Miko Peled (2020-04-27). How Israel Legitimizes the Abuse of Palestinian Political Prisoners. mintpressnews.com Each year Palestinian Prisoners Day comes and goes while the prisoners remain in their cells and their conditions worsen. The destructive effects that Israel's imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians has on society cannot be overstated. Israel justifies its treatment of these prisoners with false claims that the Palestinian men, women, and children who languish in its jails are terrorists. These false claims must be rejected in their entirety. Palestinian prisoners are political prisoners, they are prisoners of conscience and must be viewed and treated as such by the international community. | Israeli claims th…

RT (2020-04-27). Israel may reopen some schools on Sunday, Gaza allows restaurants to reopen. rt.com Israel will begin a staggered reopening of schools next week if the latest health data does not warn of a heightened coronavirus risk, PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday. The country closed schools and kindergartens in mid-March, worsening an economic lockdown as parents were forced to stay at home. With unemployment peaking at 27 percent and contagion rates waning, Israel is now easing its curbs. | Netanyahu's office said children in the first three years of primary school would resume studies, in reduced class sizes of no more than 15 pupils. Kindergartens and nurseries will reopen, with children…

en.mehrnews (2020-04-27). VIDEO: Syrian air defense repels Israeli regime's airstrike. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Apr. 27 (MNA) — Syria's air defense systems have repelled an attack by the Israeli regime's air force in the skies over Palmyra, downing several hostile projectiles, according to a report by SANA.

teleSUR (2020-04-27). Gaza Reopens Its Commercial Stores During Ramadan. telesurenglish.net The Gaza Strip reopened its restaurants and coffee shops to the public during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, after no new cases of COVID-19 were reported for a week. | RELATED: | On the holy days of Ramadan, Muslims usually go out into the streets at night in a festive atmosphere. | The opening of shops will be accompanied by rigorous measures to prevent a wave of new infections with the disease, according to authorities from…

teleSUR (2020-04-26). US Will Allow West Bank Annexation in 2 Months: Netanyahu. telesurenglish.net Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his confidence Sunday that the United States would give him the approval within two months to go ahead with the annexation of parts of the illegally occupied West Bank. | RELATED: | "A couple of months from now I am confident that that pledge will be honored," Netanyahu told the European Commission for Israel, describing that the U.S. peace proposal announced by President Do…

Robert Fantina (2020-04-26). Suffering in Kashmir and Palestine. globalresearch.ca While the world is pre-occupied with coronavirus and its impact on lives and the international economy, one must not forget that suffering due to oppression knows no season and has no vaccine, but is not without a cure. Sadly, for …

Ramzy Baroud, Romana Rubeo (2020-04-26). Will the Coronavirus Change the World? We Must Be Very Careful How We Answer That Question. commondreams.org Israeli security forces stand by as Palestinian worshippers perform the first Friday prayer of the holy fasting month of Ramadan outside the closed-down Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem on April 24, 2020, amidst heightened security and social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/palestine_covid.jpg …

Stephen Lendman (2020-04-26). Trump Regime Aims to Suppress Iranian Truth-Telling. globalresearch.ca US hostility toward Iran is all about its sovereign independence — free from US control. | It's also because of its large hydrocarbon resources the US seeks control over, along with wanting Israel's main rival neutralized. | Hostile US policy toward Iran …

RT (2020-04-26). 'Blow to privacy': Top Israeli court to ban use of anti-terror tech on coronavirus patients, unless govt makes it law. rt.com Israel's High Court of Justice has ruled that a domestic spy agency must stop tracking coronavirus patients with tech it would otherwise use on terrorists — but only pending a law to legalize the practice. | In a ruling on Sunday, the court said that the government must discontinue its use of domestic intelligence service Shin Bet's broad spying powers to track the cell phones of those infected, unless it comes up with at least a temporary order to codify the practice in the next few weeks, provided the legislative process kicks off by April 30. | "We must take every precaution to ensure that the extraor…

RT (2020-04-27). Syrian air defenses repel 'Israeli aggression', down several 'hostile' missiles over Damascus — state media. rt.com Syrian missile defenses responded to an attack by Israeli warplanes, intercepting several missiles over Damascus launched from Lebanese airspace, Syria's SANA news agency reported. | A video has emerged online purportedly showing the Syrian missile shield being activated to shoot down missiles, reportedly fired by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Lebanese airspace. | Syrian air defense active over

