just becoming familiar with the Palestinian liberation struggle – but it is far more than that. It is also a valuable tool for veteran organizers seeking to explain cogently and simply how Israel's foundational myths and ongoing propaganda perpetuate the oppression of the Palestinian people.   While concise at 192 pages, Ten Myths About Israel points readers to many of the seminal works in Palestinian and Israeli historiography. Those who wish to explore more deeply can thereby obtain other, more in-depth guides… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXYtO9alRlI&feature=youtu.be   Watch: [American] Veterans for Peace in Palestine—Day one of seventeen [marking 12 years of nonviolent resistance]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://al-shabaka.org/commentaries/talking-palestine-frame-analysis-goals-messages/   [Executive summary] Palestinians are mired in a one or two-state debate that leapfrogs the need for a process of decolonization and reparations, argue Al-Shabaka Policy Analysts Nadia Hijab and Ingrid Jaradat Gassner. The authors compare different frameworks of analysis and conclude the anti-apartheid framework is most strategic in furthering Palestinian goals in the absence of a near-term political settlement.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=776505   Israeli authorities increased the use of solitary confinement for Palestinians under the age of 18 as an interrogation tactic and started holding minors in isolation for longer durations in 2016, according to a report released by the Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) on Wednesday… DCIP urged Israeli authorities to halt the practice of solitary confinement and to amend Israel's military law to reflect international standards.    "The practice of using solitary confinement on children, for any duration, is a clear violation of international law, as it amounts to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and in some cases, torture."     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/video-palestinian-political-rivalries-play-out-west-bank-refugee-camp-1485794289   Trapped between a rock and a hard place, residents of Balata refugee camp say factional rivalries are tearing the camp apart...   The UN ha[s] cited growing concerns about rising unemployment and worsening conditions in the camp, castings doubts over the future of many children who live there...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/20/why-not-a-probe-of-israel-gate/ As Official Washington fumes about Russia-gate, Israel's far more significant political-influence-and-propaganda campaigns are ignored. No one dares suggest a probe of Israel-gate, says Robert Parry.   Which underscores my concern about the hysteria raging across Official Washington about "Russian meddling" in the 2016 presidential campaign: There is no proportionality applied to the question of foreign interference in U.S. politics. If there were, we would have a far more substantive investigation of Israel-gate… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/opinion/palestinian-hunger-strike-prisoners-call-for-justice.html?_r=0 Having spent the last 15 years in an Israeli prison, I have been both a witness to and a victim of Israel's illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. After exhausting all other options, I decided there was no choice but to resist these abuses by going on a hunger strike.  Some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have decided to take part in this hunger strike, which begins today, the day we observe here as Prisoners' Day. Hunger striking is the most peaceful form of resistance available. It inflicts pain solely on those who participate and on their loved ones, in the hopes that their empty stomachs and their sacrifice will help the message resonate beyond the confines of their dark cells.  Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to br

  https://972mag.com/palestinian-citizens-of-israel-are-key-to-resisting-the-occupation/126679/   If Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, those who have grown up in Israeli society and lived alongside Jewish Israelis, were to truly organize and leverage their unique position, it would be impossible to break without ripping off the mask of apartheid... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/palestinians-launch-mass-hunger-strike   More than 1,500 Palestinians held by Israel began a mass hunger strike on 17 April – Palestinian Prisoners' Day .   The detainees, held in several Israeli prisons, are demanding improvements in conditions and an end to solitary confinement , heavy restrictions on family visits and administrative detention – prolonged imprisonment without charge.   They are also calling for Israel to ease restrictions on the entry of books, clothing, food and other items from family members… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/israel-report-no-one-talking-first-ethiopian-jews-1052692607 This month's UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia report which accused Israel of imposing an apartheid regime on Palestinians has made headlines and even led to the resignation of the head of the agency.  But a week before that report came out, the US State Department released its annual human rights report. The report devoted more pages – 141 in total - to the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories than any country other than China.  Police brutality against Palestinians and Ethiopian Jews, both highlighted in the State Department's report, are two sides of the very same system of oppression.  Even more importantly, for the first time, the report went into great detail about the "persistent societal discrimination" in Israel against Ethiopian Jews... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/04/israel-hamas-gaza-strip-qatar-electricity-fuel-water.html#ixzz4e5O64acU Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai is warning that the diesel fuel donated by Qatar to enable the operation of the Gaza Strip's only power station will run out on April 14. According to Mordechai, the enclave is facing yet another power supply crisis, as electricity production was halted in January due to a dispute between the Hamas rulers of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank over which of them should pay for the fuel...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://forward.com/news/national/368301/evangelicals-lead-the-call-to-cut-palestinian-aid-despite-israels-reservati/   A piece of anti-terror legislation in Congress has turned into a test for pro-Israel policy in the Trump era.   The Taylor Force Act, a bill named after a U.S. citizen murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Jaffa, would cut all American funding to the Palestinian Authority because of its longstanding practice of providing financial stipends to families of prisoners who carried out attacks against Israelis.   But the seemingly simple measure, meant to ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars do not go to supporting terrorists, has put the traditional mainstream pro-Israel community in a bind and has highlighted the growing power of Christian evangelical supporters of Israel, who have taken the lead on this issue…     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://forward.com/opinion/368737/ifnotnow-and-the-challenge-of-the-millennial-left/?attribution=home-hero-item-text-2   … IfNotNow and Black Lives Matter, for all their obvious differences, are both manifestations of a generational political awakening that holds tremendous promise. America — and the American Jewish community — badly needs the change they're trying to bring. Older progressives like myself can help that process by offering our admiration, our support, and yes, sometimes our criticism, too.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

