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Scottish Friends of Palestine
Test Briefing Paper January 2026
Israel demolishes Muslim cemetery Ahmad Melhem al monitor 02/11/2021
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Hussein, told Al-Monitor, “The cemeteries are part of the identity of the holy city and its narrative, and evidence of the Arab and Islamic presence in the city for thousands of years. Obliterating the city’s landmarks is in the interest of the Jewish settlement project and the Israeli narrative, which is embodied by changing the names of Arab cities, neighborhoods, and streets, and the Judaization of public places and landmarks.”
Ahmed Dajani, a member of the Committee for the Care of Islamic Cemeteries in Jerusalem, told Al-Monitor that the area in the Yusufiya cemetery that Israel is bulldozing includes the remains of dozens of Jordanian soldiers who died the 1967 war. Jerusalemites had to bury them there in light of the curfew imposed on the city at that time. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/11/israel-demolishes-muslim-cemetery-near-al-aqsa-mosque-build-park#ixzz7ChQwKmpc
Ireland and EU split over Israel's "terrorist" label for rights groups
Ali Abunimah EI 03/11/2021
Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney is publicly criticizing Israel for failing to provide evidence that six well-known Palestinian rights groups are fronts for “terrorism.”
Meanwhile, the European Union continues to cover for its friends in Tel Aviv. This indicates a split between Dublin and Brussels over how to handle the matter.
“We have asked for, as has the EU, the evidence basis for designating those” nongovernmental organizations, Coveney told The Jerusalem Post during a visit to the apartheid state on Tuesday.
But “we have not gotten any credible evidence to link the NGOs to terrorism, certainly not that I have seen,” Dublin’s top diplomat added.
The staunchly pro-Israel Coveney is no friend of Palestinian rights.
Also https://theintercept.com/2021/11/04/secret-israel-dossier-palestinian-rights-terrorist/
And https://www.972mag.com/shin-bet-dossier-palestinian-ngos/
Sheikh Jarrah reject deal with settlement organization Daoud Kuttab al monitor 08/11/2021
The struggle of Palestinian families in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to not legitimize a settler organization in their midst was emboldened on Nov. 2 when they rejected an Israeli court compromise deal.
The deal suggested by Israel's highest court would allow the four families in the neighborhood to stay in their homes for 15 years and pay a token rent under the guise of protected tenants. For the tenants, of course, the problem is that they will be paying a settler organization that has assumed without proof that they are the owners of the homes built in 1952 by the government of Jordan in agreement with a UN agency.
The long-running case has been a regular source of tension across the occupied territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Protests earlier this year over the case helped trigger an 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza last May. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/11/palestinians-sheikh-jarrah-reject-deal-settlement-organization
Palestinian human rights activists target of Israeli spyware hack Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 08/11/2021
In a report from Frontline Defenders (FLD), the group revealed that six activists, who are members of the six civil society organizations recently branded “terrorist organizations” by Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz, were targeted by the military grade Pegasus spyware.
According to FLD, 75 iPhones were investigated after the group was approached by Al-Haq, a Ramallah-based human rights organization and one of the six targeted NGOs, over concerns that one of their staff member’s phones was infected with spyware.
FLD’s findings, which were confirmed by Citizen Lab and Amnesty International’s Security Lab, found that six devices were hacked with spyware.
They are the criminals, we believe in justice Adri Nieuwhof EI 16/11/2021
Some members of the European Union treat Israel like a “spoiled baby,” Shawan Jabarin, the director of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, told The Electronic Intifada during a visit to The Hague last week. Jabarin is touring European capitals to meet with officials, lawmakers and activists, following Israel’s decision last month to declare Al-Haq and five other esteemed Palestinian rights groups “terrorist organizations.” The main message he is bringing to Europe is that words are not enough: Tel Aviv must be held accountable.
“Israel can live with condemnations forever,” according to Jabarin. “But they can’t live with actions even for days or weeks.”
