2020-12-11: News Headlines

Ramzy Baroud (2020-12-11). 'Long Live the (Dead) Peace Process'. zcomm.org Abbas Prioritizes US Ties over Palestinian National Unity…

Staff (2020-12-11). U.S. Recognizes Morocco's Occupation of Western Sahara in Latest Betrayal of Sahrawi People. democracynow.org We continue to examine the U.S.-brokered deal between Morocco and Israel to normalize relations. As part of the deal, the U.S. will become the first country in the world to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, which Morocco has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the international community. We convene a roundtable to discuss developments: Mouloud Said, a representative of the Polisario Front in Washington; Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and international studies at the University of San Francisco; and Sahrawi journalist and activist Nazha El-Khalidi.

Areeb Ullah (2020-12-11). Which Middle Eastern and North African countries have normalised relations with Israel? middleeasteye.net Which Middle Eastern and North African countries have normalised relations with Israel? | Morocco joins a handful of countries in the region to have made official diplomatic relations with Israel | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 14: 30 | Egypt under President Anwar Sadat – pictured here left, shaking hands with then-Israeli Premier Menachem Begin in front of US President Jimmy Carter – became the first Arab country i…

Workers World Party (2020-12-11). PDF of December 10 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. Capitalist COVID catastrophe FIGHT or DIE! Message from Peltier; Reparations now! Justice for Breonna denied again; Disability rights; Workers demand justice; DEA surveillance; Editorial: New president — same wars; Commentary: Becoming a cadre; GLOBAL: China: global vaccines, science; India: worker & farmer uprising; Cuba; France; Palestine; Venezuela. . . . |

Lily Galili (2020-12-11). Israeli politicians trying new Arab-Jewish partnerships in bid for success. middleeasteye.net Israeli politicians trying new Arab-Jewish partnerships in bid for success | On the left and right, parties are making overtures to the country's Palestinian community in anticipation of a fourth election in Israel – but can the gap be bridged? | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 12: 25 | A Palestinian citizen of Israel arrives at a polling station decorated with portraits of Israeli politicians to cast his ballot for t…

Yasmina Allouche (2020-12-11). Israel-Morocco normalisation deal condemned online. middleeasteye.net Israel-Morocco normalisation deal condemned online | Using the hashtag 'Moroccans Against Normalisation', many have blasted the deal as a loss for Sahrawis and Palestinians alike | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 15: 05 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Morocco's King Mohammed VI. The countries have shared nearly six decades of close cooperation on intelligence and military matters in secr…

MEE and agencies (2020-12-11). Israel normalisation: What Morocco gets in return. middleeasteye.net Israel normalisation: What Morocco gets in return | As Morocco becomes the fourth Arab country to normalise ties with Israel, MEE looks at the likely gains for the North African nation | Fri, 12/11/2020 – 13: 07 | Moroccan and Israeli flags. Recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara has been described as a 'gift' to the North African country from the outgoing US administrati…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-11). Sahrawis condemn US recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. peoplesdispatch.org In return of US recognition of its rights over Western Sahara, Morocco has agreed to "normalize" its relations with Israel. The United Nations and the majority of the world does not recognize Moroccan claims of sovereignty over the territory.

WSWS (2020-12-11). US B-52 bombers threaten Iran for second time in three weeks. wsws.org These massive warplanes used to devastate Vietnam half a century ago have been deployed amid mounting US and Israeli war threats and provocations against Iran.

Sai Englert (2020-12-10). Limiting Criticism of Israel, Britain Is Closing Down Academic Freedom? globalresearch.ca In October, British Education Secretary Gavin Williamson It is worth remembering that …

Belén Fernández (2020-12-10). Israel's Honeymoon with the United Arab Emirates Is Grotesque. globalresearch.ca Since normalizing relations in September, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have teamed up to do what both do best: trample on democratic freedoms, commit atrocities, and whitewash occupation. | *** | Back in 2010, the New York Times' Thomas Friedman …

Matthew Rozsa (2020-12-10). Why do smart people lie about alien encounters?>. salon.com An Israeli Defense Minister joins a cadre of politically respectable people with specious claims of meeting E.T.

MEE staff (2020-12-09). Israeli 'anti-terrorism' lawyer was convicted over attacks on Palestinians. middleeasteye.net Israeli 'anti-terrorism' lawyer was convicted over attacks on Palestinians | Aviel Leitner, who works for Shurat HaDin, was jailed over 1980s attacks linked to far-right Kach party in East Jerusalem and West Bank | Wed, 12/09/2020 – 16: 54 | Aviel Leitner (L) pictured next to Israeli Minister of Public Security Amir Ohana (C) and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner at a Shurat HaDin conference in February 2020 (Facebook)…

Sheren Khalel (2020-12-09). Top Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi quits PLO amid rumours of rift. middleeasteye.net Top Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi quits PLO amid rumours of rift | Calls speculation 'misleading and irresponsible' that her resignation was caused by Palestinian Authority's resumption of coordination with Israel | Wed, 12/09/2020 – 18: 33 | Ashrawi served on executive committee of PLO for more than decade (AFP) | Prominent Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi has confirmed her resignation fr…

Craig Wood (2020-12-09). Those Who Don't Fear the Lobby. dissidentvoice.org With the encouragement of friends and after serving eleven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1961-1983), Congressman Paul Findley (R-IL) wrote a book, They Dare to Speak Out, about influences and pressures inside the Israeli lobby. His was the first book to point out ways the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), along with …

James O'Neill (2020-12-09). China's Rise and Rise Proves a Winning Formula. dissidentvoice.org On the second of December this year the Chinese representative to the United Nations General Assembly addressed the meeting on the topic of Palestine and more particularly on his country's view of the ongoing disasters that daily inflict the Palestinians in that country. Unsurprisingly, the speech received no coverage in the Australian media. The continued …

Media Lens (2020-12-08). Stuck in a Lift with John Pilger: News and How to Use It by Alan Rusbridger. dissidentvoice.org Noticing the way journalists seemed unable to resist commenting on our work, even if it was just to slag us off, Glenn Greenwald tweeted us in 2012: 'You are really deeper in the heads of the British establishment-serving commentariat than anyone else — congrats.' ((Greenwald, Twitter, 12 September 2012.)) If that was true then, our relationship …

Betsey Piette (2020-12-08). Palestine Writes: A labor of love. workers.org Originally scheduled to take place in New York City this March, but canceled due to the pandemic, the Palestine Writes Literature Festival aired as a virtual event on Dec. 2-6. The event brought together writers, artists, publishers, booksellers, activists and scholars for conversations about art, literature and the intersection between . . . |

CP Editor (2020-12-08). Lebanon, Hezbollah, and a US-Israeli Plan for Civil War? counterpunch.org

Shatha Hammad (2020-12-08). Killed on his birthday: Family grieves Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces. middleeasteye.net Killed on his birthday: Family grieves Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces | A few minutes before he was shot, Ali said he did not expect Israeli soldiers to target him 'because I am a little child' | Tue, 12/08/2020 – 11: 28 | Ali Abu Alia was killed by Israeli forces on 4 December in his hometown of al-Mughayir (Supplied) | When she prepared the traditional Palestinian dish of maqlouba at the…

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-08). Israel, not Iran, is problem in West Asia: Russian envoy. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 08 (MNA) — Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said on Tue. that Israel is the source of problem in West Asian region, stating that arms sales to Iran are not prohibited.