Israeli forces are choking, beating, and abusing Palestinian children as young as 11, arresting and coercing them into confessions without granting them access to lawyers or even informing their parents of their whereabouts, a new investigation from Human Rights Watch reveals. The findings are contained in a report—Israel: Security Forces Abuse Palestinian Children—based on interviews with six children between the …
One Year After Gaza Massacre, UN Exposes Likely War Crimes By Marjorie Cohn
One year ago, on July 7, 2014, Israel launched “Operation Protective Edge,” a massive assault on the Gaza Strip. For 51 days, Israel bombarded Gaza with more than 6,000 airstrikes. Many of them hit residential buildings. Tawfik Abu Jama, a father of eight, told UN investigators, “I was sitting with my family at the table ready to break the fast. …
Israel (20,000km2) Considers the Annexation of Sinai (60,000km2) in An Act of War Against Egypt By Anthony Bellchambers
Such an aggressively expansionist move, ostensibly to deter political unrest on its southern border – which runs from Rafah to Eilat – but in reality an effort by the Netanyahu administration to become a hegemonic power in the region, would be strongly opposed by the U.S., Britain and Russia and the entire UNSC. In an action that would inevitably instigate …
How Zionism Corrupts Judaism By Daniel C. Maguire
Like the Palestinian people, Judaism is also suffering from siege and occupation. Zionism, a Nineteenth Century hallucinatory piece of fictive theology and a vicious ideology, has gotten a demonic grip on much of modern Jewish consciousness and has taken possession of U.S. policies in the Middle East. Zionism is not Judaism; Judaism is 3,000 years old. Zionism is a heretical …
How Israel Weaponized Water by LAITH SHAKIR
California is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in the state’s history, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to declare a water “state of emergency.” Ordinary Californians are bearing the brunt of this disaster. While the governor has imposed restrictions to reduce residential water consumption, businesses in the fields of agriculture and hydraulic fracturing have been largely exempt. Brown’s …
The Middle East Is A Refugee Ticking Bomb By Luis Miranda
“Sixty-five percent of the refugees are under 25, are marginalized, desperate and frustrated by the lack of a just solution,” says Christofer Gunness, from UNRWA. Regional vulnerability has always existed here but in recent years has exploded with the crisis in Syria and Iraq, the expansion of the Islamic State and instability and crises in countries such as Yemen, Libya, …
UN report details Israeli war crimes in Gaza By Jean Shaoul
The report into Israel’s war on Gaza last summer by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) found that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during Israel’s war on Gaza last summer. But while some newspaper headlines may give the impression of equal blame, the UNHRC’s commission of inquiry nevertheless highlighted the disproportionate nature of the killings—2,251 Palestinians of …
Israel’s Race to Economic and Moral Bankruptcy By Jonathan Cook
Two recent reports suggest that Israel could face catastrophic consequences if it fails to end the mistreatment of Palestinians under its rule, whether in the occupied territories or in Israel itself. The Rand Corporation’s research shows that Israel could lose $250 billion over the next decade if it fails to make peace with the Palestinians and violence escalates. Ending the …
Israel and the Water Card By Paul R. Pillar
Israel is the object of widespread admiration for its economic and technical accomplishments and the ingenuity that went into them — for being a nation that made the desert bloom. Much of the admiration is quite warranted, with Israeli talent and resourcefulness having not only produced blooms on kibbutzes but also a leading high-tech sector today. The comparisons involved, however, …
Israel and the New European Colonialism By Garry Leech
The creation of a Jewish state in the middle of the Arab world represents the continuation of European colonialism in Palestine under an apartheid system that has consisted of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by a rogue nation that has repeatedly violated international law. Given this reality, and the fact that Palestine is the Holy Land of three religions, the …