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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
April 2021
Trump’s achievements on Israel Philip Weiss Mondoweiss 21/01/21
Secretary of State Blinken spent a lot of time affirming Donald Trump’s policies in Israel! Notably in his very respectful exchanges with Senator Ted Cruz, who you’d think Blinken might treat with some crust because he tried to deny Biden’s victory.
Cruz: A final question because my time has expired, Do you agree that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and do you commit that the United States will keep our embassy there?
Blinken: Yes and Yes.
Read More: Biden’s secretary of state praises Trump’s achievements on Israel – Mondoweiss
Tear gas attack - Palestinian woman miscarries IMEMC 21/01/21
A Palestinian woman who was seven months pregnant suffered a miscarriage last Thursday after Israeli forces repeatedly fired tear gas toward her home in Mughayir village, east of Ramallah, Areej Abu Alya, 37, was hospitalized for several days with severe bleeding following the firing of over a hundred tear gas canisters by the Israeli military in front of and around her home over the course of the previous week.
Her home is located in an area scheduled by Israeli authorities for forced takeover, and Palestinian residents protest the Israeli military’s actions on an almost-daily basis.
According to Iyad Abu Alya, Areej’s husband, “We live in a very dangerous area. Tear gas canisters are scattered around the house and inside, and I can no longer collect them immediately to throw them out of our children’s reach.”
Palestinian clinic demolished Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 26/01/2021
The coronavirus is still raging in Palestine, with hundreds of new cases of the virus being reported every day, and a rising death count to boot.
In the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported 660 new cases of the coronavirus, and 10 COVID-19 related deaths in the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Despite reports for weeks from Palestinian officials that COVID-19 vaccine doses could be arriving any day now, Palestinian citizens have still yet to see those promises materialize. And as Israel continues to deny responsibility for inoculating the Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, the prospect of getting a vaccine any time soon still seems far out of reach. All the while, Israel has continued its campaign of home demolitions in the West Bank, targeting homes, agricultural structures, and even clinics.
Read more: Israel issues demolition of Palestinian clinic in midst of pandemic – Mondoweiss
Israeli justice – the case of Muhannad Abu Ghosh Yoav Haifawi Mondoweiss 27/01/2021 Haifa is supposed to be the most “progressive” place under Israel’s apartheid. It is supposed to give an example of “coexistence” between Arab and Jews under Zionist rule . . . . Shortly after being detained he was brought to the Haifa court where his detention was remanded for a whole week. He has not been arraigned or charged with any crime. He was prevented by a special decree from meeting a lawyer, a measure regularly used against Palestinian activists who are interrogated by the Shabak. While his lawyer was not informed where he is presently being detained, I have good reasons to believe that he is in the Shabak section in Jelemeh – where harsh conditions and the usage of all kinds of psychological and physical torture are the standard. Read more: Herak Haifa: Free Muhannad Abu Ghosh! – Mondoweiss
Facebook to censor anti-Zionist content?? Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 28/01/2021
“Importantly, this move will prohibit Palestinians from sharing their daily experiences and histories with the world, be it a photo of the keys to their grandparent’s house lost when attacked by Zionist militias in 1948, or a livestream of Zionist settlers attacking their olive trees in 2021. And it would prevent Jewish users from discussing their relationships to Zionist political ideology.” Read more: Activists urge Facebook not to censor anti-Zionist content – Mondoweiss
Child with rare autoimmune disease imprisoned without charge 29/01/2021 IMEMC Israeli forces arrested Amal Nakhleh 17, from his home around 3:30 a.m. on January 21, 2021, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to information collected by DCIP. His detention was promptly extended for 72 hours by an Israeli military court judge at Israel’s Ofer military court, then, on January 25, the six-month administrative detention order against him was issued and accepted. He is currently detained at Israel’s Megiddo prison, located inside Israel, north of the occupied West Bank. Amal suffers from myasthenia gravis, a rare chronic autoimmune, neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness, including in the muscles used for breathing and swallowing. His treatment requires ongoing medical treatment and that he takes medication regularly and without interruption.
