Alarming': Palestinians accuse ICC prosecutor of bias after Israel visit
Palestinians are disappointed with International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan for focusing on Hamas and neglecting Israeli crimes.
Khan's visit to Israeli communities and rejection of Palestinian offer to visit illegal settlements and refugee camps in occupied West Bank has raised concerns of double standards. [ more ]
Alarming': Palestinians accuse ICC prosecutor of bias after Israel visit
Palestinians are disappointed with International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan for focusing on Hamas and neglecting Israeli crimes.
Khan's visit to Israeli communities and rejection of Palestinian offer to visit illegal settlements and refugee camps in occupied West Bank has raised concerns of double standards. [ more ]
Dozens are dead and hundreds feared missing from migrant ship sinking off Greece
This undated handout image provided by Greece's coast guard on Wednesday, June14, 2023, shows scores of people covering practically every free stretch of deck on a battered fishing boat that later capsized and sank off southern Greece.AP KALAMATA, Greece With its human cargo of migrants filling every available space, the battered blue trawler was about halfway from Libya to Italy when its engine cut out in the night.
Image A Ukrainian soldier removing branches that had concealed a howitzer.Credit...Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said yesterday that it needed more time to begin a counteroffensive against Russia because Ukraine's forces are still waiting for military equipment promised by the West.
US Judge Admits Horror of Gaza Genocide, But Will He Dismiss Case Against Biden?
The International Court of Justice found a plausible case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Palestinians are suing President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for failure to prevent and complicity in genocide. [ more ]
As Food Aid to Gaza Is Cut, Palestinians Demand Freedom Instead of Charity
Palestinian children hold banners during a demonstration against the reduction in UN food aid allocated to the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, on June 6, 2023.NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images Palestinians in Gaza already grappling with an ongoing, 16-year-old land, sea and air blockade imposed by the apartheid state of Israel are now being served another harsh and devastating blow.
Blood on All Our Hands: Gunnhild yehaug on Adania Shibli's Minor Detail
PJ Harvey's performance in Oslo included a powerful moment where she sang the words 'I got blood on my hands' while holding her hands out to the audience.
The author reflects on the contrast between the safe, rich environment of the concert and the violent realities of the world, particularly the ongoing genocide in Gaza. [ more ]
Voices of the occupied West Bank: 'Any action is resistance'
Violence is escalating in the occupied West Bank as Israeli forces raid Palestinian towns and settlers increase attacks and harassment.
Israeli forces have killed 30 Palestinians in the West Bank in the first 15 days of 2022, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. [ more ]
No Charges for Israeli Soldiers in Death of Detained Palestinian American
Israeli military prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against soldiers who detained and gagged a 78-year-old Palestinian American man and then left him unconscious in a building site shortly before he was pronounced dead.The Israeli Army announced on Tuesday that soldiers involved in the detention of the man, Omar Assad, 78, during an early-morning operation in January 2022 in a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, would only face internal disciplinary measures.
PayPal Upholds Its Discriminatory Ban on Palestinians Amid Pressure Campaign
Israeli settlers in the West Bank have access to PayPal, but their Palestinian neighbors are barred from the service.PayPal President & CEO Dan Schulman speaks on stage at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on December 13, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.Derek White / Getty Images for Operation HOPE, Inc. PayPal has upheld its ban on Palestinians living in the occupied territories.
Rockets Sent Israelis Running From the Beach. A Rare Seal Brought Them Back.
Yulia the endangered seal did not seem phased by the rockets from Gaza, let alone the missiles heading in the opposite direction.About six feet long and two decades old, Yulia heaved herself last Friday onto a sandy beach in Jaffa, an ancient city immediately south of Tel Aviv.It was the fourth of five days of fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Black Pastors Pressure Biden to Call for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
Black faith leaders are pressuring the Biden administration to push for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
They are making a moral case for President Biden to press Israel to stop its offensive operations and calling for the release of hostages and an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank. [ more ]
Blinken to Talk to Saudis About Normalizing Ties With Israel
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Monday that he planned to talk to Saudi leaders and other Gulf state officials this week during a visit to Saudi Arabia about the possibility of the kingdom normalizing ties with Israel.The Biden administration supports such a move, but it should not come at the expense of progress between Israelis and Palestinians and a two-state solution, he said.