Ali Salam (2020-04-26). Two Palestinians Shot, Injured by Israeli Army Fire in Kufur Qaddoum. imemc.org Israeli soldiers opened fire, on Saturday, towards local Palestinian civilians in Kufur Qaddoum, wounding two with rubber-coated metal rounds, while intentionally shooting at and damaging water tanks on rooftops of homes, local sources reported. Morad Eshteiwi, Coordinator of the Popular Committee in Kufur Qaddoum, told Quds News Network that a …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-26). Israeli Troops Abduct Several Palestinians from Hebron and Jerusalem. imemc.org Israeli troops reportedly abducted, on Sunday at dawn, several Palestinian youth from both the West Bank city of Hebron and the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinian sources in Hebron said that both Ali Fatafta and Kayed Fatafta, were abducted by Israeli troops who broke into and vandalized their homes in …

BIICFHRIOT (2020-04-26). B'Tselem: Israeli Settlers Exploit Coronavirus to Take Over West Bank Land with Military Backing: Violent Attacks Spike in April. imemc.org B'Tselem — The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Since the start of the corona crisis, Israeli settlers have ramped up attacks against Palestinians throughout the West Bank, with full state backing. The attacks have increased despite the movement restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing measures introduced …

Jonathan Cook (2020-04-26). Palestinians Hunker Down for Ramadan, Facing a Virus that doesn't Discriminate but an Occupier that does. dissidentvoice.org As the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the coronavirus outbreak in Israel and the Palestinian territories is proving how inevitably intertwined the two populations' lives are, while also underlining the extreme differentials of power between them. While 15,000 Israelis have tested positive for Covid-19 so far, the numbers infected in the occupied territories are …

Ali Salam (2020-04-26). Israeli Colonists Cut Dozens of Palestinian-owned Olive Trees near Nablus. imemc.org Illegal Israeli colonists, on Friday cut down more than 30 olive trees in As-Sawiya town, south of the northern occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official. Ghassan Daghlas, an official documenting Israeli settlement construction in the area, told Palestinian WAFA News Agency, that a group of …

Andrey Areshev (2020-04-26). Facebook Says Israeli Spyware Company Ran Vast Hacking Operation in the United States. strategic-culture.org Lawsuit reveals extent of Israeli spyware company's U.S. operation | Michael ARRIA | In 2019, nearly 1,400 WhatsApp users were hacked with a number human rights advocates and journalists targeted. The attack was allegedly the work the NSO Group, an Israeli spyware company. | Last October, Facebook (which owns WhatsApp)

teleSUR (2020-04-25). Israel: Thousands Demonstrate Against Netanyahu-Gantz Coalition. telesurenglish.net Several thousand Israelis demonstrated Saturday against a unity government RELATED: | The protesters say the unity agreement gives Netanyahu influence over the appointment of judges and legal officials, "cr…

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-25). Israeli Troops Open Fire on Palestinian Farmers in Southern Gaza. imemc.org Israeli troops opened heavy fire, earlier Saturday, towards Palestinian farmers east of Khan Younis city, south of the Gaza Strip. Local media reports said that Israeli soldiers, stationed on the Israeli side of the border fence between Gaza and Israel, fired tear-gas canisters and some live ammunition, towards local farmers, …

IMEMC News (2020-04-25). Soldiers Seriously Injure A Palestinian Worker, Abduct One, Near Jenin. imemc.org Israeli soldiers shot and seriously injured, on Friday evening, a young Palestinian man, abducted another and caused several others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, after the army chased Palestinian workers near Jenin, in northern West Bank. Media sources said the soldiers chased the Palestinian workers near the illegal …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-25). Arab Countries' Ambassadors to the UN Reject Israeli Annexation Plans. imemc.org Council of Arab Countries' Ambassadors to the United Nations (UN) in New York City, rejected Israel's announced annexation plans for the occupied West Bank. The council held a meeting via video conference to discuss the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the illegal annexation plans, recently announced by …