Three of the groups Israel banned, including Al-Haq, have been working closely with the International Criminal Court to gather evidence for its investigation of war crimes in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel has claimed – without showing any credible evidence – that the six organizations are channeling funds to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which like virtually all Palestinian political parties, Israel considers to be a “terrorist” group.
‘Say cheese!’ Israeli soldiers force a dozen Palestinian children into nighttime photo lineup Philip Weiss Mondoweiss 17/11/2021
B’Tselem says that the photograph is likely about the new facial recognition software; and that all Palestinians have their rights violated on little pretext.
This footage illustrates how the routine of Palestinian subjects living under the occupation is disturbed arbitrarily and how easily soldiers violate their rights. It seems that for the military, all Palestinians, including school-age children, are potential offenders. At any time, it is permissible to wake them up at night, enter their homes and subject them to a lineup. Given this background, one should read the latest publications on the database set up by the military exclusively in the West Bank through facial recognition technology. Read more: ‘Say cheese!’ Israeli soldiers force a dozen Palestinian children into nighttime photo lineup – Mondoweiss
Bennett blesses street executions of Palestinians Maureen Clare Murphy EI 05/12/21 Naftali Bennett praised the execution of a Palestinian who was lying on the ground by paramilitary police near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Saturday.
The Israeli prime minister gave the officers his “full backing.”. . . After a streak of street executions of suspected Palestinian attackers in late 2015, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem blamed Netanyahu for “the transformation of police officers, and even of armed civilians, into judges and executioners.”
The shooting death of Muhammad Salima, 25, as he lay on the ground and posed no immediate danger generated unusual controversy over the execution of a Palestinian after eyewitness video circulated online on Saturday. That 23-second video, recorded from a bystander’s vehicle, shows two Israeli Border Police officers firing at Salima from a distance as he lay on the ground and posed no threat to anyone’s life. Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/bennett-blesses-street-executions
War crimes immunity for Israel’s Benny Gantz Adri Nieuwhof EI 07/12/21
Dutch judges ruled on Tuesday that two top Israeli military commanders cannot be sued for killing a Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip.The appeals court in The Hague decided that the commanders enjoy “functional immunity” because they were acting on behalf of the Israeli state.The decision is a slap in the face for Ismail Ziada and all Palestinians who once again find their path to justice obstructed.
Speaking to supporters outside the courthouse, Ziada called the decision “shameful” and “cowardly.” Today is not easy for me because in Gaza we are subjected to military slaughter and in The Hague we are subjected to a legal slaughter,” Ziada added.
“It is just because of Israel. Nothing else. It is not about justice,” Ziada said of the ruling.
Read more: Dutch court upholds war crimes immunity for Israel's Benny Gantz | The Electronic Intifada
Israel kills people with disabilities Maureen Clare Murphy EI 03/12/2021
To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Israeli military tweeted a photo of its communications tower in Tel Aviv lit in purple on Friday. The military claimed that the gesture was “in honor of people with disabilities in Israel and around the world.” Twitter users quickly seized on the irony and hypocrisy by highlighting Israel’s myriad crimes against Palestinians with disabilities. Read more: Israel kills and "honors" people with disabilities | The Electronic Intifada
Monastery restored by unemployed young Palestinians Mervat Ouf al Monitor 08/12/21 “I am a Bedouin girl, and my society believes it is unacceptable to work in a mixed place and handling hammers and stones is just for men,” she said.
After she graduated from university, Sawarka landed a job as a tourist guide at St. Hilarion Monastery, also known as Tell Umm al-Amr. She also worked in restoration and helped restore the monastery’s mosaic floors and reinforce its walls, as part of a project run by Premiere Urgence Internationale, a French nonprofit organization overseeing the restoration of the site with the support of the British Council. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/ancient-gaza-monastery-restored-unemployed-young-palestinians#ixzz7FinP95Gl
Israel & the EU science funding program Danny Zaken al Monitor 08/12/21
Joining the European program is also important diplomatically. It will rehabilitate and deepen Israel’s relations with the EU, a priority set by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid when he took office. While the program will not provide grants to Israeli groups in West Bank settlements, politicians on the right including former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are enthusiastic supporters of Israel joining Horizon Europe Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/israel-maintains-eligibility-major-eu-science-funding-program#ixzz7Fiq5Owop
Israeli security guard kills Palestinian teen Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 07/12/21
“Israeli forces routinely unlawfully kill Palestinian children with impunity, using excessive force and unjustified intentional lethal force,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP said in a statement. “If a child is suspected of committing a criminal act, they should be apprehended in accordance with international standards and afforded due process of law.”