William Burns, a C.I.A. Spymaster With Unusual Powers
To mark the 20th anniversary of the American-led invasion of Iraq, the C.I.A. director, William J. Burns, stood in the lobby of the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., and sought to exorcise the ghosts of the prewar intelligence failures that haunt the building to this day.Addressing some 100 C.I.A. officials on March 19, Mr. Burns acknowledged how the agency catastrophically blundered in its assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
This court is a failure': Palestinians in Gaza decry ICJ's interim ruling
Palestinians in Gaza express disappointment and lack of trust in the international community and global justice system
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional measures requiring Israel to comply with the Genocide Convention and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza [ more ]
The Women of Gaza are Fighting for Their Families' Lives
Thousands of women in Gaza have been widowed or left in charge of households due to the war, and their worsening plight is being overlooked in the humanitarian response.
More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since early October, with about 70% of the victims estimated to be women and children. [ more ]
Panel of historians starts 3-year review of 1972 Munich Olympics attack
A panel of historians set up to review the 1972 attack on the Munich Olympics is starting its three-year mission to examine what happened before, during and after the events of five decades ago on Tuesday, the German government said.In April, Germany's Interior Ministry named the eight-member international commission of experts, most based in Israel or Germany.
Here are the AP's latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content.All times EDT.For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit Coverage Plan.- TOP STORIES - GERMANY-UKRAINE German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Berlin on his first visit to the country since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Alarming': Palestinians accuse ICC prosecutor of bias after Israel visit
Palestinians are disappointed with International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan for focusing on Hamas and neglecting Israeli crimes.
Khan's visit to Israeli communities and rejection of Palestinian offer to visit illegal settlements and refugee camps in occupied West Bank has raised concerns of double standards. [ more ]
In Israel, Christie Says Trump Ducked Mideast Progress and Fueled Bigotry
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie criticizes Donald Trump's Middle East policies and lack of pursuit of peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Christie argues that Trump's rhetoric of intolerance has fueled bigotry against Jews and Muslims.
Christie's assessment is significant as Republicans widely praise Trump's diplomatic accomplishments in the Middle East. [ more ]
Rally held at Columbia University over suspension of pro-Palestinian groups
Columbia University has suspended two student groups, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), for the fall semester over an unauthorized event in support of Palestinians.
The suspension means the groups will not receive university funding or be able to hold events on campus.
The groups have called the ban an attack on free speech and selective censorship of pro-Palestinian student organizations. [ more ]
While Hosting Abbas, China Plays Up Possible Mediator Role With Israel
China's top leader, Xi Jinping, met with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in Beijing on Wednesday, as Mr. Xi pushes to expand China's influence in the Middle East and cast his country as an alternative to the United States for leadership in global diplomacy.In the lead-up to Mr. Abbas's four-day visit, which began on Tuesday, Chinese officials had repeatedly suggested that China could help pave the way for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
In First, Palestinian Displacement Commemorated at United Nations
The United Nations for the first time on Monday officially commemorated the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the war surrounding the creation of Israel 75 years ago, drawing a sharp response from the Israeli ambassador to the world body.The event called the Nakba, or catastrophe by Palestinians was attended by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas; many member states from Asia, Africa, Central and South America and the Middle East; and representatives of the African Union and the Arab League, who delivered speeches.
Fighting Between Israel and Islamic Jihad: Here's Where Things Stand
Israel said on Friday that it had struck more rocket-launching sites operated by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, in Gaza, and the group fired rockets into Israel, reaching as far as the hills around Jerusalem, as cross-border fighting stretched into a fourth day despite overnight mediation efforts to reach a cease-fire.
Amid Cease-Fire Talks, Hostilities Across Gaza Border Enter 3rd Day
A burst of mortar fire from Gaza into southern Israel on Thursday and Israeli strikes against mortar shell and anti-tank missile launching posts punctuated several hours of an uneasy quiet as the latest round of cross-border fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad, a militant group in the Palestinian coastal enclave, stretched into a third day.
What Is Islamic Jihad and Why Is Israel Targeting It?
