[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Palestine and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Palestine Page co-editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each roundup to Palestine@jadaliyya.com.]
The Occupation Forces
MADA: 28 Attacks Against Media Freedoms in Palestine During June, 27 of Which Committed By The Occupation The Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms has monitored, during June, a total of twenty-eight attacks against media freedoms in Palestine. The Israeli occupation committed twenty-seven attacks while the Palestinian authorities committed only one attack. May has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of attacks, whereas June was a relative decrease.
Israel to Demolish 237 Homes in Jerusalem The head of Wadi al-Hummus Committee, Hamada Hamada, told the Palestinian Information Centre that the planned demolition campaign will include 237 apartments that are homes for about five hundred people. He added that the Jerusalem municipality asked the residents to demolish their own homes, or it would do the demolition and force them to pay steep fines.
Secret Israeli Unit Systematically Purging Documents Related to Israel’s History, Nakba Crimes: Report Israel’s ministry for military affairs has formed a secret unit, called Malmab, tasked with concealing sensitive historical documents, with a special focus on censoring chilling revelations related to the expulsion of Palestine’s original inhabitants, according to a report by Haaretz.
Revealed After 71 Years: Massacre in the Palestinian Village of Al-Safsaf Newly revealed documents revealed facts about a massacre by Zionist militias in the Palestinian village of al-Safsaf in the Upper Galilee in an operation called "Hiram,” which resulted in the murder of fifty-two men among others. The Haaretz exposé, mentioned above, revealed that there were dozens of massacres and systemic sexual assault used as weaponry against Palestinians by Zionist militias in the era before the creation of Israel.
Israel Reveals New Details About Thwarted Undercover op in Gaza Israeli media reports on the army’s investigation, like all such reports, were subject to military censorship–and the published findings are themselves only partial. Most of the report confirms that two undercover Israeli vehicles aroused suspicion. The army, however, now claims that it was the Israeli commander at the scene who, during questioning by al-Qassam Brigades members, decided to open fire first–and in doing so, killed his colleague, known as “Lt. Col. M.”
Domestic Policy
Prominent anti-Occupation Activist Assaulted in Tel Aviv Jonathan Pollak, who has long been active in the anti-occupation movement in Israel and the West Bank, was attacked by two assailants as he left the Haaretz building. He was targeted for his political beliefs, with one of the men using a knife to attack his face. Pollack has also faced “lawfare” tactics from the far-right organization Ad Kan.
Israel Far-Right Party Launches Election Campaign Calling for Expulsion of Palestinians Far-right Kahanist Israeli political party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) has launched its election campaign by calling for the expulsion of Palestinians. The party also announced that it would contest September’s election alone, confirming a split with the Union of Right-Wing Parties.
PA to hold elections if no reconciliation with Hamas Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority will hold a general election if it fails to reach a reconciliation deal with Hamas. Shtayyeh said that “if there is no agreement with Hamas, we would turn to the people to have their say.”
Abbas Ordered PA Forces Not to Respond to Israel Fire President Mahmoud Abbas ordered his forces not to respond to Israeli fire in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. A Palestinian security officer was wounded in the incident, but, according to Walla, this did not harm security cooperation between the two sides.
Israel Students Forced to Pass Government Propaganda Course Before Overseas School Trips The Israeli government is compelling high school students to pass an online course before being allowed to participate in overseas class trips, which legal rights center Adalah argues promotes a “racist ideology.” Adalah pointed to questions like those that linked the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe to the inflow of Muslim refugees, which “presents a racist ideological perspective that creates an equivalence between Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim identities and violence and terrorism.”
Foreign Policy
Greenblatt: The PLO Office Can Be Reopened in Washington if Conditions Are Met US Special Representative for International Negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, has revealed that the US administration’s requirements for reopening Palestine Liberation Organization’s representative office in Washington are the involvement in the so-called “Deal of the Century” and being “involved in a peace process.”
President Abbas Asks Pope to Save Historic Christian Presence in Jerusalem President Mahmoud Abbas addressed a letter to Pope Francis asking his urgent intervention to save the historic Christian presence in Jerusalem. In his letter delivered by Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican Issa Kassissieh, Abbas expressed the Palestinian leadership’s deep concern over escalating Israeli violations against the Palestinian people in general and the Christian presence in Palestine with particular focus on Jerusalem.
Report Reveals That French Insurer AXA is Complicit in Israel's War Crimes International consumer advocacy group SumOfUs released a new report that shows the French insurance company AXA invests more than ninety-one million dollars in the weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and five of the largest Israeli banks, all of which finance illegal settlements.