According to DCIP, Mousa is the 17th Palestinian minor to be killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year. In Mousa’s case, however, the teen was killed by a private security guard, not an Israeli soldier or police officer. According to the Israeli research center Who Profits, at least 14 checkpoints in the West Bank, dozens of checkpoints in occupied East Jerusalem, and countless more settlement security posts are manned by private security firms.
High civilian cost of Israel's bombing Yumna Patel Mondoweiss 16/12/21
Airwars, a UK-based nonprofit that tracks and documents civilian harm in conflict zones, released a new report and interactive map documenting the effects that Israel’s offensive had on civilian life in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth.
The 11-day offensive on Gaza claimed 259 Palestinian lives, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Of those casualties, Airwars estimated that between 151 and 192 were “non-combatant” civilians. Read more: UK report documents high civilian cost of Israel’s bombing of densely populated Gaza – Mondoweiss
Fake cheer at Christmas Fedaa al- Qedra EI 17/12/2021
The Israeli announcement – similar to ones made in previous years – is far from altruistic.
Because a limit is placed on the number of people who may travel to Bethlehem, such announcements have the effect that family members either spend Christmas apart from each other or that trips to Bethlehem do not go ahead.
“It is unusual for a whole family to get approval [for traveling to Bethlehem],” said Kamel Ayyad, a spokesperson for the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza. “Sometimes, the Israeli authorities will only grant approval to one or two members of a family. That means the family is forced to cancel their travel plans.”
Read more: Israel's war criminals spread fake cheer at Christmas | The Electronic Intifada
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High tech wall imprisons Gazans Mai Abu Hasaneen al Monitor 20/12/21
Some 2.11 million people living in Gaza are feeling more and more trapped with Israel’s inauguration on Dec. 6 of the upgraded security wall on the Gaza border after three and a half years of work. . . . .The galvanized steel wall weighs about 20,000 tons and has a height of about 6 meters. It stretches both above and under the ground over 65 kilometers along the border from the new sea barrier near Zikim beach in the north to Kerem Shalom crossing in the south. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/israels-security-wall-makes-gazans-feel-imprisoned#ixzz7FirajwHs
$5 million offer by settlers for Sheikh Jarrah home Amany Mahmoud alMonitor 21/12/2021 Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/palestinian-family-refuses-5-million-offer-settlers-sheikh-jarrah-home#ixzz7H2CKKvuR
Skafi told Al-Monitor that a group of settlers offered him $5 million to buy the house, but he turned down this offer, because his family, like the other families in the neighborhood, are fighting a battle of steadfastness and a challenge in the face of Israel's plans.
He noted that the settlers attack the family’s children and women daily, on the way out of the house and to school, by pepper-spraying them, verbally abusing them, throwing stones at the house and making annoying noises at night. Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/palestinian-family-refuses-5-million-offer-settlers-sheikh-jarrah-home#ixzz7H2BxOlgL
Arab Knesset member says Israel 'born Jewish' Afif Abu Much al Monitor 22/12/21 “Israel was born as a Jewish state. And that was the decision of the Jewish people, to establish a Jewish state,” said Knesset member Mansour Abbas, head of the Israeli Islamist party Ra’am, in a statement that stunned listeners at a Dec. 21 conference hosted by the financial newspaper Globes. “That’s how the state was born, and so it will remain. The question is not about the state’s identity, but about the status of its Arab citizens.” Asked whether he was aware of the significance of his comments, Abbas responded, “We should be waging a struggle for the status of Arab society as a collective inside the State of Israel as it was born.” Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/arab-knesset-member-shocks-crowd-says-israel-born-jewish#ixzz7Fs58Lu4P
Israel codifies shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinians Maureen Clare Murphy EI 22/12/21 An increase of field executions of Palestinians is all but guaranteed after Israel recently revised its open-fire policies. Troops in the West Bank are now permitted to shoot at Palestinians who throw rocks or Molotov cocktails at civilian cars, even when they don’t pose an immediate threat, media reported this week. A military spokesperson said that the new policy, the text of which remains classified, had been in effect for around the past month.
