Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: June 20, 2018

What We’re Reading

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

US leaving UN Human Rights Council -- 'a cesspool of political bias',

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced the United States is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday, accusing the body of bias against US ally Israel and a failure to hold human rights abusers accountable.

Jordan's king tells Kushner: Mideast peace requires two state solution,

According to a statement from the Jordanian royal court, King Abdullah told Kushner and Greenblatt there is a need to reach a comprehensive peace deal addressing the aspirations of the Palestinians for an independent state on the basis of the 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

BDS

What’s wrong with the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act?,

“We oppose the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act now before the US Congress because we believe it endangers academic freedom,” writes Cary Nelson.

Gaza

Hamas, Jihad assert ‘right’ to fire rockets, as Israeli Air Force hits Gaza after kite attacks,

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups issued warnings to Israel on Wednesday after a night of tit-for-tat attacks, saying that Palestinians have “the right” to fire rockets and mortar shells at Israel in retaliation for IDF strikes against targets in Gaza.

Palestinians skeptical of humanitarian efforts in Gaza,

Israel and the United States have indicated that they seek to ease the blockade on Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave, but Palestinians question their real intent.

Occupation/Human rights

'You never told me': Confronting American Jewish myths about Israel,

A group of young American Jews are challenging the the institutionalized myths they were taught about the Jewish state in classrooms, youth group trips, and summer camps.

Night Raids and Attack Dogs: For West Bank Palestinians, Their Homes Are Not Their Castles,

Israel’s Border Police are increasingly using dogs to attack people in the middle of the night, while soldiers have used creative solutions like welding a door shut and keeping a family prisoners in their own house.

Vying for minds in East Jerusalem schools,

The Israeli and Palestinian governments both want to infuse East Jerusalem schools with money in what many see as a tug of war for curriculum control.

Israeli politics

Bennett: ‘The West Bank will soon become part of Israel’,

The occupied West Bank and all the illegal settlements in it “soon become part of the State of Israel”, the head of the Jewish Home Party and Minister of Education in the Israeli government, Naftali Bennett, said yesterday.