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed group based in Gaza, was the target of Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday, and was at the center of a flare-up in violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip last summer.The second-largest Palestinian armed resistance group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad has often been eclipsed by the larger Hamas movement, which has controlled and governed Gaza since 2007.
He's 86 and Long Retired. Why Are Israelis Protesting Outside His Home?
Aharon Barak's one-bedroom apartment in central Tel Aviv was meant to be the site of a quiet retirement, after his career as an Israeli attorney general and later Supreme Court justice.When Mr. Barak, now 86, moved here from Jerusalem 13 years ago, he placed his collection of unusual walking sticks more than 200 of them by the front door.
Thomas Buergenthal, Holocaust Survivor and Judge, Dies at 89
Thomas Buergenthal, who said his survival in a Nazi death camp when he was 10 years old equipped him to become a human rights lawyer and venerable judge on the World Court, died on Monday at his home in Miami.He was 89.His death was confirmed by his son Alan Buergenthal.Judge Buergenthal and his parents were transported from a Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland to Auschwitz, where Tommy, as he was called, was believed to be among the youngest survivors.
Preaching Tolerance Abroad, as Hatred Surges at Home
A year ago, Deborah Lipstadt, newly confirmed as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, attended a White House reception and reintroduced herself to President Biden as he passed by.I know who you are, Dr. Lipstadt recalled the president telling her.And you have a big job.Mr. Biden was right, but for reasons neither of them fully imagined.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, blocked Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, on Tuesday from hosting an event on Capitol Hill commemorating the displacement of Palestinians when the state of Israel was created, saying Ms. Tlaib was trafficking in antisemitic tropes.The dinner event scheduled for Wednesday night, called Nakba 75 & the Palestinian People, was planned to commemorate what Palestinians call the nakba, or the disaster, referring to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 when Israel declared independence.
Israel Called Them Precision' Strikes. But Civilian Homes Were Hit, Too.
As the Khoswan family slept, the Israeli military dropped three GBU-39 bombs into their sixth-floor apartment.One of the bombs exploded just outside the parents' bedroom, leaving the apartment looking as if a tornado had swept through, killing three family members.But they were not the stated target of the attack earlier this month.
Cafe Yafa: A Palestinian bookshop reviving literary culture
Cafe Yafa continues a rich Palestinian literary culture, decades after the Nakba destroyed the libraries of Palestine.Jaffa Jaffa will be a Jewish city Allowing Arabs to return to Jaffa would not be righteousness but stupidity, David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary in June 1948.Israel's first prime minister, who arrived in Palestine at Jaffa port in 1910, was writing after right-wing Irgun forces razed Jaffa in April and expelled nearly 70,000 Palestinian residents.
Ben Shapiro Slapped With Twitter Fact Check For Claiming Bernie Sanders Isn't Jewish
Screen grab Daily Wire founder and conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro attacked Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) religiosity on Friday, jesting that the Jewish Independent senator was as Jewish as a ham sandwich.Shapiro, who identifies as a practicing Orthodox Jew, tweeted, Bernie Sanders is approximately as Jewish as a ham sandwich topped with shrimp on lard bread.
McCarthy blocks Tlaib event marking Palestinian displacement, known as Nakba
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cancelled a Wednesday event sponsored by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib meant to commemorate al-Nakba, or the catastrophe, as many Arabs refer to the period surrounding the birth of Israel, saying it's wrong for members of Congress to traffic in antisemitic tropes about Israel.
Israel Strikes Gaza Again, Saying It Is Targeting Islamic Jihad Rockets
The Israeli military carried out airstrikes in the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza on Wednesday, saying that it was hitting the rocket-launching infrastructure of the militant group Islamic Jihad.Sirens later sounded in southern Israel as the military said that rockets had been launched from Gaza.
Summer Film Guide 2023: Return of the Return to the Movie Theater
Elemental Comes Out June 16 Veteran Pixar animator and voice actor Peter Sohn ( The Good Dinosaur) returns to the director's chair with a fairy tale about diversity, equity and inclusiveness.Think I'm kidding?Fire, water, air and earth residents live together peaceably in the same city, explored by new pals and apparent opposites Ember and Wade.
