vjp-global

https://972mag.com/a-bizarre-end-to-the-trial-of-palestinian-poet-dareen-tatour/133344/   …The defense insisted that the poem [Resist, My People] is a legitimate expression of protest, which speaks about the occupation's violence against innocent Palestinians. The defense based its arguments on specific events that were mentioned in the poem: the children who were burned; Hadeel, who was shot; the settler's robbery; and the violence of the army's special undercover units.   The prosecutor focused on what she thought was clear to every "average person"—the Israeli worldview that sees every Arab, and especially whoever opposes the occupation, as a dangerous terrorist…According to the prosecution, the publication of the photo "I am the next Martyr" was part of a systematic pattern of encouraging suicide attacks. The fact that the picture was first published in response to the burning of young Abu Khdeir, of course, should have been concl...

https://electronicintifada.net/content/gaza-vice/23311   Hamas has given over control of crossings and administrative duties to the PA to no avail. There is little armed resistance left in Gaza, whatever the movement's rhetoric: bar a flurry of rockets after Trump made his Jerusalem announcement in early December, there has been nothing for Israel to worry about all of last year.   What the situation does offer is clarity: The US has given up on even a pretend peace process. And simply waiting for Trump to go away will not do: Israel has in effect been given a green light to take what it wants now, and it is considering its options .   Arab countries, meanwhile, may step in to avoid absolute catastrophe, but only at the last minute and only with the green light from Israel. Politically, there is neither           the    will nor the drive to help Palestinians achieve any of their minimal claims. … Further afield, a Saudi crown prince plots war with Iran that...

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-congress-members-to-trump-don-t-cut-funds-to-un-palestinian-agency-1.5805759 …In their letter, the members mentioned news reports indicating that Israel asked the Trump administration to reconsider cuts to UNRWA's budget. "The Israeli Government deems UNRWA's work providing basic services and education to Palestinian refugees so consequential for Israeli security that it has reportedly weighed in with your administration in support of maintaining U.S. contributions to the agency, despite frequent criticism of it," they wrote.  The members also mentioned an article that was published last month in Haaretz by "Former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Peter Lerner," who wrote that "By weakening UNWRA and, consequentially, the Palestinian population even further, without a real administrative alternative, I believe that Palestinians will be even more susceptible to extr...

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5115295,00.html   In a special series of interviews, terrorists who were released in 2013 as part of an Israeli gesture to PA President Abbas tell Ynet about the murders they committed before the Oslo Agreements were signed, the 'Israelization' process they went through in jail and the impact of the second intifada…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/boomerang-effect-netanyahu-made-israel-american-issue-lost/   Despite massive sums of money spent to channel public opinion in the United States in favor of Israel, unmistakable trends in opinion polls are attesting to the changing dynamics of Israel's support among ordinary Americans.   Not only is Israel losing its support and overall appeal among large sections of American society, but among young American Jews, as well – a particularity worrying phenomena for the Israeli government.…Netanyahu has shoved Israel into the heart of polarizing American politics, and although he has achieved his short-term goals (for example, obtaining US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel) he has irrevocably damaged the decades-long consensus on Israel among Americans, and in that there is a great source of hope. Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.newsweek.com/more-palestinians-are-dying-waiting-get-medical-treatment-because-israel-wont-807989   …At least 54 people died in 2017 while waiting for an Israeli travel permit to seek medical treatment outside of Gaza, according to a joint statement released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, among others.…Meanwhile, the percentage of travel permits Israel accepted for "exceptional humanitarian cases" dropped from 92 percent of all applications in 2012 to only 54 percent in 2017, according to the World Health Organization. Some advocates argue that these decisions constitute a violation of human rights that could cause the security situation in Gaza to unravel…   Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

https://972mag.com/take-a-look-around-this-is-what-annexation-looks-like/133172/   …It is hard to get too excited over small steps toward annexation, such as a law that moves a university from the jurisdiction of one council of higher education to another. The international community will not raise a storm. The UN Security Council will not hold an emergency session. The EU will not threaten sanctions. Yet this is precisely what the annexation of Palestine will look like. The Knesset on Monday passed a law that places Israeli universities in the occupied Palestinian territories under the aegis of the Israeli Council for Higher Education, a civilian body created by Israeli law to oversee universities and colleges in Israel…The prime minister openly and unabashedly describing how he plans to apply Israeli law to the Palestinian territories, however, is barely news anymore. It has fully penetrated the mainstream discourse… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member ...