vjp-global

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/real-oppressed-can-wait-israel-marching-pride-parade-1684135 …Tens of thousands came out to protest against the surrogacy law. This is a new and fascinating phenomenon: escapist protest… No one any longer expects Israel to stage mass protests against the occupation, the siege or the settlements in the territories: nearly everyone in Israel is too brainwashed, hate-filled and anxiety-ridden to do that.  But the nation-state law, passed within a few hours of the surrogacy law, is by far the more crucial, fateful, outrageous, discriminatory and exclusionary… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/c/news/   The Israeli LGBTQ community staged a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest discrimination and inequality, sparked by a new law to ease surrogacy regulations that left male gay couples without the ability to use a surrogate to have a child.   An estimated tens of thousands of members of the community joined the one-day strike to protest the law, tying the action to the broader discrimination many members of the LGBTQ community face.     Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-passes-controversial-nation-state-bill-1.6291048 62 lawmakers vote in favor of the bill after a stormy debate ■ Arab lawmakers tossed out after they tear bill in protest, call it 'apartheid law.' The nation-state law also includes clauses stating that a "united Jerusalem" is the capital of Israel and that Hebrew is the country's official language. Another says that "the state sees the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation."…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/07/09/israel-bulldozes-khan-al-ahmar-and-buries-the-two-state-solution/ If one community has come to symbolize the demise of the two-state solution, it is Khan Al Ahmar.   It was for that reason that a posse of European diplomats left their air-conditioned offices late last week to trudge through the hot, dusty hills outside Jerusalem and witness the preparations for the village's destruction. That included the Israeli police beating residents and supporters as they tried to block the advance of heavy machinery… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member If one community has come to symbolize the demise of the two-state solution, it is Khan Al Ahmar. It was for that reason that a posse of European diplomats left their air-conditioned offices late last week to trudge through the hot, dusty hills outside Jerusalem and witness the preparations for the village's destruction. That included the Israeli police beating...

https://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/palestine/2347-jerusalem-nabi-saleh.html   …It is obvious that the technological and medical advancements that very early on were made available to the community of Jewish immigrants, was denied to the indigenous Palestinian people. Even though more often than not the distance between the communities of Jewish settlers and indigenous Palestinians is negligible. Yet the access to water and electricity, along with health care and other crucial services always stop along Arab-Jewish lines.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/world/middleeast/gaza-israel-kites-embargo.html   Unable to thwart the waves of incendiary devices lofted into Israel on kites and birthday balloons from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government opted for a punitive response on Monday, clamping down on cargo shipments in and out of Gaza in hopes that its rulers would halt the airborne arson themselves….Since April, Gaza militants have been turning kites and balloons into improvised firebombs, burning hundreds of acres of Israeli farmland and forcing firefighting crews from all over the country to race from fire to fire dowsing flames before they can spread… The new restrictions at Gaza's main cargo crossing ban the import of all goods except food, medicine and "humanitarian equipment," as well as all exports...The militant organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and has encouraged the arsonist kite fliers, called the move a "crime against humanity." Pal...

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/07/09/israel-bulldozes-khan-al-ahmar-and-buries-the-two-state-solution/ …Western capitals understand what is at stake. Israel wants Khan Al Ahmar gone so that Jewish settlements can be built in its place, on land it has designated as "E1".   That would put the final piece in place for Israel to build a substantial bloc of new settler homes to sever the West Bank in two. Those same settlements would also seal off West Bank Palestinians from East Jerusalem, the expected capital of a future Palestinian state, making a mockery of any peace agreement… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2UpatWaV6c&feature=youtu.be   [Video] Palestinian and other activists formed a human chain to stop the destruction of Palestinian homes in the area…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article213867029.html   …I was able to realize my potential thanks to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – which supports more than 5 million Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East – providing us with food, health care, education and social services and jobs. Unfortunately, earlier this year, the U.S. government cut funding to the agency by 80 percent, jeopardizing many of the essentials that kept us from abject poverty and despair…For 5 million people, UNRWA is their only hope to a better life. It certainly was for me.   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member