African Group to UN: Hold Israel Accountable For Crimes Against Palestinians The African Group, a regional assembly within the United Nations comprising twenty-eight percent of the organization, addressed the UN Human Rights Council and called for the international community to hold Israel accountable to international law. Nigeria and South Africa also submitted individual statements, denouncing Israeli theft of Palestinian resources.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Settlers Destroy 24 Acres of Land East of Hebron Israeli settlers destroyed twenty-four acres of land and property belonging to Palestinian citizens, east of Hebron in the southern West Bank. The land was adjacent to Kiryat Arba settlement which is illegal under international law. Local activists stated that the settlers were protected by Israeli occupation forces.
How 'archaeological settlements' Are Destroying Palestinian Homes Palestinian residents of Silwan have for years been alarmed by the damage their homes have sustained from underground digging. While US official Jason Greenblatt and members of the settler organization Elad are confident a new tunnel served as a pilgrim route leading to the Second Temple, many archaeologists are not, Jerusalem-based Yonathan Mizrachi noted in an article.
Israeli Forces Begin Works On settler-only Road in Jordan Valley Israeli occupation authorities embarked on works on a settler-only road near the illegal settlement of Meskiot in the Jordan Valley region, northeast of the occupied West Bank, according to local sources. Israel has been planning to transform the Jordan Valley, which makes up one-third of the occupied West Bank, into a completely Israeli area, aiming to prevent Palestinian territorial contiguity.
Settlers Brutally Assault Child in Hebron Old City Muntaser Abu-Rmeleh was walking through the Sahla Street in the Old City district when a group of settlers attacked him, causing him bruises and scars across his body. He was moved to hospital for medical treatment. Muntaser’s father told WAFA that Israeli soldiers who were at the scene paid no effort to stop the attacking settlers and protect his son.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
Nelson Mandela's Grandson Slams 'Israeli apartheid' Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela and a South African Parliament’s Member of the ruling African National Congress, made the comments on Saturday at the Palestine Expo in London. Declaring Israel to be “an apartheid state,” Mandela also stated that engaging in the BDS movement was a “moral duty.”
Academic Association Cancels Conference in Israel After Backlash In what is being described as the first cancellation of a mental health research association, the European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation has canceled plans to hold a conference in Israel, “over fears of a backlash from the international boycott movement.”
Law
Palestinian Woman Prisoner Goes On Hunger Strike to Protest Her Administrative Detention Fida Mohammad Daamas, twenty-four, from Beit Ummar town in the south of the West Bank and a student at al-Quds Open University, was detained in May of last year. She started on Sunday an open-ended hunger strike to protest her detention without charge or trial for fourteen consecutive months, the Palestinian Prisoner Society stated.
Palestinian Children’s Right to Education Denied in Israel Prisons Palestinian children from Jerusalem arrested by Israeli occupation forces are subjected to “a deliberate policy to de-educate,” reported prisoners’ rights group Addameer. Interviews conducted by Addameer and TDH Italy revealed that twenty-five percent of children “did not receive any education during detention,” while the other seventy-five percent only received Arabic, math, and sometimes Hebrew instruction.
In Landmark Decision, Israel Court Rules PA ‘liable’ For Second Intifada Attacks Filed by the infamous lawfare group Shurat HaDin, the court ruling cited the Palestinian Authority’s “financial and practical support” for the attacks, claiming that, along with the Palestine Liberation Organization, the authority provided “ideological encouragement” for the incidents. The amount of damages the Palestinian Authority must pay was not stated in the ruling but could reach a maximum of one billion shekels.
Netanyahu Denies Intention to Amend Immunity Law Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday denied that he had sought support for amending the immunity law for Israeli MKs, Arab48 reported. The Times of Israel reported that, in the wake of the Knesset elections in April, the Likud “was conditioning membership in the coalition on support for a bill that would make it easier for him [Netanyahu] to retain immunity from prosecution.”
Environment, Economy, and Other
Because of Israeli Intervention: Palestine Cup 2019 Final was Postponed The Palestine Football Association announced the postponement of the Palestine Cup Final Match between Balata FC and Khadamat Rafah FC due yet another flagrant intervention by the Israeli Occupation Authorities to deny Palestinians entry permits.
Gaza: More women Join Workforce Despite High Unemployment There are nearly two million people in Gaza, of which fifty-two percent are jobless. However, the number of women at work has risen by twenty-six percent.
With a Crumbling Economy, Gaza’s Poorest are Pushed Into Homelessness Amid growing financial strain, Palestinians in Gaza who are unable to pay rent are now living in tents. According to the World Bank, Gaza’s unemployment rate has jumped over ten percent in the past five years, reaching fifty-two percent last April. For youth, employment is sixty-seven percent.
Palestine Takes Part in UN Environmental Meeting For First Time For the first time, the Palestinian Authority participated as member at the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.