Summer Film Guide 2023: Return of the Return to the Movie Theater
Elemental Comes Out June 16 Veteran Pixar animator and voice actor Peter Sohn ( The Good Dinosaur) returns to the director's chair with a fairy tale about diversity, equity and inclusiveness.Think I'm kidding?Fire, water, air and earth residents live together peaceably in the same city, explored by new pals and apparent opposites Ember and Wade.
"There Is No Safe Place in Gaza": Palestinians Speak Out During Israeli Assault
A Palestinian child pulls his bicycle out of a destroyed house after a raid by Israeli forces on the Balata refugee camp in West Bank, Palestine, on May 22, 2023.Nasser Ishtayeh / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images On May 18, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza joined the " Palestine Flag March" to protest Israel's "Flag March" happening the same day.
Israelis March Through Jerusalem, Raising Tensions in a Divided City
Thousands of Israelis marched through Jerusalem on Thursday to celebrate Israel's capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, a contentious annual event, known as Jerusalem Day, that regularly stirs tensions with Palestinians, who see it as a provocation.Large crowds of Israelis, many of them from ultranationalist groups, walked through the Old City, toward the Western Wall a remnant of an ancient retaining structure that once surrounded the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount.
Middle East round-up: Erdogan in pole position in Turkey
Here's a round-up of Al Jazeera's Middle East coverage this week.Erdogan's the man to beat in Turkey, Palestinians mark the Nakba's 75th anniversary, and Sudan's fighting continues.Here's your round up of our coverage, written by Abubakr Al-Shamahi, Al Jazeera Digital's Middle East and North Africa editor.
Image Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain, right, with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.Credit...Carl Court/Getty Images President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has been promised billions of dollars in new military aid during a whirlwind tour of European allies that reflects a striking shift in the political landscape, as Europe takes a more central role in arming Ukraine.
Palestinians Demand Israel Hand Over Body of Prominent Prisoner
Israel's refusal to hand over the body of a prominent prisoner who died on a hunger strike this week has drawn renewed attention to its practice of keeping the remains of scores of Palestinians in freezers and numbered graves, partly as leverage to obtain the bodies of Israelis held by Palestinian groups.
Palestinian Detainee Dies in Israeli Prison After Hunger Strike
Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who had been on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison for 87 days to protest his detention, died early Tuesday, according to his lawyer and Palestinian and Israeli officials.It was Mr. Adnan, 44, who helped usher in the practice of individual hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners, conducting a 66-day strike in 2011 that inspired others to use it as a means of protesting Israel's incarceration of Palestinians, especially the practice of administrative detention.
Malcolm X Would Be 98 Today. Angela Davis Reflects on His Enduring Legacy.
We dedicate the show to remembering Malcolm X on what would have been his 98th birthday Friday.We begin with an address by world-renowned abolitionist, author and activist Angela Davis on Malcolm's legacy, attacks on the teaching of Black history by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and more."This is a time to reflect deeply on the long struggle for liberation," Davis said.
Historic New York Bill Aims to End Funding of Illegal Israeli Settlements
While praised by human rights organizations, the bill is already facing backlash from pro-Israel lawmakers.Protesters gather during a Palestinian demonstration east of Gaza City on May 18, 2023.MOHAMMED ABED / AFP via Getty Images Two New York lawmakers have introduced legislation that would block local charities from funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Brief Rocket Fire Disrupts Gaza Cease-Fire. How Long Can the Truce Last?
A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip was largely upheld on Sunday, aside from a brief exchange of fire in the evening, and routine returned hours after the two sides agreed to end a five-day escalation that killed at least 33 people in Gaza and two in Israel.But across the region, the question was when, rather than if, the cease-fire would break.
Violence Between Israel and Islamic Jihad Outlasts Their Previous Clashes
As the violence between the Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza stretched into a fifth day on Saturday, Egyptian-led mediation efforts for a cease-fire were unable to stop the fighting, making this round of clashes among the longest in recent years.The fighting has remained contained because the militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has failed to draw in Hamas the more powerful Islamic militant organization that controls Gaza or any other major faction.
The Nakba Didn't End in 1948. It Continues to Impact Palestinians Daily.