The new open-fire policy blatantly violates international law, as does Israel’s routine practice of using lethal force against Palestinians who do not pose an immediate threat.
“Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present,” as Defense for Children International-Palestine states. The revised open-fire policy seems to be a codification of longstanding Israeli practice. Read more: Israel codifies shoot-to-kill policy against Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
Gaza - Medical care denied Ahmed al-Sammak EI 23/12/21
Fahid Afana spent months waiting for a message on his mobile phone.
The message he wanted was a simple one: that he would be allowed to leave Gaza to receive treatment for lymphoma in Israel. Afana, 31, had an appointment with Rambam hospital in Haifa scheduled for 23 August this year. Yet it was not until December that he was permitted to leave Gaza for Haifa – a city in Israel – over a three-day period.
Patients often have to overcome major bureaucratic obstacles so that they can travel for care unavailable within Gaza’s health care system. First, Afana had to submit his application for a travel permit via the Palestinian Authority. The PA then forwards all such bids to the Israeli military occupation. After carrying out the required paperwork, Afana was informed that Israel was doing a “security” check on him. . . Read more: https://electronicintifada.net/content/painful-year-gazas-patients/34521
Golan settlement population to double Rina Bassist alMonitor 27/12/21
Posting on social media networks after the meeting, Bennett noted, "You, Israelis who are looking for a place to build your home — the Golan Heights are waiting for you; come to the Golan." Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/israel-plans-double-golan-heights-population#ixzz7H28QhELY
Israeli attempts to hijack the traditional embroidered Palestinian dress Aziza Nofal almonitor 04/01/2022 This is not the first time that Israel has tried to attribute the Palestinian dress to itself. In previous years, flight attendants of Israeli airlines had deliberately worn the Palestinian dress, creating Palestinian condemnation.
Marwan Abu Khalaf, a researcher of Palestinian heritage at Inaash Al-Usra Association, said that Palestinian embroidery was implicitly known to be Palestinian and no one can falsify history. "This garment contains decorations and drawings dating back to the Canaanite era 3,000 years ago," he added. Read more: https://www.al monitor.com/originals/2022/01/palestinian-embroidery-social-cultural-identity-unesco-list#ixzz7H84MUTgI
Repercussions of Israeli ‘terror’ designation Yumna Patel Mondowiess 07/01/22
Despite the pushback against the decision, Israel has refused to provide concrete evidence of its claims. In November, Israel’s military commander in the West Bank issued five separate military orders outlawing the work of the organization in the occupied territory, effectively allowing for their imminent shut down, the seizure of their assets, and the detention of their staff. “It has been a very stressful time here,” Sahar Francis, the Director of Addameer told Mondoweiss from her office in Ramallah. “It is all very scary, and has definitely affected the spirit of the staff,” she said.
