[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Palestine and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Palestine Page co-editors or of Jadaliyya.]
The Occupation Forces
Tel Aviv Hospital Guards Murder Palestinian Man in Front of His Mother A video documented the hideous shooting of a twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian man, Mustafa Younis, from Aara town in the 1948, by the Israeli hospital guards on Wednesday noon. The video shows three security having a verbal argument with the man, who went to Sheba hospital in Tel Aviv with his mother. His family told PNN later that he was epileptic and went into the hospital for treatment.
Palestinian Journalist From Gaza Detained at Crossing With Israel Israeli forces today detained a Palestinian journalist from the besieged Gaza Strip while travelling through the Beit Hanoun/ Erez crossing with Israel, according to WAFA correspondent. He said that Israeli forces detained Muhammad Amin Abu Daqqa, a resident of Absan town, east of Khan Younes city, as he was on his way back from Jordan to the besieged Gaza Strip.
For the Fifth Day in a Row, Israeli Army Raids West Bank Town, Terrorize Residents For the fifth consecutive day, Israeli soldiers raided the northern West Bank town of Yabad and terrorized its residents, particularly children.
Two Palestinians, One Teen, Killed in 24 Hours Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians in the span of twenty-four hours, one of them a fifteen-year-old boy. On Wednesday, Palestinians mourned the killing of fifteen-year-old Zaid Qaysia from the Fawwar refugee camp in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, after he was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers during a raid on the camp.
Report: Israel Wants to Buy Palestinians’ Silence Ahead of Annexation Military analyst for Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Alex Fishman, said yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to buy the Palestinians’ silence over the annexation of Palestinian-held territories with “cash.” Fishman explained that Netanyahu dubs this strategy “economic peace;” it allows him to provide Palestinians with “seemingly” better living conditions compared to neighboring countries in return for ridding them of their ideological enthusiasm.
Domestic Policy
7 Palestinian Governorates Are Now CoronaVirus Free In a press statement today, al-Kaila confirmed seven new cases of recovery, two in Ramallah and al-Bireh, three in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and two cases in the city of Jerusalem. She added that seven Palestinian governorates are now free of COVID-19, which are: Tubas, Jericho and al-Aghwar, Qalqilia, Jenin, Bethlehem, Salfit, Ramallah, and al-Bireh.
Israel Swears in New gov't As Netanyahu Pledges Annexation Push After more than five hundred days without a stable government and three inconclusive elections, lawmakers in the one hundred-twenty-seat Knesset approved a three-year coalition, with seventy-three voting for and forty-nine against. One member was absent.
Premier Says Movement to be Banned During Upcoming Eid al-Fitr Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said today that the government has decided to ban movement of the public during upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, as part of nationwide efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Palestinian Factions Boycott PA Meeting on Israel Annexation Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced on Wednesday and Thursday that they will not attend a meeting scheduled for 16 May with the Palestinian leadership to discuss ways to respond to Israel’s plans to annex swathes of the West Bank.
President Abbas Declares End to Agreements With Israel, US; Turns Over Responsibility on Occupied Lands to Israel President Mahmoud Abbas on 19 May declared an end to the agreements and understandings signed with Israel and the United States and turned over responsibility over the occupied territories back to Israel. The Israeli Occupation Authority, as of today, has to shoulder all responsibilities and obligations in front of the international community as an occupying power, including the protection of its people, property, and so on.
Foreign Policy
Jordan Warns of Clash With Israel If West Bank Annexation Goes Ahead Jordan’s King Abdullah II warns Israel that the regime should wait for a major clash with the kingdom if it goes ahead with plans to annex the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. However, he fell short of threatening Israel with a freeze of Jordan’s controversial peace treaty with Israel.
Germany, Switzerland Support Palestinian Local Authorities in the Fight Against CoronaVirus Germany and Switzerland support the Ministry of Local Government and the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities by supplying the local authorities with gear and material to protect their front-line workers in performing their duties during the coronavirus pandemic.
EU Won’t Recognize Unilateral Israeli Annexation of Occupied Land: Borrell The European Union’s foreign policy chief has warned Israel against acting on its “unilateral” decision to annex parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, saying the twenty-seven-nation bloc will not recognize any such changes to the 1967 borders.
Iran Shura Council Endorses Anti-Israel Law On Monday the Iranian Shura Council approved a draft law aimed at confronting Israeli hostile practices against regional and international security. Article One of the law stipulates that all national, regional, and international capacities in Iran will be required to counter Tel Aviv’s oppression of Palestinians, while Article Two obliges the Iranian Foreign Ministry to prepare a plan for the establishment of a virtual embassy or consulate in East Jerusalem within six months.
China to Send Team to Investigate Death of Envoy in Israel China will on 18 May deploy a special team to investigate the death of its ambassador to Israel, Haaretz reported. Chinese diplomatic envoy, Du Wei, was found dead in bed in Tel Aviv on 17 May. He was appointed as China’s envoy to Israel in February.
