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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Briefing Paper
July 2021
Sheikh Jarrah eviction orders Rina Bassist al Monitor 7/05/2021
Tensions in East Jerusalem have increased over the past few weeks. At the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, clashes broke out near the Damascus Gate, outside the Old City. Palestinian residents clashed with police and with Jewish extreme-right activists. Now demonstrations in Jerusalem are taking place mostly in Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian residents of the neighborhood are pitted against Jewish settlers who claim ownership of some of the older buildings there.
The Sheikh Jarrah dispute has been going on for 15 years, but it was only in recent days that a Palestinian campaign over the fate of the neighborhood has been gaining momentum. At the core of the dispute are several land plots located near the ancient tomb of Simeon the Righteous. Jewish settlers claim the lands were purchased by Jewish Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities in the 19th century, then abandoned in 1948
Child killed with bullets in the back Tamara Nassar EI 6/05/2021
Israeli occupation forces shot and killed a Palestinian child on Wednesday.
Said Yousef Muhammad Odeh was from the village of Odala near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The 16-year-old is the second Palestinian child Israel has killed this year.
Odeh was walking towards the village’s entrance on Wednesday night when occupation forces stationed in an olive grove shot him, according to an investigation by Defense for Children International Palestine. Read more: Israeli forces kill child with bullets in the back | The Electronic Intifada
‘They ran barefoot in the streets’ Tareq Hajjaj Mondoweiss 17/05/21
At least 38,000 Palestinians have fled their homes and sought shelter in schools run by the United Nations as hundreds of houses were completely destroyed in airstrikes since last Monday, in the most serious escalation in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in the past seven years. Most were displaced beginning late last week when ceasefire negotiations failed, and Israeli forces carried on with an air campaign and Palestinians launching rockets into Israel.
In Shuja’iyya, a neighborhood of 100,000, Palestinians grabbed what they could and ran through the streets westward towards the coast early Friday evening, away from the border with Israel and the sounds of blasts from tanks. Read more: ‘They ran barefoot in the streets,’ Palestinians detail fleeing shelling and airstrikes – Mondoweiss
Shock and stress for Gaza’s children Hamza Abu Eltarabesh EI 20/05/2021
I kept looking toward my wife and our two children. Every minute we could hear at least three explosions nearby. Our house shook heavily. We felt like we could die at any moment.
We are now experiencing the fourth major Israeli attack on Gaza since December 2008. The explosions during this attack seem louder than during the previous three.
I am sure that our entire neighborhood is in shock. Israel is using very powerful weapons, many of them made in the US. They are likely to include the GBU-31 and GBU-39 bombs. Read more: Shock and stress for Gaza's children | The Electronic Intifada
Israeli radio incites killing, expulsion of citizens Asa Winstanley EI 20/05/21
An organized pogrom took place tonight against Arabs in Bat Yam,” one Israeli commenter wrote. In Lydd a few days earlier, Palestinian citizen Moussa Hassouna was shot dead by suspected Jewish Israeli residents. Mobs of Jewish Israelis have been organizing in WhatsApp and Telegram groups in recent days. One wrote they were “dying to kill Arabs.”
Armed Jewish extremists from Israeli settlements in the West Bank have also been taking part. “We are no longer Jews today,” one user wrote in a Telegram group. “Today we are Nazis. ”One of the WhatsApp groups includes the phrase “F****g the Arabs” in its title
Read more: Israeli radio incites killing, expulsion of Palestinian citizens | The Electronic Intifada
Entire families targeted in Gaza James North Mondoweiss 21/05/2021
. . . Parents and children, babies, grandparents, siblings and nephews and nieces died together when Israel bombed their homes which collapsed over them. Insofar as is known, no advance warning was given so they could evacuate the targeted houses . . . . . . once the “importance” of a Hamas member is considered high and its residence is defined as a legitimate target for bombing — the “allowable” collateral damage, in other words the number of uninvolved people killed, including women and children — is very broad. Read more: Israel’s air strikes targeted entire families in Gaza — but U.S. media won’t pursue the story – Mondoweiss
Why can’t Britain’s journalists call Israel an apartheid state? David Cronin EI 27/05/21 Expressing solidarity with an oppressed people is not complicated. The only really important rule is that you should listen to them. During its attack on Gaza earlier this month, Israel bombed a tower where staff from Al Jazeera and the Associated Press were based.
