vjp-global

https://therealnews.com/stories/the-israeli-elections-are-not-about-palestine-or-peace   Shir Hever discusses how the upcoming Israeli elections demonstrate the secular/religious divide on major issues like gender segregation, separation of church and state, public transportation during the Shabbath, and the conscription of women and ultra-Orthodox to the military [and how the Palestinians do figure into the politics of the election on 9/17.]   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/philippines-duterte-israeli-weapons/142893/ Israel continues to export arms and military training to Rodrigo Duterte's regime, even after the ICC launched a preliminary investigation to look into suspicions of crimes against humanity there...As part of President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal drug war, police officers and masked militiamen have been raiding the country's poorest neighborhoods, where they execute men and young boys suspected of criminal activities or drug use. Their weapons of choice? Israeli-produced rifles such as the Tavor and the Negev, and handguns such as the Masada... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member     

h ttps:// www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/by-barring-two-congresswomen-trump-and-netanyahu-set-a-trap-for-democrats?utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Borowitz_082019&utm_medium=email&bxid=5be9e8d22ddf9c72dc755738&cndid=52492563&esrc=End_Borowitz_5129&utm_term=TNY_Borowitz   …Condemn B.D.S. supporters and you risk appearing indifferent to one of the great human-rights issues inspiring the Party's next generation. Soft-pedal the perils of B.D.S., or even its logic, and you risk debasing the liberalism that inspired the past generation. What, after all, is the difference in moral attitude between boycotting a country and barring a boycotter from it? Trump may be wrong to think that American Jews, more than seventy per cent of whom voted against him, will overlook the affront that his behavior poses. But Trump will not be here forever, and the trap will outlast him. The Presidential candidate who does ...

https://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/Israeli-MKs-to-Congress- …The letter by the MKs is a direct appeal to members of Congress [who supported the anti-BDS resolution 246]   to assess the dangers of a Jihadist Palestinian state formed in the heart of Israel. The MKs argue that while some sectors promote the two-state solution as being pro-Israel, the actual will of the Israeli people and the current policy of the State of Israel does not reflect that attitude. "The establishment of an additional Arab (so-called Palestinian) state in the region would severely damage the national security of both Israel and the United States," the MKs wrote. "Such a state would undoubtedly be a dysfunctional terrorist state, which would distance peace and undermine stability in the Middle East. As politicians, we understand that these resolutions are accompanied by many compromises along the way in order to reach a language agreed upon by a majority. However, the affir...

https://972mag.com/antisemitism-israel-jews-ihra/142622/   The IHRA [ International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] initially sought to combat racism against Jews and Holocaust denialism, but its definition of antisemitism serves as a tool to silence all criticism of Israel, making it harder to identify actual forms of anti-Jewish hatred… The government of Israel and its representatives, as well as many pro-Israeli organizations all over the world, are remarkably successful in silencing criticism of Israel's policies by playing this card. Using the IHRA's poor definition of antisemitism, they have succeeded in completely changing the discourse: rather than talk about the occupation, the Nakba, or its violation of national, human and civil rights, the dominant public discourse now revolves around what is or is not forbidden when it comes to criticism of Israel, and to what extent said criticism is antisemitic. In this reality, Israel no longer needs to defend...

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/squad-occupied-palestine-190731123054231.html Tlaib and Omar are shunning propaganda trips to Israel and organising their own visit to occupied Palestine … Amid the ongoing aggressive efforts to impose on the Palestinians an unfair deal eliminating the right of return for refugees and quashing their hopes for statehood, a visit by Tlaib and Omar will indeed be a breath of fresh [air] and a reassurance that the world has not abandoned us.  Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/issawiya-east-jerusalem-palestinians/142598/ [Includes a video] For the past six weeks, Israel has been sending paramilitary police forces to raid the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya every evening. The raids, a severe form of collective punishment, have left one young Palestinian dead and hundreds wounded…. Meanwhile, Israel is aiming to redraw the city's municipal borders so as to push 120,000 Palestinians — more than a third of the city's Palestinian population — out of the city. According to legislation advanced last year by Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze'ev Elkin, neighborhoods such as Kufr Aqab, Ras Hamis and the Shuafat refugee camp — already separated from the rest of the city by the separation wall — will be drawn out of the municipal boundaries.   Issawiya, then, portends what Israel has in store for the remaining Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem: continual violence that has no aim other than oppressing and making...

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/house-boycott-israel-vote-ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib   … The measure, H.Res.246 opposes "efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement [BDS] targeting Israel," according to the bill's text. BDS — a movement which began in 2005 — calls for groups to apply economic pressure to Israel to achieve Palestinian independence in the Middle East. The Senate passed a similar bill amid concerns that the legislation violates the First Amendment.   The bill passed the House Tuesday 398–17 with five members voting "present" to abstain from the vote. Sixteen Democrats opposed the bill, including Omar and Tlaib. Just one Republican voted against the measure, Rep. Thomas Massie… Ultimately, just 16 Democrats opposed the bill: Omar, Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, André Carson, Debbie Dingell, Jesús García, Raúl Grijalva, Pramila Jayapal, Ba...