July 2021
“I thought I was going to die” Kelly Kunzl Mondoweiss 01/07/ 2021
. . . The beatings began in the evening and lasted through the night. Detainees were made to remain kneeling, hunched forward, hands restrained, head down, even a deep breath or cough commanded a punch from an Israeli officer. . . Arrests were mainly carried out indiscriminately by Israeli border police and undercover Mista’arvim (a counter-terrorism unit of the Israeli Border Police and the Israeli Defense forces) officers posing as Palestinians.
Israel expels 11 Palestinian families Mai Abu Hasaneen al Monitor 14/07/2021
Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa is one of 38 Bedouin communities located partially or completely on land designated by the Israeli military as a military training zone. . . These communities are the most vulnerable in the West Bank. They have limited access to education, health services and the necessary infrastructure for water, sanitation and electricity. . . Harbi Abu Kabash, a resident of Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa who was recently displaced, and a father of five boys and one girl, told Al-Monitor the Israeli forces forcibly expelled them from their home at eight in the morning, without warning, and without taking into account the presence of children, women and elders. “We are now in the open, without shelter, in an area 700 meters [0.4 miles] from Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa. We are trying to provide food, drink and bedding for our children at our own expense. No one is helping us,” he said.
Read more: Israel expels 11 Palestinian families
Israeli company’s malware used to hack dissidents, activists al Monitor 16/7/21
Microsoft and Citizen Lab say the malware was used in “precision attacks” targeting more than 100 people worldwide, including politicians, human rights activists, journalists, academics, embassy workers and political dissidents. Roughly half of the victims identified were located in the Palestinian territories, with the remaining targets in Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Spain’s Catalonia region, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Armenia and Singapore.
Read more: Israeli company’s malware used to hack dissidents, activists
Attempt to intimidate The Electronic Intifada Ali Abunimah EI 02/07/21
Britain’s Labour Party tried to pressure The Electronic Intifada to alter an article we published last week with an apparent legal threat . . . I also explained to Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit that The Electronic Intifada is published in the United States, where our right to free speech and to conduct our work as journalists is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The Labour Party has no basis to “require” The Electronic Intifada to edit our articles to its liking, especially not for accurate reportage on the acts and decisions of party agents relating to matters of clear public interest. It cannot be the case that Labour Party officers can misuse their power to silence members concerned about Palestinian human rights and then hide behind a shield of anonymity.
Democracy requires transparency and accountability.
Read more: Labour Party tries to intimidate The Electronic Intifada | The Electronic Intifada
Israeli demolitions in Silwan Mai Abu Hasaneen al Monitor 5/07/2021
An Israeli military force consisting of 40 police vehicles reinforced with special units raided al-Bustan neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, early in the morning of June 29. An Israeli bulldozer flattened the butcher shop of Jerusalemite Nidal al-Rajabi. Rajabi had refused an order to demolish his shop within 21 days on the grounds that it was allegedly built without a license.
Residents of al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan are afraid more properties will be leveled by Israel. Eviction and demolition threaten 97 homes. According to Israeli plans, tourist parks, themed around biblical stories and figures are to be constructed over these properties.
Read more: Israeli demolitions in Silwan
Investors dump Israeli settlement profiteers Adri Nieuwhof EI 08/07/2021
Norway’s largest pension fund KLP excluded 16 companies from its holdings over their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The pension fund dumped the settlement profiteers because there is “an unacceptable risk” that they will contribute to human rights violations.
The divestment is particularly significant not just because of its scale but also because KLP drew on the UN’s database of companies involved with Israel’s settlements.
KLP said it sold assets worth more than $31 million in the excluded companies. The firms include Israel’s biggest banks, telecoms companies Bezeq, Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications and several construction firms.
Read more: More big investors dump Israeli settlement profiteers | The Electronic Intifada
Jenin’s refugee children’s centre raided Tony Greenstein Mondoweiss 5/7/21
“Last night they raided the centre. First, they started to shoot from outside the centre. Then they blew up the front door and entered the centre. They threw everything around. Damaging everything of value.”
Apart from damaging furniture and equipment, the soldiers deliberately destroyed the centre’s infrastructure, making the building unsafe and unusable. They destroyed the water pipes and taps, cutting off its water supply, wrecked the electricity safety box, cutting off electricity, damaged the stairs and the doors, forcing off the handles. In all, the damage amounts to thousands of dollars.
Israel’s Citizenship Law punishes Palestinian citizens Naim Mousa 15/07/21
The failure to renew the law provides a much-needed sense of relief for Taiseer, Lana, and their children. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt. There is no guarantee preventing the Israeli Knesset from simply passing a similar law in the near future that will reimpose the same restrictions on the Khatib family.
Read more: How Israel’s Citizenship Law collectively punishes its Palestinian citizens – Mondoweiss
Made in Israel – Pegasus spyware Ali Abunimah EI 19/07/2021
Spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group has been used far more extensively than previously known to target journalists and human rights defenders around the world.
This raises the question of why Israel, the state actor without which NSO Group would not exist and could not operate, is not being held accountable.
The extent of the spying has come to light thanks to a major investigation spearheaded by the global reporting consortium Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International.
Read more: Why isn’t Israel held accountable for spying on journalists? | The Electronic Intifada
Israel melts down over Ben & Jerry’s Ali Abunimah EI 21/07/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to Alan Jope, CEO of Unilever, the multinational that owns Ben & Jerry’s, warning him of “severe consequences.”
“There are many ice cream brands, but only one Jewish state,” Bennett added. “Ben & Jerry’s has decided to brand itself as the anti-Israel ice cream.”
Read more: Israel melts down over Ben & Jerry’s | The Electronic Intifada
Israeli gunfire takes lives of two more teens Tamara Nassar 26/07/21
Israeli forces killed 17-year-old Mohammad Munir Mohammad Tamimi yesterday around 5:30 pm in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. He sustained gunshot wounds to the back and exit wounds to his abdomen. He was pronounced dead around midnight in hospital.
Read more: Israeli gunfire takes lives of two more Palestinian teens | The Electronic Intifada
11-year-old boy killed + more deaths at funeral Yumna Patel 29/07/2021
On Wednesday afternoon, Israeli forces shot and killed 11-year-old Mohammed al-Alami in his father’s car, as the family were on their way home from grocery shopping. The next day at Mohammed’s funeral, Israeli soldiers attacked the procession, killing 20-year-old Shawkat Awad.
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