After that act of state terrorism, an appeal was made to media workers around the world.
Journalists were urged to name “Israel’s regime as apartheid” in their reporting and to refuse press trips financed by Israel and its lobbying network.
The appeal was issued by the BDS National Committee – which coordinates the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel – and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate. Last week, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) for Britain and Ireland held its annual conference. Shamefully, the conference rejected the Palestinian call.
Jim Boumelha, a leading NUJ figure, opposed a request from five branches of the union – four Irish and one Scottish – to amend a motion he had drafted. The proposed amendment included the Palestinian demands. I contacted Boumelha asking why he would not accept the amendment. Boumelha replied by insulting his NUJ colleagues who had put forward the amendment as “pseudo-revolutionaries.” Read on: Why can't Britain's journalists call Israel an apartheid state? | The Electronic Intifada
UN to probe Israeli repression against Palestinians as a whole Maureen Clare Murphy EI 28/05/21
On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution establishing a permanent commission of inquiry into Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights in all the territory under its control.
The resolution was adopted during a special session of the human rights body held in response to escalated Israeli repression and rights abuses throughout historic Palestine.
The 24-9 vote with 14 abstentions came on the heels of 11 days of intensive Israeli bombing in Gaza that resulted in the deaths of more than 240 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians.
The commission of inquiry established Thursday is the highest level of examination that may be approved by the UN’s top human rights body. Read more: UN to probe Israeli repression against Palestinians as a whole | The Electronic Intifada
Friends lost and children orphaned Hamza Abu Eltarabesh EI 03/06/2021
. . . Taher was the only survivor of the three people inside that house. His father, Abdel Raheem and mother, Halima, were both killed. Nine relatives who would normally have been there were spared, having spent the evening at a brother’s house. In one of the nearby houses, the entire al-Tanani family was murdered. Four kids, a pregnant mother, and a father were all killed under the rubble.
It’s not clear why the Israelis targeted the bloc. Some say one of the houses there belonged to a leader in the resistance. But that house stood empty. Did the Israeli military really destroy the entire bloc because of one empty house?
It took two days before Taher opened his eyes. I saw him a day before writing this. He told me that his parents had rushed to his side when the strikes started, that he had seen them take their last breaths. He is not the person I knew. When I saw him he was withdrawn and pale. His thoughts are far away from himself. Before the Israeli assault, he was due to be married. Now, he told me, in the three hours we talked, he wants nothing: no family, no wedding, nothing. Read more: Friends lost and children orphaned | The Electronic Intifada
Tech giants help Israel muzzle Palestinians Jonathan Cook EI 05/06/2021
Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sought to shut down all use of the popular video-sharing app TikTok in Israel last month.
The attempt to censor TikTok, details of which emerged last weekend, is one of a number of reported attempts by Israel to control social media content during last month’s military assault on the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu tried to impose the blackout as Israel faced an international social media outcry over its 11-day attack on Gaza, which killed more than 250 Palestinians, and the violent repression by Israeli police of Palestinian protests in occupied East Jerusalem and inside Israel. Government law officers are understood to have resisted the move.
Benny Gantz, the defense minister, also lobbied senior officials at Facebook and TikTok to crack down on posts critical of Israel, labelling them incitement and support for terror. The tech giants responded by agreeing to act “quickly and effectively,” according to a statement from Gantz’s office. Read more: Tech giants help Israel muzzle Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
Israel arrests Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd hours after brutally detaining Palestinian journalist from Sheikh Jarrah Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 06/06/2021 “Israel fights my daughter because she is telling the story of Sheikh Jarrah,” Nabil El-Kurd, Muna and Mohammed’s father, told journalists and supporters outside the police station.
