Israel’s refusal to issue building permits, and calculated policies of expropriation, force Palestinians to build “illegally,” often resulting structures being demolished and families left destitute; meanwhile, Jewish-only neighborhoods spring up on Palestinian land.
On March 19th, with no advance warning, Israel evacuated a Palestinian school in Shaufat, Occupied East Jerusalem, then demolished it. The school’s principal reports that no official reason has been given.
Israel’s takeover of Arab East Jerusalem has continued unabated since the 1967 war, but has grown more brazen since US President Trump’s decision to move the embassy. Evictions of Palestinians and appropriation of their homes by Israeli settlers is more frequent; Israeli police presence has grown more pervasive; Israel’s parliament is devising more new policies – and its supreme court is upholding them – to dispossess Palestinians. Meanwhile the PA is powerless to respond. It all adds up to ethnic cleansing.
Israeli soldiers shot six Palestinians in Gaza, a Palestinian teen in Jericho after the army invaded it accompanying groups of illegal settlers, abducted at dawn six Palestinians in Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin… Israeli authorities seized large containers of children’s clothing on their way to the besieged Gaza Strip… (See video of Israeli soldiers shooting unarmed demonstrator in Palestinian village of Madama in April)
Kudos to US President Trump for his frugality: he is saving a bundle by not only ending aid to UNRWA, but now cancelling a $20 million grant to Palestinian hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli incitement: Dozens of Palestinians were injured Friday when Israeli forces entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and began attacking worshipers.
Stabbing attack in illegal WB settlement of Geva Binyamin. 1 Israeli in critical condition, 1 serious, and 1 lightly wounded; 17-yr-old Palestinian assailant killed at the scene.
Assault on Palestinian Bedouins continues: Israeli troops demolished a kindergarten and a women’s center in Jabal al-Baba. The village is home to about 320 individuals.
Israeli authorities are digging up centuries-old graves, incl 2 belonging to companions of Muhammad, to make room for a national park.
The UK Guardian reports that Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson gave Republicans $82m for the 2016 elections, and his views, notably staunch support for Netanyahu’s Israel, are now the official US line…