Tag Archives: Palestine

Politico Europe reports: Ireland, Spain and Norway on Wednesday said they would officially recognize Palestine as a state from next week, in a diplomatic move that triggered fury in Israel. In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris [photo] said Palestine deserved the same right to be recognized as a sovereign state that Ireland received after fighting a war of independence …

Via press release from the White House: Today, we — President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Sunak of the United Kingdom, and President Biden of the United States — express our steadfast and united support to the State of Israel, and our unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of …

Politico reports: Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday affirmed President Joe Biden’s commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, arguing that without solutions that afforded Palestinians more dignity, the cycle of violence was likely to continue. “Ultimately, it is the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, and of course the only …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has never attended an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, according to the lobbying group. In fact, his public refusal to attend last year’s conference early in his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination spurred a petition that urged other presidential candidates to steer clear of the pro-Israel lobbying group’s event. Things …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump will sign an executive order effectively defining Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, in what the White House has described as an order to combat antisemitism on US college campuses. The move has already been criticised by free speech advocates, who were concerned a broader definition of antisemitism could be used to limit …

The Associated Press reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to announce on Monday that the U.S. is softening its position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a series of Trump administration moves that weaken Palestinian claims to statehood. Pompeo plans to repudiate a 1978 State Department legal opinion that held that civilian settlements …

NBC News reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he may annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the occupied West Bank “in coordination” with the United States — a move that risks shattering the fragile status quo in the volatile region. “This is a historic opportunity to apply sovereignty to communities in Judea and Samaria,” he …

The Times Of Israel reports: The US State Department has removed the “Palestinian Territories” from its website’s list of countries and areas in the Middle East, sparking an uproar among Palestinian officials. The current version of the website only mentions Palestinians on its page for Israel, in the context of the Trump administration’s peace efforts. Archived versions of the State …

The Jerusalem Post reports: The Palestinian Authority has banned members of the Palestinian LGBTQ community from carrying out any activities in the West Bank. The ban came after the grassroots group Al-Qaws for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, (Arabic for the bow), which engages and supports Palestinians who identify as LGBTQ, was planning to hold a gathering for …

The New York Times reports: A day after barring Representative Rashida Tlaib under pressure from President Trump, Israel said on Friday that she could visit her 90-year-old grandmother, who lives in the occupied West Bank, but only after she agreed in writing not to “promote boycotts against Israel” during her trip. But after being criticized by backers of a boycott, …

NRP reports: Israel’s interior ministry announced Friday that it would allow Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan to enter the country as a private citizen to visit her aging grandmother, reversing an earlier decision to bar her amid pressure from President Trump. The about-face on Tlaib, whose parents are Palestinian immigrants to the U.S. and who has close relatives in …

The Huffington Post reports: Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), two of Israel’s sharpest critics in Congress, have been barred from entering the country ahead of their proposed visit to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel officials announced Thursday. Israel decided to ban the freshman lawmakers in response to their support for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration on Sunday unveiled a $50 billion Palestinian investment and infrastructure proposal intended to be the economic engine to power its much-anticipated but still unreleased “deal of the century” Middle East peace plan. The scheme, which calls for a mix of public and private financing and intends to create at least a million new …

“I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be. My heart breaks every time I hear about the innocent lives that are lost in this region and the violence that is so often perpetuated to suit the political goals of people …

The Associated Press reports: Israel’s Blue and White party leaders are conceding defeat in Israel’s election, saying they will work against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the opposition. Yair Lapid, the party’s No. 2 figure, told a press conference Wednesday that though his party “did not win in this round, I respect the voters.” He said his party will …

The Jewish Forward reports: Actress Roseanne Barr will visit the Israeli Knesset in late January to speak out against the boycott, divest and sanctions movement. Barr, a pro-Israel activist, is set to tour Israel with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, founder of the World Values Network. She reportedly was invited to speak at the Knesset by Deputy Speaker Yechiel Hilik Bar and …

The Guardian reports: Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, has laid a ceremonial brick at a Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and said he might one day buy a “holiday home” there. The two-time Republican presidential hopeful and father of the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, used a cement trowel to pave a wall in the …

TIME Magazine reports: Israel’s parliament approved a controversial piece of legislation on Thursday that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people but which critics warn sidelines minorities. The government says the bill, passed in the early morning hours, will merely enshrine into law Israel’s existing character. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called its passage a “historic moment in …

The Associated Press reports: Patients with gunshot wounds filled wards and hallways in Gaza’s under-equipped and overwhelmed main hospital Tuesday, with dozens still waiting in line for surgery a day after Israeli soldiers shot and killed 59 Palestinians and wounded hundreds in mass protests on the Gaza border. The high casualty toll triggered a diplomatic backlash against Israel and new …

Reuters reports: US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley praised Israel on Tuesday for showing restraint as Palestinian militant group Hamas “has been inciting violence for years, long before the United States decided to move our embassy” to Jerusalem. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on recent deadly violence in Gaza, Haley said: “No country in this chamber would …