“She is not behaving violently towards anyone. The only purpose here is to silence her and silence the voices of protest in the neighborhood. This is the time for everyone to stand up for this struggle,” he said.
The arrest of Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd caused an uproar on social media in Palestine and across the world, as people called on Israel to release the siblings, and condemned what was largely seen as an attempt by Israeli authorities to silence the siblings over their activism. Read more: Israel arrests Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd hours after brutally detaining Palestinian journalist from Sheikh Jarrah – Mondoweiss
Silwan - settlers wage another battle to takeover Palestinian homes
Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 09/06/2021
In short, a right wing settler organization by the name of Ateret Cohanim has been seeking to forcibly evict some 100 families from Batn al-Hawa under the pretext that the land was previously owned by Jews more than 100 years ago.
Through a series of legal mechanisms sanctioned by the Israeli courts, Ateret Cohanim has been filing eviction orders against the families in Batn al-Hawa since 2002, with the goal of putting Jewish settlers in their place.
And while Israeli law allows for property to be transferred to Jews who claim previous ownership from before the establishment of of Israel, that same right is denied to Palestinians who were dispossessed from their homes during the Nakba in 1948. Read more: In Jerusalem’s Silwan, Israeli settlers wage another battle to takeover Palestinian homes – Mondoweiss
Israel bombed Gaza’s economy Electronic Intifada 09/06/2021
“This is destruction,” Muhammad Abu Halima, the director of a factory in Gaza, told The Electronic Intifada. “They destroyed our economy, our families, they’ve ruined the workers, the accountants, the companies, the employees. What did they get out of it?”
Israel bombed factories, commercial buildings, stores, farms, restaurants and businesses. More than 500 enterprises were destroyed or damaged, including 50 factories.
Israel bombed the Gaza Industrial Estate, a major economic center southeast of Gaza City founded in 1996 with support from the US government, the European Union and the World Bank. Read more: Video: How Israel bombed Gaza's economy | The Electronic Intifada
A trip to Hebron Benjamin Moser Mondoweiss 10/06/2021
To anyone who says the situation in Palestine is complex just tell them to spend an afternoon in Hebron . . . When you get to Hebron, you disembark in a plaza in front of an ugly building named for an Australian Chabadnik called—you can’t make it up—“Diamond Joe” Gutnick. It looks a bit like a roadside attraction you would find at a gas station in rural Brazil, selling tacky souvenirs and offering buffet lunches to passing truckers. It features listening posts and radio masts shaped like palm trees. Read more: A trip to Hebron – Mondoweiss
Al-Wihda street massacre Tamara Nassar EI 12/06/2021
This is Part I of a three-part series that documents the names, faces and stories of some of the victims of Israel's May 2021 attack on Gaza. Read: Al-Wihda street massacre | The Electronic Intifada
Families obliterated, lives destroyed Tamara Nassar EI 12/06/2021
This is Part II of a three-part series that documents the names, faces and stories of some of the victims of Israel's May 2021 attack on Gaza. Read: Families obliterated, lives destroyed | The Electronic Intifada
Gaza father tried to console his children, then Israel killed him Tamara Nassar EI 12/06/2021
This is Part III of a three-part series that documents the names, faces and stories of some of the victims of Israel's May 2021 attack on Gaza. Read: Gaza father tried to console his children, then Israel killed him | The Electronic Intifada
Israel uses indefinite detention against its Palestinian citizens Yoav Haifawi 13/06/2021 One of the most extreme measures of military oppression is administrative detention. Under Israel’s “emergency laws” — and mind you the “emergency” in Israel has lasted for the last 73 years since its establishment — the military authorities can order the detention of any person without indictment for up to six months, renewable for an unlimited number of times. Administration detention is commonly used against Palestinians in the territory Israel has occupied since 1967, but there is also a long history of it being used on Palestinian citizens of Israel as well. These types of laws were used to crush the “al-Ard” movement – the first Palestinian political movement that tried to organize in “48 Palestine” in the fifties and sixties. Read more: Israel renews the use of indefinite detention against Palestinian citizens – Mondoweiss
A placeholder government going nowhere Omar Karmi EI 14/06/2021
Israel’s new coalition has brought about the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s long tenure, who after 12 long years is finally a former prime minister. And it has been particularly amusing to see Netanyahu go full Donald Trump.
Allegations of election fraud caused by a conspiracy of left-wing terror supporters, dog whistles to his base and a final, angry, paranoid farewell speech linking the Jewish holocaust with US policy on Iran. It’s all there.
That, however, is the only positive thing about a new coalition that initially will be led by Naftali Bennett, a man who brags about “killing Arabs,” wants to annex large swathes of the West Bank and supports neither sovereignty for Palestinians nor equal rights.
“I strongly oppose the giving of even one inch of land to the Arabs,” Bennett said in 2020. Read more: A placeholder government going nowhere | The Electronic Intifada
Israeli mob chants for genocide in Jerusalem Tamara Nassar EI 16/06/21
Thousands of Israeli Jewish nationalists marched through Jerusalem chanting racist and genocidal slogans against Palestinians on Tuesday. This was part of an annual “March of the Flags” by far-right Israeli Jews to celebrate Israel’s occupation and colonization of East Jerusalem. Like in previous years, the mob waving Israeli flags spewed racist and genocidal slogans against Palestinians and denigrated the Prophet Muhammad.
The march was originally planned for 10 May, Israel’s so-called Jerusalem Day, but was canceled due to the strength of protests by Palestinians which forced Israel into a humiliating retreat. Rescheduled for Tuesday, it was kept to a highly restricted route.
While the fanatical mob danced and chanted at Jerusalem’s iconic Damascus Gate, the route approved by police did not allow them to enter the narrow alleys of the Old City’s Muslim Quarter as they have in previous years. Read more: Israeli mob chants for genocide in Jerusalem | The Electronic Intifada
Palestinians return 1 million Pfizer doses to Israel Mondoweiss 18/06/2021
Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila said this afternoon shortly after the first shipment of 100,000 doses was transferred into the West Bank, “the specialized teams at the ministry of health found that the vaccines we received today from the Israeli side did not meet the specifications of the deal, so the government decided to return them.”
. . . . While Palestinians have long called for Israel to step in and provide vaccine cover, something that has happened in the past, the deal was not a straightforward act of charity. In exchange for transferring the doses, Israel would receive a replacement allocation from Pfizer, matching the amount it releases to the Palestinians. Those new vaccines, with a later expiration date, are due to arrive in September and October 2021. Read more: ‘We returned them’ — Palestinians axe 1 million Pfizer dose deal with Israel – Mondoweiss
Trapped in Gaza Hana Salah al Monitor 18/06/2021
Since the first day of the war on Gaza on May 10, Israel has prevented paper mail from leaving the West Bank or entering Gaza. Passport transactions in Gaza are approved and issued by the Palestinian government in the West Bank.
Mahmoud Faraj, director of the Marrakech Express freight and cargo company in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, “Since May 11, thousands of passport and visa transactions have been piling up at our company due to the closure of the Erez crossing, and many people are prevented from traveling, be it through Egypt or Israel.” . . . Faraj called for urgent intervention so that Israel will open the crossing and allow mail to enter the besieged enclave in order to tend to many humanitarian cases, whether for medical treatment or financial and social transactions that are waiting for paperwork to arrive from the West Bank. Read more: Palestinians trapped in Gaza as Israel suspends postal services - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Expanding settlements threaten homes in Hebron Aziza Nofal al Monitor 16/06/2021 . . . Hantash said Khirbet al-Aida is inhabited by 30 Palestinian families, with a total of roughly 300 people. They previously depended on agriculture before turning to work in construction and other sectors due to Israeli restrictions. He added, “The expansion toward the area's lands began 12 years ago, through plans to link the settlement of Kharsina and Kiryat Arba, and it recently increased, as part of the annexation operations in the West Bank.”