“But this is what Israel wants,” she said. “They are doing all this to shut us down and silence us, and bring us to the point where we will give up and say ‘it’s not worth it’.” Read more: ‘It won’t end with us’: Addameer director warns of repercussions of Israeli ‘terror’ designation – Mondoweiss
Netherlands cuts funding to Palestinian group blacklisted by Israel
almonitor 06/01/2022 “With this fateful decision, the Dutch government is not just abandoning UAWC but Palestinian civil society at large,” the group said in a statement. “By doing so, the Netherlands tarnishes its reputation as a reliable donor and its status of a value-based country that hosts and promotes international law.” Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/netherlands-cuts-funding-palestinian-group-blacklisted-israel#ixzz7HUoWB84e
Battle to save Palestinian cemetery in Haifa Yoav Haifawi Mondoweiss 7/01/22
A central figure in Haifa’s public life at the time was Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the Imam of the Istiqlal mosque and head of the Young Men’s Muslim Association. In the beginning of the thirties, he tried to organized the Palestinian population to wage a war of liberation against the British occupation and against Zionist colonization. In November 1935 his group of rebels was surrounded by the British army near Jenin, and he fought them back until he fell martyr. His funeral in Haifa is described by some historians as the biggest political protest in Palestine under the British occupation. Al-Qassam and two of his comrades in arms were buried in the new cemetery in Balad a-Sheikh, giving it its popular name as “Al-Qassam Cemetery”. Read more: The long battle to save the largest Palestinian cemetery in Haifa – Mondoweiss
JNF to plant trees on Bedouin cultivated land Rina Bassist almonitor 12/01/2022
Several Likud Knesset members and activists arrived at the scene Jan. 11 to express their support of the planting as an expression of Zionist ideals. "No one will tell us where and when we are allowed to plant trees in the land of Israel. It is our land," tweeted the party.
Political leaders and activists from both Arab parties — the Joint List and Ra’am — slammed the JNF plan as endangering the livelihoods of the local Bedouin families. Bedouins in the area had previously complained that forestation works were destroying their farming zones.
. . . . .The issue seems to be turning into a political crisis, as many of the Bedouins living in the region are supporters of the Ra’am party, which is part of the coalition. Considering himself a representative of the Bedouins in the Negev, last May Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas had conditioned the party’s entry into the coalition on the government regularizing several unrecognized Bedouin villages.Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/protests-erupt-over-israeli-plan-plant-trees-near-bedouin-villages#ixzz7Hmyluf9x
Sheikh Jarrah home destroyed in cruel and criminal act Tamara Nassar EI 19/01/2022 “The family have no place to go,” the Norwegian Refugee Council said of the seven residents, including five children. “Children’s physical and psychological well-being is now at risk, having witnessed their home turn into rubble in the dark.”
“These cruel acts turn the Salhiyas into two-time refugees,” Human Rights Watch said.
“This is what apartheid and persecution looks like. Perpetrators of these crimes against humanity should be prosecuted and sanctioned.” The Salhiya family originates from Ein Karem, a village west of Jerusalem. They were ethnically cleansed from their homes during the Nakba, the 1948 expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians in order to establish Israel. They had lived in the home Israel just destroyed for decades.Read more: Israel destroys Sheikh Jarrah home in cruel and criminal act | The Electronic Intifada
Nakba denial in Israel Jonathan Ofir Mondoweiss 21/01/2022
After eight days, I came back to the place where we buried them, near the railway. There was a big mound for the bodies had inflated. Sokler told Katz that he counted 230 bodies. . . . Professor Ilan Pappé, who has been a strong supporter of Katz, wrote yesterday on Facebook: In 2007, with the insistence of the ministry of education I had to resign my position at Haifa University (despite the fact that I had tenure); one of my “crimes” was insisting that there was a massacre in the village of Tantura in 1948 as was exposed by MA student, Teddy Katz. I did my own research and categorically stated that this was one of the worst crimes committed by the Israeli army in 1948 – even after Katz under immense pressure and intimidation retracted his findings.
