Daily Archives: April 20, 2020

2020-04-20: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2020-04-20). Israelis condemn Netanyahu's anti-democratic COVID-19 measures. peoplesdispatch.org Scores of Israeli citizens gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on April 19, Sunday, to participate in a 'Black Flag' protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters claim these measures are anti-democratic and violate privacy. Protesters also opposed Netanyahu's continuing as prime minister. Negotiations between Netanyahu's Likud party and the main opposition — Benny Gantz's Blue and White Alliance — reached a stalemate after no final decision could be reached regarding a potential power-sharing deal between the two. | Protesters on Sunday w…

en.mehrnews (2020-04-20). Zarif's Damascus's trip shows Iran's resolute on tackling regional issues: Palestinian official. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 20 (MNA) — A member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) says the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's visit to Damascus, amid the recent developments, shows the Islamic Republic's determination on addressing the regional challenges.

RT (2020-04-20). Israeli PM Netanyahu and rival Gantz agree to form 'unity' government to avoid another elections. rt.com Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement with rival Benny Gantz to form a "unity government," that would finally break a year of political deadlock, Israeli media has reported. | In a statement, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Gantz's centrist-liberal Blue and White party said they had agreed a unity deal following elections in September and March which saw neither side winning a large enough majority to form a government. | DETAILS TO FOLLOW…

Miko Peled (2020-04-20). From Settler Violence to Attacks on Haredi Jews, Coronavirus is Laying Israeli Attitudes Bare. mintpressnews.com The spread of coronavirus among Palestinians is dangerous to Israeli Jews, yet authorities and their various agencies continue to destroy clinics, demolish homes, and raid towns and neighborhoods rather than offer the help needed to ward off the virus.

G.N. Nithya (2020-04-20). The Occupation and the Pandemic: The Coronavirus and the Conditions of Palestinian Workers. globalresearch.ca "Colonialism is not a thinking machine, | nor a body endowed with reasoning faculties. | It is violence in its natural state…" | — Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1963) | This past month Israeli soldiers dumped a Palestinian worker at a …

en.mehrnews (2020-04-20). 'IRGC-phobia project' proof of US, Israel's wrath. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 20 (MNA) — In a statement on Monday, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran named 'IRGC-phobia' project and other unfair attacks and censure against the Iranian body a sign of US and Zionist regime's anger against it.

Ali Salam (2020-04-19). Settlers Assault Palestinian Farmers and Activist. imemc.org Israeli settlers attacked, on Saturday, several Palestinian villages in the Masafer Yatta area, in the southern occupied West Bank, physically assaulting residents, according to a local activist. Activist, Fouad Amour, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that illegal Israeli settlers attacked farmers in Khirbet al-Khrouba as they harvested their crops. Israeli …

RT (2020-04-19). Anti-Netanyahu demonstrators in Israel stage unique protest, keeping social distance (PHOTOS, VIDEOS). rt.com Israeli demonstrators turned out in droves to protest the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Mindful of the need for social distancing, they stood two meters apart from each other in a visually spectacular gathering. | Tel Aviv's Rabin Square is often a staging ground for rallies. Tens of thousands flocked to the plaza to protest police restrictions on music festivals last year, while the year before saw gay rights activists turn up to shout down a controversial surrogacy law. | | Protesters assemble in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, April 19, 2020 © AFP / Jack Guez | Sunday, however, saw a gathering unlike an…

teleSUR (2020-04-19). Israel's Anti-Netanyahu Protesters Demonstrate Despite Pandemic. telesurenglish.net Under strict COVID-19 restrictions, thousands of people in Tel Aviv, Israel, demonstrated Sunday against the possible extension of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's term under the current alliance negotiations between him and former rival Benny Gantz. | RELATED: | Wearing face masks, waving black flags as a symbol of threats against democracy, the protesters who observed the social distancing rule to fight coronavirus, called on Gantz's Blue…

