[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
Israeli Army “on high alert” After Finding Stabbed Soldier Body The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it was on high alert and began large-scale searches at the Gush Etzion settlement bloc west of Bethlehem, as they found the body of an Israeli soldier dumped on the side of a road in the Migdal Oz area of Gush Etzion illegal settlement, southern West Bank.
IOF Fatally Shoot Four Palestinians Near Gaza Fence Israeli Occupation Forces have shot dead at least four Palestinians near the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from the occupied territories, claiming that they were attempting to attack Israeli military outposts.
Roadblocks, Manhunt in South of West Bank After Israeli Soldier Was Found Stabbed to Death The Israeli army set up roadblocks today and began an extensive search and manhunt in areas south of Bethlehem in the south of the West Bank after the discovery of the body of an Israeli soldier near the illegal settlement of Maale Oz in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, reported witnesses.
Israeli Artillery Bombs Two Locations At Gaza Border Israeli artillery bombed two locations at the border of the Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah town in the center of the enclave, amid unconfirmed reports of a number of Palestinian casualties in the area bombed.
Israeli Forces Open Fire At Married Couple, Injure Both Witnesses said the married couple were passing near the wall gate near Zaita north of Tulkarem when the soldiers opened fire at them for no apparent reason. The husband, Yehya Abu Khater, twenty-five, was shot and injured and detained by the forces despite his injury, whereas the wife was transferred to Tulkarem Governmental Hospital for medical treatment.
Violent Israel Raids Spoil Eid Festivities in Jerusalem Village Violent raids by Israeli Occupation Forces have continued through Eid al-Adha in Issawiya village, spoiling festivities for local residents. Israeli authorities have targeted Issawiya with a campaign of harassment, “law enforcement,” and violent arrest raids for two months. The raids this week have involved the breaking up of Eid festivities, shooting of residents point-blank with supposed non-lethal bullets, and detention of several parents.
Domestic Policy
Hamas Will Shower Israel With Barrages Of Missiles If Gaza Comes Under Attack: Sinwar The leader of Hamas resistance movement in the Gaza Strip has warned the Israeli military against waging a new military campaign on the besieged coastal sliver, stating that his fellow fighters will prevail over Israeli troops if the latter enter the enclave in any future conflict.
Israel Expels Filipino Worker With Israeli-born Son: NGO A Filipino migrant worker, Rosemarie Perez, and her Israeli-born teenage son, Rohan, were in the process of being deported from Israel on Sunday night after successive court appeals failed, an NGO lobbying for children of migrants said. About six hundred more families, mostly Filipino, could now face expulsion after losing their residency status.
Israeli Politicians Call For Annexation in Response to West Bank Killing of Soldier Israeli politicians and leaders of the settler movement are calling for annexation of the occupied West Bank after the discovery of the body of an off-duty Israeli soldier on the side of the road early Thursday morning in the southern West Bank. Several right-wing Israeli politicians, including Netanyahu, have stated that they wish to respond by annexing the West Bank.
Israel Attorney General Recommends Banning 2 Far-right Election Candidates Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has recommended banning two candidates from the ultra-right-wing Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party from contesting the country’s September election. Mandelblit’s recommendation of banning Otzma’s Marzel and Gopstein, the second and fifth candidates, comes after his previous banning of the party’s leader Michael Ben Ari.
Foreign Policy
Israeli MKs Fume At US House Resolution Supporting Establishment of Palestinian State A group of the Israeli parliament members have criticized the US House of Representatives for approving a resolution against a global boycott campaign against the regime, which endorses, to Tel Aviv’s dismay, a so-called two-state solution to the decades-long conflict with Palestine.
Trump Tells Advisers Tel Aviv Should Bar US Muslim Lawmakers From Israel US-based Axios news outlet cited three sources familiar with Trump’s private remarks as saying on Saturday that the American president had told advisers, including senior administration officials, that the Israeli regime should bar Omar and Tlaib’s entry because the two lawmakers support the boycott Israel movement.
Nicaragua’s First Ambassador to Palestine Turns Over His Credentials to Foreign Minister Malki welcomed Mazen Khuffash as Nicaragua’s ambassador saying that choosing an ambassador of Palestinian origin proves the role and importance of the Palestinian community in that Central American country. He said Nicaragua has always supported Palestinian rights in international forums.