Palestinians who try to expand construction in the area are pursued by the Israeli forces with demolition notices, under the pretext that they are lands owned by the state of Israel, although all of them are registered in the names of their owners in the Ottoman title deeds. Read more Expanding settlements threaten Palestinian homes in Hebron - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Gaza antiquities suffer again Hadeel Al Gherbawi al Monitor 20/06/2021
“Everyone was targeted in Gaza during the aggression. Israel does not differentiate between Muslims or Christians. We were all at risk. The aggression did not spare places of worship. Although deemed part of Gaza's historical heritage and of cultural value, these premises were targeted or damaged due to the bombing of surrounding areas. Prayers and rituals were interrupted by the intensity of the strikes. Worshipers were afraid to reach the church. We moved to other facilities affiliated with the church, such as the Rosary Sisters School or even to the homes of our parishioners to hold prayers,” Asaad continued.
. . . . In bombing the Gaza Strip, Israel has once again completely disregarded the international agreements and conventions that protect Palestinian antiquities and heritage sites. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/06/gaza-antiquities-among-casualties-israel-hamas-war#ixzz6ynDjYoTY
“I thought I was going to die” Kelly Kunzl Mondoweiss 01/07/ 2021
. . . The beatings began in the evening and lasted through the night. Detainees were made to remain kneeling, hunched forward, hands restrained, head down, even a deep breath or cough commanded a punch from an Israeli officer. . . Arrests were mainly carried out indiscriminately by Israeli border police and undercover Mista’arvim (a counter-terrorism unit of the Israeli Border Police and the Israeli Defense forces) officers posing as Palestinians. Read more: ‘I thought I was going to die’: Palestinians recount night of torture in Israeli police custody – Mondoweiss
Israel expels 11 Palestinian families Mai Abu Hasaneen al Monitor 14/07/2021
Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa is one of 38 Bedouin communities located partially or completely on land designated by the Israeli military as a military training zone. . . These communities are the most vulnerable in the West Bank. They have limited access to education, health services and the necessary infrastructure for water, sanitation and electricity. . . Harbi Abu Kabash, a resident of Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa who was recently displaced, and a father of five boys and one girl, told Al-Monitor the Israeli forces forcibly expelled them from their home at eight in the morning, without warning, and without taking into account the presence of children, women and elders. “We are now in the open, without shelter, in an area 700 meters [0.4 miles] from Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa. We are trying to provide food, drink and bedding for our children at our own expense. No one is helping us,” he said. Read more:
Israeli company's malware used to hack dissidents, activists al Monitor 16/7/21
Microsoft and Citizen Lab say the malware was used in “precision attacks” targeting more than 100 people worldwide, including politicians, human rights activists, journalists, academics, embassy workers and political dissidents. Roughly half of the victims identified were located in the Palestinian territories, with the remaining targets in Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Spain’s Catalonia region, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Armenia and Singapore. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/microsoft-says-israeli-companys-malware-used-hack-dissidents-activists#ixzz70oeQ4btj
UK cracks down on BDS Robert Cohen Mondoweiss 19 /05/2021
At the very moment that the UK government has announced plans to ban boycotts, divestment and sanctions by public funded bodies, the very reasons for supporting non-violent strategies to achieve equality for the Palestinian people look more urgent and compelling than ever. BDS is about fairness, equality and justice, ideas that have been at the heart of Jewish ethics for thousands of years
. . . only support for Palestinians is “divisive”, while working towards trade and cultural links with Israel is to be encouraged and could not possibly cause any conflict, division or ethical dilemma. This despite the 200 pages of evidence from Human Rights Watch (HRW) that Israel is practicing Apartheid. The HRW report concludes by saying:
“Israeli authorities have deprived millions of people of their basic rights by virtue of their identity as Palestinians. These longstanding policies and systematic practices box in, dispossess, forcibly separate, marginalize, and otherwise inflict suffering on Palestinians.” Read more: Just when we need it most, UK cracks down on BDS – Mondoweiss
Labour’s Lisa Nandy is an enemy of Palestinian rights Asa Winstanley EI 16/05/2021 Britain’s Labour Party was condemned for its hypocrisy on Israel’s violent onslaught against Palestinians this week. As of Sunday morning, more than 170 Palestinians had been killed since Israel started bombing Gaza last Monday, including nearly 50 children.
