Racism, xenophobia and the American and Israeli right wing

What We’re Reading

Israeli politics

Opinion: The New National Zionism,

“Just as the extreme right in Australia or the United States seeks to erect a wall of legislation, backed by a strong navy or actual walls along the borders protecting the homeland (the colonialist one, remember) on all sides from infiltrators from Mexico or Afghanistan, so Shaked and her colleagues are promoting legislation backed by fences, checkpoints and a strong army that blocks Israel’s borders from the threatening hordes of black masses,” writes Daniel Blatman.

Forced by court order, Netanyahu reveals 230 calls to Israel Hayom editor,

Forced by a Supreme Court order to reveal the dates of his phone calls with the owner and chief editor of a newspaper seen as staunchly loyal to him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Thursday that from 2012-2015 he spoke with American Jewish casino mogul Sheldon Adelson almost once a week and nearly double that with then-Israel Hayom editor Amos Regev.

Israeli plan would deport illegal immigrants without consent, defying Supreme Court,

Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri has proposed an amendment that would allow illegal immigrants to be deported without their consent, contradicting the country’s Supreme Court.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Angela Davis on Black Lives Matter, Palestine, and the Future of Radicalism,

“In my own political history, Palestine has always occupied a pivotal place, precisely because of the similarities between Israel and the United States—their foundational settler  colonialism and their ethnic cleansing processes with respect to indigenous people, their systems of segregation, their use of legal systems to enact systematic repression, and so forth,” Angela Davis said.

Occupation/Human rights

Illegal outpost residents ask court to save parts of homes set to be razed,

Settlers from Netiv Ha’avot offer to cut off ‘problematic parts’ of six of the homes found to have been only partially built on private Palestinian land

Israeli mayor, police assault Palestinian worshipers in attempt to stop Eid prayers,

Israeli police forces on Friday raided a mosque in the central Israeli city of Lod, or Lydda, and attempted to stop the Eid al-Adha prayers and the call to prayer — also known as the adhan — that were being transmitted through the mosque’s speakers, citing noise violations.

Bedouin Shepherds Between a Rock, a Hard Army and West Bank Settlers,

The shepherds feel terrorized by intimidation tactics from a farm owner and the army that they think is operating on his behalf.

Following pressure, Israel halts decision to revoke Al Jazeera reporter's credentials,

Two weeks after announcing it would revoke the press credentials of senior Al Jazeera reporter, Elias Karram, Israel’s Government Press Office said Wednesday that it had decided to freeze the decision.

The Zionist Project's Palestinian Builders Are Invisible in Life and in Death,

“Love of construction workers ceased in this country once the workers ceased to be Jews,” writes Gideon Levy.

Gaza

What It's Like Living With Only 4 Hours of Power a Day in Gaza,

Armed with a smartphone, a resident of the city of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip has documented for Haaretz how he and other residents struggle to deal with daily life in the darkness.

Hamas’ dangerous gamble on Iran,

No effort is being made to cloak the warming of relations between Hamas and Iran in a veil of secrecy. A key figure in this budding rapprochement is senior Hamas official Salah al-Arouri, who was expelled from Turkey two years ago after Jerusalem and Ankara reached a reconciliation agreement.