On 16 May, bulldozers demolished 20 houses in the al-Barahma neighborhood west of Rafah in the southern occupied Gaza Strip. This tragic scene has been repeated all too many times in Palestine’s history, but what made this different, and a subject of great controversy and outcry, is that it was carried out by the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA), backed by police from the Hamas government. Rami Almeghari reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza home demolitions spark anger, highlight housing crisis 

Israel faces unprecedented pressure to abandon its official policy of “ambiguity” on its possession of nuclear weapons as the international community meets at the United Nations in New York this week to consider banning such arsenals from the Middle East. Jonathan Cook analyzes. Read more about Pressure mounts on nuclear Israel 

Will recent revelations that Israel not only possesses nuclear weapons, but actually considered selling them to apartheid South Africa, cause Europe and America to rethink their relationship with Israel? The truth is that Israel already enjoys such a privileged level of access to their key institutions that any rethink is improbable — at least in the short-term. One of the most important aspects of this relationship relates to how Israel interacts with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). David Cronin analyzes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about NATO's other member state 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has lately made a show of calling on Palestinians to boycott goods manufactured in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Despite the rhetoric of defiance, the effort actually appears designed to undermine and abort the broader Palestinian and global civil society campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions, and to reassure Israel of the PA’s ongoing collaboration. Ali Abunimah comments. Read more about The PA's disingenuous boycott campaign