In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Saudi researcher and analyst of Saudi foreign policy Aziz Alghashian about the impact of Israel’s…

“Israeli officials did not provide evidence confirming their allegations, but the announcement was followed by a swift suspension of UNRWA funding by countries including the United States, Canada, Finland, and the United Kingdom—imperiling the donor-supported agency’s ability to continue providing shelter, food, sanitation, and other basic services to more than 1 million Palestinians who are sheltering in its facilities in Gaza. Now, said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, the proposed package ‘bars all funding in the pipeline’ to UNRWA. ‘I don’t see any other way to read it.'”

“Although the IHRA was ostensibly founded to combat Holocaust denialism, its definition of antisemitism was in fact a response to the Second Intifada, an uprising by Palestinians against the ongoing Israeli occupation, as Lara Friedman of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) points out. Organizations committed to Zionism, or Jewish nationalism, like the American Jewish Committee, expressly sought a definition of antisemitism that would include anti-Zionism, and the IHRA’s working definition gave it to them in 2016.” [linked to Lara Friedman article in University of the Pacific Law Review]

1. New from FMEP 2. Gaza 3. West Bank 4. Region/Global 5. US Scene 6. Israeli Scene 7. Long Reads/Perspectives   1. New from FMEP…

1. Bills, Resolutions 2. Letters 3. Massive Supplemental Aid for Israel Takes Center Stage 4. Hearings & Markups 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements New…

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…

Occupied Thoughts by FMEP · Separation, Dehumanization, Theft of Time: A Day in the Life of Abed Salama Watch this conversation on Youtube Subscribe to…

“That language would prevent UNRWA from accessing any of the $10 billion the bill provides for humanitarian assistance to civilians in the relevant conflict zones including Gaza, a Senate aide told HuffPost. It would also stop the U.S. from distributing up to $300,000 previously earmarked for UNRWA, according to Seth Binder, the director of advocacy at the Middle East Democracy Center. The Senate aide noted the provision would therefore cut off American funding for UNRWA’s activities beyond the Palestinian territories, including in deeply fragile Lebanon and Jordan, which host many Palestinian refugees. ‘It bars all funding in the pipeline. I don’t see any other way to read it,’ said Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace think tank.”

1. New from FMEP 2. Gaza 3. West Bank 4. Region/Diplomacy 5. US Scene 6. Israeli Scene 7. Long Reads/Perspectives 1. New from FMEP ‘Dehumanization…

Welcome to FMEP’s Weekly Settlement Report, covering everything you need to know about Israeli settlement activity this week. To subscribe to this report, please click here.…