RAMALLAH — Gazans hoping for a modicum of justice following Israel’s indiscriminate military assault on the coastal territory during December 2008 and January 2009 — which left 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, dead — could be waiting in vain. The Israeli government has taken the offensive in the propaganda battle and attacked United Nations-appointed Justice Richard …
Continue reading “Gazans Denied Justice as Rights Take a Beating”
Over the past four decades Israel has defrauded Palestinians working inside Israel of more than $2 billion by deducting from their salaries contributions for welfare benefits to which they were never entitled, Israeli economists have revealed. A new report, “State Robbery”, to be published later this month, says the “theft” continued even after the Palestinian …
Continue reading “Report: Israel Stole $2B from Palestinian Workers”
SILWAN, East Jerusalem — Backed by armed security men, the municipal inspectors race their jeeps through the narrow alleyways and up a hillside crowded with buildings. Some of the homes are well-faced with stone; the naked concrete of others gives off something of a temporary air. One block of flats stands out for its unusual …
Continue reading “Raze Illegal Buildings — Unless They Are Jewish”
Leaders of the Arab minority in Israel warned this week that they were facing an unprecedented campaign of persecution, backed by the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, designed to stop their political activities. The warning came after Said Nafaa, a Druze member of the Israeli parliament, was stripped of his immunity last week, clearing the …
Continue reading “Arab Politicians Face Tide of ‘Persecution’ in Israel”
JERUSALEM – Scores of Palestinian women and their children carefully sift through the desert sands. They are looking for hard nuggets. No gold rush here in the Gaza Strip – all they are putting into their sacks are pebbles and pieces of hard rock. Even Israelis were moved when their main commercial channel, Channel 2, …
Continue reading “Helpless in Gaza”
Mel Frykberg interviews MAHMOUDI RAMAHI, secretary-general of the Palestinian Legislative Council RAMALLAH – Palestinian politics are at an impasse. The four-year term of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) ended on Jan. 25 with no new elections planned. Presidential elections, meant to be held last year, were also postponed indefinitely. IPS spoke with Dr. Mahmoud Ramahi, …
Continue reading “‘Hamas Accepts Existence of Israel Within 1967 Borders’”
The Israeli government is reported to have quietly approved the fast-track immigration of 7,000 members of a supposedly “lost Jewish” tribe, known as the Bnei Menashe, currently living in a remote area of India. Under the plan, the “lost Jews” would be brought to Israel over the next two years by right-wing and religious organizations …
Continue reading “‘Lost Tribe’ on Fast Track to Israel”
Philip Giraldi on Israel’s US-subsidized tech boom
The business is registered in the name of Binyamin Netanyahu. But the reality is different. Netanyahu has never been more than a slick patent-medicine salesman. That is a type that appears frequently in American Westerns and sells an elixir that is good for everything: against the flu and against tuberculosis, against heart attacks and against …
Continue reading “The Liebarak”
Ehud Barak, Israel’s defense minister, approved last week the upgrading to university status of a college in a settlement located deep inside the West Bank, a move certain to further undermine Palestinian confidence in the peace process. The decision, authorizing the first Israeli university in Palestinian territory, is expected to entitle the college to significant …
Continue reading “Israel Creates First ‘Army-Owned’ University” 