I am not sorry for a moment and am grateful that I was able to continue the struggle against the Nakba denial at the university of Exeter in the last 15 years and I still hope to establish in London a center against Nakba denial. Read more: Nakba denial in Israel is long and deep, new documentary shows – Mondoweiss
Wave of political detentions in West Bank Ahmad Melhem almonitor 25/01/22 The PA often charges activists and journalists with vague accusations to try them, such as “defaming the PA,” “insulting high dignities” and “inciting sectarian strife.” Most of these charges do not lead to a conviction, but the trial might drag on for several months or years. Assaf pointed out that the PA’s violations against activists and political opponents are on the rise. Arrests, summons and trials have been increasing in the past months, in an indication that the PA continues to muffle opposing voices. He believes the PA is increasing its clampdown on any dissent and tightening control of the internal situation to prepare the Palestinian street “for its political project to launch negotiations with the Israeli occupation and develop relations with it.” Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/wave-political-detentions-pursuit-activists-west-bank#ixzz7J16xLQwt
‘My life has just begun’ Tareq S Hajjaj Mondoweiss 27/01/2022
A discriminatory policy
Al-Najar is the son of Palestinian refugees from Yaffa, though his parents were born outside of Palestine. He was born in Iraq, along with his three siblings. They moved to Gaza when he was a young boy, over a decade before Israel’s siege on Gaza began, when entry into the territory was a little easier. The family entered Gaza in 1993 after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority on temporary visas, approved by the Israeli government. When they applied for permanent status, their applications were repeatedly rejected. The al-Najar’s are one of tens of thousands of Palestinian families suffering under Israel’s permit and ID regime, living for decades in the occupied territory without any legal status. Read more: ‘My life has just begun’: Gazans celebrate receiving ID cards after rare Israeli approval – Mondoweiss
Gaza ‘behind the scenes’ Tareq S Hajjaj Mondoweiss 25/01/2022
You might wonder – why do streets flood every winter in Gaza, every year worse than the last? The reason is the municipality can’t afford to repair the infrastructures in all areas in Gaza, unless a foreign project funds it. And even if the municipality were able to afford repairs, it wouldn’t be able to keep up with the new destruction. The large areas Israel has targeted in the last four wars – like Al-Shuja’iyya and Al-Rimal – have been too much to maintain. This is the main reason floods in Gaza continue and get worse. Read more: Like a piece of ice under the sun – Mondoweiss
Return ? to Gaza Salman Abu Sitta Mondoweiss 28/01/2022
When I say I returned, it was an illusion. It was not the fulfillment of the Right of Return that I, like millions of Palestinians, strive for. It was not the Return we fought for over the last 70 years, by armed resistance, protests, writings, conferences. This was only a return to my first refugee camp. . . . Early on the morning of my arrival I drove to the nearest point at the barbed wire and looked at my home, where I was born, visible at the horizon. I stood there, looking at my home, one kilometer away, separated from it by a nest of Israeli snipers. Read more: Return? to Gaza – Mondoweiss
UK comment
Scottish university censors Israel’s critics Asa Winstanley EI 04/11/2021
The University of Glasgow is coming under fire for censoring critics of Israel.
Leading academics have accused the Scottish college of undermining scholarship and damaging academic freedom.
In an open letter last week, almost 500 high profile scholars, including the linguist and political analyst Noam Chomsky, demanded that the university withdraw an apology it issued earlier this year for a paper in one of its academic journals.
The paper by researcher Jane Jackman detailed the activities of pro-Israel networks in the UK.
And this week, the scholar Somdeep Sen pulled out of a talk he had been invited to give at the university on the topics addressed in his book Decolonizing Palestine.
University managers had imposed pre-emptive conditions, Sen said. Read more:
Hamas to be proscribed by the UK government under the Terrorism Act Stuart Littlewood RI & A 23/11/2021
Hard on the heels of Israel criminalising six Palestinian human rights groups with no evidence whatsoever, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced that Hamas will be proscribed by the UK government under the Terrorism Act, which means anyone expressing support for Hamas, flying its flag or arranging meetings for the organisation will be in breach of the law. And that could mean up to 14 years in jail.The Guardian says she told reporters in Washington DC: “We’ve taken the view that we can no longer disaggregate the sort of military and political side. It’s based upon a wide range of intelligence, information and also links to terrorism. The severity of that speaks for itself.” Patel hopes to push the change through Parliament in a move she says will help to combat anti-Semitism. Read more: UK government outlaws Palestinian resistance – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com)
Second Bristol report exonerated Prof Miller of anti-Semitism Asa Winstanley EI 26/11/2021
A second University of Bristol report exonerated Professor David Miller of anti-Semitism, a leaked document shows. Written by a leading UK lawyer, the document concludes that “there is no formal case to answer against Professor Miller” and that he had not “exceeded the boundaries of unacceptable speech.”Despite this, Bristol university fired Miller in October, after a long campaign against him by Israel and its lobby.
