JERUSALEM (IPS) - Under a complex twin-pronged initiative from the US and Egypt, Israel’s hard-line government is moving towards backtracking on two major planks of its policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories — resisting demands for a blanket freeze on all settlement building in the West Bank, and acquiescing in the end of its tight siege of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Read more about Egypt close to brokering Hamas-Fatah agreement
Israel’s second-largest bank will be forced to defend itself in court in the coming weeks over claims it is withholding tens of millions of dollars in “lost” accounts belonging to Jews who died in the Nazi death camps. Bank Leumi has denied it holds any such funds despite a parliamentary committee revealing in 2004 that the bank owes at least $75 million to the families of several thousand Holocaust victims. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israeli banks accused of Holocaust profiteering
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has accused the Israeli security forces of deliberately shackling Palestinian prisoners in a painful and dangerous manner, amounting to a form of torture. The report, “Shackling as a Form of Torture and Abuse,” based on the evidence of over 500 prisoners, was released in advance of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims Friday, 26 June. Read more about Report finds Israel still torturing Palestinians
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Egyptian mediators have set 7 July as deadline for final Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo. The Egyptians say time is running out, and if there is no progress in July, they will no longer be prepared to arbitrate. Continued political detention and abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Hamas in Gaza and by the Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank could, however, derail the talks before they even begin. Read more about Political arrests may derail unity talks
In what Nobel Peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel has termed “a witch hunt and an attack on democratic freedoms,” nine pro-Palestinian protesters in Argentina have been detained following a demonstration at an event celebrating Israel’s 61st anniversary. The activists have been vilified as violent anti-Semites by politicians and the television and print media, and now face up to 12 years in prison for “ideological arrogance,” under revived Juan Peron-era anti-terrorism legislation of dubious constitutionality. Hugh Harkin reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Argentina case threatens to criminalize criticism of Israel
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Forty international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations have released a joint statement condemning Israel’s blockade of Gaza, to mark the second anniversary of the coastal territory being hermetically sealed off from the outside world. “We, United Nations and non-governmental humanitarian organizations, express deepening concern over Israel’s continued blockade of the Gaza Strip which has now been in force for two years.” Read more about Aid agencies slam Gaza blockade
Africa-Israel is the latest target of a boycott campaign by Palestine solidarity activists because of the company’s involvement in the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. American and European financial institutions hold a substantial stake in Africa-Israel Investment, investigations reveal. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Africa-Israel under scrutiny for settlement construction
GAZACITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - “Biddun mey, fish heyya,” they say in Arabic for a universal truth: “Without water, there is no life.” While diminishing water resources are a global concern, in Palestine the struggle for water is not against global warming or multinational corporations, but for access to water, and against contamination of what precious resources there are. Read more about Attack on water brings sanitation crisis
A couple of months ago I had the great pleasure of watching Palestinians successfully graze their sheep near Avigail settlement, on land where they are regularly attacked and harassed. The joy I felt in watching my friends and partners grazing their sheep on their ancestral lands was overwhelming. Sitting on the hill and eating lunch together felt like having a party. Joy Ellison writes from Hebron. Read more about Nonviolent resistance in the south Hebron hills
Israel is currently using provisions in the lengthy documents of the Oslo accords as the legal basis for intensifying efforts to suppress activities in Jerusalem that the state says are linked to the Palestinian Authority. The latest examples of this crackdown were closure orders delivered last month at the opening and closing sessions of this year’s annual Palestine Festival of Literature. Marian Houk reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Israel's efforts to suppress Palestinian activities in Jerusalem