The massive escalation in violence began with Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and its raids on the al-Aqsa mosque. But Labour’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Lisa Nandy is condemning “both sides.” She said she was “gravely concerned” by “violent scenes in Jerusalem.”
Nandy has stated that she is a Zionist – a supporter of Israel’s racist official ideology.
Read more: Labour's Lisa Nandy is an enemy of Palestinian rights | The Electronic Intifada
After the slaughter Raab tells Netanyahu: “You can always count on us” Stuart Littlewood Redress Information & Analysis 03/06/2021
When UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab visited Israel immediately after the 11-day onslaught against Gaza which killed some 250 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told him: “Thank you and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for the staunch, unwavering support of our right to self-defence during the recent operation. It’s much appreciated.”
Raab responded: “You can always count on us.”
Raab then met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and tweeted: “I reiterated UK support for the Palestinian people and expressed condolences for civilians killed in recent hostilities.” Read on: After the slaughter Raab tells Netanyahu: “You can always count on us” – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com)
Labour bans Israel sanctions debate Asa Winstanley EI 25/06/2021UK Labour officials have prevented a party debate on sanctions against Israel, which had been planned for Thursday night. The officials claimed that the discussion could lead to “anti-Semitic behavior.”
A motion, passed by a local Labour branch, calls for Israel to “end its violation of the human rights of Palestinians” and for the UK government to “impose legal sanctions on Israel,” specifically an end to arms sales and “trade with illegal settlements.”The motion also called for “an end to the illegal occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
. . . The discussion “would undermine the party’s ability to provide a safe and welcoming space for all members, in particular Jewish members,” a regional party officer had advised her, Bolton stated. Read more: Labour bans Israel sanctions debate | The Electronic Intifada
Attempt to intimidate The Electronic Intifada Ali Abunimah EI 02/07/21
Britain’s Labour Party tried to pressure The Electronic Intifada to alter an article we published last week with an apparent legal threat . . . I also explained to Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit that The Electronic Intifada is published in the United States, where our right to free speech and to conduct our work as journalists is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The Labour Party has no basis to “require” The Electronic Intifada to edit our articles to its liking, especially not for accurate reportage on the acts and decisions of party agents relating to matters of clear public interest. It cannot be the case that Labour Party officers can misuse their power to silence members concerned about Palestinian human rights and then hide behind a shield of anonymity.
Democracy requires transparency and accountability. Read more: Labour Party tries to intimidate The Electronic Intifada | The Electronic Intifada
Valuable Graphics
In the following series of graphics Al Jazeera describes why Israel’s military occupation of Palestine remains at the core of this decades-long conflict and how Israeli colonialism shapes every part of Palestinians’ lives. A second series of graphics summarises Israel’s military.
CLICK HERE
and
CLICK HERE
[Source: Bristol & West Palestine Bulletin]
Israeli demolitions in Silwan Mai Abu Hasaneen al Monitor 5/07/2021An Israeli military force consisting of 40 police vehicles reinforced with special units raided al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, early in the morning of June 29. An Israeli bulldozer flattened the butcher shop of Jerusalemite Nidal al-Rajabi. Rajabi had refused an order to demolish his shop within 21 days on the grounds that it was allegedly built without a license.
