Palestine

The Levant News – By Jasmin Rasheed — Palestinian sources spoke out against the Gaza Strip leadership for focusing on internal politics and ignoring the deteriorating economy. The sources state that senior Hamas officials are engrossed in the internal elections, and Ismail Haniyeh, deputy head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, has …

By Maayan Lubell for Reuters | Israeli police arrested 13 people on Friday on suspicion of arson, authorities said, after massive wildfires tore through central and northern Israel, a conflagration that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded as “terrorism”. Firefighters kept battling the flames in wooded hills around Jerusalem and in …

By Luke Baker  for Reuters| Israel on Monday formally rejected France’s invitation to take part in a Middle East peace conference in Paris later this year, saying it was a distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the Palestinians. At a meeting in Jerusalem with Israel’s acting national security …

The Levant News – Sir, – We are shocked and appalled by Bank of Ireland’s unilateral closure of the accounts of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), a volunteer-run group advocating for Palestinian human rights as enshrined in international law, and a legally constituted, fully audited, transparent organisation. Despite the …

  The Levant News – By Geoffrey Cook — As an American citizen, I have to admit that the relations between Washington and Ramallah are wretched, yet there are some indications for change. When the British left Palestine after World War II, the United States stepped in to fill the …

  By Jasmine Rasheed — Tourism in Bethlehem, mostly religious tourism, has been the main economic engine for the city and its surrounding area with 4000 hotel and hostel rooms. Past experience shows that the condition of the tourism industry in the city is tightly linked to the security situation …

The Levant News — Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday shot dead a 19-year-old Palestinian woman who Israeli police claimed that she had advanced towards them with a knife in her hand at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. A police spokesman said the woman was shot after ignoring orders …

The Levant Exclusive — By Jasmin Rasheed — Cement prices have nearly doubled in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks, rising from NIS 850 per ton to NIS 1,400-1,500. According to Palestinian sources, the reason for the spike is the cement shortage in Gaza Strip markets – the …

The Levant News — Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki asked the Arab League summit gathered in Mauritania on Monday to help the PA file a lawsuit against the British government over the Balfour Declaration, which allowed thousands of Jews to come to Palestine at the expense of the Palestinians. …

The Levant News – By Jasmin Rasheed –Palestinian sources from Ramallah have revealed a recent agreement between the Gulf states and the Palestinian government; 20,000 Palestinian graduates from the Gaza Strip will be offered employment opportunities in the Gulf states. According to these sources, the program has been launched to …

The Levant News — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally announced reconciliation between Israel and Turkey during a press conference today in Rome. The two nations hope an agreement due to be signed Tuesday will ease six years of tensions since the deadly Israeli attack on a Turkish blockade runner headed …

The Levant News — New Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has reportedly promised not to object publicly to a reconciliation agreement between Israel and Turkey, despite having harshly disapproved of such a move in the past. Liberman had warned among other things that an Israeli-Turkish rapprochement would harm ties with Greece …

By JASON HOROWITZ and MAGGIE HABERMAN for The New York Times — A bitter divide over the Middle East could threaten Democratic Party unity as representatives of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont vowed to upend what they see as the party’s lopsided support of Israel. Two of the senator’s appointees …

Diran Shalabneh, head of the National Union of Israeli Students’ department for the advancement of Arab students, was asked to stand behind a curtain and remove her bra for the special security check, before being asked to lower her pants. By Yarden Skop — Diran Shalabneh, head of the National …

The Levant News exclusive – by Jasmin Rasheed — Reports by local Palestinian sources revealed distressing information about the infrastructure, medicine, and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. While in 2000, Gazans were able to drink tap water freely, now 95% of the Gaza Strip wells contain brackish water …

By Dr. Najib E. Saliba* — Those who follow current Middle East developments closely have probably reached the conclusion that Christianity and Islam are at war. This is certainly not the case. Christianity and Islam are not at war, but a fringe of “Muslims” who have gone astray from true …

THE LEVANT NEWS — A billboard in Detroit stating ‘America First Not Israel’ is causing controversy and accusations of anti-Semitism. The advertisement was paid for by the Deir Yassin Remembered group, which aims to make American’s more aware of the plight of Palestinians. The billboard can be seen 8 Mile …

By Jacob Kornbluh, for Jewish Insider — In recently released transcript, Sanders says he would demand Israel halt settlement construction, adding that if Israel ‘want us to have a positive relationship, they’re going to have to improve their relationship with the Palestinians.’ Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Jasmin Rasheed — Well-informed Palestinian sources revealed that “Fatah” operatives are directing harsh criticism at Jibril Rajoub, member of the Fatah Central Committee and chairman of the PA Football Association, following the donation of a minibus to the football team of the Islamic Club in …

By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz — America’s short sighted foreign policy on the Palestine question plays well in the current presidential elections. The Arab-Israeli conflict is an attractive medium for pandering to campaign donors and to voters. As a result, the presidential primaries add fuel to the tension between the two …

By Ishaan Tharoor for The Washington Post — A NASA study has found that a drought that affected the Middle East over the past decade was perhaps the worst in the region’s history for nearly a millennium. The scientists, who published their study in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, examined …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he hopes to curb a wave of Palestinian assaults by expelling to Gaza families of assailants found to have encouraged them to attack Israelis. Netanyahu, in a letter to Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit released to the media, asked for a …