Ali Salam (2020-04-19). Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Injure Three Palestinians in Kufur Qaddoum. imemc.org At least three Palestinians were injured, on Saturday, by Israeli forces as troops invaded the northern West Bank village of Kufur Qaddoum, local sources reported. Morad Eshteiwi, coordinator of the popular resistance in Kufur Qaddoum, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that the Israeli army stormed the village, provoking resistance from …

Fight Back (2020-04-19). Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners. fightbacknews.org Fight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort. | Fight Back!: How has the pandemic impacted Palestinian political prisoners? | Charlotte Kates: One of the major concerns has been the fact that Palestinian prisoners are essentially cut off from the outside world. Israel claims that its ban on family visits and legal visits are attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they are…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-19). Erekat: Majority of International Leaders Oppose Netanyahu's Colonial Plans. imemc.org Top Palestinian negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that the majority of international leaders oppose Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's colonial plans by, insisting that a two-state solution is the way out of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. During phone calls with several world leaders, that Erekat initiated, leaders unanimously …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-19). Israeli Troops Shoot, Wound Palestinian Teen in Tulkarem. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly shot and wounded a Palestinian teen, on Sunday, in northern Tulkarem city, in the occupied West Bank. Local Palestinian media sources reported that Israeli soldiers, stationed near the Israeli Apartheid Wall, west of the Shweika neighborhood of northern Tulkarem city, opened fire with live ammunition and tear-gas …

Ali Salam (2020-04-19). Israeli Settlers Assault Shepherds, Injure One. imemc.org A Palestinian shepherd was injured on Friday when illegal Israeli settlers attacked herders grazing sheep near the village of Tuwaneh, near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank a local official reported. Palestinian official, Fouad al-Amour, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that settlers, under the cover of Israeli soldiers, assaulted …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-18). Israel Imposes Fines on Palestinian Protesters in East Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli authorities in the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem, where Israel has wrestled control for five decades now, reportedly imposed on Friday many fines on Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The local Palestinian Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) reported that the fines were imposed on local Palestinians, who participate …

Zero Hedge (2020-04-18). Watch: Failed Israeli Drone Strike On Top Hezbollah Official Caught In Rare Video. iranian.com Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have once again ramped up operations along the southern Lebanese border at a moment Hezbollah leadership has declared it is "fully prepared for war with Israel". The latest escalation came Wednesday when an Israeli drone targeted a car full of Hezbollah operatives just inside Syria near the border with Lebanon. The Shia resistance organization said all …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-18). Hamas Offers Israel a Mediated Prisoner Swap Deal. imemc.org Political Leader of the ruling Islamist Hamas party in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, told the Alaraby Arabic TV channel, on Friday, that his party has four Israeli soldiers in captivity, and that the party is ready to indirectly negotiate over a possible prisoner swap deal with Israel. The leader of Hamas …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-17). Palestinian President: "No Peace Deal with Israel, unless Prisoners Released" imemc.org On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners' Day, on Friday, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, asserted that Palestinians will not sign a final peace deal with Israel, unless Israel clears all it's prisons of Palestinian prisoners, which he called heroes and fighters for freedom. In a statement he …

Staff (2020-04-17). "Gangster in the White House": Noam Chomsky on COVID-19, WHO, China, Gaza and Global Capitalism. democracynow.org We continue our conversation with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky. He responds to President Trump's cuts to U.S. support for the World Health Organization and the surge in deaths in the United States to another record high, and discusses conditions in Gaza, the rise of authoritarianism around the world, and the progressive response. "This is typical behavior of autocrats and dictators. When you make colossal errors which are killing thousands of people, find somebody else to blame," say Chomsky. "In the United States, it's unfortunately the case, for well over a century, centu…

Steven Salaita (2020-04-17). Sanders and Palestine: a Post Mortem. counterpunch.org Let me start with a story about the Democratic primary. Now, I'm no operative, so this story has nothing to do with voting choices or electability. It's about how Palestine disappears in US electoral discourses, even when people who identify as Palestinian purport to make it visible.

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-17). Arab League's Secretary General Urges Donor Countries to Fill in UNRWA's Deficit. imemc.org Secretary General of the Arab States' League, Mr. Ahmad Abuelgheit, urged on Thursday, all donor countries that contribute to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), to promptly fill in current deficit of UNRWA's budget. Abuelgheit's appeal came during a meeting at the latter's Cairo-based office, …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-17). US to Provide $5 Million in Aid to Palestine. imemc.org United States of America reportedly announced it would grant Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza a sum of five million US Dollars, or 3.6 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS) to help deal with the Covid-19 paramedic. In a tweet he posted on Thursday, the US Ambassador to Israel, David …

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."

2020-04-20: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

Israelis condemn Netanyahu's anti-democratic COVID-19 measures
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-04-20
Scores of Israeli citizens gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on April 19, Sunday, to participate in a 'Black Flag' protest against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protesters claim these measures are anti-democratic and violate privacy. Protesters also opposed Netanyahu's continuing as prime minister. Negotiations between Netanyahu's Likud party and the main opposition

A Patriot's Day Message
Chelli Stanley | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-20
For so long the world's governments and media lied on Palestine. That is one of the biggest understatements of the century. They held a mask in front of Palestine and projected images on it, so that Palestine was not seen at all. All that was seen were the lies of the ones trying to steal…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/20/a-patriots-day-message/

The Occupation and the Pandemic: The Coronavirus and the Conditions of Palestinian Workers
G.N. Nithya | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-20
"Colonialism is not a thinking machine, | nor a body endowed with reasoning faculties. | It is violence in its natural state…" |

Zarif's Damascus's trip shows Iran's resolute on tackling regional issues: Palestinian official
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-20
TEHRAN, Apr. 20 (MNA)

From Settler Violence to Attacks on Haredi Jews, Coronavirus is Laying Israeli Attitudes Bare
Miko Peled | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-20
The spread of coronavirus among Palestinians is dangerous to Israeli Jews, yet authorities and their various agencies continue to destroy clinics, demolish homes, and raid towns and neighborhoods rather than offer the help needed to ward off the virus.
mintpressnews.com/settler-violence-attacks-haredi-jews-coronavirus-laying-israeli-attitudes-bare/266761/

Israeli PM Netanyahu and rival Gantz agree to form 'unity' government to avoid another elections
rt.com | 2020-04-20
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reached an agreement with rival Benny Gantz to form a "unity government," that would finally break a year of political deadlock, Israeli media has reported. | In a statement, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Gantz's centrist-liberal Blue and White party said they had agreed a unity deal following elections in September and March which saw neither side winning a large enough majority to form a government. | DETAILS TO FOLLOW…
rt.com/news/486359-netanyahu-gantz-form-coalition-government/

'IRGC-phobia project' proof of US, Israel's wrath
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-20
TEHRAN, Apr. 20 (MNA)

Settlers Assault Palestinian Farmers and Activist
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-19
Israeli settlers attacked, on Saturday, several Palestinian villages in the Masafer Yatta area, in the southern occupied West Bank, physically assaulting residents, according to a local activist. Activist, Fouad Amour, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that illegal Israeli settlers attacked farmers in Khirbet al-Khrouba as they harvested their crops. Israeli …
imemc.org/article/settlers-assault-palestinian-farmers-and-activist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=settlers-assault-palestinian-farmers-and-activist

Anti-Netanyahu demonstrators in Israel stage unique protest, keeping social distance (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
rt.com | 2020-04-19
Israeli demonstrators turned out in droves to protest the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Mindful of the need for social distancing, they stood two meters apart from each other in a visually spectacular gathering. | Tel Aviv's Rabin Square is often a staging ground for rallies. Tens of thousands flocked to the plaza to protest police restrictions on music festivals last year, while the year before saw gay rights activists turn up to shout down a controversial surrogacy law. | | Protesters assemble in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, April 19, 2020 © AFP / Jack Guez | Sunday, however, saw a gathering unlike an…
rt.com/news/486269-israel-protest-social-distance/