Residents of al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan are afraid more properties will be leveled by Israel. Eviction and demolition threaten 97 homes. According to Israeli plans, tourist parks, themed around biblical stories and figures are to be constructed over these properties. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/israel-demolishes-facilities-silwan-jerusalem#ixzz70Fc3wxcq
Investors dump Israeli settlement profiteers Adri Nieuwhof EI 08/07/2021
Norway’s largest pension fund KLP excluded 16 companies from its holdings over their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The pension fund dumped the settlement profiteers because there is “an unacceptable risk” that they will contribute to human rights violations.
The divestment is particularly significant not just because of its scale but also because KLP drew on the UN’s database of companies involved with Israel’s settlements.
KLP said it sold assets worth more than $31 million in the excluded companies. The firms include Israel’s biggest banks, telecoms companies Bezeq, Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications and several construction firms. Read more: More big investors dump Israeli settlement profiteers | The Electronic Intifada
Jenin’s refugee children’s centre raided Tony Greenstein Mondoweiss 5/7/21
“Last night they raided the centre. First, they started to shoot from outside the centre. Then they blew up the front door and entered the centre. They threw everything around. Damaging everything of value.”
Apart from damaging furniture and equipment, the soldiers deliberately destroyed the centre’s infrastructure, making the building unsafe and unusable. They destroyed the water pipes and taps, cutting off its water supply, wrecked the electricity safety box, cutting off electricity, damaged the stairs and the doors, forcing off the handles. In all, the damage amounts to thousands of dollars. Read more: Israeli soldiers raid children’s center in Jenin refugee camp and destroy books, toys, plumbing – Mondoweiss
Israel’s Citizenship Law punishes Palestinian citizens Naim Mousa 15/07/21
The failure to renew the law provides a much-needed sense of relief for Taiseer, Lana, and their children. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt. There is no guarantee preventing the Israeli Knesset from simply passing a similar law in the near future that will reimpose the same restrictions on the Khatib family. Read more: How Israel’s Citizenship Law collectively punishes its Palestinian citizens – Mondoweiss
Made in Israel – Pegasus spyware Ali Abunimah EI 19/07/2021
Spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group has been used far more extensively than previously known to target journalists and human rights defenders around the world.
This raises the question of why Israel, the state actor without which NSO Group would not exist and could not operate, is not being held accountable.
The extent of the spying has come to light thanks to a major investigation spearheaded by the global reporting consortium Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International. Read more: Why isn't Israel held accountable for spying on journalists? | The Electronic Intifada
Israel melts down over Ben & Jerry’s Ali Abunimah EI 21/07/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, the multinational that owns Ben & Jerry’s, warning him of “severe consequences.”
“There are many ice cream brands, but only one Jewish state,” Bennett added.
“Ben & Jerry’s has decided to brand itself as the anti-Israel ice cream.” Read more: Israel melts down over Ben & Jerry's | The Electronic Intifada
Israeli gunfire takes lives of two more teens Tamara Nassar 26/07/21
Israeli forces killed 17-year-old Mohammad Munir Mohammad Tamimi yesterday around 5:30 pm in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. He sustained gunshot wounds to the back and exit wounds to his abdomen. He was pronounced dead around midnight in hospital. Read more: Israeli gunfire takes lives of two more Palestinian teens | The Electronic Intifada
11-year-old boy killed + more deaths at funeral Yumna Patel 29/07/2021
On Wednesday afternoon, Israeli forces shot and killed 11-year-old Mohammed al-Alami in his father's car, as the family were on their way home from grocery shopping. The next day at Mohammed's funeral, Israeli soldiers attacked the procession, killing 20-year-old Shawkat Awad. Read more: Israeli soldiers killed an 11-year-old Palestinian boy. Then, during his funeral, they killed someone else. – Mondoweiss
Hugh Humphries
Secretary
Scottish Friends of Palestine 0141 637 8046
info@scottish-friends-of-palestine.org
