For those who think Palestine is in a time of “calm” because there are no headlines, think again. Palestinians haven’t experienced calm in decades.
Here is a sampling of headlines from the last week, as meticulously reported by our friends at the International Middle East Media Center.
Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, interrogated a field researcher for rights group B’Tselem who they said was always around during Palestinian activity, and has been “making trouble and threatening the army.”
His troublemaking includes reporting on an unarmed Palestinian who was shot in the neck and paralyzed.
Extremist Jewish supremacist parties find themselves suddenly relevant as Netanyahu’s Likud party seeks to form alliances and win enough legislative seats to protect him from legal action. Lieberman has even called for “disloyal” Palestinian citizens to be “beheaded.” It may be the beginning of a new level of rightwing governing.
A new report from Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq details the numerous human rights violations that Israel perpetrated against Palestinians in 2020 — in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
New report from UK charity War on Want shows how integral Israel’s military court system is in controlling Palestinian lives. The system is apartheid in nature and violates international law.
Masafer Yatta lies in a remote area of the West Bank, where Israeli soldiers are routinely, ruthlessly demolishing Palestinian homes – and preventing activists from filming their illegal actions. Thousands of demolition orders have been served here, but residents refuse to leave their ancestral lands.
Activist Sami Huraini, 23, is one of the coordinators of a West Bank youth group engaged in weekly demonstrations. His family history of nonviolent protest has yielded some unlikely victories.
Being a child while Palestinian is full of risks. Airstrikes, home (and school) invasions, home (and school) demolitions, inability to access medical care – these are just some of the dangers of being not-Jewish in a land under Israeli control.
Mary Hughes Thompson, 87, died on February 5, 2021, in Los Angeles, California. Mary was one of the founders of the flotilla movement, and was dedicated to justice in Palestine… see plans to build a playground in Gaza in her honor, tributes from around the world, and two videos about her….
A rabbi with South African roots recalls the moment he realized that Israel’s system is “apartheid.” He describes his struggle to release his idealistic view of the Jewish State, and encourages Jews to practice “moral clarity” regarding Israel – without which it is impossible to find a way forward.