Daily Archives: January 19, 2021

2021-01-19: News Headlines

Staff (2021-01-19). U.S. Rep. Tlaib: "Israel Is a Racist State That Would Deny Palestinians Like My Grandmother a Vaccine" democracynow.org Israel has been hailed as having the world's most vaccinated population, but Palestinians are not included. Human Rights Watch and others have called on Israeli authorities to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the more than 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Israel is a racist state," responds Congressmember Rashida Talib of Michigan, who is Palestinian American and one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress and says her Palestinian grandmother was denied access to a vaccine. "I hope my colleagues, I hope our country, sees what the Palestinians have been trying to tell us for a…

Juan Cole (2021-01-19). Respected Israeli Rights Group B'Tselem declares Israel an Apartheid State. zcomm.org Apartheid is one of the listed "crimes against humanity" along with enslavement, torture, war rape, and forcible deportation. A crime against humanity is the systematic and continuous commission of war crimes…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-19). Covid-19: Palestinians to receive first batch of Russian vaccine by weekend. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Palestinians to receive first batch of Russian vaccine by weekend | The Palestinian health ministry has approved Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use, making it 'the first country in the Middle East' to do so | Tue, 01/19/2021 – 14: 15 | Palestinian health workers collect random swab samples from people to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 1…

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Israeli Navy Attacks Palestinian Fishermen In Gaza. imemc.org Israeli navy ships fired, on Tuesday morning, several live rounds at Palestinian fishing boats, in addition to attacking them with water cannons, near the shore of the Sudaniyya sea, northwest of Gaza city. Eyewitnesses said the navy attacked the Palestinian fishing boats less than three nautical miles from the Gaza shore. They added that the …

Ali Salam (2021-01-19). Israeli Settlement Expansion Condemned by PA, EU and Numerous Countries. imemc.org In response to Israel's announcement that they have approved an additional 780 colonial settlement units, a number of countries have issued statements condemning the move. They include the UK, Egypt, Ireland, Jordan, the European Union (EU) and the Palestinian Authority (PA). A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, stated that it is clear …

Prensa Latina (2021-01-19). Líder palestino advierte sobre política de expansionismo israelí. peoplesworld.org &nbsp…

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Israeli Soldiers Shoot Two Palestinians Near Qalqilia. imemc.org Israeli soldiers shot, on Tuesday morning, two young Palestinian men near the illegal Annexation Wall, north of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. Eyewitnesses said the two young men were among of several workers who were trying to cross through a hole in the annexation wall, seeking work. They added that the two were …

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Army Abducts A Palestinian Child Near Hebron. imemc.org Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday at night, the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and abducted a Palestinian child. Media sources said several army jeeps invaded the refugee camp before the soldiers stormed and searched homes. They added that the soldiers interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards, …

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Israeli Soldiers Abduct Two Siblings In Jenin, Two In Nablus. imemc.org Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, Kafr Ra'ey village, south of Jenin, and Salem village, east of Nablus, in the northern parts of the occupied West Bank, searched homes and abducted four siblings. Montaser Sammour, the head of the Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the soldiers abducted Bilal Nabil Thiab, …

Ali Salam (2021-01-19). PPS "Israel Detains at Least 15 Palestinians" imemc.org Israeli soldiers detained fifteen Palestinians, on Monday morning, in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. In the occupied city of East Jerusalem, soldiers detained four young men, two from al-'Isawiya and two from al-Tur neighborhoods, searching civilian's homes, with dogs. In the East Jerusalem area, the army detained two young …

IMEMC News (2021-01-19). Army Issues Demolition Orders Targeting Eight Homes, And A Shed, Near Nablus. imemc.org Several Israeli army jeeps invaded, on Monday at dawn, Douma village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, before handing orders for the demolition of eight homes, and one shed. Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors Israel's illegal colonialist activities in northern West Bank, said the soldiers surrounded the village, before …

Norman G. Finkelstein (2021-01-19). The Jewish supremacist state (A comment on B'Tselem's 'apartheid regime' designation for Israel). mronline.org During the past two decades, many respected individuals and organizations designated the regime Israel has established in the occupied Palestinian territory—the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza—as a form of apartheid.

