ISRAELI WATER THEFT: Mohammed Abbas is sick, with chronic diarrhoea. Not for the first time.

He and his family live in a Palestinian village with no running water, no sewage system, and no prospect of getting either any time soon.
Watching her son, eyes closed, clutching his stomach on a mattress on the floor, his mother, Sunna, told me she is desperate.
Water tanker, Faqua village, West Bank
Faqua residents complain they have [...]

VIDEO: Gambling with Conflict: How settlers control Israeli policy

Max Blumenthal presents a disturbing inside look at the largest annual gathering of radical Jewish settlers. A Mondoweiss exclusive with David Jacobus and Jesse Rosenfeld. Mondoweiss is a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective.
Israeli settlers disrupt Palestinian harvest
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Israeli colonialization: Israel to rethink rail route that cuts through Palestinian land

The Civil Administration’s planning bureau will hold a hearing on Monday on a Peace Now demand that the planned route of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv train be altered so as not to cut into privately owned Palestinian land in the West Bank.
At present, the plan involves turning Palestinian farmland into access roads for a tunnel and [...]

Living Next to Settlers – “They Have Done Nothing for Palestinians in 20 Years”

Last week the Hebron team (Simphiwe, Elaine and I) made it a priority to visit the Da’ana family in Wadi al-Hussein. We soon discovered what it was like for an isolated Palestinian family to be located beside a settlement. The Da’ana family (17) live on an isolated farm land with no Palestinian neighbors. Their land [...]

Despite everything, Hebron is still Palestinian

The Pachao family was out Saturday for a Sabbath walk. Sarah and Yosef pushed the baby carriage, and the little ones, Ahuva, Gershon, Hananel and Noah, crowded into the carriage or walked behind it. Why did you come to live here, I asked? “Because of the good air.” The Pachaos, who are members of the [...]

Hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jews pray at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Dozens of armored buses brought hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jewish worshippers to pray at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem on Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Tour buses lined the streets on the western side of the seperation wall, and roads were blocked off from Tantur to the Beit Jala (Gilo) checkpoint as hundreds of worshipers [...]

Peace Now: West Bank settlement construction nearly doubled this year + ‘Gush Etzion hilltop must not be handed to PA’

Peace Now: West Bank settlement construction nearly doubled this year
More than 2,600 housing units are under construction in West Bank settlements, including units in more than 1,000 new buildings, Peace Now contends in its semi-annual report.

Basing its conclusions on aerial photographs and field visits, the organization says that slightly more than half of the new [...]

‘Dutch Jimmy Carter’ accuses Israel of terrorism in new book

The emotion in Andreas Van Agt’s voice as he lambastes Israel’s behavior seems puzzling for a man of his status. It is especially intriguing when one is reminded that this blue-eyed professed idealist is an astute statesman who presided as the Dutch prime minister for five years, until 1982.
“My involvement in the Middle East [...]

Is Colonialism in Israel Untouchable?

Since the pages have turned in commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, do new headlines and reports covering stories other than Palestine suggest that its business as usual in Israel?
Indeed it would be an injustice to confine solidarity activism to calendar events such as “birthdays” for this will overlook other dimensions underpinning the [...]

Gaza students to leave for US

Students from Gaza who were awarded scholarships to study in the US but prevented from travelling by Israeli authorities, have now been allowed to leave Gaza to begin their study programme.
The US consulate in Jerusalem said on Monday that the scholarships – earlier “redirected” by the Fulbright student programme – will be reinstated.
Fulbright said it [...]