“Israeli authorities must either file charges against Palestinian children or release them,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at Defense for Children International – Palestine Read more: https://imemc.org/article/dci-israeli-authorities-imprison-palestinian-child-with-rare-autoimmune-disease-without-charge/
Cancer patient accompanier arrested at Erez Crossing 28/01/2021 IMEMC
Monday morning, 25 January 2021, the Israeli authorities at Erez Crossing arrested Walaa Mohammed Refaie, 35, despite having approved his request to accompany his wife to al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem. Refaie’s wife, 32-year-old Walaa Ayoub (Refaie), is a cancer patient who was granted an exit permit after receiving a referral to the hospital for treatment. Read more: Press Release: Israeli Authorities arrest accompanier of cancer patient at Erez Crossing – – IMEMC News
British recruit involved in killing of Palestinian teen Tamara Nassar EI 26/01/21
Israeli occupation forces fatally shot a Palestinian teenager on Tuesday. The Israeli army claimed Atallah Muhammad Harb Rayan was attempting a stabbing attack when he was killed at a junction near the Barkan settlement near the occupied West Bank town of Salfit. Rayan was from the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan near Salfit. He was 17 years old, Defense for Children International Palestine confirmed. He is the first Palestinian child Israel has killed this year.
One of the soldiers involved in the incident is reportedly a British citizen. “L.” – as she was identified by the Israeli army and media – said she “knocked him back with my weapon,” and that “he went back and forth between me and my commander, trying to stab us.” The Jerusalem Post identified “L.” as a lone soldier from London in the Israeli army. The publication appears to name “L.” as Lian Harush in the caption of the main image in the article – the same picture of “L.” posted by the Israeli army. Read more: British recruit involved in killing of Palestinian teen | The Electronic Intifada
ICC okays war crimes probe Maureen Clare Murphy EI 9/02/2021
A coalition of Palestinian human rights groups praised the “landmark” ruling as “a critically important step towards ensuring the rule of law” and “towards ending impunity.” The groups called for “immediate action” by the prosecutor “to ensure justice and accountability for Palestinian victims.” Those four organizations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, Al Dameer and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights – have submitted “six substantial communications and thousands of eyewitness files” to the prosecutor’s office. The rights groups are “routinely faced with hostile measures of collective punishment from Israel,” including “a protracted campaign of smears and death threats.” Israeli officials lashed out after the ruling on territorial jurisdiction was announced, relying on well-worn and baseless accusations of anti-Semitism while ignoring the substance of the court decision. Read more: Israel lashes out as ICC okays war crimes probe | The Electronic Intifada
Israel on diplomatic blitz against ICC ruling Rina Bassist al Monitor 10/02/2021
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague ruled Feb. 5 that despite Israeli objection it can investigate alleged war crimes perpetrated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since then, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has been busy calling his counterparts across the globe. He is campaigning relentlessly against the ruling. Shortly after the decision, Ashkenazi published a harsh reaction, stating that it turns the ICC into a political tool of anti-Israeli propaganda. "We call upon all nations that value the international legal system, and object to its political exploitation, to respect the sovereign rights of states not to be subjected to the Court’s jurisdiction. The State of Israel will take every necessary measure to protect its citizens," he added.
A first public opportunity came on Feb. 8, when Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in Jerusalem, to conclude an agreement with Israel over mutually opening frontiers for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. Diplomatic sources confirmed that the issue of the ICC was discussed at length in the private meeting between the two ministers
Picnic video exposes Israeli apartheid Jonathan Cook Mondoweiss 17/02/2021
Ugly truth
Israel proudly tells the world that its “Arab” citizens enjoy entirely equal rights with Jewish citizens. The truth is far uglier, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu inadvertently conceded when he used Instagram to correct an Israeli TV host who had suggested that Israel was a western-style democracy. “Israel is not a state of all its citizens. According to the nation-state law we passed, Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people — and not anyone else,” he wrote. Some 70 laws explicitly offer differentiated rights depending on whether an Israeli citizen is Jewish or “Arab”.
