Daily Archives: August 24, 2020

2020-08-24: News Headlines

Juan Cole (2020-08-24). Tens of Thousands Protest Netanyahu as Momentum Grows and Gov't Faces Collapse. zcomm.org The rallies disproved the allegation of pro-Netanyahu pundits that the recognition of Israel by the United Arab Emirates would be recognized as a major diplomatic achievement for the prime minister and would cause the demonstrations to fizzle…

Raul Diego (2020-08-24). Hoping to Seize on UAE-Israel Deal, Pompeo and Kushner Head East in Search of New Allies for Israel. mintpressnews.com Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump adviser Jared Kushner are hitting the road in an attempt to strong-arm more Arab states into normalizing relations with Israel, turning their backs on Palestine and isolating Iran.

Fight Back (2020-08-24). MN demands 'End aid to Israel' during the DNC. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, activists held banners from five bridges along Interstate 35W to highlight the role the U.S. plays in endorsing and funding the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The protest took place during the Democratic National Convention to draw attention to the need for the Democratic Party to break with the apartheid state of Israel. | Drivers saw banners on the 35th, 36th, 38th and 40th Street bridges on I-35W in South Minneapolis and on a bridge in Lakeville over I-35. The protest was initiated by the MN Anti-War Committee. Many groups signed on and helped make banners and organized their…

Abdul Rahman (2020-08-24). UAE-Israel deal is yet another dagger in Palestine's back. peoplesdispatch.org The UAE-Israel deal is a violation of the Arab country's commitments to not establish relationships with the Zionist entity till the concerns of the Palestinians are addressed…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-24). 'People of the Cave': Palestinians Take Their Fight for Justice to the Mountains. zcomm.org Palestinians are not going anywhere. This is the gist of seven decades of Palestinian struggle against Zionist colonialism. The proof? The story of Ahmed Amarneh…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-24). "People of the Cave": Palestinians Take Their Fight for Justice to the Mountains. dissidentvoice.org Palestinians are not going anywhere. This is the gist of seven decades of Palestinian struggle against Zionist colonialism. The proof? The story of Ahmed Amarneh. Amarneh, a 30-year-old civil engineer from the northern West Bank village of Farasin, lives with his family in a cave. For many years, the Amarneh family has attempted to build …

Miko Peled (2020-08-24). Just "Arabs killing Arabs": Israel's Inaction Over Palestinian Murders Gets Frustrated Moms Marching. mintpressnews.com In 2019, there were 138 murder cases throughout the state of Israel. Out of those, 93 were Palestinian citizens of Israel, a community that makes up only 20 percent of Israeli citizens.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-24). No deal can legitimize the Zionist regime: Khaled al- Qaddumi. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (MNA)— Hamas' Representative in Iran said that the Israeli regime still is in intense need of recognition by minor countries in the region despite support from super powers, the UN secretary-general and Europeans.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-24). UAE cannot buy security from Tel Aviv: Zarif. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the UAE has turned to the Zionist regime to buy security, while Israel cannot even ensure its own.

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-24). Palestinian officials attend a meeting at MNA. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 24 (MNA) — Representative of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Tehran Khaled al-Qaddumi and the Representative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement in Tehran Naser Abousharif attended a meeting At MNA on Monday.

_____ (2020-08-24). The Seven Dangerous Paradoxes of Kamala Harris. strategic-culture.org A lot of theoretical nonsense is already being talked about the multiple meanings of Joe Biden's pick of California Senator Kalama Harris as his vice-presidential running mate: She will be a tool for Israel, she will be an opening for reform, she will signify a new era, she will cunningly allow the neo-conservatives to infiltrate the Democratic Party. | All of it is nonsense, especially the last conspiracy theory. The neo-conservatives have no chance of penetrating either Harris or any possible Biden administration because their rival neoliberals — who hold identical views anyway but genuinely think they ar…

yenisafak (2020-08-24). Putin, Netanyahu discuss UAE-Israel deal over phone. yenisafak.com Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged views on the controversial "n…

yenisafak (2020-08-24). Netanyahu, Pompeo discuss Arab-Israeli normalization. yenisafak.com Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks Monday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrived in Israel as part of a regional tour. | The talks dwelt on the normalization of ties between Israel and other Arab states following this month's US-sponsored deal to normalize relations between Tel Aviv and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). | "I discussed with Secretary of State Pompeo the possibility of normalizing additional countries' relations with Israel, and I hope that there will be good news in the near future," Netanyahu told a joint press conference. | He said the Israel-UAE deal "opened a new p…

