Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: July 2, 2018

What We’re Reading

US-Palestinian/Israeli relations

Opinion: Donald Trump policies are hurting Palestinians and Middle East peace prospects,

“Palestinian leaders didn’t meet with Jared Kushner because of Donald Trump’s heartless policies. The U.S. can’t broker peace unless he repairs the damage,” writes Dianne Feinstein.

'For many young American Jews, the Trump-Bibi axis is the enemy',

Bradley Burston insists that his views about Israel haven’t changed since he moved here in the 1970s. It’s Israel which has changed. ‘I would like to have two states. But hundreds of thousands of Israelis said ‘you can’t have it,’ and they run the country,’ he says in a wide-ranging interview about Israel, the Nakba, and the changing face of American Jewry.

BDS

Israel denies entry to Jewish-American activist for BDS,

Ariel Gold, a 43-year-old mother of two who is active in the social justice NGO CodePink, was detained Sunday night at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Lawsuit dismissed over Kansas anti-BDS law; state to pay plaintiff’s legal fees,

A federal judge in Kansas dismissed a lawsuit Friday over a state law requiring contractors to swear they will not boycott Israel. The lawsuit in the US Court for the District of Kansas was dismissed after the state amended the legislation.

Occupation/Human rights

New West Bank Settlement's Sewage Overflowing Into Palestinian Fields,

Raw sewage from the new West Bank settlement of Amihai, which had been set up to take in people evacuated from the nearby illegal outpost of Amona, is flowing straight into agricultural fields worked by Palestinians from the village of Turmus Ayya.

U.N. expert: Israel moving closer to formal West Bank annexation,

Israel has taken steps that could lead to the formal annexation of the West Bank, UN legal expert Michael Lynk said in advance of Monday’s United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli demolition of entire Palestinian village days away, villagers fear,

Israeli security forces show up and survey homes in Khan al-Ahmar, which activists and residents fear is a sign of forced displacement of the entire village. Israel’s top court gave its approval to the demolition, an act rights groups say would constitute a war crime.

In Israeli Residency Case, Individual Responsibility vs. Collective Punishment,

While collective harm may be justified in some circumstances, collective punishment should never be allowed: one person’s rights should not be taken hostage to influence the behavior of others.

Australia ends direct aidAustralia Ends Direct Aid to Palestinian Authority Amid Fears Money Is Going to Terrorists to PA over [prisoner] payments,

Australia has ended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority because it says its donations could increase the self-governing body’s capacity to pay Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence

Palestinian politics

Hamas-Fatah feud heats up as talk of Abbas successor intensifies,

Hamas members of parliament fear that the Palestinian Central Council will try to withdraw some of the powers of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Abbas said seeking unity government with Hamas to counter US peace maneuvers,

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is making renewed efforts to form a national unity government with the Hamas terrorist group with the aim of calling long-overdue Palestinian national elections, the Arabic-language Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Monday.