[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
Israeli Warplanes Launch Fresh Airstrike in Gaza On Sunday, August 9, the Israeli military’s warplanes have launched a fresh air raid against the positions of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip. The latest attack was carried out after two small fires that started hours earlier in southern parts of the occupied territories due to explosive-laden balloons sent from Gaza.
Palestinian Woman Killed by Israeli Fire during West Bank Clash A Palestinian woman has died of a gunshot wound after being shot near the site of clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli troops in the illegally occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said. Twenty-three-year-old Dalia Samudi was in her home when she was hit by a live round which wounded her. She was rushed to a local hospital where she died in intensive care.
Palestinian Child Jailed by Israel has Coronavirus A Palestinian child imprisoned by Israel has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, amid an outbreak in Israeli detention centers. Israel arrested the fifteen-year-old from his home in the Jalazone refugee camp, near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, on 23 July. This is the first known case of a Palestinian child detainee contracting the virus.
Palestinians Forced to Demolish their own Home in Jerusalem On Monday, August 3, Israeli Occupation Forces forced the Abu Sbeih family to demolish their home in the Ain Al-Loza neighborhood of Silwan town, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli Occupation Forces ordered the demolition of the house under the context of no building permit.
Israeli Forces Seize Three Water Pumps in Hebron-area Town On Monday, August 10, Israeli Forces seized three water pumps in the town of Beit Ummar, to the north of the occupied southern West Bank city of Hebron, said a local source.
Domestic Policy
For Gaza Patients, Uncertainty over Israeli Permits is a Matter of Life and Death Palestinian patients from Gaza must engage with an Israeli permit regime simply to leave Gaza for treatment. According to the World Health Organization, over two thousand permit applications are usually submitted each month on behalf of medical patients to exit Gaza, around a third of whom are cancer patients. From January to May 2020, thirty-three percent of those applications were rejected.
Palestinians as Ghosts: How Israel’s Education System Normalizes Occupation A study finds that while some high school textbooks touch on Israel's control of the West Bank, students are taught little to nothing about its true nature. Israeli students learn that the reality of occupation — holding millions of Palestinians under perpetual military rule — is neither out of the ordinary nor especially deserving of students’ attention. They are taught that this is something Israelis can live with.
Gantz Hints that Siege May be Lifted if Hamas Returns Soldiers’ Remains Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz has hinted that the government could basically lift the siege of Gaza if the remains of soldiers held by Hamas in the territory are returned, the Times of Israel has reported.
Coronavirus: Largest Palestinian Hospital in Jerusalem Faces Closure Jerusalem's 'hospital of the poor' is witnessing its worst financial crisis in decades, doctors tell Middle East Eye. Since its establishment in 1968, the al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital has worked hard to meet the medical needs of Palestinians hailing from the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, becoming an integral part of the Palestinian health care system. However, due to a myriad of factors, including Covid-19 related closures and a halt in security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, patients from these areas who normally need an Israeli army-issued medical permit to access Jerusalem have been unable to reach the hospital.
‘A Rare Chance’: Palestinians Cross Breach in Separation Barrier to Enjoy the Sea Thousands of Palestinian families are traveling through large holes in the West Bank barrier to visit the coast, while the Israeli army largely turns a blind eye. These mass crossings, which have been taking place as Israeli soldiers look on, coincided with the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha that began on July 30. Israel did not issue holiday permits this year ostensibly due to the COVID-19 crisis, but the breach in the separation barrier meant that Palestinians were still able to go to the coast — usually off-limits to them — to mark the holiday.
Israel Closes Crucial Gaza BorderIsrael has closed one of the main crossing into the Gaza Strip, citing the launch of incendiary balloons from the besieged enclave. Kerem Shalom is one of three main Gaza border crossings with Israel and Egypt, but it is where most goods pass through daily.Foreign Policy
Israel, Destroyer of Lebanon, Poses as its Savoir Israel announced it was offering Lebanon humanitarian aid through diplomatic channels. The offers of “humanitarian” aid come from the same country that has killed and injured tens of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians and regularly threatens to destroy Lebanon’s civilian infrastructure as it has done time and again.
Tel Aviv’s Flag Show Can’t Cover Up Israel’s Role in Lebanon’s Crisis In what has been widely-touted as a rare moment of compassion between warring neighbors, the Tel Aviv Municipality lit up city hall on Wednesday night in the colors of the Lebanese flag, following a devastating explosion in Beirut allegedly caused by an accident at a chemical storage at the city’s port. Many Palestinians — as well as many Lebanese on social media — were angered by the move, describing it as a brazen act of Israeli hypocrisy.
Report: Biden Personally Intervened to get the Word ‘Occupation’ Removed from the Democratic Party Platform A report from Foreign Policy claims that Joe Biden personally intervened to make sure the word “occupation” was omitted from the Democratic Party platform. According to three sources familiar with the discussions, Biden’s move came after heavy pressure from pro-Israel groups. Aides of the presumptive Democratic nominee also called progressive delegates and encouraged them to drop the demand for occupation language.
Palestinian-American Congresswoman Wins Primary Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has defeated an establishment Democratic primary challenger, claiming victory Wednesday against Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, Anadolu reports. Tlaib is one of the first two Muslim women elected to the US Congress.