RT (2020-08-23). Israeli police officer caught violently punching protesters in 'self-defense', Interior Ministry launches investigation (VIDEO). rt.com A senior Israeli police officer is in hot water after he was filmed violently punching people during mass protests in Jerusalem. The officer, however, claims he was defending himself from rowdy protesters. | The Justice Ministry The high-ranking officer was filmed overnight punching and throwing protesters to the ground during a demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. | ◊&iuml…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-23). 'Palestine is Still the Issue': UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. zcomm.org Recent events at the United Nations have exposed the true nature of Canada's global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel…

Stephen Lendman (2020-08-23). Senate Voting Record of Kamala Harris. Pro-Big Money, Pro-Israel, Pro-War Dem Foot Soldier. globalresearch.ca The US political season never ends. It'll be in high gear post-conventions this month. | According to the Center for Responsive Politics, US 2020 presidential aspirants, groups working on their behalf, "leadership PACs, super PACs, dark money outlets," and other sources …

Fight Back (2020-08-23). Hezbollah brings down Israeli drone in south Lebanon. fightbacknews.org The news outlet Al-Manar is reporting Hezbollah announced Saturday, August 22 that it downed an Israeli drone in the southern town of Ayta Al-Shaab. | According to a statement from Hezbollah "The drone is now in the hands of Islamic Resistance fighters." | In September, 2019, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said that every Israeli drone which violates the Lebanese airspace will be a target for the resistance, after an attack by Israeli drones laden with explosive materials on the Beirut media office belonging to the Lebanese party. | Israel occupies Lebanese territory and frequently enters the…

Yves Engler (2020-08-23). Palestinian Envoy Fails to Criticize Canada. dissidentvoice.org With a representative like this Palestinians might be better off with no envoy in Canada. A recent profile of the Palestinian Authority's agent in Ottawa confirms the PA is more a colonial tool than a voice for an oppressed people. In the Hill Times interview Hala Abou-Hassira refuses to answer whether Canada's anti-Palestinian voting record …

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-23). Anger of Islamic Ummah to engulf UAE rulers: Iranian Parl. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 23 (MNA) — Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission in a statement on Sun. reiterated that anger of Islamic Ummah will engulf rulers of the United Arab Emirates for normalizing ties with the Israeli regime.

_____ (2020-08-23). Palestinians Take Their Fight For Justice To The Mountains. popularresistance.org Palestinians are not going anywhere. This is the gist of seven decades of Palestinian struggle against Zionist colonialism. The proof? The story of Ahmed Amarneh. | Amarneh, a 30-year-old civil engineer from the northern West Bank village of Farasin, lives with his family in a cave. For many years, the Amarneh family has attempted to build a proper home, but their request has been denied by the Israeli military every time. | In many ways, the struggle of the Amarnehs is a microcosm of the collective struggle of Farasin; in fact, of most Palestinians.

sputniknews (2020-08-23). Israel on the Brink of Unprecedented Fourth Consecutive Elections as Cabinet Meeting Canceled. sputniknews.com The current Likud/Blue and White unity government was created in May after three elections between April 2019 and March 2020 failed to allow either major party or its allies to form a majority. In June, the coalition's members got into a battle over the budget amid the coronavirus emergency, with neither side wanting to back down.

yenisafak (2020-08-23). Austrian leaders condemn attack against Jewish community in Graz. yenisafak.com Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and other senior government politicians said they were shocked over an attack on a Jewish community leader in the southern city of Graz on Saturday, and ordered tighter security at Jewish institutions around Austria.An unknown assailant attacked the Graz Jewish community's president, Elie Rosen, with a wooden club on the premises of their synagogue, which was twice targeted by acts of vandalism in the past week, the community said in a statement late on Saturday.Rosen took shelter in his car and was unhurt. The attacker then fled, according to the statement.Police in Styria, the…

_____ (2020-08-22). Israel Cuts Fuel, Gaza Goes Dark. popularresistance.org The Gaza Strip's only power plant shut down on Tuesday after Israel stopped the transfer of fuel to the territory. | The halting of fuel transfers is among a series of collective punishment measures Israel has imposed on Gaza. | Israel has claimed the measures are a response to incendiary balloons released from Gaza. The launching of such balloons by some Palestinians is, in reality, a symbolic effort to draw attention to the deteriorating situation in Gaza, long subject to an Israeli siege. | Although incendiary balloons caused several fires in Israel, "no injuries or damage have been reported," according to The…

Michael Arria (2020-08-22). New York lawmakers denounce DSA as antisemitic after group challenges junkets to Israel. mronline.org At the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) convention in 2017, the group endorsed the BDS movement by an overwhelming majority. That resolution asserted that "socialists have a responsibility to side with the oppressed and are committed to their unconditional liberation."

Kathy Durkin (2020-08-22). Global campaign frees Mahmoud Nawajaa. workers.org Mahmoud Nawajaa is free! An international campaign pressured Israel to release the general coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement from detention. Armed Israeli forces charged into Nawajaa's home near Ramallah in occupied Palestine on July 30 and brutally seized him. He was illegally held without charges until . . . |

RT (2020-08-22). Board of Britain's biggest Muslim charity resigns over posts calling Hamas 'great men' and Israel 'Zionist enemy'. rt.com The entire board of the biggest Muslim charity in Britain is set to resign following anti-Semitic social media posts by its director, who was already a replacement for a trustee who had also resigned over controversial comments. | Almoutaz Tayara, the board director of the charity Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) based in Birmingham, had posted on his Facebook page in 2014 and 2015 a cartoon that depicted former US president Barack Obama wearing the Star of David with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Assad of Syria on his lap, saying, "Death to America!" | Other posts called leaders of the Palestinian milit…

yenisafak (2020-08-22). Palestine, Azerbaijan hail Turkey's natural gas find. yenisafak.com Palestine and Azerbaijan congratulated Turkey on Saturday for the discovery of major natural gas reserves in the Black Sea.Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call, Turkey's Communications Directorate said in a statement.He hailed Turkey's success as Palestine's success, while Erdogan reiterated Ankara's support for the Palestinian cause.The two leaders also discussed bilateral ties and regional developments, the statement said.Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov phoned his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu to congratulate him on the sig…

sputniknews (2020-08-22). Officer Wounded During Protest March in Jerusalem, 7 People Detained, Police Say. sputniknews.com TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – Seven protesters were detained during an anti-government march in Jerusalem; one law enforcement officer was injured, according to Israeli police.

WSWS (2020-08-21). Israel launches airstrikes against Gaza and threatens war. wsws.org Israel is preparing for war on the besieged Palestinian enclave, even as it ups the ante against Hezbollah in Lebanon and its primary target, Iran.

Yousef Alhelou (2020-08-21). Israel's Blockade of 2 Million Palestinians in Gaza is making it Uninhabitable. zcomm.org Gantz, Netanyahu and others know for sure that Gazans have nothing to lose as life is unbearable under the ongoing 14-year siege, while peace on Israeli terms is a mirage…

Juan Cole (2020-08-21). In Further War Crime, Israelis cut Electricity to Gaza, Idling 50,000 Factory Workers. zcomm.org Source: Informed Comment The government of far right Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu cut off fuel for the sole power plant in the Gaza Strip, a small Palestinian territory surrounded on three sides by and blockaded by Israel. As a result, on Monday the Gaza Strip's sole power plant went dark, Al Jazeera reports. The

Eric A. Gordon (2020-08-21). Democratic outreach to Jewish voters cites rising anti-Semitism under Trump. peoplesworld.org One afternoon breakout session of the Democratic National Convention that took place on the afternoon of August 18, the first full day of the quadrennial nomination ritual, addressed the Jewish American community in support of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket. A reported 2000 viewers had registered for this livestreamed two-hour-plus session. The Jewish American vote …

Jonathan Cook (2020-08-21). How Israel Wages War on Palestinian History. counterpunch.org When the Palestinian actor Mohammed Bakri made a documentary about Jenin in 2002 — filming immediately after the Israeli army had completed rampaging through the West Bank city, leaving death and destruction in its wake — he chose an unusual narrator for the opening scene: a mute Palestinian youth. Jenin had been sealed off from

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-21). Palestine burning in fire of Zionist regime's impudence. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 21 (MNA) — Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said that innocent Palestine is still burning in the fire of the Zionist regime's impudence and incursion and the treason of certain Arab rulers.

