vjp-global

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779211 Interpol announced Wednesday that its General Assembly voted to admit "the State of Palestine" as a new member country of the international police organization, despite adamant opposition by Israel. ... Some 75 countries voted in favor, with 24 voting against and 34 abstaining, according to reports. During the session, Interpol said it also adopted a resolution regarding the criteria under which countries can apply for membership of the organization in the future, which includes a guideline that "a requesting country will also need to confirm that it meets the conditions for statehood." The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the results of voting and the approval, and minister Riyad al-Malki thanked all members who voted in favor of the State of Palestine…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/mem/2017/09/18.html Palestine 's Hamas movement said  on Sunday that it will dissolve the administrative committee it has formed to run the  Gaza Strip  and hand power over to a Palestinian unity government. The announcement follows talks between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority mediated by  Egypt . Although Palestinian Authority President  Mahmoud Abbas  welcomed the move, his Fatah party seeks more details on the process of handing over the Gaza Strip and its border crossings. The agreement follows a series of punitive measures by Abbas against Gaza designed to pressure Hamas, such as cutting electricity payments.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779119   Israeli forces raided several areas in the Hebron district overnight between Friday and Saturday, detaining two Palestinians and "showering" Palestinian homes with tear gas, according to Palestinian sources. In the town of al-Samu, south of Hebron, Israeli forces raided and ransacked Sami Abu Arqoub's home before detaining two of his sons...Meanwhile in Hebron city, official Palestinian Authority (PA)-owned Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces raided the area of al-Hareeqa in eastern Hebron, where they fired tear gas at civilian homes in the area, causing dozens to suffocate.    According to Wafa, the soldiers also raided and ransacked several homes in the area.   The Israeli army said they were also looking into reports of the raid in al-Hareeqa. Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with a biweekly averag...

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779054   Israeli forces on Monday morning demolished parts of the outer wall of a Palestinian cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local source … The fate of Jerusalem and its holy sites has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem. The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization's (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution in July reaffirming the international body's non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and condemned Israeli policies in the Old City. The resolution referred to Israel as an "occupying power" in East Jerusalem, and stated that UNESCO "regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavation...

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779087 …Israel has tightened the noose on the BDS movement in recent months, most notably by passing the anti-BDS law , which bans foreign individuals who have openly called for a boycott of Israel from entering the country.   Furthermore, Israel has routinely condemned the UN for what it sees as their anti-Israel stance, as numerous resolutions have been passed in recent months condemning Israel's half-century occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and its relentless settlement enterprise that has dismembered the Palestinian territory.   However, Palestinians and activists have long pointed out that nonviolent movements, expressed both in BDS activities and raising awareness on the international stage, are some of the last spaces to challenge Israel's occupation, as Israeli forces have clamped down on popular movements in the Palestinian territory, leaving many Palestinians with diminished hope for the futur...