IMEMC & Agencies (2020-04-24). Israeli Troops Shoot, Wound Palestinian Man in Kufur Qaddoum. imemc.org Israeli Troops shot and wounded on Friday a Palestinian young man during protests in the Kufur Qaddoum village in the northern occupied West Bank. Organizers of the protest, which is staged on weekly basis, said that the Israeli troops attacked tens of Palestinian protesters near the Apartheid Wall in the …

David Swanson (2020-04-24). How Ya Gonna Pay For It? Stop Giving Money to Israel. dissidentvoice.org Did you know that the U.S. government has done something odd with your tax dollars? The ones you get so furious and indignant about when they're used to feed anybody who's hungry? It has given over 280 billion of those dollars to the government of Israel (not counting classified hush-hush super-secret amounts). Source. Israel is …

Staff (2020-04-24). "We Don't Have the Capacity to Treat": Palestinian-Canadian Doctor Says Israel Must Lift Gaza Siege. democracynow.org As fears continue to grow about what a rampant outbreak of the coronavirus might do to the occupied Palestinian territory, already crippled by years of Israeli sanctions, we get an update from Dr. Tarek Loubani, Palestinian-Canadian doctor and emergency physician who volunteers in the Gaza Strip and returned from a trip there last month. "Testing is severely limited," he says. "There have been fewer tests in Gaza so far throughout the entire pandemic than there were in South Korea yesterday."

Ali Salam (2020-04-24). Israeli Forces Storm East Jerusalem Town, Palestinian Youths Resist. imemc.org Confrontations broke out on Thursday morning, between Israeli forces and Palestinian young men in Kafr Aqab town in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local source.. Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center that soldiers were cutting down street signs, when the youth resisted the invasion, the soldiers fired rubber-coated steel …

PCHR (2020-04-24). PCHR: Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (16 — 22 April 2020). imemc.org Palestinian Center for Human Rights Summary of Israeli Violations of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (16-22 April, 2020) Israeli occupation forces (IOF) continued to violate Palestinians' human rights and commit crimes against civilians and their properties, conducting raids into Palestinian cities without regard to the state of emergency …

news.un (2020-04-23). Common coronavirus enemy, forges some Palestine-Israel cooperation, but West Bank annexation looms. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic is creating opportunities for cooperation that Israelis and Palestinians must embrace to sustain Middle East peace efforts and bring an end to decades of conflict, the United Nations' top envoy in the region said on Thursday.

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-23). A Machiavellian Fiasco: How 'Centrist' Gantz Resurrected Netanyahu, Israel's Right. dissidentvoice.org It was intended to be a Machiavellian move, but the decision by Benny Gantz, leader of Israel's Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) coalition, to join a Benjamin Netanyahu-led government is likely to destabilize the political fabric of Israeli society for years to come. In a surprising move, Gantz has entered into precarious political compromises, whereby …

Ramzy Baroud (2020-04-23). A Machiavellian Fiasco: How a So-Called 'Centrist' Resurrected Israel's Far Right. mintpressnews.com So-called centrist Benny Gantz has seemingly done everything in his power to assure Israel's left and center are crippled for years to come and that Netanyahu will continue his decades-long reign unopposed.

yenisafak (2020-04-27). Israel's population hits 9.2M including 1.93M Arabs. yenisafak.com Israel's current population has reached 9.2 million, including over one-quarter Arabs and other non-Jews, according to official new statistics.Israel's population is made up of 6.8 million Jews (74%), 1.93 million Arabs (21%), and 454,000 non-Arab Christians or adherents of other faiths (5%), the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Sunday.The figures were released by the bureau ahead of Israel's 72nd anniversary, which showed the rise in the population since 1948 and gave some projections for Israel's future population.The figures showed that 3.3 million Jewish people have immigrated to Israel in t…

Gordon Duff (2020-04-26). Russia's Love of Trump, But Why? Trump is Burying the United States, Just Like Nikita Promised. thealtworld.com Over the past year, since Russiagate has blown over for the most part, Sputnik News and Russia Today, the two major government controlled media operations (controlled by the same person) have embarrassingly fawned over Trump. | More than that, their slant has been decidedly racist, anti-Semitic (expressing virulent hatred for America's liberal Jewish majority), anti-Hispaic/African American/Islamic America and anti-intellectual. | They have also been anti-science but their real bias has been an ongoing smear campaign against any democratic politician or anyone that isn't a pure Deep State sludge eater. | Above al…

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…