“Israel’s Arabs” are almost entirely segregated from Israeli Jews in where they can live, where they go to school, and in many cases where they are allowed to work. The citizenship status of Jews and “Arabs” derives from separate laws. These “Arabs” are barred from living in most of Israel’s territory, and planning rules have been systematically skewed to their disadvantage. In short, most “Israeli Arabs” live in segregated, poor, land-hungry, overcrowded and under-resourced communities. . . Read more: Picnic video exposes both faces of Israeli apartheid – Mondoweiss
Sexual violence against Palestinian detainees Tamara Nassar EI 19/02/2021
The experience of a night arrest alone is particularly traumatic for children and their families.
Israeli forces then took the child to the Russian Compound interrogation and torture facility in Jerusalem, where he was handcuffed and blindfolded in a hallway and attacked by passersby.“Every two to three minutes, someone would come by and slap, push, punch or kick me,” the boy told DCIP.
He said he was then taken to a room where he was interrogated by a man who identified himself as Captain Kamel.“He kicked me and punched me while shouting and saying I should tell him what I did,” the boy recalled. He was accused of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.“Whenever I told him I did not do anything, he would beat me harder. He threatened to shock me with electricity, but I told him I did not do anything.”
The boy said that the same individual “knocked him to the floor while blindfolded and raped him with an object,” according to DCIP. The individual threatened to continue with the sexual violence until the boy confessed.The boy said the individual then pressed him against the wall and inflicted intense pain on his genitals.“There are no words to describe that moment,” the child told DCIP.
Captain Kamel also threatened that the physical and sexual violence would continue if the boy told his lawyer what had occurred. Around 15 minutes after the incident the boy was allowed to see his lawyer for five minutes. He was again interrogated in the hours and days that followed, subject to verbal abuse and forced to sign documents in Hebrew that he did not understand. . . Read more: Palestinian child says he was raped by Israeli interrogator | The Electronic Intifada
Israel sends vaccines to Syria, Honduras etc but denies responsibility to vaccinate its Palestinians Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 23/02/2021
The deal with the Syrian regime precedes Israel’s latest efforts at what some are calling “vaccine diplomacy” — where wealthy countries like Israel, who have already vaccinated more than half of their population, provide vaccine supplies to countries that have been unable to secure sufficient vaccine supplies in exchange for their diplomatic support.
Israeli media reported on Tuesday that the government was offering vaccine shipments to countries in exchange for their diplomatic support, or as a gift of sorts to countries who had already taken diplomatic measures favorable to Israel, such as vowing to move or establish their embassies to Jerusalem. Read more: Israel sends COVID-19 vaccines to Syria, Honduras, the Czech Republic, and Guatemala but denies responsibility to vaccinate its Palestinian subjects – Mondoweiss
Behind the blockade: "What possible security do you realise by denying a breast cancer patient the standard of care for her disease?"
Thmas H Foster Mondoweiss 01/03/2021
At the Al Awda Hospital, a fluoroscopy system sat dormant awaiting a $3,000 circuit board, the delivery of which Israel had blocked for months. This is common in Gaza. At the Al Quds Red Crescent Hospital, a new CT scanner was delivered, but the workstation that enables its advanced cardiac applications has been held up at by the blockade
Israel, you are well aware that the fluoroscopy board is specific for that imaging system and could not be used for anything else. And the workstation is specific to that Philips CT scanner. Your blockade is capricious; it is malicious. When applied to medical devices and supplies, to isolation of physicians and support staff from their international professional networks, and to technical support from equipment providers, your blockade serves no military or security purpose.
Read more: Behind the blockade: reflections from a medical delegation to Gaza – Mondoweiss
ICC launch investigation of Israeli war crimes— ‘undiluted antisemitism’ Philip Weiss Mondoweiss 3/03/2021
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a signatory to the Rome statute on which the ICC was established. Palestine is, and initiated this case.
“This is definitely a bad day for the state of Israel,” Daniel Reisner, a former Israeli army lawyer, said on i24 News. He said Israel should build political opposition to the decision. It has a “good chance of creating a coalition of likeminded European states” that would regard the decision as “incredibly divisive.” (Michael Sfard says European states that oppose settlements can’t be counted on to oppose the case.)
Israel confiscates 658 dunams of Palestinian land IMEMC 7/03/2021
. . . It added that the army wants to illegally annex the lands to build a water reservoir that would benefit the illegal Israeli colonist in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea areas.