Israel's Anti-Netanyahu Protesters Demonstrate Despite Pandemic
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-19
Under strict COVID-19 restrictions, thousands of people in Tel Aviv, Israel, demonstrated Sunday against the possible extension of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's term under the current alliance negotiations between him and former rival Benny Gantz. | RELATED: | A Palestinian Guide to Surviving a Quarantine | Wearing face masks, waving black flags as a symbol of threats against democracy, the protesters who observed the social distancing rule to fight coronavirus, called on Gantz's Blue…
telesurenglish.net/news/Israels-Anti-Netanyahu-Protesters-Demonstrate-Despite-Pandemic-20200419-0008.html

Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Injure Three Palestinians in Kufur Qaddoum
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-19
At least three Palestinians were injured, on Saturday, by Israeli forces as troops invaded the northern West Bank village of Kufur Qaddoum, local sources reported. Morad Eshteiwi, coordinator of the popular resistance in Kufur Qaddoum, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that the Israeli army stormed the village, provoking resistance from …
imemc.org/article/israeli-soldiers-shoot-injure-three-palestinians-in-kufur-qaddoum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-soldiers-shoot-injure-three-palestinians-in-kufur-qaddoum

Erekat: Majority of International Leaders Oppose Netanyahu's Colonial Plans
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-19
Top Palestinian negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that the majority of international leaders oppose Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's colonial plans by, insisting that a two-state solution is the way out of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. During phone calls with several world leaders, that Erekat initiated, leaders unanimously …
imemc.org/article/erekat-majority-of-international-leaders-oppose-netanyahus-colonial-plans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=erekat-majority-of-international-leaders-oppose-netanyahus-colonial-plans

Israeli Troops Shoot, Wound Palestinian Teen in Tulkarem
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-19
Israeli troops reportedly shot and wounded a Palestinian teen, on Sunday, in northern Tulkarem city, in the occupied West Bank. Local Palestinian media sources reported that Israeli soldiers, stationed near the Israeli Apartheid Wall, west of the Shweika neighborhood of northern Tulkarem city, opened fire with live ammunition and tear-gas …
imemc.org/article/israeli-troops-shoot-wound-palestinian-teen-in-tulkarem/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-troops-shoot-wound-palestinian-teen-in-tulkarem

Interview with Charlotte Kates on COVID-19 threat in Israeli jails, fight to free Palestinian political prisoners
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-19
Fight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort. | Fight Back!: How has the pandemic impacted Palestinian political prisoners? | Charlotte Kates: One of the major concerns has been the fact that Palestinian prisoners are essentially cut off from the outside world. Israel claims that its ban on family visits and legal visits are attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they are…
fightbacknews.org/2020/4/19/interview-charlotte-kates-covid-19-threat-israeli-jails-fight-free-palestinian-political-p

Israeli Settlers Assault Shepherds, Injure One
Ali Salam | imemc.org | 2020-04-19
A Palestinian shepherd was injured on Friday when illegal Israeli settlers attacked herders grazing sheep near the village of Tuwaneh, near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank a local official reported. Palestinian official, Fouad al-Amour, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency that settlers, under the cover of Israeli soldiers, assaulted …
imemc.org/article/israeli-settlers-assault-shepherds-injure-one/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-settlers-assault-shepherds-injure-one

Iran Will Allow Low-Risk Businesses to Resume Work
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-19
Iran's capital Tehran was allowed to resume low-risk businesses on Saturday, a week after kindred deregulations were adopted in other parts of the country amid the COVID-19 epidemic. | RELATED: | COVID-19 Mideast Updates: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel | The move came as per the smart distancing plan, whereby Iran loosened quarantine regulations and allowed the re-opening of businesses with lower risk indices. | According to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, high-r…
telesurenglish.net/news/Iran-Will-Allow-Low-Risk-Businesses-to-Resume-Work-20200419-0004.html