Ireland MP: Airbnb Deliberately advertising West Bank Homes as ‘in Israel’ A Green Party member of parliament in Ireland has filed a complaint against online accommodation and tourism giant AirBnB for listing holiday homes in the occupied West Bank as being in Israel, reported Irish Examiner.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Palestinians Escape into Caves After Being Displaced Due to Israeli Settlement Expansion It has been a year since Monzer Abu Arram, was forced to move into a mountain of Hebron, West Bank, after being displaced due to the Israeli settlement expansion. The Palestinian man from the West Bank town of Khibet Jinba lives in a cave with his family members after Israeli army demolished their house.
Emboldened by Promises of Annexation, Israeli Settler Attacks Soared in July Almost every day since July 1st has seen reports of settler attacks and incursions on Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank. Notably, a significant portion of the recorded incidents relate to settlers attempting to seize new pieces of land or establish new outposts in the West Bank.
Palestinian Village Farasin Defiant Despite Threats of Being Wiped Off the Map The tiny West Bank village has been hit with a series of demolition orders from Israeli authorities - but residents say they are going nowhere. Over the past year and a half, Israeli authorities have ordered the demolition, evacuation, or construction freeze on every single of the thirty-six structures in Farasin.
Dozens of Israeli Settlers Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque Dozens of Israeli extremist settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Monday, August 10, and performed Talmudic prayers in the mosque’s eastern part. Palestinian eyewitnesses said the settlers were led by radical Rabbi Yehuda Glick under the Israeli forces’ protection after they entered through the Al-Mughrabi Gate. Muslim worshippers were prevented from entry at the time.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
Cori Bush was Smeared for Defending the BDS Movement. She Ousted a Longtime Incumbent Anyway. Cori Bush, a forty-four-year-old nurse, and Black Lives Matter activist, has ousted longtime incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. She is expected to prevail in November, making her first Black woman to represent the state in Congress. Days before the election, Clay’s team sent out a mailer that smeared Bush for defending the BDS movement and accused her of having an “anti-Israel agenda.”
Israel Extends Detention of BDS Coordinator Mahmoud Nawajaa Israeli authorities extended the detention of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activist Mahmoud Nawajaa for fifteen more days over the weekend, in addition to holding him without charge and denying him the right to see his lawyer.
Palestinian Protestors Urge Israel to Free Boycott Activist Dozens of Palestinians protested outside the German diplomatic office in the West Bank on Tuesday, August 11, seeking to draw attention to Israel’s arrest of a leading coordinator of the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel. Mahmoud Nawajaa was arrested on July 30 and remains in Israeli custody. He has not been charged.
Law and Prisons
ANALYSIS: How Will Annexation Change the Legal Landscape in the West Bank? Israel’s planned annexation of West Bank land is on hold, for now at least. If and when it takes place, annexation will in all likelihood take the form of a law extending Israeli sovereignty to certain areas of occupied territory. In reality, Israeli law and administration has been implemented throughout the occupied West Bank to varying degrees in a process of creeping annexation since 1967.
Israel Arrests 11 Palestinians, Raids House of Hamas Leaders Israeli Occupation Forces yesterday, August 11, arrested eleven Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, raided the house of Hamas leader Hassan Yousef and handed him a summons to the Israeli intelligence office, Quds Press reported. According to an Israeli army statement, the Palestinians who were arrested were being interrogated over their participation in the popular resistance against illegal settlements.
500 Palestinian Prisoners have been in Israeli Jails for 15 Years More than five hundred Palestinian prisoners have been detained in Israeli prisons for fifteen years, specialist in Prisoners’ Affairs, Abdul Naser Ferwaneh, said yesterday, August 9. In a press release, Ferwaneh also said fifty Palestinian prisoners have been held in Israeli detention for more than twenty years.
Environment, Economy, and Other
A Rallying Cry for Palestinian Queer Liberation An English translation of Haneen Maikey’s, director of alQaws, speech at the rally. “We will combat all attempts to subjugate us, be it in the name of tired societal traditions or false morality. We are here today to outright reject any fear-mongering, from public threats to physical and emotional blackmailing. We will not be erased or silenced!”
Twelve Years After his Death, the Works of Poet Mahmoud Darwish are Still Being Published Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died on 9 August 2008. He was known as the poet of love, the poet of resistance and the poet of Palestine. The works of Mahmoud Darwish have been translated into at least thirty-nine languages, and many are still being published today, either on their own or as collections.
OPINION: Peter Beinart and Crisis of Liberal Zionism Some liberal Zionists are finally becoming aware of the inherent contradiction in their views on Israel and Palestine. The significance of Beinart's article does not lie in its intellectual propositions. For decades, Palestinian intellectuals have been talking about the failure of separating Palestinians from Israelis and have called for a solution based on equal rights.
LETTER: ‘I ask you for your support and solidarity’: Prof. Imad Barghouthi writes from Ofer prison Israeli authorities arrested me on July 16th, 2020 simply because of my publicly expressed opinions and social media activity. I am currently in the Ofer prison camp, located near Ramallah city. I consider this arrest to be against my right to freedom of speech which is protected by international law.
Florida Officials, Israeli Government App Bully Palestinian Student In an egregious display of anti-Palestinian racism and micromanagement by state lawmakers, Florida officials and Israel advocates are pushing to have a twenty-year-old removed as a student senate president. Their efforts are being amplified by an Israeli government-funded app that purports to be a hub for grassroots activism.