http://mondoweiss.net/2015/12/bragging-clinton-praises

Yesterday Hillary Clinton gave a speech in Washington at the Saban Forum of Brookings that included more pandering to Israel than any speech I’ve heard from any American politician. It was endless. Israel is a brave democracy, a light unto the nations, a miracle, its “prowess in war” is “inspiring,” and we must take the US-Israel relationship to the “next level.”

Introduced by her good friend the Israeli-American megadonor, Haim Saban, Clinton bragged that she and Israel were born a few months apart, gave a shoutout to Israel’s former lawyer in the White House, Dennis Ross, and assured Ari Shavit the rightwing Israeli columnist that the military option was still on the table with Iran. In fact, she repeatedly slammed Iran as a bad actor and did all she could to distance herself from the Iran deal and from secretary of state John Kerry, who gave a more realistic speech the day before. She never mentioned the occupation, vaguely touched on settlements as a problem, and praised the late Clintonite Sandy Berger as a “steadfast friend to Israel.”

Just as the Republican candidates had attacked Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) at the Republican Jewish Coalition last week, Clinton said that BDS was hurting the U.S.’s ability to fight terrorism. This is language straight out of Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

http://972mag.com/military-court-sentences-feminist-palestinian-lawmaker-to-15-months/114585/

Jarrar was accused on 12 counts, the majority of which involved her parliamentary work and activism, including participation in protests, an interview with the media, a visit to a solidarity tent for Palestinian prisoners, and giving speeches. She was accused of one count of incitement to kidnap soldiers, however the witness on this count stated that he was not sure that he heard Jarrar say anything to this effect.

Jarrar was arrested in April of this year at her home and was placed under house arrest for several months, after she refused to follow an internal expulsion order demanding she move to Jericho within 24 hours for a period of 1.5 years. Following her arrest, Jarrar was placed under administrative attention, which led to a worldwide campaign advocating for her release. She was eventually released from administrative detention and put on trial.

Palestinian member of Knesset and head of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality Aida Touma Suleiman (Joint List) responded to Jarrar’s sentence, saying that the decision of the “occupation authorities to imprison a member of parliament for her political positions, and after eight months of administrative detention, proves that the government of Israel is seeking to inflame the situation. This government has nothing to propose but instilling fear in Israelis and oppressing and dispossessing Palestinians.
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Recently, Avi Blecherman exposed how during one of the court hearings, the prosecution’s key witness was presented with seven photos, and asked to identify Jarrar. Six of the seven photos were of men. The judge reprimanded the military prosecution for dragging out the hearings indefinitely, warning that if the pace does not pick up, he will be forced to release her. The prosecution then threatened to forgo the criminal procedure and request she be placed back under administrative detention.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/22645-israel-demands-pa-pay-dawabsheh-medical-costs


The Israeli hospital in which Ahmed Dawabsheh is being treated has demanded the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health pay 259,643 shekels ($67,000) to cover the cost of his treatment.

In a Price Tag attack, a group of settlers burned down Ahmed’s family home in the village of Douma, near the city of Nablus, on 31 July.

The four-year-old's parents and one-year-old brother Ali were killed as a result of the blaze.

In a press statement issued yesterday, the ministry said that on 25 October Tel Hashomer Hospital asked the ministry to cover the cost of Ahmed’s treatment; more than a quarter of a million shekels to date.

"A lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal - whether or not Israel's willing to sacrifice certain things," Trump told AP. "They may not be, and I understand that, and I'm OK with that. But then you're just not going to have a deal."

Pressed to explain his comments on Thursday, Trump refused to back down. "I don't know that Israel has the commitment to make it, and I don't know the other side has the commitment to make it," Trump said.

The comment drew murmurs of disapproval. He soon drew a smattering of boos after refusing to say whether Jerusalem should serve as the undivided capital of Israel, a priority for many in America's pro-Israel lobby.

Trump shrugged off the criticism. "You're not going to support me even though you know I'm the best thing that could happen to Israel," Trump said. "I know why you're not going to support me: because I don't want your money."

http://972mag.com/the-farce-of-catching-jewish-terrorists/114493/

When it comes to Jewish terrorism, however, it seems the Shin Bet is either ill-equipped or totally uninterested in preventing attacks against Palestinian civilians.

Case in point: according to Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din, there have been 18 cases of arson attacks on Palestinian homes in the West Bank since 2008. This number refers solely to the number of incidents recorded by the organization.

Among these cases, police investigated 15 of the attacks (in three cases, the victims decided not to file a complaint). According to Yesh Din, only one arson attack — the burning of a Bedouin family’s tent near Ramallah in August 2015, just weeks after the Duma attack — ended in indictment. Ten of the cases were closed without any indictments; the others are still being investigated.

Furthermore, out of the 1,026 cases being handled by Yesh Din over the past 10 years, 940 cases (91.6 percent) were closed without any convictions. Only in 75 cases (7.3 percent) were individuals indicted handed down.