Supporters of Palestinian rights mark al-Nakba Day at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on May 15, 2022.MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images Seventy-five years ago today, the Jewish state of Israel was established and the Palestinian state of despair and homelessness began.Palestinians refer to this day as "al-Nakba," the catastrophe that resulted in the ethnic cleansing of nearly 750,000 natives and the destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages and towns.
Israel's demolition surge: Schools become a primary target
The demolition of schools amounts to coercive transfer of families with children from their villages and homes.Jubbet adh-Dibh, occupied West Bank Ten-year-old Omar Salah could not go to school on Sunday because Israeli forces demolished it after no building permit was granted for the building.Before 4am, Israeli soldiers were at the elementary school in Jubbet adh-Dhib with bulldozers, trucks and army vehicles.
US Sold Weapons to Nearly 60 Percent of World's Authoritarian Nations in 2022
U.S. weapons sales fly in the face of Biden's claims to be leading "democracies" in a global fight against autocracy.U.S. President Joe Biden being welcomed by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Alsalam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2022.Royal Court of Saudi Arabia / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images President Joe Biden claims that the United States is leading "democracies" in a fight against "autocracies" to establish a peaceful international order, but his administration approved weapons sales to nearly three-fifths of the world's authoritarian countries in 2022.
Biden Administration Quietly Backs Israel's Deadly Assault on Gaza
A view from the area where an attack by Israeli warplanes completely destroyed a building in Beit Lahia, in the north of Gaza on May 12, 2023.Ali Jadallah / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images It should come as no surprise that the United States has fully backed Israel in its latest assault on Gaza.In the hours before Israel began raining down more bombs on the besieged territory, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen over the phone.
Sanders Hosts Event Commemorating Israel's Nakba After McCarthy Kicked It Out
"Let the headlines read 'McCarthy tries to erase Palestine but fails,'" wrote Rep. Rashida Tlaib.Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks during an event commemorating the 75 anniversary of the Nakba on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in the Dirksen Building in Washington, D.C. Rep. Rashida Tlaib via Twitter On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) swooped in to save an event at the Capitol commemorating the 75th anniversary of what Palestinians know as the Nakba, or catastrophe - the time period during which Zionist militants expelled three quarters of Palestinians from their homes to establish the state of Israel - after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) attempted to cancel the event.
1 Year Ago Israel Killed Shireen Abu Akleh. We Won't Forget Her, or the Nakba.
Tributes are paid to murdered Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh at a protest and vigil at BBC Broadcasting House on May 12, 2022 in London, England.Guy Smallman / Contributor Two weeks before an Israeli sniper killed Shireen Abu Akleh, Reporters Without Borders marked the fourth anniversary of the killing of Palestinian journalists Ahmed Abu Hussein and Yasser Murtaja by Israeli forces.
Opinion | Why Joe Biden Needs a Primary Challenger
To understand why progressives should challenge Joe Biden in the upcoming Democratic presidential primary, remember what happened during the last one.When Bernie Sanders exited the 2020 race after winning more than 1,000 delegates he cashed in his votes for public policy clout.Mr. Sanders's supporters joined Mr. Biden's allies in working groups that crafted a common agenda on the economy, education, health care, criminal justice, immigration and climate change.
Israel Is Using a Vast Network of Biometric Cameras to Terrorize Palestinians
Palestinians use a biometric card at an automated gate equipped with a facial recognition system, as they cross Qalandiya checkpoint, south of Ramallah, West Bank, on May 17, 2019.David Vaaknin for The Washington Post via Getty Images Israel is deepening its system of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories by using artificial intelligence-powered biometric facial recognition technology to track and restrict the movements of Palestinian people.
Bronx councilmembers OK legislation to combat Jewish hatred, but some Brooklyn pols reject the resolution - Bronx Times
All nine Bronx City Councilmembers voted last week to pass a resolution to make April 29 "End Jew Hatred Day," but it didn't come without controversy - six progressive Brooklyn electeds didn't give the motion the green light.The legislation was put forth by Brooklyn District 48 representative Inna Vernikov, a Republican, and co-sponsored by 13 other councilmembers - including Eric Dinowitz, a Jewish Democrat who also serves as the chair of the New York City Council Jewish Caucus.