“Israeli police Monday overnight launched a wave of mass arrests against Palestinian citizens of Israel as part of violent crackdown on recent protests against Israel’s brutal settler-colonialism and apartheid regime. Thousands of notorious Israeli border police officers and reserve brigades started a large-scale detention campaign to arrest over 500 young Palestinian citizens of Israel as part of what Israel dubbed as “Operation Law and Order” to “settle accounts” with the latter over their participation in protests against Israel’s colonial policies, including the forced displacements in Sheikh Jarrah, encroachments upon Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and settler mob violence. As part of executing the campaign, the forces are carrying out violent arrests, kick into doors and brutalize and intimidate minors and families in the impoverished communities across Israel. Director of the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah), Hasan Jabarin, slammed the arrest campaign as a “declaration of war against Palestinian protestors, political activists and minors to take revenge against them for their recent political and national positions”. While Israel has depicted the campaign as intended to restore order and deterrence against “rioters” and “criminals” involved in attacks against “Jews” over the past two weeks, Palestinian citizens of Israel have maintained that it intended to intimidate and discipline those who participated in the recent protests and crush their resilience and resistance to Israel’s apartheid and colonial regime and settler mob violence.”

“Israel has declared war against Palestinians who dare to resist its colonial project and demand freedom. Today, the Israeli police announced their intent to arrest over 500 Palestinian citizens of Israel over the next 48 hours. This wave of mass arrests will take place as part of what Israel calls a “law and order” campaign. Thousands of police officers will carry out violent arrests, kicking into doors, brutalizing families and kidnapping our brothers and sisters. This is not just an attempt to intimidate and discipline those who participated in the Unity Uprising for justice and liberation. This is a declaration of war. It is the settler colonial project’s way of attempting to crush our people’s spirit, resistance and resilience. Over 1400 have already been arrested since May 9th. At least 200 people will be charged. Israel’s arrest campaigns have primarily targeted minors & working class kids. Do not remain silent. Speak up & make it a priority for your solidarity campaign.”

“Since the start of protests in the 1948′ Occupied Lands from Sunday May 9th, 2021 to Friday evening, May 14th, 2021, in addition to hundreds detained in Jerusalem and the West Bank, more than 700 people have been detained, including tens of children. It is abundantly clear from the details of the arrests that the goal is to terrorize Palestinians and deter them from protesting and taking to the streets, as well as to thwart their efforts to defend their families, homes, neighborhoods, and towns from organized assaults by Zionist mobs. Through these arrests, the Israeli security agencies and the legal system provided protection and cover for those mobs who not only assaulted, abused and shot at Palestinians; they also set fires and destroyed their property. “

“In this episode of “Occupied Thoughts,” Kristin speaks with Fayrouz Sharqawi of Grassroots Al-Quds to unpack what is happening in Jerusalem and across Palestinian communities in the wake of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.”

“Three Jewish suspects were indicted on attempted murder and terror charges Monday for an attack on an Arab Israeli man whose savage beating by a mob in Bat Yam earlier this month was caught on live television. Saeed Mousa was seriously injured in the May 12 attack, which came amid escalating ethnic tensions between Jews and Arabs inside Israeli cities alongside the armed conflict with Gaza terror groups. Netanel Binyamin, 25, Lahav Ohanina, 18, and a 16-year-old minor whose name was not released were charged in Tel Aviv District Court with aggravated intentional assault, intentional sabotage of a vehicle and racially motivated theft, public disturbance causing racially motivated damage, incitement to terrorism and incitement to racism.”

• “Conflict Strengthens Netanyahu, but the Price Is High” (New York Times)
• “First polls after Gaza ceasefire show Lapid rising, but deadlock still in place” (The Times of Israel)
• “Sa’ar Rules Out Joining Netanyahu-led Government After Reports of Negotiations” (Haaretz)
• “Lapid forges ahead with coalition talks but acknowledges his chances are ‘small’” (The Times of Israel)

“The Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings between Israel and Gaza are due to open on Monday for the transfer of humanitarian aid. UN medical aid will cross through Kerem Shalom, and aid workers and foreign journalists will enter through Erez. The crossings were closed on Sunday. Hamas estimates that the material damage incurred in Gaza over the 11 days of fighting with Israel stands at about a quarter of a billion dollars. Of this figure, provided by the head of Hamas’ information office, Salameh Maaruf, over $92 million of damage was done to residential housing and the offices of various non-governmental organizations throughout the Strip” Also See – “Gantz: Non-humanitarian Aid to Gaza Depends on Return of Israeli Soldiers’ Bodies” (Haaretz)

“Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the group’s top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants’ 11-day war with Israel…The war has further sidelined Hamas’ main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’ popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. “Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out,” they shouted, and “The people want the president to leave.” It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years. Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed U.S. diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the United States, consider Hamas a terrorist organization.”

More on the Palestinian Leadership Struggle & Reconstruction of Gaza

• “Abbas: PA must be part of Gaza reconstruction” (Jerusalem Post)
• “US and UN to send Gaza aid through PA to the people” (Jerusalem Post)
• “In Gaza conflict aftermath, Gantz calls for strengthening PA, sidelining Hamas” (The Times of Israel)

“Many of the countries that have pledged to fund the rebuilding efforts are unwilling to work with Hamas. President Biden said Thursday that the United States will be sending humanitarian aid to Gaza but plans to coordinate with the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival that controls the West Bank, “in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal.” Egypt, which helped broker the cease-fire, will contribute $500 million, President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi said Tuesday. The United Nations has released $22.5 million from its emergency response fund, and the government of Norway is pledging the equivalent of $3.6 million in addition to the roughly $8.5 million that it has already provided this year. Britain has promised roughly $4.5 million in funding that will be administered through the United Nations. The Biden administration has not publicly announced an amount for potential aid. When the last major conflict in the Gaza Strip ended in 2014, the largest share of promised aid came from Qatar, which played a major role in helping to rebuild. The oil-rich nation continues to help fund infrastructure and social services and said in January that it would provide $360 million in assistance this year. Officials have not yet said whether they expect to provide additional emergency funding.”

More on the Reconstruction of Gaza

• “Bank of Palestine Group launches campaign in support of humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, West Bank” (WAFA)
• “Egypt’s al-Azhar dispatch a large aid convoy to the devastated Gaza Strip” (WAFA)
• “Hundreds of Palestinians volunteer to clean up war-ravaged Gaza following Israeli assault” (The New Arab)

“Some Israeli military officers had argued against the May 15 strike on the building housing the offices of the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others, before it was eventually approved, the report said. Israeli officials were persuaded to authorize the strike after being presented with information about alleged Hamas operations in the building, in the knowledge that no people would be hurt, the Times reported Sunday. But following the major international outcry, some Israeli officials now believe the move was a mistake, the report said. The Israeli military maintains that Hamas used the high-rise building for electronic warfare against Israel, attempting to interfere with the GPS signal that the Israel Defense Forces uses, as well as for offices of the terror group’s intelligence department. The IDF has not, however, publicly released evidence to support this claim. The US has said Israel has provided it with information to back up the assertion through intelligence channels, though it has not commented on whether it accepts the claim or believes it justified bringing down the entire building.” Also See – “Was Hamas really operating out of the Al-Jalaa building?” (Middle East Eye)

“Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday “the layers of hardship in Gaza keep getting thicker” because the very basis of the conflict has not been addressed. Lazzarini promised to urge the international community to address “the root causes of the conflict, the occupation, the displacement, of which we had a strong reminder in East Jerusalem and Sheikh Jarrah, the blockade and the cycle of violence – this sense of normality will only be a mirage until the next conflict.”” Also See – “UN official urges ‘political process’ amid Gaza reconstruction” (The New Arab) 

“A group of Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem early on Monday, marking the second day in a row such an incursion has taken place. “A number of Jewish extremists stormed the compound this morning, entering from the Mughrabi gate,” one of the guards told Arabi21. “Jewish extremists stormed the compound with the protection of Israeli police and a strikingly large number of Israeli special forces, which we have not seen in the past,” the guard told the Arabic-language outlet. On Sunday, the Palestinian foreign ministry warned that repeated Israeli settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound risked undermining efforts to maintain a ceasefire and revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israel. Scores of Israeli settlers forced their way into the flashpoint compound under police protection on Sunday after a hiatus of three weeks, according to the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf Department, which oversees holy sites in Jerusalem.” Also See – “Backed by police, settlers storm Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound” (WAFA)

“Clashes broke out Saturday between police and dozens of protesters in Sheikh Jarrah, an East Jerusalem neighborhood that has been a key flashpoint over the pending eviction of several Palestinian families from homes claimed by Jewish nationalists. Police say some of the protesters threw bottles at cops on the scene, while chanting and singing songs in praise of “martyrs.” Officers were working to “restore order” and disperse the protest, according to a police statement.”