Israel Imposes Fines on Palestinian Protesters in East Jerusalem
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-18
Israeli authorities in the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem, where Israel has wrestled control for five decades now, reportedly imposed on Friday many fines on Palestinian residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The local Palestinian Wadi Hilweh Information Center (Silwanic) reported that the fines were imposed on local Palestinians, who participate …
imemc.org/article/israel-imposes-fines-on-palestinian-protesters-in-east-jerusalem/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israel-imposes-fines-on-palestinian-protesters-in-east-jerusalem

Watch: Failed Israeli Drone Strike On Top Hezbollah Official Caught In Rare Video
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-04-18
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have once again ramped up operations along the southern Lebanese border at a moment Hezbollah leadership has declared it is "fully prepared for war with Israel". The latest escalation came Wednesday when an Israeli drone targeted a car full of Hezbollah operatives just inside Syria near the border with Lebanon. The Shia resistance organization said all …
iranian.com/2020/04/18/watch-failed-israeli-drone-strike-on-top-hezbollah-official-caught-in-rare-video/

Hamas Offers Israel a Mediated Prisoner Swap Deal
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-18
Political Leader of the ruling Islamist Hamas party in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, told the Alaraby Arabic TV channel, on Friday, that his party has four Israeli soldiers in captivity, and that the party is ready to indirectly negotiate over a possible prisoner swap deal with Israel. The leader of Hamas …
imemc.org/article/hamas-offers-israel-a-mediated-prisoner-swap-deal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hamas-offers-israel-a-mediated-prisoner-swap-deal

Palestinian President: "No Peace Deal with Israel, unless Prisoners Released"
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-17
On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners' Day, on Friday, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, asserted that Palestinians will not sign a final peace deal with Israel, unless Israel clears all it's prisons of Palestinian prisoners, which he called heroes and fighters for freedom. In a statement he …
imemc.org/article/palestinian-president-no-peace-deal-with-israel-unless-prisoners-released/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=palestinian-president-no-peace-deal-with-israel-unless-prisoners-released

"Gangster in the White House": Noam Chomsky on COVID-19, WHO, China, Gaza and Global Capitalism
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-17
We continue our conversation with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky. He responds to President Trump's cuts to U.S. support for the World Health Organization and the surge in deaths in the United States to another record high, and discusses conditions in Gaza, the rise of authoritarianism around the world, and the progressive response. "This is typical behavior of autocrats and dictators. When you make colossal errors which are killing thousands of people, find somebody else to blame," say Chomsky. "In the United States, it's unfortunately the case, for well over a century, centu…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/17/noam_chomsky_coronavirus_trump_gaza_palestine

Arab League's Secretary General Urges Donor Countries to Fill in UNRWA's Deficit
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-17
Secretary General of the Arab States' League, Mr. Ahmad Abuelgheit, urged on Thursday, all donor countries that contribute to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), to promptly fill in current deficit of UNRWA's budget. Abuelgheit's appeal came during a meeting at the latter's Cairo-based office, …
imemc.org/article/arab-leagues-secretary-general-urges-donor-countries-to-fill-in-unrwas-deficit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=arab-leagues-secretary-general-urges-donor-countries-to-fill-in-unrwas-deficit

Sanders and Palestine: a Post Mortem
Steven Salaita | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-17
Let me start with a story about the Democratic primary. Now, I'm no operative, so this story has nothing to do with voting choices or electability. It's about how Palestine disappears in US electoral discourses, even when people who identify as Palestinian purport to make it visible.
counterpunch.org/2020/04/17/sanders-and-palestine-a-post-mortem/

US to Provide $5 Million in Aid to Palestine
IMEMC & Agencies | imemc.org | 2020-04-17
United States of America reportedly announced it would grant Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza a sum of five million US Dollars, or 3.6 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS) to help deal with the Covid-19 paramedic. In a tweet he posted on Thursday, the US Ambassador to Israel, David …
imemc.org/article/us-to-provide-5-million-in-aid-to-palestine/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=us-to-provide-5-million-in-aid-to-palestine