Should Palestinians recognize Israel as a ‘Jewish state’?

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Opinion: Confession of a Democratic Zionist,

“Israel must recognize the full and equal rights of all its citizens, but the world must recognize the right of a small, threatened and persecuted people to a home.”

Opinion: How I Destroyed the Chance for Israeli-Palestinian Peace,

“The demand for recognition of the Jewish state, which Ari Shavit says he is complicit in, seeks to camouflage the fact that the only people whose right to exist is really denied is the Palestinian people,” writes Carolina Landsmann.

Unarmed Palestinian running towards IDF guard post shot dead,

A Palestinian man came running at a West Bank guard post near Ofra; the soldiers followed the procedure for stopping a suspicious person and ended up shooting him; he died at the scene; no weapons or explosives were found on his person; none of the soldiers were injured.

US-Israel relations

Opinion: U.S. Jewish Leaders Must Demand Dayan Support Two States - or Resign,

“As Dani Dayan settles into his new job as consul general in New York, it’s time for the American Jewish establishment to realize that uncritically tolerating his views undermines the fight against BDS.”

Gaza

Israel denies secrecy on Gaza aid workers suspected of helping Hamas,

Foreign Ministry rejects claim that ‘key allies’ were kept in the dark on allegations against World Vision, UN staffers.

Gaza is sick of sewage and time is running out to contain it,

Sewage clogs Gaza’s beaches, pollutes its water and sickens its people. With no infrastructure, there is a desperate need to take action.

Palestinian politics

New Palestinian initiative outlines Fatah-Hamas reconciliation,

The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab citizens of Israel has proposed a new initiative to achieve reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, which includes the formation of a unity government and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections.