2020-02-17: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-17). Israeli aircraft flies over Sudan for 1st time amid 'warming ties' — Netanyahu. rt.com An Israeli aircraft has flown through Sudanese airspace for the first time, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He described the development as another example of warming ties between the formally hostile states. | Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which supported hardline Islamists — including, for a period, Al Qaeda — during the rule of President Omar al-Bashir, AFP said. Bashir was ousted by the army last April following months of mass anti-government demonstrations. | "The first Israeli airplane passed yesterday over the skies of Sudan. This is quite a change," Netanyahu t…

Juan Cole (2020-02-17). Netanyahu Boasts He Destroyed Free Speech in America. truthdig.com This piece originally appeared on Israeli caretaker prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption and is facing an election soon, just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine first amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel. | Anti-boycott laws of the Old South were used against Martin Luther King, Jr. and other activists in the Civil Rights movement to keep Afric…

Evelyn Leopold (2020-02-17). How the UN's Middle East Peace Plan Was Trounced by Its Own Members. counterpunch.org Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has delivered a dramatic condemnation of the U.S.-drafted Middle East peace plan. No country, except Israel, has approved of the proposals at any public forum. Still, several nations around the world want the Palestinians to use the plan as a means of reopening negotiations with Israel by presenting its own vision.

Juan Cole (2020-02-17). Netanyahu Boasts That He Destroyed Free Speech in America. truthdig.com This piece originally appeared on Israeli caretaker prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption and is facing an election soon, just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine First Amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel. | Anti-boycott laws of the Old South were used against Martin Luther King Jr. and other activists in the civil rights movement to keep Africa…

RT (2020-02-17). 'Blame it on Hamas': IDF posts bathroom selfie of young woman, Twitter laughs at claims it's part of cyber warfare. rt.com The IDF posted what appeared to be a bathroom selfie of a young woman on its social media accounts and, while it claimed…

Miko Peled (2020-02-17). How Trump's "Peace" Plan Will Redraw Israel's Borders to Exclude to Non-Jews. globalresearch.ca Trump's new Middle East "Peace" Plan will redraw Israeli borders to exclude towns with large populations of Arab citizens, an attempt, writes Miko Peled, to force them down the totem pole to a place where their rights will be even …

Juan Cole (2020-02-17). Israel's Netanyahu boasts of having Destroyed US 1st Amendment and Free Speech. zcomm.org etanyahu just boasted that his ministry of strategic affairs has managed to undermine first amendment protections for free speech in the United States by lobbying state legislatures to pass laws forbidding the boycott of Israel…

Brett Wilkins (2020-02-17). UN Publishes List of Companies Profiting from Israel's Illegal Settlements in Palestine. globalresearch.ca After years of unexplained delays, the United Nations this week released a list of over 100 companies with ties to illegal Israeli settler colonies in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. | In a

Ali Harb (2020-02-17). How AIPAC Is Losing Bipartisan Support in Washington. globalresearch.ca "A true friend of Israel." These were the words Barack Obama used Standing in front of thousands of attendees in Washington, Obama, who was …

Peter Cohen (2020-02-17). Time to Retire the "He Can't Beat Trump" Trope. counterpunch.org Now that polls show Bernie Sanders the clear front-runner in this race, leading the pack by 8 points and ready to win New Hampshire, it's time to clear up one of the main Corporate Media myths about him: that "he can't beat Trump." First, pro-Israel fanatics like Alan Dershowitz and propagandists for the Corporate State

WSWS (2020-02-17). YIVO Institute for Jewish research in New York fires all its librarians. wsws.org Many of the YIVO library's 400,000 books, newspapers and documents have been rescued from Nazi barbarism, and are indispensable for the study of European Jewish history before the Second World War, the Holocaust and the pre-war revolutionary movement of the Eastern European working class.

The Canary (2020-02-16). Benny Gantz says he will lead Israeli government without Benjamin Netanyahu. thecanary.co Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz has vowed to form a government that will include neither indicted prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the predominantly Arab parties in Parliament.In a series of TV interviews two weeks before national elections, Mr Gantz looked to project confidence that the March 2 vote will provide the decisive outcome that eluded the two previous elections last year.Mr Gantz's Blue and White party is currently polling ahead of Mr Netanyahu's Likud, although neither appears to have a clear path to a parliamentary majority required to form a coalition government.Mr Gantz laid out two pote…

IMEMC News (2020-02-16). Israeli Soldiers Chase Palestinian Shepherds In Northern Plains. imemc.org Israeli soldiers chased, Sunday, many Palestinian shepherds in the al-Borj area, in the Northern Plains of the occupied West Bank. Human rights activist Aref Daraghma stated that the soldiers attacked and chased many Palestinian shepherds, and forced them out of grazing lands. He added that the attack comes just two …

Philip Giraldi (2020-02-16). American Citizens Killed and Tortured by Israel? globalresearch.ca One of the principal functions of a United States Embassy overseas is to provide citizen services, which includes coming to the assistance of Americans who are treated badly by the local government. It is a responsibility that most embassies take …

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-02-16). US Administration Names Panel for West Bank Annexation. imemc.org The US government has appointed members of a committee tasked with mapping out areas of the occupied West Bank that Israel plans to annex as part of President Donald Trump's self-proclaimed "Deal of the Century." A senior Trump administration official told Israel Hayom daily that US ambassador to Israel David …

teleSUR (2020-02-16). Israel Sure Friendly ICC Members Will Block Palestine Probe. telesurenglish.net Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Sunday "efforts" by friendly states to block the International Criminal Court (ICC) from launching an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by his country against the Palestinians in their occupied territories. | RELATED: | Netanyahu told his cabinet that countries had responded to Israeli lobbying over the launching of the investigation. | "We are strugglin…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-02-16). Wounded Jerusalem Child In Critical Condition After Suffering Hemorrhaging in The Brain. imemc.org The family of the wounded Palestinian child, identified as Malek Issa, only eight years of age, has reported that their son is in a critical condition at Hadassah Medical Center, after an Israeli soldier shot him with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the head, in occupied Jerusalem, leading to hemorrhaging …

IMEMC News (2020-02-16). Army Fires Missiles Into Gaza, Revoke Permits And Reduce Fishing Zone. imemc.org Israeli soldiers fired, on Saturday night after midnight, a few missiles into a site in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, causing damage, after the army claimed that two shells were fired from the coastal region. The army also revoked the permits of 500 merchants in addition to reducing the …

Staff (2020-02-16). Israel's Gantz Vows to Form Government Without Netanyahu. truthdig.com JERUSALEM — Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz is vowing to form a government that will include neither the indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor the predominantly Arab parties in Parliament. | In a series of TV interviews two weeks before national elections, Gantz looked to project confidence that the March 2 vote will provide the decisive outcome that eluded the two previous elections last year. | Gantz's Blue and White party is currently polling ahead of Netanyahu's Likud, although neither appears to have a clear path to a parliamentary majority required to form a coalition government. | Gant…

IMEMC News & Agencies (2020-02-16). Amazon Forcing Palestinians to Identify as Israelis to Qualify for Free Shipping. imemc.org Global ecommerce web giant Amazon has been accused of discriminating against Palestinians by offering free shipping to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, but not to Palestinians living in the same area. In findings released in an investigation by the Financial Times, the newspaper discovered that by taking all of …

IMEMC News (2020-02-16). Updated: Soldiers Abduct Eight Palestinians, Search Homes And Stores, In West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, on Saturday at night and earlier Sunday, at least eight Palestinians from several parts of the occupied West Bank. Several army jeeps invaded Beit Fajjar town, south of Bethlehem, searched many homes and abducted three young men, identified as Mousa Hatem Deeriyya, Tareq Eqab Deeriyya, and Ahmad …

IMEMC News (2020-02-16). Soldiers Abduct Seven Palestinians In Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, Sunday, seven Palestinians, including children and one woman, in occupied East Jerusalem. The soldiers invaded Be'er Ayyoub neighborhood in Silwan town, searched homes and abducted Sinan 'Awwad, 17, in addition to Abdullah Taha, 17. The soldiers later abducted a child, identified as Orabi Gheith, 14 years of …

IMEMC News (2020-02-16). Soldiers Bulldoze Palestinian Lands In Nablus. imemc.org Israeli soldiers bulldozed, Sunday, privately-owned Palestinian lands in Burin village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors Israel's illegal colonialist activities in northern West Bank, said the soldiers bulldozed and uprooted the lands in Ein al-Jiniyya area, in Jabal Salam …

teleSUR (2020-02-16). EU Nations Push for Bloc's Recognition of State of Palestine. telesurenglish.net A group of European Union (EU) countries led by Luxembourg is planning to present Monday to the EU's foreign affairs ministers, an initiative for the recognition of the state of Palestine by the bloc‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã, Haaretz reported Sunday. | RELATED: | Luxembourg's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Asselborn has already discussed t…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-02-16). Fatah Warns Germany and Czech Republic Against "Standing in the Way of Justice" imemc.org The Fatah movement, on Friday, called on both Germany and the Czech Republic in particular to rescind their requests to become an "amicus curiae" with the intention to argue that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian Territories. In a statement, Fatah's spokesperson, Jamal Nazzal, …

RT (2020-02-15). With Sanders surging in the polls, Israel lobby spends big bucks to sink his chances in Nevada. rt.com After emerging as the Democratic frontrunner in wake of Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, Bernie Sanders heads to Nevada leading in polls but facing new opposition: the Israel lobby and its vast cash reserves. | Despite being pipped at…

Brett Wilkins (2020-02-15). UN Publishes List of Companies Profiting from Israel's Illegal Settlements in Palestine. commondreams.org Prominent international critics have called Israel's Jews-only settlements, as well as segregated roads and other infrastructure, a form of apartheid. (Photo: The West Bank settlement of Givat Zeev is pictured in late December, 2016) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/west-bank-settlement_0.jpg