“A civilian and a soldier, aged 23 and 21, were injured in a stabbing at a light rail train station in Jerusalem; both were moderately injured. The assailant, who according to Palestinian reports was a 17-year-old from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab, was shot dead at the scene by Israeli security forces. Also See – “Palestinian killed by Israeli military gunfire in Jerusalem” (WAFA)

“Israel’s High Court of Justice has ordered Israeli settlers to stop working 42 acres of West Bank land, saying they have been doing so illegally after 13 years of legal proceedings. The land, located in the Shiloh Valley, is being farmed by Meshek Achiyah, one of the largest agricultural businesses in the West Bank settlements that makes olive oil and wine, and a settler named Chen Ben-Eliyahu. The ruling, issued last Tuesday, ordered Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank to remove all the olive trees and vineyards on the land by October. Eight Palestinian petitioners, heirs of people who claimed original ownership of the land, had appealed to the court to remove the current occupants and allow them to use the land themselves. However, Justices Esther Hayut, Menachem Mazuz and Daphne Barak-Erez did not rule on the question of land rights and stated that Israel must “fulfill its obligations” as per the law toward the Palestinians. They said that since the land was never formally registered, its ownership remains unproven, and the High Court is not the proper venue to decide that issue.”

“The Justice Ministry closed an investigation on Sunday into a police officer who shot and killed a mentally ill Arab Israeli man in Haifa in February, saying that the officer reasonably feared for his life. “Despite the tragic result, the incident progresses out in accordance with law and procedures,” the Police Internal Investigations Department, the Justice Ministry body that looks into allegations of police brutality, said in a statement. Munir Anabtawi, a mentally ill Arab Israeli man, reportedly underwent a psychotic episode in late March. His mother attempted to call an ambulance, but accidentally reached the police, whose arrival led to tragic results.”

“The looming removal of six Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem set off a round of protests that helped ignite the latest war between Israel and Gaza. But to the roughly three million Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and has controlled through decades of failed peace talks, the story was exceptional only because it attracted an international spotlight. For the most part, they endure the frights and indignities of the Israeli occupation in obscurity. Even in supposedly quiet periods, when the world is not paying attention, Palestinians from all walks of life routinely experience exasperating impossibilities and petty humiliations, bureaucratic controls that force agonizing choices, and the fragility and cruelty of life under military rule, now in its second half-century.”

“On Saturday, the Times ran a full-page attack ad directed at Lipa and the Hadid sisters following their pro-Palestinian statements…The Times ad was paid for by The World Values Network, an organisation set up and run by Shmuley Boteach, a controversial right-wing American rabbi with a history of taking out attack ads against figures critical of Israel. Boteach’s World Values Network had previously been funded by the late-controversial pro-Israel casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and has regularly run full-page attack ads in national newspapers singling out celebrities and politicians critical of Israel. “

“Singer Dua Lipa is blasting an organization that paid for a full-page ad in The New York Times that called her antisemitic for her support of Palestinians, saying it used her name “shamelessly” to “advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods and blatant misrepresentations.” In the rambling ad which appeared in Saturday’s newspaper in the main section, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the head of the World Values Network, named Lipa and the models Bella and Gigi Hadid as three “mega-influencers” who have “accused Israel of ethnic cleansing” and “vilified the Jewish State.” Lipa took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to “reject the false and appalling allegations” and said the World Values Network twisted what she stands for.”

“Emily Wilder, 22, had started at the AP on May 3 as a news associate in Phoenix. On Wednesday, just over two weeks later, the AP informed her that she was being terminated for violations of its social media policy that took place after she became an employee. In the days before her firing, Wilder had been targeted in conservative media for her pro-Palestinian rights activism while a student at Stanford University, where she graduated in 2020.”