Biden Again Calls on Israel to Halt West Bank Annexation Plans Top Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reiterated Tuesday his opposition to Israel’s intention to annex parts of the West Bank. “I do not support annexation,” the former vice president said in an audio recording obtained by the Jewish Insider, reiterating support for the two-state solution.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Settlers Cut Down 40 Olive Trees in Nablus Israeli settlers on Sunday cut down forty Palestinian-owned olive trees in southern Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, official of the settlement file in the northern West Bank, said that settlers cut about forty olive trees in the Ras al-Deir area from the lands of Yatma village, owned by Mohammed Naseem Najjar.
Jewish Settler Convicted in Arson Attack that Killed Palestinians An Israeli court has convicted Amiram Ben-Uliel guilty of racially motivated murder in a 2015 arson attack that killed a Palestinian couple and their baby in the occupied West Bank. The arson attack killed eighteen-month-old Ali Dawabsheh. His mother, Riham, and father, Saad, later died of their wounds. Ali's four-year-old brother Ahmad survived with burns on his body. Ben-Uliel's triple conviction on Monday by the Lod District Court carries a potential life sentence.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
Hundreds of Artists Urge Israel to End Gaza Blockade More than 250 global artists and writers—including rocker Peter Gabriel, director Ken Loach and actor Viggo Mortensen—appealed to Israel to stop the "siege" of Gaza, saying the coronavirus epidemic could have a devastating effect in "the world's largest open-air prison."
Amid the Pandemic, Missouri and Oklahoma Pass anti-BDS Bills On 14 May, Missouri’s state legislature passed a bill prohibiting the state from entering into contracts with businesses that boycott Israel. The next day, Oklahoma’s legislature passed a nearly identical piece of legislation. Both states have Republican Governor, who are expected to sign the bills into law.
Pro-Israel Group Fails to Have BDS Supporting Professor Removed A pro-Israel American campus group has failed in its bid to have a professor removed from the position of interim dean of a department at the George Washington University because of her support for the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign.
Muslim Scholars Union Urges Stand Against Israeli Plans The International Union for Muslim Scholars on Saturday urged the Islamic world and all countries to stand against Israel’s plans to annex the occupied Palestinian territories, Anadolu reports.
OIC Calls For Backing Palestinians’ Right of Return Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Friday called on the international community to support the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their lands from which they were displaced in 1948, Anadolu Agency reports.
BDS Spain Anti-racism Course Cancelled Following Pressure From Pro-Israel Groups The regional government of Valencia has cancelled a teacher training course on human rights that was to be delivered by a Spanish Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions group following heated campaigning by anti-BDS organizations like Action and Communication on the Middle East, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
Law
Hunger-striking Prisoner Transferred to Israeli Solitary Confinement PPS said that the Israeli Prison Service placed Sami Janazreh, who has been on a hunger strike for eight days against his ongoing administrative detention without charge and abusive treatment, under solitary confinement at the Naqab prison.
Israeli Court to Hear Case of Amnesty International Staffer’s Travel Ban The Jerusalem District Court will hear the case to lift Israel’s travel ban on Abu Zeyad on 31 May. Due to the ban on him entering Israel, however, Laith will not attend his own hearing. “It is a really strange feeling, that my fate will be decided when I am not there,” Abu Zeyad told Mondoweiss.
US Attacks ICC Over Insistence on Probing Israel Crimes Against Palestinians US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday slammed the International Criminal Court insisting that it is not qualified to probe possible Israeli crimes against Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli Court Orders Netanyahu to Appear For Opening of Trial An Israeli court has ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appear for the opening of his criminal trial in Jerusalem on Sunday, shortly after his lawyer sought an exemption. Netanyahu had asked Jerusalem District Court to be excused from his 24 May arraignment, deeming the event a formality and a waste of public funds, but critics say he was attempting to avoid the optics of the first criminal prosecution of a sitting Israeli prime minister.
Hardline Settler to Lead Israel’s Fight Against ICC The minister newly appointed to coordinate Israel’s response to judicial scrutiny by the International Criminal Court is Ze’ev Elkin, a settler who has recommended a full takeover of the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem and has supported annexation.
Environment, Economy, and Other
Palestinian Civil Society Organizations Warn of an Israeli Selection to Facebook’s Oversight Board Palestinian civil society organizations condemn the selection of Emi Palmor, the former General Director of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, to Facebook’s Oversight Board and raises the alarm about the impact that her role will play in further shrinking the space for freedom of expression online.
PMA Launches $300 mln “Sustainability” Program to Finance SMEs Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority, Azzam Shawwa, announced today the launch of the “Sustainability” Program to provide financing for SMEs and microprojects that had been economically affected by the Corona pandemic, with a size of three hundred million dollars.
Israel Fears New ‘violent’ Intifada in West Bank Due to Economic Crisis Israeli security officials fear an outbreak of a new “violent” Intifada in the occupied West Bank due to an economic crisis that would undermine the Palestinian Authority. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli security officials were asked to provide a security evaluation of the potential consequences of the annexation plan.