http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=779112   The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) released a statement on Thursday denouncing a Gaza court's absentia decision to imprison a female Palestinian journalist who is currently in Jordan receiving cancer treatment.  According to MADA, the Gaza Magistrate Court sentenced journalist Hajar Muhammad Abu Samra to six months in prison and a fine of 1,000 shekels ($284) over an investigative report done by Abu Samra or the Arab television network more than a year ago about corruption in the Medical Referrals Department in the Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip…     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/two-hamas-militants-die-gaza-tunnel-collapse-1810505067 #GazaSiege Khalil al-Dimyati, 32, and Yusef Abu Abed, 22, were killed after two tunnels used for military purposes collapsed…Hamas has built a network of tunnels inside Gaza, as well as some under the Israeli border.   During the last round of conflict in 2014 attack tunnels were one of Hamas's most effective weapons.   Other tunnels are used for smuggling from Egypt, although many have been destroyed by the Egyptian authorities in recent years.   Several dozen Hamas members have died in tunnel collapses in the past year. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://jewishcurrents.org/jewish-americans-still-liberal-after-all-these-years/     Ron Skolnik observes, "If there's news in the American Jewish Committee's just-released 2017 survey of American Jewish opinion, it's that there's little earth-shattering in it at all. American Jews, the survey's data indicate, remain solidly left-of-center, Democrat in party affiliation, and overwhelmingly anti-Trump. And while hawkish, brook-no-criticism-of-Israel elements often seem to dominate the discourse in the American Jewish community, the AJC interviews, like previous public opinion polls, suggest that, numerically speaking at least, they represent only a small fraction of all Jewish Americans." …opposition to Palestinian statehood among American Jews actually dropped to 40 percent, compared to 47 percent in 2013.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-says-itll-charge-pa-for-gaza-power-to-avert-humanitarian-crisis/ Israel has threatened the Palestinian Authority that it deduct money from taxes it collects on behalf of the PA, in order to cover the cost of supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip. Already-limited power supplies in the coastal enclave have been further squeezed amid a spat between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority over who should pay for the power. Israel made the threat in a July 17 letter seen by The Times of Israel. Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai told PA Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh that due to the serious humanitarian considerations supplies must be restored one way or another.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/despite-threats-jewish-arab-theater-hosts-event-for-palestinian-poet/129535/ Hundreds of Palestinians and Jews came to show support for Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour last week, who has been under house arrest for almost two years for publishing a poem on Facebook… Gaby Lasky, Tatour's lawyer, spoke about the paradox at the core of the indictment. Following the murder of Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir at the hands of three Jewish Israelis in 2014, Tatour published a status in which she wrote "I'm the next martyr." While her intention was to protest the killing of the innocents and the notion any Arab in this country could be killed for no reason, her prosecutors misinterpreted it as a call to violence…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/following-pressure-israel-halts-decision-to-revoke-al-jazeera-reporters-credentials/129517/ The government sought to revoke Elias Karram's press accreditation after he expressed solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. The decision was reversed following pressure by the Union of Journalists in Israel.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/video-encouraging-reading-culture-gaza/21331   Gaza's 41 libraries tend to be lonely places. But there are young people working to change that.   The Glow and Thought initiative aims to "invest in education and build resilience," according to Fida al-Sharif, a trainer with the project. Glow and Thought established a library in one of Gaza's secondary schools that didn't have one previously. Books are displayed in recycled containers hung on walls decorated with murals reflecting themes from nature…     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazans-turn-their-rooftops-sustenance/21406   The decade-old Israeli blockade on Gaza has dramatically undermined the coastal strip's agriculture sector… With overcrowding causing urban spread from one side, and an Israeli military no-go area infringing on mostly agricultural land on the other, arable land is at a premium. Palestinians in Gaza have – yet again – had to think outside the box. With no land outward, they've moved upward to the rooftops…Rooftop farming is a new concept in Gaza… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah Despite his name being on the list of cosponsors, Representative Bobby Rush is not supporting the Israel Anti-Boycott Act , his office has confirmed.   The bill, backed by the powerful Israel lobby group AIPAC, has been condemned by the American Civil Liberties Union for violating constitutional free speech rights.   It could impose large fines and long prison sentences on those who boycott Israel in response to a call from an international organization… [Senator Claire] McCaskill is one of 13 Senate Democrats backing the bill, but is among several lawmakers who told The Intercept they are reviewing it in light of the concerns raised by the American Civil Liberties Union…"The wave of anti-BDS legislation, promoted by Israel advocacy groups to undermine the movement for Palestinian rights in the United States aims to send a clear signal that support for Palestinian rights is disfavored by our government and is...

http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/palestinian-village-shock-after-israel-demolishes-brand-new-school-1013617331   …While residents have long called for the creation of a school in Jubbet al-Dhib, it was only during the summer of 2016 that international organisations began working to establish a school on village lands , whose construction was only recently finalised, with funding from the EU.   "Are they underestimating the distances my children have to walk every day? It's kilometres under the sun or the rain and there is no transportation," said Zawahra. "What are the ethical, human, or even legal principles that could justify relentlessly targeting a community by denying them access to electricity, running water, and now a school?" the French NGO coordinator asked. "What possible justifications, if not to rationalise the expansion of a nearby colony, which itself is truly illegal?"     Posted by Judith Fers...