Read more: Israel Confiscates 658 Dunams Of Palestinian Lands Near Bethlehem – – IMEMC News
Soldiers demolish home of wheelchair-bound Palestinian IMEMC 01/03/2021
Hatem Abu Ryala, said his property was demolished the first time in the year 2009, and added that during the demolition and the assault against the family, he fell from high altitude an issue that led to paralysis due to fractures in his spinal cord. . . “Where are we supposed to go; this is our home, built on our land, but they want to keep demolishing our homes so that they can continue to build and expand their illegal colonies,” the mother said. Read more: Soldiers Demolish Home Of Wheelchair-Bound Palestinian In Jerusalem – – IMEMC News
Palestinians in Israel protest police brutality Tamara Nassar EI 9/03/2021 Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel took to the streets of the northern city of Umm al-Fahm on 5 March to protest Israeli police brutality as well as the state’s failure to address organized crime and internal violence in Palestinian communities in Israel. This was the eighth Friday of weekly protests Palestinian citizens of Israel are holding in their communities against police brutality and the government’s neglect of the rampant violence in Arab localities. . . . Adalah, a group that advocates for the rights of Palestinians in Israel, said Israeli police likely used “deadly” and “extreme, life-threatening” weapons and tactics on 26 February “without any violence on the part of protest participants.”
Those weapons included rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, according to Adalah. Israeli police injured dozens of protesters during the 26 February demonstrations, and at least 40 required medical treatment. They included Yousef Jabareen, a Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and Umm al-Fahm’s mayor, Samir Sobhi Mahamed, both reportedly injured with stun grenades. Both were hospitalized:
Read more: Palestinians in Israel protest police brutality, neglect | The Electronic Intifada
Soldiers arrest children picking wild flowers Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 11/03/21 Israeli forces arrested five Palestinian children, ranging between the ages of eight and 13, in the South Hebron Hills of the southern occupied West Bank on Wednesday, sparking outrage among local and international human rights advocates.
Videos of the arrest went viral on social media, showing a large group of masked and armed Israeli soldiers forcibly arresting the children, who were visibly alarmed and frightened as they were dragged into an Israeli military jeep. . . Read more: At behest of settlers, Israeli forces arrest Palestinian children picking wild flowers – Mondoweiss
Labour women's candidate Izzy Lenga trained with Israeli army
Asa Winstanley EI 12/03.2021
A pro-Israel activist running in a UK Labour Party election has trained with the Israeli army.
Izzy Lenga is an officer in the Jewish Labour Movement, a pro-Israel lobby group. She is standing as a right-wing candidate in the election for Labour’s new National Women’s Committee, set to be held later this year.The Electronic Intifada has obtained this photo of Lenga wearing an Israeli army uniform, wrapped in an Israeli flag and carrying an assault rifle – the type of weapon carried by Israeli occupation soldiers when they enforce Israel’s military rule over Palestinians. Sources say that Lenga once “proudly” displayed the photo on her social media. Read more: Labour women's candidate Izzy Lenga trained with Israeli army | The Electronic Intifada
UK Green MP stops motion against bogus anti-Semitism definition
Asa Winstanley EI 17/03/2021
UK Member of Parliament Caroline Lucas intervened at a biannual conference to stop her Green Party from passing a motion against a misleading definition of anti-Semitism, activists say. Green activists have accused her of “filibustering” and “cheating,” which she denies.
Although the party leadership is in favor, the Green Party of England and Wales has so far not endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s “working definition” of anti-Semitism due to grassroots opposition. The motion, at the party conference online on 7 March, would have committed the Greens to actively campaigning against the bogus definition, which has been pushed by Israel and its lobby for years. Read more: UK Green MP stops motion against bogus anti-Semitism definition | The Electronic Intifada
Israel lobby interference in British politics Asa Winstanley EI 9/04/2021
In a new book, Britain’s former deputy foreign minister Alan Duncan accuses the Israel lobby of “disgusting interference in our public life.”
Speaking to the Mail+ website this week Duncan said that lobby group Conservative Friends of Israel “interfere at a high level in British politics in the interest of Israel, on the back of donor power within the UK.” He told journalist Michael Crick that this is “a sort of buried scandal that has to stop.”
Duncan’s new book In The Thick of It was serialized by the Daily Mail this week. The book comprises his diaries from his time in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Duncan writes that Conservative Friends of Israel successfully vetoed his appointment as Middle East minister in 2016. Then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told him that Conservative Friends of Israel were “going ballistic” at the prospect, Duncan writes.
“It is for no other reason than that I believe in the rights of Palestinians and it’s quite clear that they don’t,” he adds. “They just want to belittle and subjugate the Palestinians.”
Duncan was instead appointed as minister of state for foreign affairs – effectively deputy to the foreign secretary. Duncan’s diary records that he was offered the role – which “they insist is the most serious portfolio” – because “everyone is very concerned that I might immediately resign and cause a massive stink about this outside interference” by the Israel lobby. Read more: "High-level" Israel lobby interference in British politics, says ex-minister | The Electronic Intifada
How “corrupt” British minister Priti Patel lied for Israel Asa Winstanley EI 22/04/2021 . . . In another section of the book – the diaries of his time in the Foreign Office – he excoriates Priti Patel, currently the British home secretary, as “compromised,” “deceitful,” “morally corrupt,” “contemptible” and “quite despicable.”
All these characterizations were used by Duncan to describe Patel’s relationship with Israel.
Patel was then the UK minister for international development, deciding how to dole out British aid money around the world – a form of “soft power.”
Duncan’s diary entries on Patel stand out, because they shed new light on a 2017 scandal Patel briefly but memorably caused for May’s government.
Now that Patel is back in power – indeed, she has been given a major promotion under Prime Minister Boris Johnson – it is worth looking closer at what Duncan wrote about her in his then-private, but now published diaries from 2017.
Priti Patel’s ministry did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Read more:
How "corrupt" British minister Priti Patel lied for Israel | The Electronic Intifada
Labour hands more power to Israel’s lobby Asa Winstanley EI 5/05/2021
. . . In February Labour announced a new advisory board on anti-Semitism.
The list of names of those appointed to the new body reveals a major escalation: Most are affiliated with pro-Israel lobby groups, while none appear to be affiliated with Jewish organizations and communities that are critical of Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.
This means that Labour may have handed effective veto power over its membership to advocates for a violent, racist foreign state.
By outsourcing policy to the Israel lobby, Labour is formalizing what has been the practice under party leader Keir Starmer for more than a year.
Labour’s “Action Plan” on anti-Semitism published in December gives the new advisory board a significant oversight role. Labour will create a supposedly “independent process to handle and determine anti-Semitism complaints.” During the design of this process, according to the plan, officials will engage in “continuous update and consultation” with the advisory board. . . Read more: Labour hands more power to Israel’s lobby | The Electronic Intifada
JNF goes public with its aid to settlers Jonathan Cook Mondoweiss 17/03/2021
. . . Worried about how this will look outside Israel, and the threat it could pose to the Jewish National Funds’s fundraising activities overseas, five of the JNF’s 32 board members have demanded that the decision be rescinded. . . Unless the decision can be overturned, donors to the JNF – as well as foreign governments that bestow charitable status on the Fund – will be directly and visibly colluding in the development of the settlements and the further erosion of prospects for a Palestinian state.
The JNF’s decision is a dramatic indication of how ultra-nationalists allied to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have co-opted Zionism’s most venerable international organization.Till now, the JNF in Israel has been careful to veil its involvement in the settlements to avoid both alienating more liberal American Jews and endangering its overseas charitable status by openly flouting international law. Instead it has hidden its operations inside the West Bank behind a subsidiary called Himanuta. But that approach has changed since the JNF’s new chairman, Avraham Duvdevani, took office in October. He previously headed the World Zionist Organization, whose settlement division has been the main vehicle by which Israeli governments have laundered public money to expand the settlements, often in breach of Israel’s own laws. Read more: ‘Finished with the bluffing’: Jewish National Fund goes public with its aid to settlers – Mondoweiss
Palestinians build fence to prevent settlers’ attacks Taghreed Ali al Monitor 23/03/21 In the Old City of Hebron in the southern West Bank, Palestinians built an iron fence in a number of alleys and squares to protect themselves from the stones and trash constantly thrown by settlers in a bid to drive Palestinians to other Palestinian towns. . . Abd al-Hadi Hantash, member of the Land Defense Committee in the West Bank and a researcher in settlement affairs in Hebron, told Al-Monitor, “The repeated Israeli attacks on the residents of the Old City of Hebron have prompted some Palestinians to install iron nets inside their yards to protect themselves. Read more: Palestinians in Hebron’s Old City build fence to prevent settlers’ attacks - Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East (al-monitor.com)
UK school textbooks on Middle East conflict altered to favour Israel
Middle East Eye 01/04/2021
The international publisher Pearson has paused further distribution of two textbooks used by UK high schools after a group of academics said in a report that they distorted the historical record and failed to offer pupils a balanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The report found that alterations had been made to text, timelines, maps and photographs, as well as to sample student essays and questions. It concluded that "school children should not be supplied with propaganda under the guise of education" and called for their immediate withdrawal. Read more: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-school-textbooks-middle-east-conflict-altered-favour-israel-report
Approach new definition of anti-Semitism with caution
Nora Barrows-Friedman EI 29/03/2021
A new definition of anti-Semitism has been released, aiming to clarify and “improve” a widely discredited interpretation that has inhibited and threatened advocacy for Palestinian rights. But Palestinian and Jewish civil society groups are urging human rights campaigners to approach the declaration with caution.
Read more: Approach new definition of anti-Semitism with caution, Palestinians say | The Electronic Intifada
The ongoing Nakba in Jerusalem Tamara Nassar EI 28/03/2021
Settler organizations are threatening to forcibly evict 15 Palestinian families from their Jerusalem homes in the next few months. This amounts to 37 households and around 195 individuals, according to Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq.
The families reside in the Karm al-Jaouni area of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the Batan al-Hawa area of the Silwan neighborhood.
In November, Israeli courts ruled in favor of settler groups to evict the Palestinian families. The two groups are Nahalat Shimon International – a company registered in the United States, and Ateret Cohanim – a right-wing settlement organization.
Both organizations help implement the Israeli government’s colonization of Palestinian properties in Jerusalem. Read more: The ongoing Nakba in Jerusalem | The Electronic Intifada
Palestinian village becomes prison for residents Taghreed Ali al Monitor 7/4/21
“Since its occupation in 1967, the village has turned into a large prison isolated from Jerusalem and the cities of the West Bank and surrounded by the settlements of Ramot Alon, Mafi Sirte, Nitzfi Tafouh, Har Samuel and Atarot. Ever since, its residents started to migrate to neighboring areas. The number of people who migrated reached 35,000."
Kiswani noted, “The [Israeli] occupation controls the movement of residents entering and leaving the village through an Israeli checkpoint that is set up at the only entrance to the village, where residents are thoroughly inspected and their identity cards checked; the checkpoint gates close at 10 p.m.” . . .
“The Israeli restrictions are not limited to residents, as they also apply to commercial activity. Merchants are prevented from entering the village, and the [Israeli] occupation only allows in 40 gas cylinders per week for domestic use. There is only one health center in the village that is open until 2 p.m., so if a resident requires treatment in the evening hours, they must wait at the Israeli checkpoint to be given permission for treatment outside the village. Read more:
Palestinian village becomes prison for residents - Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East (al-monitor.com)
Israel throws dancer in prison Ciaran Tierney EI 9/04/2021
The arrest, in February, and continued detention without charge of acclaimed dance choreographer Ata Khattab underlines just how threatening Palestinian culture and identity is considered by Israel’s occupation forces. Dance communities and rights groups across the globe are now calling for the release of Ata, who has been detained in a notorious Israeli prison since a raid on his West Bank home in the middle of the night on 2 February.
Family members and neighbors were awakened by the sound of Israeli soldiers breaking into his family home in al-Bireh, near Ramallah, and calling out Ata’s name at 4 am. The arrest of Ata, artistic coordinator with the world-renowned El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, highlights how those who promote Palestinian culture are routinely targeted by the Israeli authorities, say family members and colleagues.