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/12/pediatric-intensive-jerusalem

IMEMC 2 Dec — Israeli soldiers fired, on Tuesday evening, two tear gas bombs into the al-Makassed Hospital, in the at-Tour town, in occupied Jerusalem, causing many Palestinians, including patients, to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. Hospital administration said the gas from the soldiers reached the Children’s Ward and the Intensive Care Unit, causing many patients, including children, and visiting family members to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. It added that one woman, accompanying her child in the children’s ward, suffered burns in her hand after carrying one of the gas bombs and throwing it outside. The al-Makassed Hospital administration issued a press release, and an urgent call for international human rights and legal groups to intervene and stop the Israeli escalation and violations, especially since the hospital has lately become a target of frequent military invasions and attacks. The Israeli army claims it was searching for Palestinians who reportedly hurled stones and Molotov cocktails on their vehicles, during clashes near the hospital. The hospital has been attacked and invaded at least six times since October, and the soldiers repeatedly fired gas bombs, in addition to breaking into different sections of the hospital, including Urgent Care, and also stormed administration offices, looking for admission records of wounded Palestinians.

http://www.imemc.org/article/74080

http://972mag.com/meet-the-israelis-protesting-against-christmas/114346/


Notorious racist organization Lehava and its leader stage an ugly protest outside the Jerusalem YMCA’s tree-decorating ceremony, against ‘forced conversion,’ and demanding that Christians ‘go back to Europe.’
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Like scavengers descending upon a carcass in the desert, Benzi Gopstein (leader of the racist anti-miscegenation group Lehava) and a dozen teenagers gathered outside the YMCA to protest against the “abomination” taking place inside. The police, who knew in advance that Gopstein and friends were planning to show up, were prepared and kept them on the other side of the street, next to the King David Hotel.

And thus, inside the YMCA many dozens of families celebrated and sang together in brotherhood and joy; outside, a sad congregation listened to Gopstein ramble off slogans into a megaphone: “The children of Israel want Hanukah, not fir trees! The children of Israel want to learn ‘Shema Israel’! Don’t send our children to be forcibly converted! Christians, go back to Europe! We don’t want your gifts and candies!”

It seems Lehava’s holy mission is no longer safeguarding the purity of the daughters of Israel from the seduction of Arab men. Its new mission, it seems, is to safeguard the racial purity not only of the family unit, but of the entire country.

http://972mag.com/under-cover-of-shabbat-settlers-invade-palestinian-property-in-hebron/114290/

Dozens of settlers in Hebron took over the front yard of the home of well-known local Palestinian nonviolent activist Issa Amro over the weekend. Israeli soldiers remained with the settlers for over 24 hours, guarding them as they slept, prayed, and ate — all the while blocking the entrance to the house.

Amro rents the house from its Palestinian owner, using it as the community center for the “Youth Against Settlements” organization, which teaches local Palestinian youth about nonviolent resistance.

The settlers were eventually forced to leave Saturday evening when police arrived and declared the area a “closed military zone.” The Palestinians — aside from Amro — were forcibly removed from the premises, after which the settlers left on their own accord. The only person who the army is currently letting enter and exit the house is Amro.
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Amro and his landlord filed a complaint with the police over the settler takeover, which blocked the path into the house. The police officers who arrived at the scene told Amro and the landlord that the Israeli army’s Hebron’s brigade commander authorized the settlers to be there, thus leaving the police powerless. Amro said the soldiers threatened to lock him in a bathroom stall again, this time for longer, if he continued to complain.

http://972mag.com/settler-who-attacked-leftist-rabbi-if-i-kill-one-itll-be-over/114233/

The Jewish extremist who allegedly attacked Rabbis for Human Rights head Arik Ascherman last month was indicted two weeks ago, charged with causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a knife and ammunition. The youth, 17 years old, is suspected of assaulting Ascherman near the settlement of Itamar as the rabbi was assisting Palestinians with their olive harvest.

Israel’s Channel 10 news conducted an interview with the suspect, himself from Itamar, after he was released to house arrest last Friday. His back turned to the camera to protect his identity, he accused human rights activists of being the source of tension his area, saying there needs to be “deterrence.”

“If I kill one of them it’ll be over. But that isn’t legal,” he said. “We need to deter them. They need to be made fearful. They need to receive a blow.”

Even the Channel 10 report, which did not appear to have sought a comment from Rabbi Ascherman, notes that given the severity of the charges against the youth, it is surprising that he was released to house arrest. His comments during the interview do little to assuage concerns over his release.

http://972mag.com/israeli-journalists-slam-netanyahu-over-closure-of-arabic-media-outlets/114221/

The government shut down two Arabic-language outlets last week, leaving nearly 30 journalists jobless. The Union of Israeli Journalists: ‘Shutting down media outlets is nearly unheard of in democratic regimes.’

The Union of Journalists in Israel sent a letter to Prime Minister and Communications Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday, protesting the shutting down of two Arabic-language media outlet last week.

As reported on the media watchdog site The Seventh Eye, police and Shin Bet agents raided and shut down the newsroom of veteran newspaper, Sawt al-Haq wa Al-Hurriya, as well as the news website PLS48, while confiscating computers and other equipment. The raids were conducted due to the fact their publishers belong to a corporation owned by the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which was made illegal last week. Approximately 30 journalists lost their job in one fell swoop.

The letter, which was signed by union chairman Yair Tarchitsky and was approved by the secretariat, stated that “The shutting down of media outlets by security forces is a drastic step that is nearly unheard of in democratic regimes, specifically in Israel. We see this move as a direct threat to both freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Israel — two cornerstones of democracy — which must only be carried out in the most extreme cases.”