Philip Giraldi (2021-01-19). Goodbye Sheldon Adelson. thealtworld.com The malignant toad is dead | Casino magnate and Israeli patriot multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson, one of the world's richest men, died in Las Vegas on January 11th at age 87. He had been suffering from cancer and has been buried at the

_____ (2021-01-19). The Rosenberg Orphans And The Power Of Radical History. popularresistance.org The Left would go crazy over Jewish American dissidents Abel and Anne Meeropol if they were alive today. Their tale is a radical epic so poignant that one wonders where the 10-part miniseries is. It covers a range of contemporary themes: children separated from parents, the political persecution of dissidents, and social justice warriors doing battle against a racist, xenophobic, increasingly fascistic America. | It's a story so fantastical, and containing so many celebrated names, that it's hard to believe it hasn't stuck better into the mainstream. Then again, a tale involving judicial executions on fake charge…

news.un (2021-01-19). Israel: 'Halt and reverse' new settlement construction — UN chief. news.un.org Israel's decision to advance plans for some 800 new settlement units, most of which are located deep inside the occupied West Bank, has sparked the concern of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-19). B'Tselem head defies ban, addresses students. peoplesdispatch.org Education minister had announced a ban on members of organizations that called "Israel false and derogatory names." The ban came shortly after human rights group B'Tselem termed Israel an apartheid state…

Juan Cole (2021-01-18). Israel Was Designated an Apartheid State by B'Tselem. What Martin Luther King Jr. Would Have Thought of That. commondreams.org Those who argue that Dr. King would have had no problem with Israel's policies in the Occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank after 1967 are being illogical. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mlkk.jpg

Juan Cole (2021-01-18). Israel Was Designated an Apartheid State by B'Tselem. What Martin Luther King Jr. Would of Thought of That. commondreams.org Those who argue that Dr. King would have had no problem with Israel's policies in the Occupied Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank after 1967 are being illogical. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/mlkk.jpg

Juan Cole (2021-01-18). Israel is increasingly an Apartheid State: What Martin Luther King Jr. Would have thought of that. juancole.com Revised Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) — The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose activism we honor today, took stands far beyond Selma and Montgomery, and called on other capitals than Washington, D.C., to ensure a dignified life for human beings. Dr. King was an early and vigorous opponent of the white South African Apartheid (segregationist) …

Staff (2021-01-18). Palestine Refugees Are Forced to the Back of the COVID Vaccine Line. truthout.org As the world races to vaccinate against COVID-19, Israel has been touted for having one of the fastest response rates. The country has, as of January 1, 2021, already vaccinated 10 percent of its 9 million citizens and predicts another 2 million will be vaccinated by the end of the month. While these are laudable statistics, Palestinians living in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and in the Gaza Strip have been explicitly excluded, including health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-…

MEE staff (2021-01-18). Israel bans schools from hosting rights groups critical of occupation. middleeasteye.net Israel bans schools from hosting rights groups critical of occupation | The announcement came after Likud complained about the director of rights group B'Tselem who was scheduled to give a talk at a school in Haifa | Mon, 01/18/2021 – 14: 48 | Despite the order on Sunday, the director of B'Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, gave a scheduled lecture to students in the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa (AFP) | Israel's Education M…

Ali Salam (2021-01-18). Israeli Military Court Orders Palestinian Prisoner's Home to be Demolished. imemc.org An Israeli military court ruled, on Friday, for the demolition of the home of Palestinian detainee, Mohammed Murawah Qabaha in Tura village, southwest of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank. In a press statement, Mo'yad, the brother of the detainee, said that the Israeli army handed the family a demolition notice against the two-story …

Ali Salam (2021-01-18). Israeli Jets Fire Several Missiles into Southern Gaza. imemc.org The Israeli occupation army attacked, early on Monday, the southern besieged Gaza Strip, with missiles and artillery, after what the army claims were rockets fired from the armed resistance in Gaza. The Israeli army justified the attack by claiming that a projectile fell from Gaza, onto the Mediterranean coast in southern Israel, causing no injuries …

Ali Salam (2021-01-18). Israeli Forces Shoot, Injure Six Palestinians, Including a Paramedic at Weekly Kufur Qaddoum March. imemc.org The Israeli army, on Saturday, suppressed a popular demonstration in Kufur Qaddoum village, shooting six Palestinian young men, including a paramedic and causing several others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation. In the northern occupied West Bank, the village of Kufur Qaddoum is situated between Qalqilia and Nablus and is surrounded by Israeli settlements. …

Ahmed Abdulkareem (2021-01-18). Yemen's Leningrad: The Unforeseen Consequences of the State Department's Houthi Designation. mintpressnews.com The recent US designation of Yemen's Houthis all but guarantees a resurgence of Saudi-backed extremists in the region and could serve to galvanize the group as a stalwart against US-Israeli designs for the Middle East, reports Ahmed Abdulkareem from Yemen.

