[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.]
The Occupation Forces
Israel Prevents Hebron Committee From Continuing Restoration Works in the Ibrahimi Mosque The Israeli authorities on 28 May prevented the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee from continuing restoration works in the Ibrahimi Mosque, in the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron, said a local official. Director of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Sheikh Hafthi Abu Sneineh, said that Israeli Forces prevented HRC employees from continuing with the restoration work in the mosque under the pretext they do not have a permit to do so.
Israeli Forces Detain Minor After Shooting And Injuring Him Near Ramallah Israeli forces detained a Palestinian minor after shooting and injuring him near the village of Kafr Malik to the East of Ramallah, in the central occupied West Bank, according to local sources. Sources said Israeli Forces shot and injured an unidentified minor with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the foot, near the bypass road adjacent to the town of Kafr Malik.
Israeli Navy Targets Palestinian Fishermen As Soldiers Raid Areas in Gaza Israeli navy today targeted Palestinian fishermen in the sea off Gaza City, while soldiers infiltrated the borders east of the city and razed land, according to a WAFA correspondent. Additionally, and for the second straight day, Israeli military vehicles breached the northern Gaza borders and entered dozens of meters into Gaza territory as bulldozers razed lands and set up dirt barricades.
Israel Police Kill Unarmed Palestinian in Occupied East Jerusalem The slain man, thirty-two-year-old Iyad al-Hallak, attended and worked at a school for people with special needs in the Old City, close to the spot where he was shot on Saturday morning, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. A relative, who spoke to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity, said al-Hallak was mentally disabled and was heading to the school.
Israel Issues 6 Demolition Orders to Palestinians Near Ramallah Israeli Occupation Forces delivered six demolition orders to Palestinians in the village of al-Tirah, south-west of Ramallah. The head of the village council, Abdel-Jaber Mohamed, said Occupation Forces stormed the village and handed the demolition orders to the residents of six homes under the pretext they were built “without permission in Area C.”
Reports: Israel Threatened Paralyze Abbas’ Movement in West Bank Over Ending ‘security coordination’ Israel has threatened to prevent Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority security services from travelling around the occupied West Bank if they ceased security coordination with Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported. Israel’s Kan news agency said since the Palestinians stopped security coordination with Israel about two weeks ago, the heads of the Palestinian security services issued instructions to their personnel not to engage in confrontations with occupation forces and to reduce their night activities in the cities.
Domestic Policy
“MADA” Organizes a Panel Discussion on Self-Censorship The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms “MADA” organized a digital panel discussion on self-censorship. Participants in the meeting stressed the need to work to provide a legal environment that protects journalists from prosecutions in connection with their professional work. Mousa Rimawi, Director General of “MADA” Center, said that self-censorship is the most dangerous form of censorship, explaining that its roots go back to the years of the occupation that preceded the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority, when direct censorship was severe during carrying out the press work.
Al-Aqsa Mosque Reopens After COVID-19 Closure After more than two months of closure, al-Aqsa Mosque has been reopened. Worshippers have been asked to wear face masks and bring their prayer mats. Preparations were underway for days and Omar Kiswani, Director of al-Aqsa, stated that the importance of hygiene in Islam has helped them open earlier than some might have thought.
Abu Sitta: Elections Must Be Held for Palestinian National Council Chairman of the General Assembly of the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad and founder of the Palestine Land Society, Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, yesterday called for the Palestinian National Council to be dissolved and for new members to be elected. Abu Sitta also called on three hundred Palestinian personalities and popular forces from around the world to develop the first draft of an action plan to save the Palestinian national project.
Netanyahu: Palestinians in Annexed Jordan Valley Will Not Be Given Rights As Israelis Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Palestinians must fulfil “ten difficult conditions” before they obtain their own “entity” as defined by US President Donald Trump’s so-called “peace plan,” including recognizing Jerusalem as a unified capital of Israel, giving up the Right of Return, and more. Asked if Palestinians in the Jordan Valley will receive Israeli citizenship should Israel annex the area in July, Netanyahu replied flatly, “No…but Israeli security control will apply.”
Fatah: Palestinians Will Face Israel’s Annexation Plan with An Intifada Senior Fatah member and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabeel Shaath said yesterday that Palestinians would face Israel’s plans to annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank with an intifada, al-Mujtama magazine reported.
Four New Cases of COVID-19, One of Them in Gaza The Ministry of Health on Thursday announced the registration of four new cases of COVID-19, raising the total of cases in Palestine to 640. In a statement, Minister of Health, Dr. May AlKaila confirmed that three cases were recorded in the town of Barta’a, southwest of Jenin, northern West Bank. The fourth case was for a sixty-three-year-old citizen from the Gaza Strip.
President Abbas Extends State of Emergency For 30 More Days Over Coronavirus President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree extending the state of emergency for thirty more days starting 4 June amidst the coronavirus outbreak in the occupied territories. This the fourth month for the state of emergency in the West Bank since the outbreak of corona in early March.
Israel: Arab MK Tests Positive For Coronavirus Sami Abu Shehadeh, a member of the National Democratic Assembly in the Joint List, announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus last night, but said he is feeling well, reported Arab News. The Knesset said non-essential staff have been asked to stay home.
