Category: News

Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a shopping center near Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night. The attack, that killed four people, has resulted in severe repercussions, as Israel revoked the permits of 83,000 Palestinians from visiting Israel.

The attack received the usual denunciations from many members of the Knesset — but Tel Aviv’s 71-year-old Mayor, Ron Huldai, blamed Israel’s occupation of Palestine for the attack.

“We might be the only country in the world where another nation is under occupation without civil rights,” he said when speaking to Israeli army radio on Thursday. “You can’t hold people in a situation of occupation and hope they’ll reach the conclusion everything is alright.”
“No one has the courage [to find peace with the Palestinians],” he said.

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A talk by

As is typical in election years, a huge amount of
nonsense dominates the airwaves and internet. From Trump’s latest Muslim
baiting or immigrant bashing, to the GOP’s continued efforts to make big issues
out of Benghazi and Hillary’s e-mail foul-ups, most of this is truly
irrelevant. Among the issues almost never given the truly serious, sustained
and coherent attention it deserves is our country’s Middle East policy.

If you pay attention to the odd corners of the media, you
will see more and more articles about how the Democratic Party is abandoning
its decades of kneejerk, unconditional support for Israel. In most places, this
development is decried. In reality, it is the best thing that could happen to
both Israel and the US.

The Zionist/AIPAC driven side of the argument desperately
wants to spin this development as a result of week-kneed, misguided liberals
reneging on a historic friendship—that is pure and rather ugly propaganda. The
real issue for progressives, and hopefully for average Americans, is not whether
to stand with Israel, but what kind of Israel to stand for.
Those Zionists pleading for unconditional support are merely helping drive
their country further into the grip of its rising fascist elements.

It appears that this issue may result in a serious
platform fight in the Democratic Party this summer. If that is so, it is just
another thank you that the party owes to Bernie Sanders.  A levelheaded reassessment of our alliance
with Israel is long overdue.

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Hedy Epstein, 91, died at her home in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on May 26, 2016. An internationally renowned, respected and admired advocate for human and civil rights, Hedy was encircled by friends who lovingly cared for her at home.

Born August 15, 1924, in the Bavarian region of Germany, her lifelong commitment to human rights was formed by the horrific experiences she and her family endured under the repressive Nazi regime.
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Annual US report on human rights says nearly half of Palestinians killed by Israel were not carrying out attacks, and many times did not pose a threat to life

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration accused Israel of using excessive force against Palestinians during a wave of deadly violence, in an annual report that pointed to a global decline in human rights.

The annual report by the State Department into human rights abuses around the world accused Israeli forces of “excessive use of force” in the Palestinian territories, and “arbitrary arrest and associated torture and abuse, often with impunity,” by the IDF, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

According to numbers cited in the report, 149 Palestinians were killed in 2015 by Israeli security forces, but only 77 were in the course of attacking Israelis.

“There were numerous reports of the ISF (Israel security forces) killing Palestinians during riots, demonstrations, at checkpoints, and during routine operations; in some cases they did not pose a threat to life,” the report read.

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The Israeli authorities must end their long-standing attacks on Palestinian human rights defenders (HRDs) and halt the climate of intimidation of HRDs in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Amnesty International said today. Israeli authorities must take immediate steps to provide protection necessary for HRDs in Israel/OPT to carry out their work freely and without fear of attacks and harassment. Attacks and threats against HRDs must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account.

Read Amnesty International’s report here!

We applaud the recent decision of
the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to divest from several
companies complicit in violations of Palestinian human rights, including
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Motorola Solutions, and
Caterpillar. The adoption of the UUA’s Human Rights in Conflict Zones
investment screen sends a powerful message promoting human rights to
companies operating throughout the world. The implementation of the screen also provides an inspiring model for other faith-based communities in the United States. Not only do we thank you for this critical effort, we strongly support the passing of the Proposed Business Resolution:
Divestment from Corporations Complicit in the Violation of Palestinian
Rights at the Unitarian Universalists 2016 General Assembly

Sign the Thank You Here!

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) welcomes the recent decision of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to divest from several companies involved in human rights abuses and environmental degradation.

The UUA has adopted a human rights screen focusing on conflict zones that includes human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. The UUA subsequently divested from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., and Motorola Solutions. The UUA has also divested from Caterpillar Inc., due to concerns over its environmental and social practices. These four companies have been the target of boycott and divestment campaigns due to their complicity in violations of Palestinian human rights.

“We are pleased with this decision made by the UUA officials,” said Curtis Bell, a member of the UUJME Board of Directors. “As Unitarian Universalists we want to live by our principles, which include respect for the worth and dignity of every person, upholding justice, equity and compassion in human affairs, and seeking peace and world community. When we refuse to profit from human rights abuses and the suffering of fellow human beings, we are living our principles.”

By divesting from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Motorola Solutions, and Caterpillar, the UUA is joining other religious denominations such as the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, which have voted to divest from these and other companies profiting from Israel’s abuses of Palestinian rights; and the United Methodist Church, which has voted to boycott goods produced in settlements and which recently divested from two Israeli banks and placed three others on a no investing list due to their complicity in the illegal construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

UUJME will be working to reinforce and solidify the UUA’s decisions with passage of a Business Resolution by delegates to the UUA General Assembly in Columbus Ohio this coming June. Adoption of this resolution will guide the UUA as it continues to include human rights concerns in the occupied Palestinian territories in its future investment decisions.

OCHA Flash Update

Multiple demolitions across Area C in the West Bank; 124 people displaced

8 April 2016
Khirbet Tana, 7 April 2016On 7 April, the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) carried out demolitions throughout the West Bank, including in five Bedouin communities affected by the E1 settlement plan, and in Khirbet Tana, which has been the location of multiple demolitions in 2016, most recently on 23 March. Demolitions also took place today in Az’ Za’ayem village (Jerusalem), Ni’lin (Ramallah), and Al Khader (Bethlehem), where a combination of residential, animal and livelihood structures were demolished. 

In total, 54 structures (including 18 donor-funded structures) were demolished in nine different communities, displacing 124 people, including 60 children. A further 293 people, including 98 children, were otherwise affected.
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A call for International Protection of Palestinians from Israeli-Sanctioned Murder

Lawlessness and violence against Palestinian civilians reached new levels during the March 28 anti-BDS rally in Jerusalem. The Israeli minister of transportation, intelligence and atomic energy, Yisrael Katz, said that Israel must carry out a “targeted civil thwarting of the BDS leadership,” naming Omar Barghouti and other Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists. (“Targeted thwarting” is an Israeli military term for “assassination.”) Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri escalated the fear-mongering by claiming that Barghouti and other BDS activists are paid by terrorist organizations hostile to Israel.

Friends of Sabeel North America condemns this dangerous and violent rhetoric by Israeli leaders. As a Palestinian Christian organization, FOSNA affirms the sanctity of every human life and asserts that murder and intent to assassinate targeted civilians runs contrary to our religious principles and international law. We reject statements by extremist religious leaders who distort the teachings of their own scriptures, religious law, and prophets by justifying murder with hate speech. A central principle of our Judeo-Christian-Islamic scriptures and traditions is the responsibility “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.”

Please contact Secretary of State John Kerry in support of Senator Patrick Leahy’s request to investigate “gross violations of human rights” in Israel. Write to your local newspaper in support of sanctions against Israel in light of these threats. Speak to your congregations about the violence Palestinians experience under occupation. In a climate of rising extremism among Israeli settlers and the military, Western powers need to intervene to protect increasingly vulnerable Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip.