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‘All the houses received [demolition] orders’: Israel to destroy entire Bedouin village in the West Bank

Kate on

Haaretz reports: The IDF’s Civil Administration in the West Bank on Sunday distributed some 40 demolition orders in a Bedouin village in Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and military control. Residents say the issuing of dozens of demolition orders is unprecedented in the area. “All the houses received [demolition] orders,” A’id Khamis Jahalin, a local resident, told Haaretz. “I’m scared. This time is different. Then they gave one [demolition order] or two, but such a blow, it’s something. They gave 42 orders. They gave for everything, there are no structures here in all the area that didn’t receive an order. I spoke with our lawyer, they gave us up to five days [to object], that’s a short time,” said Jahalin. Israeli authorities confirmed that such a widespread issuance of demolition orders was unprecedented in the area, and this is a declaration of intention in advance of an attempt to evacuate the entire village.

On rewards against terror and for justice

Marc H. Ellis on

The Council on Islamic Affairs (CAIR) has offered a $5,000 award for anyone with knowledge of those threatening Jewish community centers in the United States. Violence has to be condemned unequivocally. If the center of American democracy is to hold under Trump’s assault, all hands against violence must be on deck. But the level of incitement against Muslims and the undocumented, now extending to Jewish institutions, isn’t simply a Trump phenomena. Jews aren’t only victims in this cycle. These same Jewish institutions now under threat contribute to the cycle of violence they are now threatened with.

Elderly father of slain Palestinian dies ‘of shock’ in Umm al-Hiran

Kate on

The 100-year old father of Yacoub Abu al-Qee‘an [or al-Qi‘an] died Thursday morning after succumbing to shock over the death of his son, who was killed by Israeli police while defending his village of Umm al-Hiran from eviction. Israeli authorities are in the process of razing and expelling the Palestinian-Bedouin residents of Umm al-Hiran, in order to establish a Jewish-Israeli community in the same location.

Israel demolishes home of 100-year-old Palestinian woman leaving her homeless

Kate on

In the latest instance of Israel’s demolition campaign in the Negev region of southern Israel, homes were demolished in two unrecognized Bedouin villages on Wednesday, while Israeli police surrounded the village of Umm al-Hiran. Among those left homeless, a 100-year old Palestinian woman and her 60-year old daughter, both of whom are unable to walk due to health issues.

Palestinian teen killed by Israeli forces during raid on Jenin refugee camp

Kate on

Ma‘an reports: “Israeli forces shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Khalifa and injured several others early Sunday morning in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, after clashes erupted following an Israeli army raid into the camp. State-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Abu Khalifa was left on the ground for hours before paramedics were able to evacuate his body.”

Trump administration has no comment on Israeli settlement boom

Kate on

Israel announced plans on Tuesday for 2,500 more settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the second such declaration since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. White House spokesman Sean Spicer dodged a question Tuesday on whether the administration supports the Israeli government’s policy.

Thank you for keeping Mondoweiss going–and growing!

Tova Perlmutter on

Last month, we asked you to support Mondoweiss’s independent journalism and readers’ response was generous and thoughtful—both financial contributions and moral support flooded in. In fact, for the third year in a row, our year-end campaign set new records, with donations exceeding our $120,000 goal by more than 20 percent!

Today, it is apparent that the coming challenges will be even greater than anticipated. In addition to terrifying anti-Muslim policies, those who promote the most narrow, supremacist vision for both the U.S. and Palestine have declared war on facts as well as people. In the face of “alternative facts,” Mondoweiss pledges never to pull back on telling the truth. Thank you for your support, which will allow Mondoweiss to continue reporting, add new features and channels for information, and reach out to more people who need accurate journalism.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in southern West Bank village of Tuqu

Kate on

Ma‘an reports: Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during clashes in the Bethlehem-area village of Tuqu‘ in the southern occupied West Bank on Monday evening. A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson told Ma‘an that 17-year-old Qusay Hasan al-Umour was shot with live ammunition in the chest at least three times, and that Israeli forces had detained him for an unspecified period of time before handing over his body to the health organization. A video taken by Palestinian journalist Hisham Abu Sharqah immediately after al-Umour was shot seemingly contradicts the Israeli army’s version of events.

How I got over the Milk-and-Honey-and-Chosen-People place

Menucha Sara, bat Eliyahu on

“Now who I do talk Hebrew to? Palestinians.” An American activist who grew up in the Orthodox Jewish community describes her long road from Zionism and a belief in Israel’s goodness to a dedication to human rights and anti-Zionism.

Israeli forces seize 5 relatives of Palestinian killed committing truck attack in occupied Jerusalem

Kate on

Israeli forces raided homes in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir on Sunday and detained at least five relatives of Fadi Ahmad Hamdan al-Qunbar, a Palestinian who was killed earlier in the day after carrying out a deadly vehicular attack. Israel is also withholding his body, denying family reunification requests, and planning demolition of his house.

Will the Azaria verdict shield Israel from the International Criminal Court?

Kate on

One possible consequence of the Azaria verdict is that will help protect Israel from international accountability. Yonah Jeremy Bob writes in the Jerusalem Post: “At the ICC, Hebron shooter Elor Azaria’s manslaughter conviction may affirm the credibility of Israel’s apparatus for prosecuting its own soldiers. This is important because it is the decisive issue affecting whether the ICC will dive deeper into the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.”

Waqf: 14,806 Israeli settler incursions on Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in 2016

Kate on

Ma‘an reports: 2016 saw the highest number of incursions on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by right-wing Israelis than previous recorded years, according to the Islamic Endowment (Waqf) that manages the holy site. The religious trust said in the statement that a total of 14,806 Israeli settler incursions occurred on the compound in 2016 via the Old City’s Moroccan Gate. These incursions included assaults on employees of the Islamic Waqf, with Israeli forces routinely banning them from entering the holy site.

Join us in gearing up for 2017’s battles — and check out the top stories of 2016

Adam Horowitz, Scott Roth and Philip Weiss on
Reporting spreads Resistance

Muckraking journalist George Seldes said it best: “The truth is not in the commercial media because the truth is a dagger pointed at its heart, which is its pocketbook.” Today is the last time this year that we will ask for your donations to maintain and grow Mondoweiss’s independence and leadership in defining, documenting and strategizing resistance to injustice. (If you have already donated, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!) Today we also follow the Mondoweiss tradition of ending each year by listing the year’s posts that received the most views. We present the top stories of the 1500+ published in 2016—a very diverse group. And this year our look back goes beyond a quantitative list to highlight the pieces that make us particularly proud.

The power of BDS — and the importance of Mondoweiss for growing the movement

Nada Elia on

Scholar-activist Nada Elia writes: “I believe that BDS will play as important a role in restoring Palestinian rights as the global boycott of South Africa did in ending apartheid there. The BDS movement will achieve its full potential impact through mass information—by more and more people learning how they can advance the movement, and by corporations and governments understanding the breadth of BDS support. This is where Mondoweiss plays a pivotal role. In recent years, the growth in our movement’s success has been enabled by constant reporting and opinion pieces published in Mondoweiss, where they reach hundreds of thousands of readers regularly. I urge you to join me in supporting Mondoweiss as a key movement tool. By connecting those of us building power, Mondoweiss makes a difference that is essential for any hope of justice in our lifetime.”