Foreign Policy
COVID-19 Forces Cancellation of pro-Israel Conference in US The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee has cancelled its 2021 conference due to COVID-19. AIPAC President Betsy Korn sent an email to supporters citing “no predictable avenue” for the infamous conference to safely take place in 2021.
Saudi Arabia in ‘secret’ Talks With Israel Over Control of Al-Aqsa Israel and Saudi Arabia have reportedly engaged in secret meetings since last December, regarding including Saudi representatives in the Islamic Waqf Council at the al-Aqsa Compound in Jerusalem. The talks have reportedly taken place within the context of US President Donald Trump’s controversial Israel-Palestine plan, known colloquially as the “deal of the century,” the diplomats said.
Hamas Spokesman Condemns Killing of Floyd, Eyad Hallaq Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, said that both the Israeli police’s killing of autistic Palestinian Eyad Hallaq and the US police’s killing of George Floyd reflect the culture of hatred and racism that these agencies were built on. He went on, “These dangerous policies … need to be exposed and stood up to by all the free people of the world, and by the defenders of freedom and human dignity.”
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Israeli Settlers Destroy Property, Kick Farmers Out of Their Land in West Bank Suleiman Malihat, a Fatah official, told WAFA that an armed settler razed 350 dunums of lands in order to build a wall that separates the dwelling from an illegal Israeli settlement outpost. Meanwhile, settlers forced farmers out of their lands in the village of Kisan, to the east of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Israeli Army Secures Site Inside Palestinian City For Settlers’ ‘visit’ The Israeli army secured early this morning a site known as Joseph’s Tomb, inside the Palestinian-controlled northern West Bank city of Nablus, to allow dozens of settlers easy and secure access to the site, said Palestinian security sources. Nevertheless, Palestinians confronted the soldiers and settlers and pelted them with stones. The soldiers fired tear gas at the Palestinians causing several suffocation cases, said the sources.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
We Can’t Breathe Until We’re Free! Palestinians Stand in Solidarity With Black Americans The BDS movement calls on Palestine solidarity activists in the US and elsewhere to stand with the Movement for Black Lives and other Black-led organizations in their righteous struggle for justice. In a statement by the Palestine BDS National Committee, the Committee calls out the United States’ genocide of Indigenous nations and systemic anti-Black racism while encouraging those active in the BDS movement to support the current uprisings in US cities.
#WeAreUnderApartheid: Exclude the Complicit Jerusalem Film Festival From We Are One Filmmakers, Palestinian rights groups and cultural organizations as part of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel urge participating filmmakers to withdraw from the Jerusalem Film Festival “We Are One.” They have also called on Tribeca Enterprises to exclude the Jerusalem Film Festival from the We Are One film festival, and “urge conscientious filmmakers to withdraw if it does not, due to Jerusalem Film Festival’s blatant complicity in Israel’s human rights violations and its role in artwashing those violations.”
Law
ICC Seeks Clarification From Palestinian Authority Regarding Ending Agreements With Israel The International Criminal Court has requested clarifications from the Palestinian Authority regarding its decision to end all agreements with Israel in light of the latter’s decision to annex a large part of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Pompeo: US to Target ICC to Stop War Crime Investigations US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday that the Trump administration will be releasing a series of announcements against the International Criminal Court “in the coming days”, reported The Times of Israel. The ICC in the Hague is also currently weighing whether to open separate criminal investigations into the “situation in Afghanistan,” which could see UK and US troops tried for war crimes.
Environment, Economy, and Other
UN Paper Calls For Action to Avert Palestinian Economic Collapse; Warns Against Unilateral Moves that Can Trigger Conflict And Instability In a newly published paper, the United Nations argues that the COVID-19 emergency underscores the inadequacy of the frameworks governing the economic and administrative relationships between Israel and Palestine. The paper notes that any move by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank or any Palestinian withdrawal from bilateral agreements would dramatically shift local dynamics and most likely trigger conflict and instability in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinian Economy Struggles as Coronavirus Inflicts Losses An abrupt decline in economic activities and pressure on the Palestinian Authority’s finances have placed Palestinian livelihoods at high risks, as the impact of the coronavirus continues to hit the economy hard.
Israel Puts the Entire Palestinian Banking System on Notice As of 29 May, as far as the Israeli books are concerned, any Israeli soldier has the right to enter any Palestinian bank and confiscate funds that are claimed to be associated with particular bank accounts. Israel is demanding that Palestinian banks close the accounts of unnamed Palestinians which they have blacklisted.
Video: Vertical Farming in Gaza Strawberry cultivation is one of the most important agricultural sectors in the Gaza Strip. When Israel’s thirteen-year-old siege does not stand in the way, Gaza farmers sometimes ship strawberries to the occupied West Bank, Israel and Europe. Thanks to Haneen Abu Daqqa’s innovative farm, the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza is almost self-sufficient in strawberries. She is the first woman in southern Gaza to manage a vertical farm for strawberries.
US University Establishes Chair in Palestinian Studies Named After Poet Darwish A major Ivy League university in the United States has become the first in the country to appoint a faculty chair in Palestinian studies. Rhode Island’s Brown University announced this week that the position will be named after the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. This chair is the first of its kind at a major research university.