“Activists are using Facebook’s rating system to leave one-star reviews in an organised campaign protesting the social media giant’s alleged censorship of Palestinian accounts and posts in solidarity with the suffering of people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip…Last week the average star rating for the social network was 4 out of 5. This week it is 2.4 out of 5 on Google Play store, and 2.3 out of 5 on Apple’s App store. Of the one-star reviews, several have explicitly mentioned Facebook and its alleged censorship of posts about Palestine…Facebook is aware of the campaign, which the platform is treating seriously, NBC News reports. According to the report, which cites internal message boards it reviewed, the problem has been categorised as an SEV1, which stands for “severity 1”, a category used by staff to describe a serious problem. SEV0 – or “severity 0” – is the highest category and is used when the website is down. “User trust is dropping considerably with the recent escalations between Israel and Palestine,” said one senior software engineer in a post on Facebook’s internal message board. “Our users are upset with our handling of the situation. Users are feeling that they are being censored, getting limited distribution, and ultimately silenced. As a result, our users have started protesting by leaving 1 star reviews.” According to screenshots seen by NBC News, Facebook contacted the app store to ask them to remove the negative reviews, and Apple declined.”

“Stephens has a glaring conflict of interest between his Israel-related commentary for the Times and his side gig, working for an organization “committed to the future of a U.S.-Israel relationship that safeguards the security of the Jewish State and connects future generations of Jews with our shared values.” That’s just one of the goals of the Maimonides Fund, a pro-Israel advocacy group where Stephens recently took up the role of editor-in-chief of Sapir, Maimonides’s “journal exploring the future of the American Jewish community and its intersection with cultural, social, and political issues.” Stephens’ opining on U.S. support for Israel seems to pose an undisclosed conflict of interest with his outside role at a group dedicated to promoting the “U.S.-Israel relationship.””

“According to a video posted to an Israeli cybersecurity group, suspected hackers can be seen making multiple attempts to log into Aryeh King’s WhatsApp using his phone number, and then multiple additional attempts to fill in the verification code the app sends users in such cases. The goal of the attack, which the firebrand politician did not fall far, was double – both to lock King out of his account and to take control of the phone’s WhatsApp. It thus reveals how nefarious actors can easily exploit the messaging app to lock victims out of their own phones.”

“Google has said it has no plans to update low-resolution imagery of Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and the besieged Gaza Strip, despite a US law that banned the use of high-quality images being lifted last year. Prior to agreeing to a ceasefire early on Friday, Israel bombed Gaza for 11 days, killing at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, 39 women and 17 elderly men. The air strikes damaged schools, power lines, water, sanitation and sewage systems for hundreds of thousands of people in a territory that has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt for more than a decade. Conflict researchers told Middle East Eye it would be difficult to understand the true damage caused by Israeli air strikes due to many open source mapping tools – including Google, Apple, and Bing – which have failed to update their maps with high-resolution imagery. At present, satellite imagery for Gaza is at a resolution of two metres per pixel, meaning buildings and streets show up blurry and are difficult to identify.”

“Why does Israel use disinformation so liberally? Disinformation becomes necessary when it is no longer possible to provide a truthful account of matters without admitting to breaches of universally accepted codes of morality or, indeed, international law. Given the egregious nature of the aforementioned propaganda, disinformation can seem like a bit of a euphemism: a polite term used to describe a much bitterer truth. Weaponised lying or dishonesty might be more suitable terms. Indeed, academic Michael Peters uses the phrase “government by lying” to describe the more recent mainstreaming of untruths. This is perhaps an apt term to describe the systemic misleading of the public for the purposes of executing unpopular policy decisions, such as justifying an apartheid state, or ethnically cleansing Palestinians. Where unethical and immoral positions are indefensible, lying is deployed.”

“Ayman interviews Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement for Palestinian rights.”