David Miller is one of the UK’s leading experts on the Israel lobby, Islamophobia and the Zionist movement.The leaked document, obtained by The Electronic Intifada, is dated May 2021. As we revealed in October, an earlier report by the same lawyer also exonerated Miller of anti-Semitism. You can read the new document in full below, with the lawyer’s name redacted.
A Bristol university spokesperson declined to comment substantively on the leaked document, citing the confidentiality of Miller’s appeal against his dismissal. The university also asserted that it wanted the process to be “treated with integrity.” . . . The second report was commissioned specifically to investigate a public talk Miller gave on 13 February and an article he wrote for The Electronic Intifada a week later.
In the article Miller argued that “Britain is in the grip of an assault on its public sphere by the state of Israel and its advocates.” Read more: Second Bristol report exonerated David Miller of anti-Semitism | The Electronic Intifada
Palestine Action raid Israeli arms factory Palestine Action Mondoweiss 24/01/22
The 2021 attack on Gaza started with the ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. Elbit System’s military goods are fundamental to allowing this; Palestine Action know this and have taken action today in support of the residents of Sheikh Jarrah, undermining and debasing Israel’s military production in Britain.
Two weeks, news was announced of the permanent closure of Elbit’s Oldham site. Since then, actions targeting Elbit’s factory in Shenstone have escalated, with the factory being occupied once more as part of the campaign to topple all of Elbit’s remaining factories. Read more: Palestine Action raid and dismantle Israeli arms factory – Mondoweiss
UK pivots to Israel Omar Karmi EI 03/01/2022
Over the past year, the UK has taken a number of steps aligning itself much closer with the US and Israel than its own past positions.The UK and Israel have just signed a “strategic plan” entirely devoid of strings or demands on Israel. At about the same time, and for the first time ever, the UK abstained from an annual UN vote on the status of Jerusalem. . . . The UK is also actively opposing attempts to hold Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court, even though it is quite clear and well documented that Israel is unable or unwilling to investigate itself.
Labour has become a shadow of its former self on the issue [of Palestine]. So reliably compliant has Her Majesty’s official opposition become, in fact, that attempts to criminalize the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement – and thereby undermine basic civil rights – are also moving forward. Read more: UK pivots to Israel in post-Brexit scramble | The Electronic Intifada
Palestinian lecturer reinstated Nora Barrows-Friedman EI 28/01/2022A Palestinian lecturer and high-profile activist was told on Thursday that her teaching position at Sheffield Hallam University had been reinstated. The announcement comes a week after the UK university had suspended Shahd Abusalama’s classes amid a smear campaign by supporters of Israel. . . . She has not been allowed to read the allegations against her and the university is still pursuing an investigation instigated by the complaint, Abusalama said. Read more: Palestinian teacher reinstated after UK Israel lobby attacks | The Electronic Intifada
“a child is a child” except when Palestinian Tamara Nassar EI 28/01/2022
Like all other administrative detainees, Nakhleh is held based on “secret evidence” that Israeli military authorities refuse to show to him or his lawyers.
Several UN agencies are urging Nakhleh’s “immediate and unconditional” release.
“Amal’s case is one of the more prolonged cases where a Palestinian child has been detained without charge or trial,” said the UN high commissioner for human rights, in a joint appeal with children’s agency UNICEF and Palestine refugee agency UNRWA.
“It is however not an isolated case. Currently, at least another three Palestinians are in administrative detention who were under the age of 18 when first detained,” the UN agencies added. Read more: For EU, "a child is a child" except when Palestinian | The Electronic Intifada