Ramzy Baroud, Romana Rubeo (2020-08-21). 'Palestine is Still the Issue': UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. commondreams.org Protesters hold a giant Palestinian flag as they walk across University Avenue during a demonstration in Toronto, Canada, December 9, 2017. (Photo by Giordano Ciampini/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/palestinecanada.jpg

Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo (2020-08-21). "Palestine is Still the Issue": UN Vote Exposes, Isolates Canada. dissidentvoice.org The notion that 'Canada is better', especially when compared with US foreign policy, has persisted for many years. Recent events at the United Nations have, however, exposed the true nature of Canada's global position, particularly in the matter of its blind and unconditional support for Israel. On June 17, Canada lost its second bid for …

Ramzy Baroud (2020-08-21). A UN Vote Exposed Canada's Blind and Unconditional Support for Israel. mintpressnews.com While Canada's support for Israel is, to a certain extent, consistent with Canada's own colonial past and present interventionist foreign policy, the Canadian people and the international community remain major obstacles, challenging the toxic affinity between Ottawa and Tel Aviv.

sputniknews (2020-08-20). Videos: IDF Strikes Northern Gaza After Iron Dome Intercepts Rockets Bound for Israel. sputniknews.com Israeli aircraft on Friday local time struck targets in the city of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip after the Iron Dome air defense system intercepted rockets bound for Israel.

_____ (2020-08-20). Global South Calls For Sanctions On Apartheid Israel. popularresistance.org Israel's decades-old regime of apartheid and theft of Palestinian land is continuing unabated. Reports that Israel is "suspending" formal annexation are a smokescreen for continued colonisation and piecemeal ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinians. | Around the world, advocates for justice are pushing back.The Global South response, initiated by South African civil society, brings together notable figures, intellectuals, policy makers, civil society leaders and experts from Africa, Latin America and Asia, in a joint effort to promote lawful sanctions on Israel to end its decades-old oppression of the Palestin…

RT (2020-08-20). Red line? Biden rejects DNC guest Linda Sarsour's endorsement over her 'anti-Semitism' & BDS support. rt.com Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden hasn't encountered many far-left policies he won't embrace — from free healthcare for illegal aliens to free college — but he found one leftist supporter he won't abide: Linda Sarsour. | Sarsour, a Muslim activist and co-founder of the Women's March, endorsed Biden last week and spoke on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention's "Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly." Biden responded by denouncing her. | "Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a vehement opponent of anti-Semitism his entire life, and he obviously condemns [Sarsour's] view…

Samia Nasir Khoury (2020-08-20). Woe to the Powerless! Once Again Palestinians Are Paying the Price. counterpunch.org During this century, 2020 seems like a year we would like to remove from our memory. With life being toppled upside down for everybody all over the world due to the Corona Pandemic, forces of evil still find a way to strike again and again We hardly got over the shock of the explosion in

RT (2020-08-20). Arms in the air? UAE-Israel peace deal kickstarts long-stalled F-35 purchase from Washington. rt.com The UAE-Israeli peace deal could sprout into a lucrative arms contract, as the UAE's foreign minister said it had removed the obstacles for purchasing F-35 fighters from the US. Washington said such a deal is already under review. | Formal normalization of ties with Tel Aviv should remove "any hurdle" in the path of the potential new arms deal with the US, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said Thursday. | "We have legitimate requests … We ought to get them … the whole idea of a state of belligerency or war with Israel no longer exists," Gargash told the NATO-sponsored pro-war Atl…

Manal Tamimi (2020-08-20). A bullet lodged next to my son's heart. zcomm.org I have lived my entire life under Israeli occupation. Generations of my family have fought against Israel's violent apartheid…

Mehr News Agency (2020-08-20). Israeli regime biggest threat to region: Nasrallah. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) — Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement Hassan Nasrallah said that the Israeli regime is the biggest threat to the West Asia (Middle East) region.