RT (2020-02-14). Anti-BDS laws are meant to censor & control speech, journalist Abby Martin tells RT after suing Georgia govt over cancelled talk. rt.com Barred from speaking at a public university over her refusal to sign a pledge of allegiance to Israel, journalist Abby Martin is now suing the state of Georgia, arguing its anti-BDS legislation sets fire to the First Amendment. | Slated to give a keynote talk at a media literacy conference at Georgia Southern University later this month, Martin was asked to sign what amounts to a loyalty oath to the State of Israel, mandated under a 2016 Georgia law barring the government from hiring contractors who boycott Israeli products or associate with the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Martin t…

Staff (2020-02-14). Rep. Rashida Tlaib: Trump's "Racist" Plan Would Legalize the Theft of Palestinian Land. democracynow.org We continue our conversation with Congressmember Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress. She responds to President Trump's Middle East plan, under which Israel would gain sovereignty over large areas of the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem would be under total Israeli control, and all Jewish settlers in the occupied territory would be allowed to remain in their homes. Tlaib says the plan was formulated with a "racist lens" that ignores Palestinian lives and aspirations. Tlaib says she wants people "to know what the human impact is of taking people's land, taking people's…

Whitney Webb (2020-02-14). NYC Taxpayers Spending Millions on Cyber Center with Controversial Ties to Israeli Intelligence. mintpressnews.com New York City taxpayers are on the hook for a multi-million dollar cyber center in the heart of Manhattan with deep ties to Israel's high-tech intelligence apparatus.

Staff (2020-02-13). Headlines for February 13, 2020. democracynow.org Attorney General William Barr to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee, Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus Skyrocket in Hubei, China, Bloomberg Would Pay Billions Less Under His Tax Plan Than Sanders', U.N. Releases List of 100 Companies Linked to Israeli-Occupied West Bank Settlements, Mexico: Outrage over Murder of 25-Year-Old Ingrid Escamilla, Former Guatemalan Presidential Candidate Sentenced to 15 Years by U.S. Court, 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill May Have Been 30% Bigger Than Thought, New York Has Highest Number of Premature Deaths from Out-of-State Air Pollution, El Paso Walmart Shooter Pleads Not Guilty…

Staff (2020-02-12). Headlines for February 12, 2020. democracynow.org Bernie Sanders Wins New Hampshire Primary, Andrew Yang and Michael Bennet Drop Out of Presidential Race, Federal Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case Amid Fight with DOJ Officials, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Rejects Trump's Middle East Plan in U.N. Speech, Trump Conditionally Approves Peace Deal with the Taliban, WHO Warns Coronavirus Poses "Grave Threat" to World, Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó Heckled and Protested Upon Return to Venezuela, Report: 40% of Guatemalan, Honduran & Salvadoran Migrants Fled After Relatives Killed, WSJ: ICE & CPB Use Cellphone Location Data from Games, Apps to Arrest Immigrants,…

Whitney Webb (2020-02-12). Gruesome Details Emerge of Israel's Torture of Palestinian Prisoners. mintpressnews.com One prisoner was hospitalized for kidney failure and 11 broken ribs. Another had his genitals bitten by a security dog while a third man was left wheelchair-bound and unrecognizable.

news.un (2020-02-11). UN underlines need for dialogue to resolve Israel-Palestine conflict. news.un.org Rising tensions and instability across the globe, particularly in the Middle East, underscore the need to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, the UN Secretary-General told the Security Council on Tuesday.

Staff (2020-02-10). "Our Very Existence Is the Resistance": An Hour w/ AOC, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib & Ilhan Omar. democracynow.org On Friday, Democracy Now! co-host Nermeen Shaikh sat down for a rare joint interview with the Squad, the group of four freshmen Democratic congresswomen who have taken Capitol Hill by storm: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Omar and Tlaib are the first Muslim women elected to Congress. Omar is a former refugee from Somalia, and Tlaib is the first female Palestinian-American member of Congress. Ayanna Pressley is the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Ocasio-Cortez was just 29 years old w…

pip.hinman (2020-02-10). Activists oppose Trump's 'deal' on Palestine. greenleft.org.au

Middle East Eye (2020-02-07). Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes. theantimedia.com Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."

Ramzy Baroud (2020-02-02). On the Road to Gaza: The Freedom Flotilla Will Sail Again. zcomm.org True solidarity should aim at forcing Israel to end the protracted occupation and siege on the Palestinian people…

CounterSpin (2020-01-31). Omar Baddar on Israel/Palestine 'Peace' Plan, Rainey Reitman on Greenwald Persecution. fair.org MP3 Link This week on CounterSpin: It is strange to think that you could create a plan to shape the relationship between two entities, in consultation with one but not the other, and then not just declare it, yourself, a "win-win," but also say to the unconsulted party, "You better take it, or else." Yet …