He’s the second generation of his family to be targeted in such a manner. His father, Muhammad Ata Khattab, was imprisoned when Ata was a child.
Two weeks ago, his family discovered that Ata had contracted Covid-19 after being held at the infamous Russian Compound detention center, despite having being kept in solitary confinement since the raid at his family home. . . Read more: Threatened by cultural defiance, Israel throws dancer in prison | The Electronic Intifada
ICC - UK encourages lawlessness and undermines international order
UK Palestinian Mission 14/04/2021
The announcement by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel that the UK opposes the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into war crimes by Israel is deeply regrettable. It marks a low point in UK-Palestine relations and undermines the UK’s credibility on the international stage.
The letter is a contradiction of international law. It is a contradiction of British policy. It subverts the rules-based global order. And it sets back efforts to secure a lasting and just peace in Palestine. It is clear that the UK now believes Israel is above the law. There is no other interpretation of a statement that gives carte blanche to Israel to continue its illegal settlement project in occupied territory, and signals to Israel that no matter its actions vis-à-vis the Palestinian people in occupied territory, it will not be held to account. Read more: UK Premier’s Position on ICC Probe in Palestine Encourages Lawlessness and Undermines International Order | Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom (palmissionuk.org)
Disrupted photo archive of Gaza al Monitor 17/04/2021
Alia Rady, the exhibition’s assistant curator, told Al-Monitor, “The Gaza Strip was not documented like other places in Palestine. Kegham was the first and only photographer in Gaza for a while, and his archive is, by far, the largest we have to date. I think this archive is [a] narration of a place that does not exist in the same way it did. It is a documentation of places and people that mostly do not exist anymore, and it is a visual to the stories we hear about the Gaza that we never saw."
She added, "Kegham’s archive encompassed all aspects of Gaza: studio headshots, daily life, road trips, beach trips, picnics, landscapes, political and military figures, refugee camps. Whatever happened in Gaza, Kegham captured it.”
Human Rights Watch – Israel guilty of apartheid Maureen Clare Murphy EI 27/04/21
The International Criminal Court should investigate Israeli officials “implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid or persecution,” Human Rights Watch says in a report released on Tuesday.
In its paradigm-shifting study, the New York-based group calls for an approach centered on human rights and accountability rather than the long moribund “peace process” that has been the prevailing framework for decades.
Human Rights Watch has now joined a growing consensus finding that “Jewish supremacy” – in the words of the human rights group B’Tselem – is Israel’s “single organizing principle.”Israel has “pursued an intent to maintain the domination of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians throughout the territory it controls,” Human Rights Watch concludes. In the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, “the intent has been coupled with systematic oppression of Palestinians and inhumane acts committed against them.”
The combination of these three elements “amount to the crime of apartheid,” the group adds.
Read more: HRW: Israel commits crimes of apartheid and persecution | The Electronic Intifada
Sparks from Jerusalem rain on Gaza's tinderbox Hana Salah Mondoweiss 29/04/2021
One day after Palestinian factions threatened to launch a new round of violence against Israel, 36 rockets and mortar shells were fired from the Gaza Strip at settlements in southern Israel April 24. On April 25, five more rockets were fired from Gaza toward southern Israel. Israel responded by striking a number of Hamas military positions inside the Gaza Strip.
The rocket attacks are widely seen as connected to the clashes in Jerusalem that erupted after police set up iron barricades near Bab al-Amoud (Damascus Gate) in the city.
The clashes that broke out in Jerusalem in mid-April between Palestinians and Israeli police and extremist right-wing Jewish groups have led to one of the most violent rounds of escalation between Gaza and Israel in months after cross-border attacks had subsided.
In an April 24 press release, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland said, “I am alarmed by the recent escalations in Jerusalem and around Gaza.” He called for ceasing the “provocative acts across Jerusalem” and urged an immediate cessation of “the indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israeli population centers.”
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/04/sparks-jerusalem-rain-gazas-tinderbox#ixzz6tk97G9qv
Hugh Humphries
Secretary
Scottish Friends of Palestine 0141 637 8046 info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org