PM Meets Members of US Congress in Ramallah, Briefs Them on Situation On 13 August Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met with thirty-seven members of the US Congress in Ramallah. The premier stressed that the US administration, through its measures, has encouraged Israeli settlement activities and has cancelled all final status issues, including Jerusalem, borders, refugees, and UNRWA.
41 Democrats went on an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel but you wouldn’t know that from their Twitter accounts Last week forty-one Democratic members of Congress went to Israel on a trip sponsored by American Israel Education Foundation, a branch of AIPAC. “This is the largest delegation that has ever visited Israel,” bragged House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who led the trip. However, this year, hardly any of the forty-one Democratic members of Congress–in contrast to the thirty-one Republicans–publicized their trip.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Ashrawi: International Sanctions Are Required to Confront Escalating Israeli Settlement Construction Ashrawi has stated in response to the increase in settlement construction and approval: “Constructing settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is a grave violation of international humanitarian law that the Rome Statute specifically considers a war crime. This is a criminal act of hostility and aggression that requires immediate and unequivocal international steps to ensure accountability, including imposing sanctions.”
Settlers Attack Vehicles With Stones Near Ramallah Extremist Jewish settlers on Thursday evening attacked with stones Palestinian vehicles passing at route 60 near the village of Lubban Esharqia, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said WAFA correspondent.
Settlers Attack Two Palestinian Homes in Bethlehem Area With Stones At dawn, Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian homes in the Bethlehem area, the occupied West Bank, with stones, according to local sources. Sources told WAFA correspondent settlers hurled stones at houses belonging to Ahmad Abu Dieyh in Taqou and Fu’ad Najajreh in Nahalin.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
‘Our foreign policy has typically been a white supremacist foreign policy’: Meet the BDS Proponent Hoping to Unseat a Longtime Democratic Congressman in Oregon Earl Blumenauer has represented Oregon’s third congressional district for over twenty years but is now being challenged by dean of Portland Community College’s Business and Computing division, Albert Lee. He is running on a progressive agenda, challenging Blumenauer by attempting to get at Democratic voters who support the BDS movement, saying he also wants to challenge the United States’ “white supremacist foreign policy.”
State Dept Updates Antisemitism Definition to Include Comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany The State Department has updated the working definition of anti-Semitism detailed on its website to include comparisons between current Israeli policies and those of the Nazis. The move comes just two weeks after the House passed a resolution denouncing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and amidst consistent attacks on Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for introducing a bill that affirms the right to boycott foreign countries in the name of human rights.
Following Pressure, Mental Health Academics May Reverse Decision to Cancel Conference in Israel Last month, the European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation announced that it would be canceling the gathering, over fears that it would be targeted by the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign. The new statement also distanced ENMESH from the academic boycott and claimed that the decision to cancel the conference was based on “practical considerations” rather than the BDS call.
US’ Sanders: Criticizing Israel Government is Not Anti-Semitic Speaking at a town hall meeting in the state of New Hampshire, on the US east coast, Sanders told the crowd that “as somebody who is proudly Jewish,” to be critical of a right-wing government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is not to be anti-Semitic.”
Law
More Palestinian Prisoners Join Hunger Strike Against Administrative Detention The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said on Monday that another group comprising thirty prisoners had joined the open-ended hunger strike to protest against the practice of so-called administrative detention.
Environment, Economy, and Other
Palestine Youth Orchestra Starts Biggest Tour In Its History The Palestine Youth Orchestra started the biggest tour in its history, with ninety Palestinian musicians from all over the world who will perform in five countries: Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Israeli Siege Has Cost Gaza $70m a Month in Economic Loss Palestinian Member of Parliament Jamal al-Khodari, who is head of the Popular Committee against the Siege on Gaza, said in a press release on Sunday that the siege has cost seventy million dollar per month, with 3,500 factories, workshops, and businesses shut down during the fourteen years of Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
From Heat Waves to 'eco-apartheid': Climate Change in Israel-Palestine In a long-form piece in 972mag, Matan Kaminer, Basma Fahoum, and Edo Konrad explore the frightening predictions about what climate change means for Israel-Palestine–including the devastating effects that a lack of Palestinian sovereignty will mean for the ability to counteract the coming crisis. This means that climate change is likely going to heavily affect the Occupied Palestinian Territories, while Israel has the ability to act if it wishes.