When Israel created itself in 1948—and even before this date—the “Jewish State” worked to take control of archaeology, and thus, of the region’s history. It toiled to erase footprints of the numerous civilizations that had preceded the Jewish presence, as well as the peoples that have come afterward. Kathryn Shihadah gives us the past and present details….
Justine McCabe writes: “An alarming paradox has taken shape in legislation before Congress: Our representatives would violate Americans’ First Amendment rights in order to protect the State of Israel. This draconian legislation is H.R. 1697/S. 720, the ‘Israel Anti-Boycott Act,’ is a proposed law that could harshly penalize the free speech of Americans…
Dan Cohen reports in EI on the role & beliefs of Jewish extremists in the Jerusalem crisis: ‘if Muslims and Christians surrender and say from now on, there is no more Christianity and no more Islam, and the mosques and Christian spires come down, then they would be allowed to live. “If not,” he warned, “you kill all of their males by sword. You leave only the women.”
Israeli police stormed a Palestinian hospital twice over the past week, detaining doctors, using tear gas, and terrifying staff and patients. A man they were pursuing died of his wounds.
“They invaded the entire hospital. The young man, Mohammad Abu Ghannam, died of his wounds during the scuffle.
Israel and mainstream media spotlight Palestinian violence, downplays Israeli Jewish or settler fanatic violence. Christians and Muslims are severely punished, while Israeli Jews and settlers often get a pass.
Jerusalem: Israel’s state prosecutor has filed a precedent-setting lawsuit against the estate of a Palestinian seven months after the man killed four Israelis in a car-ramming attack. The Prosecutor’s Office seeks compensation—perhaps as much as $2.3 million—from the widow and four young children. The process could trigger a legal time bomb where Palestinians opt to file similar lawsuits against Israel or Israelis.
The progressive organization Moveon is featuring Ben & Jerry’s in its latest action alert, even though the ice cream company is being boycotted by three different social justice campaigns for its unethical practices in the Palestinian territories and its treatment of workers & the environment in Vermont.
The Israel Lobby, especially AIPAC, is undeniably a foreign lobby, but it operates with complete impunity on Capitol Hill and also at state and local levels. Coincidentally, Congress has a peculiar pattern of brazen, bipartisan pro-Israel legislation and looking the other way on issues in which Israel may be culpable (e.g. USS Liberty). To put it succinctly, there is an Israeli hand in much of what the United States does internationally, and the involvement is not intended to do anything good for the American people.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s statement that an antisemitism envoy may be unnecessary are challenged by representatives of the Israel lobby, quoted at length by Newsweek reporter Stav Ziv, whose family is from Israel.
The National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine pleads for Western churches to take a stand: “As we meet this month in Bethlehem in occupied Palestine, we are still suffering from 100 years of injustice and oppression…we need you and we need you now more than ever. We need your costly solidarity…This is no time for shallow diplomacy Christians. We urge you to hear our call.”