Jonathan Cook

Israel is roiling with angry street protests that local observers have warned could erupt into open civil strife – a development Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be encouraging. For weeks, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have been the scene of large, noisy demonstrations outside the official residences of Mr. Netanyahu and his public security minister, … Continue reading “Can Israelis Broaden Their Protests Beyond Netanyahu?”

The Jewish National Fund, established more than 100 years ago, is perhaps the most venerable of the international Zionist organizations. Its recent honorary patrons have included prime ministers, and it advises UN forums on forestry and conservation issues. It is also recognized as a charity in dozens of western states. Generations of Jewish families, and … Continue reading “Israel’s Jewish National Fund Is Uprooting Palestinians – Not Planting Trees”

An Israeli diplomat filed a complaint last week with police after he was pulled to the ground in Jerusalem by four security guards, who knelt on his neck for five minutes as he cried out: “I can’t breathe.” There are obvious echoes of the treatment of George Floyd, an African-American killed by police in Minneapolis … Continue reading “Chokehold on Diplomat Exposes Israel’s Special Type of Apartheid”

In the near-two decades since the International Criminal Court was set up to try the worst violations of international human rights law, it has faced harsh criticism for its highly selective approach to the question of who should be put on trial. Created in 2002, the court, it was imagined, would act as a deterrent … Continue reading “Israel and the US Step Up Efforts To Intimidate the Hague War Crimes Court”

The Palestinians of Gaza know all about lockdowns. For the past 13 years, some two million of them have endured a closure by Israel more extreme than anything experienced by almost any other society – including even now, as the world hunkers down to try to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Israel has been carrying out … Continue reading “If Coronavirus Overwhelms Gaza, Israel Alone Is to Blame”

Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, abandoned the central plank of his platform at the weekend – that he would never sit in a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu, who has led Israel continuously for the past 11 years. A former military general, Gantz justified his dramatic change of course under cover of … Continue reading “Gantz Fears Something More Than Coronavirus or Netanyahu: Palestinians”

Benny Gantz, the former Israeli general turned party leader, agreed late last week to join his rival Benjamin Netanyahu in an “emergency government” to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. Two weeks ago he had won a wafer-thin majority vote in the parliament that gave him first shot at trying to put together a coalition government. … Continue reading “Netanyahu Uses Coronavirus To Lure Rival Gantz Into ‘Emergency’ Government”

After lengthy delays, the United Nations finally published a database last week of businesses that have been profiting from Israel’s illegal settlement activity in the West Bank. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, announced that 112 major companies had been identified as operating in Israeli settlements in ways that violate human rights. … Continue reading “UN List of Firms Aiding Israel’s Settlements Was Dead on Arrival”

Maybe something good will come out of the Trump plan, after all. By pushing the Middle East peace process to its logical conclusion, Donald Trump has made crystal clear something that was supposed to have been obscured: that no US administration has ever really seen peace as the objective of its “peacemaking”. The current White … Continue reading “Jared Kushner Reveals Trump’s Plan Won’t Create a Palestinian State”

Much of Donald Trump’s long-trailed “deal of the century” came as no surprise. Over the past 18 months, Israeli officials had leaked many of its details. The so-called “Vision for Peace” unveiled on Tuesday simply confirmed that the US government has publicly adopted the long-running consensus in Israel: that it is entitled to keep permanently … Continue reading “Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Won’t Bring Peace – That Was the Plan”