“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking ahead of a trip to the Middle East, reaffirmed on Sunday US support for a two-state solution as the only way to provide hope to Israelis and Palestinians that they can live “with equal measures of security, of peace and dignity.” His remarks came two days after Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire, halting 11 days of Hamas rocket bombardment on Israel and Israeli retaliatory airstrikes that killed more than 200 Gazans and 13 people on the Israeli side. “If there isn’t positive change, and particularly if we can’t find a way to help Palestinians live with more — with more dignity and with more hope — this cycle is likely to repeat itself, and that is in no one’s interest,” Blinken said on ABC’s “This Week.”” Also See – “Blinken off to Mideast to push peace talks after Gaza truce” (AP)

“The study’s authors believe that the United States erred when it neglected Gaza and Hamas to focus its diplomatic efforts on the PA. They believe that Washington must encourage intra-Palestinian reconciliation, boost the presence of American aid organizations, establish ties with people in Gaza, demand that Israel remove the blockade on Gaza and involve Gaza (meaning Hamas) in diplomatic decision-making.”

“Former State Department official Thomas Nides is all but certain to be the Biden administration’s next ambassador to Israel after the other contender in the running, former congressman Robert Wexler, was notified by a congressional ally of the president on Friday that he would not be the pick, an ex-US official told The Times of Israel. Two other sources familiar with the matter also confirmed that Wexler had been notified that the job would not be his.”

“The view that Palestine attracts a disproportionate degree of moral outrage fails to account for the fact that so little of that outrage comes from the places that count – the ranks of government ministers, political elites and the mass media. And because that advocacy is only allowed to thrive outside the respectable mainstream, it is easier then to frame it as disreputable, as a sinister singling out of Israel, or special pleading for a not-so-special cause. But the stubborn reality is that the Palestinians are special. They have, unlike most other oppressed peoples, been denied the language of legitimacy. The facts of their occupation, their resistance and the apartheid they are subjected to have been annulled or made ambiguous. The Palestinian cause has been rendered dubious through a kind of reversal of roles in the narration of the conflict. The victims became the aggressors. The Palestinians were abandoned to their fate, and then framed for it.”

“Adam Shatz talks to Tareq Baconi and Henriette Chacar about the crisis in Israel-Palestine, the significance of the ceasefire, the context of the war, the politics inside Israel and the Gaza Strip, and the response in Washington.”

“And yet I celebrate the cease-fire with ambivalence. That’s because, even though it puts a temporary end to the spectacular violence of the past 11 days, it will not end the everyday violence in Gaza and across the occupied territories that has been going on for 73 years. Along with other Palestinians, I’ve been surprised by the wave of global outrage at the Israeli military and solidarity with Gaza over the past few days. But I can’t help wondering whether the world will now look away from the slower destruction and death of the continued siege and occupation.”

“There isn’t one group of people making decisions, and that’s what is so great about this moment in Palestine. It’s similar to the First Intifada, when popular committees emerged to respond to specific needs and urgencies. Now, too, committees have been created in Haifa and Lydda, and also here in Jerusalem, where Israeli so-called civilians have attacked Palestinians. (I hesitate to call them civilians because they’re all armed ex-soldiers.) For instance, more than 800 people have been arrested [within the Green Line], and a group of lawyers has been organizing to follow up with each person who was arrested, keeping track of their court hearings and bail and being in touch with their family. Another example: Last Friday, in the West Bank, there were huge confrontations [between Palestinian protesters and the IDF]—a lot of live ammunition used, a lot of injuries. Around Nablus, hospitals were overcrowded, and the army was blocking the roads to get to them. And a call went out to doctors and nurses and medics in Aqraba, a small village, and suddenly there was a whole field clinic there treating injuries. So our people are aware of this need for mutual aid. It makes me think of many great Arabic words that I’m not sure I can translate into English, like faz’a—urgently coming to someone’s aid. Or ’awna—mutual help and dependability. “

“As South Africa showed, building popular support for action takes years – and those who back the campaign face a far more effective opponent in the Israeli state. For all that, significant shifts in attitudes toward Israel, particularly in the US and within the Jewish diaspora, have presented campaigners with their best prospects to date for building a boycott and they are looking to the anti-apartheid movement as the example. One of the most important changes is the breaking of the taboo on comparisons with South Africa’s racist system. Israel’s leading human rights group, B’Tselem, issued a report in January called: “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid”. Human Rights Watch in the US followed in April, accusing Israel of “crimes of apartheid”. For years, Israel and its supporters have dismissed claims of similarities as antisemitic on the grounds they imply that the Jewish state is a racist enterprise.”

“No one involved in these debates missed the implication: the most influential liberal Zionist of his generation no longer believed in an exclusively Jewish state in the Middle East. Peter Beinart had switched sides.”