Human Rights Watch (2021-01-18). Israel must Provide Vaccines to Occupied Palestinians: HRW says Over 4.5 Million in West Bank, Gaza Excluded From Vaccination Push. juancole.com ( Human Rights Watch) — (Jerusalem) — Israeli authorities should provide Covid-19 vaccines to the more than 4.5 million Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Human Rights Watch said today. While Israel has already vaccinated more than 20 percent of its citizens, including Jewish settlers in the West Bank, it has not …

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-18). Elections to be held in Palestine for the first time since 2006. peoplesdispatch.org The legislative elections encompassing all the occupied Palestinian territories, including West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, are scheduled to take place on May 22 while the presidential elections are to be held on July 31…

WSWS (2021-01-18). This week in history: January 18-24. wsws.org 25 years ago: Arafat wins Palestinian voteOn January 20, 1996, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and his al-Fatah party won the election held among residents of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. The electoral triumph confirmed Arafat's role as the chief enforcer of Israeli dictates in the territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Arafat won 88 percent of the vote for president of the Palestinian Council while his nominees took more than half the seats on the legislative body.

news.un (2021-01-18). Political chief highlights crucial cooperation between UN and the Arab League. news.un.org Cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States has been critical to addressing the ongoing war in Syria, the search for a two-State solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and other challenges, the UN's political affairs chief told a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Monday.

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-18). 'No One Can Censor Reality': Human Rights Group Pushes Back After Israel Retaliates Against 'Apartheid' Label. commondreams.org "Israel cannot be considered a democracy, for it works to advance and perpetuate the supremacy of one group of people, Jews, over another, Palestinians." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/wall_0.jpg

sputniknews (2021-01-18). Iran Schedules Gulf of Oman War Games One Day Before Biden Inauguration. sputniknews.com Iran test-fired ballistic missiles at a maritime target across the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, a day before two US B-52 strategic bombers overflew Israel and the Persian Gulf in the latest escalation of tensions between the two adversaries.

Robert Inlakesh (2021-01-18). Is Saudi Arabia Turning Away From Israel And The UAE? thelastamericanvagabond.com Saudi Arabia recently decided to end its three year long dispute with neighboring Qatar, in what many have seen as a 'dramatic U-turn', but what does this move show of Saudi's regional maneuvering? In 2017, Saudi Arabia began to enforce what would become a three year long blockade on the State of Qatar following disputes

Peace Now (2021-01-18). 780 West Bank Settlement Housing Units In Palestinian Lands, Approved Ahead of US Presidential Transition. globalresearch.ca The Higher Planning Council (HPC) of the Civil Administration approved today plans to build 780 housing units in settlements, most of them deep in the West Bank (714 units (92%) in settlements that Israel will have to evacuate under a …

_____ (2021-01-17). The Jewish Supremacist State. popularresistance.org The respected Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, has now officially reached this conclusion: "[T]he entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River is organized under a single principle: advancing and cementing the supremacy of one group—Jews—over another—Palestinians"; "A regime that uses laws, practices and organized violence to cement the supremacy of one group over another is an apartheid regime." | The B'Tselem position paper focuses on four aspects of Israeli apartheid. Two aspects—Jewish-only immigration and Jewish-only land development—operate in the…

RT (2021-01-16). 13 Israelis suffer FACIAL PARALYSIS after taking Pfizer Covid jab, amid influx of reports detailing adverse effects. rt.com At least 13 Israelis have experienced facial paralysis after being administered the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, a month after the US Food and Drug Administration reported similar issues but said they weren't linked to the jab. | Israel has been hailed for its speedy and efficient mass inoculation program, which has vaccinated a staggering 20 percent of the country's population since the drive For a handful of Israelis, however, the initiative has led to some unexpected health scares. At least 13 people have…

news.un (2021-01-16). Guterres welcomes Palestinian announcement of elections as 'crucial step' towards unity. news.un.org The UN Secretary-General has welcomed Friday's announcement from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the first full parliamentary and presidential elections in 15 years, scheduled to begin in May.

Steve Lalla (2021-01-15). Resistance is not Futile: A Brief History of Lebanon's Hezbollah. counterpunch.org Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has inspired fear within the Empire through both armed struggle and its success in electoral politics. For effectively wielding this double-edged sword, the "Party of God" has been vilified by countless politicians and media outlets. From its birth as an armed resistance to Israeli attacks on Lebanon over 35 years ago,