  http://us10.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8c573daa3ad72f4a095505b58&id=e24fcaae82&e=668e8b5a02   The most important editorial space in the English-speaking world dedicates a lot of column inches to the topic of Israel, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, but hasn't provided any space to a pro-BDS voice on the topic in over three years.   The last opinion column on the topic by a BDS supporter to appear in the New York Times was "Why Israel Fears the Boycott" by Omar Barghouti in January 2014 ( 1/31/14 )—paired with an anti-BDS op-ed, "Losing the Propaganda War" by Hirsh Goodman ( 1/31/14 ). Since then, the Times has published seven opinion columns that took a clear position on BDS, all of them in opposition. [FAIR article contains a list]... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/under-israeli-gag-order-omar-barghouti-urges-more-bds   Human rights defender Omar Barghouti is urging people around the world to increase boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns as the best way to show support for him – and for the Palestinian people – as he faces escalating repression by the Israeli government.   "Finally, I was allowed to access my email account after 12 days of being banned from doing so during the most intense phase of the ongoing interrogation I am subjected to by the Israeli authorities." …In the past year, Barghouti has been subjected to a travel ban and open threats by Israel's top ministers…During a "Stop the Boycott" conference held in Jerusalem last year, Gilad Erdan, Israel's public security and strategic affairs minister, vowed that BDS activists "will know they will pay a price for it."   Singling out Barghouti, Erdan, who is responsible fo

http://mondoweiss.net/2017/04/illustrates-movements-maturation/   Hamas' new charter was leaked Sunday evening and published by the Lebanese network Al Mayadeen. Toufic Haddad, the author of the book " Palestine Ltd: Neoliberalism and National Liberation in the Occupied Territory, " posted a quick analysis on social media within hours of the release. The charter is the first new document on Hamas' core ideology since it's founding convent was published in 1988. Here are H document on Hamas' core ideology since it's founding convent was published in 1988. Here are Haddad's initial thoughts ...   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/why-its- not-apartheid-arguments-fail- response-to-an-nyt-op-ed/ 126386/ A New York Times op-ed argues that Israel is not the South African apartheid its author sat in jail to expose. But to make his case, Benjamin Pogrund ignores the heart of what occupation really is… The tragic reality is it doesn't actually matter if Israel is a carbon copy of apartheid 's policies or not. It doesn't matter whether the mentality is rooted in obsolete racial ideologies, or in the desire to decimate Palestinian statehood. The result is a systemic separation of Arabs from Jews, by education, by opportunity, by land, roads and water and, in the West Bank, by law.   The lived experience of the people in this land show the results : 74 percent of settlers, some five percent of the whole population in the region, say life conditions are good. Just 23 percent of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians — about one-third of the total population — say the same.   As

https://electronicintifada.net/content/rapping-amid-palestines-ruins/20031 Kareem, the protagonist of a new [Israeli] feature film about a Palestinian hip-hop artist, embodies "the sequel to what happened in the Nakba," said Tamer Nafar , who co-wrote and stars in Junction 48 .   The character Kareem, Nafar told The Electronic Intifada, was inspired by his own life…Like Nafar, Kareem is a rising [rap] star living in Lydd , a city near Tel Aviv in present-day Israel. Lydd was the site of one of the worst episodes in the Nakba , the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine. In July of that year, some 50,000 Palestinians were driven out of the town by Zionist militias and expelled to the West Bank. Nearly 70 years later, residents continue to resist discriminatory Israeli policies targeting Palestinians and their homes in Lydd.   The ongoing oppression and displacement of Palestinians inside Israel – what Palestinians call '48 – inspires the storyline of Junction 48

https://972mag.com/pushing-palestinians-off-their-land-by-pumping-sewage-onto-it/126307/ Not content with ongoing demolitions in Umm al-Kheir and the destruction of its taboun [bread-baking oven], settlers in nearby Carmel have resorted to piping their waste onto the land belonging to the village. …Umm al-Kheir was built in the 1960s by Bedouin refugees who were expelled in 1948 from the Tel Arad region. [it was] re-occupied by Israel in 1967. The village is located in Area C , which means it is under full Israeli military and civil control., and in 1981 the settlement of Carmel was built nearby... Carmel's sewage simply seeps into the land of the natives… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member