THE LEVANT NEWS — by  Boaz Bulbulovitz — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has penned a controversial letter to a major Jewish donor vowing to offer Israel “total” support in its next confrontation with the Gaza Strip’s Islamist rulers. The leaked letter, sent last week to Israeli-American media mogul Haim Saban, promises to …

THE LEVANT NEWS – By Jasmin Rashid — According to Palestinian sources in Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas instructed the layoffs of employees associated with Hamas from the Charity Committees in the Ministry of Religious Affairs. He also instructed the dismissal of Imams affiliated with Hamas. According to these sources, the …

The Levant News — Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior political member in the Palestinian Resistance Movement “Hamas”, had pounced on Iran regarding their proclamations of supporting Hamas, after cashing them in all as lies, especially those declarations on support being presented post 2009. Abu Marzook’s aversion was recorded over …

THE LEVANT NEWS –By ALI ABUNIMAH*– Swedish security officials are investigating Israeli death threats directed at their foreign minister Margot Wallström. Last week, Zvi Zameret, a former official of Israel’s education ministry, published an article in Hebrew implying that Wallström deserved the same fate as Count Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Israeli military forces have detained a former Palestinian prisoner, who went on a lengthy hunger strike last year in protest against his detention. Witnesses said an Israeli military vehicle stopped Khader Adnan’s car on Monday afternoon as he was driving near the town of Silwad northeast …

THE LEVANT NEWS — The United Nations expert on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories has resigned, complaining that the Tel Aviv regime continues to deny him access to the areas he is tasked with monitoring. In a Monday statement, the UN said Makarim Wibisono submitted his …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Israeli police said Tuesday they have arrested four Jewish men suspected of being among gun-waving extremists filmed celebrating the killing of a Palestinian toddler in a firebomb attack. They were shown in a wedding video, broadcast last week by an Israeli news channel, which spread online …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Zeina Azzam* — “During the Christmas season, while the Palestinian community, comprising Christians and Muslims, was celebrating the lighting of the Christmas tree on manger square, young Palestinians, who were demonstrating their longing for freedom, were shot at, wounded, and some even killed by re-invading …

  THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – BY  Jasmin Rasheed — In the Gaza Strip, youths aged 15-29 constitute a large part of society, representing 35% of all residents. Young people are an important source of creativity and power. They are the future and the strategic reserve of all nations in times …

THE LEVANT NEWS — ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met with Khaled Meshaal, leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, on Saturday in Istanbul, Turkish presidential sources said, a day after Israel and Turkey said they were close to patching up five-year political rift. A source from Erdogan’s office said Meshaal …

THE LEVANT NEWS — The Israeli Air Force has launched airstrikes targeting a “Hamas post” in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to a rocket that was launched at southern Israel earlier in the day. According to reports, Israeli jets targeted a training camp of Hamas’ armed wing in central Gaza, …

by Mohamed Mohamed* for Palestine Center– The Hebrew word “hasbara” translates to “explaining,” but it is a euphemism for the propaganda that endorses the state of Israel and its actions. In its efforts to influence world opinion and promote itself on the international stage, Israel’s hasbara campaign has relied on …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz: West Palm Beach– Currently, the liberation of Palestine is not being exploited as a recruiting tool for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS. The Palestinian struggle is antithetical to the ideology of ISIS. This fifty-year struggle is national, secular and …

THE LEVANT NEWS — South Africa issued, on Tuesday, an arrest warrant against four Israeli officials over their role in deadly attacks on pro-Palestinian international activists. WCJ-images-Netanyahu-polls Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against the Israeli occupation in Africa said, in a statement: “South Africa’s Directorate of the Priority Crimes Investigation Unit …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Israeli settlers have sneaked into a medical center in the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) and fatally shot a young Palestinian man hospitalized there for gunshot wounds sustained during clashes in the occupied Palestinian territories some weeks ago. On Thursday morning, a group of …

THE LEVANT NEWS — By SIMON TOMLINSON FOR MAILONLINE– Christians face being wiped out from the Middle East within ten years as increasing numbers are killed by Muslim extremists or forced to flee persecution, Catholic aid groups have warned. The alarming rate of decline means the religion could vanish in …

THE LEVANT NEWS – BY Hamid Dabashi — “The compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, is the holiest site in Judaism, while the al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.” This phrase, here cited from a recent report by BBC …

The Levant News –The Times of Israel’s Daily reported that several employees of the UN’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have been disciplined, including “suspension and loss of pay,” over expressions of sympathy for attacks against Israelis. The UN Watch organization, which first raised the concerns about United Nations …

The Levant News — Al-monitor reported that the Obama administration is cutting aid to the Palestinians by $80 million in what congressional sources describe as a “message” to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The State Department notified lawmakers on Sept. 25 of its intention to reduce economic aid for the …

The Levant News — Stone-throwing Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip during “Day of Rage” protests on Friday while diplomats tried to end more than three weeks of bloodshed. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was cautiously optimistic there …

The Levant News — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed today that Palestinians were responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper this morning, the hardline conservative leader was asked to defend his recent comments which claimed Palestinians were responsible for the Holocaust. “Well …