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Dr. Abuelaish Seeks Israel’s Accountability and Responsibility for Deaths of Daughters and Niece

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Written by Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Published: 06 March 2017 06 March 2017

The fight to hold Israel accountable for tragedies inflicted upon Palestinian families will be taken a step further on March 15, 2017, as the Abuelaish Trial for Accountability and Responsibility vs. Israel finally begins in Beer el-Sabe District Court.

Gaza obstetrician Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish’s civil lawsuit seeking an apology and compensation has been pending in Israeli courts since December 2010. On Jan. 16, 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, Israeli shells hit his family home, killing his three daughters and niece.

Israelis heard Dr. Abuelaish’s anguished cries for help as they were broadcast live on Shlomi Eldar’s TV program. Eldar helped get an ambulance to Abuelaish’s home in time to save a fourth daughter who was grievously wounded. The tragedy was rebroadcast around the world and shamed Israel into halting that year’s attacks on Gaza.

After his daughters Bessan (21), Mayar (15) and Aya (13) and niece Noor (17) were killed, Dr. Abuelaish began to seek an apology from the Israeli government for the grief and sorrow inflicted on his family. The Israeli government refused to take responsibility for the girls’ deaths, stating that they were killed in “an operation of war,” and that therefore it would not acknowledge any blame.

Read more: Dr. Abuelaish Seeks Israel’s Accountability and Responsibility for Deaths of Daughters and Niece

RALLY IN PORTLAND OPPOSING TRUMP-NETANYAHU AGENDAS

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Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller
Published: 17 February 2017 17 February 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 17, 2017

 

 

RALLY IN PORTLAND OPPOSING TRUMP-NETANYAHU AGENDAS

On Wednesday people of good faith stood at Pioneer Courthouse Square joining a National Day of Action to Say NO to U.S. Policy on Israel and NO to the Trump Racist Agenda

 

Standing in a steady rain, over 60 people held a vigil Wednesday evening at Pioneer Courthouse Square to protest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump’s agendas of shared racism, Islamophobia, denial of human rights and ongoing occupation. While Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump met in Washington, the protesters here at the Portland rally chanted, “No Walls No Ban No Building on Stolen Land”, “Hey Hey Ho Ho David Friedman’s got to go”, and “From Palestine to Mexico All the walls have got to go.”

 

One of the protest organizers, Ned Rosch, of Jewish Voice for Peace-PDX, read from a statement published yesterday by Jewish Voice for Peace, “Netanyahu and Trump share a vision of the world which paints aspirations for freedom and dignity as security threats and falsely and intentionally pits Islam against the West and democracy. In response to their joint agenda, we will continue to grow the resistance to their anti-refugee, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim policies here in the U.S. and in Israel and put forward a vision of true dignity, equality, and justice for all.“

Read more: RALLY IN PORTLAND OPPOSING TRUMP-NETANYAHU AGENDAS

A sad sign of the times: Hispanic caucus members ejected from meeting about immigration raids

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Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller
Published: 17 February 2017 17 February 2017

Removal of caucus members from meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement led to shock: ‘Never before in 20-plus years has this happened’

Two members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said they were removed from a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) on Thursday, just two days after the agency’s acting director abruptly cancelled a meeting with the CHC.

On Thursday, Democratic Representatives Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois and Norma Torres of California said Republicans asked them to leave a meeting with the agency’s acting director, Thomas Homan, about the rash of raids on immigrant communities.

“In 20-plus years, I have never heard of the Republicans controlling what meetings Democrats can have with officials of the executive branch and never had a staffer ask me to leave a meeting to which I am entitled to attend,” Gutiérrez said in a statement after the meeting.

Read more on The Guardian

In First, Israel Mulls Using New Law to Confiscate Palestinian Lands for Illegal Settlement

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Written by Yotam Berger Yotam Berger
Published: 14 February 2017 14 February 2017

Israel tells court contemplating using new land-grab law to 'legalize' seven structures, roads built on private Palestinian land.

Israel has told the High Court it is contemplating using recently passed legislation to confiscate privately owned Palestinians lands in the West Bank. The lands in question contain seven structures in the West Bank outpost of Adi Ad and a number of roads built illegally on private lands.

This could be the first time that state uses the so-called Regularization Law to expropriate private Palestinian lands in the West Bank.

A group of Palestinians had filed a petition with the High Court through the Yesh Din legal aid group in 2014, demanding that the illegal outpost of Adi Ad be dismantled. At the time, Israel's legal representatives said in response that a demarcation team surveyed the area and found that six structures in the outpost were built on parcels "that are not state lands."

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.771651

Solidarity is not selective: Michael Bennett brings the struggle for Palestinian freedom to the NFL

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Written by Shireen Ahmed Shireen Ahmed
Published: 14 February 2017 14 February 2017

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett created ripples in the sports world when he publicly tweeted he was no longer going on a Post-Super Bowl trip to Israel.

In a world where privileged football sports figures make vacuous and cowardly statements about politics, Bennett has been a voice of intelligence and compassion. He was vocal in supporting Colin Kaepernick’s protest against systemic injustice and anti-Blackness in the United States, and his most recent public comments have cemented his unwavering commitment to understanding the roots of injustice — despite the attempts by Israeli organizations to gloss over the oppression of Palestinians.   .....

See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2017/02/solidarity-selective-palestinian

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